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clear little stream was running as fast as ever it could between steep
banks and there, sitting on the pine-needle carpet, was mother,
without her hat; and the sun was shining brightly, although it was
November and there was the Lamb, as jolly as jolly and not
whooping at all.
 The carpet s deceived us, ' said Robert, gloomily;  mother will see us
directly she turns her head. '
But the faithful carpet had not deceived them.
Mother turned her dear head and looked straight at them, and DID
NOT SEE THEM!
 We re invisible, ' Cyril whispered:  what awful larks! '
But to the girls it was not larks at all. It was horrible to have mother
looking straight at them, and her face keeping the same, just as
though they weren t there.
 I don t like it, ' said Jane.  Mother never looked at us like that before.
Just as if she didn t love us as if we were somebody else s children,
and not very nice ones either as if she didn t care whether she saw
us or not. '
 It is horrid, ' said Anthea, almost in tears.
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The Phoenix and the Carpet
But at this moment the Lamb saw them, and plunged towards the
carpet, shrieking,  Panty, own Panty an Pussy, an Squiggle an
Bobs, oh, oh! '
Anthea caught him and kissed him, so did Jane; they could not help
it he looked such a darling, with his blue three-cornered hat all on
one side, and his precious face all dirty quite in the old familiar
way.
 I love you, Panty; I love you and you, and you, and you, ' cried the
Lamb.
It was a delicious moment. Even the boys thumped their baby
brother joyously on the back.
Then Anthea glanced at mother and mother s face was a pale sea-
green colour, and she was staring at the Lamb as if she thought he
had gone mad. And, indeed, that was exactly what she did think.
 My Lamb, my precious! Come to mother, ' she cried, and jumped up
and ran to the baby.
She was so quick that the invisible children had to leap back, or she
would have felt them; and to feel what you can t see is the worst sort
of ghost-feeling. Mother picked up the Lamb and hurried away from
the pinewood.
 Let s go home, ' said Jane, after a miserable silence.  It feels just
exactly as if mother didn t love us. '
But they couldn t bear to go home till they had seen mother meet
another lady, and knew that she was safe. You cannot leave your
mother to go green in the face in a distant pinewood, far from all
human aid, and then go home on your wishing carpet as though
nothing had happened.
When mother seemed safe the children returned to the carpet, and
said  Home  and home they went.
 I don t care about being invisible myself, ' said Cyril,  at least, not
with my own family. It would be different if you were a prince, or a
bandit, or a burglar. '
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The Phoenix and the Carpet
And now the thoughts of all four dwelt fondly on the dear greenish
face of mother.
 I wish she hadn t gone away, ' said Jane;  the house is simply beastly
without her. '
 I think we ought to do what she said, ' Anthea put in.  I saw
something in a book the other day about the wishes of the departed
being sacred. '
 That means when they ve departed farther off, ' said Cyril.  India s
coral or Greenland s icy, don t you know; not Bournemouth. Besides,
we don t know what her wishes are. '
 She SAID  Anthea was very much inclined to cry  she said,  Get
Indian things for my bazaar;  but I know she thought we couldn t,
and it was only play. '
 Let s get them all the same, ' said Robert.  We ll go the first thing on
Saturday morning. '
And on Saturday morning, the first thing, they went.
There was no finding the Phoenix, so they sat on the beautiful
wishing carpet, and said
 We want Indian things for mother s bazaar. Will you please take us
where people will give us heaps of Indian things? '
The docile carpet swirled their senses away, and restored them on
the outskirts of a gleaming white Indian town. They knew it was
Indian at once, by the shape of the domes and roofs; and besides, a
man went by on an elephant, and two English soldiers went along
the road, talking like in Mr Kipling s books so after that no one
could have any doubt as to where they were. They rolled up the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]