Mary Poppins Comes Back by P. L. Travers Page A

water," she said softly. "I come from the Dark where all things have their beginning."
    "Ah, such dark!" said the Starling softly, bending his head to his breast.
    "It was dark in the egg, too," the Fledgling cheeped.
    "I come from the sea and its tides," Annabel went on. "I come from the sky and its stars, I come from the sun and its brightness——"
    "Ah, so bright!" said the Starling, nodding.
    "And I come from the forests of earth."
    As if in a dream, Mary Poppins rocked the cradle—to-and-fro, to-and-fro with a steady swinging movement.
    "Yes?" whispered the Fledgling.
    "Slowly I moved at first," said Annabel, "always sleeping and dreaming. I remembered all I had been and I thought of all I shall be. And when I had dreamed my dream I awoke and came swiftly."
    She paused for a moment, her blue eyes full of memories.
    "And then?" prompted the Fledgling.
    "I heard the stars singing as I came and I felt warm wings about me. I passed the beasts of the jungle and came through the dark, deep waters. It was a long journey."
    Annabel was silent.
    The Fledgling stared at her with his bright inquisitive eyes.
    Mary Poppins' hand lay quietly on the side of the cradle. She had stopped rocking.
    "A long journey, indeed!" said the Starling softly, lifting his head from his breast. "And, ah, so soon forgotten!"
    Annabel stirred under the quilt.
    "No!" she said confidently. "I'll never forget."
    "Stuff and Nonsense! Beaks and Claws! Of course you will! By the time the week's out you won't remember a word of it—what you are or where you came from!"
    Inside her flannel petticoat Annabel was kicking furiously.
    "I will! I will! How could I forget?"
    "Because they all do!" jeered the Starling harshly. "Every silly human except—" he nodded his head at Mary Poppins—"her! She's Different, she's the Oddity, she's the Misfit——"
    "You Sparrer!" cried Mary Poppins, making a dart at him.
    But with a rude laugh he swept his Fledgling off the edge of the cradle and flew with him to the window-sill.
    "Tipped you last!" he said cheekily, as he brushed by. "Hullo, what's that?"
    There was a chorus of voices outside on the landing and a clatter of feet on the stairs.
    "I don't believe you! I won't believe you!" cried Annabel wildly.
    And at that moment Jane and Michael and the Twins burst into the room.
    "Mrs. Brill says you've got something to show us!" said Jane, flinging off her hat.
    "What is it?" demanded Michael, gazing round the room.
    "Show me! Me, too!" shrieked the Twins.
    Mary Poppins glared at them. "Is this a decent nursery or the Zoological gardens?" she enquired angrily. "Answer me that!"
    "The Zoo—er—I mean——" Michael broke off hurriedly for he had caught Mary Poppins' eye. "I mean a Nursery," he said lamely.
    "Oh, look, Michael, look!" Jane cried excitedly. "I told you something important was happening! It's a New Baby! Oh, Mary Poppins, can I have it to keep?"
    Mary Poppins, with a furious glance at them all, stooped and lifted Annabel out of the cradle and sat down with her in the old arm-chair.
    "Gently, please, gently!" she warned, as they crowded about her. "This is a baby, not a battle-ship!"
    "A boy-baby?" asked Michael.
    "No, a girl—Annabel."
    Michael and Annabel stared at each other. He put his finger into her hand and she clutched it tightly.
    "My doll!" said John, pushing up against Mary Poppins' knee.
    "My rabbit!" said Barbara, tugging at Annabel's shawl.
    "Oh!" breathed Jane, touching the hair that the

    She sat down in the old arm-chair
    wind had curled. "How very small and sweet. Like a star. Where
did
you come from, Annabel?"
    Very pleased to be asked, Annabel began her story again.
    "I came from the Dark——" she recited softly.
    Jane laughed. "Such funny little sounds!" she cried. "I wish she could talk and tell us."
    Annabel stared.
    "But I
am
telling you," she protested, kicking.
    "Ha-ha!" shrieked the Starling rudely from the window. "What did I say? Excuse me laughing!"
    The Fledgling giggled