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somewhere in that house? Somebody who was hurt and who squealed loudly enough for even the old deaf caretaker to hear?» said Peter.
    Everyone looked upset and uncomfortable.
    «I don't like it», said Colin. Nobody liked it. It was horrid to think of a poor, squealing prisoner locked up somewhere in that old, empty house. «What about his food?» said Colin, at last.
    «Yes – and water to drink», said Janet. «And why is he locked up there?»
    «Kidnapped, perhaps», said Jack. «You know – this is really very serious, if we're right.»
    There was a silence. «Ought we to tell our parents?» asked Pam.
    «Or the police?» said Jack.
    «Well – not till we know a little bit more», said Peter. «There might be some quite simple explanation of all this – a car losing its way or something.»
    «I've just thought of something!» said Jack. «That van – could it have been some sort of ambulance, do you think? You know, the van that ill people are taken to hospitals in? Maybe it was, and the car took the wrong turning, and stopped when it found it had gone wrong. And the ill person cried out with pain, or something.»
    «But the caretaker said he heard squealing too, inside the house», said Peter. «Still, that might have been some noises in his head, of course, like those he says he sometimes has. Well – it's an idea, Jack – it might have been an ambulance, pulled by a car, though I can't say I've ever seen one like the one you describe.»
    «Anyway, we'd better not tell anyone till we've proved there's something queer going on», said Colin. «We should feel most frightfully silly if we reported all this to the police and then they found it was just something perfectly ordinary!»
    «Right. We'll keep the whole thing secret», said Peter. «But, of course, we've got to do something about it ourselves. We can't leave it.»
    «Of course we've got to do something», said George. «But what?»
    «We'll think», said Peter. So they all thought again. What would be the best move to make next?
    «I've thought of something», said Jack at last. «It's a bit frightening, though. We couldn't let the girls into it.»
    «Whatever is it?» said all three girls at once.
    «Well – it seems to me that if there is a prisoner locked up in one of the rooms of the old house, he will have to be fed and given water», said Jack. «And whoever does that would have to visit him at night. See? So what about us taking it in turn at night to go and watch outside the old house to see who goes in – then we might even follow them and see where they go, and who they've got there!»
    «It seems a very good idea», said Peter. «But we'd have to watch two at a time. I wouldn't want to go and hide somewhere there all by myself!»
    «I think that probably someone will be along tonight», said George. «Why shouldn't all four of us boys go and wait in hiding?»
    «It would be difficult for four of us to hide and not be seen», said Colin.
    «Well – let's drape ourselves in white sheets or something and go and join the snowmen in the field!» said Peter, jokingly. To his surprise the other three boys pounced on his idea eagerly.
    «Oh, yes, Peter – that's fine! Nobody would ever guess we weren't snowmen if we had something white round us!» said Colin.
    «We get a good view of the lane, and could see and hear anyone coming along», said George.
    «Two could follow anyone into the house and two remain on guard outside, as snowmen, to give warning in case the other two got into trouble», said Jack. «I'd love to stand there with the snowmen! We'd have to wrap up jolly warmly, though.»
    «Can't we girls come too?» asked Pam.
    «I don't want to!» said Barbara.
    «Well, you can't come, anyhow», said Peter. «That's absolutely certain. Boys only are in the performance tonight!»
    «It will be super!» said Jack, his eyes gleaming with excitement. «What about Scamper? Shall we take him?»
    «We'd better, I think», said Peter. «He'll be