So am I! said everyone. The girls went to their hidden green room in the gorse and lay down in their clothes. It seemed silly to undress when they were sleeping out of doors. Mike threw them the old ragged rug.
Throw that over yourselves, he said. It may be cold to-night, sleeping out for the first time. You wont be frightened, will you?
No, said Peggy. You two boys will be near, and, anyway, what is there to be frightened of?
They lay down on the soft heather, and pulled the old rug over them. The springy heather was softer than the old hard bed the two girls had been used to at home. The little girls put their arms round one another and shut their eyes. They were fast asleep almost at once.
But the boys did not sleep so quickly. They lay on their heathery beds and listened to all the sounds of the night. They heard the little grunt of a hedgehog going by. They saw the flicker of bats overhead. They smelt the drifting scent of honeysuckle, and the delicious smell of wild thyme crushed under their bodies. A reed-warbler sang a beautiful little song in the reeds below, and then another answered.
Is that a blackbird? asked Mike.
No, a reed-warbler, said Jack. They sing as beautifully as any bird that sings in the daytime! Listen, do you hear that owl?
Oooo-ooo-ooo-oooo! came a long, quivering sound; ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo!
Hes hunting for rats and voles, said Jack. I say, look at the stars, Mike?
Dont they seem far away? said Mike, looking up into the purple night sky, which was set with thousands of bright stars. I say, Jack, its awfully nice of you to come away with us like this and share your secret island.
It isnt nice of me at all, said Jack. I wanted to. Im doing just exactly what I most want to do. I only hope we shant be found and taken back, but Ill take jolly good care no one finds us! Im laying my plans already!
But Mike was not listening. His eyes shut, he forgot the owls and the stars; he fell asleep and dreamt of building a house with Jack, a lovely house.
Jack fell asleep, too. And soon the rabbits that lived under their gorse-bush came slyly out and peeped at the sleeping children in surprise. Who were they?
But, as the children did not move, the rabbits grew bold and went out to play just as usual. Even when one ran over Mike by mistake, the little boy did not know it. He was much too fast asleep!
The Building of the House
Mind how you do it, said the thrush, mind how you do it!
Jack grinned. Ill mind how I do it all right! he said to the singing thrush. "Hi, Mike! Wake up! The sun is quite high!
Mike woke and sat up. At first he didnt remember where he was. Then a broad smile came over his face. Of course - they were all on the secret island! How perfectly glorious!
Peggy, Nora! Get up! he cried. The girls awoke and sat up in a hurry. Wherever were they? What was this green bedroom - oh, of course, it was their heathery bedroom on the secret island!
Soon all four children were up and about. Jack made them take off their things and have a dip in the lake. It was simply lovely, but the water felt cold at first. When they had dried themselves on an old sack - for they had no towels - the children felt terribly hungry. But Jack had been busy. He had set his fishing-line, and, even as they bathed, he had seen the float jerk up and down. It was not long before Jack proudly laid four fine trout on the sand of the cove, and set about to make a fire to cook them.
Mike went to fill the kettle to make some tea. Peggy got some big potatoes out of the sack and put them almost in the fire to cook in their skins. Jack found the frying-pan in their storeroom and put a piece of margarine in it to fry the fish, which he knew exactly how to clean.
I dont know what we should do without you, said Mike, as he watched Jack. Goodness! How I shall enjoy my breakfast!
They all did. The tea did not taste very nice without milk. Its a pity we cant get milk, said Jack. We shall miss that, Im afraid. Now, Peggy, wash up, and Nora, too. Put
everything away - and well start on our house!
In great excitement everything was washed up and put away. Then Jack led the way through the thick willow-trees, and they came to the little clear place in the centre of them.
Now, this is how I mean to build the house, he said. Do you see these little willow-trees here - one there - one there - two there - and two there. Well, I think you will find that if we climb up and bend down the top branches, they will meet each other nicely in the centre, and we can weave them into one another. That will make the beginning of a roof. With my axe I shall chop down some other young willow-trees, and use the trunk and thicker branches for walls. We can drive the trunks and branches into the ground between the six willow-trees we are using, and fill up any cracks with smaller branches woven across. Then, if we stuff every corner and crevice with bracken and heather, we shall have a fine big house, with a splendid roof, wind-proof and rain-proof. What do you think of that?