George rowed the boat silently over the calm sea towards the little fishing village of Longrigg. Jack helped him, and the children sat quietly in the boat until George said it was safe to talk.
“No one can hear you now,” he said. “So talk away!”
And then what a noise there was as Mike told the others all that had happened when he was a prisoner with Paul. And Paul joined in excitedly, telling how he had been captured in his own father’s palace and taken away to Cornwall over sea and land, in ships, aeroplanes, and cars. Poor Paul! He was really very glad to be with friends once more, for although he had not been very badly treated by Mr. Diaz and Luiz, he had been kept a close prisoner for some time.
Soon the moon came up and flooded the sea with its silvery light. The children could see one another’s faces as they talked, and every time the oars were lifted from the water silvery drops fell off the blades.
“There’s Longrigg!” said George, as they went round a cliff that jutted out into the sea. Everybody looked. The children had been to Longrigg before with George in his boat, but it looked different now in the moonlight - a huddle of silvery houses set in a cove between the cliffs.
“It’s like an enchanted village,” said Nora dreamily. “And I guess our secret island will look enchanted too, to-night, when we get there. Oh, I do feel so very excited when I think that we’re really going there again!”
The children began to talk of their adventure on the secret island the year before - how they had kept their own cow there and their own hens. How they had built their own house of willows, and had found caves in the hillside to live in during the winter. Paul listened, and longed to see the wonderful island!
They landed at Longrigg. George took them through the deserted village street to his brother’s garage, a tiny place at the top of the street. A man was there waiting for them.
“Hallo, Jim,” said George. “Here are the passengers for your trip. And mind, Jim, not a word to anyone about this. I’ll explain everything to you when you come to see me to-morrow. Till then, say nothing to anybody.”
“Right, George,” said Jim, who seemed very like his brother as he stood there, sturdy and straight in his dark overalls.
“Good-bye, George, and thanks for all your help,” said Jack, getting into the car with the others. “Have we got the food? Oh yes - it’s in the back. Good!”
“Good-bye,” said George. “I’m going back to Peep-Hole now in case Miss Dimity wants a bit of help. Stay on your secret island till you hear from us. You’ll all be quite safe there!”
The car started up and Jim set off up the cliff road. The children waved to George, and then the car turned a bend and was out of sight. They were on their way to Lake Wildwater - on their way to the island!
It was about forty miles away, and the car purred softly through the moonlit night. Paul was very sleepy and went sound asleep beside Peggy - but the others were too excited to sleep.
Jack watched the country flash by - five miles gone, ten, twenty, thirty, forty! They were almost there. Jim was to drive to where the children’s aunt and uncle had once lived, and then leave them. They could find their way then to the lake, and get their boat, which was always ready.
“Here we are,” said Jim. The car stopped. Jim got out. “I’ll give you a hand with the food down to the boat.” he said. So the six of them carried the food to where the boat was locked up in a small boat-house. Captain Arnold, the children’s father, had built them a little house for their boat in case they wished to visit their secret island at any time. Mike had the key on his key-ring. He got it out and unlocked the boat-house. There lay the boat, dreaming of the water. The moon shone into the boat-house, and Jack was able to see quite well, as he undid the rope and pushed the boat from the house.
The food was put in. Everyone but Jim got into the boat. Jim said good-bye and good luck and strode back over the fields to his waiting car. The five children were alone!
Jack and Mike took the oars. Paul was wide awake now and was full of excitement, longing to see this wonderful secret island that he had heard so much about.
“It won’t be long now,” said Nora, her eyes shining happily in the moonlight. The oars made a pleasant splashing sound in the silvery waters, and the boat glided along smoothly.
On and on they went - and then, rounding a corner of the wooded bank of the lake, they came suddenly in sight of their island!
“Look! There it is, Paul!” cried Peggy. Paul looked. He saw a small island floating on the moonlit lake, with trees growing down to the water’s edge. It had a hill in the middle of it, and it looked a most beautiful and enchanting place.
“Our secret island,” said Nora softly, her eyes full of happy tears, for she had loved their island with all her heart, and had spent many, many happy days there along with the others the year before.
For a while the two boys leaned on their oars and looked silently at their island, remembering their adventures there. Then they rowed quickly again, longing to land on the little beach they knew so well.
“There’s our beach, with its silvery sand all glittering in the moonlight!” cried Nora. The boat slid towards it and grounded softly in the sand. Jack leapt out and pulled the boat in. One by one the children got out and stood on the little sloping beach.
“Welcome to our island, Paul,” said Peggy, putting her arm round the excited boy. “This is our very own. Our father bought it for us after our adventures here last year - but we didn’t think we’d visit it this summer! We left it last Christmas, when we were living in the hill-caves. They were so cosy!”
“Come along up the hill and find the caves,” said Jack. “We are all awfully tired, and we ought to get some sleep. We’ll get the rugs and things out of the cave, and heat some cocoa and have a meal. Then I vote we make our beds on the heather, as we used to do. It’s very hot to-night, and we shall be quite warm enough.”
“Hurrah!” said Mike in delight. “Give me a hand with this box of food. The girls can bring the other things, if Paul will help them.”
“Of course I will,” said Paul, who really felt as if he was living in a peculiar dream! They all made their way up the beach, through a thicket of bushes and trees, and up a hillside where the bracken was almost as tall as they were. The moon still shone down from a perfectly clear sky, and except that the colours were not there, everything was as clear as in daylight.
“Here’s our cave!” said Jack in delight. “The heather and bracken are so thick in front of it that I could hardly see it. Mike, have you got your torch handy? We shall need to go into our inner store-cave to get a few things to-night.”
Mike fished in his pocket for his torch. He gave it to Jack. “Thanks,” said Jack. “Peggy, come with me into the store-cave, will you, and we’ll get out the rugs. Mike, will you and Nora choose a place for a fire and make one? We’ll have to have some cocoa or something. I’m so hungry and thirsty that I could eat grass!”
“Right, Captain!” said Nora, feeling very happy indeed. It was wonderful to be on the island like this - able to sleep in the heather and have a camp-fire. She and Mike and Paul hunted about for twigs and wood, and found a nice open place near the cave for the fire.
Peggy and Jack went to the back of the cave, found the passage that led into the inner cave, and crept through to the big store-cave beyond that lay in the heart of the hillside.
“Everything’s here just as we left it!” said Peggy, pleased, as Jack shone his torch around. “Oh, there’s the kettle, Jack - and I want a saucepan, too, for the soup to-night and eggs to-morrow morning. Dimmy put some into the box. Look, there’s the rabbit-skin rug we made last year - and the old blankets and rugs too. Bring those, Jack, we’ll need them to-night.”
Jack piled the rugs in his arms. Peggy took the kettle and the saucepan. They went back to the outer cave, and then looked for the others outside. Mike had got a good fire going. Paul was sitting beside it in delight. He had never seen a camp-fire before.
“Nora, get the cocoa tin, a bag of sugar, and the tinned milk,” said Peggy. “Mike, go to the spring and fill this kettle with water, will you? I’ll boil water for the cocoa and we’ll add milk and sugar afterwards.”
Mike went off with the kettle to the cold spring that gushed out from the hillside and ran down it in a little stream. He soon filled it and came back. “What are we going to have to eat?” he asked hungrily.
“Soup out of a tin, bread, biscuits, and cocoa,” said Peggy.
“Oooooh!” said everyone in delight. Mike opened the tin, glad that Dimmy had remembered to put in a tin-opener! He poured the rich tomato soup into the saucepan, and then set it on the fire firmly. “Shall I make another fire to boil the kettle?” he asked.
“Oh no,” said Peggy. “The soup will soon be ready, and we’ve got to cut the bread, and get out the biscuits. You do that, Nora. Where’s the biscuit tin, Mike?”
The soup cooked in the saucepan. Peggy sent Jack for cups and dishes and bowls and spoons from the inner cave. The kettle was put on to boil. Peggy cleverly poured the soup from the saucepan into the dishes and handed a plateful to everyone. Hunks of bread were given out too. The kettle sang on the fire, and the smoke rose in the moonlight and floated away in the clear air.
“This is simply perfect,” said Mike, tasting his tomato soup and putting big pieces of bread into it. “I wish this meal could last for ever.”
“You’d get pretty tired of tomato soup if it did!” said Jack. Everyone laughed. Peggy made the cocoa and handed round big cups of it, with tinned milk and sugar, and a handful of biscuits for everyone.
How they enjoyed that meal by the camp-fire! Mike said he wished they needn’t go to sleep - but they were all so terribly sleepy that it was no good wishing that!
“I shall fall asleep sitting here soon,” said Nora, rubbing her eyes. “What a nice supper that was! Come on, everyone, let’s make our beds in the heather and wash the supper things to-morrow.”
So they spread the rugs out in the soft heather and lay down just as they were in their clothes - and in two seconds they were all fast asleep on the secret island, lost in happy dreams of all they were going to do the next day!