CATNIP ISLAND
Little cats, big cats, black, white, gray, yellow, striped, spotted,
Maltese, tortoise-shell, calico, and tiger cats! Cats of all sizes and
all kinds, cats of all ages, from tiny furry babies wheeled in
perambulators by their mamas to gray old grandpas hobbling along by
the aid of canes or crutches--all the cats of Catnip Island had
trooped down to the shore to watch the landing of the _Merry Mouser_.
Captain Mittens, decked out in the False Hare's jewelry, was the first
to leave the pirate ship. He stepped along jauntily, nose in the air
and the haughtiest kind of expression on his whiskered face. After him
came Growler leading Rudolf, then Prowler with Ann, then the Maltese
pirate with Peter by the hand. The spotted sailors brought up the
rear, all but two who had been left to guard the ship. As soon as the
shore cats saw that their Chief had brought home three prisoners from
his cruise, they set up a great yowl of joy, and began to dance,
prancing and bounding in the air and whirling round and round upon
their hind legs.
[Illustration: Captain Mittens was the first to leave the pirate
ship.]
"Oh, my eye!" exclaimed Rudolf, quite forgetting where he was and
standing still to watch their antics. "Don't I wish I had my
slingshot!"
"Hush! Silence--'nless ye want to be skinned!" It was the voice of
Prowler just behind him.
"If you think I'm afraid of a lot of silly cats--" began Rudolf, but
his voice was drowned by the angry yowls that burst from a hundred
furry throats as the islanders pressed closer and closer.
"Oh, Rudolf, do be quiet!" Ann begged, and Rudolf, remembering that he
was not only a long way from his sling shot, but that even his sword
had been taken away from him, was obliged to submit. By this time the
pirates had cleared a way through the crowd and the procession left
the beach and entered the pussy-willow grove which Rudolf had
described from the deck of the _Merry Mouser_. Half hidden among the
trees were a number of pretty little houses, each with a neat door
yard and a high back fence. Each had its name, too, on a small door
plate, and it amused Ann and Peter to spell out as they went
along--"Furryfield," "Mousetail Manor," "Kitten-cote," etc.
"Oh, look," Ann whispered, "see the darling, little, front doors,
Peter! Just like the cat-hole in Aunt Jane's big door. The chimneys
are shaped something like ears and the roofs are all covered with
fur!"
"Yes," answered Peter, "and they've got little gardens to 'em, Ann. I
guess that must be the catnip we smell so strong. I don't see any flowers,
though, only big tall weeds, rows and rows of 'em--milkweed--that's what
it is! What do you suppose they planted that for?"
Prowler, who was walking just ahead of Peter, overheard this last
remark, and turning, fixed his large, round, yellow eyes on the little
boy. "Don't you like milk, young man?" he asked.
"Why, yes," said Peter, very puzzled, "but not _that_ kind, you know."
"Well, milk's milk these hard times," said Prowler, wagging his head.
"It don't do to be too particerler. You like mice, don't you?" he
continued.
"Why, _I_ like candy mice," said Peter grinning, "but I never knew
before that cats did!"
"Sh-sh!" Poor Prowler began to tremble all over and look anxiously
about him. "Not a word of that," he murmured, "or I'm a dead cat! You
keep mum about that little affair, young'un, and I'll do you a good
turn yet, see if I don't!"
"All right; don't you forget!" whispered Peter.
The procession was now approaching a house considerably larger than
any of the others and which had "The Pirattery" written in large
letters over its door. Mittens led the way inside, the mates with the
children and all the other pirates followed, together with as many of
the island cats as could squeeze themselves in. The Pirattery, so the
children were informed by Growler and Prowler, was an assembly hall or
general meeting-place for the pirates when on shore. Its floor and
the little platform at one end were strewn with rat-skin rugs of the
finest quality, and its walls were adorned with handsomely stuffed and
mounted mouse and fish heads, snake skins, and other trophies of the
chase.
Mittens now took up his position on the platform and began a long and
eloquent speech in which he related the story of the capture of his
prisoners, making the most absurd boasts of the terrible risks he had
run, and dwelling most particularly on the awful fate of the False
Hare--while quite forgetting to mention his escape. This speech was
interrupted by tremendous cheers from the island cats which were only
faintly joined in by the pirates. Mittens finished by saying that a
concert in celebration of the victory would now be given, after which
there would be refreshments--Peter pricked up his ears at the word!
--and then the plunder taken from the prisoners would be distributed
among the officers and crew of the _Merry Mouser_. This last
announcement was greeted by a volley of shrill and joyful yowls from
the younger cat pirates, but Growler, frowning, whispered in Rudolf's
ear:
"Don't you believe a word of that, about whacking up on the treasure!
He'll never give up so much as a single shirt stud, he won't."
"I would 'a' liked them pink pajamas, I would," sighed Prowler.
"They'd just suit my dark complexion."
"I can't understand," said Ann, "what it is that has made such a
change in Mittens! Why, just yesterday when we got to Aunt Jane's he
was asleep before the fire with a little red bow on his collar--just
as soft and nice as anything, and he let us all take turns holding
him!"
"He never scratched really _deep_ all day," said Peter mournfully,
"only when we dressed him up in the doll's clothes--he didn't seem to
'preciate that--an'--an' when I pulled his tail--he didn't _like_
that, neither."
"He's a bad old thief, that's what he is!" exclaimed Rudolf,
forgetting in his excitement to lower his voice. "And if we ever get
back to Aunt Jane's and he's there, _I'll_ fix him--"
A general warning hiss went up from the pirate cats who stood nearest
to the children. "Be quiet," muttered Growler, "unless you want your
ears bitten off? Don't you see the Chief is going to sing?"
Mittens had stepped to the front of the platform and was fixing an
angry scowl upon the three children who stood between Growler and
Prowler directly beneath him. When all was so quiet in the hall you
could have heard a pin drop, the Chief cleared his throat and nodded
to the Maltese pirate who stood ready to accompany him upon the
tambourine. In the background a semicircle of other singers clutched
their music and shuffled their feet rather nervously as they waited to
come in at the chorus.
Mittens sang in a high plaintive voice:
"When I was young, you know,
Not very long ago,
I was a mild, a happy Pussy-cat!
My fur was soft as silk,
I lived on bread and milk,
And I dozed away my days upon the mat!"
_Chorus_
("He was then a happy, happy Pussy-cat!")
"I really blush to say
How idly I would play
With my tail or silly spool upon the floor--
Till one unlucky day
Three children came to stay--
After that I wasn't happy any more."
_Chorus_
("No, _indeed_, he wasn't happy any more!")
"They drove me nearly wild,
My temper, once so mild,
They spoiled--the truth of that you'll say is plain--
So I ran away to sea--
'Tis a pirate's life for me,
And I'll never be a Pussy-cat again!"
_Chorus_
("No, _he'll_ never be a Pussy-cat again!")
You may be sure that Rudolf and Ann did not join in the burst of
applause which greeted the end of Captain Mittens' song. Peter would
have been glad to, for he was too young and foolish to understand how
really impertinent Mittens had been, but his brother and sister
quickly stopped that. As for Growler and Prowler, they merely yawned,
as if they had heard this song more than once before, only faintly
clapping their paws together in order not to attract the tyrant's
attention to themselves. The next piece on the program, so Mittens
announced, would be a duet between himself and Miss Tabitha Tortoise,
entitled _Moonbeams on the Back Fence_. This selection proved so very
noisy, so full of quavers, trills, and loud and piercing yowls, that
the children decided it would be safe to attempt a little
conversation.
"Oh, Rudolf," whispered Ann, "how shall we ever get away from here?"
"Don't want to get away," grumbled Peter. "We're going to have
refreshments; Mittens said so."
"Nonsense; you'll have to go if we do," answered Rudolf. "But listen,
what are the mates saying?"
The two black cat pirates were conversing excitedly under cover of the
music, and presently the children heard what Prowler was whispering
to Growler: "Look here, Matey, where's the rest of the swag, the suit
case and _his_ sword, you know?"
"On board ship, stowed away in Cap'n's cabin," answered Growler. "You
don't mean to--"
"Yes, I do--I'm no 'fraid-cat--I mean to have them pink pajamas, or--"
"And where do _I_ come in, eh?" exclaimed Growler indignantly.
"Oh, you can have the shirts and collars, Matey. Share and share
alike, you know. We'll just slip off to the ship, and--"
"And take us with you," broke in Rudolf. "Do!"
"You know you promised to do us a good turn," whispered Ann. "And if
you don't take us we'll tell, and we'll tell about what happened to
the white mice, too--"
"And while you're about it," went on Rudolf, "you'd better take
possession of the vessel. Between us we can easily manage those old
spotties that were left on board. Then, don't you see, when you
fellows are masters of the _Merry Mouser_, you'll have Mittens in your
power and you can make him whack up on all the treasure!"
At this brilliant suggestion the two mates gave a smothered cheer,
gazing at each other with their round yellow eyes full of joy and
their whiskered mouths grinning so widely that the children could see
their little red tongues and all their sharp white teeth.
"But how shall we get away without being seen?" Ann asked.
"Oh, that'll be all right," said Prowler, looking about him nervously.
"Just wait till you hear 'em announce the refreshments--that always
means a rush, you know. Then slip through the crowd and out by that
door behind the curtain, and hustle down to the ship just as fast as
ever you can lay your paws to the ground!"
Prowler had hardly finished speaking before, with a final long-drawn
piercing yowl, the duet of the Pirate Chief and Miss Tabitha Tortoise
came to an end, and an intermission of ten minutes for refreshments
was announced. From an inner room at the back of the hall a dozen or
so white cats in caps and aprons trotted forth bearing large trays
loaded with very curious-looking cat-eatables.
Rudolf and Ann had now their usual trouble with Peter who at first
absolutely refused to budge until he had tasted at least "one of
each". When at last he was made to understand that the trays around
which the cats were so greedily thronging contained nothing more
inviting than roasted rats and pickled fish fins, and that these
delicacies would probably not be offered to prisoners anyway, he
regretfully allowed himself to be pushed through a door at the side of
the hall and hurried off in the direction of the shore. Although the
children, followed closely by the two mates, had managed to slip away
almost unnoticed in the general excitement, yet they knew their escape
must soon be discovered and they ran as fast as ever they could go.
At last they reached the wharf and scrambled up the side of the _Merry
Mouser_, expecting each instant to receive some kind of challenge from
the two spotted cats on guard. Much to their surprise they received
none. This was soon explained, for the two common sailors were found
in the cabin, curled up in the Captain's bunk, fast asleep.
"A nice mess they'd be in if the Chief caught 'em!" cried Growler.
Prowler said nothing, but winked at his friend, and taking a piece of
strong string from his pocket, he bound the poor spotted cats' eight
paws all in a bunch together and left them to continue their nap. This
little matter attended to, all hands now turned their attention to
raising the sail, and by the time the advance-guard of cat pirates
came rushing down through the pussy-willow grove in their pursuit, the
_Merry Mouser_, borne along by a breeze that was something more than a
catspaw, was fast leaving the shores of Catnip Island behind her.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]