The pirates sat in the brig miserably.
"We're doomed," Hagar muttered.
They all groaned sadly.
"Well, I, for one, feel better about myself," Zero said. "And I believe I have learned a valuable lesson!"
And they quickly began to beat him to a pulp.
"Okay, I said something wrong! Stop biting me!"
In the cell next door, all by himself, Long John sat, waiting for his execution. He absentmindedly slid his hand into his pocket, and he felt something cold and metal inside. He pulled it back out.
Sergeant Arrow's keys were still in his pocket.
Long John grinned a satisfied grin as he tucked them away for later.
That night, Jim, Calvin and Hobbes were sound asleep in their quarters.
The sound of keys rattling managed to awaken Jim.
The sounds of a thud and a splash prompted him to get out of bed.
Jim scurried out of his quarters and crept down the stairs to the deck, and peeking through the poles, he saw someone in a longboat.
"Silver!" he gasped.
Long John had taken as much of the treasure as he could and loaded it into a longboat, and now he was planning to make his escape. The pirate stared at Jim in surprise before slumping back into the boat.
"I suppose you'll be blowin' the whistle on me now, Jim," he asked.
Jim was holding a whistle in his hand.
"I suppose I will," he said. "You have to go to Bristol to stand trial."
Long John chuckled, reaching for something in his pocket.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Jim," he said, pulling out his gun. "I got a real fear of hanging."
Jim continued to bring the whistle to his lips.
Long John continued to aim the gun at him, but he was growing worried.
"We're shipmates, aren't we Jim?" he bargained. "Gentlemen of fortune together? Give us one more chance?"
But the whistle was already in Jim's mouth, and he was trying to summon the strength to blow.
Long John tried to hold the gun up, but it was no good.
Neither one wanted to hurt the other.
"Oh, hell, Jim," Long John moaned, his voice cracking as he putting the gun away.
Jim put the whistle away.
"I could never harm you. You're honest and brave and true. You didn't learn that from me."
"I learned it from my friends, Mr Silver," Jim said, beginning to cry. "Now take your oars and row away. I never want to see you again. Ever."
Long John was hurt, but he agreed, and he sat back down in the boat, reaching for the oars.
"Oh, Jim!" he said, picking something else up and throwing it.
Jim caught it and clutched it.
It was his father's compass.
"Tis a shame, really. We would've made a great team, Jim."
And he rowed away into the fog.
Jim was clutching the compass and struggling not to cry.
"Well done, Jim," a voice said.
Jim looked up.
Captain Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes had joined him.
"Your father would've been proud," Snoopy continued.
Jim looked back out at sea.
Sarge suddenly ran up.
"Captain Snoopy," he announced. "I have most distressing news. One of the jolly boats is missing, and I know for a fact that it was terribly unsafe."
They could only look back out at sea, knowing karma would do its job.
The next evening, there was a party going on the ship.
Jeremy and his band had been pardoned on the basis they had only been playing a gig, and now celebrated by playing music for the party.
The cat tourists danced and boogied on the deck.
Squire Satchel was trying to steer the ship, but the Spa'am and his men were spinning him around on the wheel.
"Oop! Ha! Ha! Okay, guys! This isn't fun! Oop! Ha! Ha!" he cried.
Benjamina and Snoopy sat at the side of the ship when Sergeant Arrow walked up.
"Ready to sail, sir," he said, saluting.
"Where to, Captain Hawkins?" Snoopy called to Jim.
Jim grinned as he looked out at the open ocean.
"To wherever the wind may take us!" he cheered.
"Off to Zanzibar to meet the Zanzibarbarians!" Calvin shouted.
Hobbes rolled his eyes. "I sense a sequel," he muttered.
And they enjoyed the party as they set sail for the next adventure.
THE END