by W E Johns
‘Yes. That’s the impression I got. The boat carried a sail, which gave me its number, but it was also fitted with a small oil engine. The stuff must have been heavy, or it wouldn’t have needed a pony to carry it. Incidentally, the stuff the pony carried back to the castle was in sacks. It felt soft. I know that because I kept knocking into it.’
‘You couldn’t see what the men were handling on the beach?’
‘No. Well, only very indistinctly. It was as dark as the inside of a black cow. All I can say is the parcels looked bulky and sort of round in shape. The bumps sounded like wood on wood. I’m talking of the things that must have been brought down from the castle and loaded on the boat.’
Biggles shook his head. ‘You know, chaps, with the limitations of this island, I feel the answer to all this must be staring us in the face, but I’m dashed if I can see it. Maybe one of us will get an inspiration presently. Let’s go to the grub cache and have something to eat with a gallon or two of tea. We’ve earned it. Something hot inside us may brighten our ideas.’
In the growing daylight they walked wearily over the rocks to the cavern where their food and other things had been stored. ‘I’d like to see the faces of those perishers at the castle when they discover we’ve done a flit,’ said Bertie, with a chuckle.
‘If they think they’ve got us on the run they’ve got another think coming,’ growled Rod. ‘It’ll take more than a bunch of roughnecks to push me off my property.’
While preparations for a pot of tea and some food were being made Biggles said: ‘Algy should be back today. I shall be interested to hear what the Chief has to say about all this. But the machine will present us with another problem.’
‘What problem?’ asked Rod.
‘The enemy are bound to see it arrive. They’ll hear it coming. That means we shall always have to keep a guard on it for fear of it being sabotaged.’
‘They wouldn’t dare.’
‘I wouldn’t like to bet on it. People will do anything if the stakes are high enough, and here they must be pretty high.’
Ginger stepped in. ‘By the way, I don’t think I told you, but the boat’s coming back on Thursday.’
‘How do you know that?’ asked Biggles sharply.
‘I heard one of ‘em say “See you Thursday, Bill”.’
‘Thursday. That’s the day after tomorrow. That should give us plenty of time to get organized to meet it. The first thing we must do is find somewhere to sleep. This living rough may be all right on a tropic isle, but in this sort of climate it’s a dead loss. The snag is, we must keep close to the beach to meet Algy as soon as he touches down. Otherwise he may land up to the neck in trouble. But I see the kettle’s boiling. Let’s have some tea. We can talk about this presently.’
CHAPTER 12
BIGGLES MAKES A PLAN
‘THAT’S better,’ declared Biggles, when they had finished their meal and emptied the teapot several times. ‘All I need now to make me a new man is a good wash and a shave.’
‘I need more than a wash,’ said Bertie. ‘What I want is a bath. I feel positively disgusting.’
‘Go jump in the sea,’ suggested Rod cheerfully.
‘I’m talking about a hot bath with plenty of soap,’ informed Bertie. ‘It’d need more than cold salt water to get me shining white again.’
This applied to all of them, for in broad daylight they could see the condition they were in: grimy, unshaven, their clothes torn, crumpled, and stained with sea water.
Said Biggles: ‘As we’re not provided with uniforms, this is where I put in a claim for a new suit.’ He was in a worse state than anyone, for his hands and face were black with soot from investigating the kitchen chimney. ‘Well, let’s make the best job we can of ourselves,’ he went on in a different tone of voice as he got to his feet. ‘I want to be on the beach ready for Algy when he comes. Reckoning he’ll leave base at daybreak, he should be here, if he’s coming today, around ten o’clock.’
‘What are you going to do about the people in the castle?’ asked Ginger.
‘Nothing. Let them come if they feel like it. After what happened yesterday the gloves are off, and if they want to play tough that’s all right with me. They’ll find us ready. Somehow I don’t think they’ll come near us — anyway, for a while. Knowing now, from what they found in Ginger’s pocket, that the police are on the job, they’ll be more worried than we are. I’d wager that at this moment they’re doing some fast talking.’
‘I’m with you,’ asserted Rod, cogently.
They completed their toilets, and ten o’clock found them once more on the beach, a reconnaissance from the ridge having revealed no sign of the enemy. It was a fair sort of day, the best they had had. There was still a lot of cloud, but occasional breaks allowed the sun to show itself and warm the air.
It was about half an hour later that, to the satisfaction of everyone, they heard the unmistakable noise made by a helicopter. It came straight on to the island, losing height, and a few minutes later had landed on the beach. The door was opened and Algy stepped down.
‘What cheer?’ he greeted, brightly. ‘What news?’
‘Plenty,’ answered Biggles. ‘But let’s have yours first. A lot depends on it. What are the orders?’
‘The Air Commodore says you’re to carry on.’
Biggles’s eyebrows went up. ‘Carry on doing what?’
‘Whatever you’re doing.’
‘That’s charming of him,’ returned Biggles sarcastically. ‘Isn’t he going to take any action?’
‘He said he’d like more definite information, if you can get it, before he acts. When I left him he said he’d talk things over with the Chief Commissioner. I must say he got on to the Admiralty right away and arranged for some frogmen to come over and have a dekko at Rod’s boat.’
Biggles looked disappointed. ‘They’ve been. Is that all they’re going to do?’
‘A salvage party will be along as soon as it can be arranged.’
‘That’s something, but I don’t see how it’s going to help us much. Did you bring the grub?’
‘Of course. Where are you going to put it?’
‘That’s something we haven’t decided yet.’
The conversation continued with everyone still standing beside the machine.
‘It looks as if you’ll have to go back again,’ went on Biggles, speaking to Algy. ‘A lot has happened here while you’ve been away.’ As briefly as possible he brought him up to date with the situation.
‘What are you going to do about this?’ inquired Algy, when he had finished.
‘We haven’t really thought about it. I was waiting for you, to hear what the Chief had to say. I thought he might suggest something. By the way, were there any fingerprints on that broken bottle you took home with you?’
‘Too true there were. I had to wait for identification, otherwise I’d have been back before this. The prints were those of a stylish crook named Neville Norton. He was released from Pentonville prison twelve months ago after doing a three year stretch. There’s a suspicion, but no proof, that he was instrumental in helping three time-servers to escape about six weeks later.’
‘Never heard of him. What was his fine?’
‘Lifting lorries on the Great North Road bound for London. He specialized in loads of whisky, apparently having been tipped off by someone when the stuff was on the way.’
Rod broke in. ‘If your Chief knows there’s a crook here what more does he want?’
Biggles shook his head. ‘It isn’t as easy as that. If a man has served his time he can’t be touched until he commits another offence.’
‘But he’s breaking the law here.’
‘That’s what we think, but we’ve no proof. Suspicion isn’t enough. That, I imagine, is why the Chief is holding his hand. Admittedly he’s trespassing, but that’s hardly a crime.’
‘You mean — you have to wait for a crook to commit another serious crime before you can do anything?�
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‘That’s it.’
‘Sounds daft to me.’
‘It may, but that happens to be the law. Never mind that. It’s time we were making up our minds on our next move.’
‘What’s wrong with going up to the castle?’ suggested Algy. ‘It’s Rod’s property, so we don’t need a search warrant.’
‘There are at least six men behind those stone walls and at least some of ‘em carry guns. The Chief wouldn’t thank us for littering the place with bodies, some of which might be our own. There must be an easier way of tackling this than that. Meanwhile, the aircraft has become a liability. We daren’t leave it. If it was damaged we’d be grounded. That means, whatever we do we shall have to split up, always leaving someone on guard.’
‘Then what do you suggest?’ asked Algy. ‘I’m ready for anything you say.’
‘I’m sorry, but it looks as if you’ll have to go back to the Chief with the latest developments. Tell him the whole story. Say there are six men here and they’re armed. To try to arrest them will mean casualties. Strictly speaking, the only grounds we have for arrest are trespass and doing us grievous bodily harm. We can’t go on living rough as we have been doing. Aside from that, sooner or later this little island is likely to become a sniping ground. If the Chief doesn’t want that he’ll either have to send us reinforcements or give us direct orders. Meanwhile, we’ll hang on and do what we can to get things sorted out. We don’t want prisoners on our hands, fixed as we are. What could we do with them? It’s taking us all our time to look after ourselves.’
Algy looked puzzled. ‘After all this you still have no idea of what the gang is doing here?’
‘None. If I knew that I’d know better how we stood.’
‘Could it be a smuggling racket of some sort?’
‘What would be worth smuggling in and out of a place like this?’
‘Ask me something easier. Well, do you want me to push off right away?’
‘No. There’s no particular hurry. You’d better wait until we’ve decided on some sort of plan, so that when you go you’ll know what we have in mind. Somehow we’ve got to get into that castle. That’s where the answer to all this will be found. The only room we haven’t seen is the one behind that locked door. That must hide the kernel of this particular nut. Having got into the castle, how are we going to open that door?’
‘Shall I go and fetch you a bunch of skeleton keys?’ offered Algy.
‘It would take too long. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here.’
Rod made a suggestion. ‘If we made a rush we might find the door open.’
‘I wouldn’t care to rely on that. It would be too much of a gamble. If things went wrong we could land in an ugly mess.’
‘It might take several cartridges, but it should be possible to cut the lock out with our guns; or so weaken it that we could bash it out.’
‘Our friends in the castle might object to that,’ returned Biggles cynically. ‘Don’t forget we first have to get to the door.’
‘Well, what are you going to do?’ asked Algy, a trifle impatiently.
Biggles walked over to the bank and sat down. ‘Let me think about it,’ he requested. ‘It’s no use going off at half cock. Ginger, you might slip up to the ridge to make sure there’s no one about. We can’t afford to be caught on one foot.’ He buried his chin in his hands, staring at the pebbles round his feet. The waves, splashing, made lace curtains of foam on the beach. The sea-gulls cried and squabbled among themselves as they patrolled the shore line. There was no other sound.
Ten minutes passed. Ginger returned. ‘Nobody in sight,’ he reported.
The statement roused Biggles from his reverie. He sat up.
‘Now listen, everybody,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ve worked out a scheme. We may see some snags later, but for the moment this is it. The first thing we’ve got to do, without any argument, is find quarters for ourselves if only to park the stores Algy has brought. There’s no point in unloading them till we know where we’re going to put them. Now Algy’s here we’re no longer confined to the beach area, because I’m sending the machine back with the latest news for the Air Commodore. Tell me, Rod, how far away is the nearest house, hut or shed, or even cow byre?’
Rod thought for a moment. ‘There’s an old croft standing in a slight hollow about, say, a hundred yards from here. Maybe a little more than that. As I remember, it isn’t in too bad a state.’
‘In which direction?’
Rod pointed. ‘Behind the ridge at the far end of the beach.’
‘Can it be seen from the castle?’
‘Sure. It’s in full view.’
‘That sounds the sort of place I’m looking for. Are there any rocks near, or anything else to prevent the machine from landing there?’
‘None that I can call to mind. There’s a lot of heather. If we go there they might put fire to it and burn us out again.’
‘They couldn’t with the wind where it is. If it shifts we shall be ready.’
‘What’s behind all this?’ questioned Algy.
‘That’s what I’m going to tell you. You can stop me if you see a weak spot in my plan. I’m trying to think of a way of getting into the castle, having first lured those crooks out of it. For that I shall need a bait, and I’m hoping, Rod, you won’t mind taking that on. This is the order of things. The machine takes off and lands as near to the croft as possible. We then unload the stores and carry them inside. This operation will, I’m sure, be watched from the castle. After what’s happened it’s a safe bet that one of them will be keeping an eye in this direction. When we’ve finished unloading everyone except Rod will get into the machine, which then skips back to the beach, which can’t be seen from the castle. Everyone except Algy jumps out. He’ll carry straight on to report to the Air Commodore. Are you all with me so far?’
There was a general assent.
‘Right,’ resumed Biggles. ‘This is now the position. Rod is alone at the croft. The rest of us will be on the beach. Algy will be on his way home. You see what I’m getting at? I’m reckoning that the people in the castle will assume that Rod has been left here on his own while the rest of us have left the island by air. Naturally, Rod, being the owner of the island, he’d be the one most likely to stay behind.’
‘I’m beginning to get the drift,’ said Rod.
‘All you have to do is hang around. Light a fire and cook yourself a meal if you feel like it. Smoke doesn’t matter now. Take your gun and shoot something for the pot, but don’t go far from the croft, because you’re likely to have visitors. Those crooks will suppose, with you alone on the island, they have nothing to fear. They’ll be along to see what you’re up to. How long it will take them to make up their minds to do that I don’t know, of course; but sooner or later their curiosity will get the better of them and they’ll come.’
‘What do I do when the come?’
‘That’s up to you. Ignore them or parley with ‘em. They may try to come to terms with you. Say anything you like, but avoid trouble if you can. All I want you to do is keep them there.’
‘Suppose they don’t come?’
‘In that case we must admit the scheme has misfired. It will have done no harm. The position will remain as it is now and we shall have to think of something else.’
‘If I’m not being inquisitive, what are we doing while all this is going on?’ inquired Bertie, polishing his eyeglass with great care.
‘As soon as we’re out of the machine, and we shall have to hop out pretty smartly, we shall hoof it along the bottom of the cliff to the landslide where we climbed up yesterday. We shall be on our way to the castle, and that’s the only way we can go without being seen. The tide should be about right. We come up behind the castle. All we have to do then is wait for the gang to go down to the croft to see what Rod’s doing.’
‘Suppose they don’t all go down?’
‘I haven’t overlooked that possibility. There shouldn’t be
so many left behind that we couldn’t handle them, especially as we have the advantage of surprise. Even if three men are left there we shall be three against three, which is better than three against six. We’ve got to see behind that locked door, because that’s where we shall find the answer to what’s going on here; and until we know what that is we shall be stuck here, unable to do anything. Rod may love his little island, but I’ve had enough of it. Anyway, that’s my plan, and I see no reason why it shouldn’t work. It’s better than sitting here doing nothing. The gang’s not likely to come and tell us what they’re doing. We’ve got to muscle in and find out. After all, that’s why we came here.’
Ginger spoke. ‘Okay. So we get in the castle. Then what?’
‘If that door is still locked, and no key is to be found, we shoot the lock off by cutting it out with bullets. Anyhow, that’s the idea, although whether it’ll work out in practice remains to be seen. If we make a mess of the door — well, it’s Rod’s property. I’m taking a chance that on the other side of it we shall find all the evidence the Chief needs to tackle the business as top priority.’
‘Does he need all this evidence to handle a bunch of crooks?’ asked Rod, with faint sarcasm. ‘I’d have thought we’d enough already.’
‘In his job it doesn’t pay to take risks. He has to be sure of his ground, and I don’t blame him. If a copper makes a mistake everyone’s on him like a ton of bricks — questions in the House of Commons and all the rest of it. We’ll get the evidence for him. Which reminds me. Ginger hasn’t got a gun. You might give him yours, Algy. You can get another, although I doubt if you’ll need one. And before you go be sure to give me some spare clips of ammunition. We shall need them for the door.’