"Sh-sh," said Cathy.
The audience looked at Andy and Andy looked at them. Seconds passed. Andy did not utter a word.
From behind scenes Miss Prouty prompted him.
"We welcome you, dear parents," she said in a voice barely audible to the audience.
Andy's lips did not move. His face looked frozen in fright. He just stood there.
Miss Prouty prompted him again. Still Andy did not open his mouth. Some boy near the back of the hall clapped. That sound seemed to wake Andy from his trance of fear. He raised his head and gave the audience a large, beaming smile. Then Andy spoke his piece.
Gene, Gene—had a machine.
Joe, Joe—made it go.
Frank, Frank—turned the crank.
His mother came out and gave him a spank
And threw him over a sandbank.
Andy spoke up nice and loud and then made a bow. Apparently he did not realize that he had spoken the wrong piece.
The auditorium suddenly rocked with laughter. Miss Prouty shooed Andy off the stage and apologized for him. Then she spoke the "Dear parents" poem herself.
Cathy just had time to whisper angrily to Jerry, "It's all your fault—you taught him that awful rhyme," before Andy came to sit with his family. He did not seem at all upset and apparently enjoyed the program, though he yawned a few times before it was over.