Five Go To Smuggler's Top Read Online Free PDF Page A

age.
    'Here you are at last!' cried the boy, his dark eyes dancing. 'I thought you were never coming!'
    'This is Sooty,' said Dick to the girls, who had not met him before. They stared at him.
    He was certainly very very dark. Black hair, black eyes, black eyebrows, and a brown face. In contrast to him the girl beside him looked pale and delicate. She had golden hair, blue eyes and her eyebrows were so faint they could hardly be seen.
    'This is Marybelle, my sister,' said Sooty. 'I always think we look like Beauty and the Beast!'
    Sooty was nice. Everyone liked him at once. George found herself twinkling at him in a way quite strange to her, for usually she was shy of strangers, and would not make friends for some time. But who could help liking Sooty with his dancing black eyes and his really wicked grin?
    'Come in,' said Sooty. 'Driver, you can take the car round to the next door, and Block will take in the luggage for you and give you tea.'
    Suddenly Sooty's face lost its smile and grew very solemn. He had seen Timmy!
    'I say! I say - that's not your dog, is it?' he said.
    'He's mine,' said George, and she laid a protecting-hand on Timmy's head. 'I had to bring him. I can't go anywhere without him.'
    'Yes, but - no dogs are allowed at Smuggler's Top,' said Sooty, still looking very worried, and glancing behind him as if he was afraid someone might come along and see Timmy. 'My stepfather won't allow any dogs here. Once I brought in a stray one and he licked me till I couldn't sit down - my stepfather licked me, I mean, not the dog.'
    Anne gave a frightened little smile at the poor joke. George looked stubborn and sulky.
    'I thought - I thought maybe we could hide him somewhere while we were here,' she said. 'But if that's how you feel, I'll go back home with the car. Good-bye.'
    She turned and went after the car, which was backing away. Timmy went with her. Sooty stared, and then he yelled after her. 'Come back, stupid! We'll think of something!'
     
     

Chapter Five
     
    SOOTY LENOIR
     
    SOOTY ran down the steps that led to the front door, and tore after George. The others followed. Marybelle went too, shutting the big front door behind her carefully.
    There was a small door in the wall just where George was. Sooty caught hold of her and pushed her roughly through the door, holding it open for the others.
    'Don't shove me like that,' began George, angrily. 'Timmy will bite you if you push me about.'
    'No, he won't,' said Sooty, with a cheerful grin. 'Dogs like me. Even if I boxed your ears your dog would only wag his tail at me.'
    The children found themselves in a dark passage. There was a door at the farther end. 'Wait here a minute and I'll see if the coast is clear,' said Sooty. 'I know my stepfather is in, and I tell you, if he sees that dog he'll pack you all into the car again, and send you back! And I don't want him to do that because I can't tell you how I've looked forward to having you all!'
    He grinned at them, and their hearts warmed towards him again, even George's, though she still felt angry at being so roughly pushed. She kept Timmy close beside her.
    All the same everyone felt a bit scared of Mr Lenoir. He sounded rather a fierce sort of person!
    Sooty tiptoed to the door at the end of the passage and opened it. He peeped into the room there, and then came back to the others.
    'All clear,' he said. 'We'll take the secret passage to my bedroom. No one will see us then, and once we're there we can make plans to hide the dog. Ready?'
    A secret passage sounded thrilling. Feeling rather as if they were in an adventure story, the children went quietly to the door and into the room beyond. It was a dark, oak-panelled room, evidently a study of some sort, for there was a big desk there, and the walls were lined with books. There was no one there.
    Sooty went to one of the oak panels in the wall, felt along it deftly, and pressed in a certain place. The panel slid softly aside. Sooty put in his hand and pulled