■ 2 The Children Wish to Be Rich

The next morning Martha took Baby out with her and the children decided to go back to the gravel-pit to look for the Psammead again. At first they could not find it. 'Per-haps it wasn't really here， 'Robert said. But they began to dig into the sand with their hands and suddenly they came to the brown furry body of the Psammead. It sat up and shook the sand out of its fur.

' How are you today？ 'Anthea asked.

'Well， I didn't sleep very well， but thank you for asking， 'the Psammead answered.

' Can you give wishes today？ 'Robert said. ' Because we'd like to have two， if we can. But one is a very little wish. '

'Well， all right， ' said the Psammead， looking at Robert with its long eyes. ' Let's have the little wish first. '

' Martha mustn't know about the wishes， 'Robert said. ' I mean， she mustn't see anything different about us. And can you do that for every wish on every day？ '

The Psammead went a little bigger and then went small again. ' I've done that， 'it said. ' It was easy. What's the next wish？ '

' We wish， ' said Robert slowly， ' to be very rich. '

' How much money do you want？ 'asked the Psammead. 'It won't do you much good， of course， 'it said quietly to itself. 'Well， how much—— and do you want it in gold or notes？ '

'Gold， please， 'Robert said. 'Millions！ '

'A full gravel-pit， all right？ 'said the Psammead， sounding bored. ' But get out before I begin， or you'll die underneath it. '

Its thin arms got very long and it began to move them about. The children were afraid， and ran as fast as they could up to the road. When they were there， they turned to look back. They had to close their eyes and open them again very slowly. The gravel-pit was full， right up to the top， with new， shining， gold coins！

The children stood with their mouths open， and no one said a word.

Then Robert took one of the coins in his hand and looked at it. ' It's different from English money， 'he said.

' Well， it doesn't matter. It's gold， 'said Cyril. 'Don't for-get that it will all go when the sun goes down. Come on！ Let's put as much as we can in our pockets and go and spend it. '

So they all put gold coins in their pockets and went off to the village. But the gold was heavy， and soon they were very tired and hot. They decided to get something to drink in the village and then go on to the town of Rochester.

Cyril went into the shop and the others waited outside. But when Cyril came back with a bottle of lemonade， he said， ' I had to pay with my real money. When they saw all the coins， they wouldn't change the gold. '

'Well， I'll try to get something with the gold， 'Anthea said. ' We need a horse and cart. Come on. '

Anthea went to talk to a man who had a horse and cart， and the others waited. After a few minutes she came back， looking very pleased with herself. ' I wasn't stupid like Cyril， ' she said. ' I only took out one coin， not all of them， and the man said he'll drive us to Rochester and wait for us. '

On the way to Rochester， they did not speak. They were making plans about how to spend their gold， and they did not want to talk in front of the driver.

But when they arrived in Rochester， with about twelve hun-dred gold coins in their pockets， they found that it was very difficult to spend them. Anthea tried to buy a very nice hat， but the woman in the shop looked very strangely， first at the gold coins， then at Anthea.

' I can't take that， 'she said. ' It's not modern English money. '

They went from shop to shop， but no one wanted to take their gold. ' It's because our hands are dirty and we look untidy. People think we've stolen the gold， 'Anthea said.

And it was worse when they tried to buy a horse and car-riage. Cyril showed the man his gold， and the man called to his son， 'Send for the police！ '

' It's our money， 'said Cyril angrily. 'We're not thieves. '

' Where did you get it from then？ 'said the man.

' A sand-fairy gave it to us， 'said Jane. ' He gives us a wish a day and they all come true. '

The man shook his head slowly. ' Oh dear， oh dear， 'he said. 'Stealing， and then telling stories about it. '

Just then a policeman arrived and when he heard about the gold， he said to the four children， 'Come with me. I'm taking you to the police station！ '

The children were angry and unhappy， but the policeman walked along the road behind them and they couldn't escape. They held their heads down because they did not want anyone to see them， and suddenly Robert ran into someone. ' Robert， what have you done now？ 'a voice cried. It was Martha and Baby！

The policeman explained everything to Martha， and Cyril had to take the gold out of his pocket and show it to her.

' I can't see anything—just two very dirty hands， ' she said. ' There's no gold there. What are you talking about？ '

And then the children remembered that Martha couldn't see the wishes.

It was getting dark when they arrived at the police station. The policeman explained about the gold and the Inspector said， 'Well ， let's see it. '

Cyril put his hands into his pockets— but they were empty！ The others put their hands into their pockets. They were empty， too！ Of course， all the fairy gold went when the sun went down！

' How did they do that？ 'cried the policeman.

Martha was very angry with him. ' I told you that there wasn't any gold， 'she shouted. ' You'll be in trouble for this. Saying that these poor little children are thieves！ '

But she was very angry with the children too. ' What were you doing in town alone？ 'she said to them outside the police station.

And she took them home and sent them to bed early.

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