“Jolly good,” said Dick, lost in admiration. “Does it take long to learn a thing like that?”

“Matter of twenty years or so,” said Bufflo. “But you want to begin when you’re a nipper — about three years old, say. My Pa taught me — and if I didn’t learn fast enough he’d take the skin off the tips of my ears with his whiplash! You soon learn if you know that’s going to happen to you!”

The boys gazed at Bufflo’s big ears. They certainly did look a bit rough at the edges!

“I throw knives too,” said Bufflo, basking in the boys’ admiration. “I put Skippy up against a board, and throw knives all round her — so that when she walks away from the board at the end, there’s her shape all outlined in knives. Like to see me?”

“Well, no, not now,” said Julian, looking at his watch. “We’re going to see over the castle. Have you ever seen over it, Bufflo?”

“No. Who wants to waste time going over a ruined old castle?” said Bufflo, scornfully. “Not me!”

He went off to his caravan, spinning rope-rings as he went with an ease that Dick couldn’t help envying from the bottom of his heart. What a pity he hadn’t begun to learn these things early enough. He was afraid he would never be really good at them now. He was too old!

“George! Jo! It’s time we went,” called Julian. “Put down those snakes, and come along. Anne! Are you ready?”

Mr. Slither went to collect his snakes. They glided over him in delight, and he ran his hands over their smooth, gleaming bodies.

“I must wash my hands before I go,” said George. “They’re a bit snaky. Coming, Jo?”

Jo didn’t really see why it was necessary to wash snaky hands, but she went with George to the stream and they rinsed them thoroughly. George wiped her hands on a rather dirty hanky, and Jo wiped hers on a much dirtier skirt. She looked at George’s shorts enviously. What a pity to have to wear skirts!

They didn’t lock up the caravans. Julian felt sure that the fair-folk were now really friendly to them, and would not take anything from them themselves, nor permit anyone else to do so. They all walked down the hillside, Timmy bounding along joyfully, under the impression that he was going to take them for a nice long walk.

They climbed over the stile, walked up the lane a little way, and came to the wooden gate that opened on to the steep path up to the castle. Now that it was so near to them it looked almost as if it might fall on top of them!

They went up the path and came to the small tower in which was the little door giving entrance to the castle. An old woman was there, looking a little like a witch. If she had had green eyes Anne would most certainly have set her down as a descendant of a witch! But she had eyes like black beads. She had no teeth at all and it was difficult to understand what she said.