Arthur Ransome - Swallows and Amazons (Complete Series)

“And I’ve never been near your boat before, never as near as I am now.”

“Listen,” said the houseboat man. “When you came and lit that beastly thing that made such a mess of my cabin roof, you cleared off round the point. I came up and put the fire out, and guessed at once what you had done. But you may not know that about half an hour afterwards I came on deck again, and saw you sailing across the mouth of the bay. Think I can’t recognise a boat when I see it? You’ve the mast out of her to-day, but I’d seen her several times before, and you in her.”

“We saw you that day. You were shaking your fist.”

“Ah. You saw that, did you?”

“But I didn’t set fire to your boat. I never touched your boat. This is the first time I’ve been near her, except once sailing to Rio, when you were sitting on the deck, and saw us too.”

“Who did set fire to her, then?” said the houseboat man.

John said nothing. It would never do to give the Amazons away.

“There were four of you in the boat,” said the houseboat man. “But you were the biggest. You ought to know better than to let the others do a thing like that, even if you didn’t do it yourself.”

“We didn’t do it at all,” said John.

“Clear out,” said the houseboat man. “I’ve nothing more to say to you.”

“But I came to tell you . . .”

“Clear out,” said the houseboat man. “I don’t like talking to liars.”

“But . . .”

“Clear out, and don’t come near the houseboat again.”

John choked. He went very red and stood up in the boat.

“Go away,” said the houseboat man, “I’m busy.”

John sat down and rowed away out of the bay. He rowed much harder than before, and his rowing was not so regular. He even forgot about navy style. He was out of breath and very hot when he brought the Swallow back to the landing-place at Wild Cat Island.

The others met him there.

“Did you see the parrot?” asked Titty.

“What did he say when you gave him the message?” asked Susan.

“Did you go aboard the houseboat?” asked Roger.

“I didn’t give him the message,” said John. “He wouldn’t let me.”

“Did you declare war on him?” asked Titty.

“No,” said John. He pulled Swallow up on the beach.

“He called me a liar,” he said, and went off by himself to the look-out place. The others looked at each other, but did not follow him.

“I always said we ought to sink the houseboat,” said Titty.

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After about half an hour at the look-out place, Captain John felt himself again. After all, nothing could be done about Captain Flint without the help of the Amazons. He was their uncle, not the uncle of the Swallows. If the Swallows had had an uncle, he would have been different. John had thought of writing a letter to the houseboat man, but he was no good at writing. Susan was even worse. Titty was the one for that, and Titty would not write the sort of letter that was needed. Bother the calm. If only there had been a wind and a chance of meeting the Amazons he would never have had to go by himself to give Captain Flint his message, and the thing would never have happened. But the big hills far up the lake helped to make him feel that the houseboat man did not matter. The hills had been there before Captain Flint. They would be there for ever. That, somehow, was comforting. John cheered up, and decided that it was a good day for swimming round the island.

He went down to the camp.

“Susan,” he said, “it’s a lovely day for swimming round the island.”

“Are you sure you can?” said Susan.

“I’m going to try,” said John. “I can come ashore if I get too tired.”

The others came down to the landing-place to see him start. He swam at first with the side-stroke, fast and splashy. It was easy work to swim to the rocks at the low end of the island. Titty and Roger ran to the harbour, and climbed on a high rock to see him swimming round well outside the rocks that guarded the passage. “Hurrah,” they shouted as they saw him go by. Then they ran to the western side of the island, where the rock dropped straight down like a wall into deep water. John came swimming along, using breast stroke now for a change, quietly and not hurrying. He began to feel that it was a very long way down that western side.

“Stick to it,” shouted Titty.

“Go it,” shouted Roger.

Susan came up from the camp to the tall pine at the northern end of the island, and looked down from the high rocky wall. John had almost reached the look-out place. He was moving very slowly.

“You can get ashore just here if you’re done,” she called, “then you can rest and go on again.”

John tried to wave his hand, and got a lot of water into his mouth in doing so. He turned on his back and floated, blowing like a whale.

“You’re nearly round,” shouted Titty, who had run up to the look-out place and joined Susan.

John began again, kicking with his legs and using his arms only a little. He was round the head of the island. He went on swimming on his back. He turned over and lifted his head. For one moment he saw the landing-place, and Swallow lying there pulled up on the beach. His head went down, and he got more water in his mouth. He blew and spluttered. Still the landing-place was really not so very far off. He turned on his side and swam on. Somehow his arms would not pull, and his legs would not gather up and kick as hard as they ought to.

“You’ve done it,” shouted Titty.

“Come on,” shouted Roger.

Again John caught a glimpse of the landing-place. He must do it now. Suddenly he felt stronger again. He swam in towards the beach. He had started from this side of Swallow. Well, he would not touch bottom until he was on the other side. Another two strokes and he gripped Swallow’s port gunwale, touched the bottom, and crawled ashore, coughing, spitting, shivering, spluttering, and triumphant. Titty and Roger cheered. John was too much out of breath to speak.

“Here’s a towel,” said Susan. “I’ve hotted it by the fire.”

He put it round his shoulders. He rubbed first one arm and then the other. He felt much better.

“Well, I thought I could do it,” he said at last. The day was a good day after all, in spite of Captain Flint.

Susan was just thinking of getting dinner ready when there was a shout from Titty, who had taken the telescope up to the look-out place just in case of cormorants, pirates, or anything else worth looking at.

“A native boat,” she shouted. “It’s mother. It’s the female native. She’s got her little native with her, and the nurse belonging to it.”

The Swallows all ran to the look-out point. The female native herself was rowing. She had already passed Houseboat Bay. Vicky and nurse were sitting in the stern of the rowing boat. The Swallows had one look and then rushed back to tidy their tents and put the camp in order. They spread their blankets neatly over their haybags, and turned down the tops of them. Susan put a lot of fresh wood on the fire. There was not much else to do. Then they ran back to the look-out place. The female native was already quite near. They waved. Nurse and Vicky waved back. The female native couldn’t wave, because she was rowing. She passed the head of the island, and a moment later was pulling in to the landing-place. The Swallows were there before her.

“Sit still, nurse, till I get ashore,” said the female native.

The Swallows had already seized the boat and pulled it up. There was a big hamper in the boat just forward of the rowing thwart. The female native climbed round it.

“Welcome to Wild Cat Island,” said Titty.