"Hey, what you going so early for?" he yelled. "Let me come part of the way with you."
"No, you don"t," said his uncle, and gave the surprised boy an unexpected cuff. "I"ve told these kids to clear out, and they"re going. I won"t have no meddling strangers round this camp. And don"t you kid yourself they want to make friends with you, see! You go and get out those dogs and exercise them, or I"ll give you another box on the ears that"ll make you see all the stars in the sky."
n.o.bby stared at him, angry and afraid. He knew his uncle too well to defy him. He turned on his heel sullenly and went off back to the camp. The caravans overtook him on the way. Julian called to him in a low voice:
"Cheer up, n.o.bby. We"ll be waiting for you up in the hills - don"t tell Lou and your uncle about it. Let them think we"ve gone right away. Bring Pongo up sometime!"
n.o.bby grinned. "Right you are!" he said. "I can bring the dogs up to exercise them, too - but not today. I dursent today. And as soon as them two are safely out for the day I"ll bring you down to the camp and show you round, see? That all right?"
"Fine," said Julian, and drove on. Neither Lou nor Dan had heard a word, or even guessed that this conversation was going on, for n.o.bby had been careful to walk on all the time and not even turn his face towards the children.
The road wound upwards into the hills. At first it was not very steep, but wound to and fro across the side of the hill. Half-way up the caravans crossed a stone bridge under which a very swift stream flowed.
"That stream"s in a hurry!" said George, watching it bubble and gurgle downwards. "Look - is that where it starts from - just there in the hillside?"
She pointed some way up the hill, and it seemed as if the stream really did suddenly start just where she pointed.
"But it can"t suddenly start there - not such a big fast stream as this!" said Julian, stopping Dobby on the other side of the bridge. "Let"s go and see, I"m thirsty, and if there"s a spring there, it will be very cold and clear - lovely to drink from. Come on, we"ll go and see."
But there was no spring. The stream did not "begin" just there, but flowed out of a hole in the hillside, as big and as fast as it was just under the stone bridge. The children bent down and peered into the water-filled hole.
"It comes out from inside the hill," said Anne, surprised. "Fancy it running around in the hill itself. It must be glad to find a way out!"
They didn"t like to drink it as it was not the clear, fresh spring they had hoped to find. But, wandering a little farther on, they came to a real spring that gushed out from beneath a stone, cold and crystal clear. They drank from this and voted that it was the nicest drink they had ever had in their lives. d.i.c.k followed the spring-water downwards and saw that it joined the little rushing stream.
"I suppose it flows into the lake," he said. "Come on. Let"s get on and find a farm, Julian. I"m sure I heard the crowing of a c.o.c.k just then, so one can"t be far away."
They went round a bend of the hill and saw the farm, a rambling collection of old buildings sprawling down the hillside. Hens ran about, clucking. Sheep grazed above the farm, and cows chewed the cud in fields nearby. A man was working not far off, and Julian hailed him. "Good morning! Are you the farmer?"
"No. Farmer"s over yonder," said the man, pointing to a barn near the farmhouse. "Be careful of the dogs."
The two caravans went on towards the farm. The farmer heard them coming and came out with his dogs. When he saw that there were only children driving the two caravans he looked surprised.
Julian had a polite, well-mannered way with him that all the grown-ups liked. Soon he was deep in a talk with the man, with most satisfactory results. The farmer was willing to supply them with any farm produce they wanted, and they could have as much milk as they liked at any time. His wife, he was sure, would cook them anything they asked her to, and bake them cakes, too.
"Perhaps I could arrange payment with her?" said Julian. "I"d like to pay for everything as I buy it."
"That"s right, son," said the farmer. "Always pay your way as you go along, and you won"t come to any harm. You go and see my old woman. She likes children and she"ll make you right welcome. Where are you going to camp?"
"I"d like to camp somewhere with a fine view over the lake," said Julian. "We can"t see it from just here. Maybe a bit farther on we"ll get just the view I want."
"Yes, you go on about half a mile," said the farmer. The track goes that far - and when you come to a clump of fine birch trees you"ll see a sheltered hollow, set right in the hillside, with a wonderful fine view over the lake. You can pull your caravans in there, son, and you"ll be sheltered from the winds."
"Thanks awfully," said all the children together, thinking what a nice man this old farmer was. How different from Lou and Dan, with their threats and rages!
"We"ll go and see your wife first, sir," said Julian. Then we"ll go on and pull into the hollow you suggest. We"ll be seeing you again some time, I expect."
They went to see the farmer"s wife, a fat, round-cheeked old woman, whose little curranty eyes twinkled with good humour. She made them very welcome, gave them hot buns from the oven and told them to help themselves to the little purple plums on the tree outside the old farmhouse.
Julian arranged to pay on the spot for anything they bought each day. The prices the farmer"s wife asked seemed very low indeed, but she would not hear of taking any more money for her goods.
"It"ll be a pleasure to see your bonny faces at my door!" she said. That"ll be part of my payment, see? I can tell you"re well-brought-up children by your nice manners and ways. You"ll not be doing any damage or foolishness on the farm, I know."
The children came away laden with all kinds of food, from eggs and ham to scones and ginger cakes. She pushed a bottle of raspberry syrup into Anne"s hand when the little girl said good-bye. But when Julian turned back to pay her for it she was quite annoyed.
"If I want to make a present to somebody I"ll do it!" she said. "Go on with you ... paying for this and paying for that. I"ll have a little something extra for you each time, and don"t you dare to ask to pay for it, or I"ll be after you with my rolling pin!"
"Isn"t she awfully nice?" said Anne as they made their way back to the caravans. "Even Timmy offered to shake hands with her without you telling him to, George - and he hardly ever does that to anyone, does he?"
They packed the things away into the larder, got up into the driving-seats, clicked to Dobby and Trotter and set off up the track again.
Just over half a mile away was a clump of birch trees. "We"ll find that sheltered hollow near them," said Julian.
"Yes, look - there it is - set back into the hill, a really cosy place! Just right for camping in - and oh, what a magnificent view!"
It certainly was. They could see right down the steep hillside to the lake. It lay spread out, flat and smooth, like an enchanted mirror. From where they were they could now see right to the opposite banks of the lake - and it was indeed a big stretch of water.
"Isn"t it blue?" said Anne, staring. "Bluer even than the sky. Oh, won"t it be lovely to see this marvellous view every single day we"re here?"
Julian backed the caravans into the hollow. Heather grew there, like a springy purple carpet. Harebells, pale as an evening sky, grew in clumps in crevices of the hill behind. It was a lovely spot for camping in.
George"s sharp ears caught the sound of water and she went to look for it. She called back to the others. "What do you think? There"s another spring here, coming out of the hill. Drinking and washing water laid on! Aren"t we lucky?"
"We certainly are," said Julian. "It"s a lovely place - and n.o.body will disturb us here!"
But he spoke too soon!
CHAPTER NINE
AN UNPLEASANT MEETING
It really was fun settling into that cosy hollow. The two caravans were backed in side by side. The horses were taken out and led to a big field where the farmer"s horses were kept when they had done their day"s work. Trotter and Dobby seemed very pleased with the green, sloping field. It had a spring of its own that ran into a stone trough and out of it, keeping it always filled with fresh cold water. Both horses went to take a long drink.
"Well, that settles the two horses all right," said Julian. "We"ll tell the farmer he can borrow them if he wants to - he"ll be harvesting soon and may like to have Dobby and Trotter for a few days. They will enjoy hobn.o.bbing with other horses again."
At the front of the hollow was a rocky ledge, hung with heathery tufts. This is the front seat for Lake View!" said Anne. "Oh, it"s warm from the sun! How lovely!"
"I vote we have all our meals on this ledge," said George, sitting down too. "It"s comfortable and roomy - and flat enough to take our cups and plates without spilling anything - and honestly the view from here is too gorgeous for words. Can anyone see anything of the circus from up here?"
"There"s a spire or two of smoke over yonder," said d.i.c.k, pointing. "I should think that"s where the camp is. And look - there"s a boat pushing out on the lake - doesn"t it look tiny?"
"Perhaps n.o.bby is in it," said Anne. "Haven"t we brought any field-gla.s.ses, Julian? I thought we had."
"Yes - we have," said Julian, remembering. "I"ll get them." He went to the green caravan, rummaged about in the drawers, and came out with his field-gla.s.ses swinging on the end of their straps.