Surprises According to Humphrey Read Online Free PDF Page A

something in big letters on a piece of paper, but I couldn’t see what he wrote.
    He kept the paper on his desk and read the book, but he stopped to look at the paper once in a while. Then he wrote another word next to it.
    I climbed up my ladder to see if I could get a better look at it.
    “Og?” I squeaked softly. “Can you see what Garth wrote on that paper?”
    I heard some gentle splashing but no answer.
    Mrs. Brisbane started writing questions on the board, and soon my friends were busily writing the answers. This went on until the lunch bell rang.
    My classmates all got up and headed for the door. Garth pushed forward, clutching the paper in his hand.He paused near A.J.’s desk and dropped the paper in front of his friend, then hurried toward the door. A.J. stared at the piece of paper, crumpled it into a ball and dropped it on the floor. (Uh-oh. Aldo wouldn’t like that!)
    When Mrs. Brisbane got ready to leave for lunch, she spotted the paper on the floor, picked it up and smoothed it out. She frowned when she read it, then put it on
her
desk and left the room.
    “Something is unsqueakably wrong between Garth and A.J.,” I told Og. “I’ve got to know what that paper says!”
    It’s a LONG-LONG-LONG way from the table where Og and I live to Mrs. Brisbane’s desk and it’s a perilous journey, but once I’m curious about something, I can’t get it out of my furry hamster head.
    “Keep a lookout, Oggy, okay?” I told my friend. “I’m going over there.”
    He answered with a reassuring “BOING!”
    I pushed on the lock-that-doesn’t-lock and the door swung open. I took a deep breath and, as I had done before, grabbed onto the leg of the table and slid down so fast, I could feel the breeze ruffling my fur.
    I zigzagged across the room, happy to be outside the ball, since I didn’t have to worry about bouncing off tables or chairs. I quickly reached Mrs. Brisbane’s desk at the opposite side of the room. I can’t tell you how tall it looks from a hamster’s point of view.
    Between the chair legs were two horizontal woodenbars. I reached UP-UP-UP, grabbed the lowest bar and slowly pulled myself up.
    “Are you watching the clock, Og?” I squeaked.
    “BOING!” Og answered.
    Grabbing the next bar, I used all my strength to pull myself up. I was getting tired, but knowing that lunch didn’t last very long, I wrapped my legs around the chair leg and slowly inched my way up to the seat.
    I sat there for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath. I was still a long way from the desktop and that piece of paper. Above my head, there was a desk drawer with a handle on it. I had to leap up to grab hold of it—ooh, cold and slippery—and then I reached up for the edge of the desk and pulled myself up again, finally flinging my whole body onto the surface of the desk.
    I lay there on my stomach, muscles quivering from all that work. It’s a good thing I work out every day on my wheel and my ladder. It helps strengthen my arms. Or my legs. Or whatever.
    “BOING-BOING!” said Og, and I didn’t need to look at the clock to know I needed to hurry things along. I sat up and saw the piece of paper laid out neatly before me. Of course, to my small eyes, the letters were huge, I had to squint and strain to finally make out what it said.
    DIRTY RAT
    That was it? I’d come all this way and put myself in great danger to read the words
Dirty Rat
? I had no ideawhat Garth was getting at, although I knew that being called a rat, which sometimes happens to me, is not supposed to be a compliment.
    Og began splashing wildly. I glanced up at the clock and OH-OH-OH, I barely had time to get back!
    I had to take the quickest (though not the safest) route back, so I slid down the side of the desk, landed on the floor with a large thump, raced across the room and grabbed onto the cord of the blinds, which I always use for swinging myself back up to the table.
    “BOING-BOING-BOING-BOING!” Og sounded like the fire alarm,