Summary

In “Laughing Gas,” Jane and Michael accompany Mary Poppins on a visit to her uncle, Mr. Wigg. The children are excited to have tea with the man, and in their eagerness offend Miss Persimmon, his landlady, by assuming she is Mrs. Wigg when she opens the door to them. They nevertheless make their way to Mr. Wigg’s apartment upstairs in Miss Persimmon’s house, and are shocked to find him floating in the air without any support at all. Mary Poppins does not seem to be shocked, and Mr. Wigg explains that anytime his birthday falls on a Friday, as it does that day, his good humor fills him with a sort of laughing gas which leads him to find everything funny. The more he laughs, the more he floats in the air weightlessly. Suddenly, Michael and Jane...