Five Go Adventuring Again

Famous Five 02


En|d 8|y|on

Chapter One

CHRlSTMAS HOLlDAYS

IT was the ast week of the Chrstmas term, and a the grs at Gayands Schoo were ookng
forward to the Chrstmas hodays. Anne sat down at the breakfast-tabe and pcked up
aetter addressed to her.
'Hao, ook at ths!' she sad to her cousn Georgna, who was sttng besde her. 'A etter
from Daddy - and I ony had one from hm and Mummy yesterday.'
'I hope t's not bad news,' sad George, She woud not aow anyone to ca her Georgna, and
now even the mstresses caed her George. She reay was very ke a boy wth her short
cury har, and her boysh ways. She ooked anxousy at Anne as her cousn read the etter.
'Oh, George - we can't go home for the hodays!' sad Anne, wth tears n her eyes.
'Mummy's got scaret fever >- and Daddy s n quarantne for t - so they can't have us
back. Isn't t |ust too bad ?'
'Oh, I am sorry,' sad George. She was |ust as dsapponted for hersef as for Anne, because
Anne's mother had nvted George, and her dog Tmothy to stay for the Chrstnas hodays
wth them. She had been promsed many thngs she had never seen before - the
pantomme, and the crcus - and a bg party wth a fne Chrstmas tree! Now t woudn't
happen.
'Whatever w the two boys say?' sad Anne, thnkng

of |uan and Dck, her two brothers. 'They won't be abe to go home ether.'
'We - what are you gong to do for the hodays then?' asked George. 'Won't you come and
stay at Krr Cottage wth me? I'm sure my mother woud ove to have you agan. We had
such fun when you came to stay for the summer hos,'
'Wat a mnute - et me fnsh the etter and see what Daddy says,3 sad Anne, pckng up the
note agan. 'Poor Mummy - I do hope she sn't feeng very .'
She read a few more nes and then gave such a deghted excamaton that George and the
other grs wated mpatenty for her to expan.
'George! We are to come to you agan - but oh bow, bow, bow! - we've got to have a tutor
for the hos, party to ook after us so that your mother doesn't have too much bother wth
us, and party because both |uan and Dck have been wth 'fu twce ths term, and have
got behnd n ther work.'
'A tutor! How sckenng! That means I' have to do essons too, I' bet!' sad George, n
dsmay. 'When my mother and father see my report I guess they' fnd out how tte I know.
After a, ths s the frst tme I've ever been to a proper schoo, and there are heaps of thngs
I don't know.'
'What horrd hos they' be, f we have a tutor runnng after us a the tme,' sad Anne,
goomy. 'I expect I' have qute a good report, because I've done we n the exams - but t
won't be any fun for me not dong essons wth you three n the hos. Though, of course,
I coud go off wth Tmothy, I suppose. He won't be dong essons!'
'Yes, he w,' sad George, at once. She coud not bear the dea of her beoved dog Tmothy
gong off each mornng wth Anne, whst she, George, sat and worked hard wth |uan and
Dck.
'Tmothy can't do essons, don't be sy, George,' sad Anne.
'He can st under my feet whst I'm dong them,' sad George. 'It w be a great hep to fee
hm there. For goodness' sake eat up your sausages, Anne. We've a neary fnshed. The
be w go n a mnute and you won't have had any breakfast.' -
'I am gad Mummy sn't very bad,' sad Anne, hurredy fnshng her etter. 'Daddy says he's
wrtten to Dck and |uan - and to your father to ask hm to engage a tutor for us. Oh dash -
ths s an awfu dsappontment, sn't t? I don't mean I shan't en|oy gong to Krrn Cottage
agan - and seeng Krrn Isand - but after a there are no pantommes or crcuses or partes
to ook forward to at Krrn.'
The end of the term came qucky. Anne and George packed up ther trunks, and put on the
abes, en|oyng the nose and exctement of the ast two days. The bg schoo coaches roed
up to the door, and the grs cambered n.
'Off to Krrn agan!' sad Anne. 'Come on, Tmothy darng, you can st between me and
George.'

Gayands Schoo aowed the chdren to keep ther own pets, and Tmothy, George's bg
mongre dog, had been a great success. Except for the tme when he had
run after the dustman, and dragged the dustbn away from hm, a the way up the schoo
grounds and nto George's cassroom, he had reay behaved extremey we.
'I'm sure you' have a good report, Tm,' sad George, gvng the dog a hug. 'We're gong
home agan. W you ke that?'
'Woof,' sad Tm, n hs deep voce. He stood up, waggng hs ta, and there was a squea
from the seat behnd.
'George! Make Tm st down. He's waggng my hat off!'
It was not very ong before the two grs and Tmothy were n London, beng put nto the
tran for Krrn.
'I do wsh the boys broke up today too,' sghed Anne. 'Then we coud a have gone down to
Krrn together. That woud have been fun.'
|uan and Dck broke up the next day and were to |on the grs then at Krrn Cottage. Anne
was very much ookng forward to seeng them agan. A term was a ong tme to be away
from one another. She had been gad to have her cousn George wth her. The three of them
had stayed wth George n the summer, and had had some exctng adventues together on
the tte sand off the coast. An od caste stood on the sand and n the dungeons the
chdren had made a knds of wonderfu dscoveres.
'It w be ovey to go across to Krrn Isand agan, George,' sad Anne, as the tran sped off
towards the west.
'We shan't be abe to,' sad George. 'The sea s terrby
rough round the sand n the wnter. It woud be too dangerous to try and row there.'
'Oh, what a pty,' sad Anne dsapponted. 'I was ookng forward to some more adventures
there.'
'There won't be any adventures at Krrn n the wnter,' sad George. 'It's cod down there -
and when t snows we sometmes get frozen up competey - can't even wak to the vage
because the sea-wnd bows the snow-drfts so hgh.'
'Oooh - that sounds rather exctng!' sad Anne.
'We, t sn't reay,' sad George. 'It's awfuy borng -nothng to do but st at home a day, or
turn out wth a spade and dg the snow away.'
It was a ong tme before the tran reached the tte staton that served Krrn. But at ast t
was there steamng n sowy and stoppng at the tny patform. The two grs |umped out
eagery, and ooked to see f anyone had met them. Yes - there was George's mother!
'Hao, George darng - hao, Anne!' sad George's mother, and gave both chdren a hug.
'Anne, I'm so sorry about your mother, but she's gettng on a rght, you' be gad to know.'

'Oh, good!' sad Anne. 'It's nce of you to have us, Aunt Fanny. We' try and be good! What
about Unce Ouentn? W he mnd havng four chdren n the house n the wnter-tme? We
won't be abe to go out and eave hm n peace as often as we dd n the summer!'
George's father was a scentst, a very cever man, but rather frghtenng. He had tte
patence wth chdren, and the four of them had fet very much afrad of hm at tmes n the
summer.
'Oh, your unce s st wokng very hard at hs book,' sad Aunt Fanny. 'You know, he has
been workng out a secret theory - a secret dea - and puttng t a nto hs book. He says
that once t s a expaned and fnshed, he s to take t to some hgh authorty, and then hs
dea w be used for the good of the country.'
'Oh, Aunt Fanny - t does sound exctng,' sad Anne. 'What's the secret?'
'I can't te you that, sy chd,' sad her aunt, aughng. 'Why, even I mysef don't know t.
Come aong, now - t's cod standng hee. Tmothy ooks very fat and we, George dear.'
'Oh Mother, he's had a marveous tme at schoo,' sad George. 'He reay has. He chewed
up the cook's od sppers ...'
'And he chased the cat that ves n the stabes every tme he saw her,' sad Anne.
'And he once got nto the arder and ate a whoe steak pe,' sad George; 'and once...'
'Good gracous, George, I shoud thnk the schoo w refuse to have Tmothy next term,'
sad her mother, n horror. 'Wasn't he we punshed ? I hope he was.'
'No - he wasn't,' sad George, gong rather red. 'You see, Mother, we are responsbe for our
pets and ther behavour ourseves - so f ever Tmothy does anythng bad I'm punshed for
t, because I haven't shut hm up propery, or somethng ke that.'
'We, you must have had qute a ot of punshments then,' sad her mother, as she drove the
tte pony-trap aong the frosty roads. 'I reay thnk that's rather a good dea!' There was a
twnke n her eyes, as she spoke. T
Chrstmas hodays 13
thnk I' keep on wth the same dea - punsh you every tme Tmothy msbehaves hmsef!'
The grs aughed. They fet happy and excted. Hodays were fun. Gong back to Krrn was
ovey. Tomorrow the boys woud come - and then Chrstmas woud bethee!
'Good od Krrn Cottage!' sad Anne, as they came n sght of the pretty od house. 'Oh -
ook, there's Krrn Isand!' The two ooked out to sea, where the od runed caste stood on
the tte sand of Krrn - what adventures they had had there n the summer!
The grs went nto the house. 'Ouentn!' caed Geoge's mother. 'Ouentn! The grs are
here.'
Unce Ouentn came out of hs study at the other sde of the house. Anne thought he ooked
taer and darker than ever. 'And frowmer!' she sad to hersef. Unce Ouentn mght be very

cever, but Anne preferred someone |oy and smng ke her own father. She shook hands
wth her unce potey, and watched George kss hm.
'We!' sad Unce Ouentn to Anne. 'I hear I've got to get a tutor for you! At east, for the two
boys. My word, you w have to behave yoursef wth a tutor3 I can te you!'
Ths was meant to be a |oke, but t ddn't sound very nce to Anne and George. Peope you
had to behave we wth were usuay very strct and tresome. Both grs were gad when
George's father had gone back nto hs study.
'Your father has been wokng far too hard atey,' sad George's mother to her. 'He s tred
out. Thank goodness hs book s neary fnshed. He had hoped to
fnsh t by Chrstmas so that he coud |on n the fun and games - but now he says he can't.'
'What a pty,' sad Anne, potey, though secrety she thought t was a good thng. It
woudn't be much fun havng Unce Ouentn to pay charades and thngs ke that! 'Oh, Aunt
Fanny, I'm so ookng forward to seeng |uan and Dck - and won't they be peased to see
Tm and George ? Aunt Fanny, nobody cas George Georgna at schoo, not even our Form
mstress. I was rather hopng they woud, because I wanted to see what woud happen when
she refused to answer to Georgna! George, you ked schoo, ddn't you ."
'Yes,' sad George, -1! dd. I thought I'd hate beng wth a ot of others, but t's fun, after a.
But Mother, you won't fnd my report very good, I'm afrad. There were such a ot of thngs I
was bad at because I'd never done them before.'
'We, you'd never been to schoo before!' sad her mother. I' expan t to your father f he
gets upset. Now go aong and get ready for a ate tea. You must be very hungry.'
The grs went upstars to ther tte room. 'I'm gad I'm not spendng my hos by mysef,'
sad George. 'I've had much more fun snce I've known you and the boys. He, Tmothy,
where have you gone ?'
'He's gone to sme a round the house to make sure t's hs proper home!'sad Anne, wth a
ggge. 'He wants to know f the ktchen smes the same - and the bathroom - and hs
basket. It must be |ust as exctng for hm to come home for the hos as t s for us!'
Anne was rght. Tmothy was thred to be back agan.
He ran round George's mother, snffng at her egs n frendness, peased to see her agan.
He ran nto the ktchen but soon came out agan because someone new was there - |oanna
the cook - a fat, pantng person who eyed hm wth suspcon.
'You can come nto ths ktchen once a day for your dnner,' sad |oanna. 'And that's a. I'm
not havng meat and sausages and chcken dsappearng under my nose f I can hep t. I
know what dogs are, I do!'
Tmothy ran nto the scuery and snffed round there. He ran nto the dnng-room and the
sttng-room, and was peased to fnd they had the same od sme. He put hs nose to the

door of the study where George's father worked, and snffed very cautousy. He ddn't mean
to go n. Tmothy was |ust as wary of George's father as the others were!
He ran upstars to the grs' bedroom agan. Where was hs basket? Ah, there t was by the
wndow-seat. Good! That meant he was to seep n the grs' bedroom once more. He cured
hmsef up n hs basket, and thumped oudy wth hs ta.
'Gad to be back,' sad hs ta, 'gad - to - be - back!'





Chapter Two

ALL TOGETHER AGAlN

THE next day the boys came back. Anne and George went to meet them wth Tmothy.
George drove the pony-trap, and Tm sat besde her. Anne coud hardy wat for the tran to
stop at the staton. She ran aong the patform, ookng for |uan and Dck n the carrages
that passed.
Then she saw them. They were ookng out of a wndow at the back of the tran, wavng and
yeng.
'Anne! Anne! Here we are! Hao, George! Oh, there's Tmothy!'
'|uan! Dck!' yeed Anne. Tmothy began to bark and eap about. It was most exctng.
'Oh, |uan! It's ovey to see you both agan!' cred Anne, gvng her two brothers a hug each.
Tmothy eapt up and cked them both. He was besde hmsef wth |oy. Now he had a the
chdren around hm that he oved.
The three chdren and the dog stood happy together, a takng at once whst the porter
got the uggage out of the tran. Anne suddeny remembered George. She ooked round her.
She was nowhere to be seen, athough she had come on the staton patform wth Anne.
'Where's od George?' sad |uan. 'I saw her here when I waved out of the wndow.'
'She must have gone back to the pony-trap,' sad Anne. 'Te the porter to brng your trunks
out to the trap, |uan. Come aong! We' go and fnd George.'
George was standng by the pony, hodng hs head. She ooked rather goomy, Anne
thought. The boys went up to her.
'Hao, George, od thng!' cred |uan, and gave her a hug. Dck dd the same.
'What's up?' asked Anne, wonderng at George's sudden sence.
'I beeve George fet eft-cut!' sad |uan wth a grn. 'Funny od Georgna!'

'Don't ca me Georgna!' sad the tte gr fercey. The boys aughed.

'Ah, t's the same ferce od George, a rght,' sad Dck, and he gave the gr a frendy sap
on the shouder. 'Oh, George - t's good to see you agan. Do you remember our marveous
adventures n the summer?'
George fet her awkwardness sppng away from her. She had fet eft-out when she had
seen the great wecome that the two boys gave to ther sma sster -' but no one coud suk
for ong wth |uan and Dck. They |ust woudn't et anyone fee eft-out or awkward or suky.
The four chdren cmbed nto the trap. The porter heaved n the two trunks. There was ony
|ust room for them. Tmothy sat on top of the trunks, hs ta waggng nneteen to the dozen,
and hs tongue hangng out because he was pantng wth deght.
'You two grs were ucky to be abe to take Tm to schoo wth you,' sad Dck, pattng the bg
dog ovngy.
'No pets are aowed at our schoo. Awfuy hard on those feows who ke ve thngs.'
'Thompson Mnor kept whte mce,' sad |uan. 'And one day they escaped and met Matron
round a corner of the passage. She squeaed the pace down.'
The grs aughed. The boys aways had funny taes to te when they got home.
'And Kennedy keeps snas,' sad Dck. 'You know, snas seep for the wnter - but Kennedy
kept hs n far too warm a pace, and they a crawed out of ther box and went up the was.
You shoud have heard how we aughed when the geography master asked Thompson to
pont out Cape Town on the map - and there was one of the snas n the very pace!'
Everyone aughed agan. It was so good to be a together once more. They were very much
of an age -|uan was tweve, George and Dck were eeven, and Anne was ten. Hodays and
Chrstmas tme were n front of them. No wonder they aughed at everythng, even the
sest tte |oke!
'It's good that Mummy s gettng on a rght, sn't t?' sad Dck, as the pony went aong the
road at a spankng trot. T was dsapponted not to go home, I must say -1 dd want to go to
see Aaddn and the Lamp, and the Crcus - but st, t's good to be back at Krrn Cottage
agan. I wsh we coud have some more exctng adventures. Not a hope of that ths tme,
though.'
'There's one snag about these hos,' sad |uan. 'And that's the tutor. I hear we've got to
have one because Dck and I mssed so much schoo ths term, and we've got to take
schoarshp exams next summer.'
'Yes,' sad Anne. 'I wonder what he' be ke. I do hope he w be a sport. Unce Ouentn s
gong to choose one today.'
|uan and Dck made faces at one another. They fet sure that any tutor chosen by Unce
Ouentn woud be anythng but a sport. Unce Ouentn's dea of a tutor woud be somebody
strct and goomy and forbddng.

Never mnd! He woudn't come for a day or two. And he mght be fun. The boys cheered up
and pued Tmothy's thck coat. The dog pretended to grow and bte. He wasn't worred
about tutors. Lucky Tmothy!
They a arrved at Krrn Cottage. The boys were reay peased to see ther aunt, and rather
reeved when she sad that ther unce had not yet come back.
'He's gone to see two or three men who have answered the advertsement for a tutor,' she
sad. 'He won't be ong before he's back.'
'Mother, I haven't got to do essons n the hos too, have I?' asked George. Nothng had yet
been sad to her about ths, and she onged to know.
'Oh yes, George,' sad her mother. 'Your father has seen your report, and athough t sn't
reay a bad one, and we certany ddn't expect a marveous one, st t does show that you
are behnd your age n some thngs. A tte extra coachng w soon hep you aong.'
George ooked goomy. She had expected ths but t was tresome a the same. 'Anne's the
ony one who won't have to do essons,' she sad.
T do some too,' promsed Anne. 'Perhaps not aways, George, f t's a very fne day, for
nstance - but sometmes, |ust to keep you company.'
'Thanks,' sad George. 'But you needn't. I sha have Tmmy.'
George's mother ooked doubtfu about ths. 'We' have to see what the tutor says about
that,3 she sad.
'Mother! If the tutor says I can't have Tmothy n the room, I |oy we won't do hoday
essons!3 began George, fercey.
Her mother aughed. 'We, we - here's our ferce, hot-tempered George agan!3 she sad.
'Go aong, you two boys, and wash your hands and do your har. You seem to have coected
a the smuts on the raway.'
The chdren and Tmothy went upstars. It was such fun to be fve agan. They aways
counted Tm as one of themseves. He went everywhere wth them, and reay seemed to
understand every snge word they sad.
'I wonder what sort of a tutor Unce Ouentn w choose,' sad Dck, as he scrubbed hs nas.
'If ony he woud choose the rght knd - someone |oy and fu of fun, who knows that
hoday essons are sckenng to have, and tres to make up for them by beng a sport out of
esson-tme. I suppose we' have to work every mornng.'
'Hurry up. I want my tea,' sad |uan. 'Come on down, Dck. We' know about the tutor soon
enough P
They a went down together, and sat round the tabe. |oanna the cook had made a ovey ot
of buns and a great bg cake. There was not much eft of ether by the " tme the four
chdren had fnshed!

Unce Ouentn returned |ust as they were fnshng. He seemed rather peased wth hmsef.
He shook hands
wth the two boys and asked them f they had had a good term.
'Dd you get a tutor, Unce Ouentn?' asked Anne, who coud see that everyone was smpy
burstng to know ths.
'Ah - yes, I dd,' sad her unce. He sat down, whst Aunt Fanny poured hm out a cup of tea.
'I ntervewed three appcants, and had amost chosen the ast one, when another feow
came n, a n a hurry. Sad he had ony |ust seen the advertsement, and hoped he wasn't
too ate.'
'Dd you choose hm ?' asked Dck.
'I dd,' sad hs unce. 'He seemed a most ntegent feow. Even knew about me and my
work! And he had the most wonderfu etters of recommendaton.'
'I don't thnk the chdren need to know a these detas,' murmured Aunt Fanny. 'Anyway -
you asked hm to come?'
'Oh yes,' sad Unce Ouentn. 'He's a good bt oder than the others - they were rather young
feows - ths one seems very responsbe and ntegent. I'm sure you' ke hm, Fanny. He'
ft n here very we. I fee I woud ke to have hm to tak to me sometmes n the evenng.'
The chdren coudn't hep feeng that the new tutor sounded rather aarmng. Ther unce
smed at the goomy faces.
'You' ke Mr. Roand,' he sad. 'He knows how to hande youngsters - knows he's got to be
very frm, and to see that you know a good bt more at the end of the hodays than you dd
at the begnnng.'
Ths sounded even more aarmng. A four chdren
wshed hearty that Aunt Fanny had been to choose the tutor, and not Unce Ouentn.
'When s he comng ?' asked George.
'Tomorrow,' sad her father. 'You can a go to meet hm at the staton. That w be a nce
wecome for hm.'
'We had thought of takng the bus and gong to do a bt of Chrstmas shoppng,' sad |uan,
seeng Anne ooked very dsapponted.
'Oh, no, you must certany go and meet Mr. Roand,' sad hs unce. 'I tod hm you woud.
And mnd you, you four - no nonsense wth hm! You've to do as you're tod, and you must
work hard wth hm, because your father s payng very hgh fees for hs coachng. I'm
payng a thrd, because I want hm to coach George a tte too - so George, you must do
your best.'
'I' try,' sad George. 'If he's nce, I' do my very best.'
'You' do your best whether you thnk hm nce or not!' sad her father, frownng. 'He w
arrve by the ten-thrty tran. Be sure to be there n tme.'

'I do hope he won't be too strct,5 sad Dck, that evenng, when the fve of them were aone
for a mnute or two. 'It's gong to spo the hos, f we have someone down on us a the tme.
And I do hope he' ke Tmothy.3
George ooked up at once. 'Lke Tmothy!' she sad. 'Of couse he' ke Tmothy! How
coudn't he ?3
'We - your father ddn't ke Tmothy very much ast summer,3 sad Dck. T don't see how
anyone coud dske darng Tm - but there are peope who don't ke dogs, you know,
George.'
'If Mr. Roand doesn't ke Tmothy, I' not do a snge thng for hm,' sad George. 'Not one
snge thng!'
'She's gone a ferce agan!' sad Dck, wth a augh. 'My word - the sparks w fy f Mr.
Roand dares to dske our Tmothy!'

Chapter Three

THE NEW TUTOR.

NEXT mornng the sun was out, a the sea-mst that had hung about for the ast two days
had dsappeared, and Krrn Isand showed pany at the mouth of Krrn Bay. The chdren
stared ongngy at the runed caste on t.
'I do wsh we coud get over to the caste,' sad Dck. 'It ooks qute cam enough, George.'
'It's very rough by the sand,' sad George. 'It aways s at ths tme of year. I know Mother
woudn't et us
go.'
'It's a ovey sand, and t's a our own!' sad Anne. 'You sad you woud share t wth us for
ever and ever ddn't you, George?'
'Yes, I dd,' sad George. 'And so I w, dungeons and a. Come on - we must get the trap
out. We sha be ate meetng the tran f we stand here a day ookng at the sand.'
They got the pony and trap and set off down the hard anes. Krrn Isand dsappeared
behnd the cffs as they turned nand to the staton.
'Dd a ths and round abo|t beong to your famy once upon a tme ?' asked |uan.
'Yes, a of t,' sad George. 'Now we don't own anythng except Krrn Isand, our ov/n house -
and that farm away over there - Krrn Farm.'

She ponted wth her whp. The chdren saw a fne od farm-house standng on a h a good
way off, over the heather-cad common.
'Who ves there ?' asked |uan.
'Oh, an od farmer and hs wfe,' sad George. 'They were nce to me when I was smaer.
We' go over there one day f you ke. Mother says they don't make the farm pay any more,
and n the summer-tme they take n peope who want a hoday.'
'Hark! That's the tran whstng n the tunne!' sad |uan, suddeny. 'Buck up, for goodness'
sake, George. We shan't be there n tme!'
The four chdren and Tmothy ooked at the tran comng out of the tunne and drawng n at
the staton. The pony cantered aong swfty. They woud be |ust n tme. '
'Who's gong on to the patform to meet hm?' asked George, as they drew nto the tte
staton yard. Tm not. I must ook after Tm and the pony.'
'I don't want to,' sad Anne. T stay wth George.'

'We, we'd better go, then,' sad |uan, and he and Dck eapt out of the trap. They ran on to
the patform |ust as the tran pued up.
Not many peope got out. A woman cambered out wth a basket. A young man eapt out,
whstng, the son of the baker n the vage. An od man cmbed down wth dffcuty. The
tutor coud be none of those!
Then, rght at the front of the tran, rather a queer-ookng man got out. He was short and
bury, and he had a beard rather ke a saor. Hs eyes were percngy bue, and hs thck
har was sprnked wth grey. He
ganced up and down tre patorm, and then beckoned to the porter.
'That must be Mr. Roand', sad |uan to Dck. 'Come on - et's ask hm. There's no one ese t
coud be.'
The boys went up to the bearded man. |uan rased hs cap potey. 'Are you Mr. Roand, sr
?' he asked.
'I am,' sad the man. 'I suppose you are |uan and Dck?'
'Yes, sr,' answered the boys together. 'We brought the pony-trap for your uggage.'
'Oh, fne,' sad Mr. Roand. Hs brght bue eyes ooked the boys up and down, and he smed.
|uan and Dck ked hm. He seemed sensbe and |oy.
'Are the other two here as we?' sad Mr. Roand, wakng down the patform, wth the porter
trang behnd wth hs uggage.
'Yes - George and Anne are outsde wth the trap,' sad |uan.
'George and Anne,' sad Mr. Roand, n a puzzed voce. 'I thought the others were grs. I
ddn't know there was a thrd boy.'
'Oh, George s a gr,' sad Dck, wth a augh. 'Her rea name s Georgna.'
'And a very nce name too,' sad Mr. Roand.
'George doesn't thnk so,' sad |uan. 'She won't answer f she's caed Georgna. You'd
better ca her George, sr!'
'Reay?' sad Mr. Roand, n rather a chy tone. |uan took a gance at hm.
'Not qute so |oy as he ooks!' thought the boy.
'Tm's out there too,' sad Dck.
'Oh - ana s m a ooy or a gn'. nqured vr. noana, cautousy.
'A dog, sr!' sad Dck, wth a grn.
Mr. Roand seemed rather taken-aback. 'A dog?' he sad. 'I ddn't know there was a dog n
the househod. Your unce sad nothng to me about a dog.'
'Don't you ke dogs?' asked |uan, n surprse.
'No,' sad Mr. Roand, shorty. 'But I daresay your dog won't worry me much. Hao, hao - so
here are the tte grs! How do you do ?'

George was not very peased at beng caed a tte gr. For one thng she hated to be
spoken of as tte, and for another thng she aways tred to be a boy. She hed out her hand
to Mr. Roand and sad nothng. Anne smed at hm, and Mr. Roand thought she was much
the ncer of the two.
'Tm! Shake hands wth Mr. Roand!' sad |uan to Tmothy. Ths was one of Tm's reay good
trcks. He coud hod out hs rght paw n a very pote manner. Mr. Roand ooked down at
the bg dog, and Tm ooked back at hm.
Then, very sowy and deberatey, Tmothy turned hs back on Mr. Roand and cmbed up
nto the pony-trap! Usuay he put out hs paw at once when tod to, and the chdren stared
at hm n amazement.
'Tmothy! What's come over you?' cred Dck. Tm put hs ears down and dd not move.
'He doesn't ke you,' sad George, ookng at Mr. Roand. 'That's very queer. He usuay kes
peope. But perhaps you don't ke dogs ?'
'No, I don't, as a matter of fact,' sad Mr. Roand.
'I was once very bady btten as a boy, and somehow or other I've never managed to ke
dogs snce. But I daresay your Tm w take to me sooner or ater.'
They a got nto the trap. It was a tght squeeze. Tmothy ooked at Mr. Roand's ankes as f
he woud rather ke to nbbe them. Anne aughed.
'Tm s behavng queery!' she sad. 'It's a good thng you haven't come to teach hm, Mr.
Roand!' She smed up at the tutor, and he smed back, showng very whte teeth. Hs eyes
were as brant a bue as George's.
Anne ked hm. He |oked wth the boys as they drove hm, and both of them began to fee
that ther Unce Ouentn hadn't made such a bad choce after a.
Ony George sad nothng. She sensed that the tutor dsked Tmothy, and George was not
prepared to ke anyone who ddn't take to Tmothy at frst sght. She thought t was very
queer too, that Tm woud not shake paws wth the tutor. 'He's a cever dog,' she thought.
'He knows Mr. Roand doesn't ke hm, so he won't shake hands. I don't bame you, Tm
darng. I woudn't shake hands wth anyone who ddn't te me!'
Mr. Roand was shown up to hs room when he arrved. Aunt Fanny came down and spoke to
the chdren. 'We! He seems very nce and |oy - though t's funny to see a youngsh man
wth a beard.'
'Youngsh!' excamed |uan. 'Why, he's awfuy od! Must be forty at the very east!'
Aunt Fanny aughed. 'Does he seem so od to you ?' she sad. 'We, od or not, he' be qute
nce to you, I'm sure.'
'Aunt Fanny, we shan't begn essons unt after Chrstmas, sha we ?' asked |uan,
anxousy.

'Of course you w!' sad hs aunt. 'It s amost a week t Chrstmas - you don't suppose we
have asked Mr. Roand to come and do nothng t Chrstmas s over, do you ?'
The chdren groaned. 'We wanted to do some Chrstmas shoppng,' sad Anne.
'We, you can do that n the afternoons,' sad her aunt. 'You w ony do essons n the
mornng, for three hours. That won't hurt any of you!'
The new tutor came downstars at that moment, and Aunt Fanny took hm to see Unce
Ouentn. She came out after a whe, ookng very peased.
'Mr. Roand w be nce company for your unce,' she sad to |uan. 'I thnk they w get on
very we together. Mr. Roand seems to understand qute a bt about your unce's work.'
'Let's hope he spends most of hs tme wth hm then!' sad George, n a ow voce.
'Come on out for a wak,' sad Dck. 'It's so fne today. We shan't have essons ths mornng,
sha we, Aunt Fanny ?'
'Oh, no,' sad hs aunt. 'You' begn tomorrow. Go for a wak now, a of you - we shan't often
get sunny days ke ths!'
'Let's go over to Krrn Farm,' sad |uan. 'It ooks such a nce pace. Show us the way,
George.'
'Rght!' sad George. She whsted to Tmothy, and he came boundng up. The fve of them
set off together, gong down the ane, and then on to a rough road over
the common that ed to the farm on the dstant h.
It was ovey wakng n the December sun. Ther feet rang on the frosty path, and Tm's
bunt caws made qute a nose as he pattered up and down, over|oyed at beng wth hs four
frends agan.
After a good ong wak across the common the chdren came to the farm-house. It was but
of whte stone, and stood strong and ovey on the hsde. George opened the farm-gate
and went nto the farm-yard. She kept her hand on Tm's coar for there were two farm-dogs
somewhere about.
Someone cattered round the barn near by. It was an od man, and George haed hm oudy.
'Hao, Mr. Sanders! How are you ?'
'Why, f t sn't Master George!' sad the od feow wth a grn. George grnned too. She oved
beng caed Master nstead of Mss.
'These are my cousns,' shouted George. She turned to the others. 'He's deaf,' she sad.
'You' have to shout to make hm hear.'
Tm |uan,' sad |uan n a oud voce and the others sad ther names too. The farmer
beamed at them.
'You come aong n and see the Msss,' he sad. 'She' be rare peased to see you a. We've
known Master George snce she was a baby, and we knew her mother when she was a baby
too, and we knew her granny as we.'

'You must be very, very od,' sad Anne.

The farmer smed down at her.
'As od as my tongue and a tte oder than my teeth!' he sad, chuckng. 'Come away n
now.'
They a went nto the bg, warm farm-house ktchen, where a tte od woman, as vey as a
bantam hen, was bustng about. She was |ust as peased to see the four chdren as her
husband was.
'We, there now!' she sad. 'I haven't seen you for months, Master George. I dd hear that
you'd gone away to schoo.'
'Yes, I dd,' sad George. 'But I'm home for the hodays now. Does t matter f I et Tmothy
oose, Mrs. Sanders? I thnk he' be frendy f your dogs are, too.'
'Yes, you et hm oose,' sad the od ady. 'He' have a fne tme n the farm-yard wth Ben
and Rkky. Now what woud you ke to drnk? Hot mk? Cocoa? Coffee? And I've some new
shortbread baked yesterday. You sha have some of that.'
'Ah, the wfe's very busy ths week, cookng up a sorts of thngs,' sad the od farmer, as hs
wfe busted off to the arder. 'We've company ths Chrstmas!'
'Have you ?' sad George, surprsed, for she knew that the od par had never had any
chdren of ther own. 'Who s comng ? Anyone I know ?'
'Two artsts from London Town!' sad the od farmer. 'Wrote and asked us to take them for
three weeks over Chrstmas - and offered us good money too. So the od wfe's as busy as a
bee.'
'Are they gong to pant pctures ?' asked |uan, who rather fanced hmsef as an artst, too.
'I wonder f I coud come and tak to them some day. I'm rather good at pctures mysef.
They mght gve me a few hnts.'
'You come aong whenever you ke,' sad od Mrs. Sanders, makng cocoa n a bg |ug. She
set out a pate of
most decous-ookng shortbreads, and the chdren ate them hungry.
'I shoud thnk the two artsts w be rather oney down here, n the depths of the country at
Chrstmastme,' sad George. 'Do they know anyone ?'
'They say they don't know a sou,' sad Mrs. Sanders. 'But there - artsts are queer fok. I've
had some here before. They seemed to ke moonng about a aone. These two w be
happy enough, I' be bound.'
'They shoud be, wth a the good thngs you're cookng up for them,' sad her od husband.
'We, I must be out after the sheep. Good-day to you, youngsters. Come agan and see us
sometmes.'
He went out. Od Mrs. Sanders chattered on to the chdren as she busted about the bg
ktchen. Tmothy ran n and setted down on the rug by the fre.

He suddeny saw a tabby cat snkng aong by the wa, a her hars on end wth fear of the
strange dog. He gave a deghted wuff and sprang at the cat. She fed out of the ktchen nto
the od paneed ha. Tm few after her, takng no notce at a of George's stern shout.
The cat tred to eap on top of an od grandfather cock n the ha. Wth a |oyous bark Tm
sprang too. He fung hmsef aganst a poshed pane - and then a most extraordnary thng
happened!
The pane dsappeared - and a dark hoe showed n the od wa! George, who had foowed
Tm out nto the ha, gave a oud cry of surprse. 'Look! Mrs. Sanders, come and ook!'

Chapter Four

AN EXClTlNG DlSCOVERY

OLD Mrs. Sanders and the other three chdren rushed out nto the ha when they heard
George's shout.
'What's up?' cred |uan. 'What's happened?'
'Tm sprang at the cat, mssed her, and fe hard aganst the paneed wa,' sad George,
'And the pane moved, and ook - there's a "hoe n the wa!'
'It's a secret pane!' cred Dck, n exctement, peerng nto the hoe. 'Goy! Dd you know
there was one here, Mrs. Sanders?'
'Oh yes,' sad the od ady. 'Ths house s fu of funny thngs ke that. I'm very carefu when \
posh that pane, because f I rub too hard n the top corner, t aways sdes back.'
'What's behnd the pane?' asked |uan. The hoe was ony about the wdth of hs head, and
when he stuck hs head nsde, he coud see ony darkness. The wa tsef was about eght
nches behnd the paneng, and was of stone.
'Get a cande, do, get a cande!' sad Anne, thred. 'You haven't got a torch, have you, Mrs.
Sanders ?'
'No,' sad the od woman. 'But you can get a cande f you ke. There's one on the ktchen
mantepece.'

Anne shot off to get t. |uan ghted t and put t nto the hoe behnd the pane. The others
pushed aganst hm to try and peep nsde.
'Don't,' sad |uan, mpatenty. 'Wat your turn, ses! Let me have a ook.'
He had a good ook, but there ddn't reay seem anythng to see. It was a darkness behnd,
and stone wa. He gave the cande to Dck, and then each of the chdren had a turn at
peepng. Od Mrs. Sanders had gone back to the ktchen. She was used to the sdng pane!
'She sad ths house was fu of queer thngs ke that,' sad Anne. 'What other thngs are
there, do you thnk ? Let's ask her.'
They sd the pane back nto pace and went to fnd Mrs. Sanders. 'Mrs. Sanders, what other
funny thngs are there n Krrn Farm-house ?' asked |uan.
'There's a cupboard upstars wth a fase back,' sad Mrs. Sanders. 'Don't ook so excted!
There's nothng n t at a! And there's a bg stone over there by the frepace that pus up
to show a hdey-hoe. I suppose n the od days peope wanted good hdng-paces for thngs.'
The chdren ran to the stone she ponted out. It had an ron rng n t, and was easy pued
up. Beow was a hoowed-out pace, bg enough to take a sma box. It was empty now, but
a the same t ooked exctng.
'Where's the cupboard ?' asked |uan.
'My od egs are too tred to go trapsng upstars ths mornng,' sad the farmer's wfe. 'But
you can go you seves. Up the stars, turn to the rght, and go nto the second door you see.
The cupboard s at the farther end. Open the door and fee about at the bottom t you come
across a dent n the wood. Press t hard, and the fase back sdes to the sde.'
The four chdren and Tmothy ran upstars as fast as they coud, munchng shortbread as
they went. Ths reay was a very exctng mornng!
They found the cupboard, and opened the door. A foyr went down on hands ard knees to
press round the bottom of the cupboard to fnd the dented pace. Anne found t.
'I've got t!' she cred. She pressed hard, but her tte fngers were not strong enough to
work the mechansm of the sdng back. |uan had to hep her.
There was a creakng nose, and the chdren saw the fase back of the cupboard sdng
sdeways. A bg space showed behnd, arge enough to take a fary thn man.
'A |oy good hdng-pace,' sad |uan. 'Anyone coud hde there and no one woud ever
know!'
T get n and you shut me up,' sad Dck. 'It woud be exctng.'
He got nto the space. |uan sd the back across, and Dck coud no onger be seen!
'Bt of a tght ft!' he caed. 'And awfuy dark! Let me out agan.'
The chdren a took turns at gong nto the space behnd the back of the cupboard and
beng shut up. Anne ddn't ke t very much.

They went down to the warm ktchen agan. 'It's a most exctng cupboard, Mrs. Sanders,'
sad |uan. 'I do wsh we ved n a house ke ths, fu of secrets!'
'Can we come and pay n that cupboard agan?' asked George.
'No, I'm afrad you can't, Master George,' sad Mrs.
Sanders. 'That room where the cupboard s, s one the two gentemen are gong to have.3
'Oh!' sad |uan, dsapponted. 'Sha you te them about the sdng back, Mrs. Sanders ?'
'I don't expect so,' sad the od ady. 'It's ony you chdren that get excted about thngs ke
that, bess you. Two gentemen woudn't thnk twce about t.'
'How funny grown-ups are!' sad Anne, puzzed. 'I'm qute certan I sha be thred to see a
sdng pane or a trap-door even when I'm a hundred.'
'Same here,' sad Dck. 'Coud I |ust go and ook nto -the sdng pane n the ha once more,
Mrs. Sanders? I' take the cande.'
Dck never knew why he suddeny wanted to have another ook. It was |ust an dea he had.
The others ddn't bother to go wth hm, for there reay was nothng to see behnd the
paneng except the od stone wa.
Dck took the cande and went nto the ha. He pressed on the pane at the top and t sd
back. He put the cande nsde and had another good ook. There was nothng at a to be
seen. Dck took out hs head and put n hs arm, stretchng aong the wa as far as hs hand
woud reach. He was |ust about to take t back when hs fngers found a hoe n the wa.
'Funny!' sad Dck. 'Why shoud there be a hoe n the stone wa |ust there ?'
He stuck n hs fnger and thumb and worked them about. He fet a tte rdge nsde the
wa, rather ke a brd's perch, and was abe to get hod of t. He wrgged hs fngers about
the perch, but nothng happened. Then he got a good hod and pued.
The stone came rght out! Dck was so surprsed that he et go the heavy stone and t fe to
the ground behnd the paneng wth a crash!
*The nose brought the others out nto the ha. 'Whatever are you dong, Dck ?' sad |uan,
'Have you broken somethng ?'
'No,' sad Dck, hs face reddenng wth exctement. 'I say - I put my hand n here - and found
a hoe n one of the stones the wa s made of - and I got hod of a sort of rdge wth my
fnger and thumb and pued. The stone came rght out, and I got such a surprse I et go. It
fe, and that's what you heard!'
'Goy!' sad |uan, tryng to push Dck away from the open pane. 'Let me see.'
'No, |uan,' sad Dck, pushng hm away. 'Ths s my dscovery. Wat t I see f I can fee
anythng n the hoe. It's dffcut to get at!'
The others wated mpatenty. |uan coud hardy prevent hmsef from pushng Dck rght
away. Dck put hs arm n as far as he coud, and curved hs hand round to get nto the space

behnd where the stone had been. Hs fngers fet about and he cosed them round
somethng that fet ke a book. Cautousy and carefuy ne brought t out.
'An od book!' he sad.
'What's n t ?' cred Anne.
They turned the pages carefuy. They were so dry and brtte that some of them fe nto
dust.
'I thnk t's a book of recpes,' sad Anne, as her sharp eyes read a few words n the od
brown, faded handwrtng. 'Let's take t to Mrs. Sanders.'

The chdren carred the book to the od ady. She aughed at ther beamng faces. She took
the book and ooked at t, not at a excted.
'Yes,' she sad. 'It's a book of recpes, that's a t s. See the name n thes front - Ace Mary
Sanders - that must have been my great-grandmother. She was famous for her medcnes, I
know. It was sad she coud cure any n man or anma, no matter what t was.'
'It's a pty t's so hard to read her wrtng,' sad |uan, dsapponted. 'The whoe book s
fang to peces too. It must be very od.'
'Do you thnk there's anythng ese n that hdey-hoe ?' asked Anne. '|uan, you go and put
your arm n, t's onger than Dck's.'
'There ddn't seem to be anythng ese at a,' sad Dck. 'It's a very sma pace - |ust a few
nches of hoow space behnd that brck or stone that fe down.'
'We, I' |ust put my hand n and see,' sad |uan. They a went back nto the ha|. |uan put
hs arm nto the open pane, and sd t aong the wa to where ,the stone had faen out. Hs
hand went nto the space there, and hs ong fngers groped about, feeng for anythng ese
that mght be there.
There was somethng ese, somethng soft and fat that fet ke eather. Eagery the boy's
fngers cosed over t and he drew t out carefuy, haf afrad that t mght fa to peces wth
age.
'I've got somethng!' he sad, hs eyes geamng brghty. 'Look - what s t ?'
The others crowded round. 'It's rather ke Daddy's
tobacco pouch,' sad Anne, feeng t. The same shape. Is there anythng nsde ?'
It was a tobacco pouch, very dark brown, made of soft eather and very much worn.
Carefuy |uan undd the fap, and unroed the eather.
A few bts of back tobacco were st n the pouch -but there was somethng ese, too!
Tghty roed up n the ast bt of pouch was a pece of nen. |uan took t out and unroed t.
He put t fat on the ha-tabe.
The chdren stared at t. There were marks and sgns on the nen, done n back nk that
had hardy faded. But the four of them coud not make head or ta of the marks.

'It's not a map,' sad |uan. 'It seems a sort of code, or somethng. I do wonder what t
means. I wsh we coud make t out. It must be some sort of secret.'
The chdren stared at the pece of nen, very thred. It was so od - and contaned some
knd of secret. Whatever coud t be ?
They ran to show t to Mrs. Sanders. She was studyng the od recpe book, and her face
gowed wth peasure as she rased t to ook at the excted chdren.
'Ths book's a wonder!' she sad. 'I can hardy read the wrtng, but here's a recpe for
backache. I sha try t mysef. My back aches so much at the end of the day. Now, you sten
...'
But the chdren ddn't want to sten to recpes for backache. They pushed the pece of ne
on to Mrs. Sanders' ap.
'Look! What's ths about, Mrs. Sanders? Do you
know ? We found t n a knd of tobacco pouch n that pace behnd the pane.'
Mrs. Sanders took off her gasses, poshed them, and put them on agan. She ooked
carefuy at the pece of nen wth ts strange marks.
She shook her head. 'No - ths doesn't make any sense to me. And what's ths now - t ooks
ke an od tobacco pouch. Ah, my |ohn woud ke that, I guess. He's got such an od one that
t won't hod hs tobacco any more! Ths s od too - but there's a ot of wear n t yet.'
'Mrs. Sanders, do you want ths pece of nen too?' asked |uan, anxousy. He was ongng
to take t home and study t. He fet certan there was some knd of exctng secret hdden
there, and he coud not bear the thought of eavng t wth Mrs. Sanders.
'You take t, Master |uan, f you want t,' sad Mrs. Sanders, wth a augh. T keep the
recpes for mysef, and |ohn sha have the pouch. You can have the od rag f you want t,
though t beats me why you set such store by t! Ah, here's |ohn!'
She rased her voce and shouted to the deaf od man. 'Hey, |ohn, here's a tobacco pouch'
for you. The chdren found t somewhere behnd that pane that opens n the ha.'
|ohn took t and fngered t. 'It's a queer one,' he sad. 'But better than mne. We,
youngsters, I don't want to hurry you, but t's one o'cock now, and you'd best be gong f t's
near your dnner-tme!'
'Gracous!' sad |uan. 'We sha be ate! Good-bye, Mrs. Sanders, and thanks awfuy for the
shortbread and ths od rag. We' try our best to make out what's on t
and te you. Hurry, everyone! Where's Tm ? Come on, Tmothy, we're ate!'
The fve of them ran off qucky. They reay were ate, and had to run most of the way,
whch meant that t was dffcut to tak. But they were so excted about ther mornng that
they panted remarks to one another as they went.
'I wonder what ths od rag says!' panted |uan. 'I mean to fnd out. I'm sure t's somethng
mysterous.'

'Sha we te anyone ?' asked Dck.

'No!' sad George. 'Let's keep t a secret.'
'If Anne starts to gve away anythng, kck her under the tabe, ke we dd ast summer,' sad
|uan, wth a grn. Poor Anne aways found |t dffcut to keep a secret, and often had to be
nudged or kcked when she began to gve thngs away.
'I won't say a word,' sad Anne, ndgnanty. 'And don't you dare to kck me. It ony makes me
cry out and then the grown-ups want to know why.'
'We' have a good od puzze over ths pece of nen after dnner,' sad |uan. 'I bet we' fnd
out what t says, f we reay make up our mnds to!'
'Here we are,' sad George. 'Not too ate. Hao, Mother! We won't be a mnute washng our
hands! We've had a ovey tme.'

Chapter Five

AN UNPLEASANT WALK

AFTER dnner the four chdren went upstars to the boys' bedroom and spread out the bt of
nen on a tabe there. There were words here and there, scrawed n rough prntng. There
was the sgn of a compass, wth E marked ceary for East. There were eght rough squares,
and n one of them, rght n the mdde, was a cross. It was a very mysterous.
'You know, I beeve these words are Latn,' sad |uan, tryng to make them out. 'But I can't
read them propery. And I expect f I coud read them, I woudn't know what they meant. I
wsh we knew someone who coud read Latn ke ths.'
'Coud your father, George?' asked Anne.
'I expect so,' sad George. But nobody wanted to ask George's father. He mght ake the
curous od rag away. He mght forget a about t, he mght even burn t. Scentsts were
such queer peope.

'What about Mr. Roand?' sad Dck. 'He's a tutor. He knows Latn.'
'We won't ask hm t we know a bt more about hm,' sad |uan, cautousy. 'He seems qute
|oy and nce -but you never know. Oh, bow - I wsh we coud make ths out, I reay do.'
'There are two words at the top,' sad Dck, and he tred to spe them out. 'VIA OCCULTA.'
'What do you thnk they coud mean, |uan ?'
'We - the ony thng I can thnk of that they can mean s - Secret Way, or somethng ke
that,' sad |uan, screwng up hs forehead nto a frown.
'Secret Way!' sad Anne, her eyes shnng. 'Oh, I hope t's that! Secret Way! How exctng.
What sort of secret way woud t be, |uan ?'
'How do I know, Anne, sy?' sad |uan. 'I don't even know that the words are meant to
mean "Secret Way". It's reay a guess on my part.'
'If they dd mean that - the nen mght have drectons to fnd the Secret Way, whatever t
s,' sad Dck. 'Oh |uan - sn't t exasperatng that we can't read t? Do, do try. You know
more Latn than I do.'
'It's so hard to read the funny od etters,' sad |uan, tryng agan. 'No - t's no good at a. I
can't make them out.'
Steps came up the stars, and the door opened. Mr. Roand ooked n.
'Hao, hao!' he sad. 'I wondered where you a were. What about a wak over the cffs ?'
'We' come,' sad |uan, rong up the od rag.
'What have you got there? Anythng nterestng?' asked Mr. Roand.
'It's a -' began Anne, and at once a the others began to tak, afrad that Anne was gong to
gve the secret away.
'It's a wonderfu afternoon for a wak.'
'Come on, et's get our thngs on!'
'Tm, Tm, where are you?' George gave a percng whste. Tm was under the bed and came
boundng
out. Anne went red as she guessed why a the others had nterrupted her so qucky.
'Idot,' sad |uan, under hs breath. 'Baby.'
Fortunatey Mr. Roand sad no more about the pece of nen he had seen |uan rong up.
He was ookng at Tm.
'I suppose he must come,' he sad. George stared at hm n ndgnaton.
'Of course he must!' she sad. 'We never never go anywhere wthout Tmothy.'
Mr. Roand went downstars, and the chdren got ready to go out. George was scowng. The
very dea of eavng Tm behnd made her angry.
'You neary gave our secret away, you sy,' sad Dck to Anne.
'I ddn't thnk,' sad the tte gr, ookng ashamed of hersef. 'Anyway, Mr. Roand seems
very nce. I thnk we mght ask hm f he coud hep us to understand those funny words.'

'You eave that to me to decde,' sad |uan, crossy. 'Now don't you dare to say a word.'
They a set out, Tmothy too. Mr. Roand need not have worred about the dog, for Tmothy
woud not go near hm. It was very queer, reay. He kept away from the tutor, and took not
the sghtest notce of hm even when Mr. Roand spoke to hm.
'He's not usuay ke that,' sad Dck. 'He's a most frendy dog, reay.'
'We, as I've got to ve n the same house wth hm, I must try and make hm frends wth
me,' sad the tutor. 'He, Tmothy! Come here! I've got a bscut n my pocket.'
Tmothy prcked up hs ears at the word 'bscut' but dd not even ook towards Mr. Roand.
He put hs ta down and went to George. She patted hm.
'If he doesn't ke anyone, not even a bscut or a bone w make hm go to them when he s
caed,' she sad.
Mr. Roand gave t up. He put the bscut back nto hs pocket. 'He's a queer-ookng dog,
sn't he ?' he sad. 'A terrbe mongre! I must say I prefer we-bred dogs.'
George went purpe n the face. 'He's not queer-ookng!' she sputtered. 'He's not neary so
queer-ookng as you! He's not a terrbe mongre. He's the best dog n the word!'
'I thnk you are beng a tte rude,' sad Mr. Roand, stffy. CI don't aow my pups to be
cheeky, Georgna.'
Gang her Georgna made George st more furous. She agged behnd wth Tm, ookng as
back as a thundercoud. The others fet uncomfortabe. They knew what tempers George
got nto, and how dffcut she coud be. She had been so much better and happer snce the
summer, when they had come to stay for the frst tme. They dd hope she wasn't gong to
be sy and get nto rows. It woud spo the Chrstmas hodays.
Mr. Roand took no more notce of George. He dd not speak to her, but strode on ahead wth
the others, dong hs best to be |oy. He coud reay be very funny, and the boys began to
augh at hm. He took Anne's hand, and the tte gr |umped aong besde hm, en|oyng the
wak.
|uan fet sorry for George. It wasn't nce to be eft out of thngs, and he knew how George
hated anythng
ke that. He wondered f he dared to put n a good word for her. It mght make thngs easer.
'Mr. Roand, sr,' he began. 'Coud you ca my cousn by the name she kes - George - she
smpy hates Georgna. And she's very fond of Tm. She can't bear anyone to say horrd
thngs about hm.'
Mr. Roand ooked suprsed. 'My dear boy, I am sure you mean we,' he sad, n rather a dry
sort of voce, 'but I hardy thnk I want your advce about any of my pups. I sha foow my
own wshes n my treatment of Georgna, not yours. I want to be frends wth you a, and I
am sure we sha be - but Georgna has got to be sensbe, as you three are.'

|uan fet rather squashed. He went red and ooked at Dck. Dck gave hm a squeeze on hs
arm. The boys knew George coud be sy and dffcut, especay f anyone ddn't ke her
beoved dog - but they thought Mr. Roand mght try to be a bt more understandng too.
Dck spped behnd and waked wth George.
'You needn't wak wth me,' sad George at once, her bue eyes gntng. 'Wak wth your
frend Mr. Roand.'
'He sn't my frend,' sad Dck. 'Don't be sy.'
'I'm not sy,' sad George, n a tght sort of voce. 'I heard you a aughng and |okng wth
hm. You go on and have a good augh agan. I've got Tmothy.'
'George, t's Chrstmas hodays,' sad Dck. 'Do et's a be frends. Do. Don't et's spo
Chrstmas.'
T can't ke anyone who doesn't ke Tm,' sad George, obstnatey.
'We, after a, Mr. Roand dd offer hm a bscut,' sad Dck, tryng to make peace as hard as
he coud.
George sad nothng. Her sma face ooked ferce. Dck tred agan.
'George! Promse to try and be nce t Chrstmas s over, anyway. Don't et's spo
Chrstmas, for goodness' sake! Come on, George.'
'A rght,' sad George, at ast. T try.'
'Come and wak wth us, then,' sad Dck. So George caught up the others, and tred not to
ook too suky. Mr. Roand guessed that Dck had been tryng to make George behave, and
he ncuded her n hs tak. He coud not make her augh, but she dd at east answer potey.
'Is that Krrn Farm-house?' asked Mr. Roand, as they came n sght of the farm.
'Yes. Do you know t ?' asked |uan, n surprse.
'No, no,' sad Mr. Roand, at once. 'I heard of t, and wondered f that was the pace.'
'We went there ths mornng,' sad Anne. 'It's an exctng pace.' She ooked at the others,
wonderng f they woud mnd f she sad anythng about the thngs they had seen that
mornng. |uan thought for a moment. After a, t coudn't matter teng hm about the stone
n the ktchen and the fase back to the cupboard. Mrs. Sanders woud te anyone that. He
coud speak about the sdng pane n the ha too, and say they had found an od recpe
book there. He dd not need to say anythng about the od bt of marked nen.
So he tod ther tutor about the exctng thngs they had seen at the od farm-house, but sad
nothng at a about the nen and ts strange markngs. Mr. Roand stened wth the greatest
nterest.
'Ths s a very remarkabe,' he sad. 'Very remark-
abe ndeed. Most nterestng. You say the od coupe ve there qute aone ?'
'We, they are havng two peope to stay over Chrstmas,' sad Dck, 'Artsts. |uan thought
he woud go over and tak to them. He can pant awfuy we, you know.' '

'Can he reay?' sad Mr. Roand. 'We, he must show me some of, hs pctures. But I don't
thnk he'd better go and worry the artsts at the farm-house. They meht not ke t.'
Ths remark made |uan fee obstnate. He made up hs mnd at once that he woud go and
tak to the two artsts when he got the chance! ,
It was qute a peasant wak on the whoe except that George was quet, and Tmothy woud
not go anywhere near Mr. Roand. When they came to a frozen pond Dck threw stcks on t
for Tm to fetch. It was so funny to see hm go stherng about on hs ong egs, tryng to run
propery!
Everyone threw stcks for the dog, and Tm fetched a the stcks except Mr. Roand's.
When the tutor threw a stck the dog ooked at t and took no more notce It was amost as f
he had sad. 'What, your stck! No thank you!'
'Now, home we go,' sad Mr. Roand, tryng not to ook annoyed wth Tm. 'We sha |ust be n
tme for tea!'

Chapter Six

LESSONS WlTH MR. ROLAND

NEXT mornng the chdren fet a tte goomy. Lessons! How horrd n the hodays! St, Mr.
Roand wasn't so bad. The chdren had not had hm wth them n the sttng-room the nght
before, because he had gone to tak to ther unce. So they were abe to get out the
mysterous bt of nen agan and pore over t.
But t wasn't a bt of good. Nobody coud make anythng of t at a. Secret Way! What dd t
mean? Was t reay drectons for a Secret Way? And where was the way, and why was t
secret? It was most exasperatng not to be abe to fnd out.
'I reay fee we' have to ask someone soon,' |uan had sad wth a sgh. 'I can't bear ths
mystery much onger. I keep on and on thnkng of t.'
He had dreamt of t too that nght, and now t was mornng, wth essons ahead. He
wondered what esson Mr. Roand woud take - Latn perhaps. Then he coud ask hm what
the words 'VIA OCCULTA' meant.
Mr. Roand had seen a ther reports and had noted the sub|ects they were weak n. One
was Latn, and another was French. Maths were very weak n both Dck's report and
George's. Both chdren must be heped on n those. Geometry was |uan's weakest spot.
Anne was not supposed to need any coachng. 'But f you ke to come aong and |on us, I'
gve you some
pantng to do,' sad Mr. Roand, hs bue eyes twnkng at her. He ked Anne. She was not
dffcut and suky ke George.
Anne oved pantng. 'Oh, yes,' she sad, happy, Td ove to do some pantng. I can pant
fowers, Mr. Roand. I' pant you some red poppes and bue cornfowers out of my head.'
'We w start at haf-past nne,' sad Mr. Roand. 'We are to work n the sttng-room. Take
your schoo-books there, and be ready punctuay.'

So a the chdren were there, sttng round a tabe, ther books n front of them, at haf-past
nne. Anne had some pantng water and her pantng-box. The others ooked at her
envousy. Lucky Anne, to be dong pantng whst they worked hard at dffcut thngs ke
Latn and maths!
'Where's Tmothy?' asked |uan n a ow voce, as they wated for ther tutor to come n.
'Under the tabe/ sad George, defanty. Tm sure he' e st. Don't any of you say anythng
about hm. I want hm there. I'm not gong to do essons wthout Tm here.'
'I don't see why he shoudn't be here wth us,' sad Dck. 'He's very very good. Sh! Here
comes Mr. Roand.'
The tutor came n, hs back beard brstng round hs mouth and chn. Hs eyes ooked very
percng n the pae wnter sunght that ftered nto the room. He tod the chdren to st
down.
'I' have a ook at your exercse books frst,' he sad, 'and see what you were dong ast
term. You come frst, |uan.'
Soon the tte cass were workng quety together. Anne was very busy pantng a brght
pcture of poppes and cornfowers. Mr. Roand admred t very much. Anne thought he reay
was very nce.
Suddeny there was a huge sgh from under the tabe. It was Tm, tred of yng so st Mr.
Roand ooked up, surprsed. George at once sghed heavy, hopng that Mr. Roand woud
thnk t was she who had sghed before.
'You sound tred, Georgna,' sad Mr. Roand. 'You sha a have a tte break at eeven.'
George frowned. She hated beng caed Georgna. She put her foot cautousy on Tmothy to
warn hm not to make any more noses. Tm cked her foot.
After a whe, |ust when the cass was at ts very quetest, Tm fet a great wsh to scratch
hmsef very hard on hs back. He got up. He sat down agan wth a thump, gave a grunt,
and began to scratch hmsef furousy. The chdren a began to make noses to hde the
sounds that Tm was makng.
George cattered her feet on the foor. |uan began to cough, and et one of hs book sp to
the ground. Dck |gged the tabe and spoke to Mr. Roand.
'Oh dear, ths sum s so hard; t reay s! I keep dong t and dong t, and t smpy won't
come rght!'
'Why a ths sudden nose ?' sad Mr. Roand n surprse. 'Stop tappng the foor wth your
feet, Georgna.3
Tm setted down quety agan. The chdren gave a sgh of reef. They became quet, and
Mr. Roand tod Dck to corne to hm wth hs maths book.
The tutor took t, and stretched hs egs out under the tabe, eanng back to speak to Dck.
To hs enorm-

ous surprse hs feet struck somethng soft and warm -and then somethng npped hm
sharpy on the anke! He drew n hs feet wth a cry of pan.
The chdren stared at hm. He bent down and ooked under the tabe. 'It's that dog,' he sad,
n dsgust. 'The brute snapped at my ankes. He has made a hoe n my trousers. Take hm
out, Georgna.'
Georgna sad nothng. She sat as though she had not heard.
'She won't answer f you ca her Georgna,' |uan remnded hm.
'She' answer me whatever I ca her,' sad Mr. Roand, n a ow and angry voce. 'I won't
have that dog n here. If you don't take hm out ths very mnute, Georgna, I w go to your
father.'
George ooked at hm. She knew perfecty we that f she ddn't take Tm out, and Mr.
Roand went to her father, he woud order Tmothy to ve n the garden kenne, and that
woud be dreadfu. There was absoutey nothng to be done but obey. Red n the face, a
huge frown amost hdng her eyes, she got up and spoke to Tm.
'Come on, Tm! I'm not surprsed you bt hm. I woud, too, f I were a dog!'
'There s no need to be rude, Georgna,' sad Mr. Roand, angry.
The others stared at George. They wondered how she dared to say thngs ke that. When
she got ferce t seemed as f she ddn't care for anyone at a!
'Come back as soon as you have put the dog out,' sad Mr. Roand.
George scowed, but came back n a few mnutes. She et caught. Her father was frendy
wth Mr. Roand, and knew how dffcut George was - f she behaved as bady as she fet
she woud ke to, t woud be Tm who woud suffer, for he woud certany be banshed from
the house. So for Tm's sake George obeyed the tutor - but from that moment she dsked
hm and resented hm bttery wth a her ferce tte heart.
The othes were sory for George and Tmothy, but they dd not share the tte gr's ntense
dske of the new tutor. He often made them augh. He was patent wth ther mstakes. He
was wng to show them how to make paper darts and shps, and to do funny tte trcks.
|uan and Dck thought these were fun, and stored them up to try on the other boys when
they went back to schoo.
After essons that mornng the chdren went out for haf an hour n the frosty sunshne.
George caed Tm.
'Poor od boy!' she sad. 'What a shame to turn you out of-the room! Whatever dd you snap
at Mr. Roand for? I thnk t was a very good dea, Tm - but I reay don't know what made
you!'
'George, you can't pay about wth Mr. Roand,' sad |uan. 'You' ony get nto troube. He's
tough. He won't stand much from any of us. But I thnk he' be qute a good sport f we get
on the rght sde of hm.'

'We, get on the rght sde of hm f you ke,' sad George, n rather a sneerng voce. Tm not
gong to. If I don't ke a person, I don't - and I don't ke hm.'
'Why ? |ust because he doesn't ke Tm ?' asked Dck.
'Mosty because of that - but because he makes me
fee prcky down my back,' sad George, 'I don't ke hs nasty mouth.'
'But you can't see t,' sad |uan. 'It's covered wth hs moustache and beard.'
'I've seen hs ps through them,' sad George, obstnatey. 'They're thn and crue. You ook
and see. I don't ke thn-pped peope. They are aways sptefu and hard. And I don't ke hs
cod eyes ether. You can suck up to hm a you ke. / shan't.'
|uan refused to get angry wth the stubborn tte gr. He aughed at her. 'We're not gong
to suck up to hm,' he sad. 'We're |ust gong to be sensbe, that's a. You be sensbe too,
George, od thng.'
But once George had made up her mnd about somethng nothng woud ater her. She
cheered up when she heard that they were a to go Chrstmas shoppng on the bus that
afternoon - wthout Mr. Roand! He was gong to watch an experment that her father was
gong to show hm.
'I w take you nto the nearest town and you sha shop to your heart's content,' sad Aunt
Fanny to the chdren. 'Then we w have tea n a tea-shop and catch the sx o'cock bus
home.'
Ths was fun. They caught the afternoon bus and rumbed aong the deep country anes t
they got to the town. The shops ooked very gay and brght. The chdren had brought ther
money wth them, and were very busy ndeed, buyng a knds of thngs. There were so
many peope to get presents for!
'I suppose we'd better get somethng for Mr. Roand, hadn't we ?' sad |uan.
'I'm gong to,' sad Anne. Tm gong to buy hm a packet of cgarettes. I know the knd he
smokes.'
'Fancy buyng Mr. Roand a present!' sad George, n her scornfu voce.
'Why shoudn't she, George?' asked her mother, n surprse. 'Oh dear, I hope you are gong
to be sensbe about hm, and not take a voent dske to the poor man. I don't want hm to
compan to your father about you.'
'What are you gong to buy for Tm, George ?' asked |uan, changng the sub|ect qucky.
'The argest bone the butcher has got,' sad George. 'What are you gong to buy hm ?'
'I guess f Tm had money, he woud buy us each a present,' sad Anne, takng hod of the
thck har round Tm's neck, and pung t ovngy. 'He's the best dog n the word!'
George forgave Anne for sayng she woud buy Mr. Roand a present, when the tte gr sad
that about Tm! She cheered up agan and began to pan what she woud buy for everyone.

They had a fne tea, and caught the sx o'cock bus back. Aunt Fanny went to see f the cook
had gven the two men ther tea. She came out of the study beamng.
'Reay, I've never seen your unce so |oy,' she sad to |uan and Dck. 'He and Mr. Roand
are gettng on ke a house on fre. He has been showng your tutor qute a ot of hs
experments. It's nce for hm to have someone to tak to that knows a tte about these
thngs.'
Mr. Roand payed games wth the chdren that evenng. Tm was n the room, and the tutor
tred agan
to make frends wth hm, but the dog refused to take any notce of hm.
'As suky as hs tte mstress!' sad the tutor, wth a aughng ook at George, who was
watchng Tm refuse to go to Mr. Roand, and ookng rather peased about t. She gave the
tutor a scow and sad nothng.
'Sha we ask hm whether "VIA OCCULT" reay does mean "Secret Way" or not, tomorrow?'
sad |uan to Dck, as they undressed that nght. 'I'm |ust ongng to know f t does. What do
you thnk of Mr. Roand, Dck ?'
'I don't reay qute know,' sad Dck. 'I ke ots of thngs about hm, but then I suddeny don't
ke hm at a. I don't ke hs eyes. And George s qute rght about hs ps. They are so thn
there's hardy anythng of them at a.'
'I thnk he's a rght,' sad |uan. 'He won't stand any nonsense, that's a. I woudn't mnd
showng hm the whoe pece of rag and askng hm to make out ts meanng for us.'
'I thought you sad t was to be a proper secret,' sad Dck.
'I know - but what's the use of a secret we don't know the meanng of ourseves ?' sad
|uan. T te you what we coud do - ask hm to expan the words to us, and not show hm
the bt of nen.5
'But we can't read some of the words ourseves,' sad Dck. 'So that's no use. You'd have to
show hm the whoe thng, and te hm where we got t.'
'We, I' see,' sad |uan, gettng nto bed.
The next day there were essons agan from haf-past nne to haf-past tweve. George
appeared wthout Tm.
She was angry at havng to do ths, but t was no good beng defant and refusng to come to
essons wthout Tm. Now that he had snapped at Mr. Roand, he had defntey put hmsef n
the wrong, and the tutor had every rght to refuse to aow hm to come. But George ooked
very suky ndeed.
In the Latn esson |uan took the chance of askng what he wanted to know. 'Pease, Mr.
Roand,' he sad, 'coud you te me what "VIA OCGULTA" means?'
' "VA OCCULTA" ?' sad Mr. Roand, frownng. 'Yes -t means "Secret Path", or "Secret Road".
A hdden way - somethng ke that. Why do you want to know ?'

A the chdren were stenng eagery. Ther hearts thumped wth exctement. So |uan had
been rght. That funny bt of rag contaned drectons for some hdden way, some secret
path - but where to! Where dd t begn, and end ?
'Oh - I |ust wanted to know,' sad |uan. 'Thank you, sr.'
He wnked at the others. He was as excted as they were. If ony, ony they coud make out
the rest of the markngs, they mght be abe to sove the mystery. We - perhaps he woud
ask Mr. Roand n a day or two. The secret must be soved somehow.
' "The Secret Way" ' sad |uan to hmsef, as he worked out a probem n geometry. ' "The
Secret Way". I' fnd t somehow.'
Chapter Seven

DlRECTlONS FOR THE SECRET WAY

FOR the next day or two the four chdren dd not reay have much tme to thnk about the
Secret Way, because Chrstmas was comng near, and there was a good dea to do.
There were Chrstmas cards to draw and pant for ther mothers and fathers and frends.
There was the house to decorate. They went out wth Mr. Roand to fnd sprays of hoy, and
came home aden.
'You ook ke a Chrstmas card yourseves,' sad Aunt Fanny, as they waked up the garden
path, carryng the red-berred hoy over ther shouders. Mr. Roand had found a group of
trees wth tufts of mstetoe growng from the top branches, and they had brought some of
that too. Its berres shone ke pae green pears.
'Mr. Roand had to cmb the tree to get ths,' sad Anne. 'He's a good cmber - as good as a
monkey.'
Everyone aughed except George. She never aughed at anythng to do wth the tutor. They
a dumped ther oads down n the porch, and went to wash. They were to decorate the
house that evenng.
'Is Unce gong to et hs study be decorated too?' asked Anne. There were a knds of
strange nstruments and gass tubes n the study now, and the chdren ooked at them wth
wonder whenever they ventured nto the study, whch was very sedom.
'No, my study s certany not to be messed about,' sad Unce Ouentn, at once. 'I woudn't
hear of t.'
'Unce, why do you have a these funny thngs n your study ?' asked Anne, ookng round
wth wde eyes.
Unce Ouentn aughed. Tm ookng for a secret formua!' he sad.
'What's that?' sad Anne.

'You woudn't understand,' sad her unce. 'A these "funny thngs" as you ca them, hep me
n my experments, and I put down n my book what they te me -and from a I earn I work
out a secret formua, that w be of great use when t s fnshed.'
'You want to know a secret formua, and we want to know a secret way,' sad Anne, qute
forgettng that she was not supposed to tak about ths.
|uan was standng by the door. He frowned at Anne. Lucky Unce Ouentn was not payng
any more attenton to the tte gr's chatter. |uan pued her out of the room.
'Anne, the ony way to stop you gvng away secrets s to sew up your mouth, ke Brer
Rabbt wanted to do to Mster Dog!' he sad.
|oanna the cook was busy bakng Chrstmas cakes. An enormous turkey had been sent over
from Krrn Farm, and was hangng up n the arder. Tmothy thought t smet gorous, and
|oanna was aways shoong hm out of the ktchen.
There were boxes of crackers on the shef n the sttng-room, and mysterous parces
everywhere. It was very, very Chrstmassy! The chdren were happy and excted.
Mr. Roand went out and dug up a tte spruce fr tree. 'We must have a Chrstmas tree,5 he
sad. 'Have you any tree-ornaments, chdren ?'
'No,' sad |uan, seeng George shake her head.
T go nto the town ths afternoon and get some for you,' promsed the tutor. 'It w be fun
dressng the tree. We' put t n the ha, and ght candes on t on Chrstmas Day after tea.
Who's comng wth me to get the candes and the ornaments ?'
'I am!' cred three chdren. But the fourth sad nothng. That was George. Not even to buy
tree-ornaments woud the obstnate tte gr go wth Mr. Roand. She had never had a
Chrstmas tree before, and she was very much ookng forward to t - but t was spot for her
because Mr. Roand bought the thngs that made t so beautfu.
Now t stood n the ha, wth cooured candes n hoders cpped to the branches, and gay
shnng ornaments hangng from top to bottom. Sver strands of frosted strng hung down
from the branches ke cces, and Anne had put bts of whte cotton-woo here and there to
ook ke snow. It reay was a ovey sght to see.
'Beautfu!' sad Unce Ouentn, as he passed through the ha, and saw Mr. Roand hangng
the ast ornaments on the tree. 'I say - ook at the fary do on the top! Who's that for ? A
good gr ?'
Anne secrety hoped that Mr. Roand woud gve her the do. She was sure t wasn't for
George - and anyway, George woudn't accept t. It was such a pretty do, wth ts gauzy
frock and svery wngs.
|uan, Dck and Anne had qute accepted the tutor

now as teacher and frend. In fact, everyone had, ther unce and aunt too, and even |oanna
the cook. George, of course, was the ony excepton, and she and Tmothy kept away from
Mr. Roand, each ookng as suky as the other whenever the tutor was n the room.
'You know, I never knew a dog coud ook so suky!' sad |uan, watchng Tmothy. 'Reay, he
scows amost ke George.'
'And I aways fee as f George puts her ta down ke Tm, when Mr. Roand s n the room,'
ggged Anne.
'Laugh a you ke,' sad George, n a ow tone. 'I thnk you're beasty to me. I know I'm rght
about Mr. Roand. I've got a feeng about hm. And so has Tm.'
'You're sy, George,' sad Dck. 'You haven't reay got a Feeng - t's ony that Mr. Roand
w keep cang you Georgna and puttng you n your pace, and that ' he doesn't ke Tm. I
dare say he can't hep dskng dogs. After a, there was once a famous man caed Lord
|Hoberts who coudn't bear cats.'
'Oh we, cats are dfferent,' sad George. 'If a person doesn't ke dogs, especay a dog ke
our Tmothy, then there reay must be somethng wrong wth hm.'
'It's no use argung wth George,' sad |uan, 'Once she's made up her mnd about
somethng, she won't
budge!'
George went out of the room n a huff. The others thought she was behavng rather
stupdy.
'I'm surprsed reay,' sad Anne. 'She was so |oy ast Ifferm at schoo. Now she's gone a
queer, rather ke she was when we frst knew her ast summer.'
'I do thnk Mr. Roand has been decent dggng up the Chrstmas tree and everythng,' sad
Dck. 'I st don't ke hm awfuy much sometmes, but I thnk he's a sport. What about
askng hm f he can read that od nen rag for us -1 don't thnk I'd mnd hm sharng our
secret, reay.'
'I woud ove hm to share t,' sad Anne, who was busy dong a marveous Chrstmas card
for the tutor. 'He's most awfuy cever. I'm sure he coud te us what the Secret Way s. Do
et's ask hm.'
'A rght,' sad |uan. 'I' show .hm the pece of nen. It's Chrstmas Eve tonght. He w be
wth us n the sttng-room, because Aunt Fanny s gong nto the study wth Unce Ouentn to
wrap up presents for a of us!'
So, that evenng, before Mr. Roand came n to st wth them, |uan took out the tte ro of
nen and stroked t out fat on the tabe. George ooked at t n surprse.
'Mr. Roand w be here n a mnute,' she sad. 'You'd better put t away qucky.'
'We're gong to ask hm f he can te us what the od Latn words mean,' sad |uan.
'You're not!' cred George, n dsmay. 'Ask hm to share our secret! However can you ?'

'We, we want to know what the secret s, don't we?' sad |uan. 'We don't need to te hm
where we got ths or anythng about t except that we want to now what the markngs
mean. We're not exacty sharng the secret wth hm - ony askng hm to use hs brans to
hep us.'
'We, I never thought you'd ask hm,' sad George.
he' want to know smpy everythng about t, you st see f he won't ! 'He's terrby snoopy.'
'Whatever 4 you mean?' sad |uan, n surprse. 'I I't thnk he's a bt snoopy.' 'I saw hm
yesterday snoopng round the study when one was there,' sad George. 'He ddn't see me
out-fede the wndow wth Tm. He was havng a rea poke
'You know how nterested he s n your father's work,' pad |uan. 'Why shoudn't he ook at
t? Your father ces hm too. You're |ust seeng what horrd thngs you t fnd to say about Mr.
Roand.' 'Oh shut up, you two,9 sad Dck. 'It's Chrstmas Eve. on't et's argue or quarre or
say beasty thngs.' |ust at that moment the tutor came nto the room, 'A busy as bees ?' he
sad, hs mouth smng beneath ts ftoustache. 'Too busy to have a game of cards, I sup-
aose?'
'Mr. Roand, sr,' began |uan, 'coud you hep us somethng? We've got an od bt of nen
here wth d markngs on t. The words seem to be n some sort |fof Latn and we can't make
them out.'
George gave an angry excamaton as she saw |uan E push the pece of nen over towards
the tutor. She went of the room and shut the door wth a bang. Tm was S wth her.
'Our sweet-tempered Georgna doesn't seem to be very frendy tonght/ remarked Mr.
Roand, pung the bt | of nen towards hm. 'Where n the word dd you get ; ths ? What
an odd thng !'
Nobody answered. Mr. Roand studed the ro of
nen, and then gave an excamaton. 'Ah - I see why you wanted to know the meanng of
those Latn words the other day - the ones that meant "hdden path", you remember. They
are at the top of ths nen ro.'
'Yes,' sad Dck. A the chdren eaned over towards Mr. Roand, hopng he woud be abe to
unrave a tte of the mystery for them.
'We |ust want to know the meanng of the words, sr,' sad |uan.
'Ths s reay very nterestng,' sad the tutor, puzzng over the nen. 'Apparenty there are
drectons here for fndng the openng or entrance of a secret path or road.'
'That's what we thought!' cred |uan, exctedy. 'That's exacty what we thought. Oh sr, do
read the drectons and see what you make of them.'
'We, these eght squares are meant to represent wooden boards or panes, I thnk,' sad the
tutor, pontng to the eght rough squares drawn on the nen. 'Wat a mnute - I can hardy

read some of the words. Ths s most fascnatng, Soum apdeum - pares gneus - and
what's ths - ceua - yes, ceua'
The chdren hung on hs words. 'Wooden panes!' That must mean panes somewhere at
Krrn Farm-house.
Mr. Roand frowned down at the od prnted words. Then he sent Anne to borrow a
magnfyng gass from her unce. She came back wth t, and the four of them ooked
through the gass, seeng the words three tmes as ceary now.
'We,' sad the tutor at ast, 'as far as I can make out the drecton mean ths: a room facng
east; eght wooden panes, wth an openng somewhere to be found
n that marked one; a stone foor - yes, I thnk that's rght, a stone foor; and a cupboard. It
a sounds most extraordnary and very thrng. Where dd you get ths from?'
'We |ust found t,' sad |uan, after a pause. 'Oh Mr. Roand, thanks awfuy. We coud never
have made t out by ourseves. I suppose the entrance to the Secret Way s n a room facng
east then.'
'It ooks ke t,' sad Mr. Roand, porng over the nen ro agan. 'Where dd you say you
found ths ?'
'We ddn't say,' sad Dck. 'It's a secret reay, you see.'
'I thnk you mght te me,' sad the tutor, ookng at Dck wth hs brant bue eyes. 'I can be
trusted wth secrets. You've no dea how many queer secrets I know.'
'We,' sad |uan, 'I don't reay see why you shoudn't know where we found ths, Mr.
Roand. We found t at Krrn Farm-house, n an od tobacco pouch. I suppose the Secret Way
begns somewhere there! I wonder where and wherever can t ead to ?'
'You found t at Krrn Farm-house!' excamed Mr. Roand. 'We, we - I must say that seems
to be an nterestng od pace. I sha have to go over there one day.'
|uan roed up the pece of nen and put t nto hs pocket. 'We, thank you, sr,' he sad.
'You've soved a bt of the mystery for us but set us another puzze! We must ook for the
entrance of the Secret Way after Chrstmas, when we can wak over to Krrn Farmhouse.3
T come wth you,' sad Mr. Roand. 'I may be abe
to hep a tte. That s - f you don't mnd me havng a tte share n ths exctng secret.'
'We - you've been such a hep n teng us what the words mean,' sad |uan; 'we'd ke
you to come f you want to, sr.'
'Yes, we woud,' sad Anne.
'We' go and ook for the Secret Way, then,' sad Mr. Roand. 'What fun we sha have,
tappng round the panes, watng for a mysterous dark entrance to appear!'
'I don't suppose George w go,' Dck murmured to |uan. 'You shoudn't have sad Mr.
Roand coud go wth us, |u. That means that od George w have to be eft out of t. You
know how she hates that.'

'I know,' sad |uan, feeng uncomfortabe. 'Don't et's worry about that now though. George
may fee dfferent after Chrstmas. She can't keep up ths knd of behavour for ever!'







Chapter Eight

WHAT HAPPENED ON CHRlSTMAS NlGHT

IT was great fun on Chrstmas mornng. The chdren awoke eary and tumbed out of bed to
ook at the presents that were stacked on chars near by. Squeas and yes of deght came
from everyone.
'Oh! a raway staton! |ust what I wanted! Who gave me ths marveous staton ?'
'A new do - wth eyes that shut! I sha ca her Betsy-May. She ooks |ust ke a Betsy-May!'
'I say - what a whoppng great book - a about aeropanes. From Aunt Fanny! How decent of
her!'
'Tmothy! Look what |uan has gven you - a coar wth bg brass studs a round - you w be
grand. Go and ck hm to say thank you!'
'Who's ths from? I say, who gave me ths? Where's the abe? Oh - from Mr. Roand. How
decent of hm! Look, |uan, a pocket-knfe wth three bades!'
So the cres and excamatons went on, and the four excted chdren and the equay-excted
dog spent a gorous hour before a ate Chrstmas breakfast, openng a knds and shapes of
parces. The bedrooms were n a fne mess when the chdren had fnshed!
'Who gave you that book about dogs, George ?' asked |uan, seeng rather a nce dog-book
yng on George's pe.
'Mr. Roand,' sad George, rather shorty. |uan 80
wondered f George was gong to accept t. He rathe thought she woudn't. But the tte gr,
defant and obstnate as she was, had made up her mnd not to spo Chrstmas Day by
beng 'dffcut'. So, when the others thanked the tutor for ther thngs she too added her
thanks, though n rather a stff tte voce.
George had not gven the tutor anythng, but the others had, and Mr. Roand thanked them
a very hearty, appearng to be very peased ndeed. He toc Anne that her Chrstmas card
was the ncest he had ever had, and she beamed at hm wth |oy.

'We, I must say t's nce to be here for Chrstmas!' sad Mr. Roand, when he and the others
were sttng round a oaded Chrstmas tabe, at the md-day dnner. 'Sha I carve for you, Mr.
Ouentn? I'm good at that!'
Unce Ouentn handed hm the carvng knfe and fork gady. 'It's nce to have you here,' he
sad warmy. 'I must say you've setted n we - I'm sure we a fee as f we've known you for
ages!'
It reay was a |oy Chrstmas Day. There were no essons, of course, and there were to be
none the next day ether. The chdren gave themseves up to the en|oyment of eatng a
great dea, suckng sweets, and ookng forward to the ghtng of the Chrstmas tree.
It ooked beautfu when the candes were ghted. They twnked n the darkness of the ha,
and the brght ornaments shone and gowed. Tm sat and ooked at t, qute entranced.
'He kes t as much as we do,' sad George. And ndeed Tm had en|oyed the whoe day |ust
as much as any of the chdren.
They were a tred out when they went to bed. 'I shan't be ong before I'm aseep,' yawned
Anne. 'Oh, George - t's been fun, hasn't t ? I dd ke the Chrstmas tree.'
'Yes, t's been ovey,' sad George, |umpng nto bed. 'Here cones Mother to say good nght.
Basket, Tm, basket!'
Tm eapt nto hs basket by the wndow. He was aways there when George's mother came
n to say good nght to the grs but as soon as she had gone downstars, the dog took a
fyng eap and anded on George's bed. There he sept, hs head cured round her feet.
'Don't you thnk Tm ought to seep downstars tonght?' sad George's mother. '|oanna says
he ate such an enormous mea n the ktchen that she s sure he w be sck.'
'Oh no, Mother!' sad George, at once. 'Make Tm seep downstars on Chrstmas nght?
Whatever woud he thnk?'
'Oh, very we,' sad her mother, wth a augh. 'I mght have known t was useess to suggest
t. Now go to seep qucky, Anne and George - t's ate and you are a tred.'
She went nto the boys' room and sad good nght to them too. They were amost aseep.
Two hours ater everyone ese was n bed. The house was st and dark. George and Anne
sept peacefuy n ther sma beds. Tmothy sept too, yng heavy on George's feet.
Suddeny George awoke wth a |ump. Tm was grow-
ng softy! He had rased hs bg shaggy head and George knew that he was stenng.
'What s t, Tm ?' she whspered. Anne dd not wake. Tm went on growng softy. George
sat up and put her hand on hs coar to stop hm. She knew that f he awoke her father, he
woud be cross.
Tmothy stopped growng now that he had roused George. The gr sat and wondered what
to do. It wasn't any good wakng Annfm The tte gr woud be frghtened. Why was Tnt
growng ? He never dd that at nght!

'Perhaps I'd better go and see f everythng s a rght,' thought Gpnrgf She was qute
fearess, and the thought pf creepng through the st, dark house dd not dsturb her at a.
Besdes she had Tm! Who coud be afrad wth Tm besde them!
She spped on her dressng-gown. 'Perhaps a og has faen out of one of the fre-paces and
a rug s burnng,' she thought, snffng as she went down the stars. Tt woud be |ust ke Tm
to sme t and warn us!'
Wth her hand on Tm's head to warn hm to be qute quet, George crept softy through the
ha to the sttng-room. The fre was qute a rght there, |ust a red gow. In the ktchen a
was peace too. Tm's feet made a nose there, as hs caws ratted aganst the noeum.
A sght sound came from the other sde of the house. Tm growed qute oudy, and the
hars on the back of hs neck rose up. George stood st. Coud t possby be burgars?
Suddeny Tmothy shook hmsef free from her fngers and kapt across the ha, down a
passage, and nto the
study beyond! There was the sound of an excamaton, and a nose as f someone was fang
over.
'It s a burgar!' sad George, and she ran to the study. She saw a torch shnng on the foor,
dropped by someone who was even now struggng wth Tm.
George swtched on the ght, and then ooked wth the greatest astonshment nto the
study. Mr. Roand was there n hs dressng-gown, rong on the foor, tryng to get away
from Tmothy, who, athough not btng hm, was hodng hm frmy by hs dressng-gown.
'Oh - t's you, George! Ca your beasty dog off!' sad Mr. Roand, n a ow and angry voce.
'Do you want to rouse a the househod ?'
'Why are you creepng about wth a torch ?' demanded George.
'I heard a nose down here, and came to see what t was,' sad Mr. Roand, sttng up and
tryng to fend off the angry dog. 'For goodness' sake, ca your beast off.'
'Why ddn't you put on the ght ?' asked George, not attemptng to take Tm away. She was
very much en|oyng the sght of an angry and frghtened Mr. Roand.
'I coudn't fnd t,' sad the tutor. 'It's on the wrong sde of the door, as you see.'
Ths was true. The swtch was an awkward one to fnd f you ddn't know t. Mr. Roand tred
to push Tm away agan, and the dog suddeny barked.
'We - he' wake everyone!' sad the tutor, angry. 'I ddn't want to rouse the house. I
thought I coud fnd out for mysef f there was anyone about - a burgar perhaps. Here
comes your father!'
George's father appeared, carryng a arge poker. He
stood st n astonshment when he saw Mr. Roand on the ground and Tmothy standng
over hm.

'What's a ths?' he excamed. Mr. Roand tred to get up, but Tm woud not et hm.
George's father caed to hm sterny.
'Tm! Come here, sr!'
Tmothy ganced at George to see f hs mstress agreed wth her father's command. She
sad nothng. So Tmothy took no notce of the order and merey made a snap at Mr.
Roand's ankes.
'That dog's mad!' sad Mr. Roand, from the foor. 'He's aready btten me once before, and
now he's tryng to do t agan!'
'Tm! W you come here, sr!' shouted George's father. 'George, that dog s reay
dsobedent. Ca hm off at once.'
'Come here, Tm!' sad George, n a ow voce. The dog at once came to her, standng by her
sde wth the hars on hs neck st rsng up stffy. He growed softy as f to say, 'Be carefu,
Mr. Roand, be carefu!'
The tutor got up. He was very angry ndeed. He spoke to George's father.
'I heard some sort of a nose and came down wth my torch to see what t was,' he sad. 'I
thought t came from your study, and knowng you kept your vauabe books and
nstruments here, I wondered f some thef was about. I had |ust got down, and nto the
room, when that dog appeared from somewhere and got me down on the ground! George
came aong too, and woud not ca hm off.'
'I can't understand your behavour, George; I reay
can't,' sad her father, angry. 'I hope you are not gong to behave stupdy, as you used to
behave before your cousns came ast summer. And what s ths I hear about Tm btng Mr.
Roand before ?'
'George had hm under the tabe durng essons,' sad Mr. Roand. 'I ddn't know that, and
when I stretched out my egs, they touched Tm, and he bt me. I ddn't te you before, sr,
because I ddn't want to troube you. Both George and the dog have tred to annoy me ever
snce I have been here.'
'We, Tm must go outsde and ve n the kenne,' sad George's father. 'I won't have hm n
the house. It w be a punshment for hm, and a punshment for you too, George. I w not
have ths knd of behavour. Mr. Roand has been extremey knd to you a.'
'I won't et Tm ve outsde,' sad George furousy. 'It's such cod weather, and t woud
smpy break hs heart.'
'We, hs heart must be broken then,' sad her father. 'It w depend entrey on your
behavour from now on whether Tm s aowed n the house at a these hodays. I sha ask
Mr. Roand each day how you have behaved. If you have a bad report, then Tm stays
outsde. Now you know! Go back to bed but frst apoogze to Mr. Roand!'

'I won't!' sad George, and choked by feengs of anger and dsmay, she tore out of the room
and up the stars. The two men stared after her.
'Let her be,' sad Mr. Roand. 'She's a very dffcut chd - and has made up her mnd not to
ke me, that's qute pan. But I sha be very gad, sr, to know that
that dog sn't n the house. I'm not at a certan that Georgna woudn't set hm on me, f she
coud!'
'I'm sory about a ths,' sad George's father. 'I wonder what the nose was that you heard -
a og fang n the grate I expect. Now - what am I to do about that tresome dog tonght? Go
and take hm outsde, I suppose!'
'Leave hm tonght,' sad Mr. Roand. 'I can hear noses upstars - the others are awake by
now! Don't et's make any more dsturbance tonght.'
'Perhaps you are rght,' sad George's father, thankfuy. He ddn't at a want to tacke a
defant tte gr and an angry bg dog n the mdde of a cod nght!
The two men went to bed and sept. George dd not seep. The others had been awake when
she got upstars, and she had tod them what had happened.
'George! You reay are an dot!' sad Dck. 'After a, why shoudn't Mr. Roand go down f he
heard a nose! You went down! Now we shan't have darng od Tm n the house ths cod
weather!'
Anne began to cry. She ddn't ke hearng that the tutor she ked so much had been
knocked down by Tm, and she hated hearng that Tm was to be punshed.
'Don't be a baby,' sad George. 'I'm not cryng, and t's my dog!'
But, when everyone had setted down agan n bed, and sept peacefuy, George's pow
was very wet ndeed. Tm crept up besde her and cked the sat tears off her cheek. He
whned softy. Tm was aways unhappy when hs tte mstress was sad.

Chapter Nine

A HUNT FOR THE SECRET WAY

THERE were no essons the next day. George ooked rather pae, and was very quet. Tm
was aready out n the yard-kenne, and the chdren coud hear hm whnng unhappy. They
were a upset to hear hm.
'Oh, George, I'm awfuy sorry about t a,' sad Dck. 'I wsh you woudn't get so ferce about
thngs. You ony get yoursef nto troube - and poor od Tm.'
George was fu of mxed feengs. She dsked Mr. Roand so much now that she coud
hardy bear to ook at hm - and yet she dd not dare to be openy rude and rebeous
because she was afrad that f she was, the tutor woud gve her a bad report, and perhaps
she woud not be aowed even to see Tmothy. It was very hard for a defant nature ke hers
to force hersef to behave propery.
Mr. Roand took no notce of her at a. The other chdren tred to brng George nto ther
taks and pans, but she remaned quet and unnterested.
'George! We're gong over to Krrn Farm-house today,' sad Dck. 'Comng? We're gong to
try and fnd the entrance to the Secret Way. It must start somewhere there.'
The chdren had tod George what Mr. Roand had sad about the pece of marked nen.
They had a been thred about ths, though the exctements of Chrstmas Day had made
them forget about t for a whe.
'Yes - of course I' come,' sad George, ookng more cheerfu. 'Tmothy can come too. He
wants a wak.'
But when the tte gr found that Mr. Roand was aso gong, she changed her mnd at once.
Not for anythng woud she go wth the tutor! No - she woud go for a wak aone wth
Tmothy.
'But, George - thnk of the exctement we' have tryng to fnd the Secret Way,' sad |uan,
takng hod of her arm. George wrenched t away.
Tm not gong f Mr. Roand s,' she sad, obstnatey, and the others knew that t was no good
tryng to coax her.
'I sha go aone wth Tm,' sad George. 'You go off together wth your dear Mr. Roand!'
She set out wth Tmothy, a oney tte fgure gong down the garden path. The others
stared after her. Ths was horrd. George was beng more and more eft out, but what coud
they do about t ?

'We, chdren, are you ready?' asked Mr. Roand. 'You start off by yourseves, w you? I'
meet you at the farm-house ater. I want to run down to the vage frst to get somethng.'
So the three chdren set off by themseves, wshng that George was wth them. She was
nowhere to be seen.
Od Mr. and Mrs. Sanders were peased to see the tree chdren, and sat them down n the
bg ktchen to eat gnger buns and drnk hot mk.
'We, have you come to fnd a few more secet thngs ?' asked Mrs. Sanders, wth a sme.
'May we try?' asked |uan. 'We're ookng for a room facng east, wth a stone foor, and
paneng!'
'A the rooms downstars have stone foors,' sad Mrs. Sanders. 'You hunt a you ke, my
dears. You won't do any damage, I know. But don't go nto the room upstars wth the
cupboard that has a fase back, w you, or the one next to t! Those are the rooms the two
artsts have.'
'A rght,' sad |uan, rather sory that they were unabe to fdde about wth the exctng
cupboard agan. 'Are the artsts here, Mrs. Sanders? I'd ke to tak to them about pctures. I
hope one day I' be an artst too.'
'Dear me, s that so ?' sad Mrs Sanders. 'We, we -t's aways a marve to me how peope
make any money at pantng pctures.'
'It sn't makng money that artsts ke, so much as the pantng of the pctures,' sad |uan,
ookng rather wse. That seemed to puzze Mrs. Sanders even more. She shook her head
and aughed.
'They're queer fok!' she sad. 'Ah we - you go aong and have a hunt for whatever t s you
want to fnd. You can't tak to the two artsts today though, Master |uan -they're out.'
The chdren fnshed ther buns and mk and then stood up, wonderng where to begn ther
search. They must ook for a room or rooms facng east. That woud be the frst thng to do.
'Whch sde of the house faces east, Mrs. Sanders?' asked |uan. 'Do you know ?'
'The ktchen faces due north,' sad Mrs. Sanders. 'So east w be over there.' she ponted to
the rght.
'Thanks,' sad |uan. 'Come on, everyone!' The three
chdren went out of the ktchen, and turned to the rght. There were three rooms there - a
knd of scuery, not much used now, a tny room used as a den by od Mr. f Sanders, and a
room that had once been a drawng-room, but whch was now cod and unused.
'They've a got stone foors,' sad |uan.
'So we' have to hunt through a of the three rooms,' sad Anne.
'No, we won't,' sad |uan. 'We shan't have to ook n ths scuery, for one thng!'
'Why not?'asked Anne.

'Because the was are of stone, sy, and we want paneng,' sad |uan. 'Use your brans,
Anne!'
'We, that's one room we needn't bother wth, then,' sad Dck. 'Look - both ths tte room
and the drawng-room have paneng, |uan. We must search n both.'
'There must be some reason for puttng dght squares of paneng n the drectons,' sad
|uan, ookng at the ro of nen agan. 'It woud be a good dea to see whether there's a
pace wth eght squares ony - you know, over a wndow, or somethng.'
It was tremendousy exctng to ook round the two rooms! The chdren began wth the
smaer room. It was paneed a the way round n dark oak, but there was no pace where
ony eght panes showed. So the chdren went nto the next room.
The paneng there was dfferent. It dd not ook so od, and was not so dark. The squares
were rather a dfferent sze, too. The chdren tred each pane, tappng and pressng as they
went, expectng at any moment
to see one sde back as the one n the ha had done.
But they were dsapponted. Nothng happened at a. They were st n the mdde of tryng
when they heard footsteps n the ha, and voces. Somebody ooked nto the drawng-room.
It was a man, thn and ta, wearng gasses on hs ong nose.
'Hao!' he sad. 'Mrs. Sanders tod me you were treasure-huntng, or somethng. How are
you gettng on?'
'Not very we,' sad |uan, potey. He ooked at the man, and saw behnd hm another one,
younger, wth rather screwed-up eyes and a bg mouth. 'I suppose you are the two artsts ?'
he asked.
'We are!' sad the frst man, comng nto the room. 'Now, |ust exacty what are you ookng
for ?'
|uan dd not reay want to te hm, but t was dffcut not to. 'We - we're |ust seeng f
there's a sdng pane here,' he sad at ast. 'There's one n the ha, you know. It's exctng
to hunt round.'
'Sha we hep?' sad the frst artst, comng nto the room. 'What are your names? Mne's
Thomas, and my frend's name s Wton.'
The chdren taked potey for a mnute or two, not at a wantng the two men to hep. If
there was anythng to be found, they wanted to fnd t. It woud spo everythng f grown-ups
soved the puzze!
Soon everyone was tap-tap-tappng round the wooden panes. They were n the mdde of
ths when a voce haed them.
'Hao! My word, we are a busy!'
The chdren turned, and saw ther tutor standng n
the doorway, smng at them. The two artsts ooked at hm.

'Is ths a frend of yours ?' asked Mr. Thomas.

'Yes - he's our tutor, and he's very nce!' sad Anne, runnng to Mr. Roand and puttng her
hand n hs.
'Perhaps you w ntroduce me, Anne,' sad Mr. Roand, smng at the tte gr.
Anne knew how to ntroduce peope. She had often seen her mother dong t. 'Ths s Mr.
Roand,' she sad to the two artsts. Then she turned to Mr. Roand. 'Ths s Mr. Thomas,' she
sad, wavng her hand towards hm, 'and the other one s Mr. Wton.'
The men haf-bowed to one another and nodded. 'Are you stayng here?' asked Mr. Roand.
'A very nce od farm-house, sn't t ?'
'It sn't tme to go yet, s t ?' asked |uan, hearng a cock strke.
'Yes, I'm afrad t s,' sad Mr. Roand. Tn ater meetng you than I expected. We must go n
about fve mnutes - no ater. I' |ust gve you a hand n tryng to fnd ths mysterous secret
way!'
But no matter how anyone of them pressed and tapped around the panes n ether of the
two rooms, they coud not fnd anythng exctng. It reay was most dsappontng
'We, we reay must go now,' sad Mr. Roand. 'Come and say good-bye to Mrs. Sanders.'
They a went nto the warm ktchen, where Mrs. Sanders was cookng somethng that smet
most decous.
'Somethng for our unch, Mrs. Sanders?' sad Mr.
Wton. 'My word, you reay are a wonderfu cook!'
Mrs. Sanders smed. She turned to the chdren. 'We, deares, dd you fnd what you
wanted ?' she asked.
'No,' sad Mr. Roand, answerng for them. 'We haven't been abe to fnd the secret way,
after a!'
'The secret way?' sad Mrs. Sanders, n surprse. 'What do you know about that now? I
thought t had a been forgotten - n fact, I haven't beeved n that secret way for many a
year!'
'Oh, Mrs, Sanders - do you know about t?' cred |uan. 'Where s t ?'
'I don't know, dear - the secret of t has been ost for
many a day,' sad the od ady. 'I remember my od grandmother teng me somethng about
t when I was smaer than any of you. But I wasn't nterested n thngs ke that when I was
tte. I was a for cows and hens
and sheep.'
'Oh, Mrs. Sanders - do, do try and remember somethng!' begged Dck. 'What was the secret
way ?'
'We, t was supposed to be a hdden way from Krrn , Farm-house to somewhere ese,' sad
Mrs. Sanders. 'I don't know where, I'm sure. It was used n the oden

days when peope wanted to hde from enemes.'

It was dsappontng that Mrs. Sanders knew so tte. The chdren sad good-bye and went
off wth ther tutor,
feeng that ther mornng had been wasted. , George was ndoors when they got to Krrn
Cottage.
Her cheeks were not so pae, now, and she greeted the
chdren eagery.
'Dd you dscover anythng? Te me a about t!' she
sad.
'There's nothng to te,' sad Dck, rather goomy. 'We found three rooms facng east, wth
stone foors, but ony two of them had wooden paneng, so we hunted round those, tappng
and punchng - but there wasn't anythng to be dscovered at a.'
'We saw the two artsts,' sad Anne. 'One was ta and thn, and had a ong nose wth gasses
on. He was caed Mr. Thomas. The other was younger, wth tte pggy eyes and an
enormous mouth.'
'I met them out ths mornng,' sad George. 'It must have been them. Mr. Roand was wth
them, and they were a takng together. They ddn't see me.'
'Oh, t coudn't have been the artsts you saw,' sad Anne, at once. 'Mr. Roand ddn't know
them. I had to ntroduce them.'
'We, I'm sure I heard Mr. Roand ca one of them Wton,' sad George, puzzed. 'e must
have known them.'
'It coudn't have been the artsts,' sad Anne, agan. 'They reay ddn't know Mr. Roand. Mr.
Thomas asked f he was a frend of ours.'
'I'm sure I'm not mstaken,' sad George, ookng obstnate. 'If Mr. Roand sad he ddn't know
the two artsts, he was teng es.'
'Oh, you're aways makng out that he s dong somethng horrd!' cred Anne, ndgnanty.
'You |ust make up thngs about hm!'
'Sh!' sad |uan. 'Here he s.'
The door opened and the tutor came n. 'We,' he sad, 't was dsappontng that we coudn't
fnd the secret way, wasn't t! Anyway, we were rather foosh to hunt
about that drawng-room as we dd - the paneng there wasn't reay od - t must have
been put n years after the other.'
'Oh - we, t's no good ookng there agan,' sad |uan, dsapponted. 'And I'm pretty sure
there's nothng to be found n that other tte room. We went a over t so thoroughy. Isn't t
dsappontng ?'
'It |s,' sad Mr. Roand. 'We, |uan, how dd you ke the two artsts? I was peased to meet
them - they seemed nce feows, and I sha ke to know them.'

George ooked at the tutor. Coud he possby be teng untruths n such a truthfu voce ?
The tte gr was very puzzed. She fet sure t was the artsts she had seen hm wth. But
why shoud he pretend he ddn't know them ? She must be mstaken. But a the same, she
fet uncomfortabe about t, and made up her mnd to fnd out the truth, f she coud.

Chapter Ten

A SHOCK FOR GEORGE AND TlM

NEXT mornng there were essons agan - and no Tmothy , under the tabe! George fet very
much ncned to refuse to work, but what woud be the good of that ? Grown-ups 5 were so
powerfu, and coud doe out a knds of punshments. She ddn't care how much she was
punshed her-,' sef but she coudn't bear to thnk that Tmothy mght have to share n the
punshments too.
So, pae and suen, the tte gr sat down at the tabe wth the others. Anne was eager to
|on n the essons - n , fact she was eager to do anythng to pease Mr. Roand, \ because he
had gven her the fary do from the top of \the Chrstmas tree! Anne thought she was the
prettest \ do she had ever seen.
George had scowed at the do when Anne showed t to her. She ddn't ke dos, and she
certany wasn't gong to ke one that Mr. Roand had chosen, and gven \ to Anne! But Anne
oved t, and had made up her mnd > to do essons wth the others, and work as we as she
coud.
George dd as tte as she coud wthout gettng nto troube. Mr. Roand took no nterest n
her or n her work. He prased the others, and took a ot of troube ' to show |uan somethng
he found dffcut.
The chdren heard Tm whnng outsde as they worked. Ths troubed them very much,
for Tmothy
was such a companon, and so dear to them a. They coud not bear to thnk of hm eft out
of everythng, cod and mserabe n the yard-kenne. When the ten mnutes' break came,
and Mr. Roand went out of the room for a few mnutes, |uan spoke to George.
'George! It's awfu for us to hear poor od Tm whnng out there n the cod. And I'm sure I
heard hm cough. Let me speak to Mr. Roand about hm. You must fee smpy dreadfu
knowng that Tm s out there.'
'I thought I heard hm cough, too,' sad George, ookng worred. 'I hope he won't get a cod.
He smpy doesn't understand why I have to put hm there. He thnks I'm terrby unknd.'

The tte gr turned her head away, afrad that tears mght come nto her eyes. She aways
boasted that she never cred - but t was very dffcut to keep the tears away when she
thought of Tmothy out there n the cod.
Dck took her arm. 'Lsten, George - you |ust hate Mr. Roand, and I suppose you can't hep t.
But we can none of us bear Tmothy beng out there a aone - and t ooks ke snow today,
whch woud be awfu for hm. Coud you be awfuy, awfuy good today, and forget your
dske, so that when your father asks Mr. Roand for your report, he can say you were very
good - and then we' a ask Mr. Roand f he woudn't et Tmmy come back nto the house.'
'See?'
Tmothy coughed agan, out n the yard, and George's heart went cod. Suppose he got that
awfu ness caed pneumona - and she coudn't nurse hm because he had
to ve n the kenne ? She woud de of unhappness! She turned to |uan and Dck.
'A rght,' she sad. 'I do hate Mr. Roand - but I ove Tmothy more than I hate the tutor - so
for Tm's sake I' pretend to be good and sweet and hard-workng. And then you can beg
hm to et Tmothy come back.'
'Good gr!' sad |uan. 'Now here he comes - so do your best.'
To the tutor's enormous surprse, George gave hm a sme when he came nto the room.
Ths was so unexpected that t puzzed hm. He was even more puzzed to fnd that George
worked harder than anyone for the rest of the mornng, and she answered potey and
cheerfuy when he spoke to her. He gave her a word of prase.
'We done, Georgna! I can see you've got brans.'
'Thank you," sad George, and gave hm another sme - a very watery, poor affar, compared
wth the happy smes the others had been used to - but st, t was a sme!
At dnner-tme George ooked after Mr. Roand most potey - passed hm the sat, offered
hm more bread, got up to f hs gass when t was empty! The others ooked at her n
admraton. George had penty of puck. She must be fndng t very dffcut to behave as f
Mr. Roand was a great frend, when she reay dsked hm so much!
Mr. Roand seemed very peased, and appeared to be qute wng to respond to George's
frendness. He made a tte |oke wth her, and offered to end her a
book he had about a dog. George's mother was deghted to fnd that her dffcut daughter
seemed to be turnng over a new eaf. Atogether thngs were very much happer that day.
'George, you go out of the room before your father comes n to ask Mr. Roand about your
behavour tonght,' sad |uan. 'Then, when the tutor gves you a spendd report, we w a
ask f Tmothy can come back. It w be easer f you are not there.'
'A rght,' sad George. She was ongng for ths dffcut day to be over. It was very hard for
her to pretend to be frendy, when she was not. She coud never never do t, f t wasn't for
Tmothy's sake!

George dsappeared out of the room |ust before sx o'cock, when she heard her father
comng. He waked nto the room and nodded to Mr. Roand.
'We? Have your pups worked we today?' he asked.
'Very we ndeed,' sad Mr. Roand. '|uan has reay mastered somethng he ddn't
understand today. Dck has done we n Latn. Anne has wrtten out a French exercse
wthout a snge mstake!'
'And what about George ?' asked Unce Ouentn.
'I was comng to Georgna,' sad Mr. Roand, ookng round and seeng that she was gone.
'She has worked better than anyone ese today! I am reay peased wth her. She has tred
hard - and she has reay been pote and frendy. I fee she s tryng to turn over a new eaf.'
'She's been a brck today,' sad |uan, warmy. 'Unce Ouentn, she has tred awfuy hard,
she reay has. And, you know, she's terrby unhappy.'
'Why ?' asked Unce Ouentn n surprse.
'Because of Tmothy,' sad |uan. 'He's out n the cod, you see. And he's got a dreadfu
cough.'
'Oh, Unce Ouentn, pease do et poor Tmmy come ndoors,' begged Anne.
'Yes, pease do,' sad Dck. 'Not ony for George's sake, because she oves hm so, but for us
too. We hate to hear hm whnng outsde. And George does deserve a reward, Unce - she's
been marveous today.'
'We,' sad Unce Ouentn, ookng doubtfuy at the three eager faces before hm, 'we - I
hardy know what to say. If George s gong to be sensbe - and the weather gets coder -
we...'
He ooked at Mr. Roand, expectng to hear hm say somethng n favour of Tmothy. But the
tutor sad noth-|F ng. He ooked annoyed. | 'What do you thnk, Roand?' asked Unce
Ouentn.
'I thnk you shoud keep to what you sad and et the dog stay outsde,' sad the tutor.
'George s spot, and needs frm handng. You shoud reay keep to your decson about the
dog. There s no reason to gve way about t |ust because she has tred to be good for once!'
The three chdren stared at Mr. Roand n surprse and dsmay. It had never entered ther
heads that he woud not back them up!
'Oh, Mr. Roand, you are horrd!' cred Anne. 'Oh, do, do say you' have Tmothy back.'
The tutor dd not ook at Anne. He pursed up hs mouth beneath ts thck moustache and
ooked straght at Unce Ouentn.
'We,' sad Unce Ouentn, 'perhaps we had better
see how George behaves for a whoe week. After a -|ust one day sn't much.'
The chdren stared at hm n dsgust. They thought he was weak and unknd. Mr. Roand
nodded hs head.

'Yes,' he sad, 'a week w be a better test. If Georgna behaves we for a whoe week, we'
have another word about the dog, sr. But at present I fee t woud be better to keep hm
outsde.' '
'Very we,' sad Unce Ouentn, and went out of the room. He paused to ook back. 'Come
aong nto my study sometme,' he sad. 'I've got a bt further wth my formua. It's at a very
nterestng stage.'
The three chdren ooked at one another but sad nothng. How mean of the tutor to stop
Unce Ouentn from havng Tmothy ndoors agan,! They a fet dsapponted n hm. The
tutor saw ther faces.
'I'm sorry to dsappont you,' he sad. 'But I thnk f you'd been btten by Tmothy once and
snapped at a over when he got you on the foor, you woud not be very keen on havng hm
n ether!'
He went out of the room. The chdren wondered what to say to George. She came n a
moment ater, her face eager. But when she saw the goomy ooks of the other three, she
stopped short.
'Isn't Tm to come n?' she asked, qucky. 'What's happened ? Te me!'
They tod her. The tte gr's face grew dark and angry when she heard how the tutor had
put hs foot down about Tmothy, even when her father had hmsef suggested that the dog
mght come ndoors.
'Oh, what a beast he s!' she cred. 'How I do hate hm! I' pay hm out for ths. I w, I w!'
She rushed out of the room. They heard her fumbng n the ha, and then the front door
banged.
'She's gone out nto the dark,' sad |uan. *I bet she's gone to Tmmy. Poor od George. Now
she' be worse than ever!'
That nght George coud not seep. She ay and tossed n her bed, stenng for Tmothy. She
heard hm cough. She heard hm whne. He was cod, she knew he was. She had put penty
of fresh straw nto hs kenne and had turned t away from the cod north wnd - but he must
fee the btter nght terrby, after seepng for so ong on her bed!
Tmothy gave such a hoow cough that George coud bear t no onger. She must, she smpy
must, get up and go down to hm. 'I sha brng hm nto the house for a tte whe and rub
hs chest wth some of that stuff Mother uses for hersef when she's got a cod on her chest,'
thought the gr. 'Perhaps that w do hm good.'
She qucky put a few cothes on and crept downstars. The whoe house was quet. She
spped out nto the yard and undd Tm's chan. He was deghted to see her and cked her
hands and face ovngy.
'Come aong nto the warm for a tte whe,' whspered the tte gr. T rub your poor chest
wth some o I've got.'

Tmmy pattered behnd her nto the house. She took hm to the ktchen - but the fre was out
and the room was cod. George went to ook at the other rooms.
There was qute a nce fre st n her father's study.
f She and Tm went n there. She dd not put on the ght,
because the freght was fary brght. She had wth her the tte botte of o from the
bathroom cupboard. She put t down by the fre to warm.
Then she rubbed the dog's hary chest wth the o, hopng t woud do hm good. 'Don't
cough now f you can hep t, Tm,' she whspered. 'If you do, someone f may hear you. Le
down here by the fre, darng, and If get nce and warm. Your cod w soon be better.'
Tmothy ay down on the rug. He was gad to be out TI of hs kenne and wth hs beoved
mstress. He put hs
head on her knee. She stroked hm and whspered to hm.
The freght gnted on the curous nstruments and |f gass tubes that stood around on
sheves n her father's | study. A og shfted a tte n the fre and setted ower,
sendng up a coud of sparks. It was warm and peacefu there.

The tte gr amost fe aseep. The bg dog cosed hs eyes too, and rested peacefuy,
happy and warm.
George setted down wth her head on hs neck. She awoke to hear the study cock strkng
sx! The room was cod now, and she shvered. Goodness! Sx o'cock! |oanna the cook woud
soon be awake. She must not fnd Tmmy and George n the study!
'Tm darng! Wake up! We must put you back nto your kenne,' whspered George. 'Im sure
your cod s better, because you haven't coughed once snce you've been ndoors. Get up -
and don't make a nose. Sh!' Tm stood up and shook hmsef. He cked George's hand. He
understood perfecty that he must be qute
quet. The two of them spped out of the study, went nto the ha and out of the front door.
In a mnute or two Tmothy was on the chan, and n hs kenne, cudded down among the
straw. George wshed she coud cudde there wth hm. She gave hm a pat and spped back
ndoors agan.
She went up to bed, seepy and cod. She forgot that she was party dressed and got nto
bed |ust as she was. She was aseep n a moment!
In the mornng Anne was most amazed to fnd that George had on vest, knckers, skrt and
|ersey, when she got out of bed to dress.
'Look!' she sad. 'You're haf-dressed! But I saw you undressng ast nght.'
'Be quet,' sad George. 'I went down and et Tm n ast nght. We sat n front of the study
fre and I rubbed hm wth o. Now don't you dare to say a word to anyone! Promse!'

Anne promsed - and she fathfuy kept her word. We, we - to thnk that George dared to
roam about ke that a nght - what an extraordnary gr she was!



Chapter Eleven

STOLEN PAPERS

'GEORGE, don't behave fercey today, w you?' sad |uan, after breakfast. 'It won't do you
or Tmothy aay good at a.'
'Do you suppose I'm gong to behave we when I know perfecty we that Mr. Roand w
never et me have Tm ndoors a these hodays ?' sad George.
'We - they sad a week,' sad Dck. 'Can't you try for a week ?'
'No. At the end of a week Mr. Roand w say I must try for another week,' sad George. 'He's
got a rea dske for poor Tm. And for me too. I'm not surprsed at that, because I know that
when I try to be horrd, I reay am horrd. But he shoudn't hate poor Tmmy.'
'Oh George - you' spo the whoe hos f you are sy, and keep gettng nto troube,' sad
Anne.
'We, I' spo them then,' sad George, the suky ook comng back on her face.
'I don't see why you have to spo them for us, as we as for yoursef,' sad |uan.
'They don't need to be spot for you,' sad George. 'You can have a the fun you want - go
for waks wth your dear Mr. Roand, pay games wth hm n the evenng, and augh and tak
as much as you ke. You don't need to take any notce of me.'
'You are a funny gr, George,' sad |uan, wth a 112
sgh. 'We ke you, and we hate you to be unhappy - so how can we have fun f we know
you are mserabe - and Tmmy too ?'
'Don't worry about me' sad George, n rather a choky voce. Tm gong out to Tm. I'm not
cornng n to essons today.'
'George! But you must!' sad Dck and |uan together.
'There's no "Must" about t,' sad George. Tm |ust not comng. I won't work wth Mr. Roand
t he says I can have Tmothy ndoors agan.'
'But you know you can't do thngs ke that - you' be spanked or somethng,' sad Dck.
'I sha run away f thngs get too bad,' sad George, n a shaky voce. 'I sha run away wth
Tm.'
She went out of the room and shut the door wth a bang. The others stared after her. What
coud you do wth a person ke George ? Anyone coud rue her wth kndness and

understandng - but as soon as she came up aganst anyone who dsked her, or whom she
dsked, she shed away ke a frghtened horse - and kcked ke a frghtened horse, too!
Mr. Roand came nto the sttng-room, hs books n hs hand. He smed at the three chdren.
'We? A ready for me, I see. Where's George?'
Nobody answered. Nobody was gong to gve George away!
'Don't you know where she s?' asked Mr. Roand n surprse. He ooked at |uan.
'No, sr,' sad |uan, truthfuy. 'I've no dea where she s.'
'We - perhaps she w come aong n a few mnutes,' sad Mr. Roand. 'Gone to feed that
dog of hers, I suppose.'
They a setted down to work. The tme went on and George dd not come n. Mr. Roand
ganced at the cock and made an mpatent cckng nose wth hs tongue.
'Reay, t's too bad of George to be so ate! Anne, go and see f you can fnd her.'
Anne went. She ooked n the bedroom. There was no George there. She ooked n the
ktchen. |oanna was there, makng cakes. She gave the tte gr a hot pece to eat. She had
no dea where George was.
Anne coudn't fnd her anywhere. She went back and tod Mr. Roand. He ooked angry.
'I sha have to report ths to her father,' he sad. 'I have never had to dea wth such a
rebeous chd before. She seems to do everythng she possby can to get hersef nto
troube.'
Lessons went on. Break came, and st George dd not appear. |uan spped out and saw
that the yard-kenne was empty. So George had gone out wth Tmmy! What a row she
woud get nto when she got back!
No sooner had the chdren setted down after Break to do the rest of the mornng's essons,
than a bg dsturbance came.
Unce Ouentn burst nto the room, ookng upset and worred.
'Have any of you chdren been nto my study?' he asked.
'No, Unce Ouentn,' they a answered.
'You sad we weren't to,' sad |uan.
'Why, sr? Has somethng been broken?' asked Mr. Roand.
'Yes - the test-tubes I set yesterday for an experment have been broken - and what s
worse, three most mportant pages of my book have gone,' sad Unce Ouentn. 'I can wrte
them out agan, but ony after a great dea of work. I can't understand t. Are you sure,
chdren, that none of you has been meddng wth thngs n my study?'
'Oute sure,' they answered. Anne went very red -she suddeny remembered what George
had tod her. George sad she had taken Tmmy nto Unce Ouentn's study ast nght, and
rubbed hs chest wth o! But George coudn't possby have broken the test-tubes, and
taken pages from her father's book!

Mr. Roand notced that Anne had gone red.

'Do you know anythng about ths, Anne ?' he asked.
'No, Mr. Roand,' sad Anne, bushng even redder, and ookng very uncomfortabe ndeed.
'Where's George ?' suddeny sad Unce Ouentn.
The chdren sad nothng, and t was Mr. Roand who answered:
'We don't know. She ddn't come to essons ths mornng.'
'Ddn't come to essons! Why not?' demanded Unce Ouentn, begnnng to frown.
'She ddn't say,' sad Mr. Roand dryy. 'I magne she was upset because we were frm about
Tmothy ast nght, sr - and ths s her way of beng defant.'
'The naughty gr!' sad George's father, angry. 'I
don't know what's come over her atey. Fanny! Come here! Dd you know that George
hasn't been n to her essons today ?'
Aunt Fanny came nto the room. She ooked very worred. She hed a tte botte n her hand.
The chdren wondered what t was.
'Ddn't come n to essons!' repeated Aunt Fanny. 'How extraordnary! Then whee s she ?'
'I don't thnk you need to worry about her,' sad Mr. Roand, smoothy. 'She's probaby gone
off wth Tmothy n a ft of temper. What s very much more mportant, sr, s the fact that
your work appears to have been spot by someone. I ony hope t s not George, who has
been sptefu enough to pay you out for not aowng her to have her dog n the house.'
'Of course t wasn't George!' cred Dck, angry that anyone shoud even thnk such a thng of
hs cousn.
'George woud never, never do a thng ke that,' sad |uan.
'No, she never woud,' sad Anne, stckng up vaanty for her cousn, athough a horrd doubt
was n her mnd. After a - George had been n the study ast nght!
'Ouentn, I am sne George woud not even thnk of such a thng,' sad Aunt Fanny. 'You w
fnd those pages somewhere - and as for the test-tubes that were broken, we, perhaps the
wnd bew the curtan aganst them, or somethng! When dd you ast see those pages?'
'Last nght,' sad Unce Ouentn. 'I read them over agan, and checked my fgures to make
sure they were
rght. These pages contan the very heart of my formua! If they got nto anyone ese's
hands, they coud use my secret. Ths s a terrbe thng for me! I must know what has
happened to them.'
'I found ths n your study, Ouentn,' sad Aunt Fanny, and she hed up the tte botte she
carred. 'Dd you put t there ? It was n the fender.'
Unce Ouentn took the botte and stared at t. 'Camphorated o!' he sad. 'Of course I ddn't
take t there. Why shoud I?'

'We - who took t there, then?' asked Aunt Fanny, puzzed. 'None of the chdren has a cod -
and anyway, they woudn't thnk of the camphorated o, and take t nto the study to use!
It's most extraordnary!'
Everyone was astonshed. Why shoud a botte of camphorated o appear n the study
fender ?
Ony one person coud thnk why. It suddeny came nto Anne's mnd n a fash. George had
sad she had taken Tmmy nto the study, and rubbed hm wth o! He had had a cough, that
was why. And she had eft the o n the study. Oh dear, oh dear - now what woud happen?
What a pty George had forgotten the o!
Anne went very red agan as she ooked at the o. Mr. Roand, whose eyes seemed very
sharp ths mornng, ooked hard at the tte gr.
'Anne! You know somethng about that o!' he sad suddeny. 'What do you know? Dd you
put t there?'
'No,' sad Anne. 'I haven't been nto the study. I sad I hadn't.'
'Do you know anythng about the o?' sad Mr. Roand, agan. 'You do know somethng.'
Everyone stared at Anne. She stared back. Ths was smpy dreadfu. She coud not gve
George away. She coud not. George was n qute enough troube as t was,
wthout gettng nto any more. She pursed up her tte mouth and dd not answer.
'Anne!' sad Mr. Roand, sterny. 'Answer when you are spoken to.'
Anne sad nothng. The two boys stared at her,guessng that t was somethng to do wth
George. They dd not know that George had brought Tmothy n the
nght before.
'Anne, dear,' sad her aunt, genty. 'Te us f you know somethng. It mght hep us to fnd
out what has happened to Unce Ouentn's papers. It s very, very, mportant.'
St Anne sad nothng. Her eyes fed wth tears. |uan squeezed her arm.
'Don't bother Anne,' he sad to the grown-ups. 'If she thnks she can't te you, she's got
some very good reason.'
'I thnk she's shedng George,' sad Mr. Roand. 'Is that t, Anne?'
Anne burst nto tears. |uan put hs arms round hs tte sster, and spoke agan to the three
grown-ups.
'Don't bother Anne! Can't you see she's upset ?'
'We' et George speak for hersef, when she thnks w come n,' sad Mr. Roand. 'I'm sure
she knows how that botte got there - and f she put t there hersef must have been nto the
study - and she's the ony person that has been there.'
The boys coud not thnk for one moment that George woud do such a thng as spo her
father's work. Anne feared t, and t upset her. She sobbed n |uan's ams.

'When George comes n, send her to me n my study,' sad Unce Ouentn, rrtaby. 'How can
a man work when these upsets go on? I was aways aganst havng chdren n the house.' ,
He stamped out, ta, cross and frownng. The chdren were gad to see hm go. Mr. Roand
shut the books on the tabe wth a snap.
'We can't do any more essons ths mornng,' he sad. Tut on your thngs and go out for a
wak t dnner-tme.'
'Yes, do,' sad Aunt Fanny, ookng whte and wo-red. 'That's a good dea.'
Mr. Roand and ther aunt went out of the room. 'I don't know f Mr. Roand thnks he's
comng out wth us,' sad |uan, n a ow voce, 'but we've got to get out frst and gve hm
the sp. We've got to fnd George and warn her what's up.'
'Rght!' sad Dck. 'Dry your eyes, Anne darng. Hurry and get your thngs. We' sp out of
the garden door before Mr. Roand comes down. I bet George has gone for her favourte
wak over the cffs. We' meet her!' The three chdren threw on ther outdoor thngs and
crept out of the garden door quety. They raced down the garden path, and out of the gate
before Mr. Roand even knew they were gone! They made ther way to the cffs, and ooked
to see f George was comng.
'There she s - and Tmothy, too!' cred |uan, pontng. 'George! George! Ouck, we've got
somethng to te you!'















Chapter Twelve

GEORGE lN TROUBLE

'WHAT'S the matter ?' asked George, as the three chdren tore up to her. 'Has somethng
happened ?'
'Yes, George. Someone has taken three most mportant pages out of your father's book!'
panted |uan. 'And broken the test-tubes he was makng an experment wth. Mr. Roand
thnks you mght have had somethng to do wth t!'
'The beast!' sad George, her bue eyes deepenng wth anger. 'As f I'd do a thng ke that!
Why shoud he thnk t's me, anyway ?'
'We, George, you eft that botte of o n the study fender,' sad Anne. 'I haven't tod anyone
at a what you tod me happened ast nght - but somehow Mr. Roand guessed you had
somethng to do wth the botte of o.'
'Ddn't you te the boys how I got Tmmy ndoors ?' asked George. 'We, there's nothng
much to te, |uan, I |ust heard poor od Tm coughng n the nght, and I haf-dressed, went
down, and took hm nto the study, where there was a fre. Mother keeps a botte of o that
she used to rub her chest wfth when she has a cough -so I thought t mght do Tmmy's cod
good, too. I got the o and rubbed hm we - and we both fe aseep by the fre t sx
o'cock. I was seepy when I woke up, and forgot the o. That's a.'
'And you ddn't take any pages from the book Unce Ouentn s wrtng, and you ddn't break
anythng n the study, dd you ?' sad Anne.
'Of course not, sy,' sad George, ndgnanty. 'How can you ask me a thng ke that? You
must be mad.'
George never tod a e, and the others aways beeved her, whatever she sad. They stared
at her, and she stared back.
'I wonder who coud have taken those pages then?' sad |uan. 'Maybe your father w come
across them, after a. I expect he put them nto some safe pace and then forgot a about
them. And the test-tubes mght easy have over-baanced and broken themseves. Some of
them ook very shaky to me.'
'I suppose I sha get nto troube now for takng Tm nto the study,' sad George.
'And for not comng nto essons ths mornng,' sad Dck. 'You reay are an dot, George. I
never knew anyone ke you for wakng rght nto troube.'
'Hadn't you better stay out a bt onger, t everyone has camed down a bt ?' sad Anne.
'No,' sad George at once. 'If I'm gong to get nto a row, I' get nto t now! I'm not afrad!'
She marched over the cff path, wth Tmmy runnng round her as usua. The others
foowed. It wasn't nce to thnk that George was gong to get nto such troube.
They came to the house and went up the path.
Mr. Roand saw them from the wndow and opened the door. He ganced at George.
'Your father wants to see you n the study,' sad the
tutor. Then he turned to the others, ookng annoyed.

'Why dd you go out wthout me? I meant to go wth you.'

'Oh dd you, sr? I'm sorry,' sad |uan, potey, not ookng at Mr. Roand. 'We |ust went out
on the cff a tte way.'
'Georgna, dd you go nto the study ast nght?' asked Mr. Roand, watchng George as she
took off her hat and coat.
T answer my father's questons, not yours,' sad George.
'What you want s a good spankng,' sad Mr. Roand. 'And f I were your father I'd gve t to
you!'
'You're not my father,' answered George. She went to the study door and opened t. There
was no one there.
'Father sn't here,' sad George.
'He' be there n a mnute,' sad Mr. Roand. 'Go n and wat. And you others, go up and wash
for unch.'
The other three chdren fet amost as f they were desertng George as they went up the
stars. They coud hear Tmmy whnng from the yard outsde. He knew hs tte mstress was
n troube, and he wanted to be wth her.
George sat down on a char, and gazed at the fre, rememberng how she had sat on the rug
there wth Tm ast nght, rubbng hs hary chest. How sy of her to have forgotten the
botte of o!
Her father came nto the room, frownng and angry. He ooked sterny at George.
'Were you n here ast nght, George ?' he asked.
'Yes, I was,' answered George at once.
'What were you dong n here?' asked her father. 'You know you chdren are forbdden to
come nto my study.'
'I know,' sad George. 'But you see Tmmy had a dreadfu cough, and I coudn't bear t. So I
crept down about one o'cock and et hm n. Ths was the ony room that was reay warm,
so I sat here and rubbed hs chest wth the o Mother uses when she has a cod.'
'Rubbed the dog's chest wth camphorated o!' excamed her father, n amazement. 'What a
mad thng to do! As f t woud do hm any good.'
'It ddn't seem mad to me,' sad George. 'It seemed sensbe. And Tmmy's cough s much
better today. I'm sorry for comng nto the study. I ddn't touch a thng, of course.'
'George, somethng very serous has happened,' sad her father, ookng gravey at her.
'Some of my test-tubes wth whch I was dong an mportant experment, have been broken -
and, worse than that, three pages of my book have gone. Te me on your honour that you
know nothng of these thngs.'
'I know nothng of them,' sad George, ookng her father straght n the eyes. Her own eyes
shone very bue and cear as she gazed at hm. He fet qute certan that George was

speakng the truth. She coud know nothng of the damage done. Then where were those
pages ?
'George, ast nght when I went to bed at eeven o'cock, everythng was n order,' he sad. 'I
read over those three mportant pages and checked them once more mysef. Ths mornng
they are gone.'
'Then they must have been taken between eeven o'cock and one o'cock,' sad George. 'I
was here from that tme unt sx.'
'But who coud have taken them?' sad her father. 'The wndow was fastened, as far as I
know. And nobody knows that those three pages were so mportant but mysef. It s most
extraordnary.'
'Mr. Roand probaby knew,' sad George, sowy.
'Don't be absurd,' sad her father. 'Even f he dd reaze they were mportant, he woud not
have taken them. He's a very decent feow. And that remnds me -why were you not at
essons ths mornng, George ?'
'I'm not gong to do essons any more wth Mr. Roand,' sad George. 'I smpy hate hm!'
'George! I w not have you takng ke ths!' sad her father. 'Do you want me to say you are
to ose Tm atogether?'
'No,' sad George, feeng shaky about the knees. 'And I don't thnk t's far to keep tryng to
force me to do thngs by threatenng me wth osng Tmothy. If - f -you do a thng ke that -
I' - I' run away or somethng!'
There were no tears n George's eyes. She sat bot uprght on her char, gazng defanty at
her father. How dffcut she was! Her father sghed, and remembered that he too n hs own
chdhood had been caed 'dffcut'. Perhaps George took after hm. She coud be so good
and sweet - and here she was beng perfecty mpossbe!
Her father dd not know what to do wth George. He thought he had better have a word wth
hs wfe. He got up and went to the door.
'Stay here. I sha be back n a moment. I want to speak to your mother about you.'
'Don't speak to Mr. Roand about me, w you ?' sad George, who fet qute certan that the
tutor woud urge terrbe punshments for her and Tmmy. 'Oh, Father, f ony Tmothy had
been n the house ast nght, seepng n my room as usua, he woud have heard whoever t
was that stoe your secret - and he woud have barked and roused the house!'
Her father sad nothng, but he knew that what George had sad was true. Tmmy woudn't
have et anyone get nto the study. It was funny he hadn't barked n the nght, f anyone
from outsde had cmbed n at the study wndow. St, t was the other sde of the house.
Maybe he had heard nothng.

The door cosed. George sat st on her char, gazng up at the mantepece, where a cock
tcked away the tme. She fet very mserabe. Everythng was gong wrong, every snge
thng!
As she gazed at the paneed overmante, she counted the wooden panes. There were eght.
Now, where had she heard of eght panes before? Of course - n that Secret Way. There
were eght panes marked on the ro of nen. What a pty there had not been eght panes n
a wooden over-mante at Krrn Farm-house!
George ganced out of the wndow, and wondered f t faced ast. She ooked to see where
the sun was - t was not shnng nto the room - but t dd n the eary mornng - so t must
face east. Fancy - her-e was a room facng east and wth eght wooden panes. She
wondered f t had a stone foor.
The foor was covered wth a arge thck carpet. George got up and went to the wa. She
pued up the edge of the carpet there - and saw that the foor underneath was made of
arge fat stones. The study had a stone foor too!
She sat down agan and gazed at the wooden panes, tryng to remember whch one n the
ro of nen was marked wth a cross. But of course t coudn't be a room n Krrn Cottage - t
must be n Krrn Farm-house where the Secret Way began.
But |ust suppose t was Krrn Cottage! Certany the drectons had been found n Krrn
Farm-house - but that was not to say that the Secret Way had to begn there, even though
Mrs. Sanders seemed to thnk t dd.
George was feeng excted. 'I must tap round about those eght panes and try to fnd the
one that s marked on the nen ro,' she thought. 'It may sde back or somethng, and I sha
suddeny see the entrance openng!'
She got up to try her uck - but at that moment the door opened agan and her father came
n. He ooked very grave.
'I have been takng to your mother,' he sad. 'She agrees wth me that you have been very
dsobedent, rude and defant. We can't et behavour ke that pass, George. You w have to
be punshed.'
George ooked anxousy at her father. If ony her punshment had nothng to do wth
Tmothy! But, of course, t had.
'You w go to bed for the rest of the day, and you w not see Tmothy for three days,' sad
her father. 'I w get |uan to feed hm and take hm for a wak. If you persst n beng
defant, Tmothy w have to go away
atogether. I am afrad, queer as t may seem, that tha, dog has a bad nfuence on you.'
'He hasn't, he hasn't!' cred George. 'Oh, he' be so mserabe f I don't see hm for three
whoe days.'

'There's nothng more to be sad,' sad her father. 'Go straght upstars to bed, and thnk over
a I have sad to you, George. I am very dsapponted n your behavour these hodays. I
reay dd thnk the nfuence of your three cousns had made you nto a norma, sensbe gr.
Now you are worse than you have ever been.'
He hed open the door and George waked out, hodng her head hgh. She heard the others
havng ther dnner n the dnng-room. She went straght upstars and undressed. She got
nto bed and thought mseraby of not seeng Tm for three days. She coudn't bear t!
Nobody coud possby know how much she oved Tmothy!
|oanna came up wth a tray of dnner. 'We, Mss, t's a pty to see you n bed,' she sad
cheerfuy. 'Now you be a sensbe gr and behave propery and you' soon be downstars
agan.'
George pcked at her dnner. She dd not fee at a hungry. She ay back on the bed, thnkng
of Tm and thnkng of the eght panes over the mantepece. Coud they possby be the
ones shown n the Secret Way drectons? She gazed out of the wndow and thought hard.
'Goy, t's snowng!' she sad suddeny, sttng up. T thought t woud when I saw that eaden
sky ths mornng. It's snowng hard! It w be qute thck by tonght - nches deep. Oh, poor
Tmothy. I hope |uan w see that hs kenne s kept cear of the drftng snow.'
George had penty of tme to thnk as she ay n bed.
|oanna came and took the tray away. No one ese came to see her. George fet sure the
other chdren had been forbdden to go up and speak to her. She fet oney and eft-out.
She thought of her father's ost pages. Coud Mr. Roand have taken them? After a, he was
very nterested n her father's work and seemed to understand t. The thef must have been
someone who knew whch were the mportant pages. Surey Tmothy woud have barked f a
thef had come n from outsde, even though the study was the other sde of the house.
Tmmy had such sharp ears.
'I thnk t must have been someone msde the house,' sad George. 'None of us chdren,
that's certan - and not Mother or |oanna. So that ony eaves Mr. Roand. And I dd fnd hm
n the study that other nght when Tmmy woke me by growng.'
She sat up n bed suddeny. 'I beeve Mr. Roand had Tmothy put out of the house because
he wanted to go pokng round the study agan and was afrad Tm woud bark!' she thought.
'He was so very nsstent that Tm shoud go out of doors - even when everyone ese begged
for me to have hm ndoors. I beeve -1 reay do beeve - that Mr. Roand s the thef!'
The tte gr fet very excted. Coud t be that the tutor had stoen the pages - and broken
those mportant test-tubes? How she wshed that the others woud come and see her, so
that she coud tak thngs over wth them!

Chapter Thirteen

]ULlAN HAS A SURPRlSE

THE three chdren downstars fet very sorry for George. Unce Ouentn had forbdden them
to go up and see her.
'A tte tme for thnkng out thngs a aone may do George good,' he sad.
'Poor od George,' sad |uan. 'It's too bad, sn't t? I say - ook at the snow!'
The snow was fang very thcky. |uan went to the wndow and ooked out. 'I sha have to
go and see that Tmmy's kenne s a rght,' he sad. 'We don't want the poor od feow to be
snowed up! I expect he s wonderng what the snow s!'
Tmothy was certany very puzzed to see everywhere covered wth soft whte stuff. He sat
n hs kenne and stared out at the fang fakes, hs bg brown eyes foowng them as they
fe to the ground. He was puzzed and unhappy. Why was he vng out here by hmsef n
the cod? Why ddn't George come to hm? Ddn't she ove hm any more? The bg dog was
very mserabe, as mserabe as George!
He was deghted to see |uan. He |umped up at the boy and cked hs face. 'Good od Tm!'
sad |uan. 'Are you a rght? Let me sweep away some of ths snow and swng your kenne
round a bt so that no fakes fy nsde. There - that's better. No, we're not gong for a wak,
od thng - not now.'
The boy patted the dog and fussed hm a bt, then went ndoors. The others met hm at the
sttng-room door.
'|uan! Mr. Roand s gong out for a wak by hmsef. Aunt Fanny s yng down, and Unce
Ouentn s n hs study. Can't we go up and see George ?'
'We were forbdden to,' sad |uan, doubtfuy.

T know,' sad Dck. 'But I don't mnd rskng t for the sake of makng George fee a bt
happer. It must be so awfu for her, yng up there a aone, knowng she can't see Tm for
days.'
'We - et me go up, as I'm the edest,' sad |uan. 'You two stay down here n the sttng-
room and tak. Then Unce Ouentn w thnk we're a here. I' sp up and see George for a
few mnutes.'
'A rght,' sad Dck. 'Gve her our ove and te her we' ook after Tmmy.'
|uan spped quety up the stars. He opened George's door and crept nsde. He shut the
door, and saw George sttng up n bed, ookng at hm n deght.
'Sh!' sad |uan. 'I'm not supposed to be here!'
'Oh |uan!' sad George |oyfuy. 'How good of you to come. I was so oney. Come ths sde of
the bed. Then f anyone comes n suddeny, you can duck down and hde.'
|uan went to the other sde of the bed. George began to pour out to hm a she had been
thnkng of.
'I beeve Mr. Roand s the thef, I reay do!' she sad. 'I'm not sayng that because I hate
hm, |uan, reay I'm not. After a, I dd fnd hm snoopng round the study one afternoon -
and agan n the mdde of the nght. He may have got to hear of my father's work, and come
to see f he coud stea t. It was |ust ucky for hm that we needed a tutor. I'm sure he stoe
those pages, and I'm sure he wanted Tmmy out of the house so that he coud do hs
steang wthout Tm hearng hm and growng.'
'Oh, George - I don't thnk so,' sad |uan, who reay coud not approve of the dea of the
tutor dong such a thng. 'It a sounds so far-fetched and unbeevabe.'
'Lot's of unbeevabe thngs happen,' sad George. 'Lots. And ths s one of them.'
'We, f Mr. Roand dd stea the pages, they must be somewhere n the house,' sad |uan.
'He hasn't been out a day. They must be somewhere n hs bedroom.'
'Of course!' sad George, ookng thred. T wsh he'd go out! Then I'd search hs room.'
'George, you can't do thngs ke that,' sad |uan, qute shocked.
'You smpy don't know what thngs I can do, f I reay want to,' sad George, settng her
mouth n a frm ne. 'Oh - what's that nose ?'
There was the bang of a door. |uan went cautousy to the wndow and peeped out. The
snow had stopped fang for a tme, and Mr. Roand had taken the chance of gong out.
'It's Mr. Roand,' sad |uan.
'Oooh - I coud search hs room now, f you' keep watch at the wndow and te me f he
comes back,' sad George, throwng back the bedcothes at once.
'No, George, don't,' sad |uan. 'Honesty and truy, t's awfu to search somebody's room ke
that. And

anyway, I dare say he's got the pages wth hm. He may even be gong to gve them to
somebody!'
'I never thought of that,' sad George, and she ooked at |uan wth wde eyes. 'Isn't that
sckenng ? Of course he may be dong that. He knows those two artsts at Krrn Farm-
house, for nstance. They may be n the pot too.'
'Oh, George, don't be sy,' sad |uan. 'You are makng a mountan out of a moe-h, takng
of pots and goodness knows what! Anyone woud thnk we were n the mdde of a bg
adventure.'
'We, I thnk we are,' sad George, unexpectedy, and she ooked rather soemn. 'I sort of
fee t a round me -a Bg Adventure!'
|uan stared at hs cousn thoughtfuy. Coud there possby be anythng n what she sad ?
'|uan, w you do somethng for me?' sad George.
'Of course,' sad the boy, at once.
'Go out and foow Mr. Roand,' sad George. 'Don't et hm see you. There's a whte
mackntosh coak n the ha cupboard. Put t on and you won't be easy seen aganst the
snow. Foow hm and see f he meets anyone and gves them anythng that ooks ke the
pages of my father's book - you know those bg pages he wrtes on. They're very arge.'
'A rght,' sad |uan. 'But f I do, promse you won't go and search hs room. You can't do
thngs ke that, George.'
'I can,' sad George. 'But I won't, f you' |ust foow Mr. Roand for me. I'm sure he's gong to
hand over what he has stoen to others who are n the pot! And
I bet those others w be the two artsts at Krrn Farmhouse that he pretended not to know!'
'You' fnd you're qute wrong,' sad |uan, gong to the door. 'I'm sure I shan't be abe to
foow Mr. Roand, anyway - he's been gone fve mnutes now!'
'Yes, you w, sy - he' have eft hs footmarks n the snow,' sad George. 'And oh, |uan - I
qute forgot ta te you somethng ese exctng. Oh dear, there sn't tme now. I' te you
when you come back, f you can come up agan then. It's about the Secret Way.'
'Reay?' sad |uan, n deght. It had been a great dsappontment to hm that a ther
huntng and searchng had come to nothng. 'A rght - I' try and creep up agan ater. If I
don't come, you' know I can't, and you must wat t bed-tme.'
He dsappeared and shut the door quety. He spped downstars, popped hs head nto the
sttng-room and whspered to the others that he was gong out after the tutor.
'Te you why, ater,' he sad. He put the whte mac--kntosh coak around hm and went out
nto the garden. Snow was begnnng to fa agan, but not yet heavy enough to hde Mr.
Roand's deep footsteps. He had had bg Wengton boots on, and the footmarks showed up
we n the sx-nch-deep snow.

The boy foowed them qucky. The countrysde was | very wntry-ookng now. The sky was
ow and eaden, and he coud see there was much more snow to come. He hurred on after
Mr. Roand, though he coud not see ; a sgn of the tutor.
Down the ane, and over the path that ed across
the common went the doube row of footmarks. |uan stumbed on, hs eyes gued to the
foot-prnts. Suddeny he heard the sound of voces and stopped. A bg gorse bush ay to the
rght and the voces came from there. The boy went nearer to the bush. He heard hs tutor's
voce, takng n ow tones. He coud not hear a word that was sad.
'Whoever can he be takng to?' he wondered. He crept up coser to the bush. There was a
hoow space nsde. |uan thought he coud creep rght nto t, though t woud be very
prcky, and peer out of the other sde. Carefuy the boy crept nto the prcky hoow, where
the branches were bare and brown.
He parted the prcky branches sowy and cautousy -and to hs amazement he saw Mr.
Roand takng to the two artsts from Krrn Farm-house - Mr. Thomas and Mr. Wton! So
George was rght. The tutor had met them - and, as |uan watched, Mr. Roand handed over
to Mr. Thomas a doubed up sheaf of papers.
'They ook |ust ke pages from Unce Ouentn's book,' sad |uan to hmsef. 'I say - ths s
mghty queer. It does begn to ook ke a pot - wth Mr. Roand as the centre of t!'
Mr. Thomas put the papers nto the pocket of hs overcoat. The men muttered a few more
words, whch even |uan's sharp ears coud not catch, and then parted. The artsts went off
towards Krrn Farm-house, and Mr. Roand took the path back over the common. |uan
crouched down n the hoow of the prcky gorse bush, hopng the tutor woud not turn and
see hm. Lucky he ddn't. He went straght on and dsappeared nto
the snow, whch was now fang thcky. It was aso begnnng to get dark and |uan, unabe
to see the path very ceary, hurred after Mr. Roand, haf-afrad of beng ost n the snow-
storm.
Mr. Roand was not anxous to be out onger than he coud hep, ether. He amost ran back
to Krrn Cottage. He came to the gate at ast, and |uan watched hm go nto the house. He
gave hm a tte tme to take off hs thngs and then, gvng Tmothy a pat as he went by, he
went to the garden door. He took off hs mackntosh coak, changed hs boots, and spped
nto the sttng-room before Mr. Roand had come down from hs bedroom.
'What's happened?' asked Dck and Anne, seeng that |uan was n a great state of
exctement. But he coud not te them, for at that moment |oanna came n to ay the tea.
Much to |uan's dsappontment, he coud not say a word to the others a that evenng,
because one or other of the grown-ups was aways n the room. Nether coud he go up to
see George. He coud hardy wat to te hs news, but t was no good, he had to.
'Is t st snowng, Aunt Fanny ?' asked Anne.

Her aunt went to the front door and ooked out. The snow was ped hgh aganst the step!
'Yes,' she sad, when she came back. 'It s snowng fast and thcky. If t goes on ke ths we
sha be competey snowed up, as we were two wnters ago! We coudn't get out of the
house for fve days then. The mkman coudn't get to us, nor the baker. Fortunatey we had
penty of tnned mk, and I can bake my-own
bread. Poor chdren - you w not be abe to go out tomorrow - the snow w be too thck!'
'W Krrn Farm-house be snowed up too?' asked Mr. Roand.
'Oh yes - worse than we sha be,' sad Aunt Fanny. 'But they won't mnd! They have penty
of food there. They w be prsoners |ust as much, and more, as we sha.'
|uan wondered why Mr. Roand had asked that queston. Was he afrad that hs frends
woud not be abe to send those pages away by the post - or take them anywhere by bus or
car? The boy fet certan ths was the reason for the queston. How he onged to be abe to
tak over everythng wth the others.
'I'm tred!' he sad, about eght o'cock. 'Let's go to bed.'
Dck and Anne stared at hm n astonshment. Usuay, as he was the edest, he went to bed
ast of a. Tonght he was actuay askng to go! |uan wnked qucky at them, and they
backed hm up at once.
Dck yawned wdey, and so dd Anne. Ther aunt put down the sewng she was dong. 'You
do sound tred!' she sad. 'I thnk you'd better a go to bed.'
'Coud I |ust go out and see f Tmmy s a rght?' I asked |uan. Hs aunt nodded. The boy
put on hs rubber boots and coat, and spped out through the garden door nto the yard. It
was very deep n snow, too. Tm's kenne was haf-hdden n t. The dog had tramped a |
space n front of the kenne door, and stood there, ookng for |uan as he came out of the
house.
'Poor od boy, out here n the snow a aone,' sad
|uan. He patted the dog, and Tmmy whned. He was askng to go back wth the boy. *
'I wsh I coud take you back wth me,' sad |uan. 'Never mnd, Tmothy. I' come and see
you tomorrow.'
He went ndoors agan. The chdren sad good nght to ther aunt and Mr. Roand, and went
upstars.
'Undress qucky, put on dressng-gowns and meet n George's room,' whspered |uan to the
others. 'Don't make a sound or we' have Aunt Fanny up. Ouck now!'
In ess than three mnutes the chdren were undressed, and were sttng on George's bed.
She was very peased to see them. Anne spped nto bed wth her, because her feet were
cod.
'|uan! Dd you foow Mr. Roand a rght?' whspered George. *
'Why dd he foow hm ?' asked Dck, who had been dyng to know.

|uan tod them everythng as qucky as he coud -a that George suspected - and how he
had foowed the tutor - and what he had seen. When George heard how |uan had watched
hm gvng a sheaf of papers to the two artsts, her eyes geamed angry.
'The thef! They must have been the ost pages! And to thnk my father has been so frendy
to hm. Oh, what can we do? Those men w get the papers away as qucky as they can, and
the secret Father has been workng on for ages w be used by someone ese - for some
other country, probaby!'
'They can't get the papers away,' sad |uan. 'You've no dea how thck the snow s now,
George. We sha
be prsoners here for a few days, f ths snow goes on, and so w the peope n Krrn Farm-
house. If they want to hde the papers, they w have to hde them n the farmhouse! If ony
we coud get over there and hunt round!' "
'We, we can't,' sad Dck. 'That's qute certan. We'd be up to our necks n snow!'
The four chdren ooked goomy at one another. Dck and Anne coud hardy beeve that
the |oy Mr. Roand was a thef - a spy perhaps, tryng to stea a vauabe secret from a
frendy scentst. And they coudn't stop t.
'We'd better te your father,' sad |uan at ast.
'No,' sad Anne. 'He woudn't beeve t, woud he, George ?'
'He'd augh at us and go straght and te Mr. Roand,' sad George. 'That woud warn hm,
and he mustn't be warned. He mustn't know that we guess anythng.'
'Sh! Aunt Fanny's comng!' whspered Dck, suddeny. The boys spped out of the room and
nto bed. Anne hopped across to her own tte bed. A was peace and quet when the
chdren's aunt came nto the bedroom.
She sad good nght and tucked them up. As soon as she had gone down, the four chdren
met together agan n George's room.
'George, te me now what you were gong to say about the Secret Way,' sad |uan.
'Oh yes,' sad George. 'We, there may be nothng n my dea at a - but n the study
downstars, there are eght wooden panes over the mantepece - and the foor
s of stone - and the room faces east! A bt queer, sn't t ? |ust what the drectons sad.'
'Is there a cupboard there too ?' asked |uan.
'No. But there s everythng ese,' sad George. 'And I was |ust wonderng f by any chance
the entrance to the Secret Way s n ths house, not n the farm-house. After a, they both
beonged to my famy at one tme, you know. The peope vng n the farm-house years ago
must have known a about ths cottage.'
'Goy, George - suppose the entrance was here!' sad Dck. 'Woudn't t be smpy
marveous! Let's go straght down and ook!'

'Don't be sy,' sad |uan. 'Go down to the study when Unce Ouentn s there? I'd rather
meet twenty ons than face Unce! Especay after what has happened!'
'We, we smpy MUST fnd out f George's dea s rght; we smpy must,' sad Dck,
forgettng to whsper.
'Shut up, dot!' sad |uan, gvng hm a punch. 'Do you want to brng the whoe househod
up here ?'
'Sorry!' sad Dck. 'But, oh goy, ths s exctng. It's an Adventure agan.'
'|ust what I sad,' sad George, eagery. 'Lsten, sha we wat t mdnght, and then creep
down to the study when everyone s aseep, and try our uck ? There may be nothng n my
dea at a - but we' have to fnd out now. I don't beeve I coud go to seep t I've tred one
of those panes over the mantepece to see f somethng happens.'
'We, I know I can't seep a wnk ether,' sad Dck. 'Lsten - s that someone comng up?
We'd better go.
Come on, |uan! Meet n George's room at mdnght - and we' creep down and try out
George's dea!'
The two boys went off to ther own room. Nether of them coud seep a wnk. Nor coud
George. She ay awake, and went over and over n her mnd a that had happened those
hodays. 'It's ke a |gsaw puzze,' she thought. 'I coudn't understand a ot of thngs at frst -
but now they are fttng together, and makng a pcture.'
Anne was fast aseep. She had to be awakened at mdnght. 'Come on!' whspered |uan,
shakng her. 'Don't you want to share n ths adventure ?'














Chapter Fourteen

THE SECRET WAY AT LAST!

THE four chdren crept downstars through the dark and sent nght. Nobody made a sound
at a. They made ther way to the study. George softy cosed the door and then swtched on
the ght.
The chdren stared at the eght panes over the mantepece. Yes - there were exacty eght,
four n one row and four n the row above. |uan spread the nen ro out on the tabe, and
the chdren pored over t.
'The cross s n the mdde of the second pane n the top row,' sad |uan, n a ow voce. T
try pressng t. Watch, a of you!'
He went to the frepace. The others foowed hm, ther hearts beatng fast wth exctement.
|uan stood on tptoe and began to press hard n the mdde of the second pane. Nothng
happened.
'Press harder! Tap t!'sad Dck.
'I daren't make too much nose,' sad |uan, feeng a over the pane to see f there was any
roughness that mght te of a hdden sprng or ever.
Suddeny, under hs hands, the pane sd senty back, |ust as the one had done at Krrn
Farm-house n the ha! The chdren stared at the space behnd, thred.
'It's not bg enough to get nto,' sad George. 'It can't be the entrance to the Secret Way.'
|uan got out hs torch from hs dressng-gown pocket. 146
He put t nsde the openng, and gave a ow excamaton.
'There's a sort of hande here - wth strong wre or somethng attached to t. I' pu t and
see what happens.'
He pued - but he was not strong enough to move the hande that seemed to be embedded
n the wa. Dck put hs hand n and the two boys then pued together.
'It's movng - t's gvng way a bt,' panted |uan. 'Go on, Dck, pu hard!'
The hande suddeny came away from the wa, and behnd t came thck wre, rusty and od.
At the same tme a curous gratng nose came from beow the hearthrug n front of the
frepace, and Anne amost fe.
'|uan! Somethng s movng under the rug!' she sad, frghtened. 'I fet t. Under the rug,
quck!'
The hande coud not be pued out any farther. The boys et go, and ooked down. To the
rght of the frepace, under the rug, somethng had moved. There was no doubt of that. The
rug sagged down nstead of beng fat and straght.
'A stone has moved n the foor,' sad |uan, hs voce shakng wth exctement. 'Ths hande
works a ever, whch s attached to ths wre. Ouck - pu up the rug, and ro back the
carpet.'

Wth trembng hands the chdren pued back the rug and the carpet - and then stood
starng at a very strange thng. A bg fat stone ad n the foor had spped downwards,
pued n some manner by the wre attached to the hande hdden behnd the pane! There
was now a back space where the stone had been.
'Look at that!' sad George, n a thrng whsper. 'The entrance to the Secret Way!'
'It's here after a!' sad |uan.
'Let's go down!' sad Dck.
'No!' sad Anne, shverng at the thought of dsappearng nto the back hoe.
|uan fashed hs torch nto the back space. The stone had sd down and then sdeways.
Beow was a space |ust bg enough to take a man, bendng down.
'I expect there's a passage or somethng eadng from here, under the house, and out,' sad
|uan. 'Goy, I wonder where t eads to ?'
'We smpy must fnd out,' sad George.
'Not now,' sad Dck. 'It's dark and cod. I don't fancy gong aong the Secret Way at
mdnght. I don't mnd |ust hoppng down to see what t's ke - but don't et's go aong any
passage t tomorrow.'
'Unce Ouentn w be workng here tomorrow,' sad |uan.
'He sad he was gong to sweep the snow away from the front door n the mornng,' sad
George. 'We coud sp nto the study then. It's Saturday. There may be no essons.'
'A rght,' sad |uan, who bady wanted to expore everythng then and there. 'But for
goodness sake et's have a ook and see f there s a passage down there. At present a we
can see s a hoe!'
T hep you down,' sad Dck. So he gave hs brother a hand and the boy dropped ghty
down nto the back space, hodng hs torch. He gave a oud excamaton.
'It's the entrance to the Secret Way a rght! There's
a passage eadng from here under the house - awfuy ow and narrow - but I can see t's a
passage. I do wonder where t eads to!'
He shvered. It was cod and damp down there. 'Gve me a hand up, Drk,' he sad. He was
soon out of the hoe and n the warm study agan.
The chdren ooked at one another n the greatest |oy and exctement. Ths was an
Adventure, a rea Adventure. It was a pty they coudn't go on wth t now.
'We' try and take Tmmy wth us tomorrow,' sad George. 'Oh, I say - how are we gong to
shut the entrance up ?)
'We can't eave the rug and carpet saggng over that hoe,' sad Dck. 'No can we eave the
pane vopen.'
'We' see f we can get the stone back,' sad |uan. He stood on tptoe and fet about nsde
the pane. Hs hand cosed on a knd of knob, set deep n a stone. He pued t, and at once

the hande sd back, pued by the wre. At the same tme the sunk stone gded to the
surface of the foor agan, makng a sght gratng sound as t dd so.
'We, t's ke magc!' sad Dck. 'It reay s! Fancy the mechansm workng so smoothy after
years of not beng used. Ths s the most exctng thng I've eve seen!'
There was a nose n the bedroom above. The chdren stood st and stened.
'It's Mr. Roand!' whspered Dck. 'He's heard us. Ouck, sp upstars before he comes down.'
They swtched out the ght and opened the study door softy. Up the stars they fed, as
quety as Indans, ther hearts thumpng so oudy that t seemed as f everyone n the house
must hear the beat.
The grs got safey to ther rooms and Dck was abe to sp nto hs. But |uan was seen by
Mr. Roand as he came out of hs room wth a torch.
'What are you dong, |uan?' asked the tutor, n surprse. 'Dd you hear a nose downstars? I
thought I dd.'
'Yes - I heard qute a ot of nose downstars,' sad |uan, truthfuy. 'But perhaps t's snow
fang off the roof, andng wth a pop on the ground, sr. Do you thnk that's t?'
'I don't know,' sad the tutor doubtfuy. 'We' go down and see.'
They went down, but of course, there was nothng to be seen. |uan was gad they had been
abe to shut the pane and make the stone come back to ts proper pace agan. Mr. Roand
was the very ast person he wanted to te hs secret to.
They went upstars and |uan spped nto hs room. 'Is t a rght ?' whspered Dck.
'Yes,' sad |uan. 'Don't et's tak. Mr. Roand's awake, and I don't want hm to suspect
anythng.'
The boys fe aseep. When they awoke n the mornng, there was a competey whte word
outsde. Snow covered everythng and covered t deepy. Tmothy's kenne coud not be
seen! But there were footmarks round about t.
George gave a squea when she saw how deep the
snow was. 'Poor Tmothy! I'm gong to get hm n. I don't care what anyone says! I won't et
hm be bured n the snow!'
She dressed and tore downstars. She went out to the kenne, founderng knee deep n the
snow. But there was no Tmmy there!
A oud bark from the ktchen made her |ump. |oanna the cook knocked on the ktchen
wndow. 'It's a rght! I coudn't bear the dog out there n the snow, so I fetched hm n, poor
thng. Your mother says I can have hm n the ktchen but you're not to come and see hm.'
'Oh, good - Tmmy's n the warmth!' sad George, gady. She yeed to |oanna, 'Thanks
awfuy! You are knd!'

She went ndoors and tod the others. They were very gad. 'And I've got a bt of news for
you' sad Dck. 'Mr. Roand s n bed wth a bad cod, so there are to be no essons today.
Cheers!'
'Goy, that s good news,' sad George, cheerng up tremendousy. 'Tmmy n the warm
ktchen and Mr. Roand kept n bed. I do fee peased!'
'We sha be abe to expore the Secret Way safey now,' sad |uan. 'Aunt Fanny s gong to
do somethng n the ktchen ths mornng wth |oanna, and Unce s gong to tacke the snow.
I vote we say we' do essons by ourseves n the sttng-room, and then, when everythng s
safe, we' expore the Secret Way!'
'But why must we do essons?' asked George n dsmay.
'Because f we don't, sy, we' have to hep your father dg away the snow,' sad |uan.
So, to hs unce's surprse, |uan suggested that the four chdren shoud do essons by
themseves n the sttng-room. 'We, I thought you'd ke to come and hep dg away the
snow,' sad Unce Ouentn. 'But perhaps you had better get on wth your work.'
The chdren sat themseves down as good as god n the sttng-room, ther books before
them. They heard Mr. Roand coughng n hs room. They heard ther aunt go nto the ktchen
and tak to |oanna. They heard Tmmy scratchng at the ktchen door - then paws patterng
down the passage - then a bg, nqurng nose came round the door, and there was od
Tmmy, ookng anxousy for hs beoved mstress!
'Tmmy!' squeaed George, and ran to hm. She fung her arms round hs neck and hugged
hm.
'You act as f you hadn't seen Tm for a year,' sad |uan.
'It seems ke a year,' sad George. 'I say, there's my father dggng away ke mad. Can't we
go to the study now ? We ought to be safe for a good whe.'
They eft the sttng-room and went to the study. |uan was soon pung the hande behnd
the secret pane. George had aready turned back the rug and the carpet. The stone sd
downward and sdeways. The Secret Way was open!
'Come on!' sad |uan. 'Hurry!'
He |umped down tto the hoe. Dck foowed, then Anne, then George. |uan pushed them
a nto the narrow, ow passage. Then he ooked up. Perhaps he had better pu the carpet
and rug over the hoe, n case anyone came nto the room and ooked around. It took
hm a few seconds to do t. Then he bent down and |oned the others n the passage. They
were gong to expore the Secret Way at ast!

Chapter Fifteen

AN EXClTlNG ]OURNEY AND HUNT

TIMOTHY had eapt down nto the hoe when George had |umped. He now ran ahead of the
chdren, puzzed at ther wantng to expore such a cod, dark pace. Both |uan and Dck
had torches, whch threw broad beams before them.
There was not much to be seen. The Secret Way under the od house was narrow and ow,
so that the chdren were forced to go n snge fe, and to stoop amost doube. It was a

great reef to them when the passage became a tte wder, and the room a tte hgher. It
was very trng to stoop a the tme. v
'Have you any dea where the Secret Way s gong?' Dck asked |uan. 'I mean - s t gong
towards the sea, or away from t ?'
'Oh, not towards the sea!' sad |uan, who had a very good sense of drecton. 'As far as I can
make out the passage s gong towards the common. Look at the was - they are rather
sandy n paces, and we know the common has sandy so. I hope we shan't fnd that the
passage has faen n anywhere.'
They went on and on. The Secret Way was very straght, though occasonay t wound round
a rocky part n a curve.
'Isn't t dark and cod,' sad Anne, shverng. 'I wsh I had put on a coat. How many mes
have we come, |uan ?'
'Not even one, sy!' sad |uan. 'Hao - ook here -the passage has faen n a bt the e!'
Two brght torches shone n front of them and the chdren saw that the sandy roof had
faen n. |uan kcked at the pe of sandy so wth hs foot.
'It's a rght,' he sad. 'We can force our way through easy. It sn't much of a fa, and t's
mosty sand. I' do a bt of kckng!'
After some trampng and kckng, the roof-fa no onger bocked the way. There was now
enough room for the chdren to cmb over t, bendng ther heads ow to avod knockng
them aganst the top of the passage. |uan shone hs torch forward, and saw that the way
was cear.
'The Secret Way s very wde |ust here!' he sad suddeny, and fashed hs torch around to
show the others.
'It's been wdened out to make a sort of tte room,' sad George. 'Look, there's a knd of
bench at the back, made out of the rock. I beeve t's a restng-pace.'
George was rght. It was very trng to creep aong the narrow passage for so ong. The tte
wde pace wth ts rocky bench, made a very good restng-pace. The four tred chdren,
cod but excted, hudded together on the queer seat and took a wecome rest. Tmmy put
hs head on George's knee. He was deghted to be wth her agan.
'We, come on,' sad |uan, after a few mnutes. 'I'm gettng awfuy cod. I do wonder where
ths passage comes out!'
'|uan - do you thnk t coud come out at Krrn Farm-house?' asked George, suddeny. 'You
know what Mrs. Sanders sad - that there was a secret passage eadng from the Farm-house
somewhere. We, ths may be the one - and t eads to Krrn Cottage!'
'George, I beeve you're rght!' sad |uan. 'Yes -the two houses beonged to your famy
years ago! And n the od days there were often secret passages |onng houses, so t's qute
pan ths secret way |ons them up together! Why ddn't I thnk of that before ?'

1 say!' squeaed Anne, n a hgh, excted voce, 'I say! I've thought of somethng too!'
'What ?' asked everyone.
'We - f those two artsts have got Unce's papers, we may be abe to get them away before
the men can send them off by post, or take them away themseves!' squeaked Anne, so
thred wth her dea that she coud hardy get the words out qucky enough. 'They're
prsoners at the Farm-house because of the snow, |ust as we were at the Cottage.'
'Anne! You're rght!' sad |uan.
'Cever gr!' sad Dck.
'I say - f we coud get those papers agan - how wonderfu t woud be!' cred George. Tmmy
|oned n the genera exctement, and |umped up and down n |oy. Somethng had peased
the chdren, so he was peased too!
'Come on!' sad |uan, takng Anne's hand. 'Ths s thrng. If George s rght, and ths Secret
Way comes out at Krrn Farm-house somewhere, we' somehow hunt through those men's
rooms and fnd the papers.'
'You sad that searchng peope's rooms was a shockng thng to do,' sad George.
'We, I ddn't know then a I know now,' sad |uan. 'We're dong ths for your father - and
maybe for our country too, f hs secret formua s vauabe. We've got to set our wts to work
now, to outwt dangerous enemes.'
'Do you reay thnk they are dangerous ?' asked Anne, rather afrad.
'Yes, I shoud thnk so,' sad |uan. 'But you needn't worry, Anne, You've got me and Dck
and Tm to protect you.'
'I can protect her too,' sad George, ndgnanty. Tm as good as a boy any day!'
'Yes, you are, reay,' sad Dck. 'In fact, you're fercer than any boy I know!'
'Come on,' sad |uan, mpatenty. Tm ongng to get to the end of ths passage.'
They a went on agan, Anne foowng behnd |uan, and Dck behnd George. Tmmy ran up
and down the ne, squeezng by them whenever he wanted to. He thought t was a very
pecuar way to spend a mornng!
|uan stopped suddeny, after they had gone a good way. 'What's up?' asked Dck, from the
back. 'Not another roof-fa, I hope!'
'No - but I thnk we've come to the end of the passage!' sad |uan, thred. The others
crowded as cose to hm as they coud. The passage certany had come to an end. There
was a rocky wa n front of them, and set frmy n t were ron stapes ntended for
foothods. These went up the wa and when |uan turned hs torch
upwards, the chdren saw that there was a square openng n the roof of the passage.
'We have to cmb up ths rocky wa now,' sad |uan, 'go through that dark hoe there, keep
on cmbng - and goodness knows where we come out! I' go frst. You wat here, everyone,
and I' come back and te you what I've seen.'

The boy put hs torch befween hs teeth, and then pued hmsef up by the ron stapes set n
the wa. He set hs feet on them, and then cmbed up through the square dark hoe, feeng
for the stapes as he went.
He went up for a good way. It was amost ke gong up a chmney shaft, he thought. It was
cod and smet musty.
Suddeny he came to a edge, and he stepped on to t. He took hs torch from hs teeth and
fashed t around hm.
There was stone wa behnd hm, at the sde of hm and stone above hm. The back hoe up
whch he had come, yawned by hs feet. |uan shone hs torch n front of hm, and a shock of
surprse went through hm.
There was no stone wa n front of hm, but a bg wooden, door, made of back oak. A hande
was set about wast-hgh, |uan turned t wth trembng fngers. What was he gong to see ?
The door opened outwards, over the edge, and t was dffcut to get round t wthout fang
back nto the hoe. |uan managed to open t wde, squeezed round t wthout osng hs
footng, and stepped beyond t, expectng to fnd hmsef n a room.
But hs hand fet more wood n front of hm! He
shone hs torch round, and found that he was up aganst what ooked ke yet another door.
Under hs searchng fngers t suddeny moved sdeways, and sd senty away!
And then |uan knew where he was! 'I'm n the cupboard at Krrn Farm-house - the one that
has a fase back!' he thought. 'The Secret Way comes up behnd t! How cever! Ltte dd
we* know when we payed about n ths cupboard that not ony dd t have a sdng back,
but that t was the entrance to the Secret Way, hdden behnd t!'
The cupboard was now fu of cothes beongng to the artsts. |uan stood and stened.
There was no sound of anyone n the room. Shoud he |ust take a quck ook round, and see
f those ost papers were anywhere about ?
Then he remembered the other four, watng patenty beow n the cod. He had better go
and te them what had happened. They coud a come and hep n the search.
He stepped nto the space behnd the sdng back. The sdng door spped across agan,
and |uan was eft standng on the narrow edge, wth the od oak door wde open to one
sde of hm. He dd not bother to shut t. He fet about wth hs feet, and found the ron
stapes n the hoe beow hm. Down he went, cngng wth hs hands and feet, hs torch n
hs teeth agan.
'|uan! What a tme you've been! Ouck, te us a about t!' cred George.
'It's most terrby thrng,' sad |uan. 'Absoutey super! Where do you suppose a ths eads
to? Into the
cupboard at Krrn Farm-house - the one that's got a fase back!'
'Goy! 'sad Dck.

'I say I' sad George.

'Dd you go nto the room ?' cred Anne.
'I cmbed as far as I coud and came to a bg oak door,' sad |uan. 'It has a hande ths sde,
so I swung t wde open. Then I saw another wooden door n front of me - at east, I thought
t was a door,' I ddn't know t was |ust the fase back of that cupboard. It was qute easy to
sde back and I stepped through, and found my-sef among a whoe ot of cothes hangng n
the cup-board ! Then I hurred back to te you.'
'|uan! We can hunt for those papers now,' sad George, eagery. 'Was there anyone n the
room ?'
'I coudn't hear anyone,' sad |uan. 'Now what I propose s ths - we' a go up, and have a
hunt round those two rooms. The men have the room next to the cupboard one too.'
'Oh good ! ' sad Dck, thred at the thought of such an adventure. 'Let's go now. You go
frst, |u. Then Anne, then George and then me.'
'What about Tm ?' asked George.
'He can't cmb, sy,' sad |uan. 'He's a smpy marveous dog, but he certany can't cmb,
George. We' hav<? to eave hm down here.'
'He won't ke that,' sad George.
'We, we can't carry hm up,' sad Dck. 'You won't , mnd stayng here for a bt, w you, Tm,
od fe-
Tm wagged hs ta. But, as he saw the four chdren
mysterousy dsappearng up the wa, he put hs bg ta down at once. What! Gong wthout
hm? How coud they ?
He |umped up at the wa, and fe back. He |umped agan and whned. George caed down
to hm n a ow voce.
'Be quet, Tm dear! We shan't be ong.'
Tm stopped whnng. He ay down at the bottom of the wa, hs ears we-cocked. Ths
adventure was becomng more and more pecuar!
Soon the chdren were on the narrow edge. The od oak door was st wde open. |uan
shone hs torch and the others saw the fase back of the cupboard. |uan put hs hands on t
and t sd senty sdeways. Then the torch shone on coats and dressng-gowns!
The chdren stood qute st, stenng. There was no sound from the room. T open the
cupboard door and peep nto the room,' whspered |uan. 'Don't make a sound!'
The boy pushed between the cothes and fet for the outer cupboard door wth hs hand. He
found t, and pushed t sghty. It opened a tte and a shaft of dayght came nto the
cupboard. He peeped cautousy nto the room.
There was no one there at a. That was good. 'Come on!' he whspered to the others. 'The
room's empty P

One by one the chdren crept out of the cothes cupboard and nto the room. There was a
bg bed there, a wash-stand, chest of drawers, sma tabe and two chars. Nothng ese. It
woud be easy to search the whoe room.
'Look, |uan, there's a door between the two rooms,'
sad George, suddeny. 'Two of us can go and hunt there and two here - and we can ock
the doors that ead on to the andng, so that no one can come n and catch us!'
'Good dea!' sad |uan, who was afrad that at any moment someone mght come n and
catch them n ther search. 'Anne and I w go nto the next room, and you and Dck can
search ths one. Lock the door that opens on to the andng, Dck, and I' ock the one n the
other room. We' eave the connectng-door open, so that we can whsper to one another.'
Ouety the boy spped through the connectng-door nto the second room, whch was very
ke the frst. That was empty too. |uan went over to the door that ed to the andng, and
turned the key n the ock. He heard Dck dong the same to the door n the other room. He
heaved a bg sgh. Now he fet safe!
'Anne, turn up the rugs and see f any papers are hdden there,' he sad. 'Then ook under
the char-cushons and strp the bed to see f anythng s hdden under the mattress.'
Anne set to work, and |uan began to hunt too. He started on the chest of drawers, whch he
thought woud be a very key pace to hde thngs n. The chdren's hands were shakng, as
they fet here and there for the ost papers. It was so terrby exctng.
They wondered where the two men were. Down n the warm ktchen, perhaps. It was cod up
here n the bedrooms, and they woud not want to be away from the warmth. They coud not
go out because the snow was ped n great drfts round Krrn Farm-house!
Dck and George were searchng hard n the other
room. They ooked n every drawer. They strpped the bed. They turned up rugs and carpet.
They even put ther hands up the bg chmney-pace!
'|uan? Have you found anythng?' asked Dck n a ow voce, appearng at the door between
the two rooms.
'Not a thng,' sad |uan, rather goomy. They've hdden the papers we! I ony hope they
haven't got them on them - n ther pockets, or somethng!'
Dck stared at hm n dsmay. He hadn't thought of that. 'That woud be sckenng!' he sad.
'You go back and hunt everywhere - smpy everywhere I' ordered |uan. 'Punch the pows
to see f they've stuck them under the pow-case!'
Dck dsappeared. Rather a ot of nose came from hs room. It sounded as f he were dong a
good dea of punchng!
Anne and |uan went on huntng too. There was smpy nowhere that they dd not ook. They
even turned the pctures round to see f the papers had been stuck behnd one of them. But
there was nothng to be found. It was bttery dsappontng.

'We can't go wthout fndng them,' sad |uan, n desperaton. 'It was such a bt of uck to
get here ke ths, down the Secret Way - rght nto the bedrooms! We smpy must fnd those
papers!'
'I say,' sad Dck, appearng agan, 'I can hear voces! Lsten!'
A four chdren stened. Yes - there were men's voces - |ust outsde the bedroom doors!
























Chapter Sixteen

THE CHlLDREN ARE DlSCOVERED

'WHAT sha we do?' whspered George. They had a tptoed to the frst room, and were
standng together, stenng.
'We'd better go down the Secret Way agan,' sad |uan.

'Oh no, we ...' began George, when she heard the hande of the door beng turned. Whoever
was tryng to get n, coud not open the door. There was an angry excamaton, and then the
chdren heard Mr. Wton's voce. "Thomas! My door seems to have stuck. Do you mnd f I
come through your bedroom and see what's the matter wth ths hande ?'
'Come rght aong!' came the voce of Mr. Thomas. There was the sound of footsteps gong
to the outer door of the second room. Then there was the nose of a hande beng turned
and shaken.
'What's ths!' sad Mr. Wton, n exasperaton. 'Ths won't open, ether. Can the doors be
ocked ?'
'It ooks ke t!' sad Mr. Thomas.
There was a pause. Then the chdren dstncty heard a few words uttered n a ow voce.
'Are the papers safe? Is anyone after them ?'
'They're n your room, aren't they ?' sad Mr. Thomas. There was another pause. The chdren
ooked at one another. So the men had got the papers - and what was more, they were n
the room! The very room the chdren stood n! They ooked round t eagery, rackng ther
brans to thnk of some pace they had not yet expored.
'Ouck! Hunt round agan whst we've tme/ whspered |uan. 'Don't make a nose.'
On tptoe the chdren began a thorough hunt once more. How they searched! They even
opened the pages of the books on the tabe, thnkng that the papers mght have been
spped n there. But they coud fnd nothng.
'He, Mrs. Sanders!' came Mr. Wton's voce. 'Have you by any chance ocked these two
doors ? We can't get n!'
'Dear me!' sad the voce of Mrs. Sanders from the stars. 'I' come aong and see. I certany
haven't ocked any doors!'
Once agan the handes were turned, but the doors woud not open. The men began to get
very mpatent.
'Do you suppose anyone s n our rooms ?' Mr. Wton asked Mrs. Sanders.
She aughed.
'We now, sr, who woud be n your rooms ? There's ony me and Mr. Sanders n the house,
and you know as we as I do that no one can come n from outsde, for we're qute snowed
up. I don't understand t - the ocks of the doors must have spped.'
Anne was ftng up the wash-stand |ug to ook underneath, at that moment. It was heaver
than she thought, and she had to et t down agan suddeny. It struck the
marbe wash-stand wth a crash, and water sopped out a over the pace!
Everyone outsde the door heard the nose. Mr. Wton banged on the door and ratted the
hande.
'Who's there? Let us n or you' be sorry! What are you dong n there ?'

'Idot, Anne!' sad Dck. 'Now they' break the door down!'
That was exacty what the two men ntended to do! Afrad that someone was mysterousy n
ther room, tryng to fnd the stoen papers, they went qute mad, and began to put ther
shouders to the door, and heave hard. The door shook and creaked.
'Now you be carefu what you're dong!' cred the ndgnant voce of Mrs. Sanders. The men
took no notce. There came a crash as they both tred out ther doube strength on the door.
'Ouck! We must go!' sad |uan. 'We mustn't et the men know how we got here, or we
shan't be abe to come and hunt another tme. Anne, George, Dck - get back to the
cupboard qucky!'
The chdren raced for the cothes cupboard. T go frst and hep you down,' sad |uan. He
got out on to the narrow edge and found the ron foot-hods wth hs feet. Down he went,
torch hed between hs teeth as usua.
'Anne, come next,' he caed, 'And Dck, you come thrd, and gve a hand to Anne f she
wants t. George s a good cmber - she can easy get down hersef.'
Anne was sow at cmbng down. She was terrby excted, rather frghtened, and so afrad of
fang that
she hardy dared to fee for each ron stape as she went down.
'Buck up, Anne!' whspered Dck, above her. 'The men have amost got the door down!'
There were tremendous sounds comng from the bedroom door. At any moment now t
mght break down, and the men woud come racng n. Dck was thankfu when he coud
begn to cmb down the wa! Once they were a out, Georgfe coud shut the bg oak door,
and they woud be safe.
George was hdden among the cothes n the cupboard, watng her turn to cmb down. As
she stood there, tryng n van to go over any key hdng-pace n her mnd, her hands fet
somethng rusty n the pocket of a coat, she was standng aganst. It was a mackntosh
coat, wth bg pockets. The tte gr's heart gave a eap.
Suppose the papers had been eft n the pocket of the coat the man had on when he took
them from Mr. Roand? That was the ony pace the chdren had not searched - the pockets
of the coats n the cupboard! Wth trembng fngers the gr fet n the pocket where the
rustng was.
She drew out a sheaf of papers. It was dark n the cupboard, and she coud not see f they
were the ones she was huntng for, or not - but how she hoped they were! She stuffed them
up the front of her |ersey, for she had no bg pocket, and whspered to Dck:
'Can I come now?'
CRASH! The door fe n wth a terrfc nose, and the two men eapt nto the room. They
ooked round. It was empty! But there was the water spt on the wash-
stand and on the foor. Someone must be there somewhere !

'Look n the cupboard!' sad Mr. Thomas.

George crept out of the cothes and on to the narrow edge, beyond the pace where the
fase back of the cupboard used to be. It was st hdden sdeways n the wa. The gr
cmbed down the hoe a few steps and then shut the oak door whch was now above her
head. She had not enough strength to cose t competey, but she hoped that now she was
safe!
The men went to the cupboard and fet about n the cothes for anyone who mght possby
be hdng there. Mr. Wton gave a oud cry.
'The papers are gone! They were n ths pocket! There's not a sgn of them. Ouck, Thomas,
we must fnd the thef and get them back!'
The men dd not notce that the cupboard seemed to go farther back than usua. They
stepped away from t now that they were sure no one was there, and began to hunt round
the room.
By now a the chdren except George were at the bottom of the hoe, standng n the Secret
Way, watng mpatenty for George to come down. Poor George was n such a hurry to get
down that she caught her skrt or\ one of the stapes, and had to stand n a very dangerous
poston tryng to dsentange t.
'Come on, George, for goodness sake!' sad |uan.
Tmothy |umped up at the wa. He coud fee the fear and exctement of the watng
chdren, and t upset hm. He wanted George. Why ddn't she come? Why was she up that
dark hoe ? Tm was unhappy about her.
He threw back hs head and gave such a oud and mournfu how that a the chdren
|umped voenty.
'Shut up, Tm!' sad |uan.
Tm howed agan, and the werd sound echoed round and about n a queer manner. Anne
was terrfed, and she began to cry. Tmothy howed agan and agan. Once he began to how
t was dffcut to stop hm.
The men n the bedroom above heard the extraordnary nose, and stopped n amazement.
'Whatever's that ?' sad one.
'Sounds ke a dog howng n the depths of the earth,5 sad the other.
Tunny!' sad Mr. Wton. 'It seems to be comng from the drecton of that cupboard.'
He went over to t and opened the door. Tm chose that moment to gve a specay mournfu
how, and Mr. Wton |umped. He got nto the cupboard and fet about at the back. The oak
door there gave way beneath hs hand, and he fet t open.
'Thomas! There's somethng queer here,' caed Mr. Wton. 'Brng my torch off the tabe.'
Tm howed agan and the nose made Mr. Wton shver! Tm had a pecuary horrbe how.
It came echong up the hoe, and burst out nto the cupboard.

Mr. Thomas got the torch. The men shone t at the back of the cupboard, and gave an
excamaton.
'Look at that! There's a door here! Where does t ead to?'
Mrs. Sanders, who had been watchng everythng n surprse and ndgnaton, angry that her
door shoud have been broken down, came up to the cupboard.
'My!' she sad. 'I knew there was a fase back to that cupboard - but I ddn't know there was
another door behnd t too! That must be the entrance to the Secret Way that peope used n
the od days.'
'Where does t ead to ?' rapped out Mr. Wton.
'Goodness knows!' sad Mrs. Sanders. 'I never took much nterest n such thngs.'
'Come on, Thomas - we must go down,' sad Mr. Wton, shnng hs torch nto the square
back hoe, and seeng the ron foot-hods set n the stone. 'Ths s where the thef went. He
can't have got far. We' go after hm. We've got to get those papers back!'
It was not ong before the two men had swung themseves over the narrow edge and down
nto the hoe, feeng wth ther feet for the ron stapes. Down they went and down,
wonderng where they were comng to. There was no sound beow them. Ceary the thef
had got away!
George had got down at ast. Tm amost knocked her over n hs |oy. She put her hand on
hs head. 'You od sy!' she sad. 'I beeve you've gven our secret away! Ouck, |u - we
must go, because those men w be after us n a mnute. They coud easy hear Tm's
howng!'
|uan took Anne's hand. 'Come aong, Anne,' he sad. 'You must run as fast as you can. Hurry
now! Dck, keep wth George.'
The four of them hurred down the dark, narrow passage. What a ong way they had to go
home! If ony the passage wasn't such a ong one! The chdren's hearts were beatng
panfuy as they made haste, stumbng as they went.
|uan shone hs ght steady n front of hm, and Dck shone hs at the back. Haf-eadng
haf-draggng Anne, |uan hurred aong. Behnd them they heard a shout.
'Look! There's a ght ahead! That's the thef! Come on, we' soon get hm!'
Chapter Seventeen GOOD OLD TIM!
'HURRY, Anne, do hurry!' shouted Dck, who was |ust behnd.
Poor Anne was fndng t very dffcut to get aong qucky. Pued by |uan and pushed by
Dck, she amost fe two or three tmes. Her breath came n oud pants, and she fet as f she
woud burst.
'Let rne have a rest!' she panted. But there was no tme for that, wth the two men hurryng
after them! They came to the pece that was wdened out, where the rocky bench was, and
Anne ooked ongngy at t. But the boys hurred her on.

Suddeny the tte gr caught her foot on a stone and fe heavy, amost draggng |uan
down wth her. She tred to get up, and began to cry.
'I've hurt my foot! I've twsted t! Oh, |uan, t hurts me to wak.'
'We, you've |ust got to come aong, darng,' sad |uan, sorry for hs tte sster, but
knowng that they woud a be caught f he was not frm. 'Hurry as much as you can.'
But now t was mpossbe for Anne to go fast. She cred wth pan as her foot hurt her, and
hobbed aong so sowy that Dck amost fe over her. Dck cast a ook behnd hm and saw
the ght of the men's torches comng nearer and nearer. Whatever were they to do?
'I' stay here wth Tm and keep them off,' sad George, suddeny. 'Here, take these papers,
Dck! I beeve they're the ones we want, but I'm not sure t we get a good ght to see
them. I found them n a pocket of one of the coats n the cupboard.'
'Goy!' sad Dck, surprsed. He took the sheaf of papers and stuffed them up hs |ersey, |ust
as George had stuffed them up hers. They were too bg to go nto hs trousers pockets. 'I'
stay wth you, George, and et the other two go on ahead.'
'No. I want the papers taken to safety, n case they are my father's,' sad George. 'Go on,
Dck! I' be a rght here wth Tm. I sha stay here |ust where the passage curves round ths
rocky bt. I' make Tm bark ke mad.'
'Suppose the men have got revovers?' sad Dck, doubtfuy. 'They mght shoot hm.'
'I bet they haven't,' sad George. 'Do go, Dck! The men are amost here. There's the ght of
ther torch.'
Dck sped after the stumbng Anne. He tod |uan what George |bad suggested. 'Good for
George!' sad |uan. 'She reay s marveous - not afrad of anythng ! She w keep the men
off t I get poor od Anne back.'
George was crouchng behnd the rocky bt, her hand on Tm's coar, watng. 'Now, Tm!'
she whspered. 'Bark your oudest. Now!'
Tmothy had been growng up t now, but at George's command he opened hs bg mouth
and barked. How he barked! He had a smpy enormous voce, and the barks went echong
a down the dark and narrow
passage. The hurryng men, who were near the rocky pece of the passage, stopped.
'If you come round ths bend, I' set my dog on you!' cred George.
'It's a chd shoutng,' sad one man to another. 'Ony a chd! Come on!'
Tmothy barked agan, and pued at hs coar, He was ongng to get at the men. The ght of
ther torch shone round the bend. George et Tm go, and the bg dog sprang |oyfuy round
the curve to meet hs enemes.
They suddeny saw hm by the ght of ther torch, and he was a very terrfyng sght! To
begn wth, he was a bg dog, and now that he was angry a the hars on the back of hs

neck had rsen up, makng hm ook even more enormous. Hs teeth were bared and gnted
n the torch-ght.
The men dd not ke the ook of hm at a. 'If you move one step nearer I' te my dog to fy
at you!' shouted George. 'Wat, Tm, wat! Stand there t I gve the word.'
The dog stood n the ght of the torch, growng deepy. He ooked an extremey ferce
anma. The men ooked at hm doubtfuy. One man took a step forward and George heard
hm. At once she shouted to Tm.
'Go for hm, Tm, go for hm!'
Tm eapt at the man's throat. He took hm competey by surprse and the man fe to the
ground wth a thud, tryng to beat off the dog. The other man heped.
'Ca off your dog or we' hurt hm!5 cred the second man.
'It's much more key he' hurt you I' sad George,
comng out from behnd the rock and en|oyng the fun. 'Tm, come off.'
Tm came away from the man he was worryng, ookng up at hs mstress as f to say 'I was
havng such a good tme! Why dd you spo t ?'
'Who are you ?' sad the man on the ground.
Tm not answerng any of your questons,' sad George. 'Go back to Krrn Farm-house, that's
my advce to you. If you dare to come aong ths passage I' set my dog on to you agan -
and next tme he' do a tte more damage.'
The men turned and went back the way they had come. They nether of them wanted to
face Tm agan. George wated unt she coud no onger see the ght of ther torch, then she
bent down and patted Tmothy.
'Brave, good dog!' she sad. 'I ove you, darng Tm, and you don't know how proud I am of
you! Come aong - we' hurry after the others now. I expect those two men w expore ths
passage some tme tonght, and won't they get a shock when they fnd out where t eads to,
and see who s watng for them!'
George hurred aong the rest of the ong passage, wth Tm runnng besde her. She had
Dck's torch, and t dd not take her ong to catch the others up. She panted out to them
what had happened, and even poor Anne chucked n deght when she heard how Tm had
fung Mr. Wton to the ground.
'Here we are,' sad |uan, as the passage came to a stop beow the hoe n the study foor,
'Hao - what's ths?'
A brght ght was shnng down the hoe, and the
rug and carpet, so carefuy pued over the hoe by |uan, were now pued back agan. The
chdren gazed up n surprse.

Unce Ouentn was there, and Aunt Fanny, and when they saw the chdren's faces ookng
up at them from the hoe, they were so astonshed that they very neary fe down the hoe
too!
'|uan! Anne! What n the wde word are you dong down there?' cred Unce Ouentn. He
gave them each a hand up, and the four chdren and Tmothy were at ast safe n the warm
study. How good t was to fee warm agan! They got as near the fre as they coud.
'Chdren - what s the meanng of ths?' asked Aunt Fanny. She ooked whte and worred. 'I
came nto the study to do some dustng, and when I stood on that bt of the rug, t seemed
to gve way beneath me. When I pued t up and turned back the carpet, I saw that hoe -
and the hoe n the paneng too! And then I found that a of you had dsappeared, and went
to fetch your unce. What has been happenng - and where does that hoe ead to?'
Dck took the sheaf of papers from under hs |ersey and gave them to George. She took
them and handed them to her father. 'Are these the mssng pages?' she asked.
Her father fe on them as f they had been worth more than a hundred tmes ther weght n
god. 'Yes! Yes! They're the pages - a three of them! Thank goodness they're back. They
took me three years to brng to perfecton, and contaned the heart of my secret formua.
George, where dd you get them ?'
'It's a very ong story,' sad George. 'You te t a, |uan, I fee tred.'
|uan began to te the tae. He eft out nothng. He tod how George had found Mr. Roand
snoopng about the study - how she had fet sure that the tutor had not wanted Tmmy n
the house because the dog gave warnng of hs movements at nght - how George had seen
hm takng to the two artsts, athough he had sad he dd not know them. As the tae went
on, Unce Ouentn and Aunt Fanny ooked more and more amazed. They smpy coud not
beeve t a.
But after a, there were the mssng papers, safey back. That was marveous. Unce
Ouentn hugged the papers as f they were a precous baby. He woud not put them down for
a moment.
George tod the bt about Tmmy keepng the men off the escapng chdren. 'So you see,
athough you made poor Tm ve out n the cod, away from me, he reay saved us a, and
your papers too,' she sad to her father, fxng her brant bue eyes on hm.
Her father ooked most uncomfortabe. He fet very guty for havng punshed George and
Tmothy. They had been rght about Mr. Roand and he had been wong.
'Poor George,' he sad, 'and poor Tmmy. I'm sorry about a that.'
George dd not bear mace once anyone had owned themseves to be n the wrong. She
smed at her father.
'It's a rght,' she sad. 'But don't you thnk that as I was punshed unfary, Mr. Roand mght
be punshed we and truy ? He deserves t!'

'Oh, he sha be, certany he sha be,' promsed her father. 'He's up n bed wth a cod, as
you know. I hope he doesn't hear any of ths, or he may try to escape.'
'He can't,' sad George. 'We're snowed up. You coud rng up the poce, and arrange for
them to come here as soon as ever they can manage t, when the snow has ceared. And I
rather thnk those other two men w try to expore the secret way as soon as possbe, to
get the papers back. Coud we catch them when they arrve, do you thnk?'
'Rather!' sad Unce Ouentn, though Aunt Fanny ooked as f she ddn't want any more
exctng thngs to happen! 'Now ook here, you seem reay frozen a of you, and you must
be hungry too, because t's amost dnner-tme. Go nto the dnng-room and st by the fre,
and |oanna sha brng us a a hot unch. Then we' tak about what to do.'
Nobody sad a word to Mr. Roand, of course. He ay n bed, coughng now and then. George
had spped up and ocked hs door. She wasn't gong to have hm wanderng out and
overhearng anythng!
They a en|oyed ther hot dnner, and became warm and cosy. It was nce to st there
together, takng over ther adventure, and pannng what to do.
'I w teephone to the poce, of course,' sad Unce Ouentn. 'And tonght we w put Tmmy
nto the study to gve the two artsts a good wecome f they arrve!'
Mr. Roand was most annoyed to fnd hs door ocked that afternoon when he took t nto hs
head to dress and go downstars. He banged on t ndgnanty. George
grnned and went upstars. She had tod the other chdren how she had ocked the door.
'What's the matter, Mr. Roand?' she asked, n a pote voce.
'Oh, t's you, George, s t?' sad the tutor. 'We, see what's the matter wth my door, w you
? I can't open t.'
George had pocketed the key when she had ocked the door. She answered Mr. Roand n a
cheerfu voce.
'Oh Mr. Roand, there's no key n your door, so I can't unock t. I' see f I can fnd t!'
Mr. Roand was angry and puzzed. He coudn't understand why hs door was ocked and the
key gone. He dd not guess that everyone knew about hm now. Unce Ouentn aughed
when George went down and tod hm about the ocked door.
'He may as we be kept a prsoner,' he sad. 'He can't escape now.'
That nght, everyone went to bed eary, and Tmmy was eft n the study, guardng the hoe.
Mr. Roand had become more and more angry and puzzed when hs door was not unocked.
He had shouted for Unce Ouentn, but ony George had come. He coud not understand t.
George, of course, was en|oyng hersef. She made Tmothy bark outsde Mr. Roand's door,
and ths puzzed hm too, for he knew that George was not supposed to see Tmmy for\three
days. Wd thoughts raced through hs head. Had that ferce, mpossbe chd ocked up her
father and mother and |oanna, as we as hmsef? He coud not magne what had happened.

In the mdde of the nght Tmmy awoke everyone

by barkng mady. Unce Ouentn and the chdren hurred downstars, foowed by Aunt
Fanny, and the amazed |oanna. A fne sght met ther eyes!
Mr. Wton and Mr. Thomas were n the study crouchng behnd the sofa, terrfed of Tmothy,
who was barkng for a he was worth! Tmmy was standng by the hoe n the stone foor, so
that the two men coud not escape down there. Artfu Tmmy! He had wated n sence unt
the men had crept up the hoe nto the study, and were exporng t, wonderng where they
were - and then the dog had eapt to the hoe to guard t, preventng the men from escapng.
'Good evenng, Mr. Wton, good evenng, Mr. Thomas', sad George, n a pote voce. 'Have
you come to see our tutor Mr. Roand ?'
'So ths s where he ves!' sad Mr. Wton. 'Was t you n the passage today ?'
'Yes - and my cousns,' sad George. 'Have you come to ook for the papers you stoe from
my father?'
The two men were sent. They knew they were caught. Mr. Wton spoke after a moment.
'Where's Roand?'
'Sha we take these men to Mr. Roand, Unce?' asked |uan, wnkng at George. 'Athough
t's n the mdde of the nght I'm sure he woud ove to see them.'
'Yes,' sad hs unce, |umpng at once to what the boy meant to do. 'Take them up. Tmmy,
you go too.'
The men foowed |uan upstars, Tmmy cose at ther hees. George foowed too, grnnng.
She handed |uan the key. He unocked the door and the men went n, |ust as |uan
swtched on the ght. Mr. Roand was
wde awake and gave an excamaton of compete amazement when he saw hs frends.
Before they had tme to say a word |uan ocked the door agan and threw the key to
George.
'A nce tte bag of prsoners,' he sad. 'We w eave od Tm outsde the door to guard them.
It's mpossbe to get out of that wndow, and anyway, we're snowed up f they coud escape
that way.'
Everyone went to bed agan, but the chdren found t dffcut to seep after such an exctng
tme. Anne and George whspered together and so dd |uan and Dck. There was such a ot
to tak about.
Next day there was a surprse for everyone. The poce dd arrve after a! The snow dd not
stop them, for somewhere or other they had got sks and had come skmmng aong
vaanty to see the prsoners! It was a great exctement for everyone.
'We won't take the men away, sr, t the snow has gone,' sad the Inspector. 'We' |ust put
the handcuffs on them, so that they don't try any funny trcks. You keep the door ocked too,

and that dog outsde. They' be safe there for a day or two. We've taken them enough food
t we come back agan. If they go a bt short, t w serve them rght!'
The snow meted two days ater, and the poce took away Mr. Roand and the others. The
chdren watched them go.
'No more essons these hos!' sad Anne geefuy.
'No more shuttng Tmothy out of the house,' sad George.
'You were rght and we were wrong, George,' sad
|uan. 'You were ferce, weren't you -,but t's a |oy good thng you were!'
'She s ferce, sn't she?' sad Dck, gvng the gr a sudden hug. 'But I rather ke her when
she's ferce, don't you, |uan ? Oh George, we do have marveous adventures wth you! I
wonder f we' have any more?'
They w - there sn't a doubt of that!


THE END