"At any rate Mrs Denton will be pleased to see us," Penny said, "and we can tell Alan all about Mr Cantor. Do you think we should do that, David? Shall we tell him how he behaved to the policeman?"

"I don't see why not. Tell him the whole story and that we'll do anything we can to help them."

"That's all very well," Tom said, "but we've got to sleep some time. Don't think I'm not enjoying myself, because I am, but for goodness' sake don't suggest that I sit up on guard again all night."

"What are you boys going to do, then?" Peter asked.

"We'll explore in daylight as much as we can. We'll look for signs of that van of yours, Peter, and if we get a chance I want to go back to that house with the grey walls and see if I can find out who lives there... Anyway, we all meet here, whatever happens, at sunset."

As they walked up the steps of Keep View they caught sight of Mary through the lounge windows. They could not be sure, but it looked as if she was sitting on the arm of Mr Cantor's chair by the fire.

Macbeth barked as they crept into the hall and then Dickie slipped round the door.

"O.K.," he whispered out of the side of his mouth. "We got him. He's hardly struggling yet. He's telling Mary a story - a FAIRY STORY!" and he almost collapsed with stifled laughter. When he had recovered he winked broadly and said, "And what are you going to do?"

They beckoned him to the foot of the stairs, whispered their plans and pushed him back to the lounge. As he opened the door they heard Mary's clear voice saying:

"Oh, Mr Cantor! How absolutely wizard! I mean he was a wizard wizard in that story, wasn't he?..."

Half an hour later the girls came out of the kitchen triumphantly laden with packets of sandwiches and flasks of hot coffee. They had agreed that bicycles would be more trouble than they were worth, so they walked steadily until they reached the signpost at the cross-roads where they had all met in the early hours of the morning.

"Looks different now," David said, "but do you girls think you can find your way? I've found that 'Grey Walls' place on the map, and we're going to go there presently and see if anything happens. But if you don't mind I think I ought to keep the map... I don't see how you can find us if you want us, unless Alan can tell you how to get to 'Grey Walls' from his place. Come to think of it, though, you might upset something if you appeared on the scene, so you'd better keep away... We all meet as arranged. Good luck!"

"Good luck to you," the girls called as they went on their way.