The Secret of Spiggy Holes
Off for the Holidays
Now were really off! said Mike. My word - think of it - two months in a little house by the sea! Bathing, paddling, fishing, boating - what fun we shall have!
All the same, I wish Mummy and Daddy were coming with us, said Nora, Mikes twin sister. I shall miss them - especially after being away at school all term, and only seeing them once.
Well, they couldnt take the whole lot of us with them on their lecture tour! said Peggy sensibly. They will join us at Spiggy Holes as soon as they can.
Spiggy Holes! Doesnt that sound an exciting name for a holiday place? said Jack. Spiggy Holes - I wonder why its called that. I suppose there are holes or caves or something.
The four children had come home from school the day before. Nora and Peggy had arrived back from their girls school, and Mike and Jack from their boys school. They had spent the night at home with their father and mother, and now they were off, all alone, to Spiggy Holes.
Jack was the most excited of the four, for he had never been to the sea before! He was not really the brother of Mike, Nora, and Peggy, and had no father and mother of his own.
But the childrens parents had taken him for their own child, because he had helped Mike, Peggy, and Nora so much when they had run away from an unkind aunt and uncle. Captain Arnold, the childrens father, had left them at a farm with his sister, whilst he and his wife had tried to fly to Australia in an aeroplane.
Captain and Mrs. Arnold had been lost for months on a desert island, and when it seemed as if they would never come back, the childrens aunt treated them unkindly. They had made friends with Jack, who had helped them to run away to a secret island in a lake, and there the children had lived together until they had heard that their parents had been found and had come back to England to look for them.
As Jack had no people of his own, and was very fond of Mike, Nora and Peggy, Captain and Mrs. Arnold had said that he should live with them just as if he were another of their children - and Jack had been very happy.
He had gone to boarding school with Mike, and now here they all were together again for the summer holidays. At first they had been sad to hear that Captain and Mrs. Arnold were to go to Ireland to lecture there all about their flying adventures - but now that they were on their way to Cornwall together, to live in a house on the cliffs, and do just what they liked, the children couldnt help feeling excited and happy.
Whos going to look after us at Spiggy Holes? asked Jack.
Somebody called Miss Dimity, said Nora. I dont know anything about her except that Mummy says she is nice.
Miss Dimity! said Peggy. She sounds sort of timid and mouse-like. I shall call her Dimmy.
The others laughed. You wait till you see what shes like! said Mike. She might be tall and strict and have a loud voice.
The train roared on and on. Jack looked at a map on the wall. I say! he said. It looks as if Spiggy Holes isnt so very far from our secret island! I wonder if we could go over and see it. Dear little secret island - I expect its looking grand now.
Its a good distance, said Mike, looking at the map. About forty miles, I should think. Well, well see. Id just love to see our secret island again.
Lets have our dinner now. said Peggy, undoing the luncheon basket. Look what Mummys given us!
There were chicken sandwiches, tomato sandwiches, biscuits of all kinds, lemonade to drink, and apples and bananas.
Jolly good, said Mike, taking his share of the lunch. Mummys a brick. She always knows what we like!
How long is it before we get to Spiggy Holes? asked Nora, eating her chicken sandwiches hungrily.
We get to the nearest station at half-past four this afternoon, said Mike. But thats six miles from Spiggy Holes. Theres to be a car or something to meet us.
The time passed rather slowly. They had their books to read, and they played games of counting the signal-boxes and tunnels - but long before half-past four came
they all felt tired, dirty, and hot.
Im going to sleep, said Nora, and she put her feet up on the seat.
Sleep! said Mike scornfully. I couldnt possibly go to sleep now.
All the same, he was fast asleep in a few minutes! So were they all, whilst the train thundered along through the sunny countryside, rushing under bridges, past stations and through tunnels at a tremendous speed.
The children only awoke as the train was slowing down in a station. Mike leapt up and looked out of the window.
I say! Our station is the next one! he yelled to the others. Wake up, you sleepy-heads, wake up! Get your things down from the rack, and make yourselves a bit tidy. You look dreadful.
So they all cleaned themselves up, and got down their things. They were just ready when the train slowed up again and it was time to get out.
They jumped out, one after the other. Mike called to a porter, Weve two trunks in the van. Will you get them out, please?