ds, guns and gunpowder,"
that he tipped the vessel over and the whole cargo was spilled into the
water.

"Oh, look what you did!" cried Janet. "Your gunpowder will be all wet!"

"I'm not ready to play the pirate game yet," explained Teddy. "Anyhow, I
can get more powder."

This would be easy enough, it seemed, as the children were only
pretending that stones, pebbles and bits of sticks were the cargoes of
their toy ships, and, as Teddy had said, he could easily get more stones.
The brook was filled with them.

"Where are you going?" Janet called after her brother, as she saw him
hurrying toward the house, which was out of sight behind the trees and
bushes that grew on the edge of the brook.

"I'm going to get a black flag so I can be a pirate and sink your ship
with gold, diamonds and chocolate cakes on!" answered Teddy over his
shoulder as he ran on.

"I--I don't guess I want you to be a pirate," said Janet slowly, as she
looked at her ship, on which the pebbles, stones and bits of wood were
neatly arranged in piles. "I'm not going to play that game! I don't want
you to be a pirate, Ted! It's too scary!"

But her brother was beyond the reach of her voice now, hurrying toward
the house after his "black pirate flag." Janet shoved her ship out from
the shore--her ship laden with diamonds, gold and chocolate cakes. Of
course it was not a real ship. The Curlytops would not have had half as
much fun with real ships as they were having with the pieces of boards
which they were making believe were steamers and sailing vessels.

"I'll sail my ship away down to the end of the brook before Ted gets back
to be a pirate," said Janet to herself, as, with a long stick, she
directed the flat board which was piled high with brook-pebbles. "Then
when he comes back he can't sink it."

Janet pushed her ship slowly at first, and then a little faster, moving
it along by means of the stick while she stood on the bank. Then, hearing
a noise in the bushes behind her, she thrust harder on the stick.

"I don't want Teddy to pirate my ship!" she thought. "I'll fool him! I'll
sail it around the bend, and then I'll hide behind the big buttonball
tree and he won't know where I've gone!"

In order to do this Janet wanted to make her ship go as fast as possible,
so she shoved harder and harder on the stick. And then, all of a sudden,
her ship upset.

With a splash the stones, pebbles and bits of wood went into the brook.
The whole cargo