Upload
gillyb60second
View
220
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
1/108
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.
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
2/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
3/108
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.
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
4/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
5/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
6/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
7/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
8/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
9/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
10/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
11/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
12/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
13/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
14/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
15/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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.
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
18/108
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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 !
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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.
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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.
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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,
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
31/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
32/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
33/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
34/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
35/108
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,
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
36/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
38/108
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
7/28/2019 The Isle of Dogs
39/108
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