“I do wish we could have gone with him,” said Jack longingly. “I hope he will have some news when he comes back.”
“Come, you children can wash these dishes in water from the pool,” called Pilescu. “Soon it will be too hot to do anything. Before it is, we must also find some firewood ready for tonight.”
Pilescu kept the children busy until the sun rose higher. Then when its rays beat down like fire, he made them get into the shade of the plane. Paul did not want to, for he enjoyed the heat, but Pilescu ordered him to go with the others.
“Pilescu, it is not for you to order me,” said the little Prince, sticking his chin into the air.
“Little Paul, I am in command now,” said the big Baronian, gently but sternly. “You are my lord, but I am your captain in this adventure. Do as I say.”
“Paul, don’t be an idiot, or I’ll come and get you into the shade by the scruff of your neck,” called Mike. “If you get sunstroke, you’ll be ill and will have to be flown back to London at once.”
Paul trotted into the shade like a lamb. He lay down by the others. Soon they were so thirsty that Pilescu found himself continually getting in and out of the plane with supplies of cool lemonade from the little refrigerator there.
The children slept in the midday heat. Pilescu was sleepy too, but he kept guard on the little company, wondering how big Ranni was getting on. When the sun began to slip down the coppery sky, he mopped his brow and awoke the children.
“There is some tinned fruit in the plane,” he told Nora. “Get it, and open the tins. It will be delicious to eat whilst we wait for the day to cool.”
Ranni did not come back until the sun had set with the same suddenness as the day before. The children watched and waited impatiently for him, and lighted the bonfire early to guide him.