“John is right,” said Miss Merlin. “If you will all come forward and stand near the table I will show you just as John’s father showed him.”
The pupils came forward and Miss Merlin showed them that the dictionary words were arranged in alphabetical order. “Now where shall I look for my word?” she asked.
The pupils glanced at the word on the board and answered, “Look among the words beginning with b.”
Miss Merlin opened the dictionary and held all the pages containing words beginning with b between her two hands. “If I begin with the first word beginning with b and read each one, it will take me hours,” she said, “but the maker of the dictionary has so arranged the words that I can find the word I want in a few seconds. Let us see if we can discover just how the words have been arranged to help us find any one quickly. We have seen that the words are arranged alphabetically according to the first letter in each. Now let us look at the second letter in the word beginning with b.”
The pupils watched as the pages were turned over and discovered that the words were grouped in alphabetical order according to the second letter in each.
“Then,” said Miss Merlin, “if I want to find a word beginning ba where in the list of words beginning with b shall I look?”
“Look near the beginning,” was the answer.
“If I want one beginning bl where shall I look?” asked Miss Merlin.
“Look towards the middle of the list,” answered the pupils.
“But I want to find one beginning with br,” said Miss Merlin, pointing to the word on the board.