Jack told the others of his adventures that night. They listened in silence. When he came to the part about how he escaped down the secret passage to the shore, and could not get down into the cave because of the tide, Nora took hold of his hand tightly.
“You’re not to go on adventures alone any more, Jack,” she said. “Suppose you had been caught! We wouldn’t have known where you were! Please, please, let us all go together in future, when there is anything to be done.”
“We’ll see,” said Jack. “Sometimes it’s impossible for the whole lot of us to go together - we’d be noticed.”
“All the same, Nora’s right.” said Mike. “I think we ought to go out in pairs, Jack. You have had a time. What’s going to be our next move?”
“Bed,” said Jack at once. “I’m so sleepy I can’t keep my eyes open! We’ll decide to-morrow what is to be done.”
The girls went down to their bedroom. Jack and Mike tumbled into their beds, and were soon asleep. Once again Dimmy had to wake them all, for they were so sleepy the next morning!
“You have turned into sleepyheads!” said Dimmy, in surprise. “You will be very late for breakfast, so hurry up, please.”
The children put on their sun-suits, and raced downstairs. It was a beautiful sunny day, and they meant to bathe as soon as they could.
“Not till two hours after breakfast, remember,” said Dimmy warningly. “It is dangerous to bathe after a big meal. Jack, I can trust you not to let the others do anything foolish, can’t I?”
“Jack’s our captain, Dimmy,” said Nora. “We always do what he says.”
They went down to the beach, taking with them a basket of ripe plums from the garden for their eleven o’clock lunch. They chose a rock far down the beach, that the tide was already lapping round, and sat on it.
“It’s best to be in some place where we can’t possibly be overheard.” said Jack, looking all round. “Now that Mr. Diaz thinks one of us knows the secret of the prisoner in the tower, and all about the secret passage too, we shall have to be extra careful. I think Nora’s right when she says we must go about together. Mr. Diaz and Luiz would be pleased if they could catch any of us and keep us prisoner too!”
“Let’s talk about rescuing Prince Paul,” said Nora, who was longing to get the boy out of the tower. “Couldn’t we take the rope-ladder along to-night, Jack? Now that you’ve made friends with the dogs, it would be easy.”
“Well, I don’t know if the dogs would be friends with you too,” said Jack doubtfully. “We could try. No - I know what we’ll do. I’ll take Mike along with me to help, and you two girls can stay behind. We’ll signal a message to Prince Paul with our big black letters to-day, then he will be ready to look out for the ladder to-night.”
The girls were disappointed at the thought of being left behind, but they made no fuss. It was no use all of them going if the dogs barked at them and warned Mr. Diaz that they were about. Perhaps they would be all right with just Jack and Mike.
“I’ll take some meat along with me too, tonight,” said Mike. “You can go into the grounds first, Jack, and fuss the dogs a bit - and then you can bring them to where I am and try to make them understand I am a friend, too.”
So it was all decided. The rescue was to take place that night. What fun! The children were so thrilled that they could hardly talk of anything else as they ate their plums at eleven o’clock, and then dug an enormous castle on the beach to sit on when the tide came in. It came swirling up the sand and soon surrounded their great castle.
They went back to Peep-Hole early, about noon, because for one thing the sea was rough and there was very little beach to play on, and for another thing they wanted to signal to Prince Paul. They got out their big letters and went to the window.
Prince Paul was in his tower, looking out. When he saw them he waved in delight. At once Jack began to send a message, holding out first one letter and then another. He spelt out quite a long message. Prince Paul hung half out of his window and waved as each word came to an end, to show that he had read it.
“To-night look out for the rope-ladder,” Jack spelt out.
Prince Paul made three letters with his fingers, one after the other. “YES,” he spelt out. They were difficult letters to make with his fingers, and Jack, who was looking at Paul through the field-glasses, would hardly have known what they were if Paul hadn’t nodded his head all the time to show that he meant yes.
“Cheer up,” Jack spelt out next. Paul waved and nodded again, then suddenly disappeared into the room. Jack at once came away from his window and pulled the others from it too.
“Somebody’s come into Paul’s room,” he said. “He went away from the window so quickly. Yes - there’s dear Mr. Diaz looking across to our tower. Oh no, Mr. Diaz, you won’t see us! We’re much too sharp for you!”
The others laughed. The dinner-bell went at that minute and they all rushed downstairs, only to be sent up again because in their excitement they had quite forgotten to wash their hands and do their hair.
“Sorry, Dimmy.” they said, when they arrived down clean at last. “We were doing something exciting and quite forgot to tidy ourselves.”
“And what was this exciting thing you were doing?” asked Dimmy, ladling great helpings of garden peas on to their plates.
“It’s a secret,” said Jack. “A great big exciting secret, Dimmy! Wouldn’t you love to know it?”
“I would,” said Dimmy. “One of these days you will have to tell me.”
The others laughed. They did not know that very soon they would have to tell Dimmy their great big exciting secret!
They went boating with George the rest of the day. They caught some fish, and Dimmy said she would cook them for their supper.
“You’re a good sort, Dimmy,” said Mike, giving her a hug. “Have you any meat-bones to spare? We’d like some to-night.”
Dimmy stared in surprise. “What is all this mystery about meat at night?” she asked. “Are you keeping some stray dogs up in your bedroom or something?”
The children squealed with laughter. “No,” grinned Jack. “It’s all part of our secret, that’s all, Dimmy.”
“Well, I won’t ask any questions,” said Dimmy. “If you want secrets you can have them. There’s an old mutton-bone you may have. Get it when you want it. It’s in the larder.”
So Mike got the mutton-bone before he went to bed and put it into a bag. Jack was to carry the rope-ladder. “I think we’d better get to bed and try and have a sleep first,” said Jack, yawning. “I feel very sleepy after my night out last night, Mike. We can set our alarm clock for whatever time we like.”
“Well, I’ll set it for half-past twelve,” said Mike. “The moon will be up then, and we can see where we’re going and what we’re doing.”
So the alarm was set for half-past twelve and the four children settled into bed and went to sleep. The bell of the alarm clock rang loudly at half-past twelve and the two boys awoke. The girls heard it in their bedroom below, and slipped on their dressing-gowns ready to see the boys off.
Down the staircase went the children, Jack carrying the rope-ladder and Mike carrying the mutton-bone. The girls whispered a good-bye and went back upstairs.
“Let’s sit at the window of the boys’ room,” said Nora. “The moon is very bright now, and if we use the field-glasses we can easily see what happens. It would be fun to see Prince Paul climbing down the rope-ladder we made!”
So Nora and Peggy pulled a blanket over themselves and sat at the window of the boy’s bedroom, keeping a watch on the window of the tower up the cliff. They took it in turn to use the field-glasses. How they wondered what the boys were doing!
Mike and Jack went silently up the cliff to the Old House. When they got there Jack whispered to Mike to stay outside the back gate whilst he went in to see if the dogs remembered him.
He slipped in softly. Tinker and Don were roaming about loose as usual. They smelt him and Don growled softly. Tinker came running up and licked his hand.
“Good dog, good dog,” said Jack in a low tone. He patted Tinker and then went softly to Don. Don sniffed round him, remembering the ham sandwiches and the biscuits that this boy had brought with him last time.
Jack took hold of the dogs’ collars and led them to the back gate outside which Mike was waiting. The dogs growled when they saw Mike, but they did not bark. Mike held out the bone to them.
They were very hungry and they took the bone at once. They let Mike pat them. This boy seemed to be a friend of Jack’s so they were not going to bark at him. They lay on the ground, growling and worrying at the big bone.
“Come on,” whispered Jack. Mike went with him to the bottom of the tower. A faint light shone at the top. Mike picked up a smooth round stone and took aim at the tower to warn Prince Paul they were there. The windows of the tower were open. Mike hoped to goodness he wouldn’t smash the glass and waken everyone! However, he was good at throwing, so the stone went through the open window and landed neatly inside.
At once Prince Paul appeared at the window. “Hallo,” he said, in a low voice. “I’m ready.”
Jack got hold of the stone to which the piece of string was firmly tied. It had a hole through the middle and the string was knotted through it. Jack took aim at the window.
The stone flew up in the air, carrying the length of thin string with it. It missed the window and fell down again. Jack picked it up. Once more he aimed - and this time the stone went right through the open window, just missing Paul, and landed on the floor.
Paul picked up the stone. He pulled at the string and it came up to the window pulling the strong twine behind it. Then Paul pulled at the twine, and the rope-ladder began to unravel itself from Jack’s hands and slip silently up the wall of the tower.
“There goes the ladder!” whispered Jack in excitement. “Paul’s got it! He’s only got to fix it firmly to something and escape down it!”
Mike pulled on it gently. It felt tight to his hand. “Paul’s fixed it!” he whispered. “It feels quite firm. I hope he gets a move on and comes down at once!”
But Paul didn’t come! The boys waited and waited, but nobody came down the rope-ladder. Whatever could have happened?