“What is it?” he said. “I’m tired of hanging on to you. What can you see?”
Andy couldn’t believe what he saw. He shut his eyes, and then opened them again. Yes, it was still there. How very extraordinaryand how very, very marvellous!
He slid back on his tummy, and sat up, his face happy and glowing. His eyes shone so brightly that Tom was startled.
“Andywhat’s up?” he said.
“Tom! Do you know what’s down therehidden in a little channel of water, in a fold of the cliff itself?” said Andy, in a voice that shook with excitement “You’ll never guess, never!”
“What?” cried Tom.
“Our boat!” yelled Andy, and beat on the rocky ledge with his hands. “OUR BOATthe Andy!”
“But she’s sunk,” said Tom, thinking that Andy must be mad. “You know she is.”
“I know she isn’t!” said Andy. “Wouldn’t I know my own boat, that I’ve sailed in scores of times? Those men were telling lies to us. They haven’t sunk the Andy! They’ve got her down there, hidden in a fold of the rocksoh, a very, very clever hiding-place indeed! I don’t believe anyone could possibly spot her from the sea. She could only be spotted from just up here!”
“But, Andyoh, Andy, it can’t be!” said Tom, a ridiculous tear spurting out from the corner of one eye. “I was sure she was sunk! What a mercy we took the wrong passage and got up here! We wouldn’t have known about her if we hadn’t, would we? How simply, absolutely marvellous! “
“Want to see her?” said Andy. “Want to have a peep at our dear old boat? She hasn’t got her sail up, but I knew it was her! I nearly fell over when I first spotted her. Good thing you were holding my legs, Tom!”
“Wellyou hold mine jolly tightly,” said Tom, and laid himself down on his tummy. Soon he was peeping over the edge of the cliff, and saw, far down below, a tiny boat tucked away in a small channel of water, hidden by a fold in the rocks.
“Is it really the Andy? he said. “I wouldn’t be able to tell. She looks all deck to me. But there’s a red spot on her which must mean her sail is folded up there. They’ve put it back again.”
“It’s the Andy all right,” said Andy joyfully. “I’d know her out of a million boats. What a bit of luck! She hasn’t been sunk! We know where she’s hidden. Now we’ve only got to get her, and we can sail away home!”
“Yesbut how are we going to get her?” said Tom, wriggling back. “That won’t be easy!”
The two boys leaned against the rock at their backs and discussed what would be the best thing to do now. Plainly they must try to get down to the Andy. The whole difficult problem of escape would be solved if only they got her.
“We can’t possibly climb down the cliff here, and get to her,” said Andy. “We should fall and be dashed to pieces. It seems to me that absolutely the only thing to do is to get down to our own cove somehowthe one the underground river flows intoand climb round the rocks at the base of the cliff till we reach the Andy. It will take ages!”
“Oh goodnessand we’ve got no food,” said Tom dolefully. “That doesn’t seem a very good idea to me.”
“Wellthink of a better idea then, and we’ll follow it,” said Andy. But of course Tom could think of nothing else at all.
“You’re right,” he said at last with a sigh. “It’s the only thing to do. But, Andy, let’s get back to that store-cave, where the boxes of food are kept. We could open some of those tins and at least have something to eat. We can’t go on too long without food. At least, I can’t”
“All right,” said Andy. “Anyway, Tom, I think it would be better to keep in hiding till the evening, in case anyone sees us clambering about the rocks to get to the Andy. Come on, we’ll get down to the store-cave now and get what food we want. Then we’ll take it up to the ledge by the waterfallif we can get through the waterfall entranceand wait there till we think it’s safe to climb down and get round the rocks to find the Andy.”
It was easier to get down to the store-cave than it had been to climb from it up to the Cliff! There was no one there. The boys hunted about and found two or three tin-openers. Good! They each put one in their pockets and then chose a few tins to take with them.
“Tongue,” said Tom. “And spam. And pears and apricots and plums. That’s my selection!”
They hunted about for sacks to put them in and found some old bags. Each boy put his selection of tins into a bag, threw it over his shoulder, and set out again to the cliffbut this time they took the other tunnel, when they came to the fork. Andy was amazed to see the caves where the torrent of water ran through, on its way to the waterfall.
“There’s hardly any water pouring out to-day, thank goodness!” said Tom. “Come on, Andyit’ll be difficult wriggling along that narrow ledge to the entrance with our tins.”
It wasbut they managed it. And there they were at last, out on the ledge of the Cliff of Birds, and sitting down at the back of the shallow cave where Tom had left his ill-fated camera!
“Now for a meal!” said the ever-hungry Tom. “And thena good long doze in the sun! After thatall set to find the good old Andy!”
CHAPTER 22.
Down to the Andyand What Happened There.
THE boys had a very good meal up on the ledge in the sun. They talked about the girls and wondered how they were getting on, and if they were all right.
“At any rate, they’ve got food,” said Tom. “I wish they could share this spam and peaches with me. It’s an awfully good mixture.”
“How you can cut yourself a bit of spam and then spear a peach and eat it beats me!” said Andy. “I don’t like mixing up things like that. Isn’t this sun delicious, Tom? The wind has dropped a bit. I saywhat shall we do when we get the Andy! Go and rescue the girls firstor run straight for home and report what we know?”
“I don’t see how we can rescue the girls,” said Tom, spearing a bit of spam and a peach together on the end of his knife. “We should only be seen by the men looking out for your father’s boat, and they’d capture us again. We’d better run for home. The wind will be behind us, won’t it? So we could get back fairly quickly.”
“Yes. I feel worried about the girls, though,” said Andy, lying down on his back, unable to eat any more. “I’m afraid those men will be very angry when they find we’ve escapedif they do find it outand they’ll make things unpleasant for Jill and Mary, perhaps.”
This was a horrid thought. Andy was very fond of the two girls, and Tom loved his twin sisters dearly. But if they went back to Smuggler’s Rock to get the girls, they might get captured themselves again, and what would be the use of that?
Andy fell asleep before he had time to worry any more about it. Tom drank the last drop of sweet juice from his tin, then lay back in the sunshine too, and shut his eyes. Both boys were really exhausted with their exertions.
They did not wake until the sun was well down in the west. Andy sat up and shook Tom.
“Tom! Wake up! It’s time we climbed down and made a search for the Andy. We’ll get down to the foot of the cliffs, and then try to make our way westwards, round the place where those rocks jut right out. We ought to come across the fold in the cliff where the Andy is hidden, sooner or later. The tide is going out, so the rocks will be fairly well uncovered.”
Tom yawned as he sat up. He felt stiff. He did not like the thought of the long climb downwards. But it had to be faced. Andy began to climb down first, and Tom followed.
When they were at the foot of the cliff at last, Andy turned westwards, and began to clamber over the rugged rocks uncovered by the tide. They were slippery with seaweed, but both boys were very sure-footed and hardly slipped at all.
They made their way round the point and came in sight of another stretch of wild, rocky coast. Somewhere hidden along there was the Andy! But where? There was no sign of her from where they stood. She was in a very clever hiding-place indeed.