“Animals always walk like that when they are suspicious, or frightened or angry,” said Fatty, grinning at Bets. “Go on. Don’t be so long-winded.”
“I went with Buster,” said Bets, “as quietly as I could, thinking there might be a cat or something the other side of the rick. But it was the tramp!”
“Golly!” said Larry, and Pip whistled.
“You’re a very good Find-Outer,” said Fatty warmly.
“I did so badly want to find out something,” said Bets. “But I suppose really and truly it was Buster who did the finding, wasn’t it?”
“Well, he wouldn’t have, if you hadn’t taken him for a walk,” said Larry. “What was the tramp doing?”
“He was asleep,” said Bets. “Fast asleep. He didn’t even wake when Buster sniffed at his feet.”
“His feet!” said Pip. “What sort of shoes did he have on? Did they have rubber soles?”
Bets looked dismayed. “Oh! I never thought of looking. And I so easily could have seen, couldn’t I, because he was fast asleep. But I was so excited at finding him that I just never thought of looking at his shoes.”
“There’s no time to be lost,” said Pip, jumping up. “He may still be fast asleep. We’d better go and have a look at Mm and his shoes and his clothes. Fatty can tell us at once if he’s the tramp he saw in Mr. Hick’s garden or not.”
Excited and rather solemn, the Five Find-Outers and Dog set off down the lane to the fields that ran beside the river. They went fast, in case the tramp had awakened and gone on his way. It was so marvellous that Bets should actually have found him – they couldn’t possibly risk losing him!
They came to the rick. A gentle sound of snoring told them that the tramp was still there. Fatty picked up Buster and crept round the rick without making a sound.
On the other side5 curled up well, lay a tramp. He was an old fellow, with a stubbly grey beard, shaggy grey eyebrows, a red nose, and long, untidy hair that straggled from under a terrible old hat. Fatty took a look at him. He tiptoed back to the others.
“Yes – it’s the tramp all right!” he whispered, thrilled. “But it’s going to be difficult to pull aside his mackintosh to see if he’s got a grey coat underneath. And he’s got His feet sort of curled up underneath him. We shall have to get right down on the ground to see what sort of sole his shoes have got underneath.”
“I’ll go and try,” said Larry. “You others keep Buster quiet here, and watch out in case any one comes.”
Leaving the others on the far side of the rick, Larry crept round to the side where the tramp slept. He sat down near him. He put out his hand to pull aside the old mackintosh to see if the man wore grey underneath. The trousers appearing below the coat were so old and dirty that it was quite impossible to tell what colour they had once been.
The tramp moved a little and Larry took back His hand. He decided to try and see the underneath of the man’s shoes. So he knelt down3 put His head to tie ground and did his best to squint at the tramp’s shoes.
The tramp suddenly opened his eyes. He stared in the greatest astonishment at Larry.
“What’s bitten you?” he suddenly said, and Larry almost jumped out of his skin.
“Think I’m the king of England, I suppose, kneeling in front of me with your head on the ground like that!” said the tramp. “Get away. I can’t abide children. Nasty interfering little creatures!”
He curled hihiself up again and shut his eyes. Larry waited for a second or two, and was about to try squinting at the man’s shoes again when he heard a low whistle from the other side of the rick. That meant someone was coming. Well, they would all have to wait till the passer-by was gone. Larry crept round to join Pip and the rest.
1 “Someone coming?” he asked.
“Yes – old Clear-Orf!” said Fatty. Larry peeped round ,the rick. The village policeman was coming up from the other direction, along a path that did not go near the rick. He would soon be gone.
But as he came along he suddenly caught sight of the old tramp sleeping by the rick. The children drew back hurriedly as Mr. Goon walked quietly and quickly over to the rick. There was a ladder leaning against the rick and Larry pushed Bets and the others up as quickly as he could.
They would be less likely to be seen on top than below. fortunately the rick had been cut well out, when hay was taken to the various farm-animals, and it was easy to balance on the cut-out part.
The policeman crept up quietly. The children, peering over the rick, saw him take out a notebook. Fatty gave Lany such a nudge that the boy nearly fell.
“Look! Look what he’s got down in his notebook! He’s got a drawing of that footprint we saw! He’s been cleverer than we thought!”
Clear-Orf tiptoed up to the tramp and tried His best to see what sort of shoes he had on. He, too, did as Lany had done and knelt down, the better to see. And the tramp opened His eyes!”
His astonishment at seeing the policeman kneeling in front of him was enormous. It was one thing to see a boy behaving like that, but quite another thing to see a policeman. The tramp leapt to His feet with a howl.
“First it’s a boy bowing down to me and now it’s a bobby!” he said, jamming his old hat down on his long grey hair. “What’s it all about?”
“I want to see your shoes,” said Clear-Orf.
“Well, see them, then! Look at them well, laces and all!” said the tramp, rapidly losing His temper.
“I want to see the soles,” said the policeman stolidly.
“Are you a cobbler or a policeman?” asked the tramp. “Well – you show me the buttons on your shirt, and I’ll show you the soles of my shoes!”
The policeman began to breathe very heavily, and his face got red. He snapped his notebook shut.
“You’d better come-alonga-me,” he said. The tramp didn’t think so. He skipped out of the way and began to run across the field, very nimbly indeed for an old fellow. Clear-Orf gave a roar, and turned to run after him.
And at that moment Fatty., excited beyond words, fell off the hay-rick, and landed with a thud on the ground below. He gave such an agonized yell that the policeman stopped in amazement.
“What’s all this-ere?” he said, and glared at Fatty. Then he caught sight of the other children peering anxiously down from the top of the rick, afraid that Fatty had broken all his bones. He was most astonished.
“You come on down!” he roared. “Always children messing about! You wait till the farmer catches you! How long have you been there? What do you mean, spying like this?”
Fatty gave a frightful groan, and the policeman, torn between his desire to rash after the disappearing tramp, and to pull Fatty to his feet and shake him, went up to him.
“Don’t touch me! I think I’ve broken my left leg and my right arm, dislocated both my shoulders and broken my appendix!” said Fatty, who sincerely believed that he was practically killed.
Bets gave a squeal of horror and jumped down to see what she could do to help poor Fatty. The others leapt down too, and Buster danced delightedly round Clear-Orf’s ankles. The policeman kicked out at him.
“Clear-orf,” he said. “Dogs and children! Always messing about and getting in the way. Now that fellow’s gone, and I’ve missed a chance of questioning him 1”
He waited to see if Fatty was really hurt. But, except for a good shaking, and some fine big bruises, Fatty was not hurt at all. His fat had kept him from breaking any bones!
As soon as the policeman saw the others helping Fatty up, brushing him down, and comforting him, he took a
look round to see if he could make out where the tramp hadgone. But he was nowhere to be seen. He turned to the five children.
“Now, clear-orf,” he said. “And don’t let me see you hanging round again.”
Then, with great dignity, Mr. Goon made His way heavily to the path, and walked down it without turning his head once. The children looked at each other.
“We were getting on so well till Clear-Orf came,” sighed Daisy. “I wonder where that tramp went to.”
“I’m going home,” said Fatty miserably. “I feel awful.”
“I’ll take you home,” said Daisy. “You come too, Bets. Do you boys want to see if you can trace the tramp?”