chapter 2 julian, dick - and henry

george was quite a different person now that she knew her two cousins were coming the next day.

she was even polite to henrietta!

captain johnson scratched his head when he heard that the boys were arriving. 'we can't have themin the house, except for meals,' he said. 'we're full up. they can either sleep in the stables or have atent. i don't care which.'

'there will be ten altogether then,' said his wife. 'julian, dick, anne, george, henry - and john,susan, alice, rita and william. henry may have to camp out too.'

'not with us,' said george, at once.

'i think you're rather unkind to henry,' said mrs. johnson. 'after all, you and she are very alike,george. you both think you ought to have been boys, and...'

'i'm not a bit like henrietta!' said george, indignantly. 'you wait till my cousins come, mrs.

johnson. they won't think she's like me. i don't expect they'll want anything to do with her.'

'oh well, you'll just have to shake down together somehow, if you want to stay here,' said mrs.

johnson. 'let me see. i'd better get some rugs out. the boys will want them, whether they sleep in thestables or in a tent. come and help me to look for them, anne.'

anne, george and henry were a good bit older than the other five children staying at the stables, butall of them, small or big, were excited to hear about the coming of julian and dick. for one thinggeorge and anne had related so many of the adventures they had had with them, that everyone wasinclined to think of them as heroes.

henrietta disappeared after tea that day and could not be found. 'wherever have you been?'

demanded mrs. johnson when she at last turned up.

'up in my room,' said henrietta. 'cleaning my shoes and my jods, and mending my riding-jacket.

you keep telling me to, and now i've done it!'

'aha! preparing for the heroes!' said captain johnson, and henry immediately put on a scowl verylike the one george often wore.

'nothing of the sort!' she said. 'i've been meaning to do it for a long time. if georgina's cousins areanything like her i shan't be very interested in them.'

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'but you might like my brothers,' said anne, with a laugh. 'if you don't there'll be something wrongwith you.'

'don't be silly,' said henrietta. 'georgina's cousins and your brothers are the same people!'

'how clever of you to work that out,' said george. but she felt too happy to keep up the sillybickering for long. she went out with timmy, whistling softly.

'they're coming tomorrow, tim,' she said. 'julian and dick. we'll all go off together, like we alwaysdo, the five of us. you'll like that, won't you, timmy?'

'woof,' said timmy approvingly and waved his plumy tail. he knew quite well what she meant.

next morning george and anne looked up the trains that arrived at the station two miles away.

'this is the one they'll come by,' said george, her finger on the timetable. 'it's the only one thismorning. it arrives at half past twelve. we'll go and meet them.'

'right,' said anne. 'we'll start at ten minutes to twelve - we'll be in plenty of time then. we can helpthem with their things. they won't bring much.'

'take the ponies up to hawthorn field, will you?' called captain johnson. 'can you manage all fourof them?'

'oh yes,' said anne pleased. she loved the walk to hawthorn field, up a little narrow lane set withcelandines, violets and primroses, and the fresh green of the budding hawthorn bushes.

'come on, george, let's catch the ponies and take them now. it's a heavenly morning.'

they set off with the four frisky ponies, timmy at their heels. he was quite a help with the horses atthe stable, especially when any had to be caught.

no sooner had they left the stables and gone on their way to hawthorn field than the telephone rang.

it was for anne.

'oh, i'm sorry, she's not here,' said mrs. johnson, answering it. 'who is it speaking? oh, julian herbrother? can i give her a message?'

'yes, please,' said julian's voice. 'tell her we are arriving at the bus-stop at milling green at half pasteleven, and is there a little hand-cart she and george could bring, because we've got our tent with usand other odds and ends?'

'oh, we'll send the little wagon,' said mrs. johnson. 'the one that always goes to meet the train or thebus. i'll get george to meet you with anne, they can drive it in. we're pleased you are coming. theweather's very good and you'll enjoy yourselves!'

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'rather!' said julian. 'thanks awfully for putting us up. we won't be any trouble, in fact we'll help allwe can.'

mrs. johnson said good- bye and put down the receiver. she saw henrietta passing outside thewindow, looking much cleaner and tidier than usual. she called to her.

'henry! where are george and anne? julian and dick are arriving at the bus-stop at milling green ateleven-thirty and i've said we'll meet them in the little wagon. will you tell george and anne? theycan put winkie into the cart and trot him down to the bus-stop.'

'right,' said henry. then she remembered that george and anne had been sent up to hawthorn fieldwith the four ponies.

'i say, they won't be back in time!' she called. 'shall i take the wagon and meet them?'

'yes, do. that would be kind of you, henry,' said mrs. johnson. 'you'd better hurry, though.

time's getting on. where's winkie? in the big field?'

'yes,' said henry and hurried off to get him. soon he was in the wagon shafts, and henry was in thedriving-seat. she drove off smartly, grinning to herself to think how cross george and anne would beto find they had missed meeting the two boys after all.

julian and dick had already arrived at the bus-stop when henry drove up. they looked hopefully atthe wagon, thinking that perhaps one of the girls was driving into meet them.

'no go,' said dick. 'it's somebody else, driving into the village. i wonder if the girls got our message.

i thought they would meet us at the bus-stop here. well, we'll wait a few minutes more.'

they had just sat down on the bus-stop seat again when the wagon stopped nearby. henry salutedthem.

'are you anne's brother?' she called. 'she didn't get your telephone message, so i've come with thewagon instead. get in!'

'oh, jolly nice of you,' said julian, dragging his things to the wagon. 'er - i'm julian - and this is dick.

what's your name?'

'henry,' said henrietta, helping julian with his things. she heaved them in valiantly, then clicked towinkie to stand still and not fidget. 'i'm glad you've come. there are rather a lot of small kids at thestables. we'll be glad of you two! i say, timmy will be pleased to see you, won't he?'

'good old tim,' said dick, heaving his things in. henry gave them a shove too. she wasn't very fatbut she was wiry and strong. she grinned round at the boys. 'all set! now we'll get back to 9the stables. or do you want to have an ice-cream or anything before we start? dinner's not till one.'

'no. we'll get on, i think,' said julian. henry leapt into the driver's seat, took the reins and clicked towinkie. the boys were behind in the wagon. winkie set off at a spanking pace.

'nice boy!' said dick to julian, in a low voice, as they drove off. 'decent of him to meet us.'

julian nodded. he was disappointed that anne and george hadn't come with timmy, but it was goodto be met by someone! it wouldn't have been very funny to walk the long road to the farm carryingtheir packs by themselves.

they arrived at the stables and henry helped them down with their things. mrs. johnson heard themarriving and came to the door to welcome them.

'ah, there you are. come along in. i've a mid-morning snack for you, because i guessed you'd havehad breakfast early. leave the things there, henry. if the boys sleep in one of the stables, there's nosense in bringing them into the house. now, are george and anne still not back? what a pity!'

henry disappeared to put away the wagon. the boys went into the pleasant house and sat down tolemonade and home-made biscuits. they had hardly taken a bite before anne came running in.

'henry told me you'd come! oh, i'm sorry we didn't meet you! we thought you'd come by train!'

timmy came racing in, his tail waving madly. he leapt at the two boys, who were just giving anne ahug each. then in came george, her face one big beam.

'julian! dick! i am so glad you've come! it's been dull as ditch-water without you! did anyone meetyou?'

'yes. an awfully nice boy,' said dick. 'gave us quite a welcome and dragged our packs into thewagon, and was very friendly. you never told us about him.'

'oh, was that william?' said anne. 'well, he's only little. we didn't bother about telling you of thejuniors here.'

'no, he wasn't little,' said dick. 'he was quite big, very strong too. you didn't mention him at all.'

'well, we told you about the other girl here,' said george. 'henrietta, awful creature! thinks she's likea boy and goes whistling about everywhere. she makes us laugh! you'll laugh too.'

a sudden thought struck anne. 'did the - er - boy who met you, tell you his name?' she asked.

'yes, what was it now, henry,' said dick. 'nice chap. i'm going to like him.'

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george stared as if she couldn't believe her ears. 'henry! did she meet you?'

'no - not she - he,' corrected julian. 'fellow with a big grin.'

'but that's henrietta!' cried george, her face flaming red with anger. 'the awful girl i told you about,who tries to act like a boy, and whistles and strides about all over the place. don't tell me she tookyou in! she calls herself henry, instead of henrietta, and wears her hair short, and...'

'gosh, she sounds very like you, george,' said dick. 'well, i never! it never occurred to me that hewas a girl. jolly good show she put up. i must say i liked him - her, i mean.'

'oh!' said george really furious. 'the beast! she goes and meets you and never says a word to us, andmakes you think she's a boy - and - and - spoils everything!'

'hold your horses, george, old thing,' said julian, surprised. 'after all, you've often been pleasedwhen people take you for a boy, though goodness knows why. i thought you'd grown out of it a bit.

don't blame us for thinking henry was a boy, and liking him - her, i mean.'

george stamped out of the room. julian scratched his head and looked at dick. 'now we've put ourfoot in it,' he said. 'what an ass george is! i should have thought she'd have liked someone likehenry, who had exactly the same ideas as she has. well, she'll get over it, i suppose.'

'it's going to be a bit awkward,' said anne, soberly.

she was right. it was going to be very awkward!