A Mortifying Mistake

STUDIED my tables over and over, and backward and forward too ;
But I couldn't remember six times nine, and I
didn't know what to do,
Till sister told me to play with mydoll, and not to
bother my head.
"If you call her 'Fifty-four' for a while, you'll learn it by heart," she said.
So I took my favorite, Mary Ann (though I
thought ' twas a dreadful shame To give such a perfectly lovely child such a per- fectly horrid name) ,
And I called her my dear little "Fifty-four" a
hundred times, till I knew
The answer of six times nine as well as the answer
of two times two.
MAIDENHOOD
Next day Elizabeth Wigglesworth, who always acts so proud,
Said, " Six times nine is fifty-two," and I nearly laughed aloud!
But I wished I hadn't when teacher said, "Now,
Dorothy, tell if you can."
For I thought of my doll and-sakes alive -I!
answered, "Mary Ann! "