Enid Blyton

OTHER BOOKS BY ENID BLYTON

SHADOW, THE SHEEP-DOG

THE ADVENTUROUS FOUR

THE TREASURE HUNTERS

THE ADVENTURES OF THE WISHING CHAIR

THE ENCHANTED WOOD

THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE

THE FOLK OF THE FARAWAY TREE

MR. GALLIANO'S CIRCUS

HURRAH FOR THE CIRCUS!

CIRCUS DAYS AGAIN

THE NAUGHTIEST GIRL IN THE SCHOOL

THE NAUGHTIEST GIRL AGAIN

THE NAUGHTIEST GIRL IS A MONITOR

THE BOY NEXT DOOR

NAUGHTY AMELIA JANE

AMELIA JANE AGAIN!

MISTER MEDDLE'S MISCHIEF

HELLO, MR. TWIDDLE!

BIMBO AND TOPSY

THE THREE GOLLIWOGS '

TALES OF TOYLAND

JOSIE, CLICK AND BUN AND THE LITTLE
TREE-HOUSE

THE
 
FURTHER
 
ADVENTURES
 
OF
 
JOSIE
CLICK AND BUN

JOSIE, CLICK AND BUN AGAIN

MORE ABOUT JOSIE, CLICK AND BUN

DAME SLAP AND HER SCHOOL

THE

ADVENTURES
  
OF

MR.
 
PINK -WHISTLE

by

ENID BLYTON

ILLUSTRATED
 
BY

DOROTHY M. WHEELER

LONDON

GEORGE
  
NEWNES
  
LIMITED

TOWER HOUSE

SOUTHAMPTON STREET
,
STRAND
, W.C.2

From a scan by NoOne@Home

CONTENTS

I.
      
THE LITTLE SECRET MAN

II.
     
MR. PINK-WHISTLE PUTS THINGS RIGHT

III.
     
THE GIRL WITH THE BROKEN DOLL

IV.
     
A MARVELLOUS AFTERNOON

V.
     
THE DOG WHO LOST HIS COLLARS

VI.
     
A SURPRISE FOR DAME GENTLE

VII.
    
THE TWO UGLY CREATURES

VIII.
   
THE FORGOTTEN RABBITS

IX.
     
JIMMY'S DAY IN THE COUNTRY

X.
     
  
THE MEAN LITTLE BOY

XI.
     
WILFRID HAS A GOOD MANY SHOCKS

THE LITTLE SECRET MAN

"It isn't fair!"Shouted Mr. Pink-Whistle, "it isn't fair!"

He stamped round the room in a rage, and his big black cat looked at him in alarm, and put her tail under her, out of his way.

"Here I've just been reading about a poor man who saved up and bought a nice new teapot for his wife—and on his way home a boy on roller-skates banged into him and broke his precious teapot!"

Mr. Pink-Whistle put his hands under the back of his coat, pursed up his lips, and looked at his Cat."Now is that fair, Sooty?"He shouted."Is that fair? Did anybody buy him another teapot? No! And look here—here's a picture of a little girl who ran to pick up something for a friend, and was knocked over by a motorcar! Now, I ask you, Sooty—is that fair?"

"No-ee-oh-ee-ow," answered Sooty in surprise.

"Well, I don't think it's fair either!" said Mr. Pink-Whistle."I do think that if people are kind, they should be rewarded not punished—and what's more, Sooty, I'm going to do something about it."

"Oh-ee-ow!" said Sooty, waving her tail a little.

"Sooty, you know that I'm rather a lonely little man, don't you?" said Mr. Pink-Whistle with a sigh; and he stroked his big black cat, who began to purr at once.

"You see, Sooty, I'm not like ordinary people," went on the little man, sinking down into a chair."I haven't any real friends except you. The reason is that I'm half a brownie and half a proper person— so the brownies don't like me much, and ordinary people are afraid of me because I've got brownie ears and green eyes like you.""R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r," purred Sooty softly. She knew how kind her master was, even if he was only a half-and-half.

"
But,
Sooty, I've got a secret!"whispered Mr. Pink-Whistle into his black cat's pointed car."Yes, I've got a secret that I've never used yet. I can make myself invisible whenever I like!"

Sooty didn't know what Mr. Pink-Whistle meant. She stared at him out of eyes as green as her master's.

"I'll show you what I mean, Sooty!" said Mr. Pink-Whistle. He shut his eyes and murmured a few strange words that made Sooty tremble and shiver.

And then Mr. Pink-Whistle disappeared! One moment he was there—and the next he was gone. Sooty blinked her eyes and looked all round it., little warm kitchen. Her green eyes nearly fell out of her head in surprise. Where, oh, where had Mr. Pink-Whistle gone?

Sooty heard a faint giggle—and there was Mr. Pink-Whistle back again! Sooty put her ears back and looked alarmed.

“Mee-ow-ee-ow!" she said. She hoped “her master wasn't going to do this sort of thing very often.

"Now, that's my secret," said Mr. Pink-Whistle, pleased."And what I'm going to do, Sooty-cat, is to go into the big town and look out for unlucky people. I shall go into their houses, and I shall disappear into thin air, so that they don't know I'm there. And I shall see that they get a reward for being kind! What do you think of that for a good idea, Sooty?"

"Wow-ee-ow," answered Sooty.

"You'll stay here and keep house for me," said Mr. Pink-Whistle, and I'll come back and see you often. Now I'll pack my bag and go. I won't let unfair things happen to people. I won't! I won't! I may be only a half-and-half, but I'll just show the world what I can do!"

He packed his bag, rubbed his face

against Sooty's soft head, ran out of the front door, and waved good-bye.

Sooty watched her kind, funny little master go, and wondered what he would do.

"He won't be happy away from his cosy little home," said Sooty."I know he won't. I wonder whose house he will go to?"

Now, in the nearest town lived a hardworking little woman called Mrs. Spink. She had four small children, and it was very hard to feed and dress them properly. They didn't have many treats, but they were good little things and didn't grumble.

One day they all came rushing home from school in excitement. There was Teddy, with blue eyes and golden hair; there was Eliza, with red curls; there was Harry, with golden curls; and there was Bonny, with a mop of dark hair like a sweep's brush. They tore into the kitchen

and made Mrs. Spink jump so much that she almost upset the pan.

"Mother!
  
Mother!
  
There's a party at school on Thursday and we're all to go!" cried Teddy.

"But you haven't any nice clothes," said Mrs. Spink."Not any at all! You've only got the ones you have on."

"Can't you wash them, Mother, and make them nice and clean?" asked Eliza, almost in tears at the thought of not going to the party. Why, they had never been to one before!

"Well, on Wednesday afternoon you must all go to bed, so that I can wash your clothes ready for the party the next day," said their mother."That is the best I can do for you."

Teddy, Eliza, Harry, and Bonny were quite willing to spend an afternoon in bed if only their mother would get their clothes ready for the party. Then she

could wash them, iron them, and mend them.

So on Wednesday afternoon all the four children undressed, got into their ragged
¹
little night-clothes, and cuddled into bed, with books to read. Mrs. Spink took the dirty clothes into the garden, set up her wash-tub, and began to wash all the clothes —socks, stockings, vests, knickers, shorts, shirts, petticoats, dresses, jerseys—goodness, what a lot of things there were!

Mrs. Spink sang as she worked. She saw a funny little man with big ears and curious green eyes looking at her over the fence as she rubbed and scrubbed.

"Good-day!"he said;"you sound happy!"

"Well, my four children are going to their first party to-morrow," said Mrs. Spink, squeezing the dirty water from a frock," and that's enough to make any mother happy! Poor little things, they don't

have many treats. I'm just washing the only

clothes they have, so that they can go clean and neat."

When she looked up again, the funny little man was gone. That was strange, thought Mrs. Spink. She hadn't seen him go! She pegged up all the clothes on the line, emptied her tub, and went indoors to get the tea.

And do you know, the line broke, and down went all the clean clothes into the mud! Would you believe it!

Poor Mrs. Spink! When she came out to see how the clothes were getting on, she could have cried. All of them were far dirtier than before!

"Well, well!" said Mrs. Spink, in as cheerful a voice as she could manage."I'll just have to wash them all again, that's all!"

So she set to work once more, and put all the clothes into her wash-tub again. How she rubbed and scrubbed away! She didn't see the funny little green-eyed man again—but he was there, all the same, watching her. He was sitting on the fence, quite invisible.

"It isn't fair!" he muttered to himself. "After she washed all those clothes so beautifully! No, it isn't fair!"

Mrs. Spink couldn't mend the line. It was so rotten that she was afraid it might break again, so she took all the clean clothes and spread them out flat on the grass at

the front of the house to dry. Dresses, petticoats, socks—they were all there as clean as could be.

Mrs. Spink went in to take the kettle off the fire, for she really felt she could do with a cup of tea. Mr. Pink-Whistle slipped in behind her, though she didn't see him. He sat on a chair, and thought what a nice, clean little kitchen it was.

And then a dreadful thing happened. Two dogs came into the front garden, and what must they do but run all over those nice clean clothes! They didn't miss a single one! So when poor little Mrs. Spink went out to get them, there they were, all covered with dirty, muddy footmarks.

She didn't cry. She just stood and looked and gave a heavy sigh. But Mr. Pink-Whistle cried! The tears rolled down his cheeks, because he was so sorry for Mrs. Spink.

"It isn't fair!"he whispered to himself." she worked so hard—and it was all for her children. It just isn't fair!"

Mrs. Spink gathered up all the clothes and put them into her wash-tub again. She washed them clean for the third time, and she hung them up on the big airer that swung from the kitchen ceiling. Then she went upstairs to see how the children were getting on.

"I'll have to iron your clothes in the morning," she told them. "First, the line

fell down and then two dogs ran over the washing. It's all in the kitchen now. Nothing can happen to it there."

But she was wrong. Something did! A big heap of soot tumbled down the chimney, and when Mr. Pink-Whistle looked up at the clothes, they were all black with the flying soot!

"How dare you!" cried Mr. Pink-Whistle, shaking his fist at the soot. "How dare you! Oh, I can't bear this! I can't. I must put it right; I must—I must!"

And out he rushed to put things right-funny old Pink-Whistle!