"I take him, Bob," he said.
I jumped between him and Bones in time to stop the pirate's rush, dodging a knife-thrust by the width of my coat-sleeve.
"Keep away, Peter," I panted. "I can handle him. You can't. You'll——"
"I take him," repeated Corlaer.
He reached out his hand, grasped my shoulder and spun me from his path as easily as if I had been a child. And I did not attempt to return to his side, for I had felt the strength in his arm and knew that I had no cause to question his ability to take care of himself against any man, however armed.
Bones stared at him for a moment with a mixture of rage and surprize.
"D'ye want your —— throat cut?" he sneered. "Here, turn your head and I'll take an ear instead. There's naught in slaying a cow like you."
Peter said nothing, simply stood there before him weaponless, arms slightly bent, legs crooked at the knees. The Dutchman's little eyes, almost buried from sight in his face, glittered with a steely menace.
"Let him be, Bill," called Silver again—was I wrong in fancying his tone unduly officious, provocative?
"I'm —— if I do," rasped Bones. "If he wants it, he'll get it."