“Come on, quickly,” said Dick, in a low voice to Julian. “There’s his father coming back!”

They hurried off down the cliff-path, seeing Mr Curton out of the corner of their eyes, coming up the other path.

“Horrid man!” said Anne. “Forbidding Martin to do what he really longs to do. And he seemed so nice and jolly and all-over-us, didn’t he?”

“Very all-over-us,” said Dick, smiling at Anne’s new word. “But there are a lot of people like that — one thing at home and quite another outside!”

“I hope Mr Curton hasn’t been trying to explore that passage in the side of the quarry,” said George, looking back, and watching the man walk up to his back door. “It would be too bad if he butted in and spoilt our fun. I mean — there may be nothing to discover at all — but it will be fun even finding there is nothing.”

“Very involved!” said Dick, with a grin. “But I gather what you mean. I say, that was a good tea, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” said George, looking all round her in an absent-minded manner.

“What’s up?” said Dick. “What are you looking like that for?”

“Oh — how silly of me — I was just looking for Timmy,” said George. “You know, I’m so used to him always being at my heels or somewhere near that I just can’t get used to him not being here.”

“Yes, I feel a bit like that too,” said Julian. “As if there was something missing all the time. Good old Tim! We shall miss him awfully, all of us — but you most of all, George.”

“Yes. Especially on my bed at night,” said George. “I shan’t be able to go to sleep for ages and ages.”

“I’ll wrap a cushion up in a rug and plonk it down on your feet when you’re in bed,” said Dick. “Then it will feel like Timmy!”

“It won’t! Don’t be silly,” said George, rather crossly. “And anyway it wouldn’t smell like him. He’s got a lovely smell.”

“Yes, a Timmy-smell,” agreed Anne. “I like it too.”

The evening went very quickly, playing the endless game of monopoly again. Julian lay in bed later, watching for his uncle’s signal. Needless to say, George was at the window too! They waited for half past ten.

“Now!” said Julian. And just as he spoke there came the first flash from the lantern in the tower.

“One,” counted George, “two — three — four — five — six!” She waited anxiously to see if there were any more, but there weren’t.

“Now you can go to bed in peace,” said Julian to George. “Your father is all right, and that means that Timmy is all right too. Probably he has remembered to give Timmy a good supper and has had some himself as well!”

“Well, Timmy would soon remind him, if he forgot to feed him, that’s one thing,” said George, slipping out of the room. “Good night, Dick; good night, Ju! See you in the morning.”