"
"It's a piece of poetry, sir, where the first letter of every line spells
another word."
"Do you mean the first letter alone spells a word?"
The boys laughed, and Howard explained promptly. "No, sir; I mean the
first letters of each line taken together form a name."
"Must an acrostic always be written in poetry?"
This question called forth several answers, and made a good deal of talk;
but it was finally decided that there could be acrostics in prose as well
as in rhyme; and Mr. Burrows asked,--
"How many understand now what an acrostic is?"
A few more hands were raised, but many of the boys did not understand
yet; it must be made plainer.
"Howard," said Mr. Burrows, "come to the board and give us an acrostic on
the word boy."
Howard sprang up. "Must it be a sensible one, sir?"
"Sense or nonsense, just as you please, so as it shows us what an
acrostic is."
"I can take my parsing-book and give you one, I think, sir."
And Howard came forward and wrote rapidly,--
"B But you shall hear an odd affair, indeed,
O Of which all Europe rings from side to side"--
Then he paused, turning the leaves of his parsing-book eagerly.
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