“Do you suppose he thinks we may be near finding the story?” asked Mary Frances.
“That’s it!” exclaimed the cat. “I’ll wager my whiskers that’s his idea. So that if we espy it he’ll get it first.”
“Do you think we’ll find it?” asked Mary Frances.
“My fur feels as though we would,” said the cat. “Please tell me, is it sending out sparks?”
It was growing quite late in the afternoon, and quite dusky. Mary Frances, to her astonishment, saw great showers of electric sparks coming from the cat’s body.
“You look like a sparkler on the Fourth of July, Cat,” she said.
“Oh, isn’t that fine!” said the cat. “You see, it’s this way—the nearer we get to the story, the more sparklier my fur gets.”
“So we must be quite near,” said Mary Frances; “for I don’t see how you could get much more sparklier.”
“I forgot to tell you,” said the cat, “that after we find the story, the dolphin’s power to keep the pirate away is gone. We’ll have to race like a rocket to beat his boat.”
“Oh, my, what is the matter!” exclaimed Mary Frances, as the cat suddenly jumped high in the air, sending out a shower of sparks that fell at her feet on the deck. Over the side of the boat he fell, and all was dark as a pocket.