; 'twouldn't be
proper for the teacher to rock. Hark! now I tingle the bell. School's
begun!"

Dotty walked along, and very demurely seated herself in the big chair.

"Here," said Prudy, showing her a block, "is your first letter; guess
what the picture means, and I'll tell you the name of the letter."

"That?" said Dotty, glancing at it; "that's a monkey; what you s'pose?"

"O, no! it's pretty near a monkey, not quite: it's what we call an
_ape_."

"A nape!" echoed Dotty, pointing at it, and laughing. "O, my! you don'
know nothin' at all but just--do you, Prudy Parlin? Funny gell to keep
school! Didn't you never see a monkey? I've seen 'em dancing
tummy-tum-tum, and a man making music with a little mite of a churn."

"Well, perhaps this is a monkey, and ape is its baby name," said Prudy,
doubtfully.

"Got a face like a dried apple--hasn't he?" said the young pupil,
admiringly. "Rally round the flag, boys!"

"Hush! You mustn't sing in school. The name of this letter is A. Look at
it ever so long, and say it over."

"A, A, A," repeated Dotty, to the tune of "John Brown."

Prudy took courage. "All right, only you mustn't sing. I couldn't speak
the letter better myself than you do, _so_ soon. A stands for ape."

"No, for monkey."

The little teacher yielded the point. She had begun her school with
plenty of love and patience.

"Now tell a story," said Dotty, settling herself in the chair.

"Can't you say 'please'?" suggested Prudy, mildly. "'Please' is but a
little word, and 'thank you' is not long."

"Well, please, and thank you,--'bout a ape."

"I know a real nice one. Once there was a monkey--"

"No, a ape."

"Well, a ape, then. But I didn't start right. Once Mr. 'Gustus Allen
sailed round the world."

"Did? Who sailed him?"

"O, he went in one of those ships that go puffing out of the bay. And he
had a little ape, named Jacky."

"How did you know? You wasn't there."

"O, he told me about it. He was the brightest little creature, Jacky
was. When he was cold, Mr. Allen used to tuck him right in his bosom.
Sometimes he got into mischief, he knew so much."

"Did he know as much as Zip? Did he ever talk in meetin'?"

"No, he couldn't bark the way Zip did at the lecture, but he chattered,
as we do when our teeth are cold. When he'd been doing mischief he'd run
round the floor of the ship, wagging his head the way I do now, as if
he was as innocent as a whole lot of kittens. Why, he acted as you