Wet Magic E. Nesbit (interesting books to read for teens txt) đ
- Author: E. Nesbit
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âOh, lovely, lovely,â Kathleen cried, as Mavis fixed the last delicate flesh-tinted crown. âCome and look, France.â
âNot yet,â said Mavis, in a great hurry, and she tied the thread of the necklace round a tin goldfish (out of the box with the duck and the boat and the mackerel and the lobster and the magnet that makes them all move aboutâ âyou know) and hung it from the middle of the arch. It looked just as though it were swimmingâ âyou hardly noticed the thread at all.
âNow, France,â she called. And Francis came slowly with his thumb in The Water Babies. It was nearly dark by now, but Mavis had lighted the four dollhouse candles in the gilt candlesticks and set them on the table around the aquarium.
âLook through the side,â she said; âisnât it ripping?â
âWhy,â said Francis slowly, âyouâve got water in itâ âand real anemones! Where on earthâ ââ âŠâ?â
âNot real,â said Mavis. âI wish they were; theyâre only dahlias. But it does look pretty, doesnât it?â
âItâs like Fairyland,â said Kathleen, and Bernard added, âI am glad you bought it.â
âIt just shows what it will be like when we do get the sea creatures,â said Mavis. âOh, Francis, you do like it, donât you?â
âOh, I like it all right,â he answered, pressing his nose against the thick glass, âbut I wanted it to be waving weeds and mysterious wetness like the Sabrina picture.â
The other three glanced at the picture which hung over the mantelpieceâ âSabrina and the water nymphs, drifting along among the waterweeds and water lilies. There were words under the picture, and Francis dreamily began to say them:
âââSabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting,
Under the glassie, cool, translucent wave
In twisted braids of Lillies knitting
The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair.â ââ âŠâââ
âHulloâ âwhat was that?â he said in quite a different voice, and jumped up.
âWhat was what?â the others naturally asked.
âDid you put something alive in there?â Francis asked.
âOf course not,â said Mavis. âWhy?â
âWell, I saw something move, thatâs all.â
They all crowded around and peered over the glass walls. Nothing, of course, but the sand and the grass and the shells, the clinkers and the dahlias and the little suspended tin goldfish.
âI expect the goldfish swung a bit,â said Bernard. âThatâs what it must have been.â
âIt didnât look like that,â Francis answered. âIt looked more likeâ ââ
âLike what?â
âI donât knowâ âget out of the light. Letâs have another squint.â
He stooped down and looked again through the glass.
âItâs not the goldfish,â he said. âThatâs as quiet as a trout asleep. Noâ âI suppose it was a shadow or something.â
âYou might tell us what it looked like,â said Kathleen.
âWas it like a rat?â Bernard asked with interest.
âNot a bit. It was more likeâ ââ
âWell, like what?â asked three aggravated voices.
âLike Sabrinaâ âonly very, very tiny.â
âA sort of dollâ âSabrina,â said Kathleen, âhow awfully jolly!â
âIt wasnât at all like a doll, and it wasnât jolly,â said Francis shortlyâ ââonly I wish it would come again.â
It didnât, however.
âI say,â said Mavis, struck by a new idea, âperhaps itâs a magic aquarium.â
âLetâs play it is,â suggested Kathleenâ ââletâs play itâs a magic glass and we can see what we like in it. I see a fairy palace with gleaming spires of crystal and silver.â
âI see a football match, and our chaps winning,â said Bernard heavily, joining in the new game.
âShut up,â said Francis. âThat isnât play. There was something.â
âSuppose it is magic,â said Mavis again.
âWeâve played magic so often, and nothingâs ever happenedâ âeven when we made the fire of sweet-scented woods and eastern gums, and all that,â said Bernard; âitâs much better to pretend right away. We always have to in the end. Magic just wastes time. There isnât any magic really, is there, Mavis?â
âShut up, I tell you,â was the only answer of Francis, his nose now once more flattened against the smooth green glass.
Here Aunt Enidâs voice was heard on the landing outside, saying, âLittle onesâ âbed,â in no uncertain tones.
The two grunted as it were in whispers, but there was no appeal against Aunt Enid, and they went, their grunts growing feebler as they crossed the room, and dying away in a despairing silence as they and Aunt Enid met abruptly at the top of the stairs.
âShut the door,â said Francis, in a strained sort of voice. And Mavis obeyed, even though he hadnât said âplease.â She really was an excellent sister. Francis, in moments of weakness, had gone so far as to admit that she wasnât half bad.
âI say,â she said when the click of the latch assured her that they were alone, âhow could it be magic? We never said any spell.â
âNo more we did,â said Francis, âunlessâ âAnd besides, itâs all nonsense, of course, about magic. Itâs just a game we play, isnât it?â
âYes, of course,â Mavis said doubtfully; âbut what did you mean by âunlessâ?â
âWe werenât saying any spells, were we?â
âNo, of course we werenâtâ âwe werenât saying anythingâ ââ
âAs it happens I was.â
âWas what? When?â
âWhen it happened.â
âWhat happened?â
Will it be believed that Aunt Enid chose this moment for opening the door just wide enough to say, âMavisâ âbed.â And Mavis had to go. But as she went she said again: âWhat happened?â
âIt,â said Francis, âwhatever it was. I was saying.â ââ âŠâ
âMavis!â called Aunt Enid.
âYes, Aunt Enidâ âyou were saying what?â
âI was saying, âSabrina fair,âââ said Francis, âdo you thinkâ âbut, of course, it couldnât have beenâ âand all dry like that, no water or anything.â
âPerhaps magic has to be dry,â said Mavis. âComing, Aunt Enid! It seems to be mostly burning things, and, of course, that wouldnât do in the water. What did you see?â
âIt looked like Sabrina,â said Francisâ ââonly tiny, tiny. Not doll-small, you know, but live-small, like through the wrong end of a telescope. I do wish youâd seen it.â
âSay, âSabrina fairâ again quick while I look.â
âââSabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting,
Under theâ ââââ
âOh, Mavis, it isâ âit did. Thereâs something there truly. Look!â
âWhere?â said Mavis. âI canât seeâ âoh, let me look.â
âMavis!â called Aunt Enid very loud
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