It
must have been preternatural sagacity which caused him to see and
recognize the broken oar. Having seen it, he jumped for the head of
the wharf.
Tunis leaped away on his cousin's trail. The crowd parted to let
them through, and then joined in a streaming, excited tail to their
kite of progress. Most of the spectators lived in Portygee Town.
Some of them had been members of the _Seamew's_ deserting crews.
They were afraid of Tunis Latham, but they had little sympathy for
Orion.
The skipper caught up with him in the middle of the road and almost
opposite the Pareta cottage. Orion had picked up a cobblestone as he
reached the street and, finding himself about to be overtaken, he
turned and threw the missile at Tunis' head. The latter dodged it
and, with a single, savage blow of the oar felled his cousin to the
roadway.
"You unmitigated scoundrel!" Tunis roared. "I ought to take your
life. Because of you I nearly lost my own to-day--and the lives of
two other men and my schooner into the bargain. You villain!"
As Orion tried to scramble up, the skipper of the _Seamew_ made
another pass at him with the oar, and the fellow fell again.
"Don't hit me! Don't hit me again, Tunis! Remember I'm your cousin.
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