P.C.Roper smiled a deadly smile."Oho!" he said."You don't know who gave you the caravan! Things are looking up.Caravans drop from the sky, do they? A very thin story indeed.I'll trouble you to come with me, all of you, and see my inspector."P.C.Roper was quite happy now.He had not only filled the impertinent children with fear, but he had done a smart thing on his very first day as constable.He drew himself up, and returned the notebook to his pocket.
"Your inspector?" Robert said."Where does he live?""Well," said P.C.Roper, "he lives at Bidford, but he's at Stratford to-day, at the Police Court, and he won't be back till the evening.""We can't wait till evening," Robert said."It would throw out all our plans.""Plans!" exclaimed P.C.Roper."Plans indeed! Aren't you suspicious-looking persons in the possession of an unlicensed caravan, and unable to give any reasonable account of how you got it? Your plans can wait.""Please give us a little time to discuss it," Janet said, and they all surrounded Kink once more.
"Of course it's absurd," Jack said; "but what an awful pity you don't know who X.is! That's what makes the trouble.It looks so silly, too.""Do you really think that caravans have to show licenses?" Janet asked Kink.
"I never thought about it," Kink said, "but it sounds reasonable in a way.
Gipsies, you know.If Master Campbell hadn't said that about the King and the Mayor I shouldn't have laughed, and then the copper wouldn't have lost his wool, and we should be all right.""Never mind about that," said Janet."We can't bother about what is done.
The thing is, what we are to do.How funny of Mr.Lenox not to have thought about the license!--he thought of everything else.""Yes, and X.too," said Robert."But it's just terrible to have to go back and wait all day for the inspector.We are due at Evesham this afternoon.""Couldn't we overpower him," Horace said, "and bind him, and leave him in the ditch?""Yes," said Hester, "or ask him to have a glass of milk, and drug it?""Don't be absurd," said Robert."This is serious.All right," he called out to P.C.Roper, who was getting anxious, "we're just coming."Then Janet had a happy thought."I say," she exclaimed, "where is that envelope that Uncle Christopher gave us? He said we were to open it if we got into a real mess.Well, now's the time.""It's in the safe," said Robert, and he dashed into the caravan and brought it out.
Janet opened it and read it slowly.Then she smiled a radiant smile, and, advancing to the constable, handed him a paper.
"Here is the license," she said; "you will find our name and address on it.
Now, perhaps, we may go on."
P.C.Roper read the license very carefully, frowned, and handed it back.
"It would save a lot of trouble," he said, " if you would produce such things directly you were asked for them.""But we didn't know we'd got it," Janet said.
P.C.Roper pressed his hand to his forehead."I don't know where I am," he muttered.
"They've got a caravan, and they don't know who gave it to them; and they've got envelopes, and they don't know what's in them.Does your mother know you're out?" he added as a farewell shot.
The Slowcoaches could not help it; they gave him three cheers, and then three more for Uncle Christopher.
"Well," said Janet, "that's all right, but it's lucky he did not see Uncle Christopher's letter.Listen:
DEAR CHILDREN, "It has suddenly occurred to me that some ass of a policeman may want to see your license, and I have therefore procured one for you.If you get into any kind of trouble, be sure to give my name and address, and telegraph for me.
"Your affectionate Uncle, CHRIS.
