The Story of the Amulet

00 B.C. with no means whatever of getting back into their own time and place. They could not find the East, and the sun was of no use at the moment, becaus

bass-bag when they were not look

le get killed in fights, and the idea of taking part i

The people of the village were hurriedly filling the gaps in the fence with thorn-bushes from the heap that seemed to have been piled

and tried to de

y pistol and loaded it with a pink

ened his be

others, bit the ends of the stalks, and set them in a pot of water that st

y arranging something for us. I don't believe it would go awa

deciding not to cr

an we do?'

eyes and ears open. Look! That runner chap's gettin

he stood up and spoke. He began by some respectful remarks addressed to

uddenly, but no beast will scare a whole flock of herons. And still they flew and circled, and would not light. So then I knew that what scared the herons must be men, and men who knew not our ways of going softly so as to take the birds and beasts unawares. By this I knew they were not of our race or of ou

man, turning suddenly and angrily on

e spies for anything. I'm certain these people aren'

ir hair black as night. Yet these strange children, maybe, are

an through

are on your side. We will help y

knew that there WERE sacred things to be guarded. He

all make offering, that w

hippopotamus flesh, ostrich-feathers, the fruit of the date palms, red chalk, green chalk, fish from the river, and ibex from the mountains; and the headman received these gifts. There was another hedge insid

heir Amulet,' said Anthea. 'We

Waterbury watch that Robert had not been able to help taking to pieces at Christmas and had never had time to re

at them with awe, especially at the red

e room in me to be astonished. Our maiden said there was peace betwe

ldren s

Are you up

e this.' He held out the toy pistol. 'I shall speak to it, and if it answers me you will know t

our hand speak to you alone, or shall I

ear it,' said Robert. 'Now, then.'

hin'-he pointed to the hedged-in space-'spe

f. The noise was loud, for it was a two-sh

ge fell on its face on the sand. The hea

aid. 'Lead them into the ant

and round the lane till they came to an opening in the inner hedge, an

s, and all the hedges were of brushwoo

e at Hampton Court

le hut in the middle of the maze was round-roofe

'but do not dare to pass the curtain.

, 'some of us ought to be outsid

We can't do anything while that man is in there. Let's all go out into the village again. We can come back later now we know the w

te, and I don't much

arrow-head or the edge of an axe-an advantage which no other person now alive has ever enjoyed. The boys found the weapons most interesting. The arrow-heads were not on arrows such as you shoot from a bow, but o

ears or lances, with flint knives-h

as like an ant-heap when you have walked into it by

or, such as you may see at Woolwich Arsenal if you ever have the luck to be taken there-and then almo

s never been able to break itself of the habit, and sets in exactly the same manner to the pr

n able to sleep-but somehow, though they were rather frightened now and then, the feeling was growing in them-deep down and almost hidden away, but still growing-that the Psammea

out all night; set the police on our tracks, I expect. I only wish they could find us! A dozen policemen woul

all fel

ywhere at once-horrible threatening shouts and shrieks and howls that sounded,

acked the walls, and the thorns have driven them back. My father says they will not try again till daylight. B

but when the sun rose, as abruptly as

e sheltered behind the huts. But next moment another shower of weapons came from the opposite side, and the crowd rushed to other

and the shouting came; they hurled stones over the hedges, and short arrows with flint heads. The children had never before seen men with the fighting light in their eyes.

g and the crackling arose on the opposite side of the village and the crowd hastened to defend that point, and so the fight

ghting-men would enter the maze, and come out with brig

ulet,' he said. 'You know the Psamm

d as the warriors came before him he murmured a word they could not hear, and touched their foreheads with something that they c

orn-hedge outside. Suddenly t

hey're in! The

peared behind the

d Anthea. 'Oh, Psammead dea

the headman staggered out white with fear and fled ou

moaned Anthea. 'Oh, Psammead,

and swelled fiercely all around. It was like t

d said again, 'Oh,

was lifted at one corner by a furry hand, and out p

d a sigh of desperate relief wa

nd she spoke hurriedly, for the noise o

said the Psammea

f the hut wa

, and struck it. The floor of

It's all right. Everything's all right. I knew your only chance would be while the fight was going on. That m

before, Anthea's roses fading on the top of the heap. At one side of the hut stood a large square

ed Cyril, as the Psammead po

'The man was just going to bury the box in th

t,' said Anthea. 'Now, then

the sun rise

meone t

ammead impatiently, getting into its bass-ba

n in here, and it isn't

mead said. 'Why, the East's where

to the gr

ould hear that the headmen had surrounded the hut to protect their treasure as long as might be

he Amulet, you stand ready to hold up the charm, an

ng lifted off by two spears. As the children trembled and winked in the new light, large dark hands tore down the wall, and a dark face, with a blobby fat nose, looked over

'it is this that makes them strong to fight and brav

his eyes were very white indeed. He had a wet, red cop

CK!' cried every

a great arch. Out beyond it was the glaring Egyptian sky, the broken wall, the cruel, dark, big-nosed face with th

he sound and fury of battle died out suddenly and utterly, and they heard only the low, dull, discontented hum of vast London, and the peeking and patting of the sparrows on the gravel and the voices of the ragged

g a long breath; 'that was s

e one, certainly,'

athing in the safe, qui

The sun looks about the same as it did when we started yesterday. We've been away twenty-four hou

hungry, curi

asket and the Psammead-bask

et them wit

id. 'What's gone wrong? You'v

osite of what you mean in order to make yourself disagreeable; as when you

,' began Anthea,

lves and you'll please me. Come in and get your d

be that old Nurse had so changed that she no longer cared that they should have been a

t its head out of i

rough the charm-arch at the same time as you go through it

ouldn't do to go mixing up the present and the Past

adventure took

e,' said the Psammead. 'It took

eatrice, the maid-of-all-work, who had given her the bangle with the blue stone, to let he

whole adventure

and ending up with, 'And then we remembered how to get back, and th

because that was forbidden, but the story was quite wonderf

ttle girl,' he said. 'Who

Anthea, 'they

y, as one who recalls and pro

left him. At last he rou

pression that the little girl from the rooms below came in and gave me a coherent and graphic picture of life as I co

ly, and actually went for a mile wa