Five on Finniston Farm (11 page)

Sure enough, Timmy was right. Out came first Snippet, and then Nosey, apparently quite good friends again. Snippet rushed to the twins and flung himself on them as if he hadn"t seen them for days. He put something down at their feet. „What"s this you"ve found?" said Harry, picking it up. „Some dirty old bone?"

Julian suddenly took it from him, almost snatching it. „Bone? No - that"s not a bone. It"s a small carved dagger with a broken handle - old as the hil s! SNIPPET! Where did you find it?"

„The jackdaw"s got something too!" cried Anne, pointing to him. „Look - in his beak!"

Harriet caught the jackdaw easily, for he stil could not fly. „It"s a ring!" she said. „With a red stone in it - look!"

Al six children gazed at the two strange articles. An old carved knife, black with age -

and an old ring, with a stone stil set in it! They could have come from only one place!

George said what everyone was thinking.

„Snippet and the jackdaw have been to the cel ars of the castle! They must have! That burrow must have led straight into the tunnel that goes to the dungeons and the cel ars -

and they"ve been there! Oh, Snippet - you clever, clever dog - you"ve told us JUST what we want to know!"

„George is right!" said Dick, jubilantly. „We know quite a lot of things now, because of Snippet and Nosey. We know there must be plenty of things stil in those castle cellars -

and we know that somewhere near the end of this burrow is the secret passage -

because that"s the only way they could have got into the cel ars - by using the passage!

The burrow led into the passage! Don"t you agree, Julian?"

„Rather!" said Julian, flushed with excitement. „My word, this is a bit of good luck! Hurrah for Snippet and Nosey. Look, the jackdaw"s trying to fly - his wing isn"t badly hurt - just bruised, I expect. Good old Nosey - little did he know what his bit of mischief would lead to!"

„What happens now?" said George, her eyes shining. „Do we dig, too - now that we know where the passage is? It can"t be very far - and once we"ve got down to it, we can easily get into the cellars before that American does!"

WHAT an excitement! Timmy real y thought everyone had gone completely mad!

„How can we get permission to dig?" asked Anne. „I mean - wil we be allowed to?"

„I don"t see why not - Mr Henning has only been given permission to dig in one place,"

said Julian. „I bet we"d get permission to dig just here - it"s a pretty good way from the castle-site, anyway."

„Why shouldn"t we just dig and see if anyone stops us?" said George. „If Mr Philpot stops us, we could tell him what we"re really doing. He"d probably let us, then. But whatever happens, we don"t want Mr Henning to know what we"ve discovered - or think we"ve discovered!"

„Well, what shall we say then, if he asks why we"re digging?" said Anne.

„Say sil y things - joke about it!" said Dick. „Twins, have you work to do this morning? Can you find us spades, do you think?"

„Yes - you can have our spades, and Dad"s old ones, too!" said Harry. „We wish we could help - but we"ve tons to do, and we"re late already."

„Oh dear - and I promised that George and I woulcl help in the kitchen!" said Anne. „And pick peas for dinner and pod them - and get more raspberries! Can you and Dick dig al on your own, Ju?"

„Good heavens, yes!" said Julian. „It"l be slower with just two of us digging, but we"ll soon get deep down, you"l see! Anyway, we could all take turns this afternoon, perhaps, if the twins finish their work."

„We wil ! We"ll do it at top speed!" said Harry and Harriet together. „Now we"l get some spades for you."

They raced off, with Snippet beside them, and the two girls went down the hil more slowly, feeling very thril ed. If only, only they could dig down and find the secret passage from the chapel to the cellars of the old castle! Timmy felt the excitement and wagged his tail happily. He was always happy when George was thril ed about anything.

Harriet soon brought two big spades and two smaller ones to the boys. They were heavy, and she panted as she carried them up the hil .

„Good girl - or is it good boy?" asked Dick, as he took the spades. „Wait - it"s Harriet, isn"t it? You"ve no scar on your hand!"

Harriet grinned and ran off swiftly to join her brother in the farm-work that was their task.

Julian gazed after her. „They"re good kids," he said, as he turned to drive his spade into the earth. „Worth a hundred Juniors! Funny how some children are made of such good stuff, and other"s aren"t worth a penny. Well, Dick - go to it! This earth is pretty hard. I wish we could borrow one of those machines the men are using up there!"

They dug hard, and were soon very hot indeed. They stripped themselves to their shorts, but were stil far too hot. They greeted Anne with joy when she laboured up the slope, carrying a jug of cool lemonade and some buns.

„I say! You"ve made quite a hole already!" she said. „How far down do you think the tunnel wil be?"

„Well, not too far down, real y," said Dick, taking a long drink of the lemonade. „This is super, Anne. Thanks awfully. We"ve dug into the burrow, and we"re following it at the moment - hoping it wil enter the secret tunnel before we"re too tired to dig any more!"

„I say - here comes Junior!" said Anne suddenly, looking up the slope. Sure enough, it was the American boy, feeling quite brave now that neither Timmy nor Snippet were about.

He stopped a little way away and shouted: „What do you think you"re doing, digging in our hil ?"

„Go away and lose yourself!" shouted back Dick. „This isn"t your hil ! If you can dig, so can we!"

„Copy-cats!" shouted Junior. „My Pop"s laughing his head off about you!"

„Well, tell him to pick it up before it rolls down the hil !" yelled Dick. „Clear off!"

Junior watched them for a little while, puzzled, and then went off up the hil , presumably to report to his father. Anne laughed and went back to the farmhouse.

„As his Pop doesn"t know a thing about the secret passage, he must think we"re off our heads, digging here," said Julian, with a chuckle. „Well, let him think so. He"l be off his head with rage when he finds out what we"re real y doing - and he won"t know that til we"re in the cel ars!"

Dick laughed, and wiped his forehead again. „I wish this burrow would come to an end.

And I hope to goodness it does lead into the side of the tunnel. I don"t want to have to dig up half the hil side. The ground"s so hard and dry."

„Well, thank goodness it"s getting sandy here," said Julian, driving his spade deeper down.

He suddenly gave a cry. „I say! My spade went right down by itself, then! I believe I"ve come to the secret passage! The burrow must go right through one side of it!"

He was right! The rabbit-hole ran sideways and down - and into a passage! The boys dug feverishly now, panting, their hair fal ing over their foreheads, perspiration dripping off their faces.

Soon they had a deep hole, fairly wide - and at the bottom of it a way into the tunnel beneath! They lay down and peered into it. „It"s only about four feet below the surface,"

said Dick. „We might have had to do much more digging than this! Whew, I"m hot!"

„It must be dinner-time," said Julian. „I don"t really like to leave our hole, now that we"ve got down to the tunnel. And yet we simply MUST have something to eat. I"m ravenous!"

„So am I. But if we leave the hole unguarded, that pest of a Junior might come along and climb down and find the passage!" said Dick. „Look - here comes George - with old Tim. I wonder if she"d leave him here to guard the hole."

George was delighted to hear their news. She gazed down the hole in great excitement.

„How deeply you"ve dug!" she said. „No wonder you"re hot. My word! - if Mr Benning knew what you"ve found, he"d be down here in two shakes of a duck"s tail!"

„He certainly would," said Julian, soberly. „That"s what we"re afraid of. Or that snoopy Junior might climb down into the hole, if he came along. He"s been here already to see what we"re doing."

„We"re scared of going in to dinner, in case one of them comes along and investigates the hole while it"s unguarded," said Dick. „And we wondered if..."

But George interrupted him, almost as if she knew what he was going to say. „I"l leave Timmy here on guard, while you come down to dinner," she said. „He won"t let anyone come within yards of it!"

„Thanks, old thing," said the boys, gratefully, and went off down the hil with George, leaving Timmy behind. „On guard, Timmy," said George. „On guard. Don"t let anyone come near that hole."

„Woof," said Timmy, understanding at once, and looking fiercely al round and about him.

He lay down with a small growl. Let anyone come near the boys" hole, if they dare!

They did dare - but when they saw Timmy leaping to his feet, the hackles on his neck thick and upright, and heard his deep, continuous growl, Junior and his father thought better of it, and went on down the hil to have dinner at the farm-house. Poor Mr Durleston trailed behind them, almost knocked out by the heat of the sun.

„Sil y kids," said Mr Henning to Junior. „Thinking it"s clever to dig just because we"re digging!

What do they suppose they"l find down there? Another kitchenmidden?"

Junior sent a stone scudding along towards Timmy - and then fled for his life as the dog came bounding angrily down the slope. Even Mr Henning hurried. He didn"t like Timmy either!

That afternoon the twins, Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Snippet al climbed the hil to the hole where Tim stil lay watching for intruders. They brought him two fine bones, and a jug of water. He was very pleased indeed. Snippet danced round, hoping for a bite at a bone, and the jackdaw, his wing apparently quite recovered now, dared to go and peck at the bigger bone, even though Timmy growled warningly!

The twins were thril ed to see the deep hole. „Can"t we go down now?" they said, eagerly, both together.

„Yes - it would be a jolly good time to let ourselves slide into the tunnel," said Julian. „Al the men working on the castle-site have gone off to have dinner at the little vil age pub, and haven"t yet come back - and the Hennings and Mr Durleston are safely at the farmhouse."

„I"l go first," said Dick, and lowered himself into the hole. He held on to the grassy edges, and poked hard with his feet, to widen the opening into the tunnel. Then he let himself slide down until his legs were out of the rabbit hole, and dangled through the wall of the tunnel.

„Here we go!" he said, and let himself drop. Whoooooosh! He slid right into a dark, musty tunnel, and landed on soft earth. „Chuck me down a torch," he shouted. „It"s pitch-dark in here. Did you remember to bring our torches, George?"

Yes, George had four! „Look out!" she said. „Here comes one!" And she dropped it down the hole. She had already switched it on, so Dick saw it coming and caught it neatly. He shone it into the dark place around him.

„Yes! It is a tunnel!" he shouted. „The secret passage, no doubt about it! I say - isn"t this great? Come on down, all of you, let"s share in the find together. Let"s walk right up to the castle cel ars. Come on, everybody! Come on!"

UP THE TUNNEL AND INTO THE CELLARS!

Dick held up his torch to the hole, so that the others might see their way. One by one they slid into the dark tunnel, too excited for words. Timmy came too, and so did Snippet, but the jackdaw thought better of it, and remained at the enlarged opening of the burrow, chacking loudly.

The children swung their torches to and fro. „That must be the way down to the old chapel," said Julian, his torch shining down the dark tunnel. No one could stand upright just there except Timmy, for the roof was low. He sniffed suspiciously here and there, and kept close to George.

„Well - come on!" said Julian, his voice shaking a little with excitement. „We"ll go straight up, and see where the passage ends. My word - I can hardly wait to see what"s at the top!"

They made their way slowly up the passage. There had been roof-fal s here and there, but not enough to matter. Tree-roots, withered and twining, sometimes caught their feet.

„Funny!" said Harry, in astonishment, „there aren"t any trees growing on the hil side here -

why the roots, then?"

„They may be the remains of the roots of long-ago trees that did once grow on the hil ,"

said Julian, shining his torch up the passage, hoping against hope that there would be no serious obstacle to their journey. „Hal o - what"s this at my feet? Two feathers! Now how in the world did they get here!"

It was a puzzle! The children examined them earnestly by the light of their torches.

Feathers - looking quite new too - how did they get there? Was there any other way into the passage - and had the birds found it?

Dick gave a shout of laughter that made everyone jump. „We"re idiots! They"re two of the jackdale"s feathers - they must have dropped out of his bitten wing when he went down the burrow and up this passage with Snippet after him!"

„Of course! Why on earth didn"t I think of that?" said Julian. They went on upwards once more, and then Julian suddenly stopped again. A curious humming noise had come down the dark, low tunnel, a throbbing that seemed to get right inside their heads.

„What"s that?" said Anne, in great alarm. „I don"t like it."

They all stood there, and felt, like Anne, that the noise was indeed inside their heads. They shook them, put their fingers into their ears - but it was no good. The strange throbbing went on and on.

„This is a bit too mysterious for me," said Anne, scared, „I don"t think I want to go on."

The noise stopped, and they all felt better at once - but almost immediately it started again. To everyone"s surprise, George began to laugh.

„It"s al right! It"s only those men at work on the castle-site. It"s their dril s we can hear -

throbbing through the hil side, and down this passage right into our ears. They must be back from lunch. Cheer up, everybody!"