Five Children and It Chapter 2 - Golden Guineas

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Chapter two of Five Children and It. This is a
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LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
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Recording by Jenny Lundak Five Children and It by E. Nesbit,
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Chapter two, Golden Guineas Anthea woke in the morning from
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a very real sort of dream in which she was
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walking in the zoological gardens on a pouring wet day
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without any umbrella. The animals seemed desperately unhappy because of
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the rain and were all growling gloomily. When she awoke,
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both the growling and the rain went on just the same.
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The growling was the heavy, regular breathing of her sister Jane,
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who had a slight cold and was still a sleep.
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The rain fell in slow drops onto Anthea's face from
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the wet corner of a bath towel which her brother
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Robert was gently squeezing the water out of to wake
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her up. As he now explained, Oh, drop it, she said,
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rather crossly. So he did, for he was not a
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brutal brother. Though very ingenious in apple pie beds, booby traps,
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original methods of awakening sleeping relatives and the other little
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accomplishments which make home happy. I had such a funny dream,
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Anthea began. So did I said Jane, waking suddenly and
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without warning, I dreamed be found a sand fairy in
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the gravel pits, and it said it was a samiad
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and we might have a new wish every day. And
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but that's what I dreamed, said Robert. I was just
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going to tell you, and we had the first wish directly,
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it said so. And I dreamed you girls were donkeys
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enough to ask for us to all be beautiful as
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the day, and we jolly well were, and it was
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perfectly beastly. But can different people all dreamed the same thing,
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said Anthea, sitting up in bed, Because I dreamed all that,
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as well as about the zoo and the rain. And
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baby didn't know us in my dream, and the servants
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shut us out of the house because the radiantness of
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our beauty was such a complete disguise. And the voice
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of the eldest brother sounded from across the landing. Come on, Robert,
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it said, you'll be late for breakfast again, unless you
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mean to shirk your bath like you did on Tuesday.
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I say, come here, a sec. Robert replied, I didn't
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shirk it. I had it Afterbrecker in father's dressing room
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because ours was emptied away. Girl appeared in the doorway,
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partially clothed. Look here, said Anthea. We've all had such
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an odd dream. We've all dreamed we found a sand fairy.
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Her voice died away before Cyril's contemptuous glance dream he said,
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you little sillies, it's true. I tell you it all happened.
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That's why I'm so keen on being down early. We'll
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go up there directly after Brecker and have another wish.
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Only we'll make up our minds solid before we go
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what it is we do want. And no one must
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ask for anything unless the others a grief first. No
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more peerless beauties for this child, Thank you not if
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I know it. The other three dressed with their mouths open.
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If all that dream about the sand fairy was real,
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this real dressing seemed very like a dream, the girl's thought.
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Jane felt that Cyril was right, but Anthea was not
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sure till after they had seen Martha and heard her
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full and plain reminders about their naughty conduct the day before. Then,
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Anthea was sure because she said. The servants never dream
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anything but the things in the dream book, like snakes
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and oysters, and going to a wedding that means a funeral,
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and snakes are a false female friend, and oysters are babies.
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Talking of babies, said Cyril, where's the lamb? Martha's going
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to take him to Rochester to see her cousins. Mother
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said she might. She's dressing him now, said Jane, in
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his very best coat and hat, bread and butter. Please.
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She seems to like taking him, too, said Robert, in
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a tone of wonder. Servants do like taking babies to
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see their relations. Cyril said, I've noticed it before, especially
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in their best thing. I expect they pretend they're their
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own babies, and that they're not servants at all, but
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married to noble dukes of high degree, and they say
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the babies are the little dukes and duchesses, Jane suggested, dreamily,
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taking more marmalade. I expect that's what Martha say to
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her cousin. She'll enjoy herself most frightfully. She won't enjoy
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herself most frightfully carrying our infant duke to Rochester, said Robert.
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Not if she's anything like me. She won't fancy walking
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to Rochester with the lamb on your back. Oh, criky,
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said Cyril, in full agreement. She's going by carrier, said Jane.
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Let's see them off. Then we shall have done a
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polite and kindly act, and we shall be quite sure
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we've got rid of them for the day. So they did.
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Martha wore her Sunday dress of two shades of purple,
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so tight in the chest that it made her stoop,
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and her blue hat with the pink corn flowers and
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white ribbon. She had a yellow lace collar with a
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green bow. And the lamb had indeed his very best
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cream colored silk coat and hat. It was a smart
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party that the carrier's cart picked up at the cross roads,
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when its white tilt and red wheels had slowly vanished
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in a swirl of chalk dust. And now for the samiad,
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said Cyril, and off they went. As they went, they
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decided on the wish they would ask for. Although they
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were all in a great hurry, they did not try
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to climb down the sides of the gravel pit, but
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went round by the safe lower road as if they
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had been carts. They had made a ring of stones
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round the place where the sand fairy had disappeared. So
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they easily found the spot. The sun was burning and bright,
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and the sky was deep blue without a cloud. The
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sand was very hot to touch. Oh, I suppose it
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was only a dream after all, Robert said, as the
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boys uncovered their spades from the sand heap where they
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had buried them and began to dig. Suppose you were
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a sensible chap, said Cyril. One's quite as likely as
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the other. Suppose you kept a civil tongue in your head,
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Robert snapped. Suppose we girls take a turn, said Jane, laughing.
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You boys seem to be getting fairy warm. Suppose you
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don't come shoving your silly ore in, said Robert, who
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was now warm. Indeed, we won't, Anthea said quickly Robert, Dear,
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don't be grumpy. We won't say a word. You shall
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be the one to speak to the fairy and tell
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him what we've decided to wish for. You'll say it
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so much better than we shall. Suppose you drop being
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a little humbug, said Robert, but not crossly. Look out,
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dig with your hands now. So they did, and presently
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incovered the spider shaped brown hairy body, long arms and legs,
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bat's ears, and snail's eyes of the sand fairy himself.
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Everyone drew a deep breath of satisfaction. For now, of course,
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it couldn't have been a dream. The samiad sat up
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and shook the sand out of its fur. How's your
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left whisker this morning, said Anthea politely. Nothing to boast of,
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said it. It had a rather restless night. But thank
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you for asking, I say, said Robert. Do you fill
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up to giving wishes to day? Because we very much
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want an extra besides the regular one. The extras a
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very little one, he added reassuringly. Humph, said the sand fairy.
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If you read this story aloud, please pronounce humph exactly
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as it spelt, for that is how he said it,
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humph to you. No, until I heard you being disagreeable
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to each other just over my head, and so loud too,
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I really quite thought I had dreamed you all. I
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do have very odd dreams sometimes, do you, Jane hurried
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to say, so as to get away from the subject
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of disagreeableness. I wish, she added politely, you'd tell us
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about your dreams. They must be awfully interesting. Is that
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the day's wish, said the Sand, very yawning. Cyril muttered
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something about just like a girl, and the rest stood silent.
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If they said yes, then good bye to the other
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wishes they had decided to ask for. If they said no,
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it would be very rude. And they had all been
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taught manners and had learned a little too, which is
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not at all the same thing. A sigh of relief
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broke from all lips when the Sand said, if I do,
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I shan't have strength to give you a second wish,
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not even good tempers or common sense, or manners or
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little things like that. We don't want you to put
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yourself out at all about these things. We can manage
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them quite well ourselves, said Cyril eagerly, while the others
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looked guiltily at each other, and wish the fairy would
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not keep all on about good tempers, but give them
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one good rowing if it wanted to, and then have
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done with it. Well, said the Samiad, putting out his
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long snail's eyes so suddenly that one of them nearly
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went into the round boy's eyes of Robert. Let's have
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the little wish first. We don't want the servants to
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notice the gifts you give us, are kind enough to
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give us, said Anthea in a whisper. Are kind enough
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to give us? I mean, said Robert. The fairy swelled
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himself out a bit, let his breath go, and said,
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I've done that for you. It was quite easy. People
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don't notice things much anyway. What's the next wish we want,
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said Robert slowly. To be rich beyond the dreams of
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something or other avarice, said Jane. So it is, said
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the fairy unexpectedly. But it won't do you much good.
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That's one comfort, it muttered to itself. Come, I can't
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go beyond dreams. You know how much do you want?
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And will you have it in gold or notes? Gold? Please?
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And millions of it? This gravel pit fully enough, said
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the fairy in an offhand manner. Oh yes, then get
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out before I begin, or you'll be buried alive in it.
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It made its skinny arms go long and wave them
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so frighteningly that the children ran as hard as they
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could towards the road by which carts used to come
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to the gravel pits. Only Anthea had presence of mind
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enough to shout at timid good morning. I hope your
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whisker will be better tomorrow. As she ran on the road,
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they turned and looked back, and they had to shut
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their eyes and open them very slowly, a little bit
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at a time, because the sight was too dazzling for
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their eyes to be able to bear it. It was
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something like trying to look up at the sun at
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high noon on Midsummer's day, For the whole of the
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sand pit was full right up to the very top
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with new shining gold pieces, and all the little sand
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Martin's little front doors were covered out of sight. Where
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the road for the carts wound into the gravel pit.
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The gold lay in heaps like stones, lie by the roadside,
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and a great bank of shining gold shell down from
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where it lay flat and smooth between the tall sides
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of the gravel pit, and all the gleaming heap was
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minted gold. And on the sides and edges of these
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countless coins. The midday sun shone and sparkled and glowed
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and gleamed, till the quarry looked like the mouth of
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a smelting furnace, or one of the fairy halls that
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you see sometimes in the sky. At sunset, the children
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stood with their mouths open, and no one said a word.
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At last, Robert stopped and picked up one of the
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loose coins from the edge of the heap by the
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cart road and looked at it. He looked on both sides.
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Then he said, in a low voice, quite different to
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his own, it's not sovereigns. It's gold anyway, said Cyril,
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And now they all began to talk at once. They
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all picked up the golden treasure by handfuls and let
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it run through their fingers like water, and the chink
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it made as it fell was wonderful music. At first
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they quite forgot to think of spending the money. It
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was so nice to play with. Jane sat down between
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two heaps of gold, and Robert began to bury her
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as you bury your father in sand when you are
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at the sea side, and he has gone to sleep
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on the beach with his newspaper over his face. But
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Jane was not half buried before she cried out, oh stop,
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it's too heavy. It hurts. Robert said bosh, and went
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on let me out, I tell you, cried Jane, and
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was taken out, very white and trembling a little. You've
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no idea what it's like, said she it's like stones
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on you, or like Jaan's. Look here, Cyril said, If
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this is to do us any good, it's no good
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our stay gasping at it like this. Let's fill our
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pockets and go buy things. Don't you forget it won't
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last after sunset. I wish we'd ask the psamiad why
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things don't turn to stone. Perhaps this will. I'll tell
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you what. There's a pony and cart in the village.
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Do you want to buy that, asked Jane. No, silly,
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We'll hire it. Then we'll go to Rochester and buy
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heaps and heaps of things. Look here, let's each take
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as much as we can carry. But it's not sovereigns.
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They've got a man's head on one side and a
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thing like an ace of spades on the other. Fill
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your pockets with it, I tell you, and come along.
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You can jaw as we go if you must jaw.
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Cyril sat down and began to fill his pockets. You
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made fun of me for getting father to have nine
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pockets in my norfolks said, But now you see they did,
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for when Cyril had his nine pockets and his handkerchief,
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and the space between himself and his shirt front with
237
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the gold coins. He had to stand up, but he staggered,
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and he had to sit down again. In a hurry,
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throw out some of the cargo, said Robert, you'll sink
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the ship, old chap that comes of nine pockets, and
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Cyril had to. Then they set off to walk to
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the village. It was more than a mile, and the
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road was very dusty, indeed, and the sun seemed to
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get hotter and hotter, and the gold in their pockets
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got heavier and heavier. It was Jane who said, I
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don't see how we're to spend at all. There must
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be thousands of pounds among us. I'm going to leave
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some of mine behind this stump in the hedge, and
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directly we get to the village, we'll buy some biscuits.
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I know it's long past dinner time. She took out
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a hand full or two and hid it in the
252
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hollows of an old hornbeam. How round and yellow they are,
253
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she said, don't you wish they were gingerbread nuts? And
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we were going to eat them. Well they're not, and
255
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were not, said Cyril. Come on. But they came on
256
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heavily and wearily. Before they reached the village, more than
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one stump in the hedge concealed its little horde of
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hidden treasure. Yet they reached the village with about twelve
259
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hundred guineas in their pockets. But in spite of this
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inside wealth, they looked quite ordinary outside, and no one
261
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would have thought they could have more than half a
262
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crown each. At the outside, the haze of heat the
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blue of the wood smoke made sort of a dim
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misty cloud over the red roofs of the village. The
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four sat down heavily on the first bench they came to.
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It happened to be outside the Blue Boar. It was
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decided that Cyril should go into the Blue Boar and
268
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ask for ginger beer, because, as Anthea said, it's not
269
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wrong for men to go into public houses only for children.
270
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And Cyril is nearer to being a man than us,
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because he is the eldest. So he went, and the
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others sat in the sun and waited. Oh, hats how
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hot it is, said Robert. Dogs put their tongues out
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when they're hot. I wonder if it would cool us
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at all to put out ours. We might try, Jane said,
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And they all put their tongues out as far as
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ever they could go so that it quite stretched their throats,
278
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but it only seemed to make them thirstier than ever,
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besides annoying everyone who went by, so they took their
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tongues in again. Just as Cyril came back with the
281
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ginger beer. I had to pay for it out of
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my own two and sevenpence, though that I was going
283
00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:06.880
to buy rabbits with he said they wouldn't change the gold,
284
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and when I pulled out a handful, the man just
285
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laughed and said it was card counters. And I got
286
00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:15.880
some sponge cakes too, out of a glass jar on
287
00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:19.440
the bar counter, and some biscuits with caraways in. Sponge
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cakes were both soft and dry, and the biscuits were
289
00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:26.440
dry too, and yet soft, which biscuits ought not to be.
290
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But the ginger beer made up for everything. It's my
291
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turn now to try to buy something with money, Anthea said,
292
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I'm next eldest. Where is the pony cart kept? It
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00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.799
was at the checkers, and Anthea went in the back
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way to the yard. Because they all knew that little
295
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girls ought not to go into the bars of public houses.
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She came out, as she herself said, pleased, but not proud.
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He'll be ready in a brace of shakes, he says.
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She remarked, and he's to have one sovereign or whatever
299
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it is, to drive us into Rochester and back, besides
300
00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:08.559
waiting there till we've got everything we want. I think
301
00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.440
I managed very well. You think yourself jolly clever, I
302
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dare say, said Cyril moodily. How did you do it?
303
00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.880
I wasn't jolly clever enough to go taking handfuls of
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money out of my pocket to make it seem cheap. Anyway,
305
00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:27.920
she retorted, I just bound a young man doing something
306
00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:30.319
to a horse's leg with a sponge and a pail,
307
00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:33.920
and I held out one sovereign and I said, do
308
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you know what this is? He said no, and he'd
309
00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:42.160
call his father. And the old man came and he
310
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:45.680
said it was a spade guinea. And he said was
311
00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:48.240
it my own to do as I liked with? And
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00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.480
I said yes. And I asked about the pony cart,
313
00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:55.240
and I said he could have the guinea if he'd
314
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drive us to Rochester. And his name is S. Crispin,
315
00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:03.279
and he said, bride. Oh, it was a new sensation
316
00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:06.799
to be driven in a smart pony trap along pretty
317
00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.799
country roads. It was very pleasant too, which is not
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00:21:10.920 --> 00:21:14.519
always the case with new sensations. Quite apart from the
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00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:18.000
beautiful plans of spending the money, which each child made
320
00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:22.160
as they went along, silently, of course, and quite to itself,
321
00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.200
for they felt it would never have done to let
322
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the old innkeeper hear them talk in the affluent sort
323
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of way they were thinking. The old man put them
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down by the bridge at their request. If you were
325
00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.359
going to buy a carriage in horses, where would you go,
326
00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:42.160
asked Cyril, as if he were only asking for the
327
00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:46.599
sake of something to say. Billy Peasmarsh at the Saracen's head,
328
00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:50.640
said the old man promptly, though all forbid, I should
329
00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:54.119
recommend any man where it's a question of horses, no
330
00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:58.200
more than i'd take anybody else's recommending if I was
331
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:01.039
a buyin one. But if you're p uh thinking of
332
00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:03.880
a turn out of any sort, there ain't a straighter
333
00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:08.119
man in Rochester, nor a civiler spoken than Billy. Though
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00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:12.799
I says it, thank you, said Cyril the Saracen's head.
335
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.559
And now the children began to see one of the
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laws of nature turn upside down and stand on its
337
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head like an acrobat. Annie grown up persons would tell
338
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you that money is hard to get and easy to spend.
339
00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:31.079
But the fairy money had been easy to get, and
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spending it was not only hard, it was almost impossible.
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The tradespeople of Rochester seemed to shrink to a tradesperson
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from the glittering fairy, gold, fur and money they called
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it for the most part. To begin with, Anthea, who
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had had the misfortune to sit on her hat earlier
345
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in the day, wished to buy another. She chose a
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very beautiful one, trimmed with pink roses and the blue
347
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breasts of peacocks. It was marked in the window Paris
348
00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.599
modeled three guineas. I'm glad, she said, because if it
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00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:13.519
says guineas, it means guineas and not sovereigns, which we
350
00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:17.599
haven't got. But when she took three of the spade
351
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guineas in her hand, which was by this time rather
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dirty owing to her not having put on gloves before
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going to the gravel pit, the black silk young lady
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in the shop looked very hard at her and went
355
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and whispered something to an older and uglier lady, also
356
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.359
in black silk, and then they gave her back the money.
357
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:42.079
And said it was not current coin. It's good money,
358
00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:48.200
said Anthea, and it's my own I dare say, said
359
00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.599
the lady. But it's not the kind of money that's
360
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:57.519
fashionable now, and we don't care about taking it. I
361
00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.920
believe they think we've stolen it, said Anthea, rejoining the
362
00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:05.599
others in the street. If we had gloves, they wouldn't
363
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:09.119
think we were so dishonest. It's my hands being so
364
00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:13.160
dirty fills their minds with doubts. So they chose a
365
00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:17.400
humble shop, and the girls bought cotton gloves, the kind
366
00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:21.440
at sixpence three farthings, but when they offered a guinea,
367
00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.880
the woman looked at it through her spectacles and said
368
00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:28.759
she had no change. So the gloves had to be
369
00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:32.279
paid for out of Cyril's two and sevenpence that he
370
00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:35.400
meant to buy rabbits with, and so had the green
371
00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:41.039
imitation crocodile skin purse at ninepence halfpenny, which had been
372
00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:44.960
bought at the same time. They tried several more shops,
373
00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.359
the kinds where you buy toys and scent and silk,
374
00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:53.440
handkerchiefs and books and fancy boxes of stationery and photographs
375
00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:57.319
of objects of interest in the vicinity, but nobody cared
376
00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:01.559
to change a guinea that day in rocket, And as
377
00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:05.359
they went from shop to shop they got dirtier and dirtier,
378
00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:09.319
and their hair got more and more untidy, and Jane
379
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:11.680
slipped and fell down on a part of the road
380
00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.000
where a water cart had just gone by. Also, they
381
00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:20.119
got very hungry, but they found no one would give
382
00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:24.359
them anything to eat for the guineas after trying two
383
00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:30.200
pastry cooks in Vain, they became so hungry, perhaps from
384
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.960
the smell of cake in the shops, as Cyril suggested that,
385
00:25:34.079 --> 00:25:38.079
they formed a plan of campaign in whispers and carried
386
00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:42.680
it out in desperation. They marched into a third pastry
387
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:47.240
cook's Beale was his name, And before people behind the
388
00:25:47.240 --> 00:25:51.680
counter could interfere, each child had seized three new penny buns,
389
00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:55.680
clapped the three together between its dirty hands, and taken
390
00:25:55.720 --> 00:25:59.480
a big bite out of the triple sandwich. Then they
391
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.559
stood it bay with the twelve buns in their hands,
392
00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:07.359
their mouths very full. Indeed, the shocked pastry cook bounded
393
00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:11.160
round the corner. Here, said Cyril, speaking as distinctly as
394
00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.880
he could, and holding out the guinea he got ready
395
00:26:13.920 --> 00:26:17.839
before entering the shop, pay yourself out of that. Mister
396
00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:20.559
Beale snatched the coin, bit it and put it in
397
00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:25.119
his pocket. Off you go, he said, brief and stern,
398
00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.400
like the man in the song. But the change, said Anthea,
399
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:33.920
who had a saving mind. Change said the man. I'll
400
00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:38.400
change you. Hout you goes, and you may think yourselves lucky.
401
00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:40.680
I don't send for the police to find out where
402
00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:44.880
you got it. In the castle gardens, the millionaires finished
403
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:48.559
the buns, And though the courteous softness of these were
404
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:52.200
delicious and acted like a charm in raising the spirits
405
00:26:52.200 --> 00:26:56.240
of the party, yet even the stoutest heart quailed at
406
00:26:56.279 --> 00:27:00.160
the thought of venturing to sound mister Billy Peasmarsh the
407
00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:04.720
Saracen's head on the subject of a horse and carriage.
408
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:08.680
The boys would have given up the idea, but Jane
409
00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:13.480
was always a hopeful child, and Anthea generally an obstinate one,
410
00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:18.920
and their earnestness prevailed. The whole party, by this time
411
00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:25.519
indescribably dirty, therefore, betook itself to the Saracen's head the yard.
412
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:29.559
Method of attack, having been successful at the Chequers, was
413
00:27:29.640 --> 00:27:33.480
tried again here. Mister Peasmarsh was in the yard and
414
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.680
Robert opened the business in these terms. They tell me
415
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:40.240
you have a lot of horses and carriages to sell.
416
00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:45.160
It had been agreed that Robert should be spokesperson, because
417
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.519
in books it is always the gentleman who buys horses
418
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.880
and not ladies. And Cyril had had his go at
419
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.559
the blue boar. They tell you, true, young man, said
420
00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:59.839
mister Peasmarsh. He was a long, lean man, with their
421
00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.599
blue eyes and a tight mouth and narrow lips. We
422
00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:07.920
should like to buy some, please, said Robert politely. I
423
00:28:08.079 --> 00:28:11.480
dare say you would. Will you show us a few
424
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.000
please to choose from? Who are you a kid? Love,
425
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:19.680
inquired mister Billy Peasmarsh. Was you sent here of a message?
426
00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:23.759
I tell you, said Robert. We want to buy some
427
00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.960
horses and carriages. And a man told us you were
428
00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:30.640
straight and civil spoken, But I shouldn't wonder if he
429
00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:36.079
was mistaken bond my sacred, said mister Peasmarsh. Shall I
430
00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:39.119
trot the whole stable out for your Honor's worshiped to see,
431
00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:41.599
or shall I send round to the bishops to see
432
00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:45.079
if he's a nag or two to dispose of? Please do,
433
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:47.920
said Robert, if it's not too much trouble, it would
434
00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:51.960
be very kind of you. Mister Peasmarsh put his hands
435
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.920
in his pockets and laughed, and they did not like
436
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.119
the way he did it. Then he shouted, Willem, a
437
00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:04.079
stooping eye ustler appeared in the stable door. Here, Willem,
438
00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.319
come and look this. Here, young duck wants to buy
439
00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:10.599
the whole stud lock, stock n barrel, and ain't got
440
00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:14.680
tuppence in his pocket to bless hisself with. I'll go bail.
441
00:29:15.799 --> 00:29:20.519
William's eyes followed his master's pointing thumb with contemptuous interest.
442
00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:25.759
Do we for sure? He said? But Robert spoke, though
443
00:29:25.880 --> 00:29:29.599
both girls were now pulling at his jacket and begging
444
00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:34.240
him to come along. He spoke, and he was very angry.
445
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:39.480
He said, I'm not a young duke, and I never
446
00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:43.720
pretended to be. And as for tuppence, what do you
447
00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:48.160
call this? And before the others could stop him, he
448
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:52.759
had pulled out two fat handfuls of shining guineas and
449
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:56.799
held them out for mister Peasmarsh to look at. He
450
00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:00.839
did look. He snatched one up in his finger and thumb.
451
00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:05.640
He bit it, and Jane expected him to say, the
452
00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:09.319
best horse in my stables is at your service, but
453
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:13.480
the others knew better. Still, it was a blow even
454
00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:18.200
to the most desponding when he said shortly, Willem shut
455
00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:21.880
the yard doors, and Willem grinned and went to shut them.
456
00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:27.319
Good afternoon, said Robert hastily. We shan't buy any of
457
00:30:27.400 --> 00:30:31.119
your horses now, whatever you say, and I hope it'll
458
00:30:31.160 --> 00:30:33.759
be a lesson to you. He had seen a little
459
00:30:33.799 --> 00:30:37.359
side gate open and was moving towards it as he spoke,
460
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:43.359
but Billy Peasmarsh put himself in the way. Not so fast, yo, young,
461
00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:50.240
off scourin, he said, Willem, fetch the police, willim went.
462
00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:54.960
The children stood huddled together like frightened sheep, and mister
463
00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:59.160
peas Marsh spoke to them till the police arrived. He
464
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:04.319
said many things. Among other things, he said, a nice
465
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:07.680
lot you are, aren't you come and tempting honest men
466
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:15.240
with your guineas they are our guineas, said Cyril boldly. Oh,
467
00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:18.240
of course we don't know all about that, no more,
468
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:22.559
we don't, Oh, no course not, and dragging little gals
469
00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:26.200
into it. Ere. I'll let the gals go if you'll
470
00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:29.680
all come along to the police. Quiet, we won't be
471
00:31:30.119 --> 00:31:35.440
let go, said Jane heroically, not without the boys. It's
472
00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:38.440
our money just as much as their's. You wicked old man,
473
00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:42.759
where'd you get it? Then, said the man, softening slightly,
474
00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:46.000
which was not at all what the boys expected. When
475
00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:50.599
Jane began to call names, Jane cast a silent glance
476
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:54.680
of agony at the other's lost your tongue. Eh, got
477
00:31:54.680 --> 00:31:58.039
it fast enough when it's for callin names with Come
478
00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:01.799
speak up? Where'd you get it out of the gravel pit?
479
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:08.400
Said truthful Jane. Next article, said the man, I tell
480
00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:12.240
you we did. Jane said. There's a fairy there all over,
481
00:32:12.359 --> 00:32:16.279
brown fur, with ears like a bat's and eyes like
482
00:32:16.279 --> 00:32:18.359
a snail's, And he gives you a wish a day,
483
00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:22.400
and they all come true. Touched in the head, eh,
484
00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:25.440
said the man in a low voice. All the more
485
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:28.960
shame to you boys, dragging the poor afflicted child into
486
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:34.839
your sinful burglaries. She's not mad, It's true, said Anthea.
487
00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:38.559
There's a fairy. If ever I see him again, I'll
488
00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:42.160
wish for something for you. At least I would if
489
00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:48.839
vengeance wasn't wicked. So there lor love me, said Billy Peasmarsh.
490
00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:52.960
If there ain't another on em And now Willem came
491
00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:56.200
back with a spiteful grin on his face, and at
492
00:32:56.200 --> 00:33:01.079
his back a policeman, with whom mister peasmarshp long in
493
00:33:01.160 --> 00:33:05.960
a hoarse, earnest whisper. I dare say you're right, said
494
00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:09.440
the policeman. At last, anyway, I'll take em up on
495
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:14.799
a charge of unlawful possession pending inquiries, and the magistrate
496
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.720
will deal with the case. Send the afflicted ones to
497
00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:19.880
a home as likely as not, and the boys to
498
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:23.880
a reformatory. Now, then, come along, youngsters, No use makin
499
00:33:23.960 --> 00:33:27.960
a fuss. You bring the gels along, mister Pasmarsh, sir,
500
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:33.599
and I'll shepherd the boys. Speechless with rage and horror,
501
00:33:34.079 --> 00:33:37.240
the four children were driven along the streets of Rochester.
502
00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:41.880
Tears of anger and shame blinded them, so that when
503
00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:45.519
Robert ran right into a passer by, he did not
504
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:50.400
recognize her till a well known voice said, well if
505
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:54.480
ever I did, oh, master Robert, whatever have you been
506
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:58.839
a doinno of now? And another voice quite as well
507
00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:04.519
known said panty wan on panty. They had run in
508
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:10.079
to Martha and the baby. Martha behaved admirably. She refused
509
00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:13.280
to believe a word of the policeman's story, or of
510
00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:17.519
mister Peasmarsh's either. Even when they made Robert turn out
511
00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:21.719
his pockets in an archway to show the guineas, I
512
00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:25.199
don't see nothing, she said, you've gone out of your senses,
513
00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:28.800
you two. There ain't any gold there, only the poor
514
00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:32.000
child's hands all over crock and dirt, and like the
515
00:34:32.119 --> 00:34:35.400
very chimbly oh that I should ever see the day.
516
00:34:35.880 --> 00:34:39.519
And the children thought this very noble of Martha, even
517
00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:43.679
if rather wicked, till they remembered how the fairy promised
518
00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:48.159
that the servants should never notice any of the fairy gifts. So,
519
00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:51.480
of course Martha couldn't see the gold, and so was
520
00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:54.760
only speaking the truth. And that was quite right, of course,
521
00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:59.440
but not extra noble. It was getting dusk when they
522
00:34:59.480 --> 00:35:03.199
reached the please station. The policeman told his tale to
523
00:35:03.239 --> 00:35:07.119
an inspector who sat in a large, bare room with
524
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:10.239
a thing like a clumsy nursery fender at one end
525
00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:14.519
to put prisoners in. Robert wondered whether it was a
526
00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:19.639
cell or a dock produced the coin's officer, said the inspector,
527
00:35:20.360 --> 00:35:25.760
turn out your pockets, said the Constable Cyril desperately plunged
528
00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:29.400
his hands in his pockets, stood still a moment, and
529
00:35:29.519 --> 00:35:32.920
then began to laugh, an odd sort of laugh that
530
00:35:33.079 --> 00:35:37.719
hurt and felt much more like crying. His pockets were empty,
531
00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:41.320
so were the pockets of the others, for of course,
532
00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:45.800
at sunset all the fairy gold had vanished away. Turn
533
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:49.599
out your pockets and stop that noise, said the inspector.
534
00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:54.639
Cyril turned out his pockets, every one of the nine
535
00:35:54.800 --> 00:36:00.440
which enriched his Norfolk suit, and every pocket was empty. Well,
536
00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:04.440
said the inspector, I don't know how they'd done it,
537
00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:07.760
artful little beggars. They walked in front of me the
538
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:10.400
whole way, so as for me to keep an eye
539
00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:13.199
on them and not attract a crowd and obstruct the traffic.
540
00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:18.719
It's very remarkable, said the inspector, frowning. If you've quite
541
00:36:18.960 --> 00:36:23.559
done a browbeaten of innocent children, said Martha. I'll hire
542
00:36:23.599 --> 00:36:26.840
a private carriage and we'll drive home to their papa's mansion.
543
00:36:27.320 --> 00:36:30.559
You'll hear about this again, young man. I told you
544
00:36:30.639 --> 00:36:33.440
they hadn't any gold when you were pretending to see
545
00:36:33.440 --> 00:36:36.880
it in their poor helpless hands. It's early in the
546
00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:39.559
day for a constable on duty not to be able
547
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:42.559
to trust his own eyes as for the other one.
548
00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:45.880
The less said, the better he keeps the saracen's head,
549
00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:49.639
and he knows best what his liquors like. Take them
550
00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:55.000
away for goodness sakes, said the inspector crossly. But as
551
00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:59.119
they left the police station, he said, now then to
552
00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:03.039
the policeman and mister Peasmarsh, and he said it twenty
553
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:07.440
times as crossly as he had spoken to Martha. Martha
554
00:37:07.480 --> 00:37:10.039
was as good as her word. She took them home
555
00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:14.559
in a very grand carriage because the carrier's cart was gone.
556
00:37:14.840 --> 00:37:17.920
And though she had stood by them so nobly with
557
00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:20.400
the police, she was angry with them as soon as
558
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:24.480
they were alone, for trapsen into Rochester by themselves, that
559
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:27.079
none of them dared to mention the old man with
560
00:37:27.159 --> 00:37:29.400
the pony cart from the village who was waiting for
561
00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:34.360
them in Rochester. And so, after one day of boundless wealth,
562
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:38.320
the children found themselves sent to bed in deep disgrace,
563
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:42.960
and only enriched by two pairs of cotton gloves dirty
564
00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:45.599
inside because of the state of the hands they had
565
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:50.480
been put on to cover an imitation crocodile skin purse,
566
00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:55.719
and twelve penny buns long since digested. The thing that
567
00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:59.360
troubled them. Most was the fear that the old gents
568
00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:02.840
guinea might have disappeared at sunset with all the rest.
569
00:38:03.480 --> 00:38:05.760
So they went down to the village next day to
570
00:38:05.840 --> 00:38:09.159
apologize for not meeting him in Rochester and to see
571
00:38:09.639 --> 00:38:13.880
They found him very friendly. The guinea had not disappeared,
572
00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:16.360
and he had bored a hole in it and hung
573
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:19.280
it on his watch chain. As for the guinea the
574
00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:23.000
baker took the children felt they could not care whether
575
00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:27.559
it had vanished or not, which was not perhaps very honest,
576
00:38:28.039 --> 00:38:32.280
but on the other hand, was not wholly unnatural. But
577
00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:35.679
afterwards this preyed on Anthea's mind, and at last she
578
00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:41.559
secretly sent twelve stamps by post to mister Beale Baker, Rochester.
579
00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:47.440
Inside she wrote, to pay for the buns. I hope
580
00:38:47.480 --> 00:38:51.559
the guinea did disappear, for that Pastry Cook was really
581
00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:56.079
not at all a nice man. And besides, penny buns
582
00:38:56.440 --> 00:39:02.320
are seven for sixpence in all really respect shops. End
583
00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:07.840
of chapter two. Recording by Jenny Lundak, South Padre Island,
584
00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:11.480
Texas in July two thousand eleven.