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chair and opened the closet doors but there was no can there. They looked under the table and back of the stove. The can of cookies was gone.
    Betsy and Kenny went downstairs. When they told Miss Grey that the cookies were gone, she couldn't believe it. But when Miss Grey looked everywhere in the kitchen, she knew that the children were right.
    Miss Grey asked the janitor, Mr. Windrim, if he had seen the can of cookies, but he didn't know anything about them. She asked the principal of the school and all of the teachers, but no one knew anything about the cookies.
    When Miss Grey told the children that their cookies were lost they almost cried. Their lovely cookies that they had baked especially for their mothers' Valentines! They were gone and no one knew where.
    Miss Grey tried to have a singing lesson but the children sang very badly. They were all thinking about the lost cookies.
    After a while, Billy raised his hand.
    "What is it, Billy?" asked Miss Grey.
    "May I get a drink?" asked Billy.
    "Do you have to have a drink of water now, Billy?" asked Miss Grey. "You know you have just had your recess."
    "I'm awful thirsty," said Billy.
    "Very well," said Miss Grey, "but hurry back."
    Billy ran out to the drinking fountain in the yard. The ash-men were collecting the big cans of rubbish that were standing on the school pavement. They were throwing the cans up into the wagon. Just as Billy was about to get a drink, he saw one of the men pick up a can with a lid on it.
    "Hey! Hey!" cried Billy, rushing toward the man. "Hey! Wait a minute."
    The man put the can down on the pavement and looked at Billy. "What's the matter with you?" he said.
    "Hey!" said Billy, "that's our cookies."
    Billy picked up the can and ran into school. When he rushed into the room carrying the cookie can, the children shouted, "Look what Billy's got!"
    "I found the cookies, Miss Grey. I found 'em!"
cried Billy. "Somebody must have put them out on the pavement with the rubbish. The man was just going to take them away."
    Billy was all out of breath but the children were delighted to have the cookies back again.
    Just then Mr. Windrim came into the room. "Miss Grey," he said, "I am terribly sorry about those cookies. The boy who helps me with the cleaning made a mistake and put your can out with the rubbish. Now I am afraid it is gone."
    "No, Mr. Windrim, Billy rescued the can of cookies just as the men were about to take it."
    "Gee, Miss Grey!" said Billy, "aren't you glad I had to get a drink of water?"
    "Indeed I am," said Miss Grey.
    "Oh, Miss Grey!" cried Billy, "I forgot to get it. Now what do you think of that!"

8. Thumpy Goes for a Ride

    Thumpy was Betsy's little dog. He was a black cocker spaniel and Betsy had raised him from a tiny puppy. He was a loving little fellow and a good watchdog but he had one very bad habit. He stole everything he could find to eat and he didn't seem to be one bit ashamed of himself.
    Once he climbed on a chair and knocked a box of chocolates off of the living room table. When the chocolates rolled out of the box, Thumpy gobbled them all up. Betsy walked into the room just as Thumpy was tearing the box to pieces. He didn't want to miss any crumbs.
    Another time the refrigerator door was left open on a crack. When Thumpy found himself alone in the kitchen he poked his nose in the crack and the door swung open. Thumpy sniffed here and he sniffed there. Then he poked the lid off of a dish filled with stewed chicken. When Betsy's mother came into the kitchen, Thumpy was curled up on a chair, sound asleep. When Mother looked into the refrigerator there wasn't even a chicken bone left in the dish.
    Of course Thumpy was punished each time but it didn't seem to do any good. He just went right on gobbling down everything he could find and he didn't seem to mind being sick at his tummy.
    Father said that Thumpy's motto was, "Eats! Eats! and more Eats!"
    One afternoon Mother came home with some chopped meat for dinner. She laid