Chapter 9 INSIDE THE LIGHT-HOUSE
The five children jumped down into the boat, which was certainly acting¹ up to its name of Bob-About! Timmy leapt in after George, but Mischief² the monkey cried in terror when Tinker took himinto the bobbing boat and sat down, holding him firmly.
'It's all right, Mischief,' said Tinker. 'Don't you remember this little boat of mine? You never did likegoing in a boat, though, did you?'
There were two pairs of oars³. Julian took one pair, and George was going to take the other, whenDick quietly took them himself, grinning at George's angry face.
'Sorry - there's a good old swell⁴ on the sea, and we've to row through some pretty good waves.
I'm just a bit stronger than you, George!'
'I row just as well as you do,' said George. The boat gave a great roll to one side just then, and shejust managed to save one of their suitcases from toppling overboard.
'Well saved!' said Julian. 'And only just in time too! My word, what a swell there is just here!'
'Are you going to row right over the rocks?' asked Anne peering down into the water. 'They arecovered by the water now - we shan't scrape the bottom of the boat at all.'
'These are the rocks that we can walk over when the tide's out,' said Tinker. 'Lovely pools there are inthem, too! I used to wallow in a nice warm one that was so well-heated by the sun that I wished I hada cold tap to turn on when the water felt too hot!'
Anne chuckled⁵. 'I wish it was warm enough to bathe now,' she said. 'My word - look down and seewhat horrible rocks there are, just beneath the boat!'
'Yes - I bet they ripped up many a poor ship in the old days,' said Julian. 'No wonder they called themDemon's Rocks! It's a bit of a pull over them, isn't it, Dick?'
'Let me have a turn,' said George, grabbing at one of Dick's oars.
'Nothing doing,' said Dick, with a grin. 'You just look after those bags, old thing!'
'Is it a very old light-house?' asked Anne, as they swung over the hidden rocks, and the lighthousecame nearer and nearer. 'It looks old!'
'Yes, it is,' said Tinker. 'It's an odd little light-house, really - built by a rich man years and years ago.
His daughter was drowned in a ship that was

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