“Awfully busy. Tonight we are going out fishing.”
“I meant particularly at school.”
“Oh! Of course I go to school.”
“You are a good scholar?”
“Oh, well, I am not the worst. I’m not one of the best either, but I’m not the worst, really.”
“But you should be among the best, Johnny Blossom.”
There was a short silence.
“It is awfully hard to be among the best, Uncle Isaac,” with an apologetic smile.
“Not if a person is industrious, John.”
Johnny Blossom suddenly found something the matter with his shoestring. His face was very red when he straightened up again, saying, “How provoking shoestrings are!”