The boys laughed, and Howard explained promptly. "No, sir; I mean the first letters of each line taken together form a name."
"Must an acrostic always be written in poetry?"
This question called forth several answers, and made a good deal of talk; but it was finally decided that there could be acrostics in prose as well as in rhyme; and Mr. Burrows asked,—
"How many understand now what an acrostic is?"
A few more hands were raised, but many of the boys did not understand yet; it must be made plainer.
"Howard," said Mr. Burrows, "come to the board and give us an acrostic on the word boy."
Howard sprang up. "Must it be a sensible one, sir?"
"Sense or nonsense, just as you please, so as it shows us what an acrostic is."
"I can take my parsing-book and give you one, I think, sir."
And Howard came forward and wrote rapidly,—