They knew nothing of this. Yet the first question asked by Captain
Barker, after he had glared at his enemy in silence for twenty
minutes, was:
"Where is Tristram?"
"Tristram?"
"Ay; your son. You have seen him and have been with him."
"I do not know. I lost him."
"When? Where?"
"Two months since. We were travelling south together--"
"What right had you--"
"Excuse me, I was about to put a similar question. To begin with,
you do not deny, I suppose, that the lad is my son?" He paused a
second or two, and listened; for a sudden shout had gone up from the
galley's deck above them. He continued, "Secondly, the boy is heir
to considerable estates; thirdly, he has been so for many years;
fourthly, I am legally an administrator of those estates; fifthly,
you knew that I was alive--what the devil is that noise?"
"Never mind the noise. Proceed with your remarks."
"I have simply to say that you, Captain Barker, together with your
friend Runacles, have for years been playing off a fraud on the law,
and that I am going to exact my rights to the last farthing."
"Really, you must excuse me; but do you--a traitor, on board a French
ship--imagine that you possess any rights in England?"
There was certainly a loud trampling of feet on the galley's deck at
this moment.
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