The children looked at one another in dismay. But they had to do as they were told. They went upstairs to the big bedroom they all shared. Mike had a small bed in the corner behind a screen, and the two girls had a bigger bed between them.
“I believe Aunt Harriet and Uncle Henry are going out to-night, and that’s why they want us to go to bed early,” said Mike. “Well, if they do go out, we’ll slip down and meet Jack by the river.”
“We won’t get undressed then,” said Nora. “We’ll just slip under the sheets, dressed - and then it won’t take us long to run down to the lake.”
The three children listened hard. They heard the front door close. Mike popped out of bed and ran to the front room. From there he could see the path to the gate. He saw his uncle and aunt walk down it, dressed to go out.
He ran back to the others. “We’ll wait for five minutes,” he said, "then we’ll go.”
They waited quietly. Then they all slipped downstairs and out of the back door. They ran down to the lake as fast as they could. Jack was there waiting for them.
“Hallo, Jack,” said Mike. “Here we are at last. They sent us to bed, but when they went out we slipped down here to meet you.”
“What’s your great secret, Jack?” asked Nora, “we are longing to know.”
“Well, listen,” said Jack. “You know what a big lake this is, don’t you, perfectly wild all round, except at the two ends where there are a few farmhouses and cottages. Now I know a little island, a good way up the south side of the lake, that I’m sure nobody knows at all. I don’t think anyone but me has ever been there. It’s a fine island, and would make the best hiding-place in the world!”
The three children listened, their eyes wide with astonishment. An island on the big lake! Oh, if only they could really go there and hide - and live by themselves - with no unkind aunt and uncle to slap them and scold them and make them work hard all day long!
“Are you too tired to walk down the lakeside to a place where you can see the island?” asked Jack. “I only found it quite by chance one day. The woods come right down to the lakeside opposite the island, and they are so thick that I don’t think anyone has ever been through them, and so no one can have seen my island!”
“Jack! Jack! Take us to see your secret island!” begged Nora. “Oh, we must go. We’re all tired - but we must, must see the secret island.”
“Come on, then,” said Jack, pleased to see how excited the others were. “Follow me. It’s a good way.”
The bare-footed boy took the three children across the fields to a wood. He threaded his way through the trees as if he were a rabbit. The wood thinned out and changed to a common, which, in turn, gave way to another wood, but this time the trees were so thick that it seemed as if there was no way through them at all.
But Jack kept on. He knew the way. He led the children without stopping, and at last they caught sight of the gleam of water. They had come back to the lakeside again. The evening was dim. The sun had sunk long since, and the children could hardly see.
Jack pushed his way through the trees that grew down to the waterside. He stood there and pointed silently to something. The children crowded round him.
“My secret island!” said Jack.
And so it was. The little island seemed to float on the dark lake-waters. Trees grew on it, and a little hill rose in the middle of it. It was a mysterious island, lonely and beautiful. All the children stood and gazed at it, loving it and longing to go to it. It looked so secret - almost magic.
“Well,” said Jack at last. “What do you think? Shall we run away, and live on the secret island?”
“Yes!” whispered all the children. “Let’s!”
An Exciting Day
The three children thought of nothing else but Jack’s secret island all the next day. Could they possibly run away and hide there? Could they live there? How could they get food? What would happen if people came to look for them? Would they be found? How busy their minds were, thinking, thinking, planning, planning! Oh, the excitement of that secret island! It seemed so mysterious and lovely. If only, only they were all there, safe from slappings and scoldings!
The first time the children had a little time together to talk, they spoke about the island.
“Mike, we must go!” said Nora.
“Mike, let’s tell Jack we’ll go,” said Peggy.
Mike scratched his curly black head. He felt old and worried. He wanted to go very badly - but would the two girls really be able to stand a wild life like that? No proper beds to sleep in - perhaps no proper food to eat - and suppose one of them was ill? Well, they would have to chance all that. They could always come back if things went too wrong.
“We’ll go,” said Mike. “We’ll plan it all with Jack. He knows better than we do.”
So that night, when they met Jack, the four of them laid their plans. Their faces were red with excitement, their eyes were shining. An adventure! A real proper adventure, almost like Robinson Crusoe - for they were going to live all by themselves on a lonely island.
“We must be careful in our plans,” said Jack. “We mustn’t forget a single thing, for we ought not to go back to get anything, you know, or we might be caught.”
“Could we go over to the island and just see what it’s like before we go to live there?” asked Nora. “I would so love to see it.”
“Yes,” said Jack. “We’ll go on Sunday.”
“How can we go?” asked Mike. “Do we have to swim?”
“No,” said Jack. “I have an old boat. It was one that had been left to fall to pieces, and I found it and patched it up. It still gets water in, but we can bale that out. I’ll take you over in that.”
The children could hardly wait for Sunday to come. They had to do a certain amount of work on Sundays, but usually they were allowed to take their dinner out and have a picnic afterwards.
It was June. The days were long and sunny. The farm garden was full of peas, broad beans, gooseberries, and ripening cherries. The children stole into it and picked as many pea-pods as they could find, and pulled up two big lettuces. Aunt Harriet gave them so little to eat that they always had to take something else as well. Mike said it wasn’t stealing, because if Aunt Harriet had given them the food they earned by the hard work they did, they would have twice as much. They were only taking what they had earned. They had a loaf of bread between them, some butter, and some slices of ham, as well as the peas and lettuces. Mike pulled up some carrots, too. He said they would taste most delicious with the ham.
They hurried off to meet Jack. He was by the lakeside, carrying a bag on his back. He had his dinner in it. He showed them some fine red cherries, and a round cake.
“Mrs. Lane gave me those for hoeing her garden yesterday,” he said. “We’ll have a fine dinner between us.”
“Where’s the boat, Jack?” said Nora.
“You wait and see!” said Jack. “I don’t leave my secret things out for everyone to see! No one else but you three knows about my boat!"
He set off in the hot June sunshine, and the three children followed him. He kept close to the lakeside and although the children kept a sharp look-out for the boat they did not see it until Jack stopped and showed it to them.
“See that great alder bush hanging over the lake just there?” he said. “Well, my boat’s underneath it! It’s well hidden, isn’t it?”
Mike’s eyes shone. He loved boats. He did hope Jack would let him help to row. The children pulled out the boat from under the thick tree. It was quite a big one, but very, very old. It had a good deal of water in, and Jack set everyone to work baling it out. There was an old pair of oars in the boat, and Jack put them in place.
“Now get in,” he said. “I’ve a good way to row. Would you like to take an oar, Mike?”
Of course Mike would! The two boys rowed over the water. The sun shone down hotly, but there was a little breeze that blew every now and again. Soon the children saw the secret island in the distance. They knew it because of the little hill it had in the middle.