"George! George! Buck up. The men are out!" suddenly yelled Julian. He had seen the three men running to the cliff that led down to the cove. George leapt out of the motor-boat and joined the others. They pushed their boat out on to the water, and George took the oars at once, pulling for all she was worth.
The three men ran to their motor-boat. Then they paused in the greatest dismay- for George had completely ruined it! She had chopped wildly with her axe at all the machinery she could see, and now the boat could not possibly be started! It was damaged beyond any repair the men could make with the few tools they had.
"You wicked girl!" yelled Jake, shaking his fist at George. "Wait till I get you!"
"I'll wait!" shouted back George, her blue eyes shining dangerously. "And you can wait too! You won't be able to leave my island now!"
Chapter Seventeen. THE END OF THE GREAT ADVENTURE
THE three men stood at the edge of the sea, watching George pull away strongly from the shore. They could do nothing. Their boat was quite useless.
"The fishing-smack they've got waiting out there is too big to use that little inlet," said George, as she pulled hard at her oars. "They'll have to stay there till someone goes in with a boat. I guess they're as wild as can be!"
Their boat had to pass fairly near to the big fishing-boat. A man hailed them as they came by.
"Ahoy there! Have you come from Kirrin Island?"
"Don't answer," said George. "Don't say a word." So no one said anything at all, but looked the other way as if they hadn't heard.
"AHOY THERE!" yelled the man, angrily. "Are you deaf? Have you come from the island?"
Still the children said nothing at all, but looked away while George rowed steadily. The man on the ship gave it up, and looked in a worried manner towards the island. He felt sure the children had come from there-and he knew enough of his comrades' adventures to wonder if everything was right on the island.
"He may put out a boat from the smack and go and see what's happening," said George. "Well, he can't do much except take the men off- with a few ingots! I hardly think they'll dare to take any of the gold though, now that we've escaped to tell our tale!"
Julian looked behind at the ship. He saw after a time that the little boat it carried was being lowered into the sea. "You're right," he said to George. "They're afraid something is up. They're going to rescue those three men. What a pity!"
Their little boat reached land. The children leapt out into the shallow water and dragged it up to the beach. Tim pulled at the rope too, wagging his tail. He loved to join in anything that the children were doing.
"Shall you take Tim to Alf?" asked Dick.
George shook her head. "No," she said, "we haven't any time to waste. We must go and tell everything that has happened. I'll tie Tim up to the fence in the front garden."
They made their way to Kirrin Cottage at top speed. Aunt Fanny was gardening there. She stared in surprise to see the hurrying children.
"Why," she said, "I thought you were not coming back till tomorrow or the next day! Has anything happened? What's the matter with Dick's cheek?"
"Nothing much," said Dick.
The others chimed in.
"Aunt Fanny, where's Uncle Quentin? We have something important to tell him!"
"Mother, we've had such an adventure!"
"Aunt Fanny, we've an awful lot to tell you! We really have!"
Aunt Fanny looked at the untidy children in amazement. "Whatever has happened?" she said. Then she turned towards the house and called, "Quentin! Quentin! The children have something to tell us!"
Uncle Quentin came out, looking rather cross, for he was in the middle of his work. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"Uncle, it's about Kirrin Island," said Julian, eagerly. "Those men haven't bought it yet, have they?"
"Well, it's practically sold," said his uncle. "I've signed my part, and they are to sign their part tomorrow. Why? What's that to do with you?"
"Uncle, those men won't sign tomorrow," said Julian. "Do you know why they wanted to buy the island and the castle? Not because they really wanted to build an hotel or anything like that-but because they knew the lost gold was hidden there!"
"What nonsense are you talking?" said his uncle.
"It isn't nonsense, Father!" cried George indignantly. "It's all true. The map of the old castle was in that box you sold- and in the map was shown where the ingots were hidden by my great-great-great-grandfather!"
George's father looked amazed and annoyed. He simply didn't believe a word! But his wife saw by the solemn and serious faces of the four children that something important really had happened. And then Anne suddenly burst into loud sobs! The excitement had been too much for her and she couldn't bear to think that her uncle wouldn't believe that everything was true.
"Aunt Fanny, Aunt Fanny, it's all true!" she sobbed. "Uncle Quentin is horrid not to believe us. Oh, Aunt Fanny, the man had a revolver- and oh, he made Julian and George prisoners in the dungeons- and Dick had to climb down the well to rescue them. And George has smashed up their motor-boat to stop them escaping!"
Her aunt and uncle couldn't make head or tail of this, but Uncle Quentin suddenly seemed to think that the matter was serious and worth looking into. "Smashed up a motor-boat!" he said. "Whatever for? Come indoors. I shall have to hear the story from beginning to end. It seems quite unbelievable to me."
They all trooped indoors. Anne sat on her aunt's knee and listened to George and Julian telling the whole story. They told it well and left nothing out. Aunt Fanny grew quite pale as she listened, especially when she heard about Dick climbing down the well.
"You might have been killed," she said. "Oh, Dick! What a brave thing to do!"
Uncle Quentin listened in the utmost amazement. He had never had much liking or admiration for any children- he always thought they were noisy, tiresome, and silly. But now, as he listened to Julian's tale, he changed his mind about these four children at once!
"You've been very clever," he said. "And very brave too. I'm proud of you. Yes, I'm very proud of you all. No wonder you didn't want me to sell the island, George, when you knew about the ingots! But why didn't you tell me?"
The four children stared at him and didn't answer. They couldn't very well say, "Well, firstly, you wouldn't have believed us. Secondly, you are bad-tempered and unjust and we are frightened of you. Thirdly, we didn't trust you enough to do the right thing."
"Why don't you answer?" said their uncle. His wife answered for them, in a gentle voice.
"Quentin, you scare the children, you know, and I don't expect they liked to go to you. But now that they have, you will be able to take matters into your own hands. The children cannot do any more. You must ring up the police and see what they have to say about all this."
"Right," said Uncle Quentin, and he got up at once. He patted Julian on the back. "You have all done well," he said. Then he ruffled George's short curly hair. "And I'm proud of you, too, George," he said. "You're as good as a boy any day!"
"Oh Father!" said George, going red with surprise and pleasure. She smiled at him and he smiled back. The children noticed that he had a very nice face when he smiled. He and George were really very alike to look at. Both looked ugly when they sulked and frowned- and both were good to look at when they laughed or smiled!
George's father went off to telephone the police and his lawyer too. The children sat and ate biscuits and plums, telling their aunt a great many little details they had forgotten when telling the story before.
As they sat there, there came a loud and angry bark from the front garden. George looked up. "That's Tim," she said, with an anxious look at her mother. "I hadn't time to take him to Alf, who keeps him for me. Mother, Tim was such a comfort to us on the island, you know. I'm sorry he's barking now- but I expect he's hungry."