“It’s more likely we’ll have to keep an eye on him,” said Julian. “He’s the sort of chap whose tent will always be falling down on top of him, or he’ll run out of water, or sit down on his bag of eggs. Old Luffy seems to live in the world of insects, not in our world!”

“Well, he can go and live in the world of insects if he likes, so long as he doesn’t interfere with us,” said George, who hated interfering people. “This sounds as if it will be a super holiday — living in tents on the high moors, away from everybody, doing exactly what we like, when we like and how we like.”

“Woof!” said Timmy, thumping his tail again.

“That means he’s going to do as he likes, too,” said Anne. “You’re going to chase hundreds of rabbits, aren’t you, Timmy, and bark madly at anyone who dares to come within two miles of us!”

“Now be quiet a minute, Anne,” said Dick, picking up his list again. “We really must check down our list and find out if we’ve got every single thing we want. Where did I get to — oh, four sleeping-bags.”

“Yes, and you wanted to know if Timmy was to have one,” said Anne, with a giggle.

“Of course he won’t,” said George. “He’ll sleep where he always does — won’t you, Timmy? On my feet.”

“Couldn’t we get him just a small sleeping-bag?” asked Anne. “He’d look sweet with his head poking out of the top.”

“Timmy hates looking sweet,” said George. “Go on, Dick. I’ll tie my hanky round Anne’s mouth if she interrupts again.”

Dick went on down his list. It was a very interesting one. Things like cooking-stoves, canvas buckets, enamel plates and drinking-cups were on it, and each item seemed to need a lot of discussion. The four children enjoyed themselves very much.

“You know, it’s almost as much fun planning a holiday like this as having it,” said Dick. “Well — I shouldn’t think we’ve forgotten a thing, have we?”

“No. We’ve probably thought of too much!” said Julian. “Well, old Luffy says he’ll take all our things on the trailer behind his car, so we’ll be all right. I shouldn’t like to carry them ourselves!”

“Oh, I wish next week would come!” said Anne. “Why is it that the time seems so long when you’re waiting for something nice to happen, and so short when something nice is happening?”

“Yes — it seems the wrong way round, doesn’t it?” said Dick, with a grin. “Anyone got the map? I’d like to take another squint at the spot where we’re going.”

Julian produced a map from his pocket. He opened it and the four children sprawled round it. The map showed a vast and lonely stretch of moorland, with very few houses indeed.

“Just a few small farms, that’s all,” said Julian, pointing to one or two. “They can’t get much of a living out of such poor land, though. See, that’s about the place where we’re going — just there — and on the opposite slope is a small farm where we shall get milk, eggs and butter when we need them. Luffy’s been there before. He says it’s a rather small farm, but jolly useful to campers.”