"Blyton, Enid - Adventure 01 - The Island of Adventure" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

They came to a jutting part of the cliff and walked out almost to the edge. I can't see signs of any boat on the water at all, said Jack.
You're sure you didn't imagine it? said Philip. It's funny there's not a thing to be seen today a boat is not an easy thing to hide.
There's a sort of cove down there, said Lucy-Ann, pointing to where the cliff turned in a little, and there was a small beach of shining sand. Let's go down and picnic there, shall we? We can bathe first. It's awfully windy up here; I can hardly get my breath to talk.
They began to climb down the steep and rocky cliff. The boys went first and the girls followed, slipping a little now and again. But they were all good climbers, and reached the bottom of the cliff in safety.
Here it was sheltered from the rushing wind and was warm and quiet. The children slipped off their jerseys and shorts and went into the water to bathe. Philip, who was a good swimmer, swam right out to some black rocks that stuck out from the water, high and forbidding. He reached them, and climbed up to rest for a while.
And then he suddenly saw a boat, on the other side of the rocks! There was a flat stretch there, and on it, pulled up out of reach of the waves, was the boat that Jack had seen on the sea the day before. No-one could possibly see the boat unless he, like Philip, happened to be on those particular rocks, for, from the shore, the high rocks hid the flat stretch facing seawards, where the boat lay.
Whew! whistled Philip in surprise. He got up and went over to the boat. It was a fine boat with a sail, and was almost as big as Jo-Jo's. It was called The Albatross. There were two pairs of oars in it.
Well! said Philip, surprised. What a queer place to keep a boat right out here on these rocks! Whoever owns it would have to swim out whenever he wanted to get it. Funny!
He shouted to the others. The boat's here on these rocks. Come and see it.
Soon all the children were examining the boat. That's the one I saw, said Jack. But where's the owner? There's no sign of him anywhere.
We'll have our lunch and then we'll have a good look-see, said Philip. Come on, girls back to the shore we'll go. Then we'll separate after our picnic and hunt round properly for the man who owns this boat.
They swam back to the shore, took off their wet things, set them out to dry in the sun and put on their dry clothes. Then they sat down to enjoy the sandwiches, chocolate and fruit that Aunt Polly had prepared for them. They lolled in the sun, tired with their swim, hungry and thirsty, enjoying the food immensely.
Food's gorgeous when you're really hungry, said Lucy-Ann, taking a huge bite at her sandwich.
I always am hungry, said Jack. Shut up, Kiki that's the best part of my apple you've pecked. I've got some sunflower seeds for you in my pocket. Can't you wait?
What a pity, what a pity! said Kiki, imitating Aunt Polly when something went wrong. What a pity, what a pity, what a . . .
Oh, stop her, said Dinah, who knew that the parrot was quite capable of repeating a brand-new sentence a hundred times without stopping. Here, Kiki have a bite of my apple, do.
That stopped Kiki, and she ran her beak into the apple in delight, pecking out a bit that kept her busy for some time.
A quarrel nearly blew up between Dinah and Philip over the large caterpillar which made its way out of the boy's pocket, over the sand, towards Dinah. She gave a shriek, and was about to hurl a large shell at Philip when Jack picked up the caterpillar and put it back into Philip's pocket.
No harm done, Dinah, he said. Keep your hair on! Don't let's start a free fight now. Let's have a peaceful day.
They finished up every crumb of the lunch. The gulls won't get much, said Philip lazily, shaking out the papers, then folding them up and putting them into his pocket. Look at that young gull it's as tame as anything.
I wish I had my camera here, said Jack longingly, watching the enormous young gull walking very near. I could get a marvellous snap of him. I haven't taken any bird pictures yet. I really must. I'll find my camera tomorrow.
Come on, said Dinah, jumping up. If we're going to do a spot of man-hunting, we'd better begin. I bet I find the strange boatman first.
They separated, Jack and Philip going one way and the girls going the other. They walked on the sandy little beach, keeping close to the rocky cliffs. The girls found that they could not get very far, because steep rocks barred their way after a bit, and they had to turn back.
But the boys managed to get past the piece of cliff that jutted out and sheltered the little cove they had been picnicking in. On the other side of the cliff was another cove, with no beach at all, merely flattish rocks that shelved upwards to the cliff. The boys clambered over these rocks, examining the creatures in the pools as they went. Philip added a sea-snail to the collection in his pocket.
There's a break in the cliff just over there, said Jack. Let's explore it.
They made their way towards the gap in the cliff. It was much wider than they expected when they got there. A stream trickled over the rocks towards the sea, running down from somewhere half-way up the cliff.
Must be spring-water, said Jack, and tasted it. Yes, it is. Hallo look, Tufty!
Philip looked to where Jack pointed, and saw floating in a pool a cigarette-end, almost falling to pieces.
Someone's been here, and quite recently too, said Jack, else the tide would have carried that cigarette-end away. This is exciting.
With the cigarette-end as a proof of someone's nearness, the boys went on more eagerly still. They came to the wide crack in the cliff and there, a little way up, built close against the rocky slope, was a tumbledown hut. The back of it was made of the cliff itself. The roof had been roughly mended. The walls were falling to pieces here and there, and, in winter, it would have been quite impossible to live in it. But someone was certainly living there now, for outside, spread over a stunted bush, was a shirt set out to dry.
Look, said Jack, in a whisper. That's where our boatman lives. What a lovely hidie-hole he's found!
The boys went quietly up to the tumbledown hut. It was very, very old, and had probably once belonged to a lonely fisherman. A whistling came from inside the hut.
Do we knock at the door? said Philip, with a nervous giggle. But at that moment someone came out of the open doorway and caught sight of the boys. He stood gaping in great surprise.
The boys stared back without a word. They rather liked the look of the stranger. He wore shorts and a rough shirt, open at the neck. He had a red, jolly face, twinkling eyes, and a head that was bald on the top, but had plenty of hair round the sides. He was tall and strong-looking, and his chin jutted out below his clean-shaven mouth.
Hallo, he said. Coming visiting? How nice!
I saw you out in your boat yesterday, said Jack. So we came to see if we could find you.
Very friendly of you, said the man. And who are you?
We're from Craggy-Tops, the house about a mile and a half away, said Philip. I don't expect you know it.
Yes, I do, said the man unexpectedly. But I thought only grown-ups lived there a man and a woman and a black servant.
Well, usually only grown-ups do live there, said Philip. But in the hols my sister and I come there too, to stay with our Aunt Polly and Uncle Jocelyn. And these hols two friends of ours came too. This is one of them Jack Trent. His sister Lucy-Ann is somewhere about. I'm Philip Mannering and my sister is Dinah she's with Lucy-Ann.
I'm Bill Smugs, said the man, smiling at all this sudden information. And I live here alone.
Have you just suddenly come here? asked Jack, in curiosity.
Quite suddenly, said the man. Just an idea of mine, you know.
Not much to come for here, said Philip. Why did you come?
The man hesitated for a moment. Well, he said, I'm a bird-watcher. Interested in birds, you know. And there are a great many unusual birds here.
Oh! cried Jack, in the greatest delight. Do you like birds too? I'm mad on them. Always have been. I've seen crowds here that I've only seen in books before.
And then the boy plunged into a list of the unusual birds he had seen, making Philip yawn. Bill Smugs listened, but did not say very much. He seemed amused at Jack's enthusiasm.
What particular bird did you hope to see here, Mr. Smugs? asked Jack, stopping at last.
Bill Smugs seemed to consider. Well, he said, I rather hoped I might see a Great Auk.
Jack looked at him in astonished silence that changed to awe. The Great Auk! he said, in a voice mixed with surprise and wonder. But but isn't it extinct? Surely there are no Great Auks left now? Golly did you really think you might see one?