Part 21 (1/2)
”Oh, you haven't got to that yet; it is away over in the arithmetic.”
”But, I tell you, I've _got_ to get at it right away--it's necessary. I don't want it in the arithmetic; I want to do it.”
Which was and always _would_ be the marked difference between this boy's and girl's education. She learned a thing because it was in the book; he learned a thing in order to use it.
”What do you want of tenths, anyhow? Why can't you wait until you get there?”
”'Cause things that they ought to be helping to do can't wait till I've got there. I need to use one of them right away. Come, tell me about them.”
”Well,” said Winny, ”where's your slate? Here are six-tenths, made so--6/10.”
Tode looked with eager yet bewildered eyes. What had that figure six on top of that figure ten, to do with Mr. Birge's earnest appeal to all who called themselves by the name of Christian to make one-tenth of their money holy to the Lord?
”What's one-tenth then?” he said at last, hoping that this was something which would look less puzzling.
”Why, _this_ is one tenth.” And Winny made a very graceful one, and a neat ten, and drew a prim bewildering little line between them.
”That is the way to write it. Ten-tenths make a whole, and one-tenth is written just as I've shown you.”
”But, Winny,” said Tode, in desperation, ”never mind writing it. I don't care _how_ they write it; tell me how they _do_ it.”
”How to _do_ it! I don't know what you mean. Ten-tenths make a whole, I tell you, and one-tenth is just one-tenth of it, and that's all there is about it.”
”The whole of what, Winny?”
”The whole of anything. It takes ten-tenths to make a whole one.”
Poor puzzled Tode! What strange language was this that Winny talked?
Suppose he hadn't a whole one after all, since it took ten-tenths to make it, and he couldn't even find out what _one_ of them was. Suppose he should never have a whole one in his life, ought he not then to give anything to help on all those grand doings which Mr. Birge told about?
”I don't understand a bit about it,” he said at last, in a despairing tone.
”Well, I knew you wouldn't,” Winny answered, touches of triumph and complaisance sounding in her voice. ”You musn't expect to understand such hard things until you get to them.”
And now the dear old mother, who had never studied fractions out of a book in her life, came suddenly to the rescue.
”Have you been reading about the tenths in your Bible, deary?” she asked, with winning sympathy.
”No, I didn't know they were there till to-night, but I've been hearing about them, how the folks always used to give one-tenth, and Mr. Birge made it out that we ought to now, but I don't know what it is.”
The old lady dived down into her work-basket and produced a little blue bag full of b.u.t.tons, of all shapes and sizes.
”Let's you and me see if we can't study it out,” she said, encouragingly. ”You just count out ten of the nicest looking of them white b.u.t.tons, and lay them along in a row.”
Tode swiftly and silently did as directed, and waited for light to dawn on this dark subject. The old lady bent with thoughtful face over the table, and looked fixedly at the innocent b.u.t.tons before she commenced.
”Now suppose,” she said, impressively, ”that every single one of them b.u.t.tons was a five dollar bill.”
”My!” said Tode, chuckling, in spite of himself, at the magnitude of the conception, but growing deeply interested as his teacher proceeded.