Read Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for Free Online Page A

Japan. Ships of every nationality use the English Channel and we'd better watch out or we'll be run down."
    And, even as he spoke, they heard the giant beat of the engine of a big ship approaching, and Commander Pott quickly sounded the klaxon as a foghorn and it said "GA-GOOO-GA, GA-GOO0-GA," to warn the big ship. Back out of the fog came a series of huge "MOO's" just like the noise a vast iron cow might make, and through the fog, coming straight at them, was the bow of a gigantic white liner.
    Well, all I can say is that she missed them by a cat's whisker, and they just had a glimpse of lines of passengers a hundred feet above them, staring down with astonishment at the sight of a green motorcar, using its wheels sideways like propellers, in the middle of the English Channel. Then the huge stern disappeared into the fog leaving them pitching and tossing in the choppy wake.
    "Whew!" they all said, more or less together. "That was a narrow squeak!" And Commander Pott added, rather unfairly, the
    others thought, "CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG, for heaven's sake keep your eyes open and watch where you're going!" This gave him an idea, and he switched the fog lights on and kept on making frequent "GA-GOOO-GA's" on the klaxon.
    Well, they heard many more ships passing in both directions, up and down channel, and once the periscope of a submarine came shooting up out of the depths to have a look at them and then quickly slid down underwater again. They imagined word being passed round among the eighty or ninety men of the crew (yes, big submarines carry as many crewmen as that!) "Great Scott! There's a confounded motorcar overhead!"
    Then suddenly the fog cleared and they were out in the sunshine with the big white cliffs of France showing up on the horizon and they all let out a cheer that quite surprised the crew of a Dutch SCHUYT (a kind of small barge you see a lot of in the Channel, though, when it's at home, it pronounces itself SKOOT) that happened to be passing. The Dutch crew let out a big HURRAH too, as they gazed in amazement at CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG whizzing across, the calm sea.
    They sped happily on, getting nearer to France, and Commander Pott said it was now time to steer north so that they would arrive in the harbor of Calais. But this was easier said than done. The strong current kept drifting them southward and every time Commander Pott turned the wheel to steer north, CHiTTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG had to slow down because her wheels couldn't go round and round like propellers and change direction at the same time. Commander Pott, and in fact all of them, began to get quite worried because there was no doubt that they were going to land on the beach at the base of the gigantic French chalk cliffs that are just as high and steep as the ones on the English shores near Dover. Sure enough, the water got shallower and shallower until they touched the beach and the violet light on the dashboard blinked urgently and said "TURN THE KNOB." When Commander Pott turned the knob, there came the same purr of machinery under the chassis and the wheels straightened out and clicked back into the straightforward position and they bumped and churned their way up on to the beach.
    Of course everyone was very glad to be on dry land again, but nothing could alter the fact that they were stuck at the bottom of giant cliffs that soared up above them toward the sky and the tide was still coming in and it was half past six and there would only be about three more hours of daylight. It really looked as if the whole family, and CHITTY-CHITTY-BANG-BANG, were in the most dreadful and dangerous situation.
    Commander Pott said decisively, "Well, it's no good just standing here making long faces. We must split up into two parties and hurry along under the cliffs to right and left and hope that we'll find a little bay somewhere where we can shelter for the night above high water mark. Right? Well now, Jemima, you come with me along to the left, and Mimsie