"We ought to creep up and peep; Crusoe was cautious, you know,
and Friday scared out of his wits," added Rose, still keeping up the
joke.

"But this Crusoe is going to pounce upon them, regardless of
consequences. If I am killed and eaten, you seize the basket and
run for the boat; there are provisions enough for your voyage
home."

With that Uncle Alec slipped round to the front of the tent and,
casting in the big bundle like a bomb-shell, roared out, in a voice
of thunder

"Pirates, surrender!"

A crash, a shout, a laugh, and out came the savages, brandishing
knives and forks, chicken bones, and tin mugs, and all fell upon
the intruder, pommelling him unmercifully as they cried

"You came too soon! We are not half ready! You've spoilt it all!
Where is Rose?"

"Here I am," answered a half-stifled voice, and Rose was
discovered sitting on the pile of red flannel bathing clothes, which
she had mistaken for lobsters, and where she had fallen in a fit of
merriment when she discovered that the cannibals were her merry
cousins.

"You good-for-nothing boys! You are always bursting out upon me