"What is all this you learned, Dottie?" demanded Neale, as they all sat around the study lamp; for Neale was often at the old Corner House with his books in the evening. He and Agnes were in the same grade.
"Oh, Neale! did you know you had a spinal cord?" demanded the smallest Corner House girl.
"No! you don't tell me? Where is it?" asked the boy, quite soberly.
"Why," explained the literal Dot, "it's a string that runs from the back of your head to the bottom of your heels."
At the shout of laughter that welcomed this intelligence, Tess said, comfortingly:
"Don't mind, Dot. That isn't half as bad as what Sammy Pinkney said to Miss Pepperill the other day. She asked us which was the most important to keep clean, your face or your teeth, and Sammy shouted: 'Your teeth, teacher, 'cause they can rot off and your face can't.'"
"And I guess that awful Miss Pepperpot punished him for that," suggested Dot, awed.
"Yes. Sammy is always getting punished," said Tess. "He never does manage to say the right thing. And I think Miss Pepperill is kind of hard on him. But—but she's real nice to me."
"Well, why shouldn't she be, honey?" Ruth said. "You're not to be compared with that rude boy, I am sure," for Ruth Kenway did not much approve of boys, and only tolerated Neale O'Neil because the other children liked him so much.
"I should hope not!" agreed Agnes, who did like boys, but did not like the aforesaid scapegrace, Sammy Pinkney.