Five On Kirrin Island Again Chapter Eleven GEORGE MAKES A HARD CHOICE（在线收听）

Chapter Eleven GEORGE MAKES A HARD CHOICE

THERE was a horrified silence. George stared at her father in complete dismay. Everyone waited to see what she would say.

'But Father Timmy and I have never been separated once,' she said at last, in a pleading voice. 'I do see you want him to guard you and you can have him but I'll have to stay here too!'

'Oh no!' said her father at once. 'You can't possibly stay, George. That's out of the question. As for never being separated from Timmy, well surely you wouldn't mind that for once? If it was to ensure my safety?'

George  swallowed  hard.  This  was  the  most  difficult  decision  she  had  ever  had  to  make  in  her life. Leave Timmy behind on the island where there was some unknown hidden enemy, likely to harm him if he possibly could! And yet there was Father too he might be in danger if there was no one to guard him.

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'I shall just have to stay here, Father,' she said. 'I can't leave Timmy behind unless I stay too. It's no good.'

Her father began to lose his temper. He was like George he wanted his own way, and if he didn't have it he was going to make a fuss!

'If I'd asked Julian or Dick or Anne this same thing, and they'd had a dog, they would all have said yes, at once!' he raged. 'But you, George, you must always make things difficult if you can!

You and that dog anyone would think he was worth a thousand pounds!'

'He's worth much more than that to me,' said George, in a trembling voice. Timmy crept nearer to her and pushed his  nose into her hand. She held his  collar as  if she would not  let him go for a moment.

'Yes.  That  dog's  worth  more  to  you  than  your  father  or  mother  or  anyone,'  said  her  father,  in disgust.

'No, Quentin, I can't have you saying things like that,' said his wife, firmly. 'That's just silly. A mother  and  father  are  quite  different  from  a  dog  -  they're  loved  in  different  ways.  But  you  are perfectly  right,  of  course  -Timmy  must  stay  behind  with  you  and  I  shall  certainly  not  allow George to stay with him. I'm not going to have both of you exposed to danger. It's bad enough to worry about you, as it is.'

George looked at her mother in dismay. 'Mother! Do tell Father I must stay here with Timmy.'

'Certainly not,' said her mother. 'Now George, be unselfish. If it were left to Tim to decide, you know  perfectly  well  that  he  would  stay  here  -  and  stay  without  you.  He  would  say  to  himself,

"I'm  needed  here  my  eyes  are  needed  to  spy  out  enemies,  my  ears  to  hear  a  quiet  footfall  and maybe my teeth to protect my master. I shall be parted from George for a few days - but she, like me, is big enough to put up with that!" That's what Timmy would say, George, if it were left to him.'

Everyone had been listening to this unexpected speech with great attention. It was about the only one that could  persuade  George to  give in  willingly! She looked at Timmy. He looked back  at her,  wagging  his  tail.  Then  he  did  an  extraordinary  thing  -  he  got  up,  walked  over  to  George's father, and lay down beside him, looking at George as if to say 'There you are! Now you know what I think is right!'

'You see?' said her mother. 'He agrees with me. You've always said that Timmy was a good dog, and this proves it. He knows what his duty is. You ought to be proud of him.'

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'I  am,'  said  George,  in  a  choky  voice.  She  got  up  and  walked  off.  'All  right,'  she  said  over  her shoulder. 'I'll leave him on the island with Father. I'll come back in a minute.'

Anne got up to go after poor George, but Julian pulled her down again. 'Leave her alone! She'll be  all  right.  Good  old  Timmy  you  know  what's  right  and  what's  wrong,  don't  you?  Good  dog, splendid dog!'

Timmy wagged his tail. He did not attempt to follow George. No - he meant to stay by her father now,  even  though  he  would  much  rather  be  with  his  mistress.  He  was  sorry  that  George  was unhappy - but sometimes it was better to do a hard thing and be unhappy about it, than try to be happy without doing it.

'Oh Quentin dear, I don't like this business of you being here and somebody else, spying on you,'

said his wife. 'I really don't. How long will you be before you've finished your work?'

'A  few days  more,' said  her husband. He looked  at  Timmy admiringly.  'That  dog might  almost have  known  what  you  were  saying,  Fanny,  just  now.  It  was  remarkable  the  way  he  walked straight over to me.'

'He's  a  very  clever  dog,'  said  Anne,  warmly.  'Aren't  you,  Tim?  You'll  be  quite  safe  with  him, Uncle Quentin. He's terribly fierce when he wants to be!'

'Yes. I shouldn't care to have him leaping at my throat,' said her uncle. 'He's so big and powerful.

Are there any more pieces of cake?'

'Quentin, it's really too bad of you to go without your meals,' said his wife. 'It's no good telling me you haven't, because you wouldn't be as ravenous as this if you had had your food regularly.'

Her  husband  took  no  notice  of  what  she  was  saying.  He  was  looking  up  at  his  tower.  'Do  you ever see those wires at the top blaze out?' he asked. 'Wonderful sight, isn't it?'

'Uncle, you're not inventing a new atom bomb, or anything, are you?' asked Anne.

Her uncle looked at her scornfully. 'I wouldn't waste my time inventing things that will be used to  kill  and  maim  people!  No  -  I'm  inventing  something  that  will  be  of  the  greatest  use  to mankind. You wait and see!'

George came back. 'Father,' she said, 'I'm leaving Timmy behind for you - but please will you do something for me?'

'What?' asked her father. 'No silly conditions now! I shall feed Timmy regularly, and look after him, if that's what you want to ask me. I may forget my own meals, but you ought to know me well enough to know I shouldn't neglect any animal dependent on me.'

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'Yes I know, Father,' said George, looking a bit doubtful all the same. 'What I wanted to ask you was this when you go up in the tower to signal each morning, will you please take Timmy with you? I shall be up at the coastguard cottage, looking through his telescope at the glass room in the tower and I shall be able to see Timmy then. If I can catch just a glimpse of him each day and know he's all right, I shan't worry so much.'

'Very well,' said her father. 'But I don't suppose for a moment that Timmy will be able to climb up the spiral stairway.'

'Oh, he can, Father he's been up it once already,' said George.

'Good heavens!' said her father. 'Has the dog been up there too? -All right, George I promise I'll take him up with me each morning that I signal, and get him to wag his tail at you. There! Will that satisfy you?'

'Yes.  Thank  you,'  said  George.  'And  you'll  give  him  a  few  kind  words  and  a  pat  occasionally, Father,' won't you...and...?'

'And put his bib on for him at meal-times, I suppose, and clean his teeth for him at night!' said her father, looking cross again. 'I shall treat Timmy like a proper grown-up dog, a friend of mine, George - and believe me, that's the way he wants me to treat him. Isn't it, Timmy? You like all those frills to be kept for your mistress, don't you, not for me?'

'Woof,' said Timmy, and thumped his tail. The children looked at him admiringly. He really was a very sensible clever dog. He seemed somehow much more grown-up than George.

'Uncle, if anything  goes  wrong, or  you want help or anything,  flash  eighteen times again,' said Julian. 'You ought to be all right with Timmy. He's better than a dozen policemen but you never know.'

'Right. Eighteen flashes if I want you over here for anything,' said his uncle. 'I'll remember. Now you'd better all go. It's time I got on with my work.'

'You'll  pour  that  soup  away,  won't  you,  Quentin?'  said  his  wife,  anxiously.  'You  don't  want  to make yourself ill by eating bad soup. It must he green by now! It would be so like you to forget all about it while it was fresh and good and only remember it when it was bad!'

'What  a  thing  to  say!'  said  her  husband,  getting  up.  'Anyone  would  think  I  was  five  years  old, without a brain in my head, the way you talk to me!'

'You've  plenty  of  brains,  dear,  we  all  know  that,'  said  his  wife.  'But  you  don't  seem  very  old sometimes! Now look after yourself and keep Timmy by you all the time.'

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'Father won't need to bother about that,' said George. 'Timmy will keep by him! You're on guard, Timmy, aren't you? And you know what that means!'

'Woof,' said Timmy, solemnly. He went with them all to the boat, but he did not attempt to get in. He stood by George's father and watched the boat bob away over the water.

'Good-bye, Timmy!' shouted George, in a funny, fierce voice. 'Look after yourself!'

Her father waved, and Timmy wagged his tail. George took one of the pairs of oars from Dick and began to row furiously, her face red with the hard work.

Julian  looked  at  her  in  amusement.  It  was  hard  work  for  him,  too,  to  keep  up  with  the  furious rowing, but he didn't say anything. He knew all this fury in rowing was George's way of hiding her  grief  at  parting  with  Timmy.  Funny  old  George!  She  was  always  so  intense  about  things furiously  happy  or  furiously  unhappy,  in  the  seventh  heaven  of  delight  or  down  in  the  very depths of despair or anger.

Everyone talked hard so that George would think they were not noticing her feelings at parting with  Timmy. The talk, of course, was mostly about  the unknown man on the island.  It  seemed very mysterious indeed that he should suddenly have arrived.

'How did he get there? I'm sure not one of the fishermen would have taken him,' said Dick. 'He must have gone at night, of course, and I doubt if there is anyone but George who would know the way in the dark or even dare to try and find it. These rocks are so close together, and so near the surface; one yard out of the right course and any boat would have a hole in the bottom!'

'No one could reach the island by swimming from the shore,' said Anne. 'It's too far, and the sea is  too  rough  over  these  rocks.  I  honestly  do  wonder  if  there  is  anyone  on  the  island  after  all.

Perhaps that cigarette end was an old one.'

'It didn't look it,' said Julian. 'Well, it just beats me how anyone got there!' He fell into thought, puzzling  out  all  the  possible  and  impossible  ways.  Then  he  gave  an  exclamation.  The  others looked at him.

'I've just thought - would it be possible for an aeroplane to parachute anyone down on the island?

I did hear a throbbing noise one night - was it last night? It must have been a plane's engine, of course! Could anyone be dropped on the island?'

'Easily,' said Dick. 'I believe you've hit on the explanation, Ju! Good for you! But I say whoever it  is  must  be  in  deadly  earnest,  to  risk  being  dropped  on  a  small  island  like  that  in  the  dark  of night!'

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In deadly earnest! That didn't sound at all nice. A little shiver went down Anne's back.

'I am glad Timmy's there,' she said. And everyone felt the same yes, even George!