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109
The Story of the Amulet
I ain t agoin to drive you no further, ' he said. Out you gets. '
They got out rather unwillingly.
I wants my tea, ' he said; and they saw that on the box of the cab
was a mound of cabbage, with pork chops and apple sauce, a duck,
and a spotted currant pudding. Also a large can.
You pay me my fare, ' he said threateningly, and looked down at the
mound, muttering again about his tea.
We ll take another cab, ' said Cyril with dignity. Give me change for
a sovereign, if you please. '
But the cabman, as it turned out, was not at all a nice character. He
took the sovereign, whipped up his horse, and disappeared in the
stream of cabs and omnibuses and wagons, without giving them any
change at all.
Already a little crowd was collecting round the party.
Come on, ' said Robert, leading the wrong way.
The crowd round them thickened. They were in a narrow street
where many gentlemen in black coats and without hats were
standing about on the pavement talking very loudly.
How ugly their clothes are, ' said the Queen of Babylon. They d be
rather fine men, some of them, if they were dressed decently,
especially the ones with the beautiful long, curved noses. I wish they
were dressed like the Babylonians of my court. '
And of course, it was so.
The moment the almost fainting Psammead had blown itself out
every man in Throgmorton Street appeared abruptly in Babylonian
full dress.
All were carefully powdered, their hair and beards were scented and
curled, their garments richly embroidered. They wore rings and
armlets, flat gold collars and swords, and impossible-looking head-
dresses.
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The Story of the Amulet
A stupefied silence fell on them.
I say, ' a youth who had always been fair-haired broke that silence,
it s only fancy of course something wrong with my eyes but you
chaps do look so rum. '
Rum, ' said his friend. Look at YOU. You in a sash! My hat! And
your hair s gone black and you ve got a beard. It s my belief we ve
been poisoned. You do look a jackape. '
Old Levinstein don t look so bad. But how was it DONE that s
what I want to know. How was it done? Is it conjuring, or what? '
I think it is chust a ver bad tream, ' said old Levinstein to his clerk;
all along Bishopsgate I haf seen the gommon people have their
hants full of food GOOT food. Oh yes, without doubt a very bad
tream! '
Then I m dreaming too, Sir, ' said the clerk, looking down at his legs
with an expression of loathing. I see my feet in beastly sandals as
plain as plain. '
All that goot food wasted, ' said old Mr Levinstein. A bad tream a
bad tream. '
The Members of the Stock Exchange are said to be at all times a noisy
lot. But the noise they made now to express their disgust at the
costumes of ancient Babylon was far louder than their ordinary row.
One had to shout before one could hear oneself speak.
I only wish, ' said the clerk who thought it was conjuring he was
quite close to the children and they trembled, because they knew
that whatever he wished would come true. I only wish we knew
who d done it. '
And, of course, instantly they did know, and they pressed round the
Queen.
Scandalous! Shameful! Ought to be put down by law. Give her in
charge. Fetch the police, ' two or three voices shouted at once.
The Queen recoiled.
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The Story of the Amulet
What is it? ' she asked. They sound like caged lions lions by the
thousand. What is it that they say? '
They say Police! , ' said Cyril briefly. I knew they would sooner
or later. And I don t blame them, mind you. '
I wish my guards were here! ' cried the Queen. The exhausted
Psammead was panting and trembling, but the Queen s guards in
red and green garments, and brass and iron gear, choked
Throgmorton Street, and bared weapons flashed round the Queen.
I m mad, ' said a Mr Rosenbaum; dat s what it is mad! '
It s a judgement on you, Rosy, ' said his partner. I always said you
were too hard in that matter of Flowerdew. It s a judgement, and I m
in it too. '
The members of the Stock Exchange had edged carefully away from
the gleaming blades, the mailed figures, the hard, cruel Eastern faces.
But Throgmorton Street is narrow, and the crowd was too thick for
them to get away as quickly as they wished.
Kill them, ' cried the Queen. Kill the dogs! '
The guards obeyed.
It IS all a dream, ' cried Mr Levinstein, cowering in a doorway
behind his clerk.
It isn t, ' said the clerk. It isn t. Oh, my good gracious! those foreign
brutes are killing everybody. Henry Hirsh is down now, and
Prentice is cut in two oh, Lord! and Huth, and there goes Lionel
Cohen with his head off, and Guy Nickalls has lost his head now. A
dream? I wish to goodness it was all a dream. '
And, of course, instantly it was! The entire Stock Exchange rubbed
its eyes and went back to close, to over, and either side of seven-
eights, and Trunks, and Kaffirs, and Steel Common, and Contangoes,
and Backwardations, Double Options, and all the interesting subjects
concerning which they talk in the Street without ceasing.
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The Story of the Amulet
No one said a word about it to anyone else. I think I have explained
before that business men do not like it to be known that they have
been dreaming in business hours. Especially mad dreams including
such dreadful things as hungry people getting dinners, and the
destruction of the Stock Exchange.
The children were in the dining-room at 300, Fitzroy Street, pale and
trembling. The Psammead crawled out of the embroidered bag, and
lay flat on the table, its leg stretched out, looking more like a dead
hare than anything else.
Thank Goodness that s over, ' said Anthea, drawing a deep breath.
She won t come back, will she? ' asked Jane tremulously.
No, ' said Cyril. She s thousands of years ago. But we spent a whole
precious pound on her. It ll take all our pocket-money for ages to
pay that back. '
Not if it was ALL a dream, ' said Robert.
The wish said ALL a dream, you know, Panther; you cut up and ask
if he lent you anything. '
I beg your pardon, ' said Anthea politely, following the sound of her
knock into the presence of the learned gentleman, I m so sorry to
trouble you, but DID you lend me a pound today? '
No, ' said he, looking kindly at her through his spectacles. But it s
extraordinary that you should ask me, for I dozed for a few moments
this afternoon, a thing I very rarely do, and I dreamed quite
distinctly that you brought me a ring that you said belonged to the
Queen of Babylon, and that I lent you a sovereign and that you left
one of the Queen s rings here. The ring was a magnificent specimen. '
He sighed. I wish it hadn t been a dream, ' he said smiling. He was
really learning to smile quite nicely.
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