Read Online Enid Blyton by MR. PINK-WHISTLE INTERFERES - Free Book Online Page A

to see anyone unhappy, and he stopped at once.
    "What's the matter?" he said. "You tell me what's the matter, and maybe I can put it right."
    "My mother s-s-sent me to buy some b-b-bread," wept the small boy, "and the boy who lives round the corner took the money from me and ran off with it. And my mother will s-s-s-spank me."
    "Dear, dear!" said Pink-Whistle. "I'm very sorry to hear that. Come with me, and we'll buy the bread together. Then maybe if we meet this bad boy you can point him out to me."
    So they went to the baker's shop together and bought some bread. Pink-Whistle paid for it, and they went out into the street again.
    But the bad boy was nowhere to be seen. So Pink-Whistle said good-bye and sent the small boy home.
    He set off down the road again, a little plump man with the pointed ears of a brownie, and a merry, twinkling look in his eyes. But soon he heard the sound of sobbing again, and he saw two little girls running on the opposite side of the road, tears pouring down their red cheeks.
    "Dear, dear me!" said Pink-Whistle to himself. "All the children seem to be in tears to-day!"
    He ran across and stopped the two little girls. They hadn't any hankies, so he dried their tears with his great big one.
    "Now, you tell me what's wrong," he said.
    "Well, we were going to the sweet-shop to buy some chocolate," said one of the little girls, "and a horrid boy came up to us and asked us where we were going. And when we told him we were going to the sweet-shop he said how much money had we?"
    "And when we showed him, he snatched it out of our hands and
    ran away," wept the other little girl. "So we can't buy our chocolate, and we saved up a whole week for it."
    "Well, well," said Pink-Whistle, holding out his hand. "Come along and we'll go and buy some. I don't think that bad boy will stop you if you are with me."
    So they all went to the sweet-shop, and Pink-Whistle bought plenty of chocolate for the two little girls. They beamed at him,
    "Oh, thank you! You are kind!" they said. "We do hope we shan't meet that big boy and have him take our chocolate from us!"
    "I'll see you right home," said Pink-Whistle. So off they went, and he saw them safely home. But they didn't meet the bad boy as Pink-Whistle had hoped they would.
    Now, just after he had left them, what should he hear but yet another child crying. Surely it couldn't be someone that bad boy had robbed again? Mr. Pink-Whistle hurried round the corner to see.
    A very small girl was there, holding the corner of her dress to her eyes. "He took the sausages!" she wept. "He dragged them away from me!"
    "Who did?" asked Pink-Whistle sharply.
    "A bad boy," wept the tiny girl. "My mother will smack me for coming home without the sausages. It's that bad boy. He takes everything we have."
    Well, Pink-Whistle had to buy a string of sausages then. It was really quite an expensive morning for him. He didn't see the bad boy. He wondered where he was,
    "Nobody really knows," said the little girl, who was now all smiles again, trotting along by Pink-Whistle, holding tightly to his hand. "You see, he hides—and pounces out. We never see him come. He runs so fast, too, no-one can ever catch him."
    "I see," said Pink-Whistle. "Well, I shall look out for him!"
    "You'll never see him," said the tiny girl. "He only pounces out on children smaller than himself. If you were a child, going shopping, you would see him soon enough!"
    Pink-Whistle thought that was a good idea. Of course—he was sure to see that bad boy if he were a small child! It was only small children he robbed.
    So, as soon as the small girl had run in at her gate, Pink-Whistle stepped into a lonely passage and muttered a few magic words. And no sooner were the words said than he had gone as small as a child of six!
    He looked a bit queer because he still wore his own clothes. But that didn't bother Pink-Whistle.
    He murmured a few more words and hey presto, he was dressed like a little boy, in jersey and grey