When he opened the door, Billy noticed that there were many tools hanging on the wall over the bench, but he spied the hammer.

Billy stretched out his arm and hand for the hammer.   He couldn't reach it.

He stood on his tiptoes and stretched again, but the hammer was still too far away to reach.

Billy looked around and found an old plastic milk case sitting along the outer wall.   He pushed the milk case over to the tool bench and climbed up on it.   He still couldn't reach the hammer.   He swung his leg up on the bench and pulled himself up with his hands.

"Are you all right in there?" asked his mother.

"Yeah, I've got it!" yelled Billy as he pulled the hammer off the hook on the wall.

He carefully stretched his leg down until the tip of his shoe was touching the milk case and slid down off the bench.

"Whew!   I made it," he said.

Billy looked around under the bench and saw two pails full of nails.

"Mom said that she needed long nails," he whispered.

In one keg were the nails Dad had used when he put a new window in the house.   In the other keg were much longer nails that Dad had used when he built a gate out by the cow barn.   These were the nails his Mother needed!

Billy ran back to his mother and laid the nails and hammer down on the picnic table.

His mother was just finishing up stuffing the pants full of straw.   She tied two pieces of twine around the end of the pant legs.   Straw was sticking out of the pant legs.

"Billy, these nails are perfect.   I think if I pound three or four nails right through the middle of the two stilts, it will hold this fellow all together."

Mrs. Johnson opened up the front of the shirt and pounded a nail directly in the center of the two stilts.   Then she pounded two more nails just above the first nail.   She packed the shirt full of straw and buttoned it up.   She tied the pants tightly around the waist.

Mrs. Johnson stepped back and looked at the scarecrow and took the hammer and pounded another nail through the pillow case neck into the stilt and stood the scarecrow on its end.

Billy laughed.   "He sure looks funny, Mom.   He has straw sticking out of his arms and legs.   His head looks funny too."

Billy stood looking up at the scarecrow.   "I think he needs a hat, Mom.   Do you have one we could use?"

Mrs. Johnson thought for a moment.

"The only hat I know of is a new one I bought for Dad's last birthday.   It is hanging on the hat rail in the back room.   Dad won't wear it because he likes his old hat with a hole in the crown."

"Mom, can I go get the hat?"

"We don't want to use the new hat, Billy." said his mother.   "Maybe we can coax Dad to give up his old hat and he can wear the new one.   What do you think?   Should we ask him?"

"Oh yes, Mom, I'll ask him.   I could run down to the field right now and ask him for his old hat."

"We better wait until Dad comes up for supper," said Mrs. Johnson laughing.   "You wouldn't want him to give up his hat in the middle of the day would you?   "Let's wait until supper and then ask him,   Okay?"

"Okay, Mom," said Billy.