Chapter Ten
THE FIVE ARE IN A FIX

Julian went to the mouth of the cove and looked out over the waves, hoping that he might see their boat bobbing somewhere. ‘I could swim out to it if so,’ he thought, ‘and bring it in. No - there’s not a sign of a boat! I could kick myself for being so careless!’
Dick came up, looking worried. ‘I suppose it’s too far to swim back to the mainland, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘I could have a shot - and get another boat and come back for everyone.’
‘No. Too far,’ said Julian. ‘The tide’s too strong for any swimmer at the moment. We’re certainly in a fix!’
‘We can’t signal, I suppose?’ said Dick.
‘What with?’ asked Julian. ‘You could wave a shirt for an hour and it wouldn’t be seen from the mainland!’
‘Well - we must think of something!’ said Dick, exasperated. ‘What about trying to find a boat here? Surely those men must have one to get to and fro.’
‘Of course!’ said Julian, clapping Dick on the back. ‘Where are my brains? They seem to be going soft or something! We could snoop round and about tonight, to see if there’s a boat anywhere. They may have two or three. They’d have to get food from the mainland at times.’
The two girls and Timmy came up then, and Timmy whined. ‘He doesn’t seem to like this island,’ said George. ‘I think he smells danger!’
‘I bet he does!’ said Dick, putting his hand on Timmy’s firm head. ‘I’m jolly glad he’s with us. Can you girls think of any good ideas - we can’t!’
‘We could signal,’ said George.
‘No good. A signal from here couldn’t be seen,’ said Dick. ‘We’ve already thought of that.’
‘Well - if we lighted a fire here on the beach tonight, when the tide’s out, surely that would be seen?’ said Anne.
Dick and Julian looked at one another. ‘Yes!’ said Julian. ‘If we lighted it on a hilly bit it would be better still - on that cliff up there, for instance.’
‘Wouldn’t the guards see it?’ asked Dick.
‘We’d have to chance that,’ said Julian. ‘Yes - we could do that. Good idea, Anne. I say - we’re going to get jolly hungry, aren’t we? Anyone got anything to eat?’
‘I’ve two bars of chocolate - a bit soft now though,’ said George, digging into the pocket of her shorts.
‘And I’ve some peppermints,’ said Anne. ‘What about you boys? You always take barley-sugars about with you, Dick - don’t say you haven’t any just when we could all do with them!’
‘I’ve a new packet!’ said Dick. ‘Let’s all have one now!’ He pulled the packet from his pocket and handed it round. Soon they were all sucking barley-sugars. Timmy was given one too, but his was gone in a flash!
‘Wasted on you, Tim, absolutely wasted!’ said Anne. ‘Crick-crack, swallow - that’s all a barley-sugar means to you! Why can’t dogs suck a sweet as we do! They never seem to suck anything. No, Timmy, don’t go sniffing into Dick’s pocket for another!’
Timmy was disappointed. He went snuffling round the cove, and then, scenting a rabbit smell, he followed it with his nose to the ground. The children didn’t notice that he had disappeared, but went on talking, trying to solve their very real difficulty.
No boat. No food. No way of getting help except by signalling in some way. Not very funny, thought Dick.
And then, very suddenly, a loud sound broke the silence - CRACK!
Everyone jumped up at once. ‘That was a gunshot,’ said Dick. ‘The keepers! But what were they shooting at?’
‘Where’s Timmy?’ cried George, looking all round. ‘Tim, Tim, where are you TIM!’
Everyone’s heart went cold. Timmy! No, the shot couldn’t have been meant for old Timmy! Surely the keepers wouldn’t shoot a dog!
George was nearly mad with dread. She clutched at Dick, tears streaming down her cheeks. ‘Dick! It couldn’t be Timmy, could it? Oh Timmy, where are you? TIMMY! Come to me!’
‘Listen! Listen a minute, George!’ said Dick, as shouts came from the distance. ‘I thought I heard Tim whine then. Isn’t that him coming through the bushes?’
There was the noise of rustling as some creature pressed through the last year’s old bracken fronds - and then Timmy’s head appeared, his bright eyes looking for them.
‘Oh Timmy, darling Timmy, I thought you’d been shot!’ cried George, hugging the big dog. ‘Did they shoot at you? Are you hurt anywhere?’
‘I bet I know why he was shot at,’ said Dick. ‘Look what he’s got in his mouth - half a ham! Drop it, you robber, you!’
Timmy stood there, the ham in his mouth, wagging his tail joyously. He had felt hungry, and was sure the others did too - so he had gone a hunting!
‘Where did you get that, you bad dog?’ said Julian. Timmy wished he could tell him. He would have said ‘Well, I went sniffing after a rabbit - and I came to a shed stored with tins of food - and one was open with this piece of ham inside, waiting for me. And here it is!’
He dropped the ham at George’s feet. It smelt extremely good. ‘Well, thanks, old fellow,’ said Julian. ‘We could do with some of that - though we’ll have to pay for it when we meet the owner, whoever he is!’
‘Julian - he has been shot at!’ said George, in a trembling voice. ‘Look - his tail’s bleeding, and some fur is gone.’
‘My word, yes!’ said Julian, examining Timmy’s tail. ‘Good gracious - those fellows mean business. I really think I’d better find them and tell them we’re here, in case they take a pot-shot at us too!’
‘Well, let’s go now - all of us,’ said Dick. ‘They probably thought Timmy was a wolf or a fox or something, slinking through the trees. Poor old fellow!’
Timmy was not at all disturbed. He was so proud of finding and bringing back the ham that he even wagged his wounded tail!
‘It’s quite certain that no animals or birds will be tame and friendly on this island now,’ said Anne. ‘They’ll have been scared stiff by the game-keepers potting at this and that.’
‘You’re right,’ said Julian. ‘It rather makes me think that the fellows on the island are no longer merely gamekeepers, put in to preserve the wild life, and to frighten sight-seers away - but real, fierce guards of some kind. Like those two horrible men we saw in the courtyard!’
‘Well, what are they guarding then?’ said George.
‘That’s what I’d very much like to find out,’ said Julian. ‘And I think perhaps I’ll snoop round a bit and see what I can discover. When it’s getting dark, though, not now.’
‘I wish we hadn’t come,’ said Anne. ‘I wish we were safe in our cottage with Wilfrid. I wonder if he’s found his whistle-pipe. Goodness, it seems ages since we hired that boat!’
‘Can’t we go quietly through the woods and explore a bit?’ asked George. ‘Or walk round the shore to see if there’s a boat anywhere? I’m getting bored, sitting here, talking.’
‘Well - I suppose old Tim would give us warning at once if he heard anyone near,’ said Julian, who was also longing to stretch his legs. ‘We’ll go in single file, like Indians, and make as little noise as we can. Timmy can go ahead. He’ll give us instant warning if we come near any of the keepers.’
They all stood up, and Timmy looked at them, wagging his nicked tail. ‘I’ll look after you,’ said his two bright eyes. ‘Don’t be afraid!’
They made their way carefully and quietly through the whispering trees. ‘Sh, sh, sh, shoo, shooey,’ said the leaves above their heads, as if warning everyone to go as quietly as possible. And then suddenly Timmy stopped and gave a low, warning growl. They all stood still at once, listening.
They could hear nothing. They were in a dense part of the wood, and it was dark and sunless. What was Timmy growling at? He took a step forward, and growled softly again.
Julian went forward too, as silently as he could. He stopped suddenly and stared. What in the world was that strange figure, gleaming out of the shadows? His heart began to beat loudly. The figure stood there, silently, an arm out-stretched as if pointing at him!
He thought it moved and he took a step backwards in fear. Was it a ghost or something? It was so very very white and shone so queerly. The others, coming up behind, suddenly saw it too and stopped in fright. Timmy growled again, and all the hackles on his neck rose up. What was THIS?
Everyone stood absolutely still, and Anne gave a gulp. She took hold of Dick’s arm, and he held it tightly against him. And then George gave a very small laugh. To everyone’s horror she went forward, and touched the hand of the gleaming figure.
‘How do you do?’ she said. ‘It is so nice to meet a well-mannered statue!’
Well! A statue! Only a statue! It had looked so real standing there, and yet so ghostly. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, and Timmy ran forward, and sniffed at the statue’s flowing robes.
‘Look around you,’ said Julian. ‘The wood’s full of statues just here - and aren’t they BEAUTIFUL! I hope they don’t suddenly come alive - they really look as if they might!’


Chapter Eleven
A STRANGE DISCOVERY

The children were astonished to see so many gleaming statues, standing in the darkness of the wood. They wandered round them, and then came to a large shed. They peeped inside.
‘Look here!’ said Dick, excited. ‘Long, deep boxes, strong as iron! And see what’s in these two!’
They all came to look. In the first, packed in what looked like sawdust, was a beautifully carved statue of a boy. The next box seemed to be entirely full of sawdust, and Anne had to scrape quite a lot away to see if anything was packed there too.
‘It’s a little stone angel!’ she said, scraping sawdust from a quaint little face, a small crown and the tips of small wings. ‘Lovely! Why are these statues being packed away like this?’
‘Use your brain!’ said Dick. ‘It’s obvious that they’re works of art - and are probably very old. They’re being packed to send away in some boat or ship - to be transported somewhere where they’ll fetch a lot of money - America, probably!’
‘Did they come from the old castle, do you think?’ asked George. ‘It’s quite near. I expect this shed belongs to it. But how was it that the police didn’t find them in the castle when they searched? They must have gone there, and looked into every corner! And what about the statues in the wood outside - why haven’t they been packed away?’
‘Too big, probably,’ said Julian. ‘And too heavy. A small boat wouldn’t be strong enough to take great things like that. But those little statues are quite perfect for transporting - they don’t weigh as much as the big ones - and they aren’t marked by the weather, through standing in rain, sun and snow! Not a mark on them!’
‘You’re right,’ said Anne. ‘I noticed that those big ones outside were green here and there, and some had bits knocked off them. I wish we could get inside the castle and see the things there!’
‘The man at the golf-club, the one we took those lost balls to - he said something about statues as white as snow, standing in this wood - do you remember?’ said Dick.
‘Yes. They must have stood there for some time,’ said Julian. ‘I don’t feel they can be very valuable, else they would be put carefully indoors, under cover. But these little beauties - I guess they’re worth a lot of money!’
‘Who do you suppose packed them in here?’ said Anne.
‘Maybe those big men we saw,’ said Julian. ‘Even small statues like these need someone very strong indeed to carry them here to this shed, and pack them like this. Then, of course, they would have to be carried to some boat - or ship - probably to a boat first, and then rowed out to a waiting ship. But I don’t think those guards are the men behind all this - someone with great knowledge of old things must be the ringleader. He probably heard the old legend of the island, came to have a look round, and made quite a lot of interesting discoveries!’
‘Where?’ asked George. ‘In the castle?’
‘Probably - though carefully hidden away!’ said Julian. ‘For all we know there may be scores of really valuable old treasures hidden there still. That sword with a jewelled handle, for instance! And the bed made of gold, and...’
‘To think they might all be quite near us somewhere on Whispering Island!’ said Anne. ‘Wouldn’t I love to be able to say I’d slept on a bed of pure gold!’
‘Well, I think you’d find it jolly hard,’ said Dick.
Timmy suddenly gave a small whine, and licked George’s hand. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘What do you want, Timmy?’
‘Perhaps he’s hungry,’ said Anne.
‘Thirsty, more likely!’ said Julian. ‘Look at his tongue hanging out!’
‘Oh, poor Tim - you haven’t had a drink for hours!’ said George. ‘Well - where on earth can we get you one? We’ll have to look for a puddle, I’m afraid. Come on!’
They left the shed where the beautiful little statues were lying in their sawdust, and went out into the sunshine. Everywhere was dry. Julian felt worried.
‘We shall all be thirsty soon!’ he said. ‘I wonder where we can get some water?’
‘Would it be too dangerous to go near the castle and see if there’s a tap anywhere?’ asked George, ready to face almost anything to get her dog a drink!
‘Yes, it would,’ said Julian, in a very decided voice. ‘We’re not going near any of those men with guns. They might have been told to shoot on sight, and that wouldn’t be very pleasant. We’d be peppered all over with shot!’
‘Look - what’s that round thing over there - like a little circular wall?’ said Dick, pointing to something behind the shed where the statues lay in their boxes.
They all went over to it - and Anne guessed what it was at once! ‘A well! An old well!’ she said. ‘Look, it has an old wooden beam over the top, with a pulley to wind and unwind a bucket. 1s there a bucket - let’s hope so! We can let it down to the water and fill it for Timmy then.’
Timmy put his paws on the rim of the wall and sniffed. Water! That was what he wanted more than anything. He began to whine.
‘All right, Timmy - we’ll send the bucket down,’ said George. ‘It’s still on the hook! Julian, this handle’s awfully stiff - can you turn it to let down the bucket?’
Julian tried with all his strength - and quite suddenly the rope loosened, and the bucket gave a sudden jerk and jump. Alas - it jerked right off the hook, and with a weird, echoing jangling sound, fell from the top to the bottom of the well - landing in the water with a terrific splash!
‘Blow, blow, blow!’ said Julian, and Timmy gave an anguished howl. He peered down at the lost bucket, now on its side in the water at the bottom of the well, gradually filling itself.
‘It’ll probably sink below the water now,’ said Julian, with a groan. ‘Is there a ladder down the well? - if so I could shin down and get the bucket.’
But there wasn’t, though it looked as if there had been at some time, for here and there were staples in the brick side of the well-wall.
‘What can we do?’ asked Anne. ‘Can we possibly pull up the bucket?’
‘No - I’m afraid we can’t,’ said Dick. ‘But wait a minute - I could shin down the rope, couldn’t I, and pick the bucket out of the water. And easily get up again, because George and Julian could turn the well-handle, and pull me up that way!’
‘Righto. Down you go then,’ said Julian. ‘The rope’s good and strong, not frayed or rotten. We’ll wind you and the bucket up all right!’
The boy sat on the side of the well-wall, and reached out for the rope. He swung himself on to it, and swayed there a moment or two, looking down the long, dark hole below him, with the water at the bottom. Then down he went, hand-over-hand, just as he so often did at school in the gym.
He came to the bottom, reached down, took hold of the bucket-handle, and filled the bucket full. The water felt as cold as ice to his hand. ‘All right. Pull me up!’ he shouted, his voice sounding very hollow and strange as it rose up through the well-walls.
Dick was heavy to pull up. Julian and George turned the handle valiantly, but it was slow work. Gradually Dick came up nearer and nearer to the top. When he was half-way they heard him give an exclamation, and call out something; but they couldn’t make out what it was and went on winding the groaning rope, slowly but surely.
They reached down and took the bucket from Dick as soon as his head appeared at the top. Timmy fell on it with excited barks, and began to lap vigorously.
‘Didn’t you hear me yelling to you to stop when I was halfway up?’ demanded Dick, still swinging on the rope. ‘Don’t let go that handle. Hang on to it for a minute.’
‘What’s the excitement?’ asked Julian, in surprise. ‘Why did you yell to us? We couldn’t make out what you said.’
Dick swung himself to one side, caught hold of the well-top, and hauled himself up, so that he could sit on the well-wall. ‘I shouted because I suddenly saw something jolly peculiar as I came up the well,’ he said. ‘And I wanted to stop and see what it was!’
‘Well - what was it?’ asked Julian.
‘I don’t quite know. It looked awfully like a little door! An iron door,’ said Dick. ‘I say, don’t let Timmy drink all that water-he’ll be ill. We’ll let the pail down again in a minute and get some more for ourselves.’
‘Go on about what you saw,’ said George. ‘How could there be a door in the side of a well going deep down into the earth?’
‘Well, I tell you, there was one,’ said Dick. ‘Look, Timmy’s gone and upset the pail now! Let’s send it down on the pulley to be filled again, and I’ll go down on the rope again too. But when I come up and you hear me shout ‘Stop!’ just STOP winding, see?’
‘Here’s the bucket for the hook,’ said Julian. ‘I’ll be careful not to jerk it off this time. Ready?’
Down went Dick and the bucket again - splash went the bucket and filled with water once more. Then up came Dick again, wound up by Julian and George as before. As soon as they heard him shout ‘STOP’ they stopped their winding and peered down.
They saw Dick peering hard at the side of the well-wall, and pulling at it with his fingers. Then he shouted again. ‘All right. UP WE go!’
They hauled him up to the top, and he clambered off the rope, swung himself on to the well-wall and sat there.
‘Yes. It is some kind of opening in the well-wall - it is a door - and it has a bolt this side to undo, but it was too stiff for my fingers. I’d have to go down and jiggle it about with my knife before I could loosen it.’
‘A door in a well! But where on earth would it lead to?’ said Julian, astonished.
‘That’s what we’re going to find out!’ grinned Dick, rather pleased with himself. ‘Who would ever think of putting a door in the side of a well? Somebody did - but WHY? Very cunning - and mysterious - and unguessable. I rather think I’ll go straight down again and see if I can’t open that door - and discover what it leads to!’
‘Oh DO, Dick, do!’ said George. ‘If you don’t, I will!’
‘Hang on to the rope. Down I go again!’ said Dick. And down he went, much to Timmy’s surprise. The others looked down anxiously. Gould Dick open the well-door? What would he find behind it? Quick, Dick, quick - everybody’s waiting for you!


Chapter Twelve
A GREAT SURPRISE - AND A SHOCK FOR GEORGE

As soon as Dick shouted ‘STOP’ Julian and George hung on to the rope to stop it going down any further. Dick was swinging just opposite the strange door. He began to feel round it, and to jiggle it. It had no lock, apparently, but there was a bolt on his side. He tried to push back the bolt - and suddenly it came away from the door, and dropped down into the well. It had rusted so much that it could not even hold to the door, once it was handled!
The door felt loose, now the bolt was gone. Dick ran his hands round it, trying to loosen it further, and banged it with his fist. Rust fell off it, and Dick’s hands were soon brown with the old old rust.
He saw a little knob at the top of the door and gave it a tug. Ah - the door felt looser now. He ran his knife all round the edges, scraping away all the rust he could find. Then he managed to get his strongest knife-blade in between the door-edge and the well-wall, and used it as a lever to force the door open.
It opened slowly and painfully, with creaks and groans. It was about eighteen inches high and not quite so much wide. Dick pulled it back with difficulty and then peered through the hole.
He could see nothing at all but black darkness - how very disappointing! He fumbled in his pocket to see if he had a torch. Yes - good! He shone it through the little door, his hand trembling with excitement. What would he see?
His torch was small and not very powerful. The light fell first of all on a face with gleaming eyes, and Dick had such a shock that he almost fell down the well. The eyes seemed to glare up at him in a very threatening manner! He switched his torch to the right - and yet another face gleamed up at him. ‘A queer face,’ thought Dick. ‘Yellow as can be! YELLOW! YELLOW! I believe that face is made of gold!’
His hand was trembling even more, he shone his torch here and there through the opening, catching first one yellow face in its light, and then another. The faces had yellow bodies too, and their eyes glinted very queerly.
‘I believe - yes, I really do believe - that I’ve found the hiding-place of the golden statues!’ thought Dick. ‘And those gleaming eyes must be precious jewels. My word, I did have a shock when I saw them all looking at me! Whatever is this place they’re in?’
‘DICK! What can you see? Do tell us!’ yelled Julian, and poor Dick almost fell off the rope when the shouts echoed round him. ‘Pull me up!’ he shouted. ‘It’s too extraordinary for words. Pull me up and I’ll tell you!’
And before a minute had passed, he was standing by the others, his eyes gleaming almost as brightly as the eyes of the golden statues, his words tumbling over one another.
‘That door leads into the place where all the treasures are hidden. The first thing I saw was a golden statue staring at me - brilliant eyes in a yellow face - a golden face, real gold! There are dozens of them. I don’t think they liked me much - they glared so! Thank goodness they didn’t say a word - though I half expected them to. My word, what a hiding-place - right down under the earth!’
‘There must be another entrance to it,’ said Julian, thrilled to hear such extraordinary news. ‘The well door must be a secret one. Statues couldn’t be pushed through it. My word, what a find, Dick.’
‘Let’s all go down in turn and look through the door!’ said George. ‘I can’t believe it. I think I must be dreaming it. Quick, let me go down!’
One by one they all went down on the rope and looked through the door. Anne came back rather scared. She had felt very queer when she had seen the silent statues looking at her. ‘I know they’re not really looking, it’s only that their eyes gleam,’ she said. ‘But I kept expecting one or other to take a step forward and speak to me!’
‘Well - the next thing to do is to climb down through the door, and see exactly where the statues are, underground,’ said Julian. ‘And find out the opening they were brought in by. There must be a door the other end of their room, through which they were brought. What a hiding-place, though! No wonder the police could find nothing in the way of statues or other treasures.’
‘We might find the golden sword there, with the jewelled handle!’ said Anne. ‘And the golden bed.’
She had hardly finished speaking when there came a loud noise from behind them. Timmy was barking his head off! Whatever was the matter?
‘Sh!’ said George, fiercely. ‘You’ll bring the guards here, you idiot! Stop it!’
Timmy stopped barking and whined instead. Then he ran off towards the wood, his tail waving happily. ‘Who in the world is he going to meet?’ said George, amazed. ‘Someone he knows, by the look of his tail!’
The others all followed Timmy, who raced along towards the cove where they had landed - and lost - their boat. And there, in the cove, was another boat! A small one, to be sure, but still, a boat - and by it, fondling Timmy, was Wilfrid! Wilfrid! What an amazing thing!
‘WILFRID! How did you get here - did you hire that boat? Did you come all by yourself? Did you...’
Wilfrid grinned round in delight, thrilled at the surprise he was giving everyone. Timmy licked him without stopping, and George didn’t even seem to notice!
‘Well,’ he said, ‘you didn’t come back, so I guessed something was wrong - and when the boat boy told me you’d taken one of his boats, and it had been reported tossing about, empty on the water near the island, I guessed what had happened - I said, ‘Aha! they didn’t make the boat fast when they got to the island - and now they’re marooned there! You were pretty mean to go without me - but I guessed you’d be pleased to see me, if I borrowed a boat and came over!’
Anne was so pleased that she gave the boy a hug. ‘Now we can go back whenever we want to,’ she said.
‘But we don’t want to, at the moment,’ said Dick. ‘We’ve made some startling discoveries, Wilfrid - and I’m jolly pleased you’ll be able to share in them! Er - what have you got in your pocket'' Something keeps poking its head out at me.’
‘Oh, that’s only a baby hedgehog,’ said Wilfrid, taking it out gently. ‘It got trodden on - by a horse I think - so I’m just caring for it for a day or two.’ He put it back into his pocket. ‘But I say - go on - tell me what you’ve found. Not the lost treasures, surely?’
‘Yes!’ said Anne. ‘We saw them when we went down a well near the castle.’
‘Gracious - did somebody throw them into the water there?’ said Wilfrid, amazed.
‘No,’ said Dick, and told him about the curious door in the side of the well-wall. Wilfrid’s eyes nearly fell out of his head.
‘I am glad I came!’ he said. ‘I nearly didn’t. I thought you wouldn’t really want me - and I knew George wouldn’t be pleased, because of Timmy. I can’t help him coming round me - and anyway he’d feel hurt if I pushed him off.’
Timmy came nosing round him at that moment, with his ball. He wanted Wilfrid to throw it for him. But Wilfrid didn’t notice the ball. He just patted the soft head, and went on talking.
‘The boat boy wasn’t very pleased when he heard that the boat you hired was loose on the sea. He said you’d hired it for a week, and there it was, back the same day, wet and empty! His cousin brought it in. No damage done.’
‘I’ll make it up to him when I see him,’ said Julian. ‘I haven’t paid him for the hire of it either, but he knows I will, when I get back. I had no idea that the sea would throw up waves here whose backwash would drag out an unmoored boat.’
‘You ought to have taken me with you,’ said Wil-frid, grinning. Timmy, tired of trying to make him throw his ball, went off to George, who was only too pleased to. She threw it into the air, and Timmy leapt up and caught it.
Then very suddenly he made a horrible noise and rolled over, kicking as if he were in great pain. ‘What’s the matter, Timmy?’ cried George, and rushed to him. Wilfrid ran too. The dog was choking, and his eyes were almost starting out of his head.
‘That ball’s stuck in his throat!’ cried Wilfrid. ‘I knew it was dangerous! I told you it was! Cough it up, Timmy, cough it up. Oh, you poor, choking thing! Oh Timmy, Timmy!’
The boy was beside himself with fear that the dog would choke, as he had once seen another dog do, and as for George, she was wild with terror. Poor Timmy’s eyes looked terrible as he choked and choked, trying to get the ball out of his throat.
‘He’ll choke to death,’ cried Wilfrid. ‘Julian, force his mouth open, and hold it. I must try to get out the ball. Quick!’
Timmy was growing weaker, and it was not too difficult to force his mouth wide open. Wilfrid could see the ball down the dog’s throat - the ball with the hole in the middle. He put his small hand into the dog’s big mouth, and forced his fore-finger into the hole in the ball. His finger-joint stuck there - Wilfrid gently drew back his hand - and the ball came too, on his finger! There it was, with his finger still stuck in the hole! Timmy began to breathe again, great panting breaths, while George stroked his head and cried for joy that he was all right.
‘I shouldn’t have given you that ball, I shouldn’t!’ she said. ‘It was too small for a big dog like you - and you will throw them up into the air and catch them. Oh Timmy, Timmy, I’m very very sorry. Timmy, are you all right?’
Wilfrid had gone off but now came back with some water from the pail. He dipped his hand in it and let drops of water drip into the dog’s mouth. Timmy swallowed it gratefully. His throat was sore, but the water was cool and soothing. George let Wilfrid do this without a word. She looked rather white and shaken. Why - Timmy might be dead by now if Wilfrid hadn’t put his finger into that hole in the ball, and drawn it out!
‘Thank you, Wilfrid,’ she said, in a low voice. ‘You were very clever.’
‘Thank goodness the ball had a hole through it,’ said Wilfrid, and he put his arms round Timmy’s neck. The dog licked him gratefully. Then he turned and licked George too.
‘He says he belongs to both of us now,’ said George. ‘I’ll share him with you. You saved his life.’
‘Thanks,’ said Wilfrid. ‘I’d love to have just a bit of him - he’s the nicest dog I know!’