The Silver Casket Read Online Free PDF

soon found he was no oarsman. He couldn’t control the boat, no matter how he tried.
    â€œYou take hold of our friend here,” said Daisy,“and I’ll do the rowing. I don’t think you’ve found your sea legs yet,” she joked. She took the oars from him and immediately the ride became sure and steady. Stanley
watched her rowing: despite the rough water, she made it seem effortless. And for someone quite small she was surprisingly strong.
    â€œWhere are we heading?” asked Daisy.
    â€œTo the north side of the island,”’ said Stanley. “To where the Yellow Jack is heading with its sickly crew.”
    â€œStanley, what on earth are you thinking of? We are supposed to be avoiding them, not joining them!” Daisy panicked. Suddenly the boat was carried along on the crest of a wave, and Daisy fought hard to keep them from crashing against the rocks.

    Daisy panted, pulling harder on the oars as the little boat bobbed up and down on the swell.
    Then, as they cleared the rocks and came out into the deep, they saw ships heading toward them from the other direction.

    â€œRow, Daisy!” cried Stanley. “Row for your life!”
    â€œI’m trying,” she gasped, as the drag of the water yanked at her arms.

    Stanley had not planned on a choppy sea. The harbor had seemed relatively calm, but here on the other side of the island they were struggling to steady the boat. White froth rushed up the sides and the splashes of water were icy cold.
    Before too long, the shape of Crampton Rock was growing smaller as they steered away from the island and the pirate ships.
    Darkness and endless water surrounded the little boat. On board, the two small warriors and their fish headed fearlessly into the unknown.
    To the pike, Stanley announced something that he knew would not be popular.
    â€œI’m going to take the Ibis from you,” he said.
    â€œI had a feeling this was coming, and I fear that you are making a wrong move, Stanley,”
the pike returned. “I think perhaps there is a better way.
    â€œI don’t think you have a better way,” said Stanley. “Firstly, you have no idea what my plan is and secondly, if you do and there is an easier solution I’d like to know what it is.”
    â€œI’m thinking!” insisted the pike, and he closed his mouth tightly so that Stanley had no chance of retrieving the Ibis.
    â€œThis is no time for games,” said Stanley, who felt a growing frustration. “Open wide, please.”
    But the mouth stayed shut and the eyes glared at him.
    â€œVery well,” said Stanley, thinking quickly. “If you refuse to cooperate, then I shall have no option but to place you in the salt water among the sea life.”
    â€œYes, and I hear the tiger sharks are particularly
hungry at this time of year,” suggested Daisy. She still wasn’t entirely sure of Stanley’s plan, but nonetheless she was prepared to see it through.
    The pike’s eyes seemed set even wider as Stanley lifted him up and dangled him by his tail. The Ibis rolled to the front of his mouth and finally he allowed it to drop into the bottom of the boat.

    â€œThank you,” said Stanley. He didn’t want to upset the pike, but time was of the essence. He retrieved the Ibis from the boat and slipped it neatly inside a square of cloth.
    They rounded a cliff face, and suddenly a blackened shape hung over them. A filthy silhouette of sheer evil swayed on the surf.
Voices bellowed out, and the torn and ragged shapes of sails flapped noisily in the gust.
    They had no idea what ghastly contents this vessel would contain. But all three of them knew that they were about to find out.

9
    The Evil Within
    Stanley and Daisy were dwarfed by the might of the hulking shape of the ship’s silhouette and they huddled tightly beneath it. On board, lamplights twinkled like stars here and there. The ship’s name was painted on