The Stowaway偷乘者

Marco Puss， the famous cat explorer，arrived at the docks2 one day. It was allnew to him—the noise， the interestingsmells， the ship.

“A house on water，”he thought.“Howexciting！ ”Tail in the air， he stalked3 upthe gangway4. When he was halfway up heheard a shout.

“Whose cat is that？ Get it off theship！ ”

Marco was booted5 off the ship. Hisdignity6 was hurt.

“I’ll get on that ship somehow or myname is not Marco Puss！ ”he vowed7.

A big basket lay nearby along withother baggage8. Marco hid in it. Soon aman came along and picked up the basket.Marco was carried up the gangway anddown a companionway9 till they reachedthe ship’s galley10. There the basket wasset down.

“Here you are， Cook，”said a voice.“The food you ordered.”

The cover was lifted. Marco jumpedout and ran through the doorway. Behindhim came shouts as others joined the cookin the chase11. The noise brought Captainon the scene.

“What’s all this hullabaloo12 about？”he asked angrily. “Cook！ Why are yourunning about with a rolling pin13？”

Cook explained，“It was in the basket，sir！ A dirty black cat！ ”

“We can’t wait for it to be found，”said Captain. “All hands to their posts. Ifyou come across the cat， just throw it intothe sea.”

Cook， kind at heart， now felt sorry thathe had made a fuss14. “Let it be， Captain，”he said.“Cats are good mousers， and if thereis one thing I’m afraid of， it’s mice！ ”

And a sailor15 put in timidly16，“It’sgood to have a cat on board， sir. They bringgood luck.”

“Pah！ ”said Captain.“Not a black cat.Black cats always bring bad luck and I won’thave one on my ship. When you find it，drown17 it！ ”

How afraid Marco was when he heardthe words！ He hardly dared to breathe！“What am I to do？”he thought. “I’m safeenough here for the moment， but sooner orlater I’ll have to go out for food. Thankheavens！ I had a good feed in the basket.”

There was a slight sound behind him.Turning around quickly， he pounced18. “Ah， arat！ ”he said in surprise. “I don’t eat rats as arule， but I guess you’ll come in handy19 on areallyhungryday.”

“Please， sir，”the mouse cried. Suddenlya wonderful idea struck Marco. His blue eyesbegan to shine.

Setting the mouse comfortably betweenhis paws， Marco explained，“I’m going to letyou go， Mousie—but first you’ll have topromise to do me a little favour.

“Anything， sir， anything！ ” promisedthe mouse.

“All right then， listen carefully...”

Just before supper-time that evening， Cookwas taking a huge pie from the oven20 whensuddenly something ran between his feet.

“A mouse！ ”he screamed21， droppingthe pie all over the floor. “A mouse in mykitchen！ Help！ Help！ ”

Captain hurried into the galley. Hefound Cook standing on top of the table，screaming over and over again.“Mouse！Help！ I knew that cat should have beenallowed to run free. It would have caught themouse.”

“Nonsense22！ ”said Captain. “We donot need a cat to catch a mouse. Set thetraps！ ”

In their hiding place， Marco shook withlaughter.“Well done， little mouse！”he said.“Tomorrow at lunchtime， I’ll send you outagain. Now listen. They are going to setcheese traps for you. You are not to go nearthe cheese， do you hear？”

The mouse looked unhappy. “I likecheese，”she said.

“Very well， then. I will eat you，”saidMarco. “For if you go near the trap they’llget you and you’ll be killed anyway！ ”

The mouse backed away hurriedly.“Iwon’t go near the trap. I promise！ ”

The next morning， Cook was mixing acake when suddenly the mouse ran across thetable. Cook had dropped the bowl.

The passengers were so angry that theyshouted at Captain，“Never again will wetravel on your ship！ ”

Captain was angry and worried.

“This won’t do， Cook，”he said.“Fortwo days running， the meals have beenspoilt23.”

The day of the great ship dinner arrivedand still the traps remained empty.

“I will not cook dinner！ ”cried Cook.‘Iknow that mouse will come！ ”

“Don’t be silly， Cook，” Captain saidseriously. ‘You have to prepare something tocalm the passengers down. But I’ll tell youwhat... I’ll bring along some sailors who’llkeep a watch here and catch that mouse if itappears. You go ahead with your cooking.”

“You heard that？”said the mouseworriedly.“They’ll be waiting for me！ ”

“Then， now is the time to go，”decided Marco.“Let’s go a little earlier.”

The mouse rushed through the doorlike lightning24， climbed up a table andgrabbed25 a piece of cake. BeforeCaptain arrived in the doorway the mousehad left safely.

Poor Cook jumped up with a scream.What a mess！

The news went around quickly.

“It’s no ordinary26 mouse，”whis -pered27 the sailors fearfully.

“Get me off the ship，”cried Cook.“Put out a lifeboat！ I’m not staying amoment longer. The mouse is out to getme， I know！ ”

It was at that moment that Marcodecided to make his entrance. Everyonestared in amazement as the cat stalkedin， tail waving gently in the air， proudand unafraid.