Free Five Have Plenty of Fun by Enid Blyton

though we can"t see them," said Dick.
    „Someone lying down, looking through binoculars at our beach. Can you see the sun glittering on the glasses?"
    „Yes!" said Julian. „You"re right! Someone must be using binoculars to examine this beach.
    We can"t see them as you say - but it"s easy enough to see the sunlight glinting on the glasses. Gosh, what cheek!"
    „Cheek!" said George, her face crimson with rage. „It"s a lot more than cheek! How dare people go on my island and use it to spy on people on the beach? Let"s spy on them!
    Let"s get our own field-glasses and look through them. We"ll see who it is, then!"
    „I"l get them," said Dick and ran off to Kirrin Cottage. He felt worried. It seemed a strange thing to do - to spy on people sitting on the beach round the bay, using binoculars on Kirrin Island. What was the reason?
    He came back with the binoculars, and handed them to Julian. „I think they"ve gone now, whoever it was," said Julian. „I don"t mean gone off the island, but gone somewhere else on it. We can"t see the glint of the sun on their glasses any more."
    „Well, buck up and see if you can spy anyone through our glasses," said George, impatiently.
    Julian adjusted them, and gazed through them earnestly. The island seemed very near indeed when seen through the powerful glasses. Everyone watched him anxiously.
    „See anyone?" asked Dick.
    „Not a soul," said Julian, disappointed. He handed the glasses to the impatient George, who put them to her eyes at once. „Blow!" she said. „There"s not a thing to be seen, not a thing. Whoever it was has gone into hiding somewhere. If it"s trippers having a picnic there I"l be absolutely furious. If we see smoke rising we"ll know it is trippers!"
    But no smoke arose. Dick had a turn at looking through the glasses, and he looked puzzled. He took them down from his eyes and turned to the others.
    „We ought to be able to see the rabbits running about," he said. „But I can"t see a single one. Did either of you, Julian and George?"
    „Well - now I come to think of it - no, I didn"t," said Julian, and George said the same.
    „They were frightened by whoever was there, of course," said Dick. „I suppose it wil he all right to take Lesley with us when we go to the island this afternoon? I mean - it"s just a bit queer that anyone should be using the island to spy from."

    „Yes. I see what you mean," said Julian. „If it occurred to the kidnappers, whoever they are, that Berta might be down here with us, it would be quite a good idea on their part to land on the island and use it as a place from which to spy on the beach. They would guess we would come down to bathe every day."
    „Yes. And they would see five children instead of four and would begin to make inquiries about the fifth!" said Dick. „They would hope actually to see Berta on the beach - they"ve probably got a photograph of her - and they would be looking for a girl with long wavy hair."
    „And there isn"t one!" said Anne. „Mine"s not wavy and it"s not right down to my shoulders as Lesley"s was. How muddled they would be!"
    „There"s one thing that would tel them that Berta was here though," said Julian, suddenly.
    He pointed to Sal y.
    „Good gracious, yes!" said Dick. „Sal y would give the game away all right! Whew! We"ll have to think about all this!"

Chapter Eleven
ON KIRRIN ISLAND AGAIN

    George wanted to get her boat and go across to the island immediately. She was so furious at the thought of anyone else being there without permission that all she wanted to do was to chase them away.
    But Julian said no. „For one thing the boat won"t be ready til two," he said. „For another thing we"ve got to consider whether it"s a sensible thing to do, to go to the island if possible kidnappers are here, on the lookout for Berta - Lesley, I mean."
    „We could go without her," said George. „We could leave her safely with Joan."
    „That would be a foolish thing to do," said Dick. „Anyone