The Isle of Dogs

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THE ISLE OF DOGS

BY

ROSEMARY ANNE SISSON

Illustrated by Enid S. Ash

LONDON

MACMILLAN & CO LTD

NEW YORK - ST MARTINS PRESS

1962

T O

My Mother and Father

with whom I first caught sight

of the Isle of Dogs

and to

David and Jonathan - who are

David and Jonathan

I should like to acknowledge with gratitude

the assistance of Mr. T. E. Scott-Chard ofB.O.A.C., who kindly told me exactly what

situation the children would find themselves

in, if that event should occur, which, of course,

never would.


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CONTENTS

1 THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL

2 FASTEN YOUR SAFETY-BELTS !

3 A SEA-VOYAGE ALL ALONE4 LANDFALL

5 WHOSE DOGS?

6 DAVID AND JONATHAN

7 I THINK HES GOING TO DIE

8 THE ISLE OF DOGS

9 HOW DID YOU COME HERE?

10 THE MEETING-PLAGE

11 THE PLOT

12 THEY MUST TAKE THEIR CHANCE

13 THE FIGHT -

14 GOODBYYE TO THE ISLAND15 HOMEWARD BOUND

16 HOW IT ALL ENDED


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CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL

Most children would have been very excited atthe thought of flying home alone from Singapore

in an air-liner. But Charles and Susan thought it

was a great bore. "

I know just how it will be, said Charles. The

air-hostess will keep taking me by the hand and

saying, Not nervous, are you? and the other

passengers will keep grinning at each other every

time I ask for something to eat, and therell be one

woman passenger wholl say very sweetly, Are you

travelling alone, dear? and then tell me to change

seats with her because she always has to sit by thewindow, or else she feels sick.

You wont, though, will you? said Susan.

No, I wont, said Charles. But shell make me

feel jolly uncomfortable about it, all the rest of the

journey.

If only we could go by sea, said Susan.

It wouldnt be any better, Charles said. Youd

see, thered be a stewardess and lots of passengers

who told us what to choose from the menu, and

kept saying it was time we were in bed.

What would be best of all, said Susan, would

be to go on a sea-voyage all by ourselves. But I

suppose that wouldnt do, because we dont know

anything about navigation. Wed never arrive any-

where.

'Dont be silly, said Charles. Wed be bound

to arrive somewhere, in time. The tides would

take us.

But it might not be where we wanted to go.

Well, we dont particularly want to go any-

where, so wherever we arrived would do.Yes, I suppose it would! said Susan. Oh,

Charles, do lets go on a sea-voyage all by our-

selves!

Charles would have been only too ready to

agree, but unfortunately their parents, with whom

the decision really lay, seemed determined that

they should go by air, so by air they went.

The childrens father was in the Army, and he

was stationed in Malaya. Charles and Susan had

been to spend a holiday there, with their mother

and father, but now it was time for them to go backto England, and to school.


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Now, darlings, you will work hard, wont you?

said their mother, as they stood in the lounge of the

airport at Singapore.

Yes, all right, Mother, said Susan. Charles

said nothing. He never did work as hard as Susan.

And do try not to give too much trouble to AuntSarah.

For when the children were in England for the

holidays, they stayed with their aunt in London.

No, Mother, of course not, said Susan.

We never do, said. Charles indignantly and

then he thought it over, and added, Well, hardly

ever.

No buying goldfish, taking them home, and

putting them in the bath! said their father.

We only did that once! said Charles indig-

nantly.No lighting catherine wheels and sending them

spinning all round the drawing-room !

That was an accident, said Charles firmly.

They were pinned to the door to begin with, but

they came loose. Anyway, it was Guy Fawkes

Day!

And no picking up stray dogs, said their father,

giving them bowls of milk and shutting them up in

Aunt Sarahs kitchen.

No ! cried their mother. Now, children, you

are not to go on pestering Aunt Sarah to let you

have a dog. She lives in a flat, and she couldnt

possibly have a puppy making messes all over the

place. And you two wouldnt be home to train it.

Youd be at school.

We could train it at the week-ends, said Susan,

but without much hope.

For you to have a dog is altogether out of the

question, said their mother, and youre not to

upset Aunt Sarah by continually asking for it. I

shall be very cross if I hear that youve even men-tloned the word dog to her again. Do you

understand?

And the children said they did, because when

Mother said Do you understand? in that par-

ticular tone of voice, it was no time to carry on an

argument.

Never mind, kids, said their father. Perhaps

when we come home, well manage it.

A dog would be such fun to play with, sighed

Susan.

But their mother said, Now, Daddy, dont en-courage them! A dog isnt a plaything. It isnt


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something you can have one day, and put up in the

attic next day, when youre tired of playing with

it. A dog is like a child who never grows up, and

once you own one, you have to look after it all its

life. With us abroad so much, and the children

staying in other peoples houses, it just isnt possible.Then it was time for them to go out to the plane,

and with kissings and clingings and last goodbyes,

they quite forgot about dogs and even forgot

about that one special dog of their own which they

had so long wanted to possess.

Charles and Susan didnt cry as the p1ane

taxied away, and they saw their father and mother

waving from the terrace. They loved their parents

dearly, but they had been parted from them so often

that it wasnt a shock any longer. They didnt like

it, but they were used to it. It was nothing to cryabout. They just looked forward to the time when

they would be together again.

The journey started well. The air-hostess was a

nice, sensible girl, who said, I can see you two

have travelled in a plane before, and just checked

the fastening of their safety-belts, offered them

chewing-gum and barley-sugar (the children firmly

took chewing-gum, because they werent allowed to

have it at home !) and then left them in peace.

They waited until they were airborne, and the

land had swung away behind them with that

customary startling swoop, as though a giant eagle

had caught the aircraft up in its talons. And then

Charles and Susan, placidly chewing their gum,

settled down to read the books and comic papers

which their father had given them for the journey.

The flight began in the evening. About half an

hour later, the grown-up passengers had drinks,

which the air-hostess brought round on a tray.

When Im grown up, I shall drink whiskey,

said Charles loftily. Gin is a womans drink.But Susan replied, I shall drink vodka, which

rather took the wind out of Charles sails, because

he hadnt thought of that. In the meantime, they

both accepted the glass of orange-juice which the

air-hostess offered them. She asked them if they

would like a glass of milk and an apple for supper,

but they both said they would like a proper dinner,

like everyone else, and this, as things turned out,

was just as well. So they had soup, and a lamb

chop with vegetables, and then an ice-cream.

They felt rather full, because, as a matter of fact,they had had a large tea before they left, but, as


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Charles said, Its a long time till breakfast. In

fact, it was to be much longer than they thought.

CHAPTER II

FASTEN YOUR SAFETY-BELTS !

Outside, it was quite dark. Flying between ocean

and sky, they seemed to be suspended, whirring, in

a dark cavern, and only the glow from the engines

streaming backwards into the night, showed that

they were moving.There were no sleeping-bunks in the plane, so

the children didnt undress to go to bed. The air-

hostess, whose name was Miss Bream, came and

pressed a knob and tilted back their reclining-chairs,

raised up a foot-rest, and put a pillow behind their

heads. Charles took off his blazer, and Susan took

off her cardigan, and they both took off their shoes,

and then they curled up on their seats and Miss

Bream tucked each of them up in a blanket. She

put out the light above their heads and said in her

nice, cheerful way, Good-night, sleep well, and,

with the plane throbbing and humming all round

them, Charles and Susan went to sleep.

When they had travelled by air before, Charles

had always woken up early in the morning when all

the other passengers were still asleep, and then had

to wait for hours, while the sky turned pink and the

sea slowly became shot with silver and everyone

snored and stirred and breathed all round him, until

at last it was time for breakfast. But this time

Charles and Susan were still sound asleep whenMiss Bream leant over them and woke them up.

In a curiously silent, hustling way, she put on

Susans cardigan and Charles blazer, and helped

them into their shoes, and then, for some extra-

ordinary reason, began to put their coats on.

Are we there? asked Susan, who was still half

asleep.

No, not quite, replied Miss Bream. Here,

Charles, can you tie up your laces?

Yes, of course, said Charles. And then he saw

that the other passengers in the plane were allmoving about, heaving into their coats, and getting


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in each others way in a hurried fashion, rather like

people who have arrived at their railway-station

before theyd expected it. Outside the plane, it

was still quite dark.

Are we going to crash? asked Charles.

And Miss Bream, instead of saying, No, ofcourse not! only said, We hope not. But we may

have to land in the sea, so wrap up warm.

When they were dressed, Miss Bream brought

two funny, bulky life-belts and put them on the

children. Now fasten your safety-belts, she said.

Charles and Susan looked at each other and then

Charles, without asking Miss Bream, firmly reached

down their two small suitcases from the shelf above

their heads. Then they fastened their safety-belts

and sat still with their cases on their knees.

The engines were making very strange noises.When all the passengers were back in their seats,

sitting very straight and all muffled up in coats and

scarves and gloves and life-belts, someone came

through the door from the pilots cabin. He was a

young officer, with red hair, and he looked fresh

and cheerful. He sat on the arm of one of the

seats and said, raising his voice above the coughing

engines, Now, weve had a little trouble, so were

going to make a forced landing on the sea. Our

pilot is very experienced, and knows what hes

doing, so I shouldnt worry too much. Therell be

a bit of a jar, and we may have to get into the

dinghies for a while, but weve sent a radio message,

and we shall probably be picked up almost at once.

Our air-hostess, Miss Bream, will look after the

children, and the rest of us will be on hand im-

mediately, so if youll just keep calm and follow

instructions, everything will be fine. Then he

looked round at the passengers (who all gazed back

at him like a class of school-children) and smiled,

and said, All right? See you in a few minutes!and then he got up and went back into the pilots

cabin.

Charles and Susan felt very frightened indeed.

Naturally, they had always thought it would be

pleasant to have some adventures, but they had

imagined the sort that are found in books or on tele-

vision where you know quite well that everything

will be all right in the end, and meanwhile things

are exciting but rather jolly. But, somehow, sitting

surrounded by strangers on a plane which was just

going to plunge into a pitch-black ocean turned outto be not quite what they had had in mind. Susan


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reached out her hand to Charles, and he, for once,

was quite glad to take it and hang on to it, as the

plane lurched downwards in the darkness and, in

the brilliantly-lit cabin, the passengers sat quite

still and silent, waiting.

The first few minutes after the plane landed inthe sea were so confused that Charles and Susan

never quite remembered afterwards what had hap-

pened. There was a jolting crash, and the pass-

engers were thrown about in their seats and

somebodys hat-box came bouncing down into the

aisle. The lights flickered, and came on again.

Then Miss Bream was helping to unfasten their

safety-belts, and the two children, still clutching

their suitcases, found themselves by an open door

with a black sea sloshing about rather frighteningly

just below them. On the sea floated a big rubberdinghy, and the red-haired officer was standing up

in it, holding onto the plane with one hand.

All right, Jim? called Miss Bream.

Rightaway ! he answered cheerfully, and be-

tween them, he and Miss Bream helped Charles

and Susan down into the dinghy. They went and

sat at the far end, side by side, and Miss Bream

turned back into the plane.

You next, Mrs. Harper, please, the children

heard her call.

And then, as the plane and the dinghy lurched

and tossed, and a squally salt wind blew the

childrens hair across their eyes, a bigger wave than

all the rest suddenly flung itself upon them out of

the blustering darkness. The plane tilted back-

wards, the dinghy slid away, and the red-haired

Officer staggered, grabbed at the plane, and fell

sideways into the sea. Charles and Susan saw for

a moment more the lighted door of the plane with

figures moving about inside. They heard shouts,

and they both reached out their hands, as thoughto seize the plane and pull themselves back. The

next instant they were drawn away in the swell and

swirl of the waves and the roar of the wind. The

aeroplane vanished, with Miss Bream and the

officers and all the passengers. They were entirely

alone in a rubber dinghy in the middle of a black,

tossing sea.

Sometimes something happens which is so terrify-

ing that it is almost impossible to be frightened at

the time. You know that later you will shiver at

the thought of it, but now, when it happens, youcannot quite realize it. It was like that with


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Charles and Susan as they clung together in the

dinghy while waves flung it perilously up and down,

and spray dashed continuously against their faces.

They expected at any moment that the dinghy

would be overturned and they would be thrown

into the sea. Charles, from his small experience ofgoing out in a yacht with his father, felt that they

ought to sit one each side, so as to trim the boat, but,

thinking of how the red-haired officer had fallen

overboard, he was afraid to move, and anyway

Susan was clinging to him with her head against

his shoulder, and he certainly could not have made

himself heard so as to explain to her what she

should do. So he just sat, with his suitcase between

his feet, holding on to the cord which ran round

the dinghy, and trying, by leaning forward and

back or from side to side, to follow the movementsof their little cockleshell of a vessel, and even to

guide it round the bigger waves as they came

running up out of the darkness. His face and hair

had been dripping wet after the first few seconds,

and when he licked his lips, they were salt and

tasted strange and cold.

After this had been going on for some time,

Charles found that he could hardly breathe and

he realized that the reason was partly that the wind

was carrying his breath away, and partly simply

that in his anxiety he had been holding his breath.

He turned his face out of the wind, and it was as

though there was a sudden calm. He took several

good deep breaths, and then turned back into the

wind, screwing his eyes up against the spray. But

now it began to dawn on him that, however

frighteningly the dinghy lurched and tossed and

slithered, spinning round and round in the waves,

it never in fact seemed likely to overturn. Down

into a hollow it went, and then, slewsh! up and

across a foam-edged wave, and the next instant,flop ! sideways across another. But always Charles

and Susan and their suitcases, though splashed and

buffeted, remained in the hollow, as though safely

held in a great rubber hand.

It seemed as though they had been tossing in the

sea for hours and hours. Charles face was stiff and

aching. His eyes kept closing with tiredness, as he

struggled to gaze ahead in the darkness and the

spray, and Susan was very heavy against his

shoulder. When at last he looked down, he found

that she was sound asleep. He was most indignant.Susan! he called. Susan, wake up! Dont


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be silly! You cant go to sleep now!

He tried to nudge her awake, but she didnt

move.

Just like a girl ! thought Charles. Now I sup-

pose I shall have to stay awake alone, and see that

we dont get drowned. Its just as well that one ofus has got some sense.

The dinghy spun round again, and Charles slid

farther down to avoid the spray. His eyes shut,

but he quickly opened them again, and tried to sit

up. But, with Susan leaning against him, it was

easier to stay where he was.

It doesnt matter, he thought. I can see

better here. Im sheltered from the wind. As

long as I dont fall asleep

His head rested comfortably against the rubber

back. A little dash of spray made him close hiseyes. He hastily opened them again.

I mustnt go to sleep, he thought. He closed

his eyes, just for a moment, and somehow he didnt

open them again. With the wind roaring and the

spray flying and the dinghy tossing, the two children

slept in the middle of the dark ocean.

CHAPTER III

A SEA-VOYAGE ALL ALONE

Charles and Susan thought that no matter how

long they lived, nothing so amazing would ever

happen to them again as waking up next morning

and finding themselves still in the dinghy. All

that had taken place - the plane crash, and the

confused accident by which they had been set

adrift, and the wind and the storm - all seemed so

far away that it was like a dream which they hadhad when they were very young. To wake up and

find that it was real, and had happened only the

night before made them feel light-headed, as you

do when you have a high temperature and have to

go to bed in the middle of the day.

Susan woke first, which was rather bad luck for

Charles. Some time, while they slept, he had turned

over and drawn away from her, so Susan was able

to get up and crawl about the dinghy, exploring,

and to have a good look at the surrounding sea

and generally get her bearings before she crawledback to Charles side and shook him, saying, Wake


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up! Charles, wake up!

Charles struggled up, saying confusedly, What

is it? Where are we ?

In the dinghy, said Susan. Wake up. You

are lazy. Ive been awake for hours! (This was

not true at all, but anyone who wakes first alwayshas a feeling of superiority towards someone else

still asleep.)

I like that! cried Charles, beginning to recover

himself. What about the hours last night, when

you were sound asleep and I kept awake? But for

me, we should have been drowned! Then he

looked around them, and said, Gosh!

I know, said Susan. Were all alone.

The storm was over. They seemed to be in a

different world from the night before. The sea was

a brilliant blue, with silver dancing on tiny ripples.On all sides it stretched, perfectly calm, to the

horizon, which formed a clear, firm circle all around

them. It was like a gigantic goldfish-bowl, with

the dinghy a speck in the very middle. Only

the lightest breeze was blowing, and except for an

occasional lap-lap of a ripple against the side of the

dinghy, there was an absolute silence. Charles

gazed around in awe, and then turned to look at

Susan. It was much more frightening than the

storm, when everything had been confused. Here,

in this calm and stillness, in the midst of the vast

sea, there was time for them to realize how alone

they were, and how small and helpless.

Susans eyes filled with tears.

Im frightened, she said. I want Mummy!

Oh, dont start moaning! cried Charles. We

said we wanted to go on a sea-voyage by ourselves.

Well - well - well, here it is !

Yes, but not like this! wailed Susan, and, truth

to tell, Charles rather agreed with her.

However, as elder brother, and as man of theparty, he felt that it was his business to keep their

spirits up, and to organize things.

The first thing to do, he said, is to set up the

mast and sail.

There isnt one! said Susan, and then she felt

better. There is nothing so cheering as dashing

someone elses hopes.

There must be! said Charles, and he crawled

all over the dinghy. He found that it was all too

true. There was no mast and no sail. I suppose,

he said, with the dinghy being round, it wouldntbe very easy to sail, anyway. But, gosh! how are


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we going to get to land?

Well, there are two paddles, suggested Susan.

But, anyway, the currents carrying us, dont you

think ?

Charles came back, and they hung over the edge

of the dinghy, one each side.You know, he said, I think it is.

The dinghy spun gently along over the sparkling

water, as though drawn by an invisible thread.

I wonder where it is taking us to? said Susan.

I dont know, answered Charles, and for some

time both the children lay quite still and watched

the water going by, and wondered to what land the

current was carrying them so fast.

Then Susan said, I am hungry.

So am I, said Charles. Im thirsty too.

So am I, said Susan.They looked at each other, and they looked at

the wide, empty sea around them, and then they

looked at the dinghy.

Lets explore, said Charles.

It was rather like a treasure-hunt. The first

thing they found was a small compass, and Charles

became so fascinated in plotting their course, and

discovering in exactly which direction the current

was taking them, that he quite forgot that they were

looking for food until Susan reminded him. Then

he discovered that there was a radio-transmitter,

with full instructions how to use it, and all sorts of

things which might help rescuers to find them, such

as an electric signalling torch, star-signals, a helio-

graph for flashing signals with the help of the sun,

and sea-markers for colouring the sea around them.

We shouldnt have any trouble in getting picked

up, with all this! said Charles. They ought to

find us quite soon.

But Im hungry now, said Susan.

As a matter of fact, the treasure-hunt was ratherdisappointing, as far as food was concerned. There

were glucose sweets, some tins of condensed milk,

some tins of water, and that was all. Of course, the

children hadnt expected to discover bacon and

eggs, but they had rather hoped for something like

the rations which were taken on the Everest expedi-

tion, or perhaps a soldiers iron rations - what-

ever that might be !

Only old sweets ! said Susan, and Im hungry !

Charles put on his stern explorers look and

replied, Its enough to keep us alive. Thats theimportant thing. And at least we shant die of


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thirst, which is what usually happens to people in

open boats. They get terribly thirsty, and they go

mad and drink salt water from the sea, and then

they leap overboard and perish.

But Susan, who was always very practical and

kept her mind upon the matter in hand, only saidagain, Im hungry.

They opened a tin of condensed milk and drank

half each, and then they had a drink of water. It

seemed a funny sort of breakfast, but at least it was

something, and they each sucked a glucose sweet as

they went on exploring.

Charles had been right about there being plenty

of water. First there were six round tins, which

each held a pint of water, and had a spike for

piercing two holes in the lid. Then there were

things called de-salting units, for turning sea-water into drinking-water.

You see, said Charles, theres a sort of chemical

in this rubber bag, and you pour sea-water in here

at the top, and it comes out through this rubber

tube at the bottom, and then you can drink it.

So we can drink sea-water, and not go mad,

said Susan.

Or perish, said Charles. Oh look! This is

for fishing.

This really was a wonderful discovery. There

were fishing-lines, and various hooks, and Charles,

who had several times gone fishing with his father,

was sure that he could catch all they needed.

I dont much like fish, said Susan, but Charles

replied, You will have to eat fish, or starve !

There wasnt, of course, any bait, but when

Charles unrolled one of the lines, he found it had a

little spinner on the end of it, which he decided was

meant to attract the fish. He threw the line over-

board, and the spinner danced merrily along behind

as the current carried them along.By now the sun was rising quite high in the sky.

All this time the children had been wearing their

coats with the life-belts tied over them, and they had

become extremely hot.

Pooh ! said Charles. Im going to take all

this ofl !

But not your life-belt, cried Susan. Supposing

we tip over!

We shant. Its as calm as anything.

But a typhoon might come, said Susan.

Well, said Charles doubtfully, I might take mycoat off, and put the life-belt on again. Here, hold


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this fishing-line.

In the end, he took off his coat and blazer and

tie, and rolled up his sleeves. Then he returned, to

take the fishing-line from Susan.

What about your life-belt? said Susan, and

Charles said carelessly, Oh, well- if a typhooncomes, I shall see it coming.

So Susan took off her life-belt, coat, and cardigan

too, and folded them all neatly in the bottom of the

dinghy.

It got hotter and hotter. In spite of having been

in a warm climate for three weeks, the children

could feel their faces and legs burning. Charles

soon unrolled his sleeves, and Susan even put her

cardigan on again to save her arms from the blazing

sun.

If only we had some shade! cried Susan, as thesun came scorching down.

I tell you what, said Charles, lets make a tent.

He tied the fishing-line to the handle of the radio-

transmitter. He knew that he ought to start finding

out how to send radio messages, while people were

still searching for them, but in the dazzling, raging

heat he felt choked and stupid, and the instructions

looked complicated.

Well wait till the sun goes down, he said, and

flopped into the bottom of the dinghy.

It wasnt easy to make a tent. Charles idea had

been to stand the suitcases on end and pull their

coats over the top, but, of course, the suitcases

refused to balance. In the end, they stood the suit-

cases up lengthways and Susan knelt between them,

holding them up, while Charles wedged them out-

side with the life-belts. Then he draped the two

coats over the top, and crawled with Susan into the

tiny space below. It was frightfully hot in there. It

was true that, when they were at home, the children

had always chosen the warmest summer day to setup their tent in the garden, crouch in the stifling

three feet of airlessness, pull blankets over their

heads and pretend to be Red Indians. But, at least,

there they could come out if they wanted to, and go

into the cool house and have a drink of lemonade.

It was very different to lie panting, with sea all

around, knowing that there was no escape, while

the perspiration ran down their faces in streams,

and the rubber of the dinghy outside grew red-hot

to the touch. And, of course, when Charles crawled

out to get something to drink, his suitcase fell over,the coats collapsed on top of Susan, and, cross and


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sweltering, they had to set it up all over again.

Altogether, it was not a happy day, and sea-

voyaging - especially alone - began to look like

a much overrated pastime.

When the sun was right overhead, and he

reckoned that it was twelve oclock, Charles woundand set his watch, which luckily had never got

really wet, but which he had, of course, forgotten to

wind the night before. They sucked glucose sweets

and drank water, but they were so hot and un-

comfortable that they probably wouldnt have been

able to eat a proper meal, even if they had had one.

Soon after three oclock, the dinghy gave a

strange lurch and jolt.

Land! cried Charles. We must have struck

land !

But when they both crept out (the suitcases andcoats, of course, collapsing behind them), they found

that the ocean still stretched all round to an un-

broken horizon. From behind the dinghy, however,

came a strange splashing and spinning noise, and

as they looked astern they saw the sea churned up

and something silver flashing in the foam.

Youve caught a fish! said Susan.

Charles looked at it in silence for a moment. and

then swallowed.

Yes, he said. Yes, I have.

The truth was that all the fish which Charles

had caught until now had averaged in length about

six inches. The question had usually been not how

he should land them, but whether they should be

thrown back as being too small to be caught at all.

He had never expected to catch a fish which

looked, as this one did, like an oversized Scotch

salmon, and the idea alarmed him.

Arent you going to pull it in? asked Susan.

Yes, said Charles. The dinghy gave another

great jolt and lurch. Er - yes, said Charles.It is one thing to catch a large fish when you are

sitting on the bank of an English river, or when

there is a helpful father close by to give a hand -

or, in other words, to land the fish for you, and

then congratulate you on having done it all your-

self. It is quite another thing, as Charles dis-

covered, to slither about in a rubber dinghy, while

the fish jerks and leaps, and all the dreadful re-

sponsibility is on your own shoulders. There were

times in the half-hour which followed when his only

desire was to let go the line and allow the fish toswim away. But Susan was waiting confidently


16/108

behind him, and anyway this fishing was not just

a sport, but a means of getting something solid to

eat.

Its only the first one thats so hard to manage,

thought poor Charles, as he tried to wipe the per-

spiration off his face with his aching forearm. Ishall get the knack of it soon. Dad has caught

dozens of fish as big as this - well - (as the fish

flung up a huge silver fin to the sky) - nearly

as big!

Why dont you pull it in? asked Susan.

At last the fish was tiring, and Charles was draw-

ing it closer and closer to the side. He was so tired

himself, with all the heat and the anxiety, that he

wasnt sure whether there were tears running down

his face or whether it was all perspiration. The

fish had begun to flounder, and now and thenturned its underside upwards for a moment and

floated.

Quick! said Charles. Get one of my shoes

ready. I shall need something to stun it with after

Ive landed it.

Susan picked up a shoe and held it ready, he

played out the line a little, and then gave a great

heave and landed the fish fairly in the middle of the

dinghy.

Instantly, everything was confusion. The fish,

which a moment before had seemed almost coma-

tose, flung itself into a frenzy of motion, flopping

about and curvetting like a landed sea-horse, while

Susan, terrified, retreated to the very edge of the

dinghy, screaming, and Charles expected at any

moment to see her fall backwards into the sea.

Take it away! Susan shrieked. Oh, Charles,

I hate it! Take it away!

Give me the shoe! shouted Charles, almost as

frightened as she was, because he thought that with

all this going on, the dinghy might well capsize withthe lot of them.

At last he managed to snatch up his other shoe

from the confused huddle in the bottom of the

dinghy, waited until the fish was momentarily still,

and then struck it with all his strength just behind

the head. By a miracle, he must have hit the right

spot. In a moment, all was calm again. The

dinghy rocked on a silent sea, and the children

gazed at each other across the gleaming, rounded,

motionless fish.

What - what do we do with it? falteredSusan.


17/108

We eat it, replied Charles.

There was a long silence.

Raw? asked Susan, at last.

Lots of people eat raw fish, said Charles, but

Susan only replied, very simply, I dont.

Charles heaved the fish, with some difficulty,onto the edge of the dinghy, and got out his knife.

He had always prepared the other fish he had

caught, and this one, he told himself, was just the

same -only a little bigger.

Susan was sitting on the other side, as far away

from the fish as she could get. Suddenly she said,

Were not moving!

What? said Charles, looking up from anxious

calculations.

The current! cried Susan. Weve lost the

current!It was true. Somewhere in their floundering

with the fish, they had lost the pull of the invisible

thread, and the dinghy now drifted to and fro on

the water aimlessly, like a small boat in harbour

circling round its mooring. The children looked at

each other, and both felt an extraordinary sense of

loss and pain, though they could hardly explain

why.

If we dont start moving again soon, we shall

have to paddle, said Charles. Anyway, he added

briskly, Id better deal with the fish, then we shall

have something to eat. .

No, dont ! cried Susan. Please dont !

Dont be silly, said Charles. I must.

No ! said Susan. We shall never eat it, you

know we shant. Not without some way of cooking

it. And if you start throwing bits of it into the sea,

itll bring the sharks.

There may not be any sharks.

You know there are always sharks.

Charles hesitated. It was true that he couldntimagine them cutting the fish up and eating it just

as it was. On the other hand

Fish are no good in a dinghy, said Susan. Its

all right on land, when you can build a fire and

cook them.

But we may not reach land for days and days,

said Charles.

And then, strangely enough, Susan said, quite

calmly. Yes, we shall. We shall reach land to-

morrow.

At that instant, as though in answer to herwords, the dinghy started to move again, as if that


18/108


19/108

instructions. Ah, he said, gratified.

There were two balloons, which were meant to

be used when there was not enough wind for the

kite, and there were canisters which made hydrogen

gas when they were put in the sea. Together, the

children managed to fill the balloons with the gas,and proudly saw them floating above the dinghy,

like a pair of nodding neighbours over an invisible

garden wall.

The Morse code was printed on the transmitter,

and Charles was at first tempted by the idea of

sending out a series of dramatic messages, such as

Help ! We are afloat in a rubber dinghy! Come

at once, or it may be too late!

But he had never learnt the Morse code, and

when he considered spelling out complicated

messages like that, letter by letter, he couldnt helpfeeling that anyone who was listening would have

gone to sleep, long before he reached the end of

them. He found that there was a way of switching

the transmitter over, so that it automatically sent

out a continuous SOS, and he decided that this

was really more practical.

How do you start it? asked Susan.

By turning this handle, Charles answered.

Shall I begin now?

They both looked round them. Now that the

moment had come, they were almost sorry to stop

being independent voyagers. Even the possibility

of eating raw fish didnt look so bad, when in a few

minutes they would be rescued.

Now? said Charles.

All right, said Susan.

He began to turn the handle, and their message

went singing out across the ocean and through the

clear, still air SOS SOS SOS the age-

old cry of distress at sea.

Somehow, the children had imagined that assoon as their message went out, the sky would

instantly become black with rescue planes, all

winging towards them, and that their dinghy

would become the focus of fleets of vessels, criss-

crossing the ocean in their direction. In fact,

nothing happened at all. The sky remained a

clear aquamarine and the sea turned a little lighter

beneath the sinking sun. SOS - SOS - SOS -

cried the little radio-transmitter. But no one

seemed to hear. The whole world might have been

turned to ocean, and they sailing alone on it.After a time, Charles got tired of turning the


20/108

handle, so Susan took over, while he kept gazing

round and round the horizon, looking for the

rescue which never came. But Susan got tired

even more quickly than he had. They stopped,

and drank some more condensed milk, and ate some

more glucose sweets. By now they were feeling veryhungry indeed. Charles splashed some sea-water

on the fish to try and keep it fresh, feeling that by

the next day they would have to eat it, raw or not,

and that if they were not to die of hunger, they

would have to be ready to catch and eat almost

anything they could.

The sun was going down very fast now, and it

was much colder. They put on their coats and

socks, and Charles began to turn the handle of

the radio-transmitter again, wishing, with all his

heart, that he had fixed it up and sent out their SOSmuch earlier in the day, before they had travelled

so far away from the spot where the plane had

crashed, and where, presumably, other planes

would be searching.

The setting sun looked as though it hung in the

sky against a flaming curtain drawn together in

crimson folds. The children watched it in silence,

feeling a kind of awe, as though they saw the last

act of a tragedy. With the suddenness of a candle

puffed out in a breeze, the sun went below the

horizon. It almost seemed as though the sea sizzled

for a moment, and then it was dark.

I dont like it ! cried Susan, her voice breaking.

I dont like it! I want Mummy! I want to go

home!

And this time Charles put his arm round her

and answered, Dont worry. Well be picked up

to-morrow. Look, Ill send the SOS out again.

No ones listening, Susan mourned, but she was

a bit comforted, just the same, as Charles cranked

the handle again, and their message went surgingout across the darkness.

The children didnt go to sleep at once. Charles

lay and looked at the stars, which had come out

very large and bright all over the sky, and he began

to ask himself whether they would ever get picked

up, or would ever reach land. For the first time,

he wondered what had happened to the other people

in the p1ane and he hoped very much that they

were safe, especially Miss Bream, and the red-

headed officer. And then he thought of his parents,

and was ashamed to think how little he had thoughtof them before. He thought how dreadfully worried


21/108

they would be, when they heard that the plane was

overdue. If the other passengers were picked up,

all they would be able to say was that he and

Susan had been swept away in a rough sea, and

certainly everyone would expect them to have been

drowned. When he imagined his mother andfather hearing this news, Charles realized for the

first time how much they all meant to each other.

He thought of all the times he had been careless

and offhand, or rather disobliging, when he was

asked to do something for them, and he felt terrible.

For the trouble with a family is that you never

know how much they mean to you, until you are

away from them.

Altogether, Charles had some solemn thoughts,

lying there listening to the swish-swish of the sea,

and watching the huge sweep of sky and stars abovethem.

He was just beginning to get sleepy, and in fact

must have nearly dozed off, because he found him-

self thinking vaguely that there was a motor-boat

somewhere near. And then, still half-asleep, he

thought, No, thered never be a motor-boat in the

middle of the ocean. Then he was suddenly wide

awake. He knelt up and listened, and there, in the

distance, he could hear a humming noise.

Its an aeroplane! he cried. Sue! Its an

aeroplane! Listen!

What? said Susan sleepily. Where? And

then she woke up too, and they clutched each

other and strained their eyes into the sky to try and

see it.

There! Theres a light!

No, its a star!

Its moving!

No, its only twinkling!

There ! There it is !

Where? No. Thats a star!And then they both saw it together -a red

light and a green light, and a yellow one in the

middle, all coming straight towards them, and they

stood up and shouted. The humming of the engines

came closer, and they both shouted again and

waved, and then they overbalanced and nearly fell

into the sea, but instead collapsed together in the

bottom of the dinghy. Still the plane came on,

flying absolutely straight towards them, until it was

almost overhead.

Here, wait a moment! Charles exclaimed sud-denly. They cant see us !


22/108

They had forgotten that, for all the brightness

of the stars, the sea was dark.

What shall we do? said Susan.

The flares ! cried Charles. There were some

flares, werent there?

They began to feel about in the darkness, lookingfor the star signals which they had found that morn-

ing. But in their rummaging about in all the

various tins and signalling apparatus, they had left

everything in such disorder that now, when they

really needed it, they could find nothing. The

aeroplane was overhead now, thrumming steadily

on its way.

There was a torch! cried Charles. If we can

only find the torch we could signal them with that!

Frantically, they crawled about in the darkness,

finding empty condensed milk tins, empty watertins, the canisters which had held the hydrogen

gas, odd shoes, and Susans handbag. Once Susan

put her hand on the cold, damp fish, and screamed,

and Charles thought that she was falling overboard

and clutched her, and then they both nearly fell

overboard.

Heres_one ! cried Charles at last, as his hand

closed on a thing like a Roman candle which he

had found that morning and then idly let fall as he

turned to something else.

And - Heres the torch ! cried Susan, at almost

the same moment.

Even then there was more delay, while Charles

tried to remember how to fire the star-signal, and

Susan was much too busy flashing with the torch to

think of using it to illuminate Charles efforts, and

Charles was too busy telling her that she was

flashing it in the wrong direction to think of it

either. At last Charles found a little tab on his

signal-star, and pulled it down. There was a

pouf ! and a red star shot up into the air and hungthere, glowing.

Ooh! cried the children, just as they always

did at fireworks.

A few seconds later, another star followed the

first and there they both were, round, red globes of

light, slowly sinking towards the sea.

Breathlessly the children watched the aeroplane,

now some distance away from them. Hopefully

they waited for it to circle back and fly overhead

again. Of course it would see their beautiful red

stars! Of course there would be someone lookingout of a rear window ! What would be the good of


23/108

a search plane if it didnt search all round ?

Give me the torch, said Charles. When they

come back, Ill signal to them, to make sure they

know where we are.

He took the torch, and together they waited for

the plane to circle back. But it never did. Withengines steadily beating, it drove calmly on its un-

hurried way, far up there in the heavens, until

only a distant light, more golden than the stars,

told them where it was, and then at last even that

was gone, and once more they were alone in the

great, still cavern of sea and sky and stars.

Its gone! cried Susan. Its gone! and she

burst into tears.

For a few seconds, Charles felt like joining her,

but then he suddenly thought of something. '

We ought to be sending a radio message! heexclaimed. Quickly, before the planes too far

away to hear l

Susan stopped crying to watch, as he began to

turn the handle, and the SOS went out once more

into the darkness. After a while, she said, in a

slightly wavering voice, Do you think Mummy

and Daddy were up there, in that plane, looking

for us?

No, of course not! answered Charles quickly.

I dont expect they even know yet that we - I

dont expect they even know yet.

But he wished that Susan hadnt said that, all the

same, and when, later, he had got tired of turning

the handle, and they were lying back, side by side,

gazing up at the stars, and Susan asked, Charles,

do you think well ever get picked up? he could

find nothing to say.

It was a long time before they got to sleep that

night. The plane never came back, and if there

were other ships and planes out searching (as there

surely must have been) they never came into thatgreat, changing, yet motionless circle of sea and sky,

in which the dinghy made a constant centre, still

drawn by that secret current towards an unknown

destination. But the children did go to sleep at

last, lonely and forlorn, in the jumbled rubber boat

which was at once their craft and their prison.

And in the morning, they came to the Island.

/CHAPTER IV


24/108

\ LANDFALL

Charles and Susan were always sorry afterwardsthat they hadnt seen the Island first when it was

far away on the horizon, and then had the fun of

watching it coming closer and closer. In fact, the

dinghy rode in to the Island early in the morning,

and they were almost upon it before they woke up.

Charles was dreaming that he was out fishing

with his father. He had just caught an enormous

fish, when his father came up and said it was too

small, and that he must throw it back.

No, no, Father! said Charles, in his dream.

Its a big fish.Then his father got very annoyed, which was most

unusual for him, and exclaimed, It isnt at all!

Its a minnow.

No, Father, said Charles. Its a shark.

How do you know its a shark? said his father.

And Charles replied, Because its got teeth.

Then Charles saw with horror that it certainly

had got teeth. In fact, it wasnt a shark. It wasnt

a fish at all. It was a tiger, and it was roaring.

He turned to run for his life, but at that moment he

woke up. He lay wondering where he was and

feeling rather worried because the tiger was still

roaring. Then he got up on his elbow, and there,

right in front of them, was the Island. He lay and

watched it in amazement as it spread out before

him, seeming, with the movement of the dinghy, to

be rocking gently on the sea, while the white surf

roared up and down on the sandy beach.

Oh, those wonderful moments as they sailed

peacefully towards the Island ! Charles woke Susan

up, and they lay and kicked their heels and smiled,pointing out to each other the palm trees on the

beach and the dark trees beyond, wondering what

sort of people lived there, and half-expecting to see

Robinson Crusoe come out of the woods, with a fur

hat and a short, fawn-coloured tunic, and carrying

a fowling-piece, just as he always did in the

illustrations.

But in a little while, Charles bestirred himself.

In his school report, his masters often said things

like Charles doesnt seem to want to learn, or

Charles could do better if he took more care.Well, this time, Charles did intend to learn from the


25/108

mistake he had made before, and what was more,

he meant to take more care and to do better. He

knew quite well that it had been his fault that the

rescue plane hadnt seen them. In the dinghy had

been all the things they needed to attract attention,

and instead of having them ready and in goodorder, he and Susan had pulled them about like a

couple of silly kids - only the responsibility was

his, because he was older and should have known

better.

At least he thought that he would do all he could

to see that they landed safely on the Island, and

that they could survive after they got there, in

case there should be no one near to help them.

So he began to sort out all the contents of the

dinghy - and, moreover, started to do it himself,

instead of giving Susan orders, which would havebeen so much more amusing. And as soon as Susan

realized what he was doing, she immediately began

to help, because in fact she was always quite willing,

that is, unless Charles tried to boss her, which was

what he usually did.

As far as possible, they restored all the various

gadgets to their proper containers, and put the con-

densed milk and water tins back where they had

come from.

Shall we throw the empty ones overboard?

asked Susan.

No, we might be glad of them, Charles replied,

for - for putting coconut-milk in, or making soup,

or something.

So they put them all back, and Charles pulled

the balloons down and secured them to the handle

of the radio, and tidied the fishing-tackle away, and

put the fish safely down in the middle of the dinghy.

They put on their coats and life-belts, but Charles

decided that in case they should be thrown into the

sea, they would be better without their shoes.Tell you what, he said. Well tie them by the

laces to the handles of our suitcases.

So they did that, and at last the dinghy looked

clear and shipshape, and they knelt together like

proper seafarers, ready to take their chance with

the waves which already were beginning to rock

and toss the dinghy as they drove in towards the

beach.

I wonder if wed better paddle, said Charles

suddenly. I think we had. In the pictures of

South Sea Islanders, they always paddle theircanoes as they come in on the breakers. Only, he


26/108

added, as he gave Susan one of the paddles, for

heavens sake, dont drop it overboard, or fall over-

board yourself! Wait until a wave carries us in,

and then paddle until the next one comes.

Susan didnt answer, but took the paddle, and

gave that solid, determined, little nod of hers whichmeant that she was putting all her mind to what she

was doing at the moment.

The first really big breaker struck the dinghy,

rocking it alarmingly and then, a moment later,

spinning it round and round and flinging it forward

onto the next one. The children tried to use

their paddles, but the dinghy was so violently

jerked up and down that it was hard to dig into the

water, and half the time they found that they had

been swung round again and that they were trying

to paddle in the wrong direction. The spray flewabout them, until they were soaking wet and half-

blinded. It didnt seem possible that the dinghy

could stay right way up, and Charles was so afraid

that it would overturn and that they would both

get trapped underneath it, that he was half inclined

to think it would be better if they jumped into the

water and trusted to their life-belts, leaving the

dinghy to its fate.

But everything happened too quickly for him to

do anything of the kind, even if he had made up

his mind to it. One minute they were tossing,

spinning and bucketing about in boisterous, foam-

ing breakers. Then, quite suddenly, they had

passed all the turmoil and were driving in towards

the beach on a clear, strong wave - the very last

one of all, which simply swept them forward and

flung them up on the sandy shore.

Paddle! shouted Charles, as the wave began

to retreat again. Paddle hard !

They paddled furiously, keeping their momentum

in the ebbing water, and presently felt the dinghyground itself on the sands.

Stay there! shouted Charles to Susan.

He tumbled overboard, up to his waist in water,

and tugged and pulled at the dinghy, trying to get

it up the beach, out of reach of the sea. But the

next minute another wave came, swept the dinghy

forward, floated it out of his grasp and flung it

firm and true up the beach, leaving it there high

and dry, with Susan still trying to paddle over the

side, and Charles puffing and spluttering after it.

They were safely ashore on the Island, with thedinghy and all its contents.


27/108

It might have been thought that the first thing

to do was to explore the Island and make sure there

were no wild animals or savage natives lying in wait

in the forest inland. Charles, however, had quite a

different idea. As soon as they were certain that the

dinghy was well beached, for the moment anyway,and had looked around them a little, he said firmly,

Now well light a fire and eat the fish.

Susan heartily agreed with the idea. They had

had nothing solid to eat since supper two days ago,

and for once they were almost speaking the truth

when they said, as they had said so often before,

with much less excuse, Gosh, Im starving!

Charles found a place, a little way away, where

some rocks made a small pool, and there he cleaned

and prepared the fish, while Susan found some

twigs and dried bits of vine from the edge of thewood and collected a neat little pile, all ready for

the fire.

Heres the fish, said Charles.

Heres the wood, said Susan.

Oh, they both said together, no matches !

Charles was most indignant.

People who come ashore on desert islands, he

said, always have matches. They swim ashore, and

dry the matches on the beach, and then they light

a fire. Thats the worst of being treated like

children. You never have anything you really

need. If I were allowed to smoke, Id have some

matches.

Smokings bad for you, said Susan, who had

tried a cigarette once and hadnt enjoyed it. Daddy

said so.

Well, its bad for him, too, said Charles, but

he goes on smoking. And he always has matches

or a cigarette-lighter, so it just goes to show.

Goes to show what? asked Susan.

Goes to show, said Charles, that if you alwaysdo what you should, you will end up on a desert

island without any matches.

Which observation was not entirely accurate,

and still left them with an uncooked fish and no

fire.

They always say, remarked Susan, that if you

rub two sticks together, they catch fire.

Thats what they say, answered Charles, but

its not true. I tried it once for hours, in the

garden, and nothing happened at all. If we only

had a piece of glass, now -Well, Ive got a mirror, said Susan.


28/108

What! cried Charles. Where?

In my handbag.

Well, get it, quickly! said Charles.

Susan had been given a charming, little, red

leather handbag for her last birthday, which she

always took with her everywhere. In it she kept hermoney (not very much by the end of the holidays !),

her jewellery (a string of seed-pearls, a coral neck-

lace, and a little ring which she had got out of a

cracker and which her mother wouldnt let her

wear), a small housewife, with scissors, thimble,

needles and mending silk, and a diary and pencil in

which she always wrote most meticulously every

night. And in the pocket was a small, square

mirror.

Susan ran to the dinghy and brought back hand-

bag and mirror in triumph.Wed better try it with a bit of paper, said

Charles. It may not work on twigs and things.

Tear a page out of your diary. /

No, said Susan. Im going to write in it every

day of the year. If I tear a page out, itll spoil it.

Use your notebook.

We shall need my notebook for writing messages

of distress and launching them out to sea in bottles.

We havent any bottles, said Susan.

And this was so true that Charles gave in and

tore two pages out of the notebook which always

lived in his blazer pocket for writing down train-

numbers and other interesting things. He tucked

the paper under the dry twigs and vines, and then

took the mirror and held it close, tilting it so that

the suns rays glanced off it onto the paper.

The children knelt and watched breathlessly.

What will it do ? asked Susan. .

I dont know, Charles answered. Its supposed

to set things alight, but I cant really believe that it

does.And, sure enough, it didnt. They tilted the

mirror this way and that, held it right up close to

the paper, and then far away, but it made no

difference. There was no sign of anything being

set alight. At last, Charles threw the mirror down

in disgust.

Beastly thing! he said. Its no good at all.

Susan snatched her property up indignantly.

Be careful, she said. Youve bent it!

Nonsense, said Charles. You cant bend

glass - And then he stopped short. Oh, hesaid, I think its only curved glass that sets things


29/108

alight, like - like a magnifying-glass.

Well, Susan suggested, youve got a magnifying-

glass in your case, with your stamps.

Oh yes, said Charles calmly. So I have.

So he went to fetch it, while Susan lovingly

restored her mirror to its proper place in her littlered handbag.

The magnifying-glass worked perfectly. In a

very few seconds a black spot appeared on the

nearest piece of paper, and the next moment it had

burst into flames. The dry twigs instantly blazed

up, too, and there it was - their fire !

Of course Susan hadnt brought nearly enough

wood, and they had to dash wildly about finding

bits and pieces to burn before the flames died down.

They nearly lost it once, and Charles had to

sacrifice another sheet from his notebook. For-tunately, however, they found at last, in at little

hollow in the sand, a few scattered pieces of drift-

wood, dried brittle by the sun, and when they

brought those and put them on the fire, they flared

up finely, and then settled down to burn with a

steady, enduring flame. So then Charles was able

to cook the fish.

It was such a large fish, that they decided that

the only thing to do was to cut steaks off, and toast

them at the fire, and this they did, sticking them

on the point of Charles knife. Truth to tell, they

didnt taste awfully good. They were smoky, and

rather burnt on the outside, and a bit tough and

slippery on the inside. Besides (apart from the

smoke) there wasnt much flavour to any of it.

But it was their own fish, caught by Charles and

cooked at their own fire, and that made it all worth-

while.

When they had eaten three steaks each, and

two glucose sweets, Charles decided that they ought

to cook the rest of the fish, too, in case it should gobad before next day.

We could cut it into strips and dry it in the

sun, he said. Or perhaps it would be better to

cook it in the ashes of the fire. Thats what they

usually do in books. .

Itll burn! cried Susan.

No, it wont, said Charles. Not if you leave

the skin on, and wrap it in leaves. Come on, lets

try.

They found some large vine leaves and wrapped

them round the fish-tail. The fire by now had dieddown to a warm smoulder, so it was easy to tip off


30/108

the larger pieces of wood, cover the fish with the

ashes underneath, and replace them.

How long will it take? asked Susan anxiously.

I dont know, replied Charles, well look at it

in about an hour, after weve done some exploring.

But in an hours time they werent thinking ofthe fish at all.

I wonder what sort of people live here, said

Charles. .

You said it was a desert island.

Yes, I know, but it won t be, really. There

arent any desert islands left now. Someone will be

living here.

But - who? asked Susan.

Oh, natives of some sort, replied Charles airily.

If we go inland, we shall probably come on them.

The question is, though, will they be friendly ornot ?

How will we know? enquired Susan, with

some natural anxiety.

And Charles replied teasingly, If they give us

something to eat, it means theyre friendly, and if

they eat us, theyre not.

Well, weve had breakfast, said Susan gravely,

so I suppose we shall have to wait until lunch-time

to find out.

It was never any good teasing Susan !

The children were so hot and sticky that they

decided to have a bathe before they set off explor-

ing. Charles thought that it would be perfectly all

right simply to take off all their clothes and bathe

as they were, but Susan insisted on getting their

bathing-costumes out of their suitcases.

Theres no one to see! grumbled Charles, as

she rummaged about in his case. Here, look out!

Thats my space-gun.

Someone might come, said Susan.

Well, if they did, theyd be natives, and theydont wear anything themselves.

Were not natives, said Susan.

Were natives of England.

Well, when were in England, we wear bathing-

things, said Susan, coming up triumphantly with

his trunks.

So Charles, still grumbling, put them on. He

might be the man of the party, and the Intrepid

Explorer, but Susan was the woman of the party,

and in charge of the social niceties.

They didnt go in very far, of course, because ofthe breakers, but they splashed about and got cool,


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even though, as soon as they came out on the beach,

they at once got hot again. The woods at the top

of the beach looked green and inviting.

Now well make a journey of discovery, said

Charles, as they got dressed again in clean, dry

clothes from their suitcases. They were setting out,and Susan had just said, I hope there arent any

snakes, when they heard an unexpected sound.

They stood together half-way up the beach, their

sandals already full of the fine sand, and listened.

What was it? whispered Susan.

Hush! said Charles. Listen!

They waited, holding their breath, and then it

came again.

It sounds like a dog barking, said Susan.

CHAPTER V

WHOSE DOGS?

It was strange to hear that sound, there on the

deserted palm-lined beach, in the middle of the

ocean. If it had been a lion roaring, now, or

monkeys chattering, or crocodiles doing whatever

crocodiles do - lashing their tails and clashing

their numerous teeth together - then that would

have been alarming, perhaps, but only what was

to be expected by castaways. But a dog barking!

Somehow that familiar sound had an outlandish

ring about it, like meeting someone in a top-hat and

carrying an umbrella in the middle of the Sahara

Desert.

It was only for a minute, however, and then

Charles said, Of course! That means the island

is inhabited. Probably theyre English people too.

They always keep dogs.And for a moment, he even felt disappointed at

the ending of their solitary adventure, though he

knew it was foolish of him. It was all very well for

them to picnic and make-pretend that they were

dependent on their own efforts for survival, but if

they really were, it wouldnt be nearly such fun.

Come on, he said, wed better go up and

meet them.

They went up the beach, wondering what sort of

people they were about to meet, and thinking how

surprised they would be to see two strange childrenfrom nowhere. Charles fell back a little, because


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he was always shy at first with strangers, but Susan,

who loved meeting new people, went slithering

gaily on ahead of him. She had just reached the

top of the beach when there was a rushing, crackling

sound in the undergrowth. She hesitated, glanced

back at Charles, turned to go on, and then out ofthe wood came in one bounding movement a great,

tawny creature, all teeth and tongue and waving

brush of a tail, and stood panting before her. It

was an Alsatian dog.

Susan started back, and for a moment they stared

at each other, the little girl in her cotton dress and

blue cardigan, with her bare legs and brown leather

sandals, and her panama hat with the school ribbon

round it, and the huge, grey-streaked dog. Then a

terrifying thing happened. The dog turned aside,

raised its head to the sky and gave voice to a single,wild, baying howl, as though it was sending a mess-

age to someone else inside the wood. Then it

turned back to Susan and drew its lips back from

its teeth in a menacing snarl, growling under its

breath.

Charles came up to stand beside Susan," and she

clutched his arm.

Its - rather big - isnt it? she said.

Good dog, said Charles.

The dogs growl grew louder, and it advanced

upon them.

Good - good dog, said Charles, more doubt-

fully than before.

They retreated a few paces, and instantly the

dog followed them, growling, snarling, and waving

its tail to and fro, not in friendly welcome, but in

an unmistakable angry challenge.

Its going to bite us! said Susan, clutching

Charles harder than ever and trying to shrink

behind him.

No, it isnt, replied Charles, none too happyto be thrust into the front line. If we just keep

still, its master will be here in a minute.

At that moment, they heard another crashing

noise in the undergrowth, and then a short, sharp

bark, and out of the wood bounded a second

Alsatian. It stopped, looked at them, looked at the

first Alsatian, who watched them unceasingly, and

then, as though in an instant it had grasped the

situation and resolved upon its duty, joined its

companion, snarling, growling, and step by step

driving the children backwards down the beach.Charles had thought at first that the Alsatians


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were simply suspicious of strangers, trained, no

doubt, to act as guard-dogs and to give warning of

intruders. But in a little while, it seemed clear that

their intention was to drive their visitors back into

the sea. At every moment he expected the dogs

master to appear and call them off. Once he evenshouted, Help ! Wherever you are ! Call off your

dogs ! but at that the Alsatians growled so furiously

that he didnt risk it again.

They had reached the flat sand at the foot of the

beach. Only the sea lay behind them, with its

roaring breakers, and still the two big dogs snarled

and growled and pranced threateningly before

them.

What shall we do? said Susan. Im

frightened! I dont like them. Theyre not nice

dogs at all !Well make for the dinghy, said Charles.

Perhaps if we get in there, theyll leave us alone.

He turned and began to move sideways along

the beach, but at once the first Alsatian, as though

resenting the fact that they were no longer retreat-

ing from the Island, gave two short, angry barks, and

shook its head jerkily up and down, its front paws

straight out in front of it and its tail hoisted furiously

in the air. The children stood still, holding each

other tightly. After a moment, the two Alsatians

softly lowered themselves to the ground and lay

there, heads alert, tails gently moving, teeth occa-

sionally showing in a silent snarl, waiting.

Dogs, Charles knew, were capable of almost

endless patience and endurance all dogs, but

especially Alsatians. And yet, to stand still and

hope that either their owner would come, or else

that they would grow tired and go away seemed to

be all that he could do. The sun was rising higher

and it was growing very warm. The dogs were

panting now, showing long, white fangs, and drib-bling, their mouths looking very red under their thin

black lips. He could feel Susans hot, little body

pressed against him, and could feel that, in spite of

the heat, she was trembling.

Standing there, stiff and motionless on the glar-

ing beach, Charles began to feel dizzy, and was

seized with sudden desperation.

Come on ! he shouted. Run for the dinghy !"

And he set off as fast as he could go, pulling

Susan along behind him.

It was like a nightmare, running in the slippingsand, with Susan dragging at his arm like a dead


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weight, with the sun blazing down as though it

hung only a few feet above his head, and with those

two terrible dogs bounding and barking about

them, sometimes in front, sometimes at the side,

sometimes behind, while he expected every moment

to feel those dreadful long teeth in his bare legs.But at last they had reached the dinghy. He stopped

and heaved Susan up over the side, tried to follow

her, slipped down again onto the sand, and then,

wildly clawing and heaving, managed to get himself

up, and over the rim, and safely inside.

It was some comfort to consider that if the dogs

had intended to pull them down and maul them,

they could quite well have done so. Instead, they

had only barked and threatened. Their duty, it

seemed, was to act as guards, and to warn off

intruders, but not necessarily to attack them. Allthe same, it was not much fun to be penned up in

the dinghy under a blazing sun, and to see the two

Alsatians settle down again, one each side, to keep

them there.

The question is, said Charles, who do they

belong to?

Perhaps they dont belong to anyone, suggested

Susan.

But Charles replied, Of course they belong to

someone. All dogs belong to someone, unless theyre

lost. But these dogs arent lost.

They must belong to very horrid people, said

Susan, if they train them to go barking and

growling at everyone and to frighten them out of

their wits and everything.

Ill tell you what ! said Charles suddenly. Ill

bet this is a secret atomic research station, and these

are the guard dogs to keep out enemy spies! He

began to cheer up at the thought. No one minded

being mistaken for an enemy spy. It was rather an

honour. And when they find out that were notenemy spies, he said, theyll show us all over the

station, and let us fire off an atomic bomb, and

then theyll fly us home in a helicopter. I bet you

thats whatll happen.

But, supposing, said Susan, that its an enemy

atomic research station.

Oh, said Charles. Well - well - well, then

well learn all their secrets and swim out to sea and

the Navy will pick us up in a submarine, and take

us back to England, and the information we give

them will prevent a war, and the Queen will inviteus to tea at Buckingham Palace to present us with


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the thanks of a grateful nation.

I cant swim, said Susan.

When he thought it over, that seemed to Charles

not the only difficulty in this project. On the

whole, he preferred to believe that this was a secret

research station of the British Navy, and that in avery short time some friendly Petty Officer would

come striding out of the woods to call off the dogs

and proceed with the atomic-bomb-firing and the

helicopter journey home.

Meanwhile, it was hot and wearisome, and every

time they moved, the Alsatians snarled and showed

their fangs.

Towards noon, the first dog stood up, shook itself

from nose to tail, and set off at a steady lope up the

beach. The second dog half rose, and then sank

down again, watching Charles and Susan withrenewed intentness.

Perhaps hell go too, whispered Susan.

But the great dog lay there, watchful and

panting, until after about an hour, the other dog

returned and flopped down on the sand, when he,

too, got up, shook himself, and went off.

I think theyre having their dinner! cried

Susan indignantly, and she and Charles looked

longingly towards the small, blackened heap where

the remains of their fish lay waiting for them.

Once or twice during the afternoon, Charles did

attempt to get out of the dinghy, thinking that he

would try to make his way through the wood to get

help. But each time the dogs, first one alone, and

then, after the other had returned, both together,

growled so ferociously, rising to their feet, with the

hair standing up stiffly round their necks like a

fierce ruff, that he didnt dare to risk it, especially

with Susan clinging to him and assuring him that

the dogs would bite him - as it seemed to him they

very well might!Time passed very slowly. They rigged up a bit

of shade with their suitcases and coats, and they

drank some water and condensed milk and ate some

glucose sweets (Beastly, beastly condensed milk!

said Susan, scowling at the dogs). Whose dogs they

were was still a question which they asked each

other at intervals. Somehow, as time passed,

Charles became less hopeful about the Royal Navy

Research Station. He began to remember all the

books he had read about mad scientists, with heavy

foreign accents, who shut themselves up behindelectrified fences to perform strange experiments,


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and how they were always guarded by ferocious

Alsatian dogs. The cheerful figure of the Petty

Officer, striding out of the woods, gradually faded

from his expectations, and the mad scientist grew

larger, and madder, every minute. There were

times when he even thought that he would ratherhave the Alsatians.

To begin with, the children talked quite a lot,

discussing the dogs and their unknown owner, and

wondering what their names were.

The first one is called Turk, said Charles. Big,

fierce dogs are always called Turk. And the other

one - He paused, looking at it consideringly. It

came to find Turk, didnt it? It tracked him down.

I think its called Tracker. Turk and Tracker.

The dogs both pricked their ears, and growled,

and Susan shrank back.I dont like them growling, she said. Do you

think theyre going to jump on us ?

No, I dont think so, said Charles. Theyre

only guarding us.

All the same, it was very unpleasant and frighten-

ing to have that constant menace in front of them,

and to know that every time they moved or spoke,

the dogs would snarl a warning and a threat.

Susan became more and more silent, holding tightly

onto the cord which ran round the dinghy, shiver-

ing a little and looking at the dogs sideways all the

time. It had been a long and exhausting adventure,

and now to have this strain at the end of it was rather

more than a little girl could be expected to bear -

even such a sensible little girl as Susan.

Charles had just remembered that they hadnt

yet finished the comic-books which their father had

given them for the plane journey - so very long

ago as it seemed ! He turned in a quick movement

to get them out of the suitcases, and Turk and

Tracker, taken by surprise, were immediately ontheir feet, barking and growling.

Dont ! said Susan. Dont! Charles, dont let

them do it !

And quite suddenly she began to scream, and

burst into tears, sitting with her hands in her lap

and her face screwed up, while the tears poured

down her face, and she sobbed as though her heart

would break.

If you had asked Charles a short time before

whether he loved Susan, he would probably have

replied, Shes all right, I suppose. And if youhad asked him whether he would rather have a


37/108

sister than a puppy, or even a supersonic, electrically

controlled model aeroplane, he would have had a

severe struggle with himself before deciding in

favour of his sister. But now, when he saw Susan

in such a state of terror and distress because she was

being bullied by two large Alsatians, he was soangry that he forgot everything else.

He scrambled to his feet and shouted at the top

of his voice, Shut up! Turk! Tracker! How dare

you ! Be quiet at once!

The dogs stopped barking and backed away a

few paces. Charles climbed over the edge of the

dinghy and jumped down onto the sand.

How dare you frighten my sister like that! he

shouted. Go away! Go on! Go away! How

dare you !

The dogs backed away again, and then veered,and seemed to hesitate. Charles stamped his foot

at them and pointed towards the wood.

Go on! he commanded. Go back where you

came from ! Cant you see youre frightening her?

Go away!

The two dogs looked at each other, dropped their

eyes almost as though they were ashamed, hesitated

a second longer, and then turned together, and loped

away at a steady pace up the beach, and vanished

into the wood.

Susan was still crying bitterly, heaving great,

gulping sobs and rubbing her eyes.

Come on, Sue, said Charles. Its all right.

Theyve gone. And then, as she still went on cry-

ing, huddled in the dinghy, he climbed in again

and put his arms round her, and even kissed her

(which was something he never did!) Come on.

Its all right. Come and have a look at our fish.

It was some time before he could persuade her

to get down onto the beach, because she was so

much afraid of the Alsatians returning, but at lasthe managed it, and, still drawing shuddering

breaths and sniffling sorrowfully, she crept along

the sand, holding his hand, and throwing fearful

glances towards the wood.

They were somewhat cheered, when they turned

over the cold wood-ash, to find the fish, in its

charred vine-leaf jacket, perfectly cooked, so that

the skin peeled off at a touch. They went back to

the dinghy and sat cross-legged and ate it, with

Susan still hiccoughing sadly at intervals, when her

sorrows overcame her.Charles still felt that they should make their


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journey inland, even now, but nothing he could

say would persuade Susan that it was safe to do so,

and he couldnt possibly leave her alone on the

beach.

We must find out who else is on the Island, he

said. Come to think of it, were not even sure thatit is an island. It might be part of the mainland.

Come on, Sue, we might find all sorts of nice people

just a little way away.

Theyre not nice people at all! said Susan.

They cant be nice. Theyve got horrid dogs!

And she wept again, while Charles heaved a

resigned sigh, rather as his father did when his

mother was firmly and charmingly unreasonable

about something.

Perhaps in his heart of hearts Charles wasnt

altogether sorry to delay their journey. The sunwas going down now, and he did not much like the

idea of finding themselves in the woods when dark-

ness fell. All the same, it was a miserable business

to settle down to another night alone, still un-

certain what lay beyond the beach, and knowing

that at any moment the dogs might return. Charles

did consider trying to get the radio-transmitter to

work again, but some faint qualm about his im-

aginary mad scientist made him hesitate. In the

end, he simply helped Susan to make a reasonably

comfortable bed in the dinghy, with clothes from

the cases, and with their coats over them against the

chill evening air.

Susan went to sleep quite soon, worn out with

emotion, but Charles lay awake for a long while,

staring at the stars and listening to the long, slow

roar of the breakers and feeling a terrible weight of

responsibility.

But in the morning, David and Jonathan came.

CHAPTER VI

DAVID AND JONATHAN

It is a strange and comforting fact about life that

unhappiness and anxiety never last. You may go to

sleep in a maze of worry and misery but when you

wake up, although the circumstances are exactly thesame as when you went to bed, somehow they look


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entirely diferent, as though, during the night, you

had turned some corner of the mind and now saw

the same landscape in quite a new light. What at

night was a burden, in the morning is an oppor-

tunity, and what at night was an anxiety in the

morning is a challenge.So when the children woke up next day on their

sunny beach, and capered down to the sea to bathe,

and raced each other back again, with no one to

please but themselves, and with all the Island

before them to explore and play in, suddenly they

realized that they were having a wonderful ad-

venture. They had made a sea-voyage all by

themselves, they had kept alive, and landed safely,

and looked after themselves for two whole days,

and here they were, still magnificently independent,

picnicking on the seashore when they ought to besitting in cold winter classrooms in two sedate

English schools.

Whoopee ! cried Charles, and turned three

cartwheels one after another, while Susan did one

of her rather dubious handstands, in which her

behind always got much higher in the air than her

feet ever did.

The only trouble was, of course, and as usual,

Food. The children had never realized before

what a lot of labour and organization went into

providing three meals a day, and if they had been

a Victorian little boy and girl, they would have

spared a proper moment of gratitude for their dear

parents and relatives who, until now, had always

produced their breakfast, lunch, and tea, and oc-

casionally supper as well. But the children were

far too busy dealing with the immediate situation

to have any time at all to think about their dear

parents or relatives, or even the excellent house-

keeper at school.

First, there was a small piece of fish left. Theysmelt it carefully, and decided that it was all right,

but that they had better eat it for breakfast as it

would probably go bad before lunch-time. So they

solemnly divided it and hoped for the best. Then

Charles saw something dark lying in the sand at the

top of the beach.

I believe its a coconut! he cried joyfully.

Come on. Lets see.

They ran up to it, with only a passing thought

for the Alsatians

The Isle of Dogs

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Transcript of The Isle of Dogs