B Is for Betsy Read online

  Just then the Taylor twins, Richard and Henry, came running in. "Miss Grey," cried Richard, "we are going to be 'Jumbo the Trained Elephant.' Mother gave us a sheet to wear and we have made a long trunk out of rags."

  "Fine!" said Miss Grey. "You will make a wonderful elephant!" She covered the two little boys with the sheet and pinned it in the front and the back. She led them into the cloakroom and the children all cried, "Oh, look at the elephant!"

  "Now," said Miss Grey, as the bell rang, "is the lemonade all ready?"

  "Yes, it's ready," said Betty Jane.

  "Then the performance can begin," said Miss Grey.

  Kenny took his place by the door and began to shout, "Come and see the circus! The world's most wonderful circus! Come and see the circus!"

  Miss Foster's children trooped in and squeezed themselves into the tiny first grade desks. Peter

  went up and down the aisles, crying, "Buy a balloon! Buy a balloon!"

  Kenny came into the room. "You will now see Betsy, the world's greatest bareback rider," he cried. Out came Betsy in her Christmas Fairy dress and her white dancing slippers. She climbed up on top of the table and bounced up and down on her toes. Everyone clapped.

  "Now you will see the great juggler," cried Kenny. Christopher appeared with two lemons. He threw them up in the air. He caught one and the other fell on the floor, but everybody clapped because they thought that Christopher had done very well to catch one lemon.

  "Now, folks," shouted Kenny, "we have Jumbo the Trained Elephant! He does stunts." Out trotted the twins under the sheet. Richard was the head of the elephant and Henry was the tail end. It was really a wonderful elephant, until Henry got so close to Richard that Jumbo began to cave in the middle. The more he caved in the more he looked like a camel. But everyone kept looking at his long trunk and that helped them to remember that he was an elephant.

  "Sit up, Jumbo," shouted Kenny. Henry immediately sat on the floor and Richard climbed on a little chair. There was a great deal of clapping.

  "Dance, Jumbo," shouted Kenny. Jumbo began to dance. He danced so hard that he stepped on his trunk. Richard fell to the floor and Henry came bursting out of the tail end of the elephant.

  There lay Richard, all tangled up in Jumbo's skin. The children laughed and laughed at poor Jumbo. Richard was so sorry that he had spoiled Jumbo that he looked as though he were going to cry. Miss Grey said that she thought that Jumbo should have some lemonade, so Richard

  and Henry went over to the lemonade table and Betty Jane gave them each a little paper cup full of lemonade.

  "Ladies and gentlemen," cried Kenny, "you will now see the trained lions." Billy Porter walked out, followed by three little girls and two little boys. Billy had a whip and he wore a toy revolver in his belt. He cracked the whip and the little boys and girls got up on five boxes and made believe that they were very fierce lions. Billy held a chair in front of him. He had seen the lion tamer in the real circus hold a chair in front of him. Billy cracked his whip again. The lions roared terrible roars.

  At that very moment, through the open window, came a real live monkey. He was wearing a little plaid kilt, a bright red jacket, and a red hat.

  "Oh, look at the monkey," cried the children. The lions jumped off their boxes and the lion tamer dropped his chair. The clowns came rushing out of the dressing room. With one leap, the monkey landed on the lemonade table and began cracking peanuts. Betty Jane was frightened and ran to Miss Grey.

  "There must be an organ-grinder somewhere," said Miss Grey.

  The children were so excited that they forgot all about the circus, but the monkey sat quietly eating peanuts as fast as he could.

  Miss Grey looked out of the window and, sure enough, there was an organ-grinder, running through the schoolyard gate. He was shouting, "My monkey! My monkey! I lose my monkey!"

  "Your monkey is in here," called Miss Grey. "Come in and get him."

  The organ-grinder came running into the classroom. He was hot and angry. "Oh," he cried, "you bad, bad monkey! You run-a away, and now you eat-a da peanuts. I'll beat you."

  The monkey jumped from the table and hid in the corner.

  "Oh, don't let him beat the monkey, Miss Grey," said Betsy.

  "Wouldn't you like to have a glass of lemonade?" Miss Grey asked the organ-grinder.

  "Lemonade!" said the organ-grinder. "Yes, thank you very much. I like lemonade."

  Miss Grey poured out a glass of lemonade and handed it to him. Then she poured some into the monkey's tin cup and he drank every drop.

  "He won't beat the monkey, will he, Miss Grey?" Betsy pleaded.

  "No," said the organ-grinder, "I no beat-a da monkey. All same, he very bad monk, to run away." The organ-grinder smiled and showed his white teeth. "You like me to play some music?" he asked.

  "Oh, yes!" said the children.

  The organ-grinder began to turn the handle on the organ. As he did so, the monkey came out of the corner and began to dance.

  How the children shouted and clapped their hands. When the music was over, the monkey tipped his tiny red hat. Ellen gave him some peanuts and he ran up to the organ-grinder's shoulder.

  "Good-bye," said the organ-grinder, as he left the room. "Thank you very much for catch my monkey and give me lemonade."

  "Good-bye," the children called.

  "Well," said Kenny, "I guess the circus is over."

  Miss Foster's children passed out of the room, while the first-graders took off their costumes. When they were all in their seats, Billy said, "It was a real circus, wasn't it, Miss Grey?"

  "It certainly was," replied Miss Grey.

  Peter was still holding his bunch of balloons. "I sold a balloon," he said. "Miss Foster gave me a penny for it."

  10 Betsy Goes to the Farm and Tells Old Ned Some News

  The last day of school came on a warm day in June. Betsy was promoted, so were Ellen and Billy, Christopher, Betty Jane, and Mary Lou. Kenny was promoted number one of the boys and Betsy was number one of the girls. All the children felt very big, now that they were in the second grade.

  Father had promised Betsy a big surprise if she was promoted. Betsy could hardly wait for Father to come home. At last she heard his key in the front door. Betsy ran to greet him. "Father," she called, "I'm promoted. I was number one of the girls. I'm in the second grade."

  Father picked up his little girl and kissed her. "Hurrah for Betsy!" he cried.

  "Have you got my surprise?" asked Betsy.

  "Yes, indeed!" replied Father, as he set Betsy down.

  Betsy looked in Father's pockets, but there was no package. "Where is it?" she asked.

  Father laughed. "Oh, this surprise hasn't any shape," said Father. Betsy and Father always called packages shapes. "But it is a very nice surprise," he said. "You will have to wait until tomorrow morning for it."

  In the morning, Father and Mother and Betsy were leaving for Grandfather's farm. Father was driving them to the farm, where Betsy and Mother would stay through the long summer. Father would come every Friday and stay until Sunday.

  Betsy loved the farm. There was a pony to ride and trees to climb and a great big barn to play in. There was Old Ned, who took her to the village when he went for groceries and feed.

  Sometimes he let Betsy drive the horse. Then there was Linda in the kitchen, Linda who made the big ginger cookies that were always in the center of the breakfast table.

  There was only one thing that made Betsy feel sorry about going to the farm. That was Ellen. She would miss Ellen so very much. There were no little girls at Grandfather's, just two little boys who lived across the road.

  The next morning, Father had everything packed in the car before breakfast. After breakfast, Betsy and Thumpy got in the back of the car and Mother sat beside Father.

  "You haven't forgotten my surprise, have you, Father?" asked Betsy.

  "No, indeed," said Father as he started the car.

  Betsy wondered what the surprise could be. "What
do you think it is, Thumpy?" said Betsy. Thumpy was too busy to think about surprises. He was hanging his head out of the window and letting the wind blow his long ears.

  Soon Father slowed down and the car stopped. Betsy looked out of the window. They were in front of Ellen's house. Ellen was standing on the front step. She was wearing her best hat and her coat was over her arm. Beside her was a big traveling bag. "Here they are, Mother," Ellen called through the screen door. Ellen's mother and her brother and her baby sister all came running to the front door. Ellen ran out to the car. Betsy's father got out of the car and picked up the traveling bag.

  "Well, Betsy, here is your surprise," he said, as he put Ellen and the bag in the back of the car with Betsy.

  "Is Ellen going with us?" cried Betsy.

  "Yes," said Mother. "She is going to be with us all summer."

  "Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "It's the best surprise I ever, ever had!"

  Ellen's mother kissed her little girl good-bye. "Be a good girl, dear," she said.

  "I will, Mummy," said Ellen and she waved her hand to her brother and her baby sister.

  Betsy's mother put Ellen's best hat in the paper bag with Betsy's and they started off.

  It was a long drive to Grandfather's. The road stretched like a ribbon over the hills and down into the valleys. The children chattered. "I brought my doll, Lydia," said Ellen. "I washed all of her clothes and ironed them myself."

  "I brought my doll, Judith," said Betsy. "I couldn't bring Evelyn. Evelyn's eyes fell inside of her."

  "Didn't you bring Koala Bear?" asked Ellen.

  "Of course," replied Betsy. "I wouldn't go away without Koala Bear. He would cry if I left him all by himself."

  "Where is he?" asked Ellen.

  "He's riding on the front seat between Father and Mother. Koala likes to ride on the front seat. He likes to see things before he comes to them." This was only one reason why Koala liked to

  ride on the front seat. The other reason was that Thumpy liked Koala better than Koala liked Thumpy. Thumpy liked Koala so much that he loved to play with him, but Thumpy's idea of playing was to shake Koala very hard and then chew him. Koala didn't like it a bit because he couldn't shake and he couldn't chew. So Betsy bought Thumpy a rubber bone, and Koala never sat on the floor but on the tops of things.

  "Oh, there is a white cow," cried Betsy, pointing out of the window.

  "There's another one," cried Ellen.

  The children decided to play a game. They called it "White Cow." Betsy looked out of one window and Ellen looked out of the other window. When Betsy saw a white cow on her side of the road she would call out "White Cow"; and when Ellen saw one on her side she would call out "White Cow." Mother kept the score. By the time they reached the farm, Betsy had seen twenty white cows and Ellen had seen thirty-two. So Ellen won the game.

  Grandfather's farmhouse was built on the side of a hill. It was made of stone and had a big porch. The porch ran across the front of the house and around the side. Grandfather called it "the piazza." A trumpet vine ran all over the porch railing and climbed up the posts. Betsy loved the big red trumpet flowers. She was sure the fairies blew them at night and made music.

  Grandfather was standing on the front,steps when the car drove up the driveway. He opened the car door and kissed Mother and Betsy and shook hands with Father.

  "Grandfather, I counted twenty white cows," said Betsy. "But Ellen won because she counted thirty-two."

  "Well, well," said Grandfather. "I am glad to see you, Ellen. I didn't know that such little girls could count."

  Betsy and Ellen laughed. "Of course we can count," said Betsy. "We go to school. We got promoted too."

  "We are in the second grade now," said Ellen.

  "My! My!" said Grandfather. "Now I suppose you will be counting my chickens before they are hatched."

  Betsy thought for a moment, then she said, "You can't count the chickens before they're hatched, Grandfather. But we'll help you count them after they're hatched."

  Grandfather said that dinner was all ready. The children washed their hands and faces and ran to the dining room. Linda was standing by the kitchen door. Her face was shining. Betsy rushed up to Linda. "Hello, Linda. This is Ellen," said Betsy. "She is going to stay all summer. Are there any ginger cookies?"

  "Well, I shouldn't be surprised if there were a few," said Linda. "I set a table over here in the corner for you children."

  Betsy and Ellen sat down at the little table. It was covered with a red-and-white checked tablecloth. In the center of the table was a plate of big, round, ginger cookies. Betsy's eyes danced when she saw the cookies. "Oh, Linda!" she

  cried. "Ginger cookies! And we don't have to wait until breakfast!"

  "No," said Linda, "this is special."

  After dinner, the children went upstairs to their bedroom. It was a big room with two beds, one for Betsy and one for Ellen. While Betsy and Ellen got ready for their naps, Mother put their clothes away in a big high chest.

  The little girls lay down and soon they were fast asleep.

  When Betsy woke up, she heard Old Ned's voice under the window. He was talking to Grandfather. Betsy ran to the window. "Oh, Ned," she cried, "are you going to the village?"

  "Yes," said Old Ned, "goin' into the village fer oats."

  "Can we go with you?" asked Betsy.

  "Reckon so," said Old Ned.

  Betsy and Ellen scrambled into their new overalls and dashed down the stairs.

  "Mighty pretty little girls!" said Old Ned as he lifted them into the wagon. Old Ned picked up the reins. "Gee up, Priscilla," he said. The horse started off down the road.

  "Well," said Old Ned, "I hear you been goin' to school."

  "Yes," said Betsy, "and we got promoted. We're in the second grade. Ned, you were wrong about school. School is nice, Ned. We love our teacher. She's just sweet. And there isn't any switch, Ned. You said there was a switch." Betsy laughed. "Oh, school is fun! Isn't it, Ellen?"

  "Yes," said Ellen. "We built a farm out of wooden boxes and we sawed out the doors and the windows."

  "And Billy made a chicken coop," said Betsy.

  "Christopher and I made a stable with stalls for the horses," said Ellen.

  "Yes, and there was a pigsty and window boxes on the windows of the farmhouse," said Betsy. "I painted them green and Miss Grey gave me some little flowers to put in them. Oh, it was fun!"

  "And we had a play at Easter," said Ellen. "Kenny Roberts was a bunny rabbit. He was dressed up in a white bunny suit and his ears fell off."

  Ellen and Betsy laughed loudly as they remembered how funny Kenny had looked without his ears.

  "Please, may I drive Priscilla, Ned?" asked Betsy. Old Ned handed the reins to Betsy.

  "So school is fun!" said Old Ned. "You build farmhouses and chicken coops and dress up like bunny rabbits. Well, well," said he, and he stroked his grizzly beard.

  "Yes, school is lovely," said Betsy. "Gee up, Priscilla!"

  * * *

  Turn the page for a peek at Betsy's adventures in

  Betsy and Billy

  when Betsy and her friends go into second grade.

  * * *

  1 Betsy Goes Back to School

  It was September and vacation days were almost over. Soon it would be time for Betsy to go back to school. She had tried on all of her school dresses that she had worn the year before. Betsy had grown so tall that Mother had to let down all of the hems.

  One day Mother was busy hanging the skirt of one of Betsy's dresses. Betsy was standing on a chair. She turned very slowly while Mother put the pins in the skirt.

  "Betsy, what are you looking so sober about?" asked Mother.

  "I was thinking," replied Betsy.

  "And what were you thinking about?" asked Mother.

  "I was thinking about school," answered Betsy. "Do you know, Mother, I don't know whether I am going to like being in the second grade."

  "Of course you are going to like being in the
second grade," said Mother.

  "But, Mother, Miss Grey won't be there," said Betsy. "Miss Grey was such a nice teacher. I don't think I am going to like my new teacher. Her name is Miss Little. She isn't pretty like Miss Grey."

  "Well, dear, everyone can't be as pretty as Miss Grey," said Mother.

  "But Miss Little wears black dresses all the time, Mother," said Betsy. "I used to see her last year and she always had on a black dress. I don't like black dresses. Miss Grey wears pretty dresses, pink ones and green ones and red ones, and once she had a dress that had flowers all over it."

  "It has been a long time since school closed," said Mother; "perhaps Miss Little has bought herself some new clothes."

  "Well, I hope so," said Betsy.

  "Run along now," said Mother, as she helped Betsy down from the chair.

  Betsy ran along, but she kept thinking about Miss Little. She began to feel sorry that she had been promoted. Perhaps I could go back to the first grade, she thought. But she knew that she wouldn't like that either because she wouldn't know anyone in the first grade. All of her friends were in the second grade. There was her best friend, Ellen, and there was Billy Porter. Betsy chuckled when she thought of Billy. He was such a funny little boy, always calling out from his seat and getting into trouble. Then there were Kenny Roberts and Betty Jane and Mary Lou and the twins, Richard and Henry. She would be so glad to see them all. She would even be glad to see Christopher who sometimes pulled her braids. Betsy could see that she could never give up being in the second grade. She would have to be in Miss Little's room and put up with the black dresses. Perhaps she hasn't any money to buy pretty dresses, thought Betsy. And then she began to feel very sorry for Miss Little because she didn't have any money to buy pretty dresses.