“It’s tedious,” Dora admitted.
“Tedious?” echoed Smith in loud pathos. “It’s hell! Say, I can tie a fancy knot in a bridle-rein that can’t be beat by any puncher in the country, but darn me if I can see the difference between a adjective and one of these here adverbs! Once I thought I knowed something—me, Smith—but say, I don’t know enough to make a mark in the road!”
Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he repeated:
“‘I have had, you have had, he has had.’”
“If you would have had about six drinks, I think you could git that,” observed Tubbs judicially, watching Smith’s mental suffering with keen interest.
“Don’t be discouraged,” said Dora cheerfully, seating herself beside him. “Let’s take a little review. Do you remember what I told you about this?”
She pointed to the letter a marked with the long sound.
Smith ran both hands through his hair, while a wild, panic-stricken look came upon his face.
“Dog-gone me! I know it’s a a, but I plumb forget how you called it.”
Tubbs unhooked his toes from the chair-legs and walked around to look over Smith’s shoulder.