Five on a Secret Trail by Enid Blyton

words."
    „He"s got a little one-eyed dog cal ed Jet," said George, and Timmy gave a sudden bark as he heard the name. „You like Jet, don"t you, Tim'?"
    „This al sounds most interesting," said Dick. „Pass me the tomato bag, Ju, before you eat the lot. Thanks. As I said, most interesting - a one-eyed dog, a mad boy, Roman remains -
    and people who come to an old ruined cottage in the dead of night and look into windows!"
    „I wonder you two girls didn"t pack up and go home," said Julian. „You must be braver without us than I thought possible!"
    George caught Anne"s eye and grinned mischievously, but said nothing. Anne owned up, red in the face.
    „Well - I did tel George I was going home this very morning, I was so scared last night.
    George didn"t want to, of course, but she was coming, all the same. But now you"ve turned up, things are different."
    „Ah - well, do we stay on, or don"t we, Ju?" said Dick. „Are we scared or are we not?"
    Everyone laughed. „Well - if you go back I shall stay on alone!" said Anne. „Just to show you!"
    „Good old Anne!" said Dick. „We all stay, of course. It may be nothing - it may be something - we can"t tell. But we"ll certainly find out. And the first thing to do is to have a look at the Roman remains and the mad boy. I"m looking forward to meeting him, I must say! After that we"ll tackle the ruined cottage!"
    Timmy came up to see if he could get any tit-bits. Julian waved him away. „You smell of too-strong meat, Timmy," he said. „Go and get a drink. By the way, is there anything to drink here, George?"
    „Oh yes," said George. „A lovely spring. Not far off, either. Let"s take the remains of our meal there, and the mug. We"ve only got one unfortunately, so it"s no good getting water unless we al sit by the spring and take turns at the mug. Come on!"
    The boys thought that the spring was a real y splendid one. They grouped themselves around it and took turns at fil ing the mug and drinking from it. They were now eating slabs of Joan"s fruit-cake and it was very good.
    „Now, you girls unpack again," said Dick, when they had finished their meal. „Goodness, I did enjoy that! We"d better unpack too, Julian."
    „Right, Where shal we put our things?" asked Julian, looking around. „I don"t somehow like to leave everything under that little tent, with a mad boy about, and a one-eyed dog. I feel that both of them might like the rest of that ham."
    „Oh, it"s too hot to leave ham out in this sun," said George. „We"ll have to put it into the old cottage, on a shelf. We"ll put everything there, shal we? Move in properly, in case it rains again at night. It"s so tiresome to have to bundle everything indoors in the dark and the rain."
    „I agree," said Dick. „Right. We"ll move into the ruined cottage. What fun! Come on, everyone!"
    They spent the next half-hour taking their things into the cottage and putting them in corners or on shelves. George found a dark corner behind the fireplace where she put the food, for she was half-afraid that Jet, nice little dog though he seemed, might perhaps smell the ham and gobble up most of their food.
    „Now!" said Julian, „are we ready to go and see the Roman remains and the Mad Boy?
    Here we go, then - the Famous Five are off again, and who knows what wil happen!"

Chapter Nine
A LITTLE EXPLORATION

    The Five walked off together, Timmy at the back, delighted to have all his friends with him again. He kept nudging first one person"s heels and then another, just to remind them that he was there.
    As they came near the old camp, they saw a boy sitting beside a bush, reading.
    „There"s that boy we told you of!" said George. „See?"
    „He looks fairly ordinary," said Dick. „Very absorbed in his book, I must say. Determined to take no notice of us!"
    „I"l speak to him," said George. So, as they drew near, she cal ed to the boy.
    „Hal o! Where"s Jet?"
    The boy looked up, annoyed. „How do I know?"
    „Well, he was with you