"Of course," said George. "But the steps that led up are gone, Look! You can see part of an upstairs room there, by the jackdaw tower. You can't get up to it, though, because I've tried. I nearly broke my neck trying to get up. The stones crumble away so."
"Were there any dungeons?" asked Dick.
"I don't know," said George. "I expect so. But nobody could find them now- everywhere is so overgrown."
It was indeed overgrown. Big blackberry bushes grew here and there, and a few gorse bushes forced their way into gaps and corners. The coarse green grass sprang everywhere, and pink thrift grew its cushions in holes and crannies.
"Well, I think it's a perfectly lovely place," said Anne. "Perfectly and absolutely lovely!"
"Do you really?" said George, pleased. "I'm so glad. Look! We're right on the other side of the island now, facing the sea. Do you see those rocks, with those queer big birds sitting there?"
The children looked. They saw some rocks sticking up, with great black shining birds sitting on them in queer positions.
"They are cormorants," said George. "They've caught plenty of fish for their dinner, and they're sitting there digesting it. Hallo- they're all flying away. I wonder why!"
She soon knew- for, from the southwest there suddenly came an ominous rumble.
"Thunder!" said George. "That's the storm. It's coming sooner than I thought!"
Chapter Six. WHAT THE STORM DID
THE four children stared out to sea. They had all been so interested in exploring the exciting old castle that not one of them had noticed the sudden change in the weather.
Another rumble came. It sounded like a big dog growling in the sky. Tim heard it and growled back, sounding like a small roll of thunder himself.
"My goodness, we're in for it now," said George, half-alarmed. "We can't get back in time, that's certain. It's blowing up at top speed. Did ever you see such a change in the sky?"
The sky had been blue when they started. Now it was overcast, and the clouds seemed to hang very low indeed. They scudded along as if someone was chasing them- and the wind howled round in such a mournful way that Anne felt quite frightened.
"It's beginning to rain," said Julian, feeling an enormous drop spatter on his outstretched hand. "We had better shelter, hadn't we, George? We shall get wet through."
"Yes, we will in a minute," said George. "I say, just look at these big waves coming! My word, it really is going to be a storm. Golly- what a flash of lightning!"
The waves were certainly beginning to run very high indeed. It was queer to see what a change had come over them. They swelled up, turned over as soon as they came to rocks, and then rushed up the beach of the island with a great roar.
"I think we'd better pull our boat up higher still," said George suddenly. "It's going to be a very bad storm indeed. Sometimes these sudden summer storms are worse than a winter one."
She and Julian ran to the other side of the island where they had left the boat. It was a good thing they went, for great waves were already racing right up to it. The two children pulled the boat up almost to the top of the low cliff and George tied it to a stout gorse bush growing there.
By now the rain was simply pelting down, and George and Julian were soaked. "I hope the others have been sensible enough to shelter in that room that has a roof and walls," said George.
They were there all right, looking rather cold and scared. It was very dark there, for the only light came through the two slits of windows and the small doorway.
"Could we light a fire to make things a bit more cheerful?" said Julian, looking round. "I wonder where we can find some nice dry sticks?"
Almost as if they were answering the question a small crowd of jackdaws cried out wildly as they circled in the storm. "Chack, chack, chack!"
"Of course! There are plenty of sticks on the ground below the tower!" cried Julian. "You know- where the jackdaws nest. They've dropped lots of sticks there."
He dashed out into the rain and ran to the tower. He picked up an armful of sticks and ran back.
"Good," said George. "We'll be able to make a nice fire with those. Anyone got any paper to start it- or matches?"
"I've got some matches," said Julian. "But nobody's got paper."
"Yes," said Anne, suddenly. "The sandwiches are wrapped in paper. Let's undo them, and then we can use the paper for the fire."
"Good idea," said George. So they undid the sandwiches, and put them neatly on a broken stone, rubbing it clean first. Then they built up a fire, with the paper underneath and the sticks arranged criss-cross on top.
It was fun when they lighted the paper. It flared up and the sticks at once caught fire, for they were very old and dry. Soon there was a fine cracking fire going and the little ruined room was lighted by dancing flames. It was very dark outside now, for the clouds hung almost low enough to touch the top of the castle tower! And how they raced by! The wind sent them off to the northeast, roaring behind them with a noise like the sea itself.
"I've never, never heard the sea making such an awful noise," said Anne. "Never! It really sounds as if it's shouting at the top of its voice."
What with the howling of the wind and the crashing of the great waves all round the little island, the children could hardly hear themselves speak! They had to shout at one another.
"Let's have our dinner!" yelled Dick, who was feeling terribly hungry as usual. "We can't do anything much while this storm lasts."
"Yes, let's," said Anne, looking longingly at the ham sandwiches. "It will be fun to have a picnic round the fire in this dark old room. I wonder how long ago other people had a meal here. I wish I could see them."
"Well, I don't, said Dick, looking round half-scared as if he expected to see the old-time people walk in to share their picnic. "It's quite a queer enough day without wanting things like that to happen."
They all felt better when they were eating the sandwiches and drinking the ginger-beer. The fire flared up as more and more sticks caught, and gave out quite a pleasant warmth, for now that the wind had got up so strongly, the day had become cold.
"We'll take it in turn to fetch sticks," said George. But Anne didn't want to go alone. She was trying her best not to show that she was afraid of the storm- but it was more than she could do to go out of the cosy room into the rain and thunder by herself.
Tim didn't seem to like the storm either. He sat close by George, his ears cocked, and growled whenever the thunder rumbled. The children fed him with titbits and he ate them eagerly, for he was hungry too.
All the children had four biscuits each. "I think I shall give all mine to Tim," said George. "I didn't bring him any of his own biscuits, and he does seem so hungry."
"No, don't do that," said Julian. "We'll each give him a biscuit- that will be four for him- and we'll still have three left each. That will be plenty for us."
"You are really nice," said George. "Tim, don't you think they are nice?"
Tim did. He licked everyone and made them laugh. Then he rolled over on his back and let Julian tickle him underneath.
The children fed the fire and finished their picnic. When it came to Julian's turn to get more sticks, he disappeared out of the room into the storm. He stood and looked around, the rain wetting his bare head.
The storm seemed to be right overhead now. The lightning flashed and the thunder crashed at the same moment. Julian was not a bit afraid of storms, but he couldn't help feeling rather over-awed at this one. It was so magnificent. The lightning tore the sky in half almost every minute, and the thunder crashed so loudly that it sounded almost as if mountains were falling down all around!