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we do?*” said Michael.

      “Michael, don’t be naughty,” said his Mother.

      Mary Poppins continued to regard the four children searchingly. Then, with a long, loud sniff that seemed to indicate that she had made up her mind, she said,

      “I’ll take the position.”

      “For all the world,” as Mrs Banks said to her husband later, “as though she were doing us a signal honour*.”

      “Perhaps she is,” said Mr Banks, putting his nose round the corner of the newspaper for a moment and then withdrawing it very quickly.

      When their Mother had gone, Jane and Michael edged towards Mary Poppins, who stood, still as a post, with her hands folded in front of her.

      “How did you come?” Jane asked. “It looked just as if the wind blew you here.”

      “It did,” said Mary Poppins briefly. And she proceeded to unwind her muffler from her neck and to take off her hat, which she hung on one of the bed-posts.

      As it did not seem as though Mary Poppins were going to say any more – though she sniffed a great deal – Jane, too, remained silent. But when she bent down to undo her bag, Michael could not restrain himself.

      “What a funny bag!” he said, pinching it with his fingers.

      “Carpet,*” said Mary Poppins, putting her key in the lock.

      “To carry carpets in, you mean?”

      “No. Made of.”

      “Oh,” said Michael. “I see.” But he didn’t – quite.

      By this time the bag was open, and Jane and Michael were more than surprised to find it was completely empty.

      “Why,” said Jane, “there’s nothing in it!”

      “What do you mean – nothing?” demanded Mary Poppins, drawing herself up and looking as though she had been insulted. “Nothing in it, did you say?”

      And with that she took out from the empty bag a starched white apron and tied it round her waist. Next she unpacked a large cake of Sunlight Soap*, a toothbrush, a packet of hairpins, a bottle of scent, a small folding armchair and a box of throat lozenges*.

      Jane and Michael stared.

      “But I saw,” whispered Michael. “It was empty.”

      “Hush!” said Jane, as Mary Poppins took out a large bottle labelled “One Tea-Spoon to be Taken at Bed-Time.”

      A spoon was attached to the neck of the bottle, and into this Mary Poppins poured a dark crimson fluid.

      “Is that your medicine?” enquired Michael, looking very interested.

      “No, yours,” said Mary Poppins, holding out the spoon to him. Michael stared. He wrinkled up his nose. He began to protest.

      “I don’t want it. I don’t need it. I won’t!”

      But Mary Poppins’s eyes were fixed upon him, and Michael suddenly discovered that you could not look at Mary Poppins and disobey her. There was something strange and extraordinary about her – something that was frightening and at the same time most exciting. The spoon came nearer. He held his breath, shut his eyes and gulped. A delicious taste ran round his mouth. He turned his tongue in it. He swallowed, and a happy smile ran round his face.

      “Strawberry ice,” he said ecstatically. “More, more, more!”

      But Mary Poppins, her face as stern as before, was pouring out a dose for Jane. It ran into the spoon, silvery, greeny, yellowy. Jane tasted it.

      “Lime-juice cordial,*” she said, sliding her tongue deliciously over her lips. But when she saw Mary Poppins moving towards the Twins with the bottle Jane rushed at her.

      “Oh, no – please. They’re too young. It wouldn’t be good for them. Please!”

      Mary Poppins, however, took no notice, but with a warning, terrible glance at Jane, tipped the spoon towards John’s mouth. He lapped at it eagerly, and by the few drops that were spilt on his bib, Jane and Michael could tell that the substance in the spoon this time was milk. Then Barbara had her share, and she gurgled and licked the spoon twice.

      Mary Poppins then poured out another dose and solemnly took it herself.

      “Rum punch,*” she said, smacking her lips and corking the bottle.

      Jane’s eyes and Michael’s popped with astonishment, but they were not given much time to wonder, for Mary Poppins, having put the miraculous bottle on the mantelpiece, turned to them.

      “Now,” she said, “spit-spot* into bed.” And she began to undress them. They noticed that whereas buttons and hooks had needed all sorts of coaxing from Katie Nanna, for Mary Poppins they flew apart almost at a look. In less than a minute they found themselves in bed and watching, by the dim light from the night-light, the rest of Mary Poppins’s unpacking being performed.

      From the carpet-bag she took out seven flannel nightgowns, four cotton ones, a pair of boots, a set of dominoes, two bathing-caps and a postcard album. Last of all came a folding camp-bedstead with blankets and eiderdown complete, and this she set down, between John’s cot and Barbara’s.

      Jane and Michael sat hugging themselves and watching. It was all so surprising that they could find nothing to say. But they knew, both of them, that something strange and wonderful had happened at Number Seventeen, Cherry-Tree Lane*.

      Mary Poppins, slipping one of the flannel nightgowns over her head, began to undress underneath it as though it were a tent. Michael, charmed by this strange new arrival, unable to keep silent any longer, called to her.

      “Mary Poppins,” he cried, “you’ll never leave us, will you?”

      There was no reply from under the nightgown. Michael could not bear it.

      “You won’t leave us, will you?” he called anxiously.

      Mary Poppins’s head came out of the top of the nightgown. She looked very fierce.

      “One word more from that direction,” she said threateningly, “and I’ll call the Policeman.”

      “I was only saying,” began Michael, meekly, “that we hoped you wouldn’t be going away soon – ” He stopped, feeling very red and confused.

      Mary Poppins stared from him to Jane in silence. Then she sniffed.

      “I’ll stay till the wind changes,” she said shortly, and she blew out her candle and got into bed.

      “That’s all right,” said Michael, half to himself and half to Jane. But Jane wasn’t listening. She was thinking about all that had happened, and wondering…

* * *

      And that is how Mary Poppins came to live at Number Seventeen, Cherry-Tree Lane. And although they sometimes found themselves wishing for the quieter, more ordinary days when Katie Nanna ruled the household, everybody, on the whole, was glad of Mary Poppins’s arrival. Mr Banks was glad because, as she arrived by herself and did not hold up the traffic, he had not had to tip* the Policeman. Mrs Banks was glad because she was able to tell everybody that her children’s nurse was so fashionable that she didn’t believe in giving references. Mrs Brill and Ellen were glad because they could drink strong cups of tea all day in the kitchen and no longer needed to preside at nursery suppers. Robertson Ay was glad, too, because Mary Poppins had only one pair of shoes, and those she polished herself.

      But nobody ever knew what Mary Poppins felt about it, for Mary Poppins never told anybody anything…

      The Day Out*

      “Every third Thursday,” said Mrs Banks. “Two till five.”

      Mary Poppins eyed her sternly. “The best people, ma’am,*” she said, “give every second Thursday, and one till six. And those I shall take or – ” Mary Poppins paused, and Mrs Banks knew what

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