“You haven’t told us a single word of what happened to you last night,” said Julian, serving out the bacon and eggs with a generous hand. “Now that you’ve got something inside you, perhaps you feel able to tell us exactly why you ignored my instructions and didn’t arrive where you were supposed to last night.”

“You sound like our headmaster at school!” said Dick. “The plain fact is - we got lost! And when we did finally arrive somewhere, we thought it was Blue Pond Farm-house, and we stayed the night there.”

“I see,” said Julian, “But didn’t the people there tell you it wasn’t the right place? Just so that you could have let us know? You must have known that we would worry about you.”

“Well, the old woman there was stone-deaf,” explained Anne, attacking her bacon and eggs vigorously. “She didn’t understand a word we said, and as we thought it was Blue Pond Farm-house, we stayed there - though it was a horrible place. And we were worried because you didn’t arrive!”

“A chapter of accidents,” said Julian. “All’s well that ends well, however.”

“Don’t sound so pompous!” said Dick. “Actually we had a pretty poor time, Ju. Poor Anne had to sleep in a little loft, and I slept in straw in a barn - not that I minded that - but - well, peculiar things happened in the night. At least - I think they did. I’m not really sure it wasn’t all a dream.”

“What peculiar things?” asked Julian at once.

“Well - I think perhaps I’ll tell you when we’re on our way again,” said Dick. “Now I think about it in full daylight I feel that either it was all a silly dream - or - well, as I said - something very peculiar.”

“You never told me, Dick!” said Anne, in surprise.

“Well, to tell you the truth I forgot about it because other things happened,” said Dick. “Having to get away from that man, for instance - and wondering about Julian and George - and feeling so hungry.”

“You don’t sound as if you had a good night at all,” said George. “It must have been awful, too, trying to find your way in the dark. It poured with rain, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Anne, “but oh - the thing that frightened me more than anything was the bells! Did you hear them Julian? They suddenly clanged out, and they made me terribly scared. I couldn’t think what they were! Whatever were they ringing out for? They were so loud.”

“Didn’t you know what they were ringing for?” said Julian. “They were bells rung from the prison that nice old woman told us about - they were rung to tell everyone on the countryside that a prisoner had escaped! Lock your doors. Guard your folk.”

Anne stared at Julian in silence. So that was why the bells had made such a clamour and clangour. She shivered.

“I’m glad I didn’t know that,” she said. “I would have slept in the straw with Dick if I’d known there was an escaped prisoner. Have they caught him?”