You two boys been asleep in your room all night? asked Jo-Jo at last, hardly able to believe his eyes and ears.
Where else should we sleep? said Philip impudently. On the Isle of Gloom?
Jo-Jo turned away, puzzled and taken aback. It couldn’t have been these two boys last night. It was true he had not seen their faces clearly, but he had felt certain they were Philip and Jack. But now that was plainly impossible. No-one could have got out of those caves at high tide and yet here were the boys. It was disturbing and puzzling. Jo-Jo didn’t like it.
I’ll go down to those caves now and watch to see who comes out, he thought at last. Then I’ll know who it was spying on me last night.
So down he went but though he watched for two hours, nobody came from the caves. Which was not very surprising, because there was nobody there.
Jo-Jo just simply can’t understand it, said Jack, grinning, as he watched the black man from the cliff path. What a good thing we didn’t tell anyone about the secret passage! It came in mighty useful last night.
He’ll think you and Philip were two of the ‘things’ he’s always trying to frighten us with, said Dinah. Silly old Jo-Jo! He must think we are babies to be frightened of anything he would say.
What are we going to do today when we’ve finished our jobs? asked Lucy-Ann, polishing the lamp she had been cleaning. It’s such a fine day. Can’t we go for a picnic walk over the cliff and along the coast?
Oh yes and we’ll see if we can find that man I saw in a boat yesterday, said Jack, remembering. That would be fine. Maybe he’ll let us go in his boat. Dinah, ask your Aunt Polly if we can take our dinner with us.
Aunt Polly said yes, and in about half an hour they set off, passing Jo-Jo on the way. He was now working in his allotment, over the edge of the cliff, behind the house.
Did you have a good night, Jo-Jo? yelled Philip. Did you sleep all night long, like a good boy?
Jo-Jo scowled and made a threatening noise. Kiki imitated him, and he bent down to pick up a stone to throw at her.
Naughty boy! screeched Kiki, flying high into the air. Naughty, naughty boy! Go to bed at once, naughty boy!
Chapter 11
BILL SMUGS
Whereabouts did you see the strange boat, Freckles? asked Philip, as they went over the cliffs.
Over there, beyond those rocks that jut out, said Jack, pointing. Quite a big boat, really. I wonder where it’s kept when it’s not in use. Somebody must live fairly near it but I couldn’t see any houses.
There aren’t any proper houses near, said Philip. People used to live about here ages ago, but there was fighting and burning, and now there are only ruined places. But there might be a tumbledown shack of some sort, all right for a man who wants a lonely kind of holiday.
They walked on over the cliffs, Kiki sailing up into the air every now and again to join a surprised gull, and making noises exactly like the sea-birds, but more piercing.
Philip collected a large and unusual caterpillar from a bush, much to Dinah’s dismay, and put a lizard into his pocket. After that Dinah walked a good distance from him, and even Lucy-Ann was a bit wary. Lucy-Ann did not mind live creatures as Dinah did, but she wasn’t particularly anxious to be asked to carry lizards or caterpillars, as she might quite well be requested to do if Philip decided to take home some other creature that, if put in his pocket, might eat the caterpillar or lizard already there!
They all walked on happily, enjoying the rough sea breeze, the salty smell of the sea, and the sound of the waves against the rocks below. The grass was springy beneath their feet, and the air was full of gliding birds. This was a lovely holiday, lovely, lovely!
They came to a jutting part of the cliff and walked out almost to the edge. I can’t see signs of any boat on the water at all, said Jack.
You’re sure you didn’t imagine it? said Philip. It’s funny there’s not a thing to be seen today a boat is not an easy thing to hide.
There’s a sort of cove down there, said Lucy-Ann, pointing to where the cliff turned in a little, and there was a small beach of shining sand. Let’s go down and picnic there, shall we? We can bathe first. It’s awfully windy up here; I can hardly get my breath to talk.
They began to climb down the steep and rocky cliff. The boys went first and the girls followed, slipping a little now and again. But they were all good climbers, and reached the bottom of the cliff in safety.
Here it was sheltered from the rushing wind and was warm and quiet. The children slipped off their jerseys and shorts and went into the water to bathe. Philip, who was a good swimmer, swam right out to some black rocks that stuck out from the water, high and forbidding. He reached them, and climbed up to rest for a while.
And then he suddenly saw a boat, on the other side of the rocks! There was a flat stretch there, and on it, pulled up out of reach of the waves, was the boat that Jack had seen on the sea the day before. No-one could possibly see the boat unless he, like Philip, happened to be on those particular rocks, for, from the shore, the high rocks hid the flat stretch facing seawards, where the boat lay.
Whew! whistled Philip in surprise. He got up and went over to the boat. It was a fine boat with a sail, and was almost as big as Jo-Jo’s. It was called The Albatross. There were two pairs of oars in it.
Well! said Philip, surprised. What a queer place to keep a boat right out here on these rocks! Whoever owns it would have to swim out whenever he wanted to get it. Funny!
He shouted to the others. The boat’s here on these rocks. Come and see it.
Soon all the children were examining the boat. That’s the one I saw, said Jack. But where’s the owner? There’s no sign of him anywhere.
We’ll have our lunch and then we’ll have a good look-see, said Philip. Come on, girls back to the shore we’ll go. Then we’ll separate after our picnic and hunt round properly for the man who owns this boat.
They swam back to the shore, took off their wet things, set them out to dry in the sun and put on their dry clothes. Then they sat down to enjoy the sandwiches, chocolate and fruit that Aunt Polly had prepared for them. They lolled in the sun, tired with their swim, hungry and thirsty, enjoying the food immensely.
Food’s gorgeous when you’re really hungry, said Lucy-Ann, taking a huge bite at her sandwich.
I always am hungry, said Jack. Shut up, Kiki that’s the best part of my apple you’ve pecked. I’ve got some sunflower seeds for you in my pocket. Can’t you wait?
What a pity, what a pity! said Kiki, imitating Aunt Polly when something went wrong. What a pity, what a pity, what a …
Oh, stop her, said Dinah, who knew that the parrot was quite capable of repeating a brand-new sentence a hundred times without stopping. Here, Kiki have a bite of my apple, do.
That stopped Kiki, and she ran her beak into the apple in delight, pecking out a bit that kept her busy for some time.
A quarrel nearly blew up between Dinah and Philip over the large caterpillar which made its way out of the boy’s pocket, over the sand, towards Dinah. She gave a shriek, and was about to hurl a large shell at Philip when Jack picked up the caterpillar and put it back into Philip’s pocket.
No harm done, Dinah, he said. Keep your hair on! Don’t let’s start a free fight now. Let’s have a peaceful day.
They finished up every crumb of the lunch. The gulls won’t get much, said Philip lazily, shaking out the papers, then folding them up and putting them into his pocket. Look at that young gull it’s as tame as anything.
I wish I had my camera here, said Jack longingly, watching the enormous young gull walking very near. I could get a marvellous snap of him. I haven’t taken any bird pictures yet. I really must. I’ll find my camera tomorrow.
Come on, said Dinah, jumping up. If we’re going to do a spot of man-hunting, we’d better begin. I bet I find the strange boatman first.
They separated, Jack and Philip going one way and the girls going the other. They walked on the sandy little beach, keeping close to the rocky cliffs. The girls found that they could not get very far, because steep rocks barred their way after a bit, and they had to turn back.