chapter 20 the secret room

the four children had heard the car come racing up the drive, and had heard mr. perton's arrival.

julian went to the kitchen door, eager to find out what he could. if mr. perton was back, then eitherrichard had played his part well, and had escaped - or he had been discovered, and had been broughtback.

he heard every word of the excited talk out in the hall. good, good good! - richard had got away -and was even now telling his tale to the police. it surely wouldn't be very long before the policearrived at owl's dene then - and what surprising things they would find there!

he tiptoed out into the hall, when he heard the men go into the room near by. what were their plans?

he hoped they would not vent their rage on him or the others. it was true they had timmy- but in a real emergency rooky would probably think nothing of shooting the dog straightaway.

julian didn't at all like what he heard from the room where the men talked over their plans.

'i'm going to bang all those kids' heads together as hard as i can, to start with,' growled rooky.

'that big boy - what's his name? - julian or something - must have planned richard kent's escape -i'll give him a real good thrashing, the interfering little beast.'

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'what about the sparklers, rooky?' said another man's voice. 'we'd better put them in a safe hidingplace before the police arrive. we'll have to hurry.'

'oh, it'll be some time before they find they can't open that gate,' said rooky. 'and it'll take a littlemore time before they climb that wall. we'll have time to put the sparklers into the room withweston. if he's safe there, they'll be safe too.'

'sparklers!' thought julian, excited. 'those are diamonds - so they've got a haul of diamonds hiddensomewhere. whatever next?'

'get them,' ordered mr. perton. 'take them to the secret room - and be quick about it, rooky.

the police may be here at any minute now.'

'we'll spin some tale about that kid richard and his friends,' said the voice of a fourth man.

'we'll say they were caught trespassing, the lot of them, and kept here as a little punishment.

actually, if there's time, i think it would be best to let the rest of them go. after all - they don't knowanything. they can't give away any secrets.'

rooky didn't want to let them go. he had grim plans for them, but the others argued him over.

'all right,' he said sullenly. 'let them go, then - if there's time! you take them down to the gate,perton, and shove them out before the police arrive. they'll probably set off thankfully and get lost inthe dark. so much the better.'

'you get the sparklers then, and see to them,' said mr. perton, and julian heard him getting up fromhis chair. the boy darted back to the kitchen.

it looked as if there would be nothing for it but to let themselves be led down to the gates and shovedout and julian decided that if that happened they would wait at the gateway till the police arrived.

they wouldn't get lost in the dark, as rooky hoped!

mr. perton came into the kitchen. his eyes swept over the four children. timmy growled.

'so you made a little plan, did you, and hid richard in the car?' he said. 'well, for that we're going toturn you all out into the night - and you'll probably lose yourselves for days in the desertedcountryside round here - and i hope you do!'

nobody said anything. mr. perton aimed a blow at julian, who ducked. timmy sprang at the man,but george had hold of his collar, and he just missed snapping mr. perton's arm in two!

'if that dog had stayed here a day longer i'd have shot him,' said mr. perton, fiercely. 'come on, all ofyou, get a move on.'

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'good-bye, aggie,' said anne. aggie and hunchy watched them go out of the kitchen door into thedark garden. aggie looked very scared indeed. hunchy spat after them and said something rude.

but, when they were half-way down the drive, there came the sound of cars roaring at top speed upthe hill to the gates of owl's dene! two cars, fast and powerful, with brilliant headlights.

police cars, without a doubt! mr. perton stopped. then he shoved the children roughly back towardsthe house. it was too late to set them free and hope they would lose themselves.

'you look out for rooky,' he said to them. 'he goes mad when he's frightened - and he's going to befrightened now, with the police hammering at the gates!'

julian and the others cautiously edged into the kitchen. they weren't going to risk meeting rooky ifthey could help it. nobody was there at all, not even hunchy or aggie. mr. perton went through tothe hall.

'have you put those sparklers away?' he called, and a voice answered him: 'yes. weston's got themwith him. they're o.k. did you get the kids out in time?'

'no - and the police are at the gates already,' growled mr. perton.

a howl came from someone - probably rooky. 'the police - already! if i had that kid richard herei'd skin him alive. wait till i've burnt a few letters i don't want found - then i'll go and get hold of theother kids. i'm going to put somebody through it for this, and i don't care who.'

'don't be foolish, rooky,' said mr. perton's voice. 'do you want to get yourself into trouble againthrough your violent temper? leave the kids alone.'

julian listened to all this and felt very uneasy indeed. he ought to hide the others. even timmywould be no protection if rooky had a gun. but where could he hide them?

'rooky will search the whole house from top to bottom if he loses his temper much more, and reallymakes up his mind to revenge himself on us,' thought julian. 'what a pity there isn't another secretroom - we could hide there and be safe!'

but even if there was one he didn't know of it. he heard rooky go upstairs with the others. now, ifhe and the other children were going to hide somewhere in safety, this was their chance. but wherecould they hide?

an idea came to julian - was it a brilliant one, or wasn't it? he couldn't make up his mind at first.

then he decided that brilliant or not they had got to try it.

he spoke to the others. 'we've got to hide. rooky isn't safe when he's in a temper.'

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'where shall we hide?' said anne, fearfully.

'in the secret room!' said julian. they all gaped at him in amazement.

'but - but somebody else is already hidden there - you told us you saw him last night,' said george atlast.

'i know. that can't be helped. he's the last person to give us away, if we share his hiding-place -he wouldn't want to be found himself!' said julian. 'it will be a frightful squash, because the secretroom is very, very small - but it's the safest place i can think of.'

'timmy will have to come too,' said george firmly. julian nodded.

'of course. we may need him to protect us against the hidden man!' he said. 'he may be pretty wild atus all invading his hiding-place. we don't want to have him calling rooky. we'll be all right oncewe're in the room, because timmy will keep him quiet. and once we're in he won't call out becausewe'll tell him the police are here!'

'fine,' said dick. 'let's go. is the coast clear?'

'yes. they're all upstairs for some reason or other,' said julian. 'probably destroying things they don'twant found. come on.'

hunchy and aggie were still not to be seen. they had probably heard what the scare was about andwere hidden away themselves! julian led the way quietly to the little study.

they stared at the big, solid wooden bookcase that stretched from floor to ceiling. julian went quicklyto one shelf and emptied out the books. he felt for the knob.

there it was! he pulled it out, and the back panel of the shelf slid noiselessly downwards, leaving thelarge hole there, like a window into the secret room.

the children gasped. how queer! how very extraordinary! they blinked through the hole and sawthe small room behind, lit by a little candle. they saw the hidden man too - and he saw them! helooked at them in the very greatest astonishment.

'who are you?' he said, in a threatening voice. 'who told you to open that panel? where's rooky andperton?'

'we're coming through to join you,' said julian quietly. 'don't make a noise.'

he shoved george up first. she slid through the narrow opening sideways and landed feet-first on thefloor. timmy followed immediately, pushed through by julian.

the man was up on his feet now, angry and surprised. he was a big burly fellow, with very smallclose-set eyes and a cruel mouth.

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'now look here,' he began in a loud voice. 'i won't have this. where's perton? hey, per . . .'

'if you say another word i'll set my dog on you,' said george, at a sign from julian. timmy growledso ferociously that the man shrank back at once.

'i - i . . .' he began. timmy growled again and bared all his magnificent teeth in a snarl. the manclimbed up on the narrow bed and subsided, looking astonished and furious. dick went through theopening next, then anne. by that time the small room was uncomfortably crowded.

'i say,' said julian, suddenly remembering something, 'i shall have to stay outside the room -because the books have got to be put back, otherwise rooky will notice the shelf is empty and guesswe're hiding in the secret room. then we'll be at his mercy.'

'oh ju - you must come in with us,' said anne, frightened.

'i can't, anne. i must shut the panel and put the books back,' said julian. 'i can't risk your beingdiscovered till the police have safely caught that madman rooky! i shall be all right, don't youworry.'

the police?' whispered the man in the secret room, his eyes almost falling out of his head. 'are thepolice here?'

'at the gates,' answered julian. 'so keep quiet if you don't want them on top of you at once!'

he pushed the knob. the panel slid back into place without a sound. julian replaced the books on theshelf as fast as he could. then he darted out of the study, so that the men would not even guess whathe had been up to. he was very thankful that rooky had kept away long enough for him to carry outhis plan.

where should he hide himself? how long would it take the police to get over the wall, or break downthe great gates? surely they would soon be here?

there came the sound of footsteps running down the stairs. it was rooky. he caught sight of julian atonce. 'ah - there you are! where are the others? i'll show you what happens to children who upset myplans. i'll show you what . . .'

rooky carried a whip in his hand and looked quite crazy. julian was afraid. he darted back into thestudy and locked the door. rooky began to hammer at it. then such a crash came on the door thatjulian guessed he was smashing it down with one of the hall chairs. the door would be down in amoment!