The two crept over the lawn, up the kitchen-garden, and round past the big rubbish-heap. A shadow moved by the old summer-house.
It was Luke! They heard his voice in the darkness. So Luke had come back after all!
Luke Finds Some Good Friends
"Luke! Is that you?" whispered Pip. "What's the matter? Why did you leave the circus?"
Pip drew Luke into the summer-house. Bets sat on one side of him and Pip on the other. Bets slipped her little hand into Luke's big rough paw. The big boy held it there gently.
"Yes. I left the circus camp," he said. "That policeman went to my Uncle Jake, and he told him all about the stolen cat and that he thought I'd taken it — and he said did my uncle know anything about the cat."
"And I suppose your uncle sent you off when he heard all that," said Pip.
"He didn't give me away to the policeman," said Luke. "He said he hadn't heard of no stolen cat, and he hadn't seen me for weeks and didn't want to. I reckon a search will be made of the circus, though, because that bobby is quite certain Dark Queen is somewhere there."
"I suppose they'd make a search for you too," said Bets.
"Yes," said Luke. "Well, my uncle waited till the bobby was safely out of sight, then he came to me and told me to go. Said he didn't mind me running away from my stepfather, but he wasn't going to help me run away from the police."