“And why so?”
“Because I could not make the letters.”
“No! Why, how do you think other boys do—have they more fingers than you?”
“No, sir.”
“Are you not able to hold a pen as well as a marble?”
Samuel was silent.
“Let me look at your hand.”
Samuel held out both his paws like a dancing bear.
“I see nothing to hinder you from writing as well as any boy in the school. You can read, I suppose?”
“Yes, sir.”