Little cats, big cats, black, white, gray, yellow, striped, spotted, Maltese, tortoise-shell, calico, and tiger cats! Cats of all sizes and all kinds, cats of all ages, from tiny furry babies wheeled in perambulators by their mamas to gray old grandpas hobbling along by the aid of canes or crutches—all the cats of Catnip Island had trooped down to the shore to watch the landing of the Merry Mouser. Captain Mittens, decked out in the False Hare's jewelry, was the first to leave the pirate ship. He stepped along jauntily, nose in the air and the haughtiest kind of expression on his whiskered face. After him came Growler leading Rudolf, then Prowler with Ann, then the Maltese pirate with Peter by the hand. The spotted sailors brought up the rear, all but two who had been left to guard the ship. As soon as the shore cats saw that their Chief had brought home three prisoners from his cruise, they set up a great yowl of joy, and began to dance, prancing and bounding in the air and whirling round and round upon their hind legs.

Captain Mittens was the first to leave the pirate ship.

"Oh, my eye!" exclaimed Rudolf, quite forgetting where he was and standing still to watch their antics. "Don't I wish I had my slingshot!"

"Hush! Silence—'nless ye want to be skinned!" It was the voice of Prowler just behind him.

"If you think I'm afraid of a lot of silly cats—" began Rudolf, but his voice was drowned by the angry yowls that burst from a hundred furry throats as the islanders pressed closer and closer.

"Oh, Rudolf, do be quiet!" Ann begged, and Rudolf, remembering that he was not only a long way from his sling shot, but that even his sword had been taken away from him, was obliged to submit. By this time the pirates had cleared a way through the crowd and the procession left the beach and entered the pussy-willow grove which Rudolf had described from the deck of the Merry Mouser. Half hidden among the trees were a number of pretty little houses, each with a neat door yard and a high back fence. Each had its name, too, on a small door plate, and it amused Ann and Peter to spell out as they went along—"Furryfield," "Mousetail Manor," "Kitten-cote," etc.

"Oh, look," Ann whispered, "see the darling, little, front doors, Peter! Just like the cat-hole in Aunt Jane's big door. The chimneys are shaped something like ears and the roofs are all covered with fur!"

"Yes," answered Peter, "and they've got little gardens to 'em, Ann. I guess that must be the catnip we smell so strong. I don't see any flowers, though, only big tall weeds, rows and rows of 'em—milkweed—that's what it is! What do you suppose they planted that for?"

Prowler, who was walking just ahead of Peter, overheard this last remark, and turning, fixed his large, round, yellow eyes on the little boy. "Don't you like milk, young man?" he asked.

"Why, yes," said Peter, very puzzled, "but not that kind, you know."

"Well, milk's milk these hard times," said Prowler, wagging his head. "It don't do to be too particerler. You like mice, don't you?" he continued.

"Why, I like candy mice," said Peter grinning, "but I never knew before that cats did!"

"Sh-sh!" Poor Prowler began to tremble all over and look anxiously about him. "Not a word of that," he murmured, "or I'm a dead cat! You keep mum about that little affair, young'un, and I'll do you a good turn yet, see if I don't!"

"All right; don't you forget!" whispered Peter.

The procession was now approaching a house considerably larger than any of the others and which had "The Pirattery" written in large letters over its door. Mittens led the way inside, the mates with the children and all the other pirates followed, together with as many of the island cats as could squeeze themselves in. The Pirattery, so the children were informed by Growler and Prowler, was an assembly hall or general meeting-place for the pirates when on shore. Its floor and the little platform at one end were strewn with rat-skin rugs of the finest quality, and its walls were adorned with handsomely stuffed and mounted mouse and fish heads, snake skins, and other trophies of the chase.

Mittens now took up his position on the platform and began a long and eloquent speech in which he related the story of the capture of his prisoners, making the most absurd boasts of the terrible risks he had run, and dwelling most particularly on the awful fate of the False Hare—while quite forgetting to mention his escape. This speech was interrupted by tremendous cheers from the island cats which were only faintly joined in by the pirates. Mittens finished by saying that a concert in celebration of the victory would now be given, after which there would be refreshments—Peter pricked up his ears at the word! —and then the plunder taken from the prisoners would be distributed among the officers and crew of the Merry Mouser. This last announcement was greeted by a volley of shrill and joyful yowls from the younger cat pirates, but Growler, frowning, whispered in Rudolf's ear:

"Don't you believe a word of that, about whacking up on the treasure! He'll never give up so much as a single shirt stud, he won't."

"I would 'a' liked them pink pajamas, I would," sighed Prowler. "They'd just suit my dark complexion."

"I can't understand," said Ann, "what it is that has made such a change in Mittens! Why, just yesterday when we got to Aunt Jane's he was asleep before the fire with a little red bow on his collar—just as soft and nice as anything, and he let us all take turns holding him!"

"He never scratched really deep all day," said Peter mournfully, "only when we dressed him up in the doll's clothes—he didn't seem to 'preciate that—an'—an' when I pulled his tail—he didn't like that, neither."

"He's a bad old thief, that's what he is!" exclaimed Rudolf, forgetting in his excitement to lower his voice. "And if we ever get back to Aunt Jane's and he's there, I'll fix him—"

A general warning hiss went up from the pirate cats who stood nearest to the children. "Be quiet," muttered Growler, "unless you want your ears bitten off? Don't you see the Chief is going to sing?"

Mittens had stepped to the front of the platform and was fixing an angry scowl upon the three children who stood between Growler and Prowler directly beneath him. When all was so quiet in the hall you could have heard a pin drop, the Chief cleared his throat and nodded to the Maltese pirate who stood ready to accompany him upon the tambourine. In the background a semicircle of other singers clutched their music and shuffled their feet rather nervously as they waited to come in at the chorus.

Mittens sang in a high plaintive voice:

You may be sure that Rudolf and Ann did not join in the burst of applause which greeted the end of Captain Mittens' song. Peter would have been glad to, for he was too young and foolish to understand how really impertinent Mittens had been, but his brother and sister quickly stopped that. As for Growler and Prowler, they merely yawned, as if they had heard this song more than once before, only faintly clapping their paws together in order not to attract the tyrant's attention to themselves. The next piece on the program, so Mittens announced, would be a duet between himself and Miss Tabitha Tortoise, entitled Moonbeams on the Back Fence. This selection proved so very noisy, so full of quavers, trills, and loud and piercing yowls, that the children decided it would be safe to attempt a little conversation.

"Oh, Rudolf," whispered Ann, "how shall we ever get away from here?"

"Don't want to get away," grumbled Peter. "We're going to have refreshments; Mittens said so."

"Nonsense; you'll have to go if we do," answered Rudolf. "But listen, what are the mates saying?"

The two black cat pirates were conversing excitedly under cover of the music, and presently the children heard what Prowler was whispering to Growler: "Look here, Matey, where's the rest of the swag, the suit case and his sword, you know?"

"On board ship, stowed away in Cap'n's cabin," answered Growler. "You don't mean to—"

"Yes, I do—I'm no 'fraid-cat—I mean to have them pink pajamas, or—"

"And where do I come in, eh?" exclaimed Growler indignantly.

"Oh, you can have the shirts and collars, Matey. Share and share alike, you know. We'll just slip off to the ship, and—"

"And take us with you," broke in Rudolf. "Do!"

"You know you promised to do us a good turn," whispered Ann. "And if you don't take us we'll tell, and we'll tell about what happened to the white mice, too—"

"And while you're about it," went on Rudolf, "you'd better take possession of the vessel. Between us we can easily manage those old spotties that were left on board. Then, don't you see, when you fellows are masters of the Merry Mouser, you'll have Mittens in your power and you can make him whack up on all the treasure!"

At this brilliant suggestion the two mates gave a smothered cheer, gazing at each other with their round yellow eyes full of joy and their whiskered mouths grinning so widely that the children could see their little red tongues and all their sharp white teeth.

"But how shall we get away without being seen?" Ann asked.

"Oh, that'll be all right," said Prowler, looking about him nervously. "Just wait till you hear 'em announce the refreshments—that always means a rush, you know. Then slip through the crowd and out by that door behind the curtain, and hustle down to the ship just as fast as ever you can lay your paws to the ground!"

Prowler had hardly finished speaking before, with a final long-drawn piercing yowl, the duet of the Pirate Chief and Miss Tabitha Tortoise came to an end, and an intermission of ten minutes for refreshments was announced. From an inner room at the back of the hall a dozen or so white cats in caps and aprons trotted forth bearing large trays loaded with very curious-looking cat-eatables.

Rudolf and Ann had now their usual trouble with Peter who at first absolutely refused to budge until he had tasted at least "one of each". When at last he was made to understand that the trays around which the cats were so greedily thronging contained nothing more inviting than roasted rats and pickled fish fins, and that these delicacies would probably not be offered to prisoners anyway, he regretfully allowed himself to be pushed through a door at the side of the hall and hurried off in the direction of the shore. Although the children, followed closely by the two mates, had managed to slip away almost unnoticed in the general excitement, yet they knew their escape must soon be discovered and they ran as fast as ever they could go.

At last they reached the wharf and scrambled up the side of the Merry Mouser, expecting each instant to receive some kind of challenge from the two spotted cats on guard. Much to their surprise they received none. This was soon explained, for the two common sailors were found in the cabin, curled up in the Captain's bunk, fast asleep.

"A nice mess they'd be in if the Chief caught 'em!" cried Growler.

Prowler said nothing, but winked at his friend, and taking a piece of strong string from his pocket, he bound the poor spotted cats' eight paws all in a bunch together and left them to continue their nap. This little matter attended to, all hands now turned their attention to raising the sail, and by the time the advance-guard of cat pirates came rushing down through the pussy-willow grove in their pursuit, the Merry Mouser, borne along by a breeze that was something more than a catspaw, was fast leaving the shores of Catnip Island behind her.