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 vil age at the bottom of the mountain, and find out where the nearest police station is - and we"d never get a vil age policeman to believe our tale!”
“I wonder the vil agers 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 al 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 val ey 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 hil s would, as wel . 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 stil some apples left - or I could open a tin of pears.”
“I vote for the pears,” said Dick. “I feel like something real y 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
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 vil age at the bottom of the mountain, and find out where the nearest police station is - and we"d never get a vil age policeman to believe our tale!”
“I wonder the vil agers 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 al 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 val ey 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 hil s would, as wel . 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 stil some apples left - or I could open a tin of pears.”
“I vote for the pears,” said Dick. “I feel like something real y 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
Similar Books
