“Good idea!” said Mike. They all crouched down in the little wash-house, first of all shutting the door so that no dog could wander inside and find them.
They waited. Jack sometimes popped his head up and peeped out of the window, but no one came. Then they heard the rattling of the milk-cart down the lane and Jack grinned at the others.
“Be ready,” he whispered. The milkman got down from his cart and rang a bell at the back gate. At once the two dogs set up a terrific barking. Luiz appeared round the house and called them. He tied the dogs to a tree and shouted to the milkman.
“All right! The dogs are tied. You can come in.”
The milkman went up the path with some bottles and some butter. A voice came from the kitchen. “Come right in, please.” He disappeared inside the scullery.
“Now’s our chance!” whispered Jack. “Luiz is gone. The dogs are tied. Run!”
The four of them ran through the wash-house door and sprinted across the grass to the tree that Jack had pointed out. The dogs saw them and began barking again, pulling at their leads as if they would break them.
“Lie down and be quiet!” yelled a voice from somewhere around the house. The dogs went on barking - but in a minute or two the children were safely up the tree, hidden in the branches. Still the dogs went on barking and barking.
Luiz appeared again, and shouted at them. “Quiet, I tell you!” he yelled. “It’s only the milkman!”
But the dogs knew that it wasn’t and they barked till they were hoarse. The children waited till Luiz had gone again and then one by one they climbed from a branch to the top of the wall, and dropped down to the other side in safety.