"Cheer up!" he called to Ann and Peter. "We're coming close to the island."
"Has it got coral reefs and palm-trees and cocoanuts and savages, friendly ones, I mean?" came in muffled tones from Ann's bag.
"Has it got monkeys and serpents an' turtles an'—an'—shell-fish?" demanded Peter from his.
"N-no," said Rudolf, "I don't see any of those things yet. There are a great many trees, some of 'em coming most down to the edge of the water, but they're not palm-trees, they're willows, the kind you pick the little furry gray things off in early spring—"
"Pussy-willows, of course, stupid!" interrupted Ann.
"Yes, and back of that there are fields with tall reeds or grasses with brown tips to them."
"Cattails!" giggled Ann.
"And there's a big high cliff, too, with a little stream of water running down, and—" But here Rudolf stopped, for Growler and Prowler rushed up, cut the strings of the three bags, and released the children from their imprisonment. Hardly did they have time to stretch themselves before the Merry Mouser brought up alongside her landing-place, and in a moment more the children were being led ashore, each under guard of a cat pirate to prevent escape.
