Free Five Get Into a Fix by Enid Blyton

oil-stove!”
    “Well - I know you don"t believe my „shimmerings",” said Dick. “But I swear they"re true!
    And what"s more, I bet we"ll al see them before we leave this hut! Well - good night, girls -
    I"m for bed!”
    In a few minutes" time the bunks were creaking as the four children settled into them. They were not as comfortable as beds, but quite good. George"s bunk creaked more than anyone"s.
    “I suppose you"ve got Timmy in your bunk, making it creak like that!” said Anne sleepily.
    “Well, I"m glad I"m in the bunk above yours, George. I bet Tim fal s out in the night!”
    One by one they fel asleep. The oil-stove burned steadily. It was turned rather low, and shadows quivered on the ceiling and walls. And then something made Timmy"s ears prick up as he lay asleep on George"s feet. First one ear pricked up - and then the other - and suddenly Timmy sat up straight and growled in his throat. Nobody awoke - they were al too sound asleep.
    Timmy growled again and again - and then he barked sharply. “WOOF!”
    Everyone awoke at once. Timmy barked again, and George put out a hand to him.
    “Sh! What"s the matter? Is there someone about, Tim?”
    “What"s up, do you think?” said Julian, from his bunk on the other side of the room.
    Nobody could hear or see anything out of the ordinary. Why was Timmy barking then?
    The oil-stove was stil burning, its light throwing a small round pattern of yellow on the ceiling. It made a smal cosy noise as it burned, a kind of bubbling. There was nothing else to be heard at all.
    “It must be someone prowling outside,” said Dick at last. “Shal we let Timmy go and see?”
    “Well - let"s lie down and see if he barks again,” said Julian. “For al we know a mouse may have run across the floor. Tim would bark at that just as soon as he would bark at an elephant!”
    “Yes. You"re right,” said George. “Al right - we"ll lie down again. Timmy"s lying down too.
    Now, for goodness" sake, Tim, if it is a mouse somewhere, do use your common sense, and let it play if it wants to - and don"t wake us up.”
    Timmy licked her face. He kept his ears wel up for a while. The others all went to sleep except Anne. She lay with her eyes open, wondering what had startled Timmy. She didn"t believe it was a mouse!
    So it was the wakeful Anne who heard the noise when it came again. She thought at first that it was just a noise in her ears, the kind she often heard when she lay down to sleep, and the room was quiet. But then she felt certain that it wasn"t in her ears - it was a real noise. But what a peculiar one!
    “It"s a kind of deep deep grumbling noise,” thought Anne, sitting up. Timmy gave a little whine as if to say he was hearing something again too. “A sort of thunder-rumble, but far far below me, not above!”
    It grew a little louder, and Timmy growled.
    “It"s al right, Tim,” whispered Anne. “It must be far-off thunder, I think!”
    But then the shuddering began! This was so astonishing that Anne didn"t know what to make of it. At first she thought it was herself, beginning to shiver with the cold. But no -
    even her bunk vibrated to her fingers when she touched the wooden side!
    Then she real y was frightened. She cal ed out loudly.
    “Julian! Dick! Wake up - something queer is happening. Do wake up!”
    And Timmy began to bark again. Woof, woof, woof! WOOF, WOOF!

Chapter Eleven
STRANGE HAPPENINGS

    Everyone awoke at Anne"s cal . Julian thought he was in bed, and leapt out, forgetting that he was in the top bunk. He landed with a crash on the floor, shaken and alarmed.
    “Oh, Ju! You forgot you were in the top bunk!” said George, half scared and half amused.
    “Are you hurt? Anne, whatever is the matter? Why did you call out? Did you see something?”
    “No. I heard something - and felt something!” said Anne, glad that the others were awake. “So did Timmy. But it"s all gone now.”
    “Yes, but what was it?” asked Julian, sitting on the edge of Dick"s