‘Oh Quentin dear, I don’t like this business of you being here and somebody else, spying on you,’ said his wife. ‘I really don’t. How long will you be before you’ve finished your work?’ ‘A few days more,’ said her husband. He looked at Timmy admiringly. ‘That dog might almost have known what you were saying, Fanny, just now. It was remarkable the way he walked straight over to me.’ ‘He’s a very clever dog,’ said Anne, warmly. ‘Aren’t you, Tim? You’ll be quite safe with him, Uncle Quentin. He’s terribly fierce when he wants to be!’ ‘Yes. I shouldn’t care to have him leaping at my throat,’ said her uncle. ‘He’s so big and powerful. Are there any more pieces of cake?’ ‘Quentin, it’s really too bad of you to go without your meals,’ said his wife. ‘It’s no good telling me you haven’t, because you wouldn’t be as ravenous as this if you had had your food regularly.’ Her husband took no notice of what she was saying. He was looking up at his tower. ‘Do you ever see those wires at the top blaze out?’ he asked. ‘Wonderful sight, isn’t it?’ ‘Uncle, you’re not inventing a new atom bomb, or anything, are you?’ asked Anne.
Her uncle looked at her scornfully. ‘I wouldn’t waste my time inventing things that will be used to kill and maim people! No – I’m inventing something that will be of the greatest use to mankind. You wait and see!’ George came back. ‘Father,’ she said, ‘I’m leaving Timmy behind for you – but please will you do something for me?’ ‘What?’ asked her father. ‘No silly conditions now! I shall feed Timmy regularly, and look after him, if that’s what you want to ask me. I may forget my own meals, but you ought to know me well enough to know I shouldn’t neglect any animal dependent on me.’ ‘Yes I know, Father,’ said George, looking a bit doubtful all the same. ‘What I wanted to ask you was this when you go up in the tower to signal each morning, will you please take Timmy with you? I shall be up at the coastguard cottage, looking through his telescope at the glass room in the tower and I shall be able to see Timmy then. If I can catch just a glimpse of him each day and know he’s all right, I shan’t worry so much.’ ‘Very well,’ said her father. ‘But I don’t suppose for a moment that Timmy will be able to climb up the spiral stairway.’ ‘Oh, he can, Father he’s been up it once already,’ said George.
‘Good heavens!’ said her father. ‘Has the dog been up there too? -All right, George I promise I’ll take him up with me each morning that I signal, and get him to wag his tail at you. There! Will that satisfy you?’ ‘Yes. Thank you,’ said George. ‘And you’ll give him a few kind words and a pat occasionally, Father,’ won’t you…and…?’ ‘And put his bib on for him at meal-times, I suppose, and clean his teeth for him at night!’ said her father, looking cross again. ‘I shall treat Timmy like a proper grown-up dog, a friend of mine, George – and believe me, that’s the way he wants me to treat him. Isn’t it, Timmy?
You like all those frills to be kept for your mistress, don’t you, not for me?’ ‘Woof,’ said Timmy, and thumped his tail. The children looked at him admiringly. He really was a very sensible clever dog. He seemed somehow much more grown-up than George.
‘Uncle, if anything goes wrong, or you want help or anything, flash eighteen times again,’ said Julian. ‘You ought to be all right with Timmy. He’s better than a dozen policemen but you never know.’ ‘Right. Eighteen flashes if I want you over here for anything,’ said his uncle. ‘I’ll remember. Now you’d better all go. It’s time I got on with my work.’ ‘You’ll pour that soup away, won’t you, Quentin?’ said his wife, anxiously. ‘You don’t want to make yourself ill by eating bad soup. It must he green by now! It would be so like you to forget all about it while it was fresh and good and only remember it when it was bad!’ ‘What a thing to say!’ said her husband, getting up. ‘Anyone would think I was five years old, without a brain in my head, the way you talk to me!’ ‘You’ve plenty of brains, dear, we all know that,’ said his wife. ‘But you don’t -seem very old sometimes! Now look after yourself and keep Timmy by you all the time.’ ‘Father won’t need to bother about that,’ said George. ‘Timmy will keep by him! You’re on guard, Timmy, aren’t you? And you know what that means!’ ‘Woof,’ said Timmy, solemnly. He went with them all to the boat, but he did not attempt to get in. He stood by George’s father and watched the boat bob away over the water. ‘Good-bye, Timmy!’ shouted George, in a funny, fierce voice. ‘Look after yourself!’ Her father waved, and Timmy wagged his tail. George took one of the pairs of oars from Dick and began to row furiously, her face red with the hard work.
Julian looked at her in amusement. It was hard work for him, too, to keep up with the furious rowing, but he didn’t say anything. He knew all this fury in rowing was George’s way of hiding her grief at parting with Timmy. Funny old George! She was always so intense about things furiously happy or furiously unhappy, in the seventh heaven of delight or down in the very depths of despair or anger.
Everyone talked hard so that George would think they were not noticing her feelings at parting with Timmy. The talk, of course, was mostly about the un known man on the island. It seemed very mysterious indeed that he should suddenly have arrived.
‘How did he get there? I’m sure not one of the fishermen would have taken him,’ said Dick. ‘He must have gone at night, of course, and I doubt if there is anyone but George who would know the way in the dark or even dare to try and find it. These rocks are so close together, and so near the surface; one yard out of the right course and any boat would have a hole in the bottom!’ ‘No one could reach the island by swimming from the shore,’ said Anne. ‘It’s too far, and the sea is too rough over these rocks. I honestly do wonder if there is anyone on the island after all. Perhaps that cigarette end was an old one.’ ‘It didn’t look it,’ said Julian. ‘Well, it just beats me how anyone got there!’ He fell into thought, puzzling out all the possible and impossible ways. Then he gave an exclamation. The others looked at him.
‘I’ve just thought would it be possible for an aeroplane to parachute anyone down on the island? I did hear a throbbing noise one night was it last night? It must have been a plane’s engine, of course! Could anyone be dropped on the island?’ ‘Easily,’ said Dick. ‘I believe you’ve hit on the explanation, Ju! Good for you! But I say whoever it is must be in deadly earnest, to risk being dropped on a small island like that in the dark of night!’ In deadly earnest! That didn’t sound at all nice. A little shiver went down Anne’s back. ‘I am glad Timmy’s there,’ she said. And everyone felt the same yes, even George!
Chapter Twelve
THE. OLD MAP AGAIN
IT was only about half past one when they arrived back, because they had had lunch so very early, and had not stayed long on the island. Joanna was most surprised to see them.
‘Well, here you are again!’ she said. ‘I hope you don’t all want another lunch, because there’s nothing in the house till I go to the butcher’s!’ ‘Oh no, Joanna – we’ve had our picnic lunch,’ said her mistress, ‘and it was a good thing we packed so much, because the master ate quite half of the lunch! He still hasn’t had that nice soup we made for him. Now it will be bad, of course.’ ‘Oh, the men! They’re as bad as children!’ said Joanna.
‘Well!’ said George. ‘Do you really think any of us would let your good soup go bad, Joanna? You know jolly well we’d probably eat it up before we ought to!’ ‘That’s true I wouldn’t accuse any of you four or Timmy either of playing about with your food,’ said Joanna. ‘You make good work of it, the lot of you. But where is Timmy?’ ‘I left him behind to look after Father,’ said George. Joanna stared at her in surprise. She knew how passionately fond of Timmy George was.
‘You’re a very good girl – sometimes!’ she said. ‘See now – if you’re still hungry because your father has eaten most of your lunch, you go and look in the biscuit tin; I made you some of your favourite ginger biscuits this morning. You go and find them.’ That was always Joanna’s way! If she thought anyone was upset, she offered them, her best and freshest food. George went off to find the biscuits.