Barty Crusoe and His Man Saturday Part 12

"They are like this," he said, "because they are polite pirates, and in time they are going to teach you to be polite too. It is really very much nicer."

Just at first they almost gibbered because they did not know what to say, but when they were taken below and allowed to wash the smoke and powder off their faces and hands, and then were given cups of tea and m.u.f.fins and raspberry jam, and then were shown all over the beautiful s.h.i.+p, they could not help but begin to be calm. But because they had never seen anything like Baboo Bajorum and his crew before, they could not help staring, and they could not all keep their mouths shut at the same time. The bows and politeness quite made them jump sometimes, but it was plain they began to admire them, because it was not long before they began to try to remember to make bows themselves.

At last they were all sitting peacefully together on the deck, and the sun had gone down and the moon had risen. The s.h.i.+p had sailed back to the Desert Island again and was lying at anchor in the beautiful blue water, which was making a soft lap-lap-lapping sound against its side. Barty looked out at the green slope which led up the cliff to the cave, and suddenly he remembered how he had slept on the bed of leaves 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 up from his chair and went to Baboo Bajorum and bowed--this time he did it more beautifully than ever, and he did it six times.

"I am ever so much obliged to you, Mr. Bajorum," he said. "I enjoyed the battle so much and thank you for inviting me to the tea party. I have enjoyed myself so much that I am rather sleepy. Would you be so kind as to oblige us by letting us get into the boat and go back to the cave to bed?"

Baboo Bajorum patted him again and shook hands with him and was most polite. In fact, everybody was so polite and made so many bows--even the 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 the ladder, and the Polite Pirates took their seats and began to row towards the sh.o.r.e and those who stayed on the s.h.i.+p raised a delightful cheer.

Barty sat close to the Good Wolf and laid his head against his furry neck. The sky looked dark blue and the water looked dark blue and the stars in the sky looked as if they were s.h.i.+ning in the water, and Barty was so happy and drowsy that he could scarcely tell which was sea and which was sky.

When they reached the white beach the Polite Pirate Captain picked Barty up in his arms and carried him up the queer slope, and instead of crawling through the hole he carried him round the ledge and lifted him in through the window.

The moon was s.h.i.+ning in on the sparkling white sand of the cave floor and it shone in on the soft, heaped up bed of leaves which looked delightful. Barty stood in the moonlight and rubbed his eyes.

"Thank you," he said to the Polite Pirate Captain. "There never was anything like you in Robinson Crusoe."

"Who was Robinson Crusoe?" asked the Captain, leaning on the window ledge.

"He was in a book," answered Barty. "It was a very nice book, but this is nicer," and he rubbed his eyes harder than ever.

Just then the Good Wolf came in through the pa.s.sage. Blue Crest was on his back and Man Sat.u.r.day 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 and perfectly charming afternoon. Good-night." And he turned round and ran round the ledge and down the green slope.

"And just think how frightened we were," Barty said drowsily, as he crept onto the softest part of his leaf bed. "I never thought pirates could be so nice."

The Good Wolf made a jump and curled up beside him snugly. Sat.u.r.day curled up and was asleep in two minutes, and Blue Crest was asleep in one. And the moon shone in at the cave window and the sound of the waves on the beach was a soft murmur.

"Did I hear you say that this was nicer than Robinson Crusoe?" asked the Good Wolf, just as Barty's eyes were closing.

"It is--nicer," answered Barty, drowsily. "But--I can't help thinking of that thing--I can't remember. What--is--it?"

"In the morning I will tell you," said the Good Wolf. And that very minute Barty's eyes shut and he could not see the white moonlight any longer because he was fast asleep.

In the morning he wakened as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. He sat up 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 out what 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 they had been the day before. The slope was like green velvet and the pool in the rocks as clear as green crystal. Barty splashed and clashed and swam about almost like a fish. But he could not help saying to himself, "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 to the Good Wolf who was standing and looking at him as he had looked when he awoke.

"What is it? What is it?" he said. "I feel as if I were just going to remember."

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 the scent of mignonette in the air and the last time he had smelt it had been when the Good Wolf had carried him away.

"It's my mother--my mother I was thinking of!" he cried out. "Why couldn't I remember. She'll be wondering where I am. I must go home this minute."

"There," said the Good Wolf. "All right. We will go home. The reason you could not remember was because I made you forget on purpose. If I had not done that you would have been wondering all the time whether you were not too far away and if she was looking for you, and you would 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 only been playing in the woods a few hours. Has it been nicer than Robinson 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 Desert Island again," said Barty. "It is a lovely Desert Island. Could Sat.u.r.day and Blue Crest come with us?"

He said that because Sat.u.r.day had come running up and Blue Crest was perched on a rock.

"They can if you like," said the Good Wolf, "but I think you had better 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 always be here. Jump upon my back quickly. Your mother is just beginning to remember you."

Barty jumped up, waving his hand to Sat.u.r.day 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 arms round 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 he went into the cottage and his mother looked up from watering her flowers and smiled at him.

"I was just beginning to wonder where you were," she said. "What rosy cheeks you have. You do look as if you had been enjoying yourself."

And that is the end of _this_ story.