第9部分(第5/8 頁)

thing　she　was　doing　that　I　had　never　seen　her　do　before。　I　mean；　I　had　seen　her　do　it；　but　I　never　took　notice　of　it。

Mrs。　Martin　was　cutting　the　front　page　of　the　ic　book　in　half。　She　was　keeping　the　top　half　of　the　ic　book　cover　and　throwing　the　rest　of　the　ic　book　into　a　large　brown　cardboard　box。　When　I　asked　her　what　she　did　with　the　ic　books；　she　said；　〃I　throw　them　away。　I　give　the　top　half　of　the　cover　back　to　the　ic…book　distributor　for　credit　when　he　brings　in　the　new　ics。　He's　ing　in　an　hour。〃

Mike　and　I　waited　for　an　hour。　Soon　the　distributor　arrived　and　I　asked　him　if　we　could　have　the　ic　books。　To　which　he　replied；　〃You　can　have　them　if　you　work　for　this　store　and　do　not　resell　them。〃

Our　partnership　was　revived。　Mike's　mom　had　a　spare　room　in　the　basement　that　no　one　used。　We　cleaned　it　out；　and　began　piling　hundreds　of　ic　books　in　that　room。　Soon　our　ic…book　library　was　open　to　the　public。　We　hired　Mike's　younger　sister；　who　loved　to　study；　to　be　head　librarian。　She　charged　each　child　10　cents　admission　to　the　library；　which　was　open　from　2：30　to　4：30　p。m。　every　day　after　school。　The　customers；　the　children　of　the　neighborhood；　could　read　as　many　ics　as　they　could　in　two　hours。　It　was　a　bargain　for　them　since　a　ic　costs　10　cents　each；　and　they　could　read　five　or　six　in　two　hours。

Mike's　sister　would　check　the　kids　as　they　left；　to　make　sure　they　weren't　borrowing　any　ic　books。　She　also　kept　the　books；　logging　in　how　many　kids　showe