Mystery of the Strange Messages (20 page)

The Superintendent went to the door and called out to one of his
men. "Get that hack-saw of yours. Sergeant!"

"Right, sir!" And in half a minute in came the Sergeant
with an efficient-looking little saw.

"I want that pipe cut," said the Superintendent, nodding
his head at the little water-pipe. "The water's turned off, so there's
only what's in the pipes. Cut below that loose joint, where the water's
dripping a little."

Everyone watched while the Sergeant did a little sawing—then water
spurted out—and with it came two small sparkling things that fell to the
ground, and lay there, glittering. Fatty pounced on them at once, and dropped
them into the Superintendent's hand.

"Whew! Yes—they're diamonds all right," he said.
"The pipe must be crammed with them! No wonder the water wouldn't flow
through properly. Cut another place. Sergeant."

The man obeyed—and there was no doubt of it, the pipe was full of
diamonds—some big, some small, none of them any the worse for having lain in
water for so many years.

"Sergeant—take a couple of men and empty the pipe,"
ordered the Superintendent, looking extremely pleased. "Frederick—you
deserve a medal for this! Good work, my boy—as good as any you've ever done.
Don't you think so, Goon?"

Goon didn't think so. Goon was busy blowing his nose loudly. Goon
didn't want to answer
any
questions about Fatty at all. He was tired to
death of Fatty and Ern, and all he wanted to do was to go home and have a Nice
Hot Cup of Tea.

"I'll have to come and take a report about all this from you.
Frederick, some time or other," said the Superintendent, his hand on
Fatty's shoulder. "But now I must go and question those two men. My warm
congratulations—and if I were you, I'd go and put something on that frightful
bruise. One of the men did that. I suppose?"

"Yes. But I don't mind!" said Fatty. "I gave as good
as I got. Gosh—it
was
a night and a half, sir—and Ern here did as much
as I did. More!"

"My congratulations to you too, Ern," said the
Superintendent. "I shouldn't be surprised if you didn't have a little Something
coming to you as a reward for your good work."

Ern blushed all over his face in surprise and delight. How he
longed to be like Fatty, and let his "tongue go loose". What a
"pome" he would recite to the Superintendent! But all he could say
was, "I'm going to be a policeman some day, sir—and I'll be a Sergeant in
no time at all—you see if I don't!"

"Gah!" said Goon, before he could stop himself, and
marched off angrily. That Ern! And to think he'd given him five shillings for
helping him. What a waste!

"Let's all go back and have breakfast at my house," said
Fatty. "I'm starving. Mother will have a fit when she sees my bruise!
Gosh, I do hope it doesn't go down before I'm back at school—I'll be the envy
of everyone when I tell them how I got it. Well, Ern—how did you enjoy
this
Mystery?"

"Loveaduck!" said Ern, beaming. "It was Smashing,
Fatty. Thanks a lot for letting me in on it. Never enjoyed myself so much in my
life. And don't forget—I've still got that five shillings left that my uncle
gave me. I'll stand you all ice-creams this morning, and that goes for Buster
too!"

"Good old Ern," said Fatty, and clapped him on the
shoulder. And the others all said the same, making the boy blush as red as a
beetroot. "Good Old Ern."

WONDERFUL ENID BLYTON.

Enid Blyton's stories outsell any other author's in the children's
field. Thousands of letters reach us every year from young readers saying how
much they love her books, telling us of their delight in reading her school and
mystery adventures, and vowing to keep her books forever.

That is the interesting part of these letters—how many children
write to tell us of the libraries of Enid Blyton titles they have collected.
Dragon Books have published close on thirty Enid Blyton titles now, and many
children tell us they have the lot!

It's a good idea, you know, to start collecting books, and to own
books of your very own. After all, if a book has given you joy, why throw it
away or neglect it? Books are to be treasured—still the greatest pleasure comes
from reading books—and they should be looked after and neatly displayed on a
shelf.

A library of books—particularly Dragon books, with their
attractive spines—makes a room colourful and interesting. And your favourite
stories are there to give you pleasure at a second time of reading, so why not
decide today to start collecting your own library of Dragon books?

They're only three and six each, remember, and how soon they
accumulate if you buy one a week out of your pocket money! Decide today that
that's how you're going to spend your money in future, on building a delightful
library. And when it comes to birthdays or Christmas, ask your mum and dad,
aunts and uncles to buy you Dragon books as presents!