But it wasn't there! Strange! He felt about and touched Sooty's face. Who was this beside him? He began to feel extremely puzzled. He felt ill, too. What could have happened?
'Are you awake?' said Sooty's voice. 'Oh, Uncle Quentin, I'm so glad you're awake. I hope you don't mind me calling you that, but I don't know your surname. I only know you are George's father and Julian's uncle.'
'Well - who are you?' said Uncle Quentin, in wonder.
Sooty began to tell him everything. Uncle Quentin listened in the utmost amazement. 'But why have we been kidnapped like this?' he said, astonished and angry. 'I never heard of such a thing in my life!'
'I don't know why Mr Barling has kidnapped you - but I know he took me because I happened to see what he was doing,' said Sooty. 'Anyway, he's coming back this morning, with Block, and he said he would have a heart-to-heart talk with you. We'll have to wait here, I'm afraid. We can't possibly find our way to safety in the darkness, through this maze of tunnels.'
So they waited - and in due course Mr Barling did come, bringing Block with him. Block carried some food, which was very welcome to the prisoners.
'You beast, Block!' said Sooty, at once, as he saw the servant in the light of the lantern. 'How dare you help in this? You wait till my stepfather hears about it! Unless he's in it too!'
'Hold your tongue!' said Block.
Sooty stared at him. 'So you can hear!' he said. 'All this time you've been pretending you can't! What a sly fellow you are! What a lot of secrets you must have learnt, pretending to be deaf, and overhearing all kinds of things not meant for you. You're sly, Block, and you're worse things than that!'
'Whip him, Block, if you like,' said Mr Barling, sitting down on the box. 'I've no time for rude boys myself.'
'I will,' said Block, grimly, and he undid a length of rope from round his waist. I've often wanted to, cheeky little worm!'
Sooty felt alarmed. He leapt off the bench and put up his fists.
'Let me talk to our prisoner first,' said Mr Barling. 'Then you can give Pierre the hiding he deserves. It will be nice for him to wait for it.'
Uncle Quentin was listening quietly to all this. He looked at Mr Barling, and spoke sternly.
'You owe me an explanation for your strange behaviour. I demand to be taken to Smuggler's Top. You shall answer to the police for this!'
'Oh no, I shan't,' said Mr Barling, in a curiously soft voice. 'I have a very generous proposal to make to you. I know why you have come to Smuggler's Top. I know why you and Mr Lenoir are so interested in each other's experiments.'
'How do you know?' said Uncle Quentin. 'Spying, I suppose!
'Yes - I bet Block's been spying and reading letters!' cried Sooty, indignantly.
Mr Barling took no notice of the interruption. 'Now, my dear sir,' he said to Uncle Quentin, 'I will tell you very shortly what I propose. I know you have heard that I am a smuggler. I am. I make a lot of money from it. It is easy to run a smuggling trade here, because no one can patrol the marshes, or stop men using the secret path that only I and a few others know. On favourable nights I send out a signal - or rather Block here does so, for me, using the convenient tower of Smuggler's Top...'
'Oh! So it was Block!' cried Sooty.
'Then the goods arrive,' said Mr Barling 'and again at a favourable moment I - er - dispose of them. I cover my tracks very carefully, so that no one can possibly accuse me because they never have any real proof.'
'Why are you telling me all this?' said Uncle Quentin scornfully. 'It's of no interest to me. I'm only interested in a plan for draining the marshes, not in smuggling goods across them!'
'Exactly, my dear fellow!' said Mr Barling, amiably. 'I know that. I have even seen your plans and read about your experiments and Mr Lenoir's. But the draining of the marsh means the end of my own business! Once the marsh is drained, once houses are built there, and roads made, once the mists have gone, my business goes too! A harbour may be built out there, at the edge of the marsh - my ships can no longer creep in unseen, bringing valuable cargoes! Not only will my money go, but all the excitement, which is more than life to me, will go too!'
'You're mad!' said Uncle Quentin, in disgust.
Mr Barling was a little mad. He had always felt a great satisfaction in being a successful smuggler in days when smuggling was almost at an end. He loved the thrill of knowing that his little ships were creeping in the mist towards the treacherous marshes. He liked to know that men were making their way over a small and narrow path over the misty marsh to the appointed meeting-place, bringing smuggled goods.
'You should have lived a hundred years or more ago!' said Sooty, also feeling that Mr Barling was a little mad. 'You don't belong to nowadays.'
Mr Barling turned on Sooty, his eyes gleaming dangerously in the light of the lantern.
'Another word from you and I'll drop you in the marshes!' he said. Sooty felt a shiver go down his back. He suddenly knew that Mr Barling really did mean what he said. He was a dangerous man. Uncle Quentin sensed it too. He looked at Mr Barling warily.
'How do I come into this?' he asked. 'Why have you kidnapped me?'
'I know that Mr Lenoir is going to buy your plans from you,' said Mr Barling. 'I know he is going to drain the marsh by using your very excellent ideas. You see, I know all about them! I know, too, that Mr Lenoir hopes to make a lot of money by selling the land once it is drained. It is all his, that misty marsh - and no use to anyone now, except to me! But that marsh is not going to be drained - I am going to buy your plans, not Mr Lenoir!'
'Do you want to drain the marsh, then?' said Uncle Quentin, in surprise.
Mr Barling laughed scornfully. 'No! Your plans, and the results of your experiments, will be burnt! They will be mine, but I shall not want to use them. I want the marsh left as it is, secret, covered with mist, and treacherous to all but me and my men. So, my dear sir, you will please name your price to me, instead of to Mr Lenoir, and sign this document, which I have had prepared, making over all your plans to me!'
He flourished a large piece of paper in front of Uncle Quentin. Sooty watched breathlessly.
Uncle Quentin picked up the paper. He tore it into small pieces. He threw them into Mr Barling's face and said, scornfully: 'I don't deal with madmen, nor with rogues, Mr Barling!'
Chapter Twenty
TIMMY TO THE RESCUE
MR BARLING went very pale. Sooty gave a loud crow of delight. 'Hurrah! Good for you, Uncle Quentin!'
Block gave a loud exclamation, and darted to the excited boy. He took him by the shoulder, and raised the rope to thrash him.
'That's right,' said Mr Barling, in a funny kind of hissing voice. 'Deal with him first, Block, and then with this - this - stubborn - obstinate - fool! We'll soon bring them to their senses. A good thrashing now and again, a few days here in the dark, without any food - ah, that will make them more biddable!'
Sooty yelled at the top of his voice. Uncle Quentin leapt to his feet. The rope came down and Sooty yelled again.
Then there suddenly came the pattering of quick feet, and something flung itself on Block. Block gave a scream of pain and turned. He knocked the lantern over by accident, and the light went out.
There was a sound of fierce growling. Block staggered about trying to keep off the creature that had fastened itself on to him.
'Barling! Help me!' he shouted.
Mr Barling went to his aid, but was attacked in his turn. Uncle Quentin and Sooty listened in amazement and fear. What creature was this that had suddenly arrived? Would it attack them next? Was it a giant-rat - or some fierce wild animal that haunted these tunnels?
The fierce animal suddenly barked. Sooty gave a squeal of joy.
'TIMMY! It's you, Timmy! Oh, good dog, good dog! Go for him, then, go for him! Bite him, Timmy, bite hard.'
The two frightened men could do nothing against the angry dog. Soon they were running down the tunnel as fast as they could go, feeling for the string for fear of being lost. Timmy chase
d them with much enjoyment, and then returned to Sooty and George's father, rather pleased with himself.
He had a tremendous welcome. George's father made a great fuss of him, and Sooty put his arms round the big dog's neck.
'How did you come here? Did you find your way out of the secret passage you've been in? Are you half-starved? Look, here's some food.'
Timmy ate heartily. He had managed to devour a few rats, but otherwise had had no food at all. He had licked the drops that here and there he had found dripping from the roof, so he had not been thirsty. But he had certainly been extremely puzzled and worried. He had never before been so long away from his beloved mistress!
'Uncle Quentin - Timmy could take us safely back to Smuggler's Top, couldn't he?' said Sooty, suddenly. He spoke to Timmy. 'Can you take us home, old boy? Home, to George?'
Timmy listened, with his ears cocked up. He ran down the passage a little way, but soon came back. He did not like the idea of going down there. He felt that enemies were waiting for them all.
Mr Barling and Block were not likely to give in quite so easily!
But Timmy knew other ways about the tunnels that honeycombed the hillside. He knew, for instance, the way down to the marsh! So he set off in the darkness, with Uncle Quentin's hand on his collar, and Sooty following close behind, holding on to Uncle Quentin's coat.
It wasn't easy or pleasant. Uncle Quentin wondered at times if Timmy really did know where he was going. They went down and down, stumbling over uneven places, sometimes knocking their heads against an unexpectedly low piece of roof. It was not a pleasant journey for Uncle Quentin, for he had no shoes on his feet, and was dressed only in pyjamas and rugs.
After a long time they came out on the edge of the marsh itself, at the bottom of the hill! It was a desolate place, and the mists were over it, so that neither Sooty nor Uncle Quentin knew which way to turn!
'Never mind,' said Sooty, 'we can easily leave it to Timmy. He knows the way all right. He'll take us back to the town, and once there we'll know the way home ourselves!'
But suddenly, to their surprise and dismay, Timmy stopped dead, pricked up his ears, whined and would go no farther. He looked thoroughly miserable and unhappy. What could be the matter?
Then, with a bark, the big dog left the two by themselves, and galloped back into the tunnel they had just left. He disappeared completely!
'Timmy!' yelled Sooty. 'Timmy! Come here! Don't leave us! TIMMY!'
But Timmy was gone; why, neither Sooty nor Uncle Quentin knew. They stared at one another.
'Well - I suppose we'd better try to make our way over this marshy bit,' said Uncle Quentin, doubtfully, putting a foot out to see if the ground was hard. It wasn't! He drew back his foot at once.
The mists were so thick that it was really impossible to see anything. Behind them was the opening to the tunnel. A steep rocky cliff rose up above it. There was no path that way, it was certain. Somehow they had to make their way round the foot of the hill to the main-road that entered the town - but the way lay over marshy ground!
'Let's sit down and wait for a bit to see if Timmy comes back,' said Sooty. So they sat down on a rock at the entrance to the tunnel and waited.
Sooty began to think of the others. He wondered what they had thought when they had discovered that both he and Uncle Quentin were missing. How astonished they must have been!
'I wonder what the others are doing?' he said, aloud. 'I'd love to know!'
The others, as we know, had been doing plenty. They had found the opening in the window-seat where Mr Barling had taken the captives, and they had gone down it and actually seen Mr Barling and Block on their way to talk to Uncle Quentin and Sooty!
They had found out, too, that Block hadn't been in his bed - he had left a dummy there instead. Now everyone was talking at once, and Mr Lenoir was suddenly convinced that Block had been a spy, put in his house by Mr Barling, and not the good servant he had appeared!
Once Julian felt that he was convinced of this he spoke to him more freely, and told him of the way through the window-seat, and of how they had seen Mr Barling and Block that very day, in the underground tunnels!
'Good heavens!' said Mr Lenoir, now looking thoroughly alarmed. 'Barling must be mad! I've always thought he was a bit queer - but he must be absolutely mad to kidnap people like this - and Block must be, too. This is a plot! They've heard what I've been planning with your uncle - and they've made up their minds to stop it because it will interfere with their smuggling. Goodness knows what they'll do now! This is serious!'
'If only we had Timmy!' suddenly said George.
Mr Lenoir looked astonished.
'Who's Timmy?'
'Well, you might as well know everything now,' said Julian, and he told Mr Lenoir about Timmy, and how they had hidden him.
'Very foolish of you,' said Mr Lenoir, shortly, looking displeased. 'If you'd told me I would have had someone in the town look after him. I can't help not liking dogs. I detest them, and never will have them in the house. But I would willingly have arranged for him to be boarded out, if I'd known you'd brought him.'
The children felt sorry and a little ashamed. Mr Lenoir was a queer, hot-tempered person, but he didn't seem nearly as horrid as they had thought he was.
'I'd like to go and see if I can find Timmy,' said George. 'You'll get the police in now, I suppose, Mr Lenoir, and perhaps we could go and find Timmy? We know the way into the secret passage from your study.'
'Oh - so that's why you were hiding there in the afternoon yesterday,' said Mr Lenoir. 'I thought you were a very bad boy. Well, go and try and find him if you like, but don't let him come anywhere near me. I really cannot bear dogs in the house.'
He went to telephone the police-station again. Mrs Lenoir, her eyes red with crying, stood by him. George slipped away to the study, followed by Dick and Julian and Anne. Marybelle stayed beside her mother.
'Come on - let's get into that secret passage and try to find old Timmy,' said George. 'If we all go, and whistle and shout and call, he's sure to hear us!'
They found the way into the passage, by doing the things they had done before. The panel slid back, and then another, larger opening came as before. They all squeezed through it, and found themselves in the very narrow passage that led from the study up to Sooty's bedroom.
But Timmy was not there! The children were surprised, but George soon thought why.
'Do you remember Sooty telling us there was a way into this passage from the dining-room, as well as from the study and Sooty's bedroom? Well, I believe I saw a door or something there, as we passed where the dining-room must be, and it's likely Timmy may have pushed through it, and gone into another passage somewhere.'
They went back, one by one. They came to the dining-room - or rather, they walked behind the dining-room wall. There they saw the door that George had noticed as they passed - a door, small and set quite flat to the wall, so that it was difficult to see. George pushed it. It opened easily, and then flapped shut, with a little click. It could be opened from one side but not from the other.
'That's where Timmy's gone!' said George, and she pushed the door open again. 'He pushed against the door and it opened - he went through, and the door fastened itself so that he couldn't get back. Come on, we must find him.'
They all went through the small door. It was so low that they had to bend their heads to go through, even Anne. They found themselves in a passage rather like the one they had just left, but not quite so narrow. It suddenly began to go downwards. Julian called back to the others.
'I believe it goes down to the passages where we used to take Timmy when we let him down into that pit to go for a walk! Yes, look - we've come to where the pit itself is!'
They went on, calling Timmy, and whistling loudly, but no Timmy came. George began to feel worried.
'Hallo! - surely this is where we came out when we climbed down all those steps from the window-seat passage!' said Dick, suddenly. 'Yes, it is. Look, t
here's the tunnel where we saw Block and Mr Barling going!'
'Oh - do you think they've done something to Timmy?' said George, in a frightened voice. 'I never thought of that!'
Everyone felt alarmed. It was strange that Block and Mr Barling could go about unmolested by Timmy if Timmy was somewhere near! Could they have harmed him in any way? They had no idea that Timmy was at that very minute with George's father and Sooty!
'Look at this!' said Julian, suddenly, and he shone his torch on to something to show the others. 'String! String going right down this tunnel. Why?'
'It's the tunnel that Mr Barling and Block took!' said George. 'I believe it leads to where they've taken my father and Sooty! They're keeping them prisoners down here! I'm going to follow the string and find them! Who's coming with me?'
Chapter Twenty-one
A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HILL
'I'm coming!' said everyone at once. As if they would let George go alone!
So down the dark tunnel they went, feeling the string and following it. Julian ran it through his fingers, and the others followed behind, holding hands. It would not do for anyone to get lost.
After about ten minutes they came to the rounded cave where Sooty and George's father had been the night before. They were not there now, of course - they were on their way down to the marsh!
'Hallo, look! This is where they must have been!' cried Julian, shining his torch round. 'A bench - with tumbled rugs - and an over-turned lamp. And look here, scraps of paper torn into bits! Something's been happening here!'
Quick-witted George pieced it together in her mind. 'Mr Barling took them here and left them. Then he came back with some sort of proposal to Father, who refused it! There must have been a struggle of some sort and the lamp got broken. Oh - I do hope Father and Sooty got away all right.'
Julian felt gloomy. 'I hope to goodness they haven't gone wandering about these awful tunnels. Even Sooty doesn't know a quarter of them. I wish I knew what's happened.'