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CHAPTER XXX.


A FIGHT AT LONG RANGE.


There is no doubt but that Captain Kenny was taken completely by surprise. As a matter of fact he had expected to find nobody on board or near the Dart, knowing that all of the Tagals of that territory had moved away to join the insurgent forces operating around Manila.

For a minute after Watt Brown had delivered his warning there was a silence, broken only by the soft lapping of the waves as they broke against the Dart's sides.

"What is that you say?" demanded the captain at length.

"I warn you to keep off," shouted Watt Brown. "Come closer at your peril!"

"What right have you to talk to me in this fashion, Brown?"

"A good deal of right, Captain Kenny. I have found you out, and so have others; and you are a thorough villain."

"What have you found out?"

"Found out that you were trying to defraud the other owners, for one thing."

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