Читать книгу Mister Meddle's Muddles - Enid blyton - Страница 4

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One day Mister Meddle met his friend Jinks. Jinks was looking very cross, and Meddle was surprised.

“What’s the matter, Jinks?” he asked.

“Someone’s been taking the onions out of my garden shed,” said Jinks. “I saw their footsteps in the snow this morning. I feel very cross.”

“You should catch the thief, Jinks,” said Meddle.

“All very well to say that, but he’s gone,” said Jinks.

“Well, he may come again. Can’t you hide under a bush in the garden and watch for him?” asked Meddle.

“What, sit out there in the cold every frosty night, and have snow fall down my neck and the frost biting my fingers and toes? Don’t be silly, Meddle,” said Jinks, and he went off with his nose in the air.

Meddle stared after him. He didn’t like to be called silly. “Oh, all right, Jinks, if you’re so high and mighty I won’t try to help you,” said Meddle, and he marched off too.

But on the way home a perfectly marvellous idea hopped into his head. He stopped and thought about it.

“I believe it’s just the idea for catching the thief!” said Meddle. “If I pretend to be a snowman and stand still in the middle of Jinks’s front garden, I shall be able to watch and see if the robber comes in. And he won’t mind me at all, because he’ll think I’m only a snowman. What a wonderful idea!”

He thought about it. How could he make himself like a snowman? He didn’t think it would be very pleasant to cover himself with snow on such a cold night. No—he wouldn’t have snow.

“I could wear my big new white mackintosh cape!” thought Meddle suddenly. “Of course! It would make me look like a snowman! What a splendid idea! And I could rub flour all over my face to make it white. And wear my own hat—snowmen always wear hats. They have sticks, too, so I can take my stick to hit the robber with.”

Meddle felt very excited. He rushed home and got out his mackintosh. It covered him almost to the ground, so it would do very well.

“How pleased Jinks will be when I catch the robber for him!” thought Meddle. “He’ll be sorry he marched off with his nose in the air!”

That night Meddle crept down the road, with his mackintosh cape rolled up under his arm and his face white with flour. He didn’t mean to put the mackintosh on until he came to Jinks’s garden.

When he got there, there was no one about. So Meddle unrolled his big white cape and put it round his shoulders.

It fell almost to his feet. He kept his hat on, and he had a scarf round his neck to keep out the cold. Snowmen often had scarves.

Well, there he stood in Jinks’s front garden, dressed in white, with his hat and scarf on—and a pipe in his mouth, too, though it wasn’t lighted. He stood there feeling most important. Now let the robber come—and what a shock he would get!

Meddle stood there, and he stood there. It was cold. He began to shiver. He thought it would be a good idea to light his pipe. So he got out his matches, struck one and puffed at his pipe, lighting it up well.

Ah, that was better. He smoked his pipe gaily—and then he suddenly heard footsteps down the road. It was the village policeman passing by.

The policeman stood by Jinks’s gate and sniffed. Funny, he could smell tobacco smoke—but there was nobody about at all. Then he caught sight of the glow in the bowl of Meddle’s pipe. Goodness! Somebody was standing in Jinks’s garden smoking—but there was no one there except the snowman.

“How can a snowman smoke a pipe?” wondered the policeman, puzzled. “How strange!”

He thought he would go into the garden and see what could be happening. So he opened the gate quietly and crept into the garden.

Now Meddle had no idea it was the village policeman. When he heard footsteps and then heard the gate open and someone coming inside, he at once thought it must be the robber!

“Ah!” he thought. “Now I’ll give him a shock!”

So he walked forward two or three steps and yelled, “Stop, there!”

The policeman got a dreadful shock. He had never in his life before seen a snowman that walked and talked. He stood still in fright, and couldn’t say a word.

The snowman walked right up to him. The policeman simply couldn’t bear it. He gave a yell and tore out of the gate and down the street. Meddle quite thought he must be the robber, and he tore after him, stumbling over his long white cape.

“Help! The snowman’s after me! The snowman’s after me!” yelled the frightened policeman. People came running out of their houses to see what was happening, and when they saw the snowman rushing after the policeman, they were so frightened that they ran away too.

And soon Meddle found himself chasing quite a crowd of people. He began to enjoy himself. It was fun to make so many people run!

“Stop, stop!” he yelled. But nobody stopped. They ran on and on. The policeman got to the police station. He stumbled in, panting out that a snowman was chasing him—and all the other policemen put on their helmets and ran out to see. They were just in time to see the frightened people rushing past—and there was the snowman galloping after them!

One policeman put out his foot as Meddle thundered past. Meddle tripped and fell over, rolling along the pavement. He was very angry.

“How dare you trip me up!” he yelled. “I was after the robber! Now he’s escaped.”

The policeman dragged Meddle into the police station. The frightened policeman, who had run away, was most astonished to see him.

“So you weren’t a snowman after all!” he said. “You were dressed up in that white cape. Well, Mister Meddle, and what were you doing in Mister Jinks’s garden, I should like to know? I suppose you weren’t looking for his onions, by any chance?”

“How dare you say that,” cried Meddle. “I was watching for the thief—and I thought you were the thief—and that’s why I chased you!”

“Well, Mister Meddle, please don’t go about pretending to be a snowman any more,” said the head policeman. “You’ve caused enough trouble for one night, meddling like this. Anyway, Mister Jinks has locked up his shed and taken the key, so nobody can steal his onions again. You needn’t bother yourself with the robber either—we caught him this evening, stealing somebody’s leeks.”

“Well, really! So all my trouble was for nothing!” said Meddle indignantly. “And I’ve torn my white cape and somebody’s trodden on my hat—all for nothing. It’s too bad.”

“It’s your own fault,” said the policeman. “You shouldn’t meddle!”

“Ho!” said Meddle haughtily, and off he went home, sticking his nose high in the air. He’ll never learn, will he?