chapter 9 a very interesting tale!

anne and george looked at the quaint old man, fascinated, as he talked to them. he stood therebehind the counter of his little dark antique shop, surrounded by things even older than himself, alittle bent old man with only a few hairs on his head. he had a kindly wrinkled face with eyes sohooded with drooping lids that they seemed to look out through slits.

the two girls were thrilled to hear that old mr. finniston was actually descended from the long-agofinnistons, who lived in finniston castle.

'is that why your name's finniston?' asked anne. 'tell us about the castle. we only heard about it forthe first time today. but we don't even know exactly whereabouts it stood. i didn't see a single stonewhen we went round the farm this morning!'

'no, no, you wouldn't,' said mr. finniston. 'it was burnt right down to the ground, you see - andthrough the centuries people have taken the old stones for building walls. ah well - it was a long,long time ago!'

'how long?' asked george.

'let's see now - it was burnt down in 1192 - the twelfth century,' said mr. finniston. 'norman times,you know. ever heard of the normans? schooling isn't what it was, i know, so maybe...'

'of course we've heard of the normans!' said george, indignantly. 'every child knows them!

they conquered england, and the first norman king was william the first, 1066!'

'hmm - that's right. you've had some schooling, then,' said mr. finniston. 'well, it was a normancastle - look, like that one in this picture, see?' and he showed them a copy of an old print. theygazed at the stone castle pictured there.

'yes. it's a norman castle,' said george. 'was finniston castle just like that?'

'i've got a copy of an old drawing of it somewhere,' said the old fellow. 'i'll find it and show it to yousometime. a small castle, of course - but a very fine specimen. well, well, you won't be interested insuch details, i know. how it was burnt down, i don't know. can't find out for certain. the story goesthat it was attacked at night by the enemy, and there were traitors in the castle itself, who set fire to it- and while the castle folk were fighting the fire, the enemy walked in and slew nearly all of them.'

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'so the castle was no use for living in after that, i suppose,' said anne. 'but it's strange there isn't evena stone to be seen anywhere.'

'oh, but that's where you're wrong!' said mr. finniston, triumphantly. 'there are stones from thecastle - all over the farm. but only i and old great-grand-dad know where they are now! there's anold wall with some of the castle stones at the bottom - and there's a well - but no, i mustn't tell youthese secrets. you might tell them to the americans who come here and buy up all our old treasures!'

'we won't! we promise!' said both girls at once, and timmy thumped his tail on the floor, as if he tooagreed.

'well, maybe great-grand-dad will show you one or two of the old castle stones,' said mr.

finniston. 'but i doubt it - i doubt it! i'll tell you one thing you can see at the farm-house, though- everybody knows about it, so it's no secret. have you seen the old kitchen door, that leads out intothe yard?'

'yes. that oak door, studded with iron knobs, do you mean?' said anne at once. 'they're quitefashionable now as front doors in ordinary houses, you know. surely that farmhouse door isn't a realold one?'

mr. finniston put his head into his hands and groaned as if he were in pain.

'fashionable! fashionable! what will they do next? surely you can't mix up that fine old doorwith the trashy copies you've seen in modern houses? what's the world coming to? couldn't you feelthat that door was real - was as old as the centuries - and once hung on great hinges in a castle? don'tyou know when things are grand with the weight of years?'

'well,' said anne, rather out of her depth, 'i did notice the door - but, you see, it's very dark just there,and we really can't see it very clearly.'

'ah well - most people go about with their eyes shut half the time!' said mr. finniston. 'you have alook at that door - feel it - look at the great knocker on it. think of the old norman folk whohammered on the door with it, all those ages ago!'

george sighed. this kind of thing didn't interest her as much as it interested anne. a thoughtsuddenly struck her.

'but mr. finniston - if the castle was built of stone - how was it burnt to the ground?' she said.

'what happened?'

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'i can't find out,' said mr. finniston sadly. 'i've been into every old library in the county, and lookedup every old book of that period - and i've delved into the old records in finniston church. as far as ican make out, the castle was stormed by enemies - and, as i said, a traitor inside set fire to it at thesame time. the floors fell in, and the castle was left blazing from top to bottom. the great walls fellinwards and covered the base - and the finniston family fled. lord finniston was killed - but hislady took the children and hid them - it's said she hid them in the old chapel, near the barns of thefarm. maybe she took them down a secret underground passage, leading from the dungeons to the oldchapel itself.'

'an old chapel - is it still there?' asked anne. 'or was it burnt too?'

'no - it wasn't burnt. it's still standing,' said mr. finniston. 'old great-grand-dad will show you.'

he shook his head sorrowfully. 'it's a store-house for grain now. sad, sad. but, mind you - it's stillfull of prayer!'

the girls stared at him, wondering what he meant. they began to think he must be a little mad.

he stood with his head bent, saying nothing for a while. then he looked up.

'well, that's the story, my dears - and it's not only a story, it's history! it happened over seven hundredyears ago. and i'll tell you something else...'

'what?' asked the two girls.

'that castle had cellars - and dungeons!' said the old man. 'the fire only burnt down to the groundfloor, which was made of earth flattened down, not wood, so it wouldn't burn. the cellars anddungeons can't have been destroyed - are they still there, undamaged? that's what's been in my mindall these long years. what was down in those cellars - and is it still there?'

he spoke in such a hollow voice that the girls felt quite scared. george recovered herself first.

'but why were the dungeons never uncovered?' she asked. 'i mean, surely someone must havethought of them and wondered about them?'

'well, when the castle fell, and the walls collapsed, any underground entrances must have beencompletely covered with enormously heavy stones,' said mr. finniston, peering at them earnestly.

'the peasants and farm-hands living around couldn't possibly move them, and maybe they were tooscared to, anyhow. they probably lay there for years, till the wind and weather broke them up. thenthey were taken to build walls and line wells. but by that time everyone had forgotten aboutdungeons. might have been centuries later, you see.'

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he stood and brooded for a while, and the girls waited politely for him to go on. 'yes - everyoneforgot ... and everyone still forgets,' he said. 'sometimes i wake up in the night and wonder what'sunderground there. bones of prisoners? chests of money? things stored away by the lady of thecastle? i wake up and wonder!'

anne felt uncomfortable. poor old man! he lived absolutely in the past! his mind had weaved forhim a living fantasy, a story that had no certain foundation, no real truth. she was sorry for him. shewished she could go and see the place where the old castle had once stood! it would be overgrownwith grass and weeds, nettles would wave there, and poppies dance in the summer.

there would probably be nothing at all to show where once a proud castle had stood, its towers highagainst the sky, flags flying along the battlements. she could almost hear the cries of the enemy,galloping up on horseback, and the fearful clash of swords! she shook herself and stood up straight.

'i'm as bad as this old man!' she thought. 'imagining things! but what a tale! the others will love tohear it. i wonder if the american knows it.'

'does that american, mr. henning, know the old story?' she asked, and the old man straightened upat once.

'not the whole of it - only what he has heard in the village!' he said. 'he comes here and pesters me.

he'd like to bring in men and dig up the whole thing! i know him! he'd buy up all the farm, just forthe sake of getting that castle site - if he really knew there was something worth having, deep underthe ground where it once stood. you won't tell him what i've told you, will you? i've talked too much.

i always do when someone's upset me. ah - to think my ancestors once lived in finniston castle -and here i am now - a poor old man in a little antique shop that nobody comes to!'

'well, we've come to it,' said anne. 'i did want to buy some horse-brasses, but i'll come another time.

you're upset now. you go and have a rest!'

they went out of the little shop, almost on tiptoe! 'my word!' said george, thrilled. 'i just can't wait totell the boys! what a story - and it really sounded true, anne, didn't it? i vote we find out where thatold castle really stood, and then go and have a look round. who knows what we might find! comealong - let's get back to the farm as quickly as we can!'