Tat lot of good Stinker is," said Julian. "No, Timmy-you"re not to eat him. Stay here! He wouldn"t taste nice if you did eat him!"
Timothy was sorry not to be able to chase Stinker round and round the island. If he couldn"t chase rabbits, he might at least be allowed to chase Stinker!
They all went down into the dungeons. Julian"s white chalk-marks were still on the rocky walls, so it was easy to find the way to the cave-like room where the children, last summer, had found piles of golden ingots. They felt sure that the little kidnapped girl had been put there, for this cave had a big wooden door that could be bolted on the outside.
They came to the door. It was well and truly bolted. There was no sound from inside. Everyone halted outside and Timmy scratched at the door, whining gently. He knew there was someone inside.
"Hallo, there!" shouted Julian, in a loud and cheerful voice. "Are you all right? We"ve come to rescue you."
There was a scrambling noise, as if someone had got up from a stool. Then a small voice sounded from the cave.
"Hallo! Who are you? Oh, do please rescue me! I"m so lonely and frightened!"
"Just undoing the door!" called back Julian, cheerfully. "We"re all children out here, so don"t be afraid. You"ll soon be safe."
He shot back the bolts, and flung open the door. Inside the cave, which was lighted by a lantern, stood a small girl, with a scared little white face, and large dark eyes. Dark red hair tumbled round her cheeks, and she had evidently been crying bitterly, for her face was dirty and tear-stained.
d.i.c.k went to her and put his arm round her. "Everything"s all right now," he said. "You"re safe. We"ll take you back to your mother."
"I do want her, I do, I do," said the little girl, and tears ran down her cheeks again. "Why am I here? I don"t like being here."
"Oh, it"s just an adventure you"ve had," said. Julian. "It"s over now-at least, nearly over. There"s still a bit of it left-a nice bit, though. We want you to come and have breakfast with us in our cave. We"ve a lovely cave."
"Oh, have you?" said the little girl, rubbing her eyes. "I want to go with you, I like you, but I didn"t like those other people."
"Of course you didn"t," said George. "Look! This is Timothy, our dog. He wants to be friends with you."
"What a simply lovely dog!" said the little girl, and flung her arms around Timmy"s neck. He licked her ir delight. George was pleased. She put her arm round the little girl.
"What"s your name?" she said.
"Jennifer Mary Armstrong," said the little girl. "What"s yours?"
"George," said George, and the little girl nodded, thinking that George was a boy, not a girl, for she was dressed in jeans just like Julian and d.i.c.k, and her hair was short, too, though very curly.
The others told her their names-and then she looked at Edgar, who had said nothing.
"This is Spotty-Face," said Julian. "He isn"t a friend of ours. It was his father and mother who put you here, Jennifer. Now we are going to leave him here in your . place. It will be such a pleasant surprise for them, won"t it?"
Edgar gave a yell of dismay and tried to back away-but Julian gave him a strong shove that sent him flying into the cave.
"There"s only one way to teach people like you and your parents that wickedness doesn"t pay!" said the boy, grimly. "And that is to punish you hard. People like you don"t understand kindness. You think it"s just being soft and silly. All right-you can have a taste of what Jennifer has had. It will do you good, and do your parents a lot of good too! Good-bye!"
Edgar began to howl dismally as Julian bolted the big wooden door top and bottom. "I shall starve!" he wailed.
"Oh no, you won"t," said Julian. "There"s plenty of food and water in there, so help yourself. It would do you good to go hungry for a while, all the same."
"Mind the cows don"t get you!" called d.i.c.k, and he gave a realistic moo that startled Jennifer very much, for the echoes came mooing round too.
"It"s all right-only the echoes," said George, smiling at her in the torch-light. Edgar howled away in the cave, sobbing like a baby.
"Little coward, isn"t he?" said Julian. "Come on-let"s get back. I"m awfully hungry for my breakfast."
"So am I," said Jennifer, slipping her small hand into Julian"s. "I wasn"t hungry at all in that cave - but now I am. Thank you for rescuing me."
"Don"t mention it," said Julian, grinning at her. "It"s a real pleasure-and an even greater one to put old Spotty-Face there instead of you. Nice to give the Sticks a dose of their own medicine."
Jennifer didn"t know what he meant, but the others did, and they chuckled. They made their way back through the dark, musty pa.s.sages of the dungeons, pa.s.sing many caves, big and small, on the way. They came at last to the flight of steps and went up them into the dazzling sun-light.
"Oh!" said Jennifer, breathing in great gulps of the-. fresh, sea-smelling air. "Oh! This is lovely! Where am I?"
"On our island," said George. "And this is our ruined castle. You were brought here last night in a boat. We heard you scream, and that"s how we guessed you were being made a prisoner."
They walked to the cliff, and Jennifer was amazed at the way they disappeared down the knotted rope. She was eager to try too, and soon slid down into the cave.
"Nice kid, isn"t she?" said Julian to George. "My word, she"s had even more of an adventure than we have!"
Chapter Twenty-One.
A VISIT TO THE POLICE STATION.
ANNE liked Jennifer very much, and gave her a hug and a kiss. Jennifer looked round the well-furnished cave in amazement and wonder-and then she gave-a scream of surprise and joy. She pointed to Anne"s neatly-made bed, on which sat a number of beautiful dolls, and a large teddy-bear.
."My dolls!" she said. "Oh, and Teddy, too! Oh, oh, where did you get them? I"ve missed them so! Oh Josephine and Angela and Rosebud and Marigold, have you missed me?"
She flung herself on the dolls. Anne was very interested to hear their names. "I"ve looked after them well," she told Jennifer. "They"re quite all right."
"Oh, thank you," said the little girl, happily. "I do think you"re all nice. Oh, I say-what a lovely breakfast!"
It was. Anne had opened a tin of salmon, two tins of peaches, a tin of milk, cut some bread and b.u.t.ter, and made a big jug of cocoa. Jennifer sat down and began to eat. She was very hungry, and as she ate, she began to lose her paleness and look rosy and happy. .
The children talked busily as they ate. Jennifer told them about herself.
"I was playing in the garden with my nurse," she said, "and suddenly, when nurse had gone indoors to fetch something, a man climbed over the wall, threw a shawl round my head, and took me away. We live by the sea, you know, and I soon heard the sound of the waves splashing on the sh.o.r.e, and I knew I was being put into a boat. I was taken to a big ship, and locked down in a cabin for two days: Then I suppose I was brought here one night. I was so frightened that I screamed."
"That was the scream we heard," said George. "It was lucky we heard it. We had thought there was smuggling going on here, in our island-we didn"t guess it was a case of kidnapping, till we heard you scream-though we had found your trunk with your clothes and toys."
"I don"t know how the man got those," said Jennifer. "Maybe one of our maids helped him. There was one I didn"t like at all. She was called Sarah Stick."- "Ah!" said Julian, at once. "That"s the one, then! It was Mr. and Mrs. Stick who brought you here. Sarah Stick, your maid, must be some relation of theirs. They must have been in the pay of someone else, I should think-someone who had a ship, and could bring you here to hide you."
"Jolly good hiding-place, too," said George. "No one but us would ever have found it out."
They ate all their breakfast, made some more cocoa, and discussed their future plans.
"We"ll take our boat and go to the mainland this morning," said Julian. "We"ll go straight to the police-station with Jennifer. I expect the newspapers are full of her disappearance, and the police will recognise her at once."
"I hope they catch the Sticks," said George. "I hope they won"t disappear into thin air as soon as they hear that Jennifer is found."
"Yes-we must warn the police of that," said Julian, thoughtfully. "Better not spread the news abroad till the Sticks are caught. I wonder where they are."
"Let"s get the boat now," said d.i.c.k. "There"s no point in waiting about. Jennifer"s parents will be thrilled to know she is safe."
"I don"t really want to leave this lovely cave," said Jennifer, who was thoroughly enjoying herself now. "I wish I lived here, too. Are you going to come back to the island and live here, Julian?"
"Well, we shall come back for a few days more, I expect," said Julian. "You see, our aunt"s home is empty at the moment because she is away ill and our uncle is with her. So we might as well stay on our island till they come back."
"Oh, could I come back with you?" begged Jennifer, her small round face alight with joy at the thought of living in a cave on an island with these nice children and their lovely dog. "Oh, do let me! I would so like it. And I do so love .Timmy."
"I don"t expect your parents would let you, especially after you"ve just been kidnapped," said Julian. "But you can ask them, if you like."
They all went to the boat and got in. Julian pushed off. George steered the boat in and out of the rocks. They saw the wreck, which interested Jenny very much indeed. She badly wanted to stop, but the others thought they ought to get to land as quickly as possible.
Soon they were near the beach. Alf, the fisher-boy was there. He saw them and waved. He ran to help them to pull in their boat.
"I was coming out in my boat this morning," he said. "Your father"s back, Master George. But not your mother. She"s getting better, they say, and will be back in a week"s time."
"Well, what"s my father come back for?" demanded George, in surprise.
"He got worried because n.o.body answered the telephone," explained Alf. "He came down and asked me where you all were. I didn"t tell him, of course. I kept your secret. But I was just coming out to warn you this morning. He got back last night-and wasn"t he wild? No one there to give him any food - all the house upside down and half the things gone! He"s at the police station now."
"Golly!" said George. "That"s just where we are going too! We shall meet him there. Oh dear, I do hope he won"t be in an awful temper. You just can"t do anything with my father when he"s cross."
"Come on!" said Julian. "It"s a good thing, in a way, that your father is here, George - we can^ explain everything to him and to the police at the same time." They left Alf, who looked very surprised to see Jennifer with the others. He couldn"t make out where she had come from. Certainly she had not started out to the island with them-but she had come back in their boat. How was that? It seemed very mysterious to Alf.
The children arrived at the police station and marched in, much to the surprise of the policeman there.
"Hallo!" he said. "What"s the matter? Been doing a burglary, or something, and come to own up?"
"Listen!" said George, suddenly, hearing a loud voice in the .room next to theirs. "That"s Father"s voice!"
She darted to the door. The policeman called to her, shocked. "Now don"t you go in there. The Inspector"s in there. Come over here special, he has, and mustn"t be interrupted."
But George had flung open the door and gone inside. Her father turned and saw her. He rose to his feet. "George! Where have you been? How dare you go away like this and leave the house and everything! It"s been robbed right and left! I"ve just been telling the Inspector about all the things that have been stolen."
"Don"t worry, Father," said George. "Really don"t worry. We"ve found them all. How"s Mother?"
"Better, much better," said her father, still looking amazed and angry. "Thank goodness I can go back and tell her where you are. She kept asking me about you all, and I had to keep saying you were all right, so as not to worry her- but I hadn"t any idea what was happening to you or where you had gone. I feel very displeased with you. Where were you?"
"On the island," said George, looking rather sulky, as she often did when her father was angry with her. "Julian will tell you all about it."
Julian came in, followed by d.i.c.k, Anne, Jennifer and Timothy. The Inspector, a big, clever-looking man with dark eyes under s.h.a.ggy eyebrows, looked at them all closely. When he saw Jennifer, he stared hard-and then suddenly rose to his feet.
"What"s your name, little girl?" he said.
"Jennifer Mary Armstrong," said Jenny, in a surprised voice.
"Bless us all!" said the-Inspector, in a startled voice. "Here"s the child the whole country is looking for-and she walks in here as cool as a cuc.u.mber! Lands sakes, where did she come from?"
"What do you mean?" said George"s father, looking surprised. "What child is the whole country looking for? I haven"t read the papers for some days."
"Then you don"t know about little Jenny Armstrong being kidnapped?" said the Inspector, sitting down and pulling Jenny near him. "She"s the daughter of Harry Armstrong, the millionaire, you know. Well, somebody kidnapped her and wants a hundred thousand pounds ransom for her. My word, we"ve combed the country for her - and here she is, as merry as you please. Well, I"m blessed-this is the queerest thing I ever knew. Where have you been, little Missy?"
"On the island," said Jenny. "Julian-you tell it all."
So Julian told the whole story from beginning to end. The policeman from outside came in, and took notes down as he spoke. Everyone listened in amazement. As for George"s father, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. What adventures these children did have, to be sure and how well they managed everything!
"And do you happen to know who was the owner of the ship that brought little Miss Jenny along-the one that sent a boat off to the wreck and put her there for the Sticks to take?" asked the Inspector.
"No," said Julian. "All we heard was that the Roomer was coming that night."
"A-HA!" said the Inspector, with great satisfaction in his voice. "Aha and oho! We know the Roomer all right- a ship we"ve been watching for some time-owned by somebody we"re very, very suspicious of- we think he"s dabbling in a whole lot of shady deals. Now this is very good news indeed. The thing is - where are the Sticks-and how can we catch them red-handed, now you"ve got Miss Jenny out of their clutches? They"ll probably deny everything."
"I know how we could catch them," said Julian, quickly. "We"ve left their nasty son, Edgar, locked in the same dungeon where they put Jenny. If only one of us could pa.s.s the word to the Sticks, that that is where Edgar is, they"d go back to the island all right, and go right into the dungeons-so if you found them there, it wouldn"t be much good them denying that they don"t know anything about the island, and have never been there."
"That would certainly make things a lot easier," said the Inspector. He pressed a bell and another policeman came into the room. The Inspector gave him a full description of Mr. and Mrs. Stick, and told him to watch the countryside round about, and report when they were found.
"Then, Master Julian, you might like to go and have a little conversation with them about their son, Edgar," said the Inspector, smiling. "If they do go back to the island, we shall follow them, and get all the evidence we want. Thank you for your very great help. Now we must telephone to Miss Jenny"s parents and tell them she is safe."
"She can come back to Kirrin Cottage with us," said George"s father, still looking rather dazed at all that had happened. ""I"ve got Joanna, our old cook, to come back for a while to put things straight, so there will be someone there to see to the children. They must all come back."
"Well, Father," said George, firmly, "we will come back just for today, but we plan to spend another week on Kirrin Island till Mother comes back. She said we could, and we are having such a fine time there. Let Joanna stay at Kirrin Cottage and keep it in order and get it ready for Mother when she comes home - she won"t want the bother of looking after us too. We can look after ourselves on the island."
"I certainly think these children deserve a reward for. the good work they have done," remarked the Inspector, and that settled the matter.
"Very well," said George"s father, "you can all go off to the island again-but you must be back when your Mother returns, George."
"Of course I will," said George. "I badly want to see Mother. But home isn"t nice without her. I would rather be on our island."
"And I want to be there, too," said Jenny, unexpectedly. "Ask my parents to come to Kirrin, please - so that I can ask them if I can go with the other children."
"I"ll do my best," said the Inspector, grinning at the five children. They liked him very much. George"s father stood up.
"Come along!" he said. "I want my lunch. All this has made me feel hungry. We"ll go and see if Joanna has got anything for us."
Off they all went, talking nineteen to the dozen, making George"s poor father feel quite bewildered. He always seemed to get into the middle of some adventure when these children were about!