“Mister Mate,” said John, “will you send one of your men to the harbour to bring our flag from Swallow ?”
“Skip along, Roger,” said Mate Susan, and then, turning to the Amazons, “You swear the houseboat man is not there to take him prisoner?”
“Of course,” said the Amazons. “But will you swear he does not do anything to our ship? We were very careful with yours, and we haven’t done anything to your tents. We could have burnt them easily or razed them to the ground.”
“We swear,” said Captain John.
“Why not scuttle their ship and keep them prisoners?” said Titty.
“Until the parley is over it is peace,” said Captain John. “Skip along, Roger, and get the Swallow ’s flag, but don’t touch anything else.”
Roger ran off. “I’ve got their knife anyway,” he shouted.
The elder Amazon turned to the other.
“Peggy, you donkey,” she said. “Where’s the ship’s knife?”
Peggy, the younger Amazon, felt in the pocket of her breeches.
“Gone,” she said. “We must have left it when we were in hiding in the bush.”
“We don’t want to take their knife,” whispered Susan to John.
“We’ll give you back your knife,” said John to the Amazons. “As soon as our man comes back from the harbour he shall put it with the other weapons. We don’t really want your knife. We have three knives on our ship.”