"Who could we signal to?" asked Jill. "We don't even know where we are!"
The man took no notice of her. He stood and shouted into the night. "Boys! Come here at once!"
There was no answer, of course—there couldn't be, for the boys were miles away on the sea.
"To-morrow I will come to tell those boys that when I call, they must answer," said the man in an angry voice, "I am going now—but to-morrow I come again. You will tell the boys they must be here, by the tent."
Jill and Mary said nothing. They could not tell the boys—and they wondered what would happen when the men found that they were not on the island.
The men went off in their boat again. "What a pity we lighted that stove!" said Jill. "I suppose that seaplane saw it and reported it—and they thought we were signalling to someone. How clever they must think us! I only wish we could signal to someone!"
Neither of the girls could imagine what the men would do when they came to find the boys the next day, and saw that they were gone. They cuddled up together and tried to go to sleep. They awoke early and got themselves some breakfast. Then they sat waiting for the men.
There was nothing else to do—it was of no use trying to hide. They must just pretend that they did not know where the boys were.
The motor-boat did not arrive until mid-day. Then two men came up to the tent, and the one who could speak English looked at the two girls.
"What about those boys?" he said. "Why are they not here?"