"Pray excuse me," he said. "You see what a habit it is."
"What did you come here for?" asked Barty, feeling rather braver.
"To ask you to a tea party--to inquire if we might have the extreme pleasure of your society at a tea party on the ship."
"I never should have thought that either," said Barty. "We ran away and hid because you looked so frightening."
The Pirate Captain put his sword into its scabbard carefully, and took out his pocket handkerchief to wipe away the tears which came into his eyes.
"That is always the way," he said, looking quite overcome. "That is what happens when you get into bad habits and can"t get out of them.
We are so fond of having tea parties, but people don"t want to come to them. When we feel that we can"t live any longer without a tea party, we have to put to sh.o.r.e and chase people with our swords and take them prisoners. Sometimes we have to blindfold them and put chains on them to get them on board, for they always think they are going to be made to walk the plank. They are _so_ surprised when we take off the chains and give them tea and m.u.f.fins and strawberry jam."
Barty began to feel quite cheerful. This was a much nicer adventure than he had thought it was going to be. To meet real pirates who were perfectly polite, and to go on board a pirate ship to tea, was really entertaining as well as exciting.
"Will you come?" inquired the Pirate Captain perfectly politely in spite of his savage voice, which Barty was beginning not to mind. "You will do us such an honor. And will this gentleman come?" he bowed to the Good Wolf. "And these two?" he made a bow to Sat.u.r.day and Blue Crest.
"We will all come," said Barty; "every one of us."
All the six pirates bowed down to the floor of the cave again.
But then the Pirate Captain frowned such an awful frown that Barty began to feel a little frightened again.
"Don"t you want us to go?" he inquired. "You look as if something had made you angry."
"Oh! I _beg_ your pardon," said the Captain. "You think I am frowning, but I am not. I am really smiling. That is my way of looking pleased.
I can"t do it the other way. I was so fierce all the years before I became polite that I can"t untwist my face, and when I am perfectly delighted I scowl as if I were going to bite people"s heads off. It is most inconvenient. _Don"t_ let it disturb you."
"I will try not to," answered Barty, "but it startles me because I am not used to it."
"Will you come to the ship now?" said the Captain. "Baboo Bajorum is waiting."
That made Barty give another little jump. "Baboo Bajorum," he said; "the one who is strong enough to break people into little bits?"
"He can break them into very little bits," said the Captain. "And he does not always save the pieces. But he never does it if you are polite. He is really very nice indeed."
"I always try to remember to say "please,"" said Barty. "And I believe I should like to see what he is like."
"He will be another adventure," said the Good Wolf.
"Pray, do us the honor to lead the way," said the Pirate Captain, bowing, and he and his men stepped behind Barty and the Good Wolf and Sat.u.r.day and Blue Crest.
So Barty crept through the pa.s.sage and the Good Wolf crept after him and Sat.u.r.day crept after him and Blue Crest hopped after him, and then the six pirates lay down on their stomachs and crept after them, and when they all crawled out in a line through the entrance on to the hill, they made such a long row that they reached yards and yards.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER SEVEN
They went down to the seash.o.r.e and all got into the boat. Barty sat at one end and the Good Wolf sat at his feet. Sat.u.r.day took a seat on Barty"s knee and Blue Crest sat on his shoulder. The boat was a pretty white one and the pirates rowed so well that it went up and down over the waves in a most agreeable manner, rather like a rocking-horse.
When they reached the ship the rest of the pirates crowded to the side to see who had been brought to the tea party.
"How they are all scowling," said Barty to the Captain.
"You must remember what I told you," the Captain said. "Those are smiles. They are really grinning from ear to ear with pleasure because they see you come without being chained and padlocked."
"Ah! I must remember," said Barty, "that when they look cross they are only trying to look perfectly delighted."
Two of the sailors let down a rope ladder. Blue Crest flew up it and Sat.u.r.day ran up it in a minute. The pirates in the boat held it steady and the pirate Captain carried Barty up on his back. The Good Wolf looked serious for a second or so and then began to walk up as calmly as if he had used rope ladders all his life.
When Barty was once on board every pirate on the ship began to wave his hat and cheer. A few of them took out their swords and began to flourish them and then seemed suddenly to remember that sword waving might not seem polite, and very quickly put them back into their scabbards.
Barty looked all around him. The deck was very big and clean and the cannons were polished until the bra.s.s they were made of shone like gold. At one end there was a gay blue and white awning spread, and under it was a table which looked as if it were piled with the kind of good things you have at a tea party.
"Where is Baboo Bajorum?" asked Barty, because he was really very curious.
"If you will have the extreme goodness to please be so kind as to do me the honor to step this way I will show you," said the pirate Captain. So they went in a procession, the pirate Captain leading the way with his hat in his hand, Barty following, the Good Wolf following Barty, Sat.u.r.day following the Good Wolf, Blue Crest hopping after Sat.u.r.day, and the six pirates in a line behind them. The pirates made bows all the time and Barty took off his hat for politeness.
When they reached the awning a very big black person, who looked as if he were Sat.u.r.day who had suddenly grown immense, rose from a chair and made a low bow. He was covered with s.h.a.ggy hair and had strong long arms and strong long hands. "He is a Gorilla," said the Good Wolf in a low voice to Barty, "but I know him quite well, and though you would not think it, he has a delightful disposition."
At all events he knew how to manage pirates and make them give a beautiful tea party. Barty and the Good Wolf and Sat.u.r.day and Blue Crest were all given comfortable seats under the blue and white awning, and the Captain and six pirates handed them things faster than they could eat. Blue Crest had a m.u.f.fin with strawberry jam on it, and she perched on the end of her plate and pecked away in perfect delight. Sat.u.r.day had sugared walnuts which he had never tasted before and which filled him with glee. Barty and the Good Wolf had everything you could imagine, only the Good Wolf did not care for tea.
Baboo Bajorum did not talk except to make a remark now and then to Sat.u.r.day, who understood his language. The pirates seemed to understand him without any words. He just sat and watched them and they watched him to see if he were pleased with what they were doing.
Once a pirate who was greedy stole a piece of cake before he handed the plate to Barty, and Baboo Bajorum stretched out his enormously long hairy arm and seized him by the seat of his trousers and threw him over the rail into the sea. The pirate could swim very well and in a few minutes came clambering over the side of the ship again, but he looked very wet and ashamed and sneaked down into the hold as if he knew better than to come back to the party.
"That is the way he teaches us," said the Captain to Barty, eagerly handing him a currant bun with one of his best bows. "It is a way that makes you improve very quickly. He never argues. If he hits you or throws you overboard you know you have made some mistake and you make haste to find out what it is."
"I dare say that does teach people quickly," answered Barty, "but I should not like it."
He glanced rather anxiously at Baboo Bajorum, but Baboo was looking at him with quite a nice expression. Barty thought it must be a Gorilla smile, and as he of course wished to be polite he got up and made a low bow. Then Baboo Bajorum got up and made a low bow also, and all the pirates made bows and the Good Wolf made a bow and Sat.u.r.day made one and Blue Crest bobbled her head up and down most gracefully.
"He likes you," the Good Wolf said to Barty in a whisper; "he sees you are polite by nature. I saw it myself that first morning when we met at the edge of the deep forest."
Barty"s forehead wrinkled itself up in a puzzled way. "The morning we met on the edge of the deep forest," he said. "Now you have made me begin to think of that thing I can"t remember. What is it, what is it, what is it?"
"Never mind," said the Good Wolf; "you will find out in time. Just now you must enjoy your adventures."
"Yes, I must," said Barty. "They are such splendid adventures. Just think, here I am on a pirate ship, having tea with pirates. What will come next?"
What came next was very interesting, but it was the thing that came next but one which was thrilling.