“Yes, sir,” replied Dotty, in an excited tone. “I didn’t miss but one word, and that was the teacher’s fault; she put out ‘saw,’ but didn’t say whether it was ‘I saw John,’ or a thing to chop wood with; so of course, I spelled it s-e-w!”
Mr. Parlin laughed.
“Miss Parker should be more careful how she puts out words. Is it not surprising how everybody contrives to cheat my little daughter, while she herself so seldom makes mistakes?”
Dotty did not see that her papa was joking, and feeling very much pleased with his remarks, she was about to pour out the story of her trials, when Prudy said,—
“‘Saw? saw?’ Is that a preposition, papa, or an adverb?”
Mr. Parlin laughed again, and remarked to his wife that he thought their children were “growing very learned.”
“Prudy,” said he, “you are attending the grammar school. Do you study grammar?”
“Yes, sir, and like it ever so much,” replied Prudy, brightly.
“Do you know what a verb is?”