FIVE ON A HIKE TOGETHER by Enid Blyton

10 AN ANGRY POLICEMAN AND A FINE LUNCH

There was a police-station at Reebles, a small one with a house for the policeman attached. As the one policeman had four villages under his control he felt himself to be rather an important fellow.

He was in his house having his dinner when the children walked up to the police-station. They found nobody there, and walked out again. The policeman had seen them from his window and he came out, wiping his mouth. He wasn't very pleased at having to come out in the middle of a nice meal of sausage and onions.

"What do you want?" he said, suspiciously. He didn't like children of any sort. Nasty little things, he thought them - always full of mischief and cheek. He didn't know which were worse, the small ones or the big ones!

Julian spoke to him politely. "We've come to report something rather strange, which we thought perhaps the police ought to know. It might help them to catch the prisoner who escaped last night."

"Ha!" said the policeman scornfully. "You've seen him too, I suppose? You wouldn't believe how many people have seen him. "Cording to them he's been in every part of the moor at one and the same time. Clever fellow he must be to split himself up like that."

'Well, one of us saw him last night," said Julian politely. "At least, we think it must have been him. He gave a message to my brother here."

"Ho, he did, did he?" said the policeman, eyeing Dick in a most disbelieving manner. "So he runs about giving messages to school-boys, does he? And what message did he give you, may I ask?"

The message sounded extremely silly when Dick repeated it to the police. "Two-Trees. Gloomy Water, Saucy Jane. And Maggie knows."

"Really?" said the policeman, in a sarcastic voice. "Maggie knows as well, does she? Well, you tell Maggie to come along here and tell me too. I'd like to meet Maggie - specially if she's a friend of yours."

"She's not," said Dick feeling annoyed. "That was in the message. I don't know who Maggie is! How should I? We thought perhaps the police could unravel the meaning. We couldn't. The fellow gave me this bit of paper too."

He handed the piece of dirty paper to the policeman, who looked at it with a crooked smile "So he gave you this too, did he?" he said. "Now wasn't that kind of him? And what do you suppose all this is, scribbled on the paper?"

"We don't know," said Dick. "But we thought our report might help the police to catch the prisoner, that's all."

"The prisoner's caught," said the policeman, with a smirk on his face. "You know so much - but you didn't know that! Yes, he's caught - four hours ago - and he's safe back in prison now And let me tell you youngsters this - I'm not taken in by any silly schoolboy spoofing, see?"

"It's not spoofing," said Julian, in a very grown-up manner, "You should learn to see the difference between the truth and a joke."

That didn't please the policeman at all. He turned on Julian at once, his face reddening

"Now you run away!" he said. "I'm not having any cheek from you! Do you want me to take your names and addresses and report you?"

"If you like," said Julian, in disgust. "Have you got a notebook there? I'll give you all our names, and I myself will make a report to the police in our district when I get back."

The policeman stared at him. He couldn't help being impressed by Julian's manner, and he calmed down a little.

"You go away, all of you," he said, his voice not nearly so fierce. "I shan't report you this time. But don't you go spreading silly stories like that or you'll get into trouble. Serious trouble too."