chapter 4 that night

it was now tea-time, according to anne's watch and also according to everyone's feelings, includingtimmy's. timmy felt the heat very much and was always wandering off to the little spring to lap thecrystal-cold water. anne wished that she and george had a big jug that they could fill - it was such anuisance to have to keep running to and fro with just a mug.

they had tea - biscuits, a sandwich each, and a bar of rather soft chocolate. george examinedtimmy's ear for the hundredth time that day, and pronounced it very much better.

'well, don't take off that collar yet,' said anne. 'he'll only open the wound by scratching if you do.'

'i'm not going to take it off!' said george, touchily. 'what shall we do now, anne? go for a walk?'

'yes,' said anne. 'listen - you can hear those sharp, metallic noises again - that's the boy at workagain, i expect. funny boy he must be - coming to dig about all on his own with his comical littledog. i wish we could see what he's doing.'

'we promised we wouldn't,' said george. 'so i don't feel that we even ought to go and peep.'

'of course not!' said anne. 'come on - let's go in the opposite direction, george - right away from theboy. i hope we shan't get lost!'

'not while timmy's with us, silly!' said george. 'you'd find your way home from the moon, wouldn'tyou, tim?'

'woof,' agreed timmy.

'he always says yes to whatever you say, george,' said anne. 'i say - isn't it a lovely evening? iwonder what julian and dick are doing?'

george immediately looked downcast. she felt that her two cousins had no right to go rushing acrossfrance when she wanted them at kirrin. didn't they like kirrin? would they be having magnificentadventures on the continent, and not want to spend even a week at kirrin? she looked so lost inmiserable thoughts that anne laughed at her.

'cheer up! at least i am here with you - though i agree that compared with ju and dick i'm very poorcompany, and not at all adventurous!'

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they had a lovely walk, and sat down half-way to watch hordes of rabbits playing together.

timmy was very unhappy about this. why sit down to watch silly rabbits? rabbits were made tochase, weren't they? why did george always put a restraining hand on his collar when she sat downto watch rabbits? he whined continually, as he watched with her.

'shut up, timmy, you ass,' said george. 'you'd only spoil the entertainment if you sent them to theirholes.'

they watched for a long while and then got up to go back to the camp. when they came near, theyheard the sound of low whistling. someone was about that evening, quite near their camp.

who was it?

they came round a big gorse bush, and almost bumped into a boy. he got out of their way politely,but said nothing.

'why - it's you!' said george, in surprise. 'i don't know your name. what are you doing here?

you said you wouldn't come near us.'

the boy stared, looking very surprised. his tousled hair fell right across his forehead, and he brushedit back.

'i said nothing of the sort,' he said.

'oh, you did!' said anne. 'you know you did. well, if you break your promise, there's no reason forus to keep ours. we shall come and visit your camp.'

'i never made you any promise,' said the boy, looking quite startled. 'you're mad!'

'don't be an idiot,' said george, getting cross. 'i suppose you'll be saying next that you didn't act like ahen, and a duck, and a horse this afternoon...'

'and a cat,' said anne.

'balmy!' said the boy, looking at them pityingly. 'quite balmy.'

'are you coming here again?' demanded george.

'if i want to,' said the boy. 'the water in this spring is better than the one over by my camp.'

'then we shall come and explore your camp,' said george, firmly. 'if you don't keep your promise, weshan't keep ours.'

'by all means come if you want to,' said the boy. 'you seem quite mad, but i daresay you're harmless.

but don't bring your dog. he might eat mine.'

'you know he wouldn't eat jet!' said anne. 'they're good friends.'

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'i don't know anything of the sort,' said the boy, and went off, brushing his hair out of his eyes again.

'what do you make of that?' said george, staring after him. 'not a bit the same as he was thisafternoon. do you think he really had forgotten about his promise and everything?'

'i don't know,' said anne, puzzled. 'he was so perky and jolly and full of fun before - grinning all thetime - but just now he seemed quite serious - not a smile in him!'

'oh well - perhaps he's a bit crazy,' said george. 'are you sleepy anne? i am, though i can't thinkwhy!'

'not very - but i'd like to lie down on this springy heather and watch the stars gradually comesparkling into the sky,' said anne. 'i don't think i'll sleep in the tent, george. you'll want timmy withyou, and honestly there's so little room inside the tent that i'm quite sure timmy would lie on my legsall night long.'

'i'll sleep in the open air as well,' said george. 'i only slept in the tent last night because it looked a bitlike rain. let's get some more heather and make a kind of mattress of it. we can put a rug on top of it,and lie on that.'

the two of them pulled a lot of heather and carried it to their 'bed'. soon they had a fine pile, andtimmy went to lie on it.

'hey - it's not for you!' cried george. 'get off - you'll flatten it right down. where's the rug, anne?'

they laid the rug on the heather-pile and then went to the spring to wash and clean their teeth.

timmy immediately got on to the heather-bed again, and shut his eyes.

'you old fraud!' said george, lugging him off. 'you're not asleep. keep off our bed! look -there's a nice soft patch of grass for you. that's your bed!'

george lay down on the rug, and the heathery-bed sank a little beneath her weight.

'very comfortable!' said george. 'shall we want a rug over us, anne?'

'well, i did bring one,' said anne. 'but i don't think we'll want it, the night's so hot. look - there is astar already!'

soon there were six or seven - and then gradually hundreds more pricked through the evening sky asthe twilight deepened. it was a wonderful night.

'don't the stars look big and bright?' said anne, sleepily. 'they make me feel very small, they're suchmillions of miles away. george, are you asleep?'

17

there was no answer. george hadn't heard a word. she was fast asleep. her hand fell down the sideof the heather and rested on the ground below. timmy moved a little nearer and gave it a small lick.

then he too fell asleep, and gave some small doggy snores.

the night darkened. there was no moon but the stars shone out well from the midnight sky. it wasvery quiet out there on the common, far away from streets and villages and towns. not even an owlhooted.

anne didn't quite know why she awoke. at first she had no idea where she was, and she lay gazingup at the stars in astonishment, thinking she must still be asleep.

she suddenly felt very thirsty. she groped about in the nearby tent for the mug, couldn't find it andgave it up.

'i'll drink from my cupped hands,' she thought, and set off for the little spring. timmy wonderedwhether to follow her. no - he would stay with george. she wouldn't like it if she awoke and foundhim gone with anne. so he settled his head down on his paws again and slept, leaving one ear openfor anne.

anne found the little spring. its tinkling gurgling sound guided her as soon as she heard it. she satdown on one of the stones nearby, and held out her cupped hands. how very cold the water was - andhow delicious to drink on this hot night! she sipped thirstily, slopping some of the water down herfront.

she got up to go back, and walked a few steps in the starlight. then she stopped. wait - was shegoing in the right direction? she wasn't sure.

'i think i am!' she decided, and went on, carefully and quietly. surely she must be near their littlecamp now?

then all at once she stood still, and felt herself stiffen. she had suddenly seen a light. it had flashedand disappeared. ah - there it was again! whatever could it be?

then, as her eyes strained through the starlit darkness, she suddenly saw that she had taken the wrongway - she had gone in the direction of the old ruined cottage, and not the camp - and the light hadcome from there!

she didn't dare go any nearer. she felt glued to the grass she was standing on! now she could hearsounds - whispering sounds - and the noise of a footfall on the stone floor of the cottage -and then the flash of a light came again! yes, it was from the old cottage!

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anne began to breathe fast. who was it in the old cottage? she simply dared not go and see. she mustgo back to george, and to timmy's protection. as fast and as silently as she could she found her wayback to the spring - and then, almost stumbling now, made her way to where george was still lyingpeacefully asleep.

'woof,' said timmy, sleepily, and tried to lick her hand. anne climbed on to the heathery-bed besidegeorge, her heart still beating fast.

'george!' she whispered. 'george, do wake up. i've something queer to tell you!'