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OTHER BORZOI BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

by Hazel Wilson

HERBERT

illustrated by John N. Barron

by Hazel Wilson

HERBERT AGAIN

illustrated by John N. Barron

by Marion Holland

BILLY HAD A SYSTEM

illustrated by the author

selected by Phyllis R. Fenner

GIGGLE BOX

Funny Stories for Boys and Girls

pictures by William Steig

Published by ALFRED • A • KNOPF

MORE FUN WITH HERBERT

MORE WN WITfl

HERBERTBY

HAZEL WILSON

ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN N. BARRON

ALFRED A. KNOPF: NEW YORK

1954

L. C. CATALOG CARD NUMBER 54-77 lO

^ THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK,

^ J PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC.

COPYRIGHT 1954 BY HAZEL WILSON. All rights reserved. Nopart of this book may be reproduced in any form without

permission in writing from the publisher, except by a re-

viewer who may quote brief passages and reproduce not

more than three illustrations in a review to be printed in a

magazine or newspaper. Manufactured in the United States

of America. Published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart

Limited.

FIRST EDITION

I

CONTENTS

herbert s pony 3

Herbert's front walk 26

Herbert's helpful week 42

Herbert's convalescence 60

Herbert's mouse 76

Herbert's new shoes 96

Herbert's braces 117

Herbert's spraying company 133

U. a 8v52300

i

MORE FUN WITH HERBERT

I

FOR BARBARA

HERBERTS FIRST FRIEND

I

^-^

HERBERT'S PONY

I

ONE SATURDAY MORNING, DIRECTLY

after breakfast, Herbert's mother asked him to run

to the grocery store to get a box of salt. Only she

did not actually mean run^ but for him to ride his

bicycle. Because she did not have anything smaller,

she gave Herbert a ten-dollar bill.

*'Be careful not to lose the change,'* she warned

4] HERBERT'S PONY

him. "Better put it in your back pocket, for that

can button."

**But Stubby's already in my back pocket," said

Herbert. ''And Fm sure it will hurt his feelings if

I don't take him with me."

Stubby was Herbert's pet hamster. He was called

Stubby because his tail was. Herbert was very fond

of him though he looked enough like a mouse to

make Herbert's mother uneasy in his company. But

she could see that Herbert could not break a prom-

ise he had made even to a six-inch pet.

"Well, try not to lose any of the change," she

told Herbert.

"I won't," Herbert promised. "I'll have Mr.

Olds put it in a paper bag with the box of salt."

Herbert was standing at the counter at the gro-

cery store, waiting to have the box of salt and the

change from the ten-dollar bill put in a paper bag,

when he caught sight of a large cardboard sign.

It announced, in large red and blue letters, that

the makers of POPPLES, breakfast food for win-

ners, were holding the greatest contest in the en-

tire history of breakfast foods. For the best poem

written by a girl or boy under twelve, enclosed

with fifty box-tops from the large, economy-size

package of POPPLES, the makers of POPPLES,

HERBERTS PONY [5

breakfast food for winners, were awarding the fin-

est prize in the entire history of breakfast foods.

And here was a picture of the first prize, a strong,

sturdy, beautiful Shetland pony.

There were second and third prizes mentioned

for the next-best poems, but Herbert was not in-

terested. Not after seeing the picture of that

strong, sturdy, beautiful Shetland pony. It was,

Herbert realized, the very pony he had always

wanted.

"You needn't put the change from the ten dol-

lars in a paper bag with the salt,'' Herbert told

Mr. Olds, the grocer. 'Tor I've decided to take all

the economy, super-sized packages of POPPLESit will buy."

Herbert was disappointed that the change from

his ten-dollar bill would buy only thirty-one pack-

ages of POPPLES. He would have to go homeafter money enough to pay for the other nineteen

packages. But thirty-one large packages of POP-PLES proved to be all that he could carry homein one trip. When they were piled up and tied to

his bicycle basket, Herbert could not see over

them. It was even difficult for him to see around

them.

When Herbert reached home, h€^^'

6] HERBERT'S PONY

his mother why he had not brought back the

change from the ten-dollar bill and why he must

go to the store again after more POPPLES.*Tor I must have the fifty box-tops at once/' he

told her. "I want to mail my entry in the contest

tonight or tomorrow at the very latest.'*

**But Herbert/' said his mother, "isn't fifty of

the economy, super-sized packages of POPPLES a

good deal of one kind of breakfast food? Espe-

cially since nobody in the family likes POPPLES."'Tor the sake of my winning a pony I should

think we could learn to like them/' said Herbert.

Mrs. Yadon sighed. She was afraid that that

many packages of POPPLES would get stale be-

fore they were eaten up, even if the family did

learn to like POPPLES. But if Herbert had his

heart set on winning that strong, sturdy, beautiful

Shetland pony, she did not want to discourage him.

Herbert's parents never did want to discourage

him. So she gave him the money for the other

nineteen packages of POPPLES and went down-

cellar to get a shelf ready for storing the POP-

PLES. For she thought that one package at a time

would be enough to keep upstairs,

with fi'irrt was back from the store with the other

package of ::kages of POPPLES in almost no time.

HERBERT'S PONY [7

Nor did it take him long to rip off fifty box-tops.

All that remained for him to do now to win the

contest was to write the best poem submitted by

any boy or girl under twelve in the United States.

Of course Herbert was not sure he could write the

winning poem. But he certainly was going to try.

It would help, he thought, that he had already

had experience in writing verse, having been

obliged to write a poem for school some time be-

fore.

So Herbert ran upstairs to his room and sat

down at his desk in such a hurry that he almost

sat down on Stubby. Herbert did not remember his

little furry pet until it squeaked. Then Herbert

took the little hamster from his pocket and placed

it gently in the carton that served as its cage.

'*If I win this pony, I'll take you for a ride,*'

Herbert promised Stubby.

It took Herbert all the rest of the forenoon and

much scratching-out before he finished his poem.

He decided that since he was writing a poem to

win a pony, it would be appropriate to write one

about a pony. This was Herbert's poem:

If I had a pony, pony, pony—If I had a pony that wouldn't go.

8] HERBERT'S PONY

Yd hold out a carrot, carrot, carrot—

I'd hold out a carrot and walk real slow.

And that little pony would follow, follow.

Follow me home and up the stair.s.

There I would keep him, keep him, keep him—Safe in a stable built of chairs.

Mummy would say: ''What's that I'm hearing?"

And she would run upstairs to see

Me feed the carrot to my pony,

And then watch my pony shake hoofs with me.

Herbert was not sure whether to write ''shake

hands" or "shake hoofs" in the last line. But he

decided he liked the sound of "hoofs" better. Hecopied his poem in his best handwriting before he

took it downstairs to read to his mother.

After hearing the poem, Mrs. Yadon said

proudly: "That's a very good poem, Herbert. But

I do hope you're not planning to keep your pony

in your bedroom. For it's over the living room and

the pounding of the pony's hoofs overhead might

disturb your father if he were sitting in the living

room reading his newspaper."

"But—" began Herbert. Then he said: "I guess

HERBERT'S PONY [9

we don't have to decide where I'll keep the pony

until I find out if IVe won him/'

Mrs. Yadon agreed. She helped Herbert wrap

up the fifty box-tops, which were to be enclosed

with the poem. Then she drove Herbert to the post

office where he sent off his entry to the contest, air-

mail, special delivery.

One week passed. Two. A month. The Yadon

family had time to learn to like POPPLES for

breakfast and then to dislike POPPLES for break-

fast. Mr. Yadon gave the last twenty-two boxes of

POPPLES to the milkman. He said: 'Tm crazy

about POPPLES." And Mr. Yadon said: Î'll be

crazy if I have to eat any more POPPLES." And he

was pleased that the milkman seemed to be just as

happy to receive POPPLES as he was to be rid

of them.

One afternoon toward the end of the sixth week

after he had sent in his entry to the POPPLES con-

test, Herbert came home from school and found

a large van in front of his house. And the driver

of the van was just taking a strong, sturdy, beauti-

ful Shetland pony out of the back.

''Oh, I did win that contest!" cried Herbert,

rushing up to pat the pony. ''Isn't he a wonderful

prize to win for a poem plus fifty box-tops?"

10] HERBERT'S PONY

"I wouldn't know about that," said the van

driver. "All I do is deliver. Now where do you

want this animal put?"

Herbert suddenly remembered that he had

waited to see if he won the pony before deciding

where the pony would be kept. He would have

asked his father, but his father was at the office.

And Herbert would have asked his mother, but

she was at Herbert's school attending a Parent-

Teachers Association meeting. That left Herbert

to do the deciding by himself.

**I wonder—" he said to himself. *'Say," he said

aloud, *1 have half a mind to see if I can't make

that poem I wrote come true."

"Come, come, I don't have all day," said the

van driver impatiently. "Where did you say you

wanted this animal put?"

"Oh, just set him out on the lawn," said Her-

bert. And he hurried into the house after a carrot.

By the time Herbert came back holding a car-

rot, the van had driven away. And that strong,

sturdy, beautiful Shetland pony was happily chew-

ing a large mouthful of Mrs. Yadon's pink petu-

nias.

Herbert was going to call to the pony to get

out of the petunia bed, when he remembered that.

HERBERT'S PONY [11

as far as he knew, the pony had no name. "Nowwhat shall I call him?" Herbert asked himself.

*'Not Dobbin. Not Fleetfoot. Not Dapple. Not Ed-

ward. Not Percy. I know. FU call him Gus/'

*'Gus, come here and I'll give you one bite of

this carrot," Herbert told the pony. But either the

pony did not know his name was Gus or he pre-

ferred petunias to carrots, for he did not budge.

Fortunately there was a short rope around the

pony's neck, so Herbert was able to lead him out

12] HERBERT'S PONY

of the petunia bed. Nor did the pony object, for

he had already eaten up most of the petunias.

Then Herbert patted Gus and began at once to

do just what the poem said. Herbert held out the

carrot and walked real slow. And that little pony

followed, followed, followed him home and up the

stairs. Then Herbert set to work to make him a

beautiful stable built of chairs.

Herbert found it took a good many chairs to

build a stable high enough for Gus to stand in. It

took all the 'bedroom chairs and all but two of

the dining-room chairs. Herbert built the stable in

his own room, for he was not sure his parents

would want Gus in theirs. And Herbert was

thoughtful about putting the chair-stable close to a

window, so that Gus would get plenty of fresh air

besides being able to look outdoors. Herbert was

really tired before he got Gus settled in his new

home.

Then both Gus and Herbert looked out the win-

dow and saw Herbert's mother coming vip the walk

to the front door.

'Just as soon as she gets inside Fll give you the

carrot," Herbert told Gus. For Herbert was still

working on making his poem come true.

"Herbert!" called Mrs. Yadon from downstairs.

HERBERTS PONY [13

**Vm up in my room. Come on up,'* shouted

Herbert. But his voice was nearly drowned out by

the noise Gus made pounding his hoofs above the

living-room ceiling.

''What's that I'm hearing?" cried Mrs. Yadon.

And she did run upstairs in time to see Herbert

feed the carrot to his pony. Yet when Herbert

tried to make the rest of his poem come true by

shaking hoofs with Gus, Gus refused to raise a

hoof.

''He probably doesn't feel he knows me well

enough to shake hoofs with," Herbert told his

mother. "But isn't he wonderful? I've named him

Gus, and he really is the strongest, sturdiest, most

beautiful Shetland pony you could find. Andwasn't I smart to win him?"

"I congratulate you on winning the pony," said

Herbert's mother. "But I still don't think you

should keep the pony in your bedroom. For the

sound of his hoofs overhead would certainly dis-

turb your father if he were downstairs reading his

newspaper."

"But you always let me bring my friends up to

my room," argued Herbert. "And I feel that Gusis going to be one of my best friends."

Mrs. Yadon hated to disappoint Herbert but for

14] HERBERT'S PONY

some reason she still was quite strongly against his

keeping the pony in his bedroom. *'I don't think

it*s suitable," she said, **but you can ask your fa-

ther when he gets home from work/*

When Herbert's father came home, he said in

no uncertain terms that Herbert could not keep the

pony in his bedroom. For one thing, they could

not spare all those chairs for the pony's stable.

So Herbert reluctantly agreed to keep Gus out

in the garage. Since it was a two-car garage and

the Yadons had only one car, there was plenty of

room for the pony.

The first few days Herbert had his pony, he just

about lived out in the garage with him. But after

Mr. Yadon bought a saddle for the pony, Herbert

rode him all over the neighborhood.

Herbert was generous about letting his friends

take turns riding Gus. But when boys and girls he

hardly knew begged to ride the pony, Herbert de-

cided to make a small charge per ride. He went

home and printed a sign on a piece of cardboard.

In large, black, slightly crooked letters the sign

read:

TWO CENTS PAID IN ADVANCEFOR A RIDE AROUND THE BLOCK

HERBERT'S PONY [15

Herbert tied this sign around Gus's neck and

then led the pony down the street. Herbert lived

on Tunlaw Street, which is Walnut Street spelled

backwards, and since all his best friends and a

few of his worst enemies lived on the same street

as he did, Herbert decided he would get more

business on the next street over. So Herbert led

Gus over to Ecurps Street, which is Spruce Street

spelled backwards, and waited for customers.

Gus's first paying rider was Molly Marks, the

homeliest girl in Herbert's class at school. But two

cents was two cents, Herbert thought to himself,

and boosted her up to Gus's saddle.

But Molly never did get her two cents' worth.

No sooner was Molly in the saddle than downwent Gus's head and up went his hind legs. Andoff slid Molly over Gus's head. Apparently Guswould not let such a homely girl ride him. Thepony even acted frightened. Herbert had to hold

him by the bridle to keep him from running away.

''I can't understand you," Herbert told Gus.

*'You let Stubby ride you, and Mortimer, too. Andif a hamster or a dog didn't scare you, whyshould a girl? They're nothing to be scared of."

Gus whinnied and stood trembling until Her-

16] HERBERT'S PONY

bert had given Molly back her two cents and she

had walked out of sight.

''She's so homely maybe her face is enough to

scare anybody," Herbert told himself.

Just then, Ruth Robinson, the prettiest girl in

Herbert's class in school, came along and wanted a

ride on Gus. So Herbert boosted her up to the sad-

dle. And no sooner was Ruth in the saddle than

down went Gus's head and up went his hind legs.

And off slid Ruth over the pony's head. Appar-

ently Gus would not let even a pretty girl ride

him. Herbert had to give back Ruth's two cents

and pay her two cents besides, because she had got-

ten her dress dirty.

''You're making me lose money instead of make

it," Herbert complained to Gus. "They say ele-

phants are afraid of mice. Or is it lions? Maybe

every animal is scared of something and what

you're scared of happens to be girls. All right,

Gus, after this we'll stick to boy riders," he told

the pony. And Gus whinnied and Herbert thought

he looked grateful.

So Herbert did stick to boy riders for the rest of

the morning. He took in thirty-eight cents. Twoboys paid six cents for riding around the block

HERBERT'S PONY [17

three times. Business was pretty good, Herbert

thought, and Gus did not seem at all tired. It was

time, however, to be getting home to lunch.

Herbert had nearly reached the end of Ecurps

Street, when Lily Scoggins came running out. Lily

sat next to Herbert at school, and besides being

Policeman Scoggins's only daughter, was inclined

to tattle on her classmates, especially on Herbert.

Now she came rushing out calling: ^'Here's my two

cents. Gimme a ride. Gimme a ride.''

"Can't do it," Herbert told her. "Gus won't let

girls ride him."

"You're only saying that to be mean," said

Lily. "I wouldn't hurt your old pony. And if you

don't let me ride him I'll tell the teacher who put

that big woolly caterpillar in her desk drawer day

before yesterday."

"She should have used it for nature study in-

stead of hollering," said Herbert. But he did not

want the teacher told that he was responsible for

the caterpillar. "Well, don't blame me if Gus

won't let you ride him," he told Lily. And he

stood with his hands at his sides and let her mountthe pony by herself.

Nor was Herbert surprised when down went

18] HERBERT'S PONY

Gus*s head and up went his hind legs and off Lily

slid over his head. "I told you he wouldn't let

girls ride him/' he told Lily.

*Tou made him do that on purpose," bawled

Lily.

*1 did not/' insisted Herbert.

Just then Officer Scoggins came along. He was a

big, broad man with a big, wide mouth. *'What did

you do to Lily, Herbert Yadon?" he asked angrily.

''Nothing. I told her Gus wouldn't let girls

ride him. Can I help it if she wouldn't believe

me?" asked Herbert.

Officer Scoggins looked very suspiciously and

disapprovingly at Gus, who had just finished shak-

ing from fright. ''Any animal that would throw myLily off his back is too ferocious to be allowed on

the streets of this town," he said.

"But you can't put a pony in jail," cried Her-

bert, very much worried.

"No, our jail does not have cells for ponies,"

acknowledged Officer Scoggins. "But I can and I

do order you to keep him off the street. The first

time I catch that ferocious pony of yours outside

your yard, I'll have him disposed of. I'll have him

taken to the dog pound." And Officer Scoggins

»1

(-

20] HERBERT'S PONY

scowled fiercely at Herbert with one side of his

mouth.

Herbert argued, but it did no good. Officer

Scoggins went on scowling. Nothing Herbert said

would convince him that Gus was not a ferocious

animal. He said any pony that would not allow

nice little girls to ride him was ferocious.

-' Sadly, Herbert led Gus home. ''It looks as if

you'd have to spend the rest of your life in the

yard," he told Gus mournfully. ''This is going to

be hard on us both," he said, and he tied Gus to a

pear tree while he went in to eat his lunch.

Herbert did not have much appetite for his

lunch. He only ate one bowl of vegetable soup,

two cream-cheese and jelly sandwiches, one apple,

two cookies, and only one glass of milk. He usu-

ally ate twice that amount. He was just too sad

about having to keep Gus in the yard to feel

hungry.

"Gus is going to get awfully tired of staying in

the yard," he told his mother.

"I'm afraid so. And it's going to be a problem

to keep him out of the petunia bed," said Mrs.

Yadon. For she knew that if the pony had to get

all his exercise in the yard, he would be bound to

get into the flower beds.

HERBERT'S PONY [21

After lunch, Herbert went out to take Gus an

apple. Gus liked apples even better than he did

carrots, Herbert had found. But when Herbert

looked for Gus, he was no longer tied to the

pear tree. He was not anywhere in the yard.

''Gus! Gus!'' called Herbert anxiously. And he

wondered how Gus had managed to untie himself

and open the gate. '1 didn't think even Gus could

open a latch with his hoof," Herbert said to him-

self. "I must hurry up and find him, for I certainly

don't want Officer Scoggins to catch him and put

him in the dog pound."

Herbert ran out of the yard. And there was Gus

walking along the street. But—and Herbert could

hardly believe his eyes—he was letting a girl ride

him. Gloria Stevens, a girl about Herbert's age,

had just moved into the house across the street

from the Yadons the week before. And here she

was up on Gus's back. And Gus was not trying to

throw her off even when she thumped her heels

against his sides to make him go faster.

Herbert dashed out and grabbed Gus's bridle.

''Get right off my pony," he ordered Gloria.

"Don't you know that Gus won't let girls ride

him?"

"He lets me," said Gloria, with a smug look in

22] HERRERT'S PONY

her blue eyes. "He threw me right off the first

time I rode him. I tore my dress so I went in and

changed to my blue jeans. And now Gus likes to

have me ride him, don't you, Gus?"

Gus whinnied softly, as if he agreed with Glo-

ria.

Now why, Herbert wondered, would Gus let

Gloria ride him when he would not allow three

other girls to stay on his back? Why was he not

scared of this girl as well as of the others? Then,

suddenly, the reason dawned on Herbert. Gus had

thrown Gloria off his back when she was wearing

a dress but he had let her ride him when she had

come out wearing blue jeans. It must be skirts, not

girls, that Gus was afraid of. And if that were so,

and could be proved to Officer Scoggins, he could

no longer say that Gus was so ferocious he had

to be kept off the streets.

"Stay right on Gus's back,'* Herbert told Glo-

ria, "and ril give you a ride to the police sta-

tion.*'

Gloria was not sure she wanted a ride to the po-

lice station. But when Herbert explained that

he wanted her to prove to Officer Scoggins that

Gus was not a wild and ferocious animal, she did

not mind going. So, with Herbert leading Gus,

HERBERT'S PONY [23

and with Gloria on his back, they went to the

police station.

After Officer Scoggins saw how gently Gus be-

haved when a girl wearing blue jeans instead of

skirts rode him, the policeman had to acknowl-

edge that maybe Gus was not a ferocious animal

after all.

"All right, you don't have to keep him in the

yard," he told Herbert gruffly. ''But the next time

I catch him throwing any little girl over his

head, off he goes to the dog pound.*'

Herbert was so pleased because he no longer

had to keep Gus in the yard that he quite for-

gave Gloria for having stolen a couple of rides on

Gus. 'It really wasn't the thing to do to untie Gus

and take him out of the yard while I was in the

house eating my lunch," he told Gloria. "But the

way it's come out, I'm glad you did. And because

you convinced Officer Scoggins that Gus is not a

ferocious animal, I'll give you half the profits wetake in this afternoon from selling rides on him."

Business was pretty good the next two hours.

Herbert did not want Gus to get too tired, how-

ever, so he let only very small boys ride him. Andvery small girls, if they were wearing blue jeans.

Herbert would not let a girl wearing skirts come

24] HERBERTS PONY

near his pony. So nobody got thrown off over

Gus's head. Everybody who rode him agreed with

Herbert that Gus was the strongest, sturdiest,

most beautiful pony in the United States and

maybe in the world. And that he was as gentle as

a lamb if not more so.

By four o'clock, at two cents a ride, Herbert,

Gloria, and Gus, of course, had earned enough

money to buy three banana splits at Mulock's

drugstore; one for Herbert, one for Gloria, and

one for Gus.

Mr. Mulock, the druggist, was a fussy man. Herefused to let Gus into the store for his banana

split. Herbert had to take the dish out to him and

put it down on the curbstone where Gus could

reach it.

Gus lapped up the pineapple sauce, the whipped

cream, the marshmallow cream, and the straw-

berry syrup. He ate the cherry and all of the

banana. But he spit out the chopped nuts and the

ice cream.

"Gus likes everything about a banana split ex-

cept the ice cream and the nuts," Herbert told Glo-

ria. '*The next time I buy that pony a banana split,

Tm going to eat the ice cream and nuts before I

give it to him."

HERBERT'S PONY [2S

Then Herbert and Gloria took turns riding Gus

back to his stable in the garage. Herbert unhar-

nessed the pony and patted him.

*'Good old Gus," he said affectionately.

Gus whinnied softly and raised his right front

hoof. For the first time he wanted to shake hoofs

with Herbert. Perhaps that was because he was

grateful for the banana split. Anyway, it made

Herbert happy that Gus now felt he knew him well

enough to want to shake hoofs with him.

HERBERTS FRONT WALK

ONE SUMMER, HERBERT DECIDED

to run a small snake farm in his back yard. Hethought it would be interesting to raise large fam-

ilies of the snakes native to that part of the country.

He and his friends, Pete, the mayor's son, Donny,

who had the biggest ears of any boy in town, and

Chuck, whose father was a house-painter, con-

verted the piano-box clubhouse in Herbert's back

HERBERT'S FRONT WALK [27

yard into a small snake house. And they kept very

busy hunting for snakes in the woods and along

the river bank.

They succeeded in capturing several garter

snakes, milk snakes, and water snakes. There was

a great deal of sawing and hammering out in the

Yadon back yard while the boys were building liv-

ing-quarters for their snakes. Herbert found two

old windows in his attic, which he used for the

front of the cages where the snakes were kept. Heand Pete, Donny, and Chuck worked very hard to

make comfortable cages for the snakes. For Her-

bert believed in being kind to all animals, even

snakes.

'Teople will come from far and near to see our

snake collection,'' said Herbert. *'And when we get

too many snakes maybe we can sell some of them

for making handbags or ladies' snakeskin shoes."

Herbert, however, never had any surplus snakes

to sell. He found it difficult to keep snakes in his

back yard. In spite of everything he could do, they

kept getting away. And people in Mapleton began

to find snakes in strange places.

Mr. Butterworth, the milkman, declared that he

found a milk snake around one of the milk cans

in the dairy. A garter snake turned up in a de-

28] HERBERT'S FRONT WALK

partment store. Herbert said it was not true that a

whip snake was found in the livery stable. Or that

a small rattlesnake appeared at a counter in a

store where babies' toys were sold. Herbert said

over and over again that he kept only harmless

snakes. But, harmless or not, Herbert's neighbors

complained bitterly about his snakes.

So Herbert had to give up keeping snakes in J

his back yard. He and Pete, Donny, and Chuck

carted them out to the river bank in burlap sacks

and let them loose.

**Now I have nothing useful to do to occupy myJ

spare time," Herbert said sadly to his parentsj

that night.

His mother reminded him that school would

start the following week. But that did not seem to

cheer Herbert up much.

''After school starts, winter will soon be here,"

said Mr. Yadon. "Keeping the front walk shoveled

will then take up some of your spare time, myboy. We had a light winter last year, so I'm ex-

pecting a hard one this year."

Herbert sighed. Just the prospect of having to^

shovel snow several months from now made him\

feel tired. It was not that he did not like snow,j

He enjoyed coasting, skiing, skating, and snow-

HERBERTS FRONT WALK [29

ball fights. It was only when snow became work

instead of sport that Herbert had no vise for it.

*'I wish that I could figure out some way to

keep the front walk clear of snow without shov-

eling," he mused.

"I don't want to hear of your taking my vac-

uum cleaner to the snow on the front walk again/*

said Mrs. Yadon firmly. "The time you tried that,

it blew out all the electric fuses."

"But it worked fine for a few minutes," Her-

bert remembered. "How I wish I could figure

out some way of keeping that front walk clear of

snow without shoveling."

"Well, it's only the first week in September and

it may not snow until November, so I wouldn't

begin to worry about snow-shoveling," said

Mr. Yadon.

"Uncle Horace told me that it is well to knowhow to solve a problem before you have to meet

it," said Herbert.

"I know that your Uncle Horace always knows

what to do about everything," said Herbert's fa-

ther. "But I doubt if Uncle Horace would consider

keeping the front walk shoveled much of a prob-

lem."

"It is for me," Herbert declared. "Say, I know


what. Let's just keep skis in the front hall this

winter. Then we could practice a little skiing ev- \

cry time we wanted to go out to the street.'*

*'Skis would be too heavy to lug around in or-

der to have them when we wanted to come back

from the street to the house," said Mrs. Yadon. '1

couldn't manage it. Especially when I was carry-

ing a heavy bag of groceries."

*1 suppose it wouldn't work out," sighed Her-

bert.

''You might help Herbert keep the front walk

shoveled this winter," Mrs. Yadon suggested to her

husband.

''No," said Mr. Yadon. ''Uncle Horace himself

said that Herbert should have at least one chore

about the house or yard. And keeping the front

walk clear of snow is Herbert's winter chore."

"I almost dread to see winter come this year,"

said Herbert sadly.

The next morning the postman brought Her-

bert a copy of his favorite popular-science maga-

zine. It always had lots of directions about how to

make things. Herbert had once made a revolving

bookcase that almost revolved by following dia-

grams in his popular-science magazine. Today he

turned several pages without finding anything

/


that interested him. Then he began to read some-

thing very intently. And, as he read, Herbert be-

gan to smile. For in this number of the magazine

was an account, with pictures, of how radiant-

heating could be installed under a sidewalk in

order to keep it clear of snow and ice all winter,

"Thank goodness I learned about this before the

ground froze,'* Herbert told his mother. "Now,

even if we have an early winter, there's still plenty

of time to get heat installed under the front walk

before the first snowstorm.''

That night, right after dinner, Herbert showed

his father the magazine article about installing

heating under sidewalks.

"But if I do that, you'll have no winter chore,"

said Mr. Yadon.

"Oh, I would take entire charge of turning on

and off the heat," declared Herbert. Then he

pointed out to his father that it would be upto him to keep the front walk shoveled if Herbert

happened to be ill any time during the winter.

"And think how proud we'll be to have the first

heated sidewalk in town," argued Herbert.

So, after a little more persuading, Mr. Yadon

agreed to install the first heated sidewalk in Ma-

pleton. It was over a month before the workmen


had the job finished. Then, although it was only

October, Herbert began to hope and pray that it

would hurry up and snow.

At last the happy day came when Herbert woke

up on a cold, dark morning and saw that a few

snowflakes were falling. Herbert was in such a

hurry to run down-cellar and turn on the heat un-

der the front walk that he forgot to put on his

bathrobe and slippers. And a little later he changed

his seat at the breakfast table so he could see the

snowflakes fall and melt on the front walk.

**It works just fine,'* said Herbert happily.

When Herbert got back from school that after-

noon he found that he had turned up the heat un-

der the sidewalk too high. His mother said that

she had melted her galoshes going down the walk.

And that Mortimer, Herbert's dog, had yelped piti-

fully when the hot walk had burned his paws. Hehad been afraid to leave the house since.

''I would have turned the heat down if I had not

remembered that doing that was your winter

chore," said Herbert's mother.

Herbert said he was sorry about her galoshes

and Mortimer's paws. "It may take me a few days

to get the heat under the walk adjusted just right,"

he told his mother. "But be patient. And until I


get it exactly right, maybe you and Mortimer had

better go in and out of the house by the back

door/'

In a few days Herbert did get the heat under

the front walk exactly right. It was warm enough

to melt snow but not hot enough to melt rubber,

plastic, or glue. And Mortimer, in particular,

seemed to enjoy running up and down the front

walk. It seemed to please him to be out in the cold

and still be able to keep his feet nice and warm.

It was late November before the cats of Ma-

pleton discovered that the Yadons' front walk was

a comfortable spot for them to spend the night.

The people of Mapleton let their cats out at night

but during cold weather let them in again. But the

cats preferred to stay out all night after they

found the pleasing warmth of the Yadons' front

walk.

One night two cats came and howled and yowled

half the night. The next night there were at least

four cats. And they held cat-fights that could be

heard all over the neighborhood.

The Yadons were sound sleepers. Nothing muchbothered them. But their neighbors suffered. Thecats kept them awake. When there got to be all of

a dozen cats on the Yadons' front walk every


night, hardly anybody but the Yadons could get a

wink of sleep.

Of course the neighbors complained. They did

that in the daytime. At night they just threw

? i

things out their windows at the cats. One morning

Herbert found two shoes (both for the right foot),

a brass candlestick, an aluminum water tumbler

(that got bent), and three jars of cold cream on

the front walk. The cold cream was the kind his

mother used, Herbert was pleased to find.


Mr. Dutton, Herbert's next-door neighbor on

the right, complained most about the cats. Almost

every morning he rang the Yadons' doorbell and

began complaining even before Mr. Yadon or Her-

bert had answered the door.

"Why don't you sick your dog, Mortimer, on

those blasted cats?" Mr. Dutton demanded of Her-

bert one morning after a night when the cats had

yowled for hours.

*' Mortimer is not a sicking kind of dog. Healso does not like to associate with cats. He's

particular, Mortimer is," said Herbert, patting

Mortimer. U. S. 852300Mortimer wagged his tail. It was plain to be

seen that he agreed with what Herbert had said.

*'I must talk to your father," cried Mr. Dutton.

And, as often happened when he was excited, his

eyebrows went up and down like an elevator on

his forehead.

Mr. Yadon came to the door with his napkin in

his hand. (The Yadon family were at breakfast.)

''What can I do for you this morning?" he asked

Mr. Dutton politely.

"See here, Yadon, you'll have to do something

about those cats," cried Mr. Dutton in a loud


voice. ''At once/' he shouted, wagging a threaten-

ing finger under Mr. Yadon's nose.

''They aren't my cats. Why should I be held

responsible for cats who trespass on my prop-

erty?" said Mr. Yadon.

"I suggest that you request the owners of the

cats to keep them home nights," went on Mr. Ya-

don, calmly. It was a matter of principle with

him not to act afraid of his neighbors. Besides, in

the years after Herbert had learned to walk and

talk at an early age, his father had had consider-

able practice in listening to neighborly complaints.

"If you won't do something about those blasted

cats, I will," shouted Mr. Button, his eyebrows go-

ing up and down rapidly.

"As my brother, Herbert's Uncle Horace, says,

a man should do whatever seems best to him,"

said Mr. Yadon, shutting the door a few feet from

Mr. Button's rising and falling eyebrows.

"I don't think it can be good for Mr. Button's

health for him to get so angry so early in the morn-

ing," said Mr. Yadon to Herbert as they went back

to the breakfast table.

It was late that afternoon and nearly dark when

Herbert found out the "something" Mr. Button

proposed to do about the cats. He came down the


Street with two of the largest, fiercest-looking hunt-

ins^-doo^s that Herbert had ever beheld.

"They'd rather chase cats than eat/' Herbert

heard Mr. Button say, as he took the big dogs into

his house.

That night instead of cat-fights on the Yadons'

front walk, there were cat- and dog-fights. The

cats howled and yowled. The large dogs, which

Mr. Button had let out at the first catcall on the

Yadon front walk, bayed like foghorns, only

louder, and barked both at the top and bottom of

their strong lungs. The dogs and the cats made

such a racket that even the Yadons waked up. But

it was not Herbert who turned in the fire alarm.

In a few minutes, the shriek of fire sirens was

added to the howling, hissing, woofing noises in

the Yadon neighborhood. The firemen, though ob-

viously disappointed that the Yadon house was not

on fire, cleared the front walk of both dogs and

cats by turning the fire hoses on them. After that

the Yadons and their neighbors on all sides would

have been able to get some sleep if it had not by

that time been morning and nearly time to get up.

That ver>' evening, the mayor, the chief of po-

lice, and the chief of the fire department called at

the Yadon residence. They demanded that Mr. Ya-


don turn off the heat under his front walk. If he

did not do so they would have a law passed which

would make him.

^'Unless you prefer to go to jail," the chief of

police told Mr. Yadon.

Mr. Yadon thought it was unfair to be obliged

to turn off the heat under his front walk. But he

did not want to go to jail even though Herbert

pointed out to him that the new jail was more

comfortable than the old one had been. Herbert's

father reluctantly promised the mayor, the chief of

police, and the chief of the fire department that he

would turn the heat off under his front walk. Her-

bert felt so bad that if he had not been a big boy

he would have cried, especially when the heat was

turned off.

So that awful task of shoveling snow began for

Herbert again. He tried to lighten the hateful task

by organizing snow-shoveling contests. He offered

a prize of half a set of boxing-gloves to the team of

boys who cleared half the front walk first. Herbert

rather enjoyed standing on the doorstep timing the

shovelers with a stop-watch. But after one contest,

nobody appeared to compete in another. Herbert

had to shovel the front walk all by himself. And

each shovelful felt heavier to him than the one

40] HERBERTS FRONT WALK

before. Herbert began to hope that his Uncle

Horace would give him a month in Florida for a

Christmas present.

Uncle Horace did not give Herbert a month in

Florida for a Christmas present that year. He gave

Herbert something that Herbert was even more

pleased to receive. Uncle Horace's gift to Herbert

that year was a small power snowplow. Herbert

had never been more delighted with a Christmas

present.

Now keeping the front walk clear of snow seemed

more play than work to Herbert. He loved pushing

the small power snowplow along and watching

the snow fly at either side like ocean spray at the

prow of a ship. Herbert prided himself on keep-

ing the best-cleared front walk in town.

From that time on Herbert did not care howoften it snowed. They could have snowstorms till

May, for all he cared, Herbert told his mother.

For now that he had his small power snowplow,

Herbert enjoyed everything about snow.

One day in late February Mr. Yadon came home

from work and found the snow on the front walk

so deep he had to wade in snow up to his knees.

For it had snowed most of the day and was still

snowing.


While Mrs. Yadon was brushing the snow off

him with a broom, Mr. Yadon asked: "Why hasn't

Herbert cleared off the front walk?*'

"The dear boy is so fond of you/' said Her-

bert's mother.

"He'd act more fond of me if he had cleared

the snow off the front walk," grumbled Herbert's

father. He usually did not complain about Her-

bert but he did hate to walk in snow over the tops

of his rubbers.

"Herbert is out earning money by clearing the

neighbors' walks with his small power snowplow,"

said Mrs. Yadon. "The dear boy is earning money

to buy you a birthday present."

Mr. Yadon was so pleased that he almost forgot

his wet feet. "In that case I don't mind shoveling

our front walk myself this time," he said. And he

went down-cellar after the snowshovel.

HERBERT'S HELPFUL WEEK

ONE MORNING, MISS WOOD, HER-

bert's teacher, talked to the sixth grade about

special weeks in the year.

''There are many special weeks in the year,"

she told the class. "There is Brotherhood Week,

Be-Kind-to-Animals Week, Gardening Week, Eat-

More-Cheese Week, Safety Week, National Pickle

Week, and many others. There are, in fact, more

HERRERT'S HELPFUL WEEK [43

special weeks in the year than there are weeks/'

"How can that be?'* Herbert inquired from a

front seat. He really was too big to be occu-

pying a front seat, but for some reason Miss Woodhad put him there the second day of school.

And he had sat there ever since.

Miss Wood explained that one week could be

two; that is, that two things could be celebrated

the same week. 'Tor instance,'' she said, **I think

it is a very good thing for Gardening Week and

Clean-Up Week to fall on the same week. For it is

quite possible to clean up one's back yard and to

garden the same week."

**I don't mind at all if Eat-More-Cheese Weekand National Pickle Week come the same week,"

remarked Herbert. 'Tor I can eat cheese and pick-

les together or separately and enjoy them."

''One week I would enjoy having you observe,"

said Miss Wood to Herbert, "is Noise-Abatement

Week. I must watch when it comes and see to it

that you observe it."

"Does noise-abatement mean make all the noise

you can?" asked Herbert. "Oh boy, how I'll enjoy

doing that!"

''Abatement means decreased or less,'' said Miss

Wood with a crushing look which failed to crush

44] HERBERT'S HELPFUL WEEK

Herbert. ''Noise-abatement means making as little

noise as possible/'

'*Guess I'll skip that week," muttered Herbert.

''Now," said Miss Wood brightly, ''although the

President of the United States or Congress appoints

the special weeks, I see no reason why our sixth

grade cannot celebrate a special week of its own.

Now, children, to whom do you owe the most of

all the good things you have received in life?"

Herbert's hand shot into the air.

"Well, Herbert," said Miss Wood, "you tell us."

"I don't owe anybody anything," stated Herbert.

"For I'm not allowed to charge anything at the

stores, not even hot dogs, ice-cream cones, or

candy."

"I'm not speaking of charging things at stores,"

said Miss Wood stiffly. "I mean to whom do you

owe your food, your clothes, and the roof over

your head? Who looks after you when you're ill?

Who cooks your meals? Who pays the grocery

bills? Now answer in unison, class."

Several voices called: "Mothers!" There were a

few shouts of: "Fathers!" But enough boys and

girls said: "Parents!" to satisfy Miss Wood.

''Parents is the right answer," she said. "Every

HERBERT'S HELPFUL WEEK [45

girl and boy in this room owes a great deal to his

parents. That is why Fve decided to have this class

celebrate a Be-Kind-to-Parents Week all next week,

beginning Sunday/'

"But we already have a Mother's Day in May/'

remarked Pete, the mayor's son.

''What did you do for your mother on last Moth-

er's Day?" Miss Wood asked Pete.

''Well, I wore a carnation to show I had one—

a

mother, I mean," said Pete.

"I'll expect you to do a great deal more than

that for your mothers and for your fathers next

week," said Miss Wood.

"How can we be kind to our fathers when

they're at work all day?" asked Gloria Stevens,

who lived across the street from Herbert.

"And why do we need a special week to be kind

to our parents?" asked Herbert. "I'm never ac-

tually unkind to mine. Not on purpose," he

added, wanting to be perfectly honest.

"When your father comes home tired from work,

why not bring him his slippers?" Miss Wood sug-

gested to Gloria. And she told Herbert that she was

sure he could be kinder than he had been to his

parents if he really made an effort.


**My father won't wear slippers. He says they

give him fallen arches/' said Lily Scoggins, the

policeman's daughter.

"Can we get out of school early every day next

week so we will have more time to be kind to our

parents?" asked Herbert hopefully.

'*I expect you to be kind to your parents before

and after school," said Miss Wood firmly. "Run er-

rands cheerfully, hang up your clothes, help dry

the dishes."

A deep sigh went over the sixth grade.

"And," continued Miss Wood, "I shall expect

you to devote Saturday to being especially kind

to your parents. You might even cook the dinner."

"But boys don't know how to cook," objected

Chuck, whose father was a house-painter.

"The greatest cooks in the world have been

men," Miss Wood informed him and the class.

"Well, in that case, I might try my hand at mak-

ing chocolate fudge," said Chuck.

"It would be more helpful to try something

like baked potatoes first," Miss Wood advised him.

Sunday morning Herbert began bright and early

to be kind to his parents. He plugged his own

small radio into the outlet in their room, so that

they might wake up to the sound of sweet music


instead of the rude, loud clang of their alarm

clock. The only trouble was that Herbert had for-

gotten it was Sunday and had waked his parents

at seven o'clock. On Sundays they usually slept

till nine. But Herbert had meant to be helpful, and

his parents, although they groaned, did not scold

him.

Herbert spent part of Sunday afternoon and an

hour after school on Monday teaching Mortimer

to bring Mr. Yadon his slippers. Mr. Yadon's slip-

pers were made of calfskin, which vaguely re-

minded Mortimer of nice chewy meat. Herbert had

to teach Mortimer to stop chewing the slippers be-

fore he could train him to carry them one at a

time to Mr. Yadon's easy chair in the living room.

When Mr. Yadon got home from work on Mon-

day night, he was no sooner seated in his easy

chair than Mortimer came bounding up with one

slipper, the one for the right foot. It took some

coaching from Herbert before Mortimer would

fetch the left-foot slipper, but he finally did. Mr.

Yadon gave him a cherry cough-drop for a re-

ward. And Mr. Yadon put on his slippers even

though they were slightly damp and chewed.

''Remind me to buy a new pair of slippers,**

he told Mrs. Yadon. But he knew that Herbert

48] HERBERTS HELPFUL WEEK

meant to be helpful, so he praised him for his

thoughtfulness.

On Tuesday, Herbert did not seem to find muchtime to devote to being helpful to his parents.

Ditto, Wednesday. On Thursday, Herbert went to

the grocery store for his mother, without first ar-

guing about the need for the errand. His mother

was so surprised that she worried for fear he was

coming down with something.

On Friday morning, Herbert thought of some-

thing else he could do to be helpful. He would

make his bed before he went downstairs to break-

fast. Herbert was careful to get the sheets and the

blanket smooth and he remembered to shake up

the pillow. It was not really his fault that he shook

the pillow so hard that all the feathers came out.

They flew in every direction, making Herbert

sneeze.

"Why do they speak about the down of feathers,

when they fly up in the air so easily?" Herbert

wondered. As soon as the feathers settled a little,

Herbert pushed most of them together in a pile

and then threw them out the window.

When Herbert came downstairs to breakfast, his

mother was just answering the telephone. Whenshe had finished, she said: ''That was Mr. Button,


from next door. He just looked out of the window

and declares that it is snowing hard but only in

our yard/'

Herbert laughed heartily. ''His eyesight must be

bad not to know the difference between snow and

feathers," he said. "Any fool ought to know that

it can't snow when the temperature is over sixty

and the sun is shining."

When Herbert told his mother about how the

feathers had gotten out of his pillow, she sighed


but did not scold him. For she knew that Herbert

had meant to be helpful.

Herbert planned to devote most of Saturday to

being especially kind to his parents. He persuaded

his mother to let him take entire charge of that

night's dinner. She also agreed to be away from

the house most of the day, which would give Her-

bert plenty of elbowroom. Mr. Yadon had to at-

tend a meeting that day, but he promised to be

home in plenty of time for dinner.

With the coast clear of parents, Herbert rode

his bike to the grocery store. This once, Herbert's

mother had told him to charge anything he wanted

for dinner. So Herbert, after some thought about

his dinner menu, purchased the following items:

Two quarts of shucked clams (for frying)

Two pounds of assorted cold cuts (with plenty

of liverwurst)

One small head of cauliflower

Two pounds of cheese (for cheese sauce for

the cauliflower)

One jar each of cranberry jelly, raspberry

jelly, and plum conserve

Two bunches of radishes

One half-peck of sweet potatoes


Four packages of marshmallows

One jar each of sweet pickles, mixed pick-

les, and dill pickles, and two jars of water-

melon pickles (Herbert would have pre-

ferred a whole watermelon but they were out

of season)

Then at the bakery, which was next-door to the

grocery store, Herbert bought two large apple pies,

two quarts of chocolate ice cream, and four jars of

pecan sauce to put on the ice cream, which would

be put on the apple pie. Because the mocha-frosted

layer cake looked especially good that day, Her-

bert bought that, too. He wanted to be sure to have

enough dessert.

Just in time, Herbert remembered that he had

nothing for a first course. Either soup or tomato

juice would be simplest but dull, it seemed to Her-

bert. He decided to serve jumbo shrimps on can-

taloupe, and he went back to the grocery store for

these items.

Herbert was nearly home with his groceries

when he remembered that he had not planned for

a salad. But Herbert never minded going without

his lettuce. 'Tickles and radishes will have to do

instead of salad,'' he told himself.


Once home, Herbert first made a chef's cap for

himself from a paper bag and then got out one of

his mother's cookbooks. Herbert could play the

piano by ear but he had too much sense to try

to fry clams and make a sweet-potato casserole,

topped with marshmallows, without following di-

rections.

Before he began the actual cooking, however,

Herbert set the table. He wished he had remem-

bered to buy flowers for a centerpiece. Instead, he

used a circle of glass dishes filled with cranberry

and raspberry jelly and plum conserve, and with

sweet, mixed, dill, and watermelon pickles. In the

center of this circle of glass dishes, Herbert placed

a high silver dish containing the two bunches of

radishes. The table looked very festive, especially

after Herbert placed a large artificial rose on top

of the radishes. He borrowed the rose from one of

his mother's hats.

It was time now to put the sweet potatoes on to

boil and to mix the batter in which the clams

were to be dipped before frying.

Herbert decided that a half-peck of sweet po-

tatoes was too much. He only cooked twelve large

potatoes. But he could not find a casserole large

enough to hold them after he had them peeled and

HERBERTS HELPFUL WEEK [53

mashed, so he put them in a large baking tin. Hecarefully arranged a layer of marshmallows on

top of the potatoes. Then because the marshmal-

lows looked a little bare, Herbert sprinkled on a

package of shredded coconut, which he found on

a shelf. When this mixture had baked for a while

in a slow oven, Herbert was sure it would be de-

licious.

Herbert had a little trouble with the batter for

the fried clams. The first bowl he mixed it in was

too small. The batter ran over the sides and

dripped to the floor. Herbert could not stop to wipe

the floor. He had to heat fat for frying the clams,

arrange the assorted cold cuts on a platter, and

make biscuits (at the last minute Herbert had de-

cided to have hot biscuits), besides a dozen other

things. He fairly ran from table to stove and from

stove to refrigerator. He began to feel that he not

only needed an extra hand but another pair of

legs.

Flour flew in the air and hot fat from the fry-

ing clams spattered on the wall above the stove.

The ice cream, which Herbert had forgotten to put

in the refrigerator, began to melt and ran in a

creamy stream over the kitchen table. Herbert hur-

ried to put what was left of the ice cream into


the refrigerator. Not more than a pint had been

lost, he was glad to note.

When Herbert's parents came home to their din-

ner, a strong smell of scorched cheese filled the

house. Herbert had cooked the cauliflower just

right but he had overcooked the cheese sauce. Nat-

urally Herbert did not want the cheese sauce to

taste burned, so he was adding a little milk and

three tablespoonfuls of horse-radish. That covered

up the burned taste almost entirely.

The fried clams were done a golden brown. Her-

bert was very proud of them. And, when dinner

was served, both Mr. and Mrs. Yadon said that

they had never tasted better fried clams.

''Have some more sweet potato and marshmal-

low to go with a second helping of clams," Her-

bert urged.

''No, thank you, I had a hearty lunch," said Mrs.

Yadon.

Mr. Yadon was unable to answer for a moment.

He had taken a large mouthful of the cauliflower

and cheese sauce. And the horse-radish in the sauce

to cover up the burned taste had brought tears to

his eyes and had made speech for the time being

impossible. But when he had recovered he said that

he, too, had had a hearty lunch, so he would be

HERBERTS HELPFUL WEEK [55

unable to have second helpings, although every-

thing was delicious.

Herbert would not let his mother clear the table

and bring in the dessert. He did it all by himself.

He brought in four large dinner plates. On each

plate was a quarter of an apple pie, a large hunk

of chocolate ice cream, and a thick topping of

pecan sauce. Both Herbert's parents said it was a

wonderful dessert. But it was Herbert alone whocould hold a second helping.

After dinner was over and Herbert had taken a

good look at the kitchen, he wished that Be-Kind-

to-Parents Week could have ended immediately af-

ter dinner. For the kitchen looked not only like a

bad dream but like a nightmare. Dirty dishes, pots

and pans, spilled this and that—it was a sight to

behold.

*'YouVe done enough, Herbert,'' said his

mother. "I'll do the dishes."

Herbert was tempted, but he stood firm. ''I guess

I'd better do them," he said sadly.

Just then the front doorbell rang. And there

stood Herbert's Uncle Horace on the doorstep.

'It was only a little out of the way to drive

through here on my way to St. Louis," he told

the Yadons. **I can stay overnight and this evening


I want to take you all to the movies. There is a

newsreel on that shows me shaking hands with the

heads of several small but important countries in

the Middle East. I thought you might he interested

to see it."

Herbert was very proud of his uncle, who had

just returned from an important conference in

which he had represented the United States Gov-

ernment. Herbert wanted to see Uncle Horace in

that newsreel.

**But I can't go," he said very sadly. '1 have to

stay at home and do the dishes." And he told Un-

cle Horace all about Be-Kind-to-Parents Week.

Uncle Horace went out and took a look at the

kitchen. ''I don't see how one pair of hands could

have done all that," he said. Then he called his

chauffeur, Mike, to come in. Mike had been a

prize fighter before he had driven Uncle Horace's

car. His ears looked chewed but not recently.

''Still keeping out of jail?'.' he greeted Herbert

pleasantly.

Uncle Horace reached in his pocket and brought

out a five-dollar bill. "Think it would be worth

this much to you to put this kitchen in order?" he

asked Mike.


"Just about/' said Mike. "Though part of it I'll

be doing as a favor to Herbert."

"But will that be all right?" Herbert inquired

anxiously. For he had determined to be especially

kind to his parents this last day of the special week

for being kind to parents.

"Your mother would be most unhappy to be at

the movies and know that you were slaving at the

dishes here at home. Besides, she would be worry-

ing about how many dishes you might break. It is

kinder to her to let Mike do the dishes," said Uncle

Horace firmly.

Herbert gave a gusty sigh of relief. "In that

case, what are we waiting for?" he cried.

It was a wonderful movie. Not only was it a

good picture of Uncle Horace shaking hands with

the heads of several small but important countries

in the Middle East, but there was also an excellent

Western.

"Now shall we all go to the drugstore for an

ice-cream soda?" asked Uncle Horace after the

show was over.

"No, thank you," said Herbert.

Uncle Horace could hardly believe his ears.

Never before had he heard Herbert refuse some-

thing good to eat.


**rd rather go straight home," said Herbert.

'*rm sort of tired, rm glad this Be-Kind-to-Par-

ents Week is just about over. You understand, I'm

never actually unkind to my parents. Not on

purpose," he added. "But this trying to be espe-

cially kind to them all week has been considerable

of a chore. But I certainly did cook them a good

dinner," said Herbert with great satisfaction. '1

wish you had come in time, Uncle Horace, to have

tasted my fried clams."

HERBERTS CONVALESCENCE

HERBERT ENVIED CLASSMATES WHOdeveloped light cases of illness which kept them

out of school during the fine spring weather. Heeven went to considerable pains to expose himself

to the whooping cough. His friend Pete's little

sister had the whooping cough, and in exchange

for twelve marbles and an old baseball Pete ar-

ranged for his little sister to cough at Herbert

HERBERT'S CONVALESCENCE [61

from an open window. But whooping-cough germs

had no effect on Herbert. He remained in perfect

health all the spring term of school.

The long-hoped-for last day of school finally

came. School dismissed, Herbert and his friends,

Pete, Donny, and Chuck, ran out of school as if

chased. They slowed down when they reached the

first corner. Pete chanted:

''No more 'rithmetic.

No more books,

No more teacher's

Cross-eyed looks.'*

And Donny shouted:

*'No more spelling.

No more school.

No more having

To go by rule."

And Chuck thought hard for a moment and

said: "How's this?

''No more geography,

Work's all done.

Rah! Rah! Rah! Vacation!

Come on, fun!"

*'Now it's your turn, Herbert," the other boys

told him.*

'What's the big idea making up poetry when

62] HERBERT'S CONVALESCENCE

you don't have to!'' said Herbert crossly. "I don't

know if I want to walk home with a bunch of

silly poets."

''Take that back," said Pete, doubling his fists.

Usually Herbert was happy to engage in a

friendly scuffle. But this time he just said: ''Who

wants to pick a fight about nothing?" and stalked

along ahead of his friends. Herbert certainly did

not act like himself.

That night Herbert came down with the measles.

He had waited until school was out before catch-

ing something.

Herbert always did things thoroughly. He had

the measles hard. He was feverish, itched, and was

quite miserable. And in a few days he came out

with as many spots as his mother's polka-dot

blouse.

Fat, jolly Dr. White took care of Herbert while

he had the measles. "We'll have you feeling like

your old self in no time," he kept saying at every

visit.

Herbert, however, continued not to feel like his

old self. Even after his spots had faded, he was

pale and listless. When Dr. White poked him in

his most ticklish spots, Herbert did not laugh. Nor

did he so much as smile at one of Dr. White's mid-


die-aged jokes. And usually Herbert thought that

even old jokes were pretty funny.

One day, fat, jolly Dr. White said to Herbert's

mother: ''Herbert's convalescence is taking longer

than I expected. I could prescribe medicine. But I

think a change of scene and air will do Herbert

more good than drugs. I suggest that you send Her-

bert to spend a month in the country on a farm. I

know the very place for Herbert—the Blossom

farm in Arbena County. Farmer Blossom has had

a hard life. After all he's been through, taking

care of Herbert won't seem too much of a hard-

ship. It will be worth a good deal to you, Mrs.

Yadon, to have Herbert where he will grow strong

and rosy again."

*' Herbert's father and I are willing to give all

we possess to get Herbert to feeling like his old

self again," said Mrs. Yadon.

*'Oh, his room and board at the Blossom farm

won't cost you that much," said fat, jolly Dr.

White. And he promised to write and make ar-

rangements for Herbert to go to the country for

his health.

A few days later, the Yadons drove to Arbena

County, and Herbert was left at the Blossom farm

to regain his health and spirits.

M] HERBERT'S CONVALESCENCE

During Herbert's first few days at the Blossom

farm, he remained just as quiet and as listless

as he had been at home. He still did not seem

like his old self at all. He thought that Farmer

and Mrs. Blossom looked like beanpoles, if bean-

poles had arms and legs. Not even the farm ani-

mals pleased Herbert. The spotted pigs reminded

him of the horrid spots of the measles. He thought

that the noise the cows made sounded like feeble

fire sirens. And it seemed to Herbert that the roost-

ers should be taught to keep quiet for a while

after they waked up at dawn.

Just about the only thing Herbert liked about

being on the Blossom farm was having beefsteak

and fried potatoes and hot biscuits for breakfast.

One morning at breakfast, Farmer Blossom told

Herbert some of his troubles. He had had many

troubles but he told Herbert only the most recent

ones.

'*I planted a big field of corn this year but the

crows are fast digging it up,'' he said mournfully.

*'And my cherry trees are bearing well this year.

But now that the cherries are almost ripe, the rob-

ins are eating them. And my strawberries are

ripe but I can't pick enough to sell, for the robins

are eating them just about as fast as they ripen.


Seems sort of a shame Ive worked so hard to raise

crops just to feed the crows and the robins."

"But can't you scare the crows and the robins

away?" asked Herbert. "Don't you have a scare-

crow in your cornfield?"

" 'Course I do. The crows use him to perch on

while they're resting from digging up corn," said

Farmer Blossom. "And I was told that red rags

tied to the cherry trees and strawberry plants

would scare away the robins. They don't. The rob-

ins and the blue jays take a look at them red rags


and say to themselves: 'That means there's some-

thing good to eat around here.'"

**I bet I could scare the crows and the robins

away," declared Herbert.

"How?" asked Farmer Blossom, looking as if

he did not believe that Herbert could make good

his boast.

*1 don't know yet," said Herbert thoughtfully.

And right then and there he began to look more

like his old self than he had since the measles.

''Are ye thinking of standing in the cornfield be-

side the scarecrow and shooing off the crows?"

asked Farmer Blossom. "That wouldn't help the

cherries and the strawberries but I'd be mighty

obliged if ye'd help save the corn."

"I don't think I'd care to take the place of a

scarecrow," said Herbert.

"If you would flap your arms and yell 'shoo!'

at the crows, you really would scare them. But it's

too much to ask of ye," said Farmer Blossom.

Herbert's eyes brightened. "I'm beginning to get

an idea," he said.

"Pretty early in the morning for one of them,

ain't it?" said Farmer Blossom.

"Mr. Blossom," said Herbert, "where is the near-

est broadcasting station?"


^'County seat, town of Clabbers," said Farmer

Blossom. "Going there tomorrer. Got to buy a bag

of fertilizer, so's I can grow more crops to feed

more pests/'

*1 want to go to Clabbers with you tomorrow,*'

said Herbert, reaching for another piece of steak,

**but first I must call my Uncle Horace long dis-

tance/'

Herbert had a long talk with his uncle by tele-

phone. He came away from the telephone looking

quite pleased. **As soon as I made Uncle Horace

understand what I had in mind, he was willing to

help,'' Herbert told Farmer and Mrs. Blossom. "I

can't promise but I can almost promise that it

won't be long before the crows and the robins will

no longer bother your crops. If my idea works/'

he added.

'1 ain't got a cent to spend on foolishness," said

Farmer Blossom.

**It won't cost you a cent. Not this year, any-

way," said Herbert mysteriously.

**In that case, have your fun, my boy," said

Farmer Blossom.

It was plain to be seen that he had no confi-

dence in Herbert's ideas, whatever they might be.

The next morning Herbert drove to Clabbers

68] HERBERTS CONVALESCENCE

with Farmer Blossom in a farm truck so old it

looked as if it belonged either in a museum or a

car graveyard. But Farmer Blossom had had too

many troubles to aflFord a new car. He was so used

to having the old truck break down that he was

surprised to drive all the way to Clabbers without

having to stop for repairs.

''The old car must have took a fancy to ye,

Herbert/' he said. ''She's on her good behavior for

sure."

Farmer Blossom left Herbert at the broadcasting

station at Clabbers while he went to buy a bag of

fertilizer and to talk to other farmers about his

troubles and theirs.

Herbert was glad to find that Uncle Horace had

already communicated with the broadcasting com-

pany. The manager of the broadcasting station was

especially glad to co-operate with Herbert now

that he was sure he would be well paid by Uncle

Horace for doing so.

Herbert's plan was to make several recordings,

which would frighten crows, robins, or any other

birds coming to steal Farmer Blossom's crops.

Technicians from the broadcasting company

would go out to the Blossom farm and install a

HERBERTS CONVALESCENCE [69

record-player. And that would be connected with

loud-speakers in the cornfield, the cherry orchard,

and the strawberry bed. Then records could be

played at intervals in the farmhouse and could be

heard all over the farm. But especially in the corn-

field, the cherry orchard, and the strawberry bed. It

would be like having a scarecrow wired for sound

in each place.

Herbert seemed quite like his old self when he

made the recordings. His voice was loud and clear.

**When the volume is stepped up, that recording

will frighten anything in creation," the manager of

the broadcasting company told Herbert, when his

first recording was replayed.

That first recording consisted almost entirely of

shouts. ''Get out! Fly home! Shoo! Get away from

here! Help! Murder! Thieves! Fire!" bawled Her-

bert's voice.

Herbert made another record which was a mix-

ture of Indian whoops and cowboy yells. And an-

other in which he fired blank cartridges and

yelled: "Got you, you varmint," after each shot.

The last record was Herbert singing ''Home onthe Range" in full voice, with yodels instead of

words in the chorus. Herbert really spent a busy


hour at the broadcasting station making records.

He was tired yet he felt more like his old self than

he had since the measles.

The next morning, as soon as it was light,

Farmer Blossom was at the window looking out at

his cornfield through a telescope. At the first sight

of a crow, he hurried to play Herbert's record of

shouts. And it was the sound of his own voice and

not the roosters that waked Herbert that morning.

Herbert helped the Blossoms play the recordings

at intervals all day long. The whole farm rang

with Herbert's shouts, Indian whoops, cowboy

yells, shots, and his singing of ''Home on the

Range" with yodels.

Crows cawed and flew hastily to the woods. Rob-

ins dared not come near the cherry trees and the

strawberry bed. A salesman, stopping at the farm

to sell Farmer Blossom some lightning rods, did

not dare get out of his car. The shooting record

scared him away. He did not slow down until he

was out of hearing, which was quite a ways, for,

with the volume stepped up, Herbert's recordings

could be heard for miles.

It took some practice before Farmer Blossom

worked out a regular schedule for playing Her-

bert's recordings. He found that if he played the

.^

h\

^ -s>

?^

72] HERBERTS CONVALESCENCE

whole series once in the early morning, once at

noon, and again just before dusk, not a crow or a

robin would come within half a mile of the Blos-

som farm. Not even in the time between the rec-

ords.

Farmer Blossom did not have so many troubles

to talk about after that. He had quarts and quarts

of cherries and strawberries to sell, besides the

two hundred and eighty jars which Mrs. Blossom

canned. And the corn in the cornfield grew and

grew. He would have a fine crop of corn, too,

thanks to Herbert, Farmer Blossom told him.

Before the end of the month. Farmer Blossom

could afford to buy a new farm truck to take the

place of his old 1926 model. It took him a little

while to get used to not having to stop every few

miles for repairs, but he did. He was so pleased

with the new truck that he took time oft from hoe-

ing one day and took Mrs. Blossom and Herbert

on a picnic. Herbert was so hungry by the time

the picnic lunch was served that he ate all of a

good-sized cold chicken. The country air certainly

was giving Herbert back his good appetite.

Herbert really felt like his old self long before

the month was over. But he did not mind staying

on the farm. He did enjoy hearing the Blossoms


tell how much of their prosperity they owed to

him. The praise, just about as much as the fresh

country air and Mrs. Blossom's good cooking, im-

proved Herbert's health and spirits a great deal.

At the end of the month, Herbert's parents came

to take him home. They were delighted to find him

in good health and spirits.

"We owe you more than money can pay for

making our Herbert strong and rosy again," Mrs.

Yadon told Farmer and Mrs. Blossom.

"Well, I owe Herbert a good deal, too," Farmer

Blossom told Herbert's parents. And he told them

about Herbert's recordings and how they had

scared away the crows and the robins.

"I reckon every crow and robin in this county

has learned to make a detour around this farm,"

said Farmer Blossom. " 'Course now that the cher-

ries and strawberries have passed their season, we

don't play Herbert's recordings so often. But I put

them on once a day. Even Japanese beetles and

potato bugs get a move on and leave my fields

when one of Herbert's recordings comes over the

loud-speaker."

Herbert wanted his parents to hear his whole

series of recordings. They sat in the Blossoms'

back parlor and listened to them. Mrs. Yadon


nearly jumped out of her chair when the record in

which Herbert fired blank cartridges came on. AndMr. Yadon moved his chair back several feet from

the electric phonograph when the record was

played in which Herbert sang "Home on the

Range/' with yodels instead of words in the cho-

rus.

"Them records have certainly scared the bejab-

bers out of farm pests/' said Farmer Blossom.

"I can believe it/' said Herbert's father, rub-

bing his ears. "They almost scared me."

Herbert said an affectionate farewell to his

friends, Farmer and Mrs. Blossom. He promised to

come to see them the very next time he was get-

ting over an illness, if not before. "For I'm not

sick often," he told them.

Herbert had, after the first week, spent a pleas-

ant month on the Blossom farm. But he was glad

to be going home. He was sure that Gus and Mor-

timer and Pete, Donny, and Chuck had missed him.

And now that he felt as well as ever, if not bet-

ter, he looked forward to enjoying the rest of his

summer vacation at home.

It was late afternoon before the Yadons reached

Mapleton and Mr. Yadon stopped the car at their

door.


*'It's nice to be home," said Herbert, handing

his suitcase to his father. ''After I got used to it I

enjoyed being on the Blossom farm. But before I

left I did get sort of tired of hearing those record-

ings of mine over the loud-speakers. I actually,'*

said Herbert, ''got tired of hearing my own voice.'*

"How happy I am that being on the Blossom

farm did you so much good," said Herbert's

mother.

And just then a loud barking from Mortimer

welcomed Herbert home.

HERBERT'S MOUSE

HERBERT OFTEN KEPT A BOX OF

graham crackers, a package of gingersnaps, or a

bag of potato chips in the top drawer of his bu-

reau, for he never wanted to be caught with noth-

ing on hand to eat. Besides, whenever he felt a

pang of hunger while busy with his stamp collec-

tion or another of his important hobbies, naturally

HERBERT'S MOUSE [77

he did not want to stop and run downstairs to the

kitchen for a bite to eat. Sometimes Herbert woke

up very hungry in the morning and was glad to

be able to reach for a handful of potato chips,

which gave him strength enough to tie his shoes

and brush his hair.

Herbert never ate during the night, for he was

a sound sleeper. He could sleep through thunder-

storms and fire alarms. It took something quite un-

usual to wake Herbert in the middle of the night,

yet one night he did wake up and at first was un-

able to figure out what had waked him. Mortimer

was gently snoring in a chair beside the bed. That

was nothing unusual. A breeze rattled the window

shade. Nothing about that to bring Herbert out of

a sound sleep. Then Herbert became aware of a

scampering noise, of rustling paper, and of a

gnawing sound.

He switched on the light at the head of his bed.

Looking in the direction of the noise, he saw a

small gray tail sticking out of the drawer of his

bureau.

*'A mouse is helping himself to my ginger-

snaps,** thought Herbert indignantly. "Get out of

my gingersnaps,'* he bawled.

Any ordinary mouse would have been out of

78] HERBERT'S MOUSE

that drawer and running for its life in two shakes

of a mouse's tail. But this proved to be no ordi-

nary mouse. At the sound of Herbert's voice it

poked its head out of the drawer and gazed at Her-

bert with no sign of fear in its bright, beady eyes.

It hopped to the top of the bureau, raised itself on

its haunches, and clasped its tiny paws in front of

its chest.

Herbert could hardly believe his eyes. And soon

he could hardly believe his ears when the mouse

began to sing. In clear, flutelike notes it sang the

melody of *'The Stars and Stripes Forever," Her-

bert's favorite march.

''Well, what do you know, a mouse that can

sing!" cried Herbert. Then he thought to himself

that a mouse that could sing was too valuable to

lose. So, while the mouse was still sounding like a

band instrument, Herbert quickly put the waste-

basket over it. ''It has holes so you can breathe," he

told the mouse. "Tomorrow I'll find a better place

to put you." Then Herbert went back to bed and

to sleep.

The next morning Herbert thought he had

dreamed about a singing mouse. He wondered why

the wastebasket was upside down. Then when he

heard the tune of "Annie Laurie" coming from in-

HERRERT'S MOUSE [79

side the wastebasket, Herbert knew that the sing-

ing mouse had been no dream. It was real.

With one hand, Herbert raised the wastebasket,

keeping the other hand ready to grab the mouse

when it started to run. To Herbert's surprise, the

mouse did not run when the wastebasket was

raised. The tiny creature stood with its paws

clasped in front of its throbbing chest and went

right on singing ''Annie Laurie'*—the melody, not

the words. Each tone was clear and flutelike. It was

a remarkable performance for any mouse. Herbert

was so pleased and excited that he did not stop to

dress. He ran downstairs in his pajamas to show

his parents this talented mouse.

Mr. Yadon was in the dining alcove reading the

morning paper while Mrs. Yadon was getting

breakfast.

''See my mouse," cried Herbert. "Listen to himsing."

Herbert started the melody of "Annie Laurie,"

and the mouse joined right in, hitting each note

clear as a bell.

"Isn't he wonderful?" asked Herbert as soon as

the song was ended. "I'm going to keep him for a

pet and I shall call him Ambrose. That's an un-

usual name, but he's an unusual mouse."

80] HERBERTS MOUSE

Herbert's parents thought that Ambrose must be

a mechanical mouse that sang a tune when woundwith a key.

"What a clever toy! Where did you get it?*'

asked Mrs. Yadon.

"But it's real. Feel!" cried Herbert.

So Mrs. Yadon did feel and hurriedly stood on

a chair because she was afraid of mice. It took

Herbert several minutes to convince her that a

singing mouse was very different from an ordinary

mouse and that there was no reason to be afraid

of it.

"Well, ril try to get used to it," said Mrs.

Yadon. "You can keep it, if you keep it in a cage;

for if it ran around loose it might come into the

living room while I had a visitor who was afraid

of mice. And I have just had the living-room

chairs reupholstered and don't want them stood

on."

Mr. Yadon thought that keeping Ambrose in a

cage was a good idea, too. He gave Herbert the

money to buy one. After breakfast Herbert hurried

to the hardware store and bought a cage built for

a canary but one that could be made very com-

fortable for a mouse. Ambrose, in fact, made him-

HERBERTS MOUSE [81

self right at home in it. He especially enjoyed

swinging on the little swing. Then as if thanking

the Yadons for his fine new home, Ambrose stood

and sang *'Home, Sweet Home'' very sweetly. And

this time he not only sang the melody of the song,

he sang the words.

*'But it's impossible. A mouse can't talk," cried

both Mr. and Mrs. Yadon.

'1 don't see why it's impossible," declared Her-

bert. *lf a parrot can talk, why can't a mouse?"

*'But nobody has ever heard of a talking

mouse," said Mr. Yadon.

**Well, there has to be a first time for any-

thing," said Herbert. **What do you want for

breakfast?" he asked Ambrose. But the mouse did

not answer. Herbert was disappointed to find that

his mouse had a singing, but not a speaking voice.

Nor did he know many songs, just those he must

have overheard Herbert singing in the bathtub.

''But I'll teach him ever so many more," Her-

bert said happily. ''After this mouse of mine has

learned all the songs from my phonograph records

he's going to be the smartest mouse in the world."

For the next few days Herbert was too busy to

play ball after school. He spent all his time teach-

82] HERBERT'S MOUSE

ing Ambrose new songs. Then he invited Pete,

Donny, and Chuck in for a concert. They thought

that Ambrose was wonderful.

''Let's take him to scout meeting tonight," Pete

suggested.

So Herbert carefully carried the cage to the Boy

Scout meeting that night and Ambrose was helpful

about joining in the singing. He also sang a solo

which the scouts loudly applauded.

''Why not make Ambrose the mascot of the

Badger Patrol of Troop Two?" suggested Mr. Tut-

tle, the scoutmaster. He was a retired master ser-

geant as well as a retired hero, so even Herbert

usually paid attention to his suggestions. This

time, of course, Herbert was glad to offer the serv-

ices of his mouse to his scout patrol as mascot.

The other boys agreed and Ambrose was made the

official mascot of the Badger Patrol, though none

of the scouts yet knew what an extraordinary mas-

cot they had.

It was not long before everybody in Mapleton

knew that Herbert Yadon possessed a most excep-

tional mouse. Ambrose was asked to sing at sev-

eral businessmen's luncheons. Choirs and literary

clubs begged for his services as entertainer. Her-

bert always appeared with Ambrose at every func-

HERBERT'S MOUSE [83

tion. When the audience was composed of ladies,

Herbert always promised that Ambrose would re-

main in his cage while singing. Some o£ the ladies

enjoyed the music more when they were sure the

singer could not run about. Herbert thought any-

body was silly to be afraid of such an unordinary

mouse, but for security reasons, as well as to

please the ladies, he took Ambrose about in his

cage.

The fame of Ambrose, the singing mouse, soon

spread beyond Herbert's home town. People from

far and near came to hear the remarkable mouse

who could sound either like a flute or a tenor, ac-

cording to whether Herbert had taught him the

tune alone or the words and the tune of a song.

Soon Herbert could have had singing engage-

ments for Ambrose for every afternoon and eve-

ning in the week. But Herbert's parents would not

let him stay out of school afternoons, so he ar-

ranged only Saturday-afternoon performances.

And, after Herbert had fallen asleep several times

in school due to the late hours he was keeping, he

was obliged to cut down Ambrose's evening pro-

grams to two a wêek.

Ambrose, with Herbert, of course, was asked to

appear on both radio and television programs. The

84] HERBERT'S MOUSE

Yadon mailbox bulged with requests for Ambrose

to sing. When it took an extra mailman to carry

all the letters that came, Mr. Yadon telephoned

Uncle Horace and he immediately sent his secre-

tary, Mr. Alonzo Payne, to help answer the mail.

Mr. Payne looked like a pain in the neck to Her-

bert. He was tall and skinny and his neck looked

as if he had just swallowed a baseball. He seemed

aggrieved that he had to act as a secretary to a boy

and a small gray mouse.

One morning Ambrose received two very impor-

tant invitations. One was for him to take the part

of a flute in a concert given by an important sym-

phony orchestra. The other was for him to sing

the principal tenor role in an opera given by a

well-known opera company.

''To think of opportunities such as these offered

to a mere mouse," said Mr. Payne crossly. He was

a little jealous of Ambrose besides being tired of

answering so many letters.

'Tots of people are willing to pay money to

hear a singing mouse that can sing as well as myAmbrose/' declared Herbert. ''When do we leave

for New York?"

Uncle Horace decided to accompany Herbert,

HERBERT'S MOUSE [85

Mr. Payne, and, of course, Ambrose, to New York

City. They all flew there in Uncle Horace's private

plane.

At the New York airport they were met by a

throng of newspaper reporters and photographers.

Herbert did all the talking for Ambrose.

*Tou can take pictures of me holding the cage

with Ambrose in it,'' he said generously. "Now sit

up and look ready to sing," he told Ambrose.

**Tell the little feller to sing us a song," urged

one of the reporters.

*lf you wish to hear Ambrose sing," Herbert

told the man, *'youll have to buy a ticket to the

concert tomorrow night or to the opera. Those are

Ambrose's only New York appearances."

A mouse is not usually welcome at New York's

finest hotel, but the manager of "Haldrop Towers"

made an exception of Ambrose. He and his party,

consisting of Herbert, Uncle Horace, and Mr.

Payne were given the best suite of rooms in the

hotel. They were the most expensive and had the

finest view.

There was a large bouquet of carnations in the

room shared by Herbert and Ambrose. Herbert was

pleased that the hotel manager had found out that

86] HERBERT'S MOUSE

carnations were Ambrose's favorite kind of flowers.

And Herbert was even more pleased when there

came a knock at the door and a waiter staggered

in with an immense basket of choice fruits. Never

had Herbert seen such large and highly polished

apples and pears. And there were grapes as big as

plums, peaches as large as oranges, and oranges

the size of average-sized grapefruit. Herbert bit

into the largest apple immediately. Then he re-

membered that Ambrose did not like fruit, so he

rang for room service and asked to have a gener-

ous mouse-sized helping of Cheddar cheese sent up.

''The manager really should have remembered

that a mouse likes to have a snack of cheese on

hand,*' Herbert told Ambrose. ''Still, so far, I must

say that the city of New York is treating us pretty

well.'' And Herbert took another bite of juicy ap-

ple.

The next morning Herbert took Ambrose to re-

hearse with the orchestra. Herbert had to sit with

the orchestra, for Ambrose would never sing a note

unless Herbert was with him. Ambrose was a one-

boy mouse if there ever was one. Ambrose was in

fine voice during the rehearsal. All the admiring

musicians said he sounded even better than a flute.

Thousands had to be turned away at the ticket

88] HERBERT'S MOUSE

office that night. The theaters and moving-picture

houses were deserted, so many people came to hear

Herbert's sensational singing mouse.

The concert was a great triumph for Ambrose.

He was given so many curtain calls that Herbert

got quite tired of coming back on the stage so

many times carrying Ambrose in his gilded cage.

Men shouted: ''Bravo!'' and ladies split their best

gloves, they clapped so hard. Herbert had to do all

the bowing for Ambrose. He bowed till his back

ached.

So many people crowded around the stage door

to catch sight of Ambrose when he left the hall

that he and Herbert had to have a police escort to

get them through the crowd and out to the car that

took them back to the hotel.

*'Seems to me it's an awful fuss to make over

a mouse," said Herbert to his Uncle Horace, as

they dodged more people and several newspaper

reporters in the lobby of the hotel. Herbert was

still fond of Ambrose but he was getting tired of

having so little attention paid to him and so muchto his mouse.

''Nobody would pay any attention to you if it

were not for Ambrose," Mr. Payne unkindly re-

minded Herbert.

HERBERT'S MOUSE ^[89

"I don't care," declared Herbert, though he

reallv did a little.

^'Everybody knows that Ambrose would not sing^

a note unless you were with him," said Uncle Hor-

ace soothingly. "I was quite proud of the fine

bows you made up there on the stage tonight."

Uncle Horace's words made Herbert feel better.

He must not begrudge Ambrose his fame, he

thought generously. **You really sang quite well

for a mouse," he told Ambrose, stroking him

above the ears. And whether Ambrose understood

Herbert or not, he hummed a pleased hum.

Herbert always liked plenty of fresh air at

night, so before he went to bed that night he

opened two windows. It grew cold in the night and

a strong wind sprang up. An icy gust blew the vase

of carnations over.

The crash waked Herbert. When he turned on

the light, he saw that Ambrose was shivering in

his cage.

"Poor little mousel" said Herbert and got out

one of his fur-lined mittens, so that the mouse

could crawl inside it and get warm. Herbert also

closed the windows. *Tor I don't want you to catch

cold," he told Ambrose. "I expect to be very proud

of you tomorrow. After you have sung with the

90] HERBERT'S MOUSE

opera company you're going to be the most famous

mouse in the whole world. And Fm not going to

mind if you do get all the applause. Any mouse

that can sing as well as you do deserves it/' said

Herbert. Then he went back to bed and enjoyed

feeling unselfish for as much as a minute before

he went back to sleep.

Ambrose had already learned his part in the

opera from listening to records. It was, however,

thought best for him to have a rehearsal with the

other members of the opera company. The re-

hearsal was called for eleven o'clock the next

morning. But long before eleven, Herbert, Uncle

Horace, and Mr. Payne had made a tragic discov-

ery about Ambrose. He had caught cold during the

night. He was so hoarse that it was all he could

do to squeak. He could not sing. He could not

sing one note.

Uncle Horace telephoned to four doctors, two

regular ones and two for animals. They all hur-

ried into the hotel with their little black bags.

They put drops in Ambrose's nose and sprayed his

throat. They fed him cough syrup with a medicine

dropper. Nothing did any good. Ambrose still

could not sing. He tried. His little chest quivered

and the tears came into his bright beady eyes, but

HERBERT'S MOUSE [91

nothing but a hoarse squeak came out. He was so

ashamed because he could not sing that he hid his

head against Herbert's hand.

At last hope had to be given up. It would be im-

possible for Ambrose to sing in the opera that

night. Uncle Horace telephoned the sad news to

the manager of the opera. Everybody was very

sorry. And all four doctors advised that Ambrose

be taken home and be given a long rest before

accepting any singing engagements.

Only one reporter was at the airport to see Am-brose and his party off that afternoon. Apparently

a mouse that could not sing was not as much news

as a mouse that could. Mr. Payne told the reporter

that he expected Ambrose would be asked again to

sing with the opera company after he recovered

from his cold. Uncle Horace said that his deepest

concern was for the mouse's health. 'Tor fame is

nothing if you don't have good health," he told the

newspaper man.

Herbert did not, for once, have anything to say.

He was still feeling sorry he had not shut the win-

dows tight before he had gone to bed the night

before. But how was he to have known that a cold

wind would come up? He blamed himself for Am-brose's catching cold. If it had not been for that.

92] HERBERT'S MOUSE

Herbert would have been feeling quite happy, for

he found himself not minding that he would not

be appearing on the opera stage with Ambrose that

evening. He was sorry Ambrose had caught cold

but he was glad to be going home. It was actually

going to seem good to Herbert to go to bed early

again instead of having to bow for Ambrose on a

concert stage with the thunder of applause out

front.

In spite of his cold, even Ambrose seemed happy

to return to Mapleton. His eyes no longer looked

nor did his nose feel feverish. Yet he still showed

no inclination to sing. Herbert persuaded him,

however, to eat half a cracker and a few crumbs

of cheese for his supper.

**I certainly am glad you're getting better," Her-

bert told Ambrose sincerely. And Ambrose's bright

beady eyes seemed to show that he understood.

Herbert slept with Ambrose's cage on a chair

beside his bed. He had done so ever since the lit-

tle gray mouse had come to make his home with

him.

''Good-night, Ambrose,*' Herbert said the last

thing that night before he settled down to sleep.

''Sleep well, Ambrose. I hope your cold will be

all gone tomorrow." •

HERBERT'S MOUSE [93

When Herbert woke up the next morning he was

unable to find out whether Ambrose had recovered

from his cold or not. For Ambrose was not in his

cage. Its door swung ajar and there was not a sign

of Ambrose. Not even a hair. Herbert looked and

looked. He even suspected the worst of Mortimer,

who slept in a chair on the other side of Herbert's

bed, not the one where Ambrose's cage was. But if

Mortimer had opened Ambrose's cage and eaten

the mouse, he was not telling.

"You wicked dog!" cried Herbert. Just then,

however, Herbert caught sight of something.

Against the wall, under the bureau there was a

fresh mousehole. 'Tm sorry I accused you falsely,"

Herbert now told Mortimer. "I can see now that

Ambrose has gone away of his own accord. He's

left me," sighed Herbert and almost shed a tear.

Herbert missed his singing mouse. Yet he had

his pony, Gus, and his dog, Mortimer, to keep him

company, as well as Pete, Donny, and Chuck, his

three best friends. He had more time to spend with

them now that he did not have to go all over the

country giving concerts with Ambrose.

There were certain tunes, however, that always

reminded Herbert of Ambrose. One moonlight

night Herbert suddenly sat up in bed. He thought

94] HERBERT'S MOUSE

he saw his singing mouse standing where the moonshone in the window. Herbert thought he heard

Ambrose's sweet flutelike voice singing a few bars

of "The Stars and Stripes Forever," Herbert's fa-

vorite march.

Quickly Herbert turned on the light. There was

nothing to be seen on the spot where Herbert

thought he had seen Ambrose standing. Yet Her-

bert was not sure he had not heard a mouse scam-

per for its hole. It could have been Ambrose, Her-

bert was pretty sure.

HERBERT'S MOUSE [95

Herbert would not let anybody plug up that

mousehole in the wall under his bureau. He hoped

that sometime, someday Ambrose might come back

to him. Anyway, Herbert always wished the best of

luck to Ambrose. Wherever he was, Herbert hoped

that remarkable mouse was well and happy.

--<?l

HERBERT'S NEW SHOES

HERBERT WAS VERY HARD ON SHOES.

This was partly because he did a lot of walking

and running but mostly because he put his feet

down so hard. He also had a habit of kicking

small stones along the sidewalk, which was quite

hard on the toes of his shoes. Even shoes made of

the toughest leather did not last long when Her-

bert was wearing them.

HERBERTS NEW SHOES [97

One day, after school, Herbert went with his

mother to the shoe store. Usually, when buying

shoes, Herbert took the first pair he tried on. To-

day he was more particular. He enjoyed seeing the

fat salesman climb a ladder and bring down boxes

from the top shelf. Herbert kept trying on and try-

ing on shoes.

**Now that pair looks nice on your feet,*' Mrs.

Yadon said, when Herbert had tried on his eighth

pair. *'How do they feel?*'

*'They feel all right now, but they might hurt

my feet as soon as they get broken in,'* said Her-

bert.

'Terhaps you'd better take a pair that hurt nowbut won't as soon as you break them in," suggested

Mrs. Yadon. *'Still, I suppose there'd be no way of

knowing, beforehand," she reasoned.

'1 want shoes that I like and that like me," de-

clared Herbert.

"Now how in the world can you tell if shoes

don't like your feet?" asked Herbert's mother.

"If they don't like my feet, they hurt. I should

think anybody would know that," said Herbert,

wriggling his toes. He wanted to see which foot

could wriggle its toes the fastest. The right foot

won.

98J HERBERT'S NEW SHOES

*1 must remember to start walking with myright foot," Herbert told his mother.

*'Why, dear?" she asked.

*'Well, you told me once to remember to put mybest foot forward," said Herbert.

Just then the fat salesman came down the lad-

der with a yellow shoebox.

*'Now here is something very special," he said,

opening the box and taking out the right shoe.

*Teel the fine quality of the leather. Note howbeautifully the shoe is stitched. Try this one, myboy." And he slipped the shoe on Herbert's foot.

Herbert immediately liked the way this shoe felt

on his foot. He was sure that he would be satisfied

with this pair of shoes. 'Til take them," he said.

*'Just throw my old shoes away. Ill wear the new

ones home."

"But Herbert," protested his mother. "I thought

we'd have your old shoes resoled for everyday for

a while and keep the new ones for best."

*'The new shoes are more comfortable than myold ones. I only wear best shoes once in a while. I

should think you'd want me to have comfortable

shoes most of the time instead of just once in a

while," argued Herbert.

*'A11 right, Herbert," agreed his mother. ''We'll

HERBERT'S NEW SHOES [99

have your old shoes resoled and polished and just

keep them for a spare pair/'

*'I can spare them all right/* said Herbert.

A few minutes later Herbert walked out of the

store wearing his new shoes. Nearly a week went

by before he discovered that his new shoes not only

liked his feet but possessed a remarkable power

that few if any shoes on earth have ever shown.

Herbert had purchased his new shoes on Tues-

day. The following Saturday was rainy, so Her-

bert and his friends—Pete, Donny, and Chuck-

were indoors working on their stamp albums. They

were all in Herbert's room sitting on the floor.

Then they did not have to lean over so far when

they dropped stamps or stamp hinges.

The boys were eating apples as they worked.

Pete took a large bite from his half-eaten apple

and accidentally dropped it. The apple rolled un-

der the edge of Herbert's desk, juicy side downwhen it landed.

Pete moved the desk a little to get his apple.

''Sorry it made a spot on your rug," he told Her-

bert.

'*Oh, if it did it won't show under the desk,"

said Herbert, but he rubbed the spot briskly with

his right shoe. Then Herbert stepped back in a

100] HERBERTS NEW SHOES

hurry when the spot where he had been rubbing

first smoked and then almost immediately burst

into a small but busy flame.

'Tirel" bawled Pete loud enough to bring Her-

bert's mother running if she had not been at the

grocery store.

Herbert did not waste time yelling. He ran to

the bathroom and brought back a glass of water,

which he flung on the burning rug. The fire had

not had time to get a good start. One glass of

water was enough to put it out, though Herbert

dashed on two just to be sure.

The boys gazed with puzzled eyes at the three-

inch hole in the deep-piled rug.

**How could an apple set a rug on fire?'* Pete

wondered.

*lt couldn't,'' declared Donny. ''Not unless the

rug's full of gasoline or cleaning fluid. Thenmaybe anything hitting it could make it burn."

*'But the rug's new. It never has been cleaned,"

said Herbert. He nervously rubbed his shoe near

the burned spot but stopped quickly when smoke

rose from under his shoe.

**I always knew I was full of electricity but I

didn't know I could start a fire just by rubbing

with one foot," Herbert told his companions.


*'But nobody can start a fire by rubbing against

something with one foot," argued Pete.

*

'Apparently I did/* stated Herbert. ''Come to

think of it, I smelled smoke last night at dinner.

I was rubbing my foot back and forth on the car-

pet under the table, but not hard. That's probably

why I didn't start a fire.'*

"But you've never been able to do a thing like

that before," said Donny.

"Well, people change. What you can do today,

you maybe can't do tomorrow. And the other way

around," said Herbert.

"Can you do it with your shoes off?" asked

Chuck.

Herbert began to untie his right shoe. Then he

rose to his feet.

"I don't think my mother would want me to

burn any more holes in the rug," he said virtu-

ously. "Come out to the clubhouse. We'll take

along a pail of water to put out any fires I may

light, and I'll find out just what I can do. Oh,

boy, we won't have to buy any more matches in

our house if I'm able to light a fire with one foot."

The next half hour much experimentation went

on out in the piano-box clubhouse in Herbert's

backyard.


Herbert discovered that he could not strike a

spark in his bare feet. It seemed to be his shoes

and not his feet that made the fire. Yet when the

other boys put on Herbert's shoes and tried to rub

up a blaze, they could not even raise a puff of

smoke.

The experiments with Herbert's shoes soon

brought out another fact. They would light a fire

only when Herbert rubbed them against carpeting.

He tried them against dried grass, newspaper,

wood shavings, and a discarded straw hat of his

mother's. Nothing would catch fire but a piece of

rug or carpet.

"Well," said Herbert, **all I have to do is carry

around a piece of rug or carpet in my pocket and

I can set the world on fire."

Pete's feet were still hurting from having tried

on Herbert's shoes, which were a size small for

him. "Not even your mother is going to let you

cut up her rugs and carpets to carry around in

your pockets," he told Herbert crossly.

Herbert rattled several nickels and a dime in his

pocket. "I'll buy odd pieces of carpeting at the

furniture store," he said. "But first I want you fel-

lers to promise you won't tell a living soul about

how these shoes of mine can light a fire."


The boys argued a bit. Pete seemed to think

that the chief of the fire department should be told

about Herbert's shoes, but he was soon talked out

of that. Finally, all the boys promised not to tell a

living soul about Herbert's remarkable shoes.

Then they left the piano-box clubhouse in order

to conduct further experiments with Herbert's

shoes about the neighborhood.

First, however, Herbert went to a store that sold

rugs and carpets and asked the storekeeper for car-

pet samples.

''What do you want carpet samples for?" the

storekeeper asked Herbert.

The real reason why Herbert wanted them was

to keep from being obliged to cut up his mother's

rugs and carpets, but Herbert kept that reason to

himself. 'TU put them to good use," he told the

storekeeper, ''barring accident," he added. "Howmuch does that whole book of samples cost?"

"They're samples of discontinued patterns of

carpet," said the storekeeper. "You can have them

for nothing.".

"Thank you/' said Herbert. "Any time you want

a fire started just let me know." And Herbert hur-

ried out with the book of carpet samples under his

arm.

104] HERBERT'S NEW SHOES

"Now what can carpet samples have to do with

starting a fire?" the storekeeper wondered. Nobody

told him, and by the time he had stopped won-

dering, Herbert had tried out the first sample of

green broadloom and just one brisk rub with Her-

bert's shoe had made it burst into flame.

**You boys stop playing with matches,'* a womancalled from a window just above the sidewalk

where Herbert had tried out his carpet sample.

**Guess we'll have to be careful where we start

fires," said Herbert to the boys. *'Come on over to

the vacant lot."

**I dare you to set fire to the schoolhouse," said

Pete.

^TThey'd just build another one," said Herbert.

*' Besides, I promised Uncle Horace long ago that

I'd never set fire to the schoolhouse even if I got

bad marks. I don't want to set any fires that will

burn up anything people don't want burned up."

**There's no fun having shoes like yours," de-

clared Pete. *'I can light a fire quicker with a

match and a match is much lighter to carry around

in your pocket than a heavy old carpet sample."

**That may be so," Herbert allowed, ''but I still

think that sometime, someplace, being able to


make a fire without matches is going to come in

handy/'

"I can already make a fire by rubbing dry sticks

together/' boasted Pete. *1 learned how to do that

at Boy Scout meeting. So did you, Herbert.*'

**What if I did? Lots of folks can start fires that

way if they know how and have just the right

dry wood. But nobody but Herbert Yadon can

make a fire by rubbing one shoe against a piece of

carpet. I sort of like being the only one who can


do something," mused Herbert. *'But if you boys

want to play football now the rain has stopped, I

don't mind not starting any more fires today. For

I don't want to use up my carpet samples too

fast.''

A week passed. Herbert raked leaves and started

a few small bonfires of leaves with his right shoe

against a sample of floral Axminster carpeting. Acarpet sample would strike only six fires, he dis-

covered. But after a while Herbert got tired of

raking leaves and setting them on fire. Before the

end of the week he had stopped using up carpet

samples just for the fun of seeing them catch fire-

Herbert still admired his new shoes, but the pol-

ish and the novelty of starting fires with them were

wearing off.

The last week end in October, Herbert went on

an overnight hike with the rest of the Badger Pa-

trol, Troop Two, to which he belonged. Because

there were no mountains within walking distance

of Mapleton, Sergeant Tuttle, the scoutmaster,

drove the boys part way in his station wagon. Hetook them to the base of the nearest mountain

where the road ended. "The rest of the way we'll

walk," he told his scouts.

Several of the scouts would have been pleased


to do all their hiking by car but they all tumbled

out of the station wagon. Cans of beans, links of

frankfurters, boxes of marshmallows, pup tents,

blankets, and all the other necessary equipment for

an overnight hike were unpacked and repacked

into bundles of carrying size for each scout. Then

the scouts took the rough trail up the slope of the

mountain.*

'There aren't any really big mountains in this

part of the country,'* said Pete, to Herbert, who

was just ahead of him, *'but as mountains go, this

is quite a mountain.''

^'That's a silly remark, *as mountains go,'"

said Herbert, shifting the weight of his knapsack

from his left to his right shoulder. ** Mountains

don't go, they stay/'

Pete's foot slipped on a loose stone and he

barely managed to keep from falling. ''Hope I can

manage to stay on the mountain," he muttered.

A gust of wind blew dead leaves across the

trail. Pete shivered. "I wish I'd worn a sweater un-

der my coat," he said. "My mother thinks it's too

late in the season for an overnight hike and maybe

she's right."

"Walk faster and you'll be warmer," said Her-

bert, quickening his pace. "When we get to where


well camp for the night, well set up our tents

near a big campfire. Well keep warm as a bug in

a rug. Even if it snows and blows/' he added,

looking up at the gray clouds that seemed to be

resting on the mountaintop.

Halfway up the mountain, the scoutmaster gave

the order to halt. Here on the gentle slope was a

fairly wide ledge. Fragments of charred wood told

the tale of other campfires. It was a good campsite

with a spring near by and enough clear ground to

accommodate the boys' tents.

Herbert and Pete shared one tent, Chuck and

Donny the one beside it. The four boys were the

first of the scouts to finish putting up their tents.

They were hungry then and thought it was time to

begin to cook supper.

''Not at three-thirty in the afternoon,'* said Ser-

geant Tuttle. 'Tou'll have to wait till five."

So, for want of anything better to do until five,

Herbert, Pete, Donny, and Chuck decided to climb

to the top of the mountain. It did not look far.

They would be back long before five, they were

sure.

It was not a hard climb. As they neared the top,

however, there was no trail, not even a path. The

boys had to break through underbrush and climb


over boulders. The top of the mountain was all

solid rock.

*'This mountain certainly has rocks in its head/'

declared Herbert, surveying the view from all

sides.

Everything below looked about the same from

all sides. Just trees and rocks and more trees and

rocks. That was why the boys started down the

wrong side of the mountain, the one away from,

not toward, their camp.

It was half-past four before Herbert was con-

vinced that they had taken the wrong way down the

mountain. They would have reached camp by this

time if they had come down the way they had gone

up.

*'Are we lost?*' asked Donny, rubbing one of his

large ears, which the biting wind seemed to be bit-

ing.

"Don't know if Fd go as far as say lost. But

we're certainly slightly misplaced,*' Herbert ad-

mitted. Even as he spoke, something wet hit his

cheek. *lt's begun to snow," he cried. **Maybe

we'll be snowbound and have to be rescued," he

said with enthusiasm.

*Td rather be home," said Donny mournfully.

And he rubbed his other large, cold ear.


By the time the boys reached the top of the

mountain again, it was snowing so hard they could

see only a few feet ahead. Herbert had thought

that from the top they might rediscover the way

back to camp. But that was hopeless through the

swirling snow and in the gathering dusk. The only

directions they were sure of were down and up be-

cause of the slope of the mountain. Slowly they

started down again but still not the right way to-

ward camp.

They stumbled along until the only light was

from the new-fallen snow.

*'I hope we don't freeze to death before we're

rescued," said Pete, his teeth chattering.

**A11 we need is shelter and a fire," said Her-

bert, remembering stories he had read about peo-

ple lost in the wilds in snowstorms. ''Then we shall

be quite comfortable while we're waiting to be res-

cued."

'^There's wood for a fire," said Pete, bumping

into a tree. ''The only trouble is that none of us

brought along our hatchets to cut it. How can we

build a shelter and a fire when we have no way of

cutting wood? We're not beavers. We can't chew

trees down," he added bitterly.

Just then Herbert bumped into something in the


dark. He put out his hand and touched a log wall.

**It's a hunter's hut," he called joyfully. "Here's

our shelter."

The boys found the door of the hut and went in.

Pete struck a match. For an instant the boys saw a

crude fireplace with a pile of wood beside it.

*'Hooray!" shouted the boys.

''Hurry up and light the fire," ordered Pete.

'Im half frozen."

*Tou light it, Pete. I haven't any matches," said

Herbert.

**But I struck my last match just now," said

Pete.

There was not one match among them all.

*'We don't need matches with Herbert along,"

said Chuck hopefully. ''Bring out your carpet sam-

ple, Herbert, and rub us up a fire."

"I forgot to bring a carpet sample," said Her-

bert sadly, and, though nobody reproached him, he

reproached himself. For it seejned a shame that he

had forgotten to bring a carpet sample the one

time when having one in his pocket might be a

matter of life or death. He made an effort to speak

cheerfully. "If we keep moving I don't think we'll

freeze to death," he said. And he marched the boys


back and forth from wall to wall of the hut until

they were tired enough to drop and Donny did.

'Tm more than half frozen by now/* said Pete

mournfully.

Herbert's windbreaker was not breaking the cold

wind that blew through the cracks between the logs

of the hut. He pulled the collar tighter around his

neck. Then he put his cold hands inside his coat

against the warm alpaca lining. It was as thick

and deep-piled as a rug, Herbert thought, but even

that did not keep him from being cold. **Rug," he

thought. "Say, it might work,'' he cried. And he

snatched off his coat and laid it lining-side up on

the floor of the hut.

**What are' you doing, Herbert?" asked Pete.

'*It's no use trying to make a fire by rubbing sticks

together. There aren't any sticks dry enough. I

tried and tried."

Herbert did not answer. He was busy rubbing

his foot against the deep-piled alpaca.

Suddenly smoke rose, then a feeble flame. Pete

tore splinters from a stick of wood and fed the

flame. Soon fire was transferred from Herbert's

coat to the fireplace.

'*If the lining of your coat had not been enough


like a carpet so your shoes could light a fire on it,

we would have frozen to death/' declared Pete,

and the other boys agreed that Herbert's coat had

saved their lives.

With shelter and fire, the boys, though hungry,

were safe and sound. They piled enough wood on

the fire to last all night and slept close to the

warmth of it.

Next morning bright sunshine was melting the

snow when the boys were wakened by somebody at

the door of the hut.

*1 knew somebody would come to rescue us,"

cried Herbert happily.

All night, their scoutmaster had been search-

ing for them. ''The smoke from your fire led meright to you,'* he told them. '* 'Twas a cold night.

Fm thankful you had a fire."

''Show Sergeant Tuttle how you made a fire,"

Pete urged Herbert. "I know it's a secret but I

wish you'd let him know how you did it."

Herbert was so happy to be rescued that he did

not mind sharing the secret of his remarkable

shoes with his scoutmaster. And, since there was

already one big hole in his coat lining, he did not

object to making another.

So Herbert took oft his coat and put it lining-


side up on the floor of the hut. He rubbed his

right shoe against the lining. Nothing happened.

He tried the left. Still nothing happened. ThenHerbert examined the soles of his shoes and saw

that both were quite worn through.

**There was just enough left to start one fire/'

said Herbert. 'I'll have to show you how I started

the fire after I get my shoes resoled," he told Ser-

geant Tuttle.

The scoutmaster was puzzled but he was rather

used to being puzzled by Herbert. ''No matter howyou started the fire last night, you're a hero,"

he told Herbert.

Herbert beamed with pride. Being praised by a

retired hero like his scoutmaster was pleasant.

Herbert was never able to show Sergeant Tuttle

how he had made a fire the night he and Pete,

Donny, and Chuck had been lost on the mountain.

For after they had returned from the overnight

hike and Herbert had had his shoes resoled, they

were just like any other shoes. Herbert could not

strike a blaze with either shoe on any carpet

sample.

Herbert did not really care. He threw all his

carpet samples in the trash can. They were too

bulky to carry around in his pocket, anyway, he


decided. Especially since it seemed unlikely that

he would ever buy another pair of shoes with

which he could strike sparks from a carpet sam-

ple. Shoes like those, Herbert was afraid, came

only once in a boy's lifetime.

HERBERT'S BRACES

HERBERT S MOTHER TRIED HARD

to be a good mother to him. She not only belonged

to the Parent-Teachers Association but subscribed

to two magazines devoted to the proper care and

feeding of children. It was in one of those maga-

zines that Mrs. Yadon read how a child's life had

been ruined by not having had his crooked teeth

straightened by braces. Not only his teeth had

118] HERBERT'S BRACESi

grown up crooked, it seemed, but he had, and the

author blamed all that on the lack of braces.

The evening Mrs. Yadon finished reading the ar-

ticle, she immediately asked Herbert to open his 1

mouth so she could see if his teeth showed signs of

slanting to one side or the other. ]

*'The teeth in your upper jaw are perfectly i

straight," she said, after having looked Herbert

straight in the mouth. ''But Fm not sure but your

two front teeth on the lower jaw lean slightly to !

the right. I'll take you to the dentist tomorrow to

see if you need braces."

''My teeth don't need bracing," declared Her-

bert. "They're so strong I can chew anything with

them, except maybe nails." i

"According to the article I've just read, it's the

position and not the strength of the tooth which is

important," said Mrs. Yadon. "Tomorrow afterj

school I shall take you to see Dr. Pullen, the den-j

tist." -

So the next day, after school, Herbert reluc-\

tantly went with his mother to Dr. Pullen's office. ;

Dr. Pullen showed his teeth at Herbert in a '

wide smile. Doubtless, Herbert thought, that was ai

way of advertising his profession. \

"I want to know whether Herbert needs or will\

HERBERT'S BRACES [119

need braces on his teeth/* said Mrs. Yadon anx-

iously.

Dr. Pullen made Herbert open his mouth wide.

**Two teeth on Herbert's lower jaw are slightly

crowded," he told Mrs. Yadon. "But the boy's jaw

may grow to accommodate them."

''But what if the teeth grow and the jaw

doesn't?" asked Mrs. Yadon.

*'In that case, Herbert should wear braces on his

lower jaw," said Dr. Pullen.

Mrs. Yadon sighed. '*I think you'd better put

braces on them now," she said.

**But he doesn't really need braces at this time,"

said Dr. Pullen.

*'Could braces at this time do any harm?" asked

Mrs. Yadon.

The dentist said that braces would certainly do

Herbert no harm but he still would not advise

them.

*lf you won't put braces on Herbert's lower

teeth I'll find another dentist who will," said Mrs.

Yadon emphatically.

Dr. Pullen muttered something about its being

like making a wooden leg for a man who had two

good legs but at last he gave in and consented to

make braces for Herbert's lower jaw.

120] HERBERT'S BRACES

A few days later Herbert paid another visit to

Dr. Pullen's office and came out wearing braces.

'*Now I know how Gus, my pony, feels when he

has the bit in his mouth/' Herbert thought as he

left the dentist's office. Then he looked around to

see where the music he heard was coming from.

Every door in the office building was shut but Her-

bert distinctly heard music.

^'Somebody must have his radio on good and

loud/* he thought, *'if it can be heard through a

closed door.'*

Herbert walked home with a peculiar expression

upon his face. He was both puzzled and enter-

tained. For the radio program which Herbert had

heard when he came out of Dr. Pullen's office had

gone right on. Herbert heard the program as

clearly as if he had been carrying a portable radio.

He soon learned that he was tuned in to Station

WHK, Cleveland, Ohio, the Bill Gordon program.

Herbert found that he could regulate the volume

by how wide he opened his mouth. With his mouth

closed, the program came in low but clear but if

he held his mouth open to its fullest extent (which

was quite wide) and held it there, the volume of

sound all but blasted his eardrums.

Herbert could not understand why he had sud-


denly become a radio receiver bringing in a Cleve-

land program. Cleveland, Ohio, was many miles

from Mapleton. How did Herbert happen to be

tuned in to that station? Why, in fact, was he sud-

denly tuned in to any station at all?

Then he remembered that he had first heard low

strains of music shortly after Dr. Pullen had fin-

ished fastening the braces to Herbert's lower teeth.

''That dentist has wired me for sound,*' Herbert

thought wonderingly. ''And he's gotten me tuned

in to Cleveland, Ohio, air waves."

Herbert seemed especially quiet to his parents

that evening. He was busy listening to the Cleve-

land radio programs. When, after dinner, Mrs.

Yadon asked if Herbert were not, as usual, going

to listen to *'The Lone Ranger," Herbert said,

**How can you expect me to listen to two programs

at once?" even though the radio was not turned on.

Herbert's parents did not understand what their

son meant. They were still at a loss after Herbert

explained that he had now been listening steadily

to Station WHK, Cleveland, Ohio, for several

hours, and that he wished he knew how to tune in

another station.

"But you can't be hearing a radio program

when no radio is turned on," said Mr. Yadon.

122] HERBERTS BRACES

^'That's what you think," said Herbert. "I can

hear it, though you can't. You don't think I'm ly-

ing, do you?" he asked, looking much aggrieved.

Herbert's parents knew that he usually told the

truth even when it seemed surprising. Yet they

found it hard to believe that Herbert had sud-

denly developed a built-in radio inside him. Yet

when he began to quote from a quiz program he

was hearing, and later gave both the names and

composers of tunes played by a disk jockey, as

well as a summary of world and Cleveland news

and a review of sports, Mr. and Mrs. Yadon real-

ized that Herbert was hearing what he claimed to

be hearing.

*'I can't understand it," said Mr. Yadon.

'1 think Dr. Pullen has something to do with

this," said Mrs. Yadon accusingly. ''Before I took

Herbert to him, Herbert never complained of hear-

ing noises. Did you, Herbert?"

"I think it's my braces, but I'll have to take

them out in order to be sure," said Herbert, and

he stood in front of a mirror and removed the

braces from his lower jaw.

"It's just as if somebody turned off the radio,"

he said.

"We'll take those braces right back to Dr. Pul-


len and have him fit you to some that don't bring

in the Cleveland, Ohio air waves," said Mrs. Ya-

don firmly.

"Oh, I don't want to do that,*' declared Herbert.

*'Now that I can turn off the program by remov-

ing my braces, I rather like having music wherever

I go. Besides other kinds of programs,'' he added.

"But if you keep taking off your braces, your

teeth may be growing crooked while they're off,"

complained Mrs. Yadon. "And the article I read

says that letting teeth remain crooked may ruin a

boy's character. And I don't want your character

ruined, Herbert."

"Oh, it would take more than a crooked tooth to

ruin my character," declared Herbert firmly. "Be-

sides, my teeth aren't really crooked. One or two

are just slightly not straight. And Dr. Pullen told

me I might take off my braces at night, so I'll

leave them in at night and keep them out at times

during the day. For I don't mind being sung to

sleep by radio music and I sleep so sound it won't

bother me at all while I'm asleep. I'll just keep

the braces as they are for the time being."

"If you really want to," said Herbert's mother

doubtfully.

Herbert was happy to be wearing his braces to


school the next day, though he found it a bit diffi-

cult to take in what his teacher, Miss Wood, was

saying, while at the same time he was listening

to news of the day, a program for toddlers, and a

Bing Crosby program. When a program devoted to

home problems for the ladies came on, Herbert

got excused and went into the washroom and re-

moved his braces. It was just as well that he did

so, for Herbert needed all his mind to devote to

decimal points and percentages, examples which

Herbert would have been quite willing to have left

to be solved by experts. But Miss Wood believed

that problems in arithmetic disciplined the mind

and she was a great believer in discipline.

Herbert kept his braces in most of the rest of

the school day. Once when he was listening to a

particularly stirring march while studying his

American History, he beat time with his feet so

hard he shook the floor.

''Stop that, Herbert Yadon," scolded Miss Wood.

"Behave yourself or I'll send you to the principal's

office."

Herbert had not meant to misbehave. He tried

to give no sign again of what he was listening to.

But when Miss Wood asked him during the geog-

raphy lesson to tell what agricultural product Bra-

126] HERBERTS BRACES

zil exported most of, Herbert answered: "Eight

legs," which was the answer to the question on a

quiz program Herbert was hearing: *'How many

legs has a spider?"

Miss Wood said she had never heard a more

stupid answer about the products of Brazil. Nor

did she understand, later in the afternoon, why

Herbert laughed aloud while she was reading a

very sad story to the class. How was she to know

that Herbert was hearing a comedy program on

Station WHK, Cleveland, Ohio?

Herbert did not often exert himself enough to

get many grades of Excellent. He was, however,

much too smart to fail. Yet the week after he be-

gan listening to Station WHK in Cleveland, Ohio

during school hours, his marks dropped so far that

Miss Wood, his teacher, sent a note home asking

his moth^ to come to talk over what could be

done about Herbert's poor work.

"He pays no attention," Miss Wood complained

to Herbert's mother. "His thoughts seem anywhere

except in the classroom. I declare, from the way

Herbert has been acting lately, a person might

think he was not quite all there."

"I'm afraid his thoughts have been more in


Cleveland, Ohio, than in your classroom,'* said

Mrs. Yadon. *'Maybe he shouldn't wear his braces

in the schoolroom, though I feel he should wear

them most of the time. It's very bad for a boy to

grow up with crooked teeth, you know."

Miss Wood ran a pencil through her steel-gray

hair that more than a little resembled a fluffy mass

of steel wool. **What do the braces on Herbert's

teeth have to do with Cleveland, Ohio?" she de-

manded.

"Oh, dear," murmured Mrs. Yadon. **It's so

complicated to explain and even if I did you

might not believe me, though it's absolutely the

truth. The fact is that ever since Dr. Pullen put

braces on Herbert's lower teeth, Herbert has heard

noises."

^'Noises!" gasped Miss Wood. **This is muchmore serious than I had thought. Don't you real-

ize, Mrs. Yadon, that a person who hears noises no

one else can hear may be on the way to being

mentally ill? I advise you to keep Herbert homefrom school and take him to a doctor who treats

mental illnesses. For it could be that this is the

first symptom of the poor boy's losing his mind."

^'Herbert is not losing his mind," stated Mrs.


Yadon—SO upset she was almost in tears. But she

did keep Herbert home from school the next day,

which gave him a fine' opportunity to work on his

stamp collection.

In the middle of the afternoon, Herbert's Uncle

Horace arrived for a brief visit between planes.

"How does Herbert happen to be at home dur-

ing school hours?'' Uncle Horace asked, after he

had presented a large box of the best chocolates

to the family.

Mrs. Yadon explained how Herbert's braces

acted as a receiver bringing in radio programs

from Station WHK, Cleveland, Ohio. "He can

hear every program distinctly when he is wearing

his braces," she told Uncle Horace. "He really

does. I sent for a Cleveland paper and he was able

to tell me what every program was to be without

looking at the list of broadcasts. But now his

teacher thinks Herbert is going out of his mind just

because he is able to hear more than the average

person can. She does not realize that Herbert is an

exceptional child. Now she won't let him come

back to school until I have him examined by a

mind specialist, and there's not a single doctor of

that kind in Mapleton. And I hate to take Herbert

to a strange doctor in a strange town. Especially


when there's nothing the matter with Herbert's

mind," said Mrs. Yadon.

"H'mm," said Uncle Horace, clearing his throat.

*'Just what are you hearing now, my boy?'* he

asked Herbert, who was wearing his braces at the

moment.

''It's just a commercial," said Herbert. *1'11 sing

it to you. And Herbert sang, good and loud:

"If a body buys Burke's crackers

At the grocery store

And eats but a single cracker

He will want some more."


Herbert sang the commercial to the tune of

"Coming Through the Rye/*

*'Want me to tell you what comes next?" he

asked.

*'No, not just now/* said his uncle. Then he

asked Herbert's mother about Herbert's sudden

need for braces. 'Tor I had not noticed that Her-

bert's lower teeth were crooked/' he said.

**It was just that I want to be sure they won't

grow crooked/' said Mrs. Yadon, ''for I read an

article which said that crooked teeth are very bad

for a child. I thought if Herbert's teeth were

braced, they could not start to get crooked."

"That/' said Uncle Horace, picking up a maga-

zine from the table, "is carrying preventive den-

tistry a little far. Is this the magazine where you

found the article?"

"It was in last month's number. The one you

have is this month's. I haven't had time to read it

yet," said Mrs. Yadon.

Uncle Horace consulted the Table of Contents.

Then he turned to a page, which he read quickly

but thoroughly. "Here is another article devoted to

children's teeth," he said. "This one states that on

no condition should braces be put on children's

teeth unless the need for them is acute. Did your


dentist say that Herbert's looks and teeth would be

ruined if he didn't have braces?"

**Dr. Pullen didn't want to put braces on Her-

bert's teeth at all," said Mrs. Yadon. '1 had hard

work to persuade him to do the work."

**Now I'm listening to the ball game," said Her-

bert. **Oh, boy, a home run in the ninth inning!"

"Herbert can listen to enough radio programs

on his own radio in his room," said Uncle Horace.

''Take off those braces, Herbert, and keep them

off. It's not good for you to hear more than other

people can. Braces when needed are a very good

thing, but in your case, obviously, they are too

much of a good thing. Herbert does not need

braces on his teeth," Uncle Horace told Herbert's

mother.

''Then Herbert will stop hearing noises and I

won't need to take him to a mind specialist," said

Mrs. Yadon happily. "And he can go back to school

tomorrow."

Herbert would not have objected to staying

home from school a day or two more. But he did

not really mind giving up wearing braces on his

teeth. While wearing them he had been saved the

trouble of turning the knobs on his radio. And,

like an automobile, he had always had his radio


with him, built-in. Herbert, however, had become

a bit bored with listening to so many programs

from only one station.

*'If I ever should have to have braces on myteeth again," he told his Uncle Horace, '1 hope

they will not only bring in programs from Station

WHK, Cleveland, Ohio, but from other parts of

the United States. I'd even enjoy hearing foreign

broadcasts," declared Herbert. 'It would be sort

of fun to listen to a program in Hindustani

through my teeth."

HERBERT'S SPRAYING COMPANY

ONE WARM SATURDAY MORNING IN

late June, Herbert and his friends, Pete, Denny,

and Chuck, sat side by side on Herbert's back steps.

*'If my bat wasn't broken and yours lost wecould play baseball,*' said Pete to Herbert.

"I don't feel like playing ball," said Herbert.

*'It's too hot for me to run bases every time

I would get a home run."

134] HERBERTS SPRAYING COMPANY

*'We could go fishing," suggested Chuck.

"It's too late in the day to get big angleworms

for bait," complained Herbert. "They only comeup on the ground so you can grab *em at night.

When it gets light they dig in again. Besides, I

hear the fish aren't biting. They must be on a diet

or something."

A languid fly buzzed above Donny's head. Heput out a quick hand and caught it.

"It isn't everybody that can move fast enough

to catch a fly," he boasted, letting it go.

"Mortimer takes care of all my fly-catching," re-

marked Herbert.

Mortimer, lying two steps below the boys, heard

his name mentioned and wagged his tail. He was

lazy in warm weather but he showed that much ap-

preciation of being noticed.

"Herbert," said Mrs. Yadon, appearing at the

door, "sometime today I want you to get out the

lawn mower and cut the grass."

Herbert looked at the green lawn with extreme

distaste. He ran one hand over the bristles of his

closely cropped head. "Wish there was some way

of giving a lawn a crew cut same as my hair," he

said. "Then it wouldn't have to be cut but once

all summer."

HERBERT'S SPRAYING COMPANY [135

"One reason grass grows so fast is because it's

watered so much,'* said Pete, looking out at the

attachment on the hose that was sending twin foun-

tains of spray into the air. ''Say," he went on with

more enthusiasm, *'why don't we put on our swim-

ming trunks and go under the spray?"

*lt's less trouble to take a shower bath in the

house," declared Herbert. He gazed at the spray

with thoughtful eyes. ''There certainly are a lot

of different kinds of sprays in the world," he re-

marked. "Folks spray stuff on their clothes to keep

out the moths, and perfume on themselves so

they'll smell good, and—"

"My mother sprays stuff on her hair to keep the

curl in," volunteered Chuck.

"And my father sprays on his shaving soap,"

said Pete.

"A fire extinguisher is a kind of spray," said

Herbert.

"And there's stuff you spray to kill flies and

mosquitoes," contributed Chuck. "And my father

painted the car by spraying on the paint."

"Do you know where he keeps that spray?" in-

quired Herbert.

"In the garage on a shelf. Why?" Chuck wantedto know.

136] HERBERTS SPRAYING COMPANY

"Let's get together all the diflFerent sprays we

can find and form a spraying company," suggested

Herbert with enthusiasm. "Then we'll get all the

kids in the neighborhood to come and be sprayed.

We'll make them pay for it, too."

"But why would anybody pay to get sprayed?"

Pete was dubious.

"We'll have our headquarters in the club-

house," continued Herbert, paying no attention to

Pete. "For a penny we'll spray a person with moth

spray, perfume, BUG DEATH, or shaving soap.

But we'll charge two cents to let anybody build a

fire in the outdoor fireplace and put it out with

the fire extinguisher. We can't actually spray peo-

ple with the fire extinguisher, you know, for it

wouldn't be safe to set anybody on fire."

"How much for going under the hose?" asked

Chuck.

"Oh, we'll let the customers do that for free,"

said Herbert. "They can do that to wash off the

stuff we spray on."

Soon the Yadon back yard was a busy place, es-

pecially in and just outside the piano-box club-

house. This had a newly painted sign: THE YA-

DON SPRAYING COMPANY. Herbert would

have put on the names of the other boys if there

. J


had been room. After they had complained, he

changed the sign to read: THE YADON ETC.

SPRAYING COMPANY. Herbert thought the

sign looked less neat with the addition of the ETC.,

but he wanted to be obliging. Also the company

would have been too much work for him to run

by himself.

Herbert had made himself advertising manager

of the company. He stood just outside the club-

house door and talked as glibly as if he had been

advertising a circus sideshow.

''Right this way, ladies and gentlemen,'* he ad-

dressed the four small boys, the three little girls,

and the stray dog that had wandered into the

Yadon yard. ''Just inside you can get mothproofed

for one cent. Only one cent to receive entire pro-

tection against moths.*'

"But moths only eat wool and everything I have

on is cotton,*' said a little girl wearing blue denim

shorts and a white T shirt.

Herbert glared at her. Then her short curly hair

gave him an idea. ''Better be on the safe side and

get your hair mothproofed," he told her. "All

wool is, is sheep's hair, and I guess the moths are

just as likely to get in your hair as a sheep's."

Herbert continued his spiel. "For another cent

138] HERBERT'S SPRAYING COMPANY

you can be sprayed to smell like a rose, a lily

of the valley, a carnation, or two French names

I can't pronounce. Only a cent for scents," shouted

Herbert.

"Have your dog washed with the finest shaving

soap on the market," he was saying a few minutes

later. ''If your dog has fleas, a thorough spraying

with BUG DEATH will make every flea on him

curl up its toes and die. Right inside to get the

fleas painlessly removed from your dog."

Business was pretty good at the spraying com-

pany for a while. Building a fire and then putting

it out with a fire extinguisher was especially pop-

ular among the older boys of the neighborhood.

The only trouble was that the contents of the fire

extinguishers was soon used up. Then the perfume

the company had collected from their mothers*

dressing tables ran out. So did the shaving soap.

And, after three sides of the piano-box clubhouse

had been painted forest green, like Chuck's fa-

ther's car, there was no more paint for the paint

sprayer. There was only the moth spray and the

BUG DEATH left and those had not proved popu-

lar.

As soon as all the customers had dwindled away,

the members of the company went into Herbert's

HERBERTS SPRAYING COMPANY [139

cellar to see if they could find anything else to

spray on man, or beast, or inanimate object.

Herbert did not find anything interesting until

he found several packages of dye.

''If we mix the dye powder with water we could

use the moth-spray attachment to spray it on,*'

he said. ''Let's mix up a lot of this stuff and dye

our customers.'*

"Their clothes? Right on them?" asked Pete

doubtfully.

"Oh, it won't hurt if we make some of them

turn green or blue in the face," said Herbert chuck-

ling. "It will wash off. I think it will wash off,"

he added. "Everything washes off if you use enough

soap."

The boys poured all the rest of the moth spray

on the ground and filled four large bottles with

red, green, blue, and yellow dye. But when they

brought them out to the clubhouse, there was not

a customer in sight.

Then Herbert thought of dyeing Mortimer

but he was afraid it might hurt Mortimer's feel-

ings to be dyed. Mortimer was such a sensitive

dog. It did seem a shame, however, to waste all

that dye after the boys had gone to all the trouble

to mix it.


**Let's dye each other," Herbert suggested.

All afternoon the boys had been spraying oth-

ers. Now it seemed only fair that they should try

a little of the spraying on themselves. So Herbert

stood quite still while Pete sprayed him green.

Then Herbert sprayed Donny yellow, Donny

sprayed Chuck blue, and Chuck sprayed Pete red.

First they sprayed only their faces and hands. Then,

since there was a lot of dye left, they sprayed all

of their bodies not covered by the shorts they were

wearing.

Then the boys looked at each other and laughed

and laughed.

''You're as green as grass, if not greener," Pete

told Herbert.

'Td just as soon be green as red as a beet like

you," Herbert told Pete.

''Look at the blue boy. Does looking blue make

you feel blue?" Donny asked Chuck.

"You're yellow," Chuck taunted Donny.

Donny took that as an insult. "I'm no more yel-

low than you are," he said angrily, though Chuck

had not meant to call him cowardly. "I'm going

to wash this stuff right off. Gimme some soap,

Herbert."

Herbert went into the house after soap and

^^î^^.5^


scouring powder. He was relieved to find that

his mother was in the front part of the house and

not the back, for he thought it might shock her to

see how green he had suddenly turned. He brought

out two cakes of soap and two cans of scouring

powder, so they could all work at washing off the

dye at once.

The boys stood under the spray of the hose

and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. But

Herbert remained just as green, Pete just as red,

Donny just as yellow, and Chuck just as blue as

when they had been freshly dyed. Herbert even

tried steel wool but that did not remove the color

except where it took off the skin.

''We ve dyed ourselves fast colors,'* said Her-

bert mournfully. ''Maybe we'll have to stay this

way till we grow new skins. They say a person

grows an entirely new skin every seven years. Not

all at once, just gradually, you understand."

The prospect of remaining bright yellow for

seven years filled Donny with anger and dismay.

"It was your idea to dye us," he reproached Her-

bert. "It's all your fault I've turned yellow. I'm

going to tell my mother on you." And Donny ran

out of the Yadon yard as if chased.

/


Pete, too, now blamed Herbert. So did Chuck.

They also left hurriedly.

*'They should have done their objecting before

and not afterwards," grumbled Herbert. ''They all

wanted to be dyed. Now they're fussing because

they are." But Herbert himself was anxious to get

back his natural color again. "Maybe warm water

will take out the color," he said to himself and he

went in the house and tiptoed upstairs to the bath-

room.

For once Herbert took a hot bath without being

urged. He used bath salts, washing powder, and

bath oil in the tub. And he scrubbed himself vigor-

ously with a washcloth, a sponge, and a stiff brush.

He remained as green as grass. He was still dyed

a fast color.

Herbert was still in no hurry to show his green

face to his mother. He was glad she was in the

back hall answering the telephone when he came

downstairs. He was in the living room watching

television when she came to the door. Herbert was

usually too polite to keep his back turned to any-

body talking to him but this time he did not turn

around.

''Donny's mother telephoned," his mother told


him. "She talked quite wild, it seemed to me.

She said that Donny is as brave as any boy in

town and that it was an outrage for you to makehim yellow. She was almost crying when she hung

up. And I didn't have time to get away from the

phone when it rang again. This time it was Pete's

mother. And what she meant by saying 'Your

Herbert made Pete as red as a beet,' I don't know.

She also said something about Chuck's being blue.

And I can't understand that. He's such a cheerful


boy. Do you know what this it all about, Her-

bert?''

"Sort of," acknowledged Herbert.

Mrs. Yadon crossed the room to turn off the tele-

vision, since she wanted Herbert's undivided atten-

tion. She caught sight of his bright-green face and

hands on the way.

^'Herbert!" she gasped. ''What have you done

to yourself?"

"Pete, Donny, and Chuck aren't the only ones

who're dyed. So'm I," confessed Herbert. "And it

won't wash off. Guess it'll just have to wear off."

Mrs. Yadon would not believe that Herbert wâs

dyed a fast color until she had scrubbed and

scrubbed him and he still remained the same

bright green. And when Mr. Yadon came homefrom work he, too, scoured Herbert. No color came

off. Not even on the bathtowel.

That evening Pete's father, Donny's father, and

Chuck's father paid a call at the Yadon residence.

Because Pete's father was the mayor, he did the

most talking.

"Either you do something to turn our sons

back to their natural color or we'll all sue you,"

declared Pete's father. "And we'll collect dam-

ages. Money can't pay for all our boys suffer from


having turned an unnatural color, but it will

help.'*

Mr. Yadon knew he would be bankrupt if the

fathers of three of Herbert's friends collected dam-

ages. He begged the men to wait before they

sued him for damages.

*'Just give me a little time," he pleaded.

The fathers of Pete, Donny, and Chuck con-

sulted with each other.

**We'll give you a week," Pete's father then told

Mr. Yadon. ''Either have our boys uncolored by

that time or we'll have you brought to trial and

maybe sent to jail." And the three fathers left,

slamming the front door behind them.

*'It's just as hard on me to be green as it is on

Pete to be red, Donny yellow, and Chuck blue,'*

complained Herbert. His father did not hear him.

Mr. Yadon was busy calling Uncle Horace by long

distance.

Although Uncle Horace always knew what to do

about everything, he did not always know what to

do right away. Yet, as always, he was willing to

help. ''Do nothing until I get there," he advised.

"I'll be there sometime Monday after I have con-

sulted two eminent skin specialists."

It was late Monday forenoon when Uncle Hor-


ace's long cream-colored car stopped in front of

the Yadon house. The chauffeur, Mike, hurried to

open the car door. At sight of Herbert's greenness

he exclaimed: "How could a boy turn that green

from envy! Or from anything including seasick-

ness.'*

Uncle Horace, though always dignified, greeted

the Yadon family affectionately. They were all

at home. Mr. Yadon had stayed home from work

and Herbert had been sent home from school.

"Herbert's teacher said he looked too green

to be in school," explained Mrs. Yadon.

"He does seem vivid," agreed Uncle Horace.

**The boy and his companions in this unfortunate

dyeing experiment must be undyed. As soon as pos-

sible. I have already consulted two eminent doc-

tors about taking the color out of dyed skin. They

both suggested hot baths and massage."

"But I've already taken a very hot bath and

none of the color came off," said Herbert.

"Both doctors advised hot baths followed by

massage at Hot Sulphur Springs," continued Un-

cle Horace. "The minerals in the water may help

take out the color. Also, the second doctor gave

me a large bottle of ointment to be massaged into

the skin after the hot bath. Both doctors agreed


also that it would do no harm and might do some

good to put the patients out in the sun to fade."

'*I hope something does some good/* declared

Mr. Yadon. 'Tor if nothing does it's going to be

pretty hard on me to be sued for damages by three

parents. Also I can't get used to having such a

green son."

'1 have already made arrangements to take

Herbert, Pete, Donny, and Chuck to Hot Sulphur

Springs this afternoon," said Uncle Horace. ''We

can only hope that they can be restored to their

natural shade by the end of the week."

The boys enjoyed the drive to Hot Sulphur

Springs. They were even pleased with the sensation

they made when they stopped at a restaurant for

dinner. Several people did not believe their eyes.

Others asked Uncle Horace what advertising stunt

the boys were engaged in.

The boys did not find their stay at Hot Sulphur

Springs enjoyable. Being put out in the sun to fade

was not so bad, but two long hot baths a day

followed by massage with a special ointment was

wearing. Mike, Uncle Horace's chauffeur, did the

massaging. Being a former prize fighter, his hands

were good and strong.

"Go easy, Mike," Herbert begged one morning

n


when Mike bore down especially hard. "Are you

trying to rub me out?'*

''Could be Fm trying to rub some sense into

you," said Mike, not easing up. "But thanks be,

you re losing color fast.'* And Mike continued

rubbing the special ointment on vigorously, not

even stopping when Herbert said "Ouch!**

By the end of the week the hot baths, Mike's

massage, the sun, and the action of the special

ointment had bleached the boys nearly back to

their natural complexions. Only a few streaks be-

hind the ears remained.

"The rest of the dye will wear off,*' said Uncle

Horace, carefully examining each boy. "I shall

take you home tomorrow."

The parents of Pete, Donny, and Chuck gave up

the idea of suing Mr. Yadon for damages when

their sons were returned to them nearly their na-

tural color.

Before Uncle Horace left Herbert he had a long

talk with him. Herbert promised he would not do

any more dyeing, even if he followed the direc-

tions on the package.

"Perhaps it would be well if you don't form

any more companies until you are older," sug-

gested Uncle Horace.


Herbert looked disappointed. *'On the drive

back from Hot Sulphur Springs I thought of

a dandy company," he said, "though the manufac-

turers of screens wouldn't like it because it would

ruin their business."

"How would that be?" inquired Uncle Horace.

"I'd form a company to sell fly-catching plants

to be set out under every window," explained Her-

bert. "Then if I could only train the fly-catching

plants also to catch mosquitoes, there'd be a for-

tune in them."

Uncle Horace smiled. "I'm afraid it would

prove impossible to grow enough fly-catching

plants to do away with the need for screens,"

he said. "Also, such plants usually grow in

swamps and bogs and few people would want

swampy land under their windows."

Herbert sighed. "I'm afraid that wasn't such

a good idea," he said.

Uncle Horace put a hand on his nephew's shoul-

der. "Keep right on having ideas, Herbert," he

said. "Just don't put any more of them into prac-

tice until the last speck of green has faded from

behind your ears. That will give both you and your

ideas, Herbert," said Uncle Horace kindly, "time

to grow up."

A NOTE ON THE TYPE

The text of this book was set on the Linotype in

Baskerville. Linotype Baskerville is a facsimile cutting

from type cast from the original matrices of a face de-

signed by John Baskerville. The original face was the

forerunner of the "modern" group of type faces.

John Baskerville (1706-75), of Birmingham, Eng-

land, a writing-master, with a special renown for cut-

ting inscriptions in stone, began experimenting about

1750 with punch-cutting and making typographical

material. It was not until 1757 that he published his

first work, a Virgil in royal quarto. This was followed

by his famous editions of Milton, the Bible, the Bookof Common Prayer, and several Latin classic authors.

His types, at first criticized, in time were recognized as

both distinct and elegant, and were greatly admired,

as was his fine printing.

Composed, printed, and bound by H. Wolff, New York

Documents

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