Betsy and Billy (7 page)

Miss Grey opened the doors of the cupboard. She took out some little bowls and a great big bowl. She took out some flat cookie tins, a flour sifter, and an eggbeater. She laid everything on the table.

"Have you got the cookie cutters?" asked Betty Jane.

"Yes," answered Miss Grey, "here they are." Miss Grey handed Betty Jane a paper bag and Betty Jane took six heart-shaped cookie cutters out of the bag.

Christopher came in with a big bottle of milk that the milkman had left with the janitor.

Soon everyone was busy. Betty Jane sifted the flour. Ellen beat the eggs. Betsy mixed the butter and sugar together. Christopher and Kenny greased the tins. Billy lit the oven. Mary Lou measured the baking powder and Richard measured the salt. The rest of the children sprinkled a little flour on the long wooden table so that they would be all ready to roll out the dough.

Everything had to be added to Betsy's bowl of butter and sugar, so she mixed and mixed. She had to make the dough very smooth.

All of the children crowded around Betsy.

At last Miss Grey said that the dough was ready to be rolled. She gave each of the children who had floured the table a piece of dough. As there were only three rolling pins, the children had to take turns.

"Look out there, Billy!" said Miss Grey; "don't roll it too thin."

"Miss Grey, it's sticking to my rolling pin," said Henry.

"Can I begin to cut mine?" asked a new little girl named Sally.

Six of the children began to cut the cookies. Ellen and Christopher lifted the hearts off of the table and placed them on the flat tins. Betsy

sprinkled a little sugar on them and Kenny put the pans in the oven.

It didn't take very long for the cookies to bake. Just as soon as one pan had turned a beautiful golden color, another pan was ready to go into the oven. Pan after pan went into the oven and came out to cool on the table. When the cookies were cool, the children helped to take them off of the tins. When they were all laid out on a white cloth, there were over one hundred cookies. Some of the hearts were a little crooked but any mother could tell that they were hearts. Some of them were broken and Miss Grey said that the children could eat the broken pieces. How they gobbled them down!

"Oh, boy!" said Billy, with his mouth full of cookie; "I thought I was going to bust if I didn't get a taste of those cookies."

"Burst, Billy," said Miss Grey, "not bust."

Miss Grey took a big tin can out of the cupboard. "Now," she said, "we will put them in this big can to keep overnight. Tomorrow we will divide them and wrap them up in red tissue paper. Then you can take them home for mother's Valentine."

The next day the children were terribly excited. When Miss Grey opened the postbox, there were Valentines for every child in the room. Betsy received ten and she was delighted with every one.

At recess time Miss Grey sent Kenny up to the kitchen to get the can of cookies. In about five minutes Kenny returned. "I can't find any can, Miss Grey," said Kenny.

"Oh, Kenny!" said Miss Grey; "I left it on the table, right by the door. Betsy, you go with Kenny. Perhaps you can help him to find the can."

Betsy and Kenny climbed up to the third floor. They went into the kitchen. There was no can in sight. The children opened the lower doors of the cupboard. There was nothing there but tin pans.

"Maybe it is up top," said Kenny. Betsy climbed on a chair and opened the closet doors but there was no can there. They looked under the table and back of the stove. The can of cookies was gone.

Betsy and Kenny went downstairs. When they told Miss Grey that the cookies were gone, she couldn't believe it. But when Miss Grey looked everywhere in the kitchen, she knew that the children were right.

Miss Grey asked the janitor, Mr. Windrim, if he had seen the can of cookies, but he didn't know anything about them. She asked the principal of the school and all of the teachers, but no one knew anything about the cookies.

When Miss Grey told the children that their cookies were lost they almost cried. Their lovely cookies that they had baked especially for their mothers' Valentines! They were gone and no one knew where.

Miss Grey tried to have a singing lesson but the children sang very badly. They were all thinking about the lost cookies.

After a while, Billy raised his hand.

"What is it, Billy?" asked Miss Grey.

"May I get a drink?" asked Billy.

"Do you have to have a drink of water now, Billy?" asked Miss Grey. "You know you have just had your recess."

"I'm awful thirsty," said Billy.

"Very well," said Miss Grey, "but hurry back."

Billy ran out to the drinking fountain in the yard. The ash-men were collecting the big cans of rubbish that were standing on the school pavement. They were throwing the cans up into the wagon. Just as Billy was about to get a drink, he saw one of the men pick up a can with a lid on it.

"Hey! Hey!" cried Billy, rushing toward the man. "Hey! Wait a minute."

The man put the can down on the pavement and looked at Billy. "What's the matter with you?" he said.

"Hey!" said Billy, "that's our cookies."

Billy picked up the can and ran into school. When he rushed into the room carrying the cookie can, the children shouted, "Look what Billy's got!"

"I found the cookies, Miss Grey. I found 'em!"
cried Billy. "Somebody must have put them out on the pavement with the rubbish. The man was just going to take them away."

Billy was all out of breath but the children were delighted to have the cookies back again.

Just then Mr. Windrim came into the room. "Miss Grey," he said, "I am terribly sorry about those cookies. The boy who helps me with the cleaning made a mistake and put your can out with the rubbish. Now I am afraid it is gone."

"No, Mr. Windrim, Billy rescued the can of cookies just as the men were about to take it."

"Gee, Miss Grey!" said Billy, "aren't you glad I had to get a drink of water?"

"Indeed I am," said Miss Grey.

"Oh, Miss Grey!" cried Billy, "I forgot to get it. Now what do you think of that!"

Thumpy was Betsy's little dog. He was a black cocker spaniel and Betsy had raised him from a tiny puppy. He was a loving little fellow and a good watchdog but he had one very bad habit. He stole everything he could find to eat and he didn't seem to be one bit ashamed of himself.

Once he climbed on a chair and knocked a box of chocolates off of the living room table. When the chocolates rolled out of the box, Thumpy gobbled them all up. Betsy walked into the room just as Thumpy was tearing the box to pieces. He didn't want to miss any crumbs.

Another time the refrigerator door was left open on a crack. When Thumpy found himself alone in the kitchen he poked his nose in the crack and the door swung open. Thumpy sniffed here and he sniffed there. Then he poked the lid off of a dish filled with stewed chicken. When Betsy's mother came into the kitchen, Thumpy was curled up on a chair, sound asleep. When Mother looked into the refrigerator there wasn't even a chicken bone left in the dish.

Of course Thumpy was punished each time but it didn't seem to do any good. He just went right on gobbling down everything he could find and he didn't seem to mind being sick at his tummy.

Father said that Thumpy's motto was, "Eats! Eats! and more Eats!"

One afternoon Mother came home with some chopped meat for dinner. She laid the package in the center of the kitchen table and went upstairs to see if the baby was awake. In a few minutes she hurried down to prepare dinner. It was late and Father would soon be home. When she pushed open the kitchen door, what did she
find but Thumpy standing in the center of the table. He was just finishing off the last bit of meat. "Thumpy!" cried Mother. "You naughty, naughty boy!"

Betsy came running from the playroom. "What did he do?" she cried.

"He has eaten all of the meat for dinner," said Mother.

"Oh, Thumpy!" cried Betsy. "Shame on you! Stealing Mother's meat!"

Thumpy put on a long face and his ears seemed to hang down longer than ever.

"Are you going to whip him, Mother?" asked Betsy.

"Indeed I am," replied Mother. Mother whipped Thumpy with a newspaper and put him outside.

Just then Father came home. Betsy ran to meet him. "Father!" she called. "Thumpy just ate up our dinner."

"He did?" said Father. "Well, let us eat Thumpy's."

"We can't eat Thumpy's," said Betsy. "Thumpy's dinner comes in a can with ground bones in it."

"Where is he now?" asked Father.

"Oh, Mother whipped him and put him out of doors," said Betsy.

"Well, he better not get outside of the gate," said Father. "The dogcatchers are around."

"It would just serve Thumpy right if the dogcatchers got him," said Betsy. "He's a very naughty boy."

"I don't suppose you would go after Thumpy if the dogcatchers caught him, would you?" asked Father.

"No, I wouldn't," said Betsy, tossing her braids. "He's a naughty boy and it would serve him right."

That evening Betsy and Father and Mother ate vegetables for their dinner.

The next day was Saturday and Betsy spent the morning making paper dolls. After lunch she started off for Ellen's house. She was going to spend the rest of the day playing with Ellen. As Betsy closed the front door she thought of Thumpy. She hadn't seen anything of him for a long time. Betsy knew that he wasn't in the house so she looked in his kennel. Thumpy wasn't there. Betsy called, "Here, Thumpy! Here, Thump!" but Thumpy didn't appear. Then Betsy looked at the gate. It was wide open. Betsy knew at once that Thumpy was gone. Then she thought of the dogcatchers. Her little heart seemed to stand still, she was so frightened.