Mystery of the Strange Bundle Read Online Free PDF Page B

policeman jumped violently. Then the mooing quietened and went on in time with the nodding of the animal’s head.
    Mr. Goon swallowed hard. “Moo-oo, moo-oo, moo-oo,” went the cow, nodding its head. Nobody would ever have believed that it was merely Fatty throwing the noise across to the mantelpiece!
    Mr. Goon felt rather sick. He didn’t know what to make of it at all. He looked at the children again. They were taking absolutely no notice at all of the mooing cow. Neither was Buster, of course. Was it possible that they were not hearing what Mr. Goon was hearing?
    The little plump woman came bustling into the shop with some more buns for the children. The cow stopped mooing. Mr. Goon cleared his throat and spoke to the shop-woman.
    “Er - nice cow that of yours, my good woman - the one on the mantelpiece, I mean. Very life-like? You’d almost expect it to moo!”
    “You will have your joke, sir,” said the little woman. “My, if I heard it moo I’d think there was something wrong with me. I’d think I was going crazy!”
    “That’s just what we were saying,” said Fatty gravely. “Strange Voices are about - people are hearing them. What are they? A Warning? Brrrrrr! I’m glad I don’t hear them!”
    “Well, we live in queer days, no doubt about it,” said the little shop-woman puzzled, and hurried off again. The cow began to moo once more, but so softly that Mr. Goon was not absolutely sure if he was hearing it or not. Could he be imagining it? He gazed so earnestly at the nodding cow that Bets felt an irresistible giggle rising up from the very middle of her tummy. She knew from experience that they were the worst kind of giggles - the ones that heaved up and broke out helplessly.
    “Talk, do talk,” she besought the others in a low voice. “I’m going to laugh.”
    All but Fatty talked in low voices, saying any nonsense that came into their heads. Fatty stopped making the cow moo. Mr. Goon sat back cautiously. Thank goodness the cow was behaving normally now. Maybe his ears had just played him a trick.
    “Quark, quark, quark!” Mr. Goon jumped violently again, and looked all round. That was a duck quacking, not a doubt of it.
    QUARK! Mr. Goon’s eyes caught sight of a wild duck, beautifully stuffed, placed in a glass case at the end of the shop. He gazed at it, holding his breath.
    “Quark, quark, QUARK!” The duck appeared to be looking at him out of its glass eye, and its half-open beak seemed to be quacking. Mr. Goon leapt up, full of horror.
    “That duck!” he said wildly. “Did you hear it!”
    “What duck?” asked Larry. “Oh, Mr. Goon - surely - surely you are not suggesting that the duck in the glass case is quacking!”
    “Mr. Goon - don’t say you are hearing the Strange Voices!” said Fatty, earnestly and solemnly.
    “Quark!” The noise seemed to come from somewhere behind Mr. Goon. He gave a loud, hunted cry and ran from the shop, Buster almost tripping him up with his lead. And then the children collapsed over the table, crying tears of laughter into their empty cups. “Mr. Goon, Mr. Goon, you couldn’t have been funnier!”
     

Something Happens at Last
     
    “Oh, Fatty - HOW do you do it?” said Daisy, mopping her eyes and feeling very weak. “The way you made that cow moo in time to its nodding was perfect. Honestly, I could have believed myself that the thing was mooing.”
    “So would I,” said Bets. “Oh, dear - don’t do that sort of thing too often, Fatty - I simply shan’t be able to keep my giggles down if you do. Mr. Goon’s face! His eyes almost fell out of his head!”
    “He must be feeling pretty puzzled,” said Larry. “I bet he’ll wake up at night and hear noises that aren’t there!”
    They paid their second bill and went out. What a pity there wasn’t any first-class mystery to probe into! These were the first holidays in which nothing of any sort or kind had turned up. And there were only a few days left.
    “Can’t we spoof old Goon a bit, just to get some kind of excitement into our last few