Part 5 (2/2)

The children soon came to the place where they had been before. ”Now look,” said Peter, ”this is what happened. The thief was a stilt-walker, so all he had to do was to come to the outside of this wall, get up on his stilts-walk to the wall, lean on the top, take his feet from the stilts and sit on the wall. He then draws his stilts over the wall and uses them on this soft ground. On the hard garden paths they don't mark, and foe is safe to come to earth and hide his stilts along the box hedging of the border.”

”Go on!” said Janet in excitement.

”He gets into the house, takes the pearls, and comes back to the wall,” said Peter. ”Up he gets on his stilts again and walks to the wall-and he leaves more of these peculiar round stilt-marks behind in the earth, of course!”

”Goodness-that's what they were!” said Pam.

”Yes. And as he clambers on to the wall, his cap catches a high branch of a tree and is jerked off,” said Peter. ”He leaves it there because he doesn't want to waste time getting it back. He catches one of his socks on that little sharp piece of brick and leaves a bit of wool behind . . . then he's up on the top of the wall, and down he jumps on the other side!”

”Which I heard him do!” said Colin. ”But, Peter-he had no stilts when I saw him. What did he do with his stilts?”

Nineteen.

Where are the pearls?

”You want to know what he did with the stilts he used when he climbed up on the wall after he had stolen the pearls?” said Peter. ”Well-I don't really know-but if all my reasoning is right, he must have flung them into a thick bush, somewhere, to hide them!”

”Yes-of course,” said Pam. ”But which bush?”

They all looked round at the bushes and trees near by. ”A holly bus.h.!.+” said Colin, pointing over the wall. ”That's always so green and thick, and people don't go messing about with holly because it's too p.r.i.c.kly!”

”Yes-that would certainly be the best,” said Peter. ”Come on, everyone,”He led the rest out of the Manor grounds and round to the other side of the wall at top speed.

They were soon finding out what a very scratchy, p.r.i.c.kly job bending back the branches of the thick holly tree could be. But what a reward they had! There, pushed right into the very thickest part, were two long stilts! Colin pulled out one and Peter pulled out the other.

”You were right, Peter!” said Janet. ”You are clever! We've explained simply everything now-the old cap high up on a branch-the bit of wool-the peculiar round marks-how the thief climbed an unclimbable wall. Really, I think the Secret Seven have been very, very clever!”

”And so do I!” shouted another voice. They all turned, and there, flushed and breathless, was their friend the inspector of police, with Johns the gardener still a good ten y;irds off.

”Hallo!” said Peter, surprised. ”I say-did you hear that?”

”Yes,” said the inspector, beaming but breathless. ”Johns here opened the gate to my car, and told me he thought you had solved the mystery. We knew you must be hot on the scent of something when you chased out of the gate like that. Well, what's your explanation? You've certainly beaten the police this time!”

Peter laughed. ”Ah well, you see-we can go snooping about the circus without anyone suspecting us-but if you sent seven policemen to snoop round the circus field, you'd certainly be suspected of something!”

”No doubt we should,” agreed the inspector. He picked up the stilts and examined them. ”A very ingenious way of scaling an enormously high wall. I suppose you can't also tell me who the thief is, can you?”

”Well-it's a stilt-walker, of course,” said Peter. ”And I think it's a fellow called Louis. If you go to the circus you'll probably find him wearing blue socks with a little red thread running down each side.”

”And he'll have black hair with a little round bare place at the crown,” said Colin. ”At least-the thief I saw had a bare place there.”

”Astonis.h.i.+ng what a lot you know!” said the inspector, admiringly; ”you'll be telling me the colour of his pyjamas next! What about coming along to find him now? I've got a couple of men out in the car. We can all go.”

”Oooh,” said Pam, imagining the Secret Seven appearing on the circus field with three big policemen. ”I say-won't the circus folk be afraid when they see us?”

”Only those who have reason to be afraid,” said the inspector. ”Come along. I do want to see if this thief of yours has a bare place on the crown of his head. Now, how do you know that, I wonder? Most remarkable!”

They all arrived at the circus field at last. The police got there first, of course, as they went in their car, but they waited for the children to come. Through the gate they all went, much to the amazement of the circus folk there.

”There's Louis,” said Peter, pointing out the sullen-looking young fellow over by the lions' cage. ”Blow-he's got no socks on again!”

”We'll look at the top of his head then,” said Colin.

Louis stood up as they came near. His eyes looked uneasily at the tall inspector.

”Got any socks on?” inquired the inspector, much to Louis's astonishment. ”Pull up your trousers.”

But, as Peter had already seen, Louis was bare-legged. ”Tell him to bend over,” said Colin, which astonished Louis even more.

”Bend over,” said the inspector, and Louis obediently bent himself over as if he were bowing to everyone.

Colin gave a shout. ”Yes-that's him all right! See the bare round patch at the crown of his head? Just like I saw when I was up in the tree!”

”Ah-good,” said the inspector. He turned to Louis again. ”And now, young fellow, I have one more thing to say to you. Where are the pearls?”

Twenty.

The end of the adventure.

Louis stared at them all sullenly. ”You're mad!” he said. ”Asking me to pull up my trouser legs, and bend over-and now you start talking about pearls. What pearls? I don't know nothing about pearls-never did.”

”Oh yes, you do,” said the inspector. ”We know all about you, Louis. You took your stilts to get over that high wall-didn't you?-the one that goes round Milton Manor. And you got the pearls, and came back to the wall. Up you got on to your stilts again, and there you were, nicely on top, ready to jump down the other side.”

”Don't know, what you're talking about,” mumbled Louis sulkily, but he had gone very pale.

”I'll refresh your memory a little more then,” said the inspector. ”You left stilt-marks behind you-and this cap on a high branch - and this bit of wool from one of your socks. You also left your stilts behind you, in the middle of a holly bush. Now, you didn't do all those things for nothing. Where are those pearls?”

”Find 'em yourself,” said Louis. ”Maybe my brother's gone off with them in the caravan. He's gone, anyway.”

”But he left the pearls here-he said so,” said Peter, suddenly. ”I was in the caravan when you were talking together!”

Louis gave Peter a startled and furious glance. He said nothing.

”And you said the pearls would be safe with the lions!” said Peter. ”Didn't you?”

Louis didn't answer. ”Well, well!” said the inspector, ”we'll make a few inquiries from the lions themselves!”

So accompanied by all the children, and the two policemen, and also by about thirty interested circus folk, and by the little bear who had somehow got free and was wandering about in delight, the inspector went over to the big lions' cage. He called for the lion-keeper.

He came, astonished and rather alarmed.

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