this morning," said George.
„He was not," said the boy. „He"s never with me! Please don"t disturb me, I"m reading."
„There you are!" said George to the others. „He came to see us this morning with Jet - and now he says the little dog is never with him. Quite, quite mad!"
„Or plain rude," said Dick. „Not worth bothering about, anyway. Well, if he"s not doing any excavating in his Roman Camp, perhaps we can explore it without being ordered off!"
They walked on slowly and came to the camp, and at once heard a cheerful whistling going on, and the sound of someone digging. George looked over the top of the dug-out trench in surprise. She almost toppled in, she was so amazed at what she saw!
The boy was there, digging careful y, whistling as he did so! He brushed his tousled hair from his hot forehead and caught sight of George and the others. He looked rather astonished.
„How on earth did you get down here so quickly?" said George. „Do you have wings or something?"
„I"ve been down here all the afternoon," said the boy. „For at least an hour, I should think."
„Fibber!" said George. The boy looked very angry, and shouted back at once.
„I"m tired of you two girls - and now you"ve brought your friends too, I suppose you think you can come and aggravate me even more!"
„Don"t be a fathead," said Dick, feeling as puzzled about this boy as George and Anne had been. How in the world had he run around them and got down in the trench so quickly? Did he enjoy playing tricks like that? He real y didn"t look mad!
„Is this your property, this old camp?" asked Julian.
„No. Of course not. Don"t be daft!" said the boy. „As if I could own a whole camp like this!
It was discovered by my father some time ago, and he gave me permission to work here for the hols. It"s pretty exciting, I can tel you. See my finds?"
He pointed to a rough shelf where stood a broken pot, something that looked like an old brooch, a long pinlike thing, and part of a stone head. Julian was at once interested. He leapt down into the trench.
„I say - you"ve certainly got something there!" he said. „Any coins too?"
„Yes - three," said the boy and put his hand in his pocket. „I found this one first - then these two close together yesterday. They must be hundreds and hundreds of years old."
By this time all the others were down in the trench too. They looked about with much interest. Evidently the place had been well excavated by experts, and now the boy was working here and there on his own, hoping to find something that had been overlooked.
Dick went out of the trench and began to clamber about over the great stones and rocks. A small animal suddenly caught his eye - a young rabbit.
It stared at him in fright and then disappeared behind a slab of stone. It peeped out at Dick again, and he was amused. He went cautiously over to the slab, and the little rabbit disappeared - but soon two or three whiskers poked out. Dick got down on hands and knees and looked behind the slab. A dark hole was there.
Dick pul ed out his torch and flashed it into the hole, wondering if the small rabbit was hiding there, or whether it was the entrance to a burrow.
To his surprise there was a very big hole indeed - a hole that seemed to go down and down and down - his torch could make out no bottom to it.
„It"s far too wide for a rabbit-hole," thought Dick. „I wonder where it leads to, I"l ask that boy."
He went back to where the boy was stil showing his things to Julian, talking eagerly. „I say," began Dick, „there"s a most interesting hole behind one of the stone slabs over there
- what is it?"
„Oh that - my father says it was explored and that it was only a place for storages - meat in hot weather, or loot, or something like that. Actually nothing whatever was found there
- most uninteresting. As a matter of fact it may be nothing to do with the Camp at al ."
„I say, look - here"s another shelf with things on it," said
„He was not," said the boy. „He"s never with me! Please don"t disturb me, I"m reading."
„There you are!" said George to the others. „He came to see us this morning with Jet - and now he says the little dog is never with him. Quite, quite mad!"
„Or plain rude," said Dick. „Not worth bothering about, anyway. Well, if he"s not doing any excavating in his Roman Camp, perhaps we can explore it without being ordered off!"
They walked on slowly and came to the camp, and at once heard a cheerful whistling going on, and the sound of someone digging. George looked over the top of the dug-out trench in surprise. She almost toppled in, she was so amazed at what she saw!
The boy was there, digging careful y, whistling as he did so! He brushed his tousled hair from his hot forehead and caught sight of George and the others. He looked rather astonished.
„How on earth did you get down here so quickly?" said George. „Do you have wings or something?"
„I"ve been down here all the afternoon," said the boy. „For at least an hour, I should think."
„Fibber!" said George. The boy looked very angry, and shouted back at once.
„I"m tired of you two girls - and now you"ve brought your friends too, I suppose you think you can come and aggravate me even more!"
„Don"t be a fathead," said Dick, feeling as puzzled about this boy as George and Anne had been. How in the world had he run around them and got down in the trench so quickly? Did he enjoy playing tricks like that? He real y didn"t look mad!
„Is this your property, this old camp?" asked Julian.
„No. Of course not. Don"t be daft!" said the boy. „As if I could own a whole camp like this!
It was discovered by my father some time ago, and he gave me permission to work here for the hols. It"s pretty exciting, I can tel you. See my finds?"
He pointed to a rough shelf where stood a broken pot, something that looked like an old brooch, a long pinlike thing, and part of a stone head. Julian was at once interested. He leapt down into the trench.
„I say - you"ve certainly got something there!" he said. „Any coins too?"
„Yes - three," said the boy and put his hand in his pocket. „I found this one first - then these two close together yesterday. They must be hundreds and hundreds of years old."
By this time all the others were down in the trench too. They looked about with much interest. Evidently the place had been well excavated by experts, and now the boy was working here and there on his own, hoping to find something that had been overlooked.
Dick went out of the trench and began to clamber about over the great stones and rocks. A small animal suddenly caught his eye - a young rabbit.
It stared at him in fright and then disappeared behind a slab of stone. It peeped out at Dick again, and he was amused. He went cautiously over to the slab, and the little rabbit disappeared - but soon two or three whiskers poked out. Dick got down on hands and knees and looked behind the slab. A dark hole was there.
Dick pul ed out his torch and flashed it into the hole, wondering if the small rabbit was hiding there, or whether it was the entrance to a burrow.
To his surprise there was a very big hole indeed - a hole that seemed to go down and down and down - his torch could make out no bottom to it.
„It"s far too wide for a rabbit-hole," thought Dick. „I wonder where it leads to, I"l ask that boy."
He went back to where the boy was stil showing his things to Julian, talking eagerly. „I say," began Dick, „there"s a most interesting hole behind one of the stone slabs over there
- what is it?"
„Oh that - my father says it was explored and that it was only a place for storages - meat in hot weather, or loot, or something like that. Actually nothing whatever was found there
- most uninteresting. As a matter of fact it may be nothing to do with the Camp at al ."
„I say, look - here"s another shelf with things on it," said
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