Chapter 9 A LITTLE EXPLORATION
The Five walked off together, Timmy at the back, delighted to have all his friends with him again. Hekept nudging first one person's heels and then another, just to remind them that he was there.
As they came near the old camp, they saw a boy sitting beside a bush, reading.
'There's that boy we told you of!' said George. 'See?'
'He looks fairly ordinary,' said Dick. 'Very absorbed in his book, I must say. Determined¹ to take nonotice of us!'
'I'll speak to him,' said George. So, as they drew near, she called to the boy.
'Hallo! Where's Jet?'
The boy looked up, annoyed. 'How do I know?'
'Well, he was with you this morning,' said George.
'He was not,' said the boy. 'He's never with me! Please don't disturb me, I'm reading.'
'There you are!' said George to the others. 'He came to see us this morning with Jet - and now he saysthe little dog is never with him. Quite, quite mad!'
'Or plain rude,' said Dick. 'Not worth bothering about, anyway. Well, if he's not doing any excavatingin his Roman Camp, perhaps we can explore it without being ordered off!'
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They walked on slowly and came to the camp, and at once heard a cheerful whistling going on, andthe sound of someone digging. George looked over the top of the dug-out trench² in surprise.
She almost toppled in, she was so amazed at what she saw!
The boy was there, digging carefully, whistling as he did so! He brushed his tousled hair from his hotforehead and caught sight of George and the others. He looked rather astonished.
'How on earth did you get down here so quickly?' said George. 'Do you have wings or something?'
'I've been down here all the afternoon,' said the boy. 'For at least an hour, I should think.'
'Fibber!' said George. The boy looked very angry, and shouted back at once.
'I'm tired of you two girls - and now you've brought your friends too, I suppose you think you cancome and aggravate³ me even more!'
'Don't be a fathead,' said Dick, feeling as puzzled about this boy as George and Anne had been.
How in the world had he run around them and got down in the trench so quickly? Did he enjoyplaying tricks like that? He really didn't look mad!
'Is this your property, this old camp?' asked Julian.
'No. Of course not. Don't be daft!' said the boy. 'As if I could own a whole camp like this! It wasdiscovered by my father some time ago, and he gave me permission to work here for the hols. It'spretty exciting, I can tell you. See my finds?'

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