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.
Pages:
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53