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The Gremlins Complete Text

eyes shut and balancing there for a period without falling over. Gus was all right on his left leg, but the right one, with a couple of bullet wounds in it, was not what it had been.

"Shut your eyes tight and balance on your right leg and stay there until I tell you to stop," said the medico.

This was the moment that poor Gus had been dreading.

Immediately every gremlin and fifinella rushed to his assistance. They stood on each other's shoulders and held up his left foot; they formed a solid wall around his right leg and braced it from all sides; they attached little ropes to his shoulders and pinned him to the ground, making him rigid and steady as a tentpole. Two widgets climbed up and held his eyelids down tight so that no one could say he was cheating, and Gus balanced, steady as a rock, on his wounded right leg.

It seemed ages before Gus heard the medico say, "Remarkable. You've certainly made an amazing recovery," and he noted all these things down on his sheet of paper. Then he looked up and smiled.

"I think you are quite fit to fly at last; and good luck to you!"

Gus could hardly believe his ears!

He danced out of the room and down the passage, setting a straight course for the Squadron Mess, with all the gremlins, fifinellas, and widgets following in a long line behind. They chanted a special song, which no one has ever heard except pilots and navigators, and air-gunners and those who fly. It has a great number of verses; and,