Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/67

DINGO'S SAGACITY. 53 of his pupil, he soon Icarned that the man's gentle docility was a sufficient guarantee against his clumsiness. While the science of entomology was thus occupyîng its two votaries, Mrs. Weldon was giving her own best attention to the éducation of Master Jack. Reading and writîng she undertook to teach herself, while she entrusted the instruction in arithmetic to the care of Dick Sands. Under the conviction that a child of five years will make a much more rapîd progress if something h'ke amusement be combined with his lessons, Mrs. Weldon would not teach her boy to spell by the use of an ordinary schooi primer, but used a set of cubes, on the sides of which the various letters were painted in red. After first making a word and showing it to Jack, she set him to put it together without her help, and it was astonishing how quickly the child advanced, and how many hours he would spend in this way, both in the cabin and on deck. There were more than fifty cubes, which, besides the alphabet, included ail the digits ; so that they were of service for Dick Sands' lessons as well as for her own. She was more than satisfied with her device. On the momîng of the gth an incident occurred which could not fail to be observed as somewhat remarkablc. Jack was half lying, half sitting on the deck, amusing himself with his letters, and had just finished putting together a Word with which he intended to puzzle old Tom, who, with his hand sheltering his eyes, was pretending not to see the difficulty which was being labouriously prepared to bewilder him ; ail at once. Dingo, who had been gambolling round the child, made a sudden pause, lifted his right paw, and wagged his tail convulsively. Then darting down upon a capital S, he seized it in his mouth, and carricd it some paces away. " Oh, Dingo, Dingo ! you mustn*t cat my letters ! " shouted the child. But the dog had already dropped the block of wood, and coming back again, picked up another, which he laid quîetly by the side of the first. This time it was a capital V. Jack uttered an exclamation of astonishment which