by Энид Блайтон
“Who is he, Jack? Who is the prisoner?” cried Nora impatiently.
“Well,” said Jack, turning to them, “he has just spelt out in his fingers that he is Prince Paul!”
The others stared at him in surprise.
“Prince Paul!” said Peggy. “A prince! What country is he prince of?”
“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I’ll ask him. Where are the letters?”
But by the time he had got the first one, Prince Paul had disappeared. He went quite suddenly, as if someone had pulled him back. Jack darted back from his own window, and pulled Peggy with him. They almost fell on the floor and Peggy was quite cross.
“Don’t, Jack,” she began - but then she saw Jack’s face, and she followed his eyes, and saw what he saw. Mr. Diaz and sleepy-eyed Luiz were both at the far tower window - and they were looking very hard indeed at the children’s window.
“Did he see us, Jack?” said Peggy, speaking in a whisper, as if she was afraid that Mr. Diaz might hear her.
“No,” said Jack. “We got away just in time. Maybe they went into the prisoner’s room and caught him signalling. Or maybe they just took him away from the window because they wanted to look out themselves. I’m sure they know this is our bedroom!”
“Jack, do you think we can possibly rescue that boy?” asked Nora eagerly. “And do you think he really is a prince?”
“We can’t rescue him by using the secret passage,” said Jack, “because even if we used it, it only takes us to the cellars, and Mr. Diaz keeps the tower-room locked. This is going to be difficult.”
“We shall have to be very careful not to be seen by Mr. Diaz at our window,” said Nora. “Perhaps he already thinks we know about the prisoner.”
“He can’t know that,” said Jack. “He didn’t see our messages.”
“I say! I’ve got an idea!” said Mike. “What about us making a rope-ladder and getting up to the tower-room on it at night?”
“But how could we get it up to the window?” said Nora.
“Well, if we can tell the prisoner about it he can help to pull it up,” said Jack. “You know how to get a rope-ladder up to a high window, don’t you? First of all you tie a stone or something heavy on to a long piece of string. Then you tie the piece of string on to a thin twine. Then you tie the twine to the rope-ladder. You throw the stone up to the window and the person there catches it, pulls up the string. Pulls up the twine - and the rope-ladder comes last of all! He fixes it safely to something and escapes!”
“That’s a grand idea!” said the others.
“Let’s try it,” said Peggy.
“We’ll have to get string and twine and rope,” said Nora.
“George will let us have some,” said Mike.
“Let’s go and ask him now!” said Jack, jumping up. So down the stairs they rushed and out into the field where they knew George was working that day.
“George, George! Can you let us have lots of string and twine and rope?” yelled Jack.
“I dare say,” said George. “What do you want it for?”
“It’s a secret,” said Mike. “We’ll tell you later on.”
“You can go to my old boat in the cove and open the locker there,” said George. “There’s a mighty lot of string and stuff all tangled up there. You can have the loan of it if you want it.”
“Oh, thank you, George!” cried the four children, and they tore off to the cove. They found George’s boat and opened the locker at one end of it. Sure enough there was a mighty lot of string and twine and rope there, that George used for mending and making fishing-nets.
“Goodness! It’ll take some time to untangle all this!” said Peggy.
“Well, there’s four of us to do it,” said Jack. “We might as well sit here in the boat and get on with it now.”
“What shall we make the rungs of the ladder with?” said Peggy.
“There’s some little wooden stakes, quite strong, in Dimmy’s garden shed,” said Jack. “I saw them there the other day. They would be the very thing!”
“Look! Look!” said Peggy suddenly, in a low voice. The others looked up, and saw, coming across the sand towards them, the yellow-haired woman who had been with Mr. Diaz in the car, and who lived at the Old House.
“That must be Mrs. Diaz,” said Nora. “Is she coming to talk to us, I wonder?”
“Leave me to do the talking,” said Jack. “She’s been sent to find out how much we know, I’m sure.”
Mrs. Diaz came slowly over to them, holding a big sunshade over her head. She nodded to the children.
“You are very busy,” she said. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, playing about in George’s boat,” said Jack.
“You are often on the beach?” asked the woman, putting down her sunshade. “You play all the time here?”
“Nearly all,” said Jack. “We can’t when the tide is in.”
“Have you seen these exciting caves?” asked Mrs. Diaz, pointing to the caves with her sunshade. “Have you ever been in any, I wonder?”
“We don’t like them because they are dark and damp,” said Jack.
“Have none of the other children any tongues?” asked Mrs. Diaz, in a slightly sharp voice.
“They’re rather shy,” said Jack. “I’m their captain, anyway, so I do the talking.”
“Oh,” said Mrs. Diaz. She made a pattern in the sand with her sunshade point. “How long are you staying at Peep-Hole?” she asked.
“Oh, not long,” said Jack.
“Your bedrooms are in the tower, aren’t they?” asked Mrs. Diaz, looking straight at Jack. Jack looked straight back.
“Yes,” he said. “They are.”
“Can you see the Old House from your bedrooms?” asked the golden-haired woman.
“I’ll look and see when we get back to-night,” answered Jack.
Just then the children heard the sound of Dimmy’s tea-bell and they scrambled up, glad to be able to get away from the strange woman’s questions. Mike took a bundle of the rope with him, meaning to go on with the untangling of it at Peep-Hole. But Jack signalled quietly to him to leave it, so he put it down.
“Good-bye,” said the children politely, and ran over the sands at top speed.
“Jack, you were clever at answering those awkward questions of hers!” panted Mike. “I don’t know what I would have said if she had asked me if I could see the Old House from our bedroom window!”
“Jack said he’d look and see when we got back tonight!” giggled Peggy. “How did you think of that answer, Jack?”
“You know, they suspect us of knowing about their prisoner,” said Jack. “They’ll be on the look-out now, more than ever. I guess we shan’t be able to do much more signalling to the prisoner boy.”
“Why did you make me leave the bundle of rope behind?” asked Mike. “I thought if I took it with me that we could undo it and get on with the ladder here in our bedroom, after tea.”
“But, Mike, Mrs. Diaz is sure to guess we’re up to something if you go lugging bundles of rope about,” said Jack. “We’d far better go back and get it after tea.”
“You’re right as usual, Captain,” said Mike.
So after tea they went back to the boat to get the rope, and took it up to their room. The tide was in and there was nothing to do on the beach. It would be fun to make the ladder.
“What are you all doing up there?” called Dimmy, in surprise. “Aren’t you going out this evening?”
“No, Dimmy. We’ve got a secret on,” called back Nora. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Not a bit!” said Dimmy, and went back to her washing-up. The children worked hard at the rope. Soon they had a great deal of it untangled, and they found that it was good strong rope, knotted here and there. They chose two long lengths, and then Mike went down to get the little stakes from the shed. He soon came back with them. Jack showed the others how to knot the ends of the stakes firmly to the sides of the rope-ladder. The stakes were the
rungs. Soon the ladder took shape under their hands.
“Doesn’t it look fine!” cried Peggy. “I’m simply longing to use it! Do let’s use it to-night, Jack!”
Jack has an Adventure
We can’t possibly use the rope-ladder to-night to rescue Prince Paul,” said Jack. “For one thing, there are those fierce dogs. They would never let us get into the grounds at night. They would bark the place down.“
“Gracious! I forgot the dogs!” said Nora in dismay. “What can we do, then?”
“The only thing to do is to make friends with the dogs,” said Jack.
The other three stared at him. None of them felt that they wanted to make friends with the two big dogs. Jack grinned.
“Don’t look so scared,” he said. “I’ll be the one to make friends. Animals are good with me. Until I met you and came to live with you I lived on a farm, and I know all about animals and their ways.”
“Oh, Jack!” said Nora. “You’re marvellous! Will you really make friends with those dogs?”
“It’s the only thing to do.” said Jack. “And I’m going to begin to-night. As soon as those dogs will let me pass in as a friend, I’ll be able to take the rope-ladder in some night and get Prince Paul down.”
“How are you going to make friends?” asked Mike.
“I’ll get some meat and biscuits from Dimmy,” said Jack.
“She will think you’re hungry all of a sudden,” said Mike with a grin.
Dimmy was surprised to hear that Jack wanted some meat and biscuits that evening. She had given the children a good supper of stewed raspberries, cream, and home-made bread and butter, and as Jack had had three helpings she really couldn’t believe that he now wanted meat and biscuits.
“I think you must be going to have a midnight feast in your room,” she said. “Well - for once in a way I’ll let you have it.”
Jack chuckled, and winked at the others. “It’s for a midnight picnic all right!” he said. “But not in my bedroom, Dimmy.”
Dimmy didn’t hear the last bit, for she had gone out of the room. She made Jack some ham sandwiches and gave him a bag of biscuits. He was pleased.
“Thank you,” he said. “That’s jolly good of you, Dimmy.”
“Well, if you feel ill to-morrow, it’ll be your own fault,” said Dimmy, with a laugh. She really was an awfully good sort.
When it got dark Jack put the sandwiches and biscuits into a bag and said good-bye to the others. They wanted to come too and wait outside the wall, but Jack wouldn’t let them.
“No,” he said. “If they smell you or hear you those dogs will bark their heads off. I must go alone. I’ll come back in about two hours.”
He slipped down the winding staircase and out into the garden without Dimmy seeing him. He set off quietly up the cliff towards the Old House, which loomed up large and dark against the night-sky. He could quite well see the round tower on one side of it, and at the top was a faint light.
“I suppose poor Prince Paul is up there trying to read or something,” said Jack to himself, feeling sorry for the little prisoner all alone in the tall tower. “How I wish we could rescue him quickly!”
He soon came to the wall. He wondered how to slip into the grounds without making the dogs bark too loudly. They were always loose at night and might come rushing at him if he went in by the gate.
And then a lucky thing happened. One of the maids came up the lane and turned in at the back gate, quite near to where Jack stood. At once the two dogs rushed up and began to bark madly at the woman.
She was used to them, however, and spoke sharply. “Don! Tinker! Be quiet! Don’t you know me yet?”
A voice called from the house. “Is that you, Anna?”
“Yes, sir,” answered the woman. “It’s only me they’re barking at.”
“That was Mr. Diaz’s voice,” said Jack to himself. “Now’s my chance. If I slip in now and the dogs go on barking, Mr. Diaz will simply think it’s because of Anna. And maybe I can make them stop barking in a little while.”
He slid in silently at the back gate like a black shadow. Both the dogs heard him and smelt him, and set up a great barking again.
“Quiet!” roared Mr. Diaz. “Quiet!”
The dogs paused in their barking. Mr. Diaz only said “Quiet!” when the visitor was a friend. The pause was enough for Jack.
“Don! Tinker!” he said in a low voice, and then he sat himself down on the ground beside a thick bush. The dogs heard their names and pricked up their ears. Don barked loudly again. Tinker looked as if he wanted to rush at Jack - but this boy was sitting down like a friend! It was strange!
Jack made no movement. He knew from his life on the farm that animals and birds are afraid of sudden quick movements, even from a friend. His heart beat loudly, for he was not at all sure that one or both of the dogs might not attack him.
Don barked again. Tinker ran up to Jack and sniffed at him. Jack sat perfectly still. The dog smelt the meat sandwiches and the biscuits and tried to get his nose in the bag. Both dogs were underfed, because Mr. Diaz thought they would be wide awake then, if they were hungry, and would not sleep well as a properly fed dog does.
“Good dog, Tinker, good dog,” said Jack in a very low voice. The dog sniffed hungrily at the bag. Jack slowly and cautiously undid it. Don, the other dog, would not come near. He stood at a distance, very suspicious, growling softly.
“Growl all you like!” thought Jack. “But don’t start that dreadful barking again. I don’t want Mr. Diaz out here looking round!”
Tinker took a ham sandwich from Jack’s hand. It was gone at a gulp, for the dog was very hungry indeed. He sniffed for another.
Jack slowly put out his hand to the dog’s head and patted it gently. The dog was not used to being kindly treated and was surprised. He gave Jack’s hand a quick lick.
“We’re getting on!” thought the boy. He gave Tinker another sandwich, and that was swallowed at once. Don smelt the meat from where he stood. He decided that if Tinker was friendly to this strange boy, he could be too - and also he badly wanted that nice-smelling meat.
So he ran up, still growling softly. But Jack knew it was a pretend-growl, and he chuckled to himself. He gave the hungry animal a sandwich, and then another. The dog swallowed them both. There were only two more left, so Jack gave the dogs one each.
Then he stood up and took a few cautious steps towards the tower. The dogs did not seem to mind. They could now smell Jack’s biscuits and they kept close to the boy as he walked. Tinker was very friendly indeed, and licked Jack’s hand when he found it near his nose. Don would not do that, but he no longer growled.
Jack walked to the foot of the tower and looked up. He gave each dog a biscuit, and wondered if by any chance the door at the foot of the tower was unlocked. If it was, dare he run up the winding stairway and try to talk to the prisoner? Maybe he could even unlock the door and get the boy out? But no - the dogs would not know Prince Paul and might bark and then they would both be caught.
He tried the door. It opened! Jack listened. No one seemed to be about at all. The dogs pressed against him, asking for another biscuit. He threw them each one a little way off and then slipped through the door leaving it open.
The dogs ate the biscuits, and then lay down by the door to wait for this unexpected friend to come back. They hoped he would have some more biscuits!
Jack stood at the bottom of the tower stairway and listened. The stone steps were dark. Not a sound was to be heard. Jack got out his torch and switched it on. Then, making no sound, the brave boy slowly went up the steps, only using his torch at the awkward parts, for he was afraid of slipping there and making a noise.
There were no lights in the rooms he passed. Only when he came to the top room did he see a streak of light under the door. He stood outside and listened. Somebody was crying inside. Jack looked for the keyhole and put his eye to it.
He could see a small boy sitting at a table with his head on his hands. He
was crying quietly, and the tears fell on to a page of the book in front of him. Nobody else seemed to be in the room as far as Jack could see or hear.
Jack knocked very gently on the door. The boy inside raised his head.
“Who is there?” he asked.
“It’s Jack, one of your friends!” answered Jack in a low tone. “I’m one of the children you’ve seen waving to you in the tower. I’ve made friends with the two dogs and I’ve slipped up here to talk to you.”
“Oh!” cried the boy, in a voice of great delight. “Can you let me out? Is the door locked on the outside? See if they have left the key.”
Jack felt. He tried the door. It was locked and bolted. He could undo the bolts easily enough - but there was no key to unlock the door. It was hopeless.
“I can’t rescue you to-night,” said Jack. “But listen, please. We’ve made a rope-ladder that will reach your window. If you hear a stone rattling up one night that falls into your room, pick it up at once. It will be tied to a string. Pull the string, and some twine will come up. Pull the twine and it will bring up the rope-ladder. See? Fix the ladder to something and get down it.”
“Oh, thank you!” said the boy. He pressed his face to the door and Jack could hear him sigh. “I am so tired of being shut up here.”
“Why are you a prisoner?” asked Jack.
“It is a long story,” said the boy. “My father is King of Baronia, and he is ill. If he dies I shall be king - and my uncle does not want me to be. So he has paid some men to kidnap me and carry me away. Then, if my father dies and I am not there to become king, my uncle will seize the throne and make himself king before I can be found!”
“So you really are a prince!” said Jack. “We wondered if you were. What a wicked shame to keep you prisoner like this! Shall we tell the police, Paul?”
“Oh no,” said Paul at once. “If Mr. Diaz and Luiz think that the police know about me they might harm me in some way - and certainly they would smuggle me down that secret passage and then you would never know where I had gone. Please try to rescue me yourself. What is your name?”