“March!” said Nancy, and the Amazon pirates marched up out of the harbour and along the path through the trees.
“It doesn’t weigh anything when you carry it like this,” said Peggy. “This is the way all pirates carry their barrels and their treasure, or anything else that they take ashore from their ships.”
Susan, Titty, and Roger went with them. Captain John waited in the harbour. He was still thinking about what the Amazons had said about the harbour being marked. What did they mean, exactly? He had seen the cross painted on the stump of a tree just by the shore, and when he had said that anyone could put a cross on a tree Nancy Blackett had told him that that showed that he did not know how the harbour was marked. Well, how was it marked? He looked about him. There was the stump with the white cross on it. But he could see nothing else that looked at all like a mark. There were no marks on the rocks and he could not see any more marks on trees. His respect for these Amazons grew. They seemed to know everything, besides being very good sailors. He would have to ask them, and yet, as a captain, it wasn’t the sort of thing he liked to ask. He took a last look round and then hurried after the others.
He caught them up just as they were coming into the camp. The Amazons lowered the oar from their shoulders and set the barrel by the two flags. Then they wedged a few stones under it at each side to bring its tap well off the ground.
“We forgot the mugs,” said Peggy.
“We’ve got plenty,” said Susan, and she and Titty brought the mugs from their tent.
“We brought six mugs when we sailed out from home,” said Titty, “for fear of breakages, and luckily we haven’t broken any yet.”