Free Betsy and Billy by Carolyn Haywood Page A

flowered silk one out of the bottom drawer of her bureau. She looked at them very carefully. They were a little mussed and a little soiled around the bottom, but Betsy thought they really looked very nice. She tried to smooth out the wrinkles and all the time she had wrinkles in her forehead, for it was very hard to decide which dress she could part with. She loved them both very much, but she had decided to give one of the dresses to Miss Little. First she thought she would give her the flowered one, but she ended by thinking the red one would be best. Miss Little would look nice in the long train. Betsy folded the dress as carefully as she could and put it in her schoolbag.
    The next morning, just as she was leaving for school, Mother said, "Betsy, whatever is in your schoolbag that makes it look so fat?"
    "Oh, that is your red dress," replied Betsy. "I am going to give it to Miss Little so that she will have a pretty dress to wear to school."
    "Betsy, darling!" cried Mother. "You can't give that dress to Miss Little."
    "Why not?" asked Betsy, looking very crestfallen. "It's a present for her."
    "You can't give dresses to your teacher, dear," explained Mother. "You can give her flowers or candy or fruit and many other things, but not dresses."
    Betsy looked puzzled but she opened her schoolbag and pulled out the dress. Mother hugged her little girl very tight when she kissed her good-bye.

    Betsy trotted off to school thinking it was very strange that dresses couldn't be presents. Soon she met some of her little friends. They chattered about their summer vacations all the way to school.
    When they reached the big wide street, there was Mr. Kilpatrick, the policeman. When he saw the group of children, he blew his whistle and all of the automobiles stopped. The children ran toward the big policeman, calling, "Hello, Mr. Kilpatrick."
    Mr. Kilpatrick laughed and shouted, "Hello, there, everybody! Hello, Billy. How are you, Teddy? Why, there's Little Red Ribbons!" Mr. Kilpatrick always called Betsy "Little Red Ribbons" because she often wore red ribbons on her braids.
    The children swarmed around the policeman. "Mr. Kilpatrick," shouted Betsy, "I can milk a cow!"
    "You don't say so!" said Mr. Kilpatrick.
    "Our cat has kittens, Mr. Kilpatrick," said Teddy.
    "Look, Mr. Kilpatrick," cried Billy, "I have a loose tooth."
    "Run along, run along," shouted Mr. Kilpatrick, as he hustled the children on.

    When the children reached the school they trooped into the second-grade room. To Betsy's surprise, Miss Little wasn't there. Instead, the school secretary was standing at the front of the room. "Just take your seats quietly, children," she said. "Your teacher will be here in a few minutes. Miss Little is not coming back to school."
    Betsy wondered who her teacher would be. She saw Miss Grey pass the door. She was so glad to see Miss Grey again. It was all she could do to keep from running after her. She began again to wish that she could go back to the first grade with Miss Grey. Betsy could feel a little lump in her throat. She swallowed hard but it didn't do any good. Just as the tears were beginning to come into her eyes, the door opened and in came Miss Grey. "Good morning, boys and girls," said Miss Grey.
    "Good morning, Miss Grey," the children said.
    "I have a surprise for you," said Miss Grey.
    The children's eyes were very wide, for they loved nothing better than surprises.
    "I have been promoted," said Miss Grey. "I am in the second grade, too."
    "Whoopee!" shouted Billy Porter.

2. What Happened to Billy's Tooth

    Billy Porter was very proud of his loose tooth. No one else in the second grade had a loose tooth so of course this made Billy feel very important indeed. At recess he stood in the center of a circle of friends and wiggled the tooth.
    Betsy thought Billy's loose tooth was wonderful. When she came home from school she said, "Mother, Billy Porter has a loose tooth. Will I have a loose tooth too pretty soon?"
    "I