"Say, Cap'n, do you know we got a bunch o' pirates aboard the Seamew?"
"We've—what?"
"You bet!" added Bob hastily. "Old Jerry Smith's the head of the gang, and Joe Swanson was with 'em on a pirate ship!"
"Look here, what's happened to you two?" exclaimed the captain wonderingly. "Are you trying to put up a joke on me?"
"Not much," retorted Mart, and plunged into their story. With interruptions and additions from his chum, he managed to finish it with some degree of coherence, Captain Hollinger listening without comment. When they had done, he looked at Mart soberly.
"And you honestly believe those old men are pirates, eh?"
"Well, don't it look like it?" answered Mart stoutly.
Captain Hollinger looked from him to the excited Bob, then with a stifled shout of laughter he dropped into a chair. For a moment he gave way completely to a wild spasm of mirth, laughing as Mart had never seen him laugh before, while the two boys began to feel sheepish and uncomfortable.
"Pirates!" gasped the captain at length. "Pirates! Oh, this is rich! Old Jerry Smith—steady Joe Swanson—Wow! It's the best joke I ever heard!"
"Well, isn't there something in it?" queried Bob sharply. His father wiped his streaming eyes and sat up.