Magic Faraway Tree (5 page)

 

   
"I've swallowed mine-and now I suppose I've got a stone inside me. Oh, you
nasty Mr. Change-About! I'll show you what I think of your chocolates!"
And to everyone's surprise Saucepan rushed at Mr. Change-About, knocked his box
of chocolates all over the room, and began to pummel him hard.

 

   
Biff, smack, biff, smack! Goodness, how the old Saucepan Man fought Mr. Change-About.
And Mr. Change-About fought back-but what was the good of that? Saucepan was so
hung about with pans of all kinds that nobody could possibly hit him anywhere
without grazing their knuckles and hurting themselves very much indeed!
Clang, clatter, clang, clatter, clash! The kettles and saucepans made an enormous
noise, and everyone began to laugh, for really Saucepan looked too funny for words,
dancing about on the floor, hitting and slapping at Mr. Change-About.

 

   
Mr. Change-About suddenly got very big and fierce-looking, but old Saucepan didn't
seem to mind at all. He just went on hitting out at him, and shouted: "The
bigger you are, the more there is to hit!"
So then Mr. Change-About got very small indeed, as small as a mouse, and ran squealing
across the floor in fright. Quick as lightning, Saucepan picked him up, popped
him into a kettle, and put the lid on him!
"Oh, Saucepan! Whatever will you do next?" said Jo, wiping tears of
laughter from his eyes. "I've never seen such a funny fight in my life. Be
careful Mr. Change-About doesn't squeeze out of the spout."
"I'll stuff it with paper," said Saucepan, tearing some from the box
of chocolates. "Now he's safe. Well -what do we do next?"
"We'd better get out of here," said Jo, standing up. He turned towards
the doorway -but what was this! There was no doorway-and no door! Only a wall
of rock that ran all round the underground room now.

 

   
"Goodness! How do we get out?" said Jo, puzzled. "This is a very
magic kind of place."
"There's no window, of course, because we are underground," said Dick.
"What in the wide world are we going to do?"
"What about the chimney?" asked Fanny, running to the fire. "It
looks pretty big. We could put the fire out and climb up, perhaps."
"Well, that looks about our only chance of getting out of here," said
Jo. He looked round for some water to put out the fire. He saw a tap jutting out
from the wall and went to it. He put a pail underneath and turned on the tap.
The water was bright green, and soon filled the pail. Jo threw it on the fire.
It made a terrific sizzling noise and went out at once, puffing clouds of green
smoke into the room.

 

   
Jo stepped on to the dead fire and looked up the chimney. "There's an iron
ladder going right up!" he called in excitement. "Come on! We shall
get dirty, but we can't help that. Hurry, before anything else queer happens!"
Up the ladder he went. It was hot from the heat of the fire, but grew colder the
higher he went.

 

   
"What an enormously long chimney!" called back Jo. "Is everyone
coming?"
"Yes! Yes!" called six voices below him. Jo climbed steadily upwards.
At last the ladder came to an end. Joe clambered over the top of it and found
himself in a most peculiar place.

 

   
"This looks like some kind of cellar," he said to the others, as they
scrambled up beside him. "Look at all those sacks piled up! What do you suppose
is in them?"
"Let's look," said Dick, who was always curious about everything. He
undid a sack-and, goodness gracious me! -out poured a great stream of bright golden
pieces of money! Everyone looked at it in astonishment.

 

   
"Somebody VERY rich must live here," said Jo at last. "I never
in my life saw so much gold. I can't believe that all the sacks are full of it!"
He undid another sack-and out poured gold again. Just as everyone was running
their fingers through it, marvelling at the gleam and shine of so much gold, there
came the sound of quick footsteps overhead.

 

   
A door above them opened, and a gleam of sunlight shone on to a flight of stone
steps leading up from the cellar to the door. A tall man in a pointed hat looked
down.

 

   
"Golly! It's an enchanter!" whispered Moon-Face in a fright. "We
must still be in the Land of Spells. Oh, dear!"
"Robbers! Thieves! Burglars!" shouted the enchanter in a loud voice.
"Servants, come here! Capture these robbers! They are after my gold! See
-they have undone two sacks already!"
"We don't want your gold!" cried Dick, "We only just wanted to
know what was in all these sacks!"
"I don't believe you!" cried the enchanter, as about a dozen small imps
came running past him down the steps into the cellar. "Capture them, servants,
and tie them up!"
The little imps pulled everyone up the cellar steps into a big, sunlit room. Its
ceiling was so high that nobody could see it. "Now tie them up," commanded
the enchanter.

 

   
Moon-Face suddenly snatched a kettle from Saucepan and snapped the string that
tied it to him. He went towards the enchanter fearlessly.

 

   
"Wait!" he cried, much to the astonishment of all the others. "Wait
before you do this foolish thing! I am an enchanter, too -and in this kettle I
have Mr. Change-About! Yes-he is a prisoner there! And let me tell you this, that
if you dare to tie me up, I'll put you into the kettle, too, with Mr. Change-About!"
From the kettle came a small, squealing voice: "Set me free, Enchanter, set
me free! Oh, do set me free!"
The enchanter turned quite pale. He knew it was Mr. Change-About's voice.

 

   
"Er-er-this is most peculiar," he said. "How did you capture Mr.
Change-About? He is a very powerful person, and a great friend of mine."
"Oh, I'm not going to tell you what magic I used," said Moon-Face boldly.
"Now -are you going to let us go- or shall I put you into this kettle, too?"
"I'll let you go," said the enchanter, and he waved them all towards
a door at the end of the room, "You may leave at once."
Everyone rushed to the door gladly. They all ran through it, expecting to come
out into the sunshine.

 

   
But, alas for them! The enchanter had played them a trick! They found themselves
going up many hundreds of stairs, up and up and up -and when they came to the
top there was nothing but a round room with one small window! A bench stood at
one end and a table at the other.

 

   
The enchanter's voice floated up to them.
"Ho! ho! I've got you nicely! Now I'm going to get my friend, Wizard Wily,
and he'll soon tell me how to deal with robbers like you!"
"We are in a trap!" groaned Jo. "Moon-Face, you were very clever
and very brave. But honestly, we are worse off than ever. I simply don't see any
way out of this at all!"
8. How Can They Escape?

 

   
Moon-Face looked all round the room at the top of the tower. "Well, we're
in a nice fix now," he said gloomily. "It's no use going down the stairs
again -we shall find the door at the bottom locked. And what's the good of a window
that is half a mile from the ground!"
Jo looked out of the window. "Gracious!" he said, "the tower is
awfully tall! I can hardly see the bottom of it. Hallo -there's the enchanter
going off in his carriage. I suppose he is going to fetch his friend, dear Wizard
Wily."
"I don't like the sound of Wizard Wily," said Silky. "Jo-Dick-Moon-Face-please,
please think of some way to escape!"
But there just simply WASN'T any way. No one wanted to jump out of the window.

 

   
They all sat down. "I'm dreadfully hungry," said Bessie. "Has anyone
got anything to eat?"
"I may have got some Pop Biscuits," said
Moon-Face, feeling in his pockets. But he hadn't. "Feel in your pockets,
Jo and Dick."
Both boys felt, hoping to find a bit of toffee or half a biscuit. Dick brought
out a collection of string, bits of paper, a pencil and a few marbles. Jo took
out much the same kind of things -but with his rubbish came a pink jar, very small
and heavy.

 

   
"What's in that jar?" asked Bessie, who hadn't seen it before. "Isn't
it pretty?"
"Let me see -what can it be?" wondered Jo, as he unscrewed the lid.
"Oh-I know. We saw a witch selling whizz-away ointment for broomsticks in
the Land of Spells-and I thought it would be such fun to rub some on mother's
broomstick and see it fly through the air. So we bought some. Smell it-it's delicious."
Everyone smelt it. Moon-Face suddenly got tremendously excited. "I say-"
he began. "I say -oh, I say!"
"Well, say then!" said Jo. "What's the matter?'
"Oh, I SAY!" said Moon-Face, stammering all the more. "Listen!
If only we could get a broomstick-we could rub this pink ointment on it-and fly
away on it!"
"Moon-Face, that's a very good idea-if only we had a broomstick-but we haven't!"
said Jo. "Look at this room-a table and a bench-no sign of a broomstick at
all!"
"Well, I'll run down the stairs and see if I can possibly get a broomstick,"
said Moon-Face, getting all excited. "I saw some standing in a corner of
that room we were in. I'll do my best, anyway!"
"Good old Moon-Face!" said everyone, as they watched the round-faced
little fellow scurry down the hundreds of steps. "If only he gets a broomstick!"
Moon-Face hurried down and down. It did seem such a very long way. At last he
came to the bottom of the stairs. An enormous wooden door was at the bottom, fast
shut. Moon-Face tried to open it, but he couldn't. So he banged on the door loudly.

 

   
A surprised voice called out: "Hie, there! What are you banging on the door
for? What do you want?"
"A broomstick!" said Moon-Face loudly.

 

   
"A broomstick!" said the voice, more astonished than ever. "Whatever
for?"
"To sweep up some crumbs!" said Moon-Face, quite untruthfully.

 

   
"A dust-pan and brush will do for that!" cried the voice, and the door
opened a crack. A dust-pan and brush shot in with a clatter and came to rest by
Moon-Face's feet. Then the door shut with a bang and was bolted at the other side.

 

   
"A dust-pan and brush!" said Moon-Face in disgust. "Now, who can
ride away on those?" He banged on the door again.

 

   
"Now what's the matter?" yelled the voice angrily.

 

   
"These won't do," said Moon-Face. "I want a BROOMSTICK!"
"Well, go on wanting," said the voice. "You won't get one. I suppose
you think you'll fly away on one if I give it to you. I'm not quite so silly as
that. What do you suppose my master would say to me when he came back if I'd given
you one of his broomsticks to escape on?"
Moon-Face groaned. He knew it was no good asking again. He picked up the dust-pan
and brush and climbed the stairs slowly, suddenly feeling very tired.

 

   
Everyone was waiting for him. "Did you get it, Moon-Face?" they cried.
But when they saw Moon-Face's gloomy face and the dust-pan and brush in his hand,
they were very sad.

 

   
They all sat down to think. Jo" looked up. "I suppose it wouldn't be
any good rubbing the whizz-away ointment on to anything else?" he asked.
"Would it make anything but broomsticks fly away?"
"I shouldn't think so," said Moon-Face. "But we could try. What
is there to try on, though? We haven't a stick of any sort."
"No -but there's a table over there, and this bench," said Jo, getting
excited. "Couldn't we try on those? We could easily sit on them and fly off,
if only the magic would work."
"But it won't," said Silky. "I'm sure of that. It's only for broomsticks.
But try it, Jo."
Jo took off the lid of the jar again. He dabbed a finger into the pink ointment
and rubbed some all over the top of the wooden bench, which was very, like a form
at school. "Now for the table," said Jo. He turned it upside down, thinking
that it would be more comfortable to sit on that way. They could hold the legs
as they went!
He rubbed the ointment all over the underside of the table. As he was doing this
everyone heard the sound of horses' hoofs clip-clopping outside. Silky ran to
the window.

 

   
"It's the enchanter come back again -and he's got the Wizard Wily with him!"
she cried. "Oh, do be quick, Jo! They will be up here in a minute."
"Moon-Face, Silky and Saucepan, you sit on the bench," said Jo. "You
girls and Dick and I will sit on the table. Hurry now!"
Everyone scrambled to take their seats. Silky was trembling with excitement. She
could hear the footsteps of the enchanter and the wizard coming up the steps.

 

   
"Now, hold tight, in case we really do go off!" said Joe. "Ready,
everyone? Then WHIZZ-AWAY HOME!"
And, goodness gracious, the bench and the table began to move! Yes, they really
did! They moved slowly at first, for they were not used to whizzing away-but as
the children squealed and squeaked in surprise and delight, the table rose up
suddenly s to the window and tried to get out!
It stuck. It couldn't get through. "Oh, table, do your best!" cried
Jo. "The enchanter is nearly here!"
The table tipped itself up a little-and then it could just manage to squeeze through
the opening. The children each clung tightly to a leg,
afraid of being tipped off. Then at last the table was through the window, and,
sailing away upside down, its four legs in the air, carrying the excited children
safely, it whizzed off over the Land of Spells!
Jo looked back to see if the wooden bench was coming, too. It had had to wait
until the table was through the window. Just as it was about to jerk upwards to
the window, the enchanter and the Wizard Wily had come rushing into the room.
What would have happened if the old Saucepan Man hadn't suddenly thrown &
kettle at them, goodness knows!
It was the kettle with Mr. Change-About in! The lid came off. Mr. Change-About
jumped out and turned himself almost into a giant! The enchanter fell over him,
and Mr. Change-About, not seeing who it was at all, began to pummel him hard with
his big fists, crying: 'I'll teach you to put me into a kettle!"
Wily hit out at Mr. Change-About, not knowing in the least who he was, or where
he had suddenly sprung from. And there was a perfectly marvellous fight going
on, just as the wooden bench flew out of the window. The enchanter saw it going
and tried to get hold of it-but just at that moment Mr. Change-About gave him
such a hard punch on the nose that he fell over, smack, again!
"Go it, Change-About!" yelled Moon-Face. "Hit him hard!"
And out of the window sailed the bench, with Moon-Face, Silky and Saucepan clinging
tightly to it. Far away in the distance was the upside-down table.