He soon came to the wall. He wondered how to slip into the grounds without making the dogs bark too loudly. They were always loose at night and might come rushing at him if he went in by the gate.
And then a lucky thing happened. One of the maids came up the lane and turned in at the back gate, quite near to where Jack stood. At once the two dogs rushed up and began to bark madly at the woman.
She was used to them, however, and spoke sharply. “Don! Tinker! Be quiet! Don’t you know me yet?”
A voice called from the house. “Is that you, Anna?”
“Yes, sir,” answered the woman. “It’s only me they’re barking at.”
“That was Mr. Diaz’s voice,” said Jack to himself. “Now’s my chance. If I slip in now and the dogs go on barking, Mr. Diaz will simply think it’s because of Anna. And maybe I can make them stop barking in a little while.”
He slid in silently at the back gate like a black shadow. Both the dogs heard him and smelt him, and set up a great barking again.
“Quiet!” roared Mr. Diaz. “Quiet!”
The dogs paused in their barking. Mr. Diaz only said “Quiet!” when the visitor was a friend. The pause was enough for Jack.
“Don! Tinker!” he said in a low voice, and then he sat himself down on the ground beside a thick bush. The dogs heard their names and pricked up their ears. Don barked loudly again. Tinker looked as if he wanted to rush at Jack - but this boy was sitting down like a friend! It was strange!