_Chapter One__A WEEK’S
HOLIDAY__‘Where’s the map?’ said Julian. ‘Is that it, George? Good! Now - where
shall we spread it?’_‘On the floor,’ said Anne. ‘A map is always easiest to
read on the floor. I’ll push the table out of the way.’_‘Well, be careful, for
goodness’ sake,’ said George. ‘Father’s in his study, and you know what
happened before when someone pushed the table right over!’_Everyone laughed.
George’s father so often came pouncing out of his study if any sudden noise was
made when he was working._The table was pushed out of the way and the big map
unfolded and spread out over the floor. Timmy was surprised to see the four
children kneeling down around it, and barked, imagining this was some kind of
new game._‘Be quiet, Timmy!’ said Dick. ‘You’ve got into trouble once this
morning already for making a row.  ‘Don’t you know we’re in a hurry? We want to trace our route to
Billycock Hill...’_‘Billycock Hill - what a lovely name!’ said Anne. ‘Is that
where we’re going?’_‘Yes,’ said Julian, poring over the map. ‘It’s near some
caves we want to see - and there’s a Butterfly Farm not far off, and...’_‘A
Butterfly Farm!’ said George, surprised. ‘Whatever’s that?’_‘Just what it
sounds like!’ said Dick. ‘A farm for butterflies! Toby, a friend of ours at
school, told me about it. He lives quite near it and he says it’s a most
interesting place - they breed butterflies - and moths, too - from eggs, and
sell them to collectors.’_‘Do they really?’ said Anne. ‘Well, I must say I used
to enjoy keeping caterpillars and seeing what they turned into - it was like
magic to see a lovely butterfly or moth creep out of the chrysalis. But a farm
for them - can we really go and see it?’_‘Oh, yes - Toby says the men who run
it are very decent about showing anyone round,’ said Julian. ‘Apparently
Billycock Hill is a good place for rare butterflies, too - that’s why they’ve
got their farm there. They rush about with nets half the time - and at night
they go moth-hunting,’_‘It sounds exciting,’ said Dick. ‘Well, what with caves
to see, and a butterfly farm, and Toby to visit, and...’_‘And just Five
together again on a sunny week’s holiday!’ said George, giving Timmy a sudden
thump of joy. ‘Hurrah for Whitsun - and thank goodness our two schools had a
week’s holiday at the same time!’_The four cousins sprawled on the floor,
looking with great interest at the map, following out a route with their
fingers. As they traced out the way, there came an angry noise from the study,
where George’s father was at work._‘Who’s been tidying my desk? Where are those
papers I left here? Fanny, Fanny - come here!’_‘He wants Mother - I’ll get
her,’ said George. ‘No, I can’t - she’s gone shopping,’_‘Why can’t people leave
my papers alone?’ came her father’s voice again. ‘Fanny! FANNY!’_Then the study
door was flung open and Mr Kirrin came striding out, muttering to himself. He
didn’t see the four children on the floor, and fell right over them. Timmy
barked in delight and leapt at him, thinking that for once in a way George’s
father was actually having a game with them!_‘Oooh!’ said George, as her
father’s hand came over her face. ‘Don’t! What are you doing, Father?’_‘Uncle
Quentin - sorry you fell over us!’ said Julian. ‘Shut up, Timmy - this isn’t a
game!’_He helped his uncle up and waited for the explosion. His uncle brushed
himself down and glared at Julian. ‘Have you got to lie on the floor?  Where’s your mother, George? Get up, for goodness’ sake!
Where’s Joan? If she’s been tidying my desk again I’ll give her notice!’_Joan
the cook appeared at the doorway, wiping her floury hands on her apron.
‘Whatever’s all this noise about?’ she began. ‘Oh, sorry, sir - I didn’t know
it was you. I...’_‘Joan - have you been tidying my desk again?’ almost shouted
George’s father._‘No, sir. Have you lost something? Never you mind, sir, I’ll
come along and find it,’ said Joan, who was used to Mr Kirrin’s ways. ‘Pick up
that map, you four - and put the table back. Stop barking, Timmy. George, take
him out for goodness’ sake, or your father will go mad.’_‘He’s only excited
because we’re all together again,’ said George, and took Timmy into the garden.
The others followed, Julian folding up the map, grinning._‘We ought to put
Uncle Quentin into a play,’ said Dick. ‘He’d bring the house down! Well - do we
know the way, Julian? And when do we start?’_‘Here’s Mother,’ said George as
someone came to the front gate with a basket._Julian ran to open it. He was
very fond of his kindly, pleasant-faced aunt. She smiled round at them
all._‘Well - have you decided where to go - and what to take with you? You’ll
be able to camp out this beautiful weather - what a lovely Whitsun it’s going to
be!’_‘Yes,’ said Julian, taking his aunt’s basket from her and carrying it
indoors. ‘We’re going to Billycock Hill, and as our friend Toby lives at the
bottom of it, at Billy-cock Farm, he’s going to lend us all the camping gear we
need.’_‘So we shan’t need to load our bikes with tents and mattresses and
things,’ said Dick._‘Oh - good!’ said his aunt. ‘What about food? You can get
it at Toby’s farm, I suppose?’_‘Rather! We shan’t feed there, of course,’ said
Julian. ‘But we shall buy any eggs or milk or bread we need - and Toby says the
strawberries are already ripening!’_Aunt Fanny smiled. ‘Well, I needn’t worry
about your meals, then.  Won’t you, Timmy? You won’t let them get into any trouble, will
you?’_‘Woof,’ said Timmy, in his deepest voice, and wagged his tail.
‘Woof.’_‘Good old Tim,’ said George, patting him. ‘If it wasn’t for you we’d
never be allowed to go off so much on our own, I bet!’_‘Uncle Quentin’s a bit
on the war-path, Aunt Fanny,’ said Dick. ‘He wants to know who’s been tidying
his desk. He came rushing out of the study, didn’t see us lying on the floor
round our map - and fell right over us.’_‘Oh dear - I’d better go and find out
what papers he’s lost now,’ said his aunt. ‘I expect he forgot that he had a
tidying fit on last night, and tidied his desk himself. He’s probably put a lot
of his most precious papers into the waste-paper basket!’_Everyone laughed as
Mrs Kirrin hurried into the study._‘Well, let’s get ready,’ said Julian. ‘We
won’t need to take much, as old Toby’s going to help us. Macs, of course - and
don’t forget yours, Timmy! And jerseys.' And one or two maps.’_‘And torches,’
said Anne, ‘because we want to explore those caves. Oh, and let’s take our
swimsuits in case we find somewhere to bathe. It’s warm enough!’_‘And candles
and matches,’ said George, slapping the pocket of her shorts. ‘I’ve got those.
I got Joan to give me three boxes. And let’s take some sweets.’_‘Yes. That tin
of humbugs,’ said Julian. ‘And I vote we take our little portable radio!’_‘Oh,
yes - that’s a good idea,’ said Anne, pleased. ‘We can hear our favourite
programmes then - and the news. I don’t suppose we shall be able to buy
newspapers.’_‘I’ll get out the bikes from the shed,’ said Julian. ‘Dick, get
the sandwiches from Joan - she said she’d make us some, because we shan’t get
to Toby’s farm till after our dinner-time - and I bet we’ll be hungry!’_‘Wuff,’
said Timmy, who knew that word very well._‘He says remember biscuits for him,’
said Anne with a laugh. ‘I’ll go and get some now, Tim - though I expect you
can share meals with the dogs at Billycock Farm.’_Joan had two large packets of
sandwiches and cake ready for them, and two bottles of orangeade. ‘There you
are,’ she said, handing them over. ‘And if you get through all those you’ll no
longer feel hungry. And here are Timmy’s biscuits - and a bone.’_‘You’re a
brick, Joan,’ said Dick, and put his arm round her to give her one of the
sudden hugs she liked, ‘Well, you’ll soon be rid of us - a whole week at
Whitsun - isn’t that luck - and with such glorious weather, too.’_‘Buck up!’
called Julian. ‘I’ve got the bikes - and no one’s had a puncture, for a change.
Bring my mac, Dick.’_In three minutes everything was packed into the bicycle
baskets, or strapped at the back. Timmy made sure that his biscuits and bone
were packed by sniffing at each basket until he came to the smell he was hoping
for. Then he wagged his tail and bounded round excitedly. The Five were
together again - and who knew what might happen? Timmy was ready for
anything!_‘Good-bye, dears,’ said Mrs Kirrin, standing at the gate to see them
go. ‘Julian, take care of the girls - and Tim, take care of everyone!’_Uncle
Quentin suddenly appeared at the window. ‘What’s all the noise about?’ he began
impatiently. ‘Oh - they’re off at last, are they? Now we’ll have a little peace
and quiet! Good-bye - and behave yourselves!’_‘Grown ups always say that,’ said
Anne as the Five set off happily, ringing their bells in farewell. ‘Hurrah - we’re
off on our own again - yes, you too, Timmy. What fun!’___Chapter Two__OFF TO
BILLYCOCK HILL__The sun shone down hotly as the Five sped down the sandy road
that ran alongside Kirrin Bay. Timmy loped easily beside them, his tongue
hanging out quite a long way. Anne always said that he had the longest tongue
of any dog she had ever known!_The sea was as blue as forget-me-nots as they
cycled along beside it. Across the bay they could see little Kirrin Island,
with Kirrin Castle towering up._‘Doesn’t it look fine?’ said Dick. ‘I half wish
we were going to spend Whitsun at Kirrin Cottage, and going bathing, and rowing
across to George’s little island over there.’_‘We can do that in the summer
hols,’ said Julian. ‘It’s fun to explore other parts of the country when we
can. Toby says the caves in Billycock Hill are marvellous.’_‘What’s Toby like?’
asked George. ‘We’ve never seen him, Anne and I.’_‘He’s a bit of a joker,’ said
Dick, ‘Likes to put caterpillars down people’s necks and so on - and beware if
he has a magnificent rose in his buttonhole and asks you to smell it.’_‘Why?’
asked Anne, surprised._‘Because when you bend down to smell it you’ll get a
squirt of water in your face,’ said Dick. ‘It’s a trick rose.’_‘I don’t think
I’m going to like him much,’ said George, who didn’t take kindly to tricks of
this sort.  ‘He won’t bash you back -
he’ll just think up some worse trick. Don’t scowl, George - we’re on holiday!
Toby’s all right - a bit of an ass, that’s all.’_They had now left Kirrin Bay
behind and were cycling down a country lane, set with hawthorn hedges each
side. The may was over now, and the first wild roses were showing pink here and
there. A little breeze got up, and was very welcome indeed._‘We’ll have an ice
when we come to a village,’ said Julian after they had cycled about six
miles._‘Two ices,’ said Anne. ‘Oh dear - this hill - what a steep one we’ve
come to. I don’t know whether it’s worse to ride up slowly and painfully, or to
get off and push my bike to the top.’_Timmy tore up to the top in front of them
and then sat down to wait in the cool breeze there, his tongue hanging out
longer than ever. Julian came to the top first and looked down the other
side._‘There’s a village there,’ he said. ‘Right at the bottom. Let’s see -
yes, it’s Tennick village - we’ll stop and ask if it sells ices.’_It did, of
course, strawberry and vanilla. The four children sat on a seat under a tree outside
the small village shop, and dug little wooden spoons into ice-tubs. Timmy sat
nearby, watching hopefully. He knew that at least he would be able to lick out
the empty tubs._‘Oh, Tim - I didn’t mean to buy you one, because you really are
a bit fat,’ said George, looking at the beseeching brown eyes fixed on her ice
cream. ‘But as you’ll probably get very thin running so far while we’re
cycling, I’ll buy you a whole one for yourself.’_‘Wuff,’ said Timmy, bounding
into the little shop at once and putting his great paws up on the counter, much
to the surprise of the woman behind it._‘It’s a waste, really, giving Timmy an
ice,’ said Anne when George and the dog came out. ‘He just loosens it with his
tongue and gulps it down. I sometimes wonder he doesn’t chew up the cardboard
tub, too!’_After ten minutes’ rest they all set off again, feeling nice and
cool inside. It really was lovely cycling through the June countryside - the
trees were so fresh and green still, and the fields they passed were golden
with butter-cups - thousands and thousands of them, nodding their polished
heads in the wind._There was very little traffic on these deserted country
roads - an occasional farm-cart, and sometimes a car, but little else. The Five
kept to the lanes as much as they could, for they all preferred their quaint
winding curves set with hedges of all kinds, to the wide, dusty main roads,
straight and uninteresting._‘We ought to get to Billycock Farm about four
o’clock,’ said Dick. ‘Or maybe sooner. What time do we have our lunch, Julian?
And where?’_‘We’ll find a good place about one o’clock,’ said Julian. ‘And not
a minute before. So it’s no good anyone saying they are hungry yet. It’s only
twelve.’_‘I’m more thirsty than hungry,’ said Anne. ‘And I’m sure old Timmy
must be dying of thirst! Let’s stop at the next stream so that he can have a
drink.’_‘There’s one,’ said Dick, pointing to where a stream wound across a
nearby field. ‘Hey, Tim - go and have a drink, old fellow!’_Timmy shot through
the hedge to the stream and began to lap. The others dismounted and stood
waiting. Anne picked a spray of honeysuckle and put it through a buttonhole of
her blouse. ‘Now I can sniff it all the time,’ she said. ‘Delicious!’_‘Hey, Tim
- leave some water for the fishes!’ shouted Dick. ‘George, stop him drinking
any more. He’s swelling up like a balloon,’_‘He’s not,’ said George. ‘Timmy!
That’s enough! Here, boy, here!’_Timmy took one last lap and then raced over to
George. He pranced round her, barking joyfully._‘There - he feels much better
now,’ said George, and away they all went again, groaning as they cycled slowly
up the many hills in that part of the country, and shouting with delight as
they sped furiously down the other side._Julian had decided where to have their
midday meal - on the top of a high hill! Then they could see all the country
for miles around, and there would also be a nice cooling breeze._‘Cheer up,’ he
said as they came to the steepest hill they had so far encountered. ‘We’ll have
our lunch at the top of this hill - and a good long rest!’_‘Thank goodness,’
panted Anne. ‘We’ll be as stiff as anything tomorrow!’_It really was lovely at
the top of the hill! It was so high that they could see the countryside
spreading for miles and miles around them._‘You can see five counties from
here,’ said Julian. ‘But don’t ask me which - I’ve forgotten! Let’s lie in this
heather and have a bit of a rest before we have our lunch.’_It was soft and
comfortable lying in the springy heather, but Timmy did not approve of a rest
before lunch. He wanted his bone! He went to where George had put her bicycle
down, and sniffed in her basket. Yes - his bone was most certainly there! He
glanced round to make sure that everyone was resting, and nobody watching him.
Then he began to nuzzle a paper parcel out of the basket._Anne was lying
nearest to him, and she heard the crackling of the paper and sat up. ‘Timmy!’
she said, shocked. ‘Oh, Timmy - fancy helping yourself to our
sandwiches!’_George sat up at once, and Timmy put his tail down, still wagging
it a little as if to say, ‘Sorry - but after all, it is my bone!’_‘Oh - he just
wants his bone,’ said George. ‘He’s not after our sandwiches. As if he should
take them, Anne! You might have known he wouldn’t!’_‘I feel rather like having
mine now,’ said Anne. ‘Julian, can’t we have some? - and I do want a
drink.’_The idea of a drink made everyone long to begin lunch and soon they
were unwrapping ham and tomato sandwiches, and enormous slices of Joan’s fruit
cake. Julian found the little cardboard drinking cups, and poured out the
orangeade carefully._‘This is fine,’ said Dick, munching his sandwiches and
gazing out over the rolling countryside, with its moorlands, its stretches of
farmland with the fields of green corn, and its sloping hills. ‘Look - see that
hill far away in the distance, Julian - over there - would that be Billycock
Hill do you think? It’s rather a funny shape.’_‘I’ll look through my
field-glasses,’ said Julian, and took them from their leather case. He put them
to his eyes and stared hard at the far-away hill that lay to the north of
them._‘Yes - I think it probably is Billycock Hill,’ he said. ‘It’s got such a
queerly-shaped top; it looks a bit like an old Billycock hat.’_He handed the
glasses round, and everyone looked at the far-off hill. George put the glasses
to Timmy’s eyes. ‘There you are!’ she said. ‘Have a squint, Timmy! Julian, it
doesn’t look so very far away.’_‘It’s not, as the crow flies,’ said Julian,
taking back his glasses and surveying the countryside around them again. ‘But
it’s a long, long way through those hundreds of little winding lanes. Any more
sandwiches, anyone?’_‘There aren’t any more left,’ said Dick. ‘Or fruit cake
either. Have a humbug if you’re still hungry,’_The humbugs were passed round
and Timmy waited hopefully for his turn. George gave him one. ‘Not that it’s
much use to you,’ she said. ‘You just swallow it without even one suck!’_‘We’ll
rest for half an hour more,’ said Julian. ‘Gosh, I do feel sleepy!’_They all
snuggled down into the soft clumps of heather, and soon they were asleep in the
warm sun. Even Timmy snoozed, with one ear half up just in case someone came
by. But nobody did. In fact it was so very quiet on the top of the hill that
three-quarters of an hour went by before anyone awoke.  She glanced at her watch. ‘Dick! Ju! Wake up! We must get on, or
we’ll never be there by tea-time!’_Soon they were once more on their way,
tearing down the hill at top speed, shouting as they went, with Timmy barking
madly beside them. Really, the start of a holiday was the happiest thing in the
world!___Chapter Three__BILLYCOCK FARM__The Five certainly cycled fast that
afternoon, and would have arrived at Billycock Hill even sooner than they did
if it hadn’t been for Timmy. He panted so much in the heat that they stopped
for brief rests every fifteen minutes._‘It’s a pity he’s so big and heavy,’
said Anne.  It certainly
was a queer shape, very like an old-fashioned hat. It was partly heather-clad
and partly sloping meadow land. Cows grazed in the meadows, and farther up the
hill, where there was shorter, wiry grass, the farmer had put a good many
sheep._Nestling down at the foot of the hill was a rambling old farm-building,
with outhouses and stables and a big greenhouse. ‘That must be Billycock Farm,’
said Julian. ‘Well, we’ve made very good time, you know - it’s only half past
three. Let’s wash our faces in that stream over there - we all look rather hot
and dirty. Timmy, you can have a bathe if you want to!’_The water was cool and
silky to the touch, and the children laved it over their faces and necks,
wishing they could do as Timmy was doing - lie down in the stream and let the
water flow over him!_‘That’s better,’ said Dick, mopping his face with an
enormous handkerchief. ‘Now let’s go and present ourselves at Billycock Farm. I
hope Toby’s remembered that we’re coming - he promised to lend us all we wanted
for camping out.’_They combed their hair, brushed down their clothes with their
hands, and then, feeling more respectable, made their way across a field-path
to a farm gate. The field was bumpy, so they rode slowly._Soon they were in a
big farmyard, with hens pecking around them, and ducks swimming on a round
duckpond. Farm dogs began barking from somewhere - and then something ran round
the corner of the old house - something very small and pink._‘Whatever is it?’
said Anne. ‘Oh - it’s a pigling! What a pet! Oh, it’s come right up to us -
little pigling, have you escaped from your sty?  He thought it
must be some sort of dog without any hair._The pigling butted Timmy gently and
Timmy retreated backwards. Julian laughed. ‘Tim can’t make it out!’ he said.
‘No, don’t growl, Timmy - it’s quite harmless!’_‘Hallo - who’s this?’ said Dick
as a small figure came round the house. It stopped when it saw the Five._‘What
a dear little boy!’ said Anne. ‘Is he Toby’s brother?’_The child didn’t look
more than five years old.  ‘He runned away from me.’_Anne laughed. ‘What’s your pig’s name?’
she said._‘Curly,’ said the small boy, and pointed at the pig-ling’s tail.
‘He’s got a curly tail. It won’t go straight.’_‘It’s a nice tail,’ said Anne.
The pigling ran to the small boy, and he grabbed it by its tail. ‘You runned
away again,’ he said.  Is this
Billycock Farm?’ called Julian. ‘Have you got a brother called Toby?’_‘Toby?
Yes, Toby’s over there,’ said the boy, and he pointed to a big barn. ‘Toby’s
ratting with Binky.’_‘Right,’ said Julian.  ‘He’s rather a pet himself,’ he said. ‘Come on -
let’s go and find Toby and Binky. Perhaps Binky is another brother.’_‘Or a
dog,’ said George, and put her hand on Timmy’s collar. ‘Better be careful. He
might go for Tim.’_‘Yes - Binky might be a dog, of course - probably a good
ratter,’ said Julian.  A great noise came from inside as
the two boys approached. Shouts and barks and the rap of a stick came to their
ears._‘Get him, Binky - look, he went under that sack! Oh, you fathead, you’ve
lost him again!’_Wuff-wuff-wuff! Rap-rap! More yells! In great curiosity Julian
and Dick peered into the rather dark old barn. They saw Toby there, prodding
under sacks, with a most excited collie beside him, barking incessantly._‘Hey,
Toby!’ yelled Julian, and Toby stood up and turned a red and perspiring face
towards the two boys._‘Oh - you’ve arrived!’ he said, going quickly to the
door. ‘I thought you were never coming. Glad to see you! But are there only two
of you? I got out tents and things for four.’_‘There are four of us - five
counting Timmy,’ said Julian. ‘We’ve left the two girls over there with him -
he’s our dog. Will yours be friendly or not?’_‘Oh, yes, so long as I introduce
them,’ said Toby, and they all went out of the barn. As soon as Binky, Toby’s
dog, saw Timmy, he stood still, made himself stiff, and growled, while the
hackles on his neck slowly rose up._‘It’s all right,’ shouted Toby to the girls.
‘Bring your dog here. He’ll be all right with Binky in half a minute.’_Rather
doubtfully George brought Timmy across. Timmy was a bit doubtful himself of
this big collie! Toby bent down and spoke into Binky’s ear._‘Binky, shake paws
with this nice girl - she’s a friend.’_He nodded at George. ‘Hold out your
hand,’ he said._George bent down to the collie and held out her hand. At once
the dog put up his paw and allowed her to shake it solemnly._‘Now you,’ said
Toby to Anne, and she did the same.
George nodded, ‘He does? Right - tell him to shake paws with Binky. Binky,
shake!’_‘Timmy, shake,’ commanded George, and very politely and solemnly the
two dogs shook paws, eyeing each other cautiously. Timmy gave a sudden little
whine - and then the two were tearing round the yard together, barking
furiously, chasing one another, rolling over, and having a wonderful
game._‘That’s all right, then,’ said Toby, pleased. ‘Binky’s quite all right
with anyone, human or animal, so long as he can shake hands with them. I’ve
taught him that. But he’s a dud ratter! He just can’t seem to nip a rat. Well -
let’s go and see my mother. She’s expecting you. She’s got a whopping great
tea.’_This was all very satisfactory! Just the kind of welcome the Five liked.
Anne looked sideways at Toby. She thought he was rather nice. George wasn’t so
sure. He had a rose in his button-hole - was it a trick one, and was he going
to ask her to smell it?_‘We saw a little yellow-haired boy just now,’ said
Anne.  ‘He calls it Curly - and he adores it! We’ve offered him a kitten or
a puppy - but no, he wants that pigling. They go everywhere together - like
Mary and her lamb! Benny’s a pet - he really is.  ‘Still - Anne’s not too bad, is she, Ju?’_Toby’s mother, Mrs
Thomas, was a plump and jolly woman, with a smile as wide as Toby’s and
Benny’s. She made them all very welcome._‘Come along in,’ she said. ‘Toby’s
pleased you’re going to camp hereabouts - he’s got all the tents and rugs
you’ll need - and you can come every day and get eggs and milk and bread and
butter and anything else you need from here. Don’t be afraid to ask!’_There was
suddenly the scamper of little hooves and Curly the pigling came running
indoors._‘There, now!’ said Toby’s mother. ‘There’s that pigling again. Benny,
Benny - you are NOT to let Curly come indoors. Cats I don’t mind, nor dogs -
but pigs I won’t have. Benny!’_Benny appeared, looking most apologetic. ‘Sorry,
Mum - but he’s lively today. Oooh, I say - what a tea! Can we have some
yet?’_‘I’ll just make the tea - unless you’d rather have some of our creamy
milk?’ said Toby’s mother._‘Oh, milk, please, Mrs Thomas,’ said Anne, and they
all said the same. Nothing could be nicer than icy-cold, creamy farm milk from
the dairy on a hot day like this._ They all sat down to tea, and the four
visitors wished they had not had such a big lunch! A large ham sat on the
table, and there were crusty loaves of new bread. Crisp lettuces, dewy and
cool, and red radishes were side by side in a big glass dish. On the sideboard
was an enormous cake, and beside it a dish of scones. Great slabs of butter and
jugs of creamy milk were there, too, with honey and home-made jam._‘I wish I
was hungry, really hungry,’ said Dick. ‘This is just the kind of meal for a
hungry day.’_‘I didn’t think you’d have had much lunch,’ said Mrs Thomas. ‘Now
then, Toby - you’re the host. See to your guests, please - and, Benny, take the
pigling off your knee. I will not have him at the table.’_‘Curly will be very
upset if he sees that ham,’ said Toby slyly. ‘That’s his grandfather!’_Benny
put Curly down hurriedly, afraid that his feelings might be hurt. The pigling
went to sit beside Timmy, who, very much surprised, but rather pleased, at once
made room for him._It was a very happy meal, and Toby was a good host. Anne sat
beside little Benny, and found herself liking him more than ever. ‘He’s like a
little boy out of a story,’ she said to George. ‘He and Curly ought to be put
into a book!’_‘Well now,’ said Mrs Thomas after everyone had eaten their fill,
‘what are your plans? Toby, show them where you have put their tents and
everything. Then they can decide where they are going to camp.’_‘Come on,
then,’ said Toby, and Benny and Curly and Binky all came along, too. ‘You can
help to carry everything - and we’ll go up on Billycock Hill and find a fine
camping place. How I wish I could camp out with you too!’_Away they all went,
feeling rather full but very happy. Where should they camp? How lovely to sleep
out at nights, and see the stars through the opening in the tent!___Chapter
Four__A FINE CAMPING-PLACE__Toby had put all the camping-out gear in a nearby
barn. He took the Five there, with Benny and the pigling trailing after. Binky
came, too, so friendly now with Timmy that they trotted along side by side,
occasionally pushing against each other like schoolboys!_Julian and Dick looked
at the pile of canvas, the pegs and the ropes. Yes, these two tents would do
very well, though if the weather stayed like this they would hardly need tents!
They could lay their rugs out on the springy heather._‘This is fine, Toby,’
said Julian gratefully. ‘You’ve even provided a kettle and a
frying-pan.’_‘Well, you might want to cook a meal,’ said Toby. ‘Or boil soup.
There’s a saucepan for that - ah, here it is!’_He picked it up and promptly put
it on Benny’s head, where it stuck tightly on his yellow curls. Benny yelled
and ran at Toby, hitting him with his fists.  ‘You’re all right!’ she said. ‘It was a funny hat to wear, wasn’t
it?’_‘Curly’s runned away again!’ wept Benny, and he pummelled the laughing
Toby.  ‘Now - is there anything I’ve
forgotten? You’ve got torches, I suppose? What about candles - and
matches?’_‘We’ve got those, too,’ said Dick. ‘And we’ve brought macs and
swim-suits - but that’s about all. I see you’ve put a couple of rugs here as
well in case we’re cold!’_‘Well, it might turn wet and chilly,’ said Toby. ‘Of
course, if it snows, or anything like that, you’ll have to come and borrow some
more rugs! Now, shall I help you to fix them on your bikes?’_It was too
difficult to fix everything on to the four bikes, and in the end Toby found a
hand-cart and the children piled everything into that._‘We’ll fetch our bikes
some other time,’ said Julian._‘Leave them here!’ said Toby. ‘They’ll be all
right. Are you going now? Well, I’ll get a package Mother’s got ready for you -
you know, ham and new-laid eggs and bread and butter and the rest.’_‘It’s most
awfully good of her,’ said Julian gratefully. ‘Well, let’s start - we’ve got
everything in the handcart now. We’ll just wait for the food. Dick, you and I
can push this hand-cart together. It will need two of us up the hill - and I
vote we camp on the side of the slope somewhere, so that we can get a good
view.’_Toby came back with an enormous package of food. Benny came with him,
Curly trotting behind. Benny carried a basket of ripe strawberries._‘I picked them
for you,’ he said, and handed them to Anne._‘What beauties!’ she said, and gave
the smiling child a hug. ‘We shall enjoy them, Benny.’_‘Can I come and see your
camp when you’ve builded it?’ he asked. ‘Can I bring Curly? He’s never seen a
camp.’_‘Yes, of course you can,’ said Anne. ‘Are we ready now, Julian? What
about milk? Mrs Thomas said we could take some.’_‘Oh, yes - I forgot that,’
said Toby. ‘It’s in the dairy.’ He sped off with Binky, and the others arranged
everything neatly in the useful little hand-cart. Toby came back with the milk
- two big bottles. They were stacked carefully in a corner of the cart._‘Well,
we’re ready now, I think,’ said Julian, and he and Dick began to push the cart
down the path to the gate. Timmy and Binky trotted on ahead, and everyone else
followed. Benny came as far as the gate with Curly, then Toby sent him
back._‘You know what Mother said, Benny,’ he said. ‘You’re not to come with us
now - it’ll be too late when Binky and I come back.’_Benny’s mouth went down,
but he didn’t attempt to follow them. He picked Curly up in his arms in case
the pigling should run away after the others._‘Benny’s a pet,’ said Anne. ‘I
wish I had a little brother like that.’_‘He’s all right,’ said Toby. ‘A bit of
a cry-baby, though. I’m trying to bring him up properly - teasing him out of
his babyishness, and making him stand on his own feet.’_‘He seems to be able to
do that all right,’ said Dick. ‘My word - the way he went for you when you put
that saucepan on his head! He pummelled you right and left!’_‘Benny’s a funny
little kid,’ said Toby, giving a hand with the cart as they reached the slope
of the hill. ‘He’s always having queer pets. Two years ago he had a lamb that
followed him everywhere. Last year he had two goslings that followed him about
- and when they grew into geese they still followed him! They waddled all the
way upstairs one day!’_‘And this year he’s got a pig!’ said George, who, like
Anne, was very much amused with Benny. ‘Don’t you think Timmy was very funny
with Curly? I’m sure he still thinks it’s a puppy without any hair!’_They made
their way up the hill, following a narrow sheep-path. The hand-cart bumped and
wobbled, and soon it needed four or five pairs of hands to push it._‘How much
farther?’ panted Toby at last. ‘Surely you’re not going right to the
top?’_‘No,’ said Julian. ‘About half-way up. We do want to have a good view,
Toby, Not very much farther up, I should think. But let’s have a bit of rest,
shall we?’_They sat down, glad to get their breath. Certainly the view was
magnificent. Far away on the horizon were purplish hills, and in front of them
stretched miles and miles of green and golden countryside. Green for growing
corn and grass - gold for the buttercups, which were at their best in this
sunny week of June._‘I like those silvery threads here and there winding about
the green fields,’ said Anne. ‘Little streams - or rivers - curving like snakes
all about! And I like the dark green patches that are woods.’_‘What’s that just
down there?’ asked George, pointing to what looked like an enormous field with
great sheds in the centre._‘That’s an airfield,’ said Toby promptly. ‘A bit
hush-hush. Secret planes tried out, and all that. I know all about it because a
cousin of mine is there - he’s a flight-lieutenant. He comes to see us
sometimes and tells me things. It’s an experimental place.’_‘What’s that,
exactly?’ asked Anne._‘Well - where new ideas are tried out,’ said Toby. ‘They
deal mostly with very small planes down there - one-man fighter planes, I
think. Don’t be scared if you hear noises from the airfield sometimes - bangs
and bursts. I don’t know what they are, of course - it’s all to do with their
experiments.’_‘I wish I could visit the airfield,’ said Dick. ‘I’m keen on
planes. I’m going to fly one when I’m older.’_‘You’d better meet my cousin,
then,’ said Toby. ‘He might take you up in one.’_‘I should like to meet him,’
said Dick, delighted. ‘So would Julian.’_‘We’d better get on now,’ said Julian,
standing up. ‘We won’t go much higher - the view can’t be much better anywhere
else!’_George and Anne went on ahead to find a good camping-place, while the
three boys pushed the cart slowly over the heather. But it was Timmy who found
the right place! He ran on ahead, feeling thirsty, so when he heard the sound
of running water he ran to it at once._From under a jutting rock gushed a
little spring. It rippled down a rocky shelf and lost itself in a mass of lush
greenery below. Rushes grew to mark the way it went, and George's sharp eyes
could follow its path for quite a long way down the hill, outlined by the dark
line of rushes._‘Julian! Look what Timmy’s found!’ she called as she watched
him lap from the clear spring water. ‘A little spring gushing out of the
hillside! Hadn’t we better camp near it?’_‘Jolly good idea!’ shouted back
Julian, and left the hand-cart to come and see. ‘Yes, this is just the place! A
fine view - plenty of spring heather to camp on - and water laid on quite
near!’_Everyone agreed that it was a fine place, and soon all the gear was
taken from the hand-cart. The tents were not erected, for everyone meant to
sleep under the stars that night, the evening was so warm. Nobody wanted to lie
in a stuffy tent!_Anne unpacked the food parcel, wondering where would be the
coolest place for a ‘larder’. She went over to the rock from which gushed the
crystal-clear spring water. She pushed away the rushes around and discovered a
kind of small cave hollowed out of the rock below the spring._‘It would be as
cool as anything in there,’ thought Anne, and put her hand through the falling
water into the cave-like hole. Yes, it was icy cold! Was it big enough to hold
the milk bottles and everything? Just about, she thought._Anne loved arranging
anything, and she was soon at work putting away the food and the milk into her
queer larder. George laughed when she saw it._‘Just like you, Anne!’ she said.
‘Well, we’d better put a towel by the spring, for certainly we shall get soaked
every time we get out any food!’_‘Tell Timmy he’s not to try and poke his head
into my larder,’ said Anne, pushing Timmy away. ‘Oh, now he’s all wet. Go and
shake yourself somewhere else, Timmy - you’re showering me with drops of
water!’_Toby had to leave them, for it was already past his supper-time. ‘See
you tomorrow!’ he said. ‘How I wish I was staying up here with you! So
long!’_Away he went down the hill with Binky at his heels. The Five looked at
one another and grinned._‘He’s nice - but it’s good to be alone again - just us
Five,’ said George. ‘Come on - let’s settle in. This is the best camp we’ve
ever had!’___Chapter Five__THE FIRST NIGHT - AND A MORNING VISITOR__‘What’s the
time?’ said Julian, looking at his watch. ‘Good gracious - it’s almost eight
o’clock! Anyone feel tired?’_‘Yes,’ said Dick, Anne and George, and even Timmy
joined in with his deepest ‘Woof’._‘With all that bicycling and then pushing
that heavy cart up the hill, I can hardly move!’ said Dick.  Even up here, with a
breeze, it’s warm. I should be stifled in a tent.’_‘Well, we’re all agreed on
that,’ said Julian. ‘Anne, what do you suggest for a light supper?’_‘Bread,
butter and some of Mrs Thomas’s farm cheese,’ said Anne promptly. ‘With a
tomato or two if you like - and icy-cold milk and Benny’s strawberries to
finish with. That is - if the milk has had time to get cold in the little hole
under the spring.’_‘Sounds jolly good,’ said Julian. ‘What do you think, Timmy
? Anne, if you and George get the supper ready, Dick and I will prepare our
heathery beds. Then we can all turn in as soon as possible. I honestly feel
that once I sit down or lie down I’ll not be able to get up again!’_‘Same
here,’ said Dick, and went off with Julian to find the best place for sleeping.
They soon found one.  In front of it was a stretch of very close-set
heather, as springy as the best mattress in the world. Dick sat down on it and
grinned at Julian._‘Just made for us!’ he said. ‘We shall sleep like tops here.
We hardly need a rug to lie on, it’s so close-grown. Help me up, Ju - my legs
won’t do anything now I’ve sat down!’_Julian pulled him up and they called to the
girls: ‘Anne! George! Bring the supper here. We’ve found a good place. It’s by
this giant gorse bush.’_The girls came along with the meal, and the boys
fetched a couple of rugs from the pile of things that they had brought in the
hand-cart. They spread them on the heather._‘I say! This certainly is a good
place,’ said George, coming up with Anne and Timmy, carrying a loaf of bread, a
pat of butter and tomatoes. Anne had the milk and the cheese. Timmy was
carrying a little bag of his own biscuits._‘The gorse bush will shelter us from
too much wind,’ said Dick, taking the milk from Anne. ‘It’s an ideal spot - and
the view is superb.’_It was a very happy supper they had, sitting in the
heather, while the sun sank lower and lower in the west. The evenings were very
light now, and certainly they would not need candles! They finished up
everything, and then went to wash at the little spring that bubbled out so
cheerfully._They lay down on their rugs in the heather while it was still
daylight. ‘Good night!’ said Dick, and promptly fell fast asleep. ‘Good night!’
called Julian, and lay for a few seconds looking at the view, which was now
becoming dim and blue._Timmy kept the two girls awake for a minute or two,
trying to squeeze in between them. ‘Do keep still, Timmy,’ said George. ‘And
just remember you’re on guard, even though I don’t expect there is anyone
nearer than a mile - and that will be at Billycock Farm! Lie still now, or I’ll
push you off the rug! Good night, Anne.’_George was soon asleep, and so was Timmy,
tired out with so many miles of running. Anne lay awake for a few minutes,
looking at the evening star which shone large and golden in the sky. She felt
very happy. ‘I don’t want to grow up,’ she thought. ‘There can’t be anything
nicer in the world than this - being with the others, having fun with them. No
- I don’t want to grow up!’_Then she, too, fell asleep, and night came quietly
down, with stars brilliant in the sky, and very little noise to be heard
anywhere - just the gurgling of the spring some way away, and the far-off bark
of some dog - perhaps Binky at the farm. The breeze died down, so that even
that could not be heard._No one except Timmy awoke at all that night. Timmy put
up one ear when he heard a squeak just above his head. It came again and he
opened one eye. It was a small black bat circling and swooping, hunting for
insects. Its squeak was so high that only Timmy’s quick ear caught it. He put
down his listening ear and went to sleep again._Nobody stirred until a very
loud noise awakened them. R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!  What could it
be?_‘It’s a plane,’ said Julian, staring up at a small aeroplane flying over
the hill. ‘It must be one from that airfield down there! I say - it’s five past
nine! Five past nine - we’ve slept for nearly twelve hours!’_‘Well, I’m going
to sleep for some more,’ said Dick, snuggling down into his heathery bed again
and shutting his eyes._‘No, you’re not,’ said Julian, giving him a shove. ‘It’s
too good a day to waste in any more sleep.  ‘That aeroplane
wakened me. Anne’s awake, too - and you can see that Timmy is; he’s gone after
a rabbit or something.’_‘We’ll all go and wash at the spring,’ said Anne,
scrambling off the rug. ‘And George and I will get breakfast.  They washed in the cold water, and Timmy drank it,
lapping it thirstily as it splashed down over his nose. Then they had their
breakfast._It was easy to make a little fire in the shelter of the giant gorse
bush, and boil the eggs in the saucepan. Bread and butter and tomatoes
completed the simple meal, with cold creamy milk to wash it down._In the middle
of this Timmy began ta bark frantically, but as his tail was wagging all the
time, the others guessed that it must be Toby coming. They heard Binky’s
answering bark, and then the dog himself appeared, panting and excited. He
greeted Timmy first of all, and then ran round to give everyone a lick._‘Hallo,
hallo, hallo!’ came Toby’s voice, and he appeared round the gorse bush. ‘Had a
good night? I say, aren’t you late - still having your breakfast? My word,
you’re sleepy-heads! I’ve been up since six. I’ve milked cows and cleaned out a
shed, and fed the hens and collected the eggs.’_The Five immediately felt
ashamed of themselves! They gazed at Toby in admiration - why, he was quite a
farmer!_‘I’ve brought you some more milk, bread and eggs and cake,’ he said,
and put down a basket._‘Jolly good of you,’ said Julian. ‘We must pay for any
food we get from your farm, you know that.  ‘But I know you mean to - so I suggest that
you pay me each time and I’ll put the money into a box and buy my mother a
smashing present at the end - from you all. Will that do?’_‘That’s a good
idea,’ said Julian. ‘We couldn’t possibly accept food if we didn’t pay for it -
but I know what mothers are - they don’t like being paid in money for their
kindness! So we’ll do what you say. Now, reckon up what we owe so far, and I’ll
pay you.’_‘Right,’ said Toby in a business-like way, ‘I’ll charge you market
prices, not top prices. I’ll just tot up the bill while you’re cleaning up and
putting away what I’ve brought.’_The girls washed-up in the spring, and the
boys carried everything there for Anne to put in her ‘larder’. Toby presented
Julian with a neatly-written bill, which he at once paid. Toby receipted the
bill and gave it back._‘There you are - all business-like,’ he said. ‘Thanks
very much. What are you going to do today? There are super caves to be explored
if you like - or there’s the Butterfly Farm - or you can just come down to our
farm for the day.’_‘No, not today,’ said Julian, afraid that they might make
themselves a nuisance to Mrs Thomas. ‘I don’t feel like seeing caves this
morning either - so dark and eerie on such a sunny day. What shall we do,
girls?’_But before they could decide Binky and Timmy began to bark, each dog
standing quite still, facing the same way - towards the giant gorse bush._‘Who
is it, Tim?’ asked George. ‘Go and see! Go on, then!’_Timmy ran behind the
bush, followed by Binky, and then the children heard a surprised voice._‘Hallo,
Binky! What are you doing all the way up here? And who’s your friend?’_‘It’s Mr
Gringle,’ said Toby. ‘One of the men who own the Butterfly Farm. He’s often up
here with his net, because it’s a wonderful place for butterflies.’_A man came
round the gorse bush - rather a peculiar figure, untidy, with glasses slipping
down his nose, and his hair much too long. He carried a big butterfly net and
stopped when he saw the five children._‘Hallo!’ he said. ‘Who are all these,
Toby? Quite a crowd!’_‘Friends of mine, Mr Cringle,’ said Toby solemnly. ‘Allow
me to introduce them.
Behind his glasses shone curiously bright eyes. He nodded his head to each of
the four cousins. ‘Three boys - and a girl. Very nice lot, too. You don’t look
as if you’ll leave litter about or start fires in this lovely countryside.’_‘We
shouldn’t dream of it,’ said George, delighted that he had thought she was a
boy. Nothing pleased George as much as that! ‘Mr Gringle - could we see your
Butterfly Farm, please? We would so like to!’_‘Of course, my dear boy, of
course,’ said Mr Gringle, and his eyes shone as if he were very pleased. ‘We
don’t often have visitors, so it’s quite an event when somebody comes along.
This way, this way!’___Chapter Six__THE BUTTERFLY FARM__Mr Gringle led the way
down the hill by a little path so overgrown that it was hardly possible to see
it.  I’m here! Can I come with you?’_‘It’s Benny
- and the pigling!’ said Anne, amused at the little couple making their way
excitedly towards them.  ‘You know you’re not supposed to wander too far from
the farm. You’ll get lost one of these days, Benny.’_‘Curly runned away,’ said
Benny, looking up at his big brother with wide brown eyes._‘You mean you wanted
to find out where I’d gone so you came after me with Curly,’ said Toby._‘Curly
runned away, he runned fast!’ said Benny, looking as if he was going to
cry._‘You’re a scoundrel, Benny,’ said Toby. ‘You make that pigling of yours an
excuse for getting about all over the place.  Well - tail on to us now - we’re going to the
Butterfly Farm. And if Curly runs away, let him!  But he
soon had to put him down, for Curly squealed so loudly that Timmy and Binky
both leapt round him in great concern._‘Hm - well - shall we proceed?’ asked Mr
Gringle, walking on in front. ‘Quite a party we have today.’_‘Are your
butterflies afraid of pigs or dogs?’ asked Benny, trotting beside him.  Then
he gave a cry and caught Mr Gringle’s arm. ‘I say sir - look at that butterfly.
Don’t you want to catch it? Is it rare?’_‘No,’ said Mr Gringle rather coldly.
‘It’s a meadow-brown - very common indeed. Don’t they teach you anything at
school? Fancy not knowing that!’_‘Julian, do we have any butterfly lessons?’
asked Toby with a grin. ‘I say, Mr Gringle, what about you coming and teaching
us about Cabbage Butterflies and Cauliflower Moths, and Red Admirals and Blue
Captains and Peacock Butterflies and Ostrich Moths and...’_‘Don’t be an ass,
Toby,’ said Julian, seeing that Mr Gringle had no sense of humour at all, and
did not think this in the least funny. ‘Mr Gringle, are there many rare
butterflies about here?’_‘Oh, yes, yes,’ said the Butterfly Man. ‘But not only
that - there are so many of all kinds here, and it is easy to catch as many as
I want for breeding purposes. One butterfly means hundreds of eggs, you know -
and we hatch them out and sell them.’_He suddenly made a dart to one side,
almost knocking George over. ‘Sorry, boy!’ he said, making the others smile,
‘sorry! There’s a Brown Argus there - a lovely specimen, first I’ve seen this
year! Stand clear, will you.’_The children - and the dogs, too - stood still as
he tiptoed towards a small dark brown butterfly spreading its tiny wings as it
sat on a flowering plant. With a swift downwards swoop the net closed over the
plant, and in a trice the Butterfly Man had caught the fluttering insect. He
pinched the net inwards, and showed the children the tiny creature._‘There you
are - a female Brown Argus, one of the family of the Blue Butterflies you see
so often in full summer. But this isn’t a blue
butterfly,’ said Anne, looking through the fine net. ‘It’s dark brown, with a
row of pretty orange spots along the margins of its wings.’_‘All the same, it
belongs to the Blue Butterfly family,’ said Mr Gringle, taking it out with the
gentlest of fingers and putting it into a tin case slung round his shoulders.
‘It’s probably come up from one of those hay meadows down in the valley there.
In you go, my little beauty!’_‘Mr Gringle, quick - here’s a most lovely
butterfly!’ called George. ‘It’s got greeny-black front wings with red spots,
and lovely red back wings with dark green borders. Oh, quick - I’m sure you
want this one!’_‘That’s not a butterfly,’ said Dick, who knew a good deal about
them._‘I should think not!’ said Mr Gringle, getting his net poised ready to
swoop. ‘It’s a moth - a lovely little thing!’ Down went his net and the pretty
little red and green insect fluttered in surprise inside it._‘But moths don’t
fly in the daytime,’ argued George. ‘Only at night.’_‘Rubbish!’ said Mr
Gringle, looking at the moth through the thick lens of his glasses. ‘What are
boys coming to nowadays? In my boyhood nearly every boy knew that there are
night-time and day-time ones as well!’_‘But,’ began George again, and stopped
as Mr Gringle gave her quite a glare._‘This is a Six-Spot Burnet Day-Flying
Moth,’ he said, speaking slowly as if he were addressing a very small child.
‘It loves to fly in the hot sunshine. Please do not argue with me.
‘He’s right, fat-head,’ he said in a low voice. ‘You don’t know much about
moths, so say nothing, George, or he won’t let us go with him.’_‘I’d like two
or three more of these Six-Spots highly-coloured and unusually large. Perhaps
you would see if you can find any more, all of you.’_Everybody began to look
here and there, and to shake any little bush or clump of grass they passed.
Timmy and Binky were most interested in this and began a hunt on their own,
sniffing and snuffling everywhere, not quite sure what they were looking for,
but enjoying it all the same._Mr Gringle took a long time to get to his
Butterfly Farm, and the children began to wish they hadn’t asked to go. There
was so much sidestepping to see this and that, so much examining when a
specimen was caught, so much ‘talky-talk’, as Dick whispered to Anne._‘Do you
keep your butterflies and moths in those glass-houses?’ asked Julian._‘Yes,’
said Mr Gringle. ‘Come along - I’ll show you what I and my friend Mr Brent do.
 The
cottage looked as if it were about to fall down at any moment. Two of the
windows were broken and some tiles had fallen off the roof. But the
glass-houses were in good repair, and the glass panes were perfectly clean.
Evidently the Butterfly Men thought more of their butterflies and moths than
they did of themselves._‘Do you live here all alone with Mr Brent, your
friend?’ asked Dick curiously, thinking that it must be a strange and lonely
life._‘Oh, no. Old Mrs Janes does for us,’ said Mr Cringle. ‘And sometimes her
son comes here to do any small repairs, and to clean all the glass of the
butterfly houses. There’s the old lady, look. She can’t bear insects of any
sort, so she never comes into the glass houses.’_An old woman, looking exactly
like a witch, peered out at them through a window in the cottage. Anne was
quite scared to see her. Toby grinned. ‘She’s quite harmless,’ he said to Anne.
‘Our cook knows her because she often comes to us for eggs and milk. She’s got
no teeth at all, so she mutters and mumbles and that makes her seem more like a
witch than ever.’_‘I don’t much like the look of her,’ said Anne, going
thankfully into the first of the butterfly houses. ‘Oh - what a lot of
butterflies!’_There certainly were! Hundreds were flying about loose, and many
others were in little compartments either by themselves or with another
butterfly to match,_The children saw that many bushes and plants were growing
in the glass-house, and on some of them were placed long sleeves made of
muslin, tied in at each end._‘What’s in these long sleeves of fine muslin?’
asked Dick. ‘Oh - I see.  My word, how they are
eating, too!’_‘Yes. I told you we breed butterflies and moths,’ said Mr
Gringle, and he opened the end of one of the muslin bags, so that the visitors
could see the caterpillars better. ‘These are the caterpillars of one kind of
butterfly; they feed on this particular plant.’_The children gazed at scores of
green caterpillars, marked with red and yellow spots, all eating greedily on
the leaves of the twig enclosed there. Mr Gringle undid another of the muslin
bags and showed them some huge caterpillars, each of them green, with purple
stripes on the side and a curious black horn on the tail end._‘Privet-Hawk Moth
Caterpillars,’ said Mr Gringle, and Julian and Dick nodded. They knew these big
green caterpillars quite well._‘Why is the moth called Privet-Hawk?’ asked
Anne. ‘There are so many different Hawk-moths, I know. I’ve often wondered why
they are all called Hawk.’_Mr Gringle beamed at Anne, evidently thinking that
this was a quite intelligent question, ‘Haven’t you ever seen a Hawk Moth
flying?’ he said. ‘No? Well, it flies very strongly indeed. Oh, a most striking
flight - like the flight of the bird called a hawk, you know.’_‘You’re not
feeding the caterpillars on privet, though,’ said George. ‘But you said they
were privet-hawks.’_‘There isn’t any privet growing near here,’ said Mr
Gringle. ‘So I give them elder - this is an elder bush which I planted in the
glass-house. They like it just as much.’_The Butterfly Farm was certainly
interesting, and the children wandered about the glass-house watching
caterpillars of all kinds, admiring the lovely specimens of butterflies, and
marvelling at the collection of curious-shaped chrysalides and cocoons that Mr
Gringle kept carefully in boxes, waiting for the perfect insect, moth or
butterfly, to emerge._‘Like magic,’ he said in an awed voice, his eyes shining
behind his glasses. ‘Sometimes, you know, I feel like a magician myself - and
my butterfly net is a wand!’_The children felt rather uncomfortable as he said
this, waving his butterfly net to and fro like a wand.  ‘Let’s get
into the fresh air. I’ve had enough. Good-bye, Mr Gringle, and thank you!’_Out
they all went and drew in deep breaths of fresh air. And then they heard a
croaking voice behind them._‘Get out of here!’ said the voice. ‘Get
out!’___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
Dick, 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 Dick,
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!  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
butterflies, too, of course.’_‘I’d like to see that Butterfly House again, but
Mr Gringle gets on my nerves,’ said Dick. ‘Those brilliant eyes behind those
thick glasses. You’d think that if they were as bright and piercing as that he
wouldn’t need to wear any glasses 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 Dick.  ‘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.
 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. Dick
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
Dick 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.  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 Dick’s knee, and
Timmy came to investigate at once. Binky came too, and snapped at it, breaking
the nylon thread that held it._‘Ass!’ 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!  I don’t call that
a joke. I call it a mean trick. You knew Anne hated spiders.’_‘Let’s change the
subject,’ said Dick 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 Dick 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 smashing 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 washing-up, and put the rest of the food away.  ‘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, Dick 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, Dick, 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 pass 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 Dick 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 ships - 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.  ‘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 glass. 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 Dick 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 Dick.
‘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 Dick._‘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._‘I back old George,’ said Dick. ‘She’d out-swim most boys.
Well, she’s put Toby in his place all right. He won’t be so free with spiders
and silly jokes for a while!’_Timmy began to bark again when he saw Toby
chasing George, and Binky joined in._‘Shut up, Binky!’ shouted Toby. ‘I tell
you STOP BARKING!’_Before Toby had obeyed, something happened. A stentorian
voice came across the pool._‘What’s all this! You’re trespassing on Crown
property. Didn’t you see the notice?’_The dogs stopped barking and the five
children looked round to see who was shouting. Their heads bobbed on the surface
of the water as they gazed about to find the shouter._It was a man in Air Force
uniform, a big man, burly and red-faced._‘What’s the matter?’ called Julian,
swimming towards him. ‘We’re only bathing. We’re not doing any harm.’_‘Didn’t
you see the notice?’ shouted the man, pointing over to it._‘Yes. But we
couldn’t see much danger here,’ called back Julian, wishing now that he hadn’t
believed Toby._‘You come on out!’ roared the man. ‘All of you, Come on.’_They
all waded out of the cool pond, Anne feeling scared. The dogs splashed out,
too, and stood eyeing the man grimly. He calmed down a little when he saw
them._‘Those your dogs I heard barking? Well, now, I see you’re all kids -
though one of you’s big enough to know better!’ and he pointed to Julian. ‘I thought
maybe you were trippers - thinking you could come wandering on the airfield and
not get into trouble!’_‘Trippers don’t come here,’ said Toby, squeezing the
water out of his hair._‘Nor do sensible children,’ retorted the man. ‘I’ve had
trouble from you before, haven’t I? Yes. Didn’t you come walking round the
hangars bold as brass one day? And that dog with you, too?’_‘I only went to see
my cousin, Flight-Lieutenant Thomas,’ said Toby. ‘I wasn’t doing any harm - I
wasn’t spying. I tell you I only went to see my cousin!’_‘Well, I shall report
you to him,’ said the man, ‘and tell him to give you a proper ticking off.
We’ve strict instructions to warn off anyone - there’s notices everywhere.’_‘Is
something hush-hush going on, then?’ said Toby with a sudden grin._‘As if I’d
tell you if there was!’ said the man in disgust. ‘Far as I can see, there’s
nothing much doing here - dull as ditch-water this place - and as far as I’m
concerned I’d welcome a horde of trippers - it would liven up the place no end.
But orders is orders, as you very well know.’_Julian thought it was about time
that he should join in.  ‘We shan’t bathe here again, I promise
you. Sorry to have made you come all this way to warn us off.’_The RAF guard
looked at Julian with respect. There was something about the boy that reassured
people, and the man now felt quite sure that it was all Toby’s fault. He smiled
and gave a sketchy salute._‘That’s all right,’ he said.  And - er - if that rogue of a boy here’ - he pointed
to Toby - ‘if he cares to ask Flight-Lieutenant Thomas for permission to bathe
in this pool at certain hours, it’s okay by me. I shan’t come running then when
I hear dogs barking and a lot of shouting if I know you’re allowed here at
certain hours.’_‘Thanks,’ said Julian. ‘But anyway we’re only here for a few
days.’_‘So long,’ said the man, who saluted them all and walked off
smartly._‘Well,’ said Toby, quite unashamed, ‘what did he want to come messing
about here for, spoiling our bathe? He said there wasn’t anything secret going
on, so why...’_‘Oh, shut up!’ said Dick. ‘You heard what he said about orders
being orders? He’s not a silly schoolboy trying to be clever and getting out of
doing his work - yes, like you do at school, Toby, and a good many of the
others! He’s a man in uniform. You’d better grow up a bit, young Toby.’_‘I
agree,’ said Julian. ‘So don’t let’s hear any more about it. You slipped up,
Toby, and that’s all there is to it. Now let’s dry ourselves and go to the farm
and ask your nice kind mother if she’ll let us have some more food to take back
to our camp with us. I’m as hungry as a hunter after our bathe.’_Toby was
rather subdued after all this. He glanced at George to see if she was gloating
over his ticking off, but George was never one to exult over anyone’s downfall,
and Toby felt relieved._‘Shall I ask my cousin if he’ll get permission for us
to bathe in the pool?’ he said as they went away from the water, dry and
dressed again._‘I think not,’ said Julian. ‘But I’d like to meet your cousin
some time all the same.’_‘He might take us up in a plane,’ said Toby hopefully,
his spirits rising at the thought.  ‘You
look like Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son,’ said Julian, ruffling the yellow curls. ‘He
stole a pig and ran away, carrying it under his arm.’_‘But this is my own pig,’
said Benny, surprised. ‘I didn’t steal him. I came to find you, because my
mother says come to tea.’_‘You have got a nice mother!’ said Anne, taking the
small boy’s hand.  He must be so heavy.’_‘He
runned away again,’ said Benny severely. ‘So I carried him.’_‘Put a collar on
his neck, with a lead,’ suggested Dick._‘He hasn’t got a neck,’ said Benny, and
indeed the pigling was so plump that his head joined his body without any neck
at all._The little procession made its way to the farm, and the pigling at once
ran in front, squealing. It seemed surprised and delighted to find it was home
again. Timmy pricked up his ears when it squealed. He thought that it must be
in pain, and he was worried! He ran beside the little creature, trying to
nuzzle it._Mrs Thomas saw them through the window. ‘Come along in!’ she said.
 ‘Oh! it’s you,
Cousin Jeff. Hey, Julian, Dick - look, it’s my Cousin Jeff from the airfield -
Flight-Lieutenant Thomas! The one I told you about! Cousin Jeff, meet my
friends - Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina - er, I mean George - and Timmy!’_A
tall, good-looking young man stood up, smiling. The Five gazed at him, liking
him very much indeed. What a fine young fellow - how strong - what keen
straight eyes he had - what a cousin to possess! They all envied Toby at that
moment. No wonder he had boasted about him so much!_‘Hallo to you!’ said Cousin
Jeff. ‘Glad to see you all. ‘Hey - look at this dog!’_And well might everyone
look, for Timmy had marched straight up to him and then held up a paw. ‘Wuff!’
he said, which, of course, meant ‘Shake’!_‘How do you do?’ said Cousin Jeff
solemnly, and shook paws with Timmy at once._‘Timmy’s never done that before!’
said George, astonished. ‘Well - what a surprising thing! He must like you very
much!’___Chapter Nine__COUSIN JEFF__‘I like dogs,’ said Jeff, and patted Timmy
on the head. ‘This is a fine one - as smart as can be, too, isn’t he?’_George
nodded, pleased. She loved anyone to praise Timmy. ‘Yes, he’s very clever. He’s
been in heaps of adventures with us. He can be very fierce if he thinks anyone
is going to attack us. Oh, look - he wants to shake hands again! Isn’t he
funny!’_Jeff shook paws once more and then Timmy settled down beside him,
almost as if he considered himself to be his dog. George didn’t mind. She liked
Cousin Jeff as much as Timmy did!_‘Tell us about your job,’ begged Dick. ‘It’s
such a queer airfield, the one you’re at - no fencing round it, hardly any
planes, nobody about the field! Do you do much flying?’_‘Not much at the
moment,’ said Cousin Jeff. ‘But don’t be misled by the fact that there’s no
fencing round the airfield! Believe me, the commanding officer knows
immediately if any stranger comes into the district, and - er - well, let us
say that extra precautions are taken.’_‘Really?’ said George. ‘Do you mean to
say, for instance, that your commanding officer knows we’ve arrived?’_‘You bet
he does,’ said Jeff, laughing. ‘You’ve probably been given the once-over
already, though you didn’t know it. I expect someone has been detailed to find out
who you are and why you’re here, and you may even have been watched for a few
hours - though you had no idea of it.’_This was rather a creepy thought.
Watched? How? By whom? And where did they hide to watch? Dick asked Jeff these
questions, but the young airman shook his head._‘Sorry. Can’t answer,’ he said.
‘But you needn’t worry, you’re all right. Maybe my aunt here has said a few
words about you - you never know!’_Mrs Thomas smiled, but said nothing. She
beckoned to Anne and George to help her to bring in the tea - just as good a
one as they had had before. The girls bustled about, setting out cups and
saucers, while the boys talked to Cousin Jeff and asked him eager questions
about planes and flying and how this was done and that._‘I suppose you wouldn’t
take us up some time, Cousin Jeff, would you?’asked Toby at last._‘I don’t
think I’d be allowed to,’ said Jeff. ‘In fact I don’t think I can even ask. You
see, the planes there are pretty special - you can’t go joy-riding in them
and...’_‘Of course we see,’ said Julian hurriedly, afraid of embarrassing the
friendly young airman. ‘We wouldn’t dream of bothering you. When are you going
up next? Can we watch you from our camping-place?’_‘Yes, I should think you
could see me with field-glasses,’ said Jeff, considering. ‘I’ll tell you the
number of my plane - it’s painted underneath it, of course, so you’ll know it’s
me if you see it circling over the hill. But I shan’t do any stunts, I’m afraid
- like coming down low to you, or anything like that. Only fat-headed beginners
do that.’_‘We’ll look out for you,’ said Dick, quite envious of Toby for having
such a fine young cousin. 'I don’t expect you’ll see us - but we’ll wave
anyway!’_Tea was now ready and they all drew up their chairs. Benny wandered in
with his pigling under his arm, and set it down in the cat’s basket, where it
stayed quite peacefully, falling asleep and making tiny, grunting snores._‘Does
the cat mind?’ asked George, astonished, looking at the basket._‘Not a bit,’
said Mrs Thomas. ‘It had to put up with two goslings last year in its basket -
and something the year before...’_‘A lamb,’ said Toby._‘Oh, yes - and old Tinky
- that’s the cat - didn’t seem to worry at all,’ said Mrs Thomas, pouring out
creamy milk for everyone, even Cousin Jeff. ‘I once found her curled up round
the goslings one morning, purring loudly.’_‘Good old Tinky!’ said Toby. ‘Where
is she? I’d like to see what she thinks of Curly. She couldn’t cuddle him - he
takes up nearly all the basket, he’s so plump.’_Tea was a merry meal, with Toby
playing the fool, putting a spoonful of sifted sugar on the side of Anne’s
plate to eat with her crisp radishes instead of salt, and offering the salt to
George to eat with her strawberries._Both girls were listening so intently to
Cousin Jeff that they didn’t even notice what Toby had done, and he almost fell
off his chair with laughing when he saw their faces. Salt with strawberries -
ugh! Sugar and radishes - ugh!_‘Funny boy, aren’t you?’ said George, annoyed at
being tricked. ‘You wait!’ But Toby was too wily to be tricked and George had
to give it up. Anyway, she couldn’t bother with Toby when Cousin Jeff was
talking about planes, his eyes shining with pleasure. Flying was his great
love, and in listening to him all three boys there made up their minds to take
it up as soon as ever they could!_Benny didn’t listen much. He was more
interested in animals than in planes. He ate his tea solemnly and watched his
pigling in the cat’s basket, occasionally leaning over to tap his mother’s hand
when he wanted to speak to her._‘Curly runned away again,’ he told her
solemnly. ‘Right up to the horse-pond.’_‘I thought I had told you not to go
there,’ said his mother. ‘You fell in last time.’_‘But Curly runned there,’
said Benny, his big eyes looking very wide and innocent. ‘I had to go after
him, didn’t I? He’s my pigling.’_‘Well, I shall spank Curly if he takes you to
places you’ve been told not to go to,’ said his mother. ‘I can’t let him grow
up disobedient, can I?’_This needed thinking over, and Benny ate his tea with a
serious face, ignoring the others.  How nice it would be to have a
small brother like that!_‘Well, I must be off,’ said Jeff when the meal was finished.
‘Thanks most awfully for a super tea, Aunt Sarah - but then your teas always
are super! I was jolly lucky to be stationed here so near to Billycock Farm!
Well, so long, everyone! So long, Timmy!’_Everyone went with him to the gate,
Timmy and Binky as well, and Benny awoke his little pig and carried him to the
gate too, squealing and kicking. They all watched the tall, sturdy young airman
striding away round the hill._‘Do you like him?’ asked Toby proudly. ‘Isn’t he
super? I’m awfully proud of him. He’s supposed to be one of the cleverest
flying men in the kingdom - did you know?’_‘No, we didn’t,’ said Dick. ‘But I’m
not surprised. He’s got eyes as keen as a hawk’s, and he’s heart and soul in
his work! How lucky for you that he is stationed so near!’_‘We’d better get
back to our camp when the girls have helped your mother to clear away and
wash-up,’ said Julian, anxious not to outstay his welcome at the farm. ‘Toby,
can you pack us up a bit more food in case we don’t see you tomorrow?’_‘Right,’
said Toby, and went off, whistling._Benny appeared again with Curly running
round his feet._‘Hallo!’ said Dick with a grin, ‘is that pigling of yours
running away again?’_Benny grinned back. ‘If he runned away to your camp, would
you be cross?’ he asked, looking most innocently up at Dick._‘He mustn’t do
that,’ said Dick seriously, guessing what was in the little boy’s mind; he
meant to go to find the camp himself, and then say that it was Curly who had
‘runned away’ there!  The boys went to find Toby to see if they could help him to pack
food into a basket. ‘We must pay his bill, too,’ said Julian, feeling for his
purse. ‘It was a good idea of his to save up the money to buy his mother a
present. She really is a darling.’_Soon the Five were on their way back to
their camp again. Toby was left behind to do his usual jobs of collecting the
eggs, washing them and grading them into sizes for the market. ‘I’ll be up
tomorrow!’ he called after them. ‘We’ll plan something good to do - maybe visit
the caves if you like!’_The four children went up the steep slope of Billycock
Hill, talking, while Timmy ranged in front, sniffing everywhere as usual. And
then suddenly a large butterfly sailed through the air, and came to rest on a
flower of a blossoming elder bush, just in front of George - a butterfly that
none of them had ever seen before._‘Look at that! What is it?’ cried Anne in
delight. ‘Oh, what a beauty! Julian, what is it?’_‘I’ve absolutely no idea!’
said Julian, astonished. ‘It may be an unusual Fritillary, though it’s early in
the year for those. That Butterfly Man - what’s his name now? - Mr Gringle -
said that this hill was famous for rare butterflies, and I imagine this is
pretty uncommon. It is a beauty, isn’t it?’_They watched the butterfly opening
and shutting its magnificent wings on the white blossom. ‘We ought to try and
catch it,’ said Dick. ‘I’m sure that Mr Gringle would be thrilled. It might lay
eggs for him and start a whole breed of uncommon butterflies in this
country.’_‘I’ve got a very thin hanky,’ said Anne. ‘I think I can catch it
without harming its wings - and we’ll put it into the little box that Toby
filled with sugar lumps for us. Get it and empty it, Dick.’_In half a minute
the butterfly was inside the box, quite unharmed, for Anne had been very deft
in catching it._‘What a magnificent creature!’ said Dick, shutting the box.
‘Now come on - we’ll give Mr Gringle a surprise!’_‘What about that witch woman
- you know, Mrs Janes, who looks exactly like a witch?’ said Anne.  ‘Don’t be silly, Anne - she can’t hurt
you.’_They went off round the hill, taking the little path down which Mr
Gringle had guided them. Soon they saw the reflection of the sun glittering on
the glass-houses. Anne and George hesitated as they came near, and Timmy
stopped, too, his tail down._‘Well, stay there, then,’ said Dick, impatiently.
‘Ju and I won’t be long!’ And off went the two boys together, while George and
Anne waited in the distance._‘I hope they won’t be long!’ said Anne, worried.
‘I don’t know why I feel creepy here, but I do!’___Chapter Ten__BUTTERFLY FARM
AGAIN__Dick and Julian went to the glass-houses where the butterflies and
caterpillars lived. They peered through the panes, but could see nobody
there._‘Mr Gringle must be in the cottage,’ said Julian. ‘Let’s stand outside
and call - he’ll come out then. I don’t much like Mrs Janes.’_So they stood
outside the tumble-down cottage and shouted: ‘Mr Gringle! Mr Gringle!’_Nobody
answered. No Mr Gringle came out, but somebody pulled aside the corner of a
window curtain upstairs and peeped out. The boys shouted again, waving at the
window._‘Mr Gringle! We’ve got a rare butterfly for you!'_The window opened and
old Mrs Janes looked out, seeming more witch-like than ever._‘Mr Gringle’s
away!’ she mumbled._‘What about his friend Mr Brent - the one we didn’t see?’
shouted Dick. ‘Is he in?’_The old woman stared at them, mumbled something else,
and then disappeared very suddenly indeed from the window._Dick looked at
Julian in surprise._‘Why did she go so suddenly? Almost as if somebody pulled
her roughly away? Julian, I don’t like it.’_‘Why? Do you think that son of hers
is here - the one she said was cruel to her?’ asked Julian, who was puzzled,
too._‘I don’t know,’ said Dick. ‘Let’s snoop round a bit. Perhaps Mr Gringle is
somewhere about, whatever old Mrs Janes says!’_They went round the corner of
the house and peered into a shed. Nobody there. Then they heard footsteps and
turned round hurriedly. A man was coming towards them, small and thin, with a
pinched-looking face, and dark glasses. He carried a butterfly net, and nodded
at the two boys._‘My friend Gringle is away,’ he said. ‘Can I do anything for
you?’_‘Oh - you’re Mr Brent, then?’ said Dick. ‘Look - we’ve found a rare
butterfly. That’s why we came!’_He undid the box in which the butterfly was
peacefully resting, having found a tiny grain of sugar to feed on. Mr Brent
looked at it through his dark glasses._‘Hm! Hm!’ he said, peering closely at
it. ‘Yes, very fine indeed. I’ll buy it off you for five shillings.’_‘Oh, you
can have it for nothing,’ said Dick. ‘What is it?’_‘Can’t say without examining
it closely,’ said Mr Brent, and took the box and put the lid on again._‘But
isn’t it some kind of Fritillary?’ asked Julian. ‘We thought it was.’_‘Quite
likely,’ said Mr Brent, and suddenly produced two half-crowns and shoved them
at Dick. ‘Here you are. Much obliged. I’ll tell Mr Gringle you came.’_He turned
abruptly and went off, his butterfly net still over his shoulder. Dick stared
at the two half-crowns in his hand, then at the receding back of Mr Brent.
 ‘Well, I must say that he and Mr Gringle are a
pair! What are we to do with this five shillings, Julian? I don’t want
it!’_‘Let’s see if we can give it to that poor Mrs Janes,’ said Julian, always
generous. ‘She looks as if they paid her only about a shilling a week, poor
soul!’_They went round to the front of the house, hoping to fmd the old woman,
and after a little hesitation knocked at the door. It opened and she stood
there, mumbling as before._‘You go away! My son’s coming back. He’ll hit me. He
don’t like strangers. You go away, I say!’_‘All right,’ said Dick. ‘Look -
here’s something for you,’ and he pressed the two half-crowns into her
claw-like hand. She looked at them as if she couldn’t believe her eyes, and
then, amazingly quickly, she slipped the money into one of her broken-down
shoes.  'Yes, you’re kind. Keep away from here.
My son’s a bad man. Keep away!’_The boys went off silently, not knowing what to
make of it. After all, Toby knew the son - they had employed him at the farm.
Why did the old woman keep saying he was bad and cruel? She must be at least a
little mad to talk like that!_‘It must be a queer household,’ said Julian as
they went to join the waiting girls. ‘Two Butterfly Men, both rather peculiar.
One old witch-like woman, very peculiar. And a son who seems to terrify her out
of her wits! I vote we don’t go there again.’_‘So do I,’ said Dick. ‘Hallo, you
two - did we keep you waiting long?’_‘You did rather,’ said Anne. ‘We were just
about to send Timmy to look for you! We thought you might have been turned into
mice, or something!’_The boys told the two girls about Mr Brent and the five
shillings and old Mrs Janes. ‘A funny household, altogether,’ said Dick. ‘We
think we’ll give it a miss now, however many rare butterflies we spot! I’m
pretty certain that the one we found was a kind of Fritillary, aren’t you,
Julian?’_‘Yes, I was surprised Mr Brent didn’t say so,’ said Julian. ‘I have a
feeling that Mr Gringle is the expert of the two. Mr Brent probably does the
donkey-work - sees to the caterpillars and so on.’_They came to their camp at
last, and Timmy at once went to the ‘larder’. But Anne shook her head. ‘No, Tim
- it’s not nearly supper-time, Bad luck!’_‘What shall we do?’ asked Dick,
flinging himself down on the heather. ‘It’s another heavenly evening!’_‘Yes -
but I don’t much like the look of the sky over to the west tonight,’ said
Julian. ‘See those clouds there, coming up slowly against the wind? It looks
like rain tomorrow to me!’_‘Blow!’ said George. ‘The weather might have lasted
for just one week! Whatever shall we do if it pours? Sit in our tents all day,
I suppose!’_‘Cheer up - we could go and see the caves,’ said Dick. ‘I know what
we’ll do now! We’ll get out our portable radio and turn it on. If there’s some
decent music, it will sound glorious up here!’_‘All right. But for goodness’
sake have it on softly,’ said Anne. ‘I loathe people who take radios out into
the country with them, and switch them on loudly, so that it spoils the peace
and quiet for everyone else. I could go and kick their radios to
pieces!’_‘Gracious, Anne - you do sound fierce!’ said George, looking at her
cousin in surprise._‘You don’t know our quiet sister Anne quite as well as we
do, George,’ said Julian, with a twinkle in his eyes. ‘She can be really fierce
if she thinks anyone is spoiling things for others. I had to stop her once from
going up to scold people at a picnic - they actually had a gramophone going
full-pelt, in spite of the angry looks from people all round. I do believe she
meant to take off the gramophone record and break it over somebody’s
head!’_‘Oh, Julian! How can you say such a thing!’ said Anne. ‘I did feel like
it - but I didn’t do it.’_‘All right, young Anne!’ said Julian affectionately,
and patted her head. Both he and Dick thought the world of their quiet, kind
little sister and looked after her well. She smiled at them._‘Well - let’s have
some music, then,’ she said. ‘There’s the Pastoral Symphony on sometime this
evening, I know, because I made a note of it. It would sound beautiful out here
in this lovely countryside with that view spreading for miles in front of us. But
softly, please.’_Julian fetched the little radio set and took it out of its
waterproof case. He switched on, and a voice came loudly from the set. Julian
lowered the volume to make it softer. ‘It’s the seven o’clock news,’ he said.
‘We’ll hear it, shall we?’_But it was almost the end of the news, and the voice
soon stopped to give way to an announcer. Yes - it was going to be the Pastoral
Symphony now. Soon the first notes came softly from the little radio, and it
seemed to set the countryside around to music. The four settled down in the
heather to listen, lying half-propped up to watch the changing colours of the
view in front of them as the sun sank lower._The bank of cloud on the horizon
was higher now, and the sun would soon slip behind it, for it was coming up
fast. What a pity!_And then, cutting across the music, came another sound - the
sound of an aeroplane._R-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r!  ‘It sounds so jolly near. I wonder
if it’s Cousin Jeff’s!’_‘There it is - coming up over the back of the hill!’
said Julian, and as he spoke a small aeroplane appeared over the brow of the
hill, and circled once before it flew down to the airfield._The four children
could plainly see the number painted underneath. ‘5 - 6 - 9,’ began Julian, and
Dick gave a shout._‘It’s Jeff’s plane! It is - that’s his number! Wave,
everybody, wave!’_So they all waved madly, though they felt sure that Jeff
wouldn’t see them, tucked away in their camp on the hill-side. They watched the
plane fly down to the airfield, circle round, and land neatly on the runway. It
came to a stop._Julian looked through his glasses and saw a small figure leap from
the plane. ‘I bet it’s Jeff,’ he said. ‘Gosh - I do wish I had a plane to fly
over the hills and far away!’___Chapter Eleven__A STORMY NIGHT__The Five soon
began to prepare for their evening meal, and Timmy trotted about pretending to
help, always hopeful of being allowed to carry a loaf of bread or piece of cold
ham in his mouth. But he was never lucky!_As they sat eating their meal, Julian
glanced uneasily at the western sky again. ‘The rain’s certainly coming,’ he
said. ‘That cloud has covered half the sky now, and swallowed up the evening
sun. I think we ought to put up the tents.’_‘Blow! I suppose we ought,’ said
George._‘And we’d better do it quickly,’ said Dick. ‘I distinctly felt a nasty
cold wind just then - the first really cold air since we came here. We shall
certainly want to roll up in our rugs tonight!’_‘Well, let’s get the things out
from under the old gorse-bush,’ said Julian. ‘It won’t take long to put up the
tents if we all get to work.’_In three-quarters of an hour the tents were up, set
nicely in the shelter of the giant gorse-bush. ‘A good, business-like job,’
said Dick, pleased. ‘It would take a hurricane to blow the tents away - we’ll
be quite all right here. Let’s pull up some more heather and pile it in the
tents. We shall want our rugs to wrap ourselves in, not to lie on tonight, so
we might as well make our beds as soft as possible.’_They piled heather into
the tents, spread their macs there, too, and then looked at the sky. Yes, there
was no doubt about it - there was rain coming and probably a storm! Still, it
might clear tomorrow, and be as fine as ever. If it wasn’t they would go and
explore the caves that Toby had told them about._It was now almost dark and the
children decided that they would all get into one tent and have the radio on
again. They called Timmy, but he preferred to be outside._They set the radio
going - but almost immediately Timmy began to bark. George switched off at
once._‘That’s the bark he gives when somebody is coming,’ she said. ‘I wonder
who it is?’_‘Toby, to say we’d better go to the farm for the night,’ guessed
Dick._‘Mr Gringle hunting for moths!’ said Anne with a giggle._‘Old Mrs Janes
looking for things to make spells with!’ said George._Everyone laughed.
‘Idiot!’ said Dick. ‘Though I must say this looks a night for witches!’_Timmy
went on barking, and Julian put his head out of the tent. ‘What’s up, Tim?’ he
said. ‘Who’s coming?’_‘Wuff, wuff,’ said Timmy, not turning his head to Julian,
but seeming to watch something or someone in the half-light._‘It may be a
hedgehog he’s seen,’ said George from inside the tent. ‘He always barks at them
because he knows he can’t pick them up.’_‘Well - maybe you’re right,’ said
Julian. ‘But I think I’ll just go out and get Timmy to take me to whatever it
is he’s barking at. I feel I’d like to know. He obviously hears or sees
something!’_He slid out of the tent-opening and went to Timmy. ‘Come on, Tim,’
he said. ‘Who is it? What’s upsetting you?’_Timmy wagged his tail and ran in
front of Julian. He obviously had no doubts about where he was going. Julian
followed him, stumbling over the heather and wishing he had brought his torch,
for it was now half-dark._Timmy ran some way down the hill towards the
airfield, then rounded a clump of birch-trees and stopped. He barked loudly
again. Julian saw a dark shadow moving there and called out._‘Who’s there? Who
is it?’_‘It’s only me - Mr Brent,’ said an annoyed voice, and Julian caught
sight of a long stick with a shadowy net on the end. ‘I’ve come out to examine
our honey-traps before the rain comes and washes away the moths feeding
there.’_‘Oh,’ said Julian. ‘I might have thought of that when Timmy barked. Is
Mr Gringle about, too?’_‘Yes - so if your dog barks again you’ll know it’s only
us,’ said Mr Brent. ‘We’re often prowling around at night - this is just as
good a hill for moths at night as it is for butterflies by day. Can’t you stop
that dog barking at me? Really, he’s very badly trained.’_‘Shut up, Tim,’
ordered Julian, and Timmy obediently closed his mouth, but still stood stiffly,
staring at the man in the darkness._‘I’m going on to our next honey-trap,’ said
the man. ‘So you can take that noisy dog back to wherever you are camping.’  ‘About a hundred yards. Oh - you’ve got a torch, I see. I
wish I’d brought mine.’_The man said nothing more, but went slowly on his way,
the beam of his torch growing fainter. Julian began to climb back up the hill
to the tents, but in the growing darkness it was not easy! He missed his way
and went much too far to the right. Timmy was puzzled and went to him, tugging
gently at his sleeve._‘Am I going wrong?’ said Julian. ‘Blow! I’d soon get lost
on this lonely hill-side. Dick! George! Anne! Give a shout, will you? I don’t
know where I am.’_But he had wandered so far off the path that the three didn’t
hear him - and Timmy had to guide him for a good way before he saw the torches
of the others flashing up above, He felt most relieved. He had no wish to be
caught in a heavy rain-storm on the exposed side of Billycock Hill!_‘Is that
you, Julian?’ called Anne’s anxious voice. ‘What a long time you’ve been! Did
you get lost?’_‘Almost!’ said Julian. ‘Like a fat-head I went without my torch
- but Timmy here knew the way all right. I’m glad I’m back - it’s just
beginning to rain!’_‘Who was Tim barking at?’ asked George._‘One of the
Butterfly Men - Mr Brent, the one Dick and I saw today,’ said Julian. ‘I just
caught the glint of his dark glasses in the half-light, and saw the butterfly
net he carried. He said Mr Gringle was out, too.’_‘But whatever for, with a
storm coming?’ marvelled Anne. ‘All the moths would be well in
hiding.’_‘They’ve come out to examine their moth-traps, as they call them,’
said Julian. ‘They spread sticky stuff like honey or something round the trunks
of trees - and the moths fly down to it by the score. Then they come along and
collect any they want to take back.’_‘I see - and I suppose Mr Brent was afraid
the rain might wash away the clinging moths,’ said Dick. ‘Well, they’ll both be
caught in the storm, that’s certain. Hark at the rain pelting down on the tent
now!’_Timmy squeezed into the tent, not liking the sting of the heavy
raindrops. He sat down by George and Anne._‘You do take up a lot of room in a
small tent, Tim,’ said George. ‘Can’t you make yourself a bit smaller?’_Timmy
couldn’t. He was a big dog, and rather a sprawly one. He put his wet head on
George’s knee and heaved a heavy sigh. George patted him._‘Humbug!’ she said.
‘What are you sighing about? Because you’ve finished your bone? Because it’s
raining and you can’t go and sit and bark at anything moving on the
hill?’_‘What shall we do now?’ said Julian, setting his torch on the radio set,
so that it more or less lighted up the tent. ‘There’s nothing on the radio we
want to hear.’_‘I’ve got a pack of cards in the pocket of my mac,’ said George,
much to everybody’s joy, and she got them out. ‘Let’s have a game of some
sort.’_It was rather dificult in the small tent, with Timmy sometimes getting
up just when all the cards were neatly dealt, and upsetting the piles. The
storm grew fiercer and the rain tried its best to lash its way through the
canvas of the little tent._Then Timmy began to bark again, startling everyone very
much. He climbed over legs and knees and poked his head out of the tent
opening, barking loudly._‘Good gracious - you almost gave me a heart attack!’
said Dick, pulling him back. ‘You’ll get soaked out there, Tim.  Don’t worry about them. They’re probably enjoying themselves
enormously.’_But Timmy simply would NOT stop barking, and even growled when
Julian tried to drag him into the tent._‘Whatever’s up with him?’ said Julian,
bewildered. ‘Oh, stop it, Timmy! You’re deafening us!’_‘Something’s upsetting
him - something unusual,’ said George. ‘Listen - was that a yell?’_Everyone
listened, but the rain was pelting down so hard that it was impossible to hear
anything but the slashing rain and the wind._‘Well, we can’t do much about it,
whatever it is that’s upsetting Timmy,’ said Dick. ‘We can’t possibly go
wandering about in this storm - we’d get soaked through and probably
lost!’_Timmy was still barking, and George grew cross. ‘Timmy! Stop! Do you
hear me? I won’t have it.’_It was so seldom that George was angry with him that
Timmy turned in surprise. George pounced at his collar and dragged him forcibly
into the tent. ‘Now - be QUIET!’ she commanded. ‘Whatever it is, we can’t do
anything about it!’_Just then another noise rose above the howling of the wind
and the torrents of rain, and the Five pricked up their ears at once, sitting
absolutely still._‘R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!
R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R! R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R!’_They all looked round at one
another. ‘Aeroplanes!’ said Dick. ‘Aeroplanes! In this weather, too. Whatever
is going on?’___Chapter Twelve__WHAT HAPPENED IN BILLYCOCK CAVES__The little
company in the tent were amazed. Why should aeroplanes take off from the
airfield in the middle of a stormy night?_‘For experiments in storms, perhaps?’
said Dick. ‘No - that would be rather unnecessary.’_‘Perhaps they were
aeroplanes landing there, not leaving,’ suggested Anne._‘Possibly - perhaps
seeking the shelter of the airfield when they were caught in this storm,’ said
Dick. But Julian shook his head._‘No,’ he said. ‘This airfield is too far off
the ordinary air-routes - nobody would bother about it; it’s so small for one
thing - more of a little experimental station than anything else. Any aeroplane
in difficulties could easily go to a first-class airfield for shelter or
help.’_‘I wonder if Jeff went up in one of the two we heard,' said George._Anne
yawned. ‘What about bedding down?’ she said. ‘This tent is so hot and stuffy
that I feel half-asleep.’_‘Yes - it’s getting late,’ said Julian, looking at
his watch. ‘You two girls and Timmy can have this tent - it will save you going
out into the rain. Fasten the flap after we’ve gone - and yell if you want
anything.’_‘Right. Good night, Ju, good night, Dick,’ said the girls, and the
boys scrambled out into the rain. Anne fastened the flap of the tent, and
wrapped her rug round her. She burrowed into her heathery bed and made herself
comfortable. George did the same._‘Good night,’ said Anne, sleepily. ‘Keep Tim
on your side. I can’t bear him on my legs, he’s so heavy.’_The Five slept
soundly and awoke the next morning to a dismal scene of rain and dark
clouds._‘How disappointing!’ said Dick, peering out of his tent. We ought to
have listened to the weather forecast to see if it would clear today. What’s
the time, Julian?’_‘Just gone eight,’ said Julian. ‘My word, we are sleepy
these days! Well, it’s not raining so very hard now - let’s see if the girls
are awake, and put on our macs and go and wash at the spring.’_They all had
breakfast - not quite so merry as usual, because it was a bit of a crowd in the
tent and not nearly so much fun as having it in the sunshine. Still, the day
might clear, and then they could go down to see Toby at the farm._‘I suppose
we’d better go and explore those caves this morning,’ said Dick, after
breakfast.  ‘Let’s put on our macs and see if we
can find the caves.’_‘We can look at the map,’ said Julian. ‘It’s a large-scale
one. There must be a road or lane to them - they are quite well-known. They’re
probably round the hill a bit - lower down.’_‘Well, never mind - we’ll see if
we can find them, and if we can’t it won’t matter. We shall have been for a
walk!’ said Dick._They set off in a fine drizzle, walking through the damp
heather, Timmy leaping in front._‘Everyone got torches!’ said Dick suddenly.
‘I’ve got mine. We’ll need them in the caves!’_Yes, everyone had a torch -
except Timmy, and he, as Anne pointed out, had eyes that were far better for
seeing in the dark than any torch could ever be!_They made their way down the
hill and then veered off to the north side - and came suddenly upon a wide,
rather chalky path, where the heather had been cut well back._‘This rather
looks as if it led somewhere,’ said Julian, stopping._‘It might lead to an old
chalk quarry,’ said Dick, kicking some loose white lumps of chalk. ‘Like the
one near Kirrin.’_‘Well, let’s follow it up and see,’ said George, and they
went along it, kicking the lumps of chalk as they went. They rounded a corner
and saw a notice.__TO BILLYCOCK CAVES__Warning__Keep only to the roped
ways._Beware of losing your way in the_unroped tunnels.__‘This sounds good,’
said Julian. ‘Let’s see - what did Toby tell us about the caves?’_‘They’re
thousands of years old - they’ve got stalagmites and stalactites,’ said
George._‘Oh - I know what those are,’ said Anne. ‘They look like icicles hanging
from the roof - while below, on the floor of the cave, other icicles seem to
grow upwards to meet them!’_‘Yes - the roof ones are stalactites and the ground
ones are stalagmites,’ said Dick._‘I simply never can remember which is which,’
said Anne._‘It’s easy!’ said Julian. ‘The stalactite icicles have to hold tight
to the roof - and the stalagmite might some day join with the ones above
them!’_The others laughed._‘I shall never forget which are which now,’ said
Anne._The path they were following altered as they came near to the caves, and
lost its chalky look. Just in front of the entrance the way was properly paved,
and was no longer rough. The entrance was only about six feet high, and had
over it a white board with two words painted very large in black.__BILLYCOCK
CAVES__The warning they had read on the first notice they had come to was
repeated on another one just inside the entrance. ‘Read it, Tim,’ said George,
seeing him looking at it. ‘And keep close to us!’_They went right in, and had
to switch on their torches at once. Timmy was amazed to see the walls around
him glittering suddenly in the light of the four torches. He began to bark, and
the noise echoed all around in a very weird manner._Timmy didn’t like it, and
he pressed close to George. She laughed. ‘Come on, silly. These are only caves.
 Goodness - don’t they feel cold! I’m
glad of my mac!’_They passed through one or two small and ordinary caves and
then came to a magnificent one, full of what looked like gleaming icicles. Some
hung down from the roof, others rose up from the ground. In some places the one
below had reached to the one hanging down, so that they had joined, making it
look as if the cave was held up by great shining pillars._‘Oh!’ said Anne,
catching her breath. ‘What a wonderful sight! How they gleam and shine!’_‘It
reminds me of cathedrals I have seen,’ said Julian, looking up at the roof of
the cave. ‘I don’t know why. All these finely-wrought pillars... come along,
let’s go into the next cave.’_The next one was smaller, but contained some
splendid coloured ‘icicles’ that shone and gleamed in the light of the torches.
‘It’s like a cave in Fairyland,’ said Anne. ‘Full of rainbow colours!’_The
following cave had no colour, but was of a dazzling white, walls, roof, floor
and pillars. So many stalactites and stalagmites had joined that they almost
formed a snow-white screen through which the children peered - only to see even
more of the strange ‘icicles’._They came to a threefold forking of the ways.
The centre one was roped, but the other two tunnels were not. The children
looked down the unroped tunnels, stretching away so dark and quiet, and
shivered. How awful to go down one and lose the way, never to be found again,
perhaps!_‘I.et’s go down the roped way,’ said George. ‘Just to see where it
leads to - more caves, probably.’_Timmy ran sniffing down one of the other
ways, and George called him. ‘Tim! You’ll get lost! Come back.’_But Timmy
didn’t come back. He ran off into the darkness and the others felt cross. ‘Blow
him,’ said Dick. ‘What’s he after? TIM! TIM!’ The echoes took up the last word
and sent it repeatedly up and down the passage._Timmy barked in answer, and at
once the place was full of weird barking, echoing everywhere and making Anne
put her fingers to her ears._‘Woof-oof-oof-oof!’ said the echoes, sounding as
if a gang of dogs were barking madly in the caves. Then Timmy appeared in the
light of their torches, looking extremely surprised at the enormous noise he
had created with his barking._‘I shall put you on the lead, Timmy,’ scolded
George, ‘Keep to heel now. Surely you understand what that word means after all
these years?’_Timmy did. He kept faithfully to heel as the little company went
along a narrow, roped tunnel and came out into a succession of dazzling caves,
all linked together by little passages or tunnels. They kept only to those that
were roped. Many of them were not, and the Five longed to see where they led
to, but were sensible enough not to try._And then, as they were examining what
looked like a frozen pool, which reflected the snowy roof above like a mirror,
a curious noise came to their ears. They straightened themselves and
listened._It was a whistling sound, high-pitched and shrill, that filled the cave,
and filled their ear-drums, too, until they felt like bursting. It rose high,
then died down - then rose again till the children were forced to put their
hands to their heads - and died away._Timmy couldn’t bear it. He barked
frantically and ran round and round like a mad thing. And then the second noise
began - a howling! A howling that seemed to be tossed to and fro, and grew
louder as the echoes threw it about from cave to cave! Anne clutched Dick,
terrified._‘What is it?’ she said. ‘Quick, let’s go!’ And, led by an extremely
scared Timmy, the Five raced pell-mell out of Billycock Caves as if a hundred
dogs were after them!___Chapter Thirteen__A DREADFUL SHOCK__The Five stood
panting outside the entrance of the caves, feeling decidedly sheepish at having
run away from a noise._‘Whew!’ said Julian, mopping his forehead. ‘That was
decidedly weird. That whistling - it got inside my head.  As for the howling... well.’_‘It was
horrible,’ said Anne, looking quite pale. ‘Like wild animals. I’m not going
into those caves again for anything. Let’s get back to the camp.’_They walked
soberly down the chalk-strewn path that led away from the caves and made their
way back to their camp. The rain had stopped now, and the clouds were beginning
to break._The Five sat down inside a tent, and discussed the matter. ‘We’ll ask
Toby if it’s usual for noises like that to be heard,’ said Dick. ‘I wonder
anyone ever visits the caves if it is infested with horrible whistles and
screeches like that.’_‘All the same, we were a bit cowardly,’ said Julian, now
feeling rather ashamed of himself._‘Well, go back and do a bit of howling
yourself,’ suggested George. ‘It may frighten the howler as much as his howling
scared you.’_‘Nothing doing,’ said Julian promptly. ‘I’m not going in for any
howling matches.’ He burrowed down under the rug for his field-glasses and
slung them round his neck._‘I’m going to have a squint at the airfield,’ he
said. ‘Just to see if I can spot Cousin Jeff,’ He put the glasses to his eyes
and focused them on the airfield below them. He gave a sudden
exclamation._‘There’s quite a lot doing on the airfield this morning!’ he said
in surprise. ‘Dozens of people there! I wonder what’s up. There are quite a lot
of planes, too - they must all have arrived this morning!’_Each of the others
took a turn at looking through the glasses. Yes - Julian was right. There was
certainly something going on at the airfield today. Men hurried about, and then
came the noise of yet another aeroplane, which zoomed neatly down to the
runway._‘Gosh - another plane!' said Dick. ‘Where did all the others come from?
We never heard them.’_‘They must have arrived while we were in the caves,’ said
Dick. ‘I wish we could ask Toby’s Cousin Jeff what all the excitement is
about.’_‘We could go down to the farm after our lunch and see if he has heard
anything,’ suggested Anne, and the others agreed._‘Thank goodness the sun’s
coming out again,’ said George, as a shaft of warm sunlight burst out from
behind a cloud, and the sun sailed into a patch of blue sky. ‘The heather will
soon dry now. Let’s have the news on - we may just catch the weather forecast.
I don’t want to carry my mac about if it’s going to clear up.’_They switched on
the little radio set - but they had missed the weather news. ‘Blow!’ said Dick,
and raised his hand to switch off - and then he heard two words that stopped
him. They were ‘Billycock Hill’! He left his hand suspended in the air and
listened, full of surprise. The announcer’s voice came clearly to the
four._‘The aeroplanes stolen from Billycock Hill airfield were two valuable
ones, into which had been incorporated new devices,’ said the voice from the
radio. ‘It is possible that they were stolen because of these. We regret that
it appears that two of our best pilots flew them away - Flight-Lieutenant
Jeffrey Thomas and Flight-Lieutenant Ray Wells. No news has been received of
either plane. Both disappeared during a storm over Billycock Hill during the
night.’_There was a pause, and then the announcer went on to another item of
news. Dick switched off the radio and looked blankly at the others. No one had
a word to say at first._‘To think that Jeff could do a thing like that - Jeft a
traitor - flying off with a plane of ours to sell to an enemy!’ said Julian at
last, voicing the thought of all the others._‘We heard the planes go!’ said
Dick. ‘Two of them. Gosh - we ought to go to the police and tell what we know.
Not that it’s much. But, I say - fancy Jeff doing that! I liked him so
much.’_‘So did I,’ said Anne, turning her head away._‘So did Timmy,’ said
George. ‘And he hardly ever makes a mistake in anyone.’_'What will poor Toby
do?’ said Dick. ‘He thought the world of Jeff.’_Timmy suddenly ran off a few
yards and began barking - a welcoming bark this time. Julian looked to see who
was coming. It was Toby!_He came up to them and sat down beside them. He looked
pale and shocked, though he tried to smile at them._‘I’ve got awful news,’ he
said in a queer, croaking voice._‘We know,’ said Dick. ‘We’ve just heard it on
the radio. Oh, Toby - fancy - Jeff!’_To everyone’s horror Toby’s face crumpled
up and tears poured down his cheeks. He made no attempt to wipe them away;
indeed, he hardly seemed to know that they were there. Nobody knew what to do -
except Timmy. Dear old Tim scrambled over Julian and most sympathetically
licked Toby’s wet face, whining as he did so. Toby put his arm round the dog’s
neck and began to speak._‘It wasn’t Jeff! Jeff couldn’t have done such a thing.
He couldn’t! You know he couldn’t, don’t you?’ He turned quite fiercely on the
others as he spoke._‘I can’t believe that he did,’ said Julian. ‘He seemed to
me to be absolutely straight and trustworthy, even though I only met him that
once.’_‘He was - well - a sort of hero to me,’ said Toby, beginning to mop his
cheeks with his hanky, and staring in surprise to see it so damp. ‘Gosh, I’m a
sissy to go on like this! But when the military police came to our farm this
morning to ask questions about Jeff - he’s my Dad’s nephew, you know - I
couldn’t believe my ears. I was so furious with one fat-head that I punched him
- and Mother sent me out of the room.’_‘I suppose both Jeff and the other
fellow have definitely gone?’ asked Julian. ‘No other pilots are missing, are
they?’_‘No. I asked that,’ said Toby dismally. ‘Everyone answered roll-call at
the camp this morning except Jeff and Ray. Ray is Jeff’s best friend, you
know.’_‘It looks bad,’ said Dick, after a long pause._‘But it’s not true that
Jeff’s a traitor!’ cried Toby, up in arms again. ‘Are you suggesting that he
is?’_‘No, I’m not,’ said Dick.  I don’t...’ Then he stopped as
Timmy ran off and barked fiercely. Now who was coming?_A deep voice called to
Timmy. ‘Down, boy, down! Where are your friends?’_Julian scrambled up and saw
two military policemen standing facing the excited Timmy. ‘Here, Tim,’ called
Julian. ‘It’s all right. Friends!’_Timmy ran to him and the two burly men came
up. ‘You the children camping on this hill?’ asked the fist one. ‘Well, we want
to ask you a few questions about last night. You were here then, weren’t
you?’_‘Yes, sir. We know what you’ve come about, too,’ said Julian. ‘We’ll tell
you all we know - but we’re pretty certain that Flight-Lieutenant Thomas hadn’t
anything to do with it, sir.’_‘That’s as maybe,’ said the man. ‘Well, sit down,
all of you, and we’ll have a little talk.’_Soon they were sitting down in the
heather, while Julian told all they knew, which wasn’t much - just the sound of
the two aeroplanes flying off together._‘And you heard nothing suspicious last
night - nothing to all?’ asked the first man._‘Nothing,’ said Julian._‘Nobody
about at all, I suppose?’ asked the second man, looking up from his notebook in
which he had been writing._‘Oh - well, yes - there were people about,’ said
Julian, suddenly remembering the Butterfly Man, Mr Brent, who had said that he
and Mr Gringle were out looking at their moth-traps._The first policeman asked
some rapid questions and Julian and the others told them what little they knew
- though Julian knew the most, of course._‘You’re sure it was Mr Brent you
saw?’ asked the policeman._‘Well - he said he was,’ said Julian. ‘And he
carried a butterfly net on his shoulder - and he wore the same dark glasses I
saw him wearing in the morning. Of course, it was pretty dark - but I honestly
think it was Mr Brent. I didn’t see or hear Mr Gringle. Mr Brent said he was
some way off.  ‘Thanks very much. I think
we’ll just go and pay a call on these - er - what do you call them - Butterfly
Men? Where do they hang out?’_The children offered to guide them on their way,
and the whole company went with the two burly men almost to the Butterfiy
Farm._‘Well, thanks a lot,’ said the first policeman as they came near the
tumble-down cottage. ‘We’ll go on alone now. You get back to your camp.’_‘Sir -
will you send us word as soon as you know it wasn’t my Cousin Jeff?’ asked
Toby, forlornly.  ‘But you’ll have to make up your mind
to it - it was Jeff Thomas all right that flew off in one of those aeioplanes
last night! There isn’t a doubt of it!’___Chapter Fourteen__MR GRINGLE IS
ANNOYED__The military police went off down the hill to the Butterfly Farm, and
the five children stood disconsolately watching them, with Timmy staring, too,
tail well down. He didn’t quite know what had happened, but he was sure it was
something dreadful._‘Well - it’s no good waiting about here, I suppose,’ said
Julian. ‘I bet the police won’t get anything useful out of the Butterfly Men -
they wouldn’t have noticed anything when they were out last night, except their
precious moths!’_They were just turning away when they heard someone screaming
in a high voice, and they stopped to listen in surprise. ‘It must be old Mrs
Janes,’ said Dick. ‘What’s up with her?’_‘We’d better see,’ said Julian, and he
and the others, with Timmy at their heels, went quickly down to the cottage.
They heard the voices of the two policemen as they came near._‘Now, now, old
lady - don’t take on so!’ one was saying in a kindly voice. ‘We’ve only come to
ask a few questions.’_‘Go away, go away!’ screamed the old woman, and actually
battered at the men with her little bony hands. ‘Why are you here? Go away, I
tell you!’_‘Now listen, Ma - don’t take on so,’ said the other man patiently.
‘We want to talk to Mr Gringle and Mr Brent - are they here?’_‘Who? Who did you
say? Oh, them! They’re out with their nets,’ mumbled the old woman. ‘I’m all
alone her, and I’m scairt of strangers. You go away.’_‘Listen,’ said one policeman.
‘Were Mr Gringle and Mr Brent out on the hills last night?’_‘I’m in my bed at
nights,’ she answered. ‘How would I know?  It was
clearly quite useless to find out anything from this frightened old
woman._‘Well, we’ll go, Ma,’ said one, patting her shoulder gently. ‘Sorry
we’ve scared you - there’s nothing to be afraid of.’_They turned away and came
back up the slope of the hill, seeing the children standing silently there: ‘We
heard old Mrs Janes screaming,’ said Julian. ‘So we came to see what was
happening.’_‘The Butterfly Men, as you call them, are out with their nets,’
said one policeman. ‘A funny life, I must say - catching insects and looking
after their eggs and caterpillars. Well - I don’t suppose they know anything
about last night’s job. Not that there’s anything to know! Two pilots flew off
with the planes, we know who they were - and that’s that!’_‘Well, one was NOT
my Cousin Jeff,’ said Toby, fiercely. The men shrugged their shoulders and went
off together._The five children went off up the hill again, very silent. ‘I
think we’d better have something to eat,’ said Julian at last. ‘We’ve had no
lunch - and it’s long past our usual time. Toby, stay and have some with
us.’_‘I couldn’t eat a thing,’ said Toby. ‘Not a thing!’_‘Get out what we’ve
got, Anne and George,’ said Julian, and the girls and Timmy went to the little
‘larder’. Nobody really felt like eating - but when the food was there, in
front of them, they found that they were quite hungry - except poor Toby, who
sat forlorn and pale-faced, trying to chew through a sandwich made for him by
Anne, but not making a very good job of it!_Timmy began to bark in the middle
of the meal, and everyone looked to see who was coming now. Julian thought he
saw a movement some way down the hill, and took his field-glasses and put them
to his eyes._‘I think it’s Mr Gringle,’ he said. ‘I can see his net, too. He’s
out butterflying, I suppose.’_‘Let’s shout to him,’ said Dick. ‘We can tell him
why the police went to call at his cottage this morning, when he wasn’t there.
He’ll never get any sense out of old Mrs Janes.’_Julian cooeed, and there came
an answering call. ‘He’s coming up,’ said Dick. Timmy ran to meet him, and soon
the man was just below them, panting as he made his way up the steep slope._‘I
hoped I’d see you,’ he said. ‘I want you to look out for some special moths for
me - another day-flying one like the Six-Spot Burnet you saw the other day.
It’s the Cinnabar Moth - it’s got rich crimson underwings, and-’_‘Yes - I know
that one,’ said Julian. ‘We’ll look out for it. We just wanted to tell you that
two military policemen went to your cottage a little while ago to ask you some
questions about last night - and as we’re sure old Mrs Janes won’t be able to
explain anything to you, we thought we’d better tell you ourselves.’_Mr Gringle
looked absolutely blank and bewildered. ‘But - but why on earth should military
policemen come to our cottage?’ he said at last._‘For nothing much,’ said
Julian. ‘Only to ask you if you saw anything suspicious when you were out
looking at your moth-traps last night - you see, two aero-planes were - ’_Mr
Gringle interrupted in a most surprised voice, ‘But - but, dear boy, I wasn’t out
at all last night! It wouldn’t have been a bit of good looking for moths
anywhere, on our moth-traps or anywhere else on a night like that.’_‘Well,’
said Julian, also surprised, ‘we saw your friend Mr Brent, and he said you were
both out looking at your moth-traps.’_Mr Gringle stared at Julian as if he were
mad, and his mouth fell open in amazement. 'Mr Brent!’ he said at last. ‘But
Peter - that’s Mr Brent - was at home with me! We were busy writing up our
notes together.’_There was a silence after this surprising statement. Julian
frowned. What was all this? Was Mr Gringle trying to hide the fact that he and
his friend had been out on the hills the night before?_‘Well - I certainly saw
Mr Brent,’ said Julian at last. ‘It was very dark, I admit - but I’m sure I saw
his butterfly net - and his dark glasses.’_‘He doesn’t wear dark glasses,’ said
Mr Gringle, still more astonished. ‘What is this tale? Is it a joke of some
sort. If you can’t talk better sense than this, I’m going.’_‘Wait!’ said Dick,
something else occurring to him. ‘You say that Mr Brent doesn’t wear dark
glasses - then who was the man that took the moth from us yesterday evening
about six o’clock and gave us five shillings? He said he was Mr Brent, your
friend!’_‘This is all nonsense!’ said Mr Gringle, getting up angrily.  Brent doesn’t wear dark glasses, I tell
you - and he wasn’t at home at six o’clock yesterday - we’d been to buy some
tackle in the next town. He was with me, not at the cottage. You couldn’t
possibly have seen him! What do you mean by all this nonsense - dark glasses,
five shillings for a moth - and seeing Brent on the hillside last night when he
didn’t stir out of the house!’_He was now standing up, looking very fierce, his
brilliant eyes flashing behind his thick glasses. ‘Well,’ said Julian, ‘All
this is extremely puzzling, and ...’_‘Puzzling!  Tirnmy gave a warning growl, and stood up - he didn’t allow anyone to
rave at his friends!_Mr Gringle went off angrily, trampling down the heather as
if he were trampling down the children.  They looked at one another in really great surprise._‘Well - I
simply don’t know what to make of all this!’ said Julian helplessly. ‘Was I
dreaming last night? No - I did see that fellow - half-see him, anyway - and he
did say he was Mr Brent, and that Gringle was somewhere near. But - if he
wasn’t Brent, who was he? And what was he doing on a stormy night, hunting
moths!’_Nobody could make even a guess. Toby spoke first._‘Perhaps the man you
saw was mixed up in the stealing of those aeroplanes - you never
know!’_‘Impossible, Toby!’ said Julian. ‘That’s too farfetched. I can’t say
that I understand it at all - but honestly, he didn’t seem like a man who could
steal an aeroplane!’_‘Who was the man that gave us the five shillings then, if
it wasn’t Brent?’ said Dick, puzzled._‘Could it have been Mrs Janes’ son,
pretending he was Brent - just for a silly joke?’ said George._‘What was he
like?’ asked Toby at once. ‘I know Will Janes - I told you he’s often been to
our farm. We don’t have him now because he drinks so much and he isn’t reliable
any more. What was this man Brent like - I’d soon know if he was Will Janes
pretending to be someone else!’_‘He was small and thin, with dark glasses,’
began Dick - and Toby interrupted him at once._‘Then it wasn’t Will Janes! He’s
tall and burly - with a thick neck and, anyway, he doesn’t wear dark glasses -
or any glasses at all!’_‘Then who in the world was it? And WHY did he pretend
to be Brent, Gringle’s friend?’ wondered Dick. Everyone frowned and puzzled
over the whole thing - but nobody could think of a sensible reason for anyone
wanting to pretend to be Mr Brent!_‘Well - for goodness’ sake, let’s get on
with our meal,’ said George at last. ‘We stopped in the middle of it - and the
rest is still waiting for us. Have another ham sandwich, Julian?’_They all munched
in silence, thinking hard. Toby sighed. ‘I don’t really feel that this mix-up
with the Butterfly Men and somebody else, whoever he is, has anything to do
with the stealing of the aeroplanes. I wish it had!’_‘All the same - it wants
looking into,’ said Dick seriously. ‘And what’s more - I vote we keep our eyes
and ears open. Something’s going on at Butterfly Farm!’___Chapter Fifteen__MORE
NEWS - AND A NIGHT TRIP__The Five spent most of the afternoon talking about the
mystery of the man who had pretended to be Mr Brent. It really was difficult to
understand why anyone should do such a foolish thing, especially as it could be
so easily found out._‘I can only think there’s a madman about who has got it
into his head that he is Mr Brent!’ said Dick at last. ‘No wonder he didn’t
seem to recognize that butterfly we took him!’_‘Do you know what I think would
be a good idea?’ suddenly said George. ‘Why don’t we slip down to Butterfly
Farm tonight, when it’s getting dark, and see if the false Mr Brent is there,
and the real one - whom we’ve never seen, by the way, and Mr Gringle?’_‘Hm -
yes - quite an idea,’ said Julian, seriously. ‘But only Dick and I will go -
not you or Anne.’_‘I’ll come, too,’ said Toby._‘Right,’ said Julian. ‘But we’ll
have to be jolly careful - because if there is something funny going on down
there, we don’t want to be caught. It wouldn’t be at all pleasant, I
fear!’_‘Take Timmy with you,’ said George at once._‘No. He might bark or
something,’ said Dick. ‘We’ll be all right, George. Gracious - we’ve had enough
adventures by now to teach us how to go about things like this! Ha - I shall
look forward to tonight!’_Everyone suddenly felt much more cheerful, even Toby.
He managed a very small smile, and stood up to brush the crumbs off his jersey._‘I’m
going now,’ he said. ‘I’ve a lot of farm jobs to do this afternoon - I’ll meet
you at the big oak-tree behind the Butterfly Farm - did you notice it?’_‘Yes -
an enormous one,’ said Julian. ‘Right. Be there at - say - ten o’clock. No,
eleven - it will be dark by then, or almost.’_‘So long!’ said Toby and plunged
down the hill, accompanied for a little way by Timmy._‘Well - I feel much
better now we’ve made a definite plan,’ said Dick. ‘My goodness, it’s half past
five already! Don’t suggest tea, George - we had our lunch so late!’_‘I wasn’t
going to,’ said George. ‘We’ll miss it out and have a really good supper later
on. And don’t let’s forget to listen to the news at six o’clock - there might
be some about Jeff and his friend Ray - and the aeroplanes.’_So, just before
six o’clock, they switched on the little radio set, and listened intently for
the news. It came at last - and almost the first piece was about the stolen
aeroplanes. The children listened, holding their breath, bending close to the
set._‘The two aeroplanes stolen from Billycock Airfield last night, flown away
by Flight-Lieutenant Jeffrey Thomas and Flight-Lieutenant Ray Wells, have been