Five Get Into A Fix
Chapter
One
A
MISERABLE CHRISTMAS
I
do think these Christmas holidays have been the worst we’ve ever had,” said
Dick.
“Jolly
bad luck on old George, coming to stay with us for Christmas - and then us all
going down with those awful colds and coughs,” said Julian.
“Yes
- and being in bed on Christmas Day was horrible,” said George. “The worst of
it was I coulcln’t eat anything. Fancy not being hungry on Christmas Day! I
never thought that would happen to me!”
“Timmy
was the only one of us who didn’t get ill,” said Anne, patting him. “You were a
pet, Tim, when we were in bed. You divided your time between us nicely.”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, rather solemnly. He hadn’t been at all happy this Christmas. To
have four of the five in bed, coughing and sneezing, was quite unheard of!
“Well,
anyhow, we’re all up again,” said Dick. “Though my legs don’t really feel as if
they belong to me yet!”
“Oh
- do yours feel like that too?” asked George. “I was quite worried about mine!”
“We
all feel the same,” said Julian, "but we shall be quite diferent in a day
or two - now we’re up. Anyway - we go back to school next week - so we’d better
feel all right!”
Everyone
groaned - and then coughed. “That’s the worst of this germ we’ve had, whatever
it is,” said George. “If we laugh - or speak loudly - or groan - we start
coughing. I shall go completely mad if I don’t get rid of my cough. It keeps me
awake for hours at night!”
Anne
went to the window. “It’s been snowing again,” she said. “Not much - but it
looks lovely. To think we might have been out in it all last week. I do think
it’s too bad to have holidays like this.”
George
joined her at the window. A car drew up outside and a burly, merry-looking man
got out and hurried up the steps to the front door.
“Here’s
the doctor,” said Anne. “I bet he’ll say we’re all quite all right to go back
to school next week!”
In
a minute or two the door opened and the doctor came into the room, with the
mother of Julian, Dick and Anne. She looked tired - and no wonder! Looking
after four ill children and a most miserable dog over Christmas had not been an
easy job!
“Well,
here they are - all up and about now!” said Mrs. Barnard. “They look pretty
down in the mouth, don’t they?”
“Oh
- they’ll soon perk up,” said Dr. Drew, sitting down and looking at each of the
four in turn. “George looks the worst - not so strong as the others, I
suppose.”
George
went red with annoyance, and Dick chuckled. “Poor George is the weakling of the
family,” he said. “She had the highest temperature, the worst cough, and the
loudest groans, and she...”
But
whatever else he was going to say was lost beneath the biggest cushion in the
room, which an angry George had flung at him with all her might. Dick flung it
back, and everyone began to laugh, George too. That set all the four coughing,
of course, and the doctor put his hands to his ears.
“Will
they be well enough to go to school, Doctor?” asked Mrs. Barnard anxiously.
“Well,
yes - they would - but they ought to get rid of those coughs first,” said the
doctor. He looked out of the window at the snow. “I wonder now - no - I don’t
suppose it’s possible - but...”
“But
what?” said Dick, pricking up his ears at once. “Going to send us to
The
doctor laughed. “You’re going too fast! ” he said. “No - I wasn’t actually
thinking of
“Yes.
I suppose it is,” said Julian. “No - we can’t expect a holiday in
“Oh
yes!” said George, her eyes shining. “It would really make up for these
miserable holidays! Do you mean all by ourselves, Doctor? We’d love that.”
“Well,
no - someone ought to be there, surely,” said Dr. Drew. “But that’s up to your
parents.”
“I
think it’s a jolly good idea,” said Julian. “Mother - don’t you think so? I’m
sure you’re longing to be rid of us all for a while. You look worn out!”
His
mother smiled. “ Well - if it’s what you need - a short holiday somewhere to
get rid of your coughs - you must have it. And I won’t say that I shan’t enjoy
a little rest while you’re enjoying yourselves having a good time! I’ll talk it
over with your father.”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, looking enquiringly at the doctor, both ears pricked high.
“He
says - he needs a rest somewhere too,” explained George. “He wants to know if
he can come with us.”
“Let’s
have a look at your tongue, Timmy, and give me your paw to feel if it’s hot or
not,” said Dr. Drew, gravely. He held out his hand, and Timmy obediently put his
paw into it.
The
four children laughed - and immediately began to cough again. How they coughed!
The doctor shook his head at them. “What a din! I shouldn’t have made you
laugh. Now I shan’t be coming to see you again until just before you go back to
school. I expect your mother will let me know when that day comes. Goodbye till
then - and have a good time, wherever you go!”
“We
will!” said Julian. “And thanks for bothering about us so much. We’ll send you
a card when our coughs are gone!”
As
soon as Dr. Drew had driven off in his car, there was a conference. “We can go
off somewhere, can’t we, Mother?” said Dick, eagerly. “The sooner the better!
You must be tired to death of our coughs, night and day!”
“Yes.
I think you must go somewhere for a week or ten days,” said his mother. “But
the question is - where? You could go off to George’s home, I suppose - Kirrin
Cottage... but it’s not high up... and besides, George’s father would certainly
not welcome four coughs like yours!”
“No.
He’d go mad at once,” said George. “He’d fling open his study door - and stride
into our room - and shout ‘Who’s mak...’ ”
But
as George began to shout, she coughed - and that was the end of her little
piece of acting! “That’s enough, George,” said her aunt. “For goodness’ sake,
go and get a drink of water.”
There
was much debating about where they could go for a little while, and all the
time they were talking the snow fell steadily. Dick went to the window,
pleased.
“If
only we could find a place high up on a hill, just as the doctor said, a place
where we could use our toboggans, and our skis,” he said. “Gosh, it makes me
feel better already to think of it. I do hope this snow goes on and on.”
“I
think I’d better ring up a holiday agency and see if they can offer us something
sensible,” said his mother. “Maybe a summer camp set up on a hill would do - it
would be empty now, and you could have the choice of a hut or a chalet or
something.”
But
all her telephoning came to nothing! “No,” said the agencies. “Sorry - we haven’t
anything to suggest. Our camps are all closed down now. No - we know of no
winter ones in this country at all!”
And
then, as so often happens, the problem was suddenly solved by somebody no one
had thought of asking ... old Jenkins, the gardener! There was nothing for him
to do that day except sweep a path through the snow. He saw the children
watching him from the window, grinned and came up to them.
“How
are you?” he shouted. “Would you like some apples? They’ve ripened nicely now,
those late ones. Your mother said you weren’t feeling like apples - or pears
either. But maybe you’re ready for some now.”
“Yes!
We are!” shouted Julian, not daring to open the window in case his mother came
in and was angry to see him standing with his head out in the cold. “Bring them
in, Jenkins. Come and talk to us!”
So
old Jenkins came in, carrying a basket of ripe, yellow apples, and some plump,
brown-yellow pears.
“And
how are you now?” he said, in his soft Welsh voice, for he came from the Welsh
mountains. “It’s pale you are, and thin too. Ah, it’s the mountain air of Wales
you want!”
He
smiled all over his wrinkled brown face, handing round his basket. The children
helped themselves to the fruit.
“Mountain
air - that’s what the doctor ordered!” said Julian, biting into a juicy pear.
“I suppose you don’t know somewhere like that we could go to, do you, Jenkins?”
“Well,
my aunt now, she lets rooms in the summertime!” said Jenkins. “And a good cook
she is, my Aunt Glenys. But the winter-time now - I’m not knowing if she’d do
it then, what with the snow and all. Her farm’s on the hillside, man - and the
slope runs right down to the sea. A fine place it is in the summer - but
there’ll be nothing but snow there now, sure as I’m telling you.”
“But
- it sounds exactly right,” said Anne, delighted. “Doesn’t it, Ju? Let’s call
Mother! Mother! Mother, where are you?”
Her
mother came running in, afraid that one of the children was feeling ill again.
She was most astonished to see old Jenkins there - and even more astonished to
hear the four children pouring out what he had just told them. Timmy added a
few excited barks, and Jenkins stood twirling his old hat, quite overcome.
The
excitement made Julian and Dick cough distressingly. “Now listen to me,” said
their mother, firmly. “Go straight upstairs, and take another dose of your
cough medicine. I’ll talk to Jenkins and find out what all this is about. No -
don’t interrupt, Dick. GO!”
They
went at once, and left their mother talking to the bewildered gardener. “Blow
this cough!” said Dick, pouring out his usual dose. “Gosh, I hope Mother fixes
up something with Jenkins’ aunt. If I don’t go off somewhere and lose this
cough, I shall go mad - stark, staring mad!”
“I
bet we’ll go to his old aunt,” said Julian. “That’s if she’ll take us. It’s the
kind of sudden idea that clicks - don’t you think so?”
Julian
was right. The idea did “click”. His mother had actually met Jenkins’ old aunt
that spring, when she had come to visit her relations, and Jenkins had brought
her proudly up to the house to introduce her to the cook. So when Dick and
Julian went downstairs again, they were met with good news.
“I’m
telephoning to Jenkins’ aunt, old Mrs. Jones,” said their mother. “And if
she’ll take you - well off you can go in a day or two - coughs and all!”
Chapter
Two
OFF
TO MAGGA GLEN
Everything
was soon settled. Old Mrs. Jones, whose voice came remarkably clearly over the
long-distance call, seemed delighted to take the four children.
“Yes,
Mam. I understand. Oh, their coughs won’t last a day here, don’t you be
fretting, Mam. And how’s my nephew, Ifor Jenkins, Mam? It’s hoping I am that
he’s still pleasing you. A wild boy he was, and...”
“Mother!
Tell her we’re bringing a dog, too,” said Julian, in his mother’s ear. George
had been making wild gestures to him, pointing first to Timmy, then to the
telephone, where her aunt stood patiently listening to old Mrs. Jones’ gossipy
talk.
“Oh
- er - Mrs. Jones - there’ll be a dog, too!” said her aunt. “What - you’ve
seven dogs already? Good gracious! Oh, for the sheep, of course...”
“Seven
dogs, Timmy!” said George, in a low voice to Tim, who wagged his tail at once.
“What do you think of that? Seven! You’ll have the time of your life!”
“Sh!”
said Julian, seeing his mother glance crossly at George. He felt thankful that
this unexpected holiday had been so quickly fixed up. Like the others, he was
beginning to feel very down and dull. It would he wonderful to go away. He
wondered where their skis were...
Everyone
looked brighter when things had been settled. No school for some time! No
lounging about the house wishing something would happen! Tirnmy would be able
to go for long walks at last. They would be on their own again, too, a thing
the Five loved.
Jenkins
was very helpful in looking out toboggans and skis. He brought them all into
the house to be examined and cleaned. Something exciting to do at last! Their
exertions made them all cough badly, but they didn’t mind so much now.
“Only
two days to wait - then we’re off!” said Dick. “Ought we to take our skates, do
you think?”
“No.
Jenkins says there’s no skating round about the farm,” said George. “I asked
him. I say - look at that mound of woollen clothes your mother’s just brought
in, Ju! We might be going to the North Pole!”
“Whew,
Mother! If we wear all those, we’ll never be able to ski!” said Julian. “Gosh,
look - six scarves! Even if Timmy wears one, that’s one too many.”
“One
or two may get wet,” said his mother. “It won’t matter how many clothes you
take - you’re going by car, and we can easily get everything in.”
“I’ll
take my field-glasses, too,” said Dick. “You never know when they might be
useful. George, old thing, I do hope Timmy will be friends with the farm dogs.
It would be awful if he quarrelled with them - and he does sometimes get fierce
with other dogs, you know - especially if we make a fuss of them!”
“He’ll
behave perfectly,” said George. “And there’s no need to make a fuss of other
dogs if we’ve got Timmy.”
“All
right, teacher! ” said Dick, and George stopped her polishing and threw her
duster at him. Yes - certainly things were getting normal again!
When
the time came for the children to set out on their journey they were feeling a
good deal better - though their coughs were still almost as bad! “I do hope you’ll
lose those awful coughs, Julian, before you come back,” said his mother. “It
worries me to hear you all cough, cough, cough, day and night!”
“Poor
old Mother - you have had a time!” said Julian, giving her a hug. “You’ve been
a brick. What a sigh of relief you’ll give when we’re all safely away in the
car!”
At
last the car came, driving up the snowy path to the house. It was a hired car,
a very big one, and that was fortunate, as the children’s luggage was truly
colossal! The driver was a cheerful little man, and he and Jenkins soon had the
suit-cases, toboggans, skis and all the rest either in the boot of the car, or
strapped on top.
“There
we are, Mam!” said the driver at last. “Everything made fast. We’re making a
nice early start, and we should be safe in Magga Glen before it’s dark.”
“We’re
all ready to start!” said Julian and the little man nodded and smiled, climbing
into the driving-seat. Dick sat beside him, and the other three sat at the
back, with Timmy on their feet. Not that he would stay there long! He liked to
look out of the window just as much as the children did!
Everyone
heaved a sigh of relief as the car slid down the drive. They were off at last!
Jenkins was at the gate, and waved as they went past.
“Remember
me to my old aunt now!” he shouted, as he shut the gate.
The
driver was very chatty. He soon heard all about their miserable holidays, and
how much they were looking forward to their unexpected break before going back
to school. In return he told them all about himself and his family - and as he
had eleven brothers and sisters, his tale lasted for a good part of the
journey!
They
stopped for a meal in the car after some time, and found that they were hungry
for the first time since they had been ill.
“Good
gracious - I can really taste these sandwiches!” said George, in a surprised
voice. “Can you, Anne?”
“Yes
- they don’t taste of cardboard - like all our meals have lately,” said Anne.
“Timmy - you’re not going to fare so well, now that we’re getting our appetites
back!”
“He
was a very good dustbin while we were ill, wasn’t he?” said Dick. “He simply
gobbled up all the bits and pieces we couldn’t eat. Ugh - that boiled fish! It
tasted like stewed knitting!”
They
laughed - and that set them off coughing again. The driver listened and shook
his head. “Nasty coughs you’ve got!” he said. “Reminds me of the time when me
and my family got whooping-cough - twelve of us together. My, when we all
whooped, it sounded like a lot of fire-sirens going off!”
That
made the children laugh again, and cough. But somehow nobody minded the
irritating coughs now - they would surely soon be gone, once they could get out
into the country and try their legs at running and racing and skiing once
again.
It
was a long drive. All the children fell asleep in the car after their meal, and
the driver smiled to see them lolling back against one another, looking very
peaceful. Only Timmy was awake, and he climbed cautiously up between George and
the window, wishing the window was open, so that he could put his big nose out
into the wind, as he loved to do.
They
stopped for a very early tea at a tea-shop in a village. “Better stretch your
legs a bit,” said the driver, getting out. “I know I want to stretch mine. Look
- I’m going into that place over there for my tea. There’s plenty of my pals
there, and I’d enjoy a chat. You go and tuck in at this tea-shop here, and ask
for their buttered crumpets. Best in the kingdom they are! Be back for you in a
quarter of an hour - not longer, or we shan’t be at the farmhouse before dark.
It’s still about an hour’s run, but there’ll be a moon later on.”
They
were all glad to stretch their legs. Timmy bounded out as if he were on
springs, barking madly. He was disappointed to find that they were only making
a short stop - he had hoped they were at the end of their journey. But he was
pleased to be given a buttery crumpet all to himself in the tea-shop. He licked
every scrap of butter off first, much to the children’s amusement.
“I’d
rather like to do that myself, Timmy,” said Anne. “But it’s not really good
manners, you know! Oh, don’t make my shoe buttery - take your crumpet a bit
farther away.”
They
had time for two crumpets each, and a cup of hot tea. Julian bought some
chocolate biscuits, as he felt unexpectedly hungry, even after two crumpets.
“Marvellous
to feel even a bit hungry, after not being able to look even bread and butter
in the face!” he said. “I knew we must be jolly ill that day we couldn’t eat
even ice-cream though Mother tried to tempt us with some!”
“My
legs are still a bit funny,” said Anne, walking back to the car. “But they’re
beginning to feel as if they belong to me, thank goodness!”
They
set off again. They were in Wales now, and mountains were beginning to loom up
in the distance. It was a very clear evening, and although the mountains were
white with snow, the countryside they passed was not nearly as snowy as their
own home had been when they left.
“I
hope to goodness the snow doesn’t begin to melt, just as we’ve arrived,” said
Dick. “It seems all right up on the mountains at present - but down here in the
valleys there’s hardly any.”
They
passed a sign-post, and Julian looked to see what it said. He made out a word
that looked like Cymryhlli, and called to the driver.
“Did
you see that sign-post? Should we look out for Magga Glen now?”
“Yes.
We must be getting on that way,” said the driver. “I’ve been looking out for it
myself. I wonder I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Goodness!
I hope we haven’t lost our way,” said Anne. “It will soon be dark.”
The
car went on and on. “Better look out for a village,” said Julian. But they
didn’t come to one - nor did they see any other sign-posts. The night was now
coming on, but there was already a small moon, which gave a little light.
“Are
you sure we’re right?” Dick asked the driver. “The road seems to be getting a
bit rough - and we haven’t passed even a farmhouse for ages.”
“Well
- maybe we are on the wrong road,” admitted the driver, slowing down. “Though
where we took the wrong turning I simply don’t know! I reckon we’re near the
sea now.”
“Look
- there’s a turning up to the right!” shouted George, as they went slowly on.
“It’s got a sign-post, too!”
They
stopped by the sign-post, which was only a small one. “It doesn’t say Magga
Glen,” said Dick, disappointed. “It says Old Towers - just that. Would it be
the name of a place, do you think - or a building? Where’s a map?”
The
driver hadn’t one. “I don’t usually need a map,” he said. “But this here
countryside isn’t sign-posted as it should be, and I wish I’d brought my route
with me. I guess we’d better turn right and go up to see this Old Towers. Maybe
they can put us on our road!”
So
they swung up to the right, and the car went slowly, crawling up a long, steep,
winding road.
“It’s
quite a mountain,” said Anne, peering out of the window. “Oh - I can see
something - a building on the side of the hill, look - with towers. This must
be it.”
They
came to stout wooden gates. On them was a large notice, with just two words on
it in large black letters:
KEEP
OUT
“Well
- that’s nice and polite!” said the driver, angrily. “Keep out! Why should we?
Wait a bit - there’s a little lodge here. I’ll go and ask our way.”
But
the lodge was no more helpful than the big gate. It was in complete darkness,
and when the driver banged on the door, there was no answer at all. Now what
could they do?
Chapter
Three
THE
END OF THE JOURNEY
“Well
- we’d better turn round and go back down the hill,” said Dick, as the driver
came back to the car.
“No,
wait, I’ll just hop out and see if there are any lights anywhere,” said Julian,
and jumped out of the car. “I could go up the drive a little way and see if I
can spot the house itself. It can’t be very far. After all, we spotted it just
now as we came up the winding road.”
He
went to the gates, and looked at them in the light from the car’s headlamps.
“They’re padlocked,” he called. “But I think I can climb over. There’s
certainly a light somewhere beyond - though how far, I don’t know.”
But
before he could climb over the gate there came the sound of running footsteps
behind it - and then a loud and savage howl came on the night air, and some
animal hurled itself against the other side of the gate.
The
driver got back hurriedly into the car and slammed the door. Julian also ran to
the car, finding his legs could go quickly if he wanted them to, for all their
feebleness!
Timmy
began to bark fiercely, and tried to leap through the closed car-window. The
howling and barking behind the gates went on and on, and the dog there, which
must have been a very big one, continually hurled itself against the gates,
shaking them from top to bottom.
“Better
turn round and go,” said the driver, scared.
“Whew!
I’m glad I’m this side of those gates. What a din! That dog of yours is almost
as bad, too!”
Timmy
was certainly furious. Why wasn’t he allowed to get out and tell the other dog
what he thought of him? George tried to pacify him, but he wouldn’t stop
barking. The driver began to turn the car round, cautiously backing a little
and then going forward, and backing again. The road was fairly wide, but there
was a very steep slope to the right of the car. Old Towers was certainly built
on a mountainside!
“The
people there must be jolly scared of burglars to have a dog like that,” said
Dick. “Yet it’s such a lonely place you wouldn’t think many people would come
near it. What’s up, driver?”
“There’s
something wrong,” said the driver, who now had the car facing back down the
road again. “The car seems very heavy to drive, all of a sudden. As if I’d got
my brakes on.”
“Perhaps
you have,” said Julian.
“Well,
I haven’t,” said the driver, shortly. “That is, only just a little, to make
sure the car doesn’t shoot off down the hill - you can see it’s pretty steep
here, and there’s almost a cliff, your side. Don’t want to drive down there in
the dark! What can be the matter with the car? It will only crawl.”
“I
thought it came up the hill terribly slowly, too,” said Dick. “I know the road
was steep and winding - but didn’t it seem to you as if the car was making
heavy work of it?”
“Well,
yes, it did,” admitted the driver. “But I just thought the hill must be steeper
than I imagined. What is the matter with the car? I’ve got no brake on at all,
and I’m pushing the accelerator down hard - and still she crawls! As if she’d
got a ton weight to pull!”
It
really was a puzzle. Julian felt worried. He didn’t want them to have to spend
the night in the car, lost in a cold countryside - especially as now it was
beginning to snow lightly! The moon had disappeared behind heavy clouds, and
everything looked very dark indeed.
They
reached the bottom of the hill at last, and came on to the level road again.
The driver heaved a sigh of relief - and then gave a sudden exclamation.
“What’s
happened? The car’s all right again! She’s going like a bird! Whew - that’s a
load off my mind! I thought she was going to pack up, and leave us to spend the
night here.”
The
car sped along well now, and everyone was most relieved. “Must have been
something wrong with her works somewhere,” said the driver. “But I’m blessed if
I know what it was! Now - look out for a house or a signpost.”
They
actually came to a sign-post not long after that, and George yelled out at
once. “Stop! Here’s a signpost. STOP!”
The
car slid to a stop beside it, and everyone looked at it and gave a shout of
delight. “Magga Glen! Hurrah!”
“Up
to the left,” said the driver, and swung his car into the lane. It was rather
rough, and obviously only a farm-road - but there, right up the hill they were
now climbing, was a house, with lights shining in the windows. That must be old
Mrs. Jones’ farmhouse.
“Thank
goodness!” said Julian. “This must be it. I’m glad we got here before the snow
set in properly. It’s quite difficult to see through the windscreen now.”
Yes
- it was the farmhouse. Dogs set up a terrific barking as the car drew near,
and Timmy at once answered, almost deafening everyone in the car!
The
driver drew up at the farmhouse door, and looked out cautiously to make sure
that none of the barking dogs was leaping about round the car. The front door
opened, and framed in the light stood a little old woman, as upright as any of
the children!
“Come
you in, come you in!” she called. “Out of this cold and snow! Our Morgan will
help with the luggage. Come you in, now! ”
The
four children, suddenly feeling very tired, got out of the car. Anne almost
stumbled, because once again her legs felt as if they didn’t belong to her,
ancl Julian caught her arm. They went in wearily, only Timmy seeming to have
any energy! A tall man hurried out to help the driver with the luggage,
saluting them as he passed.
The
old lady took them into a big warm living-room and made them sit down. “What a
journey for you!” she said. “You look worn out and poorly. It’s late you are,
too, and I’d a good tea laid for you. But now it’s supper you’ll be wanting,
poor children!”
Julian
caught sight of a loaded table not far from the fire, set to one side. Although
he was tired, the sight of the good food there made him suddenly feel hungry.
He smiled at the kind old woman. Her hair gleamed like silver, and her fine old
face was wrinkled all over - but her eyes were as sharp and bright as a
blackbird’s.
“I’m
sorry we’re so late,” he said. “We lost our way. This is my sister Anne - this
is our cousin George - and this is my brother Dick.”
“And
this is Timmy,” said George, and Timmy at once offered his paw to the old
woman.
“Well,
now, it’s a wonder to see a dog with such good manners,” she said. “We’ve seven
- but not one of them would shake hands - no, not if the Queen herself came
here, God bless her!”
The
barking of the dogs had now died down. Not one of them was to be seen in the
house, and the children thought they must be outside in kennels somewhere.
Timmy
trotted about round the room, sniffing into every corner with much interest.
Finally he went to the table, put his paws up and had a good look at the food
there. Then he went to George and whined.
“He
says he likes the look of the food there,” George said to the old woman. “I
must say I agree with him! It looks good!”
“You
go and wash and get yourselves a bit tidy, while I make some hot tea,” said
Mrs. Jones. “You look cold and hungry. Go through that door, look - and up the
little flight of stairs. The rooms up there are all yours - no one will disturb
you.”
The
Five went out of the door and found themselves in a little stone passage,
lighted by a candle. A narrow flight of stone steps led upwards to a small
landing on which another candle burned. The steps were very steep, and the
children stumbled up them, their legs stiff after their long drive.
Two
bedrooms opened off the little landing, opposite to one another. They seemed
exactly alike, and were furnished in the same way too. There were wash-stances
with basins, and in each basin was a jug of hot water, wrapped around with a
towel. Wood-fires burned in the little stone fireplaces, their flames lighting
the rooms almost more than the single candles there.
“You’ll
have this room, girls, and Dick and I will have the other,” said Julian. “Gosh
- wood-fires in our bedrooms! What a treat!”
“I
shall go to bed early, and lie and watch the flames,” said Anne. “I’m glad the
rooms aren’t cold. I know I should cough if they were.”
“We
haven’t coughed quite so much today,” said Dick, and immediately, of course,
had a very bad fit of coughing! The old woman downstairs heard him, and called
up at once.
“You
hurry up, now, and come down into the warm!”
They
were soon downstairs, sitting in the warm living-room. Nobody was there except
old Mrs. Jones, pouring out tea.
“Isn’t
anyone else coming in to tea?” asked George, looking all round. “Surely all
this food isn’t just for us?”
“Oh
yes it is,” said the old woman, cutting some ham in long thin slices. “This is
your own room - the room I let out to families for themselves. We’ve got our
big kitchen yonder for ourselves. You can do what you like here - make as much
noise as it pleases you - no one will hear you - our stone walls are so thick!”
After
she had served them, she went out of the room, nodding and smiling. The
children looked at one another.
“I
like her very much,” said Anne. “How old she must be, if she is Jenkins’ aunt!
But her eyes are so bright and young!”
“I
feel better already,” said Dick, tucking into the ham. “George, give Timmy
something, He keeps poking me with his paw, and I really can’t spare him any of
my ham.”
“He
can have some of mine,” said George. “I thought I was hungry - but I’m not,
after all. I suddenly feel tired.”
Julian
looked at her. She did look tired, and her eyes were ringed with black shadows.
“Finish your meal, old thing,” said Julian, “and go up to bed. You can unpack
tomorrow. You’re tired out with the long drive! Anne doesn’t look nearly so
tired as you do!”
Old
Mrs. Jones came in again, and approved highly of Julian’s idea that they should
all go up to bed when they had finished. “Get up tomorrow when you like,” she
said. “And just come into my kitchen and tell me when you’re down. You can do
just what you like here!”
But
all they wanted to do at that moment was to get into bed and go to sleep by the
light of the crackling wood-fires! What a relief it was to slip in between the
rather rough sheets and shut their eyes! All except Timmy. He kept guard by the
door for a long long time before he crept on to George’s bed. Good old Timmy!
Chapter
Four
IN
THE OLD FARMHOUSE
The
four children slept like logs all night long. If they coughed they didn’t know
it! They lay in their beds, hardly moving - and only Timmy opened an eye occasionally,
as he always did on the first night in a strange place.
He
jumped when a burning log fell to one side in the fireplace. He stared sternly
at a big bright flame licking up the chimney, as the log burned fiercely. He
cocked up an ear when an owl hooted outside the window.
But
at last he too fell asleep, lying as usual on George’s feet - though old Mrs.
Jones would not have approved of that at all!
Julian
awoke first in the morning. He heard the sounds of the farm coming through the
closed window. Shouts of one man to another - the lowing of cows - the barking
of one dog after another, and then all together - and the peaceful sound of
hens clucking and ducks quacking. It was nice to lie and hear it all, feeling
warm and lazy.
He
looked at his watch. Good gracious, it was almost nine o’clock! Whatever would
Mrs. Jones think of them? He leapt out of bed, and awoke Dick with the quick
movement.
“It’s
almost nine!” said Julian, and went to the washstand. This time there was only
cold water in the big china jug, but he didn’t mind. The bedroom was still warm
with the burnt-out wood-fires. The sun shone outside, but in the night the snow
must have fallen heavily, for everywhere was white.
“Good,”
said Julian, looking out. “We shall be able to use our toboggans soon. Wake the
girls, Dick.”
But
the girls were already awake, for Timmy had heard the boys stirring, and had
gone whining to the door. George stretched herself, feeling quite different
from the night before.
“Anne
- how do you feel? I feel really fine!” said George, pleased. “Do you know it’s
nine o’clock? We’ve slept for more than twelve hours. No wonder we feel
better!”
“Yes.
I certainly do too,” said Anne, with an enormous yawn. “Oh look, I’ve made
Timmy yawn too! Timmy, did you sleep well?”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, and pawed impatiently at the door. “He wants his breakfast,” said
George. “I wonder what there is. I feel rather like bacon and egg - goodness, I
thought I’d never feel like eating that again. Brrrr - this water’s cold to
wash in.”
They
all went downstairs together and found their living-room warm with a great
wood-fire. Breakfast was laid, but only a big crusty loaf, butter and home-made
marmalade were there, with an enormous jug of cold, creamy milk.
Mrs.
Jones came in almost at once, beaming at them. “Well, good morning to you now,”
she said, “and a nice morning it is too, for all the snow we had in the night.
What would you be wanting for breakfast now? Ham and eggs - or home-made pork
sausages - or meat patties - or...”
“I’d
like ham and eggs,” said Julian, at once, and the others said the same. Mrs.
Jones went out of the room, and the children rubbed their hands.
“I
feared we were only going to have bread and butter and marmalade,” said Dick.
“I say, look at the cream on the top of this milk! Me for a farm life when I
grow up!”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, approvingly. He kept hearing the other dogs barking, and going to
the window to look out. George laughed at him. “You’ll have to remember you’re
just a visitor, when you meet those dogs,” she said. “No throwing your weight
about, and barking your head off!”
“They
look pretty big dogs,” said Dick, joining Timmy at the window. “Welsh collies,
I should think - they’re so good with the sheep. I say - I wonder what that dog
was that barked at us so fiercely last night, behind that gate at Old Towers?
Do you remember?”
“Yes.
I didn’t much like it,” said Anne. “It was rather like a nasty dream - losing
our way - going up that steep hill - only to find that horrid notice on the
gates - and nobody to ask the way - and then that hidden dog barking
ferociously just the other side of the gates! And then the car crawling down
the hill in that strange way.”
“Yes.
It was a bit queer,” said Dick. “Ah - here comes our breakfast. Mrs. Jones,
you’ve brought in enough for eight people, not four!”
She
was followed by an enormous man, with a mass of black hair, bright blue eyes,
and a stern mouth.
“This
is my son Morgan,” she said. The four children looked at the giantlike man in
awe.
“Good
morning,” said Julian and Dick together, and Morgan nodded his head, after
giving them one quick look. The girls gave him polite smiles, and he nodded at
them too, but didn’t speak a word. He went out at once.
“He’s
not much of a one for talking,” said the old woman. “Not my Morgan. But the
voice he’s got when he’s angry! I’m telling the truth when I say you could hear
him a mile away! Sends the sheep skittering off for miles when he shouts!”
Julian
felt that he could quite believe it. “Those are his dogs you can hear barking,”
said the old woman. “Three of them. They go about with my Morgan everywhere.
He’s all for dogs, he is. Doesn’t care much about people! He’s got four more
dogs on the hills with the sheep - and, believe you me, if Morgan went out in
the yard there, and shouted, those four dogs away with the sheep on the hills
far yonder would hear him and come tearing down here like a flash of
lightning!”
The
children felt as if they could well believe this of the giantlike Morgan. They
rather wished he would call his dogs. His voice would certainly be worth
hearing!
They
set to work on their breakfast, and although they couldn’t eat quite all that
Mrs. Jones had brought, they managed to do very well indeed! So did Timmy. They
especially liked the bread, which was home-made and very good.
“I
could really make a meal just of this home-made bread and fresh butter,” said
Anne. “Our bread at home doesn’t taste a bit the same. I say - wouldn’t Mother
be amazed to see the breakfast we’ve eaten today?”
“She
certainly would - considering that we haven’t felt like eating even a boiled
egg for days,” said Dick. “I say - oughtn’t we to telephone home, Julian, and
say we’re safely here?”
“Gosh,
yes,” said Julian. “I meant to last night. I’ll do that now, if Mrs. Jones will
let me. Hallo, look - isn’t that our last night’s driver going off? He must
have spent the night here.”
The
driver was about to get into his car when he heard Julian knocking at the
window. He came over to the farmhouse, and walked in at the front door, and
soon found the children’s living-room.
“I’m
just off,” he announced. “The old lady gave me a bed in the barn last night -
never been so cosy in my life! And I say - I’ve found out why the car crawled
so slowly up and down that hill to Old Towers last night!”
“Oh,
have you? Why was it then?” asked Julian, with interest.
“Well,
it wasn’t anything to do with the car,” said the driver, “and wasn’t I thankful
to know that! It was to do with the hill itself.”
“Whatever
do you mean?” said Dick, puzzled.
“Well,
the shepherd’s wife told me they think there must be something magnetic down
under that hill,” said the driver. “Because when the postman goes up on his
bicycle, the same thing happens. His bicycle feels like lead, so heavy that he
can’t even cycle up - and if he pushes his bike, it feels just as heavy too. So
now he leaves his bike at the bottom and just walks up!”
“I
see - so the magnetic whatever-it-is got hold of the car last night, and pulled
so much that it made it go slow too,” said Julian. “Queer! There must be some
deposit of powerful metal in that hill. Does it affect all cars like that?”
“Oh
yes - no one goes up there in a car if they can help it,” said the driver.
“Funny thing, isn’t it? Queer hill altogether, if you ask me - that notice on
the gate and all!”
“I
wonder who lives there?” said Dick.
“Only
an old dame,” said the driver. “She’s off her head, so they say - won’t let
anyone in! Well - we know that all right. Sorry I lost my way last night - but
you’re all right now. You’re in clover here!”
He
moved to the door, raised his hand in salute, and went out. They saw him
through the window getting into his car and driving away, waving a
leather-gloved hand out of the window.
“Is
the snow thick enough to toboggan on?” wondered George. “It doesn’t look like
it. Let’s go out and see. Better wrap up well, though - I bet the wind’s cold
out on this hill, and I don’t want to start sniffing again. I’ve had enough of
that.”
Soon
they were all clad in heavy coats, scarves and woollen hats. Mrs. Jones nodded
her head when she saw them, and smiled. “Sensible children you are,” she said.
“Cold it is today, with a biting wind, but healthy weather! Be careful of that
dog of yours, my boy - don’t you let him loose till you’re well away from the farm,
in case he goes for one of my Morgan’s dogs.”
George
smiled, pleased to be addressed as a boy. They began to wander round the farm,
Timmy cross because he was on the lead. He pulled at it, wanting to run round
and explore on his own. But George wouldn’t let him. “Not till you’ve made
friends with all the other dogs,” she said. “I wonder where they are?”
“Must
have gone out with Morgan,” said Dick. “Come on - let’s go and look at the cows
in the sheds. I do love the smell of cows.”
They
wandered round the farm, enjoying the pale sun, the keen wind, and the feeling
that their legs belonged to them at last, and were not likely to give way at
any moment. They hardly coughed at all, and felt quite aggrieved when one or
other suddenly began.
“I
shall let old Timmy off the lead a bit now,” said George. “I can’t see a dog
about anywhere.” So she slipped the lead off his collar and he ran off joyfully
at once, sniffing here, there and everywhere. He disappeared round a corner,
his tongue hanging out happily.
And
then the most appalling barking began! The children stopped as if they had been
shot. It wasn’t one dog, or even two - it sounded like a dozen! The four rushed
round the corner of a barn at once - and there was poor Timmy, standing with
his back to the barn, growling and barking and snarling at three fierce dogs!
“No,
George, no, don’t go to Timmy,” shouted Julian, seeing that George was going to
rescue Tim, whatever happened. “Those dogs are savage!”
But
what did George care for that? She raced to Timmy, stood in front of him, and
yelled at the three surprised dogs snarling there. “HOW DARE YOU! GET AWAY! GO
HOME! I SAID GO HOME!”
Chapter
Five
THINGS
MIGHT BE WORSE!
The
three snarling dogs took no notice of George. It was Timmy they wanted. Who was
this strange dog who dared to come wandering round their home? They tried to
get at him, but George stood there, swinging the leather lead, and giving first
one dog and then another a sharp flick. Julian rushed to help her - and then
Timmy gave a sharp yelp. He had been bitten!
Someone
came rushing round the corner. It was Mrs. Jones, running as if she were a
twelve-year-old!
“Tang!
Bob! Dai!” she called, but the three dogs took no notice of her. And then, from
somewhere, came a voice. What a voice! It echoed all round the farmyard as if
it had come through a megaphone.
“DAI!
BOB! TANG!”
And
at the sound of that stentorian voice the three dogs stopped as if shot. Then
they turned about and tore off at top speed.
“Thank
God! That was Morgan,” panted the old woman, clutching her shawl round her. “He
must have heard the barking. Oh, my little dear - are you hurt?” She took hold
of George’s arm, and looked at her anxiously.
“I
don’t know. I don’t think so,” said George, looking rather white. “It’s Timmy
that’s hurt. Oh, Tim, darling Tim, where did they bite you?”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, who, though extremely startled, didn’t seem at all frightened. It
had all happened so suddenly. George dropped down on her knees in the snow, and
gave a little scream. “He’s been bitten on the neck - oh look! Poor, poor,
Timmy. Why did I let you off the lead?”
“It’s
not much, George,” said Julian, looking at the bleeding place. “The other dog
bit just where his collar is, look - and his teeth went through the collar, not
really into Tim’s neck. It’s really not much more than a graze.”
Anne
was leaning against the wall, looking sick, and Dick suddenly felt as if his
legs were wobbly again. He couldn’t help thinking what would have happened if
the three savage dogs had bitten George instead of Timmy. Good old George! She
was as brave as a lion!
“What
a thing to happen!” said old Mrs. Jones, upset. “Why for did you let him loose,
my boy? You should have waited for my Morgan to come along with his dogs, and
tell them your Timmy was a friend.”
“I
know,” said George, still on her knees beside Timmy. “It was all my fault. Oh,
Timmy, I’m so thankful you’ve only got that one small bite. Mrs. Jones, have
you any iodine? I must put some on at once.”
But
before Mrs. Jones could answer, the giantlike figure of Morgan came round the
corner of the barn, his three dogs, extremely subdued now, at his heels.
“Hey?”
he said, enquiringly, looking at the four children and his mother.
“The
dogs attacked this one,” explained his mother. “You shouted just in time,
Morgan. But he’s not much hurt. You should have seen this boy here - the one
the dog belongs to - he stood in front of his dog, and fought off Tang, Bob and
Dai!”
Julian
couldn’t help smiling to hear George continually called a boy - but, standing
there in snow-trousers and coat, a woollen cap on her short hair, she looked
very like a sturdy boy.
“Please
come and get the iodine,” said George, anxiously, seeing a drop of blood drip
from Timmy’s neck on to the white snow. Morgan took a step forward and bent
down to look at Timmy.
He
made a small scornful sound and stood up again. “He’s all right,” he said, and
walked off.
George
stared after him angrily. It was his dogs that had attacked and hurt Timmy -
and he hadn’t even been sorry about it! She felt so angry that tears came
suddenly into her eyes. She blinked them away, ashamed.
“I
don’t think I want to stay here,” she said, loudly and clearly. “Those dogs
will be sure to attack Timmy again. They might kill him. I shall go home.”
“Now,
now, you’re just upset,” said kind old Mrs. Jones, taking George’s arm. George
shook off her hand, scowling. “I’m not upset. I’m just angry to think my dog
should have been attacked for nothing - and I’m sure he’ll be attacked again.
And I want to see to his neck. I’m going indoors.”
She
stalked off with Timmy at her heels, her head well up, bitterly ashamed of two
more tears that suddenly ran down her cheeks. It wasn’t like old George to cry!
But she was still not quite herself after being ill. The other three looked at
one another.
“Go
with her, Anne,” said Julian, and Anne obediently ran after George. Julian
turned to the worried old woman.
“You
shouldn’t stand out here in the cold,” he said, seeing that she was shivering,
and pulling her shawl more closely round her. “George will soon be all right.
Don’t take any notice of what she says.”
“She!
What, isn’t she a boy, then?” said Mrs. Jones, in surprise. “Is it a girl she
is - as brave as that? Now there’s a fine thing, to be sure! What’ll Morgan say
to that? But now, surely she won’t go home, will she?”
“No,”
said Julian, hoping he was right. You never could tell with George! “She’ll
soon get over it. If we could get some iodine it would help, though! She’s
always terrified of wounds going bad, where Timmy is concerned.”
“Come
away in, then,” said Mrs. Jones, and hurried back to the farmhouse, refusing
Julian’s hand over the snow. What an independent little old woman!
George
was in the living-room with Timmy. She had got some water and was bathing the
wound with her handkerchief, having first taken off Tim’s collar.
“I’ll
fetch you the iodine, boy,” said Mrs. Jones, forgetting again that George was a
girl. She ran to her kitchen, and came back with a big bottle of brown liquid.
George took it gratefully, and dabbed some on Timmy, who stood still, quite
enjoying all the fuss. He jumped a little when the iodine stung him, and George
patted him and praised him.
“He
wouldn’t mind having iodine dabbed on him all day long, George, if you would
only make a fuss of him,” said Dick, with a laugh.
George
looked up. “He might have been killed,” she said. “And if those dogs get him
again, he certainly will be! I’m going to go back home - not to your home, Ju -
but to my own, at Kirrin Cottage.”
“Oh,
don’t be an ass, George,” said Dick, exasperated. “Anyone would think Timmy had
been injured for life or something. He’s only got a skin wound! Why spoil what
may be a jolly good holiday just for that?”
“I
don’t trust those three dogs,” said George, stubbornly. “They’ll be out to get
Tim now - I know they will. I tell you I’m going home. I’m not spoiling your
holiday - only my own.”
“Well,
listen - stay one more day,” said Julian, hoping that if she did, George would
see how stupidly she was behaving. “Just one more day. That’s not much to ask.
It will upset old Mrs. Jones dreadfully if you rush off like this - and it will
be difficult to make arrangements for you to go back today, now that everywhere
is under snow again.”
“All
right,” said George, ungraciously. “I’ll stay till tomorrow. It will give Timmy
a bit of time to get over his fright. But ONLY till tomorrow.”
“Tim’s
not frightened,” said Anne. “George, he would have taken on all three dogs by
himself if you hadn’t gone to his help. Wouldn’t you, Timmy?”
“Woof,
woof!” said Timmy, agreeing at once. He wagged his tail vigorously. Dick
laughed. “Good old Tim!” he said. “You don’t want to go home, do you?”
“Woof!”
said Timmy, obligingly, and wagged his tail again. George put on one of her
scowls, and Julian nudged the others to warn them to stop teasing her. He
didn’t want George suddenly to change her mind and rush off home straightaway!
“I
vote we go for a walk,” said Dick. “It’s a shame to stick indoors like this on
this sunny, snowy day. Anne, are you coming?”
“I
will if George does,” said Anne. But George shook her head.
“No,”
she said. “I’ll stay in with Tim this morning. You go off together.”
Anne
wouldn’t come, so the boys left the two girls and went out into the keen,
invigorating mountain air once more. Already they felt better, and were not
coughing at all. What a pity this had happened! It spoilt things for everyone -
even for old Mrs. Jones, who now appeared at her front door, looking anxious.
“Don’t
you worry now, Mrs. Jones,” said Julian. “I expect our cousin will be all right
soon. She’s given up the idea of rushing home today at any rate! My brother and
I are going for a walk up the mountain. Which way is best?”
“Well
now, take that path,” said the old woman, pointing. “And go on till you come to
our summer chalet. You can rest there before coming back - and if you don’t
want to come back for dinner, well, you’ll find food in the cupboard there.
Here is the key to get into the little place!”
“Oh
thanks,” said Julian, surprised. “That sounds good. We’d love to have our lunch
up there, Mrs. Jones - we’ll be back before dark. Tell the girls for us, will
you?”
And
away they went, whistling. It was fun to have a day all to themselves, just the
two of them, together!
They
took the snowy path and began to climb up the slope of the mountain. The sun
was now melting the snow a little, so they could make out the path fairly
easily. Then they discovered that big black stones marked the way here and
there - a guide to the farmer and his men, when the snow covered path and
everything!
The
view was magnificent. As they climbed higher, they could see the tops of more
and more hills, all of which sparkled snowy-white in the pale January sun. “I
say - if only we had a bit more snow, what tobogganing we could have down these
slopes,” said Dick, longingly. “I wish I’d brought my skis this morning - the
snow is deep enough for them down that hill - we’d whizz along like lightning!”
They
were glad when they at last came to the little hut or chalet that old Mrs.
Jones had spoken about. After two hours’ climbing it was nice to think of
having something to eat, and a good rest!
“It’s
quite a place,” said Julian, slipping the key into the lock. “A little wooden
house, with windows and all!”
He
opened the door and went inside. Yes - it was a very fine little place indeed,
with bunk-beds let into the wooden walls, a stove for heating - and cupboards
full of crockery - and tins of food! The two boys had the same idea at once,
and swung round to one another.
“Couldn’t
we stay here - on our own? George would love it too,” said Julian, putting into
words what Dick was already thinking. Oh - if only they could!
Chapter
Six
A
FUNNY LITTLE CREATURE
The
boys were tired, but not too tired to examine the little hut thoroughly -
though it really was more like a one-roomed house. It faced across the deep
valley, and the sun shone straight into it. Julian opened cupboard after
cupboard, exclaiming in delight.
“Bedding!
Towels! Crockery - and cutlery! And look at these tins of food - and bottles of
orangeade and the rest! My word, people who come to stay at Magga Glen in the
summer must have a fine time!”
“We
could light the stove to heat the room,” suggested Dick, pulling the oil-stove
into the middle of the room.
“No.
We don’t need to,” said Julian. “The sun is pouring in, and it really isn’t
cold in here. We could wrap ourselves round in the rugs from that cupboard if
we want to.”
“Do
you think we’d be allowed to come up here, instead of living down at the farm?”
said Dick, opening a tin of ham with a tin-opener that hung on a nail by the
cupboard. “It’s so much nicer to be quite on our own and independent! George
would simply love it!”
“Well,
we can ask,” said Julian, taking the cap off a bottle of orangeade. “Can we
find some biscuits to eat with this ham? Oh yes - here are some cream-cracker
biscuits. I say - I’m really ravenous!”
“So
am I,” said Dick, his mouth full. “Pity George was such an ass - she and Anne
could have enjoyed this too.”
“Well
- perhaps on the whole it’s as well they didn’t come,” said Julian. “I think
Anne would have been too tired to come all this way on her first day - and
George certainly had a worse cold and cough than anyone. A day at the farm will
probably do her good. Gosh - she’s absolutely fearless, isn’t she? I’ll never
forget her standing up to those three savage dogs! I was jolly scared myself.”
“I’m
going to get a rug and wrap it round me and sit out on the doorstep in the
sun,” said Dick. “That view is too marvellous for words!”
He
and Julian took a rug each, and then sat out on the wooden door-step, munching
their ham and biscuits. They stared across at the great hill opposite.
“Is
that a house on the slope over there - near the top, look,” said Dick,
suddenly.
Julian
stared across at the opposite hill, but could make out nothing.
“It
can’t be,” he said. “The roof would be covered with snow, and we’d never see
it. Besides, who would build a house so high up?”
“Plenty
of people,” said Dick. “It’s not everyone who likes towns and shops and cinemas
and traffic and the rest. I can imagine an artist building a house on one of
these mountains, just for the view! He’d be quite happy looking at it and
painting it all day long.”
“Well
- I like a bit of company, I must say,” said Julian, “This is all right for a
week or two - but you’d need to be an artist or a poet - or a shepherd or
something, to stand it all the time!”
He
yawned. Both boys had finished their meal, and felt comfortably full and at
peace. Dick yawned too, and lay back on his rug. But Julian pulled him upright.
“Oh
no! We’re not going to take naps up here! We’d sleep like logs again, and wake
up in the dark. The sun’s going down already, and we’ve got all that long walk
back to the farm - and no torch to light our way if we go wrong!”
“There
are those black stones,” said Dick, with another yawn. “All right, all right -
I agree with you! I certainly don’t want to stumble down this mountain in the
pitch dark!”
Julian
suddenly clutched Dick’s arm, and pointed upwards, where the path still wound
on and on. Dick turned - and stared. Someone was up there, skipping down the
path towards them, with a lamb gambolling around, and a small dog scampering
after.
“Is
it a boy or a girl?” said Julian, in wonder. “My word - it must be cold,
whichever it is!”
It
was a small girl coming along, a wild-looking little creature with a mass of
untidy black curls, a face as brown as an oak-apple - and very few clothes! She
wore a dirty pair of boy’s shorts, and a blue blouse - or it might have been a
shirt. Her legs were bare, and she had old shoes on her feet. She was singing
as she came, in a high sweet voice like a bird’s.
The
dog with her began to bark, and she stopped her song at once. She spoke to the
dog, and he barked again, facing towards the hut. The lamb gambolled round
without stopping.
The
little girl looked towards the hut, and saw Julian and Dick. She turned at once
and ran back the way she had come. Julian got up and shouted to her.
“It’s
all right! We shan’t hurt you! Look - here’s a bit of meat for your dog!”
The
girl stopped and looked round, poised ready to run again at once. Julian waved
the bit of ham left over from their meal. The little dog smelt it on the wind,
and came running up eagerly. He snapped at it, got it into his mouth and ran
back to the girl. Hc didn’t attempt to eat it, but just stood there by her,
looking up.
She
bent down eagerly, and took it. She tore it in half and gave one piece to the
eager dog, who swallowed it at once - and the other piece she ate herself,
keeping a sharp eye on the two boys as she did so. The lamb came nosing round
her, and she put one thin arm round its neck.
“What
a queer little thing,” said Julian to Dick. “Where can she have come from? She
must be absolutely frozen!”
Dick
called to the child.
“Hallo!
Come and talk to us!”
She
shot off at once as soon as he shouted. But she didn’t go very far. She half
hid behind a bush, peeping out now and again.
“Get
some of those biscuits,” said Julian to Dick. “We’ll hold some out to her.
She’s like a wild thing.”
So
Dick held out a handful of biscuits, and called: “Biscuits! For you! And your
dog!”
But
only the lamb came gambolling up, a toy-like creature, with a tail that frisked
and whisked all the time. It tried to get on to Dick’s knee, and bumped its
little black nose against his face.
“Fany,
Fany!” called the small girl, in a high, clear voice. The lamb tried to get
away but Dick held on to it. It seemed to be all legs!
“Come
and get it!” shouted Dick. “We shan’t hurt you!”
The
little girl couldn’t bear to leave her lamb. She came out from the bush, and
took a few hesitating steps towards the boys. The dog ran right up to them,
snuffling at their hands for more ham. Julian gave him a biscuit and he
crunched it up at once, giving sidelong glances at his watching mistress as if
to apologise for eating it all himself! Julian patted the little thing and it
licked him joyfully.
The
little girl came nearer. Her legs looked blue with cold, but although she had
so little on, she didn’t seem to be shivering. Julian held out another biscuit.
The dog jumped up and took it neatly in his mouth, running up to the little
girl with it. The boys burst into laughter, and the small girl smiled suddenly,
her whole face lighting up.
“Come
here!” called Julian. “Come and get your pretty lamb. We’ve got some more
biscuits for you and your dog.”
At
last the child came near to them, as watchful as a hare, ready to run at a
moment’s notice. The boys sat still and patient, and soon the girl was near
enough to snatch a biscuit and retreat again. She sat down on one of the black
stones marking the path, and munched her biscuit, staring at them all the time
out of her big dark eyes.
“What’s
your name?” asked Dick, not moving from his place, afraid that the child would
leap off like a frightened goat.
The
girl didn’t seem to understand. Dick repeated his question, speaking slowly.
“What
- is - your - name? What - are - you - called?”
The
child nodded her head and then pointed to herself.
“Me
- Aily,” she said.
She
pointed at the dog.
“Dave,”
she said, and he leapt up at his name and covered her with licks. Then she
pointed to the lamb, which was now gambolling round the boys like a mad thing.
“Fany,” she said.
“Ah
- Aily - Dave - Fany,” said Julian, solemnly, and he too pointed at first one
then the other. Then he pointed to himself. “Julian!” he said, and then pointed
to Dick. “Dick!”
The
little girl gave a high, clear laugh, and suddenly poured out quite a long
speech. The boys couldn’t understand a word of it.
“She’s
speaking in Welsh, I suppose,” said Dick, disappointed. “What a pity - it
sounds lovely, but I can’t make head or tail of it.”
The
child saw that they had not understood. She frowned, as if thinking hard.
“My
Dadda - he up high - sheep!” she said.
“Oh
- your father’s a shepherd up there!” said Dick. “But you don’t live with him,
do you?”
Aily
considered this, then shook her head.
“Down!”
she said, pointing. “Aily down!” Then she turned to the dog and the lamb, and
cuddled them both. “Dave mine,” she said, proudly. “Fany mine!”
“Nice
dog. Nice lamb,” said Julian, solemnly, and the little girl nodded in delight.
Then, for no reason that the boys could see, she stood up, leapt down the hill,
followed by the lamb and the dog, and disappeared.
“What
a funny little creature!” said Dick. “Like a pixie of the hills, or an elf of
the woods. I quite expected her to disappear in smoke, or something. I should
think she runs completely wild, wouldn’t you? We’ll ask Mrs. Jones about her when
we get back!”
“My
goodness - come on, the sun’s getting quite low,” said Julian, getting up in a
hurry. “We’ve got to put the things away, and fold up the rugs, and lock up.
Buck up - once the sun goes it will be dark almost at once, and we’ve quite a
long way to go.”
It
didn’t take them long to tidy up and lock the little house carefully. Then down
the path they went at top speed. The sun had melted most of the snow farther
down, and the going was easy. The boys felt exhilarated by their day on the mountainside
and sang as they went, until they were quite out of breath.
“There’s
the farmhouse,” said Dick, and both boys were glad to see it. Their legs were
tired now, and they longed for a good meal and a rest in a warm room.
“I
hope George has recovered a bit by now - and is still at the farm!” said
Julian, with a laugh. “You never know with old George! I hope she’ll like the
sound of that hut. We’ll ask Mrs. Jones about it tonight, when we’ve talked it
over with Anne and George.”
“Here
we are,” said Dick, thankfully, as they went up to the house. “Anne! George!
We’re back - where are you?”
Chapter
Seven
BACK
AT THE FARM AGAIN
Anne
came running to meet Dick and Julian. “Oh, I’m glad you’re back!” she said.
“It’s beginning to get dark, and I was afraid you’d lose your way!”
“Hallo,
George!” said Julian, seeing her behind Anne, in the darkness of the passage.
“How’s Timmy?”
“All
right, thank you,” said George, sounding quite cheerful. “Here he is!”
Timmy
barked loudly and jumped up at the boys in welcome. He was very glad to see
them, for he had been afraid that they had gone back home. They all went into
the living-room, where there was an enormous wood-fire, looking very cheerful
indeed. Julian and Dick fell into the two most comfortable chairs and spread
their legs out to the fire.
“Ha!
This is good!” said Dick. “I couldn’t have walked another step. I don’t believe
I can even go up the stairs to wash. We’ve walked MILES!”
They
told the girls about their day, and when they described the little summer
chalet, the two girls listened eagerly.
“Oh
- I wish we’d gone with you,” said Anne, longingly. “Timmy would have been
quite all right, wouldn’t he, George? We’ve decided it’s only a skin-wound.
Actually, you can hardly see it now.”
“But
all the same, I’m going back home tomorrow,” said George, determinedly. “I’m
sorry I made such a fuss this morning - but honestly I thought Timmy had been
badly bitten. Thank goodness he wasn’t. Still, I’m not risking such a thing
again. If I stay on here with him, he’s sure to have those three dogs attacking
him sometime or other, and he might be killed. I don’t want to upset your
holiday - but I can NOT stay on here with Tim.”
“All
right, old thing,” said Julian, soothingly. “Don’t get so up-in-the-air about
it. There - you’ve gone and started your cough again! Do you know, Dick and I
haven’t coughed once today!”
“Nor
have I,” said Anne. “The air is marvellous here. I think I ought to go back
with George, though, Ju. She’d be miserable all by herself at home.”
“Listen,”
said Julian. “We’ve got an idea, Dick and I - one that means old George won’t
have to go home, and...”
“Nothing
will make me stop here,” interrupted George at once. “NOTHING!”
“Give
me a chance to tell you what I’ve got up my sleeve,” protested Julian. “It’s
about that mountain-hut we’ve been to - Dick and I thought it would be a
marvellous idea if we could all five of us go and spend our time there -
instead of here. We’d be ABSOLUTELY on our own then - the way we like to be!”
“Oh
yes!” said Anne at once, delighted. They all three looked at George. She smiled
suddenly.
“Yes
- that would be fun. I’d like that. I don’t suppose those dogs would come near
there. And how heavenly to be on our own! ”
“Mrs.
Jones said that her son Morgan told her we’re going to have heavy falls of
snow!” said Anne. “We could spend all day long on those slopes with our
toboggans and skis. Oh, George - what a pity Timmy can’t ski! We’ll have to
leave him at the hut when we go off skiing!”
“Do
you suppose Mrs. Jones will mind us going off there?” said Dick.
“I
don’t think so,” said Anne. “She was telling us today that parties of children
go there alone in the summer, while their parents stay and have a peaceful time
down here. I don’t see why she shouldn’t let us go. We’ll ask her when she
comes in with our high tea. I said we wouldn’t have tea and supper - we’d just
have one big meal. We didn’t know what time you’d be back - and George and I
had such an enormous dinner in the middle of the day that we knew we wouldn’t
want tea.”
“Yes.
I’d rather have a big meal now, too,” said Julian, yawning widely. “I’m afraid
all I shall want to do afterwards is to go up to bed and fall asleep. I’m
marvellouslp tired. In fact, I could go to sleep this very minute! I suppose
you girls have been indoors all day long because of Timmy?”
“No.
We took it in turns to go for a walk without him” said Anne. “George hasn’t let
him put his nose outside the door. Poor Timmy - he just couldn’t understand it,
and he whined and whined!”
“Never
mind - he’ll enjoy himself if we can go up to that hut,” said George, who was
very cheerful indeed now. “I do hope we can. It would be glorious fun.”
“Ju
- come and wash,” said Dick, seeing that Julian had his eyes closed already.
“Julian! Come up and wash, I tell you - you don’t want to miss your meal, do
you?”
Julian
groaned and dragged himself up the stone stairway. But once he had sluiced
himself in cold water he felt much better, and very hungry indeed. So did Dick.
“We
didn’t tell the girls about that funny little creature - what was her name now
- Aily! And Dave her dog and Fany the lamb. We mustn’t forget to ask Mrs. Jones
about them,” said Julian.
They
went downstairs, feeling much fresher and were delighted to see that Mrs. Jones
had been in and laid the table. They went up to see what there was for their
high tea.
“Pork
pie - home made, of course,” said Dick. “And what’s this - golly, it’s a
cheese! How enormous! Smell it, Julian - it’s enough to make you start eating
straightaway! And more of that home-made bread! Can’t we start?”
“No
- there are new-laid boiled eggs to begin with,” said Anne, with a laugh. “And
an apple pie and cream to end with. So I hope you really are hungry, you two!”
Mrs.
Jones came in with a pot of hot tea. She smiled at the boys as she set the big
brown teapot down on the table.
"Is
it a nice day you’ve had, away up on the mountain?” she said. “You look fine,
both of you. Did you find the hut all right?”
“Yes,
thank you,” said Julian. “Mrs. Jones, it’s a marvellous hut. We...”
“Yes,
yes - it’s a good hut,” said Mrs. Jones, “and it’s sorry I was the two girls
didn’t go with you, such a fine day as it was, and the dog not really hurt! And
to think that the girls want to go back home! It’s sad I’ve been this day in my
thoughts!”
She
really did seem hurt and grieved, and George looked very guilty. Julian patted
Mrs. Jones on the arm, and spoke comfortingly.
“Don’t
you worry about us, Mrs. Jones. I’ve got a fine idea to tell you. What we’d
really like is to go and live up at that hut, the five of us - then we’d be out
of your way and Timmy would be out of the way of the farm dogs too! Do you
think we might do that? Then George wouldn’t have to go home, as she had
planned to do.”
“Well
now! To go to that hut in this weather! What an idea!” said Mrs. Jones. “Most
uncomfortable you would be, with no one to look after you, and see to your
wants, and cook for you this cold weather. No, no...”
“We’re
used to looking after ourselves,” said Dick. “We’re awfully good at it, Mrs.
Jones. And, my word, the food you’ve got up there is enough to feed an army!
And there are cups and plates and dishes - and knives and forks - and all kinds
of bedding...”
“We’d
have a smashing time,” said George, joining in eagerly. “I don’t really want to
go home, Mrs. Jones. It’s so lovely in these mountains - and if the snow comes
down, as your Morgan says, we’d be able to have winter sports all on our own!”
“Oh,
do say it’s all right,” begged Anne. “We shall be quite safe and happy there -
and we do promise to come down here again if we can’t manage, or if anything
goes wrong.”
“I’ll
see that things go all right,” said Julian, speaking in his most grown-up
voice.
“Well
- well, it’s a queer idea you have,” said Mrs. Jones, still taken aback. “I’ll
have to talk to my Morgan about it first. Now set you down and eat your meal.
I’ll get my Morgan to decide.”
She
went out of the room, shaking her head, her mouth pursed up in disapproval. No
fire! No hot meals! No one to “manage” for them. What a dreadful time those
children would have up in that hut in this weather!
The
five set to work to demolish the good food on the table. George allowed Timmy
to sit up on a chair too, and fed him with titbits for a treat. He was
perfectly good and very well-mannered indeed.
“I
almost expect him to hand me a plate of something!” said Anne, with a giggle.
“Tim, dear - do pass me the salt!”
Timmy
put a paw on the table exactly as if he meant to obey Anne, and George hastily
made him put it down again! What a meal that was! The pork pie was so good that
everyone had two slices, as well as their boiled eggs. Then they started on the
cheese, which even Timmy liked. There was very little room indeed for the apple
pie that Mrs. Jones brought in at the end!
“My
goodness - I forgot that an apple pie was coming,” said Anne, in dismay, as the
old woman walked in with a tray on which was a big apple pie and a jug of
cream.
“Mrs.
Jones - when we were up at the hut, we saw such a funny little creature,” said
Dick. “She said her name was Aily and she had a lamb and a...”
“Oh,
Aily! That mad little thing!” said Mrs. Jones, picking up the dirty plates.
“She’s the shepherd’s daughter - a little truant she is, runs off from school,
and hides away in the hills with her dog and her lamb. She always has a lamb
each year - it follows her about everywhere. They say there isn’t a rabbit hole
or a blackberry bush or a bird’s nest that child doesn’t know!”
“She
was singing when we first saw her,” said Julian. “Singing like a bird.”
“Ah,
yes - it’s a lovely voice she has,” said Mrs. Jones. “She’s wild as a bird -
there’s nothing to be done with her. If she’s scolded she goes off for weeks,
no one knows where. Don’t you let her come round that hut now, when you’re
there - she’ll maybe steal from you!”
“Oh,
yes - the hut! Have you spoken to Morgan about it?” said Dick, eagerly.
“Yes,
I have indeed,” said Mrs. Jones. “And he says yes, to let you go. He doesn’t
want trouble with the dogs either. He says snow is coming for sure, but you’ll
be safe up there and you can take all your toboggans for there’ll be a chance
to use them! He’ll help you up with your things.”
“Oh
good! Thanks!” said Julian, and the others smiled and looked at one another
joyfully. “Thanks most awfully, Mrs. Jones. We’ll go tomorrow after breakfast!”
Tomorrow!
After breakfast! Up to that lonely hut on the mountainside, just the Five of
them together. What could be better than that?
Chapter
Eight
OFF
TO THE LITTLE HUT
Julian
and Dick were so sleepy after their long day in the cold air, and their
enormous meal, that they could not keep their eyes open for long.
“Go
to bed, both of you!” said Anne, seeing them lying tired out in their chairs,
when Mrs. Jones had cleared away everything.
“Yes.
I think we’d better,” said Julian, staggering up. “Oh, my legs! They’re as
stiff as sticks! Good night, you two girls, and Timmy. See you tomorrow - if we
wake up!”
The
two boys stumbled up the stone stairs to bed. George and Anne stayed
downstairs, talking and reading. Timmy lay on the hearthrug, listening, his
ears twitching towards Anne when she spoke, and then towards George as she
answered. This little habit of his always made them laugh.
“It’s
exactly as if he was listening, but too lazy to join in our conversation!” said
Anne. “Oh, George - I really am glad you’re not going home tomorrow. It would
be the first time you’d ever done a thing like that! I’d just have had to come
with you!”
“Don’t
let’s talk about it,” said George. “I feel rather ashamed of making such a fuss
now. All the same I shall be terrified if I see any of those dogs again when
I’m with Timmy. What a bit of luck the boys went up to that hut today, Anne -
we’d never have known about it if they hadn’t.”
“Yes.
It sounds fun,” said Anne. “Don’t let’s be too late to bed, George. It will be
quite a pull up the mountainside tomorrow, with all our things!”
George
went to the window.
“It’s
snowing hard,” she said. “Just as Morgan said it would. I don’t like him, do
you?”
“Oh
- I think he’s all right,” said Anne. “And what a voice he’s got! He nearly
made me jump out of my skin when he called his three dogs. He must have the
loudest voice in the world!”
“Timmy
- you’re yawning!” said George, as Timmy opened his mouth widely and made a
yawning noise. “How’s your neck?”
Timmy
was getting rather tired of having his neck examined. He lay still while George
had another look at it.
“Healing
beautifully!” she said. “You’ll be quite all right tomorrow. Will you like
going off to that hut all by ourselves, Tim?”
Timmy
gave her a loving lick and yawned again. Then he got up and trotted over to the
door that led to the stone stairs, looking back enquiringly at George.
“Right.
We’re coming,” said George, laughing, and she and Anne blew out the lamp on the
table, and followed Timmy up the stairs. They peeped in at the boys’ room - and
saw Julian and Dick absolutely sound asleep, dead to the world!
“A
thunderstorm wouldn’t wake them tonight!” said Anne. “Come on - let’s buck up
and get into bed ourselves. We’ve a nice wood-fire again, and I shall undress
in front of it. Move over, Timmy, I want to stand on the rug.”
In
the morning the world was very white indeed! As Morgan had prophesied, the snow
had fallen thickly in the night, and everywhere was covered in a thick white
blanket, that gleamed and sparkled in the weak January sun.
“This
is something like!” said Dick, as he looked out of his bedroom window. “Get up,
Ju - it’s a marvellous morning! Remember, we’ve got to take all our things up
to that hut today! Do stir yourself!”
Mrs.
Jones gave them a fine breakfast - eggs, bacon and sausages.
“It’s
the last hot meal you’ll have, if you’re going up to that hut,” she said.
“Though you’ll be able to cook eggs in the little saucepan up there, if you set
it on top of the oil-stove. And mind you don’t get playing about round that
stove when it’s alight, or the whole place might go up in flames!”
“We’ll
be very careful,” promised Julian. “I’ll send anyone back if they upset the
stove - yes, I will, so just look out, Timmy!”
“Woof!”
said Tim, amiably. He was pleasantly excited with all the preparations for
going, and ran sniffing from one parcel to another.
The
children were not taking all their things, of course, but Mrs. Jones had made
them pack a complete change of clothes each, besides their warmest
night-clothes and dressing-gowns. They had torches too, and plenty of rope for
hauling things up and down the hills. And also they had six loaves of new-baked
bread, a large cheese, about three dozen eggs and a ham. So they were truly
well provided for.
“And
there’s plenty of butter packed in with the loaves,” said Mrs. Jones, “and a
large pot of cream. I’ll try and send up some milk if the shepherd comes down.
He’ll pass the hut when he goes up again. There’s only a quart in that bottle
there - but you’ll find plenty of orangeade and lemonade in the hut - and you
can boil snow if you want to make cocoa or tea!”
It
was quite clear that Mrs. Jones had no idea how many times the Five had gone
off on their own! They smiled and winked at one another, and took all her
advice in good part. She really was so kind, so very concerned about them all.
She even packed some bones and dog biscuits for Timmy!
“Here’s
my Morgan now,” said Mrs. Jones, when every single thing had been put in a pile
outside the front door, toboggans and skis as well. “He’s brought his
snow-slide with him, to take all your goods.”
The
snow-slide was like a long, flat cart with runners instead of wheels - an
elongated sleigh. The children piled on to it all the parcels, and two
suit-cases. They were all going to walk up as the snow was not yet too thick.
Timmy danced round in great excitement - though both he and George kept a wary
eye out for the other dogs, and Timmy did not venture very far from George.
The
giantlike Morgan arrived, his breath puffing before him like a smoke-cloud! He
nodded at the children.
“Morning,”
he said, and that was all. He took hold of the ropes at the front of the
snow-slide and ran them over his shoulders.
“I’ll
take one,” said Julian. “It’s much too heavy for one person to pull!”
“Ha!”
said Morgan, scornfully, and walked off with the two ropes over his shoulder.
The snow-slide followed easily.
“Strong
as a horse, my Morgan is,” said old Mrs. Jones, proudly.
“Strong
as ten horses!” said Julian, wishing he was as big and as strong as the
broad-shouldered farmer.
George
said nothing. She hadn’t yet forgiven the farmer for being scornful about
Timmy’s bite the day before. She followed the others, carrying her skis, and
waved to kind old Mrs. Jones as she stood anxiously watching them leave.
It
seemed a long trek up the mountainside, when things had to be pulled or
carried! Morgan went first, pulling the big snow-slide easily. Julian went
next, pulling a toboggan and carrying his skis. Dick was next with another
toboggan and skis, and the girls came last with their skis only. Timmy ran at
the front or the back as he liked, enjoying everything.
Morgan
said nothing at all. Julian addressed a few polite remarks to him, and received
a grunt in reply, but that was all. He looked curinusly at the great, strong
fellow, wondering about him and his silence. He looked intelligent and even
kindly - but he seemed so dour and rough in his manners and behaviour! Oh well
- they would soon say good-bye to him and be on their own!
They
came at last to the little hut. The girls ran ahead to it, exclaiming in
delight. George looked through the windows.
“Oh
- it’s a proper little house inside! Oh, look at those bunks on the walls! And
there’s even a carpet on the floor! Quick, Julian, where’s the key?”
“Morgan’s
got it,” said Julian, and they all stood by and waited while Morgan unlocked
the door for them.
“Thanks
so much for helping to bring up our things,” said Julian, politely. “Awfully
good of you.”
Morgan
grunted, but looked pleased.
“Shepherd
comes by at times,” he said, in his great deep voice, and the Five felt quite
surprised to hear him saying even a short sentence to them! “He’ll take
messages for you if you so want.”
And
with that he set off down the hill back to the farm, with enormous, swinging
steps, like a giant from an old-time tale.
“He’s
queer,” said Anne, looking after him. “I don’t know if I like him or not.”
“What
does it matter?” said Dick. “Come on, Anne, old girl, give a hand. There’s
plenty to do. What about you and George seeing what blankets and things are in
those cupboards, and making up some beds for tonight.”
Anne
loved that kind of thing, though George didn’t. She would much rather have
carried in the things as the boys were doing. But she went to the cupboards
with Anne, and examined all their contents with much interest.
“Plenty
of rugs and blankets and pillows,” said Anne. “And enough china and cutlery for
half a dozen families too! I suppose old Mrs. Jones has dozens of people here
in the summer! George, I’ll put the food away, if you’ll see to the beds.”
“Right,”
said George, and went to make up four of the bunk-beds. There were six of these
altogether, in rows of three - three on one wall, three on another, one above
the other. George was soon struggling with blankets and pillows, while Anne set
out the food they had brought with them, arranging it neatly on the cupboard
shelves. Then she went to look at the stove to see if it had oil in it, for it
would be very cold that night.
“Yes,
it’s full,” she said. “I’ll light it tonight, because I expect we’ll be out as
long as it’s daylight, won’t we, Dick?”
“Rather!”
said Dick, unpacking some of the things out of his suit-case. “By the way,
there’s a little wooden bunker outside, with a can of extra oil and an enamel
jug. I suppose the jug’s for fetching water from some spring or other in the
summer-time - but we can easily melt snow for water. Will you two girls be
long, Anne?”
“No.
We’ve almost finished,” said Anne. “Do you want something to eat before we go?
Or shall we take some bread and ham with us, and have a good meal when we come
back?”
“Oh,
take some sandwiches,” said Julian. “I don’t want to stop for a meal. Besides,
we can’t be hungry yet. Make sandwiches, Anne - and we’ll take some of those
apples with us too!”
The
sandwiches were quickly made, and the boys filled their pockets with apples.
Timmy danced round in delight.
“You
won’t be quite so pleased, Tim, when you find yourself in deep snow!” said
Dick. “I wonder if he’ll like travelling down the hill on a toboggan, George!”
“Oh,
he’ll love it!” said George. “Won’t you, Tim? Are we ready? Well, lock the
door, Ju, and off we’ll go!”
Chapter
Nine
A
STRANGE TALE
The
children did not bother about their skis that first day. For one thing the snow
was not quite thick or smooth enough for skiing, and for another thing they
longed for the swift excitement of tobogganing. Dick took George on his
toboggan and Julian took Anne on his. Timmy wouldn’t come on either of them.
“Race
you to the bottom!” Julian shouted. “One, two, three, go!” And away they went,
swishing over the clean white snow at top speed, shouting with laughter.
Julian
won easily, because Dick’s toboggan caught on a root or small bush under the
snow, which upset it very suddenly. Dick and George were flung headlong into
the snow, and sat up, blinking, and spitting out the cold snow from their
mouths.
Timmy
was terribly excited. He came plunging down the hillside after the toboggans,
annoyed at the way his legs went into the snow, barking madly. He was most
astonished to see Dick and George fly into the air when their toboggan upset,
and pranced round them, licking them and leaping on them in a most aggravating
way.
“Oh,
get away, Timmy!” said Dick, trying to get up, and being knocked down again by
the excited dog. “Go and knock George over, not me! Call him, George!”
Pulling
the toboggans back up the hill was a tiring job - but the swift flight down
over the snow was worth all the pullings-up! The four children soon had glowing
faces and tingling limbs, and wished they could throw off their coats and
scarves!
“I
can’t pull up our toboggan one more time!” said Anne, at last. “I really can’t.
You’ll have to pull it up yourself, Julian, if you want to toboggan any more.”
“Well,
I do want to - but my legs will hardly walk up the hill now,” said Julian,
panting. “Hey, Dick - Anne and I have had enough. We’ll go up and eat our
sandwiches at the top of the slope, where we can watch you.”
The
other two soon joined them, and Timmy was glad to sit down too. His long pink
tongue hung out of his mouth, and he puffed his white breath out like rolling
mist! At first he had been puzzled by what he thought was “smoke” coming out of
his mouth so continually, but now, seeing that everyone was apparently puffing
it out too, he didn’t worry!
The
Five sat at the top of the slope, eating their sandwiches hungrily, very glad
of the rest. Julian grinned round at them all.
“Pity
Mother can’t see us now!” he said. “We look marvellous! And nobody’s coughed
once. I bet we’ll be stiff tomorrow though!”
Dick
was looking across the slope to the opposite hill, rising steeply up a mile or
so away.
“There’s
that building I thought I saw yesterday,” he said. “Isn’t that a chimney
sticking up?”
“You’ve
got sharp eyes! ” said George. “Nobody could surely see a building as far away
as that, when the snow is on it!”
“Did
we bring the field-glasses?” asked Julian. “Where are they? We could soon find
out if there’s a house there or not, if we look through those.”
“I
put them into a cupboard,” said Anne, getting up. “Ooooh, I’m stiff! I’ll just
go and get them.”
She
soon came back with the glasses and handed them to Dick. He put them to his
eyes and adjusted them, till they were properly focused on the far-away hill
opposite.
“Yes,”
he said. “I was right. It is a building - and I’m pretty sure it must be Old
Towers, too. You know - the place we went to by mistake two nights ago when we
lost our way.”
“Let’s
have a look,” said Anne. “I think I might recognise it. I caught a glimpse of
the towers when we swung round a corner on the way up Old Towers Hill.”
She
put the glasses to her eyes and gazed through them. “Yes. I’m sure that’s the
place,” she said. “Wasn’t it queer - that big rude notice on the gate - and
that fiercely barking dog - and nobody about! How lonely the old lady must be
living there all by herself!”
As
they sat there, nibbling their apples, Timmy suddenly began to bark. He stood
up, turning his head towards the path that ran higher up the hill.
“Perhaps
it’s Aily, that funny child, coming,” said Julian, hopefully. But it wasn’t. It
was a small, wiry-looking woman, a shawl over her head, neatly-dressed, walking
swiftly.
She
didn’t seem very surprised to see the children. She stopped and said “Good
day.”
“You’ll
be the boys my Aily was telling me of last night,” she said. “Are you staying
in the Jones’ hut?”
“Yes,”
said Julian. “We were staying at the farm first - but our dog didn’t get on
with the others, so we’ve come up here. It’s fine. Marvellous view, too!”
“If
you see that Aily of mine, you tell her not to stay out tonight,” said the
woman, wrapping her shawl more tightly round her. “Her and her lamb! She’s as
mad as the old lady in the house yonder!” and she pointed in the direction of
Old Towers.
“Oh
- do you know anything about that old place?” asked Julian, at once. “We went
to it by mistake, and...”
“Well,
you didn’t get into it, I’ll be bound,” said Aily’s mother. “Notices on the
gate and all! And to think I used to go up there three times a week, and never
anything but kindness shown me! And now old Mrs. Thomas, she won’t see a soul
except those friends of her son’s. Poor old lady - she’s out of her mind, so
they say. Must be - or she’d see me, that waited on her for years!”
This
was all very interesting.
“Why
do they say ‘Keep Out’ on the gates?” asked Julian. “They’ve a fierce dog
there, too.”
“Ah
well, young sir, you see some of the old lady’s friends would like to know
what’s going on,” said Aily’s mother. “But nobody can do a thing. It’s a queer
place now - with noises at night - and mists - and shimmerings - and...”
Julian
began to think this was an old wives’ tale, made up because the villagers were
angry that they were now kept out of the big old house. He smiled.
“Oh,
you may smile, young man,” said the woman, sounding cross. “But ever since last
October, there’s queer doings there. And what’s more, vans have been there in
the dead of night. What for, I’d like to know? Well, if you ask me, I reckon
they’ve been taking away the poor old thing’s belongings - furniture and
pictures and such. My poor old Madam - she was sweet and kind, and now I don’t
know what’s happening to her!”
There
were tears in the woman’s eyes, and she hastily brushed them away.
“I
shouldn’t be telling you all this - you’ll be scared sleeping here alone at
night now.”
“No
- no, we shan’t,” Julian assured her, amused that she should think that a
village tale might frighten them. “Tell us about Aily. Isn’t she frozen, going
about with so few clothes on?”
“That
child! She’s fey, I tell you,” said Aily’s mother. “Runs about the hills like a
wild thing - plays truant from school - goes to see her father - he’s shepherd,
up yonder where the sheep are - and doesn’t come home at nights. You tell her
there’s a good whipping waiting for her at home if she doesn’t come back
tonight. She’s like her father, she is - likes to be alone all the time - talks
to the lambs and the dogs like they were human - but never a word to me!”
The
children began to feel uncomfortable, and wished they hadn’t spoken to the
grumbling gossipy woman. Julian got up.
“Well
- if we see Aily, we’ll certainly tell her to go home - but not about the
whipping, because I expect she wouldn’t go home then,” he said. “If you pass by
the farmhouse will you be kind enough to step in and tell Mrs. Jones we are
quite all right, and enjoying ourselves very much? Thank you!”
The
woman nodded her head, muttered something, and went off down the hill, walking
as swiftly as before.
“She
said some queer things,” said Dick, staring after her. “Was that a silly
village-tale she told us - or do you suppose there’s something in it, Ju?”
“Oh
- a village tale of course!” said Julian, sensing that Anne hadn’t liked it
much. “What a strange family - a shepherd who spends all his time on the hills
- a child who wanders about the countryside with a lamb and a dog - and a
mother who stops and tells such angry tales to strangers!”
“It’s
getting dark,” said Dick. “I vote we go in and light the oil-lamp and get the
hut warm - and light the table-lamp too. It’ll be cosy in there. I’m feeling a
bit chilled now, sitting out here so long.”
“Well,
don’t begin to cough,” said Julian, “or you’ll set us all off! Indoors, Tim!
Come on!”
Soon
they were all in the hut, the oil-lamp giving out a lovely warmth and glow, and
the table-lamp shining brightly.
“We’ll
play a game, shall we?” said Dick. “And have a sort of high tea later. Let’s
have a silly game - snap, or something!”
So
they sat down to play - and soon Dick’s cards had all been “snapped” by the
others. He yawned and went to the window, looking out into the darkness that
hid all the snowy hills. Then he stood tense for a moment, staring in surprise.
He spoke to the others without turning.
“Quick!
Come here, all of you! Tell me what you make of this! Did you ever see such an
extraordinary thing! QUICK!”
Chapter
Ten
IN
THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
“What
is it, Dick? What can you see?” cried George, putting down her cards as soon as
she heard Dick’s call. Julian rushed to stand beside him at once, imagining all
sorts of things. Anne went too, with Timmy leaping excitedly. They all stared
out of the window, Anne half fearfully.
“It’s
gone!” cried Dick, in disappointment.
“But
what was it?” asked George.
“I
don’t know. It was over there - on the opposite slope, where Old Towers is,”
said Dick. “I don’t know how to describe it - it was like a - like a rainbow -
no, not quite like that - how can I describe it?”
“Try,”
said Julian, excited.
“Well
- let me think - you know how, on a very hot day, all the air shimmers, don’t
you!” said Dick. “Well that’s what I saw on the hill over there - rising high
into the sky and then disappearing. A shimmering!”
“What
colour?” asked Anne, amazed.
“I
don’t know - all colours it seemed,” said Dick. “I don’t quite know how to
explain - it’s something I’ve never seen before. It just came suddenly - and
the shimmering rose all the way up into the sky, and then disappeared. That’s
all.”
“Well
- that’s what Aily’s mother said - mists - and shimmerings,” said Julian,
remembering. “Gosh - so that wasn’t just a tale she told us. There was some
truth in it. But what in the wide world can this shimmering be?”
“Had
we better go back to the farm and tell them there?” asked Anne, hopefully, not
at all wanting to spend the night in the hut now.
“No!
They’ve probably heard the tale already,” said Julian. “Besides - this is
exciting. We might be able to find out something more about it. We can easily
watch Old Towers from here - it’s one of the very few places where anyone can
look straight across at it. As the crow flies, it’s less than a mile away -
though it’s many miles by the road.”
They
all gazed towards the opposite hill again, though they couldn’t see it, of
course, hoping something would happen. But nothing did happen. The sky was
pitch black, for heavy clouds had come up - and the distant hill couldn’t be
seen.
“Well
- I’m tired of looking out into the darkness,” said Anne, turning away. “Let’s
go on with our game.”
“Right,”
said Julian, and they all sat down again, Dick watching the others play, but
occasionally glancing out of the window into the black darkness there.
Anne
was out of the game next, and she got up and went to the food cupboard.
“I
think I’ll start preparing a meal,” she said. “We’ll have boiled eggs, shall
we, to begin with - and I’ll boil a kettle too and make some cocoa - or would
you rather have tea?”
“Cocoa,”
said everyone, and Anne got out the tin.
“I’ll
want some snow, for the kettle,” she said.
“Well,
there’s some nice clean snow just behind the hut,” said Dick. “Oh wait, Anne -
you won’t like going out in the dark now, will you? I’ll get it! If you hear me
yell, you’ll know there’s something going on!”
Timmy
went out with him, much to Anne’s relief. She held the kettle, waiting for the
snow - and then suddenly there came a loud yell!
“Hey!
Who’s that?”
Anne
let go the kettle in fright, and it dropped on the floor with a crash, making
the other two jump violently. Julian rushed to the door.
“Dick!
What’s up?”
Dick
appeared at the doorway, grinning, with Timmy beside him.
“Nothing
much. Sorry if I frightened you. But I was just scraping up some snow in the
basin here, when something rushed at me, and butted me!”
“Whatever
was it?” said George, startled. “And why didn’t Timmy bark?”
“Because
he knew it was harmless, I suppose,” said Dick, grinning aggravatingly. “Here,
Anne - here’s the snow for the kettle.”
“Dick!
Don’t be so annoying!” said George. “Who was out there?”
“Well
- I couldn’t really see much, because I’d put my torch down to scrape up the
snow,” said Dick. “But I rather think it was Fany the lamb! It was gone before
I had time to call out. I got quite a shock!”
“Fany
the lamb!” said Julian. “Well - that must mean that little Aily is about. What
can she be doing out in the darkness at this time of night?”
He
went to the door and called:
“Aily!
Aily, if you’re there, come in here and we’ll give you something to eat.”
But
there was no answering call. Nobody appeared out of the darkness, no lamb came
frisking up.
Timmy
stood by Julian, looking out into the darkness, his ears pricked. He had been
surprised when the tiny lamb trotted up out of the darkness, and had had half a
mind to bark. But who would bark at a lamb? Not Timmy!
Julian
shut the door.
“If
that kid is out there in this frosty night, with only the few clothes she had
on yesterday, I should think she’ll catch her death of cold,” he said. “Cheer
up, Anne - and for goodness’ sake, don’t be scared if you hear a noise outside
or see a little face looking in at the window. It will only be that mad little
Aily!”
“I
don’t want to see any faces looking in at the window, whether it’s Aily or
not,” said Anne, putting snow into the kettle. “Honestly I think she must be
mad, wandering about these snowy hills alone at night. I don’t wonder her
mother was cross.”
It
wasn’t long before they were all sitting round the small table eating a very
nice meal. Boiled eggs, laid that morning, cheese and new bread and butter, and
a jar of home-made jam they found in the cupboard. They drank steaming hot cups
of cocoa, into each of which Anne had ladled a spoonful of cream.
“No
King or Queen in all the world could possibly have enjoyed their meal more than
I have,” said Dick. “Anne, shall I take the milk and cream out into the snow -
they’ll keep for ages out there.”
“All
right. But for goodness’ sake don’t put them where the lamb can get them - if
it was a lamb that butted you,” said Anne, giving them to Dick. “And don’t yell
again if you can help it!”
However,
Dick didn’t see anything this time, nor did anything come up and butt him. He
was quite disappointed!
“I’ll
wash the plates and cups out in the snow tomorrow,” said Anne. “How long are
you all going to stay up? It’s awfully early, I know - but I’m half asleep
already! The air up here is so very strong!”
“All
right. We’ll all pack up,” said Julian. “You take those two bunks over there,
girls, and we’ll have these. Shall we have the little oil-stove on, or not?”
“Yes,”
said Dick. “This place will be an ice-box if we don’t!”
“I’d
like it on too,” said Anne. “What with shimmerings and buttings and yellings I
feel I’d like a little light in the room, even if it only comes from an
oil-stove!”
“Well
- I know you don’t believe my ‘shimmerings’,” said Dick. “But I swear they’re
true! And what’s more, I bet we’ll all see them before we leave this hut! Well
- good night, girls - I’m for bed!”
In
a few minutes’ time the bunks were creaking as the four children settled into
them. They were not as comfortable as beds, but quite good. George’s bunk
creaked more than anyone’s.
“I
suppose you’ve got Timmy in your bunk, making it creak like that!” said Anne
sleepily. “Well, I’m glad I’m in the bunk above yours, George. I bet Tim falls
out in the night!”
One
by one they fell asleep. The oil-stove burned steadily. It was turned rather
low, and shadows quivered on the ceiling and walls. And then something made
Timmy’s ears prick up as he lay asleep on George’s feet. First one ear pricked
up - and then the other - and suddenly Timmy sat up straight and growled in his
throat. Nobody awoke - they were all too sound asleep.
Timmy
growled again and again - and then he barked sharply. “WOOF!”
Everyone
awoke at once. Timmy barked again, and George put out a hand to him.
“Sh!
What’s the matter? Is there someone about, Tim?”
“What’s
up, do you think?” said Julian, from his bunk on the other side of the room.
Nobody could hear or see anything out of the ordinary. Why was Timmy barking then?
The
oil-stove was still burning, its light throwing a small round pattern of yellow
on the ceiling. It made a small cosy noise as it burned, a kind of bubbling.
There was nothing else to be heard at all.
“It
must be someone prowling outside,” said Dick at last. “Shall we let Timmy go
and see?”
“Well
- let’s lie down and see if he barks again,” said Julian. “For all we know a
mouse may have run across the floor. Tim would bark at that just as soon as he
would bark at an elephant!”
“Yes.
You’re right,” said George. “All right - we’ll lie down again. Timmy’s lying
down too. Now, for goodness’ sake, Tim, if it is a mouse somewhere, do use your
common sense, and let it play if it wants to - and don’t wake us up.”
Timmy
licked her face. He kept his ears well up for a while. The others all went to
sleep except Anne. She lay with her eyes open, wondering what had startled
Timmy. She didn’t believe it was a mouse!
So
it was the wakeful Anne who heard the noise when it came again. She thought at
first that it was just a noise in her ears, the kind she often heard when she
lay down to sleep, and the room was quiet. But then she felt certain that it
wasn’t in her ears - it was a real noise. But what a peculiar one!
“It’s
a kind of deep deep grumbling noise,” thought Anne, sitting up. Timmy gave a
little whine as if to say he was hearing something again too. “A sort of
thunder-rumble, but far far below me, not above!”
It
grew a little louder, and Timmy growled.
“It’s
all right, Tim,” whispered Anne. “It must be far-off thunder, I think!”
But
then the shuddering began! This was so astonishing that Anne didn’t know what
to make of it. At first she thought it was herself, beginning to shiver with
the cold. But no - even her bunk vibrated to her fingers when she touched the
wooden side!
Then
she really was frightened. She called out loudly.
“Julian!
Dick! Wake up - something queer is happening. Do wake up!”
And
Timmy began to bark again. Woof, woof, woof! WOOF, WOOF!
Chapter
Eleven
STRANGE
HAPPENINGS
Everyone
awoke at Anne’s call. Julian thought he was in bed, and leapt out, forgetting
that he was in the top bunk. He landed with a crash on the floor, shaken and
alarmed.
“Oh,
Ju! You forgot you were in the top bunk!” said George, half scared and half amused.
“Are you hurt? Anne, whatever is the matter? Why did you call out? Did you see
something?”
“No.
I heard something - and felt something!” said Anne, glad that the others were
awake. “So did Timmy. But it’s all gone now.”
“Yes,
but what was it?” asked Julian, sitting on the edge of Dick’s bunk, and rubbing
his knee, which had struck the floor when he fell.
“It
was a... a... well... a kind of very very deep rumbling,” said Anne. “A
deep-down rumbling - very far away. Not like thunder up in the sky. More like a
thunderstorm underground! And then there was a... a shuddering! I felt the edge
of my bunk and it seemed to be sort of - well - quivering. I can’t quite
explain it. I was awfully scared.”
“Sounds
like a small earthquake,” said Dick, wondering if Anne had dreamt all this.
“Anyway - you can’t hear or feel it now, can you? You’re sure you didn’t dream
all this, Anne?”
“Quite
sure!” said Anne, “I...” And just at that very moment it all began again! First
the curious grumbling, muffled, and “deep-down”, as Anne had described it -
then the equally strange “shuddering”. It crept through their bodies till they
were all shuddering a little too, and could not stop.
“It’s
as if we were shivering in every part of us,” said Dick, in wonder. “Sort of
vibrating as if we had tiny dynamo engines working inside us.”
“Yes!
You’ve described it exactly!” said George. “Goodness - when I put my hand on
Timmy I can feel him doing the ‘shudders’ - and it’s just like putting my hand
on something working by electricity! You know the sort of small vibrations you
feel then.”
“It’s
gone!” said Dick, just as George finished speaking. “I’m not ‘shuddering’ any
more. It suddenly stopped. And I can’t hear that grumbling, far-off noise now.
Can you?”
Everyone
agreed that both the noise and the shuddering had stopped. What in the wide
world could it be?
“It
must be something to do with that curious ‘shimmering’ I saw in the sky over
Old Towers Hill tonight,” said Dick, remembering. “I’ve a good mind to go and
look out of the window that faces the hill opposite, and see if it’s there
again.”
He
leapt out of his bunk and ran to the window. At once he gave a loud cry. “Come
and look! Whew! Just come and look!”
All
the others, Timmy as well, rushed to the window at once, Timmy standing on his
hind legs to see. Certainly there was something queer to look at!
Over
the hill opposite hung a mist - a curious glowing mist, that stood out in the
pitch black darkness of the night! It swirled heavily, not lightly as a mist
usually does.
“Look
at that!” said Anne, in wonder. “What a strange colour - not red - not yellow -
not orange. What colour is it?”
“It’s
not a shade I’ve ever seen before,” said Julian, rather solemnly. “I call this
jolly strange. What’s happening here? No wonder Aily’s mother told us those
stories - there’s really something in them! We’d better make a few enquiries
tomorrow.”
“It’s
funny that both the shimmering I saw and that cloud too are over Old Towers
Hill,” said Dick. “You don’t think it’s something that’s happening in Old
Towers House, do you?”
“No.
Of course not,” said Julian. “What could happen there that would make us feel
the effects here, in this hut - that queer shuddering, for instance? And how in
the world could we hear a rumbling from a mile or so away, if it were not
thunder? And that certainly wasn’t.”
“The
mist is going,” said Anne. “Look - it’s changing colour - no, it’s just going
darker. It’s gone!”
They
stood looking out for a short while longer, and then Julian felt Anne shivering
violently beside him.
“You’re
frozen!” he said. “Come on, back to bed. You don’t want to get another awful
cold and cough. My word - this is all very queer. But I expect there’s a
sensible explanation - probably there are mines around here, and work is being
done at night as well as day.”
“We’ll
find out,” said Dick, and they all climbed thankfully back into their bunks,
feeling very cold. Julian turned up the stove a little more, to heat the room
better.
George
cuddled Timmy and was soon as warm as toast, but the others lay awake, trying
to get their cold hands and feet warm again. Julian felt very puzzled. So there
was a lot of truth in that woman’s peculiar tale, after all!
They
awoke late the next morning, for they had been tired out with their exertions
the day before, and with the excitements in the night. Julian leapt out of his
bunk when he found that it was actually ten to nine, and dressed quickly,
calling to the others. He went out to get some snow to put into the kettle.
Soon
breakfast was ready, for Anne was next to get up, and she began quickly to
prepare some food. Boiled eggs and ham, bread, butter and jam - and good hot
cocoa again. Soon they were all eating and chattering, talking over the
happenings of the night, which somehow didn’t seem nearly so remarkable now
that daylight was everywhere, brilliant with the snow, and the sun trying to
come out from behind the clouds.
As
they sat round the table, eating and talking, Timmy ran to the door and began
to bark. “Now what’s up?” said Dick. Then a face looked in at the window!
It
was a remarkable face, old, lined and wrinkled, yet curiously young-looking
too. The eyes were as blue as a summer sky. It was a man’s face, with a long,
raggedy beard and a moustache.
“Gracious
- he looks like one of the old prophets out of the Bible,” said Anne, really
startled. “Who is he?”
“The
shepherd, I expect,” said Julian, going to the door. “We’ll ask him in for a
cup of cocoa. Maybe he can answer a few questions for us!”
He
opened the door. “Are you the shepherd?” he said. “Come in. We’re having
breakfast and we can give you some too, if you like.”
The
shepherd came in, and smiled, making many more wrinkles appear on his
weather-beaten face. Julian wondered if he spoke English, or only Welsh. He was
a fine-looking fellow, tall and straight, and obviously much younger than he
looked.
“You
are kind, young sir,” he said, standing there with his crook, and Anne suddenly
felt that there must have been men just like this all through the history of
the world, ever since there had been sheep on the hills, and men to watch them.
The
shepherd spoke slowly, for English words were not easy to him. “You want to
send - to send - words - to the farm?” he said, in the lilting Welsh voice, so
pleasant to hear.
“Oh
yes - please take a message to the farm,” said Julian, handing him some bread
and butter, and a dish of cheese. “Just say we’re fine, and all is well.”
“All
is well, all is well,” repeated the shepherd, and refused the bread and cheese.
“No. I do not eat now. But the drink, yes, I will have, and thanking you I am,
for the morning is cold.”
“Shepherd,”
said Julian, “did you hear queer noises last night - rumblings and grumblings -
and did you feel shudderings and see a coloured mist over the hill yonder?”
The
shepherd listened intently, trying to follow the strange English words. He
understood that Julian was asking him something about the opposite hill.
He
took a sip of his cocoa, and looked over to the hill. “Always it has been a
strange hill,” he said slowly, pronouncing some of his words queerly, so that
they were hard to understand. “My grandad told me a big dog lay below, growling
for food, and my granny said witches lived there and made their spells, and -
and the smock rose up...”
“Smock?
What does he mean by that?” said George.
“He
means ‘smoke’ I should think,” said Julian. “Don’t interrupt. Let him talk.
This is very interesting.”
“The
smock rose up, and we saw it in the sky,” went on the shepherd, his forehead
wrinkled with the effort of using words he was not familiar with. “And it comes
still, young ones, it comes still! The big dog, he growls, the witches they
cook in their pots, and the smock, it rises.”
“We
heard the big dog growling last night, and saw the witches’ smoke,” said Anne,
quite under the spell of the lilting voice of the old shepherd.
The
man looked at her and smiled. “Yes,” he said. “Yes. But the dog is worse now
and the witches are more bad - more wickit, much more wickit...”
“More
wicked?” said Julian. “How?”
The
shepherd shook his head. “I am not clever,” he said. “I know few things - my
sheep, and the wind and the sky - and I know too that the hill is wickit - yes,
more wickit. Near it you must not go, young ones! For there the plough will not
plough the fields, the spade will not dig, and neither will the fork.”
This
somehow sounded so much like a piece out of the Old Testament that the children
felt quite solemn. What a strange and impressive old man - and yet he was only
a shepherd.
“Still,”
thought Julian, gazing at him, “he has absolutely nothing to do but think long
long thoughts all the hours he sits watching his sheep. No wonder he says
extraordinary things. But what does he mean about the plough not ploughing the
fields, I wonder?”
The
shepherd put his cup down on the table. “I go now,” he said. “And I take your
words to Mrs. Jones. And I thank you for your kindness. Good day!”
He
went out with great dignity, and the children saw him striding past the window,
his beard being blown backwards by the wind.
“Well!”
said Dick, “what a character! I almost felt that I was in church, listening to
a preacher. I liked him, didn’t you? But what did he mean about ploughs not
ploughing and spades not digging? That’s nonsense!”
“Well
- it may not be,” said Julian. “After all, we know that our car wouldn’t go
down that hill fast - and you remember that Aily’s mother - the shepherd’s wife
- said that the postman had to leave his bicycle at the bottom of the hill -
even that wouldn’t work! So it’s quite likely that in the old days ploughs went
too heavily and too slowly to plough properly, and that spades were the same.”
“But
why?” said Anne, puzzled. “Surely you don’t really believe these things? I know
our car went crawling down - but that might have been because something went
wrong in its works for a little while!”
“Anne
doesn’t want to believe in ploughs and spades and forks that won’t do their
jobs!” said Dick, teasingly. “Come on - let’s forget the queer happenings last
night and put on our skis. I feel pretty stiff after yesterday - but a bit of
skiing down those slopes will do me good. What about it?”
“Yes!
Come on!” said Julian. “Buck up with the clearing away, Anne - Dick and I will
get out the skis. Hurry!”
Chapter
Twelve
OUT
ON THE HILLS
Timmy
didn’t find skiing any fun at all, because, not being fitted with skis, he
couldn’t keep up with the others, when they tore down the hill at top speed!
At
first he plunged after them, but when he jumped into a great soft heap of snow,
and buried himself completely, he decided that this kind of winter sport was
not for him! He clambered out of the snow-heap, shook the snow off his coat,
and stared forlornly after the shouting children.
They
had skied before, and were quite good at it. The hill down which they went was
very long, and had a fine slope. It ran smoothly into the upward slope of the
next hill, on which Old Towers house had been built.
Julian
did a marvellous run down, and went swinging on up the opposite hill. He called
to the others.
“I
say - what about going up to the top of this hill, because we’re already part
of the way up - and ski-ing down, and partly up our own slope again. It would
save time, and give us a jolly good second ski-run.”
All
but Anne thought this was a very good idea. She said nothing, and Dick looked
at her.
“She’s
scared of going up Old Towers Hill!” he said. “Are you afraid of the big, big
dog, Anne, who lies under it and growls at night, or of the lank-haired witches
that sit on the hill and make their smoky spells?”
“Don’t
be silly,” said Anne, cross with Dick for reading her thoughts. She didn’t
believe in either dog or witches, but somehow she did not like that hill! “I’m
coming too, of course!”
So
she toiled up the opposite hill with the others, quite ready to enjoy the
lovely run down, and to end half-way up their own hill.
“Look
- you can see Old Towers quite clearly now,” said George to Julian. She was
right. There, not far off, was the great old house, set with towers, built
cosily into the side of the steep hill.
They
stood still and looked at it. “We can even see down into a few of the rooms,”
said Julian. “I wonder if the old lady is still there - Mrs. Thomas - the one
that Aily’s mother used to go and work for?”
“Poor
old thing - I’m sorry for her if she is,” said George. “Seeing nobody - keeping
out all her friends! I wish we could go and enquire at the house for something
- pretend we’ve lost our way, and snoop round a bit. But there’s that fierce
dog.”
“Yes
- we don’t want any more fights,” said Julian. “Now - we’re almost at the top.
We’ll wait for the others and then have a race. What a wonderful slope!”
“Julian
- look - is that someone at one of the tower windows - the one to the right?”
said George suddenly, as they stood waiting, looking down at the big old house
some way off below them. Julian looked at the tower at once, just in time to
see someone disappear.
“Yes.
It was someone! ” he said. “Someone staring at us, I think. I expect no one
ever comes near this hill, and it must have been a surprise to look out and see
us! Did you make out if it was a man or a woman?”
“A
woman, I think,” said George. “Could it have been old Mrs. Thomas, do you
think? Oh, Ju - you don’t suppose she’s being kept prisoner in that tower, do
you - while her horrid son and his friends gradually steal everything? You know
we heard that vans went up to the house in the middle of the night.”
“Hallo,
you two!” said Dick, labouring up with Anne. “What a climb! Still, the run down
will be worth it. I simply must have a rest first, though!”
“Dick,
George and I thought we saw someone at the tower window there - the one on the
right,” said Julian. “When we get back we’ll get our field-glasses and train
them on to that window. We might possibly see some sign of anyone there!”
Dick
and Anne stared hard at the tower window - and as they looked, someone drew the
curtains swiftly across!
“There
- we’ve been seen - and we’re not going to be encouraged to look at the old
place!” said Julian. “No wonder there are queer stories about it! Come on, now
- let’s start our run down!”
They
set off together, each taking a different line. Whooooooosh! The wind blew in
their faces as they flew down the white slope, gasping in delight at their
speed. Julian and Anne slid swiftly all the way down the first slope and half-way
up the next - but Dick and George were not so fortunate. They both caught their
skis in something, and shot into the air and then down into the soft snow. They
lay there breathless, almost dazed with the sudden stoppage.
“Whew!”
said Dick, at last. “What a shock! Is that you, George? Are you all right?”
“I
think so,” said George. “One ankle feels a bit queer - no, I think it’s all
right! Hallo, here’s Tim! He must have seen us fall, and come rushing down to
help. It’s all right, Tim. We’re not hurt. It’s all part of the fun!”
As
they lay there, getting their breath, half-way down the first slope, a loud
voice shouted in the distance.
“Hey
there! You keep off this slope!”
Dick
sat up straight at once. He saw a tall fellow wading through the snow towards
them, from the direction of Old Towers, looking angry.
“We’re
only skiing!” shouted back Dick. “And we’re not doing any harm! Who are you?”
“I’m
the caretaker,” shouted the man, nodding his head towards Old Towers. “This
field belongs to the house. So keep off it! ”
“We’ll
come and ask permission of the owners,” yelled Dick, standing up, thinking this
might be a good way of having a look at the house.
“You
can’t. There’s no one else here but me!” shouted back the man. “I’m the
caretaker, I tell you. I’ll set my dog on you all, if you don’t do what I say!”
“That’s
funny,” said Dick to George, as the man waded back through the snow. “He says
he’s the only one in the house - and yet we saw someone in the right-hand tower
only a few minutes ago! The caretaker wouldn’t have had time to have got here
from the tower - so he isn’t the only one in the house. There is someone in the
tower as well. Queer, isn’t it?”
George
had held Timmy by the collar all the time the man was speaking. Timmy had
growled at the man’s angry voice, and George was afraid he might fly at him.
Then, if the other dog appeared, there might be a fight! That would be
dreadful! Timmy might get bitten again.
She
and Dick tried their skis to see if they were still properly fixed, after their
fall - and then went smoothly gliding off again. The others were waiting at the
top of the hill for them.
“Who
was that man? What was he shouting about?” demanded Julian. “Did he actually
come from Old Towers?”
“Yes
- and a surly fellow he was, too,” said Dick. “He ordered us to keep off that
slope - said it belonged to Old Towers and he was the caretaker - and when we
said we’d go and ask permission from the owners, he said he was the only one in
the house! But we know different.”
“Yes.
We do,” said Julian, puzzled. “Why should it matter to anyone if we ski down
that particular slope? Are they afraid we might see something in the house - as
we did! And why tell a lie and say there was no one else there? Did he sound
like a caretaker?”
“Well
- he didn’t sound Welsh!” said George. “And I should have thought that any
owners would have chosen someone trustworthy from the village, someone Welsh,
wouldn’t you? This is all rather mysterious!”
“And
if you add to it all the strange noises and things, it’s extremely curious,”
said Dick. “In fact, I feel it might be worth enquiring into!”
“No,”
said Anne. “Don’t let’s spoil our holiday. It’s such a short one.”
“Well
- I don’t see how we can enquire into the matter,” said George. “I’m certainly
not going to that house while the dog is there - and there’s no other way of
making enquiries - even if they would get us anywhere, which I’m pretty sure
they wouldn’t!”
“I
say - do you know that it’s almost one o’clock?” said Anne, pleased to change
the subject. “Isn’t anybody hungry?”
“Yes
- I’m ravenous!” said Julian. “But as I thought it was only about half-past
eleven, I didn’t like to mention it! Let’s go in and have dinner. I vote we
finish up that ham!”
They
went to the hut, and there, standing in the snow outside it, were two quart
bottles of milk, and a large parcel which Timmy at once went to, wagging his
tail eagerly. He gave a little bark.
“He
says it’s meat, so it must be for him,” said George with a laugh.
Julian
tore off the paper and laughed too. “Well, Timmy’s right,” he said. “ It’s a
big piece of cold roast pork. No ham for me, then. I’ll have some of this!”
“Pity
we haven’t any apple sauce,” said Dick. “I love it with pork.”
“Well,
if you like to wait while I make some on the stove, with a few of the apples we
brought...” began Anne. But the others refused at once. No one was going to
wait one minute longer for their meal than they could help, apple sauce or not!
It
was a merry meal, and certainly the pork was good. Timmy had a piece and thought
that George was very mean not to give him the rest of the joint when they had
finished with it.
“Oh
no, Tim!” said George, as he put an enquiring paw on her knee. “Certainly not.
We’re going to finish it up tomorrow! You shall have the bone then.”
“There’s
more snow coming,” said Julian, looking out of the window. “I say - who brought
the meat and the milk here, do you think?”
“The
shepherd, I should imagine, on his way back,” said Dick. “Jolly nice of him. I
wonder where that kid Aily is? I’d be scared of her getting caught in the snow,
and having to sleep on the hills in it.”
“I
expect she’ll look after herself all right and her lamb and dog!” said Julian.
“I’d like to see her again - but unless she’s hungry, I don’t expect we shall!”
“Talk
of an angel and hear the rustle of her wings!” said Anne. “Here she is!” And
sure enough, there was Aily, looking in at the window, holding up her lamb for
him to take a peep too!
“Let’s
get her in and feed her - and ask her if she knows who lives in Old Towers,”
said George. “She might have seen someone in that right-hand tower too, as we
did!”
“Right.
I’ll call her in,” said Julian, going to the door. “She might know something -
always scouring round about the countryside!”
He
was right! Aily did know something - something that interested everyone very
much!
Chapter
Thirteen
AILY
IS SURPRISING
Aily
was not shy this time. She did not run away when Julian opened the door. She
was still dressed in the same few clothes, but her face glowed, and she certainly
didn’t look cold!
“Hallo,
Aily!” said Julian. “Come along in. We’re having dinner - and there is plenty
for you!”
The
dog ran right up to the door and into the room, when he smelt the dinner there.
Timmy looked most surprised, and gave a very small growl.
“No,
Tim, no - he’s your guest,” said George. “Remember your manners, please!”
The
small dog wagged his tail vigorously. “There, Timmy! He’s telling you not to be
afraid of him; he won’t hurt you!” said Anne, which made everyone laugh. Timmy
wagged his tail vigorously, too, and the pair were friends at once.
Aily
came in then, the lamb in her arms, in case Timmy might object to him. But
Timmy didn’t. He was very interested in the little creature, and when Aily set
him down and let him run about the room, Timmy ran sniffing after him, his tail
still wagging fast.
Anne
offered the untidy little girl some of the meat but she shook her head and
pointed at the cheese. “Aily like,” she said, and looked on in delight as Anne
cut her a generous piece. She sat down on the floor to eat it, and the lamb
came along and nibbled at it too. It really was a dear little thing.
“Fany
bach!” said the child, and kissed his little nose.
“‘Bach’
is Welsh for ‘dear’, isn’t it?” said Anne. She touched Aily on the arm. “Aily
bach!” she said, and the child smiled a sudden sweet smile at her.
“Where
did you sleep last night, Aily?” asked George. “Your mother was looking for
you.”
But
she had spoken too quickly, and Aily didn’t understand. George repeated her
words slowly.
Aily
nodded. “In the hay,” she said. “Down at Magga Farm.”
“Aily,
listen - who lives at Old Towers?” asked Julian, speaking as slowly and clearly
as he could.
“Many
peoples,” said Aily, pointing to the cheese, to show that she wanted another
piece. “Big mans, little mans. Big dog, too. More big than him!” and she
pointed at Timmy.
The
others looked at one another in surprise. Many men! Whatever were they doing at
Old Towers?
“And
yet that caretaker fellow said he was the only one there!” said George.
“Aily,
listen - is there - an - old - lady - there?” asked Julian, slowly. “An - old -
lady?”
Aily
nodded her head. “Yes - one old lady I see her high up in tower - sometime she
not see Aily. Aily hide.”
“Where
do you hide?” asked Dick, curiously.
“Aily
not tell, never not tell,” said the child, looking through half-closed eyes at
Dick, as if she kept her secrets behind them.
“Did
you see the old lady when you were in the fields?” asked Julian. Aily
considered this, and shook her head.
“Well,
where then?” asked Julian. “Look - you shall have some of this chocolate if you
can tell me.” He held the bar of chocolate just out of her reach. She looked at
it with bright eyes. Obviously chocolate was a rare treat for her. She reached
out suddenly for it, but Julian was too quick for her.
“No.
You tell me what I ask you,” he said. “Then you shall have the chocolate.”
Aily
suddenly hit out with her hands and gave him a good punch in the chest. He
laughed and took both her small hands in his big one.
“No,
Aily, no. I am your friend. You do not hit a friend.”
“I
know where you were, when you saw the old lady!” said Dick, slyly. “Aily - you
were in the grounds - in the garden!”
“How
you know?” cried Aily. She dragged her hands out of Julian’s hand, and leapt to
her feet, facing Dick, looking furious and frightened.
“Here
- don’t get so upset,” said Dick, astonished.
“How
you know?” demanded Aily again. “You not tell no one?”
“Of
course I’ve told no one,” said Dick, who had only just thought of the idea that
very moment. “Aha! So you get into the grounds of Old Towers, do you? How do
you get in?”
“Aily
not tell,” said the little girl, and suddenly burst into tears. Anne put her
arm round her to comfort her, but the child pushed it roughly away. “He - Dave
- went there, not me, not Aily. Poor Dave - big dog bark, wuff-wuff, like that
- and... and...”
“And
so you went in to get Dave, didn’t you?” said Dick. “Good little Aily, brave
Aily.”
The
little girl rubbed her tears away with a grubby hand, and left black streaks
down her cheeks. She smiled at Dick, and nodded. “Good Aily!” she repeated, and
took the little dog on her knee and hugged him. “Poor Dave bach!”
“So
she got into the grounds, did she?” said Julian, in a low voice to Dick. “I
wonder how? Through the hedge perhaps. Aily - we want to see this old lady. Can
we get through the hedge round the garden?”
“No,”
said Aily, shaking her head vigorously. “Fence there - big high fence that
bites.”
Everyone
laughed at the idea of a biting fence. But George guessed what she meant. “An
electric fence!” she said. “So that’s what they’ve put round. My word - the
place is like a fort! Locked gates, a fierce dog, an electric fence!”
“How
on earth did Aily get in, then?” said Dick. “Aily - have you seen this old woman
many times? Has she seen you?”
Aily
didn’t understand and he had to ask his questions again, more simply. The child
nodded her head. “Many times Aily see her - up high - and one time she see
Aily. She throw out papers - little bits - out of the window.”
“Aily
- did you pick them up?” said Julian, sitting up straight at once. “Was there
writing on them?”
Everyone
waited for Aily’s answers. She nodded her head. “Yes. Writings like they do at
school - pen writings.”
“Did
you read any of them?” asked Dick.
Aily
suddenly wore a hunted expression. She shook her head - then she nodded it.
“Yes, Aily read them,” she said. “They say ‘Good morning, Aily. How are you,
Aily?’”
“Does
the old woman know you then?” asked Dick, surprised.
“No,
she not know Aily - only Aily’s Mam,” said the child. “She say on her papers
‘Aily, you good girl. Aily, you very good!’”
“She’s
not telling the truth now,” said Dick, noticing that the child would not look
at them when she spoke. “I wonder why?”
“I
think I know,” said Anne. She took a piece of paper and wrote on it clearly.
“Good morning, Aily.” Then she showed it to the child. “Read that, Aily,” she
said.
But
Aily couldn’t! She had no idea what was written on the paper.
“She
can’t even read,” said Anne. “And she was ashamed, so she pretended she could.
Never mind, Aily! Listen - have you any of those bits of paper that the old
woman dropped?”
Aily
felt about in her few clothes, and at last produced a piece of paper that
looked as if it had been tom from the top of a page in a book. She gave it to
Dick.
All
the four bent over it, reading what was written there, in small, rather
illegible writing.
“I
want help. I am a prisoner here, in my own house, while terrible things go on.
They have killed my son. Help me, help me! Bronwen Thomas.”
“Good
gracious!” said Julian, very startled. “I say - this is extraordinary, isn’t
it! Do you think we ought to show it to the police?”
“Well
- there is probably only one policeman shared between three or four of these
little places,” said Dick. “And there’s another thing - the old lady might be
off her head, you know. What she says may not be true.”
“How
can we possibly find out if it is or not?” said George.
Dick
turned to Aily. “Aily - we want to see the old lady - we want to take her something
nice to eat - she is all by herself, she is sad. Will you show us the way into
the grounds?”
“No,”
said Aily, shaking her head vigorously. “Big dog there - dog with teeth like
this!” And she bared her own small white teeth and snarled, much to Timmy’s
astonishment. The children laughed.
“Well
- we can’t make her tell us,” said Julian. “And anyway, even if we got into the
grounds, that dog would be there - and - I don’t fancy him, somehow.”
“Aily
show you way into house,” suddenly said the small girl, much to everyone’s
astonishment. They all stared at her.
“Into
the house!” said Dick. “But - you’d have to show us the way into the grounds
first if we are to get into the house, Aily!”
“No,”
said Aily, shaking her head. “Aily show you way to house. Aily do that. No big
dog there!”
Just
then Timmy began to bark, and someone came by the door, looking in as she
passed. It was Aily’s mother, who had again been to take some things to her
shepherd husband. She saw Aily sitting on the floor and gave an angry shout.
Then standing at the door she poured out a long string of Welsh words which the
children didn’t understand. In a great fright Aily ran straight to a cupboard,
her dog and lamb with her.
But
it was no good. Her mother stormed into the hut and dragged Aily out, shaking
her well. Timmy growled, but Aily’s little dog was as frightened as she was,
and the lamb bleated pitifully in the child’s arms.
“I
take Aily home!” said her angry mother, glaring at the four children as if she
thought they were responsible for the child’s keeping away from home. “I whip
her well!”
And
out she went, holding the protesting child firmly by one arm. The children
could do nothing. After all, she was Aily’s mother, and the child really was a
little monkey, the way she wandered round the country.
“You
know - I think we’d better go down to the farm and tell Morgan what we know,”
said Julian, making up his mind. “I really do. If this thing is serious - and
if the old lady is really a prisoner - I don’t see how we can do a thing - but
Morgan might be able to. He’d know the police for one thing. Come on - let’s go
down now. We can stay at the farm for the night if it gets dark. Buck up -
let’s go straightaway!”
Chapter
Fourteen
MORGAN
IS SURPRISING TOO
George
did not particularly want to go down to the farm, as she was afraid of Timmy
meeting the farm dogs again, and being attacked. Julian saw her doubtful face
and understood.
“Would
you like to stay here by yourself with Timmy, George, till we come back?” he
said. “You should be all right with Tim - he’ll look after you. The only thing
is - will you be scared if any more rumblings and shudderings and shimmerings
come again tonight?”
“I’ll
stay with George,” said Anne. “It would really be best if you two boys went
alone. I’m a bit tired and I don’t think I could go as fast as you’d want to.”
“Right.
Then Dick and I will go together, and leave you two girls here with Timmy,”
said Julian. “Come on, Dick. If we hurry, we might get back before dark.”
They
set off together, and went swiftly down the winding mountain path, still white
with snow. They were glad when at last they saw the farmhouse. A light was
already in the kitchen, and looked very welcoming!
They
went in at the front door, and made their way to the big kitchen, where Mrs.
Jones was washing up at the sink. She turned in astonishment when they came in,
stamping the snow from their shoes.
“Well
now - this is a surprise!” she said, drying her hands on a towel. “Is there
something wrong? Where are the girls?”
“They’re
up at the hut - they’re fine,” said Julian.
“You
have come for something more to eat?” said Mrs. Jones, feeling certain this was
the reason for their sudden visit.
“No,
thank you - we’ve got plenty!” said Julian. “We just wondered if we could talk
to your son - Morgan. We - well, we’ve got something to tell him. Something
rather urgent.”
“Well
now - what could that be?” said Mrs. Jones, all curiosity at once. “Let me see
- yes, Morgan will be up at the big barn.” She pointed out of the window, where
a big and picturesque old barn stood, outlined against the evening sky. “It is
there you will find my Morgan. You will be staying the night, now, will you
not? You will like supper - a good supper”
“Well
- yes, we should,” said Julian, suddenly realising that they had missed out tea
altogether. “Thanks awfully. We’ll just go and find Morgan.”
They
made their way out to the big old barn. Morgan’s three dogs at once ran out
when they heard strange footsteps, and growled. But they recognised the boys
immediately and leapt round them, barking.
The
giantlike Morgan came out to see what the dogs were barking about. He was
surprised to find the two boys there, fondling the dogs.
“Hey?”
he said, questioningly. “Anything wrong?”
“We
think there is,” said Julian. “May we tell you about it?”
Morgan
took them into the almost dark barn. He had been raking it over and he went on
with his raking as Julian began his tale.
“It’s
about Old Towers,” said Julian, and Morgan stopped his raking at once. But he
went on again almost immediately, listening without a word.
Julian
told him his story. He told him about the noises of rumbling, the shimmering in
the sky that Dick had seen, the “shuddering” they had all felt - then about the
old woman they had seen in the tower - and how Aily had told of the pieces of
paper, and shown them one, which proved that old Mrs. Thomas was a prisoner in
her own house.
For
the first time Morgan spoke. “And where is this paper?” he asked in his deep
bass voice.
Julian
produced it and handed it over. Morgan lighted a lamp to look at it, for it was
now practically dark.
He
read it and put it into his pocket. “I’d rather like it back,” said Julian,
surprised. “Unless you want it to show the police. What do you think about it
all? And is there anything we can do? I don’t like to think of...”
“I
will tell you what you are to do,” said Morgan. “You are to leave it to me,
Morgan Jones. You are but children, you know nothing. This matter is not for
children. I can tell you that. You must go back to the hut, and you must forget
all you have heard and all you have seen. And if Aily comes again you must
bring her down here to me, and I will talk to her.”
His
voice was so hard and determined that the two boys were startled and shocked.
“But,
Mr. Morgan!” said Julian. “Aren’t you going to do anything about this... go to
the police, or...”
“I
have told you, this is not a matter for children,” said Morgan. “I will say no
more. You will go back to the hut, and you will say nothing to anyone. If you
are not willing to do this, you will go home tomorrow.”
With
that the giant of a man put his rake over his shoulder, and left the two boys
alone in the barn. “What do you make of that?” said Julian, very angry. “Come
on - we’ll go back to the hut. I’m not going to the farm for supper. I don’t
feel as though I want to meet that rude, dour Morgan again this evening!”
Feeling
angry and disappointed the boys made their way out of the barn, towards the
path that led up to the hill. It was almost dark now, and Julian felt in his
pocket for his torch.
“Blow!
I didn’t bring it with me!” he said. “Have you one, Dick?”
Dick
hadn’t one either, and as neither of them felt like making their way up the
mountainside in the darkness Julian decided to go back to the farm, slip up to
his bedroom there, and find the extra torch he had put in one of the drawers.
“Come
along,” he said to Dick. “We’ll try and get in and out without seeing Morgan or
old Mrs. Jones.”
They
went quietly back to the farmhouse, keeping a look-out for Morgan. Julian
slipped up the stone stairway to the bedroom he had been given a few nights
before, and rummaged in the drawer for his torch. Good - there it was!
He
went downstairs again - and bumped into old Mrs. Jones at the bottom. She gave
a little scream.
“Oh,
’tis you, Julian bach! Now what have you been telling my Morgan to put him into
such a temper! Enough to turn the milk sour his face is! Wait now, while I get
you some supper. Would you like some pork and...”
“Well
- we’ve decided to go back to the hut, after all,” said Julian, hoping that the
kind old woman wouldn’t be upset. “The girls are alone, you know - and it’s
dark now.”
“Oh
yes, yes - then you shall go back!” said Mrs. Jones. “Wait for one minute - you
shall have some of my new bread, and some more pie. Wait now.”
The
boys stood in the doorway, waiting, hoping that Morgan would not come by. They
sudclcnly heard him in the distance, yelling at a dog, in his loud, really
fierce voice.
“Taking
it out on the dogs, I suppose,” said Julian to Dick. “Gosh - I wouldn’t like to
come up against him, if I was one of his men! Strong giant that he is, he could
take on a dozen men if he wanted to - or a score of dogs!”
Mrs.
Morgan came up with a net bag full of food. “Here you are,” she said. “Take
care of those girls - and don’t go near Morgan now. He’s in a fine temper, is
my Morgan, and he is not nice to hear!”
The
two boys thoroughly agreed. Morgan was not nice to hear. They were glad when
they were away up the path, out of reach of his enormous voice!
“Well,
that’s that,” said Julian. “No help to be got from this quarter! And we’re
forbidden to do anything at all about the matter. As if we were kids!”
“He
kept telling us we were only children,” said Dick, sounding disgusted. “I can’t
make it out. Ju, WHY was he so annoyed about it all? Didn’t he believe us?”
“Oh
yes - he believed us all right,” said Julian. “If you ask me, I think he knows
much much more than we were able to tell him. There’s some kind of racket going
on at Old Towers - something queer and underhand - and Morgan is in it! That’s
why he shut us up and told us not to interfere, and to forget all about it!
He’s in what-ever’s going on, I’m sure of it.”
Dick
whistled. “My word! So that’s why he was so angry. He thought we might be
putting a spoke in his wheel. And of course the last thing he would want us to
do would be to go to the police! Well - whatever do we do next, Ju?”
“I
don’t know. We’ll have to talk it over with the girls,” said Julian, worried.
“This would crop up just when we’re all set for a jolly holiday!”
“Julian,
what do you think is going on at Old Towers?” asked Dick, puzzled. “I mean - it
isn’t only a question of locking up an old lady in a tower - and selling off
her goods and taking the money. It’s all the other things too - the rumblings
and shudderings and that queer mist.”
“Well
- apparently those things have been going on for some time,” said Julian. “They
may have nothing whatever to do with what Morgan is mixed up in - which is, I’m
sure, to do with robbing the old lady. In fact, those old tales may be a very
good way of keeping people away from the place - in these country places people
are much more afraid of strange happenings than townspeople are.”
“It
all sounds very convincing when you put it like that,” said Dick. “But somehow
I don’t feel convinced. I just can’t help feeling there’s something queer about
it all - something we don’t know!”
They
fell silent after that, walking one behind the other on the mountain path,
seeing the big black stones looming up one after the other in the light of
Julian’s torch. It seemed a long long way in the dark, much longer than in the
daylight.
But
at last they saw the light in the window of the hut. Thank goodness! They were
both very hungry now, and were glad that Mrs. Jones had presented them with
more food. They could really tuck in.
Timmy
barked as soon as they came near, and George let him out of the door. She knew
by his bark that it was the boys coming back.
“Oh,
we are glad you came back, instead of staying down at the farm!” cried Anne.
“What happened? Is Morgan going to the police?”
“No,”
said Julian. “He was angry. He told us not to interfere. He took that bit of
paper with the message on, and never gave it back to us. We think he’s mixed up
with whatever is going on!”
“Very
well then,” said George at once. “We’ll take up the matter ourselves! We’ll
find out what’s going on - and MOST CERTAINLY we’ll get poor old Mrs. Thomas
out of that tower. I don’t know how - but we’ll do it! Won’t we, Timmy?”
Chapter
Fifteen
“WHAT’S
UP, TIM?”
The
four children sat and talked for a long time, sitting round the little
oil-stove, eating a good supper. What would be the best thing to do? It was all
very well for George to flare up and say they would see to things, they would
rescue the old lady from the tower - but how could they even begin to do
anything? For one thing they didn’t know how to get into the house! No one was
going to risk a battle with that fierce dog!
“If
only that kid Aily would help us!” said Julian, at last. “She’s really our only
hope. It’s no good going to the police - it would take us ages to go down to
the village at the bottom of the mountain, and find out where the nearest
police station is - and we’d never get a village policeman to believe our
tale!”
“I
wonder the villagers don’t do something about Old Towers,” said Dick, puzzled.
“I mean - all those peculiar vibrations we felt last night - and the noises we
heard - and the light in the sky when that mist hung over the place...”
“Yes
- but I suppose all those things are seen and heard up here in the mountains
much more clearly than down in the valley below,” said Anne, sensibly. “I don’t
expect that queer shuddering would be felt in the valley nor would the
rumblings be heard, and even the strange mist over Old Towers might not be
seen.”
“That’s
true,” said Julian. “I never thought of that. Yes - we up here would see a
lot... and possibly the shepherd higher up on the hills would, as well. I dare
say the farm down below us would see something, too... Well, we know they did,
because of Morgan’s behaviour to us tonight! He obviously knew what we were
talking about!”
“He’s
also obviously hand in glove with the men in that place - the big men and
little men that Aily spoke of. Gosh - I wish she’d show us how to get into that
house. How does she get in? I’m blowed if I can think of any way. With that
electric fence all round, it sounds impossible.”
“The
fence that bites!” said George, with a laugh. “Fancy that child touching the
fence and getting a shock. She’s an extraordinary little creature, isn’t she -
quite wild!”
“I
hope she didn’t get a whipping,” said Anne. “She is a naughty little truant, of
course - but you can’t help liking her. Does anybody want more cheese? And there
are still some apples left - or I could open a tin of pears.”
“I
vote for the pears,” said Dick. “I feel like something really sweet. I say -
this stay up here is turning out rather exciting, isn’t it?”
“We
always seem to run into trouble,” said Anne, going to the cupboard to fetch the
tin of pears.
“Give
it a better name, Anne, old thing,” said Dick. “Adventure! That’s what we’re
always running into. Some people do, you know - they just can’t help it. And
we’re those sort of people. Jolly good thing too - it makes life exciting!”
Timmy
suddenly began to bark, and everyone started up at once. Now what was up?
“Let
Timmy out,” said Dick. “With all these queer goings-on I feel as if it would be
just as well to let Tim examine anyone coming by here at night!”
“Right,”
said George, and went to the door - but as she was about to open it, she heard
a dog barking outside, just beyond the hut. She swung round.
“I’m
not letting Timmy out! That might be Morgan with his dogs! I seem to recognise
that deep bark!”
“Someone’s
coming by,” said Anne, half scared. “My word - it is Morgan!”
So
it was. He passed by the window, and they saw his great shoulders and head bent
against the wind as he went on up the hill. He didn’t even glance in at them -
but the three dogs, who were with him, began to bark furiously as they sensed
another dog in the hut. Timmy barked back furiously too.
Then
all was quiet. Morgan had gone by and the dogs with him. “Whew - I’m glad you
didn’t let Tim out as I suggested,” said Dick. “He’d have been torn to pieces!”
“Where
do you suppose Morgan’s going?” asked Anne. “It’s funny he should be going up
the hill - not even in the direction of Old Towers!”
“Probably
going to talk to the shepherd,” said Julian. “He’s farther up the hill with his
sheep. I say - I wonder if he’s in this too!”
“Oh
no,” said Anne. “He’s good - I could feel it in my bones. I can’t imagine him
mixed up with a gang of any sort.”
Nobody
could, of course. They had all liked the shepherd. But why else would Morgan be
going up to him at this time of night?
“He
might be going to tell him that we know too much,” suggested Julian. “He might
ask him to keep an eye on us.”
“Or
he might be going to complain of Aily, and her doings inside the grounds of Old
Towers,” said Dick. “Goodness - do you suppose that kid will get into trouble
because we told Morgan about her - and gave him the bit of paper she found?”
They
all stared at one another in dismay. Anne nodded soberly. “Yes - that’s it, of
course. Aily will certainly get into trouble over this - oh, why did we think
of telling Morgan what we knew? Poor little Aily!”
They
all felt very uncomfortable about Aily. They liked the wild, fey little
creature with her pet lamb and little dog. Now perhaps she would be well beaten
because of what they had told Morgan!
None
of them felt like playing cards just then. They sat and talked, wondering if
they would hear Morgan coming back. They knew Timmy would bark if he did.
Sure
enough he began to bark about half-past eight, and made them all jump. “That
will be Morgan coming back,” said Julian, and they watched the window to see if
his head and shoulders would pass by again. But they didn’t. Neither did any
dog bark outside.
Then
George saw that Timmy was sitting with his ears pricked up, and his head on one
side. Why? And if he could really hear something, why didn’t he bark again? She
was puzzled.
“Look
at Tim,” she said. “He’s heard something - and yet he’s not barking. And he
doesn’t look very worried either. What’s up, Tim?”
Timmy
took no notice. He sat there listening intently, still with his head on one
side. What could he hear? It was most tantalising to the others, because not
one of them could hear anything at all. The countryside seemed to be absolutely
quiet at that moment.
Then
suddenly Tim jumped up and barked joyfully! He ran to the door and whined,
scraping at the bottom of it with his paw. He looked back at George and barked
again, as if to say “Buck up! Open the door!”
“Well!”
said Dick, in surprise. “What’s up, Timmy? Has your best friend come to call?
Shall we open the door, Julian?”
“I’ll
go,” said Julian, and went to open the door cautiously. Timmy leapt out at
once, barking and whining.
“There’s
nobody here,” said Julian, astonished. “Nobody at all! Hey, Tim, what’s all the
fuss about? Give me that torch, Dick, will you? I’ll go out after him and see
what the excitement is.”
Out
he went, and flashed the torch around to find Timmy. Ah - there he was,
scraping at the little wooden bunker that held the oil-cans and the big enamel
jug. Julian was astonished.
“Whatever’s
come over you, Tim?” he said. “There’s nothing here in this bunker - look, I’ll
lift the lid so that you can peep inside and see, silly dog!”
He
lifted up the lid, and shone his torch inside, to show Timmy that it was empty.
But
it wasn’t! Julian almost let the lid drop down in his surprise! Someone was
there - someone small and half-frozen! It was Aily!
“Aily!”
said Julian, hardly believing his eyes. “What on earth - Aily - what are you
doing here?”
Aily
blinked up at him, looking scared to death. She clutched the lamb and the dog,
and didn’t say a word. Julian saw that she was shivering, and crying bitterly.
“Poor
little Aily bach!” he said, using the only Welsh word he knew. “Come into the
hut - we’ll get you warm and make you better.”
The
child shook her head and clutched her animals closer. But Julian was not going
to leave her there in the little oil-bunker on that cold night! He lifted her
up, animals and all, and cuddled her. Aily strove to get free but his arms were
strong and held her close.
George’s
voice came impatiently from the hut. “Ju! Tim! Where are you? Have you found
anything?”
“Yes,”
called back Julian. “We have. We’re bringing it along - it’s quite a surprise!”
He
carried the shivering child into the hut, and the others stared in the utmost
astonishment. Aily! A cold, forlorn and miserable little Aily, pale and
shivering! And the lamb and dog too!
“Bring
her near the stove,” said Anne, and stroked the child’s thin arm. “Poor Aily!”
Julian
tried to set her down, and the animals as well, but she clung to him. She
sensed that he was good and kind and strong, and his arms were very comforting.
Julian sat down on a chair, still holding the little creature closely. The dog
and lamb slid off his knee and ran sniffing round the room.
“She
was in the oil-bunker out there - she and the lamb and dog,” he said. “All
cuddled up together. Partly hiding, I should think, and partly for shelter.
Maybe she’s slept there before, with these two. Isn’t she a poor little mite?
She seems very unhappy. Let’s give her something to eat.”
“I’ll
make some hot cocoa,” said Anne. “George, get some bread and butter and cheese
for her - and hadn’t we better get the lamb and dog something too? What do you
give lambs?”
“Milk
out of a bottle,” said Dick. “But we haven’t got a feeding-bottle! I dare say
it will lap milk. Good gracious - the things that happen here!”
Aily
felt warm and comforted in Julian’s arms. She lay there like a little animal,
too cold and tired to be scared. Julian was glad to hold her and comfort her.
Poor little thing - what had made her come this long way so late at night?
“She
must have gone home with her mother,” he said, watching the little dog
hobnobbing with a delighted Timmy. “And probably got a whipping, and was shut
up somewhere. And then my guess is that Morgan went down to see if she was
there, and to scold her, and tell her mother to be sure and not let her out,
and...”
“Morgan!”
repeated Aily, sitting up in fear, looking all round as if he might be there.
“Morgan! No! No!”
“It’s
all right, little thing,” said Julian. “We’ll look after you. Morgan shan’t get
you!”
“See?”
he said to the others. “I bet I’m right! It was he who went and scared her -
and as soon as he was gone, I expect she escaped from her mother’s house and
came up here to hide. That horrible fellow! If he shouted at her as he shouted
at us, she’d be scared stiff. I bet he was afraid she’d go and give more of the
game away unless she was shut up - might even show us the way into the old
house over on the opposite hill!”
Timmy
suddenly gave a bark - but not a joyful one this time! Anne cried out at once,
“That may be Morgan coming back! Hide Aily, for goodness sake - or he’ll drag
her out of here and take her back with him! Quick - where shall we hide her?”
Chapter
Sixteen
AILY
CHANGES HER MIND
Aily
leapt out of Julian’s arms as quickly and surely as a cat, when she heard that
it might be Morgan coming. She looked round the room like a hunted thing, and
then darted to the bunk-beds. With an amazing leap, she was up on one of the
top ones in a trice, and pulled a rug over her. She lay absolutely still. The
lamb looked up in surprise and bleated.
Then
it too leapt up the bunks, as sure-footed as a goat, and cuddled down with its
little mistress. Only Dave the dog was left below, whining miserably. “Gosh!”
said Dick, amazed at these incredibly sudden happenings. “Look at that! Did you
ever see such leaping! Shut up barking, Tim. We want to hear if Morgan is
coming. Ju - where shall we hide Aily’s dog? He mustn’t be seen - or heard
either!”
Julian
lifted the dog up to the top bunk and put him with the other two there. “That’s
about the only place where he’ll keep quiet!” he said. “Aily - lie quite still
till we tell you everything is safe.”
There
was no reply from the bunk - not a word or a bark or a bleat. Then Timmy began
to bark loudly again, and ran to the door.
“I’m
going to lock the door,” said Julian. “I’m not having Morgan and his dogs in
here, hunting for Aily! My guess is that he knows she’s escaped from her
mother’s - or maybe she ran off when he scolded her - and thinks she went to
her father, the old shepherd! He’s got to get hold of her, to stop her from
spreading what she knows!”
“Well
- for goodness sake don’t let those dogs in here!” said George, desperately. “I
can hear them barking away in the distance.”
“Quick
- let’s sit round the table with the cards, and pretend to be playing a game!”
said Dick, snatching the cards from a shelf. “Then if Morgan looks in, he’ll
think everything is normal - and won’t guess we’ve got Aily here. I bet he’ll
be sly enough to try and peep in without us seeing him - hoping to spot Aily if
we’ve got her!”
They
sat round the table, and Dick dealt out the cards. Anne’s hands were trembling,
and George felt a bit weak at the knees. Anne kept dropping her cards, and Dick
laughed at her.
“Butterfingers!
Cheer up - Morgan won’t eat you! Now - if I suddlenly say ‘What ho!’ you’ll
know I can see Morgan peeping in at the window, and you must laugh and play
like anything. See?”
Dick
was the one facing the window, and he kept a sharp eye on it as they played
snap. There was no sound of dogs barking now, though Tim sat by the door, his
ears cocked, as if he could hear something.
“Snap!”
said Julian, and gathered up the cards. They went on playing.
“Snap!
I say, don’t grab like that - you’ve almost broken my nail!”
“Snap!
I said it first!”
“What
ho!” said Dick, and that put everyone on their guard at once. They went on
playing, but without giving much attention to the game now. What could Dick
see?
Dick
could see quite a lot. He could see a shadowy face some way from the window,
looking in - yes, it was Morgan all right.
“What
ho!” said Dick again, to warn the others that there was still danger. “WHAT
HO!”
Morgan’s
face had now come quite near to the window. He evidently thought that no one
saw him, and that they were all too engrossed in their game to notice anything
else. His eyes swept the room from corner to corner. Then his face disappeared.
“He’s
gone from the window,” said Dick, in a low voice. “But go on playing. He may
come to the door.”
KNOCK!
KNOCK!
“Yes
- there he is,” said Dick. “Ju - you take charge now.”
“Who’s
there?” yelled Julian.
“Morgan.
Let me in,” said Morgan’s deep, growling voice.
“No
- we’ve got our dog here, and we don’t want him set on again,” said Julian,
determined not to let Morgan in at any cost.
Morgan
turned the handle - but the door was locked. He growled again.
“Sorry!
But we can’t unlock it!” shouted Julian. “Our dog might rush out and bite you.
He’s growling like anything already!”
“Bark,
Tim,” said George, in a low voice, and Timmy obligingly barked the place down!
Morgan
gave up. “If you see Aily, send her home,” he said. “She’s gone again, and her
Mam’s worried. I’ve been looking for her this cold night.”
“Right!
” called Julian. “If she comes we’ll give her a bed here.”
“No.
You send her home,” shouted Morgan. “And pay heed to what I told you down at
the barn there, or it will be the worse for all of us!”
“For
all of us! I like that!” said Dick, in disgust. “It will certainly be the worse
for him and his friends when the secret’s out! Awful fellow! Has he gone, Tim?”
Timmy
came away from the door and lay down peacefully. He gave a little bark as if to
say “All clear!”
When
dogs began to bark right away in the distance Tim took no notice. “That means
they’re going down the hill with Morgan, back to the farm,” said George,
thankfully. “We can get Aily down now, and give her something to eat.”
She
went to the bunk. “Aily!” she called. “Morgan is gone. Gone right away! Come
down and have a meal. We will give the lamb some milk and your dog some meat
and biscuits!”
Aily’s
head peered cautiously over the side of the little bunk-bed. With a leap she
was down on the floor, as lightly as the lamb itself, which followed at once,
landing squarely on its four tiny hooves. The little dog had to be lifted out -
he was much too scared to jump!
To
everyone’s amusement, Aily ran straight to Julian, and held up her arms to be
taken into his. She felt safe with this big kind boy. He sat down with her on
his knees and she cuddled up to him like a kitten.
George
put some bread and butter and cheese on the table in front of her, and Anne put
down a dish of milk for the lamb, which lapped it greedily but most untidily.
The dog tried to get the milk too, but soon went to the dish of cut-up meat and
biscuits put down by Anne.
“There
- the Aily-family is fed,” she said. “My word - what an excitement all this is!
Julian, don’t let Aily gobble like that - she’ll be sick. I never did see
anyone eat so quickly. She can’t have had anything since the bit of cheese we
gave her this afternoon!”
Aily
snuggled back into Julian’s arms contentedly, when she had eaten every scrap of
her meal. She looked up at him, wanting to please him.
“Aily
tell how to get into big big house,” she said suddenly, taking everyone
completely by surprise. Julian looked down at her. He had the dog on his knee
now too, though he would not allow the lamb to climb on as well.
“Aily
tell me?” he said gravely. “Good little Aily bach!”
Aily
began to try and tell him. “Big hole,” she began. “Down, down, down...”
“Where’s
this big hole?” asked Julian.
“High
up,” said Aily. “Down it goes down...”
“But
where is it?” asked Julian again.
Aily
went off into a long jabber of Welsh and the children listened helplessly. How
maddening to have Aily willing to tell them her secret - and then not to be
able to follow what she said.
“Good
little Aily,” said Julian, when she came to a stop at last. “Where is this big
big hole?”
Aily
gazed at him in reproach. “Aily tell you, tell you, tell you!” she said.
“Yes,
I know - but I don’t understand Welsh,” said Julian, gently, despairing of trying
to make the child understand. “Where is this big hole - that’s all I want to
know.”
Aily
stared at him. Then she smiled. “Aily show,” she said, and slipped off his
knee. “Aily show! Come! ”
“Good
gracious! Not now,” said Julian. “Not in all this snow and darkness. No, Aily -
tomorrow - in the morning - not now!”
Aily
took a look out of the window into the darkness. She nodded. “Not now. In the
morning, yes? Aily show in morning.”
“Well,
thank goodness that’s settled!” said Julian. “I’d dearly love to see this big
big hole whatever it is, now, straightaway - but we’d only get lost on these
hills in the dark. We’ll look forward to it tomorrow!”
“Good!”
said Dick, yawning. “I must say that I think that’s best too. What a bit of
luck that Aily’s so grateful to you, Ju! I believe she’d do anything in the
world for you now.”
“I
believe she would too, funny little creature,” said Julian, looking at Aily as
she curled up on the rug near the stove, with her lamb and dog beside her. “How
could Morgan scare such a harmless little thing? He’s a brute!”
“Jolly
good thing he didn’t see her when he looked in,” said George. “He’d probably
have broken the door down! One blow of his fist and it would have cracked from
top to bottom!”
Everyone
laughed. “Well - good thing it didn’t come to that!” said Julian. “Now then,
let’s get to bed. We may have quite an exciting day tomorrow!”
“I
hope we manage to get to that poor old woman in her tower,” said Anne. “That’s
the most important thing to do. Aily, you can sleep in that topmost bunk, where
you hid. I’ll give you some rugs, and a blanket and a pillow.”
It
wasn’t long before the hut was quiet and peaceful, with all five children in
their bunks, and Timmy with George. The lamb and the little dog were with Aily,
Julian looked out from his bunk and smiled. What a collection of people and
animals in the hut tonight! Well - he was quite glad there were two dogs!
No
one woke in the night except George. She felt Timmy stir and sat up, resting on
her elbow. But he didn’t bark. He gave her a small lick, and sat with her,
listening.
The
queer rumbling noise was coming again - and then the “shuddering”, though not
so strongly as before. George felt the wooden edge of her bunk - it vibrated as
if machinery was in the room below, shaking everything a little.
She
leaned out of her bunk and looked out of the window. Her eyes widened as she
saw what Dick had seen the other night - the “shimmering” in the sky. She could
think of no other name for that strange quivering that rose and rose and
finally ended very high up indeed, seeming to lose itself in the stars, that
were now shining brightly.
George
didn’t wake the others. As soon as the queer happenings stopped, she lay down
again. Perhaps tomorrow they would know what caused such strange things - yes,
tomorrow would be very exciting!
Chapter
Seventeen
THE
BIG, BIG HOLE
Next
morning everyone was awake early. They had slept well, and were full of beans -
and excited to think that an adventure lay ahead. To get into that old house,
with its many secrets, would be marvellous!
Aily
followed Julian about the room like a little dog. She wanted to have her
breakfast on his knee, just as she had had her supper the night before, and he
let her. He was ready to do anything she wanted - if only she would show them
the way into Old Towers!
“We’d
better set off pretty soon,” said Anne, looking out of the window. “It’s
snowing pretty fast again - we don’t want to get lost!”
“No.
That’s true. If Aily is going to take us across country, we shan’t have the
faintest idea where we’re going, in this heavy snow!” said Julian, rather
anxiously.
“I’ll
just clear up a bit, then we’ll go, shall we?” said Anne. “Do we take any food
with us, Ju?”
“We
certainly do - all of us,” said Julian, at once. “Goodness knows what time
we’ll get back to this hut. George, you make sandwiches with Anne, will you?
And put in some bars of chocolate too, and some apples if there are any left.”
“And
for pity’s sake, remember your torches,” said Dick.
Aily
watched while the sandwiches were made, and scraped up the bits that fell on
the table to give to Dave, her small dog. The lamb frisked about, quite at
home, getting into everyone’s way. But nobody minded it - it was such a
charming little long-leggitty creature!
At
last all the sandwiches were made and put into two kit-bags. The hut was
cleared up and tidied, and the children got into their out-door clothes.
“I
think it would be easiest to toboggan down the slope, and half-way up Old
Towers’ slope,” said Julian, looking out into the snow. “It would take us ages
to walk - and it’s no good skiing, because Aily hasn’t any skis - and couldn’t
use them if she had!”
“Oh
yes - let’s take the toboggans!” said George, pleased. “What do we do with the
lamb? Leave it here? And must we take Dave the dog, too?”
However,
that was not for them to settle! Aily absolutely refused to go without her lamb
and dog. She gathered them up into her arms, looking mutinous, when Julian
suggested they should be left in the warm hut. Neither would she allow herself
to be wrapped up warmly - and only consented to wear a scarf and a woollen hat
because they happened to be exactly the same as Julian was wearing!
They
set off at last. The snow was still falling, and Julian felt seriously doubtful
whether they would be able to find their way down the hill and up the other
slope without losing their sense of direction.
The
toboggans were rather crowded! Julian and Dick were on the first one, with Aily
and the lamb between them, and Anne and George were on the second one, with
Timmy and Dave between them. George was at the front, and Anne had the awkward
job of hanging on to both the dogs and keeping her balance too!
“I
know we shall all roll off,” she said to George. “Good gracious - I half wish
we had waited a bit! The snow is falling very fast now!”
“Good
thing!” called Julian. “No one will spot us when we are near Old Towers - they
won’t be able to see a thing through this snow!”
Julian’s
toboggan shot off down the snowy slope. It gathered speed, and the boys gasped
in delight at the pace. Aily clung to Julian’s back, half frightened, and the
lamb stared with astonished eyes, not daring to move from its place, squashed
in between Aily and Julian!
Whooooooosh!
Down the slope to the bottom, and up the opposite slope, gradually slowing
down! Julian’s toboggan came to a stop, and then, not far behind, came
George’s, slowing down too. George got out and dragged her toboggan over to
Julian.
“Well,”
she said, her face glowing, “what do we do now? Wasn’t that a wonderful run?”
“Wonderful!”
said Julian. “I only whish we could have a few more! Did you like that, Aily?”
“No,”
said Aily, pulling her woollen cap to exactly the same angle that Julian wore
his. “No. It make my nose cold, so cold.”
She
cupped her hand over her nose to make it warm. George laughed.
“Fancy
complaining about a cold nose when she’s hardly wearing anything on her skinny
little body - you’d think the whole of her would feel cold - not just her
nose!”
“Aily
- do you know where the big hole is?” asked Julian, looking about in the snow.
The snowflakes were quite big now, and nothing that was more than a few yards
away could be seen. Aily stood there, her feet sinking into the snow. She
looked all round, and Julian felt certain that she was going to say that she
didn’t know which way to go, in this thick snow. Even he was rather doubtful
which was the way back up the hill!
But
Aily was like a dog. She had a sure sense of direction, and could go from one
place to another on a dark night or in the snow without any difficulty at all!
She
nodded.
“Aily
know - Dave know, too.”
She
walked a few steps, but her feet sank into the snow above her ankles, and her
thin shoes were soon soaked through.
“She’ll
get her feet frost-bitten,” said Dick. “Better put her on one of the toboggans
and pull her, Ju. Pity we didn’t have any snow-boots small enough to lend her.
I say - this is a bit of a crazy expedition, isn’t it! I hope to goodness Aily
knows where she’s taking us. I haven’t the foggiest idea at the moment which is
east or west, north or south!”
“Wait
- I’ve got a compass in one of my pockets,” said Julian, and did a lot of
digging in his clothes. At last he pulled out a small compass. He looked at it.
“That’s
south,” he said, pointing, “so that’s where Old Towers Hill is - south is
directly opposite our hut; we know that because the sun shone straight in at
our front windows. I reckon we walk this way, then - due south.”
“Let’s
see which way Aily points,” said Dick. He set her on his toboggan, and wrapped
her scarf more closely round her. “Now - which way, Aily?”
Aily
at once pointed due south. Everyone was most impressed.
“That’s
right,” said Julian. “Come on, Dick - I’ll pull Aily’s toboggan, you can pull
the girls’ for them.”
They
all set off up the rest of the slope of Old Towers Hill, Aily on the toboggan
with Dave and Fany the lamb, and Timmy sitting in state on George’s toboggan,
the girls walking behind. Timmy was enjoying himself. He didn’t like the way
his legs went down into the snow when he tried to run - it was much easier to
sit on the toboggan and be pulled along!
“Lazy
thing!” said George, and Timmy wagged his tail, not caring a bit what anyone
said!
Julian
looked at his compass as he went, and walked due south for some time. Then Aily
gave a call, and pointed to the right.
“That
way, that way,” she said.
“She
wants us to go westwards now,” said Julian, stopping. “I wonder if she’s right.
By my reckoning we’re going dead straight for Old Towers now - but we shall be
going up the hill to the right of it, if we go her way.”
“That
way, that way,” repeated Aily, imperiously, and Dave barked as if to say she
was right!
“Better
follow her way,” said Dick. “She seems so jolly certain of it.”
So
Julian swerved to the right a little, and the others followed. They went a good
way up the steep hill, and Julian began to pant.
“Is
it far now?” he asked Aily, who was petting her lamb, and apparently taking no
notice of the way they were going. Not that there was anything much to take
notice of, except snow on the ground and snowflakes in the air!
Aily
looked up. Then she pointed again, a little more to the right, and said
something in Welsh, nodding her head.
“Well
- it looks as if we’re getting near this place of hers - this ‘big, big hole’,
whatever it is,” said Juiian, and on he went.
In
about a minute Aily suddenly leapt off the toboggan, and stood there, looking
round with a frown.
“Here,”
she said. “Big hole here.”
“Well
- it may be - but I’d like to see it a bit more clearly, Aily,” said Julian.
Aily began to scrape down through the snow, and Timmy and Dave obliyingly went
to help her, imagining that she was after rabbits or a hidden hare.
“I’m
afraid the poor kid’s led us on a wild-goose chase,” said Dick. “Why should there
be a big big hole here?”
Timmy
and Aily had now got down through the snow to the buried clumps of heather that
grew all over the slopes of the mountains in that district. Julian could see
the clumps sticking up, stiff and wiry, in the clearing that Aily and the dogs
had made.
“Timmy
- you take Timmy!” said Aily suddenly to George. “He fall down, down - he fall
like Dave one day - down down!”
“I
say! I believe she’s looking for an old pot-hole! ” said Dick, suddenly. “You
know - those strange holes that are sometimes found on moors - sudden holes
that drop right down underground. They’re called dean-holes I think, in some
places. We found one once on Kirrin Island - don’t you remember?”
“Oh
yes - that was in the heather too!” said George, remembering. “And it led to a
cave below, by the seashore! That’s what Aily meant by a big big hole! A
pot-hole on the moors! Timmy - for goodness sake come away - you may drop right
down it!”
Timmy
very nearly did go down the hole! George just caught his collar in time! But
Dave was wary - he had fallen down once before!
“Hole!”
said Aily, pleased. “Big big hole! Aily find for you!”
“Well
- certainly you’ve found your hole - but how does it get us into Old Towers?”
said Dick. Aily didn’t understand. She knelt there, looking down at the hole
she had uncovered under the heather and the snow.
“I
must say that was a marvellous feat,” said Julian. “Coming straight to this
place and finding the hole when she couldn’t see a thing through the falling
snow. She really is as good as a dog. Good little Aily bach!”
Aily
gave one of her sudden smiles, and slipped her hand in Julian’s.
“Go
down, yes?” she said. “Aily show way?”
“Well
- we’d better go down if it’s possible,” said Julian, not much liking the idea,
for he could see nothing but darkness inside the hole, and had no idea of what
lay below.
Fany
the lamb was tired of waiting about. She gave a little leap to the edge of the
big round hole, and then put her small head in. She kicked up her heels - and
was gone!
“She’s
jumped into the hole!” said George, amazed. “Here, wait, Aily - you can’t jump
too - you’ll hurt yourself!”
But
Aily slithered into the hole, then let herself go.
“Aily
here,” came a small voice from below. “You come quick!”
Chapter
Eighteen
INSIDE
OLD TOWERS
Well!
Did you see that - she just let go and dropped!” said George, amazed. “I wonder
she didn’t break her legs. Julian, shine your torch down.”
Julian
shone it down.
“It’s
a pretty good drop,” he said. “I think we’ll take the ropes off our toboggans
and let ourselves down on those. I don’t particularly want to break a leg or
sprain an ankle just at present.”
“If
we pull our toboggans over the hole, and let their ropes hang down into it,
they will hold us safely,” said Dick, and pulled his toboggan right across the
hole.
Then
Julian pulled the other toboggan across as well, and soon the ropes were
dangling down, ready to take each of the four children.
“What
about Timmy?” asked George, anxiously. “Dave has jumped down - though I wonder
he didn’t break a leg!”
“I’ll
wrap my coat over him and tie one of the ropes round him,” said Julian. “Then
we can let him down easily. Come here, Tim.”
Tim
was soon tied up in the coat with the rope. Then Dick slithered down on another
rope, and stood on the floor of the hole, ready to take Timmy when Julian let
him down. It really wasn’t very difficult. Aily looked rather scornful as the
four children used the ropes.
Julian
laughed, and patted her shoulder.
“We’re
not all goat-like, you know,” he said. “We don’t gambol about the mountains all
day long, like you, Aily. Well - that was your big big hole. What next?”
He
shone his torch round.
“Yes
- it’s a pot-hole. There’s a small underground cave here. Look - is that a
tunnel leading out of it?”
“Yes,”
said George, as Aily and the lamb skipped off together down into the darkness
of the tunnel. “Look at that - no torch, no lamp - and yet she goes off into
the darkness without any fear! I’d be scared stiff!”
“She’s
got eyes like a cat,” said Anne. “Well, do we follow her? We’d better or we
shall lose her!”
“Come
on, Timmy,” said George, and all Five went down the dark, winding little tunnel
after Aily. Anne glanced up at the rocky roof and thought with wonder of the
thick masses of heather growing on its upper surface, all covered with thick
snow.
Aily
was nowhere to be seen! Julian grew worried.
“Aily!
Come back!”
But
there was no answer.
“Never
mind,” said Dick. “There’s probably only one way to go, and she knows we must
take it! If we come to a fork, we’ll shout again.”
But
they didn’t come to a fork. The tunnel wound on and on, going steadily
downhill. Its roof was of rock, and so were the walls, but underfoot was sandy
soil alternating with rocky ridges that made the going rather rough.
Julian
looked at his compass.
“We’ve
been going in a north-easterly direction more or less,” he said. “And that
should be in the direction of Old Towers. I think I know how Aily gets into the
house!”
“Yes
- this tunnel must pass right under the fence-that-bites, and under the
grounds, and end somewhere near the cellars of the house,” said Dick. “Or
possibly in them. Where’s that child?”
They
caught sight of her just then, in the light of Julian’s torch. She was waiting
for them in a corner of the passage with Dave and Fany.
She
pointed upwards.
“Way
to garden!” she said. “Little hole there - big for Aily! Not for you!”
Julian
shone his torch upwards. Sure enough there was a small hole there, which
appeared to be overgrown with weeds or heather - he couldn’t tell what. He
looked at the rocky sides of the upward passage to the hole, and saw how easily
Aily could have climbed up to squeeze out of it, and roam the gardens! So that
was how it was she had been able to pick up the notes that the poor old woman
had constantly thrown out so hopefully! Aily must surely have been the only
person who managed to get into the grounds without permission!
“This
way,” said Aily, and led them past the garden-hole and downwards again.
“We
must be under the house now,” said Julian. “I wonder if...”
But
before he could finish his sentence he saw that the passage had led them into
some old, half-ruined cellars. It went through a half-fallen cellar wall, and
Aily proudly led them into a dark, cluttered-up cellar which, with its many
barrels and old bottles, must once have been the wine-cellar.
“What
cellars!” exclaimed Dick, in amazement, as they went through one after another.
“Dozens of them. Hey - what’s this, Aily?”
He
had come to where one high wall had been broken down completely - but the
breakage seemed to have been done by human hands, for the breaks looked new,
and were not covered with grime and mould as were the other fallen-down walls.
A vast opening had been made into what seemed at first glance to be a
low-walled cave.
Then
a curious sound came to their ears. The sound of water - water gurgling and
splashing! Julian took a step forward to peer into the cave beyond the broken
walls.
But
Aily tugged at his hand in terror.
“No,
no! Not go there! Bad mans, very bad mans. Bad place there!”
“I
say, look!” said Julian, amazed, taking no notice of Aily’s tugging hand. “An
underground river - not just a stream - a river! Flowing down through the
mountain, probably fed by springs on the way - and I bet it goes right down to
the sea somewhere! We know the sea isn’t far away!”
“Bad
mans down there,” said Aily, in panic, pulling Dick and George too. “Bang-bang
- big fires - big noise. You come in house, quick!”
“Gosh
- isn’t this extraordinary!” said Julian, quite astounded. “What is going on
here? We really shall have to find out. What in the world does Aily mean?”
Anne
and George were astonished too, but had no desire to go along the river and
find out!
“Better
leave this for now, and go up into the house,” said George. “After all, the old
lady is the important thing at the moment. No wonder they imprisoned her in one
of the towers, so that she wouldn’t know what is going on!”
“Well,
I’m blowed if I know what’s going on,” said Dick. “I’m not quite sure if I’m in
some peculiar kind of nightmare or not!”
“You
come house,” said Aily again, and this time, to her great relief, they followed
her, Timmy trotting at the back with George, not quite knowing what to make of
it all.
Aily
led them unerringly back through the smashed walls, through the musty cellars,
and into some that looked as if they had recently been used for store-places.
Tins of food stood about, old furniture, old tins and baths and cans, barrels
of all sizes and shapes.
“We
go soft!” said Aily, meaning that they were now to walk quietly. They followed
her up a long flight of stone cellar steps to a great door that stood half
open. Aily stood at the top listening - probably for the tall caretaker, Julian
thought. He wondered if the fierce dog was anywhere about the house. He
whispered to Aily.
“Big
dog in house, Aily?”
“No.
Big dog in garden, big dog there all day and night,” whispered back the little
girl, and Julian felt most relieved.
“Aily
find man,” said Aily, and shot off by herself, motioning to the others to wait.
“She’s
gone to find out where the caretaker is,” said Julian. “My word - did you ever
know anyone like her? Gosh, she’s back again already!”
So
she was, smiling mischievously all over her face.
“Man
sleep,” she said. “Man safe.” She took them through the door from the cellar
into a perfectly enormous kitchen, with a colossal range at one end, black and
empty now. A larder door near by was open and Aily darted into it. She brought
out a meat pie and offered it to Julian. He shook his head at once.
“No.
You mustn’t steal! ” he said. But Aily either didn’t understand, or didn’t want
to, for she bit into the pie herself, gobbling great pieces down, and then put
it on the floor for the animals to finish, which they were very pleased to do!
“Aily
- take us to the old woman,” said Dick, not wanting to waste time on things
like this. “Aily - you are sure there is no one else in the house?”
“Aily
know!” said the little girl. “One man to watch - he in there!” and she pointed
towards the door of a nearby room. “He watch old woman, and dog watch garden.
Other mans not come in here.”
“Oh
- well, where do they live then, these strange ‘other men’?” asked Julian, but
Aily didn’t understand. She led them to a great hall, from which two wide
stairways swept up, meeting above at an even wider landing.
The
lamb gambolled up, and the little dog Dave barked joyfully.
“Sh!”
said all the four children at once, but Aily laughed. She seemed quite at home
in the house and Dick wondered how many times she had let herself down into the
pot-hole and come wandering in here. No wonder she spent so many nights away
from home - she could always come and hide away in some corner of this big
house! They followed her up the wide stairs.
But
Aily would come no farther than the second floor. She had brought them up two
flights of stairs - and now before them stretched a great picture gallery, that
led to another stairway at the far end. The child hung back and refused to take
Julian’s hand.
“What’s
the matter?” he asked.
“Aily
not come here,” said the child, shrinking back. “Not go here, not ever. Those
peoples see Aily!” And she pointed at the rows of great pictures, each a
portrait of some long-dead owner of the house.
“She’s
afraid of the portraits!” said Anne. “Afraid of all their eyes following her as
she runs down the long gallery! Funny little thing. All right - you stay here,
Aily. We’ll go on up to the towers.”
They
left Aily curled up behind a curtain, with Dave and Fany. Anne glanced at the
rows of grave portraits as the four of them, with Timmy, walked softly down the
long gallery. She shivered a little, for their eyes seemed to follow her as she
passed, looking grave and disapproving.
Up
another flight of stairs, and yet another. And now they were in a long passage
that ran from tower-room to tower-room. Which was the tower they wanted?
It
was very easy to find out! All of them had their doors wide open but one!
“This
must be it!” said Julian, and knocked at the door.
“Who
knocks?” said a weak, sorrowful voice. “Surely not you, Matthew - you have no
manners! Unlock the door and do not mock me with your knocking!”
“The
key’s in the door,” said Dick. “Unlock it, Julian - quick!”
Chapter
Nineteen
A
LOT OF EXCITEMENT
Julian
turned the key in the lock and opened the door. A stately old woman sat in a
chair beside the window, reading a book. She did not turn round.
“And
why have you come at this time of the morning, Matthew?” she said, without
turning round. “And how did you find the manners to knock? Are you remembering
the time when you knew how to behave to your elders and betters?”
“It
isn’t Matthew,” said Julian. “It’s us - we’ve come to set you free.”
The
old woman turned at once, gaping in amazement. She got up and went over to the
door, and the Five saw that she was trembling.
“Who
are you? Let me out of that door before Matthew comes! Let me out, I tell you!”
She
pushed by the four children and the dog, and then stood uncertainly in the
passage.
“What
shall I do? Where shall I go? Are those men here still?”
She
went back into her room and sank down in her chair again, covering her face
with her hands.
“I
feel faint. Get me some water.”
Anne
sprang to pour out a glass of water from a jug on a table. The old woman took
it and drank it. She looked at Anne.
“Who
are you? What is the meaning of this? Where is Matthew? Oh, I must be going
mad!”
“Mrs.
Thomas - you are Mrs. Thomas, aren’t you?” said Julian. “Little Aily, the
shepherd’s daughter, brought us here. She knew you were locked up. You remember
her mother, don’t you? She told us she used to come and wait on you.”
“Aily’s
mother - Maggy - yes, yes. But what has Aily to do with this? I don’t believe
it. It’s another trick. Where are the men who killed my son?”
Julian
looked at Dick. It was clear that the poor old lady was not herself - or else
this sudden appearance of the children had upset her.
“Those
men that my Llewellyn brought here - they wanted to buy my house,” she said.
“But I wouldn’t sell it, no, I wouldn’t. Do you know what they said to me? They
said that in this hill, far, far below my house, was a rare metal - a powerful
metal - worth a fortune. What did they call it now?”
She
looked at the children, as if expecting them to know. She shook her head as
they didn’t answer.
“Why
should you know about it - you are only children. But I wouldn’t sell it - no,
I wouldn’t sell my house - nor the metal below. Do you know what they wanted it
for? For bombs to kill people with! And I said NO, never will I sell this place
so that men can dig the metal and make bombs. It is against the law of God, I
said, and I, Bronwen Thomas, will not do such a thing!”
The
children listened in awe. The old lady seemed beside herself, and rocked to and
fro as she spoke.
“So
they asked my son, and he said no, as I had. But they took him away and killed
him - and now they are at work below. Yes, yes, I hear them - I hear the noises
creeping up, I feel my house shake, I see strange things. But who are you? And
where is Matthew? He keeps me here, locked in my room. He told me about
Llewellyn, my poor dead son; he is a wicked man, Matthew, he works with those
men, those evil men!”
She
seemed to forget the four children for a little while. They wondered what to
do. Julian saw that the poor woman was not fit to take down the stairs with
them, and through the tunnel - and certainly she could not get out of the
pot-hole. He began to wish that he hadn’t been so hasty in his ideas of rescue.
It would really be best to lock the door again and leave her here in safety until
he could get the police - for certainly now the police must come.
“We
will leave you now,” he said, “and send someone soon to bring you out of here.
We are sorry we disturbed you.”
And,
to the astonishment of the others, he pushed them out of the room, turned the
key in the lock again, and put it into his pocket!
“Aren’t
we going to take her with us?” said George, surprised. “Poor, poor old thing!”
“No.
How can we?” said Julian, troubled. “We must go to the police, no matter what
Morgan says. I see it all now, don’t you? The mother forbidding the son to sell
the old place, in spite of the enormous amount of money offered - the son
refusing too - and the men making a plot to get in somehow and down to this
metal, whatever it is - and work it...”
“And
killing the son?” said Dick. “Well, it may be so - but I should have thought
that was a pretty drastic thing to do! Surely the son would have been reported
missing very quickly, and the police would have made enquiries. Nobody said the
son was missing or dead, did they, except the old lady?”
“Well,
let’s not talk about it now,” said Julian. “We’ve got to do something. I’m
sorry to leave old Mrs. Thomas still locked up in that room, but I honestly
think she would be safer there than anywhere else.”
They
went down the two flights of stairs to the picture gallery. Aily was there,
still cuddling her two pets. She was pleased to see them, and ran up smiling.
She didn’t seem to notice that they hadn’t the old woman with them.
“Man
down there very cross!” she said, and laughed. “He wake now - he shout and
bang!”
“Goodness
- I hope he won’t see us,” said Julian. “We’ve got to get out of here, quick,
and go to the police. Let’s hope he won’t come rushing at us, or call in that
fierce dog.”
They
went downstairs at top speed, looking out for Matthew. But there was no sign of
him in person - though there was a most tremendous row going on somewhere, of
shouting and banging.
“Aily
lock door,” said Aily, suddenly, pointing in the direction of the sounds. “Man
lock old woman - Aily lock man!”
“Did
you? Did you really lock him in?” said Julian, delighted. “You really are a
monkey - but what a good idea! I wish I’d thought of it!”
He
went to the door of the room in which the angry Matthew was.
“Matthew!”
he called sternly. There was a dead silence, and then Matthew’s astonished
voice came through the shut door.
“Who’s
that? Who locked me in? If it’s one of you men, you’ll be sorry for it! Silly
joke to play on me, when you know I’ve got to go up and see to old Mrs. Thomas!”
“Matthew
- this isn’t one of the men,” said Julian, and how the others admired his cool,
determined voice! “We have come to rescue Mrs. Thomas from that tower - and now
we are going to the police to report all this, and to report too that her son has
been killed by the men who are working far below this house.”
There
was an astonished silence. Then Matthew’s voice came again.
“What’s
all this? I don’t understand! The police can’t do anything. Mr. Llewellyn, the
son, isn’t dead - my word, no, he’s all alive and kicking - and he won’t be
very pleased with you, whoever you are. Clear off at once - but let me out
before you go. I’m surprised that Alsatian outside didn’t get you, that I am!”
It
was the children’s turn to be amazed now. So the son wasn’t dead! Then where
was he? And why had Matthew told old Mrs. Thomas such a cruel untruth? Julian
asked him at once.
“Why
did you tell Mrs. Thomas her son was dead then?”
“What’s
it to do with you? Mr. Llewellyn, he told me to tell his mother that. The old
lady wouldn’t let him sell that stuff deep down under the house - the stuff
that gets hold of cars and bicycles, and ploughs, and makes them heavy as lead.
Magnetises them, so they say. Well, if he wants to sell it, why shouldn’t he?
But what I say is this - he shouldn’t sell it to foreigners, no, that he
shouldn’t! If I’d have known that - well - I wouldn’t have taken money from him
to act like I did!”
The
voice rose and fell as Matthew told his extraordinary tale. Then the man banged
frantically on the door again.
“Who
are you? You let me out! I’ve been kind to the old lady - you ask her - though
she’s difficult, and strange in her ways. I’ve been loyal to Mr. Llewellyn,
though he’s not easy, no, that he’s not. Who are you, I say? Let me out; let me
out! If Mr. Llewellyn catches me locked in here, he’ll kill me! He’ll say I’ve
let his secret out. He’ll say... LET ME OUT, I say!”
“He
sounds a bit mad,” said Julian, thankful that the man was locked up. “He must
be a bit simple too, to believe all that the son told him, and do everything he
was told to do. Well - we’d better go to the police. Come on - we’ll go back
the way we came.”
“Let’s
just have a look down that river to see what the men are up to,” said Dick.
“Just you and I, Julian. It’s such a chance - we needn’t be seen, and it would
only take a few minutes. The girls could wait somewhere with Tim.”
“I
don’t think we ought to stop now,” said Julian, “I really don’t.”
“No,
don’t let’s,” said Anne. “I don’t like this house. It’s got a horrid ‘feel’
about it. And I can’t imagine what the ‘shuddering’ would be like, when the men
start their work again deep down below - whatever it is!”
“Well,
come along then,” said Julian, and, completely ignoring Matthew’s yells and
bangs, the children made their way through the kitchen and down the
cellar-steps, flashing on their torches to light their way.
“I
bet Matthew is wild that we’ve left him locked up,” said Dick, as they went
through the vast cellars. “Serves him right! Taking bribes from the son - and telling
lies to that poor old woman. Hallo, we’ve come to where the men smashed the
walls here, to get along the river tunnel. I suppose they found that was the
easiest way to go down to where the precious metal was - whatever it is!”
They
stood looking through the smashed walls at the gurgling river.
“Come,
come,” said Aily, dragging at Julian’s hand. “Bad mans there!”
She
was holding Dave, her little dog, in case he fell into the rushing river, but
Fany the lamb was gambolling loose as usual. And, quite suddenly, she skipped
off down the river tunnel, her tail whisking behind her madly.
“Fany,
Fany!” cried Aily. “Fany bach!”
But
the lamb, thinking that she was going the right way, gambolled on, deafened by
the rushing of the water. Aily ran after her, as sure-footed as the lamb,
hopping and skipping over the rough rocky bank of the river.
“Come
back, you little ass!” yelled Julian. But Aily either did not or would not
hear, and she disappeared into the blackness of the tunnel almost at once.
“She
hasn’t got a torch, Ju - she’ll fall in and drown!” yelled George, in a panic.
“Timmy, go after her, Fetch her back!”
And
away went Timmy obediently, running as fast as he could beside the black,
churning water, hurrying on its way downwards to the sea.
Julian
and the others waited anxiously. Aily didn’t come back, nor did any of the
animals - and George began to be very panicky about Timmy.
“Oh,
Julian - what’s happened to Tim - and the others?” she said. “They’ve no
torches - oh, why did I let Timmy go? We all ought to have gone!”
“They’ll
come back all right,” said Julian, much more confidently than he felt. “That
child Aily can see in the dark, I really do believe - and she knows her way
about like a dog.”
But
when, after five minutes, not one of the four had come back, George started
forward, flashing her torch on the rocky path beside the river.
“I’m
going to find Timmy,” she said. “And nobody’s going to stop me!”
And
she was gone before the boys could get hold of her! Julian gave a shout of
aggravation.
“George!
Don’t be an ass! Timmy will find his own way back. Don’t go down there - you
don’t know what you may find!”
“Come
on,” said Dick, starting off down the river too. “George won’t come back, we
know that - not unless she finds Tim and the others. We’d better go quickly
before anything awful happens!”
Anne
had to follow the boys, her heart beating fast. What a thing to happen! Just
the very worst possible!
Chapter
Twenty
IN
THE HEART OF THE HILL
It
seemed like a bad dream to the four children, making their way over the rocky
edge of the underground river. Their torches had good batteries, fortunately,
and gave a bright light, so that they could see their way alongside the river.
But at times this rocky “path” they had to walk on grew very narrow indeed!
“Oh
dear!” thought Anne, trying to keep up with the boys, “I know I shall slip! I
wish I hadn’t these heavy snow-boots on. What a noise the river makes, booming
along, and how fast it goes!”
Some
way in front of the two boys and Anne was George, still calling for Timmy. She
was very worried because he didn’t come back to her, as he always did when she
called him. She didn’t realise that Timmy couldn’t hear her! The river made
such a noise in the enclosed rocky tunnel that Timmy heard nothing at all but
the sound of the churning waters!
Quite
suddenly the tunnel widened tremendously - the river making a big, broad pool
before it tore on down the tunnel again. The walls opened out into an enormous
cave, half of which was water and the other half a stretch of rough, rocky
floor. George was most astonished. But she was even more astonished at other
things she saw!
Two
rafts, sturdy and immensely strong, were moored at the side of the deep pool!
And on the floor of the cave were what looked like tin barrels, standing in
rough rows - presumably waiting to be packed on to the rafts.
At
one side of the cave were stacked great heaps of tins and bottles and cans,
none of them opened - and on the other side an equally vast heap of discarded
ones - all opened and thrown to one side. Big wooden crates stood about too -
though George could not imagine what they were for.
The
cave was dimly lighted by electricity of some kind - probably from a battery
fixed up somewhere. Nobody seemed to be about at all! George gave a call,
hoping that Timmy was somewhere there.
“Timmy!
Where are you?”
And
at once Timmy came from behind one of the big crates, his tail wagging hard!
George was so glad that she fell on one knee and hugged him tight.
“You
naughty dog,” she said, fondling him. “Why didn’t you come when you were
called? Did you find the others? Where is Aily?”
A
small face peeped from behind the crate near by, the one from which Timmy had
appeared. It was Aily. She looked terrified, and tears were on her cheeks. She
clasped her lamb to her, and Dave was at her heels. She ran straight across to
George, crying out something in Welsh, pointing back up the tunnel. George
nodded.
“Yes.
We’ll go back straightaway! Look - here come the others! ”
Aily
had already seen them. She ran to Julian with a cry of delight, and he swung
her up in his arms, lamb and all. He was very glad to see George and Timmy too.
They
all had a good look round the strange cave.
“I
see what the idea is,” said Julian. “Jolly clever too! They are mining that
precious metal down here somewhere - and putting it on those rafts there, so
that the underground river can take it right down to the sea. I bet they’ve got
barges or something waiting down at some secret creek, to take the stuff away
at night!”
“Whew!”
said Dick. “Very ingenious! And they count on the queer noises and shudderings
and things tn frighten people and keep them away from this hill - nobody dares
to come prying round to see what’s up!”
“The
nearest farm is Magga Glen Farm, where the Jones’s live,” said Julian. “They
would really be the only people who could find out anything definite.”
“Which
they obviously did!” said Dick. “I bet Morgan knows all about this, and is in
with the son who sold the precious metal to the men who came after it - though
it was his mother’s.”
“There’s
no queer noise or anything down here - no noise at all except the sound of the
river,” said Julian. “Do you suppose the works aren’t going just now?”
“Well,”
began Dick, and then suddenly stopped as Dave and Timmy began to growl, Timmy
in a deep voice and Dave in a smaller one. Julian at once pulled Aily and
George behind a big crate, and Dick pushed Anne there. They listened intently.
What had the dogs heard? Was there time to rush back to the tunnel and make
their way out before they were seen?
Timmy
went on growling in a low voice. The children’s hearts began to beat fast - and
then they heard voices. Where did they come from? Dick peeped cautiously round
the crate. It was in a dark corner and he hoped he could not be seen.
The
voices seemed to come from the dirertion of the great pool, and Dick looked
over to it. He gave a sudden exclamation.
“Ju!
Look over there! Do you see what I see?”
Julian
looked - and was filled with astonishment. Two men had come up the tunnel, from
the sea - evidently walking on the rocky edge of the river, just as they
themselves had done - and were now wading in the shallows of the pool.
“One
is MORGAN!” whispered Julian. “And who’s the other man! Gosh - it’s the shepherd
- Aily’s father! Would you believe it? Well - we always thought Morgan was
mixed up in this - but I didn’t think the shepherd was.”
Aily
had seen both Morgan and her father. She made no move to go to the shepherd -
she was far too scared of Morgan!
Morgan
and the shepherd stood and gazed round a little, as if looking for someone.
Then, keeping to the shadows, they made their way across the great cave right
to the back of it, where another tunnel, very wide, led downwards into the
hill.
As
they went, a strange noise began.
“The
rumbling!” whispered George, and Timmy growled again. “But oh - doesn’t it
sound near. What a terrific noise - it’s got right inside my head!”
It
was no use whispering now! They had to shout if they wanted to say anything. And
then the shuddering began! Everything shuddered and vibrated, and when the
children touched one another, they could feel the vibration in the other’s
hands and arms.
“It’s
as if we’re being run by electricity ourselves!” said Dick, astonished. “I wonder
if it’s anything to do with that strange metal that is under this hill - that
makes steel things heavy, so that ploughs won’t plough, and spades won’t dig!”
“Let’s
follow Morgan and the shepherd,” said Julian, so excited now that he felt he
must see everything possible. “We can keep well in the shadows. Nobody would
ever guess we were here!”
“Aily
- you stay here,” said Julian. “Big noise, big big noise frighten Fany and
Dave.”
Aily
nodded. She settled down behind the crate with her pets.
“Aily
wait,” she said. She had no desire at all to go any nearer that strange noise!
In her simple mind she imagined that possibly the thunder itself came from this
hill and was made here. Yes, perhaps the lightning too!
Morgan
and the shepherd had now disappeared into the tunnel right at the back of the
cave, on the opposite side to the great pool. The Five went quickly over to it
and looked down. It was very wide and very steep - but rough steps had been cut
in it, so that it was not difficult to go down.
They
trod warily down the steep tunnel, astonished because it was dimly lighted -
and yet there were no lamps of any sort to be seen.
“I
think it’s the reflection of some great glare far below,” shouted Julian, above
the rumbling. The noise was so loud that it was almost like walking in the
middle of thunder.
Down
and down they went, and the tunnel curved and wound about, always steep, rocky
and dimly lit. Suddenly the noise grew louder, and the tunnel grew lighter. The
children saw the end of it, the exit outlined in brilliant light - a light that
shimmered and shook in a most curious way.
“We’re
coming to the works - the mine - where that strange metal is!” shouted Dick, so
excited that he felt his hands trembling. “Be careful we aren’t seen. JU! BE
CAREFUL WE AREN’T SEEN!”
They
went cautiously to the end of the tunnel and peered out. They were looking into
a vast pit of light, round which men stood, working some curious-looking
machines. The children could not make out what they were - and, indeed, the
light was so blinding that it was only possible to look with their eyelids
almost closed. All the men were wearing face-guards.
Suddenly
the loud rumbling stopped and the light disappeared as if someone had turned
off an electric switch! Then, in the darkness, a glow formed, a strange glow
that came upwards and outwards, and seemed to go right through the roof itself!
Dick clutched at Julian.
“That’s
the kind of glow we saw the other night!” he said. “My word - it begins down
here, goes right up through the hill in some strange way, and hangs above it!
That shimmering must come from here too - some kind of rays that can go through
anything - like X-rays or something!”
“It’s
like a dream,” said Anne, feeling George to make sure it wasn’t! “Just like a
dream!”
“Where
are Morgan and the shepherd?” said Dick. “Look - there they are - in that
corner, not far off. Look out - they’re coming back!”
The
four children moved back quickly into the tunnel, afraid of being seen. They
suddenly heard shouts, and stumbled up the rocky steps even faster. Had they
been seen? It sounded like it!
“I
can hear someone coming up the tunnel behind us!” panted Dick. “Quick, quick! I
wish that noise would begin again. I know we can be heard!”
Someone
was climbing swiftly up behind them. There were shouts and yells from below
too. It sounded as if all the men were disturbed and angry. Why, oh why had
they followed Morgan and the shepherd? They could so easily have gone back to
the cellars!
They
came to the top of the steep rocky tunnel at last, and ran to hide behind the
crates, hoping to slip into the river-tunnel without being seen. They had to
get Aily before they fled! Where was she?
“Aily,
Aily!” shouted Julian. “Where’s she gone? We daren’t leave her here. AILY!”
It
was difficult to remember exactly where they had left her, in this great cave.
“There’s
the lamb!” cried Julian, thankfully, as he saw it on the other side of a crate.
“AILY!”
“Look
out! There’s Morgan!” shouted George, as the big farmer came out of the tunnel
and ran across the cave. He saw the children and stopped in the utmost
amazement.
“What
are you doing here?” he roared. “Come with us, quickly! You’re in danger!”
The
shepherd now appeared too, and Aily ran from behind her crate to him. He stared
as if he could not believe his eyes, and then picked her up, calling something
to Morgan in Welsh.
Morgan
swung round on Julian again.
“I
told you not to interfere!” he roared. “I was handling this! Now we shall all
be caught! Fool of a boy! Quick - we must hide and hope that the men will think
we’ve gone down the tunnel. If we try to escape now, they will overtake us, and
bring us back!”
He
swept the astonished children into a dark corner and pulled crates round them.
“Stay
there!” he said. “We will do what we can!”
Chapter
Twenty-one
AN
ASTOUNDING THING
The
five children crouched behind the pile of crates. Morgan pushed another crate
up, so that they werc completely hidden. Dick clutched Julian.
“Julian!
We’ve made fools of ourselves! Morgan was trying to find out the secret of Old
Towers himself - with the help of the shepherd! They were about the only people
in the neighbourhood who could guess what was going on. The shepherd could see
all the strange things we saw, while watching his sheep on the mountainside -
and he told Morgan...”
Julian
groaned.
“Yes.
No wonder he was angry when he thought we were meddling in such a serious
matter. No wonder he forbade us to do anything more! Gosh - we’ve been idiots!
Where is Morgan now? Can you see him?”
“No.
He’s hiding somewhere. Listen - here come the men!” said Dick. “There’s a crack
between two crates here - I can see the first man. He’s got an iron bar or
something. He looks pretty grim!”
The
men came out cautiously, evidently not sure how many people they were after.
They advanced across the cave, seven of them, all with weapons of some kind.
Two went to the upper river tunnel, two went to the one that led down to the
sea, and the others began to hunt among the crates.
They
found the children first! It was Aily’s fault, poor child. She gave a sudden
scream of fright - and in a trice the men had pulled away the crates. Crash -
one by one they fell to the ground - and the amazed men found themselves
looking at five children! But not for long! With a terrifying bark Timmy flung
himself on the first man!
He
yelled and began to fight him off, but Timmy held on like grim death. Morgan
appeared from the shadows and surprised another of the men, jumping on him and
getting him on the ground, at the same time catching hold of a second man and
tossing him away. He had the strength of a giant!
“Run!”
he yelled to the children, but they couldn’t. Two of the men had penned them
into a corner, and although Julian leapt at one of them, he was simply thrown
back again. These men were strong miners, and though not a match for the
giantlike Morgan, they could certainly take everyone else prisoner - including
the gentle shepherd! He too was penned into a corner - only Morgan and Timmy
were fighting now.
“Timmy
will be hurt!” said George, in a trembling voice, and she tried to push one of
the men away to get to him. “Oh look, Ju - that man is trying to hit him with
that bar!”
Timmy
dodged the bar and sprang at the man, who turned and ran for his life. Timmy
shot after him and got him on the ground. But there were too many men - and
more were now coming up from the tunnel at the back of the cave, pouring in,
with weapons of all kinds. All of them were amazed to see the five children!
The
men seemed mostly to be foreigners, and spoke a language the children couldn’t
understand. But one man was not a foreigner - he was obviously the boss, and
gave his orders as if he expected them to be obeyed. He hadn’t joined in the
fight at all.
The
shepherd was soon overpowered, and his hands bound behind his back. Morgan
fought off for some time - but then had to surrender. He was like an angry
bull, stamping here, pulling there, roaring with rage as three men tried to tie
his hands.
The
boss came up and faced him.
“You
will be sorry for this, Morgan,” he said. “All our lives we have been enemies -
you down at the farm - and I here at Old Towers.”
Morgan
suddenly spat at him.
“Where
is your old mother?” he shouted. “A prisoner in her own house! Who has robbed
her? You, Llewellyn Thomas!” Then he went off into a spate of Welsh, his voice
rising high as he denounced the man in front of him.
Julian
admired the fearless Morgan enormously, as he stood with his hands bound,
defying the man who had been a life-long enemy. How many quarrels had these two
had, living in the same countryside, trying their strength against one another?
Julian wished intensely that he had obeyed Morgan’s command and left everything
to him. But he had thought Morgan was on the side of the enemy! How stupid he
had been!
“It’s
all because of us that he’s caught,” thought the boy, remorsefully. “I’ve been
a fool - and I thought I was doing something clever - and right! And now we’re
all landed in this mess - the girls too! What will they do with us? I suppose
the only safe thing for them to do is to keep us prisoner till they’ve finished
this mining job, collected a fortune from the metal, whatever it is, and gone.”
Llewellyn
Thomas was now giving some sharp orders, and the men were listening. Timmy was
growling, held by the collar in a stranglehold by one of the men. If he tried
to squirm away, the man twisted his hand in the collar a little more and poor
Timmy was half-choked.
George
was wild with despair. Julian had to keep stopping her from trying to make a
dash to Timmy. He was afraid that these rough men would strike her, though she
was a girl. Aily sat in a corner, hugging her lamb and Dave, who had been far
too scared even to take a little nip at any of the men!
Morgan
was held by two hefty miners - but, quite suddenly, he hurled himself sideways
at one of them and sent him flying - and then at the other, who staggered away
and fell over a tin.
With
a great roar Morgan stumbled to the pool, and waded to the entrance of the
tunnel that led to the sea, his hands still tightly tied behind his back.
“The
fool! ” said Llewellyn Thomas. “If he thinks he can get along that tunnel with
his hands tied, he is mad! He will fall into that rushing river - and without
his hands to help him, he will drown! No - don’t go after him. Let him go - let
him drown! We shall be well rid of him!”
The
shepherd struggled to his feet to go after his master, knowing quite well that
Llewellyn was right - no man could get along that rough edge to the river
without his hands to steady him, feeling along the wall at the side - and one
slip would put him into the churning, hurrying river, that ran at full-pelt
down to the sea far below, at the bottom of the hill.
But
Morgan did not mean to escape. He was not going to struggle along beside that
treacherous torrent! He had come all the way up beside it, with the shepherd,
and knew how easy it was to slip, on the wet rocky edge. No - Morgan had
another plan!
Julian
watched him disappear into the tunnel, and his heart sank. He too knew that no
one could walk along there without free hands to help him. But what could
anyone do?
The
boss turned to the other men, who were still staring after Morgan. He was just
about to say something to them, when a roar came to their ears.
Not
the roar of the torrent in the underground tunnel. Not the roar of the strange
rumbling mine. No - the roar of a giant voice, that crashed out of the tunnel,
and echoed round the cave.
It
was Morgan’s enormous voice. Morgan, calling the names of his seven great dogs!
The children listened in amazement at this unbelievable voice.
“DAI!
BOB! TANG! COME TO ME! DOON! JOLL! RAFE! HAL!”
The
names echoed round and round the cave, and it seemed as if the place was full
of giant voices. Aily, who was used to hearing the dogs called, didn’t turn a
hair - but the others crouched back in amazement at the sound of such a voice.
Surely no one in all the world had ever shouted so loudly before!
“DAI!
DAI! RAFE! RAFE!”
The
great voice boomed again and again, seeming to be louder each time. At first
Llewellyn Thomas, the boss, was taken aback - but then he laughed sneeringly.
“Does
he think he can get his dogs up from the beach?” he said. “All that way down
the tunnel. He’s mad! Let him be!”
Then
again the great voice roared out the names of the seven dogs belonging to
Morgan and the shepherd.
“DAI!
BOB! TANG! DOON! JOLL! RAFE! HAL!”
At
the last name, Morgan’s voice seemed to crack. The shepherd raised his head in
dismay. Morgan had over-strained that great voice of his, and no wonder. No megaphone
could possibly have been louder!
There
was silence after that. Morgan called no more. Neither did he appear again. The
children felt scared and depressed, and Aily began to whimper.
The
curious shuddering vibration began to creep into everything again, and the boss
turned sharply, giving some more orders. Two of the men ran to the tunnel at
the back of the cave and disappeared. Then things took on a curious shimmer, as
if a heat-haze had spread everywhere, and it began to feel very warm in the cave.
Suddenly
something happened. At first it sounded far-off in the distance, a confused
noise that made Tirnmy tug at his collar again and prick his ears. He barked,
and the man who was holding him hit him.
“What’s
that noise?” said Llewellyn Thomas, sharply, looking all round. There was no
telling where it came from. But it grew louder - and louder - and then suddenly
Julian knew what it was!
It
was the loud barking of seven angry dogs! The shepherd knew it too, and a glad
smile came over his face. He glanced at Llewellyn to see if he recognised it as
well.
Yes
- the boss had certainly recognised that dreadful sound now. He could hardly
believe it! Surely it was not possible that Morgan’s voice, enormous as it was,
had echoed all the way down the tunnel, and been heard by the sharp, pricked-up
ears of the dogs who loved him?
But
so it was! Dai, the oldest dog, who loved his master more than any of them, had
stood tense and listening ever since Morgan and the shepherd had left them.
And, from somewhere far distant, echoing down to the end of the tunnel they
were guarding, Dai had heard the faint echoes of his master’s beloved voice!
His
bark had told the other dogs the news - and, led by Dai, they had all rushed up
the rocky tunnel, sure-footed on the slippery, rocky path beside the racing
river.
They
came to Morgan, sitting beside the river, not far from the big cave, a little
way down the tunnel. It was a moment of joy for Morgan and his dogs!
Dai
soon snuffled at his hands and bit the ropes in half. Morgan was free!
“Down
now - and hush!” commanded Morgan. He began to walk steadily back to the cave,
then motioned the dogs before him.
“Attack!”
he cried in Welsh.
And
then, to the men’s horror, the seven dogs raced out of the tunnel at a great
speed, barking, growling, snarling - with a triumphant Morgan behind them, so
tall that he had to bend double to leave the tunnel.
The
men fled, every one of them. Llewellyn had turned to run even before the dogs
appeared, and was gone. Dai leapt at one man and got him down, and Tang leapt
at another. The cave was filled with snarls and growls and excited barking.
Timmy
delightedly joined in, for his captor had rushed away too. Even little Dave ran
to join this wonderful fight, while the children stood amazed and thankful to
see their enemy defeated!
“Who
would have thought of this?” said Dick, sending the crates crashing down. “What
an astounding thing! Hurrah for Morgan and his seven dogs!”
Chapter
Twenty-two
ALL’S
WELL THAT ENDS WELL!
Morgan
would not let the children stay underground any longer.
“We
have things to do,” he said, in his deep voice, which sounded rather hoarse
now. “You will go back to the farm and telephone to the police for me. You will
say ‘Morgan has won’ and tell them to send a boat to the little creek I have
already told them of. There I will bring these men all the way down the tunnel
to the sea. Go now, at once. Obey me this time, boy.”
“Yes,
sir,” said Julian. This man was a hero! And he had thought him a villain! He
was ready to obey his smallest command now. Then a thought struck him, and he
turned back.
“The
old woman,” he said. “Mrs. Thomas - that man’s mother. What about her? And
we’ve locked the caretaker up in his room!”
“You
will not do anything but go to the farm and telephone,” said Morgan, sternly.
“I will do everything there is to be done. Take Aily with you to the farm. She
must not be here. Now go.”
And
Julian went! He and the others took one last look round at the men, all
pinioned by the dogs, lying still and panic-stricken. Then, with Aily and her
lamb and dog, he led the others up the tunnel again, and at last back into the
cellars.
“I
don’t like leaving that old lady up there, in the tower,” said Dick.
“No.
But obviously Morgan has his plans,” said Julian, who was not going to disobey
orders in any way this time. “I expect he has arranged something with the
police. We can’t interfere now. We messed things up a bit, I’m afraid.”
They
climbed soberly up to the place where they had left their toboggans. It took
them some time, and they were beginning to feel very hungry. But Julian
wouldn’t let them stop even to eat some sandwiches.
“No,”
he said. “I’ve to telephone to the police as soon as ever I can. No stopping
now! We’ll munch our sandwiches on the way down to the farm.”
It
wasn’t very dificult to get out of the pot-hole, for they had left the ropes
dangling down. Julian and Dick helped the two girls up by pushing them, and
they in turn helped to pull up the boys from the top of the hole.
Aily
scrambled up easily, swinging delightedly on a rope, and then flinging herself
out of the hole. The lamb leapt up in a miraculous manner, and Julian handed
Dave to the small girl.
Timmy
was hauled up in the same way as he had been let down. He had badly wanted to
stay with the other dogs - but nothing would make him leave George!
“Well,
that’s that,” said Julian, scrambling out last of all. “Now, let’s see. We
could toboggan down this slope, and half-way up our own slope. That would save
a lot of time. Aily, you’re to come with us to the farm.”
“No,”
said Aily.
“Yes,
Aily bach,” said Julian. “I want you to.” He took her small hand in his and she
smiled her sudden little smile, quite content to go along with this big kind
boy, even though she was afraid of going down to the farm for fear she should
meet her mother.
“Aily
good girl,” said Julian, setting the little thing on his toboggan. “Aily shall
have big piece of chocolate at the farm!”
They
tobogganed down the slope at a great speed without any mishap, and half-way up
the opposite slope. It seemed queer to be out in the dazzling daylight after
the dark tunnels underground. Their adventure below began to seem slightly
unreal!
“We’ll
leave the toboggans at the hut,” said Julian, as they dragged them up the rest
of the slope. “Anyone thirsty? I am. I think it must be something to do with
that mine - my mouth got as dry as anything as soon as we were down there.”
Everyone
said the same.
“I’ll
run into the hut and pour out some orangeade,” said Anne. “You stack the
toboggans in their place, Ju, and just see if there’s enough oil in the can out
in the bunker - we’ll need to fill the stove tonight. And if there isn’t enough
we must bring some up with us.”
Julian
gave her the key of the hut and she unlocked it and went in with George. They
poured orangeade into five cups, and drank thirstily. Their mouths were drier
than they had ever been before! Anne felt thankful that she didn’t have to wait
any longer for a drink.
“I
think the roof of my mouth would have stuck to my tongue!” she said, putting
down her cup. “That was lovely!”
“There’s
plenty of oil,” reported Julian, coming to drink his orangeade. “My word - I
needed this. I’d not like to work down in that mine.”
They
locked the hut and set off down to the farm, munching their sandwiches
hungrily. They tasted very good indeed, and even Aily asked for one after
another. Timmy had his share, and once they missed him, and had to stop and
call him.
“Has
he lost his bit of meat in the snow?” wondered Anne. But no - he, like the rest
of them, was suffering from a very dry mouth and was busy licking the snow,
letting it melt in his mouth and trickle down his dry throat!
Mrs.
Jones was most surprised to see them. When she heard Julian’s request to
telephone to the police, she looked worried.
“It’s
all right, Mrs. Jones,” said Julian, comfortingly. “It’s a message to them from
Morgan. Everything is fine. We’ll tell you what’s happened as soon as he comes
home. He might not like us to say anything till then!”
The
police did not seem at all surprised to hear Julian’s message - they appeared
to be expecting it!
“We
will see to the matter,” said the sergeant, in his deep, stolid voice. “Thank
you.” And he rang off at once. Julian wondered what would happen next - what
had Morgan arranged?
They
were pleased to see Mrs. Jones bringing in bowls of hot chicken soup, as they
sat talking round the wood fire she had hurriedly lighted in the living-room.
“Oh!
Just what we feel like!” said Anne, gratefully. “I’m still awfully thirsty -
aren’t you, George? And look, Timmy - there’s a nice meaty bone for you! You
are kind, Mrs. Jones!”
“You
know - I feel pretty awful about all this now,” said Julian. “We shouldn’t have
interfered after Morgan said we weren’t to. I wish we hadn’t. He can’t think
much of us!”
“I
vote we all apologise humbly,” said Dick. “How could we have thought he was the
villain of the piece? I know he’s dour and silent - but he didn’t look mean or
cruel.”
“We’d
better stay down here at the farm till Morgan comes back,” said George. “Quite
apart from wanting to say I’m sorry, I’d like to know what happened!”
“So
would I,” said Anne. “And Aily ought to wait for her father. He’ll want to know
that she’s safe.”
So
they asked Mrs. Jones if they could stay till Morgan came home. She was
delighted.
“Of
course, now,” she said. “We’ve a roasting turkey today - and you shall come and
sup with us in our room for a change!”
This
all sounded rather good. The children gathered round their fire to talk, and
Timmy rested his head on George’s knee. She looked at his neck.
“That
man almost choked him,” she said. “Oh look, Julian - he’s bruised all round his
poor neck!”
“Now
don’t start moaning over Timmy’s neck again, for goodness’ sake!” said Dick.
“Honestly, George, I’m sure Tim thinks the adventure was worth a bruised neck!
He’s not grumbling. He was jolly brave, I think - and didn’t he enjoy himself
when the other dogs rushed into the cave, and he joined in the fight!”
“I
wonder what they’ll do about that poor old woman,” said Anne. “She will be glad
her son is alive, I suppose - but what a shock for her to know he’s lied to
her, and sold what is really hers - that strange metal under the hill!”
“Well
- I imagine it won’t be allowed to be sold now,” said Julian. “What a plan that
was! To get men up that tunnel to mine the stuff - and to send it down by rafts
to waiting ships, hidden in that creek. We ought to go down and examine the
creek - it would be interesting to see what sort of a place it is down there.
It must be well hidden in a fold of the cliff, I should think.”
“Yes
- let’s do that tomorrow,” said George, thrilled. “I vote we stay here tonight.
I feel tired after such an adventure! Don’t you?”
“I
do a bit,” said Julian. “Well - I suppose there won’t be quite so much
shuddering and shimmering and rumbling now! Funny that that hill should always
have been so queer, isn’t it - ‘ploughs that will not plough, spades that will
not dig!’ Must be some kind of iron, I suppose, that magnetises things. Oh well
- it’s all beyond me!”
Morgan
came back with the shepherd when it was dark. Julian went straight up to the
burly farmer.
“We
want to apologise for being such idiots,” he said. “We shouldn’t have
interfered after what you said.”
Morgan
gave a broad smile. He seemed to be in a very good humour indeed.
“Forget
it, boy,” he said. “All’s well now. The police came up the river tunnel, and
all the men are safe in jail. Llewellyn Thomas is a sad man tonight. His mother
is free and is staying with friends - poor lady, she doesn’t understand what
has happened, and that is as well. And maybe now the right people will get that
strange metal - it’s worth a hundred times its weight in gold!”
“Come
you in to your supper, Morgan bach, and shepherd too!” said Mrs. Jones, in her
lilting voice. “The children too are coming. We’ve a roasting turkey - it’s
your birthday, Morgan boy!”
“Well
there now, I didn’t know it!” said Morgan and gave his mother such a hug that
she squealed. “Let’s go in to the turkey. I’ve had nothing all day.”
Soon
they were all sitting down before the most enormous turkey that the children
had ever seen in their lives! Morgan carved it swiftly. Then he said something
to his mother in Welsh and she smiled and nodded.
“Yes,
you do that,” she said.
Morgan
collected some slices of turkey on a big enamel dish, and then went to the door
that led from the living-room into the farmyard. He roared loudly and the
children jumped. What a voice!
“DAI!
TANG! BOB! DOON! JOLL! RAFE! HAL!”
“He’s
calling the dogs,” said Anne. “Just as he called them up the tunnel. Well -
they certainly deserve a good dinner!”
Then
down to the door came the seven dogs, jostling each other, barking excitedly.
Morgan threw them the slices of turkey, and they gobbled the tasty bits up
greedily.
“Woof!”
said Timmy politely from behind him, and Morgan turned. He solemnly cut a big
slice and a little slice.
“Here!”
he said to Timmy and Dave. “You did well too! Catch!”
“There’ll
not be much left of your birthday turkey!” said his mother, half-cross,
half-amused. “Now fill your glasses again, children, and we will drink to my
Morgan - a better son there never was!”
Anne
poured home-made lemonade into the empty glasses, while Morgan sat and smiled,
listening to his seven dogs still barking together outside.
“Happy
birthday, happy birthday! ” shouted everyone, raising their glasses, and Julian
added his own few words.
“Happy
birthday, sir - and may your voice NEVER grow less!”