Here's a Penny (5 page)

When Patsy looked into the box and saw the brown bear she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Oh!" she gasped, as she lifted him out of the tissue paper. "Another Chocolate!"

Then she hugged him very tight and looked up at Penny's mother. "A Chocolate for me?" she asked.

"Yes, Patsy. Your very own Chocolate," said Penny's mother.

Penny was jumping all around the room now, singing out, "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it all the time."

"Can I take him home with me?" asked Patsy.

"Of course," said Penny's mother. "He has come to live with you."

"Oh, thank you," whispered Patsy. "I'll take him home right now and show him to Mommy."

When Halloween drew near, Penny and Patsy were invited to a Halloween party at Tommy Robbins's house. The children had never been to a Halloween party before and they could hardly wait for the day to come.

"I know what I'm going to wear to the Halloween party," said Patsy one morning on the way to school.

"So do I," said Penny. "But I'm not going to tell."

"I'm not going to tell, either," said Patsy. "It's a secret. You'll be surprised, all right."

"Well, you'll be surprised, too," said Penny.

One day, when Penny was playing with Patsy, Patsy sent him up to her room to get a game. Penny looked all around but he couldn't find it.

"Patsy!" he called down the stairs. "I can't find it."

"Look on the floor of the closet," Patsy called back.

Penny opened the closet door. There on the floor lay the game. He stooped down to pick it up. As he did so, something fell and hit him right on the head. To Penny's surprise it was a gold crown. Penny picked it up. Then he stretched up on his tiptoes and hung the crown

on a hook. Looking up, he spied a fluffy white dress with bright red hearts sewn all over it.

Penny picked up the game and closed the door. He chuckled to himself. He had seen Patsy's Halloween costume. He decided not to say anything about it. After all, he hadn't been snooping. Patsy had told him to look in the closet. And the crown had hit him right on the head.

The Halloween party was to be Friday evening. When the day arrived, Penny and Patsy ran all the way home from school.

"Mommy says I can put on my costume and come over to your house this afternoon," said Patsy.

"That's fine! I'll put mine on, too," said Penny. "Oh, boy! Will you be surprised!"

"You'll be surprised, too," said Patsy.

"Bet I won't be," said Penny, grinning.

"Oh, yes, you will be," said Patsy, as she left Penny.

Penny ran into the house and upstairs, shouting, "Mummy! I'm home, Mummy!"

Mother was in Penny's room, putting the last stitch in his Halloween costume.

"May I put it on now?" asked Penny. "Patsy's going to put hers on. Then she's coming right over. Won't Patsy be surprised when she sees me?"

"Maybe you will be surprised when you see Patsy," said Mother.

"That's what Patsy thinks," replied Penny. "But I know what Patsy is going to wear. She's going to be the Queen of Hearts."

"Is that so?" said Mother.

"Yepper. I saw her dress hanging in her closet. And she's going to wear a gold crown," said Penny. "Do you know how I know she's going to wear a gold crown, Mother?"

"How do you know?" asked Mother.

"'Cause it fell off the hook and hit me on the head."

"And what were you doing in Patsy's closet?" asked Mother.

"Oh, I wasn't snooping, Mother. Patsy sent me to the closet to get a game," replied Penny.

"I see," said Mother. "So Patsy is going to be the Queen of Hearts!"

"Yep!" said Penny. "Patsy's going to be the Queen of Hearts. 'Course I'm going to make believe that I'm surprised. Look, Mummy. I'll look like this when I open the door."

Penny threw up his hands and opened his eyes very wide. "Do I look surprised, Mummy?" he asked. "Do I look very surprised?"

"Oh, my, yes!" replied Mother. "You look very much surprised."

Penny laughed and turned a somersault. "It's a big joke, isn't it?" he chuckled.

Mother laughed. "It certainly is," she said.

Penny chuckled as he got undressed. He was enjoying the joke on Patsy.

After he had his bath he put on his costume. Mother held it for him. First he put one leg in, then the other leg. Then he poked his arms through the sleeves. Mother helped him to put his head into the right place. Now he could see out of the holes of the eyes. Finally Mother pulled the zipper up the back and Penny was dressed in his Halloween costume.

Penny ran to look at himself in the long mirror. He let out a whoop. There in the mirror, looking back at him, was the perfect image of Chocolate. There was the furry brown body, the big round ears, and the hard nose that now looked like a great big acorn.

Penny danced up and down with glee. "Why, I look just like Chocolate!" he cried. "I look 'zactly like Chocolate! Oh, just wait until Patsy sees me!"

Just then the doorbell rang. "There's Patsy now!" cried Penny. "I'll go down and let her in. She's gonna be surprised all right!"

Penny ran down the stairs. He swung open the front door. Then he almost fell over backwards. What he saw made him gasp. For a moment he thought perhaps he was back in the bedroom looking in the big mirror; for there stood another Chocolate, exactly like himself.

Then Penny put out his hand and touched the brown bear. "Who are you?" he gasped.

"Why—why—I'm Patsy!" came from the bear. "I didn't know that you were going to be Chocolate, too."

"I thought you were going to be the Queen of Hearts," said Penny. "I saw the dress in your closet. And a gold crown."

"Oh!" replied Patsy. "That's Mommy's dress. She's going to a party tomorrow night."

"Mother!" shouted Penny, as the two bears climbed the stairs. "Look at Patsy! She's dressed like Chocolate, too."

When the two bears came into the room, Penny's mother laughed and laughed. She

laughed until the tears ran down her cheeks. "Why, I can't tell you apart," she said.

"Mother, did you know that Patsy was going to be Chocolate?" asked Penny.

"Yes, I did," replied Mother. "Patsy's mother and I thought it would be such fun for you to surprise each other. We made your costumes together, so that they would be exactly alike."

Just then Patsy's mother came in. When she saw the two bears she laughed just as hard as Penny's mother had laughed.

Penny and Patsy were both feeling a little bit disappointed because each one had expected to be the only Chocolate at the party.

"Why, I can't tell which is which," laughed Patsy's mother. "Even their voices sound exactly alike, inside of those heads."

"You will have a wonderful time at the party," said Penny's mother. "Everyone will get you mixed up. Think what fun it will be to fool them."

This made the children feel much better. They began running in and out of the room to see if their mothers could tell them apart.

Then they went downstairs to the kitchen. There they had a merry time, fooling Minnie.

When it was time to go to the party, Patsy said, "I'm glad now that we are both dressed like Chocolate. We're going to have fun, fooling everybody at the party."

"We're going to fool 'em, all right," said Penny. "We're going to fool everybody."

"It's a big joke, isn't it?" said Patsy.

"Yes," chuckled Penny. "I think it's the biggest joke that ever was!"

When it was time to go to the Halloween party, Penny and Patsy asked if they could go by themselves. It wasn't very far, so their mothers agreed that they could walk over alone.

"But we will come for you," said Penny's mother. "We will be there at nine o'clock."

"Okay!" said Penny, as the two bears went out of the door.

They trotted down the street and their mothers watched them until the children turned the corner. They couldn't tell which was Penny and which was Patsy.

As the children turned the corner, they came upon Mike, a great big police dog. Mike belonged to Mr. Turner, a friend of Penny's daddy. Penny and Patsy both loved Mike and Mike was very fond of the children. But Mike didn't know the children at all, now that they were dressed like bears. To him they were just strange animals that he had never seen before. And Mike didn't like strange animals. He let out a low growl.

Penny and Patsy stood still. "Hello, Mike," said Penny. But it didn't sound at all like Penny's voice.

Mike was sure he didn't like the strange animals now, so he gave a terrific bark.

"He doesn't know us," said Patsy. "Let's run home."

"No," said Penny. "He'll run after us and he might catch us. Daddy always says you mustn't act scared."

The two bears huddled together against a stone wall. They were both trembling.

"But I
am
scared," said Patsy, beginning to cry.

Mike was barking furiously now.

"I'll take off my head," said Penny. "Then he'll see who I am. Here, Patsy, you undo the zipper."

Patsy undid the zipper and Penny took off the bear's head.

"See, Mike! It's Penny."

Mike kept his eyes on the head in Penny's hands and went right on barking.

"I want to go home," cried Patsy.

Penny laid the bear's head down on the stone wall. Then Mike came up to Penny as he always had, wagging his tail.

Penny patted Mike on the head. "See," said Penny, "he was scared of the bear's head."

Then Mike turned on Patsy and began barking as hard as ever.

"Oh, Penny!" cried Patsy. "Pull my zipper, quick. I'll take off my head, too."

Penny pulled Patsy's zipper and Patsy took off her head. But Mike wouldn't stop barking until Patsy put her head on the stone wall beside Penny's.

Then Mike stopped barking and began to wag his tail. He sniffed at Patsy and she put out her hand and patted his head.

"See, Mike, it's just Patsy," said Penny.

"Now we better hurry," said Penny, "or we'll be late for the party."

Penny reached out for the bear's head. As he did so, Mike let out a low growl. Penny drew back his hand.

Mike began to growl and bark at the two heads sitting on the wall.

"Oh, dear!" said Patsy. "Now he won't let us have our heads. We'll never get to the party."

"Let's get Mr. Turner," said Penny.

The two children went up to Mr. Turner's front door and rang the bell. In a moment, Mr. Turner opened the door.