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"What do you have to do?" asked Mollie curiously.

"Oh - there's getting up - and having meals - and dressing - and dusting - and going to bed," said the goblin. "That reminds me - it's time for something to eat. Will you have a bit of cherry-pie?"

He darted to a cupboard, opened it, and brought out a pie; but as he went to put it on the table he fell over the waste-paper basket, and smash! the pie fell to the floor and the red juice flowed out on to the carpet!

"Dear me!" said the goblin. "That's the end of the pie, I'm afraid. Well, it wasn't a very good pie. Now, what shall I wipe up the mess with?"

He went to the cupboard and caught up the piece of paper that lined the shelf. He was just about to mop up the mess with it when Chinky gave a cry:

"Wait!"

The pixie took the paper from him and shouted loudly:

"It's the map! Look! Fancy the goblin using it to line a shelf with! Just the sort of thing he would do!"

At that moment another goblin came rushing into the room, crying, "Your chair's flapping its wings!"

"We must go!" shouted Chinky, "or our chair will leave us behind! Good-bye, Dear-Me! Thanks for all the help you didn't give!"

Out they all ran and flung themselves into the chair. Prince Merry had the map safely in his pocket. To think how nearly they had lost it!

"Home, chair!" cried Peter, and off it went!

Ill

GREEN ENCHANTER

PETER, Mollie, Prince Merry, and Chinky the pixie all looked eagerly at the dirty old map.

"See!" said Chinky, pointing. "There is the Enchanter's Hill. I will tell the wishing-chair how- to get there as soon as it grows its wings again."

"Then we will rescue Sylfai!" cried Merry.

"You can live here with Chinky," said Mollie, looking round the playroom. "I will bring you an old rug, Prince. Let us know when the chair grows its wings again."

But a dreadful thing happened when the chair next grew its pretty red wings and flapped them in the playroom - for Peter was in bed with a cold! When Chinky came climbing up the window to peep into the bedroom (the playroom was at the bottom of the garden, you remember), Mollie was ready to go - but Peter was much too sneezv and snuffly, and he was sure that his mother would be very angry if she came and found him gone. So it was decided that Mollie, Merry, and Chinky should go alone, and Merry promised to look after Mollie. They all said good-bye to Peter and left him. He felt very sad and lonely.

The chair was anxious to fly off. Mollie sat in the seat

They all said good-bye to Peter and left him.

with Chinky squeezed beside her. The Prince flew near them, holding on occasionally when the chair went very fast.

"To the Green Enchanter's Hill!" cried Chinky to the chair. "Go by way of the rainbow, and then over the snowy mountains of Lost Land."

The chair flapped steadily up into the air. The sun shone out. Then there came a big cloud, and rain fell. The sun shone through the rain and made a glorious rainbow. At once the chair flew towards it, higher and higher into the air.

It came to the topmost curve of the glittering rainbow. It balanced itself there - and then, Whooooooooosh! It slid all the way down it! What a slide that was! Mollie held her breath, and Merry's hair flew out behind him!

They slid down to the bottom of the rainbow, and then the chair flew steadily on towards some high mountains, whose snowy tops stood up through the clouds.

"There's Lost Land!" cried Chinky, pointing. "If we got lost there, there'd be no finding us again."

"Ooh!" said Mollie, shivering. "I hope the chair doesn't go down there."

It didn't. It flew on and on. Presently a big mountain- top loomed up in the distance, sticking its green head up through the clouds.

"The Green Enchanter's Hill!" cried Chinky, in delight. "We haven't taken long! Now, we must be careful. We don't want the Enchanter to know we're here."

The chair flew downwards. It came to a beautiful garden. It settled down on the ground in a sheltered corner, where high hedges grew all round. Nobody could possibly see them there.

"Now, how can we rescue the Princess?" asked Chinky.

"She and I know a song that our pet canary whistles at home," whispered the Prince. "If I whistle it, she will answer if she hears it, and then we shall know where she is."

He pursed up his lips and began to whistle just like a singing canarv. It was wonderful to hear him. When he had whistled for half a minute, he stopped and listened

- and, clear as a bird, there came an answering song, just like the voice of a singing canary!

"That's Sylfai!" said Prince Merry joyfully. "Come on

- let's go towards the whistling. It's over there."

He and the others crept round the tall hedge and looked about. Stretching in front of them was a small bluebell wood, and in the midst of it, gathering bluebells, was a dainty little Princess!

"Sylfai!" cried Merry, and ran to her. She hugged him and then looked around her nervously.

"The Green Enchanter is somewhere near," she whispered. "He hardly ever leaves me. How are you going to rescue me, Merry?"

"We have a magic wishing-chair behind the hedge," whispered back Merry. "Come along, Sylfai. Come with me, and with Mollie and Chinky. They are my good friends"

The four hurried out of the wood to the hedge; but when they reached it, they stopped - for they could hear an angry voice shouting loudly:

"Come here, chair, I tell you! Come here!"

"It is the Enchanter, who has found your chair!" whispered Sylfai frightened. "Now what shall we do?"

Mollie and the others peeped through the hedge - and they saw a very strange sight! The Enchanter was trying to catch hold of the chair, and it wouldn't let him! Every time he came near it, the chair spread its red wings and flapped away from him. Then it settled down and waited till the angry Enchanter ran at it again. Once more it spread its wings and dodged away.

And then suddenly a most dreadful and surprising thing happened! The chair, tired of dodging the

Enchanter, suddenly flew straight up into the air, made for the clouds - and disappeared!

"It's gone without us!" said Merry, in dismay. "Whatever shall we do now?"

"Quick!" cried Sylfai, in fright. "The Enchanter will come to look for me, and he'll find you three too. Then he'll make you all prisoners, and it will be dreadful!"

"Where can we hide?" said Mollie, looking round.

"There's an old hollow tree in the wood," said Sylfai, and she ran with them to the middle of the wood. She showed them an enormous oak tree, and in a trice the Prince had climbed half-way up, and was pulling Mollie up. They slipped inside the big hollow, and waited for Chinky to join them. He soon came.

The Prince poked his head out and called to Sylfai:

"Can't you join us, Sylfai?"

"Sh!" said the Princess. "The Enchanter is coming!"

Sure enough, a loud and angry voice came sounding through the wood.

"Sylfai! Where are you, Sylfai! Come here at once!"

"I'll see you when I can!" whispered the Princess. "All right, I'm coming!" she called to the Enchanter, and the three in the tree heard the sound of her feet scampering off.

They looked at one another.

"Whatever are we to do?" groaned Chinky. "I don't see how in the world we are to escape now our chair is gone! We are in a fix!"

PETER'S OWN ADVENTURE

PETER lay in bed, wishing very much that he could have gone off in the wishing-chair with the others. He dozed for a little while, and then woke up feeling so much better that he decided to get up. He jumped out of bed and ran to the window to see what sort of afternoon it wa s

And, as he looked out of the window, he saw something that made him stare very hard indeed! He saw something strange flying high up in the sky - not a bird - not an aeroplane - not a balloon! What could it be?

It came down lower - and then Peter saw that it was the magic wishing-chair!

"But it's empty!" said Peter to himself, feeling very much afraid. "Where are the others? Oh dear, I do so hope that the Green Enchanter hasn't caught them! However will they escape, if the wishing-chair has come back without them?"

He dressed quickly, watching the wishing-chair as it came down to earth and flew in at the open door of the playroom at the bottom of the garden.

He slipped downstairs and ran to the playroom. The chair was there, making a curious noise as if it were out of breath!

"Wait a minute, chair, before you make your wings disappear!" cried Peter, flinging himself into the seat. "You must fly back again to Mollie and the others! Do you hear? I don't know where they are - but you must go to them, for they will be in a great fright without you!"

The chair made a grumbling, groaning sort of noise. It was tired and didn't want to fly any more. But Peter thumped the back of it and commanded it to fly.

"Do you hear me, chair? Fly back to Mollie!" he ordered.

The chair flapped its wings more quickly and flew out of the door with a big sigh. It flew steadily upwards, found a rainbow and slid down it, much to Peter's delight. Then it came to the Lost Land, and Peter saw the snowy tops of the mountains sticking up through the clouds, just as the others had done. The chair was very tired as it flew over these mountains, and, to Peter's dismay, it began to fly downwards as if it meant to rest itself on one of the summits.

"You mustn't do that!" cried Peter. "No one is ever found again if they go to the Lost Land."

But the chair took no notice. It flew down to a snowy peak and settled itself there. Almost at once Peter spied some bearded gnomes coming up the mountain towards them, and he knew they were going to catch and keep him and the chair. He jumped off the chair, picked it up, and waved it in the air until it started flapping its wings again. Then the little boy jumped into it, and up they flew once more, leaving the disappointed gnomes behind them.

"This is my own adventure!" thought Peter. "But it's lonely, having adventures all by myself."

At last he saw the green peak of the Enchanter's high hill poking up through the clouds. Down flew the chair to the castle on the top. It came to rest in the very same place where it had rested before - in the sheltered place between high hedges. Peter jumped off and looked round. He thought it would be a good idea to tie the chair up, as Chinky had once done before - then it couldn't fly away without him. So he tied a string from its leg to the hedge, then left it.

As he was creeping round the hedge he saw a little

figure running nearby. It was the Princess Sylfai, though he did not know it. He gave a low whistle, meaning to ask her if she knew where his friends were. She heard him and looked round. When she saw him, she gave a scream, for she did not know who he was.

"I say! Don't be frightened! Come here!" cried Peter. But she ran away all the faster. So Peter gave chase, thinking that he really must catch her and ask her if she knew where Mollie and the others were. The little fairy raced along, panting, and disappeared into the bluebell wood.

She ran to the hollow tree where Mollie, Prince Merry, and Chinky the Pixie were hiding, and called for help.

"There's an enemy after me!" she panted. Prince Merry heard his sister calling for help, and he at once climbed out of the hollow tree and drew his sword. He

"Kmc I've sot you!" shouted Prince Merry, as Peter ran by the tree.

would kill the enemy!

Sylfai ran to him, and pointed behind her. "He is coming!" she panted. "Hide behind this tree, Merry and jump out at him as he runs by!"

So Merry hid behind the tree, waiting, his sword drawn. Peter came up, panting and puffing, wondering where the little fairy had gone.

"Now I've got you!" shouted Prince Merry in his fiercest voice, as Peter ran by the tree behind which he was hiding. He pounced at the surprised boy with his sword ready to strike - and then stopped in amazement!

"Peter!" he cried. "I nearly wounded you! How did you get here?"

"I came in the wishing-chair!" said Peter. "I saw it come home alone, and I was afraid something had happened to you all. So I made it come back again. I saw this little fairy and wanted to ask her where you all were, but she ran away."

"This is my sister, Princess Sylfai," said Merry, "and this, Sylfai, is Peter. Hi, Mollie and Chinky! Come out! Here's Peter - and he's got the wishing-chair!"

"What's all this Noise!" an angry voice suddenly shouted. "Sylfai! where are you?"

"There's the Green Enchanter!" said Sylfai, in dismay. "What shall we do?"

"Run for the chair!" cried Peter. "Come on!"

All five of them ran out of the wood towards the hedge behind which the chair was tied - but will you believe it, when they crept round the hedge, there was the Enchanter sitting in their chair, a wicked grin on his face, waiting for them to come!

"Peter! Chinky! There's only one thing to do!" whispered Merry desperately. "We'll run at him, tip him off the chair, and, before he knows what is happening, we'll be off into the air. Mollie and Sylfai, keep by us!"

Then, with a loud whoop, Peter, Chinky, and the Prince hurled themselves at the astonished Enchanter, tipped up the chair, and sent him sprawling on his face! The Prince quickly picked up the Enchanter's cloak and wound it tightly two or three times round the angry man's head, so that he could not speak or see!

Whilst the Enchanter was trying to unwrap himself, Mollie and Sylfai squeezed into the chair. Chinky sat on one arm, and Peter sat on the other. Merry cut the rope, and cried, "Home, Chair!"

It rose up swiftly into the air, with Merry guiding it, flying beside it.

"We're safe!" cried Merry. "Thank you, Peter, for daring to come on an adventure by yourself!"

V

THE OLD, OLD MAN

THE wishing-chair had not grown its wings for a long time. Chinky and the children had become quite tired of waiting for another adventure. Mollie thought perhaps the magic had gone out of it, and it might be just an ordinary chair now. It was most disappointing.