ind a U. S.
copyright renewal.]

This book is affectionately dedicated to
Gregory and Kevin

Contents

1 Charge It, Please 3

2 Change for a Ten-Dollar Bill 18

3 P. T. A. Meeting 29

4 No Safe Hiding Place 44

5 New Neighbors 56

6 "The Stars and Stripes Forever" 66

7 Working on Andy 81

8 The Auction 93

9 As Good as a Watchdog 107

10 May Day 125

11 Welcome Home! 138

Jerry's

Charge

Account

1

Charge It, Please

Jerry tried to be quiet, but he bumped into the one chair in the
kitchen on his way to the kitchen cupboard. And it was not his fault
that the cream pitcher fell when he took the sugarbowl from the shelf.
Jerry made a quick and nice southpaw catch. Pretty good, he thought,
for a right-hander. He hadn't been able to use his right because it
was holding the sugarbowl. He had dumped the sugar into a cereal dish
and was busily pouring salt into the sugarbowl when his mother entered
the kitchen.

"What on earth are you doing up so early on Saturday?" Mrs. Martin
asked sleepily. "It's only half-past six."

Jerry's blue eyes begged his mother to share a joke with him. "I woke
up and remembered it's April Fools' Day," he said and chuckled. "Can't
you just see Dad's face when he tastes his coffee with two spoonfuls
of salt in it instead of sugar?"

"No, Jerry," said his mother. "No. It wouldn't be at all funny to
spoil your father's morning coffee. It would be tragic. Put the salt
back, rinse out the sugarbowl, and refill it with sugar. And no more
April-fooling with your father's breakfast."

"Aw, I never can have any fun around here," Jerry complained. Salt
spilled on the floor when he poured it from the sugarbowl back into
the spout of the salt box.

"Sweep it up," ordered his mother, and Jerry had to get out the brush
and dustpan.

When he went to the sink to rinse the sugarbowl, Jerry turned on the
hot water so hard that he had to draw his hand back quickly or it
would have been scalded. The sugarbowl fell in the sink and broke.

"Oh, dear! I need cast-iron dishes instead of china if you're to
handle them," scolded Mrs. Martin.

"It just slipped out of my hands. I can mend it. That new glue I
bought last week wil