Penny and Peter (9 page)

Peter and Penny returned from their weekend wanting more than anything else in the world a cabin in the mountains.

First one and then the other would say, "Can't we have a cabin like Mr. Ferguson's?"

"I don't know about that," Daddy would reply.

"It would be fun," Penny would say. "We would surely find a beaver's dam if we owned a cabin and could go often."

"And it would be wonderful in the wintertime," said Peter. "We could skate on the lake and we could ski."

"Now, Peter, what do you know about skating and skiing?" asked Mother.

"Nothing," replied Peter, "but I could learn. I have seen them skate and ski in the movies. It looks like a lot of fun."

The boys spoke of the cabin very often and each time Daddy would say, "Well, I don't know."

One evening the telephone rang. Peter ran to answer it. "Daddy," he called, "Mr. Ferguson wants to speak to you." Daddy picked up the telephone. He listened for a long time to what Mr. Ferguson had to say. Then he replied, "Well, I don't know what to do about it. If I had some extra money I would be all right."

Peter got up. As he left the room, he thought Daddy looked worried. When Peter reached his own room he didn't go on reading his book. Instead, he sat on the window seat thinking. He wondered what Daddy needed money for. Daddy had always seemed to have money. He just reached into his pocket and there was always some there. Peter began to wonder whether it cost Daddy very much to have two boys. After all, he had only had Penny and now he had two boys, so that must cost twice as much.

Peter didn't want his daddy to be worried about his money, so he said to himself, "I know what I will do! I'll get another paper route. I made out very well when I lived in the home."

Peter decided that he wouldn't say anything about his paper route. He would just go out after school and see if he could get some customers.

The next afternoon, Peter started out right after school. He didn't go back to the neighborhood where he used to serve papers. Bob Williams had taken over that route and Peter didn't want to take Bob's customers away from him. So Peter went from house to house. He tried several sections of the town but everyone seemed to have a paperboy. He came home feeling a little discouraged.

Peter hoped that Daddy wasn't having too much trouble about his money. He remembered a movie that he had seen where a little boy's father had lost all of his money and he had to give up the house they lived in. Peter did hope that Daddy wouldn't have to sell the house they lived in. It was such a nice house.

The next day, Peter tried again to get some customers for papers. But everyone seemed to have a paperboy. He decided that he would have to try something else.

He stopped in the drugstore to see if the druggist needed a boy to run errands. The druggist said, "No." He had a boy. But he took Peter's name and address and telephone number. He said he would get in touch with Peter if he needed a boy.

Peter stopped at three grocery stores. He received the same news at each. They all took his name and address and telephone number. Then he stopped at the livery stable to see if they needed a boy. They said, "No. We have a boy."

That night he was very much discouraged. He didn't seem able to earn a penny.

The next morning, when he woke up, the ground was covered with a heavy fall of snow. It had snowed all night and, best of all, it was Saturday. Now Peter saw a chance to make some money. He would shovel pavements.

It was still very early, but Peter scrambled into his clothes and went down to the kitchen. No one was down yet, so he ate a bowl of cereal and a cinnamon bun and drank a glass of chocolate milk. Then he put on his snowsuit and rubber boots. He left a note on the kitchen table. This is what it said: Gone to shovel pavements—Peter.

Peter took the snow shovel and the broom out of the garage. He flung them up to his shoulder and started out. The snow was very deep and he made fresh tracks out to the sidewalk and up the street.

A few doors away, he saw a neighbor, Mrs. Cooper, taking the milk in off the front step.

"Hello, Mrs. Cooper!" Peter called. "Want your pavement cleaned?"

"How much do you charge?" said Mrs. Cooper.

"I don't know," Peter replied. "I'll do it for whatever you want to pay me."

"All right," said Mrs. Cooper. "Go ahead."

Peter set to work and he did a good job. When he finished, the pavement was clean. He rang Mrs. Cooper's doorbell and when she came to the door, she said, "That's a fine job, Peter. Come inside and have a cup of hot cocoa and I'll pay you."

Peter followed Mrs. Cooper into the kitchen. He drank the cocoa and ate a piece of toast.

Then Mrs. Cooper gave him a quarter. Peter thanked her and set out again.

More people were awake now, so he rang the doorbells. Each one asked, "How much?" And to each one he replied, "Whatever you want to pay me." So everyone said, "Sure. You can shovel the snow off the pavement."

By lunchtime, Peter had earned a dollar and a half and he felt quite rich.

When he sat down to eat his lunch his cheeks looked like red apples.

"Peter," said Minnie, "Mr. Jones, the grocery man, telephoned. He wants to know if you can deliver orders this afternoon. His boy's out."

"Oh, sure!" said Peter.

"And the drugstore man, he telephoned and he wants to know if you will stop by and deliver some orders for him about five o'clock."

"Sure!" said Peter. "Gee! This is great."

"And the livery stable man, he telephoned."

Peter's eyes were just about ready to pop out of his head.

"The livery stable man?" said Peter.

"Yes," said Minnie. "He wants to know if you can sweep up for him about six o'clock."

"Sweep up for him?" Peter repeated. "About six o'clock? Oh, sure! Sure!"

"Well," said Minnie, "if you're going to be such a business man, I just wish you'd get yourself a secretary to answer the telephone, because I've got my work to do."

Peter laughed. "I'm making money, Minnie," he said.

"Well, I hope you can afford a secretary pretty soon," said Minnie.

As soon as Peter finished his lunch, he ran over to the grocer's. He went out with the man who drove the truck and helped him deliver the orders.

At five o'clock, he was at the drugstore. He delivered all that the druggist gave him.

At six o'clock, he rushed into the livery stable. "Here you are," the manager of the stables called out. "Here's the broom. Sweep everything up to this trapdoor. Then drop it into the manure pit."

Peter set to work. He swept the floor carefully. When everything was swept up to the trapdoor, he opened it and began to sweep the pile down into the bin below. It was all down and Peter was giving one extra swish with the broom, when he slipped and went
Zoop!
right down into the manure pit.

The stable man came running. He looked

down into the pit. There was Peter just picking himself up.

"Are you all right?" the man called. "Here, give me your hands and I'll pull you out."

Peter held up his hands and the man pulled him out. "Are you all right?" he repeated.

"Yes," said Peter. "But I was awful surprised."

"And you're an awful mess," said the man, as he reached for a whisk broom and began to brush Peter off.

When he was finally clean, the man paid Peter twenty cents and Peter set off for home and his dinner. He was a tired but happy boy. He had made three dollars since he woke up that morning.

When he went into the house, his mother said, "Why, Peter! Darling! We thought you were never coming home."

"I've been working, Mummy," said Peter.

Then his mother wrinkled up her nose. She looked puzzled. Then she said, "Darling! What is that terrible smell?"

"Oh, I guess that's me," replied Peter. "I fell into the manure pit."

"Oh, Peter!" she cried. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No, I'm okay," replied Peter.

"Well, go take a bath, dear," said Mother. "And don't work at the livery stable again, please."

"But I got twenty cents, Mother," said Peter.

"Well, dear one, I'll pay you twenty cents if you will promise never to smell like that again."

Peter laughed as he climbed the stairs to take his bath.

When he was all clean again, he suddenly felt as though his legs just wouldn't hold him up any longer. He was so glad when Mother said, "Now, how about tucking into bed and I'll bring your supper on a tray?"

It sounded too wonderful to Peter. The change from the manure pit to supper in bed was about like changing from a frog into a prince.

"Oh, Mummy! That would be wonderful!" he cried, flinging his arms around her.

When he had finished his supper, he snuggled down into his soft bed. Just as he was dozing off to sleep, he heard the telephone bell ring. In a few moments, Mother came to his bed.

"Peter," she said, "Bob Williams is on the telephone. He wants to know if you would like to have your paper route back."

Peter opened one eye. "Oh, sure! Sure!" he said.

And before his mother got back to the telephone, Peter was sound asleep.

Peter took over his paper route and all of his customers were glad to see him again. It seemed like old times to meet the newspaper truck and to trundle his express wagon. Very often, Penny went with Peter and helped him deliver his papers. At the end of the week, when Peter collected his money, he put all of it in his bank.