“I suppose your father will rescue us tomorrow,” said Jill. “We shall only have a night here. It’s a pity really, because it’s such fun to sleep in a cave, and keep having picnics.”
“Do you suppose the people on this islandthe ones who took our sail and oars, and flash those lights at the topdo you suppose they know we’ve come to this cave?” said Mary.
“I expect so,” said Andy. “I’ve no doubt they’ve got look-outs posted, who see any ship, and can watch anyone’s actions. They must have seen us there early this morning, down in the cove, and been very surprised. They couldn’t have seen us coming last nightit was too dark.”
“How annoyed they must have been, to see our boat there,” said Tom. “We’ve butted in at just the wrong time for them. I guess they were jolly glad when they saw we were only children.”
Jill and Mary were now getting tea. They wondered what to do for water to boil.
“Easy!” said Tom. “There is plenty of rain-water in the hollows of the rocks up hereleft from last week’s rain-storms, I should think. I’ll fill your kettle for you, from one of the pools.”
“Right,” said Mary, and handed over the kettle. Tom squeezed out of the cave, found a good pool of rain-water quite nearby, and filled the kettle. Soon it was boiling on the oil-stove, making a nice gurgling sound. Jill cut some bread and butter, and put out a jar of plum jam.
“We’d better not have tins of meat or sardines, had we?” she said to Andy. “Just in case we aren’t rescued tomorrow, and have to go on living here. We’ll want the sardines and meat for dinner then.”
“Yes,” said Andy. “We must go slow on the food till we see what’s going to happen. Anyway, this is a very nice tea. I like plum jam. I expect poor old Tom could eat a whole loaf, but he’ll have to be content with a few slices! Have you got tinned milk for tea, Jill, or did we finish it all?”
“No. I’ve got plenty,” said Jill. “As a matter of fact, we like spreading it on bread and butter like jam, so I brought quite a lot of tins. We shall be all right for tea and cocoa. Pass your mug, Andy. I’ll fill it”
Even Andy, worried as he was about what might happen to his beloved boat, couldn’t help enjoying his tea up there in the cave. But soon the cave felt very hot, because the oil-stove warmed it, and the children went and sat out on the ledge in the sunshine. It was a very beautiful view spreading before them.
“Rocksand seaand more rocksand more seaand sky and clouds and birds making a pattern in the air,” said Jill, munching her slice of bread and jam. “I like looking at things like that when I’m having a picnic. It makes my bread and jam taste nicer!”
“Things always taste better when you eat them out of doors,” said Mary. “I’ve often noticed that”
“Look!” said Andy suddenly. “Is that someone coming round the left-hand side of the cove down there? Seewhere that big rock sticks up. Yeshe’s going to the Andy. Let’s get back into the cave and watch. If he doesn’t know where we are, we’ve no need to show ourselves!”
With beating hearts the children squeezed into the cave. They lay flat on their tummies and peered down to the cove below. They could see a manhe looked like a fisherman, and had big sea-boots on.
“He’s going to the Andy” whispered Tom. “What’s he going to do?”
CHAPTER 14.
The Hunt for the Children.
HARDLY breathing, the four children watched the man walking over the rocks towards the Andy. He was a tall, burly man, very dark, and with a black beard.
“Do you know him, Andy?” whispered Tom. Andy shook his head.
“No. He doesn’t come from our district. Lookhe’s getting into the boat.”
A faint shout came up to the children. “He’s shouting to us to come out!” said Mary. “He thinks we’re still there!”
The man stood on the deck, waiting. But when no one answered him, or came up from below, he went to the cabin hatch and opened it. He looked down and saw no one there. He also saw that the boat looked remarkably empty of goods as well as of crew!
“He’s found out that we’ve removed all our things from the boat!” said Andy.
The man went down into the cabin. Then he came up again, stood on the deck, and looked all about, as if he expected to be able to see the children somewhere.
“Lookthere’s another man now,” whispered Tom. “Seecoming round the cove where the first one came. What a funny little man!”
He was. He was bandy-legged, and walked as though he sat on a horse. He had on sea-boots and a sou’wester, and a black oilskin that flapped in the wind. He was short and squat, and he yelled to the other man as he came. His voice came faintly on the wind to the children.
“Now they’re talking together about our disappearance,” said Tom, quite enjoying himself. “Do you think they’ll come to find us, Andy? We’re well hidden here.”
The men talked together. The little bandy-legged one had a look round the boat and peered down into the cabin. It made Andy go red with rage to see strangers on his boat. He longed to go down and turn them off!
But if he did that he would give away the hiding-place. So he lay still, red to his ears, and Jill put her arm over his shoulder to comfort him. She knew what he was feeling. Andy was so proud of his boat, and loved her so much.
The men separated and went off in different directions. It was plain that they were hunting for the hidden children. They peeped about down in the cove, and occasionally shouted, though the children couldn’t hear the words.
“Shouting to us to come out, I suppose,” said Tom. “As if we would! I bet they don’t find us!”
The men came up a bit higher, and looked all about the rocks there. There were one or two places there where the children might have hidden.
Now they could hear what the men shouted to one another. “Where are those brats?” yelled the bandy-legged man. “Wait till I find them! Wasting my time like this!”
The children lay-quite quiet. They didn’t like the look of the bandy-legged man at all as he came nearer. He had bushy eyebrows that almost hid his eyes, and a scar went all the way down one cheek. The dark man was good-looking, and spoke with a foreign accent. He looked stem as he went about the hunt
“We’d better wriggle back right into the cave,” said Andy. “If they come any higher they might just catch sight of us.”
So they wriggled back. Soon they were crouching right at the very back, catching a glimpse of the distant sea through the narrow entrance. They kept very quiet, for they heard the sound of the men’s climbing feet coming near.
“There’s a cave somewhere about here!” they heard the bandy-legged man call. “I remember my dog going into it once. Maybe they’ve gone there.”
“We will look,” said the dark man, and his steps came nearer. The children saw his feet walking past the, entrance! Their hearts almost stopped beating with fright But the feet went right past and out of sight. Good!
Then they saw the bandy legs of the other man going by too. But just as he was passing, the legs stopped.
“I’m sure that cave was here,” said his rather hoarse voice. “Waitwhat’s this!” His foot kicked into the entrance of the cave. Then he bent down and looked inside, finding it very awkward indeed. But he could see nothing, of course, for it was pitch-black inside the cave.
Jill gave a gulp of fright. Tom dug his fingers into her at once, to stop her. Surely she wasn’t going to give them away! Jill put her hand over her mouth. She really hadn’t been able to help giving that gulp.
“They cannot be in there,” said the nearby voice of the dark man. “No one surely could creep in there! Look, there is a cave higher up. Maybe they are in that”
To the children’s enormous relief the bandy-legged man moved on. They breathed more easily, but did not dare to move. They heard more shouting and calling and then there was silence.
“Is it safe to peep out?” said Tom, who was longing to know what was happening.
“No,” said Andy. “They may be sitting quietly somewhere waiting for us to show ourselves. Keep still, Tom.”
They all kept very still and quiet, only moving when their arms or legs felt cramped. Then they heard the voices again. The dark man sounded thoroughly impatient and exasperated.