This eBook was produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. THE VOYAGE OF THE HOPPERGRASS BY EDMUND LESTER PEARSON AUTHOR OF "THE BELIEVING YEARS" TO PHILIP RICHARDSON PEARSON Dear Philip,-- This is the book you have asked me about,--once or twice. You remember "The Believing Years," don't you? That was a book about some boys I knew, and although it was written for grown-up readers, there were boys--yourself amongst them--who claimed to have read it. This story is about boys and men. There are two kinds of pirates in it. One kind is for readers from about eight years old to, say, sixteen. The other kind is recommended from sixteen up to ninety- seven, or eight. There are other things beside the pirates, of course. It would do no harm, I think, after you have read the book, to let your Father try it. And if Elizabeth and Katharine think they would like it, why, give them 'a chance to find out. That is an advantage girls have over us,--they usually like our books, while we seldom care very much for theirs. I have sent Constance a copy, so you will not have to lend this one to her. Your uncle, EDMUND LESTER PEARSON July 28, 1913 (The anniversary of the sailing of the "Hoppergrass.") CONTENTS I. THE BEGINNING OF THE VOYAGE II. A MAN ON A DESERT ISLAND III. THE LAST OF THE PIRATES IV. WELL BURIED TREASURE V. MIDNIGHT BURGLARS VI. WE ARE OFFERED LODGINGS VII. BUT WE DECIDE TO GO VIII. HUNTING THE HOPPERGRASS IX. THE GOLD COMPANY X. MR. SNIDER XI. PIRATES IN TROUBLE XII. THE VOYAGE BEGINS AGAIN THE VOYAGE OF THE HOPPERGRASS CHAPTER I THE BEGINNING OF THE VOYAGE It was a lucky thing that the "Hoppergrass" was a large boat. When we started there were only four of us,--counting Captain Bannister. But we kept picking up passengers--unexpected ones-- until the Captain said "we'd have the whole County on board." It was not as bad as that, but we were glad before we came home again, that we had a comfortable cabin, with plenty of sleeping room. She was a big, white cat-boat, with her name in gilt letters on the stern. On the day when our voyage began she lay quietly at anchor, well out toward the middle of the river. It was still early,--shortly after five of a morning in July. The river was quiet, with only one or two boats moving,--as quiet as the streets of the town through which we had walked on our way to the wharf. There had been a shower just before daylight, and this had discouraged us a little, but now the sun was coming through the clouds, and there were white spirals of mist rising from the water. Across the river, on Fisher's Island, two or three men were moving about their dories, and smoke poured steadily from the chimneys of the houses. A man's head looked out of the cabin of the "Hoppergrass." "There's someone on board her," said Jimmy Toppan.