The girls
went to the water and washed the things. The boys wandered up the beach - and, at the back of the sandy cove, they found just the very place they wanted!
There was a sandy bank there, with a few old willows growing on top of it, their branches drooping down. Rain had worn away the sandy soil from their roots, and underneath there was a sort of shallow cave, with roots running across it here and there.
Look at that! said Jack in delight. Just the place we want for our stores! Nora, Peggy, come and look here!
The girls came running. Oh, said Peggy, pleased, we can use those big roots as shelves, and stand our tins and cups and dishes on them! Oh, its a proper little larder!
Well, you girls, get the stores from the cove and arrange them neatly here, said Jack. Mike and I will go and fill the kettle from the spring, and well see if there isnt a nearer spring, because its a long way up the hill and down the other side.
Cant we come with you? asked Peggy.
No, you arrange everything, said Jack. It had better all be done as quickly as possible, because you never know when its going to turn wet. We dont want our stores spoilt.
Leaving Peggy and Nora to arrange the tins, baskets, and odds and ends neatly in the root-larder, the two boys went up the hill behind the cove. They separated to look for a spring, and Mike found one! It was a very tiny one, gushing out from under a small rock, and it ran down the hill like a little waterfall, getting lost in the heather and grass here and there. Its way could be seen by the rushes that sprang up beside its course.
I expect it runs down into the lake, said Mike. Its a very small spring, but we can use it to fill our kettle, and it wont take us quite so long as going to the other spring. If we have to live in the caves during the winter, the other spring will be more useful then, for it will be quite near the cave.
They filled the kettle. It was lovely up there on the hillside in the June sun. Bees hummed and butterflies flew all round. Birds sang, and two or three moorhens cried Fulluck, fulluck! from the water below.
Lets go to the top of the hill and see if we can spy anyone coming up or down the lake, said Jack. So they went right up to the top, but not a sign of anyone could they see. The waters of the lake were calm and clear and blue. Not a boat was on it. The children might have been quite alone in the world.
They went down to the girls with the full kettle. Nora and Peggy proudly showed the boys how they had arranged the stores. They had used the big roots for shelves, and the bottom of the little cave they had used for odds and ends, such as Jacks axe and knife, the hammer and nails, and so on.
Its a nice dry place, said Peggy. Its just right for a larder, and its so nice and near the cove. Jack, where are we going to build our house?
Jack took the girls and Mike to the west end of the cove, where there was a thicket of willows. He forced his way through them and showed the others a fine clear place right in the very middle of the trees.
Heres the very place, he said. No one would ever guess there was a house just here, if we built one! The willows grow so thickly that I dont suppose anyone but ourselves would ever know they could be got through.
They talked about their house until they were tired out. They made their way back to the little beach and Jack said they would each have a cup of cocoa, a piece of cake, and go to bed!
He and Mike soon made a fire. There were plenty of dry twigs about, and bigger bits of wood. It did look cheerful to see the flames dancing. Jack could not use his little magnifying glass to set light to the paper or twigs because the sun was not hot enough then. It was sinking down in the west. He used a match. He set the kettle on the fire to boil.
It would be better to-morrow to swing the kettle over the flames on a tripod of sticks, he said. It will boil more quickly then.
But nobody minded how slowly the kettle boiled.
They lay on their backs in the sand, looking up at the evening sky, listening to the crackle of the wood, and smelling a mixture of wood-smoke and honeysuckle. At last the kettle sent out a spurt of steam, and began to hiss. It was boiling.
Nora made the cocoa, and handed it round in mugs. Theres no milk, she said. But there is some sugar.
They munched their cake and drank their cocoa. Though it had no milk in it, it was the nicest they had ever tasted.
I do like seeing the fire, said Nora. Oh, Jack, why are you stamping it out?
Well, said Jack, people may be looking for us to-night, you know, and a spire of smoke from this island would give our hiding-place away nicely! Come on, now, everyone to bed! Weve hard work to do tomorrow!
Peggy hurriedly rinsed
out the mugs. Then all of them went to their green, heathery bedroom. The sun was gone. Twilight was stealing over the secret island.
Our first night here! said Mike, standing up and looking down on the quiet waters of the lake. We are all alone, the four of us, without a roof over our heads even, but Im so happy!