The Birthday Party
After about half an hour at the lookout place, Captain John felt himself again. After all, nothing could be done about Captain Flint without the help of the Amazons. He was their uncle, not the uncle of the Swallows. If the Swallows had had an uncle, he would have been different. John had thought of writing a letter to the houseboat man, but he was no good at writing. Susan was even worse. Titty was the one for that, and Titty would not write the sort of letter that was needed. Bother the calm. If only there had been a wind and a chance of meeting the Amazons he would never have had to go by himself to give Captain Flint his message, and the thing would never have happened. But the big hills far up the lake helped to make him feel that the houseboat man did not matter. The hills had been there before Captain Flint. They would be there forever. That, somehow, was comforting. John cheered up, and decided that it was a good day for swimming round the island.
He went down to the camp.
“Susan,” he said, “it’s a lovely day for swimming round the island.”
“Are you sure you can?” said Susan.
“I’m going to try,” said John. “I can come ashore if I get too tired.”
The others came down to the landing-place to see him start. He swam at first with the sidestroke, fast and splashy. It was easy work to swim to the rocks at the low end of the island. Titty and Roger ran to the harbour, and climbed on a high rock to see him swimming round well outside the rocks that guarded the passage. “Hurrah,” they shouted as they saw him