marvellous.

"A calf," said the Cow, with a curious rumbling chuckle.

"I don't think _that's_ a very good joke," said the disappointed little
boy.

"It's a deal funnier than your cab story," said the Cow. "And, what's
more, it's true! Good-afternoon." And with this the Cow disappeared from
the opening, and the cab door shut to with a loud bang.

Davy sat still for a moment, hoping that Mother Hubbard, or perhaps the
dog, or even the cat, would appear, so that he might explain his story
about the cab. None of them came; but meanwhile a very extraordinary
thing happened, for the house itself began to _go_. First the chimneys
sank down through the roof, as if they were being lowered into the
cellar. Then the roof itself, with its gables and dormer windows, softly
folded itself flat down upon the top of the house, out of sight. Then
the cab door and the latticed windows fluttered gently for a moment, as
if rather uncertain how to dispose of themselves, and finally faded
away, one by one, as if they had been soaked into the bricks. Then the
porch gravely took itself to pieces and carried itself, so to speak,
carefully in through the front door; and finally the front door went in
itself, and nothing was left of the house that Jack built but a high
brick wall, with the climbing roses running all over it like a beautiful
pink vine. All this was so unexpected and so wonderful that Davy sat
quite still, expecting something marvellous of this wall; but it proved
to be a very matter-of-fact affair, with no intention whatever of doing
anything or going anywhere, and, after watching it attentively for a few
moments, Davy got up and resumed his journey along the road.

CHAPTER XI.

ROBINSON CRUSOE'S ISLAND.

"This is a very sloppy road," said Davy to himself, as he walked away
from the Bean-stalk farm; and it was, indeed, a _very_ sloppy road. The
dust had quite disappeared, and the sloppiness soon changed to such a
degree of wetness that Davy presently found himself in water up to his
ankles. He turned to go back, and saw, to his alarm, that the land in
every direction seemed to be miles away, and the depth of the water
increased so rapidly that, before he could make up his mind what to do,
it had risen to his shoulders, and he was carried off his feet and found
himself apparently drifting out to sea. The water, however, was warm and
pleasant, and he discovered that, instead of sinking, he was floated
gently along, s