The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-04-20

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blood. but not the black flag of death.
We will give 'em quarter if they sur
render.
''Of course, you see q red flag we
were bound to have. but where was it
to come from? We rummaged through
mas things. but there wasn't red
rag among them. Wepulled out every
thing. and were sittin' on the pile on
the floor when Nathan came in. We
told him all about it. land ne just caught
at it and was ready to start that very
minute. but how could we 60 without
a red flag?
"'Pshaw. dat Amt nothin',' he said,
GRIMM from ear to ear. 4 reckon l
knows whar dar's de reddest ting you
cher sot your eyes on
Where? where?' we asked.
'Mammy's pettycut she wears Sum
days. It's redder dan blood
1--WE must have it, Ben cried.
".Dunno how you gwine to get it,!
scratchin' his woolly head. Nanny.
she locks it up in her big press. and
wouldn't she cavort about, and glib us
conniptions eff we fetched it Why,
de house wouldn't hold us and her,
sure
YOU'RE bound to get that petit
coat Ben says. struttin' about as if he
was real captain. He always did
have the bad habit of actin things, so
that hc'd come pretty near KILN you
if it was in the play. Pm your cap
tain, and you're bound to obey me, for
you're a pirate, remember. and mustn't
he afraid of any thing but me. You
know where Aunt Dora keeps her
keys. She's busy in the kitchen now,
and you'll have time to get the skirt
Don't you come back without it
"Then he shook his fist, and scowled
"a if he was goin' to murder Nathan.
Now Nathan was the biggest coward
you ever did see. He was scared to get
the skirt, and he was scared of Ben if
he didn't So he stood there, rollin'
his big eyes till Ben took him by the
car and led him out In few minutes
they came runnin' back with the red
skirt
"'Now for somethin' to eat says
Ben. We ought to have bareback and
pork and pcase-puddin'. That's what
pirates eat but there amt any here
".Dar's de beautifullest cold goose
in de safe.' Nathan said, with his
mouth watering. 4 seed nanny put
it dar. And dar's lots OBJ ham and
and heaps oh tings.'
"'You bring them along said the
captain, lookin' as fierce as he could.
And. boy. if You stick your dirty fin
gers in the food, Ill-rll-boomeran
your
Nathan shook at the word, for he
didn't know what boomerang was. but
he SAID: Lord a-massy. Marse Ben,
you'll tell nanny you tuck 'em. won't
you? She'll murder me outright eff
she s'pectcd me-
".Leave me to settle that question:
Ben says, grandly. March on. my
men. to the lake. I'll join you as soon
as l can fix my mustache with q little
burnt cork. I'll bring Susy. Now
and get the skiff ready. Stick
up pole in the bow, and tie the red
flag to it
"Well. we did have work gettin'
pas old fishin' skiff ready. The lake
was a great big pond. made, think,
by brick makers. 1t was awful deep,
and in a storm looked almost like the
sea. we thought. The two little is
lands had bushes and shrubs CROWN
on 'em and they were pretty far apart.
While we were working. up comes Ben
in pas big cloak. and ,Susy
trottin' by him suckin' big piece of
sugar cane. When he got up to us he
threw OF the big cloak, and my! wasn't
he fierce-lookin'? He had the awfulcst
black mustache, and he had tied mas
blue shawl round his waist. and stuck
in it an old horse pistol that used to be
grandpa's. and he was fiourishin' the
sword as if he'd cut off our heads.
":Men to the boat" he hOllered, and
we all got in and pulled for the first is
land. where we put off Nathan and
Susy. The other island was to be our
and we were to come
back to this one for our prisoners.
Nathan was to show fight with a
wooden sword we gave him. but he
was to be conquered and tied and car
ried to the other island. Oh. We fixed
it up grand. l tell You. only we left the
basket of provisions. as that was to be
part of the booty we were to take.
''Well. we rowed to the other island.
and piled up some bricks that was
there for our fort. and then we set off
on our cruise round the lake, shoutin'
blood and murder and all kinds of
awful things. l declare to you. Ben
was that rugged up and looked so
fierce and hollered so loud he made my
flesh crawl. The lake was long ways
from any house. and nobody but fisher
men came there. and it wasn't fishin'
so we felt safe.
Suddenly Ben stops rowin'. and
says: Il see figures on Murderers' Is
land. lieutenant Spies: Tie the
black dag above the red. so they can
have their choice, either to die or sur
render Now turn the boats head to-
wards the island. and let US surprise
them.'
1--WE came up quietly. and my gra-
,ious. what did we see? That greedy
Nathan a-sittin' by the basket of pro-
visions a-stufiin' hisself. and Susy play
n with some chips. Ben gave a yell
that made me fairly jump. He was