I thought that the rogues might proceed to loot our cabins , and thus find several items that would be dangerous in their hands . The Djinn , for instance . Mrs . Bamfield admitted her fear that they might steal her first edition of the " Moonlight " book she had been reading . It was a rare edition , and signed by the author . Everyone at once assured her that her book ( however treasured by herself ) would be quite safe from the company of pirates . I resisted stating that they might have more use for it than me , however . Instead of looting our quarters , the pirates immediately ransacked the kitchen where they discovered various types of alcohol and proceeded to inebriate themselves . They were , I fear , foreigners .
Percy tapped me on the arm , then indicated one of the portholes .
" Did you not ," he said . " Fit through one of these before ? You could come around to the door , and release the rest of us ."
Looking at the dimensions of the porthole , I could see the proportions of my wardrobe were too great ! I knew at once that I must change outfits ! Luckily , I had rescued just such a thing from the blob ! With some help from Missus Mister and Brunhilde , who guarded my noble changing from the prying eyes of men , I managed to slip into something more squeezable .
" You must give me a hand up ," I told Percy , opening the porthole and bracing my hands on the edge . He did so , with rather more vigor than I had prepared for . Instead of balancing upon the porthole edge , and then taking a moment to decide my next action , I went sailing clean through . And landed , not upon the decking as I anticipated , but the collapsed and mangled remains of the walkway ! I knew at once that the blob had been nearby , for the outer edge of the ship was corroding .
Struggling in the wind , I managed to scurry back through an exit door . I released the captives from the library and we began to head towards the bridge .
" Most inconvenient ," Captain Hammerhorn grumbled .
We made it successfully to the bridge , only to discover the reason why the rest of the ship had seemed so empty of invaders . The pirates , apparently preferring their debauchery with a view , had taken over the bridge itself . Drunken pirates were draped across flat surfaces ; their Captain , with his long , red goblin nose , looked up at us .
" You knave !" Captain Hammerhorn shouted , staring indignantly at the bottle still clenched in that pirate ' s hand . " You have drunk my best bottle of rum ! We are taking back my ship , now !"
Throwing back his shoulders , Captain Hammerhorn shifted a step to the right and laid his hand upon one of the many levers on the panel beside him . " You , sir , will immediately vacate my ship ."
I saw immediately that the pirate understood the meaning of Captain Hammerhorn ' s threat , even though I , myself , did not . The pirate straightened out of his easy slouch , and a wary alertness came into his eyes . I will admit Sir Hammerhorn looked quite magnificent with his great mustache billowing in the wind and his hand firm upon the mysterious lever . I quite believed he would actually do it ; whatever it was he meant to do !
" You wouldn ' t dare ," the pirate captain said . He put his hands on his hips and stared arrogantly down from his great height . Captain Hammerhorn and the pirate stared at each other , the blood rising in Hammerhorn ' s face until it quite matched the nose of the pirate .
The subtle throb of the engine immediately sputtered and went out . For a moment , there