F’ instance, Miss Alviry Sawyer, which she’s a single-handed maiden lady ‘bout wife’s age, why, of co’se, she teaches accordin’ to the old rules; an’ in learnin’ the child’en subtraction, f’ instance, she’ll tell ’em, ef they run short to borry one f’om the nex’ lef’ han’ top figur’, an’ pay it back to the feller underneath him.

Well, this didn’t suit Sonny’s sense o’ jestice no way, borryin’ from one an’ payin’ back to somebody else; so he thess up an argued about it—­told her thet fellers thet borried nickels f’om one another couldn’t pay back that a-way; an’ of co’se she told him they was heap o’ difference ‘twix’ money and ’rithmetic—­which I wish’t they was more in my experience; an’ so they had it hot and heavy for a while, till at last she explained to him thet that way of doin’ subtraction fetched the answer, which, of co’se, ought to satisfy any school-boy; an’ I reckon Sonny would soon ‘a’ settled into that way ‘ceptin’ thet he got out o’ patience with that school in sev’al ways, an’ he left an’ went out to Sandy Crik school, and it thess happened that he struck a subtraction class there the day he got in, an’ they was workin’ it the other way—­borry one from the top figur’ an’ never pay it back at all, thess count it off (that’s the way I ’ve worked my lifelong subtraction, though wife does hers payin’ back), an’ of co’se Sonny was ready to dispute this way, an’ he didn’t have no mo’ tac’ than to th’ow up Miss Alviry’s way to the teacher, which of co’se he wouldn’t stand, particular ez Miss Alviry’s got the biggest school.  So they broke up in a row, immejate, and Sonny went right along to Miss Kellogg’s school down here at the cross-roads.

She’s a sort o’ reformed teacher, I take it; an’ she gets at her subtraction by a new route altogether—­like ez ef the first feller thet had any surplus went sort o security for them thet was short, an’ passed the loan down the line.  But I noticed he never got his money back, for when they come to him, why, they docked him.  I reckon goin’ security is purty much the same in an out o’ books.  She passes the borryin’ along some way till it gits to headquarters, an’ writes a new row o’ figur’s over the heads o’ the others.  Well, my old brain got so addled watchin’ Sonny work it thet I didn’t seem to know one figur’ f’om another ‘fo’ he got thoo; but when I see the answer come, why, I was satisfied.  Ef a man can thess git his answers right all his life, why nobody ain’t a-goin’ to pester him about how he worked his figur’s.

I did try to get Sonny to stick to one school for each rule in ‘rithmetic, an’ havin’ thess fo’ schools, why he could learn each o’ the fo’ rules by one settled plan.  But he wont promise nothin’.  He’ll quit for lessons one week, and maybe next week somethin’ else ’ll decide him.  (He’s quit ever’ one of ’em in turn when they come to long division.) He went thoo a whole week o’ disagreeable lessons once-t at one school ‘cause he was watchin’ a bird-nest on the way to that school.  He was determined them young birds was to be allowed to leave that nest without bein’ pestered, an’ they stayed so long they purty nigh run him into long division ‘fo’ they did fly.  Ef he’d ‘a’ missed school one day he knowed two sneaky chaps thet would ‘a’ robbed that nest, either goin’ or comin’.