The men wandered away over the rocks. Evidently they had come to survey their extraordinary hiding-place though they could see very little of its contents. The children lay perfectly still, not daring to move, in case they should be noticed. They got very tired indeed of lying there, and Lucy-Ann was shivering.
Then they heard the sound of the motor-boat’s engine starting up again. Thank goodness! They waited a while, and then Jack sat cautiously up. He looked round. There was no one to be seen. The men had gone back to the boat by a different way, and it was now some distance out to sea.
‘Phew!’ said Jack. ‘I didn’t like that at all. Another inch or two nearer, and one of the men would have trodden on my foot!’
25
Another surprise
They all sat up and removed the slippery seaweed from themselves. Huffin and Puffin walked down Philip’s body, where they had perched the whole time. Kiki, to her fright and dismay, had been covered with seaweed by Jack, and forced to stay beside him, for he was afraid she might give them away by talking. She talked angrily now.
‘Poor, poor Polly! Send for the doctor! What a pity, what a pity, ding dong bell, Polly’s in the well!’
The children looked at one another solemnly when they had finished uncovering themselves. Bill was in great danger, there was no doubt of that at all.
‘What are we going to do?’ said Lucy-Ann, with tears in her eyes. Nobody quite knew. There seemed to be danger wherever they turned.
‘Well,’ said Jack at last, ‘we’ve got a boat of our own, that’s one thing – and I think when it’s dark tonight we’d better set out for the other island, the one the men are on, and see if we can’t find where they keep their motor-boat. We know that Bill will be there.’
‘And rescue him!’ said Dinah, thrilled. ‘But how shall we get close in to shore without being seen or heard?’
‘We’ll go when it’s dark, as I said,’ said Jack, ‘and when we get near to the shore, we’ll stop our engine and get the oars. Then we can row in without being heard.’
‘Oh, yes. I’d forgotten there were oars in our boat,’ said Dinah. ‘Thank goodness!’
‘Can’t we get back to our little cave, on the shore at the other side of the island?’ asked Lucy-Ann. ‘I don’t feel safe here, somehow. And I’d be glad to know our boat was all right.’
‘Also, we can’t have anything to eat till we get back there,’ said Philip, getting up. ‘Come on, I’m frozen. We shall get warm climbing up the rocks, on to the height over there, and then over the island to the boat.’
So they went back over the rocks, and found their clothes where they had left them. They stripped off their wet suits and dressed quickly. Philip’s rats, which he had left in his pockets, were extremely pleased to see him again, and ran all over him with little squeals of delight.
Huffin and Puffin accompanied the children as usual. All of them were secretly relieved to find their boat was safe on the shingly beach. They went to her and chose some tins of food.
‘Better have something with lots of juice to drink,’ said Jack. ‘There’s no fresh water here as far as I can see, and I’m awfully thirsty. Let’s open a tin of pineapple. There’s always lots of juice in that.’
‘Better open two tins if Kiki’s going to have any,’ said Dinah. ‘You know what a pig she is over pineapple.’
They all tried to be jolly and cheerful, but somehow, what with their strange discovery of the guns in the lagoon, and the news that Bill was in real danger, none of them could talk for long. One by one they fell silent, and hardly knew what they were eating.
‘I suppose,’ said Dinah at last, after a long silence in which the only noise was the sound of Kiki’s beak scraping against the bottom of one of the pineapple tins, ‘I suppose we had better set out as soon as it’s dark – but I do feel quaky about it!’
‘Well, look here,’ said Jack, ‘I’ve been thinking hard – and I’m sure it would be best if Philip and I went alone to get Bill. It’s very risky, and we don’t know a bit what we shall be up against, and I don’t like the idea of you girls coming.’
‘Oh, we must come!’ cried Lucy-Ann, who couldn’t bear the thought of Jack going off without her. ‘Supposing something happened to you – we’d be here on this island all alone, and nobody would know about us! Anyway, I’m going with you, Jack. You can’t stop me!’
‘All right,’ said Jack. ‘Perhaps it would be better if we stuck together. I say – I suppose that other fellow they spoke about couldn’t be Horace? We couldn’t have made a mistake about him, could we?’
‘Well, I did think he was too idiotic for words,’ said Dinah. ‘I mean – he looked it, not only acted it. I believe we did make a mistake. I think perhaps he really was a bird-lover.’
‘Gosh! He must have thought we were frightful!’ said Jack, horrified. ‘And we took his boat too – and left him to be taken prisoner by the enemy!’
‘And they must have thought he was Bill’s friend, and have been wild with him when he said he didn’t know Bill or anything about him,’ said Philip.
Everyone thought solemnly about poor Horace. ‘I’m jolly glad none of us hit him on the head, after all,’ said Jack. ‘Poor old Horace Tripalong!’
‘We’ll have to rescue him, too,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘That’ll make up a bit for taking his boat. But won’t he be furious with us for all we’ve done!’
Huffin appeared at this moment with his familiar gift of half a dozen fish, neatly arranged head and tail alternately in his large beak. He deposited them at Philip’s feet.
‘Thanks, old man,’ said Philip. ‘But won’t you eat them yourself? We daren’t make a fire here to cook anything on.’
‘Arrrrr!’ said Huffin, and walked over to have a look in the empty tins. Puffin took the opportunity of gobbling up the fish, and Kiki watched her in disgust. Kiki had no use for fish fresh from the sea.
‘Pah!’ she said, in Horace’s voice, and the children smiled.
‘Kiki, you’ll have to be jolly quiet tonight,’ said Jack, scratching her head. ‘No pahing or poohing to warn the enemy we’re near!’
When the sun began to sink the children took the motor-boat a little way out to sea, to make sure that there were no rocks about that they must avoid when setting out at night. Far away on the horizon line they saw the island of the enemy. Somewhere there was Bill – and perhaps Horace too.
‘I hope to goodness we see some kind of light to show us where to go inshore,’ said Jack. ‘We can’t go all round the island, looking for the right place. We’d be heard. And we couldn’t possibly row round.’
‘Well, we saw that light that was signalling to the other boat last night,’ said Philip. ‘Maybe it will be signalling again. Let’s go back now. There doesn’t seem to be any rock to avoid tonight. We’ll set out as soon as it is dark.’
They went back – and no sooner had they got to their little beach than they heard the humming of an aeroplane.
‘Surely they’re not going to drop any more packages!’ said Jack. ‘Lie down flat, all of you. We don’t want to be spotted. Get near those rocks.’
They crouched down near a mass of rocks. The aeroplane made an enormous noise as it came nearer and nearer.
Jack gave a cry. ‘It’s a seaplane! Look, it’s got floats underneath!’
‘What an enormous one!’ said Dinah. ‘It’s coming down!’
So it was. It circled the island once and then came lower as it circled it again. It seemed almost to brush the hill that towered at the other end of the island, the hill that overlooked the lagoon.
Then the engines were cut out, and there was a silence.
‘She’s landed,’ said Jack. ‘She’s on the lagoon! I bet you anything you like that’s where she is!’
‘Oh, do let’s go and see, as soon as dusk comes,’ begged Dinah. ‘Do you think she’s going to get up the hidden guns?’
‘However could she do that?’ said Jack, rather scornfully.
‘Wel
l, she’s pretty big and hefty,’ said Philip. ‘It’s possible she’s got some sort of apparatus on her for dragging up the hidden armaments. If the men think there’s a danger of our Government sending patrols up here to look into the matter, always supposing that Bill has sent a message through to his headquarters, then our enemy will certainly try to remove the guns as soon as possible. It rather looks, seeing that this is a seaplane, as if the guns are going to be flown to South America – or somewhere far across the sea.’
As soon as it was dusk the children could not resist the temptation to go across the island and climb up the heights to peep over and see the lagoon. Even in the twilight they might be able to see something interesting.
They were soon on the cliff overlooking the lagoon. They could just make out the great shape of the giant seaplane in the middle of the sea-lake. Then suddenly lights shone out from it, and a noise began – a grating, dragging noise, as if some kind of machinery was being set to do some heavy work.
‘I bet they’re dragging up the packages of guns,’ whispered Jack. ‘We can’t very well see – but we can hear enough to know something is at work, something needing winches, I should think.’
Lucy-Ann couldn’t see any winches, but she could quite well imagine the kind of machinery that would send hooked cables overboard to drag up the heavy bundles of guns. Then the seaplane, when loaded up, would fly off again. And another would come, and another! Or maybe the same one would come back again and again.
The lights showed the children the vast shape of the seaplane. It looked weird lying quietly there in the middle of the dark lagoon. Lucy-Ann shivered.
‘It’s awful to be up against enemies who have boats and aeroplanes and seaplanes and guns,’ she thought. ‘We haven’t anything except poor Horace’s little motor-boat, and our own wits.’
They went back soberly to their boat. The tide had taken it out a little way, but as they had tied a rope to a convenient rock, they pulled it in without difficulty. They all got on board.
‘Now this is the greatest adventure of all,’ said Jack, rather solemnly. ‘Hiding is an adventure. Escaping is an adventure. But rescuing somebody else from the very jaws of the enemy is the greatest adventure of all.’
‘If only we don’t get captured ourselves!’ said Lucy-Ann.
Jack started up the engine. The little boat nosed out to sea, leaving the lagoon island behind. Huffin and Puffin settled themselves on the deck-rail as usual, and Kiki sat on Jack’s shoulder. Philip’s rats, frightened at the sudden noise of the engine, twined themselves together in a large bump in the hollow of Philip’s back. ‘You tickle me!’ he said, but the rats took no notice.
‘Well, good luck to us all!’ said Dinah. ‘May we rescue Bill – and Horace too – defeat the enemy – and get back home in safety!’
‘God save the Queen!’ said Kiki devoutly, in exactly the same tone of voice, and everyone laughed. Funny old Kiki!
26
Off to the enemy’s island
The little boat sped along in the darkness. Philip was at the wheel. He took a large star as guide, and kept the boat well on its course.
After a while Jack touched his arm. ‘See that light? It must come from the enemy’s island. It’s not the bright signalling light we saw before, but it certainly comes from the island.’
‘I’ll set course for it,’ said Philip. ‘You’ll make certain Kiki doesn’t go off into one of her cackles or screeches, won’t you, Jack? Any noise out here on the water would be easily heard on land. Sound over water carries such a distance. I’ll have to shut off the engine soon, or that will be heard.’
‘Kiki won’t make a sound,’ said Jack.
‘Shhhhhhh!’ said Kiki at once.
‘Yes. Good bird! Shhhhhhh!’ said Jack. Philip shut off the engine and the boat gradually lost way until it was just drifting on. Then it came to a gentle stop on the restless sea.
Jack looked through his glasses at the light he could see on the island. ‘I think it must be some sort of harbour light,’ he said. ‘Perhaps they have a small harbour there – they may have quite a fleet of motor-boats, you know, continually patrolling to make sure no one visits islands near here. It’s quite a steady light.’
Philip fumbled for the oars. ‘Now for a spot of hard rowing!’ he said. ‘What’s the time, Jack? Can you see by your wrist-watch? It’s got a luminous face, hasn’t it?’
‘It’s almost eleven o’clock,’ said Jack. ‘Just about right. We shall be nearing land about midnight, when we can hope that the enemy won’t be wide awake.’
The boys took an oar each. Splish-splash! the oars went in and out of the water as the boys pulled with a will, and the boat glided smoothly along.
‘We’ll take turns when you’re tired,’ said Dinah. ‘Philip, where are your rats? Something brushed against my leg just now. I shan’t be able to help squealing if you let them run about.’
‘They’re in my pocket,’ said Philip. ‘You’re imagining things as usual. And if you dare to squeal, I’ll jolly well tip you overboard!’
‘She won’t, she won’t,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘It’s only Huffin and Puffin walking about the deck, Dinah. One of them perched on my leg just now.’
‘Arrr!’ said a guttural voice from the deck-rail.
‘Shhhhhhh!’ said Kiki at once.
‘She doesn’t understand that it doesn’t in the least matter Huffin and Puffin arrring all they like,’ said Jack. ‘They make a natural bird-noise that wouldn’t put anyone on guard.’
‘Shhhhhh!’ said Kiki reprovingly.
The light from the shore gleamed steadily. ‘Must be from a lantern,’ said Jack, in a low voice, pulling hard at his oar. ‘Probably a guide to any motor-boat going in or out. Philip, let’s have a rest. I’m getting puffed.’
‘Right,’ said Philip. The girls wanted to take a turn, but Jack wouldn’t let them. ‘No, we’re just having a rest. There’s no hurry. The later we are the better, in a way.’
They soon took the oars again, and their boat moved steadily over the water towards the light.
‘No more talking now,’ whispered Jack. ‘Only tiny whispers.’
Lucy-Ann’s knees went queer again. Her tummy felt peculiar too. Dinah was strung up and her breath came fast, although she was not rowing. The two boys were tense with excitement. Would they find the enemy’s motor-boat there, with Bill already in it, ready to be ‘dumped’, as the man had said that day? And would there be many men on guard?
‘Whatever’s that noise?’ whispered Dinah at last, as their boat drew nearer to land. ‘It does sound queer.’
The boys paused in their rowing, and leaned on their oars to listen.
‘Sounds like a band playing,’ said Jack. ‘Of course – it’s a radio!’
‘Good!’ said Philip. ‘Then the enemy won’t be so likely to hear us creeping in. Jack, look! – I think that’s a little jetty there – you can just make it out by the light of that lantern. Can we possibly creep in without being seen or heard? And look! – is that a boat lying under the lantern?’
‘I’ll get the glasses,’ said Philip, and felt about for them. He put them to his eyes. ‘Yes – it is a boat – quite a big one. I should think it’s the one the enemy came to our island in. I bet Bill is on it, battened down in the cabin!’
The band continued playing on the radio. ‘Somebody on board has got it on,’ said Jack. ‘The guard, I should think. Will he be on deck, then – the guard, I mean? There’s no light there.’
‘If you ask me, he’s having a nice lazy time, snoozing on deck with his radio playing him nice tunes,’ whispered back Philip. ‘Look! – can you see that little glow, Jack? I bet that’s the end of a cigarette the guard is smoking.’
‘Yes, it probably is,’ said Jack.
‘I don’t think we dare go in any closer,’ said Philip. ‘We don’t want to be seen. If the guard gives the alarm, we’re done for. I wonder how many there are on the deck. I can only see one glowing cigarette-end.??
?
‘What are you going to do?’ whispered Lucy-Ann. ‘Do do something. I feel awful! I shall burst in a minute.’
Philip put out his hand and took hers. ‘Don’t worry.’ he whispered. ‘We shall have to do something soon! It looks to be rather a good time. If only that guard would fall asleep!’
‘I say, Tufty – do you know what I think would be much the best thing to do?’ said Jack suddenly. ‘If you and I swam to the harbour, climbed up, got on the boat and surprised the guard, we could probably tip him into the water, and before he could raise the alarm, we’d open up the hatch and get Bill out. Why, we could probably drive the motor-boat off too – then we’d have two!’
‘Sound a good plan,’ said Philip. ‘But we don’t know yet if Bill is there – and it’s quite likely we couldn’t tip the guard overboard – especially if there are more than one. We’d better do a little exploring first. Your idea of slipping overboard and swimming to the harbour is jolly good though. We’ll certainly do that. We can clamber up a part where there are shadows, away from that light.’
‘Oh dear – must you go swimming in the dark?’ said Lucy-Ann, looking at the black water with a shiver. ‘I should hate it. Do, do be careful, Jack!’
‘I’ll be all right,’ said Jack. ‘Come on, Philip. Strip off your clothes. We’ll swim in our pants.’
It wasn’t long before the boys silently slid overboard and entered the water. It was cold and they drew their breaths in sharply. But they soon felt warm as they swam rapidly towards the harbour. They could hear the radio more plainly as they came near. ‘Good thing,’ thought Jack. ‘They won’t be able to hear us coming at all.’
They avoided the light, and clambered up the part of the jetty where there were black shadows. It was not easy. ‘The boat’s just there,’ whispered Jack in Philip’s ear. ‘Not right under the light, thank goodness!’