Betsy and Billy

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Book: Read Betsy and Billy for Free Online
Authors: Carolyn Haywood
They went over that hill with Thumpy and now I'll never see him again."
    "Get in," said Mr. Kilpatrick, opening the door of the car.
    Betsy got in. "Now stop crying," said the policeman; "we'll get Thumpy all right."
    "Can you make them give Thumpy back to me, Mr. Kilpatrick?" asked Betsy.
    "Now there's no use in chasing the wagon," said Mr. Kilpatrick. "The thing to do is to go to the dog pound where they dump them out. We'll wait for them there. It will cost you fifty cents to get Thumpy back. Is he worth fifty cents?"
    "Oh, yes, Mr. Kilpatrick," cried Betsy. "I have fifty cents in my bank. I would give all of the money in my bank to get Thumpy back."
    "That settles it!" said Mr. Kilpatrick, as he turned the car around. "We'll stop at your house and you can get your money."
    When they reached Betsy's house, Betsy jumped out. In a second she was back again. She had her little bank in her hand. "I've got the money," she cried as she climbed into the car.
    While Mr. Kilpatrick drove to the dog pound,

    Betsy opened her bank with the little key that hung on a chain around her neck. She took out ten nickels.
    "You're sure they will give Thumpy back to me for fifty cents, aren't you, Mr. Kilpatrick?" said Betsy.
    "Sure as your name is Betsy!" said Mr. Kilpatrick.
    The red automobile drove up to the gates of the dog pound just as the dogcatcher's wagon drove through the gates.
    "There he is!" cried Betsy. "There's Thumpy!"
    Thumpy was still looking out through the wire cage. He looked surprised and very sad. When he saw Betsy, he gave a little bark and wagged his stubby tail.
    Mr. Kilpatrick and Betsy got out of the car. They went into a little office. Mr. Kilpatrick told the man in the office that they had come for Betsy's dog.
    "Very well," said the man, "come pick him out."
    Betsy went out to the wagon and pointed to Thumpy. The man lifted him out of the wire cage and put him on the ground. Thumpy rushed to Betsy. He jumped up and down barking little happy barks. Betsy picked up her little dog and hugged him tight. "Oh, Thumpy!" she cried, "I'm so glad to see you."
    "Now you keep him off the street," said the man.
    "Oh, I will," replied Betsy, handing over her fifty cents.
    Betsy climbed back into Mr. Kilpatrick's car and he drove Betsy and Thumpy home.
    "Oh, Mr. Kilpatrick, I don't know what I would do without you."
    "Sure," said Mr. Kilpatrick, "I don't know myself what you would do. It was a good thing I came along, just in the nick of time."
    "Oh, yes," said Betsy. "Thank you so much."
    When Betsy reached home, she told Mother and Father all about Thumpy and the dogcatchers.
    "I thought you said that you wouldn't go after Thumpy if the dogcatchers got him," said Father.
    Betsy pressed her cheek against Thumpy's silky head. She looked up into Father's eyes. Then Betsy and Father laughed very hard.
    "Perhaps Thumpy will be good now," said Betsy.
    "Perhaps," said Father, "but I wouldn't trust him with a beefsteak."

9. May Day and Mother Goose

    One rainy day in April the children were so wiggly that Miss Grey felt like the "Old Woman That Lived in a Shoe."
    "She had so many children, she didn't know what to do."
    Christopher had tied Betsy's braids together in a knot twice. Kenny had dropped a marble down the neck of Ellen's dress. Betty Jane cried because Billy untied her sash every time she went to the front of the room to write on the blackboard. Miss Grey tried very hard to teach her second grade how to tell time by the clock. Nobody seemed to care what time it was. They just watched the rain run down the windows in rivers.
    At last Miss Grey said, "Let's talk about our May Day. It won't be long until May Day."
    The children all sat up and their faces brightened.
    "Are we going to have a May Queen?" asked Betsy.
    "Yes, indeed," said Miss Grey. "It wouldn't be May Day without a May Queen."

    "And a maypole?" asked Mary Lou.
    "Yes," said Miss Grey, "but we must plan something more to entertain your mothers and fathers. Let's

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