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 Lesley Mandel Morrow

Literacy Development
in the Early Years
Helping Children Read and Write
NINTH E DIT IO N
 Contents vii

How Dramatic Play Can Engage Children in Reading A Parent/Guardian Involvement Framework  378
and Writing  316 Materials and Activities for a Rich Family
Objectives for Play Experiences  316 Literacy Environment  381
Observations of Literacy Behavior During Dramatic Reading to Children at Home from Birth to Age 8  383
Play  317 Materials for Writing in the Home  384
Integrating Literacy Learning into Thematic Units and Technology Ideas  385
Project-Based Learning  324 Literacy Activities to Do at Home  385
Literacy Skills Embedded into Content Area Multicultural Perspectives on Family Involvement
Disciplines  326 and Family Literacy  388
Art Activities and Literacy Development  326 Cultivating Family Involvement  389
Music Experiences and Literacy Development  327 Connecting the Classroom to the Family  389
Social Studies and Science Experiences and Literacy Establishing Successful Programs and Activities  391
Development  327
Objectives for Family Literacy Programs  391
Math Experiences and Literacy  328
Family Involvement Initiatives  391
Preparing a Thematic Unit  328
Resources for Teachers and Families  398
Thematic Instruction: Good Food  329
Resources for Parents for Activities to Do with
Summary  331 Their Children  399
Activities and Questions 332 Summary  400
Activities and Questions 401
13 Organizing and Managing Literacy
Afterword  402
Instruction  333
How Can We Help Children Manage Appendix A Children’s Literature
Their Behavior in School  334 for the Classroom: Multigenre and
Preparing Literacy-Rich Physical Environments  335 Multimedia for 21st Century
Print in Your Classroom  336
Learners  406
Classroom Stations  337
Literacy Station Activities 
Interdisciplinary Stations in Your Classroom 
339
339
Appendix B Integrated Language
Organizing For Differentiated Instruction  344
Arts Thematic Unit: Healthy Bodies,
Whole-Group, Small-Group, and One-to-One
Healthy Minds  427
Learning  344
Organizing for Guided Reading: Small Group Explicit Appendix C Technology  441
Instruction of Skills  346
Putting a Guided Reading Lesson into Practice  350 Appendix D Professional
The Guided Reading Lesson  356 Associations and Related Journals
Leveled Books for Guided Reading  359 Dealing with Early Literacy  442
Organizing And Managing Daily Literacy Schedules  361
Summary  369 Appendix E Suggestions for
Activities and Questions 370 Instructors  444

14 Family Literacy Partnerships  371 Glossary 454

Family Literacy  372 Children’s Literature Bibliography 458
Why Family Literacy Is Important  373
Homes That Promote Literacy  374
References 474
The Role of Responsive Adults  375 Index 487
Challenges in Developing Family Literacy  377
About the Author
lesley mandel morrow is a distinguished professor of literacy at Rutgers University’s
Graduate School of Education, where she is director of the Center for Literacy Devel-
opment. She began her career as a classroom teacher, then became a reading specialist,
and later received her Ph.D. from Fordham University in New York City. Her area of
research deals with early literacy development and the organization and management
of language arts programs. Her research is carried out with children and families from
diverse backgrounds.
Dr. Morrow has more than 300 publications, including journal articles, book chap-
ters, monographs, and books. She has received Excellence in Research, Teaching, and
Service Awards from Rutgers University. She was the recipient of the International
Literacy Association (ILA) Outstanding Teacher Educator of Reading Award and the
William S. Gray Citation of Merit, and the IRA (now ILA) Special Service Award. She
also received Fordham University’s Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement.
In addition, Dr. Morrow has received numerous grants for research from the federal
government and has served as a principal research investigator for the Center of Eng-
lish Language Arts, the National Reading Research Center, and the Center for Early
Reading Achievement. She was an elected member of the board of directors and presi-
dent of the International Literacy Association (ILA), an organization at the time of
her presidency of 80,000 educators from 100 countries. Dr. Morrow was elected into
the Reading Hall of Fame and was president of the Hall of Fame as well. In 2010 she
­received the Literacy Research Association’s Oscar Causey Award for research that
has added knowledge to and caused change in literacy practice.
Dr. Morrow is proud of the Center for Literacy Development that she created,
and the work it has done. She has provided professional development for the ­Rutgers
Reading Club and after-school program for struggling readers, which is training she
created with Susan Dougherty. Dr. Morrow, has also provided professional develop-
ment at conferences she organized with well-known speakers from around the coun-
try and abroad. Most recently, she works with pediatricans from Rutgers Medical
School on the Reach Out and Read Organization. They do research to help children
from "at risk" backgrounds and share information with pediatricians on how they can
help with literacy in their practice. In addition, she is the proud grandmother of James
Ethan and Natalie Kate.

viii
List of Contributors
Christina Boyland is a sixth grade Language Arts Teacher in Bernards Township, NJ. She
takes pride in her work of teaching students to read and write on a daily basis, while empha-
sizing the importance of individual creativity. Christina has created a welcoming classroom
environment that encourages her students to collaborate and express themselves in ways
that go beyond books. While she enjoys the challenges and new learnings that come with
teaching Middle School, Christina has a dream, now goal, to become a Reading Specialist.
She hopes to help elementary students develop a strong and ongoing appreciation for litera-
ture as they grow into young individuals both inside and outside the classroom.
Dr. Jennifer Renner Del Nero is an Assistant Professor with the Special Education, Lan-
guage and Literacy Department at The College of New Jersey (Ewing, NJ) where she
teaches literacy education to pre-service teachers. She has numerous articles published in
The Reading Teacher, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and Reading Improvement.
Dr. Del Nero has presented at numerous ­national conferences and previously served as a
literacy coach and teacher in NJ public schools.
Lucia Oubina Laka is an ESL instructional coach for kindergarten through 8th grade for
the Red Bank Borough Public Schools. She supports teachers by helping them implement
strategies to meet the needs of their English Language Learners. A large part of Lucia's role
includes training teachers to use the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) in-
structional model. Leading workshops for cohorts of teachers, Lucia then follows up with
coaching visits to model SIOP strategies in various classrooms and observes how teachers
utilize SIOP strategies. Additionally, Lucia supports the ESL teachers at the primary school
through the implementation of a vertical professional learning community (PLC).

Pooja Rajan is a graduate student at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education and is cur-
rently enrolled in the 5-Year Elementary Education (K-6) with Preschool through Grade
3 (P-3) Certification dual program. She will receive a master's degree along with a Special
Education endorsement in May 2019. She has been working under Dr. Lesley Morrow for the
past year, leading to her newfound passion in Literacy. In January 2018, she along with other
graduate students took a trip to Yucatán, Mexico, where she collaborated with the UADY
School of Education in efforts to engage in projects with Mexican pre-service teachers through
conversation cafes and community-based education. She has been a substitute teacher in the
West Windsor-Plainsboro School District as she completes her graduate studies and truly en-
joys any opportunity she has to inspire children. Pooja has a passion for teaching and hopes
to better our educational system and continue on this endeavor throughout her career.
Stephanie Rosato is a fifth grade English Language Arts teacher in Edison, New Jersey.
She supports readers and writers through the implementation of a balanced literacy pro-
gram encompassing Reading Workshop, Writing Workshop, and Word Study. Through the
balanced literacy approach, Ms. Rosato fosters a literature rich environment, where stu-
dents acquire the necessary skills to increase comprehension. She also encourages students
to build strong reading lives, and works hard to inspire a love of reading within each child.
As a teacher, Ms. Rosato understands the tremendous impact reading makes on a child.
Therefore, the next step within her career is to achieve a Reading Specialist Certification
that will allow her to provide further individualized and focused instruction to young
readers and writers who need extra support and motivation.
Melissa Stawicki is an Interventionist at Bloomfield High School, where she works with
students and teachers in need of support and oversees a variety of student programs.
­Previously, she taught English Language Arts to students in grades nine through twelve for
more than a decade. Melissa has presented at multiple conferences throughout the country
on topics in literacy and educational leadership. She holds two master’s degrees in leader-
ship and is currently a doctoral candidate in Literacy Education at Rutgers University.
ix
Foreword

L
iteracy Development in the Early Years: Helping Children Read and Write was pub-
lished in its first edition in 1989. With the publication of this ninth edition, it has
now been in print for 30 years. New features were added to each of the previous
editions, as they are in this new edition. In the ninth edition, material dealing with
what was research-based best practice 30 years ago was retained, and other material
was updated based on current research, policy, and practice. This book was one of the
first on the topic of early literacy and has prevailed as one of the most utilized texts of
its kind in the country.
The first edition of Literacy Development in the Early Years appeared when research
on emergent literacy was just beginning to be implemented. We once thought that
children learned to speak and listen during their early years and later learned to read
and write at 6 and 7 years of age. We also believed that early childhood was a time to
learn to read and the elementary grades were a time to read to learn. We now know
that children begin to develop early forms of language and literacy ability concur-
rently and from the day they are born. We now know that learning to read and read-
ing to learn go hand in hand. We have discovered that excellent strategies are good
for all children at all ages. Excellent literacy instruction is created in literacy-rich
­environments in social contexts through immersion in literacy experiences, explicit
­instruction, practice, and modeling by teachers—all with constructive feedback. Les-
ley Mandel Morrow based her book on her own research as well as that of others and
her practical experience as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, researcher, mother,
and now grandmother. She took a look at historical theories and philosophies about
how children learn. As time passed and policy changes in teaching reading were leg-
islated, Morrow took these developments into account and shared this very important
information. With these new laws came new challenges, especially in the area of test-
ing. There is a great deal about assessment in this edition so that teachers can assess
children’s needs by doing a case study with all materials in this new volume.
English learners (ELs) make up a large portion of our school population. ­Morrow
has added more material to the chapter covering diversity and has incorporated the
label, Teaching English Learners, to call out specific activities throughout the book that
work particularly well with children who are English learners. Morrow demonstrates
the value of involving children in many types of language and literacy experiences.
She provides insightful examples of children’s approximations of writing and reading
as she establishes the necessity of giving them unlimited opportunities to practice.
Further, she illustrates the ways in which adults provide models, explicit instruction,
and feedback for young learners as they attempt to read and write. Morrow takes
a comprehensive perspective toward literacy instruction by selecting the best tech-
niques based on sound learning theories, such as a constructivist model with a prob-
lem-solving approach to more explicit instruction.
Children’s literature plays an important role in Lesley’s literacy environment.
Literature serves as a model for language learning and provides strong motivation
for learning to read and write. It is a springboard for many literacy-related activities.
Most important, literature is a way of knowing. It is shaped around story whether it
is narrative or expository—a primary act of human minds. She is also aware that in
early literacy development, materials designed for instructional purposes are neces-
sary for skill development and to attain national, state, and local standards for literacy
learning.

x
 Foreword xi

Dr. Morrow recognizes the importance of parents, siblings, grandparents, and

other caregivers reading to children and enjoying books together. She shows how
reading to babies influences their grasp of language and story patterns that serve
them well as they learn to read and write. She illustrates how children learn concepts
about print, book handling, and conventions of stories as they interact with books.
She establishes that adults teach by example as they enjoy shared reading and shared
writing with children. She shows the impact of having a literacy center in a classroom
and the effects of storybook reading aloud by a teacher. She illustrates that when chil-
dren know authors and illustrators as real people, they want to read their work and
write in a manner similar to them. Morrow states that storytelling is similar to read-
ing aloud in its impact on children. She also recognizes the necessity of skills that in-
volve learning concepts about print and books. For example, children need to develop
phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabetic principles, and phonics for reading
success. They also must learn to construct meaning from text by learning strategies for
comprehension. Speaking from her own experiences as a teacher, researcher, parent,
and grandparent, Morrow charts a path that leads to successful literacy learning.
Lesley has taken a long view of literacy development in the early years, show-
ing its historical roots. She also knows and draws on the research of today’s leaders
because she is a member of that research community. She succinctly summarizes lan-
guage theories and relates current research to shape sound practices. She has con-
ducted much of the original research herself, testimony to the fact that she can bridge
the gap among theory, research, and practice. Her examples are anchored in real class-
room experiences—her own and those of other teachers with whom she works collab-
oratively. The examples are authentic and add credibility to the content of this book.
Morrow spends a significant amount of time on organizing and managing lan-
guage arts throughout the day. In case studies and outlines, she takes the reader step
by step to show what exemplary literacy instruction looks like. This edition puts a
great deal of emphasis on the use of technology in the early childhood literacy class-
room, differentiated instruction, response to intervention, and content-area literacy
instruction. She has added information about looking at schools as “Communities of
Learning” that have a positive mindset for success. She addresses the need for teach-
ers to look at the social, emotional, physical and intellectual parts of a child and what
that means for literacy instruction. Her book is filled with photographs, figures, and
illustrations that take the reader into classrooms, and reproducible strategies for the
classroom are sprinkled throughout the book. There also are online video clips where
students can see strategies come to life in the classroom.
Lesley Morrow’s treatment of literacy development is on the cutting edge of cur-
rent knowledge. She is well informed about her subject and makes connections among
all aspects of literacy learning. She is a sensitive observer and writer, letting children
and teachers speak for themselves through their work.
Dr. Morrow states that few children learn to love books by themselves. Someone
must lure them into the wonderful world of the written word. She shows us how to do
that and enriches our lives and the lives of children through her work. Her contribution
to the literacy development of children from birth through grade 3 is a lasting one.

Linda B. Gambrell, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor of Education
Clemson University
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Preface

L
iteracy Development in the Early Years, ninth edition, is for teachers, reading spe-
cialists, administrators, students in teacher education programs, and parents.
It is appropriate for graduate, undergraduate, and professional development
courses in early literacy, and it complements texts on teaching reading in the elemen-
tary school, children’s literature, child development, early childhood curriculum, and
teaching language arts.
I wrote the book because of my special interest in literacy development in early
childhood. I taught in preschool, kindergarten, and the primary grades; I was a read-
ing specialist; and then I taught early childhood curriculum and literacy courses at the
university level. My research has focused on instructional strategies in early literacy.
Over the years, research in early literacy has generated new theory. It has implications
for new instructional strategies and reinforces older practices based on little or no
­research to establish their validity. The book describes a program that nurtures literacy
development from birth through third grade.
The ideas in the book are based on research. They have been tried and they have
worked, but not all are appropriate for all teachers or all children. The good teacher
functions most effectively with strategies he or she feels most comfortable with. The
teacher needs to be a decision maker who thinks critically about the design of his or
her literacy program and the selection of materials. Children come to school with di-
verse social, emotional, physical, and intellectual abilities and achievement levels.
They have diverse cultural backgrounds, experiences, and exposures to literacy. All
must be addressed appropriately.
Underlying this book is the merging of the art and the science of teaching. The
science involves theories based on research findings that have generated instructional
strategies. The book is also based on current standards for teaching literacy and cur-
rent policy. Most of the book contains descriptions of strategies and steps for carrying
them out. But the research does not necessarily take into account individual differ-
ences among teachers and children. The art of teaching concentrates on those human
variables. This book provides a comprehensive and balanced approach to early lit-
eracy instruction. Constructivist ideas that involve problem-solving techniques are
blended with explicit direct instructional approaches so that teachers can decide what
works best for the children they teach. There is a strong emphasis on learning to read
through the integration of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing. There
is also a strong emphasis on the integration of these literacy skills into content-area
learning. Differentiation of instruction is a major theme. That theme suggests that
teaching must be directed to the individual needs of every child and, in addition,
there is a strong emphasis on the diverse nature of children.

Chapter Organization
Chapter 1 places you in an early childhood classroom immediately. Its purpose is to pro-
vide you with an exemplary model of excellent literacy instruction. It provides the student
with a look at what can be in an excellent early literacy classroom. It lays the groundwork
for the rest of the book, which looks at each part of an exemplary literacy day.
Chapter 2 provides a framework of theory, research, and policy from the past and
present that has influenced strategies for developing early literacy.

xii
 Preface xiii

Chapter 3 covers the important issues of assessment and provides you

with concepts for authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, and standardized
assessment. This chapter emphasizes how assessment must guide instruction and
how they are connected. With this philosophy in mind, strategies for assessment
are integrated into all chapters. There is also a look at standards to see how they
influence what we teach.
Chapter 4 is about the diversity in our classrooms. The chapter has been
expanded because of the diverse nature of our classrooms. There is an emphasis
on English learners (ELs) as well as discussions of special learning needs such as
learning disabilities, physical disabilities, gifted children, and others. This chapter
provides strategies for teaching children who are diverse in many ways. However,
meeting the needs of these individuals is a special focus throughout the book.
Chapters 5 through 10 deal with emergent literacy skills and strategies, oral lan-
guage and vocabulary development, word study, comprehension, and writing. These
chapters discuss theory and research—specifically, developmental trends, instruc-
tional strategies, and methods for assessment. The book views the development of
literacy skills (reading, writing, oral language, listening, and viewing) as concurrent
and interrelated; the development of one enhances the development of the others.
Furthermore, the theories, stages, acquisition, and strategies associated with each are
similar, and it is difficult to separate them entirely. To make the volume more readable,
however, I have treated the various areas of literacy in different chapters.
Chapter 11 places a strong emphasis on the importance of children’s literature in
literacy development as well as creating rich literacy centers in classroom.
Chapter 12 focuses on motivation through the integration of literacy throughout
the school day. The topics discussed are technology and literacy, content areas and
literacy, and playfulness in school. Thematic instruction and project-based instruction
are discussed.
Chapter 13 provides the organization and management of the components pre-
sented in the book that are organized to create a successful program. The best strate-
gies will fall apart if the school day is not organized well. Ways of scheduling the
school day are discussed, as well as descriptions of how to organize whole-group,
small-group, and individualized instruction. An area of extreme importance to teach-
ers is how children can learn to work independently at centers while teachers instruct
small groups to meet achievement needs. This is accomplished through differentiation
of instruction.
Chapter 14 discusses the strong influence of the home on the development of lit-
eracy, especially in a child’s earliest years. It discusses broad perspectives concerning
family literacy, such as integrated home and school programs, intergenerational pro-
grams, and sensitivity to cultural differences to provide programs that are not intru-
sive but build on the strengths of the families being served.
Each chapter begins with expected outcomes to focus on while reading the text.
Important vocabulary in the chapter is listed at the beginning of each chapter. The
questions and vocabulary are followed by theory and research, a great deal of practice
and assessment. Each chapter has multiple and reproducible strategies throughout.
The chapters end with a summary that focuses on the expected outcomes with ques-
tions and activities for further study. The appendices supplement the text with lists
of materials that teachers use in carrying out a successful program to develop early
literacy. Appendix E offers the instructor ideas for his or her college classroom. Key
words dealing with early literacy development are defined in the glossary at the end
of the book.
xiv Preface

What’s New in the Ninth Edition

New features of the ninth edition include the following:
• There are 14 chapters instead of 10 in this edition. The purpose was to make chap-
ters shorter with less information but more targeted information in each one. This
was done to make the book more student-friendly. New chapters are Chapter 5,
Early Childhood Language Development: Birth to Age 2; Chapter 6, Language
and Vocabulary Development: Preschool Through Grade 3; Chapter 7, Emergent
Literacy Skills and Strategies: Helping Children Figure Out Words; and, Chapter
8, Phonological Awareness and Phonics Instruction.
• There is an emphasis on creating a community of learners in literacy instruction
by embracing a positive mindset of “You can do it,” “We can do it” and “I will do it”.
• There is an emphasis on the use of informational text, integration of literacy
throughout the curriculum, a look at close reading, and text complexity.
• More strategies than ever before are embedded within the book followed by
­vignettes to illustrate how to put them into practice.
• Appendix B provides a new Integrated Language Arts Thematic Unit entitled
Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds. This unit not only covers content to encourage
healthy living but identifies how to seamlessly integrate reading and writing strate-
gies into lesson planning and meet Common Core standards.
• Continued emphasis is placed on research and policy in early literacy development,
including findings from the National Reading Panel, the National Early Literacy
Panel, Preventing Reading Difficulties, Reading First, the Rand Report, the impli-
cations of the No Child Left Behind legislation, Race to the Top, and the Common
Core State Standards.
• Updated photographs, as well as tables and illustrations enhance the text.
• There are additional strategies for developing literacy in writing workshops, read-
ing workshops, independent and partner reading, organizational methods, and
comprehension development.
• Appendices for children’s literature, early literacy software, and multiple websites
for teachers and children have been updated.
• There are additional assessment tools for carrying out a very complete case study
of a child’s abilities and needs in literacy development and an emphasis on assess-
ment guided instruction.
• Emphasis is placed on school relevance and motivation.
• There is a strong focus on how to organize children with similar needs for small-
group instruction.

MyLab Education
One of the most visible changes in the ninth edition, and also one of the most signifi-
cant, is the expansion of the digital learning and assessment resources embedded in
the eText and the inclusion of MyLab Education in the text. MyLab Education is an
online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with the text to
engage learners and to improve learning. Within its structured environment, learners
see key concepts demonstrated through real classroom video footage, practice what
they learn, test their understanding, and receive feedback to guide their learning and
to ensure their mastery of key learning outcomes. Designed to bring learners more
directly into the world of K–12 classrooms and to help them see the real and powerful
 Preface xv

impact of early literacy concepts covered in this book, the online resources in MyLab
Education with the Enhanced eText include:

• Video Examples. About two or three times per chapter, an embedded video
provides an illustration of an early literacy principle or concept in action. These
video examples most often show students and teachers working in classrooms,
and sometimes they show students or teachers describing their thinking or
experiences.

• Self-Checks. In each chapter, self-check quizzes help assess how well learners
have mastered the content. The self-checks are made up of self-grading multiple-
choice items that not only provide feedback on whether questions are answered
correctly or incorrectly, but also provide rationales for both correct and incorrect
answers.

• Application Exercises. These exercises give learners opportunities to practice ap-

plying the content and strategies from the chapters. The questions in these exercises
are usually constructed response. Once learners provide their own answers to the
questions, they receive feedback in the form of model answers written by experts.
Acknowledgments
I extend my heartfelt appreciation to those who helped with the ninth edition. These
individuals always said yes to whatever request I had and worked tirelessly on many
parts of the book with me. They are Christina Boyland, Jennifer Renner Del Nero,
­Lucia Oubina Laka, Melissa Stawicki, Pooja Rajan, and Stephanie Rosato. I extend my
appreciation to Drew Bennett the Acquisitions Editor at Pearson for supporting the
ninth edition of this book, and for the guidance he offered during the revision process.
I would also like to thank Clara Bartunek and Vanitha Puela for their careful atten-
tion during the editing process. Also thanks to Linda Bishop and thanks to the CSC
­composition team for all their help.
Thank you to students, teachers, and administrators who worked on the other
eight editions: Paula Batsiyan, Lisa Mullin, Kathy Minto, Sara Stofik, Doug Bushell,
Elizabeth Freitag, Stefanie Lederman, Stacy Stannzel, Joellen Surace, Thu Win, Danielle
Wintringham, Julie Anastasi, Lara Heyer, Kristen Valvanis, Patricia Addonizio, Susan
Burks, Kathleen Cunningham, Katie Farrell, Mary Ann Gavin, Laura Babarca, Tricia
Lyons, Melody Olsen, Michele Preole, Mary Joyce Santoloci, Sari Schnipper, Karen
Szabo, Patricia DeWitt, Erica Erlanger, Michael Gravois, Katherine Heiss, ­Pamela Kel-
liher, Lisa Lozak, Stacey Rog, Monica Saraiya, Amy Sass, Connie Zauderer, Stephanie
Adams, Ellen Abere, Bonita Bartholomew, Maxine Bell, Lynette Brenner, Karen Buda,
Pat Burton, Barbara Callister, Heather Casey, Jennifer Castio, Melissa C ­ olucci, Shan-
non Corcoran, Tom DelCasale, Judy DeVincenzo, Fran Diamente, TamiLyn Eisen,
Gina Goble, Arlene Hall, David Harris, Lori Harrje, Catherine Hickey, Joanne Jacob-
son, Adriann Jean-Denis, Noreen Johnson, Tracy Kahn, Linda Keefe, Sheryl King,
Gail Martinez, Nancy Mason, Joyce McGee, Carna Meechem, Dennis Monaghan,
Stephanie Moretti, Joyce Ng, Susan Nitto, Ellen O’Connor, Catherine Ogletree, Lucy
Oman, Barbara Oxfeld, Mary Payton, Tammye Pelovitz, Cynthia Peters, John Quinta-
glie, Robert Rosado, Sonia Satterwhite, Joyce Schenkman, Linda Schifflette, Christine
Temple, Patty Thaxton, Marcia Wesalo, Susan Yoder, Margaret Youssef, Andrea Shane,
Milton Mandel, Howard Manson, Cheryl Devine, Kate Brach, Danielle Lynch, Lynn
Cohen, Lisa Rosenfeld, Jennifer Chiaramida, Kelly Lamar, Amy Sass, Michael Gravois,
Kenneth Kunz, Marilyn Burnbaum, Lisa Bratas, Jen Chen, Jennifer DelNero, ­Maureen
Hall, Jennifer Kamm, Patricia Tait, Ghina Molinari-Schiano, Bethany ­Reichwein,
Christina Speizio, Sharon Weldon, Jennie Dzurrila, and Cathy Kobylarz.
Thank you to the children I taught, my college students, and the excellent teachers
I have observed and from whom I’ve learned so much. I am grateful to the researchers
in early literacy who have provided exciting information in the field. I consider this
book a cooperative effort as a result of the contributions of so many in both direct and
indirect ways.
To those who reviewed the eighth edition of the book, especially Rosemary
Geiken of East Tennessee State University, and offered suggestions for what to include
in the ninth edition, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. To the college professors,
college students, teachers, and parents who purchased earlier editions and demon-
strated their support for the publication, the ninth edition was made possible by you.
Finally, I thank my parents, Mary and Milton Mandel, who provided a literacy-
rich environment for me and a work ethic that gave me the ambition to take on this
task. Thank you to my family, Stephanie M. Bushell, Doug Bushell, and Bob Janney for
their support and my grandson James and granddaughter Natalie for demonstrating
the validity of many of the concepts expressed in the book.

L. M. M.
James and Natalie, you light up my life.
xvi
Chapter 1
Looking at an
Exemplary Early
Literacy Classroom

Photo credit: Lesley Mandel Morrow

In this chapter, I describe an early childhood teacher and her students in the beginning
of first grade. The purpose of this introduction is to give you an idea of what an exem-
plary early childhood classroom in which literacy is emphasized looks like. This will
give you a framework for what you will read in the rest of the book.
This chapter presents information you should know and be able to create in your
classroom after reading the book. By previewing this case study, you will have some
background knowledge about what is to come. The rest of the book will look at each
part of the day and skills being taught. You will find new vocabulary in the chapter
that is unfamiliar. These words will be defined in the chapters to come. In the descrip-
tion of this classroom, many of the critical components, materials, and routines of an
exemplary literacy instruction will be discussed. After completing the book, come back
to Chapter 1 and read it again.

Introduction to the Teacher

and Students
Wendy Hayes has been teaching first grade for the past seven years. Recently, she
­completed a master’s degree with a reading specialist certification. She teaches in a
working-class community. She has 22 students in her class, including 7 African American,

1
2 Chapter 1 Looking at an Exemplary Early Literacy Classroom
In this video, students work
independently at a writing station,
before sitting in the author’s
chair to present their work.
6 Caucasian, 5 Hispanic, 2 from Korea and 2 children from India. Nine of Wendy’s chil-
dren speak one of four languages at home: English, Spanish, Korea, and Hindi. Twelve
students are girls and ten are boys. There is a full-time aide assigned to one student
who is physically disabled and uses a wheelchair.
Wendy’s philosophy of teaching includes integration of the curriculum so that
students can build connections between content areas. She purposefully integrates
literacy skill development in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing with
her social studies and science themes as much as possible. Her small-group literacy
instruction emphasizes her belief in differentiated instruction. In the small groups, she
teaches skills in an explicit manner. Ms. Hayes uses both narrative and informational
texts. She is spending more time on informational books than she has in the past since
she recognizes that children gain background knowledge and vocabulary from this
material. She is aware that people read a variety of informational texts such as how-to
manuals, applications, instructions, recipes, and websites. Consequently, Ms. Hayes
understands that children must be introduced to multiple genres at a young age. She
uses standards from her state in her early literacy program.
Setting the Stage for Wendy’s Teaching
Wendy’s classroom is warm and inviting, with well-defined stations. The displays on
the walls clearly reflect the theme being studied. They also show considerable evidence
of the children’s growing literacy development. The displays include charts that Wendy
wrote with the children and samples of children’s writing and artwork. Wendy has an
easel with chart paper for the morning message, a calendar, a weather chart, a tempera-
ture graph, a helper chart, a daily schedule, a pocket chart, a word wall and an anchor
chart that lists classroom rules made by the teacher and children. All of this is in the
area where she teaches the whole group.
Wendy’s largest station is the literacy station that has a rug for independent reading
and whole-class meetings. The area includes lots of space for storing books. One set of
shelves holds books organized in two different ways. There are baskets of books leveled
for difficulty coordinating with Wendy’s small-group guided reading instruction. For
example, students reading books in the green basket during small-group instruction
know that these are the books for instruction. Other shelves hold baskets of books of
many different levels organized by themes, such as dinosaurs, sports, and weather.
Wendy rotates books in the baskets monthly. Colored stickers on the books and bas-
kets assist students in returning them to the correct spot. Student-made class books
and stories are displayed in another basket. Books about the current theme are on an
open-faced shelf.
The literacy station has a felt board and characters, a magnetic board with magnetic
characters, puppets, and props for storytelling. There is a rocking chair for the teacher
and other adults to use to read to the class. The children use the rocking chair to read
independently and to each other. The listening area in the literacy center has a CD
player for listening to stories. The literacy center also has manipulative materials for
learning about print, etc. Wendy has an electronic white board for presenting lessons
in word study and comprehension as well as activities for students to do on their own.
Finally, she embeds the use of technology in her teaching with digital texts, by accessing
information from the Internet, and posting information on the class website. She and
the children also create PowerPoint presentations and videos; these are programs that
enhance literacy and engage children, such as Animoto and Puppet Pals.
The writing station is an extension of the literacy station. There is a round table for
small groups of children to meet with the teacher. Shelves hold many types of paper
(lined and unlined), a stapler, markers, crayons, colored pencils, dictionaries, alphabet
stamps, and ink stamp pads. A word wall in the writing center has the letters of the
 Introduction to the Teacher and Students 3

alphabet taped on horizontally. When the children learn a new word, it is written on
a card and taped under the letter it begins with on the word wall. Children use the
words when they need the spelling of a word or to practice reading. During instruc-
tion, children are asked to think of words that begin with the same letter and sound
as a word on the word wall, or to think of words that rhyme with a word on the word
wall. Wendy puts her students’ names on the word wall. She also puts high-frequency
sight words that her children are expected to learn.
Content area stations are difficult to find space for. Wendy wants to make sure all
areas of the curriculum are visually apparent in her room. The next set of stations are
spaces she finds to display materials such as shelves, window, sills and doors.
Wendy’s science station provides a home for the class guinea pig and hermit crabs.
Equipment in this center includes plants, magnets, magnifying glasses, and objects
that sink or float. Materials are added to match the themes being studied, and there are
always new hands-on experiments for students to complete.
The dramatic play station includes a table, chairs, and a bookshelf. Changes are
made to the area to reflect the themes studied during the year. This center has been
converted into a restaurant where children take orders and read menus. The restau-
rant helps with learning about multicultural food and customs. This year the area has
been an Italian restaurant, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, and a Jewish Deli. Dramatic-play
­settings also include a newspaper office, a post office, and a travel agency.
There is a construction station which includes blocks of all sizes and shapes and
other items for construction, such as Legos®. There are trucks, cars, trains, people, and
animals in this area with labels designating where each toy goes. Also supplied are
5 × 8 cards and tape for labeling structures created by the children. There are signs
written by children such as “Please Save” on buildings under construction and signs
naming finished structures. Children sign their names on the labels.
Located near the sink is the art station, which contains an easel, table, and chairs.
There are scissors, markers, crayons, and paper of many colors, types, and sizes.
Collage materials such as cotton balls, doilies, foil, wallpaper, stickers, and glue are
also included.
The math station contains math manipulatives for counting, adding, measuring,
weighing, graphing, and distinguishing shapes. There are felt numbers to use on the felt
board, magnetic numbers for magnetic boards, numbers to sequence in a pocket chart,
and geometric shapes, such as squares, triangles, cylinders, and rectangles.
The children sit at tables clustered together. In a quiet corner of the room, there
is a kidney-shaped table that Wendy uses for small-group instruction. Shelves near
the table have materials for small groups, such as letters of the alphabet, rhyming
cards, leveled books, sentence strips, index cards, white boards, markers, and word-
study games.

Assessing Students to Determine Instructional Needs

To provide instruction to meet the varied reading and writing levels of her students,
Wendy spends considerable time assessing them with formal and informal measures.
In September, January, and June, she assesses students’ phonemic awareness, phonics
knowledge, their ability to read sight words, vocabulary development, their reading
comprehension, fluency, and writing ability. She plans instruction based on the needs
she identifies. She also looks at daily performance samples. Wendy takes monthly run-
ning records for children who are reading and checks knowledge of concepts about
books and print (CAP) for those not yet reading. These early assessments are called
formative assessments to help the teacher identify the types of errors that children make,
the decoding strategies they use, and their comprehension and reading grade level. A
comparison of previous running records to new ones and CAP tests indicate student
4 Chapter 1 Looking at an Exemplary Early Literacy Classroom

progress and how well her teaching strategies are working. These are called summative
assessments. Wendy writes anecdotal notes about child behavior that indicates achieve-
ment and what help is needed. She collects samples of children’s writing, evaluates
them, and places these in student portfolios. Wendy also observes students for social,
emotional, and physical development.

Small-Group Guided Reading Instruction

Wendy developed a schedule that allows her to work with small groups of children to
develop reading skills. Using the collected assessment information, she places students
with similar needs together for small-group guided reading instruction. As she works
with children, she takes careful notes regarding progress in literacy and adjusts the
members of her various groups as needed. While in small groups, Wendy provides
skills instruction for the children. She could work on phonics, comprehension, flu-
ency writing or vocabulary development. Wendy currently has four small groups and
meets with each group from once a week to at least four times a week depending on
the group’s needs.

Wendy’s Daily Schedule

8:45 - When children arrive at school, they have a Do Now time:

Carry out their jobs

Partner read
Make entries in their journals
Complete unfinished work

9:00 to 9:15 - The group meets as a whole for

Morning greetings
The calendar and weather are discussed
The schedule for the day is reviewed

9:15 to 10:00 - Vocabulary morning meeting

 here is a vocabulary lesson to match the theme being studied. Vocabulary words
T
from the theme are reviewed and some new ones added to the list. With a part-
ner, the children create sentences with the new vocabulary. In this vocabulary
period, grade-level vocabulary is also introduced. Engaging vocabulary lessons
will ­happen here.

10:00 to 10:20 - Reading comprehension workshop

The teacher does a read-aloud based on the theme being studied and does a mini-
lesson to build comprehension using either an informational or narrative book.
After the lesson, children select from a group of books the teacher has provided.
They read with a partner to practice the skill taught. The teacher moves around the
room and conferences with children about their reading, offering guidance when
necessary. The class as a whole shares what each student learned from partner
reading based on the comprehension skill taught in the read aloud.

10:20 to 11:10 - Small-group guided reading instruction and station activities to dif-
ferentiate instruction

The teacher meets with small groups and does explicit instruction for the needs of
the group. Literacy activities in stations are assigned and children are required to
complete three tasks.
 A Typical Day in Wendy’s Classroom 5

11:15 to 12:00 - Writing workshop

The teacher does a mini-skill lesson for the whole group focusing on one writing
skill. The children write alone or with a partner to practice the skill. The teacher
holds conferences with the children as they write. The children share their writing.

12:00 to 12:45 - Lunch and indoor or outdoor play

12:45 to 1:15 - Word study session

1:00 to 1:40 - Math

1:40 to 2:15 - Theme or project based-related activities in social studies or science in

which reading and writing activities are purposefully embedded

2:15 to 2:50 - Creative arts, music, or gym (specials or classroom teacher-related to

classroom theme studied and tied into literacy skills provided by the
classroom teacher)

Wrap up: Read-aloud or silent reading

Sharing and reviewing the most important things learned that day
Planning for tomorrow

A Typical Day in Wendy’s Classroom

Wendy and her students are studying dinosaurs. In her classroom, reading, writing,
listening, speaking, and content-area subjects are integrated into the dinosaur theme.
On Monday, she organizes activities for the week.
It is Monday morning and Wendy’s room is filled with quiet chatter as her students
arrive. Classical music plays in the background as children complete their morning routines.
Children move their name tags on the attendance board from the side labeled “Not here”
to “Here” and place their name stickers into the “Buy lunch” or “Milk” can. Some children
cluster around the easel, where Wendy has written the morning message and included the
question for the day. The message says, “Good morning, children. Today is Monday, April
3rd. We will have art today as our special. Our question for today is how many dinosaur
names do you know? Write them in your journal and we will talk about it later.”
Children check the helper chart for jobs such as feeding the animals, watering
plants, and recording the temperature and day’s weather on the weather graph. Wendy
puts pictures next to each step to help with reading the chart. This is particularly useful
for struggling readers and English learners (EL).
Students know it is “Do Now” time and write their weekend news in their journals.
On other days of the week, they partner read three times and journal write one more
time. Wendy greets each child as she circulates among the readers or writers. A two-
minute warning bell rings, letting children know that it is time to gather on the rug for
the morning meeting.

Morning Message and Vocabulary Meeting

Wendy says, “Good morning,” and the children repeat the greeting to each other and
shake hands around the circle. Because they are starting with April as a new month,
they echo read and then choral read a poem about the month that Wendy showed on
the digital white board. She gives the children a paper copy of the poem to put in their
poem books, along with other poems for each month.
Next, Wendy leads the class in reading the morning message together. She asked the
children to look at the morning message and read it together. It said, “Good ­morning,
children. Today is Monday, April 3rd. We will have art today as our special. What dino-
saurs did you write down? Can you tell me something about them?” The morning
6 Chapter 1 Looking at an Exemplary Early Literacy Classroom
In this video, a kindergarten
teacher models a read aloud
for an informational text.
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Oyb-OjQmM1M
message is used to develop vocabulary. They discussed the dinosaurs and Wendy brought
pictures of them to show as they are mentioned. New dinosaur names were added to the
themed word wall to continue vocabulary development. The children talk about the one
characteristic of the new dinosaurs that is different from the others. The new ‘character-
istic’ word is also added to the word wall to help children engage in a discussion about
the characteristics of the dinosaurs and identify the differences among them.
Reading Comprehension Workshop
Wendy has her class move to another portion of the room for reading comprehension
workshop. She will do a read-aloud and comprehension mini-lesson. The book is an
informational book about dinosaurs. They look through the pages together and decide
what the book will be about. It seems it might be about plant-eating dinosaurs. Wendy
tells them to listen for all the types of plants that the animals eat. She tells the children
to compare characteristics of meat-eating dinosaurs they read about recently and the
plant-eating dinosaurs she was going to read about today. The children have copies of
the book and follow along as the teacher reads. After reading, they discuss the facts
in the book and compare the meat eaters to the plant eaters.
After the discussion, children choose a book to read from a selection of dinosaur books.
The books are about meat-eating dinosaurs and plant eaters. Children are to remember
facts about the meat-eating dinosaurs and the plant-eating dinosaurs to compare. While
they read with a partner, the teacher circulates and listens to readers. She offers assistance
if needed. She may even conference with some who seem to need additional help.
After their partner reading, the class shares and compares facts together. They
discuss the differences between plant-eating dinosaurs and meat-eating dinosaurs on
a Venn diagram and discuss things they have in common.
Station Time
Wendy spends a few minutes reviewing the center activities and describing new ones
placed in the centers for the exploration of dinosaurs. Stations have materials that are in
place over a period of time, and they are enriched with activities that reflect the current
theme and skills that need to be practiced. All of the stations require students to engage
in literacy activities. A description of what has been added to each station related to the
dinosaur theme follows.
• Writing station: Dinosaur-bordered writing paper, dinosaur-shaped books, a dino-
saur dictionary, a dinosaur-shaped poster with words about dinosaurs, pencils,
crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
• Literacy station: Fiction and nonfiction dinosaur books, dinosaur books with
accompanying CDs, a dinosaur vocabulary puzzle, a dinosaur concentration mem-
ory game, and a teacher-made dinosaur lottery game.
• Computer station: Find information on different types of dinosaurs, and watch a
video about fossils and list important facts.
• Science station: Small skulls and old animal bones, along with a magnifying glass
and rubber gloves to examine the bones and draw what they think the entire animal
may have looked like; dinosaur pictures to sort into meat eaters and plant eaters;
other pictures to be sorted into “walked on two feet” and “walked on four feet.”
There are recording sheets for all activities.
• Math station: Measuring tools in a basket and sheets to record the measurement
of various plaster bones of dinosaurs; dinosaur counters; little plastic dinosaurs in
an estimation jar; and a basket containing 50 little dinosaurs numbered from 1 to
50 to be put in sequential order.
• Blocks center: Toy dinosaurs, trees, bushes, and some dinosaur books.
 A Typical Day in Wendy’s Classroom 7

• Art center: Dinosaur stencils, dinosaur stamps, clay models of dinosaurs, and
many pictures of dinosaurs to help students make their own sculptures. There are
cards for labeling each dinosaur with its names.
• Dramatic play station: The dramatic-play area is transformed into a paleontolo-
gist’s office with chicken bones embedded in plaster of Paris, carving tools and
small hammers to remove the bones, safety goggles, paper and pencils for labeling
bones, trays to display them, dinosaur books, and posters of fossils and dinosaurs.

After Wendy reviews station activities, she assigns her students to activities. The
work in the stations is reinforcing skills that students need practice in, such as matching
pictures with letters to reinforce long and short vowel sounds. When they complete the
“have to” activities, children may select any station.

Small-Group Guided Reading Instruction:

Differentiation of Lessons to Meet the
Needs of All Children
Station time allows the teacher to work with small groups and individuals while the chil-
dren are working independently. Wendy’s first group is reading a new book. She does a
quick book walk to introduce the children to the difficult words and interesting pictures.
During the book walk they discuss the names of the dinosaurs in the book. Wendy asks
the children to whisper read the book and words that are new to them. They also discuss
the names of the animals in the book. Wendy reads the story to the children first. Next,
the children are asked to read the book orally at their own pace. As the group whisper
reads, Wendy notices that one student reads the book quickly without making any errors.
Wendy makes a note to think about moving him to a more challenging reading group.
After the children finish reading, Wendy asks everyone to turn to page eight. “I noticed
that James read, ‘We saw the pot bear’ and then changed it to ‘polar bear,’ since he looked
back at the letters and took into account the meaning of the sentence. He remembered
that the words have to match the letters and what you read has to make sense.”
While the children were reading, Wendy did a running record on one child. She
noted that this student read “tooth” instead of “teeth” and said “winds” instead of
“wings.” Wendy will help this child pay more attention to the print when working
with him.
Wendy’s next group is reading a different and more difficult book. This group is
more advanced than the first. The group has worked with this book before; therefore,
the lesson that Wendy will carry out will help her children become more independent
readers. She will teach them how to figure out unknown words by using the meaning
of a sentence and by looking at the letters in the words. They begin with a game called
“Guess the Covered Word,” similar to an activity they used during the morning meet-
ing. This time, the covered word in the sentence “I can fast” is the word “run.”
The children are encouraged to select a word that makes sense in the sentence and then
look at the letters in the word to see which is the correct word. Words generated for
the missing word were: walk, eat, hop, sleep, and run. The activity is repeated in other
sentences throughout the book.
The next group is reading another book. In this lesson, Wendy focuses on teach-
ing the children to look at ending sounds to figure out words. Wendy wrote, “I am
go to the store” on the chart. She reads the sentence and the children quickly point
out that it does not sound right. Joan writes a second sentence, “I am going to the
store.” They ­identify the difference in the two sentences by pointing to the words go
and going. Wendy reminds the children to look at the ends and beginnings of words
when reading. They read the book with special attention to the word endings. After the
first reading, she starts a discussion to demonstrate their ability to infer and asks them
if they could think of another way to end the story.
8 Chapter 1 Looking at an Exemplary Early Literacy Classroom

A Quick Snack
For a snack there are dinosaur animal crackers and what Wendy refers to as “dinosaur
juice.” Children read independently when finished with the snack.

Writing Workshop
The children gather for writing in the whole-class meeting area. Wendy prepares them
for a school-wide activity. They will survey all students in the school to find out what
their favorite dinosaurs are. Wendy does an interactive writing activity to draft a let-
ter asking the teachers and children in other classrooms to participate. She begins by
reviewing the format of a letter, which was introduced during a previous unit on the
post office. They discuss how to begin and end a letter. Using chart paper, Wendy asks
the children to offer suggestions to start the letter and write the letter. The children and
their teacher compose the text. Wendy types the letter and distributes it to each class-
room. The original shared writing chart will be posted on the cafeteria door.
Next, Wendy introduces the writing activity for the week. The children will be writ-
ing informational texts about dinosaurs. They are each to select their favorite dinosaur
and answer the following questions before they begin their writing:
What are the parts of your dinosaur? What does your dinosaur eat? Where did
your dinosaur live? What else do you know about your dinosaur?

Each child selects a partner to work with and a dinosaur to study. Jamal and Damien
chose a tyrannosaurus. Wendy has provided books for looking up information in the
categories outlined and has identified websites for children to review. Each child takes
two sections of the book on which to write.
Through this initial activity, the children have learned that brainstorming is a cru-
cial step in the writing process. Brainstorming helps children decide what they will
write. On Tuesday, they will continue to browse through dinosaur books for informa-
tion and start to draft. Children will write the facts collected in informational stories
and illustrate them. When the activity is completed at the end of the week, children will
share their informational dinosaur stories.

Lunch and Play

Lunch is in the cafeteria. After eating, if weather permits, the children play outside. If
not, they play in the gym or their classroom.

Word Study Session

The school where Wendy teaches has a phonics program that makes sure children
­systematically learn the skills they need to read automatically and independent. This
program includes many manipulative materials that engage children in building words
using initial consonant blends and digraphs, and creating word families. In addition to
using the phonics program, Wendy always adds something that brings meaning to the
lesson. For example, with the study of dinosaurs as meat eaters and plant eaters, she
points out that the word “meat” follows the rule she has taught that says, “when two
vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” She asks the children for other words
with ea that follows that rule. Children mention “treat,” “seat,” and “beat.” They also
look at the word “plant” to notice the blend at the beginning of the word. They think
of other words that have the pl blend at the beginning, such as place, plot, and play.

Math
There is a specific math curriculum that Wendy follows in her school. She also ties her
math to her theme and literacy. Children are working on subtracting a one-digit number
Another random document with
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"I know, they are awful," agreed Katherine.
She opened her second letter, and a sudden flush came to her
cheeks. Miss Viner's voice in the room seemed to recede into the far
distance.
When she came back to a sense of her surroundings Miss Viner was
bringing a long speech to a triumphant termination.
"And I said to her, 'Not at all. As it happens, Miss Grey is Lady
Tamplin's own cousin.' What do you think of that?"
"Were you fighting my battles for me? That was very sweet of you."
"You can put it that way if you like. There is nothing to me in a title.
Vicar's wife or no vicar's wife, that woman is a cat. Hinting you had
bought your way into Society."
"Perhaps she was not so very far wrong."
"And look at you," continued Miss Viner. "Have you come back a
stuck-up fine lady, as well you might have done? No, there you are,
as sensible as ever you were, with a pair of good Balbriggan
stockings on and sensible shoes. I spoke to Ellen about it only
yesterday. 'Ellen,' I said, 'you look at Miss Grey. She has been
hobnobbing with some of the greatest in the land, and does she go
about as you do with skirts up to her knees and silk stockings that
ladder when you look at them, and the most ridiculous shoes that
ever I set eyes on?'"
Katherine smiled a little to herself; it had apparently been worth while
to conform to Miss Viner's prejudices. The old lady went on with
increasing gusto.
"It has been a great relief to me that you have not had your head
turned. Only the other day I was looking for my cuttings. I have
several about Lady Tamplin and her War Hospital and what not, but I
cannot lay my hand upon them. I wish you would look, my dear; your
eyesight is better than mine. They are all in a box in the bureau
drawer."
Katherine glanced down at the letter in her hand and was about to
speak, but checked herself, and going over to the bureau found the
box of cuttings and began to look over them. Since her return to St.
Mary Mead her heart had gone out to Miss Viner in admiration of the
old woman's stoicism and pluck. She felt that there was little she
could do for her old friend, but she knew from experience how much
those seemingly small trifles meant to old people.
"Here is one," she said presently. "'Viscountess Tamplin, who is
running her villa at Nice as an Officers' Hospital, has just been the
victim of a sensational robbery, her jewels having been stolen.
Amongst them were some very famous emeralds, heirlooms of the
Tamplin family.'"
"Probably paste," said Miss Viner; "a lot of these Society women's
jewels are."
"Here is another," said Katherine. "A picture of her, 'A charming
camera study of Viscountess Tamplin with her little daughter Lenox.'"
"Let me look," said Miss Viner. "You can't see much of the child's
face, can you? But I dare say that is just as well. Things go by
contraries in this world and beautiful mothers have hideous children.
I dare say the photographer realized that to take the back of the
child's head was the best thing he could do for her."
Katherine laughed.
"'One of the smartest hostesses on the Riviera this season is
Viscountess Tamplin, who has a villa at Cap Martin. Her cousin, Miss
Grey, who recently inherited a vast fortune in a most romantic
manner, is staying with her there.'"
"That is the one I wanted," said Miss Viner. "I expect there has been
a picture of you in one of the papers that I have missed; you know
the kind of thing. Mrs. Somebody or other Jones-Williams, at the
something or other Point-to-point, usually carrying a shooting-stick
and having one foot lifted up in the air. It must be a trial to some of
them to see what they look like."
Katherine did not answer. She was smoothing out the cutting with
her finger, and her face had a puzzled, worried look. Then she drew
the second letter out of its envelope and mastered its contents once
more. She turned to her friend.
"Miss Viner? I wonder—there is a friend of mine, some one I met on
the Riviera, who wants very much to come down and see me here?"
"A man," said Miss Viner.
"Yes."
"Who is he?"
"He is secretary to Mr. Van Aldin, the American millionaire."
"What is his name?"
"Knighton. Major Knighton."
"Hm—secretary to a millionaire. And wants to come down here. Now,
Katherine, I am going to say something to you for your own good.
You are a nice girl and a sensible girl, and though you have your
head screwed on the right way about most things, every woman
makes a fool of herself once in her life. Ten to one what this man is
after is your money."
With a gesture she arrested Katherine's reply. "I have been waiting
for something of this kind. What is a secretary to a millionaire? Nine
times out of ten it is a young man who likes living soft. A young man
with nice manners and a taste for luxury and no brains and no
enterprise, and if there is anything that is a softer job than being a
secretary to a millionaire it is marrying a rich woman for her money. I
am not saying that you might not be some man's fancy. But you are
not young, and though you have a very good complexion you are not
a beauty, and what I say to you is, don't make a fool of yourself; but if
you are determined to do so, do see that your money is properly tied
up on yourself. There, now I have finished. What have you got to
say?"
"Nothing," said Katherine; "but would you mind if he did come to see
me?"
"I wash my hands of it," said Miss Viner. "I have done my duty, and
whatever happens now is on your own head. Would you like him to
lunch or to dinner? I dare say Ellen could manage dinner—that is, if
she didn't lose her head."
"Lunch would be very nice," said Katherine. "It is awfully kind of you,
Miss Viner. He asked me to ring him up, so I will do so and say that
we shall be pleased if he will lunch with us. He will motor down from
town."
"Ellen does a steak with grilled tomatoes pretty fairly," said Miss
Viner. "She doesn't do it well, but she does it better than anything
else. It is no good having a tart because she is heavy handed with
pastry; but her little castle puddings are not bad, and I dare say you
could find a nice piece of Stilton at Abbot's. I have always heard that
gentlemen like a nice piece of Stilton, and there is a good deal of
father's wine left, a bottle of sparkling Moselle, perhaps."
"Oh, no, Miss Viner; that is really not necessary."
"Nonsense, my child. No gentleman is happy unless he drinks
something with his meal. There is some good prewar whisky if you
think he would prefer that. Now do as I say and don't argue. The key
of the wine-cellar is in the third drawer down in the dressing-table, in
the second pair of stockings on the left-hand side."
Katherine went obediently to the spot indicated.
"The second pair, now mind," said Miss Viner. "The first pair has my
diamond earrings and my filigree brooch in it."
"Oh," said Katherine, rather taken aback, "wouldn't you like them put
in your jewel-case?"
Miss Viner gave vent to a terrific and prolonged snort.
"No, indeed! I have much too much sense for that sort of thing, thank
you. Dear, dear, I well remember how my poor father had a safe built
in downstairs. Pleased as Punch he was with it, and he said to my
mother, 'Now, Mary, you bring me your jewels in their case every
night and I will lock them away for you.' My mother was a very tactful
woman, and she knew that gentlemen like having their own way, and
she brought him the jewel-case locked up just as he said.
"And one night burglars broke in, and of course—naturally—the first
thing they went for was the safe! It would be, with my father talking
up and down the village and bragging about it until you might have
thought he kept all King Solomon's diamonds there. They made a
clean sweep, got the tankards, the silver cups, and the presentation
gold plate that my father had had presented to him, and the jewel-
case."
She sighed reminiscently. "My father was in a great state over my
mother's jewels. There was the Venetian set and some very fine
cameos and some pale pink corals, and two diamond rings with quite
large stones in them. And then, of course, she had to tell him that,
being a sensible woman, she had kept her jewellery rolled up in a
pair of corsets, and there it was still as safe as anything."
"And the jewel-case had been quite empty?"
"Oh no, dear," said Miss Viner, "it would have been too light a weight
then. My mother was a very intelligent woman; she saw to that. She
kept her buttons in the jewel-case, and a very handy place it was.
Boot buttons in the top tray, trouser buttons in the second tray, and
assorted buttons below. Curiously enough, my father was quite
annoyed with her. He said he didn't like deceit. But I mustn't go
chattering on; you want to go and ring up your friend, and mind you
choose a nice piece of steak, and tell Ellen she is not to have holes
in her stockings when she waits at lunch."
"Is her name Ellen or Helen, Miss Viner? I thought—"
Miss Viner closed her eyes.
"I can sound my h's, dear, as well as any one, but Helen is not a
suitable name for a servant. I don't know what the mothers in the
lower classes are coming to nowadays."
The rain had cleared away when Knighton arrived at the cottage.
The pale fitful sunshine shone down on it and burnished Katherine's
head as she stood in the doorway to welcome him. He came up to
her quickly, almost boyishly.
"I say, I hope you don't mind. I simply had to see you again soon. I
hope the friend you are staying with does not mind."
"Come in and make friends with her," said Katherine. "She can be
most alarming, but you will soon find that she has the softest heart in
the world."
Miss Viner was enthroned majestically in the drawing-room, wearing
a complete set of the cameos which had been so providentially
preserved in the family. She greeted Knighton with dignity and an
austere politeness which would have damped many men. Knighton,
however, had a charm of manner which was not easily set aside, and
after about ten minutes Miss Viner thawed perceptibly. Luncheon
was a merry meal, and Ellen, or Helen, in a new pair of silk stockings
devoid of ladders performed prodigies of waiting. Afterwards,
Katherine and Knighton went for a walk and they came back to have
tea tête-à-tête, since Miss Viner had gone to lie down.
When the car had finally driven off Katherine went slowly upstairs. A
voice called her and she went in to Miss Viner's bedroom.
"Friend gone?"
"Yes. Thank you so much for letting me ask him down."
"No need to thank me. Do you think I am the sort of old curmudgeon
who never will do anything for anybody?"
"I think you are a dear," said Katherine affectionately.
"Humph," said Miss Viner mollified.
As Katherine was leaving the room she called her back.
"Katherine?"
"Yes."
"I was wrong about that young man of yours. A man when he is
making up to anybody can be cordial and gallant and full of little
attentions and altogether charming. But when a man is really in love
he can't help looking like a sheep. Now, whenever that young man
looked at you he looked like a sheep. I take back all I said this
morning. It is genuine."
 31. Mr. Aarons Lunches
"Ah!" said Mr. Joseph Aarons, appreciatively.
He took a long draught from his tankard, set it down with a sigh,
wiped the froth from his lips, and beamed across the table at his
host, Monsieur Hercule Poirot.
"Give me," said Mr. Aarons, "a good Porterhouse steak and a
tankard of something worth drinking, and any one can have your
French fallals and whatnots, your ordoovres and your omelettes and
your little bits of quail. Give me," he reiterated, "a Porterhouse
steak."
Poirot, who had just complied with this request, smiled
sympathetically.
"Not that there is much wrong with a steak and kidney pudding,"
continued Mr. Aarons. "Apple tart? Yes, I will take apple tart, thank
you, Miss, and a jug of cream."
The meal proceeded. Finally, with a long sigh, Mr. Aarons laid down
his spoon and fork preparatory to toying with some cheese before
turning his mind to other matters.
"There was a little matter of business I think you said, Monsieur
Poirot," he remarked. "Anything I can do to help you I am sure I shall
be most happy."
"That is very kind of you," said Poirot. "I said to myself, 'If you want
to know anything about the dramatic profession there is one person
who knows all that is to be known and that is my old friend, Mr.
Joseph Aarons.'"
"And you don't say far wrong," said Mr. Aarons complacently;
"whether it is past, present, or future, Joe Aarons is the man to come
to."
"Précisément. Now I want to ask you, Monsieur Aarons, what you
know about a young woman called Kidd."
"Kidd? Kitty Kidd?"
"Kitty Kidd."
"Pretty smart, she was. Male impersonator, song and a dance—That
one?"
"That is the one."
"Very smart, she was. Made a good income. Never out of an
engagement. Male impersonation mostly, but, as a matter of fact,
you could not touch her as a character actress."
"So I have heard," said Poirot; "but she has not been appearing
lately, has she?"
"No. Dropped right out of things. Went over to France and took up
with some swell nobleman there. She quitted the stage then for good
and all, I guess."
"How long ago was that?"
"Let me see. Three years ago. And she has been a loss—let me tell
you that."
"She was clever?"
"Clever as a cartload of monkeys."
"You don't know the name of the man she became friends with in
Paris?"
"He was a swell, I know that. A Count—or was it a Marquis? Now I
come to think of it, I believe it was a Marquis."
"And you know nothing about her since?"
"Nothing. Never even run across her accidentally like. I bet she is
tooling it round some of these foreign resorts. Being a Marquise to
the life. You couldn't put one over on Kitty. She would give as good
as she got any day."
"I see," said Poirot thoughtfully.
"I am sorry I can't tell you more, Monsieur Poirot," said the other. "I
would like to be of use to you if I could. You did me a good turn
once."
"Ah, but we are quits on that; you, too, did me a good turn."
"One good turn deserves another. Ha, ha!" said Mr. Aarons.
"Your profession must be a very interesting one," said Poirot.
"So-so," said Mr. Aarons non-committally. "Taking the rough with the
smooth, it is all right. I don't do so badly at it, all things considered,
but you have to keep your eyes skinned. Never know what the public
will jump for next."
"Dancing has come very much to the fore in the last few years,"
murmured Poirot reflectively.
"I never saw anything in this Russian ballet, but people like it. Too
highbrow for me."
"I met one dancer out on the Riviera—Mademoiselle Mirelle."
"Mirelle? She is hot stuff, by all accounts. There is always money
going to back her—though, so far as that goes, the girl can dance; I
have seen her, and I know what I am talking about. I never had much
to do with her myself, but I hear she is a terror to deal with. Tempers
and tantrums all the time."
"Yes," said Poirot thoughtfully; "yes, so I should imagine."
"Temperament!" said Mr. Aarons, "temperament! That is what they
call it themselves. My missus was a dancer before she married me,
but I am thankful to say she never had any temperament. You don't
want temperament in the home, Monsieur Poirot."
"I agree with you, my friend; it is out of place there."
"A woman should be calm and sympathetic, and a good cook," said
Mr. Aarons.
"Mirelle has not been long before the public, has she?" asked Poirot.
"About two and a half years, that is all," said Mr. Aarons. "Some
French Duke started her. I hear now that she has taken up with the
ex-Prime Minister of Greece. These are the chaps who manage to
put money away quietly."
"That is news to me," said Poirot.
"Oh, she's not one to let the grass grow under her feet. They say that
young Kettering murdered his wife on her account. I don't know, I am
sure. Anyway, he is in prison, and she had to look round for herself,
and pretty smart she has been about it. They say she is wearing a
ruby the size of a pigeon's egg—not that I have ever seen a pigeon's
egg myself, but that is what they always call it in works of fiction."
"A ruby the size of a pigeon's egg!" said Poirot. His eyes were green
and cat-like. "How interesting!"
"I had it from a friend of mine," said Mr. Aarons. "But, for all I know, it
may be coloured glass. They are all the same, these women—they
never stop telling tall stories about their jewels. Mirelle goes about
bragging that it has got a curse on it. 'Heart of Fire,' I think she calls
it."
"But if I remember rightly," said Poirot, "the ruby that is named 'Heart
of Fire' is the centre stone in a necklace."
"There you are! Didn't I tell you there is no end to the lies women will
tell about their jewellery? This is a single stone, hung on a platinum
chain round her neck; but, as I said before, ten to one it is a bit of
coloured glass."
"No," said Poirot gently; "no—somehow I do not think it is coloured
glass."

32. Katherine and Poirot Compare Notes

"You have changed, Mademoiselle," said Poirot suddenly. He and
Katherine were seated opposite each other at a small table at the
Savoy.
"Yes, you have changed," he continued.
"In what way?"
"Mademoiselle, these nuances are difficult to express."
"I am older."
"Yes, you are older. And by that I do not mean that the wrinkles and
the crows' feet are coming. When I first saw you, Mademoiselle, you
were a looker-on at life. You had the quiet, amused look of one who
sits back in the stalls and watches the play."
"And now?"
"Now, you no longer watch. It is an absurd thing, perhaps, that I say
here, but you have the wary look of a fighter who is playing a difficult
game."
"My old lady is difficult sometimes," said Katherine, with a smile; "but
I can assure you that I don't engage in deadly contests with her. You
must go down and see her some day, Monsieur Poirot. I think you
are one of the people who would appreciate her pluck and her spirit."
There was a silence while the waiter deftly served them with chicken
en casserole. When he had departed, Poirot said:
"You have heard me speak of my friend Hastings?—he who said that
I was a human oyster. Eh bien, Mademoiselle, I have met my match
in you. You, far more than I, play a lone hand."
"Nonsense," said Katherine lightly.
"Never does Hercule Poirot talk nonsense. It is as I say."
Again there was a silence. Poirot broke it by inquiring:
"Have you seen any of our Riviera friends since you have been
back, Mademoiselle?"
"I have seen something of Major Knighton."
"A-ha! Is that so?"
Something in Poirot's twinkling eyes made Katherine lower hers.
"So Mr. Van Aldin remains in London?"
"Yes."
"I must try to see him to-morrow or the next day."
"You have news for him?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I—wondered, that is all."
Poirot looked across at her with twinkling eyes.
"And now, Mademoiselle, there is much that you wish to ask me, I
can see that. And why not? Is not the affair of the Blue Train our own
'Roman Policier'?"
"Yes, there are things I should like to ask you."
"Eh bien?"
Katherine looked up with a sudden air of resolution.
"What were you doing in Paris, Monsieur Poirot?"
Poirot smiled slightly.
"I made a call at the Russian Embassy."
"Oh."
"I see that that tells you nothing. But I will not be a human oyster. No,
I will lay my cards on the table, which is assuredly a thing that
oysters do not do. You suspect, do you not, that I am not satisfied
with the case against Derek Kettering?"
"That is what I have been wondering. I thought, in Nice, that you had
finished with the case."
"You do not say all that you mean, Mademoiselle. But I admit
everything. It was I—my researches—which placed Derek Kettering
where he is now. But for me the Examining Magistrate would still be
vainly trying to fasten the crime on the Comte de la Roche. Eh bien,
Mademoiselle, what I have done I do not regret. I have only one duty
—to discover the truth, and that way led straight to Mr. Kettering. But
did it end there? The police say yes, but I, Hercule Poirot, am not
satisfied."
He broke off suddenly. "Tell me, Mademoiselle, have you heard from
Mademoiselle Lenox lately?"
"One very short, scrappy letter. She is, I think, annoyed with me for
coming back to England."
Poirot nodded.
"I had an interview with her the night that Monsieur Kettering was
arrested. It was an interesting interview in more ways than one."
Again he fell silent, and Katherine did not interrupt his train of
thought.
"Mademoiselle," he said at last, "I am now on delicate ground, yet I
will say this to you. There is, I think, some one who loves Monsieur
Kettering—correct me if I am wrong—and for her sake—well—for
her sake I hope that I am right and the police are wrong. You know
who that some one is?"
There was a pause, then Katherine said:
"Yes—I think I know."
Poirot leant across the table towards her.
"I am not satisfied, Mademoiselle; no, I am not satisfied. The facts,
the main facts, led straight to Monsieur Kettering. But there is one
thing that has been left out of account."
"And what is that?"
"The disfigured face of the victim. I have asked myself,
Mademoiselle, a hundred times, 'Was Derek Kettering the kind of
man who would deal that smashing blow after having committed the
murder?' What end would it serve? What purpose would it
accomplish? Was it a likely action for one of Monsieur Kettering's
temperament? And, Mademoiselle, the answer to these questions is
profoundly unsatisfactory. Again and again I go back to that one
point—'why?' And the only things I have to help me to a solution of
the problem are these."
He whipped out his pocket-book and extracted something from it
which he held between his finger and thumb.
"Do you remember, Mademoiselle? You saw me take these hairs
from the rug in the railway carriage."
Katherine leant forward, scrutinizing the hairs keenly.
Poirot nodded his head slowly several times.
"They suggest nothing to you, I see that, Mademoiselle. And yet—I
think somehow that you see a good deal."
"I have had ideas," said Katherine slowly, "curious ideas. That is why
I ask you what you were doing in Paris, Monsieur Poirot."
"When I wrote to you—"
"From the Ritz?"
A curious smile came over Poirot's face.
"Yes, as you say, from the Ritz. I am a luxurious person sometimes—
when a millionaire pays."
"The Russian Embassy," said Katherine, frowning. "No, I don't see
where that comes in."
"It does not come in directly, Mademoiselle. I went there to get
certain information. I saw a particular personage and I threatened
him—yes, Mademoiselle, I, Hercule Poirot, threatened him."
"With the police?"
"No," said Poirot drily, "with the Press—a much more deadly
weapon."
He looked at Katherine and she smiled at him, just shaking her head.
"Are you not just turning back into an oyster again, Monsieur Poirot?"
"No, no! I do not wish to make mysteries. See, I will tell you
everything. I suspect this man of being the active party in the sale of
the jewels of Monsieur Van Aldin. I tax him with it, and in the end I
get the whole story out of him. I learn where the jewels were handed
over, and I learn, too, of the man who paced up and down outside in
the street—a man with a venerable head of white hair, but who
walked with the light, springy step of a young man—and I give that
man a name in my own mind—the name of 'Monsieur le Marquis.'"
"And now you have come to London to see Mr. Van Aldin?"
"Not entirely for that reason. I had other work to do. Since I have
been in London I have seen two more people—a theatrical agent
and a Harley Street doctor. From each of them I have got certain
information. Put these things together, Mademoiselle, and see if you
can make of them the same as I do."
"I?"
"Yes, you. I will tell you one thing, Mademoiselle. There has been a
doubt all along in my mind as to whether the robbery and the murder
were done by the same person. For a long time I was not sure—"
"And now?"
"And now I know."
There was a silence. Then Katherine lifted her head. Her eyes were
shining.
"I am not clever like you, Monsieur Poirot. Half the things that you
have been telling me don't seem to me to point anywhere at all. The
ideas that came to me came from such an entirely different angle—"
"Ah, but that is always so," said Poirot quietly. "A mirror shows the
truth, but every one stands in a different place for looking into the
mirror."
"My ideas may be absurd—they may be entirely different from yours,
but—"
"Yes?"
"Tell me, does this help you at all?"
He took a newspaper cutting from her outstretched hand. He read it
and, looking up, he nodded gravely.
"As I told you, Mademoiselle, one stands at a different angle for
looking into the mirror, but it is the same mirror and the same things
are reflected there."
Katherine got up. "I must rush," she said. "I have only just time to
catch my train. Monsieur Poirot—"
"Yes, Mademoiselle."
"It—it mustn't be much longer, you understand. I—I can't go on much
longer."
There was a break in her voice.
He patted her hand reassuringly.
"Courage, Mademoiselle, you must not fail now; the end is very
near."

33. A New Theory

"Monsieur Poirot wants to see you, sir."
"Damn the fellow!" said Van Aldin.
Knighton remained sympathetically silent.
Van Aldin got up from his chair and paced up and down.
"I suppose you have seen the cursed newspapers this morning?"
"I have glanced at them, sir."
"Still at it hammer and tongs?"
"I am afraid so, sir."
The millionaire sat down again and pressed his hand to his forehead.
"If I had had an idea of this," he groaned. "I wish to God I had never
got that little Belgian to ferret out the truth. Find Ruth's murderer—
that was all I thought about."
"You wouldn't have liked your son-in-law to go scot free?"
Van Aldin sighed.
"I would have preferred to take the law into my own hands."
"I don't think that would have been a very wise proceeding, sir."
"All the same—are you sure the fellow wants to see me?"
"Yes, Mr. Van Aldin. He is very urgent about it."
"Then I suppose he will have to. He can come along this morning if
he likes."
It was a very fresh and debonair Poirot who was ushered in. He did
not seem to see any lack of cordiality in the millionaire's manner, and
chatted pleasantly about various trifles. He was in London, he
explained, to see his doctor. He mentioned the name of an eminent
surgeon.
"No, no, pas la guerre—a memory of my days in the police force, a
bullet of a rascally Apache."
He touched his left shoulder and winced realistically.
"I always consider you a lucky man, Monsieur Van Aldin; you are not
like our popular idea of American millionaires, martyrs to the
dyspepsia."
"I am pretty tough," said Van Aldin. "I lead a very simple life, you
know; plain fare and not too much of it."
"You have seen something of Miss Grey, have you not?" inquired
Poirot, innocently turning to the secretary.
"I—yes; once or twice," said Knighton.
He blushed slightly and Van Aldin exclaimed in surprise:
"Funny you never mentioned to me that you had seen her,
Knighton?"
"I didn't think you would be interested, sir."
"I like that girl very much," said Van Aldin.
"It is a thousand pities that she should have buried herself once
more in St. Mary Mead," said Poirot.
"It is very fine of her," said Knighton hotly. "There are very few
people who would bury themselves down there to look after a
cantankerous old woman who has no earthly claim on her."
"I am silent," said Poirot, his eyes twinkling a little; "but all the same I
say it is a pity. And now, Messieurs, let us come to business."
Both the other men looked at him in some surprise.
"You must not be shocked or alarmed at what I am about to say.
Supposing, Monsieur Van Aldin, that, after all, Monsieur Derek
Kettering did not murder his wife?"
"What?"
Both men stared at him in blank surprise.
"Supposing, I say, that Monsieur Kettering did not murder his wife?"
"Are you mad, Monsieur Poirot?"
It was Van Aldin who spoke.
"No," said Poirot, "I am not mad. I am eccentric, perhaps—at least
certain people say so; but as regards my profession, I am very
much, as one says, 'all there.' I ask you, Monsieur Van Aldin,
whether you would be glad or sorry if what I tell you should be the
case?"
Van Aldin stared at him.
"Naturally I should be glad," he said at last. "Is this an exercise in
suppositions, Monsieur Poirot, or are there any facts behind it?"
Poirot looked at the ceiling.
"There is an off-chance," he said quietly, "that it might be the Comte
de la Roche after all. At least I have succeeded in upsetting his
alibi."
"How did you manage that?"
Poirot shrugged his shoulders modestly.
"I have my own methods. The exercise of a little tact, a little
cleverness—and the thing is done."
"But the rubies," said Van Aldin, "these rubies that the Count had in
his possession were false."
"And clearly he would not have committed the crime except for the
rubies. But you are overlooking one point, Monsieur Van Aldin.
Where the rubies were concerned, some one might have been
before him."
"But this is an entirely new theory," cried Knighton.
"Do you really believe all this rigmarole, Monsieur Poirot?"
demanded the millionaire.
"The thing is not proved," said Poirot quietly. "It is as yet only a
theory, but I tell you this, Monsieur Van Aldin, the facts are worth
investigating. You must come out with me to the south of France and
go into the case on the spot."
"You really think this is necessary—that I should go, I mean."
"I thought it would be what you yourself would wish," said Poirot.
There was a hint of reproach in his tone which was not lost upon the
other.
"Yes, yes, of course," he said. "When do you wish to start, Monsieur
Poirot?"
"You are very busy at present, sir," murmured Knighton.
But the millionaire had now made up his mind, and he waved the
other's objections aside.
"I guess this business comes first," he said. "All right, Monsieur
Poirot, to-morrow. What train?"
"We will go, I think, by the Blue Train," said Poirot, and he smiled.

34. The Blue Train Again

"The Millionaire's Train," as it is sometimes called, swung round a
curve of line at what seemed a dangerous speed. Van Aldin,
Knighton, and Poirot sat together in silence. Knighton and Van Aldin
had two compartments connecting with each other, as Ruth Kettering
and her maid had had on the fateful journey. Poirot's own
compartment was further along the coach.
The journey was a painful one for Van Aldin, recalling as it did the
most agonizing memories. Poirot and Knighton conversed
occasionally in low tones without disturbing him.
When, however, the train had completed its slow journey round the
ceinture and reached the Gare de Lyon, Poirot became suddenly
galvanized into activity. Van Aldin realized that part of his object in
travelling by the train had been to attempt to reconstruct the crime.
Poirot himself acted every part. He was in turn the maid, hurriedly
shut into her own compartment, Mrs. Kettering, recognizing her
husband with surprise and a trace of anxiety, and Derek Kettering
discovering that his wife was travelling on the train. He tested
various possibilities, such as the best way for a person to conceal
himself in the second compartment.
Then suddenly an idea seemed to strike him. He clutched at Van
Aldin's arm.
"Mon Dieu, but that is something I have not thought of! We must
break our journey in Paris. Quick, quick, let us alight at once."
Seizing suit-cases he hurried from the train. Van Aldin and Knighton,
bewildered but obedient, followed him. Van Aldin having once
formed his opinion of Poirot's ability was slow to part from it. At the
barrier they were held up. Their tickets were in charge of the
conductor of the train, a fact which all three of them had forgotten.
Poirot's explanations were rapid, fluent, and impassioned, but they
produced no effect upon the stolid-faced official.
"Let us get quit of this," said Van Aldin abruptly. "I gather you are in a
hurry, Monsieur Poirot. For God's sake pay the fares from Calais and
let us get right on with whatever you have got in your mind."
But Poirot's flood of language had suddenly stopped dead, and he
had the appearance of a man turned to stone. His arm, still outflung
in an impassioned gesture, remained there as though stricken with
paralysis.