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First published in Great Britain by Peter Davies 1935 First published by William Collins Sons & Co Ltd. 1958 This edition published by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2016 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd, 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is www.harpercollins.co.uk Text copyright © The Trustees of the P.L. Travers Will Trust 1935 Illustrations copyright © Mary Shepard 1935 Cover design copyright © HarperCollins Children’s Books 2018 Cover design by Katie Everson P.L. Travers and Mary Shepard assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008205751 Ebook Edition © 2016 ISBN: 9780007397792 Version: 2018-06-28
To PIP This Keepsake
CONTENTS
Chapter Two – Miss Andrew’s Lark
Chapter Six – Robertson Ay’s Story
Chapter Seven – The Evening Out
Chapter Eight – Balloons and Balloons
Have you read all the original Mary Poppins adventures?
IT WAS ONE of those mornings when everything looks very neat and bright and shiny, as though the world had been tidied up overnight. In Cherry Tree Lane the houses blinked as their blinds went up, and the thin shadows of the Cherry Trees fell in 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 ME AND BUY ONE said the placard in front of the cart. And presently a Sweep came round the corner of the Lane and held up his black, sweepy hand. The Ice Cream Man went tingling up to him. “Penny one,” said the Sweep. And he stood leaning on his bundle of brushes as he licked out the Ice Cream with the tip of his tongue. When it was all gone, he gently wrapped the cone in his handkerchief and put it in his pocket. “Don’t you eat cones?” asked the Ice Cream Man, very surprised. “No. I collect them!” said the Sweep. And he picked up his brushes and went in through Admiral Boom’s front gate, because there was no Tradesman’s Entrance. The Ice Cream Man wheeled his cart up the Lane again and tingled, and the stripes of shadow and sunlight fell on him as he went. “Never knew it so quiet before!” he murmured, gazing from right to left, and looking out for customers. At that very moment, a loud voice sounded from Number Seventeen. The Ice Cream Man cycled hurriedly up to the gate, hoping for an order. “I won’t stand it! I simply will not stand any more!” shouted Mr 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?” Mr Banks lunged out with his foot and something black flew halfway up the stairs. “My hat!” he said between his teeth. “My Best Bowler Hat!” He ran up the stairs and kicked it down again. It spun for a moment on the tiles and fell at Mrs Banks’ feet. “Is there anything wrong with it?” said Mrs Banks nervously. But to herself she wondered whether there was not something wrong with Mr 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. “It smells like boot-polish,” she said. “It is boot-polish,” retorted Mr Banks. “Robertson Ay has brushed my hat with the boot-brush –
