“Did it feel heavy?” asked Dick.

“I gave it a tug and couldn’t move it,” said Julian, “Either it’s wedged in somehow or is really heavy. Anyway we can’t fetch it out by diving down for it. I’ll have to dive down again, fix a rope to it, then come up - and we’ll give a heave-ho and up she’ll come!”

Julian was shivering. Anne picked up the blazer she had brought and gave it to him to dry himself with. Dick looked hurriedly over the raft. There were certainly bits and pieces of rope sticking out here and there, some of it half-rotten, and a short length was tucked into a space between two planks of the raft.

It was much too short though - and surely the other bits and pieces would never join to make a long enough rope?

“The bits of rope we’ve got won’t do, Julian,” said Dick. Julian was drying himself and looking towards the end of the lake, where Two-Trees stood. He was frowning. The others looked too.

The boat had reached the bank there, and had been pulled up. One of the couple, the children couldn’t see which, was standing up on the bank - and something was glinting in the sun, something he or she was holding!

“See that glint?” said Julian “Well, that’s either Maggie or Dirty Dick using field-glasses. They’re going to keep an eye on us while we’re here - just to make sure we don’t suddenly spot the boat, I suppose! They don’t guess we’ve already found it. I bet they were worried when they saw I’d taken a header into the water just over the sunken boat!”

“Oh - so that’s what the flash is,” said George. “The glint of field-glasses! Yes - they’re watching us. Blow! That will put an end to us trying to haul up the loot, Ju. They’d see it and wait for us!”

“Yes. No good trying for that now,” said Julian. “Anyway, as Dick says, we’ve not got enough rope. We’ll have to get some from the boat-house.”

“But when do you propose to get the bag out of the sunk boat?” asked Dick. “They’ll keep those field-glasses on us even if we go out again this afternoon.”

“There’s only one time to go when they won’t have their glasses watching us,” said Julian, beginning to dress himself very rapidly, “and that’s tonight. We’ll go tonight! My word - what an adventure!”

’Don’t let’s,’ said Anne, in a small voice.

“There’ll be a moon,” said George, excited.

’Smashing idea!’ said Dick, thumping Julian on the back. “Let’s go back now so that they won’t have any suspicions of us, and make our plans for tonight. And we’d better keep an eye on them too in case they row out to this spot themselves this afternoon.”

“They won’t,” said Julian. “They daren’t run any risk of us spotting what they’re doing. They will be sure to wait till we’ve gone.”

’And till the loot is gone!’ said George with a laugh. “I say - I do hope those two wretches haven’t gone and taken our food again!”