"Yan Larri. The Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Valya (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Yan Larri.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Valya

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Translated from the Russian by John P.Mandeville
Russian original title: ЌҐ®Ўлз ©лҐ ЇаЁЄ«озҐЁп Љ аЁЄ Ё ‚ «Ё
Leningrad 1937
OCR: Tuocs
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CHAPTER I

Granny is difficult - Mother is worried - Jack gets on a hot scent - A
strange discovery is made in the Professor's study - The Professor
disappears

MOTHER SPREAD A BIG WHITE CLOTH ON THE TABLE. GRANNY went over towards
the sideboard. In the dining-room knives and forks jingled cheerfully and
plates clattered.
"Is it egg and onion pie?" asked Granny.
"Yes. The children have been begging and begging me for it," said

Mother, as she put out the plates.
"And is the sweet strawberries, and cream? "
"No. To-day we are going to have ice cream pudding for a sweet! The
children do love it so."
"All the same," mumbled Granny, "in the summer it is better for the
children to have berries and fruit. . . . When I was a little girl. . . ."
But Mother, apparently, was quite convinced Granny never had been a
little girl. Shrugging her shoulders she went over to the window and,
looking out into the courtyard, shouted loudly:
"Ka-a-ari-ik! Va-alya-ya! Lu-unch!"
"When I was a little girl . . . . " continued Granny, offended; but
Mother, not listening to her, leaned out on the window-sill and shouted
still louder:
"Karik! Valya! Where are you?"
In the courtyard all was silent.
"There you are," grumbled Granny. "I knew it would happen. . . ."
"Karik! Valya!" Mother shouted again, and not waiting for an answer sat
down on the window-sill and asked, "Didn't they tell you where they were
going to go?"
Granny bit her lip angrily. "When I was a little girl," she announced,
"I always said where I was going, but nowadays . . . ." She straightened the
cloth on the table, frowning. "Nowadays they just do as they like . . . if
they take the fancy they'll go off to the North Pole; and sometimes even
worse. . . . Why, only yesterday they announced on the radio. . . ."
"What did they announce?" asked Mother, hastily. "Oh, nothing! Just