儿童英语读物 The Mystery at the Dog Show CHAPTER 7 A Surprise for Sunny

I want to make a surprise for Sunny,” announced Benny the next morning after the Aldens and the Teagues had finished breakfast and Grandfather had taken the Teagues on a tour of Greenfield. Benny and his brother and two sisters had gone to their boxcar. Violet and Henry were sweeping 1 it out and dusting it while Jessie and Benny oiled a squeaky hinge on the boxcar door and fixed 2 a rickety leg on the table.



“A surprise, Benny? What kind of a surprise?” asked Violet.



“Something special for when Sunny wins the whole show,” Benny told her. He frowned, thinking hard. “Maybe a chocolate cake.”



Henry laughed and shook his head. “Sunny might like chocolate cake, Benny, but I don’t think it would be very good for her.”



“Oh, yes,” said Benny. “I remember Mrs. Teague telling us that chocolate could make dogs very, very sick.” His eyes widened at the awful thought of not being able to eat chocolate.



Violet had been thinking hard, too. Suddenly she clapped her hands together. “I know! We could make a flag for Sunny, or a banner, to wave at the show for her when she wins!”



Benny clapped his hands together, too. “Yes! A beautiful, big banner!”



Violet reached up and pulled a shoebox off one of the shelves in the boxcar. “We still have paints in here from the time we made signs for our helper service,” she said. She studied the contents of the box thoughtfully and said, “But not enough to make a really great banner.”



“Well, we’re almost finished here,” said Henry. “As soon as we do, let’s ride our bicycles into town and get some more art supplies.”



“Good idea,” said Jessie. She checked the leg on the table one last time to make sure that it wasn’t loose anymore and then stood up. “We can get a long roll of paper for the banner.”



“We need some way to hold it up, too,” said Violet. “Maybe a stick or pole — sort of like a short flagpole — at each end, so we can raise it up high.”



Henry added, “Yes, and we could roll the banner up from each end, then. That would make it easy to carry without tearing it.”



“I get to hold one end of the banner, don’t I?” demanded Benny.



“You and I will hold one end, Benny, and Violet and Jessie can hold the other,” answered Henry.



“Okay,” Benny agreed.



As quickly as they could, the Aldens finished their work in the boxcar. Soon they were on their bicycles riding into town to get supplies to make a banner for Sunny.



In the art supply store, they found just the right roll of paper for making a long banner. Benny picked out some gold paint for writing Sunny’s name on the banner. “It sort of matches her coat,” he explained.



But they couldn’t find poles to attach to the ends of the banner.



“Why don’t you try the hardware store,” suggested the owner of the art supply store. “Maybe a yardstick 3 would be just the thing.”



“A yardstick! That might work. Thank you,” said Henry.



Carrying their supplies, the Aldens went into the hardware store. Inside, they found all kinds of sticks and poles, flat and round, used for building things. “This is great,” said Jessie holding up a thin, smooth, round wooden pole that was almost as long as she was tall. “It’s called a dowel. I wonder what it is used for?”



“I don’t know, but look at this green pole. It’s used for staking up tomatoes and peas and beans in gardens,” said Henry.



“Both of those would work,” said Violet.



“Here are the yardsticks 4!” cried Benny. He held up two yardsticks, with the flat sides marked out into feet and inches. “Why are they called yardsticks?”



“Because they are three feet long. That’s a yard,” explained Violet.



“Oh,” said Benny. He waved the sticks. “I like these. Let’s use the yardsticks.”



“It would probably be easier to attach the banners to the flat sides of the yardstick,” said Jessie, putting the dowels down reluctantly.



“True,” said Henry. “Yardsticks it is, Benny.”



“Good.” Still holding the yardsticks up high, Benny led the way down the aisle 5 to the cash register. But at the end of the aisle he stopped and pointed 6 one of the yardsticks in front of him. “Look,” he whispered loudly. “There’s the polka-dot woman! The one with the dog named Zonker!”



Sure enough, ahead of them at the counter was the woman who owned Zonker. Today she was wearing a black-and-white spotted 7 jumpsuit. But Zonker wasn’t with her. Instead, she was lifting a small black-and-white spotted cat out of a battered 8 cat carrier held together with tape and wire, and into a new heavy-duty plastic carrier. “Thank goodness you had one of these,” she said. “Spike was about to tear up his old one! We always travel with him, you know. He and our dog, Zonker, are best friends.”



The hardware store owner smiled. “You got the last one. Looks like it’s time to order some new ones.”



“Thank you again,” said the woman, picking up the cat carrier and carrying it out of the store. The cat inside poked 9 his paw out and began batting at the latch 10. “Oh, no you don’t Spike,” they heard her say as she pushed the hardware store door open. “That’s a special latch. It’s catproof!”



“Wow,” said Benny. “A cat and a dog are best friends. Did you hear that?”



“It is funny, isn’t it,” said Jessie as they made their way to the counter and paid for the two yardsticks. “Most dogs don’t like cats, and most cats don’t like dogs.”



“I guess some cats — and some dogs — are different,” said Henry, laughing.



They went back to the boxcar and unrolled the paper carefully.



“Let’s draw a picture of Sunny,” said Benny. “And Watch.”



Watch stood with his paws on the edge of the boxcar door, watching them.



“We can do Sunny at one end and Watch at the other,” agreed Violet.



“What do we write on the banner, Benny?” asked Jessie.



“Hooray for Sunny!” answered Benny promptly 11.



“Good,” said Henry. “It will look great!”



Working together, they carefully drew pictures of Sunny and Watch. Then, as Violet and Benny painted the pictures, Henry and Jessie wrote in big, bright letters, Hooray for Sunny! At last they were finished. They all stepped back to admire their work.



“It looks just like Sunny. And Watch, too,” said Henry.



“I know,” said Benny proudly.



They all laughed. Just then, they heard Mrs. McGregor’s voice. “Lunchtime!” she called.



“We’ll put the yardsticks on when it’s dry, after lunch,” said Jessie.



“It’s a beautiful poster,” said Benny. “See? I even put gold stars around Sunny and Watch,”



“It is a beautiful poster, Benny,” said Violet.



Pleased with their morning’s work, the Aldens hurried back to the house to wash their hands and have their lunch.