Read "B" Is for Betsy for Free Online Page B

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 late 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