"Perhaps it"s the smugglers come in the night," whispered George, and a funny p.r.i.c.kly feeling ran down her back. Somehow smugglers in the day time were rather exciting and quite welcome-but at night they seemed different. George didn"t at all want to meet any just then!
"I"m going out to see if I can spy anything," said Julian, getting off his bed quietly, so as not to wake d.i.c.k. I"ll go up the rope to the top of the cliff. I can see better from there."
"Take my torch," said George. But Julian didn"t want it.
"No, thanks. I can feel the way up that knotted rope quite well, whether I can see or not," he said.
He went up the rope in the dark, his body twisting round as the rope turned. He climbed up on to the cliff and looked out to sea. It was a very dark night, and he could see no ship at all, not even the wreck. It was far too dark.
"Pity there"s no moon," thought Julian. "I might be able to see something then."
He watched for a few minutes, and then George"s voice came through the hole in the roof, coming out queerly at his feet.
"Julian! Is there anything to see? Shall I come up?"
"Nothing at all," said Julian. "Is Timmy still growling?"
"Yes, when I take my hand off his collar," said George. "I can"t imagine what"s upset him."
Suddenly Julian caught sight of something. It was a light, a good way beyond the line of rocks. He watched in excitement. That would be just about where the wreck was! Yes-it must be someone on the "wreck with a lantern!
"George! Come up!" he said, putting his head inside the hole.
George came up, hand over hand, like a monkey, leaving Timothy growling below. She sat by Julian on the cliff-top. "See the wreck-look, over there!" said Julian. "At least, you can"t see the wreck itself, it"s too dark-but you can see a lantern that someone has put there."
"Yes-that"s someone on our wreck, with a lantern!" said George, feeling excited. "Oh, I wonder if it"s the smugglers-coming to bring more things."
"Or somebody fetching that trunk," said Julian. "Well, we"ll know tomorrow, for we"ll go and see. Look!-whoever is there is moving off now-the light of the lantern is going lower-they must be getting into a boat by the side of the wreck. And now the light"s gone out."
The children strained their ears to hear if they could discover the splash of oars or the sound of voices over the water. They both thought they could hear voices.
"The boat must have gone off to join a ship or something," said Julian. "I believe I can see a faint light right out there-out to sea, look! Maybe the boat is going to it."
There was nothing more to see or hear, and soon the two of them slid down the knotted rope back to the cave. They didn"t wake the others, who were still sleeping peacefully. Timothy leapt up and-licked Julian and George, whining joyfully. He did not growl any more.
"You"re a good dog, aren"t you?" said Julian, patting him. "Nothing ever escapes your sharp ears, does it?"
Timothy settled down on George"s feet again. It was plain that whatever it was that had disturbed him had gone. It must have been the presence of the stranger or strangers on the old wreck. Well, they would go there in the morning and see if they could discover what had been taken away or brought there in the night.
Anne and d.i.c.k were most indignant the next morning when they heard Julian"s tale. "You might have waked us!" said d.i.c.k, crossly.
"We would have if there had been anything much to see," said George. "But there was only just the light from a lantern, and nothing else except that we thought we heard the sound of voices."
When the tide was low enough the children and Timothy set off over the rocks to the wreck. They clambered up and stood on the slanting, slippery deck. They looked towards the locker where the little trunk had stood. The door of the locker was shut this time.
Julian slid down towards it and tried to pull it open. Someone had stuffed a piece of wood in to keep the locker from swinging open. Julian pulled it out. Then the door opened easily.
"Anything else in there?" said George, stepping carefully over the slimy deck to Julian.
"Yes," said Julian. "Look! Tins of food! And cups and plates and things-just as if someone was going to come and live on the island too! Isn"t it funny? The trunk is still here too, locked as before. And here are some candles - and a. little lamp-and a bundle of rags. Whatever are they here for?"
It really was a puzzle. Julian frowned for a few minutes, trying to think it out.
"It looks as if someone is going to come and stay on the island for a bit-probably to wait there and take in whatever goods are going to be smuggled. Well-we shall be on the look-out for them, day or night!"
They left the wreck, feeling excited. They had a fine hiding-place in their cave-no one could possibly find them there. And, from their hiding-place they could watch anyone coming to and from the wreck, and, from the wreck, to the island.
"What about our cove, where we put our boat?" said George, suddenly. "They might use that cove, you know-if they came in a boat. It"s rather dangerous to reach the island from the wreck, if anyone tried to get to the rocky beach near-by."
"Well-if anyone came to our cove, they"d see our boat," said d.i.c.k, in alarm. "We"d better hide it, hadn"t we?"
"How?" said Anne, thinking that it would be a difficult thing to hide a boat as big as theirs.
"Don"t know," said Julian. "We"ll go and have a look."
All four and Timmy went off to the cove into which they had rowed their boat. The boat was pulled high up, out of reach of the waves. George explored the cove well, and then had an idea. "Do you think we could pull the boat round this big rock? It would just about hide it, though anyone going round the rock would see it at once."
The others thought it would be worth while trying, anyway. So, with much panting and puffing, they hauled the boat round the rock, which almost completely hid her. "
"Good!" said George, going down into the cove to see if very much of the boat showed. "A bit of her does show still. Let"s drape it with seaweed!"
So they draped the prow of the boat with all the seaweed they could find at hand, and after that, unless anyone went deliberately round the big rock, the boat really was not noticeable at all.
"Good!" said Julian, looking at his watch. "I say-it"s long past tea-time - and, you know, while we"ve been doing all this with the boat, we quite forgot to have someone on the look-out post on the cliff-top. What idiots we are!"
"Well, I don"t expect anything has happened since we"ve been away from the cave," said d.i.c.k, putting a fine big bit of seaweed on the prow of the boat, as a last touch. "I bet the smugglers will only come at night."
"I dare say you"re right," said Julian. "I think we"d better keep a look-out at night, too. The look-out could take rugs up to the cliff-top and curl up there."
"Timmy could be with whoever is keeping watch," said Anne, "Then if the look-out goes to sleep by mistake, Timmy would growl and wake them up if he saw anything."
"You mean, when you go to sleep," said d.i.c.k, grinning. "Come on-let"s get back to the cave and have some tea."
And then Timothy suddenly began to growl again!
Chapter Fifteen.
WHO IS ON THE ISLAND?
"Sh!" said Julian, at once. "Get down behind this bush, quick, everyone!"
They had left the cove and were walking towards the castle when Timmy growled. Now they all crouched behind a ma.s.s of brambles, their hearts beating fast.
"Don"t growl, Timmy," said George, in Timothy"s nearest ear. He stopped at once, but he stood stiff and quivering, on the watch.
Julian peeped through the bush, parting the brambles and scratching his hands. He could just see somebody in the courtyard-one person-two persons-maybe three. He strained his eyes to try and see, but even as he looked, they disappeared.
"I believe they"ve moved those big stones over the entrance to the dungeons, and have gone down there," he whispered. "Stay here, and I"ll creep out a bit and see. I won"t let anyone spot me."
He came back and nodded. "Yes-they"ve gone down the dungeons. Do you think they can be the smugglers? Do you suppose they are storing their smuggled goods down there? It would be a marvellous place, of course."
"Let"s get back to the cave while they are underground," said George. "I"m so afraid Timmy will give the game away by barking. He"s just bursting himself trying not to make some sort of noise."
"Come on, then!" said Julian. "Don"t go across the courtyard-make for the sh.o.r.e and we"ll scramble round it till we get to the cave. Then one of us can pop up through the hole and hide behind that big gorse-bush there to see who the smugglers are. They must have come in by boat either from the wreck, or by rowing cleverly through the rocks off-sh.o.r.e."
They got to the cave at last and went in. But no sooner had Julian shinned up the rope, helped by the others, than Timothy disappeared! He ran out of the cave while the others" backs were turned, and when George turned round there was no Timmy to be seen!
"Timmy!" she called in a low voice. "Timmy! Where are you?"
But no answer came! Timmy had gone off on his own. If only the smugglers didn"t see him! What a bad dog he was to do that!
But Timmy had smelt something exciting-he had smelt a smell he knew-a dog-smell-and he meant to find the owner of it and bite off his ears and tail! "Gr-r-r-r-r-r!" Timmy was not going to allow dogs on his island!
Julian sat close beside the gorse-bush, watching all round. There was nothing to be seen on the" wreck, and there was no ship out to sea. Probably the boat that had brought the strangers to the island was hidden down below among the rocks. Julian looked behind him, towards the castle-and even as he looked, he saw an astonishing sight!
A dog was sniffing about the bushes not far away-and creeping up behind him, all his hackles up, was Timothy! Timothy was stalking the dog as if he were a cat stalking a rabbit! The other dog suddenly heard him and leapt round, facing Timothy. Timmy flung himself on the dog with a blood-curdling howl, and the dog howled in fright.
Julian watched in horror, not knowing what to do. The two dogs made a fearful noise, especially the other dog whose howls of terror and yelps of rage resounded everywhere.
"This will bring the smugglers "up, and they will see Timmy and know there"s someone on the island," thought Julian. "Oh, blow you, Timmy!-why didn"t you stay with George and keep quiet?"
From the walls of the ruined castle came three figures, running pell-mell to see what was happening to their dog-and Julian stared at them in the very greatest amazement.- for the three people were no other than Mr. Stick, Mrs. Stick and Edgar!
"Golly!" said Julian, crawling round the bush to get to the hole quickly. "They"ve come after us! They"ve guessed we"ve gone here and they"ve come to look for us, the beasts, to make us go back! Well, they won"t find us! But oh, what a pity Timmy"s given the show away!"
There came a shrill whistle from down below him. It was George, who, hearing the row from the dogs, was feeling worried, and had sent out her piercing whistle for Timmy. It was a whistle the dog always obeyed, and he let go his hold of the dog and shot off to the cliff-top at once, just as the three Sticks arrived on the scene, and picked up their bleeding, whining mongrel.
Edgar tore after Timmy, up to the cliff-top. Julian dropped down to the cave when he spotted Edgar appearing. Timmy ran to the hole and dropped bodily down, landing almost on top of Julian. He flung himself on George.
"Shut up, shut up!" said George, in an urgent whisper to the excited dog. "Do you want to give our hiding-place away, you idiot?"
Edgar, panting and puffing, arrived on the cliff-top, and was completely amazed to see Timothy apparently disappear into the solid earth. He hunted about for a bit, but it was clear that the dog was no longer on the cliff.
Mr. and Mrs. Stick came up too. "Where did that dog go?" shouted Mrs. Stick. "What was he like?"
"He looked awfully like that horrible dog of the children"s," said Edgar. His voice could clearly be heard by everyone down in the cave. The children kept as quiet as mice.
"But it couldn"t be!" came Mrs. Stick"s voice. "The children have gone home-we saw them, and the dog too, making off towards the railway. It must be some sort of stray dog left here by a tripper."
"Well, where is he, then?" said Mr. Stick"s hoa.r.s.e voice. "Can"t see no dog anywhere about now."
"He disappeared into the earth," said Edgar, in a surprised voice.
Mr. Stick made a rude and scornful noise. "You tell lovely tales, you do," he said. "Disappeared into the earth! What next? Fell over the cliff, I should think. Well, he got his teeth into poor Tinker good and proper. My word, if I see that dog, I"ll shoot him!"
"He might "have some hiding-place about this cliff," said Mrs. Stick. "Let"s have a look!"
The children sat as quiet as mice. George with a warning hand on Timmy"s collar. They could hear that the Sticks were really very near. Julian expected one of them to fall down the hole at any moment!
But mercifully they didn"t happen on the hole that led down to the cave. They, stood quite near to it, though, while they were discussing the problem.
"If it"s the children"s dog, then those tiresome kids must have come to this island, instead of going home," said Mrs. Stick. "That would upset our plan all right! We shall have to find out. I"ll have no peace till I know."
"We can soon find out," said Mr. Stick. "No need to worry about that. Their boat will be here somewhere-and they"ll all be about, too! It"s impossible for four children, a dog and a boat to be hidden on this small island once anyone starts hunting for them! Edgar, you go round that way. Clara, you get along round about the castle. They may be hiding somewhere in the ruins. I"ll have a look about here."
The children crouched together in the cave. How they hoped that their boat would not be found! How they hoped that no one would find any traces of them at all! Timmy growled softly, wishing that he could go and find that Stinker-dog again! It had been lovely to bite his ears hard.
Edgar was half-scared of finding the children, and a good deal more scared of coming up against Timmy somewhere. So he did not make much of a search for either the children or the boat. He went into the cove where the boat had been pulled up, and although he saw traces where the vessel had been hauled up, barely smoothed out by the sea-water at high-tide, he did not notice the seaweedy prow of the boat sticking out round the rock behind which it was hidden.
"Nothing here!" he called to his mother, who was going round and about the ruins, looking into every likely nook. But she found nothing either, and neither did Mr. Stick.
"Couldn"t have been the children"s dog," said Mr. Stick, at last. "They"d be here if he was, and so would their boat, but there"s no sign of them at all. That dog must have been some wild stray. Have to look out for him, no doubt about it. Gone wild, I should think."
The children relaxed after about an hour, thinking that the Sticks must have given up looking for them. They boiled the kettle to make some tea, and Anne began to cut some sandwiches. Timmy was tied up in case he wandered out again to look for Stinker.
They ate their tea quietly, not speaking above a whisper. "The Sticks haven"t come here to look for us, after all," said Julian. "It"s quite plain from what they said that they thought we had gone to catch the train home, taking George and Timmy with us."
"Then what are they here for?" demanded George, fiercely. "It"s our island! They"ve no right here. Let"s go and turn them off! They"re scared of Timmy. We"ll take him with us and say we"ll set him on to them if they don"t clear out."
"No, George," said Julian, "Do be sensible. We don"t want them rushing off and telling your father we are here, or he may lose his temper and come flying home to order us back. And-there"s another thing I"ve thought of."
"What?", asked the others, seeing Julian"s eyes gleam in the way they did when he had an idea.
"Well," said Julian, "don"t you think it"s possible that the Sticks are something to do with the smugglers? Don"t you think they may come here to take off smuggled goods, or to hide them till they can take them off in safety? Mr. Stick is a sailor, isn"t he? He would know all about smuggling. I bet he"s in the pay of the smugglers all right."
"I believe you"re right!" said George, in excitement. "Well-we"ll wait till the Sticks have gone, and then we"ll go down into the dungeons and see if they"ve hidden anything there! We"ll find out their little game and stop it! It will be terribly thrilling, won"t it?"
Chapter Sixteen.