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BLUE PETER
89

jus' one good thing in 'im, he thought the world o' Beaky. He 's the only one to do that. Oh, I tell ye he's a devil anyway, an' worse when he's drunk. They 'll be too scairt not to foller 'im, anywheres he says. That's all that kep' 'em together as a gang. No, 't would jus' be murder if ye went down there now; an' you can't be spared. An' I'm not guessin' about this, for I went round, quick, too, to sneak a bo't,—mine got lost last night,—an' blessed if he ain't stole every pair o' oars out of every bo't. An' if we had 'em, it 'ud be no go, 'cause Benny's bo't's lent to his brother to go after smokewood, an' Kellum don't even own one,—poor old feller, he useter own a schooner once. An' the' ain't a stitch o' canvas on them pinkies. Oh, the Old Man's cute! He don't mean to have you git off this island. When he gits 'em lo'ded, he 'll go up to the house, an' whether you 're there or not, they 'll raise hell! An' now how 'll we stop 'em? We ain't got no guns. But the' 's axes an' bo't-hooks," he cried savagely. "We'll do for some one 'fore we git laid out."