finished and
every crumb licked up, Growler said to Prowler, "Time for a nap, old
boy," and without so much as a look in the children's direction the
two rude fellows turned tail and marched off arm in arm to their
bunks.

"Well, they _are_ nice!" cried Ann. "And what are _we_ going to do, I
would like to know?"

"What we are going to do," said Rudolf thoughtfully, "is probably to
be shipwrecked. Oh, not _right_ away," he added quickly as he saw how
frightened his little sister looked. "But there's land close ahead, as
sure as sure can be, and, if I'm not much mistaken, Toddles and Towser
have both gone to sleep at the wheel."

It was true. The two common sea-cats had left the wheel to take care
of itself and had curled themselves up in a soft round ball on the
deck for a nap from which the children found it impossible to arouse
them.

"I will try to steer and also mind the sheet, I think that's what it's
called," said Rudolf, "but as I don't know _much_ about sailing a boat
except what I've read in books, and you and Peter don't know
_anything_, I think the least we'll do will be to run her aground."

"Let's try to wake Growler and Prowler up," Ann begged. "They can't be
sound asleep yet."

The two mates were not only sound asleep but snoring loudly. Ann and
Peter tried shaking them, spanking them, even drenching them with the
cold remains of the catnip tea, but it was all no use, they could not
get them to stir. Meanwhile the _Merry Mouser_ was drifting
dangerously near land, in spite of all Rudolf could do to prevent her.
He did several things and he ordered Peter and Ann to do a good many
others, but all of them felt glad the False Hare was not there to
compliment them on their seamanship. At last there came a dull shock
and a jar, and the _Merry Mouser_ ran her nose into a sand-bar,
quivered all over, and then stood still.

"The thing to do _now_" said Rudolf easily, just as if he had planned
it all, "is for us to get into the little boat we are towing and row
ourselves ashore. Of course we must wake up the mates and the crew and
take them with us."

It was simply astonishing the things those children had to do to
Growler and Prowler before they could get either of them so much as to
open an eye! When they were at last able to understand what had
happened, they merely turned over and growled out: "Oh, is _that_ all?
Aground, are we? Ye needn't have waked us up for _that_! Be off as
soon as ye like and