“So will I!” said Mary, dabbing her eyes fiercely too. “We’ll wait till the tide goes down and then we’ll clamber over the rocks!”
So when the tide was low that day the two girls clambered hurriedly over the line of rocks that led from one island to the next, and came to the sandy beach. Not far off was the entrance to the cave that led up to the Round Cave.
“Nobody has seen us,” said Mary, as they ran up to the cave. “We’ll hide here and make the enemy think we’ve escaped from the island too! Perhaps they will be so busy looking for us that they will forget about the boys.”
“I don’t think they’ll forget Andy and Tom,” said Jill, making her way up the passage to the Round Cave. “I am sure that seaplanes are out looking for them already. I have heard three or four leaving the third island. Look, Mary—this chest is almost empty. Let’s take out the tins and things that are left and get inside. We can shut the lid down on us if we hear anyone coming.”
The girls got the chest ready, and then amused themselves by trying to find the funnel opening that led from the cave to the surface of the cliff above. But they could not find it.
“I wonder if it’s night yet,” said Mary, for it was impossible to tell in the dark cave. The girls had Andy’s torch, for no daylight came into the cave at all. They crept to the shore-cave to see. Yes—it was twilight outside. Night would soon fall.
“I vote we make a nice soft bed in the sandy floor,” said Jill. “We can cover ourselves with those empty sacks. And in the morning we’ll peep out and see if we can see anything!”
So they made sandy beds and threw the sacks over themselves, ‘ihey fell fast asleep and did not wake till morning.
And then, when they went to peep out of the shore-cave, they had a great surprise! Coming gracefully down to the smooth water was an enormous seaplane, droning like a great bumble-bee.
“It’s coming to get us!” squealed Mary in fright, and the two girls scuttled back into the Round Cave!
CHAPTER 25
Return to the Islands
IF only the girls had stopped to look carefully at that seaplane, they would have noticed that it bore the signs of their own country! It was the very same seaplane that had rescued Tom and Andy! It had flown to headquarters, had made its report, and had handed Tom’s camera in. As soon as the pictures had been developed, and the seaplane and submarine photographs had come out clearly, there was great excitement.
Tom and Andy had been questioned closely They told their story clearly and well, and the men who listened to them were amazed at the adventures the four children had been through.
“Well, you have stumbled on an astonishing secret,” said one man who had been listening, “We are proud of you! Now we shall be able to spring a real surprise on our enemy, and clean up all the submarines and seaplanes that have been worrying our shipping for some time. We did not know they had a base so near us. No wonder they have been able to do such damage!”
“Please, sir, what about my sisters?” asked Tom anxiously. “Will you get them away before you do anything?”
The men laughed heartily. “Of course!” said one. “That will be our first job. You don’t really suppose we should forget those two plucky little girls, do you? Oh no—we shall send your father’s seaplane to rescue mem—and after that—oho! A big surprise will come to those islands!”
The boys grinned. “May we see the surprise, sir?” asked Andy.
“No,” said the man. “It will be a bit too noisy.” He turned to Tom’s father and gave him a few quick orders.
“Come along,” said the boy’s father. “You and Andy must come with me to the islands so that you may tell me quickly where the girls are. We have to get them off before we attack me enemy—and I’d like to do it as quickly as possible before anyone knows we’ve discovered their secret.”
The boys were thrilled! To go off in that wonderful seaplane again—to the islands! And to rescue the two girls under the very noses of the enemy! What fun!
They all went aboard the great seaplane. They rowed out to it in a little boat and climbed up the ladder over the side, and into the plane. A few quick orders, and the great engines were started up.
R-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! The seaplane skimmed over the water for a little while and then rose from the surface as gracefully as a gull. It soared up and round, and then flew in a straight line towards the far-off islands.
The boys were trembling with excitement and joy. They had had many adventures, but this last one, the rescue of the girls, was the finest of the lot! They looked out over the sea, watching for the first sign of the islands they now knew so well.
“As soon as we sight the islands, we are going cautiously,” said Tom’s father. “We don’t want to warn the enemy if we can help it! You say there is a good landing-place off the shore of the second island, Andy. Well, you must guide us there when the islands come in sight, and we’ll land on the water. Then you and Tom and a couple of men can get to the first island and take off the girls. Then off we’ll go again and give the signal for the warships to go and-surprise the enemy!”
“Warships!” cried the boys. “I say! What a shock for the enemy!”
“It’s a shock they deserve,” said Tom’s father grimly. “We are sending three warships and some aeroplanes to deal with the submarines and seaplanes. So, you see, we want to get the girls off as quickly as possible.”
“Oh, golly, wouldn’t I like to join the fight!” groaned Andy. “Oh, couldn’t I, sir?”
“No,” said Tom’s father. But he smiled at the eager boy and clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a good lad, Andy,” he said, “and I’m glad that my three children had your help in their amazing adventures!”
Andy went red with pleasure. He thought Tom’s father was a fine man, dressed in his grand uniform. He wondered what his own father would say when he heard all their adventures—and in his secret mind he felt a little uncomfortable because his father would have to hear the news that his fishing-boat had been lost.
The boys kept a watch for the islands—and as soon as they caught sight of them, lying flat in the sea, they both shouted loudly:
“There they are!”
“The islands, the islands!”
“Which is UK one the girls are on?” asked Tom’s father eagerly. Tom showed him.
“The first one,” he said. “And the next one is where the food-cave is, and the third one is where the submarines are. I don’t know anything about the others further off. We didn’t explore those.”
“Well, we shall,” said the boy’s father, in a grim tone. “Now, Tom, we are almost on the coast ot the second island. Is that the smooth bit of water we can land on, just down there?”
“Yes!” cried both boys, as they saw the flat stretch of water that lay between the reef of rocks and the cave-beach. The seaplane circled round and flew down gracefully. She skimmed the water a little, like a swallow, and then came to rest, bobbing up and down as she lay there.
“The tide is a bit too deep over the rocks that lead to the first island,” said Tom in disappointment. “We can’t climb over them to rescue the girls yet.”
“We’ll take a boat, then,” said his father. “Are those the caves you hid in, Tom?”
“Yes—that one just there is the one that leads to the food-cave,” said Tom. “Like to see it, Daddy? You might find something of importance there, perhaps.”
“Yes—we might as well have a look,” said the boy’s father. So a boat shot off from the seaplane carrying the two boys, Tom’s father, and two men. They landed on the beach and went towards the cave.
The girls were hiding inside the chest when they heard footsteps coming up the passage-way that led from the shore-cave to the Round Cave. They lay there trembling, wondering when they were going to be discovered.
Tom led his father into the cave. “Look!” he said, “do you see all these boxes and chests, Daddy? They are absolutely full of food of all sorts. I can tell you it came in handy when we were so hungry. At first I kept a list of the things we took, thinking that we would pay for them when we discovered the owner, but–-”