"Blyton, Enid - Famous Five 12 - Five Go Down to The Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

СIt is difficult to think anyone could be so heartless,Т said Julian. СBut I think thatТs what happened. And then, I think, the people who lived in this house went down from here to the near-by coves and waited for their friends to come along the other way, the WreckersТ Way, wherever that is.Т
СIt must be a secret way,Т said Dick. СIt must have been a way known only to those villagers who were wreckers. After all, wrecking was against the law, and so this whole business of showing lights and wrecking ships must have been kept a dead secret. We heard what old Grandad said, that every wrecker who knew the way had to vow he would tell no one else.Т
СOld GrandadТs father probably lived in this very house, and climbed the stone stairway on a wild night, and lighted the lamp that shone out over the stormy sea,Т said Julian.
СThatТs why Yan said he was УfritФ of this tower,Т said George. СHe thinks his GrandadТs dad still lights it! Well, we know better. Somebody else lights it, somebody who canТt be up to any good either!Т
СAnd, donТt letТs forget, somebody who may still be about somewhere!Т said Julian, lowering his voice suddenly.
СGosh! yes,Т said Dick, looking round the little tower as if he expected to see a stranger there, listening. СI wonder where he keeps his lamp. ItТs not here.Т
СThe oil splashes are on almost every one of the stone steps,Т said Anne. СI noticed as I came up. I bet itТs a big lamp. It has to give a light far out to sea!Т
СLook, it must have been stood on this bit of the wall,Т said Dick. СThere are some oily patches here.Т
They all looked at the dark patches. Dick bent down and smelt them. СYes, paraffin oil,Т he said.
George was looking at the wall on the other side of the tower. She called to the other three.
СAnd hereТs a patch on this side!Т she said. СI know what happened! Once a ship had been caught by the light and was on its way in, the men with the lamp put it on the other side of the tower to signal to the watcher on the hills, to tell him the ship was caught!Т
СYes. ThatТs it,Т said Anne. СBut who could it be? IТm sure nobody lives here, the place is an absolute ruin, open to the wind and the rain. It must be somebody who knows the way here, sees to the light, and does the signalling.Т
There was a pause. Dick looked at Julian. The same thought came into their minds. They had seen somebody wandering out in the stormy night, twice!
СCould it be Mr Penruthlan, do you suppose?Т said Dick. СWe couldnТt imagine why he was out here in the storm the first night we came out to watch for the light.Т
СNo, heТs not the man with the light, heТs the watcher on the hills!Т said Julian. СThatТs it! ThatТs why he goes out on wild nights, to see if thereТs a signal from the tower, flashing to say that a ship is coming in!Т
There was an even longer pause. Nobody liked that idea at all.
СWe know he tells lies, we know he goes through peopleТs pockets, because we saw him,Т went on Julian after a few moments. СHe fits in well, HeТs the man who goes and stands in that special spot on the hills and watches for a light!Т
СWhat does he do after that?Т said Anne. СDidnТt we hear that there were no wrecks here now, because of the lighthouse higher up the coast? WhatТs the point of it all, if there isnТt a wreck?Т
СSmuggling,Т said Julian shortly. СThatТs the point. Probably by motor-boat. They choose a wild night of storm and wind, when they will be neither seen nor heard, wait out at sea for the signalling light to show them allТs clear, and then come in to one of these coves.Т
СYes, and I bet the WreckersТ secret way is used by someone who steals down to the cove and takes the smuggled goods!Т said Dick, excited. СThree or four people, perhaps, if the goods are heavy. Gosh! IТm sure weТre right.Т
СAnd itТs the watcher on the hill who tells his friends, and down they go to the coves together. ItТs most ingenious,Т Julian said. СNobody sees the light on the tower except the boat waiting, and nobody sees the signal inland except the one watcher on the hills. Absolutely fool-proof.Т
СWe are lucky to stumble on it,Т said Dick. СBut what puzzles me is this. IТm pretty certain that the man who lights the lamp didnТt come the way we came - weТd have seen trodden-down weeds or something. We should certainly have found some sort of a path his feet had made.Т
СYes. And there wasnТt anything, not even a broken thistle,Т said Anne. СThere must be some other way into this old house.Т
СOf course there is! WeТve already said there must be a way for the man who lights the lamp to get down to the coves from here!Т said George. СWell, thatТs the way he gets here, of course. He comes up the passage from the cove. How stupid we are!Т
This idea excited them all. Where was the passage? Nobody could imagine! It certainly wasnТt in the tower, there was no room for anything in that small tower except for the spiral staircase leading to the top.
СLetТs go down,Т said Anne, and began to descend the steps. A slight noise below made her stop. СGo on,Т said George, who was just behind her. Anne turned a scared face to her.
СI heard a noise down there,Т she whispered.
George turned to Julian immediately. СAnne thinks thereТs somebody down there,Т she said, in a low voice.
СCome back, Anne,Т ordered Julian at once. Anne climbed back, still looking scared.
СWould it be the man who does the lamp?Т she whispered. СDo be careful, Julian. He canТt be a nice man!Т
СNice! He must be a beast!Т said George, scornfully. СAre you going down, Ju? Look out, then.Т
Julian peered down the stone steps. There was really nothing for it but to go down and see who was there. They couldnТt possibly stay up in the tower all day long, hoping that whoever it was would go away!
СWhat sort of noise did you hear?Т Julian asked Anne.
СWell, a sort of scuffling noise,Т said Anne. СIt might have been a rat, of course, or a rabbit. It was just a noise, thatТs all. SomethingТs down there, or somebody!Т
СLetТs sit down for a moment or two and wait,Т said Dick. СWeТll listen hard and see if we can hear anyone.Т
So they sat down cautiously, George with her hand on TimmyТs collar. They waited and they listened. They heard the wind blowing round the old tower. They heard the distant gulls calling, Сee-oo, ee-oo, ee-ooТ. They heard the thistles rustling their prickles together down below.
But.they heard nothing from the kitchen at the foot of the tower. Julian looked at Anne. СNo sound to be heard now,Т he said. СIt must have been a rabbit!Т
СPerhaps it was,Т said Anne, feeling rather foolish. СWhat shall we do then? Go down?Т
СYes. IТll go first though, with Timmy,Т said Julian. СIf anyone is lying in wait heТll be annoyed to see our Timmy. And Timmy will be even more annoyed to see him!Т
Just as Julian was getting up, a noise was quite distinctly heard from below. It was, as Anne had described, a kind of scuffle, then silence.
СWell, here goes!Т said Julian, and began to descend the steps. The others watched breathlessly. Timmy went with Julian, trying to press past him. He hadnТt seemed worried about the noise at all! So perhaps it was only a rat or rabbit!
Julian went down slowly. Who was he going to find - an enemy, or a friend? Careful now, Julian, there may be somebody lying in wait!


Chapter Fourteen

THE SECRET PASSAGE

Julian paused on the last step of the spiral staircase and listened. Not a sound came from the near-by room. СWhoТs there?Т said Julian, sharply. СI know youТre there! I heard you!Т
Still not a sound! The kitchen, overgrown with weeds and dark with ivy and the white rambling rose, seemed to be listening to him, but there was no answer!