B Is for Betsy

by Carolyn Haywood

  When Betsy reached the wide street, Mr. Kilpatrick was just about to drive away in his police car. When he saw Betsy he got out of the car. "Well, Little Red Ribbons, don't tell me that you were kept after school!" said Mr. Kilpatrick, as he took Betsy across the street.

  "No," said Betsy, "I wanted to give Curly a puppy biscuit, but she wasn't in the yard."

  "Wouldn' t Curly be sorry if she knew that she had missed a free lunch!" said Mr. Kilpatrick.

  Betsy trotted along, thinking of Curly. Soon she reached the railroad station. As she walked under the bridge, she heard a whining cry. It sounded like a baby crying. Then she heard a little sharp bark. Betsy stopped and listened. She heard the cry again. Betsy looked around her. There was a dirt road beside her. The road led to the baggage station. Betsy started up the road. The cries grew louder, and the sharp bark sounded just like Curly. Betsy's heart beat very fast. She began to run. Back of the baggage station there was a big open lot. The cries came from somewhere on the lot. In a few moments she came upon a deep pit which had been dug in the ground. There in the bottom of the pit was Curly. "Oh, Curly!" cried Betsy. "How did you get way out here?" Curly gave little yelps and wagged her tail. Betsy stooped down to lift Curly out of the pit. It was so deep, she could not reach the little dog. Then Betsy lay down flat on her stomach. Now she could reach Curly. She took hold of her and lifted her out of the pit. Curly was so happy she rolled over and over. Betsy took the strap off of her schoolbag and hooked it through Curly's collar. Then she started back to the house with the white picket fence.

  Betsy wondered how she would ever be able to cross the wide street without Mr. Kilpatrick. "How did you ever get across that big wide street, Curly?" asked Betsy. Curly was busy sniffing the ground.

  When they reached the street, there was a lady with a baby carriage, waiting to cross to the other side. When she saw Betsy and the little dog, she said, "You'd better hold on to the baby carriage, little girl." So Betsy held on to the carriage, and the lady and the baby and Betsy and Curly all went safely across the street.

  "Thank you," said Betsy, as Curly tugged at the leash.

  In a few moments they reached the house where Curly lived. Betsy opened the gate and rang the doorbell. She knew how glad Curly's master would be to see his little dog. When the old gentleman opened the door, Curly jumped up on him. "Curly," cried Mr. Applebee, "where have you been? I have been looking for you all day." Then Betsy told Curly's master of how she had found the dog. Mr. Applebee thanked Betsy over and over again as he patted Curly's head.

  "Now," said Mr. Applebee, "I will go with you and take you across the street." Betsy put the strap on her schoolbag while Mr. Applebee got his hat and cane.

  Curly followed her master to the gate. She wagged her tail hopefully. "No, indeed, Curly, you can't come," said Mr. Applebee. "You have been far enough today."

  Just as the gate closed, Betsy remembered something. She opened the little pocket on her schoolbag and took out the puppy biscuit. "Sit up, Curly," she said. Curly sat up and crossed her paws. "Speak!" said Betsy. Curly gave a sharp bark. Betsy dropped the biscuit and Curly caught it. "I wish I had a little dog just like Curly," said Betsy.

  Every morning, after Betsy found Curly, the little dog waited by the fence for her puppy biscuit.

  One morning, when Betsy reached the fence, Curly was not there. I do hope Curly isn't lost again, thought Betsy.

  After school, Mr. Applebee was standing by the gate. "Betsy," he said, "come in and see what Curly has."

  Betsy went into the house with Mr. Applebee. He led her back to an outside kitchen. There in a big wooden box lay Curly. Four little black puppies were nursing at her side. There were three black-and-white puppies and one coal black one.

  "Oh!" cried Betsy. "The dear little puppies!"

  Curly's master lifted them up, one by one. "Curly has four sons," said he. "Which one do you want, Betsy?"

  "To keep, for my very own?" asked Betsy.

  "Yes," said Mr. Applebee, "it is Curly's present to you for rescuing her from the pit."

  Betsy looked at the puppies very carefully. It was hard to decide. At last she said, "I would like to have the little black one because he has such a funny little worry wrinkle between his eyes."

  Mr. Applebee explained to Betsy that she would have to leave the puppy with Curly until he was big enough to live without his mother.

  Every day Betsy stopped to see her puppy, and every night she told Mother and Father about him. She could not decide what to name him.

  At last the day came when Betsy could take him home. Mother called for her after school, and they stopped to get the puppy. Betsy held him in her arms all the way home. When they reached home, Betsy put the puppy down on the playroom floor. He ran all around, sniffing. Then he lay down and thumped his little tail very hard, "Thump! Thump! Thump!"

  "Have you thought of a name for the puppy?" asked Mother.

  Betsy looked at the puppy very lovingly. "Yes," she said, "Thumpy."

  8 How Betsy Went to Pick Violets and Got into Trouble

  It was April. Betsy's father and mother had gone away on a trip. They were to be gone for a whole week. Mrs. Beckett, who had been Betsy's nurse when she was a baby, came to stay with Betsy while Father and Mother were away. Betsy loved Mrs. Beckett and thought it great fun to have her come to take care of her. They planned to have a picnic and to go to the zoo, but when the time came it was raining. Rain! Rain! Rain! Betsy was sure she had never seen it rain so hard. Every morning she had to wear her rubbers and raincape and carry her umbrella. She could not go out to play with Thumpy after school, and Mrs. Beckett would not let Thumpy in the house. "He tracks mud all over," said Mrs. Beckett. So Thumpy lay sleeping in his cozy dog box in the yard and Betsy spent the long, dark afternoons wandering from one room to another. "I don't know what to do with myself, Mrs. Beckett," Betsy would say.

  "Why don't you color pictures or make your doll a new dress?" Mrs. Beckett would answer.

  "I don't want to," Betsy would say. "I just want to play with Thumpy."

  On Friday morning, Betsy came down to breakfast feeling cross. It had stopped raining, but the sun was not shining. Anyway I wont have to wear those old rubbers, thought Betsy.

  "Good morning, Betsy," said Mrs. Beckett, when Betsy came into the kitchen.

  "Morning," murmured Betsy. "I don't want any oatmeal."

  "Oh, yes!" said Mrs. Beckett. "Come sit down at your table and eat your oatmeal."

  "But I don't want any," replied Betsy. "I don't like oatmeal."

  "Sit down at your table and eat your breakfast," said Mrs. Beckett very sternly. Betsy sat down very slowly.

  "I'll drink my milk," said Betsy.

  "And you will eat your oatmeal, like a good girl," said Mrs. Beckett. She poured the cream on Betsy's dish of oatmeal.

  Betsy drank her milk and played with the oatmeal. She dug a hole in the center of the oatmeal and watched the milk run down and fill up the hole.

  "Betsy, you are going to sit right there until you eat your oatmeal," said Mrs. Beckett. Betsy sat a long time, playing with the oatmeal.

  "I'll be late for school," said Betsy. "Mother won't like it if I am late for school."

  "Very well," sighed Mrs. Beckett, and she looked out of the window. "You needn't wear your raincape, Betsy, but put on your rubbers."

  "I don't want rubbers, Mrs. Beckett," said Betsy. "It isn't raining."

  "But the pavements are very damp," said Mrs. Beckett.

  "They make my feet hot," said Betsy. She began to cry.

  Mrs. Beckett brought the rubbers. "Lift up your foot," said Mrs. Beckett.

  "I won't wear those rubbers," cried Betsy. She picked up her schoolbag and ran out the door.

  Betsy didn't feel at all happy as she trudged along. There were a great many puddles and her feet began to feel very damp. When she reached the white picket fence, Curly was waiting for her puppy biscuit, but Betsy had forgotten to put it in her schoolbag. It was too la
te even to stop and scratch Curly's ears. Curly looked disappointed as Betsy hurried by.

  At recess time, the sun came out and the children made a great deal of noise in the schoolyard. Ellen had stayed home, so Betsy played with Betty Jane and Mary Lou, but it wasn't as much fun as playing with Ellen. Betsy wished that she had another sandwich. She felt so empty.

  After school Betsy started on her way home. She stopped to scratch Curly's ears and pat her head. With Mr. Kilpatrick and a group of children, she crossed the street.

  Between the street and the station there was a great big stone house that stood on the top of a hill. It was far back from the street and hidden by great trees. Betsy had never been able to see just what the house looked like. The grounds were surrounded by a low stone wall. Betsy loved to walk on the stone wall, so she scrambled to the top. She looked at the grass. It was fresh and green after the long rain. She saw some violets peeping up between green leaves. Violets, thought Betsy. What fun to pick violets! Betsy ran over to the little clump of violets and began picking the flowers. There was a little sign sticking in the ground. Betsy could not read the sign but she knew what it meant. It meant that you were not to pick the flowers. Betsy paid no at-

  tention, but went right on picking, more and more. Her schoolbag felt heavy, so she took it off and laid it by the trunk of a tree. The further she went the more violets she found. She picked them until she had a large bunch. Then she ran back to the stone wall and started for home.

  When Betsy reached the corner of her street, she remembered her schoolbag. She had left it lying under the tree. She turned around and ran all the way back to the stone wall. She climbed up on the wall and ran across the grass. She looked under all the trees where the violets grew. Her schoolbag was not there. Her beautiful plaid schoolbag and her shiny black pencil box! They were gone! What shall I ever do without them? thought Betsy.

  Betsy hurried home. She was very hungry. She had been so busy picking violets that she had forgotten all about her lunch. When she turned the corner of her street she saw Mrs. Beckett at the front gate. "Where have you been, Betsy?" said Mrs. Beckett. "You are very, very late."

  "I stopped to pick some violets," said Betsy.

  "And look at your shoes!" cried Mrs. Beckett. "They are covered with mud. You have ruined your new shoes."

  Betsy began to cry. "I lost my schoolbag too, and my nice shiny pencil box."

  Mrs. Beckett looked very cross as she led Betsy into the house. "Come and have your lunch," she said.

  Betsy ate every bit of her lunch. She was so hungry! Every once in a while a big tear would drop on her plate.

  After lunch she got undressed and Mrs. Beckett tucked her into bed for her nap. Betsy's eyes were red from crying.

  "Mrs. Beckett," said Betsy, "I'm sorry I was a naughty girl."

  Mrs. Beckett took Betsy in her arms and the little girl put her head on Mrs. Beckett's big, broad bosom. "It's been an awful day. I spoiled my new shoes and I lost my schoolbag," sobbed Betsy. "I don't like being a naughty girl, Mrs. Beckett."

  "I know," said Mrs. Beckett. "You're really a very good little girl, Betsy. You just got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning."

  Betsy lifted her head and looked at her little white bed. "Why, I couldn't do that," said Betsy, "because there is only one side to get out of. The other side is against the wall."

  "Well, never mind," said Mrs. Beckett. "I know that it will never happen again."

  "You won't tell Mother that I was a naughty girl, will you?" asked Betsy.

  "No, indeed," said Mrs. Beckett. "I wouldn't think of it."

  After Betsy had her nap she played in the yard with Thumpy. She helped Mrs. Beckett set the table for supper and dried the knives and forks and spoons.

  The next morning, Betsy woke up very early. She ran to the window and threw sunflower seeds out to the birds. Then she scrambled back into bed and pulled up the covers. She thought of her schoolbag and of the violets she had picked. Mrs. Beckett had put them in a little bowl. She remembered the sign that was stuck in the ground. It was wrong to pick violets that belonged to someone else, thought Betsy. I wouldn't like someone to come into my yard and pick my flowers.

  When Betsy went downstairs for breakfast, she said, "Mrs. Beckett, I am going to take those violets back and give them to the lady who lives in the big house."

  "Why, Betsy, the violets are all wilted," said Mrs. Beckett. "You can't take them back now."

  Betsy drank her milk and ate all of her oatmeal. Then she went out into the little garden. There were pansies growing in the flower beds. Betsy picked a little bunch of pansies. "I am going to take these pansies to the lady," said Betsy.

  "Very well," said Mrs. Beckett. "Don't stay too long."

  Betsy trotted off with her bunch of pansies. She looked very tiny as she walked through the big gate of the house on the hill. She followed the long drive that led to the big porch. She walked up to the great white door. It had a shiny brass knocker. The knocker was so high, Betsy had to jump to reach it. She jumped several times. At last she managed to raise it a little bit. "Thump!" went the knocker. Betsy waited. In a few moments a man opened the door. "Yes, Miss?" said the man.

  "Is there a lady?" asked Betsy.

  "Yes, Miss," said the man, "right this way."

  The man led Betsy through the big hall and up the widest stairway Betsy had ever seen. He took her into a room filled with sunshine and books. In a chair by the window sat a very old lady. On her snow-white hair she wore a lace cap with a lavender ribbon. She was reading.

  "A young lady to see you, Madam," said the man.

  The old lady laid down her book and looked at Betsy. "Come in, my dear," she said.

  Betsy went up to the chair and held out the pansies. "I brought you these pansies," she said, "because yesterday I picked some of your violets."

  "You did?" said the old lady. "Then I suppose that is your schoolbag," she said, pointing to a chair in the corner. "My gardener found it."

  "Yes, it is," said Betsy. She was so glad to see her schoolbag again.

  "Thank you, dear," said the old lady as she smelled Betsy's pansies. "I like pansies much better than violets."

  "Do you?" said Betsy. "I'm glad I brought you pansies."

  9 Circuses Are Fun

  Early in the month of May, great big circus pictures appeared. Gay with colors, they were pasted on signboards and fences all over the town. Betsy and her little friends were delighted when they saw the pictures because it meant that the circus was coming. There was a picture of ten huge elephants, standing on their hind legs and raising their great trunks and long white tusks high in the air. There was one of a beautiful lady. She was dressed all in pink with a tiny ruffly skirt that made Betsy think of her Christmas Fairy dress. The lady was riding on a snow-white horse. Father called her a "bareback rider." When Betsy asked why, Father said it was because the horse didn't wear any saddle. Betsy said that she wanted to be a bareback rider when she grew up, and Father said that would be very nice, because he thought that when he grew up he would be a lion tamer and they could both be in the circus together.

  "What will Mother be?" asked Betsy.

  "Oh, I think Mother would just love to be the Fat Lady," said Father.

  "What about Koala?" said Betsy. "Do you think he will be able to get in the circus too?"

  "Yes, indeed," said Father. "The Great Koala! The only Koala bear in captivity! Please do not feed peanuts to Koala."

  Betsy laughed and said that she thought circuses were fun.

  One morning, Miss Grey asked the children if they knew what was coming to town and they all shouted, "The circus!"

  Miss Grey said, "Yes, but it would be nicer if you didn't all shout."

  So they all whispered, "The circus."

  Nearly all of the children had seen the circus the last time it had come to town. So they had a long talk about the circus. First they talked about the barker. Billy said that the barker is the man who stands outs
ide of the big tent and tells the people what they will see inside.

  Betsy told about the bareback rider and Ellen told about the trained seals that play ball and bounce the ball right on the tips of their noses.

  They talked about the elephants and the lions, the clowns and the trained dogs. Christopher

  said, "I always buy a balloon from the balloon man."

  Miss Grey asked the children what else you could buy at the circus and Betty Jane said, "Lemonade," and Kenny said, "Peanuts."

  "I wonder," said Miss Grey, "if you boys and girls would like to make believe that you are the animals and the people in the circus and give a performance!"

  "Yes," cried the children, "let's give a circus.

  "Who will come to see it?" asked Betsy.

  "We could invite Miss Foster's class," said Miss Grey. The children were delighted and so it was decided that the first grade would give a circus performance the next morning and invite Miss Foster's sixth-grade boys and girls.

  "Kenny," said Miss Grey, "you can be the barker and little Peter can be the balloon man."

  "Who would like to take charge of the lemonade and peanuts?" asked Miss Grey. The children's hands waved in the air. Miss Grey selected Betty Jane, and Betty Jane looked all around and grinned.

  "The rest of you can be anything you wish," said Miss Grey, "and bring costumes if you have them."

  Betsy knew at once what she was going to be. She would bring her Christmas Fairy dress and be the bareback rider. There wouldn't be any white horse but she could stand on a table and bounce up and down on her toes.

  The next morning, the children were in school bright and early. Betty Jane and Ellen sliced the lemons and squeezed the juice into a big glass pitcher. Peter sat at his desk and blew up balloons. Miss Grey tied the strings on them. Kenny walked around, looking very important in his father's old felt hat. It was so big it rested on his ears and made them stand out like the handles on a sugar bowl. He bustled the children into the dressing room, where they put on their costumes.