The Eternal Wonder by Pearl S. Buck Read Free Book Online

you. For now, I’d be glad you know what you know about it, and go on to learn other things you don’t know, of which there are plenty. The world is full of things you don’t know. I’m going to buy an encyclopedia. It’s better than a dictionary.”
    “Does it tell about everything?” Rannie inquired. In the possibility of such joy he forgot Ruthie and her mother.
    “Just about everything,” his father said, “and I smell something like cookies baking in the oven.”
    He rose and they walked to the kitchen, his hand on Rannie’s shoulder. At the door he stopped.
    “Just one thing—you did no wrong. If anyone says you did, or acts as if you did, send him—or her—to me.”
    “Yes, Papa,” Rannie said.
    But he paid little heed to what his father had said. The fragrance of cinnamon cookies made him ravenous and his mouth was watering.
    THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL was another disappointing day, exactly as yesterday had been. Ruthie’s seat had been changed to the other side of the room and a dark-haired boy, large for his age, named Mark, had been substituted. There was no importance to this, for he, Rannie, had forgotten about Ruthie. The disappointment lay in the fact, more and more obvious as the day went on, that he was not learning anything. He had already read through the first-grade reader, he had long pastlost interest in crayon work, and the few books on a shelf were, he considered after he examined them, books for babies. The story Miss Downes read to the class was also for babies—something about bluebirds in the spring.
    “Aren’t you interested in this nice story, Rannie?” Miss Downes asked.
    He had been drawing a geometric design of intertwined triangles while she read. He looked up from his paper, pencil in hand.
    “No, Miss Downes,” he said.
    She looked at him hard for a few seconds, puzzled as he could see, and he felt it necessary to explain.
    “I used to read stories like that when I first learned to read.”
    “When was that?” she asked.
    “I can’t remember when it was,” he replied. But he put down the pencil, feeling it would be impolite to continue, and she went on with her reading.
    At recess, to which he looked forward, he found himself isolated. Ruthie did not speak to him and he stood apart, watching the other children. He felt no shyness, only curiosity and interest. Squabbling took place over the swings, until a biggish boy, whose name was Chris, took leadership by appropriating the highest swing for himself. Then, noticing Rannie, he shouted.
    “Want a turn?”
    He had no desire for a swing, since he had one at home, but a vague desire for companionship made him nod his head. He took his turn and then, about to stand apart again, he found Chris at his side.
    “Want to race to the gate—see who’s first?”
    “All right,” he said courteously.
    They raced, coming to the finish in a tie.
    “You run real good,” Chris said. “I can beat the rest of these babies. Say, I hear Ruthie showed herself to you!” Chris was from a higher grade than Rannie but it seemed that the news of his quest for knowing about girls was everywhere in the small school.
    He stared blankly at Chris. “I don’t understand what’s so interesting about that.”
    “Oh, come on,” Chris said.
    He had no answer for this, for he had no interest in Ruthie now. Chris continued. “Know how kids get made?”
    “Yes, my father told me,” he said.
    Chris stared at him. “Your old man told you?”
    “Yes—my father,” he said.
    “Gosh, he must have a dirty mind,” Chris said with contempt.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, surprised and inclined to anger.
    The bell rang at that instant, and conversation was cut off. He went back to his seat, thoughtful and vaguely angry. He liked Chris, he liked his brusqueness, his force, even his roughness. In spite of a vague anger he decided to be friends with this boy, if he could. And he decided too that he would not tell his father what