Summer According to Humphrey Read Online Free PDF Page A

speechless, which was a first.
    I knew I was going to like Hap Holloway.
    “Now it’s time for pizza and singing,” Hap told the group. “And in the morning, the fun begins!”
    Actually, I had a lot of fun that evening. Aldo and Ms. Mac slipped me bits of lettuce and carrots from the salad and I even got a teeny piece of pepper from the pizza.
    Katie played the guitar while Ms. Mac pounded the bongos, and all of the other counselors sang amazing songs I’d never heard before. There was a song about a peanut on a railroad track and another one about an alligator. There was something about ears hanging low, which Og probably didn’t understand because he doesn’t have ears (that I’ve seen so far).
    And my very favorite song was about a bucket with a hole in it. It got sillier and sillier and faster and faster, and silly old me, I was spinning on my wheel and almost fell off, the song was so funny.
    If the real fun was beginning tomorrow, I knew that I was going to like Camp Happy Hollow a lot.
    Even if I didn’t know who would be sleeping in all those beds.
    NOTE TO SELF: Humans tend to pop up where you least expect them-and some of them have whistles.

5
    Happy Campers
    A fter breakfast the next morning (Maria kindly slipped me some yummy strawberries), Og and I watched through the sunny open windows of the rec room as Ms. Mac and the other counselors headed outside and began to set up tables and put up banners reading Welcome to Camp Happy Hollow. Believe me, they were BUSY-BUSY-BUSY.
    “The fun’s beginning soon,” I said to Og, although what I was watching looked more like work than play.
    And then a line of cars came up the bumpy road, parking near the hall. The car doors opened and out poured moms and dads and kids of all shapes and sizes. Suitcases, boxes, backpacks and duffel bags came out of car trunks and started piling up near the tables.
    “Og, look at all the people! Moms and dads and whole families coming to camp!” I told my neighbor.
    Og leaped up. “BOING-BOING-BOING!” he twanged.
    Then it came. I should have expected it, knowing Mrs. Wright was around. But the piercing blast from a whistle that is very painful to the small, sensitive ears of a hamster surprised me so much I squeaked, “Eeek!” rather loudly. Not that anyone could hear me, since Mrs. Wright blew the whistle again!
    “Line up at the tables and get your packets,” Mrs. Wright ordered the families. “Line up, please !”
    I crossed my paws and hoped the families would line up before she could blow her whistle again. She did it anyway.
    “In an orderly fashion, please, ” she insisted.
    Once the families were in line, I noticed something. While many of the faces were new to me, I recognized some of the people in line.
    “Look, Og! There’s Repeat-It-Please-Richie!” I squeaked. “From Room 26!”
    Og splashed wildly. “BOING-BOING! BOING-BOING!”
    I climbed higher up in my cage to see what Og was so excited about.
    “It’s Stop-Giggling-Gail!” I squeaked. There was a flash of blue next to her. “And her brother, Simon.” Simon was always on the move.
    “BOING-BOING!” Og said before diving to the bottom of his tank.
    As I peered out the window at the growing crowd of kids and parents, I saw another familiar face. It was Sayeh. She and her father looked a little bit lost among the bustle of excited families.
    “Hi, Sayeh! It’s me—Humphrey!” I squeaked at the top of my lungs. Unfortunately, my small voice didn’t carry above the hubbub of the crowd.
    Luckily, her friend, Golden-Miranda, appeared behind her. The girls hugged and Sayeh’s dad shook hands with Miranda’s dad. There were two other familiar faces with Miranda. I was glad to see Abby, Miranda’s stepsister. She didn’t go to Longfellow School, but I’d met her at Miranda’s house.
    I was not glad to see the other familiar face.
    My heart skipped a beat when Miranda’s dog, Clem, hopped out of the car. After all, Clem is bent on my total