‘Yes! Who is it?’
‘It’s us,’ said a familiar voice, and the door opened. Farmer Mackie and his wife peeped in, looking rather anxious.
‘We wondered what had happened,’ said the farmer. ‘You rushed out of the farmhouse when you had used the ‘phone last night and didn’t come back.’
‘I ought to have slipped back and told you,’ said Dick, sitting up with his hair over his eyes. He pushed it back. ‘But I forgot. The police went down into the hills with us and got the two men. They’re well-known burglars. The police got all the goods, too. It was a very thrilling night. Thanks most awfully for letting me use the ‘phone.’
‘You’re very welcome,’ said Mrs Mackie. ‘And look I’ve brought you some food.’
She had two baskets stacked with good things. Dick felt wide awake and very hungry when he saw them. ‘Oh, thanks,’ he said gratefully. ‘You are a good sort!’
Nobby and Pongo suddenly uncurled themselves from their pile of rugs, and Mrs Mackie gave a squeal.
‘Land-snakes, what’s that? A monkey?’
‘No, an ape, Mam,’ said Nobby politely. ‘He won’t hurt you. Hi, take your hand out of that basket!’
Pongo, who had been hoping to find a little titbit unnoticed, covered his face with his hairy paw and looked through his fingers at Mrs Mackie.
‘Look at that now he’s like a naughty child!’ said Mrs Mackie. ‘Isn’t he, Ted?’
‘He is that,’ said the farmer. ‘Queer sort of bedfellow, I must say!’
‘Well, I must be getting along,’ said Mrs Mackie, nodding and smiling at George and Anne, who had now come out of their caravan with Timmy to see who the visitors were. ‘You come along to the farm if you want anything. We’ll be right pleased to see you.’
‘Aren’t they nice?’ said Anne as the two farm-folk went down the cart-track. ‘And oh, my goodness what a breakfast we’re going to have! Cold bacon tomatoes fresh radishes curly lettuces and who wants new honey?’
‘Marvellous!’ said Julian. ‘Come on let us have it now, before we clean up.’
But Anne made them wash and tidy themselves first! ‘You’ll enjoy it much more if you’re clean,’ she said. ‘We all look as black as sweeps! I’ll give you five minutes then you can come to a perfectly wonderful breakfast!’
‘All right, Ma!’ grinned Nobby, and he went off with the others to wash at the spring. Then back they all went to the sunny ledge to feast on the good things kind Mrs Mackie had provided.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GOOD-BYE, NOBBY GOOD-BYE, CARAVANNERS!
Before they had finished their breakfast the Inspector came roaring up the track in his powerful police car. There was one sharp-eyed policeman with him to take down notes.
‘Hallo, hallo!’ said the Inspector, eyeing the good things set out on the ledge. ‘You seem to do yourselves well, I must say!’
‘Have some new bread and honey?’ said Anne in her best manner. ‘Do! There’s plenty!’
‘Thanks,’ said the Inspector, and sat down with the children. The other policeman wandered round the caravans, examining everything. The Inspector munched away at honey and bread, and the children talked to him, telling him all about their extraordinary adventure.
‘It must have been a most unpleasant shock for those two fellows when they found that your caravan was immediately over the entrance to the place where they hid their stolen goods,’ said the Inspector. ‘Most unpleasant.’
‘Have you examined the goods?’ asked Dick eagerly. ‘Are they very valuable?’
‘Priceless,’ answered the Inspector, taking another bit of bread and dabbing it thickly with honey. ‘Quite priceless. Those rogues apparently stole goods they knew to be of great value, hid them here for a year or two till the hue and cry had died down, then got them out and quietly disposed of them to friends in Holland and Belgium.’
‘Tiger Dan used to act in circuses in Holland,’ said Nobby. ‘He often told me about them. He had friends all over Europe people in the circus line, you know.’
‘Yes. It was easy for him to dispose of his goods abroad,’ said the Inspector. ‘He planned to go across to Holland today, you know got everything ready with Lou or, to give him the right name, Lewis Allburg and was going to sell most of those things. You just saved them in time!’
‘What a bit of luck!’ said George. They almost got away with it. If Dick hadn’t managed to slip out when Pongo was attacking them, we’d still have been prisoners down in the hill, and Lou and Dan would have been half-way to Holland!’
‘Smart bit of work you children did,’ said the Inspector approvingly, and looked longingly at the honey-pot. That’s fine honey, I must buy some from Mrs Mackie.’
‘Have some more,’ said Anne, remembering her manners. ‘Do. We’ve got another loaf.’
‘Well, I will,’ said the Inspector, and took another slice of bread, spreading it with the yellow honey. It looked as if there wouldn’t even be enough left for Pongo to lick out! Anne thought it was nice to see a grown-up enjoying bread and honey as much as children did.
‘You know, that fellow Lou did some very remarkable burglaries,’ said the Inspector. ‘Once he got across from the third floor of one house to the third floor of another across the street and nobody knows how!’
‘That would be easy for Lou,’ said Nobby, suddenly losing his fear of the big Inspector. ‘He’d just throw a wire rope across, lasso something with the end of it, top of a gutter-pipe, perhaps, draw tight, and walk across! He’s wonderful on the tight-rope. There ain’t nothing he can’t do on the tight-rope.’
‘Yes that’s probably what he did,’ said the Inspector. ‘Never thought of that! No, thanks, I really won’t have any more honey. That chimpanzee will eat me if I don’t leave some for him to lick out!’
Pongo took away the jar, sat himself down behind one of the caravans, and put a large pink tongue into the remains of the honey. When Timmy came running up to see what he had got, Pongo held the jar high above his head and chattered at him.
‘Yarra-yarra-yarra-yarra!’ he said. Timmy looked rather surprised and went back to George. She was listening with great interest to what the Inspector had to tell them about the underground caves.
They’re very old,’ he said. The entrance to them used to be some way down the hill, but there was a landslide and it was blocked up. Nobody bothered to unblock it because the caves were not particularly interesting.’
‘Oh, but they are,’ said Anne, ‘especially the one with the gleaming walls.’
‘Well, I imagine that quite by accident one day Dan and Lou found another way in,’ said the Inspector. The way you know a hole going down into the hill. They must have thought what a fine hiding-place it would make for any stolen goods perfectly safe, perfectly dry, and quite near the camping-place here each year. What could be better?’
‘And I suppose they would have gone on burgling for years and hiding the stuff if we hadn’t just happened to put our caravan over the very spot!’ said Julian. ‘What a bit of bad luck for them!’
‘And what a bit of good luck for us!’ said the Inspector. ‘We did suspect those two, you know, and once or twice we raided the circus to try and find the goods but they must always have got warning of our coming and got them away in time up here!’
‘Have you been down to the camp, mister?’ asked Nobby suddenly.
The Inspector nodded. ‘Oh, yes. We’ve been down already this morning seen everyone and questioned them. We created quite a stir.’
Nobby looked gloomy.
‘What’s the matter, Nobby?’ said Anne.
‘I shan’t half cop it when I get back to the camp,’ said Nobby. They’ll say it’s all my fault the coppers going there. We don’t like the bobbies round the camp. I shall get into a whole lot of trouble when I go back. I don’t want to go back.’
Nobody said anything. They all wondered what would happen to poor Nobby now his Uncle Dan was in prison.
Then Anne asked him: ‘Who will you live with now in the camp. Nobby?’
‘Oh, somebody will take me in and work me hard,’ said Nobby. ‘I wouldn’t mind if I could be with the horses but Rossy won’t let me. I know that. If I could be with horses I’d be happy. I love them and they understand me all right.’
‘How old are you, Nobby?’ asked the Inspector, joining in the talk. ‘Oughtn’t you to be going to school?’
‘Never been in my life, mister,’ said Nobby. ‘I’m just over fourteen, so I reckon I never will go now!’