The Crown Prince looked gratified. “I don’t need any assistance, thank you,” he said. “Perhaps, now I’m here, I’d better look for the ball.”
“I wouldn’t bother about the old ball,” said the pirate, rather nervously for an old sea-dog. “You better get back to a safe place. Say, what made you pretend that our Railway made you nervous?”
Prince Ferdinand William Otto climbed up the tiles, trying to look as though tiles were his native habitat. The pirates both regarded him with admiration, as he dropped beside them.
“How did you happen to come here?” asked the Crown Prince. “Did you lose your aeroplane up here?”
“We came on business,” said the pirate importantly. “Two of the enemy entered our cave. We were guarding it from the underbrush, and saw them go in. We trailed them. They must die!”
“Really—die?”
“Of course. Death to those who defy us.”
“Death to those who defy us!” repeated the Crown Prince, enjoying himself hugely, and quite ready for bloodshed.
“Look here, Dick Deadeye,” said the larger pirate to the smaller, who stood gravely at attention, “I think he belongs to our crew. What say, old pal?”
Dick Deadeye wagged his tail.