The others giggled. They kept a sharp ear for Block’s return. They heard footsteps after a time, and began to pile their plates together for him to take away.
The schoolroom door opened. But it was not Block who came in. It was Mr. Lenoir! He came in, smiling as usual, and looked round at the surprised children.
‘Ah! So you are enjoying your dinner, and eating it all up, like good children,’ he said. He always irritated the children because he spoke to them as if they were very small. ‘Does Block wait on you properly?’
‘Oh yes, sir, thank you,’ said Julian, standing up politely. ‘We are having a very nice time here. We think Sarah is a wonderful cook!’
‘Ah, that’s good, that’s good,’ said Mr. Lenoir. The children waited impatiently for him to go. They were so afraid that Timmy would bark again. But Mr. Lenoir seemed in no hurry.
And then Timmy barked again! ‘Woof, woof, woof!’
Chapter Eleven GEORGE IS WORRIED
MR. LENOIR cocked his head on one side almost like a startled dog, when he heard the muffled barking. He looked at the children. But they made no sign of having heard anything. Mr. Lenoir listened a little while, saying nothing. Then he turned to a drawing-book, belonging to Julian, and began to look at the sketches there.
The children felt somehow that he was doing it for the sake of staying in the schoolroom a little longer. Into Julian’s mind came the quick suspicion that somehow Mr. Lenoir must have been told of Timmy’s barking and come to investigate it for himself. It was the first time he had ever come to the schoolroom!
Timmy barked again, a little more distantly. Mr. Lenoir’s nose grew white at the tip. Sooty and Marybelle knew the danger-sign, and glanced at one another. That white-tipped nose usually meant a storm of temper!
‘Do you hear that noise?’ said Mr. Lenoir, snapping out the words.
‘What noise, sir?’ asked Julian, politely.
Timmy barked again.
‘Don’t be foolish! There’s the noise again!’ said Mr. Lenoir. At that moment a gull called outside the window, circling in the sea-breeze.
‘Oh – that gull, sir? Yes, we often hear the gulls,’ said Dick, brightly. ‘Sometimes they seem to mew like a cat sir.’
‘Pah!’ said Mr. Lenoir, almost spitting out the word. T suppose you will say they also bark like a dog?’
‘Well, they might, I suppose, sir,’ agreed Dick, looking faintly surprised. ‘After all, if they can mew like cats, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t bark like dogs.5
Timmy barked again very joyfully. Mr. Lenoir faced the children, in a very bad temper indeed now.
‘Can’t you hear that? Tell me what that noise is!’
The children all put their heads on one side, and pretended to listen very carefully. ‘I can’t hear anything,’ said Dick. ‘Not a thing.’
‘I can hear the wind,’ said Anne.
‘I can hear the gulls again,’ said Julian, putting his hand behind one ear.
‘I can hear a door banging. Perhaps that’s the noise you mean, sir!’ said Sooty, with a most innocent expression. His stepfather gave him a poisonous look. He could really be very unpleasant.
‘And there’s a window rattling,’ said Marybelle, eager to do her bit too, though she felt very frightened of her father, for she knew his sudden rages very well.
‘I tell you, it’s a dog, and >ou know it!’ snapped Mr. Lenoir, the tip of his nose so white now that it looked very queer indeed. ‘Where’s the dog? Whose is he?’
‘What dog, sir?’ began Julian, frowning as if he were very puzzled indeed. ‘There’s no dog here that I can see.’
Mr. Lenoir glared at him, and clenched his fingers. It was quite clear that he would have liked to box Julian’s ears. ‘Then listen!’ he hissed. ‘Listen and say what you think could make that barking, if not a dog?’
They were all forced to listen, for by now they felt scared of the angry man. But fortunately Timmy made no sound at all. Either he had let the rat escape, or was now gobbling it up. Anyway, there was not a single sound from him!
‘Sorry, sir but really I can’t hear a dog barking,’ said Julian, in rather an injured tone.
‘Nor can I!’ said Dick, and the others joined in, saying the same. Mr. Lenoir knew that this time they were speaking the truth, for he too could not hear anything.
‘When I catch that dog I will have him poisoned,’ he said, very slowly and clearly. ‘I will not have dogs in my house.’
He turned on his heel and went out quickly, which was a very good thing, for George was quite ready to fly into one of her rages, and then there would have been a real battle! Anne put her hand on George’s arm to stop her shouting after Mr. Lenoir.
‘Don’t give the game away!’ she whispered. ‘Don’t say anything, George!’
George bit her lip. She had gone first red with rage and then white. She stamped her foot.
‘How dare he, how dare he?’ she burst out.
‘Shut up, silly,’ said Julian. ‘Block will be back in a minute. We must all pretend to be awfully surprised that Mr. Lenoir thought there was a dog, because, if Block can read our lips, he mustn’t know the truth.’
Block came in with the pudding at that moment, his face as blank as ever. It was the most curious face the children had ever seen, for there was never any change of expression on it at all. As Anne said, it might have been a wax mask!
‘Funny how Mr. Lenoir thought there was a dog barking!’ began Julian, and the others backed him up valiantly. If Block could indeed read their lips he would be puzzled to know whether there had been a dog barking or not!
The children escaped to Sooty’s room afterwards, and held a council of war. ‘What are we to do about Timmy?’ said George. ‘Does your stepfather know the secret way behind the walls of Smuggler’s Top, Sooty? Could he possibly get in and find Timmy? Timmy might fly at him, you know.’
‘Yes, he might,’ said Sooty, thoughtfully. I don’t know if Father does know about the secret passages. I mean, I expect he knows, but I don’t know if he guessed where the entrances are. I found them out quite by accident.’
‘I’m going home,’ said George, suddenly. ‘I’m not going to risk Timmy being poisoned.’
‘You can’t go home alone,’ said Julian. ‘It would look funny. If you do, we’d all have to, and then we won’t have a chance to solve this mystery with Sooty.’
‘No, for goodness sake don’t go and leave me just now,’ said Sooty, looking quite alarmed. ‘It would make my father furious, simply furious.’
George hesitated. She didn’t want to make trouble for Sooty, whom she liked very much. But, on the other hand, she certainly was not going to risk danger to Timmy.
‘Well – I’ll telephone my father and say I’m homesick and want to go back,’ said George. ‘I’ll say I miss Mother. It’s quite true, I do miss her. You others can stay on here and solve the mystery. It wouldn’t be fair of you to try and keep me and Timmy here when you know I’d worry every moment in case someone got into the secret passage and put down poisoned meat for him to eat.’
The others hadn’t thought of this. That would be terrible. Julian sighed. He would have to let George have her own way after all.
‘All right. You telephone to your father,’ he said. ‘There’s a phone downstairs. Do it now if you like. There won’t be anyone about now, I don’t suppose.’
George slipped down the passage, out of the door there, and down the stairs to where the telephone was enclosed in a dark little cupboard. She asked for the number she wanted.
There was a long wait. Then she heard the buzzing noise – brr – brr – brr – brr – that told her that the telephone bell at Kirrin Cottage was ringing. She began to plan what she should say to her father. She must, she really must go home with Timmy. She didn’t know how she was going to explain about Timmy – perhaps she needn’t explain at all. But she meant to go home that day or the next!
‘Brr – brr – brr – brr’ said the bell at the other end. It went on and on, and nobody answered it. She did not
hear her father’s familiar voice – only the bell that went on ringing. Why did nobody answer?
The operator at the exchange spoke to her. I’m sorry. There’s no reply.’
George put down the receiver miserably. Perhaps her parents were out? She would have to try again later on.