Read Online Secrets According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney - Free Book Online

answered without even taking a breath.
    â€œThat’s true, Sophie,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “I think all riddles seem easy once you know the answer. But the legend is that many travelers lost their lives because they didn’t figure it out.”
    Rosie raised her hand. “Why didn’t the travelers look it up ? ”
    â€œThey couldn’t go online back then,” Thomas said. “They didn’t have computers that long ago. I read about it in a book, but they probably didn’t have books, either.”
    â€œThey didn’t have books the way we do,” our teacher explained. “They had papyrus. It was very expensive, so hardly anyone had any. Students who were learning to write practiced on bits of stone.”
    Thomas groaned. “That would sure make your backpack heavy!”
    That made everyone laugh, including Mrs. Brisbane.
    I was glad I had my little notebook, which hardly weighed a thing. Imagine if a small hamster had to write on stones!
    Next, Mrs. Brisbane taught math, but it was a very funny kind of math they used in ancient Egypt. Instead of numbers, they used symbols and there were only seven of them.
    Each 1 was a single line. That was easy, but as the numbers moved up, the symbols were stranger and stranger. A coil of rope stood for 10.
    A finger represented 10,000, which is a very large number.
    When Mrs. Brisbane showed us the symbol for 100,000, Og let out an extra-loud “BOING!”
    The symbol for 100,000 was a frog!
    â€œBOING-BOING-BOING!”
    Of course, my friends all laughed.
    When Mrs. Brisbane finished showing us all of the symbols, I was disappointed that one of them was not a hamster.
    But I was happy there was at least a frog. Really.
    Mrs. Brisbane put up some math problems for the class to solve using the symbols.
    Near the end of the class, Mr. Fitch appeared, carrying a book.
    I scrambled up to the tippy top of my cage and saw that the book had a dark red cover. I crossed my toes and hoped.
    â€œSorry to interrupt,” he said. “I found this book with a hold slip for Joey in Room Twenty-six. I thought I’d bring it down in case he needs it.”
    First Just-Joey looked surprised. Then he frowned and shook his head. “Not for me.”
    Mr. Fitch walked to Joey’s table and handed him the book. “It’s a good one,” he said.
    Joey took the book.
    The slip I’d written on was still tucked inside and Joey read it.
    â€œThanks,” he said, but he looked confused.
    â€œThanks!” I squeaked.
    â€œWhat’s the book ? ” Mrs. Brisbane asked when Mr. Fitch was gone.
    â€œIt’s called
The Jungle Book,
” Joey said. “It has a lot of animals in it.”
    Mrs. Brisbane looked pleased.
    And I was HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY that my Plan had worked.
    But I still wasn’t sure that Joey would like the book.
    Mrs. Brisbane kept on talking but Joey wasn’t listening.
    He opened the book and stared at the first page.
    I think that Mrs. Brisbane knew that Joey wasn’t listening, but she didn’t say anything.
    Joey turned the page.
    I crossed my toes again.

    My poor toes were aching by the time Mrs. Brisbane split the class up into their groups.
    I wanted to keep track of Joey and the book, but there were so many things going on, I forgot.
    First Phoebe waved her hand at Kelsey, wiggled her fingers and winked. I guess Kelsey forgot that she was helping to hold up the blocks for the pyramid. She started to return the signal while Simon was gluing the next one on.
    The pyramid collapsed into a heap of blocks.
    â€œNow look what you’ve done!” Simon said.
    I didn’t blame him for being irritated. Rosie was annoyed as well.
    â€œWhat happened ? ” Mrs. Brisbane asked when she rushed over to their table.
    â€œKelsey let go,” Simon said.
    â€œIt was an accident,” Kelsey said.
    â€œWell, Be-Careful-Kelsey,” Mrs. Brisbane said. “Help Simon and