CHAPTER XIV
CAP'N BUFFUM'S REVELATIONS
"'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
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