David whistled, Jenny looked blank, Humphrey sat down suddenly and the policeman mopped his forehead again. Then Peter waved to Dickie, who was grimacing and walking backwards down the track, while Mary kept Uncle Micah's back to them. When he saw Peter's signal he turned and took the old man's other hand. Then they led him to the lonely hawthorn some fifty yards away, and, to everyone's astonishment, blindfolded him with his own handkerchief. And to all this he submitted seemingly without complaint and sat down with his back to the tree. Mary bent and whispered to him, kissed his cheek and then dashed back to the others with her eyes blazing with excitement.

"Go on! Go on! What are you waiting for?" she hissed when she reached them. "Is he up there, Peter darling? Is he safe?"

"He's all right, but it was an awful job getting him up the ladder. I pulled and poor old Tom pushed. But he's there now."

"Right," called Tom from above, and up shot the cradle. "He's heavy. Better have David and Peter on the rope as well."

Then they saw Charles Sterling pushing himself along to the edge of the ledge. He grinned at them and waved his cigarette as he got his bad ankle first through the ropes of the cradle. But Tom was there to help him, and soon he was sinking gently to the ground, where helping hands were waiting.

"Well, Humphrey," he said as if it was only yesterday that he had gone away, "how do?" and he shook hands and then smiled at David and Jenny and said, "Well done, kids, and thanks a lot."

Then Mary took charge.

"Your broken-hearted father is waiting for you over there, Uncle Charles. I promised you. We promised you, I mean, didn't we? I asked him to say his heart's desire and he was too shy to say it was you, but I know you are. Can you get there with a stick? He promised to wait there till someone took the hankie off his eyes. He looks lonely, doesn't he?"

"So do you, Uncle Charles," said Dickie suddenly, as he looked up at him.

The big man laughed shakily. "Maybe I am! Wait here, all of you. I'll manage with this stick," and he hobbled over towards the hawthorn.

"Don't watch them, you beasts!" Mary cried, and turned her back.

"Oh, well," said Dickie, as he found two more sandwiches, "we've done it again. Mary and me can do these things."

"Well, I'd be much obliged if you'd do something for me instead of talking so much," came peevishly from Tom who was still aloft. "What about me?"