“We never got to see what was inside,” Frank pointed out.
Suddenly out walked Plunderin’ Pete. He was soon greeted by Mr. Tuttle. Still behind the door, Frank and Joe listened in. . . .
“Thanks, Pete,” Mr. Tuttle said. “The kids seemed to enjoy your show.”
“The pleas-arrrgh was mine,” Pete growled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Captain Scurvydog awaits.”
“Frank!” Joe squeaked. “He said he’s going to meet Captain Scurvydog. What do we do?”
“There’s only one thing to do,” Frank said as they watched Plunderin’ Pete leave the museum. “Follow that pirate!”
By the time the brothers burst out of the museum, Plunderin’ Pete’s car was driving away.
“Are we sure it’s Pete’s car?” Frank asked.
“How many cars have Jolly Roger flags on them?” Joe said. “Let’s go!”
Frank and Joe hopped onto their bikes. Keeping a safe distance, they trailed Plunderin’ Pete’s car to the Bayport Marina. From their bikes the boys watched Pete step out of the car to walk up the dock.
“He’s heading toward one of the houseboats,” Frank pointed out.
Pete stopped at one of the boats. Joe squinted to read the name painted on the hull. . . .
“It’s called the Captain Scurvydog!” Joe exclaimed. “Plunderin’ Pete named his houseboat after the pirate—or the pirate ghost.”
The boys watched as Pete whipped off his pirate hat and cape. He tossed them onto the boat’s deck, then walked up the dock back to his car.
“Are we lucky or what?” Joe said as the car zoomed off. “Now we can search the boat for coins and a blue bottle.”
Frank shook his head and said, “I don’t think so, Joe. If Plunderin’ Pete lives on the boat, then—”
“Last one there is a rotten oyster!” Joe called back, charging up the dock.
Frank groaned as he followed Joe to the deck of the Captain Scurvydog.
“Let’s go, Joe,” he suggested as they looked around. “I don’t want to walk the plank if Pete finds us snooping—”
“Wait!” Joe cut in. He pointed to a crate with the word TREASURE painted on the lid. “What could be in there?”
“Another treasure chest?” Frank said with a smirk. “Did Plunderin’ Pete have a birthday party too?”
Joe was already lifting the lid to see what was inside. “More of Plunderin’ Pete’s red treasure bags,” he reported. “A lot more.”
“He must give away millions of those!” Frank said.
“Let’s see what’s inside once and for all,” Joe suggested. He took out a bag and pulled out items one by one: a pirate eye patch, a plastic compass, a blue bottle—
“Blue bottle!” Frank exclaimed as he grabbed the awesome find.
“Yeah, but the bottle on Jason’s doorstep didn’t say Pirate Pop,” Joe said, pointing out the label on the bottle.
“The label peels off,” Frank said. “What else is in the bag?”
Joe flipped the bag upside down. Out onto the deck dropped a music CD and a small pouch tied with a cord.
Frank picked up the pouch. He tugged the cord to open it and looked inside. That was when his jaw dropped.
“What? What’s in it?” Joe asked.
“Coins,” Frank answered excitedly as he spilled golden-colored coins from the pouch into his hand. “Check it out!”
Joe grabbed a coin. One side was stamped with a sailing ship. On the other side was a Jolly Roger flag—just like the coins Jason had found on his windowsill.
“It’s a match!” Joe declared.
Frank’s attention had turned to the CD. “Look at this,” he told Joe. “It’s called Plunderin’ Pete’s Greatest Hits.”
“Pirate songs, coins, a blue bottle,” Joe said, quickly writing the clues in their clue book. “Who else could have left those pirate things other than Plunderin’ Pete?”
Frank narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. He looked up from the CD he was holding and said, “I think I know someone else who could have done all that.”
Joe stared at his brother. If it wasn’t Plunderin’ Pete—who could it be?
THE HARDY BOYS—and
YOU!
CAN YOU SOLVE THE MYSTERY OF THE PIRATE GHOST?
Grab a piece of paper and write your answers down. Or just turn the page to find out!
1. After looking inside the treasure bag, Frank thought of a new suspect. Who could he or she be? Write some possible suspects on a piece of paper.
2. Frank and Joe searched Plunderin’ Pete’s boat for pirate coins and a blue bottle. What other clues would you look for on his boat? Use a sheet of paper to write some possible clues.
3. Why did Plunderin’ Pete’s treasure bag turn out to be such a great clue? Write some reasons on a sheet of paper.
4. Which clues helped you to solve this mystery? Write them down.
Chapter 10
PIRATES AHOY!
“But the pirate stuff came from Plunderin’ Pete’s treasure bag,” Joe said.
“And Jason got one of Pete’s bags on Friday for winning the contest,” Frank stated.
“Frank!” Joe gasped. “Are you saying Jason planted those pirate clues himself?”
“Maybe.” Frank thought about it. “Jason could have taught Crackers an old pirate song from Pete’s CD. He could have peeled the label off the Pirate Pop bottle and stuffed in a message he wrote himself.”
“Jason had coins from Pete’s treasure bag too,” Joe said. “But why would he want us to think a pirate ghost left those things?”
“I’m not sure,” Frank admitted as he slipped the CD back into the bag. “All I know is that we have to get off this boat before—”
“Arrrgh, loitering landlubbers!” a deep voice growled.
The brothers froze. They’d know that voice anywhere. It was Plunderin’ Pete’s!
“If yer wanted a treas-arrrgh bag,” Pete said as the boys turned around, “why didn’t you lads just ask for one?”
“Sorry, Plunderin’ Pete,” Joe said, holding up the clue book. “My brother, Frank, and I are detectives.”
“So we were looking for answers,” Frank added.
“Answers?” Pete raised a brow above his eye patch. “To what question, me hearties?”
“Here’s one,” Frank said, lifting the treasure bag he and Joe had examined. “Is this the same bag you gave Jason Wang on Friday after he won the Talk Like
