"Blyton, Enid - Barney Junior Mystery 02 - The Rilloby Fair Mystery" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

Loony retired under the seat. Snubby glared at him. "Idiotic dog! You nearly made us miss the train!"

He got up and dusted himself down. He looked round the carriage. Only one other person was there, thank goodness.

The one other person stared at Snubby in annoyed surprise. He was an old man with a head of silvery-white hair, a real mane. His eyes were a faded blue and he had a small pointed beard, also very white.

"My boy," he said, "it is most inadvisable to leave so little time for catching a train."

"I've been waiting for twenty minutes," said Snubby indignantly. "Here, Loony, come on out. You'll get filthy under there."

Loony appeared, his tail well between his legs. The old man looked at him with dislike.

"Dogs!" he said. "I think they should travel in the guard's van. They always smell. And they scratch themselves in such an objectionable manner."

"Of course dogs smell," said Snubby, sitting down opposite the old man. "It's a nice smell, a doggy smell. So is a horsy smell. And I like a cow's smell too. And as for . . ."

"I don't think I want to discuss smells," said the old man. "I do not like the smell of dogs, and I do not like the way they scratch themselves."

"Loony never scratches," said Snubby, at once. "A dog only scratches when he's got heaps of fleas. I keep Loony jolly clean. Brush him every single day, and . . ."

Loony put himself into a peculiar position and began to scratch himself very hard indeed, making a thumping noise against the floor of the carriage.

Snubby pushed him crossly with the toe of his shoe. "Shut up, idiot. Didn't you hear what I just said?"

Loony looked up politely, and then began to scratch himself again. The old man looked disgusted. "Do you mind taking him to the other end of the carriage?" he said. "Bearing in mind your remark about dogs only scratching themselves when they have a large number of fleas, I don't feel too happy about having him in quite such close proximity."

"What's that mean?" asked Snubby obstinately, not moving. "I tell you, he hasn't got fleas, he's never . . ."

"I don't think I want to discuss fleas," said the old man stiffly. "Well, if you won't move your dog, I must move myself. But I must say that children nowadays are not remarkable for their good manners."

Snubby hastily removed Loony to the other end of the carriage, feeling rather ashamed of himself. The spaniel tried to climb up the seat, but the old man looked so very disapproving that Snubby changed his mind about letting him.

Loony fortunately went to sleep. Snubby undid his case and took out a paper-covered book. He settled down to read. The old man looked to see what Snubby was reading. The book had a most lurid cover and an extraordinary title. It was called SPIES! SPIES! SPIES!

Snubby curled himself up, lost to the world. The old man was astonished to see such a peculiar title.

"What is your book about?" he asked at last.

Snubby thought that was a silly question, considering that the book's title was plainly to be seen.

"It's about spies," he said. "Stealing old maps and plans and things like that."

The old man gazed at Snubby and then made a curious remark. "Spies! I never thought of that! It might have been spies."

Snubby looked up, astonished. "Funny old fellow!" he thought. "What's he talking about now?"

"It's strange you should be reading a book about old documents being stolen," said the old man. "Because I've just left a place where there's been a theft of that kind. Terrible, terrible!"

Snubby stared at him. "What exactly was stolen?" he asked.