“Well, I never!” said Ellen.
William took out his penknife and moved away in search of fresh sticks to whittle.
But he moved away thoughtfully.
******
The next morning William had a Science lesson. He was still thoughtful. Mr. Evelyn Courtnay was jocular and facetious. In the course of a few jocular remarks to the front row he said, “The feline species is as abhorrent to me as it was to the great Napoleon. Contact with it destroys my nerve entirely.”
“What’s he mean?” whispered William to his neighbour.
“He means he don’t like cats,” said William’s neighbour.
“Well, why don’t he say so then?” said William scornfully.
Someone near William dropped a test tube. Mr. Courtnay turned his languid eye upon William.
“A hundred lines, Brown,” he said pleasantly.