"Who are these kids?" he said. "What are they doing messing about here?"
"We"re not messing about," said Julian politely. "We came to see n.o.bby. We"ve seen him before."
Lou looked at Julian as if he was something that smelt nasty. "Them your caravans?" he asked jerking his head towards them.
"Yes," said Julian.
"Posh, aren"t you?" said Lou sneeringly.
"Not particularly," said Julian, still polite.
"Any grown-ups with you?" asked Lou.
"No. I"m in charge," said Julian, "and we"ve got a dog that flies at people he doesn"t like."
Timmy clearly didn"t like Lou. He stood near him, growling in his throat. Lou kicked out at him.
George caught hold of Timmy"s collar just in time. "Down Tim, down!" she cried. Then she turned on Lou, her eyes blazing.
"Don"t you dare kick my dog!" she shouted. "He"ll have you down on the ground if you do. You keep out of his way, or he"ll go for you now."
Lou spat on the ground in contempt and turned to go. "You clear out," he said. "We don"t want no kids messing about here. And I ain"t afraid of no dog. I got ways of dealing with bad dogs."
"What do you mean by that?" yelled George, still in a furious temper. But Lou did not bother to reply. He went up the steps of his caravan and slammed the door shut. Timmy barked angrily and tugged at his collar, which George was still holding firmly.
"Now you"ve torn it!" said n.o.bby dismally. "If Lou catches you about anywhere he"ll hoof you out. And you be careful of that dog of yours, or he"ll disappear."
George was angry and alarmed. "Disappear! What do you mean? If you think Timmy would let anyone steal him, you"re wrong."
"All right, all right. I"m only telling you. Don"t fly at me like that!" said n.o.bby. "Jumping Jiminy, look at that chimp. He"s gone inside one of your caravans!"
The sudden storm was forgotten as everyone rushed to the green caravan. Pongo was inside, helping himself liberally from a tin of sweets. As soon as he saw the children he groaned and covered his face with his paws - but he sucked hard at the sweets all the time.
"Pongo! Bad boy! Come here!" scolded n.o.bby. "Shall I whip you?"
"Oh, no, don"t," begged Anne. "He"s a scamp, but I do like him. We"ve plenty of sweets to spare. You have some, too, n.o.bby."
"Well, thank you," said n.o.bby, and helped himself. He grinned round at everyone. "Nice to have friends like you," he said. "Ain"t it, Pongo?"
CHAPTER SEVEN
A TEA-PARTY - AND A VISIT IN THE NIGHT
n.o.body particularly wanted to see round the camp just then, as Lou had been so unpleasant. So instead they showed the admiring n.o.bby over the two caravans. He had never seen such beauties.
"Jumping Jiminy, they"re like palaces!" he said. "Do you mean to say them taps turn on and water comes out? Can I turn on a tap? I"ve never turned a tap in my life!"
He turned the taps on and off a dozen times, exclaiming in wonder to see the water come gushing out. He thumped the bunks to see how soft they were. He admired the gay soft rugs and the shining crockery. He was, in fact, a very nice guest to have, and the children liked him more and more. They liked Barker and Growler, too, who were both well-behaved, obedient, merry dogs.
Pongo, of course, wanted to turn the taps on and off, too, and he threw all the coverings off the two bunks to see what was underneath. He also took the kettle off the stove put the spout to his thick lips and drank all the water out of it very noisily indeed.
"You"re forgetting your manners, Pongo!" said n.o.bby in horror, and s.n.a.t.c.hed the kettle away from him. Anne squealed with laughter. She loved the chimpanzee, and he seemed to have taken a great fancy to Anne, too. He followed her about and stroked her hair and made funny affectionate noises.
"Would you like to stay and have tea here with us?" asked Julian, looking at his watch. "It"s about time."
"Coo - I don"t have tea as a rule," said n.o.bby. "Yes, I"d like to. Sure you don"t mind me staying, though? I ain"t got your manners, I know, and I"m a bit dirty, and not your sort at all. But you"re real kind."
"We"d love to have you stay," said Anne in delight. "I"ll cut some bread and b.u.t.ter and make some sandwiches. Do you like potted meat sandwiches, n.o.bby?"
"Don"t I just!" said n.o.bby. "And Pongo does, too. Don"t you let him get near them or he"ll finish up the lot."
It was a pleasant and amusing little tea-party. They all sat out on the heather, on the shady side of the caravan. Barker and Growler sat with Timmy. Pongo sat beside Anne, taking bits of sandwich from her most politely. n.o.bby enjoyed his tea immensely, eating more sandwiches than anyone and talking all the time with his mouth full.
He made the four children yell with laughter. He imitated his Uncle Dan doing some of his clown tricks. He turned cart-wheels all round the caravan while he was waiting for Anne to cut more sandwiches. He stood solemnly on his head and ate a sandwich like that, much to Timmy"s amazement. Timmy walked round and round him, and sniffed at his face as if to say: "Strange! No legs! Something"s gone wrong."
At last n.o.body could eat any more. n.o.bby stood up to go, suddenly wondering if he had stayed too long.
"I was enjoying myself so much I forgot the time," he said awkwardly. "Bet I"ve stayed too long and you"ve been too polite to tell me to get out. Coo, that wasn"t half a good tea! Thanks, Miss, awfully, for all them delicious sandwiches. "Fraid my manners aren"t like yours, kids, but thanks for a very good time."
"You"ve got very good manners indeed," said Anne, warmly. "You"ve been a splendid guest. Come again, won"t you?"
"Well, thanks, I will," said n.o.bby, forgetting his sudden awkwardness, and beaming round. "Where"s Pongo? Look at that chimp! He"s got one of your hankies, and he"s blowing his nose!"
Anne squealed in delight. "He can keep it!" she said. "It"s only an old one."
"Will you be here camping for long?" asked n.o.bby.
"Well, not just exactly here, said Julian. "We thought of going up higher into the hills. It will be cooler there. But we might camp here just for tonight. We meant to go up higher this evening, but we might as well stay here and go tomorrow morning now. Perhaps we could see round the camp tomorrow morning."
"Not if Lou"s there you can"t," said n.o.bby. "Once he"s told people to clear out he means it. But it will be all right if he"s not. I"ll come and tell you."
"All right," said Julian. "I"m not afraid of Lou - but we don"t want to get you into any trouble, n.o.bby. If Lou"s there tomorrow morning, we"ll go on up into the hills, and you can always signal to us if he"s out of the camp, and we can come down any time. And mind you come up and see us when you want to."
"And bring Pongo," said Anne.
"You bet!" said n.o.bby. "Well - so long!"
He went off with Barker and Growler at his heels and with Pongo held firmly by the paw. Pongo didn"t want to go at all. He kept pulling back like a naughty child.
"I do like n.o.bby and Pongo," said Anne. "I wonder what Mummy would say if she knew we"d made friends with a chimpanzee. She"d have a fit."
Julian suddenly looked rather doubtful. He was wondering if he had done right to follow the circus and let Anne and the others make friends with such queer folk and even queerer animals. But n.o.bby was so nice. He was sure his mother would like n.o.bby. And they could easily keep away from Tiger Dan and Lou the acrobat.
"Have we got enough to eat for supper tonight and breakfast tomorrow?" he asked Anne. "Because there doesn"t seem to be a farm near enough to go to just here. But n.o.bby says there"s one up on the hill up there - the circus folk get their supplies from it, too - what they don"t get from the nearest town. Apparently somebody goes in each day to shop."