No More Learning

him. " How lucky," thought Frank.
No, it was most unfortunate in the
end for. . him; because. this sense of
escape made him more careless.
After hreakfast, his father went out to
ride wjth tie friend who had breakfasted
witii hjmi;. vai^. 4us. L^st words to Frank,
as he left : the breakfast room, were,
" Frafakft; I^shaJA bave tiroe to hear you
say your Latin? ^erbi when we return--
when. Ji. an^i . dressing before dinner.
Take care that you learn it perfectly. "
. f "ajja&i f *m>" he replied,. and be
handed to go and learn it directly; he
9M& d#H staid to lqok at his father and
the "gentleman mounting theil horses,
ajjd see them go through. ' the
gate. * . Then he went to his mother's
? 0? $a>. where Mary was soon aettled''at
h,^i$orki; and he stood with his Latin
gj^g>>mar in:his hand. Sut, thoughiias
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? 62 FHAtfK.
eyes were upon the book, and though
his lips pronounced
Pretei imperfect: eram, eras, erat;
eramus, eratis, erant,
his thoughts were upon a little horse,
with a long tail, which he hoped his
father would buy for him. Then, re-
collecting himself, he went on to --
Preterperfect: fui, fuisti, fuit; fuimus,
Juistis,Juerunt, velfuere.
But, between this and the preter-
pluperfect, came a vision of a saddle
and bridle. The idea of various plea-
sant rides he might take with his father,
disturbed him many times in his pro-
gress through the potential mood.
Mary had completely finished all her
morning lessons before he came to the
participle future in rus.
His mother was going out to plant
some flowers in her garden. Before
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? FRANK.
63
she went, she offered to hear Frank his
lesson. He tried to say it, but he
made half a dozen mistakes ; he was
sure he should have it, however, before
she returned.
Mary would not go out without him,
and took up a book to amuse herself
till he should be ready.
He went on, dividing his attention
between his grammar, which lay upon
a chair, and Mary, who sat at a table
at some distance.
" Imperative mood, present tense : sis,
es, esto. I cannot conceive what is the
matter with me this morning, that I
cannot get this by heart. Mary. what's
that beautiful book you have there? "
"'Cowper's Poems," said Mary. -I
am looking at the prints. "' ',* 'it u. y
i(PlUrai,. siftiits, sitis, este, eUote.
What is this? " said he, looking over
her. "' Verses, supposed to have
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? 64
FRANK.
been written by Alexander Selkirk,
during his solitary abode in the island. '
How very extraordinary! Do you
know, my dear Mary, I was just
thinking that I would play at Robinson
Crusoe when I went out. "
"Well, make haste then, and come
out," said Mary.
" Simus, sitis, este, estote, sint, sunto.
But let me look at Robinson Crusoe's
verses," said Frank ; and he read them.
" I'm the monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre, all round to the sea,
I am lord of the fowl and the brute. "
" My dear Frank, do get your lesson,"
interrupted Mary.
" Well, I am getting it," said Frank,
running back to his book.
" Potential mood: sim, sis, sit; si-
mus, sitis, sint. " Then again to the
verses: --
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? FRANK.
65
"I am out of humanity's reach;
I must finish my journey alone;
Never hear the sweet music of speech ;
I start at the sound of my own. "
" Preterimperfect: essem, esses, esset;
essemus, essetis, essent. What is that,
Mary, about the death of a bullfinch,
killed by a rat ? "
" And Bully's cage, supported, stood,
On props of smoothest shaven wood,
Large built, and la'''- -1 well. "
As Mary was curious to know what
happened to Bully, she let him read
on. And full a quarter of an hour was
spent upon the dream that disturbed
poor Bully's rest. Nor was it till he
came to something about the baccha-
nalians, which they neither of them
understood, that she begged him again
to go to his lesson.
" Prefer pluperfect" said hei run-
g3
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? 66
FRANK.
ning back to the chair, and glancing
his eye upon the book; "fuissem,
fuisses, fuisset; fuissemus, fuissetis, fu-
issunt. "
He did not look long enough to see
that he should have said fuissent.
" Now I have it really quite per-
fect," concluded he, " and I will say it
the moment my mother comes in.
What is this about a parrot? "
He turned over the book from one
thing to another, reading bits here and
there. " Oh, Mary ! look at these lines
On the receipt of my mother's picture. "
"But what is this in prose? " said
Mary, peeping between the leaves in
another place, while Frank read on
about my mother's picture.
"What is this, Frank, about three
hares; Puss, Tiney, and Bess? "
Frank turned to it, and began to read
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? FRANK.
67
it with great delight. He had just
come to the introduction of a hare to a
spaniel that had never seen a spaniel,
and of a spaniel to a hare that had
never seen a hare, when his mother re-
turned. She had come in on purpose
to hear him his lesson. But his head
was so full of the hares, the parrot, the
bullfinch, and " My Mother's Picture,"
that he could not get beyond the im-
perative mood. Ashamed, he took
back the book, which his mother re-
turned to him.
"What can you have been doing,
Frank, all this time ? " said she.
He told her what they had been
reading; and indeed had a great mind
to read the lines about " My Mother"
over again to her. He assured her,
that if she would only just let him
read them, it would put them out of
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? 68
FRANK.
his head, and then he should be able
to mind better his verb. She refused,
however, to listen to his reading, and
advised him to go away from these
books and from Mary, and to learn his
verb in his own room, where there was
nothing to distract his attention.
"No, mamma, I think I had better
learn it in the room with you, because
you know it is right to be able to do
things in the room with other people. "
" If you can, Frank," said his mother.
She desired Mary to go out. Mary
went out; and his mother sat down to
write a letter, telling Frank, that when
she had finished it she would hear his
lesson again. He looked it over, and,
in a feW minutes, his book came across
the paper on which she was writing.
" Be so good, mammai as to hear tne
now. "
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? FRANK.
" Frank, you cannot have learned it
well in this time. Look it over again ;
remember, this is the third and last time
of my hearing it for you. "
" Yes, ma'am, but I am sure I have
it perfectly. "
No such thing: he could not
recollect the future tense. He grew
very red ; he was much provoked with
himself and with his grammar. He
looked out of the window, to see
what Mary was doing. She was lin-
gering near the house, waiting for him.
Soon he knocked at the window, and
beckoned to her, and begged her to
come in and hear him his verb once
more. The future tense was right this
time; but he could not get through
the imperative mood without many
mistakes.
"Well, well, Mary," cried he, "that
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? 70
FRANK.
does not signify; I have it perfect all
but that, and I shall remember it, I am
sure, when I have been out and refreshed
my memory. "
" You had better look it over once
more," argued Mary.
His mother gave him the same ad-
vice.
" And I will stay and hear you
again," said Mary.
No; Frank now declared he was
sure that saying it over and over so'
often to his mother and Mary, only
puzzled him, and that he could not
learn it any better till after he had
been out. As Mary was also eager' tS
go to finish their bower, she did hot
urge her good advice farther, and 'ritft
they went.
"Now, my dear," said Frank, "1
will tell you my grand scheme, which
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? FRANK. 71
has been running in my head all morn-
ing. --We must remove your bower to
my Robinson Crusoe's island. "
Mary in vain objected, that it would
take a great deal of time to remove the
bower, and that she thought it was bet-
ter where it was, in her garden, than in
a desart island. Frank's heart was
fixed upon this scheme. He assured
her that it would soon be accomplished,
if she would help him, and work hard.
She helped him, and they worked hard ;
and in two hours' time, the branches
of hawthorn were dragged to Robinson
Crusoe's island. The new bower was
completed.
Frank then returned to the
house, intending to look over his verb
again. But a new project occurred; he
must have Robinson Crusoe's parrot
in Robinson Crusoe's bower.
With some difficulty, and after a
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? 72
FRANK.
quarter of an hour spent in entreaty,
he prevailed on the housekeeper to lend
him her parrot, and to let him carry
Poll, in its cage, out to his desart
island. And when, after many times
changing its place, Poll was fixed in
the best situation in the bower, Frank
wanted to teach her to cry Robinson
Crusoe, while Poll would say nothing
but, " Good boy, Frank;" a phrase
which Frank had formerly taught her,
with the help of many lumps of sugar.
Many more were now spent in try-
ing to make her change " Good boy,
Frank" into " Robinson Crusoe"--in
vain.
" Poll will say it to-morrow, per-
haps," said Mary.
But Frank persisted, that she must
say it to-day, because it would surprise
papa and mamma, and delight them
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? FRANK.
73
so much when they came to drink tea
here, in Robinson Crusoe's island.
" There ! there ! " exclaimed Mary,
"did you hear that? "
" What? " said Frank.
" The dressing bell. "
" Impossible, my dear; it was only
a bell in your ears. "
Mary ran home to inquire whether
she was right or wrong, and presently
returned, with the assurance that she
was quite right. It was the dressing
bell; and she earnestly begged Frank
would come in now and look over his
lesson. >. i. tf. iO wVA. . o. . ;
"This instant; only let me stay till
Poll has said her lesson. She is just
going to say it, I know by the look of
her heady all on one side. "
> Poll sat mute; Frank presented his
last bit of sugar, and commanded her
VOL. I. H
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? 74 FRANK.
to say Robinson Crusoe, she answered
with her tiresome " Good boy, Frank. "
He suddenly withdrew the sugar, and
she, pursuing it with her beak, sharply
bit his finger. Provoked with the par-
rot, and not well pleased with himself,
he slowly followed Mary homewards.
He was longer than usual dressing, be-
cause the finger which Poll had bitten
was disabled, so that he could hardly
button his clothes ; and, when he came
to look over his verb, the pain dis-
tracted his attention--at least so Mary
supposed, for he could not say it when
she heard him.
" You always make the same mis-
take," said she. " You say essunt, in-
stead of essent. "
"Well, let me go on; you put me
out, Mary. Don't tell me next time
-- don't tell me. "
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? FRANK.
75
She did not tell him, and he could
not go on. He desired to be told.
And -- Oh, how hard it is to satisfy a
person, who is not satisfied with himself!
--he then declared he was just going to
have said it, if she had not told him;
and the next time she corrected a mis-
take, that he made in the participles,
he was sure she was wrong, and told
her so rather roughly.
" Nay, Frank, when I have the book
before my eyes: do you think I cannot
read? " said Mary.
He snatched the book from her hand,
and saw that he was wrong. He could
not go on: in a passion, he threw him-
self on the ground, and rolled on the
carpet, declaring he could not and
would not learn this horribly difficult
verb.
But at this instant the sound of
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? 76
FRANK.
horses' feet was heard. Frank started
up, forgot his passion and the parrot's
bite, seized the grammar, which he had
thrown far from him, and would have
given up parrot and arbour, and island
and all, for five minutes more time.
" Perhaps," thought he, " my father
may not hear me before dinner;"--but
his father's voice called--" Frank! "--
He went into his father's room, and
Mary waited in the passage; she was
afraid for him.
He staid much longer than usual.
At last, when he came out, Mary
saw by his face that something was
very much the matter.
" Oh," said she, " I knew the day
of disgrace would come. "
He passed by her quickly, and, sit-
ting down upon the stairs, burst out
crying--
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? FRANK. 77
' " Day of disgrace, indeed! Oh
Mary ! Mary ! my father is very -- very
--very much--"
Displeased was the word he could
not say, but Mary understood it too
well.
" What did he say, Frank, my
dear r"
" He said, that I am spoilt--that I
am grown idle and good for nothing :
and it is very true; -- and he will not
teach me any more. I am to go to
school directly, on Monday. Oh,
Mary, to leave home in disgrace ! "
Frank sobbed, as if his heart would
break, and Mary stood quite silent.
The dinner bell rang, and it was ne-
cessary to go to dinner, and there was
to be that stranger gentleman. Frank
suddenly rubbed away his tears, and
Mary, standing on the step above him,
H3
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? 78 FRANK.
smoothed down his hair on his fore-
head. Frank took his place at table,
and, as he happened to sit with his
back to the light, his red eye-brows
were not much seen," and the stranger
did not immediately perceive that he
was in woe or disgrace.
" Young gentleman," said he, "you
shortened our ride this morning; and
I can tell you, there are very few fathers
who would shorten their morning's
ride for the sake of hearing their son's
Latin lesson. "
Frank, in much confusion, eat his
bread as fast as he could, without at-
tempting to speak.
" It is very well for boys," conti-
nued the gentleman, who was helping
the soup, and who had not yet attended
to Frank s countenance, " very happy
indeed, for boys who can be got through
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? FRANK.
79
the Latin grammar without my assist-
ance. Perhaps you do not know that
my name is Birch"
Still there was silence. Frank could
not speak, but Mary answered for him,
"No, sir. "
"And perhaps," continued he, " you
are such happy children, that you do
not even know why the name of Birch
should make you tremble. "
The gentleman paused, for now for
the first time he observed Frank's coun-
tenance, and he saw that he was strug-
gling hard to prevent himself from cry-
ing. He was a good-natured man, and
immediately he changed the subject of
his conversation; and, no longer ad-
verting to Frank, talked to his father
and mother.
Colonel Birch, for that was the gen-
tleman's name, was an old friend of his
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? 80
FRANK.
father's; he had just returned from the
army oh* the Continent, and he told
many entertaining stories of the siege of
Badajos, and of the battle of Waterloo;
but nothing could entertain Frank. He
watched his father's countenance, and
scarcely heard or understood any thing
that was said, till Colonel Birch related
an anecdote of a dog he had with him,
who had saved his master's life when
he had been left, wounded and helpless,
lying among the dead after a battle.
Frank remembered just such another
story, and he began to tell it.
" Oh, papa, you know the dog" . . . .
But his father did not listen to him;
and Frank, recollecting that he was in
disgrace, stopped short, and, to hide
his confusion, leaned down upon the
Colonel's dog. The good creature
stood quite still, though Frank's arm
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? FRANK.
81
round his neck was rather inconvenient
to him, and though he felt Frank's tears
falling upon his head.
Frank, as soon as he could recover
himself again sufficiently to let his face
appear above the tablecloth, began to
feed the dog with all that remained on
his plate. This, with good manage-
ment, was an employment that lasted
till dinner ended, and the very moment
after grace was said, Frank slid down
from his chair, and made his escape
out of the room, Mary following him
quickly.
She sat quite silent beside him for a
little while; but then, starting up, she
ran for his Latin grammar, and brought
it to him, as he sat with his hands
covering his face, and with his elbows
leaning on his knees--
" Frank! my dear Frank, sitting this
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? 82
FRANK.
way will do us no good," said Mary.
" Look up; had not you better learn it
now r
" No, my dear Mary, even that will
do us no good now. Papa will never
hear it again--he said so. "
" Did he . say so ? You must have
made a mistake. "
" No, Mary, it is too true. "
" Tell me the very words he said. "
" He said, ' Frank, I will never hear
you say that verb again. Frank, I
warned you, and now--' it is all over! "
Here Frank's voice failed.
" Well, do not tell me any more. I
am sorry I asked you," said Mary.
" What shall we do ? What can we
do? "
" Nothing can be done now," replied
Frank, resuming his former posture.
" Oh ! miserable May-day ! " said
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