Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P. L. Travers Page A

his hat to carry and stumbled along beside her.
    Down the High Street marched Mary Poppins, glancing at the windows now and again to admire her own reflection.
    Her first stop was at Mr. TVimlet's—Ironmonger, Hardware and Garden Tools.
    "One mouse-trap!" she said haughtily, as she darted in at the door of the shop and read from Mrs. Banks' list.
    Mr. Trimlet was a bony man with a large purplish face. He was sitting behind the counter with his hat on the back of his head. And the morning paper was propped around him like an old Chinese screen.
    "Only one?" he asked rudely, peering round the edge of the screen to look at Mary Poppins. "Sorry, Miss!" he said with a leer. "But one trap wouldn't be worth me while!" He shook his head and was about to turn away when he caught the look on her face. His purple cheeks turned the colour of lilac.
    "Just my joke," he said hurriedly. "No offence meant! Why, I'd sell
'alf
a mouse-trap if I thought
you
wanted it. Not to mention a nice bit o' cheese to go with it."
    "One mincing machine," said Mary Poppins, as she fixed him with a stare.
    "And I'll throw in a pound of steak for luck," said Mr. Trimlet eagerly.
    Mary Poppins took no notice.
    "Half-a-dozen pot cleaners, one tin of bees' wax, one floor mop," she read out quickly.
    "Setting up 'ouse?" enquired Mr. Trimlet, smiling nervously as he tied up the parcels.
    "A packet of nails and a garden rake," she went on. She looked right through his purple face as though it were made of glass.
    "And wot about the sawdust?" he enquired. "All that wot them children has spilt?"
    Mary Poppins spun round. Jane and Michael and the Twins were sitting comfortably on a fat brown sack, and their weight had squeezed a stream of sawdust out on to the floor. Her eyes blazed.
    "If you don't get up this minute——" she began. And her voice was so frightful that they sprang to their feet without waiting to hear the rest of the sentence. Robertson Ay, who had been asleep on a garden-roller, woke up with a start and began to collect the parcels.
    "We were only resting our legs——" Michael began.
    "One More Word and you'll find yourself resting in Bed! I warn you!" she told him fiercely.
    "I'll make no charge," declared Mr. THmlet, as he hurriedly swept up the sawdust. "Seein' it's you!" he added eagerly, still trying to be friendly.
    Mary Poppins gave him a contemptuous stare.
    "There's paint on your nose," she announced calmly, and stalked out of the shop.
    Then off she went, like a human whirlwind, speeding up the High Street. And off went the children and Robertson Ay, wheeling behind her like the tail of a comet.
    At the Baker's she bought a loaf of bread, two boxes of tarts and some ginger biscuits.
    "Don't mind me," sighed Robertson Ay as she piled them into his arms.
    "I won't!" she retorted cheerfully, as she hurried on to the Greengrocer's for peas, beans and cherries.
    "The Last Straw breaks the Camel's back," said Robertson Ay, as she thrust them at him.
    "So they say!" she remarked with a chilly smile and consulted her list again.
    The next place was the Stationer's, where she bought a bottle of ink; and then she went to the Chemist for a packet of mustard plasters.
    By now they had come to the end of the High Street. But still Mary Poppins did not stop. The children looked at each other and sighed. There were no more shops. Where could she be going?
    "Oh, dear, Mary Poppins, my legs are breaking!" said Michael, limping pathetically.
    "Can't we go home now, Mary Poppins? My shoes are worn out!" complained Jane.
    And the Twins began to whimper and whine like a couple of fretful puppies.
    Mary Poppins regarded them all with disgust.
    "A set of Jellyfish—that's what you are! You haven't a backbone between you!"
    And popping the shopping-list into her bag, she gave a quick contemptuous sniff and hurried round the corner.
    "A Jellyfish swims," said Michael angrily. "And it doesn't have to go shopping!" He was so tired that he almost didn't care