Swallows and Amazons Page #5

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A white cross.

Anybody could put a white cross on a tree.

Shows it's our island.

You don't even know

how the harbour's marked.

We, we do.

Come on, then.

Let's parley.

Weapons down.

Peggy, you donkey,

they've got our knife.

[Roger:
]

I found it.

It's our knife.

lt was a present from Uncle Jim.

We polished the cannon

on his houseboat.

Shut up, Peggy.

ls he your Uncle?

We thought he was a retired pirate.

That's quite a good thing

for him to be, really.

He can be Captain Flint.

[Titty:
]

But you're pirates too.

That's why he hates us.

He knows what pirates are.

It's time for the parley.

I'm John Walker,

Master of the Swallow.

Susan, Mate, Able Seaman Titty

and the Boy Roger.

I'm Nancy Blackett,

Master and part-owner of the Amazon.

The terror of the seas.

This is Peggy Blackett,

Mate and part-owner of the same.

Her name isn't Nancy really,

it's Ruth,

but Uncle Jim says

the Amazons were ruthless.

I'll shiver your timbers

if you don't stop chattering Peggy.

Let's be allies

against Captain Flint and all the natives.

You see,

Captain Flint used to be friendly,

but now he's worse than any native

because he's writing a book

and he says he hasn't time for us.

If we're allies it doesn't matter

who the island belongs to.

You see,

there ought to be two marks,

but two white crosses

would be too easy for anyone to guess.

So what's your other mark, then?

This tree here.

When you want

to sail into the harbour,

keep the cross here and the tree

in a straight line

and you'll come

clean through the rocks.

[Peggy:
] He bought the parrot

in Zanzibar.

He's been all over the world,

you know.

Mother said he was the black sheep

of the family.

Last year he came home

and he said he'd gathered enough moss

and meant to settle here.

Mother's his sister, you know.

Last year he was one of us

and even bought us Amazon.

This year he said he was writing a book

and refused to join in.

He's in league with the natives.

We've tried everything to wake him up,

but it's no good.

It's ended by him forbidding us

ever to go near him.

- Did he really fire at you today?

- No, that was us.

lt was the most marvellous banger

left over from last November.

lt was a jolly good bang.

Let's plan a combined attack

on Captain Flint.

- Who'll be captain?

- I will, of course.

John's our captain.

[Peggy:
] There can only be one captain.

- Then it should be me.

There are more of us Swallows

than there are you Amazons.

Let's fight for it.

We'll try and capture each other's ships.

That'll be good practice.

Whoever wins will be flagship.

We'll win.

But where do you keep your boat?

You go north

across the wide open sea

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