But Tom had a dreadful shock as he was about to make his way out of the Round Cave back to the beach. He heard voices!
The boy stood perfectly still, his heart beating fast. Whose voices were these?
They came nearer. Men were on the beach outside! Men had found his boat! Was it the enemy?
Alas for poor Tom-it was the enemy! Tom had not heard the boom of the seaplane coming down on the water. He had not seen a rubber boat putting off hurriedly to the cave. But now he could hear the voices of the men.
They had seen the boat on the beach, and had come to examine it. They soon saw that it was the stolen boat, which had now been missed and was being searched for.
The men knew at once where the owner of the boat was—in the eavel And they were going to search for him there.
Tom darted back into the Round Cave and hid be-hind a big pile of boxes. He felt quite certain he would be found—and as he crouched there, trembling and excited, he made up his mind very, very firmly that he would not say how many others had come to the islands with him. He would make the men think that he was the only one—then nlaybe the other three would not be hunted for.
"I've been a perfect silly to run into danger like this," thought poor Tom. "But, at any rate, I can save the others from being hunted for, perhaps."
The men came into the Round Cave. They had powerful torches which they flashed around—and almost at once they saw Tom's feet sticking out from behind a box.
They dragged him out and stood him up. They seemed most astonished to find only a boy. They had expected a man. They talked quickly among themselves in a language that Tom could not understand.