Otis Spofford Read Online Free PDF

faster.”
    The class liked this plan. Otis thought it would be fun, too, even though he knew how the experiment would turn out. Mrs. Gitler would never do anything to prove that the baby rats should drink soda pop. She would be on the side of milk and vegetables and that whole-wheat bread they always had in the cafeteria.
    Ellen raised her hand. “May we name the rats?”
    “That is an excellent idea,” said Mrs. Gitler.
    “Are they boy rats or girl rats?” someone wanted to know.
    “Boy rats,” said Mrs. Gitler. “They are twin brothers.”
    Stewy raised his hand. “We could name one rat Otis.”
    Everyone laughed loudly at this except Otis, who made a face at Stewy.
    Then Patsy suggested Pinky, because the rats had pink ears and tails. Although some of the boys objected, the girls all agreed that Pinky was a good name.
    Otis, who thought Pinky was a sissy name for a boy rat, waved his hand. “I think Mutt is a good name for the rat that gets the soda pop.”
    “Me, too,” said George, and the others agreed.
    Mrs. Gitler smiled. “It looks as if the soda-pop rat is named Mutt.”
    Otis looked at Mutt and almost felt as if the little rat belonged to him, because he had named him. He watched Mutt sniff around his cage. Sometimes Mutt stopped to scratch himself with his front paw. Once he scratched with his hind paw like a dog. After a while he settled into a corner of his cage. He put his head down, wrapped his hairless pink tail around his body, and went to sleep.

    All morning Otis thought about the rats and wondered how he could use them to stir up some excitement. After lunch the class gathered around the ledge to watch the rat monitors lift the wire cages and set down dishes of food from the cafeteria for the two little animals. Pinky was served tiny bits of macaroni and cheese, green beans, carrot and raisin salad, whole-wheat bread, and raspberry Jell-O. Pinky also had a few spoonfuls of milk. Mutt had a whole saucer of soda pop and half a slice of white bread. Poor Mutt, thought Otis, as he watched the little rat lap up the pop. Bread and soda pop did not look like much lunch, even for a rat.
    After school Otis lingered by the rats’ cages instead of trying to be the first one out of the classroom. He had several ideas for stirring up excitement, but there was something wrong with every one of them. Let the rats out of their cages? No. Mutt might get lost or stepped on. Switch cages? Too easy for Mrs. Gitler to guess. Hide one of the rats in Mrs. Gitler’s desk? She was not the kind of teacher to scream at the sight of a rat. Hide a rat in Ellen’s raincoat pocket? Well, that might do if he couldn’t think of anything better. It was the sort of thing any boy might think of. Otis wanted to do something unusual.
    By Thursday the children could see that Pinky was already larger than Mutt. His eyes were bright and his fur was glossy. Mutt spent most of his time in the corner of his cage, looking cross. The class could hardly wait until Monday, when Mrs. Gitler would weigh the rats.
    When Monday came she took Pinky out of his cage and set him on the scale. He weighed ninety grams, more than twice what he had weighed a week before. Mutt weighed forty-six grams. He had gained scarcely at all. Room Eleven was proud when Miss Joyce brought her class in to see the scientific experiment.
    A whole week had gone by. I can’t waste any more time, Otis said to himself. Now I’ve got to think of something. And that day he did.
    At noon, when Otis took his place in the hot-food line in the cafeteria, he noticed everyone making faces. When he looked at the steam table to see what they were having for lunch, Otis not only made a face, he groaned and held his nose. They were having scalloped potatoes with some kind of meat, Swiss chard, sliced beets, and rice pudding. And, of course, milk and whole-wheat bread.
    “Of all the awful lunches,” complained George, who was standing behind Otis.
    “It sure is,” agreed