The men darted into the room next to the one into which they had locked the children, and banged the door. Timmy flung himself against it in rage, snarling and growling in a most terrifying manner. If only he could get at those men! If only he could!

Chapter Twenty-one

Most unexpected!

Soon there was real pandemonium in the old house! The sleepers in the rooms on the top landing awoke suddenly and found their doors locked, and began to bang on them and shout. The three children in the locked room on the ground floor shouted and banged too — and Timmy nearly went mad!

Only the men in the room next to the children were silent. They were terrified at Timmy’s growling and snarling. They would have liked to lock themselves in, but the key was on the other side of the door — and they certainly didn’t dare to open it to get the key!

Soon the children quietened down. Dick sat on a chair, exhausted. “That cat! That wretched, prowling, sly old cat! Gosh, I stepped on it and it scratched me to the bone — to say nothing of pitching me headlong down the stairs and making me wrench my ankle!”

“We so nearly managed to escape!” groaned Julian.

“I can’t think what will happen now!” said George. “Timmy’s out there and can’t get in to us, and we can’t possibly get out to him because the door’s locked — and those men won’t dare to set a foot outside their door while Tim’s there!”

“And we’ve locked the people into their rooms upstairs!” said Julian. “Well, it’s certain that nobody can get out of their rooms to help anyone else — so it looks as if we’ll all be here till Doomsday!”

It certainly did seem a very poor look-out! The only people who were not behind locked doors were the two men, whoever they were — and they simply dared not put a foot outside their room. Timmy roamed about occasionally whimpering and scratching outside the children’s door, but more often growling outside the next door, sometimes flinging his heavy body against it as if he would break it down.

“I bet the men are shaking with fright,” said Dick. “They won’t even dare to try and get out of a window in case they meet Timmy outside somewhere!”

“Serve them right,” said George. “Gosh, I’m glad you came! Wasn’t I an absolute ass to take Sally down to the kennel that night?”

“You were,” said Julian, “I agree wholeheartedly. The men were waiting for a chance to get Berta, of course, and they saw you, complete with Berta’s dog and thought you were the girl they wanted!”

“Yes. They flung something all over my head so that I couldn’t make a sound,” said George. “I fought like anything, and my dressing-gown girdle must have slipped off — did you find it?”

“Yes,” said Dick. “We were jolly glad to find a few other things too — the comb — the hanky — the sweet — and of course the note!”