Abbie Farwell Brown

“ The tide was rising, and the waves were rushing into the crack at the bottom of the cave. By and by it would be full of water, and then what would become of her?
There came another chug! and a bang on the wall outside, and she heard a big wave burst over the rock. A second later the spout of water leaped at her, bigger than ever, and at the same time a little stream began to trickle down into the hole from above. The waves were dashing across Gull Rock, and soon the cave would be flooded!
Poor Rose was now thoroughly frightened. Once more she tried to rise and pull herself up the well. ”

“ He held up a pail full of blueberries, big and ripe and luscious. “Rose, it must be the Indians!”
Both the children glanced at the door and shivered. Never had the Indians seemed so near. It was very creepy here alone in the forest. The fog might be hiding all sorts of dangers which they could not see.
But soon Rose took courage. “I don’t believe it was Indians,” she said. “Indians don’t leave things all ready for lost children. It must be the fairies. I knew there were fairies in this forest. I have told you so, Kenneth, ever so many times. ”

“ The littlest Prouts began to scream. “Stop that!” said Tom. “If you are going to bawl you can’t be pirates. You will have to go with the luncheon and be robbed.”
Bill and Bob and Jane were silent immediately. They felt that it would be terrible not to be pirates.
“Yes, we must all have masks and swords, and red handkerchiefs tied around our necks, and turbans, just like real pirates,” said Kenneth. “See, I have a tin sword.”
“I think I can make the masks,” said Mary, who had been examining Kenneth’s. “I can sew a little, can’t you, Rose?” ”

“ He beached his boat before any one heard him, and ran up towards the cave, giving a loud war-whoop.
[92] “Hello! where is everybody?” he cried.
The pirates came running from every direction. “Here’s Tom!” cried Mary. “Oh, Tom! Where have you been?”
“Welcome, Slippery Joe,” said the chief. “Have you had an adventure?”
“I have captured some treasure,” said Tom, grinning. “Look here!” and he held up the box of candy.
“Candy!” A shout of joy arose, and the pirates surrounded him eagerly.
“It’s share alike,” said Tom. “I have eaten only one piece so far.”
“Oh, Tom! how good of you!” cried Rose. ”

“ Shall we play Indian now?”
“Yes!” they all cried, dancing up and down like real little Indians. And so they played together. Tommy was the Indian chief, and Rose, Bill, and little Jane were in his band. Kenneth was Hawkeye, the famous Indian hunter, with Mary for his trusty guide, and Susan and Bob were his scouts.
All that morning the foggy forest rang with the sound of war whoops and the shouts of victorious hunters, as the fights raged about the wigwam. It was great fun. The Indian [16] chief knew the woods so well that he could find his way everywhere, even in the thick fog. ”

“ Well, Captain Kidd was cruising along this coast, with his ship full of treasure. He had been enjoying great luck on his last voyage. That means, of course, that a great many other people had been most unlucky. In those days about the unluckiest thing that could happen to anybody was to meet Captain Kidd on the high seas. Pirates were such greedy, cruel fellows,—I beg your pardon! I forgot that nearly every one here is a pirate. How careless of me!
Captain Kidd was a long way from shore when he ran into a fog,—a thick Maine fog; the kind that Islanders know so well. ”

“ So Jane, Bill, Bob, and Rose went out to hunt for driftwood on the beach. Presently they were running in and out like ants, bringing it by armfuls.
“We must have water,” said Mrs. Thornton. “Who will go to the spring for it?”
“Let me go,” said Sue.
“No, the jug will be heavy. Let Slippery Joe fetch the water,” commanded the captain. So Slippery Joe went forth. “We others will examine the treasure,” said the captain. The remaining four, Charlie, Kenneth, Mary, and Sue, sat down on the ground and began to unpack the baskets which had come in the boat. ”

“ We will go and find real treasure,—gold and jewels and things like that. And we will be rich as anything.”
“Hurrah!” shouted Tom. Bill and Bob echoed, “Hurrah!”
[38] “First we’ll form a pirate band,” went on Kenneth. “Now there are so many of us it will be jolly to play pirate. I’ll be Bloody Dick. Tom, you can be Slippery Joe. We will think up names for all the little ones,—and for the girls, too. The girls will have to play so that we can have a good big band.”
“Of course we shall play!” said Rose stoutly. “We shall be the best pirates of all, shan’t we, Mary?” ”

“ Down the cliff scrambled Susan, panting and disheveled. As she ran she shouted something [113] which they could not understand. But when she came nearer they made out the word “Rose! Rose!”
In an instant Mr. Thornton jumped to his feet and ran to meet her. “What is the matter?” he cried, turning pale. “What has happened to Rose?”
Presently Sue recovered enough breath to speak brokenly. “She—she fell!” gasped Sue. “She broke her foot, I guess. She—can’t walk. We—were looking—for the treasure—in the cave—out on the rocks—beyond the bathing beach.” ”

“ Then we would all be rich. But I would give the handsomest diamond of all to Rose.”
Mr. Thornton was on the beach looking for them when they came in. He had been greatly worried because they had been gone so long; but he did not scold them when they told him what they had been doing.
“Tom thought that he had found Captain Kidd’s hiding-place, Papa,” said Kenneth wearily. “It looked just like the mound that Aunt Clare told us about; but there wasn’t any treasure at all, only some old stone things in a heap of shells.”
“Stone things in a shell-heap?” asked Mr. Thornton, pricking up his ears. ”

“ Thornton excitedly.
“Tom found that,” said Kenneth without envy.
“Well, Tom, I must buy this of you. Boys, you have found a treasure indeed, though it is not the kind you were looking for. You must have come upon an Indian shell-mound, and I dare say there are still more things there to be discovered. But come now, you must be half starved. I know Mama and Aunt Clare are very anxious,—I dare say Tom’s mother is not the worrying kind. Let’s all go home and have some cold dinner. Then we will look at your treasures again. Tom, you ought to be proud of your morning’s work! ”

“ Tom! oh, Tom!”
Kenneth waved his hat and shouted, but Tom did not seem to hear. He was at some distance out in the bay, rowing towards the bathing beach. They all shouted and waved, and finally Tom seemed to hear, for he looked around; but he did not show any intention of rowing towards the cave. Perhaps he still felt like an outlaw.
“He rows well,” said Mr. Smith, as Tom disappeared around the Point.
“He knows more about boats than a good many men ever learn,” said Mr. Thornton. “I wonder where he is going.” ”

“ Smith was shaking hands with Tom, who looked dazed.
“I’m proud to know you, Tom,” he said. “You are a regular sea-dog, my boy. We must have you over to the hotel to help us with the boats there.”
“Tom, my lad,” said Mr. Thornton, as he started to carry Rose up to the cottage, where her sprained ankle could be cared for, “I’ll never forget this. Boys,” he added, turning to [120] Charlie and Kenneth, who stood eagerly looking on, “if you want to see what a real hero looks like, there he is. You had better write it down in your pirate log-book that one of your band saved a little girl’s life. ”

“ The pirate band was sadly broken. Mary felt so sorry about Tom, who would not let her talk to him, that she stayed at home and cried a good deal. Except Sue, the other little Prouts would not go anywhere without Mary. Sue was the only one who went to Sweetbrier [97] Cottage. But Charlie and Kenneth said it was no fun playing pirate without more boys. So they went off by themselves, while Sue and Rose played dolls in Beech House. Nobody was so happy as before that unlucky mosquito had spoiled everything. ”

“ Usually, as every one knows, unless one gobbles it all at once like a little pig, the candy grows better and better, until when there are only a few pieces left it is so perfectly delicious that one cannot bear to think of its disappearing altogether. Before the box was half finished Tom was heartily tired of it. When the last piece was gone he took the box out in his dory, threw it overboard, and smashed it viciously with his oar. ”

“ Tom felt very rich indeed. He had never owned so much money in all his life, and he could not decide what to do with it. There are so many things which one can do with five dollars, especially if one is a boy. But he resolved not to be in a hurry to spend it.
There was a famous professor staying at the hotel on the other end of the Island, and one day Mr. Thornton said to Kenneth and Charlie:—
“Boys, I want to take your Indian relics over to the hotel and show them to the Professor. I should like to know what he thinks of them. Shall we get Tom and row around there?” ”

“ Bulldog Bill thirsts for vengeance and for gold!”
“Captain,” said Bloody Dick, “these are land-lubbers who were coming to our cave. We have captured them and their treasure, which looks valuable. What shall we do with them?”
“Let the prisoners die,” said the captain, in a blood-curdling voice. “Let them walk the plank; but we will keep the treasure.”
With a scream Aunt Clare threw herself on her knees before the pirate captain. “Oh, [54] good Captain Bulldog,” she said, “spare us! we are so young and innocent. One of us has a dear little baby at home who will feel so sad to lose us! ”

“ Sure enough, back he was going,—back to the burning log. And all the other ants were doing the same thing. One after another they returned up the fire-escape, stopping to wave their feelers and make signs to all the ants whom they met coming down. They must have told these last something to make [25] them change their minds; for every single one turned about as soon as he was told. Presently it was plain what they meant. The ants were coming out in crowds, and each was carrying something white in its mouth.
“The ant babies! They are trying to save the ant babies!” cried Rose. ”

“ Rose brought Alice forward, and she shook hands with the three dolls which Mary, Susan, and little Jane had brought. Now these were the very same dolls which Rose had sent to the little Prouts in the Christmas box, before she had ever spoken a word to Mary or Susan or Jane. So Rose was really better acquainted [32] with the dolls, and with their dresses which she had made, than she was with the Prout girls themselves.
“How do you do? How do you do? How do you do?” said Alice three times (in Rose’s voice) . ”

“ Don’t you think we had better go home?”
“No, indeed!” cried Kenneth. “We are almost there now. Yes,—I remember that oak tree with the big rock beside it. I am sure we [5] are there now;” and he brushed eagerly through the bushes.
But when they passed the oak tree, there was no wigwam. Rose shook her curls uneasily. “I want to go home,” she said. “It isn’t nice in the forest when there is no sunshine. The trees are full of gray smoke. I wish we had waited for a sunny day.”
“It isn’t smoke, it is fog,” said Kenneth. “I am sure that this was the place, but the wigwam is gone. ”

“ Just then a great wave came sweeping in and nearly drowned them both. “We must hurry,” sputtered Tom; “there’s no time to spare. Come, Rose, you must try [118] as hard as you can.” Rose tried as hard as she could. Tom lifted and pulled and pushed, and somehow or other he managed to help her out of that dreadful hole. Then he half carried, half dragged her over the rocks to his dory. Just as they were about to push off there came the biggest wave of all. It broke completely over the rock, filled the boat half full of water, and knocked both the children off their feet. ”

“ Oh, Tom!” She put back the piece of candy which she had taken as the box was passed around the circle for the second time.
There was a long silence. Tom turned red and looked sulky. “What’s the use of being [94] fussy? I’m a pirate, anyway,” he said. “Aren’t we all pirates?”
Charlie and Kenneth looked at each other, then Charlie spoke like the chief of the band: “That wasn’t playing, Tom,” he said; “that was a real lie. We aren’t going to play that way, if I am captain. We aren’t going to tell any lies. Here! take your old candy. We don’t want any of it. ”

“ I trust my children out with him every day.”
“Is that so?” cried Mr. Smith. “The very thing! I’ll get him to row the ladies back and forth from the yacht. I’d like to see Tom.”
“I think we shall find him playing with the other children,” said Mr. Thornton. “Will you come with me?” (You see, Mr. [111] Thornton did not know that Tom was an outlaw.)
The two men went along the cliff to Beech House. It was empty except for the dolls and the Teddy Bear which Rose and Susan had left there when they went to look for the treasure. Then they went on until they came to the pirate cave. ”

“ Smith’s face; but finally he decided to smile. “Well, I am surprised and shocked,” he said. “I could have declared solemnly that there was not a wicked mosquito on this island. But I will wager that this is the only one.”
“Better not make any more rash offers, Mr. Smith,” said one of the girls. “You may have to pay for more candy than you bargain for. We will all set out to hunt.”
[90] “No, I don’t repeat my offer,” said Mr. Smith hastily. “But I suppose I must pay my debt to our friend here. You come around to-morrow morning, Sonny,” he said to Tom, “and get your candy. ”

“ I don’t mind starving to death, as I came very near doing on this desert island, but I could not bear to lose the story. Let me dine and hear the tale, then I will walk the plank gladly.”
“Have you any ransom?” asked the pirate chief, taking a huge bite of sandwich.
Mr. Thornton slapped his pockets doubtfully. Then his face brightened. “Yes! I do happen to have one bit of treasure about me which you did not take away,” he said. “You forgot, I think, to go through my pockets.”
[60] He drew out a bag of peanuts and handed it to Bulldog Bill, then seized a sandwich in each hand. “Fair exchange!” ”

“ Bloody Dick and Slippery Joe untied the prisoners’ hands, while the other pirates guarded the entrance of the cave.
“Now, then,” said the pirate captain, “we are hungry. Let us dine at once. Prisoners, prepare the food!”
“It is too early for luncheon,” said Mrs. Thornton. But the pirates began to clamor. Aunt Clare sided with them.
“Let them have their way,” she begged. “Hungry pirates are very dangerous! Besides, I confess that I am half starved myself.”
“Well, then, we must have a fire,” said [56] Mrs. Thornton. “Who will gather wood for the fire?” ”

“ The other two boys examined it eagerly. “Why, it looks like an Indian arrowhead,” said Charlie; “but how came it here?”
“Perhaps the pirates used bows and arrows too,” suggested Tom.
“That’s it!” cried Kenneth. “I’m almost sure they did. I remember once seeing an old picture of men fighting with bows and arrows, and they were not Indians. They must have been pirates. Hurrah! I guess we are near the treasure now!”
They dug down with new energy, tossing up the shell-earth like beavers. Presently Charlie stooped. “I’ve found something too,” he said ”