Betsy and the Boys (7 page)

"Well, perhaps," said Miss Pancake. "But it certainly is not making this room happy. So suppose you put the soap on the windowsill outside the window."

"All right," said Billy.

"Say!" said Christopher. "I'm not going to sell anything that st—I mean, smells like that. Skunks!"

"Aw, the dogs will like it," said Billy.

Billy put the cake of soap on the windowsill and the little girls returned to their seats around Billy.

"Sissies!" said Billy. "That soap smells good. I would like to take a bath with it myself."

"Well, if you do I hope you'll take it Saturday night," said Ellen.

The soap sat on the windowsill until recess. Then Billy took it and ran off to meet the football
team. Soon the boys were gathered together.

"The soap came," cried Billy as soon as Rudy appeared. "I have a cake here. The rest of it is in our garage. My daddy paid for it."

"Gee! That's great!" interrupted Rudy. And the faces of the team lit up.

"But my daddy wants the two dollars and forty cents," said Billy. "So you'll have to collect the dues, Rudy."

The faces of the team grew long.

"OK, OK," said Rudy. "Fellas, hand over your dues."

Eight hands went into eight pockets and all kinds of things came out. Marbles, screws, nails, bits of string, bottle tops, thumbtacks, rubber bands, bits of colored glass, pebbles, seashells, balls of tinfoil, golf balls, wheels from broken toys, and seventeen cents in all.

"Seventeen cents isn't enough," said Billy.

"Well, I don't think we can sell that soap anyway," said Christopher. "It st—you know."

"That's right," said Henry. And Richard, who was Henry's twin, said, "That's right."

"My father says I can't sell soap," said Kenny. "He says he won't allow it."

"Well, say! What am I going to do with all that soap and what about my father's two dollars

and forty cents?" said Billy. "What about that?"

"And what about our football?" said Rudy.

Just then little Eddie appeared. "Whatcha doin'?" said Eddie. "What's up?"

As usual nobody paid any attention to Eddie, so Eddie just hung around trying to pick up the news. It wasn't very long before he understood that Billy was stuck with two dollars and forty cents' worth of flea soap.

Nothing had been settled when the bell rang for the children to return to their classrooms. But it didn't look as though the boys were going to sell any soap.

Billy returned to his room looking very gloomy indeed. When Miss Pancake saw him, she said, "Goodness gracious, Billy! What is the matter?"

Billy told Miss Pancake the whole story about the soap.

"How many boys in the room are on the team?" said Miss Pancake.

A half dozen hands went up.

"Who is captain?" she said.

"Rudy Wilson," replied Billy.

"You boys stay after school for a meeting," said Miss Pancake. "I'll send word to Rudy."

Rudy arrived as soon as the class was dismissed.

"Now," said Miss Pancake to the little boys, "you must work out a way to pay Billy's father the money that you owe him."

"But what about our football?" asked Rudy.

"Most of the boys tell me that they don't want to sell the soap," said Miss Pancake. "So you will have to get your football in some other way."

Just then little Eddie appeared in the open doorway. "What's the matter?" asked Eddie.

"Are you on the team too?" asked Miss Pan-cake.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Eddie.

"No, he isn't," said Rudy.

"Am," said Eddie and sat down.

"Well now, boys, you will have to think of some way to raise the two dollars and forty cents. I'll write your ideas on the blackboard."

The team sat very still. They were all thinking hard.

Finally Eddie spoke up. "We could wash dogs," he said.

Miss Pancake wrote on the board, "Wash dogs."

"That is a very good idea," she said. "If you charge twenty-five cents each, how many dogs would you have to wash? Billy?"

"Ten," said Billy.

"That's an awful lot of dogs," said Rudy.

The boys sat still for five more minutes. Nothing was added to the blackboard.

At last Miss Pancake said, "Well, is this the only idea?"

The boys looked at each other. "Guess so," they murmured.

"All right!" said Miss Pancake. "Tomorrow is Saturday. You can all spend the day washing dogs."

"Where will we get the dogs?" asked Christopher.

"You will have to go out and find them," said Miss Pancake. "There must be plenty of people who would like to have their dog washed on Saturday morning."

"Where will we wash them?" asked Kenny.

"You will have to decide that," replied Miss Pancake.

"I guess we can wash them in our garage," said Billy. "That's where the soap is."

"Very well," said Miss Pancake. "You can go now, and on Monday morning I want to hear that your debt is paid and that every boy helped. And let this be a lesson to you, Billy. Never sign your name to anything you can't pay for."

"I'll remember, Miss Pancake," said Billy.

The following morning the boys were up bright and early. They scoured the neighborhood for dogs to wash. By nine o'clock Billy was busy washing the next door neighbors' Airedale.

He had just finished when Rudy arrived with a Scottie.

In the middle of the Scottie's bath Kenny came in with an Eskimo dog. Later Christopher brought in a fox terrier.

The dogs behaved very well. It was just as Billy had said. They liked the odor of the soap.

Late in the morning Richard and Henry arrived with their own red setter, Chummy. They set to work on him together.

Just as they finished Billy cried out, "Look what Eddie's bringing!" Billy pointed up the street. The boys looked. Then their mouths fell open. For there, moving majestically beside Eddie, was the biggest dog the boys had ever seen. It was a Saint Bernard.

"Take it away," yelled Rudy.

"We're not washing that dog for twenty-five cents," called out Billy.

"Nix!" yelled Christopher. "Not for two bits."

Eddie was looking proud enough to burst. "The

lady says she'll pay a dollar," said Eddie, waving a dollar bill.

"Oh, boy! Oh, boy!" cried Billy. "Bring him right in."

All the boys crowded around to pat the Saint Bernard dog. He was as good as gold. He stood still while Billy washed his big head and Rudy washed his back. Joe worked on his back legs and Kenny washed his front legs. It was a big job, but when the boys had finished, the Saint Bernard looked beautiful with his shining white and gold coat.

When Eddie and the dog departed, Billy said, "Oh, boy! Just one more dog and we can quit."

"Yeh!" said Rudy. "But we haven't any football." And when he said this the team looked very sad.

"Oh, well! Maybe we can wash more dogs next week and buy a football," said Billy.

Just then Betsy appeared. "Hello!" she said. "What are you doing?"

"We're in business," said Rudy. "We wash dogs. Only twenty-five cents."

"Yes," said Billy. "Just one more dog and we have enough money to pay my daddy for the soap."

"But we have to wash more next Saturday,"
sighed Rudy, "to earn money to buy a football."

"Oh!" said Betsy. "That's too bad." And she trotted off.

The boys sat down to rest.

Just as the Wilson twins were about to set off to find the last dog, Betsy appeared. She had Thumpy on a leash. "Here you are," she said. "It smells awful but you can wash him."

The boys just stared, but not at Thumpy. They were staring at the object under Betsy's arm. They couldn't believe their eyes. For under Betsy's arm was a football! She held it out to them. "Would you like to play with my football?" she said.

"Oh, Betsy!" cried Billy. "Do you mean it? Is it a real football?"

"Sure," said Betsy.

"Wheee!" cried the team.

"What a pal! What a pal!" cried Rudy, patting Betsy on the back. "You're on the team, Betsy. You're on the team."

Then he turned to the boys. "Come on, fellas," he said, "give her a cheer."

And they all cried, "Rah! Betsy! Rah! Rah! Rah! Betsy!"

And Billy rubbed Surething Flea Soap on Thumpy.

The football team had a wonderful time playing with Betsy's football. Little Eddie turned out to be one of the best players. Betsy wasn't so very good, but the boys were patient and encouraging. After all, it was her ball. Then one day she tore a big three-cornered tear in one of her best school dresses and skinned the toes of her new shoes. When she returned home, Mother decided that Betsy had played enough football.

The following night Father came home with a package under his arm. Betsy ran to meet him. "What's in the package, Father?" said Betsy, full of curiosity.

"It's a present," said Father.

"For me?" said Betsy.

Father nodded.

"A just-for-instance present?" said Betsy, dancing up and down.

"Righto," said Father.

"Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "I think just-for-instance presents are the nicest presents of all, because they are the surprisiest surprises. When it's my birthday or Christmas, I know that I'm going to get a present, so the only surprise is what the present is. But a just-for-instance present is two surprises. The present is a surprise and getting it is a surprise."

Mother, who had been listening, said, "Oh, Betsy, I know just what you mean, darling." And Father threw back his head and laughed.

Betsy untied the package. She wondered why knots were always tighter on surprises. Things you didn't care about always fell open. At last the string was off. Betsy felt the weight of the package as she removed the wrapping paper. When she lifted the lid of the box, there, to her delight, was a pair of shiny ice skates fastened to beautiful snow-white boots.

"Oh, Father!" cried Betsy. "Skates! Am I going to learn to skate at the rink?"

"That's right," said Father.

"How wonderful!" exclaimed Betsy, as she pulled off her oxfords and tried on her boots. "When may I go skating?"

"Mother has arranged for you to have a lesson tomorrow afternoon, at four o'clock," said Father.