"'Don't you dare kick that dog,' I cried; 'they are both in my charge.'
"How well do I remember that forenoon. We were on the return voyage, running before a light breeze, with every scrap of canvas set, low and aloft, and the sun shining bonnie and warm.
"But the mate grew purple with rage when I checked him. He could hardly speak. He could only stutter.
"'You, you beggar's brat,' he shouted, 'I'll give you a lesson.'
"He rushed to pull out a belaying-pin.
"I tossed off my jacket and threw it on the top of the capstan.
"I twisted the belaying-pin out of his hands before you could have said 'knife'.
"'Fight fair, you drunken scamp!' I cried.
"Pistols and rifles lay ready loaded in boxes at the top of the cabin companion, and he made a stride or two as if to take one out.
"'Mutiny!' he muttered, 'rank mutiny!'