fusion of getting the _Merry Mouser_ ready for her landing.

Rudolf had been working his hardest at one of the holes in his bag and
soon he was able to get a good view of his immediate surroundings.

"Cheer up!" he called to Ann and Peter. "We're coming close to the
island."

"Has it got coral reefs and palm-trees and cocoanuts and savages,
friendly ones, I mean?" came in muffled tones from Ann's bag.

"Has it got monkeys and serpents an' turtles an'--an'--shell-fish?"
demanded Peter from his.

"N-no," said Rudolf, "I don't see any of those things _yet_. There are
a great many trees, some of 'em coming most down to the edge of the
water, but they're not palm-trees, they're willows, the kind you pick
the little furry gray things off in early spring--"

"Pussy-willows, of course, stupid!" interrupted Ann.

"Yes, and back of that there are fields with tall reeds or grasses
with brown tips to them."

"Cattails!" giggled Ann.

"And there's a big high cliff, too, with a little stream of water
running down, and--" But here Rudolf stopped, for Growler and Prowler
rushed up, cut the strings of the three bags, and released the
children from their imprisonment. Hardly did they have time to stretch
themselves before the _Merry Mouser_ brought up alongside her
landing-place, and in a moment more the children were being led
ashore, each under guard of a cat pirate to prevent escape.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VII

CATNIP ISLAND

Little cats, big cats, black, white, gray, yellow, striped, spotted,
Maltese, tortoise-shell, calico, and tiger cats! Cats of all sizes and
all kinds, cats of all ages, from tiny furry babies wheeled in
perambulators by their mamas to gray old grandpas hobbling along by
the aid of canes or crutches--all the cats of Catnip Island had
trooped down to the shore to watch the landing of the _Merry Mouser_.
Captain Mittens, decked out in the False Hare's jewelry, was the first
to leave the pirate ship. He stepped along jauntily, nose in the air
and the haughtiest kind of expression on his whiskered face. After him
came Growler leading Rudolf, then Prowler with Ann, then the Maltese
pirate with Peter by the hand. The spotted sailors brought up the
rear, all but two who had been left to guard the ship. As soon as the
shore cats saw that their Chief had brought home three prisoners from
his cruise, they set up a great yowl of joy, and began to dance,
prancing and bounding in