"Hide yourself, Mary," he whispered.

"It is a pirate ship!" And almost at the same instant the young man and his wife laid themselves flat on the ground among the bushes, but they were very careful, each of them, to take a position which would allow them to peep out through the twigs and leaves upon the scene before them.
There seemed to be a good deal of commotion on board the black schooner, and very soon a large boat pushed off from her side, and the men in it began rowing rapidly toward the shore, apparently making for a spot on the beach, not far from the bluff on which Abner and Mary were concealed.

"Let us get up and run," whispered Mary, trembling from head to toe.

"They are pirates, and they are coming here!" "Lie still! Lie still!" said Abner.

"If we get up and leave these bushes, we shall be seen, and then they will be after us! Lie still, and do not move a finger!" The trembling Mary obeyed her husband, and they both lay quite still, scarcely breathing, with eyes wide open.