Otis Spofford Read Online Free PDF Page A

laugh.
    Otis managed a sheepish halfway grin as he went out of the room. Then he ran down the hall to the drinking fountain. How wonderful the jet of cold water looked! He drank in great gulps, stopped to gasp for breath, and gulped some more. Never had anything tasted so good. Otis drank for a long time before he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He drank for such a long time that Mrs. Gitler came out into the hall to see what had happened to him.
    “Was making me throw spitballs my comeuppance?” Otis wanted to know.
    Mrs. Gitler laughed. “It would be for some boys, but I’m not sure about you.” Then she shook her head. “Otis, if only you would work as hard on your spelling as you do on mischief!”
    “Aw…” muttered Otis, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
    Back at his desk, Otis found the class was no longer interested in what he had done. As far as they were concerned, the excitement was over. He also discovered that although he was no longer thirsty, he still had a funny taste in his mouth from chewing so much paper. As he worked at his spelling, it began to bother him more and more. He wished he had something to eat that would take away the awful papery taste.
    He fished through his pockets to see what he could find. Maybe he had an old stick of gum or something. In among his rabbit’s foot, yo-yo, and rubber bands, Otis’s fingers found the bud of garlic. He untangled it and looked at it. He wondered what it would taste like. He smelled it and decided it smelled bad and good at the same time. Holding it under his desk, he pulled off a section and peeled off the pinkish outside skin. He popped it into his mouth, bit, and for a terrible instant was sorry. Tears came to his eyes, his nose tingled, and he blew the air out of his mouth.
    Instantly everyone sitting near him turned to look at him. Ellen wrinkled her nose. Austine held hers.
    “Wow!” whispered Stewy. “What’s that awful smell?”
    Wow is right, thought Otis, as he gulped and blew again. He bit into the garlic once more. The second bite was not quite so bad as the first. Almost, but not quite. Trying to look as if he ate raw garlic all the time, he chewed a couple of times and blew again.
    “Otis Spofford,” Ellen said in a fierce whisper, “you stop that!”
    Otis grinned. This was just what he wanted. Things were back to normal. He took a deep breath and blew as hard as he could at Ellen.

3
Otis’s Scientific Experiment
    O ne Monday morning when Otis went into Room Eleven, he saw an excited group of boys and girls crowded around the ledge under the windows. I wonder what they’re looking at, he thought, and climbed up on a desk so he could see over their heads.
    He saw two small wire cages. In each cage was a white mouse. Well! Mice in the schoolroom, thought Otis. They should be good for some excitement. Otis liked animals, but Mrs. Brewster, the manager of the apartment house where he lived, did not allow dogs or cats. Until now he had not thought of a pet mouse.
    Mrs. Gitler came into the room. “Otis, you know good citizens don’t stand on desks,” she said, and Otis jumped down.
    The whole class began to ask questions. “What are the mice doing here?” “Do we get to keep them?”
    Mrs. Gitler smiled. “Take your seats, boys and girls, and I’ll explain. They are not white mice. They are baby white rats. Our room is going to perform a scientific experiment.”
    The class was impressed. “Scientific experiment” sounded important, especially if it meant they could have rats in the schoolroom. And baby rats were much more interesting than grown-up white mice.
    Mrs. Gitler went on. “This week we are going to talk about good food. These two baby rats are exactly the same weight. Each weighs forty grams. We are going to feed one of them the same food we eat for lunch in the cafeteria. The other we will feed white bread and soda pop. We will weigh them once a week for three weeks to see which one grows