Mart was catching something of Sidney's spirit; in truth Mart was unconsciously catching a great deal from Sidney these days. "Well, he's certainly doing something _besides_ wrecking. It's been an awful poor season for wrecks and gran'ma says Joe Josephs' wife's been to her sister's at Plymouth and got a new coat and hat for the trip and she hasn't had a new thing since Letty Vine give her her blue serge dress and that wasn't new." "You see--" cried Sidney, exulting, "Joe Josephs has divided the spoils!" "Oh, you girls are crazy! Why everyone in the town knows Jed Starrow. Don't you think everyone 'ud know if he was a pirate? He's lived here ever since he was born, I guess." "But, Lav, it was so _funny_ for them to say just alike 'good catch' when they didn't have any fish at all! It was a password. Pirates always have passwords." "Prob'bly a code," jeered Lav, rocking with laughter. "You watch the sky anights; mebbe they use rockets to signal one another, too." Sidney was still sufficiently stirred by the whole incident as to be able to tolerate Lav's stupidity. "Of course I know pirates--even these days--wouldn't use rockets and codes. I'm not as ignorant as all _that_. And I _am_ going to watch, day and night. It'll be easy for me to watch 'cause I'm a girl and no one will suspect what's in my head." "I should say they wouldn't! Gee!" and Lav permitted himself a last long laugh. "And you may change your tune yet," cried Sidney, really vexed, "When Mart and I discover something." "We'll both keep our eyes open!" Mart agreed, admiring Sidney's imagination even though she could not always follow it. "But we ought to keep quiet 'bout our suspicions, hadn't we?" Sidney hesitated. She _did_ want to tell Mr. Dugald about the "good catch." But Mart went on convincingly. "If we told anyone we were on, y'see it might get to Jed Starrow himself." "That'd be the biggest joke in town," Lav warned, with a chuckle. Sidney ignored him. "Of course we must not breathe a word of our suspicions to a soul," she averred. "And if either of us finds out anything she must tell the other at once. I think we _will_ find something, too, for two heads are better than one." "Say, are you going to leave me out of your fun--just 'cause I laughed?" Sidney did not want to leave Lavender out but she did want to punish him a little. She pretended to consider his question. "If you find it all so highly amusing you might be tempted to tell someone--" "What'ya mean? That I'd squeal on you? If you think _that_, well, I don't want to be in on it--" "Oh, Lav, of course I know you wouldn't squeal," cried Sidney, relenting. "And we _will_ need you to help find things out. Oughtn't we to have some sign or a word or something to sort of signal that one of us knows something to tell the others? What'll it be--"