Five On A Treasure Island Page 4

  "Yes, that's true," said George. "All right- we'll go. But mind, if a storm does come, you're not to be a baby. You're to try and enjoy it and not be frightened."

  "Well, I don't much like storms," began Anne, but stopped when she saw George's scornful look. They went down to breakfast, and George asked her mother if they could take their dinner as they had planned.

  "Yes," said her mother. "You and Anne can help to make the sandwiches. You boys can go into the garden and pick some ripe plums.to take with you. Julian, you can go down to the village when you've done that and buy some bottles of lemonade or ginger-beer, whichever you like."

  "Ginger-pop for me, thanks!" said Julian, and everyone else said the same. They all felt very happy. It would be marvellous to visit the queer little island. George felt happy because she would be with Tim all day.

  They set off at last, the food in two kit-bags. The first thing they did was to fetch Tim. He was tied up in the fisher-boy's back yard. The boy himself was there, and grinned at George.

  "Morning, Master George," he said. It seemed so queer to the other children to hear Georgina called 'Master George'! 'Tim's been barking his head off for you. I guess he knew you were coming for him today."

  "Of course he did," said George, untying him. He at once went completely mad, and tore round and round the children, his tail down and his ears flat.

  "He'd win any race if only he was a greyhound," said Julian, admiringly. "You can hardly see him for dust. Tim! Hie, Tim! Come and say "Good-morning"."

  Tim leapt up and licked Julian's left ear as he passed on his whirlwind way. Then he sobered down and ran lovingly by George as they all made their way to the beach. He licked George's bare legs every now and again, and she pulled at his ears gently.

  They got into the boat, and George pushed off. The fisher-boy waved to them. "You won't be very long, will you?" he called. "There's a storm blowing up. Bad one it'll be, too."

  "I know," shouted back George. "But maybe we'll get back before it begins. It's pretty far off yet."

  George rowed all the way to the island. Tim stood at each end of the boat in turn, barking when the waves reared up at him. The children watched the island coming closer and closer. It looked even more exciting than it had the other day.

  "George, where are you going to land?" asked Julian. "I simply can't imagine how you know your way in and out of these awful rocks. I'm afraid every moment we'll bump into them!"

  "I'm going to land at the little cove I told you about the other day," said George. "There's only one way to it, but I know it very well. It's hidden away on the east side of the island."

  The girl cleverly worked her boat in and out of the rocks, and suddenly, as it rounded a low wall of sharp rocks, the children saw the cove she had spoken of. It was like a natural little harbour, and was a smooth inlet of water running up to a stretch of sand, sheltered between high rocks. The boat slid into the inlet, and at once stopped rocking, for here the water was like glass, and had hardly a wrinkle.

  "I say- this is fine!" said Julian, his eyes shining with delight. George looked at him and her eyes shone too, as bright as the sea itself. It was the first time she had ever taken anyone to her precious island, and she was enjoying it.

  They landed on the smooth yellow sand. "We're really on the island!" said Anne, and she capered about, Tim joining her and looking as mad as she did. The others laughed. George pulled the boat high up on the sand.

  "Why so far up?" said Julian, helping her. "The tide's almost in, isn't it? Surely it won't come as high as this."

  "I told you I thought a storm was coming," said, George. "If one does, the waves simply tear up this inlet and we don't want to lose our boat, do we?"

  "Let's explore the island, let's explore the island!" yelled Anne, who was now at the top of the little natural harbour, climbing up the rocks there. "Oh do come on!"

  They all followed her. It really was a most exciting place. Rabbits were everywhere! They scuttled about as the children appeared, but did not go into their holes.

  "Aren't they awfully tame?" said Julian, in surprise.

  "Well, nobody ever comes here but me," said George, "and I don't frighten them. Tim! Tim, if you go after the rabbits, I'll spank you."

  Tim turned big sorrowful eyes on to George. He and George agreed about every single thing except rabbits. To Tim rabbits were made for one thing-to chase! He never could understand why George wouldn't let him do this. But he held himself in and walked solemnly by the children, his eyes watching the lolloping rabbits longingly.

  "I believe they would almost eat out of my hand," said Julian.

  But George shook her head.

  "No, I've tried that with them," she said. "They won't. Look at those baby ones. Aren't they lovely?"

  "Woof!" said Tim, agreeing, and he took a few steps towards them. George made a warning noise in her throat, and Tim walked back, his tail down.

  "There's the castle!" said Julian. "Shall we explore that now? I do want to."

  "Yes, we will," said George. "Look- that is where the entrance used to be- through that big broken archway."

  The children gazed at the enormous old archway, now half-broken down. Behind it were ruined stone steps leading towards the centre of the castle.

  "It had strong walls all round it, with two towers," said George. "One tower is almost gone, as you can see, but the other is not so bad. The jackdaws build in that every year. They've almost filled it up with their sticks!"

  As they came near to the better tower of the two the jackdaws circled round them with loud cries of "Chack, chack, chack!" Tim leapt into the air as if he thought he could get them, but they only called mockingly to him.

  "This is the centre of the castle," said George, as they entered through a ruined doorway into what looked like a great yard, whose stone floor was now overgrown with grass and other weeds. "Here is where the people used to live. You can see where the rooms were- look, there's one almost whole there. Go through that little door and you'll see it."

  They trooped through a doorway and found themselves in a dark, stone-walled, stone-roofed room, with a space at one end where a fire-place must have been. Two slit-like windows lighted the room. It felt very queer and mysterious.

  "What a pity it's all broken down," said Julian, wandering out again. "That room seems to be the only one quite whole. There are some others here- but all of them seem to have either no roof, or one or other of the walls gone. That room is the only liveable one. Was there an upstairs to the castle, George?"

  "Of course," said George. "But the steps that led up are gone, Look! You can see part of an upstairs room there, by the jackdaw tower. You can't get up to it, though, because I've tried. I nearly broke my neck trying to get up. The stones crumble away so."

  "Were there any dungeons?" asked Dick.

  "I don't know," said George. "I expect so. But nobody could find them now- everywhere is so overgrown."

  It was indeed overgrown. Big blackberry bushes grew here and there, and a few gorse bushes forced their way into gaps and corners. The coarse green grass sprang everywhere, and pink thrift grew its cushions in holes and crannies.

  "Well, I think it's a perfectly lovely place," said Anne. "Perfectly and absolutely lovely!"

  "Do you really?" said George, pleased. "I'm so glad. Look! We're right on the other side of the island now, facing the sea. Do you see those rocks, with those queer big birds sitting there?"

  The children looked. They saw some rocks sticking up, with great black shining birds sitting on them in queer positions.

  "They are cormorants," said George. "They've caught plenty of fish for their dinner, and they're sitting there digesting it. Hallo- they're all flying away. I wonder why!"

  She soon knew- for, from the southwest there suddenly came an ominous rumble.

  "Thunder!" said George. "That's the storm. It's coming sooner than I thought!"

  Chapter Six. WHAT THE STORM DID

  THE four childre
n stared out to sea. They had all been so interested in exploring the exciting old castle that not one of them had noticed the sudden change in the weather.

  Another rumble came. It sounded like a big dog growling in the sky. Tim heard it and growled back, sounding like a small roll of thunder himself.

  "My goodness, we're in for it now," said George, half-alarmed. "We can't get back in time, that's certain. It's blowing up at top speed. Did ever you see such a change in the sky?"

  The sky had been blue when they started. Now it was overcast, and the clouds seemed to hang very low indeed. They scudded along as if someone was chasing them- and the wind howled round in such a mournful way that Anne felt quite frightened.

  "It's beginning to rain," said Julian, feeling an enormous drop spatter on his outstretched hand. "We had better shelter, hadn't we, George? We shall get wet through."

  "Yes, we will in a minute," said George. "I say, just look at these big waves coming! My word, it really is going to be a storm. Golly- what a flash of lightning!"

  The waves were certainly beginning to run very high indeed. It was queer to see what a change had come over them. They swelled up, turned over as soon as they came to rocks, and then rushed up the beach of the island with a great roar.

  "I think we'd better pull our boat up higher still," said George suddenly. "It's going to be a very bad storm indeed. Sometimes these sudden summer storms are worse than a winter one."

  She and Julian ran to the other side of the island where they had left the boat. It was a good thing they went, for great waves were already racing right up to it. The two children pulled the boat up almost to the top of the low cliff and George tied it to a stout gorse bush growing there.

  By now the rain was simply pelting down, and George and Julian were soaked. "I hope the others have been sensible enough to shelter in that room that has a roof and walls," said George.

  They were there all right, looking rather cold and scared. It was very dark there, for the only light came through the two slits of windows and the small doorway.

  "Could we light a fire to make things a bit more cheerful?" said Julian, looking round. "I wonder where we can find some nice dry sticks?"

  Almost as if they were answering the question a small crowd of jackdaws cried out wildly as they circled in the storm. "Chack, chack, chack!"

  "Of course! There are plenty of sticks on the ground below the tower!" cried Julian. "You know- where the jackdaws nest. They've dropped lots of sticks there."

  He dashed out into the rain and ran to the tower. He picked up an armful of sticks and ran back.

  "Good," said George. "We'll be able to make a nice fire with those. Anyone got any paper to start it- or matches?"

  "I've got some matches," said Julian. "But nobody's got paper."

  "Yes," said Anne, suddenly. "The sandwiches are wrapped in paper. Let's undo them, and then we can use the paper for the fire."

  "Good idea," said George. So they undid the sandwiches, and put them neatly on a broken stone, rubbing it clean first. Then they built up a fire, with the paper underneath and the sticks arranged criss-cross on top.

  It was fun when they lighted the paper. It flared up and the sticks at once caught fire, for they were very old and dry. Soon there was a fine cracking fire going and the little ruined room was lighted by dancing flames. It was very dark outside now, for the clouds hung almost low enough to touch the top of the castle tower! And how they raced by! The wind sent them off to the northeast, roaring behind them with a noise like the sea itself.

  "I've never, never heard the sea making such an awful noise," said Anne. "Never! It really sounds as if it's shouting at the top of its voice."

  What with the howling of the wind and the crashing of the great waves all round the little island, the children could hardly hear themselves speak! They had to shout at one another.

  "Let's have our dinner!" yelled Dick, who was feeling terribly hungry as usual. "We can't do anything much while this storm lasts."

  "Yes, let's," said Anne, looking longingly at the ham sandwiches. "It will be fun to have a picnic round the fire in this dark old room. I wonder how long ago other people had a meal here. I wish I could see them."

  "Well, I don't, said Dick, looking round half-scared as if he expected to see the old-time people walk in to share their picnic. "It's quite a queer enough day without wanting things like that to happen."

  They all felt better when they were eating the sandwiches and drinking the ginger-beer. The fire flared up as more and more sticks caught, and gave out quite a pleasant warmth, for now that the wind had got up so strongly, the day had become cold.

  "We'll take it in turn to fetch sticks," said George. But Anne didn't want to go alone. She was trying her best not to show that she was afraid of the storm- but it was more than she could do to go out of the cosy room into the rain and thunder by herself.

  Tim didn't seem to like the storm either. He sat close by George, his ears cocked, and growled whenever the thunder rumbled. The children fed him with titbits and he ate them eagerly, for he was hungry too.

  All the children had four biscuits each. "I think I shall give all mine to Tim," said George. "I didn't bring him any of his own biscuits, and he does seem so hungry."

  "No, don't do that," said Julian. "We'll each give him a biscuit- that will be four for him- and we'll still have three left each. That will be plenty for us."

  "You are really nice," said George. "Tim, don't you think they are nice?"

  Tim did. He licked everyone and made them laugh. Then he rolled over on his back and let Julian tickle him underneath.

  The children fed the fire and finished their picnic. When it came to Julian's turn to get more sticks, he disappeared out of the room into the storm. He stood and looked around, the rain wetting his bare head.

  The storm seemed to be right overhead now. The lightning flashed and the thunder crashed at the same moment. Julian was not a bit afraid of storms, but he couldn't help feeling rather over-awed at this one. It was so magnificent. The lightning tore the sky in half almost every minute, and the thunder crashed so loudly that it sounded almost as if mountains were falling down all around!

  The sea's voice could be heard as soon as the thunder stopped- and that was magnificent to hear too. The spray flew so high into the air that it wetted Julian as he stood in the centre of the ruined castle.

  "I really must see what the waves are like," thought the boy. "If the spray flies right over me here, they must be simply enormous!"

  He made his way out of the castle and climbed up on to part of the ruined wall that had once run all round the castle. He stood up there, looking out to the open sea. And what a sight met his eyes!

  The waves were like great walls of grey-green! They dashed over the rocks that lay all around the island, and spray flew from them, gleaming white in the stormy sky. They rolled up to the island and dashed themselves against it with such terrific force that Julian could feel the wall beneath his feet tremble with the shock.

  The boy looked out to sea, marvelling at the really great sight he saw. For half a moment he wondered if the sea might come right over the island itself! Then he knew that couldn't happen, for it would have happened before. He stared at the great waves coming in- and then he saw something rather queer.

  There was something else out on the sea by the rocks besides the waves- something dark, something big, something that seemed to lurch out of the waves and settle down again. What could it be?

  "It can't be a ship," said Julian to himself, his heart beginning to beat fast as he strained his eyes to see through the rain and the spray. "And yet it looks more like a ship than anything else. I hope it isn't a ship. There wouldn't be anyone saved from it on this dreadful day!"

  He stood and watched for a while. The dark shape heaved into sight again and then sank away once more. Julian decided to go and tell the others. He ran back to the firelit room.

  "George! Dick! There's something queer out on
the rocks beyond the island!" he shouted, at the top of his voice. "It looks like a ship- and yet it can't possibly be. Come and see!"

  The others stared at him in surprise, and jumped to their feet. George hurriedly flung some more sticks on the fire to keep it going, and then she and the others quickly followed Julian out into the rain.

  The storm seemed to be passing over a little now. The rain was not pelting down quite so hard. The thunder was rolling a little farther off, and the lightning did not flash so often. Julian led the way to the wall on which he had climbed to watch the sea.

  Everyone climbed up to gaze out to sea. They saw a great tumbled, heaving mass of grey-green water, with waves rearing up everywhere. Their tops broke over the rocks and they rushed up to the island as if they would gobble it whole. Anne slipped her arm through Julian's. She felt rather small and scared.

  "You're all right, Anne", said Julian, loudly. "Now just watch- you'll see something queer in a minute."

  They all watched. At first they saw nothing, for the waves reared up so high that they hid everything a little way out. Then suddenly George saw what Julian meant.

  "Gracious!" she shouted, 'it is a ship! Yes, it is! Is it being wrecked? It's a big ship- not a sailing-boat, or fishing-smack!"

  "Oh, is anyone in it?" wailed Anne.

  The four children watched and Tim began to bark as he saw the queer dark shape lurching here and there in the enormous waves. The sea was bringing the ship nearer to shore.

  "It will be dashed on to those rocks," said Julian, suddenly. "Look- there it goes!"

  As he spoke there came a tremendous crashing, splintering sound, and the dark shape of the ship settled down on to the sharp teeth of the dangerous rocks on the southwest side of the island. It stayed there, shifting only slightly as the big waves ran under it and lifted it a little.

  "She's stuck there," said Julian. "She won't move now. The sea will soon be going down a bit, and then the ship will find herself held by those rocks."