Jack’s tree was a very high one. He could see the island quite well from it. He suddenly saw the boat coming round one side of the island, and he knew who the two men were!
“Yes - it’s our dear friend Mr. Diaz and his sleepy helper Luiz,” thought Jack to himself. “They must have missed seeing the little beach where we usually land, and they’ve come round to the other side of the island. Well, that means we can keep a jolly good watch on them!”
Mike and Jack watched the boat from their perches up in the trees. The two men landed and pulled the boat on to the shore. They stood and talked for a while and then they separated and went off round the island.
“I’m afraid they won’t find us!” Jack called softly to Mike, who was at the top of a tree nearby. “And unless they find the things we brought with us, that Paul so cleverly stuffed into a bush, they may not even think we’ve been to the island!”
“It was a good idea of yours to come across to the mainland, Jack,” answered Mike. “We’re safe enough here. We could even make our way through the woods and walk to the nearest town, if we had to!”
“Look! There’s one of the men at the top of the hill,” said Jack. Mike looked. The hill was not near enough to see if the man was Mr. Diaz or Luiz, but it was certainly one of them. He was shading his eyes and looking all down the waters of the lake.
“Good thing our boat’s hidden!” said Mike. “I wonder how long they’re going to hunt round the island! I don’t want to spend the night in these woods - there’s no heather here and the ground looks very damp.”
The boys watched for two hours and then they began to feel very hungry. Mike left Jack on watch and climbed down to the girls, who had been picking a crop of wild strawberries, small and very sweet. Paul was with them, and he ran to Mike and rained questions on him about the men in the boat.
Mike told him all he had seen. “But what I really came down for was to say we’d better have something to eat,” he said. “I’ll clean the fish we’ve caught, Peggy, and light you a small fire. You can cook them, then, on some hot stones, and we’ll have a meal.”
He cleaned the fish they had caught, and made a fire. “I hope the men on the island don’t think our smoke is anything to do with us!” he said.