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usual Tauri-Hessian clothes, sunburnt fellows, one small, one big and burly.
Better keep out of sight, Gussy, said Jack, suddenly. You never know this might be men
sent to check over the camp again.
Oh dear! sighed Lucy-Ann. Don t say they re going to search all over again.
The small man jumped out, went to the side of the van, and swung down half the wooden side,
making a kind of counter. Inside the van, on shelves, were goods of every conceivable kind! Tins of
meat, sardines and fruit. Tins of salmon and milk. Skeins of wool, reels of cotton, rolls of lace,
bales of cheap cotton cloth. Safety-pins and hair-pins. Combs of all kinds. Soap. Sweets. Really, it
was just like a little general shop seen in so many villages.
It sells everything! said Pedro. Ma, do you want me to buy half the things for you?
No. I ll come myself, said Ma, who enjoyed a bit of shopping. Stay here, Anna-Maria!
Can we go and have a look at the shop, do you think? asked Dinah. You ve got some Hessian
money, haven t you, Jack? I do really want to buy some soap, and a few other things. Surely that
van is genuine those men can t be spies, sent to search the camp again!
No. I don t think they can be, said Jack. The van does seem quite genuine, as you say. All
right we ll go and buy a few things. Not Gussy, though.
So, while the others strolled off in the dusk to the little travelling shop, poor Gussy was left
behind in Ma s van. He was very cross.
The small man sold all the goods. The big man merely helped, handing down this and that, and
wrapping up anything that needed it. He said nothing at all. The other man was a real talker. He
chattered all the time, chaffed the women, and passed on little bits of news.
And what news have you got? he asked Ma and old Lucia, as he sold them hair-pins and combs.
You ve come from the direction of Borken, haven t you? Any news of the King there? He s not
been found yet, you know!
Ma gave him her news, and described the clamour of the bells in the night. Old Lucia chimed in
with a few remarks too.
Where s little Prince Aloysius? she wanted to know. They say he was sent to school in
England. If the King is dead, the little Prince will have to be brought back, won t he?
We had soldiers searching our camp today, said Madame Fifi. Though what they expected to
find, I don t know. The King perhaps!
Everyone laughed. The chattering and buying went on for some time, and the pedlars did very
well. Jack went up to buy some sweets for the girls, Kiki on his shoulder.
Good-morning, good-night, good gracious! said Kiki, conversationally, to the pedlar who was
serving. He laughed. But the other man didn t. He turned round and looked very sharply at Kiki
indeed. Jack felt uncomfortable. Why did the second man look round like that? He tried to see what
he was like, but it was now dark, and difficult to see inside the little van.
Lucy-Ann pointed to some toffee. I d like some of that, she said, in English. Jack saw the man
at the back of the van stiffen. He seemed to be listening for what Lucy-Ann might say next. He
reached up to a shelf, took down a tin, and then stood still again, as Lucy-Ann spoke once more.
Let s have a tin of pineapple, Kiki likes that.
The man swung round. Jack hurriedly pushed Lucy-Ann back into the darkness. This fellow was
a spy! He was sure of it! He took another look at him, but could not make out very much. A head of
black, curly hair, such as all the Tauri-Hessians had a small black moustache that was about all
Jack could see.
What s up, Jack? said Lucy-Ann, in astonishment as he hurried her away from the van, pulling
Dinah and Philip with him too.
He told them hurriedly what he thought and they were very worried. They rushed back to Ma s
van to see if Gussy was all right. To their great relief, he was there, looking very sulky. Though
why we should think he wouldn t be there, I don t know, said Jack. Gussy, get out your
embroidery. We ve seen somebody suspicious. He heard Lucy-Ann talking in English, and Kiki too,
and he was much too interested!
Well we ll hope he clears off soon, said Philip. I ll go and watch, and tell you when they re
gone.
But the pedlar s van didn t go! The two men shut up the side of the van, safely locking up all
their goods, and then sat outside with a little camp-fire, cooking some kind of meal.
They re staying the night, reported Philip. Not too good, is it? And Madame Fifi told me that
the small man has been asking questions about Kiki if the boy who owns her belongs to the
camp and where his caravan is!
Blow! said Jack. What can we do? We can t possibly run away. I ve no idea at all where we
are miles away from anywhere, that s certain! Well we can only hope for the best. We ll sleep
as usual under the girls van, and Gussy can be with Ma. After all, he s the important one we re
not really important, except that Gussy escaped with us, and presumably the Count will think that
wherever we are, Gussy will be too!
The girls went to their van and undressed to go to sleep. Gussy was safely with Ma. The three
boys lay on the rugs below the girls van as usual. Pedro soon fell asleep, but Jack and Philip were
worried, and lay awake, whispering.
Suddenly Jack clutched Philip. I can hear someone, he whispered, in his ear. Someone
crawling near this van.
Jack sat up cautiously and felt for his torch. Yes someone was near the van, crawling quietly
on all fours. Jack flicked on his torch at once.
A surprised face was caught in the light. A man was on hands and knees nearby. It was the big
pedlar from the little van! His black hair showed up plainly in the beam of the torch.
What do you want? said Jack, fiercely. What do you mean by crawling around like this? I ll
raise the camp, and have them all after you!
Chapter 27
A SURPRISE AND A PLAN
SH! said the man, urgently. I . . .
And then, before he could say another word, a very strange thing happened! Kiki, who had been
watching the man in the greatest surprise, suddenly spread her wings and flew to his shoulder! She
rubbed her beak against his cheek in the most loving manner, crooning like a dove.
Kiki! said the man, and stroked her neck.
Silly-Billy, said Kiki, lovingly. Silly-Billy, put the kettle on, send for the doctor!
Jack was so astonished that he simply couldn t say a word. Why in the world was Kiki behaving
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