"That is true," replied Benjamin; "but after such fine productions as we have heard, there is little encouragement for me to read this. I think I must correct it and dress it up a little before I read it."
"Not a word of it," said Ralph. "There is no excuse for any one who is prepared."
So, after much urging, Benjamin proceeded to read the verses, with seeming diffidence, all listening with rapt attention.
"You must read that again," said Osborne, when the first reading was finished; which Benjamin consented to do.
"You surprise me, Ben," said Osborne, after the piece was read the second time. "You are a genuine poet. I had no idea that you could write like that."
"Nor I," added Watson. "It is better than half the poetry that is printed. If we had not given out the subject, I should have charged you with stealing it."
"What do you say, Ralph?" inquired Osborne. "You are a poet, and ought to be a judge of such matters."
"I don't think it is entirely faultless," responded Ralph. "You have commended it full as highly as it will bear, in my estimation."
"Well done!" exclaimed Osborne. "Your opinion of that piece proves that you are destitute of poetical taste, as I have told you before."
Ralph and Benjamin saw that Osborne was fairly caught, and they hardly dared to exchange glances, lest they should betray themselves. They succeeded, however, in controlling themselves, and allowed Osborne to express himself most emphatically.