s, those! They come, they see a person, they carry him off,
to keep at their fancy, till a ransom is paid, or till he grow old and
die, or till they kill him the next day, who knows? But not all are bad
fellows, and there are some of them who are kind to captives, who take
them on board their ships, play with them, show to them strange things,
shells and fish and corals, all things. Have you ever played at pirate,
Colorado?"

"Yes, sometimes," the boy admitted, wondering still more at the
brightness in his friend's look, and his air of sudden determination.

"I never played Malay, only Portugee; I thought they weren't so cruel,
but I don't know. I had a ship down by the wharf, and I made a good many
pirate voyages round the wharf, and sometimes quite a piece down river,
when I could get the time. But then, after a while, I thought it was
nicer to be a rescuing ship, and get folks away from the pirates, you
know, so I've done that lately, and I've rescued as many as twenty
vessels, I should think."

"That was fine!" said the Skipper, nodding sagely. "That was well done,
Colorado! But here we come to trouble, do you see? for I that speak to
you--I am a Malay pirate!"

The boy started violently and looked up, expecting he knew not what
sudden and awful change in the face that bent down over him; but no! it
was the same quiet, dark face, only there was a bright gleam in the
eyes. A gleam of fun, was it? Surely not of ferocity.

"I come up this river," the Skipper continued, rapidly, "to see what I
find,--perhaps gold, perhaps silver, perhaps prisoners of value. I look
about, I see the pleasant village, I see persons very amiable, but no
precious thing except one; that one, I have it! I am a Malay pirate,
Colorado, and thus I carry off my prize!" and picking up the child as if
he were a feather, and tossing him up to his shoulder, the Skipper
strode from the garden, and took his way toward the wharf.

CHAPTER VI.

MR. BILL HEN.

Mr. Bill Hen Pike had come to have a good long gossip. It was some time
since a schooner had come up the river, for the ice-shipping had not yet
begun, and he was fairly thirsting for maritime intelligence. He desired
to know the tonnage of the "Nautilus," her age, where she was built, and
by whom; her original cost, and what sums had been expended in repairs
since she had been in the Skipper's possession; how many trips she had
made, to what ports, and with what cargoes; the weather