the Goblin,with all her sails up,was hurrying along over a blue sea in bright sunshine.
a long way away they could see a lot of fishing boats but they weren't like any fishing boats they had ever seen before.
'they aren't english,are they?'said Roger.
'no,the sails aren't like englise sails at all,'said John.
'i think they're Dutch.land can't be far away.I'm going to climb the to see.'
'no...no,' said susan,but already John was at the bottom of the mast and climbing,holding on to the ropes.
the three children help their breath as they watched.
'land! land ahead!' came the happy shout when John reached the top of the mast.'land straight ahead!'
soon even from the cockpit they could see the lighthouse ahead.John came down from the top of the mast and told them there was also a ship ahead,but it wasn't moving.it seemed to be anchored.
'we've got to find out where we are,'he said,'and I'm going to ask,but first I've got to make everything tidy on deck.'he put all the ropes and sails in good order and came back to the cockpit.ahead of them the ship grew larger and larger,but didn't move.suddenly John shouted.
'it's a pilot ship!it's all right.we can ask for a pilot to show us the way into the nearest harbour.quick,let's get the flag up.'
Hurriedly,they found the right flag-a blue and white square one,which was the sign asking for a pilot to come on board.