He dived into
the pantry head first, as one dives into water, and his legs waved
in the air as he went, just as your legs do when you are first
beginning to learn to dive. The soles of his boots--squarish muddy
patches--disappeared.
'Give me a leg up,' said Robert to his sisters.
'No, you don't,' said Jane firmly. 'I'm not going to be left
outside here with just Anthea, and have something creep up behind
us out of the dark. Squirrel can go and open the back door.'
A light had sprung awake in the pantry. Cyril always said the
Phoenix turned the gas on with its beak, and lighted it with a waft
of its wing; but he was excited at the time, and perhaps he really
did it himself with matches, and then forgot all about it. He let
the others in by the back door. And when it had been bolted again
the children went all over the house and lighted every single
gas-jet they could find. For they couldn't help feeling that this
was just the dark dreary winter's evening when an armed burglar
might easily be expected to appear at any moment. There is nothing
like light when you are afraid of burglars--or of anything else,
for that matter.
And when all the gas-jets were lighted it was quite clear that the
Phoenix had made no mistake, and that Eliza and cook were really
out, and that there was no one in the house except the four
children, and the Phoenix, and the carpet, and the blackbeetles who
lived in the cupboards on each side of the nursery fire-place.
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