"What is it?" asked Russ, smiling.

"What makes the ocean so salty?" Vi asked this time. "I got some water
on my hands and then I put my finger in my mouth and it tasted just like
I'd put too much salt on my potatoes. What makes the ocean so salty?"

"I don't know," said Russ. "We'll ask Daddy when we go up. But come on,
and let's build the bungalow. I'll be a pirate, and we'll play shipwreck
and everything."

"I'll be a pirate, too," added Laddie. "I know a good riddle about a
pirate, but I can't think of it now. Maybe I will after I've been a
pirate for a while."

"We'll be pirates, too," said Vi.

"No, girls can't be," said Russ. "You can be our prisoners. Pirates
always have prisoners."

"Prisoners? What's them?" asked Vi.

"They're what pirates have," explained Laddie. "I know, 'cause I saw
some pictures of 'em in a book. Pirates always keep their prisoners
shut up in a cave."

"I'm not going to be in a cave," said Rose. "I was in the sand house
when it caved in, and I don't like it."

"But you get good things to eat," explained Russ. "Pirates always have