Mary Poppins in the Park

'I never agree,' snapped Mrs. Mo. 'And I'll have no singing here. Mynie! Tell that man to be quiet!'

For a lusty voice was filling the air with the words of a well-known song.

'I'll sing you one-o,

Green grow the rushes-o!'

It was the Ice Cream Man, cycling along the path.

Jane and Michael had no time to wonder how he had managed to get into the little Park, for Eenie, Meenie and Mynie were shouting.

'Papa! Papa! A penny, please!'

'No ices!' bellowed Mrs. Mo. 'We haven't the money to spare!'

'Matilda!' Mr. Mo entreated. 'There's my lucky threepenny-piece.'

'That is for a rainy day. Not for mere enjoyment.'

'Oh, it's not going to rain, I'm sure, Matilda!'

'Of course it will rain. And, anyway, it's my threepenny-piece. From today, Samuel, what's yours is mine. Get along,' she yelled to the Ice Cream Man, 'and don't come here making foolish noises.'

'It's not a noise, it's a song,' he retorted. 'And I'll sing it as much as I like.'

And away he wheeled, singing

'I'll sing you two-o'

as loudly as he could.

'Out of sight,' sighed Mr. Mo, as the barrow disappeared among the trees, 'but not, alas, out of mind! Well, we mustn't grumble, boys!' He brightened. 'We still have the wedding-feast. Now, Mrs. Hickory, where will you sit?'

Mrs. Hickory's dimples twinkled gaily.

'She won't sit anywhere, Samuel. She has not received an invitation.'

The dimples disappeared again.

'Oh, but, Matilda—!' cried Mr. Mo, with a crestfallen look on his rosy face.

'But me no buts!' Mrs. Mo retorted, advancing towards the table. 'What's this?' she demanded. 'Something's missing! A peach and an orange have disappeared. And who has been eating my apple-pie?'

'I h-have,' said Michael nervously. 'B-but only a very small slice.'

'And I took a peach,' Jane said in a whisper. She found it hard to make the confession, Mrs. Mo looked so large and fierce.

'Oh, indeed?' The knobbly woman turned to the children. 'And who invited you? '

'Well, you see,' began Jane, 'I was making a Park. And suddenly I found myself — I mean, it happened — I mean — I—well—' However could she explain?

'Don't hum and haw, Jane, if you please. Speak when you're spoken to. Come when you're called. And, Michael, do not gape like that. The wind may change and where will you be?'

A voice that was welcome as Nuts in May sounded in their ears.

'Mary Poppins!' cried Michael in glad surprise, staring — in spite of the changing wind — from her to Mr. Mo.

For there, beneath the buttercup, was the crowded perambulator. And beside it stood a tidy shape with buttoned-shoes, tulip-trimmed hat and parrot-headed umbrella.

'Oh, Mary! At last! Better late than never! How are you?' cried Mr. Mo. He darted round the end of the table and kissed her black-gloved hand.

'I knew he reminded me of someone!' said Michael in a careful whisper. 'Look, Jane! Their noses are just the same!'

'Nicely, thank you, Cousin Sam! My goodness, how the boys have grown!' With a ladylike air she offered her cheek to Eenie, Meenie and Mynie.

Mr. Mo looked on with a fond smile. But it faded as he turned to his wife.

'And this,' he said sadly, 'is Matilda!'

Mary Poppins regarded Mrs. Mo with a long and searching look. Then she smiled, to the children's great surprise, and made a dainty bow.

'I hope,' she said, in a well-bred voice, 'that we are not intruding? I wanted Sam — with your permission, of course, Matilda' — she bowed again to Mrs. Mo—'to make me a new—'

'It's ready, Mary!' cried Mr. Mo, as he seized his piece of polished wood. 'All it wants is—' He flew to the perambulator. 'A nail here and a nail there and another one and it's finished!'

The brand-new handle gleamed in its place and John and Barbara clapped their hands.

'Don't think you're going to get it free!' Mrs. Mo shook the rolling-pin. 'From now on, everything's got to be paid for. Nothing for nothing — that's my motto!'

'Oh, I'll certainly pay him,' said Mary Poppins, with her best society simper. 'Everyone gets what he deserves — that's my motto, Matilda!'

'Well, the quicker the better, please, Miss Poppins. I've no intention of waiting!'

'You won't have to wait, I promise you!' Mary Poppins gave a twirl to her handbag and Jane and Michael watched with interest as she glanced round the little Park. They had never seen her behave like this — such elegant tact, such polished manners.

'What a charming little place you have!' She waved the parrot-headed umbrella towards the summer- house.

Mrs. Mo gave a snort of disgust.

'Charming, you call it? I call it a hovel. If Samuel thinks I can live in that, he'll have to change his mind. He's not going to knock me down with a feather!'

'Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, Matilda! I don't possess such a thing.'

'A castle is what I want, Samuel. You owe it to your handsome bride!'

'Handsome is as handsome does!' said Mr. Mo in a whisper.

But Mary Poppins' smile grew brighter.

'Handsome indeed,' she agreed admiringly. 'And you're wearing such a lovely wreath!'

'Pooh,' Mrs. Mo remarked, with contempt. 'Two or three flowers twisted together. A crown of gold would be more to my liking — and I'll have it, too, before I'm finished!'

'Kind hearts are more than coronets,' said Mr. Mo meekly.

'Not to me!' snapped Mrs. Mo. 'I'll have a beaded band of gold! You mark my words, Miss Mary Poppins, I'll be queen of the forest yet!'

'I do not doubt it,' said Mary Poppins. And her manner was so correct and respectful that Mrs. Mo smiled a mollified smile and displayed her two front teeth.

'Well,' she said grudgingly, 'now that you're here, you'd better stay and be useful. You may pass round the food at the wedding-feast. And then you can wash up the dishes.'

The children clapped their hands to their lips and glanced at Mary Poppins. What would she say to that, they wondered.

Mr. Mo gave a gasp of horror. 'But, Matilda — don't you realise? Don't you know who she is?'

'That will do, Sam,' said Mary Poppins. She waved him aside with the parrot umbrella. Her blue eyes had grown a shade more blue but, to Jane's and Michael's astonishment, her smile was broader than ever.

'So pleased to be of use, Matilda. And where do you plan to build your castle?'

'Well, I thought' — Mrs. Mo fell back a step and swung the rolling-pin—'we'd have the entrance gates here. And here' — she took another large stride backwards—'the main door and the marble stairs.'

'But we can't dwell in marble halls, Matilda! They're far too grand for us.'

'For you, perhaps, Samuel. Nothing can be too grand for me. And then' — Mrs. Mo fell back again—'a large and lofty reception room where I shall receive my guests.'

'Splendid!' said Mary Poppins brightly, pushing the perambulator before her, as she followed step by step.