Mary Poppins Comes Back Excerpt
Content
Copyright 1935 by P. L . Travers Copyright renewed 1963 by P. L . Travers All rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be mailed to: Permissions Department, Harcourt Brace & Company, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777. First Harcourt Brace Young Classics edition 1997 First Odyssey Classics edition 1997 First published 1935 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Travers, P. L . , 1906-1996. Mary Poppins comes back/P. L . Travers. p. cm. Summary: Mary Poppins comes back on the end of a kite string, stays with the Banks family for a while, and then disappears on a merry-go-round horse. [1. Fantasy] I. Shepard, Mary, 1909- ill. II. Title. I S B N 0-15-201718-6 I S B N 0-15-201719-4 (pb) PZ7.T689Mas8 1997 [Fie] 74-17258
Printed in the United States of America Text set in Minister Light Designed by Linda Lockowitz ACEFDB A C E F D B (pb)
C H A P T E R
O N E
The Kite
It was one of those mornings when everything looks very neat and bright and shiny, as though the world had been tidied up overnight. I n Cherry Tree Lane the houses blinked as their blinds went up, and the thin shadows of the cherry trees fell i n dark stripes across the sunlight. But there was no sound anywhere, except for the tingling of the Ice Cream Man's bell as he wheeled his cart up and down.
"STOP M E A N D B U Y O N E "
said the placard i n front of the cart. A n d presently a Sweep came round the corner of the Lane and held up his black sweepy hand. The Ice Cream M a n went tingling up to h i m . "Penny one," said the Sweep. A n d he stood leaning on his bundle of brushes as he licked out the Ice
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Cream with the tip of his tongue. When it was all gone he gently wrapped the cone in his handkerchief and put it i n his pocket. "Don't you eat cones?" said the Ice Cream M a n , very surprised. "No. I collect them!" said the Sweep. A n d he picked up his brushes and went in through Admiral Boom's front gate because there was no Tradesmen's Entrance. The Ice Cream M a n wheeled his cart up the Lane again and tingled, and the stripes of shadow and sunlight fell on h i m as he went. "Never knew it so quiet before!" he murmured, gazing from right to left, and looking out for customers. A t that very moment a loud voice sounded from Number Seventeen. The Ice Cream M a n cycled hurriedly up to the gate, hoping for an order. " I won't stand it! I simply will not stand any more!" shouted M r . Banks, striding angrily from the front door to the foot of the stairs and back again. "What is it?" said Mrs. Banks anxiously, hurrying out of the dining-room. "And what is that you are kicking up and down the hall?" M r . Banks lunged out with his foot and something black flew half-way up the stairs. " M y hat!" he said between his teeth. " M y Best Bowler H a t ! " He ran up the stairs and kicked it down again. I t
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spun for a moment on the tiles and fell at Mrs. Banks' feet. "Is anything wrong with it?" said Mrs. Banks, nervously. But to herself she wondered whether there was not something wrong with M r . Banks. "Look and see!" he roared at her. Trembling, Mrs. Banks stooped and picked up the hat. It was covered with large, shiny, sticky patches and she noticed it had a peculiar smell. She sniffed at the brim. " I t smells like boot-polish," she said. "It is boot-polish," retorted M r . Banks. "Robertson A y has brushed my hat with the boot-brush—in fact, he has polished i t . " Mrs. Banks' mouth fell with horror. " I don't know what's come over this house," Mr. Banks went on. "Nothing ever goes right—hasn't for ages! Shaving water too hot, breakfast coffee too cold. A n d now—this!" He snatched his hat from Mrs. Banks and caught up his bag. " I am going!" he said. "And I don't know that I shall ever come back. I shall probably take a long seavoyage." Then he clapped the hat on his head, banged the front door behind h i m and went through the gate so quickly that he knocked over the Ice Cream Man, who had been listening to the conversation with interest.
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"It's your own fault!" he said crossly. "You'd no right to be there!" A n d he went striding off towards the City, his polished hat shining like a jewel in the sun. The Ice Cream M a n got up carefully and, finding there were no bones broken, he sat down on the kerb, and made it up to himself by eating a large Ice Cream. . . . "Oh, dear!" said Mrs. Banks as she heard the gate slam. " I t is quite true. Nothing does go right nowadays. First one thing and then another. Ever since M a r y Poppins left without a Word of Warning everything has gone wrong." She sat down at the foot of the stairs and took out her handkerchief and cried into it.
The Kite
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A n d as she cried, she thought of all that had happened since that day when M a r y Poppins had so suddenly and so strangely disappeared. "Here one night and gone the next—most upsetting!" said Mrs. Banks gulping. Nurse Green had arrived soon after and had left at the end of a week because Michael had spat at her. She was followed by Nurse Brown who went out for a walk one day and never came back. A n d it was not until later that they discovered that all the silver spoons had gone w i t h her. A n d after Nurse Brown came Miss Quigley, the Governess, who had to be asked to leave because she played scales for three hours every morning before breakfast and M r . Banks did not care for music. "And then," sobbed Mrs. Banks to her handkerchief, "there was Jane's attack of measles, and the bath-room geyser bursting and the Cherry Trees ruined by frost and " " I f you please, m ' m !" Mrs. Banks looked up to find Mrs. Brill, the cook, at her side. "The kitchen flue's on fire!" said Mrs. Brill gloomily. "Oh, dear. What next?" cried Mrs. Banks. "You must tell Robertson A y to put it out. Where is he?" "Asleep, m'm, in the broom-cupboard. A n d when that boy's asleep, nothing'll wake h i m — n o t if it's an Earthquake, or a regiment of Tom-toms," said
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
Mrs. Brill, as she followed Mrs. Banks down the kitchen stairs. Between them they managed to put out the fire but that was not the end of Mrs. Banks' troubles. She had no sooner finished luncheon than a crash, followed by a loud thud, was heard from upstairs. "What is it now?" Mrs. Banks rushed out to see what had happened. "Oh, my leg, my leg!" cried Ellen, the housemaid. She sat on the stairs, surrounded by broken china, groaning loudly. "What is the matter with it?" said Mrs. Banks sharply. "Broken!" said Ellen dismally, leaning against the banisters. "Nonsense, Ellen! You've sprained your ankle, that's all!" But Ellen only groaned again. " M y leg is broken! What will I do?" she wailed, over and over again. A t that moment the shrill cries of the Twins sounded from the nursery. They were fighting for the possession of a blue celluloid duck. Their screams rose thinly above the voices of Jane and Michael, who were painting pictures on the wall and arguing as to whether a green horse should have a purple or a red tail. A n d through this uproar there sounded, like the
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steady beat of a drum, the groans of Ellen the housemaid. " M y leg is broken! What shall I do?" "This," said Mrs. Banks, rushing upstairs, "is the Last Straw!" She helped Ellen to bed and put a cold water bandage round her ankle. Then she went up to the Nursery. Jane and Michael rushed at her. "It should have a red tail, shouldn't it?" demanded Michael. "Oh, Mother! Don't let h i m be so stupid. N o horse has a red tail, has it?" "Well, what horse has a purple tail? Tell me that!" he screamed. "My duck!" shrieked John, snatching the duck from Barbara. "Mine, mine, mine!" cried Barbara, snatching it back again. "Children! Children!" Mrs. Banks was wringing her hands in despair. "Be quiet or I shall G o M a d ! " There was silence for a moment as they stared at her w i t h interest. Would she really? They wondered. A n d what would she be like if she did? "Now," said Mrs. Banks. " I will not have this behaviour. Poor Ellen has hurt her ankle, so there is nobody to look after you. You must all go into the Park and play there till Tea-time. Jane and Michael, you must look after the little ones. John, let Barbara
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have the duck now and you can have it when you go to bed. Michael, you may take your new kite. Now, get your hats, all of you!" "But I want to finish my horse " began M i chael crossly. "Why must we go to the Park?" complained Jane. "There's nothing to do there!" "Because," said M r s . Banks, " I must have peace. A n d if you will go quietly and be good children there will be cocoanut cakes for tea." A n d before they had time to break out again, she
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had put on their hats and was hurrying them down the stairs. "Look both ways!" she called as they went through the gate, Jane pushing the Twins i n the perambulator and Michael carrying his kite. They looked to the right. There was nothing coming. They looked to the left. Nobody there but the Ice Cream M a n who was jingling his bell at the end of the Lane. Jane hurried across. Michael trailed after her. " I hate this life," he said miserably t o his kite. "Everything always goes wrong always." Jane pushed the perambulator as far as the Lake. "Now," she said, "give me the duck!" The Twins shrieked and clutched it at either end. Jane uncurled their fingers. "Look!" she said, throwing the duck into the Lake. "Look, darlings, it's going to India!" The duck drifted off across the water. The Twins stared at it and sobbed. Jane ran round the Lake and caught it and sent it off again. "Now," she said brightly, "it's off to Southampton!" The Twins did not appear to be amused. " N o w to N e w York!" They wept harder than ever. Jane flung out her hands. "Michael, what are we
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to do w i t h them? I f we give i t to them they'll fight over it and if we don't they'll go on crying." " I ' l l fly the Kite for them," said Michael. "Look, children, look!" He held up the beautiful green-and-yellow Kite and began t o unwind the string. The Twins eyed i t tearfully and without interest. H e lifted the Kite above his head and ran a little way. I t flapped along the air for a moment and then collapsed hollowly on the grass. "Try again!" said Jane encouragingly. "You hold it up while I run," said Michael. This time the Kite rose a little higher. But, as it floated, its long tasselled tail caught in the branches of a lime tree and the Kite dangled limply among the leaves. The Twins howled lustily. " O h , dear!" said Jane. " N o t h i n g goes right nowadays." "Hullo, hullo, hullo! What's all this?" said a voice behind them. They turned and saw the Park Keeper, looking very smart i n his uniform and peaked cap. H e was prodding up stray pieces of paper w i t h the sharp end of his walking stick. Jane pointed t o the lime tree. The Keeper looked up. His face became very stern. "Now, now, you're breaking the rules! We don't
The Kite
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allow Litter here, you know—not on the ground nor in the trees neither. This won't do at all!" "It isn't litter. It's a Kite," said Michael. A mild, soft, foolish look came over the Keeper's face. He went up to the lime tree. "A Kite? So it is. A n d I haven't flown a Kite since I was a boy!" He sprang up into the tree and came down holding the Kite tenderly under his arm. "Now," he said excitedly, "we'll wind her up and give her a run and away she'll go!" He put out his hand for the winding-stick. Michael clutched it firmly. "Thank you, but I want to fly it myself." "Well, but you'll let me help, won't you?" said the Keeper humbly. "Seeing as I got it down and I haven't flown a Kite since I was a boy?" "All right," said Michael, for he didn't want to seem unkind. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" cried the Keeper gratefully. "Now, I take the Kite and walk ten paces down the green. A n d when I say 'Go!', you run. See!" The Keeper walked away, counting his steps out loud. "Eight, nine, ten." He turned and raised the Kite above his head. "Go!" Michael began to run. "Let her out!" roared the Keeper.
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Behind him Michael heard a soft flapping noise. There was a t u g at the string as the winding-stick turned in his hand. "She's afloat!" cried the Keeper. Michael looked back. The Kite was sailing through the air, plunging steadily upwards. Higher and higher i t dived, a tiny wisp of green-and-yellow bounding away into the blue. The Keeper's eyes were popping. " I never saw such a Kite. N o t even when I was a boy," he murmured, staring upwards. A light cloud came up over the sun and puffed across the sky. "It's coming towards the Kite," said Jane in an excited whisper. U p and up went the tossing tail, darting through the air until it seemed but a faint dark speck on the sky. The cloud moved slowly towards it. Nearer, nearer! "Gone!" said Michael, as the speck disappeared behind the thin grey screen. Jane gave a little sigh. The Twins sat quietly in the perambulator. A curious stillness was upon them all. The taut string running up from Michael's hand seemed to link them all to the cloud, and the earth to the sky. They waited, holding their breaths, for the Kite to appear again. Suddenly Jane could bear it no longer.
The Kite
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"Michael," she cried, "Pull it in! Pull it i n ! " She laid her hand upon the tugging, quivering string. Michael turned the stick and gave a long, strong pull. The string remained taut and steady. H e pulled again, puffing and panting. " I can't," he said. " I t won't come." " I ' l l help!" said Jane. " N o w — p u l l ! " But, hard as they tugged, the string would not give and the Kite remained hidden behind the cloud. "Let me!" said the Keeper importantly. "When I was a boy we did it this way." A n d he p u t his hand o n the string just above Jane's and gave i t a short, sharp jerk. I t seemed to give a little. " N o w — a l l together—pull!" he yelled. The Keeper tossed off his hat, and, planting their feet firmly on the grass, Jane and Michael pulled with all their might. "It's coming!" panted Michael. Suddenly the string slackened and a small whirling shape shot through the grey cloud and came floating down. "Wind her up!" the Keeper spluttered, glancing at Michael. But the string was already winding round the stick of its own accord. Down, down came the Kite, turning over and
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
over in the air, wildly dancing at the end of the jerking string. Jane gave a little gasp. "Something's happened!" she cried. "That's not our Kite. It's quite a different one!" They stared. It was quite true. The Kite was no longer greenand-yellow. I t had turned colour and was now navyblue. D o w n it came, tossing and bounding. Suddenly Michael gave a shout.
On sailed the curious figure, its feet neatly clearing the tops of the trees
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"Jane! Jane! I t isn't a Kite at all. I t looks like—oh, it looks like " "Wind, Michael, wind quickly!" gasped Jane. " I can hardly wait!" For now, above the tallest trees, the shape at the end of the string was clearly visible. There was no sign of the green-and-yellow Kite, but i n its place danced a figure that seemed at once strange and familiar, a figure wearing a blue coat w i t h silver buttons and a straw hat trimmed with daisies. Tucked under its arm was an umbrella w i t h a parrot's head for a handle, a brown carpet-bag dangled from one hand while the other held firmly to the end of the shortening string. "Ah!" Jane gave a shout of triumph. " I t is she!" " I knew it!" cried Michael, his hands trembling on the winding-stick. " L u m m e ! " said the Park Keeper, b l i n k i n g . "Lumme!" O n sailed the curious figure, its feet neatly clearing the tops of the trees. They could see the face now and the well-known features—coal black hair, bright blue eyes and nose turned upwards like the nose of a D u t c h doll. As the last length of string wound itself round the stick the figure drifted down between the lime trees and alighted primly upon the grass. I n a flash Michael dropped the stick. Away he bounded, w i t h Jane at his heels.
The Kite
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" M a r y Poppins, M a r y Poppins!" they cried, and flung themselves upon her. Behind them the Twins were crowing like cocks in the morning and the Park Keeper was opening and shutting his mouth as though he would like to say something but could not find the words. "At last! A t last! A t last!" shouted Michael wildly, clutching at her arm, her bag, her umbrella—anything, so long as he might touch her and feel that she was really true. "We knew you'd come back! We found the letter that said au revoir!" cried Jane, flinging her arms round the waist of the blue overcoat. A satisfied smile flickered for a moment over M a r y Poppins' face—up from the mouth, over the turned-up nose, into the blue eyes. But it died away swiftly. " I ' l l thank you t o remember," she remarked, disengaging herself from their hands, "that this is a Public Park and not a Bear Garden. Such goings on! I might as well be at the Zoo. A n d where, may I ask, are your gloves?" They fell back, fumbling in their pockets. " H u m p h ! Put them on, please!" Trembling with excitement and delight, Jane and Michael stuffed their hands into the gloves and put on their hats. M a r y Poppins moved towards the perambulator.
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The Twins cooed happily as she strapped them in more securely and straightened the rug. Then she glanced round. "Who put that duck in the pond?" she demanded, in that stern, haughty voice they knew so well. " I did," said Jane. "For the Twins. He was going to New York." "Well, take h i m out, then!" said Mary Poppins. "He is not going to N e w York—wherever that i s — but Home to Tea." And, slinging her carpet-bag over the handle of the perambulator, she began to push the Twins towards the gate. The Park Keeper, suddenly finding his voice, blocked her way. "See here," he said, staring. " I shall have to report this. It's against the Regulations. Coming down out of the sky, like that. A n d where from, I'd like to know, where from?" H e broke off, for M a r y Poppins was eyeing h i m up and down in a way that made h i m feel he would rather be somewhere else. " I f I was a Park Keeper," she remarked, primly, " I should put on my cap and button my coat. Excuse me." A n d , haughtily waving h i m aside, she pushed past w i t h the perambulator. Blushing, the Keeper bent to pick up his hat.
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When he looked up again M a r y Poppins and the children had disappeared through the gate of N u m ber Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. H e stared at the path. Then he stared up at the sky and down at the path again. He took off his hat, scratched his head, and put it on again. " I never saw such a thing!" he said, shakily. " N o t even when I was a boy!" A n d he went away muttering and looking very upset. "Why, it's M a r y Poppins!" said Mrs. Banks, as they came into the hall. "Where did you come from? O u t of the blue?" "Yes," began Michael joyfully, "she came down on the end " He stopped short for M a r y Poppins had fixed h i m w i t h one of her terrible looks. " I found them in the Park, ma'am," she said, turning to Mrs. Banks, "so I brought them home!" "Have you come to stay, then?" "For the present, ma'am." "But, M a r y Poppins, last time you were here you left me without a Word of Warning. H o w do I know you won't do it again?" "You don't, ma'am," replied M a r y Poppins, calmly.
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Mrs. Banks looked rather taken aback. "But—but will you, do you think?" she asked uncertainly. " I couldn't say, ma'am, I ' m sure." "Oh!" said Mrs. Banks, because, at the moment, she couldn't think of anything else. A n d before she had recovered from her surprise, M a r y Poppins had taken her carpet-bag and was hurrying the children upstairs. Mrs. Banks, gazing after them, heard the Nursery door shut quietly. Then w i t h a sigh of relief she ran to the telephone. "Mary Poppins has come back!" she said happily, into the receiver. "Has she, indeed?" said M r . Banks at the other end. "Then perhaps I will, too." A n d he rang off. Upstairs M a r y Poppins was taking off her overcoat. She hung it on a hook behind the Night-Nursery door. Then she removed her hat and placed it neatly on one of the bed-posts. Jane and Michael watched the familiar movements. Everything about her was just as it had always been. They could hardly believe she had ever been away. M a r y Poppins bent down and opened the carpet-bag.
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It was quite empty except for a large Thermometer. "What's that for?" asked Jane curiously. "You," said M a r y Poppins. "But I ' m not ill," Jane protested. "It's two months since I had measles." "Open!" said M a r y Poppins in a voice that made Jane shut her eyes very quickly and open her mouth. The Thermometer slipped in. " I want t o know how you've been behaving since I went away," remarked M a r y Poppins sternly. Then she took out the Thermometer and held it up to the light. "Careless, thoughtless and untidy," she read out. Jane stared. " H u m p h ! " said M a r y Poppins, and thrust the Thermometer into Michael's mouth. H e kept his lips tightly pressed upon it until she plucked it out and read, "A very noisy, mischievous, troublesome little boy." " I ' m not," he said angrily. For answer she thrust the Thermometer under his nose and he spelt out the large red letters. "A-V-E-R-Y-N-O-I-S " "You see?" said M a r y Poppins looking at h i m t r i umphantly. She opened John's mouth and popped in the Thermometer.
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"Peevish and Excitable." That was John's temperature. A n d when Barbara's was taken M a r y Poppins read out the two words, "Thoroughly spoilt." " H u m p h ! " she snorted. "It's about time I came back!" Then she popped it quickly i n her own mouth, left it there for a moment, and took it out. "A very excellent and worthy person, thoroughly reliable in every particular." A pleased and conceited smile lit up her face as she read her temperature aloud. " I thought so," she said, priggishly. "Now—Tea and Bed!" It seemed to them no more than a minute before they had drunk their milk and eaten their cocoanut cakes and were i n and out of the bath. As usual, everything that M a r y Poppins did had the speed of electricity. Hooks and eyes rushed apart, buttons darted eagerly out of their holes, sponge and soap ran up and down like lightning, and towels dried with one rub. M a r y Poppins walked along the row of beds tucking them all in. Her starched white apron crackled and she smelt deliciously of newly made toast. When she came to Michael's bed she bent down, and rummaged under it for a minute. Then she carefully drew out her camp-bedstead w i t h her possessions laid upon it i n neat piles. The cake of
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Sunlight-soap, the toothbrush, the packet of hairpins, the bottle of scent, the small folding arm-chair and the box of throat lozenges. Also the seven flannel nightgowns, the four cotton ones, the boots, the dominoes, the t w o bathing-caps and the postcard album. Jane and Michael sat up and stared. "Where did they come from?" demanded M i chael. "I've been under my bed simply hundreds of times and I know they weren't there before." M a r y Poppins did not reply. She had begun to undress. Jane and Michael exchanged glances. They knew it was no good asking, because M a r y Poppins never explained anything. She slipped off her starched white collar and fumbled at the clip of a chain round her neck. "What's inside that?" enquired Michael, gazing at a small gold locket that hung on the end of the chain. "A portrait." "Whose?" "You'll know when the time comes—not before," she snapped. "When will the time come?" "When I go." They stared at her w i t h startled eyes. "But, M a r y Poppins," cried Jane, "you won't ever leave us again, will you? Oh, say you won't!" M a r y Poppins glared at her.
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"A nice life I'd have," she remarked, "if I spent all my days w i t h you!" "But you will stay?" persisted Jane eagerly. M a r y Poppins tossed the locket up and down on her palm. " I ' l l stay till the chain breaks," she said briefly. A n d popping a cotton nightgown over her head, she began to undress beneath it. "That's all right," Michael whispered across to Jane. " I noticed the chain and it's a very strong one!" He nodded to her reassuringly. They curled up in their beds and lay watching M a r y Poppins as she moved mysteriously beneath the tent of her nightgown. A n d they thought of her first arrival at Cherry Tree Lane and all the strange and astonishing things that happened afterwards; of how she had flown away on her umbrella when the wind changed; of the long weary days without her and her marvellous descent from the sky this afternoon. Suddenly Michael remembered something. " M y Kite!" he said, sitting up i n bed. " I forgot all about it! Where's my Kite?" M a r y Poppins' head came up through the neck of the nightgown. "Kite?" she said crossly. "Which Kite? What Kite?" " M y green-and-yellow Kite w i t h the tassels. The one you came down on, at the end of the string." M a r y Poppins stared at h i m . He could not tell if
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she was more astonished than angry, but she looked as if she was both. A n d her voice when she spoke, was more awful than her look. " D i d I understand you to say that " she repeated the words slowly, between her teeth—"that I came down from somewhere and on the end of a string?" "But—you d i d ! " faltered Michael. "To-day. O u t of a cloud. We saw you." " O n the end of a string? Like a monkey or a spinning-top? Me, Michael Banks?" M a r y Poppins, i n her fury, seemed to have grown to twice her usual size. She hovered over h i m in her nightgown, huge and angry, waiting for h i m to reply. He clutched the bed-clothes for support. "Don't say any more, Michael!" Jane whispered warningly across from her bed. But he had gone too far now to stop. "Then—where's my Kite?" he said recklessly. " I f you didn't come down—er, in the way I said— where's my Kite? It's not on the end of the string." "O-ho? A n d I am, I suppose?" she enquired with a scoffing laugh. He saw then that it was no good going on. He could not explain. He would have to give it up. " N — n o , " he said, in a thin, small voice. "No, M a r y Poppins."
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She turned and snapped out the electric light. "Your manners," she remarked tartly, "have not improved since I went away! O n the end of a string, indeed! I have never been so insulted i n my life. Never!" A n d w i t h a furious sweep of her arm, she turned down her bed and flounced into it, pulling the blankets tight over her head. Michael lay very quiet, still holding his bedclothes tightly. "She did, though, didn't she? We saw her." He whispered presently to Jane. But Jane did not answer. Instead, she pointed towards the Night-Nursery door. Michael lifted his head cautiously. Behind the door, on a hook, hung M a r y Poppins' overcoat, its silver buttons gleaming in the glow of the night-light. A n d dangling from the pocket were a row of paper tassels, the tassels of a green-andyellow Kite. They gazed at it for a long time. Then they nodded across to each other. They knew there was nothing to be said, for there were things about M a r y Poppins they would never understand. But—she was back again. That was all that mattered. The even sound of her breathing came floating across from the camp-bed. They felt peaceful and happy and complete.
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" I don't mind, Jane, i f it has a purple tail," hissed Michael presently. "No, Michael!" said Jane. " I really think a red would be better." After that there was no sound i n the nursery but the sound of five people breathing very quietly. . . . "P-p! P-p!" went M r . Banks' pipe. "Click-click!" went Mrs. Banks' knitting needles. Mr. Banks put his feet up on the study mantlepiece and snored a little. After a while Mrs. Banks spoke. "Do you still think of taking a long sea-voyage?" she asked. " E r — I don't think so. I am rather a bad sailor. A n d my hat's all right now. I had the whole of it polished by the shoe-black at the corner and i t looks as good as new. Even better. Besides, now that M a r y Poppins is back, my shaving water will be just the right temperature." Mrs. Banks smiled to herself and went on knitting. She felt very glad that M r . Banks was such a bad sailor and that M a r y Poppins had come back. D o w n i n the Kitchen, M r s . Brill was putting a fresh bandage round Ellen's ankle. " I never thought much of her when she was here!" said Mrs. Brill, "but I must say that this has been
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a different house since this afternoon. As quiet as a Sunday and as neat as ninepence. I ' m not sorry she's back." "Neither am I , indeed!" said Ellen thankfully. "And neither am I , " thought Robertson Ay, listening to the conversation through the wall of the broom-cupboard. " N o w I shall have a little peace." He settled himself comfortably on the upturned coal-scuttle and fell asleep again with his head against a broom. But what M a r y Poppins thought about it nobody ever knew for she kept her thoughts to herself and never told anyone anything. . . .
Printed in the United States of America Text set in Minister Light Designed by Linda Lockowitz ACEFDB A C E F D B (pb)
C H A P T E R
O N E
The Kite
It was one of those mornings when everything looks very neat and bright and shiny, as though the world had been tidied up overnight. I n Cherry Tree Lane the houses blinked as their blinds went up, and the thin shadows of the cherry trees fell i n dark stripes across the sunlight. But there was no sound anywhere, except for the tingling of the Ice Cream Man's bell as he wheeled his cart up and down.
"STOP M E A N D B U Y O N E "
said the placard i n front of the cart. A n d presently a Sweep came round the corner of the Lane and held up his black sweepy hand. The Ice Cream M a n went tingling up to h i m . "Penny one," said the Sweep. A n d he stood leaning on his bundle of brushes as he licked out the Ice
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
Cream with the tip of his tongue. When it was all gone he gently wrapped the cone in his handkerchief and put it i n his pocket. "Don't you eat cones?" said the Ice Cream M a n , very surprised. "No. I collect them!" said the Sweep. A n d he picked up his brushes and went in through Admiral Boom's front gate because there was no Tradesmen's Entrance. The Ice Cream M a n wheeled his cart up the Lane again and tingled, and the stripes of shadow and sunlight fell on h i m as he went. "Never knew it so quiet before!" he murmured, gazing from right to left, and looking out for customers. A t that very moment a loud voice sounded from Number Seventeen. The Ice Cream M a n cycled hurriedly up to the gate, hoping for an order. " I won't stand it! I simply will not stand any more!" shouted M r . Banks, striding angrily from the front door to the foot of the stairs and back again. "What is it?" said Mrs. Banks anxiously, hurrying out of the dining-room. "And what is that you are kicking up and down the hall?" M r . Banks lunged out with his foot and something black flew half-way up the stairs. " M y hat!" he said between his teeth. " M y Best Bowler H a t ! " He ran up the stairs and kicked it down again. I t
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spun for a moment on the tiles and fell at Mrs. Banks' feet. "Is anything wrong with it?" said Mrs. Banks, nervously. But to herself she wondered whether there was not something wrong with M r . Banks. "Look and see!" he roared at her. Trembling, Mrs. Banks stooped and picked up the hat. It was covered with large, shiny, sticky patches and she noticed it had a peculiar smell. She sniffed at the brim. " I t smells like boot-polish," she said. "It is boot-polish," retorted M r . Banks. "Robertson A y has brushed my hat with the boot-brush—in fact, he has polished i t . " Mrs. Banks' mouth fell with horror. " I don't know what's come over this house," Mr. Banks went on. "Nothing ever goes right—hasn't for ages! Shaving water too hot, breakfast coffee too cold. A n d now—this!" He snatched his hat from Mrs. Banks and caught up his bag. " I am going!" he said. "And I don't know that I shall ever come back. I shall probably take a long seavoyage." Then he clapped the hat on his head, banged the front door behind h i m and went through the gate so quickly that he knocked over the Ice Cream Man, who had been listening to the conversation with interest.
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
"It's your own fault!" he said crossly. "You'd no right to be there!" A n d he went striding off towards the City, his polished hat shining like a jewel in the sun. The Ice Cream M a n got up carefully and, finding there were no bones broken, he sat down on the kerb, and made it up to himself by eating a large Ice Cream. . . . "Oh, dear!" said Mrs. Banks as she heard the gate slam. " I t is quite true. Nothing does go right nowadays. First one thing and then another. Ever since M a r y Poppins left without a Word of Warning everything has gone wrong." She sat down at the foot of the stairs and took out her handkerchief and cried into it.
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A n d as she cried, she thought of all that had happened since that day when M a r y Poppins had so suddenly and so strangely disappeared. "Here one night and gone the next—most upsetting!" said Mrs. Banks gulping. Nurse Green had arrived soon after and had left at the end of a week because Michael had spat at her. She was followed by Nurse Brown who went out for a walk one day and never came back. A n d it was not until later that they discovered that all the silver spoons had gone w i t h her. A n d after Nurse Brown came Miss Quigley, the Governess, who had to be asked to leave because she played scales for three hours every morning before breakfast and M r . Banks did not care for music. "And then," sobbed Mrs. Banks to her handkerchief, "there was Jane's attack of measles, and the bath-room geyser bursting and the Cherry Trees ruined by frost and " " I f you please, m ' m !" Mrs. Banks looked up to find Mrs. Brill, the cook, at her side. "The kitchen flue's on fire!" said Mrs. Brill gloomily. "Oh, dear. What next?" cried Mrs. Banks. "You must tell Robertson A y to put it out. Where is he?" "Asleep, m'm, in the broom-cupboard. A n d when that boy's asleep, nothing'll wake h i m — n o t if it's an Earthquake, or a regiment of Tom-toms," said
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
Mrs. Brill, as she followed Mrs. Banks down the kitchen stairs. Between them they managed to put out the fire but that was not the end of Mrs. Banks' troubles. She had no sooner finished luncheon than a crash, followed by a loud thud, was heard from upstairs. "What is it now?" Mrs. Banks rushed out to see what had happened. "Oh, my leg, my leg!" cried Ellen, the housemaid. She sat on the stairs, surrounded by broken china, groaning loudly. "What is the matter with it?" said Mrs. Banks sharply. "Broken!" said Ellen dismally, leaning against the banisters. "Nonsense, Ellen! You've sprained your ankle, that's all!" But Ellen only groaned again. " M y leg is broken! What will I do?" she wailed, over and over again. A t that moment the shrill cries of the Twins sounded from the nursery. They were fighting for the possession of a blue celluloid duck. Their screams rose thinly above the voices of Jane and Michael, who were painting pictures on the wall and arguing as to whether a green horse should have a purple or a red tail. A n d through this uproar there sounded, like the
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7
steady beat of a drum, the groans of Ellen the housemaid. " M y leg is broken! What shall I do?" "This," said Mrs. Banks, rushing upstairs, "is the Last Straw!" She helped Ellen to bed and put a cold water bandage round her ankle. Then she went up to the Nursery. Jane and Michael rushed at her. "It should have a red tail, shouldn't it?" demanded Michael. "Oh, Mother! Don't let h i m be so stupid. N o horse has a red tail, has it?" "Well, what horse has a purple tail? Tell me that!" he screamed. "My duck!" shrieked John, snatching the duck from Barbara. "Mine, mine, mine!" cried Barbara, snatching it back again. "Children! Children!" Mrs. Banks was wringing her hands in despair. "Be quiet or I shall G o M a d ! " There was silence for a moment as they stared at her w i t h interest. Would she really? They wondered. A n d what would she be like if she did? "Now," said Mrs. Banks. " I will not have this behaviour. Poor Ellen has hurt her ankle, so there is nobody to look after you. You must all go into the Park and play there till Tea-time. Jane and Michael, you must look after the little ones. John, let Barbara
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
have the duck now and you can have it when you go to bed. Michael, you may take your new kite. Now, get your hats, all of you!" "But I want to finish my horse " began M i chael crossly. "Why must we go to the Park?" complained Jane. "There's nothing to do there!" "Because," said M r s . Banks, " I must have peace. A n d if you will go quietly and be good children there will be cocoanut cakes for tea." A n d before they had time to break out again, she
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9
had put on their hats and was hurrying them down the stairs. "Look both ways!" she called as they went through the gate, Jane pushing the Twins i n the perambulator and Michael carrying his kite. They looked to the right. There was nothing coming. They looked to the left. Nobody there but the Ice Cream M a n who was jingling his bell at the end of the Lane. Jane hurried across. Michael trailed after her. " I hate this life," he said miserably t o his kite. "Everything always goes wrong always." Jane pushed the perambulator as far as the Lake. "Now," she said, "give me the duck!" The Twins shrieked and clutched it at either end. Jane uncurled their fingers. "Look!" she said, throwing the duck into the Lake. "Look, darlings, it's going to India!" The duck drifted off across the water. The Twins stared at it and sobbed. Jane ran round the Lake and caught it and sent it off again. "Now," she said brightly, "it's off to Southampton!" The Twins did not appear to be amused. " N o w to N e w York!" They wept harder than ever. Jane flung out her hands. "Michael, what are we
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
to do w i t h them? I f we give i t to them they'll fight over it and if we don't they'll go on crying." " I ' l l fly the Kite for them," said Michael. "Look, children, look!" He held up the beautiful green-and-yellow Kite and began t o unwind the string. The Twins eyed i t tearfully and without interest. H e lifted the Kite above his head and ran a little way. I t flapped along the air for a moment and then collapsed hollowly on the grass. "Try again!" said Jane encouragingly. "You hold it up while I run," said Michael. This time the Kite rose a little higher. But, as it floated, its long tasselled tail caught in the branches of a lime tree and the Kite dangled limply among the leaves. The Twins howled lustily. " O h , dear!" said Jane. " N o t h i n g goes right nowadays." "Hullo, hullo, hullo! What's all this?" said a voice behind them. They turned and saw the Park Keeper, looking very smart i n his uniform and peaked cap. H e was prodding up stray pieces of paper w i t h the sharp end of his walking stick. Jane pointed t o the lime tree. The Keeper looked up. His face became very stern. "Now, now, you're breaking the rules! We don't
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11
allow Litter here, you know—not on the ground nor in the trees neither. This won't do at all!" "It isn't litter. It's a Kite," said Michael. A mild, soft, foolish look came over the Keeper's face. He went up to the lime tree. "A Kite? So it is. A n d I haven't flown a Kite since I was a boy!" He sprang up into the tree and came down holding the Kite tenderly under his arm. "Now," he said excitedly, "we'll wind her up and give her a run and away she'll go!" He put out his hand for the winding-stick. Michael clutched it firmly. "Thank you, but I want to fly it myself." "Well, but you'll let me help, won't you?" said the Keeper humbly. "Seeing as I got it down and I haven't flown a Kite since I was a boy?" "All right," said Michael, for he didn't want to seem unkind. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" cried the Keeper gratefully. "Now, I take the Kite and walk ten paces down the green. A n d when I say 'Go!', you run. See!" The Keeper walked away, counting his steps out loud. "Eight, nine, ten." He turned and raised the Kite above his head. "Go!" Michael began to run. "Let her out!" roared the Keeper.
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
Behind him Michael heard a soft flapping noise. There was a t u g at the string as the winding-stick turned in his hand. "She's afloat!" cried the Keeper. Michael looked back. The Kite was sailing through the air, plunging steadily upwards. Higher and higher i t dived, a tiny wisp of green-and-yellow bounding away into the blue. The Keeper's eyes were popping. " I never saw such a Kite. N o t even when I was a boy," he murmured, staring upwards. A light cloud came up over the sun and puffed across the sky. "It's coming towards the Kite," said Jane in an excited whisper. U p and up went the tossing tail, darting through the air until it seemed but a faint dark speck on the sky. The cloud moved slowly towards it. Nearer, nearer! "Gone!" said Michael, as the speck disappeared behind the thin grey screen. Jane gave a little sigh. The Twins sat quietly in the perambulator. A curious stillness was upon them all. The taut string running up from Michael's hand seemed to link them all to the cloud, and the earth to the sky. They waited, holding their breaths, for the Kite to appear again. Suddenly Jane could bear it no longer.
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13
"Michael," she cried, "Pull it in! Pull it i n ! " She laid her hand upon the tugging, quivering string. Michael turned the stick and gave a long, strong pull. The string remained taut and steady. H e pulled again, puffing and panting. " I can't," he said. " I t won't come." " I ' l l help!" said Jane. " N o w — p u l l ! " But, hard as they tugged, the string would not give and the Kite remained hidden behind the cloud. "Let me!" said the Keeper importantly. "When I was a boy we did it this way." A n d he p u t his hand o n the string just above Jane's and gave i t a short, sharp jerk. I t seemed to give a little. " N o w — a l l together—pull!" he yelled. The Keeper tossed off his hat, and, planting their feet firmly on the grass, Jane and Michael pulled with all their might. "It's coming!" panted Michael. Suddenly the string slackened and a small whirling shape shot through the grey cloud and came floating down. "Wind her up!" the Keeper spluttered, glancing at Michael. But the string was already winding round the stick of its own accord. Down, down came the Kite, turning over and
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
over in the air, wildly dancing at the end of the jerking string. Jane gave a little gasp. "Something's happened!" she cried. "That's not our Kite. It's quite a different one!" They stared. It was quite true. The Kite was no longer greenand-yellow. I t had turned colour and was now navyblue. D o w n it came, tossing and bounding. Suddenly Michael gave a shout.
On sailed the curious figure, its feet neatly clearing the tops of the trees
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
"Jane! Jane! I t isn't a Kite at all. I t looks like—oh, it looks like " "Wind, Michael, wind quickly!" gasped Jane. " I can hardly wait!" For now, above the tallest trees, the shape at the end of the string was clearly visible. There was no sign of the green-and-yellow Kite, but i n its place danced a figure that seemed at once strange and familiar, a figure wearing a blue coat w i t h silver buttons and a straw hat trimmed with daisies. Tucked under its arm was an umbrella w i t h a parrot's head for a handle, a brown carpet-bag dangled from one hand while the other held firmly to the end of the shortening string. "Ah!" Jane gave a shout of triumph. " I t is she!" " I knew it!" cried Michael, his hands trembling on the winding-stick. " L u m m e ! " said the Park Keeper, b l i n k i n g . "Lumme!" O n sailed the curious figure, its feet neatly clearing the tops of the trees. They could see the face now and the well-known features—coal black hair, bright blue eyes and nose turned upwards like the nose of a D u t c h doll. As the last length of string wound itself round the stick the figure drifted down between the lime trees and alighted primly upon the grass. I n a flash Michael dropped the stick. Away he bounded, w i t h Jane at his heels.
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" M a r y Poppins, M a r y Poppins!" they cried, and flung themselves upon her. Behind them the Twins were crowing like cocks in the morning and the Park Keeper was opening and shutting his mouth as though he would like to say something but could not find the words. "At last! A t last! A t last!" shouted Michael wildly, clutching at her arm, her bag, her umbrella—anything, so long as he might touch her and feel that she was really true. "We knew you'd come back! We found the letter that said au revoir!" cried Jane, flinging her arms round the waist of the blue overcoat. A satisfied smile flickered for a moment over M a r y Poppins' face—up from the mouth, over the turned-up nose, into the blue eyes. But it died away swiftly. " I ' l l thank you t o remember," she remarked, disengaging herself from their hands, "that this is a Public Park and not a Bear Garden. Such goings on! I might as well be at the Zoo. A n d where, may I ask, are your gloves?" They fell back, fumbling in their pockets. " H u m p h ! Put them on, please!" Trembling with excitement and delight, Jane and Michael stuffed their hands into the gloves and put on their hats. M a r y Poppins moved towards the perambulator.
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
The Twins cooed happily as she strapped them in more securely and straightened the rug. Then she glanced round. "Who put that duck in the pond?" she demanded, in that stern, haughty voice they knew so well. " I did," said Jane. "For the Twins. He was going to New York." "Well, take h i m out, then!" said Mary Poppins. "He is not going to N e w York—wherever that i s — but Home to Tea." And, slinging her carpet-bag over the handle of the perambulator, she began to push the Twins towards the gate. The Park Keeper, suddenly finding his voice, blocked her way. "See here," he said, staring. " I shall have to report this. It's against the Regulations. Coming down out of the sky, like that. A n d where from, I'd like to know, where from?" H e broke off, for M a r y Poppins was eyeing h i m up and down in a way that made h i m feel he would rather be somewhere else. " I f I was a Park Keeper," she remarked, primly, " I should put on my cap and button my coat. Excuse me." A n d , haughtily waving h i m aside, she pushed past w i t h the perambulator. Blushing, the Keeper bent to pick up his hat.
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When he looked up again M a r y Poppins and the children had disappeared through the gate of N u m ber Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane. H e stared at the path. Then he stared up at the sky and down at the path again. He took off his hat, scratched his head, and put it on again. " I never saw such a thing!" he said, shakily. " N o t even when I was a boy!" A n d he went away muttering and looking very upset. "Why, it's M a r y Poppins!" said Mrs. Banks, as they came into the hall. "Where did you come from? O u t of the blue?" "Yes," began Michael joyfully, "she came down on the end " He stopped short for M a r y Poppins had fixed h i m w i t h one of her terrible looks. " I found them in the Park, ma'am," she said, turning to Mrs. Banks, "so I brought them home!" "Have you come to stay, then?" "For the present, ma'am." "But, M a r y Poppins, last time you were here you left me without a Word of Warning. H o w do I know you won't do it again?" "You don't, ma'am," replied M a r y Poppins, calmly.
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Mary Poppins Comes Back
Mrs. Banks looked rather taken aback. "But—but will you, do you think?" she asked uncertainly. " I couldn't say, ma'am, I ' m sure." "Oh!" said Mrs. Banks, because, at the moment, she couldn't think of anything else. A n d before she had recovered from her surprise, M a r y Poppins had taken her carpet-bag and was hurrying the children upstairs. Mrs. Banks, gazing after them, heard the Nursery door shut quietly. Then w i t h a sigh of relief she ran to the telephone. "Mary Poppins has come back!" she said happily, into the receiver. "Has she, indeed?" said M r . Banks at the other end. "Then perhaps I will, too." A n d he rang off. Upstairs M a r y Poppins was taking off her overcoat. She hung it on a hook behind the Night-Nursery door. Then she removed her hat and placed it neatly on one of the bed-posts. Jane and Michael watched the familiar movements. Everything about her was just as it had always been. They could hardly believe she had ever been away. M a r y Poppins bent down and opened the carpet-bag.
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It was quite empty except for a large Thermometer. "What's that for?" asked Jane curiously. "You," said M a r y Poppins. "But I ' m not ill," Jane protested. "It's two months since I had measles." "Open!" said M a r y Poppins in a voice that made Jane shut her eyes very quickly and open her mouth. The Thermometer slipped in. " I want t o know how you've been behaving since I went away," remarked M a r y Poppins sternly. Then she took out the Thermometer and held it up to the light. "Careless, thoughtless and untidy," she read out. Jane stared. " H u m p h ! " said M a r y Poppins, and thrust the Thermometer into Michael's mouth. H e kept his lips tightly pressed upon it until she plucked it out and read, "A very noisy, mischievous, troublesome little boy." " I ' m not," he said angrily. For answer she thrust the Thermometer under his nose and he spelt out the large red letters. "A-V-E-R-Y-N-O-I-S " "You see?" said M a r y Poppins looking at h i m t r i umphantly. She opened John's mouth and popped in the Thermometer.
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"Peevish and Excitable." That was John's temperature. A n d when Barbara's was taken M a r y Poppins read out the two words, "Thoroughly spoilt." " H u m p h ! " she snorted. "It's about time I came back!" Then she popped it quickly i n her own mouth, left it there for a moment, and took it out. "A very excellent and worthy person, thoroughly reliable in every particular." A pleased and conceited smile lit up her face as she read her temperature aloud. " I thought so," she said, priggishly. "Now—Tea and Bed!" It seemed to them no more than a minute before they had drunk their milk and eaten their cocoanut cakes and were i n and out of the bath. As usual, everything that M a r y Poppins did had the speed of electricity. Hooks and eyes rushed apart, buttons darted eagerly out of their holes, sponge and soap ran up and down like lightning, and towels dried with one rub. M a r y Poppins walked along the row of beds tucking them all in. Her starched white apron crackled and she smelt deliciously of newly made toast. When she came to Michael's bed she bent down, and rummaged under it for a minute. Then she carefully drew out her camp-bedstead w i t h her possessions laid upon it i n neat piles. The cake of
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Sunlight-soap, the toothbrush, the packet of hairpins, the bottle of scent, the small folding arm-chair and the box of throat lozenges. Also the seven flannel nightgowns, the four cotton ones, the boots, the dominoes, the t w o bathing-caps and the postcard album. Jane and Michael sat up and stared. "Where did they come from?" demanded M i chael. "I've been under my bed simply hundreds of times and I know they weren't there before." M a r y Poppins did not reply. She had begun to undress. Jane and Michael exchanged glances. They knew it was no good asking, because M a r y Poppins never explained anything. She slipped off her starched white collar and fumbled at the clip of a chain round her neck. "What's inside that?" enquired Michael, gazing at a small gold locket that hung on the end of the chain. "A portrait." "Whose?" "You'll know when the time comes—not before," she snapped. "When will the time come?" "When I go." They stared at her w i t h startled eyes. "But, M a r y Poppins," cried Jane, "you won't ever leave us again, will you? Oh, say you won't!" M a r y Poppins glared at her.
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"A nice life I'd have," she remarked, "if I spent all my days w i t h you!" "But you will stay?" persisted Jane eagerly. M a r y Poppins tossed the locket up and down on her palm. " I ' l l stay till the chain breaks," she said briefly. A n d popping a cotton nightgown over her head, she began to undress beneath it. "That's all right," Michael whispered across to Jane. " I noticed the chain and it's a very strong one!" He nodded to her reassuringly. They curled up in their beds and lay watching M a r y Poppins as she moved mysteriously beneath the tent of her nightgown. A n d they thought of her first arrival at Cherry Tree Lane and all the strange and astonishing things that happened afterwards; of how she had flown away on her umbrella when the wind changed; of the long weary days without her and her marvellous descent from the sky this afternoon. Suddenly Michael remembered something. " M y Kite!" he said, sitting up i n bed. " I forgot all about it! Where's my Kite?" M a r y Poppins' head came up through the neck of the nightgown. "Kite?" she said crossly. "Which Kite? What Kite?" " M y green-and-yellow Kite w i t h the tassels. The one you came down on, at the end of the string." M a r y Poppins stared at h i m . He could not tell if
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she was more astonished than angry, but she looked as if she was both. A n d her voice when she spoke, was more awful than her look. " D i d I understand you to say that " she repeated the words slowly, between her teeth—"that I came down from somewhere and on the end of a string?" "But—you d i d ! " faltered Michael. "To-day. O u t of a cloud. We saw you." " O n the end of a string? Like a monkey or a spinning-top? Me, Michael Banks?" M a r y Poppins, i n her fury, seemed to have grown to twice her usual size. She hovered over h i m in her nightgown, huge and angry, waiting for h i m to reply. He clutched the bed-clothes for support. "Don't say any more, Michael!" Jane whispered warningly across from her bed. But he had gone too far now to stop. "Then—where's my Kite?" he said recklessly. " I f you didn't come down—er, in the way I said— where's my Kite? It's not on the end of the string." "O-ho? A n d I am, I suppose?" she enquired with a scoffing laugh. He saw then that it was no good going on. He could not explain. He would have to give it up. " N — n o , " he said, in a thin, small voice. "No, M a r y Poppins."
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She turned and snapped out the electric light. "Your manners," she remarked tartly, "have not improved since I went away! O n the end of a string, indeed! I have never been so insulted i n my life. Never!" A n d w i t h a furious sweep of her arm, she turned down her bed and flounced into it, pulling the blankets tight over her head. Michael lay very quiet, still holding his bedclothes tightly. "She did, though, didn't she? We saw her." He whispered presently to Jane. But Jane did not answer. Instead, she pointed towards the Night-Nursery door. Michael lifted his head cautiously. Behind the door, on a hook, hung M a r y Poppins' overcoat, its silver buttons gleaming in the glow of the night-light. A n d dangling from the pocket were a row of paper tassels, the tassels of a green-andyellow Kite. They gazed at it for a long time. Then they nodded across to each other. They knew there was nothing to be said, for there were things about M a r y Poppins they would never understand. But—she was back again. That was all that mattered. The even sound of her breathing came floating across from the camp-bed. They felt peaceful and happy and complete.
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" I don't mind, Jane, i f it has a purple tail," hissed Michael presently. "No, Michael!" said Jane. " I really think a red would be better." After that there was no sound i n the nursery but the sound of five people breathing very quietly. . . . "P-p! P-p!" went M r . Banks' pipe. "Click-click!" went Mrs. Banks' knitting needles. Mr. Banks put his feet up on the study mantlepiece and snored a little. After a while Mrs. Banks spoke. "Do you still think of taking a long sea-voyage?" she asked. " E r — I don't think so. I am rather a bad sailor. A n d my hat's all right now. I had the whole of it polished by the shoe-black at the corner and i t looks as good as new. Even better. Besides, now that M a r y Poppins is back, my shaving water will be just the right temperature." Mrs. Banks smiled to herself and went on knitting. She felt very glad that M r . Banks was such a bad sailor and that M a r y Poppins had come back. D o w n i n the Kitchen, M r s . Brill was putting a fresh bandage round Ellen's ankle. " I never thought much of her when she was here!" said Mrs. Brill, "but I must say that this has been
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a different house since this afternoon. As quiet as a Sunday and as neat as ninepence. I ' m not sorry she's back." "Neither am I , indeed!" said Ellen thankfully. "And neither am I , " thought Robertson Ay, listening to the conversation through the wall of the broom-cupboard. " N o w I shall have a little peace." He settled himself comfortably on the upturned coal-scuttle and fell asleep again with his head against a broom. But what M a r y Poppins thought about it nobody ever knew for she kept her thoughts to herself and never told anyone anything. . . .
