“I can’t make any sense of this paper,” said Julian, “It’s a plan of some kind, I think - but what of, or where, it’s impossible to know.”

“The fellow said that Maggie had one of these bits of paper too,” said Dick, remembering.

“Who in the wide world is Maggie?” said George, “And why should Maggie know?”

“Any more to tell?” asked Julian, intensely interested now.

“Well - the son of the deaf old woman came into the barn later on,” said Dick. “And he sat and waited and waited, and muttered and muttered - and then when I woke up he wasn’t there. So I thought I must have dreamt him too. He didn’t see me, of course.”

Julian pursed up his lips and frowned. Then Anne spoke excitedly.

“Dick! Ju! I think I know why the second man came into the barn. It was the second man that the wild-eyed man wanted to give the message to, and the bit of paper - not to Dick. He didn’t want Dick. But he had seen him creep into the barn, and I suppose he thought Dick was the man he really wanted and that he was in the barn waiting for him!”

“That’s all very well - but how did he know my name?” asked Dick,

“He didn’t know it! He didn’t know it was you at all!” said Anne, excitedly. “The other man’s name must have been Dick too! Don’t you see? They must have planned to meet there, the wild-eyed man and the old woman’s son - and the first man saw Dick go in, so he waited a bit and then went and tapped on the window! And when he called “Dick! Dick!” of course Dick thought it was he that he wanted, and he took the message and everything! And then the other man, the real Dick came along - and was too late to meet the first one. Our Dick had met him and got the message!”

Anne was quite breathless after this long speech. She sat and stared at the others eagerly. Didn’t they think she was right?

They did, of course. Julian clapped her on the back. “Well worked out, Anne! Of course that’s what happened.”

Dick suddenly remembered the boy they had met on the way down from the old woman’s cottage to Beacons Village - the whistling boy. What had he said about the old woman and her son?

“Anne - what did that whistling boy say? Wait a bit - he said that was Mrs Taggart’s place - and he said we’d better not go there or her son would drive us off. And he said - yes, I remember now - he said “Dirty Dick we call him - he’s a terror!” Dirty Dick! His name must be Dick then! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

“That proves that Anne is right,” said Julian, pleased. Anne looked pleased too. It wasn’t often that she thought of something clever before the others did!