"Blyton, Enid - Famous Five 20 - Five Have a Mystery to Solve" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

‘Probably - though carefully hidden away!’ said Julian. ‘For all we know there may be scores of really valuable old treasures hidden there still. That sword with a jewelled handle, for instance! And the bed made of gold, and...’
‘To think they might all be quite near us somewhere on Whispering Island!’ said Anne. ‘Wouldn’t I love to be able to say I’d slept on a bed of pure gold!’
‘Well, I think you’d find it jolly hard,’ said Dick.
Timmy suddenly gave a small whine, and licked George’s hand. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘What do you want, Timmy?’
‘Perhaps he’s hungry,’ said Anne.
‘Thirsty, more likely!’ said Julian. ‘Look at his tongue hanging out!’
‘Oh, poor Tim - you haven’t had a drink for hours!’ said George. ‘Well - where on earth can we get you one? We’ll have to look for a puddle, I’m afraid. Come on!’
They left the shed where the beautiful little statues were lying in their sawdust, and went out into the sunshine. Everywhere was dry. Julian felt worried.
‘We shall all be thirsty soon!’ he said. ‘I wonder where we can get some water?’
‘Would it be too dangerous to go near the castle and see if there’s a tap anywhere?’ asked George, ready to face almost anything to get her dog a drink!
‘Yes, it would,’ said Julian, in a very decided voice. ‘We’re not going near any of those men with guns. They might have been told to shoot on sight, and that wouldn’t be very pleasant. We’d be peppered all over with shot!’
‘Look - what’s that round thing over there - like a little circular wall?’ said Dick, pointing to something behind the shed where the statues lay in their boxes.
They all went over to it - and Anne guessed what it was at once! ‘A well! An old well!’ she said. ‘Look, it has an old wooden beam over the top, with a pulley to wind and unwind a bucket. 1s there a bucket - let’s hope so! We can let it down to the water and fill it for Timmy then.’
Timmy put his paws on the rim of the wall and sniffed. Water! That was what he wanted more than anything. He began to whine.
‘All right, Timmy - we’ll send the bucket down,’ said George. ‘It’s still on the hook! Julian, this handle’s awfully stiff - can you turn it to let down the bucket?’
Julian tried with all his strength - and quite suddenly the rope loosened, and the bucket gave a sudden jerk and jump. Alas - it jerked right off the hook, and with a weird, echoing jangling sound, fell from the top to the bottom of the well - landing in the water with a terrific splash!
‘Blow, blow, blow!’ said Julian, and Timmy gave an anguished howl. He peered down at the lost bucket, now on its side in the water at the bottom of the well, gradually filling itself.
‘It’ll probably sink below the water now,’ said Julian, with a groan. ‘Is there a ladder down the well? - if so I could shin down and get the bucket.’
But there wasn’t, though it looked as if there had been at some time, for here and there were staples in the brick side of the well-wall.
‘What can we do?’ asked Anne. ‘Can we possibly pull up the bucket?’
‘No - I’m afraid we can’t,’ said Dick. ‘But wait a minute - I could shin down the rope, couldn’t I, and pick the bucket out of the water. And easily get up again, because George and Julian could turn the well-handle, and pull me up that way!’
‘Righto. Down you go then,’ said Julian. ‘The rope’s good and strong, not frayed or rotten. We’ll wind you and the bucket up all right!’
The boy sat on the side of the well-wall, and reached out for the rope. He swung himself on to it, and swayed there a moment or two, looking down the long, dark hole below him, with the water at the bottom. Then down he went, hand-over-hand, just as he so often did at school in the gym.
He came to the bottom, reached down, took hold of the bucket-handle, and filled the bucket full. The water felt as cold as ice to his hand. ‘All right. Pull me up!’ he shouted, his voice sounding very hollow and strange as it rose up through the well-walls.
Dick was heavy to pull up. Julian and George turned the handle valiantly, but it was slow work. Gradually Dick came up nearer and nearer to the top. When he was half-way they heard him give an exclamation, and call out something; but they couldn’t make out what it was and went on winding the groaning rope, slowly but surely.
They reached down and took the bucket from Dick as soon as his head appeared at the top. Timmy fell on it with excited barks, and began to lap vigorously.
‘Didn’t you hear me yelling to you to stop when I was halfway up?’ demanded Dick, still swinging on the rope. ‘Don’t let go that handle. Hang on to it for a minute.’
‘What’s the excitement?’ asked Julian, in surprise. ‘Why did you yell to us? We couldn’t make out what you said.’
Dick swung himself to one side, caught hold of the well-top, and hauled himself up, so that he could sit on the well-wall. ‘I shouted because I suddenly saw something jolly peculiar as I came up the well,’ he said. ‘And I wanted to stop and see what it was!’
‘Well - what was it?’ asked Julian.
‘I don’t quite know. It looked awfully like a little door! An iron door,’ said Dick. ‘I say, don’t let Timmy drink all that water-he’ll be ill. We’ll let the pail down again in a minute and get some more for ourselves.’
‘Go on about what you saw,’ said George. ‘How could there be a door in the side of a well going deep down into the earth?’
‘Well, I tell you, there was one,’ said Dick. ‘Look, Timmy’s gone and upset the pail now! Let’s send it down on the pulley to be filled again, and I’ll go down on the rope again too. But when I come up and you hear me shout ‘Stop!’ just STOP winding, see?’
‘Here’s the bucket for the hook,’ said Julian. ‘I’ll be careful not to jerk it off this time. Ready?’
Down went Dick and the bucket again - splash went the bucket and filled with water once more. Then up came Dick again, wound up by Julian and George as before. As soon as they heard him shout ‘STOP’ they stopped their winding and peered down.
They saw Dick peering hard at the side of the well-wall, and pulling at it with his fingers. Then he shouted again. ‘All right. UP WE go!’
They hauled him up to the top, and he clambered off the rope, swung himself on to the well-wall and sat there.
‘Yes. It is some kind of opening in the well-wall - it is a door - and it has a bolt this side to undo, but it was too stiff for my fingers. I’d have to go down and jiggle it about with my knife before I could loosen it.’
‘A door in a well! But where on earth would it lead to?’ said Julian, astonished.
‘That’s what we’re going to find out!’ grinned Dick, rather pleased with himself. ‘Who would ever think of putting a door in the side of a well? Somebody did - but WHY? Very cunning - and mysterious - and unguessable. I rather think I’ll go straight down again and see if I can’t open that door - and discover what it leads to!’
‘Oh DO, Dick, do!’ said George. ‘If you don’t, I will!’
‘Hang on to the rope. Down I go again!’ said Dick. And down he went, much to Timmy’s surprise. The others looked down anxiously. Gould Dick open the well-door? What would he find behind it? Quick, Dick, quick - everybody’s waiting for you!


Chapter Twelve
A GREAT SURPRISE - AND A SHOCK FOR GEORGE

As soon as Dick shouted ‘STOP’ Julian and George hung on to the rope to stop it going down any further. Dick was swinging just opposite the strange door. He began to feel round it, and to jiggle it. It had no lock, apparently, but there was a bolt on his side. He tried to push back the bolt - and suddenly it came away from the door, and dropped down into the well. It had rusted so much that it could not even hold to the door, once it was handled!
The door felt loose, now the bolt was gone. Dick ran his hands round it, trying to loosen it further, and banged it with his fist. Rust fell off it, and Dick’s hands were soon brown with the old old rust.
He saw a little knob at the top of the door and gave it a tug. Ah - the door felt looser now. He ran his knife all round the edges, scraping away all the rust he could find. Then he managed to get his strongest knife-blade in between the door-edge and the well-wall, and used it as a lever to force the door open.