Henry and Beezus Read Online Free PDF Page A

was glad when Beezus arrived and helped him keep the transactions straight.
    At first, the boys and girls who were chewing Henry’s gum were careful to chew only when Miss Bonner wasn’t looking, but after a while they forgot to be careful. Then she said unexpectedly, “Henry, tell the class what mark of punctuation should go at the end of the sentence I have written on the blackboard.”
    Taken by surprise, Henry quickly shifted his quid of gum to his cheek. “A period…uh…I mean a question mark,” he said.
    â€œI think, Henry,” said Miss Bonner, “that if you throw your gum in the wastebasket, we shall all have much less trouble understanding you.”
    Feeling foolish, Henry walked to the front of the room and threw his wad of gum into the empty metal wastebasket. When it landed with a loud clonk , the whole class tittered.
    â€œAnd now,” said Miss Bonner, “I want everyone in the room who has gum in his or her mouth to throw it into the wastebasket.”

    Sheepishly, half a dozen boys and Beezuswalked to the wastebasket and discarded their gum.
    Miss Bonner looked around the room. “Robert,” she said sternly. “George.” The two boys slouched to the wastebasket.
    After recess Miss Bonner marched another procession of gum chewers to the wastebasket. Although she didn’t say much, Henry decided she looked pretty cross.
    When Henry carried his gum out to the playground at noon, he found to his surprise that no one wanted to buy. Nearly everyone was already chewing and blowing.
    â€œMaybe if you cut the price you could sell more,” suggested Beezus.
    â€œI guess I’ll have to,” said Henry. “I’ll try four for a penny.”
    Business picked up after that, but when Henry went home after school, he wasn’t sure how much money he had. He actually had thirty-one cents in his pocket, but when he tried to figure out the accounts in the comic book, he had to give up. Some of the boys who had forgotten to bring their money had charged more gum. Some had paid, but he had forgotten to cross off their names. Anyway, the comic book was getting so ragged and dirty, and the pencil marks so smudged, that it was impossible to read anything. Tossing the book into the fireplace, Henry decided he could remember how much Roger and Peter and a few more owed. He would just have to hope the others paid him.
    The next morning when Henry was about to start to school with a box of gum, Beezus rang the doorbell. She handed Henry her box of bubble gum. “Mother says I have to give this back to you,” she said.
    â€œWhat for?” asked Henry.
    â€œBecause of Ramona. She gets into the gum and chews it and gets it stuck in her hair. The only way Mother can get it out is to cut it out with the scissors. Ramona looks pretty awful with her hair all different lengths, and Daddy says if this keeps up she’ll be bald before long.” Beezus looked apologetic. “Anyway, I’m kind of tired of chewing gum.”
    When they reached the playground, Henry found business slow; everyone was already chewing gum. But when Henry cut the price to ten balls for a penny, he made several sales.
    â€œDo you have any flavors beside cinnamon-peppermint or whatever it is?” asked Joey.
    Henry had to admit he did not.
    â€œOh,” said Joey, and went away.
    Henry tried to think what stores did when they wanted to sell something. He knew they had sales, they advertised, and they gave away free samples. Henry had tried gum sales and he couldn’t think of a good way to advertise, so he decided to try free samples. Although a dozen children crowded around him for samples, the demand was not as large as he had expected.
    Then Roger, who owed Henry four cents for gum, approached him and asked for a free sample. Henry wasn’t sure whether he should give gum to someone who owed him money, but since he had given it to the others, he gave