Fairies -- Fiction; Great Britain -- History -- Edward VII, 1901-1910 -- Fiction; Siblings -- Fiction; Wishes -- Fiction
"I know we did," said Robert in gloom, "but I wish the Lamb wasn't quite
so young and small. It would be much better fun taking him out."
"He'll mend of his youngness with time," said Martha; "and as for
smallness, I don't think you'd fancy carrying of him any more, however
big he was. Besides he can walk a bit, bless his precious fat legs, a
ducky! He feels the benefit of the new-laid air, so he does, a pet!"
With this and a kiss, she plumped the Lamb into Anthea's arms, and went
back to make new pinafores on the sewing-machine. She was a rapid
performer on this instrument.
The Lamb laughed with pleasure, and said, "Walky wif Panty," and rode on
Robert's back with yells of joy, and tried to feed Jane with stones,
and altogether made himself so agreeable that nobody could long be sorry
that he was of the party.
The enthusiastic Jane even suggested that they should devote a week's
wishes to assuring the Baby's future, by asking such gifts for him as
the good fairies give to Infant Princes in proper fairy-tales, but
Anthea soberly reminded her that as the Sand-fairy's wishes only lasted
till sunset they could not ensure any benefit to the Baby's later years;
and Jane owned that it would be better to wish for fifty pounds in
two-shilling pieces, and buy the Lamb a three-pound fifteen
rocking-horse, like those in the big stores, with a part of the money.
It was settled that, as soon as they had wished for the money and got
it, they would get Mr. Crispin to drive them into Rochester again,
taking Martha with them if they could not get out of taking her. And
they would make a list of things they really wanted before they started.
Full of high hopes and excellent resolutions, they went round the safe
slow cart-road to the gravel-pits, and as they went in between the
mounds of gravel a sudden thought came to them, and would have turned
their ruddy cheeks pale if they had been children in a book. Being real
live children, it only made them stop and look at each other with rather
blank and silly expressions. For now they remembered that yesterday,
when they had asked the Psammead for boundless wealth, and it was
getting ready to fill the quarry with the minted gold of bright
guineas--millions of them--it had told the children to run along outside
the quarry for fear they should be buried alive in the heavy splendid
treasure. And they had run. And so it happened that they had not had
time to mark the spot where the Psammead was, with a ring of stones, as
before. And it was this thought that put such silly expressions on their
faces.
"Never mind," said the hopeful Jane, "we'll soon find him."
But this, though easily said, was hard in the doing. They looked and
they looked, and, though they found their seaside spades, nowhere could
they find the Sand-fairy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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