`` You can go , Randa . Just hand me my cushion and books , Ben ; then you can sit in the chair while I talk to you , '' commanded Thorny , tumbling into the hammock . `` What 's he goin ' to say to me ? '' wondered Ben to himself , as he sat down with Sanch sprawling among the wheels . `` Now , Ben , I think you 'd better learn a hymn ; I always used to when I was a little chap , and it is a good thing to do Sundays , '' began the new teacher , with a patronizing air , which ruffled his pupil as much as the opprobrious term `` little chap . '' `` I 'll be -- whew -- if I do ! '' whistled Ben , stopping an oath just in time . `` It is not polite to whistle in company , '' said Thorny , with great dignity . `` Miss Celia told me to . I 'll say ` confound it , ' if you like that better , '' answered Ben , as a sly smile twinkled in his eyes . `` Oh , I see ! She 's told you about it ? Well , then , if you want to please her , you 'll learn a hymn right off . Come , now , she wants me to be clever to you , and I 'd like to do it ; but if you get peppery , how can I ? '' Thorny spoke in a hearty , blunt way , which suited Ben much better than the other , and he responded pleasantly , -- `` If you wo n't be grand I wo n't be peppery . Nobody is going to boss me but Miss Celia ; so I 'll learn hymns if she wants me to . '' '' ` In the soft season of thy youth ' is a good one to begin with . I learned it when I was six . Nice thing ; better have it . '' And Thorny offered the book like a patriarch addressing an infant .
XXXXX surveyed the yellow page with small favor , for the long s in the old-fashioned printing bewildered him ; and when he came to the last two lines , he could not resist reading them wrong , -- `` The earth affords no lovelier fight Than a religious youth . ''
Ben Celia Nobody Randa Sanch Thorny chair chap hammock right