The others raised their voices scornfully.

'JULIAN! We're not cowards. We'll jolly well stay here!'

'What, leave now - why should we? We're in n.o.body's way, whatever those men say!'

'I'm not moving my caravan, whatever anyone says!' That was George, of course.

'No, don't you go,' said n.o.bby. 'Don't you take no notice of Lou and my uncle. They can't do nothing to you at all. They're just trying to make trouble for you. You stay and let me show you over the camp, see?'

'It isn't that I want to give in to those fellows' ideas,' said Julian. 'It's just that - well, I'm in charge of us all - and I don't like the look of Lou and Tiger Dan - and, well ...'

'Oh, have another egg and forget about it,' said d.i.c.k. 'We're going to stay here in this hollow, however much Dan and Lou want us out of it. And, what's more, I'd like to find out why they're so keen to push us off. It seems jolly queer to me.'

The sun went down in a blaze of orange and red, and the lake shimmered with its fiery reflection. n.o.bby got up regretfully, and Barker and Growler, who had been hobn.o.bbing with Timmy, got up, too.

'I'll have to go,' said n.o.bby. 'Still got some jobs to do down there. What about you coming down tomorrow to see the animals? You'll like Old Lady, the elephant. She's a pet. And Pongo will be pleased to see you again.'

'Your uncle may have changed his mind again by tomorrow, and not want us near the camp,' said d.i.c.k.

'Well - I'll signal to you,' said n.o.bby. 'I'll go out in the boat, see? And wave a hanky. Then you'll know it's all right. Well - so long! I'll be seeing you.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FUN AT THE CIRCUS CAMP

Next morning, while Anne cleared up the breakfast things with George, and d.i.c.k went off to the farm to buy whatever the farmer's wife had ready for him, Julian took the field-gla.s.ses and sat on the ledge to watch for n.o.bby to go out on the lake in his boat.

d.i.c.k sauntered along, whistling. The farmer's wife was delighted to see him, and showed him two big baskets full of delicious food.

'Slices of ham I've cured myself,' she said, lifting up the white cloth that covered one of the baskets. 'And a pot of brawn I've made. Keep it in a cool place. And some fresh lettuces and radishes I pulled myself this morning early. And some more tomatoes.'

'How gorgeous!' said d.i.c.k, eyeing the food in delight. 'Just the kind of things we love! Thanks awfully, Mrs Mackie. What's in the other basket?'

'Eggs, b.u.t.ter, milk, and a tin of shortbread I've baked,' said Mrs Mackie. 'You should do all right till tomorrow, the four of you! And in that paper there is a bone for the dog.'

'How much do I owe you?' asked d.i.c.k. He paid his bill and took up the baskets. Mrs Mackie slipped a bag into his pocket.

'Just a few home-made sweets,' she said. That was her little present. d.i.c.k grinned at her.

'Well, I won't offer to pay you for them because I'm afraid of that rolling-pin of yours,' he said. 'But thank you very, very much.'

He went off delighted. He thought of Anne's pleasure when she came to unpack the baskets. How she would love to put the things in the little larder - and pop the b.u.t.ter in a dish set in a bowl of cold water - and set the eggs in the little rack!

When he got back Julian called to him: 'Hobby's out in his boat. Come and look. He's waving something that can't possibly be a hanky. It must be the sheet off his bed!'

'n.o.bby doesn't sleep in sheets,' said Anne. 'He didn't know what they were when he saw them in our bunks. Perhaps it's a table-cloth.'

'Anyway, it's something big, to tell us that it's absolutely all right to come down to the camp,' said Julian. 'Are we ready?'

'Not quite,' said Anne, unpacking the baskets d.i.c.k had brought. 'I must put away these things - and do you want to take a picnic lunch with you? Because if so I must prepare it. Oh - look at all these gorgeous things!'

They all came back to look. 'Mrs Mackie is a darling,' said Anne. 'Honestly, these things are super - look at this gorgeous ham. It smells heavenly.'

'Here's her little present - homemade sweets,' said d.i.c.k, remembering them and taking them out of his pocket. 'Have one?'

Anne had everything ready in half an hour. They had decided to take a picnic lunch with them for themselves and for n.o.bby as well. They took their bathing-things and towels, too.

'Are we going to take Timmy or not?' said George. 'I want to. But as these two men seem rather interested in our caravans, perhaps we had better leave him on guard again. We don't want to come back and find the caravans damaged or half the things stolen.'

'I should think not!' said d.i.c.k. 'They're not our things, nor our caravans. They belong to somebody else and we've got to take extra good care of them. I think we ought to leave Timmy on guard, don't you, Ju?'

'Yes, I do,' said Julian at once. 'These caravans are too valuable to leave at the mercy of any pa.s.sing tramp - though I suppose we could lock them up. Anyway - we'll leave Timmy on guard today - poor old Timmy, it's a shame, isn't it?'

Timmy didn't answer. He looked gloomy and miserable. What! They were all going off without him again? He knew what 'on guard' meant - he was to stay here with these houses on wheels till the children chose to come back. He badly wanted to see Pongo again. He stood with his ears and tail drooping, the picture of misery.

But there was no help for it. The children felt that they couldn't leave the caravans unguarded while they were still so uncertain about Lou and Tiger Dan. So they all patted poor Timmy and fondled him, and then said good-bye. He sat down on the rocky ledge with his back to them and wouldn't even watch them go.

'He's sulking,' said George. 'Poor Timothy!'

It didn't take them very long to get down to the camp, and they found n.o.bby, Pongo, Barker and Growler waiting for them. n.o.bby was grinning from ear to ear.

'You saw my signal all right?' he said. 'Uncle hasn't changed his mind - in fact, he seems quite to have taken to you, and says I'm to show you all round and let you see anything you want to. That was his shirt I waved. I thought if I waved something enormous you'd know things were absolutely safe.'

'Where shall we put the bathing-things and the picnic baskets while we see round the camp?' asked Anne. 'Somewhere cool, if possible.'

'Put them in my caravan,' said n.o.bby, and led them to a caravan painted blue and yellow, with red wheels. The children remembered having seen it when the procession pa.s.sed by their house a week or two before.

They peeped inside. It wasn't nearly so nice as theirs. It was much smaller, for one thing, and very untidy. It looked dirty, too, and had a nasty smell. Anne didn't like it very much.

'Not so good as yours!' said n.o.bby. 'I wish I had a caravan like yours. I'd feel like a prince. Now what do you want to see first? The elephant? Come on, then.'

They went to the tree to which Old Lady the elephant was tied. She curled her trunk round n.o.bby and looked at the children out of small, intelligent eyes.

'Well, Old Lady!' said n.o.bby. 'Want a bathe?'

The elephant trumpeted and made the children jump. 'I'll take you later on,' promised n.o.bby. 'Now then - hup, hup, hup!'

At these words the elephant curled her trunk tightly round n.o.bby's waist and lifted him bodily into the air, placing him gently on her big head!

Anne gasped.

'Oh! Did she hurt you, n.o.bby?'

''Course not!' said n.o.bby. 'Old Lady wouldn't hurt anyone, would you, big one?'