"What in thunder!"
He had turned it over and saw the straggling letters burned into
the wood: MARLIN B. Newbegin looked at Tunis with an expression
which betrayed a great perturbation of soul. The old man could
scarcely show pallor under the mahogany of his face, but it was
plain that superstition had him by the throat.
"So this is the thing that rotten 'Rion played them with, is it?"
Tunis demanded. "Trying to make them think my beautiful _Seamew_ was
once the _Marlin B._? Why, the poor fools, this broken oar came out
of Mike Pareta's woodpile, or I'm a dog-fish! See that blue streak?
I saw this broken oar at Pareta's house. Bet you anything Eunez had
something to do with it, too. Though why she should want to harm me,
who never said a cross word to her, I can't see."
"She and your cousin are mighty thick," Zebedee said reflectively.
"That's a fact."
"Thicker than they ought to be for the girl's good, I guess," agreed
Tunis. Then he said to Horry: "What's the matter with you, old man?
Do you want to desert me, too, all along of a broken oar with some
silly letters burned into it?"
The ancient mariner had got a grip upon himself. The simple
explanation that punctured the bubble of superstition so
convincingly might not have altogether satisfied Horry.
Pages:
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340