The Wind on the Moon by Eric Linklater Page A

rolled over and over in the grass. They came down with a bump, and they saw, as it seemed, the road and the bridge and the grass and the trees, and Catherine Crumb on her bicycle and the two men who had thrown the ropes, all going round and round. Then they stopped rolling, and sat up, and got a clearer view of the scene.
    It was Sir Lankester Lemon and Mr. Plum, his keeper, who had lassooed and captured them. Warned by Mr. Justice Rumple that there were kangaroos in the neighbourhood, Sir Lankester had made the necessary preparations, and he and Mr. Plum were all ready when Dinah and Dorinda came chasing Catherine Crumb into his estate.
    He was very pleased at having two fine kangaroos to put in his zoo, and he gave Catherine Crumb a shilling as a reward for her part in the capture. Catherine Crumb looked very hot and untidy, but she was glad to get a whole shilling for herself, and rode away with a great air of triumph.
    But Dinah and Dorinda were by no means pleased. They were, quite naturally, a little frightened, and they were rather sore from their fall. And they felt extremely angry with Sir Lankester for giving money to Catherine Crumb. But they did not try to escape when Mr. Plum began to lead them towards the zoo, and they went meekly into the cage that had been prepared for them.
    It was large and clean, with a little house behind it, and behind that a sort of small garden surrounded by a tall fence. It was a well-kept zoo, and everything in it was very tidy and comfortable. Mr. Plum took the ropes off their necks, and, locking the cage behind him, left them alone.
    â€˜And now what are we going to do?’ asked Dorinda miserably.
    â€˜I don’t see that we can do anything at all,’ answered Dinah.
    â€˜Oh, look!’ Dorinda exclaimed, and pointed to the next-door cage on the right.
    From the house behind it, a much bigger house than theirs, came a tall Giraffe with bulging eyes, who stared at them in the most suspicious manner.
    â€˜And look there!’ said Dorinda, pointing to the next-door cage on the other side. ‘It’s the Grizzly Bear that went into Mr. Horrabin the ironmonger’s,’ she whispered.
    The Bear was looking at them in a rather surly way, as if he were a bear that did not like company. But he did not say anything.
    â€˜I don’t like being stared at by a Giraffe and a Grizzly Bear,’ said Dorinda.
    â€˜Neither do I,’ said Dinah; ‘let’s go into our house, where they can’t see us.’
    There was nothing in the house except a rack for food, but it gave them privacy, and they sat on the floor, leaning against their tails, and considered what to do.
    At last, after thinking for a long time, Dorinda said, ‘Well, we’ve had our revenge, and we’ve still got some of Mrs. Grimble’s magic draught. If we take the other two doses, and change ourselves back into girls, Sir Lankester will have to let us go. He can’t keep girls in a zoo.’
    â€˜It would be difficult to explain how we got here,’ said Dinah.
    â€˜You could make up a story,’ said Dorinda.
    â€˜It wouldn’t be easy,’ said Dinah, but all the same she felt in her pouch for the bottle of magic medicine. She took out the note-book and pencil, the tablespoon and a pocket-handkerchief. She felt again, and yet again. But there was nothing else in her pouch!
    â€˜Oh, Dorinda!’ she exclaimed, ‘I’ve lost it! I’ve lost the key of the back door as well, and my chocolate and my tooth-brush, but that doesn’t really matter. But what is going to become of us without Mrs. Grimble’s medicine?’
    â€˜Perhaps we shall have to be kangaroos all the rest of our lives!’ said Dorinda. ‘Oh, Dinah!’
    â€˜Oh, Dorinda!’ said Dinah.

Chapter Eight
    Sir Lankester Lemon was a tall thin man with a small head and large pale-blue eyes that gave him a kindly but rather a goggling look. He was a great