Together the twins set off for their walk.
Ginger and William crept round to the little studio, but the man with the beard was still there.
‘I can’t get it now,’ said William.
‘I don’t b’lieve you ever did it,’ said Ginger.
‘All right,’ said William, ‘you wait till to-morrow when I can go in an’ get it an’ then you’ll talk a bit diff’rent.’
To-morrow came and William went into the little studio, but he couldn’t find his lion painting. He hunted the studio without success. Ginger spent a pleasant day jeering at him, till William, stung to retaliation, wrung a recantation out of him with his head in the ditch.
After that they both completely forgot the incident.
There were all the signs of departure at Honeysuckle Cottage. Boxes stood packed on the doorstep. The decrepit village cab was at the little gate. William hung about disconsolately. He had spent many enjoyable hours in the little cottage, and he was sorry to say good-bye to his friends. He was making himself useful to the best of his ability. He had already carried down an unpacked suit-case and had to take it back again, and he had packed several ‘fixtures’ of the cottage that had necessitated the boxes being unpacked again to the bottom. Suddenly he saw the postman at the gate and went down to get the letters.
There were two bulky packets of papers—one for Tristram and one for his sister. The sister fell upon hers with a cry of joy, and unwrapped half a dozen papers bearing the inscription ‘Psychic Realms.’
‘My photograph!’ she said, turning over the pages with trembling fingers.
Then she gave a scream of excitement.
‘Here it is! Look!’
William and Tristram looked. There was a photograph of the grass heap at the end of the lawn, and by it the grass-covered figure of William, preparing to creep furtively away. Beneath it was the legend, ‘Nature Spirit, photographed by Miss Auriole Mannister.’
William gaped at it, speechless with amazement, his eyes and mouth wide open.
Before he could say anything, however, Tristram, too, had uttered a cry of surprise and excitement. He too had unwrapped half a dozen copies of the ‘Psychic Realm’ and had a letter in his hand.
MISS AURIOLE GAVE A SCREAM OF EXCITEMENT. ‘HERE IT IS! LOOK!’ SHE EXCLAIMED.
‘Listen,’ he said, ‘it’s from Tosher. He says “After you’d gone I found a really splendid bit of inspirational painting in your studio. Why didn’t you show it to me? It’s truly inspired. I have called it ‘Vision,’ and it’s reproduced on page twenty-six.”’
Both of them turned over the pages frenziedly.
‘Here it is. Look?’
And there was William’s lion and underneath the words, ‘Vision. Inspiration painting, by Mr. Tristram Mannister.’
‘But, do you know,’ said Tristram in an awestruck voice, ‘I haven’t the slightest memory of ever doing it.’
‘You must have done it in a state of ecstasy, dear,’ said Miss Auriole reverently.
‘I must,’ said Tristram. ‘It’s—it’s the most wonderful thing that’s ever happened to me.’
Then the cabman called to them from his perch saying that, blimey, they’d miss it if they didn’t hurry, and they had gone before William recovered the power of speech.
They had, however, left a copy of the ‘Psychic Realm’ behind them, and William, with mingled feelings of pride and bewilderment, picked it up and put it in his pocket.
He showed the two pictures to everyone he knew, pointing out that the nature spirit was himself, and that he had executed the inspirational painting of ‘Vision.’ No one, of course, believed him.
THE END
Richmal Crompton was born in Lancashire in 1890. The first story about William Brown appeared in Home magazine in 1919, and the first collection of William stories was published in book form three years later. In all, thirty-eight William books were published, the last one in 1970, after Richmal Crompton’s death.
‘Probably the funniest, toughest children’s books ever written’
Sunday Times on the Just William series
‘Richmal Crompton’s creation [has] been famed for his cavalier attitude to life and those who would seek to circumscribe his enjoyment of it ever since he first appeared’
Guardian
Books available in the Just William series
William at War
Just William
More William
William Again
William the Fourth
William at Christmas
Still William
William the Conqueror
William the Outlaw
William in Trouble
William the Good
William
William the Bad
William’s Happy Days
First published in 1930
This selection first published 1984 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This edition published 2016 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2016 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-0528-0
All stories copyright © Edward Ashbee and Catherine Massey
This selection copyright © Edward Ashbee and Catherine Massey 1984
Foreword copyright © Daniel Roche 2011
Illustrations copyright © Thomas Henry Fisher Estate
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset by Nigel Hazle
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The text of this book remains true to the original in every way. Some stories may appear out of date to modern-day readers, but are reflective of the language and period in which they were originally written. Macmillan believes changing the content to reflect today’s world would undermine the authenticity of the original, so have chosen to leave the text in its entirety. This does not, however, constitute an endorsement of the characterization and content.
William's Happy Days Page 20