The Borrowers Aloft by Mary Norton Read Free Book Online

kind of small for me."
    "You can't get into his garden from the road, except by going through the house. There's a thick holly hedge on either side with no sort of gate or opening. No, dear, I've got it all worked out in my mind: the only approach is by water. Just before dawn, I'd say, when they're all asleep and that would include Abel Pott. We shall need a good strong cardboard box, the shrimping net, and a lantern. Have we any new wicks?"
    "Yes, plenty up in the attic."
    "That's where we'll have to keep them—these ... er ... well, whatever they are."
    "In the attic?"
    "Yes, I've thought it all out, Mabel. It's the only room we always keep locked—because of the stores and that. We've got to keep them warm and dry through the winter while we get their house built. They are part of the stores in a manner of speaking. I'll put a couple of bolts on the door, as well as the lock, and a steel plate across the bottom. That should settle 'em. I've got to have time, you see," Mr. Platter went on earnestly, "to think out some kind of house for them. It's got to be more like a cage than a house, and yet it's got to look like a house, if you see what I mean. You've got to be able to see them inside and yet make it so they can't get out. It's going to take a lot of working on, Mabel."
    "You'll manage, dear." Mrs. Platter encouraged him. "But"—she thought a moment—"what if he comes here and recognizes them? Anybody can buy a ticket."
    "He wouldn't. He's so taken up with his own things that I doubt if he's ever heard of us or of Ballyhoggin or even Went-le-Craye. But say he did? What proof has he? He's been keeping them dark, hasn't he? Nobody's seen them—or the news would be all over the county. In the papers most likely. People would be going there in hundreds. No, dear, it would be his word against ours—that's all. But we've got to act quickly, Mabel, and you've got to help me. There are two weeks left to the end of the season; he may be keeping them to show next year. Or he may decide to show them at once—and then we'd be finished. You see what I mean? There's no knowing ..."
    "Yes..." said Mrs. Platter. "Well, what do you want me to do?"
    "It's easy: you've only got to keep your head. I take the cardboard box and the lantern, and you carry the shrimping net. You follow me ashore, and you tread where I tread, which you'll see by the lantern. I'll show you their house, and all you've got to do is to cover the rear side with the shrimping net, holding it close as you can against the wall and partly over the thatch. Then I make some sort of noise at the front. They keep the front door locked now—I've found out that much. As soon as they hear me at the front door—you can mark my words—they'll go scampering out of the back. Straight into the net. You see what I mean? Now, you'll have to keep the net held tight up against the cottage wall. I'll have the cardboard box in one hand, by then, and the lid in another. When I give the word, you scoop the net up into the air, with them inside it, and tumble them into the box. I clap the lid on, and that will be that."
    "Yes," said Mrs. Platter uncertainly. She thought a while and then she said, "Do they bite?"
    "I don't know that. Only seen them from a distance. But it wouldn't be much of a bite."
    "Supposing one fell out of the net or something?"
    "Well, you must see they don't, Mabel; that's all. I mean, there are only three or four of 'em, all told. We can't afford any losses..."
    "Oh, Sidney, I wish you could take one of the men. I can't even row."
    "You don't have to row. I'll row. All you have to do, Mabel, is to carry the net and follow me ashore. I'll point out their cottage, and it'll be over in a minute. Before you can say Jack Robinson, we'll be back in the boat and safely home."
    "Does he keep a dog?"
    "Abel Pott? No, dear, he doesn't keep a dog. It will be quite all right. Just trust me and do what I say. Like to come across to the island now and have a bit of