The professor continued:
“With the exception of a few inscriptions on medals and coins, a score of verses in one of the comedies of Plautus, and the periplus of Hanno, not a solitary relic of Carthage has been preserved.”
“How sad!” whispered Smart. Then he snuggled over closer to Bradley.
“Say,” he whispered, “what’s the longest word in the English language?”
“Hi dunno,” confessed Billy. “But Hi’ll bet hanything Professor Gooch uses hit hevery day.”
“Not so bad for you!” admitted Ted, for, as a rule, Billy was extremely dense and slow to see the point of a joke. “But you’ll be surprised when I tell you. The longest word, in the English language is smiles.”
Billy showed interest at first, then looked doubtful, mildly surprised, absolutely astonished, and finally positively rebellious.
“Go hon!” he hissed back at Ted. “Hi know better! Hare you taking me for a fool?”
“Oh, dear, no!” said Ted. “I wouldn’t think of such a thing!”
“Hi know a ’undred hother words that hare longer,” whispered Bradley.