Mystery of the Hidden House Read Online Free PDF

purple-red. “You show it to me,” he said.
    “Can’t,” said Ern. “It’s private.”
    “What do you mean - private!” snorted Mr. Goon. “A kid like you don’t know what private means. You give me that note.”
    “But, Uncle - it’s only from Fatty to say he wants to see me,” protested Ern.
    “You show that note to me!” shouted Mr. Goon, and Ern, scared, passed it over. Mr. Goon snorted again as he read it.
    “Gah! All a lot of tommy-rot! Developments indeed! What does he mean by that?”
    Ern didn’t know, and he said so several times, but his uncle didn’t believe him. “If that there cheeky toad is up to his tricks again, I’ll skin him!” said Mr. Goon, “And you tell him that, see?”
    “Oh, I will, Uncle,” said Ern, trying to edge out of the room. “I always tell them what you say. They like to hear. But it’s not right of Pip to say you’re a flat-footed bull-frog, I did tell him that.”
    Before the purple Mr. Goon could find his tongue to say what he thought of this, Ern was out of the house and away. He mopped his forehead. Lovaduck - his uncle was a hot-tempered chap all right. Anyway, he hadn’t forbidden him to go; that was something!
    He arrived at the bottom of Fatty’s garden and heard voices in the shed there. It was Fatty’s work-room and playroom. He had made it very comfortable indeed. On this cold winter’s day he had an oil-stove burning brightly and the inside of the shed was warm and cosy. A tiger-skin was on the floor, old and moth-eaten, but looking very grand, and a crocodile skin was stretched along one side of the shed-wall. The Five Find-Outers were trying to roast chestnuts on top of the oil-stove. They had a tin of condensed milk and were each having a dip in it with a spoon as they talked.
    Ern looked in at the window. Ha! They were all there. Good! He knocked at the door.
    “Come in!” called Fatty, and Ern went in. An icy draught at once came in with him.
    “Shut the door,” said Daisy. “Oooh! What a draught. Hallo, Ern. Did you enjoy your egg for breakfast?”
    Ern looked surprised. “Yes. But how did you know I had egg for breakfast?”
    “Oh - we’re doing a bit of detecting for practice this morning,” said Daisy. The others tried not to laugh. Ern had spilt a good bit of his egg down the front of his jacket at breakfast, so it was not a difficult bit of detecting!
    “Sorry you had to leave in such a hurry to come here,” said Fatty, solemnly.
    Ern looked even more surprised. “Lovaduck! Is that another bit of detecting? How’d you know I left in a hurry?”
    Ern had no hat and no coat, so that wasn’t a very difficult bit of detecting either. Nobody explained to Ern how they knew about his breakfast or his hurry, and he sat down feeling rather puzzled.
    “Perhaps you’d like to tell me what I had for breakfast,” said Fatty to Ern. “Go on - do a bit of detecting too.”
    Ern looked at Fatty’s solemn face, but no ideas about breakfast came into his mind. He shook his head. “No. I can see this sort of thing wants a lot of practice. Coo, I wasn’t half excited when I got your note this morning. My uncle saw me reading it.”
    “Did he really?” said Fatty with interest. “Did he say anything?”
    “Oh, he got into a rage, you know, but I soon settled that,” said Ern. “I just told him what I thought of him. ‘Uncle,’ I said, ‘this is a private note. It’s none of your business, so keep out of it.’ Just like that.”
    Everyone looked at him admiringly but disbelievingly, “And what did he say to that?” asked Pip.
    “He began to go purple,” said Ern, “and I said ‘Now calm yourself, Uncle, or you’ll go pop. And don’t go poking your nose into what I do with my friends. It’s private.’ And then I walked out and came here.”
    “Most admirable!” said Fatty. “Sit down on the tiger-skin rug, Ern. Don’t be afraid of the head and the teeth. He’s not as fierce now as he was when I shot him in the Tippylooloo Plain.”
    Ern’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “Lovaduck! You been