Tom went pale, and looked up at the sky anxiously. Both boys could now hear, the hum of the engines quite clearly.
And then the seaplane appeared, flying fairly low and quite slowly. It was plain that it was hunting the seas for something.
"Can we do anything, Andy?" said Tom.
"We had better jump into the water, hold on to the raft, and hope maybe the seaplane will think there's no-one on it," said Andy. "Only our heads will show beside the raft—they might not notice them. Come on, quick!"
The boys slid into the water over the side of the raff. They hung there with their hands, only their heads showing. They waited anxiously.
The great seaplane came zooming overhead, very close to the water. It had seen the raft and was coming to examine it more closely. How the boys hoped that when the raft was seen to be empty the seaplane would fly off!
The plane flew over the raft. It circled round and came back again, flying once more over the raft. It circled round again and the boys hoped it would now fly off. But once more it flew over the raft—and then, to the boys' great dismay, it skimmed over the water and landed there, not very far off.
"It's no good, Tom. We're discovered," said Andy. "We may as well climb back on to the raft. Look—they're letting down a boat."
The boys climbed back on to the raft, angry and disappointed. And then Tom gave such a tremendous yell that Andy nearly fell overboard with fright.
"Andy! ANDY! Look at the sign on the seaplane! It's British! It's BRITISH!"