by Enid Blyton
"That's true," said Julian, thoughtfully. "Well- we'll suppose that Dick, or whoever goes down, doesn't manage to bolt them in and make them prisoners- and the men come up here again. All right- while they are down below we'll pile big stones over the entrance, just as they did. Then they won't be able to get out."
"What about Dick down below?" said Anne, at once.
"I could climb up the well again!" said Dick, eagerly. "I'll be the one to go down and hide. I'll do my best to bolt the men into the room. And if I have to escape I'll climb up the well-shaft again. The men don't know about that. So even if they are not prisoners in the dungeon room, they'll be prisoners underground!"
The children talked over this plan, and decided that it was the best they could think of. Then George said she thought it would be a good thing to have a meal. They were all half-starved and, now that the worry and excitement of being rescued was over, they were feeling very hungry!
They fetched some food from the little room and ate it in the cove, keeping a sharp look-out for the return of the men. After about two hours they saw a big fishing-smack appear in the distance, and heard the chug-chug-chug of a motor-boat too.
"There they are!" said Julian, in excitement, and he jumped to his feet. "That's the ship they mean to load with the ingots, and sail away in safety- and there's the motor-boat bringing the men back! Quick, Dick, down the well you go, and hide until you hear them in the dungeons!"
Dick shot off. Julian turned to the others. "We'll have to hide," he said. "Now that the tide is out we'll hide over yonder, behind those uncovered rocks. I don't somehow think the men will do any hunting for Dick and Anne -but they might. Come on! Quick!"
They all hid themselves behind the rocks, and heard the motor-boat come chugging into the tiny harbour. They could hear men calling to one another. There sounded to be more than two men this time. Then the men left the inlet and went up the low cliff towards the ruined castle.
Julian crept behind the rocks and peeped to see what the men were doing. He felt certain they were pulling away the slabs of stone that had been piled on top of the entrance to prevent Dick and Anne going down to rescue the others.
"George! Come on!" called Julian in a low tone. "I think the men have gone down the steps into the dungeons now. We must go and try to put those big stones back. Quick!"
George, Julian and Anne ran softly and swiftly to the old courtyard of the castle. They saw that the stones had been pulled away from the entrance to the dungeons. The men had disappeared. They had plainly gone down the steps.
The three children did their best to tug at the heavy stones to drag them back. But their strength was not the same as that of the men, and they could not manage to get any very big stones across. They put three smaller ones, and Julian hoped the men would find them too difficult to move from below. "If only Dick has managed to bolt them into that room!" he said to the others. "Gome on, back to the well now. Dick will have to come up there, because he won't be able to get out of the entrance."
They all went to the well. Dick had removed the old wooden cover, and it was lying on the ground. The children leaned over the hole of the well and waited anxiously. What was Dick doing? They could hear nothing from the well and they longed to know what was happening.
There was plenty happening down below! The two men, and another, had gone down into the dungeons, expecting, of course, to find Julian, George and the dog still locked up in the store-room with the ingots. They passed the well-shaft not guessing that an excited small boy was hidden there, ready to slip out of the opening as soon as they had passed.
Dick heard them pass. He slipped out of the well-opening and followed behind quietly, his feet making no sound. He could see the beams made by the men's powerful torches, and with his heart thumping loudly he crept along the smelly old passages, between great caves, until the men turned into the wide passage where the storecave lay.
"Here it is," Dick heard one of the men say, as he flashed his torch on to the great door. "The gold's in there- so are the kids!"
The man unbolted the door at top and bottom. Dick was glad that he had slipped along to bolt the door, for if he hadn't done that before the men had come they would have known that Julian and George had escaped, and would have been on their guard.
The man opened the door and stepped inside. The second man followed him. Dick crept as close as he dared, waiting for the third man to go in too. Then he meant to slam the door and bolt it!
The first man swung his torch round and gave a loud exclamation. "The children are gone! How strange! Where are they?"
Two of the men were now in the cave- and the third stepped in at that moment. Dick darted forward and slammed the door. It made a crash that went echoing round and round the caves and passages. Dick fumbled with the bolts, his hand trembling. They were stiff and rusty. The boy found it hard to shoot them home in their sockets. And meanwhile the men were not idle!
As soon as they heard the door slam they spun round. The third man put his shoulder to the door at once and heaved hard. Dick had just got one of the bolts almost into its socket. Then all three men forced their strength against the door, and the bolt gave way!
Dick stared in horror. The door was opening! He turned and fled down the dark passage. The men flashed their torches on and saw him. They went after the boy at top speed.
Dick fled to the well-shaft. Fortunately the opening was on the opposite side, and he could clamber into it without being seen in the light of the torches. The boy only just had time to squeeze through into the shaft before the three men came running by. Not one of them guessed that the runaway was squeezed into the well-shaft they passed! Indeed, the men did not even know that there was a well there.
Trembling from head to foot, Dick began to climb the rope he had left dangling from the rungs of the iron ladder. He undid it when he reached the ladder itself, for he thought that perhaps the men might discover the old well and try to climb up later. They would not be able to do that if there was no rope dangling down.
The boy climbed up the ladder quickly, and squeezed round the stone slab near the top. The other children were there, waiting for him.
They knew at once by the look on Dick's face that he had failed in what he had tried to do. They pulled him out quickly. "It was no good," said Dick, panting with his climb. "I couldn't do it. They burst the door open just as I was bolting it, and chased me. I got into the shaft just in time."
"They're trying to get out of the entrance now!" cried Anne, suddenly. "Quick! What shall we do? They'll catch us all!"
"To the boat!" shouted Julian, and he took Anne's hand to help her along. "Come along! It's our only chance. The men will perhaps be able to move those stones."
The four children fled down the courtyard. George darted into the little stone room as they passed it, and caught up an axe. Dick wondered why she bothered to do that. Tim dashed along with them, barking madly.
They came to the cove. Their own boat lay there without oars. The motor-boat was there too. George jumped into it and gave a yell of delight.
"Here are our oars!" she shouted. "Take them, Julian, I've got a job to do here! Get the boat down to the water, quick!"
Julian and Dick took the oars. Then they dragged their boat down to the water, wondering what George was doing. All kinds of crashing sounds came from the motor-boat!
"George! George! Buck up. The men are out!" suddenly yelled Julian. He had seen the three men running to the cliff that led down to the cove. George leapt out of the motor-boat and joined the others. They pushed their boat out on to the water, and George took the oars at once, pulling for all she was worth.
The three men ran to their motor-boat. Then they paused in the greatest dismay- for George had completely ruined it! She had chopped wildly with her axe at all the machinery she could see, and now the boat could not possibly be started! It was damaged beyond any repair the men could make with the few tools they had.
"You wicked girl!" yelle
d Jake, shaking his fist at George. "Wait till I get you!"
"I'll wait!" shouted back George, her blue eyes shining dangerously. "And you can wait too! You won't be able to leave my island now!"
Chapter Seventeen. THE END OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE
THE three men stood at the edge of the sea, watching George pull away strongly from the shore. They could do nothing. Their boat was quite useless.
"The fishing-smack they've got waiting out there is too big to use that little inlet," said George, as she pulled hard at her oars. "They'll have to stay there till someone goes in with a boat. I guess they're as wild as can be!"
Their boat had to pass fairly near to the big fishing-boat. A man hailed them as they came by.
"Ahoy there! Have you come from Kirrin Island?"
"Don't answer," said George. "Don't say a word." So no one said anything at all, but looked the other way as if they hadn't heard.
"AHOY THERE!" yelled the man, angrily. "Are you deaf? Have you come from the island?"
Still the children said nothing at all, but looked away while George rowed steadily. The man on the ship gave it up, and looked in a worried manner towards the island. He felt sure the children had come from there-and he knew enough of his comrades' adventures to wonder if everything was right on the island.
"He may put out a boat from the smack and go and see what's happening," said George. "Well, he can't do much except take the men off- with a few ingots! I hardly think they'll dare to take any of the gold though, now that we've escaped to tell our tale!"
Julian looked behind at the ship. He saw after a time that the little boat it carried was being lowered into the sea. "You're right," he said to George. "They're afraid something is up. They're going to rescue those three men. What a pity!"
Their little boat reached land. The children leapt out into the shallow water and dragged it up to the beach. Tim pulled at the rope too, wagging his tail. He loved to join in anything that the children were doing.
"Shall you take Tim to Alf?" asked Dick.
George shook her head. "No," she said, "we haven't any time to waste. We must go and tell everything that has happened. I'll tie Tim up to the fence in the front garden."
They made their way to Kirrin Cottage at top speed. Aunt Fanny was gardening there. She stared in surprise to see the hurrying children.
"Why," she said, "I thought you were not coming back till tomorrow or the next day! Has anything happened? What's the matter with Dick's cheek?"
"Nothing much," said Dick.
The others chimed in.
"Aunt Fanny, where's Uncle Quentin? We have something important to tell him!"
"Mother, we've had such an adventure!"
"Aunt Fanny, we've an awful lot to tell you! We really have!"
Aunt Fanny looked at the untidy children in amazement. "Whatever has happened?" she said. Then she turned towards the house and called, "Quentin! Quentin! The children have something to tell us!"
Uncle Quentin came out, looking rather cross, for he was in the middle of his work. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"Uncle, it's about Kirrin Island," said Julian, eagerly. "Those men haven't bought it yet, have they?"
"Well, it's practically sold," said his uncle. "I've signed my part, and they are to sign their part tomorrow. Why? What's that to do with you?"
"Uncle, those men won't sign tomorrow," said Julian. "Do you know why they wanted to buy the island and the castle? Not because they really wanted to build an hotel or anything like that-but because they knew the lost gold was hidden there!"
"What nonsense are you talking?" said his uncle.
"It isn't nonsense, Father!" cried George indignantly. "It's all true. The map of the old castle was in that box you sold- and in the map was shown where the ingots were hidden by my great-great-great-grandfather!"
George's father looked amazed and annoyed. He simply didn't believe a word! But his wife saw by the solemn and serious faces of the four children that something important really had happened. And then Anne suddenly burst into loud sobs! The excitement had been too much for her and she couldn't bear to think that her uncle wouldn't believe that everything was true.
"Aunt Fanny, Aunt Fanny, it's all true!" she sobbed. "Uncle Quentin is horrid not to believe us. Oh, Aunt Fanny, the man had a revolver- and oh, he made Julian and George prisoners in the dungeons- and Dick had to climb down the well to rescue them. And George has smashed up their motor-boat to stop them escaping!"
Her aunt and uncle couldn't make head or tail of this, but Uncle Quentin suddenly seemed to think that the matter was serious and worth looking into. "Smashed up a motor-boat!" he said. "Whatever for? Come indoors. I shall have to hear the story from beginning to end. It seems quite unbelievable to me."
They all trooped indoors. Anne sat on her aunt's knee and listened to George and Julian telling the whole story. They told it well and left nothing out. Aunt Fanny grew quite pale as she listened, especially when she heard about Dick climbing down the well.
"You might have been killed," she said. "Oh, Dick! What a brave thing to do!"
Uncle Quentin listened in the utmost amazement. He had never had much liking or admiration for any children- he always thought they were noisy, tiresome, and silly. But now, as he listened to Julian's tale, he changed his mind about these four children at once!
"You've been very clever," he said. "And very brave too. I'm proud of you. Yes, I'm very proud of you all. No wonder you didn't want me to sell the island, George, when you knew about the ingots! But why didn't you tell me?"
The four children stared at him and didn't answer. They couldn't very well say, "Well, firstly, you wouldn't have believed us. Secondly, you are bad-tempered and unjust and we are frightened of you. Thirdly, we didn't trust you enough to do the right thing."
"Why don't you answer?" said their uncle. His wife answered for them, in a gentle voice.
"Quentin, you scare the children, you know, and I don't expect they liked to go to you. But now that they have, you will be able to take matters into your own hands. The children cannot do any more. You must ring up the police and see what they have to say about all this."
"Right," said Uncle Quentin, and he got up at once. He patted Julian on the back. "You have all done well," he said. Then he ruffled George's short curly hair. "And I'm proud of you, too, George," he said. "You're as good as a boy any day!"
"Oh Father!" said George, going red with surprise and pleasure. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The children noticed that he had a very nice face when he smiled. He and George were really very alike to look at. Both looked ugly when they sulked and frowned- and both were good to look at when they laughed or smiled!
George's father went off to telephone the police and his lawyer too. The children sat and ate biscuits and plums, telling their aunt a great many little details they had forgotten when telling the story before.
As they sat there, there came a loud and angry bark from the front garden. George looked up. "That's Tim," she said, with an anxious look at her mother. "I hadn't time to take him to Alf, who keeps him for me. Mother, Tim was such a comfort to us on the island, you know. I'm sorry he's barking now- but I expect he's hungry."
"Well, fetch him in," said her mother, unexpectedly. "He's quite a hero, too- we must give him a good dinner."
George smiled in delight. She sped out of the door and went to Tim. She set him free and he came bounding indoors, wagging his long tail. He licked George's mother and cocked his ears at her.
"Good dog," she said, and actually patted him. "I'll get you some dinner!"
Tim trotted out to the kitchen with her. Julian grinned at George. "Well, look at that," he said. "Your mother's a brick, isn't she?"
"Yes- but I don't know what Father will say when he sees Tim in the house again," said George, doubtfully.
Her father came back at that minute, his face grave. "The police take a serious view of all this," he said, "and so does my lawyer. They all ag
ree in thinking that you children have been remarkably clever and brave. And George- my lawyer says that the ingots definitely belong to us. Are there really a lot?"
"Father! There are hundreds!" cried George. "Simply hundreds- all in a big pile in the dungeon. Oh, Father-shall we be rich now?"
"Yes", said her father. "We shall. Rich enough to give you and your mother all the things I've longed to give you for so many years and couldn't. I've worked hard enough for you- but it's not the kind of work that brings in a lot of money, and so I've become irritable and bad-tempered. But now you shall have everything you want!"
"I don't really want anything I haven't already got," said George. "But Father, there is one thing I'd like more than anything else in the world- and it won't cost you a penny!"
"You shall have it, my dear!" said her father, slipping his arm round George, much to her surprise. "Just say what it is- and even if it costs a hundred pounds you shall have it!"
Just then there came the pattering of big feet down the passage to the room they were in. A big hairy head pushed itself through the door and looked inquiringly at everyone there. It was Tim, of course!
Uncle Quentin stared at him in surprise. "Why, isn't that Tim?" he asked. "Hallo, Tim!"
"Father! Tim is the thing I want most in all the world," said George, squeezing her father's arm. "You can't think what a friend he was to us on the island- and he wanted to fly at those men and fight them. Oh, Father, I don't want any other present- I only want to keep Tim and have him here for my very own. We could afford to give him a proper kennel to sleep in now, and I'd see that he didn't disturb you, I really would."
"Well, of course you can have him!" said her father-and Tim came right into the room at once, wagging his tail, looking for all the world as if he had understood every word that had been said. He actually licked Uncle Quentin's hand! Anne thought that was very brave of him.