“Don’t keep bothering your uncle,” said his aunt, annoyingly. “Let him eat his lunch. He can’t have had anything for ages!”

“Yes, but Aunt Fanny, I…” began Dick and was interrupted by his uncle.

“You obey your aunt, young man. I don’t want to be pestered by any of you. What does it matter where I work?”

“Oh, it doesn’t really matter a bit, sir,” said Dick, hurriedly. “It’s only that I’m awfully curious to know. You see, we looked for you simply everywhere.”

“Well, you’re not quite so clever as you thought you were then,” said Uncle Quentin, and reached for a jammy bun. “George, take this dog of yours away from me. He keeps breathing down my neck, hoping I shall give him a tit-bit. I don’t approve of tit-bits at meal-times.”

George pulled Timmy away. Her mother watched her father gobbling up the rest of the food. Most of the sandwiches she had saved for tea-time had gone already. Poor Quentin! How very hungry he must be.

“Quentin, you don’t think there’s any danger for you here, do you?” she said. “I mean — you don’t think anyone would try to come spying on you, as they did once before?”

“No. How could they?” said her husband. “No plane can land on this island. No boat can get through the rocks unless the way through is known, and the sea’s too rough round the rocks for any swimmer.”

“Julian, see if you can make him promise to signal to me night and morning,” said Aunt Fanny, turning to her nephew. “I feel worried about him somehow.”

Julian tackled his uncle manfully. “Uncle, it wouldn’t be too much of a bother to you to signal to Aunt Fanny twice a day, would it?”

“If you don’t, Quentin, I shall come over every single day to see you,” said his wife.

“And we might come too,” said Anne mischievously. Her uncle looked most dismayed at the idea.

“Well, I could signal in the morning and in the evening when I go up to the top of the tower,” he said, “I have to go up once every twelve hours to re-adjust the wires. I’ll signal then. Half past ten in the morning and half past ten at night.”

“How will you signal?” asked Julian. “Will you flash with a mirror in the morning?”

“Yes — that would be quite a good idea,” said his uncle. “I could do that easily. And I’ll use a lantern at night. I’ll shine it out six times at half past ten. Then perhaps you’ll all know I’m all right and will leave me alone! But don’t look for the signal tonight. I’ll start tomorrow morning.”

“Oh Quentin dear, you do sound cross,” said his wife. “I don’t like you being all alone here, that’s all. You look thin and tired. I’m sure you’re not…”

Uncle Quentin put on a scowl exactly like George sometimes puts on. He looked at his wrist-watch. “Well, I must go,” he said. “Time to get to work again. I’ll see you to your boat.”