The Secret Seven have a fantastic new hiding place but someone else is using it at night and it's Jack's little sister Susie who helps them catch the intruder.
Jack came back to see Peter just before nine next day. 'I came to tell you that Susie's not been near the cave,' he told Peter. 'I kept an eye on her all yesterday evening and this morning. She's gone off to her music lesson now, so we're safe till twelve o'clock anyhow.'
'Right,' said Peter. 'Well, help me with the few jobs I have to do, and then we'll go up with Janet and Scamper. We'll try to get there just before the others come.'
So at five to ten, Peter, Janet, Scamper, and Jack made their way to the quarry and then up to the cave.
They looked up to where the jug was so carefully balanced on a ledge, and grinned.
'I'll get it,' said Jack, and climbed up to remove it.
'We'll have to break these threads ourselves,' said Janet. 'What a waste of booby-traps, wasn't it? Ooh, be careful, you'll get honey all over you!'
They broke the threads as carefully as possible, so as not to get themselves sticky, and went into the cave. And then they stood there in astonishment, gazing round as if they could not believe their eyes!
The tins were all opened, and emptied! Some were flung on the floor. Two more of the cushions had gone. A bottle of orangeade had disappeared, and so had a syphon of soda-water. The tin of peppermints had completely vanished, and also some more books. A torch that Colin had left on a shelf had gone too.
'But... but... how could anyone get inT stammered Peter, utterly astonished. 'Our booby traps were still there; those threads were quite unbroken. nobody could have come in, and yet look at this. I don't like it. There's something very queer going on in this cave, and I just... don't... like...it!'
The three children felt scared. It was quite clear that no one had gone into the cave, because the sticky silk threads would certainly have been broken. But how could their belongings have been taken, and their tins emptied, if no one had been in the cave?
'You know,' said Jack, looking all round him fearfully, you know, Peter, I was quite certain I saw somebody slipping into the cave that time we played hide-and-seek. You kept saying I must have imagined it, but I didn't.'
'Well, certainly somebody's about somebody who likes eating and drinking,' said Peter. 'And if he didn't get into our cave from the outside, he must know a way in from the inside?
'But that's silly too,' said Janet. 'We know there's no way into the cave from the inside. We've had a jolly good look.'
'Scamper seems jolly interested in the cave this morning,' said Jack. 'Look at him sniffing and nosing round.'
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Scamper certainly was interested. He ran here and there excitedly, giving little barks and whimpers, as if to say, 'I could tell you such a lot if only I could speak!'
