As they were about to curl up and go to sleep they heard the sound of a seaplane droning overhead. It came over the island twice, and then went away.
And then, about an hour later, the girls heard the noise of the motor-boat! It grounded on the sand of the cove and the girls heard men's voices.
"Good gracious!" said Jill, sitting up in alarm. "What are they coming here at this time of night for? They will soon see the boys aren't here! Quick, Mary, get up. We'll slip out of the tent and go into the bracken. Maybe we can pretend we've been roaming over the island, and they'll think the boys are somewhere about too."
The girls left the tent and ran into the heather and bracken in the middle of the small island. The men left their boat on the beach and two of them came up to the tent.
They lifted the flap of the tent and flashed a torch inside. There was no one there, of course! One of the men called out loudly.
"Now, you children! Where are you?"
"Here!" answered Jill. She nudged Mary. "You shout too," she whispered. "Then I'll shout again, and they'll think we are all here."
"We're here!" yelled Mary valiantly, though her heart was beating hard.
"In the bracken!" shouted Jill.
"Come along down here," commanded the man. He was the one who could speak English.
"We shall have to go," said Jill. "Now don't you give the boys away, Mary. Pretend they are about somewhere."
The girls made their way to the men, who flashed a light on them.
"Where are the boys?" demanded the man.
"Haven't you seen them?" asked Jill. "They must be about somewhere. Maybe they are in the tent. Have you looked?"
"Yes," said the man. "Now look here—what do you mean by lighting this stove out here? Are you trying to signal to anyone?"
"Good gracious! Of course not!" said Jill. "We only made some hot cocoa, that's all. Look—there are our dirty cups."
She wished she had not said this when the man looked for the cups—for he saw at once that there were only two! He looked at Jill suspiciously.
"Why did the boys not have the cocoa?" he asked.
"They weren't here when we made it," said Jill. "Why don't you go and look for them?"
The man turned out the stove, and the light flickered and went out. "Now don't you dare to show a light at nights," he said. "If I think you are signalling to anyone you will be very sorry!"
"Who could we signal to?" asked Jill. "We don't even know where we are!"
The man took no notice of her. He stood and shouted into the night. "Boys! Come here at once!"
There was no answer, of course—there couldn't be, for the boys were miles away on the sea.
"To-morrow I will come to tell those boys that when I call, they must answer," said the man in an angry voice, "I am going now—but to-morrow I come again. You will tell the boys they must be here, by the tent."
Jill and Mary said nothing. They could not tell the boys—and they wondered what would happen when the men found that they were not on the island.
The men went off in their boat again. "What a pity we lighted that stove!" said Jill. "I suppose that seaplane saw it and reported it—and they thought we were signalling to someone. How clever they must think us! I only wish we could signal to someone!"
Neither of the girls could imagine what the men would do when they came to find the boys the next day, and saw that they were gone. They cuddled up together and tried to go to sleep. They awoke early and got themselves some breakfast. Then they sat waiting for the men.
There was nothing else to do—it was of no use trying to hide. They must just pretend that they did not know where the boys were.
The motor-boat did not arrive until mid-day. Then two men came up to the tent, and the one who could speak English looked at the two girls.
"What about those boys?" he said. "Why are they not here?"
"I don't know," said Jill, trying to speak bravely.
"Where are they?" asked the man angrily.
"I don't know," said Jill again, quite truthfully.
"You don't know! You don't know!" said the man in disgust. "It is time you did know. Are they on this island?"
"Why don't you look and see?" said Jill. "I am sure you will not believe what I say—so you had better look."
The men glared at the plucky little girl and then went to hunt over the island. They found no one, of course, and returned looking worried.
They spoke to one another in a language that the girls could not understand. Then they went to the ruined buildings and looked around carefully. It did not take them long to see that the boys had pulled the old shack to pieces!
"So!" said the first man. "The boys tried to make a boat!"
Jill and Mary shook their heads. They were really feeling very much alarmed.
"It is a raft they made then?" asked the man. "What! You will not tell me, you naughty little girls! Then I shall order out my seaplanes and they will find those bad boys, and bring them back again. And you will all be made prisoners on another island till we take you far away to our country where you will stay for a long time."
The girls began to cry—not because they were afraid for themselves but because they did not want the seaplanes to hunt for Andy and Tom.
The men spoke quickly to one another. It was plain that they wanted to get back to the third island and tell their chief what had happened.
"We shall come back for you to-morrow," said the first man. "And maybe by that time we shall have caught the two bad boys. They will be punished, you may be sure!"
They left in their motor-boat, leaving two miserable girls behind them. "Oh, I do hope they won't catch poor Andy and Tom," wept Mary. "It's too bad! Now they will hunt all over the sea till they find them. And they'll catch us to-morrow too, and take us all away."
"Well, they just won't take me away!" said Jill, drying her eyes fiercely. "I shall give them a good old hunt for me! I shall go to the second island and make them hunt all over the first one and not find mel That will give them a shock! I shall hide in the food-cave!"
"So will I!" said Mary, dabbing her eyes fiercely too. "We'll wait till the tide goes down and then we'll clamber over the rocks!"
So when the tide was low that day the two girls clambered hurriedly over the line of rocks that led from one island to the next, and came to the sandy beach. Not far off was the entrance to the cave that led up to the Round Cave.
"Nobody has seen us," said Mary, as they ran up to the cave. "We'll hide here and make the enemy think we've escaped from the island too! Perhaps they will be so busy looking for us that they will forget about the boys."
"I don't think they'll forget Andy and Tom," said Jill, making her way up the passage to the Round Cave. "I am sure that seaplanes are out looking for them already. I have heard three or four leaving the third island. Look, Mary—this chest is almost empty. Let's take out the tins and things that are left and get inside. We can shut the lid down on us if we hear anyone coming."
The girls got the chest ready, and then amused themselves by trying to find the funnel opening that led from the cave to the surface of the cliff above. But they could not find it.
"I wonder if it's night yet," said Mary, for it was impossible to tell in the dark cave. The girls had Andy's torch, for no daylight came into the cave at all. They crept to the shore-cave to see. Yes—it was twilight outside. Night would soon fall.
"I vote we make a nice soft bed in the sandy floor," said Jill. "We can cover ourselves with those empty sacks. And in the morning we'll peep out and see if we can see anything!"
So they made sandy beds and threw the sacks over themselves, they fell fast asleep and did not wake till morning.
And then, when they went to peep out of the shore-cave, they had a great surprise! Coming gracefully down to the smooth water was an enormous seaplane, droning like a great bumble-bee.
"It's coming to get us!" squealed Mary in fright, and the two girls scuttled back into the Round Cave!
Chapter 25
Return to the Islands
If only the girls had stopped to look carefully at that seaplane, they would have noticed that it bore the signs of their own country! It was the very same seaplane that had rescued Tom and Andy! It had flown to headquarters, had made its report, and had handed Tom's camera in. As soon as the pictures had been developed, and the seaplane and submarine photographs had come out clearly, there was great excitement.
Tom and Andy had been questioned closely They told their story clearly and well, and the men who listened to them were amazed at the adventures the four children had been through.
"Well, you have stumbled on an astonishing secret," said one man who had been listening, "We are proud of you! Now we shall be able to spring a real surprise on our enemy, and clean up all the submarines and seaplanes that have been worrying our shipping for some time. We did not know they had a base so near us. No wonder they have been able to do such damage!"
"Please, sir, what about my sisters?" asked Tom anxiously. "Will you get them away before you do anything?"
The men laughed heartily. "Of course!" said one. "That will be our first job. You don't really suppose we should forget those two plucky little girls, do you? Oh no—we shall send your father's seaplane to rescue mem—and after that—oho! A big surprise will come to those islands!"
The boys grinned. "May we see the surprise, sir?" asked Andy.
"No," said the man. "It will be a bit too noisy." He turned to Tom's father and gave him a few quick orders.
"Come along," said the boy's father. "You and Andy must come with me to the islands so that you may tell me quickly where the girls are. We have to get them off before we attack me enemy—and I'd like to do it as quickly as possible before anyone knows we've discovered their secret."
The boys were thrilled! To go off in that wonderful seaplane again—to the islands! And to rescue the two girls under the very noses of the enemy! What fun!
They all went aboard the great seaplane. They rowed out to it in a little boat and climbed up the ladder over the side, and into the plane. A few quick orders, and the great engines were started up.
R-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! The seaplane skimmed over the water for a little while and then rose from the surface as gracefully as a gull. It soared up and round, and then flew in a straight line towards the far-off islands.
The boys were trembling with excitement and joy. They had had many adventures, but this last one, the rescue of the girls, was the finest of the lot! They looked out over the sea, watching for the first sign of the islands they now knew so well.
"As soon as we sight the islands, we are going cautiously," said Tom's father. "We don't want to warn the enemy if we can help it! You say there is a good landing-place off the shore of the second island, Andy. Well, you must guide us there when the islands come in sight, and we'll land on the water. Then you and Tom and a couple of men can get to the first island and take off the girls. Then off we'll go again and give the signal for the warships to go and-surprise the enemy!"
"Warships!" cried the boys. "I say! What a shock for the enemy!"
"It's a shock they deserve," said Tom's father grimly. "We are sending three warships and some aeroplanes to deal with the submarines and seaplanes. So, you see, we want to get the girls off as quickly as possible."
"Oh, golly, wouldn't I like to join the fight!" groaned Andy. "Oh, couldn't I, sir?"
"No," said Tom's father. But he smiled at the eager boy and clapped him on the shoulder. "You're a good lad, Andy," he said, "and I'm glad that my three children had your help in their amazing adventures!"
Andy went red with pleasure. He thought Tom's father was a fine man, dressed in his grand uniform. He wondered what his own father would say when he heard all their adventures—and in his secret mind he felt a little uncomfortable because his father would have to hear the news that his fishing-boat had been lost.
The boys kept a watch for the islands—and as soon as they caught sight of them, lying flat in the sea, they both shouted loudly:
"There they are!"
"The islands, the islands!"
"Which is UK one the girls are on?" asked Tom's father eagerly. Tom showed him.
"The first one," he said. "And the next one is where the food-cave is, and the third one is where the submarines are. I don't know anything about the others further off. We didn't explore those."
"Well, we shall," said the boy's father, in a grim tone. "Now, Tom, we are almost on the coast of the second island. Is that the smooth bit of water we can land on, just down there?"
"Yes!" cried both boys, as they saw the flat stretch of water that lay between the reef of rocks and the cave-beach. The seaplane circled round and flew down gracefully. She skimmed the water a little, like a swallow, and then came to rest, bobbing up and down as she lay there.
"The tide is a bit too deep over the rocks that lead to the first island," said Tom in disappointment. "We can't climb over them to rescue the girls yet."
"We'll take a boat, then," said his father. "Are those the caves you hid in, Tom?"
"Yes—that one just there is the one that leads to the food-cave," said Tom. "Like to see it, Daddy? You might find something of importance there, perhaps."
"Yes—we might as well have a look," said the boy's father. So a boat shot off from the seaplane carrying the two boys, Tom's father, and two men. They landed on the beach and went towards the cave.
The girls were hiding inside the chest when they heard footsteps coming up the passage-way that led from the shore-cave to the Round Cave. They lay there trembling, wondering when they were going to be discovered.
Tom led his father into the cave. "Look!" he said, "do you see all these boxes and chests, Daddy? They are absolutely full of food of all sorts. I can tell you it came in handy when we were so hungry. At first I kept a list of the things we took, thinking that we would pay for them when we discovered the owner, but-"
Tom stopped. A queer noise was coming from a big chest near by. He stared in surprise.
"What's that noise?" 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.