Chapter X: Their Picnic

Noel stared at Inez as if he could not believe her words. Then he kicked and banged at the door with all his might. But the door would not move an inch.

"Now we've got our adventure, and I hate it," said Inez. "Nobody knows we're here, and nobody will find us; it's away from the road, and we may stay here for days and days, and months after they'll find our skillingtons."

Noel began to cry, then he suddenly wiped his eyes.

"We're forgetting God!" he said. "God always takes care of me. Doesn't He take care of you?"

"I don't belong to Him," said Inez slowly. "You can pray to Him if you want to."

"But you must pray, too," said Noel.

"I don't know how to."

Noel knelt down in a corner and put his two hands together: "Please, God, send somebody to open the door. Send an angel if there's nobody else. We must get out. Please be very quick. For Jesus' sake. Amen."

Then he got up and waited. Inez climbed upon the box and tried to reach the window, but it was too high above her.

She banged at the door and screamed at the top of her voice.

Nobody came.

"God will send somebody!" said Noel confidently.

"I don't believe God hears us," said Inez. "You told me the Devil lives in my house. Perhaps he has come with us here, and means to keep us here."

"It's only when we're naughty that the Devil is near," said Noel. "I haven't had him near me to-day. I've been a good boy all along."

"I haven't been good," said Inez. "I fought with Julia when she was combing my hair. She pulls it on purpose, so I hit her with the hairbrush; and when we were running after the rabbit in the wood, I meant to run away and give the others the trouble of looking for us. I like giving people trouble. That's wicked, you know. As long as it doesn't get dark, I don't mind, but if it gets dark here, I dare say the Devil will come and frighten us, and then what shall we do?"

"God won't let him!" said Noel stoutly.

Nothing would shake his faith.

Inez began to admire him for it.

"I wish I belonged to God like you do," she said. "Do you think He'd love me if I did?"

"O' course He would."

"How do you do it? But then I couldn't possibly be good, so it's no use talking about it, and I like being in tempers with Julia. It frightens her."

"I s'pect God is punis'ing you for being in tempers, and I've come into it too because I'm with you."

Noel's eyes were big with awe. He remembered the story of Jonah well, how Jonah was punished, and why.

And then, sitting on the box in the sunlight, he began to tell Inez the story. She listened, for she had heard few Bible stories, and Noel told it graphically, waving his hands about and describing the storm with gusto.

They forgot they were shut into an empty room; the sun streamed through the window upon their heads, the coolness and shade was refreshing after their hot scramble through the wood.

Inez was impressed, as Noel had meant her to be.

"Do you think God sent the wind to bang the door?" she asked Noel. "And all because of me?"

"We'll ask Him to forgive you," said Noel cheerfully, "and then if you're sorry, He will. And God will easily open the door. God can do everyfing, you know." Inez was so subdued that she knelt down with Noel, and putting her hands together and shutting her eyes very tightly, she said nervously and quickly:

"O God, I'm very sorry. Please forgive me. I'm sorry. I'll try to be good. Please listen to us and forgive me. Amen."

Then they tried the door again, and they called and called, but there was no answer, and nobody came.

The time seemed endless. They wondered if the others were sitting down to tea. Noel began to cry a little.

"I do want to get out of this horrid room—I want Mums! I want my tea."

And then he began to say over and over again in a whispering tone, "Please, God, help us! Please, God, help us!"

"I'm sure God will send somebody. He sent a man very quick to Miss Constance when she tumbled out of her car." His tone was brave, and he wiped his tears away.

Inez had found a thick short stick and began battering at the door and calling out for help.

Suddenly, to their great delight, they heard a man's voice outside:

"Hallo! What's up? Who's here?"

"Open the door! It's us! We're shut in!"

Inez's voice was shrill and frantic.

Noel stood up smiling seraphically.

"It's another of God's men!" he said. "He's comed at last!"

The man outside came nearer them; then he seized hold of the door handle and tried to move it, and then he called out cheerily:

"Why, you're bricked in! There's nearly a ton of mortar and stones keeping you fast. Wait a bit, till I clear it away."

It seemed a very long time to the children before the doorway was cleared, but they were frightened no longer. And it was a happy moment when the door moved, opened, and they confronted a strange gentleman in fishing garb.

"Well, upon my word!" he ejaculated as he looked the children up and down. "How on earth did you get shut in there?"

They told him.

Noel, with shining eyes, concluded:

"And you're one of God's men, aren't you? He sent you. We asked Him to. I told Inez I was perfully sure God would send somebody."

The young man laughed.

"I have been fishing down the river and had just got to this old mill-house when I heard your cries. It's lucky I came this way; it was just a chance I didn't go up the other way!"

"God sent you!" said Noel stolidly.

"Did He now? How do you know that, little chap?"

"Oh, Noel believes God hears everything he says to Him," said Inez, "and I'm beginning to believe it, too. I'm going to start proper prayers when I get home. Not the silly things I was taught to say when I was a baby. I gave those up long ago."

"And where do you young people hail from?" asked their rescuer.

"We lost our way in the wood. We're all having a picnic there. Do take us back."

"But I don't know my way about. I'm only a stray loafer, staying at the Hall."

"But you can help us to find the uvvers," said Noel; "Mums will be so glad to see us. We've been lost for years!"

The young man laughed again, but he walked with them across the field towards the wood, and then in the distance they caught sight of the vicar. He gave a loud shout when he saw them, and when they came up to him he said:

"Oh, you truants! We've been scouring the wood for you. Come along. Why, Captain Melton, are you the one who has found them?"

"He's God's man!" said Noel eagerly: "the second God's man I've seen lately. God sent him to us."

Mr. Wargrave took hold of Noel's hand and smiled at him understandingly. Captain Melton gave his explanation of the children's plight, and then Mr. Wargrave begged him to join their party.

"We shall all be having tea. I know you and Miss Trent are old friends, and I believe you have met Mrs. Inglefield before—this little chap's mother."

So Captain Melton walked on, and before very long they came to the clearing under the trees where only poor Ted lay alone in his glory. All the others were hunting for the wanderers. Mr. Wargrave sounded a hunting-horn which he had brought with him.

"I always find this so useful in village excursions and treats," he said. "They'll soon return when they hear my horn."

And very soon they did. Mrs. Inglefield was the first to arrive, and very relieved she was to find her youngest child safe and sound. Then came Miss Trent, and Chris and Diana followed close behind them. Inez and Noel told their story, and everybody said what a lucky thing it was that Captain Melton had been fishing near the mill.

"We should never have dreamt of looking there," said Mrs. Inglefield, "and the children might have been there all night!"

Both she and Miss Constance were pleased to see Captain Melton, and they all very soon sat down to tea. A fire had already been made and the kettle was boiling upon it.

Diana seated herself close beside Inez.

"I wish I'd been with you," she said; "I should like to have been shut up in that old house. It's like a story-book. Didn't you look about till you could find an underground passage? There might be one to cross the river underneath, like they have in London."

"No, it was too miserable to think of underground passages," said Inez. "We spent our time in saying prayers to God. At least, Noel did. What a good boy he is!"

Diana looked doubtful.

"He thinks he is," she said, "but Chris and I think he's too cocky!"

"Well, I think I shall try and get God to love me, if He will. He answers Noel's prayers, so He'll answer mine."

"Noel talks too much," Diana said.

"I like the way he talks."

Inez stood up for Noel. His real trust in God had made a deep impression on her.

When the picnic was over, and she was walking across the fields, she had a few quiet words with Mrs. Inglefield.

"You aren't angry with me because I got lost with Noel, are you?" she asked.

"No, dear, you could not help it, but I'm very thankful you were found."

"Well, I've tried to be good all day, but I did run away from you because I thought it would be fun for you all to be looking for us. But it wasn't fun when we were shut up in that room. Mrs. Inglefield, God always hears Noel's prayers. Will he hear mine?"

"Always, darling. God is never far away from you, and He has told you that He wants you to tell Him all your troubles."

"How has He told me?"

"In the Bible."

"Would He let me join myself on to Him? I don't quite know how to do it, but Noel loves Him and God loves Noel. I should like to be like that. How can I do it?"

"Dear Inez, God has loved you all your life. He sent His Son Jesus Christ down here to tell everybody so, and Jesus died for you. He died for your sins, so that God could forgive you, and that heaven's gates might be opened for you. Kneel down and ask your Saviour to come into your little heart. He will make you happy and good. Give yourself to Him, and trust Him. He will do all the rest."

"Would He be able to turn me from a wicked girl into a good girl?" asked Inez.

"Indeed He will, though it may not be done all at once. He will love to do it. That is a prayer that will most certainly be answered."

"I wish I lived with you," said poor Inez with a little sigh.

There was no opportunity for further talk. The turning came for Inez to part with her friends, but as she ran home her heart was singing inside her.

"I'll do it, and then I'll have somebody who really loves me, and I'll try to love Jesus Christ with all my heart and soul!"

Meanwhile Miss Constance and Captain Melton walked together with Noel between them.

"I'm grateful to you, Harry, for rescuing my cherub. He comes to cheer me up when I'm in the blues. And I'm grateful to him for producing you. I was getting very dull in the country here. Will you take me out fishing with you to-morrow?"

"How many fish would I get if I did?" asked Captain Melton with a smile.

"You could come and fiss with Chris and me," put in Noel. "We go to the bridge across the stream at the back of our house, and we catch sticky bats."

"Thank you, Cherub, but two's company and three is none."

"P'r'aps," Noel said, turning to the Captain—"p'r'aps, God's man, you'd like to come and see my Chris'mas tree?"

"My dear fellow," said the Captain, "I don't like that nickname you've given me. Choose another!"

"Oh," said Miss Constance, laughing, "you are number two! Remember—"

Then her face softened and she spoke gravely and in almost a whisper, "You were an answer to prayer—"

"Yes," said Noel cheerfully, "that's just what he was. God sent him because we wanted to be let out."

"It's the first time in my life that I've been told that I'm a messenger from God," said Captain Melton.

"Well, it needn't be the last," said Miss Constance. And then they were silent, for they had reached the spot where Miss Constance's car was waiting for her.

Captain Melton was going part of the way with her, so Noel said good-bye to them and ran on to join his mother, who had just parted with Inez.

Chris and Diana were accompanying Ted home.

"Oh, Mums," said Noel, putting his hand in hers, "I wiss I understood grown-ups. They talk so funny, and laugh when I'm grave."

"They don't understand you as your mother does," said Mrs. Inglefield, giving his hand a little squeeze.

"I fink I like you best," said Noel, looking up at her with grave considerate eyes.

"I'm glad to hear that. Did you enjoy your picnic?"

"Little bits of it, but a wood is like the jungle in India. It tears your legs and trips you up, and scratches you all over."

But this was not Chris's and Diana's verdict when they got home.

"It has been perfectly lovely, Mums."

"Yes, only spoilt by Noel and Inez at the last."

"Hush! We won't think of that. We'll remember the sunshine and the trees and flowers, and all the pleasant sights we saw."

"I shall never forget it," said Diana in her rapt tone. This was only the first of the holiday treats. Mrs. Inglefield gave herself up to her children. She took them one day in a car to the top of a moor a long way off, Inez accompanying them.

And then suddenly one day everything seemed to come to an end.

The postman brought bad news. Granny was very ill in London, and Mrs. Inglefield said she must go to her immediately. Unfortunately Nurse had gone away for her holiday. Mrs. Tubbs was quite equal to the occasion. She said that she and Cassy would look after the children and that Mrs. Inglefield need not have an anxious thought.

Mrs. Inglefield went to her room to pack, and called Chris to her.

"My boy, you are the eldest, and I want you to help me. I don't like leaving you with Nurse away, but I hope she will soon be returning. And in any case, whether she is here or not, I want you to be my deputy while I am away. Do you know what a deputy is?"

"I leave you in charge of Diana and Noel. Diana is dreamy, and wants to be roused sometimes. Noel is very small and still ignorant of English ways. I don't want accidents to happen to any of you through mischief or carelessness. I should like to think that everything will go on just the same as if I am here. Will you do your best to let it be so?"

"I will, Mums!"

Chris spoke solemnly. He was pleased at his mother's confidence in him. He vowed that she should not be disappointed in him.

Then he asked her:

"And what about Inez? Is she to come here when you're away?"

"I don't think you could prevent it," said Mrs. Inglefield, smiling. "She's a poor lonely little girl. If you get into any trouble, Chris, you have Mr. Wargrave close at hand."

"Oh," said Chris quickly, "we shall manage quite well alone, Mums! And if I hear from George Burke that he's in this part, may I ask him to tea?"

"Yes, dear, certainly. I may not be long away: I hope not."

George Burke was Chris's great chum at school. He was devoted to him, and was looking forward to seeing him in the holidays, as he was going to stay at an uncle's, about ten miles away.

Then Mrs. Inglefield had some last words with the other two children.

To Diana she said:

"Di, darling, you are so quick and clever with your pen. Will you write me a little scrap every day to tell me what you're all doing? Don't post every day. Every three days will be often enough, but write me a little diary. I shall love to read it, for I shall be thinking of you all so much!"

Diana was transported with delight. Nothing could have pleased her better.

Then Noel was addressed:

"Noel dearest, you'll promise me to be a good boy till I come back? And do what Chris tells you?"

Noel's face fell.

"S'posing Chris tells me to put my hand into a bonfire, must I do it? S'posing he tells me to be hurt?"

"Oh, Chris wouldn't be unkind, darling!"

"But he is. He told me to take hold of the stinging-nettle, and it stung me just like a snake."

"Mums, I only told him to do what Nurse said could be done. If you pinch it tightly, it doesn't sting. But he was frightened of it!"

"I don't like to be—er—managed," said Noel, shutting up his lips in obstinate fashion.

"I won't manage you," Chris cried, seeing an anxious look come into his mother's eyes. "We're all going to be most awfully good when Mums is away, just to make her feel easy about us."

"Yes, I'll be good," assented Noel, "if you're good, Chris."

And so Mrs. Inglefield had to leave it. She was very hurried in her departure, and when a taxi came to take her to the station, there were tears in Diana's and Noel's eyes. Chris stood with white face and clenched hands. He was a schoolboy and had learnt to control his feelings, but when his mother's car was out of sight, he felt as if the sunshine had gone out of his sky.