Read Grimble at Christmas for Free Online

best Christmas-pudding maker in the
Mediterranean Sea. I expect you have heard of Particular Christmas pudding."
    "On Boxing Day we arrive in Ifni, which is at
the top end of the Sahara desert and we will take
sand samples, which I need very badly for my
work. We will then fly home."
    "In an aeroplane?" asked Grimble.
    "I have always felt that to be the best way to fly,"
said his father.
    The chicken and the duck then arrived and the
waiter got all the vegetables wrong.

    "It is going to be an absolutely marvellous
Christmas," said Grimble. "It is going to be the
best Christmas I have ever had, I know it is."
    "There are," said his father, "one or two things I
feel I should tell you. While the good ship Particular 's chef is a master in the art of making
Christmas puddings he has absolutely no
idea about the manufacture of Christmas cake.
I should have bought a Christmas cake and taken
it with us – but I regret that it is now too late. It
is very sad, but I only thought about this on the
bus."
    Grimble turned a bit red and said, "It so happens
that I have a Christmas cake ready and iced and
rather looking forward to going to Africa."
    His parents looked at him with great admiration.
    "It also happens," said Grimble, "that my
presents to you are very small and light and they
will be most suitable to be brought back on an
aeroplane."
    They munched their chicken and duck and as
the old Grimbles picked up their pieces of duck in
their fingers, Grimble realized that this would be
an all right thing to do; after all it was a French restaurant.
    When he had pulled the wishbone with his
father . . . and lost – his father was very pleased –
he said to his mother, "If we are going to Africa,
why did you buy a Christmas tree?"
    "Against burglars," said his mother. "If a burglar
sees a Christmas tree in a house he knows there is
someone in and does not burgle anything."
    "Why did you hide the tree in the shed then?"
    "Well, we don't want the burglars to know
everything," said his mother.
    "And the cardboard box," said Grimble, "the one
we brought home from the shops. What was in
that?"
    "Washing powder," said his mother, "2p off."
    Grimble ordered ice cream, but as he had
eaten too much soup and chicken and onions he
could not finish the ice cream, so the Italian waiter
said, "As it is very near Christmas let me wrap
it up and put in some more and you can take it
home and have it for tea."
    It really was going to be a super Christmas.