【摘文1】1 THE STRANGE OLD SHOP

The adventures really began on the day that Mollie and Peter went out to spend thirty-five pence on a present for their mother’s birthday.

They emptied the money out of their money-box and counted it.

‘Thirty-five!’ said Peter. ‘Good! Now, what shall we buy Mother?’

‘Mother loves old things,’ said Mollie. ‘If we could find an old shop somewhere, full of old things-you know, funny spoons, quaint vases, old glasses and beads-something of that sort would be lovely for Mother. She would love an old teacaddy to keep the tea in, I’m sure, or perhaps an old, old vase.’

‘All right,’ said Peter. ‘We’ll go and find one of those shops this very day. Put on your hat and come on, Mollie.’

Off they went, and ran into the town.

‘It’s a shop with the word “Antiques” over it that we want,’ said Peter. ‘Antiques means old things. Just look out for that, Mollie.’

But there seemed to be no shop with the word ‘Antiques’ printed over it at all. The children left the main street and went down a little turning. There were more shops there, but still not the one they wanted. So on they went and came to a small, narrow street whose houses were so close that there was hardly any light in the road!

And there, tucked away in the middle, was the shop with ‘Antiques’ printed on a label inside the dirty window.

‘Good!’ said Peter. ‘Here is a shop that sells old things. Look, Mollie, do you see that strange little vase with swans set all round it? I’m sure Mother would like that. It is marked twenty-five pence. We could buy that and some flowers to put in it!’