Here's a Penny (6 page)

"Well! Well!" said Mr. Turner, when he saw Penny and Patsy. "What are you supposed to be?"

"We're both Chocolate," said Penny.

"Chocolates!" exclaimed Mr. Turner. "What kind of chocolates? Sweet chocolates or bitter chocolates?"

"Bears!" said Patsy.

"Bears!" exclaimed Mr. Turner.

"Mike's got our heads," said Penny.

"Mike's got your heads!" exclaimed Mr. Turner.

"Yes, he won't let us pick them up," said Patsy. "And we're going to be late for the party."

Mr. Turner didn't quite know what the children were talking about, but he went with them to the stone wall. There was Mike, barking and snarling at the bear heads.

Mr. Turner took Mike by the collar. "Lay off those heads," he said. Then he led Mike into the house and closed the door on him.

When Mr. Turner returned, the children had put on their heads and fastened each other's zipper. When Mr. Turner saw them, he laughed very hard.

"Well, that beats everything!" he shouted. "Why, I don't know which is Patsy and which is Penny! You look exactly alike. I declare, you could fool your own mothers."

The children started for Tommy's house at a run. When they arrived, the door was opened by Humpty Dumpty. When he saw the two bears, he laughed until he shook up and down.

Humpty Dumpty led them down some stairs to a big cellar playroom. It was very gay with strips of orange paper. Big orange balloons, painted to look like jack-o'-lanterns, bobbed against the ceiling.

Eight or ten children were sitting as quiet as mice on the floor. They were all dressed in gay costumes and wearing false faces.

The two bears sat down beside each other. Next to Penny sat a very tiny old witch. She had a broom and held a toy black cat in her lap. Next to the witch was Red Riding Hood. Beside her was someone dressed like the wolf and wearing a false face with a very long snout.

On the opposite side of the room sat Little Bo Peep and a cowboy, a fairy, and a clown.

Over in a corner, all alone, sat Bluebeard. His beard was so long it touched the floor.

Then the doorbell rang and Humpty Dumpty left the room.

He returned with a little boy carrying a candle. As soon as he got in the room, he put the candle down on the floor and jumped over it. Then all of the children knew that he was

"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick."

Jack sat down beside the two bears.

Then Humpty Dumpty said, "Now we will guess who everyone is."

As soon as he said this, Penny knew that Humpty Dumpty was Tommy's daddy. He could tell from his voice.

It was great fun, guessing who each child was. As each one became known, he took off his mask. There was a great deal of laughing and shouting.

Finally everyone was known but the two bears. And how Penny and Patsy giggled inside of their bear heads.

"I think they are Patsy and Penny," said Sally Andrews, the old witch.

"I'm sure they are," said Tommy. "But I don't know which is Penny and which is Patsy."

"Make them each say something," said Robert Jameson, the cowboy. "We can tell them by their voices."

"All right," said Mr. Robbins. "Say 'I'm a little brown bear."'

Penny and Patsy each said "I'm a little brown bear." But they sounded exactly alike. All of the children screamed with laughter.

Mr. Robbins said they would have to give it up. So the bears took off their heads and Penny and Patsy each received a prize for the best Halloween costume.

The evening passed very quickly. The children bobbed for apples in a big tub and played several games. Then they all sat down on the floor and had ice cream and pretzels.

Just as Penny finished his ice cream, he had an idea. He rushed over to Patsy and whispered something in her ear. Patsy giggled. "Oh, yes! Let's!" she said. "That will be fun!"

"What will be fun?" asked Sally, who was standing near.

"Oh, it's a secret," said Patsy.

"It isn't polite to have secrets at a party," said Sally.

"It isn't a secret about you," Patsy said. "It's something about our mothers."

When Patsy's mother and Penny's mother arrived, the two little bears had their heads on again. They said good-bye to Tommy and his mother and father and thanked them for the lovely party. Then they trotted home beside their mothers.

The children did a great deal of giggling and whispering on the way.

"You certainly are full of giggles," said Penny's mother.

"I still don't know which is which," said Patsy's mother. "I just hope I get the right little bear tonight."

There were more giggles from the bears.

When they reached Penny's house, his mother said, "Say good night to Patsy."

The children called "Good night" and went in their houses. They were both still giggling.

"Run right upstairs now, Penny," said his mother. "It is late. I'll help you out of your costume."

When they reached Penny's room, his mother sat down on the edge of his bed. She pulled the zipper and lifted the bear's head. There, to her great surprise, was Patsy!

By this time Patsy was laughing so hard she fell right over on the bed. She laughed and laughed.

Penny's mother laughed, too. "Well, that was a surprise!" she said. "I wonder whether your mother has found out that she has the wrong bear."

In a few moments Patsy's mother came in with Penny. They were laughing, too. "I would like to exchange this little bear," she said.

The two children rolled on the bed, laughing. "Oh, boy!" cried Penny. "Have we had fun! We fooled everybody!"

"Yes," shrieked Patsy, "we fooled everybody! And didn't we scare Mike! Oh, boy! Wasn't he scared!"

One day, shortly before Christmas, Penny and his mother were shopping. Penny loved to go shopping with Mother, especially when she was buying Christmas presents.

As they were walking home they passed a jewelry shop. Penny and his mother stopped to look in the brightly lighted window.

"Let's play Choose," said Penny.

"All right, let's," replied Mother.

Penny and Mother often played Choose when they looked in a shop window. "Choose" meant that they looked over everything very carefully and each chose the one thing in the window he liked best. Then each had to guess what it was the other had chosen.

Penny stood on his toes with his nose pressed against the windowpane. He looked over everything very carefully. Then he said, "I'm ready. Are you, Mummy?"

"Yes," replied Mother. "I'm ready, too."

"You guess first," said Penny.

"Very well," said Mother. "Is it a watch?"

"No, it isn't a watch," replied Penny.

"Is it a ring?" Mother asked.

"No, it isn't a ring," said Penny.

"Is it one of those pins?" asked Mother.

"No," laughed Penny. "But you're getting warm. It's near the pins."

"Oh, I know what it is," said Mother. "It's the silver rooster saltshaker."

"Yes," cried Penny, laughing. "Now I'll guess yours."

"All right," said Mother. "Fire away!"

"Is it a watch?" asked Penny.

"Yes, it is," laughed Mother. "My, but you're quick!"

Penny grinned. He looked over all of the watches. "I'm going to pick the right one the first time," he said.

"Well, go ahead," said Mother.

"Is it the one in the middle? The one that you pin on your dress?" asked Penny.

"Why, yes!" exclaimed Mother. "That's the very one!"

"I told you I'd guess it the first time," said Penny as they walked away from the window. "Would you like to have it for Christmas, Mother?"

"It would be very nice," said Mother.

"Well, maybe I'll buy it for you," said Penny.

Mother laughed. "I'm afraid you would find it too expensive, dear," she said.

"Would it cost a great deal?" asked Penny.

"I'm afraid so," replied Mother.

"More than a whole dollar?" asked Penny.

"Oh, my, yes!" said Mother.

"Maybe I could earn the money and buy it for you," said Penny.

Mother squeezed her little boy's hand and said, "Thank you, Penny, for wanting to buy it for me. That means more to me than the watch."

"But you would like to have the watch, too, wouldn't you?" asked Penny.

"Of course, darling," Mother replied. "And someday, when you are a great big man like Daddy, you can buy one for me."

The next day Penny was watching some of the older boys play ball. Penny wished that they would ask him to play but they didn't. One boy about eight, whom they called Peter, was the best ballplayer of the group. When the game was over, one of the boys called out, "Hey, Peter! Can you come over to my house tomorrow after school? I want to show you my new catcher's mitt."

"I can't," replied Peter. "I have to deliver my newspapers after school."

"Oh, what do you want to deliver newspapers for?" said the boy.

"To earn money," replied Peter. "I have to earn money to buy a catcher's mitt."

Just then the bell rang and all of the children ran into school.

That night, after Penny went to bed, he thought of Peter's remark about newspapers and earning money. He wondered whether he could earn some money selling newspapers. Then he could buy the watch for Mother. While he was thinking about selling newspapers he fell asleep.

The next morning he saw Peter in the school yard. Penny went up to Peter and said, "I'd like to sell newspapers."

"You're pretty little," said Peter.

"Well, I could do it," said Penny. "I know I could."

"I think you're too little," said Peter, sitting down on the school steps.

Penny sat right down beside him. "I want to buy my mother a Christmas present," said Penny.

"Oh," said Peter.

"Do you think I could sell 'em?" said Penny.

"Well," replied Peter, "I know a good corner where nobody sells 'em."

"Do you have a corner?" asked Penny.

"No, I don't have a corner," replied Peter. "I just take my papers in my express wagon and deliver them to my customers."

"Gee!" said Penny. "Do you have customers?"

"Oh, sure!" said Peter. "I have a lot of customers."