THE FAMOUS FIVE Five Go Back to Kirrin Island

BOOK - 22

2006

1. Return to Kirrin 2. Jo has surprising news 3. What's going on at Arden Hall? 4. Penny King—and a find! 5. George goes missing 6. Down at the beach 7. The undersea passage 8. George's secret 9. Morning on Kirrin Island 10. Julian's horrid adventure! 11. Cracking the code 12. Revelations 13. Uncle's news, and a return to Arden Hall 14. Two Boats on Kirrin Island 15. Adventures in the dark 16. An astounding find 17. Escape from the island 18. Caught again! 19. Underground capers 20. Jo is an absolute treasure! 21. A thrilling ending

1. Return to Kirrin Two boys stood on a railway platform in London, watching people go by.

"Its still half an hour before the girls arrive" said Julian, the elder of the two brothers. "Lets go to the corner shop and get another ice cream".

"Alright, old boy" drawled Dick in a bored voice. He was a year younger at fourteen, but was not well grown and stood nearly a head shorter than the tall and sturdy Julian. "I am sick and tired of all the extra coaching we had to take this summer. I just can't wait to go to Kirrin again. I am really looking forward to a glorious summer holiday."

"The sparks will fly once George hears the news" replied Julian. "You saw the pictures of Kirrin Island in the newspaper, didn't you?"

"Anne hid the papers from George, she still doesn't know" said Dick. "She would have failed her exams if she knew what has been happening. Anne wrote to me that there was a regular conspiracy in her school to keep her from the truth!"

The boys whiled the time away having an ice each. After a while, a train drew up on the platform and the boys had to swallow their ice cream in a hurry and rush. Two heads leaned out of a window and yelled. "Dick! Julian! Here we are, and the whole compartment is empty. Come on, hurry".

The four children banged each other on the back and Julian lifted Anne off her feet. "Hey little sister, you have grown heavy, I can barely lift you. Mother must have been feeding you up while we were slaving away at our special tuitions".

George grinned at her cousins, a little shyly. George was actually Georgina, but refused to answer unless people called her George. With her short hair and tomboyish ways, a lot of people mistook her for a boy.

"We had a nice two weeks together" she said. "Parties, trips to the cinema and visits to London with Anne's friends—your father insisted on taking us to the natural history museum too. Quite normal and not even the smell of an adventure."

With a sudden jerk, the train started moving. "Off to Kirrin again" chanted Anne, the youngest. "What will happen to us there this time?"

"I wouldn't mind having another adventure or two" said Dick. "By the way George, congratulations on your father winning such a big prize in science. He is world famous now, isn't he?"

George blushed with pleasure. She never got on well with her father, who had a very short temper and could not stand her noisy ways. But she was terribly proud of him and all the work which he did.

"Uncle Quentin has really put Kirrin on the map" said Julian. "It is such an out of the way place, but now its on everyone's lips. Many people must be wanting to go there even if it is only to gaze at the house of such a famous theoretical physicist."

"Do you know what he did to win the prize?" asked Anne. "I never could understand his work."

"I am beginning to understand a little now" said Dick. "Do you remember the funny tower he put up on Kirrin Island once and wanted to work deep underwater, surrounded by water at all times? He was trying to detect nutrinos that time, which can only be done deep under the earth".

"That's not why he got the prize" said George, a little self consciously. "His equations about fusion reactions were finally confirmed by scientists experimenting at Cambridge. His dream of a cheap energy source may really come true now."

The children chatted of this and that as the train ran over the moorlands of Dorset and pulled nearer and nearer to the border with Devonshire. After a while, George fell silent. Dick nudged Julian. "Someone is missing Timmy" he said.

George heard him and smiled. It was surprising how George was getting over her awkward shyness. "Yes, I miss Tim terribly at school. I had joined Gaylands only because they took pets, and then they went and changed their policy. I had a terrible time deciding between Tim and Anne and all my other school friends. I can't wait to see him again."

Soon the train was running down the coast. After a while it pulled into a small station. "Its Kirrin" yelled George. "Come on, lets go".

As the children scrambled down from the train, a big brown dog rushed at them like a whirlwind, barking madly. "Its Tim" screamed George as she hugged him. "Woof woof" went Timmy in his deep voice. There was quite a commotion as dog and owner seemed to go mad.

The four asked the porter to keep their luggage to be picked up later and set off for Kirrin cottage down the coast road. Kirrin Bay lay before them, dotted here and there with fishing boats. Small cliffs and rocks partly blocked the view from the road. Around a corner, they saw a small island standing at the entrance to the bay.

"Look, its Kirrin island" yelled George joyfully, rushing forward. Suddenly she came to a halt and stared at a tall aluminium tower in the middle of the island, glistening in the sunlight. "What is that tower doing on my island?" she demanded angrily.

"We didn't want to tell you before, because we knew you would be upset" began Dick as George glared at him. "Since Uncle Quentin became famous with his new award, people have been visiting Kirrin to see where he works. And since fishing is so poor, some of the local fishermen

persuaded your father to put up a replica of the famous tower he used for his experiments. The fishermen take trippers to visit the island and make a bit of money. Its good for the village you know. They have mouths to feed after all."

"How dare he" raged George. "Its my island. It belonged to my mother and she gave it to me. Father had no right to do any such thing. I am going to Kirrin Island right away and take down that wretched tower."

"Don't be silly George" said Julian. "Your father wrote to me and explained how the fishing catch has been falling. Kirrin village always looks to the Kirrins for help in difficult times and your family never let them down before. Its time you stopped being so silly".

But George refused to listen to reason and was mutinous all the way to Kirrin Cottage. As they entered the gate, Aunt Fanny opened the door with a warm welcoming smile, which died as she spied George's face. "So, you saw the tower on the island. I want to talk with you about that."

"How could you!" cried George. "I want you to speak to father and make him take that tower down immediately", and Anne saw to her horror that there were tears in her eyes. Before anyone could say anything, George pushed past her mother and flew upstairs. Timmy leapt after her. The others let her go, for they knew George considered crying to be girlish and hated it.

"You could have expected George to react this way" said Julian to his aunt. "We have been anticipating something like this ever since we saw the article and picture in the newspaper".

"I am afraid there is worse to come" said Aunt Fanny in a gloomy sort of voice. "Uncle Quentin has got a bee in his bonnet about being the last of the Kirrins. You know Kirrin belonged to my parents, but Quentin is a Barnard-Kirrin too, a distant relation of the family. In fact our unusual name made me get acquainted with him when we were both at Cambridge. He has spent his whole life devoted to science, but now suddenly he has rediscovered his family roots. With all the recognition he has been getting, he wants to resurrect the old Kirrin family lands and estates. He wants to rebuild Kirrin Castle on the island, maybe even build a causeway to the island and live there, like the old time Kirrins. Nobody can convince him otherwise. He is now hard at work on the old map of Kirrin which you children found and a few other maps he has dug up from some very old library collections."

The children listened is a horrified silence. What? Destroy the island they all loved and cherished? Change the landscape of Kirrin for ever? This could not be happening!

"George will never, never accept that" said Dick. "She would go off her head, and you know something, so would we. How are you ever going to convince George to agree to this?"

"There is one alternative, but its even worse' said Aunt Fanny. "Professor Hayling called the other day. Cambridge University where Uncle Quentin studied has offered him a Professor's chair and a chance to build a new experimental fusion reactor. But I am afraid that would mean leaving Kirrin and living in Cambridge. That's why I haven't told Quentin about the phone call yet, or he would want to leave today."

This was getting worse and worse. The three children went upstairs, talking about the startling turn of events. They left George alone, for they knew she was too upset to listen to them. Anne peeped into her room and saw George sobbing into Timmy's thick coat. If she only knew what else was in store for her. Anne blinked back her tears and turned away.

Julian saw her face and tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, Anne. Things will turn out fine. Haven't they always? Uncle Quentin will just get involved with something else and forget about all this."

"But what if he goes and lives in Cambridge?" she sobbed, for Anne loved Kirrin very much indeed.

"Even that won't change things, we could still come to Kirrin for our holidays. I will ask father to speak to Uncle Quentin, you know he will always listen to our father", said Julian.

"Not always" said Dick in a morose voice. "Uncle Quentin refused to study law as Grandpa and father wanted, and hardly even spoke to our family for years together. Why, we didn't meet George for ages because of that old quarrel."

Julian glared at him. "This is not helping any. Can't you see Anne is upset? Come on, let us go down to the shore and have a bathe. That will make us feel better."

The three children went down the rocky path to the shore. They did not see George and Timmy slipping away down the cliff path that led to the fishing cottages. But George had a bone to pick with the fishermen who lived there. Soon, she turned a corner and came to a cove with many boats tied up. She saw a tall gangling youth unfurling a sail and ran towards him.

"Alf, how dare you take trippers to my island" she yelled angrily. But the boy took no notice and instead, gave a rousing welcome to Timmy, who leapt around him adoringly.

"Alf, I am talking to you" yelled George.

"Hello Miss. Georgina" said the boy. That made George even angrier, if that was possible. She hated being called Georgina even more than being called Miss.

"How many times have I told you to call me George" she raged.

"And I asked you to call me by my middle name James didn't I, after my mother married my stepfather who is called Alf too?, replied the boy. "I am the one who's been taking Timmy for his walks while you were away at school. I haven't heard any thanks yet".

George calmed down a little. "Sorry James. Of course I am grateful about you looking after Timmy. But why have you let trippers run all over my island? I didn't even know the fishermen could find the way to land on Kirrin Island."

"Well, finding the way to Kirrin Island is probably the first thing every fisherboy in this village learns" replied James. "We never let on to you about it, because we knew how possessive you were as a child about the island. When even you could row to the island by the time you were ten, it is not going to be difficult for a fisherman to do it, you know".

"But the tower? And the trippers? Why all this?" asked George. James looked away.

"So you haven't heard about the causeway yet", he said sadly, shaking his head. "Kirrin is not going to be the same again, once your father rebuilds the castle and the causeway. But we need the jobs, Master George. We were all planning to move away until your father came up with his grand plans for Kirrin. It's the only thing that made us stay on as his tenants. We can't live on fishing any more. This tripper business is just a temporary arrangement, until the excitement over your fathers big award dies away."

As George heard all this, her insides suddenly went cold with fear. Until now she had raged and yelled for every small thing and usually got her way. But looking at the grave face of this friendly fisherboy, she felt helpless in the hands of a relentless fate. With a heavy heart, she ran back the way she had come. She spied the other children on the beach and ran to them in distress. It took the combined effort of the three children and Timmy to calm her.

In the middle of all this commotion, nobody noticed a girl walking up to them. She looked a lot like George with short curly hair cut almost as short as a boy's. She walked up to Dick and punched him on the shoulder.

"Ragamuffin Jo!" yelled Dick in pleasure as he turned to look at her. "Fancy meeting you the first day of the holidays. What brings you this way?"

Jo had a worried look on her face. "I went to meet my father, who is in prison, you know. He had a surprising bit of news from one the prison inmates and sent me to give warning."

2. Jo has surprising news The four children gazed at Jo in surprise. They remembered her father, Simmy, as a thoroughly bad lot. Why would he send Jo to warn them of possible trouble?

Jo saw the look they gave her, and went red. "I know what you're thinking," she said, stroking Timmy, "but my Dad's my Dad, whatever he's done in the past, and he swears blind that he'll be keeping on the straight and narrow from now on. He's heard about everything you've done for me and he realises it's thanks to you that I've got a good home with my foster-mother while he's inside. This is his way of paying something back, see?"

"We do see," said Dick. "It just takes a bit of getting used to, that's all."

"What did your father say, Jo?" asked George, impatiently. Julian had just told his cousin about Professor Hayling's telephone call, thinking that he might as well get all the bad news over and done with, and George's spirits were low. Whatever Jo had to say, it surely couldn't make things much worse than they already were.

Jo sat down on a rock next to Anne and looked round at her friends' expectant faces. "Well," she began, in a low voice, "it's about Pottersham."

"Pottersham!" exclaimed Julian. "You mean that traitor of a scientist who was plotting to sell top secret information abroad?"

"The one we came up against at Faynights Castle?" put in Dick. "Go on, Jo. This sounds interesting."

Jo ran her fingers through her short curls. "Pottersham's done a runner," she said. "Broke out of jail early this morning, he did—the same one my Dad's in—and unless he's caught soon my Dad's afraid he'll cause trouble for you. He's resented your family ever since that time at Faynights and he's always told his cell-mate that he intends to take revenge on the Kirrins one of these days."

Anne looked at Jo's flushed face, and sighed. How she longed for a quiet, uneventful holiday. As the train had rattled and clattered towards Kirrin that morning, she had pictured endless days of bathing and boating, the peace broken only by the haunting cries of gulls as they soared through a sky of cornflower blue. She and Julian had talked of bringing their sketchbooks down to the beach to sketch the fishing boats, the island and the rocky coastline. Julian was getting rather good at painting in watercolour and had promised to teach Anne all that he knew. Now it seemed that the Five were to fall headlong into yet another adventure. Anne stared at the sand and wished she could bury her head in it, as ostriches were popularly reputed to do.

George's fists were clenched and her eyes blazed. "How dare Pottersham threaten our family!" she cried. "Just let him try! Timmy won't allow him within a mile of Kirrin!"

"Steady on, old thing," said Julian. "I don't believe for one minute that he'll carry out his threat, though I rather think we ought to warn Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin, just in case."

"No!" George and Jo spoke in unison, their faces wearing the same determined expression. They looked at one another, startled, and then smiled.

"Ladies first," grinned George, nodding to Jo to continue.

Jo made a face at George but carried on anyway, eager to have her say. "Let's keep the grown-ups out of this," she said. "My Dad wouldn't want your folks calling the police. I'm warning you of Pottersham's threats in confidence, like, because you're my friends. The last thing my Dad needs is for the police to come along asking him questions about Pottersham—some of the other inmates might not be too thrilled about that, if you know what I mean."

"You're right," agreed George. "Besides, I have my own reasons for not wanting to confide in Mother and Father. If Mother got it into her head that we were in danger here at Kirrin, she'd probably decide that moving to Cambridge was quite a sensible option after all. It would break her heart as well as mine to have to do that, and I won't allow Pottersham to drive us out of our home. Why, we Kirrins have lived here for centuries, and to let scum like Pottersham bring an end to that would be…well, it would be…"

"Potty?" suggested Dick. The others groaned and Jo fell on him, pummelling him with her fists till he begged for mercy. Timmy joined in, always ready for a game of rough and tumble.

Julian glanced at his watch and gave a sharp exclamation. "I say—look at the time! We really ought to be getting back for tea. Are you coming, Jo?"

"You bet!" said Jo, her eyes shining. "Just try and stop me!"

"Are we agreed that we won't say anything to Mother and Father, at least for the present?" asked George, anxiously, as they walked along the cliff-path towards Kirrin Cottage.

The others nodded. "Just be on your guard, all of you," said Jo. "Beware of strangers asking questions, and that sort of thing."

Anne shivered, in spite of the hot sun. Beware! What a solemn word for such a beautiful summer's day.

#

Joan the cook, who had been out shopping when the children had first arrived, was delighted to see George and the others, and gave them a warm welcome. Then she turned to the gypsy girl. "Well I never—if it isn't Miss Jo!" she exclaimed. "How's my cousin, Dorcas? All the better for having got rid of you for the afternoon, I'll be bound," she added, with a twinkle in her eye.

"She's right as rain," said Jo. "Sends her love. Her chocolate sponge is nearly as good as yours now—not quite, but she's getting there. I certainly make sure she gets plenty of practice! No-one can beat you though; you're the tops!"

"Get away with you," said Joan. "Cupboard love, that's what it is. Now, sit yourselves down and mind Timmy doesn't wolf all the cake."

"As if we'd let him," replied Anne, helping herself to an egg sandwich. "Ooh—these sandwiches are just the way I like them; cut nice and thin and simply chock-full of egg."

"Good old Joanna!" said Jo.

"Joanna?" echoed the cook. "You and your fancy names! I haven't been called that, not regular anyway, since I were a young lass. Except by you saucy young things, that is! No, it's plain Joan suits me these days, and there's naught wrong with a good plain name, neither."

It was a jolly tea. Uncle Quentin came in from picking up the children's luggage from the station and proved to be in an extraordinarily good mood, still excited about the prize he had been awarded for his work. At long last, his contribution to Science was being recognised. No wonder he felt like the King of the Castle. His wife smiled at him as she poured out his tea. She wouldn't mention Professor Hayling's telephone call just yet. It would mean Quentin making a big decision, one way or the other, and at the moment he was so relaxed. Even the news of Pottersham's escape, which he'd heard on the wireless, hadn't upset him for long. Best make the most of his good mood while it lasted.

The children helped clear away the tea-things and then Aunt Fanny proposed a game of Charades before Jo had to catch the bus home. This suggestion met with general approval, but George asked to be excused. "I have something to do," she said, and refused to say a word more. She slipped off upstairs, followed by Timmy, who padded silently after her like a shadow. Julian frowned, wondering what she was up to, but he soon forgot his concerns as a hilarious game of Charades got underway. It lasted for ages, until Uncle Quentin got into such a muddle trying to mime "nutrinos" that the game ended in utter confusion—or "fusion," as Dick remarked with a grin.

George reappeared at suppertime, fending off her cousins' questions about what she had been doing. Anne shrugged. She was becoming used to George going off alone for hours at a time. Her cousin had done the same thing at school throughout the term, and in London too. Curious, Anne had at first questioned her about what she had been up to but George had been so much on the defensive that Anne had eventually given up asking. Let her cousin keep her secret, whatever it was!

#

George found herself unable to get to sleep that night. She kept thinking about her conversation with Alf—no, James!—and about her father being offered a professorship at Cambridge. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she finally got out of bed, fumbled in the dark

for her slippers and crept over to the little side-window which looked out over Kirrin Bay. Timmy padded after her and flopped down at her feet. George patted him, pleased to have him with her. His presence was comforting.

A full moon flooded the landscape with silvery radiance and George could see her island quite clearly. The castle ruins, looking mysterious in the moonlight, reached jagged fingers to the starry sky. The aluminium tower was visible too, of course, smooth and gleaming, and she frowned. Kirrin Island looked so serene now, but during the day it was swarming with trippers. Her very own island, she thought, and a lump came to her throat. How could Mother contemplate moving away? Kirrin was in the family's blood. When George was younger she had vowed that, once she was grown up, she would live on Kirrin Island with Timmy. An unspoilt Kirrin Island—not an over-developed one with a causeway leading to the mainland. Ugh—how could Father even think of such a thing? Now she was older George had different plans for her future, but she had taken it for granted that Kirrin Island would always be there, waiting for her, whenever she needed some time alone.

Timmy licked George's hand and she fondled his ears absent-mindedly, listening to Anne's soft breathing. Was James right when he said that Kirrin couldn't survive for much longer as a fishing village? Would things have to change, whether she liked it or not?

George didn't know. She wandered over to the other window, which overlooked the moors at the back of the house. They too were bathed in the light of the moon, a vast sheet of silver and shadows, stretching away as far as the eye could see.

Suddenly, Timmy pricked up his ears and George felt his body stiffen. She gazed intently across the moors and it was then that she saw something most peculiar. Golly—whatever could it be?

"Anne!" she whispered, turning away from the window. She must wake her cousins at once!

3. What's going on at Arden Hall? They all crowded impatiently round the larger window in George's bedroom. It had taken George a long time to wake Dick from his deep slumber: Julian had jumped up, alert, as soon as George shook his shoulder.

Timmy let out a low growl. "Quiet, Timmy," murmured Anne. She tried to see what her brothers and cousin were looking at so intently. A cloud obscured the full moon for a second, and they could see nothing except a brooding darkness.

"What is it, George? What did you see?" whispered Dick.

"Over there. I saw something move near Arden Hall."

"Well, there's nothing there now. Anyway it's too dark to see anything," muttered Dick who was still sleepily rubbing his eyes.

Just at that moment, the moon seemed to sail serene and clear from the cloud which had hidden its silvery magical light, and the four children could see this mysterious night time world where everything looked so different from the sunny landscape they knew so well.

They could see now why George had woken them so urgently. They could make out, uncertainly, figures moving. But there was something strange about them.

"They're high up," breathed Julian, "and they seem to be a queer shape. What can they be wearing? Pass me your field glasses, George. They're jolly good ones, and it might just be possible to see something, if the moon doesn't go behind a cloud again."

"Gosh!" exclaimed Dick. 'the moon is so high, it's lighting up part of the road to Arden Hall that we don't normally see. And those people, whoever they are, must be standing on something or else we could never see them. There's no hill there, is there?"

"No," replied George, "it's just a long, rutted track, with bushes on both sides. No-one has looked after the house and grounds since the owners moved away suddenly. It's been empty and neglected."

"Well, there's someone there now, all right," Julian said, with excitement in his voice. He put George's field glasses to his eyes but at that moment a dark cloud covered the moon, and all was darkness once more.

"Blow!" said Dick, rather loudly.

"Quiet! Do you want to wake Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny?" asked Julian, turning away from the window.

"Ju, quick, look!" exclaimed Anne.

There, on the track to Arden Hall, they saw lights: not torches, but brighter, more dazzling lights, which shone for a moment, then disappeared. Then a second burst of light, as rays raked across the moor. The four children, and the ever watchful Timmy, gazed out of the window for another quarter of an hour, but the moon stayed hidden, and there were no more lights. They could hear nothing except some mournful hooting from a nearby copse of trees.

The children conferred in low voices.

"I think we should go and find out what's going on," insisted Dick.

"Yes," said the plucky George. "I don't like the thought of strangers near Kirrin, not with all that's been going on here lately. And especially not with Pottersham on the loose."

"He can't be here," whispered Anne, anxiously. "Why would he come here?"

"Well, remember what Jo said. He's got a real grudge, and he's on the run from prison," replied Dick.

Anne paled, and felt glad that the other children couldn't see her. Why did adventures and mysterious happenings always have to happen to them? The thought of a desperate man, bent on revenge, scared her terribly, but she was determined not to let anybody see it, and she was grateful for the covering darkness.

"Let's go and look for ourselves," said George.

"No," said Julian firmly. "We'll go and scout round Arden Hall tomorrow. We don't know anything is going on yet, but if there is, we don't want to stumble on it in the dark."

The others recognised that tone of voice, and knew that Julian wouldn't change his mind.

"Just before we leave George's window, let's see if we can spot anything that might help us find the place in daylight," added Julian. They all gazed intently, but it was hard to recognise any features now that the moon was hidden.

"Perhaps we could find out some more tomorrow from Jo?" suggested Dick.

"It's an idea," replied Julian. "Whatever we do, though, we need to keep it secret. We don't want to make matters worse. And now we must go to bed. Anne's yawning, and we'll need to be fresh in the morning."

The four children went back to their beds, a little thoughtful and subdued, but, apart from poor Anne, with a little excitement at the thought of what they might discover the following day.

I do hope this isn't an adventure, was Anne's last thought as she fell asleep.

The children discussed the night's happenings over breakfast, as soon as they were alone. George told her mother that the five would like to go and explore the countryside, now that they were together again, back at Kirrin.

"Good idea! It's a lovely day," responded Aunt Fanny. "Why don't you ask Joan for a packed lunch?"

She went off into the garden, ready to enjoy a lovely peaceful day in the garden, with the children out from under her feet, Quentin busy and happy in his study, basking in the recognition which was his at last, and the shadows over their life at Kirrin lifted at least for a little while. She was pleased that George was no longer the shy, solitary girl she had been, though she did still worry that George could be secretive still. What had she been up to last night whilst everyone else played charades?

In the kitchen Joan slapped the bread together on the last sandwich.

"There you are," she said, "Extra potted meat sandwiches for Timmy, and a lovely meaty bone."

"Woof." Timmy barked his approval and wagged his tail vigorously.

"Stop it, Timmy! You're wagging the packets of sandwiches off the table," cried Dick as dived across to grab the food, skidding as he did so.

"Idiot!" laughed George, affectionately.

"Well, Timmy certainly is a tail-y sort of dog," said Anne.

They took the packets of food which Joan had prepared for them. Dick peeped into the packets to see if Joan had included some of her special fruit cake. Yes, she had. What a good sort Joan was!

They followed the track across the moors, away from the sea and Kirrin Island. George glanced back and saw the village basking in the sun, and the cornflower blue sea sparkling under the clear sky: not a cloud was in sight. Little waves danced on the shore, and the bay seemed safe in the clasp of its protecting cliffs. George sighed with satisfaction at the lovely scene, then scowled as she saw the sun glinting on the aluminium tower, and watched Alf—no, James—begin to row a boatload of trippers, with their loud voices, gaudy clothes and cameras, across the bay to her island.

How she hated the award that might take Kirrin away from her, or her away from Kirrin. She wished her father had never found nutrinos. What did she care about cheap energy sources? Why did her life have to change, just when everything had seemed so perfect?

"Buck up, George!" shouted Dick. "We need to get a move on."

Timmy sensed George's unhappiness, and nudged her gently with his nose. She bent down to stroke him, and he licked her hand.

"Come on, then, Timmy," she said. "Let's catch up the others."

"Woof," barked Timmy excitedly, relieved that his precious mistress was happy again. Anne glanced at George. The sensitive little girl had some idea of George's feelings, but she knew how much George would hate any sympathy.

The five walked across the moor, using old tracks where no motorised vehicle had ever driven. All was quiet and peaceful, with just the sound of a skylark high above them. The sun beat down, and they grinned in pleasure at being out together in the country, worries for the moment forgotten. Even Timmy seemed to grin, as his tongue lolled out in the heat.

Their path crossed a little stream, more of a brook, but with clear, clean water. Timmy put his head down and lapped eagerly, and the four children scooped water in their hands and drank: they might as well save the lemonade for later.

There was silence, apart from the Timmy's noisy gulping. "What's that?" said Julian, suddenly. His sharp ears had picked up something that the others could not yet hear.

They stood, stock still, and listened.

"It sounds like an engine," whispered Dick, though he was not sure why he was whispering. "Is it a car?"

"But we're miles from any road," said Julian.

The droning noise grew louder, but they could see the moor for long distances in every direction, and there was nothing in sight. Then George cried out, and pointed upwards. "It's a plane!"

They saw the small plane, at first a speck in the sky, get bigger. "It's coming down," breathed Dick. He squinted into the sun, but it was hard to follow the plane's flight. The four children moved uneasily, feeling exposed out there on the moor, as the noise of the engine increased. Then, it dwindled as the plane passed.

"Where was it going? Was it getting ready to land?" asked Anne, feeling a little scared.

"Don't worry, Anne," Julian reassured her. "It's probably something to do with that air field north of here. It's nothing to be bothered about."

All the same, he and Dick exchanged uneasy glances.

The four children and Timmy continued, only Timmy unaffected by the incident. Their path sloped gently upwards, and the bare moor gave way to clumps of trees, though the landscape was still empty and uninhabited. The track widened and deepened, and there were scrubby bramble bushes at its sides; they were no longer so exposed, and their view was now more restricted.

"We're quite close to Arden Hall now, "said George. "I wonder exactly where we saw those strange figures last night."

"Let's see if we can work it out," replied Julian. "We need to look back towards Kirrin Cottage and think about where we were looking. Maps are no help in this empty landscape."

"Everything looks so different in daylight, though," objected Dick. "The moonlight seemed to change everything."

They all knew exactly what he meant. The beautiful silvery moonlight changed the landscape as if by magic, and landmarks were hard to spot in the open glare of day. And when they had tried to locate the spot, there had not even been moonlight to guide them.

They paused, and Timmy lifted his head, his ears pricked up. As the four children gazed round, George suggested that they climbed up a little in order to see over the hedge. Anne shivered a little: their track was surrounded by the high hedges and it was almost as if they were trapped. They moved towards the side of the track.

Crash! Anne stumbled and screamed as a figure on a black horse leapt the hedge and galloped down the track. The figure, head bent low over the horse's mane, disappeared down the track in the direction of Arden Hall almost before they had taken in its presence.

Timmy barked loudly, Julian tried to console the sobbing Anne, and Dick ran fruitlessly after the horse and rider.

"Who on earth was that?" exclaimed George.

"And where on earth were they going?" panted Dick.

4. Penny King—and a find! There had been few clues to follow except for the occasional hoof mark spotted by George and Julian, but there had been nowhere else to go. The rambling ruins of Arden Hall were a sorry sight indeed after such excitement with talk of past adventures. Everything about it from its moss covered stonework, shattered windows and rotten doors whispered of sadness and neglect.

They were all thinking the same thing but it was George who broke the silence. "Why would the mystery horseman come here?"

"Where are they now, I would like to know," added Julian.

Anne, who had been in charge of the food Joan had packed for them, thought they had better head back.

"Nonsense, we need to look for clues." With that George was off running, making her way through the long grass being chased by Timmy.

Anne didn't care that the brambles pulled at her skirt or that the others were searching for clues. In her mind she was a young girl playing in this very garden before the years of abandonment had crept in and settled over Arden. On summer days there would have been glorious parties and fun games for the children. "I think it's magnificent," she breathed. "Someone very important must have lived here."

Dick, who had been quietly watching Anne, stopped and bowed at the waist. "Pleased to meet you Miss Anne, I am Lord Dick of Arden Hall."

"You never make fun of George the way you do with me."

"Oh come on, sis."

WOOF! WOOF! Timmy, who had grown bored of waiting for the children to throw sticks, was chasing his tail, sending fluffy dandelions into the air making him sneeze. The children all collapsed in giggles.

#

"Look, over here."

"What is it, George?" Dick was bending down to examine the tiny object.

"It looks like a cigarette end," said Julian. "Someone must have been here recently.

"There's even more rubbish over here." Anne held up a plastic bottle Timmy had dropped at her feet.

"Good boy, Timmy!" cried out George. "I say that we go to Kirrin Farm first thing tomorrow and find out who used to live here and why they moved away."

#

"You must be very proud of your father, Georgina." Mrs Saunders seated herself at the table to watch the children eagerly reach for slices of her jam sponge. "He has done a lot for Kirrin Island, so much indeed. Not just the money the tourists are bringing, but work for the people." Mrs Saunders stared at George, knowing that she wouldn't have been happy to see the replica tower spoiling the beauty of Kirrin.

"Could you tell us who used to live in Arden Hall, if you don't mind, Mrs Saunders?" Julian asked.

Only Anne noticed that the old woman's expression changed, as she busied herself clearing the table. "I can't imagine why you would want to know, but very well. A Captain Charles Wallace and his lovely wife Charlotte lived there."

"How well did you know them?'

"George!" Anne scolded George, blushing in embarrassment of her friend's rudeness.

"It's quite all right, Anne, I'm used to George by now. Or should I say Georgina?" Waiting for an apology that she knew would not come, she continued. "They had a nephew who would visit on the holidays and some weekends. He was very friendly with our son, you see."

"Would it be possible for us to pay them a visit?" Dick mumbled, his mouth full of cake.

"Oh good gracious me, no," she chuckled. "They moved back to India where the good Captain had been stationed at one point."

"Sounds awfully sad, leaving Arden Hall unloved behind." Anne was ever the sentimental one.

"Excuse me, Mrs Saunders, but do you think we could go and see the room with the secret passage leading to Kirrin cottage?" pleaded Dick.

"Of course, dear, I can't see any harm."

They had been shown the secret passage some years ago, but Julian was the only one who could remember how to open it. He found the small dent in the panel near the floor, and it slid open with ease.

"Fancy the passage going all the way to Uncle Quentin's study," said George.

"Let's go down there now," Dick said eagerly.

"Idiot! Uncle Quentin would have a fit if you poked your head out of the hole in the study," cried Julian.

"Do you remember how we found the entrance to the passage in Uncle Quentin's study?" asked Anne. "We came all the way up the passage and came out through the back of this cupboard."

"Yes," said George. "That's how we got Father's precious papers back. We found them in a coat pocket belonging to one of the artists, hanging in the cupboard."

"What an adventure that was!" remarked Julian. "Let's go back downstairs. Mrs Saunders will be wondering where we are."

#

The children thanked Mrs Saunders for the cake and slice of ham for Timmy and made their way down the farm track. Somewhere near by they heard a horse neigh, probably disturbed by Timmy barking for the ham George was waving.

"I didn't know there was a horse here." Julian had stopped to look over at the fields.

"There isn't." George was feeding Timmy and didn't seem interested in what Julian was saying.

Anne spotted Mr Saunders repairing one of the fences nearby.

"Let's ask old Mr Saunders. At the very least we could help him," Dick suggested.

"Aye, there is a horse here, young Anne. Don't you children go in the field to feed him though, you hear? He's a playful thing too. Broke through this fence he did this morning."

Unaware of the trouble caused was a beautiful black horse grazing peacefully in the open field. The sun on his coat made him shine like highly polished boots.

"Who does he belong to, Mr Saunders?" asked Julian.

"Young lass called Penny King. She came here a few weeks ago asking the wife and me if we could rent her a room and a field for her horse while she does some research for her degree."

"Research? Is she a scientist like my father?"

"No, nothing like that, young George. I believe she said she was studying marine biology."

#

The five were walking back to Kirrin cottage in the general direction of Arden Hall.

"I'd like to have another look around Arden Hall before tea," announced Julian. "You never know but we might just find something."

Timmy suddenly barked and ran along the path towards a pretty young girl who bent to give him a fuss, which he loved.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Penny King. I'm staying at the farm with Mr and Mrs Saunders."

"Hello there, I'm Anne. This is my cousin George, and these are my two brothers, Julian and Dick. Is that beautiful black stallion yours? What's his name? He's magnificent."

"Yes, he is," replied Penny. "His name is Minstrel. And what's your name, old boy? You're a beautiful dog," said Penny stroking Timmy's belly.

This of course pleased George no end—someone making a fuss of Timmy.

"His name is Timmy," beamed George. "He's mine and I've had him since he was a pup."

"You're very lucky, he's gorgeous," said Penny. "Isn't it beautiful around here? It's such a pretty little village with the most wonderful beach and island. I can't remember ever being in such a heart-warming place."

"Yes, it is," said George. "The island belongs to me."

"Does it really?" Penny was astounded. "What's that funny little tower on the island for? Forgive me, but it looks a little odd."

"My father put it up," replied George, somewhat gloomily.

"Is your father Quentin Kirrin, the famous scientist?" asked Penny. "Wow! You must be very proud of him. Although if it was mine, I wouldn't like all those tourists going to the island."

"Nor do I," agreed George. "But it helps the fishermen who transport the tourists back and forth. As they need the extra money, I really can't do anything about it."

"I must be off now, as I told Mrs Saunders I wouldn't be late. Maybe we'll meet again sometime? Bye for now."

And off she went in the direction they had just come.

"She seems like a nice girl," said Dick. "Don't you think so?"

"WOOF!" Timmy barked.

#

They continued their way to Arden Hall along the stony path with its beautiful celandines and cowslip dancing in the light breeze.

"We won't stay long, just a quick look," said Julian. "All of a sudden I'm feeling hungry, and that won't do."

They separated and started looking for signs of something, anything to give them a clue about the lights and figures they had seen from George's bedroom night before last. Timmy had gone into the old house and was really enjoying himself with all the lovely strange smells.

"It's no good," said George after half an hour. "I can't find a thing and I'm starving."

"And me," said Anne. "Come on, boys, let's go."

"Ok," said Julian and Dick together.

"Where's Tim? I never saw him go," cried George. She gave a loud whistle. "Come on Timmy, it's tea time. Come on, boy."

Timmy came running out of the old house, hell for leather towards the now relieved four.

"Hey Ju, what's he got in his mouth?" asked Dick.

"Looks like a wallet or something," said Anne.

George bent down and took the leather pouch from his mouth. "What have you got here for us, boy?

George opened the wallet up slowly, her heart beating fast while the others watched in silence. Timmy included of course.

"That's odd," said George. "Train timetable, bus timetable, and times of low and high tides."

"Who would have thought?" said Julian. "Is there anything else, George?"

"There's a business card or something. In big bold letters it says 'RED', and there are some numbers underneath too."

What could it mean? No one had a clue.

"Instead of solving a mystery, we've found another one," said Anne. "Oh dear, I hate mysteries we can't solve."

It was a silent walk back to Kirrin cottage. Everyone was wondering what RED 0709 could mean.

5. George goes missing

At teatime the Five managed to demolish enough sandwiches for an army, plus three entire cakes, a hot apple pie with large dollops of ice cream, and all the remaining chocolate biscuits.

Joan started to clear away the plates and dishes, shaking her head in amazement. "I've never known the like," she said. "Honestly, anyone would think you kids were half-starved, the way you eat! I put three cakes out so you would have a choice of double-chocolate, strawberry sponge, or lemon cheesecake—but you didn't have to eat them all, you know."

"We felt obliged to," said Dick, leaning back in his chair and patting his stomach. "You can't expect to shove delicious cakes like that under our noses and expect to have any left afterwards, can you?"

"I'll help you with the dishes," said Anne, getting to her feet. "I didn't eat quite as much as the others. They look as though they won't be able to move for at least an hour."

Julian groaned. "I do feel very fat and heavy," he said, frowning. "Maybe I shouldn't have had that last biscuit. It seems to be loitering in my throat, unable to find room in my stomach."

George laughed. "You are an idiot. But I'm pretty full myself. Let's walk around the garden for a bit."

So the three of them left Anne to help Joan and staggered outside, feeling a little sorry for themselves. Timmy, who looked like he'd had a few too many sneaky tit-bits himself, trotted out after them.

The sun was beginning to sink by now, and the blue sky was becoming streaked with orange towards the horizon. A sudden chill made George shiver. "Brr! That's the trouble with living on the coast—the temperature drops so quickly in the evenings, even in the summertime."

"Let's talk about what we know," said Julian. "About this latest adventure, I mean. Now that Anne's out of earshot I think we can all agree that we've landed smack in the middle of something very mysterious indeed."

"There are certainly some strange things going on," Dick agreed. "Let's see: Pottersham has escaped from prison and rumor has it he's lurking about here somewhere, looking to make trouble."

"That is, according to Jo's father," said Julian. "But can his information be trusted? I still find it hard to believe that he's a changed man, looking out for us."

"I believe him," George said, surprisingly. "If Jo believes him, then so do I, because I trust Jo and her instincts."

Julian and Dick exchanged a glance. Then Julian shrugged. "Well, all right then. We'll assume Pottersham is about somewhere. What else? The mysterious lights we saw a couple of nights ago, over towards Arden Hall."

"And the strange figures in the darkness," Dick added.

"They seemed to be high up, didn't they?" said George, frowning. "I can't make that out. Were they on stilts, perhaps? They couldn't have been simply standing on stepladders, because they were moving about."

"It's a complete mystery," Julian agreed. "Strange figures in the darkness, hovering some way above the ground, shining bright lights across the moors... And they seemed to be wearing something thick, didn't they? Or was that my imagination? They seemed to be a queer shape, sort of rounded, like they were padded out with equipment or something."

"And then there's the wallet Timmy found at Arden Hall," said Dick, "with the bus and train timetables, and times of low and high tides, and that queer card with RED 0709 written on the back. A bus time, do you think? Nine minutes past seven in the morning?"

"The RED sounds familiar," said Julian, scratching his head. "George, wasn't that the message you left for us in a caravan, back when we first met Jo? Do you remember? You wrote RED or something on the wall, over and over. And 'Red' turned out to be one of the men Jo's father hung about with."

"I wrote RED TOWER, his nickname," George corrected him. "His name's Tower, and he has flaming red hair. I say—you don't think Red has anything to do with this, do you? He's supposed to be in prison, unless he's escaped and we don't know about it."

Dick was puzzling over the strange message. He could still see the words clearly in his mind. "RED 0709. I can't think what the RED could mean, but 0709 really could be a time of the day, as I said. It has to be a bus time. Maybe it's simply a red bus at just past seven in the morning?"

"Meaningless, then," said Julian, shrugging. "I must take the wallet to the police station in the morning; I'm sure someone's looking for it. Maybe we should take another look through, see if we can find some form of identification in there, maybe in a hidden pocket we didn't spot."

He dug the wallet out of his pocket and opened it. Dick and George crowded around him with interest.

"Here's the business card," said Julian, flipping it over. "The message is scrawled on the back, see? It's a funny looking business card, though—just a logo of some kind, but no name, address, or anything else."

They all stared at the card. It was clean and white, and in the center was a red and yellow logo: a yellow shield with a red snake wrapped around it. There was nothing else.

"It's most peculiar," said George. "It's hardly a business card at all. I mean, what use is it to anyone?"

"Maybe it's a pass card or something," Dick suggested. "A membership card."

"But a membership to what?" said Julian thoughtfully. "Some sort of club, perhaps? A secret organization? Or are we reading too much into this?"

He poked around in the wallet for a while longer. There were a couple of pound notes in there, but Julian left them alone. A small zipped pocket revealed nothing, and even the small pouch on the side was empty. "Whoever owns this isn't missing much," said Julian with a sigh. "A couple of pounds, and a membership card of some kind. This is worthless."

He tucked the wallet back into his pocket and they all stood staring out across Kirrin Bay, thinking hard. Another chilly breeze tugged at their clothes, but they ignored it, lost in thought.

Eventually they came back to the strange mystery of the floating people. Neither one of them could imagine what those dark figures had been up to, in the darkness near Arden Hall. How many had there been? Five? Six?

"I would say that's about right," Dick said. "Although it was very hard to tell in the darkness."

"What do you suppose Penny King was doing at Arden Hall this morning?" asked George. The others looked at her in surprise, and she frowned. "It was Penny King, wasn't it?" she said. "On her black stallion? She almost knocked us flat!"

"It must have been her," said Julian, nodding. "What an idiot I am! It's too much of a coincidence for it not to be her. Who else around here has a beautiful black horse like that?"

"I'd like to know what she was doing there, snooping about," said George again.

Dick shook his head and frowned. "Maybe nothing. Maybe she was just taking the horse for a ride and wound up there, in the grounds of Arden Hall. There may be nothing mysterious about that at all. Besides, didn't Mr Saunders say she was a marine biologist? What would a marine biologist want with an old, empty building?"

Anne appeared just then. She came towards them, rubbing her arms. "It's got quite nippy out," she said. "What are you talking about, so secretly?"

Julian, Dick and George looked at one another. Then Julian squeezed Anne's arm. "We think we have ourselves another mystery or adventure. We were just discussing all the funny little things that have happened over the last couple of days."

Anne groaned and went pale. "Oh, Ju! I did so want to steer clear of adventures these hols! Can't we just ignore all the funny happenings and pretend nothing's going on? I wanted to go to Kirrin

Island tomorrow and have a picnic. Oh, George, do say we can go the island and spend the afternoon there!"

"No," said George shortly.

Everyone turned to her in surprise. "But, George—" started Dick.

George scowled. "Sorry, but I don't feel as though I can visit my island with all these horrible day-trippers going back and forth. I shan't enjoy it if I walk around and find litter everywhere, and people lazing about on the beach and pretending they own the place. It'll just make me mad." Her face grew quite red as she said this, and she finished off by stamping her foot.

"Oh, George," said Anne sadly. "Aren't you even curious about the tower? Joan was saying just now that it's almost an exact replica of the original—not made from aluminium at all, as we thought, but some very strong lightweight plastic, like last time. It's just that it's quite shiny and gleams in the sunlight, so looks like aluminium. It even has the glass room at the top. But she says the spiral staircase hasn't been installed this time, for safety reasons; you can imagine how many day-trippers would be clambering up there otherwise. Do you remember how the original tower blew in the wind when we went to the top that time?"

"That's right!" said Dick. "It did seem very flimsy. I'm not surprised the workers didn't install a staircase this time round. Can visitors go inside the tower at all?"

"Oh yes," Anne replied, nodding. "Joan says that you can go in and look up, but that's all. There's a ladder that runs up one wall, but the bottom section has been removed to prevent people from climbing up. But there are all sorts of displays and exhibits around the walls, explaining the purpose of the original tower and what those funny little wires were for, poking through the glass. It's all very interesting, apparently."

"I'd like to see it," Julian agreed.

"Sounds boring to me," George muttered, her face still dark. "I'll be very glad when it's removed and the island is back the way it was—empty and private."

Julian laughed and patted her shoulder affectionately. "Poor old George. It just eats her up that other people are daring to set foot on her precious island. But as long as that tower's there, day-trippers will pay to visit the island and read up on Uncle Quentin's brilliant work."

"Let's go in," said George sullenly. "It's getting cold."

#

George disappeared after that. When Julian, Dick and Anne got out the game of Monopoly and sat down at the table in the dining room, Aunt Fanny popped her head in the door and looked about. "Where's George?" she asked.

"Oh, probably gone to her room to sulk about the tower on her island," said Dick, rolling his eyes. "We were talking about it earlier, and her face went the color of beetroot."

Aunt Fanny sighed. "That girl. She's just like her father, obstinate and difficult. Well, I just came to say that your Uncle Quentin has a visitor in the morning, so would you mind making yourselves scarce around ten o'clock so they can talk in peace. You know how these scientists are, when they get their heads together."

"Oh, the visitor is another scientist?" asked Anne.

"Yes," said Aunt Fanny, nodding. "You've met him before—Mr Lenoir, from Castaway Hill?"

There was absolute silence around the table. Julian, Dick and Anne simply looked at one another in dismay. Mr Lenoir was not their idea of friendly company.

"What's he coming here for?" asked Dick at last, sounding disgusted.

Aunt Fanny came further into the room, looking bemused. "Well, naturally he heard about your uncle's award and wanted to drop by and congratulate him, and to see the island. Thanks to your uncle's clever idea to drain the swamps around Castaway Hill, the town there is thriving—and Mr Lenoir is keen to offer any assistance to Quentin if he can."

"Assistance with what?" asked Anne, confused.

But Julian knew the answer to that. "It's all this talk about building a causeway to Kirrin Island," he said. "I suppose Mr Lenoir might know more about that kind of thing than most other scientists, having lived at Smuggler's Top for so long, where the only way across was over the causeway."

"Right," said Aunt Fanny. "I get the impression you don't like Mr Lenoir very much? Look, I know there was some trouble when you went to stay with him, but—"

"It's all right, Aunt," said Julian, in his most grown-up voice. "We'll make ourselves scarce around ten in the morning, and leave the scientists to talk in peace."

Aunt Fanny smiled and left them to their game of Monopoly. The three talked awhile about their adventure at Smuggler's Top, and how horrible Mr Lenoir had been, with his cold, polite laugh and quick temper.

"Do you remember how the tip of his nose kept turning white?" Anne said with a giggle. "Every time he got angry. It was very funny."

"It's a shame good old Sooty isn't coming too," said Dick. "He's been a nightmare at school this last term, so I hear. A nightmare for the teachers, I mean. But I haven't seen much of him lately for some reason."

The evening slipped away and, when the clock struck nine, Anne yawned automatically. "I think I might turn in," she said. "It's a little early yet, but I've had a tiring day, what with walking around the grounds of Arden Hall, and all over the moors."

Her brothers laughed. All over the moors indeed!

"You go off to bed then," said Julian. "Dick and I will divide your Monopoly money and properties between us, and finish the game. I vote for Leicester Square and Piccadilly—I already have the other yellow one, so that'll give me a set."

"That's not fair!" Dick complained.

Anne smiled and left them to it. She yawned again as she climbed the stairs to the girls' bedroom. She quietly opened the door and peered in. The room was in darkness. George must be sound asleep, wallowing in her self-pity, most likely with Timmy curled up on her feet. But it was too dark to see if her cousin was lying awake or snoozing soundly, so Anne tiptoed into the room and felt her way past George's bed to her own. Her eyes would adjust to the darkness in a moment, so she should be able to undress without switching on the light and disturbing her cousin.

The window was slightly ajar, and the heavy curtain moved a little as a breeze crept through the gap. Anne shivered. What was George thinking of, leaving the window open on a chilly night like this? It might be summertime, but that didn't automatically mean it was warm out! She closed it gently, and locked it, then silently undressed and slipped between the cool sheets.

She lay there in the darkness, listening for the sounds of George sleeping. She heard nothing. Not even Timmy stirred.

"George?" she whispered.

Still no sound.

Anne squinted, trying with all her might to see through the darkness to George's bed. Was she there? She seemed awfully quiet.

She reached out to turn on the bedside lamp, just for a moment, just to make sure her cousin really was there, sleeping soundly with Timmy at her feet. But then she thought about how annoyed George would be if a blinding light woke her up. With her fingers paused by the light switch, Anne hesitated a moment longer.

Maybe she could pull back the curtain a little, and let the moonlight illuminate George's bed. But no—the moon was around the front of the house, over the bay, whereas George and Anne shared a room at the back, overlooking the dark moors.

Anne sighed and rolled over.

"Goodnight, George," she whispered.

#

It was past ten before Julian and Dick grew too tired to play Monopoly anymore. They put the game away, said goodnight to Aunt Fanny, who was reading in the living room, and headed quietly upstairs to bed.

Sleep came quickly to both boys, and soon there was no sound but Dick's gentle snores and Julian's occasional mumbling. Outside, an owl hooted once, twice. A breeze blew against the window frame, and it rattled gently.

Around midnight, Julian stirred as a door closed a little too loudly downstairs. Uncle Quentin was probably heading off to bed, he thought dreamily; his uncle often forgot that everyone else was already asleep by the time he finished his work for the night. In the daytime he always complained about people slamming doors when he was trying to work, but he seemed to forget that he was just as noisy at night, bustling about as he got ready for bed. Aunt Fanny's low, murmuring voice came, and the bustling noises stopped abruptly.

"Thanks, Aunt," Julian thought, and drifted back into his dream.

But then a sharp booming sound woke him again. He bolted upright, disoriented, as the windows rattled noisily. What time was it? Way past midnight by now. What could be happening?

BOOM!

There it was again—a sharp crack-boom in the far distance, followed by the violent rattling of his window moments later. This time he swore he felt the bed shake. What on earth was going on?

He leapt out of bed, calling for Dick to wake up. But Dick was already awake and bounding across the room to join him at the window. In the darkness they bumped into each other and jostled for the curtains. They pulled them back and stared out.

It was difficult to see anything. The coastline was a black, featureless shadow for miles around. But out to sea the moon hung bright over the bay, low enough that Kirrin Island stood out as a silhouette against the clear, cloudless sky beyond. Even the outline of the castle ruins was plain to see.

As they searched for the source of the booms, Julian and Dick became aware of tiny pinpricks of light sparkling around the center of the island, as if someone had a number of campfires going at once. They clutched each other and stared, bewildered.

Then the tiny firelights flickered and began to fade from sight—and the boys realized something tremendously shocking.

Julian glanced sideways at Dick. His brother's face was bathed in moonlight, and he looked just as astonished as Julian himself. "Do you see what I see?" said Julian, almost in a whisper. "Am I dreaming?"

"I see it," agreed Dick, his eyes wide with wonder. "Or rather, I don't see it. The tower has gone!"

"It collapsed," said Julian. "Those booms—the window rattling—those were explosions! The tower has fallen!"

The bedroom door burst open and the light snapped on. Julian and Dick turned to find Anne standing there, looking frightened. But before she could say anything, Julian hurriedly explained what had happened. "The tower's been demolished! Where's George? She'll love this! I don't know if it was an accident or not, but—it has to be sabotage, surely! How could an empty tower just explode otherwise?"

Anne's hand flew to her mouth.

"Someone blew it up!" said Dick, awed. "They must have planted explosives at the foot of the tower and set them off, and the tower just collapsed to the ground. Those booms sounded a bit like firecrackers, only much louder and deeper—"

"And there were a couple of them," Julian agreed. "Like two carefully-timed explosions, set to knock out a tall structure."

They all turned to the window once more. It was difficult to see anything now that the light was on, and Julian went to switch it off. Together they peered out across the bay.

"Where is George?" asked Dick suddenly. "She'd love to see this! The horrible tower—blown to bits!"

Anne swallowed. "That's what I came to tell you. The booms woke me up, and I switched the light on, and found George's bed empty. She hasn't slept in it at all tonight. She must have come up to her room earlier this evening to sulk, but snuck out the window somehow, perhaps down the ivy like that monkey Jo used to—and, Julian, I locked her out!"

"Wait—George isn't in her room?" Julian demanded, grasping his shaking sister firmly by the shoulders. "But then... where can she be?"

Together they looked out the window once more. The bay seemed unusually silent, and the strange firelights on the island had completely faded from sight. Perhaps they had been smoldering lumps of material, blown off in all directions, starting little bush fires here and there—but all seemed quiet and peaceful now.

In the distance a siren sounded, the sound of a police car.

"George has been acting strange lately," Anne said, tears coming to her eyes. Julian couldn't see her in the dark, but he knew she was pale and shaking. "Do you remember she slipped away a couple of nights ago, between teatime and supper? Suppose she went off somewhere then, too, sneaking out the window and climbing down the ivy? Oh, I can't bear the thought of her climbing down the wall like that. It's the sort of thing Jo would do, but not George!"

"Well, there's no way Timmy climbed down the ivy," said Julian sensibly. "Maybe she just snuck out the back door as she usually does. Maybe she just had the window open because she was warm."

"Or she was waiting for someone to meet her," said Dick slowly. "Maybe she was watching out the window for whoever it was. You don't think that George could have... planned this somehow? Blown up the tower?"

Julian scoffed and thumped him on the arm. "George? Don't be an ass, Dick. George has a temper, and she can be silly sometimes, but I hardly think she's likely to dabble with explosives!"

"No, not George personally," said Dick slowly, "but she may have slipped away a couple of nights ago to arrange something—with someone who does dabble with explosives."

"Like who?" Julian demanded, still sounding scornful.

Dick shrugged. "I bet Jo knows someone who knows someone."

For a long while, Julian and Anne stared at Dick through the darkness, the moonlight picking him out where he stood by the window. Anne started to cry, and Julian put his arm around her. "Let's go and tell Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny the news," he said. "I hear them moving about downstairs—they must have heard the explosions too. We'll have to tell them George is missing. For all we know George is out there, on the island."

Anne gave a gasp. "Oh, Julian! What if George didn't cause the explosion, but went over there anyway, for some other reason? What if she was hurt?"

"Even if she is responsible somehow," said Dick, "she still might be hurt. You don't mess around with explosives, and if whoever did it wasn't properly trained—"

"It wasn't her," Julian said firmly. "I refuse to believe she would have anything to do with this kind of thing. Not old George. No, maybe it was Pottersham getting his revenge, or—"

A call came from downstairs, and Julian went to the bedroom door. "Boys? Girls? Come down here. You won't believe what's happened!" It was Aunt Fanny, heading up the stairs. "It seems the tower has been demolished. Of all the things to happen! What is the world coming to?"

She stopped in the doorway and snapped on the light. She stared around at the three children, and her expression turned from disbelief to frightened bewilderment. "Where... where's George?"

6. Down at the beach "Where's George?" repeated Aunt Fanny anxiously, even as Anne started sobbing loudly. "What's the matter, Julian? Why is Anne upset? Is George ill? Why isn't she with you?"

"We don't know, Aunt Fanny," said Julian, trying to sound nonchalant, though his voice hinted that he was distressed too. "George is missing. We think she may have gone to the island to see what was up."

"She wasn't at all keen on all of us going to the island tomorrow, though we'd suggested it to her. We didn't know she was planning to go alone," wailed Anne.

"Do stop it, Anne," said Dick. "I'm sure she's all right. It reminds me of the time she took off with Timmy during the time those horrid Sticks were here. She had bought stuff to last her a couple of weeks, and had stocked her little boat with it. We just managed to grab her before she set off."

"Well it's too late for that," said Julian shortly. "She had it all planned this time, and must be on the island by now. I should have wondered when we didn't see her around in the evening, but I assumed she was moping in her bedroom. She does have these little sulks from time to time, so we didn't take it seriously."

"What do we do, Julian?" asked Aunt Fanny in a panic. "Quentin isn't on the island anymore—he's home for the night. Mr Lenoir's arriving tomorrow, and he was to meet him to discuss plans for that causeway. In fact, I believe it's a tunnel, not a causeway. Oh, I'd better wake him and tell him George's missing!" She hurried off, looking very upset indeed.

"What do we do, Julian?" asked Dick in a low voice. "Let's go into our bedroom so we can talk freely," said Julian. "I don't want Aunt Fanny to hear us. You come too, Anne."

Off they trooped into the boys' bedroom, the window of which overlooked Kirrin Bay. The island could be seen in the distance, but it was shrouded in darkness. The tower couldn't be seen even when the moon came out from behind the clouds—but of course, that had collapsed some time ago.

"Are you sure George is safe, Julian?" implored Anne, but Julian was lost in thought, with a frown on his face.

"Let's think of a plan," he said. "We can't take the boat because George's gone off in it, and we can't very well go out and steal a boat that doesn't belong to us. We'll have to wait till morning and ask Alf—James, I mean—to take us over.

"But morning may be too late," protested Dick. "What if George is hurt? We can't wait that long. I suggest we go down to the beach to see if her boat's there or not."

"We could do that if you like," said Julian. "But mark my words, the boat won't be there! But what's that noise? It sounds like a car starting up."

"It's Aunt Fanny, with Uncle Quentin," said Anne, leaning out of the window. "Do you think they're going to fetch the police?"

"Possibly," said Julian. "Now what do you suggest we do? Explore the beach?"

"Oh, do let's," said Dick, and even Anne bravely nodded yes. So off they all went, after wrapping themselves warmly first, for there was a nip in the air even though it was a summer night.

#

A half-moon struggled among the clouds to throw a little light on Kirrin Bay, as the three children hurried down the path they knew so well. The reached the little cove where George kept her boat, and saw it was no longer there.

"Blow!" said Julian, though he was expecting the boat to be missing all along. "Old George's gone off in her boat all right, and with Timmy too. That's perhaps the only saving grace—he'll keep her safe."

"Do you think Jo's gone with her?" asked Dick suddenly. "I know they aren't the best of friends, but I did notice George was being unusually friendly with Jo when she was telling us about Pottersham's escape, and how he's interested in the island."

"Look, on the island!" cried Anne suddenly. Even as they watched, a faint greenish glow hung above the island and vanished in wisps. "What is it, Julian? I don't like it!"

"It reminds me of something we've seen before. Do you remember where, Ju?" asked Dick, frowning.

"Didn't Uncle's previous experiments involve neutrinos?" exclaimed Julian. "That means radioactivity. Could it have been a radioactive flare? If it was, I wouldn't give old George much chance!"

"Oh no," cried Anne in panic. "We must go over to the island and help her. We can't wait around like this when she could be in danger!"

"Now listen, Anne," said Julian gently. "If the island's radioactive it wouldn't do a bit of good if we were to land on it. It could be very dangerous, in fact. Let's wait till Uncle and Aunt are back."

"What are neutrinos anyway?" asked Dick curiously. "Atomic particles of some sort?"

"Yes," said Julian. "Neutrinos are similar to electrons, which you'd have studied about in school, but with a crucial difference: they do not possess an electrical charge. This makes them much

less vulnerable to external forces, and so they are therefore able to pass easily through great distances in matter without being deflected. The neutrinos detected here on earth were produced deep inside the sun."

"Incidentally," he went on, "experiments with neutrinos have to be performed well under the ground, because on the earth's surface a shower of cosmic rays and other high-energy particles can drown them out. That explains why Uncle Quentin wanted a laboratory deep under the earth, surrounded by water. It makes neutrinos much easier to detect, and also makes scientists less vulnerable to the effects of radioactivity!"

"You're brilliant, Julian," said Anne, who had only half-understood this long speech. "Do you intend to be a scientist like Uncle Quentin when you're grown up?"

"I might, Anne," said Julian, forcing a smile. "Now, do any of you have any idea what's the best way to find old George?"

"You said it's safer to remain underground in case of radioactivity," said Anne. "Well, why don't we take the tunnel to Kirrin Island instead? I mean the underground passage we explored the last time Uncle Quentin built his funny tower on the island. We'd be safe then, won't we?"

"Now that's an idea," said Julian frowning. "I just hope George will have had the good sense to remain underground, or in the dungeons, instead of wandering around in the courtyard. I wouldn't put it past her to take risks like that."

"If she's aware of the danger, I'm sure she wouldn't," said Dick. "Let's check out the tunnel," he added enthusiastically. "It begins in the old quarry, right? I hope it hasn't caved in."

"Let's do that," agreed Julian. "Ever since they cut those steps down into the quarry, it's been a relatively safe descent, even in the dark. Otherwise one can easily fall and break an ankle. I believe someone did too, once."

"Ooh, yes, that was that horrid Mr Curton, Martin's father," said Anne. "I was the one who saw him fall, but I didn't go to help him because I knew he was a wicked man. And I told him so!"

"Good for you, Anne," said Julian absently, ruffling her hair. "Now, before we make this little expedition, let's leave a note for Uncle and Aunt, so they don't worry too much. They'll see it only in the morning, and we should be on the island by then."

"We'll need to go back to Kirrin Cottage and get another torch," said Dick suddenly, as his torch flickered. "This one is almost dead!"

"Good idea," said Julian, "We'll get a nice stout rope as well—unless you have one wound around your waist already, Dick?"

"Did you really think I go to bed every night with a rope around my waist? Don't be daft, Ju," said Dick. "Sometimes your jokes really kill me."

"Oh, don't let's argue now," said Anne. "I'll raid the larder and stuff a bag full of food as well, because we don't know how long we'll be gone!"

#

Twenty minutes later, three shadowy figures made their way across the moor at the back of Kirrin cottage. Arden Hall stood dark and brooding in the distance, and there were no lights to be seen.

"It's a stroke of luck Uncle and Aunt weren't back, so we could slip away without being seen," said Anne. "But where do you think they are now?"

"Haven't a clue," panted Dick as he hauled along a small sack of what Julian called 'essentials'. "I only hope they won't come back right away and see the note we left on the kitchen table. They might try to stop us."

"There's little fear of that," said Julian. They're going to be too preoccupied to even look into the kitchen until morning. I only hope Aunt Fanny doesn't come upstairs to check on us. But I expect she'll not want to disturb us because she'll think we're asleep."

"What's in that sack you're carrying, Dick?" asked Anne. "It looks too heavy to be just food, though I did pack a fair bit."

"Well," said Julian, before Dick could catch his breath and reply. "There's the food of course. There are also ropes, spare batteries, rugs, and a couple of small spades and trowels. I've even packed a bone for old Timmy."

"Everything but the kitchen sink," muttered Dick. "Give me a hand, Ju."

It was past midnight, but the moon provided some light. At one time Julian paused for a moment when he thought he heard a horse whinny in the distance, but decided it was just his ears playing tricks.

The old quarry was only a quarter of a mile away, so they made it without much effort. It was like a huge bowl, but as it has been abandoned years ago, it was overgrown with bushes and weeds. The Five had had great fun the last time they explored the place, and Timmy had even unearthed a prehistoric arrow head for them! But that was during the day, of course. The place looked very different at night.

"Here we are," said Julian. "As I said, someone's hewn rough steps along the edge, so it's quite safe to walk down. I'll go first with the sack; then you follow me, Anne. Dick can bring up the rear. Do hold on to each other!"

In a few minutes they were at the cave. It was overgrown with gorse and brambles, but the spades came in useful, and the mouth of the cave was soon cleared. It seemed to yawn menacingly at them, thought Anne with a shiver.

7. The undersea passage Julian, Dick and Anne set off through the tunnel. The twin beams of Julian and Dick's torchs lit up the dark interior of the tunnel.

"Mind your heads!" called Julian, who was leading the way, as the roof of the tunnel sloped downwards. His warning came too late for Dick, who had been busy fiddling with his torch and failed to notice the low ceiling until he knocked his head against a rocky outcrop.

"Ow! Thanks for the warning, Ju," said Dick sarcastically, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

As the tunnel led further underground, the three children came across the part of the tunnel which had been blocked by a cave-in on Julian and Dick's previous trip.

"I hope there won't be a cave-in further on. I don't fancy having to clear it, even though we did bring spades and trowels," said Dick.

"What's that sound?" asked Anne suddenly. The three could clearly hear a booming sound overhead.

"That's just the sound of the sea, Anne. We've been walking for almost half an hour now, so we should have reached the part of the tunnel that goes under Kirrin Bay," replied Julian.

Anne shuddered as she thought of the raging sea currents scouring the rocky bed of Kirrin Bay over their heads.

"Ju, the tunnel won't collapse suddenly, will it?" she asked fearfully.

"Don't be ridiculous, Anne! This tunnel has been here for centuries. I'm sure it's not going to collapse just because we are in it!" replied Dick. Despite his reply, both of Anne's brothers also felt slightly apprehensive.

They continued along the tunnel for another fifteen minutes, until they reached a fork in the tunnel.

"Oh bother, I'd forgotten that there's a whole maze of tunnels under the bay. Which passage should we take—the one on the right or the left?" said Julian.

"The last time we came down here, Timmy led the way. I'm sure we took the right-hand passage," said Dick.

"Well, if we're not sure, we'd better mark our route somehow, just in case we get lost," said Julian. "Not that we will, of course," he added hastily, seeing the look on Anne's face.

"Did anyone bring some string?" asked Julian.

"No, but I think I have some chalk in one of my pockets. We could use that," said Dick, proceeding to turn out his pockets.

"My goodness, the things you keep in your pockets!" commented Anne, watching Dick pull out a colourful array of knick-knacks.

Ignoring her, Dick said, "Got it!" as he handed Julian a stick of pink chalk.

Julian chalked an arrow at the entrance to the right-hand passage, before leading his siblings down their chosen route. Soon they reached another junction, this time with three tunnels leading onward. They chose the middle tunnel, making sure to mark their route with chalk.

"I think we've been lucky enough to choose the right passages. Unless I'm mistaken, we should be quite close to Kirrin Island," said Julian.

"Hullo, what's this?" he added, as the beam of his torch picked out several crates stacked in a niche in the wall of the tunnel.

The three children stopped to read the boldly-painted words on several of the empty crates which were lit up by the torchs.

WARNING! EXPLOSIVES!

The children looked at each other.

"Ju, you don't suppose these crates contained the explosives that were used to blow up Uncle Quentin's tower on the island, do you?" asked Dick.

"Well, I'm certainly quite sure these empty crates weren't here before. Whoever was behind the explosion must have used this tunnel to store the explosives," replied Julian.

"But I thought Uncle Quentin decided to keep the existence of this tunnel a secret after our last adventure on the island. How could anybody else know about it?" said Anne, feeling rather puzzled.

"George knows about it," said Dick slowly. "You don't suppose she really was behind the explosion."

"Don't make such an absurd suggestion again. I'm sure that, as much as George hates the tower being put up on her island, she wouldn't blow it up and risk causing damage to her island, especially the old castle. Besides, George would never stoop to such acts," said Julian firmly.

"Then the only reasonable conclusion is that someone else does know about this undersea passage. The question is, how?" said Dick.

"Julian, do you remember that man who tried to buy Kirrin Island in our very first adventure, so that he could get hold of the treasure? He managed to buy the original map of the island from Uncle Quentin. Maybe he kept a copy, even though he returned the original to us?" said Anne.

"That is a possibility," admitted Julian. "But that would suggest that he is the culprit behind the explosion, not Pottersham."

"Oh dear, this mystery is leading us round in circles. I do wish we had never come across all these people who would wish us harm," said poor Anne.

Julian put his arm around his younger sister to comfort her. "Now, Anne, let's not forget our priority—to bring home George and Timmy safely. Solving the mystery comes in second."

"Come on," said Dick impatiently. "Let's go and find George then."

"We'd better be careful. Whoever is using these tunnels might also still be about," warned Julian.

The three children set off along the tunnel again, this time with more caution. Suddenly Dick grabbed Julian's hand and pointed in the direction of a cavern leading off from the main tunnel.

"Isn't that the cave which Uncle Quentin used as his workroom?" he asked. "Look, there's a light in that cave."

Cautiously, the three of them approached the cave. There was no one in sight. However, a lamp was placed on the table, which was piled with documents.

"Dick, you keep watch at the entrance to the workroom while Anne and I have a quick look at those documents. They might help spread some light on this mystery," said Julian.

Dick nodded, and took up his place as sentry at the rocky arch leading into the cave. Meanwhile, Julian and Anne went towards the table and started shifting through the documents.

"Look, Ju! I was right, there's a map of Kirrin Island over here. It's a copy of that old, old map which showed the secret passages under the island," said Anne, waving the map at him.

"Good for you, Anne," said Julian absently, as he perused some of the other documents. He gave a low whistle.

"Anne, these notes here are a report of the experiments Uncle Quentin carried out here on Kirrin Island to find a source of more cost-efficient energy."

"How can Uncle Quentin's notes be here? He didn't leave them here, did he?" said Anne.

"No, Anne, these must be copies, which can only mean one thing: There is a traitor among the people Uncle Quentin entrusted with his theory. And look at the emblem on the letterhead these notes have been copied onto," he added, pointing to the top of one of the pages.

"Why, that's the same emblem of a yellow shield with a red snake as the one on the business card in the wallet Timmy found," said Anne wonderingly.

They looked at each other.

"Remember what Uncle Quentin said, that there were a few private individuals and organizations who wanted his theory. They would have been able to make an enormous fortune by making use of the information themselves, instead of allowing the world to profit from it," said Julian.

"Good gracious, you don't suppose they are still after his theory, do you?" said Anne.

Julian nodded grimly. "It does look like they are. There's something else, too. Read this note here," said Julian.

Anne read it aloud.

I will contact you after completing the job, which is planned for midnight. Meeting is at 7.30, in the usual place. Signed, J.P.

Anne looked up. "J.P. are the initials of Jeffrey Pottersham!"

Julian nodded. "And the tower was blown up around midnight. That must be the 'job' he's referring to in the note."

"Then Pottersham is the one behind all of this," declared Anne with confidence.

"I must say that seems almost certain," agreed Julian. "But he might not be acting alone."

"Where do you think is the 'usual place' they have their meetings?" wondered Anne. "He just says the meeting is at 7.30, he doesn't even say whether it is in the morning or evening."

Julian also looked thoughtful. The clues were slowly making more sense now. However, his train of thought was interrupted by Dick's urgent hiss.

"Someone's coming! I can hear footsteps. We have to go, quickly!"

Julian took Anne's hand and said, "Let's go, Anne. We don't want to be found here."

Anne went pale, but mustered her courage to tell Julian, "Shouldn't we take some of these documents, as evidence?"

"That's a good idea. Maybe this will help Uncle Quentin to identify the traitor," said Julian, as he quickly grabbed the copied notes.

The three of them rushed back down the passage. The sound of footsteps was getting closer.

"Quickly, hide in this side passage. It doesn't look like it's used often," whispered Julian to his younger siblings.

They ducked into the passage. To their dismay, the passage was blocked by pile of rubble. There had apparently been a cave-in and the passage was now a dead end. Anne clutched her eldest brother in terror as the sound of the footsteps became increasingly louder. With a shock, the children realized the men were coming down the side passage they were in.

Julian thought quickly, and noticed a shadowy alcove halfway down the passage. He pulled Anne and Dick into the alcove, praying that the men would not be able to see them in the shadows.

Then suddenly, something warm and furry leapt up at them. Anne was about to scream, but Julian quickly covered her mouth with his hand. He realized that the animal who was now pawing at them excitedly was, in fact, Timmy.

"Timmy, what are you doing here?" he whispered softly to the dog. "Is George with you?" he added, peering out of the alcove, trying to see the person coming down the passage toward them.

"George, is that you?"

8. George's secret "Julian? Dick? Where are you?"

George's voice booming in the passage was a most welcome sound and the children hurried towards it. Unfortunately George didn't seem as happy to see them.

"What a bunch of sillies you are!" she burst out as soon as she spotted them. "Why did you have to go and split on me?"

"Split on you... Hey, wait a minute!" Dick tried to cut in but once George let her temper go there was no stopping her.

"Telling my parents I'd been kidnapped and all that rubbish. Good thing I ran into them before they reached the police or there would have been a full scale search party out by now," said George, without stopping for breath.

"Hold on, George," said Julian before she could start off again. "First of all, no one told your parents you were kidnapped. The explosion on the island woke them up and they noticed you were missing. When we saw your boat was gone we assumed you had gone to the island, and then, when we saw the radioactive flare..."

"The what?" asked George in surprise.

"The greenish glow that was hanging over the island," said Anne. "We thought that if you landed there you would be in terrible danger so we were coming through the tunnel to rescue you, and now you're so angry, it's not fair..."

And Anne burst into sobs. She was tired and scared of the dark, twisting tunnel. Only her anxiety about her cousin had kept her going, and now to have George raging at them just broke the girl's courage.

Julian put his arm around his sister and tried to comfort her. He was furious with George but held his anger in check; someone was obviously using this passage as a hideout and it was important they get out of it as fast as possible rather than waste time arguing. So he ignored her and turned to Anne.

"Come, let's go back to Kirrin Cottage and you can have a nice cup of cocoa and go to bed. Besides, the sooner we alert Uncle Quentin about the radioactive flare the better."

"Whatever you do don't mention radioactive flares to Father, he's about to explode already," said George, recovering her good humour. "Half the village's called up asking about it, and he's terribly annoyed. He says anyone with an atom of sense would realise that the tower was a mere replica of the original; there were no dangerous substances in it whatsoever. In fact when I left

the house he was shouting at someone and calling them nincompoops! I think it was the police constable he was talking to."

Dick burst out laughing at the thought of the police getting a dose of Uncle Quentin in a rage. The children had often been the targets of his tirades so it was nice to think of someone else getting fired for a change. Even Anne gave a wan smile at the thought.

George saw Anne's pale, tear streaked face and felt bad about her temper tantrum. She slipped her arm through the younger girl's and apologised.

"Don't mind what I said, you know I can't help my temper."

Julian saw George was genuinely sorry and forgave her on the spot; you couldn't stay angry with someone who was the first to admit their mistake.

"I was a real ass to think the island could be radioactive," he admitted sheepishly. "Uncle Quentin may be absent minded but he's far too responsible a scientist to open a potentially dangerous area to the public."

"So why don't we make for the island now?" asked Dick. "After all, we know it's safe and it's bound to be much closer than going all the way back to the mainland. And wipe that scowl off your face, George; there won't be any trippers out yet, it's 2:00AM. We could go up, have a snack, and settle down for what's left of the night."

"Oh, for something to eat," groaned Julian. "I'm starving. Come on"

Led by Timmy, the children soon found themselves in the tunnel that opened into the castle. But where was the opening?

"There was an iron spike set in the wall on the other side," asked Anne as the boys and George played the beams of their torches on the blank wall in front. "I mean in the little room in the castle. Shouldn't there be one here as well?"

"Blow!" said George. "Remember the men who made me and Father prisoner? Maybe they tampered with the opening mechanism so we couldn't escape. Maybe they took the iron spike out. How shall we get out now?"

Julian looked around in desperation. It would be too bad to have to go back after coming all this way, and besides he didn't fancy running into Pottersham or any other villain in this creepy place. He flashed his torch around the walls and on the roof in the hope of spotting the spike.

"Hallo, what's this? Give me a leg up, Dick, and I'll take a closer look."

Julian hoisted himself up with Dick's help and examined what appeared to be an opening in the wall near the roof. It was rather small, just enough for a person to squeeze into. But where did it lead? He put his face near the opening and felt a faint current of air.

"Listen, I think this opening leads somewhere, I can feel a slight breeze blowing in. Should we check it out?"

"Let me go first," said Dick. "I'll call you if it seems to be a way out."

Dick eased himself into the opening gingerly; it was only big enough to crawl through but as he went a little ahead the tunnel widened up and there was enough room to stand.

"Come on you all," he called out, "the breeze is stronger as I go along, so I think it leads outside somewhere."

Julian debated whether it was a better idea to explore this tunnel or to turn back. On the whole, going ahead seemed more sensible; at least they weren't likely to meet any crooks in such a cramped space. He helped Anne and George into the tunnel, then handed Timmy up as well.

"Ugh, Timmy old boy, no more titbits for you, you're too fat already."

He then clambered up himself and they set off after Dick. The tunnel was narrow and cramped, the roof so low in places that they had to walk doubled-up at times, but they could feel the cool, salty breeze, which told them that the opening was getting nearer, and they kept plodding on.

Would the tunnel never come to an end? Anne felt she had been walking for miles. Why oh why did they have to fall into a beastly adventure every holiday! Just as she felt she couldn't walk even one more step, Dick called out.

"We're here. I can see the moon shining and the breeze is really strong now. I think we're coming out near the beach."

He climbed out carefully, feeling for solid ground before stepping out. It seemed to be a very rocky part of the beach.

"Isn't this where our cave is?" asked Anne as he helped her out. "Oh, do let's try to find it; we can spend the night there."

"You mean the one we camped in when we rescued that American girl?" asked George. "I think you're right, it should be around here, a little to the left I think. That means this tunnel runs right across the island."

The children picked their way cautiously over the rocks. The cave was partly concealed under a rocky overhang but George knew every inch of her island and led them unerringly to the entrance.

"Oh, our dear little cave, I'm so happy to see it again," said Anne as she collapsed on the sandy floor.

"Anyone for a snack?" asked Dick, hopefully. But for once the children were too tired to sit through a proper meal so they munched on biscuits and some juicy plums, which Anne had packed at the last minute, finishing up with a bar of chocolate Julian found in his pocket.

"That was nice," he said, licking the last crumb of chocolate from his fingers. But no one answered. They were all fast asleep.

George awoke to find Timmy licking her.

"Stop it, Tim, you've made my face all wet!" said George pushing him away.

"He's giving you your morning bath," grinned Dick, sitting up. "Ooh, do I smell sausages being roasted?"

Anne was indeed roasting sausages on a campfire. The efficient little girl had woken up early, gathered firewood and set about preparing breakfast. She knew everyone would wake up ravenous.

"Quite the perfect little housewife," said Julian as he speared a sausage on a stick and held it to the flames.

Anne smiled to herself. Her brothers often teased her about 'playing houses' but she knew that a lot of their adventures wouldn't have turned out so well if she hadn't taken care of the basics. Like food.

"Let's see what else we have," said Dick, polishing off his third sausage and rummaging through the bag.

"Tongue, sardines, fresh tomatoes, a tin of pineapple chunks..."

"...and lashings of ginger beer" said George, fishing out four bottles from the depths of the now rather empty bag.

The children cut out chunks of tongue with a clean pocket knife that Julian always carried in his pocket. Anne had even remembered to pack some bread and butter, so they made huge, thick sandwiches, and ate them with the juicy tomatoes.

"This is so much fun," said Anne. "I always think..."

"...food tastes so much nicer eaten out of doors," chimed in the rest, grinning at Anne's astonished face.

"So tell me about last night," said George, reaching for a chunk of pineapple. "I saw the tower explode and so I turned back, but when I got home the window was locked..."

"Where were you?" asked Julian "We looked all over, and since the boat was missing we decided you must have gone over to the island."

"I told you I wouldn't go to the island," said George. "I just... went rowing..." She trailed off abruptly and Julian realised she was hiding something.

"I've never known you to row out anywhere, except to the island, so come on, tell us. What are you up to?"

George looked uncertain for a moment, and then made up her mind. "Well, all right. I wasn't going to tell anyone till I was sure but... well... I'm planning to enter for the National Rowing Championship next month."

"The National Championship?" asked Dick in awe.

"But you're not on the team," said Julian, "and in any case you're too young."

"I'm trying for the amateur event. You don't have to be on the team for that. And you have to be at least fifteen to qualify; I'll turn fifteen a week before the event."

The children stared at George in wonder. She had always been good at rowing, but had never considered it a sport. It was just a means of reaching her beloved island.

"I know I never thought of rowing as sport," said George, reading their thoughts, "but while I was at school I used to miss being out in a boat so I rented one from the boathouse owner nearby and slipped out whenever I could."

"So that's what you were doing when you kept disappearing?" asked Anne "Why didn't you tell me, I could have gone with you."

"I would have, but then I met some members of the rowing team and they told me I had a good chance if I tried for the championship. I needed to practise alone after that, and I didn't want to tell anyone in case nothing came of it."

George stopped and gazed around at her cousins uncertainly. "Well, I suppose you think I'm being silly, competing against professionals much older than me and with loads of experience..." She trailed off.

"Of course not, silly," said Julian, clapping her soundly on her back. "We're proud of you, and I'm sure you'll win, you're better at rowing than anyone I know."

"Not really," said George. "I'm good at navigating, but my speed is not up to par. But I have improved quite a bit; I really think I have a chance."

"Of course you do," said Anne loyally. She was sure George could achieve anything she set her mind to. "We'll come and cheer you, of course, and Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin will be so proud."

"I don't want to tell them right now, they already have a lot on their minds, what with the plans for the causeway and the tower blowing up," replied George, in a tone that meant she had made up her mind about it. The children understood that it was because she was still upset at her parents for turning her island into a tourist attraction; George had always been extremely possessive about it.

"Speaking of the tower, what say we check it out, now that we're here?" asked Dick.

"I'm sure the police must have cordoned off the area, but we can go and take a look," said Julian. "We'd better hurry though, I want to head home soon, Aunt Fanny might be getting worried."

The children cleared up all the litter, burying all the tins and stamping out the fire carefully. They then made their way up the rocks to the top of the cliff.

"Oh no, how awful it looks!" wailed Anne.

Their beautiful island was indeed a sorry sight. Great, ugly shards of charred and twisted plastic were strewn all over and some ironwork that had made a kind of foundation for the tower was all that remained, sticking out of the ground like a hideous monster. The grass and bushes around it were charred and a desolate air hung over the place.

"Even the rabbits have been scared off," said Dick sorrowfully.

George blinked furiously to keep her tears from spilling. She never cried, but seeing her island in this tragic state had totally unnerved her.

"Come, let's go" she said brusquely, and turned towards the castle. The rest of the children followed silently. They knew it would be intolerable for George to spend another moment at this place.

"Hey, hold on, what's that?" cried Julian, pointing to the little cove they had always used for their boat.

It should have been empty right now, but it wasn't. A small boat was pulled up on the beach. There was someone else on the island!

9. Morning on Kirrin Island The children looked anxiously at the boat, wondering who, and where, was its owner. Could it have been left here overnight by whoever had blown up the tower? Was it anything to do with Jeffrey Pottersham? Timmy pricked up his ears, and then started to growl gently in his throat. "Timmy can hear someone," whispered George, "let's try and hide amongst those big gorse bushes, we haven't got time to go anywhere else!"

They rushed towards the clump of bushes, where Julian pushed Anne through the prickly branches into the cramped space in amongst the leggy stems. Anne was too scared to protest, even though the prickles scratched her arms and the dead twiglets fell off into her hair. George kept her hand on Timmy's collar and told him to keep quiet. The children waited with baited breath, when along the cliff strolled Penny King, carrying a large shrimping net and two large canvas bags slung diagonally across her body. The children looked at each other in surprise, and then relief. Julian decided to catch her attention.

"Hi, Penny," he called, "we didn't expect to see you here today."

Penny King stopped walking and swung around. After an initial look of surprise at the four children climbing out from the gorse, she gave them a broad smile. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here either," she laughed, "especially after what happened last night, but since you own the island I expect you have come to inspect the damage."

On being released, Timmy bounded up to Penny, who immediately bent down to pat him. "Why are you here?" asked George. "We thought that nobody would be allowed to come here today."

"I have to keep up with my project work come what may," replied Penny, a little ruefully, "regardless of the weather or if someone else's experiment blows up! My days are dictated by the tides, which is why I'm here now when sensible people are still having their breakfasts!"

"What is your project?" asked Dick, looking at the large net with curiosity. "Are you collecting specimens?"

"Yes," answered Penny. "I'm one of several scientists trying to find out why the fishery here has collapsed so quickly. My job is to record the plankton and invertebrates in the bay, to make sure that the fish have got enough food to survive. Dr Kirrin suggested that I did my data recording from the island since there would be less chance of the experimental areas being found by trippers. My friends tease me that it's just an excuse to spend the summer playing around in rock pools, and really they have a point! I've got to get going before the tide comes in. Would you like to come down with me to see what I've caught today?"

"Yes please," chanted the children, who all loved looking for little animals in the warm, sheltered, rocky pools. Julian wondered if they should be getting home, but with the warm sun on his back and an opportunity to look in pools with a real expert, he soon dispelled his worries.

Besides, Uncle Quentin was expecting Mr Lenoir that morning, and it might be best to keep out of their way.

George looked at the slippery seaweed encrusted rocks and decided that it would be just too difficult for Timmy to manage to walk out. "I'll stay here with Tim," she said, "I'd like to be here to keep an eye on whoever else comes to the island this morning, but don't let me stop you from going."

Julian, Dick and Anne knew that George meant what she said, and turned to follow Penny. After several minutes scrabbling over the sharp rocks that surrounded Kirrin Island, Penny stopped at a long thin pool which was about the same size as a cricket pitch. Through the water the children could see a square, marked out with red pegs.

"This is my number two quadrat," said Penny. "I have five running up this beach, and I have to record what I see in them every low tide. My number one is only visible at very low tides," she waved an arm out to sea, "and is now a couple of foot under water."

"We've done some work with quadrats at school," said Dick, "only ours were in woodland. We had a wood anemone and a primrose, but nothing like the number of plants that you've got down there, Penny!"

"Some of those plants are actually animals," replied Penny. "You see that liver red thing? Well, that is an anemone too, but a sea anemone, and it is an animal that is waving its tentacles around in hope of catching a meal, even though it looks like a plant!" To prove the point, Penny touched the little animal gently with the end of her net handle, and immediately it pulled in its tentacles and now looked like a blob of red jelly rather than the graceful flower like creature it had been a moment ago.

Anne peered into the pool and smiled up at Penny. Of all the children, she enjoyed rock pools the best. "I love pools because they are just like little gardens," she said, "but with lots of different characters living in different places. One day it would be fun to write a story about them!" Her sharp eyes saw a Blenny, peeping out from behind a rock, and then a transparent prawn march across the bottom of the pool.

Mindful of the changing tides, Penny busied herself, recording all the creatures that she could see in the pool and soon had a long list. "Now we go back to the third quadrat," she said, and the children followed her back across the ragged, seaweed covered rocks, to a smaller pool where another square was marked out.

"Why do you have so many sites?" asked Anne, curiously. "Do you find different things in different places?"

"Oh yes," replied Penny, "it's why I enjoy studying the coast so much. It is lovely for people on a sunny day like today, but the beach is a really tough place for a little animal to live. Imagine: you expect a sea creature to live all the time underwater, but at low tide it can be exposed to very hot sun for hours at a time and be in danger of drying out. It needs to be able to cling on during the

fiercest of storms lest it gets washed away. All around there is danger, and animals have adapted in all sorts of ways to protect themselves from their enemies, from making their own armour plating to chemical warfare! There is high drama going on all the time on a beach, if you know how to read the signs."

"There is a different sort of seaweed up here," called Dick, when they reached the fourth quadrat. "It's bright green and looks like lettuce."

"That's why it's called sea-lettuce," laughed Penny. "All plants have the green pigment chlorophyll to make food, but the brown weed you saw lower down the beach has other pigments too, in order to fully utilise the light that can get to it underwater. That brown one we were slipping on was called bladderwrack, and the little bubbles on the fronds help the plant to stand upright when the tide is in."

"I can't imagine what that would look like," said Anne, "it just looks like a messy tangle when the tide is out. It smells, and the flies seem to love it!"

"Well, I can show you if you are interested," replied Penny, surprisingly. "I have to keep an eye on other bits of the seabed and the first quadrat, and I can put a glass panel in the bottom of my boat so that I can see what is going on. If you would like to join me later in the week it would be fun to show you what goes on beneath the waves." The children looked at each other in excitement. They had tried diving in the bay before, of course, but their eyes soon turned red and sore in the salty water. How much more they would be able to see from the comfort of a glass bottomed boat!

"What other experiments are you doing, Penny?" asked Julian, when they got to the fifth and final quadrat. George saw them and scrambled over the rocks to join them, leaving a disgruntled Timmy on the beach.

"Well, I told you that my days were dictated by the tides, but sometimes my nights are too," Penny replied. "So when it is full moon, and high tide, I have to come down here and take a catch. Different fish and plankton are around at night, and at full moon the gangway that the trippers use, reaches into deep enough water for me not to need to use the boat." Penny got into the swing of her favourite subject, pleased to have such an attentive audience. "Plankton is fascinating. It is made up of microscopic animals, and also the larval stages of all the other sea creatures. Fish feed on it, and so do the biggest whales. But sometimes it can glow at night, and the sea can look luminous."

"I think I saw that last night in the bay," said Anne. "It really was a very queer sight." That the sea was full of friendly glowing plankton seemed a lot safer than Kirrin Island becoming a nuclear wasteland!

George looked up. "You seem to be very busy with all your recording, Penny. How often do you get to go out riding?" she asked, "Minstrel is such a lovely horse."

"Oh, I snatch an hour here or there with him," replied Penny. "I get more time during the neap tides. But it was strange the night of the last full moon. I checked him in his field on the way down to the bay, but the next morning he had got out of the field and seemed very tired. I wondered if someone had left the gate open." The children glanced at each other. That had been the night of the strange happenings at Arden Hall. Was there any connection?

"Well, that is me finished," said Penny. "It's time to go. Where have you left your boat?"

"Er..." Julian started. He hadn't thought about how to get back, and really didn't fancy meeting Jeffrey Pottersham down the secret passages that morning. "Penny, would you mind awfully giving us a ride back in your boat. How we got here is a bit complicated..."

"Oh, secrets! Don't mind me," smiled Penny. "Well it will be a bit crowded, but if you don't mind helping me row I suppose it will be all right."

"I'll row all of you," said George. "I'm entering a rowing competition and the exercise will do me good."

When they got back to Kirrin the children thanked Penny for a fascinating morning, and ran up the path back to Kirrin cottage, hoping that they would be in time for lunch. Through the garden gate they saw a tall, dark boy, lying asleep under the apple tree. He awoke at the click of the gate and grinned broadly when he saw them.

"So you have come back - we had almost given you up, thought you had all been kidnapped, but I said that we'd better wait until after lunch before calling the police – I knew you wouldn't willingly miss a meal!"

"Sooty!" exclaimed Dick, slapping his classmate on the back, "what are you doing here? Has Marybelle come too?"

"Be gentle with me, and I'll tell you after lunch," replied his friend. "I'm starving even if you're not!"

Lunch was a noisy affair. Aunt Fanny wanted to tell them off for going off in the night and not returning earlier. Uncle Quentin wanted to know about the state of the tower, and was intending to visit the island that afternoon with the police to see the damage for himself. Only Mr Lenoir stayed out of the conversation, finding the hubbub more than a little confusing when he wanted to reflect upon his morning of discussions with Uncle Quentin. Timmy sat by Sooty's feet, knowing that a good supply of titbits would come his way.

After lunch all the children and Timmy went down to the beach with their bathing things, but first they heard Sooty's news.

"I went home at half term and caught whooping cough," he said. "Most of the children on Castaway caught it. Then Marybelle got it after me. She's still feeling a bit wobbly, but I

persuaded Father that my coming to see you when he came to see Dr Kirrin would be good for me."

"That was bad luck," sympathised Julian. "Whooping Cough is horrible, and it must have been pretty boring if Marybelle had it as well as you."

"Oh, every cloud has a silver lining," laughed Sooty. "Even Father felt sorry for me, so I persuaded him to buy me the 'Bells and Whistles' electrical set, you know, the one that attaches to the little Mamod steam engines. Whilst he was in such a sympathetic mood I even got some extra bits from the accessories catalogue."

"Bells and Whistles," said George with interest. "Is it any good? I've asked for a set for my birthday. I'd like to electrify the points in my train set, and get the level crossing gates to open and close."

"Oh yes, I did that in the first week," said Sooty, "but then I developed a few ideas of my own." He glanced around to check that nobody was listening, even though they were sitting in the middle of a nearly empty beach. "I attached the generator to the exercise wheel of Marybelle's hamster cage. If a bell sounded the hamster got scared and stopped, but a light would get quite bright when the hamster was going full pelt!"

The children laughed, imagining the busy hamster powering Sooty's daft circuit. Then their attention was taken by a police launch heading out towards the island. "There goes Uncle Quentin," said Julian. "He's bound to explode too when he sees the mess on the island! Never mind, isn't it time we had that bathe? Race you!"

The water was cold at first, but after plenty of splashing and ducking the children soon warmed up. George could still out-swim the boys; the extra rowing had really built her up, and her resolve not to be beaten was as strong as ever.

After the swim they flopped down onto the beach, and it was Dick who told Sooty about the queer goings on that had occurred since they had arrived back at Kirrin. On hearing of Jeffrey Pottersham's escape from prison, Sooty looked very concerned. "I've heard various strange rumours about Pottersham," he said, "and father is always very wary of him. They were undergraduates together at Oxford and were friends at first. Pottersham even came and stayed at Smuggler's Top once, and it may have been there that he first developed his interest in secret passages. Then there was a quarrel and they fell out and I know that father wouldn't trust him anymore. If he is bent on revenge against your father, George," he said seriously, looking at her straight in the eye, "then I think you will have a very determined enemy to deal with who must be caught as quickly as possible."

10. Julian's horrid adventure! It was fun to be with Sooty, the boy who was such a good host back in Smuggler's Top. The Five along with Sooty had quite a lot of fun. Julian told Sooty about their new friend Penny. Sooty said, "Is Penny so good? Well, I would like to meet her."

So the Five set off towards Kirrin farmhouse. On the way they stopped suddenly. Timmy was growling with all the hackles on his neck stiff. George said, "What happened, Tim?" Julian told them to hide behind a gorse bush.

They hid behind a gorse bush. "Why, it's Jeffrey Pottersham and Mr. Roland," exclaimed Dick. They strained their ears to listen to the conversation. "Call Red, Dick and the others at Arden Hall tonight at eleven," said Pottersham.

"Okay," said Mr. Roland. He had been the tutor of Julian, Dick and George once but it was found out that he, like Pottersham, had been a traitor to the country.

"Does he mean those scoundrels, Red Tower and Dirty Dick?" George asked Julian.

Julian replied, "I think so."

After Pottersham and Mr. Roland went, the five children and Timmy set off towards the farmhouse.

"Good Evening, Mr. Sanders," said George as they reached the farmhouse.

"Is Penny here?" inquired Anne.

"No, she has gone out. Why, did you want to meet her? She has not returned since morning," said Mr. Sanders.

The children turned back towards Kirrin Cottage. On the way Sooty asked, "I say! Who are these fellows, Red and Dick?"

Dick told him about their adventures when George had been kidnapped, and when they were on a hike together.

They reached Kirrin cottage and Aunt Fanny asked Sooty how his first day at Kirrin was. "Smashing," said Sooty. They sat down at the table for a delicious supper of Yorkshire pudding, corned beef sandwiches, and a magnificent salad made by Joan. George asked her mother, "Where is Father and Mr. Lenoir?"

"Oh! They are out somewhere for a week," said Aunt Fanny.

After supper George asked Julian, " I say! Ju, what about the meeting in Arden Hall? Aren't we supposed to go and overhear them?"

Julian replied, "It will be too dangerous for us to know. You know what kind of men Pottersham, Mr. Roland, Red and Dick are."

They went to sleep. Around ten o' clock, Julian got up. He looked at Sooty and Dick, who were fast asleep. Dick's snores were deafening. Julian smiled and went out to look down from the window. After some time, he remembered the conversation between Pottersham and Mr. Roland. Should he ought to go and check what was happening there or not? Is it too dangerous to go there with the others, especially Anne? He made up his mind to go to Arden hall alone. So, putting on his nightgown and taking his torch with him, he went to the back door. He opened it quietly and took the path towards Arden Hall. It was about quarter past ten. He went silently to the ruins of Arden Hall.

Then he thought of a plan. "I'll go and lie down on the roof of the only room which has not been destroyed. If they come and check, I'll hide behind the chimney. Hey! Wait a minute—I've already used this plan twice, once when I lay top of a caravan, and again with Dick at the top of a ruined cottage. So I hope nothing goes wrong this time!"

He lay for an hour recalling all the adventures he had had along with his siblings and cousin, not to forget old Timmy. Around midnight, he heard some voices. He recognized quite a lot of them. They were Pottersham's, Mr. Roland's, Red's, Dick's and, to his horror, Rooky's, Mr. Stick's and Mr. Curton's.

"Well, well, the whole lot of crooks are here!" he thought. And then what he heard made him gape with fear.

"Those four pesky kids and their mongrel dog have caused us a lot of trouble," said Dick.

"It's time we took revenge on them," said Red.

"Calm down, gentlemen," said Pottersham. "I and Mr. Roland have devised a nice plan to get rid of them."

"Gentlemen, my foot!" thought Julian.

"What is the plan, boss?" asked Mr. Stick.

"It is to plant a bomb in Kirrin cottage," said Mr. Roland.

"Hurray and three cheers for Mr. Roland!" said Mr. Curton.

"That's what they deserve, those interfering pests," said Rooky.

"So that's their plan, those beasts!" thought Julian.

And then Julian could not control a sneeze. It came—AAAACHOOOO!

The men downstairs jumped. They were alarmed to hear the sneeze. Mr. Stick came up on the roof to check. Before Julian could hide, Mr. Sick spotted him. He said, "Come 'ere all of you. See who I have made prisoner." Mr. Stick was holding Julian tightly when the others came.

"Oh my, what a pleasant surprise to have you here. Why, it's that big boy, what's his name now—er—Julian. What brings you here in the very middle of your foes?" said Mr. Roland.

"You beasts, you want to blow up Kirrin cottage, don't you?" said Julian.

"Why, yes! You heard correctly," said Pottersham.

"Boss, what shall we do with him?" asked Rooky.

"He must join his uncle, Mr. Lenoir and Penny," said Pottersham.

"What have you done to them?" asked Julian.

"I have kidnapped them and sent them to Mr. Perton's house on Owl's Den. They were foolish to roam around without security," said Pottersham.

"Take that boy away," Mr. Curton ordered Rooky.

#

Meanwhile, back in Kirrin Cottage, when Dick and Sooty woke up they could not see Julian in his bed. "Where do you think Ju is?" Dick asked Sooty.

"I don't know," was Sooty's reply. They woke up the girls and asked them.

"Do you think he went to Arden Hall all by himself?" inquired George.

"Maybe", said Dick.

So after breakfast, the children along with Timmy set out towards Arden Hall. When they reached it, they started looking around for anything that might tell them that Julian came here in the night.

"Hey! Come here all of you. There's a message on a piece of paper written by Julian," exclaimed Sooty.

They read:

I am a prisoner with Uncle Quentin, Mr. Lenoir and Penny. Look for me at o l en. —Julian.

"Look, the words have come off," said George.

"What shall we do?" asked Dick.

"Nothing," sobbed Anne.

11. Cracking the code "What's going on?" said Sooty, his mouth gaping open in awe. "More of the words are coming off—popping out like popcorn."

There was a giggle from behind him, and, lo and behold, there stood Julian with a broad smile.

"Ju—what is happening?" cried bewildered Dick, "For goodness' sake—Ju... JU!"

With that deafening shout, Julian scrambled up with a start. As he was sleeping on the edge of the bed, he next found himself drop thump on the floor. Dick was standing beside him, glaring fiercely at him.

"Wh-what? What happened?" Julian gaped at Dick, rubbing his eyes and getting up from the floor, shaken. "You brute! Why did you shout so loud—right in my ear? Almost deafening me!"

Dick was rubbing his jaw, and looking pretty furious, "Fancy asking me that! What if I ask why you were twisting and writhing around so uncannily—with eyes closed? You looked as if taken over by a poltergeist. Gosh—that was eerie! You were mumbling all nonsense about letting you go and were thrashing your arms around. That last slap jabbed me square on my jaws. I didn't know you could have such a wild nightmare." Dick looked in the mirror if his jaws were intact.

Julian blinked sheepishly at his brother. "Golly! So that was a dream? It was so real. Er—sorry, Dick. That must have been when I thrashed around when I got captured by Mr Stick—well, in the dream, I mean."

"Mr Stick? Who's that?" Dick raised his brow. "You mean that rogue of a fellow—father of err..."

"Edgar," said Julian, sitting back on the bed, feeling much awake now. "That was not all. There were whole lot of other rogues—Pottersham, Mr. Roland, Red Tower, and then there were Dirty Dick, Rooky and Mr. Curton too."

"What?" said amused Dick, with a chuckle. "Was that some sort of flashback of our previous adventures? All those baddies parading in your dream like that?"

"That was strange," mused Julian, and he related briefly what he remembered of the strange dream he just had—much to Dick's amusement.

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Ju—Dick! What's going on? We heard a shout and quite a commotion." George and Anne were on the doorway.

So Julian had to repeat his entire queer dream once more to the amused girls.

"Golly—Fancy Uncle Quentin and Mr Lenoir getting captured and taken to the Owl's Dene—together! They wouldn't realize that they were kept captive—they would be happily discussing some science stuffs," giggled Anne.

"And you been taken prisoner too, Ju," said George, with a smile. "But before that managing to leave a message. Jolly smart of you! But I feel creepy just to think of Kirrin Cottage being blown away. I know it's a dream thing—but even then it feels bad enough to hear our dear old cottage blown away just like that replica tower on our Island."

"They won't dare to in real, will they?" asked Anne anxiously.

"Of course not," smiled back Dick. "All villains are cowards at heart, you see."

"Woof!" said Timmy with a fierce tone.

"Timmy says he won't let any harm come to the Cottage," said George with a laugh, fondling his hair. "You are the best dog in the world—and I know you won't let anything happen to us and the Cottage." Timmy whined and gave a wet lick to her mistress.

"I think the incidents like Pottersham's jail-break and the tower getting blown away—they have played havoc onto your imagination—causing you to have such bad dream," said Dick, thoughtfully. "Or are you jabbed by sea-urchins? I saw a couple of those spiny things while going around Penny's bio-tour on the Island. They make you have nightmares, you see." Dick winked at Sooty. He gaped back—he almost believed him.

"Haha! That was funny!" Julian poked good-humoredly at his brother. He knew Dick was just pulling his legs. "There were no sea-urchins in those quadrats and they don't cause nightmares. But it has made me think seriously of something—I mean the dream," he continued, with a thoughtful look. "There sure is something going on at Arden Hall. A lot of things definitely point there—for instance those weird looking floating people; and then those lights shining out. Was that meant to be a signal or some casual flash of a torch-light? Then there was this plane flying over the moor the next day—do you remember that?"

"Yes—then later Timmy finds a wallet with a train timetable, a bus timetable, times of low and high tides, and a business card with an emblem of yellow shield with a red snake wrapped around it, and RED 0709 written boldly on the back of it. He had picked up the wallet somewhere in Arden Hall, hadn't he?" said Dick, frowning hard and trying to remember the details.

"And then we find the similar emblem on the letterhead on which Uncle's notes were copied," chipped in Anne. "Back there in the tunnel-cave—where Uncle had his experiments."

"There is something that we have overlooked somewhere—I think we should take a good look at these things once more," said Julian. "But it can wait until tomorrow—or is it today? Gosh, it is past midnight! No wonder I'm feeling so sleepy!"

So they went to sleep once more—Dick with much reluctance—in case Julian chose to have one more of those 'dangerous' dreams. He made up his mind that he would sleep in a couch that night. Better take precautions, he thought.

They were quite wary with their previous day—what with the long and tiring night-walk through the undersea tunnel, then the early morning nature tour with Penny, followed by a swimming and frolicking around with Sooty—they really had a hectic time. No wonder they were so tired. Now with the disturbed sleep due to Julian's weird nightmare, they were finding hard to keep their lids open even for another second. So a minute later, all were sleeping like logs! Anne never noticed a beetle walking calmly up her left hand, right around her face and then vanishing down her neck. The indignant beetle left Anne with much disgust that all its trotting around had come to nothing. What kind of a girl is this? Feeling nothing of its 'creepy-crawly' walk! It sighed and walked away forlornly, thinking of trying its luck somewhere else.

In the morning, George woke first with a groan. Timmy had crept up on George's middle—thinking that it made a good sleeping-couch. So George had to shove him off. But Timmy was not to be put off. He jumped back—once more right on the middle of her tummy—making George gasp for breath. "Oh—Tim! Why do you always forget that you are a big dog? Hey—Anne, it's morning already! Wake up sleepyhead—it's a glorious morning! I'm going for an early morning bathe! Who wants to join me?" Of course, everyone wanted to join. Who wanted to laze in the bed and miss a marvelous bathe in such a wonderful morning!

It was not long before James, who was out in the sea for an early catch of fish, watched with amusement four children (Sooty was too sleepy to join them) and a dog rush down, plunge headlong into the sea and then splash crazily at each other, with the seemingly mad dog chasing the receding golden ripples. They looked at a couple of police motor-boats chugging towards the island. Must be the police team going to the blast site, the children thought. They later learnt from the hawkers at the beach that there were to be no day-trippers allowed to the island until they finished the investigation.

"Hello James!" called out George, waving at the fisher-boy who was a little way out in the sea in his boat. "Having a good catch?"

"Yes, pretty good this morning!" said James pulling in his boat and preparing to unload his haul. "But I couldn't go out early enough today—so it ain't that good as yesterday. That stepfather of mine that I'd been talking about—remember? He turned up and was asking all kinds of nonsense, delaying me no end."

"What sort of questions?" queried Julian, coming out of the rippling water and wrapping himself in a towel.

"Oh—about Kirrin Island and about the ruin there. And funny that he wanted to know about the time that tide comes in and goes out at the Island. Utter nonsense! What has he to do with the tide going in or out? What does he think of me? Some sea-traffic? Pah!" said James distastefully. "I hate that bolo of a man! I really do!!"

"How dare he?" George hissed. "Why is everyone after my island? You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

"Of course not—why should I possibly!" James replied.

"It seems like your stepfather is one big nosey-parker!" called back Dick, after they were all finished swimming and bathing, and were ready to get back. "He doesn't sound good to me. I'm afraid I don't fancy this stepfather of yours at all!"

"Neither do I!" said James to himself, in a doleful tone.

After returning from a thorough bathe, they were soon enjoying a smashing breakfast of poached eggs, sardine sandwiches, browned toast and frothy fresh milk straight from Kirrin Farm. Joan, their cook, was lavishly praised for the scrumptious breakfast, much to her pleasure.

"You are the best cook I've ever seen. Much better than the royal cook of England," said Dick, winking at the others.

"You cook much better than Sarah—our cook at Smuggler's Top," said Sooty, helping himself with another sandwich. "She's such a chatterbox that she goes on chattering while the toast becomes as black as... as... "

"Soot," everyone said in unison, much to Joan's amusement.

"Beasts," Sooty said with a mock anger. "You know—Joan, you deserve the highest honor of England for cooking."

"Now, now, don't butter me so much," said Joan with a laugh. "Fancy you saying that. Penny says the same thing when I go to Kirrin Farm and help Mrs Sanders prepare lunch in the kitchen."

"Are you talking of Penny King? Have you met her?" asked Anne.

"Met her? Of course—I'd met her long before this time! Why—I'd known her since her childhood. Such a nice girl! Always smiling, and what marvelous manners! She's an exact copy of her mother, Charlotte," replied Joan, with a dreamy look in her eyes. "Ah, Charlotte. She used to be such a fine lady in her time. Charlotte Wallace King—the mistress of Arden Hall."

George almost choked over her piece of poached egg. "What—Penny King is the daughter of Captain Charles Wallace? Whewwww!"

"Funny that Mrs Sanders never mentioned that," wondered Dick. "But she did mention about her son being friendly with the Captain's nephew."

Anne remembered noticing the old woman's fleeting change in expression when she was asked about the owner of Arden Hall, while they'd been at Kirrin Farm. She wondered if she knew

something that she didn't want to disclose. And why did she hide the fact that Penny was the daughter of the Captain?

"Maybe Penny prevented her from disclosing her true identity," said Joan, casually. Then with a faraway look in her eyes, she told them a most interesting story.

"In fact," she said, "Charlotte's grandfather was from Persia—now known as Iran. He was a trader and used to trade merchandise in India. In the course of time, he settled back in India. He grew his family and flourished in name, prosperity and wealth. Charlotte was his dearest grand-daughter. In fact, Charlotte used to have a different name. Nadia Rajah she was called. Actually she'd inherited her maiden name of 'Rajah', which translated to 'King', from her grandfather only—who was given that title by some Maharajah of India. It so happened that Charles Wallace, a young handsome English gentleman, was deputed as an Army Cadet in Goa—a western coastal town of India—where Charlotte lived with her parents. He met her there and fell in love. After meeting Charles, she changed her religion to Christianity and thereon called herself Charlotte King. They got married and lived happily. Charles got promoted and was stationed in Goa as a Captain. They had a lovely son. Later, after an early retirement of the Captain—due to some illness I guess—they left India and moved here to Kirrin Village to have a quiet life. But unluckily their son died in his infancy." There was a horrified silence. Joan nodded sadly, then continued: "Many a year later, the grief-stricken parents were blessed with a lovely daughter—Penny. Unfortunately, the father and daughter never got along well. When Penny was still a young girl, a grave disaster fell upon them. One unfortunate night, they had a big burglary. They were looted of the immense valuables that they'd brought back from India. It was said that Charlotte had brought quite a horde of her inherited jewelries, ornaments, and gold coins—worth a fortune. They were stripped of the treasure when the burglary took place. However, with the help of the servants, two of the burglars were captured. In the tussle, both the brutes got killed. But when they were searched, they could find not a single coin with them."

"Was there another burglar there?" interrupted Sooty, who was listening to all this with jaws nearly dropping out.

"Yes—there was a third burglar all right," said Joan. "It was suspected that the third burglar—who got away—had the treasure. But that was not possible, because one person can't surely move all the loots so miraculously. Later this burglar was captured for some other crime and he was questioned about the whereabouts of the treasure, but he never opened his mouth. He always repeated the same thing that he'd never taken anything out of Arden Hall. He later died in jail. In this way, the Wallace Treasure got vanished into thin air. Without the money, the Wallaces were in a mighty fix. So they left Arden Hall to dilapidate and went to India, where Charlotte still had her relatives and continued to live there. There still are many a Persians dwelling in Goa—now as proper citizens."

All the children were listening in fascination. Fancy losing all those fortune! Poor Penny—she had been an heir to such a fortune.

Joan continued. "As I said earlier, Penny never got along with her father, so she never adopted her father's name—Wallace. She rather preferred her mother's maiden name of King. She's such a sweet child, but she could be obstinate at certain points."

"Well—what a story!" said Anne with a dazed look. "How did you know all these things?"

Joan began to clear up the table. "You know Dorcas—my cousin? She once used to work for the Wallaces. So I used to visit Arden Hall quite often. I was a young woman at that time and Charlotte was such a fine lady. She was almost of my age—maybe a year or two older."

"I guess Penny's come here for her research out of nostalgia. Maybe she remembers spending her childhood here," said George, finishing her sandwich, and then dropping a big piece of toast for Timmy—eagerly awaiting for the tidbits. "Here—pass the salt, Sooty."

"It must be heart-wrenching for her to see her hereditary building falling to pieces," said Dick, thinking of Arden Hall in ruins.

George scratched her curly hair. "I wonder where the treasure has vanished. Is it possible that the burglar managed to bury the treasure somewhere in the grounds of Arden Hall?"

"Impossible!" said Joan firmly. "How is it possible—under the noses of the households of the Hall? Besides, for many a year there was a thorough search for the lost treasure—even after the Wallaces moved away from here. But no-one found anything—not even one wee little bit of coin."

"Suppose the treasure is lying somewhere there in Arden Hall after all!" said Julian with a glint. "It's a possibility—because the third burglar did say that he never took out anything. That means, he may have hidden it somewhere so well that even after years of search, it was never found." After a thought, he added, "Is it possible that Penny is in pursuit of the treasure trove? Quite likely! After all, she's the heir to the treasure and she knows that it's not found yet! She's maybe using her research work as a cover-up to her actual motive, or maybe she's doing a dual job of—"

Just then they were interrupted by a loud call. "Sooty! SOOTY!"

Sooty scrambled to his feet and hurried out. Uncle Quentin, along with Sooty's father, Mr Lenoir, were going out to town for a meeting with a Civil Engineer to discuss the things about what could be done to rebuild Kirrin Castle, without spoiling its originality. Sooty was supposed to go too.

In fact, Mr Lenoir was not Sooty's real father. He was his step-father. Marybelle was not his real sister either—only a half-sister, but she thought a whole lot of her dark, jolly half-brother. It was like a pair of beauty and a beast when they were together—Marybelle was fair and delicate looking while Sooty was quite the opposite, as his nickname suggested.

"Can't I stay with the others?" pleaded Sooty meekly to his step-father. "I would be bored in the meeting. What will I be doing?"

"No, I want you to be introduced to your new tutor—who would be coming back to Smuggler's Top with us when we return. You need some thorough teaching. I'm not satisfied with your results, Pierre," said Mr Lenoir firmly. Sooty's real name was Pierre—but people seldom called him that.

Sooty nodded gloomily. He was always nervous in front of his frowning, fierce father. However, after a thought, Mr Lenoir had a change of mind and let Sooty stay back—much to his joy. "We could be late coming back, so it would be better to postpone the meeting with your tutor for some other day. I'll call him up and settle for another time."

It was not long before the five children, and an equally eager dog, were huddled in the room. They had to try unfolding some puzzles—as they'd planned earlier. Julian produced the wallet that Timmy had found somewhere in the grounds of Arden Hall, as well as the bundle of copied notes of Uncle Quentin which they had found during their underground journey to Kirrin Island.

"Here is the visiting card," said Julian, taking out the card from the wallet. "And the timetable! What do you make out of these? And here is the sheaf of Uncle's copied notes."

Dick began to flip through the notes. Just then he gave a long whistle. "Hey, what is this? We never noticed these before. Julian, you must have collected them when you hurriedly gathered the notes." He was waving a couple of papers.

Dick unfolded the first piece of paper which turned out to be a neatly drawn map with several diagrams and sketches, while the second one contained a list of coded names. What excited him most was that on top of the list, written in rough hand-writing, was:

RED 0709

"Golly—the same as written on the back of the visiting card," said Dick. "Pass me the card, Ju. Yes, it is RED 0709 alright. This is strange!"

"Wait—there are more!" exclaimed Julian. "Next in the list are REY R3LL0d, PER NVWdVHC and TER 3705."

"Whatever do they mean?" said George with a frown. "It's all Greek to me!"

"It seems these are codes of some sort. I thought earlier that 0709 could have been a time of the day—or a bus time or something," said Dick, nodding his head. "It doesn't fit somehow now, as we see all these codes. For instance, 3705 can't possibly be a bus timing."

"Wait—here are a whole lot of scribbles on the back of the paper," said Sooty, who was peering at the back of the paper that Dick was holding. Dick flipped around the paper.

"What horrible hand-writing. I can hardly make it out. Here, Ju—can you make out any?" Dick handed out the paper to Julian—who after spending quite some time squinting over it was at loss too.

"Here, let me try," said George, with an interested look on her face. "I am pretty good at deciphering hand-writing."

She squinted and groaned, trying to make out the bad writing—and due to the creases caused by the multiple folding, it made the job all the more difficult.

"This is surely L and then F. Before that it looks like A. Is this P or R, Anne? Have a look," Anne peered over the writing.

"Umm, that is R because of the small faded stroke from the middle of P. Then it's C—no, it's E, followed by D. The next word is clear enough—it's BOLO," said Anne triumphantly.

"A-L-F-R-E-D and B-O-L-O... Why, it's Alfred Bolo!" cried George in excitement. "It's a name of someone. Do you think it's the owner of the wallet? Most likely, because I can see this name repeated in several places. If it's his wallet, it explains the bus or train timetable that we found in it. It must have been the route that he'd traveled while coming to Kirrin Station."

"Wait—where have I heard that word? Bolo!" said Dick, trying to remember. "I'm sure I've heard it quite recently. Bolo, bolo—oh YES—now I remember. Earlier this morning, James mentioned that name, didn't he? He said he hated that bolo of a man!"

"Oh yes—and he was referring to his stepfather," said Julian, slapping Dick on the back. "You've got it, old boy! Bolo must be the surname of his stepfather. Didn't he tell us that he'd changed his name from Alf to James because his stepfather's name also happened to be Alf? And Alf is short for Alfred, isn't it? It makes sense now. That means this 'bolo' man of Alfred is the stepfather of James and he is certainly up to no good. I thought he sounded fishy when James told us about him this morning."

"Why—this is a list of people's names! Gosh—can you guess whose name is listed next? It's Jeffrey Pottersham!" said George excitedly, making Timmy bark loudly. He knew that George was excited over something, so he followed suit. He began to tear round the room in top speed.

"Shut up, Timmy!" said Dick crossly. "You don't want Uncle to come up! He hasn't gone yet—I can still hear his voice." Timmy obediently sat beside his mistress, panting and with his tongue hanging out.

George identified further names—Peter Sole, Harper Chapman, Samuel Hardy. There were a couple more she couldn't identify.

Julian took the paper and began to go through it. "They must be the band of baddies that blew up the tower—most probably! Most likely is that it is led by Pottersham himself. It pretty much seems like we happened to get hold of an important document."

"Wait," said Sooty who was looking intently at the visiting card with RED 0709 written on the back. He was turning it round and round. "I think I've got it! Didn't you say there was a man called Alfred Bolo? I bet RED 0709 is the code name for this guy. Look—turn the card upside

down and try to read. Do you get it? When you read 0709 upside down—it becomes b—O—L—O."

Julian gave a thump to the boy. "You hit upon the nail, Sooty! And of course RED is an abbreviated form of Alfred—by retaining the last three letters of the name. And we thought that it was to do something with RED TOWER."

"Let's look for other codes too. Hmm, REY R3LL0d. When you read R3LL0d upside down, you get P, then O... What could the next two mean, Dick?" Anne scratched her head.

"They look pretty much like T when L is seen upside down, isn't it? It is POTTER—Pottersham? Yes, must be it—because REY is the last three letters of Jeffrey. Pretty nifty!"

"It's easy now," said Sooty triumphantly. "PER NVWdVHC means Harper Chapman, and TER 3705 is Peter Sole. All in the list, isn't it?"

"It means they use these codes for their identification amongst each other." said Dick. "And what we thought as a visiting or a membership card must have been the identity card of Alfred Bolo—with their emblem and all."

"Pretty good job!" said Julian pleased with the findings. "Now that we know about Pottersham and James' stepfather being in league, and as they are up to no good obviously, we must be extra careful from now on—because it's rather obvious that they are here on the loose, and are planning for some big bang."

"And do you remember the message on the table where we'd found Uncle's copied notes—probably written by Pottersham—which says some meeting is at 7:30 in the usual place," recalled Julian. "That must have been Pottersham's message to Alfred or some other gang-member. It indicates that Potty and the gang are under some warpath to bring harm to Uncle Quentin or his works. Jo was right when she warned us."

George gazed out of the window. "I somehow feel that there is something more than meets our eyes. Potty may be out here to harm father's works. But why are all the other guys helping him? Potty can't hire all those baddies—he's a jail-breaker—he can't possibly afford them. It may be that Alfred and the gang are here in some other crook job—maybe in search of something or smuggling—the way he was asking James all those questions. Potty may have teamed up with them for his own benefit. Besides, Potty knows quite a lot about old castles and monuments, doesn't he? If you remember, he has written a book on famous ruins. He must have knowledge about Kirrin Castle too—as well as about its dungeons and tunnels. So Alfred thought he can make use of Potty's knowledge for whatever he's up to. A kind of mutual co-operation!"

"I guess you are right!" said Julian. "To enforce your speculation, here is the other paper which seems to be some sort of map. And it is very much clear that it's the map of Kirrin Island—see, it is written and underlined on the upper left corner. There is even some sort of plan of the Castle—sketched complete with the place where there are towers and even the well. It is shown by a circle. Have a look!" He spread the map on the floor and everyone clustered around it.

"Yes—it is similar to the one we'd found in the box in the wreck, isn't it? Only that it doesn't look that old—why, it's a copied map," scrutinized Anne.

George examined closely, and pointed along a line on the map. "This must represent a tunnel—is this the tunnel joining quarry and island?"

"I don't think so. Oh shoo, Tim—you are fanning my face with your tail," Julian said, pushing Timmy away. "Here see—the tunnel ends not at the castle, but somewhere on the cliffy coast of the island. Besides, the tunnel starts not from the quarry site—it's some building that it starts from."

"Goodness—and the building is Arden Hall. It is written clearly here," exclaimed George. "That means there is another tunnel which runs from Arden Hall to my Island. I didn't know that."

"Nobody knew that. Wait—the tunnel bifurcates when it reaches near the Castle and one line goes to the Castle site," said Julian running his finger along another line. "Which means this tunnel joins the one that we are familiar with—the one joining quarry and island. That's interesting!"

"There are some diagrams too," Julian observed. "It looks like they are the sketches of a tunnel opening—one is shown almost submerged and another just a little submerged with water. And there it is written below the diagrams—high tide and low tide."

"What is this high tide and low tide business? It baffles me!" puzzled Dick. "There is this timetable indicating high and low tides that we find in the wallet—and here we stumble upon diagrams showing some darned hole, what it would look like with high and low tides. Does this mean that there is some opening on the cliff that we don't know of, which gets submerged in high tide and opens up in low tide? Pretty much makes sense!"

"Why don't we go and have a look? What if we find it before those crooks?" said George, scrambling up as if ready to go at that very minute.

"Not so fast, George," Julian was thinking something. "First let me think. If Pottersham is to meet someone at 7:30 in their usual place—as that message reads—we can sneak in and eavesdrop on what they are up to. But the thing is that where that usual place is and whether the time is morning or evening—just plain beats me! And on which day? If the message was written just after the blowing up of the tower, it means the meeting already took place yesterday."

"I'm quite confident that the meeting place is Arden Hall. It can't be a mere coincidence that so many things are pointing to Arden Hall. Why don't we check it out?" said Sooty with much vigor. "Besides I want to explore that place. I haven't been there."

"I guess that's what we should do first," agreed Dick. "Even if it's not for other reasons, we should be re-exploring it in order to find the entrance to the Island—as the map indicates! I'm pretty sure we'll stumble into something—count on me for that!"

Anne groaned with the idea. "Why can't we have a peaceful time for once? Why does this happen when we're all together? It seems like we attract adventures."

"Pretty much correct, old thing," said Julian, squeezing her little sister's hands. "You needn't come if you don't want to. You seem to be tired too."

"Oh no, I'm not going to be left out on any case!" said Anne fiercely. "It's better to be with you all than stay back and wonder what is going on! That's worse still."

"Woof—woof!"

"We wouldn't dream of leaving you behind," laughed George. "Dear old Tim—we simply can't do without you."

So it was settled that they would go for an exploration that evening because George's mother wanted them to be at home in the afternoon, since they had a visitor.

They were excited as the evening drew near. So they behaved pretty badly in front of the visitor, much to the indignation of Aunt Fanny, by giggling and fidgeting around. When the visitor left, with a slightly hurt look, they asked Aunt Fanny if they could go for an evening stroll.

She said yes—but to return early. So they readied themselves with torches and ropes, just in case. After a thought, Julian stuffed some cookies and biscuits in his pocket. You never know! If they are lucky enough to stumble upon the secret passage, they were in for some long long walk. Taking some food will never hurt anyone, he thought!

"Don't forget to take extra batteries, Dick." Julian called out. "I've taken the map in case we need it."

At last it was time to go. Uncle Quentin and Mr Lenoir were not back yet when they left Kirrin Cottage. They strolled on with an excited Timmy trotting in front of them, sniffing every nooks and crannies. Where're all the cute little bunnies? Not a smell of one! The place just there didn't seem right for rabbit hunting. He jumped back, startled, when a fat toad jumped out of a bush. He sniffed at it with disgust, shook his head vigorously, then trotted off with his head held high up in the air. I'm not going to lose my time over some nasty stupid toad, hah!

It was a cool evening and some evening bird was singing a dirge like song in a nearby bush somewhere. A frog croaked in a nearby pond and a thrush flew back to its nest. They could see Arden Hall silhouetted in the evening sky. They entered the compound, crossing what once must have been a fine gate. The garden was overgrown with weeds and nettles. It was sad to see such a grand building falling in pieces. They walked up to the porch.

"Now to search for the entrance to the tunnel," said George looking around as if she would find a gaping hole right in front of her. "Where could it possibly be?"

They searched all around the exterior, scraping around in case it would reveal some hidden entrance. Anne even lifted a rusty box to see beneath, much to the amusement of the others. When they were satisfied that they had done full justice to the outside of the building, they rested for a while. Dick had some toffees with him, which he shared with the others. They sucked at them gladly. Even Timmy had his share, which he gulped down, much to the disgust of Anne. "Chocolates and ice-creams are wasted on you! You don't even bother to taste them."

It was getting darker and they began to wish they'd come earlier. As shadows began to lengthen and corners began to darken, the place began to look eerie.

"Let's go in," suggested Anne, not at all liking the place. But it was even worse inside. Pooh—what was that smell? Some dead rat? Anne pursed up her nose.

"See—there is the place where Timmy found the wallet," George pointed to a room from where Timmy had come out with a wallet in the mouth.

They trouped into the room. It was full of cobwebs and its walls were tumbling down. They could see the next room through the opening in the wall. There was an old couch, moth eaten and with a thick layer of dirt over it. Anne almost cried in fright when a piece of cobweb tangled over her face. And there was the smell, stronger than ever. She didn't like it. Just when they were deciding that they couldn't bear the smell any more and were about to get out of the room, Timmy suddenly gave a growl—and his hackles rose up. All five stopped abruptly, frozen to the ground.

"What is it?" whispered George, holding Timmy's collar. "Shhhh—keep quiet, Tim."

There was the distinct sound of footstep approaching the porch. All of them scrambled back to the room. They soon saw someone come inside the house and enter the next room. They didn't like the look of the fellow. He had a beard, and his hair looked like it had not been washed for at least a year, all tangled and dull. By the look of it, he was not a pleasant sight. The children decided not to show themselves in case he turned out to be one of the baddies. So they crouched on the floor and Julian put his finger to his mouth, signaling them to keep quiet. The bearded man settled somewhere in the room and lighted a cigarette. A strong smell of tobacco came floating on the air.

After what seemed like an hour (but actually it was just over five minutes) there came a creaking and groaning noise as if some heavy stone was sliding against a rough surface. The Five and Sooty hardly dared to breathe! What was going on? They couldn't keep themselves from taking a cautious peek into the other room. They were amazed to see a fairly large gap in the floor. A person was climbing out of the hole! Golly!

"Hey—Alf!" said the man, climbing up. "Been long?"

"Justa while 'go," growled the bearded man.

"Alfred Bolo, I bet," Julian whispered to himself. "But who is the one who's just climbed up the hole?"

As if answer to his query, the man lighted a cigarette—and in the brief moment before the match-stick fizzled out, they had a fleeting glance of the person. They couldn't help but notice the dome shaped head and those thin-lipped mouth.

"Pottersham!" gasped George.

12. Revelations The five children pressed themselves back as far as they could, in their hiding place in the adjoining room. Timothy sensed the urgency of the situation, and kept closely to George. He knew he had to stay extremely quiet, but nonetheless, he was fully prepared to protect his beloved mistress if needed.

George kept her hand on Tim's collar, willing him to stay quiet. Anne was the most scared. "Why oh why" she said to herself, "couldn't we be as normal children, and have holidays where nothing dangerous ever happened." Although she was the most easily scared of the four, she would never wish to be excluded from an adventure. She really was a brave girl. In fact, on a camping holiday once, she got so fierce, the others thought that she had turned into a tiger! She had plenty of pluck and although scared, would never desert her cousins.

Pottersham had now settled himself down in the room, which the children could just make out through the hole in the wall.

"Harper Chapman is not best pleased," he said. "It appears there might be an enemy in the camp."

"What do you mean?" asked Alf, in a surly manner.

"He seems to think someone's been messing about, interfering with things in the tunnel. The copies we had of Kirrin's notes have gone. None of us would have taken them, so there must be someone else about."

"That's impossible," said Alf. "Who on earth could know we're onto the treasure, let alone know of our activities at the Hall and in the tunnel?"

"Well, the fact of the matter is, Chapman's got the wind up and he wants us to be extra careful. I must say, I can't see how anyone could be on to us; all our messages have been in code, I don't see what more care we could have taken. Anyway," continued Pottersham, "take good care of this package. Chapman will go berserk if this goes missing. Read through the contents and keep it safe."

He handed Alf the package. The children couldn't really make out what size it was—it was too dark to see much. They were listening to all of this in awe. So they were after the treasure. Harper Chapman was one of the names on the paper. Did that mean that he was the ring-leader, not Pottersham? How they hoped they wouldn't be discovered.

"At least they've stopped the boat-loads of trippers going over to the island for the moment," said Pottersham. "Okay, the police may be about, but they know nothing about the Hall or the undersea passages, so we should be left alone to get on with our work."

"Anyway, we need you to keep a strict eye on things this end. That woman rides her horse around here, and those Kirrin kids are on holiday now—I know what they can be like. Whatever you do, don't let anyone suspect anything , if there's anything we need to know, it's up to you to tell us; don't get any fathead ideas of sorting it out yourself. You are the go-between and lookout; let us do the worrying. I'll be in touch when I need to meet with you again, if you need me, do the same—in the usual way. I've finished below for now, so let's get out of this stinking place, I'll be sick if I have to breathe in this foul stench any longer."

The two men left the building and headed off down the drive together.

The children kept quiet for a few minutes.

Julian whispered, "I'm going to creep outside, and make sure the coast is clear."

He went to the front door and looked outside. The moon was up again, painting the garden a lovely silvery colour. He caught its reflection in the old pond. It reminded him of the old 'moonraker' legend', where old time smugglers were caught getting their hidden contraband out of the village pond, and escaped capture by telling the police that they were trying to rake out a large cheese—the reflection of the moon!

There didn't appear to be anyone about. He jumped as he felt fur brush against his leg, then smiled; it was only old Tim, come to see that Julian was all right.

"Hello, old fellow," said Julian. "Checking up on me, then?"

Timmy wagged his tail, and gave Julian's arm a big, wet lick. He was such a friend and guard of the children. They certainly wouldn't have been allowed so much freedom if it wasn't for him!

They went back inside.

"It's all right," said Julian. "They have both gone. Well, we didn't learn much from that meeting, did we? I wonder what was in that package?"

"We really need to see it," said Sooty. "There may be a map of the Hall or tunnels; there certainly could be more information that could help us."

"Well, I don't see that we can do anything about it at the moment," said Julian. "It's getting late; I think we had better get back to Kirrin Cottage. Aunt Fanny told us to be back early, so we are probably going to be in trouble, anyway.

#

When they got back, Mr Lenoir and Uncle Quentin had returned. It was now nearly nine o'clock. Uncle Quentin was rather cross.

"What time do you call this?" he asked. "Your mother, George, told you not too be out too long. I don't know what's happened to discipline in this house; you all seem to do exactly as you please!"

"Now, now, Quentin," said Aunt Fanny, "it's not that late, and it is a long time since George and Anne have seen Sooty, so they probably have a lot to catch up on. By the way, Sooty, how is your mother keeping?"

"Very well, thank you, Mrs Kirrin," replied the dark-haired boy. "She really does like Smuggler's Top now that all the danger has gone, and there is a regular bus service over the new road to the nearest town."

"Yes," said Mr Lenoir, "I was so glad that we decided to stay on there. We did look at some other places, you know, after that terrible business with Barling and Block. I did promise everyone that we would leave Smuggler's Top and live somewhere else, but my dear wife knew what it would do to me if we moved, so she was more than happy to agree to stay on at Castaway."

"Right, children," said Aunt Fanny, "Joan has left out some newly baked bread, home-cured ham, lettuces and tomatoes for you in the dining room. Go and have some supper, then it will be bed-time. You have had a long day."

She was right, it had been a long day. It had been an exciting day, but of course, Aunt Fanny didn't know that!

"Gosh!" said Dick, his mouth watering at the sight of so much food. "I forgot how hungry I was, let's tuck in!"

After the five children had gorged themselves on the lovely food that Joan had prepared for them, they thought they should make some kind of plan for tomorrow.

"I think it would be best if we had a good look round Arden Hall and explored the tunnel that Pottersham came up from," said Julian.

"That's a spiffing idea," said Dick. "We will have to be very careful though, we don't want to run into Alf—especially as he's going to be keeping a look-out."

"Why don't we split up?" asked George. "Say three of us explore the tunnel and two of us look round the Hall and grounds?"

That's a good idea," said Julian. "I'll tell you what: Dick and I will go down the hole into the tunnel, and you, George, can have a good scout round Arden Hall and its grounds, with Sooty and Anne."

"Okay," said George. "Only you must take Tim down with you. You don't know what danger you might face in those undersea passages. We can let him down by rope if it's a long way down!"

That was extremely generous and kind of George. At one time she wouldn't have dreamed of being separated from her beloved dog. She realised now that Timmy should go where it was most dangerous and where he was needed the most.

"Gosh, George," said Julian, "that's really sporting of you, old thing!" He gave her a friendly punch on the arm; he knew what it meant to George, to give up Tim for even half a day. "You really do act more and more like a boy, the older you get!"

George blushed. "Oh no, Ju," she replied. "We shall be safer above ground anyway. And I do realise now, that you don't have to be a boy to be really brave and generous and strong. I've been having some queer feelings lately. I hate being treated as a girl, but I don't really want to be a boy. I just want to do the things that boys do, and not be told, "You can't do that, you're a girl!"—why shouldn't girls go out in the dark and cold and wet? I'm sure girls aren't as weak as parents make out."

"My word!" said Anne. "Can this really be the George that we know and love saying it's okay to be a girl—she'll be wearing make-up and dresses soon, and wanting to be called Georgina!"

"No I won't!" said George, getting redder by the minute. "I don't mean I am going all feminine and silly, I just think, as I get older, it's not what gender you are that really matters, but how you do things and treat others, and how you get treated back in return—oh, I know what I mean, but it's so hard to put into words! Anyway, I'm still going to wear shorts and beat boys at everything!"

Julian knew exactly what George meant. He had a great admiration for his cousin. He knew how difficult it had been for her when they first met; she was an only child and had found it difficult to make friends. In fact, she had avoided the children from Kirrin Bay, being fiercely protective of her precious island and dog. Gosh, that seemed an eternity ago. What exciting times they had had, what dangers they had been in.

George had learned to share things with her cousins. Her generosity and selflessness had grown beyond all recognition. She still had a temper, but she never bore malice, never held a grudge, and now... here she was, developing into a sensible young girl who was beginning to realise that being female wasn't as bad as she used to imagine, knowing that she couldn't pretend to be a boy for ever! Yes, Julian was very, very proud of George.

Mr Lenoir looked into the room.

"By the way, Pierre," he said, "I will need you tomorrow, to come into the next town with me. I have arranged a meeting with Mr Swayne. He's the tutor that I have engaged. He can start at Castaway in a week, but wants to interview you first."

"Oh no, Father," said Sooty anxiously, "I couldn't possibly meet him tomorrow. Can't you arrange it for the next day?"

The tip of Mr Lenoir's nose turned white. Anne nudged Dick.

"Certainly not!" he exploded. "It's down to you that you need this extra tuition... You always have to play the fool instead of getting down to your schoolwork. If you play around at school, you will have to have extra coaching in the holidays. Any more of you flippancy and bad behaviour, and I will give you a sound beating!"

With that, he stormed out of the room.

The children climbed sheepishly upstairs to their bedrooms. Somehow, Mr Lenoir's outburst had taken the edge off their day.

After they had got undressed and changed into their pyjamas, the boys went along to the girls' room.

"That's torn it!" exclaimed Sooty. "I won't be able to come along tomorrow. I say, I really am sorry. It is so beastly of my step-father to act like this, there are times when I hate him and wish he'd never married my mother."

"Now, now," said Julian. "We don't talk about our parents like that, Sooty—even if he is only your step-father. You must still respect him and do as he says. It's not a great catastrophe, anyway. Anne and I will explore the tunnels and Dick and George can take on the Hall."

"Woof!" said Timmy.

"Sorry, old thing!" said Julian. "Anne, I and you will explore the tunnels!"

Timmy thumped his tail on the floor.

"Oh dear, I really would rather search round the Hall and grounds," said Anne, timidly.

"Very well, then, Anne. You shall explore the Hall with Dick, and George and I will go into the tunnels."

George was pleased. She was to be with Timmy after all. It's funny, she thought; if you do the right thing, you often get rewarded!

In spite of having an exciting day, all five children's minds were racing! Anne was the first to fall asleep; she most of all of the children still got very frightened when they were in the middle of an adventure.

Sooty was angry that his step-father had made plans for tomorrow. Julian was trying to make some sense from Pottersham's meeting. He would like to know what was in that package.

Dick was thinking about George. What a funny old thing she was. Like Julian did earlier, he thought of their past adventures. He too realised that they were all growing up. This may well be their last adventure together. Ju would be going to university, he himself was to take his 'A' levels next year, and even old Anne was only a year behind. Funny that; she always seemed so much younger!

George was slightly regretting making her feelings known earlier. She really did feel exactly the same as she always had. She hated being treated differently just because she was a girl. It was so unfair! She still wanted to wear shorts and do all the things that boys did—but why couldn't she do this as a girl? She was growing up. She knew that she couldn't pretend to be a boy for ever!

Sleep finally came to her.

Julian was the last to go to sleep. He had always borne the majority of responsibility of the four. Being the oldest, he always felt he had to look after them all. He was puzzled about this adventure. There were still mysteries to resolve. Was Pottersham after Uncle Quentin's plans or was he only interested in finding the treasure? Who were those queer people they saw floating near the Hall the other night? What was Penny King really up to? And dear old George. What a queer old thing she was! Fiercely independent, loyal to the hilt, and a really good, trustworthy friend.

Tim, of course, never completely went to sleep. He always had one ear cocked just in case danger loomed. His ears pricked when he heard two hedgehogs grunting in the lawn below. He heard an owl hoot in the distance. He stretched, warm and comfortable, lying beside his beloved mistress.

The Five slept. They dreamed of people floating, strange shimmerings, villains with bushy eyebrows. All of them were totally unaware of what was going to happen tomorrow.

13. Uncle's news, and a return to Arden Hall George awoke first when Timmy decided that George's stomach would make a very good pillow indeed.

"Oh Timmy!" exclaimed George. "You've woken me up."

The sound of George's voice caused Anne to stir too.

"Wake up, Anne. Let's see if the boys are up. We've got lots to do today."

The memory of the day's plans came flooding back to the still sleepy Anne. She felt a twinge of excitement, or was it a dread, when she thought of exploring cobweb-filled houses and under-sea tunnels.

The five children were soon up and dressed and hurried down the stairs ready to tuck into one of Joan's tremendous breakfasts. The smell of bacon and fresh coffee greeted them as they approached the dining room. Voices could be heard through the closed door. They paused for a moment and listened. Uncle Quentin and Mr. Lenoir could be heard talking but the children were surprised to hear another man's voice that they did not recognize. George gave Julian a quizzical look as they entered the room.

"Oh, children, you're up," said an excited Uncle Quentin. "I've got wonderful news."

"What is it?" asked George. She was worried that she may not find the news quite as wonderful as her father did.

"Children, this is Professor Hayling from Cambridge," began George's father.

The five turned to look at the scientist with interest. Was this the same man they had met once or twice in the past, whose son Tinker owned a lighthouse? But no, this man was quite unlike the sometimes irritable and always absent-minded Professor Hayling they knew. The man before them seemed about the same age, but a little less grey around the temples. Perhaps he was related to Tinker's father, thought Anne—a cousin, or a brother.

Professor Hayling nodded politely at the five children.

Instantly the children knew what the "wonderful" news was going to be.

"I've been offered a Professor's Chair at Cambridge," said Uncle Quentin. "They want to give me my own laboratory to further my energy research."

"Oh no, father!" wailed George. "We can't leave Kirrin. How can you even think of such a thing?"

Upon hearing all of the commotion, George's mother entered the room. "Now George, don't get all gloomy and angry just yet. Nothing is decided," she said, trying to calm the hot-headed George. "Your father and I have only agreed to go to Cambridge to listen to the proposal."

This did little to make George feel any better. She could tell by the look in her father's eyes that he would have accepted the offer right there and then if it wasn't for her mother's more cautious attitude.

"Now your father and I are leaving today for Cambridge to learn more about the proposal from Professor Hayling's people. In fact we have to leave in less than half an hour, I'm afraid," said George's mother.

Uncle Quentin spoke up. "We'll only be gone a few days. Julian, I'm counting on you to help Joan as much as you can and to look after the others. Sooty, I'm afraid that your father will have to return to Smuggler's Top sooner than he expected and you'll have to go with him."

"Oh, Father," said Sooty. "Couldn't I stay with the others? Please." Sooty badly wanted to go with the others to Arden Hall and to the under-sea tunnel.

"We don't mind if he stays with us," said Julian, much to the surprise of the others. Julian was feeling that he had been rather sharp with Sooty the night before. He saw no real reason why he shouldn't take part in the adventure.

The adults quickly consulted on this and decided that Sooty would stay in Kirrin after all.

Very soon goodbyes were said and the five found themselves waving half-heartedly as three cars disappeared in the distance—the Kirrins in a taxi to the station, Professor Hayling in his own car to Cambridge, and Mr. Lenoir back to Smuggler's Top. Julian saw the dark scowl on George's face and decided that the best thing to do was to get on with their planned explorations as quickly as possible. They asked Joan to pack them their lunch and their tea. Julian didn't know how much time they would need and he didn't like the idea of going hungry. An adventure without food was no adventure at all!

They decided to go with their original plan. Julian, Dick and Timmy would go down the under-sea tunnel and Sooty, George and Anne would explore Arden Hall and have a better look around. Sooty was about to protest and say that he wanted to explore the tunnel but decided that he should just keep quiet and be thankful that Julian had changed his mind and was letting him come along after all.

At just after ten o'clock the five children set off from Kirrin Cottage. Each group was carrying a packet of food, their torches, and a rope. Julian made sure that he had some chalk with him to mark the walls of the tunnel. It would be terrible if he and Dick were to get lost under the sea! He didn't mention the chalk to the others as he knew that the very thought of the boys getting lost would upset Anne. Who knew how many more tunnels there were down there?

They all began the walk across the moors to Arden Hall. No one spoke very much. They were all upset about the possibility of George's father accepting the position at Cambridge and leaving Kirrin.

Very soon they arrived at Arden Hall. It looked just as forlorn as ever, even in the bright sunshine. They took a quick look around the outside and could not spot anything that looked out of the ordinary.

"Let's go inside and look for the treasure!" said Sooty at last.

"Not so loud," hissed George. "Alfred Bolo and Pottersham could be inside the house. We mustn't let them know that we are on to them. They already know that someone has found the underground room in the tunnel."

Anne quickly looked around, half expecting to see Alfred Bolo or Pottersham walk out the door at that very moment.

"Come on, we'll climb in that open window," said Julian. "Now, no one make a sound."

They climbed into the old dusty room. It was mostly empty, except for an old chair and some ragged curtains that hung loosely at the side of the window. Anne reached out to touch the fabric. It crumbled into pieces in her hands. She shuddered and wished for the thousandth time for a peaceful holiday just once.

George pointed in the direction of the next room.

"That's the room where we saw Alfred Bolo and Pottersham. The room with the hole in the floor that Pottersham climbed out of," whispered George.

Very quietly—they were all wearing rubber-soled shoes—the children made their way into the room.

"Look," whispered Anne. "That must be the stone that covers the hole that we saw Pottersham climb out of. It has a small gap running all the way around it. Do you suppose it is an entrance to the cellars?"

They all looked to where Anne was pointing. She was right. All the other stones in the floor fitted tightly together, but this one was definitely a looser fit.

"The cellars or..." George paused for a moment as her idea became more focussed. "...the entrance to the tunnel that we saw on the map, the tunnel that runs from Arden Hall to Kirrin Island!"

"Let's see if we can open it up," said Dick.

In excitement they began to push and prod at the stone, but could not move it.

"It's no use," said an exasperated Julian.

"There must be a lever or a button that makes the stone move," murmured Sooty. "Like the secret passageways in Smuggler's Top."

The five children looked around the room, but could not find anything that would make the stone in the floor move.

"Perhaps there is another way into this tunnel," said George. "Maybe there is a passage that links the Arden Hall tunnel with the one that starts in the old quarry. We could have easily missed another opening in the dark tunnel."

"There wasn't a link on that old map we found," said Sooty.

"Well it's worth a try," said Dick. "And we could always have another look in the secret room under Kirrin Castle."

"I think Dick is right," agreed Julian. "Dick and I will go to the quarry and explore the passage to the island."

They agreed to meet on the beach at tea time, share their news, have a meal and plan what to do next.

"Please be careful," said Anne. "This adventure is so muddled that I'm starting to feel the same way."

The others knew exactly what Anne meant by this. Dick gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry Anne," he said. "We'll be safe with old Tim."

The reminder that Timmy would be with the boys did make her feel a little bit better.

Julian, Dick and Timmy headed for the quarry, leaving the others to explore Arden Hall. Sooty, George and Anne walked into the next room, but did not find anything there either. I don't even know what we're looking for, thought George.

At the far end of the room was another small room. Anne cautiously poked her head in the door and had to stifle a scream. George and Sooty ran over to Anne and immediately saw what she was looking at. Lying on the floor were what looked like five stuffed people on long poles.

"What on earth are those?" gasped Anne.

"They look like Guys, for Guy Fawkes' Night," said Sooty. "Or scarecrows. And they've been spray painted with fluorescent paint by the look of them. What ever can they be?"

"Anne! This is what we saw that night from our bedroom window. The floating shapes we saw. We thought they looked like figures. This paint would make them glow in the dark."

"But what would they use them for?" whispered Anne. She was still so shaken she could barely speak. "They're horrid. They look like ghosts or ghouls."

"I think that's exactly what they are supposed to look like," exclaimed George. "I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bolo and Pottersham and the others are trying to keep people away from Arden Hall. After all, they know that we are here for the summer and we heard them complain about Penny King riding her horse near the house. I think they are trying to scare us away by making us think that Arden Hall is haunted. And to think that it was their silly trick that led us here in the first place!"

"Oh, let's just get out of here," begged Anne. "I hate this place."

"All right, Anne," said George. "We'll go and eat some of the food that Joan packed for us and then come back. I'm tired of this smelly old house too."

Suddenly, they heard the scraping and dragging sound that they had heard the other day. All three knew at once that the stone in the floor must be opening up again. After a moment or two, they could hear the sound of men talking in hushed tones. It was impossible to make out what they were saying. George and Sooty began to creep forward to get closer to the men and hear more clearly. A terrified Anne was glued to her spot in the small room with the scarecrows. She wanted to tell the others to stay put but her voice seemed to have completely deserted her. George and Sooty made their way over towards the door that led into the room with the stone. They could see light shining up through the hole where the stone had been.

"Well, they're gone," said one of the men, "just as we wanted."

"Should we tell Bolo?" said the second man. George was sure that it was Pottersham that was speaking.

"Bolo doesn't need to know anything," said the first man. "He's caused enough problems for us. This place is crawling with police after his stunt blowing up that tower."

"Well, at least it has stopped the trippers from coming to the island," answered Pottersham.

Just then Sooty leaned forward so he could hear the men more clearly. As he did so he bumped George from behind causing her to stumble into the room. The men, startled by the sudden noise and movement, yelled out. Pottersham grabbed at Sooty and the other man grabbed at George.

George gasped. "Professor Hayling! What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way to Cambridge with my parents!"

Professor Hayling cocked an eyebrow at her. "I doubled back first chance I got. I have far more important things to do here in Kirrin."

The sight of Professor Hayling with Pottersham sent George into a rage. "You're out to steal father's invention," she screamed. "You won't get away with this. Too many people know about his plans for a new energy source. You will never be able to use his ideas for your own gain."

Pottersham scoffed and spoke in a low menacing voice. "You foolish girl, there is no new energy source. Your father's data is flawed. Worthless."

"What do you mean, worthless? choked George. "The other scientists at Cambridge have verified father's ideas and numbers."

"Are you sure?" snarled Hayling. "Has he actually spoken to any of these other scientists lately?" Hayling snorted loudly. "No, he hasn't. He's far too excited about the prospect of being given a laboratory of his own at Cambridge to even think about doubting my word! And why should he doubt my word anyway? We've met before, and he's great friends with my older brother—but let me assure you, girl, that your father is in for a rude awakening when he arrives at Cambridge to find a lot of blank faces staring back at him!"

Hayling gave a harsh laugh. "Your father will be the laughing stock of the scientific world. As I said, his ideas are worthless. And with out of the way, we can get on with our business. It's too bad for you and your friend here that you have seen as much as you have."

With that, George and Sooty found that they were pushed through the hole in the floor. Hayling and Pottersham followed close behind. Almost instantly George and Sooty could hear the stone above them closing.

Poor Anne stood in the little back room trembling. The men had been speaking loudly enough for Anne to have heard most of what they said. Uncle Quentin's invention was worthless and now George and Sooty were captured. She began to cry, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly Anne stopped crying. I must be strong, she thought. I must be smart. George wouldn't cry. What would George do? she kept asking herself. Suddenly she knew what to do. With a new found strength that surprised even her, Anne raced out of Arden Hall and headed towards the quarry—towards the under-sea tunnel.

14. Two Boats on Kirrin Island Panting, Anne reached the quarry and scrambled down to the tunnel entrance where Guy and Harry Lawdler had carried out their excavations a few summers ago. There was no sign of Julian or Dick. Gingerly, Anne switched on her torch and ventured a little way into the tunnel. It was chilly and musty. Anne softly called the boys' names, but realised with dismay they must be well down the tunnel by now.

Anne steeled herself. "Now don't be silly, Anne," she said to herself sternly. "George would not worry about a short walk to catch up the boys in this tunnel, and you put new batteries in your torch only this morning. Didn't you turn into a tiger in one of our earlier adventures, instead of a little mouse? You aren't just good for housework and cooking, you know!" Almost at that moment, the little girl spotted one of Julian's distinctive pink chalk marks on the tunnel wall. All she had to do was follow those marks! Surely she couldn't lose her way, and she would soon find the boys.

Anne came to a fork in the tunnel. Should she take the right or the left hand fork? There was one of Julian's chalk arrows telling her which way to go. Anne took the left-hand fork and hurried on, trying to ignore the sound of the sea booming distantly overhead.

Anne walked the full length of the tunnel feeling more and more bewildered. She passed the empty explosives boxes, and the passage leading to Uncle Quentin's workroom. How queer! The boys had gone to explore the tunnel and look for a link with Arden Hall, but from the chalk marks it appeared they had gone all the way to the island. At one point they had explored a side tunnel, but this ended in a mysterious locked door, and they had clearly drawn a blank and turned back to the main tunnel. Eventually Anne reached the end of the tunnel. "Blow. Surely I can't have missed them," Anne said to herself miserably. A horrid thought came into her head, that perhaps the two boys might have been captured as well. "I'll go and take a look at the cove, and if I don't spot them, I'll just have to go back, find a grown up and ask for help," Anne decided. "I simply can't think what else to do."

However, just as Anne came to the tunnel's end, she saw two figures and a dog, silhouetted against the fading light at the cave entrance. The boys were crouching down, watching something in the distance, with Timmy beside them. Anne felt a surge of relief and picked her way over the rocks towards them. Timmy heard Anne and got to his feet, wagging his tail, but made no sound. Julian and Dick turned too, and then jumped up in alarm.

"Anne, what are you doing here! Where are George and Sooty?" asked Julian with concern.

Anne had been brave for such a long time, she suddenly felt her courage ebbing away. Now tears came into her eyes. "Oh Julian, Dick," she wept. "We were exploring Arden Hall when we ran into Pottersham and Professor Hayling! They've kidnapped George and Sooty, but they didn't see me. I ran away and came to find you down the quarry tunnel.Oh Julian, what shall we do?"

And in response to Julian's questions, she told him the whole story in a trembling voice. Timmy kept very close to Anne, and licked her hand. He could feel the little girl was upset, and wanted to help.

"Fancy little Anne coming all the way along that tunnel all by herself! You're as brave as any of us," said Dick. Anne flushed with pleasure at being praised by her brother. Immediately the talk turned to the kidnapping.

"WHY is Professor Hayling involved? How queer, I don't understand it," exclaimed Julian. He was alarmed. What a state of affairs! George and Sooty kidnapped! Presumably Mr and Mrs Kirrin, George's parents, also captured by the Professors!

"But what are you two doing on the island?" wondered Anne. "I thought you were going to explore the tunnel for a link to Arden Hall."

"Well, that's a long story," began Dick.

But Julian interrupted him. "No time to explain that now, Dick. We must concentrate on the task in hand. Anne, we'll explain what we saw in the tunnel when we're all five together again—and Sooty too of course."

"Does that mean we're going to try and rescue George and Sooty right away?" asked Anne.

"We certainly should," said Julian, "but when you arrived, Dick and I were watching a strange rowing boat heading straight for Kirrin Island. That's another mystery we have to solve." And he nodded towards the cove, where the unknown rower was now hauling the boat up the sand. Julian wasn't quite sure what to do next. He ought to go and look for George and Sooty immediately, but equally, he wanted to know who the rower was, and what they were doing on the island.

Then Dick had a sudden idea. "If that person leaves their boat on the beach, and we could get away in it, we would reach the mainland much faster than trekking through that tunnel back to the quarry again," he said.

"What a brainwave, Dick!" exclaimed Julian. After a whispered consultation, the children agreed to try and get away in the boat. It was almost dark by now, and the children took advantage of the dimness to get closer to the beach. Keeping close to the cliff edge, they cautiously made their way across the rocks, Julian with a restraining hand on Timmy's collar. A small adult figure was lifting things out of the boat. As they neared it, the figure turned with a lantern in its hand and the light shone clearly on her face. It was Penny King!

Anne gasped in surprise, and Penny turned and called sharply, "Who's there?"

"It's only us," called Julian, deciding it was best to be open. "What are you doing here in the dark?" And he led the others, and Timmy, out onto the sands and into the glare of Penny's lantern.

"I need to do some measurements on the phosphoresence for my experiments," Penny explained. "I have to do that in the dark. My recording equipment is in this boat. I could use some help unloading if you can spare some time. But where's your boat? I thought this was the only place to land on this island."

Julian avoided the question. "We'd be happy to help you, Penny," he declared. Turning to the others, he spoke in a low voice. "Let's give Penny a hand and watch for an opportunity to get off in the boat."

"I suppose George is off practising her rowing again," Penny smiled. "Is part of the challenge to be able to row in the dark?"

The children laughed, but didn't enlighten her. Instead they helped her unload the boat.

"What's in this box?" asked Dick, as he picked up a cardboard box after bringing a series of coils of rope and cables and a huge battery.

"I brought some food with me," said Penny, "as I'll have to stay here for several hours. Are you hungry?" And she took from the box a bag of tomatoes, a packet of sandwiches wrapped in paper and two bottles of gingerbeer.

"Just the sort of picnic we like," grinned Julian. "But we'd better help you get your equipment set up first."

"I'm not sure you can help with that," said Penny. "It's complicated, and I need to set up at several points. I'll have to walk about half a mile along the island to leave my recorders in various places to get a range of readings. Why don't you tuck in while I do that? I'll only be about half an hour setting up. This is my only chance to do this experiment, as the tides have to be out at the right time, and I'm supposed to report to Professor Hayling at the end of the month."

"Professor Hayling!" exclaimed Julian in surprise. "I thought he was a physicist, not a marine biologist."

"Oh, you're thinking of his elder brother, who lives quite a way along the coast at Demon's Rocks," replied Penny. "He's a very well known physicist. But the younger Professor Hayling is a geographer."

"So they ARE related!" exclaimed Anne. "I did wonder, as they have the same name. But they don't seem alike at all."

"As a matter of fact," said Penny, "the brothers don't get on at all well. My Professor Hayling doesn't usually supervise me, but my usual supervisor is on a study visit to the Galapagos at present, and Professor Hayling has a particular interest in this piece of coast. He's always coming down here. Mind you, it's such a beautiful area, I'm not at all surprised." The children digested this news in silence. "Make sure you save some of the sandwiches for me and George," Penny added. "There's some slabs of fruit cake in the box, too."

The children watched her walk away, unreeling a bundle of electric cable as she went, and then seized the chance to talk.

"This is a perfect chance to get off in Penny's boat, just as soon as she's out of sight round the point!" said Dick.

"I hate to leave her stranded on the island," said Anne. "It was really kind of her to share her sandwiches with us."

"I think perhaps we'd better stay and see what she's up to," said Julian. "I'm not totally convinced we can trust her, and George would hate it if there was another mystery here that we had left unsolved."

"How can you say that when George is in terrible danger—and Sooty too!" cried Anne.

"You're right, of course, Anne," said Julian. "We'd better make that our priority."

So they waited impatiently for Penny to round the point, and then started to push the rowing boat down towards the waves. Just at that moment, they heard the sound of an engine over the water. It was a motor boat, heading straight towards the island.

"Quick!" said Julian. "Let's hide!"

The children crouched down behind Penny's boat, and it was lucky they did, for the small motor boat ran directly towards them, as near as possible to the beach. The engine was switched off, and then across the water they heard low voices.

"There's a boat on this beach. We could be discovered at any time! You fool, Pottersham, leaving that package on the island! You go and get it, I'll stay here with the kids in case I need to make a quick getaway. They are well tied up, so they won't cause me any trouble."

They heard the splash of someone jumping out of the boat, and then saw a man running up the path towards the castle. That must be Pottersham, on his way to get the missing package.

Anne put her mouth close by Julian's ear and whispered, "I think George and Sooty must be tied up in that boat. We HAVE to rescue them. But how...?"

15. Adventures in the dark Julian couldn't think what to do. The man in the boat could have a gun, and he couldn't let Anne and Dick be caught as well.

Someone else, however, wasn't so uncertain. Timmy had been growling softly at the boat, recognising the angry tone of the voices, and now he suddenly smelt that unique smell that belonged to his mistress. Before the three hidden children could stop him, Timmy had leapt over Penny's boat, ferociously growling, and lunged at the unsuspecting man, who fell back in horror and landed in the shallows of the cove with a splash. Timmy stood on all fours over him, snarling viciously.

"Quick, Dick," said Julian, jumping up from their hiding place. "We've got to rescue George and Sooty, before Pottersham comes back!"

Together they ran to the boat. "Anne, come and shine your torch so we can see." Julian demanded. "We've got to get them untied." With the light of Anne's torch they could see George and Sooty bound and gagged, lying at the bottom of the boat. They both looked shocked and amazed as their sudden rescuers quickly untied the ropes.

"Good old Timmy," George said. "Thank goodness you were here! But... what are you doing here, Julian? I thought you were going to find a passage to—"

"No time for explanations." interrupted Julian, talking in undertones so the spluttering man in the water couldn't hear them. "We've got to get out of here before Pottersham gets back. Where shall we hide? They obviously know the underground passage entrances!"

"In our old cave, of course," said Dick. "Come on, everyone, run."

They all took off away from the sandy inlet. When they were far enough away George whistled for Timmy, and he came racing up, giving George huge licks as if he hadn't seen her for days instead of a few hours.

"You were brilliant, Timmy," George praised, giving him a quick hug.

"But Julian," Anne whispered, afraid still after all the excitement, "what about Penny? We can't let the men catch her!"

"Blow!" Julian said, pausing briefly. "I forgot all about Penny for a minute. How mean of us. She'll be captured for sure if we don't get to her first. What should we do?"

"Split up!" said Dick. "If all of us are running around the men are bound to catch us. George, Anne and Sooty can continue on to the cave, and you and I, Ju, will find Penny and bring her there too. But... are we sure we can trust her?"

"Well, I really think we can," said George. "But I'd better go, Dick. I know the island best and we might need to move quickly to keep hidden."

"Are you sure you're up to it, old thing?" Dick said, not keen to miss out on the excitement.

"Of course," scoffed George. "Timmy, find Penny! You understand, don't you, Tim. Find PENNY!"

"Woof," barked Tim immediately, and turned to run back the other way. Julian and George quickly followed, as quietly as possible.

"Come on Dick," said poor Anne, still shivering in the night. "Let's get to the cave quickly. They'll never find us there!"

"All right, Anne," said Dick. "This way. I hope Julian and George find Penny quick! Do you know who the second man in the boat was, by any chance, Sooty? Everything happened back there so fast I never thought to look."

"Yes, it was that Professor Hayling your father introduced us to this morning," said Sooty. "He and Pottersham dragged us through that tunnel that lead from Arden Hall, and tied us up there for what seemed like hours! Finally they came back and took us out through Arden Hall and down to the beach. Apparently they don't want to use the tunnel between the quarry and Kirrin Island as they are worried somebody is watching it."

"I thought Alfred Bolo had the package?" Dick said. "Why would Professor Hayling think Pottersham had left it on the island?"

"Apparently Bolo gave the package back to Pottersham after he'd studied it—whatever 'it' is—and Pottersham must have hidden it on the island, goodness knows where," said Sooty.

"What a shame that Pottersham and Professor Hayling will get away with the package after all," said Anne. "It's a pity we don't know where it is."

Dick stopped suddenly, making Anne and Sooty bump right into him. "Brilliant, Anne!" he said. "We don't know where it is, but Pottersham does! We've just got to get to him before he gets back to the boat. I wonder if we can do it? We don't have Tim to attack him; we might have to knock him out or something. Sooty, you and I will try and find Pottersham. Anne, look—there's the shaft entrance to the cave. You'll be safe there. And don't worry, nobody else knows about the secret way between the underground tunnels and the cave. When Julian and George get back with Penny, tell them what we're doing. Oh, and tell them to send Timmy to help, I feel we'll need him! He'll be able to follow our scent all right!"

"Oh, do be careful, Dick," Anne said. "I really don't want to wait here alone... but we must get that package if we can."

"Just stay hidden," said Dick. "We'll be as quick as we can."

Dick and Sooty ran off towards the castle, stumbling a little as they shared the light of Dick's torch. Sooty didn't have one of course, and Anne wasn't keen to be left alone without a torch.

"I'm sure Pottersham went this way, when he left the boat," said Dick. "He must have hidden the package somewhere near the castle. How are we going to distract him long enough to get the package and get away again? Any ideas, Sooty?"

"Well, isn't there a well shaft you hid in once? Couldn't we push him down there?" asked Sooty.

"A bit difficult to lure him into the middle of the courtyard—plus it's a pretty deep well, he might get seriously hurt with a fall like that. Not that he doesn't deserve it, but we can't actually hurt him." Dick thought for a minute. "I think we're better off trying to sneak up on him and knock him out with some wood, perhaps something left over from when the tower was blown up? Or at least distract him until George sends Timmy to help."

They were very near the castle now and crept quietly closer. "I can't see him anywhere. Perhaps he's in the underground tunnel, using the entrance in the only intact room. Come on!"

They crept quietly into the room and looked up into the old chimney shaft. Sure enough, the entranceway was open. Pottersham must be down there. "We'll wait," said Dick. "When he comes out we'll follow him and wait for an opportunity to get the package."

Meanwhile George and Julian had followed Timmy around the rocks. Penny shouldn't be difficult to find as they could easily see her coil, glinting in the torchlight. They rounded a bend and found her squatting intently over her quadrant. She didn't even hear them approach and was startled with Julian whispered her name.

"Penny... Sshhh, sorry we didn't mean to give you a fright! We've got to get out of here!"

"Julian! George—you're here after all! What do you mean, Julian? I can't leave, I've got to finish my experiments before the tide turns."

"There's no time," said George urgently. "Pottersham and Professor Hayling captured our friend Sooty and I. They brought us here to collect some package, and when Pottersham finds out we've escaped they'll be after us! You too, as they've seen your boat on the beach. We know too much now, they can't let us escape! Professor Hayling may be after us already, although I doubt he'll be wanting to run into Timmy again in a hurry!"

"Wh-what's this?" Penny stammered, trying to take in everything George had said. "But Professor Hayling wouldn't—" Suddenly Penny paused. "What was the other name you said?"

"Pottersham," said Julian urgently. "Jeffrey Pottersham."

"Not the scientist-turned-traitor who escaped from prison a couple of days ago? How can that be?" Penny looked astounded, then alarmed. "And you say he's here? With Professor Hayling? What's going on?"

"We don't have time to discuss it all now," said George. "We've got to get to safety with the others. Come on, we'll tell you everything when we're there!"

Penny started to follow them, then slowed. "But my experiments... Okay, okay I'm coming. I don't understand all of this, but it certainly sounds serious. I just hate wasting all this work. I'll have to start again to keep the right sequence."

"Shh," Julian whispered. "We don't want them to know where we're hiding! It's not far." As fast as they could they continued around the rocks to the secret opening of the cave. It was so cleverly hidden, nobody would know it was there even if they were standing right beside it. It could only be seen by standing directly in front of it. They stumbled along for several minutes, then Julian said, "It must be here somewhere! George—how far away now? I've lost my bearings in the dark!"

"We're nearly there," said George. "Just a little further along. See now, Julian, behind that jutting out piece of cliff?"

They entered the cave so suddenly and quietly that poor Anne, who had been huddled as still as a mouse in the opening waiting for them, nearly screamed in terror as Timmy leapt on her and gave her a lick. "It's all right, Anne, it's only us," said George. "Where are the others?"

Anne quickly explained how they'd realised that Pottersham and Professor Hayling would get away with the package, and how Dick and Sooty had decided to try and get it themselves. "And he wants you to send Timmy as soon as possible, George!" Anne said.

"I'll go too," said George.

"No," Julian intervened. "Too many of us running around and we'll never get away without them seeing where we're going. Timmy will be fine, George, you know that."

George only hesitated a second longer. "Well, okay then. Tim, find Dick. Find Dick, Tim." Timmy listened to his mistress and once more set off into the night. He quickly trotted around the rocks and up onto the sandy beach. He could hear Hayling muttering in the motorboat but ignored him as his keen nose picked up the scent of Dick and Sooty. He raced after their trail, tailing them right to the castle room, where they still waited in the dark. Dick was certainly glad to feel the dog brush up against him.

"Tim! You've come! Thank goodness. Pottersham's been an awful long time in the tunnel, Sooty—he's bound to be coming out soon! Quiet now."

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later they heard a scrabbling noise as Pottersham clambered out of the small opening in the chimney shaft. He dropped down to the ground and set off immediately for the beach.

"NOW, Tim—get him!" shouted Dick, and Timmy needed no further bidding. He leapt at the surprised and horrified Pottersham, knocking him to the ground with a ferocious snarl that made

even Sooty shiver. In a panic Pottersham dropped his torch and the package, raising his arms to protect himself from this mad creature who attacked him in the dark. Dick grabbed the package at once.

"On guard, Timmy, stay until we call," said Dick, and he and Sooty took off towards the hill. They raced like there were a hundred escaped prisoners behind them and were at the shaft in no time at all. Dick yelled for Tim, knowing that the wind would carry his voice to Timmy's sharp ears, and then slid quickly down into the cave, landing with a bump on an unfortunate Sooty, who had jumped down first.

"Oof," said Sooty, trying to catch his breath, "you squashed all the breath right out of me, Dick!"

"Sooty! Dick!" said George, emerging from the darkness. "Where's Timmy? You didn't leave him behind did you? Dick—where IS he?"

"Calm down, George," said Dick, climbing off the squashed Sooty. "He'll be here any minute. He was guarding Pottersham while Sooty and I got away with this!" Dick waved the neatly wrapped package in the others' faces.

Before anyone could exclaim in excitement at Dick's success, a hairy body flung itself down the shaft and into the cave, and poor Sooty was once again squashed flat on the sandy floor of the cave. "Tim!" squealed George.

"Shhh!" everyone hissed at once.

"Smashing," Julian said. "Brilliant that we have the package and Pottersham and Professor Hayling don't! And they wont have a hope of finding us here. We're the only ones who know about this cave, aren't we, George. Er... are you okay, Sooty?"

"Fine," huffed Sooty. "Are we... going to... open it?"

"Of course we are!" said Dick.

"And then you have to explain to me what's going on," said Penny. "This is all very peculiar, I have to say."

"Right," said Julian. "Package first, then explanations! Whatever could it be?"

16. An astounding find The package, not very large, seemed to be tightly wrapped in some kind of water-proof material. "There doesn't seem to be any gap where we could insert a knife to slit it open," observed Julian as he turned the package over and over. "It's well sealed."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Julian, surely we can just slit one side of this plastic material," said George crossly. "Don't be so excruciatingly slow and proper right now! And besides we haven't much time—Pottersham may discover us any time."

"Relax, old thing," said Dick soothingly. "Pottersham is not likely to discover us here. Ju, do open the packet, will you?"

"All right, all right. I just wanted to make sure I don't damage the contents inside by simply poking in my pocket knife into the packet."

Squatting on the floor with four heads (plus Timmy's as well!) crowding around him, Julian gingerly ran his pocket knife over the package. Penny King sat slightly apart with an amused look on her face.

As his knife created a scratch on the wrapping material that seemed to be made of some thin but strong grey coloured plastic film-like material, Julian continued to run his knife over the slight gash created. After what it seemed like an eternity (at least to George), Julian finally succeeded in splitting the plastic cover material. Pulling this apart, he discovered another package inside.

"What does it contain?" asked Anne breathlessly.

"I don't know," replied Julian as he held up the package that was inside the water proof material.

The second package was wrapped in a transparent plastic cover, well taped. Julian quickly pulled off all the tape without much difficulty. Opening the transparent cover, he carefully drew out a substance that seemed to be one or two sheets of paper, tightly folded.

"Open it, Ju!" said Sooty brimming with anticipation.

Julian cautiously tried to smooth out the sheets of paper on the floor. "Golly, this is really yellowed with age. Look how brittle this paper is—the edges are just falling apart. Get AWAY Timmy—you'll damage the papers! George, do shift him."

As George tried with difficulty to move a very heavy and obstinate Timmy by the collar, Julian painstakingly unfolded the brittle paper.

All the heads bent down trying to see what was on the paper.

Everyone exclaimed at once.

"It's a map of some kind! What does is represent?"

"Wait," said Julian. "Let's see what there is in the other sheets."

As Julian separated the first sheet from the bunch, the second sheet was now visible.

"It looks like some kind of list," said Dick peering down at the yellowed paper that Julian held. His voice rose in excitement. "Wait, I can almost make out some of what's here—the second item says 'necklace studded with diamonds' or something like that—it actually says the number of diamonds on the necklace but I can't make out the exact number. Blow! But it has a name after it—it says Nadia Rajah! In fact, so do the next three items!"

Dick swung around to Penny, who had been quiet so far, rather bemused by all that was happening. However, she came to life at the mention of Nadia Rajah.

"Did you say Nadia Rajah?" said Penny incredulously.

Dick nodded his head vigourously. "I certainly did. Isn't that the name mentioned, Ju?"

"It sure is," said Julian squinting at the paper again.

"Who is Nadia Rajah?" demanded George as she tried to prevent Timmy from leaping all over the place with this sudden commotion.

"Oh, I know," exclaimed Anne. "Do you remember what Joan told us the other day? Nadia Rajah was—" Her jaw dropped as she stared at Penny, with realization dawning on her.

"Nadia Rajah was my mother," said Penny, springing upright, looking flushed, with her breath coming fast.

"You see what this means, Ju," said Dick, almost shouting in his excitement. "This is Arden Hall's TREASURE LIST!"

"For goodness' sake, be QUIET, Dick," said Julian desperately.

"Sorry," said Dick, dropping his voice to a whisper. "But you realize what this means, don't you, Ju? The map we saw in the first sheet probably gives us the location to where the treasure is located."

"Wow!" said Sooty, quite overcome with this sudden development.

"Could it really be true?" said Penny wonderingly. "What else does the list say?"

Julian and Dick looked at the list again together. "There is another name mentioned against a diamond bracelet—Archibald!"

"Archibald?" echoed Penny. She sat down suddenly, her eyes becoming vacant.

"Are you all right, Penny?" asked Anne anxiously, for Penny seemed to have suddenly gone limp. "Who is Archibald?" she asked.

"Archibald was my brother's name," said Penny slowly, as she stared into space.

There was complete silence for a few seconds. It was Anne who finally spoke. "Yes, your brother who died in infancy."

Penny turned to Anne. "How do you know that?"

"Our cook Joan told us about you, Penny," said Anne. "In fact she told us all about your family, your father and mother and about your brother and the tragedy that struck him. She also told us about the burglary that took place and how all your family's priceless heirlooms vanished without a trace."

Penny gave herself a little shake. "Well, my family's unfortunate history seems to be common knowledge in Kirrin," she said lightly as she tried to smile.

But the rest could feel that Penny had been deeply affected by the latest development.

"Were you very fond of your brother?" asked Sooty with sympathy. He himself was so fond of Marybelle, although she was only his half-sister. How awful it must be to lose a sibling!

"No," replied Penny. "I mean, he died before I was born, you know. I never knew him."

No one knew quite what to say next. They all felt rather solemn and a silence fell again, the papers momentarily forgotten. Timmy roused them all at that moment by breaking free from George's grip and bounding across the floor, raising clouds of sand.

"George, catch Timmy!" yelled Julian as he tried to retrieve the two sheets of paper. "We don't want the precious papers to be crushed by his paws!"

After George had succeeding quieting down Timmy, they all pored over the papers again, Penny this time participating in the fullest.

"Let's examine the first sheet, Julian," said Penny. "You said it was a map of some kind."

"I thought you would have liked to go through the list of the items in the treasure, Penny," said Julian, smiling as he laid out the first sheet on the ground after he carefully put the second sheet back into the plastic cover.

"That can wait," said Penny practically. "I have a list of my own, anyway. I am dying to know if the first sheet really gives the location of the treasure."

Map drawn by Viv Endecott

They all pored over the first sheet with renewed interest and enthusiasm. Everyone exclaimed at once, "That's Arden Hall on the map!"

Sure enough, Arden Hall was marked clearly. An island was also marked (obviously Kirrin Island) and the sea.

"But there aren't any other names," said George plaintively.

"What did you expect, George?" asked Dick, looking up at her for a moment with a grin. "A point marked X near Arden Hall with a label saying 'Treasure Here'?"

"Ass," said George giving him a punch. "Timmy, sit DOWN! There is NO rabbit in that corner!"

"There is a path marked between Arden Hall and which leads somewhere," said Julian peering at the map.

"Yes, and I have a strong feeling that that path leads to Kirrin Farm," said Penny.

"How do you know?" said Julian surprised.

"Oh, I have my methods," said Penny with a smile. "And besides, that path is clearly marked to the west of Arden Hall in a direction that obviously goes bang onto to Kirrin Farm."

"But there is an arrow that is leading away from the place you claim to be Kirrin Farm, Penny," said Dick bending down with almost his nose on the map which lay on the floor. "In fact, this path goes towards the sea."

"Does the route on the map lead to my island?" asked George in excitement.

"No, old thing," said Julian staring intently at the map. "Dick, do move over a little—burying your head into the map prevents everyone else from getting a look!"

"You mean it doesn't go to my island?" asked George disappointed.

"No, it doesn't," said Dick who had moved back, but only slightly. "You don't expect to find treasure in Kirrin Island for the second time, do you George?"

Penny broke in impatiently. "Look, I said this path leads to Kirrin Farm. I am quite sure of that. But there's nothing significant about Kirrin Farm's location—at least nothing is there in the map that says so. On the other hand, the path that leads AWAY from Kirrin Farm towards the sea has some curious markings and it ends on a particular spot that has been marked with this symbol. And this particular spot has another path leading into the direction of the moors. Do you see it? What place do you think that represents?"

"Oh, that should be the quarry," said Julian.

"Yes, I agree with you," said Anne. "But apart from the location of the quarry, there is nothing else that differentiates it."

"What do you mean?" asked Penny.

"I mean that the quarry is shown as 'just another place' like Kirrin Farm." Obviously the treasure wouldn't be there since the quarry is such a public place that it's accessible to everyone."

"I think you are right. All right, let's backtrack from the quarry," said Penny. She traced the path with her finger on the map and came to a stop near the sea where the curious marking was printed.

"Actually there is a path to the quarry that passes someway at back of Kirrin Cottage, doesn't it, George?" asked Dick.

"Yes," replied George. "You know it does. What of it?"

"I only thought—" Dick began, but he was interrupted with a squeal from Anne.

Everyone jumped violently. "Anne, whatever is the matter?"

Anne was staring at the list of items of the treasure that Julian had put back into the plastic folder.

"What is it, Anne?" asked Julian urgently.

Anne seemed to be unable to speak. Finally she said, "Ju, when you all were looking at the map, I was examining the list of the treasure. And I realized that there was ANOTHER paper along with the treasure list."

Everyone drew their breath in sharply. "What does the second sheet say?" demanded Penny.

"Th-the second sheet gives the c-complete plan of a h-house," stammered Anne. "And it has the same curious mark next to the sea in that map."

"That is probably the plan of the house containing the treasure, then!" said Sooty in sudden excitement.

"Anne, does the plan give the name of the house?" almost shouted Julian. "Let me look at the map!"

"Ju, careful, will you?" said Anne as Julian grabbed the third sheet of paper, some of the edges dropping off in the process.

Julian, with Dick and George craning their necks over his shoulder, stared at the paper as if they couldn't believe their eyes.

Penny said sharply, "What's happened? What house does that map represent? Why are you all so surprised?"

Anne turned to Penny and spoke in a whisper. "Penny, that plan is of Kirrin Cottage—where we stay!"

17. Escape from the island The children and Penny looked at each other in excitement. "This has turned into a very queer night," said Penny. "I come here to do some quiet experimental work on an uninhabited island, but instead I am whisked away into a cave by a bunch of kids, two of whom tell me that they have just been released from being kidnapped by my supervisor, and that my family fortune is lurking somewhere in their bedrooms!"

Everyone laughed at this strange yet succinct summary of what had happened to Penny over the last couple of hours. But then George suddenly looked concerned. "I wonder where Mother and Father are now. They left with Professor Hayling this morning. Could they have they been kidnapped too?"

Everyone looked very worried until Julian said, "I think they should be okay. They left in separate cars, remember? Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny took the local taxi to the station, where they were to catch the train to Cambridge. Hayling drove off in his own car, then no doubt doubled back as soon as he was out of sight of the taxi. He's certainly got your parents safely out of the way for a couple of days, George, because they will have to stay overnight. But gosh, what will Uncle say when he arrives at Cambridge University, demanding to be given a bogus chair that he hasn't really been offered!"

Nobody was too sure whether to laugh or cry at their uncle's predicament. "Father has worked so hard, and this meant so much to him," said George, "but if this means we stay at Kirrin then I can't say that I'm sorry."

"How many people are in this gang, and do we know where they all are?" asked Penny. "We don't want to go running into any of them."

The children considered. "I can still see the two boats, and there is no one by them, so Professor Hayling and Pottersham are here on the island with us," said George. "Have you got the list of the other names, Ju?"

Julian took the papers out of the wallet and read out the list. "Alfred Bolo, Peter Sole, Harper Chapman, Samuel Hardy, and a couple of others, but we have no idea where any of them are."

Penny glanced at the wallet and at the papers that Julian was clutching. "Pass that card over," she demanded. "Look, see that crest with the shield and the snake? That is the family crest of the Wallaces. The audacity of it! Not only did they intend to steal my family treasure, but they even use my family crest on their visiting cards!"

"I say," said Dick suddenly, "if these crooks believe that the treasure is in Kirrin Cottage, and have gone this far to get Aunt and Uncle out of the way, then what may have happened to Joan? She is the only person there. We must make a plan to get off the island and get back to the cottage as soon as we can. Does anyone have any ideas?"

There was silence as the little group considered their plight. "We must get the boats," said George. "The other gang members may be in the tunnels. So we need to keep Hayling and Pottersham out of our way whilst we make good our escape. But we haven't much time because we've been talking for ages."

There was a moment's silence, until Sooty addressed Penny. "Did you say that your equipment was rigged up and ready?" She nodded. "Right-o," Sooty continued cheerfully. "Leave your small boat for George, Timmy and me, and we'll cause a suitable diversion!"

"What have you got in mind?" asked Anne. "Do you know how the equipment works?"

"It's not that," Sooty grinned. "I know how it doesn't work! And there is nothing more unpleasant than a piece of electrical equipment howling as if in pain, and with all its monitor lights flashing. Believe me, Pottersham and Hayling will soon want to know what is going on! George can get to the rowing boat whilst I create the diversion—she knows how to get off the island and can row home far better than me!"

Julian considered. "I can't think of a better idea," he said. "What do the rest of you think?"

"I think we go with it," said Dick. "Sooty can go up the shaft, and when the diversion starts the rest of us will creep across the rocks to the boats. I'm puzzled why Hayling has left the boats unguarded knowing that we are here, but perhaps they are still looking for us around the castle. Do take care," he added, giving his schoolmate a friendly shake on the shoulder.

Still grinning, Sooty shinned up the shaft. "I can see them," he called down, "but they have their backs to me. I'm off to twiddle a few knobs, and as soon as you hear something like the Martians landing, then run for the boat!"

A few minutes later and there were indeed strange noises to be heard on Kirrin Island. As arranged, Julian led the little group across the rocks to the cove where the motor boat lay at anchor. From the shore they could see some flashing lights, and then there were a few bangs as well. "My poor equipment," sighed Penny. "How will I ever replace it?"

The children waded out to the motor boat. "We had best get going," called Julian as he started the outboard engine. "We'll see you back at Kirrin Cottage, George."

"Okay, Ju," called back George. "I can see Sooty coming this way now, so we won't be long behind you."

It was the early hours of the morning when the little company were together again on Kirrin Beach. "It went better than I thought," laughed Sooty, recounting his sabotage attempts. "I cranked up the power and did everything I knew you weren't supposed to do! There's nothing like a few bells and whistles for real fun and games!"

It felt good to be back on the mainland, and though the children were now very tired, they were wary about returning to Kirrin Cottage. "Why not come and have a kip in the barn at Kirrin

Farm?" offered Penny. There is a big stack of hay bales you can lay on, and you will be quite safe there. We can't do anything more until the morning."

It seemed a good plan, so stumbling at times along the rough track, the weary children followed Penny to Kirrin Farm. Even Timmy was too tired to chase the numerous rabbits that were out at that time of night. Minstrel heard them coming and trotted over to the gate, where Penny gave him a pat. "You've got guests tonight, Minstrel," she told him. "They are going to stay in your hay-loft!"

The old barn felt warm inside, and the five children quickly fell asleep on the sweet smelling hay. No one stirred when the silent form of a white barn owl swept in through the glassless window above them, returning to its nest high in the rafters. Timmy, ever watchful, raised only half an ear when a mouse scampered about on the floor below him. The mouse was not bothering his beloved mistress, so Tim grunted slightly and slept on. The barn owl noticed, however, and set off in deadly pursuit.

It seemed that only a couple of hours had passed when they all awoke with a start when the farmyard cockerel crowed. "That's the problem with living on a farm," thought Dick, as he rolled over, trying to ignore the bird. "Early to rise only works if you're early to bed, and we weren't!"

Just then, he heard Penny calling over to them. "Mrs Sanders has breakfast for anyone hungry enough to eat it." Dick then remembered that he was indeed very hungry, and joined the others in the big farmhouse kitchen. There was a large jug of creamy milk on the table, a loaf of bread was cut ready for toasting, bacon and eggs were cooking, and Mrs Sanders was stirring a big pan of steaming porridge.

The children looked at the fine breakfast approvingly. "We have the same sort of food as this at school," commented Anne, "but somehow it never seems to taste as good!"

"Ah, that's home cooking for you," smiled Mrs Sanders. "Now, you help yourselves, whilst I go and see to my hens."

Julian raised a questioning eyebrow at Penny. "All I've said," she confirmed, "is that I persuaded you to camp in the barn last night. No questions have been asked, which is as well, because I wouldn't know how to start answering any!"

"We've got to get into Kirrin Cottage," intervened Anne. "I want to know if Joan is okay and whether those men have searched the place. But why would they have hidden anything in Kirrin Cottage in the first place?"

They all puzzled over the mystery.

"The robbery was twenty years ago," said Penny, "just after my third birthday. We left for India soon after."

"Mother and Father were just moving into Kirrin Cottage then," replied George. "The place needed a lot of building work doing to it, Mother said. That is when they built the extension with the kitchen and bathroom, renewed all the plumbing, and installed the electrics."

"The builders!" exclaimed Sooty. "I knew that I had seen the names Sole and Hardy somewhere. Sole & Hardy! It's on the side of that builders' van that has been parked at the end of the lane. Sole & Hardy, builders and general repairs. Do you suppose that they were involved with the work on Kirrin Cottage twenty years ago?"

Anne looked up. "If they were the builders, it would explain how they came to have a plan of Kirrin Cottage," she said.

"We can be pretty sure that they don't know everything," said Julian. "We know that we can get into Kirrin Cottage through the Secret Passaage." This time it was Penny who raised a questioning eyebrow at him! "It runs from here into Uncle's study," he explained, "but until we know where those men are we'd best not use it."

"The passage from the quarry," continued Anne. "We had to dig our way into it. The men can't know of that way into the passages."

"I've had a thought," said George. "The passage from here to Kirrin Cottage must cross the passage from Arden Hall to the island, but when Sooty and I were captured at Arden Hall, we were only taken along a passage as far as a roof-fall. We were then taken back to ground level and had to walk to the beach before getting into a boat to go to the island. Do you suppose that the passage from here to Kirrin Cottage is still usable, or has the floor collapsed into the other passage below it?"

It took a moment to digest this piece of information. "Do you mean that there are passages at different levels, like the London Underground?" asked Anne.

Penny looked up. "I think it is time to do a little spying," she said. "I like to take Minstrel for a ride at this time of the morning, so we shall go for a little snoop around Kirrin Cottage? I ought to be able to see Joan, but should I need to, we can get away quickly over the moors. We can all make more plans when I get back."

"I think that I'd like to keep an eye on Kirrin Island," said George. "There was a little window above us in the hayloft that looks out the right way. I shall watch from there."

"I'll clear up the breakfast things," said Anne. "You boys could bring in some firewood for Mrs Sanders." She looked up at Penny and smiled. "Do take care, Penny, and bring us back some news about Joan. I never like the idea of an adventure, but really I'd never miss one for the world!"

18. Caught again! As soon as Penny left, George jumped up from her chair. "I'd better go too," she said. "I'll be back in an hour."

But Anne held her back. "Wait, George," she said. "It's time Julian and Dick told us what they found in the tunnel."

They looked inquiringly at Julian, who pursed up his lips as if to think. Then his face cleared.

"Oh yes," he said. "Well, Dick and I investigated the old tunnel that begins in the old quarry. We tried to find a passage to Arden Hall. We walked down one of those little passages we've never explored before, and guess what we found at the end!"

"No!" said Anne thrilled. "Do tell, Julian. I have no idea."

"We found ourselves in a cave," said Dick, picking up the story. "A big cave. It looked really grand. You must go see it one day. And it was full of boxes, containing all sorts of medicines and bandages."

"How queer!" said George. "Why would the men want medicines and stuff?"

"Maybe they want to start an underground hospital," said Sooty with a grin, and narrowly missed a punch from George.

"I don't know," said Julian thoughtfully. "Maybe they're smuggling them. But why? Our hospitals will never accept equipment from such a fishy source."

"It's strange all right," agreed Dick. "We didn't want the men to know we had discovered the boxes, so on our way back we took care to wipe out the chalk-arrows."

"This is getting curiouser and curiouser," said George. "Till yesterday we were in the middle of a treasure-hunt adventure, and now you tell us that there might be smuggling involved. I can't connect the two. Are you sure the medicines are not old?"

"They aren't," said Julian. "I checked the dates. I don't know what's going on, but we're going to find out!"

The children discussed the matter, but they couldn't think of any clues to the puzzle.

After a while, Penny returned, looking bewildered.

"What's the matter, Penny?" asked Sooty.

"Oh, George," said Penny in a trembling voice. "I was at your home, and I saw that something's happened there. The kitchen door was open and one of the windows was broken. The kitchen was in a terrible mess. It looked really awful."

George was shocked. "My house!" she said. "Who's been doing this? Wait till I find them!"

"What about Joan!" cried Anne. "Penny, did you see Joan?"

Penny shook her head. She had seen nobody about at all.

"Julian, we have to go there," said Anne to her brother. "I want to see if Joan's safe."

Julian stood there, undecided. "It might be dangerous," he said after a pause.

"We should call the police," Penny said.

"But it can take hours for the police to arrive," said Anne. "And Joan might be lying there injured for all we know. Julian, we have to go and take a look."

"I'm going in any case," said George obstinately. "It's my house after all. Come on, Julian. Don't be such a wimp. We have Timmy with us."

"Okay," said Julian at last. "But let's be on our guard."

"I'm not coming with you," said Penny. "I'll stay here. But please return soon. And do be careful."

"We will," promised the children.

#

The children soon reached Kirrin Cottage, and at once saw what Penny had already seen. The kitchen door stood ajar, and one window was broken. Timmy seemed to be at ease, however, so they assumed nobody was around and walked boldly up to the door. Penny was right—the kitchen really was a terrible mess!

They went in cautiously. The house looked deserted, but they wanted to be sure! So, led by Timmy, they went from room to room. Fortunately, only the kitchen had been ransacked—the other rooms seemed untouched.

They looked for Joan, but the house was empty. Joan wasn't there.

"What now?" wailed Anne after they had examined the whole house. "Joan isn't here. Where could she have vanished to?"

"She wouldn't simply leave like that, would she?" said Dick, puzzled.

"Why don't we see if Timmy can find out?" suggested Anne.

George bent over her beloved dog. "Timmy, look for Joan," she murmured. "Where's Joan?"

Timmy understood his mistress at once and started to sniff around. Soon he picked up a scent and was hot on the trail! With the children running to keep up with him, Timmy followed the trail out of the gate and across the moor.

"Hallo, it looks as if old Tim's leading us to Arden Hall!" said Dick. "But why would Joan go there?"

The trail did lead to Arden Hall. Timmy took the children over the familiar path. But just when they were walking down a part of the path that had high hedges on either side, they heard a noise. There was a rustling, and suddenly their path was blocked. A man stood in front of the children, aiming a gun at the six. A man the children knew only too well.

"Pottersham!" gasped Dick.

Jeffrey Pottersham smiled an evil smile. "Yes, it's me all right," he said mockingly. "Nice to meet you again."

Timmy started to growl, but George held on to him tightly. With a gun aimed at them, she wasn't taking any chances!

"What's the idea, Pottersham? You'll be sorry for this!" said Julian, trying his best to sound grown-up.

Pottersham smiled again. "I knew you would follow me," he said. "Too bad for you, kids. I'm finished with this place. In a couple of hours I'll be out of the country, never to return."

The children said nothing. Timmy growled softly.

"Yes, I'm rich now," Pottersham gloated. "Yes, I've found the treasure of Arden Hall. I know you found the map and the plan, but I was first with the treasure! I shall take it with me, and start a new life—a rich life. I can hardly wait!"

Pottersham narrowed his eyes. "It's a pity I left that package on the island last night. Or I'd be miles away by now," he said. "Still, who cares? I have the treasure now. You kids thought you were so smart, didn't you? I knew where the treasure was hidden. I didn't need the map, because I was the one who drew it—when I was in prison!"

The children listened in astonishment.

"Where did you get the original plan?" demanded George.

"The original was drawn by the third burglar, the one who escaped," said Pottersham amiably. "Some months after he was hired to do some work in Kirrin Cottage, he hid the treasure there. He marked the hiding place on the map and took it with him, but never got the chance to return. He died in prison, and I found it. And now the treasure is all mine."

"What about Sole and Hardy?" asked Sooty.

"Sole and Hardy?" sneered Pottersham. "Yes, they were there too, but they didn't know about the treasure. They only hired this burglar for their work. It's all about one's connections, you know."

Pottersham looked at the children with a satisfied grin.

"The police are fools," he said. "Of course, the burglar didn't take the treasure out of Arden Hall. But that's because he was out already, packing the treasure onto the horse! How did you think he managed to escape?"

Suddenly the man seemed to return to reality.

"Let's be off," he said. "I have only a couple of hours and I want to wrap this up. Walk in front of me, all of you. And keep that dog under control, or he gets it!"

#

The children traipsed disconsolately down the path. After all this effort, it was too bad to be captured yet again. They went in the direction of Arden Hall. Behind them walked Pottersham with his gun.

"Faster," he commanded. "I haven't time to dawdle."

Timmy was growling softly all the way. How he would have liked to pounce on this irritating man! But he couldn't. George held him too tight. She was looking worried. Why hadn't Timmy warned them Pottersham was around? Had he been too intent on following Joan?

Julian was anxious too. He blamed himself for allowing the children to fall into Pottersham's trap. Why hadn't he been more careful?

The little group soon reached Arden Hall. Pottersham forced them into the building, and ordered them to go to the room with the entrance to the tunnel.

The hole in the floor gaped at the children.

"Down there," said Pottersham. "Go!"

George turned around. "What about Tim?" she said in a half-choked voice.

"The dog has to go too," said Pottersham, annoyed. "Push him in if he refuses."

George looked at him in dismay. Push Timmy into the hole? Didn't the man know how heavy he was? But she had no choice.

"It's not very deep," whispered Sooty.

At the mouth of the hole the children could see some steep steps. Sooty went first, and helped Anne down. Then George went, holding on to Timmy. Dick was right behind her. He steadied Timmy to prevent him from falling headlong. It was terrible, but somehow they all managed to get down safely. George was very relieved.

"Are you hurt, Tim?" she asked the dog gently. "We're sorry, but we couldn't help it."

Pottersham told them curtly to walk on, so on they went. Soon they could hear a muted booming above their heads.

"We're under the sea!" thought George. "Funny we haven't come to any roof-falls yet. Sooty and I must have been taken through another passage when we were captured."

Suddenly the group was startled by the sound of approaching footsteps. They saw a light, and a man appeared at the far end of the tunnel. He looked as vicious as the rest of the gang.

"Chapman!" said Pottersham, pretending to be surprised. "What a coincidence—fancy meeting you here! Look at what I picked up."

But Chapman didn't seem to notice the children. He brushed past them and walked to Pottersham. He looked angry.

"Jeffrey," said Chapman to Pottersham. "We have to talk. Things are bad, and you are the one responsible!"

Pottersham looked taken aback.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Wasn't I the one who showed you this place? You agreed it's great for your smuggling, so why are you whining now?"

But Chapman wasn't listening. He spoke urgently.

"It would have been great for smuggling," he said, "if it weren't for the darned tide. But there are other problems too. We're running a lot of risks, and let me tell you this—"

"What risks?" asked Pottersham. "What are you talking about?"

"For a start," said Chapman. "Getting the stuff in here has been tricky. A couple of nights ago it was too dark and we had to use lights to guide the glider. We're pushing our luck."

"But why use a glider at all?" asked Pottersham.

Chapman lost his temper.

"Smart, aren't you?" he jeered. "An aircraft motor can be heard from miles away, so our plane launches a glider from a safe distance. The glider flies over Arden Hall, drops the packages in the grounds, and lands some miles away. It works, though you have to be careful not to be hit by the stuff raining around you.

"But one night was dark," he continued. "We missed some of the boxes that night and I had to return in the morning to comb for them. I conveniently borrowed a horse—you can't possibly cover this moor on foot."

Chapman stopped talking and took a breath.

"But my biggest problem is you, Pottersham," he went on, gesturing at the man holding the gun. "Ever since you came here you have caused me grief. The police came right after you. The next day I saw a plane full of men of a special force circling this area. And then, blowing up the tower on the island was stupid thing to do—it did nothing but bring more unwanted attention."

By now Pottersham was looking angry too.

"Well, you were the one who asked me to stop trippers from coming to the island, and that's what I did," he said.

"That's what you think," snarled Chapman. "The island now has more visitors than before."

The children watched the men argue. Neither of them was paying any attention to them, and Julian made up his mind to slip away. They couldn't return to Arden Hall because the men were in the way, but they could escape the other way, to Kirrin Island!

He signalled to the others, who got the idea at once and started to edge away from the quarrelling men. The men's voices echoed in the tunnel, so they could continue to hear every word.

"And what's with that Hayling chap," Chapman fumed. "I hired him to see if he could pick holes in Mr. Kirrin's theory and get the trippers away from the island, but he couldn't."

"Hayling did his job, even if he couldn't crack the theory," argued Pottersham. "After all, he succeeded in getting those nosy Kirrins out of the way."

"Rubbish!" yelled Chapman. "Hayling only helped you so you could have the Arden Hall treasure. And that's another thing I want to discuss with you. You were a fool to make off with the treasure. It is too soon and we're not finished. Don't you care about my business? I have to deliver medicines and stuff to the rebels. My work is not finished yet, but the way you're going about things I expect the police to start scanning the entire area!"

Pottersham exploded.

"What rot!" he said. "Finding this treasure was my dream. For years I worked on my plan. It took me a while to get all the information I needed. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to get out of jail. I had to swim! I packed the papers in waterproof plastic. And now you're saying I should wait for your stupid business to be over before I can claim my treasure? You must be crazy. I don't give a hoot about your business."

"I should have known better than to trust you," said Chapman furiously. "You'd better get lost. And take that woman with you. You were a fool to kidnap her. Or was that yet another attempt to get the police to sniff around?"

"Oh, her," sneered Pottersham. "Take her along with the medicines to your precious rebels. She might make a good nurse. Where people are wounded and sick a nurse is always welcome."

"But I'm talking about the situation here!" shouted Chapman. "You're getting in the way of my work. I should have never listened to your advice."

"You shouldn't have," agreed Pottersham. "But you did. I invited you so you'd cover for me and I'd have a way to escape. You will let me go nicely, won't you, with my treasure? Or will I have to use this after all?"

He aimed the gun at Chapman and grinned nastily.

For a moment Chapman hesitated. But then he lunged at Pottersham and the two men started to grapple with each other. The children heard the noises of the scuffle from further down the tunnel. Then Julian heard a sound he recognized. The gun had fallen to the ground!

He waited no longer. "Run!" he yelled to the others.

The children started to run as fast as they could, in the direction of Kirrin Island.

The men heard them run, and stopped fighting.

"The kids!" yelled Pottersham in a rage. "They're escaping. Quick! After them!"

The men started chasing the children down the tunnel!

19. Underground capers The five children and Timmy dashed down the tunnel in the direction of Kirrin Island, as fast as they could run in the semi-darkness.

"Have they caught up with us, Julian?" asked Anne, out of breath. She was beginning to regret having been plunged into the middle of Yet Another Exciting Adventure.

"No, they're still some distance away," panted Sooty, who was bringing up the rear. "Blow, don't stop so suddenly, George. I nearly ran into you."

"Sorry," said George. "But I stopped because Timmy stopped to sniff something. I'd love to set him on those crooks, but I don't trust that gun. I'm sure one of them managed to recover it."

"All I hope," said Julian, "is that they lost their way in the maze. I wish I had the time to add some chalk marks so we'll know our way back if necessary"

"Never mind," said Dick. "I added plenty!" And he held up a piece of chalk and grinned. "That'll keep them busy, because I led the trail away from us. If we need to retrace our steps, just remember to ignore my squiggles!"

"Where does that tunnel lead to, Julian?" asked Anne as they passed a cave opening.

"No idea," said Julian. "But it seems to lead in the direction of Kirrin Cottage, or perhaps Kirrin farm. We must explore it someday. This moor is a warren of underground passages, so let's stick to this main path for now."

The men's voices sounded quite indistinct now and the children relaxed a little.

"Where do you think they're keeping Joan?" asked George. "I do hope she's safe."

"You heard Pottersham and Chapman," said Julian. They took her as a hostage, in case the police sniffed them out, but now she's of no use to them. They're planning to leave the country as soon as they can. I don't think really Chapman intends to use her as a nurse; I'm sure Pottersham was just baiting him."

"Poor Joan," said Anne, almost in tears. "Do you think she's held prisoner in one of these caves? We'd never find her unless Timmy manages to sniff her out."

"Yes, but first let's put as much distance between us and those thugs as possible," said Sooty. "I must say you kids do lead exciting lives. After you left Smuggler's Top, about the only excitement I had was when some men came to drain the marsh."

"It must have been especially exciting when you managed to fall in," said Dick slyly. "I heard Mr Lenoir tell Uncle Quentin what a nuisance you made of yourself."

"That'll do," said Julian, seeing Sooty opening his mouth to argue. "Save the squabbling for later."

Sooty shut up, but he didn't seem to mind. He liked Julian, despite his authoritarian ways.

"We ought to be near the island now, shouldn't we?" said Dick after an hour had gone by. "Why have you stopped, Ju?"

"I say—do you know what's happened?" said Julian. "The roof's caved in just here! It was probably a delayed effect of the explosion that brought down the tower; the earth looks fresh. Whatever it was, we can't possibly get past it."

"Oh no!" cried George. "Are you sure we can't dig ourselves through?"

"No," said Julian gloomily. "It'll take half a dozen men armed with shovels and spades to get past this one!"

"What do we do now, Julian?" said Dick after a pause. "Do we dare go back? The men could be waiting for us."

Julian frowned. He was debating whether he should put the others into danger again.

"I have an idea," said Anne hesitantly. "Do you remember the passage we saw branching off along the way; the one you said leads in the direction of Kirrin Cottage? Why don't we see if it leads anywhere?"

"Well, we don't know that it leads anywhere," said Julian. "I was just guessing. But seeing that we have no other option, we might as well see where it goes. It's a good thing at least two of us have torches—"

"And plenty of chalk," said Dick, trying to joke, but nobody laughed. They were far too worried.

"Let's get going," said Sooty, bored. "We couldn't have done much even if we had got to Kirrin Island, seeing that we're not likely to find a boat waiting for us. Better to do a little exploring—but gosh, am I hungry! Anyone remembered to bring dinner?"

"Don't be an ass," said Julian. "I have some chocolate, so you'll have to be happy with your share. I hope we get somewhere in the next hour or so, because I don't want to wander around like this for ages."

Munching on bars of chocolate, the children retraced their steps. After a while, they came to the cave opening they had passed earlier. It looked big enough to walk through, though a grownup would have found it a bit of a squeeze.

"I'll go first as usual," said Julian. "Anne and Dick can be right behind me, then George and Timmy, and Sooty can bring up the rear. Do tell me if you hear any noises."

"Aye, aye, captain," said Sooty, grinning. He was feeling better now.

They walked along the passage, often bending almost double, because the roof was quite low in some parts.

"Do you think this is leading uphill, Julian?" said Sooty, his voice sounding muffled.

"Yes," said Julian. "It stands to reason, because we're not under the sea anymore—we're probably heading across Kirrin Common. Let's keep going."

"Now what?" said George impatiently, as the little party came to a halt. "Don't tell me it's a roof fall again?"

"No, but it looks as if the passage ends here," said Julian, disappointed. "But wait, there's a hole at my feet. Good thing I didn't fall right into it. Want to see if leads anywhere?"

"Seeing that the only alternative is to walk backward for a good twenty minutes, I expect we should," said Dick with a groan, and Sooty heartily agreed. Both of them were feeling very tired and hungry.

So was Anne, though she tried hard not to show it. George, of course, said nothing. She was only worried about Timmy, who hadn't had anything to drink in a while and was panting heavily.

Julian flashed his torch into the hole, and was relieved to see it didn't seem very deep.

"We don't need a rope after all," he said. "It's only a six-foot drop. I'll swing down and see."

He lowered himself into the opening carefully, and found that he was on a ledge in a roughly circular 'room'. He helped Anne and the others down, and they took a look around.

"Funny," said Julian. I'm sure we didn't pass this way earlier, but there's something familiar about this place."

Dick nodded, but Sooty was sure they hadn't come that way at all.

"Guess what?" said George excitedly. "We have been down this passage before. Remember when we were snowbound during Christmas some years ago when we had that horrid tutor staying with us? We recovered some of Father's secret plans from a pair of rogues staying at Kirrin farmhouse, and this is a part of the passage we took to escape from there to Kirrin Cottage!"

Julian clapped her on the back. "Exactly!" he said. "I recall this wide bit of the passage is about midway between the farm and Kirrin Cottage, so we can go to either place!

"We never got a chance to stop and explore at the time," said Dick, remembering their frantic dash down the passage towards Kirrin Cottage.

"But which direction is which?" asked Anne timidly.

"Oh, Kirrin Cottage is that way," said Julian, who prided himself on his sense of direction, even underground. "But Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny aren't home, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to open the stone in the floor of Uncle's study."

"No, we never figured out how to open it from inside the underground passage," said George. "Do you suggest we go to Kirrin farm instead, Ju?

"Considering that Mr and Mrs Sanders have a larder that's well-stocked round the year, I'd have thought that's an easy decision to make," said Dick with a gleam in his eye. He was looking much happier, and dreaming of a pink, glistening ham, and buttered scones, and tomatoes, and pots of tea, and...

"Woof!" said Timmy, as if he thoroughly approved.

So on they went for another quarter of an hour, in the direction indicated by Julian.

"This is where we climb," said Julian as they reached a blank wall. "Leave Timmy behind for a minute. Don't look so mutinous, George. We'll haul him up in a bed sheet or something."

One by one, they went up the sheer wall, using iron staples set in the rock, and came to a narrow ledge. Julian had already swung open a wooden door, and then another panel of wood slid aside noiselessly. They were in the cupboard in one of the upstairs bedrooms at Kirrin Farmhouse! It was quite empty, because no guest was staying there.

Sooty looked around curiously, because he had never been in the room before. But George was busy tying two or three sheets together to make a kind of harness for Timmy. She slipped down the shaft with it, and got Julian and Dick to pull poor Timmy up. Tim hated being bumped against each rung on the slow ascent, but there was no alternative. Soon he was with the others too.

"Funny," said Julian, who had opened the door to the landing and was listening intently. "There's not a sound to be heard; not even a chicken clucking in the yard. Where do you think Mr and Mrs Sanders have gone? Shall we yell for them?"

They went downstairs into the empty hall—and stopped suddenly as they heard a series of muffled thuds from behind the locked kitchen door!

20. Jo is an absolute treasure! "Who is making that noise?" said Julian in a low voice, looking at the locked door.

"Perhaps it's Mr and Mrs Sanders," whispered Anne.

Dick stepped up to the door and knocked gently on it. "Who's there?" he called.

"Fathead!" exclaimed Julian. "It may be Pottersham or his cronies!"

But Timmy was wagging his tail, and a voice answered joyfully, "Dick, is that you? It's Jo! I locked myself in the kitchen and I can't open the door!"

"Why on earth did you lock yourself in the kitchen?" asked Dick.

"I was hiding from Pottersham," said Jo, "I followed him all the way here from Kirrin Cottage. Do let me out!"

"Have you got the key there?" asked Dick. "Can you slide it under the door?" There was a scrabbling sound, and the key appeared through the crack at the bottom of the door. Dick picked it up, inserted it in the lock and tried to turn it. "It's a bit stiff," he said, but then there was a click and the key turned. Dick opened the door and Jo fell into his arms.

There was an embarrassed silence, then Julian cleared his throat. "Jo, where is Joan now? And where are the Sanders?"

Jo let go of Dick, who was looking rather red-faced. "Pottersham made Joan walk over here. He had a gun. He left her tied up in the cowshed. Then I saw him hide his package in the pigsty while he went snooping round the farm. When he was out of sight I skipped in, picked up the package and then locked myself in the kitchen. It was the first room I came to with a key."

"Weren't you afraid of Pottersham and his gun?" asked Sooty.

"I hid up the chimney with the package," said Jo, "just in case he did get into the kitchen. You know how, in these old houses, the fireplaces are designed for small boys to climb up to sweep? There was a ledge up there I could stand the package on." The five gazed at the massive inglenook that took up most of one wall. Jo went on: "Pottersham banged at the door but he couldn't open it."

The children listened with admiration. What a plucky girl Jo was!

"Where are the Sanders'?" asked George.

"It's Friday, so they will have gone to market today," said Jo.

"Is Joan still in the cowshed?" asked Anne. "Let's go and set her free straight away."

"Careful," warned Julian, "Pottersham may still be about."

"He isn't," said Jo.

"How do you know?" asked Dick.

"Some men came and took him off," said Jo, "and they didn't sound pleased. They made him get in their car. Said something about him having to help them pick up the final delivery and pack the stuff up before they cleared out. He protested a bit—I suppose he wanted to get his package—but he didn't mention that to the other men."

"He probably doesn't trust the other members of the gang not to steal it," said Julian. "Probably figured it was safer here, and he could come back and get it later."

"Where is the package now?" asked George.

"Still up the chimney," said Jo. "Do you think I'd take a chance on Pottersham coming back and finding me with it?"

"What a treasure you are, Jo!" exclaimed Dick, and the others agreed.

"It's safe there, so let's leave it," Julian decided. "Helping Joan is our first priority."

Jo led the children to the cowshed where poor Joan was lying tied up on the straw. Sooty produced a knife out of his pocket and cut the ropes. Joan was very shaken, but unhurt. The children helped her to the farmhouse.

"I'll make you a cup of tea," Anne said comfortingly.

Just then, the sound of horse's hooves clattered on the cobbles outside; it was Penny King returning on Minstrel. She was shocked and saddened to hear how Joan had been caught up in the adventure, and helped Joan up to the guest room to lie down and rest, while the boys turned the horse into the field.

Penny came back down to the kitchen. "We should phone the police about this," she began.

"We've got something to show you first," said George, "which we need you to positively identify." And she nodded to Jo, who went to the fireplace, stepped into the inglenook and reached down a very heavy wooden box. She placed it on the table in front of Penny.

Penny opened the lid. On the top lay several sheets of paper, which Penny lifted aside to reveal a most marvelous sight! Great brooches, wonderful necklaces, jeweled pins, and a goblet made of pure gold, studded with precious stones. Everyone gathered around the table gasped in amazement.

Penny picked up the sheets of paper she had taken from the top of the box and studied them. "These are nothing to do with the treasure," she said. "Here, George," she added, "this looks like your father's work!"—and she passed over the sheets of paper from the top of the box.

Julian bent over to have a look. The paper was covered with complicated figures. "Look!" said Julian, "some of these figures have been crossed out and others substituted in blue pen. I'd say this is an attempt to sabotage your father's reputation, George, by falsifying the results of his experiments."

"Who would hate Uncle Quentin enough to do that?" wondered Anne.

"Pottersham—or Professor Hayling!" said Dick at once. "Didn't Harper Chapman say he'd hired one of them to try and discredit Uncle Quentin's theories? This is the evidence of it; we'd better keep it for the police."

Penny was gazing in silent awe at the box's other contents. Then she said in a low voice, "A goblet with emeralds, and a brooch shaped like a peacock, and an ivory fan with sapphires are all part of the Wallace treasure..." and she held up these items from the box for the children to see. "How can I thank you enough?" she said. "I'll have to check it all against my list, but it does look like the Wallace treasure, and if it is, it'll mean I can restore Arden Hall to its former glory."

"Does this mean you won't have to study anymore?" Anne asked shyly, but Penny only laughed.

"Give up my studies! You must be joking," she exclaimed. "I love my work, I wouldn't stop it for the world."

#

"I'm glad the treasure won't spoil Penny," said Julian, as the children strolled back towards Kirrin Cottage. "I have a feeling her work could be important to the future of Kirrin Village."

"It's nice to be in the open air," said Anne, holding up her face to the sun. "I don't care if I never go in a tunnel again."

"We have spent rather a lot of time underground lately," agreed Julian.

"Woof," said Timmy with feeling.

"He says he feels the same, and he doesn't want to be pushed down any more steps," said George.

The children approached Kirrin Cottage very cautiously. It was very quiet, but so many mysterious things had happened lately that they half expected a further shock—and they got one when they walked in through the front door, for Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny were in the living room!

Uncle Quentin's coat was draped carelessly across the back of his armchair, and he was pacing up and down like a caged lion. "Of all the nerve," he was muttering. "Complete waste of my time. And humiliating too...!"

Meanwhile, Aunt Fanny, who was still wearing her own coat, was standing there looking just as cross.

"Uncle Quentin!" cried Julian. "Aunt Fanny! You're home, safe and sound!"

"Children!" said Aunt Fanny, turning to find them crowding in the doorway. "We just got back, and you won't believe what that awful fellow Hayling did to us!"

"I'll wring his neck," Uncle Quentin said in disgust. "Lying to us like that, leading us on a wild goose chase, wasting our time. We were just debating whether or not to telephone the police about it all, only I doubt they'd be very interested in a silly prank."

"We were worried about you," said Julian. "But you're back now, safe and sound, and that's main thing."

"Well, of course we're safe," said Uncle Quentin, looking surprised. "Why shouldn't we be safe?"

"Oh, Mother—Father—such an awful lot has happened!" cried George, giving her mother a big hug. "Professor Hayling was just a small part of it all."

"There was no Chair being offered to me," growled Uncle Quentin. "I should have known better than to trust him. He was always terribly jealous of me since I started collaborating with his brother while we were undergraduates, and also because Fanny agreed to go out with me and not with him. But I thought as so many years had passed, and since he now has a permanent University post, all those silly squabbles were forgotten."

George remembered the notes that Penny had given her and pulled them out of her pocket. "Father," she said, "we found these. Are they yours?"

Her father took the papers and glanced through them. Then he gave an exclamation! "These are copies of my notes with errors introduced into them! See here, these additions and alterations in blue pen have been made to make it appear that my results were flawed. Where did you find these, George?"

"We think it's the work of Professor Hayling—the younger one," cut in Julian. "We believe he was attempting to discredit you."

"Well, Father," burst out George, "I don't care if he was trying to discredit you, if it meant you didn't get offered the Chair, as it means we won't have to leave Kirrin after all. "

"Leave Kirrin? Are you mad?" said Uncle Quentin, sounding irritated. "As if I would ever ask your mother to leave her home! When Fanny mentioned the possibility to me on the train, I was

amazed that she could have thought for a minute that I would have been prepared to leave Kirrin. I would not have accepted a Chair unless I could have done it from a distance, just lecturing occasionally in Cambridge." And he looked quite wounded, before continuing: "I'm very fond of Kirrin, you must know how responsible I feel for all the villagers. I would never ever leave here."

"Are you still planning to help the villagers with the tunnel and castle idea?" Julian asked.

Uncle Quentin looked worried. "It did occur to me that tourism might be a replacement for fishing," he said, "but since I consulted Lenoir last week, it's clear that we could never build a causeway here. The geology is completely unsuitable—nothing like as simple as draining a marsh. I'd already given up the tunnel idea—constructing something large enough and safe for public access would be incredibly expensive. I can't imagine any bank would be prepared to lend that kind of money on such a speculative project."

George heaved a sigh of relief. She was sorry for the villagers, of course, if they could no longer make a living from fishing, but nonetheless would hate to see Kirrin spoiled by development.

"That research student might have the answer," Uncle Quentin went on, "if she can only find out what's causing the decline in fishing stock. It might be possible to reverse it in some way. Up to now I've focused on physics, but my experiments are concluded now—some commercial interest will probably take it up from here. So I might change direction, see what I can find out about marine science." His face brightened. "I might stroll down to the bay when it's high tide and she's checking on the plankton; perhaps we could discuss her latest findings."

Aunt Fanny smiled at the children. "Your Uncle Quentin always likes to have plenty to occupy his mind. He's been at a bit of a loss since he concluded his research. Perhaps this will be his next project! Now would you five children—no, six—" she said, with a smile at Jo, "like anything to eat? I'll make you something myself, since Joan isn't here." She suddenly frowned. "Where on earth is she?"

Julian remembered. "Joan is at Kirrin Farm," he explained, "having a rest. She was kidnapped by Pottersham and tied up, but we managed to rescue her."

Uncle Quentin turned white. "Pottersham!" he exclaimed. "I heard he had escaped from prison. Surely you don't mean he is near here?"

"He is," said Julian, "and he is also in league with a gang of criminals, who are smuggling drugs out of the country using Arden Hall and Kirrin Island as bases. We've unearthed some very interesting mysteries here, Uncle Quentin, but it's taken us a while to unravel them, as there was more than one thing going on!"

"Where is Pottersham now?" asked Uncle Quentin.

"Pottersham was last seen," Julian told Uncle Quentin, "in a car leaving Kirrin Farm."

"And I know where he was going," burst out Sooty. "The final delivery means the last glider of medicines, and the drop is usually at Arden Hall. They'd have to go there and collect all the packages before packing up all the stuff to take away!"

"Pottersham is bound to return to the farm soon," George pointed out, "as he thinks the Wallace treasure is still hidden in the pigsty there."

"Didn't you say Joan is still on the farm—and Penny too," exclaimed Aunt Fanny. "Quentin, dear, they may be in terrible danger!"

"I think it's time to call in the Police," said Uncle Quentin. "I'll telephone now. You'd better come with me, Julian, as this will be a complicated one to explain!"

21. A thrilling ending Uncle Quentin and Julian left the room to telephone. After a while they returned.

"It's all being taken care of now," Uncle Quentin told the others. "The Inspector is on his way and he wants to hear the complete story in detail. He will be here in a few minutes. Some policemen will be sent to Kirrin Farm too to protect Joan and Penny, so we need not worry about them. Everything is under control and, before long, the gang will be rounded up."

Anne gave a sigh of relief.

"Everything is under control," she repeated. "How marvellous that sounds!"

"I must say it's a very strange story," Uncle Quentin remarked, looking sharply at the children. "I hope you haven't been letting your imaginations run away with you."

"Oh no!" said George at once. "Certainly not, Father."

"Well, let's sit down and wait for the Inspector," said Aunt Fanny. "Could you make some tea for him please, children? I'm just too tired to do it myself after that long trip back from Cambridge."

"Yes, I'll do it," answered Julian. "Do sit down, Aunt."

He headed for the kitchen and the others followed.

"Just look at all this mess!" exclaimed George.

The children stared in horror. There was the hole in the window and the kitchen door was wide open. Julian quickly went over to the door and closed it. At one side of the room a wooden shelf had been pulled off the wall and thrown to the ground. There it lay amid fragments of china from the crockery which had been displayed upon it. Worst of all was the wall itself. There, just where the shelf had hung, gaped a huge hole. It looked as if someone had slammed an enormous hammer against the wall. Pieces of plaster lay all over the place in the kitchen and everything was covered with a layer of fine, white dust.

"How can we make the tea in this mess?" asked Anne, sadly.

"There are six of us. If everyone helps we can clear away most of the mess while we're making the tea," said Julian. "Come on, you others."

"Wait a minute," said George. "I want to see where the treasure was hidden. It must have been in that hole."

She went over to the hole in the wall, followed by Jo.

"It's too high," said Jo. "Here, take this kitchen chair."

The girls each took a kitchen chair and stood on it. Then, together, they examined the hole.

"Yes, the treasure must have been here," agreed Jo. "There is enough space for a box."

"The builders must have built the treasure into this wall when they built the kitchen," said George. "Golly, to think that I never realised there was treasure right here in this house!"

Meanwhile, Anne had been busy filling buckets with water.

"Come on you two," said Julian to George and Jo. "Stop gazing at that hole and come down. It's time to start clearing up."

Soon the tea was ready. Julian had prepared sandwiches as well because everyone was starving. It was already too late for lunch, but with the sandwiches they would be able to hold out until dinner. However, as they sat down with their tea to wait for the Inspector, Timmy suddenly started to growl.

"What's the matter, Tim?" asked George anxiously, bending over the dog.

But Timmy couldn't answer. Instead he just kept on growling. He stood up and padded over to the window, growling deep down in his throat as he pressed his nose against the glass.

"Oh," said Anne with a shiver, "you don't think he's picked up the scent of a stranger hanging around, do you? I daren't look."

"I dare," said George.

The girl marched over to the window and looked outside but there was nothing to be seen.

"I can't see anything unusual," George told the others. "There are times that I wish Timmy could speak."

She patted her dog. "What are you growling for, old boy? What can it be?"

There was nothing else to do but wait and see. After a while, as suddenly as he had begun, Timmy stopped growling. Just a few seconds later the doorbell rang. Everyone sprang up.

"Who is it?" asked Sooty, frightened.

"Silly boy—it must be the Inspector," answered Uncle Quentin, annoyed at all the fuss. "I'll go and open the door."

And it was the Inspector! His deep voice filled the house and at once everyone felt a lot calmer.

"Well, let's hear your story then," said the Inspector, once the greetings were over and he was sitting in a comfortable chair with a cup of tea in one hand. "Tell it from the beginning. From what I heard over the telephone it's a remarkable tale and you won't be surprised when I say that I really couldn't follow it all. But now I'm ready to hear everything."

The children began to relate their story, not missing out a single detail. They spoke of the strange lights at Arden Hall... the figure on the horse the following morning... the blowing up of the tower. Julian showed the Inspector the wallet which the children had found, and the strange little card that had been inside. Then the children talked about their expedition down the underground tunnel, and the papers they had found there.

"What papers?" asked Uncle Quentin on hearing that some of the documents were copies of his work. Julian produced the papers and Uncle Quentin was astonished.

"How did these get there?" he asked. "And what does that letterhead mean?"

"That emblem is the family crest of the Wallaces," Anne explained. "We will come to that later."

Sooty described how the children had cracked the code used by the band to identify themselves, and Julian showed the Inspector the list of names.

Then they spoke of the meeting between Pottersham and Bolo, and of the package that Pottersham had handed to Bolo.

Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny listened in horror. Had the children really been doing all this? But the worst was yet to come. The children related how George and Sooty had been taken prisoner, and how Anne had set off alone through the tunnels. At once Uncle Quentin decided that he would forbid the children to explore tunnels again. And as for going to Arden Hall! Why, he was responsible for these children! What could he possibly have said to Mr. Lenoir if anything had happened to Sooty?

Next the children described the rescue of George and Sooty, and how Dick and Sooty had managed to get Pottersham's package. Once again they produced papers, but these were the papers concerning the Wallace treasure and the Inspector showed less interest in them.

"What happened next?" he asked.

The children related the events of that morning, and how they had stumbled upon Pottersham. The Inspector sat up straight when he heard what Pottersham and Chapman had said in the underground tunnel. And when he learned that the last delivery was to be that very night, he suddenly sprang into action.

"We'll catch those men red-handed!" he said and he rose from his chair. "I need to make a few telephone calls. Could I use your telephone please, Sir?"

"Of course," answered Uncle Quentin.

The Inspector left the room but soon returned.

"I can't seem to get a connection," he said to Uncle Quentin. "Would you mind explaining to me how your telephone works?"

The two men went out together but soon came back again.

"The telephone line is dead!" Uncle Quentin told the waiting children. "What could have happened?"

"Well, I'll just have to return to the police station," said the Inspector. "Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Kirrin. Children, do you mind if I take the wallet and the papers with me?"

The Inspector bent over to gather up the papers, but then stopped. Timmy had started growling again! The Inspector stood still, surprised.

"That dog is a jolly good guard..." he began. But George wasn't listening.

"Timmy!" she exclaimed, running over to him. "Timmy, what is the matter?"

"Not that dog again!" muttered Uncle Quentin.

"Nevertheless, I'm going," the Inspector said firmly. He picked up the papers and left the room to put on his jacket. Uncle Quentin hurried after him to let him out. For a brief moment the Inspector halted in the doorway of the living-room and looked back.

"Good evening to you all. Till tomorrow."

He disappeared and the children heard the front door open. But then came the sound of voices they could not recognize. Strange, loud voices. The front door was slammed shut and the Inspector and Uncle Quentin came back.

"I can't get out," the Inspector said, sitting down once more. He was still wearing his jacket and he looked shocked. "The gang has surrounded the house to make certain they won't be caught during their final delivery!"

Everyone sat still and tense. Knowing that wicked men were outside the house preventing their escape was an awful thought. Anne was frightened and looked anxiously at the Inspector.

Jo fidgeted on her chair. "I don't like being held prisoner," she said.

After a while, Aunt Fanny spoke.

"What can we do, Inspector?" she asked.

"I'm afraid we can't do anything at the moment," replied the Inspector. "We'll have to wait until tomorrow morning, when the last delivery has taken place and the gang have finished. It's dreadful to think that they can carry on with their schemes now."

A face peeped suddenly through the window. It was a nasty face and Aunt Fanny gave a shriek. But the face quickly vanished.

Julian cleared his throat.

"We can escape," he began. "There is a secret tunnel here."

"We don't want to do anything like that, my boy," answered the Inspector. "If those man realised that we had gone, they might follow us and things could get very dangerous. No, we do what they want and stay here. Let's play a game to take our mind off things. Do you have a pack of cards?"

They all played Snap until dinner-time. Then Anne, Dick and Sooty went to the kitchen to prepare a meal, followed by Julian and Jo.

"I don't like that hole in the window," said Anne, shivering.

"Don't be afraid, Anne." Julian tried to comfort his sister. "No-one can get through the hole. It's too small, and look how sharp the glass is around the edge."

Jo was feeling restless.

"I've got to try to escape," she said to the others. "I can't bear being held prisoner in this house any longer. Please let me use your secret tunnel."

"You can't do that! You'd put us all in danger!" exclaimed Sooty.

"Listen, do you really think those men would miss me?" Jo answered. "They don't know me and I'm sure they've no idea exactly how many of us there are."

"Please be quiet," said Julian in a loud whisper. "Remember—there's a hole in the window and people outside can hear us. I must say I think Jo's plan is terrific. Of course there's no reason why she shouldn't escape. She could take a letter with her from the Inspector. It's our only chance to stop the gang!"

"All right, I suppose that makes sense," agreed Sooty. "Let's see what the Inspector has to say about it."

The three children left the kitchen in a hurry, Dick and Anne staying behind to prepare the meal. After all, everyone was feeling ravenous.

The Inspector approved of Jo's plan.

"That's a super idea," he said. "Now we have a chance of catching the gang after all! I'll just write a letter to my colleagues at the station."

He sat down at the table and began to write.

"It's getting dark," said Aunt Fanny. "Let's draw the curtains. I hate the thought of faces peering in. Besides, it means we'll be able to draw the curtains in Quentin's study without arousing curiosity."

So, all the curtains were drawn and, in the study, Julian opened the secret way—a tunnel that led to Kirrin Farm. The children had discovered the tunnel during one of their adventures. It was opened by a handle which made a stone sink into the floor, revealing the entrance to the secret way.

"Smashing!" remarked Jo when she saw how it worked.

The Inspector handed his letter to the gypsy-girl.

"Good luck," he said. "Take this straight to the police station."

Anne gave Jo some bread and a bottle of milk, which she had fetched in a hurry, and off Jo went! Soon she had completely disappeared into the cold, wet darkness of the tunnel.

The others closed the secret entrance and went back to the living-room, while Anne and Dick finished preparing the meal.

Although danger lurked outside Kirrin Cottage, dinner was fun. The Inspector proved to be a good storyteller and entertained the children with amusing tales of life in the police force. The meal over, Anne gave a sudden yawn.

"Sorry," she said.

"Oh no, it's quite understandable," Julian defended his sister. "It has been an exciting day today, what with wandering through underground tunnels! And we didn't get much sleep last night either. Only a couple of hours in the hay-loft."

"Would it be possible for the children to go up to bed?" Aunt Fanny asked the Inspector.

"Yes, that should be fine," he answered. "After all, it is bedtime so it's quite natural for them to go up now. Come on, children, upstairs with you all!"

"But I want to see the final delivery at Arden Hall!" protested George. "I want to show you what we saw the other night."

Uncle Quentin's face started turning red with annoyance but, before he could say a word, the Inspector spoke to George.

"I will wake you when it is time," he promised the girl. "Of course you're going to see it."

"Really?" asked Anne, happily. Watching the goings-on at Arden Hall with the Inspector would be most exciting!

"I promise," said the Inspector. "Now, off to bed with you all!"

"Will they be safe upstairs?" asked Aunt Fanny.

"Well, I'll go up as well," said the Inspector. "Perhaps you could go to your bedroom too and then we'll all be upstairs. Don't worry—I'll be keeping watch. Nothing's going to go wrong."

So, after they had cleared the dinner-table they all went upstairs to bed. The Inspector settled himself at the top of the stairs and lit a cigarette. In the dark, quiet house he smoked his cigarette, waiting patiently for events to unfold.

The Inspector kept his word and woke everyone around midnight. They all hurried to the girls' bedroom to look out of the window. The children shivered a little in the cold and felt sleepy, but that didn't last long. Through the window they could see the moors stretching out at the back of the house. Far away was the dark shadow of Arden Hall but the building appeared to be deserted.

"We're not too late, are we?" asked George, impatiently.

"No, I don't think so," said the Inspector.

The Inspector's sharp eyes spotted the light of a cigarette burning in the garden of Kirrin Cottage. The men had surrounded the house. What was going to happen?

The children and the Inspector stayed by the window. Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin had come to the bedroom as well but they were tired and had fallen asleep on the girls' beds.

After what seemed like ages, Julian suddenly saw something moving.

"Look!" he exclaimed, pointing. "Over there!"

The Inspector raised his field-glasses to his eyes. Julian and Dick had brought theirs too and they did the same.

"Do you see those figures, Inspector?" asked Dick. "They're stuffed dolls. We saw them at Arden Hall."

The Inspector nodded.

"The gang must use them to attract the attention of the glider," he answered. "Look, they're glowing. Are they fluorescent?"

Through his field-glasses the Inspector spotted the glider approaching.

"It's coming!" he told the children. "Look up at the sky. Soon it will drop the packages."

"I can see them!" yelled Dick, when the first package fell to the ground. "There goes the first one. And the second."

"Can I have a look through your glasses?" asked George. "I must have left mine at school."

Dick handed his glasses carefully to George, who looked through them eagerly. Meanwhile, more packages were being dropped on the moor.

"What a great haul this would have been," the Inspector said, frustrated. "It's maddening to be cooped up here. I hope Jo has managed to take the message to the station, and that my men are on their way. I can't see any sign of them yet.

Soon, all the packages had been delivered and the glider flew off.

"There goes the glider," said the Inspector. "Its job is done."

"The men are out on the moor now, collecting the packages," remarked Julian. "At least they must be there, though I can hardly see them."

"Yes, the place looks quiet now," remarked the Inspector. "I wonder where my men are. What's taking them so long?"

Just then, a few small lights shone out. Something was happening! The sound of gun-shots was carried on the wind to the cottage and the drone of a helicopter was heard in the sky. A bright light shone down from it on to the moor.

The Inspector let out a sigh of relief.

"They've done it!" he said. "Thank goodness. Look! The whole gang is being rounded up!"

He suddenly got busy.

"Golly—I forgot about the men out in the garden! We must be very careful. They may try to take us hostage. George, wake your parents, will you? Anne, can this room be locked?"

"Yes," answered Anne and showed him the key. "What's happening? Are we in danger?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we are," replied the Inspector, "but please try to stay calm."

He locked the room and advised everyone to get into one corner. The children, Timmy, Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny crawled into the corner and the Inspector took up a position in front of them. Keeping his gun at the ready, he kept a close eye on both the door and the windows. A

silence came over the room. The children could hear noises in the garden. Were the men entering the cottage? They heard the sound of gun-shots, followed by screaming. What was happening down there? Was it the police? Or were the men actually in the cottage?

Suddenly, it was all over and there came a yell:

"Inspector, are you there? Inspector, it's me, agent Harris. We have the men. Hello Inspector, are you there?"

The Inspector flew to the window, opened it and leant out.

"Agent Harris? We're all safe up here. Is everything all right down there?"

"Yes," agent Harris shouted back. "Please come down. We've caught the lot of them!"

#

The next morning, the family were sitting around the dining table having their breakfast when they heard the clopping of hooves outside.

"That must be Penny!" exclaimed Anne.

It was Penny but she was not alone. Jo entered the room just behind her.

"Jo! You made it! The police caught the gang last night! Thank you so much for taking Inspector's letter!" exclaimed the children, all greeting her at once.

Jo smiled.

"Morning," she said. "Yes, I made it. But I'll tell you one thing, I'm never going to a police station again. They gave me such odd looks."

She pulled a face and everyone laughed.

"How's Joan getting on?" asked George.

"Joan is fine," Penny answered. "She will soon be home."

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and there stood the Inspector.

"Good morning," he said as he entered the dining-room. "I hope you managed to get some sleep after all the excitement last night."

The children greeted the inspector joyfully. Only Jo was a little upset.

"Did I miss all the excitement?" she asked. "That's a real pity!"

The children had finished eating, so they took the Inspector into the living-room where he told them everything.

"We did well last night," he said. "We caught the whole gang red-handed—they won't be able to talk their way out of this one. They were involved in something huge. Even bigger than we thought. We knew that there was something going on to do with medicines because the companies making them were prospering, but we hadn't suspected that medicines were being smuggled outside the country."

"How?" asked Anne.

"Well, in fact it was very easy," said the Inspector. "You saw the medicines being dropped last night on the moors by a glider, just as they have been before. On previous nights they were collected and taken through the underground tunnels, where they were stacked in the big cave you boys saw."

The Inspector nodded at Dick and Julian.

"After that they were transported by sea in small boats," he continued. "At low tide the boats could reach a part of Kirrin Island which cannot be seen from the mainland. There must be a cave which floods at high tide but becomes accessible at low tide. From that cave the gang shipped the medicines abroad."

"So, the men really were smugglers!" said Dick.

The Inspector nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Smuggling goods to rebels overseas. At the house of one of the gang members, Mr. Bolo, whom I believe you know, we found documents listing all the rebel-troops, with the names of their leaders and contact details. We also found details of codes and passwords. We handed the papers to our government straight away. I have a feeling that the Secret Service will be very pleased to have them."

Anne gasped.

"That must be the list we saw Jeffrey Pottersham hand to Alfred Bolo!" she exclaimed. "Pottersham told Bolo to read the instructions carefully and to keep the papers safe. Bolo was the go-between and the look-out of the gang."

"That's right," agreed the Inspector. "His job was to contact the rebels and to look after things here. A nasty piece of work."

Penny had been sitting in silence, listening to the talking going on around her, but now she spoke.

"What I'm wondering is," she said, "why did the gang use my family crest?"

"Oh, that was just a little joke of Pottersham's," the Inspector explained. "He knew your family crest, of course, and when the gang needed a logo he suggested that one, knowing that it would link his activities with the activities of the gang."

"Pottersham only wanted the Arden Hall treasure really, didn't he?" asked Sooty.

"Yes, Pottersham only intended to seek the Arden Hall treasure," answered the Inspector, "but he needed the gang to cover his activities and so he joined."

Julian sighed contentedly and stretched himself.

"What a simply marvellous adventure this has been!" he said.

"No, three adventures in one," said Dick, jokingly. "Smuggling; treasure-hunting; and Professor Hayling trying to discredit Uncle Quentin's work."

"Yes, you're right. What a complicated adventure!" said George. "I am glad we were able to solve all those mysteries. But what about the damage to our kitchen? Could we... "

"That's all been sorted out already," interrupted the Inspector. "We are to make a report of the damage and the insurance company will pay for everything."

"Oh, that is good news!" said George.

"Inspector, could you please write a report on my equipment too?" asked Penny. "That was damaged during the course of the adventure as well."

"What! Was it damaged by the men?" exclaimed the Inspector, surprised. "But why? Who did it?"

"No, it wasn't the men," said Penny, hastily. But then she hesitated. Everyone was looking at Sooty, who found himself blushing.

"I did it," he confessed in a small voice.

"Only to help us escape from the island," Julian explained. "Otherwise we would never have got away."

"Well," said the Inspector to Penny, "in that case we'll have a talk about it and I'll make a report of your equipment so that it too can be replaced."

Sooty was delighted to hear that. For one moment he had regretted damaging Penny's equipment, although it had been rather a lot of fun at the time.

The Inspector still had a lot to do at the station and said that he had better be getting back. He would talk to Penny later. He said goodbye and left.

"You were put on the spot there, weren't you, Sooty?" said Julian, grinning, but Sooty just laughed.

"I say, I have a super idea," he said. "Since Penny no longer has her equipment, she won't be able to continue with her work for a while. Penny, why don't you take us on a trip in your glass-bottomed boat today? Dick said you promised you would."

Penny smiled.

"You certainly know how to take advantage of a situation, young man!" she answered. "But, as it happens, the equipment you damaged was only for measuring phosphorescence. I have plenty of other experiments running which will keep me busy."

"Oh," said Sooty, disappointed.

Penny laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep my promise," she said. "I'll take you out in my boat this afternoon if you like. Does that sound all right?"

The children approved of this plan heartily. To go out to sea that afternoon and view an underwater world sounded like a fantastic thing to do!

"Oh I can't wait!" said Anne. "I hope this afternoon will hurry up and come!"

"You must be mad!" said Sooty. "I want the days to go more slowly. Don't forget, I have to go home tomorrow evening. My tutor wants me to start lessons on Monday and I'm not looking forward to that at all!"

The others laughed. Poor Sooty! But boys who spent term-time playing tricks must expect to be crammed in the hols!

That afternoon a small company gathered round Penny's boat on Kirrin beach. Penny had removed part of the wooden base of the boat and replaced it with glass. Anne looked through it.

"Ooh, I can see the sand," she said. "Oh, how lovely it looks!"

"Wait until you're out at sea," Penny answered. "Then everything looks even more amazing. There will be lots to see beneath the waves."

"Are we ready?" asked Julian.

He and Dick were to pull the boat into the sea.

George took the oars. She was to row. All the strange goings-on in recent days had left little time for rowing, so she was pleased to have the opportunity to put in a bit of practice.

"I'm ready!" she yelled.

"Woof!" said Timmy, agreeing.

And away they went! Julian and Dick pulled the boat into the water and climbed in. It was a warm afternoon with a hot sun and the sea was a shimmering blue dotted with sparkling white waves near the shore.

Anne looked around her joyfully and burst into song. The others joined in and sang along with her. The adventure was over and everything was fine! The sun was shining and life was simply lovely. How could they possibly stop themselves from singing out loud?

We'll stay on the beach and wave goodbye to the boat as it slowly disappears behind Kirrin Island. Goodbye Anne, Dick and Julian! Goodbye George and Penny, and Sooty and Jo! And of course, goodbye Timmy! It was smashing to be with you once again, sharing your adventures and going back to Kirrin Island! Thank goodness the island will not be spoiled and will lie there peacefully in the bay, waiting for more adventures to come. And I am sure that they will come, and that we will be there to share them! Goodbye to you all for now, Famous Five, and we hope to see you again soon!

THE END