chapter 17 long after midnight!

a rat suddenly shot out from a corner of the shed, and tore across to the open trapdoor. timmy gavea bark and leapt after it. he just stopped himself from taking a header through the trapdoor by slidingalong on all four feet and coming to a stop at the entrance.

he stood up and looked down the hole, his head cocked to one side.

'look, he's listening,' said anne. 'is there someone coming, those men, perhaps, with the smuggledgoods?'

'no, he's only listening for the rat,' said julian.

'i tell you what we'll do! we'll shut the trapdoor and pile sacks and boxes and everything on top of it!

then when the men come up, they'll find themselves trapped. they won't be able to get out.

if we can get the police in time, they'll be able to catch them easily.'

'good idea!' said dick. 'super! how mad those two men will be when they come to the trapdoor andfind it shut! they can't get out the other way because the tide's up.'

'i'd like to see mr. penruthlan's face when he sees the trapdoor shut, and feels a whole lot of thingspiled on top of it!' said julian. 'he'll make a few more of his peculiar noises!'

'ooh - ah - ock,' said dick, solemnly. 'come on, help me with the trapdoor, ju, it's heavy.'

they shut the big trapdoor and then began to drag sacks, boxes and even some kind of heavy farmmachine on top of the trapdoor. now certainly nobody could open it from underneath.

they were hot and very dirty by the time they had finished. they were also beginning to feel verytired. 'phew!' said dick. 'i'm glad that's done. now we'd better go to the farm-house and showourselves to mrs. penruthlan.'

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'oh dear, do we tell her about her husband, and how he's mixed up in this horrid business?' saidanne. 'i do so like her. i expect she's very worried about us, too.'

'yes. it's going to be a bit difficult,' said julian, soberly. 'better let me do most of the talking.

come on, we'll go. don't make too much row or we'll set the dogs barking. i'm surprised they haven'tyelled their heads off already!'

it was rather surprising. usually the farm-dogs barked the place down if there was any unusual noisein the night. the five children and timmy left the machine-shed and made their way towards thefarmhouse. george pulled at julian's arm.

'look,' she said, in a low voice. 'see those lights up in the hills? what are they?'

julian looked. he could see moving lights here and there up on the hills. he was puzzled. then hemade a guess. 'i bet mrs. penruthlan has sent out searchers for us,' he said, 'and they've got lanterns.

they're hunting for us on the hills. gosh, i hope all the barnies aren't out after us too.'

they came to the farm-yard, moving very quietly. the big barn, used by the barnies for their show,was in darkness. julian pictured it full of benches, left from that night's show. the memory of mr.

penruthlan turning out the pockets of the clothes left and hunting through the drawers in the chestused by the barnies, came into his mind.

a sharp whisper made them stop very suddenly. george put her hand on timmy's collar to stop himgrowling or barking. who was this now?

none of the little company answered or moved. the whisper came again.

'here! i'm here!'

still nobody moved. they were all puzzled. who was waiting there in the shadows, and whom washe waiting for? the whisper came again, a little louder.

'here! over here!'

and then, as if too impatient to wait any longer, the whisper moved out into the yard. julian couldn'tsee who it was in the dark, and he quickly flashed his torch on the man.

it was the guv'nor, grim-faced as ever! he flinched as the light fell on his face, took a few steps backand disappeared round a corner. timmy growled.

'well! how many more people wander about at night here?' said dick. 'that was the guv'nor.

what was he doing?'

'i give it up,' said julian. 'i'm getting too tired to think straight. i shouldn't be in the least surprised tosee clopper the horse peering round a corner at us, and saying 'peep-bo, chaps!' '

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everyone chuckled. it was just the kind of thing clopper would do if he were really alive!

they came to the farm-house. it was full of light, upstairs and downstairs. the curtains were notdrawn across the kitchen window and the children looked in as they passed. mrs. penruthlan wassitting there, her hands clasped, looking extremely worried.

they opened the kitchen door and trooped in, yan too. mrs. penruthlan leapt up at once and ran tothem. she hugged anne, she tried to hug george, she said all kinds of things at top speed, and to thechildren's dismay they saw that she was crying.

'oh, where have you been?' she said, tears pouring down her face. 'the men are out looking for you,and all the dogs, and the barnies too. they've been looking for ages! and mr. penruthlan's not home,either. i don't know where he is, he's gone too! oh, what a terrible evening. but thank goodnessyou're safe!'

julian saw that she was terribly upset. he took her arm gently and led her to a chair. 'don't worry,' hesaid. 'we're all safe. we're sorry you've been upset.'

'but where have you been?' wept mrs. penruthlan. 'i pictured you drowned, or lost on the hills, orfallen into quarries. and where is mr. penruthlan? he went out at seven and there's been not a sign ofhim since!'

the children felt uncomfortable. they thought they knew where mr. penruthlan was, gettingsmuggled goods from the motor-boat, and carrying them back with his friend, up the wreckers'

way!

'now just you tell me what you've been doing,' said mrs. penruthlan, drying her eyes, and soundingunexpectedly determined. 'upsetting everybody like this!'

'well,' said julian, 'it's a long story, but i'll try to make it short. strange things have been happening,mrs. penruthlan.'

he plunged into the whole story, the old tower, grandad's tale of the flashing light, their journey toexplore the tower, the secret passage to the wreckers' cove, their imprisonment and escape, and thenjulian stopped.

how was he to tell poor mrs. penruthlan that one of the smugglers was her husband? he glanced atthe others desperately. anne began to cry, and george felt very much like it, too. it was yan whosuddenly spoke and broke the news.

'we seen mr. penruthlan in the cove,' he said, glad of a chance to put in a word. 'we seen him!'

mrs. penruthlan stared at yan, and then at the embarrassed, anxious faces of the other children.

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'you saw him in the cove?' she said. 'you didn't! what was he doing there?'

'we think, we think he must be one of the smugglers,' said julian, awkwardly. 'we think we saw himget into a boat and row to the motor-boat beyond the rocks. if so, he - well - he may get into trouble,mrs. penru...'

he didn't finish, because, to his enormous surprise, mrs. penruthlan jumped up from her chair, andboxed his ears soundly. he hadn't even time to dodge.

'you wicked boy!' panted mrs. penruthlan, sounding suddenly out of breath. 'you bad, wicked boy,saying things like that about mr. penruthlan, who's the straightest, honestest, most god-fearing manwho ever lived! him a smuggler! him in with those wicked men! i'll box your ears till you eat yourwords and serve you right!'

julian dodged the second time, amazed at the change in the cheerful little farmer's wife. her face wasred, her eyes were blazing, and somehow she seemed to be taller. he had never seen anyone so angryin his life! yan went promptly under the table.

timmy growled. he liked mrs. penruthlan, but he felt he really couldn't allow her to set about hisfriends. she faced julian, trembling with anger.

'now you apologize!' she said. 'or i'll give you such a drubbing as you've never had in your lifebefore. and you just wait and see what mr. penruthlan will say when he comes back and hears thethings you've said about him!'

julian was much too big and strong for the farmer's wife to 'give him a drubbing' but he felt certainshe would try, if he didn't apologize! what a tiger she was!

he put his hand on her arm. 'don't get so upset,' he said. 'i'm very sorry to have made you so angry.'

mrs. penruthlan shook his hand off her arm. 'angry! i should just think i am angry!' she said. 'tothink anyone should say those things about mr. penruthlan. that wasn't him down in wreckers'

cove. i know it wasn't. i only wish i knew where he was! i'm that worried!'

'he be down wreckers' way,' announced yan from his safe vantage-point under the table. 'we puttrapdoor down over he. iss.'

'down wreckers' way!' cried mrs. penruthlan and to the children's great relief she sank down into achair again. she turned to julian, questioningly.

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he nodded. 'yes. we came up that way from the beach - yan knew it. it comes up in a corner of themachine-shed, through a trapdoor. we - er - we shut the trapdoor and piled sacks and things on it. i'mafraid, well, i'm rather afraid mr. penruthlan can't get out!'

mrs. penruthlan's eyes almost dropped out of her head. she opened and shut her mouth several times,rather like a goldfish gasping for breath. all the children felt most uncomfortable and extremely sorryfor her.

'i don't believe it,' she said at last. 'it's a bad dream. it's not real. mr. penruthlan will come walking inhere at any moment, at any moment, i tell you! he's not down in the wreckers' way.

he's not a bad man. he'll come walking in, you just see!'

there was silence after this, and in the silence a sound could be heard. the sound of big bootswalking over the farm-yard. glomp-clomp-clomp-clomp!

'i'm frit!' squealed yan, suddenly, and made everyone jump. the footsteps came round the kitchenwall, and up to the kitchen door.

'i know who that is!' said mrs. penruthlan, jumping up. 'i know who that is.'

the door opened and somebody walked in. mr. penruthlan!

his wife ran to him and flung her arms round him. 'you've come walking in! i said you would.

praise be that you've come!'

mr. penruthlan looked tired, and the children, quite dumb with amazement at seeing him, saw that hewas wet through. he looked round at them in great surprise.

'what are these children up for?' he said, and they all gaped in surprise. why, he was talkingproperly! his words were quite clear, except that he lisped over his s's.

'oh, mr. penruthlan, the tales these bad children have told about you!' cried his wife. 'they said youwere a smuggler. they said they'd seen you in wreckers' cove going out to a motor-boat to getsmuggled goods, they said you were trapped in wreckers' way, they'd put the trapdoor down, and...'

mr. penruthlan pushed his wife away from him and swung round on the astounded children.

they were most alarmed. how had he escaped from wreckers' way? surely even his great strengthcould not lift up all the things they had piled on top of the trapdoor? how fierce this giant of a manlooked, with his mane of black hair, his shaggy eyebrows drawn over his deep-set eyes, and his denseblack beard!

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'what's all this?' he demanded, and they gaped again at his speech. they were so used to his peculiarnoises that it seemed amazing he could speak properly after all.

'well, sir,' began julian, awkwardly, 'we - er - we've been exploring that tower - and - er - finding outa bit about the smugglers, and we really thought we recognized you in wreckers' cove, and wethought we'd trapped you, and your friend, by shutting the trapdoor and...'

'this is important,' said mr. penruthlan, and his voice sounded urgent. 'forget all this about thinkingi'm a smuggler. you've got things wrong. i'm working with the police. it was someone else down inthe cove, not me. i've been on the coast, it's true, watching out, and getting drenched, as you can see,all to no purpose. what do you know? what's this about the trapdoor?

did you really close it, and trap those men?'

all this was so completely astonishing that for a moment nobody could say a word. then julian leaptup.

'yes, sir! we did put the trapdoor down, and if you want to catch those fellows, send for the police,and we'll do it! we've only got to wait beside the trapdoor till the smugglers come!'

'right,' said mr. penruthlan. 'come along. hurry!'