Betsy and Billy (6 page)

Betsy didn't mind a bit about the bicycle. She guessed that a bicycle and a baby sister would have been too much anyway.

After breakfast Mrs. Beckett let Betsy watch her while she washed and dressed the baby. Betsy wished that she were big enough to wash and dress her. She could hardly keep her hands off her. She loved to touch the baby's cheek, it was so soft.

When the baby was washed and dressed, Mrs. Beckett carried her to her bassinet. "Oh, Mrs. Beckett!" said Betsy, "couldn't I hold her just once:

"Well, very carefully," said Mrs. Beckett. Betsy held out her arms and Mrs. Beckett put the tiny baby in them. "Oh," said Betsy, "she's the nicest present that ever was. Much nicer than a bicycle."

"Now hand her over," said Mrs. Beckett, as she took the baby again.

When Mrs. Beckett had laid her in the bas-

sinet, she said, "What are you going to name this baby of yours, Betsy?"

"I don't know," said Betsy, walking over to Mother's bed. "It ought to be a Christmasy name, don't you think so, Mother?"

"Oh, yes," said Mother, "a nice Christmasy name."

At dinner Betsy said, "Father, what do you think would be a nice Christmasy name for the baby?"

"Well," said Father, "you might name her Pudding. She certainly looks like one."

"Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "Pudding would be a terrible name for a little girl."

"Well, you can't call her Turkey because that is the name of a country."

"I wouldn't want to call her Turkey anyway," laughed Betsy. "Of course we could call her Carol after Christmas carol, but I know a lot of Carols. I want her to have a different name."

"How about naming her after one of Santa Claus's reindeer?" said Father. "Let's see; there were Dasher and Dancer, I remember, and Donder and Blitzen. Any one of those would be different."

Betsy laughed so hard she choked on her plum pudding. "Oh, Father, they are awful names for a baby."

"Well," laughed Father, "you will have to think of a name yourself."

In the afternoon Billy came to see Betsy's Christmas tree.

"I have a baby sister," said Betsy the moment she saw Billy.

"That's nothing," said Billy. "I got a two-wheel bike. It's got red wheels."

"My baby sister has a lot of brown curly hair," said Betsy.

"Oh, boy! You ought to see the bell on my bike," said Billy.

"I don't know what to name her," said Betsy.

"My bike is named the Flying Arrow," said Billy.

"I could have had a bicycle," said Betsy, "only I wanted a baby sister."

"You did?" said Billy. "Gee, you must be crazy."

Betsy showed Billy all of her presents. They went out of doors and Betsy took some pictures of Billy and Billy took some of Betsy.

"Say, Betsy," said Billy, "will you take a picture of me on my bike?"

"Maybe," said Betsy.

"Maybe I'll let you ride it, if you will take my picture," said Billy.

The children spent the rest of the afternoon playing a game.

Father kept going to the front door every once in a while. Finally Betsy said, "What are you looking for, Father?"

"Just looking to see if Santa Claus dropped anything outside," said Father.

"Did he?" Betsy asked.

"I haven't found anything," said Father, "but

you never can tell. Sometimes things roll off the roof."

"Oh, Father!" laughed Betsy. "You're just teasing."

Late in the afternoon there was a loud ring at the front door. Father and Betsy and Billy all rushed to the door. When Father opened it, there stood a delivery man with a shiny two-wheel bicycle.

Betsy's eyes looked as though they were going to pop right out of her head.

"Oh, boy!" shouted Billy; "a two-wheeler, just like mine!"

"Merry Christmas," said the delivery man; "sorry to be so late."

"Merry Christmas," said Father. "I have been looking for you all day. You should get a sleigh and some reindeer. You would get around faster."

"Is it for me, Father?" asked Betsy, putting her hand on one of the beautiful red wheels.

"Yes, Betsy, it is for you," said Father.

"Oh, Father," said Betsy, "a baby sister and a bike, both! It's wonderful!"

That evening Betsy was sitting on Father's lap. He was reading her Christmas book out loud. Betsy listened to every word. After a while she looked up at the Christmas tree. She began at the bottom and looked at each branch. At last her eyes rested on the beautiful silver star on the very top. It seemed to twinkle at her.

"Father," cried Betsy, "I know what I'm going to name the baby."

"What?" said Father.

"I'm going to name her Star," said Betsy.

"Star!" said Father. "Let's go tell Mother."

"Mother," cried Betsy, as she rushed in from school one day, "I have to take a quarter of a pound of butter to school tomorrow."

"A quarter of a pound of butter!" said Mother. "What are you going to do with a quarter of a pound of butter?"

"We're going to make cookies," said Betsy. "A very special kind of cookie, only what kind is a secret."

"Where are you going to make the cookies?" asked Mother.

"Oh, in the school kitchen," said Betsy. "All of the children are going to bring something, everything that goes in cookies. Miss Grey said if we each brought a little bit, when we put it all together there would be enough to make a lot of cookies."

"I see," said Mother. "What are you going to do with so many cookies?"

"That's a secret," said Betsy, as she danced out of the room.

Now the secret was that the children were making cookies for their mothers. They were to be Valentine Cookies. Miss Grey was going to bring some cookie cutters shaped like hearts.

Valentine's Day was just two days off. The children had made paper Valentines for each other. Betsy made a red heart for her baby sister. She pasted gold stars all over the heart.

Miss Grey had made a make-believe postbox with a great big red heart on the outside. It was so big that it almost covered the box. As the children finished making their Valentines, they dropped them into the box. Betsy hoped that there would be a lot of Valentines for her when Miss Grey opened the box on Valentine's Day.

When the children had asked Miss Grey if they could make Valentines for their mothers, Miss Grey had said, "How would you like to make Valentine Cookies?" The children were delighted, for they felt that nothing could be nicer than Valentine Cookies.

The next morning Betsy started off to school with her quarter of a pound of butter. Just before she reached the school she met Billy. Billy had a paper bag filled with flour. His mother had wrapped it up carefully and tied it with a string. Billy was now using the bag of flour for a ball. He was tossing it up in the air and catching it.

"You better watch out," said Betsy, "or you will drop that flour."

"Aw, I'm a good catcher," said Billy, tossing the little package higher than ever.

Just then Billy slipped on some ice on the pavement. Ker-plunk! went Billy and sat down very hard.

Ker-plunk! went the bag of flour, right on the top of Billy's head. The bag burst and the flour went all over Billy. He looked so funny, sitting in the middle of the pavement covered with flour, that Betsy couldn't help laughing.

Billy rubbed the flour out of his eyes. "Gee!" he said, "I slipped."

He scrambled to his feet and tried to brush the flour off of his suit. When he finished, the white flour was smeared all over him. Then he pulled off his hat and the flour got all over his hair.

When he reached his classroom, Miss Grey said, "Why, Billy, is it snowing outside?"

"Billy was playing ball with his bag of flour," said Betsy.

"I slipped and it hit me on the head," said Billy.

"Oh, Billy!" said Miss Grey, "now you have wasted the flour for the cookies."

Billy looked down at himself. He was a sight! "Can't I have any of the cookies, Miss Grey?" he asked.

"Well, you will have to stay after school and wash the pots and pans all by yourself. It was very careless of you to lose the flour," said Miss Grey.

Toward the end of the morning, Miss Grey took the children up to the school kitchen. It was on the top floor of the school. In the kitchen there was a long table, a stove, a cupboard, and a sink. The children had never been in the kitchen before and they thought it was a wonderful place.