Mike! Jack! I can hear something! said Nora suddenly. She had very sharp ears.
The others looked startled. Whatever do you mean, Nora? said Jack. I can hear things too - the birds singing, and the far-away sound of the sea!
I dont mean those, said Nora. I am sure I heard voices.
Voices! In an old empty house that hasnt been lived in for years! said Jack, laughing.
I tell you I did, said Nora. She suddenly pointed out through one of the tower windows. Just look down there! she said. You can see the front gate from here - look at it!
The others looked, and their eyes opened wide in surprise.
The front gate is open! said Mike. And it was fast locked when we climbed over it! Nora is right. She must have heard somebody.
Perhaps it is somebody come to look over the house to buy it, said Nora. Oh dear - we oughtnt to be here, Im sure. And I wish we hadnt eaten those plums now. Lets go quickly.
The others could hear the voices very clearly now too. Jack looked alarmed. I believe theyre in the tower already, he said. They must have come into the house by the front door and gone round to the tower.
They are coming up the stairway! whispered Peggy, her hand half over her mouth. Sh! Dont talk any more. Maybe they wont come right up to the top.
The voices came clearly up the stairway. One was a mans and one was a womans.
This tower is the very place. said the mans deep voice, which did not sound quite English.
Nobody would ever guess, said the womans voice, and she laughed. It was not a kind laugh. The strangers went into the room below the top one and the woman
exclaimed at the view.
Isnt it marvellous! And so lonely too. Not a house within miles except that little one down there - its called the Peep-Hole, isnt it? And the old farmhouse four miles off. Its just right for us, Felipe.
Yes, said the man. Come along - weve seen all we need.
The children breathed a sigh of relief. So the people werent coming up to their room after all.
Well, Id very much like to see the view from the topmost room of all, said the woman. Also, thats the room wed use, isnt it?
Very well. Come along, then, said the man. But hurry, please, because we havent long.
The footsteps came up and up. The children didnt know what to do, so they simply stood together and waited for the small but strong door to be opened. It swung inwards, and they saw a golden-haired woman looking at them, and a man with a very dark skin behind her.
Well! said the woman in astonishment and anger. What are you doing here?
We just came to have a look at the garden and the tower of the Old House, said Jack. We are staying at the Peep-Hole.
The man came into the room and scowled at them. Youve no right to get into empty houses. We are going to buy this house - and if we catch any of you in the house or garden again well give you a good whipping. Do you understand - because we mean it! Now clear out!
The children were frightened. They tore down the winding staircase and out into the sunlight without a word. They had seldom been spoken to like that before.
Lets go and tell Dimmy, said Nora. Do hurry!
Can They Be Smugglers?
Dimmy! cried Nora, rushing up to her. Some people are going to buy the Old House.
Dimmy looked astonished. Whatever for? she asked. Its no use except for a school or for a hotel or something like that - its so lonely for an ordinary family.
Dimmy, they are queer people, said Jack, and he told what had happened. Do you suppose they really would punish us if we go there again?
Quite likely, said Dimmy, going indoors with the peas. If they are buying the house it will be theirs. So keep away from it. Surely youve got plenty to do without going wandering over that old place!
Well, you see, its a mysterious sort of place, somehow, said Jack. It looks as if anything might happen there. I keep looking at it and wondering about it.
So do I, said Nora. I dont like the old house - but I cant help thinking about it.
Rubbish! said Miss Dimity. No doubt these people will move in and make it a holiday place, and it will be just as ordinary as Peep-Hole.
Lets go and bathe, said Mike suddenly. Dont lets think about it any more. They were horrid people, and well forget them.
They fetched their towels in silence. They had all had a shock, for never had they thought that anyone could speak to them so fiercely, or threaten them so unkindly. However, when they were splashing in the warm water they forgot the strange old house and the queer couple that were going to buy it, and shouted gaily to one another.
But they had another shock when they went in to their tea that afternoon. They saw a car outside the door, and inside it was sitting the same yellow-haired woman they had seen in the old house! She looked at them without smiling.
The children went indoors, puzzled - and they walked straight into the dark-skinned man! He was standing just inside the sitting-room door, listening to Dimmy.
Oh! Sorry! said Jack. I didnt know you had a visitor, Dimmy.