Five Go Off to Camp Read Online Free PDF Page B

out!'
    He shook himself, and bits of grit and sand flew out of his hair. He took a step towards the hole again, but George caught hold of his tail. 'No, Timmy. Home now!'
    'He's looking for a spook-train,' said Dick, and that made everyone laugh, even Anne.
    They set off back to the camping-place, pleasantly tired, with Timmy following rather sulkily at their heels. When they at last got back they saw Mr Luffy sitting waiting for them.
    The blue smoke from his pipe curled up into the air.
    'Hallo, hal o!' he said, and his brown eyes looked up at them from under his shaggy eyebrows. 'I was beginning to wonder if you'd got lost. Stil , I suppose that dog of yours would always bring you back.'
    Timmy wagged his tail politely. 'Woof,' he agreed, and went to drink out of the bucket of water. Anne stopped him just in time.
    'No, Timmy! You're not to drink out of our washing-up water. There's yours, in the dish over there.'
    Timmy went to his dish and lapped. He thought Anne was very fussy. Anne asked Mr Luffy if he would like any supper.
    'We're not having a proper supper,' she said. 'We had tea so late. But I'l cook you something if you like, Mr Luffy.'
    'Very kind of you. But I've had an enormous tea,' said Mr Luffy. 'I've brought up a fruit cake for you, from my own larder. Shal we share it for supper? And I've got a bottle of lime juice, too, which wil taste grand with some of the stream water.'
    The boys went off to get some fresh stream water for drinking. Anne got out some plates and cut slices of the cake.
    'Well,' said Mr Luffy. 'Had a nice walk?'
    'Yes/ said Anne, 'except that we met a strange one-legged man who told us he saw spook-trains.'
    Mr Luffy laughed. 'Well, well! He must be a cousin of a little girl I know who thought she was sitting on a volcano.'

    Anne giggled. 'You're not to tease me. No, honestly, Mr Luffy, this old man was a watchman at a sort of old railway yard - not used now - and he said when the spook-trains came, he blew out his light and got under his bed so that they shouldn't get him.'
    'Poor old fel ow,' said Mr Luffy. 'I hope he didn't frighten you.'
    'He did a bit,' said Anne. 'And he threw a cinder at Dick and hit him on the head.
    Tomorrow we're going to the farm to ask the boy there if he's heard of the spook-trains, too. We met an old shepherd who said he'd heard them but not seen them.'
    'Well, well - it al sounds most interesting,' said Mr Luffy. 'But these exciting stories usual y have a very tame explanation, you know. Now would you like to see what I found today?
    A very rare and interesting little beetle.'
    He opened a smal square tin and showed a shiny beetle to Anne. It had green feelers and a red fiery spot near its tail-end. It was a lovely little thing.
    'Now that's much more exciting to me than half a dozen spook-trains,' he told Anne.
    'Spook-trains won't keep me awake at night - but thinking of this little beetle-fel ow here certainly wil .'
    'I don't very much like beetles,' said Anne. 'But this one certainly is pretty. Do you real y like hunting about al day for insects, and watching them, Mr Luffy?'
    'Yes, very much,' said Mr Luffy. 'Ah, here come the
    boys with the water. Now we'll hand the cake round, shal we? Where's George? Oh, there she is, changing her shoes.'
    George had a blister, and she had been putting a strip of plaster on her heel. She came up when the boys arrived and the cake was handed round. They sat in a circle, munching, while the sun gradually went down in a blaze of red.
    'Nice day tomorrow again,' said Julian. 'What shall we do?'
    'We'll have to go to the farm first,' said Dick. The farmer's wife said she'd let us have some more bread if we turned up in the morning. And we could do with more eggs if we can get them. We took eight hard-boiled ones with us today and we've only one or two left. And who's eaten all the tomatoes, I'd like to know?'
    'Al of you,' said Anne at once. 'You're perfect pigs over the tomatoes.'
    'I'm afraid I'm one of the pigs,'