The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater

far more frightened than Dinah and Dorinda. They also stopped, and their fine song died away.
    Then Dinah said, ‘Father is a soldier. He would never flinch from the enemy. Charge, Dorinda, charge!’
    Bounding and waving their arms, they advanced at top speed. Never before had such a sight been seen in Elm Lane.
    The villagers turned and ran in all directions, but the prisoners, who were handcuffed two by two, were rather at a disadvantage, and some of them were left in the lurch. Only one man tried to defend the village, and that was Constable Drum. He stood very bravely in the middle of the lane, and shouted to the kangaroos, ‘Halt, in the King’s name! Halt, and be arrested!’
    But Dinah, with a kick as she passed, knocked him head over heels. She did this as gently as she could, because she was quite fond of Constable Drum who was a good man, but her great kangaroo legs were so strong that even a gentle kick made him turn two complete somersaults. Then she caught Tom Leathercow the butcher’s son, and kicked him into a ditch. And Dorinda caught Robin and Robina Wax, who were trying to climb a tree, but the tree was already full of people, so there was no room for them, and Dorinda kicked them both into a convenient garden.
    All the trees in Elm Lane were crowded with people who had climbed into their branches to get away from the kangaroos. But a great many villagers, including the prisoners who were handcuffed and therefore could not climb trees, were running towards the Square, and Dinah and Dorinda chased them across Elm Street, and up Tulip Street, and round the statue of Queen Victoria. As they passed the door of the Police Court, Mr. Justice Rumple came out to see what all the noise was about. His shirt-sleeves were still rolled up, and he was smoking a cigar. When he saw the kangaroos he retreated very quickly into the Police Court, and slammed the door behind him, and bolted it and locked it. Then he went to the telephone, and telephoned to Sir Lankester Lemon.
    Dinah and Dorinda chased the people three times round the statue of Queen Victoria. The Vicar, who was good at climbing, was sitting on her lap with Mrs. Fullalove, and the Vicar was saying, ‘I wish I had my camera! Oh, I wish I had my camera!’ But everybody else had only one wish in the world, and that was not to be kicked by the kangaroos.
    On their way round for the third time, Dinah and Dorinda caught sight of Catherine Crumb, who was riding a bicycle that belonged to Wilfrid Leathercow, the butcher’s second son.
    â€˜Look!’ shouted Dinah. ‘There’s Catherine Crumb!’
    â€˜Chase her,’ shouted Dorinda.

    So they chased her up Rose Street, and across Oak Street, and along Oak Lane. At the end of Oak Lane, Catherine Crumb turned left into Meddlecum Road, and Dinah and Dorinda were close behind her. But Wilfrid Leathercow’s bicycle was a racing bicycle, and Catherine Crumb rode very fast, with her head right down over the handlebars, and her long thin legs going like pistons. Several times she was nearly caught, but she managed to keep ahead, and rode faster and faster. Dinah and Dorinda, because they had not had very much practice at being kangaroos, were by now somewhat tired.
    Meddlecum Road led to Meddlecum Hall, where Sir Lankester Lemon lived. There were large iron gates at the entrance to his estate, and a little farther on the road went over a humpbacked bridge across the River Brill.
    The iron gates were wide open, and Catherine Crumb rode straight on. She crossed the bridge, and Dinah and Dorinda were scarcely a yard behind her. But suddenly, from behind a tree that grew on the left-hand side of the road, a long coil of rope came leaping through the air, and a noose of it fell round Dinah’s neck. At the same time, from behind a tree on the right-hand side of the road, another rope leapt into sight, and encircled Dorinda’s neck. They were jerked from their feet, and