ust have some
new kind of charm.'

'That's easier said than done.'

'Not a bit of it,' said the creature; 'there's one of the strongest
charms in the world not a stone's throw from where you bought me
yesterday. The man that I bit so--the first one, I mean--went into
a shop to ask how much something cost--I think he said it was a
concertina--and while he was telling the man in the shop how much too
much he wanted for it, I saw the charm in a sort of tray, with a lot of
other things. If you can only buy THAT, you will be able to have your
heart's desire.'

The children looked at each other and then at the Psammead. Then Cyril
coughed awkwardly and took sudden courage to say what everyone was
thinking.

'I do hope you won't be waxy,' he said; 'but it's like this: when you
used to give us our wishes they almost always got us into some row
or other, and we used to think you wouldn't have been pleased if they
hadn't. Now, about this charm--we haven't got over and above too much
tin, and if we blue it all on this charm and it turns out to be not up
to much--well--you see what I'm driving at, don't you?'

'I see that YOU don't see more than the length of your nose, and THAT'S
not far,' said the Psammead crossly. 'Look here, I HAD to give you the
wishes, and of course they turned out badly, in a sort of way, because
you hadn't the sense to wish for what was good for you. But this charm's
quite different. I haven't GOT to do this for you, it's just my own
generous kindness that makes me tell you about it. So it's bound to be
all right. See?'

'Don't be cross,' said Anthea, 'Please, PLEASE don't. You see, it's
all we've got; we shan't have any more pocket-money till Daddy comes
home--unless he sends us some in a letter. But we DO trust you. And I
say all of you,' she went on, 'don't you think it's worth spending ALL
the money, if there's even the chanciest chance of getting Father and
Mother back safe NOW? Just think of it! Oh, do let's!'

'_I_ don't care what you do,' said the Psammead; 'I'll go back to sand
again till you've made up your minds.'

'No, don't!' said everybody; and Jane added, 'We are quite mind
made-up--don't you see we are? Let's get our hats. Will you come with
us?'

'Of course,' said the Psammead; 'how else would you find the shop?'

So everybody got its hat. The Psammead was put into a flat bass-bag that
had come from Farringdon Market with two pounds of filleted plaice in
it. Now it contained a