What was cut water and hold your nose billy method of earning a living

Billy is a highwayman who desperately wants to have a reputation for bring a terrifying and successful thief but in reality he and his sidekick Cutwater do not get particularly rich pickings and generally only manage to rob people of assorted junk items. He is a person with no morals and no brains but is tenacious in doggedly pursuing the two boys to try to recapture them. He is definitely a character who is a thoroughly bad lot. Both want to be like notorious pirates living on the edge as well as feared and respected for their exploits.