“‘How many yards make twenty rods?’ And Tommy said, ‘Oh, dear,
Twelve rods I’ve cut for fishing poles in our own yard this year.’
“‘How many perches make a mile? Now think before you speak.’
‘Perches?’ he said, ‘There’s millions in the upper sawmill creek.’
“‘What grows in southern Hindustan?’ Said Tom, ‘I do not know;
But I can take you to a tree where blackheart cherries grow.’
“‘Name Christopher Columbus’s boats.’ ‘I can’t remember, quite;
But mine, that lies below the falls, is named the Water Sprite.’
“‘Now what is “whistle”—noun or verb?’ ‘I do not know indeed;
But just the other day I made a whistle from a reed.’
“Then all the little listening boys would wiggle in their places,
And all the little watching girls would have to hide their faces;
“And, ‘Thomas, Thomas!’ teacher’d say, and shake her head in doubt,
And make him write a hundred words before the day was out.
“’T was always so when grass turned green and blue was in the sky—
Tom Tuttle coming late to school and never telling why.”
They had a good laugh at Tom Tuttle; but presently the thoughts of Amos turned to March hares.
“Do they ever come near enough for you to touch them?” he asked the twins.