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know, sir." "And there's this business of the bed. . . ." "Yes, sir," said the sergeant.
"These children couldn't be considered in any way as delinquents. They were just having
some prank, isn't that so?" "Yes, sir." Suddenly a curious, half-shy look came into the
sergeant's eyes. He twisted his hat round in his hands. He looked at the inspector as if he
hardly dared put his thought into words.
"Something just occurred to me, sir." The sergeant was blushing.
"Well?" "The little girl, when I asked 'er 'ow she brought the bed up from Bedfordshire . . ."
"Yes?" The sergeant dropped his voice. "She said she brought it up by magic." For a moment
the inspector did not speak; then, "Really, Sergeant-" he said weakly.
The sergeant's blush became deeper. "I know, sir," he said humbly.
"Really, Sergeant," went on the inspector, standing up and beginning to gather together the
papers he would need in court. "You're a grown man, now. You must curb these fancies."
CAREY HAS AN IDEA
It was with a feeling of great relief that the children found themselves back again in Paul's
bedroom. Carey and Charles barely had time to wash themselves and to dress Paul before
Elizabeth sounded the gong for breakfast. Paul nearly fell asleep over his porridge, and Carey
and Charles felt guilty when, later on, Elizabeth thanked them for having made the beds they
hadn't slept in. Their adventure did not seem like a dream, but it seemed as if they had been
away for much longer than one night, and all of them felt very sleepy.
"Let's go down and see Miss Price this morning," suggested Carey, "and this afternoon let's go
up to the hayloft and sleep till teatime," They found Miss Price kneeling at her flower border,
planting. She wore a large straw hat and a canvas apron with pockets. It was a lovely day, and
the scented garden lay a-dream in the blazing warmth of the sun.
"Well," said Miss Price, sitting back and staring anxiously at their flushed, perspiring faces,
"did it work?" "Yes," said Carey. "It worked like magic-I mean, like a charm-I mean. . . . Oh,
Miss Price, it did work." She flung herself down on the grass beside Miss Price.
"Did you enjoy yourselves?" asked Miss Price rather anxiously. "Paul looks as though he can
hardly keep his eyes open." Carey pulled up a little tuft of the sweet-smelling lawn.
"Well, we didn't exactly enjoy ourselves," she admitted, and tried to push the tuft back again.
"You didn't!" exclaimed Miss Price. She looked worried.
Then out came the whole story. The children often interrupted each other, and sometimes they
spoke in chorus, but gradually Miss Price pieced the pattern together. She became graver and
graver as they described their adventures with the law and looked aghast when she heard they
had actually been taken to the police station. She looked sad when Charles told her how the
prison van had brought the bed into the yard and how they had stared at it through the barred
window, but she brightened considerably when they got to the bit about the sergeant's garden.
Carey copied Mrs. Watkins's voice saying, "Well, pop down and look at the bird, then, but
don't you touch them dahlias." They didn't have to describe the rest. Miss Price knew too well
what would happen once they were in reach of the bed. "Did anyone see you go?" she asked.
"No," said Carey, "that's when the sergeant went inside for his cup of tea." "Did the bed go at
once?" "Yes, like a flash. The second that Paul wished. We'd hardly got on it." "Well," said
Miss Price thoughtfully, "let's hope they don't ring up your mother." "Mother would say it
couldn't have been us," pointed out Charles. "She'd know we couldn't have been in London."
"That's true, Charles," agreed Carey. "And Aunt Beatrice would say at once that we were
here. We couldn't have been in London, possibly." Paul looked bewildered. "Then where were
we?" he asked.
"Oh, Paul!" exclaimed Carey impatiently. She turned her back on him and watched Miss
Price, who had begun once more to dig holes with the trowel. "What are you planting, Miss
Price?" "Edelweiss," said Miss Price absently. She sighed. "Well, all's well that ends well. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]