Free The Sea of Adventure by Enid Blyton Page A

and gannets nest, and a valley where the puffins live — so I suppose he's happy."
     
    "Oh yes," said Jack. "We'll stay here. This shall be our island — we'll share it with the puffins."
     
    "Well, we'll find a good place for our tents," said Philip. "Then we'll bring our goods and chattels here and camp. We'd better find a place where there's a stream, though . . . if there is one on this island. We shall want water to drink. And let's look for a cove where we can put the boat. We can't very well leave it in that narrow channel."
     
    "Look — there's a dear little cove down there!" said Dinah suddenly, pointing to the sea. "We could bathe there — and the boat would be quite all right there too. Let's go and tell Bill."
     
    "I'll go," said Philip. "Jack wants to stare at the puffins a bit more, I can see. I'll take the boat round to the cove with Bill, and you two girls can find a good place for our tents. Then we'll all help to bring the things there from the boat."
     
    He ran off quickly to find Bill and tell him where to put the boat. Jack sat down with Kiki to watch the puffins. The girls went to look for a good place to put up their tents for the night.
     
    They wandered over the island. Beyond the puffin colony, just at the end of it, before they came to the high cliffs at the other side of the island, was a little dell. A few stunted birch trees grew there, and banks of heather.
     
    "This is just the place," said Dinah, pleased. "We can put up our tents here, be sheltered from the worst of the wind, watch the puffins, go down to bathe when we want to, and when we're tired of that, go cruising round the other islands."
     
    "A very nice life," said Lucy-Ann, with a laugh. "Now — is there any water about?"
     
    There was no stream at all on the island — but Dinah found something that would do equally well. At least, she hoped it would.
     
    "Look here!" she called to Lucy-Ann. "Here's an enormous rock with a hollow in its middle, filled with water. I've tasted it and it isn't salt."
     
    Lucy-Ann came up, followed by Jack. Dinah dipped in her hand, scooped up a palmful of water and drank. It was sweet and as pure as could be.
     
    "Rain-water," said Dinah, pleased. "Now we'll be all right — so long as it doesn't dry up in this hot weather. Come on — let's go back to the boat and collect all the things we want. We'll have to do a bit of hard work now."
     
    "We'll wait here a bit," said Jack, coming up with Kiki. "I expect Bill and Philip will be bringing the boat round to the cove over there — then we'll go and tell them we've found a good place, and help to bring the things here."
     
    It was not long before Bill and Philip ran into the cove with the boat. Bill leapt out, took the anchor well up the beach and dug it in. He saw Jack and the girls and waved to them.
     
    "Just coming!" he cried. "Have you found a good place for the tents?"
     
    He and Philip soon joined the others, and were pleased with the little dell. "Just right!" said Bill. "Well, we'll bring all the things we want from the boat straightaway now."
     
    So they spent quite a time going to and from the cove, laden with goods. It did not take quite as long as they feared because there were five of them to do it, and even Kiki gave a hand — or rather a beak — and carried a tent-peg. She did it really to impress the watching puffins, who stared at her seriously as she flew by, the peg in her big curved beak.
     
    "Arrrrr!" she called, in a puffin voice.
     
    "You're showing off, Kiki," said Jack severely. "You're a conceited bird."
     
    "Arrrrr!" said Kiki, and dropped the tent-peg on to Jack's head.
     
    It was fun arranging their new home. The boys and Bill were to have one tent. The girls were to have the other. Behind the tents Lucy-Ann found a ledge of rock and below it was a very large dry space.
     
    "Just the spot for storing everything in," said Lucy-Ann proudly. "Jack, bring the tins here — and the extra clothes —