"A gull pecked me there," said Andy, mopping his knee. "It's nothing much. I say, wasn't it funny when the gulls thought we were rocks and came and stood on us! They were a great help!"
"One gull stood nearly on my face," said Jill. "I didn't like it very much."
"I do feel cold," said Mary, shivering and shaking. "It was horrid to be covered with damp sand for so long."
She sneezed. Andy looked at her anxiously. It would never do for any of them to be ill just now. He made up his mind quickly.
"The men may be off the island now," he said. "I'll go and see. If they are we'll all tear across to the hut, light the stove inside and dry ourselves. we'll make some hot cocoa and get really warm."
The girls thought that was a splendid idea. Andy set off up the cliff. "Stay here till you hear my seagull cry," he said. "Then come as quickly as you can."
He came to the top of the cliff. Then, keeping to the thick bracken, he made his way to the other side of the island, looking out for any signs of the men. He went right across the island, and came to the hollow where the old buildings were—and he saw the motor-boat putting off from the shore! The men had given up the hunt and were going back to the third island. They had already searched the second one and had found nobody but Tom.
Andy tore back to the girls. He screeched like a gull. The girls at once climbed the cliff and ran across the island, feeling a little wanner as they ran. Andy was in the shack, and the stove was lighted. It gave out a welcome heat.
"Take off your damp things and wrap yourself in the rugs," said Andy, who was already walking about in a rug himself and looked like a Red Indian. "I'm making some cocoa."
In ten minutes' time all the children felt warm and lively. The stove dried their things, and the hot cocoa wanned them well. Nobody sneezed again and Andy began to hope that their long stay under the damp sand wouldn't give anyone a chill after all.