The children looked at Will. He was working in the little vegetable garden, an old fellow with a shrivelled face, a tiny nose and a pair of very blue eyes. They liked the look of him.

“Yes. He looks like a farm-worker,” said Julian. “The others don’t.”

“He won’t work with them,” said Jock. “He just says rude things to them, and calls them ninnies and idjits.”

“What’s an idjit?” asked Anne.

“An idiot, silly,” said Dick. He walked up to old Will. “Good morning,” he said. “You’re very busy. There’s always a lot to do on a farm, isn’t there?”

The old fellow looked at Dick out of his very blue eyes, and went on with his work. “Plenny to do and plenny of folkses to do it, and not much done,” he said, in a croaking kind of voice. “Never thought as I’d be put to work with ninnies and idjits. No, that I didn’t. Ninnies and idjits!”

“There! What did I tell you?” said Jock, with a grin. “He’s always calling the other men that, so we just have to let him work right away from them. Still, I must say he’s about right — most of the fellows here don’t know the first thing about work on a farm. I wish my stepfather would let us have a few proper workers instead of these fellows.”

“Where’s your stepfather?” said Julian, thinking he must be rather peculiar to pour money into a little moorland farm like this, and yet choose the wrong kind of workers.

“He’s away for the day,” said Jock. “Thank goodness!” he added, with a sideways look at the others.

“Why? Don’t you like him?” asked Dick.

“He’s all right,” said Jock. “But he’s not a farmer, though he makes out he’s always wanted to be — and what’s more he doesn’t like me one bit. I try to like him for Mum’s sake. But I’m always glad when he’s out of the way.”

“Your mother’s nice,” said George.

“Oh, yes — Mum’s grand,” said Jock. “You don’t know what it means to her to have a little farm of her own again, and to be able to run it with the proper machinery and all.”

They came to a large barn. The door was locked. “I told you what was in here before,” said Jock. “Lorries! You can peek through that hole here at them. Don’t know why my stepfather wanted to buy up so many, but I suppose he got them cheap — he loves to get things cheap and sell them dear! He did say they’d be useful on the farm, to take goods to the market.”

“Yes — you told us that when we were here yesterday,” said Dick. “But you’ve got heaps of wagons for that!”

“Yes. I reckon they weren’t bought for the farm at all, but for holding here till prices went high and he could make a lot of money,” said Jock, lowering his voice. “I don’t tell Mum that. So long as she gets what she wants for the farm, I’m going to hold my tongue.”