REAL LIVE PIRATES
After neatly and carefully turning up the bottoms of his trousers so
that they should not get wet, the False Hare bounded on a rock that
rose out of the water a few feet from shore, and stood ready to direct
the landing of the boat. There was some sense in this, for certainly
neither of the two mice was what could be called good oarsmen. One of
them had just unshipped the little sail, and--not seeming to know what
else to do with it--had cut it loose from the oar that served as a
mast and wrapped it round and round his body, tying himself tightly
with a piece of string.
Rudolf thought he had never in his life seen people in a boat do so
many queer and unnecessary things in so short a time as those two
mice did. They would stop rowing every few minutes and begin sweeping
out the floor of their boat with a small broom, dusting seats,
cushions, and oar-locks with a little feather duster tied with a pink
ribbon. Then, after a few, rapid, nervous strokes at the oars, one or
the other of them would pull his blade out of the water and polish it
anxiously with his handkerchief, as if the important thing was to keep
it dry. They would probably never have reached land that day if this
had depended on their own efforts, but luckily the breeze was blowing
them in the right direction.
All this time the False Hare had been waiting on the rock, and now as
the boat was almost within reach, he began leaping up and down,
clapping his paws and calling out in the heartiest tones: "Go it, my
dear old Salts! Hurrah, my fine Jack Tars! You're a pair of swell old
sea-dogs, you are. Only don't _hurt_ yourselves, you know. We wouldn't
like to see you _work_!"
It seemed as if the white mice knew the False Hare and the value of
his remarks, for they made no attempt to answer him, but only looked
more and more frightened and uncomfortable. When their boat was at
last beached, they jumped out of it, turned their backs to the rest of
the party, and standing as close together as they could get, gazed
anxiously out over the water. Seen close by there was something
familiar about the look of these mice to the three children, yes, even
though they _had_ grown a great deal, and had disguised themselves by
the simple method of licking the chocolate off each other! Rudolf and
Ann hoped Peter would not notice it, but nothing of the sort ever
escaped him. He walked around in front of the two mice, who tried
vainly not to meet his eye, looked at them long and earnestly, and
said:
"I say, Mr. Mouses, was you always white?"
The mice turned a pale greenish color in their embarrassment and
looked nervously at each other, but answered never a word.
"I thought," continued Peter, staring steadily at them, "that last
time I saw you you was choc'late. Did you wash it off--on purpose?" he
added sternly.
"Excuse me, sir, we don't believe in washing," muttered one of the
poor things hastily.
Ann shook her head at Peter. "Hush!" she whispered. "You mustn't be
rude to them when they are going to lend us their boat so kindly."
Then she asked in a loud voice, hoping to change the subject: "Who is
going to row? Will you, Mr. False Hare?"
"Why certainly, dearie, I adore rowing," said the False Hare sweetly.
"Then you will have to, Rudolf, and I will look after Peter. 'He is
always _so_ apt to fall out of a boat. I dare say the mice will be
glad of a rest."
They all got into the boat, Rudolf took the oars, Ann sat in the bow
with Peter beside her, and the False Hare settled himself comfortably
in the stern with a mouse squeezed on either side of him. He wanted to
pet them a little, so he said, but from the strained expressions on
their faces and the startled squeaks they gave from time to time, it
seemed as if they were hardly enjoying his attentions. The children
loved being on the water better than anything else, and they would
have been perfectly happy now, if the False Hare had not had quite so
many nice compliments to make to Rudolf on his rowing, and if the
white mice had not complained so bitterly of them all for "sitting all
over the boat cushions," and "wetting the nice dry oars!" They were
enjoying themselves very much, in spite of this, when suddenly Ann,
who had very sharp eyes, called out:
"Sail ahead!"
At first Rudolf thought she had said this just because it sounded
well, but on turning his head he saw for himself a small boat heading
toward them as fast as it could come. A moment more and the children
could see the black flag floating at its masthead.
"Oh, oh!" screamed Ann, "that's a skull and cross-bones. It's a pirate
ship!"
"Hurrah!" Rudolf shouted. "How awfully jolly! Just like a book."
"Dee-lightful!" the False Hare exclaimed, shuddering all over to the
tips of his whiskers. "If there's one thing I do dote on it is
pirates--dear old things!"
As for the two white mice, after one glance at the ship, they gave
two little shrieks and hid their faces in their paws.
Rudolf shipped his oars while he loosened his sword. "I shall be
prepared to fight," said he, "though I am afraid we must make up our
minds to being captured. Our enemy's boat is not so large--it's not
much more than a catboat--but there are only four of us, as the mice
don't count, and I suppose there must be at least a dozen of the
pirates."
The False Hare smiled a sickly sort of smile. "And such nice ones," he
murmured. "Such gentle, well-behaved, well-brought-up, _polite_
pirates! Just the sort your dear parents would like to have you meet.
_Those_ fellows don't know anything about shooting, stabbing,
mast-heading or plank-walking; _oh_, no! _They_ don't do such things."
Ann turned pale at the False Hare's words, but Rudolf only laughed.
"What luck!" he exclaimed. "I'm nine years old and I've never seen a
real live pirate, and goodness knows when I ever will again--I
wouldn't miss this for anything." Then, as he saw how really worried
his little sister looked, he added cheerfully. "They may sail right
past without speaking to us, you know."
But this was not to be the case. Nearer and nearer came the pirate
craft until at last the children could see, painted in black letters
on her side, her name, _The Merry Mouser_. A group of pirates was
gathered at the rail, staring at the rowboat through their glasses.
There was no mistake about these fellows being pirates--that was easy
enough to see from their queer bright-colored clothes and the number
of weapons they carried, even if the ugly black flag had not been
floating over their heads. At the bow stood he who was evidently the
Pirate Chief. He was dressed in some kind of tight gray and white
striped suit with a red sash tied round his waist stuck full of
shiny-barreled pistols and long bright-bladed knives. A red turban
decorated his head and under it his brows met in the fiercest kind of
frown. His arms were folded on his breast. As Rudolf looked at this
fellow, he began to have the queerest feeling that somewhere--
somehow--under very different conditions--he had seen the Pirate
Chief before!
Just at that instant he heard the sound of a struggle behind him, and
turning round he saw that Peter had become terribly excited. "Mittens!
Mittens!" he screamed, and breaking loose from Ann's hold, he stood up
and leaned so far over the side of the boat that he lost his balance
and fell into the water. Ann screamed, the False Hare--I am ashamed to
say--merely yawned and kept his paws in his pockets. Rudolf had kicked
off his shoes and was ready to jump in after Peter, when he saw that
quick as a flash, on an order from their Chief, the pirates had
lowered a long rope with something bobbing at the end of it. Peter
when he came to the surface, seized this rope and was rapidly hauled
on board the pirate ship.
Ann came near falling overboard herself in her excitement. "Oh, Ruddy,
Ruddy!" she begged, "let's surrender right away quick. We can't leave
poor darling Peter to be carried off by those terrible cats."
"Cats?" said Rudolf, staring stupidly at the pirates. "Why so they are
cats, Ann! Somehow I hadn't noticed that before. But, look, they are
sending a boat to us now."
In a small boat which had been towed behind the catboat, a couple of
pirates--big, rough-looking fellows--were sculling rapidly toward the
children. Cats indeed they were, but such cats as Ann and Rudolf had
never seen before, so big and black and bold were they, their teeth so
sharp and white, their eyes so round and yellow! One had a red sash
and one a green, and each carried knives and pistols enough to set up
a shop.
"Surrender!" they cried in a businesslike kind of way as they laid
hold of the bow of the rowboat, "or have your throats cut--just as you
like, you know."
Of course the children didn't like, and then, as Ann said, they had to
remember Peter. Much against his will, Rudolf was now forced
to surrender his beloved sword. The False Hare handed over all
his belongings--his jewelry, his suit case, and his little
umbrella--without the slightest hesitation, humming a tune as he did
so, but his voice cracked, and Ann and Rudolf noticed that the tip of
his nose had turned quite pale. The prisoners were quickly
transferred to the other boat, and the pirate with the green sash took
the oars. Just as all was ready for the start the cat in red cried:
"Hold on a minute, Growler! I'll just jump back into their old tub to
see if we've left any vallybles behind!"
"All right, Prowler."
It was then and only then that Rudolf and Ann remembered the two white
mice! The last time they had noticed them was at the moment of Peter's
ducking when in their excitement, the foolish creatures had hidden
their faces on each other's shoulders, rolled themselves into a kind
of ball, and stowed themselves under a seat. Prowler leaped into the
little boat which the pirates had fastened by a tow-rope to their own,
and during his search he kept his back turned to his companions. He
was gone but a moment, and when he returned his whiskers were very
shiny, and he was looking extremely jolly as he hummed a snatch of a
pirate song.
"Find anything?" asked Growler, eying him suspiciously. "If you did,
and don't fork it out before the Chief, _you'll_ catch it. 'Twill be
as much as your nine lives are worth!"
"Oh, 'twas nothing--nothing of any importance," answered Prowler
airily.
Rudolf and Ann looked at each other, but neither of them spoke. Both
the pirate cats now settled to the oars and the boat skimmed along the
water in the direction of the _Merry Mouser_. As they drew alongside,
Growler muttered in a not unfriendly whisper:
"Look here, youngsters, here's a word of advice that may save you your
skins. Don't show any cheek--not to me or Prowler, we're the
mates--and above all, not to the Chief!"
"What is your Chief's name, Mr. Growler, dear sir?" asked Ann
timidly.
Growler flashed his white teeth at her. Then he looked at Prowler and
both mates repeated together as if they were saying a lesson: "The
name of our illustrious Chief is Captain Mittens--Mittens, the
Pitiless Pirate--Mittens, the Monster of the Main!"
"Why--why--my Aunt Jane had a tiger cat once with white paws--" Ann
began, but then she stopped suddenly, for Rudolf had given her a sharp
pinch. A terrible frown had spread over the faces of both Growler and
Prowler. "Above _all_," whispered the mate in low and earnest tones,
"none of that! If you don't want to be keel-hauled, don't recall his
shameful past!"
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