Theobald noticed the fact that he was being contradicted in a
moment. He got up from his armchair and went to the piano.
"No, Ernest, you don't," he said, "you say nothing of the kind,
you say 'tum,' not 'come.' Now say 'come' after me, as I do."
"Tum," said Ernest, at once; "is that better?" I have no doubt he
thought it was, but it was not.
"Now, Ernest, you are not taking pains: you are not trying as you
ought to do. It is high time you learned to say 'come'; why, Joey
can say 'come,' can't you, Joey?"
"Yeth, I can," replied Joey, and he said something which was not far
off "come."
"There, Ernest, do you hear that? There's no difficulty about it,
nor shadow of difficulty. Now, take your own time, think about it, and
say 'come' after me."
The boy remained silent a few seconds and then said "tum" again.
I laughed, but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said, "Please
do not laugh, Overton; it will make the boy think it does not
matter, and it matters a great deal"; then turning to Ernest he
said, "Now, Ernest, I will give you one more chance, and if you
don't say 'come,' I shall know that you are self-willed and naughty.
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