Another rest during the midday and he felt that his journey must be nearing its end. He could now hear strange noises, and smell the dust.

“I must be near the motor cars and store,” he thought as slowly he crawled up a tree to see what was in view.

There just ahead of him was the road, and that surely must be the store.

“What a funny place,” thought Blinky.

Down he came, out of the tree, and toddled to the edge of the bush. There he lay in the scrub, waiting to see all the wonders of the outside world. The sun was setting and something came rushing along the road with two bright lights twinkling. Astonished, Blinky gazed at it. Bu-r-r-r and it was gone, leaving behind a cloud of red dust that nearly blinded him.

“If that’s a motor car, I’m sorry I came,” said Blinky slowly, as he brushed the dust from his nose.

Peeping through the bushes again he saw lights in the store and some strange being moving about inside. Waiting until all was quiet, he walked across the roadway. Here was adventure indeed, and just the smallest quake of fear ran through him. Glancing over his shoulder he looked to see how far the bush lay behind, in case he needed to run back at any moment, and then walked right on to the veranda. Over the door were large letters that looked like this:

MISS PIMM

REFRESHMENTS

Puzzled, he gazed at everything, never once thinking of his home that lay many miles behind him. He poked his little nose round the doorway. No one was about, and what a lovely lot of new things to see. Rows and rows of strange things in tins and jars. Bottles on a shelf filled with pretty colours. Some marked “Raspberry” and others “Orange”. And good gracious! there were some gum-tips in a bottle standing on the counter.

“I must eat those,” said Blinky to himself, “they look very juicy.”

Softly he scrambled on to a box, and then another climb, and he stood on the counter.

Looking round all the time to see that no one came unawares, he tiptoed to the gum-tips. From his position behind the bottle he could see Miss Pimm moving about in her kitchen, and judging by the smells that reached his nose she was cooking her dinner. He ate and ate and ate those gum-tips. Such a wonderful “tuck-in” he had. His tummy grew very round until at last he found he could see Miss Pimm very clearly, as only a few stalks stuck out of the neck of the bottle. They looked very strange standing there, without a leaf to show, and a fat little bear gazing through them all the while. Next to him stood some big jars of sweets. All labelled in the same strange writing: “Boiled Lollies”, “Ginger”, “Chocolates”, “Caramels”, “Peppermints”.

He ate — and ate — and ate those gum-tips.

“They look nice,” thought Blinky, as he touched the jar with his paws. “P-e-p-p-e-r-m-i-n-t-s. Perhaps they are really gum-leaves,” he thought, and very quietly lifted the lid. His claws were handy for more things than climbing gum-trees.

He scooped a pawful out of the jar, and cautiously tasted one. Finding it hot and very like some plants he had tasted in the bush, he ate more. He went on eating Miss Pimm’s peppermints and put in his paw to gather more from the jar. Just as he did so, the lid on which he had been standing slipped from under him, and down it rolled with a terrible thump and bang.

Miss Pimm came rushing through the house.

“What a smell of eucalyptus! I must have upset a bottle,” she cried to someone in the kitchen.

Blinky got a dreadful fright. He was too frightened to move and just sat there and blinked, one paw in the peppermint jar and the other in his mouth.

“Oh, you robber!” shrieked Miss Pimm, as she caught sight of him.