Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder Read Online Free PDF Page A

head. They stood there next to each other in silence, watching the other kids play, until Lisa asked, “Was that really true, what you said about Doctor Proctor and the invention?”
    â€œOf course,” Nilly said with a wry smile. “Almost everything I say is true.”
    Right then the bell rang.

Nilly Has an Idea
    THAT AFTERNOON, NILLY knocked hard on the cellar door at the blue house. Three firm knocks. That was the signal they’d agreed on.
    Doctor Proctor flung open the door and when he saw Nilly, he exclaimed, “Wonderful!” Then he raised one bushy eyebrow and lowered another bushyeyebrow, pointed, and asked, “Who is that?”
    â€œLisa,” Nilly said.
    â€œI can see that,” the professor said. “She lives across the street there if I’m not mistaken. What I mean is: What’s she doing here? Didn’t we agree that this project was top secret?”
    â€œObviously it’s not that secret,” Lisa said. “Nilly told the whole class about it today.”
    â€œWhat?” the professor exclaimed, frightened. “Nilly, is that true?”
    â€œUh,” Nilly said. “A little, maybe.”
    â€œYou told … you told … ,” the professor sputtered, waving his arms around in the air, while Nilly stuck out his lower lip and made his eyes look big, as if he were on the verge of tears. This facial expression, which Nilly had practiced especially for situations like this, made him look like a tiny little, very depressed camel. Because everyone knows that it’s absolutely impossible to be mad at a verydepressed camel. The professor groaned, giving up, and lowered his arms again. “Well, well, maybe it’s not so terrible. And you are my assistant after all, so I suppose it’s all right.”
    â€œThanks,” Nilly said quietly.
    â€œSure, sure,” said the professor, waving his hands at Nilly. “You can stop trying to look like a camel now. Come in and close the door behind you.”
    They did as he said, while Doctor Proctor hurried over to the test tubes and glass containers that were bubbling and smoking with something that smelled like cooked pears.

    Lisa stopped just inside the door and looked around. There was a potted plant with white petals on the windowsill. And on the wall next to it hung a picture of a motorcycle with a sidecar infront of what she assumed must be the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A smiling young man who looked like the professor was sitting on the motorcycle seat, and there was a sweet, smiling girl with dark hair in the sidecar.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Nilly asked Doctor Proctor.
    â€œI’m perfecting the product,” he said, stirring some mixture in a big barrel. “Something that ought to give it even more pep. A concoction of the more explosive type, you might say.”
    The professor dipped a finger in and then brought it to his mouth. “Hmm. A little more wormwood.”
    â€œCan I taste?” Lisa asked, peering over the edge of the barrel.
    â€œSorry,” the professor said.
    â€œSorry,” Nilly said.
    â€œWhy not?” Lisa asked.
    â€œAre you a certified fart powder tester, perhaps?” Nilly asked.
    Lisa thought for a second and said, “Not as far as I know.”
    â€œThen I recommend that you leave the testing to me for the time being,” Nilly said, pulling on his suspenders. Then he took a spoon and stuck it down into the barrel.
    â€œCareful,” the professor said. “Start with a quarter spoonful.”
    â€œSure,” Nilly said, putting a quarter spoonful of powder in his mouth.
    â€œThen we’ll start the countdown,” Doctor Proctor said, and looked at the clock. “Seven—six—five—four—three … hey, don’t stand right behind him, Lisa!”
    Right then there was a bang. And Lisa felt a blast of air hitting her before she lost her balance and sat down hard on her