A Spotlight for Harry Read Online Free PDF Page B

fixed the holes in his socks and trousers. Maybe Papa knew special prayers that would help a boy grow new teeth.
    Harry tried saying prayers himself as he scrabbled in the straw. He had never thought about his teeth at all until he lost them. Nowthey had become the two most important things in his life.
    “Somebody help me,” Harry groaned. What came out sounded more like “Fombody hep me.”
    Help was on its way. Dash had run all the way home, screaming at the top of his voice. “Help! Harry’s hurt!” Dash’s cries alerted the whole town.
    Heads popped out of stores and houses to see what was wrong. A man came out of the barbershop with his face half shaved. The barber chased after him, still holding his razor. Sheriff Lennon came running from the jail. Mr. Hanauer dashed into the hardware store. He grabbed a crowbar in case Harry had gotten stuck and something needed to be pried loose to free him.
    Trainmen from the rail yard, clerks from the telegraph office, and students from thecollege all came to help. The performers and workers from the circus came running, too. Dr. Reeve grabbed his black doctor’s bag and climbed into his buggy. He passed Miss Purdy as he drove down the street.

    “Get in,” he said. “Some boy’s in trouble down by the old barn at your place.”
    “Oh, dear!” Miss Purdy cried. “I hope it isn’t Harry!”
    Sheriff Lennon and a man passing by on the street had already carried Harry out of the barn by the time Dr. Reeve and Miss Purdy arrived. They set him down on the grass. Harry was still in a daze, and he could hardly speak. The sunlight hurt his eyes. He blinked. Dash kneeled down next to him to shade Harry’s eyes with his cap.
    Dr. Reeve pushed through the crowd, carrying his doctor’s bag. Rabbi and Mrs. Weiss followed him. Mama Weiss cried out when she saw Harry lying on the ground with blood all over his face.
    “My son! My poor Harry is dead!” she shrieked in German.
    Rabbi Weiss comforted her. “No, Mama. Harry is still alive. We won’t know how badly he’s hurt until Dr. Reeve examines him. Pray that he will be all right.”
    Mrs. Weiss’s lips moved quietly. Shewhispered a prayer for Harry. Everyone in the crowd waited to hear what Dr. Reeve would say.
    Harry looked up at the doctor. “Will I be all right?” he tried to say. His mouth was so swollen that he could hardly get the words out.
    “Lie still. Don’t try to talk,” the doctor said. He moved Harry’s arms and legs, looking for broken bones. He checked his eyes and examined his head. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asked Harry.
    “Three,” Harry tried to say.
    The doctor nodded. “That’s right. What’s your name?”
    “Harry Weiss.”
    “Where do you live?”
    “Appleton, Wisconsin.”
    “What day is today?”
    “Thursday. July seventh.”
    “Very good,” said Dr. Reeve. He turned to Harry’s parents. “He’s had a knock on the head, but there are no bones broken. I can’t find any serious damage. He’ll be all right.” The doctor turned back to Harry. “Now open your mouth so I can see what’s going on in there.”
    Harry opened his mouth wide. The doctor frowned. “You knocked out your two front teeth! How did you do that to yourself?”

    Harry couldn’t answer. He felt too dizzy to speak. Dash answered for him.
    “We were teaching ourselves how to walk a tightrope. We did it, too. Then after that, Harry wanted to learn another trick. He wanted to hang from a rope with his teeth.”
    “That solves the mystery,” Dr. Reeve said. “Where did you boys get a crazy idea like that?”
    “It’s not crazy!” said Dash. “We saw Monsieur Weitzman do it in the circus. Harry wanted to learn how to do it, too.”
    Some of the people in the crowd began laughing. Even Dr. Reeve found it hard not to smile. Mama Weiss burst into tears. Rabbi Weiss became angry.
    He scolded the boys in German. “And you, Dash, went along with such a foolish idea! Must you boys do