The Book of Brownies (The Enchanted World) Read Online Free PDF Page B

today.’
    Just at that moment he felt the little bottle in his pocket jerking about. He took it out, and saw the tiny wizard knocking on the glass.
    ‘Let me out!’ he squeaked in a voice like a mouse. ‘Let me out! Let me get at that red goblin.’
    ‘Well now, that’s an idea!’ said Hop, staring at him.
    He ran up into the room above the one in which the red goblin sat, and kicked and thumped on the floor, and made a terrible noise. Then he loosened the cork in the wizard’s bottle, and set
the bottle down in the middle of the floor. Then he ran and hid behind a curtain.
    After a bit up came the red goblin, wondering whatever in the world all the bumping and thumping was. He was very much surprised to see the bottle on the floor. He went up and looked at it.
    As soon as the wizard saw him, he began kicking and banging at the loosened cork. Then Pop! out it flew, and out came the wizard like a beetle on the floor. Immediately he grew bigger and
bigger, until he reached his usual size.
    And then, oh my! He went for the red goblin and gave him a big push. The goblin went over like a skittle.
    Hop didn’t wait to see any more. He ran downstairs and called the others. Together they went into the broomstick room.
    ‘Now quickly!’ said Hop. ‘Jump on whilst those two up there are fighting. They’ve forgotten all about us!’
    The mermaid jumped on. Skip jumped on, and so did Hop – but oh dear, there wasn’t any room for Jump! The broomstick only held three!
    ‘It’ll break if we have four!’ groaned Hop. ‘Now what are we to do?’
    ‘Leave me behind, of course!’ said the mermaid, and jumped off again.
    ‘Certainly
not
  !’ said all the brownies at once, and pulled her on again.
    Then Jump made a brave speech.
    ‘I’m not coming,’ he said. ‘It was my fault that we came to this island. I wanted to see what was on it. So I’m going to be the one to stay behind.
    Well, there was no time to be lost in arguing, so poor Jump
was
left behind.
    ‘Onaby O,
    Away we’ll go,
    Onaby Eye
    Up in the sky!’
    said Hop. And off went the broomstick out of the window, while Jump stood on the ground, and watched them fly away from him, up into the moonlit sky.

Their Adventure in the Land of Giants
    The broomstick went sailing away in the air, and Hop, Skip and the mermaid clung to it tightly. They were all very sad, thinking of poor Jump left behind. They didn’t
know
what
might happen to him.
    ‘Poor Jump,’ said the mermaid.
    ‘Poor, poor Jump,’ said Skip.
    ‘Poor, poor, poor –,’ began Hop – then he stopped.
    ‘I say!’ he said hopefully.
    ‘What?’ asked the other two.
    ‘Supposing I rub some of the ointment that makes people bigger on to the broomstick! It might make it grow bigger!’
    ‘Then we could go back and fetch Jump!’ cried the mermaid.
    So Hop got out the yellow ointment and rubbed some of it on to the end of the broomstick.
    It immediately grew much smaller, and Hop nearly fell off   ! He just managed to hang on round Skip’s waist.
    ‘Oh, you silly!’ cried Skip. ‘That’s the wrong ointment.’
    Quickly, he took the purple ointment from Hop’s pocket, though he nearly tumbled off in reaching it.
    Immediately it grew enormously large.
    ‘Gracious!’ giggled Hop, who was now sitting down firmly again. ‘There’s room for twenty people at least!’
    They turned the broomstick back to the island, and soon after arrived at the castle again. They landed at the front door.
    There was a terrible noise going on, and dust flew in clouds out of the windows of one of the upstairs rooms.
    ‘They’re still trying to settle who’s the strongest!’ said Hop. ‘I’ll run and fetch Jump!’
    He jumped off and ran indoors. There he found Jump, looking very scared indeed. How astonished and glad he was to see Hop!
    ‘Come on, you brave little brownie!’ called Hop. ‘We’ve made the broomstick bigger, and there’s room for you!’
    Jump scurried out with Hop and mounted