ndreds of big pillows and cushions; there are thick, soft
carpets on the floors; the dishes are made of silver; and there are all
sorts of good things to eat and drink--special things; the
larder--well, it's just like a shop, that's all. You never saw anything
like it in your life-- Just think--they kept five different kinds of
sardines, those men! Come and look.... Oh, and we found a little room
down there with the door locked; and we are all crazy to get in and see
what's inside. Jip says it must be where the pirates kept their
treasure. But we can't open the door. Come down and see if you can
let us in."

So the Doctor went downstairs and he saw that it was indeed a beautiful
ship. He found the animals gathered round a little door, all talking
at once, trying to guess what was inside. The Doctor turned the handle
but it wouldn't open. Then they all started to hunt for the key. They
looked under the mat; they looked under all the carpets; they looked in
all the cupboards and drawers and lockers--in the big chests in the
ship's dining-room; they looked everywhere.

While they were doing this they discovered a lot of new and wonderful
things that the pirates must have stolen from other ships: Kashmir
shawls as thin as a cobweb, embroidered with flowers of gold; jars of
fine tobacco from Jamaica; carved ivory boxes full of Russian tea; an
old violin with a string broken and a picture on the back; a set of big
chess-men, carved out of coral and amber; a walking-stick which had a
sword inside it when you pulled the handle; six wine-glasses with
turquoise and silver round the rims; and a lovely great sugar-bowl,
made of mother o' pearl. But nowhere in the whole boat could they find
a key to fit that lock.

So they all came back to the door, and Jip peered through the key-hole.
But something had been stood against the wall on the inside and he
could see nothing.

While they were standing around, wondering what they should do, the
owl, Too-Too, suddenly said,

"Sh!--Listen!--I do believe there's some one in there!"

They all kept still a moment. Then the Doctor said,

"You must be mistaken, Too-Too. I don't hear anything."

"I'm sure of it," said the owl. "Sh!--There it is again--Don't you
hear that?"

"No, I do not," said the Doctor. "What kind of a sound is it?"

"I hear the noise of some one putting his hand in his pocket," said the
owl.

"But that makes hardly any sound at all," said the Doctor.