Back to School with Betsy (6 page)

The children laughed. They all loved Mr. Kilpatrick. He was so gay and jolly.

"Thank you, Mr. Kilpatrick," shouted the twins.

"Sure, you're welcome," said Mr. Kilpatrick. "But if he bites my head off, you'll have to buy me a new one. And make certain the hair's red."

Chummy looked after the children and whined. He had never been treated like this before. He didn't understand it at all.

The children scampered off, running, jumping, and shouting. A block away from the school they came upon Mary Lou and her little brother, Jimmy. Mary Lou was in great trouble. Jimmy was lying flat on the pavement, screaming at the top of his voice.

The children gathered around Jimmy and Mary Lou.

"What's the matter with him?" asked Betsy.

"He doesn't want to go to kindergarten," said Mary Lou. "Mamma brought him to school yesterday and put his name down for the kindergarten, and now he won't go."

"I wanta go home," wailed Jimmy.

"I can't take you home," said Mary Lou. "I'll be late if I take you home." Mary Lou began to cry too.

"Wanta go home!" shrieked Jimmy at the top of his lungs.

Just then Betsy had an idea. "Mary Lou," she said, "maybe Mr. Kilpatrick would take him home."

"Yes, maybe he would," said Richard. "He's going to take Chummy home and you live right next door to us."

Mary Lou stopped crying. "Come on, Jimmy," she said, "you can go home."

Jimmy stopped crying. He rolled over on his fat little stomach and got up. Mary Lou took hold of his chubby hand and they started back to Mr. Kilpatrick. All of the children went with them.

"I don't think Mr. Kilpatrick has gone yet," said Henry.

"I hope not," said Mary Lou.

When Mr. Kilpatrick saw the crowd returning, he called, "Now what's the matter with you? School isn't over already, is it?"

"Mr. Kilpatrick," cried Henry, "Mary Lou's little brother won't go to kindergarten. Will you take him home? He lives right next door to us."

"Bless us and save us!" shouted Mr. Kilpatrick in his great big voice. "Will you ever get to school this morning? Or are you going to spend the morning loading up my car?"

"Will you take him, please?" asked Mary Lou.

"Sure, I'll take him," said Mr. Kilpatrick. "But what I think he needs is to have the seat of his pants warmed."

Mr. Kilpatrick opened the door of the car. Chummy let out a pleased yelp. He thought he was going to get out and go with the children.

The policeman pushed the dog over and put Jimmy on the seat beside Chummy.

"Thank you, Mr. Kilpatrick," said Mary Lou. "Will you tell Mamma that Jimmy was naughty and wouldn't go to school?"

"You bet I will," said Mr. Kilpatrick.

The children started off. They had only taken a few steps when Jimmy opened his mouth again. He let out a piercing scream.

The children turned round.

"Now what's the matter with you?" said Mr. Kilpatrick.

"Wanta go to school!" screamed Jimmy. "Wanta go to school! Wanta go to school!"

"Well, make up your mind," said Mr. Kilpatrick. "If you want to go to school, go to school." He opened the car door and lifted Jimmy out. He set him on the pavement. "Now," said the policeman, "do you want to go to school or do you want to go home?"

"Wanta go to school," said Jimmy.

Mary Lou took hold of his hand again and he trotted off with the crowd of children.

When they reached the schoolyard gate, Jimmy stuck out his under lip. He began to cry again. "Wanta go home!" he yelled. "Wanta go home."

"You can't go home now," said Mary Lou.

Jimmy took hold of the iron fence and held tight. "Wanta go home!" he screamed.

Mary Lou tugged as hard as she could, but Jimmy held on to the fence with all of his might.

Suddenly, through the gate, bounded a big red setter. It was Chummy. He was dragging three feet of rope with him. He dashed up to Richard and licked his face.

"Oh, Chummy!" cried Richard and Henry together.

In a moment Mr. Kilpatrick's red car stopped in front of the gate. He jumped out and ran into the schoolyard. "Where's that good-for-nothing dog?" he cried.

In a second he had hold of Chummy's rope. "He broke loose while my back was turned," said Mr. Kilpatrick.

On his way back to the car, Mr. Kilpatrick saw Jimmy. Jimmy was screaming, "Don't wanta go to school!"

Without a word Mr. Kilpatrick reached down and picked up Jimmy. He stuck him under his arm like a bag of flour. Jimmy kicked his chubby legs and yelled. But it didn't make any difference to Mr. Kilpatrick.

In a moment the red police car had gone and Mr. Kilpatrick, Chummy, and Jimmy were out of sight.

The children breathed a sigh of relief and went in to school.

In the afternoon, when school was over, the children came trooping out. There on the school steps sat Jimmy with the big red setter. Jimmy was looking like a little cherub.

When Mary Lou and the twins saw them, they could hardly believe their eyes.

Jimmy looked up at them with a sweet smile. "We comed back," he said. "Wanta go to school."

The boys and girls in the third grade felt very grown up now. Their room was on the second floor.

Betsy liked her new teacher right away. Her name was Miss Ross. She didn't look at all like Miss Grey. Miss Ross's hair was almost black and she had very dark brown eyes. When she smiled it made Betsy think of toothpaste. By the end of the first day Miss Ross had smiled so many times that all of the children liked the new third grade teacher.

Billy was pleased because Miss Ross was delighted with his cocoon. She put the box on a shelf of the bookcase. "We'll keep it there," she said, "until the butterfly comes out."

Miss Ross told Christopher that she was glad he had worn his sombrero. She said that the third grade was going to study all about Mexico. Christopher felt very important because he had been there.

"I have a lot of Mexican things," said Christopher. "I can bring them all to school."

"That will be lovely," said Miss Ross.

By the end of the week all of the children were excited about Mexico.

They learned that hundreds of years ago, people came from far across the ocean and made their homes in Mexico. They learned that these people came from the country of Spain and that the people in Mexico still speak Spanish.

The children learned some Spanish words and Betsy was very proud when she said the Spanish words for mother and father.

Mother gave Betsy an old lace curtain which

Betsy wore over her head. She called it her "mantilla" and felt very Spanish indeed.

Father said that he felt Spanish too. "Fact is," said Father, "I feel so Spanish I think I will get some tamale plants and raise some tamales in our vegetable garden."

Betsy laughed and laughed. "Oh, Father!" she cried. "Tamales don't grow on plants. They're not vegetables. Tamales are made of cornmeal. I don't believe you know any Spanish. You're just making it up."

"Is that so?" said Father. "Well, I know that a burro is a donkey and a hacienda is a farm and an iguana is a lizard and a fiesta is a nice long nap."

"No, it isn't," laughed Betsy. "A fiesta is a holiday and it is like a big fair. A siesta is a nap, Father."

Father laughed and said that he guessed he didn't know much Spanish after all.

The children also learned about the Mexican Indians. They learned that the ancestors of the Mexican Indians lived in Mexico before the Spaniards came.

Christopher said that he had seen lots of Indians. He said they worked on the haciendas.

And that they made pottery and wove rugs, just the way their ancestors did. Christopher brought a great many postcards to school. They were nearly all pictures of Indians.

Billy said, "Why are there always mountains in the pictures?"

"Because there are so many mountains in Mexico," replied Christopher. "Nearly everywhere you look there are mountains. Some of the mountains are volcanoes."

Betsy didn't know what a volcano was.

"I know," said Billy. "It's a mountain that explodes every once in a while."

After several weeks Billy said he thought it would be nice to make a great big Mexican picture. Miss Ross said that she thought it would be nice too.

"How big?" asked Betsy.

"As big as you wish," replied Miss Ross.

"Can we cover the whole blackboard?" asked Christopher.

"Yes," said Miss Ross, "it can go right across the front of the room."

"Oh, boy!" said Billy. "That will be some picture!"

"Can we all draw it?" asked Ellen.

"Well," replied Miss Ross, "you can all draw Mexican pictures on paper first. Then we will decide which pictures are the best. The ones that are chosen as the best can draw theirs on the blackboard. The big blackboard picture will be made up of the best little pictures."

Betsy could hardly wait to make her picture. She loved to draw and she hoped that she could draw on the blackboard. Miss Ross had beautiful colored chalks.

Betsy decided that she would draw an Indian riding on a burro.

Christopher drew a little boy like himself, in a big sombrero with a blanket over his shoulder.