13
　　The face in the tree
　　When the morning came, Dapple awoke the children by giving a mighty¹ sneeze. They woke with ajump, wondering what it was. Dapple gave another sneeze, and they knew!
　　‘It’s Dapple! Have you got a cold, Dapple?’ asked Lucy-Ann anxiously. Then she rememberedthe happenings of the night, and looked round.
　　Everyone said the same thing at once.
　　‘Where are the dogs?’
　　They had disappeared. Not one was there. The children looked at one another, puzzled. Wherehad they gone, and why?
　　‘We couldn’t all have dreamed them,’ said Dinah, answering everyone’s unspoken thought.
　　‘They really were here. Ten of them. Most peculiar².’
　　‘Yes, it is peculiar,’ said Jack³. ‘Personally, I think they must belong to somebody. They didn’tstrike me as being a pack of wild dogs.’
　　‘Nor me,’ said Philip. ‘But who could they belong to? There’s not a house for miles! And whyshould anyone in this desolate⁴ mountain country keep ten man-hunting dogs?’
　　‘Oooh – are they man-hunters?’ said Lucy-Ann, startled.
　　‘Well, the police use them for that,’ said Philip. ‘Don’t they, Jack? They hunt criminals withthem. Those Alsatians can smell them out and capture them. But there can’t be any police here,with hunting-dogs! I mean – Bill would have had it reported to him, if they were. He’s high up inthe police organization himself, and there’s not a thing he doesn’t know about what’s going on inthe police world.’
　　‘Where do the dogs come from then?’ asked Dinah. ‘Would they be kept as guards for anything– to frighten anyone off, or give the alarm, for instance?’
　　‘Yes – but what is there to guard here, among these mountains?’ said Jack. ‘Nothing at all, asfar as I can see!’
　　‘Give it up!’ said Philip, sliding out of his sleeping-bag. ‘I’m going for a splash in the stream.
　　Coming?’
　　‘Yes. Then we’ll open a tin or two,’ said Dinah. ‘I wish we’d thought of giving that ham-boneto the dogs, Jack. The ham’s gone bad now – but they wouldn’t have minded.’

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