The two little ships got under way. Nancy and Peggy in the Amazon waited for the Swallow outside the cove, and they sailed for Wild Cat Island within comfortable talking distance.
“That’s the Pike Rock,” said Nancy, pointing out the rock opposite the southern of the two little headlands. “You wouldn’t be able to see it if the lake wasn’t so low.”
“We saw it when we were coming in,” said John.
“It’s awfully jagged,” said Peggy. “Uncle Jim saw a fisherman sink his boat by rowing into it.”
In Swallow Titty was still talking of the secret valley. “Nobody would find it,” she said, “if they didn’t know it was there.”
“She may be quite right,” said Nancy, from the Amazon. “We’ve never gone up to the moor from this side. Are you sure about it, Able-seaman? A real secret one?”
“You couldn’t tell it was there at all if you hadn’t gone right into it,” said Roger.
“It might be just the place to go to when the great-aunt says we mustn’t sail,” said Peggy.
“Do you think I haven’t thought of that?” said Captain Nancy.
“You’ll make me upset the mug,” said Roger, as Titty prodded him gently with her finger.
“They don’t know about it,” she whispered.
“What about going there to-morrow?” said Nancy across the water.
“Say yes, say yes,” said Roger and Titty together.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t,” said Captain John.
John and Nancy sailed their ships past the harbour at the foot of the island, up the inner channel, and brought them in at the landing-place.
“Just for one second,” said Nancy. “We’re late already.”
“We always are,” said Peggy. “But the great-aunt makes being late seem much worse.”
They raced up from the landing-place and looked round the camp. Susan thanked them for the wood-pile. Titty dived into her tent and brought out the envelope with the eight green feathers she had saved for them. John brought the arrow from behind the boxes in the store tent. Both the Amazons said, “How do you do” and “Pieces of eight” to the parrot, but the parrot had seen the green feathers and so would do nothing but squawk at them, though Titty tried to make him show off. They looked, sadly, at the place where their own tent used to stand. They said how good were the new tents of the Swallows, and then they hurried down to the landing-place, tumbled into the Amazon and pushed off.
“What about to-morrow?” asked Susan at the last minute.
“We’ll go to see Titty’s valley,” called Nancy. “It might be very useful. Mother’s taking the great-aunt out to lunch, so we needn’t be in till tea. We’ll sail straight to Horseshoe Cove in the morning. Be there before you are. Bet you anything. So long, Swallows!”
The four Swallows went up to Look Out Point to watch the little white sail grow smaller and smaller as the Amazon sailed away towards the Peak of Darien.
“I don’t see why they shouldn’t have come here in the morning,” said Susan.
“It’s beastly for them not being able to camp on the island when we can,” said John. “After all they knew the island first.”
When the Amazon had sailed away so that the pirates could not hear shouts, let alone whispers, it was hard for the able-seaman and the boy to keep their secret. But keep it they did, though they came near giving it away.
“There’s something more we discovered,” said Titty.
“Something better than anything we’ve told you yet.”
“What was it?” said Susan. “Probably a caterpillar.”
“Well,” said Roger, “a butterfly did help.”
“If it hadn’t been for the butterfly we wouldn’t have found it,” said Titty.
“What is it?” said John.
“It’s the very thing Peter Duck’s always been wanting.”
CHAPTER V
CAPTAIN JOHN HANGS ON
“The old man said, ‘I mean to hang on
Till her canvas busts or her sticks are gone’ –
Which the blushing looney did, till at last
Overboard went her mizen mast.
Hear the yarn of a sailor,
An old yarn learned at sea.”
Masefield
“The Yarn of the Loch Achray”
IN THE MORNING Captain John had everything ready for pushing off and hoisting sail. He was waiting only for his crew and his crew were busy tidying up the camp after breakfast, because the mate would never allow things to be left dirty between one meal and the next.
“She likes the camp to look as if no one had ever eaten even a biscuit in it,” said John to himself, rather grumpily, though he knew the mate was right. But he had a reason for being in a hurry.
Long ago the Amazon had been sighted, sailing fast down the lake, along the farther shore. The explorers on Wild Cat Island had slept so well that there was never any chance that they could beat Nancy and Peggy Blackett in getting first to Horseshoe Cove. Nancy had said Amazon would be there first, and she would be, first by any amount. But that was not all. Captain John had seen what a good wind she had out there. Through the telescope he had seen that there were pretty big waves on that side of the lake. From the rock above the harbour he had watched Amazon race past Cormorant Island and on and on until she reached the narrow entrance into Horseshoe Cove. Then, watching through the telescope, he had seen how Nancy and Peggy jibed her smartly, brought the sail over on the other side, and shot out of sight into the little bay. While he was watching, he was planning, of course, exactly what he would do in sailing Swallow across there. The wind was north-east, so that it was blowing directly from Wild Cat Island to Horseshoe Cove. Captain John made up his mind that he would run down wind to the cove with the sail out on the port side. By doing that, he thought, he would be able to turn into the cove without having to jibe in the rough water and harder wind that he could see that he would find there. He had this plan clear in his mind, and now he wanted to be sailing and getting across there before the wind changed or something happened to make the plan no good. It seemed to him that the wind was getting stronger and he did not want to have to reef when, as he had seen, the Amazon had carried full sail. He wanted to be off at once and to-day everybody else seemed to be busy about something that did not matter at all. It had begun at breakfast when Titty had started making a fuss about torches, as if anybody wanted torches on a summer day. He had been a donkey to give in to her and to let her have his torch to put in with the rest of the luggage.
At last he heard the others coming.
Roger came first with the kettle. Then came Titty with a basket of eggs and a frying-pan. Then Mate Susan with two knapsacks, one full of towels and bathing things, and the other with rations for the expedition. “We shan’t want much,” she had said, “because the Amazons have got to get back to tea.” As she came, she was going over the things she had put in. “Biscuits, bread, seed-cake, spoons, knife, marmalade, butter. . .”
“You haven’t put in egg-cups,” said Roger, “because we don’t have any.”
“Botheration!” said the mate, dumping