hisself picked up a chip, reckless, one day, an' it hopped up, and
knocked off his spectacles. Of cose it wasn't no chip. Hopper-toad frogs
an' wood-bark chips, why, they favors consider'ble--lay 'em same side
up.

It was on account o' her takin' a interest in all his little beasts
an' varmints thet he first took sech a notion to Miss Phoebe Kellog's
school. Where any other teacher would scold about sech things ez he'd
fetch in, why, she'd encourage him to bring 'em to her; an' she'd fix
a place for 'em, an' maybe git out some book tellin' all about 'em, an'
showin' pictures of 'em.

She's had squir'l-books, an' bird-books, an' books on nearly every sort
o' wild critter you'd think too mean to _put_ into a book, at that
school, an' give the child'en readin'-lessons on 'em an' drawin'-lessons
an' clay-moldin' lessons.

Why, Sonny has did his alligator so nach'l in clay thet you'd most
expec' to see it creep away. An' you'd think mo' of alligators forever
afterward, too. An' ez to readin', he never did take no interest in
learnin' how to read out'n them school-readers, which he declares don't
no more'n git a person interested in one thing befo' they start on
another, an' maybe start _that_ in the middle.

The other teachers, they makes a heap o' fun o' Miss Phoebe's way
o' school-teachin', 'cause she lets the child'en ask all sorts of
outlandish questions, an' make pictures in school hours, an' she
don't requi' 'em to fold their arms in school, neither.

Maybe she is foolin' their time away. I can't say ez I exac'ly see how