Understood Betsy - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 — “Betsy Goes to School”

It’s Betsy’s first day at the little country school — a place so unlike the city classrooms she once knew. No strict teacher is hovering, no endless rules or whispered warnings. Instead, there’s laughter, curiosity, and the cheerful hum of children who seem to like learning.

At first, Betsy feels shy and uncertain. But before long, she’s answering questions, helping others and realising something she’s never felt before — that school can be a place of discovery, not dread...

It’s a chapter of fresh air and freedom, as Betsy begins to find her own confidence — quietly and wonderfully, for herself.

Join us as we explore Dorothy Canfield Fisher's delightful, classic 1916 children's story about a sensitive 9-year-old orphan girl's tale of transformation!

Find the full playlist for "Understood Betsy" on my profile.

Transcript

Hello there.

Thank you so much for joining me for this continued reading of Understood Betsy,

The charming quaint children's novel by Dorothy Canfield Fisher from 1916.

We've been hearing about the adventures of a sensitive nine-year-old orphan girl called Elizabeth Anne who's being moved around between different relatives and now finds herself on a farm in Vermont.

With various new adventures unfolding for her there.

If you haven't heard the previous parts of this book and you'd like to,

You can certainly look for the playlist for Understood Betsy and you'll find everything there in order.

But for now,

Let's just take a moment here to have a nice deep exhale.

Letting go of the day.

Letting go of whichever baggage we might be bringing along with us into this moment.

For right now,

There's nowhere else we have to go.

Nothing else we have to be doing.

So we can just relax,

Get ourselves comfortable and enjoy the sweet ongoing tale of Understood Betsy.

Chapter four.

Betsy goes to school.

Elizabeth Anne was very much surprised to hear Anne's voice calling dinner down the stairs.

It did not seem possible that the whole morning had gone by.

Here,

Said Aunt Abigail,

Just put that pat on a plate will you and take it upstairs as you go.

I've got all I can do to haul my own 200 pounds up without any half pound of butter into the bargain.

The little girl smiled at this,

Though she did not exactly know why and skipped up the stairs proudly with her butter.

Dinner was smoking on the table,

Which was set in the midst of the great pool of sunlight.

A very large black and white dog with a great bushy tail was walking around and around the table,

Sniffing the air.

He looked as big as a bear to Elizabeth Anne.

And as he walked,

His great red tongue hung out of his mouth and his white teeth gleamed horribly.

Elizabeth Anne shrank back in terror,

Clutching her plate of butter to her breast with tense fingers.

Cousin Anne said over her shoulder,

Oh bother,

There's old Shep,

Got up to pester us,

Begging for scraps.

Shep,

You go and lie down this minute.

To Elizabeth Anne's astonishment and immense relief,

The great animal turned,

Drooping his head sadly,

Walked back across the floor,

Got up on the couch again and laid his head down on one paw,

Very forlornly,

Turning up the whites of his eyes meekly at Cousin Anne.

Aunt Abigail,

Who had just pulled herself up the stairs,

Panting,

Said between laughing and puffing,

I'm glad I'm not an animal on this farm.

Anne does boss them around so.

Well,

Somebody has to,

Said Cousin Anne,

Advancing on the table with a platter.

This proved to have chicken fricassee on it.

And Elizabeth Anne's heart melted in her at the smell.

She loved chicken gravy on hot biscuits beyond anything in the world.

But chickens are so expensive when you buy them in the market that Aunt Harriet hadn't had them very often for dinner.

And there was a plate of biscuits,

Golden brown,

Just coming out of the oven.

She sat down very quickly,

Her mouth watering,

And attacked with extreme haste the big plate full of food which Cousin Anne passed her.

At Aunt Harriet's,

She had always been aware that everybody watched her anxiously as she ate.

And she had heard so much about her light appetite that she felt she must live up to her reputation.

And had a very natural and human hesitation about eating all she wanted when there happened to be something she liked very much.

But nobody here knew that she only ate enough to keep a bird alive,

And that her appetite was so capricious.

Nor did anybody notice her while she stowed away the chicken and gravy and hot biscuits and currant jelly and baked potatoes and apple pie.

When did Elizabeth Anne ever eat such a meal before?

She actually felt her belt grow tight.

In the middle of the meal,

Cousin Anne got up to answer the telephone which was in the next room.

The instant the door had closed behind her,

Uncle Henry leaned forward,

Tapped Elizabeth Anne on the shoulder,

And nodded toward the sofa.

His eyes were twinkling.

And as for Aunt Abigail,

She began to laugh silently,

Shaking all over,

Her napkin at her mouth to stifle the sound.

Elizabeth Anne turned wonderingly and saw the old dog,

Cautiously and noiselessly,

Letting himself down from the sofa,

One ear cocked rigidly in the direction of Cousin Anne's voice in the next room.

The old tyke,

Said Uncle Henry.

He always sneaks up to the table to be fed.

If Anne goes out for a minute.

Here,

Patsy,

Your nearest,

Give him this piece of skin from the chicken neck.

The big dog padded forward across the room,

Evidently in such a state of terror about Cousin Anne that Elizabeth Anne felt for him.

She had a fellow feeling about that relative of hers.

Also,

It was impossible to be afraid of so abjectly meek and guilty an animal.

As old Shep came up to her,

Poking his nose inquiringly on her lap,

She shrinkingly held out the big piece of skin and though she jumped back at the sudden snap and gobbling gulp with which the old dog greeted the tidbit,

She could not but sympathise with his evident enjoyment of it.

He waved his bushy tail gratefully,

Cocked his head on one side,

And his ears standing up at attention,

His eyes glistening greedily,

He gave a little begging whine.

Oh,

He's asking for more,

Cried Elizabeth Anne,

Surprised to see how plainly she could understand dog talk.

Quick,

Uncle Henry,

Give me another piece.

Uncle Henry rapidly transferred to her plate a wing bone from his own and Aunt Abigail,

With one deft swoop,

Contributed the neck from the platter.

As fast as she could go,

Elizabeth Anne fed these to Shep,

Who whoofed them down at top speed,

The bones crunching loudly under his strong white teeth.

How he did enjoy it.

It did your heart good to see his gusto.

There was the sound of the telephone receiver being hung up in the next room,

And everybody acted at once.

Aunt Abigail began drinking innocently out of her coffee cup,

Only her laughing old eyes showing over the rim.

Uncle Henry buttered a slice of bread with a grave face,

As though he were deep in conjectures about who would be the next president.

And as for old Shep,

He made one plunge across the room,

His toenails clicking rapidly on the bare floor,

Sprang up on the couch,

And when Cousin Anne opened the door and came in,

He was lying in exactly the position in which she had left him.

His paw stretched out,

His head laid on it,

His brown eyes turned up meekly so that the whites showed.

I've told you what these three did,

But I haven't told you yet what Elizabeth Anne did,

And it is worth telling.

As Cousin Anne stepped in,

Glancing suspiciously from her sober-faced and abstracted parents to the lamb-like innocence of old Shep,

Little Elizabeth Anne burst into a shout of laughter.

It's worth telling about because,

So far as I know,

That was the first time she had ever laughed out heartily in all her life.

For my part,

I'm half surprised to know that she knew how.

Of course,

When she laughed,

Aunt Abigail had to laugh too,

Setting down her coffee cup and showing all the funny wrinkles in her face,

Screwed up hard with fun,

And that made Uncle Henry laugh.

And then Cousin Anne laughed and said,

As she sat down,

You are bad children,

The whole four of you.

And old Shep,

Seeing the state of things,

Stopped pretending to be meek,

Jumped down and came lumbering over to the table,

Wagging his tail and laughing too.

You know that good,

Wide,

Dog smile?

He put his head on Elizabeth Anne's lap again and she patted it and lifted up one of his big black ears.

She had quite forgotten that she was terribly afraid of big dogs.

After dinner,

Cousin Anne looked up at the clock and said,

My goodness,

Betsy will be late for school if she doesn't start right off.

She explained to the child,

Aghast at this sudden thunderclap,

I let you sleep this morning as long as you wanted to because you were so tired from your journey.

But of course,

There's no reason for missing the afternoon session.

As Elizabeth Anne continued sitting perfectly still,

Frozen with alarm,

Cousin Anne jumped up briskly,

Got the little coat and cap,

Helped her up and began inserting the child's arms into the sleeves.

She pulled the cap well down over Elizabeth Anne's ears,

Felt in the pocket and pulled out the mittens.

There,

She said,

Holding them out.

You'd better put them on before you go out for it's a real cold day.

As she led the stupefied little girl along toward the door,

Aunt Abigail came after them and put a big sugar cookie into the child's hand.

Maybe you'll like to eat that for your recess time,

She said.

I always did when I went to school.

Elizabeth Anne's hand closed automatically about the cookie,

But she scarcely heard what was said.

She felt herself to be in a bad dream.

Aunt Frances had never,

No,

Never let her go to school alone.

And on the first day of the year,

Always took her to the new teacher and introduced her and told the teacher how sensitive she was and how hard to understand.

And then she stayed there for an hour or two till Elizabeth Anne got used to things.

She could not face a whole new school all alone.

Oh,

She couldn't.

She wouldn't.

She couldn't.

Horrors.

Here she was in the front hall.

She was on the porch.

Cousin Anne was saying,

Now run along,

Child,

Straight down the road till the first turn to the left,

And there in the crossroads.

There you are.

And now the front door closed behind her.

The path stretched before her to the road,

And the road led down the hill the way Cousin Anne had pointed.

Elizabeth Anne's feet began to move forward and carried her down the path,

Although she was still crying out to herself,

I can't.

I won't.

I can't.

Are you wondering why Elizabeth Anne didn't turn right around,

Open the front door,

Walk in and say,

I can't,

I won't,

I can't to Cousin Anne?

The answer to that question is that she didn't do it because Cousin Anne was Cousin Anne.

And there's more in that than you think.

In fact,

There is a mystery in it that nobody has ever solved.

Not even the great scientists and philosophers.

Although,

Like all scientists and philosophers,

They think they have gone a long way toward explaining something they don't understand by calling it a long name.

The long name is personality.

And what it means,

Nobody knows,

But it is perhaps the very most important thing in the world for all that.

And yet,

We know only one or two things about it.

We know that anybody's personality is made up of the sum total of all the actions and thoughts and desires of his life.

And we know that though there aren't any words or any figures in any language to set down that sum total accurately,

Still,

It is one of the first things that everybody knows about anybody else.

And that is really all we know.

So I can't tell you why Elizabeth Anne did not go back and cry and sob and say she couldn't and she wouldn't and she couldn't,

As she would certainly have done at Aunt Harriet's.

You remember that I could not even tell you why it was that as the little fatherless and motherless girl lay in bed looking at Aunt Abigail's old face,

She should feel so comforted and protected that she must needs break out crying.

No.

All I can say is that it was because Aunt Abigail was Aunt Abigail.

But perhaps it may occur to you that it's rather a good idea to keep a sharp eye on your personality,

Whatever that is.

It might be very handy,

You know,

To have a personality like Cousin Anne's,

Which sent Elizabeth Anne's feet down the path.

Or perhaps you would prefer one like Aunt Abigail's.

Well,

Take your choice.

You must not,

Of course,

Think for a moment that Elizabeth Anne had the slightest intention of obeying Cousin Anne.

No,

Indeed.

Nothing was farther from her mind as her feet carried her along the path and into the road.

In her mind was nothing but rebellion and fear and anger and,

Oh,

Such hurt feelings.

She turned sick at the very thought of facing all the staring,

Curious faces in the playground,

Turned on the new scholar as she had seen them at home.

She would never,

Never do it.

She would walk around all the afternoon and then go back and tell Cousin Anne that she couldn't.

She would explain to her how Aunt Frances never let her go out of doors without a loving hand to cling to.

She would explain to her how Aunt Frances always took care of her.

It was easier to think about what she would say and do and explain away from Cousin Anne than it was to say and do it before those black eyes.

Aunt Frances's eyes were soft,

Light blue.

Oh,

How she wanted Aunt Frances to take care of her.

Nobody cared a thing about her.

Nobody understood her but Aunt Frances.

She wouldn't go back at all to Putney Farm.

She would just walk on and on till she was lost and the night would come and she would lie down and freeze to death.

And then wouldn't Cousin Anne feel someone called to her?

Isn't this Betsy?

She looked up,

Astonished.

A young girl in a gingham dress and a white apron,

Like those at Putney Farm,

Stood in front of a tiny square building like a toy house.

Isn't this Betsy?

Asked the young girl again.

Your Cousin Anne said you were coming to school today and I've been looking out for you but I saw you going right by and I ran out to stop you.

Why,

Where is the school?

Asked Betsy,

Staring around for a big brick four-story building.

The young girl laughed and held out her hand.

This is the school,

She said,

And I am the teacher and you'd better come right in for it's time to begin.

She led Betsy into a low-ceilinged room with geraniums at the windows where about a dozen children of different ages sat behind their desks.

At the first sight of them,

Betsy blushed crimson with fright and shyness and hung down her head.

But looking out the corners of her eyes,

She saw that they too were all very red-faced and scared looking and hung down their heads,

Looking at her shyly out of the corners of their eyes.

She was so surprised by this that she forgot all about herself and looked inquiringly at the teacher.

They don't see many strangers,

The teacher explained,

And they feel very shy and scared when a new scholar comes,

Especially one from the city.

Is this my grade?

Asked Elizabeth,

Thinking it the very smallest grade she had ever seen.

This is the whole school,

Said the teacher.

There are only two or three in each class.

You'll probably have three in yours.

Miss Anne said you were in the third grade?

There,

That's your seat.

Elizabeth sat down before a very old desk,

Much battered and hacked up with knife marks.

There was a big HP carved just over the inkwell and many other initials scattered all over the top.

The teacher stepped back to her desk and took up a violin that lay there.

Now,

Children,

We'll begin the afternoon session by singing America,

She said.

She played the air over a little,

Very sweetly and stirringly,

And then,

As the children stood up,

She came down close to them,

Standing just in front of Betsy.

She drew the bow across the strings in a big chord and said,

Now!

And Betsy burst into song with the others.

The sun came in the windows brightly,

The teacher,

Too,

Sang as she played,

And all the children,

Even the littlest ones,

Opened their mouths wide and sang lustily.

Reviews

So exciting to see and explore together her new world.

Even my mouth was watering listening to the description of all that scrumptious food! 🥘. And what a lovely surprise to enter such a welcoming very small schoolhouse!
She’s just beginning to spread her wings!!!🥰🥰🥰. Looking so forward to more! Thank you for reading Angela.
P.s.please excuse any mistypes😊. That’s why I try and wait till the following morning to leave my comments. 😉❤️❤️