"Very kind of you. But I"ve had an enormous tea," said Mr Luffy. "I"ve brought up a fruit cake for you, from my own larder. Shall we share it for supper? And I"ve got a bottle of lime juice, too, which will taste grand with some of the stream water."
The boys went off to get some fresh stream water for drinking. Anne got out some plates and cut slices of the cake.
"Well," said Mr Luffy. "Had a nice walk?"
"Yes/ said Anne, "except that we met a strange one-legged man who told us he saw spook-trains."
Mr Luffy laughed. "Well, well! He must be a cousin of a little girl I know who thought she was sitting on a volcano."
Anne giggled. "You"re not to tease me. No, honestly, Mr Luffy, this old man was a watchman at a sort of old railway yard - not used now - and he said when the spook-trains came, he blew out his light and got under his bed so that they shouldn"t get him."
"Poor old fellow," said Mr Luffy. "I hope he didn"t frighten you."
"He did a bit," said Anne. "And he threw a cinder at d.i.c.k and hit him on the head. Tomorrow we"re going to the farm to ask the boy there if he"s heard of the spook-trains, too. We met an old shepherd who said he"d heard them but not seen them."
"Well, well - it all sounds most interesting," said Mr Luffy. "But these exciting stories usually have a very tame explanation, you know. Now would you like to see what I found today? A very rare and interesting little beetle."
He opened a small square tin and showed a shiny beetle to Anne. It had green feelers and a red fiery spot near its tail-end. It was a lovely little thing.
"Now that"s much more exciting to me than half a dozen spook-trains," he told Anne. "Spook-trains won"t keep me awake at night - but thinking of this little beetle-fellow here certainly will."
"I don"t very much like beetles," said Anne. "But this one certainly is pretty. Do you really like hunting about all day for insects, and watching them, Mr Luffy?"
"Yes, very much," said Mr Luffy. "Ah, here come the boys with the water. Now we"ll hand the cake round, shall we? Where"s George? Oh, there she is, changing her shoes."
George had a blister, and she had been putting a strip of plaster on her heel. She came up when the boys arrived and the cake was handed round. They sat in a circle, munching, while the sun gradually went down in a blaze of red.
"Nice day tomorrow again," said Julian. "What shall we do?"
"We"ll have to go to the farm first," said d.i.c.k. The farmer"s wife said she"d let us have some more bread if we turned up in the morning. And we could do with more eggs if we can get them. We took eight hard-boiled ones with us today and we"ve only one or two left. And who"s eaten all the tomatoes, I"d like to know?"
"All of you," said Anne at once. "You"re perfect pigs over the tomatoes."
"I"m afraid I"m one of the pigs," apologised Mr Luffy. "I think you fried me six for my breakfast, Anne."
"That"s all right," said Anne. "You didn"t have as many as the others, even so! We can easily get some more."
It was pleasant sitting there, eating and talking, and drinking lime juice and stream water. They were all tired, and it was nice to think of the cosy sleeping-bags. Timmy lifted his head and gave a vast yawn, showing an enormous amount of teeth.
"Timmy! I could see right down to your tail then!" said George. "Do shut your mouth up. You"ve made us all yawn."
So he had. Even Mr Luffy was yawning. He got up. "Well, I"m going to turn in," he said. "Good night.
We"ll make plans tomorrow morning. I"ll bring up some breakfast for you, if you like. I"ve got some tins of sardines."
"Oh, thanks," said Anne. "And there"s some of this cake left. I hope you won"t think that"s too funny a breakfast, Mr Luffy - sardines and fruit cake?"
"Not a bit. It sounds a most sensible meal," came Mr Luffy"s voice from down the hillside. "Good night!"
The children sat there a few minutes longer. The sun went right out of sight. The wind grew a little chilly. Timmy yawned enormously again.
"Come on," said Julian. "Time we turned in. Thank goodness Timmy didn"t come into our tent and walk all over me last night. Good night, girls. It"s going to be a heavenly night - but as I shall be asleep in about two shakes of a duck"s tail, I shan"t see much of it!"
The girls went into their tent. They were soon in their sleeping-bags. Just before they went to sleep Anne felt the slight shivering of the earth that meant a train was running underground somewhere. She could hear no rumbling sound. She fell asleep thinking ofit.
The boys were not asleep. They, too, had felt the trembling of the earth beneath them, and it had reminded them of the old railway yard.
"Funny about those spook-trains, d.i.c.k," said Julian, sleepily. "Wonder if there is anything in it."
"No. How could there be?" said d.i.c.k. "All the same we"ll go to the farm tomorrow and have a chat with that boy. He lives on the moors and he ought to know the truth."
"The real truth is that Wooden-Leg Sam is potty, and imagines all he says, and the old shepherd is ready to believe in anything strange," said Julian.
"I expect you"re right," said d.i.c.k. "Oh my goodness, what"s that?"
A dark shape stood looking in at the tent-flap. It gave a little whine.
"Oh, it"s you, Timmy. Would you mind not coming and pretending you"re a spook-train or something?" said d.i.c.k. "And if you dare to put so much as half a paw on my middle, I"ll scare you down the hill with a roar like a man-eating tiger. Go away."
Timmy put a paw on Julian. Julian yelled out to George. "George! Call this dog of yours, will you? He"s just about to turn himself round twenty times on my middle, and curl himself up for the night."
There was no answer from George. Timmy, feeling that he was not wanted, disappeared. He went back to George and curled himself up on her feet. He put his nose down on his paws and slept.
"Spooky Timmy," murmured Julian, re-arranging himself. "Timmy spooky - no, I mean - oh dear, what do I mean?"
"Shut up," said d.i.c.k. "What with you and Timmy messing about, I can"t get - to - sleep!" But he could and he did - almost before he had finished speaking. Silence fell on the little camp, and n.o.body noticed when the next train rumbled underground - not even Timmy!
6
Day at the farm
The next day the children were up very early, as early as Mr Luffy, and they all had breakfast together. Mr Luffy had a map of the moorlands, and he studied it carefully after breakfast.
"I think I"ll go off for the whole day," he said to Julian, who was sitting beside him. "See that little valley marked here - Crowleg Vale - well, I have heard that there are some of the rarest beetles in Britain to be found there. I think I"ll take my gear and go along. What are you four going to do?"
"Five," said George at once. "You"ve forgotten Timmy."
"So I have. I beg his pardon," said Mr Luffy, solemnly. "Well - what are you going to do?"
"We"ll go over to the farm and get more food," said Julian. "And ask that farm-boy if he"s heard the tale of the spook-trains. And perhaps look round the farm and get to know the animals there. I always like a farm."
"Right," said Mr Luffy, beginning to light his pipe. "Don"t worry about me if I"m not back till dusk. When I"m bug-hunting I lose count of the time."
"You"re sure you won"t get lost?" said Anne, anxiously. She didn"t really feel that Mr Luffy could take proper care of himself.
"Oh yes. My right ear always warns me if I"m losing my way," said Mr Luffy. "It waggles hard."
He waggled it at Anne and she laughed. " wish you"d tell me how you do that," she said. "I"m sure you know. You can"t think how thrilled the girls at school would be if I learnt that trick. They"d think it was super."
Mr Luffy grinned and got up. "Well, so long," he said. "I"m off before Anne makes me give her a lesson in ear-waggles."
He went off down the slope to his own tent. George and Anne washed-up, while the boys tightened some tent ropes that had come loose, and generally tidied up.
"I suppose it"s quite all right leaving everything unguarded like this," said Anne, anxiously.
"Well, we did yesterday," said d.i.c.k. "And who"s likely to come and take anything up here in this wild and lonely spot, I"d like to know? You don"t imagine a spook-train will come along and bundle everything into its luggage-van, do you, Anne?"
Anne giggled. "Don"t be silly. I just wondered if we ought to leave Timmy on guard, that"s all."
"Leave Timmy!" said George, amazed. "You don"t really think I"d leave Timmy behind every time we go off anywhere, Anne? Don"t be an idiot."
"No, I didn"t really think you would," said Anne. "Well, I suppose n.o.body will come along here. Throw over that tea-cloth, George, if you"ve finished with it."
Soon the tea-cloths were hanging over the gorse bushes to dry in the sun. Everything was put away neatly in the tents. Mr Luffy had called a loud goodbye and gone. Now the five were ready to go off to the farm.
Anne took a basket, and gave one to Julian too. "To bring back the food," said she. "Are you ready to go now?"
They set off over the heather, their knees brushing through the honeyed flowers, and sending scores of busy bees into the air. It was a lovely day again, and the children felt free and happy.
They came to the trim little farm. Men were at work in the fields, but Julian did not think they were very industrious. He looked about for the farm-boy.
The boy came out of a shed and whistled to them. "Hallo! You come for some more eggs? I"ve collected quite a lot for you."
He stared at Anne. "You didn"t come yesterday. What"s your name?"
"Anne," said Anne. "What"s yours?"
"Jock," said the boy, with a grin. He was rather a nice boy, Anne thought, with straw-coloured hair, blue eyes, and rather a red face which looked very good-tempered.
"Where"s your mother?" said Julian. "Can we get some bread and other things from her today? We ate an awful lot of our food yesterday, and we want to stock up our larder again!"
"She"s busy just now in the dairy," said Jock. "Are you in a hurry? Come and see my pups."
They all walked off with him to a shed. In there, right at the end, was a big box lined with straw. A collie dog lay there with five lovely little puppies. She growled at Timmy fiercely, and he backed hurriedly out of the shed. He had met fierce mother-dogs before, and he didn"t like them!
The four children exclaimed over the fat little puppies, and Anne took one out very gently. It cuddled into her arms and made funny little whining noises.
"! wish it was mine," said Anne. "I should call it Cuddle."
"What a frightful name for a dog," said George scornfully. "Just the kind of silly name you would think of, Anne. Let me hold it. Are they all yours, Jock?"
"Yes," said Jock, proudly. "The mother"s mine, you see. Her name"s Biddy."
Biddy p.r.i.c.ked up her ears at her name and looked up at Jock out of bright, alert eyes. He fondled her silky head.
"I"ve had her for four years," he said. "When we were at Owl Farm, old Farmer Burrows gave her to me when she was eight weeks old."
"Oh - were you at another farm before this one, then?" asked Anne. "Have you always lived on a farm? Aren"t you lucky!"
"I"ve only lived on two," said Jock. "Owl Farm and this one. Mum and I had to leave Owl Farm when Dad died, and we went to live in a town for a year. I hated that. I was glad when we came here."
"But I thought your father was here!" said d.i.c.k, puzzled.
"That"s my stepfather," said Jock. "He"s no farmer, though!" He looked round and lowered his voice. "He doesn"t know much about farming. It"s my mother that tells the men what to do. Still, he gives her plenty of money to do everything well, and we"ve got fine machinery and wagons and things. Like to see the dairy? It"s slap up-to-date and Mum loves working in it."
Jock took the four children to the shining, spotless dairy. His mother was at work there with a girl. She nodded and smiled at the children. "Good morning! Hungry again? I"ll pack you up plenty of food when I"ve finished in the dairy. Would you like to stay and have dinner with my Jock? He"s lonely enough here in the holidays, with no other boy to keep him company."
"Oh, yes - do let"s!" cried Anne, in delight. Td like that. Can we, Ju?"
"Yes. Thank you very much, Mrs - er - Mrs ..." said Julian.
Tm Mrs Andrews," said Jock"s mother. "But Jock is Jock Robins - he"s the son of my first husband, a farmer. Well, stay to dinner all of you, and I"ll see if I can give you a meal that will keep you going for the rest of the day!"
This sounded good. The four children felt thrilled, and Timmy wagged his tail hard. He liked Mrs Andrews.
"Come on," saidjqck, joyfully. Til take you all round the farm, into every corner. It"s not very big, but we"re going to make it the best little farm on the moorlands. My stepfather doesn"t seem to take much interest in the work of the farm, but he"sjolly generous when it comes to handing out money to Mum to buy everything she wants."
It certainly seemed to the children that the machinery on the farm was absolutely up-to-date. They examined the combine, they went into the little cowshed and admired the clean stone floor with white brick walls, they climbed into the red-painted wagons, and they wished they could try the two motor-tractors that stood side by side in a barn.
"You"ve got plenty of men here to work the farm," said Julian. "I shouldn"t have thought there was enough for so many to do on this small place."
"They"re not good workers," said Jock, his face creasing into frowns. "Mum"s always getting wild with them. They just don"t know what to do. Dad gives her plenty of men to work the farm, but he always chooses the wrong ones! They don"t seem to like farm-work, and they"re always running off to the nearest town whenever they can. There"s only one good fellow and he"s old. See him over there? His name"s Will."
The children looked at Will. He was working in the little vegetable garden, an old fellow with a shrivelled face, a tiny nose and a pair of very blue eyes. They liked the look of him.
"Yes. He looks like a farm-worker," said Julian. "The others don"t."
"He won"t work with them," said Jock. "He just says rude things to them, and calls them ninnies and idjits."
"What"s an idjit?" asked Anne.