More Wishing-Chair Stories Read Online Free PDF Page B

was yelling and shouting like anything—but he couldn’t stop the chair.”
    “Well, we’d better go on a journey of our own,” said Chinky. “I’ll catch Farmer Straw’s two geese. They won’t like it much—but it can’t be helped. We must go after Peter and the chair somehow!”
    He ran off down to the farm. Presently Mollie heard the noise of flapping wings, and down from the sky came Chinky, riding on the back of one of the geese, and leading the other by a piece of thick string. The geese hissed angrily as they came to the ground.
    “They are most annoyed about it,” said Chinky to Mollie. “They only came when I promised them that I wouldn’t let Farmer Straw take them to market next week.”
    “Ss-ss-ss-ss!” hissed the big geese, and one tried to peck at Mollie’s fat legs. Chinky smacked it.

    “Behave yourself!” he said. “If you peck Mollie I’ll change your beak into a trumpet, and then you’ll only be able to toot, not cackle or hiss!”
    Mollie laughed. “You do say some funny things, Chinky,” she said. She got on to the goose’s back. Up in the air it went, flapping its enormous white wings.
    “We’ll go to the cloud castle first of all,” said Chinky. “The fairies there may have seen Peter going by and can tell us where they think the chair might have been going.”
    So they flew to an enormous white cloud that towered up into the sky. As they drew near it Mollie could see that it had turrets, and was really a cloud castle. She thought it was the loveliest thing she had ever seen.
    There was a great gateway in the cloud castle. The geese flew through it and landed in a misty courtyard. Mollie was just going to get off when Chinky shouted to her.
    “Don’t get off, Mollie—you haven’t got cloud-shoes on and you’d fall right through to the earth below!”
    Mollie stayed on her goose. Small fairies dressed in all the colours of the rainbow came running into the courtyard, chattering in delight to see Mollie and Chinky. They wore cloud-shoes, rather like big flat snow-shoes, and with these they were able to step safely on the cloud that made their castle.
    “Come in and have some lemonade!” cried the little folk. But Chinky shook his head.
    “We are looking for a boy in a flying chair,” he said. “Have you see him?”
    “Yes!” cried the fairies, crowding round the geese, who cackled and hissed at them. “He passed about fifteen minutes ago. The chair had red wings and was flying strongly towards the west. Hurry and you may catch it up!”
    “Thank you!” cried Chinky. He shook the string reins of his goose, and he and Mollie flew up into the air once more, and went steadily westwards.
    “There is a gnome who lives in a tall tower some miles westwards,” said Chinky. “It is so tall that it sticks out above the clouds. We will make for there, and see if he has seen anything of Peter and the wishing-chair.”
    The geese flew on, cackling to one another. They were still in a bad temper. Chinky kept a look out for the tall tower—but Mollie saw it first. It looked very strange. It was sticking right through a big black cloud, and, as it was made of bright silver, it shone brilliantly.
    There was a small window at the top. It was open. The geese flew down to the window-sill and Chinky stuck his head inside.
    “Hie, gnome of the tower! Are you in?”
    “Yes!” yelled a voice. “If that is the baker leave me a brown loaf, please.”
    “It isn’t the baker!” shouted Chinky. “Come on up here!”
    “Well, if it’s the butcher, leave me a pound of sausages!” yelled the voice.
    “It isn’t the butcher!” shouted back Chinky, getting cross. “And it isn’t the milkman or the grocer or the newspaper boy or the fishmonger either!”
    “And it isn’t the postman!” cried Mollie. “It’s Chinky and Mollie!”
    The gnome was surprised. He climbed up the many steps of his tower till he came to the top. Then he put his head out of the window and gaped in