Henry and Ribsy (Henry Huggins #3)(15)

“Say, that was a smart idea,” exclaimed Robert. “I never heard of anyone having a dog pull his teeth before. Maybe I can get him to pull the next one I have loose.”

“Good old Ribsy,” said Henry, and hugged him. Maybe Ribsy did get into a little trouble once in a while, but he was pretty useful for getting out of a tight spot. Ribsy wriggled with delight and licked Henry’s face with his long pink tongue.

“A tooth-pulling dog. That’s pretty good.” Scooter sounded impressed. “Take you long to train the old garbage hound?”

“Not very long, and he’s not a garbage hound.” Henry untied his teeth and put them in the watch pocket of his jeans for safekeeping till he put them under his pillow that night. “He’s a smart dog, aren’t you, Ribsy?”

“Wuf,” answered Ribsy, and worried the rope.

Henry looked at Scooter’s and Robert’s sailor hats. “Well, how about letting me see your haircuts?” he asked, pulling off his own hat.

“Nope.” Scooter took hold of his hat and tried to yank it farther down over his ears.

“Aw, come on, Scoot,” coaxed Henry. “I pulled my teeth like I said I would.”

Robert snatched off his own hat, and he and Henry studied each other’s haircuts. “Yours is better in front but mine is better in back,” Robert decided. “At least it feels better.”

Henry examined Robert’s hair. It looked pretty bad, a little worse than his own he decided, especially where it was gouged out over the left ear. “I suppose hair really does grow pretty fast,” said Henry.

“Anyway, we’re better off than Scooter,” observed Robert. “He’s bald on one side. It’ll take months to grow out.”

“No kidding?” said Henry. “Really bald?” Then he and Robert began to laugh.

Scooter looked even gloomier. “It’s all right for you guys to laugh. You’re in the same room at school and you can stick together, but I’ll be the only one in my room who doesn’t have a boughten haircut.”

“Gee, that’s tough,” said Robert, but he didn’t sound very sorry.

“It sure is,” agreed Henry cheerfully. What did he care about his haircut? As Scooter said, he and Robert could stick together.

Then Henry had an idea. “Hey, fellows, look!” he said. He turned on the garden hose, filled his mouth with water and blew as hard as he could. Two streams of water shot through the gaps in his teeth. “I bet you wish you could spit double,” he said. Boy, oh, boy! He still had something to show the kids at school. Something besides his haircut.





5


Ramona and The P.T.A.




Henry Huggins and Scooter McCarthy were riding home on their bicycles one day after school early in September. Ribsy, who always waited for Henry under the fir tree in the schoolyard, was riding in the box Henry had tied to the back fender of his bicycle.

“You going salmon fishing this weekend?” asked Scooter, steering his bicycle through a pile of autumn leaves in the gutter.

“I don’t know. Dad hasn’t said anything about it,” answered Henry.

“My dad took me down on the Umptucca River last Saturday,” said Scooter.

“Catch anything?” asked Henry, trying to keep his excitement out of his voice. If salmon were biting on the Umptucca, maybe his father would go fishing next Saturday.

“Well, I didn’t exactly catch anything,” said Scooter.

“How do you mean, not exactly?” Henry asked.

“I thought I had a bite once, but I didn’t exactly land the fish,” said Scooter. “But I bet I get one the next time.”

The two boys pedaled along Klickitat Street. Henry was hoping his father would go fishing on Saturday. He would almost surely get to go, because he had kept Ribsy out of trouble—at least the kind of trouble the neighbors might complain about. Of course there had been a couple of close calls, but Henry had lived up to his side of the bargain and now he had nothing to worry about.

“So long,” called Scooter, when the boys came to the Hugginses’ house.

“So long.” Henry rode up the driveway and parked his bicycle in the garage. The back door was locked, so he found the key under the door mat and let himself in. Beside the refrigerator he found a note from his mother that said, “Have gone to P.T.A. meeting. Don’t eat all the wienies. Mother.”

Henry took two wienies, which he shared with Ribsy. While Henry was eating his wienie and thinking about catching a salmon, the doorbell rang.

When Henry went to the door, he found Beezus and her little sister Ramona standing on the front porch licking ice cream cones. Ramona, who carried a square blue lunch box in one hand, was having trouble managing her cone with the other. Her chin and the bib of her overalls were smeared with chocolate ice cream.

“Hello, Henry,” said Beezus. “Can you come over to my house and play checkers?”

“Sure, that’s a keen idea,” answered Henry. “I bet I can beat you.” Checkers was one of his favorite games and Beezus was a good player. She didn’t take all day to make a move the way some girls did.

Ribsy looked hungrily at the ice cream cones. He knew Henry always saved the last bite of a cone for him. Maybe the girls would give him a bite, too. Ribsy swallowed and wagged his tail.