“Magic — just a little elementary magic!” answered Mr Wooh. “Try it sometime yourself. I am sure that this boy’s father would be as quick as I am!” He looked at Tinker. “I should much like to meet your clever father, my boy,” he said in his deep, foreign-sounding voice. “We would have much, so much to talk about. I have heard about his wonderful tower. A monument to his genius! Ah, you see, even we foreigners know of your father’s great work. Surely he is afraid of having his secrets stolen?”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Tinker. “The tower is a pretty good hiding-place, and…” He stopped suddenly, and went red again as he received an even harder kick from Julian. How could he be such an ass as to give away the fact that his father’s secret plans and models were hidden in the tower?

Julian thought it was time to take Tinker firmly away from Mr Wooh and give him a good lecture on keeping his mouth shut. He looked at his watch, and pretended to be horrified at the time. “Good gracious-do you know what the time is? Jenny will be ringing up the police if we don’t get back straight away. Come on, Tinker, and you others, we must go. Thanks most awfully, Grandad, for letting us share your supper.”

“But we haven’t yet finished!” said Grandad. “You haven’t had enough to eat.”

“We really couldn’t eat any more,” said Dick, following Julian’s determined lead. “See you tomorrow, Grandad. Good night, Grandma. Thanks very much indeed.”

“We’ve still got bananas and apples to eat,” said Tinker, feeling obstinate.

“Oh, we brought those for Charlie the Chimp,” said Dick, not quite truthfully. He could have boxed Tinker’s ears! Silly little fathead, couldn’t he realise that Julian wanted to get him away from this cunning Mr Wooh? Wait till he got Tinker by himself!

Tinker found himself hustled on all sides, and felt a bit scared. Julian sounded rather fierce, he thought. Old Grandad was most astonished at the sudden departure of his guests — but Charlie the Chimp didn’t mind! The guests had left behind a most generous supply of fruit!

Over the fence they all went, with Julian hustling Tinker in front of him. Once over the fence and out of Mr Wooh’s hearing, Julian and George rounded on the boy angrily.

“Are you mad, Tinker?” demanded Julian. “Didn’t you guess that that foreign fellow was trying to pump you about your father’s hush-hush job?”

“He wasn’t,” said Tinker, almost in tears. “You’re just exaggerating!”

“Well, I hope I never try to give away my father’s secret work!” said George, in a tone of such disgust that Tinker could have howled.

“I wasn’t trying to!” he said. “Mr Wooh’s all right. Why should you think he isn’t?”

“I don’t like him and I don’t trust him,” said Julian, sounding suddenly very grown up. “But there you sat lapping up everything he said, ready to pour out all he wanted to know. I’m ashamed of you. You’d get a jolly good thrashing if your father had heard you. I only hope you haven’t already said too much. You know how angry your father was when a report of his latest ideas got into the papers, and swarms of people came prying round the house…”