Chapter Eighteen AN UNEXPECTED PRISONER
　　THE Sticks stared at Edgar as if he was mad.
　　"Cows throwing things?" said Mrs. Stick at last. "What do you mean by that? Cows don't throwanything."
　　"These ones did," said Edgar, and then began to exaggerate in order to make his parents sympathisewith him. "They were dreadful cows, they were - hundreds of them, with horns as long as reindeer,and awful mooing voices. And they threw things at me and Tinker. Proper scared he was, and so wasI. I dropped the cushions I was taking down, and rushed away to hide.""Where are the cushions?" said Mr. Stick, looking round. "I can't see any cushions. I suppose you'lltell us the cows ate them."
　　"Didn't you take everything down into the dungeons¹?" demanded Mrs. Stick. "Because that room'sempty now. There's not a thing in it."
　　"I didn't take anything down at all," said Edgar, coming cautiously out of the dungeon² entrance.
　　"I dropped the cushions just about where you're standing³. What's happened to them?""Look 'ere!" said Mr. Stick, in amazement⁴. "Who's been 'ere since we've been gone? Someone's takenthe cushions and everything else too. Where have they put them?""Pa, it was them cows," said Edgar, looking all round as if he expected to see cows walking off withcushions and silver and blankets.
　　"Shut up about them cows," said Mrs. Stick, suddenly losing her temper. "For one thing there aren'tany cows on this island, and that we do know, for we looked all over it this morning. What we heardlast night must have been queer sort of echoes rumbling⁵ round. No, my boy - there's something funnyabout all this. Looks as if there is somebody on the island!"A dismal⁶ howl came echoing up from below the ground. It was Stinker, terrified at being alonebelow, and not daring to come up.
　　"Poor lamb!" said Mrs. Stick, who seemed much fonder of Stinker than of anyone else.
　　"What's up with him?"

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