JOHNNY AND JANEY MEET THE STRANGE MAN
By twisting the “Start” spool backward and forward Johnny had brought
the Flying Machine to the Moon’s surface very gently, but by no twisting
of rudder or the spools could he effect a landing except by heading the
Flying Machine directly for the surface. It was in this manner that the
machine came to rest, with the front of the box resting upon the surface
of the Moon, and the rudder sticking up in the air. The children sat in
the box as though they were tied there and were very much surprised to
find that they did not fall to the ground.
There they sat—directly facing the ground, with their backs to the sky.
“Let’s get out and look around, Janey! This feels too funny, sitting
this way!” And Johnny started to put his foot over the side of the box
down to the Moon.
“Wait a moment!” Janey cried as she caught her brother and held him. “We
may tumble back into the sky if we get out of the Flying Machine!”
“I do not think we shall do that! I had not thought of it, though!”
Johnny mused.
“One thing certain—it is a long fall to the farm.”
Finally Janey cried, “I have it!” And she took off her slipper and held
it out to the side of the box. Johnny watched her with much interest.
“If the slipper falls to the ground, it is safe for us to get out!” she
said as she dropped it.
The slipper dropped very slowly to the ground.
“It didn’t seem to want to go very much!” she said.
“Try the other one,” Johnny suggested.
The second slipper floated to the ground in the same manner, very
slowly.
This puzzled the children, and they were undecided just what to do until
another idea struck Janey. “I’ll hold your hand while you climb out, so
that if you start to fall up in the air, I can pull you back into the
box!” she said.
So while his sister held his hand Johnny stepped from the box to the
surface of the Moon and straightened up. “Dear me!” he exclaimed. “You
look funny sitting there, Janey. Climb out!”
“How does it feel when you stand up, Johnny?” she asked.
“Natural!” he replied. “Come on!”
“I don’t like to!” Janey said, holding to the sides of the box. “It
seems so queer.”
At this Johnny pushed on the rudder of the Flying Machine and tipped the
box over backward, so that his sister found herself sitting up in the
box, while the box rested in a natural position upon the ground.
“Oh!” Janey exclaimed, as she stood up beside Johnny. “What a relief! My
legs are stiff and cramped.”
When she stepped from the box Janey intended hopping up and down to
straighten out the cramps, but when she jumped she rose in the air six
or eight feet, and Johnny, springing to catch his sister, who seemed
about to fly off the Moon, gave such a spring he rose ten feet in the
air and passed her.
Both children settled slowly to the ground, and when they reached there
they sat down and held to mushrooms.
Johnny wiped the perspiration from his forehead. “My goodness! I thought
we were both goners then,” he said.
Presently they both laughed. “How silly we are! If we had only thought
we wouldn’t have been scared a bit!” Johnny exclaimed. “The Moon is so
much lighter than the earth the attraction of gravity is not so strong,
and we naturally are lighter. Look at this, Sis!” he continued jumping
up in the air and throwing his feet out in front of him, so that he took
what in the water is called “A Seat in Congress.”
“Be careful, Bud!” Janey exclaimed anxiously.
“We are safe,” said Johnny as he settled slowly to the ground, “and we
can have barrels of fun doing stunts! Whee!” and he stamped both feet
upon the ground and gave such a spring that he turned over and over in
the air four or five times before he settled to the ground again.
Janey could not see so much fun without being in it herself, so she
caught Johnny’s hand and they turned flip-flops and jumped up into the
air and pretended they were swimming as they came down. They were having
the best time of their lives.
[Illustration]
Then, seeing some giant mushrooms not far off, Johnny called to Janey
and ran toward them. When about twenty feet away he leaped and sailed
through the air up to the top of the tallest, one about ten feet high.
Janey followed, and they jumped from one mushroom to another. Sometimes
they missed the jump, but this did not matter, as they settled to the
ground easily and gently.
Janey and Johnny played among the giant mushrooms for a long time, doing
all sorts of tricks, and jumping around until they grew tired.
As they sat under an immense fern, resting, Johnny said, “It’s too bad
we lost the lunch, Sis. I’m beginning to feel hungry!”
“I should like some of Granny’s doughnuts!” Janey said. “Let’s see if we
can find any berries or fruit to eat. I’ve read that is the way all
shipwrecked people do.”
“Perhaps we shall have to live on mussels and clams,” said Johnny as he
arose. “Let’s find something! I could almost eat one of these
mushrooms!” And Johnny broke off a piece of mushroom and held it towards
Janey.
[Illustration]
Janey caught a whiff of the mushroom and said, “It smells good enough to
eat!”
Johnny smelt the piece he had in his hands and then took a tiny bite.
“Be careful, Johnny!” Janey warned. “You know Granny said there was
really no way to tell whether a mushroom was a mushroom or a toad-stool,
except by eating it, and if you ate it and it was poison it was a
toad-stool, and if you ate it and it did not hurt you, it was a
mushroom!”
“Ummmmm!” Johnny exclaimed, when he had tasted the mushroom. “It’s fine,
Janey!” and Johnny broke off another piece and ate it as if it had been
cake.
“I’ll wait and see if it poisons you first!” said Janey.
Johnny picked off pieces of different mushrooms and tried them. “They’re
different, Janey!” he cried. “You’re missing it! Try this piece! It
tastes of raspberry or blackberry, I can’t tell which!”
Janey nibbled at the piece Johnny gave her and found the flavor
excellent. She went to the mushroom from which Johnny had broken the
piece and tore off a chunk as large as her head and began to eat it. The
mushrooms were sweet and of different flavors, tasting just like cake.
The children discovered that the old mushrooms which had turned brown
were of chocolate or ginger flavor.
“We can’t starve with all these goodies!” cried Johnny. “I feel as if I
had just finished a Thanksgiving dinner!”
Janey left Johnny sitting under one of the mushrooms and walked about to
see if she could discover a spring, as the sweet mushrooms had made her
very thirsty.
Johnny had eaten so much it made him drowsy, and before Janey had gone
far he was sound asleep.
Janey passed under the mushrooms and giant ferns until she came to an
open space in the center of which a spring bubbled up.
Walking up to the spring, Janey was surprised to see no outlet for the
water. It bubbled up just as water would bubble in a kettle when
boiling, but this water felt very cold when she put her finger in it.
Upon tasting the water Janey found it sour. “Lemonade!” she cried, and
running to the side of the clearing she picked a large leaf and folded
it for a cup.
The lemonade was just sweet enough, and Janey drank two large leavesful.
She was dipping in again when she heard a tread upon the grass behind
her.
“Oh, Johnny,” she cried, “I’ve found a spring of lemonade and it is
lovely!”
Then, as Johnny did not answer, she turned her head and saw a strange
Man approaching her with upraised stick and a fierce frown upon his
face.
“Who said you might drink of my spring!” he shouted, quickening his walk
to a hop and waving his arms in a threatening manner.
“I—I—I—did not know it was your spring!” the little girl answered, as
she scrambled to her feet and dropped her leaf-cup.
“Of course you didn’t!” the Strange Man cried as he came up to her and
caught her arm fiercely. “Of course you didn’t! Of course you didn’t!”
And with that he raised his stick above his head as if to strike her.
“I’ll teach you to drink of my spring!”
Janey screamed and pulled with all her might to get away, but the
Strange Man held her tightly.
Johnny, hearing his sister’s cry, came running through the ferns, and
seeing the Strange Man about to hit Janey, he flew at him like a little
tiger. When about eight feet from the Strange Man, Johnny, who was
running at good speed, jumped through the air and landed upon the
Strange Man’s back. The force of his dive carried himself and the
Strange Man head over heels, knocked off the Strange Man’s tall hat and
made him lose his hold upon Janey and the stick.
Johnny was on top when they finally quit rolling and with all his might
he pummeled the Strange Man about the head. The Strange Man’s long legs
kicked through the air and he scratched at Johnny’s face with his long
fingers.
The Strange Man cried out for Johnny to quit, but Johnny, angry at the
Strange Man’s treatment of his sister, managed to get his knees on the
Strange Man’s arms, sat upon his chest and pounded him right and left.
[Illustration: “You just wait! I’ll catch you and pay you back!” (page
31)]
“Say enough!” Johnny yelled. “Say enough! Say enough!” and Johnny caught
hold of the Strange Man’s long hair and bumped his head upon the ground.
Janey held her breath. It was the first time she had ever seen Johnny in
a fight, for he was a quiet little fellow and always avoided a fight if
it were possible. But now Johnny was very angry, and Janey felt sorry
for the Strange Man.
“Let him up, Johnny! He’s had enough! He says for you to quit! Let him
up!” Janey cried.
“Now, you keep back, Sis!” Johnny shouted, his eyes full of tears. “I’ll
teach him to strike you! There!—There! Will you ever—There!—do it
again?”
“No, I won’t! Honest!” the Strange Man cried, closing his eyes tight
each time Johnny bumped his head on the ground.
“All right!” Johnny said as he got off of the Strange Man and stood back
to see what he would do upon getting up from the ground.
The Strange Man picked up his hat and stick without looking at Johnny,
turned and walked across the clearing. When he had reached the other
side he looked over his shoulder, and shaking his stick at the children
he cried, “You just wait! I’ll catch you and pay you back! You just
wait!”
Johnny, in spite of his sister’s attempt to hold him back, ran across
the clearing after the Strange Man, who turned again and sped through
the ferns like a deer.
When Johnny reached the edge of the clearing he stamped his feet upon
the ground loudly. The Strange Man, thinking Johnny was close behind
him, redoubled his efforts and catching his foot in a vine went
sprawling among the ferns.
Johnny doubled up with laughter and Janey could not help joining in.
“My! You surely can fight, Johnny!” she said admiringly. Janey put her
arm around her brother’s neck and kissed him.
“Ah shucks!” said Johnny, embarrassed. “I couldn’t stand to see him
strike you, Janey, but I don’t like to fight.”
“Weren’t you mad though! You cried!” Janey went on.
“That’s it!” Johnny exclaimed. “I get too angry and have to cry like a
boo baby! That’s why I always get licked, because my eyes fill up with
tears and I can’t see!”
“Oh Johnny, I’ll bet you don’t always get licked, either! You can lick
anyone I’ll bet, if you want to!” his sister said proudly.
“Well of course I really don’t get licked every time!” Johnny admitted.
Then, with a laugh, he added, “Because sometimes I can run faster than
the other fellow and he doesn’t catch me!”
“Of course it’s wrong to fight!” Janey said as they walked away in a
different direction from the one taken by the Strange Man. “It always
seems so useless, doesn’t it?”
“Unless it’s something like this fight!” Johnny answered.
“I guess I couldn’t have fought so well if I hadn’t been fighting for
you! Did he hurt you much, Janey?”
“He hurt me when he pinched my arm, but he didn’t hit me with the
stick,” Janey said, as she showed Johnny the bruised place on her arm.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t know of that bruise,” cried Johnny, “while I
had him down!”
As they talked the children came to a path. They walked down it until
they saw a queer little house made of sticks plastered together with mud
and colored clay.
“What a queer house!” the children cried. “Isn’t it small!”
They walked up to the door and knocked. “Come in!” a voice called to
them from within.
So the children, pushing open the door, stepped inside.
At first they could see nothing, for the door had swung shut behind
them, but presently their eyes growing accustomed to the darkness, they
made out a form across the room.
[Illustration]
“My! It’s dark!” Janey exclaimed. “Can’t we have a light!”
The form across the room chuckled and Johnny reached behind him for the
door-knob, so that he could let some light into the room. The door was
locked!
When Johnny found this out he stepped in front of Janey. “Keep behind
me, Sis!” he whispered. “This doesn’t seem safe!”
At this moment something struck Johnny in the face and splashed all
over. It took him so by surprise he staggered backward and stumbled over
Janey, so that both the children fell to the floor.
As he scrambled to his feet Johnny felt his arms caught and a rope
whirled around and around his arms and legs, so that he could not move.
A bright flame shot up from the fireplace and the children saw the
Strange Man sitting there with a book across his knees. He had just
thrown a powder in the fireplace and it burnt brightly.
The Strange Man was the only one in the room except the children and he
mumbled to himself as he read from the great book. Johnny looked at
Janey and saw that she was tied in much the same manner as himself.
“It’s the man who owns the Lemonade Spring,” cried Janey.
“Say!” Johnny shouted. “You untie us and let us go, or we’ll have you
arrested when we get out!”
“You won’t get out!” the Strange Man told him. “I’ll see to that!”
“Help!” Johnny shouted at the top of his voice, Janey joining him.
“Dear me!” the Strange Man exclaimed fretfully. “How can you expect me
to change you into animals when you make so much noise? You distract my
mind from my reading, and I am trying to find just how to work the
magic!”
“Is that a magic book?” Janey asked.
“Of course!” the Strange Man replied. “And I have to memorize the magic
song that I must sing when I puff the magic powder over you and change
you into animals, and I can not think when you make so much noise!”
“We’re sorry we drank your lemonade!” Janey said.
“I’m sorry I had a fight with you!” Johnny said.
“Yes! I know you are,” the Strange Man cried, shaking his stick at them,
“and I told you that I would get even with you! I am about to change you
into pigs!”
“Oh dear! I don’t care to be changed into a pig!” Janey cried.
“I don’t believe he can do it!” Johnny told her.
“Oh, don’t you!” the Strange Man hissed, as he put down the large book
and came towards Johnny. “I can easily change you into a cat, but I am
learning the rhyme to change you into pigs and then I’ll show you!”
Janey began crying and Johnny said, “Don’t cry, Sis! He’s trying to fool
you! He can’t change us into anything, it isn’t possible!”
The Strange Man puffed some powder from a tiny bellows upon Johnny and
began to sing.
“A diddle daddle hunka dee, A chunka lunka diddle fee,
Kerlike kerlunk kachunkapat, and so I change you to a cat!”
“There! I guess you believe it possible now, don’t you?” the Strange Man
said when he stopped singing.
“Meow!” said Johnny. “Meow!” He _had_ changed into a cat.
“Killikaluka, willyculoosa! Now I change you to a boy!” said the Strange
Man, again puffing the powder upon Johnny, and changing him back to a
boy.
“What shall we do?” Janey cried.
“You must keep still,” the Strange Man commanded, “or I can never change
you to pigs!”
“Let us keep yelling at the top of our lungs,” cried Johnny, “so that he
can not study the rhyme to change us into pigs!”
So the two children began yelling at the top of their voices, and the
Strange Man grew so impatient he finally said, “Well, if you continue
like that, I shall have to go outside and study, but it will be all the
worse for you when I do change you to pigs, for I shan’t let you see a
mud puddle for two years!”
And as the children continued their cries, the Strange Man closed his
book and went out by a back door. He stamped along the walk kicking the
loose pebbles viciously.
[Illustration]