Five Little Friends.
by Sherred Willc.o.x Adams and Maud and Miska Petersham.
THE FIVE LITTLE FRIENDS AT SCHOOL
Bob and Betty, Paul and Peggy and little Dot are five little friends.
They go to the same school. Many other children go to the school too, but these five little friends are the ones this story is about.
Bob is the tall boy in the brown suit. Betty is the girl in the checked dress. Paul is the boy with the white blouse. Peggy is the girl with curls. Little Dot is the tiny child with bobbed hair.
Bob and Betty, Paul and Peggy and little Dot have a very fine teacher.
She is called Miss West. Many other children are in Miss West"s room too. But the five little friends are the ones this story is about.
One morning when the children came to school Miss West had a surprise for them. On her desk was something large and round. It was all covered with paper.
"Guess what this is, children," said Miss West.
"It is a balloon," said Bob.
"I think it is a football," said Paul.
"No, no, you are both wrong," said Miss West. She took the paper off.
What do you think it was?
It was a big gla.s.s bowl. In it were six goldfish. They were swimming about in the water.
"Little folks," said Miss West, "these are our school pets. We must feed them and give them fresh water. Then they will live a long time and we can have fun watching them."
The children stood around the bowl. They watched the fish swim and float. They laughed when one fish chased another round and round the bowl. He looked very funny with his big mouth wide open.
Soon Miss West showed the children how to feed the fish. After that they took turns in caring for them. Paul and Peggy had the first turn. Next Bob and Betty had their turn. After that little Dot took care of the fish all by herself. The other children had turns too. But this story is about the five little children whose names you know.
One day Miss West said to the children, "How many of you little girls and boys have pets of your own?"
A great many hands were raised.
"I have!" said Bob.
"I have!" said Paul.
"I have," "I have," "I have," said Betty and Peggy and little Dot.
"I have thought of a fine plan," said Miss West. "Each day one child may tell the other children about his pet."
"What fun!" said Betty; and all the other children thought, "What fun that will be!"
"Who will have the first turn?" asked Bob.
"We will play a game to see," said Miss West.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
So Miss West wrote the names of all the children on slips of paper Then she put all the slips in Paul"s cap. Next she blindfolded Peggy. Peggy put her hand in the cap and drew out a slip. What name do you think was on this slip? The name was _Dot_.
So the next day little Dot told about her pet. This is what she said:
"My pet is a white cat. Her name is s...o...b..ll. She is as white as snow.
When she curls up in front of the fire she is round like a ball.
"One day my daddy could not find his hat. He looked and looked and looked for it. At last he found it in a dark corner under the stairs.
"There was something in the hat. First Daddy saw two bright eyes. Then he saw s...o...b..ll all curled up in the hat. By her side were two little baby kittens. They were just like their mother. We named them Fluff and m.u.f.f. Now we have a happy cat family.
"Daddy never got his hat back. At first the kittens slept in it. Now Fluff and m.u.f.f are so big they sleep in a box. But they like Daddy"s hat to play with. Fluff gets on one side and m.u.f.f on the other. Then they pull and pull. Daddy"s hat is almost worn out now."
The children liked little Dot"s story very much. They laughed when they thought of Fluff on one side and m.u.f.f on the other and Daddy"s hat in the middle.
The next day Betty was blindfolded. She put her hand in the cap and drew a slip. This time _Paul_ was written on the slip. So it was Paul"s turn to tell about his pet. This is what he said:
"My pet is a big collie dog. His name is Hero. When my mother goes to market she takes Hero with her. He trots by her side and carries a basket in his mouth.
"Sometimes my mother sends Hero home with the meat and bread for dinner.
He goes right along. He does not stop or look around. When he comes to our house he sets the basket down. Then he watches it until Mother comes. If anyone calls, "Here, Hero," he p.r.i.c.ks up his ears, but he will not move from his place.
"One day I tried to coax him away with a big bone. I know the bone looked and smelled good to Hero. He sniffed the air and looked at the bone with hungry brown eyes, but he never moved from the basket.
"Last summer we went to the seash.o.r.e. We took Hero with us. One day I was on the beach, playing in the sand. Hero was lying asleep in the sun. I was making a sand fort and my back was toward the sea.
"Suddenly a big wave dashed in and knocked me down. Then another big wave came and carried me out into the water. As I did not know how to swim, I was very much frightened. I tried to call out, but my mouth was full of sea water. I could make only a little frightened sound; but Hero heard me. What do you think he did? He jumped into the water and swam out to me. I was too nearly drowned to catch hold of him. So he took my clothes in his mouth and began to swim with me to the sh.o.r.e.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RESCUE]
"I was heavy, and Hero was almost worn out before he got there. But he never once let go. He kept right on until he dropped me on dry land.
Then he lay panting on the sand.
"Just then Mother came to see where I was. When she saw what had happened she hugged me hard. Then she hugged Hero hard too. The next day she bought Hero a new collar with his name on it in big letters--HERO.
That night Hero had a big bone with lots of meat on it for his supper."
The children enjoyed Paul"s story as much as they had Dot"s. They thought Hero was a fine name for such a brave dog. They said Paul was a lucky boy to have a pet like that.
On another day little Dot was blindfolded. The slip of paper she drew had this name on it--_Betty_. So it was Betty"s turn to tell about her pet. This is what she told:
"My pet is a pigeon. He is not just a common pigeon like the ones on the church roof. He is a carrier pigeon. My Uncle Fred brought him from France. He calls him the living airplane. Can you tell why?
"He is named Arrow. In France Arrow used to carry messages to the soldiers. These messages were written on tiny slips of paper and tied around Arrow"s neck.
"When Uncle Fred came home he taught Arrow to go from my grandmother"s house to our house and straight back again. It was a ten mile trip.