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drumsticks, tapping them against a wooden bucket. Jack grabbed two more rungs and did the same.
    Dipper paused long enough to yell to his trio, “Hey, boys! Sing the Heebie-Jeebie song!”
    “We don’t know it!” said Little Mack.
    “Make somethin’ up!” called Dipper.
    As Dipper played the trumpet, Little Mack sang:
    I got the heebies!

You got the jeebies!
    Then Happy sang:
    The heebies make you hop!

And the jeebies make you quake!
    Then Big Nose Sidney sang:
    Do a little dance, Mama!

Stomp and shake!
    As the trio sang, the ghost of Jean Lafitte started to dance. He shook his head and clapped his hands. He waved his arms through the air. He turned in a circle. “Go, Mama, go!” he shouted.
    Lafitte’s crew began dancing like their captain. All the ghost pirates moved in a circle, shaking their heads and waving their hands. Some floated off the floor, turning this way and that.
    Little Mack sang:
    Hey, Papa! Hey, Mama!

Hey! Hey! Hey!
    “Hey, hey, hey!” all the pirates shouted. “Hey, hey, hey!”
    Dipper played the trumpet. Jack and Annie drummed on the bucket. The trio sang. The floor shook. The windows rattled. And all the pirates stomped and shook, doing the Heebie-Jeebie dance.
    “SWING THAT MUSIC!” shouted Jean Lafitte’s ghost.

    “YARR!” the pirates all shouted. “YARR! YARR!”
    The front door suddenly banged open.
    “GO, MAMA! GO, PAPA! GO! GO! GO!” shouted the ghost of Jean Lafitte. He danced out of the shop, and his pirate crew followed, one by one.
    As the ghosts all danced out of the shop, Dipper kept playing. The trio kept singing, and Jack and Annie kept drumming.
    “MY CREW AND I SURE ENJOYED YOUR VISIT!” the pirate ghost captain shouted back to Dipper and the others. “BE SURE TO COME BACK! SAME TIME NEXT YEAR!”
    The ghost of Jean Lafitte turned and waved his arms in the air again. “COME ON, BOYS! PAPA’S DOIN’ THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES DANCE!” Then, doing the Heebie-Jeebies dance,
all
the pirate ghosts danced away into the dark New Orleans night.

D ipper stopped playing. The three boys stopped singing. Jack and Annie stopped drumming.
    There was silence. They all crept to the open doorway and stepped outside. The rain had stopped, and the wind had died down. The air felt clean and cool. Stars shone overhead. The pirate ghosts were gone.
    “Whoa, that was something!” said Little Mack. “What just happened?”
    “Was it a dream?” asked Big Nose Sidney. “Were those ghosts real?”
    “I don’t know,” said Dipper. “But I’ll tell you this: you’ll never,
ever
get me back in that shop again.”
    Everyone laughed. Even Happy looked happy. “Hey, Dipper, how’d you get so good on that horn?” he asked, grinning.
    “I practiced for two years at the Waif’s Home,” said Dipper. “That’s how.”
    “You got to blow that horn while we sing!” said Big Nose Sidney. “Come with us now! We really do have an important gig tonight on a riverboat!”
    “A riverboat?” Jack and Annie said together. They looked at each other. Their research book said that Louis Armstrong developed his musical talents performing on riverboats!
    “That’s right,” said Little Mack.
    “Oh, wow, Dipper, you have to go with them!” said Annie.
    “Yeah, man!” said Jack.
    But Dipper just shook his head. “Sorry, folks, but I can’t play tonight. I have to get up early in the morning to haul coal.”
    “Aww, Dipper,” said Little Mack.
    “Aww, Dipper,” said Jack.
    “Don’t y’all worry about me,” said Dipper. “Have a good time on the boat, fellas. Hang on to that smile, Happy.”
    “I’ll try,” said Happy.
    “See you later,” said Big Nose Sidney.
    “So long to y’all, too,” Little Mack said to Jack and Annie.
    “Bye,” said Jack.
    “Good luck on your gig,” said Annie. The three boys waved and took off.
    Dipper looked after them for a long moment. Then he turned to Jack and Annie.
    “Here’s your horn back,” he said. “Thanks for letting me play