Chapter Seven

MRS JANES - A SPIDER - AND A POOL

Timmy growled, and so did Binky. The children swung round and saw the old witch-like woman standing there, her wispy grey hair hanging over her face.

'What's the matter, Mrs - er - Mrs Janes?' said Julian, fortunately remembering the name Mr Gringle had told him. 'We're not doing any harm.'

'My son don't like strangers here,' said Mrs Janes, mumbling so much that the children could hardly understand what she was saying.

'But this place belongs to Mr Gringle surely, and his friend,' said d.i.c.k, puzzled.

'I tell 'ee my son don't hold with strangers here,' mumbled the old woman again and shook her fist at them.

Timmy didn't like this, and growled. She at once pointed her finger at him and muttered a long string of such queer-sounding words that Anne shrank back, afraid. Really, Mrs Janes did look exactly like a witch - and sounded like one, too.

Timmy acted strangely. He put his tail down, stopped growling and crept close to George. She was most astonished.

'It looks as if she's trying to put a spell on old Tim,' said d.i.c.k, half laughing, but that was too much for Anne and George.

Taking Timmy by the collar, George rushed off quickly with Anne following. The boys laughed. Binky ran after Timmy, and Toby spoke boldly to the queer old woman.

'Your son isn't even here - so what business is it of his to tell you to give orders to visitors?'

Tears suddenly began to pour down the old woman's face and she wrung her bony hands together. 'He'll hit me,' she wept. 'He'll twist my arm! Go away! Do go away! If he comes, he'll chase you off. He's a bad man, my son is!'

'She's mad, poor old thing,' said Toby, feeling sorry for old Mrs Janes. 'Our cook often says so, though she's harmless enough. Her son's not too bad - he's quite handy at repairs, and we used to have him come to the farm to mend roofs and things like that. But he's not so good as he used to be. Come on - let's go. Mr Gringle's a bit queer, too, isn't he?'

They went off after the two girls, Julian still feeling uncomfortable and distressed. 'What's Mr Gringle's friend like - the one who helps him?' asked Julian.

'I don't know. I've never seen him,' said Toby. 'He's away mostly, doing the business side, I think - selling specimens of eggs, caterpillars and so on - and the perfect moths and b.u.t.terflies, too, of course.'

'I'd like to see that b.u.t.terfly House again, but Mr Gringle gets on my nerves,' said d.i.c.k. 'Those brilliant eyes behind those thick gla.s.ses. You'd think that if they were as bright and piercing as that he wouldn't need to wear any gla.s.ses at all!'

'Hey, George - Anne!' shouted Julian. 'Wait for us - we're just coming.' They caught up the girls and Julian grinned at George.

'You thought old Timmy was going to be changed into a black beetle or something, didn't you?' he said.

'No, of course not,' said George, going red. 'I just didn't like her very much - pointing her finger like that at Timmy. No wonder he growled.'

'You didn't hear what she said about her son,' said d.i.c.k. 'She began to cry like anything after you'd gone, and say that her son would beat her and twist her arm if we didn't go - and he's not even there!'

'She's mad,' said George. 'I don't want to go there again. What are we going to do now?'

'Go up to our camping-place and have our lunch,' said Julian promptly. 'Come with us, Toby - or have you got jobs to do at the farm?'

'No. I've done them all,' said Toby. 'I'd love to have a meal with you up on the hill.'

It wasn't very long before they were back at their camping-place. Everything was as they had left it - macs neatly under the gorse bush with the rugs and other little things - and the food in Anne's 'larder' waiting for them.

The meal was very hilarious, as Toby was in one of his silly moods, and produced some idiotic jokes. The most successful one was a large imitation spider with shaky legs, which, while Anne and George had gone to get the food, he hung by a thin nylon thread to a spray on the nearby gorse bush. d.i.c.k grinned broadly.

'Wait till Anne sees that!' he said. 'George always says she doesn't mind spiders, but a big one like that is distinctly creepy.'

It certainly was. Anne didn't spot it until she was eating her strawberries, covered with some of the cream that Toby's mother had generously sent. Then she suddenly spied it, shaking slightly in the breeze, hanging by its thread just over George's head.

'Ooooooooh!' she squealed. 'Ooooh, George - be careful! There's a MONSTER spider just over your head!'

'What - is George scared of spiders?' cried Toby at once. 'Just like a girl!'

George glared at him. 'I don't mind them at all,' she said coldly.

'I'm glad you aren't scared of them,' said Toby. 'I'd have to call you Georgina if you were. That's your right name, isn't it?'

'George - do move!' cried Anne, upsetting her strawberries in her anxiety. 'It's almost on your head, I tell you - its legs are wobbling as if they are going to settle on your hair. George, it's an ENORMOUS one! It might even be one of those foreign things - a tarantula or something!'

The wind blew a little just then and the spider moved about on the thread most realistically. Even d.i.c.k was glad it wasn't alive!

George couldn't resist looking up, pretending to be quite unmoved - but when she saw the enormous creature just above her she shot straight out of her place and landed on Toby's legs, making him spill his strawberries and cream.

'Now, now, Georgina,' said the annoying Toby, picking up his strawberries. 'You said you didn't mind spiders. I'll remove it for you, and you can go back to your place.'

'No, no - don't touch it - ugh!' cried Anne. But Toby, putting on a very brave face, leaned over and neatly took the spider off the gorse-bush, still swinging by its thread. He swung it near to Anne, who scrambled up at once, Then he made it 'walk' over d.i.c.k's knee, and Timmy came to investigate at once.

Binky came too, and snapped at it, breaking the nylon thread that held it.

'a.s.s!' said Toby, giving him a smack. 'My beautiful spider - my spinner of webs - my tame catcher of flies!'

'What - is it a tame one?' said Anne in horror.

'More or less,' said Toby, and put it carefully into his pocket, grinning all over his round face.

'That's enough, Toby,' said Julian. 'Joke's finished.' George stared at Toby, her face growing crimson. 'A joke? A JOKE! You wait till I pay you out, Toby! I don't call that a joke. I call it a mean trick. You knew Anne hated spiders.'

'Let's change the subject,' said d.i.c.k hastily. 'What are we going to do this afternoon?'

'I know what I'd like to do,' said Julian longingly. 'I'd like a bathe. It's so jolly hot. If we were at Kirrin I'd be in the sea all the afternoon.'

'I wish we were at Kirrin,' said George sulkily.

'Well - if you really do want a bathe, I can take you to a pool,' said Toby, anxious to get into everyone's good books again.

'A pool? Where?' said d.i.c.k eagerly.

'Well - see that airfield down there?' said Toby, pointing. 'And see this spring here, where you get your water? It goes on and on running down the hill, joins two or three more little rivulets, and ends in a smas.h.i.+ng pool not far from the airfield.

Cold as ice it is, too. I've often bathed there.'

'It sounds jolly good,' said Julian, pleased. 'Well, we can't bathe immediately after a meal. The girls will want to do their bit of was.h.i.+ng-up, and put the rest of the food away. We'll sit here and wait till they've finished, have a bit of a rest, and then go and find this pool.'

Everyone agreed to this, and the girls hurried off to the little spring.

'If Toby has any more idiotic tricks like that I'll play a few on him!' said George.

'In fact I've a good mind to pull him under in the pool.'

'He's all right, George,' said Anne. 'He's just like that at school, d.i.c.k says. He must drive the masters mad!'

They soon joined the boys and had a short rest, while Timmy and Binky went off amiably together to do a little hunting - sniping down holes and under bushes, looking very serious indeed. They came back immediately George whistled.

'We're going, Timmy,' said George. 'Here's your swim-suit, d.i.c.k, and yours, Julian. Good thing we brought them with us!'

'What about you, Toby? You haven't a swim-suit with you,' said Julian.

'We have to pa.s.s fairly near the farm,' said Toby. 'I'll leave you when we're near there and get mine - it won't take more than five minutes if I run all the way back.' They set off down the hill towards the airfield. Except for the planes they had heard that morning, they had heard and seen none. It seemed a very quiet airfield.

'Wait till they start experimenting with the new fighter planes my cousin told me about!' said Toby. 'You'll hear a noise then - they're so fast they break the sound- barrier every time they go up!'

'Would your cousin let us look over the airfield one day?' asked Julian. 'I'd like to do that. It wouldn't interest the girls, but d.i.c.k and I would love it.'

'I should certainly like to go,' said George at once. 'It would interest me as much as you!'

'But you're a girl,' said Toby. 'Girls don't understand the first thing about aeroplanes or motor-cars or s.h.i.+ps - or spiders either, come to that! I really don't think you'd be interested, Georgina dear,'

'My name is not Georgina,' said George furiously. 'And don't call me "dear".'

'Shut up, you two!' said Julian. 'It's too nice an afternoon to begin an argument.

Look - isn't that your farm, Toby? We've got here jolly quickly - but it's all downhill, of course.'

'Yes,' said Toby. 'Come on, Binky - race you home and back. Shan't be long, Julian! Keep straight ahead, and walk towards that big pine-tree you can see in the distance. I'll be with you by the time you're there.'

He raced off at top speed, while the others went on slowly towards the pine-tree in the distance. It would be heavenly to bathe in a cold pool!

Toby was certainly a fast runner! Just before they reached the pine-tree he came up behind them, his swimsuit over his shoulder, so out of breath that he could hardly speak!

'It's over there,' he panted. 'Look - the pool!'

And sure enough, there was the pool - deep blue, cool and as smooth as gla.s.s.

Trees surrounded it on one side, and heather grew right down to the edge.

The five children went towards it gladly - but suddenly they came to a big notice, nailed to a tree: KEEP OUT DANGER CROWN PROPERTY 'I say - what does that mean?' said d.i.c.k in dismay. 'We can't bathe after all!'

'Oh, take no notice of that,' said Toby. 'It doesn't mean a thing!'

But it did as they were very soon to find out!

Chapter Eight

A SPOT OF TROUBLE

'What do you mean by saying that the notice doesn't mean a thing?' said Julian."Why put it up, then?'

'Oh, there are notices like that all round the airfield,' said Toby airily. 'Telling you to KEEP OUT, there's DANGER. But there isn't. Only aeroplanes are here, no guns, no bombs, nothing. It's a jolly lonely place, too, tucked away at the foot of this hill.'

'Why don't you ask your cousin why they put up the notices?' asekd d.i.c.k. 'There must be some reason!'

'I tell you those notices have been up for ages,' said Toby, sounding cross. 'Ages!

They might have been some use at some time or other, but not now. We can bathe here and do what we like.'

'All right - but I hope you know what you're talking about,' said Julian. 'I must say I can't see any sense myself in putting notices here - there's no wire or fencing to keep anyone out.'

'Let's get into our bathing things, then,' said d.i.c.k.

'You girls can have that bush over there and we'll have this one. Buck up!'

They were soon changed into their swim-suits, and dived into the pool, which was surprisingly deep. It was also deliciously cool, and silky to the touch, just as the spring water had been. The two dogs leapt in gladly and swam vigorously round and round. The children splashed them, and Timmy began to bark excitedly.

'Shut up, Timmy!' said Toby at once. 'Why should he?' demanded George, swimming up.

'Well - someone at the airfield might hear him,' said Toby.

'You said it didn't matter us being here!' said George. 'Look out for yourself!' She dived underwater and got hold of Toby's legs, pulling him down. He yelled and kicked and spluttered, but George was strong and she gave him a very, very good ducking! He came up purple in the face.

'I said I'd pay you out for the spider!' yelled George, and swam strongly away.

Toby swam after her, and she led him a fine dance round the pool, for she was a splendid swimmer. The others laughed at the contest.