When every drop was finished and
every crumb licked up, Growler said to Prowler, "Time for a nap, old
boy," and without so much as a look in the children's direction the
two rude fellows turned tail and marched off arm in arm to their
bunks.
"Well, they _are_ nice!" cried Ann. "And what are _we_ going to do, I
would like to know?"
"What we are going to do," said Rudolf thoughtfully, "is probably to
be shipwrecked. Oh, not _right_ away," he added quickly as he saw how
frightened his little sister looked. "But there's land close ahead, as
sure as sure can be, and, if I'm not much mistaken, Toddles and Towser
have both gone to sleep at the wheel."
It was true. The two common sea-cats had left the wheel to take care
of itself and had curled themselves up in a soft round ball on the
deck for a nap from which the children found it impossible to arouse
them.
"I will try to steer and also mind the sheet, I think that's what it's
called," said Rudolf, "but as I don't know _much_ about sailing a boat
except what I've read in books, and you and Peter don't know
_anything_, I think the least we'll do will be to run her aground."
"Let's try to wake Growler and Prowler up," Ann begged. "They can't be
sound asleep yet."
The two mates were not only sound asleep but snoring loudly. Ann and
Peter tried shaking them, spanking them, even drenching them with the
cold remains of the catnip tea, but it was all no use, they could not
get them to stir.
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