"
* * * * *
THE MANNERS OF OUR CHILDREN!
(_FRAGMENT FROM A TRAGIC FARCE, SUGGESTED BY A CORRESPONDENCE IN A
DAILY PAPER._)
SCENE--_The Sanctum of Paterfamilias. Enter to him JACKY,
his eldest born._
_Pater_. (_cordially_). How are you, old chap?
_Jacky_. Very well, thank you, Father. And will you forgive me--is not
"chap" a trifle slangy?
_Pater_. (_astonished_). Eh! what?
_Jacky_. You were good enough to write to my Form Master after the
Easter Vacation, complaining of my style. Consequently that worthy
pedagogue has given more than usual attention to that part of my
education.
[Illustration]
_Pater_. Well, now you are home for the holidays! As for your Form
Master--hang him and all his works!
_Jacky_. Are you quite sure that you are quoting correctly? To the
best of my belief the line goes, "hang him with his pen and ink-horn."
_Pater_. Eh! what? I don't understand you.
_Jacky_. Why, my dear Father, I naturally concluded that you were
quoting; from the Immortal Bard. You will find the passage in _The
Second Part of King Henry the Sixth_, scene iv., line 2.
_Pater_. What are you talking about?
_Jacky_. Why your misquotation. And will you forgive me--but do you
not think it would sound better if you were to ask me--"about what I
was talking"? I might add that my Form Master and I--
_Pater_. Your "Form Master and you." Rot and bosh! I should say--
_Jacky_ (_with a twitch of pain_).
Pages:
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44