“So you cannot tell; well, then, we will try what one of these little fellows will do,” said Mr Bonnycastle, taking down a cane. “Observe, Johnny, that’s the letter B. Now, what letter is that? Answer me directly.”
“I won’t learn to read and write.”
Whack came the cane on Johnny’s shoulders, who burst out into a roar as he writhed with pain.
Mr Bonnycastle waited a few seconds. “That’s the letter B. Now tell me, sir, directly, what that letter is.”
“I’ll tell my mar.” Whack! “O law! O law!”
“What letter is that?”
Johnny, with his mouth open, panting, and the tears on his cheeks, answered indignantly, “Stop till I tell Sarah.”
Whack came the cane again, and a fresh burst from Johnny.
“What letter’s that?”
“I won’t tell,” roared Johnny; “I won’t tell—that I won’t.”