chapter 10 quite a bit of shouting

anne and george, with timmy running in front, went back to the farm to find the boys, but theycouldn't see them anywhere and gave it up. then they went indoors and found mrs. philpot shellingpeas. they took over the job at once.

'the boys are still helping to mend the hen-house,' said mrs. philpot. 'the harries are pleased to havetwo more pairs of hands to help them! something always seems to need repairing! if only we couldget a few things we need so badly - a new tractor, for instance. but they cost so much!

the barns want mending too, and the hen-houses are almost falling down!'

'i hope the harvest will be good for you,' said anne. 'that will help, won't it?'

'oh yes - we'll keep our fingers crossed for fine weather from now on!' said mrs. philpot. 'thankgoodness the cows are such good milkers! what we should do without our milk-money, i really don'tknow! but there - why should i bother you with my troubles when you're here for a nice holiday!'

'you don't bother us - and we think it's awfully nice of you to let us help,' said anne. 'we shouldn'tlike it if you didn't!'

the girls had no chance of telling the boys what old mr. finniston had told them, until the afternooncame. they were up at the hen-houses with the two harries and snippet, happily hammering andsawing. snippet was delighted to have so many people whistling cheerily round him, and busily tookbits of wood from one boy to another, under the mistaken impression that he was a great help!

nosey the jackdaw was there too, but he wasn't nearly so popular as snippet! he pounced on anybright nail or screw he saw, and flew off with it, heedless of the exasperated shouts that followed him.

'blow that jackdaw!' said julian, looking up crossly. 'he's just taken the very nail i wanted!

nosey by name and nosey by nature!'

the twins laughed. they seemed entirely different children now that they were friendly -amusing, helpful and most responsible. julian and dick admired them - no work was too hard, nohours were too long if they could help their mother or father.

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'we hated you coming here because we knew it would give mother so much more work,' said harry.

'we thought if we were beastly to you, you'd go. but you don't make more work! you help an awfullot. it's fun to have you here.'

'i hope the girls are back,' said dick. 'i know your mother wants help with the peas - such a lot ofpeople to shell for - let me see - counting in your great-grand-dad, there will be about a dozenpeople in to dinner. whew! i certainly do hope the girls are in. ah - here comes that nosey jackdawagain. look out, dick, he's after those screws. snippet, chase him!'

away went the tiny poodle after the cheeky jackdaw, barking in his high little voice, thoroughlyenjoying having so many children round him. nosey flew up on to the top of the hen-house, andflapped his wings, chacking rude things in a very loud voice indeed.

dinner was rather a crowded meal, for everyone was there. great-grand-dad frowned when he sawmr. henning come in with junior. junior strutted to his place at table, giving george his best scowl.

however, she was just as good at scowling as junior, and mr. henning, who happened to catch sightof her giant-size scowl, had quite a shock.

'now, now, my boy,' he said to her. 'why pull such an ugly face?'

nobody told him that george was a girl. mrs. philpot was really very much amused. she likedgeorge, and couldn't help thinking she would have made a very good boy indeed!

'er - mrs. philpot - would it be all right if i bring a friend to lunch here tomorrow?' asked mr.

henning. 'he's called durleston – mr. durleston - and he's a great authority on antiques. he's goingto give me some advice. you'll remember that you told me you had a quaint old hole in the wall inone of the bedrooms - where in the old days people used to heat embers for warming-pans, and bricksto put in between the bed-sheets. i thought i...'

'you thought you could buy 'em, i suppose!' suddenly shouted old great-grand-dad from his place atthe head of the table. he thumped on the cloth with the handle of his knife. 'well, you ask mypermission first, see? this place is still mine. i'm an old man, i'm nearly ninety, but i've still got allmy wits about me. i don't like this selling of things that have been in our family for donkeys' years!

that i don't! and...'

'now, now, grand-dad, don't excite yourself,' said mrs. philpot, in her gentle voice. 'surely it's betterto sell old things that we shall never use, in order to buy a new set of tools, or wood to mend thebarns?'

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'why can't we sell 'em to our own folks, then?' shouted great-grand-dad, banging with his fork aswell. 'taking them out of the country! part of our history, they are! selling our birthright, that's whatwe're doing - for a mess of pottage! that's out of the bible, let me tell you, mr.

henning, in case you don't know.'

'shure i know,' said mr. henning, getting up and shouting back at great-grand-dad. 'i'm not asignorant as you seem to think. you ought to be glad that a poor, run-down, back-dated country likebritain has got anything to sell to a fine upstanding one like america! you...'

'that's enough, mr. henning,' said mrs. philpot, with such dignity that mr. henning blushed red, andsat down in a great hurry. 'sorry, mam,' he said. 'but that old man, he gets under my skin.

sure he does! what's gotten into him? all i want is to buy things you want to sell. you want newtractors - i want old junk and i'm willing to pay for it. that's all there is to it - buying and selling!'

'old junk!' shouted great-grand-dad again, banging with his glass now. 'do you call that great oldcart-wheel you bought old junk? why, that's more than two hundred years old! my great-grand-dad made it - he told me so, when i was a mite of a boy. you won't find another wheel like it inengland. hoo - that wheel was made before the first american was born! i tell you...'

'now, now, grand-dad, you know you'll feel ill if you go on like this,' said mrs. philpot, and she gotup and went to the old man, who was shaking with fury. 'you belong to old times, and you don't likethe new times, and i don't blame you. but things change, you know. calm yourself, and come withme and have a lie-down.'

surprisingly, the old fellow allowed mrs. philpot to lead him out of the room. the seven children hadall sat silent while the shouting had been going on. mr. philpot, looking worried, broke his habitualsilence and addressed a few words to the equally worried-looking mr. henning.

'storm in a tea-cup,' he said. 'soon blow over.'

'hmmmm,' said mr. henning. 'spoilt my dinner! selfish, ignorant, rude old man.'

'he's not,' said one of the twins, in a voice trembling with anger. 'he's...'

'enough, harry!' said his father, in such a stern voice, that harry subsided at once, but began to grindhis teeth, to show that he was still angry, making a most remarkable noise at the now silent table.

junior had sat as still as a mouse all the time, scared of the angry old man. timmy had 44given a few small growls, and snippet had shot straight out of the kitchen as soon as great-grand-dad had begun to shout!

mrs. philpot came back, and sat down, looking sad and tired. julian began to talk to her about janieand the macaroons, and soon succeeded in making her smile. she even laughed out loud whengeorge told her that they had six macaroons to give bill for taking them out in the land-rover.

'i know those macaroons,' announced junior. 'i buy about thirty a week. they're just wunnerful!'

'thirty! no wonder you're so pasty-faced, then,' said george, before she could stop herself.

'aw shucks! pasty-face yourself!' retorted junior, feeling safe with his father near him.

he heard a sudden ominous growl under the table, felt hot breath on his bare leg, and decided to sayno more. he had forgotten all about the watchful timmy!

julian thought it was about time to have some bright conversation, and began to tell mrs. philpotabout the hen-houses and what a good job they were making of patching them to make them rain-proof. mr. philpot listened too, nodded, and actually joined in.

'yes - you're good with your hands, you boys. i had a look when i came by. fine work!'

'harriet's good, too,' said harry at once. 'she did that corner where the rats get in. didn't you, harry?'

'i wanted to help, pop, but they shooed me off, like i was a hen!' said junior in an aggrieved tone.

'seems as if they don't want me around. that makes it pretty lonely, pop. can't i come out with youthis afternoon?'

'no,' said pop, shortly.

'aw, c'mon, pop,' said junior, in a whiny voice. 'aw shucks, pop, lemme come!'

'no!' said pop, exasperated. timmy gave a growl again. he didn't like cross voices. he couldn'timagine why there was so much quarrelling here, and sat up, tense and still, until george gave him agentle push with her toe. then he lay down again, his head across her feet.

everyone was glad when the meal was over, delicious though the food had been. the girls andharriet insisted that mrs. philpot should go and have a rest while they did all the clearing-away andwashing-up. 'now try not to be unkind to junior this afternoon,' she said, as she went. 'he'll be allalone when his father's gone. do let him be with you.'

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nobody answered. they hadn't the least intention of allowing junior to be with them. 'spoilt, bad-mannered little idiot!' thought george, clearing away with such vigour that she almost knocked anneover.

'julian,' she said in a low voice, catching him at the door as he went out, 'anne and i have somethinginteresting to tell you. where will you be this afternoon?'

'up in the hen-houses, i expect,' said julian. 'we'll watch out for you and anne. see you in about halfan hour.'

junior had sharp ears. he heard exactly what george had said, and he was full of curiosity at once.

what was this interesting thing george wanted to tell the boys? was it a secret? all right -he'd be on hand somewhere to hear it!

and so, when the girls had finished their work, and set off to the hen- houses, junior followeddiscreetly behind! he kept well out of sight until he saw george and anne disappear into a hen-house, where the others were working - and then he crept to a corner outside and put his ear to aknot-hole in the wood. i'll get my own back now! he thought. i'll make them smart for leaving me outof things! just see if i don't!