Back to School with Betsy Page 5

"Yes," said Father. "If the snow lasts, I have arranged for a sleighing party. It will be on Christmas Eve. You can invite five of the children from school."

  "Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "It's wonderful! Will we go sleighing in the park?"

  "Yes," said Father, "in the park."

  Betsy invited Billy and Ellen and Christopher, Mary Lou and Peter. They were just as excited as Betsy was.

  Betsy told the children about Father's sleigh ride when he was a little boy. She also told them about Father's funny dream.

  "Oh, boy!" said Billy. "I wish I could go sleigh riding with Santa Claus, the way your father did."

  When Christmas Eve arrived, the snow was packed hard on the roads. It was so hard and frozen that it was shiny and made a squeaky noise. The night was clear and the stars seemed brighter than ever to Betsy.

  By seven o'clock the children were all at Betsy's house. Father put them into the car and drove them to a livery stable near the park. In front of the stable there was a big sleigh with two horses. The sleigh had a high seat for the driver and two wide seats behind that faced each other.

  "Now, Billy and Ellen can ride with the driver first," said Father. "Then Christopher and Mary Lou can have a turn, and on the way back Peter and Betsy can ride up front."

  This satisfied the children and they scrambled into the sleigh. Father tucked the rugs around them. The horses stamped their feet and shook their heads. The sleigh bells jingled.

  "Are you going to drive the sleigh, Father?" asked Betsy.

  "Oh, my, no!" said Father, as he climbed into the backseat beside Betsy. "The driver will be here in a moment."

  "I wish we were going for a sleigh ride with Santa Claus, the way you did in your dream," said Billy.

  No sooner had Billy said this than the door of the stable opened. Who should walk out but Santa Claus! He was wearing a bright red suit and cap trimmed with fur and he had on high black boots. The sleigh bells around his waist jingled as he walked.

  "Hello, boys and girls!" he shouted. "So you're going for a ride with me tonight!"

  The children could hardly believe their eyes. They were speechless as Santa Claus climbed up into the driver's seat and took the reins in his hand.

  "Gee up!" said Santa Claus to the horses.

  The sleigh started with a lurch. They were off!

  Billy was the first to find his tongue. He said, "Are you really Santa Claus?"

  "Sure, me boy, I'm his twin brother," replied Santa Claus, "and just as good. He'd 'a' come himself but he's having a big night tonight getting up and down chimneys."

  "Do you live at the North Pole?" asked Mary Lou.

  "Not me!" said Santa Claus. "It's too cold. My whiskers freeze."

  "Don't you have to help your brother on Christmas Eve?" asked Christopher.

  "No," replied Santa Claus, "I never was any good getting up and down chimneys. Always seemed sort of roundabout to me, but me brother's all for it. Did it even as a little fellow. Never would come in through the door like other folks. It was the chimney for him from the first."

  The children laughed very hard and asked a great many questions. They were driving through the park now. It was very quiet. There was no sound but the sound of the sleigh bells. Betsy looked up at the tall trees. The stars peeped between the branches and winked at her. In the distance she could hear other sleigh bells. She burrowed down into the warm rugs and held Father's hand. She felt all happy inside. Betsy hadn't known that a sleigh ride could be so wonderful.

  "Let's sing 'Jingle Bells,'" shouted Billy.

  They all sang,

  "Jingle bells, jingle bells,

  Jingle all the way,

  Oh, what fun it is to ride

  In a one-horse open sleigh."

  "Let's sing, 'two-horse open sleigh,'" said Christopher. "'Cause that is what this sleigh is."

  So then they all sang, "Oh, what fun it is to ride in a two-horse open sleigh."

  All of a sudden the horses changed their gait. The sleigh jolted and Billy toppled right off the front seat. He went head first into a big snowdrift.

  "Whoa!" cried Santa Claus, as he pulled up the horses.

  The sleigh stopped and Betsy's father jumped down. He ran back to Billy. The children turned around to see where Billy was. All that they could see were two legs covered with dark green snowpants sticking out of the snowdrift. The legs were kicking furiously.

  In a moment Father had pulled Billy out. He looked very much like the snowman in Betsy's garden.

  Father brushed him off and they ran back to the sleigh.

  "I fell out," said Billy, when he reached the sleigh.

  "You don't mean to tell me!" said Santa Claus. "Sure, and I thought you were practicing diving."

  The children changed places in the sleigh. Christopher and Mary Lou sat up with Santa

  Claus while Billy and Ellen took their seats in the back of the sleigh.

  "It's funny," said Christopher to Santa Claus, "but you talk just like Mr. Kilpatrick."

  "Yes, you do," cried the rest of the children, "just exactly like Mr. Kilpatrick."

  "And who may Mr. Kilpatrick be?" asked Santa Claus.

  "Mr. Kilpatrick is the policeman who takes us across the street," said Betsy.

  "Oh, that fellow!" shouted Santa Claus. "Sure, I've seen him often. He's got a face like a dish of turnips and hair the color of carrots."

  The children laughed. "I don't think it is nice of you to talk about Mr. Kilpatrick that way," said Ellen.

  "Sure, there's nobody with a better right," said Santa Claus.

  "I think you are Mr. Kilpatrick," said Mary Lou.

  "'Kilpatrick'! What a name!" said Santa Claus. "Upon my word, I've killed flies and I've killed mosquitoes and one or two centipedes, but never have I killed any Patrick."

  The children shouted with laughter.

  By this time the sleigh had reached a house. It stood by the road under tall trees. Lights shone from the windows. It was an old inn.

  Santa Claus stopped the sleigh and everyone climbed down. A boy in the yard led the horses to a shed nearby. He put blankets over them.

  Santa Claus led the way into the inn. There was a fire roaring in the fireplace.

  Betsy's eyes were as big as saucers. "Why, Father, it's just like your dream when you were a little boy," she said.

  In front of the fireplace there was a table. They all sat down at the table. Santa Claus sat at the head of the table.

  "Are we going to have something to eat?" asked Billy.

  "We certainly are," said Santa Claus. "What do you want to eat, Billy?"

  "Hot dogs!" shouted Billy at the top of his voice.

  "Yes, hot dogs!" shouted all of the children except Betsy. 'She was laughing so hard she couldn't say anything. At last she said, "Oh, Father!" and she began laughing again. "Do you remember the hot dogs in your dream?"

  Father was laughing too. "Yes," he said, "I remember."

  After the children ate their hot dogs and drank big cups of cocoa, they went out to the sleigh. They felt all warmed up.

  When they were settled, with Betsy and Peter on the front seat with Santa Claus, they started for home.

  "Jingle, jingle, jingle," went the sleigh bells. "Trot, trot, trot," went the horses' feet.

  Santa Claus joked with the children all the way back to the stable. There the children climbed out. They all shook hands with Santa Claus and thanked him for the lovely sleigh ride.

  As they got into Father's car, they cried, "Good night, Santa Claus! Good night and Merry Christmas!"

  "Merry Christmas!" shouted Santa Claus. "Remember me to Mr. Kilpatrick!"

  "Sure!" shouted Billy. "Remember me to your twin brother."

  Father dropped the children off, one by one, at their homes.

  "Good night!" they each called. "Thank you and a Merry Christmas!"

  When Betsy kissed Father good night, she said, "Father, was Santa Claus Mr. Kilpatrick?"

  Father laughed. "Well, what do you t
hink?" he said.

  9. Exactly What Betsy Wanted

  Betsy's baby sister, Star, was a year old. Betsy loved her very dearly. She helped Mother take care of her, and when she played with her it was like playing with a lovely big doll.

  One day Betsy was watching Mother give Star a bath. Betsy sat on a little stool. The day before she had been over to visit Mrs. Jackson. Now she was telling Mother all of the news.

  "The apartment over the Jacksons' garage is all finished," said Betsy. "It's very nice. Sort of like a big playhouse."

  "Is that so?" said Mother.

  "Yes," said Betsy, "and Mrs. Jackson has a lady coming to help her with the housekeeping. She's going to live in the apartment over the garage."

  "Well, well!" said Mother. "Isn't that fine!"

  While Betsy and Mother talked, the baby kept Betsy very busy. She kicked and splashed and played with a rubber duck. Every time she threw the rubber duck out of the tub Betsy picked it up for her. Star thought this was great fun.

  "May I shake the talcum powder on her?" asked Betsy.

  "Yes," replied Mother as she patted Star dry.

  Betsy shook the powder all over the baby. Then she rubbed it with her hand. Betsy thought the baby was the softest, smoothest thing she had ever felt.

  "Mother," said Betsy, "do you know what kind of a baby I want the next time we get one?"

  "Goodness!" cried Mother. "You're not thinking of the next baby already, are you?"

  "Oh, yes!" said Betsy. "I know exactly what kind I want. Could we get one all ready-made? I forget what you call babies that you get all ready-made."

  "You mean 'adopt' a baby," said Mother.

  "Yes," replied Betsy. "Couldn't we 'dopt one?"

  "No, dear," said Mother. "We already have a baby."

  "I'll bet if a little baby could talk, it would say it would like to be 'dopted by us."

  "Well now, we won't talk about it anymore," said Mother. "You have a dear little baby sister to play with."

  "Yes," said Betsy, "but I want a lot of babies. And I like all different colors."

  One day during the following week Betsy was coming home from school. When she was a few blocks from home she met a little black girl. She was about two years old and she was crying. Betsy went up to the little girl. "What's the matter?" she asked.

  The baby just went right on crying.

  Betsy looked up and down the street. There was no one in sight. "Where do you live?" she said to the baby. The baby cried harder.

  Betsy knelt down beside her. "Are you lost?" she asked.

  The baby took hold of Betsy's hand. The baby's hand felt soft and warm.

  "Haven't you any mother or father?" asked Betsy.

  The baby just sobbed.

  The two children were standing in front of a big house. Betsy looked up at the house. Then she led the baby up to the front door. Betsy rang the bell. She waited.

  In a few minutes the door was opened by a plump old lady, wearing a checked apron. "What is the matter?" the lady asked.

  "Does this little girl belong to you?"

  "No, she doesn't," said the lady, leaning down to look at the children. "Now, I've just made some cookies," she said. "Perhaps if we give her a cookie she'll stop crying. Just wait a minute."

  Soon the old lady was back with two cookies. She gave one to each of the children.

  "Oh, thank you!" said Betsy. "Now she'll stop crying."

  The baby took the cookie, but she didn't stop crying.

  She just cried between each bite.

  "Don't cry," said Betsy. "There isn't anything to cry about. My mother and father will 'dopt you. It's nice at our house and I'll play with you. I have a baby sister too. And you can play with her."

  Betsy and the baby trotted down the street hand in hand. The baby was still whimpering.

  When Betsy reached the corner grocery store she went in. She bought two lollipops for a penny.

  "Whose little baby have you got, Betsy?" asked the grocer.

  "I guess she isn't anybody's," said Betsy. "I found her and my mother and father are going to 'dopt her."

  The grocer laughed. "Well, good luck to you," he said.

  Betsy gave one of the lollipops to the baby.

  She put it in her mouth. She was perfectly happy now.

  When Betsy reached home they were both sucking lollipops.

  "Mother! Mother!" shouted Betsy, as soon as she was inside of the house. "Come see what I found, Mother. Come see!"

  "Bring it upstairs, dear," called Mother. "I'm in the sewing room."

  Betsy and the baby started up the stairs. It was a little slow because the baby would only put her left foot up.

  "What on earth are you bringing?" Mother called.

  "It's a surprise," Betsy called back. "Just wait till you see what a nice surprise it is."

  At last they reached the top of the stairs. Hand in hand they went into the sewing room. Betsy's face was beaming. She was so pleased with her new friend.

  When Mother saw them she dropped her sewing on the floor.

  "Why, Betsy!" she said. "Whose little girl is this?"

  "I found her," said Betsy. "She's for us to 'dopt."

  "But, Betsy," said Mother, "her mother is probably looking everywhere for her. Where did you find her?"

  "I found her on my way home from school," said Betsy. "And I asked her where she lived and she didn't say anything. She just cried awful hard. And I asked her if she didn't have any father or mother and she didn't say anything. She just cried and cried."

  "Well, I guess she can't talk yet," said Mother. "I'll have to telephone to the police and tell them that we have found a lost child."

  "I don't want you to telephone to the police," said Betsy, beginning to cry. "I want to keep her. She's just exactly what I want."

  "Now, Betsy darling," said Mother, "you can't have everything you want and you certainly can't have someone else's child."

  "Father would let me keep her, I know he would," sobbed Betsy.

  "Father would do no such thing," said Mother. "People who steal other people's children get arrested. You don't want to get arrested, do you?"

  "But I didn't steal her," sobbed Betsy. "I found her."

  "Well, suppose your own little sister, Star,

  got lost. Wouldn't you want the person who found her to bring her back to us?" asked Mother. "You wouldn't want them to keep her, would you?"

  "No," said Betsy, gulping, "I wouldn't."

  "Well, this little girl's mother is worried about her," said Mother, as she picked up the telephone.

  Betsy sat down on a chair. She took the baby on her lap. The baby went on sucking her lollipop.

  Betsy listened to Mother while she gave her name and address to the policeman. Then she heard Mother say, "Do you know of anyone who has lost a little black girl? She is about two years old."

  Betsy could hear the policeman's voice buzzing on the other end of the telephone. She couldn't tell what he was saying.

  She heard Mother say, "Why, you don't say so! Well, I am so glad Betsy found her. We'll take her right over. What did you say her name is?"

  When Mother hung up the receiver, she said, "Well, what do you think, Betsy! She belongs to the lady who has moved into the Jacksons' new apartment. The baby's name is Lillybell. Lillybell wandered off while they were busy with the moving van. Her mother has been looking everywhere for her. Mrs. Jackson telephoned the police an hour ago."

  Betsy put Lillybell down and slid out of the chair. "Oh, Mother," she cried, "then Lillybell is going to live right on the other side of the garden wall, too!"

  "That's right, " said Mother.

  "Then I can play with her, just as though she was 'dopted, can't I?" said Betsy.

  "That will be nice for you," replied Mother.

  Mother and Betsy each took hold of one of Lillybell's little hands. Lillybell's lollipop was all gone now. They walked around to the Jacksons' house. Lillybell's mother and Mrs. Jackson were at the fron
t gate when they arrived.

  Lillybell's mother ran toward them and picked up Lillybell. The tears were running down her face. "Oh, Lillybell!" she cried. "My little Lillybell! Why'd you run away?"

  Lillybell patted her mother's cheek and said, in a very tiny voice, "Mommy!"

  "Mother," cried Betsy, "Lillybell can talk. She just said 'Mommy'!"

  Lillybell's mother thanked Betsy and her mother for bringing Lillybell back to her.

  "I'm glad I found her," said Betsy. "If she hadn't had any mother or father, I guess we would have 'dopted her. She's just what I wanted."

  10. The Easter Chick

  At Easter time Billy brought a little chick to school.

  It was a round fuzzy ball of cream-color fluff. He brought it in a box with holes poked in the lid. The little chick said "Peep, peep, peep" all the way to school.

  Miss Ross was never surprised at anything Billy brought to school and so she wasn't surprised at the Easter chick.

  "She's for you, Miss Ross," said Billy. "Her name is Daisy."

  "Thank you very much, Billy," said Miss Ross. "I am afraid I won't have anyplace to keep her in my apartment, so I guess we will have to keep her here at school. You will all have to help me raise Daisy."

  The children were delighted to know that they were going to have a little chicken to raise. Billy was as pleased as could be, for he had been very fond of the chick ever since he had first laid eyes on it.

  "Where will we keep it?" asked Betsy.

  "You children will have to make a place in which to keep it," said Miss Ross. "What kind of place will the little chicken need?"

  "I know," said Peter, raising his hand.

  "Well, you tell us, Peter," said Miss Ross.

  "It will need a little wooden house with a roost in it and a nice box for a nest," said Peter.

  "I know something else it will need," said Betsy.

  "And what is that?" asked Miss Ross.

  "It will need a place to run where it can scratch up little worms and bugs and gravel," said Betsy.

  "Peep, peep, peep," came from the box.

  "That's right," said Miss Ross. "So where will we have to build the house for the chicken?"