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Look sharp! ' cried every one, but Robert did not look sharp enough.
By the time he had drawn his hand out of the owl s nest there were
no eggs there the carpet had sunk eight feet below him.
Jump, you silly cuckoo! ' cried Cyril, with brotherly anxiety.
But Robert couldn t turn round all in a minute into a jumping
position. He wriggled and twisted and got on to the broad ledge,
and by the time he was ready to jump the walls of the tower had
risen up thirty feet above the others, who were still sinking with the
carpet, and Robert found himself in the embrasure of a window;
alone, for even the owls were not at home that day. The wall was
smoothish; there was no climbing up, and as for climbing down
Robert hid his face in his hands, and squirmed back and back from
the giddy verge, until the back part of him was wedged quite tight in
the narrowest part of the window slit.
He was safe now, of course, but the outside part of his window was
like a frame to a picture of part of the other side of the tower. It was
very pretty, with moss growing between the stones and little shiny
gems; but between him and it there was the width of the tower, and
nothing in it but empty air. The situation was terrible. Robert saw in
a flash that the carpet was likely to bring them into just the same sort
of tight places that they used to get into with the wishes the
Psammead granted them.
And the others imagine their feelings as the carpet sank slowly and
steadily to the very bottom of the tower, leaving Robert clinging to
the wall. Robert did not even try to imagine their feelings he had
quite enough to do with his own; but you can.
As soon as the carpet came to a stop on the ground at the bottom of
the inside of the tower it suddenly lost that raft-like stiffness which
24
The Phoenix and the Carpet
had been such a comfort during the journey from Camden Town to
the topless tower, and spread itself limply over the loose stones and
little earthy mounds at the bottom of the tower, just exactly like any
ordinary carpet. Also it shrank suddenly, so that it seemed to draw
away from under their feet, and they stepped quickly off the edges
and stood on the firm ground, while the carpet drew itself in till it
was its proper size, and no longer fitted exactly into the inside of the
tower, but left quite a big space all round it.
Then across the carpet they looked at each other, and then every chin
was tilted up and every eye sought vainly to see where poor Robert
had got to. Of course, they couldn t see him.
I wish we hadn t come, ' said Jane.
You always do, ' said Cyril, briefly. Look here, we can t leave
Robert up there. I wish the carpet would fetch him down. '
The carpet seemed to awake from a dream and pull itself together. It
stiffened itself briskly and floated up between the four walls of the
tower. The children below craned their heads back, and nearly broke
their necks in doing it. The carpet rose and rose. It hung poised
darkly above them for an anxious moment or two; then it dropped
down again, threw itself on the uneven floor of the tower, and as it
did so it tumbled Robert out on the uneven floor of the tower.
Oh, glory! ' said Robert, that was a squeak. You don t know how I
felt. I say, I ve had about enough for a bit. Let s wish ourselves at
home again and have a go at that jam tart and mutton. We can go out
again afterwards. '
Righto! ' said every one, for the adventure had shaken the nerves of
all. So they all got on to the carpet again, and said
I wish we were at home. '
And lo and behold, they were no more at home than before. The
carpet never moved. The Phoenix had taken the opportunity to go to
sleep. Anthea woke it up gently.
Look here, ' she said.
I m looking, ' said the Phoenix.
25
The Phoenix and the Carpet
We WISHED to be at home, and we re still here, ' complained Jane.
No, ' said the Phoenix, looking about it at the high dark walls of the
tower. No; I quite see that. '
But we wished to be at home, ' said Cyril.
No doubt, ' said the bird, politely.
And the carpet hasn t moved an inch, ' said Robert.
No, ' said the Phoenix, I see it hasn t. '
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