Underneath the boardwalk, way, way back,

There's a splendid cavern, big and black-

If you want to get there, you must crawl

Underneath the posts and steps and all

When I've finished paddling, there I go -

None of all the other children know!

There I keep my treasures in a box

Shells and coloured glass and queer-shaped rocks,

In a secret hiding place I've made,

Hollowed out with clamshells and a spade,

Marked with yellow pebbles in a row

None of all the other children know!

It's a place that makes a splendid lair,

Room for chests and weapons and one chair.

In the farthest corner, by the stones,

I shall have a flag with skulls and bones

And a lamp that casts a lurid glow

None of all the other children know!

Some time, by and by, when I am grown,

I shall go and live there all alone;

I shall dig and paddle till it's dark,

Then go out and man my pirate bark:

I shall fill my cave with captive foe

None of all the other children know!