but he had disappeared, and Jehosophat said,--

"They must have dropped from Heaven an' were sent us to 'venge the
people the pirates have killed. It's a sign. Guess we're not pirates
after all, but just good sailors an' we'll scrunch those pirates."

Then he thought for a moment.

"But I guess we'll keep this flag anyway, even if it is the pirates'."

And they kept their names as well. They were far too fine to give up.

But just as they were about to go aboard, the Toyman came to the
shore.

"What ho!" he said, then again, "what ho!"

That sounded exciting--not like a game at all, but like real life! And
he was "saying some more,"--

"Avast, me hearties, what's in the wind?"

This last was a very odd question, for whatever could be in the wind,
when you can see right through it and it can't hold anything at all.
Strange talk it was, to be sure, and the neighbors would never have
understood it. Still, folks never understood the Toyman and his
language anyway, but _they_ did, and Marmaduke called,--"Come 'n,
Toyman," when Captain Kidd corrected him.

"Pshaw! That's not the way to say it. You just listen to me."