Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Cleary Read Free Book Online Page A

Beezus, and flounced down the driveway.
    “It won’t take me long to collect,” said Henry cheerfully, but it was not long before his cheerfulness faded. First of all, he started out to collect without taking any money along. He had to go home and rob his piggy bank so he would have change to give his customers.That took time.
    As usual, Henry found that not everyone was home when he rang the doorbell.
    Sometimes he had to go back a second and even a third time.That took more time. One man who was home had only a twenty-dollar bill. Henry did not have that much change, so he had to make a second trip.  And all the time he was eager to get back to the clubhouse.
    Henry did have one customer who was just about perfect to collect from. That was Mrs. Peabody. She not only had the exact change ready, she had it waiting on a table by the front door so that Henry was not delayed while she went to get her purse. She also had some cookies wrapped in a paper napkin for him. Ranger behaved himself, too. He watched Henry, but he did not move.
    There was only one thing wrong with Mrs. Peabody. She opened the door and said, “Well, here is Harry Higgins to collect for the paper!”
    Naturally, since she was such a good customer to collect from, Henry did not like to speak up and say, “Excuse me, my name is Henry Huggins.” He just gave her the receipt and thanked her for the cookies.
    “You’re welcome, Harry,” said Mrs.Peabody.
    Harry Higgins! Henry wondered how Mrs. Peabody would feel if he started calling her Mrs. Beanbody, not that he intended to.
    Now that Ranger behaved himself, Mrs. Peabody was his nicest customer, and he would never hurt her feelings.
    Then in contrast to Mrs. Peabody there was Mrs. Kelly, who was Henry’s most difficult customer when it came to collecting.
    The first time Henry walked up the Kellys’ walk, which was strewn with tricycles, kiddie cars, and battered kitchen utensils, and rang the doorbell, a little voice inside screamed, “Doorbell, Mommy!”
    Mrs. Kelly called from an upstairs window, “Who is it?”
    “It’s me, Henry Huggins,” Henry answered. “I’m collecting for the Journal .”
    “You’ll have to come back some other time,” Mrs. Kelly called down. “I’m giving the baby a bath.”
    The second time Henry rang the doorbell, Mrs. Kelly answered. She wore pedal pushers and an old blouse, and her hair was bound up in a faded scarf. Two small children followed her to the door, and another was crying somewhere in the house. Behind Mrs. Kelly, Henry caught a glimpse of Ramona playing with a little girl her own age.
    “Oh, it’s you again,” said Mrs. Kelly, before Henry had a chance to speak. “I’m sorry. I don’t have a cent in the house.You’ll have to come back after payday.”
    Henry realized as he tripped over an old muffin tin on his way down the front steps that he had forgotten to ask Mrs. Kelly when payday was.
    Henry was able to drive quite a few nails into the clubhouse before he got up his courage to go back to the Kellys’. The building, under Murph’s direction, was going along smoothly when it was not interrupted by Ramona, who was sometimes accompanied by Lisa, her little friend from kindergarten.They wanted to know if they could have nails to take home. They also asked the same riddles over and over.
    “How is a dog different from a flea?” Ramona would ask.
    “I don’t know.” Henry was the only boy who bothered to answer.
    “Because a dog can have fleas, but a flea can’t have dogs,” Ramona would answer, and no matter how many times she asked the riddle, she and Lisa screamed with laughter at the answer.
    “What is black and white and red all over?” Ramona always asked next.
    “No girls allowed!” Murph yelled at this point. Then Ramona and Lisa would walk down the driveway, scuffing the toes of their shoes on the cement to show they were angry.The next day they would be back.
    “Can’t you find a way to get rid of those