by Энид Блайтон
The Secret of Spiggy Holes
( The Secret Series - 2 )
Энид Блайтон
What excitement for Mike, Jack, Nora and Peggy when they discover the secret caves and passages of Spiggy Holes! And when they find out that a kidnapped prince is being held captive in the old house above the caves, they're in the grips of another adventure! The boys attempt to free the prince in the dead of the night—but Mike is caught and he, too, is taken prisoner...
The Secret of Spiggy Holes
Enid Blyton
The Secret Series
#2
1940
Off for the Holidays
One morning, at the beginning of the summer holidays, four children sat in an express train, feeling tremendously excited.
“Now we’re really off!” said Mike. “My word - think of it - two months in a little house by the sea! Bathing, paddling, fishing, boating - what fun we shall have!”
“All the same, I wish Mummy and Daddy were coming with us,” said Nora, Mike’s twin sister. “I shall miss them - especially after being away at school all term, and only seeing them once.”
“Well, they couldn’t take the whole lot of us with them on their lecture tour!” said Peggy sensibly. “They will join us at Spiggy Holes as soon as they can.”
“Spiggy Holes! Doesn’t that sound an exciting name for a holiday place?” said Jack. “Spiggy Holes - I wonder why it’s called that. I suppose there are holes or caves or something.”
The four children had come home from school the day before. Nora and Peggy had arrived back from their girls’ school, and Mike and Jack from their boys’ school. They had spent the night at home with their father and mother, and now they were off, all alone, to Spiggy Holes.
Jack was the most excited of the four, for he had never been to the sea before! He was not really the brother of Mike, Nora, and Peggy, and had no father and mother of his own.
But the children’s parents had taken him for their own child, because he had helped Mike, Peggy, and Nora so much when they had run away from an unkind aunt and uncle. Captain Arnold, the children’s father, had left them at a farm with his sister, whilst he and his wife had tried to fly to Australia in an aeroplane.
Captain and Mrs. Arnold had been lost for months on a desert island, and when it seemed as if they would never come back, the children’s aunt treated them unkindly. They had made friends with Jack, who had helped them to run away to a secret island in a lake, and there the children had lived together until they had heard that their parents had been found and had come back to England to look for them.
As Jack had no people of his own, and was very fond of Mike, Nora and Peggy, Captain and Mrs. Arnold had said that he should live with them just as if he were another of their children - and Jack had been very happy.
He had gone to boarding school with Mike, and now here they all were together again for the summer holidays. At first they had been sad to hear that Captain and Mrs. Arnold were to go to Ireland to lecture there all about their flying adventures - but now that they were on their way to Cornwall together, to live in a house on the cliffs, and do just what they liked, the children couldn’t help feeling excited and happy.
“Who’s going to look after us at Spiggy Holes?” asked Jack.
“Somebody called Miss Dimity,” said Nora. “I don’t know anything about her except that Mummy says she is nice.”
“Miss Dimity!” said Peggy. “She sounds sort of timid and mouse-like. I shall call her Dimmy.”
The others laughed. “You wait till you see what she’s like!” said Mike. “She might be tall and strict and have a loud voice.”
The train roared on and on. Jack looked at a map on the wall. “I say!” he said. “It looks as if Spiggy Holes isn’t so very far from our secret island! I wonder if we could go over and see it. Dear little secret island - I expect it’s looking grand now.”
“It’s a good distance,” said Mike, looking at the map. “About forty miles, I should think. Well, we’ll see. I’d just love to see our secret island again.”
“Let’s have our dinner now.” said Peggy, undoing the luncheon basket. “Look what Mummy’s given us!”
There were chicken sandwiches, tomato sandwiches, biscuits of all kinds, lemonade to drink, and apples and bananas.
“Jolly good,” said Mike, taking his share of the lunch. “Mummy’s a brick. She always knows what we like!”
“How long is it before we get to Spiggy Holes?” asked Nora, eating her chicken sandwiches hungrily.
“We get to the nearest station at half-past four this afternoon,” said Mike. “But that’s six miles from Spiggy Holes. There’s to be a car or something to meet us.”
The time passed rather slowly. They had their books to read, and they played games of counting the signal-boxes and tunnels - but long before half-past four came they all felt tired, dirty, and hot.
“I’m going to sleep,” said Nora, and she put her feet up on the seat.
“Sleep!” said Mike scornfully. “I couldn’t possibly go to sleep now.”
All the same, he was fast asleep in a few minutes! So were they all, whilst the train thundered along through the sunny countryside, rushing under bridges, past stations and through tunnels at a tremendous speed.
The children only awoke as the train was slowing down in a station. Mike leapt up and looked out of the window.
“I say! Our station is the next one!” he yelled to the others. “Wake up, you sleepy-heads, wake up! Get your things down from the rack, and make yourselves a bit tidy. You look dreadful.“
So they all cleaned themselves up, and got down their things. They were just ready when the train slowed up again and it was time to get out.
They jumped out, one after the other. Mike called to a porter, “We’ve two trunks in the van. Will you get them out, please?”
The porter ran to do so. Jack wandered out into the yard to see if any car had come to meet them. But there was none. Only a sleepy brown horse stood there, with a farm wagon behind him. A farm-lad stood at his head.
“Are you Master Arnold, sir?” he said to Jack. “I’m meeting a party of four children to take them to Spiggy Holes.”
“Good,” said Jack. He called to the others. “Hie, Mike! Nora! Peggy! There’s a wagonette here to take us all. Hurry!”
The porter wheeled out the two trunks. The children piled themselves and their belongings into the wagonette and grinned at the farm-lad, who looked a jolly sort of fellow. He got up into the driving-seat, cracked his whip and off they went trundling over the six miles to Spiggy Holes.
It was wonderful country that they passed through. The sea lay on one side, far down the cliff, as blue as the sky above. The cliffs were magnificent, and the coast was very rocky. Here and there the sea splashed around enormous rocks, and washed them with white spray.
On the other side were fields and hills. Poppies blazed by the roadside, and blue chicory flowers shone as brightly as the sky. The children were thrilled with everything.
“Hope the weather keeps on being sunny and warm like this,” said Mike. “I shall live in a bathing-costume!”
“So shall I,” said the others at once.
The horse cantered on. The children could hear the sound of the waves breaking on the shore far below. They were driving along a high, winding cliff road, and the sea-wind blew hard in their faces. It was a very pleasant breeze, for the sun was hot, and still high in the sky.
“What’s our house called?” Mike asked the farm-lad, who was driving.
“It’s called Peep-Hole,” said the lad.
“Peep-Hole!” said Jack, surprised. “What an odd name!”
He pointed with his whip - and the four children saw the queer little house that was to be their home and the centre of their strange adventures for the next few weeks.
It was a funny crooked house, with a queer little tower built on one side of it. It was set in a hollow in the cliffs, and was turned towards the sea.
“It’s called Peep-Hole because it really is a kind of peep-hole out to sea, set in the middle of those two cliffs,” said the farm-lad. “And from the tower you can see the tower of the old house set back on the cliff behind those tall trees there. They do say that in smugglers’ days someone in the Peep-Hole used to flash signals to someone watching in the tower of the Old House.”
“I say! This sounds exciting,” said Jack. “Smugglers - and towers - and flashing lights - and I suppose there are caves too.”
“Scores of them,” said the lad, grinning. “You mind you don’t get lost in some of them, or get caught by the tide. This is a rare dangerous coast for children.”
“Here’s the Peep-Hole,” cried Nora, as they drew up outside the funny house with its one tall tower. “And look - that must be Miss Dimity at the door! And she’s just as mouse-like as you said, Peggy!”
All the children looked at Miss Dimity. She was a small, oldish woman, with neat grey hair, a little smiling face, and big grey eyes that looked timid and kind.
“Welcome to the Peep-Hole, children!” she cried in a little bird-like voice.
“Thank you, Miss Dimity!” said the children, and they each shook hands politely.
“I hope you’ll have a good-time here,” said Miss Dimity, leading the way indoors. “Your rooms are in the tower. I thought you would like that.”
“In the tower!” cried Nora. With a squeal that made Miss Dimity jump. “Oh, how lovely, lovely, lovely!”
Miss Dimity led the way to a funny little spiral staircase that went up and up and round and round to the top of the tower. In the tower were two rooms, one above the other. They were not very large and were perfectly round.
“Now you can wash and brush your hair and then come down to tea,” said Miss Dimity, in her firm, gentle voice. And she added again, “I do hope you will have a good time here.”
She didn’t guess what a strange time the children would have - poor Miss Dimity!
At Spiggy Holes
The children washed and tidied themselves. They chattered loudly all the time. The boys had the top room, and as it had four windows, one on each side of the round tower, they had four different views.
“This window looks over the sea for a long way,” said Jack, peering out. “And the next one looks on the cliffs - and this one looks overland and has a jolly good view of that old house up there - and this one just looks over the roofs of Peep-Hole.”
“That old house looks rather interesting and mysterious,” said Mike. “It’s very big. I wonder who lives there.”
“Come along, children!” called Miss Dimity. “Tea is ready.”
They all ran downstairs, laughing at the queer little winding staircase. They felt so happy. It was such fun to be all together again, after three months at school - it was nice to think of the lovely long weeks stretching before them, full of sunshine and fun.
There was a splendid tea, with three kinds of homemade cakes, and some delicious honey made by Miss Dimity’s own bees. There was no tea to drink - just big mugs of cold creamy milk.
Miss Dimity sat at the head of the table, and asked them about their journey down. The children liked her. She laughed at their jokes, and didn’t seem to mind how many cakes they ate.
“I made them all,” she said. “So it’s nice to see them being eaten. I know you like them then.”
“We certainly do, Dimmy,” said Nora. The others giggled and looked at Miss Dimity. Was she going to be cross at being called Dimmy?
“Dear me,” she said, “that’s what I was called at school. It is nice to hear that old name again!”
So after that they all called her Dimmy, and the name suited her beautifully.
When they had eaten their tea Dimmy got up to clear away. She did all the cooking and housework herself.
“Would you like us to help you?” asked Peggy politely.
“Oh no, thank you,” said Dimmy, stacking up the cups and saucers. “You’ve come here to have a holiday, not to help me. But there are one or two rules I want you to keep, all of you.”
“What are they?” asked Mike, rather alarmed. This sounded a bit like school to him.
“Oh, nothing very much,” said Dimmy, smiling. “You must make your own beds each morning. You must be in good time for meals - though if you want to picnic out of doors you can tell me and I’ll put you up lunch or tea any time you like. And the third thing is something your mother asked me - that is, you must be in bed by half-past eight.”
“All right, Dimmy.” said Mike. “We’ll keep the rules. We’ve all got watches, so we know the time. Now can we go and explore a bit?”
“Yes - go out for an hour, then come back in time for bed,” said Dimmy. “I’ll unpack for you, if you like.”
“Oh goody!” said Peggy, pleased. “Thanks very much. Come on, you others!”
They all trooped out of the house and ran to the path that led down to the beach. It was a steep path, made of steps that were cut into the rock itself.
“It winds down like our tower staircase!” said Mike. “Isn’t it a steep cliff - and I say, just look at the colour of the sea! I’ve never seen such a blue.”
The sun was sinking in the west. To the east the sea was deep blue and calm. To the west it was full of a dancing golden light. The children laughed for joy and jumped down the last steps to the golden sand. It was studded with shells of all sorts.
“I’ll be able to make a fine collection of shells,” said Mike, who loved to make collections of all kinds of things.
“I say! Look at those caves!” suddenly said Jack, and he pointed to the cliff behind them. The others looked. They saw big and small holes in the cliffs.
“Let’s go and see them,” said Nora. She ran up to the cliff and peered inside one cave.
“Oooh!” she said. “It’s cold and dark in there.” She was right. It was. The sunshine could not get inside the deep caves, and they felt damp and mysterious.
“I wonder how far they go back,” said Mike. “It would be fun to bring a torch and see.”
“We’ll do that one day,” said Peggy. “Now what about a paddle? Come on!”
They took off their sandals and splashed into the water. It was warm. They danced about in glee, and played ‘catch’ in the water. Nora fell over and wetted her frock.
Peggy squeezed it out, and then looked at her watch.
“Goodness, it’s time we went back!” she said. “We must hurry. Come on!”
They ran back to the cliff and climbed up the steep, narrow path in the rock, panting and puffing, for they were not yet used to it. Then down the garden they ran to the side-door of Peep-Hole. Miss Dimity was setting a simple supper for them of green lettuce and brown bread and butter, and barley water.
“Good old Dimmy!” cried Mike. “Oh, this is a lovely place, Dimmy. There are dozens of caves down there on the beach.”
“I know,” said Dimmy. “They are called the Spiggy Holes after a famous smuggler called Spiggy, who lived a hundred and fifty years ago. He used to live in that old house higher up the cliff. It is said that he used this house as a spy-place so that he might know when his smuggling boats were coming in.”
“Oooh! How exciting!” said Mike. “Good old Spiggy!”
“He wasn’t good,” said Miss Dimity sternly. “He was very bad.”
“I wish there were smugglers nowadays,” said Peggy. “Then perhaps we could spy on them and discover them. It would be most exciting.”
“Well, there are no smugglers in Spiggy Holes,” said Dimmy. “Have you finished your supper? It is qui
te time you went up to bed. I suppose you can be trusted to wash and clean your teeth and all that without me seeing that you do?”
“Dimmy dear, do you suppose our teachers at school come and see that we do all that?” said Jack. “It may surprise you to know that we are all of us over five years old.”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all, you cheeky boy,” said Dimmy, smacking him with a spoon, as he ran by her. “Go along with you!”
They all went upstairs giggling. “Dimmy is a good sort,” said Nora, as she undressed in her little round tower room with Peggy. “She likes a bit of fun. Oh, I do like this funny bedroom, with its four windows, don’t you, Peggy?”
“Yes,” said Peggy. “But the boys have got the best room - so high up like that. Let’s go and say good-night to them.”
They slipped on their dressing-gowns and climbed the winding stairs to the boys’ room. Both the boys were in bed. “We’ve come to say good-night,” said Peggy. “Isn’t this a lovely place to stay in, Mike?”
“Lovely,” said Mike, with a huge yawn. “I like a room where the sun shines in from dawn to dusk, and has four windows to peep through!”
Peggy went to the window that looked up the cliff, away from the sea.
“That old house looks queer,” she said. “I don’t think I like it. Do you see its big tower, Mike? It is just like this little one, but taller and bigger. It seems as if that big tower is frowning down at ours.”
“You do have silly ideas, Peggy.” said Mike sleepily. “We’ll go and explore the grounds of the Old House sometime - and wouldn’t it be fun if the house was empty and we could go inside and see what the tower there was like!”
“I wonder what Spiggy the Smuggler was like,” said Nora.
“You’ll have Dimmy after you with a hair-brush to spank you with if you don’t go to bed,” said Jack, burying his head in his pillow. “I can’t think why you are so wide awake. Do go to bed.”
“All right,” said Peggy. “Good-night. See you tomorrow, sleepy heads!”