"Benny," Jess exclaimed suddenly, as she hung her dish towels up to dry, "it's high time you learned to read."
"No school now," said Benny hopefully.
"No, but I can teach you. If I only had a primer!"
"Let's make one," suggested Violet, shaking her hair back. "We have saved all the wrapping paper off the bundles, you know."
Jess was staring off into space, as she always did when she had a bright idea.
"Violet," she cried at last, "remember those chips? We could whittle out letters like type—make each letter backwards, you know."
"And stamp them on paper!" finished Violet.
"There would be only twenty-six in all. It wouldn't be awfully hard," said Jess. "We wouldn't bother with capitals."
"What could we use for ink?" Violet wondered, wrinkling her forehead.
"Blackberry juice!" cried Jess. The two girls clapped their hands. "Won't Henry be surprised when he finds that Benny can read?"