"Blyton, Enid - Famous Five 19 - Five Go to Demon's Rock" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

They wrote three cards - one to Mr and Mrs Kirrin - one to Joan - and one to the Professor. ‘Now they’ll know we are safe and happy!’ said Anne, sticking on the stamps.
The rain had stopped, so they went to do their shopping - fresh bread, more butter and eggs, two bottles of milk, some fruit and a few other things. Then off they went down to the little jetty.
‘Tide will soon turn,’ said Julian, as they jumped down from the jetty to the rocky little beach. ‘Come on - we’ll just have time to walk over the rocks to the light-house. PLEASE don’t drop the eggs, Tinker!’
They made their way over the rocks, jumping over little pools here and there and avoiding the slimy strands of seaweed that in places covered the rocks. The light-house seemed very tall as they came up to it.
‘It’s tiny compared to the great new one away at High Cliff,’ said Tinker. ‘You ought to go over that! The revolving lamp at the top is magnificent! Its light is so powerful that ships can see it for miles!’
‘Well, this little light-house looks nice enough to me at the moment,’ said Dick, climbing up the stone steps to the strong wooden door. ‘Hallo! Look - two bottles of milk at the top step! Don’t tell me the milkman’s been!’
‘He used to call when my father and I were here,’ said Tinker. ‘Only when the tide was out in the morning though, because he hasn’t a boat. I suppose he heard we were all staying here, and came to see if we wanted milk - and left two bottles when he found we were out. He probably yelled through the letter-box and when we didn’t answer he just left the milk, on chance.’
‘Sensible fellow!’ said Dick. ‘Get out your key, Tinker, and unlock the door.’
‘I don’t remember locking it behind us when we went out this morning,’ said Tinker, feeling frantically in all his pockets. ‘I must have left it in the lock on the inside of the door. Let’s see now - we locked the door last night, and left the key in the lock. So I must have unlocked it this morning for us all to go out.’
‘That’s right - but after you unlocked it you ran straight down the steps with George, and the rest of us followed,’ said Julian. ‘Anne was last. Did you lock the door after you, Anne?’
‘No. I never thought of it!’ said Anne. ‘I just shut the door with a bang and raced after you all! So the key must still be on the other side of the door!’
‘Well, if we push the door, it should open!’ said Julian, with a grin. ‘And the key will be on the inside, waiting for us! Let’s go in!’
He pushed hard, for the door shut very tightly - and sure enough, it swung open. Julian put his hand round to the inside lock to feel for the key.
It wasn’t there! Julian looked at the others, frowning.
‘Someone’s been here - and found the door unlocked - taken the key - and probably plenty of other things as well!’ he said. ‘We’d better go and look. Come on!’
‘Wait - there’s something on the door-mat,’ said Dick, picking up a letter. ‘The postman has visited the light-house too - here’s a letter forwarded from Kirrin - so at least two people came while we were out! But surely neither of them would take the key - or anything else either!’
‘Well - we’ll soon see!’ said Julian, grimly, and up the first bend of the spiral stairway he went, at top speed!


Chapter Fourteen

THE OLD, OLD MAP

Julian and Dick went into each room of the lighthouse, racing up the spiral stairway from one to the other. Why, oh why hadn’t they watched to see that Tinker locked the door and took the key!
Yes - a few things had been taken!
‘My rug!’ said George. ‘That’s gone!’
‘And my purse,’ said Anne. ‘I left it here on the table. That’s been taken, too!’
‘So has my little travelling clock,’ groaned Julian. ‘Why did I bring it? I could have used my watch!’
There were a few other things gone, all small. ‘Horrible fellow, whoever he is, to creep into the lighthouse while we were out and take our things!’ said Anne, almost crying. ‘Who would come here - they would surely be seen from the quay, wouldn’t they?’
‘Yes - you’re right there,’ said Julian. ‘Though probably the thief slipped in when it was pouring with rain, and the quay was deserted! I think we’ll have to tell the police, you know. Let’s have our dinner, and then I’ll take the boat and slip across to the village. The tide will be in then, and I shan’t be able to walk over the rocks. Blow that thief! I was looking forward to a nice quiet read this afternoon!’
After their meal, Julian took the boat and rowed across to the jetty. He went straight to the police-station, where a stolid-looking policeman listened to him, and wrote slowly in a book.
‘Have you any idea, sir, who the thief might be?’ asked the policeman. ‘Or if anyone came to the lighthouse while you were out?’
‘Well, two people seem to have come,’ said Julian. ‘The milkman, because we were surprised to find milk-bottles on the steps. And the postman. There was a letter for us on the mat inside the door. I don’t know of anyone else.’
‘Well, as far as I can tell you, both Willy the Milkman, and Postie, are as honest as the day,’ said the policeman, scratching his chin with his pencil. ‘There may have been a third visitor - one who didn’t leave milk or a letter! I’ll see if anyone was on the quay this morning, who saw the thief going over the Demon’s Rocks. Er - do you suspect anyone, sir?’
‘Good gracious, no!’ said Julian. ‘I don’t know anyone here - unless you can count Jeremiah Boogie, or Tom the Tobacconist!’
‘No. No, sir, I think we can rule both of them out,’ said the policeman, smiling. ‘Well, I’ll do what I can, and let you know if I hear of anything. Good afternoon, sir - and by the way, as you can’t lock that light-house door now, and it’s plain there are thieves about, I shouldn’t leave the light-house empty, see?’
‘Yes. Yes, I’d already thought of that,’ said Julian. ‘I can jam the door all right with something when we’re in the light-house - but I can’t do that when we’re out.’
‘Well - it looks as if we’re in for a wet spell,’ said the policeman. ‘So maybe it won’t be much hardship to keep indoors. I hope you’re comfortable in the lighthouse - seems a funny place to stay, really.’
‘Oh we’re very comfortable, Constable,’ said Julian, smiling. ‘Why not pay us a call sometime, and see us?’
‘Thanks, sir,’ said the policeman, and took Julian to the door.
The constable was right in forecasting a wet spell. It poured all that afternoon, and the little company in the light-house whiled away the time playing cards. Julian and Dick had managed to find a heavy piece of wood in the store-room to jam the door from the inside. They all felt much safer when they knew that had been done! Now no one could get in without making a terrific noise!
‘I’m stiff,” said George, at last. ‘I want to stretch my legs. I’ve a good mind to run up and down the stairway half a dozen times.’
‘Well, go on, then,’ said Dick. ‘Nobody’s stopping you!’
‘How far down does the light-house go, Tinker?’ asked George. ‘We always scoot up the first bit of the spiral stairway and never think about the light-house foundations deep down in the rock. Are they deep down?’
‘Oh, they are,’ said Tinker, looking up from his book. ‘My father told me that when the light-house was built, they drilled right down into the rock for a long way - made a kind of shaft. And he said that under these rocks there are all kinds of queer holes and tunnels - the drill kept shooting downwards when it came to a sudden space.’
‘Really?’ said Dick interested. ‘I hadn’t thought of what would have to be done to make a high lighthouse safe from the gales and storms. It would have to have deep foundations, of course!’
‘My father found an old map somewhere,’ said Tinker. ‘A sort of plan made when the light-house was first built.’
‘Like architects draw when they plan how to build a house?’ said Anne.
‘Yes. Something like that,’ said Tinker. ‘I can’t remember much about it. I know it showed all the rooms in the light-house, connected by the spiral stairway - and it showed the big lamp-room at the top - and at the bottom of the map the foundation shaft was drawn.’
‘Can you go down the shaft?’ asked Dick. ‘Is there a ladder, or anything?’