Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-09-02

his brow and said. "Cauee | want 20
be as kin talk 10 anybody, Il makes
no difference who it Is a.-a man, or A
gal. Them Bushville fellers kin talk
their grammar and Klt away with 4
II rather suspect that there Is some
young lady with whom you wish to
converse" said " alter, smiling.
John brushed his horid face with the
sleeve Of his shirt, and, after momen-
tary pause, said: MAY be it's so, and
may be it aint
admit the truth of IL, john" said
Walter. ''Is there not some Young lady
in Bushville for whose sake you want
to polish up your languagep"
John turned his face to the wall and
said, in an awkward way; "Well,
then, what Of there was, an what ef she
lived in Bushville an her name was
Susie Black, could you help fellor
anyP"
II might" said Walter, with a
smile.
Then you've got the hull secret o.
my case"
"You want TO cultivate your Ian
guagc then, so that in conversing with
Miss Black you may cope with those
young men at Bushvillc.
"Thats jbt it, said John, turning
his face toward Walter. aye see them
Bushville chaps Just take the shine out
o. n feller that's been raised among
horses, oxen and mules.n
"All right, john" Walter answered
"Now. in the first place, let me crit
icisc you some in your pronunciation. "
Hold on there" said John, "what
do We mean by them big wordsPn
"Criticise means to Judge, to exam
inc and point out your faults
"Yes, in course" sand John, who
hardly understood Walter yet.
"YOu are in the habit of calling q
girl a gal"
"Ain't that rightr'
"No, You should never use t."
"I won't then"
"You seem deficient in grammar;
you frequently use the objective them
in the nominative case. "
yes" said John, noundering in a
sea Of uncertainty as to the meaning Of
his tutor.
"You do not seem to know that the
verb must agree with the noun in num-
Der and person. and frequently use n
plural noun as subject and singular
verb
"Hold on. hold on" said John,
reaching out his hand despairingly.
I'm afraid ye'ro given me too big Il
dose TO take all 10 onc't"
"Why. I've not given you any thing
Then I'd better give 1t up. can't
learn all that in lifetime. kin stand
sense talk. but when 1t comes to nouns
by plural and singular, / cave in.
Pinkey kin learn all about them things,
but l never will; l hate 'em. The
teacher flogged me six times one day,
cos / didn't know what n noun was,
and I've hated the thing ever since.
Darn a noun, | want nothing to do
with 'em."
Walter smiled and said: "But John
don't you love Susie Blackp"
II do, by Jupiter, dor
"Will you not put yourself to some
Inconvenience for her sake?"
II will, YOU bet will"
"Do you not wish to speak as cor
rectly as those young fellows at Bush
vile. the clerks. the bankers and
school teachersPn
"Ya's."
"Then why not try?"
II will. -
Walter now saw at once that Johns
teacher had made n mistake in giving
him abstract rules. so he commenced
TO give him object lessons. He showed
him the difference between false and
correct sentences, commencing with
the most simple; 81 are" and 'I am,
were explained TO John, and "they
are" showing him practically that the
verb must agree with the noun in
number. Then step by step, he
taught him without book until in
few weeks there was vast improve
ment in Johns pronunciation and
speech. He declared he would soon
lie able to talk as well as Pinkey.