ne, son of a ship-caulker who
worked in Martin Farguson's ship-yard, and Sandy Plummer, eldest of
three, and their mother a widow--plain washing and ironing, two doors
from the cake-shop--heard that that French "spad," Arch Cobden what
lived up to Yardley, and that red-headed Irish cub, Tod Fogarty--Tod's
hair had turned very red--had pre-empted the Black Tub, as the wreck
was irreverently called, claiming it as their very own, "and-a-sayin'
they wuz pirates and bloody Turks and sich," these two quarrelsome town
rats organized a posse in lower Barnegat for its recapture.

Archie was sweeping the horizon from his perch on the "poop-deck" when
his eagle eye detected a strange group of what appeared to be human
beings advancing toward the wreck from the direction of Barnegat
village. One, evidently a chief, was in the lead, the others following
bunched together. All were gesticulating wildly. The trusty henchman
immediately gave warning to Tod, who was at work in the lower hold
arranging a bundle of bean-poles which had drifted inshore the night
before--part of the deck-load, doubtless, of some passing vessel.

"Ay, ay, sir!" cried the henchman with a hoist of his knee-pants, as a
prelude to his announcement.

"Ay, ay, yerself!" rumbled back the reply. "What's up?" The commodore
had not read as deeply in pirate lore as had Archie, and was not,
therefore, so ready with its lingo.

"Band of savages, sir, approaching down the beach."

"Where away?" thundered back the commodore, his authority now asserting
itself in the tones of his voice.

"On the starboard bow, sir--six or seven of 'em."

"Armed or peaceable?"

"Armed, sir. Scootsy Mulligan is leadin' 'em."

"Scootsy Mulligan! Crickety! he's come to make trouble," shouted back
Tod, climbing the ladder in a hurry--it was used as a means of descent
into the shallow hold when not needed outside. "Where are they? Oh,
yes! I see 'em--lot of 'em, ain't they? Saturday, and they ain't no
school. Say, Arch, what are we goin' to do?" The terminal vowels
softening his henchman's name were omitted in grave situations; so was
the pirate lingo.

"Do!" retorted Archie, his eyes snapping. "Why, we'll fight 'em; that's
what we are pirates for. Fight 'em to the death. Hurray! They're not
coming aboard--no sir-ee! You go down, Toddy [the same free use of
terminals], and get two of the biggest bean-poles and I'll run up the
death flag. We've got stones and shells enough. Hurry--big