‘His clothes are just as pretty as Nancy’s,’ said Alice, whose heart was plainly set upon jolly little Jack Tar. ‘Aren’t they?’
‘Every bit as pretty,’ agreed Sally. ‘And I will tell you something. If ever you wanted him to have different clothes, you could just put them on him and turn him into a girl, and I don’t believe he would ever know the difference. Only don’t let him hear us talking about it.’
And Sally put her finger to her lip and looked the other way for a moment, in case Jack Tar should have been trying to hear what she said.
JACK TAR
So Jack Tar was chosen to go home with Alice, and once the choice was made, the girls felt free to wander about and look at the Captain’s ships, of which there were every kind and color that a little boy would care to own.
There were sail-boats and row-boats, yachts and schooners, fishing smacks and dories, even a little warship and a tiny submarine. They ranged in color from gayest red and blue and yellow to the sober gray of the small man-o’-war.
Before they were halfway round the room, Sally and Alice had almost begun to wish that they were little boys.
‘I could sail a boat as well as a boy,’ said Sally in a low voice.
‘So could I,’ returned Alice, ‘but I don’t want to. I would rather play with Jack Tar.’