hanks. Especially the kids after that
new TV show came on."

"Oh?" said Mrs. Dorne. "Which one is that?"

"It ain't on no more," said the super, "but, boy, while it lasted the
kids sure got a kick out of it. That little Charlotte of mine, she's
going to be a real egghead."

"Well what kind of a show was it?"

"Reading," said the super. "Just reading. I ain't sure what they
called it, but I know there wasn't no sponsor. Maybe that's why it
lasted only two weeks or so. Some kind of test show I guess it was."

"I guess we missed it listening to something else. What channel was it
on?"

"Now that you mention it I'm darned if I remember," Chuck Seely said.
"The kids just come home from school one night and parked in front of
the TV like always and instead of the westerns and like that here's
this guy, just reading. It lasted about an hour every night, we
couldn't drag the kids away. Me and the wife got in the habit watching
it too."

"Was it Charles Laughton? He has a reading program."

"It wasn't him. I never saw the guy before, but what a voice! No
commercials, no scenery, no nothin' except this guy reading. Something
different every night, too. Stuff like Dickens and famous writers like
that. I never heard a voice like this guy had, you couldn't stop
listening. Then you know what he'd do at the end of the show?"

"What?"

"He'd tell the kids to go get a pencil and write down the names of
more books to get at the library. And you know what? The kids _do_ it.
That Charlotte, the other night she brings home some Shakespeare
stories for kids by a guy named Lamb. She makes me read 'em to her,
too. Get a load o' me reading Shakespeare. I got to admit they're
pretty good stories. That Charlotte's going to be a real egghead."

"We usually have our TV on around supper time. It's funny we missed
it."

"I checked TV Guide but it was not listed," said the super. "It was
some kind of test show. I guess this guy couldn't find a sponsor."

* * * * *

A week after this incident Betty Randolph picked up the telephone and
said, "Hello?" It was Dot on the ground floor. Ed had phoned earlier
and said he'd be a little late. Betty felt relaxed and just in the
mood for some woman talk.

"Dot, you'll never guess where we were last night," she said. "We saw
My Fair Lady, imagine! Don't you envy me?"

There was a gasp at the other end of the line. "Betty Randolph, you
didn't! We've been on the w