The lake-water lapped gently against the boat, saying “lip-lip-lip” all the time. It was a pleasant sound to hear. An owl hooted in a trembling voice not far off. “Ooooooooo! Oo-oo-oo-oo!”
Paul sat up in a fright. “Who’s that?” he said.
Mike pulled him down. “It’s only a bird called an owl, silly!” he said. “Don’t sit up suddenly like that, Paul, you pull the rug off us.”
Paul lay down again and cuddled up to the other two boys. He was glad that the noise was only made by a bird.
The moon came up soon, and shone down through the black branches of the trees above. The water of the lake turned to silver. “Lip-lip-lip” it said all the time against the boat. Nora listened to it and fell asleep. Peggy lay on her back and looked at a star that shone through the trees, and suddenly fell asleep too. Paul was soon asleep, but Mike and Jack talked quietly for some time.
They couldn’t imagine what Mr. Diaz and Luiz were going to do next. If they stayed long on the island the children couldn’t go back there - and as they had no food, this was serious. On the other hand, if they tried to make their way through the thick woods nearby, they might get quite lost.
“If only we could make Mr. Diaz and Luiz prisoners, just as they made you and Paul, it would be grand,” said Jack. “Then we could do what we liked.”
Mike lay silent for a moment - then he made such a peculiar noise that he really frightened Jack.
“Mike! What’s up?” said Jack in alarm. “Are you ill?”
“No,” said Mike in a very excited voice. “It was only that I suddenly got such a marvellous idea I wanted to shout - and I only just stopped the shout in time. That was the funny noise you heard - me stopping the shout. But oh, Jack, I’ve really got the most wonderful idea!”
“What is it?” asked Jack in surprise.
“Well, it was you saying that you wished we could make Mr. Diaz and Luiz prisoners that really gave me the idea,” said Mike. “I know how we could! If we could only get their boat away from the island to-night, they wouldn’t be able to leave - and they’d be prisoners there!”
“Mike! That’s a most marvellous idea!” said Jack. “It solves all our difficulties. You really are a clever chap! Once they are prisoners on the island, we can row to the village at the end of the lake, get a car, and go back to Peep-Hole in safety!”
“Yes,” said Mike, trembling with excitement. “How shall we do it. Jack?”
“Wait a minute,” said Jack, frowning in the moonlight. “I’ve just thought of something. Suppose Mr. Diaz and Luiz can swim? They could easily swim across to the mainland and escape that way.”
“But they can’t swim,” said Mike. “I heard Luiz tell Mr. Diaz he couldn’t, and Mr. Diaz said he couldn’t either. It was when I was a prisoner up in the tower - they often used to come and sit with us there, and they talked to one another. So if neither of them can swim they really would be prisoners!”
Jack was so delighted the he wanted to sing and dance. He carefully took off his share of the rug and put it over the sleeping Paul.
“We needn’t wake Paul or the girls,” he said. “We will undress, Mike, then slip into the water over the edge of the boat, and swim to the island. You can swim as far as that, can’t you?”
“Easily,” said Mike. “Then we’ll undo their boat get into it and row off! Oh, Jack, this is the most exciting thing we’ve ever done! I wonder if they’ll see us!”
“I don’t expect so,” said Jack. “They’ll be asleep in our cave, I expect!”
The boys undressed without waking the girls or Paul.
They slid into the water over the side of the boat and swam off in the moonlit lake, only their two dark heads showing on the calm, silvery surface.
It was rather farther to the island than they expected. Mike was tired when they reached the men’s boat, but Jack, who was a marvellous swimmer, was quite fresh. He got in and pulled Mike in too. He undid the rope that tied the boat to a tree.
Then he pushed off, the oars making a splashing noise in the silence of the night. No sooner had they gone a little way out on the lake than a shout came from the island, and Luiz stood up. He had been asleep on some heather, and had awakened to hear the sound of oars.
“Hie! That’s our boat you’ve got! Bring it back at once!”
“We’ll bring it back some day!” yelled back Jack in delight.
“You just bring it back now, at once!” yelled Luiz, suddenly realising that he and Mr. Diaz would not be able to leave the island at all without a boat. “You wicked boys!”
“Good-bye, dear friends,” shouted Jack, seeing Mr. Diaz suddenly appearing down the hill. He had been sleeping in the cave and had awakened at the noise of shouting. “See you some day soon!”
The two men were quite helpless. They could neither of them swim, they had no boat - they could do nothing but shout angrily, and that was no good at all! The boys simply laughed and waved to them.
When they reached their own boat, feeling rather cold and shivery, for they had no clothes on, they found the girls and Paul wide awake and rather scared. Peggy threw the boys their clothes, and called out to know where they had been and what all the noise was and where they had got the other boat.
“Can’t you guess!” cried Nora. “They’ve taken the enemies’ boat - and now they are prisoners on our secret island, hurrah! Oh, Jack, what a marvellous idea! We were so scared when we woke up and found you two gone - but we might have guessed you were off on some wonderful idea!”
“It’s Mike’s idea,” said Jack, dressing quickly. “It’s one of the best ideas he’s ever had! It acted beautifully too - Mr. Diaz and Luiz are as angry as can be, but they can’t do anything about it! As soon as it’s light we’ll row to the village at the end of the lake, get a car, and go off to Peep-Hole to see what Dimmy and George have done - and Mr. Diaz and Luiz can have a nice little holiday on the island!”
Everybody laughed. They felt sure they would never be able to go to sleep again that night, but after a while they began to yawn - and before the moon had begun to slide down the sky they were all fast asleep once more, with Mr. Diaz’s boat tied safely alongside their own.
They woke when the stars had gone and the moon had slipped away. The sun was coming up in the east and the lake looked peaceful and blue. Not a cloud was in the sky.
“Goodness, I am hungry!” said Peggy. “And we haven’t got a single thing to eat!”
Mike grinned. He put his hand into his pocket and brought out a large packet of chocolate!
“I kept this till this morning, thinking it would come in very useful!” he said. “We’ll share it, and then we’ll have to wait till we get to the village at the end of the lake for breakfast.”
“Good old Mike!” said every one, delighted to see the chocolate. It had nuts in it and was most delicious. They sat in the early morning sunshine, munching it and giggling whenever they thought of Mr. Diaz and Luiz!
“There they are, at the edge of the lake, trying to see us!” said Peggy. “Well, they’ll see us soon enough when we row out! What shall we do with their boat, Jack?”
“We’ll leave it tied up here,” said Jack. “It will be safe enough.”
So they left the extra boat behind, untied theirs, and rowed out on to the lake. Mr. Diaz and Luiz saw them at once, and shouted, but the children took no notice at all. They rowed steadily away from the island down to the village at the end of the lake.
When they got there they tied up the boat and stepped out on to the sandy shore. They made their way to the village and soon came to a baker’s shop. They bought warm new bread and some jam tarts. They went to the grocer’s and bought half a pound of butter, some potted meat to spread on their bread, and some biscuits and chocolate. They also bought some ginger-beer, and then sat down by the roadside to eat a peculiar, but very delicious breakfast!
Jack and Mike lent their pocket-knives to every one to spread the potted meat and butter on thick slices cut from the new loaf. How lovely it tasted!
Then they ate the jam tarts and the biscuits, munched the chocolate, and drank the ginger-beer. They felt much better after their meal, and Jack looked about for a garage.
There wasn’t one - but at that moment a bus rattled up and stopped nearby. The children went to ask if there was any bus that would take them near Spiggy Holes.
“My bus starts off again in ten minutes’ time,” said the driver. “I go as far as Cliftonside, and you can get a bus there to Spiggy Holes.”
The children were pleased. They got into the bus and waited for it to start. It set off at last and rumbled down the country lanes for an hour until it arrived at Cliftonside. Out tumbled the children, and went to get the bus for Spiggy Holes. It didn’t start for half an hour, so they went to buy some more ginger-beer, for it was a hot day and they felt very thirsty again.
They arrived at Spiggy Holes at half-past twelve. The bus stopped a mile away from Peep-Hole and the children took a short cut across the fields.
“We’d better just keep a watch-out in case anyone else is looking for Paul,” said Jack. “You never know!“
So they kept a look-out, and walked beside the tall hedges to hide themselves till they got to Peep-Hole.
And what a surprise they had when they got to the field opposite Peep-Hole - for there on the grass was a big aeroplane! It was painted a bright blue, and had silvery edges that shone in the sun!
The children stopped in the greatest surprise. Nobody was in the aeroplane. Nobody was about at all. They didn’t know whether to go to Peep-Hole or not - did the aeroplane belong to the enemy? Or was it a friend’s? It was all very mysterious indeed.
The five children stared and stared at the aeroplane. Paul went rather pale.
“It looks like an aeroplane from my own country,” he said. “Do you think my enemies have flown over here to find me? If only I knew what had happened to my father - whether he got better or not! I am very unhappy.”
“Cheer up, old son,” said Jack. “We’ll soon find out everything. I expect Dimmy has told the police to find out what’s been going on in your country, and she’ll tell us as soon as we find her.”
“I want to see Dimmy,” said Nora. “I feel safe when I’m with her.”
“Well, let’s go quietly to Peep-Hole without being seen, and find her,” said Mike. So they crept along by the tall hedge, turned into the little lane where Peep-Hole stood, and ran into the small front garden.
The front door was shut. It usually stood wide open. They went round to the back door. That was shut and locked too! The children stared at one another in surprise.
“Has Dimmy locked herself in?” they wondered. “What’s been happening?”
“All the ground-floor windows are shut too,” said Jack, who had been round looking. “But there’s one open up there - do you see it? I believe if I climb up that old pear tree there, I could wriggle along that branch and get on to the window-sill.”
“Well, be careful then,” said Peggy. “It doesn’t look very safe to me!”
Jack climbed the tree, hoisted up by Mike. He wriggled carefully along the big branch that waved near the window. The other children stood below and watched him - but a shower of little hard pears fell on their heads and they went back a few steps, laughing.
Jack got safely to the window-sill. He opened the window and jumped inside. They heard his footsteps pattering down the stairs.
Then the bolts were shot back, the key was turned, and Jack opened the door. “Come on in,” he said. “We’ll just see if Dimmy is anywhere here - but there’s not a sound in the house.”
The children hunted everywhere for Dimmy. She was gone. The house was quiet and lonely, and the children didn’t know what to do. When would Dimmy come back? Where had she gone? Where was George? Perhaps they could find him.
“Well, I vote we have something to eat,” said Jack at last. “There’s some ham in the larder - I’ve just looked - and some tomatoes too and stale bread. We can pick plums from the garden as well. Come on!”
Over the meal the children talked about what they should do. Should they stay at Peep-Hole till Dimmy came back? But suppose she didn’t come back! They didn’t feel very safe at Peep-Hole, so near the Old House, without Dimmy or George, because perhaps somebody might find out they were there and come to catch poor Paul again.
“Well, I don’t think anyone has seen us come.” said Jack. “And we won’t light a fire, so nobody will see smoke from our chimney. We won’t have any lights on to-night, either. We’ll all sleep together in the top room of the tower, and lock the door and pile furniture against it. Then we’ll be safe!”
“Things are getting a bit too exciting again,” said Nora, who was really beginning to long for a little peace. “I wish Mr. Diaz hadn’t discovered our secret island - we should have been so happy and peaceful there. I don’t like Peep-Hole without Dimmy.”
“I’ll slip out down to the beach and see if George is anywhere about,” said Jack, thinking hard. “If he is he’ll come back with me, I’m sure - and he could tell me what’s happened to Dimmy - and I could tell him what has happened to Mr. Diaz and Luiz!”
The others laughed. They liked to think of Mr. Diaz and Luiz, prisoners on the secret island, not knowing when they were to be taken off!
Jack slipped out of the back door and the others bolted it after him. They decided to keep a watch from the windows, to see if anyone came near. So Peggy and Paul kept watch from the front windows, and Mike and Nora from the back. But nobody came near. Not even a dog barked anywhere. It was all very still and peaceful.
The children talked to one another. Peggy found her knitting, and knitted and chatted to Paul. Mike did a jig-saw puzzle with Nora, looking up every other minute to make sure that nobody was coming in through the back garden.
A loud thumping on the back door startled everybody dreadfully. Mike jumped and dropped the jig-saw on the floor. He had seen nobody come into the back garden. Paul and Peggy ran in from the front room, looking quite scared.
“Who do you suppose it is?” whispered Nora.
“Can’t imagine,” whispered back Mike. “Anyway, we’d better all keep as quiet as possible, then maybe they’ll go away.”
So they all kept very quiet. The thumping came again - somebody banging on the back door with his bare fists. “Bang all you like,” said Mike in a low voice. “You won’t get in!”
“Let me in!” cried a voice - and how they all jumped with joy! For it was Jack’s voice! It was he who was thumping on the door!
“What idiots we are!” cried Mike, leaping to his feet. “We might have guessed it was Jack - but I never thought he’d be back so soon!”
They all tore downstairs to open the door to Jack. He came in, quite cross with them:
“Whatever did you keep me waiting all that time for?” he asked indignantly. “I thought you must have gone to sleep!”
“Sorry, Jack,” grinned Mike. “We didn’t see you come, and we didn’t expect you back so soon. We thought you might be the enemy. How did you get through the back garden without being seen?”
“Crawled under the currant bushes,” said Jack, with a grin. “I thought I’d give you a surprise - but I seem to have given you a good fright instead.”