Tom stopped. A queer noise was coming from a big chest near by. He stared in surprise.
“What’s that jnoise?” said Tom’s father at once.
“I don’t know,” said Tom. “Listen!”
It was the girls inside the chest, of course! They had heard Tom’s voice, and they were quite mad with joy and excitement—but they couldn’t lift up the lid of the chest which they had carefully shut down over themselves! It had got so tightly fastened that they could not push it up, and the two girls were shouting and banging on the lid to make themselves heard.
“There’s something in that chest,” said Tom in a trembling voice. “Is it the enemy playing a trick?”
“We’ll soon see,” said his father, in a fierce voice. He rapped out an order to the two men with him, and they went over to the chest. They ripped off the lid—and every one stood ready to fight the enemy.
But it was two small, excited, and most untidy little girls who rose up from the chest, shouting loudly:
“Tom! Andy! It’s us! We hid here because we thought you were the enemy!”
Their father picked them out of the chest and hugged them. They were as surprised as he was! They simply couldn’t believe their eyes!
“Daddy! It’s you! However did you get here? Oh, Tom! Andy! You’ve come to rescue us just in time. Oh, what a good thing you came to the cave!”
“Why are you here?” asked the boys.
Jill and Mary told their tale, their words tumbling over one another. When their father heard that the enemy guessed that the boys had left on a raft, he hustled them all out of the cave very quickly.
“We’ll get back to our plane,” he said. “We shall get into a spot of trouble if the enemy see us here. If they really think the boys have gone to tell their secret they will be watching for us—though not expecting us quite so soon. Come along!”
They all rowed off to the seaplane. The girls were thrilled to get inside it, and even mpre excited when it rose into the air and left the sea far below.
“Good-bye, little islands,” said Jill, watching them get smaller and smaller as the plane left them behind. “We’ve had lots of adventures on you—but I’m very glad to leave you, all the same!”
The boys were looking down as the plane flew swiftly along. Suddenly Tom gave a shout.
“Warships! Look! Steaming below us at top speed! Are they going to the islands?”
“They are,” said his father. “There will be quite a lot of noise round about your islands very soon! And, look—here are aeroplanes, too, to help the warships.”
A flight of aeroplanes flew near the seaplane. The children felt tremendously excited. What a pity they had left before the fun began!
“And now, home we go to your mother,” said the children’s father, “and to Andy’s father. Both will be so very glad to have you back again.”
“But what will my father say about his lost fishing-boat?” wondered poor Andy. “Whatever will he say?”
CHAPTER 26
The End of the Adventures
THE seaplane flew over the water, and at last came to the shores of the little fishing-village where Andy lived, and the other three children had been staying. It glided down to the water, and rested there, its great wings spread out beside it.
The little beach was soon crowded with people-fishermen and their wives, children, visitors—all shouting and cheering. The news had gone round that the fout missing children had been found!
A boat set off to fetch the children from the plane. It was rowed by Andy’s father! How Andy shouted to see him!
“Dad! We’re back again!”
The bearded man in the boat smiled and waved. He had been terribly worried about Andy and the children—but now his heart was glad. They were safe!
The children tumbled into the boat, all talking at once. Andy’s father patted his boy on the shoulder and smiled at him out of eyes as blue as Andy’s. Neither of them said very much, but their hands pressed one another joyfully. Tom’s father came with them. He had two days’ leave’and was going to spend it with his wife and children.
The people on the beach cheered and shouted. The little boat grounded and was pulled up the shore by willing hands. Every one wanted to shake hands and say how glad they were to see the children back. And then the children saw ttieir mother! They rushed to her and hugged her like bears, shouting and laughing.
“Now, now, give m$ a look in,” said their father, smiling, and the whole family went up the beach together. Andy went off with his father. He had no mother, so he thought twice as much of his father.
What a talking and chattering there was that evening! The children’s mother made them all strip off their dirty clothes and have a good bath before they did anything.
“I don’t know you when you look so dreadfully dirty!” she said. “Put on clean clothes, for goodness’ sake!”
Soon they were all clean and dressed in other clothes. It felt nice to be tidy and fresh again. They hung round their mother and tried to tell her all their adventures at once.
“Andy was marvellous,” said Tom. “We could never have done what we did if it hadn’t been for him. The girls were pretty brave too—I was proud of them.”
“And old Tom didn’t do so badly—except that he left his precious camera behind and got us all into a fix!” said Jill. “He was as brave as could be.”
“Well, I’m proud of you all,” said their mother, hugging them. “But oh, I was so awf uHy worried when you didn’t come back. J sent a message to your father and he came in his seaplane and hunted for you for days. He wouldn’t give up hunting—and it’s a good thing he didn’t, for he found you just in time I You and Andy would never, never have got home on that little raft, you know, Tom.”
“Wouldn’t we?” said Tom, surprised. “I thought we really might.”
“I don’t think Andy thought there was much hope,” said the children’s father, “but he knew it was your only chance—and he knew, besides, that it was his duty to tell someone the great secret you had discovered. It means a lot to our country to tnow the secret of those desolate little islands.”
There was a dull booming sound as the children’s father finished speaking. Tom looked at his father.
“Is that guns?” he asked.
“Yes. It will be the end of those hateful submarines,” said his father gravely. “There will be no more of our ships sunk without warning by that nest of submarines I And I rather think that our aeroplanes will drive off any seaplanes round about those islands—those that are not destroyed will fly to their own country in fear! They are no match for our pilots!”
The children were silent as they listened to the guns booming far away again. They were all imagining the islands echoing to-the terrific sound of gun-fire. Mary began to cry.
Her father put his arm round her. “Yes, Mary,” he said, “it is something to cry about, to think that we have to fight so much evil and wickedness. It is righr against wrong and we have to be strong and courageous when we fight such a powerful and evil enemy as ours. But dry your eyes—you are on the right side and that is something to be proud of!”
Andy came tearing up to tfie cottage. “I say!” he yelled. “Do you hear the guns? I guess they are waking up the islands! What a shock for the enemy!”
“Andy, was your father angry about his fishing-boat being lost?” asked Tom, who knew how much Andy was dreading what his father might say about that.
“He hasn’t said a word about it,” said Andy. “Not a word. He’s been fine about it. We’re going to fish with my uncle, now that we’ve lost our own boat. Maybe one day we’ll save enough money to get a boat again.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, if I were you,” said Tom’s father unexpectedly. “I rather think there is a surprise coming for you tomorrow!”
“Oh, what?” cried all the children, and Andy stared at Tom’s father in surprise.
“Wait and see,” was the answer. So they had to wait—and the next day the surprise ai rived!
Andy saw it first. He was on the beach, mending” nets, and the other children were helping him. Andy happened to look up—and he saw a fishing-boat rounding the corner of the cliff.
“Hallo!” said Andy. “Whose boat is that? I haven’t seen it before! My word, what a smart one! Look at its red sail!”
The children stood up and watched the little fishing-boat drawing in to shore. It was a real beauty, fresh with new paint, and with its red sail billowing out in the breeze.