“Will you read that last sentence over again, Mr. Howard?” said the squire.
“Certainly, sir,” and Walter read as follows:
“The army of Napoleon suffered less from the military forces which Russia opposed to him, than from the frigidity of the climate.”
“It’s one of the last words,” said the squire, “what you call frigidity.”
“Is not that correct?” asked Walter.
“I always say frig-i-dity,” said the squire, giving a hard sound to the letter “g” and emphasizing the last syllable but one.
Walter found it difficult not to laugh, and General Wall, who was a considerably better scholar than his associate, said, “I think, squire, that yours is the old-fashioned pronunciation, and that Mr. Howard’s is now more in use.”
“Maybe you are right,” said the squire. “For my part, I like the old ways best. Still I suppose people in gineral will like the new-fangled ways.”
The squire indulged in no further questioning, and General Wall said, “Will you ask a few words in spelling, Squire Griffiths?”
Squire Griffiths readjusted his spectacles, and, opening the book, gave out in a loud voice: