“Who shall go up and ask him?”
“Go yourself, John.”
“All right, boys. I’ll do it, if you say so. But I am afraid I can’t keep a straight face.”
So John went back into school just before the bell rang, and approached the teacher’s desk.
“What’s wanted, Sandford?” said Mr. Slocum.
“The boys want to know, Mr. Slocum, if you will be willing to speak a piece for us on Wednesday. You see, sir, we never heard any good speaking, and we think it would improve us if we could hear a good speaker now and then.”{140}
As may be inferred from his habit of boasting, Mr. Slocum was very accessible to flattery, and listened graciously to this request. John was perfectly sober, though he was laughing inside, as he afterward said; and the teacher never dreamed of a plot to expose and ridicule him.
“You are quite right, Sandford,” said he, graciously; “it would undoubtedly be very beneficial to you, and I will look over one of my old pieces, and see if I can remember it. I am glad to see that the boys are anxious to improve in the important branch of declamation.”
John carried to the boys the news of his success, which was received with a great deal of interest. Though most of the boys thought it irksome to commit a piece to memory, and had no ambition to become orators, all went to work willingly, feeling that they should be repaid by hearing the “master” speak.
“Speaking” was new business to Julius. During his very brief school attendance in New York he had not been sufficiently advanced to declaim, and he felt a little apprehensive about his success. He chose an extract from one of Webster’s speeches, and carefully committed it, reciting it at home to Mr. Taylor, from whom he received several suggestions, which he found of value. The result was that he acquitted himself quite creditably.