A voice called from the house. “Tinker! The carrier’s come with all the camping things. He’s put them in the hall, just where your father will fall over them. You’d better come and see to them now.”

“In a few minutes, Jenny!” called back Tinker. “We’re busy.”

“You’re a real fibber, Tinker,” said Dick. “We are not busy. You could easily go to find out where the things are, and see if they’re all there. There are quite a lot.”

“We’ll go in twenty minutes or so,” said Anne, yawning. “I bet Tinker’s father is asleep this hot afternoon. He won’t stir out of his study.”

But she was wrong. Professor Hayling was wide awake, and when he had finished his work, he wanted a drink of very cold water. He threw open his study door, strode out towards the kitchen — and fell over a pile of all kinds of camping gear, bringing them down with a tremendous noise.

Jenny rushed out of the kitchen with loud screams of fright, and the Professor bellowed in anger as he took a ground-sheet off his head, and a tent-pole off his back. “WHAT ARE THESE THINGS? I WILL NOT HAVE THEM IN THE HALL! JENNY! JENNY! Take them down to the bonfire and burn the lot!”

“Our camping things!” cried George, listening in horror. “Quick! We must get them! Oh, I do hope Tinker’s father hasn’t hurt himself. Blow, blow, blow!”

While Julian and Dick deftly removed everything that had fallen on to the angry Professor and took them down the garden, Anne and George comforted him, and made such a fuss of him that he began to feel decidedly less angry. He sat down in a chair and wiped his forehead. “I hope you’ve taken all those things down to the bottom of the garden?” he asked, after a while.

“Yes,” said Tinker, truthfully. “Er — they’re all by the bonfire, but it’s not lighted yet.”

“I’ll light it myself tomorrow,” said his father, and Tinker heaved a sigh of relief. His father would forget, of course — and anyhow, everything was going to be taken into the camping field after tea.

“Have a cup of nice hot tea, sir,” said Jenny, appearing with a tray of tea-things. “Sit you down and drink this. It’s newly made. Best thing to have after a fall and a shock.”

She turned and whispered crossly to Tinker. “Didn’t I call to you and tell you the Professor would trip over those things, the poor man? Now you just get your own tea, while I take him into the dining-room and comfort him with a nice hot scone, and a cup of tea!”

“I’ll get our tea,” said Anne. “Then we’ll set up the tents down in the field, and enjoy ourselves. And Tinker, don’t you get into any more trouble with the circus folk.”

“I’ll see he doesn’t,” said George, firmly. “Come on — let’s go down to the field while Anne gets the tea. I could do with a bun or two!”