‘Lands’ sakes!’ she said. ‘You’re all back! My, Mr. And Mrs. Lenoir will be glad – they’ve got the police hunting everywhere for you! They’ve gone down secret passages, and they’ve been to Mr. Barling’s, and…’
Timmy bounced into the hall, the mud now drying on him, so that he looked most peculiar. Sarah gave a scream. ‘What’s that? Gracious, it can’t be a dog!’
‘Come here, Tim!’ said George, suddenly remembering that Mr. Lenoir detested dogs. ‘Sarah, do you think you’d have poor Timmy in the kitchen with you? I really
can’t turn him out into the streets – you’ve no idea how brave he’s been.’
‘Come along, come along!’ said her father, impatient with all this talk. ‘Lenoir can put up with Timmy for a few minutes, surely!’
‘Oh, I’ll have him with pleasure!’ said Sarah. ‘I’ll give him a bath. That’s what he wants. Mr. and Mrs. Lenoir are in the sitting-room, sir. Oh, sir, shall I get you some clothes?’
The little party went in, and made their way to the sitting-room, while Timmy went docilely to the kitchen with the excited Sarah. Mr. Lenoir heard the talking and flung open the sitting-room door.
Mrs. Lenoir fell on Sooty, tears pouring down her cheeks. Marybelle pawed at him in delight, just as if she was a dog! Mr. Lenoir rubbed his hands, clapped everyone on the back, and said: ‘Well, well! Fine to see you all safe and sound. Well, well! What a tale you’ve got to tell, I’m sure!’
‘It’s a strange tale, Lenoir,’ said George’s father. ‘Very strange. But I’ll have to see to my feet before I tell it. I’ve walked miles in my bare feet, and they’re very painful now!’
So, with bits of tales pouring out from everyone, the household bustled round and got hot water for bathing Uncle Quentin’s feet, a dressing-gown for him, food for everyone, and hot drinks. It was really a most exciting time, and now that the thrills were all over, the children rather felt important to be able to relate so much.
Then the police came in, of course, and the Inspector at once asked a lot of questions. Everyone wanted to answer them, but the Inspector said that only George’s father, Sooty and George were to tell the tale. They knew most about everything.
Mr. Lenoir was perhaps the most surprised person there. When he heard how Mr. Barling had actually offered to buy the plans for draining the marsh, and how he had frankly admitted to being a smuggler, he sat back in his chair, unable to say a word.
‘He’s mad, of course!’ said the Inspector of Police. ‘Doesn’t seem to live in this world at all!’
‘That’s just what I said to him,’ said Sooty. ‘I told him he ought to have lived a hundred years ago!’
‘Well, we’ve tried to catch him in the smuggling business many and many a time,’ said the Inspector, ‘but he was too artful. Fancy him planting Block here as a spy, sir – that was a clever bit of work – and Block using your tower as a signalling place! Bit of nerve, that! And Block isn’t deaf, after all? That was clever, too – sending him about, pretending he was stone-deaf, so that he could catch many a bit of knowledge not meant for his ears!’
‘Do you think we ought to do something about Block and Mr. Barling and the other man?’ said Julian, suddenly. ‘For all we know they’re still wandering about in that maze of tunnels – and two of them are bitten by Timmy, we know.’
‘Ah yes – that dog saved your lives, I should think,’ said the Inspector. ‘A bit of luck, that. Sorry you don’t like dogs, Mr. Lenoir, but I’m sure you’ll admit it was a lucky thing for you all that he was wandering about!’
‘Yes – yes, it was,’ said Mr. Lenoir. ‘Of course, Block never wanted dogs here, either – he was afraid they might bark at his curious comings and goings, I suppose. By the way – where is this marvellous dog? I don’t mind seeing him for a moment – though I do detest dogs, and always shall.’
‘I’ll get him,’ said George. ‘I only hope Sarah’s done what she said, and bathed him. He was awfully muddy!’
She went out and came back with Timmy. But what a different Timmy! Sarah had given him a good hot bath, and had dried him well. He smelt sweet and fresh, his coat was springy and clean, and he had had a good meal. He was feeling very pleased with himself and everything.
‘Timmy – meet a friend,’ said George to him, solemnly. Timmy looked at Mr. Lenoir out of his big brown eyes. He trotted straight up to him, and held up his right paw politely to shake hands, as George had taught him.
Mr. Lenoir was rather taken aback. He was not used to good manners in dogs. He couldn’t help putting out his hand to Timmy – and the two shook hands in a most friendly manner. Timmy didn’t attempt to lick Mr.
Lenoir or jump up at him. He took away his paw, gave a little wuff as if to say ‘How-do-you-do?’ and then went back to George. He lay down quietly beside her. ‘Well -he doesn’t seem like a dog!’ said Mr. Lenoir, in surprise.
‘Oh, he is,’ said George, at once, very earnestly. ‘He’s a real, proper dog, Mr. Lenoir – only much, much cleverer than most dogs are. Could I keep him, please, while we stay here, and get someone in the town to look after him?’
‘Well – seeing he is such a very fine fellow – and seems so sensible – I’ll let you have him here,’ said Mr. Lenoir, making a great effort to be generous. ‘Only – please keep him out of my way. I’m sure a sensible boy like you will see to that.’
Everyone grinned when Mr. Lenoir called George a boy. He never seemed to realize she was a girl. She grinned, too. She wasn’t going to tell him she wasn’t a boy!
‘You’ll never see him!’ she said, joyfully. ‘I’ll keep him right out of your way. Thank you very much. It’s awfully good of you.’
The Inspector liked Timmy, too. He looked at him and nodded across to George. ‘When you want to get’ rid of him, sell him to me!’ he said. ‘We could do with a dog like that in our police force! Soon round up the smugglers for us!’
George didn’t even bother to reply! As if she would ever sell Timmy, or let him go into the police force!
All the same, the Inspector had to call on Timmy for help before long. When the next day came, and no one had found Mr. Barling and his companions in the maze of tunnels, and they hadn’t turned up anywhere, the Inspector asked George if she would let Timmy go down into the tunnels and hunt them out.
‘Can’t leave them there, lost and starving,’ he said.
‘Bad as they are we’ll have to rescue them! Timmy is the only one who can find them.’
That was true, of course. So Timmy once more went underground into the hill, and hunted for his enemies. He found them after a while, lost in the maze of passages, hungry and thirsty, in pain and frightened.
He took them like sheep to where the police waited for them. And after that Mr. Barling and his friends disappeared from public life for quite a long time!
‘The police must be glad to have got them at last,’ said Mr. Lenoir. ‘They have tried to stop this smuggling for a long time. They even suspected me at one time! Barling was a clever fellow, though I still think he was half mad. When Block found out my ideas about draining the marsh, Barling was afraid that once the mists and the marsh were gone, that would be the end of all his excitements – no more smuggling! No more waiting for his little ships to come creeping up in the fog – no more lines of men slipping across the secret ways of the marsh – no more signalling, no more hiding away of smuggled goods, Did you know that the police had found a cave full of them inside the hill?’
It was an exciting adventure to talk about, now that it was all over. The children felt sorry about one thing, though – they were sorry that they had thought Mr. Lenoir so horrid. He was a queer man in many ways, but he could be kind and jolly too.
‘Did you know we’re leaving Smuggler’s Top?’ said Sooty. ‘Mother was so terribly upset when I disappeared, that Father promised her he’d sell the place and leave Castaway, if I came back safe and sound. Mother’s thrilled!’