chapter 28 escape!

plans were made whilst they ate. "tim, i want you to take the two girls off in your plane," saidbill. "i don't want them exposed to danger here one moment longer than necessary. andros, once wehave got rid of the two men down in the boats, you are to take charge of the better boat of the two,and go off with the rest of us."

"what, bill! do you mean to say we're going to leave a boat for these scoundrels to escape in?" criedjack indignantly.

"no. i'm going to ask andros if he will kindly remove some small thing from the engine of the otherboat — so that it won't start up when the men want it to," said bill, with a laugh. "i think it would bea very good thing to leave them here, prisoners, till we report them, and find out whether mr. eppyhas bought the island or not. if he has, he's in a strong position, of course, and nothing we say will belistened to with much attention."

"he's always buying and selling islands," put in lucian. "i expect he has bought this all right. he'swell known for that."

"you may be right," said bill. "do you want to come with us, lucian, or stay and welcome youruncle out of the column?"

there was no doubt about what lucian wanted to do. he was going with bill and the others!

they all felt a lot better after the meal. tim set off for the plane with the two girls, who hugged billbefore they went and begged him to keep himself safe.

"i shan't set off in the plane till i hear your motor-boat starting up and going off," said tim. "good-bye for the present. come on, girls. what people are going to say when i land with you at the airporti cannot imagine. you're too dirty for anything — regular little grubs!"andros, lucian, jack and philip set off for the boats. it was decided that only lucian should go rightup to the boats and give the fake message. he was to say that the men were wanted up in the templecourtyard, and give them directions as to how to get there. as soon as bill spotted them coming hewas to leave the broken column where he was on guard, and go to the boats, keeping himself out ofsight of the two men.

"then we'll be into one of the boats in a jiffy, and off and away!" said jack joyfully. "what a sell formr. eppy."

andros led the way. he knew the other creek well, though he did not consider it so good as the onehe had landed in. when they got near to the boats, lucian went on alone, whilst the others hidthemselves behind bushes.

lucian was nervous but tried not to show it. he went up to the boats and shouted loudly. "ahoy there— where are you?"

the two men appeared. lucian began to say something loudly in greek, and the two men nodded.

they leapt from the boat to the beach, and made their way up the shore. lucian was telling themwhere to go, pointing this way and that.

"well, i hope he's telling them correctly," thought jack, remembering how hopeless lucian had beenat trying to find the way to the boats that morning. "let's hope he has been more careful at markingthe way this time."

the men soon disappeared. andros raced to the boats. he chose the smaller one of the two as beingthe better. he went to the other boat and tinkered with the engine. he withdrew something from itand threw it into the other boat, where it fell with a thud.

he grinned at the boys. "that boat no good now," he said. "engine dead. we get in here quick."they all got in. andros tinkered about with the engine there too. it started up quickly and he stoppedit at once.

the boys wondered how old bill was getting on. had he spotted the men? was he even now comingdown to the boat, keeping himself unseen? they hoped so.

suddenly they heard shouts, and they all sat up straight in their boat. what was that?

bill was tearing down to the shore at top speed. behind him were the two men, also running at topspeed. andros acted quickly. he started up the engine at once, and called to the boys to give a handto bill when he came.

red in the face and panting hard, bill tore up to the boat. willing hands dragged him in, and almostas he touched the deck of the boat it was off and away, its engine making a terrific noise in the calmof the little creek.

the two men leapt into the other boat at once, shouting angrily. andros gave a malicious grin. billsaw it and knew what it meant. the other boat was useless!

no amount of trying would make the second boat start up. its engine was dead. the two men realizedthat andros must have tampered with it, and they stood up, shaking their fists and shoutingunintelligibly. jack and philip enjoyed it all thoroughly, but poor lucian was as white as a sheet.

"well — we're off," said bill, getting his breath again. "gosh, i had a narrow escape. i was watchingfor the men, and they came on me unawares. they must have guessed there was some trickery aboutbecause they suddenly made a bee-line for me and gave me a jolly hard run. i was glad i'd got alldirections from andros as to where the creek was. i nearly missed my way as it was.""any sound from eppy and co.?" asked jack. bill shook his head.

"no, but they'll have heard the shouts and i expect they'll be out of the column by now and having agood snoop round. they'll join up with the other two men and then mr. eppy will have a few choicethings to say to the two men who left the boats, and so gave us the means of escape. i expect he isthinking of quite a lot of things to say to lucian too, for giving them that fake message."lucian gave a feeble smile. he was still very white. "i shall get a fearful beating," he said.

"you won't," said bill. "i'll see to that. i'll give your uncle something to think about, when i get backto the airport island. he's going to find himself in hot water very very soon. i don't care whether he'sbought the island or not. he's a rogue."

the sound of an aeroplane's engine attracted their attention. "it's tim's plane!" cried jack, and hestood up in the motor-boat and waved. "ahoy there, tim!"the plane swooped down low, and kiki gave a squawk of terror. micky hid his head under philip'sarm. the boys cheered and yelled. "good-bye, good luck, tim! hallo there, girls."at about six o'clock in the evening the motor-boat arrived at the airport island. the first thing theysaw was the viking star in the harbour, still lying silent. the second thing they saw was tim on thequayside — and the girls with him! they had landed a long time ago, had had a good meal, and thenhad come down to the quay to wait for the others.

"i've been to the police," said tim. "told the chief you had something to report and would he pleasenot go home till he'd seen you. he's all hot and bothered — it isn't often anything happens here!"bill laughed. "well, i expect the report will really have to go to the mainland to be dealt with — butas andros comes from here, and mr. eppy hired his boats from here, and presumably saw lawyershere if he bought the island, it's best to see the chief of police of this island."the chief was a small bird-like man with an intelligent face, and quick, darting eyes. he spokeenglish very well. he was thrilled to think there might be some important news for him.

he listened intently to bill's remarkable story, asking a few questions now and again. the childrenadded little bits. when the inspector heard of the treasure he almost fell off his chair.

"we must find out if this man eppy did buy the island," he said. "i know him. he is always buyingislands and selling them. i do not like him. he is crazy."a good deal of telephoning then went on, with a few "hallos" from a rather bored kiki, and some"mistersirs" and "one, two, three, pops!"at last the little man turned to bill, his face beaming. "paul eppy did try to buy the island. but it isnot for sale. it is not his — it belongs to our government.""good!" said all the children together.

"what a sell for mr. eppy!" said dinah.

"i hope he will not get away with any of that unique treasure," said the inspector. "he is not an honestman."

"he can't," said jack, with a grin. "andros tampered with the only motor-boat there — he can't use it.

he's a prisoner there, and so are all the rest of them.""good. i think that is very good," beamed the bird-like man. he turned to bill. "if you will be kindenough to put in a report, sir — a detailed one — for me to forward to the mainland — i would bevery much obliged. the children should read it, and sign it. and andros here should sign the part ofit that refers to his doings in the matter.""right," said bill, and got up to go. "well, that's that. i've had some thrilling adventures with thesefour — but this beats the lot. i only wish we could have a bit of that treasure!""sir, you shall," said the inspector earnestly. "i will see to it personally. my government will be veryhonoured to allow you to choose what you want from it.""a carved dagger for me!" said philip, at once. "gosh, what would the boys at school say!""come along," said bill. "we'll go on board the viking star, and take tim to dinner there with us. iwant a good bath, a good shave, a good meal and a good sleep in a comfortable bed."and off they all went on board the viking star, happy and excited, talking nineteen to the dozen!