"What was your lesson to-day?" asked the teacher.

"Square root," answered Harry.

"I will give you out a very simple sum to begin with. Now, attention
all! Find the square root of 625. Whoever gets the answer first
may hold up his hand."

The first to hold up his hand was Ephraim Higgins.

"Have you got the answer?" asked Mr. Burbank in some surprise.
"Yes, sir."

"State it."

"Forty-five."

"How did you get it?"

Ephraim scratched his head, and looked confused. The fact was, he
was entirely ignorant of the method of extracting the square root,
but had slyly looked at the slate of his neighbor, Harry Walton,
and mistaken the 25 for 45, and hurriedly announced the answer, in
the hope of obtaining credit for the same.

"How did you get it?" asked the teacher again.

Ephraim looked foolish.