Читать книгу The Magical Land of Noom - Johnny Gruelle - Страница 6

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By twisting the “Start” spool backward and forward Johnny had brought the Flying Machine to the Moon’s surface very gently, but by no twisting of rudder or the spools could he effect a landing except by heading the Flying Machine directly for the surface. It was in this manner that the machine came to rest, with the front of the box resting upon the surface of the Moon, and the rudder sticking up in the air. The children sat in the box as though they were tied there and were very much surprised to find that they did not fall to the ground.

There they sat—directly facing the ground, with their backs to the sky.

“Let’s get out and look around, Janey! This feels too funny, sitting this way!” And Johnny started to put his foot over the side of the box down to the Moon.

“Wait a moment!” Janey cried as she caught her brother and held him. “We may tumble back into the sky if we get out of the Flying Machine!”

“I do not think we shall do that! I had not thought of it, though!” Johnny mused.

“One thing certain—it is a long fall to the farm.”

Finally Janey cried, “I have it!” And she took off her slipper and held it out to the side of the box. Johnny watched her with much interest.

“If the slipper falls to the ground, it is safe for us to get out!” she said as she dropped it.

The slipper dropped very slowly to the ground.

“It didn’t seem to want to go very much!” she said.

“Try the other one,” Johnny suggested.

The second slipper floated to the ground in the same manner, very slowly.

This puzzled the children, and they were undecided just what to do until another idea struck Janey. “I’ll hold your hand while you climb out, so that if you start to fall up in the air, I can pull you back into the box!” she said.

So while his sister held his hand Johnny stepped from the box to the surface of the Moon and straightened up. “Dear me!” he exclaimed. “You look funny sitting there, Janey. Climb out!”

“How does it feel when you stand up, Johnny?” she asked.

“Natural!” he replied. “Come on!”

“I don’t like to!” Janey said, holding to the sides of the box. “It seems so queer.”

At this Johnny pushed on the rudder of the Flying Machine and tipped the box over backward, so that his sister found herself sitting up in the box, while the box rested in a natural position upon the ground.

“Oh!” Janey exclaimed, as she stood up beside Johnny. “What a relief! My legs are stiff and cramped.”

When she stepped from the box Janey intended hopping up and down to straighten out the cramps, but when she jumped she rose in the air six or eight feet, and Johnny, springing to catch his sister, who seemed about to fly off the Moon, gave such a spring he rose ten feet in the air and passed her.

Both children settled slowly to the ground, and when they reached there they sat down and held to mushrooms.

Johnny wiped the perspiration from his forehead. “My goodness! I thought we were both goners then,” he said.

Presently they both laughed. “How silly we are! If we had only thought we wouldn’t have been scared a bit!” Johnny exclaimed. “The Moon is so much lighter than the earth the attraction of gravity is not so strong, and we naturally are lighter. Look at this, Sis!” he continued jumping up in the air and throwing his feet out in front of him, so that he took what in the water is called “A Seat in Congress.”

“Be careful, Bud!” Janey exclaimed anxiously.

“We are safe,” said Johnny as he settled slowly to the ground, “and we can have barrels of fun doing stunts! Whee!” and he stamped both feet upon the ground and gave such a spring that he turned over and over in the air four or five times before he settled to the ground again.

Janey could not see so much fun without being in it herself, so she caught Johnny’s hand and they turned flip-flops and jumped up into the air and pretended they were swimming as they came down. They were having the best time of their lives.

Then, seeing some giant mushrooms not far off, Johnny called to Janey and ran toward them. When about twenty feet away he leaped and sailed through the air up to the top of the tallest, one about ten feet high. Janey followed, and they jumped from one mushroom to another. Sometimes they missed the jump, but this did not matter, as they settled to the ground easily and gently.

Janey and Johnny played among the giant mushrooms for a long time, doing all sorts of tricks, and jumping around until they grew tired.

As they sat under an immense fern, resting, Johnny said, “It’s too bad we lost the lunch, Sis. I’m beginning to feel hungry!”

“I should like some of Granny’s doughnuts!” Janey said. “Let’s see if we can find any berries or fruit to eat. I’ve read that is the way all shipwrecked people do.”

“Perhaps we shall have to live on mussels and clams,” said Johnny as he arose. “Let’s find something! I could almost eat one of these mushrooms!” And Johnny broke off a piece of mushroom and held it towards Janey.

Janey caught a whiff of the mushroom and said, “It smells good enough to eat!”

Johnny smelt the piece he had in his hands and then took a tiny bite.

“Be careful, Johnny!” Janey warned. “You know Granny said there was really no way to tell whether a mushroom was a mushroom or a toad-stool, except by eating it, and if you ate it and it was poison it was a toad-stool, and if you ate it and it did not hurt you, it was a mushroom!”

“Ummmmm!” Johnny exclaimed, when he had tasted the mushroom. “It’s fine, Janey!” and Johnny broke off another piece and ate it as if it had been cake.

“I’ll wait and see if it poisons you first!” said Janey.

Johnny picked off pieces of different mushrooms and tried them. “They’re different, Janey!” he cried. “You’re missing it! Try this piece! It tastes of raspberry or blackberry, I can’t tell which!”

Janey nibbled at the piece Johnny gave her and found the flavor excellent. She went to the mushroom from which Johnny had broken the piece and tore off a chunk as large as her head and began to eat it. The mushrooms were sweet and of different flavors, tasting just like cake. The children discovered that the old mushrooms which had turned brown were of chocolate or ginger flavor.

“We can’t starve with all these goodies!” cried Johnny. “I feel as if I had just finished a Thanksgiving dinner!”

Janey left Johnny sitting under one of the mushrooms and walked about to see if she could discover a spring, as the sweet mushrooms had made her very thirsty.

Johnny had eaten so much it made him drowsy, and before Janey had gone far he was sound asleep.

Janey passed under the mushrooms and giant ferns until she came to an open space in the center of which a spring bubbled up.

Walking up to the spring, Janey was surprised to see no outlet for the water. It bubbled up just as water would bubble in a kettle when boiling, but this water felt very cold when she put her finger in it.

Upon tasting the water Janey found it sour. “Lemonade!” she cried, and running to the side of the clearing she picked a large leaf and folded it for a cup.

The lemonade was just sweet enough, and Janey drank two large leavesful. She was dipping in again when she heard a tread upon the grass behind her.

“Oh, Johnny,” she cried, “I’ve found a spring of lemonade and it is lovely!”

Then, as Johnny did not answer, she turned her head and saw a strange Man approaching her with upraised stick and a fierce frown upon his face.

“Who said you might drink of my spring!” he shouted, quickening his walk to a hop and waving his arms in a threatening manner.

“I—I—I—did not know it was your spring!” the little girl answered, as she scrambled to her feet and dropped her leaf-cup.

“Of course you didn’t!” the Strange Man cried as he came up to her and caught her arm fiercely. “Of course you didn’t! Of course you didn’t!”

And with that he raised his stick above his head as if to strike her. “I’ll teach you to drink of my spring!”

Janey screamed and pulled with all her might to get away, but the Strange Man held her tightly.

Johnny, hearing his sister’s cry, came running through the ferns, and seeing the Strange Man about to hit Janey, he flew at him like a little tiger. When about eight feet from the Strange Man, Johnny, who was running at good speed, jumped through the air and landed upon the Strange Man’s back. The force of his dive carried himself and the Strange Man head over heels, knocked off the Strange Man’s tall hat and made him lose his hold upon Janey and the stick.

Johnny was on top when they finally quit rolling and with all his might he pummeled the Strange Man about the head. The Strange Man’s long legs kicked through the air and he scratched at Johnny’s face with his long fingers.

The Strange Man cried out for Johnny to quit, but Johnny, angry at the Strange Man’s treatment of his sister, managed to get his knees on the Strange Man’s arms, sat upon his chest and pounded him right and left.

“You just wait! I’ll catch you and pay you back!” (page 31)

“Say enough!” Johnny yelled. “Say enough! Say enough!” and Johnny caught hold of the Strange Man’s long hair and bumped his head upon the ground.

Janey held her breath. It was the first time she had ever seen Johnny in a fight, for he was a quiet little fellow and always avoided a fight if it were possible. But now Johnny was very angry, and Janey felt sorry for the Strange Man.

“Let him up, Johnny! He’s had enough! He says for you to quit! Let him up!” Janey cried.

“Now, you keep back, Sis!” Johnny shouted, his eyes full of tears. “I’ll teach him to strike you! There!—There! Will you ever—There!—do it again?”

“No, I won’t! Honest!” the Strange Man cried, closing his eyes tight each time Johnny bumped his head on the ground.

“All right!” Johnny said as he got off of the Strange Man and stood back to see what he would do upon getting up from the ground.

The Strange Man picked up his hat and stick without looking at Johnny, turned and walked across the clearing. When he had reached the other side he looked over his shoulder, and shaking his stick at the children he cried, “You just wait! I’ll catch you and pay you back! You just wait!”

Johnny, in spite of his sister’s attempt to hold him back, ran across the clearing after the Strange Man, who turned again and sped through the ferns like a deer.

When Johnny reached the edge of the clearing he stamped his feet upon the ground loudly. The Strange Man, thinking Johnny was close behind him, redoubled his efforts and catching his foot in a vine went sprawling among the ferns.

Johnny doubled up with laughter and Janey could not help joining in.

“My! You surely can fight, Johnny!” she said admiringly. Janey put her arm around her brother’s neck and kissed him.

“Ah shucks!” said Johnny, embarrassed. “I couldn’t stand to see him strike you, Janey, but I don’t like to fight.”

“Weren’t you mad though! You cried!” Janey went on.

“That’s it!” Johnny exclaimed. “I get too angry and have to cry like a boo baby! That’s why I always get licked, because my eyes fill up with tears and I can’t see!”

“Oh Johnny, I’ll bet you don’t always get licked, either! You can lick anyone I’ll bet, if you want to!” his sister said proudly.

“Well of course I really don’t get licked every time!” Johnny admitted. Then, with a laugh, he added, “Because sometimes I can run faster than the other fellow and he doesn’t catch me!”

“Of course it’s wrong to fight!” Janey said as they walked away in a different direction from the one taken by the Strange Man. “It always seems so useless, doesn’t it?”

“Unless it’s something like this fight!” Johnny answered.

“I guess I couldn’t have fought so well if I hadn’t been fighting for you! Did he hurt you much, Janey?”

“He hurt me when he pinched my arm, but he didn’t hit me with the stick,” Janey said, as she showed Johnny the bruised place on her arm.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t know of that bruise,” cried Johnny, “while I had him down!”

As they talked the children came to a path. They walked down it until they saw a queer little house made of sticks plastered together with mud and colored clay.

“What a queer house!” the children cried. “Isn’t it small!”

They walked up to the door and knocked. “Come in!” a voice called to them from within.

So the children, pushing open the door, stepped inside.

At first they could see nothing, for the door had swung shut behind them, but presently their eyes growing accustomed to the darkness, they made out a form across the room.

“My! It’s dark!” Janey exclaimed. “Can’t we have a light!”

The form across the room chuckled and Johnny reached behind him for the door-knob, so that he could let some light into the room. The door was locked!

When Johnny found this out he stepped in front of Janey. “Keep behind me, Sis!” he whispered. “This doesn’t seem safe!”

At this moment something struck Johnny in the face and splashed all over. It took him so by surprise he staggered backward and stumbled over Janey, so that both the children fell to the floor.

As he scrambled to his feet Johnny felt his arms caught and a rope whirled around and around his arms and legs, so that he could not move.

A bright flame shot up from the fireplace and the children saw the Strange Man sitting there with a book across his knees. He had just thrown a powder in the fireplace and it burnt brightly.

The Strange Man was the only one in the room except the children and he mumbled to himself as he read from the great book. Johnny looked at Janey and saw that she was tied in much the same manner as himself.

“It’s the man who owns the Lemonade Spring,” cried Janey.

“Say!” Johnny shouted. “You untie us and let us go, or we’ll have you arrested when we get out!”

“You won’t get out!” the Strange Man told him. “I’ll see to that!”

“Help!” Johnny shouted at the top of his voice, Janey joining him.

“Dear me!” the Strange Man exclaimed fretfully. “How can you expect me to change you into animals when you make so much noise? You distract my mind from my reading, and I am trying to find just how to work the magic!”

“Is that a magic book?” Janey asked.

“Of course!” the Strange Man replied. “And I have to memorize the magic song that I must sing when I puff the magic powder over you and change you into animals, and I can not think when you make so much noise!”

“We’re sorry we drank your lemonade!” Janey said.

“I’m sorry I had a fight with you!” Johnny said.

“Yes! I know you are,” the Strange Man cried, shaking his stick at them, “and I told you that I would get even with you! I am about to change you into pigs!”

“Oh dear! I don’t care to be changed into a pig!” Janey cried.

“I don’t believe he can do it!” Johnny told her.

“Oh, don’t you!” the Strange Man hissed, as he put down the large book and came towards Johnny. “I can easily change you into a cat, but I am learning the rhyme to change you into pigs and then I’ll show you!”

Janey began crying and Johnny said, “Don’t cry, Sis! He’s trying to fool you! He can’t change us into anything, it isn’t possible!”

The Strange Man puffed some powder from a tiny bellows upon Johnny and began to sing.

“A diddle daddle hunka dee, A chunka lunka diddle fee,

Kerlike kerlunk kachunkapat, and so I change you to a cat!”

“There! I guess you believe it possible now, don’t you?” the Strange Man said when he stopped singing.

“Meow!” said Johnny. “Meow!” He had changed into a cat.

“Killikaluka, willyculoosa! Now I change you to a boy!” said the Strange Man, again puffing the powder upon Johnny, and changing him back to a boy.

“What shall we do?” Janey cried.

“You must keep still,” the Strange Man commanded, “or I can never change you to pigs!”

“Let us keep yelling at the top of our lungs,” cried Johnny, “so that he can not study the rhyme to change us into pigs!”

So the two children began yelling at the top of their voices, and the Strange Man grew so impatient he finally said, “Well, if you continue like that, I shall have to go outside and study, but it will be all the worse for you when I do change you to pigs, for I shan’t let you see a mud puddle for two years!”

And as the children continued their cries, the Strange Man closed his book and went out by a back door. He stamped along the walk kicking the loose pebbles viciously.