She held up her hand to stop the babel, and began to dictate the passage again. With considerable spluttering of pens the girls followed, Lu-Lu Branton and Nan Ward repeating the words after her in loud whispers.
"'After preliminary explorations he reached Khartoum and organized his expedition to the Great White Nile,'" continued Lesbia, in slow and measured tones.
"Please, what does 'pre-pre-limary' mean?" asked Allie Pearson tragically, "I never heard such a word before."
"They're all new words," grumbled Gwennie Rogers.
"We've never had such difficult dictation," whined Jean Hawley.
"Nonsense! Go on," commanded Lesbia.
"You're using the wrong part of the reading-book," squeaked an indignant voice from Row 2. "Miss Edwards always gives us our dictation from the beginning part."
"It doesn't matter!"
"Oh, but it does matter!" protested several urgent voices. "The book's graded, and we've not got to such long words yet. We don't know how to spell them!"
"Well, you'll have to try to-day," insisted Lesbia, who did not intend to be corrected by her form. "You must just get along as best you can."