Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary Page A

lifted.
    â€œHere, mousie, mousie,” called Lana. “Here mousie, mousie.”
    As if I would come running, thought Ralph, huddled behind a dusty cobweb in the dark shadows.
    â€œI guess he’s gone,” said Garf at last. “The first and probably the last mouse I’ll ever have.”
    â€œGarf, I’m putting you in charge of repairing the hole,” said Aunt Jill. “Get a piece of screen and some wire from UncleSteve, and we’ll make sure Catso won’t come in here again. We wouldn’t want him to annoy Chum.”

    At that point the fur along Ralph’s spine began to tingle.
    â€œThere’s Catso now!” cried Lana. Ralph felt the slam of the screen door jar the building as Lana ran out. “Bad cat, Catso! Bad cat!” he heard her shout. The scolding didRalph’s heart good.
    Later that morning after his riding lesson, Garf returned with a piece of screen and some wire to repair the hole. His work was frequently interrupted as campers left the craft shop and drifted off to other activities. When Aunt Jill left, Ralph came down from his hiding place in a series of leaps. Through the screen door he watched Garf sitting on the step weaving the wire patch to the screen with a piece of thin wire, before he said, “Say, Garf, about my motorcycle—”
    Startled, Garf looked up from his work. “You’re alive!” His obvious pleasure was most gratifying to Ralph. “I thought Catso got you.”
    â€œHow come you believed Catso got me when you wouldn’t believe Catso stole the watch?” demanded Ralph. “I can run and jump, you know, and a watch can’t.”
    â€œIt just isn’t logical for a cat to steal awatch,” Garf insisted.
    â€œIf I show you where the watch is, will you believe me?” asked Ralph.
    With a look of interest Garf sat back on his heels. However, he said, “I don’t want to have anything to do with that watch. I don’t want to be seen near it, or people will start saying I took it again. Most everyone’s forgotten about it, and I want to keep it that way.”
    â€œYou don’t have to go near it,” said Ralph. “Just watch me.” Flattening himself, he squeezed under the screen door, jumped down the steps, and ran out into the bamboo leaves. Suddenly, all bamboo leaves looked alike. Which leaf was hiding the watch? Ralph did not know. He looked under one leaf, and then the next. He heard Garf mutter, “Huh!” and return to his work. Over by one of the lodges Lana shouted, “Bad cat! Bad cat!”
    Ralph pushed some leaves aside and crawled under others. Where was that watch anyway? There was no telling how many leaves had fallen since Catso had dropped the watch. Ralph crawled deeper and deeper into the leaves and was finally rewarded by the touch of metal against his paw.
    Next Ralph grasped the buckle on the leather strap and tugged. The watch was heavier than he had expected, but it slid across the smooth inside surface of the leaf. Ralph waded up through the leaves, pulling with all his strength, and at last emerged, dragging the watch behind him. “See!” he said. “I told you I knew where it was!”
    â€œWell, what do you know?” Garf sat down on the step to the craft shop. “You really did. How did the watch get there?”
    â€œI told you,” said Ralph impatiently. “Catso picked it up in his mouth, carried it out here, batted it around awhile, and finallydropped it where it slid under a leaf.”
    â€œYou know, I believe you’re telling the truth,” said Garf with wonder in his voice.
    â€œOf course, I’m telling the truth.” Ralph was indignant.

    â€œBut what good does it do me?” asked Garf. “You know I can’t return it. And if Isaid Catso stole it, people would laugh.”
    This moment was the one Ralph had been waiting for. First he pulled some bamboo leaves