Then, to the surprise of the onlookers, the boys jumped up into the air, and, clicking their heels together, they shouted in chorus, “Yo-ho! Jolly Pirates, seize the fudge!” Then, snatching off their black headgear, six laughing boyish faces were revealed, and Bob Angel cried, “In, my good men, and enjoy the revelry. Rich entertainment awaits you.”
“You ought to say, ‘In, my bad men,’ I should think, if you are playing pirates,” Adele suggested. Then she added, “Eva, permit me to introduce to you my brother’s boon companions, the Jolly Pirates. I won’t tell you their names just at first; it would be too confusing. I’ll let you learn them gradually. Now, boys, you may sit over here with Jack and crack nuts. And Peggy, you’d better stay near them and see that they put the nuts into the bowl.”
“Oh, let’s trust to their honor,” Peggy gayly replied. Meanwhile Doris Drexel was grating the chocolate, and soon the candy-making was well under way.
“It’s strange that Rosie doesn’t arrive,” Adele said at last. “It’s quite dark now, and she may be afraid to come alone. Perhaps—” But before Adele could say another word, some one stumbled up on the side steps, the kitchen door burst open, and there stood Rosamond with wide, startled eyes, and face as white as a sheet.
“Rosie!” Adele cried in alarm. “What is the matter?”
“I saw a ghost!” Rosamond exclaimed, as she glanced fearfully out of the still open door.
“It must be some one playing a prank,” said Jack, who had risen. Then he added, “Up, Jolly Pirates! Let us fare forth and capture this ghost.”
The fudge, which was already on the buttered tins, was set to cool, and so the girls declared that they would go along. Not one of them believed that Rosie had seen a real ghost, for they all knew that she was timid and imaginative.
Rosie, however, was convinced that she had seen a being supernatural, and so she clung to Adele’s arm fearfully as they went out into the warm night. In the sky were low, gray clouds, which were slowly drifting. Occasionally the moon appeared in a rift, and then it was dark again.
“It will rain before morning,” Dick Jensen said.