“Well, anyway, Polly,” Kate put in, in her level-headed way, “whatever they have in there, we have no business going in and rummaging around, and they’ll very soon tell us so if they appear suddenly. I move that we vanish.”
The motion was carried unanimously, and the girls climbed the path back to the Castle.
“We can watch anyone who comes, from up here,” Polly said. “They’ll see the yachts anyway, and know they have visitors.”
“Maybe they have already,” Kate suggested. “Maybe that’s what ails them. Maybe they’ve seen us and have run away to hide.”
“Oh, such a hive of maybes,” laughed Ruth. “Still, maybe it’s so, Polly.”
The idea gave them fresh courage, and they hurried to the Castle, and hunted all over its ruins, enthusiastic over the outlook for adventure. But even when they had reached the topmost point and the entire island lay before them, not a sign of life did they detect. Save for their own pretty fleet, riding at anchor down in the cove, the shore was deserted, and not a single sound disturbed the air.
“I think whoever it is has gone fishing for his breakfast,” Nancy said, decidedly. “And it’s probably only some of the boys from the summer cottages or the hotel, having a little camp for a day or two. Let’s go along as if nothing had happened, and if they should come back, we’ll just tell them we came over to see the island and didn’t know it had any people on it.”
It seemed to be the only sensible thing to do, so the girls agreed. As Ruth said, in these days it was hardly likely there were pirates on the island, and a party of ordinary campers wouldn’t eat them up or open fire on them from any secret place. So in spite of their curiosity and natural uneasiness, the girls managed to spend a happy day. They dug clams and roasted them down on the beach for lunch, and even borrowed a few things from the cave outfit, pepper and salt, some forks, and an extra bottle of Chili sauce. With a plentiful supply of crackers, and all that Aunty Welcome had put into their lunch boxes besides, it was a feast. After it was over, the girls returned what they had borrowed, and placed a conspicuous sign on them, written by Polly:
“Dear Smuggler:
“Thank you for your pepper, salt and Chili sauce. We leave in return this jar of Aunty Welcome’s marmalade, and half a nut cake, and six crullers, and some hermits. Do you know what hermits are? We thought it would be appropriate to give you some.”