"Now," said Mr. Baxter, planting himself firmly, with his legs rather far
apart, thrusting his hands in his pockets, and staring steadily at the
shivering group from under his awful brows; "what _is_ Geography? To
begin with. That's the first thing. What _is_ Geography?"
For a moment there was no reply. I almost began to hope that there would
be none. I felt that here "Silence was golden," and if maintained, all
might be comparatively well; when, to my dismay, there was a sort of
flank movement in the ranks and the ill-starred Estella raised her hand.
"Well," said Mr. Baxter, pointing his finger steadfastly at her as if to
impart a vein of concentration to her palpably loose and floating
appearance; "You! You ought to know. What is Geography, eh?"
Some fair wreck of an idea, formerly appropriated in this connection,
floated through the brain of the "Mo-doc." She opened her mouth and in
those loud and startling accents, for which she was ever distinguished,
gave utterance to these memorable words:
"A--round! like a ball!"
Mr. Baxter glared fiercely at her for a moment, and then permitted his
scorn to escape in a long, sarcastic hiss.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106