“Well — if they want to,” said Lucian, who obviously was not welcoming visitors, but didn’t like to say so. All four children were soon in the cabin. Lucy-Ann was distressed when she saw Lucian’s blotched face.
“What’s the matter?” she said. “Is your sunstroke very bad?”
“It isn’t sunstroke,” said Lucian, and, to the children’s horror his eyes began to fill with tears. “It’s my beastly, horrible uncle!” He buried his face in the pillow again to hide his tears.
“What’s he been up to?” said Jack, not very sympathetically, because he thought it was too feeble for words for a boy of Lucian’s age to behave like that.
“He called me all kinds of names,” said Lucian, sitting up again. “He — he called me a nit-wit — and a nincompoop . . .”
“Poop!” said Kiki. “Nit-wit!”
“Now don’t you start,” said poor Lucian to the parrot. “He said I was a born idiot and a fool and . . .”
“But why?” asked Lucy-Ann, astonished.
“Well, I told him how Lucy-Ann got that silly bit of paper,” Lucian told them. “You know — just how you told me. I thought he’d be so pleased to think I’d found out what he wanted to know. But he wasn’t.”
“Wasn’t he? That was too bad,” said Philip, thinking that Lucian deserved his scolding for running straight to his uncle with the fairy-tale they had made up — they had meant him to, of course, but what a tittle-tattler he was!
“I said to him, ‘A gull brought the paper down to Lucy-Ann and laid it at her feet,’ ” related Lucian, in a dramatic manner. “And Uncle said ‘WHAT?’ So I told him again,”
“And what did he say the next time?” asked Jack, trying not to laugh.
“All the things I told you. He was very insulting and offensive,” said Lucian. “After all, he believed all the other things I told him. I can’t think why he didn’t believe that!”
“What other things did you tell him?” asked Jack at once.
“Oh, nothing much. He just wanted to know if I’d been shopping with any of you — and where — and all that. I told him I’d only been shopping with Lucy-Ann — and how we’d found that old ship in a bottle for her. And he said, ‘Ah — of course — the Andra! The Andra!’ Just like that. I tell you he was most peculiar altogether.”
The others listened to this in silence. Mr. Eppy had certainly pumped Lucian to some purpose. He knew they had bought the ship and where — he remembered seeing the name when they asked him what it was — the Andra. He was putting two and two together. Probably he already guessed that the parchment had been found in the ship, because that ass Lucian would be sure to have told him that the bottle was broken and the ship free of it.
“Did you tell your uncle the bottle was broken, that the ship was in?” asked Jack.
“Er — yes, I think I did,” said Lucian. “I say — I haven’t done anything wrong, have I? I mean — you don’t mind my telling my uncle all this?”
“We didn’t mind your telling him about the gull and the bit of paper in the least,” said Philip truthfully. “I’m sorry your uncle is so disbelieving. It was wrong of him to call you names like that.”
“It was, wasn’t it?” said Lucian plaintively. “He’s got no right to. He called you a few names too.”
“Well, don’t repeat them,” said. Jack. “You really ought to learn to respect people’s confidences, Lucian. I mean — it just isn’t done to go round repeating to somebody else the things you’ve been told, possibly in confidence.”
“Now you’re angry with me too!” wailed Lucian. Jack got up in disgust. This kind of behaviour was too much for him altogether. He didn’t even feel sorry for Lucian for getting into trouble because of a cock-and-bull story that they had made up specially for him. Lucian just walked into trouble as fast as he could!
The others got up too. Only Lucy-Ann was troubled about Lucian. Still, even she was disgusted at his tears and self-pity — really, he ought to pull himself together.
They went out without a word, leaving Lucian feeling miserable, upset, angry — and very very hungry!
“Come to our cabin for a minute,” said Jack. “We ought to have a few words about all this. Mr. Eppy is putting two and two together a bit too fast. What an idiot Lucian is! Why did he have to blab about that ship so much? We’d better put in a safe place, in case Mr. Eppy borrows it as he did our parchment.”
They went into the boys’ cabin, and Philip gave a cry that made them all jump. “Look — he’s borrowed it already! It’s gone!”
Chapter 12
THE SECOND PIECE OF THE MAP
IT was true — the beautiful little carved ship was no longer in its place of honour on the shelf. It was gone.
The four children stared at one another in exasperation. Blow Mr. Eppy! What right had he to “borrow” things like this? Would he give it back?
“What’s he borrowed it for, anyway?” wondered Dinah. “If he goes so far as to suspect that we found the paper there, I still don’t see why he should borrow it. He’s got the paper, anyway!”
“A bit of it, only — and he knows it,” corrected Jack. “He probably thinks the rest of it is still in the little carved ship — either that we haven’t noticed it, or that we have kept it there. And he’s borrowed it to see.”
“Stolen it, you mean,” said Lucy-Ann scornfully. “Horrid man! I think he’s awful.”
“Shall I go and ask him if he’s got it?” said Philip. He was feeling very angry — quite ready to beard any lion in its den!
The others considered this. “Suppose he didn’t take it?” said Jack. “It would be jolly awkward, accusing him of it.”
“Who else would have taken it?” demanded Philip. “Nobody!”
“Look — let’s go and have a swim in the pool and forget it for a bit,” said Dinah. “If you still feel like bearding the lion afterwards, you can go. It’s so awfully hot. I’d love a swim.”
“All right,” said Philip reluctantly. “But I might not feel so keen on going after Mr. Eppy afterwards.”
However, he was still of the same mind after his swim. The others couldn’t help admiring him — they really thought it was a brave thing to do, to go and tackle Mr. Eppy and accuse him of “borrowing” their ship!
He went off to find Mr. Eppy. He wasn’t in his cabin. He wasn’t in his deck-chair. Where could he be? Philip began to hunt over the ship for him, determined to find him. He saw him at last coming out of the radio office.
“Mr. Eppy,” said Philip, marching boldly up to him. “What have you done with our ship?”
Mr. Eppy stopped. Philip wished to goodness he didn’t wear those dark glasses. He had no idea if Mr. Eppy was surprised, angry or what.
He soon knew. Mr. Eppy spoke in a very snappy voice indeed. “What do you mean, boy? What ship do you speak of?”
“The little carved ship we showed you — the one in the bottle — called Andra,” said Philip, wishing more than ever that he could see Mr. Eppy’s eyes, and read what was in them. “What have you done with it?”
“I think you are mad,” said Mr. Eppy coldly. “Quite mad. As mad as Lucian, who comes to me with a fairy-tale about a little girl, a gull and a piece of paper. What nonsense, what fiddlesticks! And now you come to me with a question about a toy ship! You think I have taken it to float in my bath, perhaps?”
“Did you take it, Mr. Eppy?” persisted Philip.
“No! And do not dare to insult me with your fairy-tales and your crazy questions any more!” thundered Mr. Eppy.
He strode off, his mouth very grim. Philip was a little shaken. Well — he hadn’t got much change out of Mr. Eppy, that was certain. Blow the man! Philip felt absolutely certain he had got the ship. He went down to meet the others in his cabin. They would be waiting for him there.
He opened the cabin door and went in. “Well,” he said, “it’s no go. He says he hasn’t got the ship — but I bet he has. I feel it in my bones!”
“Then your bones tell you wrong,” said Jack, and he pointed across the room to the shelf on the wall. “Look there.”
Philip looked, and gasped. The little carved Ship of Adventure was back in its place again!