midst of the
struggling crowd. The wand broke into a hundred pieces, and the air was
instantly filled with a choking odor of peppermint; then everything was
wrapped in darkness, and Davy felt himself being whirled along, heels
over head, through the air. Then there came a confused sound of bells
and voices, and he found himself running rapidly down a long street with
the Goblin at his side.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BUTTERSCOTCHMEN.

Bells were pealing and tolling in all directions, and the air was filled
with the sound of distant shouts and cries.

"What were they?" asked Davy, breathlessly.

"Butterscotchmen," said the Goblin. "You see, they always butter their
chairs so that they won't stick fast when they sit down."

"And what makes you that color?" said Davy, suddenly noticing that the
Goblin had changed his color to a beautiful blue.

"Trouble and worry," said the Goblin. "I always get blue when the
Butterscotchmen are after me."

"Are they coming after us now?" inquired Davy, in great alarm.

"Of course they are," said the Goblin. "But the best of it is, they
can't run till they get warm, and they can't get warm without running,
you see. But the worst of it is that _we_ can't stop without sticking
fast," he added, anxiously. "We must keep it up until we get to the
Amuserum."

"What's that?" said Davy.

"It's a place they have to amuse themselves with," said the
Goblin,--"curiosities, and all that sort of thing, you know. By the
way, how much money have you? We have to pay to get in."

[Illustration: "BELLS WERE PEALING IN ALL DIRECTIONS."]

Davy began to feel in his pockets (which is a very difficult thing to do
when you're running fast), and found, to his astonishment, that they
were completely filled with a most extraordinary lot of rubbish. First
he pulled out what seemed to be an iron ball; but it proved to be a
hard-boiled egg, without the shell, stuck full of small tacks. Then came
two slices of toast, firmly tied together with a green cord. Then came a
curious little glass jar, filled with large flies. As Davy took this out
of his pocket, the cork came out with a loud "pop!" and the flies flew
away in all directions. Then came, one after another, a tart filled with
gravel, two chicken-bones, a bird's nest with some pieces of brown soap
in it, some mustard in a pill-box, and a cake of beeswax stuck full of
caraway seeds. Davy remembered afterward that, as he threw these things
away, they ar