And sure enough, in a few moments they arrived at the water’s edge.

“Now that we are here,” said Kernel Cob, “what’s to be done?”

“All in good time, Kernel,” said Jackie Tar, “Each man to his trade,” and he began to look about.

“Gather all the sticks you see and bring them to me,” said he, and they brought him pieces of wood, large and small, and he chose the largest, and having torn the lining of his jacket into strips, he spliced them into a rope and with this he tied the wood together until he had made a very good raft indeed.

And he set the biggest stick of all, which was a bamboo pole, into the raft and tying his jacket with one sleeve at the top, and the other at the bottom of the pole, he had a good sail made in a jiffy.

“All aboard,” he sang out and they got upon the raft and sat “forward,” as he told them, and grasping the tail of his coat in one hand, and the rudder with the other, for he had tied a flat board at the stern of the raft, they set sail.

“Where away?” he asked.

“I don’t care,” said Kernel Cob, “as long as we get away from this China place, for I don’t like any place that isn’t what it says it is.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” said Jackie Tar.  “If you take my advice, we’ll steer for India.”

“Why?” asked the Villain.

“Because,” said Jackie Tar, “from India there is always a ship bound for England and, once in England, we can easily get a ship for America.”

“Goodie!” said Sweetclover.

And so Jackie Tar steered the raft in the direction of India, and they sailed with a good wind.

“I thought you said it was the thirteenth of the month?” said the Villain.

“I must have made a mistake,” said Jackie Tar, “for I never had a better ship in all the years I’ve sailed the seas.”

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

Sailors

When I am grown to be a man
I’ll be a sailor if I can;
For sailors, everywhere they roam
Are sure to find a welcome home.

They sail upon the many seas
We learn of in Geographies,
And steer their ship by sun and star
From Vera Cruz to Zanzibar.

        They visit Chili and Japan,
        And Guyaquil and Yucatan,
        And they have friends in Martinique
        And relatives in Mozambique.

        And all about the world they sail
        In wind and storm and mighty gale,
        So they can tell the tales they do
        That children love to listen to.

        And so when I am grown a man
        I’ll be a sailor, if I can,
        And sail upon the many seas
        We learn of in Geographies.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XV

And under the skillful command of Jackie Tar, they reached India.