Free Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary Page A

toJimmy’s knees. Still Jimmy dug. He had never worked so hard, but of course he had never had a real shovel to work with before. Then some dirt around the edge of the hole fell into the hole and buried Jimmy’s shoes. Jimmy was not discouraged.
    He pulled his feet out of the dirt, shoveled the dirt out of the hole, and went on digging. “Jimmy, you look so hot and tired,” said his mother. “Why don’t you rest awhile?”
    “No,” said Jimmy. “I’m digging the biggest hole in the world.” Pretty soon Jimmy’s mother and father came to look at the hole.
    “My goodness,” said his mother.“What are you going to do with such a big hole?”
    “We could pretend it is a place to catch fish,” said Janet. “I could tie a string to a stick and pretend I am catching fish.”
    “No,” said Jimmy. “It isn’t a place to catch fish. It is a real big hole.”
    “What are you going to do with your real hole?” asked his father.
    “We could pretend it is a place where baby rabbits live,” said Janet. “I could get in the hole and pretend I am a baby rabbit.”
    “No!” said Jimmy. “It isn’t a place where baby rabbits live. It is a real hole, and I made it with a real shovel.”
    Then Mrs. Robbins, the lady next door, came over to see Jimmy’s hole. “My, what a big hole!” she said. “What are you going to do with such a great big hole?” Jimmy did not know what he was going to do with such a great big hole. Muffy, the dog that lived next door, came over and sniffed the hole.
    “Muffy could bury bones in the hole,” said Janet.
    “No!” said Jimmy. “Muffy can dig his own hole.”
    Then the man who lived next door came to see Jimmy’s hole. “Say, that is a big hole!” he said. “What are you going to do with such a great big hole?” Everybody thought Jimmy should dosomething with his hole. Everybody but Jimmy. He liked his hole just the way it was.

    “I am going to keep my hole,” he said.
    “I’m afraid not,” said his father. “If you or Janet ran across the yard and fell into the hole, you might get hurt.” Jimmy looked at his father. Not keephis real hole that he had dug with his real shovel?
    “I want to keep my hole,” he said.
    “Now Jimmy,” said his father. “I don’t want you or Janet to get hurt.”
    “You said I could dig a big hole,” Jimmy reminded him.
    “Yes, but I didn’t know you could dig such a big hole,” answered his father. This made Jimmy feel better. His father hadn’t known he could dig such a big hole.
    “There must be something we could do with such a nice hole,” said Jimmy’s mother. “It’s too bad not to use it for something, when Jimmy has worked so hard.” So Jimmy and Janet and theirmother and father thought and thought. What could they do with such a big hole?
    “I know!” said Jimmy’s father.
    “What?” asked Jimmy and Janet.
    “You wait and see. It’s a surprise,” answered their father, and he backed the car out of the garage and drove away.
    “What do you suppose he’s going to get?” asked the twins’ mother.
    “Is it a big water pipe?” asked Jimmy.
    “Is it a family of baby rabbits?” asked Janet.
    “I don’t know,” answered their mother. “We will have to wait and see.”
    After a while Jimmy and Janet’sfather came back. When he got out of the car he took something out of the backseat. It was a tree growing in a big tin can. “Is it a real tree?” asked Jimmy.

    “Yes, it’s a real spruce tree,” answered his father, “and your hole is just the right size to plant it in.” Jimmy grabbedhis shovel. He wanted to help plant a real tree in his real hole.
    His father took the tree out of the can and set it in the hole. With the hose they watered the roots of the tree. Then they filled in the hole with dirt.
    “Now we have a real tree growing in our yard,” said Jimmy’s mother.
    “We can pretend it’s a Christmas tree,” said Janet.
    “It is a Christmas tree,” said her father. “This