De Vere.
"I deny nothing-- I admit nothing, my dear partner."
"I am no longer in partnership with you, since you tried to cheat me,"
was the answer. "I consider our relations at an end."
"Very well. But I am sorry to see that you are hurt. I hope it is
nothing serious."
"No thanks to you that I was not killed! You meant to end my life when
you pushed me over the cliff, and, as soon as this business is settled
I intend to see that you are punished for your crimes. You have gone
too far, Carson Blowitz."
"Not as far as I intend to go!" suddenly exclaimed the other, with a
change in his manner. The two boats were now side by side, not twenty
feet away. "You have guessed it," he went on. "I am after the derelict
brig, and I intend to get her. I am going to finish you before I am
through. That ship is mine, and all the cargo on her. If you attempt
to touch it I shall have to take stringent measures to prevent you. I
warn you not to interfere with my property!"
"Your property!" cried Maurice De Vere. "That brig and all on it is
mine, by every legal claim, and I shall maintain my rights to the
uttermost."
"Very well then, it is to be a fight!" answered Blowitz. "We are to be
rival seekers after the derelict. Possession is nine points of the
law, and I intend to take possession."
"First you'll have to find it."
"Never fear. I am on the track. Good-bye, my recent partner. Sorry I
can't keep you company."
Blowitz waved his hand, as though in friendly farewell, but Mr.
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