Five Children and It E. Nesbit (uplifting books for women TXT) đ
- Author: E. Nesbit
Book online «Five Children and It E. Nesbit (uplifting books for women TXT) đ». Author E. Nesbit
A young man squiring his sweetheart on her afternoon out was the first to come forward. For that occasion his was the princely attitudeâ âno expense sparedâ âmoney no object. His girl wished to see the giant? Well, she should see the giant, even though seeing the giant cost threepence each and the other entertainments were all penny ones.
The flap of the tent was raisedâ âthe couple entered. Next moment a wild shriek from the girl thrilled through all present. Bill slapped his leg. âThatâs done the trick!â he whispered to âBecca. It was indeed a splendid advertisement of the charms of Robert. When the girl came out she was pale and trembling, and a crowd was round the tent.
âWhat was it like?â asked a bailiff.
âOh!â âhorrid!â âyou wouldnât believe,â she said. âItâs as big as a barn, and that fierce. It froze the blood in my bones. I wouldnât haâ missed seeing it for anything.â
The fierceness was only caused by Robertâs trying not to laugh. But the desire to do that soon left him, and before sunset he was more inclined to cry than to laugh, and more inclined to sleep than either. For, by ones and twos and threes, people kept coming in all the afternoon, and Robert had to shake hands with those who wished it, and to allow himself to be punched and pulled and patted and thumped, so that people might make sure he was really real.
The other children sat on a bench and watched and waited, and were very bored indeed. It seemed to them that this was the hardest way of earning money that could have been invented. And only fifteen shillings! Bill had taken four times that already, for the news of the giant had spread, and tradespeople in carts, and gentlepeople in carriages, came from far and near. One gentleman with an eyeglass, and a very large yellow rose in his buttonhole, offered Robert, in an obliging whisper, ten pounds a week to appear at the Crystal Palace. Robert had to say âNo.â
âI canât,â he said regretfully. âItâs no use promising what you canât do.â
âAh, poor fellow, bound for a term of years, I suppose! Well, hereâs my card; when your timeâs up come to me.â
âI willâ âif Iâm the same size then,â said Robert truthfully.
âIf you grow a bit, so much the better,â said the gentleman.
When he had gone, Robert beckoned Cyril and saidâ â
âTell them I must and will have an easy. And I want my tea.â
Tea was provided, and a paper hastily pinned on the tent. It saidâ â
Closed for half an hour
while the giant gets his tea
Then there was a hurried council.
âHow am I to get away?â said Robert. âIâve been thinking about it all the afternoon.â
âWhy, walk out when the sun sets and youâre your right size. They canât do anything to us.â
Robert opened his eyes. âWhy, theyâd nearly kill us,â he said, âwhen they saw me get my right size. No, we must think of some other way. We must be alone when the sun sets.â
âI know,â said Cyril briskly, and he went to the door, outside which Bill was smoking a clay pipe and talking in a low voice to âBecca. Cyril heard him sayâ ââGood as havinâ a fortune left you.â
âLook here,â said Cyril, âyou can let people come in again in a minute. Heâs nearly finished his tea. But he must be left alone when the sun sets. Heâs very queer at that time of day, and if heâs worried I wonât answer for the consequences.â
âWhyâ âwhat comes over him?â asked Bill.
âI donât know; itâsâ âitâs a sort of a change,â said Cyril candidly. âHe isnât at all like himselfâ âyouâd hardly know him. Heâs very queer indeed. Someoneâll get hurt if heâs not alone about sunset.â This was true.
âHeâll pull round for the evening, I sâpose?â
âOh yesâ âhalf an hour after sunset heâll be quite himself again.â
âBest humour him,â said the woman.
And so, at what Cyril judged was about half an hour before sunset, the tent was again closed âwhilst the giant gets his supper.â
The crowd was very merry about the giantâs meals and their coming so close together.
âWell, he can pick a bit,â Bill owned. âYou see he has to eat hearty, being the size he is.â
Inside the tent the four children breathlessly arranged a plan of retreat.
âYou go now,â said Cyril to the girls, âand get along home as fast as you can. Oh, never mind the beastly pony-cart; weâll get that tomorrow. Robert and I are dressed the same. Weâll manage somehow, like Sydney Carton did. Only, you girls must get out, or itâs all no go. We can run, but you canâtâ âwhatever you may think. No, Jane, itâs no good Robert going out and knocking people down. The police would follow him till he turned his proper size, and then arrest him like a shot. Go you must! If you donât, Iâll never speak to you again. It was you got us into this mess really, hanging round peopleâs legs the way you did this morning. Go, I tell you!â
And Jane and Anthea went.
âWeâre going
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