Toby had put all the camping-out gear in a nearby barn. He took the Five there, with Benny and thepigling trailing after. Binky came, too, so friendly now with Timmy that they trotted1 along side byside, occasionally pushing against each other like schoolboys!
Julian and Dick looked at the pile of canvas, the pegs2 and the ropes. Yes, these two tents would dovery well, though if the weather stayed like this they would hardly need tents! They could lay theirrugs out on the springy heather.
'This is fine, Toby,' said Julian gratefully. 'You've even provided a kettle and a frying-pan.'
'Well, you might want to cook a meal,' said Toby. 'Or boil soup. There's a saucepan for that - ah, hereit is!'
He picked it up and promptly3 put it on Benny's head, where it stuck tightly on his yellow curls.
Benny yelled and ran at Toby, hitting him with his fists. The little pig rushed away in fright anddisappeared round a corner.
Anne took the saucepan off poor Benny's head. 'You're all right!' she said. 'It was a funny hat to wear,wasn't it?'
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'Curly's runned away again!' wept Benny, and he pummelled the laughing Toby. 'I hate you, I hateyou!'
'You go and find him,' said Toby, fending4 off the angry small boy, and Benny ran off on his fat littlelegs.
'Well, we've got rid of him for a few minutes,' said Toby. 'Now - is there anything I've forgotten?
You've got torches, I suppose? What about candles - and matches?'
'We've got those, too,' said Dick. 'And we've brought macs and swim-suits - but that's about all. I seeyou've put a couple of rugs here as well in case we're cold!'
'Well, it might turn wet and chilly,' said Toby. 'Of course, if it snows, or anything like that, you'llhave to come and borrow some more rugs! Now, shall I help you to fix them on your bikes?'
It was too difficult to fix everything on to the four bikes, and in the end Toby found a hand-cart andthe children piled everything into that.
'We'll fetch our bikes some other time,' said Julian.
'Leave them here!' said Toby. 'They'll be all right. Are you going now? Well, I'll get a packageMother's got ready for you - you know, ham and new-laid eggs and bread and butter and the rest.'
'It's most awfully5 good of her,' said Julian gratefully. 'Well, let's start - we've got everything in thehand-cart now. We'll just wait for the food. Dick, you and I can push this hand-cart together.
It will need two of us up the hill - and I vote we camp on the side of the slope somewhere, so that wecan get a good view.'
Toby came back with an enormous package of food. Benny came with him, Curly trotting6 behind.
Benny carried a basket of ripe strawberries.
'I picked them for you,' he said, and handed them to Anne.
'What beauties!' she said, and gave the smiling child a hug. 'We shall enjoy them, Benny.'
'Can I come and see your camp when you've builded it?' he asked. 'Can I bring Curly? He's neverseen a camp.'
'Yes, of course you can,' said Anne. 'Are we ready now, Julian? What about milk? Mrs. Thomas saidwe could take some.'
'Oh, yes - I forgot that,' said Toby. 'It's in the dairy.' He sped off with Binky, and the others arrangedeverything neatly7 in the useful little hand-cart. Toby came back with the milk - two big bottles. Theywere stacked carefully in a corner of the cart.
'Well, we're ready now, I think,' said Julian, and he and Dick began to push the cart down the 15path to the gate. Timmy and Binky trotted on ahead, and everyone else followed. Benny came as faras the gate with Curly, then Toby sent him back.
'You know what Mother said, Benny,' he said. 'You're not to come with us now - it'll be too late whenBinky and I come back.'
Benny's mouth went down, but he didn't attempt to follow them. He picked Curly up in his arms incase the pigling should run away after the others.
'Benny's a pet,' said Anne. 'I wish I had a little brother like that.'
'He's all right,' said Toby. 'A bit of a cry-baby, though. I'm trying to bring him up properly -teasing him out of his babyishness, and making him stand on his own feet.'
'He seems to be able to do that all right,' said Dick. 'My word - the way he went for you when you putthat saucepan on his head! He pummelled you right and left!'
'Benny's a funny little kid,' said Toby, giving a hand with the cart as they reached the slope of the hill.
'He's always having queer pets. Two years ago he had a lamb that followed him everywhere.
Last year he had two goslings that followed him about - and when they grew into geese they stillfollowed him! They waddled8 all the way upstairs one day!'
'And this year he's got a pig!' said George, who, like Anne, was very much amused with Benny.
'Don't you think Timmy was very funny with Curly? I'm sure he still thinks it's a puppy without anyhair!'
They made their way up the hill, following a narrow sheep-path. The hand-cart bumped and wobbled,and soon it needed four or five pairs of hands to push it.
'How much farther?' panted Toby at last. 'Surely you're not going right to the top?'
'No,' said Julian. 'About half-way up. We do want to have a good view, Toby, Not very much fartherup, I should think. But let's have a bit of rest, shall we?'
They sat down, glad to get their breath. Certainly the view was magnificent. Far away on the horizonwere purplish hills, and in front of them stretched miles and miles of green and golden countryside.
Green for growing corn and grass - gold for the buttercups, which were at their best in this sunnyweek of June.
'I like those silvery threads here and there winding9 about the green fields,' said Anne. 'Little streams -or rivers - curving like snakes all about! And I like the dark green patches that are woods.'
'What's that just down there?' asked George, pointing to what looked like an enormous field with 16great sheds in the centre.
'That's an airfield10,' said Toby promptly. 'A bit hush-hush. Secret planes tried out, and all that. I knowall about it because a cousin of mine is there - he's a flight-lieutenant. He comes to see us sometimesand tells me things. It's an experimental place.'
'What's that, exactly?' asked Anne.
'Well - where new ideas are tried out,' said Toby. 'They deal mostly with very small planes downthere - one-man fighter planes, I think. Don't be scared if you hear noises from the airfield sometimes- bangs and bursts. I don't know what they are, of course - it's all to do with their experiments.'
'I wish I could visit the airfield,' said Dick. 'I'm keen on planes. I'm going to fly one when I'm older.'
'You'd better meet my cousin, then,' said Toby. 'He might take you up in one.'
'I should like to meet him,' said Dick, delighted. 'So would Julian.'
'We'd better get on now,' said Julian, standing11 up. 'We won't go much higher - the view can't be muchbetter anywhere else!'
George and Anne went on ahead to find a good camping-place, while the three boys pushed the cartslowly over the heather. But it was Timmy who found the right place! He ran on ahead, feelingthirsty, so when he heard the sound of running water he ran to it at once.
From under a jutting12 rock gushed13 a little spring. It rippled14 down a rocky shelf and lost itself in a massof lush greenery below. Rushes grew to mark the way it went, and George's sharp eyes could followits path for quite a long way down the hill, outlined by the dark line of rushes.
'Julian! Look what Timmy's found!' she called as she watched him lap from the clear spring water. 'Alittle spring gushing15 out of the hillside! Hadn't we better camp near it?'
'Jolly good idea!' shouted back Julian, and left the hand-cart to come and see. 'Yes, this is just theplace! A fine view - plenty of spring heather to camp on - and water laid on quite near!'
Everyone agreed that it was a fine place, and soon all the gear was taken from the hand-cart. Thetents were not erected16, for everyone meant to sleep under the stars that night, the evening was sowarm. Nobody wanted to lie in a stuffy17 tent!
Anne unpacked18 the food parcel, wondering where would be the coolest place for a 'larder19'. She wentover to the rock from which gushed the crystal-clear spring water. She pushed away the rushesaround and discovered a kind of small cave hollowed out of the rock below the spring.
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'It would be as cool as anything in there,' thought Anne, and put her hand through the falling waterinto the cave- like hole. Yes, it was icy cold! Was it big enough to hold the milk bottles andeverything? Just about, she thought.
Anne loved arranging anything, and she was soon at work putting away the food and the milk intoher queer larder. George laughed when she saw it.
'Just like you, Anne!' she said. 'Well, we'd better put a towel by the spring, for certainly we shall getsoaked every time we get out any food!'
'Tell Timmy he's not to try and poke20 his head into my larder,' said Anne, pushing Timmy away.
'Oh, now he's all wet. Go and shake yourself somewhere else, Timmy - you're showering me withdrops of water!'
Toby had to leave them, for it was already past his supper-time. 'See you tomorrow!' he said.
'How I wish I was staying up here with you! So long!'
Away he went down the hill with Binky at his heels. The Five looked at one another and grinned.
'He's nice - but it's good to be alone again - just us Five,' said George. 'Come on - let' settle in.
This is the best camp we've ever had!'
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1
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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2
pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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fending
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| v.独立生活，照料自己( fend的现在分词 )；挡开，避开 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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6
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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waddled
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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airfield
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| n.飞机场 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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12
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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13
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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14
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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15
gushing
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| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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16
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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17
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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18
unpacked
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| v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的过去式和过去分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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19
larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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