"That'll be ever so nice!" was Lulu's comment.

"That's so," said Max. "I see you are not going to be hard on a fellow,
papa."

"Wait till you are sure," said his father: "there's to be no idling, no
half attention to study, in those hours; you are to give your whole
minds to your lessons, and I shall be very strict in exacting perfect
recitations."

"Do you mean, sir, that we are to repeat the answers in the book, word
for word?"

"No, not at all. I shall very much prefer to have you give the sense in
your own words: then I shall know that you understand the meaning of the
text, and are not repeating sounds merely like a parrot; that you have
not been going over the words without trying to take in the ideas they
are meant to express."

"But suppose we can't catch the writer's meaning?"

"If you fail to do so, after giving your best efforts to the task, your
teacher will always be ready to explain to the best of his ability," was
the smiling rejoinder. "But remember, all of you, that I intend you to
use your own brains with as little assistance from other people's as
possible. Mind as well as body grows strong by exercise."

"But we haven't decided when we are to begin," said Lulu.

"I vote for to-morrow," said Max: "afternoons will give us time enough