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8 my head. But I was on the alert and dodged, and the blow nearly carried the irate skipper off his feet. Then, as he came on again, I shoved him backward, and down he went in a heap on the deck.

"By Jove, now you've done it!" whispered Dan.

"I don't care, it serves him right," I answered. "He had no right to touch me."

"That's true. But you must remember that a captain is king on his own deck, on the high seas."

"A brute can never be a king—and make me submit, Dan."

By this time Captain Kenny was scrambling up, his face full of rage. Instantly he made for me again.

"I'll teach ye!" he screamed. "You good-fer-nuthin landlubber! I've had it in fer ye ever since ye took passage. Maybe my ship aint good enough fer ye! If thet's so, I'll pitch ye overboard!" And he tried to grab me once more.

But now Dan stepped between us. "Captain Kenny, you let Raymond alone," he ordered sternly.

"I won't—he's called me a drunkard, and—"

"He told the truth. You attend to your business and we'll attend to ours."