Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO MISTER GRIM'S SCHOOL FOR BAD BROWNIES Up the stairs went the three, treading very quietly indeed, hoping that not one of the stairs would creak or crack. The brownies crowded round the door at the bottom of the stairs, holding their breath and watching. Up and up and up- and there was the landing at last! Now for the door on the left. They saw the door. They tiptoed to it and Peter turned the handle. Would it be locked? No, it wasn't!

They peeped inside. Yes, it was the storeroom, and stacks of books, pencils, rulers, ink-bottles, old desks, and all kinds of things were there. 'Can't see our toys, whispered Binky. 'Let's look in all the drawers and all the cupboards.' So they began opening the drawers and hunting in them, and pulling open the cupboard doors and peering in at the shelves. But they could find nothing more exciting than books and pens and rubbers.

And then Binky gave a soft cry. 'Look here,' he said. 'Here they are!' The others ran quickly over to him. He had opened a big chest- and there, lying quietly in the top of it, their wings vanished, lay all the toys they had lost- yes, Rosebud was there, and Peter's engine, and the top and the soldiers- everything. Then the children heard a noise that froze them to the floor. Footsteps- footsteps coming slowly and heavily up the stairs. Not light, quick, brownie steps, but slow, ponderous ones. Would the footsteps come to the storeroom? In panic the children and Binky squeezed themselves into a cupboard, not having time to put away the toys they had pulled out of the chest. The door opened- and somebody walked in!

The children hardly dared to breathe and Binky almost choked. Then a voice spoke. 'SOMEONE has been here. SOMEONE has tried to steal toys. And that SOMEONE is here still. Come out!' The children didn't move. They were much too scared to do a thing. And then poor Binky choked! He choked again, then coughed loudly.

Footsteps marched to the cupboard and the door was flung wide open. There stood Mister Grim- exactly like his name! He was a big, burly brownie, with a tremendous beard falling to the floor. He had pointed ears and shaggy eyebrows that almost hid his eyes.

'HO!' he said in a booming voice. 'So the SOMEONE is not one person, but three!' Peter, Mollie and Binky came out, poor Binky still coughing. Mister Grim took them each firmly by the back of the neck and sat them down on the window-seat. 'And now will you kindly tell me why you came to steal my toys?' he said. 'They're not your toys, sir,' Peter said at last in rather a trembling voice. 'They're ours. We let them grow wings yesterday by using Growing Ointment on them- and they flew away. We came to fetch them.' 'A very likely story indeed,' said Mister Grim scornfully. 'And how did you come here?' 'Up the stairs,' said Mollie. Mister Grim frowned a fierce frown. 'Don't