Racketty-Packetty House | Page 6

them gave him a little thump on the shoulder
with the poker, because it took more thumps to make a Duke than a
common or garden Lord.
[Transcriber's Note: See picture duke.jpg]
The day after this another much more exciting thing took place. The
nurse was in a bad temper and when she was tidying the nursery she
pushed the easy chair aside and saw Racketty-Packetty House.
"Oh!" she said, "there is that Racketty-Packetty old thing still. I had
forgotten it. It must be carried down-stairs and burned. I will go and tell
one of the footmen to come for it."
Meg and Peg and Kilmanskeg were in their attic and they all rushed out
in such a hurry to get down-stairs that they rolled all the way down the
staircase, and Peter Piper and Gustibus had to dart out of the
drawing-room and pick them up, Ridiklis came staggering up from the
kitchen quite out of breath.
"Oh! our house is going to be burned! Our house is going to be
burned!" cried Meg and Peg clutching their brothers.
"Let us go and throw ourselves out of the window!" cried Kilmanskeg.
"I don't see how they can have the heart to burn a person's home!" said
Ridiklis, wiping her eyes with her kitchen duster.
Peter Piper was rather pale, but he was extremely brave and
remembered that he was the head of the family.
"Now, Lady Meg and Lady Peg and Lady Kilmanskeg," he said, "let us
all keep cool."
"We shan't keep cool when they set our house on fire," said Gustibus.
Peter Piper just snapped his fingers.
"Pooh!" he said. "We are only made of wood and it won't hurt a bit. We

shall just snap and crackle and go off almost like fireworks and then we
shall be ashes and fly away into the air and see all sorts of things.
Perhaps it may be more fun than anything we have done yet."
"But our nice old house! Our nice old Racketty-Packetty House," said
Ridiklis. "I do so love it. The kitchen is so convenient--even though the
oven won't bake any more."
And things looked most serious because the nurse really was beginning
to push the arm-chair away. But it would not move and I will tell you
why. One of my Fairies, who had come down the chimney when they
were talking, had called me and I had come in a second with a whole
army of my Workers, and though the nurse couldn't see them, they
were all holding the chair tight down on the carpet so that it would not
stir.
And I--Queen Crosspatch--myself--flew downstairs and made the
footman remember that minute that a box had come for Cynthia and
that he must take it upstairs to her nursery. If I had not been on the spot
he would have forgotten it until it was too late. But just in the very nick
of time up he came, and Cynthia sprang up as soon as she saw him.
[Transcriber's Note: See picture footman.jpg]
"Oh!" she cried out, "It must be the doll who broke her little leg and
was sent to the hospital. It must be Lady Patsy."
And she opened the box and gave a little scream of joy for there lay
Lady Patsy (her whole name was Patricia) in a lace-frilled nightgown,
with her lovely leg in bandages and a pair of tiny crutches and a trained
nurse by her side.
That was how I saved them that time. There was such excitement over
Lady Patsy and her little crutches and her nurse that nothing else was
thought of and my Fairies pushed the arm-chair back and
Racketty-Packetty House was hidden and forgotten once more.
The whole Racketty-Packetty family gave a great gasp of joy and sat
down in a ring all at once, on the floor, mopping their foreheads with
anything they could get hold of. Peter Piper used an antimacassar.
"Oh! we are obliged to you, Queen B-bell--Patch," he panted out, "But
these alarms of fire are upsetting."
"You leave them to me," I said, "and I'll attend to them. Tip!" I
commanded the Fairy nearest me. "You will have to stay about here
and be ready to give the alarm when anything threatens to happen."

And I flew away, feeling I had done a good morning's work.
Well, that was the beginning of a great many things, and many of them
were connected with Lady Patsy; and but for me there might have been
unpleasantness.
Of course the Racketty-Packetty dolls forgot about their fright directly,
and began to enjoy themselves again as usual. That was their way.
They never sat up all night with Trouble, Peter Piper used to say. And I
told him they were quite right. If you