Page:Bedford-Jones--Boy Scouts of the Air at Cape Peril.djvu/182



Twar Bill Perkins what done it!"

"Bill Perkins!" echoed several of the group gruffly. "Who is he? We'll get him!"

"You recollec' the party I tol' you I fit the duel with thirty year ago?" asked the Cap'n, looking at Turner. "And I tol' them boys about it, too," he added, nodding at Jimmy.

"You saw the man, then, and know him?" Turner demanded excitedly.

"No, I ain't seen him this time, but I know 'twar Bill Perkins."

One fisherman put his hand to his forehead and made a wheellike movement, giving, at the same time, a knowing glance at a neighbor.

"That's that 'ar stuff he took that's talkin'—that ain't him," was his inference.

"He didn't tie hisself up, that's sho'," replied the other, picking up a piece of the rope.

The thought of Perkins had choked the utterance of the Cap'n for a moment. Then he went 180