Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas Read Online Free PDF

done well to surrender, Captain Sparkletooth. Otherwise, I would have had to mar, soil, besmear – in other words, stain – that scrumptious uniform of yours. With blood, I mean.”
    “I don’t like the sight of blood, especially my own,” said Captain Sparkletooth. “But if I might ask a question, why are you here?”
    “
Aargh
! That’s the question, ain’t it, boys?”
    “Aye,” agreed the other pirates, grinning so that their black teeth showed. “A good question, ha-ha!”
    “Aye, I’ll answer it, too. But first, pirates, bar those doors to the lower decks. I hear people coming up the stairs.” The pirates did as they were told. Jacob could hear the voices of other passengers, including his own parents. “I’ll tell you why we’re here,” Crossbones went on. “We’ve come for the swag, the snatch, the booty – in other words, the treasure.”
    “Yes, the treasure, the treasure!” sang the pirates.
    “I don’t know of any treasure aboard the SS
Spring-a-Leak
. Why do you think there’s treasure here?”
    “Because I have a spy on your ship.”
    “A spy aboard the SS
Spring-a-Leak?
Outrageous. When I find out who the spy is, I’m going to take away his dessert for a week. Make that two weeks. Mr. Scrounger, do you know who the spy is?”
    “I do, Captain.”
    “Don’t tell me, let me guess. Is it the bosun?”
    “No, Captain.”
    “Is it the cook?”
    “No, Captain.”
    “I know who it is! I know who it is!” Jacob said.
    “You couldn’t possibly know,” said Captain Sparkletooth. “You’re going to say something ridiculous, like it’s Mr. Scrounger.”
    “But it
is
Mr. Scrounger! It
is
Mr. Scrounger!”
    The captain sighed. “Mr. Scrounger, tell Jacob that it isn’t you.”
    “But it
is
me,” Mr. Scrounger said.
    “Stop fooling around. This is serious,” said the captain.
    “No, I mean it,” said Mr. Scrounger. “Hold on, I’ll prove it.”
    Mr. Scrounger hurried away while everyone else stood waiting. Even Crossbones, who was muttering under his breath while he cleaned his nails with the tip of his sword. Mr. Scrounger appeared again, this time with the parrot on his shoulder and the black eye patch around his head.
    “See! See! I’m a pirate, too. Don’t I look like one now? Say something, parrot,” he cried.
    The parrot tilted its head, clacked its beak, and squawked, “
Pirates and pickles cost only a nickel! Pirates and pickles cost only a nickel!
”
    “First of all,” said Crossbones, stepping up to Mr. Scrounger, “there can’t be two of us wearingan eye patch. That would be preposterous, asinine, and a mockery – in other words, dumb. You take yours off.”
    “Oh, rats,” said Mr. Scrounger. As he took the eye patch off, he thwacked himself on the ear.
    “But why, Mr. Scrounger?” asked Captain Sparkle-tooth. “Why would you betray us? Especially when I am so much more handsome than he is!”
    “I’ll tell you why,” answered Mr. Scrounger. “Because I’m tired of watching you comb your hair while you admire yourself in the mirror. I’m tired of taking
your
photograph. I want to be noticed for a change.”
    “
I notice your feet smell! I notice your feet smell!
” squawked the parrot.
    “Please get that bird to shut up,” said Crossbones. “We’ve got pirate work to do here.”
    “No, you don’t,” said a commanding voice. Jacob recognized it immediately. He looked up, and in the ship’s rigging he saw none other than the intrepid Shapiro and the fearless O’Toole, their shirts emblazoned with the words
Child Power
, their capes fluttering behind them.
    “We thought our work was done,” said the fearlessO’Toole, “but it seems that we’ve got more cleaning up to do.”
    Crossbones looked at them and shrugged. “Tie them up,” he said.

CHAPTER 10
    acob Two-Two watched in horror as the pirates pulled the intrepid Shapiro and the fearless O’Toole down from the rigging and tied their hands behind their backs.
    “Mr.