Five Go Off to Camp by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online Page A

would like to have a snooze in the sun and not do a thing for the rest of the day.
    The children felt rather like that, too. Mrs Andrews handed them a chocolate each and sent them out of doors. 'You go and have a rest now,' she said. 'Talk to Jock. He doesn't get enough company of his own age in the holidays. You can stay on to tea, if you like.'
    'Oh, thanks,' said everyone, although they all felt
    that they wouldn't even be able to manage a biscuit. But it was so pleasant at the farm that they felt they would like to stay as long as they could.
    'May we borrow one of Biddy's puppies to have with us?' asked Anne.
    'If Biddy doesn't mind,' said Mrs Andrews, beginning to clear away. 'And if Timmy doesn't eat it up!'
    'Timmy wouldn't dream of it!' said George at once. 'You go and get the puppy, Anne.
    We'll find a nice place in the sun.'
    Anne went off to get the puppy. Biddy didn't seem to mind a bit. Anne cuddled the fat little thing against her, and went off to the others, feeling very happy. The boys had found a fine place against a haystack, and sat leaning against it, the sun shining down warmly on them.
    'Those men of yours seem to take a jol y good lunch-hour off,' said Julian, not seeing any of them about.
    Jock gave a snort. 'They're bone lazy. I'd sack the lot if I were my stepfather. Mum's told him how badly the men work, but he doesn't say a word to them. I've given up bothering.
    I don't pay their wages - if I did, I'd sack the whole lot!'
    'Let's ask Jock about the spook-trains,' said George, fondling Timmy's ears. 'It would be fun to talk about them.'
    'Spook-trains? Whatever are they?' asked Jock, his eyes wide with surprise. 'Never heard of them!'
    'Haven't you real y?' asked Dick. 'Well, you don't live very far from them, Jock!'
    'Tell me about them,' said Jock. 'Spook-trains - no, I've never heard of one of those.'
    'Well, I'l tell you what we know,' said Julian. 'Actually we thought you'd be able to tel us much
    more about them than we know ourselves.'
    He began to tell Jock about their visit to the deserted railway yard, and Wooden-Leg Sam, and his peculiar behaviour. Jock listened, enthralled.

    'Coo! I wish I'd been with you. Let's all go there together, shall we?' he said. 'This was quite an adventure you had, wasn't it? You know, I've never had a single adventure in all my life, not even a little one. Have you?'
    The four children looked at one another, and Timmy looked at George. Adventures!
    What didn't they know about them? They had had so many.
    'Yes. We've had heaps of adventures - real ones -smashing ones,' said Dick. 'We've been down in dungeons, we've been lost in caves, we've found secret passages, we've looked for treasure - well, I can't tell you what we've done! It would take too long.'
    'No, it wouldn't,' said Jock eagerly. 'You tell me. Go on. Did you all have the adventures? Little Anne, here, too?'
    'Yes, all of us,' said George. 'And Timmy as well. He rescued us heaps of times from danger. Didn't you,
    ‘ Tim?’
    'Woof, woof,' said Timmy, and thumped his tail against the hay.
    They began to tell Jock about their many adventures. He was a very, very good listener.
    His eyes almost fel out of his head, and he went brick-red whenever they came to an exciting part.
    'My word!' he said at last. 'I've never heard such things in my life before. Aren't you lucky? You just go about having adventures all the time, don't you? I say -do you think you'l have one here, these hols?'
    Julian laughed. 'No. Whatever kind of adventure would there be on these lonely moorlands? Why, you
    yourself have lived here for three years, and haven't even had a tiny adventure.'
    Jock sighed. That's true. I haven't.' Then his eyes brightened again. 'But see here - what about those spook-trains you've been asking me about? Perhaps you'll have an adventure with those?'
    'Oh, no, I don't want to,' said Anne, in a horrified voice. 'An adventure with spook-trains would be simply horrid.'
    'I'd like to go down to that old