"I know _I needn't_," replied the small boy, "but I like to."
"'Cause you're funny," Reginald said. It was not strange that Arabella was angry. Would any girl be pleased to have a small boy watching her, and declaring that she was "funny?"
And now Aunt Charlotte was calling the youngest class in reading, and Reginald hastily snatched his book, and began to hunt for the lesson.
"The third page, Reginald," said Aunt Charlotte; "you may read the first paragraph."
He found the place, and read the lines without a mistake. It was his first term at school, but his mother had found pleasure in teaching him, and he read quite as well as some of the younger pupils.
"Read the next paragraph, Reginald," said Aunt Charlotte.
"'When the king rode over the highway, the sun glistened upon his,--on his,--'"
It was a word which Reginald had never seen, and he frowned until an odd little pucker appeared on his forehead.
"'When the king rode over the highway, the sun glistened upon his,'"--again he paused. The word looked no easier this time than when he had first read the lines.
"I _can't_ pronounce that word," he said.
"Read the lines again, and when you come to the word that puzzles you, pronounce it as you think it should be," said Aunt Charlotte.
The other pupils were interested, but when Reginald glanced toward Arabella, he saw that she was smiling in evident delight at his discomfiture. He resolved to rush through the reading in a way that would tell her that he could read _anything_. He drew a long breath, and then, as fast as possible, he read:
"'When the king rode over the highway, the sun glistened upon his _carrot_ wheels!'"
Even Aunt Charlotte smiled at the droll error, but Arabella laughed long and loud.
The others read in turn, until they had finished the charming story, and each of the girls wondered why Arabella was not reproved for rudeness. The arithmetic lesson completed the morning's work, and as they walked home, they talked of the new pupil.
"I don't see why Aunt Charlotte didn't speak to Arabella," said Nina Earl, "she was horridly rude."
"And how queer she is," said Mollie Merton; "just the minute school was out she ran down the path, and across the street to get home before any of us could talk with her. And I _do_ wonder Aunt Charlotte didn't speak to her about laughing so loudly, just because Reginald made a mistake. I don't believe she could read any better."