"Stop that noise!"
"Let me out!" yelled Moon-Face.
"Not till you tell us any magic spell you know!" said the goblin.
"I know a spell that will turn people into kings and queens!" shouted Moon-Face.
"Tell us it then," said the goblin at once.
"Well, open my door," said Moon-Face. There came the sound of a key turned in a padlock, and then Moon-Face’s door was opened. At once the whole crowd of brownies poured out like a stream of water! Jo, Bessie, and Fanny went out with them, and when the goblins saw the crowd, they gave a yell and leapt down the tree to warn their friends.
Two brownies leapt up to the ladder and sat there to prevent any goblins from escaping to the land above. Jo, Moon-Face, Bessie, and Fanny climbed quickly down the tree to let out all the people locked into their homes. How glad everyone was!
Mother Washalot was very angry at being locked in. "I’ll teach those goblins to lock me in!" she shouted. And the old dame picked up her wash-tub and began to throw the water over all the goblins climbing about the tree. What a shock for them! Jo couldn’t help laughing.
He unlocked Mister Watzisname’s door, and out came Watzisname, shouting and raging, followed by the Saucepan Man. Watzisname seemed to be all lists, and he flew at the goblins and began to pommel them as if he were beating carpets!
The Saucepan Man acted in a surprising manner. He took off one saucepan after another, one kettle after another, and threw them at the escaping goblins. Crash! Bang! Clatter! My goodness, he was a good shot! Fanny stopped and watched him in amazement.
They let out the Barn Owl, and the three owls that lived together. They flew at the goblins, screeching and hooting. The Angry Pixie was so very angry that he Hew at Jo when he let him out, and Jo only just explained in time that he must fight the goblins and not him, Jo.
Bessie let Silky out, but Silky was frightened by all the noise and shouting. Still she managed to catch one goblin by tying him up with one of her curtains. Silky and Bessie then took the goblin up the tree and pushed him into Moon-Face’s room. When he found the slippery-slip he slid down it in delight, thinking he could escape. But, alas for him, he stopped at the bolted trap-door, and there he stayed, unable to climb up or to get out!
Many other goblins were caught that way too. They tried to escape from the brownies by running down the tree to the wood—but when they found six strong brownies at the foot they climbed up the tree again to escape into their own land at the top! And then, of course, they found two brownies on the ladder, who pushed them down again. So into Moon-Face’s house they went, hustled there by Jo, who took a great delight in pushing them in. One by one they tried to escape by sliding down the slippery-slip, and soon the slide was crowded with goblins, piled one on top of the other!
Dawn came, and the sun shone out, lighting up the great branches of the enormous Faraway Tree.
"Now we can see if any goblins are hiding anywhere," called Moon-Face, who was thoroughly enjoying himself. So he and the brownies and Watzisname looked into every hole and corner, behind every branch and tuft of leaves, and pulled out the hidden goblins there. They were marched up to Moon-Face’s room and pushed down the slippery-slip. Soon there wasn’t a single goblin left. They were all piled on top of one another in the slide, most uncomfortable and frightened.
"There!" said Moon-Face at last, pleased with himself and everyone else. "We’ve got them all safe. My word, I am hungry! What about having a good meal?"
"Look!" called Silky, waving to a lower part of the great tree. "The Faraway Tree is growing ripe plums just down there! What about having a feast of those?"
"Good!" said Moon-Face. "Squirrel, go down to the six brownies at the foot of the tree and tell them they can come up now. Hi, you two brownies on the ladder, you can come down. Silky, can you make some cocoa to drink? Plums and cocoa would make a lovely meal."
Just as they were sitting down to eat and drink, a strange figure came up the tree. He was thin and ragged and knobbly, but his face beamed as if he knew everybody.
"Who’s that?" said Fanny at once.
"Don’t know," said Moon-Face, staring.
"I seem to have seen his face before," said Bessie.
"He’s a funny-looking creature," said Jo. "He looks rather like a scarecrow to me!"
The ragged man came- up, and sat down on a branch nearby. He held out his hand for a cup of cocoa.
"Who are you?" said Moon-Face.
"What’s your name?" asked Silky.
"Play a game?" said the thin man, beaming.
"Yes, certainly—what game shall we play?" And then everyone knew who it was! It was the Old Saucepan Man—without his kettles and saucepans! He had thrown them all at the goblins, and now he had none left to wear.
"Saucepan! You do look different!" said Watzisname, hugging him. "I didn’t know you! Come and have a plum."
The Saucepan Man looked alarmed. "Hurt your thumb?" he said. "Oh, I am sorry!"
"No, I didn’t say I’d hurt my thumb," said Watzisname, roaring with laughter, and clapping Saucepan on the back. "I said, have a plum, a plum, a plum!"
"Thanks," said the Saucepan Man, and put two large plums into his mouth at once.
"And now,” said Moon-Face, when everyone had finished, "what about those goblins in the slippery-slip?”
XXV
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE RED GOBLINS
"It’s certainly time we dealt with those red goblins," said Mister Whiskers, the chief brownie, wiping his long beard with a yellow handkerchief. He had dropped plum-juice all down it.
And just at that moment there came a great surprise. A deep voice behind them said "Oho! Here’s a nice little company! What about coming back with me into Wizard Land and doing a few jobs?"
Everyone turned in dismay. They saw a curious figure above them, leaning down from a big branch. It was a wizard, whose green eyes blinked lazily like a cat’s.
"It’s Mighty-One the Wizard!" said Moon-Face, and he got up to bow, for Mighty-One was as mighty as his name. Everyone did the same.
"Who is he?" whispered Fanny.
"He’s the most powerful wizard in the whole world," whispered back Silky. "He’s come down the ladder—so that means that the Land of Red Goblins has gone and the Land of the Wizards has come! They are always on the look-out for servants, and I suppose Mighty-One has come down to look for some."
"Well, I’m not going to be servant to a wizard," said Fanny.
"You won’t be," said Silky. "He’s not a bad fellow. He won’t take any one who doesn’t want to go. It’s good training for a fairy who wants to learn magic."
Mighty-One blinked his eyes slowly and looked at the little crowd on the branches before him. "I need about a hundred servants to take back with me," he said. "Who will come?"
Nobody said a word. Moon-Face got up and bowed again.
"Your Highness," he said, "we none of us want to leave the Enchanted Wood, where we are very happy. You may perhaps find others who would like to go back with you. We beg you not to take any of us."
"Well," said the wizard, sliding his green eyes from one person to another, "I haven’t much time. My land will swing away from the Faraway Tree in about an hour. Can you get me the servants I want? If you can, I will not take you.”
Everybody looked worried. But Jo jumped up with a beaming face.
"Your Highness! Would red goblins do for your servants?"
"Excellently," said Mighty-One. "They are quick and obedient—but goblins would never agree to coming with me! They belong to their own land."
Moon-Face, Watzisname, and the Saucepan Man all began to talk at once. Mighty-One lifted up his hand and they stopped. "One at a time," said the wizard.
So Moon-Face spoke. "Sir," he said, "we have about a hundred goblins boxed up in the middle of this tree. They tried to take us prisoner. It would be a very good punishment for them if we gave them to you to take away to your land as servants."
Mighty-One looked a
stonished. "A hundred goblins!" he said. "That is very strange. Explain."
So Moon-Face explained. Mighty-One was most interested to hear of the fight.
"We’ll all go down to the bottom of the tree and let the goblins out one by one," said Jo, excited. "Come on! What a shock for them when they see the wizard!"
So they all trooped down the tree in the bright rays of the rising sun. Really, it was all most exciting!
They came to the trap-door at the foot of the tree. Behind it they could hear a lot of shouting and quarrelling and pushing.
"Don’t push!"
"You’re squashing me!"
Moon-Face unbolted the trap-door and opened it. Out shot a red goblin and fell on a green cushion of moss. He picked himself up, blinked in the bright sunlight, and then turned to run. But Mighty-One tapped him with his wand and he stood still. He couldn’t move! He looked scared when he saw the wizard.
One by one the red goblins tumbled out of the trap-door, and were tapped by the wizard. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty—they came shooting out of the trap-door, surprised and frightened, sliding gradually down the slippery-slip, as one after another slid from the trap-door.
Fanny giggled. It was a funny sight to see.
"It’s a very good punishment for those bad goblins," she said to Silky. "They came down the I ladder to trap you and now someone else has trapped them, and is taking them back to his land!"
The red goblins stood in a sulky row, quite unable to run away. "Quick—march!" said the wizard, when the last one had slid out of the trap-door—and up the tree went the sulky goblins. It was no use trying to escape. The wizard had put a spell into their legs, and they had to go up to the top of the tree, through the big white cloud and into Wizard Land.
"A jolly good riddance of bad rubbish," said Jo. "My word, what an exciting night we’ve had! I did enjoy it.”
"Isn’t it cold!" said the Saucepan Man, shivering.
"Cold!" cried Bessie and Fanny, who were feeling hot in the morning sun. "Why, it’s as warm as can be."
"It’s because he hasn’t got his kettles and saucepans hung round him as usual," said Watzisname. "I expect they feel like a coat to him. Poor old Saucepan!"
"I don’t like the look of him without his saucepans," said Fanny. "He doesn’t look right. Can’t we collect them for him? They’ re on the ground—and all about the tree."
So they began to collect the Saucepan Man’s belongings. He was very pleased. They hung his kettles on him, and put his saucepans all round him, with his special one for a hat. Some of them were dented and bent, but he didn’t mind a bit.
"There!" said Fanny, pleased. "You look like yourself now. You looked horrid without all your saucepans on—like a snail without its shell."
“I never had a bell," said the Saucepan Man.
"SHELL, I said," said Fanny.
"Smell?" said the Saucepan Man, looking round. "I can’t smell anything at the moment. What sort of smell—nice or nasty?"
"Shell, not smell," said Fanny patiently.
"Oh, shell. What shell?" said the Saucepan Man. But Fanny had forgotten what she had said, she shook her head and laughed. "Never mind" she shouted.
"We really must go," said Jo. "Mother will be up and wondering whatever has happened to us. Oh dear—I do feel sleepy! Come on, girls."
They said good-bye to all the tree-dwellers and set off through the Enchanted Wood. Silky went back to her house in the tree, wondering what had happened to her clock, which hadn’t joined in the fight at all. It had been fast asleep.
Moon-Face went back to the tree, yawning. Watzisname and the Saucepan Man climbed back, so tired that they fell fast asleep before they reached their hole, and had to be put safely in the corner of a broad branch by the Angry Pixie, in case they fell down.
Dame Washalot went back, making up her mind to do no washing that day. Soon there was peace in the tree, and only the snores of Watzisname could be heard.
Far away up the tree in the Land of the Wizards the red goblins were working hard. Ah—they had got a good punishment, hadn’t they? They wouldn’t be in such a hurry to catch other people in future.
The three children got home, and their mother stared at them in surprise.
"You are up early this morning," she said. "I thought you were still in bed and asleep. Fancy getting up and going out for a walk before breakfast like that."
How sleepy the children were that day! And, dear me, didn’t they go to bed early that night!
"No more wandering through the Enchanted Wood and up the Faraway Tree for me tonight," said Jo, as he got into bed. "I vote we don’t go there for a long time. It’s getting just a bit too exciting."
But it wasn’t long before they went again, as you will see!
XXVI
A PLAN FOR BESSIE’S BIRTHDAY
A week later it was Bessie’s birthday. She was very excited, because Mother said she might have a little party.
"We’ll ask all our friends in the Faraway Tree," she said.
"Do you think we’d better?" said Jo doubtfully. "I don’t think Mother would like Dame Washalot—or Mister Whiskers—or the Angry Pixie."
"Well, we can’t very well ask some and not others," said Bessie. "The ones we left out would be very hurt indeed.”
"It’s awkward," said Fanny. "We’d better go and tell Moon-Face and Silky, and ask them what to do."
But Mother wouldn’t let the two girls go off, with Jo that day. She said there was a lot of ironing to do, and they must help.
"Oh, bother!" said Fanny to Jo. "You’ll have to go alone, Jo, and ask Moon-Face and Silky what we ought to do about our party. Don’t be too long, or we’ll be worried about you. And please don’t go climbing up into any strange land without us."
"Don’t worry!" said Jo. "I’m not going to visit any more lands at the top of the Faraway Tree. I've had enough adventures to last me for the rest my life!"
He set off. He ran through the Enchanted Wood and came to the Faraway Tree. It was a hot afternoon and not many little folk were about.
It seemed almost too hot to climb the tree. Jo whistled. The little red squirrel popped down from the tree and looked at him.
“Leap up to the top of the tree and ask old Moon-Face if he’ll drop me down a rope with a cushion on the end, and haul me up, squirrel," said Jo.
The squirrel bounded lightly up the tree. Soon a rope, with a cushion tied to it, came slipping down the tree. Jo caught hold of it. He sat astride on the cushion and tugged the rope. It began to go up the tree, bumping into branches as it went.
It was a funny ride, but Jo enjoyed it. He waved to the Angry Pixie, who was sitting outside his house. He stared at Jo in surprise and then grinned when he saw who it was. The owls were all asleep in their homes. Mister Watzisname was awake for once, and fell out of his chair in alarm when he suddenly saw Jo swinging up through the air, bumping into boughs!
When he saw it was Jo, he was so pleased that he fell off his branch on to the Saucepan Man, who was snoozing in a chair just below.
"Oooooch!" said the Saucepan Man, startled. "What’s the matter? What are you jumping on me for?"
"I’m not," said Watzisname. "Look, there’s Jo!"
"Go? I don’t want to go," said the Saucepan Man, settling down again. "Don’t be so restless."
"I said, ‘There’s JO!’ " roared Watzisname.
"Where?" said the Saucepan Man in surprise, looking all round. But by that time, of course, Jo was far away up the tree, laughing over funny Watzisname and dear old Saucepan!
Watzisname climbed back to his chair and shut his eyes. Soon his snores reached Jo, who was far above, hoping that Silky would see him and go up to Moon-Face’s to talk to him. He forgot to look out for Dame Washalot’s water, but it missed him nicely, splashing down heavily on to poor old Watzisname, making him dream that he was falling out of a boat into the sea.
Silky did see him, and waved. She climbed the tree quickly to go up to Moon-Face??
?s. By the time she got there Jo had just arrived and was getting off the cushion.
"Hallo!" said Moon-Face and Silky, pleased to see him. "Where are Bessie and Fanny?"
Jo told them. He told them about Bessie’s birthday too, and her difficulty about how many people she should ask.
"We'd like everyone," said Jo. "But Mother wouldn’t like some of them, we are sure. What shall we do?"
"I know! I know!" said Silky, clapping her hands suddenly. "Next week the Land of Birthday comes to the top of the Faraway Tree—and anyone who has a birthday can go there and give the most wonderful party to all their friends. Oh, it would be lovely! Last time the Birthday Land came, nobody had a birthday, so we couldn’t go. But this time we can, because Bessie could ask us all!"
"It sounds good," said Jo. "But I didn’t really want to go into any strange land again, you know. We always seem to get mixed up in queer adventures. So far we’ve always escaped all right—but we might not another time."
"Oh, no harm can come to you in the Land of Birthdays!" said Moon-Face, at once. "It’s a wonderful land. You really must come! It’s a chance you mustn’t miss."
"All right," said Jo, beginning to feel excited. "I'll tell the girls when I go back."
"And we’ll tell everyone in the tree, and Mister Whiskers and his brownies too," said Silky. "Bessie would like everyone to go, wouldn’t she?"
"Oh yes!" said Jo. "What happens, though? I mean, do we have to arrange about tea, or anything? And what about a birthday cake? Fanny was going to make one for Bessie."
"Tell her not to," said Silky. "She’ll find everything she wants up in the Birthday Land. My word, we are lucky! Fancy someone really having a birthday just as the Birthday Land comes along!"
"Bessie’s birthday is on Wednesday," said Jo. "So we’ll go up the tree then. I’d better go back and tell the girls now. I said I wouldn’t be long."
"Have a Toffee Shock?" said Moon-Face.
"No, thank you," said Jo. "I’d rather have a Pop Biscuit."
So they sat and munched the lovely Pop Biscuits, and talked about the exciting time they had had with the red goblins.