They made their way to Kirrin Cottage at top speed. Aunt Fanny was gardening there. She stared in surprise to see the hurrying children.
“Why,” she said, “I thought you were not coming back till tomorrow or the next day! Has anything happened? What’s the matter with Dick’s cheek?”
“Nothing much,” said Dick.
The others chimed in.
“Aunt Fanny, where’s Uncle Quentin? We have something important to tell him!”
“Mother, we’ve had such an adventure!”
“Aunt Fanny, we’ve an awful lot to tell you! We really have!”
Aunt Fanny looked at the untidy children in amazement. “Whatever has happened?” she said. Then she turned towards the house and called, “Quentin! Quentin! The children have something to tell us!”
Uncle Quentin came out, looking rather cross, for he was in the middle of his work. “What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Uncle, it’s about Kirrin Island,” said Julian, eagerly. “Those men haven’t bought it yet, have they?”
“Well, it’s practically sold,” said his uncle. “I’ve signed my part, and they are to sign their part tomorrow. Why? What’s that to do with you?”
“Uncle, those men won’t sign tomorrow,” said Julian. “Do you know why they wanted to buy the island and the castle? Not because they really wanted to build an hotel or anything like that-but because they knew the lost gold was hidden there!”
“What nonsense are you talking?” said his uncle.
“It isn’t nonsense, Father!” cried George indignantly. “It’s all true. The map of the old castle was in that box you sold-and in the map was shown where the ingots were hidden by my great-great-greatgrandfather!”
George’s father looked amazed and annoyed. He simply didn’t believe a word! But his wife saw by the solemn and serious faces of the four children that something important really had happened. And then Anne suddenly burst into loud sobs! The excitement had been too much for her and she couldn’t bear to think that her uncle wouldn’t believe that everything was true.
“Aunt Fanny, Aunt Fanny, it’s all true!” she sobbed. “Uncle Quentin is horrid not to believe us. Oh, Aunt Fanny, the man had a revolver-and oh, he made Julian and George prisoners in the dungeons-and Dick had to climb down the well to rescue them. And George has smashed up their motor-boat to stop them escaping!”
Her aunt and uncle couldn’t make head or tail of this, but Uncle Quentin suddenly seemed to think that the matter was serious and worth looking into. “Smashed up a motor-boat!” he said. “Whatever for? Come indoors. I shall have to hear the story from beginning to end. It seems quite unbelievable to me.”
They all trooped indoors. Anne sat on her aunt’s knee and listened to George and Julian telling the whole story. They told it well and left nothing out. Aunt Fanny grew quite pale as she listened, especially when she heard about Dick climbing down the well.
“You might have been killed,” she said. “Oh, Dick! What a brave thing to do!”
Uncle Quentin listened in the utmost amazement. He had never had much liking or admiration for any children-he always thought they were noisy, tiresome, and silly. But now, as he listened to Julian’s tale, he changed his mind about these four children at once!
“You’ve been very clever,” he said. “And very brave too. I’m proud of you. Yes, I’m very proud of you all. No wonder you didn’t want me to sell the island, George, when you knew about the ingots! But why didn’t you tell me?”
The four children stared at him and didn’t answer. They couldn’t very well say, “Well, firstly, you wouldn’t have believed us. Secondly, you are bad-tempered and unjust and we are frightened of you. Thirdly, we didn’t trust you enough to do the right thing.”
“Why don’t you answer?” said their uncle. His wife answered for them, in a gentle voice.
“Quentin, you scare the children, you know, and I don’t expect they liked to go to you. But now that they have, you will be able to take matters into your own hands. The children cannot do any more. You must ring up the police and see what they have to say about all this.”
“Right,” said Uncle Quentin, and he got up at once. He patted Julian on the back. “You have all done well,” he said. Then he ruffled George’s short curly hair. “And I’m proud of you, too, George,” he said. “You’re as good as a boy any day!”
“Oh Father!” said George, going red with surprise and pleasure. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The children noticed that he had a very nice face when he smiled. He and George were really very alike to look at. Both looked ugly when they sulked and frowned-and both were good to look at when they laughed or smiled!
George’s father went off to telephone the police and his lawyer too. The children sat and ate biscuits and plums, telling their aunt a great many little details they had forgotten when telling the story before.
As they sat there, there came a loud and angry bark from the front garden. George looked up. “That’s Tim,” she said, with an anxious look at her mother. “I hadn’t time to take him to Alf, who keeps him for me. Mother, Tim was such a comfort to us on the island, you know. I’m sorry he’s barking now-but I expect he’s hungry.”
“Well, fetch him in,” said her mother, unexpectedly. “He’s quite a hero, too-we must give him a good dinner.”
George smiled in delight. She sped out of the door and went to Tim. She set him free and he came bounding indoors, wagging his long tail. He licked George’s mother and cocked his ears at her.
“Good dog,” she said, and actually patted him. “I’ll get you some dinner!”
Tim trotted out to the kitchen with her. Julian grinned at George. “Well, look at that,” he said. “Your mother’s a brick, isn’t she?”
“Yes-but I don’t know what Father will say when he sees Tim in the house again,” said George, doubtfully.
Her father came back at that minute, his face grave. “The police take a serious view of all this,” he said, “and so does my lawyer. They all agree in thinking that you children have been remarkably clever and brave. And George-my lawyer says that the ingots definitely belong to us. Are there really a lot?”
“Father! There are hundreds!” cried George. “Simply hundreds-all in a big pile in the dungeon. Oh, Father-shall we be rich now?”
“Yes”, said her father. “We shall. Rich enough to give you and your mother all the things I’ve longed to give you for so many years and couldn’t. I’ve worked hard enough for you-but it’s not the kind of work that brings in a lot of money, and so I’ve become irritable and bad-tempered. But now you shall have everything you want!”
“I don’t really want anything I haven’t already got,” said George. “But Father, there is one thing I’d like more than anything else in the world-and it won’t cost you a penny!”
“You shall have it, my dear!” said her father, slipping his arm round George, much to her surprise. “Just say what it is-and even if it costs a hundred pounds you shall have it!”
Just then there came the pattering of big feet down the passage to the room they were in. A big hairy head pushed itself through the door and looked inquiringly at everyone there. It was Tim, of course!
Uncle Quentin stared at him in surprise. “Why, isn’t that Tim?” he asked. “Hallo, Tim!”
“Father! Tim is the thing I want most in all the world,” said George, squeezing her father’s arm. “You can’t think what a friend he was to us on the island-and he wanted to fly at those men and fight them. Oh, Father, I don’t want any other present-I only want to keep Tim and have him here for my very own. We could afford to give him a proper kennel to sleep in now, and I’d see that he didn’t disturb you, I really would.”
“Well, of course you can have him!” said her father-and Tim came right into the room at once, wagging his tail, looking for all the world as if he had understood every word that had been said. He actually licked Uncle Quentin’s hand! Anne thought that was very brave of him.
But Uncle Quentin was quite different now. It seemed as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. They were rich now-George could go to a good school-and his wife could have the things he had so much wanted her to have-and he would be able to go on with the work he loved without feeling that he was not earning enough to keep his family in comfort. He beamed round at everyone, looking as jolly a person as anyone could wish!