Other editions of book The Adventurous Four

CHAPTER 1The Beginning of the AdventuresTHREE children ran down a rocky path to the seashore. Tom went first, a small, wiry boy of twelve, his red hair gleaming in the sun. He looked round at the two girls following, and his green eyes twinkled."Want any help, you two?"Mary and Jill laughed in scorn."Don't be so silly, Tom," said Mary. "We're as good as you any day when we're running over the rocks."The girls were twins, and very like each other, with their heads of thick golden hair, tied in plaits, and their deep blue eyes. They often laughed at their brother Tom, and said he should have been called Carrots or Ginger or Marmalade, because of his red hair.They were all on holiday, staying in a little fishing-village on the north-east coast of Scotland. Their father was in the Air Force, and their mother was with them, knitting hard all day long in the garden of the little white house where they were staying.The three of them had run wild, and were all burnt as brown as monkeys. Usually they wore nothing but bathing costumes and rubber shoes, and spent as much of their time in the sea as out of it.At first their mother had been afraid of the big waves that crashed on the shore, for she had thought the three children would surely be thrown on to the sand and hurt, if they tried to bathe in such a rough sea. But they had soon learnt to swim right through the heart of the big breaking waves, and reach the calmer water beyond the shore.They had one great friend--Andy, the fisher-boy. He was a big, strong lad of fourteen, who had just left school and was helping his father with his fishing. Andy was dark-haired and blue-eyed, and was burnt dark brown by the sun. He knew everything about the sea, boats, and fishing. He could mimic any sea-bird, and could call 'the wild gulls to him by crying to them."Andy's marvelous," said Mary and Jill, a dozen times a day--and Tom agreed. Each day the children went to talk to their friend, and to watch him bring in the catch of fish, clean it, and pack it to be sent away.Andy was tall and brown. He was dressed in old blue trousers, and a dark-blue jersey. He liked the three children very much, and often took them out in his little boat. He had taught them all to swim like fishes, to row strongly, and to climb the rocky cliff like cats. It would really have turned their mother's hair quite white if she had seen the things that the three children sometimes tried to do!Andy sat on the side of his little boat and grinned at the three children running down the rocky path. His white teeth gleamed in his brown face, and his eyes shone as blue as the sea. He was mending a net."Let me help you, Andy," said Mary, and she took up the torn net. Her fingers were nimble and she worked with Andy whilst the others lay on their backs on the hot sand."Andy, did you ask your father what we wanted you to do?" said Tom."Aye, I did," said Andy. "He says, yes--if I work hard all the week.""Andy! How lovely!" said Jill in excitement. "I never thought he'd let you!""Do you mean to say your father will really lend you his sailing-ship to take us for a trip to Little Island?" asked Mary, hardly believing her ears. "I never thought he'd say yes.""I was rather surprised, too," said Andy. "But he knows I can handle the boat just as well as he can. We'll take plenty of food with us, and we'll sail out to Little Island on Friday. We can spend two days and a night there, my father says--and I'll show you where some queer birds nest--and the cove with yellow stones--and the cliff where about a million birds sit and call.""Oh, won't it be gorgeous!" said Tom, sitting up and hugging his knees. "All by ourselves. No grown-ups. A little island, far away over there to the east--and no one on it but ourselves! Too good to be true."In great excitement the children made their plans. "Let's take plenty of food," said Tom, who was always hungry. "I don't know why, but when I'm out on the sea I feel

Enid Blyton - The Adventurous Four Again, Volume 2CHAPTER 1.Back with Andy Again.THREE very excited children bumped along a rough country lane in a farmer's cart. The Scottish cartersat in front, saving nothing, but listening with a little smile to the children's happy voices."We shall see Andy again soon! We haven't seen him since our exciting adventures last summer!" saidTom, a red-haired boy of twelve."It was bad luck getting measles in the Christmas hols, so that we couldn't come up here and stay in ourlittle cottage," said Jill. She and her sister Mary were twins, and were very like each other. They eachhad long golden plaits and blue eyes, and were younger than Tom.Tom spoke to the carter. "Jock! Did you hear about our adventures last year?" he asked.Jock nodded his head. He hardly ever said a word.The children, with their friend Andy, had indeed had some thrilling adventures. They had gone out inAndy's father's fishing-boat one day, and had been caught by a storm. They had been swept miles out oftheir course on to a lonely island—and had found a nest of enemy submarines in the waters there, hidingto pounce on any ships that came within their reach."And poor Andy lost his father's boat," said Jill, remembering how afraid Andy had been of what hisfather might say about the lost boat."But it didn't matter—because Andy was given a much, much better boat!" said Mary. "And it wascalled Andy—do you remember, it had his name painted on it? Wasn't Andy pleased?"The fisher-boy had been more than pleased. He had been filled with the greatest delight. The new fishingboat was a magnificent one, with a lovely red sail. Andy's father had been overjoyed too, for a fishingboatmeant his livelihood to him. Catching fish and selling them was his work and Andy's—and nowthey had one of the finest boats on the coast...

Brief Summary by Cathy Cunningham: Ginger-haired Tom and his twin sisters Jill and Mary are on holiday on the Scottish coast, in the fishing village where their best friend Andy, a fisher-boy, lives and works with his father. Their holiday plan is to take an exciting boat trip to a nearby island, and camp there, but once out at sea, their plans are turned upside down and they find themselves shipwrecked and in the middle of a thrilling and mysterious adventure

Brief Summary by Cathy Cunningham: Tom, Jill, Mary, and their best friend, fisherboy Andy, are off on another smashing holiday trip in Andy's boat - a trip along the rugged Scottish coast to a lonely cliff where they can watch birds and camp for a night. However, things at the lonely cliff are not as they seem, and the mysterious happenings soon throw the four into another thrilling adventure...

Brief Summary by Cathy Cunningham: Ginger-haired Tom and his twin sisters Jill and Mary are on holiday on the Scottish coast, in the fishing village where their best friend Andy, a fisher-boy, lives and works with his father. Their holiday plan is to take an exciting boat trip to a nearby island, and camp there, but once out at sea, their plans are turned upside down and they find themselves shipwrecked and in the middle of a thrilling and mysterious adventure...