Enid Blyton by The Folk of the Faraway Tree Page A

hill together.
    The others came to a gate on which was painted a name. "LITTLE MISS MUFFET".
    "This is the place," said J o, pleased. "Now we ’ ll find old Saucepan. Hi, Saucepan, are you anywhere about?"
    The door was shut. No one came. Jo banged on the knocker. Rat-a- tat-tat! Still no one came.
    "There ’ s someone peeping out of the window," said Moon-Face , suddenly. "It looks like Miss Muffet."
    A little bit of curtain had been pushed to one side, and a frightened eye, a little nose, and a curl could be seen. That was all.
    "It is Miss Muffet!" said Watzisname. "Miss Muffet, what ’ s the matter? Why don ’ t you open the door? Where is Saucepan?"
    The curtain fell. There came a scamper of feet, and then the door opened just a crack. "Come in, quickly, all of you—quick, quick, quick!"
    Her voice was so scared that it made everyone feel quite frightened. They crowded into the cottage quickly.
    "What ’ s the matter?" asked Moon-Face. "Has anything happened? W here ’ s Saucepan? Didn ’ t he come?"
    "Yes, he came. But he was rude to my Spider," said Miss Muffet. "He danced all round it, clashing his kettles and saucepans, and he sang a rude song, that began ’ Two smacks for a spider . . . ’ "
    " J ust like Saucepan!" groaned Moon-Face. "Well, what happened?"
    "The spider pounced on him and carried him off ," wept Miss Muffet. "I ordered him all the curds and whey in the house, but it didn ’ t make any difference. He took no notice, and carried Saucepan away to his home. It ’ s a sort of cave in the ground, with a door of web. No one can get through it except the spider."
    " Well !" said Moon-Face, sitting down hard on a little chair. "How very annoying! How are we going to get him out? Why must he go and annoy the spider like that?"
    "Well , the spider came and suddenly sat down beside me, and made me jump," said Miss Muffet. "He ’ s always doing that. It made me run away, and Saucepan said he would give the spider a fright to pay him out."
    "So he made up one of his silly songs, and did his crashing, cl anging dance !" said J o. "What are we going to do? Do you think the spider will let Saucepan go?"
    "Oh no—not till the Land of Nursery Rhyme moves on," said Miss Muffet . "He means to punish him well. I don ’ t know if Saucepan will mind living here. He doesn ’ t really belong, of course."
    "He ’ d hate to live here always and never see any of us except when the Land of Nursery Rhyme happened to come to the top of the Faraway Tree," said Moon-Face. "We must go and talk to that spider. Come on, all of you!"
    "Oh — must I come?" asked Connie.
    "Yes—the more o f us that go, the better," said Watzisname. "The spider may feel afraid when he sees so many pe ople marching up! You come too, Miss Muffet."
    So they all went, to face the spider in his webby cave. Con nie and Miss Muffet walked hand- in-hand behind, ready to run! They were neither of them very brave.
    "Bessie will wonder where we are," said J o, remembering that she had gone off with J ack and Jill. "Never mind— we ’ l l find her, when we ’ ve rescued Saucepan."
    They came to a kind of cave in the ground. A door of thick grey web closed it. From inside came a mournful voice:
     
    "Two smacks for a spider,
    Two slaps on his nose.
    Two whacks on his ankles,
    Hi-tiddley-toze!"
     
    "That ’ s Saucepan, singing his rude spider-song agai n," whispered Miss Muffet. "Oh— look out! There ’ s the spider!"

 
    X
MISS MUFFET ’ S SPIDER
     
     
    "There ’ s the spider! Here he comes!" cried everyone.
    And there the spider certainly was. He was very large, had eight eyes to see with, and eight hairy legs to walk with. He wore a blue and red scarf round his neck, and he sneezed as he came.
    "Wish-oo! Wish-oo! Bother this cold! No sooner do I lose one cold than I get another!"
    He suddenly saw the little company of six people, and he stared with all his eight eyes. "What do you want?" he said.
    Moon-Face went forward boldly, looking