Posted by Jon on September 04, 1998 at 15:16:53:
In Reply to: Re: disconnected bell posted by Rachel Klapman on September 03, 1998 at 14:33:22:
Maybe she forgot how loud it was? Dick did tell her later that he should have told her to disconnect it (Picts & Visiting Seal), so maybe he reconnected it unnoticed by AR when they got back to the house after visiting the pigeon loft.
One point about AR's books is that he doesn't cover every single detail, just provides enough to tie things together. He may have put the part about Dick checking the pigeon gate to let the (new) reader know that it would ring a bell, without costing another stack of dishes, or possibly even dinner!
The bell is necessary to the story-line since that's what has Dick & Dot hanging around on tenterhooks waiting for Nancy to get the message to them, so it certainly had to ring. If they'd left it disconnected, re-disconnected (whew!) it, or removed the tea tray to muffle it a bit the D's wouldn't have been able to hear it as they sailed back up the river. Having Dick, as ornithologist, pick out a bird flying by and watching it go into the pigeon loft would have been a bit much! Can one even see the pigeon loft from the river? I don't believe so.