When the things were cleared away, and Peggy had washed Jack’s clothes and set them out to dry, the children held a meeting.
“The first thing to do,” said Jack, “is to arrange that someone shall always be on watch during the day, on the top of the hill. You can see all up the lake and down from there, and we should get good warning then if anyone were coming - we should have plenty of time to do everything.”
“Shall we have someone on guard during the night?” asked Nora.
“No,” said Jack. “People are not likely to come at night. We can sleep in peace. I don’t think anyone will come for a few days, anyhow, because I think they will search around the lake-side first, and will only think of the island later.”
“I think, as we are not going to the mainland for some time, we had better make a big hole in the boat and let her sink,” said Mike. “I’ve always been afraid she might be found, although she is well hidden under the brambles. After all, Jack, if she is sunk, no one could possibly find her!”
“That’s a good idea, Mike,” said Jack. “We can’t be too careful now. Sink her this morning. We can easily get her up again and mend her if we want her. Peggy, will you see that every single thing is cleared away that might show people we are here? Look, there’s some snippings of wool, there - that sort of thing must be cleared up, for it tells a tale!”
“I’ll see to it,” promised Peggy. Jack knew she would, for she was a most dependable girl.
“Every single thing must be taken to the caves today,” said Jack, “except just those few things we need for cooking, like a saucepan and kettle and so on. We can easily slip those away at the last minute. We will leave ourselves a candle or two in Willow House, because we can sleep there till we have to go to the caves.”
“Jack, what about the hen-yard?” asked Nora. “It really does look like a yard now, because the hens have scratched about so much.”
“That’s true,” said Jack. “Well, as soon as we know we’ve got to hide, Mike can pull up the fence round the hen-yard and store it in Willow House. Then he can scatter sand over the yard and cover it with heather. It’s a good thing you thought of that, Nora.”