Page:Stringer - Lonely O'Malley.djvu/359

 gleeful plungings from the cabin roof, "bringing up bottom," "treading water," and "parting the hair." Tiring of this, in time, the eleven young disciples of piracy drifted down to the swimming-hole itself. Here they had a game of squat tag, on land, only stopping to shriek and dance and gyrate, shamelessly and in unison, as the excursion steamer appeared round the bend and raced imperturbably past.

Then they made a water-slide in the bank of blue clay, down which they tobogganed, feet first, flat on their backs. This clay was not of the purest, however, having certain small but sharp-angled pieces of flint running generously through it. One slide, and one only, proved sufficient for each member of the Greyhound's crew.

Then a goodly puddle of blue clay ooze was deftly kneaded into existence. This was joyously applied to eleven naked young bodies, until those children of sober Chamboro looked sadly like eleven expatriated South Sea Islanders.

Then came the embellishing and ornamental phase, which with one pirate consisted in making cryptic crosses and circles on all parts of