Adventure According to Humphrey Read Free Page B

down. (I stopped thinking about that when my tummy got a little queasy.) If I had a boat, I could sail the seven seas! I could sail anywhere in the world. I could even sail to far-off Brazil, where Ms. Mac lived.
    Ms. Mac! She was my first human friend, and what a friend she was. She was full of life with her bouncy black curls, her big happy smile, her large dark eyes. She was also adventurous. She even took me on a bike ride once, and at night, she liked to play bongo drums. Life with Ms. Mac was THE BEST.
    Then she broke my heart when Mrs. Brisbane came back to Room 26 and Ms. Mac left for Brazil. A broken heart hurts a lot. Sure, she sent us letters and pictures, but it wasn’t like seeing her every day. At first, I didn’t think I’d ever squeak to her again. But by now, my heart wasn’t exactly broken. It was just sprained. And I’d be GLAD-GLAD-GLAD if I could see her again.
    I don’t think Ms. Mac meant to break my heart.
    I do think Ms. Mac would be glad to see me again, too.
    Funny how a book about pirates gets you thinking about all kinds of crazy things.
    Even love.
     
    There be treasures aplenty in the deep, if ye dare look!
    From JOLLY ROGER’S GUIDE TO LIFE,
by I.C. Waters

3
    Portrait of a Hamster
    B OATS-BOATS-BOATS! Just about all we talked about in Room 26 had to do with boats. There was a math problem about a boat race and a history lesson about the Vikings, who were great sailors and wore impressive hats with horns on them. There were also those lovely vocabulary words.
    And there was the story. Every day, Mrs. Brisbane read another exciting chapter from the book. Uncle Jolly Roger, who did seem unusually jolly for a pirate, taught Vic and Vi (that’s what he called Victor and Violet) all kinds of wonderful things about sailing. They even had a run-in with a huge whale!
    That part of the story gave I-Heard-That-Kirk the chance to tell this joke:
    “What do you call a baby whale? A little squirt!” We all chuckled at that.
    So, in just a few short days, I went from never thinking about boats to thinking about them all the time. There were so many kinds of wonderful boats, from rowboats you move with oars and muscles to sailboats and tall ships powered by the wind. Then there were motorboats, yachts, tugboats and ferries, which all have engines. And there were the great ships powered by steam. Mrs. Brisbane brought in more books about boats and put up huge posters on the wall.
    It would be hard to choose a favorite, but the Chinese junk did catch my eye. That boat isn’t junk at all, but a beautiful craft with colorful sails. I could almost feel the sea breeze tickle my whiskers whenever I looked at the picture.
    In the evenings, I tried to talk to Og about boats and pirates and treasure, but as soon as I’d bring up the subject, he’d dive into his tank and swim around. Maybe he was trying to tell me that he didn’t need a boat to make his way through the water.
    I was a little jealous, although I still wouldn’t want to be a frog. As nice as Og is, he has googly eyes, green skin and no nice soft fur at all!
    I occupied my spare time by drawing pictures of boats in my little notebook. I must admit, my drawing of the SS Golden Hamster, complete with a hamster flag, was quite impressive.
    On Friday, it was time to find out which of my friends would take me home for the weekend. “Do you have the permission slip, Gail?” Mrs. Brisbane asked.
    Gail pulled a slightly crumpled paper out of her pocket. “Here it is!” she said with a giggle.
    So I was going home with Gail. Since Gail loved to laugh so much, I was bound to have a fun weekend. Yippee! I was happy to see that she was also taking home a stack of books about boats.
    Gail’s mom, Mrs. Morgenstern, came to pick us up. She was a colorful human who wore blue jeans, an orange sweater with red flowers on it, a yellow cap and high red boots. Her hair was in a long braid halfway down her back.
    “You know what, Humphrey? I think I’m