Free The Book of Brownies (The Enchanted World) by Enid Blyton

people in the carriage were so talkative, and laughed so often, that they couldn’t get a word in.
    The little girl was very excited; she laughed more than anyone, and told all about her adventures in the Land of Clever People. Hop thought she was nicer
in
that land than out of it,
because she didn’t giggle so much then.
    The train stopped again.
    ‘Burrow Corner!’ shouted a sandy rabbit-porter.
    The moles all got out, and so did the grey bunnies. Then the train went off again.
    The next station was Giggleswick. All the Gigglers got out. The little girl flung her arms round each of the brownies and hugged them.
    ‘Do, do,
do
come and stay in my country,’ she begged. ‘Jump out now, do! We’re very merry and laugh all day!’
    ‘No, we really mustn’t,’ said Hop, who didn’t want to go with the Gigglers in the least. ‘Goodbye, and we’re
so
glad you’re safe home
again.’
    The train rattled off, and the brownies waved goodbye.
    ‘Well!’ said Jump, sitting down on his cushion. ‘I think I’d rather have to speak in rhyme all day than giggle every minute. What a terrible country to live
in!’
    ‘Thank goodness we didn’t go there!’ said Hop. ‘What a lot of peculiar lands there are outside Fairyland! How I wish we could go back to dear old Brownie Town
again!’
    ‘So do I,’ said Skip, with a sigh. ‘But I don’t expect we’ll ever be able to do that, because we shall never be able to find our goodnesses, as the King said we
must.’
    ‘Oh look!’ said Jump. ‘We’re coming out into the open air again!’
    The train puffed out of the half-darkness and came to a sunny field. It ran along beside a hedge for some way, and then out on a roadway. All sorts of strange folk were walking there, and all
kinds of animals, who looked as if they had been out marketing.
    The train stopped whenever anybody hailed it, and lots of people got in.
    ‘We shall never get to Fiddlestick Field,’ said Hop, when the train stopped for the fifteenth time. ‘Really, people are treating this train more like a bus! Oh dear,
what’s happened now?’
    The train stopped again. The driver was having a long talk with a friend he had met. The brownies got very impatient.
    At last Hop got out and went up to the driver.
    ‘Aren’t we ever going on again?’ he asked. ‘We’re in a hurry.’
    ‘Oh, are you?’ said the driver. ‘Well, I’m going to have tea with my friend here, so you’d better get out and walk. This train won’t start till six
o’clock.’
    So saying, the driver jumped from the train, linked his arm in his friend’s and strolled off.
    All the passengers yawned, settled themselves on their cushions, and went to sleep. The three brownies were very cross.
    ‘Fine sort of train this is!’ grumbled Skip. ‘Goodness knows when we’ll get to Fiddlestick Field!’
    ‘I’ve a jolly good mind to drive the train myself,’ said Hop.
    ‘Oh, Hop,
do
  !’ cried Jump. ‘I’m sure you could. Then we could get to Fiddlestick Field tonight.’
    Hop looked at the engine. It really didn’t look very difficult to drive, and he had always longed to be an engine-driver. This seemed a lovely chance.
    ‘All right,’ he said. ‘Come on! I’ll drive the train, with you to help me. How pleased all the passengers will be!’
    Hop, Skip and Jump ran to the engine, and jumped into the cabin. There were four wheels there, like the steering wheels of motor-cars, and Hop had a good look at them.
    Over one was written ‘Turn to the left’ and over another, ‘Turn to the right’. The third wheel had ‘Go fast’ written over it and the last wheel had
‘Start engine’.
    ‘Oh well, this all looks easy enough,’ said Hop, twisting the ‘Start engine’ wheel. ‘Now we’ll go on our travels once more!’
    The train started off, rattle-clank, rattle!
    All the passengers woke up and looked most surprised. They hadn’t expected the train to go so soon. One of them looked to see why the driver had