The Greatest Adventure Books for Children. Люси Мод Монтгомери

you going alone or with others?”

      “Alone? There will be more than a hundred of us!”

      “Will you walk?”

      “At midnight the wagon passes here that is to take us within the boundaries of that marvelous country.”

      “How I wish midnight would strike!”

      “Why?”

      “To see you all set out together.”

      “Stay here a while longer and you will see us!”

      “No, no. I want to return home.”

      “Wait two more minutes.”

      “I have waited too long as it is. The Fairy will be worried.”

      “Poor Fairy! Is she afraid the bats will eat you up?”

      “Listen, Lamp-Wick,” said the Marionette, “are you really sure that there are no schools in the Land of Toys?” “Not even the shadow of one.”

      “Not even one teacher?”

      “Not one.”

      “And one does not have to study?”

      “Never, never, never!”

      “What a great land!” said Pinocchio, feeling his mouth water. “What a beautiful land! I have never been there, but I can well imagine it.”

      “Why don’t you come, too?”

      “It is useless for you to tempt me! I told you I promised my good Fairy to behave myself, and I am going to keep my word.”

      “Good-by, then, and remember me to the grammar schools, to the high schools, and even to the colleges if you meet them on the way.”

      “Good-by, Lamp-Wick. Have a pleasant trip, enjoy yourself, and remember your friends once in a while.”

      With these words, the Marionette started on his way home. Turning once more to his friend, he asked him:

      “But are you sure that, in that country, each week is composed of six Saturdays and one Sunday?”

      “Very sure!”

      “And that vacation begins on the first of January and ends on the thirty-first of December?”

      “Very, very sure!”

      “What a great country!” repeated Pinocchio, puzzled as to what to do.

      Then, in sudden determination, he said hurriedly:

      “Good-by for the last time, and good luck.”

      “Good-by.”

      “How soon will you go?”

      “Within two hours.”

      “What a pity! If it were only one hour, I might wait for you.”

      “And the Fairy?”

      “By this time I’m late, and one hour more or less makes very little difference.”

      “Poor Pinocchio! And if the Fairy scolds you?”

      “Oh, I’ll let her scold. After she gets tired, she will stop.”

      In the meantime, the night became darker and darker. All at once in the distance a small light flickered. A queer sound could be heard, soft as a little bell, and faint and muffled like the buzz of a far-away mosquito.

      “There it is!” cried Lamp-Wick, jumping to his feet.

      “What?” whispered Pinocchio.

      “The wagon which is coming to get me. For the last time, are you coming or not?”

      “But is it really true that in that country boys never have to study?”

      “Never, never, never!”

      “What a wonderful, beautiful, marvelous country! Oh — h — h!!”

CHAPTER 31

       Table of Contents

      After five months of play, Pinocchio wakes up one fine morning and finds a great surprise awaiting him.

      Finally the wagon arrived. It made no noise, for its wheels were bound with straw and rags.

      It was drawn by twelve pair of donkeys, all of the same size, but all of different color. Some were gray, others white, and still others a mixture of brown and black. Here and there were a few with large yellow and blue stripes.

      The strangest thing of all was that those twenty-four donkeys, instead of being iron-shod like any other beast of burden, had on their feet laced shoes made of leather, just like the ones boys wear.

      And the driver of the wagon?

      Imagine to yourselves a little, fat man, much wider than he was long, round and shiny as a ball of butter, with a face beaming like an apple, a little mouth that always smiled, and a voice small and wheedling like that of a cat begging for food.

      No sooner did any boy see him than he fell in love with him, and nothing satisfied him but to be allowed to ride in his wagon to that lovely place called the Land of Toys.

      In fact the wagon was so closely packed with boys of all ages that it looked like a box of sardines. They were uncomfortable, they were piled one on top of the other, they could hardly breathe; yet not one word of complaint was heard. The thought that in a few hours they would reach a country where there were no schools, no books, no teachers, made these boys so happy that they felt neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep, nor discomfort.

      No sooner had the wagon stopped than the little fat man turned to Lamp-Wick. With bows and smiles, he asked in a wheedling tone:

      “Tell me, my fine boy, do you also want to come to my wonderful country?”

      “Indeed I do.”

      “But I warn you, my little dear, there’s no more room in the wagon. It is full.”

      “Never mind,” answered Lamp-Wick. “If there’s no room inside, I can sit on the top of the coach.”

      And with one leap, he perched himself there.

      “What about you, my love?” asked the Little Man, turning politely to Pinocchio. “What are you going to do? Will you come with us, or do you stay here?”

      “I stay here,” answered Pinocchio. “I want to return home, as I prefer to study and to succeed in life.”

      “May that bring you luck!”

      “Pinocchio!” Lamp-Wick called out. “Listen to me. Come with us and we’ll always be happy.”

      “No, no, no!”

      “Come with us and we’ll always be happy,” cried four other voices from the wagon.

      “Come with us and we’ll always be happy,” shouted the one hundred and more boys in the wagon, all together. “And if I go with you, what will my good Fairy say?” asked the Marionette, who was beginning to waver and weaken in his good resolutions.

      “Don’t worry so much. Only think that we are going to a land where we shall be allowed to make all the racket we like from morning till night.”

      Pinocchio did not answer, but sighed deeply once — twice — a third time. Finally, he said:

      “Make room for me. I want to go, too!”

      “The seats are all