Free Betsy and Billy by Carolyn Haywood Page B

suppose you will, Betsy," replied Mother. "Your baby teeth should be coming out soon."
    "Will all of my teeth come out?" asked Betsy.
    "Yes," answered Mother, "but new ones will come in to take their places."
    Each day Billy's tooth grew looser and every day his little friends gathered round him to see how loose it was.
    Betsy could hardly wait for the day to come when she would have a loose tooth. Every morning, as soon as she woke up, she sat up in bed and felt each of her teeth. One morning when she felt her front teeth, one of them seemed to rock ever so little. Her eyes grew round with

    wonder. She felt it again. Yes, she was certain that it moved a tiny bit. Betsy leaped out of bed and rushed into Mother's room. "Mother, Mother!" she cried. "My tooth is loose. Look, Mother, it's loose!"
    Mother felt Betsy's little tooth. "Yes, I believe it is," she said.
    "Look! Father, look!" cried Betsy. "My tooth is loose!" Father had to stop shaving to look at Betsy's tooth.
    "Well, isn't that something!" said Father. "I wonder if any of mine are loose."
    Betsy laughed at Father while he felt his front teeth, for Betsy knew that none of Father's teeth were loose. They were big and white and strong.
    Then Betsy's face fell. "Oh, dear," she sighed.
    "What's the matter?" said Father, as he went on shaving.
    "I just remembered," said Betsy. "Today is Saturday and I don't go to school today. Now I'll have to wait until Monday to show everybody."
    "Cheer up!" said Father. "It will be looser by Monday. You'll be able to get a bigger crowd around you on Monday."
    Betsy went back to her room a little comforted. While she dressed she thought of Billy Porter. He wasn't the only one with a loose tooth now. How would she ever be able to wait until Monday, she thought. And there was Sunday in between too.
    Betsy found that waiting until Monday was not as bad as she had thought. On Saturday morning the grocer's boy came with the groceries. The milkman came to collect his money for the milk. The gas man came to look at the gas meter and a man came selling brooms. As each one arrived, Betsy said, "I have a loose tooth."
    Betsy thought that the grocer's boy and the gas man and the man selling brooms didn't act as though they thought a loose tooth was very important, but the milkman thought it was wonderful. When she told him about her tooth, he said, "Now that's the best news I've heard all morning. Sure it will be a great day when it comes out."
    On Monday morning the tooth was looser. It really wiggled. Betsy reached school very early. She showed it to Miss Grey and to all of the children as they came into the room. When Billy Porter arrived the children were crowded around Betsy. "Oh, Billy!" they shouted. "Betsy has a loose tooth too."
    "Well, mine will come out first," said Billy, "because mine is looser than yours."
    "Maybe it won't," said Betsy, " 'cause mine is pretty loose."
    "There's not a chance," said Billy, "not a chance."
    When the bell rang for school to begin the children sat down in their seats.
    "Children," said Miss Grey, "I am going to give a brand-new red pencil to the first one who loses a tooth." Miss Grey had red pencils and green pencils, but the red pencils were very special and were always used as first prizes.

    Billy pointed to himself and grinned. "That means me," he said.
    At recess time no one gathered around to look at Billy's tooth. Now that there were two loose teeth in the second grade, Billy's didn't seem so important.
    Betsy was letting Ellen feel hers when Billy came up to her.
    "You think you're smart, don't you," said Billy, "getting a loose tooth. Well, you're just a copycat."
    Billy was so cross that he shoved Betsy very hard. "You old copycat!" he cried.
    Now Betsy had been standing on one foot, and when Billy shoved her she toppled over and her little nose struck the hard cement of the school yard.
    When Billy saw what he had done, he was so scared that he ran away as fast as he could.
    Ellen helped Betsy