Enid Blyton (7 page)

"Oh! What marvellous balloons! Oh, where did you get that wonder-ful blue one from? It's even bigger than the one Big Jim burst!"

"I got these from Big Jim," said Pink-Whistle. "I made them from his precious marbles! They are stronger than ordinary balloons, my dear. Take them and enjoy them!"

Susie took the strings, going red with surprise and delight. "Oh!" she said, "I shall give a tea-party, and let each of rny guests have a balloon to take home."

"Well, the big blue one is especially yours," said Pink-Whistle. "Be sure you keep that!"

So Susie did, of course, and she still has it hanging in her bedroom. She gave the others away at a party, and how the children loved them! Wouldn't it be nice if Pink-Whistle came along when any of our balloons went POP? Well—you never know!

MR. PINK-WHISTLE’S CIRCUS

THERE
was once a little girl called Eileen, who was feeling very JL excited because she had been asked to go to the circus.

Her friend was going with her mother, and they asked Eileen to go too. So she was very happy, and she counted the days till the Great Day came.

"Mother, it's Galliano's Circus," she said happily. "I shall see Lotta on her horse, Black Beauty, and I shall see Jimmy and his performing dog, Lucky. I shall see Jumbo, the dear old elephant, playing cricket with his keeper, and I shall see Lillinut and all his monkeys. Oh, won't it be fun?"

The day came at last. Eileen woke up—but oh, what a pity, she had a horrid sore feeling in her throat that made her choke and cough. Mother heard her and came in.

"Have you got a sore throat?" she asked Eileen. The little girl didn't want to say yes, because she knew that sore throats meant being kept in bed—but she always told her mother the truth, so she nodded her head.

"It's not very bad, Mother," she said. "It won't stop my going to the circus. I can hardly feel it."

Then she coughed again, and that hurt her throat. Mother made her open her mouth.

"Oh, darling," she said, "you really have got a very nasty throat. I simply daren't let you go out to-day. And, besides, Mary might catch it if you go with her. You can't possibly go out—you must stay in bed."

Poor Eileen. She began to cry bitterly, and buried her face in her pillow. "It's not fair," she wept. "Just the very day I was going to the circus—the VERY day! Oh, I do feel so unhappy. Now Mary will go without me. They will take someone else. Somebody else will have my treat. Mother, it's NOT FAIR."

"No—it doesn't seem fair, darling," said Mother. "But things aren't always fair, you know. Cheer up. I will go out and buy you a toy this afternoon when you sleep. Then you shall have it at tea-time."

Mother went out of the room. Eileen cried for a little while, then she fell asleep. She didn't want any breakfast, and she didn't want any dinner. Her throat hurt her. She was cross and miserable. When Mother tucked her up for an afternoon rest, Eileen began to sob again.

"Mary and her mother are just starting out for the circus. They're catching the bus. Mother, it isn't fair!"

"Now don't cry any more or you won't sleep," said Mother, and she went to the door. "I'm just going out to buy you a surprise."

Eileen heard the front door bang. She tried to go to sleep, but she couldn't. She kept thinking of Mary. Now they would have arrived at the circus. Now they would be taking their seats round the ring. Now the band would play.

She began to cry again. She wasn't really a cry-baby, but when you feel ill you can't help crying at all kinds of things, can you?

"I don't think it's a bit fair," wept the little girl. "I don't, I don't."

Now who should come along under the window at that very minute but dear old Mr. Pink-Whistle! You know how he loves to put things right, if he can—so you can guess that he stopped at once and listened.

"A little girl in trouble!" he said to himself. "I must look into this!"

He went to the front door and pushed it. It opened to him, for he was half-magic. Up the stairs he went and into Eileen's room. The little girl heard him opening the door, and she stared at him in surprise, for he had the green eyes and pointed ears of the fairy-folk.

"Hallo," said Mr. Pink-Whistle. "What's the trouble?"

"I was going to the circus to-day—but now I've got a bad throat and I can't," said Eileen, the tears running down her cheeks again. "Who are you? I like you."

"I'm Mr. Pink-Whistle," said the little man. "I like you, too. I think you would be quite pretty if you didn't spoil your face with crying."

"Well, you'd cry, too, if you couldn't go to the circus after all," said Eileen. "I just simply can't help it. I keep thinking of it."

"I suppose you wouldn't like to see my circus, would you?" suddenly asked Mr. Pink-Whistle. "I mean I'm sure it isn't as good as Galliano's —but it's quite fun."

"But how can I see it if I'm in bed?" said Eileen in astonishment.

"Easily!" said Pink-Whistle. "There's room on your bed for my circus to perform. Do you mind putting your legs down flat? That's right. Now look—this is the ring—and you are the people looking on, so you must clap when anything good is done."

"But where's the circus?" asked Eileen.

"Just a minute, just a minute," said Mr. Pink-Whistle, and he ran into the room next door, which was Eileen's nursery. There were plenty of toys there—and it didn't take Pink-Whistle long to rub a little magic on to the ones he wanted for his circus! His magic made them all come alive, and in half a minute he had told them all what to do. Then he went back into the bedroom.

"The circus is coming!" he said. "Listen to the band!"

In came the band! It was the baby doll carrying the musical box, playing a merry tune by turning the handle round and round—and the pink cat playing the little drum in time to the tune—rum-ti-tum-ti-tum, rum-ti-tum-ti-tum! They climbed up on to the bed and settled down to play their little band together. Eileen was so surprised!

Then in came the toy elephant, Jumbo, led by his keeper, one of the boy-dolls! They climbed up on to the bed, too, and to Eileen's great joy they played cricket together just like the real Jumbo and his keeper at the big circus. Her toy elephant was very clever at hitting the ball that the doll threw to him, and once he hit it so hard that it bounced on Mr. Pink-Whistle's nose with a loud "ping"!

That made everyone laugh. Eileen clapped loudly. "Now come the next performers," said Pink-Whistle. The band struck up a merry tune again, and rum-ti-tum-ti-tum went the drum. In came the sailor doll with all the teddy bears tied together in a row.

"The performing bears!" said Pink-Whistle. "Play up, band—the bears want to dance!"

Well, those teddy bears did dance! They danced all over the bed, they rolled about, they grunted and growled, and they had just as good a time as Eileen herself had.

"Well, I'd no idea my bears could be so funny, Mr. Pink-Whistle!" she said. "If I laugh much more I'll get a stitch in my side."

Then in galloped the little brown horse without the wooden cart it usually pulled along. Riding on its back was the fairy doll! She did look simply lovely, and Eileen was most surprised to see how clever she was! She stood up on the horse's back, and galloped over the bed like that. Then she stood on one leg only and didn't fall off once.

"Marvellous!" said Eileen. "Oh, Mr. Pink-Whistle, this is simply lovely. What's next?"

"Your two monkeys come next," said the little man. "Here they are." 

THE FAIRY DOLL LOOKED SIMPLY LOVELY.

And in they came, grinning all over their faces. What a time they had! They didn't stay on the bed. They leapt all over the room, and swung by their tails from the lamp that hung down from the ceiling. They climbed all over Pink-Whistle, and when he took some bananas from his pocket and gave them to the monkeys, they peeled them neatly and gobbled them up.

"Aren't they clever?" said Eileen. "Oh, Mr. Pink-Whistle, I think I'd rather see your circus than even Mr. Galliano's—because, you see, your circus is made of all my own toys, and I really didn't know they were so clever. Oh, look—here come all my toy soldiers on horse-back!"

The soldiers galloped in. The band struck up again—and hey presto, all those horses began to dance prettily round the bed in time to the music—just like the horses do in any circus. It was marvellous to watch. Suddenly the front door opened. It was Mother back from her walk. Eileen stared at Mr. Pink-Whistle.

"That's Mother!"-she said. "I wonder what she's bought me. Oh, Mr. Pink-Whistle, do stay and let her see the circus, too."

"Sorry, little girl, I can't," said Pink-Whistle. "I don't want your mother to see me. I'm going to disappear and slip down the stairs. Watch me!"

Eileen watched him—and to her very great amazement the merry little man seemed to dissolve like sugar in a cup—and then he wasn't there at all! But his voice came to her from near the door.

"Good-bye. So glad you liked my circus. Do things seem a bit fairer now?"

"Oh yes!" cried Eileen. And then down the stairs went Pink-Whistle, he opened the front door, and was gone. Mother saw the front door opening and shutting by itself and she was most surprised. You see, she couldn't see Pink-Whistle at all.

She went up the stairs—and as soon as she came to Eileen's door, an extraordinary thing happened. All the toys had hopped down from Eileen's bed and were running back to the nursery. There they went— monkeys, dolls, bears, and all. Mother simply couldn't believe her eyes.

I must be imagining things," she thought. She peeped into the nursery. All the toys were in their places, as still as could be. Nobody would ever imagine they had been in Mr. Pink-Whistle's circus all afternoon. "Eileen! What do you think I've bought you?" cried Mother, going into the bedroom. "Look—a little toy circus! Won't you love that?"

"Yes, I will," said Eileen, sitting up joyfully. "But Mother—I shall like Mr. Pink-Whistle's circus the very best of all!"

And I'm sure I would, too, wouldn't you?

THE TWO MONKEYS GOBBLED UP THE BANANAS.

MR. PINK-WHISTLE AND THE

COWARDS

PAUL
went to school every morning, feeling afraid. He wasn't A afraid of school, or of his teacher, or of any of his lessons. He was afraid of two boys who went to the same school as he did.

Every morning these two boys lay in wait for Paul. He had to go down their lane, and sometimes they hid behind the big oak tree to jump out at him, and sometimes they hid behind the hedge. He never knew where they would be.

They never hurt him. They didn't kick or pinch or punch—they teased Paul in another way.

They threw his school cap over the hedge or up into a tree. They threw his school bag into the pond. They would take his lunch and scatter it over the grass. And Paul couldn't possibly stop them because they were two to one.

"You are cowards," he once said to John and Alan. "You wouldn't do this to me if there was only one of you, because I could fight you then. But I can't fight two of you. I shall report you to our teacher if you do this any more."

"Well, if you tell tales, we'll tease you all the more," said Alan.

"We might even take off your shoes and stockings and put them on the old goat over there," said John.

Well, Paul knew quite well that they were likely to do what they said, for they didn't seem to care a bit what they did. So he didn't tell. He didn't like telling tales anyway, but he became very miserable about his teasing, because he got into trouble at home and at school over his lost caps, his wet school-bag and books, and his excuses over his lost lunch.

"Surely there must be times when it's best to tell tales?" he though: to himself. "Why should I keep getting into trouble like this for things

that are not my fault? Still—I should get into worse trouble from John and Alan if they knew I'd told tales—they might begin to pinch and kick me. I'm too small to fight both of them at once."

Well, things went on like this all through the summer term. Poor Paul had to have two new caps, because John threw one of his into the middle of a gorse bush far too prickly to rescue it from, and then Alan threw the second cap up a telegraph post and it hung there on the top of the post, impossible to reach.