CHAPTER EIGHT
The other pirate ship looked very big and grand. All its sails werefilled with wind and it came cutting through the waves so fast that itlooked as if it were alive. Barty stood and watched it and Saturdaycame and took hold of his hand. Everybody on the polite pirates' shipwas running about, dragging guns into place or pulling ropes orsharpening swords. There was a great clatter and noise and shouting of"I beg your pardon," or "pray excuse me," or "may I ask you to be sokind," when the pirates fell over each other, or got in each other'sway, or wanted to be helped to lift or drag something. Blue Crestprudently went and hid in a coil of rope and Good Wolf walked up anddown the deck and examined things. Baboo Bajorum walked up and down,too, with his big hands in his pockets. Suddenly there came a whitepuff of smoke from the chasing ship and a big "boom," and Barty andSaturday both jumped at the same time because they knew the cannon hadbegun to fire.
The pirate captain shouted and waved his sword and then a puff ofwhite smoke and a big "boom" came from the side of his ship, and Bartyknew they had fired back.
Then everything became so exciting that you could scarcely stand it.
As soon as the boom and puff of white smoke was sent from the politepirates' ship, a boom and a puff of white smoke came from the impolitepirates' ship, and as soon as a boom came from the impolite pirates'ship, a boom answered back from the polite pirates' ship.
It was like this:
"Boom!" from the impolite pirates.
"Boom----boom!" from the polite pirates.
"Boom!" from the impolite pirates.
"Boom, boom, boom!" from the polite pirates.
"Let us go and sit behind that big coil of rope and watch," said theGood Wolf.
It was the coil of rope Blue Crest had hidden herself inside, and whenBarty and the Good Wolf and Saturday sat on the floor of the deckbehind it, she was so glad that she whistled Barty's little song tolet him know that she was quite near him. But Barty could scarcelyhear her because there was so much noise. Pirates were shouting,gunners were ramming cannon balls into cannons, and the polite piratecaptain was yelling polite orders to his men. Barty was obliged toshout himself, just as he had been obliged to shout in the tropicalstorm.
"Do you think we shall win?" he called out, as loud as he could, tothe Good Wolf.
"We have the best guns," the Good Wolf called back. "The politepirates have taken good care of their guns instead of quarreling aboutwho should clean them. Listen!"
"Boom! Boom!" came from the impolite pirates' ship.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Bang! Crash!" answered the polite pirates' ship.
The crash was the splitting and tearing open of the side of the othership. Barty jumped up at the sound of it.
"We've hit them! We've hit them!" he shouted.
"We have the best gunners!" called out the Good Wolf.
"Boom!" said the impolite pirates' ship.
"Boom! Bang! Crash! Bang! Bang! Boom!" said the polite pirates.
Barty could not help jumping up and down, and Saturday simply stood onhis head for joy and waved his little black legs in the air. Then cameanother roar and crash and bang, and the polite pirates raised a greatloud cheer of victory and threw their hats in the air. The impolitepirates' ship was rapidly filling with water, and toppling over on oneside.
"We've won! We've won!" cried Barty, dancing. "Look at the piratesrunning to launch their life-boats."
The impolite pirates were indeed running and skurrying about like madthings. They had left their guns altogether. The sea was pouring in atthe big holes in the side of their ship and the ship was tilting moreand more every second.
"If they don't get into the boats in a few minutes, their ship willturn over and they will be drowned," said the Good Wolf.
"They are the quickest pirates I ever saw," said Barty--"though, ofcourse, I haven't seen many."
"We've won! we've won!" cried Barty, dancing]
They _were_ quick. They skurried and scuffled and darted. They undidknots and loosened ropes like lightning, and in two minutes their lifeboats swung out and they scrambled into them and were dropped downinto the water.
"If Baboo Bajorum was to fire a broadside into them now," said theGood Wolf, "he would blow them and their boats into smithereens."
"Oh, I should not like him to do that," said Barty. "I'll go and askhim not to do it."
He ran to the end of the ship where Baboo Bajorum was standingwatching the other ship sinking, and he took off his hat and made hisdeepest and politest bow.
"I beg your pardon," he said, "excuse me for interrupting. I know itis not polite but would you be so kind as to do me the great favor of_not_ blowing the Impolite Pirates into smithereens. If they hadn'tcome I should never have seen a pirate battle on the high seas and Ialways wanted to see one."
And he made another bow which was really a most beautiful one.
Baboo Bajorum listened to him with the greatest politeness. He made abow each time Barty made one. In fact Barty thought he looked like avery nice gorilla indeed. He did something with his face that lookedrather like smiling and then he put out his big hairy hand and pattedBarty's head.
"Thank you, Mr. Bajorum," Barty said, feeling much relieved. "It'svery kind of you, because, of course, they have given you a good dealof trouble."
Then he went back to the Good Wolf. He was rather hot and out ofbreath with excitement and he fanned himself with his hat.
"Even Robinson Crusoe never went to a pirate's battle," he said. "Thisis the biggest adventure of all. Let's go and look over the side andsee what the other pirates are doing."
Evidently Baboo Bajorum had given his gunners orders to stop firing,because they had left their cannons and with the rest of the crew hadrun to the side and were leaning over watching their conquered enemiesjust as Barty wanted to do. The Impolite Pirates, all black withsmoke and powder, were looking very much frightened. They had got intotheir boats and were rowing away from their sinking ship, but theyplainly did not know which way to go, because they realized that ifBaboo Bajorum began to fire his cannons at them he would blow them tosmithereens. In fact, they could not understand why he did not blowthem to smithereens immediately, and it made them feel very nervous.Of course they had not the least idea that Barty and the Good Wolfwere on board, or perhaps they would have known that Barty was thekind of little boy who would not like to see pieces of pirates flyingabout in the air, even though he had felt that a pirates' battle was asort of accommodation to him.
Their ship tilted more and more and at last sank down and down intothe water, until it was out of sight. The cannon balls had smashedsuch big holes in it that the sea filled it directly. And the ImpolitePirates bent over their oars and rowed and looked back over theirshoulders at Baboo Bajorum's ship in a frightened manner. They weresaying to each other, "What is he going to do next?"
You see the trouble was, that however fast they rowed, they could notget away because Baboo Bajorum's ship was quietly sailing after themand they were so tired with fighting that they could scarcely row atall.
"And where do they think they are going to row to?" said the PolitePirate captain. "They have neither food nor water in their boats andof course they are afraid to row towards the Desert Island, because wecan stop them. They will simply perish if they row out on the highseas."
"Perish," said Barty.
He had once read a story about shipwrecked sailors perishing on thehigh seas, and it had made him cry. "I don't believe I want them toperish. I should not like to perish myself and neither would you. Now,would you?"
"No," answered the captain, "I should not. Nobody would. Perishing isabout as unpleasant a thing as could happen to any man."
"I will go," said Barty, determinedly, "and speak to Mr. Bajorum."
So he ran to Baboo Bajorum, and after saluting in the usual manner hemade three bows, one after the other.
"I hope I am not intruding and that you will please to be so kind asto excuse me for troubling you, Mr. Bajorum," h
e said, "but might Iask you another very great favor. The Impolite Pirates are veryfrightened, and they were in such a hurry that they had not time toput any food or water in their boats, and if they try to row out tosea they will perish. Do you think, sir, if you forgave them and letthem come on board and you took a good deal of pains with them youmight improve them into Polite Pirates, just as you did the others.You see, it would make your crew much bigger, and it might be muchwiser for everybody when you were all intimate friends. Do you thinkyou could oblige me by doing it?--excuse the liberty I am taking."
Mr. Baboo Bajorum listened as attentively as he had done before, andalmost as soon as he began to speak Barty saw him do that thing withhis face which made him look as if he were smiling, and even beforeBarty had finished he put out his big hairy hand and patted him againon the head.
"Thank you very kindly, Mr. Bajorum," said Barty. "I am extremelyobliged and grateful and--and 'preciative. Could you call them backnow? They are very tired, but they are rowing as fast as they can."
He forgot that Baboo Bajorum did not speak in the ordinary way and socould not call out "Come back, I won't hurt you."
Perhaps Baboo Bajorum forgot, too. He leaned over the side and wavedhis long, huge, hairy arm and gave a kind of awful roar. The piratesdid not understand him at all and were so frightened that several ofthem tumbled backwards off their seats, and one or two of them droppedtheir oars and tried to hide themselves in the bottom of their boats.
"They are so frightened they can't understand," said Barty. "Would youmind lifting me up and letting me stand on the side and wave myhandkerchief at them?--if it won't inconvenience you, please."
Baboo Bajorum lifted him up in a minute. His long arms were so strongthat he lifted him as easily as if he were a pin. Barty stood on therail and took out his pocket handkerchief and waved and waved it, andthen he made a trumpet of his hands and shouted as loud as ever hecould.
"Come back! Come back! We won't hurt you. Come back! Come back!"
A nice, fat, curly-headed little boy, standing on a ship's side,waving a white handkerchief and shouting in a loud and friendlymanner, is a very different thing from a Baboo Bajorum shaking a long,black, hairy arm and roaring, so the Impolite Pirates stopped rowingand began to listen. The captain leaned over and put his hand behindhis ear. Then he gave orders to his sailors and they began to rowcautiously towards the ship.
"What did you say?" he shouted.
"Come back," Barty shouted in answer. "Mr. Bajorum will not let anyonehurt you. This," waving his hand towards the Baboo to introduce him,"is Mr. Bajorum."
The Impolite Pirates were so astonished that their faces dropped andthey sat with their mouths wide open. Then they took off their hatsand mopped their foreheads with their red bandanna handkerchiefs. Thenthey took up their oars and began to row towards the ship.
They were in five boats, and they all stopped in a line by the ship'sside and looked up at the row of Polite Pirates who were looking down.They were so amazed that their mouths were still wide open, and whenthe Impolite Pirate captain spoke he stammered.
"D-d-did you s-s-say we m-might c-c-come on b-b-b-board?" he said. Andwhen all the Polite Pirates bowed at once and the Captain answered himhe was so overcome that he fainted quite away into the bottom of hisboat. Because this was what the Captain said:
"If you will do us the honor and the kindness and will be so good asto oblige us, we shall be more delighted than we have words toexpress."
Then they let down a rope ladder and a bottle of smelling salts andsome eau de cologne to restore the Impolite Captain, and by the timehe was restored and assisted up the rope ladder all the Polite Pirateswere standing lined up on deck ready to receive him and his crew withlow sweeping bows. Barty and the Good Wolf came forward together andBarty explained.
"They are like this," he said, "because they are polite pirates, andin time they are going to teach you to be polite too. It is reallyvery much nicer."
Just at first they almost gibbered because they did not know what tosay, but when they were taken below and allowed to wash the smoke andpowder off their faces and hands, and then were given cups of tea andmuffins and raspberry jam, and then were shown all over the beautifulship, they could not help but begin to be calm. But because they hadnever seen anything like Baboo Bajorum and his crew before, theycould not help staring, and they could not all keep their mouths shutat the same time. The bows and politeness quite made them jumpsometimes, but it was plain they began to admire them, because it wasnot long before they began to try to remember to make bows themselves.
At last they were all sitting peacefully together on the deck, and thesun had gone down and the moon had risen. The ship had sailed back tothe Desert Island again and was lying at anchor in the beautiful bluewater, which was making a soft lap-lap-lapping sound against itsside. Barty looked out at the green slope which led up the cliff tothe cave, and suddenly he remembered how he had slept on the bed ofleaves last night and how comfortable it had been, and he remembered,too, that the Polite Pirates had only invited him to tea. So he got upfrom his chair and went to Baboo Bajorum and bowed--this time he didit more beautifully than ever, and he did it six times.
"I am ever so much obliged to you, Mr. Bajorum," he said. "I enjoyedthe battle so much and thank you for inviting me to the tea party. Ihave enjoyed myself so much that I am rather sleepy. Would you be sokind as to oblige us by letting us get into the boat and go back tothe cave to bed?"
Baboo Bajorum patted him again and shook hands with him and was mostpolite. In fact, everybody was so polite and made so many bows--eventhe Impolite Pirates--that it took some time to get the boat launched.But at last it was on the water and everybody got safely down theladder, and the Polite Pirates took their seats and began to rowtowards the shore and those who stayed on the ship raised a delightfulcheer.
Barty sat close to the Good Wolf and laid his head against his furryneck. The sky looked dark blue and the water looked dark blue and thestars in the sky looked as if they were shining in the water, andBarty was so happy and drowsy that he could scarcely tell which wassea and which was sky.
When they reached the white beach the Polite Pirate Captain pickedBarty up in his arms and carried him up the queer slope, and insteadof crawling through the hole he carried him round the ledge and liftedhim in through the window.
The moon was shining in on the sparkling white sand of the cave floorand it shone in on the soft, heaped up bed of leaves which lookeddelightful. Barty stood in the moonlight and rubbed his eyes.
"Thank you," he said to the Polite Pirate Captain. "There never wasanything like you in Robinson Crusoe."
"Who was Robinson Crusoe?" asked the Captain, leaning on the windowledge.
"He was in a book," answered Barty. "It was a very nice book, but thisis nicer," and he rubbed his eyes harder than ever.
Just then the Good Wolf came in through the passage. Blue Crest wason his back and Man Saturday came after.
The Polite Pirate Captain took his hat off with a grand flourish.
"Good-night," he said. "A thousand thanks for a most delightful andperfectly charming afternoon. Good-night." And he turned round and ranround the ledge and down the green slope.
"And just think how frightened we were," Barty said drowsily, as hecrept onto the softest part of his leaf bed. "I never thought piratescould be so nice."
The Good Wolf made a jump and curled up beside him snugly. Saturdaycurled up and was asleep in two minutes, and Blue Crest was asleep inone. And the moon shone in at the cave window and the sound of thewaves on the beach was a soft murmur.
"Did I hear you say that this was nicer than Robinson Crusoe?" askedthe Good Wolf, just as Barty's eyes were closing.
"It is--nicer," answered Barty, drowsily. "But--I can't help thinkingof that thing--I can't remember. What--is--it?"
"In the morning I will tell you," said the Good Wolf. And that veryminute Barty's eyes shut and he could not see the white moonlight anylonger because he wa
s fast asleep.
* * * * *
In the morning he wakened as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. He satup among the leaves and saw the Good Wolf looking at him.
"What is it?" he said. "I am thinking of it again. I must find outwhat it is."
"Come along and get your bath in the pool," said the Good Wolf,cheerfully, "you shall know then."
The morning was brighter and the sea and the sky even bluer than theyhad been the day before. The slope was like green velvet and the poolin the rocks as clear as green crystal. Barty splashed and clashed andswam about almost like a fish. But he could not help saying tohimself, "What is it? What is it? I wonder what it is?"
When he had finished his bath and put on his clothes, he said it tothe Good Wolf who was standing and looking at him as he had lookedwhen he awoke.
"What is it? What is it?" he said. "I feel as if I were just going toremember."
The Good Wolf began to sniff the air gently.
"Is there any mignonette growing about here?" he said.
Barty gave a little sniff, too, and then a little jump. There was thescent of mignonette in the air and the last time he had smelt it hadbeen when the Good Wolf had carried him away.
"It's my mother--my mother I was thinking of!" he cried out. "Whycouldn't I remember. She'll be wondering where I am. I must go homethis minute."
"There," said the Good Wolf. "All right. We will go home. The reasonyou could not remember was because I made you forget on purpose. If Ihad not done that you would have been wondering all the time whetheryou were not too far away and if she was looking for you, and youwould not have enjoyed the Desert Island at all. I made her forget,too, so that she has not even missed you. She thinks you have onlybeen playing in the woods a few hours. Has it been nicer thanRobinson Crusoe?"
"Yes, yes!" cried Barty.
"Get on my back and shut your eyes," said the Good Wolf.
"I don't want to shut my eyes until I have looked round at the DesertIsland again," said Barty. "It is a lovely Desert Island. CouldSaturday and Blue Crest come with us?"
He said that because Saturday had come running up and Blue Crest wasperched on a rock.
"They can if you like," said the Good Wolf, "but I think you hadbetter leave them here. You will want them when you come back."
"Can I come back?" Barty shouted joyfully.
"Yes--whenever you ask me to bring you. This Desert Island will alwaysbe here. Jump upon my back quickly. Your mother is just beginning toremember you."
Barty jumped up, waving his hand to Saturday and Blue Crest.
"I'm coming back, I'm coming back," he said.
Then he laid his cheek on the Good Wolf's fur and clasped his armsround his neck and shut his eyes, and then he was fast asleep again.
* * * * *
When he wakened up he was standing in his own cottage garden, and hewent into the cottage and his mother looked up from watering herflowers and smiled at him.
"I was just beginning to wonder where you were," she said. "What rosycheeks you have. You do look as if you had been enjoying yourself."
And that is the end of _this_ story.
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