The Yankee Champion — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

74 THE YANKEE CHAMPION, around the apron. Two or three times he cast his eyes [urtively about him, and then he drew his knife from his pocket, and having opened it he drew the edge across the lanyard that kept the apron in its. ;place. | “Hallo,” exclaimed Maynard, appearing to have just come up; ‘“‘what you doin’ with this gun?” “Doing? uttered Mason, suddenly starting and hiding his knife. “Yes, what are you doin’?”? “Why, I’m looking at the gun.’’ ‘Well, there ain’t the least need in the world of your looking at it, so go away from it.’’ ‘‘Are you the captain of this brig?’”? | “T’m capt’n of this gun, old red-head.”’ ‘‘Be careful, old man, how you insult me,” said Mason, in a trembling voice. “Oh, you needn’t get mad.?’’ “TI sha’n’t if you don’t insult me.”’ “Nor I sha n't insult ye if men don’t meddle with this gun.’ Now both Maynard and Mason had reason not to carry matters too far at present—the former, that he might not excite too much suspicion, and the lat- ter, that he might not be suspected; but it was with much effort that they restrained their respect- ive passions. The latter gazed at the old gunnera moment, and then he doggedly turned away. ‘*Well, now, I wonder what that cuss meant to do,”’ muttered Jake, as he held up the end of the cut lan- yard. ‘‘Now he’ll be up to some other game. Such a cuss ain’t fit to live—where is he?’’ There was a pretty big oath accompanied this self- asked question, but the old man’s meditations were comicbo Oo S, re Same hat