THE children did not have a very good night after all, for they were far too excited to sleep. They had all rowed Jn the stolen boat to their own island, and had landed there, tied up the boat and gone to their shack.
They slept rather late the next morning, for not one of them had gone to sleep before midnight-and they were awakened by the throbbing noise that they had heard two nights before!
"The seaplane again!" said Andy, waking up at once and leaping to his feet. He ran to the open doorway of the hut, and was just in time to see the plane soar overhead. Then it went round in great circles ready to land on the smooth water outside the second island.
"That means we can"t get away to-day," said Tom at once. "We simply must get food into the boat-and we can"t if that plane is there."
"No-we can"t," said Andy. "But I tell yoo what we might do, Tom. We might row to the third island, tie our boat up in a hidden place, creep to the top of that cliff, and try to take a few photographs of the submarine bay! We meant to take some photos, you know."
"Yes-we could do that." said Tom. "we"llhave to be pretty careful, though."
"We will be," said Andy. "Jill, what is there for breakfast?"
There were tinned sausages and baked beans and tomato sauce. Jill proudly produced some little rolls of bread she had made, too. They all ate in silence, thinking over everything that had happened.
"That seaplane may not stay long," said Andy. "It didn"t last time. I expect k has come to add to the stores-or maybe take away from them. It will be busy that side of the island-so we will row round the after side, where we wont be seen, go across to the third one. and tie up there. You girls must stay here."
"Oh, you always have the exciting things to do." sighed Mary. "Can"t we really come with you? I dont see why we can"t."
"Well, if you promise to do exactly what you"re told, you can come," said Andy, after a minute"s thought. He didn"t really like the idea of leaving the girls all alone again. Perhaps it would be better if they came.
The girls were thrilled. They cleared away the breakfast-things and washed up. They prepared a meal to take with them. It was a very good thing they had discovered that store cave-they now had plenty of food of all kinds. They did hope the seaplane wouldn"t take everything away!
They all got into the boat. The boys rowed off, and were careful to keep to the side opposite the cave when they came to the second island. They rowed quickly over the s.p.a.ce of water separating that island from the third one, and came to the farthest tip of ft. Here there was a tiny beach with steep, overhanging cliffs-so overhanging that it almost seemed as if a big piece was about to fall off!
"Just the place." said Andy, pulling into the tiny beach. "Jump out girls. Take the food with you."Give a hand with the boat. Tom. we"ll run it up the beach and put it right under that dangerous piece of cliff. It will be well hidden there."
They put the boat there and looked at it. The end of It jutted out and could be seen. Jill ran,to a seaweed-covered rock and pulled off handfuls of the weed.
"Let"s make the boat into a rock!" she said, with a laugh. "Cover it with seaweed!"
"Jolly good idea!" said Andy. "I didn"t know girls could have such good ideas!"
"You wait and see what fine ideas we have!" said Mary. They an pulled at the seaweed, and soon the boat was nicely draped and looked so exactly like a seaweed-covered rock that no one could possibly guess it wasn"t, even as they pa.s.sed quite near it.
"That"s good." said Andy. "Now we"ll make our way very carefully across this end of the island till we come to the little cove where we took our boat from. We"ll just peep over the cttff and see if there"s anyone there looking as though they have missed the boat! Then we"ll crawl to the top of the next cliff that overlooks the submarine bay, and Tom shall take a few pictures."
Everything went well. Keeping close to tall bushes of gone and bramble, the four children crept over the tip of the island and soon came to the cliff below which was the boat-cove. Cautiously Andy parted some bramble sprays and peeped down to the beach below.
There were the rest of the little boats, still upturned. n.o.body was about at all. As far as Andy could see, the stolen boat had not been missed. Good!
Andy let the rest of the children look down to the beach. Tom was pleased. "As long as our boat isnt missed we are all right," he said. "I should think the enemy feel they are so safe here that it just doesn"t enter their heads that a boat might be taken. I don"t believe they"ll ever miss it."
"I hope you"re right," said Andy. "But it doesn"t do to think the enemy is careless or stupid. We must think they are smart and clever, and try to be the same ourselves. Now let"s wriggle along to the next bit of cliff-and you girls can see the submarines. That will be a sight for you!"
Going very slowly and cautiously indeed the four of them made their way under bushes and bracken to the top of the next cliff. They all lay on their tummies and peeped between the tall bracken. The girls drew a long breath of surprise.
"Golly!" said Jill. "One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-however many submarines are there! And all of them marked with the crooked cross."
"An enemy submarine base so near our own land!" said Mary. "And n.o.body knows it!"
"Where"s your camera, Tom?" whispered Andy, Tom had it round his shoulder. Carefully he took it out of its waterproof case and set it for taking distant pictures.
"It"s got the seaplane on the first two negatives," said the boy in a low tone. "I"ll fill up the rest of the film with photos of the submarines. The pictures can easily be made larger when we get home. Then n.o.body can disbelieve us, or say we made it all up!"
Click! went the camera. "Qne picture taken," said Tom. "I got in those two big submarines together, just over there."
Click! Click! Click! Click! Tom was as careful as he could be to take good photographs. Soon the whole film was used. "I"ll wait till I get back to the hut and then in wind off the film in a dark comer," said the boy. "That"s a spot of good work done!"
He put the camera back into its case and strapped it op. The four children lay and looked at the nest of submarines in the water below. Another came slipping in as they watched. Two slipped out.
"Gone to sink some more of our ships, I suppose," said Andy angrily. "If only I could stop them! But we will clean up the whole lot once we get the news back home. I guess we"ll have a battleship or two sent out here."
"Where will it be safe to have something to eat?" asked Tom. "I do feel hungry."
"I wish I had a shilling for every time I"ve heard Tom say that," said Jill, with a giggle.
"Well, I only say what the rest of you are thinking!" said Tom. "I bet you"re all hungry!"
They were! Andy found a little bracken dell not far from the top of the cliff. Here the bracken was taller than the children, and once they had settled themselves down below the tall fronds n.o.body could possibly see them either from above or pa.s.sing by.
They ate a good meal and enjoyed it. They lay on fceir backs and looked between the fronds at the blue sky. It was marvellous that the weather was still so good. It would have been miserable if it had rained all the time.
"Now we"d better get back," said Andy.
"Oh, why?" asked Jill, lazily. "I was almost asleep."
"I"ll tell you why!" said Andy. "Supposing that stolen boat is missed-well, the first place searched would be this island! And we"d be found. No-the best thing Tor us to do is to get back now, wait till the seaplane has left and then go straight to the store-cave and fill our boat with food. Then we"ll start off to-night."
"All right. We"ll come along now then," said Jill, getting up. They took one last peep at the submarine bay and another at the boat-cove. Then they made their way very cautiously back to the tiny beach where they had hidden their boat.
It was still there, beautifully draped with seaweed. n.o.body had discovered it! The children dragged it down to the waves and jumped into it. Andy pushed it out.
They took turns at rowing. They were half-way round the second island, on the coast opposite to the one where the store-cave was, when a dreadful thing happened.
The seaplane chose that minute to leave the water by the. second island and to rise into the air, ready to fly off!
The children had no time to rush their boat into sh.o.r.e and hide. They were out on the sea, clearly to be seen!
"Crouch down flat in the boat, so that the pilot may perhaps think there"s n.o.body in it," ordered Andy. They shipped the oars quickly and crouched down. The seaplane rose up high, and the children hardly dared to breathe. They did so hope it would fly off without noticing them.
But it suddenly altered its course and began to circle round, coming down lower. It flew down low enough to examine the boat, and then, rising high, flew over the third island, and then flew down to the submarine bay.
Andy sat up, his face rather pale under its brown.
"That"s done it," he said. "They saw us! Now they"ll count their boats-find there"s one missing-and come to look for us!"
CHAPTER 13.
Tom Disappears
THE children looked at one another in the greatest dismay. To think the seaplane should have flown over just at that very moment! It was too bad.
"Well, we can"t sit here looking at one another," said Andy, in a brave voice. "We"ve got to do something quickly. But what? I can"t seem to think!"
n.o.body could think what to do. Andy longed desperately for some grown-up who could take command and tell him what would be the best thing to do. But there was no grown-up. This was something he had to decide himself-and he must decide well, because the two girls were in his care.
"We had better row straight round to the store-cave and fill the boat with food whilst we can," he said at last. "Then we"ll start out straightaway and hope that the seaplane won"t spot us out on the sea. It"s the only thing to do."
It was a long row round to the cave, but they got there at last, quite tired out. There was n.o.body about. They beached the boat and jumped out. It was not long before they were in the Round Cave, carrying out stacks of tins and boxes to the boat.
"Golly! We"ve got enough food to last for weeks!" said Tom.
"We may need it!" said Andy. "Goodness knows how far it is back home. I"ve not much idea of the right direction either, but I shall do my best."
Tom staggered out to the boat with heaps of things. Andy looked at the pile of food at the end of the boat and nodded bis head.
"That"s enough," he said. "We don"t want to make the boat too heavy to row! Get in!"
They all got in. They rowed out beyond the reef of rocks where they had found a way in and then towards their own island. Andy wanted to get the rugs, for he was sure they would be bitterly cold at night.
"You girls jump out and go and fetch all the warm things you can find," said Andy. "And bring a cup or two and a knife, I"ve got a tin-opener."
The girls sped off to the shack in the hollow-and whilst they were gone the boys heard the sound they dreaded to hear-the noise of seaplane engines booming over the water!
"There it comes again!" said Andy angrily. "Always at the wrong moment. Lie down flat, Tom. I hope the girls will have the sense to do the same!"
The seaplane zoomed down low over the island, as if it were hunting for someone. Then it droned over the sea, and flew round in great circles. Andy lifted his head and watched it.
"You know what it"s doing?" he said. "It"s flying round hunting the sea for our boat-just as a hawk flies over fields hunting for mice! It"s a good thing we didn"t set out straightaway. I think now we"d better wait for the night to come-and then set out in the darkness. We should be seen as easily as anything if we try to go now."
They waited till the drone of the plane"s engines was far away. It was hunting the waters everywhere for the stolen boat. Andy stood up and yelled to the girls, who were lying flat under a bush.
"It"s gone for the moment. Help us to take out these goods and hide them. If the boat is discovered here and taken away, and we are made prisoners on this island, we shall at least be sure of stores!"
"If we are able to start out to-night we can easily pat back the food," said Tom. They all worked hard, and buried the tins and boxes under some loose sand at the top of the beach. They pulled the boat farther up the beach and then sat down to rest, hot and tired.
And then poor Tom gave a squeal of dismay. The others jumped and looked at him in fright. "Whatever"s the matter?" asked Andy.
"My camera!" said Tom, his face a picture of horror. "My camera-with all those pictures I took! I left it in the store-cave."
"Left it in the store-cave!" said everyone. "Whatever for?"
"Well, I was afraid I"d b.u.mp it against the rocks, carrying it up and down those pa.s.sages," said Tom. "So I took it off for a minute, meaning to put it on when we went. And I forgot."
"You fathead! "said Jill.
"Don"t call me that," said poor Tom, looking almost ready to cry.
"Well, fathead is too good a name," said Mary. "Thinhead would be better. You can"t possibly have goHmy brains if you do a thing like that, so you must be a thinhead with no brains at all."
Tom went very red. He blinked his eyes and swallowed a lump that had-suddenly come into his throat. He knew how valuable the pictures were that he had taken. How could he have come to forget his camera like that?
"Cheer up, Tom," said Andy. "I know what you feel like. I felt just like that when I found I"d forgotten to bring the anchor in the ship. It"s awful."
Tom was grateful to Andy for not scolding him. But all the same he felt really dreadful. They had gone to such a lot of trouble to get those photographs-and now all because of his carelessness they had been left behind.
"I vote we have something to eat," said Andy, thinking that would cheer Tom up. But it didn"t. For once in a way Tom had no appet.i.te at all. He couldn"t eat a thing. He sat nearby looking gloomily at the others.
The seaplane did not come back. The children sat and waited for the evening to come, when they might start. Jill yawned. "I must do something for the next two or three hours," she said, "or I shall fall asleep. I think I"ll take the kettle and keep filling it with water at the spring, and bring it back to the boat. There"s a big water-barrel there, and we could fill it with water."
"Good idea," said Andy. "You and Mary do that. I think I"ll just wander up to the bush where we put the sail and see if it"s still there. I don"t think I"ve time to rig up some kind of a mast in this little boat so the sail won"t be any good. But it might be useful to cover us with if it should happen to pour with rain."
The girls went off. Andy nodded to Tom, who was still looking gloomy, and went across the island to the bush where he had put the sail.
Tom was left alone, "They don"t want me with them," thought the boy, quite wrongly. "They think I"m awful. I think I"m awful too! Oh, dear-if only I could get my camera."
He thought of the reef of rocks that led to the second island. It wasn"t a bit of use trying to climb over them because the tide was getting high now.
But then he thought of the boat! It really wasn"t a great distance to row to the cave, from the beach where he was. How pleased the others would be if he got back his camera!
The boy did not stop to think. He dragged the boat down the beach by himself, though he nearly pulled his arms out, doing it! He pushed it into the water and jumped in. He took the oars and began to row quickly round to the second island. He would land on the sh.o.r.e then, run quickly to the cave and get his camera.
"Then I"ll be back here with it almost before the others know I"m gone!" he thought.
n.o.body would have known what Tom had done if Andy had not happened to look round as he went over the little island to find the old sail. To"his enormous astonishment he saw their boat being rowed away!
He could not see that the one in it was Tom, and for a moment he stood still, wondering what had happened. Was it another boat, not their own? He ran quickly to find out.
He soon saw that it was their own boat. He saw where Tom had dragged it down the beach. He could just see the boat rounding the corner of a cliff now.
"That was Tom all right," said Andy to himself. The girls came back at that moment and shouted to Andy.
"What"s the matter? Why do you look like that? Where"s the boat?"
"Tom"s gone off with it," said Andy angrily.
"Tom! Whatever do you mean, Andy?" asked Jill in the greatest surprise.
"I suppose he felt upset about leaving his camera behind and he"s gone to get it by himself," said Andy. "He really is a fathead. He may be seen and caught. I"m quite sure someone will be hunting for us soon. Really, I could shake Tom till his teeth rattled!"