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1. The Red Indian Hat
   Story: Specially Written
2. Bumpity-Bumpity-Bump!
   Story: Specially Written
3. The Cross Old Man
   Story: Specially Written
4. The Little White Pigeon
   Story: Specially Written

The Red Indian Hat

Red Indians is, or was, a common enough game played round the period when this Little Book appeared and it was conducted with one child or group of children being the 'goodies' and the other side, usually representing the indigenous race of America, as the 'baddies.' Children rarely owned an Indian head-dress so Johnny seems to have had a convenient stroke of luck because at Christmas time he receives a fine one containing many brightly coloured feathers.

Jinny would love to have a head-dress as well and says so but Johnny explains that Indian women don't wear such colourful items; theirs are much smaller so he's not sure whether or not he can let Jinny borrow his. I suppose he's got a point because as Johnny tells his sister, their mother wouldn't wear Daddy's top hat would she? In true feminine fashion Jinny argues the toss but Johnny is adamant and starts threatening that he'll tie his sister to a tree and shoot arrows at her if she doesn't shut up.

Enter mother who reminds them what day it is - no, they certainly shouldn't be quarrelling on Dec. 25th. Later, Jinny asks for a squaw's head-dress but mother's not sure if you can get one of those so, not wanting to keep on at her brother for a loan of his magnificent headgear, Jinny decides to visit Emily their old cook who has a parrot, a dog, and an enormous cat in that order. Emily's glad to see her and whilst Jinny passes across the latest news, Emily carries on with the ironing in between loud comments from her parrot which is sitting on a perch by the window. Jinny tells her all about Johnny's wonderful head-dress and how she'd so much like one.

Well it's a good thing she visited the old cook because things are about to be put right.

Bumpity-Bumpity-Bump

Granny would like to see the twins new winter coats so one day they don them and set off for her house with mother's instruction not to get them dirty. That's a reasonable request and at this point we don't know if they'll get their coats dirty or not but, taking into mind the way Enid Blyton mind works, one could assume they will. After stopping at the flower shop to get a bunch of violets for their Granny, they walk to the road where she lives and find it full of pot-holes.

"This road wants mending," Johnny states as they watch a truck full of logs bumping along as it passes them by.

Continuing on over one of the holes the lorry shakes violently and a few logs fall off the tray. Johnny runs after it to see if he can attract the driver's attention and as he does so still more logs cascade down to the road before the truck disappears round a corner. Being good children their first thought is to collect up the logs and take them to Granny's place so that she can telephone the company and inform them as to where their property is. The twins rush to her house, grab the wheelbarrow, take it out into the street, fill it with the logs, and then push the barrow back to their grandmother's house, astonishing the old lady greatly when she comes running outside to greet them. Granny wishes the bundle of logs belonged to her because she hasn't been able to get hold of any at all for her fire.

I think at least one conclusion can be drawn here.

The logging company is obviously familiar to Granny because she immediately rings up a Mr. Harry Brown so that Johnny can report the loss; and my assumption was absolutely wrong - the kids do not mess up their new coats.

The Cross Old Man

One day the twins' mum wants them to take a book over to old Mr. Jeffry but this is one errand they're not too happy about because according to Jinny, Mr. Jeffry is a cross old man. In answer to their mother's enquiry Jinny says he shouts a lot, in fact they once heard him yelling at a couple of boys and he even waved his stick at them.

Mummy's the boss unfortunately so she overrules their reluctance to visit and the twins have to make the journey to Mr. Jeffry's cottage. There's a picture of them at the gate looking quite apprehensive. They knock at the door of and then Jinny wants to run away when they hear someone coming but Johnny takes her hand and holds it firmly. An elderly woman appears and says her brother hopes they are the twins because he's expecting his book. Johnny and Jinny could probably have handed it over and fled but the woman invites them in saying she has chocolate buns and peppermint creams available, and she'd like to give them some for their mother as well; so the twins enter the cozy drawing room where there's a fire, a cuckoo clock on the wall, and a black cat. There's also an armchair ... and sitting in it is none other than the man himself - Mr. Jeffry. Jinny shrinks back in fear but the gentleman in question seems pleasant enough and even says he's heard nice things about them.

Well, that's a good start.

He tells them the book is a large print one because his eyes can't read small writing (he's wearing spectacles in the picture) so he's very glad indeed that the book has been delivered. His sister goes to fetch them each a chocolate bun telling Mr. Jeffry to hand the kids some peppermint creams. It looks as if the twins' fears are completely out of order and this aspect is addressed when Mr. Jeffry notices their silence.

"Are you frightened of me?"

... and then it all comes out. It seems that Johnny and Jinny may have misinterpreted the man's past actions.

The Little White Pigeon

Flop-Ears is very fond of dandelion leaves so Mummy tells the children to go find some, and they do. On a lovely spring day with a blue sky the twins run out of the garden gate taking a basket each to spend a lovely time picking fresh young dandelion leaves for their pet. When the baskets are full and it's time to go home they turn and suddenly spot a white pigeon sitting in the road. As they watch, a car trundles by and runs right over it. What a shock that is for the twins but amazingly the vehicle looks as if it passed right over the bird and missed it completely. The reason for its immobility is soon discovered - one of the bird's wings seems damaged, so maybe the car did actually hit it. The obvious thing to do is to take the bird home, so Johnny puts it carefully on top of his dandelion leaves and after they hear a cooed, 'Thanks,' the twins set off.

Mummy's out, so the kids take their patient upstairs and Jinny places it very carefully on the eiderdown of her doll's cot upon which it settles very happily. The twins want to keep the bird for themselves but Mummy arrives home just then and tells them Mrs. Lacy has lost her prettiest pigeon. That's bad news indeed, especially when Johnny not only discovers a freshly-laid egg in the cot but also sees the bird suddenly spread its wings and fly up to sit on Jinny's shoulder.

What a pity it has to be returned because they would so like a pigeon as a pet. Could this be a tale that doesn't end Happily Ever After?

---

#1: 'Goodies' and 'Baddies' competitions can be popular because they contain the desired element of 'opposing forces' and that's what it's all about ... from board games right up to football and Red Indians. The content of the latter is understandable because whenever white men invaded a country, the people who were already there became 'baddies.' The American influence often prevailed so 'baddies' represented indigenous peoples of the Americas who were called Indians (as opposed to those from the sub-continent). Squaws are the female version of Indians.

#2: Thirty-one logs fell off the truck so it must have been fairly hard work for the twins to pack them all into the wheelbarrow.

Granny ran outside when the twins arrived. I found it hard to visualize a granny 'running out' to greet someone and wondered why. The answer became clear when various books portraying Enid Blyton grannies or elderly persons in general were consulted. One or two such as old Aunt Naomi looked as if they would never even contemplate the thought of 'running outside' but then Naomi was round the ninety mark and her activity limit would probably have been listening to the radio (Circus of Adventure). Grandfatherly men such as those depicted in The Cross Old Man(Marigold Story Book) and It's Going to Rain(Book of the Year) don't look as if they could 'run out of the house' either; same goes for Grand-dad (Finniston Farm) and in this particular booklet, the Methuselah-like Mr. Jeffry. Incidentally, could Mr. Jeffry be the same person who threw a stone at Jim's dog in the Marigold Story Book? Similarly titled stories can get a little confusing.

To be quite fair, Johnny and Jinny's grandma looks as if she probably could 'run outside.'

I wonder if Mr. Harry Brown is Harry's father (Harry being one of Enid Blyton's favourite characters). Harry may have been named after him because that's what often happens when a parent is bubbling with pride over his new offspring. Harry Brown's number in case he must be consulted about this is: Kenham 600.

#3: It's 'Jinny' not Jenny, and 'Jeffry 'not Jeffrey. Enid Blyton altered names occasionally.

Mr. Jeffry's first name is 'Dick.'

#4: As if we couldn't guess, Flop-Ears is a rabbit.

This booklet is once again illustrated by Eileen Soper and I think most people who are familiar with the older Blyton works might find them quite stimulating as they could bring back memories of the Kirrin series, due to Soper's method of drawing children and adults. There's also a Soperish scene portraying the twins talking to an elderly Soperish man watched by a Soperish cat. Another excellent sample of nostalgia can be seen where the children and Granny are pictured by a roaring fire where Johnny is roasting chestnuts.