19

someone else comes to the island

the children were now very brown with the sun. ‘if mother could see us now, she wouldn’t call us“peaky”,’ said philip. ‘and you’ve got back all your freckles, jack and lucy-ann, and a fewhundreds more!’

‘oh dear!’ said lucy-ann, rubbing her brown freckled face. ‘what a pity! i did think i lookedso nice when my freckles faded away during measles.’

‘i seem to be losing count of the days,’ said jack. ‘i can’t for the life of me make out whethertoday is tuesday or wednesday.’

‘it’s friday,’ said philip promptly. ‘i was counting up only this morning. we’ve been here quitea time now.’

‘well – is it a week since we left home?’ wondered dinah. ‘it seems about six months. i wonderhow mother is getting on.’

‘she must be feeling a bit worried about us,’ said philip. ‘except that she knows we’re with billand she’ll think we’re quite all right, even if she doesn’t get messages.’

‘and we’re not with bill, and we’re not all right,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i wish i knew where billwas and what was happening to him. if only we had a boat, we could go off in it and try to findwhere he was. he must have been taken to the west of us somewhere – because that’s where theplanes seem to be.’

‘well – we’re not likely to get a boat,’ said philip. ‘come on – let’s go up on the cliff-top andsee to the fire. the smoke doesn’t seem very thick this morning. huffin and puffin, are youcoming?’

‘arrrrrrr!’ said both huffin and puffin, and walked along beside philip. huffin had taken tobringing fish as a little present for philip, and this amused the children immensely. the first timethat huffin had waddled up with the fish in his big beak, the children hadn’t been able to make outwhat he was carrying. but when he came nearer they roared with laughter.

‘philip! he’s got six or seven fish in his beak for you – and do look how he’s arranged them!’

cried jack. ‘heads and tails alternately in a row all down his beak! huffin, how did you do it?’

‘thanks awfully, old chap,’ said philip, as huffin deposited the fish beside the boy. ‘verygenerous of you.’

now huffin brought fish two or three times a day, much to the children’s amusement. philipknew how to prepare it for cooking over the fire, and the children ate the bigger fish with biscuitsand tinned butter. huffin solemnly accepted a piece cooked, and seemed to enjoy it just as much asraw. but puffin would not touch it.

‘well, as long as we’ve got huffin to provide us with fish, we shan’t starve,’ said jack. ‘kiki,don’t be so jealous. if huffin wants to be generous, let him.’

kiki tried to head off huffin when he arrived with fish. she could not catch fish herself, and didnot like the way huffin brought presents to the little company.

‘naughty, naughty, naughty boy!’ she screeched, but huffin took no notice at all.

the children were sitting by the fire, idly throwing sticks on it, and stirring it now and again tomake it flare up a little. a spiral of smoke rose up, bent northwards. jack took up his field-glassesand swept the lonely sea with them. you never know when friends – or enemies – might turn up.

‘hallo! there’s a boat again!’ cried jack suddenly, his glasses focused on something small faraway. ‘philip, get your glasses.’

the boys gazed through them, whilst the girls waited impatiently. they could see nothing withtheir bare eyes – not even a speck on the sea.

‘is it the same boat as before?’ said philip. ‘it’s getting nearer – we shall soon be able to findout.’

‘it looks a different one to me,’ said jack. ‘smaller. and it’s coming from a different direction.

that might just be a trick though – to make us think it was a friend.’ ‘how shall we know?’ saidlucy-ann. ‘have we got to go and hide again?’

jack gave his glasses to her to look through. he turned to philip, a gleam in his eye. ‘philip –there’s only one man this time – he’ll have to leave his boat moored somewhere, if he’s come tolook for us. what about capturing it?’

‘golly! if only we could!’ said philip, his face glowing. ‘it’s a motor-boat – a small one – butbig enough to take us all easily.’

‘capture it! but how?’ demanded dinah, her eyes glued on the approaching boat. ‘the manwould see us easily, come running up, and capture us!’

‘here, let me have my glasses back,’ said philip, tugging them away from dinah. ‘that’s theworst of you, di – you will always make your turn so long!’

‘now let’s think a bit,’ said jack, his eyes bright. ‘that fellow can’t be coming to rescue us,because anyone knowing we were all alone here would send a bigger boat, and probably moremen, in case they had to tackle our enemy. if bill had managed to get word to anyone, that’s whatthey would do. therefore, it seems to me that this boat is not one sent to rescue . . .’

‘so it’s probably a trick of the enemy’s,’ continued philip. ‘they may or may not know thereare only children here – it depends on how much bill has told them – but they might quite easilysend someone who would pretend not to be an enemy, so as to take us in – and then we would bepersuaded to get into his boat to go to safety – and he’d take us off somewhere to join bill asprisoners.’

‘oh!’ said lucy-ann, who didn’t like the sound of this at all. ‘well, i certainly shan’t get intohis boat. jack, what are we going to do?’

‘now listen,’ said jack. ‘i really have got a good idea – but it needs all of us to carry it out, yougirls too.’

‘well, what have we got to do?’ said dinah impatiently.

‘we’ll find out where he’s going to moor his boat,’ said jack. ‘he’ll either go into that littlechannel where the lucky star was – or pull her up on a sandy beach. we shall soon know, becausewe shall watch.’

‘yes, what then?’ asked lucy-ann, beginning to feel excited.

‘well, dinah and i will hide nearby,’ said jack. ‘the man will walk up on to the island, to lookfor us – and you and lucy-ann, philip, must go and meet him.’

‘oh, i couldn’t,’ said lucy-ann, in alarm.

‘all right then – you stay put somewhere,’ said jack, ‘and philip can meet him. and philip,somehow or other you’ve got to get this fellow into that underground hole. we can easily keephim prisoner there – and if we can block him in somehow, with plenty of food, we can take theboat and go.’

there was a silence whilst everyone digested this remarkable plan. ‘but how am i to get himinto the hole?’ asked philip at last. ‘it sounds a bit like “‘won’t you come into my parlour?’ saidthe spider to the fly” – and somehow i don’t think that the fly will oblige this time!’

‘can’t you just take him through the puffin colony and walk him near the hole – and then triphim up?’ asked jack impatiently. ‘i’m sure i could do it all right.’

‘well, you do it then,’ said philip, ‘and i’ll hide near the boat to capture it. but suppose youdon’t trip the man up and make him fall into the hole and be a prisoner? what about the boat?

what shall i do with it?’

‘well, silly, you’ll hop into it, if you find that i haven’t been able to manage the man, and you’llget out to sea,’ said jack. ‘and there you’ll stay till it begins to get dark, when you can creep inand see if you can find us and take us off. but you needn’t worry – i shall get that fellow all right. ishall tackle him just like i tackle chaps at rugger, at school.’

lucy-ann gazed at jack in admiration. she thought her brother was very clever!

‘well, i’ll help too,’ she said. ‘i’ll go and meet him with you.’

‘we shall have to pretend to believe all he says,’ said jack. ‘every word! it’ll be funny – himtrying to take us in with a cock-and-bull story, and us doing the same!’

‘i hope he won’t be very fierce,’ said lucy-ann.

‘he’ll pretend to be quite harmless, i expect,’ said jack. ‘probably say he’s a naturalist, orsomething – and look very simple and friendly. well – so shall i!’

‘the boat’s getting quite near,’ said philip. ‘there is only one man. he’s wearing dark glassesbecause of the sun.’

‘to hide his fierce eyes, i expect,’ said lucy-ann fearfully. ‘not because of the sun. do weshow ourselves?’

‘only two of us,’ said jack. ‘you and i will get up, lucy-ann, and wave like mad, standingbeside the fire. and mind, whatever story i tell, you’ve got to back me up. philip, you and dinahmustn’t show yourselves.’

‘where’s he going to park his boat?’ wondered dinah. ‘oh, he’s making straight for thechannel! he knows it then!’

‘there you are, you see!’ said jack. ‘nobody would make straight for that hidden channelunless he had been here before. he’s quite probably one of the men who came in that bigger boat.’

this did seem very likely indeed, for the boatman made straight for the little channel as if hehad been there before. just as he came near the cliffs jack and lucy-ann stood up and waved. theman waved back.

‘now, dinah – you and philip get down among the rocks that lead to the little harbour,’ saidjack. ‘there are some big ones there you can crouch behind till he’s moored his boat, and comesup to find us here. then down you must go and hop into the boat ready to go out to sea if we fail inour part. if we don’t fail, things will be fine – we shall have a prisoner we can hold as hostage –and a boat to escape in!’

‘hurray!’ said philip, feeling suddenly excited.

‘hip-hip-hip-!’ said kiki, flying down to jack’s shoulder. she had been on an expedition of herown somewhere – probably chivvying the gulls around, jack thought.

‘you can join in the fun, kiki,’ said jack. ‘and mind you say all the right things!’

‘send for the doctor,’ answered kiki, solemnly. ‘pop goes the doctor!’

‘he’s going into the channel,’ said philip. ‘come on, dinah – time we hid! good luck, jack andlucy-ann!’