It may be one hundred or it may be twenty.
Suppose it were a bushel of potatoes they consumed in nine weeks.

How many would they use in one week ?" The girl again shook her head and resumed her upward gaze.
"Would they not use one-ninth of a bushel?
Or, we'll take a peach for instance." Matilda's face brightened perceptibly and almost lost its look of dejection.

The teacher noted the change and smiled encouragingly as she said: "We'll suppose a peach will last you nine days.

What part of it will you eat in one day ?" The expectant look faded out of the poor girl's face.

One peach to last nine days! No wonder the question seemed impossible of solution.
"Well, then," said Miss Harper quite in despair and almost perspiring in her effort to make it plain to the child, "we'll let the peach go.
Suppose instead, it were a watermelon.