“You impudent boy!”
“Not in the least. I’m only witty.”
“Witty!”
“Yes,—I’ve heard wit defined as the unexpected.”
“The dictionary doesn’t define it so, 101 and good manners don’t define impudence as wit.”
“We’re not discussing impudence, we’re discussing wit. And I know positively that wit is defined as the unexpected.”
“Let’s have your authority,” said Mr. Burtwell, who had not heard the first part of the discussion.
“Let us see what the dictionary says,” suggested Julia, who was the scholar of the family.
“Very well; and what will you bet that I’m not right?”
“We don’t bet in this family,” said Mr. Burtwell, with decision.