Chapter Twenty-Two.

BACK TO KIRRIN ISLAND!

SOON everyone was at Kirrin Cottage. Joanna, the old cook they had had before, gave them a good welcome, and listened to their adventures in astonishment, getting the lunch ready all the while.

It was while they were having lunch that Julian, looking out of the window, suddenly caught sight of a figure he knew very well-someone skulking along behind the hedge.

"Old Pa Stick!" he said, and jumped up. "I'll go after him. Stay here, everyone."

He went out of the house, ran round a corner and came face to face with Mr. Stick."

"Do you want to know where Edgar is?" said Julian mysteriously.

Mr. Stick looked startled. He stared at Julian not knowing what to say.

"He's down in the dungeons, locked in that cave," said Julian, even more mysteriously.

"You don't know nothin' about Edgar," said Mr. Stick. "Where have you been? Didn't you go home?"

"Never you mind," said Julian. "But if you want to find Edgar-look in that cave!"

Mr. Stick gave the boy a glare and left him. Julian hurried indoors and rang up the police station. He felt sure that Mr. Stick would tell Mrs. Stick what he had said, and that Mrs. Stick would insist on going back to the island to see if what he had said was true. So all that needed to be done was for the police to keep a watch on the boats along the sh.o.r.e and see when the Sticks left.

The children finished their dinner, and Uncle Quentin announced that he must return to his wife, who would want to know his news. "I'll tell her you are having a fine time on the island," he said, "and we can tell her all the extraordinary details when she returns home, better."

He left in a car, and the children wondered whether they might now return to their island or not. But they decided to wait a little, for they did not know what to do with Jennifer.

Very soon a large car drove up and stopped outside the gate of Kirrin Cottage. Out jumped a tall man with dark red hair, and a pretty woman. "They must be your father and mother, Jenny," said Julian.

They were-and Jennifer got so many hugs and kisses that she quite lost her breath. She had to tell her story again and again, and her father could not thank Julian and the others enough for all they had done.

"Ask me for any reward you like!" he said, "and you can have it. I shall never, never be able to tell you how grateful I am to you for rescuing our little Jenny."

"Oh-we don't want anything, thank you," said Julian, politely. "We enjoyed it all very much. We like adventures."

"Ah, but you must tell me something you want!" said Jenny's father.

Julian glanced round at the others. He knew that none of them wanted a reward. Jenny nudged him hard and nodded her head vigorously. Julian laughed.

"Well," he said, "there is one thing we'd all like very much."

"It's granted before you ask it!" said Jenny's father.

"Will you let Jenny come and spend a week with us on our island?" said Julian. Jenny gave a squeal and pressed Julian's arm very hard between her two small hands.

Jenny's parents looked rather taken-aback. "Well," said her father, "well-she's just been kidnapped, you know-and we don't feel inclined to let her out of our sight at the moment - and..."

"You promised Julian you'd grant what he asked, you promised, Daddy," said Jenny, urgently. "Oh please do let me. I've always wanted to live on an island. And this one has got a perfectly marvellous cave, and a wonderful ruined castle, and the dungeons where I was kept, and -"

"And we take Timothy, our dog, with us," said Julian. "See what a big powerful fellow he is-n.o.body could come to much harm with Timmy about - could they, Tim?"

"Woof!" said Timothy, in his deepest voice.

"Well, you can go, Jenny, on one condition," said the little girl's father at last, "and that is that I and your mother, come over tomorrow and spend the day on the island, to see that everything is all right for you."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Daddy!" cried Jenny, and danced round the room in delight. A whole week on the island with these new friends of .hers, and Timmy the dog! What could be lovelier?

"Jenny can stay here the night, can't she?'. said George. "You'll be staying at the hotel, I suppose?"

Soon Jenny's parents left and went to the police station to get all the details of the kidnapping. The children went to see if Joanna was going to make cakes for tea.

Just about tea-time there came a knocking at the-door. A large policeman stood outside.

"Is Master Julian here?" he said. "Oh, you're the boy we want, sir. The Sticks have just left for the island in their boat, and we've got ours on the beach to follow. But we don't think we know the way in and out of those hidden rocks that lie all round Kirrin Island. Could you or Miss Georgina guide us, do you think?"

"I'm Master George, not Miss Georgina," said George, in a cold voice.

"Sorry, sir," said the policeman, with a grin. "Well, could you come too?"

"We'll all come!" said d.i.c.k, jumping up. "I want to go back to the dear old island and sleep in our cave again tonight. Why should we miss a single night? We can fetch Jenny's people tomorrow in our own boat. We'll all come."

The policeman was a little doubtful about the arrangement, but the children insisted, and as there was no time to waste, they all ended in crowding into the two boats, with three big policemen, George and Julian leading the way in their own boat. Timmy lay down at George's feet as usual.

George guided the boat as cleverly as ever, and soon they landed in the usual little sandy cove. The Sticks had evidently gone round by the wreck as usual, and landed on the rockier part.

"Now, no noise," said Julian, warningly. They all went quietly towards the ruin, and came into the courtyard. There was no sign of the Sticks.

"We'll go down underground," said Julian. "I've got my torch. I expect the Sticks are down there already, letting out dear Edgar."

They went down the steps into the dark dungeons. Anne went too, this time, holding on to the hand of one of the big policemen. They moved quietly through the long, dark, winding pa.s.sages.

They came at last to the door of the cave in which they had imprisoned Edgar. It was still bolted at the top and bottom!

"Look!" said Julian, in a whisper, shining his torch on to the door. "The Sticks haven't been down here yet."

"Sh!" said George, as Timmy growled softly. "There's someone coming. Hide! It's the Sticks, I expect."

They all hid behind the wall that ran near by. They could hear footsteps coming nearer, and then the voice of Mrs. Stick raised in anger.

"If my Edgar's locked in there, I'll have something to say about it! Locking up a poor innocent boy like that. I don't understand it. If he's there, where's the girl? You answer me that. Where's the girl? It's my belief that the boss has done some double-crossing to do us out of our share of the money. Didn't he say that he'd give us a thousand pounds if we kept Jenny Armstrong for a week? Now I think he must have sent someone to this island, played tricks on us, taken the girl himself and locked up our Edgar."

"You may be right, Clara," said Mr. Stick, his voice coming nearer and nearer. "But how did this boy Julian know where Edgar was? There's a lot I don't understand about all this."

Now the Sticks were right at the door of the cave, with Stinker at their heels. Stinker smelt the others in hiding and whined in fear. Mr. Stick kicked him.

!Stop it! It's enough to hear our own voices echoing away all round without your whines too!"

Mrs. Stick was calling out loudly: "Edgar! Are you there? Edgar!"

"Ma! Yes, I'm here!" yelled Edgar. "Let me out, quick! I'm proper scared. Let me out!"

Mrs. Stick undid the bolts at once and flung open the door. By the light of the lantern in the cave she saw Edgar. He ran to her, half-crying.

"Who put you here?" demanded Mrs. Stick. "You tell your Pa and he'll knock their heads off, won't you, Pa? Putting a poor frightened child into a dark cave like this. It's a wicked thing to do!"

Suddenly the Stick family had the fright of their lives - for a large policeman stepped out of the shadows, torch in one hand and notebook in the other!

"Ah!" said the policeman, in a deep voice. "You're right, Clara Stick. To shut up a poor frightened child in that cave is a wicked thing to do - and that's what you did, isn't it? You put Jenny Armstrong there! She's only a little girl. This boy of yours knew he wasn't coming to any harm - but that little girl was scared to death!"

Mrs. Stick stood there, opening and shutting her mouth like a goldfish, not finding a word to say. Mr. Stick squealed like a rat caught in a corner.

"We're copped! It's a trap, that's it We're copped!"

Edgar began to cry, sobbing like a four-year-old. The other children felt disgusted with him. The Sticks suddenly caught sight of all the children when Julian switched on his torch; "Snakes alive, there's all the children-and there's Jenny Armstrong too!" said Mr. Stick, in a tone of the greatest amazement. "What's all this? What's happening? Who shut up Edgar?"

"We'll tell you the answers when we get to the police-station," said the big policeman. "Now, are you coming quietly?"

The Sticks went quietly, Edgar sobbing away to himself. He imagined his mother and father in prison, and he himself sent to a hard and difficult school, not allowed to see his mother for years. Not that that would matter, for the. Sticks, both mother and father, were no good to Edgar, and had taught him nothing but bad things. There might be a chance for the wretched boy if he were kept away from them, and set a good example instead of a bad one.

"We shan't be coming back with you," said Julian, politely, to the policeman. "We're staying here the night. You could go back in the Sticks" boat. They know the way all right. Take their dog with you. There he is-Stinker, we call him." Then he added, I guess your colleagues could follow in the police boat!"

The Sticks' boat was found and the policeman, the two grown-up Sticks and Edgar got in. Stinker jumped in too, glad to get away from the glare of Timothy's green eyes.

Julian pushed the boat out. "Good-bye!" he called, and the other children waved good-bye, too.

"Good-bye; Mr. Stick, don't go kidnapping any more children. Good-bye, Mrs. Stick, look after Edgar better, in case he gets kidnapped again! Good-bye, Spotty-Face, try and be a better boy! Good-bye, Stinker, do get a bath as soon as possible. Good-bye!"

The policemen grinned and waved. The Sticks said not a word, nor did they wave. They sat sullen and angry, trying to work out in their minds what had happened to make things end up like this.

The boats rounded a high rock and were soon out of sight. "Hurrah!" said d.i.c.k. "They've gone-gone for ever! We've got our island to ourselves at last. Come on, Jenny, we'll show you all over it! What a lovely time we're going to have."

They raced away, happy and carefree, five children and a dog, alone on an island they loved. And we will leave them there to enjoy their week's happiness. They really do deserve it!