Enid Blyton (5 page)

"Now look here, Tabby—I'm going to show that horrid family called Jones what it's like to have no food!" said Mr. Pink-Whistle fiercely. "You just wait till they come home to-morrow. I'll show them! I'll show them!"

The next day was Saturday. The family were coming home after tea, and they had written to ask the milkman to send some milk, the baker to send some bread, the greengrocer to leave some potatoes, the butcher to leave some meat, and the grocer to leave butter, tea, and the rest of the things.

There was a little yard at the back, with a big box in which the trades people left their goods if there was no one to take them in at the back door. Each man left his goods in the box and shut down the lid. Mr. Pink-Whistle soon found out where the box was, because he made himself invisible and watched where the goods were put.

And then the sly little man opened the lid of the box, took out everything, popped them into an enormous bag he had brought, and ran off down the street. The tabby-cat watched him in amazement.

Pink-Whistle went to a row of poor old tumbledown cottages. In them lived three or four poor families whose children went barefoot. Pink-Whistle had a fine time there. Do you know what he did?

He opened each door of the row of cottages and popped inside the kitchen something that he had taken out of the box in the back-yard! Mrs. Tabbies got two loaves of bread. Goodness, wasn't she surprised to see the door open and the loaves hop into the kitchen! She couldn't see Pink-Whistle, of course, because he was quite invisible.

Mrs. Harris, next door, was peeling potatoes at the sink when she saw her door open and a bottle of milk and a large piece of meat come in. She squealed and dropped the potato-knife. But she soon got over her fright when she found that the milk and meat stayed on the floor, waiting to be picked up!

Everyone in the row got something. Then Pink-Whistle hurried off to the house again. The Jones family had just come back and were busy unpacking upstairs.

THE DOOR OPENED AND TWO LOAVES HOPPED INTO THE KITCHEN.

The cat was meowing and purring around them, delighted to see the family again, although they had treated her so badly.

It was half-past six. Mrs. Jones went out into the yard to fetch in the food, meaning to get Mr. Jones, Joan Jones, and John Jones some supper. But there was nothing at all in the box. How angry she was!

She flew upstairs and said that Mr. Jones couldn't possibly have posted her cards to the tradesmen, asking them to send the goods. They quarreled, and then at last John Jones was sent out to see what food he could get before the shops closed.

The dairy was shut, so he could get no milk. The baker had only one stale brown loaf left, and John bought that. He bought a string of sausages, some butter, some bacon, and some eggs. Then back he went home.

"Put them in the larder," called Mrs. Jones. "I'm just coming. Don't leave them on the table or the cat will get them, the greedy thing!"

The cat didn't get them—but someone else did!

Mr. Pink-Whistle, quite unseen, slipped into the kitchen and went to the larder. In a trice everything was under his arm, in his big bag! The little man slipped out again—and back to those poor cottages he went, chuckling away to himself.

And what a pleasant surprise the cottagers got again, when eggs, sausages, bread, and bacon, and butter suddenly appeared round their doors! They couldn't make it out. They ran to the door to see who had put the things there, but they could see no one. Mr. Pink-Whistle was invisible. All they heard was a deep chuckle from somewhere nearby. It was very puzzling—but very nice!

Well, the Jones family were in a way when they found that the larder was empty. Not a thing was there!

"Did you put the things in the larder as I told you?" asked Mrs. Jones. John nodded.

"Of course I did," he said. "And shut the door, too. So the cat couldn't have got them."

"Well, the shops will all be shut now," said his mother. "We can't get any food for supper. Your father will have to run round to the dairy early to-morrow morning and get some eggs, milk, and butter. We can at least make some sort of breakfast then. And maybe the butcher has some meat over that he can let us have."

Well, Mr. Jones did manage to get some eggs, milk, and butter, and a loaf of bread from a neighbour in the morning. He put the loaf on the table, Mrs. Jones popped the eggs into a saucepan to boil, put the butter into a dish, and the milk into a jug.

But as soon as she turned her back, the things were gone! Yes— the eggs were whisked out of the saucepan, the loaf disappeared with the butter and milk, and when the Jones family came to breakfast, there wasn't anything for them to have at all! Mr. Pink-Whistle had been along again! Only the tabby knew what was happening, for, like most animals, she could see Mr. Pink-Whistle, even though he was invisible to human eyes.

There was such a wailing and crying when the children found there was no breakfast. "We had no supper yesterday—and now no breakfast to-day!" they wept. "What is happening? This is simply horrid."

The butcher let them have some meat although it was Sunday. Mr. Jones got a cabbage from the garden, and Mrs. Jones borrowed some flour from a neighbour to make a batter pudding. Everything was put on to cook. The joint sizzled in the oven, and the cabbage boiled in its saucepan. The pudding browned nicely by the meat.

"Goodness! I've never been so hungry in all my life!" said Joan. "I do hope dinner will be early!"

But gracious me, when Mrs. Jones went into the garden for a moment, Pink-Whistle slipped indoors, whipped the meat out of the oven, took the cabbage out of the saucepan, and popped the pudding into a dish he carried. Then off he went again to the row of tumble¬down cottages. The people there really thought that they must have gone mad when a large, half-cooked joint appeared, a tender cabbage, and a big batter pudding!

"PLEASE DON'T PUNISH MY FAMILY ANY MORE," SAID THE TABBY CAT.

"I CAN'T BEAR IT."

But oh, the Jones family! What a way they were in! How they sobbed and cried, all except Mr. Jones, who pulled at his moustache and wondered what in the world could be happening. The tabby-cat sat and watched them.

"I'm so hungry," wept Joan. The tabby suddenly got up and went outside. She saw Pink-Whistle sitting on the wall and went up to him.

"Please, Mr. Pink-Whistle," she said, "don't punish my family any more. I can't bear it. They are all so hungry, and I know what it is to be hungry. I thought I would be pleased when I saw them getting as thin and miserable as I got when they were away. But I find that I am not pleased. I am only sorry."

"You are a good and kind little cat," said Pink-Whistle, jumping down from the wall. "I think you are right. We won't punish them any more. I will get them some food and speak a few words to them."

Pink-Whistle went to a tea-shop that was open and bought eight penny buns. He took them into the house and put the bag on the table. Everyone was most surprised to see the bag appear out of the air, because they couldn't see Pink-Whistle, of course.

"Look—what is it—how did it come—oh, who put that bag there?" cried the Jones family.

"I did!" said Pink-Whistle, making his voice very deep and solemn. "I am Pink-Whistle, your cat's good friend. You left her without food for two weeks—so I took away your food to make you feel what it was like to be hungry and not to have anything to eat. But your cat is sorry for you, and so I will not punish you any more. I have brought you something to eat. Look after your cat in future, or you will be VERY SORRY!"

There was a silence after this speech. It seemed to come out of the air, and was very strange to the Jones' family. They stood or sat, their eyes wide open, wondering who was speaking. Then they opened the bag. There were only eight penny buns there—but, dear me, how pleased everyone was to see them!

And you will be glad to know that each of the Jones' family felt ashamed of having left their poor cat without food or sleeping-place, and they gave her a bit of their buns. She is happy now, and always on the look-out for her good friend, Mr. Pink-Whistle. When she sees him coming she runs up to his legs, rubs against them, and purrs. And if he is invisible, it does look funny to see Tabby rubbing herself against nothing! You would laugh if you saw her!

MR. PINK-WHISTLE AND THE

BALLOON

THERE
was once a little girl who loved balloons very much JL indeed. Her name was Susie, and whenever she went to a party, which was about once a year, she always hoped that she would be given a balloon, and sometimes she got her wish.

Now Susie very badly wanted a blue balloon. She had had a red one, and a yellow one, and a green one—but she had never had a blue one.

"I think blue balloons are the prettiest of all," said Susie. "I do really. I wish I could have a blue balloon on a nice long piece of string. I'd take it out to show all the other children."

Now one day a balloon-woman came to Susie's village. She was rather like a balloon herself, for she was round and fat, and her red shawl shone brightly. She carried behind her a great bunch of balloons to sell to the children. They were the biggest and most beautiful that the boys and girls had ever seen.

Susie ran to look at them. The balloon-woman had a little stool with her, and she sat down on this at a corner. "Buy a balloon!" she kept shouting. "Buy a balloon!"

"How much are they?" asked Susie. "I've a ha'penny at home."

"What, a ha'penny for beautiful big balloons like these!" cried the balloon-woman. "No, no—these are tuppence each, and well worth it, too."

"Oh—tuppence!" said' Susie, disappointed. "That's very dear. But oh, look at that lovely blue one there! How I would like to have it!"

She stared at the blue balloon. It really was the biggest of the bunch, and it bobbed up and down as the breeze took it. Susie felt that she simply must have it.

"I must earn some money!" she thought. "If only I could get a penny and a ha'penny. Then with my own ha'penny I should have tuppence, and that would be enough."

She walked down the road, thinking hard. She passed Mrs., Jones in her garden, and Mrs., Jones called out to her.

"Susie! Whatever are you thinking about? You do look so solemn!"

"I'm thinking how I can earn a penny and a ha'penny," said Susie. "It's very difficult. I do so want to buy a blue balloon."

"Well, now I want a little job done," said Mrs. Jones, "and I'm willing to give a penny for it. I want a parcel taken down to the post-office."

"Oh, I can do that for you," said Susie.

"It's a heavy parcel, and the post-office is a long way off," said Mrs. Jones. "You'd better see the parcel before you decide. I wanted my Jack to take it for me, but he's had to go to bed with a bad cold, and I can't leave him and take it myself."

Mrs. Jones showed Susie the parcel. It certainly was rather large. "But I can carry it all right," said Susie, "and I do so badly want the balloon that I'd be glad to take an even heavier parcel for you!"

The little girl set off to the post-office. The parcel certainly was heavy! It made her arms ache before she had gone very far. In fact, by the time she had almost reached the post-office, she had to stop and rest. She put the parcel down on a little wall, and hung her tired arms down.

And it was there that our old friend, kind Mr. Pink-Whistle, met her. He was coming up the street, looking about him as usual, when he saw Susie.

"Hallo, little girl!" he said. "That seems a very heavy parcel to carry!"

"Well, it is, rather," said Susie. "My arms ache a lot. But I'm having a rest now."

"Let me carry it the rest of the way for you," said Mr. Pink-Whistle.

"No, thank you," said Susie. "You see, I am earning a penny for taking it to the post-office, and if you carried it for me, it wouldn't be quite fair to get the penny."

"I see," said Mr. Pink-Whistle. "I am very pleased to meet a child who knows what is fair and what is not. Do you want the penny for anything special?"

"I do, rather," said Susie. "Have you seen the balloon-woman at the corner? Well, she has a most beautiful big blue balloon, and I am longing to buy it. I have never in my life had a blue balloon, you know. It costs tuppence, and I am earning a penny towards it. I have a ha'penny already, and perhaps I shall earn another ha'penny. Then I can buy the blue balloon."