` What does `` anatomy '' mean ? ' Whiskers demanded . ' A pain in your stomach , ' Sandy replied , quick as a flash and never batting an eyelid . Whiskers-on-the-moon is a very ignorant man , Mrs. Dr. dear ; he did n't know the meaning of the words himself , and he said ` Very good -- very good . ' The class caught right on -- at least three or four of the brighter ones did -- and they kept up the fun . Jean Blane said that ` acoustic ' meant ' a religious squabble , ' and Muriel Baker said that an ` agnostic ' was ' a man who had indigestion , ' and Jim Carter said that ` acerbity ' meant that ` you ate nothing but vegetable food , ' and so on all down the list . Whiskers swallowed it all , and kept saying ` Very good -- very good ' until Ella thought that die she would trying to keep a straight face . When the teacher came in , Whiskers complimented her on the splendid understanding the children had of their lesson and said he meant to tell the trustees what a jewel they had . It was ` very unusual , ' he said , to find a fourth class who could answer up so prompt when it came to explaining what words meant . He went off beaming . But Ella told me this as a great secret , Mrs. Dr. dear , and we must keep it as such , for the sake of the Lowbridge Road teacher . It would likely be the ruin of her chances of keeping the school if Whiskers should ever find out how he had been bamboozled . '' Mary Vance came up to Ingleside that same afternoon to tell them that Miller Douglas , who had been wounded when the Canadians took Hill 70 , had had to have his leg amputated . The Ingleside folk sympathized with Mary , whose zeal and patriotism had taken some time to kindle but now burned with a glow as steady and bright as any one 's . `` Some folks have been twitting me about having a husband with only one leg . But , '' said Mary , rising to a lofty height , `` I would rather Miller with only one leg than any other man in the world with a dozen -- unless , '' she added as an after-thought , `` unless it was Lloyd George . Well , I must be going . I thought you 'd be interested in hearing about Miller so I ran up from the store , but I must hustle home for I promised Luke MacAllister I 'd help him build his grain stack this evening . It 's up to us girls to see that the harvest is got in , since the boys are so scarce . I 've got overalls and I can tell you they 're real becoming .
Mrs. Alec XXXXX says they 're indecent and should n't be allowed , and even Mrs. Elliott kinder looks askance at them .
Blane Carter Douglas MacAllister Road Sandy Whiskers-on-the-moon agnostic evening fourth