Had the boys been sufficiently alert they might have caught a faint rattle and a scuffle of feet.

They were too intent on their mission, however, to realize that anything out of the ordinary was going on aboard the houseboat.
A whispered conversation ensued in the rowboat, then two boys got cautiously to the deck of the cockpit.

There followed a period of silence and a low-spoken command from below.
A mighty yell suddenly broke from the midnight visitors.

Howls and shrieks, Indian war-whoops and beating on the cabin with sticks, accompanied the shouts.
"Pirates! Surrender!" howled a voice that was easily recognizable as belonging to the red-headed Larry Goheen.

"Whoop! Hi-yi-yip yah!" "We will settle the pirates," muttered Harriet.
"Just listen to those lads," chuckled Crazy Jane.
"Let go!" The command came sharp and incisive.