“When the King and his Nobles up at the Castle hear of this, what will they do? What will they do, I say? Listen, my sea dogs, and I will tell you what King Tommy and his Nobles will do. They will mount their horses and ride out into the hills, and take all the soldiers with them. And how about Queen Helen? Will any soldiers be left at the Castle to protect the Queen? No, my husky darlings, no one will be left to protect the Queen. So, I say, now is our time to act; King Tommy and his soldiers will be too clever for us; we can’t fight them, but we can capture the Queen, and after that it won’t take long before we can strike up a bargain with the King. Are you listening, my three little lambs?”
“Aye, aye, aye!” cried the three Buccaneers.
“But,” grumbled Red Beard, as he took a hitch at his belt and let his sword jingle against the barrel of his pistol, “when we are rid of the King, how are we going to find a way to capture the Queen? that’s what I say. How are we going to capture the Queen?”
No one answered for almost a minute. Then Long Jim stepped into the room; the crafty courtier had arrived just in time to hear the King’s question, and, being a clever one, this is the way he answered:
“If our noble King will permit me to speak, I will tell the Buccaneers the plan I think our noble and kind King was about to unfold to them.”
“You may tell them my plan, old Oily Tongue,” replied Red Beard, for that is the name he had for Long Jim.
Of course, Long Jim knew the King didn’t really have any plan, and he just pretended, when he offered to tell what it was, because he thought that would please Red {86} Beard, who wanted to be thought very clever. Red Beard, however, knew the smooth ways of Long Jim, and that is why he called the crafty courtier “Oily Tongue.”
“Most kind and gentle Buccaneers,” said the courtier, “the King’s plan is this: he wishes you to take your pirate ship, the Black Rover, and sail through the River into the Lake at Toyville, where you are to await developments. Before night comes, you will have the Queen captive.”
“Aye, aye, aye!” answered the three Buccaneers, marching off to their ship, in which they soon were sailing down the river towards the Lake of Toyville.
After the departure of the three Buccaneers, Long Jim and Red Beard put their heads together, and to everything Long Jim said, the King kept nodding approval, until in the end, Long Jim bowed good day to Red Beard, and putting on his feathered cap, he too, set forth for Toyville.