The cabin! Peter was in the cabin! The children gazed at each other.
Ay, ay, said Jukes blithely, and he strode into the cabin. They
followed him with their eyes; they scarce knew that Hook had resumed
his song, his dogs joining in with him:
Yo ho, yo ho, the scratching cat,
Its tails are nine, you know,
And when they re writ upon your back
What was the last line will never be known, for of a sudden the song
was stayed by a dreadful screech from the cabin. It wailed through the
ship, and died away. Then was heard a crowing sound which was well
understood by the boys, but to the pirates was almost more eerie than
the screech.
What was that? cried Hook.
Two, said Slightly solemnly.
The Italian Cecco hesitated for a moment and then swung into the cabin.
He tottered out, haggard.
What s the matter with Bill Jukes, you dog? hissed Hook, towering
over him.
The matter wi him is he s dead, stabbed, replied Cecco in a hollow
voice.
Bill Jukes dead! cried the startled pirates.
The cabin s as black as a pit, Cecco said, almost gibbering, but
there is something terrible in there: the thing you heard crowing.
The exultation of the boys, the lowering looks of the pirates, both
were seen by Hook.
Cecco, he said in his most steely voice, go back and fetch me out
that doodle-doo.
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