Mary Poppins thrust the perambulator in front of her as though she were running an obstacle race.
"This way, please!" she commanded presently, as she swung the pram to the right.
And they knew, then, where they were going. For the little path that turned out of the Lime Walk led away towards the Lake.
There, beyond the tunnels of shade, lay the shining patch of water. It sparkled and danced in its net of sunlight and the children felt their hearts beat faster as they ran through the shadows towards it.
"I'll make a boat, and sail it to Africa!" shouted Michael, forgetting his crossness.
"I'll go fishing!" cried Jane, as she galloped past him.
Laughing and whooping and waving their hats, they came to the shining water. All round the Lake stood the dusty green benches, and the ducks went quacking along the edge, greedily looking for crusts.
At the far end of the water stood the battered marble statue of the Boy and the Dolphin. Dazzling white and bright it shone, between the Lake and the sky. There was a small chip off the Boy's nose and a line like a black thread round his ankle. One of the fingers of his left hand was broken off at the joint. And all his toes were cracked.
There he stood, on his high pedestal, with his arm flung lightly round the neck of the Dolphin. His head, with its ruffle of marble curls, was bent towards the water. He gazed down at it thoughtfully with wide marble eyes. The name NELEUS was carved in faded gilt letters at the base of the pedestal.
"How bright he is today!" breathed Jane, blinking her eyes at the shining marble.
And it was at that moment that she saw the Elderly Gentleman.
He was sitting at the foot of the statue, reading a book with the aid of a magnifying glass. His bald head was sheltered from the sun by a knotted silk handkerchief, and lying on the bench beside him was a black top-hat.
The children stared at the curious figure with fascinated eyes.
"That's Mary Poppins' favourite seat! She will be cross!" exclaimed Michael.
"Indeed? And when was I ever cross?" her voice enquired behind him.
The remark quite shocked him. "Why, you're often cross, Mary Poppins!" he said. "At least fifty times a day!"
"Never!" she said with an angry snap. "I have the patience of a Boa Constrictor! I merely Speak My Mind!"
She flounced away and sat down on a bench exactly opposite the Statue. Then she glared across the Lake at the Elderly Gentleman. It was a look that might have killed anybody else. But the Elderly Gentleman was quite unaffected. He went on poring over his book and took no notice of anyone. Mary Poppins, with an infuriated sniff, took her mending-bag from the perambulator and began to darn the socks.
The children scattered round the sparkling water.
"Here's my boat!" shrieked Michael, snatching a piece of coloured paper from a litter basket.
"I'm fishing," said Jane, as she lay on her stomach and stretched her hand over the water. She imagined a fishing-rod in her fingers and a line running down, with a hook and a worm. After a little while, she knew, a fish would swim lazily up to the hook and give the worm a tweak. Then, with a jerk, she would land him neatly and take him home in her hat. "Well, I never!" Mrs. Brill would say. "It's just what we needed for supper!"
Beside her the Twins were happily paddling. Michael steered his ship through a terrible storm. Mary Poppins sat primly on her bench and rocked the perambulator with one foot. Her silver needle flashed in the sunlight. The Park was quiet and dreamy and still.
Bang!
The Elderly Gentleman closed his book and the sound shattered the silence.
"Oh, I say!" protested a shrill sweet voice. "You might have let me finish!"
Jane and Michael looked up in surprise. They stared. They blinked. And they stared again. For there, on the grass before them, stood the little marble statue. The marble Dolphin was clasped in his arms and the pedestal was quite empty.
The Elderly Gentleman opened his mouth. Then he shut it and opened it again.
"Er — did you say something?" he said at last, and his eyebrows went up to the top of his head.
"Yes, of course I did!" the Boy replied. "I was reading over your shoulder there—" he pointed towards the empty pedestal, "and you closed the book too quickly. I wanted to finish the Elephant story and see how he got his TVunk."
"Oh, I beg your pardon," said the Elderly Gentleman. "I had no idea — er — of such a thing. I always stop reading at four, you see. I have to get home to my Tea."
He rose and folded the handkerchief and picked up the black top hat.
"Well, now that you've finished," the Boy said calmly, "you can give the book to me!"
The Elderly Gentleman drew back, clutching the book to his breast.
"Oh, I couldn't do that, I'm afraid," he said. "You see, I've only just bought it. I wanted to read it when I was young, but the grown-ups always got it first. And now that I've got a copy of my own, I really feel I must keep it."
He eyed the statue uneasily as though he feared that at any moment it might snatch the book away.
"I could tell you about the Elephant's Child—" Jane murmured shyly to the Boy.
He wheeled around with the fish in his arms.
"Oh, Jane — would you really?" he cried in surprise. His marble face gleamed with pleasure.
"And I'll tell you Yellow Dog Dingo," said Michael, "and The Butterfly That Stamped."
"No!" said the Elderly Gentleman suddenly. "Here am I with a suit of clothes and a hat. And he's quite naked. I'll give him the book! I suppose," he added, with a gloomy sigh, "I was never meant to have it."
He gave the book a last long look, and, thrusting it at the Marble Boy, he turned away quickly. But the Dolphin wriggled and caught his eye and he turned to the Boy again.
"By the way," he said, curiously, "I wonder how you caught that Porpoise? What did you use — a line or a net?"
"Neither," replied the Boy, with a smile. "He was given to me when I was born."
"Oh — I see." The Elderly Gentleman nodded, though he still looked rather puzzled. "Well — I must be getting along. Good-day!" He lifted the black top-hat politely and hurried off down the path.
"Thank you!" the Marble Boy shouted after him, as he eagerly opened the book. On the fly-leaf was written, in spidery writing, "William Weatherall Wilkins."
"I'll cross out his name and put mine instead." The Boy smiled gaily at Jane and Michael.
"But what is your name? And how can you read?" cried Michael, very astonished.
"My name is Neleus," the Boy said laughing. "And I read with my eyes, of course!"
"But you're only a statue!" Jane protested. "And statues don't usually walk and talk. However did you get down?"
"I jumped," replied Neleus, smiling again, as he tossed his marble curls. "I was so disappointed not to finish that story, that something happened to my feet. First they twitched, and then they jumped and the next thing I knew I was down on the grass!" He curled his little marble toes and stamped on the earth with his marble feet. "Oh, lucky, lucky human beings to be able to do this every day! I've watched you so often, Jane and Michael, and wished I could come and play with you. And now at last my wish has come true. Oh, tell me you're glad to see me!"
He touched their cheeks with his marble fingers and crowed with joy as he danced around them. Then before they could utter a word of welcome he sped like a hare to the edge of the Lake and dabbled his hand in the water.
"So — this is what water feels like!" he cried. "So deep and so blue — and as light as air!" He leaned out over the sparkling Lake and the Dolphin gave a flick of its tail and slipped from his arms with a splash.