Here's a Penny Read Online Free PDF

Patsy took off her head. But Mike wouldn't stop barking until Patsy put her head on the stone wall beside Penny's.
    Then Mike stopped barking and began to wag his tail. He sniffed at Patsy and she put out her hand and patted his head.
    "See, Mike, it's just Patsy," said Penny.
    "Now we better hurry," said Penny, "or we'll be late for the party."
    Penny reached out for the bear's head. As he did so, Mike let out a low growl. Penny drew back his hand.
    Mike began to growl and bark at the two heads sitting on the wall.
    "Oh, dear!" said Patsy. "Now he won't let us have our heads. We'll never get to the party."
    "Let's get Mr. Turner," said Penny.
    The two children went up to Mr. Turner's front door and rang the bell. In a moment, Mr. Turner opened the door.

    "Well! Well!" said Mr. Turner, when he saw Penny and Patsy. "What are you supposed to be?"
    "We're both Chocolate," said Penny.
    "Chocolates!" exclaimed Mr. Turner. "What kind of chocolates? Sweet chocolates or bitter chocolates?"
    "Bears!" said Patsy.

    "Bears!" exclaimed Mr. Turner.
    "Mike's got our heads," said Penny.
    "Mike's got your heads!" exclaimed Mr. Turner.
    "Yes, he won't let us pick them up," said Patsy. "And we're going to be late for the party."
    Mr. Turner didn't quite know what the children were talking about, but he went with them to the stone wall. There was Mike, barking and snarling at the bear heads.
    Mr. Turner took Mike by the collar. "Lay off those heads," he said. Then he led Mike into the house and closed the door on him.
    When Mr. Turner returned, the children had put on their heads and fastened each other's zipper. When Mr. Turner saw them, he laughed very hard.
    "Well, that beats everything!" he shouted. "Why, I don't know which is Patsy and which is Penny! You look exactly alike. I declare, you could fool your own mothers."
    The children started for Tommy's house at a run. When they arrived, the door was opened by Humpty Dumpty. When he saw the two bears, he laughed until he shook up and down.
    Humpty Dumpty led them down some stairs to a big cellar playroom. It was very gay with strips of orange paper. Big orange balloons, painted to look like jack-o'-lanterns, bobbed against the ceiling.
    Eight or ten children were sitting as quiet as mice on the floor. They were all dressed in gay costumes and wearing false faces.
    The two bears sat down beside each other. Next to Penny sat a very tiny old witch. She had a broom and held a toy black cat in her lap. Next to the witch was Red Riding Hood. Beside her was someone dressed like the wolf and wearing a false face with a very long snout.
    On the opposite side of the room sat Little Bo Peep and a cowboy, a fairy, and a clown.
    Over in a corner, all alone, sat Bluebeard. His beard was so long it touched the floor.

    Then the doorbell rang and Humpty Dumpty left the room.
    He returned with a little boy carrying a candle. As soon as he got in the room, he put the candle down on the floor and jumped over it. Then all of the children knew that he was
"Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick."
    Jack sat down beside the two bears.
    Then Humpty Dumpty said, "Now we will guess who everyone is."
    As soon as he said this, Penny knew that Humpty Dumpty was Tommy's daddy. He could tell from his voice.
    It was great fun, guessing who each child was. As each one became known, he took off his mask. There was a great deal of laughing and shouting.
    Finally everyone was known but the two bears. And how Penny and Patsy giggled inside of their bear heads.
    "I think they are Patsy and Penny," said Sally Andrews, the old witch.
    "I'm sure they are," said Tommy. "But I don't know which is Penny and which is Patsy."
    "Make them each say something," said Robert Jameson, the cowboy. "We can tell them by their voices."
    "All right," said Mr. Robbins. "Say 'I'm a little brown bear."'
    Penny and Patsy each said "I'm a little brown bear." But they sounded exactly alike. All of the children screamed with