they all clambered into the boat. timothy leapt in lightly and ran to the prow, where he alwaysstood. his tongue hung out in excitement. he knew quite well that something was up - and he was init! no wonder he panted and wagged his tail hard.

"off we go!" said julian, taking the oars. "sit over there a bit, anne. the luggage is weighing downthe boat awfully the other end. dick, sit by anne to keep the balance better. that's right.

off we go!"

and off they went in george's boat, rocking up and down on the waves. the sea was fairly calm, buta good breeze blew through their hair. the water splashed round the boat and made a nice gurgly,friendly noise. the children all felt very happy. they were on their own. they were escaping fromthe horrid sticks. they were going to stay on kirrin island, with the rabbits and gulls and jackdaws.

"doesn't that new-made bread smell awfully good?" said dick, feeling very hungry as usual.

"can we just grab a bit, do you think?"

"yes, let's," said george. so they broke off bits of the warm brown crust, handed some to julian, whowas rowing, and chewed the delicious new-made bread. timmy got a bit too, but his was gone assoon as it went into his mouth.

"timmy's funny," said anne. "he never eats his food as we do - he seems to drink it - just takes itinto his mouth and swallows it, as if it was water!"the others laughed. "he doesn't drink his bones." said george. "he always eats those all right -chews on them for hours and hours. don't you, timothy?""woof!" said timmy, agreeing. he eyed the place where that enormous bone was, wishing he couldhave it now. but the children wouldn't let him. they were afraid it might go overboard, and thatwould be a pity.

"i don't believe anyone has noticed us going," said julian. "except alf the fisher-boy, of course.

we told him about going to the island, dick, but nobody else."46

they had called at alf's house on their way to the cove. alf was alone in the yard at the back.

his mother was away and his father was out fishing. they had told him their secret, and alf hadnodded his tousled head and promised faithfully to tell nobody at all. he was evidently very proud atbeing trusted.

"if my mother and father come back, you must let us know," said george. "sail as near the island asyou dare, and hail us. you can get nearer to it than anyone else.""i'll do that," promised alf, wishing he could go with them.

"so, you see, dick," said julian, as he rowed out to the island, "if by any chance aunt fanny doesreturn sooner than we expect, we shall know at once and come back. i think we've plannedeverything very well."

"yes, we have," said dick. he turned and faced the island, which was coming nearer. "we shall soonbe there. isn't george going to take the oars and guide the boat in?""yes," said george. "we've come to the difficult bit now, where we've got to weave our way in andout of the different rocks that keep sticking up. give me the oars, ju."she took the oars, and the others watched in admiration as the girl guided the big boat skilfully in andout of the hidden rocks. she certainly was very clever. they felt perfectly safe with her.

the boat slid into the little cove. it was a natural harbour, with the water running up to a stretch ofsand. high rocks sheltered it. the children jumped out eagerly, and four pairs of willing hands tuggedthe boat quickly up the sand. .

"higher up still," panted george. "you know what awful storms suddenly blow up in this bay.

we want to be sure the boat is quite safe, no matter how high the seas run."the boat soon lay on one side, high up the stretch of sand. the children sat down, puffing andblowing. "let's have breakfast here," said julian. "i don't feel like unloading all those heavy things atthe moment. we'll get what we want for breakfast, and have it here on this warm bit of sand."they got a loaf of new bread, some cold ham, a few tomatoes and a pot of jam. anne found knivesand forks and plates. julian opened two bottles of ginger-beer.

"funny sort of breakfast," he said, setting the bottles down on the sand, "but simply gorgeous whenanyone is as hungry as we are."

47

they ate everything except about a third of the loaf. timmy was given his bone and some of his ownbiscuits. he crunched up the biscuits at once, and then sat down contentedly to gnaw the fine bone.

"how nice to be timmy - with no plate or knife or fork or cup to bother about," said anne, lying onher back in the sun, feeling that she really couldn't eat anything more. "oh, if we are always going tohave mixed-up meals like this on the island, i shall never want to go back. who would have thoughtthat ham and jam and ginger-beer would go so well together?"timmy was thirsty. he sat with his tongue hanging out wishing that george would give him a drink.

he didn't like ginger-beer.

george eyed him lazily.

"oh timmy - are you thirsty?" she said. "oh dear, i feel as if i really can't get up! you'll have to waita few minutes, then i'll go to the boat and empty out some water for you."but timothy couldn't wait. he went off to some nearby rocks, which were out of reach of the sea. ina hole in one of them he found some rain-water, and he lapped it up eagerly. the children heard himlapping it, and laughed.

"isn't timmy clever?" murmured anne. "i should never have thought of that."the children had been up half the night, and now they were full of good things, and were very sleepy.

one by one they fell asleep on the warm sand. timothy eyed them in astonishment. it wasn't night-time! yet here were all the children sleeping tightly. well, well - a dog could always go to sleep tooat any time! so timothy threw himself down beside george, put his head right on her middle, andclosed his eyes.

the sun was high when the little company awoke. julian awoke first, then dick, feeling very hotindeed, for the sun was blazing down. they sat up, yawning.

"goodness!" said dick, looking at his arms. "the sun has caught me properly. i shall be terribly soreby tonight. did we bring any cream, julian?""no. we never thought of it," said julian. "cheer up! you'll be burnt much more by the time this dayends. the sun's going to be hot - there's not a cloud in the sky!"they woke up the girls. george pushed timmy's head off her tummy. "you give me nightmareswhen you put your heavy head there," she complained. "oh, i say - we're on the island, aren't we? fora moment i thought i was back in bed at kirrin cottage!"48

"isn't it gorgeous? - here we are for ages, all by ourselves, with tons of nice things to eat, able to dojust what we like!" said anne, contentedly.

"i guess the old sticks are glad we've gone," said dick. "spotty face will be able to loll in the sitting-room and read all our books, if he wants to.""and stinker-dog will be able to wander all over the house and lie on anybody's bed without beingafraid that timothy will eat him whole," said george. "well, let him. i don't care about anything nowthat i've escaped."

it was fun to lie there and talk about everything. but soon julian, who could never rest for long, oncehe was awake, got up and stretched himself.

"come on!" he said to the others. "there is work to do, lazy-bones! come along!""work to do? what do you mean?" said george in astonishment.

"well, we've got to unload the boat and pack everything somewhere where it won't get spoilt if therain happens to come," said julian. "and we've got to decide exactly where we're going to sleep, andget the heather for our beds and pile the rugs on them. there's plenty to do!""oh, don't let's do it yet," said anne, not at all wanting to get up out of the warm sand. but the otherspulled her up, and together they all set to work to unload the boat.

"let's go and have a look at the castle," said julian. "and find the little room where we'll sleep.

it's the only one left whole, so it will have to be that one."they went right to the top of the inlet, climbed up on to the rocks and made their way towards the oldruined castle, whose walls rose up from the middle of the little island. they stopped to gaze at it.

"it's a fine old ruin," said dick. "aren't we lucky to have an island and a castle of our own!

fancy, this is all ours!"

they gazed through a big broken-down archway, to old steps beyond. the castle had once had twofine towers, but now one was almost gone. the other rose high in the air, half-ruined. the blackjackdaws collected there, talking loudly. "chack, chack, chack! chack, chack, chack!""nice birds," said dick. "i like them. see the grey patch at the back of their heads, anne? i wonder ifthey ever stop talking."

"i don't think so," said george. "oh, look at the rabbits - tamer than ever!"49

the courtyard was full of big rabbits, who eyed them as they came near. it really seemed as if itwould be possible to pat them, they were so tame - but one by one they edged away as the childrenapproached.

timothy was in a great state of excitement, and his tail quivered from end to end. oh those rabbits!

why couldn't he chase them? why was george so difficult about rabbits? why couldn't he makethem run a bit?

but george had her hand on his collar, and gave him a stern glance. "now, timothy, don't you dareto chase even the smallest of these rabbits. they're mine, every one o them.""ours!" corrected anne at once. she wanted to share in the rabbits, as well as in the castle and theisland.

"ours!" said george. "let's go and have a look at the little dark room where we'll spend the nights."they made their way to where the castle did not seen to be quite so ruined. they came to a doorwayand looked inside.

"here it is!" said julian, peeping in. "i shall have to use my torch. the windows are only slits here,and it's quite dark."

he turned on his torch - and the children all gazed into the old room where they proposed to storetheir goods and sleep.

george gave a loud exclamation. "golly! we can't use this room! the roof has fallen in since lastsummer."

so it had. julian's torch shone on to a heap of fallen stones, scattered all over the floor. it was quiteimpossible to use the old room now. in any case it might be dangerous to do so, for it looked as ifmore stones might fall at any moment.

"blow!" said julian. "what shall we do about this? we shall have to find somewhere else for astoring and sleeping-place!"