The Seven arrived at Matt's hut and looked inside it. The shepherd was not there ... in fact, they could see him a long way off, rounding up sheep on the opposite hill. He waved to them and they waved back. His dog was with him, working hard.
"Now to see if the Bolans' van is empty," said Peter, and they went across to it, carrying the biscuits and the butter. Scamper trotted on in front, his long tail waving happily to and fro.
"Mrs Bolan! Are you there?" called Peter. There was no answer at all.
"The pram's not here," said Janet, sorry that she wouldn't see the dear little baby.
"Is the door locked!" asked Peter anxiously. "I hope to goodness it isn't." He ran up the steps and knocked. "Mrs Bolan! Are you in?"
There was no answer. He pushed gently at the door, and it yielded, opening a little.
"I'll just put the butter and biscuits on the shelf!" he called to the others, and went right inside. The caravan smelt musty and rather unpleasant, and was not very tidy. The big mattress still lay on the floor, as if Mrs Bolan had left in a hurry and hadn't troubled to tidy anything. Even the dirty breakfast cups and plates were still left on the shelf.
"Can we come in too?" called Janet.
"No. I'll just have a quick hunt round myself, and then one of you can come in, and check round to see that I haven't missed any hiding-place," said Peter. "We'd get in each other's way if we, all came in, it's so small. It shouldn't be difficult to find a violin hidden here."
The others stood outside, some on the caravan steps, some on the grass, peering in to see what Peter was doing. He searched very thoroughly indeed.
"Nothing under or in the mattress!" he called. "Nothing in the cupboard. Wait, there's a shelf almost in the roof of the caravan ... there's a long box there ... that might be it!"
He took down the box and opened it , but it was quite empty except for a few mildewed papers that might even have belonged to Matt, when he had the caravan!
Peter searched everywhere. Then he came to the door, rather disappointed. "No go!" he said. "The violin is definitely not here. I suppose it might be hidden under a bush somewhere ... but I don't think so, because that would ruin it ... even if it had a case, which it hasn't. The case was left behind in the shop. Janet ... you come up and search."
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Janet leapt up the steps, and the others watched her searching too. Peter told Colin and Jack to look under the caravan as well, for there were a few things there. But no ... the violin was certainly not among them. It was very, very disappointing.
Then suddenly Janet gave a loud squeal, and made everyone jump. "What is it?" they cried.
"Look what I've found hanging behind the caravan door!" she cried. "It was opened flat against the wall, and I didn't think of looking behind it till this moment. Look!"
And she displayed something very, very surprising to the rest of the Seven. Not the stolen violin ... but the stolen scarecrow clothes!
Yes, there they were ... the old tweed coat, the dirty hat, and grey flannel trousers!
Everyone stared in amazement, recognizing the clothes at once.
"But ... but ...how did they come to be in the caravan?" said Janet.
"Easy! Luke stole them from the scarecrow, wore them as a disguise to steal the violin, then came back to the van and hung them behind the door!" said Jack. "Who would bother about old clothes in a van? No one would know they once belonged to a scarecrow!"
"Oh dear!" said Pam. "I can't help feeling awfully sorry for poor Mrs Bolan. I'm sure she didn't know Luke stole the scarecrow clothes ... or the violin. Where can that violin be? It simply must be hidden somewhere!"
"Well, it's certainly not here," said Peter. "And as I'm sure it's not hidden in the bushes, there's only one place I can think of"
"Where's that?" asked the others, eagerly.
"In the baby's pram," said Peter. "No one would ever think anything was hidden in such a place, certainly not a valuable violin. I bet that's where it's kept."
"But Peter ... it would ruin a violin to be bounced about on all day ... and the baby is a very bouncy one!" said Pam.
"It could easily be wrapped round and round in some thick material," said Peter. "Easily! I bet I'm right!"
"Well ... what do we do now, then?" asked Colin. "We think Luke stole the scarecrow clothes to disguise himself ... we think he stole that violin because his banjo was burnt ... we think he plays it out on the hills at night ... and now we think it's hidden in the baby's pram. But we can't prove a single thing!"
"If we could only look inside the pram, we should know," said Jack.
"But how can we do that?" asked Peter.
"Sh!" said Jack suddenly. "Look who's coming!�
They turned in a hurry ... and saw Mrs Bolan hurrying along with the baby in the pram. It was howling loudly. Benny ran by his mother's side, holding on to the pram.
At first Mrs Bolan didn't see the children beside the caravan. Peter shut the door hurriedly, and then they all went towards her, hardly knowing what to say.
"There, there, little love", she was saying to the baby. "You're starving, aren't you, poor lamb!" She picked it up and turned to take it to the caravan, suddenly startled to see the seven children. She tried to smile her usual smile ... but her face was worried and anxious, quite without its usual cheerful expression.
"Why, good morning, my dears," she said. "I'm just going to feed the baby. I've been down the town all the morning, and she's starving, poor mite. I meant to be back before this!"
She hurried into the caravan, and Benny went too.
"What about looking into the pram now?" said Pam, in a low voice. "It's our only chance. Oh ... I do hope the violin isn't there!"
She bent over the pram and pulled away a dirty covering. Peter burrowed deep down into the well of the pram, surprised to find his fingers trembling. He felt something long and hard, wrapped in thick cloth! He pulled it out.
He unwrapped a little of the cloth ... and partof a violin handle showed at once! "Yes ... it is the violin!" said Peter, shocked. "Now what do we do?"
