“He doesn’t know me, but I don’t want him to see me. If he never sees me at all—so much the better.... By jove!”

“What now.”

“I’ve a notion to slip into the water and swim over. Kind of take a look at things.”

“Go it,” says his friend, “if it’ll make you feel any better.”

Catty nudged me.

In a couple of minutes we heard the man say, “Well, here goes,” and then there was a faint splash.

“Everybody’s spying tonight,” Catty whispered. “Let him get a little start and we’ll follow him.”

So we did, and you can bet we swam mighty silently. We had the advantage because we knew he was there, and he didn’t know we were there. Of course we couldn’t see him because it was so dark and we couldn’t hear him, so we just swam straight for our light and kept our eyes peeled.

When we got almost to the Albatross we lay still and floated and listened, but there wasn’t a sound. Then we swam around the yacht keeping so close our hands almost touched her sides, and still we didn’t see or hear our pirate friend. I was just a little ahead when we came under the stern and started up the starboard side toward the jacob’s ladder, which was down. I was just slipping along as still as a fish, and then, all of a sudden, as I reached out to grab the lower step of the ladder, I didn’t grab the step at all, but I did take right hold of a man’s arm.

“Wow!” says he, startled, and he kicked out like he thought a shark was trying to eat him.

“Wow yourself,” says I, and then he twisted his arm away and slipped into the water and began to swim like all git out.

“What’s the hurry, Mister?” says Catty, but he didn’t answer a word.

Catty and I scrambled up the ladder and rubbed down as quick as we could and got into our clothes.

“Well,” says Catty, “I guess we kind of scairt him.”

“He acted so.”

 Prev. P 10/125 next