"It's the black thing!" he cried out. "It's one of the black monkeys who has followed us. He keeps popping his head in and out of a hole."
"I thought it was about time," the Good Wolf remarked. "Let us go and look at the hole."
"Chat-chat-chattery, chattery-chatterdy," said the black monkey, as if he were telling them to come.
They went to look, and as they drew near it the monkey kept darting in and out and chattering all the time.
The hole was in a piece of rock which stood out of the cliff. The opening was just big enough to crawl into.
"If we can get in it will keep the rain off us," cried Barty, and he went right down on his stomach and crawled in to see if there was room enough.
"Chattery-chattery-chat-chat-chatterdy," said the black monkey, running before him.
Almost as soon as Barty had crawled into the hole he gave a shout. He found he had crawled into an open place like a room, with walls of rock, and on one side there was actually an opening like a window, which looked out on the sea.
"It's a cave! It's a cave!" he called back to the Good Wolf, and the Good Wolf came scrambling in after him.
"It's a cave in the cliff," he said, "and the storm may do what it likes; it can't touch us. We found it just in time."
They were only just in time, for at that very moment there came a great bellowing roar of thunder and a great rushing roar of rain. But it was all outside and they were safe and warm, and Barty danced for joy, and the black monkey danced too.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Come down and sit on my knee," Barty said to him, "I want to look at you. I never had a monkey for a friend in all my life before."
The black monkey jumped down on to his knee as if he had learned boys' language in his cradle. He could only chatter monkey chatter himself, but it was quite plain that he understood Barty. He was funny when he sat down and folded his tiny hands before him, as if he were waiting to hear what was going to be said to him.
"He has such nice eyes," said Barty. "I believe he is asking me to tell him to do something."
"Yes, that's what he wants," replied the Good Wolf. "That is what he came for. I knew he was coming. That was why I asked you if you had seen something black."
"Was it?" said Barty. "You know all about this desert island, don't you?"
"Yes," the Good Wolf answered. "Every single thing," and he said it with such a peculiar smile that Barty knew there was some secret in his mind and he wondered what it was, but he did not ask because he felt sure that the Good Wolf would tell him some time.
The black monkey was looking
face of it. Only a monkey could have done it. He caught hold of tiny bushes and twigs and clumps of green things and pulled himself up like lightning. In a few minutes he was as high as the cave and he stood on the ledge and looked out from there, shading his eyes again with his black paw.
"He can see round the point from there," said the Good Wolf.
"Do you feel at all nervous?" asked Barty.
"I had a good night's sleep and I have had an excellent breakfast," the Good Wolf said, "and I am prepared for almost anything but Pirates and Cannibals are known to be very disagreeable."
"But they are adventures, if they don't catch you," said Barty, cheering himself up.
"They are adventures if they do catch you," answered the Good Wolf.
"The Best Adventure is finding out how to get away," said Barty.
"Well, you see a person comes to a desert island for adventures," said the Good Wolf.
Barty sat and hugged his knees and looked rather serious.
"Robinson Crusoe had a good many," he said. "He had to be shipwrecked before he could get to his island."
"Look at Man Saturday!" he said the next minute. Man Saturday was dancing up and down on the ledge and looking very much excited. He kept pointing round the headland and they could see that he was chattering though they could not hear him.
"He sees something coming round the point," said the Good Wolf. "This is beginning to look serious."
"But in adventures people always do get away," said Barty, cheering himself up again. "You see they couldn't write the adventures if they didn't."
"There, you have thought of the right thing at the right time again," said the Good Wolf. "It's a most valuable habit. Do I see a ship with black sails coming round the point?"
"Yes," answered Barty, "you do, because I see it myself. It is a very fierce looking ship, with guns sticking out through holes, and there are black flags as well as black sails, and white bones and skulls are painted on them. It is a very fierce ship indeed."
"Man Saturday is beckoning to us to go to the cave," the Good Wolf said, "perhaps we would better go."
Barty thought so, too, so they had another run back up the green slope and Blue Crest flew with them. They ran as fast as they had run in the storm, and when they got to the creeping in place they were inside in two minutes.
Man Saturday had clambered in through the window and he was chattering as fast as he could. He jumped onto Barty's shoulder and put his arm round his neck as if he intended to protect him. Blue Crest perched on the leaf bed and sang a little thrilling song which Barty knew was meant to be encouraging and was also full of good advice if he could have understood it.