"Oh, Andy! Whatever do you mean?" cried Mary.
"I don't know what I mean," said Andy. "It's just a feeling I have, that's all. Maybe I'm wrong—but one of us will come over here every day at low tide and just see if there's somebody about before we let them know we're here."
"Well, Andy—what about all our footmarks round the cave?" said Tom.
"The tide will wash all those away," said Andy. "Look over the cliff-edge, Tom—you'll see the tide has gone right into the cave now. There's nothing that will show we've been there."
"Except that some of the food is missing," said Mary. "You've forgotten that, Andy."
"No, I haven't," said Andy. "There's so much in that cave that I don't think-anyone will miss the little we've taken. I don't expect it's checked at all. Nobody would think that any strangers would ever visit that cave."
The children wandered over the island and looked for bilberries, which were fruiting there in great numbers. It was a way of quenching their thirst, to pick the small, juicy bilberries. The island was quite deserted. It did not look as if anyone had ever lived there at all.
The tide went down and the line of rocks began to show. The children clambered down to the shore to go tack to their own island. They had tied to their backs the food they had taken, and Andy told everyone to be very careful.
"We don't want to lose our food in a deep pool!" he said. "So don't rush along too fast, Tom. You are always in such a hurry!"
The rocks were wet and slippery, but the children were very careful indeed. Once an extra large wave came and splashed right over Jill, and she gave a squeal.