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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18469-8.txt b/18469-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb67a6f --- /dev/null +++ b/18469-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10389 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Scraggs, by Peter B. Kyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Captain Scraggs + or, The Green-Pea Pirates + +Author: Peter B. Kyne + +Illustrator: Gordon Grant + +Release Date: May 29, 2006 [EBook #18469] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN SCRAGGS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Alison Bush and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: "_Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the +deck and leaped upon it._"] + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +OR + +THE GREEN-PEA PIRATES + + +BY PETER B. KYNE + +AUTHOR OF CAPPY RICKS, THE LONG CHANCE, +THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS, +WEBSTER--MAN'S MAN, ETC. + + +ILLUSTRATED BY + +GORDON GRANT + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1919, BY +PETER B. KYNE + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES +AT +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y. + +ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SUNSET MAGAZINE + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + "Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the + deck and leaped upon it" _Frontispiece_ (_See page 6_) + + FACING PAGE + + "'Great Snakes!' he yelled--and fell back against + the cabin wall" 156 + + "Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle + of savages ... and fled for the beach" 232 + + "Tabu-Tabu ... planted a mighty right in + the centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy" 252 + + + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +OR + +THE GREEN-PEA PIRATES + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +They had seen the fog rolling down the coast shortly after the +_Maggie_ had rounded Pilar Point at sunset and headed north. +Captain Scraggs has been steamboating too many unprofitable years +on San Francisco Bay, the Suisun and San Pablo sloughs and +dogholes and the Sacramento River to be deceived as to the +character of that fog, and he remarked as much to Mr. Gibney. +"We'd better turn back to Halfmoon Bay and tie up at the dock," +he added. + +"Calamity howler!" retorted Mr. Gibney and gave the wheel a spoke +or two. "Scraggsy, you're enough to make a real sailor sick at +the stomach." + +"But I tell you she's a tule fog, Gib. She rises up in the +marshes of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, drifts down to the bay +and out the Golden Gate and just naturally blocks the wheels of +commerce while she lasts. Why, I've known the ferry boats between +San Francisco and Oakland to get lost for hours on their +twenty-minute run--and all along of a blasted tule fog." + +"I don't doubt your word a mite, Scraggsy. I never did see a +ferry-boat skipper that knew shucks about sailorizing," the +imperturbable Gibney responded. "Me, I'll smell my way home in +any tule fog." + +"Maybe you can an' maybe you can't, Gib, although far be it +from me to question your ability. I'll take it for granted. +Nevertheless, I ain't a-goin' to run the risk o' you havin' +catarrh o' the nose an' confusin' your smells to-night. You ain't +got nothin' at stake but your job, whereas if I lose the _Maggie_ +I lose my hull fortune. Bring her about, Gib, an' let's hustle +back." + +"Don't be an old woman," Mr. Gibney pleaded. "Scraggs, you just +ain't got enough works inside you to fill a wrist watch." + +"I ain't a-goin' to poke around in the dark an' a tule fog, +feelin' for the Golden Gate," Captain Scraggs shrilled peevishly. + +"Hell's bells an' panther tracks! I've got my old courses, an' if +I foller them we can't help gettin' home." + +Captain Scraggs laid his hand on Mr. Gibney's great arm and tried +to smile paternally. "Gib, my _dear_ boy," he pleaded, "control +yourself. Don't argue with me, Gib. I'm master here an' you're +mate. Do I make myself clear?" + +"You do, Scraggsy. But it won't avail you nothin'. You're only +master becuz of a gentleman's agreement between us two, an' +because I'm man enough to figger there's certain rights due you +as owner o' the _Maggie_. But don't you forget that accordin' to +the records o' the Inspector's office, I'm master of the +_Maggie_, an' the way I figger it, whenever there's any call to +show a little real seamanship, that gentleman's agreement don't +stand." + +"But this ain't one o' them times, Gib." + +"You're whistlin' it is. If we run from this here fog, it's +skiffs to battleships we don't get into San Francisco Bay an' +discharged before six o'clock to-morrow night. By the time we've +taken on coal an' water an' what-all, it'll be eight or nine +o'clock, with me an' McGuffey entitled to mebbe three dollars +overtime an' havin' to argue an' scrap with you to git it--not to +speak o' havin' to put to sea the same night so's to be back in +Halfmoon Bay to load bright an' early next mornin'. Scraggsy, I +ain't no night bird on this run." + +"Do you mean to defy me, Gib?" Captain Scraggs' little green eyes +gleamed balefully. Mr. Gibney looked down upon him with +tolerance, as a Great Dane gazes upon a fox terrier. "I certainly +do, Scraggsy, old pepper-pot," he replied calmly. "What're you +goin' to do about it?" The ghost of a smile lighted his jovial +countenance. + +"Nothin'--now. I'm helpless," Captain Scraggs answered with +deadly calm. "But the minute we hit the dock you an' me parts +company." + +"I don't know whether we will or not, Scraggsy. I ain't heeled +right financially to hit the beach on such short notice." + +"That ain't no skin off'n my nose, Gib." + +"Well, you can fire all you want, but you won't fire me. I won't +go." + +"I'll get the police to remove you, you blistered pirate," +Scraggs screamed, now quite beside himself. + +"Yes? Well, the minute they let go o' me I'll come back to the +S.S. _Maggie_ and tear her apart just to see what makes her go." +He leaned out the pilot house window and sniffed. "Tule fog, all +right, Scraggs. Still, that ain't no reason why the ship's +company should fast, is it? Quit bickerin' with me, little one, +an' see if you can't wrastle up some ham an' eggs. I want my +eggs sunny side up." + +Sensing the futility of further argument, Captain Scraggs sought +solace in a stream of adjectival opprobrium, plainly meant for +Mr. Gibney but delivered, nevertheless, impersonally. He closed +the pilot house door furiously behind him and started for the +galley. + +"Some bright day I'm goin' to git tired o' hearin' you cuss my +proxy," Mr. Gibney bawled after him, "an' when that fatal time +arrives I'll scatter a can o' Kill-Flea over you an' the shippin' +world'll know you no more." + +"Oh, go to--glory, you pig-iron polisher," Captain Scraggs tossed +back at him over his shoulder--and honour was satisfied. In the +lee of the pilot house Captain Scraggs paused, set his infamous +old brown derby hat on the deck and leaped furiously upon it with +both feet. Six times he did this; then with a blow of his fist he +knocked the ruin back into a semblance of its original shape and +immediately felt better. + +"If I was you, skipper, I'd hold my temper until I got to port; +then I'd git jingled an' forgit my troubles inexpensively," +somebody advised him. + +Scraggs turned. In a little square hatch the head and shoulders +of Mr. Bartholomew McGuffey, chief engineer; first, second and +third assistant engineer, oiler, wiper, water-tender, and +coal-passer of the _Maggie_, appeared. He was standing on the +steel ladder that led up from his stuffy engine room and had +evidently come up, like a whale, for a breath of fresh air. "The +way you ruin them bonnets o' yourn sure is a scandal," Mr. +McGuffey concluded. "If I had a temper as nasty as yourn I'd +take soothin' syrup or somethin' for it." + +Without waiting for a reply, Mr. McGuffey dropped back into his +department and Captain Scraggs, his soul filled with rage and +dire forebodings, repaired to the galley, and "candled" four +dozen eggs. Out of the four dozen he found nine with black spots +in them and carefully set them aside to be fried, sunny side up, +for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Before proceeding further with this narrative, due respect for +the reader's curiosity directs that we diverge for a period +sufficient to present a brief history of the steamer _Maggie_ and +her peculiar crew. We will begin with the _Maggie_. + +She had been built on Puget Sound back in the eighties, and was +one hundred and six feet over all, twenty-six feet beam and seven +feet draft. Driven by a little steeple compound engine, in the +pride of her youth she could make ten knots. However, what with +old age and boiler scale, the best she could do now was six, and +had Mr. McGuffey paid the slightest heed to the limitations +imposed upon his steam gauge by the Supervising Inspector of +Boilers at San Francisco, she would have been limited to five. +Each annual inspection threatened to be her last, and Captain +Scraggs, her sole owner, lived in perpetual fear that eventually +the day must arrive when, to save the lives of himself and his +crew, he would be forced to ship a new boiler and renew the +rotten timbers around her deadwood. She had come into Captain +Scraggs's possession at public auction conducted by the United +States Marshal, following her capture as she sneaked into San +Francisco Bay one dark night with a load of Chinamen and opium +from Ensenada. She had cost him fifteen hundred hard-earned +dollars. + +Scraggs--Phineas P. Scraggs, to employ his full name, was +precisely the kind of man one might expect to own and operate the +_Maggie_. Rat-faced, snaggle toothed and furtive, with a low +cunning that sometimes passed for great intelligence, Scraggs' +character is best described in a homely American word. He was +"ornery." A native of San Francisco, he had grown up around the +docks and had developed from messboy on a river steamer to master +of bay and river steamboats, although it is not of record that he +ever commanded such a craft. Despite his "ticket" there was none +so foolish as to trust him with one--a condition of affairs which +had tended to sour a disposition not naturally sweet. The +yearning to command a steamboat gradually had developed into an +obsession. Result--the "fast and commodious S.S. _Maggie_," as +the United States Marshal had had the audacity to advertise her. + +In the beginning, Captain Scraggs had planned to do bay and river +towing with the _Maggie_. Alas! The first time the unfortunate +Scraggs attempted to tow a heavily laden barge up river, a light +fog had come down, necessitating the frequent blowing of the +whistle. Following the sixth long blast, Mr. McGuffey had +whistled Scraggs on the engine room howler; swearing horribly, he +had demanded to be informed why in this and that the skipper +didn't leave that dod-gasted whistle alone. It was using up his +steam faster than he could manufacture it. Thereafter, Scraggs +had used a patent foghorn, and when the honest McGuffey had once +more succeeded in conserving sufficient steam to crawl up river, +the tide had turned and the _Maggie_ could not buck the ebb. +McGuffey declared a few new tubes in the boiler would do the +trick, but on the other hand, Mr. Gibney pointed out that the old +craft was practically punk aft and a stiff tow would jerk the +tail off the old girl. In despair, therefore, Captain Scraggs had +abandoned bay and river towing and was prepared to jump overboard +and end all, when an opportunity offered for the freighting of +garden truck and dairy produce from Halfmoon Bay to San +Francisco. + +But now a difficulty arose. The new run was an "outside" +one--salt water all the way. Under the ruling of the Inspectors, +the _Maggie_ would be running coastwise the instant she engaged +in the green pea and string bean trade, and Captain Scraggs's +license provided for no such contingency. His ticket entitled him +to act as master on the waters of San Francisco Bay and the +waters tributary thereto, and although Scraggs argued that the +Pacific Ocean constituted waters "tributary thereto," if _he_ +understood the English language, the Inspectors were obdurate. +What if the distance was less than twenty-five miles? they +pointed out. The voyage was undeniably coastwise and carried with +it all the risk of wind and wave. And in order to impress upon +Captain Scraggs the weight of their authority, the Inspectors +suspended for six months Captain Scraggs's bay and river license +for having dared to negotiate two coastwise voyages without +consulting them. Furthermore, they warned him that the next time +he did it they would condemn the fast and commodious _Maggie_. + +In his extremity, Fate had sent to Captain Scraggs a large, +imposing, capable, but socially indifferent person who responded +to the name of Adelbert P. Gibney. Mr. Gibney had spent part of +an adventurous life in the United States Navy, where he had +applied himself and acquired a fair smattering of navigation. +Prior to entering the Navy he had been a foremast hand in clipper +ships and had held a second mate's berth. Following his discharge +from the Navy he had sailed coastwise on steam schooners, and +after attending a navigation school for two months, had procured +a license as chief mate of steam, any ocean and any tonnage. + +Unfortunately for Mr. Gibney, he had a failing. Most of us have. +The most genial fellow in the world, he was cursed with too much +brains and imagination and a thirst which required quenching +around pay-day. Also, he had that beastly habit of command which +is inseparable from a born leader; when he held a first mate's +berth, he was wont to try to "run the ship" and, on occasions, +ladle out suggestions to his skipper. Thus, in time, he had +acquired a reputation for being unreliable and a wind-bag, with +the result that skippers were chary of engaging him. Not to be +too prolix, at the time Captain Scraggs made the disheartening +discovery that he had to have a skipper for the _Maggie_, Mr. +Gibney found himself reduced to the alternative of longshore work +or a fo'castle berth in a windjammer bound for blue water. + +With alacrity, therefore, Mr. Gibney had accepted Scraggs's offer +of seventy-five dollars a month--"and found"--to skipper the +_Maggie_ on her coastwise run. As a first mate of steam he had no +difficulty inducing the Inspectors to grant him a license to +skipper such an abandoned craft as the _Maggie_, and accordingly +he hung up his ticket in her pilot house and was registered as +her master, albeit, under a gentlemen's agreement, with Scraggs +he was not to claim the title of captain and was known to the +world as the _Maggie's_ first mate, second mate, third mate, +quartermaster, purser, and freight clerk. One Neils Halvorsen, a +solemn Swede with a placid, bovine disposition, constituted the +fo'castle hands, while Bart McGuffey, a wastrel of the Gibney +type but slower-witted, reigned supreme in the engine room. Also +his case resembled that of Mr. Gibney in that McGuffey's job on +the _Maggie_ was the first he had had in six months and he +treasured it accordingly. For this reason he and Gibney had been +inclined to take considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until +McGuffey discovered that, in all probability, no engineer in the +world, except himself, would have the courage to trust himself +within range of the _Maggie's_ boilers, and, consequently, he had +Captain Scraggs more or less at his mercy. Upon imparting this +suspicion to Mr. Gibney, the latter decided that it would be a +cold day, indeed, when his ticket would not constitute a club +wherewith to make Scraggs, as Gibney expressed it, "mind his P's +and Q's." + +It will be seen, therefore, that mutual necessity held this +queerly assorted trio together, and, though they quarrelled +furiously, nevertheless, with the passage of time their own +weaknesses and those of the _Maggie_ had aroused in each for the +other a curious affection. While Captain Scraggs frequently +"pulled" a monumental bluff and threatened to dismiss both Gibney +and McGuffey--and, in fact, occasionally went so far as to order +them off his ship, on their part Gibney and McGuffey were wont +to work the same racket and resign. With the subsidence of their +anger and the return to reason, however, the trio had a habit of +meeting accidentally in the Bowhead saloon, where, sooner or +later, they were certain to bury their grudge in a foaming beaker +of steam beer, and return joyfully to the _Maggie_. + +Of all the little ship's company, Neils Halvorsen, colloquially +designated as "The Squarehead," was the only individual who was, +in truth and in fact, his own man. Neils was steady, industrious, +faithful, capable, and reliable; any one of a hundred deckhand +jobs were ever open to Neils, yet, for some reason best known to +himself, he preferred to stick by the _Maggie_. In his dull way +it is probable that he was fascinated by the agile intelligence +of Mr. Gibney, the vitriolic tongue of Captain Scraggs, and the +elephantine wit and grizzly bear courage of Mr. McGuffey. At any +rate, he delighted in hearing them snarl and wrangle. + +However, to return to the _Maggie_ which we left entering the +tule fog a few miles north of Pilar Point: + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Captain Scraggs and The Squarehead partook first of the ham and +eggs, coffee and bread which the skipper prepared. Scraggs then +prepared a similar meal for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, set it in +the oven to keep warm, and descended to the engine room to +relieve McGuffey for dinner. Neils at the same time took the +course from Mr. Gibney and relieved the latter at the wheel. By +this time, darkness had descended upon the world, and the +_Maggie_ had entered the fog; following her custom she proceeded +in absolute silence, although as a partial offset to the extreme +liability to collision with other coastwise craft, due to the +non-whistling rule aboard the _Maggie_, Mr. Gibney had laid a +course half a mile inside the usual steamer lanes, albeit due to +his overwhelming desire for peace he had neglected to inform his +owner of this; the honest fellow proceeded upon the hypothesis +that what people do not know is not apt to trouble them. + +Mr. McGuffey was already seated and disposing of his meal when +Mr. Gibney entered. "Gib," he declared with his mouth full, +"rinse the taste o' chewin' tobacco out o' your mouth before +startin' to eat, an' then tell me, as man to man, if them eggs is +fit for human consumption." + +Mr. Gibney conformed with the engineer's request. "Eatable but +venerable," was his verdict. "That infernal Scraggs is tryin' to +make the _Maggie_ pay dividends at the expense of our stomachs." + +"_And_ at the risk of our lives, Gib. I move we declare a +strike until Scraggs digs up the money to overhaul the boiler. +Just before we slipped into the fog I saw two steam schooners +headed south--so they must 'a' seen us headed north. Jes' listen +at them a-bellerin' off there to port. They're a-watchin' and +a-listenin', expectin' to cut us down at every turn o' the screw. +First thing you know, Gib, you'll be losin' your ticket for +failin' to be courteous on the high seas." + +"Six o' one an' half a dozen o' the other, Bart. If I whistle +I'll use up all your steam, an', then if we should find ourselves +in the danger zone we won't be able to get out of our own way." + +"Let's refuse to take her out again until Scraggsy spends some +money on her. 'Tain't Christian the way he acts." + +"Got to get in another pay day before I start the high an' +mighty, Bart. But I'll speak to the old man about them eggs. They +taste like they'd been laid by a pelican before the Civil War. +Somehow I can't eat an egg that's the least bit rotten." + +"It's gettin' so," McGuffey mourned, "that I don't have no more +time off in port. When I ain't standin' by I'm repairin', an' +when I ain't doin' either I'm dreamin' about the danged old +coffee mill. For a cancelled postage stamp I'd jump the ship." + +He gulped down his coffee, loaded his pipe, and went below to +relieve Scraggs, for although experience in acting as McGuffey's +relief had given Captain Scraggs what might be termed a working +knowledge of the _Maggie's_ engine, McGuffey was never happy +with Scraggs in charge, even for five minutes. The habit of years +caused him to cast a quick glance at the steam gauge, and he +noted it had dropped five pounds. + +"Savin' on the coal again," he roared. "Git out o' my engine +room, you doggoned skinflint." He seized a slice bar, threw open +the furnace door, raked the fire, and commenced shovelling in +coal at a rate that almost brought the tears of anguish to his +owner's eyes. "There! The main bearin's screamin' again," he +wailed. "Oil cup's empty. Ain't I drilled it into your head +enough, Scraggsy, that she'll cry her eyes out if you don't let +her swim in oil?" He grasped the oil can and, in order to test +the efficacy of its squirt, shot a generous stream down Captain +Scraggs's collar. + +"That for them rotten eggs, you miser," he growled. "Heraus mit +'em!" + +Captain Scraggs fled, cursing, and sought solace in the pilot +house. + +"It's as black," quoted Mr. Gibney as he entered, "as the Earl of +Hell's riding boots." + +"And as thick," snarled Scraggs, "as McGuffey's head. Lordy me, +Gib, but it's thick. You'd think every bloomin' steam pipe in the +universe had busted." + +"If they was all like the _Maggie's_," Mr. Gibney retorted drily, +"we wouldn't need to worry none. Not wishin' to change the +conversation, Scraggsy, but referrin' to them eggs you slipped me +and Bart for supper, all I gotta say is that the next time you go +marketin' in ancient Egypt, me an' Mac's goin' to tell the real +story o' the S.S. _Maggie_ to the Inspectors. Now, that goes. +Scatter along aft, Scraggs, and let me know what that taffrail +log has to say about it." + +Captain Scraggs read the log and reported the mileage to Mr. +Gibney, who figured with the stub of a pencil on the pilot house +wall, wagged his head, and appeared satisfied. "Better go for'd," +he ordered, "an' help The Squarehead on the lookout. At eight +o'clock we ought to be right under the lee o' Point San Pedro; +when I whistle we ought to catch the echo thrown back by the +cliff. Listen for it." + +Promptly at eight o'clock, Mr. McGuffey was horrified to see his +steam gauge drop half a pound as the _Maggie's_ siren sounded. +Mr. Gibney stuck his ingenious head out of the pilot house and +listened, but no answering echo reached his ears. "Hear +anything?" he bawled. + +"Heard the _Maggie's_ siren," Captain Scraggs retorted +venomously. + +Mr. Gibney leaped out on deck, selected a small head of cabbage +from a broken crate and hurled it forward. Then he sprang back +into the pilot house and straightened the _Maggie_ on her course +again. He leaned over the binnacle, with the cuff of his watch +coat wiping away the moisture on the glass, and studied the +instrument carefully. "I don't trust the danged thing," he +muttered. "Guess I'll haul her off a coupler points an' try the +whistle again." + +He did. Still no echo. He was inclined to believe that Captain +Scraggs had not read the taffrail log correctly, and when at +eight-thirty he tried the whistle again he was still without +results in the way of an echo from the cliff, albeit the engine +room howler brought him several of a profuse character from the +perspiring McGuffey. + +"We've passed Pedro," Mr. Gibney decided. He ground his cud and +muttered ugly things to himself, for his dead reckoning had gone +astray and he was worried. The fog, if anything, was thicker than +ever. He could not even make out the phosphorescent water that +curled out from the _Maggie's_ forefoot. + +Time passed. Suddenly Mr. Gibney thrilled electrically to a +shrill yip from Captain Scraggs. + +"What's that?" Mr. Gibney bawled. + +"I dunno. Sounds like the surf, Gib." + +"Ain't you been on this run long enough to know that the surf +don't sound like nothin' else in life but breakers?" Gibney +retorted wrathfully. + +"I ain't certain, Gib." + +Instantly Gibney signalled McGuffey for half speed ahead. + +"Breakers on the starboard bow," yelled Captain Scraggs. + +"Port bow," The Squarehead corrected him. + +"Oh, my great patience!" Mr. Gibney groaned. "They're on both +bows an' we're headed straight for the beach. Here's where we all +go to hell together," and he yanked wildly at the signal wire +that led to the engine room, with the intention of giving +McGuffey four bells--the signal aboard the _Maggie_ for full +speed astern. At the second jerk the wire broke, but not until +two bells had sounded in the engine room--the signal for full +speed ahead. The efficient McGuffey promptly kicked her wide +open, and the Fates decreed that, having done so, Mr. McGuffey +should forthwith climb the ladder and thrust his head out on +deck for a breath of fresh air. Instantly a chorus of shrieks up +on the fo'castle head attracted his attention to such a degree +that he failed to hear the engine room howler as Mr. Gibney blew +frantically into it. + +Presently, out of the hubbub forward, Mr. McGuffey heard Captain +Scraggs wail frantically: "Stop her! For the love of heaven, stop +her!" Instantly the engineer dropped back into the engine room +and set the _Maggie_ full speed astern; then he grasped the +howler and held it to his ear. + +"Stop her!" he heard Gibney shriek. "Why in blazes don't you stop +her?" + +"She's set astern, Gib. She'll ease up in a minute." + +"You know it," Gibney answered significantly. + +The _Maggie_ climbed lazily to the crest of a long oily roller, +slid recklessly down the other side, and took the following sea +over her taffrail. She still had some head on, but very +little--not quite sufficient to give her decent steerage way, as +Mr. Gibney discovered when, having at length communicated his +desires to McGuffey, he spun the wheel frantically in a belated +effort to swing the _Maggie's_ dirty nose out to sea. + +"Nothin' doin'," he snarled. "She'll have to come to a complete +stop before she begins to walk backward and get steerage way on +again. She'll bump as sure as death an' taxes." + +She did--with a crack that shook the rigging and caused it to +rattle like buckshot in a pan. A terrible cry--such a cry, +indeed, as might burst from the lips of a mother seeing her only +child run down by the Limited--burst from poor Captain Scraggs. +"My ship! my ship!" he howled. "My darling little _Maggie_! +They've killed you, they've killed you! The dirty lubbers!" + +The succeeding wave lifted the _Maggie_ off the beach, carried +her in some fifty feet further, and deposited her gently on the +sand. She heeled over to port a little and rested there as if she +was very, very weary, nor could all the threshing of her screw in +reverse haul her off again. The surf, dashing in under her +fantail, had more power than McGuffey's engines, and, foot by +foot, the _Maggie_ proceeded to dig herself in. Mr. Gibney +listened for five minutes to the uproar that rose from the bowels +of the little steamer before he whistled up Mr. McGuffey. + +"Kill her, kill her," he ordered. "Your wheel will bite into the +sand first thing you know, and tear the stern off her. You're +shakin' the old girl to pieces." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +McGuffey killed his engine, banked his fires, and came up on +deck, wiping his anxious face with a fearfully filthy sweat rag. +At the same time, Scraggs and Neils Halvorsen came crawling aft +over the deckload and when they reached the clear space around +the pilot house, Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the +deck and leaped upon it until, his rage abating ultimately, no +power on earth, in the air, or under the sea, could possibly have +rehabilitated it and rendered it fit for further wear, even by +Captain Scraggs. This petulant practice of jumping on his hat was +a habit with Scraggs whenever anything annoyed him particularly +and was always infallible evidence that a simple declarative +sentence had stuck in his throat. + +"Well, old whirling dervish," Mr. Gibney demanded calmly when +Scraggs paused for lack of breath to continue his dance, "what +about it? We're up Salt Creek without a paddle; all hell to pay +and no pitch hot." + +"McGuffey's fired!" Captain Scraggs screeched. + +"Come, come, Scraggsy, old tarpot," Mr. Gibney soothed. "This +ain't no time for fightin'. Thinkin' an' actin' is all that saves +the _Maggie_ now." + +But Captain Scraggs was beyond reason. "McGuffey's fired! +McGuffey's fired!" he reiterated. "The dirty rotten wharf rat! +Call yourself an engineer?" he continued, witheringly. "As an +engineer you're a howling success at shoemakin', you slob. I'll +fix your clock for you, my hearty. I'll have your ticket took +away from you, an' that's no Chinaman's dream, nuther." + +"It's all my fault runnin' by dead reckonin'," the honest Gibney +protested. "Mac ain't to fault. The engine room telegraph busted +an' he got the wrong signal." + +"It's his business to see to it that he's got an engine room +telegraph that won't bust----" + +"You dog!" McGuffey roared and sprang at the skipper, who leaped +nimbly up the little ladder to the top of the pilot house and +stood prepared to kick Mr. McGuffey in the face should that +worthy venture up after him. "I can't persuade you to git me +nothin' that I ought to have. I'm tired workin' with junk an' +scraps an' copper wire and pieces o' string. I'm through!" + +"You're right--you're through, because you're fired!" Scraggs +shrieked in insane rage. "Get off my ship, you maritime impostor, +or I'll take a pistol to you. Overboard with you, you greasy, +addlepated bounder! You're rotten, understand? Rotten! Rotten! +Rotten!" + +"You owe me eight dollars an' six bits, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey +reminded his owner calmly. "Chuck down the spondulicks an' I'll +get off your ship." + +Captain Scraggs was beyond reason, so he tossed the money down to +the engineer. "Now git," he commanded. + +Without further ado, Mr. McGuffey started across the deckload to +the fo'castle head. Scraggs could not see him but he could hear +him--so he pelted the engineer with potatoes, cabbage heads, and +onions, the vegetables descending about the honest McGuffey in a +veritable barrage. Even in the darkness several of these missiles +took effect. + +Upon reaching the very apex of the _Maggie's_ bow, Mr. McGuffey +turned and hurled a promise into the darkness: "If we ever meet +again, Scraggs, I'll make Mrs. Scraggs a widow. Paste that in +your hat--when you get a new one." + +The _Maggie_ was resting easily on the beach, with the broken +water from the long lazy combers surging well up above her water +line. At most, six feet of water awaited the engineer, who stood, +peering shoreward and listening intently, oblivious to the stray +missiles which whizzed past. Presently, from out of the fog, he +heard a grinding, metallic sound and through a sudden rift in the +fog caught a brief glimpse of blue flame with sparks radiating +faintly from it. + +That settled matters for Bartholomew McGuffey. The metallic sound +was the protest from the wheels of a Cliff House trolley car +rounding a curve; the blue flame was an electric manifestation +due to the intermittent contact of her trolley with the wire, wet +with fog. McGuffey knew the exact position of the _Maggie_ now, +so he poised a moment on her bow; as a wave swept past him, he +leaped overboard, scrambled ashore, made his way up the beach to +the Great Highway which flanks the shore line between the Cliff +House and Ingleside, sought a roadhouse, and warmed his interior +with four fingers of whiskey neat. Then, feeling quite content +with himself, even in his wet garments, he boarded a city-bound +trolley car and departed for the warmth and hospitality of Scab +Johnny's sailor boarding house in Oregon Street. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Captain Scraggs continued to hurl other people's vegetables into +the murk forward for at least two minutes after Mr. McGuffey had +shaken the coal dust of the _Maggie_ from his feet, and was only +recalled to more practical affairs by the bored voice of Mr. +Gibney. + +"The owners o' them artichokes expect to get half a dollar apiece +for 'em in New York, Scraggsy. Cut it out, old timer, or you'll +have a claim for a freight shortage chalked up agin you." + +"Nothin' matters any more," Scraggs replied in a choked voice, +and immediately sat down on the half-emptied crate of artichokes +and commenced to weep bitterly--half because of rage and half +because he regarded himself a pauper. Already he had a vision of +himself scouring the waterfront in search of a job. + +"No use boo-hooin' over spilt milk, Scraggsy." Always +philosophical, the author of the owner's woe sought to carry the +disaster off lightly. "Don't add your salt tears to a saltier sea +until you're certain you're a total loss an' no insurance. I got +you into this and I suppose it's up to me to get you off, so I +guess I'll commence operations." Suiting the action to the word, +Mr. Gibney grasped the whistle cord and a strange, sad, sneezing, +wheezy moan resembling the expiring protest of a lusty pig and +gradually increasing into a long-drawn but respectable whistle +rewarded his efforts. For once, he could afford to be prodigal +with the steam, and while it lasted there could be no mistaking +the fact that here was a steamer in dire distress. + +The weird call for help brought Scraggs around to a fuller +realization of the enormity of the disaster which had overtaken +him. In his agony, he forgot to curse his navigating officer for +the latter's stubbornness in refusing to turn back when the fog +threatened. He clutched Mr. Gibney by the right arm, thereby +interrupting for an instant the dismal outburst from the +_Maggie's_ siren. + +"Gib," he moaned, "I'm a ruined man. How're we ever to get the +old sweetheart off whole? Answer me that, Gib. Answer me, I say. +How're we to get my _Maggie_ off the beach?" + +Mr. Gibney shook himself loose from that frantic grip and +continued his pull on the whistle until the _Maggie_, taking a +false note, quavered, moaned, spat steam a minute, and subsided +with what might be termed a nautical sob. "Now see what you've +done," he bawled. "You've made me bust the whistle." + +"Answer my question, Gib." + +"We'll never get her off if you don't quit interferin' an' give +me time to think. I'll admit there ain't much of a chance, +because it's dead low water now an' just as soon as the tide is +at the flood she'll drive further up the beach an' fall apart." + +"Perhaps McGuffey will have heart enough to telephone into the +city for a tug." + +"'Tain't scarcely probable, Scraggsy. You abused him vile an' +threw a lot of fodder at him." + +"I wish I'd been took with paralysis first," Scraggs wailed +bitterly. "You'd best jump ashore, Gib, an' 'phone in. We're just +below the Cliff House and you can run up to one o' them beach +resorts an' 'phone in to the Red Stack Tug Boat Company." + +"'Twouldn't be ethics for me, the registered master o' the +_Maggie_, to desert the ship, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud. +What's the matter with gettin' your own shanks wet?" + +"I dassen't, Gib. I've had a touch of chills an' fever ever since +I used to run mate up the San Joaquin sloughs. Here's a nickel to +drop in the telephone slot, Gib. There's a good fellow." + +"Scraggsy, you're deludin' yourself. Show me a tugboat skipper +that would come out here on a night like this to pick up the S.S. +_Maggie_, two decks an' no bottom an' loaded with garden truck, +an' I'll wag my ears an' look at the back o' my neck. She ain't +worth it." + +"Ain't worth it! Why, man, I paid fifteen hundred hard cash +dollars for her." + +"Fourteen hundred an' ninety-nine dollars an' ninety-nine cents +too much. They seen you comin'. However, grantin' for the sake of +argyment that she's worth the tow, the next question them towboat +skippers'll ask is: 'Who's goin' to pay the bill?' It'll be two +hundred an' fifty dollars at the lowest figger, an' if you got +that much credit with the towboat company you're some high +financier. Ain't that logic?" + +"I'm afraid," Scraggs replied sadly, "it is. Still, they'd have a +lien on the _Maggie_----" + +"Steamer ahoy!" came a voice from the beach. + +"Man with a megaphone," Mr. Gibney cried. "Ahoy! Ahoy, there!" + +"Who are you an' what's the trouble?" + +Captain Scraggs took it upon himself to answer: "American steamer +_Mag_----" + +Mr. Gibney sprang upon him tigerishly, placed a horny, +tobacco-smelling palm across Scraggs's mouth and effectively +smothered all further sound. "American steamer _Yankee Prince_," +he bawled like a veritable Bull of Bashan, "of Boston, Hong Kong +to Frisco with a general cargo of sandal wood, rice, an' silk. +Where're we at?" + +"Just outside the Gate. Half a mile south o' the Cliff House." + +"Telephone in for a tug. We're in nice shape, restin' easy, but +our rudder's gone an' the after web o' the crank shaft's busted. +Telephone in, my man, an' I'll make it up to you when we get to a +safe anchorage. Who are you?" + +"Lindstrom, of the Golden Gate Life Saving Station." + +"I'll not forget you, Lindstrom. My owners are Yankees, but +they're sports." + +"All right. I'll telephone. On my way!" + +"God speed you," murmured Mr. Gibney, and released his hold on +Captain Scraggs, who instantly threw his arms around the +navigating officer's burly neck. "I forgive you, Adelbert," he +crooned. "I forgive you freely. By the tail of the Great Sacred +Bull, you're a marvel. She's an all-night fog or I'm a Chinaman, +and if it only stays thick enough----" + +"It'll hold," Gibney retorted doggedly. "It's a tule fog. They +always hold. Quit huggin' me. Your breath's bad. Them eggs, I +guess." + +Captain Scraggs, hurled forcibly backward, bumped into the pilot +house, but lost none of his enthusiasm. "You're a jewel," he +declared. "Oh, man, what a head! Whatever made you think of the +_Yankee Prince_?" + +"Because," Mr. Gibney answered calmly, "there ain't no such ship, +this land of ours bein' a free republic where princes don't grow. +Still, it's a nice name, Scraggs, old tarpot--more particular +since I thought it up in a hurry. Eh, what?" + +"Halvorsen," cried Captain Scraggs. + +The lone deckhand emerged from a hole in the freight forward +whither he had retreated to escape the vegetable barrage put over +by Captain Scraggs when McGuffey left the ship. "Aye, aye, sir," +he boomed. + +"All hands below to the galley!" Scraggs shouted. "While we're +waitin' for this here towboat I'll brew a scuttle o' grog to +celebrate the discovery o' real seafarin' talent. Gib, my _dear_ +boy, I'm proud of you. No matter what happens, I'll never have no +other navigatin' officer." + +"Don't crow till you're out o' the woods," the astute Gibney +warned him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +In the office of the Red Stack Tug Boat Company, Captain Dan +Hicks, master of the tug _Aphrodite_; Captain Jack Flaherty, +master of the _Bodega_, and Tiernan, the assistant superintendent +on night watch, sat around a hot little box stove engaged in that +occupation so dear to the maritime heart, to-wit: spinning yarns. +Dan Hicks had the floor, and was relating a tale that had to do +with his life as a freight and passenger skipper. + +"We was makin' up to the dock when I see the general agent +standin' in the door o' the dock office--an' all of a sudden I +didn't feel so chipper about havin' crossed Humboldt bar in a +sou'easter. I saw the old man runnin' his eye along forty foot o' +twisted pipe railin', a wrecked bridge, three bent stanchions an' +every door an' window on the starboard side o' the ship stove in, +while the passengers crowded the rail lookin' cold an' miserable, +pea-green an' thankful. No need for me to do any explainin'. He +knew. He throws his dead fish eye up to me on what's left o' the +bridge an' I felt my job was vacant. + +"'We was hit by a sea or two on Humboldt bar, sir,' I says, as if +gettin' hit by a sea or two an' havin' the ship gutted was an +every-day experience." + +"'Is that so, Hicks?' says he sweetly. 'Well, now, if you hadn't +told me that I'd ha' jumped to the conclusion that a couple o' +the mess boys had got fightin' an' wrecked the ship before you +could separate 'em. Why in this an' that,' he says, 'didn't you +stick inside when any dumb fool could see the bar was breakin'?' + +"'I wanted to keep the comp'ny's sailin' schedule unbroken, sir,' +I says, tryin' to be funny. + +"'Well, Captain,' he says, 'it 'pears to me you've broken damned +near everything else tryin' to do it.' + +"I was certain he was goin' to set me down, but the worst I got +was a three months' lay-off to teach me common sense----" + +The telephone rang and Tiernan answered. Hicks and Flaherty +hitched forward in their chairs to listen. + +"Hello.... Yes, Red Stack office.... Steamer _Yankee Prince_.... +What's that?... silk and rice?... Half a mile below the Cliff +House, eh?... Sure, I'll send a tug right away, Lindstrom." + +Tiernan hung up and faced the two skippers. "Gentlemen," he +announced, "here's a chance for a little salvage money to-night. +The American steamer _Yankee Prince_ is ashore half a mile below +the Cliff House. She's a big tramp with a valuable cargo from +Hong Kong, with her rudder gone and her crank shaft busted." + +"It's high water at twelve thirty-seven," Jack Flaherty pleaded. +"You'd better send me, Tiernan. The _Bodega_ has more power than +the _Aphrodite_." + +This was the truth and Dan Hicks knew it, but he was not to be +beaten out of his share of the salvage by such flimsy argument. +"Jack," he pleaded, "don't be a hog all the time. The _Yankee +Prince_ is an eight thousand ton vessel and it's a two-tug job. +Better send us both, Tiernan, and play safe. Chances are our +competitors have three tugs on the way right now." + +"What a wonderful imagination you have, Dan. Eight thousand tons! +You're crazy, man. She's thirteen hundred net register and I know +it because I was in Newport News when they launched her, and I +went out with her skipper on the trial trip. She's a long, +narrow-gutted craft, with engines aft, like a lake steamer." + +"We'll play safe," Tiernan decided. "Go to it--both of you, and +may the best man win. She'll belong to you, Jack, if she's +thirteen hundred net and you get your line aboard first. If she's +as big as Dan says she is, you'll be equal partners----" + +But he was talking to himself. Down the dock Hicks and Flaherty +were racing for the respective commands, each shouting to his +night watchman to pipe all hands on deck. Fortunately, a goodly +head of steam was up in each tug's boilers; because of the fog +and the liability to collisions and a consequent hasty summons, +one engineer on each tug was on duty. Before Hicks and Flaherty +were in their respective pilot houses the oil burners were +roaring lustily under their respective boilers; the lines were +cast off within a minute of each other, and the two tugs raced +down the bay through the darkness and fog. + +Both Hicks and Flaherty had grown old in the towboat service and +the rules of the road rested lightly on their sordid souls. They +were going over a course they knew by heart--wherefore the fog +had no terrors for them. Down the bay they raced, the _Bodega_ +leading slightly, both tugs whistling at half-minute intervals. +Out through the Gate they nosed their way, heaving the lead +continuously, made a wide detour around Mile Rock and the Seal +Rocks, swung a mile to the south of the position of the _Maggie_, +and then came cautiously up the coast, whistling continuously to +acquaint the _Yankee Prince_ with their presence in the +neighbourhood. In anticipation of the necessity for replying to +this welcome sound, Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney had, for the +past two hours, busied themselves getting up another head of +steam in the _Maggie's_ boilers, repairing the whistle, and +splicing the wires of the engine room telegraph. Like the wise +men they were, however, they declined to sound the _Maggie's_ +siren until the tugs were quite close. Even then, Mr. Gibney +shuddered, but needs must when the devil drives, so he pulled the +whistle cord and was rewarded with a weird, mournful grunt, dying +away into a gasp. + +"Sounds like she has the pip," Jack Flaherty remarked to his +mate. + +"Must have taken on some of that dirty Asiatic water," Dan Hicks +soliloquized, "and now her tubes have gone to glory." + +Immediately, both tugs kicked ahead under a dead slow bell, +guided by a series of toots as brief as Mr. Gibney could make +them, and presently both tug lookouts reported breakers dead +ahead; whereupon Jack Flaherty got out his largest megaphone and +bellowed: "_Yankee Prince_, ahoy!" in his most approved fashion. +Dan Hicks did likewise. This irritated the avaricious Flaherty, +so he turned his megaphone in the direction of his rival and +begged him, if he still retained any of the instincts of a +seaman, to shut up; to which entreaty Dan Hicks replied with an +acidulous query as to whether or not Jack Flaherty thought he +owned the sea. + +For half a minute this mild repartee continued, to be interrupted +presently by a whoop from out of the fog. It was Mr. Gibney. He +did not possess a megaphone so he had gone below and appropriated +a section of stove-pipe from the galley range, formed a +mouthpiece of cardboard and produced a makeshift that suited his +purpose admirably. + +"Cut out that bickerin' like a pair of old women an' 'tend to +your business," he commanded. "Get busy there--both of you, and +shoot a line aboard. There's work enough for two." + +Dan Hicks sent a man forward to heave the lead under the nose of +the _Aphrodite_, which was edging in gingerly toward the voice. +He had a searchlight but he did not attempt to use it, knowing +full well that in such a fog it would be of no avail. Guided, +therefore, by the bellowings of Mr. Gibney, reinforced by the +shrill yips of Captain Scraggs, the tug crept in closer and +closer, and when it seemed that they must be within a hundred +feet of the surf, Dan Hicks trained his Lyle gun in the direction +of Mr. Gibney's voice and shot a heaving line into the fog. + +Almost simultaneous with the report of the gun came a shriek of +pain from Captain Scraggs. Straight and true the wet, heavy +knotted end of the heaving line came in over the _Maggie's_ +quarter and struck him in the mouth. In the darkness he staggered +back from the stinging blow, clutched wildly at the air, slipped +and rolled over among the vegetables with the precious rope +clasped to his breast. + +"I got it," he sputtered, "I got it, Gib." + +"Safe, O!" Mr. Gibney bawled. "Pay out your hawser." + +They met it at the taffrail as it came up out of the breakers, +wet but welcome. "Pass it around the mainmast, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney cautioned. "If we make fast to the towin' bits, the first +jerk'll pull the anchor bolts up through the deck." + +When the hawser had been made fast to the mainmast, the leathern +lungs of Mr. Gibney made due announcement of the fact to the +expectant Captain Hicks. "As soon as you feel you've got a grip +on her," he yelled, "just hold her steady so she won't drive +further up the beach when I get my anchor up. She'll come out +like a loose tooth at the tip of the flood." + +The _Aphrodite_ forged slowly ahead, taking in the slack of the +hawser. Ten minutes passed but still the hawser lay limp across +the _Maggie's_ stern. Presently out of the fog came the voice of +Captain Dan Hicks. + +"Flaherty! Flaher-tee! For the love of life, Jack, where are you? +Chuck me a line, Jack. My hawser's snarled in my screw and I'm +drifting on to the beach." + +"Leggo your anchor, you boob," Jack Flaherty advised. + +"I want a line an' none o' your damned advice," raved Hicks. + +"'Tain't my fault if you get in too close." + +"I'm bumping, Jack. I'm bangin' the heart out of her. Come on, +you cur, and haul me off." + +"If I pull you off, Dan Hicks, will you leave that steamer +alone? You've had your chance and failed to smother it. Now let +me have a hack at her." + +"It's a bargain, Jack. I'm not badly snarled; if you haul me out +to deep water I can shake the hawser loose. I'm afraid to try so +close in." + +"Comin'," yelled Flaherty. + +"Now, ain't that a raw deal?" Scraggs complained. "That junk +thief gets hauled off first." + +"The first shall be last an' the last shall be first," Gibney +quoted piously. "Don't be a crab, Scraggs. Pray that the fog +don't lift." + +Out of the fog there rose a great hubbub of engine room gongs, +the banging of the _Bodega's_ Lyle gun, and much profanity. +Presently this ceased, so Scraggs and Gibney knew Dan Hicks was +being hauled off at last. While they waited for further +developments, Scraggs sucked at his old pipe and Mr. Gibney +munched a French carrot. "If you hadn't canned McGuffey," the +latter opined, "we might have been able to back off under our own +power as soon as the tide is at flood. This delay is worryin' +me." + +Following some fifteen minutes of kicking and struggling out in +the deep water, whither the _Bodega_ had dragged her, the +_Aphrodite_ at length freed herself of the clinging hawser; +whereupon she backed in again, cautiously reeving in the hawser +as she came. Presently, Dan Hicks, true to his promise to abandon +the prize to Jack Flaherty, turned his megaphone beachward and +shouted: + +"_Yankee Prince_, ahoy! Cast off my hawser. The other tug will +put a line aboard you." + +But Mr. Gibney was now master of the situation. He had a good +hemp hawser stretching between him and salvation and until he +should be hauled off he had no intention of slipping that cable. +"Nothin' doin'," he answered. "We're hard an' fast, I tell you, +and I'll take no chances. It's you or both of you, but I'll not +cast off this hawser. If you want to let go, cast the hawser off +at your end." Sotto voce he remarked to Scraggs: "I see him +slippin' a three hundred dollar hawser, eh, Scraggsy, old +stick-in-the-mud?" + +"But I promised Flaherty I'd let you alone," pleaded Hicks. + +"What do you think you have your string fast to, anyhow? A bay +scow? If you fellows endanger my ship bickerin' over the salvage +I'll have you before the Inspectors on charges as sure as God +made little apples. I got sixty witnesses here to back up my +charges, too." + +"You hear him, Jack?" howled Hicks. + +"Wouldn't that swab Flaherty drive you to drink," Gibney +complained. "Trumpin' his partner's ace just for the glory an' +profit o' gettin' ahead of him?" Aloud he addressed the invisible +Flaherty: "Take it or leave it, brother Flaherty." + +"I'll take it," Flaherty responded promptly. + +Twenty minutes later, after much backing and swearing and heaving +of lines the _Bodega's_ hawser was finally put board the +_Maggie_. Mr. Gibney judged it would be safe now to fasten this +line to the towing bitts. + +Suddenly, Captain Scraggs remembered there was no one on duty in +the _Maggie's_ engine room. With a half sob, he slid down the +greasy ladder, tore open the furnace doors and commenced +shovelling in coal with a recklessness that bordered on insanity. +When the indicator showed eighty pounds of steam he came up on +deck and discovered Mr. Gibney walking solemnly round and round +the little capstan up forward. It was creaking and groaning +dismally. Captain Scraggs thrust his engine room torch above his +head to light the scene and gazed upon his navigating officer in +blank amazement. + +"What foolishness is this, Gib?" he demanded. "Are you clean +daffy, doin' a barn dance around that rusty capstan, makin' a +noise fit to frighten the fish?" + +"Not much," came the laconic reply. "I'm a smart man. I'm raisin' +both anchors." + +"Well, all I got to remark is that it takes a smart man to raise +both anchors when we only got one anchor to our blessed name. An' +with that anchor safe on the fo'castle head, I, for one, can't +see no sense in raisin' it." + +"You tarnation jackass!" sighed Gibney. "You forget who we are. +Do you s'pose the steamer _Yankee Prince_ can lay on the beach +all night with both anchors out, an' then be got ready to tow off +in three shakes of a lamb's tail? It takes noise to get up two +anchors--so I'm makin' all the noise I can. Got any steam?" + +"Eighty pounds," Scraggs confessed. Having for the moment +forgotten his identity, he was confused in the presence of the +superior intelligence of his navigating officer. + +"Run aft, then, Scraggs, an' turn that cargo winch over to beat +the band until I tell you to stop. With the drum runnin' free +she'll make noise enough for a winch three times her size, but +you might give the necessary yells to make it more lifelike." + +Captain Scraggs fled to the winch. At the end of five minutes, +Mr. Gibney appeared and bade him desist. Then, turning, his +improvised megaphone seaward he addressed an imaginary mate: "Mr. +Thompson, have you got your port anchor up?" + +Scraggs took the cue immediately. "All clear forward, sir," he +piped. + +"Send the bosun for'd an' heave the lead, Mr. Thompson." + +"Very well, sir." + +Here The Squarehead, who had been enjoying the unique situation +immensely, decided to take a hand. Presently, in sing-song +cadence he was reporting the depth of water alongside. + +"That'll do, bosun," Gibney thundered. Then, in his natural voice +to Scraggs: "All set, Scraggsy. Guess we're ready to be pulled +off. Get down in the engine room and stand by for full speed +ahead when I give the word." + +"Quick! Hurry!" Scraggs entreated as he disappeared through the +little engine-room hatch, for the tide was now at the tip of the +flood and the _Maggie_ was bumping wickedly and driving further +up the beach. Mr. Gibney turned his stovepipe seaward and +shouted: "Tugboats, ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" they answered in unison. + +"All read-y-y-y! Let 'er go-o-o-o!" + +The Squarehead stationed himself at the bitts with a lantern and +Mr. Gibney hastened to the pilot house and took his place at the +wheel. When the hawsers commence to lift out of the sea, The +Squarehead gave a warning shout, whereupon Mr. Gibney called the +engine room. "Give her the gun," he commanded Scraggs. "Pull +against them tugs for all you're worth. Remember this is the +steamer _Yankee Prince_. We must not come off too readily." + +Captain Scraggs opened the throttle, and while the two tugs +steadily drew her off into deep water, the _Maggie_ fought +valiantly to stick to the beach and even to continue her +interrupted journey overland. She merely succeeded in stretching +both hawsers taut; slowly she was drawn seaward, stern first, and +at the expiration of fifteen minutes' steady pulling, Mr. Gibney +could restrain himself no longer. He rang for full speed +astern--and got it promptly. Then, calling Neils Halvorsen to aid +him, he abandoned the wheel and scrambled aft. + +With no one at the wheel the _Maggie_ shot off at a tangent and +the hawsers slacked immediately. In the twinkling of an eye Mr. +Gibney had cast them off, and as the ends disappeared with a +swish over the stern he ran back to the pilot house, rang for +full speed ahead, put his helm hard over, and headed the _Maggie_ +in the general direction of China, although as a matter of fact +he cared not what direction he pursued, provided he got away from +the beach and placed distance between the _Maggie_ and two +soon-to-be-furious tugboat skippers. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +As the _Maggie_ chugged blithely away, the navigating officer's +soul expanded in song, and in the voice of a bull walrus he +delivered himself of a deep sea chantey more popular than proper. + +Presently, away off in the fog, he heard the _Bodega_ whistle. +The _Aphrodite_ answered immediately. Adelbert P. Gibney smiled +and bit a large crescent out of his navy plug, for his soul was +at peace. When The Squarehead came into the pilot house presently +and grinned at him, Mr. Gibney handed Neils an electric torch. +"Prowl around below in the old ruin, Neils," he commanded, "and +see if we're makin' any water." + +A quarter of an hour later Neils Halvorsen returned to report the +_Maggie_ apparently undamaged, so Mr. Gibney changed his course +and headed stealthily in the direction of the whistling tugs. He +came up behind them presently--approaching so close under cover +of the fog that he could hear Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty, both +under a dead-slow bell, felicitating each other through their +megaphones. + +"Where d'ye suppose that dirty scoundrel's gone?" Hicks was +demanding. + +"Out to sea, of course," Flaherty bellowed. "He'll stand off +until the fog lifts and then come ramping in as proud as Lucifer +and look amazed when we send him in a bill." + +"Bill!" Hicks' voice dripped with sarcasm. "The Red Stack Company +will libel him, and if the old man doesn't, me an' my crew will." + +"I'll bet a ripe peach he's a Jap, with a scoundrelly white +skipper and white mates. They'll all stick together for a +five-dollar bill and swear they never was on the beach at all. If +they do, how're we goin' to prove it?" + +"That's logic," the eavesdropping Gibney murmured to the +binnacle. + +"Oh, hell's bells, shut up and let's go home," Dan Hicks cried +wearily. "We can catch him when he comes in." + +"Suppose he doesn't come in. Suppose he's bound for Seattle, +Dan." + +"We can libel him wherever he goes." + +"I'll bet he gave us a fictitious name, Dan!" + +"Stow that grief, Jack. Stow it, or I'll go mad. The _Bodega_ has +more speed than the _Aphrodite_, so poke ahead there and let's +try to get in an hour's sleep before daylight. If you can't feel +your way in I can." + +"I'll just tag along silent and lazy-like after you two +misfortunates," Mr. Gibney decided, "an' you'll do my whistlin' +for me." He called Scraggs on the howler and explained the +situation. "Regular Cook's tour," he exulted. "Personally +conducted. Off again, on again, away again, Finnegan--and not a +nickel's worth of loss unless you count them vegetables you hove +at McGuffey. Ain't you proud o' your navigatin' officer, +Scraggsy, old tarpot?" + +"I am, Gib, but I'll be prouder'n ever if you can follow them +towboats in without havin' to claw off Baker's beach or the Point +Bonita rocks." + +"Calamity howler," Gibney growled. Half an hour later he caught +the echo of the _Bodega's_ whistle as the sound was hurled back +from the high cliffs at Land's End, off to starboard. A minute +later he heard the hoarse growl of the siren from the fog station +on Point Bonita, on the port beam. He knew where he was now with +as much certainty as if he was navigating in broad daylight, so +he loafed along a couple of hundred yards behind the _Bodega_, +until the _Maggie_ ceased pitching--when he knew he was in the +still water inside the entrance. So he sheered over to starboard, +with Neils Halvorsen heaving the lead, and dropped anchor in five +fathoms under the lee of Fort Mason. He was quite confident of +his ability to sneak along the waterfront and creep into the +_Maggie's_ berth at Jackson Street bulkhead, but having gone +astray in his calculations once that night, a vagrant sense of +consideration for Captain Scraggs decided him to take no more +risks until the fog should lift. He could hear the _Bodega_ and +the _Aphrodite_ tooting as they continued down the bay, so he +knew they were headed for their berths at the foot of Broadway, +fog or no fog. + +When Captain Scraggs, having banked his fires, came up out of the +engine room, Mr. Gibney laid a great paw paternally upon the +skipper's shoulder. "Scraggsy, old salamander," he announced, "I +think I've done enough to-night to entitle me to some sleep until +this tule fog lifts. Am I right?" + +"You certainly are, Gib, my dear boy." + +"Very well, then. I'll turn in. As for you, old sailor, your +night's work is not ended. Have The Squarehead row you ashore in +the skiff; I'll stay up an' work the patent foghorn so he can +find his way back to the _Maggie_, while you hike down town----" + +"What for?" Scraggs demanded irritably. "I'm all wore out." + +"This adventure ain't ended," Mr. Gibney warned him. "There's a +witness to our perfidy still at large. His name is B. McGuffey, +esquire, an' I'll lay you ten to one you'll find him asleep in +Scab Johnny's boardin' house. Go to him, Scraggsy, an' bring a +pint flask with you when you do; wake him up, beg his pardon, +take him to breakfast, and promise him you'll do somethin' for +his boilers. Old Mac's got a heart as tender as a infant's. You +can win him over." + +"Oh, Gib, use some common sense. Mac'll lay abed until noon. It +stands to reason he'll have to, because he didn't take no change +of clothin' with him, so he'll just naturally have to wait till +his wet clothes get dry before venturin' forth an' spreadin' the +news that the _Maggie's_ on the beach. He doesn't know we're off, +an' once we're tied up at the dock and we hear Mac's been talkin' +we'll just spread the word that he was so soused he jumped +overboard an' swum ashore without waitin' to see if we could back +off. Lordy, Gib, don't work me to death. I'm that weary I could +flop on this wet deck an' be off to sleep in a pig's whisper." + +"I dunno but what there's reason in what you say," Mr. Gibney +agreed. "Well, turn in, Scraggsy, but the minute we hit the dock +you run up town and fix things up with Bart." + +And without further ado he set the alarm clock for seven o'clock, +kicked off his shoes, and climbed into his berth with his clothes +on. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The crews of the _Aphrodite_ and the _Bodega_ slept late also, +for they were weary, and fortunately, no calls for a tug came +into the office of the Red Stack Company all morning. About ten +o'clock Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty breakfasted and about ten +thirty both met in the office. Apparently they were two souls +with but a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the +shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's +Register." Dan Hicks reached it first, carried it to the counter, +wet his tarry index finger, and started turning the pages in a +vain search for the American steamer _Yankee Prince_. Presently +he looked up at Jack Flaherty. + +"Flaherty," he said, "I think you're a liar." + +"The same to you and many of them," Flaherty replied, not a whit +abashed. "You said she was an eight thousand ton tramp." + +"I never went so far as to say I'd been aboard her on trial trip, +though--and I did cut down her tonnage, showin' I got the +fragments of a conscience left," Hicks defended himself. + +He closed the book with a sigh and placed it back on the shelf, +just as the door opened to admit no less a personage than +Batholomew McGuffey, late chief engineer, first assistant, second +assistant, third assistant, wiper, oiler, water-tender, and +stoker of the S.S. _Maggie_. With a brief nod to Jack Flaherty +Mr. McGuffey approached Dan Hicks. + +"I been lookin' for you, captain," he announced. "Say, I hear the +chief o' the _Aphrodite's_ goin' to take a three months' lay-off +to get shet of his rheumatism. Is that straight?" + +"I believe it is, McGuffey." + +"Well, say, I'd like to have a chance to substitoot for him. You +know my capabilities, Hicks, an' if it would be agreeable to you +to have me for your chief your recommendation would go a long way +toward landin' me the job. I'd sure make them engines behave." + +"What vessel have you been on lately?" Hicks demanded cautiously, +for he knew Mr. McGuffey's reputation for non-reliability around +pay-day. + +"I been with that fresh water scavenger, Scraggs, in the _Maggie_ +for most a year." + +"Did you quit or did Scraggs fire you?" + +"He fired me," McGuffey replied honestly. "If he hadn't I'd have +quit, so it's a toss-up. Comin' in from Halfmoon Bay last night +we got lost in the fog an' piled up on the beach just below the +Cliff House----" + +"This is interesting," Jack Flaherty murmured. "You say she +walked ashore on you, McGuffey? Well, I'll be shot!" + +"She did. Scraggs blamed it on me, Flaherty. He said I didn't +obey the signals from the bridge, one word led to another, an' he +went dancin' mad an' ordered me off his ship. Well, it's his +ship--or it _was_ his ship, for I'll bet a dollar she's ground to +powder by now--so all I could do was obey. I hopped overboard +an' waded ashore. I suppose all my clothes an' things is gone by +now. I left everything aboard an' had to borrow this outfit +from Scab Johnny." He grinned pathetically. "So I guess you +understand, Captain Hicks, just how bad I need that job I spoke +about a minute ago." + +"I'll think it over, Mac, an' let you know," Hicks replied +evasively. + +Mr. McGuffey, sensing his defeat, retired forthwith to hide his +embarrassment and distress; as the door closed behind him, Hicks +and Flaherty faced each other. + +"Jack," quoth Dan Hicks, "can two towboat men, holdin' down two +hundred-dollar jobs an' presumed to have been out o' their +swaddlin' clothes for at least thirty years, afford to be laughed +off the San Francisco waterfront?" + +"I know one of them that can't, Dan. At the same time, can a rat +like Phineas P. Scraggs and a beachcomber like his mate Gibney +make a pair of star-spangled monkeys out of said two towboat men +and get away with it?" + +"They did that last night. Still, I've known monkeys that would +fight an' was human enough to settle a grudge. Follow me, Jack." + +Together they repaired to Jackson Street bulkhead. Sure enough +there lay the _Maggie_, rubbing her blistered sides against the +bulkhead. Captain Scraggs was nowhere in sight, but Mr. Gibney +was at the winch, swinging ashore the crates of vegetables which +The Squarehead and three longshoremen loaded into the cargo net. + +"We're outnumbered," Jack Flaherty whispered. + +"Let's wait until she's unloaded an' Gibney an' Scraggs are +aboard alone." + +They retired without having attracted the attention of Mr. +Gibney, and a few minutes later, Captain Scraggs came down the +bulkhead and sprang aboard. + +"Well?" his navigating officer queried. + +"Couldn't find him," Scraggs confessed. "Scab Johnny says he +loaned Mac a dry outfit an' the old boy dug out for breakfast at +seven o'clock an' ain't been around since." + +"Did you try the saloons, Scraggsy?" + +"I did. Likewise the cigar stands an' restaurants, an' the +readin' rooms of the Marine Engineers' Association." + +"Guess he's out hustlin' a job," Mr. Gibney sighed. He was filled +with vague forebodings of evil. "If you'd only listened to my +advice last night, Scraggsy--if you'd only listened," he mourned. + +"We'll cross our bridges when we come to them, Gib. Cheer up, my +boy, cheer up. I got a new engineer. He won't last, but he'll +last long enough for Mac to forget his grouch an' listen to +reason," and with this optimistic remark Captain Scraggs dropped +into the engine room to get up enough steam to keep the winch +working. + +Promptly at twelve o'clock, the longshoremen knocked off work for +the lunch hour and Neils Halvorsen drifted across the street to +cool his parched throat with steam beer. While waiting for +Scraggs to come up out of the engine room, and take him to +luncheon, Mr. Gibney sauntered aft and was standing gazing +reflectively upon a spot on the _Maggie's_ stern where the +hawsers had chafed away the paint, when suddenly big forebodings +of evil returned to him a thousand fold stronger than they had +been since Scraggs's return to the little ship. He glanced up and +beheld gazing down upon him Captains Jack Flaherty and Daniel +Hicks. Battle was imminent and the valiant Gibney knew it; +wherefore he determined instantly to meet it like a man. + +"Howdy, men," he saluted them. "Glad to have you aboard the +yacht," and he stepped backward to give himself fighting room. + +"Here's where we collect the towage bill on the S.S. _Yankee +Prince_," Dan Hicks informed him, and leaped from the bulkhead +straight down at Mr. Gibney. Jack Flaherty followed. Mr. Gibney +welcomed Captain Hicks with a terrific right swing, which missed; +before he could guard, Dan Hicks had planted left and right where +they would do the most good and Mr. Gibney went into a clinch to +save himself further punishment. + +"Scraggsy," he bawled, "Scraggsy-y-y! Help! Murder! It's Hicks +and Flaherty! Bring an ax!" + +He flung Dan Hicks at Jack Flaherty; as they collided he rushed +in and dealt each of them a powerful poke. However, Messrs. Hicks +and Flaherty were sizeable persons and while, individually, they +were no match for the tremendous Gibney, nevertheless what they +lacked in horsepower they made up in pugnacity--and the salt sea +seldom breeds a craven. Captain Scraggs thrust a frightened face +up through the engine-room hatch, but at sight of the battle +royal taking place on the deck aft, his blood turned to water and +he thought only of escape. To climb up to the bulkhead without +being seen was impossible, however, so, not knowing what else to +do, he stood on the iron ladder and gazed, pop-eyed with horror, +at the unequal contest. + +Backward and forward the tide of battle surged. For nearly three +minutes all Scraggs saw was an indistinct tangle of legs and +arms; then suddenly the combatants disengaged themselves and +Scraggs beheld Mr. Gibney lying prone upon the deck with a gory +face upturned to the foggy skies. When he essayed to rise and +continue the contest, Flaherty kicked him in the ribs and Hicks +cursed them; so Mr. Gibney, realizing that all was over, beat the +deck with his hand in token of surrender. Hicks and Flaherty +waited until the fallen gladiator had recovered sufficient breath +to sit up; then they pounced upon him, lifted him to the rail, +and dropped him overboard. Captain Scraggs shrieked in protest at +this added touch of barbarity, and Dan Hicks, turning, beheld +Scraggsy's white face at the hatch. + +"You're next, Scraggs," he called cheerfully, and turned to peer +over the rail. Mr. Gibney had emerged on the surface and was +swimming slowly away toward an adjacent float where small boats +landed. He climbed wearily up on the float and sat there, gazing +across at Hicks and Flaherty without animus, for to his way of +thinking he had gotten off lightly, considering the enormity of +his offense. The least he had anticipated was three months in +hospital, and so grateful was he to Hicks and Flaherty for their +great forbearance that he strangled a resolve to "lay" for Hicks +and Flaherty and thrash them individually--something he was fully +able to do--and forgot his aches and pains in a lively interest +as to the fate of Captain Scraggs at the hands of the towboat +men. He was aware that Captain Scraggs had failed ignominiously +to rally to the Gibney appeal to repel boarders, and in his own +expressive terminology he hoped that what the enemy would do to +the dastard would be "a-plenty." + +The enemy, meanwhile, had turned their attention upon Scraggs, +who had dodged below like a frightened rabbit and sought shelter +in the shaft alley. He had sufficient presence of mind, as he +dashed through the engine room, to snatch a large monkey wrench +off the tool rack on the wall, and, kneeling just inside the +alley entrance he turned at bay and threatened the invaders with +this weapon. Thereupon Hicks and Flaherty pelted him with lumps +of coal, but the sole result of this assault was to force Scraggs +further back into the shaft alley and out of range. + +The towboat men held a council of war and decided to drown +Scraggs out. Dan Hicks ran up on deck and returned dragging +the deck fire hose behind him. He thrust the brass nozzle into +the shaft alley entrance and invited Scraggs to surrender +unconditionally or be drowned like a kitten. Scraggs, knowing his +own fire hose, defied them, so Dan Hicks started the pump while +Flaherty turned on the water. Instantly the hose burst up on deck +and Scraggs's jeers of triumph filled the engine room. The enemy +was about to draw lots to see which one of the two should crawl +into the shaft alley and throw a cupful of chloride of lime (for +they found a can of this in the engine room) in Captain Scraggs's +face, when a shadow darkened the hatch and Mr. Bartholomew +McGuffey demanded belligerently: "What's goin' on down there? Who +the devil's takin' liberties in my engine room?" + +Dan Hicks explained the situation and the just cause for drastic +action which they held against the fugitive in the shaft alley. +Mr. McGuffey considered a few moments and made his decision. + +"If what you say is true--an' I ain't in position to dispute you, +not havin' been present when you hauled the _Maggie_ off the +beach, I don't blame you for feeling sore. What I do blame you +for, though, is carryin' the war aboard the _Maggie_. If you +wanted to whale Gib an' Scraggsy you should ha' laid for 'em on +the dock. Under the circumstances, you make this a pers'nal +affair, an' as a member o' the crew o' the _Maggie_ I got to take +a hand an' defend my skipper agin youse two. Fact is, gentlemen, +I got a date to lick him first for what he done to me last night. +Howsumever, that's a private grouch. The fact remains that you +two jumped my pal Bert Gibney an' licked him somethin' scandalous. +Hicks, I'll take you on first. Come up out of there, you swab, +and fight. Flaherty, you stay below until I send for you; if you +try to climb up an' horn in on my fight with Hicks, Gibney'll brain +you." + +A faint cheer came from the shaft alley. "Good old Mac. +At-a-boy!" + +"You're on, McGuffey. Nobody ever had to beg me to fight him," +Dan Hicks replied cordially, and climbed to the deck. To his +great surprise, Mr. McGuffey winked at him and drew him off to +the stern of the _Maggie_. + +"There'll be no fight," he declared, "although we'll thud around +on deck an' yell a couple o' times to make Scraggs think we're +goin' to it. He figgers that by the time I've fought you an' +Flaherty I won't be fit for combat with him, even if I lick you +both; he's got it all figgered out that I'll wait a couple o' +days before tacklin' him, an' he thinks my temper'll cool by that +time an' he can argy me out o' my revenge. Savey?" + +"I twig." + +Mr. Gibney had returned to the _Maggie_ by this time and he now +took his station at the engine-room hatch and growled at Flaherty +and abused him. "Keep up your courage, Scraggsy," he called, as +Hicks and McGuffey pranced around the deck in simulated combat. +"Mac's whalin' the whey out o' Hicks an' Hicks couldn't touch him +with a buggy whip." + +At the conclusion of the three minutes of horse-play, Mr. +McGuffey came to the hatch again. "Up with you, Flaherty," he +called loud enough for Captain Scraggs to hear, "up with you +before I go down after you." + +Flaherty was about to possess himself of a hatchet when the face +of his confrère, Dan Hicks, appeared over McGuffey's shoulder and +grinned knowingly at him. Immediately, Flaherty hurled defiance +at his enemies and came up on deck, and once more to Captain +Scraggs came the dull sounds of apparent conflict overhead. + +Suddenly a cheer broke from Mr. Gibney. "All off an' gone to +Coopertown, Scraggsy," he shouted. "Come up an' take a look at +the fallen." + +Out of the shaft alley came Scraggs with a rush, tossing his +wrench aside the better to climb the ladder. He was half way up +when Mr. Gibney reached down a great hand, grasped him by the +collar, and whisked him out on deck with a single jerk. Here, to +his horror, he found himself confronted by a singularly scathless +trio who grinned triumphantly at him. + +"Seein' is believin', Scraggs," Dan Hicks informed him. "That's a +lesson you taught me an' Flaherty last night, but evidently you +don't profit by experience. You're too miserable to beat up, but +just to show you it ain't possible for a dirty bay pirate like +you to skin the likes o' me an' Flaherty we purpose hangin' the +seat o' your pants up around your coat collar. Face him about, +Gibney." + +Jack Flaherty raised his voice in song: + + Glorious! Glorious! + One kick a piece for the four of us! + +With a quick twist, Mr. Gibney presented Captain Scraggs for his +penance; Flaherty and McGuffey followed Dan Hicks promptly and +Captain Scraggs screamed at every kick. And now came Mr. Gibney's +turn. "For failin' to stand up like a man, Scraggsy, an' battle +Hicks an' Flaherty," he informed the culprit, and tossed him over +to McGuffey to be held in position for him. + +"Don't, Gib. Please don't," Scraggs wailed. "It ain't comin' to +me from you. I never heard you callin' a-tall. Honest, I never, +Gib. Have mercy, Adelbert. You saved the _Maggie_ last night an' +a quarter interest in her is yours--if you don't kick me!" + +Mr. Gibney paused, foot in mid-air; surveyed the _Maggie_ from +stem to stern, hesitated, licked his lower lip, and glanced at +the common enemy. For an instant it came into his mind to call +upon the valiant and able McGuffey to support him in a fierce +counter attack upon Hicks and Flaherty. Only for an instant, +however; then his sense of fair play conquered. + +"No, Scraggsy," he replied sadly. "She ain't worth it, an' your +duplicity can't be overlooked. If there's anything I hate it's +duplicity. Here goes, Scraggsy--and get yourself a new navigatin' +officer." + +Scraggs twisted and flinched instantly, and Mr. Gibney's great +boot missed the mark. "Ah," he breathed, "I'll give you an extra +for that." + +"Don't! Please don't," Scraggs howled. "Lay off'n me an' I'll put +in a new boiler an' have the compass adjusted." + +The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Mr. McGuffey swung +him clear of Mr. Gibney's wrath. "Swear it," he hissed. "Raise +your right hand an' swear it--an' I'll protect you from Gib." + +Captain Scraggs raised a trembling right hand and swore it. "I'll +get a new fire hose an' fire buckets; I'll fix the ash hoist and +run the bedbugs an' cockroaches out of her," he added. + +"You hear that, Gib?" McGuffey pleaded. "Have a heart." + +"Not unless he gives her a coat of paint an' quits bickerin' +about the overtime, Bart." + +"I promise," Scraggs answered him. "Pervided," he added, "you an' +dear ol' Mac promises to stick by the ship." + +"It's a whack," yelled McGuffey joyfully, and whirling, struck +Dan Hicks a mighty blow on the jaw. "Off our ship, you hoodlums." +He favoured Jack Flaherty with a hearty thump and swung again on +Dan Hicks. "At 'em, Scraggsy. Here's where you prove to Gib +whether you're a man--thump--or a mouse--thump--or a--thump, +thump--bobtailed--thump--rat." + +Dan Hicks had been upset, and as he sprawled on his back on deck, +he appeared to Captain Scraggs to offer at least an even chance +for victory. So Scraggs, mustering his courage, flew at poor +Hicks tooth and toenail. His best was not much but it served to +keep Dan Hicks off Mr. McGuffey while the latter was disposing of +Jack Flaherty, which he did, via the rail, even as the towboat +men had disposed of Mr. Gibney. Dan Hicks followed Flaherty, and +the crew of the _Maggie_ crowded the rail as the enemy swam to +the float, crawled up on it and departed, vowing vengeance. + +"All's well that ends well, gentlemen," Mr. McGuffey announced. +"Scraggsy's goin' to buy a drink an' the past is buried an' +forgotten. Didn't old Scraggsy put up a fight, Gib?" + +"No, but he tried to, Mac. I'll tell the world he did," and he +thrust out the hand of forgiveness to Scraggsy, who, realizing he +had come very handsomely out of an unlovely situation, clasped +the hands of Mr. Gibney and McGuffey and burst into tears. While +Mr. McGuffey thumped him between the shoulder blades and cursed +him affectionately, Mr. Gibney retired to change into dry +garments; when he reappeared the trio went ashore for the +promised grog and a luncheon at the skipper's expense. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +A week had elapsed and nothing of an eventful nature had +transpired to disturb the routine of life aboard the _Maggie_, +until Bartholomew McGuffey, having heard certain waterfront +whispers, considered it the part of prudence to lay his +information before Scraggs and Mr. Gibney. + +"Look here, Scraggs," he began briskly. "It's all fine an' dandy +to promise me a new boiler, but when do I git it?" + +"Why, jes' as soon as we can get this glut o' freight behind us, +Bart, my boy. The way it's pilin' up on us now, what with this +bein' the height o' the busy season an' all, it stands to reason +we got to wait a while for dull times before layin' the _Maggie_ +up." + +"What's the matter with orderin' the new boiler now so's to have +it ready to chuck into her over the week-end," McGuffey +suggested. "There needn't be no great delay." + +"As owner o' the _Maggie_," Scraggs reminded him with just a +touch of asperity, "you've got to leave these details to me. +You've managed with the old boiler this long, so it 'pears to me +you might be patient an' bear with it a mite longer, Bart." + +"Oh, I ain't tryin' to be disagreeable, Scraggs, only it sort o' +worries me to have to go along without bein' able to use our +whistle. We got a reputation for joggin' right along, mindin' +our business an' never replyin' to them vessels that whistle us +they're goin' to pass to port or starboard, as the case may be. +Of course when they whistle, we know what they're goin' to do, +but the trouble is _they_ don't know what we're goin' to do. Dan +Hicks an' Jack Flaherty's been makin' a quiet brag that one o' +these days or nights they'll take advantage o' this well-known +peculiarity of ourn to collide with the _Maggie_ an' sink us, and +in that case we wouldn't have no defense an' no come-back in a +court of law. Me, I don't feel like drownin' in that engine room +or gettin' cut in half by the bow o' the _Bodega_ or the +_Aphrodite_. Consequently, you'd better ship that new boiler you +promised me an' save funeral expenses. We just naturally got to +commence whistlin', Scraggsy." + +"We'll commence it when business slacks up," Scraggs decided with +finality. + +Mr. Gibney who, up to this moment, had said nothing, now fixed +Captain Scraggs with a piercing glance and threatened him with an +index finger across the cabin table. "We don't have to wait for +the slack season to have that there compass adjusted an' paint +the topsides o' the _Maggie_," he reminded Scraggs. "As for her +upper works, I'll paint them myself on Sundays, if you'll dig up +the paint. How about that program?" + +"We'll do it all at once when we lay up to install the boiler," +Scraggs protested. He glanced at his watch. "Sufferin' sailor!" +he cried in simulated distress. "Here it's one o'clock an' I +ain't collected a dollar o' the freight money from the last +voyage. I must beat it." + +When Captain Scraggs had "beaten it," Gibney and McGuffey +exchanged expressive glances. "He's runnin' out on us," McGuffey +complained. + +"Even so, Bart, even so. Therefore, the thing for us to do is to +run out on him. In other words, we'll work a month, save our +money, an' then, without a word o' complaint or argyment, we'll +walk out." + +"Oh, I ain't exactly broke, Gib. I got eighty-five dollars." + +"Then," quoth Gibney decisively, "we'll go on strike to-night. +Scraggsy'll be stuck in port a week before he can get another +engineer an' another navigatin' officer, me an' you bein' the +only two natural-born fools in San Francisco an' ports adjacent, +an' before three days have passed he'll be huntin' us up to +compromise." + +"I don't want no compromise. What I want is a new boiler." + +"You'll git it. We'll make him order the paint an' the boiler an' +pay for both in advance before we'll agree to go back to work." + +The engineer nodded his approval and after sealing their pact +with a hearty handshake, they turned to and commenced discharging +the _Maggie_. When Captain Scraggs returned to the little steamer +shortly after five o'clock, to his great amazement, he discovered +Mr. Gibney and McGuffey dressed in their other suits--including +celluloid collars and cuffs. + +"The cargo's out, Scraggsy, my son, the decks has been washed +down an' everything in my department is shipshape." Thus Mr. +Gibney. + +"Likewise in mine," McGuffey added. + +"Consequently," Mr. Gibney concluded, "we're quittin' the +_Maggie_ an' if it's all the same to you we'll have our time." + +"My _dear_ Gib. Why, whatever's come over you two boys?" + +"Stow your chatter, Scraggs. Shell out the cash. The only +explanation we'll make is that a burned child dreads the fire. +You've fooled us once in the matter o' that new boiler an' the +paintin', an' we're not goin' to give you a second chance. Come +through--or take the consequences. We'll sail no more with a liar +an' a fraud." + +"Them's hard words, Mr. Gibney." + +"The truth is allers bitter," McGuffey opined. + +Captain Scraggs paused to consider the serious predicament which +confronted him. It was Saturday night. He knew Mr. McGuffey to be +the possessor of more money than usual and if he could assure +himself that this reserve should be dissipated before Monday +morning he was aware, from experience, that the strike would be +broken by Tuesday at the latest. And he could afford that delay. +He resolved, therefore, on diplomacy. + +"Well, I'm sorry," he answered with every appearance of +contrition. "You fellers got me in the nine-hole an' I can't help +myself. At the same time, I appreciate fully your p'int of view, +while realizin' that I can't convince you o' mine. So we won't +have no hard feelin's at partin', boys, an' to show you I'm a +sport I'll treat to a French dinner an' a motion picture show +afterward. Further, I shall regard a refusal of said invite as a +pers'nal affront." + +"By golly, you're gittin' sporty in your old age," the engineer +declared. "I'll go you, Scraggs. How about you, Gib?" + +"I accept with thanks, Scraggsy, old tarpot. Personally, I +maintain that seamen should leave their troubles aboard ship." + +"That's the sperrit I appreciate, boys. Come to the cabin an' +I'll pay you off. Then wait a coupler minutes till I shift into +my glad rags an' away we'll go, like Paddy Ford's goat--on our +own hook." + +"Old Scraggsy's as cunnin' as a pet fox, ain't he?" the new +navigating officer whispered, as Scraggs departed for his +stateroom to change into his other suit. "He's goin' to blow +himself on us to-night, thinkin' to soften our hard resolution. +We'll fool him. Take all he gives us, but stand pat, Bart." + +Bart nodded. His was one of those sturdy natures that could +always be depended upon to play the game, win, lose, or draw. + +As a preliminary move, Captain Scraggs declared in favour of a +couple of cocktails to whet their appetites for the French +dinner, and accordingly the trio repaired to an adjacent saloon +and tucked three each under their belts--all at Captain Scraggs's +expense. When he proposed a fourth, Mr. Gibney's perfect +sportsmanship caused him to protest, and reluctantly Captain +Scraggs permitted Gibney to buy. Scraggs decided to have a cigar, +however, instead of another Martini. The ethics of the situation +then indicated that McGuffey should "set 'em up," which he did +over Captain Scraggs's protest--and again the wary Scraggs called +for a cigar, alleging as an excuse for his weakness that for +years three cocktails before dinner had been his absolute limit. +A fourth cocktail on an empty stomach, he declared, would kill +the evening for him. + +The fourth cocktail having been disposed of, the barkeeper, +sensing further profit did he but play his part judiciously, +insisted that his customers have a drink on the house. Captain +Scraggs immediately protested that their party was degenerating +into an endurance contest--and called for another cigar. He now +had three cigars, so he gave one each to his victims and forcibly +dragged them away from the bar and up to a Pine Street French +restaurant, the proprietor of which was an Italian. Captain +Scraggs was for walking the six blocks to this restaurant, but +Mr. McGuffey had acquired, on six cocktails, what is colloquially +described as "a start," and insisted upon chartering a taxicab. + +But why descend to sordid and vulgar details? Suffice that when +the artful Scraggs, pretending to be overcome by his potations +and very ill into the bargain, begged to be delivered back aboard +the _Maggie_, Messrs. McGuffey and Gibney loaded him into a +taxicab and sent him there, while they continued their search for +excitement. Where and how they found it requires no elucidation +here; it is sufficient to state that it was expensive, for when +men of the Gibney and McGuffey type have once gotten a fair start +naught but financial dissolution can stop them. + +On Monday morning, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey awoke in Scab +Johnny's boarding house. Mr. Gibney awoke first, by reason of the +fact that his stomach hammered at the door of his soul and bade +him be up and doing. While his head ached slightly from the fiery +usquebaugh of the Bowhead saloon, he craved a return to a solid +diet, so for several minutes he lay supine, conjuring in his +agile brain ways and means of supplying this need in the absence +of ready cash. "I'll have to hock my sextant," was the conclusion +at which he presently arrived. Then he commenced to heave and +surge until presently he found himself clear of the blankets and +seated in his underclothes on the side of the bed. Here, he +indulged in a series of scratchings and yawnings, after which he +disposed at a gulp of most of the water designed for his +matutinal ablutions. Ten minutes later he took his sextant under +his arm and departed for a pawnshop in lower Market Street. From +the pawnshop he returned to Scab Johnny's with eight dollars in +his pocket, routed out the contrite McGuffey, and carried the +latter off to ham and eggs. + +They felt better after breakfast and for the space of an hour +lolled at the table, discussing their adventures of the past +forty-eight hours. "Well, there's one thing certain," McGuffey +concluded, "an' that thing is sure a cinch. Our strike has +petered out. I'm not busted, but I ain't heeled to continue on +strike very long, so let's mosey along down to the _Maggie's_ +dock an' see how Scraggsy's gettin' along. If he has our places +filled we won't say nothin', but if he hasn't got 'em filled +he'll say somethin'." + +"That's logic, Bart," Gibney agreed, and forthwith they set out +to interview Captain Scraggs. The owner of the _Maggie_ greeted +them cheerily, but after discussing generalities for half an +hour, Scraggs failed to make overtures, whereupon Mr. Gibney +announced casually that he guessed he and Mac would be on their +way. "Same here, boys," Captain Scraggs piped breezily. "I got a +new mate an' a new engineer comin' aboard at ten o'clock an' we +sail at twelve." + +"Well, we'll see you occasionally," Mr. Gibney said at parting. + +"Oh, sure. Don't be strangers. You're always welcome aboard the +old _Maggie_," came the careless rejoinder. + +Somewhat crestfallen, the striking pair repaired to the Bowhead +saloon to discuss the situation over a glass of beer. However, +Mr. Gibney's spirits never dropped below zero while he had one +nickel to rub against another; hence such slight depression as he +felt was due to a feeling that Captain Scraggs had basely +swindled him and McGuffey. He was disappointed in Scraggs and +said as much. "However, Bart," he concluded, "we'll never say +'die' while our money holds out, and in the meantime our luck may +have changed. Let's scatter around and try to locate some kind of +a job; then when them new employees o' Scraggsy quit or get +fired--which'll be after about two voyages--an' the old man comes +round holdin' out the olive branch o' peace, we'll give him the +horselaugh." + +Three days of diligent search failed to uncover the coveted job +for either, however, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. +Gibney announced that it would be necessary to "raise the wind," +if the pair would breakfast. "It'll probably be a late breakfast," +he added. + +"How're we goin' to git it, Gib?" + +"We must test our credit, Mac. You go down to the rooms o' the +Marine Engineers' Association and kick somebody's eye out for +five dollars. I'd get out an' do some rustlin' myself, but I +ain't got no credit. When a man that's been a real sailor sinks +as low as I've sunk--from clipper ships to mate on a rotten +little bumboat--people don't respect him none. But it's different +with a marine engineer. You might be first assistant on a P.M. +boat to-day an' second assistant on a bay tug to-morrow but +nothin's thought of it." + +"What're we goin' to do with the five dollars?" + +"Well, we might invest it in a lottery ticket an' pray for the +capital prize--but we won't. Ain't it dawned on you, Mac, that +it's up to you an' me to find the steamer _Maggie_ an' git back +to work quick an' no back talk? Scraggs has new men in our jobs +an' these new men has got to be got rid of, otherwise there's no +tellin' how long they'll last. Naturally, this here riddance can +be accomplished easier an' without police interference on the +dock at Halfmoon Bay. We got to walk twenty miles to Halfmoon Bay +to connect with the _Maggie_ an' the five dollars is to keep us +from starvin' to death in case we miss him an' have to walk back +or wait for the return trip o' the _Maggie_." + +"But suppose, after we've walked all that distance, we find +Scraggs won't take us back? Then what?" + +"Why, of course he'll take us back, Bart. He'll be glad to after +we've finished with them scabs that's took our jobs an' are doin' +us out of an honest livin'. He won't be able to work the _Maggie_ +back to San Francisco alone, will he?" + +McGuffey nodded his approbation, and set forth to borrow the +needful five dollars. Whatever the reason, he was not successful, +and when they met again at Scab Johnny's, Mr. Gibney employed his +eloquence to obtain credit from that cold-hearted publican, but +all in vain. Scab Johnny had been too long operating on a cash +basis with Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey to risk adding to an old +unpaid bill. + +They retired to the sidewalk to hold a caucus and Mr. McGuffey +located a dime which had dropped down inside the lining of his +coat. "That settles it," Gibney declared. "We've skipped two +meals but I'll be durned if we skip another. We'll ride out to +the San Mateo county line on the trolley with that dime an' then +hoof it over the hills to Halfmoon Bay. Scraggs won't git away +from the dock here until after twelve o'clock, so we know he'll +lie at Halfmoon Bay all night. If we start now we'll connect with +him in time for supper. Eh, Bart?" + +"A twenty-mile hike on a tee-totally empty stomach, with a battle +royal on our hands the minute we arrive, weak an' destitoote, +ain't quite my idea o' enjoyment, Gib, but I'll go you if it +kills me. Let's up hook an' away. I'm for gittin' back to work +an' usin' moral persuasion to git that new boiler." + +They took a hitch in their belts and started. From the point at +which they left the trolley to their journey's end was a stiff +six-hour jaunt, up hill and down dale, and long before the march +was half completed the unaccustomed exercise had developed sundry +galls and blisters on the Gibney heels, while the soles of poor +McGuffey's feet were so hot he voiced the apprehension that they +might burn to a crisp at any moment and drop off by the wayside. +Men less hardy and less desperate would have abandoned the trip +before ten miles had been covered. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The crew of the _Maggie_ had ceased working cargo for the day and +Captain Scraggs was busy cooking supper in the galley when the +two prodigals, exhausted, crippled, and repentant, came to the +door and coughed propitiously, but Captain Scraggs pretended not +to hear, and went on with his task of turning fried eggs with an +artistic flip of the frying pan. So Mr. Gibney spoke, struggling +bravely to appear nonchalant. With his eyes on the fried eggs and +his mouth threatening to slaver at the glorious sight, he said: + +"Hello, there, Scraggsy, old tarpot. How goes it with the owner +o' the fast an' commodious steamer _Maggie_? Git that consignment +o' post-holes aboard yet?" + +Mr. Gibney's honest face beamed expectantly, for he was +particularly partial to fried eggs. As for his companion in +distress, anything edible and which would serve to nullify the +gnawing at his internal economy would be welcome. Inasmuch as +Captain Scraggs did not readily reply to Mr. Gibney's salutation, +McGuffey decided to be more emphatic and to the point, albeit in +a joking way. + +"Hurry up with them eggs, Scraggs," he rumbled. "Me an' Gib's +walked down from the city an' we're hungry. Jawn D. Rockerfeller'd +give a million dollars for my appetite. Fry mine hard, Scraggsy. +I want somethin' solid." + +Scraggs looked up and his cold green eyes were agleam with malice +and triumph as they rested on the unhappy pair. However, he +smiled--a smile reminiscent of a cat that has just eaten a +canary--and cold chills ran down the backs of the exhausted +travellers. "Hello, boys," he piped. He turned from them to toss +a few strips of bacon into the grease with the eggs; then he +peered into the coffee pot and set it on the back of the galley +range to simmer, before facing his guests again. His attitude was +so significant that Mr. Gibney queried mournfully: + +"Well, Phineas, you old vegetable hound, ain't you glad to see +us?" + +"Certainly, Gib, certainly. I'm deeply appreciative of the honour +o' this visit, although I'm free to say we're hardly prepared for +company. The stores is kind o' low an' I did just figger on +havin' enough, by skimpin' a little, to last me an' my crew until +we get back to San Francisco. I'd hate to put 'em on short +rations, on account of unexpected company, because it gives the +ship a bad name. On the other hand, it's agin my disposition to +appear small over a few fried eggs, while on still another hand, +I realize you two got to get fed." He stepped to the door and +pointed. "See that little shack about two points to starboard o' +the warehouse? Well, there's a Dago livin' there an' he'll fix +you two boys up a bully meal for fifty cents each." + +"Scraggsy, ol' hunks, if three-ringed circuses was sellin' for +six bits a throw me an' Bart couldn't buy a whisker from a dead +tiger." The dreadful admission brought a dull flush to Mr. +Gibney's already rubicund countenance. + +"Shell out a coupler bucks, Scraggsy," McGuffey pleaded. "Me an' +Gib's so empty we rattle when we walk." + +"I ain't got no money to loan you two that ups an leaves me in +the lurch, without no notice," Scraggs flared at them. "If you +two stiffs ain't able to support yourselves you'd ought to apply +for admission to the poorhouse or the Home For the Feeble-minded." + +Mr. Gibney smiled fatly. "Scraggsy! You're kiddin' us." + +"Not by forty fathom, I ain't." + +"Phineas, we just _got_ t' eat," McGuffey declared ominously. + +"Eat an' be dog-goned," the skipper snarled. "I ain't a-tryin' to +prevent you. Are you two suckin' infants that I got to _feed_ +you? There's plenty o' fresh vegetables out on deck. Green peas +ain't to be sneezed at, an' as for French carrots, science'll +tell you there's ninety-two per cent. more nutriment in a carrot +than----" + +Mr. Gibney halted this dissertation with upraised hand. "Scraggs, +it's about time you found out I ain't no potato bug, an' if you +think McGuffey's a coddlin' moth you're wrong agin. Fork over +them eggs an' the coffee an' a coupler slices o' dummy an' be +quick about it or I'll bust your bob-stay." + +"Get off my ship, you murderin' pirates," Scraggs screamed. + +"Not till we've et," the practical-minded engineer retorted. +"Even then we won't get off. Me an' Gib ain't got any feet left, +Scraggs. If we had to walk another step we'd be crippled for +life. Fry my eggs hard, I tell you." + +"This is piracy, men. It's robbery on the high seas, an' I can +put you over the road for it," Scraggs warned them. "What's more, +I'll do it." + +"The eggs, Scraggsy," boomed Mr. Gibney, "the eggs." + + * * * * * + +Half an hour later as the pirates, replete with provender, sat +dangling their damaged underpinning over the stern railing where +the gentle wavelets laved and cooled them, Captain Scraggs +accompanied by the new navigating officer, the new engineer, and +The Squarehead, came aft. The cripples looked up, surveyed their +successors in office, and found the sight far from reassuring. + +"I've already ordered you two tramps off'n my ship," Scraggs +began formally, "an' I hereby, in the presence o' reliable +witnesses, repeats the invitation. You ain't wanted; your room's +preferred to your comp'ny, an' by stayin' a minute longer, in +defiance o' my orders, you're layin' yourselves liable to a +charge o' piracy. It'd be best for you two boys to mosey along +now an' save us all a lot o' trouble." + +Mr. Gibney carefully laid his pipe aside and stood up. He was +quite an imposing spectacle in his bare feet, with his trousers +rolled up to his great knees, thereby revealing his scarlet +flannel underdrawers. With a stifled groan, McGuffey rose and +stood beside his partner, and Mr. Gibney spoke: + +"Scraggs, be reasonable. We ain't lookin' for trouble; not +because we don't relish it, for we do where a couple o' scabs is +concerned, but for the simple reason that we ain't in the best o' +condition to receive it, although if you force it on us we'll do +our best. If you chuck us off the _Maggie_ an' force us to walk +back to San Francisco, we're goin' to be reported as missin'. +Honest, now, Scraggsy, old side-winder, you ain't goin' to maroon +us here, alone with the vegetables, are you?" + +"You done me dirt. You quit me cold. Git out. Two can play at a +dirty game an' every dog must have his day. This is my day, Gib. +Scat!" + +"Pers'nally," McGuffey announced quietly, "I prefer to die aboard +the _Maggie_, if I have to. This ain't movin' day with B. +McGuffey, Esquire." + +"Them's my sentiments, too, Scraggsy." + +"Then defend yourselves. Come on, lads. Bear a hand an' we'll +bounce these muckers overboard." The Squarehead hung back having +no intention of waging war upon his late comrades, but the +engineer and the new navigating officer stepped briskly forward, +for they were about to fight for their jobs. Mr. Gibney halted +the advance by lifting both great hands in a deprecatory manner. + +"For Heaven's sake, Scraggsy, have a heart. Don't force us to +murder you. If we're peaceable, what's to prevent you from givin' +us a passage back to San Francisco, where we're known an' where +we'll have at least a fightin' chance to git somethin' to eat +occasionally." + +"You know mighty well what's to prevent me, Gib. I ain't got no +passenger license, an' I'll be keel-hauled an' skull-dragged if I +fall for your cute little game, my son. I ain't layin' myself +liable to a fine from the Inspectors an' maybe have my ticket +book took away to boot." + +"You could risk your danged old ticket. It ain't no use to you on +salt water anyhow," McGuffey jeered insultingly. + +"We can work our passage an' who's to know the difference, +Scraggsy?" + +"You for one an' McGuffey for two. You'd have the bulge on me +forever after. You could blackmail me until I dassen't call my +ship my own." + +"Don't worry, you snipe. Nobody else will ever hanker to own +her." Another insult from McGuffey. Having made up his mind that +a fight was inevitable, the honest fellow was above pleading for +mercy. + +"Enough of this gab," Mr. Gibney roared. "My patience is +exhausted. I'm dog-tired an' I'm goin' to have peace if I have to +fight for it. Me an' Bart stays aboard the steamer _Maggie_ until +she gets back to Frisco town or until we're hove overboard in the +interim by the weight of numbers. An' if any man, or set o' male +bipeds that calls theirselves men, is so foolish as to try to +evict us from this packet, then all I got to say is that they're +triflin' with death." (Here Mr. Gibney thrust out his superb +chest and thumped it with his horny fists, after the fashion of +an enraged gorilla. This was sheer bluff, however, for while +there was not a drop of craven blood in the Gibney veins, he +realized that his footwork, in the event of battle, would be +sadly deficient and he hesitated to wage a losing fight.) "I got +my arms left, even if my feet is on the fritz, Scraggs," he +continued, "an' if you start anything I'll hug you an' your crew +to death. I'm a rip-roarin' grizzly bear once I'm started an' +there's such a thing as drivin' a man to desperation." + +The bluff worked! Captain Scraggs turned to his retainers and +with a condescending and paternal smile, said: "Boys, let's give +the dumb fools their own way. If they insist upon takin' forcible +possession o' my ship on the high seas, there's only one name for +the crime--an' that's piracy, punishable by hangin' from the +yard-arm. We'll just let 'em stay aboard an' turn 'em over to the +police when we git back to the city." + +He started for his cabin and the crew, vastly relieved, followed +him. The pirates once more sat down and permitted their hot feet +to loll overboard. + +"It's cold down here nights, Gib," McGuffey opined presently. +"Where're we goin' to sleep?" + +"In our old berths, of course." The success of his bluff had +operated on Gibney like a tonic. "Hop into your shoes, Bart, an' +we'll snake them two scabs out o' their berths in jig time." + +"I'm dodgin' fights to-night, Gib. Let's borrow a blanket or two +from The Squarehead an' curl up on deck. It'll be warm over the +engine-room gratin'." + +Mr. Gibney yawned. "I guess you're right, Bart. While you're at +it, make Scraggs come through with a blanket an' an overcoat for +a pillow. Run up an' threaten him. He'll wilt." + +So McGuffey staggered forward. What arguments he used shall not +be recorded here. Suffice it, he returned with what he went +after. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The pirates were early astir; so early, in fact, that long before +Captain Scraggs and his crew appeared on deck, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey had quietly cooked breakfast in the galley. They ate six +eggs each and consumed the only loaf of bread aboard, for which +act of vandalism they were rewarded half an hour later by the +sight of Captain Scraggs dancing on a new brown derby. + +"It's a wonder that bird wouldn't get him a soft hat to do his +jumpin' on," McGuffey remarked. "He's ruined enough good hats to +have paid for the new boiler. Yes, sir, whenever ol' Scraggsy +gets mad he most certainly gets hoppin' mad." + +"It'll soak into his head after a while that us two mean +business, Mac, an' he'll get sensible an' fire them outsiders. +I'm lookin' for him to make peace before noon." + +About ten o'clock that morning the little vessel completed taking +on her cargo, the lines were cast off, and the homeward voyage +was begun. As she hauled away from the wharf, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey might have been observed seated on the stern bitts +smoking, the picture of contentment. Pirates under the law they +might be, but of this they knew nothing and cared less. With +them, self-preservation was, indeed, the first law of human +nature. + +They were still seated on the stern bitts as the _Maggie_ came +abreast the Point Montara fog signal station, when Mr. Gibney +observed a long telescope poking out the side window of the pilot +house. "Hello," he muttered, "Scraggsy's seein' things," and +following the direction in which the telescope was pointing he +made out a large bark standing in dangerously close to the beach. +In fact, the breakers were tumbling in a long white streak over +the reefs less than a quarter of a mile from her. She was lying +stern on to the beach, with one anchor out. + +In an instant all was excitement aboard the _Maggie_. "That looks +like an elegant little pick-up. She's plumb deserted," Scraggs +shouted to his navigating officer. "I don't see any distress +signals flyin' an' yet she's got an anchor out while her canvas +is hangin' so-so." + +"If she had any hands aboard, you'd think they'd have sense +enough to clew up her courses," the mate answered. + +At this juncture, Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, unable to restrain +their curiosity, and forgetful of the fact that they were pirates +with very sore feet, came running over the deckload and invaded +the pilot house. "Gimme that glass, you sock-eyed salmon, you," +Gibney ordered Scraggs, and tore the telescope from the owner's +hands. "There ain't enough real seamanship in the crew o' this +craft to tax the mental make-up of a Chinaman. Hum--m--m! +American bark _Chesapeake_. Starboard anchor out; yards braced +a-box; royals an' to'-gallan'-s'ls clewed up; courses hangin' in +the buntlines an' clew garnets, Stars-an'-Stripes upside down." + +He lowered the glass and roared at Neils Halvorsen, who was at +the wheel, "Starboard your helm, Squarehead. Don't be afraid of +her. We're goin' over there an' hook on to her. I should say she +is a pick-up." + +Mr. Gibney had abdicated as a pirate and assumed command of the +S.S. _Maggie_. With the memory of a scant breakfast upon him, +however, Captain Scraggs was still harsh and bitter. + +"Git out o' my pilot house an' aft where the police can find you +when they come lookin' for you," he screeched. "Don't you give no +orders to my deckhand." + +"Stow it, you ass. Don't fly in the face of your own interests, +Scraggsy, you bandit. Yonder's a prize, but it'll require +imagination to win it; consequently you need Adelbert P. Gibney +in your business, if you're contemplatin' hookin' on to that +bark, snakin' her into San Francisco Bay, an' libelin' her for +ten thousand dollars' salvage. You an' me an' Mac an' The +Squarehead here have sailed this strip o' coast too long together +to quarrel over the first good piece o' salvage we ever run into. +Come, Scraggsy. Be decent, forget the past, an' let's dig in +together." + +"If I had a gun," Scraggs cried, "I do believe I'd shoot you. Git +out o' my pilot house, I tell you, or I'll stick a knife in you. +I'll carve your gizzard, you black-guardin' pirate." + +Inasmuch as Scraggs really did produce a knife, Mr. Gibney backed +prudently away. "You're mighty quick to let bygones be bygones +when you see me with a fortune in sight with you wantin' to horn +in on the deal, ain't you?" the owner jeered. "You must think I'm +a born fool." + +"I don't think it a-tall. I know it. You're worse'n a born fool. +You're sufferin' from acquired idiocy, which is the mental state +folks find themselves in when they refuse to learn by experience +an' profit by example. I've always claimed you ain't got no more +imagination than a chicken, an' I'll prove it to you right now. +Here you are, braggin' about how you're goin' to salvage that +bark but givin' no thought whatever to the means to be employed. +How're you goin' to pull her off? If the _Maggie_ ever had a +towline aboard I never seen it. Perhaps, however, you're +figgerin' on poolin' all the shoestrings aboard." + +"Every ship that size has a steel towin' cable, wound up on a +reel, nice an' handy," the new navigating officer reminded Mr. +Gibney. "I can put the skiff out, get the bark's line, haul it +back, an' make it fast on the bitts you two skunks has been +occupyin' instead of a prison cell." + +"Hello! There's another county gone Democratic. Your old man must +ha' been to sea once an' told you about it. Them bitts won't +hold." + +"I'll make the towline fast to the mainmast." + +"That'll hold, I admit. But has the _Maggie_ got power enough, +what with the load she's totin' now, to tow that big bark in to +San Francisco Bay?" + +"Oh, we'll take it easy an' get there some time," Scraggs chipped +in. + +"You bet you'll take it easy--easier'n you think. Before you +start towin' that bark, you'll have to clew up her canvas a whole +lot to make the towin' easier, an' who's goin' to do that? An' +you got to have a man at her wheel." + +"Neils an' my mate." + +"If that new mate dares to leave you in command o' the _Maggie_, +alone an' unprotected on the high seas an' you with a fresh water +license, I'll----" + +"Then Neils an' I'll do it." + +"You don't know how. Besides, you're afraid to go aboard that +bark. You don't know what kind of a frightful disease she may +have aboard. Do you know a plague ship when you see one?" + +Captain Scraggs paled a little, but the prospect of the salvage +heartened him. "I don't give a hoot," he declared. "I'll take a +chance." + +"All right. Consider it taken. How're you goin' to get aboard +her?" + +"In the skiff." + +"Where's the skiff?" + +Captain Scraggs glanced around wildly, and when McGuffey jeered +him, he cast his hat upon the deck and started to leap upon it. +The devilish Gibney was right. It appeared that owing to a glut +of freight on the landing, Captain Scraggs had decided, in view +of the fine weather prevailing, to take an unusually large cargo +that trip. With this idea in mind, he had piled freight over +every available inch of deck space until the cargo was flush with +the top of the house. On top of the house, the skiff always +rested, bottom up. Captain Scraggs had righted the skiff, piled +it full of loose artichokes from half a dozen crates broken in +the cargo net while loading, and then proceeded to pile more +vegetables on top of it and around it until the _Maggie's_ funnel +barely showed through the piled-up freight, and the little vessel +was so top heavy she was cranky. In order to get at the small +boat, therefore, it would be necessary to shift this load off the +house, and the question that now confronted Scraggs and his crew +was to find a spot that would accommodate the part of the +deckload thus shifted! + +When Captain Scraggs had completed his hornpipe on his hat he +threw an appealing glance at his new mate. "We'll jettison what +freight proves an embarrassment," this astute individual advised. +"The farmers that own it will soak you a couple o' hundred +dollars for the loss, but what's that with thousands in sight +waitin' to be picked up?" + +"Hear that, Gib? Hear that, you swab?" + +"I heard it. Did you hear that?" + +"What?" + +"A nice, brisk little nor'west trade wind that's only blowin' +about thirty mile an hour. The _Maggie_ ain't got power enough to +tow the bark agin that wind. You'll haul her ahead two feet an', +in spite o' you, she'll slip back twenty-five inches." + +"That trade wind dies down after sunset," the devilish new mate +informed him. + +"Quite true. But in the meantime you're burning coal loafin' +around here, an' before you get the bark inside you'll be plumb +out o' coal," Mr. McGuffey reminded them. "I know this old coffin +like I know the back o' my own hand. Why, she lives on coal! +Oh-h-h, Scraggsy, Scraggsy, poor old Scraggsy," he keened in a +high falsetto voice and subsided on a crate of celery, the while +he waved his legs in the air and affected to be overcome by his +merriment. Scraggs turned the colour of a ripe old Edam cheese, +while Mr. Gibney folded his hands and looked idiotic. + +"Old Phineas P. Scraggs, the salvage expert!" McGuffey's falsetto +would have maddened a sheep. "He cast his bread upon the waters +and lo, it returned to him after many days--and made him sick. +O-h-h-h-h, Scraggsy--poor old Scraggsy! If he went divin' for +pearls in three feet o' water he'd bring up a clam shell. Oh, +dear, I'm goin' to die o' this, Gib." + +"Don't, Bart. I'm goin' to have need o' your well-known ability +to help salvage this bark. Scraggs, you old sinner, has it dawned +on you that what this proposition needs to get it over is a dash +o' the Adelbert P. Gibney brand of imagination?" + +The new navigating officer drew Captain Scraggs aside and +whispered in his ear: "Make it up with these Smart Alecks, +Scraggs. They got it on us, but if we can send you an' Halvorsen, +McGuffey and Gibney over to the bark, you can get some sail on +her an' what with the wind helpin' us along, the _Maggie_ can tow +her all right." + +Mr. Gibney saw by the hopeful, even cunning, look that leaped to +Scraggs's eyes that the problem was about to be solved without +recourse to the Gibney imagination, so he resolved to be alert +and not permit himself to be caught out on the end of a limb. +"Well, Scraggsy?" he demanded. + +"I guess I need you in my business, Gib. You're right an' I'm +always wrong. It's a fact. I _ain't_ got no more imagination than +a chicken. Hence, havin' no imagination o' my own I ask you, as +man to man an' appealin' to your generous instincts as an old +friend an' former valued employee, to let bygones be bygones an' +haul us out o' the hole that threatens to make us the laughin' +stock o' the whole Pacific coast." + +"Spoken like a man--I do not think. Scraggs, for once in my life +I have you where the hair is short. You find yourself up agin a +proposition that requires brains, you ain't got 'em yourself an' +at last you're forced to admit that Adelbert P. Gibney is the man +that peddles 'em. Now, you been doin' a lot o' hollerin' about me +an' Bart bein' pirates under the law an' liable to hangin' an' +imprisonment, an' that kind o' guff don't go nohow. We're willin' +to admit that mebbe we've been a little mite familiar an' +forward, bankin' on the natural leanin' of friend for friend that +you take it all for the joke it's intended to be, but when you go +to carryin' the joke too far, we got to protect ourselves. +Scraggsy, I'm willin' to dig in an' help out in a pinch, but it's +gettin' so me an' Mac can't trust you no more. We're that leery +of you we won't take your word for nothin', since you fooled him +on the new boiler an' me on the paint; consequently, we're off +you an' this salvage job unless you give us a clearance, in +writin', statin' that we are not an' never was pirates, that +we're good, law-abiding citizens an' aboard the _Maggie_ as your +guests, takin' the trip at our own risk. When you sign such a +paper, with your crew for witnesses, I'll demonstrate how that +bark can be salvaged without makin' you remove so much as a head +o' cabbage to get at your small boat. My imagination's better'n +my reputation, Scraggsy, an' I ain't workin' it for nothin!" + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy. You're the most sensitive man I ever sailed +with. Can't you take a little joke?" + +"Sure, I can take a little joke. It's the big ones that stick in +my craw an' stifle my friendship. Gimme a fountain pen an' a leaf +out o' the log book an' I'll draw up the affydavit for your +signature." + +Scraggs complied precipitately with this request; whereupon Mr. +Gibney spread his great bulk over the chart case and with many a +twist and flip of his tongue on the up and down strokes, produced +this remarkable document: + + At Sea, Off Point Montara, aboard + S.S. _Maggie_, of San Francisco. + June 4, 19--. + + This is to sertify that A.P. Gibney, Esq., and Bart + McGuffey, Esq. is law-abidin' sitisens of the U.S.A. and + the constitootion thereof, and in no way pirates or + such; and be it further resolved that the said parties + hereto are aboard said American steamer _Maggie_ this + date on the special invite of Phineas P. Scraggs, owner, + as his guests and at their own risk. + + Witness my hand and seal: + +Captain Scraggs signed without reading and the new mate and Neils +Halvorsen appended their signatures as witnesses. Mr. Gibney +thereupon folded this clearance paper into the tiniest possible +compact ball, wrapped it in a piece of tinfoil torn from a +package of tobacco, to protect it from his saliva, tucked it in +his cheek and with a sign for McGuffey to follow him, started +crawling over the cargo aft. By this time, the _Maggie_ was +within a hundred yards of the distressed bark and was ratching +slowly backward and forward before her. + +"In all my born days," quoth Mr. Gibney, speaking a trifle +thickly because of the document in his mouth, "I never got such a +wallop as Scraggs handed me an' you last night. I don't forget +things like that in a hurry. Now that we got a vindication o' the +charge o' piracy agin us, I'm achin' to get shet of the _Maggie_ +an' her crew, so if you'll kindly peel off all of your clothes +with the exception, say, of your underdrawers, we'll swim off to +that bark an' give Phineas P. Scraggs an exhibition of real +sailorizin' an' seamanship." + +"What's the big idee?" McGuffey demanded cautiously. + +"Why, we'll sail her in ourselves--me an' you--an' glom all the +salvage for ourselves. T'ell with Scraggs an' the _Maggie_ an' +that new mate an' engineer. I'm off'n 'em for life." + +Pop-eyed with excitement and interest, B. McGuffey, Esquire, +stood up and with a single twist shed his cap and coat. His +shirts followed. Both he and Gibney were already minus their +shoes and socks. To slip out of their faded dungarees was the +work of an instant. Strapping their belts around their waists to +hold up their drawers, the worthy pair stepped to the rail of the +_Maggie_. + +"Hey, there? Where you goin', Gib? I give you that clearance +paper on condition that you was to tell me how to salvage that +there bark without havin' to shift my cargo to get at the small +boat." + +"I'm just about to tell you, Scraggs. You don't touch a thing +aboard the _Maggie_. You leave her out of it entirely. You just +jump overboard, like me an' Mac will in a jiffy, swim over to the +bark, climb aboard, and sail her in to San Francisco Bay. When +you get there you drop anchor an' call it a day's work." He +grinned broadly. "One o' these bright days, Scraggs, when me an' +Mac is just wallerin' in salvage money, drop around to see us an' +we'll give you a kick in the face. Farewell, you boobs," and he +dove overboard. + +"Ta-ta," McGuffey cried in his tantalizing falsetto voice, and +followed his leader into the briny deep. As they came up and +snorted, grampus-like, shaking the water out of their eyes, they +glanced back at the _Maggie_ and observed that Captain Scraggs +was, for the third time that never-to-be-forgotten voyage, +jumping on his hat. + +"If I was that far gone in a habit," quoth Mr. McGuffey as he +hauled up alongside Mr. Gibney, "I'll be switched if I wouldn't +go bareheaded an' save expenses." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The tide was still at the flood and the two adventurers made fast +progress toward the _Chesapeake_. Choosing a favourable +opportunity as the vessel dipped, they grasped her martingale, +climbed up on the bowsprit, and ran along the bowsprit to the +to'gallan'-fo'castle. On the deck below a dead man lay in the +scuppers, and such a horrible stench pervaded the vessel that +McGuffey was taken very ill and was forced to seek the rail. + +"Scurvy or somethin'," Mr. Gibney announced quite calmly. "Here's +the devil to pay. There should be chloride of lime in the mate's +storeroom--I'll scatter some on these poor devils. Too close to +port now to chuck 'em overboard. Anyhow, Bart, me an' you ain't +doctors, nor yet coroners or undertakers, so you'd better skip +along an' build a fire under the donkey aft. Matches in the +galley, of course." + +"I wish she was a schooner," McGuffey complained, edging over to +the weather rail. "It'd be easier for us two to sail her then. +I'm only a marine engineer, Gib, an' while I been goin' to sea +long enough to pick up something about handlin' a vessel, still +I'll get dizzy if I go aloft--an' I'm sure to get sick. You'll +have to do all the high an' lofty tumblin'--an' how in blue +blazes us two're goin' to sail a square-rigger into port is a +mystery to me." + +"Leave the worryin' to your Uncle Gib, Bart. You can take the +wheel an' steer, can't you? She has enough sail practically set +now to make her handle good. Look at them courses hangin' in the +buntlines an' the yards braced a-box! All we got to do is to +square 'em around--but never mind explanations. I'll show you how +it's done after we get steam up in the donkey. I'd prefer a wind +about two points aft her beam, but never let it be said that I +turned up my nose at a good stiff nor'west trade. I've sunk +pretty low, Mac, but I was a real sailor once an' I can sail this +old hooker wherever there's water enough to float her. It's just +pie--well, for heaven's sake, Mac, what are you standin' around +for? Ain't I ordered you to get steam up in the donkey? Lively, +you lubber. After you've got the fire goin', we'll place leadin' +blocks along the deck, lead all the runnin' gear to the winch +head, an' stand by to swing them yards when I give the word." + +Mr. Gibney trotted down to the main deck and prowled aft. On the +port side of her house he found two more dead men, and a cursory +inspection of the bodies told him they had died of scurvy. He +circled the ship, came back to the fo'castle, entered, and found +four men alive in their berths, but too far gone to leave them. +"I'll have you boys in the Marine Hospital to-night," he informed +the poor creatures, and sought the master's cabin. Lying on his +bed, fully dressed, he found the skipper of the _Chesapeake_. The +man was gaunt and emaciated. + +The freebooter of the green-pea trade touched his wet forelock +respectfully. "My name is Gibney, sir, an' I hold an unlimited +license as first mate of sail or steam. I was passin' up the +coast on a good-for-nothin' little bumboat, an' seen you in +distress, so me an' a friend swum over to give you the double O. +You're in a bad way, sir." + +"Two hundred and eighty-seven days from Hamburg, Mr. Gibney. Our +vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too +much fresh fish down in the Doldrums. Our potatoes all went +rotten before we were out two months. Naturally, the ship's +officers stuck it out longest, but when we drifted in here this +morning, I was the only man aboard able to stand up. I crawled up +on the to'-gallan'-fo'castle and let go the starboard anchor. I'd +had it cock-billed for three weeks. All I had to do was knock out +the stopper." + +While Mr. Gibney questioned him and listened avidly to the +horrible tale of privation and despair, McGuffey appeared to +report a brisk fire under the donkey and to promise steam in +forty minutes; also that the _Maggie_ was hove to a cable length +distant, with her crew digging under the deckload of vegetables +for the small boat. "Help yourself to a belayin' pin, Bart, an' +knock 'em on the heads if they try to come aboard," Mr. Gibney +ordered nonchalantly. + +"Do I understand there is a steamer at hand, Mr. Gibney?" the +master of the _Chesapeake_ queried. + +"There's an excuse for one, sir. The little vegetable freighter +_Maggie_. She'll never be able to tow you in, because she ain't +got power enough, an' if she had power enough she ain't got coal +enough. Besides, Scraggs, her owner, is a rotten bad article an' +before he'll put a rope aboard you he'll tie you up on a contract +for a figger that'd make an angel weep. The way your ship lies +an' everything, me an' McGuffey can sail her in for you at half +the price." + +"I can't risk my ship in the hands of two men," the sick captain +answered. "She's too valuable and so is her cargo. If this little +steamer will tow me in I'll gladly give her my towline and let +the court settle the bill." + +"Not by a million," Mr. Gibney protested. "Beg pardon, sir, but +you don't know this here Scraggs like I do. I couldn't think of +lettin' him set foot on this deck." + +"_You_ couldn't think of it? Well, when did _you_ take +command of _my_ ship?" + +"You're flotsam an' jetsam, sir, an' practically in the breakers. +You're sick, an', for all I know, delirious, so for the sake o' +protectin' you, the sick seaman in the fo'castle an' the owners, +I'm takin' command." + +The master of the _Chesapeake_ reached under his pillow and +produced a pistol. "Out of my cabin or I'll riddle you," he +barked feebly. + +Mr. Gibney departed without a word of protest and proceeded to +make his arrangements, regardless of the master's consent. As he +and McGuffey busied themselves, laying the leading blocks along +the deck, they glanced toward the _Maggie_ and observed Captain +Scraggs hurling crates of vegetables overboard in an effort to +get at the small boat quickly. "He'll die when the freight claims +come in," Mr. McGuffey chortled. "Poor ol' Scraggsy!" + +"How're we goin' to git that durned anchor up, Gib?" + +"We ain't goin' to get it up. We're goin' to knock out a shackle +in the chain an' let her go to glory." + +"Anchors is expensive, Gib. Mebbe they'll deduct the price o' +that anchor from our salvage." + +"By Jupiter, you're talkin', Mac. We'll just save that anchor, +come to think of it." + +"How?" + +"Just let Scraggsy an' The Squarehead come aboard an' put the +ship's towin' cable aboard the _Maggie_. The _Maggie'll_ just +about be able to hold her while us four up with the anchor--_an' +cockbill_ it agin!" + +"They got the skiff overside," McGuffey warned. + +"Throw over the Jacob's ladder and help 'em aboard, Mac. Nothin' +like bein' neighbourly. This here's a delicate situation, what +with the old man declinin' our services in favour of a tow by the +_Maggie_, an' it occurs to me if we oppose him our standin' in +court will be impaired. I see I got to use my imagination agin." + +When Captain Scraggs came aboard, Mr. Gibney escorted him around +to the master's cabin, introduced him, and stood by while they +bargained. The sick skipper glowered at Mr. Gibney when Scraggs, +with a wealth of detail, explained their presence, but, for all +his predicament, he was a shrewd man and instantly decided to use +Gibney and McGuffey as a fulcrum wherewith to pry a very low +price out of Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney could not forebear a +grin as he saw the captain's plan, and instantly he resolved to +further it, if for no other reason than to humiliate and +infuriate Scraggs. + +"The tow will cost you five thousand, Captain," Scraggs began +pompously. + +"Me an' McGuffey'll sail you in for four," Gibney declared. + +"Three thousand," snarled Scraggs. + +"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thousand. As a matter of fact, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac'll sail her in for nothin' just to skin you +out o' the salvage." + +"Two thousand dollars is my lowest figure," Scraggs declared. +"Take it or leave it, Captain. Under the circumstances, +bargaining is useless. Two thousand is my last bid." + +The figure Scraggs named was probably one fifth of what the +master of the _Chesapeake_ knew a court would award; nevertheless +he shook his head. + +"It's a straight towing job, Captain, and not a salvage +proposition at all. A tug would tow me in for two hundred and +fifty, but I'll give you five hundred." + +Remembering the vegetables he had jettisoned, Scraggs knew he +could not afford to accept that price. "I'm through," he +bluffed--and his bluff worked. + +"Taken, Captain Scraggs. Write out an agreement and I'll sign +it." + +With the agreement in his pocket, Scraggs, followed by Gibney, +left the cabin. "One hundred each to you an' Mac if you'll stay +aboard the _Chesapeake_, steer her, an' help the _Maggie_ out +with what sail you can get on her," Scraggs promised. + +"Take a long, runnin' jump at yourself, Scraggsy, old sorrowful. +The best me an' Mac'll do is to help you cockbill the anchor, an' +that'll cost you ten bucks for each of us--in advance." The +artful fellow realized that Scraggs knew nothing whatever about a +sailing ship and would have to depend upon The Squarehead for the +information he required. + +"All right. Here's your money," Scraggs replied and handed Mr. +Gibney twenty dollars. He and Neils Halvorsen then went forward, +got out the steel towing cable, and fastened a light rope to the +end of it. The skiff floated off the ship at the end of the +painter, so The Squarehead hauled it in, climbed down into the +skiff, and made the light rope fast to a thwart; then, with +Captain Scraggs paying out the hawser, Neils bent manfully to the +oars and started to tow the steel cable back to the _Maggie_. +Half way there, the weight of the cable dragging behind slowed +The Squarehead up and eventually stopped him. Exerting all his +strength he pulled and pulled, but the sole result of his efforts +was to wear himself out, seeing which the _Maggie's_ navigating +officer set the little steamer in toward the perspiring Neils, +while Captain Scraggs, Gibney, and McGuffey cheered lustily. + +Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly Neils unshipped the remaining +oar, sprang to the stern, and attempted, by sculling, to keep the +skiff's head up to the waves. But the weight of the cable whirled +the little craft around, a wave rolled in over her counter, and +half-filled her; the succeeding wave completed the job and rolled +the skiff over and The Squarehead was forced to swim back to the +_Chesapeake_. He climbed up the Jacob's ladder to face a storm of +abuse from Captain Scraggs. + +The cable was hauled back aboard with difficulty, owing to the +submerged skiff at the end of it. Captain Scraggs and The +Squarehead leaned over the _Chesapeake's_ rail and tugged +furiously, when the wreck came alongside, but all of their +strength was unequal to the task of righting the little craft by +hauling up on the light rope attached to her thwart. + +"For ten dollars more each me an' Mac'll tail on to that rope an' +do our best to right the skiff. After she's righted, I'll bail +her out, borrow new oars from this here bark, an' help Neils row +back to the _Maggie_ with the cable," Mr. Gibney volunteered. +"Cash in advance, as per usual." + +"You're a pair of highway robbers, but I'll take you," Scraggs +almost wailed, and paid out the money; whereupon Gibney and +McGuffey "tailed" on to the rope and with raucous cries hauled +away. As a result of their efforts, the thwart came away with the +rope and the quartet sat down with exceeding abruptness on the +hard pine deck of the _Chesapeake_. + +"I had an idee that thwart would pull loose," Mr. Gibney +remarked, as he got up and rubbed the seat of his dungarees. "If +you'd had an ounce of sense, Scraggsy, you'd have saved twenty +dollars an' rigged a watch-tackle, although even then the thwart +would have come away, pullin' agin a vacuum that way. Well, +you've lost a good skiff worth at least twenty-five dollars not +to mention the two ash breezes that went with her. That helps +some. What're you goin' to do now? Lay the _Maggie_ alongside the +bark? I wouldn't if I was you. The sea's a mite choppy an' if you +bump the _Maggie_ agin the bark she'll do one o' two things--stave +in her topsides or bump that top-heavy deckload o' vegetables overboard. +An' if that happens," he reminded Scraggs, "you'll be doin' your +bookkeepin' with red ink for quite a spell." + +"I ain't licked yet--not by a jugful," Scraggs snapped. +"Halvorsen, haul down that signal halyard from the mizzenmast, +take one end of it in your teeth, an' swim back to the _Maggie_ +with it. We'll fasten a heavier line to the signal halyard, bend +the other end of the heavy line to the cable, an' haul the cable +aboard with the _Maggie's_ winch." + +"You say that so nice, Scraggsy, old hopeful, I'm tempted to +think you can whistle it. Neils, he's only askin' you to risk +your life overboard for nothing. 'Tain't in the shippin' articles +that a seaman's got to do that. If he wants a swimmin' exhibition +make him pay for it--through the nose. An' if I was you, I'd find +out how much o' this two thousand dollars' towage he's goin' to +distribute to his crew. Pers'nally I'd get mine in advance." + +"Adelbert P. Gibney," Captain Scraggs hissed. "There's such a +thing as drivin' a man to distraction. Halvorsen, are you with +me?" + +"Aye bane--for saxty dollars. Hay bane worth a month's pay for +take dat swim." + +"You dirty Scowegian ingrate. Well, you don't get no sixty +dollars from me. Bear a hand and we'll drop the ship's work boat +overboard. I guess you can tow a signal halyard to the _Maggie_, +can't you, Neils?" + +Neils could--and did. Within fifteen minutes the _Maggie_ was +fast to her prize. "Now we'll cockbill the anchor," quoth Captain +Scraggs, so McGuffey reporting sufficient steam in the donkey to +turn over the windlass, the anchor was raised and cockbilled, and +the _Maggie_ hauled away on the hawser the instant Captain +Scraggs signalled his new navigating officer that the hook was +free of the bottom. + +"The old girl don't seem to be makin' headway in the right +direction," McGuffey remarked plaintively, after the _Maggie_ had +strained at the hawser for five minutes. Mr. Gibney, standing by +with a hammer in his hand, nodded affirmatively, while the +skipper of the _Chesapeake_, whom Mr. Gibney had had the +forethought to carry out on deck to watch the operation, glanced +apprehensively ashore. Scraggs measured the distance with his eye +to the nearest fringe of surf and it was plain that he was +worried. + +"Captain Scraggs," the skipper of the _Chesapeake_ called feebly, +"Mr. Gibney is right. That craft of yours is unable to tow my +ship against this wind. You're losing ground, inch by inch, and +it will be only a matter of an hour or two, if you hang on to me, +before I'll be in the breakers and a total loss. You'll have to +get sail on her or let go the anchor until a tug arrives." + +"I don't know a thing about a sailin' ship," Scraggs quavered. + +"I know it all," Mr. Gibney cut in, "but there ain't money enough +in the world to induce me to exercise that knowledge to your +profit." He turned to the master of the _Chesapeake_. "For one +hundred dollars each, McGuffey an' I will sail her in for you, +sir." + +"I'll not take the risk, Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs, if you will +follow my instructions we'll get some sail on the _Chesapeake_. +Take those lines through the leading blocks to the winch----" + +The engineer of the _Maggie_ came up on deck and waved his arms +wildly. "Leggo," he bawled. "I've blown out two tubes. It'll be +all I can do to get home without that tow." + +"Jump on that, Scraggsy," quoth McGuffey softly and cast his +silken engineer's cap on the deck at Scraggs's feet. The latter's +face was ashen as he turned to the skipper of the _Chesapeake_. +"I'm through," he gulped. "I'll have to cast off. Your ship's +drivin' on to the beach now." + +"Oh, say not so, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney softly, and with a +blow of the hammer knocked out the stopper on the windlass and +let the anchor go down by the run. "Not this voyage, at least." +The _Chesapeake_ rounded up with a jerk and Mr. Gibney took +Captain Scraggs gently by the arm. "Into the small boat, old +ruin," he whispered, "and I'll row you an' The Squarehead back to +the _Maggie_. If she drifts ashore with that load o' garden +truck, you might as well drown yourself." + +Captain Scraggs was beyond words. He suffered himself to be taken +back to the _Maggie_, after which kindly action Mr. Gibney +returned to the _Chesapeake_, climbed aboard, and with the +assistance of McGuffey, hauled the work boat up on deck. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +"Now," Mr. Gibney inquired, approaching the skipper of the +_Chesapeake_, "what'll you give me an' Mac, sir, to sail you in? +Has it dawned on you, sir, that if I hadn't had sense enough to +cockbill that anchor again you'd be on the beach this minute?" + +"One thousand dollars," the skipper answered weakly. + +"You refused to let us do it for a hundred. Now it'll cost you +two thousand, an' I'm lettin' you off cheap at that. Of course, +you can take a chance an' wait until word o' your predicament +sifts into San Francisco an' a tug comes out for you, but in the +meantime the wind may increase an' with the tide at the flood how +do you know your anchor won't drag an' pile you up on them rocks +to leeward?" + +"I'll pay two thousand, Mr. Gibney." + +Without further ado, Mr. Gibney went to the master's cabin, wrote +out an agreement, carried the skipper aft and got his signature +to the contract. Then he tucked the skipper into bed and came +dashing out on deck. The wind was from the northwest and luckily +the foreyard was braced to starboard while the mainyard was +braced to port, so his problem was a simple one. + +"Come here till I introduce you to the jib halyards," he bawled +to McGuffey, and they went forward. Under Gibney's direction, the +jib halyards were taken through the leading blocks to the winch +head; McGuffey manned the winch and the jib was hauled up. +"St-eady-y-y! 'Vast heavin'," cried Mr. Gibney. "Now then, we'll +cast off them jib halyards an' make 'em fast.... Right-O.... Now +stand by to brace the foreyard. Bart, for the love o' heaven, +help me with this foreyard brace." + +With the aid of the winch, they braced the foreyard; then +McGuffey ran aft and took the wheel while Mr. Gibney scuttled +forward, eased up the compressor on the windlass, and permitted +the anchor chain to pay out rapidly. With the hammer, he knocked +out the pin at the forty-five fathom shackle and leaving the +anchor to go by the board, for it worried him no longer, the bark +_Chesapeake_ moved gently off on a west-sou'-west course that +would keep her three points off the land. She had sufficient head +sail on now to hold her up. + +Mr. Gibney fell upon the main to'gallan'-s'l leads like a demon, +carried them through the leading block to the winch head, turned +over the winch and sheeted home the main-to'-gallan'-s'l. The +_Chesapeake_ gathered speed and Mr. Gibney went aft and stood beside +Mr. McGuffey, the while he looked aloft and thrilled to the whine of +the breeze through the rigging. "This is sailorizin'," he declared. +"It sure beats bumboatin'. Here, blast you, Bart. You're spillin' +the wind out o' that jib. First thing you know we'll have her in +irons an' then the fat _will_ be in the fire." + +He took the wheel from McGuffey. When he was two miles off the +beach he brought her up into the wind and made the wheel fast, a +spoke to leeward. "Sheet home the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l," he +howled and dashed forward. "Leggo them buntlines an' clewlines, +my hearties, an' haul home that sheet." + +The ship lay in the wind, shivering. Mr. Gibney was here, there, +everywhere. One minute he was dashing along the deck with a +leading line, the next he was laying out aloft. He ordered +himself to do a thing and then, with the pent-up energy of a +thousand devils, he did it. The years of degradation as +navigating officer of the _Maggie_ fell away from him, as he +sprang, agile and half-naked, into the shrouds; a great, hairy +demi-god or sea-goblin he lay out along the yards and sprang from +place to place with the old exultant thrill of youth and joy in +his work. + +"Overhaul them buntlines an' clewlines," he bawled to an +imaginary crew. "Set that main-royal." With McGuffey's help the +sheets came home, the halyards were taken to, the yards +mast-headed, and the halyards belayed to their pin. The +main-royal was now set so they fell to on the fore-royal. A word, +a gesture, from Mr. Gibney, and McGuffey would pounce on a rope +like a bull-dog. With the fore-royal set, Mr. Gibney ran back to +the wheel and put it hard over. There being no after sail set the +bark swung off readily on to her course, slipping through the +water at a nice eight-knot speed. Ten miles off the coast, Mr. +Gibney hung her up in the wind again, braced his yards with the +aid of the winch and McGuffey, came about and headed north. At +three o'clock she cleared the lightship and wore around to come +in over the bar, steering east by south, half-south, for Point +Bonita. She drew the full advantage of the wind now and over the +bar she came, ramping full through the Gate with her yards +squared, on the last of the flood tide. + +As they passed Lime Point, Mr. Gibney prepared to shorten sail +and like a clarion blast his voice rang through the ship. + +"Clew up them royals." He lashed the wheel and they brought the +clewlines again to the winch head. The ship was falling off a +little before the fore-royal was clewed up, so Mr. Gibney ran +back to the wheel and put her on her course again while McGuffey +brought the main-royal clewlines to the winch. Again Gibney made +the wheel fast and helped McGuffey clew up the main-royal; again +he set her on her course while McGuffey, following instructions, +made ready to clew up the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l. They were abreast +Black Point before this latter sail was clewed up, and then they +smothered the lower top-s'ls; the bark was slipping lazily +through the water and McGuffey took the wheel. + +"Starboard a little! Steady-y-y! Keep her as she heads," Gibney +warned and cast off the jib halyards. The jibs slid down the +stays, hanging as they fell. They were well up toward Meiggs +wharf now and it devolved upon Mr. Gibney to bring his prize in +on the quarantine ground and let go his port anchor. Fortunately, +the anchor was already cock-billed. Mr. Gibney sprang to the +fore-top-sail halyards and let them go and the fore-top-sail came +down by the run. + +"Hard-a-starboard! Make her fast, Bart, an' come up here an' help +me with the anchor. Let go the main-top-sail halyards as you come +by an' stand by the compressor on the windlass." + +The _Chesapeake_ swung slowly, broadside to the first of the ebb +and with the wind on her port beam, Mr. Gibney knocked out the +stopper with his trusty hammer and away went the rusty chain, +singing through the hawsepipe. "Snub her gently, Mac, snub her +gently, an' give her the thirty-fathom shackle to the water's +edge," he warned McGuffey. + +The bark swung until her bows were straightened to the ebb tide +and with a wild, triumphant yell Mr. Gibney clasped the honest +McGuffey to his perspiring bosom. The deed was done! + +It was dark, however, before they had all the sails snugged up +shipshape, although in the meantime the quarantine launch had +hove alongside, investigated, and removed those of the crew who +still lived. Shortly thereafter the coroner came and removed the +dead, after which Gibney and McGuffey hosed down the deck, +located some hard tack and coffee, supped and turned in in the +officers' quarters. In the morning, Scab Johnny arrived in a +launch with their other clothes (Mr. Gibney having thoughtfully +sent him ten dollars on account of their old board bill, together +with a request for the clothes), and when the agents of the +_Chesapeake_ sent a watchman to relieve them they went ashore and +had breakfast at the Marigold Café. After breakfast, they called +at the office of the agents, where they were complimented on +their daring seamanship and received a check for one thousand +dollars each. + +"Well, now," McGuffey declared, after they had cashed their +checks, "Seein' as how I've become independently wealthy by +following your lead, Adelbert, all I got to say is that I'm +a-goin' to stick to you like a limpet to a rock. What'll we do +with our money?" + +For the first time in his checkered career Mr. Gibney had a sane, +sensible, and serious thought. "Has it ever occurred to you, Mac, +how much nicer it is to have a few dollars in the bank, good +clothes on your back, an' a credit with your friends? Me, all my +life I been a come-easy, go-easy, come-Sunday,-God'll-send-Monday +sort o' feller, until in my forty-second year I'm little better'n +a beachcomber. It sure hurt me to have to beg that ornery Scraggs +for a job; if I ever sighed for independence it was the other +night in Halfmoon Bay when, footsore an' desperate, we stood by +an' let that little wart harpoon us. So now, when you ask me what +I'm goin' to do with my money, I'll tell you I'm going to save +it, after first payin' up about seventy-five bucks I owe here an' +there along the Front. I'm through drinkin' an' raisin' hell. Me +for a savings bank, Bart." + +"I said I'd string with you an' I will. After we deposit our +money suppose we drop down to Jackson Street wharf an' say hello +to Scraggs. I got a great curiosity to see what that new engineer +has done to my boiler." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +When Captain Scraggs, after abandoning all hope of salving the +bark _Chesapeake_, returned to the _Maggie_, the little craft +reminded him of nothing so much as the ward for the incorrigible +of an insane asylum. Due to Captain Scraggs's stupidity and the +general inefficiency of the _Maggie_, the new navigating officer +was of the opinion that he had been swindled out of his share of +the salvage, while the new engineer, furious at having been +engaged to baby such a ruin as the _Maggie's_ boiler turned out +to be, blamed Scraggs's parsimony for the loss of _his_ share of +the salvage. Therefore, both men aired with the utmost frankness +their opinion of their employer; even Neils Halvorsen was peeved. +Their depression and rage was nothing, however, compared with +that of Captain Scraggs's. He had recklessly jettisoned +approximately two hundred dollars' worth of vegetables; indeed +the loss might go higher, for all he knew. Also, he had lost his +skiff, and McGuffey and Gibney had practically blackmailed him +out of forty dollars. Then, to cap the climax, he had been forced +to abandon two thousand dollars to his enemies; and as the +_Maggie_ crept north at three knots an hour the knowledge that he +must, even against his desires, install a new boiler, overwhelmed +him to such an extent that he found it impossible to submit +silently to the nagging of the navigating officer. One word +borrowed another until diplomatic relations were severed and, in +the language of the classic, they "mixed it." They were fairly +well matched, and, to the credit of Captain Scraggs be it said, +whenever he believed himself to have a fighting chance Scraggs +would fight and fight well, under the Tom-cat rules of fisticuffs. + +Following a bloody battle in the pilot house, he subdued the +mate; following his victory he was still war mad, so he went to +the engine-room hatch and abused the engineer. As a result of the +day's events, both men quit when the _Maggie_ was tied up at +Jackson Street wharf and once more Captain Scraggs was helpless. +In his extremity, he wished he hadn't been so hard on Mr. Gibney +and McGuffey, for he realized he could never hope to get them +back until their salvage money should be spent. + +He had other tortures in addition. He could not afford to await +the construction of a new boiler, for if he did some other +skipper would cut in on the vegetable trade he had worked up, for +vegetables, being perishable, could not lie on the dock at +Halfmoon Bay longer than forty-eight hours. It behooved Scraggs, +therefore, to place an order for the new boiler and, in the +meantime, to get a gang down aboard the _Maggie_ immediately and +put in at least ten new tubes. By working night and day this job +might be accomplished in forty-eight hours, and, fortunately, +Sunday intervened. Scraggs shuddered at thought of the expense, +for in addition to being parsimonious he had very little ready +cash on hand and no credit. + +When Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, wrapped in the calm thrall of their +new-found financial independence, arrived at the _Maggie's_ +berth, they were inclined to levity. Indeed, they had come for +the express purpose of spoofing their late employer; to crow over +him and grind his poor soul into the dirt. Fortunately for +Scraggs, he was not aboard, but sounds of activity coming from +the engine room aroused McGuffey's curiosity to such an extent +that he descended thereto at great risk to a new suit of clothes +and discovered four men at work on the boiler. They had cut the +rivets and removed the head and at sight of the ruin disclosed +within, Mr. McGuffey was truly shocked--and awed. Why he hadn't +been blown to Kingdom Come months before was a profound mystery. + +He came up and joined Mr. Gibney on a pile of old hemp hawser +coiled on the bulkhead. "Danged if I don't feel sorry for old +Scraggsy, for all his meanness," he declared. "It's goin' to cost +him five hundred dollars to patch up the old boiler an' keep the +_Maggie_ runnin' until he can ship a new boiler. The ol' fool +don't know a thing about the job himself an' there's four men +down there, without a foreman, soldierin' on him an' soakin' him +a dollar an' a half an hour overtime. He's in so deep now he +might as well jump into bankruptcy entirely an' put in a set o' +piston rings, repack the pumps an' the stuffin-box, shim up the +bearin's an' do a lot of little things the old _Maggie's_ just +hollerin' to have done." + +"To err is human; to forgive divine," Mr. Gibney orated. "Come to +think of it, Mac, we give the old man all that was comin' to him +the other day--a little bit more, mebbe. He must be raw an' +bleedin', an' it wouldn't be sporty to plague him some more." + +"Durned if I don't feel like jumpin' into a suit of dungarees an' +helpin' him out in that engine room, Gib." + +"Troubles always comes in a flock, Bart. The Squarehead tells me +his new navigatin' officer an' the new engineer has jumped their +jobs. It's a dollar to a dime he asks us to come back if he sees +us half way willin' to be friendly an' forget the past." + +"Well," the philosophical McGuffey declared. "Seein' as how we've +reformed, even with money in bank, we might just as well be +workin' as loafin'. There's more money in it. An' if it wasn't +that Scraggs is so ornery there's worse jobs than me an' you had +on the old _Maggie_." + +"I been wonderin' if we couldn't reform Scraggsy by heapin' coals +of fire on his head, Bart." + +"What d'ye mean? Heapin' coals o' fire on Scraggs'd sure keep an +ash hoist busy." + +"Oh, I dunno, Bart. The old man has his troubles. There's Mrs. +Scraggs a-peckin' at him every time he goes home, an' the +_Maggie's_ a worry, not to mention the fact that there ain't much +more'n a decent livin' for him in the green-pea trade. An' he +ain't gittin' any younger, Bart. You got to bear that in mind." + +"Yes, an' he's been disapp'inted in his ambitions," McGuffey +agreed. "On top o' that, the Ocean Shore Railroad is buildin' +down the coast an' as soon as the roadbed is completed over the +San Pedro Mountains them farmers'll haul their produce to the +railhead in motor trucks--an' there won't be no more business for +the _Maggie_. Three months more'll see the _Maggie_ laid up." + +Mr. Gibney nodded. "It's just the sweet tenderness of Satan we'll +be flush when Scraggsy's broke, Bart." + +"Dang it, Gib, I sure feel sorry for the old man after takin' a +look at that engine room. She's a holy fright." + +"Well, we'll make up with him when he comes back, Bart, an' if he +shows a contrite sperrit--well, who knows? We might do somethin' +for him." + +"He's got to have some financial help to get that engine turnin' +over again, that's a cinch." + +"So I been thinkin'. We might lend him a coupler hundred bones at +ten per cent., secured by a mortgage on the _Maggie_, if he's up +agin it hard. Havin' money in bank is one thing but locatin' an +investment for it is another. I've kidded the old man a lot about +the _Maggie_, but she's worth two thousand dollars if somebody'd +spend a thousand on her inner works an' give her a dab o' paint +an' some new fire hose an' one thing an' another." + +"We'll wait here until Scraggs shows up an' see what he says. If +he still says 'Good mornin', boys,' we'll answer him civil an' +see what it leads to, Gib." + +Mr. Gibney grunted his approval and Mr. McGuffey, bringing out a +pocket knife, fell to manicuring his terrible finger nails and +paring the callous patches off his palms. Mr. Gibney lighted a +Sailor's Delight cigar and puffed meditatively, the while he +watched a gasoline tug kicking the little schooner _Tropic Bird_ +into an adjacent berth. From the _Tropic Bird_ came an odour of +copra and pineapple and Mr. Gibney sighed; evidently that South +Sea fragrance aroused in him old memories, for presently he spat +overboard, watched his spittle float away on the tide, sighed +again, and declared, apropos of nothing: + +"When I was a young man, Mac, I was a damned fine young man. I +had a bunch o' red whiskers an' a pair o' fists like two picnic +hams. I was a wonder." + +Silently Mr. McGuffey nodded an endorsement of his comrade's +indicated horsepower and peculiar masculine beauty in the days of +the latter's vanished youth. He continued to prune his hands. + +"I was six feet two in my socks, when I wore any, which wasn't +often," Mr. Gibney continued. "I've shrunk half an inch since +them days. I weighed a hundred an' ninety-seven pounds in the +buff an' my chest bulged like a goose-wing tops'l. In them days, +I was an evil man to monkey with. I could have taken two like +Scraggsy an' chewed 'em up, spittin' out their bones an' belt +buckles. I sure was a wonder." + +"You must ha' been with them red whiskers on your face," McGuffey +agreed. He refrained from saying more, for instinct told him Mr. +Gibney was about to grow reminiscent and spin a yarn, and B. +McGuffey had a true seaman's reverence for a goodly tale, whether +true, half-true, or wholly fanciful. + +Mr. Gibney sniffed again the subtle tang of the South Seas +drifting over from the _Tropic Bird_, and when a Kanaka, scantily +clad, came on deck, threw a couple of fenders overside and +retired to the forecastle singing one of those Hawaiian ballads +that are so mournfully sweet and funereal, Mr. Gibney sighed +again. + +"Gawd!" he murmured. "I've sure made a hash o' my young life." + +"What's bitin' you, Gib?" Mr. McGuffey's voice was molten with +sympathy. + +"I was just thinkin'," replied Mr. Gibney, "just thinkin', Mac. +It's the pineapples as does it--the smell of the South Seas. Here +I am, big enough and old enough and ugly enough to know better, +and yet every time the _City Of Papeete_ or the _Tropic Bird_ or +the _Aorangi_ come into port and I see the Kanaka boys swabbin' +down decks and get a snifter o' that fine smell of the Island +trade, my innards wilt down like a mess o' cabbage an' I ain't +myself no more until after the fifth drink." + +"Sorter what th' feller calls vain regrets," suggested McGuffey. + +"Vain regrets is the word," mourned Mr. Gibney. "It all comes +back to me what I hove away when I was young an' foolish an' +didn't know when I was well off. If there'd only been some +good-hearted lad to advise me, I wouldn't be a-settin' here on a +hemp hawser, a blasted beachcombin' bucko mate and out of a job. +No, siree. I'd 'a' still been King Gibney, Mac, with power o' +life an' death over two thousand odd blackbirds, an' I'd 'a' had +a beautiful wife an' a dozen kids maybe, with pigs an' chickens +an' copra an' shell an' a big bungalow an' money. _That's_ what I +chucked away when I was young an' nobody to advise me." + +McGuffey made no comment on Mr. Gibney's outburst. There are +moments in life when silence is the greatest sympathy one can +offer, and intuitively McGuffey felt that he was face to face +with a tragedy. When a shipmate's soul lay bare it was not for +the McGuffey to inspect it too closely. + +"Yes, McGuffey, I was a king once. Some people might try to make +out as how I was only a chief, but you take it from me, Mac, I +was a king. I was King Gibney, the first, of Aranuka, in the +Gilberts, with the seat of government at Nonuti, which is a +blackbird village right under Hakatuea. No matter which way you +approach, you can't miss it. Hakatuea's a dead volcano, with +ashes on top and just enough fire inside to cast a glow against +the sky at night. There's a fair anchorage inside the reef, but +it takes a good man to land through the surf at high tide in a +whaleboat. I used to do it regular. Aranuka was a nice place, +with plenty of fresh water, and some of the Island schooners, and +once in a while a British gunboat would stop there. Gawd, +McGuffey, but when I was king, they used to pay dear for their +fresh water, except the gunboats, which of course came on and +helped themselves without askin' no questions of me and +parliament--which was both the same thing. I was in Aranuka first +in '88 and again in '89, and I was a fool for leavin' it." + +"What was you doin' in this here Aranuka?" asked Mr. McGuffey. + +"In '88 I was blackbirdin' and in '89 I was--why, what d'ye expect a +king does, anyhow? You don't suppose I _worked_, do you? Because I +didn't. I ate and drank and slept and went in swimmin' with the +court officers and did a little fishin' an' fightin'; and on +moonlight nights I used to sprawl in the grass out on the edge of +Hakatuea with my head in my queen's lap, rubberin' up at the +Southern Cross and watchin' the rollers breakin' white over the +reef. And everything'd be as still as death except for that eternal +swishin' of the surf on the beach, babblin' of 'Peace! Peace! +Peace!' an' maybe once in a while the royal voice lifted in one of +them sad slumber songs of the South Seas--creepy and dirgelike and +beautiful. My girl could sing circles around a sky lark. I taught +her how to sing 'John Brown's Body Lies A-Smoulderin' in th' Grave,' +though she didn't have no more notion o' what she was singin' than a +ring-tailed monkey." + +"How d'ye come to pick up with her?" inquired McGuffey politely. + +"I didn't come to pick up with her," answered Mr. Gibney. "She +took a fancy to them red whiskers o' mine, and picked up with me. +She used to stick hibiscus flowers in them red curtains and stand +off and admire me by the hour. You can imagine how gay I used to +feel with flowers in my whiskers. That was one of the reasons why +I left her finally. + +"But them was the days! Me an' Bull McGinty was the two finest +men north or south of the Line. We was worth six ordinary white +men each, and twenty blacks, and we was respected. I first met +Bull McGinty in Shanghai Nelson's boarding house, over in Oregon +Street, not three blocks from where we're settin' now. I was +twenty years old an' holdin' a second mate's ticket, for I'd been +battin' around the world on clipper ships since I was fourteen, +an' I'd bit my way to the front quicker than most. Bull was a big +dark man, edgin' up onto the thirty mark. His great grandmother'd +been a half-breed Batavian nigger, and his father was Irish. Bull +himself was nothin', havin' been born at sea, a thousand miles +from the nearest land. However, that ain't got nothin' to do with +the story. Bull McGinty was skipper an' owner of the schooner +_Dashin' Wave_, 258 tons net register, when I met him in Shanghai +Nelson's place. Also he was broke, with the _Dashin' Wave_ lyin' +out in the stream off Mission Rock with a Honolulu Chinaman +aboard as crew and watchman, while Bull hustled around shore +tryin' to raise funds to outfit her for another trip to the +Islands. He'd been beachcombin' ten days when I met him, and we +took to each other right off. + +"'Gib,' says Bull McGinty, 'I like you an' if I ever get money +enough to provision the _Dashin' Wave_, pay the clearance fee, +and put a thousand or two of trade aboard her, you must come mate +with me and if you should have a little money by, enough to fix +us up, I'll not only give you the mate's berth, but I'll put you +in on half the lay.' + +"'Done,' says I. 'I ain't got ten cents Mex to my name, but I'll +outfit that vessel an' get her to sea inside two weeks, or my +name ain't Adelbert P. Gibney.' + +"To look at me now, McGuffey, you'd never think that in them days +I was one of the smartest young bucks that ever boxed the +compass. I was born with a great imagination, Mac. All my life my +imagination's been my salvation. The ability to grab opportunity +by the tail and twist it was my long suit, so after my talk with +Bull McGinty I took a cruise along the docks, lookin' for an +idea, until I come to Sheeny Joe's place. He used to keep a +sailors' outfittin' joint at Howard and East streets, an' as I +stood in his doorway, the Great Idea sails up to Sheeny Joe's an' +lets go both anchors. + +"What was this Idea? It was a waterfront reporter. It was three +waterfront reporters, from three mornin' papers, an' all lookin' +for news. + +"'Joe,' says one little runt, all hair an' nose an' eyeglasses, +'there ain't enough news on the Front to-day to dust a hummin' +bird's eyebrow. Give me a story, Joe. Somethin' new an' brimmin' +with human interest. You must have somethin' up your sleeve, +ain't yuh?' + +"Sheeny Joe is sellin' a Panama paraqueet a pair o' six-bit +dungarees for a dollar and a half, and he ain't got no time for +reporters, but he looks up an' he sees me lingerin' in the +doorway. + +"'Gib,' says he, 'tell these reporter friends o' mine about the +time you was wrecked in the Straits o' Magellan, an' the fight +you had with them man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages.' + +"Of course, I never was wrecked in no Straits o' Magellan, and as +for man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages, I wouldn't know one +if I met him in my grog. But seein' as how Sheeny Joe is busy an' +me owin' him quite a little bill, I have to make good, so I tells +them the most hair-raisin' story they ever listened to. I showed +'em an old scar on my left leg where I was vaccinated once, and +told 'em that's where they shot me with a bow an' arrer. While I +was tellin' my story Sheeny Joe has to run out in th' back yard +an' roll over three times, he's that fascinated with what I'm +tellin' his friends. + +"Did them fellers eat it up? They did. The story comes out next +day with trimmin's on th' front page, an' I'm a hero. Of course +me an' Sheeny Joe knows I'm a liar, but what's a lie or two when +you're helpin' out a shipmate? But anyhow, the whole business +gives me the idee I'm lookin' for, an' I takes all three mornin' +papers down to Bull McGinty an' lets him read 'em. + +"'Now,' says I, when Bull is through readin', 'you have a sample +of what publicity does for a man. I'm a hero. But that don't +outfit the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. A man don't get no wages as a +hero, Bull. Nevertheless,' says I, 'I have invented a story that +will bring in money,' an' I tell the story to Bull. I don't leave +him until I have that yarn drilled right inter his soul, an' then +I call on Sheeny Joe an' tell him to pass the word to all of his +reporter friends that if they want a good story to go down to +Shanghai Nelson's boardin' house an' ask for Bull McGinty, +skipper o' the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. + +"Did they come? Mac, they came a-runnin'. The little nosy guy +with the hair chartered a hack, he was in such a hurry. An' when +they arrive, there sits Bull McGinty, smilin' an' affable, an' he +spills his yarn as easy an' graceful an' slick as a mess o' eels. +There's a island in the Society group, says Bull, which he +discovers on his last trip, an' which ain't in none o' the +British Admiralty notes. It's a regular island, with palms an' +breadfruit an' tamarinds an' mangoes an' such, fine an' fertile, +fifteen miles around the middle, an' plenty o' water. But th' +surprisin' thing about this here island is that it ain't got +nothin' livin' on it except the most beautiful women in all the +South Seas. Accordin' to Bull, there ain't a male man nowhere on +the horizon. Th' men has been fightin' among themselves until +every man Jack has been killed off. Nothin' left but women with +dreamy eyes an' long black hair an' pearly teeth. 'A man,' says +Bull McGinty, 'is at a premium. Over fifteen different girls fell +in love with him before he was ashore ten minutes, an' he had to +pull back to the schooner to escape 'em. At that, says Bull, as +much as a hundred an' twenty-seven of 'em, as near as he could +count, came swimmin' after him and chased the schooner until she +was hull down on the horizon, an' then they give up an' swam back +to home, sobbin' like babies. + +"Bull explains that he's so dead stuck on the place he's goin' +back, just as soon as he can get together say a hundred smart +young lads to come in with him on the lay, outfit his schooner, +an' get to sea. Every man that wants to come in on th' deal must +be not less than twenty-one years old and not more than thirty, +an' must be examined by a doctor to see that he ain't afflicted +with no contagious sickness, like consumption, which just raises +fits with them natives, once it gets in amongst 'em. It's Bull's +plan to start a ideal colony, governed on new an' different +lines, an' every man must marry. He can have as many wives as he +can support after each man has had his choice of the herd. The +women are all beautiful, but in order that nobody will have a +kick comin' the choice of wives is to be determined by drawin' +lots. The island is to be fenced off an' each member o' the +expedition is to have so much land. + +"In order to do everything shipshape, Bull explains that he has +formed a company to be known as the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas, capitalized for two hundred shares at $500 a share. Bull, +bein' owner o' th' schooner, an' possessin' the secret of the +latitude an' longitude o' the island, an' bein' the movin' +sperrit, so to speak, declares himself in on fifty-one per cent. +o' the capital stock. Stocksellin' will commence just as soon as +the printer can deliver the certificates. + +"In the course of a somewhat checkered career, Mac, I've seen some +suckers, an' I've told some lies, but this here was th' crownin' +event of my life. We had applications for stock the next morning +before me an' Bull was out o' bed. Four hundred and thirty-one +would-be colonists comes flockin' around us, tryin' to hand us $500 +each. Bull questions 'em all very closely, and outer the lot he +selects the biggest damn fools in evidence. He was careful to select +little skinny men whenever possible. They was a lot o' Willie boys +an' young bloods lookin' for adventure, an' me an' Bull McGinty was +just the lads to give it to 'em in bucketfuls. The little nosy +reporter with the hair was fair crazy to come, but McGinty gets a +jackleg doctor to examine him an' swear that he's sufferin' from +spatulation o' the medulla oblongata, housemaid's knee, and the +hives. We're mighty sorry, but it's agin the by-laws to bring him +along. He felt heartbroken, so just before we up hook with the +expedition, I had Bull give him an' the other newspaper boys a +hundred dollars each. They was fine lads, all three, an' give us +lots o' free advertisin'. + +"Bull got greedy an' was for charterin' another schooner an' +givin' all comers a run for their money, but I was wise enough to +see the danger o' numbers, an' argued him out of it. I went mate +on the _Dashin' Wave_, as per program, an' on a lovely summer day +we towed out, with half San Francisco crowdin' the wharves an' +wishin' us bon voyage, which is French for a profitable trip. + +"We had a nice lot o' sick children on our hands before we was +over th' Potato Patch. We didn't have a regular crew, exceptin' +Bull McGinty an' me an' the Chinaman who shipped as cook. +However, some of the brotherhood used to go yachting, an' they +was all the crew we needed. We had a fair run to Honolulu, where +we took on five thousand dollars in trade--beads, an' mouth +organs, an' calico, an' juice harps, an' dollar watches, an' a +lot of old army revolvers with the firin' pins filed off, and +what not. + +"From Honolulu, we clears for Pago Pago, where all hands went +ashore an' enjoyed themselves visitin' the different points o' +interest. From Pago Pago, we goes to Tahiti, and from Tahiti to +Suva, and in general gives them adventurers as nice a little +summer vacation as they could have wished for. Bull was for +dumpin' the lot at Suva an' gettin' down to business--said he'd +fooled away enough time on the gang--but I argued that we'd took +their money--$50,000 of it, and they was entitled to some kind of +a run, an' if we marooned them, like as not they'd send a gunboat +after us, an' the fat'd be in the fire. Bull gave in to me +finally, though he growled a lot about the profits bein' all et +up by the brotherhood, appetites increasin' considerable at sea, +an' all that. + +"Just after we leave Suva we butts into a mild little typhoon, +an' Bull scuds before it under bare poles, with just a wisp o' a +jib to steady her. An' when the brotherhood was pea-green with +seasickness I goes down into the bilges with a big auger an' +scuttles the ship. In about two hours the brother at the wheel +begins to complain that she's heavy an' draggin' like blazes, an' +he fears maybe her seams has opened up under the strain. + +"'I shouldn't wonder a bit,' says Bull McGinty, 'she's been +jumpin' like a dolphin', and he goes below to investigate. Two +minutes later he prances up on deck like a lunatic. + +"'All hands to the pumps,' he yells; 'there's four feet o' water +in the hold.' Aside he says to me, 'Gib, my boy, you're a jewel. +Not a drop of water in that forward compartment where we piled +the trade.' + +"It was a terrible sad sight to see the seasick Brotherhood of +the South Seas staggerin' below to the pumps. We had four pumps, +an' feelin' that they might be able to pump her dry too soon, I +had removed the suction leather from two of them. What a howl +went up when Bull McGinty, roarin' like a sea lion, announces +that all hands is doomed, because two of the pumps is nix +comarous! Just about that time we ships a sea or two, and all +hands lets go the pumps and starts to pray or weep or whatever +they was minded to do under the circumstances. In the general +excitement I slips below an' plugs up one hole, an' forces two +men, at the point of a revolver that wasn't loaded, to pump ship. +They just managed to hold the water level, while up on deck Bull +is tearin' his hair an' cursin' somethin' frightful. + +"Well, Mac, we kept that thing up for two days an' two nights, +while the gale lasted, an' when we finally gets under the lee of +an island, all hands are for throwin' up the sponge an' goin' +back home. Somehow or other, the expedition don't look so +enticin' as it did at first. We cleared away both whaleboats and +landed the brotherhood on the island, where there was a wharf an' +a big tradin' station. I forget what they call the place, but +steamers touch there regular. Me an' Bull McGinty and the +Chinaman stayed aboard, pumped out the ship, fixed the pumps, and +plugged the holes in her bottom so nobody could find out. Then we +figures out the price of a passage back to Frisco, second-class, +for the whole bunch, an' me an' Bull goes ashore with a big sack +of Chili dollars an' fixes it up with all hands to let go an' +call it square for the ticket home. They wasn't feelin' as sore +as much as you might imagine. None o' them had the brains or the +spunk of a mouse, and besides we'd give them a mighty good time +of it, all things considered. So, to make a long story short, we +picks up a crew of half a dozen black boys, pulls the two +whaleboats back to the ship, ups hook and sails away on our +legitimate business. We divides the spoils between us, an' my +share is eleven thousand cash an' a half interest in th' trade. + +"We do a nice business in shell an' copra, an' such, an' in +Papeete we sell our cargo to a Jew trader an' clean up fifteen +hundred each additional on the voyage, after which Bull declares +he's tired of hucksterin' around like any bloomin' peddler, an' +we make up our minds to do a little blackbirdin'. + +"Was you ever a blackbirder, McGuffey? No? Well, you didn't miss +nothin'. It's dirty business. You drop in at a island, an' you +invite the native chief aboard an' get him drunk, and make a +contract with him for so many blackbirds to work for three years +on some other island, or on the coffee or henequen plantations +in Central America, and you promise them big money and lots of +tobacco, and a free trip back when their time is up. What labour +you can't get by dealin' with the chief, you shanghai 'em, and +once in a while you can make a bully good deal, particularly in +the New Hebrides and New Guinea, after a fight when they have a +lot of prisoners on hand which they're goin' to eat until you +come along an' buy 'em for a stick o' tobacco. + +"It ain't no fun, blackbirdin', McGuffey. After you've got 'em +aboard, they may take a notion to jump overboard and swim back, +so you get 'em down below an' clap the hatches on 'em until +you're out of sight o' land, an' the beggars howl an' there's +hell to pay. + +"Me an' Bull McGinty headed for the Gilberts that first trip, an' +managed to pick up a fair consignment of labour. We touched in at +Nonuti the very last place, which, as I says, is on the island o' +Aranuka, right under the Hakatuea volcano. There was some +strappin' big buck native niggers there that would fetch $300 a +head Mex, an' so me an' Bull goes ashore to pow-wow with the +chief. He was a fat old boy named Poui-Slam-Bang, or some such +name, an' he received us as nice as you please. Me an' Bull +rubbed noses with Poui-Slam-Bang an' all the head men, and they +give a big feed in our honour. Roast pig an' roast duck an' +stewed chicken an' all the tropical trimmin's we had, Mac, +including a little barrel o' furniture polish that Bull brought +ashore, labelled Three Star Hennessy on the outside an' Three Ply +Deviltry inside. + +"While we was at the feast, with everybody squattin' around on +their hind legs, pokin' their mits into a big wooden bowl, +Poui-Slam-Bang pipes up his only daughter, a lovely wench about +seventeen years old with a name that nobody can pronounce. I call +her Pinky, and of all the women I ever meets, black, white, +brown, red, or yellow, this Pinky is the loveliest, and has 'em +all hull down. She's wearin' a palm leaf petticoat and a string +o' shark's teeth around her neck with an empty sardine box for a +pendant. She has flowers in her hair, which is braided in +pig-tails, different from the other girls. Her eyes--McGuffey, +_them eyes_! Like a pair of fireflies floatin' in sorghum. And as +she stands there working her toes in th' sand, she never takes +her eyes off them fine red whiskers o' mine. + +"Bull gives her a cigar, and it's plain that he's taken with her, +but she never so much as looks at Bull. My whiskers has done the +trick--so bimeby, when all hands is feeling jolly, including me +an' McGinty, I sidles up to Pinky an' sorter gives her to +understand that she wouldn't have to clap me in irons to fondle +them red whiskers o' mine. She sticks a flower in them, Mac, +s'help me, and then giggles foolish an' ducks into the bush. + +"Well, we rigs up a deal with Poui-Slam-Bang and next afternoon +stand out for the entrance with forty odd head of labour in +excess of what we had when we arrived. We'd cleared the reef, and +was comin' about around Hakatuea Head, when what d'ye suppose we +sight? Nothin' more or less than Miss Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang +swimmin' right across our bows. She was more than a mile out an' +comin' like a shark, hand over hand. Before I could yell to the +boy at the wheel to luff up, so we wouldn't run the girl down, +we was right on top of her. + +"'They'll have to revise the census of Aranuka,' says Bull +McGinty. I do believe we hit that girl an' drove her under.' + +"We was both rubberin' astern an' to starboard an' port, but not +a sign o' the girl do we see. I got out my glasses an' searched +around for full half an hour, an' by that time we was five miles +out to sea, and it wasn't no use lookin' any more, an' besides I +had work to attend to. + +"We sailed along all the afternoon, over a sea as smooth as a +dance-hall floor. Along about sunset I was up on the fo'castle +head singin' 'Nancy Brown' when who should pop up onto the +bowsprit but Pinky. She sat there a minute danglin' her legs an' +smilin' an' s'help me, Mac, if it hadn't been daylight still, I'd +a-swore she was a sperrit. I jumped two feet in the air an' came +down with my mouth open. Pinky hops up on the bowsprit, and runs +along to the fo'castle head, an' then I seen she was real. The +little cuss! She'd swung herself up into the martingale, an' +there she'd squatted all the afternoon until we was out o' sight +o' land. Of course, she got a ducking every few minutes, but +what's a duckin' to them kind o' people? + +"I grabs hold o' Pinky, mighty glad to know we hadn't killed her, +and brings her before Bull McGinty. + +"'She's in love with some one of these black bucks aboard,' says +Bull. 'That's why she's followed. Isn't she the likely lookin' +wench, Gib? I do believe I'll----' + +"'No, you won't do no such thing, Bull,' says I. 'The fact o' the +matter is the girl's in love with me, an' if anybody's to have +her it'll be Adelbert P. Gibney.' + +"'I'm not so sure o' that, Gib,' says Bull McGinty. 'I'm skipper +here.' + +"'Well, I'm mate,' says I, 'with a half interest in this +expedition.' + +"'I'll fight you for her,' says Bull very pleasantly. + +"'No,' says I, 'I'm opposed t' fightin' a shipmate under such +circumstances, and moreover we're the only two white men aboard, +an' if we fight I think I'll kill you, an' then I'd be lonesome. +As a compromise, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll give Pinky +the freedom o' the ship, an' me an' you'll have a cribbage +tournament from now until we drop anchor at Santa Maria del Pilar +(that's a dog hole on the Guatemala coast). We'll play every +chance we get, an' the lad that's ahead when we let go the anchor +at Santa Maria del Pilar gets Pinky.' + +"'Fair enough,' says Bull, 'an' here's my hand on it.' + +"We had a smart passage o' fifteen days, and in that time me an' +Bull McGinty plays just one hundred and eighteen games. We had to +quit in the middle o' the last, with the score fifty-eight games +to fifty-nine in Bull's favour, in order to let go the anchor at +Santa Maria del Pilar. While we was up on deck, what do you +suppose Pinky goes and does? She slips down to the cabin and +fudges my peg three holes ahead. It seems that Bull, who talked +the island lingo, has been braggin' to her an' tellin' her what +we've been up to. The minute we have the anchor down, me an' Bull +returns to the game. It's nip an' tuck to the finish an' I win by +one point, Bull dyin' in the last hole, which makes the thing a +draw. + +"Says I to Bull McGinty: 'Bull, we can't both have her.' + +"Says Bull to me: 'I hereby declare this tournament no contest, +an' move that we sell the lady with the rest o' the herd, an' no +hard feelin's between shipmates.' + +"Nothin' could be fairer than that an' I tells Bull I'm willin'. +So we sold Pinky for $200 Mex to Don Luiz Miguel y Oreña, an' +sailed away for another flock o' blackbirds. + +"We had busy times for the next six months until we found +ourselves back at Santa Maria del Pilar with another cargo of +savages. But all that time I'd been feelin' a little sneaky on +account o' sellin' Pinky, an' as soon as we dropped anchor I had +the boys pull me ashore, an' I chartered a white mule an' shapes +my course for the hacienda of this Don Luiz Miguel y Oreña. I was +minded to see how Pinky was gettin' on. + +"It was comin' on dusk when I rides into Oreña's place, an' all +th' hands was just in from the fields. The labour shacks was +built in a kind of square along with the warehouses, an' in the +centre o' this square was a snubbin' post, with bull rings, an' +hangin' to this snubbin' post, with her hands triced up to the +bull rings, was Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang with a little Colorado claro +man standing off swingin' a rope's end on poor little Pinky's +bare back. + +"I'm not what you'd call a patient man, McGuffey, an' bein' o' +th' sea and not used to ridin' horses, not to speak o' white +mules, I was sore in more ways than one. I luffs up alongside o' +this dry land bo'sum an' punches once. Then I jumps off my white +mule, takes the swab by the heels, an' chucks him over the +warehouse into a cactus bush. Don Oreña was there an' he makes +objections to me gettin' fresh with his help so, I tucks Don +Oreña under my arm, lays him acrosst my knee, and gives him a +taste o' th' rope's end. He hollers murder, but I bats him around +until he can't let out another peep, after which I grabs a +machete that's handy an' chases the entire male population into +the jungle. When I gets back, Pinky is hanging to the bull rings, +about dead. I cuts her down, swings her on th' mule, an' makes +for the coast. We was aboard th' _Dashin' Wave_ next mornin'. + +"Bull was settin' up on top o' th' house eatin' an orange when me +an' Pinky comes over th' rail. + +"'Bull McGinty' says I, 'you're a sea captain. Come down off that +house an' marry me to Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang.' + +"'With pleasure,' says Bull, an' he done it, announcin' us man +an' wife by all th' rules an' regulations o' th' Department o' +Commerce an' Labour, th' _Dashin' Wave_ being registered under +th' American flag. + +"Six weeks later I sets Pinky down on the beach at Nonuti, an' we +both go up to her old man's shack for the parental blessin'. I +expected Poui-Slam-Bang would slaughter th' roasted hog upon th' +prodigal's return, but come t' find out, the old boy's been took +in a scrap with one o' the hill tribes, an' speculation's rife as +to his final disposition. Pinky allows that pa's been et up, an' +she havin' no brothers is by all the rules o' the game queen o' +Aranuka. Of course, me bein' her husband, I'm king. You can't get +around my rights to the job nohow. For all that Pinky stands in +with me, however, a big wild-eyed beggar makes up his mind that +he'll make a better king than Adelbert P. Gibney, an' he comes at +me with a four-foot war club, with two spikes drove crosswise +through the business end o' it. As he swings, I soaks him between +the eyes with a ripe breadfruit, with the result that his aim's +spoiled an' he misses. So I took his club away an' hugged him +until I broke three ribs, an' he was always good after that. I +wanted t' be king, but I didn't believe in sheddin' no blood for +the mere sake of office. + +"Well, McGuffey, I was king of Aranuka for nearly six months. I +was a popular king, too, an' there was never no belly-achin' at +my decisions. I had a double-barrelled muzzle-loadin' shotgun, a +present from Bull McGinty. Bull was all broke up at me desertin' +the _Dashin' Wave_, but I promised to save all the Aranuka trade +for him an' for nobody else, an' he stood off for Suva to get +himself another mate. + +"At first it was great business bein' king, an' I enjoyed it. I +learned Pinky to speak a little English an' she learned me her +lingo, an' we got along mighty fine. Pinky would lay awake +nights, snoopin' around listenin' to what the rest o' the gang +had to say about me, and twice she put me wise to uprisin's that +threatened my throne. I used to get the ring leaders in my arms +an' hug 'em, an' after one hug from Adelbert P. Gibney in them +days---- + +"Well, as I was sayin', it was nice enough until the novelty wore +off, an' there was nothin' to do that I hadn't done twenty times +before. I thought some o' goin' to war with the wild niggers in +the hills, an' avengin' my father-in-law's death, but I couldn't +get my army more than three miles inland, so I had to give that +up. Before three months had passed I wanted to abdicate the worst +way. I wanted to tread a deck again, an' rove around with Bull +McGinty. I wanted th' smell o' the open sea an' th' heave o' th' +_Dashin' Wave_ underfoot. I was tired o' breadfruit an' guavas +an' cocoanuts an' all th' rest o' th' blasted grub that Pinky was +feedin' me, an' most of all I was gettin' tired o' Pinky. She +_would_ put cocoanut oil in her hair. Yet (here Mr. Gibney's +voice vibrated with emotion as he conjured up these memories of +his lurid past) it never occurred to me, at the time, I was that +young an' foolish, that she was doin' it for _me_. She was as +beautiful as ever, an' Gawd knows nobody but a fool would get +tired o' such a fine woman, every inch a queen, but I was just +that foolish. + +"I got so lonesome I wouldn't eat. I wished McGinty would show up +an' relieve me of my kingship. An' one night sure enough he came. +It was moonlight--you've been in the tropics, McGuffey, you know +what real moonlight is--an' I was lyin' out on th' edge of +Hakatuea overlookin' the beach. I'd spotted a sail at sunset an' +somethin' told me it was the _Dashin' Wave_. Pinky was with me, +rubbin' my head an' braidin' my whiskers an' cooin' over me like +a baby, as happy as any woman could be. + +"Along about ten o'clock, I should say, here comes the _Dashin' +Wave_ around the headland. I could see her luff up an' come about +with her bow headed straight for the entrance between the reefs, +an' th' water purlin' under her forefoot. Everything was as still +as the grave, an' only the surf was swishin' up th' beach sobbin' +'Peace! Peace!' and there wasn't no peace for King Gibney. Pretty +soon I heard the creak of the blocks an' the smash o' th' mast +hoops as th' mains'l came flutterin' down--then th' sound o' the +cable rushin' through the hawsepipes as her hook took bottom. In +the moonlight I could see Bull McGinty standin' by the port +mizzen shrouds with a megaphone up to his face, and his voice +comes up to me like the bugle blast of Kingdom Come. + +"'O, Gib! Are you there?' + +"'Aye, aye, sir.' + +"'Have ye et your full o' th' lotus?' says Bull. + +"'Hard tack an' salt horse for King Gibney,' I yells back. 'I +ain't no vegetarian no more, Bull. Do you need a smart mate?' + +"I could hear Bull McGinty chucklin' to himself. + +"'You young whelp,' says Bull. 'I knew you'd outgrow it. They all +do, when they're as young as you. I'll send the whaleboat ashore. +Kiss Pinky good-bye for me, too,' he adds. + +"Two minutes later I heard the boat splash over the stern davits +an' the black boys raisin' a song as they lay to their work. I +turns to Pinky, takes her in my arms an' kisses her for the first +time in three weeks, an' she knows that th' jig is up. She might +'a' slipped a dirk in me, but she wasn't that kind. Women is +women, McGuffey, the world over. Pinky just kissed me half a +hundred times an' cries a little, holdin' on to me all th' time, +for naturally she don't like to see me go. Finally I have to make +her break loose, an' I climbs down over the bluff an' wades out +to my waist to meet the boat. I was aboard th' _Dashin' Wave_ in +two twos, shakin' hands with Bull McGinty, an' ten minutes later +we had th' anchor up an' th' sails shook out, an' standin' off +for the open sea. An' the last I ever saw of Mrs. Pinky Gibney +was a shadowy figger in th' moonlight standin' out on th' edge o' +Hakatuea Head. The last I hear of her was a sob." + +Mr. Gibney's voice was a trifle husky as he concluded his tale. +He opened and closed his clasp knife and was silent for several +minutes. Presently he sighed. + +"When a feller's young, he never stops to think o' th' hurt he +does," continued the erstwhile king of Aranuka. "Sometimes I lay +awake at nights an' wonder whatever became o' Pinky. I can see +her yet, standin' in th' moonlight, as fine a figger o' a woman +as ever lived. Savage or no savage, she was true an' beautiful, +an' I was a mighty dirty dawg." Mr. Gibney wiped away a +suspicious moisture in his eyes and blew his nose unnecessarily +hard. + +"You was," coincided McGuffey. "You was all o' that. What became +o' Bull McGinty?" + +"He married a sugar plantation in Maui. He's all right for the +rest o' his life. An' as for me as gave him his start, look at +me. Ain't I a sight? Here I am, forty-two years old an' only a +thousand dollars in my pocket. Instead of bein' master of a +clipper ship, I'm mate on a dirty little bumboat. I fall asleep +on deck an' dream an' somethin' drops on my face an' wakes me up. +Is it a breadfruit, Mac? It is not. It's a head of cabbage. I +grab something to throw at Scraggs's cat. Is it a ripe mango? No, +it's a artichoke. In fancy I go to split open a milk cocoanut. +What happens? I slash my thumb on a can o' condensed cream. +Instead o' th' Island trade, I'm runnin' in th' green-pea trade, +twenty miles of coast, freightin' garden truck! My Gawd!" + +Mr. Gibney stood up and dusted the seat of his new suit. He was +dry after his long recital and Captain Scraggs was too long +putting in an appearance, so he decided not to wait for him. +"Let's go an' stow away a glass of beer," he suggested to +McGuffey. "I'm thirstier'n a camel." + +McGuffey was willing so they left the bulkhead for the more +convivial shelter of the Bowhead saloon. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Had either Gibney or McGuffey glanced back as they headed for +their haven of forgetfulness they might have seen Captain Scraggs +poking his fox face up over the edge of a tier of potato boxes +piled on the bulkhead not six feet from where Gibney and McGuffey +had been sitting. Upon his return to the _Maggie_, about the time +Mr. Gibney commenced spinning his yarn, he had almost walked into +the worthy pair, and, wishing to avoid the jeers and jibes he +felt impending, he had merely stepped aside and hidden behind the +potato boxes in order to eavesdrop on their plans, if possible. +Had Mr. Gibney been less interested in his past or Mr. McGuffey +less interested in the recital of that past they would have seen +Scraggs. + +The owner of the _Maggie_ shook his fist in impotent rage at +their retreating backs. "You think you've suffered before," he +snarled. "But I'll make you suffer some more, you big brute. I'll +hurt you worse than if I caved in your head with a belayin' pin. +I'll break your heart, that's what I'll do to you. You wait." + +In the course of an hour Gibney and McGuffey returned, and +Scraggs met them as they leaped down on to the deck of the +_Maggie_. "Gentlemen," he remarked--"an' at that I'm givin' you +two all the best of it, even if you two have got a quit-claim +deed that you ain't pirates--I wish to announce that if you two +have come aboard my ship for the puppose o' havin' a little fun +at my expense, I'm a-goin' to call the police an' have you +arrested for disturbin' the peace. On the other hand an' futher, +if your mission's a peaceful one, you're welcome aboard the +_Maggie_. I may have a temper an' say things that sounds mighty +harsh when I'm het up, but in my calmer moments my natural +inclination is to be a sport." + +"Scraggsy, old hard-luck," Mr. Gibney boomed, "we won so we can +afford to be generous in victory. Like you, me an' Mac is +inclined to be uppish at times, particularly in the hour of +triumph, an' say an' do things we're apt to be ashamed of later." + +"Them's my sentiments," McGuffey chimed in. + +"We ain't comin' aboard to beg you for no job," Mr. Gibney +warned. "Git that idea out o' your head--if you got it there. Me +an' Bart each got close to a thousand dollars in bank this minute +an' we're as free an' independent as two hogs walkin' on ice. Any +ol' time we can't stand up we can set down." + +Captain Scraggs was frankly mystified. "If you two got a thousand +dollars each in bank--an' I ain't disputin' it, for I hear on good +authority you got that much for salvin' the _Chesapeake_--what're +you hangin' around the _Maggie_ for?" + +Mr. Gibney approached and placed his great right arm fraternally +across Scraggs's skinny shoulder. Mr. McGuffey performed a +similar office with his brawny left, and Captain Scraggs looked +apprehensive, like a man who is about to be kissed by another in +public. + +"Scraggsy, when all is lovely an' the goose honks high, it's our +great American privilege to fight like bearcats if we feel that +way about it. But when misfortune descends on one of us, like a +topmast in a typhoon, it's time to stop bickerin'. Me an' Bart, +driftin' along the docks for a constitootional this mornin', +bears the sorrerful tidin's that your new navigatin' officer an' +your new engineer has quit. Judgin' from that shanty on your left +eye, at least one of 'em quit under protest. Immediately, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac decided you might hate our innards but just +the same you needed us in your business. Consequently, we're here +to help you if you'll let us an' for not another durned reason in +the world." + +"There's four alleeged mechanics down in the engine room loafin' +on the job an' gettin' ready to soak you a dollar an' a half an +hour overtime to-night an' Sunday," McGuffey informed the +skipper. "An' that hurts me. I don't mind takin' a poke at you +myself but I'll be shot if I'll stand idly by an' see somebody +else do it. With your kind permission, Scraggs, I'll climb into +my dungarees an' make things hum in that engine room." + +Captain Scraggs was truly affected. His weak chin trembled and +tears came to his little mean green eyes. He could not speak; so +Mr. Gibney hugged him and patted him on the back and told him he +was a good fellow away down low, if the truth were only known; +whereat Captain Scraggs commenced to sob aloud. McGuffey coughed +and tears as big as marbles cascaded down the honest Gibney's +rubicund countenance. + +"I ain't wuth your sympathy after the way I treated you," Captain +Scraggs cried brokenly. + +"Shet up, you little bum," Mr. Gibney cried furiously. "Or I'll +bang you in that other eye that's ready for bangin'." + +"If you're shy a few bucks----" McGuffey began. + +"I am," Captain Scraggs wailed. "I'm worried to death. I don't +know how I'm ever goin' to pay for that bloody boiler an' git to +sea with the _Maggie_----" + +"Little sorrel-top," Mr. Gibney murmured, ruffling Scraggs's thin +blonde hair. "Forget them sordid monetary considerations. I'm +somethin' like forty jumps ahead o' the devil an' ruination for the +first time since me an' Bull McGinty organized the Brotherhood o' +the South Seas----" + +"Leggo me," snarled Captain Scraggs and springing back, he bent +and looked earnestly into Mr. Gibney's happy countenance. "Good +land o' Goshen, if you ain't him!" Hate gleamed in his eyes. + +"Ain't who, you shrimp!" Mr. Gibney was mystified at this abrupt +change of attitude. + +Captain Scraggs blinked and passed his hand wearily across his +brow. "Forgive me, Gib," he answered humbly. "I was sort o' took +back, that's all." + +"Took back at what?" + +"We won't say nothin' more about it, Gib, except that while I'd +like to accept your kind offer an' put you back on the job again, +I--I just can't bring myself to do it. I'll have to forget +first." + +"Forget what? Bart, is Scraggsy gone nutty?" + +"Out with it, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey urged. "Spit it out, +whatever it is." + +"I'd rather not, but since you ask me I suppose I might as well. +Gib, ever since me an' you first hooked up together, away back in +the corner o' my head there's been lurkin' a suspicion that once +before, a long time ago, you an' me have had some business +dealin's, but for the life o' me I couldn't place you. One minute +I'd just be a-staggerin' on the brink of memory, as the feller +says, an' the next it'd slip away from me. But just now, when you +mentioned Bull McGinty an' the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas--well, Gib, it all come back to me like a flash. Bull +McGinty an' the schooner _Dashin' Wave_!" Captain Scraggs shook +his head as if his thoughts threatened to congeal in his brain +and he desired to shake them up. "Bull had a dash o' the +tar-brush in his make up, if I don't disremember, an' you was his +young mate. Man, how funny you did look with them long red +whiskers--an' you little more'n a boy." + +"Jumpin' Jehosophat, Scraggsy! Was you one o' the Brotherhood?" + +Captain Scraggs came close and thrust his face up for Mr. +Gibney's inspection. "Gib," he said solemnly, "look at me! Touch +the cord o' memory an' think back. D'ye remember that pore little +feller you robbed of five hundred dollars twenty-odd year ago in +the schooner _Dashin' Wave_? D'ye remember that typhoon we was in +an' how, when I was that tuckered out an' so seasick I couldn't +stand up, you made me pump ship an' when I protested, you stuck a +horse pistol under my nose an' _made_ me? That man, Adelbert P. +Gibney was _me! Me! Me!_" Scraggs's voice rose in a crashing +crescendo; his teeth clicked together and he shook his skinny +fist under the great Gibney nose. Gibney paled and drew away from +him. + +"How was I to know, Scraggsy?" he faltered. "The whole bunch was +runts--sickly, measly little fellers. Nevertheless an' agin, you +shouldn't ought to have any kick comin'. You had a fine trip an' +a heap of adventure an' me an' Bull paid your passage back to San +Francisco. Come, Scraggs. Be sensible. What's the use holdin' a +grudge after twenty-five years?" + +"Oh, I ain't holdin' a grudge, exactly, Gib, my boy. I admit I +had a good run for my money an' it was a smart piece o' work, an' +I got to admire the idea, same as I got to admire the seamanship +you displayed sailin' the _Chesapeake_ single-handed. It ain't +what you done to me as makes my blood boil. It's what you went +an' done afterward." + +"What'd I do afterward? You can't hang nothin' on me, Phineas P. +Scraggs. Bluffin' don't go. Cough it up." + +"All right, since you drive me to it. How about that lovely, +untootered savage that you lures into your foul clutches so's you +can make yourself king of Aranuka? Hey? Hey? How about that +little tropic wild flower you carelessly plucked an' thrun away? +Oh, I'll admit she was a savage, but she was sweet an' human for +all that an' she had feelin's. She had a heart to bust an' you +busted it for fair." + +Mr. Gibney attempted to hoot, but made a poor job of it. "Why, +wherever do you get this wild tale, Scraggsy, old spell-binder? +You're sure jingled or you wouldn't talk so vagrant." + +"You can't git away with it like that, Gib. I trailed you. Gib, +for two mortal years I follered you, after you dropped us at +Suva, an' I was just a thirstin' for your blood. If I'd met up +with you any time them first two years I'd have shot you like a +dog. I got a whisper you was in Aranuka but when I got there +you'd left. But I found your wife--her you called Pinky. She +couldn't believe you'd slipped your cable for good an' there she +was, a-waitin' an' a-waitin' for her king to come back. Gib, I'm +free to tell you that piracy, barratry, murder an' homicide pales +into insignificance compared with what you went an' done, for you +broke an innercent an' trustin' heart an' hell's too good for a +man that'll pull a trick like that." + +"Scraggsy, Scraggsy, Scraggsy," Mr. Gibney protested. "Them's +awful hard words." + +"I can't help it. You told me to speak out an' I'm a-doin' it. +You hooks up with this unsophisticated, trustful woman--she ain't +a woman; she's a young girl at the time--an' she ain't civilized +enough to be on to your kind. So you finds it easy to make her +love you. Not with the common sordid love of a white woman but +with the fierce, undyin' passion o' the South Seas. An' when you +get her in your clutches, her an' her whole possessions an' she's +yours body an' bones, in the sight o' God an' the sight o' +man--you ups an' leaves her! You throw her down like she's so +much dirt an' leave her to die of a broken heart. An' she'd +a-done it, too, if it hadn't a' been for the children." + +Captain Scraggs was fairly thunderin' his denunciation as he +concluded with: "You--you murderer! Ain't you ashamed of +yourself?" + +Mr. Gibney, thoroughly crushed, hung his head. "If there was +kids, Scraggsy," he pleaded, "they wasn't mine, not that I knows +on." + +"I ain't sayin' you don't speak the truth there, Gib. Maybe you +don't know that part of it, because you left before they was +born. Yes, sir, that gal had two twins--a boy an' a girl an' both +that white, when I see them as yearlings, you'd never suspect +they had a dab o' the tar-brush in 'em at all. The boy had red +hair--provin' he was yourn, Gib." + +Mr. Gibney could stand no more. He sat down on the hatch coaming +and covered his face with his hard red hands. "If there was kids, +Scraggsy," he sobbed, "I didn't know it. I had everything else, +Scraggs, but heirs to my throne. Scraggsy, believe me or not, but +if I'd had children I'd have stuck by Pinky. I wouldn't desert my +own flesh an' blood, so help me." + +"Well," Scraggs went on sorrowfully, "Pinky's dead an' so her +troubles is over. I heard some years ago she'd passed on with +consumption. But them two _hapahaole_ kids o' yourn, Gib. Just +think of it. Banged an' ragged around between decks, neither +black nor white--too good for the natives an' not good enough for +the whites. Princes on their mother's side, they been robbed o' +their hereditary rights by a gang o' native roughnecks, while +their own father loafs alongshore in San Francisco an' enjoys +himself." + +"Looky here, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey struck in ominously. "Ain't +you said about enough? Don't hit a feller when he's down." + +"Well, he ain't down so low that he can't climb back. If he's got +a spark o' manhood left in him he'll never rest until he goes +back to Aranuka, looks up them progeny o' his, an' does his best +to make amends for the past. Gib, you can't work for me aboard +the _Maggie_--not if the old girl couldn't turn her screw until +you stepped aboard. Pers'nally you got a lot o' fine p'ints an' +I like you, but now that I know your past----" + +He threw out his hands despairingly. "It's your morals, Gib, it's +your blasted morals." + +"You're right, Scraggs," Mr. Gibney mumbled brokenly. "It's my +duty to go look up them poor children o' mine. Bart, you stick by +old Scraggsy. I owe him somethin' for showin' me my duty an' I'm +lookin' to you to pay the interest on my bill till I get back +with them poor kids o' mine. Until then I guess I ain't fit to +'sociate with white men." + +Mr. McGuffey appeared on the point of weeping and put his arm +around his old comrade in silent sympathy. Presently Mr. Gibney +shook hands with him and Scraggs and, motioning them not to +follow him, went ashore. Before him, in his mind's eye, there +floated the picture of a South Sea Island with the nodding, +tufted palms fringing the beach and the glow of a volcano against +the moonlit sky. Standing on the headland, waving him a last +farewell, stood the broken-hearted victim of his capricious +youth, the lovely Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang. Every lineament of her +beautiful features was tattooed indelibly on his memory; he knew +she would haunt him forever. + +He went up to the Bowhead saloon, had a drink, leaned on the end +of the bar and thought it over. There was but one way to get back +to Aranuka and that was to ship out before the mast on a South +Sea trader--and with that thought came remembrance of the _Tropic +Bird_, soon to be discharged and outward bound. + +Five minutes later, Mr. Gibney was aboard the _Tropic Bird_ and +had presented himself at her master's cabin. "Where're you bound +for next trip, sir?" he inquired. + +"General trading through the Marquesas, the Society Islands, and +the Gilberts." + +"Happen to be goin' to Aranuka, in the Gilberts?" + +"You bet. Got a trading station there." + +"How are you off for a good mate?" + +"Got one." + +"How about a second mate?" + +"Got a crackerjack." + +"Well, I'm not particular. I'll make a bully bo'sun, sir." + +"Very well. We'll be sailing some day next week and you can sign +up before the Commissioner any time you're ready. By the way, +what's your name?" + +"Gibney, sir. Adelbert P. Gibney." + +"Any experience in the South Seas?" + +"Heaps of it. I was mate for three years with Bull McGinty in the +old _Dashin' Wave_ more'n twenty years ago." + +The master of the _Tropic Bird_ blinked. "Gibney! Gibney!" he +murmured. "Why, I wonder if you're the same man. Are you the chap +that was king of Aranuka for six months and then abdicated for no +reason at all?" + +"I was, sir," Mr. Gibney confessed shamefacedly. "I'm King Gibney +of Aranuka." + +"What was your wife's name?" + +"I called her Pinky for short." + +"By Neptune, what a coincidence! Why, Gibney, I saw Her Majesty +on our last trip, less than two months ago, and she was telling +me all about you. Great old girl, Pinky, and mighty proud of the +fact that once she had a white husband. So you're King Gibney, +eh? Well, well! The world is certainly small." The skipper +chuckled, nor noticed Mr. Gibney's bulging eyes and hanging jaw. +"Going back to take over your kingdom again, Gibney?" he demanded +jocosely. + +"You say you saw her _two months ago_?" Mr. Gibney bellowed. +"D'ye mean to tell me she's alive?" + +"I did and she's very much so." + +"An' the twins. How about them?" + +"There are no twins. Pinky never had any children until after +Bull McGinty took up with her, which was after you left her. They +say she doesn't think quite as much of McGinty as she did of you. +He has a dash of dark blood and it shows up strong." + +"The dog wrote me he'd married a sugar plantation in Maui." + +"Perhaps he did. If the plantation didn't produce, though, you +can bet Bull McGinty wouldn't stay put. By the way, I have a +photograph of Queen Pinky. Snapped her with my kodak on the last +trip." He searched around in the drawer of his desk and brought +the picture forth. "Think you'd recognize Her Majesty after all +these years?" he asked. + +Mr. Gibney seized the picture, gazed upon it a moment, and +emitted one horrified ejaculation which in itself would have been +sufficient to bar him forever from polite society. For what he +gazed upon was not the lovely Pinky of other days, but a very +fat, untidy, ugly black woman in a calico Mother Hubbard dress. +The face, while good-natured, was wrinkled with age and +dissipation; indeed, worldling that he was, Mr. Gibney saw at a +glance that Pinky had grown fond of her gin. From the royal lips +a huge black cigar protruded. + +"I guess I won't take that bo'sun job after all," he gasped--and +fled. Two minutes later, Captain Scraggs and Mr. McGuffey, were +astonished to find Mr. Gibney waiting for them on deck. His face +was terrible to behold; he fixed Scraggs with a searching glance +and advanced upon the _Maggie's_ owner with determination in +every movement. + +"Why--why, Gib, we thought you was headed south by this time," +Scraggs sputtered, for something told him great events portended. + +"You dirty dawg! You little fice! You figgered on breakin' my +heart an' sendin' me off on a wild-goose chase, didn't you?" Mr. +Gibney leaped and his great hand closed over Captain Scraggs's +collar. "Own up," he bellowed. "Where'd you git this dope about +me an' Pinky? Lie to me agin an' I'll toss you overboard," and in +order to impress Captain Scraggs with the seriousness of his +intentions he cuffed the latter vigorously with his open left +palm. + +"I was behind the potato crates this mornin' whilst you an' Mac +was yarnin'," Scraggs hastened to confess. "Ow! Wow! Leggo, Gib! +Can't you take a little joke?" + +"Was Mac here in on the joke? Was you let in on it after I went?" +Mr. Gibney demanded of his Fidus Achates. + +"I was not, Gib. I don't call it no joke to wring a feller's +heart like Scraggsy wrung yourn." + +"In addition to makin' a three-ply jackass o' me!" Captain +Scraggs cowered under the rain of ferocious slaps and attempted +to fight back, but he was helpless in the huge Gibney's grasp and +was forced to submit to a boxing of the ears that would have +addled his brains, had he possessed any. "Now, then," Mr. Gibney +roared, as he cast the skipper loose, "let that be a lesson to +you to let the skeletons in my closet alone hereafter. Mac, +you're not to lend Scraggsy a cent to help him out on expenses, +added to which me an' you quit the _Maggie_ here an' now." + +"You're a devil," McGuffey growled at Scraggs, "an' sweet +Christian thoughts is wasted on you." + +Glowering ferociously, the worthy pair went over the rail. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +Godless and wholly irreclaimable as Mr. Gibney and Mr. McGuffey +might have been and doubtless were, each possessed in bounteous +measure the sweetest of human attributes, to-wit: a soft, kind +heart and a forgiving spirit. Creatures of impulse both, they +found it absolutely impossible to nourish a grudge against +Captain Scraggs, when, upon returning to Scab Johnny's boarding +house that night, their host handed them a grubby note from their +enemy. It was short and sweet and sounded quite sincere; Mr. +Gibney read it aloud: + + On Board the _Maggie_, Saturday night. + + DEAR FRIENDS: + + I am sorry. I apologize to you, Gib, because I hurt your + fealings. I also apologize to Bart for hurting the + fealings of his dear friend. Speeking of hurts you and + Gib hurt me awful with your kidden when you took the + _Chesapeake_ away from me so I jest had to put one over + on you. To er is human but to forgive is devine. After + what I done I don't expect you two to come back to work + ever but for God's sake don't give me the dead face when + we meat agin. Remember we been shipmates once. + + P.P. SCRAGGS. + +"Why, the pore ol' son of a horse thief," Mr. Gibney murmured, +much moved at this profound abasement. "Of course we forgive him. +It ain't manly to hold a grouch after the culprit has paid his +fair price for his sins. By an' large, I got a hunch, Bart, that +old Scraggsy's had his lesson for once." + +"If you can forgive him, I can, Gib." + +"Well, he's certainly cleaned himself handsome, Bart. Telephone +for a messenger boy," and Mr. Gibney sat down and wrote: + + Scraggsy, old fanciful, we're square. Forget it and come + to breakfast with us at seven to-morrow at the Marigold + Café. I'll order deviled lam kidneys for three. It's + alright with Bart also. + + Yours, + GIB. + +This note, delivered to Captain Scraggs by the messenger boy, +lifted the gloom from the latter's miserable soul and sent him +home with a light heart to Mrs. Scraggs. At the Marigold Café +next morning he was almost touched to observe that both Gibney +and McGuffey showed up arrayed in dungarees, wherefore Scraggs +knew his late enemies purposed proceeding to the _Maggie_ +immediately after breakfast and working in the engine room all +day Sunday. Such action, when he knew both gentlemen to be the +possessors of wealth far beyond the dreams of avarice, bordered +so closely on the miraculous that Scraggs made a mental resolve +to play fair in the future--at least as fair as the limits of his +cross-grained nature would permit. He was so cheerful and happy +that McGuffey, taking advantage of the situation, argued him into +some minor repairs to the engine. The work was so far advanced by +midnight Sunday that Scraggs realized he would get to sea by +Tuesday noon, so he dismissed Gibney and McGuffey and ordered +them home for some needed sleep. McGuffey's heart was with the +_Maggie's_ internal economy, however, and on Monday morning he +was up betimes, leaving Mr. Gibney to snore blissfully until +eight o'clock. + +About nine o'clock, as Mr. Gibney was on his way to the Marigold +Café for breakfast, he was mildly interested, while passing the +Embarcadero warehouse, to note the presence of fully a dozen +seedy-looking gentlemen of undoubted Hebraic antecedents, +congregated in a circle just outside the warehouse door. There +was an air of suppressed excitement about this group of Jews that +aroused Mr. Gibney's curiosity; so he decided to cross over and +investigate, being of the opinion that possibly one of their +number had fallen in a fit. He had once had an epileptic shipmate +and was peculiarly expert in the handling of such cases. + +Now, if the greater portion of Mr. Gibney's eventful career had +not been spent at sea, he would have known, by the red flag that +floated over the door, that a public auction was about to take +place, and that the group of Hebrew gentlemen constituted an +organization known as the Forty Thieves, whose business it was to +dominate the bidding at all auctions, frighten off, or buy off, +or outbid all competitors, and eventually gather unto themselves, +at their own figures, all goods offered for sale. + +In the centre of the group Mr. Gibney noticed a tall, lanky +individual, evidently the leader, who was issuing instructions in +a low voice to his henchmen. This individual, though Mr. Gibney +did not know it, was the King of the Forty Thieves. As Mr. Gibney +luffed into view the king eyed him with suspicion. Observing +this, Mr. Gibney threw out his magnificent chest, scowled at the +king, and stepped into the warehouse for all the world as if he +owned it. + +An oldish man with glasses--the auctioneer--was seated on a box +making figures in a notebook. Him Mr. Gibney addressed. + +"What's all this here?" he inquired, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder at the group. + +"It's an old horse sale," replied the auctioneer, without looking +up. + +Mr. Gibney brightened. He glanced around for the stock in trade, +but observing none concluded that the old horses would be led in, +one at a time, through a small door in the rear of the warehouse. +Like most sailors, Mr. Gibney had a passion for horseback riding, +and in a spirit of adventure he resolved to acquaint himself with +the ins and outs of an old horse sale. + +"How much might a man have to give for one of the critters?" he +asked. "And are they worth a whoop after you get them?" + +"Twenty-five cents up," was the answer. "You go it blind at an +old horse sale, as a rule. Perhaps you get something that's +worthless, and then again you may get something that has heaps of +value, and perhaps you only pay half a dollar for it. It all +depends on the bidding. I once sold an old horse to a chap and he +took it home and opened it up, and what d'ye suppose he found +inside?" + +"Bots," replied Mr. Gibney, who prided himself on being something +of a veterinarian, having spent a few months of his youth around +a livery stable. + +"A million dollars in Confederate greenbacks," replied the +auctioneer. "Of course they didn't have any value, but just +suppose they'd been U.S.?" + +"That's right," agreed Mr. Gibney. "I suppose the swab that owned +the horse starved him until the poor animal figgered that all's +grass that's green. As the feller says, 'Truth is sometimes +stranger than fiction.' If you throw in a saddle and bridle +cheap, I might be induced to invest in one of your old horses, +shipmate." + +The auctioneer glanced quickly at Mr. Gibney, but noticing that +worthy's face free from guile, he burst out laughing. + +"My sea-faring friend," he said presently, "when we use the term +'old horse,' we use it figuratively. See all this freight stored +here? Well, that's old horses. It's freight from the S.P. +railroad that's never been called for by the consignees, and +after it's in the warehouse a year and isn't called for, we have +an old horse sale and auction it off to the highest bidder. +Savey?" + +Mr. Gibney took refuge in a lie. "Of course I do. I was just +kiddin' you, my hearty." (Here Mr. Gibney's glance rested on two +long heavy sugar-pine boxes, or shipping cases. Their joints at +all four corners were cunningly dove-tailed and wire-strapped.) +"I was a bit interested in them two boxes, an' seein' as this is a +free country, I thought I'd just step in an' make a bid on them," +and with the words, Mr. Gibney walked over and busied himself in +an inspection of the two crates in question. + +The fact of the matter was that so embarrassed was Mr. Gibney at +the exposition of his ignorance that he desired to hide the +confusion evident in his sun-tanned face. So he stooped over the +crates and pretended to be exceedingly interested in them, +hauling and pushing them about and reading the address of the +consignee who had failed to call for his goods. The crates were +both consigned to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San +Francisco. There were several Chinese characters scrawled on the +top of each crate, together with the words, in English: "Oriental +Goods." + +As he ceased from his fake inspection of the two boxes, the King +of the Forty Thieves approached and surveyed the sailor with an +even greater amount of distrust and suspicion than ever. Mr. +Gibney was annoyed. He disliked being stared at, so he said: + +"Hello, Blumenthal, my bully boy. What's aggravatin' _you_?" + +Blumenthal (since Mr. Gibney, in the sheer riot of his +imagination elected to christen him Blumenthal, the name will +probably suit him as well as any other) came close to Mr. Gibney +and drew him aside. In a hoarse whisper he desired to know if Mr. +Gibney attended the auction with the expectation of bidding on +any of the packages offered for sale. Seeking to justify his +presence, Mr. Gibney advised that it was his intention to bid in +everything in sight; whereupon Blumenthal proceeded to explain to +Mr. Gibney how impossible it would be for him, arrayed against +the Forty Thieves, to buy any article at a reasonable price. +Further: Blumenthal desired to inform Mr. Gibney that his (Mr. +Gibney's) efforts to buy in the "old horses" would merely result +in his running the prices up, for no beneficent purpose, since it +was ever the practice of the Forty Thieves to permit no man to +outbid them. Perhaps Mr. Gibney would be satisfied with a fair +day's profit without troubling himself to hamper the Forty +Thieves and interfere with their combination, and with the words, +the king surreptitiously slipped Mr. Gibney a fifty-dollar +greenback. + +Mr. Gibney's great fist closed over the treasure, he having +first, by a coy glance, satisfied himself that it was really +fifty dollars. He shook hands with the king. He said: + +"Blumenthal, you're a smart man. I am quite content with this +fifty to keep off your course and give you a wide berth to +starboard. I'm sensible enough to know when I'm licked, an' a +fight without profit ain't in my line. I didn't make my money +that way, Blumenthal. I'll cast off my lines and haul away from +the dock," and suiting the action to the figure, Mr. Gibney +departed. + +He went first to the Seaboard Drug Store, where he quizzed the +druggist for five minutes, after which he continued his cruise. +Upon reaching the _Maggie_, he proceeded to relate in detail, and +with many additional details supplied by his own imagination, the +story of his morning's adventure. + +"Gib," said McGuffey enviously, "you're a fool for luck." + +"Luck," said Mr. Gibney, beginning to expand, "is what the feller +calls a relative proposition----" + +"You're wrong, Gib," interposed Captain Scraggs. "Relatives is +unlucky an' expensive. Take, f'r instance, Mrs. Scraggs's +mother----" + +"I mean, you lunkhead," said Mr. Gibney, "that luck is found +where brains grow. No brains, no luck. No luck, no brains. Lemme +illustrate. A thievin' land shark makes me a present o' fifty +dollars not to butt in on them two boxes I'm tellin' you about. +Him an' his gang wants them two boxes. Fair crazy to get 'em. +Now, don't it stand to reason that them fellers knows what's _in_ +them boxes, or they wouldn't give me fifty dollars to haul ship? +Of course it does. However, in order to earn that fifty dollars, +I got to back water. It wouldn't be playin' fair if I didn't. But +that don't prevent me from puttin' two dear friends o' mine (here +Mr. Gibney encircled Scraggs and McGuffey with an arm each) next +to the secret which I discovers, an' if there's money in it for +old Hooky that buys me off, it stands to reason that there's +money in it for us three. What's to prevent you an' McGuffey from +goin' up to this old horse sale an' biddin' in them two boxes for +the use and benefit of Gibney, Scraggs, an' McGuffey, all share +an' share alike? You can bid as high as a hundred dollars if +necessary, an' still come out a thousand dollars to the good. I'm +tellin' you this because I know what's in them two boxes." + +McGuffey was staring fascinated at Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs +clutched his mate's arm in a frenzied clasp. + +"_What?_" they both interrogated. + +"You two boys," continued Mr. Gibney with aggravating +deliberation, "ain't what nobody would call dummies. You're smart +men. But the trouble with both o' you boys is you ain't got no +imagination. Without imagination nobody gets nowhere, unless it's +out th' small end o' th' horn. Maybe you boys ain't noticed it, +but my imagination is all that keeps me from goin' to jail. Now, +if you two had read the address on them two boxes, it wouldn't +'a' meant nothin' to you. Absolutely nothin'. But with me it's +different. I'm blessed with imagination enough to see right +through them Chinamen tricks. Them two boxes is marked "Oriental +Goods" an' consigned (here Mr. Gibney raised a grimy forefinger, +and Scraggs and McGuffey eyed it very much as if they expected it +to go off at any moment)--"them two boxes is consigned to the Gin +Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San Francisco." + +"Well, that's up in Chinatown all right," admitted Captain +Scraggs, "but how about what's inside the two crates?" + +"Oriental goods, of course," said McGuffey. "They're consigned to +a Chinaman, an' besides, that's what it says on the cases, don't +it, Gib? Oriental goods, Scraggs, is silks an' satins, rice, chop +suey, punk, an' idols an' fan tan layouts." + +Mr. Gibney tapped gently with his horny knuckles on the honest +McGuffey's head. + +"If there ain't Swiss cheese movements in that head block o' yours, +Mac, you an Scraggsy can divide my share o' these two boxes o' +ginseng root between you. Do you get it, you chuckleheaded son of an +Irish potato? Gin Seng, 714 Dupont Street. Ginseng--a root or a herb +that medicine is made out of. The dictionary says it's a Chinese +panacea for exhaustion, an' I happen to know that it's worth five +dollars a pound an' that them two crates weighs a hundred and fifty +pounds each if they weighs an ounce." + +His auditors stared at Mr. Gibney much as might a pair of +baseball fans at the hero of a home run with two strikes and the +bases full. + +"Gawd!" muttered McGuffey. + +"Great grief, Gib! Can this be possible?" gasped Captain Scraggs. + +For answer, Mr. Gibney took out his fifty-dollar bill and handed +it to--to McGuffey. He never trusted Captain Scraggs with +anything more valuable than a pipeful of tobacco. + +"Scraggsy," he said solemnly, "I'm willin' to back my imagination +with my cash. You an' McGuffey hurry right over to the warehouse +an' butt in on the sale when they come to them two boxes. The +sale is just about startin' now. Go as high as you think you can +in order to get the ginseng at a profitable figger, an' pay the +auctioneer fifty dollars down to hold the sale; that will give +you boys time to rush around to dig up the balance o' the money. +Tack right along now, lads, while I go down the street an' get me +some breakfast. I don't want Blumenthal to see me around that +sale. He might get suspicious. After I eat I'll meet you here +aboard th' _Maggie_, an' we'll divide the loot." + +With a fervent hand-shake all around, the three shipmates parted. + +After disposing of a hearty breakfast of devilled lamb's kidneys +and coffee, Mr. Gibney invested in a ten-cent Sailor's Delight +and strolled down to the _Maggie_. Neils Halvorsen, the lone +deckhand, was aboard, and the moment Mr. Gibney trod the +_Maggie's_ deck once more as mate, he exercised his prerogative +to order Neils ashore for the remainder of the day. Since +Halvorsen was not in on the ginseng deal, Mr. Gibney concluded +that it would be just as well to have him out of the way should +Scraggs and McGuffey appear unexpectedly with the two cases of +ginseng. + +For an hour Mr. Gibney sat on the stern bitts and ruminated over +a few advantageous plans that had occurred to him for the +investment of his share of the deal should Scraggs and McGuffey +succeed in landing what Mr. Gibney termed "the loot." About +eleven o'clock an express wagon drove in on the dock, and the +mate's dreams were pleasantly interrupted by a gleeful shout from +Captain Scraggs, on the lookout forward with the driver. McGuffey +sat on top of the two cases with his legs dangling over the end +of the wagon. He was the picture of contentment. + +Mr. Gibney hurried forward, threw out the gangplank, and assisted +McGuffey in carrying both crates aboard the _Maggie_ and into her +little cabin. Captain Scraggs thereupon dismissed the expressman, +and all three partners gathered around the dining-room table, +upon which the boxes rested. + +"Well, Scraggsy, old pal, old scout, old socks, I see you've +delivered the goods," said Mr. Gibney, batting the skipper across +the cabin with an affectionate slap on the shoulder. + +"I did," said Scraggs--and cursed Mr. Gibney's demonstrativeness. +"Here's the bill o' sale all regular. McGuffey has the change. +That bunch o' Israelites run th' price up to $10.00 each on these +two crates o' ginseng, but when they see we're determined to have +'em an' ain't interested in nothin' else, they lets 'em go to us. +McGuffey, my _dear_ boy, whatever are you a-doin' there--standin' +around with your teeth in your mouth? Skip down into th' engine +room and bring up a hammer an' a col' chisel. We'll open her up +an' inspect th' swag." + +Upon McGuffey's return, Mr. Gibney took charge. He drove the +chisel under the lid of the nearest crate, and prepared to pry it +loose. Suddenly he paused. A thought had occurred to him. + +"Gentlemen," he said (McGuffey nodded his head approvingly), +"this world is full o' sorrers an' disappointments, an' it may +well be that these two cases don't contain even so much as a +smell o' ginseng after all. It may be that they are really +Oriental goods. What I want distinctly understood is this: no +matter what's inside, we share equally in the profits, even if +they turn out to be losses. That's understood an' agreed to, +ain't it?" + +Captain Scraggs and McGuffey indicated that it was. + +"There's a element o' mystery about these two boxes," continued +Mr. Gibney, "that fascinates me. They sets my imagination +a-workin' an' joggles up all my sportin' instincts. Now, just to +make it interestin' an' add a spice t' th' grand openin', I'm +willin' to bet again my own best judgment an' lay you even money, +Scraggsy, that it ain't ginseng but Oriental goods." + +"I'll go you five dollars, just f'r ducks," responded Captain +Scraggs heartily. "McGuffey to hold the stakes an' decide the +bet." + +"Done," replied Mr. Gibney. The money was placed in McGuffey's +hands, and a moment later, with a mighty effort, Mr. Gibney pried +off the lid of the crate. Captain Scraggs had his head inside the +box a fifth of a second later. + +"Sealed zinc box inside," he announced. "Get a can opener, Gib, +my boy." + +"Ginseng, for a thousand," mourned Mr. Gibney. "Scraggsy, you're +five dollars of my money to the good. Ginseng always comes packed +in air-tight boxes." + +He produced a can opener from the cabin locker and fell to his +work on a corner of the hermetically sealed box. As he drove in +the point of the can opener, he paused, hammer in hand, and gazed +solemnly at Scraggs and McGuffey. + +"Gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "do you know +what a vacuum is?" + +"I know," replied the imperturbable McGuffey. "A vacuum is an +empty hole that ain't got nothin' in it." + +"Correct," said Mr. Gibney. "My head is a vacuum. Me talkin' +about ginseng root! Why, I must have water on the brain! Ginseng +be doggoned! _It's opium!_" + +Captain Scraggs was forced to grab the seat of his chair in order +to keep himself from jumping up and clasping Mr. Gibney around +the neck. + +"Forty dollars a pound," he gasped. "Gib--Gib, my _dear_ +boy--you've made us wealthy----" + +Quickly Mr. Gibney ran the can opener around the edges of one +corner of the zinc box, inserted the claws of the hammer into the +opening, and with a quick, melodramatic twist, bent back the +angle thus formed. + +Mr. Gibney was the first to get a peep inside. + +[Illustration: "'_Great snakes,' he yelled--and fell back +against the cabin wall_"] + +"Great snakes!" he yelled, and fell back against the cabin wall. +A hoarse scream of rage and horror broke from Captain Scraggs. +In his eagerness he had driven his head so deep into the box that +he came within an inch of kissing what the box contained--which +happened to be nothing more nor less than a dead Chinaman! Mr. +McGuffey, always slow and unimaginative, shouldered the skipper +aside, and calmly surveyed the ghastly apparition. + +"Twig the yellow beggar, will you, Gib?" said McGuffey; "one eye +half open for all the world like he was winkin' at us an' +enjoyin' th' joke." + +Not a muscle twitched in McGuffey's Hibernian countenance. He +scratched his head for a moment, as a sort of first aid to +memory, then turned and handed Mr. Gibney ten dollars. + +"You win, Gib. It's Oriental goods, sure enough." + +"Robber!" shrieked Captain Scraggs, and flew at Mr. Gibney's +throat. The sight reminded McGuffey of a terrier worrying a +mastiff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gibney was still so unnerved at the +discovery of the horrible contents of the box that, despite his +gigantic proportions, he was well-nigh helpless. + +"McGuffey, you swab," he yelled. "Pluck this maritime outlaw off +my neck. He's tearin' my windpipe out by th' roots." + +McGuffey choked Captain Scraggs until he reluctantly let go Mr. +Gibney; whereupon all three fled from the cabin as from a +pestilence, and gathered, an angry and disappointed group, out on +deck. + +"Opium!" jeered Captain Scraggs, with tears of rage in his voice. +"Ginseng! You and your imagination, you swine, you! Get off my +ship, you lout, or I'll murder you." + +Mr. Gibney hung his head. + +"Scraggsy--an' you, too, McGuffey--I got to admit that this here +is one on Adelbert P. Gibney. I--I----" + +"Oh, hear him," shrilled Captain Scraggs. "One on him! It's two +on you, you bloody-handed ragpicker. I suppose that other case +contains opium, too! If there ain't another dead corpse in No. 2 +case I hope my teeth may drop overboard." + +"Shut up!" bellowed Mr. Gibney, in a towering rage. "What howl +have you got comin'? They're my Chinamen, ain't they? I paid for +'em like a man, didn't I? All right, then. I'll keep them two +Chinamen. You two ain't out a cent yet, an' as for this five I +wins off you, Scraggs, it's blood money, that's what it is, an' I +hereby gives it back to you. Now, quit yer whinin', or by the +tail o' the Great Sacred Bull, I'll lock you up all night in th' +cabin along o' them two defunct Celestials." + +Captain Scraggs "shut up" promptly, and contented himself with +glowering at Mr. Gibney. The mate sat down on the hatch coaming, +lit his pipe, and gave himself up to meditation for fully five +minutes, at the end of which time McGuffey was aware that his +imagination was about to come to the front once more. + +"Well, gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "I bet I +get my twenty bucks back outer them two Chinks," he announced +presently. + +"How'll yer do it?" inquired McGuffey politely. + +"How'll I do it? Easy as fallin' through an open hatch. I'm +a-goin' t' keep them two stiffs in th' boxes until dark, an' +then I'm a-goin' to take 'em out, bend a rope around their +middle, drop 'em overboard an' anchor 'em there all night. I see +th' lad we opens up in No. 1 case has had a beautiful job o' +embalmin' done on him, but if I let them soak all night, like a +mackerel, they'll limber up an' look kinder fresh. Then first +thing in th' mornin' I'll telephone th' coroner an' tell him I +found two floaters out in th' bay an' for him to come an' get +'em. I been along the waterfront long enough t' know that th' lad +that picks up a floater gets a reward o' ten dollars from th' +city. You can bet that Adelbert P. Gibney breaks even on th' +deal, all right." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," said Captain Scraggs admiringly. "I +apologize for my actions of a few minutes ago. I was unstrung. +You're still mate o' th' American steamer _Maggie_, an' as such, +welcome to th' ship. All I ask is that you nail up your property, +Gib, an' remove it from th' dinin' room table. I want to remind +you, however, Gib, that as shipmates me an' McGuffey don't stand +for you shoulderin' any loss on them two cases o'--Oriental +goods. We was t' share th' gains, if any, an' likewise th' +losses." + +"That's right," said McGuffey, "fair an' square. No bellyachin' +between shipmates. Me an' Scraggs each owns one-third o' them +diseased Chinks, an' we each stands one-third o' th' loss, if +any." + +"But there won't be no loss," protested Mr. Gibney. + +"Drayage charges, Gib, drayage charges. We give a man a dollar to +tow 'em down t' th' ship." + +"Forget it," answered Mr. Gibney magnanimously, "an' let's go +over an' get a drink. I'm all shook up." + +After the partners had partaken of a sufficient quantity of +nerve tonic, Mr. Gibney suddenly recollected that he had to go +over to Market Street and redeem the sextant which he had pawned +several days before. And since McGuffey knew, from ocular +evidence, that Mr. Gibney was "flush," he decided to accompany +the mate and preserve him from temptation. There was safety in +numbers, he reasoned. Captain Scraggs said he thought he'd go +back to the _Maggie_. He had forgotten to lock the cabin door. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Had either Mr. Gibney or McGuffey been watching Captain Scraggs +for the next twenty minutes they would have been much puzzled to +account for that worthy's actions. First he dodged around the +block into Drumm Street, and then ran down Drumm to California, +where he climbed aboard a cable car and rode up into Chinatown. +Arrived at Dupont Street he alighted and walked up that +interesting thoroughfare until he came to No. 714. He glanced at +a sign over the door and was aware that he stood before the +entrance to the offices of the Chinese Six Companies, so he +climbed upstairs and inquired for Gin Seng, who presently made +his appearance. + +Gin Seng, a very nice, fat Chinaman, arrayed in a flowing silk +gown, begged, in pidgin-English, to know in what manner he could +be of service. + +"Me heap big captain, allee same ship," began Captain Scraggs. +"On board ship two China boys have got." (Here Captain Scraggs +winked knowingly.) "China boy no speak English----" + +"That being the case," interposed Gin Seng, "I presume that you +and I understand each other, so let's cut out the pidgin-English. +Do I understand that you are engaged in evading the immigration +laws?" + +"Exactly," Captain Scraggs managed to gasp, as soon as he could +recover from his astonishment. "They showed me your name an' +address, an' they won't leave th' ship, where I got 'em locked up +in my cabin, until you come an' take 'em away. Couple o' +relatives of yours, I should imagine." + +Gin Seng smiled his bland Chinese smile. He had frequent dealings +with ship masters engaged in the dangerous though lucrative trade +of smuggling Chinese into the United States, and while he had not +received advice of this particular shipment, he decided to go +with Captain Scraggs to Jackson Street bulkhead and see if he +could not be of some use to his countrymen. + +As Captain Scraggs and his Chinese companion approached the wharf +the skipper glanced warily about. He had small fear that either +Gibney or McGuffey would show up for an hour, for he knew that +Mr. Gibney had money in his possession. However, he decided to +take no chances, and scouted the vicinity thoroughly before +venturing aboard the _Maggie_. These actions served but to +increase the respect of Gin Seng for the master of the _Maggie_ +and confirmed him in his belief that the _Maggie_ was a smuggler. + +Captain Scraggs took his visitor inside the little cabin, +carefully locked and bolted the door, lifted the zinc flap back +from the top of the crate of "Oriental goods," and displayed the +face of the dead Chinaman. Also he pointed to the Chinese +characters on the wooden lid of the crate. + +"What does these hen scratches mean?" demanded Scraggs. + +"This man is named Ah Ghow and he belongs to the Hop Sing tong." + +"How about his pal here?" + +"That man is evidently Ng Chong Yip. He is also a Hop Sing man." + +Captain Scraggs wrote it down. "All right," he said cheerily; +"much obliged. Now, what I want to know is what the Hop Sing tong +means by shipping the departed brethren by freight? They go to +work an' fix 'em up nice so's they'll keep, packs 'em away in a +zinc coffin, inside a nice plain wood box, labels 'em 'Oriental +goods,' and consigns 'em to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont +Street, San Francisco. Now why are these two countrymen o' yours +shipped by freight--where, by the way, they goes astray, for some +reason that I don't know nothin' about, an' I buys 'em up at a +old horse sale?" + +Gin Seng shrugged his shoulders and replied that he didn't +understand. + +"You lie," snarled Captain Scraggs. "You savey all right, you fat +old idol, you! It's because if the railroad company knew these +two boxes contained dead corpses they'd a-soaked the relatives, +which is you, one full fare each from wherever these two dead +ones comes from, just the same as though they was alive an' well. +But you has 'em shipped by freight, an' aims to spend a dollar +an' thirty cents each on 'em, by markin' 'em 'Oriental Goods.' +Helluva way to treat a relation. Now, looky here, you bloody +heathen. It'll cost you just five hundred dollars to recover +these two stiffs, an' close my mouth. If you don't come through +I'll make a belch t' th' newspapers an' they'll keel haul an' +skull-drag th' Chinese Six Companies an' the Hop Sing tong +through the courts for evadin' th' laws o' th' Interstate +Commerce Commission, an' make 'em look like monkeys generally. +An' then th' police'll get wind of it. Savey, policee-man, you +fat old murderer? Th' price I'm askin' is cheap, Charley. How do +I know but what these two poor boys has been murdered in cold +blood? There's somethin' rotten in Denmark, my bully boy, an' +you'll save time an' trouble an' money by diggin' up five hundred +dollars." + +Gin Seng said he would go back to Chinatown and consult with his +company. For reasons of his own he was badly frightened. + +Scarce had he departed before the watchful eye of Captain Scraggs +observed Mr. Gibney and McGuffey in the offing, a block away. +When they came aboard they found Captain Scraggs on top of the +house, seated on an upturned fire bucket, smoking pensively and +gazing across the bay with an assumption of lamblike innocence on +his fox face. + +At the suggestion of Scraggs, Gibney and McGuffey nailed up the +box of "Oriental Goods," set both boxes out on the main deck, +aft, and covered them with a tarpaulin. For about an hour +thereafter all three sat around the little cabin table, talking, +and presently it became evident, to Mr. Gibney's practiced eye, +that Captain Scraggs had something on his mind. Mr. Gibney, +suspecting that it could be nothing honest, was surprised, to say +the least, when Captain Scraggs made a clean breast of his +proposition. + +"Gib--an' you, too, McGuffey. I been thinkin' this thing over, +an' as master o' this ship an' the one who does the biddin' in o' +these two Chinks at th' sale, it's up to me t' try an' bring you +both out with a profit, an' I think th' sellin' should be left to +me. I won't hide nothin' from you boys. I'm a-willin' to take a +chance that I can sell them two cadavers to some horsepital f'r +dissection purposes, an' get more outer th' deal than, you can, +Gib, by passin' 'em off as floaters. I'm a-willin' to give you +an' McGuffey a five-dollar profit over an' above your investment, +an' take over th' property myself, just f'r a flyer, an' to +sorter add a sportin' interest to an otherwise humdrum life. How +about it, lads?" + +"You can have my fraction," said McGuffey promptly; whereupon +Captain Scraggs produced the requisite amount of cash and +immediately became the owner of a two-thirds' interest. + +Mr. Gibney was a trifle mystified. He knew Scraggs well enough to +know that the skipper never made a move until he had everything +planned ahead to a nicety. The mate was not above making five +dollars on the day's work, but some sixth sense told him that +Captain Scraggs was framing up a deal designed to cheat him and +McGuffey out of a large and legitimate profit. Sooner than sell +to Captain Scraggs, therefore, and enable him to unload at an +unknown profit, Mr. Gibney resolved to retain his one-third +interest, even if he had to go to jail for it. So he informed +Captain Scraggs that he thought he'd hold on to his share for a +day or two. + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," explained Scraggs, "you ain't got a +word to say about this deal no more. Don't you realize that I +hold a controllin' interest an' that you must bow to th' vote o' +th' majority?" + +"Don't I, though," blustered Mr. Gibney. "Well, just let me catch +you luggin' off my property without my consent--in writin'--an' +we'll see who does all th' bowin', Scraggsy. I'll cut your greedy +little heart out, that's what I'll do." + +"Well, then," said Scraggs, "you get your blasted property off'n +my ship, an' get yourself off an' don't never come back." + +"F'r th' love o' common sense," bawled Mr. Gibney, "what do you +think I am? A butcher? How am I to get away with a third o' two +dead Chinamen? Ain't you got no reason to you at all, Scraggs?" + +"Very well, then," replied the triumphant Scraggs, "if you won't +sell, then buy out my interest an' rid my ship o' this contaminatin' +encumbrance." + +"I won't buy an' I won't sell--leastways until I've had time to +consider," replied Mr. Gibney. "I smell a rat somewheres, +Scraggs, an' I don't intend to be beat outer my rights. Moreover, +I question McGuffey's right to dispose o' his one-third without +asking my advice an' consent, as th' promoter o' this deal, f'r +th' reason that by his act he aids an' abets th' formation o' a +trust, creates a monopoly, an' blocks th' wheels o' free trade; +all of which is agin public policy an' don't go in no court o' +law. McGuffey, give Scraggs back his money an' keep your +interest. When any o' th' parties hereto can rig up a sale o' +these two Celestials, it's his duty to let his shipmates in on +th' same. He may exact a five per cent. commission for his +effort, if he wants t' be rotten mean, an' th' company has t' pay +it t' him, but otherwise we all whacks up, share an' share alike, +on profits an' losses." + +"Right you are, Gib, my hearty," responded McGuffey. "Scraggs, +we'll just call that sale off, f'r th' sake o' harmony. Here's +your money. I ain't chokin' off Gibney's steam at no time, not if +I know it." + +"You infernal river rats," snarled Scraggs, "I'll--I'll----" + +"Stow it," Mr. Gibney commanded. "I never did see the like o' +you, Scraggs. You're all right an' good comp'ny right up until +somebody declines to let you have your own way--an' then, right +off, you fly in a rage an' git abusive. I'm gittin' weary o' +bein' ordered off your dirty little scow an' then bein' invited +back agin. One o' these bright days, when you start pulling for +the fiftieth time the modern parable o' the Prodigal Son an' the +Fatted Calf, I'm goin' to walk out o' the cast for keeps. Now, if +I was you an' valued the services of a good navigatin' officer +an' a good engineer, I'd just take a little run along the +waterfront an' cool off. Somethin' tells me that if you stick +around here argyin' with me you'll come to grief--which same is +no idle fancy, you snipe." + +Captain Scraggs hastened to take advantage of this invitation, +for it stood him in hand to do so. His plans, due to Mr. Gibney's +inexplicable obstinacy, had failed to mature and he was fearful +that Gin Seng, after consulting with his tong, might return to +the _Maggie_ at any moment and ruin the deal by exposing it to +Gibney and McGuffey; therefore Scraggs resolved to run up to 714 +Dupont Street and warn Gin Seng to let the matter lie in abeyance +for a couple of days, alleging as an excuse that he was being +subjected, for some unknown reason, to police surveillance. +Scraggs decided that after three days the presence of the two +dead Chinamen aboard the _Maggie_ would commence to wear on the +Gibney nerves and the deadlock over the final disposition of +their gruesome purchase would result in Gibney and McGuffey +harkening to reason and accepting a profitable compromise. If it +should cost him a leg, Captain Scraggs was resolved to make those +two corpses pay for the repairs in the _Maggie's_ engine room. + +Following his departure, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey sat on deck +smoking and striving to fathom the hidden design back of +Scraggs's offer to buy them out. "He's got his lines fast +somewhere--you can bank on that," was Mr. Gibney's comment, for +he knew that Scraggs never made a move that meant parting with +money until he was certain he saw that money, somewhat augmented, +returning to him. "While we was away he rigged up some kind of a +deal, Bart. It stands to reason it was a mighty profitable deal, +too, otherwise old Scraggsy wouldn't have flew into such a rage +when I blocked him. My imagination may be a bit off the course at +times, Bart, but in general, if there's a dead whale floatin' +around the ship I can smell it." + +"What do you make out o' that fat Chinaman cruisin' down the +bulkhead in an express wagon an' another Chinaman settin' up on +the bridge with him?" McGuffey demanded. "Seems to me they're +comin', bows on, for the _Maggie_." + +"They tell me to deduct somethin', Bart. Wait a minute till we +see if they're comin' aboard. If they are----" + +"They're goin' to make a landin', Gib." + +"--then I deduct that this body-snatchin' Scraggs----" + +"They're boardin' us, Gib." + +"--has arranged with yon fat Chinaman to relieve us o' the +unwelcome presence of his defunct friends. _He's gone an' hunted +up the relatives an' made 'em come across_--that's what he's +done. The dirty, low, schemin' granddaddy of all the foxes in +Christendom! Wasn't I the numbskull not to think of it myself?" + +"'Tain't too late to mend your ways, Gib. I don't see Scraggs +nowhere," Mr. McGuffey suggested promptly. "All that remains for +me an' you to do, Gib, is to imagine the price, collect the +money, an' declare a dividend. Quick, Gib! What'll we ask him?" + +"I'll fish around an' see what figger Scraggs charged him," the +cautious Gibney replied and stepped to the rail to meet Gin Seng, +for it was indeed he. + +"Sow-see, sow-see, hun-gay," Mr Gibney saluted the Chinaman in a +facetious attempt to talk the latter's language. "Hello, there, +John Chinaman. How's your liver? Captain he allee same get tired; +he no waitee. Wha's mallah, John. Too long time you no come. You +heap lazy all time." + +Gin Seng smiled his bland, inscrutable Chinese smile. "You +ketchum two China boy in box?" he queried. + +"We have," boomed McGuffey, "an' beautiful specimens they be." + +"No money, no China boy," Gibney added firmly. + +"Money have got. Too muchee money you wantee. No can do. Me pay +two hundred dollah. Five hundred dollah heap muchee. No have +got." + +"Nothin' doin', John. Five hundred dollars an' not a penny less. +Put up the dough or beat it." + +Gin Seng expostulated, lied, evaded, and all but wept, but Mr. +Gibney was obdurate and eventually the Chinaman paid over the +money and departed with the remains of his countrymen. "I knew +he'd come through, Bart," Mr. Gibney declared. "They got to ship +them stiffs to China to rest alongside their ancestors or be in +Dutch with the sperrits o' the departed forever after." + +"Do we have to split this swag with that dirty Scraggs?" McGuffey +wanted to know. "Seein' as how he tried to give us the double +cross----" + +"We'll fix Scraggsy--all shipshape an' legal so's he won't have +no comeback. Quick, grab some o' them empty potato crates an' +pile 'em here where the stiffs was lyin' an' cover 'em up with +the tarpaulin. I don't want Scraggsy to think the corpses is gone +until I've hooked him good and plenty." + +The stage was set in a few minutes and the conspirators set +themselves to await the return of Scraggs. They had not long to +wait. Upon his arrival at Gin Seng's place of business Captain +Scraggs had been informed that Gin Seng had gone out twenty +minutes before, and further inquiry revealed the portentous fact +that he had departed in an express wagon. Consumed with +misgivings of disaster, Scraggs returned to the _Maggie_ as fast +as the California Street cable car and his legs could carry him; +as he came aboard his anxious glance sought the tarpaulin-covered +boxes on deck and at sight of them his mental thermometer rose at +once. In the cabin he found Mr. Gibney and McGuffey playing +cribbage. They laid down their hands as Scraggs entered. + +"Well, are you all cooled out an' willin' to listen to reason, +Scraggsy, old business man?" Gibney greeted him cheerfully. + +"None more so, Gib. If you've got a proposition to submit, fire +away." + +"That's comfortin', Scraggsy. Well, me an' Bart's been chewing +over your proposition to buy out our interest in them two Chinks, +an' as the upshot of our talk we made up our minds to sell, but +not for no measly little five bucks' profit. Now, Scraggsy, you +old he-devil, on your honour as between shipmates, you got to +admit five dollars ain't hardly worth considerin'. Come down to +earth now. You know blamed well you're expectin' to pull out with +a neat profit an' that you can afford to boost that five-dollar +ante. What would you consider a fair price for a one-third +interest? Be honest an' fair, Scraggsy." + +Captain Scraggs sat down, beaming. With Mr. Gibney in this frame +of mind he knew he could do anything with him. "Well, now, Gib, +my _dear_ boy, if a man was to get twenty-five dollars for his +interest, I should say he oughtn't to have no kick comin'. I know +I wouldn't." + +"If you was sellin' your interest--imagine, now, that you're me +an' I'm you--would you be satisfied to sell for twenty-five +dollars?" + +"I certainly would, Gib, my boy. Why, that's almost four hundred +per cent. profit, an' any man that'd turn up his nose at a four +hundred per cent. profit ought to go an' have his head examined +by a competent nut doctor." + +"Well, if you feel that way about it, all right, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney replied slowly and put his hand in his pocket. "As I remarked +previous, while you're away me an' Bart gets chewin' over the +proposition an' decides we'll sell. An' to show you what a funny +world this is, while me an' Bart's settin' on deck a-waitin' for you +to come back an' close with us, along breezes a fat old Chinaman in +an express wagon an' offers to buy them two cases of Oriental goods. +He makes me an' Mac what we considers a fair offer for our +two-thirds. You ain't around to offer suggestions an' as it's a +take-it-or-leave-it proposition an' two-thirds o' the stock is +represented in me an' Mac an' accordin' to your rulin' the +majority's got the decidin' vote, we ups an' smothers his offer. +Lemme see, now," he continued, and got out a stub of lead pencil +with which he commenced figuring on the white oilcloth table cover. +"We paid twenty dollars for them two derelicts an' a dollar towage. +That's twenty-one dollars, an' a third o' twenty-one is seven, an' +seven dollars from twenty-five leaves eighteen dollars comin' to +you. Here's your eighteen dollars, Scraggsy, you lucky old +vagabond--all clear profit on a neat day's work, no expense, no +investment, no back-breakin' interest charges or overhead, an' sold +out at your own figger." + +Captain Scraggs's face was a study in conflicting emotions as he +raked in the eighteen dollars. "Thanks, Gib," he said frigidly. + +"Me an' Gib's goin' ashore for lunch at the Marigold Café," +McGuffey announced presently, in order to break the horrible +silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. "I'm willin' to +spend some o' my profits on the deal an' blow you to a lunch with +a small bottle o' Dago Red thrown in. How about it, Scraggs?" + +"I'm on." Scraggs sought to throw off his gloom and appear +sprightly. "What'd you peddle them two cadavers for, Gib?" + +Mr. Gibney grinned broadly but did not answer. In effect, his +grin informed Scraggs that _that_ was none of the latter's +business--and Scraggs assimilated the hint. "Well, at any rate, +Gib, whatever you soaked him, it was a mighty good sale an' I +congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha' done a little better +myself, but then it ain't every day a feller can turn an +eighteen-dollar trick on a corpse." + +"Comin' to lunch with us?" McGuffey demanded. + +"Sure. Wait a minute till I run forward an' see if the lines is +all fast." + +He stepped out of the cabin and presently Gibney and McGuffey +were conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck. Gibney +winked at McGuffey. + +"'Nother new hat gone to hell," murmured McGuffey. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +It was fully a week before Captain Scraggs's mental hemorrhage, +brought on every time his mind reverted to his loss on the "ginseng" +deal, ceased. During all of that period his peregrinations around +the _Maggie_ were as those of one for whom the sweets of existence +had turned to wormwood and vinegar. Mr. Gibney confided to McGuffey +that it was a toss-up whether the old man was meditating murder or +suicide. In fact, so depressed was Captain Scraggs that he lacked +absolutely the ambition to "rag" his associates; observing which Mr. +McGuffey vouchsafed the opinion that perhaps Scraggsy was "teched a +mite in his head-block." + +"Don't you think it," Mr. Gibney warned. "If old Scraggsy's crazy +he's crazy like a fox. What's rilin' him is the knowledge that +he's stung to the heart an' can't admit it without at the same +time admittin' he'd cooked up a deal to double-cross us. He's +just a-bustin' with the thoughts that's accumulatin' inside him. +Right now he'd drown his sorrers in red liquor if he could afford +it." + +"He's troubled financially, Gib." + +"Well, you know who troubled him, don't you, Bart?" + +"I mean about the cost o' them repairs in the engine room. Unless +he can come through in thirty days with the balance he owes, the +boiler people are goin' to libel the _Maggie_ to protect their +claim." + +Mr. Gibney arched his bushy eyebrows. "How do you know?" he +demanded. + +"He was a-tellin' me," Mr. McGuffey admitted weakly. + +"Well, he wasn't a-tellin' me." Mr. Gibney's tones were ominous; +he glared at his friend suspiciously as from the _Maggie's_ cabin +issued forth Scraggsy's voice raised in song. + +"Hello! The old boy's thermometer's gone up, Bart. Listen at him. +'Ever o' thee he's fondly dreamin'.' Somethin's busted the spell +an' I'll bet a cooky it was ready cash." He menaced Mr. McGuffey +with a rigid index finger. "Bart," he demanded, "did you loan +Scraggsy some money?" + +The honest McGuffey hung his head. "A little bit," he replied +childishly. + +"What d'ye call a little bit?" + +"Three hundred dollars, Gib." + +"Secured?" + +"He gimme his note at eight per cent. The savin's bank only pays +four." + +"Is the note secured by endorsement or collateral?" + +"No." + +"Hum-m-m! Strange you didn't say nothin' to me about this till I +had to pry it out o' you, Bart. How about you?" + +"Well, Scraggsy was feelin' so dog-goned blue----" + +"The truth," Mr. Gibney insisted firmly, "the truth, Bart." + +"Well, Scraggsy asked me not to say anythin' to you about it." + +"Sure. He knew I'd kill the deal. He knew better'n to try to nick +me for three hundred bucks on his danged, worthless note. Bart, +why'd you do it?" + +"Oh, hell, Gib, be a good feller," poor McGuffey pleaded. "Don't +be too hard on ol' Scraggsy." + +"We're discussin' _you_, Bart. 'Pears to me you've sort o' lost +confidence in your old shipmate, ain't you? 'Pears that way to me +when you act sneaky like." + +McGuffey bridled. "I ain't a sneak." + +"A rose by any other name'd be just as sweet," Mr. Gibney quoted. +"You poor, misguided simp. If you ever see that three hundred +dollars again you'll be a lot older'n you are now. However, that +ain't none o' my business. The fact remains, Bart, that you +conspired with Scraggsy to keep things away from me, which shows +you ain't the man I thought you were, so from now on you go your +way an' I'll go mine." + +"I got a right to do as I blasted please with my own money," +McGuffey defended hotly. "I ain't no child to be lectured to." + +"Considerin' the fact that you wouldn't have had the money to +lend if it hadn't been for me, I allow I'm insulted when you use +the said money to give aid an' comfort to my enemy. I'm through." + +McGuffey, smothered in guilt, felt nevertheless that he had to +stand by his guns, so to speak. "Stay through, if you feel like +it," he retorted. "Where d'ye get that chatter? Ain't I free, +white, an' twenty-one year old?" + +Mr. Gibney was really hurt. "You poor boob," he murmured. "It's +the old game o' settin' a beggar on horseback an' seein' him ride +to the devil, or slippin' a gold ring in a pig's nose. An' I +figured you was my friend!" + +"Well, ain't I?" + +"Fooey! Fooey! Don't talk to me. You'd sell out your own mother." + +"Them's fightin' words, Gib." + +"Shut up." + +"Gib, you tryin' to pick a fight with me?" + +"No, but I would if I thought I wouldn't git a footrace instead," +Gibney rejoined scathingly. "Cripes, what a double-crossin' I +been handed! Honest, Bart, when it comes to that sort o' work +Scraggs is in his infancy. You sure take the cake." + +"I ain't got the heart to clout you an' make you eat them words," +Mr. McGuffey declared sorrowfully. + +"You mean you ain't got the guts," Mr. Gibney corrected him. +"Bart, I got your number. Good-bye." + +Mr. McGuffey had a wild impulse to cast himself upon the Gibney +neck and weep, but his honour forbade any such weakness. So he +invited Mr. Gibney to betake himself to a region several degrees +hotter than the _Maggie's_ engine room; then, because he feared +to linger and develop a sentimental weakness, he turned his back +abruptly and descended to the said engine room. + +On his part, Adelbert P. Gibney entered the cabin and glared long +and menacingly at Captain Scraggs. "I'll have my time," he +growled presently. "Give it to me an' give it quick." + +The very intonation of his voice warned Scraggs that the present +was not a time for argument or trifling. Silently he paid Mr. +Gibney the money due him; in equal silence the navigating officer +went to the pilot house, unscrewed his framed certificate from +the wall, packed it with his few belongings, and departed for +Scab Johnny's boarding house. + +"Hello," Scab Johnny saluted him at his entrance. "Quit the +_Maggie_?" + +Mr. Gibney nodded. + +"Want a trip to the dark blue?" + +"Lead me to it," mumbled Mr. Gibney. + +"It'll cost you twenty dollars, Gib. Chief mate on the _Rose of +Sharon_, bound for the Galapagos Islands sealing." + +"I'll take it, Johnny." Mr. Gibney threw over a twenty-dollar +bill, went to his room, packed all of his belongings, paid his +bill to Scab Johnny, and within the hour was aboard the schooner +_Rose of Sharon_. Two hours later they towed out with the tide. + +Poor McGuffey was stunned when he heard the news that night from +Scab Johnny. When he retailed the information to Scraggs next +morning, Scraggs was equally perturbed. He guessed that McGuffey +and Gibney had quarrelled and he had the poor judgment to ask +McGuffey the cause of the row. Instantly, McGuffey informed him +that that was none of his dad-fetched business--and the incident +was closed. + +The three months that followed were the most harrowing of +McGuffey's life. Captain Scraggs knew his engineer would not +resign while he, Scraggs, owed him three hundred dollars; +wherefore he was not too particular to put a bridle on his tongue +when things appeared to go wrong. McGuffey longed to kill him, +but dared not. When, eventually, the railroad had been extended +sufficiently far down the coast to enable the farmers to haul +their goods to the railroad in trucks, the _Maggie_ automatically +went out of the green-pea trade; simultaneously, Captain +Scraggs's note to McGuffey fell due and the engineer demanded +payment. Scraggs demurred, pleading poverty, but Mr. McGuffey +assumed such a threatening attitude that reluctantly Scraggs paid +him a hundred and fifty dollars on account, and McGuffey extended +the balance one year--and quit. + +"See that you got that hundred and fifty an' the interest in your +jeans the next time we meet," he warned Scraggs as he went +overside. + +Time passed. For a month the _Maggie_ plied regularly between +Bodega Bay and San Francisco in an endeavour to work up some +business in farm and dairy produce, but a gasoline schooner cut +in on the run and declared a rate war, whereupon the _Maggie_ +turned her blunt nose riverward and for a brief period essayed +some towing and general freighting on the Sacramento and San +Joaquin. It was unprofitable, however, and at last Captain +Scraggs was forced to lay his darling little _Maggie_ up and take +a job as chief officer of the ferry steamer _Encinal_, plying +between San Francisco and Oakland. In the meantime, Mr. McGuffey, +after two barren months "on the beach," landed a job as second +assistant on a Standard Oil tanker running to the West Coast, +while thrifty Neils Halvorsen invested the savings of ten years +in a bay scow known as the _Willie and Annie_, arrogated to +himself the title of captain, and proceeded to freight hay, +grain, and paving stones from Petaluma. + +The old joyous days of the green-pea trade were gone forever, +and many a night, as Captain Scraggs paced the deck of the +ferryboat, watching the ferry tower loom into view, or the +scattered lights along the Alameda shore, he thought longingly of +the old _Maggie_, laid away, perhaps forever, and slowly rotting +in the muddy waters of the Sacramento. And he thought of Mr. +Gibney, too, away off under the tropic stars, leading the +care-free life of a real sailor at last, and of Bartholomew +McGuffey, imbibing "pulque" in the "cantina" of some disreputable +café. Captain Scraggs never knew how badly he was going to miss +them both until they were gone, and he had nobody to fight with +except Mrs. Scraggs; and when Mrs. Scraggs (to quote Captain +Scraggs) "slipped her cable" in her forty-third year, Captain +Scraggs felt singularly lonesome and in a mood to accept eagerly +any deviltry that might offer. + +Upon a night, which happened to be Scraggs's night off, and when he +was particularly lonely and inclined to drown his sorrows in the +Bowhead saloon, he was approached by Scab Johnny, and invited to +repair to the latter's dingy office for the purpose of discussing +what Scab Johnny guardedly referred to as a "proposition." + +Upon arrival at the office, Captain Scraggs was introduced to a +small, fierce-looking gentleman of tropical appearance, who owned to +the name of Don Manuel Garcia Lopez. Scab Johnny first pledged +Captain Scraggs to absolute secrecy, and made him swear by the +honour of his mother and the bones of his father not to divulge a +word of what he was about to tell him. + +Scab Johnny was short and to the point. He stated that as Captain +Scraggs was doubtless aware, if he perused the daily papers at all, +there was a revolution raging in Mexico. His friend, Señor Lopez, +represented the under-dogs in the disturbance, and was anxious to +secure a ship and a nervy sea captain to land a shipment of arms in +Lower California. It appeared that at a sale of condemned army goods +held at the arsenal at Benicia, Señor Lopez had, through Scab +Johnny, purchased two thousand single-shot Springfield rifles that +had been retired when the militia regiments took up the Krag. The +Krag in turn having been replaced by the modern magazine +Springfield, the old single-shot Springfields, with one hundred +thousand rounds of 45-70 ball cartridges, had been sold to the +highest bidder. In addition to the small arms, Lopez had at present +in a warehouse three machine guns and four 3 inch breech-loading +pieces of field artillery (the kind of guns generally designated as +a "jackass battery," for the reason that they can be taken down and +transported over rough country on mules)--together with a supply of +ammunition for same. + +"Now, then," Scab Johnny continued, "the job that confronts us is +to get these munitions down to our friends in Mexico. You know, +as well as anybody, Scraggs, that while our government makes no +bones of selling a lot o' retired rifles an' ammunition, +nevertheless it's goin' to develop a heap o' curiosity regardin' +what we do with 'em. If we're caught sneakin' 'em into Mexico +we'll spend the rest of our lives in a Federal penitentiary for +bustin' the neutrality laws. All them rifles an' the ammunition +is cased an' in my basement at the present moment--and the +government agents knows they're there. But that ain't troubling +me. I rent the saloon next door an' I'll cut a hole through the +wall from my cellar into the saloon cellar, carry 'em through the +saloon into the backyard, an' out into the alley half a block +away. I'm watched, but I got the watcher spotted--only he don't +know it. Our only trouble is a ship. How about the _Maggie_?" + +"I'd have to spend about two thousand dollars on her to put her +in condition for the voyage," Scraggs replied. + +"Can do," Scab Johnny answered him briefly, and Señor Lopez +nodded acquiescence. "You discharge on a lighter at Descanso Bay +about twenty miles below Ensenada. What'll it cost us?" + +"Ten thousand dollars, in addition to fixin' up the _Maggie_. +Half down and half on delivery. I'm riskin' my hide an' my ticket +an' I got to be well paid for it." + +Again Señor Lopez nodded. What did he care? It wasn't his money. + +"I'll furnish you with our own crew just before you sail," Scab +Johnny continued. "Get busy." + +"Gimme a thousand for preliminary expenses," Scraggs demanded. +"After that Speed is my middle name." + +The charming Señor Lopez produced the money in crisp new bills +and, perfect gentleman that he was, demanded no receipt. As a +matter of fact, Scraggs would not have given him one. + +The two weeks that followed were busy ones for Captain Scraggs. +The day after his interview with Scab Johnny and Don Manuel he +engaged an engineer and a deck hand and went up the Sacramento to +bring the _Maggie_ down to San Francisco. Upon her arrival she +was hauled out on the marine ways at Oakland creek, cleaned, +caulked, and some new copper sheathing put on her bottom. She was +also given a dash of black paint, had her engines and boilers +thoroughly overhauled and repaired, and shipped a new propeller +that would add at least a knot to her speed. Also, she had her +stern rebuilt. And when everything was ready, she slipped down to +the Black Diamond coal bunkers and took on enough fuel to carry +her to San Pedro; after which she steamed across the bay to San +Francisco and tied up at Fremont Street wharf. + +The cargo came down in boxes, variously labelled. There were +"agricultural implements," a "cream separator," a "windmill," and +half a dozen "sewing-machines," in addition to a considerable +number of kegs alleged to contain nails. Most of it came down +after five o'clock in the afternoon after the wharfinger had left +the dock, and as nothing but a disordered brain would have +suspected the steamer _Maggie_ of an attempt to break the +neutrality laws, the entire cargo was gotten aboard safely and +without a jot of suspicion attaching to the vessel. + +When all was in readiness, Captain Scraggs incontinently "fired" his +deckhand and engineer and inducted aboard a new crew, carefully +selected for their filibuster virtues by Scab Johnny himself. Then +while the new engineer got up steam, Captain Scraggs went up to Scab +Johnny's office for his final instructions and the balance of the +first instalment due him. + +Briefly, his instructions were as follows: Upon arrival off Point +Dume on the southern California coast, he was to stand in close +to Dume Cove under cover of darkness and show two green lights +on the masthead. A man would come alongside presently in a small +boat, and climb aboard. This man would be the supercargo and the +confidential envoy of the insurrecto junta in Los Angeles. +Captain Scraggs was to look to this man for orders and to obey +him implicitly, as upon this depended the success of the +expedition. This agent of the insurrecto forces would pay him the +balance of five thousand dollars due him immediately upon +discharge of the cargo at Descanso Bay. There was a body of +insurrecto troops encamped at Megano rancho, a mile from the +beach, and they would have a barge and small boats in readiness +to lighter the cargo. Scab Johnny explained that he had promised +the crew double wages and a bonus of a hundred dollars each for +the trip. Don Manuel Garcia Lopez paid over the requisite amount +of cash, and half an hour later the _Maggie_ was steaming down +the bay on her perilous mission. + +The sun was setting as they passed out the Golden Gate and swung +down the south channel, and with the wind on her beam, the aged +_Maggie_ did nine knots. Late in the afternoon of the following +day she was off the Santa Barbara channel, and about midnight she +ran in under the lee of Point Dume and lay to. The mate hung out +the green signal lights, and in about an hour Captain Scraggs +heard the sound of oars grating in rowlocks. A few minutes later +a stentorian voice hailed them out of the darkness. Captain +Scraggs had a Jacob's ladder slung over the side and the mate and +two deckhands hung over the rail with lanterns, lighting up the +surrounding sea feebly for the benefit of the lone adventurer who +sat muffled in a great coat in the stern of a small boat rowed +by two men. There was a very slight sea running, and presently +the men in the small boat, watching their opportunity by the +ghostly light of the lanterns, ran their frail craft in under the +lee of the _Maggie_. The figure in the stern sheets leaped on the +instant, caught the Jacob's ladder, climbed nimbly over the side, +and swore heartily in very good English as his feet struck the +deck. + +"What's the name of this floating coffin?" he demanded in a +chain-locker voice. It was quite evident that even in the darkness, +where her many defects were mercifully hidden, the _Maggie_ did not +suit the special envoy of the Mexican insurrectos. + +"American steamer _Maggie_," said the skipper frigidly. "Scraggs +is my name, sir. And if you don't like my vessel----" + +"Scraggsy!" roared the special envoy. "Scraggsy, for a thousand! +And the old _Maggie_ of all boats! Scraggsy, old tarpot, your +fin! Duke me, you doggoned old salamander!" + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy!" shrieked Captain Scraggs and cast himself +into Mr. Gibney's arms in a transport of joy. Mr. Gibney, for it +was indeed he, pounded Captain Scraggs on the back with one great +hand while with the other he crushed the skipper's fingers to a +pulp, the while he called on all the powers of darkness to +witness that never in all his life had he received such a +pleasant surprise. + +It was indeed a happy moment. All the old animosities and +differences were swallowed up in the glad hand-clasp with which +Mr. Gibney greeted his old shipmate of the green-pea trade. +Scraggs took him below at once and they pledged each other's +health in a steaming kettle of grog, while the _Maggie_, once +more on her course, rolled south toward Descanso Bay. + +"Well, I'll be keel-hauled and skull-dragged!" said Captain +Scraggs, producing a box of two-for-a-quarter cigars and handing +it to Mr. Gibney. "Gib, my _dear_ boy, wherever have you been +these last three years?" + +"Everywhere," replied Mr. Gibney. "I have been all over, mostly +in Panama and the Gold Coast. For two years I've been navigatin' +officer on the Colombian gunboat _Bogota_. When I was a young +feller I did a hitch in the navy and become a first-class gunner, +and then I went to sea in the merchant marine, and got my mate's +license, and when I flashed my credentials on the president of +the United States of Colombia he give me a job at "dos cienti +pesos oro" per. That's Spanish for two hundred bucks gold a +month. I've been through two wars and I got a medal for sinkin' a +fishin' smack. I talk Spanish just like a native, I don't drink +no more to speak of, and I've been savin' my money. Some day when +I get the price together I'm goin' back to San Francisco, buy me +a nice little schooner, and go tradin' in the South Seas. How +they been comin' with you, Scraggsy, old kiddo?" + +"Lovely," replied Scraggs. "Just simply grand. I'll pull ten +thousand out of this job." + +Mr. Gibney whistled shrilly through his teeth. + +"That's the ticket for soup," he said admiringly. "I tell you, +Scraggs, this soldier of fortune business may be all right, but +it don't amount to much compared to being a sailor of fortune, +eh, Scraggsy? Just as soon as I heard there was a revolution in +Mexico I quit my job in the Colombian navy and come north for the +pickin's.... No, I ain't been in their rotten little army.... +D'ye think I want to go around killin' people?... There ain't no +pleasure gettin' killed in the mere shank of a bright and +prosperous life ... a dead hero don't gather no moss, Scraggsy. +Reads all right in books, but it don't appeal none to me. I'm for +peace every time, so right away as soon as I heard of the +trouble, says I to myself: 'Things has been pretty quiet in +Mexico for twenty years, and they're due to shift things around +pretty much. What them peons need is a man with an imagination to +help 'em out, and if they've got the money, Adelbert P. Gibney +can supply the brains.' So I comes north to Los Angeles, shows +the insurrecto junta my medal and my honourable discharges from +every ship I'd ever been in, includin' the gunboat _Bogota_, and +I talked big and swelled around and told 'em to run in some arms +and get busy. I framed it all up for this filibuster trip you're +on, Scraggsy, only I never did hear that they'd picked on you. I +told that coffee-coloured rat of a Lopez man to hunt up Scab +Johnny and he'd set him right, but if anybody had told me you had +the nerve to run the _Maggie_ in on this deal, Scraggsy, I'd +a-called him a liar. Scraggs, you're _mucho-bueno_--that is, +you're all right. I'm so used to talkin' Spanish that I forget +myself. Still, there's one end of this little deal that I ain't +exactly explained to all hands. If I'd a-known they was +charterin' the _Maggie_, I'd have blocked the game." + +"Why?" demanded Captain Scraggs, instantly on the defensive. + +"Not that I'm holdin' any grudge agin you, Scraggsy," said Mr. +Gibney affably, "but I wouldn't a-had you no more now than I +would when we was runnin' in the green-pea trade. It's because +you ain't got no imagination, and the _Maggie_ ain't big enough +for my purpose. Havin' the _Maggie_ sort of puts a crimp in my +plans." + +"Rot," snapped Captain Scraggs. "I've had the _Maggie_ overhauled +and shipped a new wheel, and she's a mighty smart little boat, +I'll tell you. I'll land them arms in Descanso Bay all right." + +"I know you will," said Mr. Gibney sadly. "That's just what +hurts. You see, Scraggsy, I never intended 'em for Descanso Bay +in the first place. There's a nice healthy little revolution +fomentin' down in the United States of Colombia, with Adelbert P. +Gibney playin' both ends to the middle. And there's a dog-hole +down on the Gold Coast where I intended to land this cargo, but +now that Scab Johnny's gone to work and sent me a bay scow +instead of a sea-goin' steamer, I'm in the nine-hole instead o' +dog-hole. I can never get as far as the Gold Coast with the +_Maggie_. She can't carry coal enough to last her." + +"But I thought these guns and things was for the Mexicans," +quavered Captain Scraggs. "Scab Johnny and Lopez told me they +was." + +Mr. Gibney groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Scraggsy," he +said sadly, "it's a cinch you ain't used the past four years to +stimulate that imagination of yours. Of course they was purchased +for the Mexicans, but what was to prevent me from lettin' the +Mexicans pay for them, help out on the charter of the boat, and +then have me divert the cargo to the United States of Colombia, +where I can sell 'em at a clear profit, the cost bein' nothin' to +speak of? Now you got to come buttin' in with the _Maggie_, and +what happens? Why, I got to be honest, of course. I got to make +good on my bluff, and what's in it for me? Nothin' but glory. Can +you hock a chunk of glory for ham and eggs, Phineas Scraggs? Not +on your life. If it hadn't been for you buttin' in with your +blasted, rotten hulk of a fresh-water skiff, I'd----" + +Mr. Gibney paused ominously and savagely bit the end of his +cigar. As for Captain Scraggs, every drop of blood in his body +was boiling in defense of the ship he loved. + +"You're a pirate," he shrilled. + +"And you're just as big a hornet as you ever was," replied Mr. +Gibney. "Always buzzin' around where you ain't wanted. But still, +what's the use of bawlin' over spilt milk? We'll drop into San +Diego for a couple of hours and take on coal, and about sunset +we'll pull out and make the run down to Descanso Bay in the dark. +We might as well forget the past and put this thing through as +per program. Only I saw visions of a schooner all my own, +Scraggsy, and--well, what's the use? What's the use? Scraggsy, +you're a natural-born mar-plot. Always buttin' in, buttin' in, +buttin' in, fit for nothin' but the green-pea trade. However, I +guess I can turn into my old berth and get some sleep. Put the +old girl under a slow bell and save your coal. We'll have to fool +away four or five hours in San Diego anyhow and there ain't no +sense in crowdin' the old hulk." + +"Gib," said Captain Scraggs, "was that really your lay--to steal +the cargo, double-cross the insurrecto junta, and sell out to a +furrin' country?" + +"Of course it was," said Mr. Gibney pettishly. "They all do such +things in the banana republics. Why should I be an exception? +There's half a dozen different gangs fightin' each other and the +government in Mexico, and if I don't deliver these arms, just see +all the lives I'll be savin'. And after I got the cargo into +Colombia and sold it, I could have peached on the rebels there, +and got a reward for it, and saved a lot more lives, and come +away rich and respected." + +"By the Lord Harry," said Captain Scraggs, "but you've got an +imagination, Gib. I'll swear to that. Gib, I take off my hat to +you. You're all tight and shipshape and no loose ends bobbin' +around _you_. Don't tell me th' scheme's got t' fall through, +Gib. Great snakes, don't tell me that. Ain't there some way o' +gettin' around it? There _must_ be. Why, Gib, my dear boy, I +never heard of such a grand lay in my life. It's a absolute +winner. Don't give up, Gib. Oil up your imagination and find a +way out. Let's get together, Gib, and make a little money. Dang +it all, Gib, I been lonesome ever since I seen you last." + +"Well," replied Mr. Gibney, "I'll turn in and try to scheme a way +out, but I don't hold out no hope. Not a ray of it. I'm afraid, +Scraggsy, we've got to be honest." + +Saying which, Mr. Gibney hopped up into his berth, stretched his +huge legs, and fell asleep with his clothes on. Captain Scraggs +looked him over with the closest approach to affection that had +ever lightened his cold gray eye, and sighing heavily, presently +went on deck. As he passed up the companion-way, the first mate +heard him murmur: + +"Gib's a fine lad. I'll be dad burned if he ain't." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +At six o'clock next morning the _Maggie_ was rounding Point Loma, +heading in for San Diego Bay, and Captain Scraggs went below and +awakened Mr. Gibney. + +"What's for breakfast, Scraggsy, old kid?" asked Mr. Gibney. + +"Fried eggs," said Captain Scraggs, remembering Mr. Gibney's +partiality for that form of nutriment in the vanished days of the +green-pea trade. "Ham an' fried eggs an' a sizzlin' pot o' +coffee. Thought a way out o' our mess, Gib?" + +"Not yet," replied Mr. Gibney as he rolled out of bed, "but eggs +is always stimulatin', and I don't give up hope on a full +stomach." + +An hour later they were tied up under the coal bunkers, and at +Mr. Gibney's suggestion some twenty tons of sacked coal were +piled on top of the fo'castle head and on the main deck for'd, in +case of emergency. They lay in the harbour all day until about +four o'clock, when Mr. Gibney, by virtue of his authority as +supercargo, ordered the lines cast off and the _Maggie_ steamed +out of the harbour. Off Point Loma they veered to the south, +leaving the Coronado Islands on the starboard quarter, ten miles +to the west. Mr. Gibney was below with Captain Scraggs, battling +with the problem that confronted them, when the mate stuck his +head down the companion-way to report a large power schooner +coming out from the lee of the Coronados and standing off on a +course calculated to intercept the _Maggie_ in an hour or two. + +Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney sprang up on the bridge at once, +the latter with Scraggs's long glass up to his eye. + +"She was hove to under the lee of the island, and the minute we +came out of the harbour and turned south she come nosin' after +us," said the mate. + +"Hum!" muttered Mr. Gibney. "Gasoline schooner. Two masts and +baldheaded. About a hundred and twenty ton, I should say, and +showin' a pretty pair of heels. There's somethin' up for'd--yes--let +me see--ye-e-es, there's two more--_holy sailor! it's a gunboat!_ +One of those doggoned gasoline coast patrol boats, and there's the +Federal flag flying at the fore." + +"Let's put back to San Diego Bay," quavered Captain Scraggs. +"I'll be durned if I relish the idee o' losin' the _Maggie_." + +"Too late," said the philosophical Gibney. "We're in Mexican +waters now, and she can cut us off from the bay. The only thing +we can do is to run for it and try to lose her after dark. Tell +the engineer to crowd her to the limit. There ain't much wind to +speak of, so I guess we can manage to hold our own for a while. +Nevertheless, I've got a hunch that we'll be overhauled. Of +course, you ain't got no papers to show, Scraggs, and they'll +search the cargo, and confiscate us, and shoot the whole bloomin' +crowd of us. I bet a dollar to a doughnut that fellow Lopez sold +us out, after the fashion of the country. I can't help thinkin' +that that gunboat was there just a-waitin' for us to show up." + +For several minutes Mr. Gibney continued to study the gunboat +until there could no longer be any doubt that she intended to +overhaul them. He made out that she had a long gun for'd, with a +battery of two one-pounders on top of her house and something on +her port quarter that looked like a Maxim rapid-fire gun. About +twenty men, dressed in white cloth, could be seen on her decks. + +Presently Mr. Gibney was interrupted by Captain Scraggs pulling +at his sleeve. + +"You was a gunner once, wasn't you, Gib?" said Captain Scraggs in +a trembling voice. + +"You bet I was," replied Mr. Gibney. "My shootin' won the trophy +three times in succession when I was on the old _Kearsarge_. If I +had one good gun and a half-decent crew, I'd knock that gunboat +silly before she knew what had hit her." + +"Gib, I've got an idee," said Captain Scraggs. + +"Out with it," said Mr. Gibney cheerfully. + +"There was four little cannon lowered into the hold the last +thing before we put on the main hatch, and the ammunition to load +'em with is stowed in the after hold and very easy to get at." + +Mr. Gibney turned a beaming face to the skipper, reached out his +arms, and folded Captain Scraggs in an embrace that would have +done credit to a grizzly bear. There were genuine tears of +admiration in his eyes and in his voice when he could master his +emotions sufficiently to speak. + +"Scraggsy, old tarpot, you've been a long time comin' through on +the imagination, but you've sure arrived with all sail set. I +always thought you had about as much nerve as an oyster, but I +take it all back. We'll get out them two little jackass guns and +fight a naval battle, and if I don't sink that Mexican gunboat, +and save the _Maggie_, feed me to the sharks, for I won't be +worthy of the blood that's in me. Pipe all hands and lift off +that main hatch. Reeve a block and tackle through that cargo gaff +and stand by to heave out the guns." + +But Captain Scraggs had repented of his rash suggestion almost +the moment he made it. Only the dire necessity of desperate +measures to save the _Maggie_ had prompted him to put the idea +into Mr. Gibney's head, and when he saw the avidity with which +the latter set to work clearing for action, his terror knew no +bounds. + +"Oh, Gib," he wailed, "I'm afraid we better not try to lick that +gunboat after all. They might sink us with all hands." + +"Rats!" said Mr. Gibney, as he leaped into the hold. "Bear a +light here until I can root out the wheels of these guns. Here +they are, labelled 'cream separator.' Stand by with that sling +to----" + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "this is +_insanity_!" + +"I know it," said Mr. Gibney calmly. "Scraggsy, you're perfectly +right. But I'd sooner die fightin' than let them stand me up agin +a wall in Ensenada. We're filibusters, Scraggsy, and we're caught +with the goods. I, for one, am goin' down with the steamer +_Maggie_, but I'm goin' down fightin' like a bear." + +"Maybe--maybe we can outrun her, Gib," half sobbed Captain +Scraggs. + +"No hope," replied Mr. Gibney. "Fight and die is the last resort. +She's eight miles astern and gainin' every minute, and when she's +within two miles she'll open fire. Of course we won't be hit +unless they've got a Yankee gunner aboard." + +"Let's run up the Stars and Stripes and dare 'em to fire on us," +said Captain Scraggs. + +"No," said Mr. Gibney firmly, "my old man died for the flag an' +I've sailed under it too long to hide behind it when I'm in +Dutch. We'll fight. If you was ever navigatin' officer on a +Colombian gunboat, Scraggs, you'd realize what it means to run +from a Mexican." + +Captain Scraggs said nothing further. Perhaps he was a little +ashamed of himself in the face of Mr. Gibney's simple faith in +his own ability; perhaps in his veins, all unknown, there flowed +a taint of the heroic blood of some forgotten sea-dog. Be that as +it may, something did swell in his breast when Mr. Gibney spoke +of the flag and his scorning to hide behind it, and Scraggs's +snaggle teeth came together with a snap. + +"All right, Gib, my boy," he said solemnly, "I'm with you. Mrs. +Scraggs has slipped her cable and there ain't nobody to mourn for +me. But if we can't fight under the Stars and Stripes, by the +tail of the Great Sacred Bull, we'll have a flag of our own," and +leaving Mr. Gibney and the crew to get the guns on deck, Captain +Scraggs ran below. He appeared on deck presently with a long blue +burgee on which was emblazoned in white letters the single word +_Maggie_. It was his own houseflag, and with trembling hands he +ran it to the fore and cast its wrinkled folds to the breeze of +heaven. + +"Good old dishcloth!" shrieked Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down." + +"Damned if she does," said Captain Scraggs profanely. + +While all this was going on a deckhand had reeved a block and +tackle through the end of the cargo gaff and passed it to the +winch. The two guns came out of the hold in jig time, and while +Scraggs and one deckhand opened the after hold and got out +ammunition for the guns, Mr. Gibney, assisted by the other +deckhand, proceeded to put one of the guns together. He was +shrewd enough to realize that he would have to do practically all +of the work of serving the gun himself, in view of which +condition one gun would have to defend the _Maggie_. He had never +seen a mountain gun before, but he did not find it difficult to +put the simple mechanism together. + +"Now, then, Scraggsy," he announced cheerfully when the gun was +finally assembled on the carriage, "get a sizeable timber an' +spike it to the centre o' the deck. I'll run the trail spade up +against that cleat an' that'll keep the recoil from lettin' the +gun go backward, clean through the opposite rail and overboard. +Gimme a coupler gallons o' distillate and some waste, somebody. +This cosmoline's got to come out o' the tube an' out o' the +breech mechanism before we commence shootin'." + +The enemy had approached within three miles by the time the piece +was ready for action. Under Mr. Gibney's instructions Captain +Scraggs held the fuse setter in case it should be necessary to +adjust with shrapnel. Mr. Gibney inserted his sights and took a +preliminary squint. "A little different from gun-pointin' in the +navy, but about the same principle," he declared. "In the army I +believe they call this kind o' shootin' direct fire, because you +sight direct on the target." He scratched his ingenious head and +examined the ammunition. "Not a high explosive shell in the lot," +he mourned. "I'll have to use percussion fire to get the range; +then I'll drop back a little an' spray her with shrapnel. Seems a +pity to smash up a fine schooner like that one with percussion +fire. I'd rather tickle 'em up a bit with shrapnel an' scare 'em +into runnin' away." + +He got out the lanyard, slipped a cartridge in the breech, +paused, and scratched his head again. His calm deliberation was +driving Scraggs crazy. He reminded Mr. Gibney with some asperity +that they were not attending a strawberry festival and for the +love of heaven to get busy. + +"I'm estimatin' the range, you snipe," Gibney retorted. "Looks to +be about three miles to me. A little long, mebbe, for this gun, +but--there's nothin' like tryin'," and he sighted carefully. +"Fire," he bawled as the _Maggie_ rested an instant in the trough +of the sea--and a deckhand jerked the lanyard. Instantly Mr. +Gibney clapped the long glass to his eye. + +"Good direction--over," he murmured. "I'll lay on her waterline +next time." He jerked open the breech, ejected the cartridge +case, and rammed another cartridge home. This shot struck the +water directly under the schooner's bow and threw water over her +forecastle head. Mr. Gibney smiled, spat overboard, and winked +confidently at Captain Scraggs. "Like spearin' fish in a bath +tub," he declared. He bent over the fuse setter. "Corrector three +zero," he intoned, "four eight hundred." He thrust a cartridge in +the fuse setter, twisted it, slammed it in the gun, and fired +again. The water broke into tiny waterspouts over a considerable +area some two hundred yards short of the schooner, so Mr. Gibney +raised his range to five thousand and tried again. "Over," he +growled. + +Something whined over the _Maggie_ and threw up a waterspout half +a mile beyond her. + +"Dubs," jeered Mr. Gibney, and sighted again. This time his +shrapnel burst neatly on the schooner. Almost simultaneously a +shell from the schooner dropped into the sacked coal on the +forecastle head of the _Maggie_ and enveloped her in a black pall +of smoke and coal dust. Captain Scraggs screamed. + +"Tit for tat," the philosophical Gibney reminded him. "We can't +expect to get away with everything, Scraggsy, old kiddo." The +words were scarcely out of his mouth before the _Maggie's_ +mainmast and about ten feet of her ancient railing were trailing +alongside. Mr. Gibney whistled softly through his teeth and +successfully sprayed the Mexican again. "It breaks my heart to +ruin that craft's canvas," he declared, and let her have it once +more. + +"My _Maggie's_ tail is shot away," Captain Scraggs wailed, "an' I +only rebuilt it a week ago." Three more shots from the long gun +missed them, but the fourth carried away the cabin, leaving the +wreck of the pilot house, with the helmsman unscathed, sticking +up like a sore thumb. + +"Turn her around and head straight for them," the gallant Gibney +roared. "She's a smaller target comin' bows on. We're broadside +to her now." + +"Gib, will you ever sink that Greaser?" Captain Scraggs sobbed +hysterically. + +"Don't want to sink her," the supercargo retorted. "She's a nice +little schooner. I'd rather capture her. Maybe we can use her in +our business, Scraggsy," and he continued to shower the enemy +with high bursting shrapnel. When the two vessels were less than +two miles apart the one-pounders came into action. It was pretty +shooting and the wicked little shells ripped through the old +_Maggie_ like buckshot through a roll of butter. Mr. Gibney slid +flat on the deck beside his gun and Captain Scraggs sprawled +beside him. + +"A feller," Mr. Gibney announced, "has got to take a beatin' +while lookin' for an openin' to put over the knockout blow. If +the old _Maggie_ holds together till we're within a cable's +length o' that schooner an' we ain't all killed by that time, I +bet I'll make them skunks sing soft an' low." + +"How?" Captain Scraggs chattered. + +"With muzzle bursts," Mr. Gibney replied. "I'll set my fuse at +zero an' at point-blank range I'll just rake everything off that +schooner's decks. Guess I'll get half a dozen cartridges set an' +ready for the big scene. Up with you, Admiral Scraggs, an' hold +the fuse setter steady." + +"I'm agin war," Scraggs quavered. "Gib, it's sure hell." + +"Rats! It's invigouratin', Scraggsy. There ain't nothin' wrong +with war, Scraggsy, unless you happen to get killed. Then it's +like cholera. You can cure every case except the first one." + +They had come inside the minimum range of the Mexican's long gun +now, so that only the one-pounders continued to peck at the +_Maggie_. Evidently the Mexican was as eager to get to close +quarters as Mr. Gibney, for he held steadily on his course. + +"Well, it's time to put over the big stuff," Mr. Gibney remarked +presently. "Here's hopin' they don't pot me with rifle fire while +I'm extendin' my compliments." + +As the first muzzle burst raked the Mexican Captain Scraggs saw +that most of the terrible blast of lead had gone too high. +Nevertheless, it was effective, for to a man the crews of the +one-pounders deserted their posts and tumbled below; seeing which +the individual in command lost his nerve. He was satisfied now +that the infernal _Maggie_ purposed ramming him; he had marvelled +that the filibuster should use shrapnel, after she had ranged +with shell (he did not know it was percussion shrapnel) and in +sudden panic he decided that the _Maggie_, mortally wounded, +purposed getting close enough to sink him with shell-fire if she +failed to ram him; whereupon the yellow streak came through and +he waved his arms frantically above his head in token of +surrender. + +"She's hauled down her rag," shrieked Scraggs. "Be merciful, Gib. +There's men dyin' on that boat." + +"Lay alongside that craft," Mr. Gibney shouted to the helmsman. +The schooner had hove to and when the _Maggie_ also hove to some +thirty yards to windward of her Mr. Gibney informed the Mexican, +in atrocious Spanish well mixed with English, that if the latter +so much as lifted his little finger he might expect to be sunk +like a dog. "Down below, everybody but the helmsman, or I'll +sweep your decks with another muzzle burst," he thundered. + +The Mexican obeyed and Captain Scraggs went up in the pilot house +and laid the terribly battered _Maggie_ alongside the schooner. +The instant she touched, Mr. Gibney sprang aboard, quickly +followed by Captain Scraggs, who had relinquished the helm to his +first mate. + +Suddenly Captain Scraggs shouted, "Look, Gib, for the love of the +Lord, look!" and pointed with his finger. At the head of the +little iron-railed companion way leading down into the engine +room a man was standing. He had a monkey wrench in one hand and a +greasy rag in the other. + +Mr. Gibney turned and looked at the man. + +"McGuffey, for a thousand," he bellowed, and ran forward with +outstretched hand. Captain Scraggs was at Gibney's heels, and +between them they came very nearly dislocating Bartholomew +McGuffey's arm. + +"McGuffey, my _dear_ boy," said Captain Scraggs. "Whatever are +you a-doin' on this heathen warship?" + +"Me!" ejaculated Mr. McGuffey, with his old-time deliberation. +"Why, I'm the chief engineer of this craft. I had a good job, +too, but I guess it's all off now, and the Mexican Government'll +fire me. Say, who chucked that buckshot down into my engine +room?" + +"Admiral Gibney did it," said Scraggs. "The old _Maggie's_ +alongside and me and Gib's filibusters. Bear a hand, Mac, and +help us clap the hatches on our prisoners." + +"Thank God," said Mr. Gibney piously, "I didn't kill you. Come to +look into the matter, I didn't kill anybody, though I see half a +dozen Mexicans around decks more or less cut up. Where you been +all these years, Mac?" + +"I been chief engineer in the Mexican navy," replied McGuffey. +"Have you captured us in the name of the United States or what?" + +"We've captured you in the name of Adelbert P. Gibney," was the +reply. "I been huntin' all my life for a ship of my own, and now +I've got her. Lord, Mac, she's a beauty, ain't she? All hardwood +finish, teak rail, well found, and just the ticket for the island +trade. Well, well, well! I'm Captain Gibney at last." + +"Where do I come in, Gib?" asked Captain Scraggs modestly. + +"Well, seein' as the _Maggie_ has two holes through her hull +below the waterline, and is generally nicked to pieces, you might +quit askin' questions and get back aboard and put the pumps on +her. You're lucky if she don't sink on you before we get to +Descanso Bay. If she sinks, don't worry. I'll give you a job as +my first mate. Mac, you're my engineer, but not at no fancy +Mexican price. I'll pay you the union scale and not a blasted +cent more or less. Is that fair?" + +McGuffey said it was, and went below to tune up his engine. Mr. +Gibney took the wheel of the gunboat, and sent Captain Scraggs +back aboard the _Maggie_, and in a few minutes both vessels were +bowling along toward Descanso Bay. They were off the bay at +midnight, and while with Mr. Gibney in command of the federal +gunboat Captain Scraggs had nothing to fear, the rapid rise of +water in the hold of the _Maggie_ was sadly disconcerting. About +daylight he made up his mind that she would sink within two +hours, and without pausing to whine over his predicament, he +promptly beached her. She drove far up the beach, with the slack +water breaking around her scarred stern, and when the tide ebbed +she lay high and dry. And the rebel soldiers came trooping down +from the Megano rancho and falling upon her carcass like so many +ants, quickly distributed her cargo amongst them, and disappeared. + +Captain Scraggs sent his crew out aboard the captured gunboat to +assist Mr. Gibney in rowing his prisoners ashore, and when +finally he stood alone beside the wreck of the brave old +_Maggie_, piled up at last in the port of missing ships, +something snapped within his breast and the big tears rolled in +quick succession down his sun-tanned cheeks. The old hulk looked +peculiarly pathetic as she lay there, listed over on her beam +ends. She had served him well, but she had finished her last +voyage, and with some vague idea of saving her old bones from +vandal hands, Captain Scraggs, sobbing audibly, scattered the +contents of half a dozen cans of kerosene over her decks and in +the cabin, lighted fires in three different sections of the +wreck, and left her to the consuming flames. Half an hour later +he stood on the battered decks of the gunboat beside Gibney and +McGuffey and watched the dense clouds of smoke that heralded the +passing of the _Maggie_. + +"She was a good old hulk," said Mr. Gibney. "And now, as the +special envoy of the Liberal army of Mexico, here's a draft on +Los Angeles for five thousand bucks, Scraggsy, which constitutes +the balance due you on this here filibuster trip. Of course, I +needn't remind you, Scraggsy, that you'd never have earned this +money if it hadn't been for Adelbert P. Gibney workin' his +imagination overtime. I've made you a chunk of money, and while I +couldn't save your ship, I did save your life. As a reward for +all this, I don't claim one cent of the money due you, as I could +if I wanted to be rotten mean. I'm goin' to keep this fine little +power schooner for my share of the loot. She's nicked up some, +but that only bears evidence to what a bully good shot I am, and +it won't take much to fix her up all shipshape again. Usin' high +bursts shrapnel ain't very destructive. All them bumps an' +scratches can be planed down. But we'll have to do some mendin' +on her canvas--I'll tell the world. She's called the _Reina +Maria_, but I'm going to run her to Panama and change her name. +She'll be known as _Maggie II_, out of respect for the old girl +that's burnin' up there on the beach." + +Captain Scraggs was so touched at this delicate little tribute +that he turned away and burst into tears. + +"Aw, shut up, Scraggsy, old hunks," said McGuffey consolingly. +"You ain't got nothin' to cry about. You're a rich man. Look at +me. I ain't a-bawlin', am I? And I don't get so much as a bean +out of this mix-up, all on account of me bein' tied up with a lot +of hounds that quits fightin' before they're half licked." + +"That's so," said Captain Scraggs, wiping his eyes with his grimy +fists. "I declare you're out in the cold, McGuffey, and it ain't +right. Gib, my boy, us three has had some stirrin' times together +and we've had our differences, but I ain't a-goin' to think of +them past griefs. The sight o' you, single-handed, meetin' and +annihilatin' the pride of the Mexican navy, calm in th' moment o' +despair, generous in victory and delicate as blazes to a fallen +shipmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that +way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a +friendship that's bound to endoor till death us do part. If +McGuffey'd been on our side, we know from past performances that +he'd a fit like a tiger, wouldn't you, Mac?" (Here Mr. McGuffey +coughed slightly, as much as to say that he would have fought +like ten tigers had he only been given the opportunity.) + +Captain Scraggs continued: "I should say that a fair valuation of +this schooner as she stands is ten thousand dollars. That belongs +to Gib. Now I'm willin' to chuck five thousand dollars into the +deal, we'll form a close corporation and as a compliment to +McGuffey, elect him chief engineer in his own ship and give him +say a quarter interest in our layout, as a little testimonial to +an old friend, tried and true." + +"Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney, "your fin. We've fought, but we'll let +that go. We wipe the slate clean and start in all over again on the +_Maggie II_, and I'm free to state, without fear of contradiction, +that in the last embroglio you showed up like four aces and a king +with the entire company standin' pat. Scraggsy, you're a hero, and +what you propose proves that you're considerable of a singed +cat--better'n you look. We'll go freebootin' down on the Gold Coast. +There's war, red war, breakin' loose down there, and we'll shy in +our horseshoe with the strongest side and pry loose a fortune +somewhere. I'm for a life of wild adventure, and now that we've got +the ship and the funds and the crew, let's go to it. There's a deal +of fine liquor in the wardroom, and I suggest that we nominate +Phineas Scraggs, late master of the battleship _Maggie_, now second +in command of the _Maggie II_, to brew a kettle o' hot grog to +celebrate our victory. Mac--Scraggsy--your fins. I'm proud of you +both. Shake." + +They shook, and as Captain Gibney's eye wandered aloft, First +Mate Scraggs and Chief Engineer McGuffey looked up also. From the +main topmast of the _Maggie II_ floated a long blue burgee, with +white lettering on it, and as it whipped out into the breeze the +old familiar name stood out against the noonday sun. + +"Good old dishcloth!" murmured Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down." + +"The _Maggie_ forever!" shrieked Scraggs. + +"Hooray!" bellowed McGuffey. "An' now, Scraggsy, if you've got +all the enthusiasm out of your blood, kick in with a hundred an' +fifty dollars an' interest to date. An' don't tell me that note's +outlawed, or I'll feed you to the fishes." + +Captain Scraggs looked crestfallen, but produced the money. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +"Well, Scraggsy, old hunks, this is pleasant, ain't it?" said Mr. +Gibney, and spat on the deck of the _Maggie II_. + +"Right-o," replied Captain Scraggs cheerily, "though when I was a +young feller and first went to sea, it wasn't considered no +pleasantry to spit on a nice clean deck. You might cut that out, +Gib. It's vulgar." + +"Passin' over the fact, Scraggs, that you ain't got no call to jerk +me up on sea ettycat, more particular since I'm the master and +managin' owner of this here schooner, I'm free to confess, Scraggsy, +that your observation does you credit. I just did that to see if you +was goin' to take as big an interest in the new _Maggie_ as you did +in the old _Maggie_, and the fact that you object to me expectoratin' +on the deck proves to me that you're leavin' behind you all them bay +scow tendencies of the green-pea trade. It leads me to believe that +you'll rise to high rank and distinction in the Colombian navy. Your +fin, Scraggsy. Expectoratin' on the decks is barred, and the _Maggie +II_ goes under navy discipline from now on. Am I right?" + +"Right as a right whale," said Captain Scraggs. "And now that +you've given that old mate of mine the course, and we've +temporarily plugged up the holes in this here Mexican gunboat, +and everything points to a safe and profitable voyage from now +on, suppose you delegate me as a committee of one to brew a +scuttle of grog, after which the syndicate holds a meetin' and +lays out a course for its future conduct. There's a few questions +of rank and privileges that ought to be settled once for all, so +there can't be no come-back." + +"The point is well taken and it is so ordered," said Mr. Gibney, who +had once held office in Harbour 15, Masters and Pilots Association +of America, and knew a fragment or two of parliamentary law. "Rustle +up the grog, call McGuffey up out of the engine room, and we'll hold +the meetin'." + +Twenty minutes later Scraggs came on deck to announce the +successful concoction of a kettle of whisky punch; whereupon the +three adventurers went below and sat down at the cabin table for +a conference. + +"I move that Gib be appointed president of the syndicate," said +Captain Scraggs. + +"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey. + +"The motion's carried," said Mr. Gibney, and banged the table +with his horny fist. "The meetin' will please come to order. The +chair hereby appoints Phineas Scraggs secretary of the syndicate, +to keep a record of this and all future meetin's of the board. I +will now entertain propositions of any and all natures, and I +invite the members of the board to knock the stopper out of their +jaw tackle and go to it." + +"I move," said Captain Scraggs, "that B. McGuffey, Esquire, be, +and he is hereby appointed, chief engineer of the _Maggie II_ at +a salary not to exceed the wage schedule of the Marine Engineers' +Association of the Pacific Coast, and that he be voted a +one-fourth interest in the vessel and all subsequent profits." + +"Second the motion," said Mr. Gibney, "and not to hamper the +business of the meetin', we'll just consider that motion carried +unanimous." + +B. McGuffey, Esquire, rose, bowed his thanks, and sat down again, +apparently very much confused. It was evident that he had +something to say, but was having difficulty framing his thoughts +in parliamentary language. + +"Heave away, Mac," said Mr. Gibney. + +"Cast off your lines, McGuffey," chirped Scraggs. + +Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose, bowed his thanks once more, +moistened his larynx with a gulp of the punch, and spoke: + +"Feller members and brothers of the syndicate: In the management +of the deck department of this new craft of ourn, my previous +knowledge of the worthy president and the unworthy secretary +leads me to believe that there's goin' to be trouble. A ship +divided agin herself must surely go on her beam ends. Now, +Scraggsy here has been master so long that the juice of authority +has sorter soaked into his marrer bones. For twenty years it's +been 'Howdy do, Captain Scraggs,' 'Have a drink, Captain +Scraggs,' 'Captain Scraggs this an' Captain Scraggs that.' I +don't mean no offense, gentlemen, when I state that you can't +teach an old dog new tricks. No man that's ever been a master +makes a good mate. On the other hand, I realize that Gib here has +been a-pantin' and a-bellyachin' all his life to get a ship of +his own an' have folks call him 'Captain Gibney.' Now that he's +gone an' done it, I say he's entitled to it. But the fact of the +whole thing is, Gib's the natural leader of the expedition or +whatever it's goin' to be, and he can't have his peace of mind +wrecked and his plans disturbed a-chasin' sailors around the deck +of the _Maggie II_. Gib is sorter what the feller calls the power +behind the throne. He's too big a figger for the grade of +captain. Therefore, I move you, gentlemen, that Adelbert P. +Gibney be, and he is hereby nominated and appointed to the grade +of commodore, in full command and supervision of all of the +property of the syndicate. And I also move that Phineas Scraggs +be appointed chief navigatin' officer of this packet, to retain +his title of captain, and to be obeyed and respected as such by +every man aboard with the exception of me and Gib. The present +mate'll do the navigatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea +stuff." + +"Second the motion," said Captain Scraggs briskly. "McGuffey, +your argument does you a heap of credit. It's--it's--dog my cats, +McGuffey, it's masterly. It shows a keen appreciation of an old +skipper's feelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib, I'm +willin' to hail him as commodore and fight to maintain his +office. I--I dunno, Gib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to +order around." + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Gibney, beaming, "the motion's carried +unanimous. Captain--chief--your fins. Dook me. I'm honoured by +the handshake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from San +Francisco on the old _Maggie_, Scraggs, they're a likely lot and +will come in handy if times is as lively in Colombia as I figger +they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have +your mate pipe the crew to muster and ascertain their feelin's on +the subject of takin' a chance with Commodore Gibney. If they +object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an' pay 'em off +as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give +'em the coast seaman's scale for a deep-water cruise and a five +per cent. bonus in case we turn a big trick." + +Captain Scraggs went at once on deck. Ten minutes later he +returned to report that the mate and the four seamen elected to +stick by the ship. + +"Bully boys," said the commodore, "bully boys. I like that mate. +He's a smart man and handles a gun well. While I should hesitate +to take advantage of my prerogative as commodore to interfere +with the normal workin's of the deck department, I trust that on +this special occasion our esteemed navigatin' officer, Captain +Scraggs, will not consider it beneath his dignity or an attack on +his office if I suggest to him that he brew another kettle of +grog for the crew." + +"Second the motion," replied McGuffey. + +"Carried," said Scraggs, and proceeded to heat some water. + +"Anything further?" stated the president. + +"How about uniforms?" This from Captain Scraggs. + +"We'll leave that to Gib," suggested McGuffey. "He's been in the +Colombian navy and he'll know just what to get us." + +"Well, there's another thing that's got to be settled," continued +Captain Scraggs. "If I'm to be navigatin' officer on the flagship of +a furrin' fleet, strike me pink if I'll do any more cookin' in the +galley. It's degradin'. I move that we engage some enterprisin' +Oriental for that job." + +"Carried," said Mr. Gibney. "Any further business?" + +Once more McGuffey stood up. "Gentlemen and brothers of the +syndicate," he began, "I'm satisfied that the back-bitin', the +scrappin', the petty jealousies and general cussedness that +characterized our lives on the old _Maggie_ will not be +duplicated on the _Maggie II_. Them vicious days is gone forever, +I hope, an' from now on the motto of us three should be: + + "All for one and one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall." + +This earnest little speech, which came straight from the honest +McGuffey's heart, brought the tears to the commodore's eyes. +Under the inspiration of McGuffey's unselfish words the glasses +were refilled and all three pledged their friendship anew. As for +Captain Scraggs, he was naturally of a cold and selfish +disposition, and McGuffey's toast appealed more to his brain than +to his heart. Had he known what was to happen to him in the days +to come and what that simple little motto was to mean in his +particular case, it is doubtful if he would have tossed off his +liquor as gaily as he did. + +"There's one thing more that we mustn't neglect," warned Mr. Gibney +before the meeting broke up. "We've got to run this little vessel +into some dog-hole where there's a nice beach and smooth water, and +change her name. I notice that her old name _Reina Maria_ is screwed +into her bows and across her stern in raised gilt letters, contrary +to law and custom. We'll snip 'em off, sandpaper every spot where +there's a letter, and repaint it; after which we'll rig up a stagin' +over her bows and stern, and cut her new name, '_Maggie II_,' right +into her plankin'. Nobody'll ever suspect her name's been changed. I +notice that the official letters and numbers cut into her main beam +is F-C-P-9957. I'll change that F to an E, the C to an O, and the P +to an R. A handy man with a wood chisel can do lots of things. He +can change those nines to eights, the five to a six, and the seven +to a nine. I've seen it done before. Then we'll rig a foretopmast +and a spinnaker boom on her, and bend a fisherman's staysail. +Nothing like it when you're sailing a little off the wind. Scraggs, +you have the papers of the old _Maggie_, and we all have our +licenses regular enough. Dig up the old papers, Scraggsy, and I'll +doctor 'em up to fit the _Maggie II_. As for our armament, we'll +dismount the guns and stow 'em away in the hold until we get down on +the Colombian coast, and while we're lying in Panama repairing the +holes where my shots went through her, and puttin' new planks in her +decks where the old plankin' has been scored by shrapnel, those +paraqueets will think we're as peaceful as chipmunks. Better look +over your supplies, McGuffey, and see if there's any paint aboard. +I'd just as lief give the old girl a different dress before we drop +anchor in Panama." + +"Gib," said Captain Scraggs earnestly, "I'll keel-haul and +skull-drag the man that says you ain't got a great head." + +"By the lord," supplemented McGuffey, "you have." + +The commodore smiled and tapped his frontal bone with his +forefinger. "Imagination, my lads, imagination," he said, and +reached for the last of the punch. + +Exactly three weeks from the date of the naval battle which took +place off the Coronado Islands, and whereby Mr. Gibney became +commodore and managing owner of the erstwhile Mexican coast +patrol schooner _Reina Maria_, that vessel sailed out of the +harbour of Panama completely rejuvenated. Not a scar on her +shapely lines gave evidence of the sanguinary engagement through +which she had passed. + +Mr. Gibney had her painted a creamy white with a dark blue +waterline. She had had her bottom cleaned and scraped and the +copper sheathing overhauled and patched up. Her sails had been +overhauled, inspected, and repaired wherever necessary, and in +order to be on the safe side, Mr. Gibney, upon motion duly made +by him and seconded by McGuffey (to whom the seconding of the +Gibney motions had developed into a habit), purchased an extra +suit of new sails. The engines were overhauled by the faithful +McGuffey and a large store of distillate stored in the hold. +Captain Scraggs, with his old-time aversion to expense, made a +motion (which was seconded by McGuffey before he had taken time +to consider its import) providing for the abolition of the office +of chief engineer while the _Maggie II_ was under sail, at which +time the chief ex-officio was to hold himself under the orders of +the commodore and be transferred to the deck department if +necessary. Mr Gibney approved the measure and it went into +effect. Only on entering or leaving a port, or in case of chase +by an enemy, were the engines to be used, and McGuffey was warned +to be extremely saving of his distillate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Mr. Gibney had made a splendid job of changing the vessel's name, +and as she chugged lazily out of Panama Bay and lifted to the +long ground-swell of the Pacific, it is doubtful if even her late +Mexican commander would have recognized her. She was indeed a +beautiful craft, and Commodore Gibney's heart swelled with pride +as he stood aft, conning the man at the wheel, and looked her +over. It seemed like a sacrilege now, when he reflected how he +had trained the gun of the old _Maggie_ on her that day off the +Coronados, and it seemed to him now even a greater sacrilege to +have brazenly planned to enter her as a privateer in the +struggles of the republic of Colombia. The past tense is used +advisedly, for that project was now entirely off, much to the +secret delight of Captain Scraggs, who, if the hero of one naval +engagement, was not anxious to take part in another. In Panama +the freebooters of the _Maggie II_ learned that during Mr. +Gibney's absence on his filibustering trip the Colombian +revolutionists had risen and struck their blow. After the fashion +of a hot-headed and impetuous people, they had entered the +contest absolutely untrained. As a result, the war had lasted +just two weeks, the leaders had been incontinently shot, and the +white-winged dove of peace had once more spread her pinions along +the borders of the Gold Coast. + +Commodore Gibney was disgusted beyond measure, and at a special +meeting of the syndicate, called in the cabin of the _Maggie II_ +that same evening, it was finally decided that they should embark +on an indefinite trading cruise in the South Seas, or until such +time as it seemed their services must be required to free a +downtrodden people from a tyrant's yoke. + +Captain Scraggs and McGuffey had never been in the South Seas, +but they had heard that a fair margin of profit was to be wrung +from trade in copra, shell, cocoanuts, and kindred tropical +products. They so expressed themselves. To this suggestion, +however, Commodore Gibney waved a deprecating paw. + +"Legitimate tradin', boys," he said, "is a nice, sane, healthy +business, but the profits is slow. What we want is quick profits, +and while it ain't set down in black and white, one of the +principal objects of this syndicate is to lead a life of wild +adventure. In tradin', there ain't no adventure to speak of. We +ought to do a little blackbirdin', or raid some of those Jap +pearl fisheries off the northern coast of Formosa." + +"But we'll be chased by real gunboats if we do that," objected +Captain Scraggs. "Those Jap gunboats shoot to kill. Can't you +think of somethin' else, Gib?" + +"Well," said Mr. Gibney, "for a starter, I can. Suppose we just +head straight for Kandavu Island in the Fijis, and scheme around +for a cargo of black coral? It's only worth about fifty dollars a +pound. Kandavu lays somewhere in latitude 22 south, longitude 178 +west, and when I was there last it was fair reekin' with cannibal +savages. But there's tons of black coral there, and nobody's ever +been able to sneak in and get away with it. Every time a boat +used to land at Kandavu, the native niggers would have a +white-man stew down on the beach, and it's got so that skippers +give the island a wide berth." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "I'm a man of +peace and I--I----" + +"Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," said Mr. Gibney, laying an +affectionate hand on the skipper's shoulder, "you're nothin' of +the sort. You're a fightin' tarantula, and nobody knows it +better'n Adelbert P. Gibney. I've seen you in action, Scraggsy. +Remember that. It's all right for you to say you're a man of +peace and advise me and McGuffey to keep out of the track of +trouble, but we know that away down low you're goin' around +lookin' for blood, and that once you're up agin the enemy, you +never bat an eyelash. Eh, McGuffey?" + +McGuffey nodded; whereupon, Captain Scraggs, making but a poor +effort to conceal the pleasure which Mr. Gibney's rude compliment +afforded him, turned to the rail, glanced seaward, and started to +walk away to attend to some trifling detail connected with the +boat falls. + +"All right, Gib, my lad," he said, affecting to resign himself to +the inevitable, "have it your own way. You're a commodore and I'm +only a plain captain, but I'll follow wherever you lead. I'll go +as far as the next man and we'll glom that black coral if we have +to slaughter every man, woman, and child on the island. Only, +when we're sizzlin' in a pot don't you up and say I never warned +you, because I did. How d'ye propose intimidatin' the natives, +Gib?" + +"Scraggsy," said the commodore solemnly, "we've waged a private +war agin a friendly nation, licked 'em, and helped ourselves to +their ship. We've changed her name and rig and her official +number and letters and we're sailin' under bogus papers. That +makes us pirates, and that old _Maggie_ burgee floatin' at the +fore ain't nothin' more nor less than the Jolly Roger. All right! +Let's be pirates. Who cares? When we slip into M'galao harbour +we'll invite the king and his head men aboard for dinner. We'll +get 'em drunk, clap 'em in double irons, and surrender 'em to +their weepin' subjects when they've filled the hold of the +_Maggie II_ with black coral. If they refuse to come aboard we'll +shell the bush with that long gun and the Maxim rapid-fire guns +we've got below decks. That'll scare 'em so they'll leave us +alone and we can help ourselves to the coral." + +Scraggs's cold blue eyes glistened. "Lord, Gib," he murmured, +"you've got a head." + +"Like playin' post-office," was McGuffey's comment. + +The commodore smiled. "I thought you boys would see it that way. +Now to-morrow I'm going ashore to buy three divin' outfits and +lay in a big stock of provisions for the voyage. In the meantime, +while the carpenters are gettin' the ship into shape, we'll leave +the first mate in charge while we go ashore and have a good time. +I've seen worse places than Panama." + +As a result of this conference Mr. Gibney's suggestions were +acted upon, and they contrived to make their brief stay in Panama +very agreeable. They inspected the work on the canal, marvelled +at the stupendous engineering in the Culebra Cut, drank a little, +gambled a little. McGuffey whipped a bartender. He was ordered +arrested, and six spiggoty little policemen, sent to arrest him, +were also thrashed. The reserves were called out and a riot +ensued. Mr. Gibney, following the motto of the syndicate, i.e., + + All for one and one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall, + +mixed in the conflict and presently found himself in durance +vile. Captain Scraggs, luckily, forgot the motto and escaped, but +inasmuch as he was on hand next morning to pay a fine of thirty +pesos levied against each of the culprits, he was instantly +forgiven. Mr. Gibney vowed that if a United States cruiser didn't +happen to be lying in the roadstead, he would have shelled the +town in retaliation. + +But eventually the days passed, and the _Maggie II_, well found +and ready for sea, shook out her sails to a fair breeze and +sailed away for Kandavu. She kept well to the southwest until she +struck the southeast trades, when she swung around on her course, +headed straight for her destination. It was a pleasant voyage, +devoid of incident, and the health of all hands was excellent. +Mr. Gibney took daily observations, and was particular to make +daily entries in his log when he, Scraggs, and McGuffey were not +playing cribbage, a game of which all three were passionately +fond. + +On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth day after leaving Panama the +lookout reported land. Through his glasses Mr. Gibney made out a +cluster of tall palms at the southerly end of the island, and as +the schooner held lazily on her course he could discern the +white breakers foaming over the reefs that guarded the entrance +to the harbour. + +"That's Kandavu, all right," announced the commodore. "I was +there in '89 with Bull McGinty in the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. +There's the entrance to the harbour, with the Esk reefs to the +north and the Pearl reefs to the south. The channel's very +narrow--not more than three cables, if it's that, but there's +plenty of water and a good muddy bottom that'll hold. McGuffey, +lad, better run below and tune up your engines. It's too +dangerous a passage on an ebb-tide for a sailin' vessel, so we'll +run in under the power. Scraggsy, stand by and when I give the +word have your crew shorten sail." + +Within a few minutes a long white streak opened up in the wake of +the schooner, announcing that McGuffey's engines were doing duty, +and a nice breeze springing up two points aft the beam, the +_Maggie_ heeled over and fairly flew through the water. Mr. +Gibney smiled an ecstatic smile as he took the wheel and guided +the schooner through the channel. He rounded her up in twelve +fathoms, and within five minutes every stitch of canvas was +clewed down hard and fast. The sun was setting as they dropped +anchor, and Mr. Gibney had lanterns hung along the rail so that +it would be impossible for any craft to approach the schooner and +board her without being seen. Also the watch on deck that night +carried Mauser rifles, six-shooters, and cutlasses. Mr. Gibney +was taking no chances. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +"Now, boys," announced Commodore Gibney, as he sat at the head of +the officers' mess at breakfast next morning, "there'll be a lot +of canoes paddling off to visit us within the hour, so whatever +you do, don't allow more than two of these cannibals aboard the +schooner at the same time. Make 'em keep their weapons in the +canoes with 'em, and at the first sign of trouble shoot 'em down +like dogs. It may be that these precautions ain't necessary, but +when I was here twenty years ago it was all the rage to kill a +white man and eat him. Maybe times has changed, but the harbour +and the coast looks just as wild and lonely as they ever did, and +I didn't see no sign of missionary when we dropped hook last +night. So don't take no chances." + +All hands promised that they would take extreme care, to the end +that their precious persons might remain intact, so Mr. Gibney +finished his cup of coffee at a gulp and went on deck. + +The Kandavu aborigines were not long in putting in an appearance. +Even as Mr. Gibney came on deck half a dozen canoes shot out from +the beach. Mr. Gibney immediately piped all hands on deck, armed +them, and nonchalantly awaited the approach of what might or +might not turn out to be an enemy. + +When the flotilla was within pistol shot of the schooner Mr. +Gibney stepped to the rail and motioned them back. Immediately +the natives ceased paddling, and a wild-looking fellow stood up +in the forward canoe. After the manner of his kind he had all his +life soused his head in lime-water when making his savage +toilette, and as a result his shock of black hair stood on end +and bulged out like a crowded hayrick. He was naked, of course, +and in his hand he held a huge war club. + +"That feller'd eat a rattlesnake," gasped Captain Scraggs. "Shoot +him, Gib, if he bats an eye." + +"Shut up," said the commodore, a trifle testily; "that's the +number-one nigger, who does the talkin'. Hello, boy." + +"Hello, cap'n," replied the savage, and salaamed gravely. "You +likee buy chicken, buy pig? Maybe you say come 'board, I talk. Me +very good friend white master." + +"Bless my sweet-scented soul!" gasped the commodore. "What won't +them missionaries do next? Cut off my ears if this nigger ain't +civilized!" He beckoned to the canoe and it shot alongside, and +its brown crew came climbing over the rail of the _Maggie II_. + +Mr. Gibney met the spokesman at the rail and they rubbed noses +very solemnly, after the manner of salutation in Kandavu. Captain +Scraggs bustled forward, full of importance. + +"Interduce me, Gib," he said amiably, and then, while Mr. Gibney +favoured him with a sour glance, Captain Scraggs stuck out his +hand and shook briskly with the native. + +"Happy to make your acquaintance," he said. "Scraggs is my name, +sir. Shake hands with McGuffey, our chief engineer. Hope you +left all the folks at home well. What'd you say your name was?" + +The islander hadn't said his name was anything, but he grinned +now and replied that it was Tabu-Tabu. + +"Well, my bucko," muttered McGuffey, who always drew the colour +line, "I'm glad to hear that. But you ain't the only thing that's +taboo around this packet. You can jest check that war club with +the first mate, pendin' our better acquaintance. Hand it over, +you black beggar, or I'll hit you a swat in the ear that'll hurt +all your relations. And hereafter, Scraggsy, just keep your +nigger friends to yourself. I ain't waxin' effusive over this +savage, and it's agin my principles ever to shake hands with a +coloured man. This chap's a damned ugly customer, and you take my +word for it." + +Tabu-Tabu grinned again, walked to the rail, and tossed his war +club down into the canoe. + +"Me good missionary boy," he said rather humbly. + +"McGuffey, my _dear_ boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "don't be +so doggone rude. You might hurt this poor lad's feelin's. Of +course he's only a simple native nigger, but even a dawg has +feelin's. You----" + +"A-r-r-rh!" snarled McGuffey. + +"You two belay talkin' and snappin' at each other," commanded Mr. +Gibney, "an' leave all bargainin' to me. This boy is all right +and we'll get along first rate if you two just haul ship and do +somethin' useful besides buttin' in on your superior officer. +Come along, Tabu-Tabu. Makee little eat down in cabin. You talkee +captain." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," sputtered Captain Scraggs, bursting with +curiosity, following the commodore's reappearance on deck, +"whatever's in the wind?" + +"Money--fortune," said Mr. Gibney solemnly. + +McGuffey edged up and eyed the commodore seriously. "Sure there +ain't a little fightin' mixed up in it?" he asked. + +"Not a bit of it," replied Mr. Gibney. "You're as safe on Kandavu +as if you was in church. This Tabu kid is sort of prime minister +to the king, with a heap of influence at court. The crew of a +British cruiser stole him for a galley police when he was a kid, +and he got civilized and learned to talk English. He was a +cannibal in them days, but the chaplain aboard showed him how +foolish it was to do such things, and finally Tabu-Tabu got +religion and asked as a special favour to be allowed to return to +Kandavu to civilize his people. As a result of Tabu-Tabu's +efforts, he tells me the king has concluded that when he eats a +white man he's flyin' in the face of his own interests, and most +generally a gunboat comes along in a few months and shells the +bush, and--well, anyhow, there ain't been a barbecue on Kandavu +for ten years. It's a capital crime to eat a man now, and +punishable by boilin' the offender alive in palm oil." + +"Well," rumbled McGuffey, "this Tabu-Tabu don't look much like a +preacher, if you ask me. But how about this black coral?" + +"Oh, I've ribbed up a deal with him," said Mr. Gibney. "He'll see +that we get all the trade we can lug away. We're the first vessel +that's touched here in two years, and they have a thunderin' lot +of stuff on hand. Tabu's gone ashore to talk the king into doin' +business with us. If he consents, we'll have him and Tabu-Tabu +and three or four of the sub-chiefs aboard for dinner, or else +he'll invite us ashore for a big feed, and we'll have to go." + +"Supposin' this king don't care to have any truck with us?" +inquired McGuffey anxiously. + +"In that case, Mac," replied the commodore with a smile, "we'll +just naturally shell him out of house and home." + +"Well, then," said McGuffey, "let's get the guns ready. Somethin' +tells me these people ain't to be trusted, and I'm tellin' you +right now, Gib, I won't sleep well to-night unless them two +quarter gatlings and the Maxim-Vickers rapid-fire guns is mounted +and ready for business." + +"All right, Mac," replied Mr. Gibney, in the tone one uses when +humouring a baby. "Set 'em up if it'll make you feel more +cheerful. Still, I don't see why you want to go actin' so foolish +over nothin'." + +"Well, Gib," replied the engineer, "I may be crazy, but I ain't +no fool, and if there's a dead whale around the ship, I can come +pretty near smellin' it. I tell you, Gib, that Tabu-Tabu nigger +had a look in his eye for all the world like a cur dog lickin' a +bone. I ain't takin' no chances. My old man used to say: 'Bart, +whatever you do, allers have an anchor out to windward.'" + +"By the left hind leg of the Great Sacred Bull," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "if you ain't enough to precipitate war." + +"War," replied McGuffey, "is my long suit--particularly war with +native niggers. I just naturally crave to punch the ear of +anything darker than a Portugee. Remember how I cleaned out the +police department of Panama?" + +"Mount the guns if you're goin' to, Mac. If not, for the love of +the Lord don't be demoralizin' the crew with this talk of war. +All I ask is that you set the guns up after I've finished my +business here with Tabu-Tabu. He's been on a war vessel, and +knows what guns are, and if he saw you mountin' them it might +break up our friendly relations. He'll think we don't trust him." + +"Well, we don't," replied McGuffey doggedly. + +"Well, we do," snapped Captain Scraggs. + +There is always something connected with the use of that pronoun +of kings which eats like a canker at the heart of men of the +McGuffey breed. That officer now spat on the deck, in defiance of +the rules of his superior officers, and glared at Captain +Scraggs. + +"Speak for yourself, you miserable little wart," he roared. "If +you include me on that cannibal's visitin' list, and go to +contradictin' me agin, I'll----" + +"Mac," interrupted Mr. Gibney angrily, "control yourself. It's +agin the rules to have rag-chewin' and backbitin' on the _Maggie +II_. Remember our motto: 'All for one and one for all'----" + +"Here comes that sneakin' bushy-headed murderer back to the +vessel," interrupted McGuffey. "I wonder what devilment he's up +to now." + +Mr. McGuffey was partly right, for in a few minutes Tabu-Tabu +came alongside, climbed aboard, and salaamed. Mr. Gibney, fearful +of McGuffey's inability to control his antipathy for the race, +beckoned Captain Scraggs and Tabu-Tabu to follow him down into +the cabin. Meanwhile, McGuffey contented himself by parading +backward and forward across the fo'castle head with a Mauser +rifle in the hollow of his arm and his person fairly bristling +with pistols and cutlasses. Whenever one of the flotilla of +canoes hove to at a respectful distance, showed signs of crossing +an imaginary deadline drawn by McGuffey, he would point his rifle +at them and swear horribly. He scowled at Tabu-Tabu when that +individual finally emerged from the conference with Mr. Gibney +and Scraggs and went over the side to his waiting canoe. + +"Well, what's in the wind this time?" inquired McGuffey. + +"We're invited to a big feed with the king of Kandavu," replied +Captain Scraggs, as happy as a boy. "Hop into a clean suit of +ducks, Mac, and come along. Gib's goin' to broach a little keg of +liquor and we'll make a night of it." + +"Good lord," groaned McGuffey, "does the man think I'm low enough +to _eat_ with niggers?" + +"Leave him to his own devices," said Mr. Gibney indulgently. +"Mac's just as Irish as if he'd been born in Dublin instead of +his old man. Nobody yet overcome the prejudice of an Irishman so +we'll do the honours ourself, Scraggsy, old skittles, and leave +Mac in charge of the ship." + +"Mind you're both back at a seasonable hour," warned McGuffey. +"If you ain't, I'll suspect mischief and--say! Gib! Well, what's +the use talkin' to a man with an imagination? Only if I have to +go ashore after you two, those islanders'll date time from my +visit, and don't you forget it." + +It was nearing four o'clock that afternoon when Commodore Gibney +and his navigating officer, Captain Scraggs, both faultlessly +arrayed in Panama hats, white ducks, white canvas shoes, cut low, +showing pink silk socks, and wearing broad, black silken sashes +around their waists, climbed over the side into the whaleboat and +were rowed ashore in a manner befitting their rank. McGuffey +stood at the rail and jeered them, for his democratic soul could +take no cognizance of form or ceremony to a cannibal king, or at +least a king but recently delivered from cannibalism. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +Upon arrival at the beach the two adventurers were met by a +contingent of frightful-looking savages bearing long spears. As +the procession formed around the two guests of honour and plunged +into the bush, bound for the king's wari, two island maidens +marched behind the two sea-dogs, waving huge palm-leaf fans, the +better to make passage a cool and comfortable one. + +"By the gods of war, Gib, my _dear_ boy," said the delighted +Captain Scraggs, "but this is class, eh, Gib?" + +"Every time," responded the commodore. "If that chuckle-headed +McGuffey only had the sense to come along he might be enjoyin' +himself, too. You must be dignified, Scraggsy, old salamander. +Remember that you're bigger an' better'n any king, because you're +an American citizen. Be dignified, by all means. These people are +sensitive and peculiar, and that's why we haven't taken any +weapons with us. If they thought we doubted their hospitality +they'd have the court bouncer heave us out of town before you +could say Jack Robinson." + +"I'd love to see them giving the bounce to McGuffey," said +Captain Scraggs musingly. Mr. Gibney had a swift mental picture +of such a proceeding and chuckled happily. Had he been permitted +a glance at McGuffey at that moment he might have observed that +worthy sweltering in the heat of the forward hold of the _Maggie +II_, for he was busy getting his guns on deck. From which it will +readily be deduced that B. McGuffey, Esquire, was following the +advice of his paternal ancestor and getting an anchor out to +windward. + +One might go on at great length and describe the triumphal entry +of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs into the capitol of +Kandavu; of how the king, an undersized, shrivelled old savage, +stuck his bushy head out the window of his bungalow when he saw +the procession coming; of how a minute later he advanced into the +space in the centre of his wari, where in the olden days the +populace was wont to gather for its cannibal orgies; how he +greeted his distinguished visitors with the most prodigious +rubbing of noses seen in those parts for many a day; of the feast +that followed; of the fowls and pigs that garnished the festive +board, not omitting the keg of Three Star thoughtfully provided +by Mr. Gibney. + +Tabu-Tabu acted as interpreter and everything went swimmingly +until Tabu-Tabu, his hospitality doubtless strengthened by +frequent libations of the Elixir of Life, begged Mr. Gibney to +invite the remainder of his crew ashore for the feast. Mr. +Gibney, himself rather illuminated by this time, thought it might +not be a bad idea. + +"It's a rotten shame, Scraggsy," he said, "to think of that fool +McGuffey not bein' here to enjoy himself. I'm goin' to send a +note out to him by one of Tabu-Tabu's boys, askin' him once more +to come ashore, or to let the first mate and one or two of the +seamen come if Mac still refuses to be civil." + +"Good idea, Gib," said Captain Scraggs, his mouth full of roast +chicken and yams. So Mr. Gibney tore a leaf out of his pocket +memorandum book, scrawled a note to McGuffey, and handed it to +Tabu-Tabu, who at once dispatched a messenger with it to the +_Maggie II_. + +Within half an hour the messenger returned. He was wildly excited +and poured a torrent of native gibberish into the attentive ears +of Tabu-Tabu and the king. He pointed several times to the point +of his jaw, rubbed the small of his back, and once he touched his +nose; whereupon Mr. Gibney was aware that the said organ had a +slight list to port, and he so informed Captain Scraggs. Neither +of the gentlemen had the slightest trouble in arriving at the +correct solution of the mystery. The royal messenger had been +incontinently kicked overboard by B. McGuffey, Esquire. + +Tabu-Tabu's wild eyes glittered and grew wilder and wilder as the +messenger reported the indignity thus heaped upon him. The king +scowled at Captain Scraggs, and Mr. Gibney was suddenly aware +that goose-flesh was breaking out on the backs of his sturdy +legs. He had a haunting sensation that not only had he crawled +into a hole, but he had pulled the entire aperture in after him. +For the first time he began to fear that he had been too +precipitate, and with the thought it occurred to the gallant +commodore that he would be much safer back on the decks of the +_Maggie II_. Always crafty and imaginative, however, Mr. Gibney +came quickly to the front with an excuse for getting back to the +ship. He stepped quickly toward the little group around the +outraged royal ambassador and inquired the cause of the +disturbance. Quivering with rage, Tabu-Tabu informed him of what +had occurred. + +Mr. Gibney's rage, of course, knew no bounds. Nevertheless, he +did not have to simulate his rage, for he was truly furious. When +he could control his emotions, he requested Tabu-Tabu to inform +the king that he, Gibney, accompanied by Captain Scraggs, would +forthwith repair to the schooner and then and there flay the +offending McGuffey within an inch of his life. Suiting the action +to the word, Mr. Gibney called to Captain Scraggs to follow him, +and started for the beach. + +As Captain Scraggs arose, a trifle unsteadily, from his seat, a +black hand reached around him from the rear and closed over his +mouth. Now, Captain Scraggs was well versed in the rough-and-tumble +tactics of the San Francisco waterfront; hence, when he felt a long +pair of arms crossing over his neck from the rear, he merely stooped +and whirled his opponent over his head. In that instant his mouth +was free, and clear above the shouting and the tumult rose his +frenzied shriek for help. Mr. Gibney whirled with the speed and +agility of a panther just in time to dodge a blow from a war club. +His fist collided with the jaw of Tabu-Tabu, and down went that +savage as if pole-axed. + +[Illustration: "_Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle of +savages ... and fled for the beach_"] + +Pandemonium broke loose at once. Captain Scraggs, after his +single shriek for help, broke from the circle of savages and fled +like a frightened rabbit for the beach. One of the natives hurled +a rock at him. The missile took Scraggs in the back of the head, +and he instantly curled up in a heap. + +"Scraggsy's dead," thought the horrified Gibney, and sprang at +the king. In that moment it came to Mr. Gibney to sell out +dearly, and if he could dispose of the king, he felt that +Scraggs's death would be avenged. In an instant the commodore's +great arms had closed around the king, and with the helpless +monarch in his grizzly bear grip Mr. Gibney backed up against the +nearest bungalow. A fringe of spears threatened him in front, but +for the moment he was safe behind, and the king's body protected +him. Whenever one of the savages made a jab at Mr. Gibney, Mr. +Gibney gave the king a boa-constrictor squeeze, and the monarch +howled. + +"I'll squeeze him to death," panted Mr. Gibney to Tabu-Tabu when +that individual had managed to pick himself up. "Let me go, or +I'll kill your king." + +The answer was an earthenware pot which crashed down on Mr. +Gibney's head from a window in the bungalow behind him. He sagged +forward and fell on his face with the gasping king in his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +On board the _Maggie II_ B. McGuffey, Esquire, had just gotten +into position the Maxim-Vickers "pom-pom" gun on top of the +house. The last bolt that held it in place had just been screwed +tight when clear and shrill over the tops of the jungle and +across the still surface of the little bay there floated to +McGuffey's ears the single word: + +"Help!" + +McGuffey leaned against the gun, and for the moment he was as +weak as a child. "Gawd," he muttered, "that was Scraggsy and +they're a-goin' to eat him up. Oh, Gib, Gib, old man, why +wouldn't you listen to me? Now they've got you, and what in +blazes I'm going to do to get you back, dead or alive, I dunno." + +McGuffey could hear the cries and general uproar from the wari, +though he could not see what was taking place. In a minute or +two, however, all was once more silent, silence having descended +on the scene simultaneously with the descent of the earthenware +pot on Mr. Gibney's head. + +"It's all over," said McGuffey sadly to the mate. "They've killed +'em both." Whereupon B. McGuffey, Esquire, sat down on the cabin +ventilator, pulled out a bandana handkerchief and wept into it, +for his honest Irish heart was breaking. + +It was fully half an hour before poor McGuffey could pull +himself together, and when he did, his grief was superseded by a +fit of rage that was terrible to behold. + +"Step lively, you blasted scum of the seas," he bawled to the +mate, and the crew gathered around the gun. "Lug up a case of +ammunition and we'll shell that bush until even a parrot won't be +left alive in it." + +"Aye, aye, sir," responded the crew to a man, and sprang to their +task. + +"I'm an old navy gunner," said the first mate quietly. "I'll +handle the gun. With a 'pom-pom' gun it's just like playing a +garden hose on them, only it's high-explosive shell instead of +water. I can search out every nook and cranny in the coast of +this island. Those guns are sighted up to 4,000 yards." + +"Kill 'em all," raved McGuffey, "kill all the blasted niggers." + +When Mr. Gibney fell under the impact of the earthenware pot he +was only partially stunned. As he tried to struggle to his feet +half a dozen hands were laid on him and in a trice he was lifted +and carried back of the wari to a clear space where a dozen heavy +teakwood posts stood in a row about four feet apart. Mr. Gibney +was quickly stripped of his clothing and bound hand and foot to +one of these posts. Three minutes later another delegation of +cannibals arrived, bearing the limp, naked body of Captain +Scraggs, whom they bound in similar fashion to the post beside +Mr. Gibney. Scraggs was very white and bloody, but conscious, and +his pale-blue eyes were flickering like a snake's. + +"What's--what's--the meanin' of this, Gib?" he gasped. + +"It means," replied the commodore, "that it's all off but the +shouting with me and you, Scraggsy. This fellow Tabu-Tabu is a +damned traitor, and his people are still cannibals. He's the +decoy to get white men ashore. They schemed to treat us nice and +be friendly until they could get the whole crew ashore, or enough +of them to leave the ship helpless, and then--O Gawd, Scraggsy, +old man, can you ever forgive me for gettin' you into this?" + +Captain Scraggs hung his head and quivered like a hooked fish. + +"Will they--eat--us?" he quavered, finally. + +Mr. Gibney did not answer, only Captain Scraggs looked into his +horrified eyes and read the verdict. + +"Die game, Scraggsy," was all Mr. Gibney could say. "Don't show +the white feather." + +"D'ye think McGuffey could hear us from here if we was to yell +for help?" inquired Captain Scraggs hopefully. + +"Don't yelp, for Gawd's sake," implored Mr. Gibney. "We got +ourselves into this, so let's pay the fiddler ourselves. If we +let out one yip and McGuffey hears it, he'll come ashore with his +crew and tackle this outfit, even if he knows he'll get killed. +And that's just what will happen to him if he comes. Let poor Mac +stay aboard. When we don't come back, he'll know it's all off, +and if he has time to think over it he'll realize it would be +foolish to try to do anything. But right now Mac's mad as a wet +hen, and if we holler for help--Scraggsy, please don't holler. +Die game." + +Captain Scraggs turned his terrified glance on Mr. Gibney's +tortured face. Scraggs was certainly a coward at heart, but +there was something in Mr. Gibney's unselfishness that touched a +spot in his hard nature--a something he never knew he possessed. +He bowed his head and two big tears stole down his weatherbeaten +face. + +"God bless you, Gib, my _dear_ boy," he said brokenly. "You're a +man." + +At this juncture the king came up and thoughtfully felt of Captain +Scraggs in the short ribs, while Tabu-Tabu calculated the precise +amount of luscious tissue on Mr. Gibney's well-upholstered frame. + +"Bimeby we eat white man," said Tabu-Tabu cheerfully. + +"If you eat me, you bloody-handed beggar," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "I'll pizen you. I've chawed tobacco all my life, and my +meat's as bitter as wormwood." + +It was too funny to hear Scraggs jesting with death. Mr. Gibney +forgot his own mental agony and roared with laughter in +Tabu-Tabu's face. The cannibal stood off a few feet and looked +searchingly in the commodore's eyes. He was not used to the brand +of white man who could laugh under such circumstances, and he +suspected treachery of some kind. He hurried over to join the +king and the two held a hurried conversation. As a result of +their conference, a huge savage was called over and given some +instructions. Tabu-Tabu handed him a war club and Mr. Gibney, +rightly conjecturing that this was the official executioner, +bowed his head and waited for the blow. + +It came sooner than he expected. The earth seemed to rise up and +smite Adelbert P. Gibney across the face. There was a roar, as of +an explosion in his ears, and he fell forward on his face. He +had a confused notion that when he fell the post came with him. + +For nearly a minute he lay there, semi-conscious, and then +something warm, dripping across his face, roused him. He moved, +and found that his feet were free, though his hands were still +bound to the post, which lay extended along his back. He rolled +over and glanced up. Captain Scraggs was shrieking. By degrees +the bells quit ringing in the commodore's ears, and this is what +he heard Captain Scraggs yelling: + +"Oh, you McGuffey. Oh, you bully Irish terrier. Soak it to 'em, +Mac. Kill the beggars. You've got a dozen of 'em already. Plug +away, you good old hunk of Irish bacon." + +Mr. Gibney was now himself once more. He struggled to his feet, +and as he did, something burst ten feet away and a little fleecy +cloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment. Then he +understood. McGuffey had a rapid-fire gun trained on the wari, +and the savages, with frightful yells, were fleeing madly from +the little shells. Half a dozen of them lay dead and wounded +close by. + +"Hooray," yelled Mr. Gibney, and dashed at the post which held +Captain Scraggs prisoner. He struck it a powerful blow with his +shoulder and Scraggs and the post crashed to the ground. In an +instant Mr. Gibney was on his knees, tearing at Scraggs's rope +shackles with his teeth. Five minutes later, Captain Scraggs's +hands were free. Then Scraggs did a like service for Gibney. + +All the time the shells from the _Maggie II_ were bursting around +them every second or two, and it seemed as if they must be +killed before they could make their escape. + +"Beat it, Scraggsy," yelled Mr. Gibney. He stood and picked up a +war club. "Arm yourself, Scraggsy. Take a spear. We may have a +little fighting to do on the beach," he yelled. Captain Scraggs +helped himself to a loose spear, and side by side they raced +through the jungle for the beach. + +As they tore along through the jungle path Mr. Gibney's good +right eye (his left was obscured) detected two savages crouching +behind a clump of cocoa-palms. + +"There's the king and Tabu-Tabu," yelled Scraggs. "Let's round +the beggars up." + +"Sure," responded the commodore. "We'll need 'em for hostages if +we're to get that black coral. We'll turn 'em over to McGuffey." + + * * * * * + +"I'd better ease up a minute, sir," said the mate to Mr. +McGuffey. "The gun's getting fearful hot." + +"Let her melt," raved McGuffey, "but keep her workin' for all +she's worth. I'll have revenge for Gib's death, or--_sufferin' +mackerel!_" + +McGuffey once more sat down on the cabin ventilator. He pointed +dumbly to the beach, and there, paddling off to the _Maggie II_, +were two naked cannibals and two naked white men in a canoe. Five +minutes later they came alongside. McGuffey met them at the rail, +and he smiled and licked his lower lip as the trembling monarch +and his prime minister, in response to a severe application of +Mr. Gibney's hands and feet, came flying over the rail. Mr. +Gibney and Captain Scraggs followed. + +"I'm much obliged to you, Mac," said Mr. Gibney, striving bravely +to appear jaunty. "One of your first shots came between my legs +and cut the rope that held me, and banged me and the post I was +tied to all over the lot. A fragment of the shell appears to have +taken away part of my ear, but I guess I'll recover. We're pretty +well shook up, Mac, old socks, and a jolt of whisky would be in +order after you've put the irons on these two cannibals." + +"You're two nice bloody-lookin' villains, ain't you?" was +McGuffey's comment, as he surveyed the late arrivals. + +"Which two do you mean?" inquired Mr. Gibney, with a touch of +asperity in his tones. + +"I dunno," replied McGuffey. "It's pretty hard to distinguish +between niggers and folks that goes to work an' eats with 'em." + +"Mac," said Captain Scraggs severely, "you're prejudiced." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +At 6:30 o'clock of the morning of the day following the frightful +experience of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs with the +cannibals of Kandavu, the members of the _Maggie II_ Syndicate +faced each other across the breakfast table with appetites in no +wise diminished by the exciting events of the preceding day. +Captain Scraggs appeared with a lump on the back of his head as +big as a goose egg. The doughty commodore had a cut over his +right eye, and the top of his sinful head was so sore, where the +earthenware pot had struck him, that even the simple operation of +winking his bloodshot eyes was productive of pain. About a +teaspoonful of Kandavu real estate had also been blown into Mr. +Gibney's classic features when the shells from the Maxim-Vickers +gun exploded in his immediate neighbourhood, and as he naïvely +remarked to Bartholomew McGuffey, he was in luck to be alive. + +McGuffey surveyed his superior officers, cursed them bitterly, +and remarked, with tears of joy in his honest eyes, that both +gentlemen had evaded their just deserts when they escaped with +their lives. "If it hadn't been for the mate," said McGuffey +severely, "I'd 'a' let you two boobies suffer the penalty for +your foolishness. Any man that goes to work and fraternizes with +a cannibal ain't got no kick comin' if he's made up into chicken +curry with rice. The minute I hear old Scraggsy yippin' for help, +says I to myself, 'let the beggars fight their own way out of the +mess.' But the mate comes a-runnin' up and says he's pretty sure +he can come near plantin' a mess of shells in the centre of the +disturbance, even if we can't see the wari on account of the +jungle. 'It's all off with the commodore and the skipper anyhow,' +says the mate, 'so we might just as well have vengeance on their +murderers.' So, of course, when he put it that way I give my +consent----" + +At this juncture the mate, passing around McGuffey on his way to +the deck, winked solemnly at Mr. Gibney, who hung his war-worn +head in simulated shame. When the mate had left the cabin the +commodore pounded with his fork on the cabin table and announced +a special meeting of the _Maggie II_ Syndicate. + +"The first business before the meeting," said Mr. Gibney, "is to +readjust the ownership in the syndicate. Me and Scraggsy's had +our heads together, Mac, and we've agreed that you've shot your +way into a full one-third interest, instead of a quarter as +heretofore. From now on, Mac, you're an equal owner with me and +Scraggsy, and now that that matter's settled, you can quit +rippin' it into us on the race question and suggest what's to be +done in the case of Tabu-Tabu and this cannibal king that almost +lures me and the navigatin' officer to our destruction." + +"I have the villains in double irons and chained to the mainmast," +replied McGuffey, "and as a testimonial of my gratitude for the +increased interest in the syndicate which you and Scraggs has just +voted me, I will scheme up a fittin' form of vengeance on them two +tar babies. However, only an extraordinary sentence can fit such an +extraordinary crime, so I must have time to think it over. These two +bucks is mine to do what I please with and I'll take any +interference as unneighbourly and unworthy of a shipmate." + +"Take 'em," said Captain Scraggs vehemently. "For my part I only +ask one thing. If you can see your way clear, Mac, to give me the +king's scalp for a tobacco pouch, I'll be obliged." + +"And I," added the commodore, "would like Tabu-Tabu's shin bone +for a clarionet. Pendin' McGuffey's reflections on the hamperin' +of crime in Kandavu, however, we'll turn our attention to the +prime object of the expedition. We've had our little fun and it's +high time we got down to business. It will be low tide at nine +o'clock, so I suggest, Scraggs, that you order the mate and two +seamen out in the big whaleboat, together with the divin' +apparatus, and we'll go after pearl oysters and black coral. As +for you, Mac, suppose you take the other boat and Tabu-Tabu and +the king, and help the mate. Take a rifle along with you, and +make them captives dive for pearl oysters until they're black in +the face----" + +"Huh!" muttered the single-minded McGuffey. "What are they now? +Sky blue?" + +"Of course," continued the commodore, "if a tiger shark happens +along and picks the niggers up, it ain't none of our business. As +for me and Scraggsy, we'll sit on deck and smoke. My head aches +and I guess Scraggsy's in a similar fix." + +"Anythin' to be agreeable," acquiesced McGuffey. + +After breakfast Commodore Gibney ordered that the prisoners be +brought before him. The cook served them with breakfast, and as +they ate, the commodore reminded them that it was only through +his personal efforts and his natural disinclination to return +blow for blow that they were at that moment enjoying a square +meal instead of swinging in the rigging. + +"I'm goin' to give you two yeggs a chance to reform," concluded +Mr. Gibney, addressing Tabu-Tabu. "If you show us where we can +get a cargo of black coral and work hard and faithful helpin' us +to get it aboard, it may help you to comb a few gray hairs. I'm +goin' to take the irons off now, but remember! At the first sign +of the double-cross you're both shark meat." + +On behalf of himself and the king, Tabu-Tabu promised to behave, +and McGuffey kicked them both into the small boat. The mate and +two seamen followed in another boat, in which the air-pump and +diving apparatus was carried, and Tabu-Tabu piloted them to a +patch of still water just inside the reef. The water was so clear +that McGuffey was enabled to make out vast marine gardens thickly +sprinkled with the precious black coral. + +"Over you go, you two smokes," rasped McGuffey, menacing the +captives with his rifle. "Dive deep, my hearties, and bring up +what you can find, and if a shark comes along and takes a nip out +of your hind leg, don't expect no help from B. McGuffey, +Esquire--because you won't get any." + +Thus encouraged, the two cannibals dove overboard. McGuffey could +see them pawing around on the bottom of the little bay, and after +half a minute each came up with a magnificent spray of coral. +They hung to the side of the boat until they could get their +breath, then repeated the performance. In the meantime, the mate +had sent his two divers below to loosen the coral; with the +result that when both boats returned to the _Maggie II_ at noon +Captain Scraggs fairly gurgled with delight at the results of the +morning's work, and Mr. Gibney declared that his headache was +gone. He and Captain Scraggs had spent the morning seated on deck +under an awning, watching the beach for signs of a sortie on the +part of the natives of Kandavu to recapture their king. +Apparently, however, the destructive fire from the pom-pom gun +the night before had so terrified them that the entire population +had emigrated to the northern end of the island, leaving the +invaders in undisputed possession of the bay and its hidden +treasures of coral and pearl and shell. + +For nearly two weeks the _Maggie II_ lay at anchor, while her +crew laboured daily in the gardens of the deep. Vast quantities +of pearl oysters were brought to the surface, and these Mr. +Gibney stewed personally in a great iron pot on the beach. The +shell was stored away in the hold and the pearls went into a +chamois pouch which never for an instant was out of the +commodore's possession. The coast at that point being now +deserted, frequent visits ashore were made, and the crew feasted +on young pig, chicken, yams, and other delicacies. Captain +Scraggs was almost delirious with joy. He announced that he had +not been so happy since Mrs. Scraggs "slipped her cable." + +At the end of two weeks Mr. Gibney decided that there was "loot" +enough ashore to complete the schooner's cargo, and at a meeting +of the syndicate held one lovely moonlight night on deck he +announced his plans to Captain Scraggs and McGuffey. + +"Better leave the island alone," counselled McGuffey. "Them +niggers may be a-layin' there ten thousand strong, waitin' for a +boat's crew to come prowlin' up into the bush so they can nab +'em." + +"I've thought of that, Mac," said the commodore a trifle coldly, +"and if I made a sucker of myself once it don't stand to reason +that I'm apt to do it again. Remember, Mac, a burnt child dreads +the fire. To-morrow morning, right after breakfast, we'll turn +the guns loose and pepper the bush for a mile or two in every +direction. If there's a native within range he'll have business +in the next county and we won't be disturbed none." + +Mr. Gibney's programme was duly put through and capital of +Kandavu looted of the trade accumulations of the years. And when +the hatches were finally battened down, the tanks refilled with +fresh water, and everything in readiness to leave Kandavu for the +run to Honolulu, Mr. Gibney announced to the syndicate that the +profits of the expedition would figure close up to a hundred +thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs gasped and fell limply against +the mainmast. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," he sputtered, "are you sure it ain't all a +dream and that we'll wake up some day and find that we're still +in the green-pea trade; that all these months we've been asleep +under a cabbage leaf, communin' with potato bugs?" + +"Not for a minute," replied the commodore. "Why, I got a dozen +matched pearls here that's fit for a queen. Big, red, pear-shaped +boys--regular bleedin' hearts. There's ten thousand each in them +alone." + +"Well, I'll--I'll brew some grog," gasped Captain Scraggs, and +departed forthwith to the galley. Fifteen minutes later he +returned with a kettle of his favourite nepenthe and all three +adventurers drank to a bon voyage home. At the conclusion of the +toast Mr. McGuffey set down his glass, wiped his mouth with the +back of his hairy hand, and thus addressed the syndicate. + +"In leavin' this paradise of the South Pacific," he began, "we +find that we have accumulated other wealth besides the loot below +decks. I refer to His Royal Highness, the king of Kandavu, and +his prime minister, Tabu-Tabu. When these two outlaws was first +captured, I informed the syndicate that I would scheme out a +punishment befittin' their crime, to-wit--murderin' an' eatin' +you two boys. It's been a big job and it's taken some time, me +not bein' blessed with quite as fine an imagination as our +friend, Gib. However, I pride myself that hard work always brings +success, and I am ready to announce what disposition shall be +made of these two interestin' specimens of aboriginal life. I beg +to announce, gentlemen, that I have invented a punishment fittin' +the crime." + +"Impossible," said Captain Scraggs. + +"Shut up, Scraggs," struck in Commodore Gibney. "Out with it, +Mac. What's the programme?" + +"I move you, members of the syndicate, that the schooner _Maggie +II_ proceed to some barren, uninhabited island, and that upon +arrival there this savage king and his still more savage subject +be taken ashore in a small boat. I also move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that inasmuch as the two aggrieved parties, A.P. +Gibney and P. Scraggs, having in a sperrit of mercy refrained +from layin' their hands on said prisoners for fear of invalidin' +them at a time when their services was of importance to the +expedition, be given an opportunity to take out their grudge on +the persons of said savages. Now, I notice that the king is a +miserable, skimpy, sawed-off, and hammered-down old cove. By all +the rules of the prize ring he's in Scraggsy's class." (Here Mr. +McGuffey flashed a lightning wink to the commodore. It was an +appeal for Mr. Gibney's moral support in the engineer's scheme to +put up a job on Captain Scraggs, and thus relieve the tedium of +the homeward trip. Mr. Gibney instantly telegraphed his +approbation, and McGuffey continued.) "I notice also that if I +was to hunt the universe over, I couldn't find a better match for +Gib than Tabu-Tabu. And as we are all agreed that the white race +is superior to any race on earth, and it'll do us all good to see +a fine mill before we leave the country, I move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that we pull off a finish fight between Scraggsy +and the king, and Gib and Tabu-Tabu. I'll referee both contests +and at the conclusion of the mixup we'll leave these two +murderers marooned on the island and then----" + +"Rats," snapped Captain Scraggs. "That ain't no business at all. +You shouldn't consider nothin' short of capital punishment. Why, +that's only a petty larceny form of----" + +"Quit buttin' in on my prerogatives," roared McGuffey. "That +ain't the finish by no means." + +"What is the finish, then?" + +"Why, these two cannibals, bein' left alone on the desert island, +naturally bumps up agin the old question of the survival of the +fittest. They get scrappin' among themselves, and one eats the +other up." + +"By the toe-nails of Moses," muttered Mr. Gibney in genuine +admiration, "but you _have_ got an imagination after all, Mac. +The point is well taken and the programme will go through as +outlined. Scraggs, you'll fight the king. No buckin' and +grumblin'. You'll fight the king. You're outvoted two to one, the +thing's been done regular, and you can't kick. I'll fight +Tabu-Tabu, so you see you're not gettin' any the worst of it. +We'll proceed to an island in the Friendly Group called +Tuvana-tholo. It lies right in our homeward course, and there +ain't enough grub on the confounded island to last two men a +week. And I know there ain't no water there. So, now that that +matter is all settled, we will proceed to heave the anchor and +scoot for home. Mac, tune up your engines and we'll get out of +here a-whoopin' and a-flyin'." + +Ten minutes later the anchor was hanging at the hawsepipe, and +under her power the _Maggie II_ swung slowly in the lagoon, +pointed her sharp bow for the opening in the reef, and bounded +away for the open sea. Captain Scraggs jammed on all of her lower +sails and within two hours the island of Kandavu had faded +forever from their vision. + +It was an eight-hundred-mile run up to Tuvana-tholo, but the +weather held good and the trade-winds never slackened. Ten days +from the date of leaving Kandavu they hove to off the island. It +was a long, low, sandy atoll, with a few cocoanut-palms growing +in the centre of it, and with the exception of a vast colony of +seabirds that apparently made it their headquarters, the island +was devoid of life. + +The bloodthirsty McGuffey stood at the break of the poop, and as +he gazed shoreward he chuckled and rubbed his hands together. + +"Great, great," he murmured. "I couldn't have gotten a better +island if I'd had one built to order." He called aft to the +navigating officer: "Scraggsy, there's the ring. Nothin' else to +do now but get the contestants into it. Along in the late +afternoon, when the heat of the day is over, we'll go ashore and +pull off the fight. And, by George, Scraggs, if that old king +succeeds in lambastin' you, I'll set the rascal free." + +"I'll lick him with one hand tied and the other paralyzed," +retorted Captain Scraggs with fine nonchalance. "No need o' +waitin' on my account. Heat or no heat, I'm just naturally pinin' +to beat up the royal person." + +"If this ain't the best idea I ever heard of, I'm a Dutchman," +replied McGuffey. "A happy combination of business and pleasure. +Who fights first, Gib? You or Scraggs?" + +"I guess I'd better open the festivities," said Mr. Gibney +amiably. "I ain't no kill-joy and I want Scraggsy to get some fun +out of this frolic. If I fight first the old kiddo can look on in +peace and enjoy the sight, and if him and the king fights first +perhaps he won't be in no condition to appreciate the spectacle +that me and Tabu-Tabu puts up." + +"That's logic," assented McGuffey solemnly; "that's logic." + +Seeing that there was no escape, Captain Scraggs decided to bluff +the matter through. "Let's go ashore and have it over with," he +said carelessly. "I'm a man of peace, but when there's fightin' +to be done, I say go to it and no tomfoolery." + +Mr. Gibney winked slyly at McGuffey. They each knew Scraggs +little relished the prospect before him, though to do him justice +he was mean enough to fight and fight well, if he thought he had +half a chance to get the decision. But he knew the king was as +hard as tacks, and was more than his match in a rough and tumble, +and while he spoke bravely enough, his words did not deceive his +shipmates, and inwardly they shook with laughter. + +"Clear away the big whaleboat with two men to pull us ashore," +said Mr. Gibney to the mate. Five minutes later the members of +the syndicate, accompanied by the captives, climbed into the +whaleboat and shoved off, leaving the _Maggie II_ in charge of +the mate. "We'll be back in half an hour," called the commodore, +as they rowed away from the schooner. "Just ratch back and forth +and keep heavin' the lead." + +They negotiated the fringe of breakers to the north of the island +successfully, pulled the boat up on the beach, and proceeded at +once to business. Mr. Gibney explained to Tabu-Tabu what was +expected of him, and Tabu-Tabu in turn explained to the king. It +was not the habit of white men, so Mr. Gibney explained, to kill +their prisoners in cold blood, and he had decided to give them an +opportunity to fight their way out of a sad predicament with +their naked fists. If they won, they would be taken back aboard +the schooner and later dropped at some inhabited island. If they +lost, they must make their home for the future on Tuvana-tholo. + +"Let 'er go," called McGuffey, and Mr. Gibney squared off and +made a bear-like pass at Tabu-Tabu. To the amazement of all +present Tabu-Tabu sprang lightly backward and avoided the blow. +His footwork was excellent and McGuffey remarked as much to +Captain Scraggs. But when Tabu-Tabu put up his hands after the +most approved method of self-defense and dropped into a "crouch," +McGuffey could no longer contain himself. + +"The beggar can fight, the beggar can fight," he croaked, wild +with joy. "Scraggs, old man, this'll be a rare mill, I promise +you. He's been aboard a British man-o'-war and learned how to +box. Steady, Gib. Upper-cut him, upper--_wow!_" + +[Illustration: "_Tabu Tabu ... planted a mighty right in the +centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy_"] + +Tabu-Tabu had stepped in and planted a mighty right in the centre +of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy, following it up with a hard left to +the commodore's ear. Mr. Gibney rocked a moment on his sturdy +legs, stepped back out of range, dropped both hands, and stared +at Tabu-Tabu. + +"I do believe the nigger'll lick you, Gib," said McGuffey +anxiously. "He's got a horrible reach and a mule kick in each +mit. Close with him, or he's due for a full pardon." + +"In a minute," said the commodore faintly. "He's so good I hate +to hurt him. But I'll infight him to a finish." + +Which Mr. Gibney forthwith proceeded to do. He rushed his +opponent and clinched, though not until his right eye was in +mourning and a stiff jolt in the short ribs had caused him to +grunt in most ignoble fashion. But few men could withstand Mr. +Gibney once he got to close quarters. Tabu-Tabu wrapped his long +arms around the commodore and endeavoured to smother his blows, +but Mr. Gibney would not be denied. His great fist shot upward +from the hip and connected with the cannibal's chin. Tabu-Tabu +relaxed his hold, Mr. Gibney followed with left and right to the +head in quick succession, and McGuffey was counting the fatal ten +over the fallen warrior. + +Mr. Gibney grinned rather foolishly, spat, and spoke to McGuffey, +_sotto voce_: "By George, the joke ain't all on Scraggsy," he +said. Then turning to Captain Scraggs: "Help yourself to the +mustard, Scraggsy, old tarpot." + +Captain Scraggs took off his hat, rolled up his sleeves, and made +a dive for the royal presence. His majesty, lacking the +scientific training of his prime minister, seized a handful of +the Scraggs mane and tore at it cruelly. A well-directed kick in +the shins, however, caused him to let go, and a moment later he +was flying up the beach with the angry Scraggs in full cry after +him. McGuffey headed the king off and rounded him up so Scraggs +could get at him, and the latter at once "dug in" like a terrier. +After five minutes of mauling and tearing Captain Scraggs was out +of breath, so he let go and stood off a few feet to size up the +situation. The wicked McGuffey was laughing immoderately, but to +Scraggs it was no laughing matter. The fact of the matter was the +king was dangerous and Scraggs had glutted himself with revenge. + +"I don't want to beat an old man to death," he gasped finally. +"I'll let the scoundrel go. He's had enough and he won't fight. +Let's mosey along back to the schooner and leave them here to +amuse themselves the best way they know how." + +"Right-O," said Mr. Gibney, and turned to walk down the beach to +the boat. A second later a hoarse scream of rage and terror broke +from his lips. + +"What's up?" cried McGuffey, the laughter dying out of his voice, +for there was a hint of death in Mr. Gibney's cry. + +"Marooned!" said the commodore hoarsely. "Those two sailors have +pulled back to the schooner, and--there--look, Mac! My Gawd!" + +McGuffey looked, and his face went whiter than the foaming +breakers beyond which he could see the _Maggie II_, under full +sail, headed for the open sea. The small boat had been picked up, +and there was no doubt that at her present rate of speed the +schooner would be hull down on the horizon by sunset. + +"The murderin' hound," whispered McGuffey, and sagged down on the +sands. "Oh, the murderin' hound of a mate!" + +"It's--it's mutiny," gulped Captain Scraggs in a hard, strained +voice. "That bloody fiend of a mate! The sly sneak-thief, with +his pleasant smile and his winnin' ways! Saw a chance to steal +the _Maggie_ and her rich cargo, and he is leavin' us here, +marooned on a desert island, with _two cannibals_." + +Captain Scraggs fairly shrieked the last two words and burst into +tears. "Lord, Gib, old man," he raved, "whatever will we do?" + +Thus appealed to, the doughty commodore permitted his two +unmatched optics to rest mournfully upon his shipmates. For +nearly a minute he gazed at them, the while he struggled to +stifle the awful fear within him. In the Gibney veins there +flowed not a drop of craven blood, but the hideous prospect +before him was almost more than the brave commodore could bear. +Death, quick and bloody, had no terrors for him, but a finish +like this--a slow finish--thirst, starvation, heat---- + +He gulped and thoughtfully rubbed the knuckles of his right hand +where the skin was barked off. He thought of the silly joke he +and McGuffey had thought to perpetrate on Captain Scraggs by +leading him up against a beating at the hands of a cannibal king, +and with the thought came a grim, hard chuckle, though there was +the look of a thousand devils in his eyes. + +"Well, boys," he said huskily, "who's looney now?" + +"What's to be done?" asked McGuffey. + +"Well, Mac, old sporty boy, I guess there ain't much to do except +to make up our minds to die like gentlemen. If I was ever fooled +by a man in my life, I was fooled by that doggone mate. I thought +he'd tote square with the syndicate. I sure did." + +For a long time McGuffey gazed seaward. He was slower than his +shipmates in making up his mind that the mate had really deserted +them and sailed away with the fortunes of the syndicate. Of the +three, however, the stoical engineer accepted the situation with +the best grace. He spurned the white sand with his foot and faced +Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs with just the suspicion of a grin +on his homely face. + +"I make a motion," he said, "that the syndicate pass a resolution +condemnin' the action of the mate." + +It was a forlorn hope, and the jest went over the heads of the +deck department. Said Mr. Gibney sadly: + +"There ain't no more _Maggie II_ Syndicate." + +"Well, let's form a Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," suggested +McGuffey. "We've got the island, and there's a quorum present for +all meetin's." + +Mr. Gibney smiled feebly. "We can appoint Tabu-Tabu the man +Friday." + +"Sure," responded McGuffey, "and the king can be the goat. +Robinson Crusoe had a billy goat, didn't he, Gib?" + +But Captain Scraggs refused to be heartened by this airy +persiflage. "I'm all het up after my fight with the king," he +quavered presently. "I wonder if there's any water on this +island." + +"There is," announced Mr. Gibney pleasantly; "there is, Scraggsy. +There's water in just one spot, but it's there in abundance." + +"Where's that spot?" inquired Scraggs eagerly. + +Mr. Gibney removed his old Panama hat, and with his index finger +pointed downward to where the hair was beginning to disappear, +leaving a small bald spot on the crown of his ingenious head. + +"There," he said, "right there, Scraggsy, old top. The only water +on this island is on the brain of Adelbert P. Gibney." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +Neils Halvorsen often wondered what had become of the _Maggie_ +and Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney and Bartholomew McGuffey he knew +had turned their sun-tanned faces toward deep water some years +before Captain Scraggs and the _Maggie_ disappeared from the +environs of San Francisco Bay, and Neils Halvorsen was wise +enough to waste no time wondering what had become of _them_. +These two worthies might be anywhere, and every conceivable thing +under the sun might have happened to them; hence, in his idle +moments, Neils Halvorsen did not disturb his gray matter +speculating on their whereabouts and their then condition of +servitude. + +But the continued absence of Captain Scraggs from his old haunts +created quite a little gossip along the waterfront, and in the +course of time rumours of his demise by sundry and devious routes +came to the ears of Neils Halvorsen. Now, Neils had sailed too +long with Captain Scraggs not to realize that the erstwhile +green-pea trader would be the last man to take a chance in any +hazardous enterprise unless forced thereto by the weight of +circumstance; also there was affection enough in his simple +Scandinavian heart to cause him to feel just a little worried +when two weeks passed and Captain Scraggs failed to show up. He +had disappeared in some mysterious manner from San Francisco Bay +and the old _Maggie_ had never been heard from again. + +Hence Neils Halvorsen was puzzled. In fact, to such an extent was +Neils puzzled, that one perfectly calm, clear night while beating +down San Pablo Bay in his bay scow, the _Willie and Annie_, he so +far forgot himself and his own affairs as to concentrate all his +attention on the problem of the ultimate finish of Captain +Scraggs. So engrossed was Neils in this vain speculation that he +neglected to observe toward the rules of the ocean highways that +nicety of attention which is highly requisite, even in the +skipper of a bay scow, if the fulsome title of captain is to be +retained for any definite period. As a result, Neils became +confused regarding the exact number of blasts from the siren of a +river steamer desiring to pass him to port. Consequently the +_Willie and Annie_ received such a severe butting from the river +steamer in question as to cause her to careen and fill. Being, +unfortunately, loaded with gravel on this particular trip, she +subsided incontinently to the bottom of San Pablo Bay, while +Neils and his crew of two men sought refuge on a plank. + +Without attempting to go further into the details of the +misfortunes of Neils Halvorsen, be it known that the destruction +of the _Willie and Annie_ proved to be such a severe shock to +Neils' reputation as a safe and sane bay scow skipper that he was +ultimately forced to seek other and more virgin fields. With the +fragments of his meagre fortune, the ambitious Swede purchased a +course in a local nautical school from which he duly managed to +emerge with sufficient courage to appear before the United +States Local Inspectors of Hulls and Boilers and take his +examination for a second mate's certificate. To his unutterable +surprise the license was granted; whereupon he shipped as +quartermaster on the steamer _Alameda_, running to Honolulu, and +what with the lesson taught him in the loss of the _Willie and +Annie_ and the exacting duties of his office aboard the liner, he +forgot that he had ever known Captain Scraggs. + +Judge of Neils Halvorsen's surprise, therefore, upon the occasion +of his first trip to Honolulu, when he saw something which +brought the whole matter back to mind. They were standing in +toward Diamond Head and the _Alameda_ lay hove to taking on the +pilot. It was early morning and the purple mists hung over the +entrance to the harbour. Neils Halvorsen stood at the gangway +enjoying the sunrise over the Punch-bowl, and glancing longingly +toward the vivid green of the hills beyond the city, when he was +aware of a "put," "put," "put," to starboard of the _Alameda_. +Neils turned at the sound just in time to see a beautiful +gasoline schooner of about a hundred and thirty tons heading in +toward the bay. She was so close that Neils was enabled to make +out that her name was _Maggie II_. + +"Vell, aye be dam," muttered Neils, and scratched his head, for +the name revived old memories. An hour later, when the _Alameda_ +loafed into her berth at Brewer's dock, Neils noticed that the +schooner lay at anchor off the quarantine station. + +That night Neils Halvorsen went ashore for those forms of +enjoyment peculiar to his calling, and in the Pantheon saloon, +whither his pathway led him, he filled himself with beer and +gossip. It was here that Neils came across an item in an +afternoon paper which challenged his instant attention. It was +just a squib in the shipping news, but Neils Halvorsen read it +with amazement and joy: + + The power schooner _Maggie II_ arrived this morning, ten + days from the Friendly Islands. The little schooner came + into port with her hold bursting with the most valuable + cargo that has entered Honolulu in many years. It + consists for the most part of black coral. + + The _Maggie II_ is commanded by Captain Phineas Scraggs, + and after taking on provisions and water to-day will + proceed to San Francisco, to-morrow, for discharge of + cargo. + +"By yiminy," quoth Neils Halvorsen, "aye bat you that bane de ole +man so sure as you bane alive. And aye bat new hat he skall be +glad to see Neils Halvorsen. I guess aye hire Kanaka boy an' he +bane pull me out to see de ole man." + +Which is exactly what Neils Halvorsen proceeded to do. Ten +minutes later he was at the foot of Fort Street, bargaining with +a Kanaka fisherman to paddle him off to the schooner _Maggie II_. +It was a beautiful moonlight night, and as Neils sat in the stern +of the canoe, listening to the sound of the sad, sweet falsetto +singing of half a dozen _waheenies_ fishing on the wharf, he +actually waxed sentimental. His honest Scandinavian heart +throbbed with anticipated pleasure as he conjured up a mental +picture of the surprise and delight of Captain Scraggs at this +unexpected meeting with his old deckhand. + +A Jacob's ladder was hanging over the side of the schooner as the +canoe shot in under her lee quarter, and half a minute later the +expectant Neils stepped upon her deck. A tall dark man, wearing +an ancient palmleaf hat, sat smoking on the hatch coaming, and +him Neils Halvorsen addressed. + +"Aye bane want to see Cap'n Scraggs," he said. + +The tall dark man stood erect and cast a quick, questioning look +at Neils Halvorsen. He hesitated before he made answer. + +"What do you want?" he asked deliberately, and there was a subtle +menace in his tones. As for Neils Halvorsen, thinking only of the +surprise he had in store for his old employer, he replied +evasively: + +"Aye bane want job." + +"Well, I'm Captain Scraggs, and I haven't any job for you. Get +off my boat and wait until you're invited before you come aboard +again." + +For nearly half a minute Neils Halvorsen stared open-mouthed at +the spurious Captain Scraggs, while slowly there sifted through +his brain the notion that he had happened across the track of a +deep and bloody mystery of the seas. There was "something rotten +in Denmark." Of that Neils Halvorsen was certain. More he could +not be certain of until he had paved the way for a complete +investigation, and as a preliminary step toward that end he +clinched his fist and sprang swiftly toward the bogus skipper. + +"Aye tank you bane damn liar," he muttered, and struck home, +straight and true, to the point of the jaw. The man went down, +and in an instant Neils was on top of him. Off came the sailor's +belt, the hands of the half-stunned man were quickly tied behind +him, and before he had time to realize what had happened Neils +had cut a length of cord from a trailing halyard and tied his +feet securely, after which he gagged him with his bandana +handkerchief. + +A quick circuit of the ship convinced Neils Halvorsen that the +remainder of the dastard crew were evidently ashore, so he +descended to the cabin in search of further evidence of crime. He +was quite prepared to find Captain Scraggs's master's certificate +in its familiar oaken frame, hanging on the cabin wall, but he +was dumfounded to observe, hanging on the wall in a similar and +equally familiar frame, the certificate of Adelbert P. Gibney as +first mate of steam or sail, any ocean and any tonnage. But still +a third framed certificate hung on the wall, and Neils again +scratched his head when he read the wording that set forth the +legal qualifications of Bartholomew McGuffey to hold down a job +as chief engineer of coastwise vessels up to 1,200 tons net +register. + +It was patent, even to the dull-witted Swede, that there had been +foul play somewhere, and the schooner's log, lying open on the +table, seemed to offer the first means at hand for a solution of +the mystery. Eagerly Neils turned to the last entry. It was not +in Captain Scraggs's handwriting, and contained nothing more +interesting than the stereotyped reports of daily observations, +currents, weather conditions, etc., including a notation of +arrival that day at Honolulu. Slowly Halvorsen turned the leaves +backward, until at last he was rewarded by a glimpse of a +different handwriting. It was the last entry under that +particular handwriting, and read as follows: + + June 21, 19--. Took an observation at noon, and find + that we are in 20-48 S., 178-4 W. At this rate should + lift Tuvana-tholo early this afternoon. All hands well + and looking forward to the fun at Tuvana. Bent a new + flying jib this morning and had the king and Tabu-Tabu + holystone the deck. + + A.P. GIBNEY. + +Neils Halvorsen sat down to think, and after several minutes of +this unusual exercise it appeared to the Swede that he had +stumbled upon a clue to the situation. The last entry in the log +kept by Mr. Gibney was under date of June 21st--just eleven days +ago, and on that date Mr. Gibney had been looking forward to some +fun at Tuvana-tholo. Now where was that island and what kind of a +place was it? + +Neils searched through the cabin until he came across the book +that is the bible of every South Sea trading vessel--the British +Admiralty Reports. Down the index went the old deckhand's +calloused finger and paused at "Friendly islands--page 177"; +whereupon Neils opened the book at page 177 and after a +five-minute search discovered that Tuvana-tholo was a barren, +uninhabited island in latitude 21-2 south, longitude 178-49 west. + +Ten days from the Friendly Islands, the paper said. That meant +under power and sail with the trades abaft the beam. It would +take nearer fifteen days for the run from Honolulu to that desert +island, and Neils Halvorsen wondered whether the marooned men +would still be alive by the time aid could reach them. For by +some sixth sailor sense Neils Halvorsen became convinced that his +old friends of the vegetable trade were marooned. They had gone +ashore for some kind of a frolic, and the crew had stolen the +schooner and left them to their fate, believing that the +castaways would never be heard from and that dead men tell no +tales. + +"Yumpin' yiminy," groaned Neils. "I must get a wiggle on if aye +bane steal this schooner." + +He rushed on deck, carried his prisoner down into the cabin, and +locked the door on him. A minute later he was clinging to the +Jacob's ladder, the canoe shot in to the side of the vessel at +his gruff command and passed on shoreward without missing a +stroke of the paddle. An hour later, accompanied by three Kanaka +sailors picked up at random along the waterfront, Neils Halvorsen +was pulled out to the _Maggie II_. Her crew had not returned and +the bogus captain was still triced hard and fast in the cabin. + +The Swede did not bother to investigate in detail the food and +water supply. A hasty round of the schooner convinced him that +she had at least a month's supply of food and water. Only one +thought surged through his mind, and that was the awful necessity +for haste. The anchor came in with a rush, the Kanaka boys +chanting a song that sounded to Neils like a funeral dirge, and +Neils went below and turned the gasoline engines wide open. The +_Maggie II_ swung around and with a long streak of opalescent +foam trailing behind her swung down the bay and faded at last in +the ghostly moonlight beyond Diamond Head; after which Neils +Halvorsen, with murder in his eye and a tarred rope's end in his +horny fist, went down into the cabin and talked to the man who +posed as Captain Scraggs. In the end he got a confession. Fifteen +minutes later he emerged, smiling grimly, gave the Kanaka boy at +the wheel the course, and turned in to sleep the sleep of the +conscience-free and the weary. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +Darkness was creeping over the beach at Tuvana-tholo before Mr. +Gibney could smother the despair in his heart sufficient to spur +his jaded imagination into working order. For nearly an hour the +three castaways had sat on the beach in dumb horror, gazing +seaward. They were not alone in this, for a little further up the +beach the two Fiji Islanders sat huddled on their haunches, +gazing stupidly first at the horizon and then at their white +captors. It was the sight of these two worthies that spurred Mr. +Gibney's torpid brain to action. + +"Didn't you say, Mac, that when we left these two cannibals alone +on this island that it would develop into a case of dog eat dog +or somethin' of that nature?" + +Captain Scraggs sprang to his feet, his face white with a new +terror. However, he had endured so much since embarking with Mr. +Gibney on a life of wild adventure that his nerves had become +rather inured to impending death, and presently his fear gave way +to an overmastering rage. He hurled his hat on the sands and +jumped on it until it was a mere shapeless rag. + +"By the tail of the Great Sacred Bull," he gasped, "if they don't +start in on us first I'm a Dutchman. Of all the idiots, thieves, +crimps, thugs, and pirates, Bart McGuffey, you're the worst. +Gib, you hulkin' swine, whatever did you listen to him for? It +was a crazy idea, this talk of fight. Why didn't we just drop the +critters overboard and be done with it? We got to kill 'em now +with sticks and stones in order to protect ourselves." + +"Forgive me, Scraggsy, old scout," said Mr. Gibney humbly. "The +fat's in the fire now, and there ain't no use howlin' over spilt +milk." + +"Shut up, you murderer," shrilled Captain Scraggs and danced once +more on his battered hat. + +"Let's call a meetin' of the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," said Mr. +Gibney. + +"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey. + +"Carried," said the commodore. "The first business before the +meetin' is the organization of a expedition to chase these two +cannibals to the other end of the island. I ain't got the heart +to kill 'em, so let's chase 'em away before they get fresh with +us." + +"Good idea," responded McGuffey, whereupon he picked up a rock +and threw it at the king. Mr. Gibney followed with two rocks, +Captain Scraggs screamed defiance at the enemy, and the enemy +fled in wild disorder, pursued by the syndicate. After a chase of +half a mile Mr. Gibney led his cohorts back to the beach. + +"Let's build a fire--not that we need it, but just for +company--and sleep till mornin'. By that time my imagination'll +be in workin' order and I'll scheme a breakfast out of this +God-forsaken hole." + +At the first hint of dawn Mr. Gibney, true to his promise, was up +and scouting for breakfast. He found some gooneys asleep on a +rocky crag and killed half a dozen of them with a club. On his +way back to camp he discovered a few handfuls of sea salt in a +crevice between some rocks, and the syndicate breakfasted an hour +later on roast gooney. It was oily and fishy but an excellent +substitute for nothing at all, and the syndicate was grateful. +The breakfast would have been cheerful, in fact, if Captain +Scraggs had not made repeated reference to his excessive thirst. +McGuffey lost patience before the meal was over, and cuffed +Captain Scraggs, who thereupon subsided with tears in his eyes. +This hurt McGuffey. It was like salt in a fresh wound, so he +patted the skipper on the back and humbly asked his pardon. +Captain Scraggs forgave him and murmured something about death +making them all equal. + +"The next business before the syndicate," announced Mr. Gibney, +anxious to preserve peace, "is a search of this island for +water." + +They searched all forenoon. At intervals they caught glimpses of +the two cannibals skulking behind sand-dunes, but they found no +water. Toward the centre of the island, however, the soil was +less barren, and here a grove of cocoa-palms lifted their tufted +crests invitingly. + +"We will camp in this grove," said the commodore, "and keep guard +over these green cocoanuts. There must be nearly a hundred of +them and I notice a little taro root here and there. As those +cocoanuts are full of milk, that insures us life for a week or +two if we go on a short ration. By bathin' several times a day we +can keep down our thirst some and perhaps it'll rain." + +"What if it does?" snapped Captain Scraggs bitterly. "We ain't +got nothin' but our hats to catch it in." + +"Well, then, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," replied the +commodore quizzically, "it's a cinch you'll go thirsty. Your hat +looks like a cullender." + +Captain Scraggs choked with rage, and Mr. Gibney, springing at +the nearest palm, shinned to the top of it in the most approved +sailor fashion. A moment later, instead of cocoanuts, rich, +unctuous curses began to descend on McGuffey and Scraggs. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," inquired Scraggs, "whatever _is_ the +matter of you?" + +"That hound Tabu-Tabu's been strippin' our cocoanut grove," +roared the commodore. "He must have spent half the night up in +these trees." + +"Thank the Lord they didn't take 'em all," said McGuffey piously. +"Chuck me down a nut, Gib," said Captain Scraggs. "I'm famished." + +In conformity with the commodore's plans, the castaways made camp +in the grove. For a week they subsisted on gooneys, taro root, +cocoanuts and cocoanut milk, and a sea-turtle which Scraggs found +wandering on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to Mr. Gibney, +and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the unaccustomed +food, poorly cooked as it was, and the lack of water, told +cruelly on them, and their strength failed rapidly. Realizing +that in a few days he would not have the strength to climb +cocoanut trees, Mr. Gibney spent nearly half a day aloft and +threw down every cocoanut he could find, which was not a great +many. They had their sheath knives and consequently had little +fear from an attack by Tabu-Tabu and the king. These latter kept +well to the other side of the island and subsisted in much the +same manner as their white neighbours. + +At the end of a week, all hands were troubled with indigestion +and McGuffey developed a low fever. They had lost much flesh and +were a white, haggard-looking trio. On the afternoon of the tenth +day on the island the sky clouded up and Mr. Gibney predicted a +williwaw. Captain Scraggs inquired feebly if it was good to eat. + +That night it rained, and to the great joy of the marooned +mariners Mr. Gibney discovered, in the centre of a big sandstone +rock, a natural reservoir that held about ten gallons of water. +They drank to repletion and felt their strength return a +thousand-fold. Tabu-Tabu and the king came into camp about this +time, and pleaded for a ration of water. Mr. Gibney, swearing +horribly at them, granted their request, and the king, in his +gratitude, threw himself at the commodore's feet and kissed them. +But Mr. Gibney was not to be deceived, and after furnishing them +with a supply of water in cocoanut calabashes, he ordered them to +their own side of the island. + +On the eighteenth day the last drop of water was gone, and on the +twenty-second day the last of the cocoanuts disappeared. The +prospects of more rain were not bright. The gooneys were becoming +shy and distrustful and the syndicate was experiencing more and +more difficulty, not only in killing them, but in eating them. +McGuffey, who had borne up uncomplainingly, was shaking with +fever and hardly able to stagger down the beach to look for +turtle eggs. The syndicate was sick, weak, and emaciated almost +beyond recognition, and on the twenty-fifth day Captain Scraggs +fainted twice. On the twenty-sixth day McGuffey crawled into the +shadow of a stunted mimosa bush and started to pray! + +To Mr. Gibney this was an infallible sign that McGuffey was now +delirious. In the shadow of a neighbouring bush Captain Scraggs +babbled of steam beer in the Bowhead saloon, and the commodore, +stifling his own agony, watched his comrades until their lips and +tongues, parched with thirst, refused longer to produce even a +moan, and silence settled over the dismal camp. + +It was the finish. The commodore knew it, and sat with bowed head +in his gaunt arms, wondering, wondering. Slowly his body began to +sway; he muttered something, slid forward on his face, and lay +still. And as he lay there on the threshold of the unknown he +dreamed that the _Maggie II_ came into view around the headland, +a bone in her teeth and every stitch of canvas flying. He saw her +luff up into the wind and hang there shivering; a moment later +her sails came down by the run, and he saw a little splash under +her port bow as her hook took bottom. There was a commotion on +decks, and then to Mr. Gibney's dying ears came faintly the +shouts and songs of the black boys as a whaleboat shot into the +breakers and pulled swiftly toward the beach. Mr. Gibney dreamed +that a white man sat in the stern sheets of this whaleboat, and +as the boat touched the beach it seemed to Mr. Gibney that this +man sprang ashore and ran swiftly toward him. And--Mr. Gibney +twisted his suffering lips into a wry smile as he realized the +oddities of this mirage--it seemed to him that this visionary +white man bore a striking resemblance to Neils Halvorsen. Neils +Halvorsen, of all men! Old Neils, "the squarehead" deckhand of +the green-pea trade! Dull, bowlegged Neils, with his lost dog +smile and his---- + +Mr. Gibney rubbed his eyes feebly and half staggered to his feet. +What was that? A shout? Without doubt he had heard a sound that +was not the moaning of their remorseless prison-keeper, the sea. +And---- + +"Hands off," shrieked Mr. Gibney and struck feebly at the +imaginary figure rushing toward him. No use. He felt himself +swept into strong arms and carried an immeasurable distance down +the beach. Then somebody threw water in his face and pressed a +drink of brandy and sweet water to his parched lips. His swimming +senses rallied a moment, and he discovered that he was lying in +the bottom of a whaleboat. McGuffey lay beside him, and on a +thwart in front of him sat good old Neils Halvorsen with Captain +Scraggs's head on his knees. As Mr. Gibney looked at this strange +tableau Captain Scraggs opened his eyes, glanced up at Neils +Halvorsen, and spoke: + +"Why if it ain't old squarehead Neils," he muttered wonderingly. +"If it ain't Neils, I'll go to hades or some other seaport." He +closed his eyes again and subsided into a sort of lethargy, for +he was content. He knew he was saved. + +Mr. Gibney rolled over, and, struggling to his knees, leaned over +McGuffey and peered into his drawn face. + +"Mac, old shipmate! Mac, speak to me. Are you alive?" + +B. McGuffey, Esquire, opened a pair of glazed eyes and stared at +the commodore. + +"Did we lick 'em?" he whispered. "The last I remember the king +was puttin' it all over Scraggsy. And that Tabu boy--was--no +slouch." McGuffey paused, and glanced warily around the boat, +while a dawning horror appeared in his sunken eyes. "Go back, +Neils--go back--for God's sake. There's two niggers--still--on +the--island. Bring--'em some--water. They're cannibals--Neils, +but never--mind. Get them--aboard--the poor devils--if they're +living. I--wouldn't leave a--crocodile on that--hell hole, if I +could--help it." + +An hour later the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate, including the man +Friday and the Goat, were safe aboard the _Maggie II_, and Neils +Halvorsen, with the tears streaming down his bronzed cheeks, was +sparingly doling out to them a mixture of brandy and water. And +when the syndicate was strong enough to be allowed all the water +it wanted, Neils Halvorsen propped them up on deck and told the +story. When he had finished, Captain Scraggs turned to Mr. +Gibney. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," he said, "make a motion." + +"I move," said the commodore, "that we set Tabu-Tabu and the king +down on the first inhabited island we can find. They've suffered +enough. And I further move that we readjust the ownership of the +_Maggie II_ Syndicate and cut the best Swede on earth in on a +quarter of the profits." + +"Second the motion," said McGuffey. + +"Carried," said Captain Scraggs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +The lookout on the power schooner _Maggie II_ had sighted Diamond +Head before Commodore Adelbert P. Gibney, Captain Phineas P. +Scraggs, and Engineer Bartholomew McGuffey were enabled to +declare, in all sincerity (or at least with as much sincerity as +one might reasonably expect from this band of roving rascals), +that they had entirely recovered from their harrowing experiences +on the desert island of Tuvana-tholo, in the Friendly group. + +At the shout of "Land, ho!" Mr. McGuffey yawned, stretched +himself, and sat up in the wicker lounging chair where he had +sprawled for days with Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs, under the +awning on top of the house. He flexed his biceps reflectively, +while his companions, stretched at full length in their +respective chairs, watched him lazily. + +"As a member o' the _Maggie_ Syndicate an' ownin' an' votin' a +quarter interest," boomed the engineer, "I hereby call a meetin' +o' the said syndicate for the purpose o' transactin' any an' all +business that may properly come before the meetin'." + +"Pass the word for Neils Halvorsen," suggested Mr. Gibney. "Bless +his squarehead soul," he added. + +"We got a quorum without him, an' besides this business is just +between us three." + +"Meetin'll come to order." The commodore tapped the hot deck +with his bare heel twice. "Haul away, Mac." + +"I move you, gentlemen, that it be the sense o' this meetin' that +B. McGuffey, Esquire, be an' he is hereby app'inted a committee +o' one to lam the everlastin' daylights out o' that sinful former +chief mate o' ourn for abandonin' the syndicate to a horrible +death on that there desert island. Do I hear a second to that +motion?" + +"Second the motion," chirped Captain Scraggs. + +"The motion's denied," announced Mr. Gibney firmly. + +"Now, looky here, Gib, that ain't fair. Didn't you fight +Tabu-Tabu an' didn't Scraggsy fight the king o' Kandavu? I ain't +had no fightin' this entire v'yage an' I did cal'late to lick +that doggone mate." + +"Mac, it can't be done nohow." + +"Oh, it can't, eh? Well, I'll just bet you two boys my interest +in the syndicate----" + +"It ain't that, Mac, it ain't that. Nobody's doubtin' your +natural ability to mop him up. But it ain't policy. You wasn't +sore agin them cannibal savages, was you? You made Neils go back +an' save 'em, an' it took us two days to beat up to the first +inhabited island an' drop 'em off----" + +"But a cannibal's like a dumb beast, Gib. He ain't responsible. +This mate knows better. He's as fly as they make 'em." + +"Ah!" Mr. Gibney levelled a horny forefinger at the engineer. +"That's where you hit the nail on the head. He's too fly, and +there's only two ways to keep him from flyin' away with us. The +first is to feed him to the sharks and the second is to treat +him like a long-lost brother. I know he ought to be hove +overboard, but I ain't got the heart to kill him in cold blood. +Consequently, we got to let the villain live, an' if you go to +beatin' him up, Mac, you'll make him sore an' he'll peach on us +when we get to Honolulu. If us three could get back to San +Francisco with clean hands, I'd say lick the beggar an' lick him +for fair. But we got to remember that this mate was one o' the +original filibuster crew o' the old _Maggie I_. The day we +tackled the Mexican navy an' took this power schooner away from +'em, we put ourselves forty fathom plumb outside the law, an' +this mate was present an' knows it. We've changed the vessel's +name an' rig, an' doctored up the old _Maggie's_ papers to suit +the _Maggie II_, an' we've give her a new dress. But at that, +it's hard to disguise a ship in a live port, an' the secret +service agents o' the Mexican government may be a-layin' for us +in San Francisco; and with this here mate agin us an' ready to +turn state's evidence, we're pirates under the law, an' it don't +take much imagination to see three pirates swingin' from the same +yard-arm. No, sir, Mac. I ain't got no wish, now that we're fixed +nice an' comfortable with the world's goods, to be hung for a +pirate in the mere shank o' my youth. Why, I ain't fifty year old +yet." + +"By the tail o' the Great Sacred Bull," chattered Scraggs. "Gib's +right." + +McGuffey was plainly disappointed. "I hadn't thought o' that at +all, Gib. I been cherishin' the thought o' lammin' the whey out'n +that mate, but if you say so I'll give up the idee. But if +bringin' the _Maggie II_ into home waters is invitin' death, +what in blue blazes're we goin' to do with her?" + +Mr. Gibney smiled--an arch, cunning smile. "We'll give her to +that murderin' mate, free gratis." + +Captain Scraggs bounded out of his chair, struck the hot deck +with his bare feet, cursed, and hopped back into the chair again. +McGuffey stared incredulously. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," quavered Scraggs, "say that agin." + +"Yes," continued the commodore placidly, "we'll just get shet o' +her peaceable like by givin' her to this mate. Don't forget, +Scraggsy, old tarpot, that this mate's been passin' himself off +for you in Honolulu, an' if there's ever an investigation, the +trail leads to the _Maggie II_. This mate's admitted being +Captain Scraggs, an' if he's found with the schooner in his +possession it'll take a heap o' evidence for him to prove that he +ain't Captain Scraggs. We'll just keep this here mate in the brig +while we're disposing of our black coral, pearl, shell, and copra +in Honolulu, an' then, when we've cleaned up, an' got our +passages booked for San Francisco----" + +"But who says we're goin' back to San Francisco?" cut in +McGuffey. + +"Why, where else would men with money in their pockets head for, +you oil-soaked piece of ignorance? Ain't you had enough adventure +to do you a spell?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "Me an' Gib's for +goin' back to San Francisco, so shut up. If you got any +objection, you're outvoted two to one in the syndicate." + +McGuffey subsided, growling, and Mr. Gibney continued: + +"When we're ready to leave Honolulu, we'll bring this mate on +deck, make him a kind Christian talk an' give him the _Maggie II_ +with the compliments o' the syndicate. He'll think our sufferin's +on that island has touched us with religion an' he'll be so +tickled he'll keep his mouth shut. Then, with all three of us +safe an' out o' the mess, an' the evidence off our hands, we'll +clear out for Gawd's country an' look around for some sort of a +profitable investment." + +"What you figurin' on, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "I hope +it's a steamboat. This wild adventure is all right when you get +away with it, but I like steamboatin' on the bay an' up the +river." + +"Oh, nothin' particular, Scraggsy. We'll just hold the syndicate +together an' when somethin' good bobs up we'll smother it. In the +meantime, we'll continue our life o' wild adventure." + +"But there ain't no wild adventures around San Francisco Bay," +protested McGuffey. + +"That shows your ignorance, Mac. Adventure lurks in every nook an' +slough an' doghole on the bay. You walk along the Embarcadero, only +reasonably drunk, an' adventure's liable to hit you a swipe in the +face like a loose rope-end bangin' around in a gale. Adventure an' +profits goes hand in hand----" + +"Then why give the _Maggie II_ to this hound of a mate?" demanded +the single-minded McGuffey. + +The commodore sighed. "She's a love of a boat an' it breaks my +heart to give up the only command I've ever had, but the fact is, +Mac, her possession by us is dangerous, an' we don't need her, +an' we can't sell her because her record's got blurs on it. We +can't convey a clean an' satisfactory title. Anyhow, she didn't +cost us a cent an' there ain't no real financial loss if we give +her to this mate. He'd be glad to get her if she had yellow jack +aboard, an' if he's caught with her he'll have to do the +explainin'. When you're caught with the goods in your possession, +Mac, it makes the explainin' all the harder. Besides, we're three +to one, an' if it comes to a show-down later we can outswear the +mate." + +Captain Scraggs picked his snaggle teeth with the little blade of +his jack-knife and cogitated a minute. + +"Well," he announced presently, "far be it from me to fly in the +face o' a felon's death. I've made a heap o' money, follerin' +Gib's advice, an' bust my bob-stay if I don't stay put on this. +Gib, it's your lead." + +"Well, I'll follow suit. Gib's got all the trumps," acquiesced +the engineer. "We got plenty o' dough an' no board bills comin' +due, so we'll loaf alongshore until Gib digs up somethin' good." + +Mr. Gibney smiled his approval of these sentiments. "Thank you, +boys. I ain't quite sure yet whether we'll quit the sea an' go +into the chicken business, build a fast sea-goin' launch an' +smuggle Chinamen in from Mexico, buy a stern-wheel steamer an' do +bay an' river freightin', or just live at a swell hotel an' +scheme out a fortune by our wits. But whatever I do, as the +leadin' sperrit o' this syndicate, the motto o' the syndicate +will ever be my inspiration: + + "All for one an' one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall." + +"How about Neils?" queried Captain Scraggs. "Do we continue to +let that ex-deckhand in on our fortunes?" + +"If Neils Halvorsen had asked _you_ that question when he come to +rescue you the day you lay a-dyin' o' thirst on that desert +island, wouldn't you have said yes?" + +"Sure pop." + +"Then don't ask no questions that's unworthy of you," said Mr. +Gibney severely. "I don't want to see none o' them green-pea +trade ethics croppin' up in you, Scraggsy. If it wasn't for that +Swede the sea-gulls'd be pickin' our bones now. Neils Halvorsen +is included in this syndicate for good." + +"Amen." This from the honest McGuffey. + +"Meetin's adjourned," said Captain Scraggs icily. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +Under the direction of the crafty commodore, the valuable cargo +of the _Maggie II_ was disposed of in Honolulu. During the period +while the schooner lay at the dock discharging Captain Scraggs +and McGuffey prudently remained in the cabin with the perfidious +mate, in order that, should an investigation be undertaken later +by the Treasury Department, no man might swear that the real +Phineas Scraggs, filibuster, had been in Honolulu on a certain +date. The Kanaka crew of the schooner Mr. Gibney managed to ship +with an old shipmaster friend bound for New Guinea, so their +testimony was out of the way for a while, at least. + +When the _Maggie II_ was finally discharged and the proceeds of +her rich cargo nestled, in crisp bills of large denomination, in +a money belt under Mr. Gibney's armpits and next his rascally +skin, he purchased tickets under assumed names for himself, +Scraggs, McGuffey, and Halvorsen on the liner _Hilonian_, due to +sail at noon next day. + +These details attended to, the _Maggie II_ backed away from the +dock under her own power and cast anchor off the quarantine +station. The mate was then brought on deck and made to confront +the syndicate. + +"It appears, my man," the commodore began, "that you was too +anxious to horn in on the profits o' this expedition, so in a +moment o' human weakness you did your employers an evil deed. We +had it all figgered out to feed you to the sharks on the way +home, because dead men tell no tales, but our sufferin's on that +island has caused us all to look with a milder eye on mere human +shortcomin's. The Good Book says: 'Forgive us our trespasses as +we forgive those what trespass agin us,' an' I ain't ashamed to +admit that you owe your wicked life to the fact that Scraggsy's +got religion an' McGuffey ain't much better. But we got all the +money we need an' we're goin' to Europe to enjoy it, so before we +go we're goin' to pass sentence upon you. It is the verdict o' +the court that we present you with the power schooner _Maggie II_ +free gratis, an' that you accept the same in the same friendly +sperrit in which it is tendered. Havin' a schooner o' your own +from now on, you won't be tempted to steal one an' commit +wholesale murder a-doin' it. You're forgiven, my man. Take the +_Maggie II_ with our blessin', organize a comp'ny, an' go back to +Kandavu an' make some money for yourself. Scraggsy, are you +a-willin' to prove that you've given this errin' mate complete +forgiveness by shakin' hands with him?" + +"I forgive him freely," said Captain Scraggs, "an' here's my fin +on it." + +The unfortunate mate hung his head. He was much moved. + +"You don't mean it, sir, do you?" he faltered. + +"I hope I may never see the back o' my neck if I don't," replied +the skipper. + +"Surest thing you know, brother," shouted Mr. McGuffey and +swatted the deluded mate between the shoulders. "Take her with +our compliments. You was a good brave mate until you went wrong. +I ain't forgot how you sprayed the hillsides with lead the day +Gib an' Scraggsy was took by them cannibals. No, sir-ee! I ain't +holdin' no grudge. It's human to commit crime. I've committed one +or two myself. Good luck to you, matey. Hope you make a barrel o' +money with the old girl." + +"Thanks," the mate mumbled. "I ain't deservin' o' this nohow," +and he commenced to snivel a little. + +Mr. Gibney forgot that he was playing a hypocrite's part, and his +generous nature overcame him. + +"Dog my cats," he blustered, "what's the use givin' him the +vessel if we don't give him some spondulicks to outfit her with +grub an' supplies? Poor devil! I bet he ain't got a cent to bless +himself with. Scraggsy, old tarpot, if we're goin' to turn over a +new leaf an' be Christians, let's sail under a full cloud o' +canvas." + +"By Neptune, that's so, Gib. This feller did us an awful dirty +trick, but at the same time there ain't a cowardly bone in his +hull carcass. I ain't forgot how he stood to the guns that day +off the Coronados when we was attacked by the Mexicans." + +"Stake the feller, Gib," advised McGuffey, and wiped away a +vagrant tear. He was quite overcome at his own generosity and the +manner in which it had touched the hard heart of the iniquitous +mate. + +Mr. Gibney laid five one-hundred-dollar bills in the mate's palm. + +"Good-bye," he said gently, "an' see if you can't be as much of a +man an' as good a sport hereafter as them you've wronged an' +who's forgive you fully and freely." + +One by one the three freebooters of the green-pea trade pumped +the stricken mate's hand, tossed him a scrap of advice, and went +overside into the small boat which was to take them ashore. It +was a solemn parting and Mr. Gibney and McGuffey were snuffling +audibly. Captain Scraggs, however, was made of sterner stuff. + +"'Pears to me, Gib," he remarked when they were clear of the +schooner, "that you're a little mite generous with the funds o' +the syndicate, ain't you?" + +Mr. Gibney picked up a paddle and threatened Scraggs with it. + +"Dang your cold heart, Scraggs," he hissed, "you're un-Christian, +that's what you are." + +"Quit yer beefin', you shrimp," bellowed McGuffey. "Them +cannibals would have et you if it wasn't for that poor devil of a +mate." + +Captain Scraggs snarled and remained discreetly silent. +Nevertheless, he was in a fine rage. As he remarked _sotto voce_ +to Neils Halvorsen, five hundred dollars wasn't picked up in the +street every day. + +The next day, as the _Hilonian_ steamed out of the harbour, +bearing the syndicate back to San Francisco, they looked across +at the little _Maggie II_ for the last time, and observed that +the mate was on deck, superintending three Kanaka sailors who +were hoisting supplies aboard from a bumboat. + +Commodore Gibney bade his first command a misty farewell. + +"Good-bye, little ship," he yelled and waved his hand. "Gawd! You +was a witch in a light wind." + +"He'll be flyin' outer the harbour an' bound south by sunset," +rumbled McGuffey. "I suppose that lovely gas engine o' mine'll go +to hell now." + +Captain Scraggs sighed dismally. "It costs like sixty to be a +Christian, Gib, but what's the odds as long as we're safe an' +homeward bound? Holy sailor! But I'm hungry for a smell o' +Channel creek at low tide. I tell you, Gib, rovin' and wild +adventure's all right, but the old green-pea trade wasn't so +durned bad, after all." + +"You bet!" McGuffey's response was very fervid. + +"Them was the happy days," supplemented the commodore. He was as +joyous as a schoolboy. Four long years had he been roving and +now, with his pockets lined with greenbacks, he was homeward +bound to his dear old San Francisco--back to steam beer, to all +of his old cronies of the Embarcadero, to moving picture +shows--to Life! And he was glad to get back with a whole skin. + +Seven days after leaving Honolulu, the _Hilonian_ steamed into +San Francisco Bay. The syndicate could not wait until she had +tied up at her dock, and the minute the steamer had passed +quarantine Mr. Gibney hailed a passing launch. Bag and baggage +the happy quartette descended to the launch and landed at Meiggs +wharf. Mr. Gibney stepped into the wharfinger's office and +requested permission to use the telephone. + +"What's up, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. + +"I want to 'phone for a automobile to come down an' snake us up +town in style. This syndicate ain't a-goin' to come rampin' home +to Gawd's country lookin' like a lot o' Eyetalian peddlers. We're +goin' to the best hotel an' we're goin' in _style_." + +McGuffey nudged Captain Scraggs, and Neils Halvorsen nudged Mr. +McGuffey. + +"Hay bane a sport, hay bane," rumbled the honest Neils. + +"You bet he bane," McGuffey retorted. "Ain't he the old kiddo, +Scraggsy? Ain't he? This feller Adelbert P. Gibney's a farmer, I +guess." + +With the assistance of the wharfinger an automobile was summoned, +and in due course the members of the syndicate found themselves +ensconced in a fashionable suite in San Francisco's most +fashionable hotel. Mr. Gibney stored the syndicate's pearls in +the hotel safe, deposited an emergency roll with the hotel clerk, +and banked the balance of the company funds in the names of all +four; after which the syndicate gave itself up to a period of joy +unconfined. + +At the end of a week of riot and revelry Mr. Gibney revived +sufficiently to muster all hands and lead them to a Turkish bath. +Two days in the bath restored them wonderfully, and when the +worthy commodore eventually got them back to the hotel he +announced that henceforth the lid was on--and on tight. Captain +Scraggs, who was hard to manage in his cups and the most prodigal +of prodigals with steam up to a certain pressure, demurred at +this. + +"No more sky-larkin', Scraggsy, you old cut-up," Mr. Gibney +ordered. "We had our good time comin' after all that we've been +through but it's time to get down to business agin. Riches has +wings, Scraggsy, old salamander, an' even if we are ashore, I'm +still the commodore. Now, set around an' we'll hold a meetin'." + +He banged the chiffonier with his great fist. "Meetin' o' the +_Maggie_ Syndicate," he announced. "Meetin'll come to order. The +first business before the meetin' is a call for volunteers to +furnish a money-makin' idee for the syndicate." + +Neils Halvorsen shook his sorrel head. He had no ideas. B. +McGuffey, Esquire, shook his head also. Captain Scraggs wanted to +sing. + +"I see it's up to me to suggest somethin'." Mr. Gibney smiled +benignly, as if a money-making idea was the easiest thing on +earth to produce. "The last thing I remember before we went to +that Turkish bath was us four visitin' a fortune teller an' +havin' our fortunes told, past, present, an' future, for a dollar +a throw. Anybody here remember what his fortune was?" + +It appeared that no one remembered, not even Mr. Gibney. He +therefore continued: + +"The chair will app'int Mr. McGuffey an' himself a committee o' +two to wait on one o' these here clairvoyants and have their +fortunes told agin." + +McGuffey, who was as superstitious as a negro, seconded the +motion heartily and the committee forthwith sallied forth to +consult the clairvoyant. Within the hour they returned. + +"Members o' the syndicate," the commodore announced, "we got an +idea. Not a heluva good one, but fair to middlin'. Me an' Mac +calls on this Madame de What-you-may-call-her an' the minute she +gets a lamp at my mit (it is worthy of remark here that Mr. +Gibney had a starfish tattooed on the back of his left hand, a +full-rigged ship across his breast, and a gorgeous picture of a +lady climbing a ladder adorned the inner side of his brawny right +fore-arm. The feet of the lady in question hung down below the +fringe of Mr. Gibney's shirt sleeve) she up an' says: 'My friend, +you're makin' a grave mistake remainin' ashore. Your fortune lies +at sea.' Then she threw a fit an' mumbled something about a +light-haired man that was' goin' to cross my path. I guess she +must have meant Scraggsy or Neils, both bein' blondes--an' she +come out of her trance shiverin' an' shakin'. + +"'Your fortune lies at sea, my friend,' she kept on sayin'. 'Go +forth an' seek it.' + +"'Gimme the longitude an' latitude, ma'am,' I says, 'an' I'll +light out.' + +"'Look in the shippin' news in the papers to-morrower,' she pipes +up. 'Five dollars, please.'" + +"You didn't give her five dollars, did you?" gasped Captain +Scraggs. "Why, Gib my _dear_ boy, I thought you was sober." + +"So I was." + +"Then, Gib, all I got to say is that you're a sucker. You want to +consult the rest of us before you go throwin' away the funds o' +the syndicate on such tom-fool idees as----" + +McGuffey saw a storm gathering on Mr. Gibney's brows, and +hastened to intervene. + +"Meetin's adjourned," he announced, "pendin' the issue o' the +papers to-morrow mornin'. Scraggsy, you oughter j'ine the Band o' +Hope. You're ugly when you got a drink in you." + +Neils Halvorsen interfered to beg a cigar of Mr. Gibney and the +affair passed over. + +At six o'clock the following morning the members of the syndicate +were awakened by a prodigious pounding at their respective +doors. Answering the summons, they found Mr. Gibney in undress +uniform and the morning paper clutched in his hand. + +"Meetin' o' the _Maggie_ Syndicate in my room," he bawled. "I've +found our fortune." + +The meeting came to order without the formality of dressing, and +the commodore, spreading the paper on his knee, read aloud: + + _For Sale Cheap_ + + The stern-wheel steamer _Victor_, well found, staunch + and newly painted. Boilers and engines in excellent + shape. Vessel must be sold to close out an estate. + Address John Coakley, Jackson Street wharf. + +"How d'ye know she's a fortune, Gib?" McGuffey demanded. "Lemme look at +her engines before you get excited." + +"I ain't sayin' she is," Mr. Gibney retorted testily. "Lemme finish +readin'!" He continued: + + REPORTS PASSING DERELICT + + The steam schooner _Arethusa_, Grays Harbour to Oakland + Long wharf, reports passing a derelict schooner twenty + miles off Point Reyes at six o'clock last night. The + derelict was down by the head, and her rail just showed + above the water. It was impossible to learn her + identity. + + The presence of this derelict in the steamer lanes to + North Pacific ports is a distinct menace to navigation, + and it is probable that a revenue cutter will be + dispatched to-day to search for the derelict and either + tow her into port or destroy her. + +"Gentlemen o' the syndicate, them's the only two items in the +shippin' page that looks likely. The question is, in which lies +our fortune?" + +Neils Halvorsen spoke up, giving it as his opinion that the +fortune-telling lady probably knew her business and that their +fortune really lay at sea. The derelict was at sea. How else, +then, could the prophecy be interpreted? + +"Well, this steamer _Victor_ ain't exactly travelling overland," +McGuffey suggested. He had a secret hankering to mess around some +real engines again, and gave it as his opinion that fortune was +more likely to lurk in a solid stern-wheel steamer with good +engines and boilers than in a battered hulk at sea. Captain +Scraggs agreed with him most heartily and a tie vote resulted, +Mr. Gibney inclining toward the derelict. + +"What're we goin' to do about it, Gib?" Captain Scraggs demanded. + +"When in doubt, Scraggsy, old tarpot, always play trumps. In +order to make no mistake, right after breakfast you an' McGuffey +go down to Jackson Street wharf an' interview this man Coakley +about his steamer _Victor_. You been goin' to sea long enough to +know a good hull when you see it, an' if we can't trust Mac to +know a good set of inner works we'd better dissolve the +syndicate. If you two think she's a bargain, buy her in for the +syndicate. As for me an' Neils, we'll go down to the Front an' +charter a tug an' chase out after that there derelict before the +revenue cutter gets her an' blows her out o' the path o' commerce +with a stick o' dynamite." + +Forthwith Mr. Gibney and Neils, after snatching a hasty +breakfast, departed for the waterfront, where they chartered a +tug for three days and put to sea. At about ten o'clock Captain +Scraggs and McGuffey strolled leisurely down to Jackson Street +wharf to inspect the _Victor_. By noon they had completed a most +satisfactory inspection of the steamer's hull and boilers, and +bought her in for seven thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs was +delighted. He said she was worth ten thousand. Already he had +decided that heavy and profitable freights awaited the syndicate +along the Sacramento River, where the farmers and orchardists had +been for years the victims of a monopoly and a gentlemen's +agreement between the two steamboat lines that plied between +Sacramento, Stockton, and San Francisco. + +On the afternoon of the third day Mr. Gibney and Neils Halvorsen +returned from sea. They were unutterably weary and hollow-eyed +for lack of sleep. + +"Well, I suppose you two suckers found that derelict," challenged +McGuffey. + +"Yep. Found her an' got a line aboard an' towed her in, an' it +was a tough job. She's layin' over on the Berkeley tide flats, +an' at lowtide to-morrow we'll go over an' find out what we've +got. Don't even know her name yet. She's practically submerged." + +"I think you was awful foolish, Gib, buyin' a pig in a poke that +way. I don't believe in goin' it blind. Me an' Mac's bought a +real ship. We own the _Victor_." + +"I'm dead on my feet," growled the commodore, and jumping into +bed he refused to discuss the matter further and was sound asleep +in a jiffy. + +Mr. Gibney was up bright and early and aroused the syndicate to +action. The tide would be at its lowest ebb at nine thirty-one +and the commodore figured that his fortune would be lying well +exposed on the Berkeley tide flats. He engaged a diver and a +small gasoline launch, and after an early breakfast in a +chop-house on the Embarcadero they started for the wreck. + +They were within half a mile of it, heading right into the eye of +the wind, when Captain Scraggs and McGuffey stood erect in the +launch simultaneously and sniffed like a pair of--well, sea-dogs. + +"Dead whale," suggested McGuffey. + +"I hope it ain't Gib's fortune," replied Scraggs drily. + +"Shut up," bellowed Mr. Gibney. He was sniffing himself by this +time, for as the launch swiftly approached the derelict the +unpleasant odour became more pronounced. + +"Betcher that schooner was in collision with a steamer," Captain +Scraggs announced. "She was cut down right through the fo'castle +with the watch below sound asleep, an' this here fragrance +appeals to me as a sure sign of a job for the coroner." + +The commodore shuddered. He was filled with vague misgivings, +but Neils Halvorsen grinned cheerfully. McGuffey got out a +cologne-scented handkerchief and clamped it across his nose. + +"Well, if that's Gib's fortune, it must be filthy lucre," he +mumbled through the handkerchief. "Gib, what _have_ you hooked on +to? A public dump?" + +Mr. Gibney's eyes flashed, but he made no reply. They had rounded +the schooner's stern now, and her name was visible. + +"Schooner _Kadiak_, Seattle," read Scraggs. "Little old three +sticker a thousand years old an' cut clear through just abaft the +foremast. McGuffey, you don't s'pose this here's a pirate craft +an' just bulgin' with gold." + +"Sure," retorted the engineer with a slow wink, "tainted wealth." + +Mr. Gibney could stand their heckling no longer. "Looky here, you +two," he bawled angrily. "I got a hunch I picked up a lemon, but +I'm a-willin' to tackle the deal with Neils if you two think I +didn't do right by the syndicate a-runnin' up a bill of expense +towing this craft into port. I ain't goin' to stand for no +kiddin', even if we are in a five-hundred-dollar towage bill. Man +is human an' bound to make mistakes." + +"Don't kid the commodore, Scraggsy. This aromer o' roses is +more'n a strong man can stand, so cut out the josh." + +"All right, Mac. I guess the commodore's foot slipped this time, +but I ain't squawkin' yet." + +"No. Not _yet_," cried Mr. Gibney bitterly, "but soon." + +"I ain't, nuther," Captain Scraggs assumed an air of injured +virtue. "I'm a-willin' to go through with you, Gib, at a loss, +for nothin' else except to convince you o' the folly o' makin' +this a one-man syndicate. I ain't a-kickin', but I'm free to +confess that I'd like to be consulted _oncet_ in a while." + +"That's logic," rumbled the single-minded McGuffey. + +"You dirty welchers," roared the commodore. "I ain't askin' you +two to take chances with _me_. Me an' Neils'll take this deal +over independent o' the syndicate." + +"Well, let's dress this here diver," retorted the cautious +Scraggs, "an' send him into the hold for a look around before we +make up our minds." Captain Scraggs was not a man to take +chances. + +They moored the launch to the wreck and commenced operations. Mr. +Gibney worked the air pump while the diver, ax in hand, dropped +into the murky depths of the flooded hold. He was down half an +hour before he signalled to be pulled up. All hands sprang to the +line to haul him back to daylight, and the instant he popped +clear of the water Mr. Gibney unburdened himself of an agonized +curse. + +In his hands the diver held a large decayed codfish! + +Captain Scraggs turned a sneering glance upon the unhappy +commodore while McGuffey sat down on the damp rail of the +derelict and laughed until the tears coursed down his honest +face. + +"A dirty little codfishin' schooner," raved Captain Scraggs, "an' +you a-sinkin' the time an' money o' the syndicate in rotten +codfish on the say-so of a clairvoyant you ain't even been +interduced to. Gib, if that's business, all I got to say is: +'Excuse _me_'." + +Mr. Gibney seized the defunct fish from the diver's hand, tore it +in half, slapped Captain Scraggs with one awful fragment and +hurled the other at McGuffey. + +"I'm outer the syndicate," he raved, beside himself with anger. +"Here I go to work an' make a fortune for a pair of short sports an' +pikers an' you get to squealin' at the first five-hundred-dollar +loss. I know you of old, Phineas Scraggs, an' the leopard can't +change his spots." He raised his right hand to heaven. "I'm through +for keeps. We'll sell the pearls to-day, divvy up, an' dissolve. I'm +through." + +"Glad of it," growled McGuffey. "I don't want no more o' that +codfish, an' as soon as we git fightin' room I'll prove to you +that no near-sailor can insult me an' git away with it. Me an' +Scraggsy's got some rights. You can walk on Scraggsy, Gib, but it +takes a man to walk on the McGuffey family." + +Nothing but the lack of sea-room prevented a battle royal. Mr. +Gibney stood glaring at his late partners. His great ham-like +fists were opening and closing automatically. + +"You're right, Mac," he said presently, endeavouring to control +his anger and chagrin. "We'll settle this later. Take that helmet +off the diver an' let's hear what he's got to report." + +With the helmet removed the diver spoke: + +"As near as I can make out, boss, there ain't a thing o' value in +this hulk but a couple o' hundred tons o' codfish. She was cut in +two just for'd o' the bulkhead an' her anchors carried away on +the section that was cut off. She ain't worth the cost o' towin' +her in on the flats." + +"So that codfish has some value," sneered Captain Scraggs. + +"Great grief, Scraggsy! Don't tell me it's sp'iled," cried +McGuffey, simulating horror. + +"No, not quite, Mac, not quite. Just _slightly_. I s'pose Gib'll +tack a sign to the stub o' the main mast: 'Slightly spoiled +codfish for sale. Apply to A.P. Gibney, on the premises. Special +rates on Friday.'" + +Mr. Gibney quivered, but made no reply. He carefully examined +that portion of the derelict above water and discovered that by +an additional expenditure of about fifty dollars he might recover +an equal amount in brass fittings. The _Kadiak's_ house was gone +and her decks completely gutted. Nothing remained but the +amputated hull and the foul cargo below her battered decks. + +In majestic silence the commodore motioned all hands into the +launch. In silence they returned to the city. Arrived here, Mr. +Gibney paid off the launch man and the diver and accompanied by +his associates repaired to a prominent jeweller's shop with the +pearls they had accumulated in the South Seas. The entire lot was +sold for thirty thousand dollars. An hour later they had adjusted +their accounts, divided the fortune of the syndicate equally, and +then dissolved. At parting, Mr. Gibney spoke for the first time +when it had not been absolutely necessary. + +"Put a beggar on horseback an' he'll ride to the devil," he said. +"When you two swabs was poor you was content to let me lead you +into a fortune, but now that you're well-heeled, you think you're +business men. All right! I ain't got a word to say except this: +Before I get through with you two beachcombers I'll have all your +money and you'll be a-beggin' me for a job. I apologize for +soakin' you two with that diseased codfish, an' for old sake's +sake we won't fight. We're still friends, but business associates +no longer, for I'm too big a figger in this syndicate to stand +for any criticism on my handlin' o' the joint finances. +Hereafter, Scraggsy, old kiddo, you an' Mac can go it alone with +your stern-wheel steamer. Me an' The Squarehead legs it together +an' takes our chances. You don't hear that poor untootered Swede +makin' no holler at the way I've handled the syndicate----" + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "will you +just listen to re----" + +"Enough! Too much is plenty. Let's shake hands an' part friends. +We just can't get along in business together, that's all." + +"Well, I'm sorry, Gib," mumbled McGuffey, very much crestfallen, +"but then you hove that dog-gone fish at me an'----" + +"That was fortune hittin' you a belt in the face, Mac, an' you +was too self-conceited to recognize it. Remember that, both of +you two. Fortune hit you in the face to-day an' you didn't know +it." + +"I'd ruther die poor, Gib," wailed McGuffey. + +The commodore shook hands cordially and departed, followed by the +faithful Neils Halvorsen. The moment the door closed behind them +Scraggs turned to the engineer. + +"Mac," he said earnestly, "Gib's up to somethin'. He's got that +imagination o' his workin'. I can tell it every time; he gets a +foggy look in his eyes. We made a mistake kiddin' him to-day. +Gib's a sensitive boy some ways an' I reckon we hurt his feelin's +without intendin' it." + +"He thrun a dead codfish at me," protested McGuffey. "I love old +Gib like a brother, but that's carryin' things with a mighty high +hand." + +"Well, I'll apologize to him," declared Captain Scraggs and +started for the door to follow Mr. Gibney. McGuffey barred his +way. + +"You apologize without my consent an' you gotta buy me out o' the +_Victor_. I won't be no engineer with a skipper that lacks +backbone." + +"Oh, very well, Mac." Captain Scraggs realized too well the value +of McGuffey in the engine room. He knew he could never be happy +with anybody else. "We'll complete the deal with the _Victor_, +ship a crew, get down to business, an' leave Gib to his codfish. +An' let's pay our bill an' get outer here. It's too high-toned +for me--an' expensive." + +For two weeks Captain Scraggs and McGuffey saw no more of Mr. +Gibney and Neils Halvorsen. In the meantime, they had commenced +running the _Victor_ regularly up river, soliciting business in +opposition to the regular steamboat lines. While the _Victor_ was +running with light freights and consequently at a loss, the +prospect for ultimate good business was very bright and Scraggs +and McGuffey were not at all worried about the future. + +Judge of their surprise, therefore, when one morning who should +appear at the door of Scraggs's cabin but Mr. Gibney. + +"Mornin', Gib," began Scraggs cheerily. "I s'pose you been rolled +for your money as per usual, an' you're around lookin' for a job +as mate." + +Mr. Gibney ignored this veiled insult. "Not yet, Scraggsy, I got +about five hundred tons o' freight to send up to Dunnigan's +Landin' an' I want a lump sum figger for doin' the job. We parted +friends an' for the sake o' old times I thought I'd give you a +chance to figger on the business." + +"Thanky, Gib. I'll be glad to. Where's your freight an' what does +it consist of?" + +"Agricultural stuff. It's crated, an' I deliver it here on the +steamer's dock within reach o' her tackles. No heavy pieces. Two +men can handle every piece easy." + +"Turnin' farmer, Gib?" + +"Thinkin' about it a little," the commodore admitted. "What's +your rate on this freight? It ain't perishable goods, so get down +to brass tacks." + +"A dollar a ton," declared the greedy Scraggs, naming a figure +fully forty cents higher than he would have been willing to +accept. "Five hundred dollars for the lot." + +"Suits me." The commodore nonchalantly handed Scraggs five +hundred dollars. "Gimme a receipt," he said. + +So Captain Scraggs gave him a receipted freight bill and Mr. +Gibney departed. An hour later a barge was bunted alongside the +_Victor_ and Neils Halvorsen appeared in Scraggs's cabin to +inform him that the five hundred tons of freight was ready to be +taken aboard. + +"All right, Neils. I'll put a gang to work right off." He came +out on deck, paused, tilted his nose, and sniffed. He was still +sniffing when McGuffey bounced up out of the engine room. + +"Holy Sailor!" he shouted. "Who uncorked that atter o' violets?" + +"You dog-gone squarehead," shrieked Captain Scraggs. "You been +monkeyin' around that codfish again." + +"What smells?" demanded the mate, poking his nose out of his +room. + +"That tainted wealth I picked up at sea," shouted a voice from +the dock, and turning, Scraggs and McGuffey observed Mr. Gibney +standing on a stringer smiling at them. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," quavered Captain Scraggs, "you can't mean +to say you've unloaded them gosh-awful codfish----" + +"No, not yet--but soon, Scraggsy, old tarpot." + +Captain Scraggs removed his near-Panama hat, cast it on the deck, +and pranced upon it in a terrible rage. + +"I won't receive your rotten freight, you scum of the docks," he +raved. "You'll run me outer house an' home with that horrible +stuff." + +"Oh, you'll freight it for me, all right," the commodore retorted +blithely. "Or I'll libel your old stern-wheel packet for you. +I've paid the freight in advance an' I got the receipt." + +Captain Scraggs was on the verge of tears. "But, Gib! My _dear_ +boy! This freight'll foul the _Victor_ up for a month o' +Fridays--_an' I just took out a passenger license!_" + +"I'm sorry, Scraggsy, but business is business. You've took my +money an' you got to perform." + +"You lied to me. You said it was agricultural stuff an' I thought +it was plows an' harrers an' sich----" + +"It's fertilizer--an' if that ain't agricultural stuff I hope my +teeth may drop out an' roll in the ocean. An' it ain't perishable. +It perished long ago. I ain't deceived you. An' if you don't like +the scent o' dead codfish on your decks, you can swab 'em down with +Florida water for a month." + +Captain Scraggs's mate came around the corner of the house and +addressed himself to Captain Scraggs. + +"You can give me my time, sir. I'm a steamboat mate, not a grave +digger or a coroner's assistant, or an undertaker, an' I can't +stand to handle this here freight." + +Mr. McGuffey tossed his silken engineer's cap over to Scraggs. + +"Hop on that, Scraggsy. Your own hat is ground to powder. Ain't +it strange, Gib, what little imagination Scraggsy's got? He'll +stand there a-screamin' an' a-cussin' an' a-prancin'--Scraggsy! +Ain't you got no pride, makin' such a spectacle o' yourself? We +don't have to handle this freight o' Gib's at all. We'll just +hook onto that barge _an' tow it up river_." + +"You won't do nothin' o' the sort, Mac, because that's my barge +an' I ain't a-goin' to let it out o' my sight. I've delivered my +freight alongside your steamer and prepaid the freight an' it's +up to you to handle it." + +"Gib!" + +"That's the programme!" + +"Adelbert," crooned Mr. McGuffey, "ain't you got no heart? You +know I got a half interest in the _Victor_----" + +"O-oo-oh!" Captain Scraggs groaned, and his groan was that of a +seasick passenger. When he could look up again his face was +ghastly with misery. + +"Gib," he pleaded sadly, "you got us where the hair is short. +Don't invoke the law an' make us handle that codfish, Gib! It +ain't right. Gimme leave to tow that barge--anything to keep your +freight off the _Victor_, an' we'll pull it up river for you----" + +"Be a good feller, Gib. You usen'ter be hard an' spiteful like +that," urged McGuffey. + +"I'll tow the barge free," wailed Scraggs. + +Mr. Gibney sat calmly down on the stringer and lit a cigar. +Nature had blessed him with a strong constitution amidships and +the contiguity of his tainted fortune bothered him but little. He +squinted over the tip of the cigar at Captain Scraggs. + +"You're just the same old Scraggsy you was in the green-pea +trade. All you need is a ring in yer nose, Scraggsy, to make you +a human hog. Here you goes to work an' soaks me a dollar a ton +when you'd be tickled to death to do the job for half o' that, +an' then you got the gall to stand there appealin' to my +friendship! So you'll tow the barge up free, eh? Well, just to +make the transaction legal, I'll give you a dollar for the job +an' let you have the barge. Skip to it, Scraggsy, an' draw up a +new bill, guaranteein' to tow the barge for one dollar. Then +gimme back $499.00 an' I'll hand you back this receipted freight +bill." + +Captain Scraggs darted into his cabin, dashed off the necessary +document, and returning to the deck, presented it, together with +the requisite refund, to Mr. Gibney, who, in the meantime, had +come aboard. + +"Whatever are you a-goin' to do with this awful codfish, Gib?" he +demanded. + +Mr. Gibney cocked his hat over one ear and blew a cloud of smoke +in the skipper's face. + +"Well, boys, I'll tell you. Salted codfish that's been under +water a long time gets most o' the salt took out of it, an' even +at sea, if it's left long enough, it'll get so durned ripe that +it's what you might call offensive. But it makes good fertilizer. +There ain't nothin' in the world to equal a dead codfish, medium +ripe, for fertilizer. I've rigged up a deal with a orchard +comp'ny that's layin' out a couple o' thousand acres o' young +trees up in the delta lands o' the Sacramento. I've sold 'em the +lot, after first buyin' it from the owners o' the schooner for a +hundred dollars. Every time these orchard fellers dig a hole to +plant a young fruit tree they aims to heave a codfish in the +bottom o' the hole first, for fertilizer. There was upwards o' +two hundred thousand codfish in that schooner an' I've sold 'em +for five cents each, delivered at Dunnigan's Landin'. I figger on +cleanin' up about seven thousand net on the deal. I thought me +an' Neils was stuck at first, but I got my imagination workin'----" + +Captain Scraggs sank limply into McGuffey's arms and the two +stared at the doughty commodore. + +"Hit in the face with a fortune an' didn't know it," gasped poor +McGuffey. "Gib, I'm sure glad you got out whole on that deal." + +"Thanks to a lack o' imagination in you an' Scraggsy I'm about +two hundred an' fifty dollars ahead o' my estimate now, on +account o' the free tow o' that barge. Me an' Neils certainly +makes a nice little split on account o' this here codfish deal." + +"Gib," chattered Scraggs, "what's the matter with reorganizin' +the syndicate?" + +"Be a good feller, Adelbert," pleaded McGuffey. + +Mr. Gibney was never so vulnerable as when one he really loved +called him by his Christian name. He drew an arm across the +shoulders of McGuffey and Scraggs, while Neils Halvorsen stood +by, his yellow fangs flashing with pleasure under his walrus +moustache. + +"So you two boys're finally willin' to admit that I'm the +white-haired boy, eh?" + +"Gib, you got an imagination an' a half." + +"One hundred an' fifty per cent. efficient," McGuffey declared. + +Neils Halvorsen said nothing, but grinned like the head of an +old fiddle. Mr. Gibney appeared to swell visibly, after the +manner of a turkey gobbler. + +"Thanks, Scraggsy--an' you, too, Bart. So you're willin' to admit +that though that there seeress might have helped some the game +would have been deader than it is if it hadn't been for my +imagination?" + +Captain Scraggs nodded and Mr. McGuffey slapped the commodore on +the back affectionately. "Aye bane buy drink in the Bowhead +saloon," The Squarehead announced. + +"Scraggsy! Mac! Your fins! We'll reorganize the syndicate, an' +the minute me an' Neils finds ourselves with a bill o' sale for a +one quarter interest in the _Victor_, based on the actual cost +price, we'll tow this here barge----" + +"An' split the profits on the codfish?" Scraggs queried eagerly. + +"Certainly not. Me an' Neils splits that fifty-fifty. A quarter +o' them profits is too high a price to pay for your friendship, +Scraggsy, old deceitful. Remember, I made that profit after you +an' Mac had pulled out o' the syndicate." + +"That's logic," McGuffey declared. + +"It's highway robbery," Scraggs snarled. "I won't sell no quarter +interest to you or The Squarehead, Gib. Not on them terms." + +"Then you'll load them codfish aboard, or pay demurrage on that +barge for every day they hang around; an' if the Board o' Health +condemns 'em an' chucks 'em overboard I'll sue you an' Mac for my +lost profits, git a judgment agin you, an' take over the _Victor_ +to satisfy the judgment." + +"You're a sea lawyer, Gib," Scraggs retorted sarcastically. + +"You do what Gib says," McGuffey ordered threateningly. +"Remember, I got a half interest in any jedgment he gits agin +us--an' what's more, I object to them codfish clutterin' up my +half interest." + +"You bullied me on the old _Maggie_," Scraggs screeched, "but I +won't be bullied no more. If you want to tow that barge, Mac, you +buy me out, lock, stock, and barrel. An' the price for my half +interest is five thousand dollars." + +"You've sold something, Scraggsy," Mr. McGuffey flashed back at +him, obeying a wink from Mr. Gibney. "An' here's a hundred +dollars to bind the bargain. Balance on delivery of proper +bill-o'-sale." + +While Scraggs was counting the money Mr. Gibney was writing a +receipt in his note book. Scraggs, still furious, signed the +receipt. + +"Now, then, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney affably, "hustle up to the +Custom House, get a formal bill-o'-sale blank, fill her in, an' +hustle back agin for your check. An' see to it you don't change +your mind, because it won't do you any good. If you don't come +through now I can sue you an' force you to." + +"Oh! So you're buyin' my interest, eh?" + +"Well, I'm lendin' Mac the money, an' I got a hunch he'll sell +the interest to me an' Neils without figgerin' on a profit. +You're a jarrin' note in the syndicate, Scraggsy, an' I've come +to that time o' life where I want peace. An' there won't be no +peace on the _Victor_ unless I skipper her." + +Captain Scraggs departed to draw up the formal bill of sale and +Mr. Gibney, drawing The Squarehead and McGuffey to him, favoured +each with a searching glance and said: + +"Gentlemen, did it ever occur to you that there's money in the +chicken business?" + +It had! Both McGuffey and Neils admitted it. There are few men in +this world who have not, at some period of their lives, held the +same view, albeit the majority of those who have endeavoured to +demonstrate that fact have subsequently changed their minds. + +"I thought as much," the commodore grinned. "If I was to let you +two out o' my sight for a day you'd both be flat busted the day +after. So we won't buy no farm an' go in for chickens. We'll sell +the _Victor_ an' buy a little tradin' schooner. Then we'll go +back to the South Seas an' earn a legitimate livin'." + +"But why'll we sell the _Victor_?" McGuffey demanded. "Gib, she's +a love of a boat." + +"Because I've just had a talk with the owners o' the two +opposition lines an' they, knowin' me to be chummy with you an' +Scraggsy, give me the tip to tell you two that you could have +your choice o' two propositions--a rate war or a sale o' the +_Victor_ for ten thousand dollars. That gets you out clean an' +saves your original capital, an' it gits Scraggsy out the same +way, while nettin' me an' Neils five hundred each." + +"A rate war would ruin us," McGuffey agreed. "In addition to +sourin' Scraggsy's disposition until he wouldn't be fit to live +with. Gib, you're a wonder." + +"I know it," Mr. Gibney replied. + +Within two hours Captain Scraggs's half interest had passed into +the hands of McGuffey, and half an hour later the _Victor_ had +passed into the hands of the opposition lines, to be operated for +the joint profit of the latter. Later in the day all four members +of the syndicate met in the Bowhead saloon, where Mr. Gibney +explained the deal to Captain Scraggs. The latter was dumfounded. + +"I had to fox you into selling," the commodore confessed. + +"But how about them defunct codfish, Gib?" + +"I got the new owners to agree to tow 'em up at a reasonable +figger. When I've cleaned up that deal, we'll buy a schooner an' +run South again." + +"You'll run without me, Gib," Scraggs declared emphatically. +"I've had a-plenty o' the dark blue for mine. I got a little +stake now, so I'm going to look around an' invest in a----" + +"A chicken ranch," McGuffey interrupted. + +"Right-O, Bart. How'd you guess it?" + +"Imagination," quoth McGuffey, tapping his forehead, +"imagination, Scraggsy." + +Something told Mr. Gibney that it would be just as well if he did +not insist upon having Scraggs as a member of his crew. So he did +not insist. In the afternoon of life Mr. Gibney was acquiring +common sense. + +Three weeks later Mr. Gibney had purchased, for account of his +now abbreviated syndicate, the kind of power schooner he desired, +and the Inspectors gave him a ticket as master. With The +Squarehead as mate and Mr. McGuffey as engineer and general +utility man, the little schooner cleared for Pago Pago on a day +when Captain Scraggs was too busy buying incubators to come down +to the dock and see them off. + +And for aught the chronicler of this tale knows to the contrary, +the syndicate may be sailing in that self-same schooner to this +very day. + +THE END + + + + +_There's More to Follow!_ + + +More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author +of this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of +world-wide reputation, in the Authors' Alphabetical List which +you will find on the _reverse side_ of the wrapper of this book. +Look it over before you lay it aside. There are books here you +are sure to want--some, possibly, that you have _always_ wanted. + +It is a _selected_ list; every book in it has achieved a certain +measure of _success_. + +The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good +Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted +Standard of Value. It will pay you to + +_Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!_ + +_In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a +complete catalog._ + + + + +PETER B. KYNE'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR + +When two strong men clash and the under-dog has Irish blood in +his veins--there's a tale that Kyne can tell! And "the girl" is +also very much in evidence. + + +KINDRED OF THE DUST + +Donald McKay, son of Hector McKay, millionaire lumber king, falls +in love with "Nan of the Sawdust Pile," a charming girl who has +been ostracized by her townsfolk. + + +THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS + +The fight of the Cardigans, father and son, to hold the Valley of +the Giants against treachery. The reader finishes with a sense of +having lived with big men and women in a big country. + + +CAPPY RICKS + +The story of old Cappy Ricks and of Matt Peasley, the boy he +tried to break because he knew the acid test was good for his +soul. + + +WEBSTER: MAN'S MAN + +In a little Jim Crow Republic in Central America, a man and a +woman, hailing from the "States," met up with a revolution and +for a while adventures and excitement came so thick and fast that +their love affair had to wait for a lull in the game. + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion +sea-faring men--a Captain Scraggs, owner of the green vegetable +freighter Maggie, Gibney the mate and McGuffey the engineer. + + +THE LONG CHANCE + +A story fresh from the heart of the West, of San Pasqual, a +sun-baked desert town, of Harley P. Hennage, the best gambler, +the best and worst man of San Pasqual and of lovely Donna. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +EMERSON HOUGH'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's +list. + + +THE COVERED WAGON + +NORTH OF 36 + +THE WAY OF A MAN + +THE STORY OF THE OUTLAW + +THE SAGEBRUSHER + +THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE + +THE WAY OUT + +THE MAN NEXT DOOR + +THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE + +THE BROKEN GATE + +THE STORY OF THE COWBOY + +THE WAY TO THE WEST + +54-40 OR FIGHT + +HEART'S DESIRE + +THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE + +THE PURCHASE PRICE + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +RUBY M. AYRE'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +RICHARD CHATTERTON + +A fascinating-story in which love and jealousy play strange +tricks with women's souls. + + +A BACHELOR HUSBAND + +Can a woman love two men at the same time? + +In its solving of this particular variety of triangle "A Bachelor +Husband" will particularly interest, and strangely enough, +without one shock to the most conventional minded. + + +THE SCAR + +With fine comprehension and insight the author shows a terrific +contrast between the woman whose love was of the flesh and one +whose love was of the spirit. + + +THE MARRIAGE OF BARRY WICKLOW + +Here is a man and woman who, marrying for love, yet try to build +their wedded life upon a gospel of hate for each other and yet +win back to a greater love for each other in the end. + + +THE UPHILL ROAD + +The heroine of this story was a consort of thieves. The man was +fine, clean, fresh from the West. It is a story of strength and +passion. + + +WINDS OF THE WORLD + +Jill, a poor little typist, marries the great Henry Sturgess and +inherits millions, but not happiness. Then at last--but we must +leave that to Ruby M. Ayres to tell you as only she can. + + +THE SECOND HONEYMOON + +In this story the author has produced a book which no one who has +loved or hopes to love can afford to miss. The story fairly leaps +from climax to climax. + + +THE PHANTOM LOVER + +Have you not often heard of someone being in love with love +rather than the person they believed the object of their +affections? That was Esther! But she passes through the crisis +into a deep and profound love. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +GEORGE W. OGDEN'S WESTERN NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +THE BARON OF DIAMOND TAIL + +The Elk Mountain Cattle Co. had not paid a dividend in years; so +Edgar Barrett, fresh from the navy, was sent West to see what was +wrong at the ranch. The tale of this tenderfoot outwitting the +buckaroos at their own play will sweep you into the action of +this salient western novel. + + +THE BONDBOY + +Joe Newbolt, bound out by force of family conditions to work for +a number of years, is accused of murder and circumstances are +against him. His mouth is sealed; he cannot, as a gentleman, +utter the words that would clear him. A dramatic, romantic tale +of intense interest. + + +CLAIM NUMBER ONE + +Dr. Warren Slavens drew claim number one, which entitled him to +first choice of rich lands on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. +It meant a fortune; but before he established his ownership he +had a hard battle with crooks and politicians. + + +THE DUKE OF CHIMNEY BUTTE + +When Jerry Lambert, "the Duke," attempts to safeguard the cattle +ranch of Vesta Philbrook from thieving neighbors, his work is +appallingly handicapped because of Grace Kerr, one of the chief +agitators, and a deadly enemy of Vesta's. A stirring tale of +brave deeds, gun-play and a love that shines above all. + + +THE FLOCKMASTER OF POISON CREEK + +John Mackenzie trod the trail from Jasper to the great sheep +country where fortunes were being made by the flock-masters. +Shepherding was not a peaceful pursuit in those bygone days. +Adventure met him at every turn--there is a girl of course--men +fight their best fights for a woman--it is an epic of the +sheeplands. + + +THE LAND OF LAST CHANCE + +Jim Timberlake and Capt. David Scott waited with restless +thousands on the Oklahoma line for the signal to dash across the +border. How the city of Victory arose overnight on the plains, +how people savagely defended their claims against the "sooners;" +how good men and bad played politics, makes a strong story of +growth and American initiative. + + +TRAIL'S END + +Ascalon was the end of the trail for thirsty cowboys who gave +vent to their pent-up feelings without restraint. Calvin Morgan +was not concerned with its wickedness until Seth Craddock's +malevolence directed itself against him. He did not emerge from +the maelstrom until he had obliterated every vestige of +lawlessness, and assured himself of the safety of a certain +dark-eyed girl. + +_Ask for Complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted +Fiction_ + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +EDGAR RICE BURROUGH'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. 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Kyne. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table { + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .caption {font-weight: bold; text-align: center;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 4em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 4em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 4em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Scraggs, by Peter B. Kyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Captain Scraggs + or, The Green-Pea Pirates + +Author: Peter B. Kyne + +Illustrator: Gordon Grant + +Release Date: May 29, 2006 [EBook #18469] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN SCRAGGS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Alison Bush and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p class="center"><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a><img src="images/image001.jpg" alt="Frontispiece" /></p> + +<h4>"<i>Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the deck<br /> +and leaped upon it.</i>"</h4> + + +<h1>CAPTAIN SCRAGGS</h1> + +<h2>OR</h2> + +<h1>THE GREEN-PEA PIRATES<br /></h1> + + +<h2><br />BY PETER B. KYNE<br /></h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF CAPPY RICKS, THE LONG CHANCE,<br /> +THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS,<br /> +WEBSTER—MAN'S MAN, <span class="smcap">Etc</span>.<br /></h3> + + +<h3><br />ILLUSTRATED BY<br /> + +GORDON GRANT<br /><br /></h3> + + + +<h4>GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK<br /></h4> + + + +<h4><br />COPYRIGHT, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1919, BY<br /> +PETER B. KYNE<br /><br /></h4> + + +<h4><br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED<br /></h4> + + +<h4>PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES<br /> +AT<br /> +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y.<br /></h4> + + +<h5><br />ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SUNSET MAGAZINE<br /></h5> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + +<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary=""> +<tr><td><a href="#Frontispiece">"Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the deck +and leaped upon it."</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#Great_snakes">"'Great snakes' he yelled and fell back against +the cabin wall"</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#Captain_Scraggs">"Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle +of savages ... and fled for the beach"</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td> </td></tr> + +<tr><td><a href="#Tabu">"Tabu-Tabu ...planted a mighty right in +the centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy"</a></td></tr> + +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + +<p class="center"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I"> <b>I</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_II"> <b>II</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_III"> <b>III</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV"> <b>IV</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_V"> <b>V</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI"> <b>VI</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII"> <b>VII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"> <b>VIII</b></a> | + <a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX</b></a> | + <a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X</b></a> | + <a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII"> <b>XII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"> <b>XIII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"> <b>XIV</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV"> <b>XV</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"> <b>XVI</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"> <b>XVII</b></a> <br /> + +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"> <b>XVIII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"> <b>XIX</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX"> <b>XX</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"> <b>XXI</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"> <b>XXII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"> <b>XXIII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"> <b>XXIV</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"> <b>XXV</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"> <b>XXVI</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"> <b>XXVII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"> <b>XXVIII</b></a> | +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"> <b>XXIX</b></a> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + + +<p>They had seen the fog rolling down the coast shortly after the +<i>Maggie</i> had rounded Pilar Point at sunset and headed north. +Captain Scraggs has been steamboating too many unprofitable years +on San Francisco Bay, the Suisun and San Pablo sloughs and +dogholes and the Sacramento River to be deceived as to the +character of that fog, and he remarked as much to Mr. Gibney. +"We'd better turn back to Halfmoon Bay and tie up at the dock," +he added.</p> + +<p>"Calamity howler!" retorted Mr. Gibney and gave the wheel a spoke +or two. "Scraggsy, you're enough to make a real sailor sick at +the stomach."</p> + +<p>"But I tell you she's a tule fog, Gib. She rises up in the +marshes of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, drifts down to the bay +and out the Golden Gate and just naturally blocks the wheels of +commerce while she lasts. Why, I've known the ferry boats between +San Francisco and Oakland to get lost for hours on their +twenty-minute run—and all along of a blasted tule fog."</p> + +<p>"I don't doubt your word a mite, Scraggsy. I never did see a +ferry-boat skipper that knew shucks about sailorizing," the +imperturbable Gibney responded. "Me, I'll smell my way home in +any tule fog."</p> + +<p>"Maybe you can an' maybe you can't, Gib, although far be it from +me to question your ability. I'll take it for granted. +Nevertheless, I ain't a-goin' to run the risk o' you havin' +catarrh o' the nose an' confusin' your smells to-night. You ain't +got nothin' at stake but your job, whereas if I lose the <i>Maggie</i> +I lose my hull fortune. Bring her about, Gib, an' let's hustle +back."</p> + +<p>"Don't be an old woman," Mr. Gibney pleaded. "Scraggs, you just +ain't got enough works inside you to fill a wrist watch."</p> + +<p>"I ain't a-goin' to poke around in the dark an' a tule fog, +feelin' for the Golden Gate," Captain Scraggs shrilled peevishly.</p> + +<p>"Hell's bells an' panther tracks! I've got my old courses, an' if +I foller them we can't help gettin' home."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs laid his hand on Mr. Gibney's great arm and tried +to smile paternally. "Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," he pleaded, "control +yourself. Don't argue with me, Gib. I'm master here an' you're +mate. Do I make myself clear?"</p> + +<p>"You do, Scraggsy. But it won't avail you nothin'. You're only +master becuz of a gentleman's agreement between us two, an' +because I'm man enough to figger there's certain rights due you +as owner o' the <i>Maggie</i>. But don't you forget that accordin' to +the records o' the Inspector's office, I'm master of the +<i>Maggie</i>, an' the way I figger it, whenever there's any call to +show a little real seamanship, that gentleman's agreement don't +stand."</p> + +<p>"But this ain't one o' them times, Gib."</p> + +<p>"You're whistlin' it is. If we run from this here fog, it's +skiffs to battleships we don't get into San Francisco Bay an' +discharged before six o'clock to-morrow night. By the time we've +taken on coal an' water an' what-all, it'll be eight or nine +o'clock, with me an' McGuffey entitled to mebbe three dollars +overtime an' havin' to argue an' scrap with you to git it—not to +speak o' havin' to put to sea the same night so's to be back in +Halfmoon Bay to load bright an' early next mornin'. Scraggsy, I +ain't no night bird on this run."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to defy me, Gib?" Captain Scraggs' little green eyes +gleamed balefully. Mr. Gibney looked down upon him with +tolerance, as a Great Dane gazes upon a fox terrier. "I certainly +do, Scraggsy, old pepper-pot," he replied calmly. "What're you +goin' to do about it?" The ghost of a smile lighted his jovial +countenance.</p> + +<p>"Nothin'—now. I'm helpless," Captain Scraggs answered with +deadly calm. "But the minute we hit the dock you an' me parts +company."</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether we will or not, Scraggsy. I ain't heeled +right financially to hit the beach on such short notice."</p> + +<p>"That ain't no skin off'n my nose, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Well, you can fire all you want, but you won't fire me. I won't +go."</p> + +<p>"I'll get the police to remove you, you blistered pirate," +Scraggs screamed, now quite beside himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes? Well, the minute they let go o' me I'll come back to the +S.S. <i>Maggie</i> and tear her apart just to see what makes her go." +He leaned out the pilot house window and sniffed. "Tule fog, all +right, Scraggs. Still, that ain't no reason why the ship's +company should fast, is it? Quit bickerin' with me, little one, +an' see if you can't wrastle up some ham an' eggs. I want my +eggs sunny side up."</p> + +<p>Sensing the futility of further argument, Captain Scraggs sought +solace in a stream of adjectival opprobrium, plainly meant for +Mr. Gibney but delivered, nevertheless, impersonally. He closed +the pilot house door furiously behind him and started for the +galley.</p> + +<p>"Some bright day I'm goin' to git tired o' hearin' you cuss my +proxy," Mr. Gibney bawled after him, "an' when that fatal time +arrives I'll scatter a can o' Kill-Flea over you an' the shippin' +world'll know you no more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, go to—glory, you pig-iron polisher," Captain Scraggs tossed +back at him over his shoulder—and honour was satisfied. In the +lee of the pilot house Captain Scraggs paused, set his infamous +old brown derby hat on the deck and leaped furiously upon it with +both feet. Six times he did this; then with a blow of his fist he +knocked the ruin back into a semblance of its original shape and +immediately felt better.</p> + +<p>"If I was you, skipper, I'd hold my temper until I got to port; +then I'd git jingled an' forgit my troubles inexpensively," +somebody advised him.</p> + +<p>Scraggs turned. In a little square hatch the head and shoulders +of Mr. Bartholomew McGuffey, chief engineer; first, second and +third assistant engineer, oiler, wiper, water-tender, and +coal-passer of the <i>Maggie</i>, appeared. He was standing on the +steel ladder that led up from his stuffy engine room and had +evidently come up, like a whale, for a breath of fresh air. "The +way you ruin them bonnets o' yourn sure is a scandal," Mr. +McGuffey concluded. "If I had a temper as nasty as yourn I'd +take soothin' syrup or somethin' for it."</p> + +<p>Without waiting for a reply, Mr. McGuffey dropped back into his +department and Captain Scraggs, his soul filled with rage and +dire forebodings, repaired to the galley, and "candled" four +dozen eggs. Out of the four dozen he found nine with black spots +in them and carefully set them aside to be fried, sunny side up, +for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + + +<p>Before proceeding further with this narrative, due respect for +the reader's curiosity directs that we diverge for a period +sufficient to present a brief history of the steamer <i>Maggie</i> and +her peculiar crew. We will begin with the <i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>She had been built on Puget Sound back in the eighties, and was +one hundred and six feet over all, twenty-six feet beam and seven +feet draft. Driven by a little steeple compound engine, in the +pride of her youth she could make ten knots. However, what with +old age and boiler scale, the best she could do now was six, and +had Mr. McGuffey paid the slightest heed to the limitations +imposed upon his steam gauge by the Supervising Inspector of +Boilers at San Francisco, she would have been limited to five. +Each annual inspection threatened to be her last, and Captain +Scraggs, her sole owner, lived in perpetual fear that eventually +the day must arrive when, to save the lives of himself and his +crew, he would be forced to ship a new boiler and renew the +rotten timbers around her deadwood. She had come into Captain +Scraggs's possession at public auction conducted by the United +States Marshal, following her capture as she sneaked into San +Francisco Bay one dark night with a load of Chinamen and opium +from Ensenada. She had cost him fifteen hundred hard-earned +dollars.</p> + +<p>Scraggs—Phineas P. Scraggs, to employ his full name, was +precisely the kind of man one might expect to own and operate the +<i>Maggie</i>. Rat-faced, snaggle toothed and furtive, with a low +cunning that sometimes passed for great intelligence, Scraggs' +character is best described in a homely American word. He was +"ornery." A native of San Francisco, he had grown up around the +docks and had developed from messboy on a river steamer to master +of bay and river steamboats, although it is not of record that he +ever commanded such a craft. Despite his "ticket" there was none +so foolish as to trust him with one—a condition of affairs which +had tended to sour a disposition not naturally sweet. The +yearning to command a steamboat gradually had developed into an +obsession. Result—the "fast and commodious S.S. <i>Maggie</i>," as +the United States Marshal had had the audacity to advertise her.</p> + +<p>In the beginning, Captain Scraggs had planned to do bay and river +towing with the <i>Maggie</i>. Alas! The first time the unfortunate +Scraggs attempted to tow a heavily laden barge up river, a light +fog had come down, necessitating the frequent blowing of the +whistle. Following the sixth long blast, Mr. McGuffey had +whistled Scraggs on the engine room howler; swearing horribly, he +had demanded to be informed why in this and that the skipper +didn't leave that dod-gasted whistle alone. It was using up his +steam faster than he could manufacture it. Thereafter, Scraggs +had used a patent foghorn, and when the honest McGuffey had once +more succeeded in conserving sufficient steam to crawl up river, +the tide had turned and the <i>Maggie</i> could not buck the ebb. +McGuffey declared a few new tubes in the boiler would do the +trick, but on the other hand, Mr. Gibney pointed out that the old +craft was practically punk aft and a stiff tow would jerk the +tail off the old girl. In despair, therefore, Captain Scraggs had +abandoned bay and river towing and was prepared to jump overboard +and end all, when an opportunity offered for the freighting of +garden truck and dairy produce from Halfmoon Bay to San +Francisco.</p> + +<p>But now a difficulty arose. The new run was an "outside" +one—salt water all the way. Under the ruling of the Inspectors, +the <i>Maggie</i> would be running coastwise the instant she engaged +in the green pea and string bean trade, and Captain Scraggs's +license provided for no such contingency. His ticket entitled him +to act as master on the waters of San Francisco Bay and the +waters tributary thereto, and although Scraggs argued that the +Pacific Ocean constituted waters "tributary thereto," if <i>he</i> +understood the English language, the Inspectors were obdurate. +What if the distance was less than twenty-five miles? they +pointed out. The voyage was undeniably coastwise and carried with +it all the risk of wind and wave. And in order to impress upon +Captain Scraggs the weight of their authority, the Inspectors +suspended for six months Captain Scraggs's bay and river license +for having dared to negotiate two coastwise voyages without +consulting them. Furthermore, they warned him that the next time +he did it they would condemn the fast and commodious <i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>In his extremity, Fate had sent to Captain Scraggs a large, +imposing, capable, but socially indifferent person who responded +to the name of Adelbert P. Gibney. Mr. Gibney had spent part of +an adventurous life in the United States Navy, where he had +applied himself and acquired a fair smattering of navigation. +Prior to entering the Navy he had been a foremast hand in clipper +ships and had held a second mate's berth. Following his discharge +from the Navy he had sailed coastwise on steam schooners, and +after attending a navigation school for two months, had procured +a license as chief mate of steam, any ocean and any tonnage.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately for Mr. Gibney, he had a failing. Most of us have. +The most genial fellow in the world, he was cursed with too much +brains and imagination and a thirst which required quenching +around pay-day. Also, he had that beastly habit of command which +is inseparable from a born leader; when he held a first mate's +berth, he was wont to try to "run the ship" and, on occasions, +ladle out suggestions to his skipper. Thus, in time, he had +acquired a reputation for being unreliable and a wind-bag, with +the result that skippers were chary of engaging him. Not to be +too prolix, at the time Captain Scraggs made the disheartening +discovery that he had to have a skipper for the <i>Maggie</i>, Mr. +Gibney found himself reduced to the alternative of longshore work +or a fo'castle berth in a windjammer bound for blue water.</p> + +<p>With alacrity, therefore, Mr. Gibney had accepted Scraggs's offer +of seventy-five dollars a month—"and found"—to skipper the +<i>Maggie</i> on her coastwise run. As a first mate of steam he had no +difficulty inducing the Inspectors to grant him a license to +skipper such an abandoned craft as the <i>Maggie</i>, and accordingly +he hung up his ticket in her pilot house and was registered as +her master, albeit, under a gentlemen's agreement, with Scraggs +he was not to claim the title of captain and was known to the +world as the <i>Maggie's</i> first mate, second mate, third mate, +quartermaster, purser, and freight clerk. One Neils Halvorsen, a +solemn Swede with a placid, bovine disposition, constituted the +fo'castle hands, while Bart McGuffey, a wastrel of the Gibney +type but slower-witted, reigned supreme in the engine room. Also +his case resembled that of Mr. Gibney in that McGuffey's job on +the <i>Maggie</i> was the first he had had in six months and he +treasured it accordingly. For this reason he and Gibney had been +inclined to take considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until +McGuffey discovered that, in all probability, no engineer in the +world, except himself, would have the courage to trust himself +within range of the <i>Maggie's</i> boilers, and, consequently, he had +Captain Scraggs more or less at his mercy. Upon imparting this +suspicion to Mr. Gibney, the latter decided that it would be a +cold day, indeed, when his ticket would not constitute a club +wherewith to make Scraggs, as Gibney expressed it, "mind his P's +and Q's."</p> + +<p>It will be seen, therefore, that mutual necessity held this +queerly assorted trio together, and, though they quarrelled +furiously, nevertheless, with the passage of time their own +weaknesses and those of the <i>Maggie</i> had aroused in each for the +other a curious affection. While Captain Scraggs frequently +"pulled" a monumental bluff and threatened to dismiss both Gibney +and McGuffey—and, in fact, occasionally went so far as to order +them off his ship, on their part Gibney and McGuffey were wont +to work the same racket and resign. With the subsidence of their +anger and the return to reason, however, the trio had a habit of +meeting accidentally in the Bowhead saloon, where, sooner or +later, they were certain to bury their grudge in a foaming beaker +of steam beer, and return joyfully to the <i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>Of all the little ship's company, Neils Halvorsen, colloquially +designated as "The Squarehead," was the only individual who was, +in truth and in fact, his own man. Neils was steady, industrious, +faithful, capable, and reliable; any one of a hundred deckhand +jobs were ever open to Neils, yet, for some reason best known to +himself, he preferred to stick by the <i>Maggie</i>. In his dull way +it is probable that he was fascinated by the agile intelligence +of Mr. Gibney, the vitriolic tongue of Captain Scraggs, and the +elephantine wit and grizzly bear courage of Mr. McGuffey. At any +rate, he delighted in hearing them snarl and wrangle.</p> + +<p>However, to return to the <i>Maggie</i> which we left entering the +tule fog a few miles north of Pilar Point:</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + + +<p>Captain Scraggs and The Squarehead partook first of the ham and +eggs, coffee and bread which the skipper prepared. Scraggs then +prepared a similar meal for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, set it in +the oven to keep warm, and descended to the engine room to +relieve McGuffey for dinner. Neils at the same time took the +course from Mr. Gibney and relieved the latter at the wheel. By +this time, darkness had descended upon the world, and the +<i>Maggie</i> had entered the fog; following her custom she proceeded +in absolute silence, although as a partial offset to the extreme +liability to collision with other coastwise craft, due to the +non-whistling rule aboard the <i>Maggie</i>, Mr. Gibney had laid a +course half a mile inside the usual steamer lanes, albeit due to +his overwhelming desire for peace he had neglected to inform his +owner of this; the honest fellow proceeded upon the hypothesis +that what people do not know is not apt to trouble them.</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey was already seated and disposing of his meal when +Mr. Gibney entered. "Gib," he declared with his mouth full, +"rinse the taste o' chewin' tobacco out o' your mouth before +startin' to eat, an' then tell me, as man to man, if them eggs is +fit for human consumption."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney conformed with the engineer's request. "Eatable but +venerable," was his verdict. "That infernal Scraggs is tryin' to +make the <i>Maggie</i> pay dividends at the expense of our stomachs."</p> + +<p>"<i>And</i> at the risk of our lives, Gib. I move we declare a strike +until Scraggs digs up the money to overhaul the boiler. Just +before we slipped into the fog I saw two steam schooners headed +south—so they must 'a' seen us headed north. Jes' listen at them +a-bellerin' off there to port. They're a-watchin' and +a-listenin', expectin' to cut us down at every turn o' the screw. +First thing you know, Gib, you'll be losin' your ticket for +failin' to be courteous on the high seas."</p> + +<p>"Six o' one an' half a dozen o' the other, Bart. If I whistle +I'll use up all your steam, an', then if we should find ourselves +in the danger zone we won't be able to get out of our own way."</p> + +<p>"Let's refuse to take her out again until Scraggsy spends some +money on her. 'Tain't Christian the way he acts."</p> + +<p>"Got to get in another pay day before I start the high an' +mighty, Bart. But I'll speak to the old man about them eggs. They +taste like they'd been laid by a pelican before the Civil War. +Somehow I can't eat an egg that's the least bit rotten."</p> + +<p>"It's gettin' so," McGuffey mourned, "that I don't have no more +time off in port. When I ain't standin' by I'm repairin', an' +when I ain't doin' either I'm dreamin' about the danged old +coffee mill. For a cancelled postage stamp I'd jump the ship."</p> + +<p>He gulped down his coffee, loaded his pipe, and went below to +relieve Scraggs, for although experience in acting as McGuffey's +relief had given Captain Scraggs what might be termed a working +knowledge of the <i>Maggie's</i> engine, McGuffey was never happy +with Scraggs in charge, even for five minutes. The habit of years +caused him to cast a quick glance at the steam gauge, and he +noted it had dropped five pounds.</p> + +<p>"Savin' on the coal again," he roared. "Git out o' my engine +room, you doggoned skinflint." He seized a slice bar, threw open +the furnace door, raked the fire, and commenced shovelling in +coal at a rate that almost brought the tears of anguish to his +owner's eyes. "There! The main bearin's screamin' again," he +wailed. "Oil cup's empty. Ain't I drilled it into your head +enough, Scraggsy, that she'll cry her eyes out if you don't let +her swim in oil?" He grasped the oil can and, in order to test +the efficacy of its squirt, shot a generous stream down Captain +Scraggs's collar.</p> + +<p>"That for them rotten eggs, you miser," he growled. "Heraus mit +'em!"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs fled, cursing, and sought solace in the pilot +house.</p> + +<p>"It's as black," quoted Mr. Gibney as he entered, "as the Earl of +Hell's riding boots."</p> + +<p>"And as thick," snarled Scraggs, "as McGuffey's head. Lordy me, +Gib, but it's thick. You'd think every bloomin' steam pipe in the +universe had busted."</p> + +<p>"If they was all like the <i>Maggie's</i>," Mr. Gibney retorted drily, +"we wouldn't need to worry none. Not wishin' to change the +conversation, Scraggsy, but referrin' to them eggs you slipped me +and Bart for supper, all I gotta say is that the next time you go +marketin' in ancient Egypt, me an' Mac's goin' to tell the real +story o' the S.S. <i>Maggie</i> to the Inspectors. Now, that goes. +Scatter along aft, Scraggs, and let me know what that taffrail +log has to say about it."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs read the log and reported the mileage to Mr. +Gibney, who figured with the stub of a pencil on the pilot house +wall, wagged his head, and appeared satisfied. "Better go for'd," +he ordered, "an' help The Squarehead on the lookout. At eight +o'clock we ought to be right under the lee o' Point San Pedro; +when I whistle we ought to catch the echo thrown back by the +cliff. Listen for it."</p> + +<p>Promptly at eight o'clock, Mr. McGuffey was horrified to see his +steam gauge drop half a pound as the <i>Maggie's</i> siren sounded. +Mr. Gibney stuck his ingenious head out of the pilot house and +listened, but no answering echo reached his ears. "Hear +anything?" he bawled.</p> + +<p>"Heard the <i>Maggie's</i> siren," Captain Scraggs retorted +venomously.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney leaped out on deck, selected a small head of cabbage +from a broken crate and hurled it forward. Then he sprang back +into the pilot house and straightened the <i>Maggie</i> on her course +again. He leaned over the binnacle, with the cuff of his watch +coat wiping away the moisture on the glass, and studied the +instrument carefully. "I don't trust the danged thing," he +muttered. "Guess I'll haul her off a coupler points an' try the +whistle again."</p> + +<p>He did. Still no echo. He was inclined to believe that Captain +Scraggs had not read the taffrail log correctly, and when at +eight-thirty he tried the whistle again he was still without +results in the way of an echo from the cliff, albeit the engine +room howler brought him several of a profuse character from the +perspiring McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"We've passed Pedro," Mr. Gibney decided. He ground his cud and +muttered ugly things to himself, for his dead reckoning had gone +astray and he was worried. The fog, if anything, was thicker than +ever. He could not even make out the phosphorescent water that +curled out from the <i>Maggie's</i> forefoot.</p> + +<p>Time passed. Suddenly Mr. Gibney thrilled electrically to a +shrill yip from Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" Mr. Gibney bawled.</p> + +<p>"I dunno. Sounds like the surf, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Ain't you been on this run long enough to know that the surf +don't sound like nothin' else in life but breakers?" Gibney +retorted wrathfully.</p> + +<p>"I ain't certain, Gib."</p> + +<p>Instantly Gibney signalled McGuffey for half speed ahead.</p> + +<p>"Breakers on the starboard bow," yelled Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Port bow," The Squarehead corrected him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my great patience!" Mr. Gibney groaned. "They're on both +bows an' we're headed straight for the beach. Here's where we all +go to hell together," and he yanked wildly at the signal wire +that led to the engine room, with the intention of giving +McGuffey four bells—the signal aboard the <i>Maggie</i> for full +speed astern. At the second jerk the wire broke, but not until +two bells had sounded in the engine room—the signal for full +speed ahead. The efficient McGuffey promptly kicked her wide +open, and the Fates decreed that, having done so, Mr. McGuffey +should forthwith climb the ladder and thrust his head out on +deck for a breath of fresh air. Instantly a chorus of shrieks up +on the fo'castle head attracted his attention to such a degree +that he failed to hear the engine room howler as Mr. Gibney blew +frantically into it.</p> + +<p>Presently, out of the hubbub forward, Mr. McGuffey heard Captain +Scraggs wail frantically: "Stop her! For the love of heaven, stop +her!" Instantly the engineer dropped back into the engine room +and set the <i>Maggie</i> full speed astern; then he grasped the +howler and held it to his ear.</p> + +<p>"Stop her!" he heard Gibney shriek. "Why in blazes don't you stop +her?"</p> + +<p>"She's set astern, Gib. She'll ease up in a minute."</p> + +<p>"You know it," Gibney answered significantly.</p> + +<p>The <i>Maggie</i> climbed lazily to the crest of a long oily roller, +slid recklessly down the other side, and took the following sea +over her taffrail. She still had some head on, but very +little—not quite sufficient to give her decent steerage way, as +Mr. Gibney discovered when, having at length communicated his +desires to McGuffey, he spun the wheel frantically in a belated +effort to swing the <i>Maggie's</i> dirty nose out to sea.</p> + +<p>"Nothin' doin'," he snarled. "She'll have to come to a complete +stop before she begins to walk backward and get steerage way on +again. She'll bump as sure as death an' taxes."</p> + +<p>She did—with a crack that shook the rigging and caused it to +rattle like buckshot in a pan. A terrible cry—such a cry, +indeed, as might burst from the lips of a mother seeing her only +child run down by the Limited—burst from poor Captain Scraggs. +"My ship! my ship!" he howled. "My darling little <i>Maggie!</i> +They've killed you, they've killed you! The dirty lubbers!"</p> + +<p>The succeeding wave lifted the <i>Maggie</i> off the beach, carried +her in some fifty feet further, and deposited her gently on the +sand. She heeled over to port a little and rested there as if she +was very, very weary, nor could all the threshing of her screw in +reverse haul her off again. The surf, dashing in under her +fantail, had more power than McGuffey's engines, and, foot by +foot, the <i>Maggie</i> proceeded to dig herself in. Mr. Gibney +listened for five minutes to the uproar that rose from the bowels +of the little steamer before he whistled up Mr. McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Kill her, kill her," he ordered. "Your wheel will bite into the +sand first thing you know, and tear the stern off her. You're +shakin' the old girl to pieces."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + + +<p>McGuffey killed his engine, banked his fires, and came up on +deck, wiping his anxious face with a fearfully filthy sweat rag. +At the same time, Scraggs and Neils Halvorsen came crawling aft +over the deckload and when they reached the clear space around +the pilot house, Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the +deck and leaped upon it until, his rage abating ultimately, no +power on earth, in the air, or under the sea, could possibly have +rehabilitated it and rendered it fit for further wear, even by +Captain Scraggs. This petulant practice of jumping on his hat was +a habit with Scraggs whenever anything annoyed him particularly +and was always infallible evidence that a simple declarative +sentence had stuck in his throat.</p> + +<p>"Well, old whirling dervish," Mr. Gibney demanded calmly when +Scraggs paused for lack of breath to continue his dance, "what +about it? We're up Salt Creek without a paddle; all hell to pay +and no pitch hot."</p> + +<p>"McGuffey's fired!" Captain Scraggs screeched.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Scraggsy, old tarpot," Mr. Gibney soothed. "This +ain't no time for fightin'. Thinkin' an' actin' is all that saves +the <i>Maggie</i> now."</p> + +<p>But Captain Scraggs was beyond reason. "McGuffey's fired! +McGuffey's fired!" he reiterated. "The dirty rotten wharf rat! +Call yourself an engineer?" he continued, witheringly. "As an +engineer you're a howling success at shoemakin', you slob. I'll +fix your clock for you, my hearty. I'll have your ticket took +away from you, an' that's no Chinaman's dream, nuther."</p> + +<p>"It's all my fault runnin' by dead reckonin'," the honest Gibney +protested. "Mac ain't to fault. The engine room telegraph busted +an' he got the wrong signal."</p> + +<p>"It's his business to see to it that he's got an engine room +telegraph that won't bust——"</p> + +<p>"You dog!" McGuffey roared and sprang at the skipper, who leaped +nimbly up the little ladder to the top of the pilot house and +stood prepared to kick Mr. McGuffey in the face should that +worthy venture up after him. "I can't persuade you to git me +nothin' that I ought to have. I'm tired workin' with junk an' +scraps an' copper wire and pieces o' string. I'm through!"</p> + +<p>"You're right—you're through, because you're fired!" Scraggs +shrieked in insane rage. "Get off my ship, you maritime impostor, +or I'll take a pistol to you. Overboard with you, you greasy, +addlepated bounder! You're rotten, understand? Rotten! Rotten! +Rotten!"</p> + +<p>"You owe me eight dollars an' six bits, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey +reminded his owner calmly. "Chuck down the spondulicks an' I'll +get off your ship."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was beyond reason, so he tossed the money down to +the engineer. "Now git," he commanded.</p> + +<p>Without further ado, Mr. McGuffey started across the deckload to +the fo'castle head. Scraggs could not see him but he could hear +him—so he pelted the engineer with potatoes, cabbage heads, and +onions, the vegetables descending about the honest McGuffey in a +veritable barrage. Even in the darkness several of these missiles +took effect.</p> + +<p>Upon reaching the very apex of the <i>Maggie's</i> bow, Mr. McGuffey +turned and hurled a promise into the darkness: "If we ever meet +again, Scraggs, I'll make Mrs. Scraggs a widow. Paste that in +your hat—when you get a new one."</p> + +<p>The <i>Maggie</i> was resting easily on the beach, with the broken +water from the long lazy combers surging well up above her water +line. At most, six feet of water awaited the engineer, who stood, +peering shoreward and listening intently, oblivious to the stray +missiles which whizzed past. Presently, from out of the fog, he +heard a grinding, metallic sound and through a sudden rift in the +fog caught a brief glimpse of blue flame with sparks radiating +faintly from it.</p> + +<p>That settled matters for Bartholomew McGuffey. The metallic sound +was the protest from the wheels of a Cliff House trolley car +rounding a curve; the blue flame was an electric manifestation +due to the intermittent contact of her trolley with the wire, wet +with fog. McGuffey knew the exact position of the <i>Maggie</i> now, +so he poised a moment on her bow; as a wave swept past him, he +leaped overboard, scrambled ashore, made his way up the beach to +the Great Highway which flanks the shore line between the Cliff +House and Ingleside, sought a roadhouse, and warmed his interior +with four fingers of whiskey neat. Then, feeling quite content +with himself, even in his wet garments, he boarded a city-bound +trolley car and departed for the warmth and hospitality of Scab +Johnny's sailor boarding house in Oregon Street.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + + +<p>Captain Scraggs continued to hurl other people's vegetables into +the murk forward for at least two minutes after Mr. McGuffey had +shaken the coal dust of the <i>Maggie</i> from his feet, and was only +recalled to more practical affairs by the bored voice of Mr. +Gibney.</p> + +<p>"The owners o' them artichokes expect to get half a dollar apiece +for 'em in New York, Scraggsy. Cut it out, old timer, or you'll +have a claim for a freight shortage chalked up agin you."</p> + +<p>"Nothin' matters any more," Scraggs replied in a choked voice, +and immediately sat down on the half-emptied crate of artichokes +and commenced to weep bitterly—half because of rage and half +because he regarded himself a pauper. Already he had a vision of +himself scouring the waterfront in search of a job.</p> + +<p>"No use boo-hooin' over spilt milk, Scraggsy." Always +philosophical, the author of the owner's woe sought to carry the +disaster off lightly. "Don't add your salt tears to a saltier sea +until you're certain you're a total loss an' no insurance. I got +you into this and I suppose it's up to me to get you off, so I +guess I'll commence operations." Suiting the action to the word, +Mr. Gibney grasped the whistle cord and a strange, sad, sneezing, +wheezy moan resembling the expiring protest of a lusty pig and +gradually increasing into a long-drawn but respectable whistle +rewarded his efforts. For once, he could afford to be prodigal +with the steam, and while it lasted there could be no mistaking +the fact that here was a steamer in dire distress.</p> + +<p>The weird call for help brought Scraggs around to a fuller +realization of the enormity of the disaster which had overtaken +him. In his agony, he forgot to curse his navigating officer for +the latter's stubbornness in refusing to turn back when the fog +threatened. He clutched Mr. Gibney by the right arm, thereby +interrupting for an instant the dismal outburst from the +<i>Maggie's</i> siren.</p> + +<p>"Gib," he moaned, "I'm a ruined man. How're we ever to get the +old sweetheart off whole? Answer me that, Gib. Answer me, I say. +How're we to get my <i>Maggie</i> off the beach?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney shook himself loose from that frantic grip and +continued his pull on the whistle until the <i>Maggie</i>, taking a +false note, quavered, moaned, spat steam a minute, and subsided +with what might be termed a nautical sob. "Now see what you've +done," he bawled. "You've made me bust the whistle."</p> + +<p>"Answer my question, Gib."</p> + +<p>"We'll never get her off if you don't quit interferin' an' give +me time to think. I'll admit there ain't much of a chance, +because it's dead low water now an' just as soon as the tide is +at the flood she'll drive further up the beach an' fall apart."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps McGuffey will have heart enough to telephone into the +city for a tug."</p> + +<p>"'Tain't scarcely probable, Scraggsy. You abused him vile an' +threw a lot of fodder at him."</p> + +<p>"I wish I'd been took with paralysis first," Scraggs wailed +bitterly. "You'd best jump ashore, Gib, an' 'phone in. We're just +below the Cliff House and you can run up to one o' them beach +resorts an' 'phone in to the Red Stack Tug Boat Company."</p> + +<p>"'Twouldn't be ethics for me, the registered master o' the +<i>Maggie</i>, to desert the ship, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud. +What's the matter with gettin' your own shanks wet?"</p> + +<p>"I dassen't, Gib. I've had a touch of chills an' fever ever since +I used to run mate up the San Joaquin sloughs. Here's a nickel to +drop in the telephone slot, Gib. There's a good fellow."</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, you're deludin' yourself. Show me a tugboat skipper +that would come out here on a night like this to pick up the S.S. +<i>Maggie</i>, two decks an' no bottom an' loaded with garden truck, +an' I'll wag my ears an' look at the back o' my neck. She ain't +worth it."</p> + +<p>"Ain't worth it! Why, man, I paid fifteen hundred hard cash +dollars for her."</p> + +<p>"Fourteen hundred an' ninety-nine dollars an' ninety-nine cents +too much. They seen you comin'. However, grantin' for the sake of +argyment that she's worth the tow, the next question them towboat +skippers'll ask is: 'Who's goin' to pay the bill?' It'll be two +hundred an' fifty dollars at the lowest figger, an' if you got +that much credit with the towboat company you're some high +financier. Ain't that logic?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid," Scraggs replied sadly, "it is. Still, they'd have a +lien on the <i>Maggie</i>——"</p> + +<p>"Steamer ahoy!" came a voice from the beach.</p> + +<p>"Man with a megaphone," Mr. Gibney cried. "Ahoy! Ahoy, there!"</p> + +<p>"Who are you an' what's the trouble?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs took it upon himself to answer: "American steamer +<i>Mag</i>——"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney sprang upon him tigerishly, placed a horny, +tobacco-smelling palm across Scraggs's mouth and effectively +smothered all further sound. "American steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i>," +he bawled like a veritable Bull of Bashan, "of Boston, Hong Kong +to Frisco with a general cargo of sandal wood, rice, an' silk. +Where're we at?"</p> + +<p>"Just outside the Gate. Half a mile south o' the Cliff House."</p> + +<p>"Telephone in for a tug. We're in nice shape, restin' easy, but +our rudder's gone an' the after web o' the crank shaft's busted. +Telephone in, my man, an' I'll make it up to you when we get to a +safe anchorage. Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Lindstrom, of the Golden Gate Life Saving Station."</p> + +<p>"I'll not forget you, Lindstrom. My owners are Yankees, but +they're sports."</p> + +<p>"All right. I'll telephone. On my way!"</p> + +<p>"God speed you," murmured Mr. Gibney, and released his hold on +Captain Scraggs, who instantly threw his arms around the +navigating officer's burly neck. "I forgive you, Adelbert," he +crooned. "I forgive you freely. By the tail of the Great Sacred +Bull, you're a marvel. She's an all-night fog or I'm a Chinaman, +and if it only stays thick enough——"</p> + +<p>"It'll hold," Gibney retorted doggedly. "It's a tule fog. They +always hold. Quit huggin' me. Your breath's bad. Them eggs, I +guess."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs, hurled forcibly backward, bumped into the pilot +house, but lost none of his enthusiasm. "You're a jewel," he +declared. "Oh, man, what a head! Whatever made you think of the +<i>Yankee Prince?</i>"</p> + +<p>"Because," Mr. Gibney answered calmly, "there ain't no such ship, +this land of ours bein' a free republic where princes don't grow. +Still, it's a nice name, Scraggs, old tarpot—more particular +since I thought it up in a hurry. Eh, what?"</p> + +<p>"Halvorsen," cried Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>The lone deckhand emerged from a hole in the freight forward +whither he had retreated to escape the vegetable barrage put over +by Captain Scraggs when McGuffey left the ship. "Aye, aye, sir," +he boomed.</p> + +<p>"All hands below to the galley!" Scraggs shouted. "While we're +waitin' for this here towboat I'll brew a scuttle o' grog to +celebrate the discovery o' real seafarin' talent. Gib, my <i>dear</i> +boy, I'm proud of you. No matter what happens, I'll never have no +other navigatin' officer."</p> + +<p>"Don't crow till you're out o' the woods," the astute Gibney +warned him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + + +<p>In the office of the Red Stack Tug Boat Company, Captain Dan +Hicks, master of the tug <i>Aphrodite</i>; Captain Jack Flaherty, +master of the <i>Bodega</i>, and Tiernan, the assistant superintendent +on night watch, sat around a hot little box stove engaged in that +occupation so dear to the maritime heart, to-wit: spinning yarns. +Dan Hicks had the floor, and was relating a tale that had to do +with his life as a freight and passenger skipper.</p> + +<p>"We was makin' up to the dock when I see the general agent +standin' in the door o' the dock office—an' all of a sudden I +didn't feel so chipper about havin' crossed Humboldt bar in a +sou'easter. I saw the old man runnin' his eye along forty foot o' +twisted pipe railin', a wrecked bridge, three bent stanchions an' +every door an' window on the starboard side o' the ship stove in, +while the passengers crowded the rail lookin' cold an' miserable, +pea-green an' thankful. No need for me to do any explainin'. He +knew. He throws his dead fish eye up to me on what's left o' the +bridge an' I felt my job was vacant.</p> + +<p>"'We was hit by a sea or two on Humboldt bar, sir,' I says, as if +gettin' hit by a sea or two an' havin' the ship gutted was an +every-day experience."</p> + +<p>"'Is that so, Hicks?' says he sweetly. 'Well, now, if you hadn't +told me that I'd ha' jumped to the conclusion that a couple o' +the mess boys had got fightin' an' wrecked the ship before you +could separate 'em. Why in this an' that,' he says, 'didn't you +stick inside when any dumb fool could see the bar was breakin'?'</p> + +<p>"'I wanted to keep the comp'ny's sailin' schedule unbroken, sir,' +I says, tryin' to be funny.</p> + +<p>"'Well, Captain,' he says, 'it 'pears to me you've broken damned +near everything else tryin' to do it.'</p> + +<p>"I was certain he was goin' to set me down, but the worst I got +was a three months' lay-off to teach me common sense——"</p> + +<p>The telephone rang and Tiernan answered. Hicks and Flaherty +hitched forward in their chairs to listen.</p> + +<p>"Hello.... Yes, Red Stack office.... Steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i>.... +What's that?... silk and rice?... Half a mile below the Cliff +House, eh?... Sure, I'll send a tug right away, Lindstrom."</p> + +<p>Tiernan hung up and faced the two skippers. "Gentlemen," he +announced, "here's a chance for a little salvage money to-night. +The American steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i> is ashore half a mile below +the Cliff House. She's a big tramp with a valuable cargo from +Hong Kong, with her rudder gone and her crank shaft busted."</p> + +<p>"It's high water at twelve thirty-seven," Jack Flaherty pleaded. +"You'd better send me, Tiernan. The <i>Bodega</i> has more power than +the <i>Aphrodite</i>."</p> + +<p>This was the truth and Dan Hicks knew it, but he was not to be +beaten out of his share of the salvage by such flimsy argument. +"Jack," he pleaded, "don't be a hog all the time. The <i>Yankee +Prince</i> is an eight thousand ton vessel and it's a two-tug job. +Better send us both, Tiernan, and play safe. Chances are our +competitors have three tugs on the way right now."</p> + +<p>"What a wonderful imagination you have, Dan. Eight thousand tons! +You're crazy, man. She's thirteen hundred net register and I know +it because I was in Newport News when they launched her, and I +went out with her skipper on the trial trip. She's a long, +narrow-gutted craft, with engines aft, like a lake steamer."</p> + +<p>"We'll play safe," Tiernan decided. "Go to it—both of you, and +may the best man win. She'll belong to you, Jack, if she's +thirteen hundred net and you get your line aboard first. If she's +as big as Dan says she is, you'll be equal partners——"</p> + +<p>But he was talking to himself. Down the dock Hicks and Flaherty +were racing for the respective commands, each shouting to his +night watchman to pipe all hands on deck. Fortunately, a goodly +head of steam was up in each tug's boilers; because of the fog +and the liability to collisions and a consequent hasty summons, +one engineer on each tug was on duty. Before Hicks and Flaherty +were in their respective pilot houses the oil burners were +roaring lustily under their respective boilers; the lines were +cast off within a minute of each other, and the two tugs raced +down the bay through the darkness and fog.</p> + +<p>Both Hicks and Flaherty had grown old in the towboat service and +the rules of the road rested lightly on their sordid souls. They +were going over a course they knew by heart—wherefore the fog +had no terrors for them. Down the bay they raced, the <i>Bodega</i> +leading slightly, both tugs whistling at half-minute intervals. +Out through the Gate they nosed their way, heaving the lead +continuously, made a wide detour around Mile Rock and the Seal +Rocks, swung a mile to the south of the position of the <i>Maggie</i>, +and then came cautiously up the coast, whistling continuously to +acquaint the <i>Yankee Prince</i> with their presence in the +neighbourhood. In anticipation of the necessity for replying to +this welcome sound, Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney had, for the +past two hours, busied themselves getting up another head of +steam in the <i>Maggie's</i> boilers, repairing the whistle, and +splicing the wires of the engine room telegraph. Like the wise +men they were, however, they declined to sound the <i>Maggie's</i> +siren until the tugs were quite close. Even then, Mr. Gibney +shuddered, but needs must when the devil drives, so he pulled the +whistle cord and was rewarded with a weird, mournful grunt, dying +away into a gasp.</p> + +<p>"Sounds like she has the pip," Jack Flaherty remarked to his +mate.</p> + +<p>"Must have taken on some of that dirty Asiatic water," Dan Hicks +soliloquized, "and now her tubes have gone to glory."</p> + +<p>Immediately, both tugs kicked ahead under a dead slow bell, +guided by a series of toots as brief as Mr. Gibney could make +them, and presently both tug lookouts reported breakers dead +ahead; whereupon Jack Flaherty got out his largest megaphone and +bellowed: "<i>Yankee Prince</i>, ahoy!" in his most approved fashion. +Dan Hicks did likewise. This irritated the avaricious Flaherty, +so he turned his megaphone in the direction of his rival and +begged him, if he still retained any of the instincts of a +seaman, to shut up; to which entreaty Dan Hicks replied with an +acidulous query as to whether or not Jack Flaherty thought he +owned the sea.</p> + +<p>For half a minute this mild repartee continued, to be interrupted +presently by a whoop from out of the fog. It was Mr. Gibney. He +did not possess a megaphone so he had gone below and appropriated +a section of stove-pipe from the galley range, formed a +mouthpiece of cardboard and produced a makeshift that suited his +purpose admirably.</p> + +<p>"Cut out that bickerin' like a pair of old women an' 'tend to +your business," he commanded. "Get busy there—both of you, and +shoot a line aboard. There's work enough for two."</p> + +<p>Dan Hicks sent a man forward to heave the lead under the nose of +the <i>Aphrodite</i>, which was edging in gingerly toward the voice. +He had a searchlight but he did not attempt to use it, knowing +full well that in such a fog it would be of no avail. Guided, +therefore, by the bellowings of Mr. Gibney, reinforced by the +shrill yips of Captain Scraggs, the tug crept in closer and +closer, and when it seemed that they must be within a hundred +feet of the surf, Dan Hicks trained his Lyle gun in the direction +of Mr. Gibney's voice and shot a heaving line into the fog.</p> + +<p>Almost simultaneous with the report of the gun came a shriek of +pain from Captain Scraggs. Straight and true the wet, heavy +knotted end of the heaving line came in over the <i>Maggie's</i> +quarter and struck him in the mouth. In the darkness he staggered +back from the stinging blow, clutched wildly at the air, slipped +and rolled over among the vegetables with the precious rope +clasped to his breast.</p> + +<p>"I got it," he sputtered, "I got it, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Safe, O!" Mr. Gibney bawled. "Pay out your hawser."</p> + +<p>They met it at the taffrail as it came up out of the breakers, +wet but welcome. "Pass it around the mainmast, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney cautioned. "If we make fast to the towin' bits, the first +jerk'll pull the anchor bolts up through the deck."</p> + +<p>When the hawser had been made fast to the mainmast, the leathern +lungs of Mr. Gibney made due announcement of the fact to the +expectant Captain Hicks. "As soon as you feel you've got a grip +on her," he yelled, "just hold her steady so she won't drive +further up the beach when I get my anchor up. She'll come out +like a loose tooth at the tip of the flood."</p> + +<p>The <i>Aphrodite</i> forged slowly ahead, taking in the slack of the +hawser. Ten minutes passed but still the hawser lay limp across +the <i>Maggie's</i> stern. Presently out of the fog came the voice of +Captain Dan Hicks.</p> + +<p>"Flaherty! Flaher-tee! For the love of life, Jack, where are you? +Chuck me a line, Jack. My hawser's snarled in my screw and I'm +drifting on to the beach."</p> + +<p>"Leggo your anchor, you boob," Jack Flaherty advised.</p> + +<p>"I want a line an' none o' your damned advice," raved Hicks.</p> + +<p>"'Tain't my fault if you get in too close."</p> + +<p>"I'm bumping, Jack. I'm bangin' the heart out of her. Come on, +you cur, and haul me off."</p> + +<p>"If I pull you off, Dan Hicks, will you leave that steamer +alone? You've had your chance and failed to smother it. Now let +me have a hack at her."</p> + +<p>"It's a bargain, Jack. I'm not badly snarled; if you haul me out +to deep water I can shake the hawser loose. I'm afraid to try so +close in."</p> + +<p>"Comin'," yelled Flaherty.</p> + +<p>"Now, ain't that a raw deal?" Scraggs complained. "That junk +thief gets hauled off first."</p> + +<p>"The first shall be last an' the last shall be first," Gibney +quoted piously. "Don't be a crab, Scraggs. Pray that the fog +don't lift."</p> + +<p>Out of the fog there rose a great hubbub of engine room gongs, +the banging of the <i>Bodega's</i> Lyle gun, and much profanity. +Presently this ceased, so Scraggs and Gibney knew Dan Hicks was +being hauled off at last. While they waited for further +developments, Scraggs sucked at his old pipe and Mr. Gibney +munched a French carrot. "If you hadn't canned McGuffey," the +latter opined, "we might have been able to back off under our own +power as soon as the tide is at flood. This delay is worryin' +me."</p> + +<p>Following some fifteen minutes of kicking and struggling out in +the deep water, whither the <i>Bodega</i> had dragged her, the +<i>Aphrodite</i> at length freed herself of the clinging hawser; +whereupon she backed in again, cautiously reeving in the hawser +as she came. Presently, Dan Hicks, true to his promise to abandon +the prize to Jack Flaherty, turned his megaphone beachward and +shouted:</p> + +<p>"<i>Yankee Prince</i>, ahoy! Cast off my hawser. The other tug will +put a line aboard you."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Gibney was now master of the situation. He had a good +hemp hawser stretching between him and salvation and until he +should be hauled off he had no intention of slipping that cable. +"Nothin' doin'," he answered. "We're hard an' fast, I tell you, +and I'll take no chances. It's you or both of you, but I'll not +cast off this hawser. If you want to let go, cast the hawser off +at your end." Sotto voce he remarked to Scraggs: "I see him +slippin' a three hundred dollar hawser, eh, Scraggsy, old +stick-in-the-mud?"</p> + +<p>"But I promised Flaherty I'd let you alone," pleaded Hicks.</p> + +<p>"What do you think you have your string fast to, anyhow? A bay +scow? If you fellows endanger my ship bickerin' over the salvage +I'll have you before the Inspectors on charges as sure as God +made little apples. I got sixty witnesses here to back up my +charges, too."</p> + +<p>"You hear him, Jack?" howled Hicks.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't that swab Flaherty drive you to drink," Gibney +complained. "Trumpin' his partner's ace just for the glory an' +profit o' gettin' ahead of him?" Aloud he addressed the invisible +Flaherty: "Take it or leave it, brother Flaherty."</p> + +<p>"I'll take it," Flaherty responded promptly.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later, after much backing and swearing and heaving +of lines the <i>Bodega's</i> hawser was finally put board the +<i>Maggie</i>. Mr. Gibney judged it would be safe now to fasten this +line to the towing bitts.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Captain Scraggs remembered there was no one on duty in +the <i>Maggie's</i> engine room. With a half sob, he slid down the +greasy ladder, tore open the furnace doors and commenced +shovelling in coal with a recklessness that bordered on insanity. +When the indicator showed eighty pounds of steam he came up on +deck and discovered Mr. Gibney walking solemnly round and round +the little capstan up forward. It was creaking and groaning +dismally. Captain Scraggs thrust his engine room torch above his +head to light the scene and gazed upon his navigating officer in +blank amazement.</p> + +<p>"What foolishness is this, Gib?" he demanded. "Are you clean +daffy, doin' a barn dance around that rusty capstan, makin' a +noise fit to frighten the fish?"</p> + +<p>"Not much," came the laconic reply. "I'm a smart man. I'm raisin' +both anchors."</p> + +<p>"Well, all I got to remark is that it takes a smart man to raise +both anchors when we only got one anchor to our blessed name. An' +with that anchor safe on the fo'castle head, I, for one, can't +see no sense in raisin' it."</p> + +<p>"You tarnation jackass!" sighed Gibney. "You forget who we are. +Do you s'pose the steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i> can lay on the beach +all night with both anchors out, an' then be got ready to tow off +in three shakes of a lamb's tail? It takes noise to get up two +anchors—so I'm makin' all the noise I can. Got any steam?"</p> + +<p>"Eighty pounds," Scraggs confessed. Having for the moment +forgotten his identity, he was confused in the presence of the +superior intelligence of his navigating officer.</p> + +<p>"Run aft, then, Scraggs, an' turn that cargo winch over to beat +the band until I tell you to stop. With the drum runnin' free +she'll make noise enough for a winch three times her size, but +you might give the necessary yells to make it more lifelike."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs fled to the winch. At the end of five minutes, +Mr. Gibney appeared and bade him desist. Then, turning, his +improvised megaphone seaward he addressed an imaginary mate: "Mr. +Thompson, have you got your port anchor up?"</p> + +<p>Scraggs took the cue immediately. "All clear forward, sir," he +piped.</p> + +<p>"Send the bosun for'd an' heave the lead, Mr. Thompson."</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir."</p> + +<p>Here The Squarehead, who had been enjoying the unique situation +immensely, decided to take a hand. Presently, in sing-song +cadence he was reporting the depth of water alongside.</p> + +<p>"That'll do, bosun," Gibney thundered. Then, in his natural voice +to Scraggs: "All set, Scraggsy. Guess we're ready to be pulled +off. Get down in the engine room and stand by for full speed +ahead when I give the word."</p> + +<p>"Quick! Hurry!" Scraggs entreated as he disappeared through the +little engine-room hatch, for the tide was now at the tip of the +flood and the <i>Maggie</i> was bumping wickedly and driving further +up the beach. Mr. Gibney turned his stovepipe seaward and +shouted: "Tugboats, ahoy!"</p> + +<p>"Ahoy!" they answered in unison.</p> + +<p>"All read-y-y-y! Let 'er go-o-o-o!"</p> + +<p>The Squarehead stationed himself at the bitts with a lantern and +Mr. Gibney hastened to the pilot house and took his place at the +wheel. When the hawsers commence to lift out of the sea, The +Squarehead gave a warning shout, whereupon Mr. Gibney called the +engine room. "Give her the gun," he commanded Scraggs. "Pull +against them tugs for all you're worth. Remember this is the +steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i>. We must not come off too readily."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs opened the throttle, and while the two tugs +steadily drew her off into deep water, the <i>Maggie</i> fought +valiantly to stick to the beach and even to continue her +interrupted journey overland. She merely succeeded in stretching +both hawsers taut; slowly she was drawn seaward, stern first, and +at the expiration of fifteen minutes' steady pulling, Mr. Gibney +could restrain himself no longer. He rang for full speed +astern—and got it promptly. Then, calling Neils Halvorsen to aid +him, he abandoned the wheel and scrambled aft.</p> + +<p>With no one at the wheel the <i>Maggie</i> shot off at a tangent and +the hawsers slacked immediately. In the twinkling of an eye Mr. +Gibney had cast them off, and as the ends disappeared with a +swish over the stern he ran back to the pilot house, rang for +full speed ahead, put his helm hard over, and headed the <i>Maggie</i> +in the general direction of China, although as a matter of fact +he cared not what direction he pursued, provided he got away from +the beach and placed distance between the <i>Maggie</i> and two +soon-to-be-furious tugboat skippers.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + + +<p>As the <i>Maggie</i> chugged blithely away, the navigating officer's +soul expanded in song, and in the voice of a bull walrus he +delivered himself of a deep sea chantey more popular than proper.</p> + +<p>Presently, away off in the fog, he heard the <i>Bodega</i> whistle. +The <i>Aphrodite</i> answered immediately. Adelbert P. Gibney smiled +and bit a large crescent out of his navy plug, for his soul was +at peace. When The Squarehead came into the pilot house presently +and grinned at him, Mr. Gibney handed Neils an electric torch. +"Prowl around below in the old ruin, Neils," he commanded, "and +see if we're makin' any water."</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour later Neils Halvorsen returned to report the +<i>Maggie</i> apparently undamaged, so Mr. Gibney changed his course +and headed stealthily in the direction of the whistling tugs. He +came up behind them presently—approaching so close under cover +of the fog that he could hear Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty, both +under a dead-slow bell, felicitating each other through their +megaphones.</p> + +<p>"Where d'ye suppose that dirty scoundrel's gone?" Hicks was +demanding.</p> + +<p>"Out to sea, of course," Flaherty bellowed. "He'll stand off +until the fog lifts and then come ramping in as proud as Lucifer +and look amazed when we send him in a bill."</p> + +<p>"Bill!" Hicks' voice dripped with sarcasm. "The Red Stack Company +will libel him, and if the old man doesn't, me an' my crew will."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet a ripe peach he's a Jap, with a scoundrelly white +skipper and white mates. They'll all stick together for a +five-dollar bill and swear they never was on the beach at all. If +they do, how're we goin' to prove it?"</p> + +<p>"That's logic," the eavesdropping Gibney murmured to the +binnacle.</p> + +<p>"Oh, hell's bells, shut up and let's go home," Dan Hicks cried +wearily. "We can catch him when he comes in."</p> + +<p>"Suppose he doesn't come in. Suppose he's bound for Seattle, +Dan."</p> + +<p>"We can libel him wherever he goes."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet he gave us a fictitious name, Dan!"</p> + +<p>"Stow that grief, Jack. Stow it, or I'll go mad. The <i>Bodega</i> has +more speed than the <i>Aphrodite</i>, so poke ahead there and let's +try to get in an hour's sleep before daylight. If you can't feel +your way in I can."</p> + +<p>"I'll just tag along silent and lazy-like after you two +misfortunates," Mr. Gibney decided, "an' you'll do my whistlin' +for me." He called Scraggs on the howler and explained the +situation. "Regular Cook's tour," he exulted. "Personally +conducted. Off again, on again, away again, Finnegan—and not a +nickel's worth of loss unless you count them vegetables you hove +at McGuffey. Ain't you proud o' your navigatin' officer, +Scraggsy, old tarpot?"</p> + +<p>"I am, Gib, but I'll be prouder'n ever if you can follow them +towboats in without havin' to claw off Baker's beach or the Point +Bonita rocks."</p> + +<p>"Calamity howler," Gibney growled. Half an hour later he caught +the echo of the <i>Bodega's</i> whistle as the sound was hurled back +from the high cliffs at Land's End, off to starboard. A minute +later he heard the hoarse growl of the siren from the fog station +on Point Bonita, on the port beam. He knew where he was now with +as much certainty as if he was navigating in broad daylight, so +he loafed along a couple of hundred yards behind the <i>Bodega</i>, +until the <i>Maggie</i> ceased pitching—when he knew he was in the +still water inside the entrance. So he sheered over to starboard, +with Neils Halvorsen heaving the lead, and dropped anchor in five +fathoms under the lee of Fort Mason. He was quite confident of +his ability to sneak along the waterfront and creep into the +<i>Maggie's</i> berth at Jackson Street bulkhead, but having gone +astray in his calculations once that night, a vagrant sense of +consideration for Captain Scraggs decided him to take no more +risks until the fog should lift. He could hear the <i>Bodega</i> and +the <i>Aphrodite</i> tooting as they continued down the bay, so he +knew they were headed for their berths at the foot of Broadway, +fog or no fog.</p> + +<p>When Captain Scraggs, having banked his fires, came up out of the +engine room, Mr. Gibney laid a great paw paternally upon the +skipper's shoulder. "Scraggsy, old salamander," he announced, "I +think I've done enough to-night to entitle me to some sleep until +this tule fog lifts. Am I right?"</p> + +<p>"You certainly are, Gib, my dear boy."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then. I'll turn in. As for you, old sailor, your +night's work is not ended. Have The Squarehead row you ashore in +the skiff; I'll stay up an' work the patent foghorn so he can +find his way back to the <i>Maggie</i>, while you hike down town——"</p> + +<p>"What for?" Scraggs demanded irritably. "I'm all wore out."</p> + +<p>"This adventure ain't ended," Mr. Gibney warned him. "There's a +witness to our perfidy still at large. His name is B. McGuffey, +esquire, an' I'll lay you ten to one you'll find him asleep in +Scab Johnny's boardin' house. Go to him, Scraggsy, an' bring a +pint flask with you when you do; wake him up, beg his pardon, +take him to breakfast, and promise him you'll do somethin' for +his boilers. Old Mac's got a heart as tender as a infant's. You +can win him over."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gib, use some common sense. Mac'll lay abed until noon. It +stands to reason he'll have to, because he didn't take no change +of clothin' with him, so he'll just naturally have to wait till +his wet clothes get dry before venturin' forth an' spreadin' the +news that the <i>Maggie's</i> on the beach. He doesn't know we're off, +an' once we're tied up at the dock and we hear Mac's been talkin' +we'll just spread the word that he was so soused he jumped +overboard an' swum ashore without waitin' to see if we could back +off. Lordy, Gib, don't work me to death. I'm that weary I could +flop on this wet deck an' be off to sleep in a pig's whisper."</p> + +<p>"I dunno but what there's reason in what you say," Mr. Gibney +agreed. "Well, turn in, Scraggsy, but the minute we hit the dock +you run up town and fix things up with Bart."</p> + +<p>And without further ado he set the alarm clock for seven o'clock, +kicked off his shoes, and climbed into his berth with his clothes +on.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + + +<p>The crews of the <i>Aphrodite</i> and the <i>Bodega</i> slept late also, +for they were weary, and fortunately, no calls for a tug came +into the office of the Red Stack Company all morning. About ten +o'clock Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty breakfasted and about ten +thirty both met in the office. Apparently they were two souls +with but a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the +shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's +Register." Dan Hicks reached it first, carried it to the counter, +wet his tarry index finger, and started turning the pages in a +vain search for the American steamer <i>Yankee Prince</i>. Presently +he looked up at Jack Flaherty.</p> + +<p>"Flaherty," he said, "I think you're a liar."</p> + +<p>"The same to you and many of them," Flaherty replied, not a whit +abashed. "You said she was an eight thousand ton tramp."</p> + +<p>"I never went so far as to say I'd been aboard her on trial trip, +though—and I did cut down her tonnage, showin' I got the +fragments of a conscience left," Hicks defended himself.</p> + +<p>He closed the book with a sigh and placed it back on the shelf, +just as the door opened to admit no less a personage than +Batholomew McGuffey, late chief engineer, first assistant, second +assistant, third assistant, wiper, oiler, water-tender, and +stoker of the S.S. <i>Maggie</i>. With a brief nod to Jack Flaherty +Mr. McGuffey approached Dan Hicks.</p> + +<p>"I been lookin' for you, captain," he announced. "Say, I hear the +chief o' the <i>Aphrodite's</i> goin' to take a three months' lay-off +to get shet of his rheumatism. Is that straight?"</p> + +<p>"I believe it is, McGuffey."</p> + +<p>"Well, say, I'd like to have a chance to substitoot for him. You +know my capabilities, Hicks, an' if it would be agreeable to you +to have me for your chief your recommendation would go a long way +toward landin' me the job. I'd sure make them engines behave."</p> + +<p>"What vessel have you been on lately?" Hicks demanded cautiously, +for he knew Mr. McGuffey's reputation for non-reliability around +pay-day.</p> + +<p>"I been with that fresh water scavenger, Scraggs, in the <i>Maggie</i> +for most a year."</p> + +<p>"Did you quit or did Scraggs fire you?"</p> + +<p>"He fired me," McGuffey replied honestly. "If he hadn't I'd have +quit, so it's a toss-up. Comin' in from Halfmoon Bay last night +we got lost in the fog an' piled up on the beach just below the +Cliff House——"</p> + +<p>"This is interesting," Jack Flaherty murmured. "You say she +walked ashore on you, McGuffey? Well, I'll be shot!"</p> + +<p>"She did. Scraggs blamed it on me, Flaherty. He said I didn't +obey the signals from the bridge, one word led to another, an' he +went dancin' mad an' ordered me off his ship. Well, it's his +ship—or it <i>was</i> his ship, for I'll bet a dollar she's ground to +powder by now—so all I could do was obey. I hopped overboard +an' waded ashore. I suppose all my clothes an' things is gone by +now. I left everything aboard an' had to borrow this outfit from +Scab Johnny." He grinned pathetically. "So I guess you +understand, Captain Hicks, just how bad I need that job I spoke +about a minute ago."</p> + +<p>"I'll think it over, Mac, an' let you know," Hicks replied +evasively.</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey, sensing his defeat, retired forthwith to hide his +embarrassment and distress; as the door closed behind him, Hicks +and Flaherty faced each other.</p> + +<p>"Jack," quoth Dan Hicks, "can two towboat men, holdin' down two +hundred-dollar jobs an' presumed to have been out o' their +swaddlin' clothes for at least thirty years, afford to be laughed +off the San Francisco waterfront?"</p> + +<p>"I know one of them that can't, Dan. At the same time, can a rat +like Phineas P. Scraggs and a beachcomber like his mate Gibney +make a pair of star-spangled monkeys out of said two towboat men +and get away with it?"</p> + +<p>"They did that last night. Still, I've known monkeys that would +fight an' was human enough to settle a grudge. Follow me, Jack."</p> + +<p>Together they repaired to Jackson Street bulkhead. Sure enough +there lay the <i>Maggie</i>, rubbing her blistered sides against the +bulkhead. Captain Scraggs was nowhere in sight, but Mr. Gibney +was at the winch, swinging ashore the crates of vegetables which +The Squarehead and three longshoremen loaded into the cargo net.</p> + +<p>"We're outnumbered," Jack Flaherty whispered.</p> + +<p>"Let's wait until she's unloaded an' Gibney an' Scraggs are +aboard alone."</p> + +<p>They retired without having attracted the attention of Mr. +Gibney, and a few minutes later, Captain Scraggs came down the +bulkhead and sprang aboard.</p> + +<p>"Well?" his navigating officer queried.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't find him," Scraggs confessed. "Scab Johnny says he +loaned Mac a dry outfit an' the old boy dug out for breakfast at +seven o'clock an' ain't been around since."</p> + +<p>"Did you try the saloons, Scraggsy?"</p> + +<p>"I did. Likewise the cigar stands an' restaurants, an' the +readin' rooms of the Marine Engineers' Association."</p> + +<p>"Guess he's out hustlin' a job," Mr. Gibney sighed. He was filled +with vague forebodings of evil. "If you'd only listened to my +advice last night, Scraggsy—if you'd only listened," he mourned.</p> + +<p>"We'll cross our bridges when we come to them, Gib. Cheer up, my +boy, cheer up. I got a new engineer. He won't last, but he'll +last long enough for Mac to forget his grouch an' listen to +reason," and with this optimistic remark Captain Scraggs dropped +into the engine room to get up enough steam to keep the winch +working.</p> + +<p>Promptly at twelve o'clock, the longshoremen knocked off work for +the lunch hour and Neils Halvorsen drifted across the street to +cool his parched throat with steam beer. While waiting for +Scraggs to come up out of the engine room, and take him to +luncheon, Mr. Gibney sauntered aft and was standing gazing +reflectively upon a spot on the <i>Maggie's</i> stern where the +hawsers had chafed away the paint, when suddenly big forebodings +of evil returned to him a thousand fold stronger than they had +been since Scraggs's return to the little ship. He glanced up and +beheld gazing down upon him Captains Jack Flaherty and Daniel +Hicks. Battle was imminent and the valiant Gibney knew it; +wherefore he determined instantly to meet it like a man.</p> + +<p>"Howdy, men," he saluted them. "Glad to have you aboard the +yacht," and he stepped backward to give himself fighting room.</p> + +<p>"Here's where we collect the towage bill on the S.S. <i>Yankee +Prince</i>," Dan Hicks informed him, and leaped from the bulkhead +straight down at Mr. Gibney. Jack Flaherty followed. Mr. Gibney +welcomed Captain Hicks with a terrific right swing, which missed; +before he could guard, Dan Hicks had planted left and right where +they would do the most good and Mr. Gibney went into a clinch to +save himself further punishment.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy," he bawled, "Scraggsy-y-y! Help! Murder! It's Hicks +and Flaherty! Bring an ax!"</p> + +<p>He flung Dan Hicks at Jack Flaherty; as they collided he rushed +in and dealt each of them a powerful poke. However, Messrs. Hicks +and Flaherty were sizeable persons and while, individually, they +were no match for the tremendous Gibney, nevertheless what they +lacked in horsepower they made up in pugnacity—and the salt sea +seldom breeds a craven. Captain Scraggs thrust a frightened face +up through the engine-room hatch, but at sight of the battle +royal taking place on the deck aft, his blood turned to water and +he thought only of escape. To climb up to the bulkhead without +being seen was impossible, however, so, not knowing what else to +do, he stood on the iron ladder and gazed, pop-eyed with horror, +at the unequal contest.</p> + +<p>Backward and forward the tide of battle surged. For nearly three +minutes all Scraggs saw was an indistinct tangle of legs and +arms; then suddenly the combatants disengaged themselves and +Scraggs beheld Mr. Gibney lying prone upon the deck with a gory +face upturned to the foggy skies. When he essayed to rise and +continue the contest, Flaherty kicked him in the ribs and Hicks +cursed them; so Mr. Gibney, realizing that all was over, beat the +deck with his hand in token of surrender. Hicks and Flaherty +waited until the fallen gladiator had recovered sufficient breath +to sit up; then they pounced upon him, lifted him to the rail, +and dropped him overboard. Captain Scraggs shrieked in protest at +this added touch of barbarity, and Dan Hicks, turning, beheld +Scraggsy's white face at the hatch.</p> + +<p>"You're next, Scraggs," he called cheerfully, and turned to peer +over the rail. Mr. Gibney had emerged on the surface and was +swimming slowly away toward an adjacent float where small boats +landed. He climbed wearily up on the float and sat there, gazing +across at Hicks and Flaherty without animus, for to his way of +thinking he had gotten off lightly, considering the enormity of +his offense. The least he had anticipated was three months in +hospital, and so grateful was he to Hicks and Flaherty for their +great forbearance that he strangled a resolve to "lay" for Hicks +and Flaherty and thrash them individually—something he was fully +able to do—and forgot his aches and pains in a lively interest +as to the fate of Captain Scraggs at the hands of the towboat +men. He was aware that Captain Scraggs had failed ignominiously +to rally to the Gibney appeal to repel boarders, and in his own +expressive terminology he hoped that what the enemy would do to +the dastard would be "a-plenty."</p> + +<p>The enemy, meanwhile, had turned their attention upon Scraggs, +who had dodged below like a frightened rabbit and sought shelter +in the shaft alley. He had sufficient presence of mind, as he +dashed through the engine room, to snatch a large monkey wrench +off the tool rack on the wall, and, kneeling just inside the +alley entrance he turned at bay and threatened the invaders with +this weapon. Thereupon Hicks and Flaherty pelted him with lumps +of coal, but the sole result of this assault was to force Scraggs +further back into the shaft alley and out of range.</p> + +<p>The towboat men held a council of war and decided to drown +Scraggs out. Dan Hicks ran up on deck and returned dragging the +deck fire hose behind him. He thrust the brass nozzle into the +shaft alley entrance and invited Scraggs to surrender +unconditionally or be drowned like a kitten. Scraggs, knowing his +own fire hose, defied them, so Dan Hicks started the pump while +Flaherty turned on the water. Instantly the hose burst up on deck +and Scraggs's jeers of triumph filled the engine room. The enemy +was about to draw lots to see which one of the two should crawl +into the shaft alley and throw a cupful of chloride of lime (for +they found a can of this in the engine room) in Captain Scraggs's +face, when a shadow darkened the hatch and Mr. Bartholomew +McGuffey demanded belligerently: "What's goin' on down there? Who +the devil's takin' liberties in my engine room?"</p> + +<p>Dan Hicks explained the situation and the just cause for drastic +action which they held against the fugitive in the shaft alley. +Mr. McGuffey considered a few moments and made his decision.</p> + +<p>"If what you say is true—an' I ain't in position to dispute you, +not havin' been present when you hauled the <i>Maggie</i> off the +beach, I don't blame you for feeling sore. What I do blame you +for, though, is carryin' the war aboard the <i>Maggie</i>. If you +wanted to whale Gib an' Scraggsy you should ha' laid for 'em on +the dock. Under the circumstances, you make this a pers'nal +affair, an' as a member o' the crew o' the <i>Maggie</i> I got to take +a hand an' defend my skipper agin youse two. Fact is, gentlemen, +I got a date to lick him first for what he done to me last night. +Howsumever, that's a private grouch. The fact remains that you +two jumped my pal Bert Gibney an' licked him somethin' +scandalous. Hicks, I'll take you on first. Come up out of there, +you swab, and fight. Flaherty, you stay below until I send for +you; if you try to climb up an' horn in on my fight with Hicks, +Gibney'll brain you."</p> + +<p>A faint cheer came from the shaft alley. "Good old Mac. +At-a-boy!"</p> + +<p>"You're on, McGuffey. Nobody ever had to beg me to fight him," +Dan Hicks replied cordially, and climbed to the deck. To his +great surprise, Mr. McGuffey winked at him and drew him off to +the stern of the <i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>"There'll be no fight," he declared, "although we'll thud around +on deck an' yell a couple o' times to make Scraggs think we're +goin' to it. He figgers that by the time I've fought you an' +Flaherty I won't be fit for combat with him, even if I lick you +both; he's got it all figgered out that I'll wait a couple o' +days before tacklin' him, an' he thinks my temper'll cool by that +time an' he can argy me out o' my revenge. Savey?"</p> + +<p>"I twig."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney had returned to the <i>Maggie</i> by this time and he now +took his station at the engine-room hatch and growled at Flaherty +and abused him. "Keep up your courage, Scraggsy," he called, as +Hicks and McGuffey pranced around the deck in simulated combat. +"Mac's whalin' the whey out o' Hicks an' Hicks couldn't touch him +with a buggy whip."</p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the three minutes of horse-play, Mr. +McGuffey came to the hatch again. "Up with you, Flaherty," he +called loud enough for Captain Scraggs to hear, "up with you +before I go down after you."</p> + +<p>Flaherty was about to possess himself of a hatchet when the face +of his confrère, Dan Hicks, appeared over McGuffey's shoulder and +grinned knowingly at him. Immediately, Flaherty hurled defiance +at his enemies and came up on deck, and once more to Captain +Scraggs came the dull sounds of apparent conflict overhead.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a cheer broke from Mr. Gibney. "All off an' gone to +Coopertown, Scraggsy," he shouted. "Come up an' take a look at +the fallen."</p> + +<p>Out of the shaft alley came Scraggs with a rush, tossing his +wrench aside the better to climb the ladder. He was half way up +when Mr. Gibney reached down a great hand, grasped him by the +collar, and whisked him out on deck with a single jerk. Here, to +his horror, he found himself confronted by a singularly scathless +trio who grinned triumphantly at him.</p> + +<p>"Seein' is believin', Scraggs," Dan Hicks informed him. "That's a +lesson you taught me an' Flaherty last night, but evidently you +don't profit by experience. You're too miserable to beat up, but +just to show you it ain't possible for a dirty bay pirate like +you to skin the likes o' me an' Flaherty we purpose hangin' the +seat o' your pants up around your coat collar. Face him about, +Gibney."</p> + +<p>Jack Flaherty raised his voice in song:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Glorious! Glorious!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">One kick a piece for the four of us!</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>With a quick twist, Mr. Gibney presented Captain Scraggs for his +penance; Flaherty and McGuffey followed Dan Hicks promptly and +Captain Scraggs screamed at every kick. And now came Mr. Gibney's +turn. "For failin' to stand up like a man, Scraggsy, an' battle +Hicks an' Flaherty," he informed the culprit, and tossed him over +to McGuffey to be held in position for him.</p> + +<p>"Don't, Gib. Please don't," Scraggs wailed. "It ain't comin' to +me from you. I never heard you callin' a-tall. Honest, I never, +Gib. Have mercy, Adelbert. You saved the <i>Maggie</i> last night an' +a quarter interest in her is yours—if you don't kick me!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney paused, foot in mid-air; surveyed the <i>Maggie</i> from +stem to stern, hesitated, licked his lower lip, and glanced at +the common enemy. For an instant it came into his mind to call +upon the valiant and able McGuffey to support him in a fierce +counter attack upon Hicks and Flaherty. Only for an instant, +however; then his sense of fair play conquered.</p> + +<p>"No, Scraggsy," he replied sadly. "She ain't worth it, an' your +duplicity can't be overlooked. If there's anything I hate it's +duplicity. Here goes, Scraggsy—and get yourself a new navigatin' +officer."</p> + +<p>Scraggs twisted and flinched instantly, and Mr. Gibney's great +boot missed the mark. "Ah," he breathed, "I'll give you an extra +for that."</p> + +<p>"Don't! Please don't," Scraggs howled. "Lay off'n me an' I'll put +in a new boiler an' have the compass adjusted."</p> + +<p>The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Mr. McGuffey swung +him clear of Mr. Gibney's wrath. "Swear it," he hissed. "Raise +your right hand an' swear it—an' I'll protect you from Gib."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs raised a trembling right hand and swore it. "I'll +get a new fire hose an' fire buckets; I'll fix the ash hoist and +run the bedbugs an' cockroaches out of her," he added.</p> + +<p>"You hear that, Gib?" McGuffey pleaded. "Have a heart."</p> + +<p>"Not unless he gives her a coat of paint an' quits bickerin' +about the overtime, Bart."</p> + +<p>"I promise," Scraggs answered him. "Pervided," he added, "you an' +dear ol' Mac promises to stick by the ship."</p> + +<p>"It's a whack," yelled McGuffey joyfully, and whirling, struck +Dan Hicks a mighty blow on the jaw. "Off our ship, you hoodlums." +He favoured Jack Flaherty with a hearty thump and swung again on +Dan Hicks. "At 'em, Scraggsy. Here's where you prove to Gib +whether you're a man—thump—or a mouse—thump—or a—thump, +thump—bobtailed—thump—rat."</p> + +<p>Dan Hicks had been upset, and as he sprawled on his back on deck, +he appeared to Captain Scraggs to offer at least an even chance +for victory. So Scraggs, mustering his courage, flew at poor +Hicks tooth and toenail. His best was not much but it served to +keep Dan Hicks off Mr. McGuffey while the latter was disposing of +Jack Flaherty, which he did, via the rail, even as the towboat +men had disposed of Mr. Gibney. Dan Hicks followed Flaherty, and +the crew of the <i>Maggie</i> crowded the rail as the enemy swam to +the float, crawled up on it and departed, vowing vengeance.</p> + +<p>"All's well that ends well, gentlemen," Mr. McGuffey announced. +"Scraggsy's goin' to buy a drink an' the past is buried an' +forgotten. Didn't old Scraggsy put up a fight, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"No, but he tried to, Mac. I'll tell the world he did," and he +thrust out the hand of forgiveness to Scraggsy, who, realizing he +had come very handsomely out of an unlovely situation, clasped +the hands of Mr. Gibney and McGuffey and burst into tears. While +Mr. McGuffey thumped him between the shoulder blades and cursed +him affectionately, Mr. Gibney retired to change into dry +garments; when he reappeared the trio went ashore for the +promised grog and a luncheon at the skipper's expense.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + + +<p>A week had elapsed and nothing of an eventful nature had +transpired to disturb the routine of life aboard the <i>Maggie</i>, +until Bartholomew McGuffey, having heard certain waterfront +whispers, considered it the part of prudence to lay his +information before Scraggs and Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Scraggs," he began briskly. "It's all fine an' dandy +to promise me a new boiler, but when do I git it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, jes' as soon as we can get this glut o' freight behind us, +Bart, my boy. The way it's pilin' up on us now, what with this +bein' the height o' the busy season an' all, it stands to reason +we got to wait a while for dull times before layin' the <i>Maggie</i> +up."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with orderin' the new boiler now so's to have +it ready to chuck into her over the week-end," McGuffey +suggested. "There needn't be no great delay."</p> + +<p>"As owner o' the <i>Maggie</i>," Scraggs reminded him with just a +touch of asperity, "you've got to leave these details to me. +You've managed with the old boiler this long, so it 'pears to me +you might be patient an' bear with it a mite longer, Bart."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't tryin' to be disagreeable, Scraggs, only it sort o' +worries me to have to go along without bein' able to use our +whistle. We got a reputation for joggin' right along, mindin' +our business an' never replyin' to them vessels that whistle us +they're goin' to pass to port or starboard, as the case may be. +Of course when they whistle, we know what they're goin' to do, +but the trouble is <i>they</i> don't know what we're goin' to do. Dan +Hicks an' Jack Flaherty's been makin' a quiet brag that one o' +these days or nights they'll take advantage o' this well-known +peculiarity of ourn to collide with the <i>Maggie</i> an' sink us, and +in that case we wouldn't have no defense an' no come-back in a +court of law. Me, I don't feel like drownin' in that engine room +or gettin' cut in half by the bow o' the <i>Bodega</i> or the +<i>Aphrodite</i>. Consequently, you'd better ship that new boiler you +promised me an' save funeral expenses. We just naturally got to +commence whistlin', Scraggsy."</p> + +<p>"We'll commence it when business slacks up," Scraggs decided with +finality.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney who, up to this moment, had said nothing, now fixed +Captain Scraggs with a piercing glance and threatened him with an +index finger across the cabin table. "We don't have to wait for +the slack season to have that there compass adjusted an' paint +the topsides o' the <i>Maggie</i>," he reminded Scraggs. "As for her +upper works, I'll paint them myself on Sundays, if you'll dig up +the paint. How about that program?"</p> + +<p>"We'll do it all at once when we lay up to install the boiler," +Scraggs protested. He glanced at his watch. "Sufferin' sailor!" +he cried in simulated distress. "Here it's one o'clock an' I +ain't collected a dollar o' the freight money from the last +voyage. I must beat it."</p> + +<p>When Captain Scraggs had "beaten it," Gibney and McGuffey +exchanged expressive glances. "He's runnin' out on us," McGuffey +complained.</p> + +<p>"Even so, Bart, even so. Therefore, the thing for us to do is to +run out on him. In other words, we'll work a month, save our +money, an' then, without a word o' complaint or argyment, we'll +walk out."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't exactly broke, Gib. I got eighty-five dollars."</p> + +<p>"Then," quoth Gibney decisively, "we'll go on strike to-night. +Scraggsy'll be stuck in port a week before he can get another +engineer an' another navigatin' officer, me an' you bein' the +only two natural-born fools in San Francisco an' ports adjacent, +an' before three days have passed he'll be huntin' us up to +compromise."</p> + +<p>"I don't want no compromise. What I want is a new boiler."</p> + +<p>"You'll git it. We'll make him order the paint an' the boiler an' +pay for both in advance before we'll agree to go back to work."</p> + +<p>The engineer nodded his approval and after sealing their pact +with a hearty handshake, they turned to and commenced discharging +the <i>Maggie</i>. When Captain Scraggs returned to the little steamer +shortly after five o'clock, to his great amazement, he discovered +Mr. Gibney and McGuffey dressed in their other suits—including +celluloid collars and cuffs.</p> + +<p>"The cargo's out, Scraggsy, my son, the decks has been washed +down an' everything in my department is shipshape." Thus Mr. +Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Likewise in mine," McGuffey added.</p> + +<p>"Consequently," Mr. Gibney concluded, "we're quittin' the +<i>Maggie</i> an' if it's all the same to you we'll have our time."</p> + +<p>"My <i>dear</i> Gib. Why, whatever's come over you two boys?"</p> + +<p>"Stow your chatter, Scraggs. Shell out the cash. The only +explanation we'll make is that a burned child dreads the fire. +You've fooled us once in the matter o' that new boiler an' the +paintin', an' we're not goin' to give you a second chance. Come +through—or take the consequences. We'll sail no more with a liar +an' a fraud."</p> + +<p>"Them's hard words, Mr. Gibney."</p> + +<p>"The truth is allers bitter," McGuffey opined.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs paused to consider the serious predicament which +confronted him. It was Saturday night. He knew Mr. McGuffey to be +the possessor of more money than usual and if he could assure +himself that this reserve should be dissipated before Monday +morning he was aware, from experience, that the strike would be +broken by Tuesday at the latest. And he could afford that delay. +He resolved, therefore, on diplomacy.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sorry," he answered with every appearance of +contrition. "You fellers got me in the nine-hole an' I can't help +myself. At the same time, I appreciate fully your p'int of view, +while realizin' that I can't convince you o' mine. So we won't +have no hard feelin's at partin', boys, an' to show you I'm a +sport I'll treat to a French dinner an' a motion picture show +afterward. Further, I shall regard a refusal of said invite as a +pers'nal affront."</p> + +<p>"By golly, you're gittin' sporty in your old age," the engineer +declared. "I'll go you, Scraggs. How about you, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"I accept with thanks, Scraggsy, old tarpot. Personally, I +maintain that seamen should leave their troubles aboard ship."</p> + +<p>"That's the sperrit I appreciate, boys. Come to the cabin an' +I'll pay you off. Then wait a coupler minutes till I shift into +my glad rags an' away we'll go, like Paddy Ford's goat—on our +own hook."</p> + +<p>"Old Scraggsy's as cunnin' as a pet fox, ain't he?" the new +navigating officer whispered, as Scraggs departed for his +stateroom to change into his other suit. "He's goin' to blow +himself on us to-night, thinkin' to soften our hard resolution. +We'll fool him. Take all he gives us, but stand pat, Bart."</p> + +<p>Bart nodded. His was one of those sturdy natures that could +always be depended upon to play the game, win, lose, or draw.</p> + +<p>As a preliminary move, Captain Scraggs declared in favour of a +couple of cocktails to whet their appetites for the French +dinner, and accordingly the trio repaired to an adjacent saloon +and tucked three each under their belts—all at Captain Scraggs's +expense. When he proposed a fourth, Mr. Gibney's perfect +sportsmanship caused him to protest, and reluctantly Captain +Scraggs permitted Gibney to buy. Scraggs decided to have a cigar, +however, instead of another Martini. The ethics of the situation +then indicated that McGuffey should "set 'em up," which he did +over Captain Scraggs's protest—and again the wary Scraggs called +for a cigar, alleging as an excuse for his weakness that for +years three cocktails before dinner had been his absolute limit. +A fourth cocktail on an empty stomach, he declared, would kill +the evening for him.</p> + +<p>The fourth cocktail having been disposed of, the barkeeper, +sensing further profit did he but play his part judiciously, +insisted that his customers have a drink on the house. Captain +Scraggs immediately protested that their party was degenerating +into an endurance contest—and called for another cigar. He now +had three cigars, so he gave one each to his victims and forcibly +dragged them away from the bar and up to a Pine Street French +restaurant, the proprietor of which was an Italian. Captain +Scraggs was for walking the six blocks to this restaurant, but +Mr. McGuffey had acquired, on six cocktails, what is colloquially +described as "a start," and insisted upon chartering a taxicab.</p> + +<p>But why descend to sordid and vulgar details? Suffice that when +the artful Scraggs, pretending to be overcome by his potations +and very ill into the bargain, begged to be delivered back aboard +the <i>Maggie</i>, Messrs. McGuffey and Gibney loaded him into a +taxicab and sent him there, while they continued their search for +excitement. Where and how they found it requires no elucidation +here; it is sufficient to state that it was expensive, for when +men of the Gibney and McGuffey type have once gotten a fair start +naught but financial dissolution can stop them.</p> + +<p>On Monday morning, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey awoke in Scab +Johnny's boarding house. Mr. Gibney awoke first, by reason of the +fact that his stomach hammered at the door of his soul and bade +him be up and doing. While his head ached slightly from the fiery +usquebaugh of the Bowhead saloon, he craved a return to a solid +diet, so for several minutes he lay supine, conjuring in his +agile brain ways and means of supplying this need in the absence +of ready cash. "I'll have to hock my sextant," was the conclusion +at which he presently arrived. Then he commenced to heave and +surge until presently he found himself clear of the blankets and +seated in his underclothes on the side of the bed. Here, he +indulged in a series of scratchings and yawnings, after which he +disposed at a gulp of most of the water designed for his +matutinal ablutions. Ten minutes later he took his sextant under +his arm and departed for a pawnshop in lower Market Street. From +the pawnshop he returned to Scab Johnny's with eight dollars in +his pocket, routed out the contrite McGuffey, and carried the +latter off to ham and eggs.</p> + +<p>They felt better after breakfast and for the space of an hour +lolled at the table, discussing their adventures of the past +forty-eight hours. "Well, there's one thing certain," McGuffey +concluded, "an' that thing is sure a cinch. Our strike has +petered out. I'm not busted, but I ain't heeled to continue on +strike very long, so let's mosey along down to the <i>Maggie's</i> +dock an' see how Scraggsy's gettin' along. If he has our places +filled we won't say nothin', but if he hasn't got 'em filled +he'll say somethin'."</p> + +<p>"That's logic, Bart," Gibney agreed, and forthwith they set out +to interview Captain Scraggs. The owner of the <i>Maggie</i> greeted +them cheerily, but after discussing generalities for half an +hour, Scraggs failed to make overtures, whereupon Mr. Gibney +announced casually that he guessed he and Mac would be on their +way. "Same here, boys," Captain Scraggs piped breezily. "I got a +new mate an' a new engineer comin' aboard at ten o'clock an' we +sail at twelve."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll see you occasionally," Mr. Gibney said at parting.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sure. Don't be strangers. You're always welcome aboard the +old <i>Maggie</i>," came the careless rejoinder.</p> + +<p>Somewhat crestfallen, the striking pair repaired to the Bowhead +saloon to discuss the situation over a glass of beer. However, +Mr. Gibney's spirits never dropped below zero while he had one +nickel to rub against another; hence such slight depression as he +felt was due to a feeling that Captain Scraggs had basely +swindled him and McGuffey. He was disappointed in Scraggs and +said as much. "However, Bart," he concluded, "we'll never say +'die' while our money holds out, and in the meantime our luck may +have changed. Let's scatter around and try to locate some kind of +a job; then when them new employees o' Scraggsy quit or get +fired—which'll be after about two voyages—an' the old man comes +round holdin' out the olive branch o' peace, we'll give him the +horselaugh."</p> + +<p>Three days of diligent search failed to uncover the coveted job +for either, however, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. +Gibney announced that it would be necessary to "raise the wind," +if the pair would breakfast. "It'll probably be a late +breakfast," he added.</p> + +<p>"How're we goin' to git it, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"We must test our credit, Mac. You go down to the rooms o' the +Marine Engineers' Association and kick somebody's eye out for +five dollars. I'd get out an' do some rustlin' myself, but I +ain't got no credit. When a man that's been a real sailor sinks +as low as I've sunk—from clipper ships to mate on a rotten +little bumboat—people don't respect him none. But it's different +with a marine engineer. You might be first assistant on a P.M. +boat to-day an' second assistant on a bay tug to-morrow but +nothin's thought of it."</p> + +<p>"What're we goin' to do with the five dollars?"</p> + +<p>"Well, we might invest it in a lottery ticket an' pray for the +capital prize—but we won't. Ain't it dawned on you, Mac, that +it's up to you an' me to find the steamer <i>Maggie</i> an' git back +to work quick an' no back talk? Scraggs has new men in our jobs +an' these new men has got to be got rid of, otherwise there's no +tellin' how long they'll last. Naturally, this here riddance can +be accomplished easier an' without police interference on the +dock at Halfmoon Bay. We got to walk twenty miles to Halfmoon Bay +to connect with the <i>Maggie</i> an' the five dollars is to keep us +from starvin' to death in case we miss him an' have to walk back +or wait for the return trip o' the <i>Maggie</i>."</p> + +<p>"But suppose, after we've walked all that distance, we find +Scraggs won't take us back? Then what?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course he'll take us back, Bart. He'll be glad to after +we've finished with them scabs that's took our jobs an' are doin' +us out of an honest livin'. He won't be able to work the <i>Maggie</i> +back to San Francisco alone, will he?"</p> + +<p>McGuffey nodded his approbation, and set forth to borrow the +needful five dollars. Whatever the reason, he was not successful, +and when they met again at Scab Johnny's, Mr. Gibney employed his +eloquence to obtain credit from that cold-hearted publican, but +all in vain. Scab Johnny had been too long operating on a cash +basis with Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey to risk adding to an old +unpaid bill.</p> + +<p>They retired to the sidewalk to hold a caucus and Mr. McGuffey +located a dime which had dropped down inside the lining of his +coat. "That settles it," Gibney declared. "We've skipped two +meals but I'll be durned if we skip another. We'll ride out to +the San Mateo county line on the trolley with that dime an' then +hoof it over the hills to Halfmoon Bay. Scraggs won't git away +from the dock here until after twelve o'clock, so we know he'll +lie at Halfmoon Bay all night. If we start now we'll connect with +him in time for supper. Eh, Bart?"</p> + +<p>"A twenty-mile hike on a tee-totally empty stomach, with a battle +royal on our hands the minute we arrive, weak an' destitoote, +ain't quite my idea o' enjoyment, Gib, but I'll go you if it +kills me. Let's up hook an' away. I'm for gittin' back to work +an' usin' moral persuasion to git that new boiler."</p> + +<p>They took a hitch in their belts and started. From the point at +which they left the trolley to their journey's end was a stiff +six-hour jaunt, up hill and down dale, and long before the march +was half completed the unaccustomed exercise had developed sundry +galls and blisters on the Gibney heels, while the soles of poor +McGuffey's feet were so hot he voiced the apprehension that they +might burn to a crisp at any moment and drop off by the wayside. +Men less hardy and less desperate would have abandoned the trip +before ten miles had been covered.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + + +<p>The crew of the <i>Maggie</i> had ceased working cargo for the day and +Captain Scraggs was busy cooking supper in the galley when the +two prodigals, exhausted, crippled, and repentant, came to the +door and coughed propitiously, but Captain Scraggs pretended not +to hear, and went on with his task of turning fried eggs with an +artistic flip of the frying pan. So Mr. Gibney spoke, struggling +bravely to appear nonchalant. With his eyes on the fried eggs and +his mouth threatening to slaver at the glorious sight, he said:</p> + +<p>"Hello, there, Scraggsy, old tarpot. How goes it with the owner +o' the fast an' commodious steamer <i>Maggie?</i> Git that consignment +o' post-holes aboard yet?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's honest face beamed expectantly, for he was +particularly partial to fried eggs. As for his companion in +distress, anything edible and which would serve to nullify the +gnawing at his internal economy would be welcome. Inasmuch as +Captain Scraggs did not readily reply to Mr. Gibney's salutation, +McGuffey decided to be more emphatic and to the point, albeit in +a joking way.</p> + +<p>"Hurry up with them eggs, Scraggs," he rumbled. "Me an' Gib's +walked down from the city an' we're hungry. Jawn D. +Rockerfeller'd give a million dollars for my appetite. Fry mine +hard, Scraggsy. I want somethin' solid."</p> + +<p>Scraggs looked up and his cold green eyes were agleam with malice +and triumph as they rested on the unhappy pair. However, he +smiled—a smile reminiscent of a cat that has just eaten a +canary—and cold chills ran down the backs of the exhausted +travellers. "Hello, boys," he piped. He turned from them to toss +a few strips of bacon into the grease with the eggs; then he +peered into the coffee pot and set it on the back of the galley +range to simmer, before facing his guests again. His attitude was +so significant that Mr. Gibney queried mournfully:</p> + +<p>"Well, Phineas, you old vegetable hound, ain't you glad to see +us?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Gib, certainly. I'm deeply appreciative of the honour +o' this visit, although I'm free to say we're hardly prepared for +company. The stores is kind o' low an' I did just figger on +havin' enough, by skimpin' a little, to last me an' my crew until +we get back to San Francisco. I'd hate to put 'em on short +rations, on account of unexpected company, because it gives the +ship a bad name. On the other hand, it's agin my disposition to +appear small over a few fried eggs, while on still another hand, +I realize you two got to get fed." He stepped to the door and +pointed. "See that little shack about two points to starboard o' +the warehouse? Well, there's a Dago livin' there an' he'll fix +you two boys up a bully meal for fifty cents each."</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, ol' hunks, if three-ringed circuses was sellin' for +six bits a throw me an' Bart couldn't buy a whisker from a dead +tiger." The dreadful admission brought a dull flush to Mr. +Gibney's already rubicund countenance.</p> + +<p>"Shell out a coupler bucks, Scraggsy," McGuffey pleaded. "Me an' +Gib's so empty we rattle when we walk."</p> + +<p>"I ain't got no money to loan you two that ups an leaves me in +the lurch, without no notice," Scraggs flared at them. "If you +two stiffs ain't able to support yourselves you'd ought to apply +for admission to the poorhouse or the Home For the Feeble-minded."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney smiled fatly. "Scraggsy! You're kiddin' us."</p> + +<p>"Not by forty fathom, I ain't."</p> + +<p>"Phineas, we just <i>got</i> t' eat," McGuffey declared ominously.</p> + +<p>"Eat an' be dog-goned," the skipper snarled. "I ain't a-tryin' to +prevent you. Are you two suckin' infants that I got to <i>feed</i> +you? There's plenty o' fresh vegetables out on deck. Green peas +ain't to be sneezed at, an' as for French carrots, science'll +tell you there's ninety-two per cent. more nutriment in a carrot +than——"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney halted this dissertation with upraised hand. "Scraggs, +it's about time you found out I ain't no potato bug, an' if you +think McGuffey's a coddlin' moth you're wrong agin. Fork over +them eggs an' the coffee an' a coupler slices o' dummy an' be +quick about it or I'll bust your bob-stay."</p> + +<p>"Get off my ship, you murderin' pirates," Scraggs screamed.</p> + +<p>"Not till we've et," the practical-minded engineer retorted. +"Even then we won't get off. Me an' Gib ain't got any feet left, +Scraggs. If we had to walk another step we'd be crippled for +life. Fry my eggs hard, I tell you."</p> + +<p>"This is piracy, men. It's robbery on the high seas, an' I can +put you over the road for it," Scraggs warned them. "What's more, +I'll do it."</p> + +<p>"The eggs, Scraggsy," boomed Mr. Gibney, "the eggs."</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>Half an hour later as the pirates, replete with provender, sat +dangling their damaged underpinning over the stern railing where +the gentle wavelets laved and cooled them, Captain Scraggs +accompanied by the new navigating officer, the new engineer, and +The Squarehead, came aft. The cripples looked up, surveyed their +successors in office, and found the sight far from reassuring.</p> + +<p>"I've already ordered you two tramps off'n my ship," Scraggs +began formally, "an' I hereby, in the presence o' reliable +witnesses, repeats the invitation. You ain't wanted; your room's +preferred to your comp'ny, an' by stayin' a minute longer, in +defiance o' my orders, you're layin' yourselves liable to a +charge o' piracy. It'd be best for you two boys to mosey along +now an' save us all a lot o' trouble."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney carefully laid his pipe aside and stood up. He was +quite an imposing spectacle in his bare feet, with his trousers +rolled up to his great knees, thereby revealing his scarlet +flannel underdrawers. With a stifled groan, McGuffey rose and +stood beside his partner, and Mr. Gibney spoke:</p> + +<p>"Scraggs, be reasonable. We ain't lookin' for trouble; not +because we don't relish it, for we do where a couple o' scabs is +concerned, but for the simple reason that we ain't in the best o' +condition to receive it, although if you force it on us we'll do +our best. If you chuck us off the <i>Maggie</i> an' force us to walk +back to San Francisco, we're goin' to be reported as missin'. +Honest, now, Scraggsy, old side-winder, you ain't goin' to maroon +us here, alone with the vegetables, are you?"</p> + +<p>"You done me dirt. You quit me cold. Git out. Two can play at a +dirty game an' every dog must have his day. This is my day, Gib. +Scat!"</p> + +<p>"Pers'nally," McGuffey announced quietly, "I prefer to die aboard +the <i>Maggie</i>, if I have to. This ain't movin' day with B. +McGuffey, Esquire."</p> + +<p>"Them's my sentiments, too, Scraggsy."</p> + +<p>"Then defend yourselves. Come on, lads. Bear a hand an' we'll +bounce these muckers overboard." The Squarehead hung back having +no intention of waging war upon his late comrades, but the +engineer and the new navigating officer stepped briskly forward, +for they were about to fight for their jobs. Mr. Gibney halted +the advance by lifting both great hands in a deprecatory manner.</p> + +<p>"For Heaven's sake, Scraggsy, have a heart. Don't force us to +murder you. If we're peaceable, what's to prevent you from givin' +us a passage back to San Francisco, where we're known an' where +we'll have at least a fightin' chance to git somethin' to eat +occasionally."</p> + +<p>"You know mighty well what's to prevent me, Gib. I ain't got no +passenger license, an' I'll be keel-hauled an' skull-dragged if I +fall for your cute little game, my son. I ain't layin' myself +liable to a fine from the Inspectors an' maybe have my ticket +book took away to boot."</p> + +<p>"You could risk your danged old ticket. It ain't no use to you on +salt water anyhow," McGuffey jeered insultingly.</p> + +<p>"We can work our passage an' who's to know the difference, +Scraggsy?"</p> + +<p>"You for one an' McGuffey for two. You'd have the bulge on me +forever after. You could blackmail me until I dassen't call my +ship my own."</p> + +<p>"Don't worry, you snipe. Nobody else will ever hanker to own +her." Another insult from McGuffey. Having made up his mind that +a fight was inevitable, the honest fellow was above pleading for +mercy.</p> + +<p>"Enough of this gab," Mr. Gibney roared. "My patience is +exhausted. I'm dog-tired an' I'm goin' to have peace if I have to +fight for it. Me an' Bart stays aboard the steamer <i>Maggie</i> until +she gets back to Frisco town or until we're hove overboard in the +interim by the weight of numbers. An' if any man, or set o' male +bipeds that calls theirselves men, is so foolish as to try to +evict us from this packet, then all I got to say is that they're +triflin' with death." (Here Mr. Gibney thrust out his superb +chest and thumped it with his horny fists, after the fashion of +an enraged gorilla. This was sheer bluff, however, for while +there was not a drop of craven blood in the Gibney veins, he +realized that his footwork, in the event of battle, would be +sadly deficient and he hesitated to wage a losing fight.) "I got +my arms left, even if my feet is on the fritz, Scraggs," he +continued, "an' if you start anything I'll hug you an' your crew +to death. I'm a rip-roarin' grizzly bear once I'm started an' +there's such a thing as drivin' a man to desperation."</p> + +<p>The bluff worked! Captain Scraggs turned to his retainers and +with a condescending and paternal smile, said: "Boys, let's give +the dumb fools their own way. If they insist upon takin' forcible +possession o' my ship on the high seas, there's only one name for +the crime—an' that's piracy, punishable by hangin' from the +yard-arm. We'll just let 'em stay aboard an' turn 'em over to the +police when we git back to the city."</p> + +<p>He started for his cabin and the crew, vastly relieved, followed +him. The pirates once more sat down and permitted their hot feet +to loll overboard.</p> + +<p>"It's cold down here nights, Gib," McGuffey opined presently. +"Where're we goin' to sleep?"</p> + +<p>"In our old berths, of course." The success of his bluff had +operated on Gibney like a tonic. "Hop into your shoes, Bart, an' +we'll snake them two scabs out o' their berths in jig time."</p> + +<p>"I'm dodgin' fights to-night, Gib. Let's borrow a blanket or two +from The Squarehead an' curl up on deck. It'll be warm over the +engine-room gratin'."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney yawned. "I guess you're right, Bart. While you're at +it, make Scraggs come through with a blanket an' an overcoat for +a pillow. Run up an' threaten him. He'll wilt."</p> + +<p>So McGuffey staggered forward. What arguments he used shall not +be recorded here. Suffice it, he returned with what he went +after.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + + +<p>The pirates were early astir; so early, in fact, that long before +Captain Scraggs and his crew appeared on deck, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey had quietly cooked breakfast in the galley. They ate six +eggs each and consumed the only loaf of bread aboard, for which +act of vandalism they were rewarded half an hour later by the +sight of Captain Scraggs dancing on a new brown derby.</p> + +<p>"It's a wonder that bird wouldn't get him a soft hat to do his +jumpin' on," McGuffey remarked. "He's ruined enough good hats to +have paid for the new boiler. Yes, sir, whenever ol' Scraggsy +gets mad he most certainly gets hoppin' mad."</p> + +<p>"It'll soak into his head after a while that us two mean +business, Mac, an' he'll get sensible an' fire them outsiders. +I'm lookin' for him to make peace before noon."</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock that morning the little vessel completed taking +on her cargo, the lines were cast off, and the homeward voyage +was begun. As she hauled away from the wharf, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey might have been observed seated on the stern bitts +smoking, the picture of contentment. Pirates under the law they +might be, but of this they knew nothing and cared less. With +them, self-preservation was, indeed, the first law of human +nature.</p> + +<p>They were still seated on the stern bitts as the <i>Maggie</i> came +abreast the Point Montara fog signal station, when Mr. Gibney +observed a long telescope poking out the side window of the pilot +house. "Hello," he muttered, "Scraggsy's seein' things," and +following the direction in which the telescope was pointing he +made out a large bark standing in dangerously close to the beach. +In fact, the breakers were tumbling in a long white streak over +the reefs less than a quarter of a mile from her. She was lying +stern on to the beach, with one anchor out.</p> + +<p>In an instant all was excitement aboard the <i>Maggie</i>. "That looks +like an elegant little pick-up. She's plumb deserted," Scraggs +shouted to his navigating officer. "I don't see any distress +signals flyin' an' yet she's got an anchor out while her canvas +is hangin' so-so."</p> + +<p>"If she had any hands aboard, you'd think they'd have sense +enough to clew up her courses," the mate answered.</p> + +<p>At this juncture, Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, unable to restrain +their curiosity, and forgetful of the fact that they were pirates +with very sore feet, came running over the deckload and invaded +the pilot house. "Gimme that glass, you sock-eyed salmon, you," +Gibney ordered Scraggs, and tore the telescope from the owner's +hands. "There ain't enough real seamanship in the crew o' this +craft to tax the mental make-up of a Chinaman. Hum—m—m! +American bark <i>Chesapeake</i>. Starboard anchor out; yards braced +a-box; royals an' to'-gallan'-s'ls clewed up; courses hangin' in +the buntlines an' clew garnets, Stars-an'-Stripes upside down."</p> + +<p>He lowered the glass and roared at Neils Halvorsen, who was at +the wheel, "Starboard your helm, Squarehead. Don't be afraid of +her. We're goin' over there an' hook on to her. I should say she +is a pick-up."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney had abdicated as a pirate and assumed command of the +S.S. <i>Maggie</i>. With the memory of a scant breakfast upon him, +however, Captain Scraggs was still harsh and bitter.</p> + +<p>"Git out o' my pilot house an' aft where the police can find you +when they come lookin' for you," he screeched. "Don't you give no +orders to my deckhand."</p> + +<p>"Stow it, you ass. Don't fly in the face of your own interests, +Scraggsy, you bandit. Yonder's a prize, but it'll require +imagination to win it; consequently you need Adelbert P. Gibney +in your business, if you're contemplatin' hookin' on to that +bark, snakin' her into San Francisco Bay, an' libelin' her for +ten thousand dollars' salvage. You an' me an' Mac an' The +Squarehead here have sailed this strip o' coast too long together +to quarrel over the first good piece o' salvage we ever run into. +Come, Scraggsy. Be decent, forget the past, an' let's dig in +together."</p> + +<p>"If I had a gun," Scraggs cried, "I do believe I'd shoot you. Git +out o' my pilot house, I tell you, or I'll stick a knife in you. +I'll carve your gizzard, you black-guardin' pirate."</p> + +<p>Inasmuch as Scraggs really did produce a knife, Mr. Gibney backed +prudently away. "You're mighty quick to let bygones be bygones +when you see me with a fortune in sight with you wantin' to horn +in on the deal, ain't you?" the owner jeered. "You must think I'm +a born fool."</p> + +<p>"I don't think it a-tall. I know it. You're worse'n a born fool. +You're sufferin' from acquired idiocy, which is the mental state +folks find themselves in when they refuse to learn by experience +an' profit by example. I've always claimed you ain't got no more +imagination than a chicken, an' I'll prove it to you right now. +Here you are, braggin' about how you're goin' to salvage that +bark but givin' no thought whatever to the means to be employed. +How're you goin' to pull her off? If the <i>Maggie</i> ever had a +towline aboard I never seen it. Perhaps, however, you're +figgerin' on poolin' all the shoestrings aboard."</p> + +<p>"Every ship that size has a steel towin' cable, wound up on a +reel, nice an' handy," the new navigating officer reminded Mr. +Gibney. "I can put the skiff out, get the bark's line, haul it +back, an' make it fast on the bitts you two skunks has been +occupyin' instead of a prison cell."</p> + +<p>"Hello! There's another county gone Democratic. Your old man must +ha' been to sea once an' told you about it. Them bitts won't +hold."</p> + +<p>"I'll make the towline fast to the mainmast."</p> + +<p>"That'll hold, I admit. But has the <i>Maggie</i> got power enough, +what with the load she's totin' now, to tow that big bark in to +San Francisco Bay?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, we'll take it easy an' get there some time," Scraggs chipped +in.</p> + +<p>"You bet you'll take it easy—easier'n you think. Before you +start towin' that bark, you'll have to clew up her canvas a whole +lot to make the towin' easier, an' who's goin' to do that? An' +you got to have a man at her wheel."</p> + +<p>"Neils an' my mate."</p> + +<p>"If that new mate dares to leave you in command o' the <i>Maggie</i>, +alone an' unprotected on the high seas an' you with a fresh water +license, I'll——"</p> + +<p>"Then Neils an' I'll do it."</p> + +<p>"You don't know how. Besides, you're afraid to go aboard that +bark. You don't know what kind of a frightful disease she may +have aboard. Do you know a plague ship when you see one?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs paled a little, but the prospect of the salvage +heartened him. "I don't give a hoot," he declared. "I'll take a +chance."</p> + +<p>"All right. Consider it taken. How're you goin' to get aboard +her?"</p> + +<p>"In the skiff."</p> + +<p>"Where's the skiff?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs glanced around wildly, and when McGuffey jeered +him, he cast his hat upon the deck and started to leap upon it. +The devilish Gibney was right. It appeared that owing to a glut +of freight on the landing, Captain Scraggs had decided, in view +of the fine weather prevailing, to take an unusually large cargo +that trip. With this idea in mind, he had piled freight over +every available inch of deck space until the cargo was flush with +the top of the house. On top of the house, the skiff always +rested, bottom up. Captain Scraggs had righted the skiff, piled +it full of loose artichokes from half a dozen crates broken in +the cargo net while loading, and then proceeded to pile more +vegetables on top of it and around it until the <i>Maggie's</i> funnel +barely showed through the piled-up freight, and the little vessel +was so top heavy she was cranky. In order to get at the small +boat, therefore, it would be necessary to shift this load off the +house, and the question that now confronted Scraggs and his crew +was to find a spot that would accommodate the part of the +deckload thus shifted!</p> + +<p>When Captain Scraggs had completed his hornpipe on his hat he +threw an appealing glance at his new mate. "We'll jettison what +freight proves an embarrassment," this astute individual advised. +"The farmers that own it will soak you a couple o' hundred +dollars for the loss, but what's that with thousands in sight +waitin' to be picked up?"</p> + +<p>"Hear that, Gib? Hear that, you swab?"</p> + +<p>"I heard it. Did you hear that?"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"A nice, brisk little nor'west trade wind that's only blowin' +about thirty mile an hour. The <i>Maggie</i> ain't got power enough to +tow the bark agin that wind. You'll haul her ahead two feet an', +in spite o' you, she'll slip back twenty-five inches."</p> + +<p>"That trade wind dies down after sunset," the devilish new mate +informed him.</p> + +<p>"Quite true. But in the meantime you're burning coal loafin' +around here, an' before you get the bark inside you'll be plumb +out o' coal," Mr. McGuffey reminded them. "I know this old coffin +like I know the back o' my own hand. Why, she lives on coal! +Oh-h-h, Scraggsy, Scraggsy, poor old Scraggsy," he keened in a +high falsetto voice and subsided on a crate of celery, the while +he waved his legs in the air and affected to be overcome by his +merriment. Scraggs turned the colour of a ripe old Edam cheese, +while Mr. Gibney folded his hands and looked idiotic.</p> + +<p>"Old Phineas P. Scraggs, the salvage expert!" McGuffey's falsetto +would have maddened a sheep. "He cast his bread upon the waters +and lo, it returned to him after many days—and made him sick. +O-h-h-h-h, Scraggsy—poor old Scraggsy! If he went divin' for +pearls in three feet o' water he'd bring up a clam shell. Oh, +dear, I'm goin' to die o' this, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Don't, Bart. I'm goin' to have need o' your well-known ability +to help salvage this bark. Scraggs, you old sinner, has it dawned +on you that what this proposition needs to get it over is a dash +o' the Adelbert P. Gibney brand of imagination?"</p> + +<p>The new navigating officer drew Captain Scraggs aside and +whispered in his ear: "Make it up with these Smart Alecks, +Scraggs. They got it on us, but if we can send you an' Halvorsen, +McGuffey and Gibney over to the bark, you can get some sail on +her an' what with the wind helpin' us along, the <i>Maggie</i> can tow +her all right."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney saw by the hopeful, even cunning, look that leaped to +Scraggs's eyes that the problem was about to be solved without +recourse to the Gibney imagination, so he resolved to be alert +and not permit himself to be caught out on the end of a limb. +"Well, Scraggsy?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"I guess I need you in my business, Gib. You're right an' I'm +always wrong. It's a fact. I <i>ain't</i> got no more imagination than +a chicken. Hence, havin' no imagination o' my own I ask you, as +man to man an' appealin' to your generous instincts as an old +friend an' former valued employee, to let bygones be bygones an' +haul us out o' the hole that threatens to make us the laughin' +stock o' the whole Pacific coast."</p> + +<p>"Spoken like a man—I do not think. Scraggs, for once in my life +I have you where the hair is short. You find yourself up agin a +proposition that requires brains, you ain't got 'em yourself an' +at last you're forced to admit that Adelbert P. Gibney is the man +that peddles 'em. Now, you been doin' a lot o' hollerin' about me +an' Bart bein' pirates under the law an' liable to hangin' an' +imprisonment, an' that kind o' guff don't go nohow. We're willin' +to admit that mebbe we've been a little mite familiar an' +forward, bankin' on the natural leanin' of friend for friend that +you take it all for the joke it's intended to be, but when you go +to carryin' the joke too far, we got to protect ourselves. +Scraggsy, I'm willin' to dig in an' help out in a pinch, but it's +gettin' so me an' Mac can't trust you no more. We're that leery +of you we won't take your word for nothin', since you fooled him +on the new boiler an' me on the paint; consequently, we're off +you an' this salvage job unless you give us a clearance, in +writin', statin' that we are not an' never was pirates, that +we're good, law-abiding citizens an' aboard the <i>Maggie</i> as your +guests, takin' the trip at our own risk. When you sign such a +paper, with your crew for witnesses, I'll demonstrate how that +bark can be salvaged without makin' you remove so much as a head +o' cabbage to get at your small boat. My imagination's better'n +my reputation, Scraggsy, an' I ain't workin' it for nothin!"</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy. You're the most sensitive man I ever sailed +with. Can't you take a little joke?"</p> + +<p>"Sure, I can take a little joke. It's the big ones that stick in +my craw an' stifle my friendship. Gimme a fountain pen an' a leaf +out o' the log book an' I'll draw up the affydavit for your +signature."</p> + +<p>Scraggs complied precipitately with this request; whereupon Mr. +Gibney spread his great bulk over the chart case and with many a +twist and flip of his tongue on the up and down strokes, produced +this remarkable document:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>At Sea, Off Point Montara, aboard<br /> +S.S. <i>Maggie</i>, of San Francisco.<br /> +June 4, 19—.<br /> +</p> + +<p>This is to sertify that A.P. Gibney, Esq., and Bart +McGuffey, Esq. is law-abidin' sitisens of the U.S.A. and +the constitootion thereof, and in no way pirates or +such; and be it further resolved that the said parties +hereto are aboard said American steamer <i>Maggie</i> this +date on the special invite of Phineas P. Scraggs, owner, +as his guests and at their own risk.</p> + +<p>Witness my hand and seal:</p></div> + +<p>Captain Scraggs signed without reading and the new mate and Neils +Halvorsen appended their signatures as witnesses. Mr. Gibney +thereupon folded this clearance paper into the tiniest possible +compact ball, wrapped it in a piece of tinfoil torn from a +package of tobacco, to protect it from his saliva, tucked it in +his cheek and with a sign for McGuffey to follow him, started +crawling over the cargo aft. By this time, the <i>Maggie</i> was +within a hundred yards of the distressed bark and was ratching +slowly backward and forward before her.</p> + +<p>"In all my born days," quoth Mr. Gibney, speaking a trifle +thickly because of the document in his mouth, "I never got such a +wallop as Scraggs handed me an' you last night. I don't forget +things like that in a hurry. Now that we got a vindication o' the +charge o' piracy agin us, I'm achin' to get shet of the <i>Maggie</i> +an' her crew, so if you'll kindly peel off all of your clothes +with the exception, say, of your underdrawers, we'll swim off to +that bark an' give Phineas P. Scraggs an exhibition of real +sailorizin' an' seamanship."</p> + +<p>"What's the big idee?" McGuffey demanded cautiously.</p> + +<p>"Why, we'll sail her in ourselves—me an' you—an' glom all the +salvage for ourselves. T'ell with Scraggs an' the <i>Maggie</i> an' +that new mate an' engineer. I'm off'n 'em for life."</p> + +<p>Pop-eyed with excitement and interest, B. McGuffey, Esquire, +stood up and with a single twist shed his cap and coat. His +shirts followed. Both he and Gibney were already minus their +shoes and socks. To slip out of their faded dungarees was the +work of an instant. Strapping their belts around their waists to +hold up their drawers, the worthy pair stepped to the rail of the +<i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>"Hey, there? Where you goin', Gib? I give you that clearance +paper on condition that you was to tell me how to salvage that +there bark without havin' to shift my cargo to get at the small +boat."</p> + +<p>"I'm just about to tell you, Scraggs. You don't touch a thing +aboard the <i>Maggie</i>. You leave her out of it entirely. You just +jump overboard, like me an' Mac will in a jiffy, swim over to the +bark, climb aboard, and sail her in to San Francisco Bay. When +you get there you drop anchor an' call it a day's work." He +grinned broadly. "One o' these bright days, Scraggs, when me an' +Mac is just wallerin' in salvage money, drop around to see us an' +we'll give you a kick in the face. Farewell, you boobs," and he +dove overboard.</p> + +<p>"Ta-ta," McGuffey cried in his tantalizing falsetto voice, and +followed his leader into the briny deep. As they came up and +snorted, grampus-like, shaking the water out of their eyes, they +glanced back at the <i>Maggie</i> and observed that Captain Scraggs +was, for the third time that never-to-be-forgotten voyage, +jumping on his hat.</p> + +<p>"If I was that far gone in a habit," quoth Mr. McGuffey as he +hauled up alongside Mr. Gibney, "I'll be switched if I wouldn't +go bareheaded an' save expenses."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + + +<p>The tide was still at the flood and the two adventurers made fast +progress toward the <i>Chesapeake</i>. Choosing a favourable +opportunity as the vessel dipped, they grasped her martingale, +climbed up on the bowsprit, and ran along the bowsprit to the +to'gallan'-fo'castle. On the deck below a dead man lay in the +scuppers, and such a horrible stench pervaded the vessel that +McGuffey was taken very ill and was forced to seek the rail.</p> + +<p>"Scurvy or somethin'," Mr. Gibney announced quite calmly. "Here's +the devil to pay. There should be chloride of lime in the mate's +storeroom—I'll scatter some on these poor devils. Too close to +port now to chuck 'em overboard. Anyhow, Bart, me an' you ain't +doctors, nor yet coroners or undertakers, so you'd better skip +along an' build a fire under the donkey aft. Matches in the +galley, of course."</p> + +<p>"I wish she was a schooner," McGuffey complained, edging over to +the weather rail. "It'd be easier for us two to sail her then. +I'm only a marine engineer, Gib, an' while I been goin' to sea +long enough to pick up something about handlin' a vessel, still +I'll get dizzy if I go aloft—an' I'm sure to get sick. You'll +have to do all the high an' lofty tumblin'—an' how in blue +blazes us two're goin' to sail a square-rigger into port is a +mystery to me."</p> + +<p>"Leave the worryin' to your Uncle Gib, Bart. You can take the +wheel an' steer, can't you? She has enough sail practically set +now to make her handle good. Look at them courses hangin' in the +buntlines an' the yards braced a-box! All we got to do is to +square 'em around—but never mind explanations. I'll show you how +it's done after we get steam up in the donkey. I'd prefer a wind +about two points aft her beam, but never let it be said that I +turned up my nose at a good stiff nor'west trade. I've sunk +pretty low, Mac, but I was a real sailor once an' I can sail this +old hooker wherever there's water enough to float her. It's just +pie—well, for heaven's sake, Mac, what are you standin' around +for? Ain't I ordered you to get steam up in the donkey? Lively, +you lubber. After you've got the fire goin', we'll place leadin' +blocks along the deck, lead all the runnin' gear to the winch +head, an' stand by to swing them yards when I give the word."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney trotted down to the main deck and prowled aft. On the +port side of her house he found two more dead men, and a cursory +inspection of the bodies told him they had died of scurvy. He +circled the ship, came back to the fo'castle, entered, and found +four men alive in their berths, but too far gone to leave them. +"I'll have you boys in the Marine Hospital to-night," he informed +the poor creatures, and sought the master's cabin. Lying on his +bed, fully dressed, he found the skipper of the <i>Chesapeake</i>. The +man was gaunt and emaciated.</p> + +<p>The freebooter of the green-pea trade touched his wet forelock +respectfully. "My name is Gibney, sir, an' I hold an unlimited +license as first mate of sail or steam. I was passin' up the +coast on a good-for-nothin' little bumboat, an' seen you in +distress, so me an' a friend swum over to give you the double O. +You're in a bad way, sir."</p> + +<p>"Two hundred and eighty-seven days from Hamburg, Mr. Gibney. Our +vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too +much fresh fish down in the Doldrums. Our potatoes all went +rotten before we were out two months. Naturally, the ship's +officers stuck it out longest, but when we drifted in here this +morning, I was the only man aboard able to stand up. I crawled up +on the to'-gallan'-fo'castle and let go the starboard anchor. I'd +had it cock-billed for three weeks. All I had to do was knock out +the stopper."</p> + +<p>While Mr. Gibney questioned him and listened avidly to the +horrible tale of privation and despair, McGuffey appeared to +report a brisk fire under the donkey and to promise steam in +forty minutes; also that the <i>Maggie</i> was hove to a cable length +distant, with her crew digging under the deckload of vegetables +for the small boat. "Help yourself to a belayin' pin, Bart, an' +knock 'em on the heads if they try to come aboard," Mr. Gibney +ordered nonchalantly.</p> + +<p>"Do I understand there is a steamer at hand, Mr. Gibney?" the +master of the <i>Chesapeake</i> queried.</p> + +<p>"There's an excuse for one, sir. The little vegetable freighter +<i>Maggie</i>. She'll never be able to tow you in, because she ain't +got power enough, an' if she had power enough she ain't got coal +enough. Besides, Scraggs, her owner, is a rotten bad article an' +before he'll put a rope aboard you he'll tie you up on a contract +for a figger that'd make an angel weep. The way your ship lies +an' everything, me an' McGuffey can sail her in for you at half +the price."</p> + +<p>"I can't risk my ship in the hands of two men," the sick captain +answered. "She's too valuable and so is her cargo. If this little +steamer will tow me in I'll gladly give her my towline and let +the court settle the bill."</p> + +<p>"Not by a million," Mr. Gibney protested. "Beg pardon, sir, but +you don't know this here Scraggs like I do. I couldn't think of +lettin' him set foot on this deck."</p> + +<p>"<i>You</i> couldn't think of it? Well, when did <i>you</i> take +command of <i>my</i> ship?"</p> + +<p>"You're flotsam an' jetsam, sir, an' practically in the breakers. +You're sick, an', for all I know, delirious, so for the sake o' +protectin' you, the sick seaman in the fo'castle an' the owners, +I'm takin' command."</p> + +<p>The master of the <i>Chesapeake</i> reached under his pillow and +produced a pistol. "Out of my cabin or I'll riddle you," he +barked feebly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney departed without a word of protest and proceeded to +make his arrangements, regardless of the master's consent. As he +and McGuffey busied themselves, laying the leading blocks along +the deck, they glanced toward the <i>Maggie</i> and observed Captain +Scraggs hurling crates of vegetables overboard in an effort to +get at the small boat quickly. "He'll die when the freight claims +come in," Mr. McGuffey chortled. "Poor ol' Scraggsy!"</p> + +<p>"How're we goin' to git that durned anchor up, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"We ain't goin' to get it up. We're goin' to knock out a shackle +in the chain an' let her go to glory."</p> + +<p>"Anchors is expensive, Gib. Mebbe they'll deduct the price o' +that anchor from our salvage."</p> + +<p>"By Jupiter, you're talkin', Mac. We'll just save that anchor, +come to think of it."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Just let Scraggsy an' The Squarehead come aboard an' put the +ship's towin' cable aboard the <i>Maggie</i>. The <i>Maggie'll</i> just +about be able to hold her while us four up with the anchor—<i>an' +cockbill</i> it agin!"</p> + +<p>"They got the skiff overside," McGuffey warned.</p> + +<p>"Throw over the Jacob's ladder and help 'em aboard, Mac. Nothin' +like bein' neighbourly. This here's a delicate situation, what +with the old man declinin' our services in favour of a tow by the +<i>Maggie</i>, an' it occurs to me if we oppose him our standin' in +court will be impaired. I see I got to use my imagination agin."</p> + +<p>When Captain Scraggs came aboard, Mr. Gibney escorted him around +to the master's cabin, introduced him, and stood by while they +bargained. The sick skipper glowered at Mr. Gibney when Scraggs, +with a wealth of detail, explained their presence, but, for all +his predicament, he was a shrewd man and instantly decided to use +Gibney and McGuffey as a fulcrum wherewith to pry a very low +price out of Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney could not forebear a +grin as he saw the captain's plan, and instantly he resolved to +further it, if for no other reason than to humiliate and +infuriate Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"The tow will cost you five thousand, Captain," Scraggs began +pompously.</p> + +<p>"Me an' McGuffey'll sail you in for four," Gibney declared.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand," snarled Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thousand. As a matter of fact, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac'll sail her in for nothin' just to skin you +out o' the salvage."</p> + +<p>"Two thousand dollars is my lowest figure," Scraggs declared. +"Take it or leave it, Captain. Under the circumstances, +bargaining is useless. Two thousand is my last bid."</p> + +<p>The figure Scraggs named was probably one fifth of what the +master of the <i>Chesapeake</i> knew a court would award; nevertheless +he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It's a straight towing job, Captain, and not a salvage +proposition at all. A tug would tow me in for two hundred and +fifty, but I'll give you five hundred."</p> + +<p>Remembering the vegetables he had jettisoned, Scraggs knew he +could not afford to accept that price. "I'm through," he +bluffed—and his bluff worked.</p> + +<p>"Taken, Captain Scraggs. Write out an agreement and I'll sign +it."</p> + +<p>With the agreement in his pocket, Scraggs, followed by Gibney, +left the cabin. "One hundred each to you an' Mac if you'll stay +aboard the <i>Chesapeake</i>, steer her, an' help the <i>Maggie</i> out +with what sail you can get on her," Scraggs promised.</p> + +<p>"Take a long, runnin' jump at yourself, Scraggsy, old sorrowful. +The best me an' Mac'll do is to help you cockbill the anchor, an' +that'll cost you ten bucks for each of us—in advance." The +artful fellow realized that Scraggs knew nothing whatever about a +sailing ship and would have to depend upon The Squarehead for the +information he required.</p> + +<p>"All right. Here's your money," Scraggs replied and handed Mr. +Gibney twenty dollars. He and Neils Halvorsen then went forward, +got out the steel towing cable, and fastened a light rope to the +end of it. The skiff floated off the ship at the end of the +painter, so The Squarehead hauled it in, climbed down into the +skiff, and made the light rope fast to a thwart; then, with +Captain Scraggs paying out the hawser, Neils bent manfully to the +oars and started to tow the steel cable back to the <i>Maggie</i>. +Half way there, the weight of the cable dragging behind slowed +The Squarehead up and eventually stopped him. Exerting all his +strength he pulled and pulled, but the sole result of his efforts +was to wear himself out, seeing which the <i>Maggie's</i> navigating +officer set the little steamer in toward the perspiring Neils, +while Captain Scraggs, Gibney, and McGuffey cheered lustily.</p> + +<p>Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly Neils unshipped the remaining +oar, sprang to the stern, and attempted, by sculling, to keep the +skiff's head up to the waves. But the weight of the cable whirled +the little craft around, a wave rolled in over her counter, and +half-filled her; the succeeding wave completed the job and rolled +the skiff over and The Squarehead was forced to swim back to the +<i>Chesapeake</i>. He climbed up the Jacob's ladder to face a storm of +abuse from Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>The cable was hauled back aboard with difficulty, owing to the +submerged skiff at the end of it. Captain Scraggs and The +Squarehead leaned over the <i>Chesapeake's</i> rail and tugged +furiously, when the wreck came alongside, but all of their +strength was unequal to the task of righting the little craft by +hauling up on the light rope attached to her thwart.</p> + +<p>"For ten dollars more each me an' Mac'll tail on to that rope an' +do our best to right the skiff. After she's righted, I'll bail +her out, borrow new oars from this here bark, an' help Neils row +back to the <i>Maggie</i> with the cable," Mr. Gibney volunteered. +"Cash in advance, as per usual."</p> + +<p>"You're a pair of highway robbers, but I'll take you," Scraggs +almost wailed, and paid out the money; whereupon Gibney and +McGuffey "tailed" on to the rope and with raucous cries hauled +away. As a result of their efforts, the thwart came away with the +rope and the quartet sat down with exceeding abruptness on the +hard pine deck of the <i>Chesapeake</i>.</p> + +<p>"I had an idee that thwart would pull loose," Mr. Gibney +remarked, as he got up and rubbed the seat of his dungarees. "If +you'd had an ounce of sense, Scraggsy, you'd have saved twenty +dollars an' rigged a watch-tackle, although even then the thwart +would have come away, pullin' agin a vacuum that way. Well, +you've lost a good skiff worth at least twenty-five dollars not +to mention the two ash breezes that went with her. That helps +some. What're you goin' to do now? Lay the <i>Maggie</i> alongside the +bark? I wouldn't if I was you. The sea's a mite choppy an' if you +bump the <i>Maggie</i> agin the bark she'll do one o' two +things—stave in her topsides or bump that top-heavy deckload o' +vegetables overboard. An' if that happens," he reminded Scraggs, +"you'll be doin' your bookkeepin' with red ink for quite a +spell."</p> + +<p>"I ain't licked yet—not by a jugful," Scraggs snapped. +"Halvorsen, haul down that signal halyard from the mizzenmast, +take one end of it in your teeth, an' swim back to the <i>Maggie</i> +with it. We'll fasten a heavier line to the signal halyard, bend +the other end of the heavy line to the cable, an' haul the cable +aboard with the <i>Maggie's</i> winch."</p> + +<p>"You say that so nice, Scraggsy, old hopeful, I'm tempted to +think you can whistle it. Neils, he's only askin' you to risk +your life overboard for nothing. 'Tain't in the shippin' articles +that a seaman's got to do that. If he wants a swimmin' exhibition +make him pay for it—through the nose. An' if I was you, I'd find +out how much o' this two thousand dollars' towage he's goin' to +distribute to his crew. Pers'nally I'd get mine in advance."</p> + +<p>"Adelbert P. Gibney," Captain Scraggs hissed. "There's such a +thing as drivin' a man to distraction. Halvorsen, are you with +me?"</p> + +<p>"Aye bane—for saxty dollars. Hay bane worth a month's pay for +take dat swim."</p> + +<p>"You dirty Scowegian ingrate. Well, you don't get no sixty +dollars from me. Bear a hand and we'll drop the ship's work boat +overboard. I guess you can tow a signal halyard to the <i>Maggie</i>, +can't you, Neils?"</p> + +<p>Neils could—and did. Within fifteen minutes the <i>Maggie</i> was +fast to her prize. "Now we'll cockbill the anchor," quoth Captain +Scraggs, so McGuffey reporting sufficient steam in the donkey to +turn over the windlass, the anchor was raised and cockbilled, and +the <i>Maggie</i> hauled away on the hawser the instant Captain +Scraggs signalled his new navigating officer that the hook was +free of the bottom.</p> + +<p>"The old girl don't seem to be makin' headway in the right +direction," McGuffey remarked plaintively, after the <i>Maggie</i> had +strained at the hawser for five minutes. Mr. Gibney, standing by +with a hammer in his hand, nodded affirmatively, while the +skipper of the <i>Chesapeake</i>, whom Mr. Gibney had had the +forethought to carry out on deck to watch the operation, glanced +apprehensively ashore. Scraggs measured the distance with his eye +to the nearest fringe of surf and it was plain that he was +worried.</p> + +<p>"Captain Scraggs," the skipper of the <i>Chesapeake</i> called feebly, +"Mr. Gibney is right. That craft of yours is unable to tow my +ship against this wind. You're losing ground, inch by inch, and +it will be only a matter of an hour or two, if you hang on to me, +before I'll be in the breakers and a total loss. You'll have to +get sail on her or let go the anchor until a tug arrives."</p> + +<p>"I don't know a thing about a sailin' ship," Scraggs quavered.</p> + +<p>"I know it all," Mr. Gibney cut in, "but there ain't money enough +in the world to induce me to exercise that knowledge to your +profit." He turned to the master of the <i>Chesapeake</i>. "For one +hundred dollars each, McGuffey an' I will sail her in for you, +sir."</p> + +<p>"I'll not take the risk, Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs, if you will +follow my instructions we'll get some sail on the <i>Chesapeake</i>. +Take those lines through the leading blocks to the winch——"</p> + +<p>The engineer of the <i>Maggie</i> came up on deck and waved his arms +wildly. "Leggo," he bawled. "I've blown out two tubes. It'll be +all I can do to get home without that tow."</p> + +<p>"Jump on that, Scraggsy," quoth McGuffey softly and cast his +silken engineer's cap on the deck at Scraggs's feet. The latter's +face was ashen as he turned to the skipper of the <i>Chesapeake</i>. +"I'm through," he gulped. "I'll have to cast off. Your ship's +drivin' on to the beach now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, say not so, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney softly, and with a +blow of the hammer knocked out the stopper on the windlass and +let the anchor go down by the run. "Not this voyage, at least." +The <i>Chesapeake</i> rounded up with a jerk and Mr. Gibney took +Captain Scraggs gently by the arm. "Into the small boat, old +ruin," he whispered, "and I'll row you an' The Squarehead back to +the <i>Maggie</i>. If she drifts ashore with that load o' garden +truck, you might as well drown yourself."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was beyond words. He suffered himself to be taken +back to the <i>Maggie</i>, after which kindly action Mr. Gibney +returned to the <i>Chesapeake</i>, climbed aboard, and with the +assistance of McGuffey, hauled the work boat up on deck.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + + +<p>"Now," Mr. Gibney inquired, approaching the skipper of the +<i>Chesapeake</i>, "what'll you give me an' Mac, sir, to sail you in? +Has it dawned on you, sir, that if I hadn't had sense enough to +cockbill that anchor again you'd be on the beach this minute?"</p> + +<p>"One thousand dollars," the skipper answered weakly.</p> + +<p>"You refused to let us do it for a hundred. Now it'll cost you +two thousand, an' I'm lettin' you off cheap at that. Of course, +you can take a chance an' wait until word o' your predicament +sifts into San Francisco an' a tug comes out for you, but in the +meantime the wind may increase an' with the tide at the flood how +do you know your anchor won't drag an' pile you up on them rocks +to leeward?"</p> + +<p>"I'll pay two thousand, Mr. Gibney."</p> + +<p>Without further ado, Mr. Gibney went to the master's cabin, wrote +out an agreement, carried the skipper aft and got his signature +to the contract. Then he tucked the skipper into bed and came +dashing out on deck. The wind was from the northwest and luckily +the foreyard was braced to starboard while the mainyard was +braced to port, so his problem was a simple one.</p> + +<p>"Come here till I introduce you to the jib halyards," he bawled +to McGuffey, and they went forward. Under Gibney's direction, the +jib halyards were taken through the leading blocks to the winch +head; McGuffey manned the winch and the jib was hauled up. +"St-eady-y-y! 'Vast heavin'," cried Mr. Gibney. "Now then, we'll +cast off them jib halyards an' make 'em fast.... Right-O.... Now +stand by to brace the foreyard. Bart, for the love o' heaven, +help me with this foreyard brace."</p> + +<p>With the aid of the winch, they braced the foreyard; then +McGuffey ran aft and took the wheel while Mr. Gibney scuttled +forward, eased up the compressor on the windlass, and permitted +the anchor chain to pay out rapidly. With the hammer, he knocked +out the pin at the forty-five fathom shackle and leaving the +anchor to go by the board, for it worried him no longer, the bark +<i>Chesapeake</i> moved gently off on a west-sou'-west course that +would keep her three points off the land. She had sufficient head +sail on now to hold her up.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney fell upon the main to'gallan'-s'l leads like a demon, +carried them through the leading block to the winch head, turned +over the winch and sheeted home the main-to'-gallan'-s'l. The +<i>Chesapeake</i> gathered speed and Mr. Gibney went aft and stood +beside Mr. McGuffey, the while he looked aloft and thrilled to +the whine of the breeze through the rigging. "This is +sailorizin'," he declared. "It sure beats bumboatin'. Here, blast +you, Bart. You're spillin' the wind out o' that jib. First thing +you know we'll have her in irons an' then the fat <i>will</i> be in +the fire."</p> + +<p>He took the wheel from McGuffey. When he was two miles off the +beach he brought her up into the wind and made the wheel fast, a +spoke to leeward. "Sheet home the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l," he +howled and dashed forward. "Leggo them buntlines an' clewlines, +my hearties, an' haul home that sheet."</p> + +<p>The ship lay in the wind, shivering. Mr. Gibney was here, there, +everywhere. One minute he was dashing along the deck with a +leading line, the next he was laying out aloft. He ordered +himself to do a thing and then, with the pent-up energy of a +thousand devils, he did it. The years of degradation as +navigating officer of the <i>Maggie</i> fell away from him, as he +sprang, agile and half-naked, into the shrouds; a great, hairy +demi-god or sea-goblin he lay out along the yards and sprang from +place to place with the old exultant thrill of youth and joy in +his work.</p> + +<p>"Overhaul them buntlines an' clewlines," he bawled to an +imaginary crew. "Set that main-royal." With McGuffey's help the +sheets came home, the halyards were taken to, the yards +mast-headed, and the halyards belayed to their pin. The +main-royal was now set so they fell to on the fore-royal. A word, +a gesture, from Mr. Gibney, and McGuffey would pounce on a rope +like a bull-dog. With the fore-royal set, Mr. Gibney ran back to +the wheel and put it hard over. There being no after sail set the +bark swung off readily on to her course, slipping through the +water at a nice eight-knot speed. Ten miles off the coast, Mr. +Gibney hung her up in the wind again, braced his yards with the +aid of the winch and McGuffey, came about and headed north. At +three o'clock she cleared the lightship and wore around to come +in over the bar, steering east by south, half-south, for Point +Bonita. She drew the full advantage of the wind now and over the +bar she came, ramping full through the Gate with her yards +squared, on the last of the flood tide.</p> + +<p>As they passed Lime Point, Mr. Gibney prepared to shorten sail +and like a clarion blast his voice rang through the ship.</p> + +<p>"Clew up them royals." He lashed the wheel and they brought the +clewlines again to the winch head. The ship was falling off a +little before the fore-royal was clewed up, so Mr. Gibney ran +back to the wheel and put her on her course again while McGuffey +brought the main-royal clewlines to the winch. Again Gibney made +the wheel fast and helped McGuffey clew up the main-royal; again +he set her on her course while McGuffey, following instructions, +made ready to clew up the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l. They were abreast +Black Point before this latter sail was clewed up, and then they +smothered the lower top-s'ls; the bark was slipping lazily +through the water and McGuffey took the wheel.</p> + +<p>"Starboard a little! Steady-y-y! Keep her as she heads," Gibney +warned and cast off the jib halyards. The jibs slid down the +stays, hanging as they fell. They were well up toward Meiggs +wharf now and it devolved upon Mr. Gibney to bring his prize in +on the quarantine ground and let go his port anchor. Fortunately, +the anchor was already cock-billed. Mr. Gibney sprang to the +fore-top-sail halyards and let them go and the fore-top-sail came +down by the run.</p> + +<p>"Hard-a-starboard! Make her fast, Bart, an' come up here an' help +me with the anchor. Let go the main-top-sail halyards as you come +by an' stand by the compressor on the windlass."</p> + +<p>The <i>Chesapeake</i> swung slowly, broadside to the first of the ebb +and with the wind on her port beam, Mr. Gibney knocked out the +stopper with his trusty hammer and away went the rusty chain, +singing through the hawsepipe. "Snub her gently, Mac, snub her +gently, an' give her the thirty-fathom shackle to the water's +edge," he warned McGuffey.</p> + +<p>The bark swung until her bows were straightened to the ebb tide +and with a wild, triumphant yell Mr. Gibney clasped the honest +McGuffey to his perspiring bosom. The deed was done!</p> + +<p>It was dark, however, before they had all the sails snugged up +shipshape, although in the meantime the quarantine launch had +hove alongside, investigated, and removed those of the crew who +still lived. Shortly thereafter the coroner came and removed the +dead, after which Gibney and McGuffey hosed down the deck, +located some hard tack and coffee, supped and turned in in the +officers' quarters. In the morning, Scab Johnny arrived in a +launch with their other clothes (Mr. Gibney having thoughtfully +sent him ten dollars on account of their old board bill, together +with a request for the clothes), and when the agents of the +<i>Chesapeake</i> sent a watchman to relieve them they went ashore and +had breakfast at the Marigold Café. After breakfast, they called +at the office of the agents, where they were complimented on +their daring seamanship and received a check for one thousand +dollars each.</p> + +<p>"Well, now," McGuffey declared, after they had cashed their +checks, "Seein' as how I've become independently wealthy by +following your lead, Adelbert, all I got to say is that I'm +a-goin' to stick to you like a limpet to a rock. What'll we do +with our money?"</p> + +<p>For the first time in his checkered career Mr. Gibney had a sane, +sensible, and serious thought. "Has it ever occurred to you, Mac, +how much nicer it is to have a few dollars in the bank, good +clothes on your back, an' a credit with your friends? Me, all my +life I been a come-easy, go-easy, come-Sunday,-God'll-send-Monday +sort o' feller, until in my forty-second year I'm little better'n +a beachcomber. It sure hurt me to have to beg that ornery Scraggs +for a job; if I ever sighed for independence it was the other +night in Halfmoon Bay when, footsore an' desperate, we stood by +an' let that little wart harpoon us. So now, when you ask me what +I'm goin' to do with my money, I'll tell you I'm going to save +it, after first payin' up about seventy-five bucks I owe here an' +there along the Front. I'm through drinkin' an' raisin' hell. Me +for a savings bank, Bart."</p> + +<p>"I said I'd string with you an' I will. After we deposit our +money suppose we drop down to Jackson Street wharf an' say hello +to Scraggs. I got a great curiosity to see what that new engineer +has done to my boiler."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + + +<p>When Captain Scraggs, after abandoning all hope of salving the +bark <i>Chesapeake</i>, returned to the <i>Maggie</i>, the little craft +reminded him of nothing so much as the ward for the incorrigible +of an insane asylum. Due to Captain Scraggs's stupidity and the +general inefficiency of the <i>Maggie</i>, the new navigating officer +was of the opinion that he had been swindled out of his share of +the salvage, while the new engineer, furious at having been +engaged to baby such a ruin as the <i>Maggie's</i> boiler turned out +to be, blamed Scraggs's parsimony for the loss of <i>his</i> share of +the salvage. Therefore, both men aired with the utmost frankness +their opinion of their employer; even Neils Halvorsen was peeved. +Their depression and rage was nothing, however, compared with +that of Captain Scraggs's. He had recklessly jettisoned +approximately two hundred dollars' worth of vegetables; indeed +the loss might go higher, for all he knew. Also, he had lost his +skiff, and McGuffey and Gibney had practically blackmailed him +out of forty dollars. Then, to cap the climax, he had been forced +to abandon two thousand dollars to his enemies; and as the +<i>Maggie</i> crept north at three knots an hour the knowledge that he +must, even against his desires, install a new boiler, overwhelmed +him to such an extent that he found it impossible to submit +silently to the nagging of the navigating officer. One word +borrowed another until diplomatic relations were severed and, in +the language of the classic, they "mixed it." They were fairly +well matched, and, to the credit of Captain Scraggs be it said, +whenever he believed himself to have a fighting chance Scraggs +would fight and fight well, under the Tom-cat rules of +fisticuffs.</p> + +<p>Following a bloody battle in the pilot house, he subdued the +mate; following his victory he was still war mad, so he went to +the engine-room hatch and abused the engineer. As a result of the +day's events, both men quit when the <i>Maggie</i> was tied up at +Jackson Street wharf and once more Captain Scraggs was helpless. +In his extremity, he wished he hadn't been so hard on Mr. Gibney +and McGuffey, for he realized he could never hope to get them +back until their salvage money should be spent.</p> + +<p>He had other tortures in addition. He could not afford to await +the construction of a new boiler, for if he did some other +skipper would cut in on the vegetable trade he had worked up, for +vegetables, being perishable, could not lie on the dock at +Halfmoon Bay longer than forty-eight hours. It behooved Scraggs, +therefore, to place an order for the new boiler and, in the +meantime, to get a gang down aboard the <i>Maggie</i> immediately and +put in at least ten new tubes. By working night and day this job +might be accomplished in forty-eight hours, and, fortunately, +Sunday intervened. Scraggs shuddered at thought of the expense, +for in addition to being parsimonious he had very little ready +cash on hand and no credit.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, wrapped in the calm thrall of their +new-found financial independence, arrived at the <i>Maggie's</i> +berth, they were inclined to levity. Indeed, they had come for +the express purpose of spoofing their late employer; to crow over +him and grind his poor soul into the dirt. Fortunately for +Scraggs, he was not aboard, but sounds of activity coming from +the engine room aroused McGuffey's curiosity to such an extent +that he descended thereto at great risk to a new suit of clothes +and discovered four men at work on the boiler. They had cut the +rivets and removed the head and at sight of the ruin disclosed +within, Mr. McGuffey was truly shocked—and awed. Why he hadn't +been blown to Kingdom Come months before was a profound mystery.</p> + +<p>He came up and joined Mr. Gibney on a pile of old hemp hawser +coiled on the bulkhead. "Danged if I don't feel sorry for old +Scraggsy, for all his meanness," he declared. "It's goin' to cost +him five hundred dollars to patch up the old boiler an' keep the +<i>Maggie</i> runnin' until he can ship a new boiler. The ol' fool +don't know a thing about the job himself an' there's four men +down there, without a foreman, soldierin' on him an' soakin' him +a dollar an' a half an hour overtime. He's in so deep now he +might as well jump into bankruptcy entirely an' put in a set o' +piston rings, repack the pumps an' the stuffin-box, shim up the +bearin's an' do a lot of little things the old <i>Maggie's</i> just +hollerin' to have done."</p> + +<p>"To err is human; to forgive divine," Mr. Gibney orated. "Come to +think of it, Mac, we give the old man all that was comin' to him +the other day—a little bit more, mebbe. He must be raw an' +bleedin', an' it wouldn't be sporty to plague him some more."</p> + +<p>"Durned if I don't feel like jumpin' into a suit of dungarees an' +helpin' him out in that engine room, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Troubles always comes in a flock, Bart. The Squarehead tells me +his new navigatin' officer an' the new engineer has jumped their +jobs. It's a dollar to a dime he asks us to come back if he sees +us half way willin' to be friendly an' forget the past."</p> + +<p>"Well," the philosophical McGuffey declared. "Seein' as how we've +reformed, even with money in bank, we might just as well be +workin' as loafin'. There's more money in it. An' if it wasn't +that Scraggs is so ornery there's worse jobs than me an' you had +on the old <i>Maggie</i>."</p> + +<p>"I been wonderin' if we couldn't reform Scraggsy by heapin' coals +of fire on his head, Bart."</p> + +<p>"What d'ye mean? Heapin' coals o' fire on Scraggs'd sure keep an +ash hoist busy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I dunno, Bart. The old man has his troubles. There's Mrs. +Scraggs a-peckin' at him every time he goes home, an' the +<i>Maggie's</i> a worry, not to mention the fact that there ain't much +more'n a decent livin' for him in the green-pea trade. An' he +ain't gittin' any younger, Bart. You got to bear that in mind."</p> + +<p>"Yes, an' he's been disapp'inted in his ambitions," McGuffey +agreed. "On top o' that, the Ocean Shore Railroad is buildin' +down the coast an' as soon as the roadbed is completed over the +San Pedro Mountains them farmers'll haul their produce to the +railhead in motor trucks—an' there won't be no more business for +the <i>Maggie</i>. Three months more'll see the <i>Maggie</i> laid up."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney nodded. "It's just the sweet tenderness of Satan we'll +be flush when Scraggsy's broke, Bart."</p> + +<p>"Dang it, Gib, I sure feel sorry for the old man after takin' a +look at that engine room. She's a holy fright."</p> + +<p>"Well, we'll make up with him when he comes back, Bart, an' if he +shows a contrite sperrit—well, who knows? We might do somethin' +for him."</p> + +<p>"He's got to have some financial help to get that engine turnin' +over again, that's a cinch."</p> + +<p>"So I been thinkin'. We might lend him a coupler hundred bones at +ten per cent., secured by a mortgage on the <i>Maggie</i>, if he's up +agin it hard. Havin' money in bank is one thing but locatin' an +investment for it is another. I've kidded the old man a lot about +the <i>Maggie</i>, but she's worth two thousand dollars if somebody'd +spend a thousand on her inner works an' give her a dab o' paint +an' some new fire hose an' one thing an' another."</p> + +<p>"We'll wait here until Scraggs shows up an' see what he says. If +he still says 'Good mornin', boys,' we'll answer him civil an' +see what it leads to, Gib."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney grunted his approval and Mr. McGuffey, bringing out a +pocket knife, fell to manicuring his terrible finger nails and +paring the callous patches off his palms. Mr. Gibney lighted a +Sailor's Delight cigar and puffed meditatively, the while he +watched a gasoline tug kicking the little schooner <i>Tropic Bird</i> +into an adjacent berth. From the <i>Tropic Bird</i> came an odour of +copra and pineapple and Mr. Gibney sighed; evidently that South +Sea fragrance aroused in him old memories, for presently he spat +overboard, watched his spittle float away on the tide, sighed +again, and declared, apropos of nothing:</p> + +<p>"When I was a young man, Mac, I was a damned fine young man. I +had a bunch o' red whiskers an' a pair o' fists like two picnic +hams. I was a wonder."</p> + +<p>Silently Mr. McGuffey nodded an endorsement of his comrade's +indicated horsepower and peculiar masculine beauty in the days of +the latter's vanished youth. He continued to prune his hands.</p> + +<p>"I was six feet two in my socks, when I wore any, which wasn't +often," Mr. Gibney continued. "I've shrunk half an inch since +them days. I weighed a hundred an' ninety-seven pounds in the +buff an' my chest bulged like a goose-wing tops'l. In them days, +I was an evil man to monkey with. I could have taken two like +Scraggsy an' chewed 'em up, spittin' out their bones an' belt +buckles. I sure was a wonder."</p> + +<p>"You must ha' been with them red whiskers on your face," McGuffey +agreed. He refrained from saying more, for instinct told him Mr. +Gibney was about to grow reminiscent and spin a yarn, and B. +McGuffey had a true seaman's reverence for a goodly tale, whether +true, half-true, or wholly fanciful.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney sniffed again the subtle tang of the South Seas +drifting over from the <i>Tropic Bird</i>, and when a Kanaka, scantily +clad, came on deck, threw a couple of fenders overside and +retired to the forecastle singing one of those Hawaiian ballads +that are so mournfully sweet and funereal, Mr. Gibney sighed +again.</p> + +<p>"Gawd!" he murmured. "I've sure made a hash o' my young life."</p> + +<p>"What's bitin' you, Gib?" Mr. McGuffey's voice was molten with +sympathy.</p> + +<p>"I was just thinkin'," replied Mr. Gibney, "just thinkin', Mac. +It's the pineapples as does it—the smell of the South Seas. Here +I am, big enough and old enough and ugly enough to know better, +and yet every time the <i>City Of Papeete</i> or the <i>Tropic Bird</i> or +the <i>Aorangi</i> come into port and I see the Kanaka boys swabbin' +down decks and get a snifter o' that fine smell of the Island +trade, my innards wilt down like a mess o' cabbage an' I ain't +myself no more until after the fifth drink."</p> + +<p>"Sorter what th' feller calls vain regrets," suggested McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Vain regrets is the word," mourned Mr. Gibney. "It all comes +back to me what I hove away when I was young an' foolish an' +didn't know when I was well off. If there'd only been some +good-hearted lad to advise me, I wouldn't be a-settin' here on a +hemp hawser, a blasted beachcombin' bucko mate and out of a job. +No, siree. I'd 'a' still been King Gibney, Mac, with power o' +life an' death over two thousand odd blackbirds, an' I'd 'a' had +a beautiful wife an' a dozen kids maybe, with pigs an' chickens +an' copra an' shell an' a big bungalow an' money. <i>That's</i> what I +chucked away when I was young an' nobody to advise me."</p> + +<p>McGuffey made no comment on Mr. Gibney's outburst. There are +moments in life when silence is the greatest sympathy one can +offer, and intuitively McGuffey felt that he was face to face +with a tragedy. When a shipmate's soul lay bare it was not for +the McGuffey to inspect it too closely.</p> + +<p>"Yes, McGuffey, I was a king once. Some people might try to make +out as how I was only a chief, but you take it from me, Mac, I +was a king. I was King Gibney, the first, of Aranuka, in the +Gilberts, with the seat of government at Nonuti, which is a +blackbird village right under Hakatuea. No matter which way you +approach, you can't miss it. Hakatuea's a dead volcano, with +ashes on top and just enough fire inside to cast a glow against +the sky at night. There's a fair anchorage inside the reef, but +it takes a good man to land through the surf at high tide in a +whaleboat. I used to do it regular. Aranuka was a nice place, +with plenty of fresh water, and some of the Island schooners, and +once in a while a British gunboat would stop there. Gawd, +McGuffey, but when I was king, they used to pay dear for their +fresh water, except the gunboats, which of course came on and +helped themselves without askin' no questions of me and +parliament—which was both the same thing. I was in Aranuka first +in '88 and again in '89, and I was a fool for leavin' it."</p> + +<p>"What was you doin' in this here Aranuka?" asked Mr. McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"In '88 I was blackbirdin' and in '89 I was—why, what d'ye +expect a king does, anyhow? You don't suppose I <i>worked</i>, do you? +Because I didn't. I ate and drank and slept and went in swimmin' +with the court officers and did a little fishin' an' fightin'; +and on moonlight nights I used to sprawl in the grass out on the +edge of Hakatuea with my head in my queen's lap, rubberin' up at +the Southern Cross and watchin' the rollers breakin' white over +the reef. And everything'd be as still as death except for that +eternal swishin' of the surf on the beach, babblin' of 'Peace! +Peace! Peace!' an' maybe once in a while the royal voice lifted +in one of them sad slumber songs of the South Seas—creepy and +dirgelike and beautiful. My girl could sing circles around a sky +lark. I taught her how to sing 'John Brown's Body Lies +A-Smoulderin' in th' Grave,' though she didn't have no more +notion o' what she was singin' than a ring-tailed monkey."</p> + +<p>"How d'ye come to pick up with her?" inquired McGuffey politely.</p> + +<p>"I didn't come to pick up with her," answered Mr. Gibney. "She +took a fancy to them red whiskers o' mine, and picked up with me. +She used to stick hibiscus flowers in them red curtains and stand +off and admire me by the hour. You can imagine how gay I used to +feel with flowers in my whiskers. That was one of the reasons why +I left her finally.</p> + +<p>"But them was the days! Me an' Bull McGinty was the two finest +men north or south of the Line. We was worth six ordinary white +men each, and twenty blacks, and we was respected. I first met +Bull McGinty in Shanghai Nelson's boarding house, over in Oregon +Street, not three blocks from where we're settin' now. I was +twenty years old an' holdin' a second mate's ticket, for I'd been +battin' around the world on clipper ships since I was fourteen, +an' I'd bit my way to the front quicker than most. Bull was a big +dark man, edgin' up onto the thirty mark. His great grandmother'd +been a half-breed Batavian nigger, and his father was Irish. Bull +himself was nothin', havin' been born at sea, a thousand miles +from the nearest land. However, that ain't got nothin' to do with +the story. Bull McGinty was skipper an' owner of the schooner +<i>Dashin' Wave</i>, 258 tons net register, when I met him in Shanghai +Nelson's place. Also he was broke, with the <i>Dashin' Wave</i> lyin' +out in the stream off Mission Rock with a Honolulu Chinaman +aboard as crew and watchman, while Bull hustled around shore +tryin' to raise funds to outfit her for another trip to the +Islands. He'd been beachcombin' ten days when I met him, and we +took to each other right off.</p> + +<p>"'Gib,' says Bull McGinty, 'I like you an' if I ever get money +enough to provision the <i>Dashin' Wave</i>, pay the clearance fee, +and put a thousand or two of trade aboard her, you must come mate +with me and if you should have a little money by, enough to fix +us up, I'll not only give you the mate's berth, but I'll put you +in on half the lay.'</p> + +<p>"'Done,' says I. 'I ain't got ten cents Mex to my name, but I'll +outfit that vessel an' get her to sea inside two weeks, or my +name ain't Adelbert P. Gibney.'</p> + +<p>"To look at me now, McGuffey, you'd never think that in them days +I was one of the smartest young bucks that ever boxed the +compass. I was born with a great imagination, Mac. All my life my +imagination's been my salvation. The ability to grab opportunity +by the tail and twist it was my long suit, so after my talk with +Bull McGinty I took a cruise along the docks, lookin' for an +idea, until I come to Sheeny Joe's place. He used to keep a +sailors' outfittin' joint at Howard and East streets, an' as I +stood in his doorway, the Great Idea sails up to Sheeny Joe's an' +lets go both anchors.</p> + +<p>"What was this Idea? It was a waterfront reporter. It was three +waterfront reporters, from three mornin' papers, an' all lookin' +for news.</p> + +<p>"'Joe,' says one little runt, all hair an' nose an' eyeglasses, +'there ain't enough news on the Front to-day to dust a hummin' +bird's eyebrow. Give me a story, Joe. Somethin' new an' brimmin' +with human interest. You must have somethin' up your sleeve, +ain't yuh?'</p> + +<p>"Sheeny Joe is sellin' a Panama paraqueet a pair o' six-bit +dungarees for a dollar and a half, and he ain't got no time for +reporters, but he looks up an' he sees me lingerin' in the +doorway.</p> + +<p>"'Gib,' says he, 'tell these reporter friends o' mine about the +time you was wrecked in the Straits o' Magellan, an' the fight +you had with them man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages.'</p> + +<p>"Of course, I never was wrecked in no Straits o' Magellan, and as +for man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages, I wouldn't know one +if I met him in my grog. But seein' as how Sheeny Joe is busy an' +me owin' him quite a little bill, I have to make good, so I tells +them the most hair-raisin' story they ever listened to. I showed +'em an old scar on my left leg where I was vaccinated once, and +told 'em that's where they shot me with a bow an' arrer. While I +was tellin' my story Sheeny Joe has to run out in th' back yard +an' roll over three times, he's that fascinated with what I'm +tellin' his friends.</p> + +<p>"Did them fellers eat it up? They did. The story comes out next +day with trimmin's on th' front page, an' I'm a hero. Of course +me an' Sheeny Joe knows I'm a liar, but what's a lie or two when +you're helpin' out a shipmate? But anyhow, the whole business +gives me the idee I'm lookin' for, an' I takes all three mornin' +papers down to Bull McGinty an' lets him read 'em.</p> + +<p>"'Now,' says I, when Bull is through readin', 'you have a sample +of what publicity does for a man. I'm a hero. But that don't +outfit the schooner <i>Dashin' Wave</i>. A man don't get no wages as a +hero, Bull. Nevertheless,' says I, 'I have invented a story that +will bring in money,' an' I tell the story to Bull. I don't leave +him until I have that yarn drilled right inter his soul, an' then +I call on Sheeny Joe an' tell him to pass the word to all of his +reporter friends that if they want a good story to go down to +Shanghai Nelson's boardin' house an' ask for Bull McGinty, +skipper o' the schooner <i>Dashin' Wave</i>.</p> + +<p>"Did they come? Mac, they came a-runnin'. The little nosy guy +with the hair chartered a hack, he was in such a hurry. An' when +they arrive, there sits Bull McGinty, smilin' an' affable, an' he +spills his yarn as easy an' graceful an' slick as a mess o' eels. +There's a island in the Society group, says Bull, which he +discovers on his last trip, an' which ain't in none o' the +British Admiralty notes. It's a regular island, with palms an' +breadfruit an' tamarinds an' mangoes an' such, fine an' fertile, +fifteen miles around the middle, an' plenty o' water. But th' +surprisin' thing about this here island is that it ain't got +nothin' livin' on it except the most beautiful women in all the +South Seas. Accordin' to Bull, there ain't a male man nowhere on +the horizon. Th' men has been fightin' among themselves until +every man Jack has been killed off. Nothin' left but women with +dreamy eyes an' long black hair an' pearly teeth. 'A man,' says +Bull McGinty, 'is at a premium. Over fifteen different girls fell +in love with him before he was ashore ten minutes, an' he had to +pull back to the schooner to escape 'em. At that, says Bull, as +much as a hundred an' twenty-seven of 'em, as near as he could +count, came swimmin' after him and chased the schooner until she +was hull down on the horizon, an' then they give up an' swam back +to home, sobbin' like babies.</p> + +<p>"Bull explains that he's so dead stuck on the place he's goin' +back, just as soon as he can get together say a hundred smart +young lads to come in with him on the lay, outfit his schooner, +an' get to sea. Every man that wants to come in on th' deal must +be not less than twenty-one years old and not more than thirty, +an' must be examined by a doctor to see that he ain't afflicted +with no contagious sickness, like consumption, which just raises +fits with them natives, once it gets in amongst 'em. It's Bull's +plan to start a ideal colony, governed on new an' different +lines, an' every man must marry. He can have as many wives as he +can support after each man has had his choice of the herd. The +women are all beautiful, but in order that nobody will have a +kick comin' the choice of wives is to be determined by drawin' +lots. The island is to be fenced off an' each member o' the +expedition is to have so much land.</p> + +<p>"In order to do everything shipshape, Bull explains that he has +formed a company to be known as the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas, capitalized for two hundred shares at $500 a share. Bull, +bein' owner o' th' schooner, an' possessin' the secret of the +latitude an' longitude o' the island, an' bein' the movin' +sperrit, so to speak, declares himself in on fifty-one per cent. +o' the capital stock. Stocksellin' will commence just as soon as +the printer can deliver the certificates.</p> + +<p>"In the course of a somewhat checkered career, Mac, I've seen +some suckers, an' I've told some lies, but this here was th' +crownin' event of my life. We had applications for stock the next +morning before me an' Bull was out o' bed. Four hundred and +thirty-one would-be colonists comes flockin' around us, tryin' to +hand us $500 each. Bull questions 'em all very closely, and outer +the lot he selects the biggest damn fools in evidence. He was +careful to select little skinny men whenever possible. They was a +lot o' Willie boys an' young bloods lookin' for adventure, an' me +an' Bull McGinty was just the lads to give it to 'em in +bucketfuls. The little nosy reporter with the hair was fair crazy +to come, but McGinty gets a jackleg doctor to examine him an' +swear that he's sufferin' from spatulation o' the medulla +oblongata, housemaid's knee, and the hives. We're mighty sorry, +but it's agin the by-laws to bring him along. He felt +heartbroken, so just before we up hook with the expedition, I had +Bull give him an' the other newspaper boys a hundred dollars +each. They was fine lads, all three, an' give us lots o' free +advertisin'.</p> + +<p>"Bull got greedy an' was for charterin' another schooner an' +givin' all comers a run for their money, but I was wise enough to +see the danger o' numbers, an' argued him out of it. I went mate +on the <i>Dashin' Wave</i>, as per program, an' on a lovely summer day +we towed out, with half San Francisco crowdin' the wharves an' +wishin' us bon voyage, which is French for a profitable trip.</p> + +<p>"We had a nice lot o' sick children on our hands before we was +over th' Potato Patch. We didn't have a regular crew, exceptin' +Bull McGinty an' me an' the Chinaman who shipped as cook. +However, some of the brotherhood used to go yachting, an' they +was all the crew we needed. We had a fair run to Honolulu, where +we took on five thousand dollars in trade—beads, an' mouth +organs, an' calico, an' juice harps, an' dollar watches, an' a +lot of old army revolvers with the firin' pins filed off, and +what not.</p> + +<p>"From Honolulu, we clears for Pago Pago, where all hands went +ashore an' enjoyed themselves visitin' the different points o' +interest. From Pago Pago, we goes to Tahiti, and from Tahiti to +Suva, and in general gives them adventurers as nice a little +summer vacation as they could have wished for. Bull was for +dumpin' the lot at Suva an' gettin' down to business—said he'd +fooled away enough time on the gang—but I argued that we'd took +their money—$50,000 of it, and they was entitled to some kind of +a run, an' if we marooned them, like as not they'd send a gunboat +after us, an' the fat'd be in the fire. Bull gave in to me +finally, though he growled a lot about the profits bein' all et +up by the brotherhood, appetites increasin' considerable at sea, +an' all that.</p> + +<p>"Just after we leave Suva we butts into a mild little typhoon, +an' Bull scuds before it under bare poles, with just a wisp o' a +jib to steady her. An' when the brotherhood was pea-green with +seasickness I goes down into the bilges with a big auger an' +scuttles the ship. In about two hours the brother at the wheel +begins to complain that she's heavy an' draggin' like blazes, an' +he fears maybe her seams has opened up under the strain.</p> + +<p>"'I shouldn't wonder a bit,' says Bull McGinty, 'she's been +jumpin' like a dolphin', and he goes below to investigate. Two +minutes later he prances up on deck like a lunatic.</p> + +<p>"'All hands to the pumps,' he yells; 'there's four feet o' water +in the hold.' Aside he says to me, 'Gib, my boy, you're a jewel. +Not a drop of water in that forward compartment where we piled +the trade.'</p> + +<p>"It was a terrible sad sight to see the seasick Brotherhood of +the South Seas staggerin' below to the pumps. We had four pumps, +an' feelin' that they might be able to pump her dry too soon, I +had removed the suction leather from two of them. What a howl +went up when Bull McGinty, roarin' like a sea lion, announces +that all hands is doomed, because two of the pumps is nix +comarous! Just about that time we ships a sea or two, and all +hands lets go the pumps and starts to pray or weep or whatever +they was minded to do under the circumstances. In the general +excitement I slips below an' plugs up one hole, an' forces two +men, at the point of a revolver that wasn't loaded, to pump ship. +They just managed to hold the water level, while up on deck Bull +is tearin' his hair an' cursin' somethin' frightful.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mac, we kept that thing up for two days an' two nights, +while the gale lasted, an' when we finally gets under the lee of +an island, all hands are for throwin' up the sponge an' goin' +back home. Somehow or other, the expedition don't look so +enticin' as it did at first. We cleared away both whaleboats and +landed the brotherhood on the island, where there was a wharf an' +a big tradin' station. I forget what they call the place, but +steamers touch there regular. Me an' Bull McGinty and the +Chinaman stayed aboard, pumped out the ship, fixed the pumps, and +plugged the holes in her bottom so nobody could find out. Then we +figures out the price of a passage back to Frisco, second-class, +for the whole bunch, an' me an' Bull goes ashore with a big sack +of Chili dollars an' fixes it up with all hands to let go an' +call it square for the ticket home. They wasn't feelin' as sore +as much as you might imagine. None o' them had the brains or the +spunk of a mouse, and besides we'd give them a mighty good time +of it, all things considered. So, to make a long story short, we +picks up a crew of half a dozen black boys, pulls the two +whaleboats back to the ship, ups hook and sails away on our +legitimate business. We divides the spoils between us, an' my +share is eleven thousand cash an' a half interest in th' trade.</p> + +<p>"We do a nice business in shell an' copra, an' such, an' in +Papeete we sell our cargo to a Jew trader an' clean up fifteen +hundred each additional on the voyage, after which Bull declares +he's tired of hucksterin' around like any bloomin' peddler, an' +we make up our minds to do a little blackbirdin'.</p> + +<p>"Was you ever a blackbirder, McGuffey? No? Well, you didn't miss +nothin'. It's dirty business. You drop in at a island, an' you +invite the native chief aboard an' get him drunk, and make a +contract with him for so many blackbirds to work for three years +on some other island, or on the coffee or henequen plantations +in Central America, and you promise them big money and lots of +tobacco, and a free trip back when their time is up. What labour +you can't get by dealin' with the chief, you shanghai 'em, and +once in a while you can make a bully good deal, particularly in +the New Hebrides and New Guinea, after a fight when they have a +lot of prisoners on hand which they're goin' to eat until you +come along an' buy 'em for a stick o' tobacco.</p> + +<p>"It ain't no fun, blackbirdin', McGuffey. After you've got 'em +aboard, they may take a notion to jump overboard and swim back, +so you get 'em down below an' clap the hatches on 'em until +you're out of sight o' land, an' the beggars howl an' there's +hell to pay.</p> + +<p>"Me an' Bull McGinty headed for the Gilberts that first trip, an' +managed to pick up a fair consignment of labour. We touched in at +Nonuti the very last place, which, as I says, is on the island o' +Aranuka, right under the Hakatuea volcano. There was some +strappin' big buck native niggers there that would fetch $300 a +head Mex, an' so me an' Bull goes ashore to pow-wow with the +chief. He was a fat old boy named Poui-Slam-Bang, or some such +name, an' he received us as nice as you please. Me an' Bull +rubbed noses with Poui-Slam-Bang an' all the head men, and they +give a big feed in our honour. Roast pig an' roast duck an' +stewed chicken an' all the tropical trimmin's we had, Mac, +including a little barrel o' furniture polish that Bull brought +ashore, labelled Three Star Hennessy on the outside an' Three Ply +Deviltry inside.</p> + +<p>"While we was at the feast, with everybody squattin' around on +their hind legs, pokin' their mits into a big wooden bowl, +Poui-Slam-Bang pipes up his only daughter, a lovely wench about +seventeen years old with a name that nobody can pronounce. I call +her Pinky, and of all the women I ever meets, black, white, +brown, red, or yellow, this Pinky is the loveliest, and has 'em +all hull down. She's wearin' a palm leaf petticoat and a string +o' shark's teeth around her neck with an empty sardine box for a +pendant. She has flowers in her hair, which is braided in +pig-tails, different from the other girls. Her eyes—McGuffey, +<i>them eyes!</i> Like a pair of fireflies floatin' in sorghum. And as +she stands there working her toes in th' sand, she never takes +her eyes off them fine red whiskers o' mine.</p> + +<p>"Bull gives her a cigar, and it's plain that he's taken with her, +but she never so much as looks at Bull. My whiskers has done the +trick—so bimeby, when all hands is feeling jolly, including me +an' McGinty, I sidles up to Pinky an' sorter gives her to +understand that she wouldn't have to clap me in irons to fondle +them red whiskers o' mine. She sticks a flower in them, Mac, +s'help me, and then giggles foolish an' ducks into the bush.</p> + +<p>"Well, we rigs up a deal with Poui-Slam-Bang and next afternoon +stand out for the entrance with forty odd head of labour in +excess of what we had when we arrived. We'd cleared the reef, and +was comin' about around Hakatuea Head, when what d'ye suppose we +sight? Nothin' more or less than Miss Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang +swimmin' right across our bows. She was more than a mile out an' +comin' like a shark, hand over hand. Before I could yell to the +boy at the wheel to luff up, so we wouldn't run the girl down, +we was right on top of her.</p> + +<p>"'They'll have to revise the census of Aranuka,' says Bull +McGinty. I do believe we hit that girl an' drove her under.'</p> + +<p>"We was both rubberin' astern an' to starboard an' port, but not +a sign o' the girl do we see. I got out my glasses an' searched +around for full half an hour, an' by that time we was five miles +out to sea, and it wasn't no use lookin' any more, an' besides I +had work to attend to.</p> + +<p>"We sailed along all the afternoon, over a sea as smooth as a +dance-hall floor. Along about sunset I was up on the fo'castle +head singin' 'Nancy Brown' when who should pop up onto the +bowsprit but Pinky. She sat there a minute danglin' her legs an' +smilin' an' s'help me, Mac, if it hadn't been daylight still, I'd +a-swore she was a sperrit. I jumped two feet in the air an' came +down with my mouth open. Pinky hops up on the bowsprit, and runs +along to the fo'castle head, an' then I seen she was real. The +little cuss! She'd swung herself up into the martingale, an' +there she'd squatted all the afternoon until we was out o' sight +o' land. Of course, she got a ducking every few minutes, but +what's a duckin' to them kind o' people?</p> + +<p>"I grabs hold o' Pinky, mighty glad to know we hadn't killed her, +and brings her before Bull McGinty.</p> + +<p>"'She's in love with some one of these black bucks aboard,' says +Bull. 'That's why she's followed. Isn't she the likely lookin' +wench, Gib? I do believe I'll——'</p> + +<p>"'No, you won't do no such thing, Bull,' says I. 'The fact o' the +matter is the girl's in love with me, an' if anybody's to have +her it'll be Adelbert P. Gibney.'</p> + +<p>"'I'm not so sure o' that, Gib,' says Bull McGinty. 'I'm skipper +here.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, I'm mate,' says I, 'with a half interest in this +expedition.'</p> + +<p>"'I'll fight you for her,' says Bull very pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"'No,' says I, 'I'm opposed t' fightin' a shipmate under such +circumstances, and moreover we're the only two white men aboard, +an' if we fight I think I'll kill you, an' then I'd be lonesome. +As a compromise, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll give Pinky +the freedom o' the ship, an' me an' you'll have a cribbage +tournament from now until we drop anchor at Santa Maria del Pilar +(that's a dog hole on the Guatemala coast). We'll play every +chance we get, an' the lad that's ahead when we let go the anchor +at Santa Maria del Pilar gets Pinky.'</p> + +<p>"'Fair enough,' says Bull, 'an' here's my hand on it.'</p> + +<p>"We had a smart passage o' fifteen days, and in that time me an' +Bull McGinty plays just one hundred and eighteen games. We had to +quit in the middle o' the last, with the score fifty-eight games +to fifty-nine in Bull's favour, in order to let go the anchor at +Santa Maria del Pilar. While we was up on deck, what do you +suppose Pinky goes and does? She slips down to the cabin and +fudges my peg three holes ahead. It seems that Bull, who talked +the island lingo, has been braggin' to her an' tellin' her what +we've been up to. The minute we have the anchor down, me an' Bull +returns to the game. It's nip an' tuck to the finish an' I win by +one point, Bull dyin' in the last hole, which makes the thing a +draw.</p> + +<p>"Says I to Bull McGinty: 'Bull, we can't both have her.'</p> + +<p>"Says Bull to me: 'I hereby declare this tournament no contest, +an' move that we sell the lady with the rest o' the herd, an' no +hard feelin's between shipmates.'</p> + +<p>"Nothin' could be fairer than that an' I tells Bull I'm willin'. +So we sold Pinky for $200 Mex to Don Luiz Miguel y Oreña, an' +sailed away for another flock o' blackbirds.</p> + +<p>"We had busy times for the next six months until we found +ourselves back at Santa Maria del Pilar with another cargo of +savages. But all that time I'd been feelin' a little sneaky on +account o' sellin' Pinky, an' as soon as we dropped anchor I had +the boys pull me ashore, an' I chartered a white mule an' shapes +my course for the hacienda of this Don Luiz Miguel y Oreña. I was +minded to see how Pinky was gettin' on.</p> + +<p>"It was comin' on dusk when I rides into Oreña's place, an' all +th' hands was just in from the fields. The labour shacks was +built in a kind of square along with the warehouses, an' in the +centre o' this square was a snubbin' post, with bull rings, an' +hangin' to this snubbin' post, with her hands triced up to the +bull rings, was Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang with a little Colorado claro +man standing off swingin' a rope's end on poor little Pinky's +bare back.</p> + +<p>"I'm not what you'd call a patient man, McGuffey, an' bein' o' +th' sea and not used to ridin' horses, not to speak o' white +mules, I was sore in more ways than one. I luffs up alongside o' +this dry land bo'sum an' punches once. Then I jumps off my white +mule, takes the swab by the heels, an' chucks him over the +warehouse into a cactus bush. Don Oreña was there an' he makes +objections to me gettin' fresh with his help so, I tucks Don +Oreña under my arm, lays him acrosst my knee, and gives him a +taste o' th' rope's end. He hollers murder, but I bats him around +until he can't let out another peep, after which I grabs a +machete that's handy an' chases the entire male population into +the jungle. When I gets back, Pinky is hanging to the bull rings, +about dead. I cuts her down, swings her on th' mule, an' makes +for the coast. We was aboard th' <i>Dashin' Wave</i> next mornin'.</p> + +<p>"Bull was settin' up on top o' th' house eatin' an orange when me +an' Pinky comes over th' rail.</p> + +<p>"'Bull McGinty' says I, 'you're a sea captain. Come down off that +house an' marry me to Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang.'</p> + +<p>"'With pleasure,' says Bull, an' he done it, announcin' us man +an' wife by all th' rules an' regulations o' th' Department o' +Commerce an' Labour, th' <i>Dashin' Wave</i> being registered under +th' American flag.</p> + +<p>"Six weeks later I sets Pinky down on the beach at Nonuti, an' we +both go up to her old man's shack for the parental blessin'. I +expected Poui-Slam-Bang would slaughter th' roasted hog upon th' +prodigal's return, but come t' find out, the old boy's been took +in a scrap with one o' the hill tribes, an' speculation's rife as +to his final disposition. Pinky allows that pa's been et up, an' +she havin' no brothers is by all the rules o' the game queen o' +Aranuka. Of course, me bein' her husband, I'm king. You can't get +around my rights to the job nohow. For all that Pinky stands in +with me, however, a big wild-eyed beggar makes up his mind that +he'll make a better king than Adelbert P. Gibney, an' he comes at +me with a four-foot war club, with two spikes drove crosswise +through the business end o' it. As he swings, I soaks him between +the eyes with a ripe breadfruit, with the result that his aim's +spoiled an' he misses. So I took his club away an' hugged him +until I broke three ribs, an' he was always good after that. I +wanted t' be king, but I didn't believe in sheddin' no blood for +the mere sake of office.</p> + +<p>"Well, McGuffey, I was king of Aranuka for nearly six months. I +was a popular king, too, an' there was never no belly-achin' at +my decisions. I had a double-barrelled muzzle-loadin' shotgun, a +present from Bull McGinty. Bull was all broke up at me desertin' +the <i>Dashin' Wave</i>, but I promised to save all the Aranuka trade +for him an' for nobody else, an' he stood off for Suva to get +himself another mate.</p> + +<p>"At first it was great business bein' king, an' I enjoyed it. I +learned Pinky to speak a little English an' she learned me her +lingo, an' we got along mighty fine. Pinky would lay awake +nights, snoopin' around listenin' to what the rest o' the gang +had to say about me, and twice she put me wise to uprisin's that +threatened my throne. I used to get the ring leaders in my arms +an' hug 'em, an' after one hug from Adelbert P. Gibney in them +days——</p> + +<p>"Well, as I was sayin', it was nice enough until the novelty wore +off, an' there was nothin' to do that I hadn't done twenty times +before. I thought some o' goin' to war with the wild niggers in +the hills, an' avengin' my father-in-law's death, but I couldn't +get my army more than three miles inland, so I had to give that +up. Before three months had passed I wanted to abdicate the worst +way. I wanted to tread a deck again, an' rove around with Bull +McGinty. I wanted th' smell o' the open sea an' th' heave o' th' +<i>Dashin' Wave</i> underfoot. I was tired o' breadfruit an' guavas +an' cocoanuts an' all th' rest o' th' blasted grub that Pinky was +feedin' me, an' most of all I was gettin' tired o' Pinky. She +<i>would</i> put cocoanut oil in her hair. Yet (here Mr. Gibney's +voice vibrated with emotion as he conjured up these memories of +his lurid past) it never occurred to me, at the time, I was that +young an' foolish, that she was doin' it for <i>me</i>. She was as +beautiful as ever, an' Gawd knows nobody but a fool would get +tired o' such a fine woman, every inch a queen, but I was just +that foolish.</p> + +<p>"I got so lonesome I wouldn't eat. I wished McGinty would show up +an' relieve me of my kingship. An' one night sure enough he came. +It was moonlight—you've been in the tropics, McGuffey, you know +what real moonlight is—an' I was lyin' out on th' edge of +Hakatuea overlookin' the beach. I'd spotted a sail at sunset an' +somethin' told me it was the <i>Dashin' Wave</i>. Pinky was with me, +rubbin' my head an' braidin' my whiskers an' cooin' over me like +a baby, as happy as any woman could be.</p> + +<p>"Along about ten o'clock, I should say, here comes the <i>Dashin' +Wave</i> around the headland. I could see her luff up an' come about +with her bow headed straight for the entrance between the reefs, +an' th' water purlin' under her forefoot. Everything was as still +as the grave, an' only the surf was swishin' up th' beach sobbin' +'Peace! Peace!' and there wasn't no peace for King Gibney. Pretty +soon I heard the creak of the blocks an' the smash o' th' mast +hoops as th' mains'l came flutterin' down—then th' sound o' the +cable rushin' through the hawsepipes as her hook took bottom. In +the moonlight I could see Bull McGinty standin' by the port +mizzen shrouds with a megaphone up to his face, and his voice +comes up to me like the bugle blast of Kingdom Come.</p> + +<p>"'O, Gib! Are you there?'</p> + +<p>"'Aye, aye, sir.'</p> + +<p>"'Have ye et your full o' th' lotus?' says Bull.</p> + +<p>"'Hard tack an' salt horse for King Gibney,' I yells back. 'I +ain't no vegetarian no more, Bull. Do you need a smart mate?'</p> + +<p>"I could hear Bull McGinty chucklin' to himself.</p> + +<p>"'You young whelp,' says Bull. 'I knew you'd outgrow it. They all +do, when they're as young as you. I'll send the whaleboat ashore. +Kiss Pinky good-bye for me, too,' he adds.</p> + +<p>"Two minutes later I heard the boat splash over the stern davits +an' the black boys raisin' a song as they lay to their work. I +turns to Pinky, takes her in my arms an' kisses her for the first +time in three weeks, an' she knows that th' jig is up. She might +'a' slipped a dirk in me, but she wasn't that kind. Women is +women, McGuffey, the world over. Pinky just kissed me half a +hundred times an' cries a little, holdin' on to me all th' time, +for naturally she don't like to see me go. Finally I have to make +her break loose, an' I climbs down over the bluff an' wades out +to my waist to meet the boat. I was aboard th' <i>Dashin' Wave</i> in +two twos, shakin' hands with Bull McGinty, an' ten minutes later +we had th' anchor up an' th' sails shook out, an' standin' off +for the open sea. An' the last I ever saw of Mrs. Pinky Gibney +was a shadowy figger in th' moonlight standin' out on th' edge o' +Hakatuea Head. The last I hear of her was a sob."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's voice was a trifle husky as he concluded his tale. +He opened and closed his clasp knife and was silent for several +minutes. Presently he sighed.</p> + +<p>"When a feller's young, he never stops to think o' th' hurt he +does," continued the erstwhile king of Aranuka. "Sometimes I lay +awake at nights an' wonder whatever became o' Pinky. I can see +her yet, standin' in th' moonlight, as fine a figger o' a woman +as ever lived. Savage or no savage, she was true an' beautiful, +an' I was a mighty dirty dawg." Mr. Gibney wiped away a +suspicious moisture in his eyes and blew his nose unnecessarily +hard.</p> + +<p>"You was," coincided McGuffey. "You was all o' that. What became +o' Bull McGinty?"</p> + +<p>"He married a sugar plantation in Maui. He's all right for the +rest o' his life. An' as for me as gave him his start, look at +me. Ain't I a sight? Here I am, forty-two years old an' only a +thousand dollars in my pocket. Instead of bein' master of a +clipper ship, I'm mate on a dirty little bumboat. I fall asleep +on deck an' dream an' somethin' drops on my face an' wakes me up. +Is it a breadfruit, Mac? It is not. It's a head of cabbage. I +grab something to throw at Scraggs's cat. Is it a ripe mango? No, +it's a artichoke. In fancy I go to split open a milk cocoanut. +What happens? I slash my thumb on a can o' condensed cream. +Instead o' th' Island trade, I'm runnin' in th' green-pea trade, +twenty miles of coast, freightin' garden truck! My Gawd!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney stood up and dusted the seat of his new suit. He was +dry after his long recital and Captain Scraggs was too long +putting in an appearance, so he decided not to wait for him. +"Let's go an' stow away a glass of beer," he suggested to +McGuffey. "I'm thirstier'n a camel."</p> + +<p>McGuffey was willing so they left the bulkhead for the more +convivial shelter of the Bowhead saloon.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + + +<p>Had either Gibney or McGuffey glanced back as they headed for +their haven of forgetfulness they might have seen Captain Scraggs +poking his fox face up over the edge of a tier of potato boxes +piled on the bulkhead not six feet from where Gibney and McGuffey +had been sitting. Upon his return to the <i>Maggie</i>, about the time +Mr. Gibney commenced spinning his yarn, he had almost walked into +the worthy pair, and, wishing to avoid the jeers and jibes he +felt impending, he had merely stepped aside and hidden behind the +potato boxes in order to eavesdrop on their plans, if possible. +Had Mr. Gibney been less interested in his past or Mr. McGuffey +less interested in the recital of that past they would have seen +Scraggs.</p> + +<p>The owner of the <i>Maggie</i> shook his fist in impotent rage at +their retreating backs. "You think you've suffered before," he +snarled. "But I'll make you suffer some more, you big brute. I'll +hurt you worse than if I caved in your head with a belayin' pin. +I'll break your heart, that's what I'll do to you. You wait."</p> + +<p>In the course of an hour Gibney and McGuffey returned, and +Scraggs met them as they leaped down on to the deck of the +<i>Maggie</i>. "Gentlemen," he remarked—"an' at that I'm givin' you +two all the best of it, even if you two have got a quit-claim +deed that you ain't pirates—I wish to announce that if you two +have come aboard my ship for the puppose o' havin' a little fun +at my expense, I'm a-goin' to call the police an' have you +arrested for disturbin' the peace. On the other hand an' futher, +if your mission's a peaceful one, you're welcome aboard the +<i>Maggie</i>. I may have a temper an' say things that sounds mighty +harsh when I'm het up, but in my calmer moments my natural +inclination is to be a sport."</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, old hard-luck," Mr. Gibney boomed, "we won so we can +afford to be generous in victory. Like you, me an' Mac is +inclined to be uppish at times, particularly in the hour of +triumph, an' say an' do things we're apt to be ashamed of later."</p> + +<p>"Them's my sentiments," McGuffey chimed in.</p> + +<p>"We ain't comin' aboard to beg you for no job," Mr. Gibney +warned. "Git that idea out o' your head—if you got it there. Me +an' Bart each got close to a thousand dollars in bank this minute +an' we're as free an' independent as two hogs walkin' on ice. Any +ol' time we can't stand up we can set down."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was frankly mystified. "If you two got a thousand +dollars each in bank—an' I ain't disputin' it, for I hear on +good authority you got that much for salvin' the +<i>Chesapeake</i>—what're you hangin' around the <i>Maggie</i> for?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney approached and placed his great right arm fraternally +across Scraggs's skinny shoulder. Mr. McGuffey performed a +similar office with his brawny left, and Captain Scraggs looked +apprehensive, like a man who is about to be kissed by another in +public.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, when all is lovely an' the goose honks high, it's our +great American privilege to fight like bearcats if we feel that +way about it. But when misfortune descends on one of us, like a +topmast in a typhoon, it's time to stop bickerin'. Me an' Bart, +driftin' along the docks for a constitootional this mornin', +bears the sorrerful tidin's that your new navigatin' officer an' +your new engineer has quit. Judgin' from that shanty on your left +eye, at least one of 'em quit under protest. Immediately, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac decided you might hate our innards but just +the same you needed us in your business. Consequently, we're here +to help you if you'll let us an' for not another durned reason in +the world."</p> + +<p>"There's four alleeged mechanics down in the engine room loafin' +on the job an' gettin' ready to soak you a dollar an' a half an +hour overtime to-night an' Sunday," McGuffey informed the +skipper. "An' that hurts me. I don't mind takin' a poke at you +myself but I'll be shot if I'll stand idly by an' see somebody +else do it. With your kind permission, Scraggs, I'll climb into +my dungarees an' make things hum in that engine room."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was truly affected. His weak chin trembled and +tears came to his little mean green eyes. He could not speak; so +Mr. Gibney hugged him and patted him on the back and told him he +was a good fellow away down low, if the truth were only known; +whereat Captain Scraggs commenced to sob aloud. McGuffey coughed +and tears as big as marbles cascaded down the honest Gibney's +rubicund countenance.</p> + +<p>"I ain't wuth your sympathy after the way I treated you," Captain +Scraggs cried brokenly.</p> + +<p>"Shet up, you little bum," Mr. Gibney cried furiously. "Or I'll +bang you in that other eye that's ready for bangin'."</p> + +<p>"If you're shy a few bucks——" McGuffey began.</p> + +<p>"I am," Captain Scraggs wailed. "I'm worried to death. I don't +know how I'm ever goin' to pay for that bloody boiler an' git to +sea with the <i>Maggie</i>——"</p> + +<p>"Little sorrel-top," Mr. Gibney murmured, ruffling Scraggs's thin +blonde hair. "Forget them sordid monetary considerations. I'm +somethin' like forty jumps ahead o' the devil an' ruination for +the first time since me an' Bull McGinty organized the +Brotherhood o' the South Seas——"</p> + +<p>"Leggo me," snarled Captain Scraggs and springing back, he bent +and looked earnestly into Mr. Gibney's happy countenance. "Good +land o' Goshen, if you ain't him!" Hate gleamed in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ain't who, you shrimp!" Mr. Gibney was mystified at this abrupt +change of attitude.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs blinked and passed his hand wearily across his +brow. "Forgive me, Gib," he answered humbly. "I was sort o' took +back, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Took back at what?"</p> + +<p>"We won't say nothin' more about it, Gib, except that while I'd +like to accept your kind offer an' put you back on the job again, +I—I just can't bring myself to do it. I'll have to forget +first."</p> + +<p>"Forget what? Bart, is Scraggsy gone nutty?"</p> + +<p>"Out with it, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey urged. "Spit it out, +whatever it is."</p> + +<p>"I'd rather not, but since you ask me I suppose I might as well. +Gib, ever since me an' you first hooked up together, away back in +the corner o' my head there's been lurkin' a suspicion that once +before, a long time ago, you an' me have had some business +dealin's, but for the life o' me I couldn't place you. One minute +I'd just be a-staggerin' on the brink of memory, as the feller +says, an' the next it'd slip away from me. But just now, when you +mentioned Bull McGinty an' the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas—well, Gib, it all come back to me like a flash. Bull +McGinty an' the schooner <i>Dashin' Wave!</i>" Captain Scraggs shook +his head as if his thoughts threatened to congeal in his brain +and he desired to shake them up. "Bull had a dash o' the +tar-brush in his make up, if I don't disremember, an' you was his +young mate. Man, how funny you did look with them long red +whiskers—an' you little more'n a boy."</p> + +<p>"Jumpin' Jehosophat, Scraggsy! Was you one o' the Brotherhood?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs came close and thrust his face up for Mr. +Gibney's inspection. "Gib," he said solemnly, "look at me! Touch +the cord o' memory an' think back. D'ye remember that pore little +feller you robbed of five hundred dollars twenty-odd year ago in +the schooner <i>Dashin' Wave?</i> D'ye remember that typhoon we was in +an' how, when I was that tuckered out an' so seasick I couldn't +stand up, you made me pump ship an' when I protested, you stuck a +horse pistol under my nose an' <i>made</i> me? That man, Adelbert P. +Gibney was <i>me! Me! Me!</i>" Scraggs's voice rose in a crashing +crescendo; his teeth clicked together and he shook his skinny +fist under the great Gibney nose. Gibney paled and drew away from +him.</p> + +<p>"How was I to know, Scraggsy?" he faltered. "The whole bunch was +runts—sickly, measly little fellers. Nevertheless an' agin, you +shouldn't ought to have any kick comin'. You had a fine trip an' +a heap of adventure an' me an' Bull paid your passage back to San +Francisco. Come, Scraggs. Be sensible. What's the use holdin' a +grudge after twenty-five years?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I ain't holdin' a grudge, exactly, Gib, my boy. I admit I +had a good run for my money an' it was a smart piece o' work, an' +I got to admire the idea, same as I got to admire the seamanship +you displayed sailin' the <i>Chesapeake</i> single-handed. It ain't +what you done to me as makes my blood boil. It's what you went +an' done afterward."</p> + +<p>"What'd I do afterward? You can't hang nothin' on me, Phineas P. +Scraggs. Bluffin' don't go. Cough it up."</p> + +<p>"All right, since you drive me to it. How about that lovely, +untootered savage that you lures into your foul clutches so's you +can make yourself king of Aranuka? Hey? Hey? How about that +little tropic wild flower you carelessly plucked an' thrun away? +Oh, I'll admit she was a savage, but she was sweet an' human for +all that an' she had feelin's. She had a heart to bust an' you +busted it for fair."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney attempted to hoot, but made a poor job of it. "Why, +wherever do you get this wild tale, Scraggsy, old spell-binder? +You're sure jingled or you wouldn't talk so vagrant."</p> + +<p>"You can't git away with it like that, Gib. I trailed you. Gib, +for two mortal years I follered you, after you dropped us at +Suva, an' I was just a thirstin' for your blood. If I'd met up +with you any time them first two years I'd have shot you like a +dog. I got a whisper you was in Aranuka but when I got there +you'd left. But I found your wife—her you called Pinky. She +couldn't believe you'd slipped your cable for good an' there she +was, a-waitin' an' a-waitin' for her king to come back. Gib, I'm +free to tell you that piracy, barratry, murder an' homicide pales +into insignificance compared with what you went an' done, for you +broke an innercent an' trustin' heart an' hell's too good for a +man that'll pull a trick like that."</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, Scraggsy, Scraggsy," Mr. Gibney protested. "Them's +awful hard words."</p> + +<p>"I can't help it. You told me to speak out an' I'm a-doin' it. +You hooks up with this unsophisticated, trustful woman—she ain't +a woman; she's a young girl at the time—an' she ain't civilized +enough to be on to your kind. So you finds it easy to make her +love you. Not with the common sordid love of a white woman but +with the fierce, undyin' passion o' the South Seas. An' when you +get her in your clutches, her an' her whole possessions an' she's +yours body an' bones, in the sight o' God an' the sight o' +man—you ups an' leaves her! You throw her down like she's so +much dirt an' leave her to die of a broken heart. An' she'd +a-done it, too, if it hadn't a' been for the children."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was fairly thunderin' his denunciation as he +concluded with: "You—you murderer! Ain't you ashamed of +yourself?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney, thoroughly crushed, hung his head. "If there was +kids, Scraggsy," he pleaded, "they wasn't mine, not that I knows +on."</p> + +<p>"I ain't sayin' you don't speak the truth there, Gib. Maybe you +don't know that part of it, because you left before they was +born. Yes, sir, that gal had two twins—a boy an' a girl an' both +that white, when I see them as yearlings, you'd never suspect +they had a dab o' the tar-brush in 'em at all. The boy had red +hair—provin' he was yourn, Gib."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney could stand no more. He sat down on the hatch coaming +and covered his face with his hard red hands. "If there was kids, +Scraggsy," he sobbed, "I didn't know it. I had everything else, +Scraggs, but heirs to my throne. Scraggsy, believe me or not, but +if I'd had children I'd have stuck by Pinky. I wouldn't desert my +own flesh an' blood, so help me."</p> + +<p>"Well," Scraggs went on sorrowfully, "Pinky's dead an' so her +troubles is over. I heard some years ago she'd passed on with +consumption. But them two <i>hapahaole</i> kids o' yourn, Gib. Just +think of it. Banged an' ragged around between decks, neither +black nor white—too good for the natives an' not good enough for +the whites. Princes on their mother's side, they been robbed o' +their hereditary rights by a gang o' native roughnecks, while +their own father loafs alongshore in San Francisco an' enjoys +himself."</p> + +<p>"Looky here, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey struck in ominously. "Ain't +you said about enough? Don't hit a feller when he's down."</p> + +<p>"Well, he ain't down so low that he can't climb back. If he's got +a spark o' manhood left in him he'll never rest until he goes +back to Aranuka, looks up them progeny o' his, an' does his best +to make amends for the past. Gib, you can't work for me aboard +the <i>Maggie</i>—not if the old girl couldn't turn her screw until +you stepped aboard. Pers'nally you got a lot o' fine p'ints an' +I like you, but now that I know your past——"</p> + +<p>He threw out his hands despairingly. "It's your morals, Gib, it's +your blasted morals."</p> + +<p>"You're right, Scraggs," Mr. Gibney mumbled brokenly. "It's my +duty to go look up them poor children o' mine. Bart, you stick by +old Scraggsy. I owe him somethin' for showin' me my duty an' I'm +lookin' to you to pay the interest on my bill till I get back +with them poor kids o' mine. Until then I guess I ain't fit to +'sociate with white men."</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey appeared on the point of weeping and put his arm +around his old comrade in silent sympathy. Presently Mr. Gibney +shook hands with him and Scraggs and, motioning them not to +follow him, went ashore. Before him, in his mind's eye, there +floated the picture of a South Sea Island with the nodding, +tufted palms fringing the beach and the glow of a volcano against +the moonlit sky. Standing on the headland, waving him a last +farewell, stood the broken-hearted victim of his capricious +youth, the lovely Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang. Every lineament of her +beautiful features was tattooed indelibly on his memory; he knew +she would haunt him forever.</p> + +<p>He went up to the Bowhead saloon, had a drink, leaned on the end +of the bar and thought it over. There was but one way to get back +to Aranuka and that was to ship out before the mast on a South +Sea trader—and with that thought came remembrance of the <i>Tropic +Bird</i>, soon to be discharged and outward bound.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later, Mr. Gibney was aboard the <i>Tropic Bird</i> and +had presented himself at her master's cabin. "Where're you bound +for next trip, sir?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"General trading through the Marquesas, the Society Islands, and +the Gilberts."</p> + +<p>"Happen to be goin' to Aranuka, in the Gilberts?"</p> + +<p>"You bet. Got a trading station there."</p> + +<p>"How are you off for a good mate?"</p> + +<p>"Got one."</p> + +<p>"How about a second mate?"</p> + +<p>"Got a crackerjack."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm not particular. I'll make a bully bo'sun, sir."</p> + +<p>"Very well. We'll be sailing some day next week and you can sign +up before the Commissioner any time you're ready. By the way, +what's your name?"</p> + +<p>"Gibney, sir. Adelbert P. Gibney."</p> + +<p>"Any experience in the South Seas?"</p> + +<p>"Heaps of it. I was mate for three years with Bull McGinty in the +old <i>Dashin' Wave</i> more'n twenty years ago."</p> + +<p>The master of the <i>Tropic Bird</i> blinked. "Gibney! Gibney!" he +murmured. "Why, I wonder if you're the same man. Are you the chap +that was king of Aranuka for six months and then abdicated for no +reason at all?"</p> + +<p>"I was, sir," Mr. Gibney confessed shamefacedly. "I'm King Gibney +of Aranuka."</p> + +<p>"What was your wife's name?"</p> + +<p>"I called her Pinky for short."</p> + +<p>"By Neptune, what a coincidence! Why, Gibney, I saw Her Majesty +on our last trip, less than two months ago, and she was telling +me all about you. Great old girl, Pinky, and mighty proud of the +fact that once she had a white husband. So you're King Gibney, +eh? Well, well! The world is certainly small." The skipper +chuckled, nor noticed Mr. Gibney's bulging eyes and hanging jaw. +"Going back to take over your kingdom again, Gibney?" he demanded +jocosely.</p> + +<p>"You say you saw her <i>two months ago?</i>" Mr. Gibney bellowed. +"D'ye mean to tell me she's alive?"</p> + +<p>"I did and she's very much so."</p> + +<p>"An' the twins. How about them?"</p> + +<p>"There are no twins. Pinky never had any children until after +Bull McGinty took up with her, which was after you left her. They +say she doesn't think quite as much of McGinty as she did of you. +He has a dash of dark blood and it shows up strong."</p> + +<p>"The dog wrote me he'd married a sugar plantation in Maui."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he did. If the plantation didn't produce, though, you +can bet Bull McGinty wouldn't stay put. By the way, I have a +photograph of Queen Pinky. Snapped her with my kodak on the last +trip." He searched around in the drawer of his desk and brought +the picture forth. "Think you'd recognize Her Majesty after all +these years?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney seized the picture, gazed upon it a moment, and +emitted one horrified ejaculation which in itself would have been +sufficient to bar him forever from polite society. For what he +gazed upon was not the lovely Pinky of other days, but a very +fat, untidy, ugly black woman in a calico Mother Hubbard dress. +The face, while good-natured, was wrinkled with age and +dissipation; indeed, worldling that he was, Mr. Gibney saw at a +glance that Pinky had grown fond of her gin. From the royal lips +a huge black cigar protruded.</p> + +<p>"I guess I won't take that bo'sun job after all," he gasped—and +fled. Two minutes later, Captain Scraggs and Mr. McGuffey, were +astonished to find Mr. Gibney waiting for them on deck. His face +was terrible to behold; he fixed Scraggs with a searching glance +and advanced upon the <i>Maggie's</i> owner with determination in +every movement.</p> + +<p>"Why—why, Gib, we thought you was headed south by this time," +Scraggs sputtered, for something told him great events portended.</p> + +<p>"You dirty dawg! You little fice! You figgered on breakin' my +heart an' sendin' me off on a wild-goose chase, didn't you?" Mr. +Gibney leaped and his great hand closed over Captain Scraggs's +collar. "Own up," he bellowed. "Where'd you git this dope about +me an' Pinky? Lie to me agin an' I'll toss you overboard," and in +order to impress Captain Scraggs with the seriousness of his +intentions he cuffed the latter vigorously with his open left +palm.</p> + +<p>"I was behind the potato crates this mornin' whilst you an' Mac +was yarnin'," Scraggs hastened to confess. "Ow! Wow! Leggo, Gib! +Can't you take a little joke?"</p> + +<p>"Was Mac here in on the joke? Was you let in on it after I went?" +Mr. Gibney demanded of his Fidus Achates.</p> + +<p>"I was not, Gib. I don't call it no joke to wring a feller's +heart like Scraggsy wrung yourn."</p> + +<p>"In addition to makin' a three-ply jackass o' me!" Captain +Scraggs cowered under the rain of ferocious slaps and attempted +to fight back, but he was helpless in the huge Gibney's grasp and +was forced to submit to a boxing of the ears that would have +addled his brains, had he possessed any. "Now, then," Mr. Gibney +roared, as he cast the skipper loose, "let that be a lesson to +you to let the skeletons in my closet alone hereafter. Mac, +you're not to lend Scraggsy a cent to help him out on expenses, +added to which me an' you quit the <i>Maggie</i> here an' now."</p> + +<p>"You're a devil," McGuffey growled at Scraggs, "an' sweet +Christian thoughts is wasted on you."</p> + +<p>Glowering ferociously, the worthy pair went over the rail.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + + +<p>Godless and wholly irreclaimable as Mr. Gibney and Mr. McGuffey +might have been and doubtless were, each possessed in bounteous +measure the sweetest of human attributes, to-wit: a soft, kind +heart and a forgiving spirit. Creatures of impulse both, they +found it absolutely impossible to nourish a grudge against +Captain Scraggs, when, upon returning to Scab Johnny's boarding +house that night, their host handed them a grubby note from their +enemy. It was short and sweet and sounded quite sincere; Mr. +Gibney read it aloud:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>On Board the <i>Maggie</i>, Saturday night.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear friends</span>:</p> + +<p>I am sorry. I apologize to you, Gib, because I hurt your +fealings. I also apologize to Bart for hurting the +fealings of his dear friend. Speeking of hurts you and +Gib hurt me awful with your kidden when you took the +<i>Chesapeake</i> away from me so I jest had to put one over +on you. To er is human but to forgive is devine. After +what I done I don't expect you two to come back to work +ever but for God's sake don't give me the dead face when +we meat agin. Remember we been shipmates once.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">P.P. Scraggs.</span><br /> +</p></div> + +<p>"Why, the pore ol' son of a horse thief," Mr. Gibney murmured, +much moved at this profound abasement. "Of course we forgive him. +It ain't manly to hold a grouch after the culprit has paid his +fair price for his sins. By an' large, I got a hunch, Bart, that +old Scraggsy's had his lesson for once."</p> + +<p>"If you can forgive him, I can, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Well, he's certainly cleaned himself handsome, Bart. Telephone +for a messenger boy," and Mr. Gibney sat down and wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Scraggsy, old fanciful, we're square. Forget it and come +to breakfast with us at seven to-morrow at the Marigold +Café. I'll order deviled lam kidneys for three. It's +alright with Bart also.</p> + +<p> +Yours,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Gib</span>.<br /> +</p></div> + +<p>This note, delivered to Captain Scraggs by the messenger boy, +lifted the gloom from the latter's miserable soul and sent him +home with a light heart to Mrs. Scraggs. At the Marigold Café +next morning he was almost touched to observe that both Gibney +and McGuffey showed up arrayed in dungarees, wherefore Scraggs +knew his late enemies purposed proceeding to the <i>Maggie</i> +immediately after breakfast and working in the engine room all +day Sunday. Such action, when he knew both gentlemen to be the +possessors of wealth far beyond the dreams of avarice, bordered +so closely on the miraculous that Scraggs made a mental resolve +to play fair in the future—at least as fair as the limits of his +cross-grained nature would permit. He was so cheerful and happy +that McGuffey, taking advantage of the situation, argued him into +some minor repairs to the engine. The work was so far advanced by +midnight Sunday that Scraggs realized he would get to sea by +Tuesday noon, so he dismissed Gibney and McGuffey and ordered +them home for some needed sleep. McGuffey's heart was with the +<i>Maggie's</i> internal economy, however, and on Monday morning he +was up betimes, leaving Mr. Gibney to snore blissfully until +eight o'clock.</p> + +<p>About nine o'clock, as Mr. Gibney was on his way to the Marigold +Café for breakfast, he was mildly interested, while passing the +Embarcadero warehouse, to note the presence of fully a dozen +seedy-looking gentlemen of undoubted Hebraic antecedents, +congregated in a circle just outside the warehouse door. There +was an air of suppressed excitement about this group of Jews that +aroused Mr. Gibney's curiosity; so he decided to cross over and +investigate, being of the opinion that possibly one of their +number had fallen in a fit. He had once had an epileptic shipmate +and was peculiarly expert in the handling of such cases.</p> + +<p>Now, if the greater portion of Mr. Gibney's eventful career had +not been spent at sea, he would have known, by the red flag that +floated over the door, that a public auction was about to take +place, and that the group of Hebrew gentlemen constituted an +organization known as the Forty Thieves, whose business it was to +dominate the bidding at all auctions, frighten off, or buy off, +or outbid all competitors, and eventually gather unto themselves, +at their own figures, all goods offered for sale.</p> + +<p>In the centre of the group Mr. Gibney noticed a tall, lanky +individual, evidently the leader, who was issuing instructions in +a low voice to his henchmen. This individual, though Mr. Gibney +did not know it, was the King of the Forty Thieves. As Mr. Gibney +luffed into view the king eyed him with suspicion. Observing +this, Mr. Gibney threw out his magnificent chest, scowled at the +king, and stepped into the warehouse for all the world as if he +owned it.</p> + +<p>An oldish man with glasses—the auctioneer—was seated on a box +making figures in a notebook. Him Mr. Gibney addressed.</p> + +<p>"What's all this here?" he inquired, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder at the group.</p> + +<p>"It's an old horse sale," replied the auctioneer, without looking +up.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney brightened. He glanced around for the stock in trade, +but observing none concluded that the old horses would be led in, +one at a time, through a small door in the rear of the warehouse. +Like most sailors, Mr. Gibney had a passion for horseback riding, +and in a spirit of adventure he resolved to acquaint himself with +the ins and outs of an old horse sale.</p> + +<p>"How much might a man have to give for one of the critters?" he +asked. "And are they worth a whoop after you get them?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five cents up," was the answer. "You go it blind at an +old horse sale, as a rule. Perhaps you get something that's +worthless, and then again you may get something that has heaps of +value, and perhaps you only pay half a dollar for it. It all +depends on the bidding. I once sold an old horse to a chap and he +took it home and opened it up, and what d'ye suppose he found +inside?"</p> + +<p>"Bots," replied Mr. Gibney, who prided himself on being something +of a veterinarian, having spent a few months of his youth around +a livery stable.</p> + +<p>"A million dollars in Confederate greenbacks," replied the +auctioneer. "Of course they didn't have any value, but just +suppose they'd been U.S.?"</p> + +<p>"That's right," agreed Mr. Gibney. "I suppose the swab that owned +the horse starved him until the poor animal figgered that all's +grass that's green. As the feller says, 'Truth is sometimes +stranger than fiction.' If you throw in a saddle and bridle +cheap, I might be induced to invest in one of your old horses, +shipmate."</p> + +<p>The auctioneer glanced quickly at Mr. Gibney, but noticing that +worthy's face free from guile, he burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"My sea-faring friend," he said presently, "when we use the term +'old horse,' we use it figuratively. See all this freight stored +here? Well, that's old horses. It's freight from the S.P. +railroad that's never been called for by the consignees, and +after it's in the warehouse a year and isn't called for, we have +an old horse sale and auction it off to the highest bidder. +Savey?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney took refuge in a lie. "Of course I do. I was just +kiddin' you, my hearty." (Here Mr. Gibney's glance rested on two +long heavy sugar-pine boxes, or shipping cases. Their joints at +all four corners were cunningly dove-tailed and wire-strapped.) +"I was a bit interested in them two boxes, an' seein' as this is a +free country, I thought I'd just step in an' make a bid on them," +and with the words, Mr. Gibney walked over and busied himself in +an inspection of the two crates in question.</p> + +<p>The fact of the matter was that so embarrassed was Mr. Gibney at +the exposition of his ignorance that he desired to hide the +confusion evident in his sun-tanned face. So he stooped over the +crates and pretended to be exceedingly interested in them, +hauling and pushing them about and reading the address of the +consignee who had failed to call for his goods. The crates were +both consigned to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San +Francisco. There were several Chinese characters scrawled on the +top of each crate, together with the words, in English: "Oriental +Goods."</p> + +<p>As he ceased from his fake inspection of the two boxes, the King +of the Forty Thieves approached and surveyed the sailor with an +even greater amount of distrust and suspicion than ever. Mr. +Gibney was annoyed. He disliked being stared at, so he said:</p> + +<p>"Hello, Blumenthal, my bully boy. What's aggravatin' <i>you?</i>"</p> + +<p>Blumenthal (since Mr. Gibney, in the sheer riot of his +imagination elected to christen him Blumenthal, the name will +probably suit him as well as any other) came close to Mr. Gibney +and drew him aside. In a hoarse whisper he desired to know if Mr. +Gibney attended the auction with the expectation of bidding on +any of the packages offered for sale. Seeking to justify his +presence, Mr. Gibney advised that it was his intention to bid in +everything in sight; whereupon Blumenthal proceeded to explain to +Mr. Gibney how impossible it would be for him, arrayed against +the Forty Thieves, to buy any article at a reasonable price. +Further: Blumenthal desired to inform Mr. Gibney that his (Mr. +Gibney's) efforts to buy in the "old horses" would merely result +in his running the prices up, for no beneficent purpose, since it +was ever the practice of the Forty Thieves to permit no man to +outbid them. Perhaps Mr. Gibney would be satisfied with a fair +day's profit without troubling himself to hamper the Forty +Thieves and interfere with their combination, and with the words, +the king surreptitiously slipped Mr. Gibney a fifty-dollar +greenback.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's great fist closed over the treasure, he having +first, by a coy glance, satisfied himself that it was really +fifty dollars. He shook hands with the king. He said:</p> + +<p>"Blumenthal, you're a smart man. I am quite content with this +fifty to keep off your course and give you a wide berth to +starboard. I'm sensible enough to know when I'm licked, an' a +fight without profit ain't in my line. I didn't make my money +that way, Blumenthal. I'll cast off my lines and haul away from +the dock," and suiting the action to the figure, Mr. Gibney +departed.</p> + +<p>He went first to the Seaboard Drug Store, where he quizzed the +druggist for five minutes, after which he continued his cruise. +Upon reaching the <i>Maggie</i>, he proceeded to relate in detail, and +with many additional details supplied by his own imagination, the +story of his morning's adventure.</p> + +<p>"Gib," said McGuffey enviously, "you're a fool for luck."</p> + +<p>"Luck," said Mr. Gibney, beginning to expand, "is what the feller +calls a relative proposition——"</p> + +<p>"You're wrong, Gib," interposed Captain Scraggs. "Relatives is +unlucky an' expensive. Take, f'r instance, Mrs. Scraggs's +mother——"</p> + +<p>"I mean, you lunkhead," said Mr. Gibney, "that luck is found +where brains grow. No brains, no luck. No luck, no brains. Lemme +illustrate. A thievin' land shark makes me a present o' fifty +dollars not to butt in on them two boxes I'm tellin' you about. +Him an' his gang wants them two boxes. Fair crazy to get 'em. +Now, don't it stand to reason that them fellers knows what's <i>in</i> +them boxes, or they wouldn't give me fifty dollars to haul ship? +Of course it does. However, in order to earn that fifty dollars, +I got to back water. It wouldn't be playin' fair if I didn't. But +that don't prevent me from puttin' two dear friends o' mine (here +Mr. Gibney encircled Scraggs and McGuffey with an arm each) next +to the secret which I discovers, an' if there's money in it for +old Hooky that buys me off, it stands to reason that there's +money in it for us three. What's to prevent you an' McGuffey from +goin' up to this old horse sale an' biddin' in them two boxes for +the use and benefit of Gibney, Scraggs, an' McGuffey, all share +an' share alike? You can bid as high as a hundred dollars if +necessary, an' still come out a thousand dollars to the good. I'm +tellin' you this because I know what's in them two boxes."</p> + +<p>McGuffey was staring fascinated at Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs +clutched his mate's arm in a frenzied clasp.</p> + +<p>"<i>What?</i>" they both interrogated.</p> + +<p>"You two boys," continued Mr. Gibney with aggravating +deliberation, "ain't what nobody would call dummies. You're smart +men. But the trouble with both o' you boys is you ain't got no +imagination. Without imagination nobody gets nowhere, unless it's +out th' small end o' th' horn. Maybe you boys ain't noticed it, +but my imagination is all that keeps me from goin' to jail. Now, +if you two had read the address on them two boxes, it wouldn't +'a' meant nothin' to you. Absolutely nothin'. But with me it's +different. I'm blessed with imagination enough to see right +through them Chinamen tricks. Them two boxes is marked "Oriental +Goods" an' consigned (here Mr. Gibney raised a grimy forefinger, +and Scraggs and McGuffey eyed it very much as if they expected it +to go off at any moment)—"them two boxes is consigned to the Gin +Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San Francisco."</p> + +<p>"Well, that's up in Chinatown all right," admitted Captain +Scraggs, "but how about what's inside the two crates?"</p> + +<p>"Oriental goods, of course," said McGuffey. "They're consigned to +a Chinaman, an' besides, that's what it says on the cases, don't +it, Gib? Oriental goods, Scraggs, is silks an' satins, rice, chop +suey, punk, an' idols an' fan tan layouts."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney tapped gently with his horny knuckles on the honest +McGuffey's head.</p> + +<p>"If there ain't Swiss cheese movements in that head block o' +yours, Mac, you an Scraggsy can divide my share o' these two +boxes o' ginseng root between you. Do you get it, you +chuckleheaded son of an Irish potato? Gin Seng, 714 Dupont +Street. Ginseng—a root or a herb that medicine is made out of. +The dictionary says it's a Chinese panacea for exhaustion, an' I +happen to know that it's worth five dollars a pound an' that them +two crates weighs a hundred and fifty pounds each if they weighs +an ounce."</p> + +<p>His auditors stared at Mr. Gibney much as might a pair of +baseball fans at the hero of a home run with two strikes and the +bases full.</p> + +<p>"Gawd!" muttered McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Great grief, Gib! Can this be possible?" gasped Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>For answer, Mr. Gibney took out his fifty-dollar bill and handed +it to—to McGuffey. He never trusted Captain Scraggs with +anything more valuable than a pipeful of tobacco.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy," he said solemnly, "I'm willin' to back my imagination +with my cash. You an' McGuffey hurry right over to the warehouse +an' butt in on the sale when they come to them two boxes. The +sale is just about startin' now. Go as high as you think you can +in order to get the ginseng at a profitable figger, an' pay the +auctioneer fifty dollars down to hold the sale; that will give +you boys time to rush around to dig up the balance o' the money. +Tack right along now, lads, while I go down the street an' get me +some breakfast. I don't want Blumenthal to see me around that +sale. He might get suspicious. After I eat I'll meet you here +aboard th' <i>Maggie</i>, an' we'll divide the loot."</p> + +<p>With a fervent hand-shake all around, the three shipmates parted.</p> + +<p>After disposing of a hearty breakfast of devilled lamb's kidneys +and coffee, Mr. Gibney invested in a ten-cent Sailor's Delight +and strolled down to the <i>Maggie</i>. Neils Halvorsen, the lone +deckhand, was aboard, and the moment Mr. Gibney trod the +<i>Maggie's</i> deck once more as mate, he exercised his prerogative +to order Neils ashore for the remainder of the day. Since +Halvorsen was not in on the ginseng deal, Mr. Gibney concluded +that it would be just as well to have him out of the way should +Scraggs and McGuffey appear unexpectedly with the two cases of +ginseng.</p> + +<p>For an hour Mr. Gibney sat on the stern bitts and ruminated over +a few advantageous plans that had occurred to him for the +investment of his share of the deal should Scraggs and McGuffey +succeed in landing what Mr. Gibney termed "the loot." About +eleven o'clock an express wagon drove in on the dock, and the +mate's dreams were pleasantly interrupted by a gleeful shout from +Captain Scraggs, on the lookout forward with the driver. McGuffey +sat on top of the two cases with his legs dangling over the end +of the wagon. He was the picture of contentment.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney hurried forward, threw out the gangplank, and assisted +McGuffey in carrying both crates aboard the <i>Maggie</i> and into her +little cabin. Captain Scraggs thereupon dismissed the expressman, +and all three partners gathered around the dining-room table, +upon which the boxes rested.</p> + +<p>"Well, Scraggsy, old pal, old scout, old socks, I see you've +delivered the goods," said Mr. Gibney, batting the skipper across +the cabin with an affectionate slap on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"I did," said Scraggs—and cursed Mr. Gibney's demonstrativeness. +"Here's the bill o' sale all regular. McGuffey has the change. +That bunch o' Israelites run th' price up to $10.00 each on these +two crates o' ginseng, but when they see we're determined to have +'em an' ain't interested in nothin' else, they lets 'em go to us. +McGuffey, my <i>dear</i> boy, whatever are you a-doin' there—standin' +around with your teeth in your mouth? Skip down into th' engine +room and bring up a hammer an' a col' chisel. We'll open her up +an' inspect th' swag."</p> + +<p>Upon McGuffey's return, Mr. Gibney took charge. He drove the +chisel under the lid of the nearest crate, and prepared to pry it +loose. Suddenly he paused. A thought had occurred to him.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said (McGuffey nodded his head approvingly), +"this world is full o' sorrers an' disappointments, an' it may +well be that these two cases don't contain even so much as a +smell o' ginseng after all. It may be that they are really +Oriental goods. What I want distinctly understood is this: no +matter what's inside, we share equally in the profits, even if +they turn out to be losses. That's understood an' agreed to, +ain't it?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs and McGuffey indicated that it was.</p> + +<p>"There's a element o' mystery about these two boxes," continued +Mr. Gibney, "that fascinates me. They sets my imagination +a-workin' an' joggles up all my sportin' instincts. Now, just to +make it interestin' an' add a spice t' th' grand openin', I'm +willin' to bet again my own best judgment an' lay you even money, +Scraggsy, that it ain't ginseng but Oriental goods."</p> + +<p>"I'll go you five dollars, just f'r ducks," responded Captain +Scraggs heartily. "McGuffey to hold the stakes an' decide the +bet."</p> + +<p>"Done," replied Mr. Gibney. The money was placed in McGuffey's +hands, and a moment later, with a mighty effort, Mr. Gibney pried +off the lid of the crate. Captain Scraggs had his head inside the +box a fifth of a second later.</p> + +<p>"Sealed zinc box inside," he announced. "Get a can opener, Gib, +my boy."</p> + +<p>"Ginseng, for a thousand," mourned Mr. Gibney. "Scraggsy, you're +five dollars of my money to the good. Ginseng always comes packed +in air-tight boxes."</p> + +<p>He produced a can opener from the cabin locker and fell to his +work on a corner of the hermetically sealed box. As he drove in +the point of the can opener, he paused, hammer in hand, and gazed +solemnly at Scraggs and McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "do you know +what a vacuum is?"</p> + +<p>"I know," replied the imperturbable McGuffey. "A vacuum is an +empty hole that ain't got nothin' in it."</p> + +<p>"Correct," said Mr. Gibney. "My head is a vacuum. Me talkin' +about ginseng root! Why, I must have water on the brain! Ginseng +be doggoned! <i>It's opium!</i>"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was forced to grab the seat of his chair in order +to keep himself from jumping up and clasping Mr. Gibney around +the neck.</p> + +<p>"Forty dollars a pound," he gasped. "Gib—Gib, my <i>dear</i> +boy—you've made us wealthy——"</p> + +<p>Quickly Mr. Gibney ran the can opener around the edges of one +corner of the zinc box, inserted the claws of the hammer into the +opening, and with a quick, melodramatic twist, bent back the +angle thus formed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was the first to get a peep inside.</p> + + +<p class="center"><a name="Great_snakes" id="Great_snakes"></a><img src="images/image002.jpg" alt="Great_snakes" /></p> + +<h4>"'<i>Great snakes,' he yelled</i>—<i>and fell back against<br /> +the cabin wall</i>"</h4> + + +<p> +"Great snakes!" he yelled, and fell back against the cabin wall. +A hoarse scream of rage and horror broke from Captain Scraggs. +In his eagerness he had driven his head so deep into the box that +he came within an inch of kissing what the box contained—which +happened to be nothing more nor less than a dead Chinaman! Mr. +McGuffey, always slow and unimaginative, shouldered the skipper +aside, and calmly surveyed the ghastly apparition. +</p> + +<p> +"Twig the yellow beggar, will you, Gib?" said McGuffey; "one eye +half open for all the world like he was winkin' at us an' +enjoyin' th' joke." +</p> + +<p>Not a muscle twitched in McGuffey's Hibernian countenance. He +scratched his head for a moment, as a sort of first aid to +memory, then turned and handed Mr. Gibney ten dollars.</p> + +<p>"You win, Gib. It's Oriental goods, sure enough."</p> + +<p>"Robber!" shrieked Captain Scraggs, and flew at Mr. Gibney's +throat. The sight reminded McGuffey of a terrier worrying a +mastiff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gibney was still so unnerved at the +discovery of the horrible contents of the box that, despite his +gigantic proportions, he was well-nigh helpless.</p> + +<p>"McGuffey, you swab," he yelled. "Pluck this maritime outlaw off +my neck. He's tearin' my windpipe out by th' roots."</p> + +<p>McGuffey choked Captain Scraggs until he reluctantly let go Mr. +Gibney; whereupon all three fled from the cabin as from a +pestilence, and gathered, an angry and disappointed group, out on +deck.</p> + +<p>"Opium!" jeered Captain Scraggs, with tears of rage in his voice. +"Ginseng! You and your imagination, you swine, you! Get off my +ship, you lout, or I'll murder you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney hung his head.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy—an' you, too, McGuffey—I got to admit that this here +is one on Adelbert P. Gibney. I—I——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, hear him," shrilled Captain Scraggs. "One on him! It's two +on you, you bloody-handed ragpicker. I suppose that other case +contains opium, too! If there ain't another dead corpse in No. 2 +case I hope my teeth may drop overboard."</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" bellowed Mr. Gibney, in a towering rage. "What howl +have you got comin'? They're my Chinamen, ain't they? I paid for +'em like a man, didn't I? All right, then. I'll keep them two +Chinamen. You two ain't out a cent yet, an' as for this five I +wins off you, Scraggs, it's blood money, that's what it is, an' I +hereby gives it back to you. Now, quit yer whinin', or by the +tail o' the Great Sacred Bull, I'll lock you up all night in th' +cabin along o' them two defunct Celestials."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs "shut up" promptly, and contented himself with +glowering at Mr. Gibney. The mate sat down on the hatch coaming, +lit his pipe, and gave himself up to meditation for fully five +minutes, at the end of which time McGuffey was aware that his +imagination was about to come to the front once more.</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "I bet I +get my twenty bucks back outer them two Chinks," he announced +presently.</p> + +<p>"How'll yer do it?" inquired McGuffey politely.</p> + +<p>"How'll I do it? Easy as fallin' through an open hatch. I'm +a-goin' t' keep them two stiffs in th' boxes until dark, an' +then I'm a-goin' to take 'em out, bend a rope around their +middle, drop 'em overboard an' anchor 'em there all night. I see +th' lad we opens up in No. 1 case has had a beautiful job o' +embalmin' done on him, but if I let them soak all night, like a +mackerel, they'll limber up an' look kinder fresh. Then first +thing in th' mornin' I'll telephone th' coroner an' tell him I +found two floaters out in th' bay an' for him to come an' get +'em. I been along the waterfront long enough t' know that th' lad +that picks up a floater gets a reward o' ten dollars from th' +city. You can bet that Adelbert P. Gibney breaks even on th' +deal, all right."</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," said Captain Scraggs admiringly. "I +apologize for my actions of a few minutes ago. I was unstrung. +You're still mate o' th' American steamer <i>Maggie</i>, an' as such, +welcome to th' ship. All I ask is that you nail up your property, +Gib, an' remove it from th' dinin' room table. I want to remind +you, however, Gib, that as shipmates me an' McGuffey don't stand +for you shoulderin' any loss on them two cases o'—Oriental +goods. We was t' share th' gains, if any, an' likewise th' +losses."</p> + +<p>"That's right," said McGuffey, "fair an' square. No bellyachin' +between shipmates. Me an' Scraggs each owns one-third o' them +diseased Chinks, an' we each stands one-third o' th' loss, if +any."</p> + +<p>"But there won't be no loss," protested Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Drayage charges, Gib, drayage charges. We give a man a dollar to +tow 'em down t' th' ship."</p> + +<p>"Forget it," answered Mr. Gibney magnanimously, "an' let's go +over an' get a drink. I'm all shook up."</p> + +<p>After the partners had partaken of a sufficient quantity of +nerve tonic, Mr. Gibney suddenly recollected that he had to go +over to Market Street and redeem the sextant which he had pawned +several days before. And since McGuffey knew, from ocular +evidence, that Mr. Gibney was "flush," he decided to accompany +the mate and preserve him from temptation. There was safety in +numbers, he reasoned. Captain Scraggs said he thought he'd go +back to the <i>Maggie</i>. He had forgotten to lock the cabin door.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + + +<p>Had either Mr. Gibney or McGuffey been watching Captain Scraggs +for the next twenty minutes they would have been much puzzled to +account for that worthy's actions. First he dodged around the +block into Drumm Street, and then ran down Drumm to California, +where he climbed aboard a cable car and rode up into Chinatown. +Arrived at Dupont Street he alighted and walked up that +interesting thoroughfare until he came to No. 714. He glanced at +a sign over the door and was aware that he stood before the +entrance to the offices of the Chinese Six Companies, so he +climbed upstairs and inquired for Gin Seng, who presently made +his appearance.</p> + +<p>Gin Seng, a very nice, fat Chinaman, arrayed in a flowing silk +gown, begged, in pidgin-English, to know in what manner he could +be of service.</p> + +<p>"Me heap big captain, allee same ship," began Captain Scraggs. +"On board ship two China boys have got." (Here Captain Scraggs +winked knowingly.) "China boy no speak English——"</p> + +<p>"That being the case," interposed Gin Seng, "I presume that you +and I understand each other, so let's cut out the pidgin-English. +Do I understand that you are engaged in evading the immigration +laws?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly," Captain Scraggs managed to gasp, as soon as he could +recover from his astonishment. "They showed me your name an' +address, an' they won't leave th' ship, where I got 'em locked up +in my cabin, until you come an' take 'em away. Couple o' +relatives of yours, I should imagine."</p> + +<p>Gin Seng smiled his bland Chinese smile. He had frequent dealings +with ship masters engaged in the dangerous though lucrative trade +of smuggling Chinese into the United States, and while he had not +received advice of this particular shipment, he decided to go +with Captain Scraggs to Jackson Street bulkhead and see if he +could not be of some use to his countrymen.</p> + +<p>As Captain Scraggs and his Chinese companion approached the wharf +the skipper glanced warily about. He had small fear that either +Gibney or McGuffey would show up for an hour, for he knew that +Mr. Gibney had money in his possession. However, he decided to +take no chances, and scouted the vicinity thoroughly before +venturing aboard the <i>Maggie</i>. These actions served but to +increase the respect of Gin Seng for the master of the <i>Maggie</i> +and confirmed him in his belief that the <i>Maggie</i> was a smuggler.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs took his visitor inside the little cabin, +carefully locked and bolted the door, lifted the zinc flap back +from the top of the crate of "Oriental goods," and displayed the +face of the dead Chinaman. Also he pointed to the Chinese +characters on the wooden lid of the crate.</p> + +<p>"What does these hen scratches mean?" demanded Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"This man is named Ah Ghow and he belongs to the Hop Sing tong."</p> + +<p>"How about his pal here?"</p> + +<p>"That man is evidently Ng Chong Yip. He is also a Hop Sing man."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs wrote it down. "All right," he said cheerily; +"much obliged. Now, what I want to know is what the Hop Sing tong +means by shipping the departed brethren by freight? They go to +work an' fix 'em up nice so's they'll keep, packs 'em away in a +zinc coffin, inside a nice plain wood box, labels 'em 'Oriental +goods,' and consigns 'em to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont +Street, San Francisco. Now why are these two countrymen o' yours +shipped by freight—where, by the way, they goes astray, for some +reason that I don't know nothin' about, an' I buys 'em up at a +old horse sale?"</p> + +<p>Gin Seng shrugged his shoulders and replied that he didn't +understand.</p> + +<p>"You lie," snarled Captain Scraggs. "You savey all right, you fat +old idol, you! It's because if the railroad company knew these +two boxes contained dead corpses they'd a-soaked the relatives, +which is you, one full fare each from wherever these two dead +ones comes from, just the same as though they was alive an' well. +But you has 'em shipped by freight, an' aims to spend a dollar +an' thirty cents each on 'em, by markin' 'em 'Oriental Goods.' +Helluva way to treat a relation. Now, looky here, you bloody +heathen. It'll cost you just five hundred dollars to recover +these two stiffs, an' close my mouth. If you don't come through +I'll make a belch t' th' newspapers an' they'll keel haul an' +skull-drag th' Chinese Six Companies an' the Hop Sing tong +through the courts for evadin' th' laws o' th' Interstate +Commerce Commission, an' make 'em look like monkeys generally. +An' then th' police'll get wind of it. Savey, policee-man, you +fat old murderer? Th' price I'm askin' is cheap, Charley. How do +I know but what these two poor boys has been murdered in cold +blood? There's somethin' rotten in Denmark, my bully boy, an' +you'll save time an' trouble an' money by diggin' up five hundred +dollars."</p> + +<p>Gin Seng said he would go back to Chinatown and consult with his +company. For reasons of his own he was badly frightened.</p> + +<p>Scarce had he departed before the watchful eye of Captain Scraggs +observed Mr. Gibney and McGuffey in the offing, a block away. +When they came aboard they found Captain Scraggs on top of the +house, seated on an upturned fire bucket, smoking pensively and +gazing across the bay with an assumption of lamblike innocence on +his fox face.</p> + +<p>At the suggestion of Scraggs, Gibney and McGuffey nailed up the +box of "Oriental Goods," set both boxes out on the main deck, +aft, and covered them with a tarpaulin. For about an hour +thereafter all three sat around the little cabin table, talking, +and presently it became evident, to Mr. Gibney's practiced eye, +that Captain Scraggs had something on his mind. Mr. Gibney, +suspecting that it could be nothing honest, was surprised, to say +the least, when Captain Scraggs made a clean breast of his +proposition.</p> + +<p>"Gib—an' you, too, McGuffey. I been thinkin' this thing over, +an' as master o' this ship an' the one who does the biddin' in o' +these two Chinks at th' sale, it's up to me t' try an' bring you +both out with a profit, an' I think th' sellin' should be left to +me. I won't hide nothin' from you boys. I'm a-willin' to take a +chance that I can sell them two cadavers to some horsepital f'r +dissection purposes, an' get more outer th' deal than, you can, +Gib, by passin' 'em off as floaters. I'm a-willin' to give you +an' McGuffey a five-dollar profit over an' above your investment, +an' take over th' property myself, just f'r a flyer, an' to +sorter add a sportin' interest to an otherwise humdrum life. How +about it, lads?"</p> + +<p>"You can have my fraction," said McGuffey promptly; whereupon +Captain Scraggs produced the requisite amount of cash and +immediately became the owner of a two-thirds' interest.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was a trifle mystified. He knew Scraggs well enough to +know that the skipper never made a move until he had everything +planned ahead to a nicety. The mate was not above making five +dollars on the day's work, but some sixth sense told him that +Captain Scraggs was framing up a deal designed to cheat him and +McGuffey out of a large and legitimate profit. Sooner than sell +to Captain Scraggs, therefore, and enable him to unload at an +unknown profit, Mr. Gibney resolved to retain his one-third +interest, even if he had to go to jail for it. So he informed +Captain Scraggs that he thought he'd hold on to his share for a +day or two.</p> + +<p>"But, Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," explained Scraggs, "you ain't got a +word to say about this deal no more. Don't you realize that I +hold a controllin' interest an' that you must bow to th' vote o' +th' majority?"</p> + +<p>"Don't I, though," blustered Mr. Gibney. "Well, just let me catch +you luggin' off my property without my consent—in writin'—an' +we'll see who does all th' bowin', Scraggsy. I'll cut your greedy +little heart out, that's what I'll do."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Scraggs, "you get your blasted property off'n +my ship, an' get yourself off an' don't never come back."</p> + +<p>"F'r th' love o' common sense," bawled Mr. Gibney, "what do you +think I am? A butcher? How am I to get away with a third o' two +dead Chinamen? Ain't you got no reason to you at all, Scraggs?"</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," replied the triumphant Scraggs, "if you won't +sell, then buy out my interest an' rid my ship o' this +contaminatin' encumbrance."</p> + +<p>"I won't buy an' I won't sell—leastways until I've had time to +consider," replied Mr. Gibney. "I smell a rat somewheres, +Scraggs, an' I don't intend to be beat outer my rights. Moreover, +I question McGuffey's right to dispose o' his one-third without +asking my advice an' consent, as th' promoter o' this deal, f'r +th' reason that by his act he aids an' abets th' formation o' a +trust, creates a monopoly, an' blocks th' wheels o' free trade; +all of which is agin public policy an' don't go in no court o' +law. McGuffey, give Scraggs back his money an' keep your +interest. When any o' th' parties hereto can rig up a sale o' +these two Celestials, it's his duty to let his shipmates in on +th' same. He may exact a five per cent. commission for his +effort, if he wants t' be rotten mean, an' th' company has t' pay +it t' him, but otherwise we all whacks up, share an' share alike, +on profits an' losses."</p> + +<p>"Right you are, Gib, my hearty," responded McGuffey. "Scraggs, +we'll just call that sale off, f'r th' sake o' harmony. Here's +your money. I ain't chokin' off Gibney's steam at no time, not if +I know it."</p> + +<p>"You infernal river rats," snarled Scraggs, "I'll—I'll——"</p> + +<p>"Stow it," Mr. Gibney commanded. "I never did see the like o' +you, Scraggs. You're all right an' good comp'ny right up until +somebody declines to let you have your own way—an' then, right +off, you fly in a rage an' git abusive. I'm gittin' weary o' +bein' ordered off your dirty little scow an' then bein' invited +back agin. One o' these bright days, when you start pulling for +the fiftieth time the modern parable o' the Prodigal Son an' the +Fatted Calf, I'm goin' to walk out o' the cast for keeps. Now, if +I was you an' valued the services of a good navigatin' officer +an' a good engineer, I'd just take a little run along the +waterfront an' cool off. Somethin' tells me that if you stick +around here argyin' with me you'll come to grief—which same is +no idle fancy, you snipe."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs hastened to take advantage of this invitation, +for it stood him in hand to do so. His plans, due to Mr. Gibney's +inexplicable obstinacy, had failed to mature and he was fearful +that Gin Seng, after consulting with his tong, might return to +the <i>Maggie</i> at any moment and ruin the deal by exposing it to +Gibney and McGuffey; therefore Scraggs resolved to run up to 714 +Dupont Street and warn Gin Seng to let the matter lie in abeyance +for a couple of days, alleging as an excuse that he was being +subjected, for some unknown reason, to police surveillance. +Scraggs decided that after three days the presence of the two +dead Chinamen aboard the <i>Maggie</i> would commence to wear on the +Gibney nerves and the deadlock over the final disposition of +their gruesome purchase would result in Gibney and McGuffey +harkening to reason and accepting a profitable compromise. If it +should cost him a leg, Captain Scraggs was resolved to make those +two corpses pay for the repairs in the <i>Maggie's</i> engine room.</p> + +<p>Following his departure, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey sat on deck +smoking and striving to fathom the hidden design back of +Scraggs's offer to buy them out. "He's got his lines fast +somewhere—you can bank on that," was Mr. Gibney's comment, for +he knew that Scraggs never made a move that meant parting with +money until he was certain he saw that money, somewhat augmented, +returning to him. "While we was away he rigged up some kind of a +deal, Bart. It stands to reason it was a mighty profitable deal, +too, otherwise old Scraggsy wouldn't have flew into such a rage +when I blocked him. My imagination may be a bit off the course at +times, Bart, but in general, if there's a dead whale floatin' +around the ship I can smell it."</p> + +<p>"What do you make out o' that fat Chinaman cruisin' down the +bulkhead in an express wagon an' another Chinaman settin' up on +the bridge with him?" McGuffey demanded. "Seems to me they're +comin', bows on, for the <i>Maggie</i>."</p> + +<p>"They tell me to deduct somethin', Bart. Wait a minute till we +see if they're comin' aboard. If they are——"</p> + +<p>"They're goin' to make a landin', Gib."</p> + +<p>"—then I deduct that this body-snatchin' Scraggs——"</p> + +<p>"They're boardin' us, Gib."</p> + +<p>"—has arranged with yon fat Chinaman to relieve us o' the +unwelcome presence of his defunct friends. <i>He's gone an' hunted +up the relatives an' made 'em come across</i>—that's what he's +done. The dirty, low, schemin' granddaddy of all the foxes in +Christendom! Wasn't I the numbskull not to think of it myself?"</p> + +<p>"'Tain't too late to mend your ways, Gib. I don't see Scraggs +nowhere," Mr. McGuffey suggested promptly. "All that remains for +me an' you to do, Gib, is to imagine the price, collect the +money, an' declare a dividend. Quick, Gib! What'll we ask him?"</p> + +<p>"I'll fish around an' see what figger Scraggs charged him," the +cautious Gibney replied and stepped to the rail to meet Gin Seng, +for it was indeed he.</p> + +<p>"Sow-see, sow-see, hun-gay," Mr Gibney saluted the Chinaman in a +facetious attempt to talk the latter's language. "Hello, there, +John Chinaman. How's your liver? Captain he allee same get tired; +he no waitee. Wha's mallah, John. Too long time you no come. You +heap lazy all time."</p> + +<p>Gin Seng smiled his bland, inscrutable Chinese smile. "You +ketchum two China boy in box?" he queried.</p> + +<p>"We have," boomed McGuffey, "an' beautiful specimens they be."</p> + +<p>"No money, no China boy," Gibney added firmly.</p> + +<p>"Money have got. Too muchee money you wantee. No can do. Me pay +two hundred dollah. Five hundred dollah heap muchee. No have +got."</p> + +<p>"Nothin' doin', John. Five hundred dollars an' not a penny less. +Put up the dough or beat it."</p> + +<p>Gin Seng expostulated, lied, evaded, and all but wept, but Mr. +Gibney was obdurate and eventually the Chinaman paid over the +money and departed with the remains of his countrymen. "I knew +he'd come through, Bart," Mr. Gibney declared. "They got to ship +them stiffs to China to rest alongside their ancestors or be in +Dutch with the sperrits o' the departed forever after."</p> + +<p>"Do we have to split this swag with that dirty Scraggs?" McGuffey +wanted to know. "Seein' as how he tried to give us the double +cross——"</p> + +<p>"We'll fix Scraggsy—all shipshape an' legal so's he won't have +no comeback. Quick, grab some o' them empty potato crates an' +pile 'em here where the stiffs was lyin' an' cover 'em up with +the tarpaulin. I don't want Scraggsy to think the corpses is gone +until I've hooked him good and plenty."</p> + +<p>The stage was set in a few minutes and the conspirators set +themselves to await the return of Scraggs. They had not long to +wait. Upon his arrival at Gin Seng's place of business Captain +Scraggs had been informed that Gin Seng had gone out twenty +minutes before, and further inquiry revealed the portentous fact +that he had departed in an express wagon. Consumed with +misgivings of disaster, Scraggs returned to the <i>Maggie</i> as fast +as the California Street cable car and his legs could carry him; +as he came aboard his anxious glance sought the tarpaulin-covered +boxes on deck and at sight of them his mental thermometer rose at +once. In the cabin he found Mr. Gibney and McGuffey playing +cribbage. They laid down their hands as Scraggs entered.</p> + +<p>"Well, are you all cooled out an' willin' to listen to reason, +Scraggsy, old business man?" Gibney greeted him cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"None more so, Gib. If you've got a proposition to submit, fire +away."</p> + +<p>"That's comfortin', Scraggsy. Well, me an' Bart's been chewing +over your proposition to buy out our interest in them two Chinks, +an' as the upshot of our talk we made up our minds to sell, but +not for no measly little five bucks' profit. Now, Scraggsy, you +old he-devil, on your honour as between shipmates, you got to +admit five dollars ain't hardly worth considerin'. Come down to +earth now. You know blamed well you're expectin' to pull out with +a neat profit an' that you can afford to boost that five-dollar +ante. What would you consider a fair price for a one-third +interest? Be honest an' fair, Scraggsy."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs sat down, beaming. With Mr. Gibney in this frame +of mind he knew he could do anything with him. "Well, now, Gib, +my <i>dear</i> boy, if a man was to get twenty-five dollars for his +interest, I should say he oughtn't to have no kick comin'. I know +I wouldn't."</p> + +<p>"If you was sellin' your interest—imagine, now, that you're me +an' I'm you—would you be satisfied to sell for twenty-five +dollars?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly would, Gib, my boy. Why, that's almost four hundred +per cent. profit, an' any man that'd turn up his nose at a four +hundred per cent. profit ought to go an' have his head examined +by a competent nut doctor."</p> + +<p>"Well, if you feel that way about it, all right, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney replied slowly and put his hand in his pocket. "As I +remarked previous, while you're away me an' Bart gets chewin' +over the proposition an' decides we'll sell. An' to show you what +a funny world this is, while me an' Bart's settin' on deck +a-waitin' for you to come back an' close with us, along breezes a +fat old Chinaman in an express wagon an' offers to buy them two +cases of Oriental goods. He makes me an' Mac what we considers a +fair offer for our two-thirds. You ain't around to offer +suggestions an' as it's a take-it-or-leave-it proposition an' +two-thirds o' the stock is represented in me an' Mac an' +accordin' to your rulin' the majority's got the decidin' vote, we +ups an' smothers his offer. Lemme see, now," he continued, and +got out a stub of lead pencil with which he commenced figuring on +the white oilcloth table cover. "We paid twenty dollars for them +two derelicts an' a dollar towage. That's twenty-one dollars, an' +a third o' twenty-one is seven, an' seven dollars from +twenty-five leaves eighteen dollars comin' to you. Here's your +eighteen dollars, Scraggsy, you lucky old vagabond—all clear +profit on a neat day's work, no expense, no investment, no +back-breakin' interest charges or overhead, an' sold out at your +own figger."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs's face was a study in conflicting emotions as he +raked in the eighteen dollars. "Thanks, Gib," he said frigidly.</p> + +<p>"Me an' Gib's goin' ashore for lunch at the Marigold Café," +McGuffey announced presently, in order to break the horrible +silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. "I'm willin' to +spend some o' my profits on the deal an' blow you to a lunch with +a small bottle o' Dago Red thrown in. How about it, Scraggs?"</p> + +<p>"I'm on." Scraggs sought to throw off his gloom and appear +sprightly. "What'd you peddle them two cadavers for, Gib?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney grinned broadly but did not answer. In effect, his +grin informed Scraggs that <i>that</i> was none of the latter's +business—and Scraggs assimilated the hint. "Well, at any rate, +Gib, whatever you soaked him, it was a mighty good sale an' I +congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha' done a little better +myself, but then it ain't every day a feller can turn an +eighteen-dollar trick on a corpse."</p> + +<p>"Comin' to lunch with us?" McGuffey demanded.</p> + +<p>"Sure. Wait a minute till I run forward an' see if the lines is +all fast."</p> + +<p>He stepped out of the cabin and presently Gibney and McGuffey +were conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck. Gibney +winked at McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"'Nother new hat gone to hell," murmured McGuffey.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + + +<p>It was fully a week before Captain Scraggs's mental hemorrhage, +brought on every time his mind reverted to his loss on the +"ginseng" deal, ceased. During all of that period his +peregrinations around the <i>Maggie</i> were as those of one for whom +the sweets of existence had turned to wormwood and vinegar. Mr. +Gibney confided to McGuffey that it was a toss-up whether the old +man was meditating murder or suicide. In fact, so depressed was +Captain Scraggs that he lacked absolutely the ambition to "rag" +his associates; observing which Mr. McGuffey vouchsafed the +opinion that perhaps Scraggsy was "teched a mite in his +head-block."</p> + +<p>"Don't you think it," Mr. Gibney warned. "If old Scraggsy's crazy +he's crazy like a fox. What's rilin' him is the knowledge that +he's stung to the heart an' can't admit it without at the same +time admittin' he'd cooked up a deal to double-cross us. He's +just a-bustin' with the thoughts that's accumulatin' inside him. +Right now he'd drown his sorrers in red liquor if he could afford +it."</p> + +<p>"He's troubled financially, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Well, you know who troubled him, don't you, Bart?"</p> + +<p>"I mean about the cost o' them repairs in the engine room. Unless +he can come through in thirty days with the balance he owes, the +boiler people are goin' to libel the <i>Maggie</i> to protect their +claim."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney arched his bushy eyebrows. "How do you know?" he +demanded.</p> + +<p>"He was a-tellin' me," Mr. McGuffey admitted weakly.</p> + +<p>"Well, he wasn't a-tellin' me." Mr. Gibney's tones were ominous; +he glared at his friend suspiciously as from the <i>Maggie's</i> cabin +issued forth Scraggsy's voice raised in song.</p> + +<p>"Hello! The old boy's thermometer's gone up, Bart. Listen at him. +'Ever o' thee he's fondly dreamin'.' Somethin's busted the spell +an' I'll bet a cooky it was ready cash." He menaced Mr. McGuffey +with a rigid index finger. "Bart," he demanded, "did you loan +Scraggsy some money?"</p> + +<p>The honest McGuffey hung his head. "A little bit," he replied +childishly.</p> + +<p>"What d'ye call a little bit?"</p> + +<p>"Three hundred dollars, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Secured?"</p> + +<p>"He gimme his note at eight per cent. The savin's bank only pays +four."</p> + +<p>"Is the note secured by endorsement or collateral?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Hum-m-m! Strange you didn't say nothin' to me about this till I +had to pry it out o' you, Bart. How about you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Scraggsy was feelin' so dog-goned blue——"</p> + +<p>"The truth," Mr. Gibney insisted firmly, "the truth, Bart."</p> + +<p>"Well, Scraggsy asked me not to say anythin' to you about it."</p> + +<p>"Sure. He knew I'd kill the deal. He knew better'n to try to nick +me for three hundred bucks on his danged, worthless note. Bart, +why'd you do it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, hell, Gib, be a good feller," poor McGuffey pleaded. "Don't +be too hard on ol' Scraggsy."</p> + +<p>"We're discussin' <i>you</i>, Bart. 'Pears to me you've sort o' lost +confidence in your old shipmate, ain't you? 'Pears that way to me +when you act sneaky like."</p> + +<p>McGuffey bridled. "I ain't a sneak."</p> + +<p>"A rose by any other name'd be just as sweet," Mr. Gibney quoted. +"You poor, misguided simp. If you ever see that three hundred +dollars again you'll be a lot older'n you are now. However, that +ain't none o' my business. The fact remains, Bart, that you +conspired with Scraggsy to keep things away from me, which shows +you ain't the man I thought you were, so from now on you go your +way an' I'll go mine."</p> + +<p>"I got a right to do as I blasted please with my own money," +McGuffey defended hotly. "I ain't no child to be lectured to."</p> + +<p>"Considerin' the fact that you wouldn't have had the money to +lend if it hadn't been for me, I allow I'm insulted when you use +the said money to give aid an' comfort to my enemy. I'm through."</p> + +<p>McGuffey, smothered in guilt, felt nevertheless that he had to +stand by his guns, so to speak. "Stay through, if you feel like +it," he retorted. "Where d'ye get that chatter? Ain't I free, +white, an' twenty-one year old?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was really hurt. "You poor boob," he murmured. "It's +the old game o' settin' a beggar on horseback an' seein' him ride +to the devil, or slippin' a gold ring in a pig's nose. An' I +figured you was my friend!"</p> + +<p>"Well, ain't I?"</p> + +<p>"Fooey! Fooey! Don't talk to me. You'd sell out your own mother."</p> + +<p>"Them's fightin' words, Gib."</p> + +<p>"Shut up."</p> + +<p>"Gib, you tryin' to pick a fight with me?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I would if I thought I wouldn't git a footrace instead," +Gibney rejoined scathingly. "Cripes, what a double-crossin' I +been handed! Honest, Bart, when it comes to that sort o' work +Scraggs is in his infancy. You sure take the cake."</p> + +<p>"I ain't got the heart to clout you an' make you eat them words," +Mr. McGuffey declared sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"You mean you ain't got the guts," Mr. Gibney corrected him. +"Bart, I got your number. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey had a wild impulse to cast himself upon the Gibney +neck and weep, but his honour forbade any such weakness. So he +invited Mr. Gibney to betake himself to a region several degrees +hotter than the <i>Maggie's</i> engine room; then, because he feared +to linger and develop a sentimental weakness, he turned his back +abruptly and descended to the said engine room.</p> + +<p>On his part, Adelbert P. Gibney entered the cabin and glared long +and menacingly at Captain Scraggs. "I'll have my time," he +growled presently. "Give it to me an' give it quick."</p> + +<p>The very intonation of his voice warned Scraggs that the present +was not a time for argument or trifling. Silently he paid Mr. +Gibney the money due him; in equal silence the navigating officer +went to the pilot house, unscrewed his framed certificate from +the wall, packed it with his few belongings, and departed for +Scab Johnny's boarding house.</p> + +<p>"Hello," Scab Johnny saluted him at his entrance. "Quit the +<i>Maggie?</i>"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney nodded.</p> + +<p>"Want a trip to the dark blue?"</p> + +<p>"Lead me to it," mumbled Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"It'll cost you twenty dollars, Gib. Chief mate on the <i>Rose of +Sharon</i>, bound for the Galapagos Islands sealing."</p> + +<p>"I'll take it, Johnny." Mr. Gibney threw over a twenty-dollar +bill, went to his room, packed all of his belongings, paid his +bill to Scab Johnny, and within the hour was aboard the schooner +<i>Rose of Sharon</i>. Two hours later they towed out with the tide.</p> + +<p>Poor McGuffey was stunned when he heard the news that night from +Scab Johnny. When he retailed the information to Scraggs next +morning, Scraggs was equally perturbed. He guessed that McGuffey +and Gibney had quarrelled and he had the poor judgment to ask +McGuffey the cause of the row. Instantly, McGuffey informed him +that that was none of his dad-fetched business—and the incident +was closed.</p> + +<p>The three months that followed were the most harrowing of +McGuffey's life. Captain Scraggs knew his engineer would not +resign while he, Scraggs, owed him three hundred dollars; +wherefore he was not too particular to put a bridle on his tongue +when things appeared to go wrong. McGuffey longed to kill him, +but dared not. When, eventually, the railroad had been extended +sufficiently far down the coast to enable the farmers to haul +their goods to the railroad in trucks, the <i>Maggie</i> automatically +went out of the green-pea trade; simultaneously, Captain +Scraggs's note to McGuffey fell due and the engineer demanded +payment. Scraggs demurred, pleading poverty, but Mr. McGuffey +assumed such a threatening attitude that reluctantly Scraggs paid +him a hundred and fifty dollars on account, and McGuffey extended +the balance one year—and quit.</p> + +<p>"See that you got that hundred and fifty an' the interest in your +jeans the next time we meet," he warned Scraggs as he went +overside.</p> + +<p>Time passed. For a month the <i>Maggie</i> plied regularly between +Bodega Bay and San Francisco in an endeavour to work up some +business in farm and dairy produce, but a gasoline schooner cut +in on the run and declared a rate war, whereupon the <i>Maggie</i> +turned her blunt nose riverward and for a brief period essayed +some towing and general freighting on the Sacramento and San +Joaquin. It was unprofitable, however, and at last Captain +Scraggs was forced to lay his darling little <i>Maggie</i> up and take +a job as chief officer of the ferry steamer <i>Encinal</i>, plying +between San Francisco and Oakland. In the meantime, Mr. McGuffey, +after two barren months "on the beach," landed a job as second +assistant on a Standard Oil tanker running to the West Coast, +while thrifty Neils Halvorsen invested the savings of ten years +in a bay scow known as the <i>Willie and Annie</i>, arrogated to +himself the title of captain, and proceeded to freight hay, +grain, and paving stones from Petaluma.</p> + +<p>The old joyous days of the green-pea trade were gone forever, +and many a night, as Captain Scraggs paced the deck of the +ferryboat, watching the ferry tower loom into view, or the +scattered lights along the Alameda shore, he thought longingly of +the old <i>Maggie</i>, laid away, perhaps forever, and slowly rotting +in the muddy waters of the Sacramento. And he thought of Mr. +Gibney, too, away off under the tropic stars, leading the +care-free life of a real sailor at last, and of Bartholomew +McGuffey, imbibing "pulque" in the "cantina" of some disreputable +café. Captain Scraggs never knew how badly he was going to miss +them both until they were gone, and he had nobody to fight with +except Mrs. Scraggs; and when Mrs. Scraggs (to quote Captain +Scraggs) "slipped her cable" in her forty-third year, Captain +Scraggs felt singularly lonesome and in a mood to accept eagerly +any deviltry that might offer.</p> + +<p>Upon a night, which happened to be Scraggs's night off, and when +he was particularly lonely and inclined to drown his sorrows in +the Bowhead saloon, he was approached by Scab Johnny, and invited +to repair to the latter's dingy office for the purpose of +discussing what Scab Johnny guardedly referred to as a +"proposition."</p> + +<p>Upon arrival at the office, Captain Scraggs was introduced to a +small, fierce-looking gentleman of tropical appearance, who owned +to the name of Don Manuel Garcia Lopez. Scab Johnny first pledged +Captain Scraggs to absolute secrecy, and made him swear by the +honour of his mother and the bones of his father not to divulge a +word of what he was about to tell him.</p> + +<p>Scab Johnny was short and to the point. He stated that as Captain +Scraggs was doubtless aware, if he perused the daily papers at +all, there was a revolution raging in Mexico. His friend, Señor +Lopez, represented the under-dogs in the disturbance, and was +anxious to secure a ship and a nervy sea captain to land a +shipment of arms in Lower California. It appeared that at a sale +of condemned army goods held at the arsenal at Benicia, Señor +Lopez had, through Scab Johnny, purchased two thousand +single-shot Springfield rifles that had been retired when the +militia regiments took up the Krag. The Krag in turn having been +replaced by the modern magazine Springfield, the old single-shot +Springfields, with one hundred thousand rounds of 45-70 ball +cartridges, had been sold to the highest bidder. In addition to +the small arms, Lopez had at present in a warehouse three machine +guns and four 3 inch breech-loading pieces of field artillery +(the kind of guns generally designated as a "jackass battery," +for the reason that they can be taken down and transported over +rough country on mules)—together with a supply of ammunition for +same.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," Scab Johnny continued, "the job that confronts us is +to get these munitions down to our friends in Mexico. You know, +as well as anybody, Scraggs, that while our government makes no +bones of selling a lot o' retired rifles an' ammunition, +nevertheless it's goin' to develop a heap o' curiosity regardin' +what we do with 'em. If we're caught sneakin' 'em into Mexico +we'll spend the rest of our lives in a Federal penitentiary for +bustin' the neutrality laws. All them rifles an' the ammunition +is cased an' in my basement at the present moment—and the +government agents knows they're there. But that ain't troubling +me. I rent the saloon next door an' I'll cut a hole through the +wall from my cellar into the saloon cellar, carry 'em through the +saloon into the backyard, an' out into the alley half a block +away. I'm watched, but I got the watcher spotted—only he don't +know it. Our only trouble is a ship. How about the <i>Maggie?</i>"</p> + +<p>"I'd have to spend about two thousand dollars on her to put her +in condition for the voyage," Scraggs replied.</p> + +<p>"Can do," Scab Johnny answered him briefly, and Señor Lopez +nodded acquiescence. "You discharge on a lighter at Descanso Bay +about twenty miles below Ensenada. What'll it cost us?"</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand dollars, in addition to fixin' up the <i>Maggie</i>. +Half down and half on delivery. I'm riskin' my hide an' my ticket +an' I got to be well paid for it."</p> + +<p>Again Señor Lopez nodded. What did he care? It wasn't his money.</p> + +<p>"I'll furnish you with our own crew just before you sail," Scab +Johnny continued. "Get busy."</p> + +<p>"Gimme a thousand for preliminary expenses," Scraggs demanded. +"After that Speed is my middle name."</p> + +<p>The charming Señor Lopez produced the money in crisp new bills +and, perfect gentleman that he was, demanded no receipt. As a +matter of fact, Scraggs would not have given him one.</p> + +<p>The two weeks that followed were busy ones for Captain Scraggs. +The day after his interview with Scab Johnny and Don Manuel he +engaged an engineer and a deck hand and went up the Sacramento to +bring the <i>Maggie</i> down to San Francisco. Upon her arrival she +was hauled out on the marine ways at Oakland creek, cleaned, +caulked, and some new copper sheathing put on her bottom. She was +also given a dash of black paint, had her engines and boilers +thoroughly overhauled and repaired, and shipped a new propeller +that would add at least a knot to her speed. Also, she had her +stern rebuilt. And when everything was ready, she slipped down to +the Black Diamond coal bunkers and took on enough fuel to carry +her to San Pedro; after which she steamed across the bay to San +Francisco and tied up at Fremont Street wharf.</p> + +<p>The cargo came down in boxes, variously labelled. There were +"agricultural implements," a "cream separator," a "windmill," and +half a dozen "sewing-machines," in addition to a considerable +number of kegs alleged to contain nails. Most of it came down +after five o'clock in the afternoon after the wharfinger had left +the dock, and as nothing but a disordered brain would have +suspected the steamer <i>Maggie</i> of an attempt to break the +neutrality laws, the entire cargo was gotten aboard safely and +without a jot of suspicion attaching to the vessel.</p> + +<p>When all was in readiness, Captain Scraggs incontinently "fired" +his deckhand and engineer and inducted aboard a new crew, +carefully selected for their filibuster virtues by Scab Johnny +himself. Then while the new engineer got up steam, Captain +Scraggs went up to Scab Johnny's office for his final +instructions and the balance of the first instalment due him.</p> + +<p>Briefly, his instructions were as follows: Upon arrival off Point +Dume on the southern California coast, he was to stand in close +to Dume Cove under cover of darkness and show two green lights +on the masthead. A man would come alongside presently in a small +boat, and climb aboard. This man would be the supercargo and the +confidential envoy of the insurrecto junta in Los Angeles. +Captain Scraggs was to look to this man for orders and to obey +him implicitly, as upon this depended the success of the +expedition. This agent of the insurrecto forces would pay him the +balance of five thousand dollars due him immediately upon +discharge of the cargo at Descanso Bay. There was a body of +insurrecto troops encamped at Megano rancho, a mile from the +beach, and they would have a barge and small boats in readiness +to lighter the cargo. Scab Johnny explained that he had promised +the crew double wages and a bonus of a hundred dollars each for +the trip. Don Manuel Garcia Lopez paid over the requisite amount +of cash, and half an hour later the <i>Maggie</i> was steaming down +the bay on her perilous mission.</p> + +<p>The sun was setting as they passed out the Golden Gate and swung +down the south channel, and with the wind on her beam, the aged +<i>Maggie</i> did nine knots. Late in the afternoon of the following +day she was off the Santa Barbara channel, and about midnight she +ran in under the lee of Point Dume and lay to. The mate hung out +the green signal lights, and in about an hour Captain Scraggs +heard the sound of oars grating in rowlocks. A few minutes later +a stentorian voice hailed them out of the darkness. Captain +Scraggs had a Jacob's ladder slung over the side and the mate and +two deckhands hung over the rail with lanterns, lighting up the +surrounding sea feebly for the benefit of the lone adventurer who +sat muffled in a great coat in the stern of a small boat rowed +by two men. There was a very slight sea running, and presently +the men in the small boat, watching their opportunity by the +ghostly light of the lanterns, ran their frail craft in under the +lee of the <i>Maggie</i>. The figure in the stern sheets leaped on the +instant, caught the Jacob's ladder, climbed nimbly over the side, +and swore heartily in very good English as his feet struck the +deck.</p> + +<p>"What's the name of this floating coffin?" he demanded in a +chain-locker voice. It was quite evident that even in the +darkness, where her many defects were mercifully hidden, the +<i>Maggie</i> did not suit the special envoy of the Mexican +insurrectos.</p> + +<p>"American steamer <i>Maggie</i>," said the skipper frigidly. "Scraggs +is my name, sir. And if you don't like my vessel——"</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy!" roared the special envoy. "Scraggsy, for a thousand! +And the old <i>Maggie</i> of all boats! Scraggsy, old tarpot, your +fin! Duke me, you doggoned old salamander!"</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy!" shrieked Captain Scraggs and cast himself +into Mr. Gibney's arms in a transport of joy. Mr. Gibney, for it +was indeed he, pounded Captain Scraggs on the back with one great +hand while with the other he crushed the skipper's fingers to a +pulp, the while he called on all the powers of darkness to +witness that never in all his life had he received such a +pleasant surprise.</p> + +<p>It was indeed a happy moment. All the old animosities and +differences were swallowed up in the glad hand-clasp with which +Mr. Gibney greeted his old shipmate of the green-pea trade. +Scraggs took him below at once and they pledged each other's +health in a steaming kettle of grog, while the <i>Maggie</i>, once +more on her course, rolled south toward Descanso Bay.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll be keel-hauled and skull-dragged!" said Captain +Scraggs, producing a box of two-for-a-quarter cigars and handing +it to Mr. Gibney. "Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy, wherever have you been +these last three years?"</p> + +<p>"Everywhere," replied Mr. Gibney. "I have been all over, mostly +in Panama and the Gold Coast. For two years I've been navigatin' +officer on the Colombian gunboat <i>Bogota</i>. When I was a young +feller I did a hitch in the navy and become a first-class gunner, +and then I went to sea in the merchant marine, and got my mate's +license, and when I flashed my credentials on the president of +the United States of Colombia he give me a job at "dos cienti +pesos oro" per. That's Spanish for two hundred bucks gold a +month. I've been through two wars and I got a medal for sinkin' a +fishin' smack. I talk Spanish just like a native, I don't drink +no more to speak of, and I've been savin' my money. Some day when +I get the price together I'm goin' back to San Francisco, buy me +a nice little schooner, and go tradin' in the South Seas. How +they been comin' with you, Scraggsy, old kiddo?"</p> + +<p>"Lovely," replied Scraggs. "Just simply grand. I'll pull ten +thousand out of this job."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney whistled shrilly through his teeth.</p> + +<p>"That's the ticket for soup," he said admiringly. "I tell you, +Scraggs, this soldier of fortune business may be all right, but +it don't amount to much compared to being a sailor of fortune, +eh, Scraggsy? Just as soon as I heard there was a revolution in +Mexico I quit my job in the Colombian navy and come north for the +pickin's.... No, I ain't been in their rotten little army.... +D'ye think I want to go around killin' people?... There ain't no +pleasure gettin' killed in the mere shank of a bright and +prosperous life ... a dead hero don't gather no moss, Scraggsy. +Reads all right in books, but it don't appeal none to me. I'm for +peace every time, so right away as soon as I heard of the +trouble, says I to myself: 'Things has been pretty quiet in +Mexico for twenty years, and they're due to shift things around +pretty much. What them peons need is a man with an imagination to +help 'em out, and if they've got the money, Adelbert P. Gibney +can supply the brains.' So I comes north to Los Angeles, shows +the insurrecto junta my medal and my honourable discharges from +every ship I'd ever been in, includin' the gunboat <i>Bogota</i>, and +I talked big and swelled around and told 'em to run in some arms +and get busy. I framed it all up for this filibuster trip you're +on, Scraggsy, only I never did hear that they'd picked on you. I +told that coffee-coloured rat of a Lopez man to hunt up Scab +Johnny and he'd set him right, but if anybody had told me you had +the nerve to run the <i>Maggie</i> in on this deal, Scraggsy, I'd +a-called him a liar. Scraggs, you're <i>mucho-bueno</i>—that is, +you're all right. I'm so used to talkin' Spanish that I forget +myself. Still, there's one end of this little deal that I ain't +exactly explained to all hands. If I'd a-known they was +charterin' the <i>Maggie</i>, I'd have blocked the game."</p> + +<p>"Why?" demanded Captain Scraggs, instantly on the defensive.</p> + +<p>"Not that I'm holdin' any grudge agin you, Scraggsy," said Mr. +Gibney affably, "but I wouldn't a-had you no more now than I +would when we was runnin' in the green-pea trade. It's because +you ain't got no imagination, and the <i>Maggie</i> ain't big enough +for my purpose. Havin' the <i>Maggie</i> sort of puts a crimp in my +plans."</p> + +<p>"Rot," snapped Captain Scraggs. "I've had the <i>Maggie</i> overhauled +and shipped a new wheel, and she's a mighty smart little boat, +I'll tell you. I'll land them arms in Descanso Bay all right."</p> + +<p>"I know you will," said Mr. Gibney sadly. "That's just what +hurts. You see, Scraggsy, I never intended 'em for Descanso Bay +in the first place. There's a nice healthy little revolution +fomentin' down in the United States of Colombia, with Adelbert P. +Gibney playin' both ends to the middle. And there's a dog-hole +down on the Gold Coast where I intended to land this cargo, but +now that Scab Johnny's gone to work and sent me a bay scow +instead of a sea-goin' steamer, I'm in the nine-hole instead o' +dog-hole. I can never get as far as the Gold Coast with the +<i>Maggie</i>. She can't carry coal enough to last her."</p> + +<p>"But I thought these guns and things was for the Mexicans," +quavered Captain Scraggs. "Scab Johnny and Lopez told me they +was."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Scraggsy," he +said sadly, "it's a cinch you ain't used the past four years to +stimulate that imagination of yours. Of course they was purchased +for the Mexicans, but what was to prevent me from lettin' the +Mexicans pay for them, help out on the charter of the boat, and +then have me divert the cargo to the United States of Colombia, +where I can sell 'em at a clear profit, the cost bein' nothin' to +speak of? Now you got to come buttin' in with the <i>Maggie</i>, and +what happens? Why, I got to be honest, of course. I got to make +good on my bluff, and what's in it for me? Nothin' but glory. Can +you hock a chunk of glory for ham and eggs, Phineas Scraggs? Not +on your life. If it hadn't been for you buttin' in with your +blasted, rotten hulk of a fresh-water skiff, I'd——"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney paused ominously and savagely bit the end of his +cigar. As for Captain Scraggs, every drop of blood in his body +was boiling in defense of the ship he loved.</p> + +<p>"You're a pirate," he shrilled.</p> + +<p>"And you're just as big a hornet as you ever was," replied Mr. +Gibney. "Always buzzin' around where you ain't wanted. But still, +what's the use of bawlin' over spilt milk? We'll drop into San +Diego for a couple of hours and take on coal, and about sunset +we'll pull out and make the run down to Descanso Bay in the dark. +We might as well forget the past and put this thing through as +per program. Only I saw visions of a schooner all my own, +Scraggsy, and—well, what's the use? What's the use? Scraggsy, +you're a natural-born mar-plot. Always buttin' in, buttin' in, +buttin' in, fit for nothin' but the green-pea trade. However, I +guess I can turn into my old berth and get some sleep. Put the +old girl under a slow bell and save your coal. We'll have to fool +away four or five hours in San Diego anyhow and there ain't no +sense in crowdin' the old hulk."</p> + +<p>"Gib," said Captain Scraggs, "was that really your lay—to steal +the cargo, double-cross the insurrecto junta, and sell out to a +furrin' country?"</p> + +<p>"Of course it was," said Mr. Gibney pettishly. "They all do such +things in the banana republics. Why should I be an exception? +There's half a dozen different gangs fightin' each other and the +government in Mexico, and if I don't deliver these arms, just see +all the lives I'll be savin'. And after I got the cargo into +Colombia and sold it, I could have peached on the rebels there, +and got a reward for it, and saved a lot more lives, and come +away rich and respected."</p> + +<p>"By the Lord Harry," said Captain Scraggs, "but you've got an +imagination, Gib. I'll swear to that. Gib, I take off my hat to +you. You're all tight and shipshape and no loose ends bobbin' +around <i>you</i>. Don't tell me th' scheme's got t' fall through, +Gib. Great snakes, don't tell me that. Ain't there some way o' +gettin' around it? There <i>must</i> be. Why, Gib, my dear boy, I +never heard of such a grand lay in my life. It's a absolute +winner. Don't give up, Gib. Oil up your imagination and find a +way out. Let's get together, Gib, and make a little money. Dang +it all, Gib, I been lonesome ever since I seen you last."</p> + +<p>"Well," replied Mr. Gibney, "I'll turn in and try to scheme a way +out, but I don't hold out no hope. Not a ray of it. I'm afraid, +Scraggsy, we've got to be honest."</p> + +<p>Saying which, Mr. Gibney hopped up into his berth, stretched his +huge legs, and fell asleep with his clothes on. Captain Scraggs +looked him over with the closest approach to affection that had +ever lightened his cold gray eye, and sighing heavily, presently +went on deck. As he passed up the companion-way, the first mate +heard him murmur:</p> + +<p>"Gib's a fine lad. I'll be dad burned if he ain't."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + + +<p>At six o'clock next morning the <i>Maggie</i> was rounding Point Loma, +heading in for San Diego Bay, and Captain Scraggs went below and +awakened Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"What's for breakfast, Scraggsy, old kid?" asked Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Fried eggs," said Captain Scraggs, remembering Mr. Gibney's +partiality for that form of nutriment in the vanished days of the +green-pea trade. "Ham an' fried eggs an' a sizzlin' pot o' +coffee. Thought a way out o' our mess, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," replied Mr. Gibney as he rolled out of bed, "but eggs +is always stimulatin', and I don't give up hope on a full +stomach."</p> + +<p>An hour later they were tied up under the coal bunkers, and at +Mr. Gibney's suggestion some twenty tons of sacked coal were +piled on top of the fo'castle head and on the main deck for'd, in +case of emergency. They lay in the harbour all day until about +four o'clock, when Mr. Gibney, by virtue of his authority as +supercargo, ordered the lines cast off and the <i>Maggie</i> steamed +out of the harbour. Off Point Loma they veered to the south, +leaving the Coronado Islands on the starboard quarter, ten miles +to the west. Mr. Gibney was below with Captain Scraggs, battling +with the problem that confronted them, when the mate stuck his +head down the companion-way to report a large power schooner +coming out from the lee of the Coronados and standing off on a +course calculated to intercept the <i>Maggie</i> in an hour or two.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney sprang up on the bridge at once, +the latter with Scraggs's long glass up to his eye.</p> + +<p>"She was hove to under the lee of the island, and the minute we +came out of the harbour and turned south she come nosin' after +us," said the mate.</p> + +<p>"Hum!" muttered Mr. Gibney. "Gasoline schooner. Two masts and +baldheaded. About a hundred and twenty ton, I should say, and +showin' a pretty pair of heels. There's somethin' up +for'd—yes—let me see—ye-e-es, there's two more—<i>holy sailor! +it's a gunboat!</i> One of those doggoned gasoline coast patrol +boats, and there's the Federal flag flying at the fore."</p> + +<p>"Let's put back to San Diego Bay," quavered Captain Scraggs. +"I'll be durned if I relish the idee o' losin' the <i>Maggie</i>."</p> + +<p>"Too late," said the philosophical Gibney. "We're in Mexican +waters now, and she can cut us off from the bay. The only thing +we can do is to run for it and try to lose her after dark. Tell +the engineer to crowd her to the limit. There ain't much wind to +speak of, so I guess we can manage to hold our own for a while. +Nevertheless, I've got a hunch that we'll be overhauled. Of +course, you ain't got no papers to show, Scraggs, and they'll +search the cargo, and confiscate us, and shoot the whole bloomin' +crowd of us. I bet a dollar to a doughnut that fellow Lopez sold +us out, after the fashion of the country. I can't help thinkin' +that that gunboat was there just a-waitin' for us to show up."</p> + +<p>For several minutes Mr. Gibney continued to study the gunboat +until there could no longer be any doubt that she intended to +overhaul them. He made out that she had a long gun for'd, with a +battery of two one-pounders on top of her house and something on +her port quarter that looked like a Maxim rapid-fire gun. About +twenty men, dressed in white cloth, could be seen on her decks.</p> + +<p>Presently Mr. Gibney was interrupted by Captain Scraggs pulling +at his sleeve.</p> + +<p>"You was a gunner once, wasn't you, Gib?" said Captain Scraggs in +a trembling voice.</p> + +<p>"You bet I was," replied Mr. Gibney. "My shootin' won the trophy +three times in succession when I was on the old <i>Kearsarge</i>. If I +had one good gun and a half-decent crew, I'd knock that gunboat +silly before she knew what had hit her."</p> + +<p>"Gib, I've got an idee," said Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Out with it," said Mr. Gibney cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"There was four little cannon lowered into the hold the last +thing before we put on the main hatch, and the ammunition to load +'em with is stowed in the after hold and very easy to get at."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney turned a beaming face to the skipper, reached out his +arms, and folded Captain Scraggs in an embrace that would have +done credit to a grizzly bear. There were genuine tears of +admiration in his eyes and in his voice when he could master his +emotions sufficiently to speak.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, old tarpot, you've been a long time comin' through on +the imagination, but you've sure arrived with all sail set. I +always thought you had about as much nerve as an oyster, but I +take it all back. We'll get out them two little jackass guns and +fight a naval battle, and if I don't sink that Mexican gunboat, +and save the <i>Maggie</i>, feed me to the sharks, for I won't be +worthy of the blood that's in me. Pipe all hands and lift off +that main hatch. Reeve a block and tackle through that cargo gaff +and stand by to heave out the guns."</p> + +<p>But Captain Scraggs had repented of his rash suggestion almost +the moment he made it. Only the dire necessity of desperate +measures to save the <i>Maggie</i> had prompted him to put the idea +into Mr. Gibney's head, and when he saw the avidity with which +the latter set to work clearing for action, his terror knew no +bounds.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gib," he wailed, "I'm afraid we better not try to lick that +gunboat after all. They might sink us with all hands."</p> + +<p>"Rats!" said Mr. Gibney, as he leaped into the hold. "Bear a +light here until I can root out the wheels of these guns. Here +they are, labelled 'cream separator.' Stand by with that sling +to——"</p> + +<p>"But, Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "this is +<i>insanity!</i>"</p> + +<p>"I know it," said Mr. Gibney calmly. "Scraggsy, you're perfectly +right. But I'd sooner die fightin' than let them stand me up agin +a wall in Ensenada. We're filibusters, Scraggsy, and we're caught +with the goods. I, for one, am goin' down with the steamer +<i>Maggie</i>, but I'm goin' down fightin' like a bear."</p> + +<p>"Maybe—maybe we can outrun her, Gib," half sobbed Captain +Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"No hope," replied Mr. Gibney. "Fight and die is the last resort. +She's eight miles astern and gainin' every minute, and when she's +within two miles she'll open fire. Of course we won't be hit +unless they've got a Yankee gunner aboard."</p> + +<p>"Let's run up the Stars and Stripes and dare 'em to fire on us," +said Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"No," said Mr. Gibney firmly, "my old man died for the flag an' +I've sailed under it too long to hide behind it when I'm in +Dutch. We'll fight. If you was ever navigatin' officer on a +Colombian gunboat, Scraggs, you'd realize what it means to run +from a Mexican."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs said nothing further. Perhaps he was a little +ashamed of himself in the face of Mr. Gibney's simple faith in +his own ability; perhaps in his veins, all unknown, there flowed +a taint of the heroic blood of some forgotten sea-dog. Be that as +it may, something did swell in his breast when Mr. Gibney spoke +of the flag and his scorning to hide behind it, and Scraggs's +snaggle teeth came together with a snap.</p> + +<p>"All right, Gib, my boy," he said solemnly, "I'm with you. Mrs. +Scraggs has slipped her cable and there ain't nobody to mourn for +me. But if we can't fight under the Stars and Stripes, by the +tail of the Great Sacred Bull, we'll have a flag of our own," and +leaving Mr. Gibney and the crew to get the guns on deck, Captain +Scraggs ran below. He appeared on deck presently with a long blue +burgee on which was emblazoned in white letters the single word +<i>Maggie</i>. It was his own houseflag, and with trembling hands he +ran it to the fore and cast its wrinkled folds to the breeze of +heaven.</p> + +<p>"Good old dishcloth!" shrieked Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down."</p> + +<p>"Damned if she does," said Captain Scraggs profanely.</p> + +<p>While all this was going on a deckhand had reeved a block and +tackle through the end of the cargo gaff and passed it to the +winch. The two guns came out of the hold in jig time, and while +Scraggs and one deckhand opened the after hold and got out +ammunition for the guns, Mr. Gibney, assisted by the other +deckhand, proceeded to put one of the guns together. He was +shrewd enough to realize that he would have to do practically all +of the work of serving the gun himself, in view of which +condition one gun would have to defend the <i>Maggie</i>. He had never +seen a mountain gun before, but he did not find it difficult to +put the simple mechanism together.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, Scraggsy," he announced cheerfully when the gun was +finally assembled on the carriage, "get a sizeable timber an' +spike it to the centre o' the deck. I'll run the trail spade up +against that cleat an' that'll keep the recoil from lettin' the +gun go backward, clean through the opposite rail and overboard. +Gimme a coupler gallons o' distillate and some waste, somebody. +This cosmoline's got to come out o' the tube an' out o' the +breech mechanism before we commence shootin'."</p> + +<p>The enemy had approached within three miles by the time the piece +was ready for action. Under Mr. Gibney's instructions Captain +Scraggs held the fuse setter in case it should be necessary to +adjust with shrapnel. Mr. Gibney inserted his sights and took a +preliminary squint. "A little different from gun-pointin' in the +navy, but about the same principle," he declared. "In the army I +believe they call this kind o' shootin' direct fire, because you +sight direct on the target." He scratched his ingenious head and +examined the ammunition. "Not a high explosive shell in the lot," +he mourned. "I'll have to use percussion fire to get the range; +then I'll drop back a little an' spray her with shrapnel. Seems a +pity to smash up a fine schooner like that one with percussion +fire. I'd rather tickle 'em up a bit with shrapnel an' scare 'em +into runnin' away."</p> + +<p>He got out the lanyard, slipped a cartridge in the breech, +paused, and scratched his head again. His calm deliberation was +driving Scraggs crazy. He reminded Mr. Gibney with some asperity +that they were not attending a strawberry festival and for the +love of heaven to get busy.</p> + +<p>"I'm estimatin' the range, you snipe," Gibney retorted. "Looks to +be about three miles to me. A little long, mebbe, for this gun, +but—there's nothin' like tryin'," and he sighted carefully. +"Fire," he bawled as the <i>Maggie</i> rested an instant in the trough +of the sea—and a deckhand jerked the lanyard. Instantly Mr. +Gibney clapped the long glass to his eye.</p> + +<p>"Good direction—over," he murmured. "I'll lay on her waterline +next time." He jerked open the breech, ejected the cartridge +case, and rammed another cartridge home. This shot struck the +water directly under the schooner's bow and threw water over her +forecastle head. Mr. Gibney smiled, spat overboard, and winked +confidently at Captain Scraggs. "Like spearin' fish in a bath +tub," he declared. He bent over the fuse setter. "Corrector three +zero," he intoned, "four eight hundred." He thrust a cartridge in +the fuse setter, twisted it, slammed it in the gun, and fired +again. The water broke into tiny waterspouts over a considerable +area some two hundred yards short of the schooner, so Mr. Gibney +raised his range to five thousand and tried again. "Over," he +growled.</p> + +<p>Something whined over the <i>Maggie</i> and threw up a waterspout half +a mile beyond her.</p> + +<p>"Dubs," jeered Mr. Gibney, and sighted again. This time his +shrapnel burst neatly on the schooner. Almost simultaneously a +shell from the schooner dropped into the sacked coal on the +forecastle head of the <i>Maggie</i> and enveloped her in a black pall +of smoke and coal dust. Captain Scraggs screamed.</p> + +<p>"Tit for tat," the philosophical Gibney reminded him. "We can't +expect to get away with everything, Scraggsy, old kiddo." The +words were scarcely out of his mouth before the <i>Maggie's</i> +mainmast and about ten feet of her ancient railing were trailing +alongside. Mr. Gibney whistled softly through his teeth and +successfully sprayed the Mexican again. "It breaks my heart to +ruin that craft's canvas," he declared, and let her have it once +more.</p> + +<p>"My <i>Maggie's</i> tail is shot away," Captain Scraggs wailed, "an' I +only rebuilt it a week ago." Three more shots from the long gun +missed them, but the fourth carried away the cabin, leaving the +wreck of the pilot house, with the helmsman unscathed, sticking +up like a sore thumb.</p> + +<p>"Turn her around and head straight for them," the gallant Gibney +roared. "She's a smaller target comin' bows on. We're broadside +to her now."</p> + +<p>"Gib, will you ever sink that Greaser?" Captain Scraggs sobbed +hysterically.</p> + +<p>"Don't want to sink her," the supercargo retorted. "She's a nice +little schooner. I'd rather capture her. Maybe we can use her in +our business, Scraggsy," and he continued to shower the enemy +with high bursting shrapnel. When the two vessels were less than +two miles apart the one-pounders came into action. It was pretty +shooting and the wicked little shells ripped through the old +<i>Maggie</i> like buckshot through a roll of butter. Mr. Gibney slid +flat on the deck beside his gun and Captain Scraggs sprawled +beside him.</p> + +<p>"A feller," Mr. Gibney announced, "has got to take a beatin' +while lookin' for an openin' to put over the knockout blow. If +the old <i>Maggie</i> holds together till we're within a cable's +length o' that schooner an' we ain't all killed by that time, I +bet I'll make them skunks sing soft an' low."</p> + +<p>"How?" Captain Scraggs chattered.</p> + +<p>"With muzzle bursts," Mr. Gibney replied. "I'll set my fuse at +zero an' at point-blank range I'll just rake everything off that +schooner's decks. Guess I'll get half a dozen cartridges set an' +ready for the big scene. Up with you, Admiral Scraggs, an' hold +the fuse setter steady."</p> + +<p>"I'm agin war," Scraggs quavered. "Gib, it's sure hell."</p> + +<p>"Rats! It's invigouratin', Scraggsy. There ain't nothin' wrong +with war, Scraggsy, unless you happen to get killed. Then it's +like cholera. You can cure every case except the first one."</p> + +<p>They had come inside the minimum range of the Mexican's long gun +now, so that only the one-pounders continued to peck at the +<i>Maggie</i>. Evidently the Mexican was as eager to get to close +quarters as Mr. Gibney, for he held steadily on his course.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's time to put over the big stuff," Mr. Gibney remarked +presently. "Here's hopin' they don't pot me with rifle fire while +I'm extendin' my compliments."</p> + +<p>As the first muzzle burst raked the Mexican Captain Scraggs saw +that most of the terrible blast of lead had gone too high. +Nevertheless, it was effective, for to a man the crews of the +one-pounders deserted their posts and tumbled below; seeing which +the individual in command lost his nerve. He was satisfied now +that the infernal <i>Maggie</i> purposed ramming him; he had marvelled +that the filibuster should use shrapnel, after she had ranged +with shell (he did not know it was percussion shrapnel) and in +sudden panic he decided that the <i>Maggie</i>, mortally wounded, +purposed getting close enough to sink him with shell-fire if she +failed to ram him; whereupon the yellow streak came through and +he waved his arms frantically above his head in token of +surrender.</p> + +<p>"She's hauled down her rag," shrieked Scraggs. "Be merciful, Gib. +There's men dyin' on that boat."</p> + +<p>"Lay alongside that craft," Mr. Gibney shouted to the helmsman. +The schooner had hove to and when the <i>Maggie</i> also hove to some +thirty yards to windward of her Mr. Gibney informed the Mexican, +in atrocious Spanish well mixed with English, that if the latter +so much as lifted his little finger he might expect to be sunk +like a dog. "Down below, everybody but the helmsman, or I'll +sweep your decks with another muzzle burst," he thundered.</p> + +<p>The Mexican obeyed and Captain Scraggs went up in the pilot house +and laid the terribly battered <i>Maggie</i> alongside the schooner. +The instant she touched, Mr. Gibney sprang aboard, quickly +followed by Captain Scraggs, who had relinquished the helm to his +first mate.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Captain Scraggs shouted, "Look, Gib, for the love of the +Lord, look!" and pointed with his finger. At the head of the +little iron-railed companion way leading down into the engine +room a man was standing. He had a monkey wrench in one hand and a +greasy rag in the other.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney turned and looked at the man.</p> + +<p>"McGuffey, for a thousand," he bellowed, and ran forward with +outstretched hand. Captain Scraggs was at Gibney's heels, and +between them they came very nearly dislocating Bartholomew +McGuffey's arm.</p> + +<p>"McGuffey, my <i>dear</i> boy," said Captain Scraggs. "Whatever are +you a-doin' on this heathen warship?"</p> + +<p>"Me!" ejaculated Mr. McGuffey, with his old-time deliberation. +"Why, I'm the chief engineer of this craft. I had a good job, +too, but I guess it's all off now, and the Mexican Government'll +fire me. Say, who chucked that buckshot down into my engine +room?"</p> + +<p>"Admiral Gibney did it," said Scraggs. "The old <i>Maggie's</i> +alongside and me and Gib's filibusters. Bear a hand, Mac, and +help us clap the hatches on our prisoners."</p> + +<p>"Thank God," said Mr. Gibney piously, "I didn't kill you. Come to +look into the matter, I didn't kill anybody, though I see half a +dozen Mexicans around decks more or less cut up. Where you been +all these years, Mac?"</p> + +<p>"I been chief engineer in the Mexican navy," replied McGuffey. +"Have you captured us in the name of the United States or what?"</p> + +<p>"We've captured you in the name of Adelbert P. Gibney," was the +reply. "I been huntin' all my life for a ship of my own, and now +I've got her. Lord, Mac, she's a beauty, ain't she? All hardwood +finish, teak rail, well found, and just the ticket for the island +trade. Well, well, well! I'm Captain Gibney at last."</p> + +<p>"Where do I come in, Gib?" asked Captain Scraggs modestly.</p> + +<p>"Well, seein' as the <i>Maggie</i> has two holes through her hull +below the waterline, and is generally nicked to pieces, you might +quit askin' questions and get back aboard and put the pumps on +her. You're lucky if she don't sink on you before we get to +Descanso Bay. If she sinks, don't worry. I'll give you a job as +my first mate. Mac, you're my engineer, but not at no fancy +Mexican price. I'll pay you the union scale and not a blasted +cent more or less. Is that fair?"</p> + +<p>McGuffey said it was, and went below to tune up his engine. Mr. +Gibney took the wheel of the gunboat, and sent Captain Scraggs +back aboard the <i>Maggie</i>, and in a few minutes both vessels were +bowling along toward Descanso Bay. They were off the bay at +midnight, and while with Mr. Gibney in command of the federal +gunboat Captain Scraggs had nothing to fear, the rapid rise of +water in the hold of the <i>Maggie</i> was sadly disconcerting. About +daylight he made up his mind that she would sink within two +hours, and without pausing to whine over his predicament, he +promptly beached her. She drove far up the beach, with the slack +water breaking around her scarred stern, and when the tide ebbed +she lay high and dry. And the rebel soldiers came trooping down +from the Megano rancho and falling upon her carcass like so many +ants, quickly distributed her cargo amongst them, and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs sent his crew out aboard the captured gunboat to +assist Mr. Gibney in rowing his prisoners ashore, and when +finally he stood alone beside the wreck of the brave old +<i>Maggie</i>, piled up at last in the port of missing ships, +something snapped within his breast and the big tears rolled in +quick succession down his sun-tanned cheeks. The old hulk looked +peculiarly pathetic as she lay there, listed over on her beam +ends. She had served him well, but she had finished her last +voyage, and with some vague idea of saving her old bones from +vandal hands, Captain Scraggs, sobbing audibly, scattered the +contents of half a dozen cans of kerosene over her decks and in +the cabin, lighted fires in three different sections of the +wreck, and left her to the consuming flames. Half an hour later +he stood on the battered decks of the gunboat beside Gibney and +McGuffey and watched the dense clouds of smoke that heralded the +passing of the <i>Maggie</i>.</p> + +<p>"She was a good old hulk," said Mr. Gibney. "And now, as the +special envoy of the Liberal army of Mexico, here's a draft on +Los Angeles for five thousand bucks, Scraggsy, which constitutes +the balance due you on this here filibuster trip. Of course, I +needn't remind you, Scraggsy, that you'd never have earned this +money if it hadn't been for Adelbert P. Gibney workin' his +imagination overtime. I've made you a chunk of money, and while I +couldn't save your ship, I did save your life. As a reward for +all this, I don't claim one cent of the money due you, as I could +if I wanted to be rotten mean. I'm goin' to keep this fine little +power schooner for my share of the loot. She's nicked up some, +but that only bears evidence to what a bully good shot I am, and +it won't take much to fix her up all shipshape again. Usin' high +bursts shrapnel ain't very destructive. All them bumps an' +scratches can be planed down. But we'll have to do some mendin' +on her canvas—I'll tell the world. She's called the <i>Reina +Maria</i>, but I'm going to run her to Panama and change her name. +She'll be known as <i>Maggie II</i>, out of respect for the old girl +that's burnin' up there on the beach."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was so touched at this delicate little tribute +that he turned away and burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"Aw, shut up, Scraggsy, old hunks," said McGuffey consolingly. +"You ain't got nothin' to cry about. You're a rich man. Look at +me. I ain't a-bawlin', am I? And I don't get so much as a bean +out of this mix-up, all on account of me bein' tied up with a lot +of hounds that quits fightin' before they're half licked."</p> + +<p>"That's so," said Captain Scraggs, wiping his eyes with his grimy +fists. "I declare you're out in the cold, McGuffey, and it ain't +right. Gib, my boy, us three has had some stirrin' times together +and we've had our differences, but I ain't a-goin' to think of +them past griefs. The sight o' you, single-handed, meetin' and +annihilatin' the pride of the Mexican navy, calm in th' moment o' +despair, generous in victory and delicate as blazes to a fallen +shipmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that +way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a +friendship that's bound to endoor till death us do part. If +McGuffey'd been on our side, we know from past performances that +he'd a fit like a tiger, wouldn't you, Mac?" (Here Mr. McGuffey +coughed slightly, as much as to say that he would have fought +like ten tigers had he only been given the opportunity.)</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs continued: "I should say that a fair valuation of +this schooner as she stands is ten thousand dollars. That belongs +to Gib. Now I'm willin' to chuck five thousand dollars into the +deal, we'll form a close corporation and as a compliment to +McGuffey, elect him chief engineer in his own ship and give him +say a quarter interest in our layout, as a little testimonial to +an old friend, tried and true."</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney, "your fin. We've fought, but we'll +let that go. We wipe the slate clean and start in all over again +on the <i>Maggie II</i>, and I'm free to state, without fear of +contradiction, that in the last embroglio you showed up like four +aces and a king with the entire company standin' pat. Scraggsy, +you're a hero, and what you propose proves that you're +considerable of a singed cat—better'n you look. We'll go +freebootin' down on the Gold Coast. There's war, red war, +breakin' loose down there, and we'll shy in our horseshoe with +the strongest side and pry loose a fortune somewhere. I'm for a +life of wild adventure, and now that we've got the ship and the +funds and the crew, let's go to it. There's a deal of fine liquor +in the wardroom, and I suggest that we nominate Phineas Scraggs, +late master of the battleship <i>Maggie</i>, now second in command of +the <i>Maggie II</i>, to brew a kettle o' hot grog to celebrate our +victory. Mac—Scraggsy—your fins. I'm proud of you both. Shake."</p> + +<p>They shook, and as Captain Gibney's eye wandered aloft, First +Mate Scraggs and Chief Engineer McGuffey looked up also. From the +main topmast of the <i>Maggie II</i> floated a long blue burgee, with +white lettering on it, and as it whipped out into the breeze the +old familiar name stood out against the noonday sun.</p> + +<p>"Good old dishcloth!" murmured Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down."</p> + +<p>"The <i>Maggie</i> forever!" shrieked Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Hooray!" bellowed McGuffey. "An' now, Scraggsy, if you've got +all the enthusiasm out of your blood, kick in with a hundred an' +fifty dollars an' interest to date. An' don't tell me that note's +outlawed, or I'll feed you to the fishes."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs looked crestfallen, but produced the money.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2> + + +<p>"Well, Scraggsy, old hunks, this is pleasant, ain't it?" said Mr. +Gibney, and spat on the deck of the <i>Maggie II</i>.</p> + +<p>"Right-o," replied Captain Scraggs cheerily, "though when I was a +young feller and first went to sea, it wasn't considered no +pleasantry to spit on a nice clean deck. You might cut that out, +Gib. It's vulgar."</p> + +<p>"Passin' over the fact, Scraggs, that you ain't got no call to +jerk me up on sea ettycat, more particular since I'm the master +and managin' owner of this here schooner, I'm free to confess, +Scraggsy, that your observation does you credit. I just did that +to see if you was goin' to take as big an interest in the new +<i>Maggie</i> as you did in the old <i>Maggie</i>, and the fact that you +object to me expectoratin' on the deck proves to me that you're +leavin' behind you all them bay scow tendencies of the green-pea +trade. It leads me to believe that you'll rise to high rank and +distinction in the Colombian navy. Your fin, Scraggsy. +Expectoratin' on the decks is barred, and the <i>Maggie II</i> goes +under navy discipline from now on. Am I right?"</p> + +<p>"Right as a right whale," said Captain Scraggs. "And now that +you've given that old mate of mine the course, and we've +temporarily plugged up the holes in this here Mexican gunboat, +and everything points to a safe and profitable voyage from now +on, suppose you delegate me as a committee of one to brew a +scuttle of grog, after which the syndicate holds a meetin' and +lays out a course for its future conduct. There's a few questions +of rank and privileges that ought to be settled once for all, so +there can't be no come-back."</p> + +<p>"The point is well taken and it is so ordered," said Mr. Gibney, +who had once held office in Harbour 15, Masters and Pilots +Association of America, and knew a fragment or two of +parliamentary law. "Rustle up the grog, call McGuffey up out of +the engine room, and we'll hold the meetin'."</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later Scraggs came on deck to announce the +successful concoction of a kettle of whisky punch; whereupon the +three adventurers went below and sat down at the cabin table for +a conference.</p> + +<p>"I move that Gib be appointed president of the syndicate," said +Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"The motion's carried," said Mr. Gibney, and banged the table +with his horny fist. "The meetin' will please come to order. The +chair hereby appoints Phineas Scraggs secretary of the syndicate, +to keep a record of this and all future meetin's of the board. I +will now entertain propositions of any and all natures, and I +invite the members of the board to knock the stopper out of their +jaw tackle and go to it."</p> + +<p>"I move," said Captain Scraggs, "that B. McGuffey, Esquire, be, +and he is hereby appointed, chief engineer of the <i>Maggie II</i> at +a salary not to exceed the wage schedule of the Marine Engineers' +Association of the Pacific Coast, and that he be voted a +one-fourth interest in the vessel and all subsequent profits."</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," said Mr. Gibney, "and not to hamper the +business of the meetin', we'll just consider that motion carried +unanimous."</p> + +<p>B. McGuffey, Esquire, rose, bowed his thanks, and sat down again, +apparently very much confused. It was evident that he had +something to say, but was having difficulty framing his thoughts +in parliamentary language.</p> + +<p>"Heave away, Mac," said Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Cast off your lines, McGuffey," chirped Scraggs.</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose, bowed his thanks once more, +moistened his larynx with a gulp of the punch, and spoke:</p> + +<p>"Feller members and brothers of the syndicate: In the management +of the deck department of this new craft of ourn, my previous +knowledge of the worthy president and the unworthy secretary +leads me to believe that there's goin' to be trouble. A ship +divided agin herself must surely go on her beam ends. Now, +Scraggsy here has been master so long that the juice of authority +has sorter soaked into his marrer bones. For twenty years it's +been 'Howdy do, Captain Scraggs,' 'Have a drink, Captain +Scraggs,' 'Captain Scraggs this an' Captain Scraggs that.' I +don't mean no offense, gentlemen, when I state that you can't +teach an old dog new tricks. No man that's ever been a master +makes a good mate. On the other hand, I realize that Gib here has +been a-pantin' and a-bellyachin' all his life to get a ship of +his own an' have folks call him 'Captain Gibney.' Now that he's +gone an' done it, I say he's entitled to it. But the fact of the +whole thing is, Gib's the natural leader of the expedition or +whatever it's goin' to be, and he can't have his peace of mind +wrecked and his plans disturbed a-chasin' sailors around the deck +of the <i>Maggie II</i>. Gib is sorter what the feller calls the power +behind the throne. He's too big a figger for the grade of +captain. Therefore, I move you, gentlemen, that Adelbert P. +Gibney be, and he is hereby nominated and appointed to the grade +of commodore, in full command and supervision of all of the +property of the syndicate. And I also move that Phineas Scraggs +be appointed chief navigatin' officer of this packet, to retain +his title of captain, and to be obeyed and respected as such by +every man aboard with the exception of me and Gib. The present +mate'll do the navigatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea +stuff."</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," said Captain Scraggs briskly. "McGuffey, +your argument does you a heap of credit. It's—it's—dog my cats, +McGuffey, it's masterly. It shows a keen appreciation of an old +skipper's feelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib, I'm +willin' to hail him as commodore and fight to maintain his +office. I—I dunno, Gib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to +order around."</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," said Mr. Gibney, beaming, "the motion's carried +unanimous. Captain—chief—your fins. Dook me. I'm honoured by +the handshake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from San +Francisco on the old <i>Maggie</i>, Scraggs, they're a likely lot and +will come in handy if times is as lively in Colombia as I figger +they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have +your mate pipe the crew to muster and ascertain their feelin's on +the subject of takin' a chance with Commodore Gibney. If they +object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an' pay 'em off +as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give +'em the coast seaman's scale for a deep-water cruise and a five +per cent. bonus in case we turn a big trick."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs went at once on deck. Ten minutes later he +returned to report that the mate and the four seamen elected to +stick by the ship.</p> + +<p>"Bully boys," said the commodore, "bully boys. I like that mate. +He's a smart man and handles a gun well. While I should hesitate +to take advantage of my prerogative as commodore to interfere +with the normal workin's of the deck department, I trust that on +this special occasion our esteemed navigatin' officer, Captain +Scraggs, will not consider it beneath his dignity or an attack on +his office if I suggest to him that he brew another kettle of +grog for the crew."</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," replied McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Carried," said Scraggs, and proceeded to heat some water.</p> + +<p>"Anything further?" stated the president.</p> + +<p>"How about uniforms?" This from Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"We'll leave that to Gib," suggested McGuffey. "He's been in the +Colombian navy and he'll know just what to get us."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's another thing that's got to be settled," continued +Captain Scraggs. "If I'm to be navigatin' officer on the flagship +of a furrin' fleet, strike me pink if I'll do any more cookin' in +the galley. It's degradin'. I move that we engage some +enterprisin' Oriental for that job."</p> + +<p>"Carried," said Mr. Gibney. "Any further business?"</p> + +<p>Once more McGuffey stood up. "Gentlemen and brothers of the +syndicate," he began, "I'm satisfied that the back-bitin', the +scrappin', the petty jealousies and general cussedness that +characterized our lives on the old <i>Maggie</i> will not be +duplicated on the <i>Maggie II</i>. Them vicious days is gone forever, +I hope, an' from now on the motto of us three should be:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"All for one and one for all—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">United we stand, divided we fall."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>This earnest little speech, which came straight from the honest +McGuffey's heart, brought the tears to the commodore's eyes. +Under the inspiration of McGuffey's unselfish words the glasses +were refilled and all three pledged their friendship anew. As for +Captain Scraggs, he was naturally of a cold and selfish +disposition, and McGuffey's toast appealed more to his brain than +to his heart. Had he known what was to happen to him in the days +to come and what that simple little motto was to mean in his +particular case, it is doubtful if he would have tossed off his +liquor as gaily as he did.</p> + +<p>"There's one thing more that we mustn't neglect," warned Mr. +Gibney before the meeting broke up. "We've got to run this little +vessel into some dog-hole where there's a nice beach and smooth +water, and change her name. I notice that her old name <i>Reina +Maria</i> is screwed into her bows and across her stern in raised +gilt letters, contrary to law and custom. We'll snip 'em off, +sandpaper every spot where there's a letter, and repaint it; +after which we'll rig up a stagin' over her bows and stern, and +cut her new name, '<i>Maggie II</i>,' right into her plankin'. +Nobody'll ever suspect her name's been changed. I notice that the +official letters and numbers cut into her main beam is +F-C-P-9957. I'll change that F to an E, the C to an O, and the P +to an R. A handy man with a wood chisel can do lots of things. He +can change those nines to eights, the five to a six, and the +seven to a nine. I've seen it done before. Then we'll rig a +foretopmast and a spinnaker boom on her, and bend a fisherman's +staysail. Nothing like it when you're sailing a little off the +wind. Scraggs, you have the papers of the old <i>Maggie</i>, and we +all have our licenses regular enough. Dig up the old papers, +Scraggsy, and I'll doctor 'em up to fit the <i>Maggie II</i>. As for +our armament, we'll dismount the guns and stow 'em away in the +hold until we get down on the Colombian coast, and while we're +lying in Panama repairing the holes where my shots went through +her, and puttin' new planks in her decks where the old plankin' +has been scored by shrapnel, those paraqueets will think we're as +peaceful as chipmunks. Better look over your supplies, McGuffey, +and see if there's any paint aboard. I'd just as lief give the +old girl a different dress before we drop anchor in Panama."</p> + +<p>"Gib," said Captain Scraggs earnestly, "I'll keel-haul and +skull-drag the man that says you ain't got a great head."</p> + +<p>"By the lord," supplemented McGuffey, "you have."</p> + +<p>The commodore smiled and tapped his frontal bone with his +forefinger. "Imagination, my lads, imagination," he said, and +reached for the last of the punch.</p> + +<p>Exactly three weeks from the date of the naval battle which took +place off the Coronado Islands, and whereby Mr. Gibney became +commodore and managing owner of the erstwhile Mexican coast +patrol schooner <i>Reina Maria</i>, that vessel sailed out of the +harbour of Panama completely rejuvenated. Not a scar on her +shapely lines gave evidence of the sanguinary engagement through +which she had passed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney had her painted a creamy white with a dark blue +waterline. She had had her bottom cleaned and scraped and the +copper sheathing overhauled and patched up. Her sails had been +overhauled, inspected, and repaired wherever necessary, and in +order to be on the safe side, Mr. Gibney, upon motion duly made +by him and seconded by McGuffey (to whom the seconding of the +Gibney motions had developed into a habit), purchased an extra +suit of new sails. The engines were overhauled by the faithful +McGuffey and a large store of distillate stored in the hold. +Captain Scraggs, with his old-time aversion to expense, made a +motion (which was seconded by McGuffey before he had taken time +to consider its import) providing for the abolition of the office +of chief engineer while the <i>Maggie II</i> was under sail, at which +time the chief ex-officio was to hold himself under the orders of +the commodore and be transferred to the deck department if +necessary. Mr Gibney approved the measure and it went into +effect. Only on entering or leaving a port, or in case of chase +by an enemy, were the engines to be used, and McGuffey was warned +to be extremely saving of his distillate.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + + +<p>Mr. Gibney had made a splendid job of changing the vessel's name, +and as she chugged lazily out of Panama Bay and lifted to the +long ground-swell of the Pacific, it is doubtful if even her late +Mexican commander would have recognized her. She was indeed a +beautiful craft, and Commodore Gibney's heart swelled with pride +as he stood aft, conning the man at the wheel, and looked her +over. It seemed like a sacrilege now, when he reflected how he +had trained the gun of the old <i>Maggie</i> on her that day off the +Coronados, and it seemed to him now even a greater sacrilege to +have brazenly planned to enter her as a privateer in the +struggles of the republic of Colombia. The past tense is used +advisedly, for that project was now entirely off, much to the +secret delight of Captain Scraggs, who, if the hero of one naval +engagement, was not anxious to take part in another. In Panama +the freebooters of the <i>Maggie II</i> learned that during Mr. +Gibney's absence on his filibustering trip the Colombian +revolutionists had risen and struck their blow. After the fashion +of a hot-headed and impetuous people, they had entered the +contest absolutely untrained. As a result, the war had lasted +just two weeks, the leaders had been incontinently shot, and the +white-winged dove of peace had once more spread her pinions along +the borders of the Gold Coast.</p> + +<p>Commodore Gibney was disgusted beyond measure, and at a special +meeting of the syndicate, called in the cabin of the <i>Maggie II</i> +that same evening, it was finally decided that they should embark +on an indefinite trading cruise in the South Seas, or until such +time as it seemed their services must be required to free a +downtrodden people from a tyrant's yoke.</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs and McGuffey had never been in the South Seas, +but they had heard that a fair margin of profit was to be wrung +from trade in copra, shell, cocoanuts, and kindred tropical +products. They so expressed themselves. To this suggestion, +however, Commodore Gibney waved a deprecating paw.</p> + +<p>"Legitimate tradin', boys," he said, "is a nice, sane, healthy +business, but the profits is slow. What we want is quick profits, +and while it ain't set down in black and white, one of the +principal objects of this syndicate is to lead a life of wild +adventure. In tradin', there ain't no adventure to speak of. We +ought to do a little blackbirdin', or raid some of those Jap +pearl fisheries off the northern coast of Formosa."</p> + +<p>"But we'll be chased by real gunboats if we do that," objected +Captain Scraggs. "Those Jap gunboats shoot to kill. Can't you +think of somethin' else, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Mr. Gibney, "for a starter, I can. Suppose we just +head straight for Kandavu Island in the Fijis, and scheme around +for a cargo of black coral? It's only worth about fifty dollars a +pound. Kandavu lays somewhere in latitude 22 south, longitude 178 +west, and when I was there last it was fair reekin' with cannibal +savages. But there's tons of black coral there, and nobody's ever +been able to sneak in and get away with it. Every time a boat +used to land at Kandavu, the native niggers would have a +white-man stew down on the beach, and it's got so that skippers +give the island a wide berth."</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "I'm a man of +peace and I—I——"</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," said Mr. Gibney, laying an +affectionate hand on the skipper's shoulder, "you're nothin' of +the sort. You're a fightin' tarantula, and nobody knows it +better'n Adelbert P. Gibney. I've seen you in action, Scraggsy. +Remember that. It's all right for you to say you're a man of +peace and advise me and McGuffey to keep out of the track of +trouble, but we know that away down low you're goin' around +lookin' for blood, and that once you're up agin the enemy, you +never bat an eyelash. Eh, McGuffey?"</p> + +<p>McGuffey nodded; whereupon, Captain Scraggs, making but a poor +effort to conceal the pleasure which Mr. Gibney's rude compliment +afforded him, turned to the rail, glanced seaward, and started to +walk away to attend to some trifling detail connected with the +boat falls.</p> + +<p>"All right, Gib, my lad," he said, affecting to resign himself to +the inevitable, "have it your own way. You're a commodore and I'm +only a plain captain, but I'll follow wherever you lead. I'll go +as far as the next man and we'll glom that black coral if we have +to slaughter every man, woman, and child on the island. Only, +when we're sizzlin' in a pot don't you up and say I never warned +you, because I did. How d'ye propose intimidatin' the natives, +Gib?"</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy," said the commodore solemnly, "we've waged a private +war agin a friendly nation, licked 'em, and helped ourselves to +their ship. We've changed her name and rig and her official +number and letters and we're sailin' under bogus papers. That +makes us pirates, and that old <i>Maggie</i> burgee floatin' at the +fore ain't nothin' more nor less than the Jolly Roger. All right! +Let's be pirates. Who cares? When we slip into M'galao harbour +we'll invite the king and his head men aboard for dinner. We'll +get 'em drunk, clap 'em in double irons, and surrender 'em to +their weepin' subjects when they've filled the hold of the +<i>Maggie II</i> with black coral. If they refuse to come aboard we'll +shell the bush with that long gun and the Maxim rapid-fire guns +we've got below decks. That'll scare 'em so they'll leave us +alone and we can help ourselves to the coral."</p> + +<p>Scraggs's cold blue eyes glistened. "Lord, Gib," he murmured, +"you've got a head."</p> + +<p>"Like playin' post-office," was McGuffey's comment.</p> + +<p>The commodore smiled. "I thought you boys would see it that way. +Now to-morrow I'm going ashore to buy three divin' outfits and +lay in a big stock of provisions for the voyage. In the meantime, +while the carpenters are gettin' the ship into shape, we'll leave +the first mate in charge while we go ashore and have a good time. +I've seen worse places than Panama."</p> + +<p>As a result of this conference Mr. Gibney's suggestions were +acted upon, and they contrived to make their brief stay in Panama +very agreeable. They inspected the work on the canal, marvelled +at the stupendous engineering in the Culebra Cut, drank a little, +gambled a little. McGuffey whipped a bartender. He was ordered +arrested, and six spiggoty little policemen, sent to arrest him, +were also thrashed. The reserves were called out and a riot +ensued. Mr. Gibney, following the motto of the syndicate, i.e.,</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All for one and one for all—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">United we stand, divided we fall,</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>mixed in the conflict and presently found himself in durance +vile. Captain Scraggs, luckily, forgot the motto and escaped, but +inasmuch as he was on hand next morning to pay a fine of thirty +pesos levied against each of the culprits, he was instantly +forgiven. Mr. Gibney vowed that if a United States cruiser didn't +happen to be lying in the roadstead, he would have shelled the +town in retaliation.</p> + +<p>But eventually the days passed, and the <i>Maggie II</i>, well found +and ready for sea, shook out her sails to a fair breeze and +sailed away for Kandavu. She kept well to the southwest until she +struck the southeast trades, when she swung around on her course, +headed straight for her destination. It was a pleasant voyage, +devoid of incident, and the health of all hands was excellent. +Mr. Gibney took daily observations, and was particular to make +daily entries in his log when he, Scraggs, and McGuffey were not +playing cribbage, a game of which all three were passionately +fond.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth day after leaving Panama the +lookout reported land. Through his glasses Mr. Gibney made out a +cluster of tall palms at the southerly end of the island, and as +the schooner held lazily on her course he could discern the +white breakers foaming over the reefs that guarded the entrance +to the harbour.</p> + +<p>"That's Kandavu, all right," announced the commodore. "I was +there in '89 with Bull McGinty in the schooner <i>Dashin' Wave</i>. +There's the entrance to the harbour, with the Esk reefs to the +north and the Pearl reefs to the south. The channel's very +narrow—not more than three cables, if it's that, but there's +plenty of water and a good muddy bottom that'll hold. McGuffey, +lad, better run below and tune up your engines. It's too +dangerous a passage on an ebb-tide for a sailin' vessel, so we'll +run in under the power. Scraggsy, stand by and when I give the +word have your crew shorten sail."</p> + +<p>Within a few minutes a long white streak opened up in the wake of +the schooner, announcing that McGuffey's engines were doing duty, +and a nice breeze springing up two points aft the beam, the +<i>Maggie</i> heeled over and fairly flew through the water. Mr. +Gibney smiled an ecstatic smile as he took the wheel and guided +the schooner through the channel. He rounded her up in twelve +fathoms, and within five minutes every stitch of canvas was +clewed down hard and fast. The sun was setting as they dropped +anchor, and Mr. Gibney had lanterns hung along the rail so that +it would be impossible for any craft to approach the schooner and +board her without being seen. Also the watch on deck that night +carried Mauser rifles, six-shooters, and cutlasses. Mr. Gibney +was taking no chances.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + + +<p>"Now, boys," announced Commodore Gibney, as he sat at the head of +the officers' mess at breakfast next morning, "there'll be a lot +of canoes paddling off to visit us within the hour, so whatever +you do, don't allow more than two of these cannibals aboard the +schooner at the same time. Make 'em keep their weapons in the +canoes with 'em, and at the first sign of trouble shoot 'em down +like dogs. It may be that these precautions ain't necessary, but +when I was here twenty years ago it was all the rage to kill a +white man and eat him. Maybe times has changed, but the harbour +and the coast looks just as wild and lonely as they ever did, and +I didn't see no sign of missionary when we dropped hook last +night. So don't take no chances."</p> + +<p>All hands promised that they would take extreme care, to the end +that their precious persons might remain intact, so Mr. Gibney +finished his cup of coffee at a gulp and went on deck.</p> + +<p>The Kandavu aborigines were not long in putting in an appearance. +Even as Mr. Gibney came on deck half a dozen canoes shot out from +the beach. Mr. Gibney immediately piped all hands on deck, armed +them, and nonchalantly awaited the approach of what might or +might not turn out to be an enemy.</p> + +<p>When the flotilla was within pistol shot of the schooner Mr. +Gibney stepped to the rail and motioned them back. Immediately +the natives ceased paddling, and a wild-looking fellow stood up +in the forward canoe. After the manner of his kind he had all his +life soused his head in lime-water when making his savage +toilette, and as a result his shock of black hair stood on end +and bulged out like a crowded hayrick. He was naked, of course, +and in his hand he held a huge war club.</p> + +<p>"That feller'd eat a rattlesnake," gasped Captain Scraggs. "Shoot +him, Gib, if he bats an eye."</p> + +<p>"Shut up," said the commodore, a trifle testily; "that's the +number-one nigger, who does the talkin'. Hello, boy."</p> + +<p>"Hello, cap'n," replied the savage, and salaamed gravely. "You +likee buy chicken, buy pig? Maybe you say come 'board, I talk. Me +very good friend white master."</p> + +<p>"Bless my sweet-scented soul!" gasped the commodore. "What won't +them missionaries do next? Cut off my ears if this nigger ain't +civilized!" He beckoned to the canoe and it shot alongside, and +its brown crew came climbing over the rail of the <i>Maggie II</i>.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney met the spokesman at the rail and they rubbed noses +very solemnly, after the manner of salutation in Kandavu. Captain +Scraggs bustled forward, full of importance.</p> + +<p>"Interduce me, Gib," he said amiably, and then, while Mr. Gibney +favoured him with a sour glance, Captain Scraggs stuck out his +hand and shook briskly with the native.</p> + +<p>"Happy to make your acquaintance," he said. "Scraggs is my name, +sir. Shake hands with McGuffey, our chief engineer. Hope you +left all the folks at home well. What'd you say your name was?"</p> + +<p>The islander hadn't said his name was anything, but he grinned +now and replied that it was Tabu-Tabu.</p> + +<p>"Well, my bucko," muttered McGuffey, who always drew the colour +line, "I'm glad to hear that. But you ain't the only thing that's +taboo around this packet. You can jest check that war club with +the first mate, pendin' our better acquaintance. Hand it over, +you black beggar, or I'll hit you a swat in the ear that'll hurt +all your relations. And hereafter, Scraggsy, just keep your +nigger friends to yourself. I ain't waxin' effusive over this +savage, and it's agin my principles ever to shake hands with a +coloured man. This chap's a damned ugly customer, and you take my +word for it."</p> + +<p>Tabu-Tabu grinned again, walked to the rail, and tossed his war +club down into the canoe.</p> + +<p>"Me good missionary boy," he said rather humbly.</p> + +<p>"McGuffey, my <i>dear</i> boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "don't be +so doggone rude. You might hurt this poor lad's feelin's. Of +course he's only a simple native nigger, but even a dawg has +feelin's. You——"</p> + +<p>"A-r-r-rh!" snarled McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"You two belay talkin' and snappin' at each other," commanded Mr. +Gibney, "an' leave all bargainin' to me. This boy is all right +and we'll get along first rate if you two just haul ship and do +somethin' useful besides buttin' in on your superior officer. +Come along, Tabu-Tabu. Makee little eat down in cabin. You talkee +captain."</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," sputtered Captain Scraggs, bursting with +curiosity, following the commodore's reappearance on deck, +"whatever's in the wind?"</p> + +<p>"Money—fortune," said Mr. Gibney solemnly.</p> + +<p>McGuffey edged up and eyed the commodore seriously. "Sure there +ain't a little fightin' mixed up in it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it," replied Mr. Gibney. "You're as safe on Kandavu +as if you was in church. This Tabu kid is sort of prime minister +to the king, with a heap of influence at court. The crew of a +British cruiser stole him for a galley police when he was a kid, +and he got civilized and learned to talk English. He was a +cannibal in them days, but the chaplain aboard showed him how +foolish it was to do such things, and finally Tabu-Tabu got +religion and asked as a special favour to be allowed to return to +Kandavu to civilize his people. As a result of Tabu-Tabu's +efforts, he tells me the king has concluded that when he eats a +white man he's flyin' in the face of his own interests, and most +generally a gunboat comes along in a few months and shells the +bush, and—well, anyhow, there ain't been a barbecue on Kandavu +for ten years. It's a capital crime to eat a man now, and +punishable by boilin' the offender alive in palm oil."</p> + +<p>"Well," rumbled McGuffey, "this Tabu-Tabu don't look much like a +preacher, if you ask me. But how about this black coral?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've ribbed up a deal with him," said Mr. Gibney. "He'll see +that we get all the trade we can lug away. We're the first vessel +that's touched here in two years, and they have a thunderin' lot +of stuff on hand. Tabu's gone ashore to talk the king into doin' +business with us. If he consents, we'll have him and Tabu-Tabu +and three or four of the sub-chiefs aboard for dinner, or else +he'll invite us ashore for a big feed, and we'll have to go."</p> + +<p>"Supposin' this king don't care to have any truck with us?" +inquired McGuffey anxiously.</p> + +<p>"In that case, Mac," replied the commodore with a smile, "we'll +just naturally shell him out of house and home."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said McGuffey, "let's get the guns ready. Somethin' +tells me these people ain't to be trusted, and I'm tellin' you +right now, Gib, I won't sleep well to-night unless them two +quarter gatlings and the Maxim-Vickers rapid-fire guns is mounted +and ready for business."</p> + +<p>"All right, Mac," replied Mr. Gibney, in the tone one uses when +humouring a baby. "Set 'em up if it'll make you feel more +cheerful. Still, I don't see why you want to go actin' so foolish +over nothin'."</p> + +<p>"Well, Gib," replied the engineer, "I may be crazy, but I ain't +no fool, and if there's a dead whale around the ship, I can come +pretty near smellin' it. I tell you, Gib, that Tabu-Tabu nigger +had a look in his eye for all the world like a cur dog lickin' a +bone. I ain't takin' no chances. My old man used to say: 'Bart, +whatever you do, allers have an anchor out to windward.'"</p> + +<p>"By the left hind leg of the Great Sacred Bull," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "if you ain't enough to precipitate war."</p> + +<p>"War," replied McGuffey, "is my long suit—particularly war with +native niggers. I just naturally crave to punch the ear of +anything darker than a Portugee. Remember how I cleaned out the +police department of Panama?"</p> + +<p>"Mount the guns if you're goin' to, Mac. If not, for the love of +the Lord don't be demoralizin' the crew with this talk of war. +All I ask is that you set the guns up after I've finished my +business here with Tabu-Tabu. He's been on a war vessel, and +knows what guns are, and if he saw you mountin' them it might +break up our friendly relations. He'll think we don't trust him."</p> + +<p>"Well, we don't," replied McGuffey doggedly.</p> + +<p>"Well, we do," snapped Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>There is always something connected with the use of that pronoun +of kings which eats like a canker at the heart of men of the +McGuffey breed. That officer now spat on the deck, in defiance of +the rules of his superior officers, and glared at Captain +Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Speak for yourself, you miserable little wart," he roared. "If +you include me on that cannibal's visitin' list, and go to +contradictin' me agin, I'll——"</p> + +<p>"Mac," interrupted Mr. Gibney angrily, "control yourself. It's +agin the rules to have rag-chewin' and backbitin' on the <i>Maggie +II</i>. Remember our motto: 'All for one and one for all'——"</p> + +<p>"Here comes that sneakin' bushy-headed murderer back to the +vessel," interrupted McGuffey. "I wonder what devilment he's up +to now."</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey was partly right, for in a few minutes Tabu-Tabu +came alongside, climbed aboard, and salaamed. Mr. Gibney, fearful +of McGuffey's inability to control his antipathy for the race, +beckoned Captain Scraggs and Tabu-Tabu to follow him down into +the cabin. Meanwhile, McGuffey contented himself by parading +backward and forward across the fo'castle head with a Mauser +rifle in the hollow of his arm and his person fairly bristling +with pistols and cutlasses. Whenever one of the flotilla of +canoes hove to at a respectful distance, showed signs of crossing +an imaginary deadline drawn by McGuffey, he would point his rifle +at them and swear horribly. He scowled at Tabu-Tabu when that +individual finally emerged from the conference with Mr. Gibney +and Scraggs and went over the side to his waiting canoe.</p> + +<p>"Well, what's in the wind this time?" inquired McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"We're invited to a big feed with the king of Kandavu," replied +Captain Scraggs, as happy as a boy. "Hop into a clean suit of +ducks, Mac, and come along. Gib's goin' to broach a little keg of +liquor and we'll make a night of it."</p> + +<p>"Good lord," groaned McGuffey, "does the man think I'm low enough +to <i>eat</i> with niggers?"</p> + +<p>"Leave him to his own devices," said Mr. Gibney indulgently. +"Mac's just as Irish as if he'd been born in Dublin instead of +his old man. Nobody yet overcome the prejudice of an Irishman so +we'll do the honours ourself, Scraggsy, old skittles, and leave +Mac in charge of the ship."</p> + +<p>"Mind you're both back at a seasonable hour," warned McGuffey. +"If you ain't, I'll suspect mischief and—say! Gib! Well, what's +the use talkin' to a man with an imagination? Only if I have to +go ashore after you two, those islanders'll date time from my +visit, and don't you forget it."</p> + +<p>It was nearing four o'clock that afternoon when Commodore Gibney +and his navigating officer, Captain Scraggs, both faultlessly +arrayed in Panama hats, white ducks, white canvas shoes, cut low, +showing pink silk socks, and wearing broad, black silken sashes +around their waists, climbed over the side into the whaleboat and +were rowed ashore in a manner befitting their rank. McGuffey +stood at the rail and jeered them, for his democratic soul could +take no cognizance of form or ceremony to a cannibal king, or at +least a king but recently delivered from cannibalism.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + + +<p>Upon arrival at the beach the two adventurers were met by a +contingent of frightful-looking savages bearing long spears. As +the procession formed around the two guests of honour and plunged +into the bush, bound for the king's wari, two island maidens +marched behind the two sea-dogs, waving huge palm-leaf fans, the +better to make passage a cool and comfortable one.</p> + +<p>"By the gods of war, Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," said the delighted +Captain Scraggs, "but this is class, eh, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"Every time," responded the commodore. "If that chuckle-headed +McGuffey only had the sense to come along he might be enjoyin' +himself, too. You must be dignified, Scraggsy, old salamander. +Remember that you're bigger an' better'n any king, because you're +an American citizen. Be dignified, by all means. These people are +sensitive and peculiar, and that's why we haven't taken any +weapons with us. If they thought we doubted their hospitality +they'd have the court bouncer heave us out of town before you +could say Jack Robinson."</p> + +<p>"I'd love to see them giving the bounce to McGuffey," said +Captain Scraggs musingly. Mr. Gibney had a swift mental picture +of such a proceeding and chuckled happily. Had he been permitted +a glance at McGuffey at that moment he might have observed that +worthy sweltering in the heat of the forward hold of the <i>Maggie +II</i>, for he was busy getting his guns on deck. From which it will +readily be deduced that B. McGuffey, Esquire, was following the +advice of his paternal ancestor and getting an anchor out to +windward.</p> + +<p>One might go on at great length and describe the triumphal entry +of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs into the capitol of +Kandavu; of how the king, an undersized, shrivelled old savage, +stuck his bushy head out the window of his bungalow when he saw +the procession coming; of how a minute later he advanced into the +space in the centre of his wari, where in the olden days the +populace was wont to gather for its cannibal orgies; how he +greeted his distinguished visitors with the most prodigious +rubbing of noses seen in those parts for many a day; of the feast +that followed; of the fowls and pigs that garnished the festive +board, not omitting the keg of Three Star thoughtfully provided +by Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>Tabu-Tabu acted as interpreter and everything went swimmingly +until Tabu-Tabu, his hospitality doubtless strengthened by +frequent libations of the Elixir of Life, begged Mr. Gibney to +invite the remainder of his crew ashore for the feast. Mr. +Gibney, himself rather illuminated by this time, thought it might +not be a bad idea.</p> + +<p>"It's a rotten shame, Scraggsy," he said, "to think of that fool +McGuffey not bein' here to enjoy himself. I'm goin' to send a +note out to him by one of Tabu-Tabu's boys, askin' him once more +to come ashore, or to let the first mate and one or two of the +seamen come if Mac still refuses to be civil."</p> + +<p>"Good idea, Gib," said Captain Scraggs, his mouth full of roast +chicken and yams. So Mr. Gibney tore a leaf out of his pocket +memorandum book, scrawled a note to McGuffey, and handed it to +Tabu-Tabu, who at once dispatched a messenger with it to the +<i>Maggie II</i>.</p> + +<p>Within half an hour the messenger returned. He was wildly excited +and poured a torrent of native gibberish into the attentive ears +of Tabu-Tabu and the king. He pointed several times to the point +of his jaw, rubbed the small of his back, and once he touched his +nose; whereupon Mr. Gibney was aware that the said organ had a +slight list to port, and he so informed Captain Scraggs. Neither +of the gentlemen had the slightest trouble in arriving at the +correct solution of the mystery. The royal messenger had been +incontinently kicked overboard by B. McGuffey, Esquire.</p> + +<p>Tabu-Tabu's wild eyes glittered and grew wilder and wilder as the +messenger reported the indignity thus heaped upon him. The king +scowled at Captain Scraggs, and Mr. Gibney was suddenly aware +that goose-flesh was breaking out on the backs of his sturdy +legs. He had a haunting sensation that not only had he crawled +into a hole, but he had pulled the entire aperture in after him. +For the first time he began to fear that he had been too +precipitate, and with the thought it occurred to the gallant +commodore that he would be much safer back on the decks of the +<i>Maggie II</i>. Always crafty and imaginative, however, Mr. Gibney +came quickly to the front with an excuse for getting back to the +ship. He stepped quickly toward the little group around the +outraged royal ambassador and inquired the cause of the +disturbance. Quivering with rage, Tabu-Tabu informed him of what +had occurred.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's rage, of course, knew no bounds. Nevertheless, he +did not have to simulate his rage, for he was truly furious. When +he could control his emotions, he requested Tabu-Tabu to inform +the king that he, Gibney, accompanied by Captain Scraggs, would +forthwith repair to the schooner and then and there flay the +offending McGuffey within an inch of his life. Suiting the action +to the word, Mr. Gibney called to Captain Scraggs to follow him, +and started for the beach.</p> + +<p>As Captain Scraggs arose, a trifle unsteadily, from his seat, a +black hand reached around him from the rear and closed over his +mouth. Now, Captain Scraggs was well versed in the +rough-and-tumble tactics of the San Francisco waterfront; hence, +when he felt a long pair of arms crossing over his neck from the +rear, he merely stooped and whirled his opponent over his head. +In that instant his mouth was free, and clear above the shouting +and the tumult rose his frenzied shriek for help. Mr. Gibney +whirled with the speed and agility of a panther just in time to +dodge a blow from a war club. His fist collided with the jaw of +Tabu-Tabu, and down went that savage as if pole-axed.</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Captain_Scraggs" id="Captain_Scraggs"></a><img src="images/image003.jpg" alt="Captain Scraggs" /></p> + +<h4><i>"Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle<br /> +of savages ... and fled for the beach"</i></h4> + +<p> +Pandemonium broke loose at once. Captain Scraggs, after his +single shriek for help, broke from the circle of savages and fled +like a frightened rabbit for the beach. One of the natives hurled +a rock at him. The missile took Scraggs in the back of the head, +and he instantly curled up in a heap. +</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy's dead," thought the horrified Gibney, and sprang at +the king. In that moment it came to Mr. Gibney to sell out +dearly, and if he could dispose of the king, he felt that +Scraggs's death would be avenged. In an instant the commodore's +great arms had closed around the king, and with the helpless +monarch in his grizzly bear grip Mr. Gibney backed up against the +nearest bungalow. A fringe of spears threatened him in front, but +for the moment he was safe behind, and the king's body protected +him. Whenever one of the savages made a jab at Mr. Gibney, Mr. +Gibney gave the king a boa-constrictor squeeze, and the monarch +howled.</p> + +<p>"I'll squeeze him to death," panted Mr. Gibney to Tabu-Tabu when +that individual had managed to pick himself up. "Let me go, or +I'll kill your king."</p> + +<p>The answer was an earthenware pot which crashed down on Mr. +Gibney's head from a window in the bungalow behind him. He sagged +forward and fell on his face with the gasping king in his arms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + + +<p>On board the <i>Maggie II</i> B. McGuffey, Esquire, had just gotten +into position the Maxim-Vickers "pom-pom" gun on top of the +house. The last bolt that held it in place had just been screwed +tight when clear and shrill over the tops of the jungle and +across the still surface of the little bay there floated to +McGuffey's ears the single word:</p> + +<p>"Help!"</p> + +<p>McGuffey leaned against the gun, and for the moment he was as +weak as a child. "Gawd," he muttered, "that was Scraggsy and +they're a-goin' to eat him up. Oh, Gib, Gib, old man, why +wouldn't you listen to me? Now they've got you, and what in +blazes I'm going to do to get you back, dead or alive, I dunno."</p> + +<p>McGuffey could hear the cries and general uproar from the wari, +though he could not see what was taking place. In a minute or +two, however, all was once more silent, silence having descended +on the scene simultaneously with the descent of the earthenware +pot on Mr. Gibney's head.</p> + +<p>"It's all over," said McGuffey sadly to the mate. "They've killed +'em both." Whereupon B. McGuffey, Esquire, sat down on the cabin +ventilator, pulled out a bandana handkerchief and wept into it, +for his honest Irish heart was breaking.</p> + +<p>It was fully half an hour before poor McGuffey could pull +himself together, and when he did, his grief was superseded by a +fit of rage that was terrible to behold.</p> + +<p>"Step lively, you blasted scum of the seas," he bawled to the +mate, and the crew gathered around the gun. "Lug up a case of +ammunition and we'll shell that bush until even a parrot won't be +left alive in it."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir," responded the crew to a man, and sprang to their +task.</p> + +<p>"I'm an old navy gunner," said the first mate quietly. "I'll +handle the gun. With a 'pom-pom' gun it's just like playing a +garden hose on them, only it's high-explosive shell instead of +water. I can search out every nook and cranny in the coast of +this island. Those guns are sighted up to 4,000 yards."</p> + +<p>"Kill 'em all," raved McGuffey, "kill all the blasted niggers."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Gibney fell under the impact of the earthenware pot he +was only partially stunned. As he tried to struggle to his feet +half a dozen hands were laid on him and in a trice he was lifted +and carried back of the wari to a clear space where a dozen heavy +teakwood posts stood in a row about four feet apart. Mr. Gibney +was quickly stripped of his clothing and bound hand and foot to +one of these posts. Three minutes later another delegation of +cannibals arrived, bearing the limp, naked body of Captain +Scraggs, whom they bound in similar fashion to the post beside +Mr. Gibney. Scraggs was very white and bloody, but conscious, and +his pale-blue eyes were flickering like a snake's.</p> + +<p>"What's—what's—the meanin' of this, Gib?" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"It means," replied the commodore, "that it's all off but the +shouting with me and you, Scraggsy. This fellow Tabu-Tabu is a +damned traitor, and his people are still cannibals. He's the +decoy to get white men ashore. They schemed to treat us nice and +be friendly until they could get the whole crew ashore, or enough +of them to leave the ship helpless, and then—O Gawd, Scraggsy, +old man, can you ever forgive me for gettin' you into this?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs hung his head and quivered like a hooked fish.</p> + +<p>"Will they—eat—us?" he quavered, finally.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney did not answer, only Captain Scraggs looked into his +horrified eyes and read the verdict.</p> + +<p>"Die game, Scraggsy," was all Mr. Gibney could say. "Don't show +the white feather."</p> + +<p>"D'ye think McGuffey could hear us from here if we was to yell +for help?" inquired Captain Scraggs hopefully.</p> + +<p>"Don't yelp, for Gawd's sake," implored Mr. Gibney. "We got +ourselves into this, so let's pay the fiddler ourselves. If we +let out one yip and McGuffey hears it, he'll come ashore with his +crew and tackle this outfit, even if he knows he'll get killed. +And that's just what will happen to him if he comes. Let poor Mac +stay aboard. When we don't come back, he'll know it's all off, +and if he has time to think over it he'll realize it would be +foolish to try to do anything. But right now Mac's mad as a wet +hen, and if we holler for help—Scraggsy, please don't holler. +Die game."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs turned his terrified glance on Mr. Gibney's +tortured face. Scraggs was certainly a coward at heart, but +there was something in Mr. Gibney's unselfishness that touched a +spot in his hard nature—a something he never knew he possessed. +He bowed his head and two big tears stole down his weatherbeaten +face.</p> + +<p>"God bless you, Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," he said brokenly. "You're a +man."</p> + +<p>At this juncture the king came up and thoughtfully felt of +Captain Scraggs in the short ribs, while Tabu-Tabu calculated the +precise amount of luscious tissue on Mr. Gibney's +well-upholstered frame.</p> + +<p>"Bimeby we eat white man," said Tabu-Tabu cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"If you eat me, you bloody-handed beggar," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "I'll pizen you. I've chawed tobacco all my life, and my +meat's as bitter as wormwood."</p> + +<p>It was too funny to hear Scraggs jesting with death. Mr. Gibney +forgot his own mental agony and roared with laughter in +Tabu-Tabu's face. The cannibal stood off a few feet and looked +searchingly in the commodore's eyes. He was not used to the brand +of white man who could laugh under such circumstances, and he +suspected treachery of some kind. He hurried over to join the +king and the two held a hurried conversation. As a result of +their conference, a huge savage was called over and given some +instructions. Tabu-Tabu handed him a war club and Mr. Gibney, +rightly conjecturing that this was the official executioner, +bowed his head and waited for the blow.</p> + +<p>It came sooner than he expected. The earth seemed to rise up and +smite Adelbert P. Gibney across the face. There was a roar, as of +an explosion in his ears, and he fell forward on his face. He +had a confused notion that when he fell the post came with him.</p> + +<p>For nearly a minute he lay there, semi-conscious, and then +something warm, dripping across his face, roused him. He moved, +and found that his feet were free, though his hands were still +bound to the post, which lay extended along his back. He rolled +over and glanced up. Captain Scraggs was shrieking. By degrees +the bells quit ringing in the commodore's ears, and this is what +he heard Captain Scraggs yelling:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you McGuffey. Oh, you bully Irish terrier. Soak it to 'em, +Mac. Kill the beggars. You've got a dozen of 'em already. Plug +away, you good old hunk of Irish bacon."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was now himself once more. He struggled to his feet, +and as he did, something burst ten feet away and a little fleecy +cloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment. Then he +understood. McGuffey had a rapid-fire gun trained on the wari, +and the savages, with frightful yells, were fleeing madly from +the little shells. Half a dozen of them lay dead and wounded +close by.</p> + +<p>"Hooray," yelled Mr. Gibney, and dashed at the post which held +Captain Scraggs prisoner. He struck it a powerful blow with his +shoulder and Scraggs and the post crashed to the ground. In an +instant Mr. Gibney was on his knees, tearing at Scraggs's rope +shackles with his teeth. Five minutes later, Captain Scraggs's +hands were free. Then Scraggs did a like service for Gibney.</p> + +<p>All the time the shells from the <i>Maggie II</i> were bursting around +them every second or two, and it seemed as if they must be +killed before they could make their escape.</p> + +<p>"Beat it, Scraggsy," yelled Mr. Gibney. He stood and picked up a +war club. "Arm yourself, Scraggsy. Take a spear. We may have a +little fighting to do on the beach," he yelled. Captain Scraggs +helped himself to a loose spear, and side by side they raced +through the jungle for the beach.</p> + +<p>As they tore along through the jungle path Mr. Gibney's good +right eye (his left was obscured) detected two savages crouching +behind a clump of cocoa-palms.</p> + +<p>"There's the king and Tabu-Tabu," yelled Scraggs. "Let's round +the beggars up."</p> + +<p>"Sure," responded the commodore. "We'll need 'em for hostages if +we're to get that black coral. We'll turn 'em over to McGuffey."</p> + +<hr style='width: 25%;' /> + +<p>"I'd better ease up a minute, sir," said the mate to Mr. +McGuffey. "The gun's getting fearful hot."</p> + +<p>"Let her melt," raved McGuffey, "but keep her workin' for all +she's worth. I'll have revenge for Gib's death, or—<i>sufferin' +mackerel!</i>"</p> + +<p>McGuffey once more sat down on the cabin ventilator. He pointed +dumbly to the beach, and there, paddling off to the <i>Maggie II</i>, +were two naked cannibals and two naked white men in a canoe. Five +minutes later they came alongside. McGuffey met them at the rail, +and he smiled and licked his lower lip as the trembling monarch +and his prime minister, in response to a severe application of +Mr. Gibney's hands and feet, came flying over the rail. Mr. +Gibney and Captain Scraggs followed.</p> + +<p>"I'm much obliged to you, Mac," said Mr. Gibney, striving bravely +to appear jaunty. "One of your first shots came between my legs +and cut the rope that held me, and banged me and the post I was +tied to all over the lot. A fragment of the shell appears to have +taken away part of my ear, but I guess I'll recover. We're pretty +well shook up, Mac, old socks, and a jolt of whisky would be in +order after you've put the irons on these two cannibals."</p> + +<p>"You're two nice bloody-lookin' villains, ain't you?" was +McGuffey's comment, as he surveyed the late arrivals.</p> + +<p>"Which two do you mean?" inquired Mr. Gibney, with a touch of +asperity in his tones.</p> + +<p>"I dunno," replied McGuffey. "It's pretty hard to distinguish +between niggers and folks that goes to work an' eats with 'em."</p> + +<p>"Mac," said Captain Scraggs severely, "you're prejudiced."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + + +<p>At 6:30 o'clock of the morning of the day following the frightful +experience of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs with the +cannibals of Kandavu, the members of the <i>Maggie II</i> Syndicate +faced each other across the breakfast table with appetites in no +wise diminished by the exciting events of the preceding day. +Captain Scraggs appeared with a lump on the back of his head as +big as a goose egg. The doughty commodore had a cut over his +right eye, and the top of his sinful head was so sore, where the +earthenware pot had struck him, that even the simple operation of +winking his bloodshot eyes was productive of pain. About a +teaspoonful of Kandavu real estate had also been blown into Mr. +Gibney's classic features when the shells from the Maxim-Vickers +gun exploded in his immediate neighbourhood, and as he naïvely +remarked to Bartholomew McGuffey, he was in luck to be alive.</p> + +<p>McGuffey surveyed his superior officers, cursed them bitterly, +and remarked, with tears of joy in his honest eyes, that both +gentlemen had evaded their just deserts when they escaped with +their lives. "If it hadn't been for the mate," said McGuffey +severely, "I'd 'a' let you two boobies suffer the penalty for +your foolishness. Any man that goes to work and fraternizes with +a cannibal ain't got no kick comin' if he's made up into chicken +curry with rice. The minute I hear old Scraggsy yippin' for help, +says I to myself, 'let the beggars fight their own way out of the +mess.' But the mate comes a-runnin' up and says he's pretty sure +he can come near plantin' a mess of shells in the centre of the +disturbance, even if we can't see the wari on account of the +jungle. 'It's all off with the commodore and the skipper anyhow,' +says the mate, 'so we might just as well have vengeance on their +murderers.' So, of course, when he put it that way I give my +consent——"</p> + +<p>At this juncture the mate, passing around McGuffey on his way to +the deck, winked solemnly at Mr. Gibney, who hung his war-worn +head in simulated shame. When the mate had left the cabin the +commodore pounded with his fork on the cabin table and announced +a special meeting of the <i>Maggie II</i> Syndicate.</p> + +<p>"The first business before the meeting," said Mr. Gibney, "is to +readjust the ownership in the syndicate. Me and Scraggsy's had +our heads together, Mac, and we've agreed that you've shot your +way into a full one-third interest, instead of a quarter as +heretofore. From now on, Mac, you're an equal owner with me and +Scraggsy, and now that that matter's settled, you can quit +rippin' it into us on the race question and suggest what's to be +done in the case of Tabu-Tabu and this cannibal king that almost +lures me and the navigatin' officer to our destruction."</p> + +<p>"I have the villains in double irons and chained to the +mainmast," replied McGuffey, "and as a testimonial of my +gratitude for the increased interest in the syndicate which you +and Scraggs has just voted me, I will scheme up a fittin' form +of vengeance on them two tar babies. However, only an +extraordinary sentence can fit such an extraordinary crime, so I +must have time to think it over. These two bucks is mine to do +what I please with and I'll take any interference as +unneighbourly and unworthy of a shipmate."</p> + +<p>"Take 'em," said Captain Scraggs vehemently. "For my part I only +ask one thing. If you can see your way clear, Mac, to give me the +king's scalp for a tobacco pouch, I'll be obliged."</p> + +<p>"And I," added the commodore, "would like Tabu-Tabu's shin bone +for a clarionet. Pendin' McGuffey's reflections on the hamperin' +of crime in Kandavu, however, we'll turn our attention to the +prime object of the expedition. We've had our little fun and it's +high time we got down to business. It will be low tide at nine +o'clock, so I suggest, Scraggs, that you order the mate and two +seamen out in the big whaleboat, together with the divin' +apparatus, and we'll go after pearl oysters and black coral. As +for you, Mac, suppose you take the other boat and Tabu-Tabu and +the king, and help the mate. Take a rifle along with you, and +make them captives dive for pearl oysters until they're black in +the face——"</p> + +<p>"Huh!" muttered the single-minded McGuffey. "What are they now? +Sky blue?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," continued the commodore, "if a tiger shark happens +along and picks the niggers up, it ain't none of our business. As +for me and Scraggsy, we'll sit on deck and smoke. My head aches +and I guess Scraggsy's in a similar fix."</p> + +<p>"Anythin' to be agreeable," acquiesced McGuffey.</p> + +<p>After breakfast Commodore Gibney ordered that the prisoners be +brought before him. The cook served them with breakfast, and as +they ate, the commodore reminded them that it was only through +his personal efforts and his natural disinclination to return +blow for blow that they were at that moment enjoying a square +meal instead of swinging in the rigging.</p> + +<p>"I'm goin' to give you two yeggs a chance to reform," concluded +Mr. Gibney, addressing Tabu-Tabu. "If you show us where we can +get a cargo of black coral and work hard and faithful helpin' us +to get it aboard, it may help you to comb a few gray hairs. I'm +goin' to take the irons off now, but remember! At the first sign +of the double-cross you're both shark meat."</p> + +<p>On behalf of himself and the king, Tabu-Tabu promised to behave, +and McGuffey kicked them both into the small boat. The mate and +two seamen followed in another boat, in which the air-pump and +diving apparatus was carried, and Tabu-Tabu piloted them to a +patch of still water just inside the reef. The water was so clear +that McGuffey was enabled to make out vast marine gardens thickly +sprinkled with the precious black coral.</p> + +<p>"Over you go, you two smokes," rasped McGuffey, menacing the +captives with his rifle. "Dive deep, my hearties, and bring up +what you can find, and if a shark comes along and takes a nip out +of your hind leg, don't expect no help from B. McGuffey, +Esquire—because you won't get any."</p> + +<p>Thus encouraged, the two cannibals dove overboard. McGuffey could +see them pawing around on the bottom of the little bay, and after +half a minute each came up with a magnificent spray of coral. +They hung to the side of the boat until they could get their +breath, then repeated the performance. In the meantime, the mate +had sent his two divers below to loosen the coral; with the +result that when both boats returned to the <i>Maggie II</i> at noon +Captain Scraggs fairly gurgled with delight at the results of the +morning's work, and Mr. Gibney declared that his headache was +gone. He and Captain Scraggs had spent the morning seated on deck +under an awning, watching the beach for signs of a sortie on the +part of the natives of Kandavu to recapture their king. +Apparently, however, the destructive fire from the pom-pom gun +the night before had so terrified them that the entire population +had emigrated to the northern end of the island, leaving the +invaders in undisputed possession of the bay and its hidden +treasures of coral and pearl and shell.</p> + +<p>For nearly two weeks the <i>Maggie II</i> lay at anchor, while her +crew laboured daily in the gardens of the deep. Vast quantities +of pearl oysters were brought to the surface, and these Mr. +Gibney stewed personally in a great iron pot on the beach. The +shell was stored away in the hold and the pearls went into a +chamois pouch which never for an instant was out of the +commodore's possession. The coast at that point being now +deserted, frequent visits ashore were made, and the crew feasted +on young pig, chicken, yams, and other delicacies. Captain +Scraggs was almost delirious with joy. He announced that he had +not been so happy since Mrs. Scraggs "slipped her cable."</p> + +<p>At the end of two weeks Mr. Gibney decided that there was "loot" +enough ashore to complete the schooner's cargo, and at a meeting +of the syndicate held one lovely moonlight night on deck he +announced his plans to Captain Scraggs and McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Better leave the island alone," counselled McGuffey. "Them +niggers may be a-layin' there ten thousand strong, waitin' for a +boat's crew to come prowlin' up into the bush so they can nab +'em."</p> + +<p>"I've thought of that, Mac," said the commodore a trifle coldly, +"and if I made a sucker of myself once it don't stand to reason +that I'm apt to do it again. Remember, Mac, a burnt child dreads +the fire. To-morrow morning, right after breakfast, we'll turn +the guns loose and pepper the bush for a mile or two in every +direction. If there's a native within range he'll have business +in the next county and we won't be disturbed none."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's programme was duly put through and capital of +Kandavu looted of the trade accumulations of the years. And when +the hatches were finally battened down, the tanks refilled with +fresh water, and everything in readiness to leave Kandavu for the +run to Honolulu, Mr. Gibney announced to the syndicate that the +profits of the expedition would figure close up to a hundred +thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs gasped and fell limply against +the mainmast.</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," he sputtered, "are you sure it ain't all a +dream and that we'll wake up some day and find that we're still +in the green-pea trade; that all these months we've been asleep +under a cabbage leaf, communin' with potato bugs?"</p> + +<p>"Not for a minute," replied the commodore. "Why, I got a dozen +matched pearls here that's fit for a queen. Big, red, +pear-shaped boys—regular bleedin' hearts. There's ten thousand +each in them alone."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll—I'll brew some grog," gasped Captain Scraggs, and +departed forthwith to the galley. Fifteen minutes later he +returned with a kettle of his favourite nepenthe and all three +adventurers drank to a bon voyage home. At the conclusion of the +toast Mr. McGuffey set down his glass, wiped his mouth with the +back of his hairy hand, and thus addressed the syndicate.</p> + +<p>"In leavin' this paradise of the South Pacific," he began, "we +find that we have accumulated other wealth besides the loot below +decks. I refer to His Royal Highness, the king of Kandavu, and +his prime minister, Tabu-Tabu. When these two outlaws was first +captured, I informed the syndicate that I would scheme out a +punishment befittin' their crime, to-wit—murderin' an' eatin' +you two boys. It's been a big job and it's taken some time, me +not bein' blessed with quite as fine an imagination as our +friend, Gib. However, I pride myself that hard work always brings +success, and I am ready to announce what disposition shall be +made of these two interestin' specimens of aboriginal life. I beg +to announce, gentlemen, that I have invented a punishment fittin' +the crime."</p> + +<p>"Impossible," said Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Scraggs," struck in Commodore Gibney. "Out with it, +Mac. What's the programme?"</p> + +<p>"I move you, members of the syndicate, that the schooner <i>Maggie +II</i> proceed to some barren, uninhabited island, and that upon +arrival there this savage king and his still more savage subject +be taken ashore in a small boat. I also move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that inasmuch as the two aggrieved parties, A.P. +Gibney and P. Scraggs, having in a sperrit of mercy refrained +from layin' their hands on said prisoners for fear of invalidin' +them at a time when their services was of importance to the +expedition, be given an opportunity to take out their grudge on +the persons of said savages. Now, I notice that the king is a +miserable, skimpy, sawed-off, and hammered-down old cove. By all +the rules of the prize ring he's in Scraggsy's class." (Here Mr. +McGuffey flashed a lightning wink to the commodore. It was an +appeal for Mr. Gibney's moral support in the engineer's scheme to +put up a job on Captain Scraggs, and thus relieve the tedium of +the homeward trip. Mr. Gibney instantly telegraphed his +approbation, and McGuffey continued.) "I notice also that if I +was to hunt the universe over, I couldn't find a better match for +Gib than Tabu-Tabu. And as we are all agreed that the white race +is superior to any race on earth, and it'll do us all good to see +a fine mill before we leave the country, I move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that we pull off a finish fight between Scraggsy +and the king, and Gib and Tabu-Tabu. I'll referee both contests +and at the conclusion of the mixup we'll leave these two +murderers marooned on the island and then——"</p> + +<p>"Rats," snapped Captain Scraggs. "That ain't no business at all. +You shouldn't consider nothin' short of capital punishment. Why, +that's only a petty larceny form of——"</p> + +<p>"Quit buttin' in on my prerogatives," roared McGuffey. "That +ain't the finish by no means."</p> + +<p>"What is the finish, then?"</p> + +<p>"Why, these two cannibals, bein' left alone on the desert island, +naturally bumps up agin the old question of the survival of the +fittest. They get scrappin' among themselves, and one eats the +other up."</p> + +<p>"By the toe-nails of Moses," muttered Mr. Gibney in genuine +admiration, "but you <i>have</i> got an imagination after all, Mac. +The point is well taken and the programme will go through as +outlined. Scraggs, you'll fight the king. No buckin' and +grumblin'. You'll fight the king. You're outvoted two to one, the +thing's been done regular, and you can't kick. I'll fight +Tabu-Tabu, so you see you're not gettin' any the worst of it. +We'll proceed to an island in the Friendly Group called +Tuvana-tholo. It lies right in our homeward course, and there +ain't enough grub on the confounded island to last two men a +week. And I know there ain't no water there. So, now that that +matter is all settled, we will proceed to heave the anchor and +scoot for home. Mac, tune up your engines and we'll get out of +here a-whoopin' and a-flyin'."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later the anchor was hanging at the hawsepipe, and +under her power the <i>Maggie II</i> swung slowly in the lagoon, +pointed her sharp bow for the opening in the reef, and bounded +away for the open sea. Captain Scraggs jammed on all of her lower +sails and within two hours the island of Kandavu had faded +forever from their vision.</p> + +<p>It was an eight-hundred-mile run up to Tuvana-tholo, but the +weather held good and the trade-winds never slackened. Ten days +from the date of leaving Kandavu they hove to off the island. It +was a long, low, sandy atoll, with a few cocoanut-palms growing +in the centre of it, and with the exception of a vast colony of +seabirds that apparently made it their headquarters, the island +was devoid of life.</p> + +<p>The bloodthirsty McGuffey stood at the break of the poop, and as +he gazed shoreward he chuckled and rubbed his hands together.</p> + +<p>"Great, great," he murmured. "I couldn't have gotten a better +island if I'd had one built to order." He called aft to the +navigating officer: "Scraggsy, there's the ring. Nothin' else to +do now but get the contestants into it. Along in the late +afternoon, when the heat of the day is over, we'll go ashore and +pull off the fight. And, by George, Scraggs, if that old king +succeeds in lambastin' you, I'll set the rascal free."</p> + +<p>"I'll lick him with one hand tied and the other paralyzed," +retorted Captain Scraggs with fine nonchalance. "No need o' +waitin' on my account. Heat or no heat, I'm just naturally pinin' +to beat up the royal person."</p> + +<p>"If this ain't the best idea I ever heard of, I'm a Dutchman," +replied McGuffey. "A happy combination of business and pleasure. +Who fights first, Gib? You or Scraggs?"</p> + +<p>"I guess I'd better open the festivities," said Mr. Gibney +amiably. "I ain't no kill-joy and I want Scraggsy to get some fun +out of this frolic. If I fight first the old kiddo can look on in +peace and enjoy the sight, and if him and the king fights first +perhaps he won't be in no condition to appreciate the spectacle +that me and Tabu-Tabu puts up."</p> + +<p>"That's logic," assented McGuffey solemnly; "that's logic."</p> + +<p>Seeing that there was no escape, Captain Scraggs decided to bluff +the matter through. "Let's go ashore and have it over with," he +said carelessly. "I'm a man of peace, but when there's fightin' +to be done, I say go to it and no tomfoolery."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney winked slyly at McGuffey. They each knew Scraggs +little relished the prospect before him, though to do him justice +he was mean enough to fight and fight well, if he thought he had +half a chance to get the decision. But he knew the king was as +hard as tacks, and was more than his match in a rough and tumble, +and while he spoke bravely enough, his words did not deceive his +shipmates, and inwardly they shook with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Clear away the big whaleboat with two men to pull us ashore," +said Mr. Gibney to the mate. Five minutes later the members of +the syndicate, accompanied by the captives, climbed into the +whaleboat and shoved off, leaving the <i>Maggie II</i> in charge of +the mate. "We'll be back in half an hour," called the commodore, +as they rowed away from the schooner. "Just ratch back and forth +and keep heavin' the lead."</p> + +<p>They negotiated the fringe of breakers to the north of the island +successfully, pulled the boat up on the beach, and proceeded at +once to business. Mr. Gibney explained to Tabu-Tabu what was +expected of him, and Tabu-Tabu in turn explained to the king. It +was not the habit of white men, so Mr. Gibney explained, to kill +their prisoners in cold blood, and he had decided to give them an +opportunity to fight their way out of a sad predicament with +their naked fists. If they won, they would be taken back aboard +the schooner and later dropped at some inhabited island. If they +lost, they must make their home for the future on Tuvana-tholo.</p> + +<p>"Let 'er go," called McGuffey, and Mr. Gibney squared off and +made a bear-like pass at Tabu-Tabu. To the amazement of all +present Tabu-Tabu sprang lightly backward and avoided the blow. +His footwork was excellent and McGuffey remarked as much to +Captain Scraggs. But when Tabu-Tabu put up his hands after the +most approved method of self-defense and dropped into a "crouch," +McGuffey could no longer contain himself.</p> + +<p>"The beggar can fight, the beggar can fight," he croaked, wild +with joy. "Scraggs, old man, this'll be a rare mill, I promise +you. He's been aboard a British man-o'-war and learned how to +box. Steady, Gib. Upper-cut him, upper—<i>wow!</i>"</p> + +<p class="center"><a name="Tabu" id="Tabu"></a><img src="images/image004.jpg" alt="Tabu" /></p> + +<h4>"<i>Tabu-Tabu ... planted a mighty right in<br /> +the centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy</i>"</h4> + +<p> +Tabu-Tabu had stepped in and planted a mighty right in the centre +of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy, following it up with a hard left to +the commodore's ear. Mr. Gibney rocked a moment on his sturdy +legs, stepped back out of range, dropped both hands, and stared +at Tabu-Tabu. +</p> + +<p> +"I do believe the nigger'll lick you, Gib," said McGuffey +anxiously. "He's got a horrible reach and a mule kick in each +mit. Close with him, or he's due for a full pardon." +</p> + +<p> +"In a minute," said the commodore faintly. "He's so good I hate +to hurt him. But I'll infight him to a finish." +</p> + +<p> +Which Mr. Gibney forthwith proceeded to do. He rushed his +opponent and clinched, though not until his right eye was in +mourning and a stiff jolt in the short ribs had caused him to +grunt in most ignoble fashion. But few men could withstand Mr. +Gibney once he got to close quarters. Tabu-Tabu wrapped his long +arms around the commodore and endeavoured to smother his blows, +but Mr. Gibney would not be denied. His great fist shot upward +from the hip and connected with the cannibal's chin. Tabu-Tabu +relaxed his hold, Mr. Gibney followed with left and right to the +head in quick succession, and McGuffey was counting the fatal ten +over the fallen warrior. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Gibney grinned rather foolishly, spat, and spoke to McGuffey, +<i>sotto voce</i>: "By George, the joke ain't all on Scraggsy," he +said. Then turning to Captain Scraggs: "Help yourself to the +mustard, Scraggsy, old tarpot." +</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs took off his hat, rolled up his sleeves, and made +a dive for the royal presence. His majesty, lacking the +scientific training of his prime minister, seized a handful of +the Scraggs mane and tore at it cruelly. A well-directed kick in +the shins, however, caused him to let go, and a moment later he +was flying up the beach with the angry Scraggs in full cry after +him. McGuffey headed the king off and rounded him up so Scraggs +could get at him, and the latter at once "dug in" like a terrier. +After five minutes of mauling and tearing Captain Scraggs was out +of breath, so he let go and stood off a few feet to size up the +situation. The wicked McGuffey was laughing immoderately, but to +Scraggs it was no laughing matter. The fact of the matter was the +king was dangerous and Scraggs had glutted himself with revenge.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to beat an old man to death," he gasped finally. +"I'll let the scoundrel go. He's had enough and he won't fight. +Let's mosey along back to the schooner and leave them here to +amuse themselves the best way they know how."</p> + +<p>"Right-O," said Mr. Gibney, and turned to walk down the beach to +the boat. A second later a hoarse scream of rage and terror broke +from his lips.</p> + +<p>"What's up?" cried McGuffey, the laughter dying out of his voice, +for there was a hint of death in Mr. Gibney's cry.</p> + +<p>"Marooned!" said the commodore hoarsely. "Those two sailors have +pulled back to the schooner, and—there—look, Mac! My Gawd!"</p> + +<p>McGuffey looked, and his face went whiter than the foaming +breakers beyond which he could see the <i>Maggie II</i>, under full +sail, headed for the open sea. The small boat had been picked up, +and there was no doubt that at her present rate of speed the +schooner would be hull down on the horizon by sunset.</p> + +<p>"The murderin' hound," whispered McGuffey, and sagged down on the +sands. "Oh, the murderin' hound of a mate!"</p> + +<p>"It's—it's mutiny," gulped Captain Scraggs in a hard, strained +voice. "That bloody fiend of a mate! The sly sneak-thief, with +his pleasant smile and his winnin' ways! Saw a chance to steal +the <i>Maggie</i> and her rich cargo, and he is leavin' us here, +marooned on a desert island, with <i>two cannibals</i>."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs fairly shrieked the last two words and burst into +tears. "Lord, Gib, old man," he raved, "whatever will we do?"</p> + +<p>Thus appealed to, the doughty commodore permitted his two +unmatched optics to rest mournfully upon his shipmates. For +nearly a minute he gazed at them, the while he struggled to +stifle the awful fear within him. In the Gibney veins there +flowed not a drop of craven blood, but the hideous prospect +before him was almost more than the brave commodore could bear. +Death, quick and bloody, had no terrors for him, but a finish +like this—a slow finish—thirst, starvation, heat——</p> + +<p>He gulped and thoughtfully rubbed the knuckles of his right hand +where the skin was barked off. He thought of the silly joke he +and McGuffey had thought to perpetrate on Captain Scraggs by +leading him up against a beating at the hands of a cannibal king, +and with the thought came a grim, hard chuckle, though there was +the look of a thousand devils in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well, boys," he said huskily, "who's looney now?"</p> + +<p>"What's to be done?" asked McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mac, old sporty boy, I guess there ain't much to do except +to make up our minds to die like gentlemen. If I was ever fooled +by a man in my life, I was fooled by that doggone mate. I thought +he'd tote square with the syndicate. I sure did."</p> + +<p>For a long time McGuffey gazed seaward. He was slower than his +shipmates in making up his mind that the mate had really deserted +them and sailed away with the fortunes of the syndicate. Of the +three, however, the stoical engineer accepted the situation with +the best grace. He spurned the white sand with his foot and faced +Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs with just the suspicion of a grin +on his homely face.</p> + +<p>"I make a motion," he said, "that the syndicate pass a resolution +condemnin' the action of the mate."</p> + +<p>It was a forlorn hope, and the jest went over the heads of the +deck department. Said Mr. Gibney sadly:</p> + +<p>"There ain't no more <i>Maggie II</i> Syndicate."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's form a Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," suggested +McGuffey. "We've got the island, and there's a quorum present for +all meetin's."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney smiled feebly. "We can appoint Tabu-Tabu the man +Friday."</p> + +<p>"Sure," responded McGuffey, "and the king can be the goat. +Robinson Crusoe had a billy goat, didn't he, Gib?"</p> + +<p>But Captain Scraggs refused to be heartened by this airy +persiflage. "I'm all het up after my fight with the king," he +quavered presently. "I wonder if there's any water on this +island."</p> + +<p>"There is," announced Mr. Gibney pleasantly; "there is, Scraggsy. +There's water in just one spot, but it's there in abundance."</p> + +<p>"Where's that spot?" inquired Scraggs eagerly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney removed his old Panama hat, and with his index finger +pointed downward to where the hair was beginning to disappear, +leaving a small bald spot on the crown of his ingenious head.</p> + +<p>"There," he said, "right there, Scraggsy, old top. The only water +on this island is on the brain of Adelbert P. Gibney."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + + +<p>Neils Halvorsen often wondered what had become of the <i>Maggie</i> +and Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney and Bartholomew McGuffey he knew +had turned their sun-tanned faces toward deep water some years +before Captain Scraggs and the <i>Maggie</i> disappeared from the +environs of San Francisco Bay, and Neils Halvorsen was wise +enough to waste no time wondering what had become of <i>them</i>. +These two worthies might be anywhere, and every conceivable thing +under the sun might have happened to them; hence, in his idle +moments, Neils Halvorsen did not disturb his gray matter +speculating on their whereabouts and their then condition of +servitude.</p> + +<p>But the continued absence of Captain Scraggs from his old haunts +created quite a little gossip along the waterfront, and in the +course of time rumours of his demise by sundry and devious routes +came to the ears of Neils Halvorsen. Now, Neils had sailed too +long with Captain Scraggs not to realize that the erstwhile +green-pea trader would be the last man to take a chance in any +hazardous enterprise unless forced thereto by the weight of +circumstance; also there was affection enough in his simple +Scandinavian heart to cause him to feel just a little worried +when two weeks passed and Captain Scraggs failed to show up. He +had disappeared in some mysterious manner from San Francisco Bay +and the old <i>Maggie</i> had never been heard from again.</p> + +<p>Hence Neils Halvorsen was puzzled. In fact, to such an extent was +Neils puzzled, that one perfectly calm, clear night while beating +down San Pablo Bay in his bay scow, the <i>Willie and Annie</i>, he so +far forgot himself and his own affairs as to concentrate all his +attention on the problem of the ultimate finish of Captain +Scraggs. So engrossed was Neils in this vain speculation that he +neglected to observe toward the rules of the ocean highways that +nicety of attention which is highly requisite, even in the +skipper of a bay scow, if the fulsome title of captain is to be +retained for any definite period. As a result, Neils became +confused regarding the exact number of blasts from the siren of a +river steamer desiring to pass him to port. Consequently the +<i>Willie and Annie</i> received such a severe butting from the river +steamer in question as to cause her to careen and fill. Being, +unfortunately, loaded with gravel on this particular trip, she +subsided incontinently to the bottom of San Pablo Bay, while +Neils and his crew of two men sought refuge on a plank.</p> + +<p>Without attempting to go further into the details of the +misfortunes of Neils Halvorsen, be it known that the destruction +of the <i>Willie and Annie</i> proved to be such a severe shock to +Neils' reputation as a safe and sane bay scow skipper that he was +ultimately forced to seek other and more virgin fields. With the +fragments of his meagre fortune, the ambitious Swede purchased a +course in a local nautical school from which he duly managed to +emerge with sufficient courage to appear before the United +States Local Inspectors of Hulls and Boilers and take his +examination for a second mate's certificate. To his unutterable +surprise the license was granted; whereupon he shipped as +quartermaster on the steamer <i>Alameda</i>, running to Honolulu, and +what with the lesson taught him in the loss of the <i>Willie and +Annie</i> and the exacting duties of his office aboard the liner, he +forgot that he had ever known Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>Judge of Neils Halvorsen's surprise, therefore, upon the occasion +of his first trip to Honolulu, when he saw something which +brought the whole matter back to mind. They were standing in +toward Diamond Head and the <i>Alameda</i> lay hove to taking on the +pilot. It was early morning and the purple mists hung over the +entrance to the harbour. Neils Halvorsen stood at the gangway +enjoying the sunrise over the Punch-bowl, and glancing longingly +toward the vivid green of the hills beyond the city, when he was +aware of a "put," "put," "put," to starboard of the <i>Alameda</i>. +Neils turned at the sound just in time to see a beautiful +gasoline schooner of about a hundred and thirty tons heading in +toward the bay. She was so close that Neils was enabled to make +out that her name was <i>Maggie II</i>.</p> + +<p>"Vell, aye be dam," muttered Neils, and scratched his head, for +the name revived old memories. An hour later, when the <i>Alameda</i> +loafed into her berth at Brewer's dock, Neils noticed that the +schooner lay at anchor off the quarantine station.</p> + +<p>That night Neils Halvorsen went ashore for those forms of +enjoyment peculiar to his calling, and in the Pantheon saloon, +whither his pathway led him, he filled himself with beer and +gossip. It was here that Neils came across an item in an +afternoon paper which challenged his instant attention. It was +just a squib in the shipping news, but Neils Halvorsen read it +with amazement and joy:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The power schooner <i>Maggie II</i> arrived this morning, ten +days from the Friendly Islands. The little schooner came +into port with her hold bursting with the most valuable +cargo that has entered Honolulu in many years. It +consists for the most part of black coral.</p> + +<p>The <i>Maggie II</i> is commanded by Captain Phineas Scraggs, +and after taking on provisions and water to-day will +proceed to San Francisco, to-morrow, for discharge of +cargo.</p></div> + +<p>"By yiminy," quoth Neils Halvorsen, "aye bat you that bane de ole +man so sure as you bane alive. And aye bat new hat he skall be +glad to see Neils Halvorsen. I guess aye hire Kanaka boy an' he +bane pull me out to see de ole man."</p> + +<p>Which is exactly what Neils Halvorsen proceeded to do. Ten +minutes later he was at the foot of Fort Street, bargaining with +a Kanaka fisherman to paddle him off to the schooner <i>Maggie II</i>. +It was a beautiful moonlight night, and as Neils sat in the stern +of the canoe, listening to the sound of the sad, sweet falsetto +singing of half a dozen <i>waheenies</i> fishing on the wharf, he +actually waxed sentimental. His honest Scandinavian heart +throbbed with anticipated pleasure as he conjured up a mental +picture of the surprise and delight of Captain Scraggs at this +unexpected meeting with his old deckhand.</p> + +<p>A Jacob's ladder was hanging over the side of the schooner as the +canoe shot in under her lee quarter, and half a minute later the +expectant Neils stepped upon her deck. A tall dark man, wearing +an ancient palmleaf hat, sat smoking on the hatch coaming, and +him Neils Halvorsen addressed.</p> + +<p>"Aye bane want to see Cap'n Scraggs," he said.</p> + +<p>The tall dark man stood erect and cast a quick, questioning look +at Neils Halvorsen. He hesitated before he made answer.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" he asked deliberately, and there was a subtle +menace in his tones. As for Neils Halvorsen, thinking only of the +surprise he had in store for his old employer, he replied +evasively:</p> + +<p>"Aye bane want job."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm Captain Scraggs, and I haven't any job for you. Get +off my boat and wait until you're invited before you come aboard +again."</p> + +<p>For nearly half a minute Neils Halvorsen stared open-mouthed at +the spurious Captain Scraggs, while slowly there sifted through +his brain the notion that he had happened across the track of a +deep and bloody mystery of the seas. There was "something rotten +in Denmark." Of that Neils Halvorsen was certain. More he could +not be certain of until he had paved the way for a complete +investigation, and as a preliminary step toward that end he +clinched his fist and sprang swiftly toward the bogus skipper.</p> + +<p>"Aye tank you bane damn liar," he muttered, and struck home, +straight and true, to the point of the jaw. The man went down, +and in an instant Neils was on top of him. Off came the sailor's +belt, the hands of the half-stunned man were quickly tied behind +him, and before he had time to realize what had happened Neils +had cut a length of cord from a trailing halyard and tied his +feet securely, after which he gagged him with his bandana +handkerchief.</p> + +<p>A quick circuit of the ship convinced Neils Halvorsen that the +remainder of the dastard crew were evidently ashore, so he +descended to the cabin in search of further evidence of crime. He +was quite prepared to find Captain Scraggs's master's certificate +in its familiar oaken frame, hanging on the cabin wall, but he +was dumfounded to observe, hanging on the wall in a similar and +equally familiar frame, the certificate of Adelbert P. Gibney as +first mate of steam or sail, any ocean and any tonnage. But still +a third framed certificate hung on the wall, and Neils again +scratched his head when he read the wording that set forth the +legal qualifications of Bartholomew McGuffey to hold down a job +as chief engineer of coastwise vessels up to 1,200 tons net +register.</p> + +<p>It was patent, even to the dull-witted Swede, that there had been +foul play somewhere, and the schooner's log, lying open on the +table, seemed to offer the first means at hand for a solution of +the mystery. Eagerly Neils turned to the last entry. It was not +in Captain Scraggs's handwriting, and contained nothing more +interesting than the stereotyped reports of daily observations, +currents, weather conditions, etc., including a notation of +arrival that day at Honolulu. Slowly Halvorsen turned the leaves +backward, until at last he was rewarded by a glimpse of a +different handwriting. It was the last entry under that +particular handwriting, and read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>June 21, 19—. Took an observation at noon, and find +that we are in 20-48 S., 178-4 W. At this rate should +lift Tuvana-tholo early this afternoon. All hands well +and looking forward to the fun at Tuvana. Bent a new +flying jib this morning and had the king and Tabu-Tabu +holystone the deck.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">A.P. Gibney</span>.<br /> +</p></div> + +<p>Neils Halvorsen sat down to think, and after several minutes of +this unusual exercise it appeared to the Swede that he had +stumbled upon a clue to the situation. The last entry in the log +kept by Mr. Gibney was under date of June 21st—just eleven days +ago, and on that date Mr. Gibney had been looking forward to some +fun at Tuvana-tholo. Now where was that island and what kind of a +place was it?</p> + +<p>Neils searched through the cabin until he came across the book +that is the bible of every South Sea trading vessel—the British +Admiralty Reports. Down the index went the old deckhand's +calloused finger and paused at "Friendly islands—page 177"; +whereupon Neils opened the book at page 177 and after a +five-minute search discovered that Tuvana-tholo was a barren, +uninhabited island in latitude 21-2 south, longitude 178-49 west.</p> + +<p>Ten days from the Friendly Islands, the paper said. That meant +under power and sail with the trades abaft the beam. It would +take nearer fifteen days for the run from Honolulu to that desert +island, and Neils Halvorsen wondered whether the marooned men +would still be alive by the time aid could reach them. For by +some sixth sailor sense Neils Halvorsen became convinced that his +old friends of the vegetable trade were marooned. They had gone +ashore for some kind of a frolic, and the crew had stolen the +schooner and left them to their fate, believing that the +castaways would never be heard from and that dead men tell no +tales.</p> + +<p>"Yumpin' yiminy," groaned Neils. "I must get a wiggle on if aye +bane steal this schooner."</p> + +<p>He rushed on deck, carried his prisoner down into the cabin, and +locked the door on him. A minute later he was clinging to the +Jacob's ladder, the canoe shot in to the side of the vessel at +his gruff command and passed on shoreward without missing a +stroke of the paddle. An hour later, accompanied by three Kanaka +sailors picked up at random along the waterfront, Neils Halvorsen +was pulled out to the <i>Maggie II</i>. Her crew had not returned and +the bogus captain was still triced hard and fast in the cabin.</p> + +<p>The Swede did not bother to investigate in detail the food and +water supply. A hasty round of the schooner convinced him that +she had at least a month's supply of food and water. Only one +thought surged through his mind, and that was the awful necessity +for haste. The anchor came in with a rush, the Kanaka boys +chanting a song that sounded to Neils like a funeral dirge, and +Neils went below and turned the gasoline engines wide open. The +<i>Maggie II</i> swung around and with a long streak of opalescent +foam trailing behind her swung down the bay and faded at last in +the ghostly moonlight beyond Diamond Head; after which Neils +Halvorsen, with murder in his eye and a tarred rope's end in his +horny fist, went down into the cabin and talked to the man who +posed as Captain Scraggs. In the end he got a confession. Fifteen +minutes later he emerged, smiling grimly, gave the Kanaka boy at +the wheel the course, and turned in to sleep the sleep of the +conscience-free and the weary.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + + +<p>Darkness was creeping over the beach at Tuvana-tholo before Mr. +Gibney could smother the despair in his heart sufficient to spur +his jaded imagination into working order. For nearly an hour the +three castaways had sat on the beach in dumb horror, gazing +seaward. They were not alone in this, for a little further up the +beach the two Fiji Islanders sat huddled on their haunches, +gazing stupidly first at the horizon and then at their white +captors. It was the sight of these two worthies that spurred Mr. +Gibney's torpid brain to action.</p> + +<p>"Didn't you say, Mac, that when we left these two cannibals alone +on this island that it would develop into a case of dog eat dog +or somethin' of that nature?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs sprang to his feet, his face white with a new +terror. However, he had endured so much since embarking with Mr. +Gibney on a life of wild adventure that his nerves had become +rather inured to impending death, and presently his fear gave way +to an overmastering rage. He hurled his hat on the sands and +jumped on it until it was a mere shapeless rag.</p> + +<p>"By the tail of the Great Sacred Bull," he gasped, "if they don't +start in on us first I'm a Dutchman. Of all the idiots, thieves, +crimps, thugs, and pirates, Bart McGuffey, you're the worst. +Gib, you hulkin' swine, whatever did you listen to him for? It +was a crazy idea, this talk of fight. Why didn't we just drop the +critters overboard and be done with it? We got to kill 'em now +with sticks and stones in order to protect ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Scraggsy, old scout," said Mr. Gibney humbly. "The +fat's in the fire now, and there ain't no use howlin' over spilt +milk."</p> + +<p>"Shut up, you murderer," shrilled Captain Scraggs and danced once +more on his battered hat.</p> + +<p>"Let's call a meetin' of the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," said Mr. +Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Carried," said the commodore. "The first business before the +meetin' is the organization of a expedition to chase these two +cannibals to the other end of the island. I ain't got the heart +to kill 'em, so let's chase 'em away before they get fresh with +us."</p> + +<p>"Good idea," responded McGuffey, whereupon he picked up a rock +and threw it at the king. Mr. Gibney followed with two rocks, +Captain Scraggs screamed defiance at the enemy, and the enemy +fled in wild disorder, pursued by the syndicate. After a chase of +half a mile Mr. Gibney led his cohorts back to the beach.</p> + +<p>"Let's build a fire—not that we need it, but just for +company—and sleep till mornin'. By that time my imagination'll +be in workin' order and I'll scheme a breakfast out of this +God-forsaken hole."</p> + +<p>At the first hint of dawn Mr. Gibney, true to his promise, was up +and scouting for breakfast. He found some gooneys asleep on a +rocky crag and killed half a dozen of them with a club. On his +way back to camp he discovered a few handfuls of sea salt in a +crevice between some rocks, and the syndicate breakfasted an hour +later on roast gooney. It was oily and fishy but an excellent +substitute for nothing at all, and the syndicate was grateful. +The breakfast would have been cheerful, in fact, if Captain +Scraggs had not made repeated reference to his excessive thirst. +McGuffey lost patience before the meal was over, and cuffed +Captain Scraggs, who thereupon subsided with tears in his eyes. +This hurt McGuffey. It was like salt in a fresh wound, so he +patted the skipper on the back and humbly asked his pardon. +Captain Scraggs forgave him and murmured something about death +making them all equal.</p> + +<p>"The next business before the syndicate," announced Mr. Gibney, +anxious to preserve peace, "is a search of this island for +water."</p> + +<p>They searched all forenoon. At intervals they caught glimpses of +the two cannibals skulking behind sand-dunes, but they found no +water. Toward the centre of the island, however, the soil was +less barren, and here a grove of cocoa-palms lifted their tufted +crests invitingly.</p> + +<p>"We will camp in this grove," said the commodore, "and keep guard +over these green cocoanuts. There must be nearly a hundred of +them and I notice a little taro root here and there. As those +cocoanuts are full of milk, that insures us life for a week or +two if we go on a short ration. By bathin' several times a day we +can keep down our thirst some and perhaps it'll rain."</p> + +<p>"What if it does?" snapped Captain Scraggs bitterly. "We ain't +got nothin' but our hats to catch it in."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," replied the +commodore quizzically, "it's a cinch you'll go thirsty. Your hat +looks like a cullender."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs choked with rage, and Mr. Gibney, springing at +the nearest palm, shinned to the top of it in the most approved +sailor fashion. A moment later, instead of cocoanuts, rich, +unctuous curses began to descend on McGuffey and Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," inquired Scraggs, "whatever <i>is</i> the +matter of you?"</p> + +<p>"That hound Tabu-Tabu's been strippin' our cocoanut grove," +roared the commodore. "He must have spent half the night up in +these trees."</p> + +<p>"Thank the Lord they didn't take 'em all," said McGuffey piously. +"Chuck me down a nut, Gib," said Captain Scraggs. "I'm famished."</p> + +<p>In conformity with the commodore's plans, the castaways made camp +in the grove. For a week they subsisted on gooneys, taro root, +cocoanuts and cocoanut milk, and a sea-turtle which Scraggs found +wandering on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to Mr. Gibney, +and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the unaccustomed +food, poorly cooked as it was, and the lack of water, told +cruelly on them, and their strength failed rapidly. Realizing +that in a few days he would not have the strength to climb +cocoanut trees, Mr. Gibney spent nearly half a day aloft and +threw down every cocoanut he could find, which was not a great +many. They had their sheath knives and consequently had little +fear from an attack by Tabu-Tabu and the king. These latter kept +well to the other side of the island and subsisted in much the +same manner as their white neighbours.</p> + +<p>At the end of a week, all hands were troubled with indigestion +and McGuffey developed a low fever. They had lost much flesh and +were a white, haggard-looking trio. On the afternoon of the tenth +day on the island the sky clouded up and Mr. Gibney predicted a +williwaw. Captain Scraggs inquired feebly if it was good to eat.</p> + +<p>That night it rained, and to the great joy of the marooned +mariners Mr. Gibney discovered, in the centre of a big sandstone +rock, a natural reservoir that held about ten gallons of water. +They drank to repletion and felt their strength return a +thousand-fold. Tabu-Tabu and the king came into camp about this +time, and pleaded for a ration of water. Mr. Gibney, swearing +horribly at them, granted their request, and the king, in his +gratitude, threw himself at the commodore's feet and kissed them. +But Mr. Gibney was not to be deceived, and after furnishing them +with a supply of water in cocoanut calabashes, he ordered them to +their own side of the island.</p> + +<p>On the eighteenth day the last drop of water was gone, and on the +twenty-second day the last of the cocoanuts disappeared. The +prospects of more rain were not bright. The gooneys were becoming +shy and distrustful and the syndicate was experiencing more and +more difficulty, not only in killing them, but in eating them. +McGuffey, who had borne up uncomplainingly, was shaking with +fever and hardly able to stagger down the beach to look for +turtle eggs. The syndicate was sick, weak, and emaciated almost +beyond recognition, and on the twenty-fifth day Captain Scraggs +fainted twice. On the twenty-sixth day McGuffey crawled into the +shadow of a stunted mimosa bush and started to pray!</p> + +<p>To Mr. Gibney this was an infallible sign that McGuffey was now +delirious. In the shadow of a neighbouring bush Captain Scraggs +babbled of steam beer in the Bowhead saloon, and the commodore, +stifling his own agony, watched his comrades until their lips and +tongues, parched with thirst, refused longer to produce even a +moan, and silence settled over the dismal camp.</p> + +<p>It was the finish. The commodore knew it, and sat with bowed head +in his gaunt arms, wondering, wondering. Slowly his body began to +sway; he muttered something, slid forward on his face, and lay +still. And as he lay there on the threshold of the unknown he +dreamed that the <i>Maggie II</i> came into view around the headland, +a bone in her teeth and every stitch of canvas flying. He saw her +luff up into the wind and hang there shivering; a moment later +her sails came down by the run, and he saw a little splash under +her port bow as her hook took bottom. There was a commotion on +decks, and then to Mr. Gibney's dying ears came faintly the +shouts and songs of the black boys as a whaleboat shot into the +breakers and pulled swiftly toward the beach. Mr. Gibney dreamed +that a white man sat in the stern sheets of this whaleboat, and +as the boat touched the beach it seemed to Mr. Gibney that this +man sprang ashore and ran swiftly toward him. And—Mr. Gibney +twisted his suffering lips into a wry smile as he realized the +oddities of this mirage—it seemed to him that this visionary +white man bore a striking resemblance to Neils Halvorsen. Neils +Halvorsen, of all men! Old Neils, "the squarehead" deckhand of +the green-pea trade! Dull, bowlegged Neils, with his lost dog +smile and his——</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney rubbed his eyes feebly and half staggered to his feet. +What was that? A shout? Without doubt he had heard a sound that +was not the moaning of their remorseless prison-keeper, the sea. +And——</p> + +<p>"Hands off," shrieked Mr. Gibney and struck feebly at the +imaginary figure rushing toward him. No use. He felt himself +swept into strong arms and carried an immeasurable distance down +the beach. Then somebody threw water in his face and pressed a +drink of brandy and sweet water to his parched lips. His swimming +senses rallied a moment, and he discovered that he was lying in +the bottom of a whaleboat. McGuffey lay beside him, and on a +thwart in front of him sat good old Neils Halvorsen with Captain +Scraggs's head on his knees. As Mr. Gibney looked at this strange +tableau Captain Scraggs opened his eyes, glanced up at Neils +Halvorsen, and spoke:</p> + +<p>"Why if it ain't old squarehead Neils," he muttered wonderingly. +"If it ain't Neils, I'll go to hades or some other seaport." He +closed his eyes again and subsided into a sort of lethargy, for +he was content. He knew he was saved.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney rolled over, and, struggling to his knees, leaned over +McGuffey and peered into his drawn face.</p> + +<p>"Mac, old shipmate! Mac, speak to me. Are you alive?"</p> + +<p>B. McGuffey, Esquire, opened a pair of glazed eyes and stared at +the commodore.</p> + +<p>"Did we lick 'em?" he whispered. "The last I remember the king +was puttin' it all over Scraggsy. And that Tabu boy—was—no +slouch." McGuffey paused, and glanced warily around the boat, +while a dawning horror appeared in his sunken eyes. "Go back, +Neils—go back—for God's sake. There's two niggers—still—on +the—island. Bring—'em some—water. They're cannibals—Neils, +but never—mind. Get them—aboard—the poor devils—if they're +living. I—wouldn't leave a—crocodile on that—hell hole, if I +could—help it."</p> + +<p>An hour later the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate, including the man +Friday and the Goat, were safe aboard the <i>Maggie II</i>, and Neils +Halvorsen, with the tears streaming down his bronzed cheeks, was +sparingly doling out to them a mixture of brandy and water. And +when the syndicate was strong enough to be allowed all the water +it wanted, Neils Halvorsen propped them up on deck and told the +story. When he had finished, Captain Scraggs turned to Mr. +Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," he said, "make a motion."</p> + +<p>"I move," said the commodore, "that we set Tabu-Tabu and the king +down on the first inhabited island we can find. They've suffered +enough. And I further move that we readjust the ownership of the +<i>Maggie II</i> Syndicate and cut the best Swede on earth in on a +quarter of the profits."</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," said McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Carried," said Captain Scraggs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + + +<p>The lookout on the power schooner <i>Maggie II</i> had sighted Diamond +Head before Commodore Adelbert P. Gibney, Captain Phineas P. +Scraggs, and Engineer Bartholomew McGuffey were enabled to +declare, in all sincerity (or at least with as much sincerity as +one might reasonably expect from this band of roving rascals), +that they had entirely recovered from their harrowing experiences +on the desert island of Tuvana-tholo, in the Friendly group.</p> + +<p>At the shout of "Land, ho!" Mr. McGuffey yawned, stretched +himself, and sat up in the wicker lounging chair where he had +sprawled for days with Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs, under the +awning on top of the house. He flexed his biceps reflectively, +while his companions, stretched at full length in their +respective chairs, watched him lazily.</p> + +<p>"As a member o' the <i>Maggie</i> Syndicate an' ownin' an' votin' a +quarter interest," boomed the engineer, "I hereby call a meetin' +o' the said syndicate for the purpose o' transactin' any an' all +business that may properly come before the meetin'."</p> + +<p>"Pass the word for Neils Halvorsen," suggested Mr. Gibney. "Bless +his squarehead soul," he added.</p> + +<p>"We got a quorum without him, an' besides this business is just +between us three."</p> + +<p>"Meetin'll come to order." The commodore tapped the hot deck +with his bare heel twice. "Haul away, Mac."</p> + +<p>"I move you, gentlemen, that it be the sense o' this meetin' that +B. McGuffey, Esquire, be an' he is hereby app'inted a committee +o' one to lam the everlastin' daylights out o' that sinful former +chief mate o' ourn for abandonin' the syndicate to a horrible +death on that there desert island. Do I hear a second to that +motion?"</p> + +<p>"Second the motion," chirped Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"The motion's denied," announced Mr. Gibney firmly.</p> + +<p>"Now, looky here, Gib, that ain't fair. Didn't you fight +Tabu-Tabu an' didn't Scraggsy fight the king o' Kandavu? I ain't +had no fightin' this entire v'yage an' I did cal'late to lick +that doggone mate."</p> + +<p>"Mac, it can't be done nohow."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it can't, eh? Well, I'll just bet you two boys my interest +in the syndicate——"</p> + +<p>"It ain't that, Mac, it ain't that. Nobody's doubtin' your +natural ability to mop him up. But it ain't policy. You wasn't +sore agin them cannibal savages, was you? You made Neils go back +an' save 'em, an' it took us two days to beat up to the first +inhabited island an' drop 'em off——"</p> + +<p>"But a cannibal's like a dumb beast, Gib. He ain't responsible. +This mate knows better. He's as fly as they make 'em."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" Mr. Gibney levelled a horny forefinger at the engineer. +"That's where you hit the nail on the head. He's too fly, and +there's only two ways to keep him from flyin' away with us. The +first is to feed him to the sharks and the second is to treat +him like a long-lost brother. I know he ought to be hove +overboard, but I ain't got the heart to kill him in cold blood. +Consequently, we got to let the villain live, an' if you go to +beatin' him up, Mac, you'll make him sore an' he'll peach on us +when we get to Honolulu. If us three could get back to San +Francisco with clean hands, I'd say lick the beggar an' lick him +for fair. But we got to remember that this mate was one o' the +original filibuster crew o' the old <i>Maggie I</i>. The day we +tackled the Mexican navy an' took this power schooner away from +'em, we put ourselves forty fathom plumb outside the law, an' +this mate was present an' knows it. We've changed the vessel's +name an' rig, an' doctored up the old <i>Maggie's</i> papers to suit +the <i>Maggie II</i>, an' we've give her a new dress. But at that, +it's hard to disguise a ship in a live port, an' the secret +service agents o' the Mexican government may be a-layin' for us +in San Francisco; and with this here mate agin us an' ready to +turn state's evidence, we're pirates under the law, an' it don't +take much imagination to see three pirates swingin' from the same +yard-arm. No, sir, Mac. I ain't got no wish, now that we're fixed +nice an' comfortable with the world's goods, to be hung for a +pirate in the mere shank o' my youth. Why, I ain't fifty year old +yet."</p> + +<p>"By the tail o' the Great Sacred Bull," chattered Scraggs. "Gib's +right."</p> + +<p>McGuffey was plainly disappointed. "I hadn't thought o' that at +all, Gib. I been cherishin' the thought o' lammin' the whey out'n +that mate, but if you say so I'll give up the idee. But if +bringin' the <i>Maggie II</i> into home waters is invitin' death, +what in blue blazes're we goin' to do with her?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney smiled—an arch, cunning smile. "We'll give her to +that murderin' mate, free gratis."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs bounded out of his chair, struck the hot deck +with his bare feet, cursed, and hopped back into the chair again. +McGuffey stared incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," quavered Scraggs, "say that agin."</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued the commodore placidly, "we'll just get shet o' +her peaceable like by givin' her to this mate. Don't forget, +Scraggsy, old tarpot, that this mate's been passin' himself off +for you in Honolulu, an' if there's ever an investigation, the +trail leads to the <i>Maggie II</i>. This mate's admitted being +Captain Scraggs, an' if he's found with the schooner in his +possession it'll take a heap o' evidence for him to prove that he +ain't Captain Scraggs. We'll just keep this here mate in the brig +while we're disposing of our black coral, pearl, shell, and copra +in Honolulu, an' then, when we've cleaned up, an' got our +passages booked for San Francisco——"</p> + +<p>"But who says we're goin' back to San Francisco?" cut in +McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Why, where else would men with money in their pockets head for, +you oil-soaked piece of ignorance? Ain't you had enough adventure +to do you a spell?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "Me an' Gib's for +goin' back to San Francisco, so shut up. If you got any +objection, you're outvoted two to one in the syndicate."</p> + +<p>McGuffey subsided, growling, and Mr. Gibney continued:</p> + +<p>"When we're ready to leave Honolulu, we'll bring this mate on +deck, make him a kind Christian talk an' give him the <i>Maggie II</i> +with the compliments o' the syndicate. He'll think our sufferin's +on that island has touched us with religion an' he'll be so +tickled he'll keep his mouth shut. Then, with all three of us +safe an' out o' the mess, an' the evidence off our hands, we'll +clear out for Gawd's country an' look around for some sort of a +profitable investment."</p> + +<p>"What you figurin' on, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "I hope +it's a steamboat. This wild adventure is all right when you get +away with it, but I like steamboatin' on the bay an' up the +river."</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothin' particular, Scraggsy. We'll just hold the syndicate +together an' when somethin' good bobs up we'll smother it. In the +meantime, we'll continue our life o' wild adventure."</p> + +<p>"But there ain't no wild adventures around San Francisco Bay," +protested McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"That shows your ignorance, Mac. Adventure lurks in every nook +an' slough an' doghole on the bay. You walk along the +Embarcadero, only reasonably drunk, an' adventure's liable to hit +you a swipe in the face like a loose rope-end bangin' around in a +gale. Adventure an' profits goes hand in hand——"</p> + +<p>"Then why give the <i>Maggie II</i> to this hound of a mate?" demanded +the single-minded McGuffey.</p> + +<p>The commodore sighed. "She's a love of a boat an' it breaks my +heart to give up the only command I've ever had, but the fact is, +Mac, her possession by us is dangerous, an' we don't need her, +an' we can't sell her because her record's got blurs on it. We +can't convey a clean an' satisfactory title. Anyhow, she didn't +cost us a cent an' there ain't no real financial loss if we give +her to this mate. He'd be glad to get her if she had yellow jack +aboard, an' if he's caught with her he'll have to do the +explainin'. When you're caught with the goods in your possession, +Mac, it makes the explainin' all the harder. Besides, we're three +to one, an' if it comes to a show-down later we can outswear the +mate."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs picked his snaggle teeth with the little blade of +his jack-knife and cogitated a minute.</p> + +<p>"Well," he announced presently, "far be it from me to fly in the +face o' a felon's death. I've made a heap o' money, follerin' +Gib's advice, an' bust my bob-stay if I don't stay put on this. +Gib, it's your lead."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll follow suit. Gib's got all the trumps," acquiesced +the engineer. "We got plenty o' dough an' no board bills comin' +due, so we'll loaf alongshore until Gib digs up somethin' good."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney smiled his approval of these sentiments. "Thank you, +boys. I ain't quite sure yet whether we'll quit the sea an' go +into the chicken business, build a fast sea-goin' launch an' +smuggle Chinamen in from Mexico, buy a stern-wheel steamer an' do +bay an' river freightin', or just live at a swell hotel an' +scheme out a fortune by our wits. But whatever I do, as the +leadin' sperrit o' this syndicate, the motto o' the syndicate +will ever be my inspiration:</p> + +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"All for one an' one for all—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">United we stand, divided we fall."</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>"How about Neils?" queried Captain Scraggs. "Do we continue to +let that ex-deckhand in on our fortunes?"</p> + +<p>"If Neils Halvorsen had asked <i>you</i> that question when he come to +rescue you the day you lay a-dyin' o' thirst on that desert +island, wouldn't you have said yes?"</p> + +<p>"Sure pop."</p> + +<p>"Then don't ask no questions that's unworthy of you," said Mr. +Gibney severely. "I don't want to see none o' them green-pea +trade ethics croppin' up in you, Scraggsy. If it wasn't for that +Swede the sea-gulls'd be pickin' our bones now. Neils Halvorsen +is included in this syndicate for good."</p> + +<p>"Amen." This from the honest McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Meetin's adjourned," said Captain Scraggs icily.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + + +<p>Under the direction of the crafty commodore, the valuable cargo +of the <i>Maggie II</i> was disposed of in Honolulu. During the period +while the schooner lay at the dock discharging Captain Scraggs +and McGuffey prudently remained in the cabin with the perfidious +mate, in order that, should an investigation be undertaken later +by the Treasury Department, no man might swear that the real +Phineas Scraggs, filibuster, had been in Honolulu on a certain +date. The Kanaka crew of the schooner Mr. Gibney managed to ship +with an old shipmaster friend bound for New Guinea, so their +testimony was out of the way for a while, at least.</p> + +<p>When the <i>Maggie II</i> was finally discharged and the proceeds of +her rich cargo nestled, in crisp bills of large denomination, in +a money belt under Mr. Gibney's armpits and next his rascally +skin, he purchased tickets under assumed names for himself, +Scraggs, McGuffey, and Halvorsen on the liner <i>Hilonian</i>, due to +sail at noon next day.</p> + +<p>These details attended to, the <i>Maggie II</i> backed away from the +dock under her own power and cast anchor off the quarantine +station. The mate was then brought on deck and made to confront +the syndicate.</p> + +<p>"It appears, my man," the commodore began, "that you was too +anxious to horn in on the profits o' this expedition, so in a +moment o' human weakness you did your employers an evil deed. We +had it all figgered out to feed you to the sharks on the way +home, because dead men tell no tales, but our sufferin's on that +island has caused us all to look with a milder eye on mere human +shortcomin's. The Good Book says: 'Forgive us our trespasses as +we forgive those what trespass agin us,' an' I ain't ashamed to +admit that you owe your wicked life to the fact that Scraggsy's +got religion an' McGuffey ain't much better. But we got all the +money we need an' we're goin' to Europe to enjoy it, so before we +go we're goin' to pass sentence upon you. It is the verdict o' +the court that we present you with the power schooner <i>Maggie II</i> +free gratis, an' that you accept the same in the same friendly +sperrit in which it is tendered. Havin' a schooner o' your own +from now on, you won't be tempted to steal one an' commit +wholesale murder a-doin' it. You're forgiven, my man. Take the +<i>Maggie II</i> with our blessin', organize a comp'ny, an' go back to +Kandavu an' make some money for yourself. Scraggsy, are you +a-willin' to prove that you've given this errin' mate complete +forgiveness by shakin' hands with him?"</p> + +<p>"I forgive him freely," said Captain Scraggs, "an' here's my fin +on it."</p> + +<p>The unfortunate mate hung his head. He was much moved.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean it, sir, do you?" he faltered.</p> + +<p>"I hope I may never see the back o' my neck if I don't," replied +the skipper.</p> + +<p>"Surest thing you know, brother," shouted Mr. McGuffey and +swatted the deluded mate between the shoulders. "Take her with +our compliments. You was a good brave mate until you went wrong. +I ain't forgot how you sprayed the hillsides with lead the day +Gib an' Scraggsy was took by them cannibals. No, sir-ee! I ain't +holdin' no grudge. It's human to commit crime. I've committed one +or two myself. Good luck to you, matey. Hope you make a barrel o' +money with the old girl."</p> + +<p>"Thanks," the mate mumbled. "I ain't deservin' o' this nohow," +and he commenced to snivel a little.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney forgot that he was playing a hypocrite's part, and his +generous nature overcame him.</p> + +<p>"Dog my cats," he blustered, "what's the use givin' him the +vessel if we don't give him some spondulicks to outfit her with +grub an' supplies? Poor devil! I bet he ain't got a cent to bless +himself with. Scraggsy, old tarpot, if we're goin' to turn over a +new leaf an' be Christians, let's sail under a full cloud o' +canvas."</p> + +<p>"By Neptune, that's so, Gib. This feller did us an awful dirty +trick, but at the same time there ain't a cowardly bone in his +hull carcass. I ain't forgot how he stood to the guns that day +off the Coronados when we was attacked by the Mexicans."</p> + +<p>"Stake the feller, Gib," advised McGuffey, and wiped away a +vagrant tear. He was quite overcome at his own generosity and the +manner in which it had touched the hard heart of the iniquitous +mate.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney laid five one-hundred-dollar bills in the mate's palm.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," he said gently, "an' see if you can't be as much of a +man an' as good a sport hereafter as them you've wronged an' +who's forgive you fully and freely."</p> + +<p>One by one the three freebooters of the green-pea trade pumped +the stricken mate's hand, tossed him a scrap of advice, and went +overside into the small boat which was to take them ashore. It +was a solemn parting and Mr. Gibney and McGuffey were snuffling +audibly. Captain Scraggs, however, was made of sterner stuff.</p> + +<p>"'Pears to me, Gib," he remarked when they were clear of the +schooner, "that you're a little mite generous with the funds o' +the syndicate, ain't you?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney picked up a paddle and threatened Scraggs with it.</p> + +<p>"Dang your cold heart, Scraggs," he hissed, "you're un-Christian, +that's what you are."</p> + +<p>"Quit yer beefin', you shrimp," bellowed McGuffey. "Them +cannibals would have et you if it wasn't for that poor devil of a +mate."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs snarled and remained discreetly silent. +Nevertheless, he was in a fine rage. As he remarked <i>sotto voce</i> +to Neils Halvorsen, five hundred dollars wasn't picked up in the +street every day.</p> + +<p>The next day, as the <i>Hilonian</i> steamed out of the harbour, +bearing the syndicate back to San Francisco, they looked across +at the little <i>Maggie II</i> for the last time, and observed that +the mate was on deck, superintending three Kanaka sailors who +were hoisting supplies aboard from a bumboat.</p> + +<p>Commodore Gibney bade his first command a misty farewell.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, little ship," he yelled and waved his hand. "Gawd! You +was a witch in a light wind."</p> + +<p>"He'll be flyin' outer the harbour an' bound south by sunset," +rumbled McGuffey. "I suppose that lovely gas engine o' mine'll go +to hell now."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs sighed dismally. "It costs like sixty to be a +Christian, Gib, but what's the odds as long as we're safe an' +homeward bound? Holy sailor! But I'm hungry for a smell o' +Channel creek at low tide. I tell you, Gib, rovin' and wild +adventure's all right, but the old green-pea trade wasn't so +durned bad, after all."</p> + +<p>"You bet!" McGuffey's response was very fervid.</p> + +<p>"Them was the happy days," supplemented the commodore. He was as +joyous as a schoolboy. Four long years had he been roving and +now, with his pockets lined with greenbacks, he was homeward +bound to his dear old San Francisco—back to steam beer, to all +of his old cronies of the Embarcadero, to moving picture +shows—to Life! And he was glad to get back with a whole skin.</p> + +<p>Seven days after leaving Honolulu, the <i>Hilonian</i> steamed into +San Francisco Bay. The syndicate could not wait until she had +tied up at her dock, and the minute the steamer had passed +quarantine Mr. Gibney hailed a passing launch. Bag and baggage +the happy quartette descended to the launch and landed at Meiggs +wharf. Mr. Gibney stepped into the wharfinger's office and +requested permission to use the telephone.</p> + +<p>"What's up, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"I want to 'phone for a automobile to come down an' snake us up +town in style. This syndicate ain't a-goin' to come rampin' home +to Gawd's country lookin' like a lot o' Eyetalian peddlers. We're +goin' to the best hotel an' we're goin' in <i>style</i>."</p> + +<p>McGuffey nudged Captain Scraggs, and Neils Halvorsen nudged Mr. +McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Hay bane a sport, hay bane," rumbled the honest Neils.</p> + +<p>"You bet he bane," McGuffey retorted. "Ain't he the old kiddo, +Scraggsy? Ain't he? This feller Adelbert P. Gibney's a farmer, I +guess."</p> + +<p>With the assistance of the wharfinger an automobile was summoned, +and in due course the members of the syndicate found themselves +ensconced in a fashionable suite in San Francisco's most +fashionable hotel. Mr. Gibney stored the syndicate's pearls in +the hotel safe, deposited an emergency roll with the hotel clerk, +and banked the balance of the company funds in the names of all +four; after which the syndicate gave itself up to a period of joy +unconfined.</p> + +<p>At the end of a week of riot and revelry Mr. Gibney revived +sufficiently to muster all hands and lead them to a Turkish bath. +Two days in the bath restored them wonderfully, and when the +worthy commodore eventually got them back to the hotel he +announced that henceforth the lid was on—and on tight. Captain +Scraggs, who was hard to manage in his cups and the most prodigal +of prodigals with steam up to a certain pressure, demurred at +this.</p> + +<p>"No more sky-larkin', Scraggsy, you old cut-up," Mr. Gibney +ordered. "We had our good time comin' after all that we've been +through but it's time to get down to business agin. Riches has +wings, Scraggsy, old salamander, an' even if we are ashore, I'm +still the commodore. Now, set around an' we'll hold a meetin'."</p> + +<p>He banged the chiffonier with his great fist. "Meetin' o' the +<i>Maggie</i> Syndicate," he announced. "Meetin'll come to order. The +first business before the meetin' is a call for volunteers to +furnish a money-makin' idee for the syndicate."</p> + +<p>Neils Halvorsen shook his sorrel head. He had no ideas. B. +McGuffey, Esquire, shook his head also. Captain Scraggs wanted to +sing.</p> + +<p>"I see it's up to me to suggest somethin'." Mr. Gibney smiled +benignly, as if a money-making idea was the easiest thing on +earth to produce. "The last thing I remember before we went to +that Turkish bath was us four visitin' a fortune teller an' +havin' our fortunes told, past, present, an' future, for a dollar +a throw. Anybody here remember what his fortune was?"</p> + +<p>It appeared that no one remembered, not even Mr. Gibney. He +therefore continued:</p> + +<p>"The chair will app'int Mr. McGuffey an' himself a committee o' +two to wait on one o' these here clairvoyants and have their +fortunes told agin."</p> + +<p>McGuffey, who was as superstitious as a negro, seconded the +motion heartily and the committee forthwith sallied forth to +consult the clairvoyant. Within the hour they returned.</p> + +<p>"Members o' the syndicate," the commodore announced, "we got an +idea. Not a heluva good one, but fair to middlin'. Me an' Mac +calls on this Madame de What-you-may-call-her an' the minute she +gets a lamp at my mit (it is worthy of remark here that Mr. +Gibney had a starfish tattooed on the back of his left hand, a +full-rigged ship across his breast, and a gorgeous picture of a +lady climbing a ladder adorned the inner side of his brawny right +fore-arm. The feet of the lady in question hung down below the +fringe of Mr. Gibney's shirt sleeve) she up an' says: 'My friend, +you're makin' a grave mistake remainin' ashore. Your fortune lies +at sea.' Then she threw a fit an' mumbled something about a +light-haired man that was' goin' to cross my path. I guess she +must have meant Scraggsy or Neils, both bein' blondes—an' she +come out of her trance shiverin' an' shakin'.</p> + +<p>"'Your fortune lies at sea, my friend,' she kept on sayin'. 'Go +forth an' seek it.'</p> + +<p>"'Gimme the longitude an' latitude, ma'am,' I says, 'an' I'll +light out.'</p> + +<p>"'Look in the shippin' news in the papers to-morrower,' she pipes +up. 'Five dollars, please.'"</p> + +<p>"You didn't give her five dollars, did you?" gasped Captain +Scraggs. "Why, Gib my <i>dear</i> boy, I thought you was sober."</p> + +<p>"So I was."</p> + +<p>"Then, Gib, all I got to say is that you're a sucker. You want to +consult the rest of us before you go throwin' away the funds o' +the syndicate on such tom-fool idees as——"</p> + +<p>McGuffey saw a storm gathering on Mr. Gibney's brows, and +hastened to intervene.</p> + +<p>"Meetin's adjourned," he announced, "pendin' the issue o' the +papers to-morrow mornin'. Scraggsy, you oughter j'ine the Band o' +Hope. You're ugly when you got a drink in you."</p> + +<p>Neils Halvorsen interfered to beg a cigar of Mr. Gibney and the +affair passed over.</p> + +<p>At six o'clock the following morning the members of the syndicate +were awakened by a prodigious pounding at their respective +doors. Answering the summons, they found Mr. Gibney in undress +uniform and the morning paper clutched in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Meetin' o' the <i>Maggie</i> Syndicate in my room," he bawled. "I've +found our fortune."</p> + +<p>The meeting came to order without the formality of dressing, and +the commodore, spreading the paper on his knee, read aloud:<br /></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<h4><br /><i>For Sale Cheap</i></h4> + +<p>The stern-wheel steamer <i>Victor</i>, well found, staunch +and newly painted. Boilers and engines in excellent +shape. Vessel must be sold to close out an estate. +Address John Coakley, Jackson Street wharf.<br /></p></div> + +<p><br />"How d'ye know she's a fortune, Gib?" McGuffey demanded. "Lemme look at +her engines before you get excited."</p> + +<p>"I ain't sayin' she is," Mr. Gibney retorted testily. "Lemme finish +readin'!" He continued:<br /></p> + + +<div class="blockquot"> +<h4><br /><span class="smcap">reports passing derelict</span></h4> + +<p>The steam schooner <i>Arethusa</i>, Grays Harbour to Oakland +Long wharf, reports passing a derelict schooner twenty +miles off Point Reyes at six o'clock last night. The +derelict was down by the head, and her rail just showed +above the water. It was impossible to learn her +identity.</p> + +<p>The presence of this derelict in the steamer lanes to +North Pacific ports is a distinct menace to navigation, +and it is probable that a revenue cutter will be +dispatched to-day to search for the derelict and either +tow her into port or destroy her.<br /></p></div> + +<p><br />"Gentlemen o' the syndicate, them's the only two items in the +shippin' page that looks likely. The question is, in which lies +our fortune?"</p> + +<p>Neils Halvorsen spoke up, giving it as his opinion that the +fortune-telling lady probably knew her business and that their +fortune really lay at sea. The derelict was at sea. How else, +then, could the prophecy be interpreted?</p> + +<p>"Well, this steamer <i>Victor</i> ain't exactly travelling overland," +McGuffey suggested. He had a secret hankering to mess around some +real engines again, and gave it as his opinion that fortune was +more likely to lurk in a solid stern-wheel steamer with good +engines and boilers than in a battered hulk at sea. Captain +Scraggs agreed with him most heartily and a tie vote resulted, +Mr. Gibney inclining toward the derelict.</p> + +<p>"What're we goin' to do about it, Gib?" Captain Scraggs demanded.</p> + +<p>"When in doubt, Scraggsy, old tarpot, always play trumps. In +order to make no mistake, right after breakfast you an' McGuffey +go down to Jackson Street wharf an' interview this man Coakley +about his steamer <i>Victor</i>. You been goin' to sea long enough to +know a good hull when you see it, an' if we can't trust Mac to +know a good set of inner works we'd better dissolve the +syndicate. If you two think she's a bargain, buy her in for the +syndicate. As for me an' Neils, we'll go down to the Front an' +charter a tug an' chase out after that there derelict before the +revenue cutter gets her an' blows her out o' the path o' commerce +with a stick o' dynamite."</p> + +<p>Forthwith Mr. Gibney and Neils, after snatching a hasty +breakfast, departed for the waterfront, where they chartered a +tug for three days and put to sea. At about ten o'clock Captain +Scraggs and McGuffey strolled leisurely down to Jackson Street +wharf to inspect the <i>Victor</i>. By noon they had completed a most +satisfactory inspection of the steamer's hull and boilers, and +bought her in for seven thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs was +delighted. He said she was worth ten thousand. Already he had +decided that heavy and profitable freights awaited the syndicate +along the Sacramento River, where the farmers and orchardists had +been for years the victims of a monopoly and a gentlemen's +agreement between the two steamboat lines that plied between +Sacramento, Stockton, and San Francisco.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of the third day Mr. Gibney and Neils Halvorsen +returned from sea. They were unutterably weary and hollow-eyed +for lack of sleep.</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose you two suckers found that derelict," challenged +McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"Yep. Found her an' got a line aboard an' towed her in, an' it +was a tough job. She's layin' over on the Berkeley tide flats, +an' at lowtide to-morrow we'll go over an' find out what we've +got. Don't even know her name yet. She's practically submerged."</p> + +<p>"I think you was awful foolish, Gib, buyin' a pig in a poke that +way. I don't believe in goin' it blind. Me an' Mac's bought a +real ship. We own the <i>Victor</i>."</p> + +<p>"I'm dead on my feet," growled the commodore, and jumping into +bed he refused to discuss the matter further and was sound asleep +in a jiffy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was up bright and early and aroused the syndicate to +action. The tide would be at its lowest ebb at nine thirty-one +and the commodore figured that his fortune would be lying well +exposed on the Berkeley tide flats. He engaged a diver and a +small gasoline launch, and after an early breakfast in a +chop-house on the Embarcadero they started for the wreck.</p> + +<p>They were within half a mile of it, heading right into the eye of +the wind, when Captain Scraggs and McGuffey stood erect in the +launch simultaneously and sniffed like a pair of—well, sea-dogs.</p> + +<p>"Dead whale," suggested McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"I hope it ain't Gib's fortune," replied Scraggs drily.</p> + +<p>"Shut up," bellowed Mr. Gibney. He was sniffing himself by this +time, for as the launch swiftly approached the derelict the +unpleasant odour became more pronounced.</p> + +<p>"Betcher that schooner was in collision with a steamer," Captain +Scraggs announced. "She was cut down right through the fo'castle +with the watch below sound asleep, an' this here fragrance +appeals to me as a sure sign of a job for the coroner."</p> + +<p>The commodore shuddered. He was filled with vague misgivings, but +Neils Halvorsen grinned cheerfully. McGuffey got out a +cologne-scented handkerchief and clamped it across his nose.</p> + +<p>"Well, if that's Gib's fortune, it must be filthy lucre," he +mumbled through the handkerchief. "Gib, what <i>have</i> you hooked on +to? A public dump?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney's eyes flashed, but he made no reply. They had rounded +the schooner's stern now, and her name was visible.</p> + +<p>"Schooner <i>Kadiak</i>, Seattle," read Scraggs. "Little old three +sticker a thousand years old an' cut clear through just abaft the +foremast. McGuffey, you don't s'pose this here's a pirate craft +an' just bulgin' with gold."</p> + +<p>"Sure," retorted the engineer with a slow wink, "tainted wealth."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney could stand their heckling no longer. "Looky here, you +two," he bawled angrily. "I got a hunch I picked up a lemon, but +I'm a-willin' to tackle the deal with Neils if you two think I +didn't do right by the syndicate a-runnin' up a bill of expense +towing this craft into port. I ain't goin' to stand for no +kiddin', even if we are in a five-hundred-dollar towage bill. Man +is human an' bound to make mistakes."</p> + +<p>"Don't kid the commodore, Scraggsy. This aromer o' roses is +more'n a strong man can stand, so cut out the josh."</p> + +<p>"All right, Mac. I guess the commodore's foot slipped this time, +but I ain't squawkin' yet."</p> + +<p>"No. Not <i>yet</i>," cried Mr. Gibney bitterly, "but soon."</p> + +<p>"I ain't, nuther," Captain Scraggs assumed an air of injured +virtue. "I'm a-willin' to go through with you, Gib, at a loss, +for nothin' else except to convince you o' the folly o' makin' +this a one-man syndicate. I ain't a-kickin', but I'm free to +confess that I'd like to be consulted <i>oncet</i> in a while."</p> + +<p>"That's logic," rumbled the single-minded McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"You dirty welchers," roared the commodore. "I ain't askin' you +two to take chances with <i>me</i>. Me an' Neils'll take this deal +over independent o' the syndicate."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's dress this here diver," retorted the cautious +Scraggs, "an' send him into the hold for a look around before we +make up our minds." Captain Scraggs was not a man to take +chances.</p> + +<p>They moored the launch to the wreck and commenced operations. Mr. +Gibney worked the air pump while the diver, ax in hand, dropped +into the murky depths of the flooded hold. He was down half an +hour before he signalled to be pulled up. All hands sprang to the +line to haul him back to daylight, and the instant he popped +clear of the water Mr. Gibney unburdened himself of an agonized +curse.</p> + +<p>In his hands the diver held a large decayed codfish!</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs turned a sneering glance upon the unhappy +commodore while McGuffey sat down on the damp rail of the +derelict and laughed until the tears coursed down his honest +face.</p> + +<p>"A dirty little codfishin' schooner," raved Captain Scraggs, "an' +you a-sinkin' the time an' money o' the syndicate in rotten +codfish on the say-so of a clairvoyant you ain't even been +interduced to. Gib, if that's business, all I got to say is: +'Excuse <i>me</i>'."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney seized the defunct fish from the diver's hand, tore it +in half, slapped Captain Scraggs with one awful fragment and +hurled the other at McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"I'm outer the syndicate," he raved, beside himself with anger. +"Here I go to work an' make a fortune for a pair of short sports +an' pikers an' you get to squealin' at the first +five-hundred-dollar loss. I know you of old, Phineas Scraggs, an' +the leopard can't change his spots." He raised his right hand to +heaven. "I'm through for keeps. We'll sell the pearls to-day, +divvy up, an' dissolve. I'm through."</p> + +<p>"Glad of it," growled McGuffey. "I don't want no more o' that +codfish, an' as soon as we git fightin' room I'll prove to you +that no near-sailor can insult me an' git away with it. Me an' +Scraggsy's got some rights. You can walk on Scraggsy, Gib, but it +takes a man to walk on the McGuffey family."</p> + +<p>Nothing but the lack of sea-room prevented a battle royal. Mr. +Gibney stood glaring at his late partners. His great ham-like +fists were opening and closing automatically.</p> + +<p>"You're right, Mac," he said presently, endeavouring to control +his anger and chagrin. "We'll settle this later. Take that helmet +off the diver an' let's hear what he's got to report."</p> + +<p>With the helmet removed the diver spoke:</p> + +<p>"As near as I can make out, boss, there ain't a thing o' value in +this hulk but a couple o' hundred tons o' codfish. She was cut in +two just for'd o' the bulkhead an' her anchors carried away on +the section that was cut off. She ain't worth the cost o' towin' +her in on the flats."</p> + +<p>"So that codfish has some value," sneered Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Great grief, Scraggsy! Don't tell me it's sp'iled," cried +McGuffey, simulating horror.</p> + +<p>"No, not quite, Mac, not quite. Just <i>slightly</i>. I s'pose Gib'll +tack a sign to the stub o' the main mast: 'Slightly spoiled +codfish for sale. Apply to A.P. Gibney, on the premises. Special +rates on Friday.'"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney quivered, but made no reply. He carefully examined +that portion of the derelict above water and discovered that by +an additional expenditure of about fifty dollars he might recover +an equal amount in brass fittings. The <i>Kadiak's</i> house was gone +and her decks completely gutted. Nothing remained but the +amputated hull and the foul cargo below her battered decks.</p> + +<p>In majestic silence the commodore motioned all hands into the +launch. In silence they returned to the city. Arrived here, Mr. +Gibney paid off the launch man and the diver and accompanied by +his associates repaired to a prominent jeweller's shop with the +pearls they had accumulated in the South Seas. The entire lot was +sold for thirty thousand dollars. An hour later they had adjusted +their accounts, divided the fortune of the syndicate equally, and +then dissolved. At parting, Mr. Gibney spoke for the first time +when it had not been absolutely necessary.</p> + +<p>"Put a beggar on horseback an' he'll ride to the devil," he said. +"When you two swabs was poor you was content to let me lead you +into a fortune, but now that you're well-heeled, you think you're +business men. All right! I ain't got a word to say except this: +Before I get through with you two beachcombers I'll have all your +money and you'll be a-beggin' me for a job. I apologize for +soakin' you two with that diseased codfish, an' for old sake's +sake we won't fight. We're still friends, but business associates +no longer, for I'm too big a figger in this syndicate to stand +for any criticism on my handlin' o' the joint finances. +Hereafter, Scraggsy, old kiddo, you an' Mac can go it alone with +your stern-wheel steamer. Me an' The Squarehead legs it together +an' takes our chances. You don't hear that poor untootered Swede +makin' no holler at the way I've handled the syndicate——"</p> + +<p>"But, Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "will you +just listen to re——"</p> + +<p>"Enough! Too much is plenty. Let's shake hands an' part friends. +We just can't get along in business together, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sorry, Gib," mumbled McGuffey, very much crestfallen, +"but then you hove that dog-gone fish at me an'——"</p> + +<p>"That was fortune hittin' you a belt in the face, Mac, an' you +was too self-conceited to recognize it. Remember that, both of +you two. Fortune hit you in the face to-day an' you didn't know +it."</p> + +<p>"I'd ruther die poor, Gib," wailed McGuffey.</p> + +<p>The commodore shook hands cordially and departed, followed by the +faithful Neils Halvorsen. The moment the door closed behind them +Scraggs turned to the engineer.</p> + +<p>"Mac," he said earnestly, "Gib's up to somethin'. He's got that +imagination o' his workin'. I can tell it every time; he gets a +foggy look in his eyes. We made a mistake kiddin' him to-day. +Gib's a sensitive boy some ways an' I reckon we hurt his feelin's +without intendin' it."</p> + +<p>"He thrun a dead codfish at me," protested McGuffey. "I love old +Gib like a brother, but that's carryin' things with a mighty high +hand."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll apologize to him," declared Captain Scraggs and +started for the door to follow Mr. Gibney. McGuffey barred his +way.</p> + +<p>"You apologize without my consent an' you gotta buy me out o' the +<i>Victor</i>. I won't be no engineer with a skipper that lacks +backbone."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well, Mac." Captain Scraggs realized too well the value +of McGuffey in the engine room. He knew he could never be happy +with anybody else. "We'll complete the deal with the <i>Victor</i>, +ship a crew, get down to business, an' leave Gib to his codfish. +An' let's pay our bill an' get outer here. It's too high-toned +for me—an' expensive."</p> + +<p>For two weeks Captain Scraggs and McGuffey saw no more of Mr. +Gibney and Neils Halvorsen. In the meantime, they had commenced +running the <i>Victor</i> regularly up river, soliciting business in +opposition to the regular steamboat lines. While the <i>Victor</i> was +running with light freights and consequently at a loss, the +prospect for ultimate good business was very bright and Scraggs +and McGuffey were not at all worried about the future.</p> + +<p>Judge of their surprise, therefore, when one morning who should +appear at the door of Scraggs's cabin but Mr. Gibney.</p> + +<p>"Mornin', Gib," began Scraggs cheerily. "I s'pose you been rolled +for your money as per usual, an' you're around lookin' for a job +as mate."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney ignored this veiled insult. "Not yet, Scraggsy, I got +about five hundred tons o' freight to send up to Dunnigan's +Landin' an' I want a lump sum figger for doin' the job. We parted +friends an' for the sake o' old times I thought I'd give you a +chance to figger on the business."</p> + +<p>"Thanky, Gib. I'll be glad to. Where's your freight an' what does +it consist of?"</p> + +<p>"Agricultural stuff. It's crated, an' I deliver it here on the +steamer's dock within reach o' her tackles. No heavy pieces. Two +men can handle every piece easy."</p> + +<p>"Turnin' farmer, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"Thinkin' about it a little," the commodore admitted. "What's +your rate on this freight? It ain't perishable goods, so get down +to brass tacks."</p> + +<p>"A dollar a ton," declared the greedy Scraggs, naming a figure +fully forty cents higher than he would have been willing to +accept. "Five hundred dollars for the lot."</p> + +<p>"Suits me." The commodore nonchalantly handed Scraggs five +hundred dollars. "Gimme a receipt," he said.</p> + +<p>So Captain Scraggs gave him a receipted freight bill and Mr. +Gibney departed. An hour later a barge was bunted alongside the +<i>Victor</i> and Neils Halvorsen appeared in Scraggs's cabin to +inform him that the five hundred tons of freight was ready to be +taken aboard.</p> + +<p>"All right, Neils. I'll put a gang to work right off." He came +out on deck, paused, tilted his nose, and sniffed. He was still +sniffing when McGuffey bounced up out of the engine room.</p> + +<p>"Holy Sailor!" he shouted. "Who uncorked that atter o' violets?"</p> + +<p>"You dog-gone squarehead," shrieked Captain Scraggs. "You been +monkeyin' around that codfish again."</p> + +<p>"What smells?" demanded the mate, poking his nose out of his +room.</p> + +<p>"That tainted wealth I picked up at sea," shouted a voice from +the dock, and turning, Scraggs and McGuffey observed Mr. Gibney +standing on a stringer smiling at them.</p> + +<p>"Gib, my <i>dear</i> boy," quavered Captain Scraggs, "you can't mean +to say you've unloaded them gosh-awful codfish——"</p> + +<p>"No, not yet—but soon, Scraggsy, old tarpot."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs removed his near-Panama hat, cast it on the deck, +and pranced upon it in a terrible rage.</p> + +<p>"I won't receive your rotten freight, you scum of the docks," he +raved. "You'll run me outer house an' home with that horrible +stuff."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you'll freight it for me, all right," the commodore retorted +blithely. "Or I'll libel your old stern-wheel packet for you. +I've paid the freight in advance an' I got the receipt."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs was on the verge of tears. "But, Gib! My <i>dear</i> +boy! This freight'll foul the <i>Victor</i> up for a month o' +Fridays—<i>an' I just took out a passenger license!</i>"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, Scraggsy, but business is business. You've took my +money an' you got to perform."</p> + +<p>"You lied to me. You said it was agricultural stuff an' I thought +it was plows an' harrers an' sich——"</p> + +<p>"It's fertilizer—an' if that ain't agricultural stuff I hope my +teeth may drop out an' roll in the ocean. An' it ain't +perishable. It perished long ago. I ain't deceived you. An' if +you don't like the scent o' dead codfish on your decks, you can +swab 'em down with Florida water for a month."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs's mate came around the corner of the house and +addressed himself to Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"You can give me my time, sir. I'm a steamboat mate, not a grave +digger or a coroner's assistant, or an undertaker, an' I can't +stand to handle this here freight."</p> + +<p>Mr. McGuffey tossed his silken engineer's cap over to Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"Hop on that, Scraggsy. Your own hat is ground to powder. Ain't +it strange, Gib, what little imagination Scraggsy's got? He'll +stand there a-screamin' an' a-cussin' an' a-prancin'—Scraggsy! +Ain't you got no pride, makin' such a spectacle o' yourself? We +don't have to handle this freight o' Gib's at all. We'll just +hook onto that barge <i>an' tow it up river</i>."</p> + +<p>"You won't do nothin' o' the sort, Mac, because that's my barge +an' I ain't a-goin' to let it out o' my sight. I've delivered my +freight alongside your steamer and prepaid the freight an' it's +up to you to handle it."</p> + +<p>"Gib!"</p> + +<p>"That's the programme!"</p> + +<p>"Adelbert," crooned Mr. McGuffey, "ain't you got no heart? You +know I got a half interest in the <i>Victor</i>——"</p> + +<p>"O-oo-oh!" Captain Scraggs groaned, and his groan was that of a +seasick passenger. When he could look up again his face was +ghastly with misery.</p> + +<p>"Gib," he pleaded sadly, "you got us where the hair is short. +Don't invoke the law an' make us handle that codfish, Gib! It +ain't right. Gimme leave to tow that barge—anything to keep your +freight off the <i>Victor</i>, an' we'll pull it up river for you——"</p> + +<p>"Be a good feller, Gib. You usen'ter be hard an' spiteful like +that," urged McGuffey.</p> + +<p>"I'll tow the barge free," wailed Scraggs.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney sat calmly down on the stringer and lit a cigar. +Nature had blessed him with a strong constitution amidships and +the contiguity of his tainted fortune bothered him but little. He +squinted over the tip of the cigar at Captain Scraggs.</p> + +<p>"You're just the same old Scraggsy you was in the green-pea +trade. All you need is a ring in yer nose, Scraggsy, to make you +a human hog. Here you goes to work an' soaks me a dollar a ton +when you'd be tickled to death to do the job for half o' that, +an' then you got the gall to stand there appealin' to my +friendship! So you'll tow the barge up free, eh? Well, just to +make the transaction legal, I'll give you a dollar for the job +an' let you have the barge. Skip to it, Scraggsy, an' draw up a +new bill, guaranteein' to tow the barge for one dollar. Then +gimme back $499.00 an' I'll hand you back this receipted freight +bill."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs darted into his cabin, dashed off the necessary +document, and returning to the deck, presented it, together with +the requisite refund, to Mr. Gibney, who, in the meantime, had +come aboard.</p> + +<p>"Whatever are you a-goin' to do with this awful codfish, Gib?" he +demanded.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney cocked his hat over one ear and blew a cloud of smoke +in the skipper's face.</p> + +<p>"Well, boys, I'll tell you. Salted codfish that's been under +water a long time gets most o' the salt took out of it, an' even +at sea, if it's left long enough, it'll get so durned ripe that +it's what you might call offensive. But it makes good fertilizer. +There ain't nothin' in the world to equal a dead codfish, medium +ripe, for fertilizer. I've rigged up a deal with a orchard +comp'ny that's layin' out a couple o' thousand acres o' young +trees up in the delta lands o' the Sacramento. I've sold 'em the +lot, after first buyin' it from the owners o' the schooner for a +hundred dollars. Every time these orchard fellers dig a hole to +plant a young fruit tree they aims to heave a codfish in the +bottom o' the hole first, for fertilizer. There was upwards o' +two hundred thousand codfish in that schooner an' I've sold 'em +for five cents each, delivered at Dunnigan's Landin'. I figger on +cleanin' up about seven thousand net on the deal. I thought me +an' Neils was stuck at first, but I got my imagination +workin'——"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs sank limply into McGuffey's arms and the two +stared at the doughty commodore.</p> + +<p>"Hit in the face with a fortune an' didn't know it," gasped poor +McGuffey. "Gib, I'm sure glad you got out whole on that deal."</p> + +<p>"Thanks to a lack o' imagination in you an' Scraggsy I'm about +two hundred an' fifty dollars ahead o' my estimate now, on +account o' the free tow o' that barge. Me an' Neils certainly +makes a nice little split on account o' this here codfish deal."</p> + +<p>"Gib," chattered Scraggs, "what's the matter with reorganizin' +the syndicate?"</p> + +<p>"Be a good feller, Adelbert," pleaded McGuffey.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gibney was never so vulnerable as when one he really loved +called him by his Christian name. He drew an arm across the +shoulders of McGuffey and Scraggs, while Neils Halvorsen stood +by, his yellow fangs flashing with pleasure under his walrus +moustache.</p> + +<p>"So you two boys're finally willin' to admit that I'm the +white-haired boy, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Gib, you got an imagination an' a half."</p> + +<p>"One hundred an' fifty per cent. efficient," McGuffey declared.</p> + +<p>Neils Halvorsen said nothing, but grinned like the head of an +old fiddle. Mr. Gibney appeared to swell visibly, after the +manner of a turkey gobbler.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Scraggsy—an' you, too, Bart. So you're willin' to admit +that though that there seeress might have helped some the game +would have been deader than it is if it hadn't been for my +imagination?"</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs nodded and Mr. McGuffey slapped the commodore on +the back affectionately. "Aye bane buy drink in the Bowhead +saloon," The Squarehead announced.</p> + +<p>"Scraggsy! Mac! Your fins! We'll reorganize the syndicate, an' +the minute me an' Neils finds ourselves with a bill o' sale for a +one quarter interest in the <i>Victor</i>, based on the actual cost +price, we'll tow this here barge——"</p> + +<p>"An' split the profits on the codfish?" Scraggs queried eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not. Me an' Neils splits that fifty-fifty. A quarter +o' them profits is too high a price to pay for your friendship, +Scraggsy, old deceitful. Remember, I made that profit after you +an' Mac had pulled out o' the syndicate."</p> + +<p>"That's logic," McGuffey declared.</p> + +<p>"It's highway robbery," Scraggs snarled. "I won't sell no quarter +interest to you or The Squarehead, Gib. Not on them terms."</p> + +<p>"Then you'll load them codfish aboard, or pay demurrage on that +barge for every day they hang around; an' if the Board o' Health +condemns 'em an' chucks 'em overboard I'll sue you an' Mac for my +lost profits, git a judgment agin you, an' take over the <i>Victor</i> +to satisfy the judgment."</p> + +<p>"You're a sea lawyer, Gib," Scraggs retorted sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"You do what Gib says," McGuffey ordered threateningly. +"Remember, I got a half interest in any jedgment he gits agin +us—an' what's more, I object to them codfish clutterin' up my +half interest."</p> + +<p>"You bullied me on the old <i>Maggie</i>," Scraggs screeched, "but I +won't be bullied no more. If you want to tow that barge, Mac, you +buy me out, lock, stock, and barrel. An' the price for my half +interest is five thousand dollars."</p> + +<p>"You've sold something, Scraggsy," Mr. McGuffey flashed back at +him, obeying a wink from Mr. Gibney. "An' here's a hundred +dollars to bind the bargain. Balance on delivery of proper +bill-o'-sale."</p> + +<p>While Scraggs was counting the money Mr. Gibney was writing a +receipt in his note book. Scraggs, still furious, signed the +receipt.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney affably, "hustle up to the +Custom House, get a formal bill-o'-sale blank, fill her in, an' +hustle back agin for your check. An' see to it you don't change +your mind, because it won't do you any good. If you don't come +through now I can sue you an' force you to."</p> + +<p>"Oh! So you're buyin' my interest, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm lendin' Mac the money, an' I got a hunch he'll sell +the interest to me an' Neils without figgerin' on a profit. +You're a jarrin' note in the syndicate, Scraggsy, an' I've come +to that time o' life where I want peace. An' there won't be no +peace on the <i>Victor</i> unless I skipper her."</p> + +<p>Captain Scraggs departed to draw up the formal bill of sale and +Mr. Gibney, drawing The Squarehead and McGuffey to him, favoured +each with a searching glance and said:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen, did it ever occur to you that there's money in the +chicken business?"</p> + +<p>It had! Both McGuffey and Neils admitted it. There are few men in +this world who have not, at some period of their lives, held the +same view, albeit the majority of those who have endeavoured to +demonstrate that fact have subsequently changed their minds.</p> + +<p>"I thought as much," the commodore grinned. "If I was to let you +two out o' my sight for a day you'd both be flat busted the day +after. So we won't buy no farm an' go in for chickens. We'll sell +the <i>Victor</i> an' buy a little tradin' schooner. Then we'll go +back to the South Seas an' earn a legitimate livin'."</p> + +<p>"But why'll we sell the <i>Victor?</i>" McGuffey demanded. "Gib, she's +a love of a boat."</p> + +<p>"Because I've just had a talk with the owners o' the two +opposition lines an' they, knowin' me to be chummy with you an' +Scraggsy, give me the tip to tell you two that you could have +your choice o' two propositions—a rate war or a sale o' the +<i>Victor</i> for ten thousand dollars. That gets you out clean an' +saves your original capital, an' it gits Scraggsy out the same +way, while nettin' me an' Neils five hundred each."</p> + +<p>"A rate war would ruin us," McGuffey agreed. "In addition to +sourin' Scraggsy's disposition until he wouldn't be fit to live +with. Gib, you're a wonder."</p> + +<p>"I know it," Mr. Gibney replied.</p> + +<p>Within two hours Captain Scraggs's half interest had passed into +the hands of McGuffey, and half an hour later the <i>Victor</i> had +passed into the hands of the opposition lines, to be operated for +the joint profit of the latter. Later in the day all four members +of the syndicate met in the Bowhead saloon, where Mr. Gibney +explained the deal to Captain Scraggs. The latter was dumfounded.</p> + +<p>"I had to fox you into selling," the commodore confessed.</p> + +<p>"But how about them defunct codfish, Gib?"</p> + +<p>"I got the new owners to agree to tow 'em up at a reasonable +figger. When I've cleaned up that deal, we'll buy a schooner an' +run South again."</p> + +<p>"You'll run without me, Gib," Scraggs declared emphatically. +"I've had a-plenty o' the dark blue for mine. I got a little +stake now, so I'm going to look around an' invest in a——"</p> + +<p>"A chicken ranch," McGuffey interrupted.</p> + +<p>"Right-O, Bart. How'd you guess it?"</p> + +<p>"Imagination," quoth McGuffey, tapping his forehead, +"imagination, Scraggsy."</p> + +<p>Something told Mr. Gibney that it would be just as well if he did +not insist upon having Scraggs as a member of his crew. So he did +not insist. In the afternoon of life Mr. Gibney was acquiring +common sense.</p> + +<p>Three weeks later Mr. Gibney had purchased, for account of his +now abbreviated syndicate, the kind of power schooner he desired, +and the Inspectors gave him a ticket as master. With The +Squarehead as mate and Mr. McGuffey as engineer and general +utility man, the little schooner cleared for Pago Pago on a day +when Captain Scraggs was too busy buying incubators to come down +to the dock and see them off.</p> + +<p>And for aught the chronicler of this tale knows to the contrary, +the syndicate may be sailing in that self-same schooner to this +very day.</p> + +<h3><span class="smcap">the end</span></h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="Theres_More_to_Follow" id="Theres_More_to_Follow"></a><i>There's More to Follow!</i></h2> + + +<p>More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author +of this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of +world-wide reputation, in the Authors' Alphabetical List which +you will find on the <i>reverse side</i> of the wrapper of this book. +Look it over before you lay it aside. There are books here you +are sure to want—some, possibly, that you have <i>always</i> wanted.</p> + +<p>It is a <i>selected</i> list; every book in it has achieved a certain +measure of <i>success</i>.</p> + +<p>The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good +Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted +Standard of Value. It will pay you to</p> + +<h3><i>Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!</i></h3> + +<p><i>In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a +complete catalog.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PETER B. KYNE'S NOVELS</h2> + +<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list.</p> + + +<p><br />THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR</p> + +<p>When two strong men clash and the under-dog has Irish blood in +his veins—there's a tale that Kyne can tell! And "the girl" is +also very much in evidence.</p> + + +<p><br />KINDRED OF THE DUST</p> + +<p>Donald McKay, son of Hector McKay, millionaire lumber king, falls +in love with "Nan of the Sawdust Pile," a charming girl who has +been ostracized by her townsfolk.</p> + + +<p><br />THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS</p> + +<p>The fight of the Cardigans, father and son, to hold the Valley of +the Giants against treachery. The reader finishes with a sense of +having lived with big men and women in a big country.</p> + + +<p><br />CAPPY RICKS</p> + +<p>The story of old Cappy Ricks and of Matt Peasley, the boy he +tried to break because he knew the acid test was good for his +soul.</p> + + +<p><br />WEBSTER: MAN'S MAN</p> + +<p>In a little Jim Crow Republic in Central America, a man and a +woman, hailing from the "States," met up with a revolution and +for a while adventures and excitement came so thick and fast that +their love affair had to wait for a lull in the game.</p> + + +<p><br />CAPTAIN SCRAGGS</p> + +<p>This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion +sea-faring men—a Captain Scraggs, owner of the green vegetable +freighter Maggie, Gibney the mate and McGuffey the engineer.</p> + + +<p><br />THE LONG CHANCE</p> + +<p>A story fresh from the heart of the West, of San Pasqual, a +sun-baked desert town, of Harley P. Hennage, the best gambler, +the best and worst man of San Pasqual and of lovely Donna.</p> + +<p><br />GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>EMERSON HOUGH'S NOVELS</h2> + +<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's +list.</p> + + +<p><br />THE COVERED WAGON</p> + +<p>NORTH OF 36</p> + +<p>THE WAY OF A MAN</p> + +<p>THE STORY OF THE OUTLAW</p> + +<p>THE SAGEBRUSHER</p> + +<p>THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE</p> + +<p>THE WAY OUT</p> + +<p>THE MAN NEXT DOOR</p> + +<p>THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE</p> + +<p>THE BROKEN GATE</p> + +<p>THE STORY OF THE COWBOY</p> + +<p>THE WAY TO THE WEST</p> + +<p>54-40 OR FIGHT</p> + +<p>HEART'S DESIRE</p> + +<p>THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE</p> + +<p>THE PURCHASE PRICE</p> + +<p><br />GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>RUBY M. AYRE'S NOVELS</h2> + +<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list.</p> + + +<p><br />RICHARD CHATTERTON</p> + +<p>A fascinating-story in which love and jealousy play strange +tricks with women's souls.</p> + + +<p><br />A BACHELOR HUSBAND</p> + +<p>Can a woman love two men at the same time?</p> + +<p>In its solving of this particular variety of triangle "A Bachelor +Husband" will particularly interest, and strangely enough, +without one shock to the most conventional minded.</p> + + +<p><br />THE SCAR</p> + +<p>With fine comprehension and insight the author shows a terrific +contrast between the woman whose love was of the flesh and one +whose love was of the spirit.</p> + + +<p><br />THE MARRIAGE OF BARRY WICKLOW</p> + +<p>Here is a man and woman who, marrying for love, yet try to build +their wedded life upon a gospel of hate for each other and yet +win back to a greater love for each other in the end.</p> + + +<p><br />THE UPHILL ROAD</p> + +<p>The heroine of this story was a consort of thieves. The man was +fine, clean, fresh from the West. It is a story of strength and +passion.</p> + + +<p><br />WINDS OF THE WORLD</p> + +<p>Jill, a poor little typist, marries the great Henry Sturgess and +inherits millions, but not happiness. Then at last—but we must +leave that to Ruby M. Ayres to tell you as only she can.</p> + + +<p><br />THE SECOND HONEYMOON</p> + +<p>In this story the author has produced a book which no one who has +loved or hopes to love can afford to miss. The story fairly leaps +from climax to climax.</p> + + +<p><br />THE PHANTOM LOVER</p> + +<p>Have you not often heard of someone being in love with love +rather than the person they believed the object of their +affections? That was Esther! But she passes through the crisis +into a deep and profound love.</p> + +<p><br />GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>GEORGE W. OGDEN'S WESTERN NOVELS</h2> + +<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list.</p> + + +<p><br />THE BARON OF DIAMOND TAIL</p> + +<p>The Elk Mountain Cattle Co. had not paid a dividend in years; so +Edgar Barrett, fresh from the navy, was sent West to see what was +wrong at the ranch. The tale of this tenderfoot outwitting the +buckaroos at their own play will sweep you into the action of +this salient western novel.</p> + + +<p><br />THE BONDBOY</p> + +<p>Joe Newbolt, bound out by force of family conditions to work for +a number of years, is accused of murder and circumstances are +against him. His mouth is sealed; he cannot, as a gentleman, +utter the words that would clear him. A dramatic, romantic tale +of intense interest.</p> + + +<p><br />CLAIM NUMBER ONE</p> + +<p>Dr. Warren Slavens drew claim number one, which entitled him to +first choice of rich lands on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. +It meant a fortune; but before he established his ownership he +had a hard battle with crooks and politicians.</p> + + +<p><br />THE DUKE OF CHIMNEY BUTTE</p> + +<p>When Jerry Lambert, "the Duke," attempts to safeguard the cattle +ranch of Vesta Philbrook from thieving neighbors, his work is +appallingly handicapped because of Grace Kerr, one of the chief +agitators, and a deadly enemy of Vesta's. A stirring tale of +brave deeds, gun-play and a love that shines above all.</p> + + +<p><br />THE FLOCKMASTER OF POISON CREEK</p> + +<p>John Mackenzie trod the trail from Jasper to the great sheep +country where fortunes were being made by the flock-masters. +Shepherding was not a peaceful pursuit in those bygone days. +Adventure met him at every turn—there is a girl of course—men +fight their best fights for a woman—it is an epic of the +sheeplands.</p> + + +<p><br />THE LAND OF LAST CHANCE</p> + +<p>Jim Timberlake and Capt. David Scott waited with restless +thousands on the Oklahoma line for the signal to dash across the +border. How the city of Victory arose overnight on the plains, +how people savagely defended their claims against the "sooners;" +how good men and bad played politics, makes a strong story of +growth and American initiative.</p> + + +<p><br />TRAIL'S END</p> + +<p>Ascalon was the end of the trail for thirsty cowboys who gave +vent to their pent-up feelings without restraint. Calvin Morgan +was not concerned with its wickedness until Seth Craddock's +malevolence directed itself against him. He did not emerge from +the maelstrom until he had obliterated every vestige of +lawlessness, and assured himself of the safety of a certain +dark-eyed girl.</p> + +<p><i>Ask for Complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted +Fiction</i></p> + +<p><br />GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>EDGAR RICE BURROUGH'S NOVELS</h2> + +<p>May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list.</p> + + +<p><br />TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION</p> + +<p>A tale of the African wilderness which appeals to all readers of +fiction.</p> + + +<p><br />TARZAN THE TERRIBLE</p> + +<p>Further thrilling adventures of Tarzan while seeking his wife in +Africa.</p> + + +<p><br />TARZAN THE UNTAMED</p> + +<p>Tells of Tarzan's return to the life of the ape-man in seeking +vengeance for the loss of his wife and home.</p> + + +<p><br />JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN</p> + +<p>Records the many wonderful exploits by which Tarzan proves his +right to ape kingship.</p> + + +<p><br />AT THE EARTH'S CORE</p> + +<p>An astonishing series of adventures in a world located inside of +the Earth.</p> + + +<p><br />THE MUCKER</p> + +<p>The story of Billy Byrne—as extraordinary a character as the +famous Tarzan.</p> + + +<p><br />A PRINCESS OF MARS</p> + +<p>Forty-three million miles from the earth—a succession of the +weirdest and most astounding adventures in fiction.</p> + + +<p><br />THE GODS OF MARS</p> + +<p>John Carter's adventures on Mars, where he fights the ferocious +"plant men," and defies Issus, the Goddess of Death.</p> + + +<p><br />THE WARLORD OF MARS</p> + +<p>Old acquaintances, made in two other stories reappear, Tars +Tarkas, Tardos Mors and others.</p> + + +<p><br />THUVIA, MAID OF MARS</p> + +<p>The story centers around the adventures of Carthoris, the son of +John Carter and Thuvia, daughter of a Martian Emperor.</p> + + +<p><br />THE CHESSMEN OF MARS</p> + +<p>The adventures of Princess Tara in the land of headless men, +creatures with the power of detaching their heads from their +bodies and replacing them at will.</p> + + +<p><br />GROSSET & DUNLAP, <span class="smcap">Publishers</span>, NEW YORK</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Captain Scraggs, by Peter B. 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Kyne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Captain Scraggs + or, The Green-Pea Pirates + +Author: Peter B. Kyne + +Illustrator: Gordon Grant + +Release Date: May 29, 2006 [EBook #18469] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAPTAIN SCRAGGS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Alison Bush and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: "_Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the +deck and leaped upon it._"] + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +OR + +THE GREEN-PEA PIRATES + + +BY PETER B. KYNE + +AUTHOR OF CAPPY RICKS, THE LONG CHANCE, +THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS, +WEBSTER--MAN'S MAN, ETC. + + +ILLUSTRATED BY + +GORDON GRANT + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS NEW YORK + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1919, BY +PETER B. KYNE + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + + + + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES +AT +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N.Y. + +ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE SUNSET MAGAZINE + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + "Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the + deck and leaped upon it" _Frontispiece_ (_See page 6_) + + FACING PAGE + + "'Great Snakes!' he yelled--and fell back against + the cabin wall" 156 + + "Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle + of savages ... and fled for the beach" 232 + + "Tabu-Tabu ... planted a mighty right in + the centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy" 252 + + + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +OR + +THE GREEN-PEA PIRATES + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +They had seen the fog rolling down the coast shortly after the +_Maggie_ had rounded Pilar Point at sunset and headed north. +Captain Scraggs has been steamboating too many unprofitable years +on San Francisco Bay, the Suisun and San Pablo sloughs and +dogholes and the Sacramento River to be deceived as to the +character of that fog, and he remarked as much to Mr. Gibney. +"We'd better turn back to Halfmoon Bay and tie up at the dock," +he added. + +"Calamity howler!" retorted Mr. Gibney and gave the wheel a spoke +or two. "Scraggsy, you're enough to make a real sailor sick at +the stomach." + +"But I tell you she's a tule fog, Gib. She rises up in the +marshes of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, drifts down to the bay +and out the Golden Gate and just naturally blocks the wheels of +commerce while she lasts. Why, I've known the ferry boats between +San Francisco and Oakland to get lost for hours on their +twenty-minute run--and all along of a blasted tule fog." + +"I don't doubt your word a mite, Scraggsy. I never did see a +ferry-boat skipper that knew shucks about sailorizing," the +imperturbable Gibney responded. "Me, I'll smell my way home in +any tule fog." + +"Maybe you can an' maybe you can't, Gib, although far be it +from me to question your ability. I'll take it for granted. +Nevertheless, I ain't a-goin' to run the risk o' you havin' +catarrh o' the nose an' confusin' your smells to-night. You ain't +got nothin' at stake but your job, whereas if I lose the _Maggie_ +I lose my hull fortune. Bring her about, Gib, an' let's hustle +back." + +"Don't be an old woman," Mr. Gibney pleaded. "Scraggs, you just +ain't got enough works inside you to fill a wrist watch." + +"I ain't a-goin' to poke around in the dark an' a tule fog, +feelin' for the Golden Gate," Captain Scraggs shrilled peevishly. + +"Hell's bells an' panther tracks! I've got my old courses, an' if +I foller them we can't help gettin' home." + +Captain Scraggs laid his hand on Mr. Gibney's great arm and tried +to smile paternally. "Gib, my _dear_ boy," he pleaded, "control +yourself. Don't argue with me, Gib. I'm master here an' you're +mate. Do I make myself clear?" + +"You do, Scraggsy. But it won't avail you nothin'. You're only +master becuz of a gentleman's agreement between us two, an' +because I'm man enough to figger there's certain rights due you +as owner o' the _Maggie_. But don't you forget that accordin' to +the records o' the Inspector's office, I'm master of the +_Maggie_, an' the way I figger it, whenever there's any call to +show a little real seamanship, that gentleman's agreement don't +stand." + +"But this ain't one o' them times, Gib." + +"You're whistlin' it is. If we run from this here fog, it's +skiffs to battleships we don't get into San Francisco Bay an' +discharged before six o'clock to-morrow night. By the time we've +taken on coal an' water an' what-all, it'll be eight or nine +o'clock, with me an' McGuffey entitled to mebbe three dollars +overtime an' havin' to argue an' scrap with you to git it--not to +speak o' havin' to put to sea the same night so's to be back in +Halfmoon Bay to load bright an' early next mornin'. Scraggsy, I +ain't no night bird on this run." + +"Do you mean to defy me, Gib?" Captain Scraggs' little green eyes +gleamed balefully. Mr. Gibney looked down upon him with +tolerance, as a Great Dane gazes upon a fox terrier. "I certainly +do, Scraggsy, old pepper-pot," he replied calmly. "What're you +goin' to do about it?" The ghost of a smile lighted his jovial +countenance. + +"Nothin'--now. I'm helpless," Captain Scraggs answered with +deadly calm. "But the minute we hit the dock you an' me parts +company." + +"I don't know whether we will or not, Scraggsy. I ain't heeled +right financially to hit the beach on such short notice." + +"That ain't no skin off'n my nose, Gib." + +"Well, you can fire all you want, but you won't fire me. I won't +go." + +"I'll get the police to remove you, you blistered pirate," +Scraggs screamed, now quite beside himself. + +"Yes? Well, the minute they let go o' me I'll come back to the +S.S. _Maggie_ and tear her apart just to see what makes her go." +He leaned out the pilot house window and sniffed. "Tule fog, all +right, Scraggs. Still, that ain't no reason why the ship's +company should fast, is it? Quit bickerin' with me, little one, +an' see if you can't wrastle up some ham an' eggs. I want my +eggs sunny side up." + +Sensing the futility of further argument, Captain Scraggs sought +solace in a stream of adjectival opprobrium, plainly meant for +Mr. Gibney but delivered, nevertheless, impersonally. He closed +the pilot house door furiously behind him and started for the +galley. + +"Some bright day I'm goin' to git tired o' hearin' you cuss my +proxy," Mr. Gibney bawled after him, "an' when that fatal time +arrives I'll scatter a can o' Kill-Flea over you an' the shippin' +world'll know you no more." + +"Oh, go to--glory, you pig-iron polisher," Captain Scraggs tossed +back at him over his shoulder--and honour was satisfied. In the +lee of the pilot house Captain Scraggs paused, set his infamous +old brown derby hat on the deck and leaped furiously upon it with +both feet. Six times he did this; then with a blow of his fist he +knocked the ruin back into a semblance of its original shape and +immediately felt better. + +"If I was you, skipper, I'd hold my temper until I got to port; +then I'd git jingled an' forgit my troubles inexpensively," +somebody advised him. + +Scraggs turned. In a little square hatch the head and shoulders +of Mr. Bartholomew McGuffey, chief engineer; first, second and +third assistant engineer, oiler, wiper, water-tender, and +coal-passer of the _Maggie_, appeared. He was standing on the +steel ladder that led up from his stuffy engine room and had +evidently come up, like a whale, for a breath of fresh air. "The +way you ruin them bonnets o' yourn sure is a scandal," Mr. +McGuffey concluded. "If I had a temper as nasty as yourn I'd +take soothin' syrup or somethin' for it." + +Without waiting for a reply, Mr. McGuffey dropped back into his +department and Captain Scraggs, his soul filled with rage and +dire forebodings, repaired to the galley, and "candled" four +dozen eggs. Out of the four dozen he found nine with black spots +in them and carefully set them aside to be fried, sunny side up, +for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Before proceeding further with this narrative, due respect for +the reader's curiosity directs that we diverge for a period +sufficient to present a brief history of the steamer _Maggie_ and +her peculiar crew. We will begin with the _Maggie_. + +She had been built on Puget Sound back in the eighties, and was +one hundred and six feet over all, twenty-six feet beam and seven +feet draft. Driven by a little steeple compound engine, in the +pride of her youth she could make ten knots. However, what with +old age and boiler scale, the best she could do now was six, and +had Mr. McGuffey paid the slightest heed to the limitations +imposed upon his steam gauge by the Supervising Inspector of +Boilers at San Francisco, she would have been limited to five. +Each annual inspection threatened to be her last, and Captain +Scraggs, her sole owner, lived in perpetual fear that eventually +the day must arrive when, to save the lives of himself and his +crew, he would be forced to ship a new boiler and renew the +rotten timbers around her deadwood. She had come into Captain +Scraggs's possession at public auction conducted by the United +States Marshal, following her capture as she sneaked into San +Francisco Bay one dark night with a load of Chinamen and opium +from Ensenada. She had cost him fifteen hundred hard-earned +dollars. + +Scraggs--Phineas P. Scraggs, to employ his full name, was +precisely the kind of man one might expect to own and operate the +_Maggie_. Rat-faced, snaggle toothed and furtive, with a low +cunning that sometimes passed for great intelligence, Scraggs' +character is best described in a homely American word. He was +"ornery." A native of San Francisco, he had grown up around the +docks and had developed from messboy on a river steamer to master +of bay and river steamboats, although it is not of record that he +ever commanded such a craft. Despite his "ticket" there was none +so foolish as to trust him with one--a condition of affairs which +had tended to sour a disposition not naturally sweet. The +yearning to command a steamboat gradually had developed into an +obsession. Result--the "fast and commodious S.S. _Maggie_," as +the United States Marshal had had the audacity to advertise her. + +In the beginning, Captain Scraggs had planned to do bay and river +towing with the _Maggie_. Alas! The first time the unfortunate +Scraggs attempted to tow a heavily laden barge up river, a light +fog had come down, necessitating the frequent blowing of the +whistle. Following the sixth long blast, Mr. McGuffey had +whistled Scraggs on the engine room howler; swearing horribly, he +had demanded to be informed why in this and that the skipper +didn't leave that dod-gasted whistle alone. It was using up his +steam faster than he could manufacture it. Thereafter, Scraggs +had used a patent foghorn, and when the honest McGuffey had once +more succeeded in conserving sufficient steam to crawl up river, +the tide had turned and the _Maggie_ could not buck the ebb. +McGuffey declared a few new tubes in the boiler would do the +trick, but on the other hand, Mr. Gibney pointed out that the old +craft was practically punk aft and a stiff tow would jerk the +tail off the old girl. In despair, therefore, Captain Scraggs had +abandoned bay and river towing and was prepared to jump overboard +and end all, when an opportunity offered for the freighting of +garden truck and dairy produce from Halfmoon Bay to San +Francisco. + +But now a difficulty arose. The new run was an "outside" +one--salt water all the way. Under the ruling of the Inspectors, +the _Maggie_ would be running coastwise the instant she engaged +in the green pea and string bean trade, and Captain Scraggs's +license provided for no such contingency. His ticket entitled him +to act as master on the waters of San Francisco Bay and the +waters tributary thereto, and although Scraggs argued that the +Pacific Ocean constituted waters "tributary thereto," if _he_ +understood the English language, the Inspectors were obdurate. +What if the distance was less than twenty-five miles? they +pointed out. The voyage was undeniably coastwise and carried with +it all the risk of wind and wave. And in order to impress upon +Captain Scraggs the weight of their authority, the Inspectors +suspended for six months Captain Scraggs's bay and river license +for having dared to negotiate two coastwise voyages without +consulting them. Furthermore, they warned him that the next time +he did it they would condemn the fast and commodious _Maggie_. + +In his extremity, Fate had sent to Captain Scraggs a large, +imposing, capable, but socially indifferent person who responded +to the name of Adelbert P. Gibney. Mr. Gibney had spent part of +an adventurous life in the United States Navy, where he had +applied himself and acquired a fair smattering of navigation. +Prior to entering the Navy he had been a foremast hand in clipper +ships and had held a second mate's berth. Following his discharge +from the Navy he had sailed coastwise on steam schooners, and +after attending a navigation school for two months, had procured +a license as chief mate of steam, any ocean and any tonnage. + +Unfortunately for Mr. Gibney, he had a failing. Most of us have. +The most genial fellow in the world, he was cursed with too much +brains and imagination and a thirst which required quenching +around pay-day. Also, he had that beastly habit of command which +is inseparable from a born leader; when he held a first mate's +berth, he was wont to try to "run the ship" and, on occasions, +ladle out suggestions to his skipper. Thus, in time, he had +acquired a reputation for being unreliable and a wind-bag, with +the result that skippers were chary of engaging him. Not to be +too prolix, at the time Captain Scraggs made the disheartening +discovery that he had to have a skipper for the _Maggie_, Mr. +Gibney found himself reduced to the alternative of longshore work +or a fo'castle berth in a windjammer bound for blue water. + +With alacrity, therefore, Mr. Gibney had accepted Scraggs's offer +of seventy-five dollars a month--"and found"--to skipper the +_Maggie_ on her coastwise run. As a first mate of steam he had no +difficulty inducing the Inspectors to grant him a license to +skipper such an abandoned craft as the _Maggie_, and accordingly +he hung up his ticket in her pilot house and was registered as +her master, albeit, under a gentlemen's agreement, with Scraggs +he was not to claim the title of captain and was known to the +world as the _Maggie's_ first mate, second mate, third mate, +quartermaster, purser, and freight clerk. One Neils Halvorsen, a +solemn Swede with a placid, bovine disposition, constituted the +fo'castle hands, while Bart McGuffey, a wastrel of the Gibney +type but slower-witted, reigned supreme in the engine room. Also +his case resembled that of Mr. Gibney in that McGuffey's job on +the _Maggie_ was the first he had had in six months and he +treasured it accordingly. For this reason he and Gibney had been +inclined to take considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until +McGuffey discovered that, in all probability, no engineer in the +world, except himself, would have the courage to trust himself +within range of the _Maggie's_ boilers, and, consequently, he had +Captain Scraggs more or less at his mercy. Upon imparting this +suspicion to Mr. Gibney, the latter decided that it would be a +cold day, indeed, when his ticket would not constitute a club +wherewith to make Scraggs, as Gibney expressed it, "mind his P's +and Q's." + +It will be seen, therefore, that mutual necessity held this +queerly assorted trio together, and, though they quarrelled +furiously, nevertheless, with the passage of time their own +weaknesses and those of the _Maggie_ had aroused in each for the +other a curious affection. While Captain Scraggs frequently +"pulled" a monumental bluff and threatened to dismiss both Gibney +and McGuffey--and, in fact, occasionally went so far as to order +them off his ship, on their part Gibney and McGuffey were wont +to work the same racket and resign. With the subsidence of their +anger and the return to reason, however, the trio had a habit of +meeting accidentally in the Bowhead saloon, where, sooner or +later, they were certain to bury their grudge in a foaming beaker +of steam beer, and return joyfully to the _Maggie_. + +Of all the little ship's company, Neils Halvorsen, colloquially +designated as "The Squarehead," was the only individual who was, +in truth and in fact, his own man. Neils was steady, industrious, +faithful, capable, and reliable; any one of a hundred deckhand +jobs were ever open to Neils, yet, for some reason best known to +himself, he preferred to stick by the _Maggie_. In his dull way +it is probable that he was fascinated by the agile intelligence +of Mr. Gibney, the vitriolic tongue of Captain Scraggs, and the +elephantine wit and grizzly bear courage of Mr. McGuffey. At any +rate, he delighted in hearing them snarl and wrangle. + +However, to return to the _Maggie_ which we left entering the +tule fog a few miles north of Pilar Point: + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Captain Scraggs and The Squarehead partook first of the ham and +eggs, coffee and bread which the skipper prepared. Scraggs then +prepared a similar meal for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, set it in +the oven to keep warm, and descended to the engine room to +relieve McGuffey for dinner. Neils at the same time took the +course from Mr. Gibney and relieved the latter at the wheel. By +this time, darkness had descended upon the world, and the +_Maggie_ had entered the fog; following her custom she proceeded +in absolute silence, although as a partial offset to the extreme +liability to collision with other coastwise craft, due to the +non-whistling rule aboard the _Maggie_, Mr. Gibney had laid a +course half a mile inside the usual steamer lanes, albeit due to +his overwhelming desire for peace he had neglected to inform his +owner of this; the honest fellow proceeded upon the hypothesis +that what people do not know is not apt to trouble them. + +Mr. McGuffey was already seated and disposing of his meal when +Mr. Gibney entered. "Gib," he declared with his mouth full, +"rinse the taste o' chewin' tobacco out o' your mouth before +startin' to eat, an' then tell me, as man to man, if them eggs is +fit for human consumption." + +Mr. Gibney conformed with the engineer's request. "Eatable but +venerable," was his verdict. "That infernal Scraggs is tryin' to +make the _Maggie_ pay dividends at the expense of our stomachs." + +"_And_ at the risk of our lives, Gib. I move we declare a +strike until Scraggs digs up the money to overhaul the boiler. +Just before we slipped into the fog I saw two steam schooners +headed south--so they must 'a' seen us headed north. Jes' listen +at them a-bellerin' off there to port. They're a-watchin' and +a-listenin', expectin' to cut us down at every turn o' the screw. +First thing you know, Gib, you'll be losin' your ticket for +failin' to be courteous on the high seas." + +"Six o' one an' half a dozen o' the other, Bart. If I whistle +I'll use up all your steam, an', then if we should find ourselves +in the danger zone we won't be able to get out of our own way." + +"Let's refuse to take her out again until Scraggsy spends some +money on her. 'Tain't Christian the way he acts." + +"Got to get in another pay day before I start the high an' +mighty, Bart. But I'll speak to the old man about them eggs. They +taste like they'd been laid by a pelican before the Civil War. +Somehow I can't eat an egg that's the least bit rotten." + +"It's gettin' so," McGuffey mourned, "that I don't have no more +time off in port. When I ain't standin' by I'm repairin', an' +when I ain't doin' either I'm dreamin' about the danged old +coffee mill. For a cancelled postage stamp I'd jump the ship." + +He gulped down his coffee, loaded his pipe, and went below to +relieve Scraggs, for although experience in acting as McGuffey's +relief had given Captain Scraggs what might be termed a working +knowledge of the _Maggie's_ engine, McGuffey was never happy +with Scraggs in charge, even for five minutes. The habit of years +caused him to cast a quick glance at the steam gauge, and he +noted it had dropped five pounds. + +"Savin' on the coal again," he roared. "Git out o' my engine +room, you doggoned skinflint." He seized a slice bar, threw open +the furnace door, raked the fire, and commenced shovelling in +coal at a rate that almost brought the tears of anguish to his +owner's eyes. "There! The main bearin's screamin' again," he +wailed. "Oil cup's empty. Ain't I drilled it into your head +enough, Scraggsy, that she'll cry her eyes out if you don't let +her swim in oil?" He grasped the oil can and, in order to test +the efficacy of its squirt, shot a generous stream down Captain +Scraggs's collar. + +"That for them rotten eggs, you miser," he growled. "Heraus mit +'em!" + +Captain Scraggs fled, cursing, and sought solace in the pilot +house. + +"It's as black," quoted Mr. Gibney as he entered, "as the Earl of +Hell's riding boots." + +"And as thick," snarled Scraggs, "as McGuffey's head. Lordy me, +Gib, but it's thick. You'd think every bloomin' steam pipe in the +universe had busted." + +"If they was all like the _Maggie's_," Mr. Gibney retorted drily, +"we wouldn't need to worry none. Not wishin' to change the +conversation, Scraggsy, but referrin' to them eggs you slipped me +and Bart for supper, all I gotta say is that the next time you go +marketin' in ancient Egypt, me an' Mac's goin' to tell the real +story o' the S.S. _Maggie_ to the Inspectors. Now, that goes. +Scatter along aft, Scraggs, and let me know what that taffrail +log has to say about it." + +Captain Scraggs read the log and reported the mileage to Mr. +Gibney, who figured with the stub of a pencil on the pilot house +wall, wagged his head, and appeared satisfied. "Better go for'd," +he ordered, "an' help The Squarehead on the lookout. At eight +o'clock we ought to be right under the lee o' Point San Pedro; +when I whistle we ought to catch the echo thrown back by the +cliff. Listen for it." + +Promptly at eight o'clock, Mr. McGuffey was horrified to see his +steam gauge drop half a pound as the _Maggie's_ siren sounded. +Mr. Gibney stuck his ingenious head out of the pilot house and +listened, but no answering echo reached his ears. "Hear +anything?" he bawled. + +"Heard the _Maggie's_ siren," Captain Scraggs retorted +venomously. + +Mr. Gibney leaped out on deck, selected a small head of cabbage +from a broken crate and hurled it forward. Then he sprang back +into the pilot house and straightened the _Maggie_ on her course +again. He leaned over the binnacle, with the cuff of his watch +coat wiping away the moisture on the glass, and studied the +instrument carefully. "I don't trust the danged thing," he +muttered. "Guess I'll haul her off a coupler points an' try the +whistle again." + +He did. Still no echo. He was inclined to believe that Captain +Scraggs had not read the taffrail log correctly, and when at +eight-thirty he tried the whistle again he was still without +results in the way of an echo from the cliff, albeit the engine +room howler brought him several of a profuse character from the +perspiring McGuffey. + +"We've passed Pedro," Mr. Gibney decided. He ground his cud and +muttered ugly things to himself, for his dead reckoning had gone +astray and he was worried. The fog, if anything, was thicker than +ever. He could not even make out the phosphorescent water that +curled out from the _Maggie's_ forefoot. + +Time passed. Suddenly Mr. Gibney thrilled electrically to a +shrill yip from Captain Scraggs. + +"What's that?" Mr. Gibney bawled. + +"I dunno. Sounds like the surf, Gib." + +"Ain't you been on this run long enough to know that the surf +don't sound like nothin' else in life but breakers?" Gibney +retorted wrathfully. + +"I ain't certain, Gib." + +Instantly Gibney signalled McGuffey for half speed ahead. + +"Breakers on the starboard bow," yelled Captain Scraggs. + +"Port bow," The Squarehead corrected him. + +"Oh, my great patience!" Mr. Gibney groaned. "They're on both +bows an' we're headed straight for the beach. Here's where we all +go to hell together," and he yanked wildly at the signal wire +that led to the engine room, with the intention of giving +McGuffey four bells--the signal aboard the _Maggie_ for full +speed astern. At the second jerk the wire broke, but not until +two bells had sounded in the engine room--the signal for full +speed ahead. The efficient McGuffey promptly kicked her wide +open, and the Fates decreed that, having done so, Mr. McGuffey +should forthwith climb the ladder and thrust his head out on +deck for a breath of fresh air. Instantly a chorus of shrieks up +on the fo'castle head attracted his attention to such a degree +that he failed to hear the engine room howler as Mr. Gibney blew +frantically into it. + +Presently, out of the hubbub forward, Mr. McGuffey heard Captain +Scraggs wail frantically: "Stop her! For the love of heaven, stop +her!" Instantly the engineer dropped back into the engine room +and set the _Maggie_ full speed astern; then he grasped the +howler and held it to his ear. + +"Stop her!" he heard Gibney shriek. "Why in blazes don't you stop +her?" + +"She's set astern, Gib. She'll ease up in a minute." + +"You know it," Gibney answered significantly. + +The _Maggie_ climbed lazily to the crest of a long oily roller, +slid recklessly down the other side, and took the following sea +over her taffrail. She still had some head on, but very +little--not quite sufficient to give her decent steerage way, as +Mr. Gibney discovered when, having at length communicated his +desires to McGuffey, he spun the wheel frantically in a belated +effort to swing the _Maggie's_ dirty nose out to sea. + +"Nothin' doin'," he snarled. "She'll have to come to a complete +stop before she begins to walk backward and get steerage way on +again. She'll bump as sure as death an' taxes." + +She did--with a crack that shook the rigging and caused it to +rattle like buckshot in a pan. A terrible cry--such a cry, +indeed, as might burst from the lips of a mother seeing her only +child run down by the Limited--burst from poor Captain Scraggs. +"My ship! my ship!" he howled. "My darling little _Maggie_! +They've killed you, they've killed you! The dirty lubbers!" + +The succeeding wave lifted the _Maggie_ off the beach, carried +her in some fifty feet further, and deposited her gently on the +sand. She heeled over to port a little and rested there as if she +was very, very weary, nor could all the threshing of her screw in +reverse haul her off again. The surf, dashing in under her +fantail, had more power than McGuffey's engines, and, foot by +foot, the _Maggie_ proceeded to dig herself in. Mr. Gibney +listened for five minutes to the uproar that rose from the bowels +of the little steamer before he whistled up Mr. McGuffey. + +"Kill her, kill her," he ordered. "Your wheel will bite into the +sand first thing you know, and tear the stern off her. You're +shakin' the old girl to pieces." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +McGuffey killed his engine, banked his fires, and came up on +deck, wiping his anxious face with a fearfully filthy sweat rag. +At the same time, Scraggs and Neils Halvorsen came crawling aft +over the deckload and when they reached the clear space around +the pilot house, Captain Scraggs threw his brown derby on the +deck and leaped upon it until, his rage abating ultimately, no +power on earth, in the air, or under the sea, could possibly have +rehabilitated it and rendered it fit for further wear, even by +Captain Scraggs. This petulant practice of jumping on his hat was +a habit with Scraggs whenever anything annoyed him particularly +and was always infallible evidence that a simple declarative +sentence had stuck in his throat. + +"Well, old whirling dervish," Mr. Gibney demanded calmly when +Scraggs paused for lack of breath to continue his dance, "what +about it? We're up Salt Creek without a paddle; all hell to pay +and no pitch hot." + +"McGuffey's fired!" Captain Scraggs screeched. + +"Come, come, Scraggsy, old tarpot," Mr. Gibney soothed. "This +ain't no time for fightin'. Thinkin' an' actin' is all that saves +the _Maggie_ now." + +But Captain Scraggs was beyond reason. "McGuffey's fired! +McGuffey's fired!" he reiterated. "The dirty rotten wharf rat! +Call yourself an engineer?" he continued, witheringly. "As an +engineer you're a howling success at shoemakin', you slob. I'll +fix your clock for you, my hearty. I'll have your ticket took +away from you, an' that's no Chinaman's dream, nuther." + +"It's all my fault runnin' by dead reckonin'," the honest Gibney +protested. "Mac ain't to fault. The engine room telegraph busted +an' he got the wrong signal." + +"It's his business to see to it that he's got an engine room +telegraph that won't bust----" + +"You dog!" McGuffey roared and sprang at the skipper, who leaped +nimbly up the little ladder to the top of the pilot house and +stood prepared to kick Mr. McGuffey in the face should that +worthy venture up after him. "I can't persuade you to git me +nothin' that I ought to have. I'm tired workin' with junk an' +scraps an' copper wire and pieces o' string. I'm through!" + +"You're right--you're through, because you're fired!" Scraggs +shrieked in insane rage. "Get off my ship, you maritime impostor, +or I'll take a pistol to you. Overboard with you, you greasy, +addlepated bounder! You're rotten, understand? Rotten! Rotten! +Rotten!" + +"You owe me eight dollars an' six bits, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey +reminded his owner calmly. "Chuck down the spondulicks an' I'll +get off your ship." + +Captain Scraggs was beyond reason, so he tossed the money down to +the engineer. "Now git," he commanded. + +Without further ado, Mr. McGuffey started across the deckload to +the fo'castle head. Scraggs could not see him but he could hear +him--so he pelted the engineer with potatoes, cabbage heads, and +onions, the vegetables descending about the honest McGuffey in a +veritable barrage. Even in the darkness several of these missiles +took effect. + +Upon reaching the very apex of the _Maggie's_ bow, Mr. McGuffey +turned and hurled a promise into the darkness: "If we ever meet +again, Scraggs, I'll make Mrs. Scraggs a widow. Paste that in +your hat--when you get a new one." + +The _Maggie_ was resting easily on the beach, with the broken +water from the long lazy combers surging well up above her water +line. At most, six feet of water awaited the engineer, who stood, +peering shoreward and listening intently, oblivious to the stray +missiles which whizzed past. Presently, from out of the fog, he +heard a grinding, metallic sound and through a sudden rift in the +fog caught a brief glimpse of blue flame with sparks radiating +faintly from it. + +That settled matters for Bartholomew McGuffey. The metallic sound +was the protest from the wheels of a Cliff House trolley car +rounding a curve; the blue flame was an electric manifestation +due to the intermittent contact of her trolley with the wire, wet +with fog. McGuffey knew the exact position of the _Maggie_ now, +so he poised a moment on her bow; as a wave swept past him, he +leaped overboard, scrambled ashore, made his way up the beach to +the Great Highway which flanks the shore line between the Cliff +House and Ingleside, sought a roadhouse, and warmed his interior +with four fingers of whiskey neat. Then, feeling quite content +with himself, even in his wet garments, he boarded a city-bound +trolley car and departed for the warmth and hospitality of Scab +Johnny's sailor boarding house in Oregon Street. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Captain Scraggs continued to hurl other people's vegetables into +the murk forward for at least two minutes after Mr. McGuffey had +shaken the coal dust of the _Maggie_ from his feet, and was only +recalled to more practical affairs by the bored voice of Mr. +Gibney. + +"The owners o' them artichokes expect to get half a dollar apiece +for 'em in New York, Scraggsy. Cut it out, old timer, or you'll +have a claim for a freight shortage chalked up agin you." + +"Nothin' matters any more," Scraggs replied in a choked voice, +and immediately sat down on the half-emptied crate of artichokes +and commenced to weep bitterly--half because of rage and half +because he regarded himself a pauper. Already he had a vision of +himself scouring the waterfront in search of a job. + +"No use boo-hooin' over spilt milk, Scraggsy." Always +philosophical, the author of the owner's woe sought to carry the +disaster off lightly. "Don't add your salt tears to a saltier sea +until you're certain you're a total loss an' no insurance. I got +you into this and I suppose it's up to me to get you off, so I +guess I'll commence operations." Suiting the action to the word, +Mr. Gibney grasped the whistle cord and a strange, sad, sneezing, +wheezy moan resembling the expiring protest of a lusty pig and +gradually increasing into a long-drawn but respectable whistle +rewarded his efforts. For once, he could afford to be prodigal +with the steam, and while it lasted there could be no mistaking +the fact that here was a steamer in dire distress. + +The weird call for help brought Scraggs around to a fuller +realization of the enormity of the disaster which had overtaken +him. In his agony, he forgot to curse his navigating officer for +the latter's stubbornness in refusing to turn back when the fog +threatened. He clutched Mr. Gibney by the right arm, thereby +interrupting for an instant the dismal outburst from the +_Maggie's_ siren. + +"Gib," he moaned, "I'm a ruined man. How're we ever to get the +old sweetheart off whole? Answer me that, Gib. Answer me, I say. +How're we to get my _Maggie_ off the beach?" + +Mr. Gibney shook himself loose from that frantic grip and +continued his pull on the whistle until the _Maggie_, taking a +false note, quavered, moaned, spat steam a minute, and subsided +with what might be termed a nautical sob. "Now see what you've +done," he bawled. "You've made me bust the whistle." + +"Answer my question, Gib." + +"We'll never get her off if you don't quit interferin' an' give +me time to think. I'll admit there ain't much of a chance, +because it's dead low water now an' just as soon as the tide is +at the flood she'll drive further up the beach an' fall apart." + +"Perhaps McGuffey will have heart enough to telephone into the +city for a tug." + +"'Tain't scarcely probable, Scraggsy. You abused him vile an' +threw a lot of fodder at him." + +"I wish I'd been took with paralysis first," Scraggs wailed +bitterly. "You'd best jump ashore, Gib, an' 'phone in. We're just +below the Cliff House and you can run up to one o' them beach +resorts an' 'phone in to the Red Stack Tug Boat Company." + +"'Twouldn't be ethics for me, the registered master o' the +_Maggie_, to desert the ship, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud. +What's the matter with gettin' your own shanks wet?" + +"I dassen't, Gib. I've had a touch of chills an' fever ever since +I used to run mate up the San Joaquin sloughs. Here's a nickel to +drop in the telephone slot, Gib. There's a good fellow." + +"Scraggsy, you're deludin' yourself. Show me a tugboat skipper +that would come out here on a night like this to pick up the S.S. +_Maggie_, two decks an' no bottom an' loaded with garden truck, +an' I'll wag my ears an' look at the back o' my neck. She ain't +worth it." + +"Ain't worth it! Why, man, I paid fifteen hundred hard cash +dollars for her." + +"Fourteen hundred an' ninety-nine dollars an' ninety-nine cents +too much. They seen you comin'. However, grantin' for the sake of +argyment that she's worth the tow, the next question them towboat +skippers'll ask is: 'Who's goin' to pay the bill?' It'll be two +hundred an' fifty dollars at the lowest figger, an' if you got +that much credit with the towboat company you're some high +financier. Ain't that logic?" + +"I'm afraid," Scraggs replied sadly, "it is. Still, they'd have a +lien on the _Maggie_----" + +"Steamer ahoy!" came a voice from the beach. + +"Man with a megaphone," Mr. Gibney cried. "Ahoy! Ahoy, there!" + +"Who are you an' what's the trouble?" + +Captain Scraggs took it upon himself to answer: "American steamer +_Mag_----" + +Mr. Gibney sprang upon him tigerishly, placed a horny, +tobacco-smelling palm across Scraggs's mouth and effectively +smothered all further sound. "American steamer _Yankee Prince_," +he bawled like a veritable Bull of Bashan, "of Boston, Hong Kong +to Frisco with a general cargo of sandal wood, rice, an' silk. +Where're we at?" + +"Just outside the Gate. Half a mile south o' the Cliff House." + +"Telephone in for a tug. We're in nice shape, restin' easy, but +our rudder's gone an' the after web o' the crank shaft's busted. +Telephone in, my man, an' I'll make it up to you when we get to a +safe anchorage. Who are you?" + +"Lindstrom, of the Golden Gate Life Saving Station." + +"I'll not forget you, Lindstrom. My owners are Yankees, but +they're sports." + +"All right. I'll telephone. On my way!" + +"God speed you," murmured Mr. Gibney, and released his hold on +Captain Scraggs, who instantly threw his arms around the +navigating officer's burly neck. "I forgive you, Adelbert," he +crooned. "I forgive you freely. By the tail of the Great Sacred +Bull, you're a marvel. She's an all-night fog or I'm a Chinaman, +and if it only stays thick enough----" + +"It'll hold," Gibney retorted doggedly. "It's a tule fog. They +always hold. Quit huggin' me. Your breath's bad. Them eggs, I +guess." + +Captain Scraggs, hurled forcibly backward, bumped into the pilot +house, but lost none of his enthusiasm. "You're a jewel," he +declared. "Oh, man, what a head! Whatever made you think of the +_Yankee Prince_?" + +"Because," Mr. Gibney answered calmly, "there ain't no such ship, +this land of ours bein' a free republic where princes don't grow. +Still, it's a nice name, Scraggs, old tarpot--more particular +since I thought it up in a hurry. Eh, what?" + +"Halvorsen," cried Captain Scraggs. + +The lone deckhand emerged from a hole in the freight forward +whither he had retreated to escape the vegetable barrage put over +by Captain Scraggs when McGuffey left the ship. "Aye, aye, sir," +he boomed. + +"All hands below to the galley!" Scraggs shouted. "While we're +waitin' for this here towboat I'll brew a scuttle o' grog to +celebrate the discovery o' real seafarin' talent. Gib, my _dear_ +boy, I'm proud of you. No matter what happens, I'll never have no +other navigatin' officer." + +"Don't crow till you're out o' the woods," the astute Gibney +warned him. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +In the office of the Red Stack Tug Boat Company, Captain Dan +Hicks, master of the tug _Aphrodite_; Captain Jack Flaherty, +master of the _Bodega_, and Tiernan, the assistant superintendent +on night watch, sat around a hot little box stove engaged in that +occupation so dear to the maritime heart, to-wit: spinning yarns. +Dan Hicks had the floor, and was relating a tale that had to do +with his life as a freight and passenger skipper. + +"We was makin' up to the dock when I see the general agent +standin' in the door o' the dock office--an' all of a sudden I +didn't feel so chipper about havin' crossed Humboldt bar in a +sou'easter. I saw the old man runnin' his eye along forty foot o' +twisted pipe railin', a wrecked bridge, three bent stanchions an' +every door an' window on the starboard side o' the ship stove in, +while the passengers crowded the rail lookin' cold an' miserable, +pea-green an' thankful. No need for me to do any explainin'. He +knew. He throws his dead fish eye up to me on what's left o' the +bridge an' I felt my job was vacant. + +"'We was hit by a sea or two on Humboldt bar, sir,' I says, as if +gettin' hit by a sea or two an' havin' the ship gutted was an +every-day experience." + +"'Is that so, Hicks?' says he sweetly. 'Well, now, if you hadn't +told me that I'd ha' jumped to the conclusion that a couple o' +the mess boys had got fightin' an' wrecked the ship before you +could separate 'em. Why in this an' that,' he says, 'didn't you +stick inside when any dumb fool could see the bar was breakin'?' + +"'I wanted to keep the comp'ny's sailin' schedule unbroken, sir,' +I says, tryin' to be funny. + +"'Well, Captain,' he says, 'it 'pears to me you've broken damned +near everything else tryin' to do it.' + +"I was certain he was goin' to set me down, but the worst I got +was a three months' lay-off to teach me common sense----" + +The telephone rang and Tiernan answered. Hicks and Flaherty +hitched forward in their chairs to listen. + +"Hello.... Yes, Red Stack office.... Steamer _Yankee Prince_.... +What's that?... silk and rice?... Half a mile below the Cliff +House, eh?... Sure, I'll send a tug right away, Lindstrom." + +Tiernan hung up and faced the two skippers. "Gentlemen," he +announced, "here's a chance for a little salvage money to-night. +The American steamer _Yankee Prince_ is ashore half a mile below +the Cliff House. She's a big tramp with a valuable cargo from +Hong Kong, with her rudder gone and her crank shaft busted." + +"It's high water at twelve thirty-seven," Jack Flaherty pleaded. +"You'd better send me, Tiernan. The _Bodega_ has more power than +the _Aphrodite_." + +This was the truth and Dan Hicks knew it, but he was not to be +beaten out of his share of the salvage by such flimsy argument. +"Jack," he pleaded, "don't be a hog all the time. The _Yankee +Prince_ is an eight thousand ton vessel and it's a two-tug job. +Better send us both, Tiernan, and play safe. Chances are our +competitors have three tugs on the way right now." + +"What a wonderful imagination you have, Dan. Eight thousand tons! +You're crazy, man. She's thirteen hundred net register and I know +it because I was in Newport News when they launched her, and I +went out with her skipper on the trial trip. She's a long, +narrow-gutted craft, with engines aft, like a lake steamer." + +"We'll play safe," Tiernan decided. "Go to it--both of you, and +may the best man win. She'll belong to you, Jack, if she's +thirteen hundred net and you get your line aboard first. If she's +as big as Dan says she is, you'll be equal partners----" + +But he was talking to himself. Down the dock Hicks and Flaherty +were racing for the respective commands, each shouting to his +night watchman to pipe all hands on deck. Fortunately, a goodly +head of steam was up in each tug's boilers; because of the fog +and the liability to collisions and a consequent hasty summons, +one engineer on each tug was on duty. Before Hicks and Flaherty +were in their respective pilot houses the oil burners were +roaring lustily under their respective boilers; the lines were +cast off within a minute of each other, and the two tugs raced +down the bay through the darkness and fog. + +Both Hicks and Flaherty had grown old in the towboat service and +the rules of the road rested lightly on their sordid souls. They +were going over a course they knew by heart--wherefore the fog +had no terrors for them. Down the bay they raced, the _Bodega_ +leading slightly, both tugs whistling at half-minute intervals. +Out through the Gate they nosed their way, heaving the lead +continuously, made a wide detour around Mile Rock and the Seal +Rocks, swung a mile to the south of the position of the _Maggie_, +and then came cautiously up the coast, whistling continuously to +acquaint the _Yankee Prince_ with their presence in the +neighbourhood. In anticipation of the necessity for replying to +this welcome sound, Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney had, for the +past two hours, busied themselves getting up another head of +steam in the _Maggie's_ boilers, repairing the whistle, and +splicing the wires of the engine room telegraph. Like the wise +men they were, however, they declined to sound the _Maggie's_ +siren until the tugs were quite close. Even then, Mr. Gibney +shuddered, but needs must when the devil drives, so he pulled the +whistle cord and was rewarded with a weird, mournful grunt, dying +away into a gasp. + +"Sounds like she has the pip," Jack Flaherty remarked to his +mate. + +"Must have taken on some of that dirty Asiatic water," Dan Hicks +soliloquized, "and now her tubes have gone to glory." + +Immediately, both tugs kicked ahead under a dead slow bell, +guided by a series of toots as brief as Mr. Gibney could make +them, and presently both tug lookouts reported breakers dead +ahead; whereupon Jack Flaherty got out his largest megaphone and +bellowed: "_Yankee Prince_, ahoy!" in his most approved fashion. +Dan Hicks did likewise. This irritated the avaricious Flaherty, +so he turned his megaphone in the direction of his rival and +begged him, if he still retained any of the instincts of a +seaman, to shut up; to which entreaty Dan Hicks replied with an +acidulous query as to whether or not Jack Flaherty thought he +owned the sea. + +For half a minute this mild repartee continued, to be interrupted +presently by a whoop from out of the fog. It was Mr. Gibney. He +did not possess a megaphone so he had gone below and appropriated +a section of stove-pipe from the galley range, formed a +mouthpiece of cardboard and produced a makeshift that suited his +purpose admirably. + +"Cut out that bickerin' like a pair of old women an' 'tend to +your business," he commanded. "Get busy there--both of you, and +shoot a line aboard. There's work enough for two." + +Dan Hicks sent a man forward to heave the lead under the nose of +the _Aphrodite_, which was edging in gingerly toward the voice. +He had a searchlight but he did not attempt to use it, knowing +full well that in such a fog it would be of no avail. Guided, +therefore, by the bellowings of Mr. Gibney, reinforced by the +shrill yips of Captain Scraggs, the tug crept in closer and +closer, and when it seemed that they must be within a hundred +feet of the surf, Dan Hicks trained his Lyle gun in the direction +of Mr. Gibney's voice and shot a heaving line into the fog. + +Almost simultaneous with the report of the gun came a shriek of +pain from Captain Scraggs. Straight and true the wet, heavy +knotted end of the heaving line came in over the _Maggie's_ +quarter and struck him in the mouth. In the darkness he staggered +back from the stinging blow, clutched wildly at the air, slipped +and rolled over among the vegetables with the precious rope +clasped to his breast. + +"I got it," he sputtered, "I got it, Gib." + +"Safe, O!" Mr. Gibney bawled. "Pay out your hawser." + +They met it at the taffrail as it came up out of the breakers, +wet but welcome. "Pass it around the mainmast, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney cautioned. "If we make fast to the towin' bits, the first +jerk'll pull the anchor bolts up through the deck." + +When the hawser had been made fast to the mainmast, the leathern +lungs of Mr. Gibney made due announcement of the fact to the +expectant Captain Hicks. "As soon as you feel you've got a grip +on her," he yelled, "just hold her steady so she won't drive +further up the beach when I get my anchor up. She'll come out +like a loose tooth at the tip of the flood." + +The _Aphrodite_ forged slowly ahead, taking in the slack of the +hawser. Ten minutes passed but still the hawser lay limp across +the _Maggie's_ stern. Presently out of the fog came the voice of +Captain Dan Hicks. + +"Flaherty! Flaher-tee! For the love of life, Jack, where are you? +Chuck me a line, Jack. My hawser's snarled in my screw and I'm +drifting on to the beach." + +"Leggo your anchor, you boob," Jack Flaherty advised. + +"I want a line an' none o' your damned advice," raved Hicks. + +"'Tain't my fault if you get in too close." + +"I'm bumping, Jack. I'm bangin' the heart out of her. Come on, +you cur, and haul me off." + +"If I pull you off, Dan Hicks, will you leave that steamer +alone? You've had your chance and failed to smother it. Now let +me have a hack at her." + +"It's a bargain, Jack. I'm not badly snarled; if you haul me out +to deep water I can shake the hawser loose. I'm afraid to try so +close in." + +"Comin'," yelled Flaherty. + +"Now, ain't that a raw deal?" Scraggs complained. "That junk +thief gets hauled off first." + +"The first shall be last an' the last shall be first," Gibney +quoted piously. "Don't be a crab, Scraggs. Pray that the fog +don't lift." + +Out of the fog there rose a great hubbub of engine room gongs, +the banging of the _Bodega's_ Lyle gun, and much profanity. +Presently this ceased, so Scraggs and Gibney knew Dan Hicks was +being hauled off at last. While they waited for further +developments, Scraggs sucked at his old pipe and Mr. Gibney +munched a French carrot. "If you hadn't canned McGuffey," the +latter opined, "we might have been able to back off under our own +power as soon as the tide is at flood. This delay is worryin' +me." + +Following some fifteen minutes of kicking and struggling out in +the deep water, whither the _Bodega_ had dragged her, the +_Aphrodite_ at length freed herself of the clinging hawser; +whereupon she backed in again, cautiously reeving in the hawser +as she came. Presently, Dan Hicks, true to his promise to abandon +the prize to Jack Flaherty, turned his megaphone beachward and +shouted: + +"_Yankee Prince_, ahoy! Cast off my hawser. The other tug will +put a line aboard you." + +But Mr. Gibney was now master of the situation. He had a good +hemp hawser stretching between him and salvation and until he +should be hauled off he had no intention of slipping that cable. +"Nothin' doin'," he answered. "We're hard an' fast, I tell you, +and I'll take no chances. It's you or both of you, but I'll not +cast off this hawser. If you want to let go, cast the hawser off +at your end." Sotto voce he remarked to Scraggs: "I see him +slippin' a three hundred dollar hawser, eh, Scraggsy, old +stick-in-the-mud?" + +"But I promised Flaherty I'd let you alone," pleaded Hicks. + +"What do you think you have your string fast to, anyhow? A bay +scow? If you fellows endanger my ship bickerin' over the salvage +I'll have you before the Inspectors on charges as sure as God +made little apples. I got sixty witnesses here to back up my +charges, too." + +"You hear him, Jack?" howled Hicks. + +"Wouldn't that swab Flaherty drive you to drink," Gibney +complained. "Trumpin' his partner's ace just for the glory an' +profit o' gettin' ahead of him?" Aloud he addressed the invisible +Flaherty: "Take it or leave it, brother Flaherty." + +"I'll take it," Flaherty responded promptly. + +Twenty minutes later, after much backing and swearing and heaving +of lines the _Bodega's_ hawser was finally put board the +_Maggie_. Mr. Gibney judged it would be safe now to fasten this +line to the towing bitts. + +Suddenly, Captain Scraggs remembered there was no one on duty in +the _Maggie's_ engine room. With a half sob, he slid down the +greasy ladder, tore open the furnace doors and commenced +shovelling in coal with a recklessness that bordered on insanity. +When the indicator showed eighty pounds of steam he came up on +deck and discovered Mr. Gibney walking solemnly round and round +the little capstan up forward. It was creaking and groaning +dismally. Captain Scraggs thrust his engine room torch above his +head to light the scene and gazed upon his navigating officer in +blank amazement. + +"What foolishness is this, Gib?" he demanded. "Are you clean +daffy, doin' a barn dance around that rusty capstan, makin' a +noise fit to frighten the fish?" + +"Not much," came the laconic reply. "I'm a smart man. I'm raisin' +both anchors." + +"Well, all I got to remark is that it takes a smart man to raise +both anchors when we only got one anchor to our blessed name. An' +with that anchor safe on the fo'castle head, I, for one, can't +see no sense in raisin' it." + +"You tarnation jackass!" sighed Gibney. "You forget who we are. +Do you s'pose the steamer _Yankee Prince_ can lay on the beach +all night with both anchors out, an' then be got ready to tow off +in three shakes of a lamb's tail? It takes noise to get up two +anchors--so I'm makin' all the noise I can. Got any steam?" + +"Eighty pounds," Scraggs confessed. Having for the moment +forgotten his identity, he was confused in the presence of the +superior intelligence of his navigating officer. + +"Run aft, then, Scraggs, an' turn that cargo winch over to beat +the band until I tell you to stop. With the drum runnin' free +she'll make noise enough for a winch three times her size, but +you might give the necessary yells to make it more lifelike." + +Captain Scraggs fled to the winch. At the end of five minutes, +Mr. Gibney appeared and bade him desist. Then, turning, his +improvised megaphone seaward he addressed an imaginary mate: "Mr. +Thompson, have you got your port anchor up?" + +Scraggs took the cue immediately. "All clear forward, sir," he +piped. + +"Send the bosun for'd an' heave the lead, Mr. Thompson." + +"Very well, sir." + +Here The Squarehead, who had been enjoying the unique situation +immensely, decided to take a hand. Presently, in sing-song +cadence he was reporting the depth of water alongside. + +"That'll do, bosun," Gibney thundered. Then, in his natural voice +to Scraggs: "All set, Scraggsy. Guess we're ready to be pulled +off. Get down in the engine room and stand by for full speed +ahead when I give the word." + +"Quick! Hurry!" Scraggs entreated as he disappeared through the +little engine-room hatch, for the tide was now at the tip of the +flood and the _Maggie_ was bumping wickedly and driving further +up the beach. Mr. Gibney turned his stovepipe seaward and +shouted: "Tugboats, ahoy!" + +"Ahoy!" they answered in unison. + +"All read-y-y-y! Let 'er go-o-o-o!" + +The Squarehead stationed himself at the bitts with a lantern and +Mr. Gibney hastened to the pilot house and took his place at the +wheel. When the hawsers commence to lift out of the sea, The +Squarehead gave a warning shout, whereupon Mr. Gibney called the +engine room. "Give her the gun," he commanded Scraggs. "Pull +against them tugs for all you're worth. Remember this is the +steamer _Yankee Prince_. We must not come off too readily." + +Captain Scraggs opened the throttle, and while the two tugs +steadily drew her off into deep water, the _Maggie_ fought +valiantly to stick to the beach and even to continue her +interrupted journey overland. She merely succeeded in stretching +both hawsers taut; slowly she was drawn seaward, stern first, and +at the expiration of fifteen minutes' steady pulling, Mr. Gibney +could restrain himself no longer. He rang for full speed +astern--and got it promptly. Then, calling Neils Halvorsen to aid +him, he abandoned the wheel and scrambled aft. + +With no one at the wheel the _Maggie_ shot off at a tangent and +the hawsers slacked immediately. In the twinkling of an eye Mr. +Gibney had cast them off, and as the ends disappeared with a +swish over the stern he ran back to the pilot house, rang for +full speed ahead, put his helm hard over, and headed the _Maggie_ +in the general direction of China, although as a matter of fact +he cared not what direction he pursued, provided he got away from +the beach and placed distance between the _Maggie_ and two +soon-to-be-furious tugboat skippers. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +As the _Maggie_ chugged blithely away, the navigating officer's +soul expanded in song, and in the voice of a bull walrus he +delivered himself of a deep sea chantey more popular than proper. + +Presently, away off in the fog, he heard the _Bodega_ whistle. +The _Aphrodite_ answered immediately. Adelbert P. Gibney smiled +and bit a large crescent out of his navy plug, for his soul was +at peace. When The Squarehead came into the pilot house presently +and grinned at him, Mr. Gibney handed Neils an electric torch. +"Prowl around below in the old ruin, Neils," he commanded, "and +see if we're makin' any water." + +A quarter of an hour later Neils Halvorsen returned to report the +_Maggie_ apparently undamaged, so Mr. Gibney changed his course +and headed stealthily in the direction of the whistling tugs. He +came up behind them presently--approaching so close under cover +of the fog that he could hear Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty, both +under a dead-slow bell, felicitating each other through their +megaphones. + +"Where d'ye suppose that dirty scoundrel's gone?" Hicks was +demanding. + +"Out to sea, of course," Flaherty bellowed. "He'll stand off +until the fog lifts and then come ramping in as proud as Lucifer +and look amazed when we send him in a bill." + +"Bill!" Hicks' voice dripped with sarcasm. "The Red Stack Company +will libel him, and if the old man doesn't, me an' my crew will." + +"I'll bet a ripe peach he's a Jap, with a scoundrelly white +skipper and white mates. They'll all stick together for a +five-dollar bill and swear they never was on the beach at all. If +they do, how're we goin' to prove it?" + +"That's logic," the eavesdropping Gibney murmured to the +binnacle. + +"Oh, hell's bells, shut up and let's go home," Dan Hicks cried +wearily. "We can catch him when he comes in." + +"Suppose he doesn't come in. Suppose he's bound for Seattle, +Dan." + +"We can libel him wherever he goes." + +"I'll bet he gave us a fictitious name, Dan!" + +"Stow that grief, Jack. Stow it, or I'll go mad. The _Bodega_ has +more speed than the _Aphrodite_, so poke ahead there and let's +try to get in an hour's sleep before daylight. If you can't feel +your way in I can." + +"I'll just tag along silent and lazy-like after you two +misfortunates," Mr. Gibney decided, "an' you'll do my whistlin' +for me." He called Scraggs on the howler and explained the +situation. "Regular Cook's tour," he exulted. "Personally +conducted. Off again, on again, away again, Finnegan--and not a +nickel's worth of loss unless you count them vegetables you hove +at McGuffey. Ain't you proud o' your navigatin' officer, +Scraggsy, old tarpot?" + +"I am, Gib, but I'll be prouder'n ever if you can follow them +towboats in without havin' to claw off Baker's beach or the Point +Bonita rocks." + +"Calamity howler," Gibney growled. Half an hour later he caught +the echo of the _Bodega's_ whistle as the sound was hurled back +from the high cliffs at Land's End, off to starboard. A minute +later he heard the hoarse growl of the siren from the fog station +on Point Bonita, on the port beam. He knew where he was now with +as much certainty as if he was navigating in broad daylight, so +he loafed along a couple of hundred yards behind the _Bodega_, +until the _Maggie_ ceased pitching--when he knew he was in the +still water inside the entrance. So he sheered over to starboard, +with Neils Halvorsen heaving the lead, and dropped anchor in five +fathoms under the lee of Fort Mason. He was quite confident of +his ability to sneak along the waterfront and creep into the +_Maggie's_ berth at Jackson Street bulkhead, but having gone +astray in his calculations once that night, a vagrant sense of +consideration for Captain Scraggs decided him to take no more +risks until the fog should lift. He could hear the _Bodega_ and +the _Aphrodite_ tooting as they continued down the bay, so he +knew they were headed for their berths at the foot of Broadway, +fog or no fog. + +When Captain Scraggs, having banked his fires, came up out of the +engine room, Mr. Gibney laid a great paw paternally upon the +skipper's shoulder. "Scraggsy, old salamander," he announced, "I +think I've done enough to-night to entitle me to some sleep until +this tule fog lifts. Am I right?" + +"You certainly are, Gib, my dear boy." + +"Very well, then. I'll turn in. As for you, old sailor, your +night's work is not ended. Have The Squarehead row you ashore in +the skiff; I'll stay up an' work the patent foghorn so he can +find his way back to the _Maggie_, while you hike down town----" + +"What for?" Scraggs demanded irritably. "I'm all wore out." + +"This adventure ain't ended," Mr. Gibney warned him. "There's a +witness to our perfidy still at large. His name is B. McGuffey, +esquire, an' I'll lay you ten to one you'll find him asleep in +Scab Johnny's boardin' house. Go to him, Scraggsy, an' bring a +pint flask with you when you do; wake him up, beg his pardon, +take him to breakfast, and promise him you'll do somethin' for +his boilers. Old Mac's got a heart as tender as a infant's. You +can win him over." + +"Oh, Gib, use some common sense. Mac'll lay abed until noon. It +stands to reason he'll have to, because he didn't take no change +of clothin' with him, so he'll just naturally have to wait till +his wet clothes get dry before venturin' forth an' spreadin' the +news that the _Maggie's_ on the beach. He doesn't know we're off, +an' once we're tied up at the dock and we hear Mac's been talkin' +we'll just spread the word that he was so soused he jumped +overboard an' swum ashore without waitin' to see if we could back +off. Lordy, Gib, don't work me to death. I'm that weary I could +flop on this wet deck an' be off to sleep in a pig's whisper." + +"I dunno but what there's reason in what you say," Mr. Gibney +agreed. "Well, turn in, Scraggsy, but the minute we hit the dock +you run up town and fix things up with Bart." + +And without further ado he set the alarm clock for seven o'clock, +kicked off his shoes, and climbed into his berth with his clothes +on. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +The crews of the _Aphrodite_ and the _Bodega_ slept late also, +for they were weary, and fortunately, no calls for a tug came +into the office of the Red Stack Company all morning. About ten +o'clock Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty breakfasted and about ten +thirty both met in the office. Apparently they were two souls +with but a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the +shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's +Register." Dan Hicks reached it first, carried it to the counter, +wet his tarry index finger, and started turning the pages in a +vain search for the American steamer _Yankee Prince_. Presently +he looked up at Jack Flaherty. + +"Flaherty," he said, "I think you're a liar." + +"The same to you and many of them," Flaherty replied, not a whit +abashed. "You said she was an eight thousand ton tramp." + +"I never went so far as to say I'd been aboard her on trial trip, +though--and I did cut down her tonnage, showin' I got the +fragments of a conscience left," Hicks defended himself. + +He closed the book with a sigh and placed it back on the shelf, +just as the door opened to admit no less a personage than +Batholomew McGuffey, late chief engineer, first assistant, second +assistant, third assistant, wiper, oiler, water-tender, and +stoker of the S.S. _Maggie_. With a brief nod to Jack Flaherty +Mr. McGuffey approached Dan Hicks. + +"I been lookin' for you, captain," he announced. "Say, I hear the +chief o' the _Aphrodite's_ goin' to take a three months' lay-off +to get shet of his rheumatism. Is that straight?" + +"I believe it is, McGuffey." + +"Well, say, I'd like to have a chance to substitoot for him. You +know my capabilities, Hicks, an' if it would be agreeable to you +to have me for your chief your recommendation would go a long way +toward landin' me the job. I'd sure make them engines behave." + +"What vessel have you been on lately?" Hicks demanded cautiously, +for he knew Mr. McGuffey's reputation for non-reliability around +pay-day. + +"I been with that fresh water scavenger, Scraggs, in the _Maggie_ +for most a year." + +"Did you quit or did Scraggs fire you?" + +"He fired me," McGuffey replied honestly. "If he hadn't I'd have +quit, so it's a toss-up. Comin' in from Halfmoon Bay last night +we got lost in the fog an' piled up on the beach just below the +Cliff House----" + +"This is interesting," Jack Flaherty murmured. "You say she +walked ashore on you, McGuffey? Well, I'll be shot!" + +"She did. Scraggs blamed it on me, Flaherty. He said I didn't +obey the signals from the bridge, one word led to another, an' he +went dancin' mad an' ordered me off his ship. Well, it's his +ship--or it _was_ his ship, for I'll bet a dollar she's ground to +powder by now--so all I could do was obey. I hopped overboard +an' waded ashore. I suppose all my clothes an' things is gone by +now. I left everything aboard an' had to borrow this outfit +from Scab Johnny." He grinned pathetically. "So I guess you +understand, Captain Hicks, just how bad I need that job I spoke +about a minute ago." + +"I'll think it over, Mac, an' let you know," Hicks replied +evasively. + +Mr. McGuffey, sensing his defeat, retired forthwith to hide his +embarrassment and distress; as the door closed behind him, Hicks +and Flaherty faced each other. + +"Jack," quoth Dan Hicks, "can two towboat men, holdin' down two +hundred-dollar jobs an' presumed to have been out o' their +swaddlin' clothes for at least thirty years, afford to be laughed +off the San Francisco waterfront?" + +"I know one of them that can't, Dan. At the same time, can a rat +like Phineas P. Scraggs and a beachcomber like his mate Gibney +make a pair of star-spangled monkeys out of said two towboat men +and get away with it?" + +"They did that last night. Still, I've known monkeys that would +fight an' was human enough to settle a grudge. Follow me, Jack." + +Together they repaired to Jackson Street bulkhead. Sure enough +there lay the _Maggie_, rubbing her blistered sides against the +bulkhead. Captain Scraggs was nowhere in sight, but Mr. Gibney +was at the winch, swinging ashore the crates of vegetables which +The Squarehead and three longshoremen loaded into the cargo net. + +"We're outnumbered," Jack Flaherty whispered. + +"Let's wait until she's unloaded an' Gibney an' Scraggs are +aboard alone." + +They retired without having attracted the attention of Mr. +Gibney, and a few minutes later, Captain Scraggs came down the +bulkhead and sprang aboard. + +"Well?" his navigating officer queried. + +"Couldn't find him," Scraggs confessed. "Scab Johnny says he +loaned Mac a dry outfit an' the old boy dug out for breakfast at +seven o'clock an' ain't been around since." + +"Did you try the saloons, Scraggsy?" + +"I did. Likewise the cigar stands an' restaurants, an' the +readin' rooms of the Marine Engineers' Association." + +"Guess he's out hustlin' a job," Mr. Gibney sighed. He was filled +with vague forebodings of evil. "If you'd only listened to my +advice last night, Scraggsy--if you'd only listened," he mourned. + +"We'll cross our bridges when we come to them, Gib. Cheer up, my +boy, cheer up. I got a new engineer. He won't last, but he'll +last long enough for Mac to forget his grouch an' listen to +reason," and with this optimistic remark Captain Scraggs dropped +into the engine room to get up enough steam to keep the winch +working. + +Promptly at twelve o'clock, the longshoremen knocked off work for +the lunch hour and Neils Halvorsen drifted across the street to +cool his parched throat with steam beer. While waiting for +Scraggs to come up out of the engine room, and take him to +luncheon, Mr. Gibney sauntered aft and was standing gazing +reflectively upon a spot on the _Maggie's_ stern where the +hawsers had chafed away the paint, when suddenly big forebodings +of evil returned to him a thousand fold stronger than they had +been since Scraggs's return to the little ship. He glanced up and +beheld gazing down upon him Captains Jack Flaherty and Daniel +Hicks. Battle was imminent and the valiant Gibney knew it; +wherefore he determined instantly to meet it like a man. + +"Howdy, men," he saluted them. "Glad to have you aboard the +yacht," and he stepped backward to give himself fighting room. + +"Here's where we collect the towage bill on the S.S. _Yankee +Prince_," Dan Hicks informed him, and leaped from the bulkhead +straight down at Mr. Gibney. Jack Flaherty followed. Mr. Gibney +welcomed Captain Hicks with a terrific right swing, which missed; +before he could guard, Dan Hicks had planted left and right where +they would do the most good and Mr. Gibney went into a clinch to +save himself further punishment. + +"Scraggsy," he bawled, "Scraggsy-y-y! Help! Murder! It's Hicks +and Flaherty! Bring an ax!" + +He flung Dan Hicks at Jack Flaherty; as they collided he rushed +in and dealt each of them a powerful poke. However, Messrs. Hicks +and Flaherty were sizeable persons and while, individually, they +were no match for the tremendous Gibney, nevertheless what they +lacked in horsepower they made up in pugnacity--and the salt sea +seldom breeds a craven. Captain Scraggs thrust a frightened face +up through the engine-room hatch, but at sight of the battle +royal taking place on the deck aft, his blood turned to water and +he thought only of escape. To climb up to the bulkhead without +being seen was impossible, however, so, not knowing what else to +do, he stood on the iron ladder and gazed, pop-eyed with horror, +at the unequal contest. + +Backward and forward the tide of battle surged. For nearly three +minutes all Scraggs saw was an indistinct tangle of legs and +arms; then suddenly the combatants disengaged themselves and +Scraggs beheld Mr. Gibney lying prone upon the deck with a gory +face upturned to the foggy skies. When he essayed to rise and +continue the contest, Flaherty kicked him in the ribs and Hicks +cursed them; so Mr. Gibney, realizing that all was over, beat the +deck with his hand in token of surrender. Hicks and Flaherty +waited until the fallen gladiator had recovered sufficient breath +to sit up; then they pounced upon him, lifted him to the rail, +and dropped him overboard. Captain Scraggs shrieked in protest at +this added touch of barbarity, and Dan Hicks, turning, beheld +Scraggsy's white face at the hatch. + +"You're next, Scraggs," he called cheerfully, and turned to peer +over the rail. Mr. Gibney had emerged on the surface and was +swimming slowly away toward an adjacent float where small boats +landed. He climbed wearily up on the float and sat there, gazing +across at Hicks and Flaherty without animus, for to his way of +thinking he had gotten off lightly, considering the enormity of +his offense. The least he had anticipated was three months in +hospital, and so grateful was he to Hicks and Flaherty for their +great forbearance that he strangled a resolve to "lay" for Hicks +and Flaherty and thrash them individually--something he was fully +able to do--and forgot his aches and pains in a lively interest +as to the fate of Captain Scraggs at the hands of the towboat +men. He was aware that Captain Scraggs had failed ignominiously +to rally to the Gibney appeal to repel boarders, and in his own +expressive terminology he hoped that what the enemy would do to +the dastard would be "a-plenty." + +The enemy, meanwhile, had turned their attention upon Scraggs, +who had dodged below like a frightened rabbit and sought shelter +in the shaft alley. He had sufficient presence of mind, as he +dashed through the engine room, to snatch a large monkey wrench +off the tool rack on the wall, and, kneeling just inside the +alley entrance he turned at bay and threatened the invaders with +this weapon. Thereupon Hicks and Flaherty pelted him with lumps +of coal, but the sole result of this assault was to force Scraggs +further back into the shaft alley and out of range. + +The towboat men held a council of war and decided to drown +Scraggs out. Dan Hicks ran up on deck and returned dragging +the deck fire hose behind him. He thrust the brass nozzle into +the shaft alley entrance and invited Scraggs to surrender +unconditionally or be drowned like a kitten. Scraggs, knowing his +own fire hose, defied them, so Dan Hicks started the pump while +Flaherty turned on the water. Instantly the hose burst up on deck +and Scraggs's jeers of triumph filled the engine room. The enemy +was about to draw lots to see which one of the two should crawl +into the shaft alley and throw a cupful of chloride of lime (for +they found a can of this in the engine room) in Captain Scraggs's +face, when a shadow darkened the hatch and Mr. Bartholomew +McGuffey demanded belligerently: "What's goin' on down there? Who +the devil's takin' liberties in my engine room?" + +Dan Hicks explained the situation and the just cause for drastic +action which they held against the fugitive in the shaft alley. +Mr. McGuffey considered a few moments and made his decision. + +"If what you say is true--an' I ain't in position to dispute you, +not havin' been present when you hauled the _Maggie_ off the +beach, I don't blame you for feeling sore. What I do blame you +for, though, is carryin' the war aboard the _Maggie_. If you +wanted to whale Gib an' Scraggsy you should ha' laid for 'em on +the dock. Under the circumstances, you make this a pers'nal +affair, an' as a member o' the crew o' the _Maggie_ I got to take +a hand an' defend my skipper agin youse two. Fact is, gentlemen, +I got a date to lick him first for what he done to me last night. +Howsumever, that's a private grouch. The fact remains that you +two jumped my pal Bert Gibney an' licked him somethin' scandalous. +Hicks, I'll take you on first. Come up out of there, you swab, +and fight. Flaherty, you stay below until I send for you; if you +try to climb up an' horn in on my fight with Hicks, Gibney'll brain +you." + +A faint cheer came from the shaft alley. "Good old Mac. +At-a-boy!" + +"You're on, McGuffey. Nobody ever had to beg me to fight him," +Dan Hicks replied cordially, and climbed to the deck. To his +great surprise, Mr. McGuffey winked at him and drew him off to +the stern of the _Maggie_. + +"There'll be no fight," he declared, "although we'll thud around +on deck an' yell a couple o' times to make Scraggs think we're +goin' to it. He figgers that by the time I've fought you an' +Flaherty I won't be fit for combat with him, even if I lick you +both; he's got it all figgered out that I'll wait a couple o' +days before tacklin' him, an' he thinks my temper'll cool by that +time an' he can argy me out o' my revenge. Savey?" + +"I twig." + +Mr. Gibney had returned to the _Maggie_ by this time and he now +took his station at the engine-room hatch and growled at Flaherty +and abused him. "Keep up your courage, Scraggsy," he called, as +Hicks and McGuffey pranced around the deck in simulated combat. +"Mac's whalin' the whey out o' Hicks an' Hicks couldn't touch him +with a buggy whip." + +At the conclusion of the three minutes of horse-play, Mr. +McGuffey came to the hatch again. "Up with you, Flaherty," he +called loud enough for Captain Scraggs to hear, "up with you +before I go down after you." + +Flaherty was about to possess himself of a hatchet when the face +of his confrere, Dan Hicks, appeared over McGuffey's shoulder and +grinned knowingly at him. Immediately, Flaherty hurled defiance +at his enemies and came up on deck, and once more to Captain +Scraggs came the dull sounds of apparent conflict overhead. + +Suddenly a cheer broke from Mr. Gibney. "All off an' gone to +Coopertown, Scraggsy," he shouted. "Come up an' take a look at +the fallen." + +Out of the shaft alley came Scraggs with a rush, tossing his +wrench aside the better to climb the ladder. He was half way up +when Mr. Gibney reached down a great hand, grasped him by the +collar, and whisked him out on deck with a single jerk. Here, to +his horror, he found himself confronted by a singularly scathless +trio who grinned triumphantly at him. + +"Seein' is believin', Scraggs," Dan Hicks informed him. "That's a +lesson you taught me an' Flaherty last night, but evidently you +don't profit by experience. You're too miserable to beat up, but +just to show you it ain't possible for a dirty bay pirate like +you to skin the likes o' me an' Flaherty we purpose hangin' the +seat o' your pants up around your coat collar. Face him about, +Gibney." + +Jack Flaherty raised his voice in song: + + Glorious! Glorious! + One kick a piece for the four of us! + +With a quick twist, Mr. Gibney presented Captain Scraggs for his +penance; Flaherty and McGuffey followed Dan Hicks promptly and +Captain Scraggs screamed at every kick. And now came Mr. Gibney's +turn. "For failin' to stand up like a man, Scraggsy, an' battle +Hicks an' Flaherty," he informed the culprit, and tossed him over +to McGuffey to be held in position for him. + +"Don't, Gib. Please don't," Scraggs wailed. "It ain't comin' to +me from you. I never heard you callin' a-tall. Honest, I never, +Gib. Have mercy, Adelbert. You saved the _Maggie_ last night an' +a quarter interest in her is yours--if you don't kick me!" + +Mr. Gibney paused, foot in mid-air; surveyed the _Maggie_ from +stem to stern, hesitated, licked his lower lip, and glanced at +the common enemy. For an instant it came into his mind to call +upon the valiant and able McGuffey to support him in a fierce +counter attack upon Hicks and Flaherty. Only for an instant, +however; then his sense of fair play conquered. + +"No, Scraggsy," he replied sadly. "She ain't worth it, an' your +duplicity can't be overlooked. If there's anything I hate it's +duplicity. Here goes, Scraggsy--and get yourself a new navigatin' +officer." + +Scraggs twisted and flinched instantly, and Mr. Gibney's great +boot missed the mark. "Ah," he breathed, "I'll give you an extra +for that." + +"Don't! Please don't," Scraggs howled. "Lay off'n me an' I'll put +in a new boiler an' have the compass adjusted." + +The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Mr. McGuffey swung +him clear of Mr. Gibney's wrath. "Swear it," he hissed. "Raise +your right hand an' swear it--an' I'll protect you from Gib." + +Captain Scraggs raised a trembling right hand and swore it. "I'll +get a new fire hose an' fire buckets; I'll fix the ash hoist and +run the bedbugs an' cockroaches out of her," he added. + +"You hear that, Gib?" McGuffey pleaded. "Have a heart." + +"Not unless he gives her a coat of paint an' quits bickerin' +about the overtime, Bart." + +"I promise," Scraggs answered him. "Pervided," he added, "you an' +dear ol' Mac promises to stick by the ship." + +"It's a whack," yelled McGuffey joyfully, and whirling, struck +Dan Hicks a mighty blow on the jaw. "Off our ship, you hoodlums." +He favoured Jack Flaherty with a hearty thump and swung again on +Dan Hicks. "At 'em, Scraggsy. Here's where you prove to Gib +whether you're a man--thump--or a mouse--thump--or a--thump, +thump--bobtailed--thump--rat." + +Dan Hicks had been upset, and as he sprawled on his back on deck, +he appeared to Captain Scraggs to offer at least an even chance +for victory. So Scraggs, mustering his courage, flew at poor +Hicks tooth and toenail. His best was not much but it served to +keep Dan Hicks off Mr. McGuffey while the latter was disposing of +Jack Flaherty, which he did, via the rail, even as the towboat +men had disposed of Mr. Gibney. Dan Hicks followed Flaherty, and +the crew of the _Maggie_ crowded the rail as the enemy swam to +the float, crawled up on it and departed, vowing vengeance. + +"All's well that ends well, gentlemen," Mr. McGuffey announced. +"Scraggsy's goin' to buy a drink an' the past is buried an' +forgotten. Didn't old Scraggsy put up a fight, Gib?" + +"No, but he tried to, Mac. I'll tell the world he did," and he +thrust out the hand of forgiveness to Scraggsy, who, realizing he +had come very handsomely out of an unlovely situation, clasped +the hands of Mr. Gibney and McGuffey and burst into tears. While +Mr. McGuffey thumped him between the shoulder blades and cursed +him affectionately, Mr. Gibney retired to change into dry +garments; when he reappeared the trio went ashore for the +promised grog and a luncheon at the skipper's expense. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +A week had elapsed and nothing of an eventful nature had +transpired to disturb the routine of life aboard the _Maggie_, +until Bartholomew McGuffey, having heard certain waterfront +whispers, considered it the part of prudence to lay his +information before Scraggs and Mr. Gibney. + +"Look here, Scraggs," he began briskly. "It's all fine an' dandy +to promise me a new boiler, but when do I git it?" + +"Why, jes' as soon as we can get this glut o' freight behind us, +Bart, my boy. The way it's pilin' up on us now, what with this +bein' the height o' the busy season an' all, it stands to reason +we got to wait a while for dull times before layin' the _Maggie_ +up." + +"What's the matter with orderin' the new boiler now so's to have +it ready to chuck into her over the week-end," McGuffey +suggested. "There needn't be no great delay." + +"As owner o' the _Maggie_," Scraggs reminded him with just a +touch of asperity, "you've got to leave these details to me. +You've managed with the old boiler this long, so it 'pears to me +you might be patient an' bear with it a mite longer, Bart." + +"Oh, I ain't tryin' to be disagreeable, Scraggs, only it sort o' +worries me to have to go along without bein' able to use our +whistle. We got a reputation for joggin' right along, mindin' +our business an' never replyin' to them vessels that whistle us +they're goin' to pass to port or starboard, as the case may be. +Of course when they whistle, we know what they're goin' to do, +but the trouble is _they_ don't know what we're goin' to do. Dan +Hicks an' Jack Flaherty's been makin' a quiet brag that one o' +these days or nights they'll take advantage o' this well-known +peculiarity of ourn to collide with the _Maggie_ an' sink us, and +in that case we wouldn't have no defense an' no come-back in a +court of law. Me, I don't feel like drownin' in that engine room +or gettin' cut in half by the bow o' the _Bodega_ or the +_Aphrodite_. Consequently, you'd better ship that new boiler you +promised me an' save funeral expenses. We just naturally got to +commence whistlin', Scraggsy." + +"We'll commence it when business slacks up," Scraggs decided with +finality. + +Mr. Gibney who, up to this moment, had said nothing, now fixed +Captain Scraggs with a piercing glance and threatened him with an +index finger across the cabin table. "We don't have to wait for +the slack season to have that there compass adjusted an' paint +the topsides o' the _Maggie_," he reminded Scraggs. "As for her +upper works, I'll paint them myself on Sundays, if you'll dig up +the paint. How about that program?" + +"We'll do it all at once when we lay up to install the boiler," +Scraggs protested. He glanced at his watch. "Sufferin' sailor!" +he cried in simulated distress. "Here it's one o'clock an' I +ain't collected a dollar o' the freight money from the last +voyage. I must beat it." + +When Captain Scraggs had "beaten it," Gibney and McGuffey +exchanged expressive glances. "He's runnin' out on us," McGuffey +complained. + +"Even so, Bart, even so. Therefore, the thing for us to do is to +run out on him. In other words, we'll work a month, save our +money, an' then, without a word o' complaint or argyment, we'll +walk out." + +"Oh, I ain't exactly broke, Gib. I got eighty-five dollars." + +"Then," quoth Gibney decisively, "we'll go on strike to-night. +Scraggsy'll be stuck in port a week before he can get another +engineer an' another navigatin' officer, me an' you bein' the +only two natural-born fools in San Francisco an' ports adjacent, +an' before three days have passed he'll be huntin' us up to +compromise." + +"I don't want no compromise. What I want is a new boiler." + +"You'll git it. We'll make him order the paint an' the boiler an' +pay for both in advance before we'll agree to go back to work." + +The engineer nodded his approval and after sealing their pact +with a hearty handshake, they turned to and commenced discharging +the _Maggie_. When Captain Scraggs returned to the little steamer +shortly after five o'clock, to his great amazement, he discovered +Mr. Gibney and McGuffey dressed in their other suits--including +celluloid collars and cuffs. + +"The cargo's out, Scraggsy, my son, the decks has been washed +down an' everything in my department is shipshape." Thus Mr. +Gibney. + +"Likewise in mine," McGuffey added. + +"Consequently," Mr. Gibney concluded, "we're quittin' the +_Maggie_ an' if it's all the same to you we'll have our time." + +"My _dear_ Gib. Why, whatever's come over you two boys?" + +"Stow your chatter, Scraggs. Shell out the cash. The only +explanation we'll make is that a burned child dreads the fire. +You've fooled us once in the matter o' that new boiler an' the +paintin', an' we're not goin' to give you a second chance. Come +through--or take the consequences. We'll sail no more with a liar +an' a fraud." + +"Them's hard words, Mr. Gibney." + +"The truth is allers bitter," McGuffey opined. + +Captain Scraggs paused to consider the serious predicament which +confronted him. It was Saturday night. He knew Mr. McGuffey to be +the possessor of more money than usual and if he could assure +himself that this reserve should be dissipated before Monday +morning he was aware, from experience, that the strike would be +broken by Tuesday at the latest. And he could afford that delay. +He resolved, therefore, on diplomacy. + +"Well, I'm sorry," he answered with every appearance of +contrition. "You fellers got me in the nine-hole an' I can't help +myself. At the same time, I appreciate fully your p'int of view, +while realizin' that I can't convince you o' mine. So we won't +have no hard feelin's at partin', boys, an' to show you I'm a +sport I'll treat to a French dinner an' a motion picture show +afterward. Further, I shall regard a refusal of said invite as a +pers'nal affront." + +"By golly, you're gittin' sporty in your old age," the engineer +declared. "I'll go you, Scraggs. How about you, Gib?" + +"I accept with thanks, Scraggsy, old tarpot. Personally, I +maintain that seamen should leave their troubles aboard ship." + +"That's the sperrit I appreciate, boys. Come to the cabin an' +I'll pay you off. Then wait a coupler minutes till I shift into +my glad rags an' away we'll go, like Paddy Ford's goat--on our +own hook." + +"Old Scraggsy's as cunnin' as a pet fox, ain't he?" the new +navigating officer whispered, as Scraggs departed for his +stateroom to change into his other suit. "He's goin' to blow +himself on us to-night, thinkin' to soften our hard resolution. +We'll fool him. Take all he gives us, but stand pat, Bart." + +Bart nodded. His was one of those sturdy natures that could +always be depended upon to play the game, win, lose, or draw. + +As a preliminary move, Captain Scraggs declared in favour of a +couple of cocktails to whet their appetites for the French +dinner, and accordingly the trio repaired to an adjacent saloon +and tucked three each under their belts--all at Captain Scraggs's +expense. When he proposed a fourth, Mr. Gibney's perfect +sportsmanship caused him to protest, and reluctantly Captain +Scraggs permitted Gibney to buy. Scraggs decided to have a cigar, +however, instead of another Martini. The ethics of the situation +then indicated that McGuffey should "set 'em up," which he did +over Captain Scraggs's protest--and again the wary Scraggs called +for a cigar, alleging as an excuse for his weakness that for +years three cocktails before dinner had been his absolute limit. +A fourth cocktail on an empty stomach, he declared, would kill +the evening for him. + +The fourth cocktail having been disposed of, the barkeeper, +sensing further profit did he but play his part judiciously, +insisted that his customers have a drink on the house. Captain +Scraggs immediately protested that their party was degenerating +into an endurance contest--and called for another cigar. He now +had three cigars, so he gave one each to his victims and forcibly +dragged them away from the bar and up to a Pine Street French +restaurant, the proprietor of which was an Italian. Captain +Scraggs was for walking the six blocks to this restaurant, but +Mr. McGuffey had acquired, on six cocktails, what is colloquially +described as "a start," and insisted upon chartering a taxicab. + +But why descend to sordid and vulgar details? Suffice that when +the artful Scraggs, pretending to be overcome by his potations +and very ill into the bargain, begged to be delivered back aboard +the _Maggie_, Messrs. McGuffey and Gibney loaded him into a +taxicab and sent him there, while they continued their search for +excitement. Where and how they found it requires no elucidation +here; it is sufficient to state that it was expensive, for when +men of the Gibney and McGuffey type have once gotten a fair start +naught but financial dissolution can stop them. + +On Monday morning, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey awoke in Scab +Johnny's boarding house. Mr. Gibney awoke first, by reason of the +fact that his stomach hammered at the door of his soul and bade +him be up and doing. While his head ached slightly from the fiery +usquebaugh of the Bowhead saloon, he craved a return to a solid +diet, so for several minutes he lay supine, conjuring in his +agile brain ways and means of supplying this need in the absence +of ready cash. "I'll have to hock my sextant," was the conclusion +at which he presently arrived. Then he commenced to heave and +surge until presently he found himself clear of the blankets and +seated in his underclothes on the side of the bed. Here, he +indulged in a series of scratchings and yawnings, after which he +disposed at a gulp of most of the water designed for his +matutinal ablutions. Ten minutes later he took his sextant under +his arm and departed for a pawnshop in lower Market Street. From +the pawnshop he returned to Scab Johnny's with eight dollars in +his pocket, routed out the contrite McGuffey, and carried the +latter off to ham and eggs. + +They felt better after breakfast and for the space of an hour +lolled at the table, discussing their adventures of the past +forty-eight hours. "Well, there's one thing certain," McGuffey +concluded, "an' that thing is sure a cinch. Our strike has +petered out. I'm not busted, but I ain't heeled to continue on +strike very long, so let's mosey along down to the _Maggie's_ +dock an' see how Scraggsy's gettin' along. If he has our places +filled we won't say nothin', but if he hasn't got 'em filled +he'll say somethin'." + +"That's logic, Bart," Gibney agreed, and forthwith they set out +to interview Captain Scraggs. The owner of the _Maggie_ greeted +them cheerily, but after discussing generalities for half an +hour, Scraggs failed to make overtures, whereupon Mr. Gibney +announced casually that he guessed he and Mac would be on their +way. "Same here, boys," Captain Scraggs piped breezily. "I got a +new mate an' a new engineer comin' aboard at ten o'clock an' we +sail at twelve." + +"Well, we'll see you occasionally," Mr. Gibney said at parting. + +"Oh, sure. Don't be strangers. You're always welcome aboard the +old _Maggie_," came the careless rejoinder. + +Somewhat crestfallen, the striking pair repaired to the Bowhead +saloon to discuss the situation over a glass of beer. However, +Mr. Gibney's spirits never dropped below zero while he had one +nickel to rub against another; hence such slight depression as he +felt was due to a feeling that Captain Scraggs had basely +swindled him and McGuffey. He was disappointed in Scraggs and +said as much. "However, Bart," he concluded, "we'll never say +'die' while our money holds out, and in the meantime our luck may +have changed. Let's scatter around and try to locate some kind of +a job; then when them new employees o' Scraggsy quit or get +fired--which'll be after about two voyages--an' the old man comes +round holdin' out the olive branch o' peace, we'll give him the +horselaugh." + +Three days of diligent search failed to uncover the coveted job +for either, however, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr. +Gibney announced that it would be necessary to "raise the wind," +if the pair would breakfast. "It'll probably be a late breakfast," +he added. + +"How're we goin' to git it, Gib?" + +"We must test our credit, Mac. You go down to the rooms o' the +Marine Engineers' Association and kick somebody's eye out for +five dollars. I'd get out an' do some rustlin' myself, but I +ain't got no credit. When a man that's been a real sailor sinks +as low as I've sunk--from clipper ships to mate on a rotten +little bumboat--people don't respect him none. But it's different +with a marine engineer. You might be first assistant on a P.M. +boat to-day an' second assistant on a bay tug to-morrow but +nothin's thought of it." + +"What're we goin' to do with the five dollars?" + +"Well, we might invest it in a lottery ticket an' pray for the +capital prize--but we won't. Ain't it dawned on you, Mac, that +it's up to you an' me to find the steamer _Maggie_ an' git back +to work quick an' no back talk? Scraggs has new men in our jobs +an' these new men has got to be got rid of, otherwise there's no +tellin' how long they'll last. Naturally, this here riddance can +be accomplished easier an' without police interference on the +dock at Halfmoon Bay. We got to walk twenty miles to Halfmoon Bay +to connect with the _Maggie_ an' the five dollars is to keep us +from starvin' to death in case we miss him an' have to walk back +or wait for the return trip o' the _Maggie_." + +"But suppose, after we've walked all that distance, we find +Scraggs won't take us back? Then what?" + +"Why, of course he'll take us back, Bart. He'll be glad to after +we've finished with them scabs that's took our jobs an' are doin' +us out of an honest livin'. He won't be able to work the _Maggie_ +back to San Francisco alone, will he?" + +McGuffey nodded his approbation, and set forth to borrow the +needful five dollars. Whatever the reason, he was not successful, +and when they met again at Scab Johnny's, Mr. Gibney employed his +eloquence to obtain credit from that cold-hearted publican, but +all in vain. Scab Johnny had been too long operating on a cash +basis with Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey to risk adding to an old +unpaid bill. + +They retired to the sidewalk to hold a caucus and Mr. McGuffey +located a dime which had dropped down inside the lining of his +coat. "That settles it," Gibney declared. "We've skipped two +meals but I'll be durned if we skip another. We'll ride out to +the San Mateo county line on the trolley with that dime an' then +hoof it over the hills to Halfmoon Bay. Scraggs won't git away +from the dock here until after twelve o'clock, so we know he'll +lie at Halfmoon Bay all night. If we start now we'll connect with +him in time for supper. Eh, Bart?" + +"A twenty-mile hike on a tee-totally empty stomach, with a battle +royal on our hands the minute we arrive, weak an' destitoote, +ain't quite my idea o' enjoyment, Gib, but I'll go you if it +kills me. Let's up hook an' away. I'm for gittin' back to work +an' usin' moral persuasion to git that new boiler." + +They took a hitch in their belts and started. From the point at +which they left the trolley to their journey's end was a stiff +six-hour jaunt, up hill and down dale, and long before the march +was half completed the unaccustomed exercise had developed sundry +galls and blisters on the Gibney heels, while the soles of poor +McGuffey's feet were so hot he voiced the apprehension that they +might burn to a crisp at any moment and drop off by the wayside. +Men less hardy and less desperate would have abandoned the trip +before ten miles had been covered. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The crew of the _Maggie_ had ceased working cargo for the day and +Captain Scraggs was busy cooking supper in the galley when the +two prodigals, exhausted, crippled, and repentant, came to the +door and coughed propitiously, but Captain Scraggs pretended not +to hear, and went on with his task of turning fried eggs with an +artistic flip of the frying pan. So Mr. Gibney spoke, struggling +bravely to appear nonchalant. With his eyes on the fried eggs and +his mouth threatening to slaver at the glorious sight, he said: + +"Hello, there, Scraggsy, old tarpot. How goes it with the owner +o' the fast an' commodious steamer _Maggie_? Git that consignment +o' post-holes aboard yet?" + +Mr. Gibney's honest face beamed expectantly, for he was +particularly partial to fried eggs. As for his companion in +distress, anything edible and which would serve to nullify the +gnawing at his internal economy would be welcome. Inasmuch as +Captain Scraggs did not readily reply to Mr. Gibney's salutation, +McGuffey decided to be more emphatic and to the point, albeit in +a joking way. + +"Hurry up with them eggs, Scraggs," he rumbled. "Me an' Gib's +walked down from the city an' we're hungry. Jawn D. Rockerfeller'd +give a million dollars for my appetite. Fry mine hard, Scraggsy. +I want somethin' solid." + +Scraggs looked up and his cold green eyes were agleam with malice +and triumph as they rested on the unhappy pair. However, he +smiled--a smile reminiscent of a cat that has just eaten a +canary--and cold chills ran down the backs of the exhausted +travellers. "Hello, boys," he piped. He turned from them to toss +a few strips of bacon into the grease with the eggs; then he +peered into the coffee pot and set it on the back of the galley +range to simmer, before facing his guests again. His attitude was +so significant that Mr. Gibney queried mournfully: + +"Well, Phineas, you old vegetable hound, ain't you glad to see +us?" + +"Certainly, Gib, certainly. I'm deeply appreciative of the honour +o' this visit, although I'm free to say we're hardly prepared for +company. The stores is kind o' low an' I did just figger on +havin' enough, by skimpin' a little, to last me an' my crew until +we get back to San Francisco. I'd hate to put 'em on short +rations, on account of unexpected company, because it gives the +ship a bad name. On the other hand, it's agin my disposition to +appear small over a few fried eggs, while on still another hand, +I realize you two got to get fed." He stepped to the door and +pointed. "See that little shack about two points to starboard o' +the warehouse? Well, there's a Dago livin' there an' he'll fix +you two boys up a bully meal for fifty cents each." + +"Scraggsy, ol' hunks, if three-ringed circuses was sellin' for +six bits a throw me an' Bart couldn't buy a whisker from a dead +tiger." The dreadful admission brought a dull flush to Mr. +Gibney's already rubicund countenance. + +"Shell out a coupler bucks, Scraggsy," McGuffey pleaded. "Me an' +Gib's so empty we rattle when we walk." + +"I ain't got no money to loan you two that ups an leaves me in +the lurch, without no notice," Scraggs flared at them. "If you +two stiffs ain't able to support yourselves you'd ought to apply +for admission to the poorhouse or the Home For the Feeble-minded." + +Mr. Gibney smiled fatly. "Scraggsy! You're kiddin' us." + +"Not by forty fathom, I ain't." + +"Phineas, we just _got_ t' eat," McGuffey declared ominously. + +"Eat an' be dog-goned," the skipper snarled. "I ain't a-tryin' to +prevent you. Are you two suckin' infants that I got to _feed_ +you? There's plenty o' fresh vegetables out on deck. Green peas +ain't to be sneezed at, an' as for French carrots, science'll +tell you there's ninety-two per cent. more nutriment in a carrot +than----" + +Mr. Gibney halted this dissertation with upraised hand. "Scraggs, +it's about time you found out I ain't no potato bug, an' if you +think McGuffey's a coddlin' moth you're wrong agin. Fork over +them eggs an' the coffee an' a coupler slices o' dummy an' be +quick about it or I'll bust your bob-stay." + +"Get off my ship, you murderin' pirates," Scraggs screamed. + +"Not till we've et," the practical-minded engineer retorted. +"Even then we won't get off. Me an' Gib ain't got any feet left, +Scraggs. If we had to walk another step we'd be crippled for +life. Fry my eggs hard, I tell you." + +"This is piracy, men. It's robbery on the high seas, an' I can +put you over the road for it," Scraggs warned them. "What's more, +I'll do it." + +"The eggs, Scraggsy," boomed Mr. Gibney, "the eggs." + + * * * * * + +Half an hour later as the pirates, replete with provender, sat +dangling their damaged underpinning over the stern railing where +the gentle wavelets laved and cooled them, Captain Scraggs +accompanied by the new navigating officer, the new engineer, and +The Squarehead, came aft. The cripples looked up, surveyed their +successors in office, and found the sight far from reassuring. + +"I've already ordered you two tramps off'n my ship," Scraggs +began formally, "an' I hereby, in the presence o' reliable +witnesses, repeats the invitation. You ain't wanted; your room's +preferred to your comp'ny, an' by stayin' a minute longer, in +defiance o' my orders, you're layin' yourselves liable to a +charge o' piracy. It'd be best for you two boys to mosey along +now an' save us all a lot o' trouble." + +Mr. Gibney carefully laid his pipe aside and stood up. He was +quite an imposing spectacle in his bare feet, with his trousers +rolled up to his great knees, thereby revealing his scarlet +flannel underdrawers. With a stifled groan, McGuffey rose and +stood beside his partner, and Mr. Gibney spoke: + +"Scraggs, be reasonable. We ain't lookin' for trouble; not +because we don't relish it, for we do where a couple o' scabs is +concerned, but for the simple reason that we ain't in the best o' +condition to receive it, although if you force it on us we'll do +our best. If you chuck us off the _Maggie_ an' force us to walk +back to San Francisco, we're goin' to be reported as missin'. +Honest, now, Scraggsy, old side-winder, you ain't goin' to maroon +us here, alone with the vegetables, are you?" + +"You done me dirt. You quit me cold. Git out. Two can play at a +dirty game an' every dog must have his day. This is my day, Gib. +Scat!" + +"Pers'nally," McGuffey announced quietly, "I prefer to die aboard +the _Maggie_, if I have to. This ain't movin' day with B. +McGuffey, Esquire." + +"Them's my sentiments, too, Scraggsy." + +"Then defend yourselves. Come on, lads. Bear a hand an' we'll +bounce these muckers overboard." The Squarehead hung back having +no intention of waging war upon his late comrades, but the +engineer and the new navigating officer stepped briskly forward, +for they were about to fight for their jobs. Mr. Gibney halted +the advance by lifting both great hands in a deprecatory manner. + +"For Heaven's sake, Scraggsy, have a heart. Don't force us to +murder you. If we're peaceable, what's to prevent you from givin' +us a passage back to San Francisco, where we're known an' where +we'll have at least a fightin' chance to git somethin' to eat +occasionally." + +"You know mighty well what's to prevent me, Gib. I ain't got no +passenger license, an' I'll be keel-hauled an' skull-dragged if I +fall for your cute little game, my son. I ain't layin' myself +liable to a fine from the Inspectors an' maybe have my ticket +book took away to boot." + +"You could risk your danged old ticket. It ain't no use to you on +salt water anyhow," McGuffey jeered insultingly. + +"We can work our passage an' who's to know the difference, +Scraggsy?" + +"You for one an' McGuffey for two. You'd have the bulge on me +forever after. You could blackmail me until I dassen't call my +ship my own." + +"Don't worry, you snipe. Nobody else will ever hanker to own +her." Another insult from McGuffey. Having made up his mind that +a fight was inevitable, the honest fellow was above pleading for +mercy. + +"Enough of this gab," Mr. Gibney roared. "My patience is +exhausted. I'm dog-tired an' I'm goin' to have peace if I have to +fight for it. Me an' Bart stays aboard the steamer _Maggie_ until +she gets back to Frisco town or until we're hove overboard in the +interim by the weight of numbers. An' if any man, or set o' male +bipeds that calls theirselves men, is so foolish as to try to +evict us from this packet, then all I got to say is that they're +triflin' with death." (Here Mr. Gibney thrust out his superb +chest and thumped it with his horny fists, after the fashion of +an enraged gorilla. This was sheer bluff, however, for while +there was not a drop of craven blood in the Gibney veins, he +realized that his footwork, in the event of battle, would be +sadly deficient and he hesitated to wage a losing fight.) "I got +my arms left, even if my feet is on the fritz, Scraggs," he +continued, "an' if you start anything I'll hug you an' your crew +to death. I'm a rip-roarin' grizzly bear once I'm started an' +there's such a thing as drivin' a man to desperation." + +The bluff worked! Captain Scraggs turned to his retainers and +with a condescending and paternal smile, said: "Boys, let's give +the dumb fools their own way. If they insist upon takin' forcible +possession o' my ship on the high seas, there's only one name for +the crime--an' that's piracy, punishable by hangin' from the +yard-arm. We'll just let 'em stay aboard an' turn 'em over to the +police when we git back to the city." + +He started for his cabin and the crew, vastly relieved, followed +him. The pirates once more sat down and permitted their hot feet +to loll overboard. + +"It's cold down here nights, Gib," McGuffey opined presently. +"Where're we goin' to sleep?" + +"In our old berths, of course." The success of his bluff had +operated on Gibney like a tonic. "Hop into your shoes, Bart, an' +we'll snake them two scabs out o' their berths in jig time." + +"I'm dodgin' fights to-night, Gib. Let's borrow a blanket or two +from The Squarehead an' curl up on deck. It'll be warm over the +engine-room gratin'." + +Mr. Gibney yawned. "I guess you're right, Bart. While you're at +it, make Scraggs come through with a blanket an' an overcoat for +a pillow. Run up an' threaten him. He'll wilt." + +So McGuffey staggered forward. What arguments he used shall not +be recorded here. Suffice it, he returned with what he went +after. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The pirates were early astir; so early, in fact, that long before +Captain Scraggs and his crew appeared on deck, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey had quietly cooked breakfast in the galley. They ate six +eggs each and consumed the only loaf of bread aboard, for which +act of vandalism they were rewarded half an hour later by the +sight of Captain Scraggs dancing on a new brown derby. + +"It's a wonder that bird wouldn't get him a soft hat to do his +jumpin' on," McGuffey remarked. "He's ruined enough good hats to +have paid for the new boiler. Yes, sir, whenever ol' Scraggsy +gets mad he most certainly gets hoppin' mad." + +"It'll soak into his head after a while that us two mean +business, Mac, an' he'll get sensible an' fire them outsiders. +I'm lookin' for him to make peace before noon." + +About ten o'clock that morning the little vessel completed taking +on her cargo, the lines were cast off, and the homeward voyage +was begun. As she hauled away from the wharf, Messrs. Gibney and +McGuffey might have been observed seated on the stern bitts +smoking, the picture of contentment. Pirates under the law they +might be, but of this they knew nothing and cared less. With +them, self-preservation was, indeed, the first law of human +nature. + +They were still seated on the stern bitts as the _Maggie_ came +abreast the Point Montara fog signal station, when Mr. Gibney +observed a long telescope poking out the side window of the pilot +house. "Hello," he muttered, "Scraggsy's seein' things," and +following the direction in which the telescope was pointing he +made out a large bark standing in dangerously close to the beach. +In fact, the breakers were tumbling in a long white streak over +the reefs less than a quarter of a mile from her. She was lying +stern on to the beach, with one anchor out. + +In an instant all was excitement aboard the _Maggie_. "That looks +like an elegant little pick-up. She's plumb deserted," Scraggs +shouted to his navigating officer. "I don't see any distress +signals flyin' an' yet she's got an anchor out while her canvas +is hangin' so-so." + +"If she had any hands aboard, you'd think they'd have sense +enough to clew up her courses," the mate answered. + +At this juncture, Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, unable to restrain +their curiosity, and forgetful of the fact that they were pirates +with very sore feet, came running over the deckload and invaded +the pilot house. "Gimme that glass, you sock-eyed salmon, you," +Gibney ordered Scraggs, and tore the telescope from the owner's +hands. "There ain't enough real seamanship in the crew o' this +craft to tax the mental make-up of a Chinaman. Hum--m--m! +American bark _Chesapeake_. Starboard anchor out; yards braced +a-box; royals an' to'-gallan'-s'ls clewed up; courses hangin' in +the buntlines an' clew garnets, Stars-an'-Stripes upside down." + +He lowered the glass and roared at Neils Halvorsen, who was at +the wheel, "Starboard your helm, Squarehead. Don't be afraid of +her. We're goin' over there an' hook on to her. I should say she +is a pick-up." + +Mr. Gibney had abdicated as a pirate and assumed command of the +S.S. _Maggie_. With the memory of a scant breakfast upon him, +however, Captain Scraggs was still harsh and bitter. + +"Git out o' my pilot house an' aft where the police can find you +when they come lookin' for you," he screeched. "Don't you give no +orders to my deckhand." + +"Stow it, you ass. Don't fly in the face of your own interests, +Scraggsy, you bandit. Yonder's a prize, but it'll require +imagination to win it; consequently you need Adelbert P. Gibney +in your business, if you're contemplatin' hookin' on to that +bark, snakin' her into San Francisco Bay, an' libelin' her for +ten thousand dollars' salvage. You an' me an' Mac an' The +Squarehead here have sailed this strip o' coast too long together +to quarrel over the first good piece o' salvage we ever run into. +Come, Scraggsy. Be decent, forget the past, an' let's dig in +together." + +"If I had a gun," Scraggs cried, "I do believe I'd shoot you. Git +out o' my pilot house, I tell you, or I'll stick a knife in you. +I'll carve your gizzard, you black-guardin' pirate." + +Inasmuch as Scraggs really did produce a knife, Mr. Gibney backed +prudently away. "You're mighty quick to let bygones be bygones +when you see me with a fortune in sight with you wantin' to horn +in on the deal, ain't you?" the owner jeered. "You must think I'm +a born fool." + +"I don't think it a-tall. I know it. You're worse'n a born fool. +You're sufferin' from acquired idiocy, which is the mental state +folks find themselves in when they refuse to learn by experience +an' profit by example. I've always claimed you ain't got no more +imagination than a chicken, an' I'll prove it to you right now. +Here you are, braggin' about how you're goin' to salvage that +bark but givin' no thought whatever to the means to be employed. +How're you goin' to pull her off? If the _Maggie_ ever had a +towline aboard I never seen it. Perhaps, however, you're +figgerin' on poolin' all the shoestrings aboard." + +"Every ship that size has a steel towin' cable, wound up on a +reel, nice an' handy," the new navigating officer reminded Mr. +Gibney. "I can put the skiff out, get the bark's line, haul it +back, an' make it fast on the bitts you two skunks has been +occupyin' instead of a prison cell." + +"Hello! There's another county gone Democratic. Your old man must +ha' been to sea once an' told you about it. Them bitts won't +hold." + +"I'll make the towline fast to the mainmast." + +"That'll hold, I admit. But has the _Maggie_ got power enough, +what with the load she's totin' now, to tow that big bark in to +San Francisco Bay?" + +"Oh, we'll take it easy an' get there some time," Scraggs chipped +in. + +"You bet you'll take it easy--easier'n you think. Before you +start towin' that bark, you'll have to clew up her canvas a whole +lot to make the towin' easier, an' who's goin' to do that? An' +you got to have a man at her wheel." + +"Neils an' my mate." + +"If that new mate dares to leave you in command o' the _Maggie_, +alone an' unprotected on the high seas an' you with a fresh water +license, I'll----" + +"Then Neils an' I'll do it." + +"You don't know how. Besides, you're afraid to go aboard that +bark. You don't know what kind of a frightful disease she may +have aboard. Do you know a plague ship when you see one?" + +Captain Scraggs paled a little, but the prospect of the salvage +heartened him. "I don't give a hoot," he declared. "I'll take a +chance." + +"All right. Consider it taken. How're you goin' to get aboard +her?" + +"In the skiff." + +"Where's the skiff?" + +Captain Scraggs glanced around wildly, and when McGuffey jeered +him, he cast his hat upon the deck and started to leap upon it. +The devilish Gibney was right. It appeared that owing to a glut +of freight on the landing, Captain Scraggs had decided, in view +of the fine weather prevailing, to take an unusually large cargo +that trip. With this idea in mind, he had piled freight over +every available inch of deck space until the cargo was flush with +the top of the house. On top of the house, the skiff always +rested, bottom up. Captain Scraggs had righted the skiff, piled +it full of loose artichokes from half a dozen crates broken in +the cargo net while loading, and then proceeded to pile more +vegetables on top of it and around it until the _Maggie's_ funnel +barely showed through the piled-up freight, and the little vessel +was so top heavy she was cranky. In order to get at the small +boat, therefore, it would be necessary to shift this load off the +house, and the question that now confronted Scraggs and his crew +was to find a spot that would accommodate the part of the +deckload thus shifted! + +When Captain Scraggs had completed his hornpipe on his hat he +threw an appealing glance at his new mate. "We'll jettison what +freight proves an embarrassment," this astute individual advised. +"The farmers that own it will soak you a couple o' hundred +dollars for the loss, but what's that with thousands in sight +waitin' to be picked up?" + +"Hear that, Gib? Hear that, you swab?" + +"I heard it. Did you hear that?" + +"What?" + +"A nice, brisk little nor'west trade wind that's only blowin' +about thirty mile an hour. The _Maggie_ ain't got power enough to +tow the bark agin that wind. You'll haul her ahead two feet an', +in spite o' you, she'll slip back twenty-five inches." + +"That trade wind dies down after sunset," the devilish new mate +informed him. + +"Quite true. But in the meantime you're burning coal loafin' +around here, an' before you get the bark inside you'll be plumb +out o' coal," Mr. McGuffey reminded them. "I know this old coffin +like I know the back o' my own hand. Why, she lives on coal! +Oh-h-h, Scraggsy, Scraggsy, poor old Scraggsy," he keened in a +high falsetto voice and subsided on a crate of celery, the while +he waved his legs in the air and affected to be overcome by his +merriment. Scraggs turned the colour of a ripe old Edam cheese, +while Mr. Gibney folded his hands and looked idiotic. + +"Old Phineas P. Scraggs, the salvage expert!" McGuffey's falsetto +would have maddened a sheep. "He cast his bread upon the waters +and lo, it returned to him after many days--and made him sick. +O-h-h-h-h, Scraggsy--poor old Scraggsy! If he went divin' for +pearls in three feet o' water he'd bring up a clam shell. Oh, +dear, I'm goin' to die o' this, Gib." + +"Don't, Bart. I'm goin' to have need o' your well-known ability +to help salvage this bark. Scraggs, you old sinner, has it dawned +on you that what this proposition needs to get it over is a dash +o' the Adelbert P. Gibney brand of imagination?" + +The new navigating officer drew Captain Scraggs aside and +whispered in his ear: "Make it up with these Smart Alecks, +Scraggs. They got it on us, but if we can send you an' Halvorsen, +McGuffey and Gibney over to the bark, you can get some sail on +her an' what with the wind helpin' us along, the _Maggie_ can tow +her all right." + +Mr. Gibney saw by the hopeful, even cunning, look that leaped to +Scraggs's eyes that the problem was about to be solved without +recourse to the Gibney imagination, so he resolved to be alert +and not permit himself to be caught out on the end of a limb. +"Well, Scraggsy?" he demanded. + +"I guess I need you in my business, Gib. You're right an' I'm +always wrong. It's a fact. I _ain't_ got no more imagination than +a chicken. Hence, havin' no imagination o' my own I ask you, as +man to man an' appealin' to your generous instincts as an old +friend an' former valued employee, to let bygones be bygones an' +haul us out o' the hole that threatens to make us the laughin' +stock o' the whole Pacific coast." + +"Spoken like a man--I do not think. Scraggs, for once in my life +I have you where the hair is short. You find yourself up agin a +proposition that requires brains, you ain't got 'em yourself an' +at last you're forced to admit that Adelbert P. Gibney is the man +that peddles 'em. Now, you been doin' a lot o' hollerin' about me +an' Bart bein' pirates under the law an' liable to hangin' an' +imprisonment, an' that kind o' guff don't go nohow. We're willin' +to admit that mebbe we've been a little mite familiar an' +forward, bankin' on the natural leanin' of friend for friend that +you take it all for the joke it's intended to be, but when you go +to carryin' the joke too far, we got to protect ourselves. +Scraggsy, I'm willin' to dig in an' help out in a pinch, but it's +gettin' so me an' Mac can't trust you no more. We're that leery +of you we won't take your word for nothin', since you fooled him +on the new boiler an' me on the paint; consequently, we're off +you an' this salvage job unless you give us a clearance, in +writin', statin' that we are not an' never was pirates, that +we're good, law-abiding citizens an' aboard the _Maggie_ as your +guests, takin' the trip at our own risk. When you sign such a +paper, with your crew for witnesses, I'll demonstrate how that +bark can be salvaged without makin' you remove so much as a head +o' cabbage to get at your small boat. My imagination's better'n +my reputation, Scraggsy, an' I ain't workin' it for nothin!" + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy. You're the most sensitive man I ever sailed +with. Can't you take a little joke?" + +"Sure, I can take a little joke. It's the big ones that stick in +my craw an' stifle my friendship. Gimme a fountain pen an' a leaf +out o' the log book an' I'll draw up the affydavit for your +signature." + +Scraggs complied precipitately with this request; whereupon Mr. +Gibney spread his great bulk over the chart case and with many a +twist and flip of his tongue on the up and down strokes, produced +this remarkable document: + + At Sea, Off Point Montara, aboard + S.S. _Maggie_, of San Francisco. + June 4, 19--. + + This is to sertify that A.P. Gibney, Esq., and Bart + McGuffey, Esq. is law-abidin' sitisens of the U.S.A. and + the constitootion thereof, and in no way pirates or + such; and be it further resolved that the said parties + hereto are aboard said American steamer _Maggie_ this + date on the special invite of Phineas P. Scraggs, owner, + as his guests and at their own risk. + + Witness my hand and seal: + +Captain Scraggs signed without reading and the new mate and Neils +Halvorsen appended their signatures as witnesses. Mr. Gibney +thereupon folded this clearance paper into the tiniest possible +compact ball, wrapped it in a piece of tinfoil torn from a +package of tobacco, to protect it from his saliva, tucked it in +his cheek and with a sign for McGuffey to follow him, started +crawling over the cargo aft. By this time, the _Maggie_ was +within a hundred yards of the distressed bark and was ratching +slowly backward and forward before her. + +"In all my born days," quoth Mr. Gibney, speaking a trifle +thickly because of the document in his mouth, "I never got such a +wallop as Scraggs handed me an' you last night. I don't forget +things like that in a hurry. Now that we got a vindication o' the +charge o' piracy agin us, I'm achin' to get shet of the _Maggie_ +an' her crew, so if you'll kindly peel off all of your clothes +with the exception, say, of your underdrawers, we'll swim off to +that bark an' give Phineas P. Scraggs an exhibition of real +sailorizin' an' seamanship." + +"What's the big idee?" McGuffey demanded cautiously. + +"Why, we'll sail her in ourselves--me an' you--an' glom all the +salvage for ourselves. T'ell with Scraggs an' the _Maggie_ an' +that new mate an' engineer. I'm off'n 'em for life." + +Pop-eyed with excitement and interest, B. McGuffey, Esquire, +stood up and with a single twist shed his cap and coat. His +shirts followed. Both he and Gibney were already minus their +shoes and socks. To slip out of their faded dungarees was the +work of an instant. Strapping their belts around their waists to +hold up their drawers, the worthy pair stepped to the rail of the +_Maggie_. + +"Hey, there? Where you goin', Gib? I give you that clearance +paper on condition that you was to tell me how to salvage that +there bark without havin' to shift my cargo to get at the small +boat." + +"I'm just about to tell you, Scraggs. You don't touch a thing +aboard the _Maggie_. You leave her out of it entirely. You just +jump overboard, like me an' Mac will in a jiffy, swim over to the +bark, climb aboard, and sail her in to San Francisco Bay. When +you get there you drop anchor an' call it a day's work." He +grinned broadly. "One o' these bright days, Scraggs, when me an' +Mac is just wallerin' in salvage money, drop around to see us an' +we'll give you a kick in the face. Farewell, you boobs," and he +dove overboard. + +"Ta-ta," McGuffey cried in his tantalizing falsetto voice, and +followed his leader into the briny deep. As they came up and +snorted, grampus-like, shaking the water out of their eyes, they +glanced back at the _Maggie_ and observed that Captain Scraggs +was, for the third time that never-to-be-forgotten voyage, +jumping on his hat. + +"If I was that far gone in a habit," quoth Mr. McGuffey as he +hauled up alongside Mr. Gibney, "I'll be switched if I wouldn't +go bareheaded an' save expenses." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +The tide was still at the flood and the two adventurers made fast +progress toward the _Chesapeake_. Choosing a favourable +opportunity as the vessel dipped, they grasped her martingale, +climbed up on the bowsprit, and ran along the bowsprit to the +to'gallan'-fo'castle. On the deck below a dead man lay in the +scuppers, and such a horrible stench pervaded the vessel that +McGuffey was taken very ill and was forced to seek the rail. + +"Scurvy or somethin'," Mr. Gibney announced quite calmly. "Here's +the devil to pay. There should be chloride of lime in the mate's +storeroom--I'll scatter some on these poor devils. Too close to +port now to chuck 'em overboard. Anyhow, Bart, me an' you ain't +doctors, nor yet coroners or undertakers, so you'd better skip +along an' build a fire under the donkey aft. Matches in the +galley, of course." + +"I wish she was a schooner," McGuffey complained, edging over to +the weather rail. "It'd be easier for us two to sail her then. +I'm only a marine engineer, Gib, an' while I been goin' to sea +long enough to pick up something about handlin' a vessel, still +I'll get dizzy if I go aloft--an' I'm sure to get sick. You'll +have to do all the high an' lofty tumblin'--an' how in blue +blazes us two're goin' to sail a square-rigger into port is a +mystery to me." + +"Leave the worryin' to your Uncle Gib, Bart. You can take the +wheel an' steer, can't you? She has enough sail practically set +now to make her handle good. Look at them courses hangin' in the +buntlines an' the yards braced a-box! All we got to do is to +square 'em around--but never mind explanations. I'll show you how +it's done after we get steam up in the donkey. I'd prefer a wind +about two points aft her beam, but never let it be said that I +turned up my nose at a good stiff nor'west trade. I've sunk +pretty low, Mac, but I was a real sailor once an' I can sail this +old hooker wherever there's water enough to float her. It's just +pie--well, for heaven's sake, Mac, what are you standin' around +for? Ain't I ordered you to get steam up in the donkey? Lively, +you lubber. After you've got the fire goin', we'll place leadin' +blocks along the deck, lead all the runnin' gear to the winch +head, an' stand by to swing them yards when I give the word." + +Mr. Gibney trotted down to the main deck and prowled aft. On the +port side of her house he found two more dead men, and a cursory +inspection of the bodies told him they had died of scurvy. He +circled the ship, came back to the fo'castle, entered, and found +four men alive in their berths, but too far gone to leave them. +"I'll have you boys in the Marine Hospital to-night," he informed +the poor creatures, and sought the master's cabin. Lying on his +bed, fully dressed, he found the skipper of the _Chesapeake_. The +man was gaunt and emaciated. + +The freebooter of the green-pea trade touched his wet forelock +respectfully. "My name is Gibney, sir, an' I hold an unlimited +license as first mate of sail or steam. I was passin' up the +coast on a good-for-nothin' little bumboat, an' seen you in +distress, so me an' a friend swum over to give you the double O. +You're in a bad way, sir." + +"Two hundred and eighty-seven days from Hamburg, Mr. Gibney. Our +vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too +much fresh fish down in the Doldrums. Our potatoes all went +rotten before we were out two months. Naturally, the ship's +officers stuck it out longest, but when we drifted in here this +morning, I was the only man aboard able to stand up. I crawled up +on the to'-gallan'-fo'castle and let go the starboard anchor. I'd +had it cock-billed for three weeks. All I had to do was knock out +the stopper." + +While Mr. Gibney questioned him and listened avidly to the +horrible tale of privation and despair, McGuffey appeared to +report a brisk fire under the donkey and to promise steam in +forty minutes; also that the _Maggie_ was hove to a cable length +distant, with her crew digging under the deckload of vegetables +for the small boat. "Help yourself to a belayin' pin, Bart, an' +knock 'em on the heads if they try to come aboard," Mr. Gibney +ordered nonchalantly. + +"Do I understand there is a steamer at hand, Mr. Gibney?" the +master of the _Chesapeake_ queried. + +"There's an excuse for one, sir. The little vegetable freighter +_Maggie_. She'll never be able to tow you in, because she ain't +got power enough, an' if she had power enough she ain't got coal +enough. Besides, Scraggs, her owner, is a rotten bad article an' +before he'll put a rope aboard you he'll tie you up on a contract +for a figger that'd make an angel weep. The way your ship lies +an' everything, me an' McGuffey can sail her in for you at half +the price." + +"I can't risk my ship in the hands of two men," the sick captain +answered. "She's too valuable and so is her cargo. If this little +steamer will tow me in I'll gladly give her my towline and let +the court settle the bill." + +"Not by a million," Mr. Gibney protested. "Beg pardon, sir, but +you don't know this here Scraggs like I do. I couldn't think of +lettin' him set foot on this deck." + +"_You_ couldn't think of it? Well, when did _you_ take +command of _my_ ship?" + +"You're flotsam an' jetsam, sir, an' practically in the breakers. +You're sick, an', for all I know, delirious, so for the sake o' +protectin' you, the sick seaman in the fo'castle an' the owners, +I'm takin' command." + +The master of the _Chesapeake_ reached under his pillow and +produced a pistol. "Out of my cabin or I'll riddle you," he +barked feebly. + +Mr. Gibney departed without a word of protest and proceeded to +make his arrangements, regardless of the master's consent. As he +and McGuffey busied themselves, laying the leading blocks along +the deck, they glanced toward the _Maggie_ and observed Captain +Scraggs hurling crates of vegetables overboard in an effort to +get at the small boat quickly. "He'll die when the freight claims +come in," Mr. McGuffey chortled. "Poor ol' Scraggsy!" + +"How're we goin' to git that durned anchor up, Gib?" + +"We ain't goin' to get it up. We're goin' to knock out a shackle +in the chain an' let her go to glory." + +"Anchors is expensive, Gib. Mebbe they'll deduct the price o' +that anchor from our salvage." + +"By Jupiter, you're talkin', Mac. We'll just save that anchor, +come to think of it." + +"How?" + +"Just let Scraggsy an' The Squarehead come aboard an' put the +ship's towin' cable aboard the _Maggie_. The _Maggie'll_ just +about be able to hold her while us four up with the anchor--_an' +cockbill_ it agin!" + +"They got the skiff overside," McGuffey warned. + +"Throw over the Jacob's ladder and help 'em aboard, Mac. Nothin' +like bein' neighbourly. This here's a delicate situation, what +with the old man declinin' our services in favour of a tow by the +_Maggie_, an' it occurs to me if we oppose him our standin' in +court will be impaired. I see I got to use my imagination agin." + +When Captain Scraggs came aboard, Mr. Gibney escorted him around +to the master's cabin, introduced him, and stood by while they +bargained. The sick skipper glowered at Mr. Gibney when Scraggs, +with a wealth of detail, explained their presence, but, for all +his predicament, he was a shrewd man and instantly decided to use +Gibney and McGuffey as a fulcrum wherewith to pry a very low +price out of Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney could not forebear a +grin as he saw the captain's plan, and instantly he resolved to +further it, if for no other reason than to humiliate and +infuriate Scraggs. + +"The tow will cost you five thousand, Captain," Scraggs began +pompously. + +"Me an' McGuffey'll sail you in for four," Gibney declared. + +"Three thousand," snarled Scraggs. + +"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thousand. As a matter of fact, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac'll sail her in for nothin' just to skin you +out o' the salvage." + +"Two thousand dollars is my lowest figure," Scraggs declared. +"Take it or leave it, Captain. Under the circumstances, +bargaining is useless. Two thousand is my last bid." + +The figure Scraggs named was probably one fifth of what the +master of the _Chesapeake_ knew a court would award; nevertheless +he shook his head. + +"It's a straight towing job, Captain, and not a salvage +proposition at all. A tug would tow me in for two hundred and +fifty, but I'll give you five hundred." + +Remembering the vegetables he had jettisoned, Scraggs knew he +could not afford to accept that price. "I'm through," he +bluffed--and his bluff worked. + +"Taken, Captain Scraggs. Write out an agreement and I'll sign +it." + +With the agreement in his pocket, Scraggs, followed by Gibney, +left the cabin. "One hundred each to you an' Mac if you'll stay +aboard the _Chesapeake_, steer her, an' help the _Maggie_ out +with what sail you can get on her," Scraggs promised. + +"Take a long, runnin' jump at yourself, Scraggsy, old sorrowful. +The best me an' Mac'll do is to help you cockbill the anchor, an' +that'll cost you ten bucks for each of us--in advance." The +artful fellow realized that Scraggs knew nothing whatever about a +sailing ship and would have to depend upon The Squarehead for the +information he required. + +"All right. Here's your money," Scraggs replied and handed Mr. +Gibney twenty dollars. He and Neils Halvorsen then went forward, +got out the steel towing cable, and fastened a light rope to the +end of it. The skiff floated off the ship at the end of the +painter, so The Squarehead hauled it in, climbed down into the +skiff, and made the light rope fast to a thwart; then, with +Captain Scraggs paying out the hawser, Neils bent manfully to the +oars and started to tow the steel cable back to the _Maggie_. +Half way there, the weight of the cable dragging behind slowed +The Squarehead up and eventually stopped him. Exerting all his +strength he pulled and pulled, but the sole result of his efforts +was to wear himself out, seeing which the _Maggie's_ navigating +officer set the little steamer in toward the perspiring Neils, +while Captain Scraggs, Gibney, and McGuffey cheered lustily. + +Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly Neils unshipped the remaining +oar, sprang to the stern, and attempted, by sculling, to keep the +skiff's head up to the waves. But the weight of the cable whirled +the little craft around, a wave rolled in over her counter, and +half-filled her; the succeeding wave completed the job and rolled +the skiff over and The Squarehead was forced to swim back to the +_Chesapeake_. He climbed up the Jacob's ladder to face a storm of +abuse from Captain Scraggs. + +The cable was hauled back aboard with difficulty, owing to the +submerged skiff at the end of it. Captain Scraggs and The +Squarehead leaned over the _Chesapeake's_ rail and tugged +furiously, when the wreck came alongside, but all of their +strength was unequal to the task of righting the little craft by +hauling up on the light rope attached to her thwart. + +"For ten dollars more each me an' Mac'll tail on to that rope an' +do our best to right the skiff. After she's righted, I'll bail +her out, borrow new oars from this here bark, an' help Neils row +back to the _Maggie_ with the cable," Mr. Gibney volunteered. +"Cash in advance, as per usual." + +"You're a pair of highway robbers, but I'll take you," Scraggs +almost wailed, and paid out the money; whereupon Gibney and +McGuffey "tailed" on to the rope and with raucous cries hauled +away. As a result of their efforts, the thwart came away with the +rope and the quartet sat down with exceeding abruptness on the +hard pine deck of the _Chesapeake_. + +"I had an idee that thwart would pull loose," Mr. Gibney +remarked, as he got up and rubbed the seat of his dungarees. "If +you'd had an ounce of sense, Scraggsy, you'd have saved twenty +dollars an' rigged a watch-tackle, although even then the thwart +would have come away, pullin' agin a vacuum that way. Well, +you've lost a good skiff worth at least twenty-five dollars not +to mention the two ash breezes that went with her. That helps +some. What're you goin' to do now? Lay the _Maggie_ alongside the +bark? I wouldn't if I was you. The sea's a mite choppy an' if you +bump the _Maggie_ agin the bark she'll do one o' two things--stave +in her topsides or bump that top-heavy deckload o' vegetables overboard. +An' if that happens," he reminded Scraggs, "you'll be doin' your +bookkeepin' with red ink for quite a spell." + +"I ain't licked yet--not by a jugful," Scraggs snapped. +"Halvorsen, haul down that signal halyard from the mizzenmast, +take one end of it in your teeth, an' swim back to the _Maggie_ +with it. We'll fasten a heavier line to the signal halyard, bend +the other end of the heavy line to the cable, an' haul the cable +aboard with the _Maggie's_ winch." + +"You say that so nice, Scraggsy, old hopeful, I'm tempted to +think you can whistle it. Neils, he's only askin' you to risk +your life overboard for nothing. 'Tain't in the shippin' articles +that a seaman's got to do that. If he wants a swimmin' exhibition +make him pay for it--through the nose. An' if I was you, I'd find +out how much o' this two thousand dollars' towage he's goin' to +distribute to his crew. Pers'nally I'd get mine in advance." + +"Adelbert P. Gibney," Captain Scraggs hissed. "There's such a +thing as drivin' a man to distraction. Halvorsen, are you with +me?" + +"Aye bane--for saxty dollars. Hay bane worth a month's pay for +take dat swim." + +"You dirty Scowegian ingrate. Well, you don't get no sixty +dollars from me. Bear a hand and we'll drop the ship's work boat +overboard. I guess you can tow a signal halyard to the _Maggie_, +can't you, Neils?" + +Neils could--and did. Within fifteen minutes the _Maggie_ was +fast to her prize. "Now we'll cockbill the anchor," quoth Captain +Scraggs, so McGuffey reporting sufficient steam in the donkey to +turn over the windlass, the anchor was raised and cockbilled, and +the _Maggie_ hauled away on the hawser the instant Captain +Scraggs signalled his new navigating officer that the hook was +free of the bottom. + +"The old girl don't seem to be makin' headway in the right +direction," McGuffey remarked plaintively, after the _Maggie_ had +strained at the hawser for five minutes. Mr. Gibney, standing by +with a hammer in his hand, nodded affirmatively, while the +skipper of the _Chesapeake_, whom Mr. Gibney had had the +forethought to carry out on deck to watch the operation, glanced +apprehensively ashore. Scraggs measured the distance with his eye +to the nearest fringe of surf and it was plain that he was +worried. + +"Captain Scraggs," the skipper of the _Chesapeake_ called feebly, +"Mr. Gibney is right. That craft of yours is unable to tow my +ship against this wind. You're losing ground, inch by inch, and +it will be only a matter of an hour or two, if you hang on to me, +before I'll be in the breakers and a total loss. You'll have to +get sail on her or let go the anchor until a tug arrives." + +"I don't know a thing about a sailin' ship," Scraggs quavered. + +"I know it all," Mr. Gibney cut in, "but there ain't money enough +in the world to induce me to exercise that knowledge to your +profit." He turned to the master of the _Chesapeake_. "For one +hundred dollars each, McGuffey an' I will sail her in for you, +sir." + +"I'll not take the risk, Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs, if you will +follow my instructions we'll get some sail on the _Chesapeake_. +Take those lines through the leading blocks to the winch----" + +The engineer of the _Maggie_ came up on deck and waved his arms +wildly. "Leggo," he bawled. "I've blown out two tubes. It'll be +all I can do to get home without that tow." + +"Jump on that, Scraggsy," quoth McGuffey softly and cast his +silken engineer's cap on the deck at Scraggs's feet. The latter's +face was ashen as he turned to the skipper of the _Chesapeake_. +"I'm through," he gulped. "I'll have to cast off. Your ship's +drivin' on to the beach now." + +"Oh, say not so, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney softly, and with a +blow of the hammer knocked out the stopper on the windlass and +let the anchor go down by the run. "Not this voyage, at least." +The _Chesapeake_ rounded up with a jerk and Mr. Gibney took +Captain Scraggs gently by the arm. "Into the small boat, old +ruin," he whispered, "and I'll row you an' The Squarehead back to +the _Maggie_. If she drifts ashore with that load o' garden +truck, you might as well drown yourself." + +Captain Scraggs was beyond words. He suffered himself to be taken +back to the _Maggie_, after which kindly action Mr. Gibney +returned to the _Chesapeake_, climbed aboard, and with the +assistance of McGuffey, hauled the work boat up on deck. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +"Now," Mr. Gibney inquired, approaching the skipper of the +_Chesapeake_, "what'll you give me an' Mac, sir, to sail you in? +Has it dawned on you, sir, that if I hadn't had sense enough to +cockbill that anchor again you'd be on the beach this minute?" + +"One thousand dollars," the skipper answered weakly. + +"You refused to let us do it for a hundred. Now it'll cost you +two thousand, an' I'm lettin' you off cheap at that. Of course, +you can take a chance an' wait until word o' your predicament +sifts into San Francisco an' a tug comes out for you, but in the +meantime the wind may increase an' with the tide at the flood how +do you know your anchor won't drag an' pile you up on them rocks +to leeward?" + +"I'll pay two thousand, Mr. Gibney." + +Without further ado, Mr. Gibney went to the master's cabin, wrote +out an agreement, carried the skipper aft and got his signature +to the contract. Then he tucked the skipper into bed and came +dashing out on deck. The wind was from the northwest and luckily +the foreyard was braced to starboard while the mainyard was +braced to port, so his problem was a simple one. + +"Come here till I introduce you to the jib halyards," he bawled +to McGuffey, and they went forward. Under Gibney's direction, the +jib halyards were taken through the leading blocks to the winch +head; McGuffey manned the winch and the jib was hauled up. +"St-eady-y-y! 'Vast heavin'," cried Mr. Gibney. "Now then, we'll +cast off them jib halyards an' make 'em fast.... Right-O.... Now +stand by to brace the foreyard. Bart, for the love o' heaven, +help me with this foreyard brace." + +With the aid of the winch, they braced the foreyard; then +McGuffey ran aft and took the wheel while Mr. Gibney scuttled +forward, eased up the compressor on the windlass, and permitted +the anchor chain to pay out rapidly. With the hammer, he knocked +out the pin at the forty-five fathom shackle and leaving the +anchor to go by the board, for it worried him no longer, the bark +_Chesapeake_ moved gently off on a west-sou'-west course that +would keep her three points off the land. She had sufficient head +sail on now to hold her up. + +Mr. Gibney fell upon the main to'gallan'-s'l leads like a demon, +carried them through the leading block to the winch head, turned +over the winch and sheeted home the main-to'-gallan'-s'l. The +_Chesapeake_ gathered speed and Mr. Gibney went aft and stood beside +Mr. McGuffey, the while he looked aloft and thrilled to the whine of +the breeze through the rigging. "This is sailorizin'," he declared. +"It sure beats bumboatin'. Here, blast you, Bart. You're spillin' +the wind out o' that jib. First thing you know we'll have her in +irons an' then the fat _will_ be in the fire." + +He took the wheel from McGuffey. When he was two miles off the +beach he brought her up into the wind and made the wheel fast, a +spoke to leeward. "Sheet home the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l," he +howled and dashed forward. "Leggo them buntlines an' clewlines, +my hearties, an' haul home that sheet." + +The ship lay in the wind, shivering. Mr. Gibney was here, there, +everywhere. One minute he was dashing along the deck with a +leading line, the next he was laying out aloft. He ordered +himself to do a thing and then, with the pent-up energy of a +thousand devils, he did it. The years of degradation as +navigating officer of the _Maggie_ fell away from him, as he +sprang, agile and half-naked, into the shrouds; a great, hairy +demi-god or sea-goblin he lay out along the yards and sprang from +place to place with the old exultant thrill of youth and joy in +his work. + +"Overhaul them buntlines an' clewlines," he bawled to an +imaginary crew. "Set that main-royal." With McGuffey's help the +sheets came home, the halyards were taken to, the yards +mast-headed, and the halyards belayed to their pin. The +main-royal was now set so they fell to on the fore-royal. A word, +a gesture, from Mr. Gibney, and McGuffey would pounce on a rope +like a bull-dog. With the fore-royal set, Mr. Gibney ran back to +the wheel and put it hard over. There being no after sail set the +bark swung off readily on to her course, slipping through the +water at a nice eight-knot speed. Ten miles off the coast, Mr. +Gibney hung her up in the wind again, braced his yards with the +aid of the winch and McGuffey, came about and headed north. At +three o'clock she cleared the lightship and wore around to come +in over the bar, steering east by south, half-south, for Point +Bonita. She drew the full advantage of the wind now and over the +bar she came, ramping full through the Gate with her yards +squared, on the last of the flood tide. + +As they passed Lime Point, Mr. Gibney prepared to shorten sail +and like a clarion blast his voice rang through the ship. + +"Clew up them royals." He lashed the wheel and they brought the +clewlines again to the winch head. The ship was falling off a +little before the fore-royal was clewed up, so Mr. Gibney ran +back to the wheel and put her on her course again while McGuffey +brought the main-royal clewlines to the winch. Again Gibney made +the wheel fast and helped McGuffey clew up the main-royal; again +he set her on her course while McGuffey, following instructions, +made ready to clew up the fore-to'-gallan'-s'l. They were abreast +Black Point before this latter sail was clewed up, and then they +smothered the lower top-s'ls; the bark was slipping lazily +through the water and McGuffey took the wheel. + +"Starboard a little! Steady-y-y! Keep her as she heads," Gibney +warned and cast off the jib halyards. The jibs slid down the +stays, hanging as they fell. They were well up toward Meiggs +wharf now and it devolved upon Mr. Gibney to bring his prize in +on the quarantine ground and let go his port anchor. Fortunately, +the anchor was already cock-billed. Mr. Gibney sprang to the +fore-top-sail halyards and let them go and the fore-top-sail came +down by the run. + +"Hard-a-starboard! Make her fast, Bart, an' come up here an' help +me with the anchor. Let go the main-top-sail halyards as you come +by an' stand by the compressor on the windlass." + +The _Chesapeake_ swung slowly, broadside to the first of the ebb +and with the wind on her port beam, Mr. Gibney knocked out the +stopper with his trusty hammer and away went the rusty chain, +singing through the hawsepipe. "Snub her gently, Mac, snub her +gently, an' give her the thirty-fathom shackle to the water's +edge," he warned McGuffey. + +The bark swung until her bows were straightened to the ebb tide +and with a wild, triumphant yell Mr. Gibney clasped the honest +McGuffey to his perspiring bosom. The deed was done! + +It was dark, however, before they had all the sails snugged up +shipshape, although in the meantime the quarantine launch had +hove alongside, investigated, and removed those of the crew who +still lived. Shortly thereafter the coroner came and removed the +dead, after which Gibney and McGuffey hosed down the deck, +located some hard tack and coffee, supped and turned in in the +officers' quarters. In the morning, Scab Johnny arrived in a +launch with their other clothes (Mr. Gibney having thoughtfully +sent him ten dollars on account of their old board bill, together +with a request for the clothes), and when the agents of the +_Chesapeake_ sent a watchman to relieve them they went ashore and +had breakfast at the Marigold Cafe. After breakfast, they called +at the office of the agents, where they were complimented on +their daring seamanship and received a check for one thousand +dollars each. + +"Well, now," McGuffey declared, after they had cashed their +checks, "Seein' as how I've become independently wealthy by +following your lead, Adelbert, all I got to say is that I'm +a-goin' to stick to you like a limpet to a rock. What'll we do +with our money?" + +For the first time in his checkered career Mr. Gibney had a sane, +sensible, and serious thought. "Has it ever occurred to you, Mac, +how much nicer it is to have a few dollars in the bank, good +clothes on your back, an' a credit with your friends? Me, all my +life I been a come-easy, go-easy, come-Sunday,-God'll-send-Monday +sort o' feller, until in my forty-second year I'm little better'n +a beachcomber. It sure hurt me to have to beg that ornery Scraggs +for a job; if I ever sighed for independence it was the other +night in Halfmoon Bay when, footsore an' desperate, we stood by +an' let that little wart harpoon us. So now, when you ask me what +I'm goin' to do with my money, I'll tell you I'm going to save +it, after first payin' up about seventy-five bucks I owe here an' +there along the Front. I'm through drinkin' an' raisin' hell. Me +for a savings bank, Bart." + +"I said I'd string with you an' I will. After we deposit our +money suppose we drop down to Jackson Street wharf an' say hello +to Scraggs. I got a great curiosity to see what that new engineer +has done to my boiler." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +When Captain Scraggs, after abandoning all hope of salving the +bark _Chesapeake_, returned to the _Maggie_, the little craft +reminded him of nothing so much as the ward for the incorrigible +of an insane asylum. Due to Captain Scraggs's stupidity and the +general inefficiency of the _Maggie_, the new navigating officer +was of the opinion that he had been swindled out of his share of +the salvage, while the new engineer, furious at having been +engaged to baby such a ruin as the _Maggie's_ boiler turned out +to be, blamed Scraggs's parsimony for the loss of _his_ share of +the salvage. Therefore, both men aired with the utmost frankness +their opinion of their employer; even Neils Halvorsen was peeved. +Their depression and rage was nothing, however, compared with +that of Captain Scraggs's. He had recklessly jettisoned +approximately two hundred dollars' worth of vegetables; indeed +the loss might go higher, for all he knew. Also, he had lost his +skiff, and McGuffey and Gibney had practically blackmailed him +out of forty dollars. Then, to cap the climax, he had been forced +to abandon two thousand dollars to his enemies; and as the +_Maggie_ crept north at three knots an hour the knowledge that he +must, even against his desires, install a new boiler, overwhelmed +him to such an extent that he found it impossible to submit +silently to the nagging of the navigating officer. One word +borrowed another until diplomatic relations were severed and, in +the language of the classic, they "mixed it." They were fairly +well matched, and, to the credit of Captain Scraggs be it said, +whenever he believed himself to have a fighting chance Scraggs +would fight and fight well, under the Tom-cat rules of fisticuffs. + +Following a bloody battle in the pilot house, he subdued the +mate; following his victory he was still war mad, so he went to +the engine-room hatch and abused the engineer. As a result of the +day's events, both men quit when the _Maggie_ was tied up at +Jackson Street wharf and once more Captain Scraggs was helpless. +In his extremity, he wished he hadn't been so hard on Mr. Gibney +and McGuffey, for he realized he could never hope to get them +back until their salvage money should be spent. + +He had other tortures in addition. He could not afford to await +the construction of a new boiler, for if he did some other +skipper would cut in on the vegetable trade he had worked up, for +vegetables, being perishable, could not lie on the dock at +Halfmoon Bay longer than forty-eight hours. It behooved Scraggs, +therefore, to place an order for the new boiler and, in the +meantime, to get a gang down aboard the _Maggie_ immediately and +put in at least ten new tubes. By working night and day this job +might be accomplished in forty-eight hours, and, fortunately, +Sunday intervened. Scraggs shuddered at thought of the expense, +for in addition to being parsimonious he had very little ready +cash on hand and no credit. + +When Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, wrapped in the calm thrall of their +new-found financial independence, arrived at the _Maggie's_ +berth, they were inclined to levity. Indeed, they had come for +the express purpose of spoofing their late employer; to crow over +him and grind his poor soul into the dirt. Fortunately for +Scraggs, he was not aboard, but sounds of activity coming from +the engine room aroused McGuffey's curiosity to such an extent +that he descended thereto at great risk to a new suit of clothes +and discovered four men at work on the boiler. They had cut the +rivets and removed the head and at sight of the ruin disclosed +within, Mr. McGuffey was truly shocked--and awed. Why he hadn't +been blown to Kingdom Come months before was a profound mystery. + +He came up and joined Mr. Gibney on a pile of old hemp hawser +coiled on the bulkhead. "Danged if I don't feel sorry for old +Scraggsy, for all his meanness," he declared. "It's goin' to cost +him five hundred dollars to patch up the old boiler an' keep the +_Maggie_ runnin' until he can ship a new boiler. The ol' fool +don't know a thing about the job himself an' there's four men +down there, without a foreman, soldierin' on him an' soakin' him +a dollar an' a half an hour overtime. He's in so deep now he +might as well jump into bankruptcy entirely an' put in a set o' +piston rings, repack the pumps an' the stuffin-box, shim up the +bearin's an' do a lot of little things the old _Maggie's_ just +hollerin' to have done." + +"To err is human; to forgive divine," Mr. Gibney orated. "Come to +think of it, Mac, we give the old man all that was comin' to him +the other day--a little bit more, mebbe. He must be raw an' +bleedin', an' it wouldn't be sporty to plague him some more." + +"Durned if I don't feel like jumpin' into a suit of dungarees an' +helpin' him out in that engine room, Gib." + +"Troubles always comes in a flock, Bart. The Squarehead tells me +his new navigatin' officer an' the new engineer has jumped their +jobs. It's a dollar to a dime he asks us to come back if he sees +us half way willin' to be friendly an' forget the past." + +"Well," the philosophical McGuffey declared. "Seein' as how we've +reformed, even with money in bank, we might just as well be +workin' as loafin'. There's more money in it. An' if it wasn't +that Scraggs is so ornery there's worse jobs than me an' you had +on the old _Maggie_." + +"I been wonderin' if we couldn't reform Scraggsy by heapin' coals +of fire on his head, Bart." + +"What d'ye mean? Heapin' coals o' fire on Scraggs'd sure keep an +ash hoist busy." + +"Oh, I dunno, Bart. The old man has his troubles. There's Mrs. +Scraggs a-peckin' at him every time he goes home, an' the +_Maggie's_ a worry, not to mention the fact that there ain't much +more'n a decent livin' for him in the green-pea trade. An' he +ain't gittin' any younger, Bart. You got to bear that in mind." + +"Yes, an' he's been disapp'inted in his ambitions," McGuffey +agreed. "On top o' that, the Ocean Shore Railroad is buildin' +down the coast an' as soon as the roadbed is completed over the +San Pedro Mountains them farmers'll haul their produce to the +railhead in motor trucks--an' there won't be no more business for +the _Maggie_. Three months more'll see the _Maggie_ laid up." + +Mr. Gibney nodded. "It's just the sweet tenderness of Satan we'll +be flush when Scraggsy's broke, Bart." + +"Dang it, Gib, I sure feel sorry for the old man after takin' a +look at that engine room. She's a holy fright." + +"Well, we'll make up with him when he comes back, Bart, an' if he +shows a contrite sperrit--well, who knows? We might do somethin' +for him." + +"He's got to have some financial help to get that engine turnin' +over again, that's a cinch." + +"So I been thinkin'. We might lend him a coupler hundred bones at +ten per cent., secured by a mortgage on the _Maggie_, if he's up +agin it hard. Havin' money in bank is one thing but locatin' an +investment for it is another. I've kidded the old man a lot about +the _Maggie_, but she's worth two thousand dollars if somebody'd +spend a thousand on her inner works an' give her a dab o' paint +an' some new fire hose an' one thing an' another." + +"We'll wait here until Scraggs shows up an' see what he says. If +he still says 'Good mornin', boys,' we'll answer him civil an' +see what it leads to, Gib." + +Mr. Gibney grunted his approval and Mr. McGuffey, bringing out a +pocket knife, fell to manicuring his terrible finger nails and +paring the callous patches off his palms. Mr. Gibney lighted a +Sailor's Delight cigar and puffed meditatively, the while he +watched a gasoline tug kicking the little schooner _Tropic Bird_ +into an adjacent berth. From the _Tropic Bird_ came an odour of +copra and pineapple and Mr. Gibney sighed; evidently that South +Sea fragrance aroused in him old memories, for presently he spat +overboard, watched his spittle float away on the tide, sighed +again, and declared, apropos of nothing: + +"When I was a young man, Mac, I was a damned fine young man. I +had a bunch o' red whiskers an' a pair o' fists like two picnic +hams. I was a wonder." + +Silently Mr. McGuffey nodded an endorsement of his comrade's +indicated horsepower and peculiar masculine beauty in the days of +the latter's vanished youth. He continued to prune his hands. + +"I was six feet two in my socks, when I wore any, which wasn't +often," Mr. Gibney continued. "I've shrunk half an inch since +them days. I weighed a hundred an' ninety-seven pounds in the +buff an' my chest bulged like a goose-wing tops'l. In them days, +I was an evil man to monkey with. I could have taken two like +Scraggsy an' chewed 'em up, spittin' out their bones an' belt +buckles. I sure was a wonder." + +"You must ha' been with them red whiskers on your face," McGuffey +agreed. He refrained from saying more, for instinct told him Mr. +Gibney was about to grow reminiscent and spin a yarn, and B. +McGuffey had a true seaman's reverence for a goodly tale, whether +true, half-true, or wholly fanciful. + +Mr. Gibney sniffed again the subtle tang of the South Seas +drifting over from the _Tropic Bird_, and when a Kanaka, scantily +clad, came on deck, threw a couple of fenders overside and +retired to the forecastle singing one of those Hawaiian ballads +that are so mournfully sweet and funereal, Mr. Gibney sighed +again. + +"Gawd!" he murmured. "I've sure made a hash o' my young life." + +"What's bitin' you, Gib?" Mr. McGuffey's voice was molten with +sympathy. + +"I was just thinkin'," replied Mr. Gibney, "just thinkin', Mac. +It's the pineapples as does it--the smell of the South Seas. Here +I am, big enough and old enough and ugly enough to know better, +and yet every time the _City Of Papeete_ or the _Tropic Bird_ or +the _Aorangi_ come into port and I see the Kanaka boys swabbin' +down decks and get a snifter o' that fine smell of the Island +trade, my innards wilt down like a mess o' cabbage an' I ain't +myself no more until after the fifth drink." + +"Sorter what th' feller calls vain regrets," suggested McGuffey. + +"Vain regrets is the word," mourned Mr. Gibney. "It all comes +back to me what I hove away when I was young an' foolish an' +didn't know when I was well off. If there'd only been some +good-hearted lad to advise me, I wouldn't be a-settin' here on a +hemp hawser, a blasted beachcombin' bucko mate and out of a job. +No, siree. I'd 'a' still been King Gibney, Mac, with power o' +life an' death over two thousand odd blackbirds, an' I'd 'a' had +a beautiful wife an' a dozen kids maybe, with pigs an' chickens +an' copra an' shell an' a big bungalow an' money. _That's_ what I +chucked away when I was young an' nobody to advise me." + +McGuffey made no comment on Mr. Gibney's outburst. There are +moments in life when silence is the greatest sympathy one can +offer, and intuitively McGuffey felt that he was face to face +with a tragedy. When a shipmate's soul lay bare it was not for +the McGuffey to inspect it too closely. + +"Yes, McGuffey, I was a king once. Some people might try to make +out as how I was only a chief, but you take it from me, Mac, I +was a king. I was King Gibney, the first, of Aranuka, in the +Gilberts, with the seat of government at Nonuti, which is a +blackbird village right under Hakatuea. No matter which way you +approach, you can't miss it. Hakatuea's a dead volcano, with +ashes on top and just enough fire inside to cast a glow against +the sky at night. There's a fair anchorage inside the reef, but +it takes a good man to land through the surf at high tide in a +whaleboat. I used to do it regular. Aranuka was a nice place, +with plenty of fresh water, and some of the Island schooners, and +once in a while a British gunboat would stop there. Gawd, +McGuffey, but when I was king, they used to pay dear for their +fresh water, except the gunboats, which of course came on and +helped themselves without askin' no questions of me and +parliament--which was both the same thing. I was in Aranuka first +in '88 and again in '89, and I was a fool for leavin' it." + +"What was you doin' in this here Aranuka?" asked Mr. McGuffey. + +"In '88 I was blackbirdin' and in '89 I was--why, what d'ye expect a +king does, anyhow? You don't suppose I _worked_, do you? Because I +didn't. I ate and drank and slept and went in swimmin' with the +court officers and did a little fishin' an' fightin'; and on +moonlight nights I used to sprawl in the grass out on the edge of +Hakatuea with my head in my queen's lap, rubberin' up at the +Southern Cross and watchin' the rollers breakin' white over the +reef. And everything'd be as still as death except for that eternal +swishin' of the surf on the beach, babblin' of 'Peace! Peace! +Peace!' an' maybe once in a while the royal voice lifted in one of +them sad slumber songs of the South Seas--creepy and dirgelike and +beautiful. My girl could sing circles around a sky lark. I taught +her how to sing 'John Brown's Body Lies A-Smoulderin' in th' Grave,' +though she didn't have no more notion o' what she was singin' than a +ring-tailed monkey." + +"How d'ye come to pick up with her?" inquired McGuffey politely. + +"I didn't come to pick up with her," answered Mr. Gibney. "She +took a fancy to them red whiskers o' mine, and picked up with me. +She used to stick hibiscus flowers in them red curtains and stand +off and admire me by the hour. You can imagine how gay I used to +feel with flowers in my whiskers. That was one of the reasons why +I left her finally. + +"But them was the days! Me an' Bull McGinty was the two finest +men north or south of the Line. We was worth six ordinary white +men each, and twenty blacks, and we was respected. I first met +Bull McGinty in Shanghai Nelson's boarding house, over in Oregon +Street, not three blocks from where we're settin' now. I was +twenty years old an' holdin' a second mate's ticket, for I'd been +battin' around the world on clipper ships since I was fourteen, +an' I'd bit my way to the front quicker than most. Bull was a big +dark man, edgin' up onto the thirty mark. His great grandmother'd +been a half-breed Batavian nigger, and his father was Irish. Bull +himself was nothin', havin' been born at sea, a thousand miles +from the nearest land. However, that ain't got nothin' to do with +the story. Bull McGinty was skipper an' owner of the schooner +_Dashin' Wave_, 258 tons net register, when I met him in Shanghai +Nelson's place. Also he was broke, with the _Dashin' Wave_ lyin' +out in the stream off Mission Rock with a Honolulu Chinaman +aboard as crew and watchman, while Bull hustled around shore +tryin' to raise funds to outfit her for another trip to the +Islands. He'd been beachcombin' ten days when I met him, and we +took to each other right off. + +"'Gib,' says Bull McGinty, 'I like you an' if I ever get money +enough to provision the _Dashin' Wave_, pay the clearance fee, +and put a thousand or two of trade aboard her, you must come mate +with me and if you should have a little money by, enough to fix +us up, I'll not only give you the mate's berth, but I'll put you +in on half the lay.' + +"'Done,' says I. 'I ain't got ten cents Mex to my name, but I'll +outfit that vessel an' get her to sea inside two weeks, or my +name ain't Adelbert P. Gibney.' + +"To look at me now, McGuffey, you'd never think that in them days +I was one of the smartest young bucks that ever boxed the +compass. I was born with a great imagination, Mac. All my life my +imagination's been my salvation. The ability to grab opportunity +by the tail and twist it was my long suit, so after my talk with +Bull McGinty I took a cruise along the docks, lookin' for an +idea, until I come to Sheeny Joe's place. He used to keep a +sailors' outfittin' joint at Howard and East streets, an' as I +stood in his doorway, the Great Idea sails up to Sheeny Joe's an' +lets go both anchors. + +"What was this Idea? It was a waterfront reporter. It was three +waterfront reporters, from three mornin' papers, an' all lookin' +for news. + +"'Joe,' says one little runt, all hair an' nose an' eyeglasses, +'there ain't enough news on the Front to-day to dust a hummin' +bird's eyebrow. Give me a story, Joe. Somethin' new an' brimmin' +with human interest. You must have somethin' up your sleeve, +ain't yuh?' + +"Sheeny Joe is sellin' a Panama paraqueet a pair o' six-bit +dungarees for a dollar and a half, and he ain't got no time for +reporters, but he looks up an' he sees me lingerin' in the +doorway. + +"'Gib,' says he, 'tell these reporter friends o' mine about the +time you was wrecked in the Straits o' Magellan, an' the fight +you had with them man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages.' + +"Of course, I never was wrecked in no Straits o' Magellan, and as +for man-eatin' Patagonian cannibal savages, I wouldn't know one +if I met him in my grog. But seein' as how Sheeny Joe is busy an' +me owin' him quite a little bill, I have to make good, so I tells +them the most hair-raisin' story they ever listened to. I showed +'em an old scar on my left leg where I was vaccinated once, and +told 'em that's where they shot me with a bow an' arrer. While I +was tellin' my story Sheeny Joe has to run out in th' back yard +an' roll over three times, he's that fascinated with what I'm +tellin' his friends. + +"Did them fellers eat it up? They did. The story comes out next +day with trimmin's on th' front page, an' I'm a hero. Of course +me an' Sheeny Joe knows I'm a liar, but what's a lie or two when +you're helpin' out a shipmate? But anyhow, the whole business +gives me the idee I'm lookin' for, an' I takes all three mornin' +papers down to Bull McGinty an' lets him read 'em. + +"'Now,' says I, when Bull is through readin', 'you have a sample +of what publicity does for a man. I'm a hero. But that don't +outfit the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. A man don't get no wages as a +hero, Bull. Nevertheless,' says I, 'I have invented a story that +will bring in money,' an' I tell the story to Bull. I don't leave +him until I have that yarn drilled right inter his soul, an' then +I call on Sheeny Joe an' tell him to pass the word to all of his +reporter friends that if they want a good story to go down to +Shanghai Nelson's boardin' house an' ask for Bull McGinty, +skipper o' the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. + +"Did they come? Mac, they came a-runnin'. The little nosy guy +with the hair chartered a hack, he was in such a hurry. An' when +they arrive, there sits Bull McGinty, smilin' an' affable, an' he +spills his yarn as easy an' graceful an' slick as a mess o' eels. +There's a island in the Society group, says Bull, which he +discovers on his last trip, an' which ain't in none o' the +British Admiralty notes. It's a regular island, with palms an' +breadfruit an' tamarinds an' mangoes an' such, fine an' fertile, +fifteen miles around the middle, an' plenty o' water. But th' +surprisin' thing about this here island is that it ain't got +nothin' livin' on it except the most beautiful women in all the +South Seas. Accordin' to Bull, there ain't a male man nowhere on +the horizon. Th' men has been fightin' among themselves until +every man Jack has been killed off. Nothin' left but women with +dreamy eyes an' long black hair an' pearly teeth. 'A man,' says +Bull McGinty, 'is at a premium. Over fifteen different girls fell +in love with him before he was ashore ten minutes, an' he had to +pull back to the schooner to escape 'em. At that, says Bull, as +much as a hundred an' twenty-seven of 'em, as near as he could +count, came swimmin' after him and chased the schooner until she +was hull down on the horizon, an' then they give up an' swam back +to home, sobbin' like babies. + +"Bull explains that he's so dead stuck on the place he's goin' +back, just as soon as he can get together say a hundred smart +young lads to come in with him on the lay, outfit his schooner, +an' get to sea. Every man that wants to come in on th' deal must +be not less than twenty-one years old and not more than thirty, +an' must be examined by a doctor to see that he ain't afflicted +with no contagious sickness, like consumption, which just raises +fits with them natives, once it gets in amongst 'em. It's Bull's +plan to start a ideal colony, governed on new an' different +lines, an' every man must marry. He can have as many wives as he +can support after each man has had his choice of the herd. The +women are all beautiful, but in order that nobody will have a +kick comin' the choice of wives is to be determined by drawin' +lots. The island is to be fenced off an' each member o' the +expedition is to have so much land. + +"In order to do everything shipshape, Bull explains that he has +formed a company to be known as the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas, capitalized for two hundred shares at $500 a share. Bull, +bein' owner o' th' schooner, an' possessin' the secret of the +latitude an' longitude o' the island, an' bein' the movin' +sperrit, so to speak, declares himself in on fifty-one per cent. +o' the capital stock. Stocksellin' will commence just as soon as +the printer can deliver the certificates. + +"In the course of a somewhat checkered career, Mac, I've seen some +suckers, an' I've told some lies, but this here was th' crownin' +event of my life. We had applications for stock the next morning +before me an' Bull was out o' bed. Four hundred and thirty-one +would-be colonists comes flockin' around us, tryin' to hand us $500 +each. Bull questions 'em all very closely, and outer the lot he +selects the biggest damn fools in evidence. He was careful to select +little skinny men whenever possible. They was a lot o' Willie boys +an' young bloods lookin' for adventure, an' me an' Bull McGinty was +just the lads to give it to 'em in bucketfuls. The little nosy +reporter with the hair was fair crazy to come, but McGinty gets a +jackleg doctor to examine him an' swear that he's sufferin' from +spatulation o' the medulla oblongata, housemaid's knee, and the +hives. We're mighty sorry, but it's agin the by-laws to bring him +along. He felt heartbroken, so just before we up hook with the +expedition, I had Bull give him an' the other newspaper boys a +hundred dollars each. They was fine lads, all three, an' give us +lots o' free advertisin'. + +"Bull got greedy an' was for charterin' another schooner an' +givin' all comers a run for their money, but I was wise enough to +see the danger o' numbers, an' argued him out of it. I went mate +on the _Dashin' Wave_, as per program, an' on a lovely summer day +we towed out, with half San Francisco crowdin' the wharves an' +wishin' us bon voyage, which is French for a profitable trip. + +"We had a nice lot o' sick children on our hands before we was +over th' Potato Patch. We didn't have a regular crew, exceptin' +Bull McGinty an' me an' the Chinaman who shipped as cook. +However, some of the brotherhood used to go yachting, an' they +was all the crew we needed. We had a fair run to Honolulu, where +we took on five thousand dollars in trade--beads, an' mouth +organs, an' calico, an' juice harps, an' dollar watches, an' a +lot of old army revolvers with the firin' pins filed off, and +what not. + +"From Honolulu, we clears for Pago Pago, where all hands went +ashore an' enjoyed themselves visitin' the different points o' +interest. From Pago Pago, we goes to Tahiti, and from Tahiti to +Suva, and in general gives them adventurers as nice a little +summer vacation as they could have wished for. Bull was for +dumpin' the lot at Suva an' gettin' down to business--said he'd +fooled away enough time on the gang--but I argued that we'd took +their money--$50,000 of it, and they was entitled to some kind of +a run, an' if we marooned them, like as not they'd send a gunboat +after us, an' the fat'd be in the fire. Bull gave in to me +finally, though he growled a lot about the profits bein' all et +up by the brotherhood, appetites increasin' considerable at sea, +an' all that. + +"Just after we leave Suva we butts into a mild little typhoon, +an' Bull scuds before it under bare poles, with just a wisp o' a +jib to steady her. An' when the brotherhood was pea-green with +seasickness I goes down into the bilges with a big auger an' +scuttles the ship. In about two hours the brother at the wheel +begins to complain that she's heavy an' draggin' like blazes, an' +he fears maybe her seams has opened up under the strain. + +"'I shouldn't wonder a bit,' says Bull McGinty, 'she's been +jumpin' like a dolphin', and he goes below to investigate. Two +minutes later he prances up on deck like a lunatic. + +"'All hands to the pumps,' he yells; 'there's four feet o' water +in the hold.' Aside he says to me, 'Gib, my boy, you're a jewel. +Not a drop of water in that forward compartment where we piled +the trade.' + +"It was a terrible sad sight to see the seasick Brotherhood of +the South Seas staggerin' below to the pumps. We had four pumps, +an' feelin' that they might be able to pump her dry too soon, I +had removed the suction leather from two of them. What a howl +went up when Bull McGinty, roarin' like a sea lion, announces +that all hands is doomed, because two of the pumps is nix +comarous! Just about that time we ships a sea or two, and all +hands lets go the pumps and starts to pray or weep or whatever +they was minded to do under the circumstances. In the general +excitement I slips below an' plugs up one hole, an' forces two +men, at the point of a revolver that wasn't loaded, to pump ship. +They just managed to hold the water level, while up on deck Bull +is tearin' his hair an' cursin' somethin' frightful. + +"Well, Mac, we kept that thing up for two days an' two nights, +while the gale lasted, an' when we finally gets under the lee of +an island, all hands are for throwin' up the sponge an' goin' +back home. Somehow or other, the expedition don't look so +enticin' as it did at first. We cleared away both whaleboats and +landed the brotherhood on the island, where there was a wharf an' +a big tradin' station. I forget what they call the place, but +steamers touch there regular. Me an' Bull McGinty and the +Chinaman stayed aboard, pumped out the ship, fixed the pumps, and +plugged the holes in her bottom so nobody could find out. Then we +figures out the price of a passage back to Frisco, second-class, +for the whole bunch, an' me an' Bull goes ashore with a big sack +of Chili dollars an' fixes it up with all hands to let go an' +call it square for the ticket home. They wasn't feelin' as sore +as much as you might imagine. None o' them had the brains or the +spunk of a mouse, and besides we'd give them a mighty good time +of it, all things considered. So, to make a long story short, we +picks up a crew of half a dozen black boys, pulls the two +whaleboats back to the ship, ups hook and sails away on our +legitimate business. We divides the spoils between us, an' my +share is eleven thousand cash an' a half interest in th' trade. + +"We do a nice business in shell an' copra, an' such, an' in +Papeete we sell our cargo to a Jew trader an' clean up fifteen +hundred each additional on the voyage, after which Bull declares +he's tired of hucksterin' around like any bloomin' peddler, an' +we make up our minds to do a little blackbirdin'. + +"Was you ever a blackbirder, McGuffey? No? Well, you didn't miss +nothin'. It's dirty business. You drop in at a island, an' you +invite the native chief aboard an' get him drunk, and make a +contract with him for so many blackbirds to work for three years +on some other island, or on the coffee or henequen plantations +in Central America, and you promise them big money and lots of +tobacco, and a free trip back when their time is up. What labour +you can't get by dealin' with the chief, you shanghai 'em, and +once in a while you can make a bully good deal, particularly in +the New Hebrides and New Guinea, after a fight when they have a +lot of prisoners on hand which they're goin' to eat until you +come along an' buy 'em for a stick o' tobacco. + +"It ain't no fun, blackbirdin', McGuffey. After you've got 'em +aboard, they may take a notion to jump overboard and swim back, +so you get 'em down below an' clap the hatches on 'em until +you're out of sight o' land, an' the beggars howl an' there's +hell to pay. + +"Me an' Bull McGinty headed for the Gilberts that first trip, an' +managed to pick up a fair consignment of labour. We touched in at +Nonuti the very last place, which, as I says, is on the island o' +Aranuka, right under the Hakatuea volcano. There was some +strappin' big buck native niggers there that would fetch $300 a +head Mex, an' so me an' Bull goes ashore to pow-wow with the +chief. He was a fat old boy named Poui-Slam-Bang, or some such +name, an' he received us as nice as you please. Me an' Bull +rubbed noses with Poui-Slam-Bang an' all the head men, and they +give a big feed in our honour. Roast pig an' roast duck an' +stewed chicken an' all the tropical trimmin's we had, Mac, +including a little barrel o' furniture polish that Bull brought +ashore, labelled Three Star Hennessy on the outside an' Three Ply +Deviltry inside. + +"While we was at the feast, with everybody squattin' around on +their hind legs, pokin' their mits into a big wooden bowl, +Poui-Slam-Bang pipes up his only daughter, a lovely wench about +seventeen years old with a name that nobody can pronounce. I call +her Pinky, and of all the women I ever meets, black, white, +brown, red, or yellow, this Pinky is the loveliest, and has 'em +all hull down. She's wearin' a palm leaf petticoat and a string +o' shark's teeth around her neck with an empty sardine box for a +pendant. She has flowers in her hair, which is braided in +pig-tails, different from the other girls. Her eyes--McGuffey, +_them eyes_! Like a pair of fireflies floatin' in sorghum. And as +she stands there working her toes in th' sand, she never takes +her eyes off them fine red whiskers o' mine. + +"Bull gives her a cigar, and it's plain that he's taken with her, +but she never so much as looks at Bull. My whiskers has done the +trick--so bimeby, when all hands is feeling jolly, including me +an' McGinty, I sidles up to Pinky an' sorter gives her to +understand that she wouldn't have to clap me in irons to fondle +them red whiskers o' mine. She sticks a flower in them, Mac, +s'help me, and then giggles foolish an' ducks into the bush. + +"Well, we rigs up a deal with Poui-Slam-Bang and next afternoon +stand out for the entrance with forty odd head of labour in +excess of what we had when we arrived. We'd cleared the reef, and +was comin' about around Hakatuea Head, when what d'ye suppose we +sight? Nothin' more or less than Miss Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang +swimmin' right across our bows. She was more than a mile out an' +comin' like a shark, hand over hand. Before I could yell to the +boy at the wheel to luff up, so we wouldn't run the girl down, +we was right on top of her. + +"'They'll have to revise the census of Aranuka,' says Bull +McGinty. I do believe we hit that girl an' drove her under.' + +"We was both rubberin' astern an' to starboard an' port, but not +a sign o' the girl do we see. I got out my glasses an' searched +around for full half an hour, an' by that time we was five miles +out to sea, and it wasn't no use lookin' any more, an' besides I +had work to attend to. + +"We sailed along all the afternoon, over a sea as smooth as a +dance-hall floor. Along about sunset I was up on the fo'castle +head singin' 'Nancy Brown' when who should pop up onto the +bowsprit but Pinky. She sat there a minute danglin' her legs an' +smilin' an' s'help me, Mac, if it hadn't been daylight still, I'd +a-swore she was a sperrit. I jumped two feet in the air an' came +down with my mouth open. Pinky hops up on the bowsprit, and runs +along to the fo'castle head, an' then I seen she was real. The +little cuss! She'd swung herself up into the martingale, an' +there she'd squatted all the afternoon until we was out o' sight +o' land. Of course, she got a ducking every few minutes, but +what's a duckin' to them kind o' people? + +"I grabs hold o' Pinky, mighty glad to know we hadn't killed her, +and brings her before Bull McGinty. + +"'She's in love with some one of these black bucks aboard,' says +Bull. 'That's why she's followed. Isn't she the likely lookin' +wench, Gib? I do believe I'll----' + +"'No, you won't do no such thing, Bull,' says I. 'The fact o' the +matter is the girl's in love with me, an' if anybody's to have +her it'll be Adelbert P. Gibney.' + +"'I'm not so sure o' that, Gib,' says Bull McGinty. 'I'm skipper +here.' + +"'Well, I'm mate,' says I, 'with a half interest in this +expedition.' + +"'I'll fight you for her,' says Bull very pleasantly. + +"'No,' says I, 'I'm opposed t' fightin' a shipmate under such +circumstances, and moreover we're the only two white men aboard, +an' if we fight I think I'll kill you, an' then I'd be lonesome. +As a compromise, I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll give Pinky +the freedom o' the ship, an' me an' you'll have a cribbage +tournament from now until we drop anchor at Santa Maria del Pilar +(that's a dog hole on the Guatemala coast). We'll play every +chance we get, an' the lad that's ahead when we let go the anchor +at Santa Maria del Pilar gets Pinky.' + +"'Fair enough,' says Bull, 'an' here's my hand on it.' + +"We had a smart passage o' fifteen days, and in that time me an' +Bull McGinty plays just one hundred and eighteen games. We had to +quit in the middle o' the last, with the score fifty-eight games +to fifty-nine in Bull's favour, in order to let go the anchor at +Santa Maria del Pilar. While we was up on deck, what do you +suppose Pinky goes and does? She slips down to the cabin and +fudges my peg three holes ahead. It seems that Bull, who talked +the island lingo, has been braggin' to her an' tellin' her what +we've been up to. The minute we have the anchor down, me an' Bull +returns to the game. It's nip an' tuck to the finish an' I win by +one point, Bull dyin' in the last hole, which makes the thing a +draw. + +"Says I to Bull McGinty: 'Bull, we can't both have her.' + +"Says Bull to me: 'I hereby declare this tournament no contest, +an' move that we sell the lady with the rest o' the herd, an' no +hard feelin's between shipmates.' + +"Nothin' could be fairer than that an' I tells Bull I'm willin'. +So we sold Pinky for $200 Mex to Don Luiz Miguel y Orena, an' +sailed away for another flock o' blackbirds. + +"We had busy times for the next six months until we found +ourselves back at Santa Maria del Pilar with another cargo of +savages. But all that time I'd been feelin' a little sneaky on +account o' sellin' Pinky, an' as soon as we dropped anchor I had +the boys pull me ashore, an' I chartered a white mule an' shapes +my course for the hacienda of this Don Luiz Miguel y Orena. I was +minded to see how Pinky was gettin' on. + +"It was comin' on dusk when I rides into Orena's place, an' all +th' hands was just in from the fields. The labour shacks was +built in a kind of square along with the warehouses, an' in the +centre o' this square was a snubbin' post, with bull rings, an' +hangin' to this snubbin' post, with her hands triced up to the +bull rings, was Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang with a little Colorado claro +man standing off swingin' a rope's end on poor little Pinky's +bare back. + +"I'm not what you'd call a patient man, McGuffey, an' bein' o' +th' sea and not used to ridin' horses, not to speak o' white +mules, I was sore in more ways than one. I luffs up alongside o' +this dry land bo'sum an' punches once. Then I jumps off my white +mule, takes the swab by the heels, an' chucks him over the +warehouse into a cactus bush. Don Orena was there an' he makes +objections to me gettin' fresh with his help so, I tucks Don +Orena under my arm, lays him acrosst my knee, and gives him a +taste o' th' rope's end. He hollers murder, but I bats him around +until he can't let out another peep, after which I grabs a +machete that's handy an' chases the entire male population into +the jungle. When I gets back, Pinky is hanging to the bull rings, +about dead. I cuts her down, swings her on th' mule, an' makes +for the coast. We was aboard th' _Dashin' Wave_ next mornin'. + +"Bull was settin' up on top o' th' house eatin' an orange when me +an' Pinky comes over th' rail. + +"'Bull McGinty' says I, 'you're a sea captain. Come down off that +house an' marry me to Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang.' + +"'With pleasure,' says Bull, an' he done it, announcin' us man +an' wife by all th' rules an' regulations o' th' Department o' +Commerce an' Labour, th' _Dashin' Wave_ being registered under +th' American flag. + +"Six weeks later I sets Pinky down on the beach at Nonuti, an' we +both go up to her old man's shack for the parental blessin'. I +expected Poui-Slam-Bang would slaughter th' roasted hog upon th' +prodigal's return, but come t' find out, the old boy's been took +in a scrap with one o' the hill tribes, an' speculation's rife as +to his final disposition. Pinky allows that pa's been et up, an' +she havin' no brothers is by all the rules o' the game queen o' +Aranuka. Of course, me bein' her husband, I'm king. You can't get +around my rights to the job nohow. For all that Pinky stands in +with me, however, a big wild-eyed beggar makes up his mind that +he'll make a better king than Adelbert P. Gibney, an' he comes at +me with a four-foot war club, with two spikes drove crosswise +through the business end o' it. As he swings, I soaks him between +the eyes with a ripe breadfruit, with the result that his aim's +spoiled an' he misses. So I took his club away an' hugged him +until I broke three ribs, an' he was always good after that. I +wanted t' be king, but I didn't believe in sheddin' no blood for +the mere sake of office. + +"Well, McGuffey, I was king of Aranuka for nearly six months. I +was a popular king, too, an' there was never no belly-achin' at +my decisions. I had a double-barrelled muzzle-loadin' shotgun, a +present from Bull McGinty. Bull was all broke up at me desertin' +the _Dashin' Wave_, but I promised to save all the Aranuka trade +for him an' for nobody else, an' he stood off for Suva to get +himself another mate. + +"At first it was great business bein' king, an' I enjoyed it. I +learned Pinky to speak a little English an' she learned me her +lingo, an' we got along mighty fine. Pinky would lay awake +nights, snoopin' around listenin' to what the rest o' the gang +had to say about me, and twice she put me wise to uprisin's that +threatened my throne. I used to get the ring leaders in my arms +an' hug 'em, an' after one hug from Adelbert P. Gibney in them +days---- + +"Well, as I was sayin', it was nice enough until the novelty wore +off, an' there was nothin' to do that I hadn't done twenty times +before. I thought some o' goin' to war with the wild niggers in +the hills, an' avengin' my father-in-law's death, but I couldn't +get my army more than three miles inland, so I had to give that +up. Before three months had passed I wanted to abdicate the worst +way. I wanted to tread a deck again, an' rove around with Bull +McGinty. I wanted th' smell o' the open sea an' th' heave o' th' +_Dashin' Wave_ underfoot. I was tired o' breadfruit an' guavas +an' cocoanuts an' all th' rest o' th' blasted grub that Pinky was +feedin' me, an' most of all I was gettin' tired o' Pinky. She +_would_ put cocoanut oil in her hair. Yet (here Mr. Gibney's +voice vibrated with emotion as he conjured up these memories of +his lurid past) it never occurred to me, at the time, I was that +young an' foolish, that she was doin' it for _me_. She was as +beautiful as ever, an' Gawd knows nobody but a fool would get +tired o' such a fine woman, every inch a queen, but I was just +that foolish. + +"I got so lonesome I wouldn't eat. I wished McGinty would show up +an' relieve me of my kingship. An' one night sure enough he came. +It was moonlight--you've been in the tropics, McGuffey, you know +what real moonlight is--an' I was lyin' out on th' edge of +Hakatuea overlookin' the beach. I'd spotted a sail at sunset an' +somethin' told me it was the _Dashin' Wave_. Pinky was with me, +rubbin' my head an' braidin' my whiskers an' cooin' over me like +a baby, as happy as any woman could be. + +"Along about ten o'clock, I should say, here comes the _Dashin' +Wave_ around the headland. I could see her luff up an' come about +with her bow headed straight for the entrance between the reefs, +an' th' water purlin' under her forefoot. Everything was as still +as the grave, an' only the surf was swishin' up th' beach sobbin' +'Peace! Peace!' and there wasn't no peace for King Gibney. Pretty +soon I heard the creak of the blocks an' the smash o' th' mast +hoops as th' mains'l came flutterin' down--then th' sound o' the +cable rushin' through the hawsepipes as her hook took bottom. In +the moonlight I could see Bull McGinty standin' by the port +mizzen shrouds with a megaphone up to his face, and his voice +comes up to me like the bugle blast of Kingdom Come. + +"'O, Gib! Are you there?' + +"'Aye, aye, sir.' + +"'Have ye et your full o' th' lotus?' says Bull. + +"'Hard tack an' salt horse for King Gibney,' I yells back. 'I +ain't no vegetarian no more, Bull. Do you need a smart mate?' + +"I could hear Bull McGinty chucklin' to himself. + +"'You young whelp,' says Bull. 'I knew you'd outgrow it. They all +do, when they're as young as you. I'll send the whaleboat ashore. +Kiss Pinky good-bye for me, too,' he adds. + +"Two minutes later I heard the boat splash over the stern davits +an' the black boys raisin' a song as they lay to their work. I +turns to Pinky, takes her in my arms an' kisses her for the first +time in three weeks, an' she knows that th' jig is up. She might +'a' slipped a dirk in me, but she wasn't that kind. Women is +women, McGuffey, the world over. Pinky just kissed me half a +hundred times an' cries a little, holdin' on to me all th' time, +for naturally she don't like to see me go. Finally I have to make +her break loose, an' I climbs down over the bluff an' wades out +to my waist to meet the boat. I was aboard th' _Dashin' Wave_ in +two twos, shakin' hands with Bull McGinty, an' ten minutes later +we had th' anchor up an' th' sails shook out, an' standin' off +for the open sea. An' the last I ever saw of Mrs. Pinky Gibney +was a shadowy figger in th' moonlight standin' out on th' edge o' +Hakatuea Head. The last I hear of her was a sob." + +Mr. Gibney's voice was a trifle husky as he concluded his tale. +He opened and closed his clasp knife and was silent for several +minutes. Presently he sighed. + +"When a feller's young, he never stops to think o' th' hurt he +does," continued the erstwhile king of Aranuka. "Sometimes I lay +awake at nights an' wonder whatever became o' Pinky. I can see +her yet, standin' in th' moonlight, as fine a figger o' a woman +as ever lived. Savage or no savage, she was true an' beautiful, +an' I was a mighty dirty dawg." Mr. Gibney wiped away a +suspicious moisture in his eyes and blew his nose unnecessarily +hard. + +"You was," coincided McGuffey. "You was all o' that. What became +o' Bull McGinty?" + +"He married a sugar plantation in Maui. He's all right for the +rest o' his life. An' as for me as gave him his start, look at +me. Ain't I a sight? Here I am, forty-two years old an' only a +thousand dollars in my pocket. Instead of bein' master of a +clipper ship, I'm mate on a dirty little bumboat. I fall asleep +on deck an' dream an' somethin' drops on my face an' wakes me up. +Is it a breadfruit, Mac? It is not. It's a head of cabbage. I +grab something to throw at Scraggs's cat. Is it a ripe mango? No, +it's a artichoke. In fancy I go to split open a milk cocoanut. +What happens? I slash my thumb on a can o' condensed cream. +Instead o' th' Island trade, I'm runnin' in th' green-pea trade, +twenty miles of coast, freightin' garden truck! My Gawd!" + +Mr. Gibney stood up and dusted the seat of his new suit. He was +dry after his long recital and Captain Scraggs was too long +putting in an appearance, so he decided not to wait for him. +"Let's go an' stow away a glass of beer," he suggested to +McGuffey. "I'm thirstier'n a camel." + +McGuffey was willing so they left the bulkhead for the more +convivial shelter of the Bowhead saloon. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Had either Gibney or McGuffey glanced back as they headed for +their haven of forgetfulness they might have seen Captain Scraggs +poking his fox face up over the edge of a tier of potato boxes +piled on the bulkhead not six feet from where Gibney and McGuffey +had been sitting. Upon his return to the _Maggie_, about the time +Mr. Gibney commenced spinning his yarn, he had almost walked into +the worthy pair, and, wishing to avoid the jeers and jibes he +felt impending, he had merely stepped aside and hidden behind the +potato boxes in order to eavesdrop on their plans, if possible. +Had Mr. Gibney been less interested in his past or Mr. McGuffey +less interested in the recital of that past they would have seen +Scraggs. + +The owner of the _Maggie_ shook his fist in impotent rage at +their retreating backs. "You think you've suffered before," he +snarled. "But I'll make you suffer some more, you big brute. I'll +hurt you worse than if I caved in your head with a belayin' pin. +I'll break your heart, that's what I'll do to you. You wait." + +In the course of an hour Gibney and McGuffey returned, and +Scraggs met them as they leaped down on to the deck of the +_Maggie_. "Gentlemen," he remarked--"an' at that I'm givin' you +two all the best of it, even if you two have got a quit-claim +deed that you ain't pirates--I wish to announce that if you two +have come aboard my ship for the puppose o' havin' a little fun +at my expense, I'm a-goin' to call the police an' have you +arrested for disturbin' the peace. On the other hand an' futher, +if your mission's a peaceful one, you're welcome aboard the +_Maggie_. I may have a temper an' say things that sounds mighty +harsh when I'm het up, but in my calmer moments my natural +inclination is to be a sport." + +"Scraggsy, old hard-luck," Mr. Gibney boomed, "we won so we can +afford to be generous in victory. Like you, me an' Mac is +inclined to be uppish at times, particularly in the hour of +triumph, an' say an' do things we're apt to be ashamed of later." + +"Them's my sentiments," McGuffey chimed in. + +"We ain't comin' aboard to beg you for no job," Mr. Gibney +warned. "Git that idea out o' your head--if you got it there. Me +an' Bart each got close to a thousand dollars in bank this minute +an' we're as free an' independent as two hogs walkin' on ice. Any +ol' time we can't stand up we can set down." + +Captain Scraggs was frankly mystified. "If you two got a thousand +dollars each in bank--an' I ain't disputin' it, for I hear on good +authority you got that much for salvin' the _Chesapeake_--what're +you hangin' around the _Maggie_ for?" + +Mr. Gibney approached and placed his great right arm fraternally +across Scraggs's skinny shoulder. Mr. McGuffey performed a +similar office with his brawny left, and Captain Scraggs looked +apprehensive, like a man who is about to be kissed by another in +public. + +"Scraggsy, when all is lovely an' the goose honks high, it's our +great American privilege to fight like bearcats if we feel that +way about it. But when misfortune descends on one of us, like a +topmast in a typhoon, it's time to stop bickerin'. Me an' Bart, +driftin' along the docks for a constitootional this mornin', +bears the sorrerful tidin's that your new navigatin' officer an' +your new engineer has quit. Judgin' from that shanty on your left +eye, at least one of 'em quit under protest. Immediately, +Scraggsy, me an' Mac decided you might hate our innards but just +the same you needed us in your business. Consequently, we're here +to help you if you'll let us an' for not another durned reason in +the world." + +"There's four alleeged mechanics down in the engine room loafin' +on the job an' gettin' ready to soak you a dollar an' a half an +hour overtime to-night an' Sunday," McGuffey informed the +skipper. "An' that hurts me. I don't mind takin' a poke at you +myself but I'll be shot if I'll stand idly by an' see somebody +else do it. With your kind permission, Scraggs, I'll climb into +my dungarees an' make things hum in that engine room." + +Captain Scraggs was truly affected. His weak chin trembled and +tears came to his little mean green eyes. He could not speak; so +Mr. Gibney hugged him and patted him on the back and told him he +was a good fellow away down low, if the truth were only known; +whereat Captain Scraggs commenced to sob aloud. McGuffey coughed +and tears as big as marbles cascaded down the honest Gibney's +rubicund countenance. + +"I ain't wuth your sympathy after the way I treated you," Captain +Scraggs cried brokenly. + +"Shet up, you little bum," Mr. Gibney cried furiously. "Or I'll +bang you in that other eye that's ready for bangin'." + +"If you're shy a few bucks----" McGuffey began. + +"I am," Captain Scraggs wailed. "I'm worried to death. I don't +know how I'm ever goin' to pay for that bloody boiler an' git to +sea with the _Maggie_----" + +"Little sorrel-top," Mr. Gibney murmured, ruffling Scraggs's thin +blonde hair. "Forget them sordid monetary considerations. I'm +somethin' like forty jumps ahead o' the devil an' ruination for the +first time since me an' Bull McGinty organized the Brotherhood o' +the South Seas----" + +"Leggo me," snarled Captain Scraggs and springing back, he bent +and looked earnestly into Mr. Gibney's happy countenance. "Good +land o' Goshen, if you ain't him!" Hate gleamed in his eyes. + +"Ain't who, you shrimp!" Mr. Gibney was mystified at this abrupt +change of attitude. + +Captain Scraggs blinked and passed his hand wearily across his +brow. "Forgive me, Gib," he answered humbly. "I was sort o' took +back, that's all." + +"Took back at what?" + +"We won't say nothin' more about it, Gib, except that while I'd +like to accept your kind offer an' put you back on the job again, +I--I just can't bring myself to do it. I'll have to forget +first." + +"Forget what? Bart, is Scraggsy gone nutty?" + +"Out with it, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey urged. "Spit it out, +whatever it is." + +"I'd rather not, but since you ask me I suppose I might as well. +Gib, ever since me an' you first hooked up together, away back in +the corner o' my head there's been lurkin' a suspicion that once +before, a long time ago, you an' me have had some business +dealin's, but for the life o' me I couldn't place you. One minute +I'd just be a-staggerin' on the brink of memory, as the feller +says, an' the next it'd slip away from me. But just now, when you +mentioned Bull McGinty an' the Brotherhood o' the South +Seas--well, Gib, it all come back to me like a flash. Bull +McGinty an' the schooner _Dashin' Wave_!" Captain Scraggs shook +his head as if his thoughts threatened to congeal in his brain +and he desired to shake them up. "Bull had a dash o' the +tar-brush in his make up, if I don't disremember, an' you was his +young mate. Man, how funny you did look with them long red +whiskers--an' you little more'n a boy." + +"Jumpin' Jehosophat, Scraggsy! Was you one o' the Brotherhood?" + +Captain Scraggs came close and thrust his face up for Mr. +Gibney's inspection. "Gib," he said solemnly, "look at me! Touch +the cord o' memory an' think back. D'ye remember that pore little +feller you robbed of five hundred dollars twenty-odd year ago in +the schooner _Dashin' Wave_? D'ye remember that typhoon we was in +an' how, when I was that tuckered out an' so seasick I couldn't +stand up, you made me pump ship an' when I protested, you stuck a +horse pistol under my nose an' _made_ me? That man, Adelbert P. +Gibney was _me! Me! Me!_" Scraggs's voice rose in a crashing +crescendo; his teeth clicked together and he shook his skinny +fist under the great Gibney nose. Gibney paled and drew away from +him. + +"How was I to know, Scraggsy?" he faltered. "The whole bunch was +runts--sickly, measly little fellers. Nevertheless an' agin, you +shouldn't ought to have any kick comin'. You had a fine trip an' +a heap of adventure an' me an' Bull paid your passage back to San +Francisco. Come, Scraggs. Be sensible. What's the use holdin' a +grudge after twenty-five years?" + +"Oh, I ain't holdin' a grudge, exactly, Gib, my boy. I admit I +had a good run for my money an' it was a smart piece o' work, an' +I got to admire the idea, same as I got to admire the seamanship +you displayed sailin' the _Chesapeake_ single-handed. It ain't +what you done to me as makes my blood boil. It's what you went +an' done afterward." + +"What'd I do afterward? You can't hang nothin' on me, Phineas P. +Scraggs. Bluffin' don't go. Cough it up." + +"All right, since you drive me to it. How about that lovely, +untootered savage that you lures into your foul clutches so's you +can make yourself king of Aranuka? Hey? Hey? How about that +little tropic wild flower you carelessly plucked an' thrun away? +Oh, I'll admit she was a savage, but she was sweet an' human for +all that an' she had feelin's. She had a heart to bust an' you +busted it for fair." + +Mr. Gibney attempted to hoot, but made a poor job of it. "Why, +wherever do you get this wild tale, Scraggsy, old spell-binder? +You're sure jingled or you wouldn't talk so vagrant." + +"You can't git away with it like that, Gib. I trailed you. Gib, +for two mortal years I follered you, after you dropped us at +Suva, an' I was just a thirstin' for your blood. If I'd met up +with you any time them first two years I'd have shot you like a +dog. I got a whisper you was in Aranuka but when I got there +you'd left. But I found your wife--her you called Pinky. She +couldn't believe you'd slipped your cable for good an' there she +was, a-waitin' an' a-waitin' for her king to come back. Gib, I'm +free to tell you that piracy, barratry, murder an' homicide pales +into insignificance compared with what you went an' done, for you +broke an innercent an' trustin' heart an' hell's too good for a +man that'll pull a trick like that." + +"Scraggsy, Scraggsy, Scraggsy," Mr. Gibney protested. "Them's +awful hard words." + +"I can't help it. You told me to speak out an' I'm a-doin' it. +You hooks up with this unsophisticated, trustful woman--she ain't +a woman; she's a young girl at the time--an' she ain't civilized +enough to be on to your kind. So you finds it easy to make her +love you. Not with the common sordid love of a white woman but +with the fierce, undyin' passion o' the South Seas. An' when you +get her in your clutches, her an' her whole possessions an' she's +yours body an' bones, in the sight o' God an' the sight o' +man--you ups an' leaves her! You throw her down like she's so +much dirt an' leave her to die of a broken heart. An' she'd +a-done it, too, if it hadn't a' been for the children." + +Captain Scraggs was fairly thunderin' his denunciation as he +concluded with: "You--you murderer! Ain't you ashamed of +yourself?" + +Mr. Gibney, thoroughly crushed, hung his head. "If there was +kids, Scraggsy," he pleaded, "they wasn't mine, not that I knows +on." + +"I ain't sayin' you don't speak the truth there, Gib. Maybe you +don't know that part of it, because you left before they was +born. Yes, sir, that gal had two twins--a boy an' a girl an' both +that white, when I see them as yearlings, you'd never suspect +they had a dab o' the tar-brush in 'em at all. The boy had red +hair--provin' he was yourn, Gib." + +Mr. Gibney could stand no more. He sat down on the hatch coaming +and covered his face with his hard red hands. "If there was kids, +Scraggsy," he sobbed, "I didn't know it. I had everything else, +Scraggs, but heirs to my throne. Scraggsy, believe me or not, but +if I'd had children I'd have stuck by Pinky. I wouldn't desert my +own flesh an' blood, so help me." + +"Well," Scraggs went on sorrowfully, "Pinky's dead an' so her +troubles is over. I heard some years ago she'd passed on with +consumption. But them two _hapahaole_ kids o' yourn, Gib. Just +think of it. Banged an' ragged around between decks, neither +black nor white--too good for the natives an' not good enough for +the whites. Princes on their mother's side, they been robbed o' +their hereditary rights by a gang o' native roughnecks, while +their own father loafs alongshore in San Francisco an' enjoys +himself." + +"Looky here, Scraggs," Mr. McGuffey struck in ominously. "Ain't +you said about enough? Don't hit a feller when he's down." + +"Well, he ain't down so low that he can't climb back. If he's got +a spark o' manhood left in him he'll never rest until he goes +back to Aranuka, looks up them progeny o' his, an' does his best +to make amends for the past. Gib, you can't work for me aboard +the _Maggie_--not if the old girl couldn't turn her screw until +you stepped aboard. Pers'nally you got a lot o' fine p'ints an' +I like you, but now that I know your past----" + +He threw out his hands despairingly. "It's your morals, Gib, it's +your blasted morals." + +"You're right, Scraggs," Mr. Gibney mumbled brokenly. "It's my +duty to go look up them poor children o' mine. Bart, you stick by +old Scraggsy. I owe him somethin' for showin' me my duty an' I'm +lookin' to you to pay the interest on my bill till I get back +with them poor kids o' mine. Until then I guess I ain't fit to +'sociate with white men." + +Mr. McGuffey appeared on the point of weeping and put his arm +around his old comrade in silent sympathy. Presently Mr. Gibney +shook hands with him and Scraggs and, motioning them not to +follow him, went ashore. Before him, in his mind's eye, there +floated the picture of a South Sea Island with the nodding, +tufted palms fringing the beach and the glow of a volcano against +the moonlit sky. Standing on the headland, waving him a last +farewell, stood the broken-hearted victim of his capricious +youth, the lovely Pinky Poui-Slam-Bang. Every lineament of her +beautiful features was tattooed indelibly on his memory; he knew +she would haunt him forever. + +He went up to the Bowhead saloon, had a drink, leaned on the end +of the bar and thought it over. There was but one way to get back +to Aranuka and that was to ship out before the mast on a South +Sea trader--and with that thought came remembrance of the _Tropic +Bird_, soon to be discharged and outward bound. + +Five minutes later, Mr. Gibney was aboard the _Tropic Bird_ and +had presented himself at her master's cabin. "Where're you bound +for next trip, sir?" he inquired. + +"General trading through the Marquesas, the Society Islands, and +the Gilberts." + +"Happen to be goin' to Aranuka, in the Gilberts?" + +"You bet. Got a trading station there." + +"How are you off for a good mate?" + +"Got one." + +"How about a second mate?" + +"Got a crackerjack." + +"Well, I'm not particular. I'll make a bully bo'sun, sir." + +"Very well. We'll be sailing some day next week and you can sign +up before the Commissioner any time you're ready. By the way, +what's your name?" + +"Gibney, sir. Adelbert P. Gibney." + +"Any experience in the South Seas?" + +"Heaps of it. I was mate for three years with Bull McGinty in the +old _Dashin' Wave_ more'n twenty years ago." + +The master of the _Tropic Bird_ blinked. "Gibney! Gibney!" he +murmured. "Why, I wonder if you're the same man. Are you the chap +that was king of Aranuka for six months and then abdicated for no +reason at all?" + +"I was, sir," Mr. Gibney confessed shamefacedly. "I'm King Gibney +of Aranuka." + +"What was your wife's name?" + +"I called her Pinky for short." + +"By Neptune, what a coincidence! Why, Gibney, I saw Her Majesty +on our last trip, less than two months ago, and she was telling +me all about you. Great old girl, Pinky, and mighty proud of the +fact that once she had a white husband. So you're King Gibney, +eh? Well, well! The world is certainly small." The skipper +chuckled, nor noticed Mr. Gibney's bulging eyes and hanging jaw. +"Going back to take over your kingdom again, Gibney?" he demanded +jocosely. + +"You say you saw her _two months ago_?" Mr. Gibney bellowed. +"D'ye mean to tell me she's alive?" + +"I did and she's very much so." + +"An' the twins. How about them?" + +"There are no twins. Pinky never had any children until after +Bull McGinty took up with her, which was after you left her. They +say she doesn't think quite as much of McGinty as she did of you. +He has a dash of dark blood and it shows up strong." + +"The dog wrote me he'd married a sugar plantation in Maui." + +"Perhaps he did. If the plantation didn't produce, though, you +can bet Bull McGinty wouldn't stay put. By the way, I have a +photograph of Queen Pinky. Snapped her with my kodak on the last +trip." He searched around in the drawer of his desk and brought +the picture forth. "Think you'd recognize Her Majesty after all +these years?" he asked. + +Mr. Gibney seized the picture, gazed upon it a moment, and +emitted one horrified ejaculation which in itself would have been +sufficient to bar him forever from polite society. For what he +gazed upon was not the lovely Pinky of other days, but a very +fat, untidy, ugly black woman in a calico Mother Hubbard dress. +The face, while good-natured, was wrinkled with age and +dissipation; indeed, worldling that he was, Mr. Gibney saw at a +glance that Pinky had grown fond of her gin. From the royal lips +a huge black cigar protruded. + +"I guess I won't take that bo'sun job after all," he gasped--and +fled. Two minutes later, Captain Scraggs and Mr. McGuffey, were +astonished to find Mr. Gibney waiting for them on deck. His face +was terrible to behold; he fixed Scraggs with a searching glance +and advanced upon the _Maggie's_ owner with determination in +every movement. + +"Why--why, Gib, we thought you was headed south by this time," +Scraggs sputtered, for something told him great events portended. + +"You dirty dawg! You little fice! You figgered on breakin' my +heart an' sendin' me off on a wild-goose chase, didn't you?" Mr. +Gibney leaped and his great hand closed over Captain Scraggs's +collar. "Own up," he bellowed. "Where'd you git this dope about +me an' Pinky? Lie to me agin an' I'll toss you overboard," and in +order to impress Captain Scraggs with the seriousness of his +intentions he cuffed the latter vigorously with his open left +palm. + +"I was behind the potato crates this mornin' whilst you an' Mac +was yarnin'," Scraggs hastened to confess. "Ow! Wow! Leggo, Gib! +Can't you take a little joke?" + +"Was Mac here in on the joke? Was you let in on it after I went?" +Mr. Gibney demanded of his Fidus Achates. + +"I was not, Gib. I don't call it no joke to wring a feller's +heart like Scraggsy wrung yourn." + +"In addition to makin' a three-ply jackass o' me!" Captain +Scraggs cowered under the rain of ferocious slaps and attempted +to fight back, but he was helpless in the huge Gibney's grasp and +was forced to submit to a boxing of the ears that would have +addled his brains, had he possessed any. "Now, then," Mr. Gibney +roared, as he cast the skipper loose, "let that be a lesson to +you to let the skeletons in my closet alone hereafter. Mac, +you're not to lend Scraggsy a cent to help him out on expenses, +added to which me an' you quit the _Maggie_ here an' now." + +"You're a devil," McGuffey growled at Scraggs, "an' sweet +Christian thoughts is wasted on you." + +Glowering ferociously, the worthy pair went over the rail. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +Godless and wholly irreclaimable as Mr. Gibney and Mr. McGuffey +might have been and doubtless were, each possessed in bounteous +measure the sweetest of human attributes, to-wit: a soft, kind +heart and a forgiving spirit. Creatures of impulse both, they +found it absolutely impossible to nourish a grudge against +Captain Scraggs, when, upon returning to Scab Johnny's boarding +house that night, their host handed them a grubby note from their +enemy. It was short and sweet and sounded quite sincere; Mr. +Gibney read it aloud: + + On Board the _Maggie_, Saturday night. + + DEAR FRIENDS: + + I am sorry. I apologize to you, Gib, because I hurt your + fealings. I also apologize to Bart for hurting the + fealings of his dear friend. Speeking of hurts you and + Gib hurt me awful with your kidden when you took the + _Chesapeake_ away from me so I jest had to put one over + on you. To er is human but to forgive is devine. After + what I done I don't expect you two to come back to work + ever but for God's sake don't give me the dead face when + we meat agin. Remember we been shipmates once. + + P.P. SCRAGGS. + +"Why, the pore ol' son of a horse thief," Mr. Gibney murmured, +much moved at this profound abasement. "Of course we forgive him. +It ain't manly to hold a grouch after the culprit has paid his +fair price for his sins. By an' large, I got a hunch, Bart, that +old Scraggsy's had his lesson for once." + +"If you can forgive him, I can, Gib." + +"Well, he's certainly cleaned himself handsome, Bart. Telephone +for a messenger boy," and Mr. Gibney sat down and wrote: + + Scraggsy, old fanciful, we're square. Forget it and come + to breakfast with us at seven to-morrow at the Marigold + Cafe. I'll order deviled lam kidneys for three. It's + alright with Bart also. + + Yours, + GIB. + +This note, delivered to Captain Scraggs by the messenger boy, +lifted the gloom from the latter's miserable soul and sent him +home with a light heart to Mrs. Scraggs. At the Marigold Cafe +next morning he was almost touched to observe that both Gibney +and McGuffey showed up arrayed in dungarees, wherefore Scraggs +knew his late enemies purposed proceeding to the _Maggie_ +immediately after breakfast and working in the engine room all +day Sunday. Such action, when he knew both gentlemen to be the +possessors of wealth far beyond the dreams of avarice, bordered +so closely on the miraculous that Scraggs made a mental resolve +to play fair in the future--at least as fair as the limits of his +cross-grained nature would permit. He was so cheerful and happy +that McGuffey, taking advantage of the situation, argued him into +some minor repairs to the engine. The work was so far advanced by +midnight Sunday that Scraggs realized he would get to sea by +Tuesday noon, so he dismissed Gibney and McGuffey and ordered +them home for some needed sleep. McGuffey's heart was with the +_Maggie's_ internal economy, however, and on Monday morning he +was up betimes, leaving Mr. Gibney to snore blissfully until +eight o'clock. + +About nine o'clock, as Mr. Gibney was on his way to the Marigold +Cafe for breakfast, he was mildly interested, while passing the +Embarcadero warehouse, to note the presence of fully a dozen +seedy-looking gentlemen of undoubted Hebraic antecedents, +congregated in a circle just outside the warehouse door. There +was an air of suppressed excitement about this group of Jews that +aroused Mr. Gibney's curiosity; so he decided to cross over and +investigate, being of the opinion that possibly one of their +number had fallen in a fit. He had once had an epileptic shipmate +and was peculiarly expert in the handling of such cases. + +Now, if the greater portion of Mr. Gibney's eventful career had +not been spent at sea, he would have known, by the red flag that +floated over the door, that a public auction was about to take +place, and that the group of Hebrew gentlemen constituted an +organization known as the Forty Thieves, whose business it was to +dominate the bidding at all auctions, frighten off, or buy off, +or outbid all competitors, and eventually gather unto themselves, +at their own figures, all goods offered for sale. + +In the centre of the group Mr. Gibney noticed a tall, lanky +individual, evidently the leader, who was issuing instructions in +a low voice to his henchmen. This individual, though Mr. Gibney +did not know it, was the King of the Forty Thieves. As Mr. Gibney +luffed into view the king eyed him with suspicion. Observing +this, Mr. Gibney threw out his magnificent chest, scowled at the +king, and stepped into the warehouse for all the world as if he +owned it. + +An oldish man with glasses--the auctioneer--was seated on a box +making figures in a notebook. Him Mr. Gibney addressed. + +"What's all this here?" he inquired, jerking his thumb over his +shoulder at the group. + +"It's an old horse sale," replied the auctioneer, without looking +up. + +Mr. Gibney brightened. He glanced around for the stock in trade, +but observing none concluded that the old horses would be led in, +one at a time, through a small door in the rear of the warehouse. +Like most sailors, Mr. Gibney had a passion for horseback riding, +and in a spirit of adventure he resolved to acquaint himself with +the ins and outs of an old horse sale. + +"How much might a man have to give for one of the critters?" he +asked. "And are they worth a whoop after you get them?" + +"Twenty-five cents up," was the answer. "You go it blind at an +old horse sale, as a rule. Perhaps you get something that's +worthless, and then again you may get something that has heaps of +value, and perhaps you only pay half a dollar for it. It all +depends on the bidding. I once sold an old horse to a chap and he +took it home and opened it up, and what d'ye suppose he found +inside?" + +"Bots," replied Mr. Gibney, who prided himself on being something +of a veterinarian, having spent a few months of his youth around +a livery stable. + +"A million dollars in Confederate greenbacks," replied the +auctioneer. "Of course they didn't have any value, but just +suppose they'd been U.S.?" + +"That's right," agreed Mr. Gibney. "I suppose the swab that owned +the horse starved him until the poor animal figgered that all's +grass that's green. As the feller says, 'Truth is sometimes +stranger than fiction.' If you throw in a saddle and bridle +cheap, I might be induced to invest in one of your old horses, +shipmate." + +The auctioneer glanced quickly at Mr. Gibney, but noticing that +worthy's face free from guile, he burst out laughing. + +"My sea-faring friend," he said presently, "when we use the term +'old horse,' we use it figuratively. See all this freight stored +here? Well, that's old horses. It's freight from the S.P. +railroad that's never been called for by the consignees, and +after it's in the warehouse a year and isn't called for, we have +an old horse sale and auction it off to the highest bidder. +Savey?" + +Mr. Gibney took refuge in a lie. "Of course I do. I was just +kiddin' you, my hearty." (Here Mr. Gibney's glance rested on two +long heavy sugar-pine boxes, or shipping cases. Their joints at +all four corners were cunningly dove-tailed and wire-strapped.) +"I was a bit interested in them two boxes, an' seein' as this is a +free country, I thought I'd just step in an' make a bid on them," +and with the words, Mr. Gibney walked over and busied himself in +an inspection of the two crates in question. + +The fact of the matter was that so embarrassed was Mr. Gibney at +the exposition of his ignorance that he desired to hide the +confusion evident in his sun-tanned face. So he stooped over the +crates and pretended to be exceedingly interested in them, +hauling and pushing them about and reading the address of the +consignee who had failed to call for his goods. The crates were +both consigned to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San +Francisco. There were several Chinese characters scrawled on the +top of each crate, together with the words, in English: "Oriental +Goods." + +As he ceased from his fake inspection of the two boxes, the King +of the Forty Thieves approached and surveyed the sailor with an +even greater amount of distrust and suspicion than ever. Mr. +Gibney was annoyed. He disliked being stared at, so he said: + +"Hello, Blumenthal, my bully boy. What's aggravatin' _you_?" + +Blumenthal (since Mr. Gibney, in the sheer riot of his +imagination elected to christen him Blumenthal, the name will +probably suit him as well as any other) came close to Mr. Gibney +and drew him aside. In a hoarse whisper he desired to know if Mr. +Gibney attended the auction with the expectation of bidding on +any of the packages offered for sale. Seeking to justify his +presence, Mr. Gibney advised that it was his intention to bid in +everything in sight; whereupon Blumenthal proceeded to explain to +Mr. Gibney how impossible it would be for him, arrayed against +the Forty Thieves, to buy any article at a reasonable price. +Further: Blumenthal desired to inform Mr. Gibney that his (Mr. +Gibney's) efforts to buy in the "old horses" would merely result +in his running the prices up, for no beneficent purpose, since it +was ever the practice of the Forty Thieves to permit no man to +outbid them. Perhaps Mr. Gibney would be satisfied with a fair +day's profit without troubling himself to hamper the Forty +Thieves and interfere with their combination, and with the words, +the king surreptitiously slipped Mr. Gibney a fifty-dollar +greenback. + +Mr. Gibney's great fist closed over the treasure, he having +first, by a coy glance, satisfied himself that it was really +fifty dollars. He shook hands with the king. He said: + +"Blumenthal, you're a smart man. I am quite content with this +fifty to keep off your course and give you a wide berth to +starboard. I'm sensible enough to know when I'm licked, an' a +fight without profit ain't in my line. I didn't make my money +that way, Blumenthal. I'll cast off my lines and haul away from +the dock," and suiting the action to the figure, Mr. Gibney +departed. + +He went first to the Seaboard Drug Store, where he quizzed the +druggist for five minutes, after which he continued his cruise. +Upon reaching the _Maggie_, he proceeded to relate in detail, and +with many additional details supplied by his own imagination, the +story of his morning's adventure. + +"Gib," said McGuffey enviously, "you're a fool for luck." + +"Luck," said Mr. Gibney, beginning to expand, "is what the feller +calls a relative proposition----" + +"You're wrong, Gib," interposed Captain Scraggs. "Relatives is +unlucky an' expensive. Take, f'r instance, Mrs. Scraggs's +mother----" + +"I mean, you lunkhead," said Mr. Gibney, "that luck is found +where brains grow. No brains, no luck. No luck, no brains. Lemme +illustrate. A thievin' land shark makes me a present o' fifty +dollars not to butt in on them two boxes I'm tellin' you about. +Him an' his gang wants them two boxes. Fair crazy to get 'em. +Now, don't it stand to reason that them fellers knows what's _in_ +them boxes, or they wouldn't give me fifty dollars to haul ship? +Of course it does. However, in order to earn that fifty dollars, +I got to back water. It wouldn't be playin' fair if I didn't. But +that don't prevent me from puttin' two dear friends o' mine (here +Mr. Gibney encircled Scraggs and McGuffey with an arm each) next +to the secret which I discovers, an' if there's money in it for +old Hooky that buys me off, it stands to reason that there's +money in it for us three. What's to prevent you an' McGuffey from +goin' up to this old horse sale an' biddin' in them two boxes for +the use and benefit of Gibney, Scraggs, an' McGuffey, all share +an' share alike? You can bid as high as a hundred dollars if +necessary, an' still come out a thousand dollars to the good. I'm +tellin' you this because I know what's in them two boxes." + +McGuffey was staring fascinated at Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs +clutched his mate's arm in a frenzied clasp. + +"_What?_" they both interrogated. + +"You two boys," continued Mr. Gibney with aggravating +deliberation, "ain't what nobody would call dummies. You're smart +men. But the trouble with both o' you boys is you ain't got no +imagination. Without imagination nobody gets nowhere, unless it's +out th' small end o' th' horn. Maybe you boys ain't noticed it, +but my imagination is all that keeps me from goin' to jail. Now, +if you two had read the address on them two boxes, it wouldn't +'a' meant nothin' to you. Absolutely nothin'. But with me it's +different. I'm blessed with imagination enough to see right +through them Chinamen tricks. Them two boxes is marked "Oriental +Goods" an' consigned (here Mr. Gibney raised a grimy forefinger, +and Scraggs and McGuffey eyed it very much as if they expected it +to go off at any moment)--"them two boxes is consigned to the Gin +Seng Company, 714 Dupont Street, San Francisco." + +"Well, that's up in Chinatown all right," admitted Captain +Scraggs, "but how about what's inside the two crates?" + +"Oriental goods, of course," said McGuffey. "They're consigned to +a Chinaman, an' besides, that's what it says on the cases, don't +it, Gib? Oriental goods, Scraggs, is silks an' satins, rice, chop +suey, punk, an' idols an' fan tan layouts." + +Mr. Gibney tapped gently with his horny knuckles on the honest +McGuffey's head. + +"If there ain't Swiss cheese movements in that head block o' yours, +Mac, you an Scraggsy can divide my share o' these two boxes o' +ginseng root between you. Do you get it, you chuckleheaded son of an +Irish potato? Gin Seng, 714 Dupont Street. Ginseng--a root or a herb +that medicine is made out of. The dictionary says it's a Chinese +panacea for exhaustion, an' I happen to know that it's worth five +dollars a pound an' that them two crates weighs a hundred and fifty +pounds each if they weighs an ounce." + +His auditors stared at Mr. Gibney much as might a pair of +baseball fans at the hero of a home run with two strikes and the +bases full. + +"Gawd!" muttered McGuffey. + +"Great grief, Gib! Can this be possible?" gasped Captain Scraggs. + +For answer, Mr. Gibney took out his fifty-dollar bill and handed +it to--to McGuffey. He never trusted Captain Scraggs with +anything more valuable than a pipeful of tobacco. + +"Scraggsy," he said solemnly, "I'm willin' to back my imagination +with my cash. You an' McGuffey hurry right over to the warehouse +an' butt in on the sale when they come to them two boxes. The +sale is just about startin' now. Go as high as you think you can +in order to get the ginseng at a profitable figger, an' pay the +auctioneer fifty dollars down to hold the sale; that will give +you boys time to rush around to dig up the balance o' the money. +Tack right along now, lads, while I go down the street an' get me +some breakfast. I don't want Blumenthal to see me around that +sale. He might get suspicious. After I eat I'll meet you here +aboard th' _Maggie_, an' we'll divide the loot." + +With a fervent hand-shake all around, the three shipmates parted. + +After disposing of a hearty breakfast of devilled lamb's kidneys +and coffee, Mr. Gibney invested in a ten-cent Sailor's Delight +and strolled down to the _Maggie_. Neils Halvorsen, the lone +deckhand, was aboard, and the moment Mr. Gibney trod the +_Maggie's_ deck once more as mate, he exercised his prerogative +to order Neils ashore for the remainder of the day. Since +Halvorsen was not in on the ginseng deal, Mr. Gibney concluded +that it would be just as well to have him out of the way should +Scraggs and McGuffey appear unexpectedly with the two cases of +ginseng. + +For an hour Mr. Gibney sat on the stern bitts and ruminated over +a few advantageous plans that had occurred to him for the +investment of his share of the deal should Scraggs and McGuffey +succeed in landing what Mr. Gibney termed "the loot." About +eleven o'clock an express wagon drove in on the dock, and the +mate's dreams were pleasantly interrupted by a gleeful shout from +Captain Scraggs, on the lookout forward with the driver. McGuffey +sat on top of the two cases with his legs dangling over the end +of the wagon. He was the picture of contentment. + +Mr. Gibney hurried forward, threw out the gangplank, and assisted +McGuffey in carrying both crates aboard the _Maggie_ and into her +little cabin. Captain Scraggs thereupon dismissed the expressman, +and all three partners gathered around the dining-room table, +upon which the boxes rested. + +"Well, Scraggsy, old pal, old scout, old socks, I see you've +delivered the goods," said Mr. Gibney, batting the skipper across +the cabin with an affectionate slap on the shoulder. + +"I did," said Scraggs--and cursed Mr. Gibney's demonstrativeness. +"Here's the bill o' sale all regular. McGuffey has the change. +That bunch o' Israelites run th' price up to $10.00 each on these +two crates o' ginseng, but when they see we're determined to have +'em an' ain't interested in nothin' else, they lets 'em go to us. +McGuffey, my _dear_ boy, whatever are you a-doin' there--standin' +around with your teeth in your mouth? Skip down into th' engine +room and bring up a hammer an' a col' chisel. We'll open her up +an' inspect th' swag." + +Upon McGuffey's return, Mr. Gibney took charge. He drove the +chisel under the lid of the nearest crate, and prepared to pry it +loose. Suddenly he paused. A thought had occurred to him. + +"Gentlemen," he said (McGuffey nodded his head approvingly), +"this world is full o' sorrers an' disappointments, an' it may +well be that these two cases don't contain even so much as a +smell o' ginseng after all. It may be that they are really +Oriental goods. What I want distinctly understood is this: no +matter what's inside, we share equally in the profits, even if +they turn out to be losses. That's understood an' agreed to, +ain't it?" + +Captain Scraggs and McGuffey indicated that it was. + +"There's a element o' mystery about these two boxes," continued +Mr. Gibney, "that fascinates me. They sets my imagination +a-workin' an' joggles up all my sportin' instincts. Now, just to +make it interestin' an' add a spice t' th' grand openin', I'm +willin' to bet again my own best judgment an' lay you even money, +Scraggsy, that it ain't ginseng but Oriental goods." + +"I'll go you five dollars, just f'r ducks," responded Captain +Scraggs heartily. "McGuffey to hold the stakes an' decide the +bet." + +"Done," replied Mr. Gibney. The money was placed in McGuffey's +hands, and a moment later, with a mighty effort, Mr. Gibney pried +off the lid of the crate. Captain Scraggs had his head inside the +box a fifth of a second later. + +"Sealed zinc box inside," he announced. "Get a can opener, Gib, +my boy." + +"Ginseng, for a thousand," mourned Mr. Gibney. "Scraggsy, you're +five dollars of my money to the good. Ginseng always comes packed +in air-tight boxes." + +He produced a can opener from the cabin locker and fell to his +work on a corner of the hermetically sealed box. As he drove in +the point of the can opener, he paused, hammer in hand, and gazed +solemnly at Scraggs and McGuffey. + +"Gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "do you know +what a vacuum is?" + +"I know," replied the imperturbable McGuffey. "A vacuum is an +empty hole that ain't got nothin' in it." + +"Correct," said Mr. Gibney. "My head is a vacuum. Me talkin' +about ginseng root! Why, I must have water on the brain! Ginseng +be doggoned! _It's opium!_" + +Captain Scraggs was forced to grab the seat of his chair in order +to keep himself from jumping up and clasping Mr. Gibney around +the neck. + +"Forty dollars a pound," he gasped. "Gib--Gib, my _dear_ +boy--you've made us wealthy----" + +Quickly Mr. Gibney ran the can opener around the edges of one +corner of the zinc box, inserted the claws of the hammer into the +opening, and with a quick, melodramatic twist, bent back the +angle thus formed. + +Mr. Gibney was the first to get a peep inside. + +[Illustration: "'_Great snakes,' he yelled--and fell back +against the cabin wall_"] + +"Great snakes!" he yelled, and fell back against the cabin wall. +A hoarse scream of rage and horror broke from Captain Scraggs. +In his eagerness he had driven his head so deep into the box that +he came within an inch of kissing what the box contained--which +happened to be nothing more nor less than a dead Chinaman! Mr. +McGuffey, always slow and unimaginative, shouldered the skipper +aside, and calmly surveyed the ghastly apparition. + +"Twig the yellow beggar, will you, Gib?" said McGuffey; "one eye +half open for all the world like he was winkin' at us an' +enjoyin' th' joke." + +Not a muscle twitched in McGuffey's Hibernian countenance. He +scratched his head for a moment, as a sort of first aid to +memory, then turned and handed Mr. Gibney ten dollars. + +"You win, Gib. It's Oriental goods, sure enough." + +"Robber!" shrieked Captain Scraggs, and flew at Mr. Gibney's +throat. The sight reminded McGuffey of a terrier worrying a +mastiff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gibney was still so unnerved at the +discovery of the horrible contents of the box that, despite his +gigantic proportions, he was well-nigh helpless. + +"McGuffey, you swab," he yelled. "Pluck this maritime outlaw off +my neck. He's tearin' my windpipe out by th' roots." + +McGuffey choked Captain Scraggs until he reluctantly let go Mr. +Gibney; whereupon all three fled from the cabin as from a +pestilence, and gathered, an angry and disappointed group, out on +deck. + +"Opium!" jeered Captain Scraggs, with tears of rage in his voice. +"Ginseng! You and your imagination, you swine, you! Get off my +ship, you lout, or I'll murder you." + +Mr. Gibney hung his head. + +"Scraggsy--an' you, too, McGuffey--I got to admit that this here +is one on Adelbert P. Gibney. I--I----" + +"Oh, hear him," shrilled Captain Scraggs. "One on him! It's two +on you, you bloody-handed ragpicker. I suppose that other case +contains opium, too! If there ain't another dead corpse in No. 2 +case I hope my teeth may drop overboard." + +"Shut up!" bellowed Mr. Gibney, in a towering rage. "What howl +have you got comin'? They're my Chinamen, ain't they? I paid for +'em like a man, didn't I? All right, then. I'll keep them two +Chinamen. You two ain't out a cent yet, an' as for this five I +wins off you, Scraggs, it's blood money, that's what it is, an' I +hereby gives it back to you. Now, quit yer whinin', or by the +tail o' the Great Sacred Bull, I'll lock you up all night in th' +cabin along o' them two defunct Celestials." + +Captain Scraggs "shut up" promptly, and contented himself with +glowering at Mr. Gibney. The mate sat down on the hatch coaming, +lit his pipe, and gave himself up to meditation for fully five +minutes, at the end of which time McGuffey was aware that his +imagination was about to come to the front once more. + +"Well, gentlemen" (again McGuffey nodded approvingly), "I bet I +get my twenty bucks back outer them two Chinks," he announced +presently. + +"How'll yer do it?" inquired McGuffey politely. + +"How'll I do it? Easy as fallin' through an open hatch. I'm +a-goin' t' keep them two stiffs in th' boxes until dark, an' +then I'm a-goin' to take 'em out, bend a rope around their +middle, drop 'em overboard an' anchor 'em there all night. I see +th' lad we opens up in No. 1 case has had a beautiful job o' +embalmin' done on him, but if I let them soak all night, like a +mackerel, they'll limber up an' look kinder fresh. Then first +thing in th' mornin' I'll telephone th' coroner an' tell him I +found two floaters out in th' bay an' for him to come an' get +'em. I been along the waterfront long enough t' know that th' lad +that picks up a floater gets a reward o' ten dollars from th' +city. You can bet that Adelbert P. Gibney breaks even on th' +deal, all right." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," said Captain Scraggs admiringly. "I +apologize for my actions of a few minutes ago. I was unstrung. +You're still mate o' th' American steamer _Maggie_, an' as such, +welcome to th' ship. All I ask is that you nail up your property, +Gib, an' remove it from th' dinin' room table. I want to remind +you, however, Gib, that as shipmates me an' McGuffey don't stand +for you shoulderin' any loss on them two cases o'--Oriental +goods. We was t' share th' gains, if any, an' likewise th' +losses." + +"That's right," said McGuffey, "fair an' square. No bellyachin' +between shipmates. Me an' Scraggs each owns one-third o' them +diseased Chinks, an' we each stands one-third o' th' loss, if +any." + +"But there won't be no loss," protested Mr. Gibney. + +"Drayage charges, Gib, drayage charges. We give a man a dollar to +tow 'em down t' th' ship." + +"Forget it," answered Mr. Gibney magnanimously, "an' let's go +over an' get a drink. I'm all shook up." + +After the partners had partaken of a sufficient quantity of +nerve tonic, Mr. Gibney suddenly recollected that he had to go +over to Market Street and redeem the sextant which he had pawned +several days before. And since McGuffey knew, from ocular +evidence, that Mr. Gibney was "flush," he decided to accompany +the mate and preserve him from temptation. There was safety in +numbers, he reasoned. Captain Scraggs said he thought he'd go +back to the _Maggie_. He had forgotten to lock the cabin door. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Had either Mr. Gibney or McGuffey been watching Captain Scraggs +for the next twenty minutes they would have been much puzzled to +account for that worthy's actions. First he dodged around the +block into Drumm Street, and then ran down Drumm to California, +where he climbed aboard a cable car and rode up into Chinatown. +Arrived at Dupont Street he alighted and walked up that +interesting thoroughfare until he came to No. 714. He glanced at +a sign over the door and was aware that he stood before the +entrance to the offices of the Chinese Six Companies, so he +climbed upstairs and inquired for Gin Seng, who presently made +his appearance. + +Gin Seng, a very nice, fat Chinaman, arrayed in a flowing silk +gown, begged, in pidgin-English, to know in what manner he could +be of service. + +"Me heap big captain, allee same ship," began Captain Scraggs. +"On board ship two China boys have got." (Here Captain Scraggs +winked knowingly.) "China boy no speak English----" + +"That being the case," interposed Gin Seng, "I presume that you +and I understand each other, so let's cut out the pidgin-English. +Do I understand that you are engaged in evading the immigration +laws?" + +"Exactly," Captain Scraggs managed to gasp, as soon as he could +recover from his astonishment. "They showed me your name an' +address, an' they won't leave th' ship, where I got 'em locked up +in my cabin, until you come an' take 'em away. Couple o' +relatives of yours, I should imagine." + +Gin Seng smiled his bland Chinese smile. He had frequent dealings +with ship masters engaged in the dangerous though lucrative trade +of smuggling Chinese into the United States, and while he had not +received advice of this particular shipment, he decided to go +with Captain Scraggs to Jackson Street bulkhead and see if he +could not be of some use to his countrymen. + +As Captain Scraggs and his Chinese companion approached the wharf +the skipper glanced warily about. He had small fear that either +Gibney or McGuffey would show up for an hour, for he knew that +Mr. Gibney had money in his possession. However, he decided to +take no chances, and scouted the vicinity thoroughly before +venturing aboard the _Maggie_. These actions served but to +increase the respect of Gin Seng for the master of the _Maggie_ +and confirmed him in his belief that the _Maggie_ was a smuggler. + +Captain Scraggs took his visitor inside the little cabin, +carefully locked and bolted the door, lifted the zinc flap back +from the top of the crate of "Oriental goods," and displayed the +face of the dead Chinaman. Also he pointed to the Chinese +characters on the wooden lid of the crate. + +"What does these hen scratches mean?" demanded Scraggs. + +"This man is named Ah Ghow and he belongs to the Hop Sing tong." + +"How about his pal here?" + +"That man is evidently Ng Chong Yip. He is also a Hop Sing man." + +Captain Scraggs wrote it down. "All right," he said cheerily; +"much obliged. Now, what I want to know is what the Hop Sing tong +means by shipping the departed brethren by freight? They go to +work an' fix 'em up nice so's they'll keep, packs 'em away in a +zinc coffin, inside a nice plain wood box, labels 'em 'Oriental +goods,' and consigns 'em to the Gin Seng Company, 714 Dupont +Street, San Francisco. Now why are these two countrymen o' yours +shipped by freight--where, by the way, they goes astray, for some +reason that I don't know nothin' about, an' I buys 'em up at a +old horse sale?" + +Gin Seng shrugged his shoulders and replied that he didn't +understand. + +"You lie," snarled Captain Scraggs. "You savey all right, you fat +old idol, you! It's because if the railroad company knew these +two boxes contained dead corpses they'd a-soaked the relatives, +which is you, one full fare each from wherever these two dead +ones comes from, just the same as though they was alive an' well. +But you has 'em shipped by freight, an' aims to spend a dollar +an' thirty cents each on 'em, by markin' 'em 'Oriental Goods.' +Helluva way to treat a relation. Now, looky here, you bloody +heathen. It'll cost you just five hundred dollars to recover +these two stiffs, an' close my mouth. If you don't come through +I'll make a belch t' th' newspapers an' they'll keel haul an' +skull-drag th' Chinese Six Companies an' the Hop Sing tong +through the courts for evadin' th' laws o' th' Interstate +Commerce Commission, an' make 'em look like monkeys generally. +An' then th' police'll get wind of it. Savey, policee-man, you +fat old murderer? Th' price I'm askin' is cheap, Charley. How do +I know but what these two poor boys has been murdered in cold +blood? There's somethin' rotten in Denmark, my bully boy, an' +you'll save time an' trouble an' money by diggin' up five hundred +dollars." + +Gin Seng said he would go back to Chinatown and consult with his +company. For reasons of his own he was badly frightened. + +Scarce had he departed before the watchful eye of Captain Scraggs +observed Mr. Gibney and McGuffey in the offing, a block away. +When they came aboard they found Captain Scraggs on top of the +house, seated on an upturned fire bucket, smoking pensively and +gazing across the bay with an assumption of lamblike innocence on +his fox face. + +At the suggestion of Scraggs, Gibney and McGuffey nailed up the +box of "Oriental Goods," set both boxes out on the main deck, +aft, and covered them with a tarpaulin. For about an hour +thereafter all three sat around the little cabin table, talking, +and presently it became evident, to Mr. Gibney's practiced eye, +that Captain Scraggs had something on his mind. Mr. Gibney, +suspecting that it could be nothing honest, was surprised, to say +the least, when Captain Scraggs made a clean breast of his +proposition. + +"Gib--an' you, too, McGuffey. I been thinkin' this thing over, +an' as master o' this ship an' the one who does the biddin' in o' +these two Chinks at th' sale, it's up to me t' try an' bring you +both out with a profit, an' I think th' sellin' should be left to +me. I won't hide nothin' from you boys. I'm a-willin' to take a +chance that I can sell them two cadavers to some horsepital f'r +dissection purposes, an' get more outer th' deal than, you can, +Gib, by passin' 'em off as floaters. I'm a-willin' to give you +an' McGuffey a five-dollar profit over an' above your investment, +an' take over th' property myself, just f'r a flyer, an' to +sorter add a sportin' interest to an otherwise humdrum life. How +about it, lads?" + +"You can have my fraction," said McGuffey promptly; whereupon +Captain Scraggs produced the requisite amount of cash and +immediately became the owner of a two-thirds' interest. + +Mr. Gibney was a trifle mystified. He knew Scraggs well enough to +know that the skipper never made a move until he had everything +planned ahead to a nicety. The mate was not above making five +dollars on the day's work, but some sixth sense told him that +Captain Scraggs was framing up a deal designed to cheat him and +McGuffey out of a large and legitimate profit. Sooner than sell +to Captain Scraggs, therefore, and enable him to unload at an +unknown profit, Mr. Gibney resolved to retain his one-third +interest, even if he had to go to jail for it. So he informed +Captain Scraggs that he thought he'd hold on to his share for a +day or two. + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," explained Scraggs, "you ain't got a +word to say about this deal no more. Don't you realize that I +hold a controllin' interest an' that you must bow to th' vote o' +th' majority?" + +"Don't I, though," blustered Mr. Gibney. "Well, just let me catch +you luggin' off my property without my consent--in writin'--an' +we'll see who does all th' bowin', Scraggsy. I'll cut your greedy +little heart out, that's what I'll do." + +"Well, then," said Scraggs, "you get your blasted property off'n +my ship, an' get yourself off an' don't never come back." + +"F'r th' love o' common sense," bawled Mr. Gibney, "what do you +think I am? A butcher? How am I to get away with a third o' two +dead Chinamen? Ain't you got no reason to you at all, Scraggs?" + +"Very well, then," replied the triumphant Scraggs, "if you won't +sell, then buy out my interest an' rid my ship o' this contaminatin' +encumbrance." + +"I won't buy an' I won't sell--leastways until I've had time to +consider," replied Mr. Gibney. "I smell a rat somewheres, +Scraggs, an' I don't intend to be beat outer my rights. Moreover, +I question McGuffey's right to dispose o' his one-third without +asking my advice an' consent, as th' promoter o' this deal, f'r +th' reason that by his act he aids an' abets th' formation o' a +trust, creates a monopoly, an' blocks th' wheels o' free trade; +all of which is agin public policy an' don't go in no court o' +law. McGuffey, give Scraggs back his money an' keep your +interest. When any o' th' parties hereto can rig up a sale o' +these two Celestials, it's his duty to let his shipmates in on +th' same. He may exact a five per cent. commission for his +effort, if he wants t' be rotten mean, an' th' company has t' pay +it t' him, but otherwise we all whacks up, share an' share alike, +on profits an' losses." + +"Right you are, Gib, my hearty," responded McGuffey. "Scraggs, +we'll just call that sale off, f'r th' sake o' harmony. Here's +your money. I ain't chokin' off Gibney's steam at no time, not if +I know it." + +"You infernal river rats," snarled Scraggs, "I'll--I'll----" + +"Stow it," Mr. Gibney commanded. "I never did see the like o' +you, Scraggs. You're all right an' good comp'ny right up until +somebody declines to let you have your own way--an' then, right +off, you fly in a rage an' git abusive. I'm gittin' weary o' +bein' ordered off your dirty little scow an' then bein' invited +back agin. One o' these bright days, when you start pulling for +the fiftieth time the modern parable o' the Prodigal Son an' the +Fatted Calf, I'm goin' to walk out o' the cast for keeps. Now, if +I was you an' valued the services of a good navigatin' officer +an' a good engineer, I'd just take a little run along the +waterfront an' cool off. Somethin' tells me that if you stick +around here argyin' with me you'll come to grief--which same is +no idle fancy, you snipe." + +Captain Scraggs hastened to take advantage of this invitation, +for it stood him in hand to do so. His plans, due to Mr. Gibney's +inexplicable obstinacy, had failed to mature and he was fearful +that Gin Seng, after consulting with his tong, might return to +the _Maggie_ at any moment and ruin the deal by exposing it to +Gibney and McGuffey; therefore Scraggs resolved to run up to 714 +Dupont Street and warn Gin Seng to let the matter lie in abeyance +for a couple of days, alleging as an excuse that he was being +subjected, for some unknown reason, to police surveillance. +Scraggs decided that after three days the presence of the two +dead Chinamen aboard the _Maggie_ would commence to wear on the +Gibney nerves and the deadlock over the final disposition of +their gruesome purchase would result in Gibney and McGuffey +harkening to reason and accepting a profitable compromise. If it +should cost him a leg, Captain Scraggs was resolved to make those +two corpses pay for the repairs in the _Maggie's_ engine room. + +Following his departure, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey sat on deck +smoking and striving to fathom the hidden design back of +Scraggs's offer to buy them out. "He's got his lines fast +somewhere--you can bank on that," was Mr. Gibney's comment, for +he knew that Scraggs never made a move that meant parting with +money until he was certain he saw that money, somewhat augmented, +returning to him. "While we was away he rigged up some kind of a +deal, Bart. It stands to reason it was a mighty profitable deal, +too, otherwise old Scraggsy wouldn't have flew into such a rage +when I blocked him. My imagination may be a bit off the course at +times, Bart, but in general, if there's a dead whale floatin' +around the ship I can smell it." + +"What do you make out o' that fat Chinaman cruisin' down the +bulkhead in an express wagon an' another Chinaman settin' up on +the bridge with him?" McGuffey demanded. "Seems to me they're +comin', bows on, for the _Maggie_." + +"They tell me to deduct somethin', Bart. Wait a minute till we +see if they're comin' aboard. If they are----" + +"They're goin' to make a landin', Gib." + +"--then I deduct that this body-snatchin' Scraggs----" + +"They're boardin' us, Gib." + +"--has arranged with yon fat Chinaman to relieve us o' the +unwelcome presence of his defunct friends. _He's gone an' hunted +up the relatives an' made 'em come across_--that's what he's +done. The dirty, low, schemin' granddaddy of all the foxes in +Christendom! Wasn't I the numbskull not to think of it myself?" + +"'Tain't too late to mend your ways, Gib. I don't see Scraggs +nowhere," Mr. McGuffey suggested promptly. "All that remains for +me an' you to do, Gib, is to imagine the price, collect the +money, an' declare a dividend. Quick, Gib! What'll we ask him?" + +"I'll fish around an' see what figger Scraggs charged him," the +cautious Gibney replied and stepped to the rail to meet Gin Seng, +for it was indeed he. + +"Sow-see, sow-see, hun-gay," Mr Gibney saluted the Chinaman in a +facetious attempt to talk the latter's language. "Hello, there, +John Chinaman. How's your liver? Captain he allee same get tired; +he no waitee. Wha's mallah, John. Too long time you no come. You +heap lazy all time." + +Gin Seng smiled his bland, inscrutable Chinese smile. "You +ketchum two China boy in box?" he queried. + +"We have," boomed McGuffey, "an' beautiful specimens they be." + +"No money, no China boy," Gibney added firmly. + +"Money have got. Too muchee money you wantee. No can do. Me pay +two hundred dollah. Five hundred dollah heap muchee. No have +got." + +"Nothin' doin', John. Five hundred dollars an' not a penny less. +Put up the dough or beat it." + +Gin Seng expostulated, lied, evaded, and all but wept, but Mr. +Gibney was obdurate and eventually the Chinaman paid over the +money and departed with the remains of his countrymen. "I knew +he'd come through, Bart," Mr. Gibney declared. "They got to ship +them stiffs to China to rest alongside their ancestors or be in +Dutch with the sperrits o' the departed forever after." + +"Do we have to split this swag with that dirty Scraggs?" McGuffey +wanted to know. "Seein' as how he tried to give us the double +cross----" + +"We'll fix Scraggsy--all shipshape an' legal so's he won't have +no comeback. Quick, grab some o' them empty potato crates an' +pile 'em here where the stiffs was lyin' an' cover 'em up with +the tarpaulin. I don't want Scraggsy to think the corpses is gone +until I've hooked him good and plenty." + +The stage was set in a few minutes and the conspirators set +themselves to await the return of Scraggs. They had not long to +wait. Upon his arrival at Gin Seng's place of business Captain +Scraggs had been informed that Gin Seng had gone out twenty +minutes before, and further inquiry revealed the portentous fact +that he had departed in an express wagon. Consumed with +misgivings of disaster, Scraggs returned to the _Maggie_ as fast +as the California Street cable car and his legs could carry him; +as he came aboard his anxious glance sought the tarpaulin-covered +boxes on deck and at sight of them his mental thermometer rose at +once. In the cabin he found Mr. Gibney and McGuffey playing +cribbage. They laid down their hands as Scraggs entered. + +"Well, are you all cooled out an' willin' to listen to reason, +Scraggsy, old business man?" Gibney greeted him cheerfully. + +"None more so, Gib. If you've got a proposition to submit, fire +away." + +"That's comfortin', Scraggsy. Well, me an' Bart's been chewing +over your proposition to buy out our interest in them two Chinks, +an' as the upshot of our talk we made up our minds to sell, but +not for no measly little five bucks' profit. Now, Scraggsy, you +old he-devil, on your honour as between shipmates, you got to +admit five dollars ain't hardly worth considerin'. Come down to +earth now. You know blamed well you're expectin' to pull out with +a neat profit an' that you can afford to boost that five-dollar +ante. What would you consider a fair price for a one-third +interest? Be honest an' fair, Scraggsy." + +Captain Scraggs sat down, beaming. With Mr. Gibney in this frame +of mind he knew he could do anything with him. "Well, now, Gib, +my _dear_ boy, if a man was to get twenty-five dollars for his +interest, I should say he oughtn't to have no kick comin'. I know +I wouldn't." + +"If you was sellin' your interest--imagine, now, that you're me +an' I'm you--would you be satisfied to sell for twenty-five +dollars?" + +"I certainly would, Gib, my boy. Why, that's almost four hundred +per cent. profit, an' any man that'd turn up his nose at a four +hundred per cent. profit ought to go an' have his head examined +by a competent nut doctor." + +"Well, if you feel that way about it, all right, Scraggsy," Mr. +Gibney replied slowly and put his hand in his pocket. "As I remarked +previous, while you're away me an' Bart gets chewin' over the +proposition an' decides we'll sell. An' to show you what a funny +world this is, while me an' Bart's settin' on deck a-waitin' for you +to come back an' close with us, along breezes a fat old Chinaman in +an express wagon an' offers to buy them two cases of Oriental goods. +He makes me an' Mac what we considers a fair offer for our +two-thirds. You ain't around to offer suggestions an' as it's a +take-it-or-leave-it proposition an' two-thirds o' the stock is +represented in me an' Mac an' accordin' to your rulin' the +majority's got the decidin' vote, we ups an' smothers his offer. +Lemme see, now," he continued, and got out a stub of lead pencil +with which he commenced figuring on the white oilcloth table cover. +"We paid twenty dollars for them two derelicts an' a dollar towage. +That's twenty-one dollars, an' a third o' twenty-one is seven, an' +seven dollars from twenty-five leaves eighteen dollars comin' to +you. Here's your eighteen dollars, Scraggsy, you lucky old +vagabond--all clear profit on a neat day's work, no expense, no +investment, no back-breakin' interest charges or overhead, an' sold +out at your own figger." + +Captain Scraggs's face was a study in conflicting emotions as he +raked in the eighteen dollars. "Thanks, Gib," he said frigidly. + +"Me an' Gib's goin' ashore for lunch at the Marigold Cafe," +McGuffey announced presently, in order to break the horrible +silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. "I'm willin' to +spend some o' my profits on the deal an' blow you to a lunch with +a small bottle o' Dago Red thrown in. How about it, Scraggs?" + +"I'm on." Scraggs sought to throw off his gloom and appear +sprightly. "What'd you peddle them two cadavers for, Gib?" + +Mr. Gibney grinned broadly but did not answer. In effect, his +grin informed Scraggs that _that_ was none of the latter's +business--and Scraggs assimilated the hint. "Well, at any rate, +Gib, whatever you soaked him, it was a mighty good sale an' I +congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha' done a little better +myself, but then it ain't every day a feller can turn an +eighteen-dollar trick on a corpse." + +"Comin' to lunch with us?" McGuffey demanded. + +"Sure. Wait a minute till I run forward an' see if the lines is +all fast." + +He stepped out of the cabin and presently Gibney and McGuffey +were conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck. Gibney +winked at McGuffey. + +"'Nother new hat gone to hell," murmured McGuffey. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +It was fully a week before Captain Scraggs's mental hemorrhage, +brought on every time his mind reverted to his loss on the "ginseng" +deal, ceased. During all of that period his peregrinations around +the _Maggie_ were as those of one for whom the sweets of existence +had turned to wormwood and vinegar. Mr. Gibney confided to McGuffey +that it was a toss-up whether the old man was meditating murder or +suicide. In fact, so depressed was Captain Scraggs that he lacked +absolutely the ambition to "rag" his associates; observing which Mr. +McGuffey vouchsafed the opinion that perhaps Scraggsy was "teched a +mite in his head-block." + +"Don't you think it," Mr. Gibney warned. "If old Scraggsy's crazy +he's crazy like a fox. What's rilin' him is the knowledge that +he's stung to the heart an' can't admit it without at the same +time admittin' he'd cooked up a deal to double-cross us. He's +just a-bustin' with the thoughts that's accumulatin' inside him. +Right now he'd drown his sorrers in red liquor if he could afford +it." + +"He's troubled financially, Gib." + +"Well, you know who troubled him, don't you, Bart?" + +"I mean about the cost o' them repairs in the engine room. Unless +he can come through in thirty days with the balance he owes, the +boiler people are goin' to libel the _Maggie_ to protect their +claim." + +Mr. Gibney arched his bushy eyebrows. "How do you know?" he +demanded. + +"He was a-tellin' me," Mr. McGuffey admitted weakly. + +"Well, he wasn't a-tellin' me." Mr. Gibney's tones were ominous; +he glared at his friend suspiciously as from the _Maggie's_ cabin +issued forth Scraggsy's voice raised in song. + +"Hello! The old boy's thermometer's gone up, Bart. Listen at him. +'Ever o' thee he's fondly dreamin'.' Somethin's busted the spell +an' I'll bet a cooky it was ready cash." He menaced Mr. McGuffey +with a rigid index finger. "Bart," he demanded, "did you loan +Scraggsy some money?" + +The honest McGuffey hung his head. "A little bit," he replied +childishly. + +"What d'ye call a little bit?" + +"Three hundred dollars, Gib." + +"Secured?" + +"He gimme his note at eight per cent. The savin's bank only pays +four." + +"Is the note secured by endorsement or collateral?" + +"No." + +"Hum-m-m! Strange you didn't say nothin' to me about this till I +had to pry it out o' you, Bart. How about you?" + +"Well, Scraggsy was feelin' so dog-goned blue----" + +"The truth," Mr. Gibney insisted firmly, "the truth, Bart." + +"Well, Scraggsy asked me not to say anythin' to you about it." + +"Sure. He knew I'd kill the deal. He knew better'n to try to nick +me for three hundred bucks on his danged, worthless note. Bart, +why'd you do it?" + +"Oh, hell, Gib, be a good feller," poor McGuffey pleaded. "Don't +be too hard on ol' Scraggsy." + +"We're discussin' _you_, Bart. 'Pears to me you've sort o' lost +confidence in your old shipmate, ain't you? 'Pears that way to me +when you act sneaky like." + +McGuffey bridled. "I ain't a sneak." + +"A rose by any other name'd be just as sweet," Mr. Gibney quoted. +"You poor, misguided simp. If you ever see that three hundred +dollars again you'll be a lot older'n you are now. However, that +ain't none o' my business. The fact remains, Bart, that you +conspired with Scraggsy to keep things away from me, which shows +you ain't the man I thought you were, so from now on you go your +way an' I'll go mine." + +"I got a right to do as I blasted please with my own money," +McGuffey defended hotly. "I ain't no child to be lectured to." + +"Considerin' the fact that you wouldn't have had the money to +lend if it hadn't been for me, I allow I'm insulted when you use +the said money to give aid an' comfort to my enemy. I'm through." + +McGuffey, smothered in guilt, felt nevertheless that he had to +stand by his guns, so to speak. "Stay through, if you feel like +it," he retorted. "Where d'ye get that chatter? Ain't I free, +white, an' twenty-one year old?" + +Mr. Gibney was really hurt. "You poor boob," he murmured. "It's +the old game o' settin' a beggar on horseback an' seein' him ride +to the devil, or slippin' a gold ring in a pig's nose. An' I +figured you was my friend!" + +"Well, ain't I?" + +"Fooey! Fooey! Don't talk to me. You'd sell out your own mother." + +"Them's fightin' words, Gib." + +"Shut up." + +"Gib, you tryin' to pick a fight with me?" + +"No, but I would if I thought I wouldn't git a footrace instead," +Gibney rejoined scathingly. "Cripes, what a double-crossin' I +been handed! Honest, Bart, when it comes to that sort o' work +Scraggs is in his infancy. You sure take the cake." + +"I ain't got the heart to clout you an' make you eat them words," +Mr. McGuffey declared sorrowfully. + +"You mean you ain't got the guts," Mr. Gibney corrected him. +"Bart, I got your number. Good-bye." + +Mr. McGuffey had a wild impulse to cast himself upon the Gibney +neck and weep, but his honour forbade any such weakness. So he +invited Mr. Gibney to betake himself to a region several degrees +hotter than the _Maggie's_ engine room; then, because he feared +to linger and develop a sentimental weakness, he turned his back +abruptly and descended to the said engine room. + +On his part, Adelbert P. Gibney entered the cabin and glared long +and menacingly at Captain Scraggs. "I'll have my time," he +growled presently. "Give it to me an' give it quick." + +The very intonation of his voice warned Scraggs that the present +was not a time for argument or trifling. Silently he paid Mr. +Gibney the money due him; in equal silence the navigating officer +went to the pilot house, unscrewed his framed certificate from +the wall, packed it with his few belongings, and departed for +Scab Johnny's boarding house. + +"Hello," Scab Johnny saluted him at his entrance. "Quit the +_Maggie_?" + +Mr. Gibney nodded. + +"Want a trip to the dark blue?" + +"Lead me to it," mumbled Mr. Gibney. + +"It'll cost you twenty dollars, Gib. Chief mate on the _Rose of +Sharon_, bound for the Galapagos Islands sealing." + +"I'll take it, Johnny." Mr. Gibney threw over a twenty-dollar +bill, went to his room, packed all of his belongings, paid his +bill to Scab Johnny, and within the hour was aboard the schooner +_Rose of Sharon_. Two hours later they towed out with the tide. + +Poor McGuffey was stunned when he heard the news that night from +Scab Johnny. When he retailed the information to Scraggs next +morning, Scraggs was equally perturbed. He guessed that McGuffey +and Gibney had quarrelled and he had the poor judgment to ask +McGuffey the cause of the row. Instantly, McGuffey informed him +that that was none of his dad-fetched business--and the incident +was closed. + +The three months that followed were the most harrowing of +McGuffey's life. Captain Scraggs knew his engineer would not +resign while he, Scraggs, owed him three hundred dollars; +wherefore he was not too particular to put a bridle on his tongue +when things appeared to go wrong. McGuffey longed to kill him, +but dared not. When, eventually, the railroad had been extended +sufficiently far down the coast to enable the farmers to haul +their goods to the railroad in trucks, the _Maggie_ automatically +went out of the green-pea trade; simultaneously, Captain +Scraggs's note to McGuffey fell due and the engineer demanded +payment. Scraggs demurred, pleading poverty, but Mr. McGuffey +assumed such a threatening attitude that reluctantly Scraggs paid +him a hundred and fifty dollars on account, and McGuffey extended +the balance one year--and quit. + +"See that you got that hundred and fifty an' the interest in your +jeans the next time we meet," he warned Scraggs as he went +overside. + +Time passed. For a month the _Maggie_ plied regularly between +Bodega Bay and San Francisco in an endeavour to work up some +business in farm and dairy produce, but a gasoline schooner cut +in on the run and declared a rate war, whereupon the _Maggie_ +turned her blunt nose riverward and for a brief period essayed +some towing and general freighting on the Sacramento and San +Joaquin. It was unprofitable, however, and at last Captain +Scraggs was forced to lay his darling little _Maggie_ up and take +a job as chief officer of the ferry steamer _Encinal_, plying +between San Francisco and Oakland. In the meantime, Mr. McGuffey, +after two barren months "on the beach," landed a job as second +assistant on a Standard Oil tanker running to the West Coast, +while thrifty Neils Halvorsen invested the savings of ten years +in a bay scow known as the _Willie and Annie_, arrogated to +himself the title of captain, and proceeded to freight hay, +grain, and paving stones from Petaluma. + +The old joyous days of the green-pea trade were gone forever, +and many a night, as Captain Scraggs paced the deck of the +ferryboat, watching the ferry tower loom into view, or the +scattered lights along the Alameda shore, he thought longingly of +the old _Maggie_, laid away, perhaps forever, and slowly rotting +in the muddy waters of the Sacramento. And he thought of Mr. +Gibney, too, away off under the tropic stars, leading the +care-free life of a real sailor at last, and of Bartholomew +McGuffey, imbibing "pulque" in the "cantina" of some disreputable +cafe. Captain Scraggs never knew how badly he was going to miss +them both until they were gone, and he had nobody to fight with +except Mrs. Scraggs; and when Mrs. Scraggs (to quote Captain +Scraggs) "slipped her cable" in her forty-third year, Captain +Scraggs felt singularly lonesome and in a mood to accept eagerly +any deviltry that might offer. + +Upon a night, which happened to be Scraggs's night off, and when he +was particularly lonely and inclined to drown his sorrows in the +Bowhead saloon, he was approached by Scab Johnny, and invited to +repair to the latter's dingy office for the purpose of discussing +what Scab Johnny guardedly referred to as a "proposition." + +Upon arrival at the office, Captain Scraggs was introduced to a +small, fierce-looking gentleman of tropical appearance, who owned to +the name of Don Manuel Garcia Lopez. Scab Johnny first pledged +Captain Scraggs to absolute secrecy, and made him swear by the +honour of his mother and the bones of his father not to divulge a +word of what he was about to tell him. + +Scab Johnny was short and to the point. He stated that as Captain +Scraggs was doubtless aware, if he perused the daily papers at all, +there was a revolution raging in Mexico. His friend, Senor Lopez, +represented the under-dogs in the disturbance, and was anxious to +secure a ship and a nervy sea captain to land a shipment of arms in +Lower California. It appeared that at a sale of condemned army goods +held at the arsenal at Benicia, Senor Lopez had, through Scab +Johnny, purchased two thousand single-shot Springfield rifles that +had been retired when the militia regiments took up the Krag. The +Krag in turn having been replaced by the modern magazine +Springfield, the old single-shot Springfields, with one hundred +thousand rounds of 45-70 ball cartridges, had been sold to the +highest bidder. In addition to the small arms, Lopez had at present +in a warehouse three machine guns and four 3 inch breech-loading +pieces of field artillery (the kind of guns generally designated as +a "jackass battery," for the reason that they can be taken down and +transported over rough country on mules)--together with a supply of +ammunition for same. + +"Now, then," Scab Johnny continued, "the job that confronts us is +to get these munitions down to our friends in Mexico. You know, +as well as anybody, Scraggs, that while our government makes no +bones of selling a lot o' retired rifles an' ammunition, +nevertheless it's goin' to develop a heap o' curiosity regardin' +what we do with 'em. If we're caught sneakin' 'em into Mexico +we'll spend the rest of our lives in a Federal penitentiary for +bustin' the neutrality laws. All them rifles an' the ammunition +is cased an' in my basement at the present moment--and the +government agents knows they're there. But that ain't troubling +me. I rent the saloon next door an' I'll cut a hole through the +wall from my cellar into the saloon cellar, carry 'em through the +saloon into the backyard, an' out into the alley half a block +away. I'm watched, but I got the watcher spotted--only he don't +know it. Our only trouble is a ship. How about the _Maggie_?" + +"I'd have to spend about two thousand dollars on her to put her +in condition for the voyage," Scraggs replied. + +"Can do," Scab Johnny answered him briefly, and Senor Lopez +nodded acquiescence. "You discharge on a lighter at Descanso Bay +about twenty miles below Ensenada. What'll it cost us?" + +"Ten thousand dollars, in addition to fixin' up the _Maggie_. +Half down and half on delivery. I'm riskin' my hide an' my ticket +an' I got to be well paid for it." + +Again Senor Lopez nodded. What did he care? It wasn't his money. + +"I'll furnish you with our own crew just before you sail," Scab +Johnny continued. "Get busy." + +"Gimme a thousand for preliminary expenses," Scraggs demanded. +"After that Speed is my middle name." + +The charming Senor Lopez produced the money in crisp new bills +and, perfect gentleman that he was, demanded no receipt. As a +matter of fact, Scraggs would not have given him one. + +The two weeks that followed were busy ones for Captain Scraggs. +The day after his interview with Scab Johnny and Don Manuel he +engaged an engineer and a deck hand and went up the Sacramento to +bring the _Maggie_ down to San Francisco. Upon her arrival she +was hauled out on the marine ways at Oakland creek, cleaned, +caulked, and some new copper sheathing put on her bottom. She was +also given a dash of black paint, had her engines and boilers +thoroughly overhauled and repaired, and shipped a new propeller +that would add at least a knot to her speed. Also, she had her +stern rebuilt. And when everything was ready, she slipped down to +the Black Diamond coal bunkers and took on enough fuel to carry +her to San Pedro; after which she steamed across the bay to San +Francisco and tied up at Fremont Street wharf. + +The cargo came down in boxes, variously labelled. There were +"agricultural implements," a "cream separator," a "windmill," and +half a dozen "sewing-machines," in addition to a considerable +number of kegs alleged to contain nails. Most of it came down +after five o'clock in the afternoon after the wharfinger had left +the dock, and as nothing but a disordered brain would have +suspected the steamer _Maggie_ of an attempt to break the +neutrality laws, the entire cargo was gotten aboard safely and +without a jot of suspicion attaching to the vessel. + +When all was in readiness, Captain Scraggs incontinently "fired" his +deckhand and engineer and inducted aboard a new crew, carefully +selected for their filibuster virtues by Scab Johnny himself. Then +while the new engineer got up steam, Captain Scraggs went up to Scab +Johnny's office for his final instructions and the balance of the +first instalment due him. + +Briefly, his instructions were as follows: Upon arrival off Point +Dume on the southern California coast, he was to stand in close +to Dume Cove under cover of darkness and show two green lights +on the masthead. A man would come alongside presently in a small +boat, and climb aboard. This man would be the supercargo and the +confidential envoy of the insurrecto junta in Los Angeles. +Captain Scraggs was to look to this man for orders and to obey +him implicitly, as upon this depended the success of the +expedition. This agent of the insurrecto forces would pay him the +balance of five thousand dollars due him immediately upon +discharge of the cargo at Descanso Bay. There was a body of +insurrecto troops encamped at Megano rancho, a mile from the +beach, and they would have a barge and small boats in readiness +to lighter the cargo. Scab Johnny explained that he had promised +the crew double wages and a bonus of a hundred dollars each for +the trip. Don Manuel Garcia Lopez paid over the requisite amount +of cash, and half an hour later the _Maggie_ was steaming down +the bay on her perilous mission. + +The sun was setting as they passed out the Golden Gate and swung +down the south channel, and with the wind on her beam, the aged +_Maggie_ did nine knots. Late in the afternoon of the following +day she was off the Santa Barbara channel, and about midnight she +ran in under the lee of Point Dume and lay to. The mate hung out +the green signal lights, and in about an hour Captain Scraggs +heard the sound of oars grating in rowlocks. A few minutes later +a stentorian voice hailed them out of the darkness. Captain +Scraggs had a Jacob's ladder slung over the side and the mate and +two deckhands hung over the rail with lanterns, lighting up the +surrounding sea feebly for the benefit of the lone adventurer who +sat muffled in a great coat in the stern of a small boat rowed +by two men. There was a very slight sea running, and presently +the men in the small boat, watching their opportunity by the +ghostly light of the lanterns, ran their frail craft in under the +lee of the _Maggie_. The figure in the stern sheets leaped on the +instant, caught the Jacob's ladder, climbed nimbly over the side, +and swore heartily in very good English as his feet struck the +deck. + +"What's the name of this floating coffin?" he demanded in a +chain-locker voice. It was quite evident that even in the darkness, +where her many defects were mercifully hidden, the _Maggie_ did not +suit the special envoy of the Mexican insurrectos. + +"American steamer _Maggie_," said the skipper frigidly. "Scraggs +is my name, sir. And if you don't like my vessel----" + +"Scraggsy!" roared the special envoy. "Scraggsy, for a thousand! +And the old _Maggie_ of all boats! Scraggsy, old tarpot, your +fin! Duke me, you doggoned old salamander!" + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy!" shrieked Captain Scraggs and cast himself +into Mr. Gibney's arms in a transport of joy. Mr. Gibney, for it +was indeed he, pounded Captain Scraggs on the back with one great +hand while with the other he crushed the skipper's fingers to a +pulp, the while he called on all the powers of darkness to +witness that never in all his life had he received such a +pleasant surprise. + +It was indeed a happy moment. All the old animosities and +differences were swallowed up in the glad hand-clasp with which +Mr. Gibney greeted his old shipmate of the green-pea trade. +Scraggs took him below at once and they pledged each other's +health in a steaming kettle of grog, while the _Maggie_, once +more on her course, rolled south toward Descanso Bay. + +"Well, I'll be keel-hauled and skull-dragged!" said Captain +Scraggs, producing a box of two-for-a-quarter cigars and handing +it to Mr. Gibney. "Gib, my _dear_ boy, wherever have you been +these last three years?" + +"Everywhere," replied Mr. Gibney. "I have been all over, mostly +in Panama and the Gold Coast. For two years I've been navigatin' +officer on the Colombian gunboat _Bogota_. When I was a young +feller I did a hitch in the navy and become a first-class gunner, +and then I went to sea in the merchant marine, and got my mate's +license, and when I flashed my credentials on the president of +the United States of Colombia he give me a job at "dos cienti +pesos oro" per. That's Spanish for two hundred bucks gold a +month. I've been through two wars and I got a medal for sinkin' a +fishin' smack. I talk Spanish just like a native, I don't drink +no more to speak of, and I've been savin' my money. Some day when +I get the price together I'm goin' back to San Francisco, buy me +a nice little schooner, and go tradin' in the South Seas. How +they been comin' with you, Scraggsy, old kiddo?" + +"Lovely," replied Scraggs. "Just simply grand. I'll pull ten +thousand out of this job." + +Mr. Gibney whistled shrilly through his teeth. + +"That's the ticket for soup," he said admiringly. "I tell you, +Scraggs, this soldier of fortune business may be all right, but +it don't amount to much compared to being a sailor of fortune, +eh, Scraggsy? Just as soon as I heard there was a revolution in +Mexico I quit my job in the Colombian navy and come north for the +pickin's.... No, I ain't been in their rotten little army.... +D'ye think I want to go around killin' people?... There ain't no +pleasure gettin' killed in the mere shank of a bright and +prosperous life ... a dead hero don't gather no moss, Scraggsy. +Reads all right in books, but it don't appeal none to me. I'm for +peace every time, so right away as soon as I heard of the +trouble, says I to myself: 'Things has been pretty quiet in +Mexico for twenty years, and they're due to shift things around +pretty much. What them peons need is a man with an imagination to +help 'em out, and if they've got the money, Adelbert P. Gibney +can supply the brains.' So I comes north to Los Angeles, shows +the insurrecto junta my medal and my honourable discharges from +every ship I'd ever been in, includin' the gunboat _Bogota_, and +I talked big and swelled around and told 'em to run in some arms +and get busy. I framed it all up for this filibuster trip you're +on, Scraggsy, only I never did hear that they'd picked on you. I +told that coffee-coloured rat of a Lopez man to hunt up Scab +Johnny and he'd set him right, but if anybody had told me you had +the nerve to run the _Maggie_ in on this deal, Scraggsy, I'd +a-called him a liar. Scraggs, you're _mucho-bueno_--that is, +you're all right. I'm so used to talkin' Spanish that I forget +myself. Still, there's one end of this little deal that I ain't +exactly explained to all hands. If I'd a-known they was +charterin' the _Maggie_, I'd have blocked the game." + +"Why?" demanded Captain Scraggs, instantly on the defensive. + +"Not that I'm holdin' any grudge agin you, Scraggsy," said Mr. +Gibney affably, "but I wouldn't a-had you no more now than I +would when we was runnin' in the green-pea trade. It's because +you ain't got no imagination, and the _Maggie_ ain't big enough +for my purpose. Havin' the _Maggie_ sort of puts a crimp in my +plans." + +"Rot," snapped Captain Scraggs. "I've had the _Maggie_ overhauled +and shipped a new wheel, and she's a mighty smart little boat, +I'll tell you. I'll land them arms in Descanso Bay all right." + +"I know you will," said Mr. Gibney sadly. "That's just what +hurts. You see, Scraggsy, I never intended 'em for Descanso Bay +in the first place. There's a nice healthy little revolution +fomentin' down in the United States of Colombia, with Adelbert P. +Gibney playin' both ends to the middle. And there's a dog-hole +down on the Gold Coast where I intended to land this cargo, but +now that Scab Johnny's gone to work and sent me a bay scow +instead of a sea-goin' steamer, I'm in the nine-hole instead o' +dog-hole. I can never get as far as the Gold Coast with the +_Maggie_. She can't carry coal enough to last her." + +"But I thought these guns and things was for the Mexicans," +quavered Captain Scraggs. "Scab Johnny and Lopez told me they +was." + +Mr. Gibney groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Scraggsy," he +said sadly, "it's a cinch you ain't used the past four years to +stimulate that imagination of yours. Of course they was purchased +for the Mexicans, but what was to prevent me from lettin' the +Mexicans pay for them, help out on the charter of the boat, and +then have me divert the cargo to the United States of Colombia, +where I can sell 'em at a clear profit, the cost bein' nothin' to +speak of? Now you got to come buttin' in with the _Maggie_, and +what happens? Why, I got to be honest, of course. I got to make +good on my bluff, and what's in it for me? Nothin' but glory. Can +you hock a chunk of glory for ham and eggs, Phineas Scraggs? Not +on your life. If it hadn't been for you buttin' in with your +blasted, rotten hulk of a fresh-water skiff, I'd----" + +Mr. Gibney paused ominously and savagely bit the end of his +cigar. As for Captain Scraggs, every drop of blood in his body +was boiling in defense of the ship he loved. + +"You're a pirate," he shrilled. + +"And you're just as big a hornet as you ever was," replied Mr. +Gibney. "Always buzzin' around where you ain't wanted. But still, +what's the use of bawlin' over spilt milk? We'll drop into San +Diego for a couple of hours and take on coal, and about sunset +we'll pull out and make the run down to Descanso Bay in the dark. +We might as well forget the past and put this thing through as +per program. Only I saw visions of a schooner all my own, +Scraggsy, and--well, what's the use? What's the use? Scraggsy, +you're a natural-born mar-plot. Always buttin' in, buttin' in, +buttin' in, fit for nothin' but the green-pea trade. However, I +guess I can turn into my old berth and get some sleep. Put the +old girl under a slow bell and save your coal. We'll have to fool +away four or five hours in San Diego anyhow and there ain't no +sense in crowdin' the old hulk." + +"Gib," said Captain Scraggs, "was that really your lay--to steal +the cargo, double-cross the insurrecto junta, and sell out to a +furrin' country?" + +"Of course it was," said Mr. Gibney pettishly. "They all do such +things in the banana republics. Why should I be an exception? +There's half a dozen different gangs fightin' each other and the +government in Mexico, and if I don't deliver these arms, just see +all the lives I'll be savin'. And after I got the cargo into +Colombia and sold it, I could have peached on the rebels there, +and got a reward for it, and saved a lot more lives, and come +away rich and respected." + +"By the Lord Harry," said Captain Scraggs, "but you've got an +imagination, Gib. I'll swear to that. Gib, I take off my hat to +you. You're all tight and shipshape and no loose ends bobbin' +around _you_. Don't tell me th' scheme's got t' fall through, +Gib. Great snakes, don't tell me that. Ain't there some way o' +gettin' around it? There _must_ be. Why, Gib, my dear boy, I +never heard of such a grand lay in my life. It's a absolute +winner. Don't give up, Gib. Oil up your imagination and find a +way out. Let's get together, Gib, and make a little money. Dang +it all, Gib, I been lonesome ever since I seen you last." + +"Well," replied Mr. Gibney, "I'll turn in and try to scheme a way +out, but I don't hold out no hope. Not a ray of it. I'm afraid, +Scraggsy, we've got to be honest." + +Saying which, Mr. Gibney hopped up into his berth, stretched his +huge legs, and fell asleep with his clothes on. Captain Scraggs +looked him over with the closest approach to affection that had +ever lightened his cold gray eye, and sighing heavily, presently +went on deck. As he passed up the companion-way, the first mate +heard him murmur: + +"Gib's a fine lad. I'll be dad burned if he ain't." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +At six o'clock next morning the _Maggie_ was rounding Point Loma, +heading in for San Diego Bay, and Captain Scraggs went below and +awakened Mr. Gibney. + +"What's for breakfast, Scraggsy, old kid?" asked Mr. Gibney. + +"Fried eggs," said Captain Scraggs, remembering Mr. Gibney's +partiality for that form of nutriment in the vanished days of the +green-pea trade. "Ham an' fried eggs an' a sizzlin' pot o' +coffee. Thought a way out o' our mess, Gib?" + +"Not yet," replied Mr. Gibney as he rolled out of bed, "but eggs +is always stimulatin', and I don't give up hope on a full +stomach." + +An hour later they were tied up under the coal bunkers, and at +Mr. Gibney's suggestion some twenty tons of sacked coal were +piled on top of the fo'castle head and on the main deck for'd, in +case of emergency. They lay in the harbour all day until about +four o'clock, when Mr. Gibney, by virtue of his authority as +supercargo, ordered the lines cast off and the _Maggie_ steamed +out of the harbour. Off Point Loma they veered to the south, +leaving the Coronado Islands on the starboard quarter, ten miles +to the west. Mr. Gibney was below with Captain Scraggs, battling +with the problem that confronted them, when the mate stuck his +head down the companion-way to report a large power schooner +coming out from the lee of the Coronados and standing off on a +course calculated to intercept the _Maggie_ in an hour or two. + +Captain Scraggs and Mr. Gibney sprang up on the bridge at once, +the latter with Scraggs's long glass up to his eye. + +"She was hove to under the lee of the island, and the minute we +came out of the harbour and turned south she come nosin' after +us," said the mate. + +"Hum!" muttered Mr. Gibney. "Gasoline schooner. Two masts and +baldheaded. About a hundred and twenty ton, I should say, and +showin' a pretty pair of heels. There's somethin' up for'd--yes--let +me see--ye-e-es, there's two more--_holy sailor! it's a gunboat!_ +One of those doggoned gasoline coast patrol boats, and there's the +Federal flag flying at the fore." + +"Let's put back to San Diego Bay," quavered Captain Scraggs. +"I'll be durned if I relish the idee o' losin' the _Maggie_." + +"Too late," said the philosophical Gibney. "We're in Mexican +waters now, and she can cut us off from the bay. The only thing +we can do is to run for it and try to lose her after dark. Tell +the engineer to crowd her to the limit. There ain't much wind to +speak of, so I guess we can manage to hold our own for a while. +Nevertheless, I've got a hunch that we'll be overhauled. Of +course, you ain't got no papers to show, Scraggs, and they'll +search the cargo, and confiscate us, and shoot the whole bloomin' +crowd of us. I bet a dollar to a doughnut that fellow Lopez sold +us out, after the fashion of the country. I can't help thinkin' +that that gunboat was there just a-waitin' for us to show up." + +For several minutes Mr. Gibney continued to study the gunboat +until there could no longer be any doubt that she intended to +overhaul them. He made out that she had a long gun for'd, with a +battery of two one-pounders on top of her house and something on +her port quarter that looked like a Maxim rapid-fire gun. About +twenty men, dressed in white cloth, could be seen on her decks. + +Presently Mr. Gibney was interrupted by Captain Scraggs pulling +at his sleeve. + +"You was a gunner once, wasn't you, Gib?" said Captain Scraggs in +a trembling voice. + +"You bet I was," replied Mr. Gibney. "My shootin' won the trophy +three times in succession when I was on the old _Kearsarge_. If I +had one good gun and a half-decent crew, I'd knock that gunboat +silly before she knew what had hit her." + +"Gib, I've got an idee," said Captain Scraggs. + +"Out with it," said Mr. Gibney cheerfully. + +"There was four little cannon lowered into the hold the last +thing before we put on the main hatch, and the ammunition to load +'em with is stowed in the after hold and very easy to get at." + +Mr. Gibney turned a beaming face to the skipper, reached out his +arms, and folded Captain Scraggs in an embrace that would have +done credit to a grizzly bear. There were genuine tears of +admiration in his eyes and in his voice when he could master his +emotions sufficiently to speak. + +"Scraggsy, old tarpot, you've been a long time comin' through on +the imagination, but you've sure arrived with all sail set. I +always thought you had about as much nerve as an oyster, but I +take it all back. We'll get out them two little jackass guns and +fight a naval battle, and if I don't sink that Mexican gunboat, +and save the _Maggie_, feed me to the sharks, for I won't be +worthy of the blood that's in me. Pipe all hands and lift off +that main hatch. Reeve a block and tackle through that cargo gaff +and stand by to heave out the guns." + +But Captain Scraggs had repented of his rash suggestion almost +the moment he made it. Only the dire necessity of desperate +measures to save the _Maggie_ had prompted him to put the idea +into Mr. Gibney's head, and when he saw the avidity with which +the latter set to work clearing for action, his terror knew no +bounds. + +"Oh, Gib," he wailed, "I'm afraid we better not try to lick that +gunboat after all. They might sink us with all hands." + +"Rats!" said Mr. Gibney, as he leaped into the hold. "Bear a +light here until I can root out the wheels of these guns. Here +they are, labelled 'cream separator.' Stand by with that sling +to----" + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "this is +_insanity_!" + +"I know it," said Mr. Gibney calmly. "Scraggsy, you're perfectly +right. But I'd sooner die fightin' than let them stand me up agin +a wall in Ensenada. We're filibusters, Scraggsy, and we're caught +with the goods. I, for one, am goin' down with the steamer +_Maggie_, but I'm goin' down fightin' like a bear." + +"Maybe--maybe we can outrun her, Gib," half sobbed Captain +Scraggs. + +"No hope," replied Mr. Gibney. "Fight and die is the last resort. +She's eight miles astern and gainin' every minute, and when she's +within two miles she'll open fire. Of course we won't be hit +unless they've got a Yankee gunner aboard." + +"Let's run up the Stars and Stripes and dare 'em to fire on us," +said Captain Scraggs. + +"No," said Mr. Gibney firmly, "my old man died for the flag an' +I've sailed under it too long to hide behind it when I'm in +Dutch. We'll fight. If you was ever navigatin' officer on a +Colombian gunboat, Scraggs, you'd realize what it means to run +from a Mexican." + +Captain Scraggs said nothing further. Perhaps he was a little +ashamed of himself in the face of Mr. Gibney's simple faith in +his own ability; perhaps in his veins, all unknown, there flowed +a taint of the heroic blood of some forgotten sea-dog. Be that as +it may, something did swell in his breast when Mr. Gibney spoke +of the flag and his scorning to hide behind it, and Scraggs's +snaggle teeth came together with a snap. + +"All right, Gib, my boy," he said solemnly, "I'm with you. Mrs. +Scraggs has slipped her cable and there ain't nobody to mourn for +me. But if we can't fight under the Stars and Stripes, by the +tail of the Great Sacred Bull, we'll have a flag of our own," and +leaving Mr. Gibney and the crew to get the guns on deck, Captain +Scraggs ran below. He appeared on deck presently with a long blue +burgee on which was emblazoned in white letters the single word +_Maggie_. It was his own houseflag, and with trembling hands he +ran it to the fore and cast its wrinkled folds to the breeze of +heaven. + +"Good old dishcloth!" shrieked Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down." + +"Damned if she does," said Captain Scraggs profanely. + +While all this was going on a deckhand had reeved a block and +tackle through the end of the cargo gaff and passed it to the +winch. The two guns came out of the hold in jig time, and while +Scraggs and one deckhand opened the after hold and got out +ammunition for the guns, Mr. Gibney, assisted by the other +deckhand, proceeded to put one of the guns together. He was +shrewd enough to realize that he would have to do practically all +of the work of serving the gun himself, in view of which +condition one gun would have to defend the _Maggie_. He had never +seen a mountain gun before, but he did not find it difficult to +put the simple mechanism together. + +"Now, then, Scraggsy," he announced cheerfully when the gun was +finally assembled on the carriage, "get a sizeable timber an' +spike it to the centre o' the deck. I'll run the trail spade up +against that cleat an' that'll keep the recoil from lettin' the +gun go backward, clean through the opposite rail and overboard. +Gimme a coupler gallons o' distillate and some waste, somebody. +This cosmoline's got to come out o' the tube an' out o' the +breech mechanism before we commence shootin'." + +The enemy had approached within three miles by the time the piece +was ready for action. Under Mr. Gibney's instructions Captain +Scraggs held the fuse setter in case it should be necessary to +adjust with shrapnel. Mr. Gibney inserted his sights and took a +preliminary squint. "A little different from gun-pointin' in the +navy, but about the same principle," he declared. "In the army I +believe they call this kind o' shootin' direct fire, because you +sight direct on the target." He scratched his ingenious head and +examined the ammunition. "Not a high explosive shell in the lot," +he mourned. "I'll have to use percussion fire to get the range; +then I'll drop back a little an' spray her with shrapnel. Seems a +pity to smash up a fine schooner like that one with percussion +fire. I'd rather tickle 'em up a bit with shrapnel an' scare 'em +into runnin' away." + +He got out the lanyard, slipped a cartridge in the breech, +paused, and scratched his head again. His calm deliberation was +driving Scraggs crazy. He reminded Mr. Gibney with some asperity +that they were not attending a strawberry festival and for the +love of heaven to get busy. + +"I'm estimatin' the range, you snipe," Gibney retorted. "Looks to +be about three miles to me. A little long, mebbe, for this gun, +but--there's nothin' like tryin'," and he sighted carefully. +"Fire," he bawled as the _Maggie_ rested an instant in the trough +of the sea--and a deckhand jerked the lanyard. Instantly Mr. +Gibney clapped the long glass to his eye. + +"Good direction--over," he murmured. "I'll lay on her waterline +next time." He jerked open the breech, ejected the cartridge +case, and rammed another cartridge home. This shot struck the +water directly under the schooner's bow and threw water over her +forecastle head. Mr. Gibney smiled, spat overboard, and winked +confidently at Captain Scraggs. "Like spearin' fish in a bath +tub," he declared. He bent over the fuse setter. "Corrector three +zero," he intoned, "four eight hundred." He thrust a cartridge in +the fuse setter, twisted it, slammed it in the gun, and fired +again. The water broke into tiny waterspouts over a considerable +area some two hundred yards short of the schooner, so Mr. Gibney +raised his range to five thousand and tried again. "Over," he +growled. + +Something whined over the _Maggie_ and threw up a waterspout half +a mile beyond her. + +"Dubs," jeered Mr. Gibney, and sighted again. This time his +shrapnel burst neatly on the schooner. Almost simultaneously a +shell from the schooner dropped into the sacked coal on the +forecastle head of the _Maggie_ and enveloped her in a black pall +of smoke and coal dust. Captain Scraggs screamed. + +"Tit for tat," the philosophical Gibney reminded him. "We can't +expect to get away with everything, Scraggsy, old kiddo." The +words were scarcely out of his mouth before the _Maggie's_ +mainmast and about ten feet of her ancient railing were trailing +alongside. Mr. Gibney whistled softly through his teeth and +successfully sprayed the Mexican again. "It breaks my heart to +ruin that craft's canvas," he declared, and let her have it once +more. + +"My _Maggie's_ tail is shot away," Captain Scraggs wailed, "an' I +only rebuilt it a week ago." Three more shots from the long gun +missed them, but the fourth carried away the cabin, leaving the +wreck of the pilot house, with the helmsman unscathed, sticking +up like a sore thumb. + +"Turn her around and head straight for them," the gallant Gibney +roared. "She's a smaller target comin' bows on. We're broadside +to her now." + +"Gib, will you ever sink that Greaser?" Captain Scraggs sobbed +hysterically. + +"Don't want to sink her," the supercargo retorted. "She's a nice +little schooner. I'd rather capture her. Maybe we can use her in +our business, Scraggsy," and he continued to shower the enemy +with high bursting shrapnel. When the two vessels were less than +two miles apart the one-pounders came into action. It was pretty +shooting and the wicked little shells ripped through the old +_Maggie_ like buckshot through a roll of butter. Mr. Gibney slid +flat on the deck beside his gun and Captain Scraggs sprawled +beside him. + +"A feller," Mr. Gibney announced, "has got to take a beatin' +while lookin' for an openin' to put over the knockout blow. If +the old _Maggie_ holds together till we're within a cable's +length o' that schooner an' we ain't all killed by that time, I +bet I'll make them skunks sing soft an' low." + +"How?" Captain Scraggs chattered. + +"With muzzle bursts," Mr. Gibney replied. "I'll set my fuse at +zero an' at point-blank range I'll just rake everything off that +schooner's decks. Guess I'll get half a dozen cartridges set an' +ready for the big scene. Up with you, Admiral Scraggs, an' hold +the fuse setter steady." + +"I'm agin war," Scraggs quavered. "Gib, it's sure hell." + +"Rats! It's invigouratin', Scraggsy. There ain't nothin' wrong +with war, Scraggsy, unless you happen to get killed. Then it's +like cholera. You can cure every case except the first one." + +They had come inside the minimum range of the Mexican's long gun +now, so that only the one-pounders continued to peck at the +_Maggie_. Evidently the Mexican was as eager to get to close +quarters as Mr. Gibney, for he held steadily on his course. + +"Well, it's time to put over the big stuff," Mr. Gibney remarked +presently. "Here's hopin' they don't pot me with rifle fire while +I'm extendin' my compliments." + +As the first muzzle burst raked the Mexican Captain Scraggs saw +that most of the terrible blast of lead had gone too high. +Nevertheless, it was effective, for to a man the crews of the +one-pounders deserted their posts and tumbled below; seeing which +the individual in command lost his nerve. He was satisfied now +that the infernal _Maggie_ purposed ramming him; he had marvelled +that the filibuster should use shrapnel, after she had ranged +with shell (he did not know it was percussion shrapnel) and in +sudden panic he decided that the _Maggie_, mortally wounded, +purposed getting close enough to sink him with shell-fire if she +failed to ram him; whereupon the yellow streak came through and +he waved his arms frantically above his head in token of +surrender. + +"She's hauled down her rag," shrieked Scraggs. "Be merciful, Gib. +There's men dyin' on that boat." + +"Lay alongside that craft," Mr. Gibney shouted to the helmsman. +The schooner had hove to and when the _Maggie_ also hove to some +thirty yards to windward of her Mr. Gibney informed the Mexican, +in atrocious Spanish well mixed with English, that if the latter +so much as lifted his little finger he might expect to be sunk +like a dog. "Down below, everybody but the helmsman, or I'll +sweep your decks with another muzzle burst," he thundered. + +The Mexican obeyed and Captain Scraggs went up in the pilot house +and laid the terribly battered _Maggie_ alongside the schooner. +The instant she touched, Mr. Gibney sprang aboard, quickly +followed by Captain Scraggs, who had relinquished the helm to his +first mate. + +Suddenly Captain Scraggs shouted, "Look, Gib, for the love of the +Lord, look!" and pointed with his finger. At the head of the +little iron-railed companion way leading down into the engine +room a man was standing. He had a monkey wrench in one hand and a +greasy rag in the other. + +Mr. Gibney turned and looked at the man. + +"McGuffey, for a thousand," he bellowed, and ran forward with +outstretched hand. Captain Scraggs was at Gibney's heels, and +between them they came very nearly dislocating Bartholomew +McGuffey's arm. + +"McGuffey, my _dear_ boy," said Captain Scraggs. "Whatever are +you a-doin' on this heathen warship?" + +"Me!" ejaculated Mr. McGuffey, with his old-time deliberation. +"Why, I'm the chief engineer of this craft. I had a good job, +too, but I guess it's all off now, and the Mexican Government'll +fire me. Say, who chucked that buckshot down into my engine +room?" + +"Admiral Gibney did it," said Scraggs. "The old _Maggie's_ +alongside and me and Gib's filibusters. Bear a hand, Mac, and +help us clap the hatches on our prisoners." + +"Thank God," said Mr. Gibney piously, "I didn't kill you. Come to +look into the matter, I didn't kill anybody, though I see half a +dozen Mexicans around decks more or less cut up. Where you been +all these years, Mac?" + +"I been chief engineer in the Mexican navy," replied McGuffey. +"Have you captured us in the name of the United States or what?" + +"We've captured you in the name of Adelbert P. Gibney," was the +reply. "I been huntin' all my life for a ship of my own, and now +I've got her. Lord, Mac, she's a beauty, ain't she? All hardwood +finish, teak rail, well found, and just the ticket for the island +trade. Well, well, well! I'm Captain Gibney at last." + +"Where do I come in, Gib?" asked Captain Scraggs modestly. + +"Well, seein' as the _Maggie_ has two holes through her hull +below the waterline, and is generally nicked to pieces, you might +quit askin' questions and get back aboard and put the pumps on +her. You're lucky if she don't sink on you before we get to +Descanso Bay. If she sinks, don't worry. I'll give you a job as +my first mate. Mac, you're my engineer, but not at no fancy +Mexican price. I'll pay you the union scale and not a blasted +cent more or less. Is that fair?" + +McGuffey said it was, and went below to tune up his engine. Mr. +Gibney took the wheel of the gunboat, and sent Captain Scraggs +back aboard the _Maggie_, and in a few minutes both vessels were +bowling along toward Descanso Bay. They were off the bay at +midnight, and while with Mr. Gibney in command of the federal +gunboat Captain Scraggs had nothing to fear, the rapid rise of +water in the hold of the _Maggie_ was sadly disconcerting. About +daylight he made up his mind that she would sink within two +hours, and without pausing to whine over his predicament, he +promptly beached her. She drove far up the beach, with the slack +water breaking around her scarred stern, and when the tide ebbed +she lay high and dry. And the rebel soldiers came trooping down +from the Megano rancho and falling upon her carcass like so many +ants, quickly distributed her cargo amongst them, and disappeared. + +Captain Scraggs sent his crew out aboard the captured gunboat to +assist Mr. Gibney in rowing his prisoners ashore, and when +finally he stood alone beside the wreck of the brave old +_Maggie_, piled up at last in the port of missing ships, +something snapped within his breast and the big tears rolled in +quick succession down his sun-tanned cheeks. The old hulk looked +peculiarly pathetic as she lay there, listed over on her beam +ends. She had served him well, but she had finished her last +voyage, and with some vague idea of saving her old bones from +vandal hands, Captain Scraggs, sobbing audibly, scattered the +contents of half a dozen cans of kerosene over her decks and in +the cabin, lighted fires in three different sections of the +wreck, and left her to the consuming flames. Half an hour later +he stood on the battered decks of the gunboat beside Gibney and +McGuffey and watched the dense clouds of smoke that heralded the +passing of the _Maggie_. + +"She was a good old hulk," said Mr. Gibney. "And now, as the +special envoy of the Liberal army of Mexico, here's a draft on +Los Angeles for five thousand bucks, Scraggsy, which constitutes +the balance due you on this here filibuster trip. Of course, I +needn't remind you, Scraggsy, that you'd never have earned this +money if it hadn't been for Adelbert P. Gibney workin' his +imagination overtime. I've made you a chunk of money, and while I +couldn't save your ship, I did save your life. As a reward for +all this, I don't claim one cent of the money due you, as I could +if I wanted to be rotten mean. I'm goin' to keep this fine little +power schooner for my share of the loot. She's nicked up some, +but that only bears evidence to what a bully good shot I am, and +it won't take much to fix her up all shipshape again. Usin' high +bursts shrapnel ain't very destructive. All them bumps an' +scratches can be planed down. But we'll have to do some mendin' +on her canvas--I'll tell the world. She's called the _Reina +Maria_, but I'm going to run her to Panama and change her name. +She'll be known as _Maggie II_, out of respect for the old girl +that's burnin' up there on the beach." + +Captain Scraggs was so touched at this delicate little tribute +that he turned away and burst into tears. + +"Aw, shut up, Scraggsy, old hunks," said McGuffey consolingly. +"You ain't got nothin' to cry about. You're a rich man. Look at +me. I ain't a-bawlin', am I? And I don't get so much as a bean +out of this mix-up, all on account of me bein' tied up with a lot +of hounds that quits fightin' before they're half licked." + +"That's so," said Captain Scraggs, wiping his eyes with his grimy +fists. "I declare you're out in the cold, McGuffey, and it ain't +right. Gib, my boy, us three has had some stirrin' times together +and we've had our differences, but I ain't a-goin' to think of +them past griefs. The sight o' you, single-handed, meetin' and +annihilatin' the pride of the Mexican navy, calm in th' moment o' +despair, generous in victory and delicate as blazes to a fallen +shipmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that +way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a +friendship that's bound to endoor till death us do part. If +McGuffey'd been on our side, we know from past performances that +he'd a fit like a tiger, wouldn't you, Mac?" (Here Mr. McGuffey +coughed slightly, as much as to say that he would have fought +like ten tigers had he only been given the opportunity.) + +Captain Scraggs continued: "I should say that a fair valuation of +this schooner as she stands is ten thousand dollars. That belongs +to Gib. Now I'm willin' to chuck five thousand dollars into the +deal, we'll form a close corporation and as a compliment to +McGuffey, elect him chief engineer in his own ship and give him +say a quarter interest in our layout, as a little testimonial to +an old friend, tried and true." + +"Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney, "your fin. We've fought, but we'll let +that go. We wipe the slate clean and start in all over again on the +_Maggie II_, and I'm free to state, without fear of contradiction, +that in the last embroglio you showed up like four aces and a king +with the entire company standin' pat. Scraggsy, you're a hero, and +what you propose proves that you're considerable of a singed +cat--better'n you look. We'll go freebootin' down on the Gold Coast. +There's war, red war, breakin' loose down there, and we'll shy in +our horseshoe with the strongest side and pry loose a fortune +somewhere. I'm for a life of wild adventure, and now that we've got +the ship and the funds and the crew, let's go to it. There's a deal +of fine liquor in the wardroom, and I suggest that we nominate +Phineas Scraggs, late master of the battleship _Maggie_, now second +in command of the _Maggie II_, to brew a kettle o' hot grog to +celebrate our victory. Mac--Scraggsy--your fins. I'm proud of you +both. Shake." + +They shook, and as Captain Gibney's eye wandered aloft, First +Mate Scraggs and Chief Engineer McGuffey looked up also. From the +main topmast of the _Maggie II_ floated a long blue burgee, with +white lettering on it, and as it whipped out into the breeze the +old familiar name stood out against the noonday sun. + +"Good old dishcloth!" murmured Mr. Gibney. "She never comes +down." + +"The _Maggie_ forever!" shrieked Scraggs. + +"Hooray!" bellowed McGuffey. "An' now, Scraggsy, if you've got +all the enthusiasm out of your blood, kick in with a hundred an' +fifty dollars an' interest to date. An' don't tell me that note's +outlawed, or I'll feed you to the fishes." + +Captain Scraggs looked crestfallen, but produced the money. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +"Well, Scraggsy, old hunks, this is pleasant, ain't it?" said Mr. +Gibney, and spat on the deck of the _Maggie II_. + +"Right-o," replied Captain Scraggs cheerily, "though when I was a +young feller and first went to sea, it wasn't considered no +pleasantry to spit on a nice clean deck. You might cut that out, +Gib. It's vulgar." + +"Passin' over the fact, Scraggs, that you ain't got no call to jerk +me up on sea ettycat, more particular since I'm the master and +managin' owner of this here schooner, I'm free to confess, Scraggsy, +that your observation does you credit. I just did that to see if you +was goin' to take as big an interest in the new _Maggie_ as you did +in the old _Maggie_, and the fact that you object to me expectoratin' +on the deck proves to me that you're leavin' behind you all them bay +scow tendencies of the green-pea trade. It leads me to believe that +you'll rise to high rank and distinction in the Colombian navy. Your +fin, Scraggsy. Expectoratin' on the decks is barred, and the _Maggie +II_ goes under navy discipline from now on. Am I right?" + +"Right as a right whale," said Captain Scraggs. "And now that +you've given that old mate of mine the course, and we've +temporarily plugged up the holes in this here Mexican gunboat, +and everything points to a safe and profitable voyage from now +on, suppose you delegate me as a committee of one to brew a +scuttle of grog, after which the syndicate holds a meetin' and +lays out a course for its future conduct. There's a few questions +of rank and privileges that ought to be settled once for all, so +there can't be no come-back." + +"The point is well taken and it is so ordered," said Mr. Gibney, who +had once held office in Harbour 15, Masters and Pilots Association +of America, and knew a fragment or two of parliamentary law. "Rustle +up the grog, call McGuffey up out of the engine room, and we'll hold +the meetin'." + +Twenty minutes later Scraggs came on deck to announce the +successful concoction of a kettle of whisky punch; whereupon the +three adventurers went below and sat down at the cabin table for +a conference. + +"I move that Gib be appointed president of the syndicate," said +Captain Scraggs. + +"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey. + +"The motion's carried," said Mr. Gibney, and banged the table +with his horny fist. "The meetin' will please come to order. The +chair hereby appoints Phineas Scraggs secretary of the syndicate, +to keep a record of this and all future meetin's of the board. I +will now entertain propositions of any and all natures, and I +invite the members of the board to knock the stopper out of their +jaw tackle and go to it." + +"I move," said Captain Scraggs, "that B. McGuffey, Esquire, be, +and he is hereby appointed, chief engineer of the _Maggie II_ at +a salary not to exceed the wage schedule of the Marine Engineers' +Association of the Pacific Coast, and that he be voted a +one-fourth interest in the vessel and all subsequent profits." + +"Second the motion," said Mr. Gibney, "and not to hamper the +business of the meetin', we'll just consider that motion carried +unanimous." + +B. McGuffey, Esquire, rose, bowed his thanks, and sat down again, +apparently very much confused. It was evident that he had +something to say, but was having difficulty framing his thoughts +in parliamentary language. + +"Heave away, Mac," said Mr. Gibney. + +"Cast off your lines, McGuffey," chirped Scraggs. + +Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose, bowed his thanks once more, +moistened his larynx with a gulp of the punch, and spoke: + +"Feller members and brothers of the syndicate: In the management +of the deck department of this new craft of ourn, my previous +knowledge of the worthy president and the unworthy secretary +leads me to believe that there's goin' to be trouble. A ship +divided agin herself must surely go on her beam ends. Now, +Scraggsy here has been master so long that the juice of authority +has sorter soaked into his marrer bones. For twenty years it's +been 'Howdy do, Captain Scraggs,' 'Have a drink, Captain +Scraggs,' 'Captain Scraggs this an' Captain Scraggs that.' I +don't mean no offense, gentlemen, when I state that you can't +teach an old dog new tricks. No man that's ever been a master +makes a good mate. On the other hand, I realize that Gib here has +been a-pantin' and a-bellyachin' all his life to get a ship of +his own an' have folks call him 'Captain Gibney.' Now that he's +gone an' done it, I say he's entitled to it. But the fact of the +whole thing is, Gib's the natural leader of the expedition or +whatever it's goin' to be, and he can't have his peace of mind +wrecked and his plans disturbed a-chasin' sailors around the deck +of the _Maggie II_. Gib is sorter what the feller calls the power +behind the throne. He's too big a figger for the grade of +captain. Therefore, I move you, gentlemen, that Adelbert P. +Gibney be, and he is hereby nominated and appointed to the grade +of commodore, in full command and supervision of all of the +property of the syndicate. And I also move that Phineas Scraggs +be appointed chief navigatin' officer of this packet, to retain +his title of captain, and to be obeyed and respected as such by +every man aboard with the exception of me and Gib. The present +mate'll do the navigatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea +stuff." + +"Second the motion," said Captain Scraggs briskly. "McGuffey, +your argument does you a heap of credit. It's--it's--dog my cats, +McGuffey, it's masterly. It shows a keen appreciation of an old +skipper's feelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib, I'm +willin' to hail him as commodore and fight to maintain his +office. I--I dunno, Gib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to +order around." + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Gibney, beaming, "the motion's carried +unanimous. Captain--chief--your fins. Dook me. I'm honoured by +the handshake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from San +Francisco on the old _Maggie_, Scraggs, they're a likely lot and +will come in handy if times is as lively in Colombia as I figger +they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have +your mate pipe the crew to muster and ascertain their feelin's on +the subject of takin' a chance with Commodore Gibney. If they +object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an' pay 'em off +as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give +'em the coast seaman's scale for a deep-water cruise and a five +per cent. bonus in case we turn a big trick." + +Captain Scraggs went at once on deck. Ten minutes later he +returned to report that the mate and the four seamen elected to +stick by the ship. + +"Bully boys," said the commodore, "bully boys. I like that mate. +He's a smart man and handles a gun well. While I should hesitate +to take advantage of my prerogative as commodore to interfere +with the normal workin's of the deck department, I trust that on +this special occasion our esteemed navigatin' officer, Captain +Scraggs, will not consider it beneath his dignity or an attack on +his office if I suggest to him that he brew another kettle of +grog for the crew." + +"Second the motion," replied McGuffey. + +"Carried," said Scraggs, and proceeded to heat some water. + +"Anything further?" stated the president. + +"How about uniforms?" This from Captain Scraggs. + +"We'll leave that to Gib," suggested McGuffey. "He's been in the +Colombian navy and he'll know just what to get us." + +"Well, there's another thing that's got to be settled," continued +Captain Scraggs. "If I'm to be navigatin' officer on the flagship of +a furrin' fleet, strike me pink if I'll do any more cookin' in the +galley. It's degradin'. I move that we engage some enterprisin' +Oriental for that job." + +"Carried," said Mr. Gibney. "Any further business?" + +Once more McGuffey stood up. "Gentlemen and brothers of the +syndicate," he began, "I'm satisfied that the back-bitin', the +scrappin', the petty jealousies and general cussedness that +characterized our lives on the old _Maggie_ will not be +duplicated on the _Maggie II_. Them vicious days is gone forever, +I hope, an' from now on the motto of us three should be: + + "All for one and one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall." + +This earnest little speech, which came straight from the honest +McGuffey's heart, brought the tears to the commodore's eyes. +Under the inspiration of McGuffey's unselfish words the glasses +were refilled and all three pledged their friendship anew. As for +Captain Scraggs, he was naturally of a cold and selfish +disposition, and McGuffey's toast appealed more to his brain than +to his heart. Had he known what was to happen to him in the days +to come and what that simple little motto was to mean in his +particular case, it is doubtful if he would have tossed off his +liquor as gaily as he did. + +"There's one thing more that we mustn't neglect," warned Mr. Gibney +before the meeting broke up. "We've got to run this little vessel +into some dog-hole where there's a nice beach and smooth water, and +change her name. I notice that her old name _Reina Maria_ is screwed +into her bows and across her stern in raised gilt letters, contrary +to law and custom. We'll snip 'em off, sandpaper every spot where +there's a letter, and repaint it; after which we'll rig up a stagin' +over her bows and stern, and cut her new name, '_Maggie II_,' right +into her plankin'. Nobody'll ever suspect her name's been changed. I +notice that the official letters and numbers cut into her main beam +is F-C-P-9957. I'll change that F to an E, the C to an O, and the P +to an R. A handy man with a wood chisel can do lots of things. He +can change those nines to eights, the five to a six, and the seven +to a nine. I've seen it done before. Then we'll rig a foretopmast +and a spinnaker boom on her, and bend a fisherman's staysail. +Nothing like it when you're sailing a little off the wind. Scraggs, +you have the papers of the old _Maggie_, and we all have our +licenses regular enough. Dig up the old papers, Scraggsy, and I'll +doctor 'em up to fit the _Maggie II_. As for our armament, we'll +dismount the guns and stow 'em away in the hold until we get down on +the Colombian coast, and while we're lying in Panama repairing the +holes where my shots went through her, and puttin' new planks in her +decks where the old plankin' has been scored by shrapnel, those +paraqueets will think we're as peaceful as chipmunks. Better look +over your supplies, McGuffey, and see if there's any paint aboard. +I'd just as lief give the old girl a different dress before we drop +anchor in Panama." + +"Gib," said Captain Scraggs earnestly, "I'll keel-haul and +skull-drag the man that says you ain't got a great head." + +"By the lord," supplemented McGuffey, "you have." + +The commodore smiled and tapped his frontal bone with his +forefinger. "Imagination, my lads, imagination," he said, and +reached for the last of the punch. + +Exactly three weeks from the date of the naval battle which took +place off the Coronado Islands, and whereby Mr. Gibney became +commodore and managing owner of the erstwhile Mexican coast +patrol schooner _Reina Maria_, that vessel sailed out of the +harbour of Panama completely rejuvenated. Not a scar on her +shapely lines gave evidence of the sanguinary engagement through +which she had passed. + +Mr. Gibney had her painted a creamy white with a dark blue +waterline. She had had her bottom cleaned and scraped and the +copper sheathing overhauled and patched up. Her sails had been +overhauled, inspected, and repaired wherever necessary, and in +order to be on the safe side, Mr. Gibney, upon motion duly made +by him and seconded by McGuffey (to whom the seconding of the +Gibney motions had developed into a habit), purchased an extra +suit of new sails. The engines were overhauled by the faithful +McGuffey and a large store of distillate stored in the hold. +Captain Scraggs, with his old-time aversion to expense, made a +motion (which was seconded by McGuffey before he had taken time +to consider its import) providing for the abolition of the office +of chief engineer while the _Maggie II_ was under sail, at which +time the chief ex-officio was to hold himself under the orders of +the commodore and be transferred to the deck department if +necessary. Mr Gibney approved the measure and it went into +effect. Only on entering or leaving a port, or in case of chase +by an enemy, were the engines to be used, and McGuffey was warned +to be extremely saving of his distillate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Mr. Gibney had made a splendid job of changing the vessel's name, +and as she chugged lazily out of Panama Bay and lifted to the +long ground-swell of the Pacific, it is doubtful if even her late +Mexican commander would have recognized her. She was indeed a +beautiful craft, and Commodore Gibney's heart swelled with pride +as he stood aft, conning the man at the wheel, and looked her +over. It seemed like a sacrilege now, when he reflected how he +had trained the gun of the old _Maggie_ on her that day off the +Coronados, and it seemed to him now even a greater sacrilege to +have brazenly planned to enter her as a privateer in the +struggles of the republic of Colombia. The past tense is used +advisedly, for that project was now entirely off, much to the +secret delight of Captain Scraggs, who, if the hero of one naval +engagement, was not anxious to take part in another. In Panama +the freebooters of the _Maggie II_ learned that during Mr. +Gibney's absence on his filibustering trip the Colombian +revolutionists had risen and struck their blow. After the fashion +of a hot-headed and impetuous people, they had entered the +contest absolutely untrained. As a result, the war had lasted +just two weeks, the leaders had been incontinently shot, and the +white-winged dove of peace had once more spread her pinions along +the borders of the Gold Coast. + +Commodore Gibney was disgusted beyond measure, and at a special +meeting of the syndicate, called in the cabin of the _Maggie II_ +that same evening, it was finally decided that they should embark +on an indefinite trading cruise in the South Seas, or until such +time as it seemed their services must be required to free a +downtrodden people from a tyrant's yoke. + +Captain Scraggs and McGuffey had never been in the South Seas, +but they had heard that a fair margin of profit was to be wrung +from trade in copra, shell, cocoanuts, and kindred tropical +products. They so expressed themselves. To this suggestion, +however, Commodore Gibney waved a deprecating paw. + +"Legitimate tradin', boys," he said, "is a nice, sane, healthy +business, but the profits is slow. What we want is quick profits, +and while it ain't set down in black and white, one of the +principal objects of this syndicate is to lead a life of wild +adventure. In tradin', there ain't no adventure to speak of. We +ought to do a little blackbirdin', or raid some of those Jap +pearl fisheries off the northern coast of Formosa." + +"But we'll be chased by real gunboats if we do that," objected +Captain Scraggs. "Those Jap gunboats shoot to kill. Can't you +think of somethin' else, Gib?" + +"Well," said Mr. Gibney, "for a starter, I can. Suppose we just +head straight for Kandavu Island in the Fijis, and scheme around +for a cargo of black coral? It's only worth about fifty dollars a +pound. Kandavu lays somewhere in latitude 22 south, longitude 178 +west, and when I was there last it was fair reekin' with cannibal +savages. But there's tons of black coral there, and nobody's ever +been able to sneak in and get away with it. Every time a boat +used to land at Kandavu, the native niggers would have a +white-man stew down on the beach, and it's got so that skippers +give the island a wide berth." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "I'm a man of +peace and I--I----" + +"Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," said Mr. Gibney, laying an +affectionate hand on the skipper's shoulder, "you're nothin' of +the sort. You're a fightin' tarantula, and nobody knows it +better'n Adelbert P. Gibney. I've seen you in action, Scraggsy. +Remember that. It's all right for you to say you're a man of +peace and advise me and McGuffey to keep out of the track of +trouble, but we know that away down low you're goin' around +lookin' for blood, and that once you're up agin the enemy, you +never bat an eyelash. Eh, McGuffey?" + +McGuffey nodded; whereupon, Captain Scraggs, making but a poor +effort to conceal the pleasure which Mr. Gibney's rude compliment +afforded him, turned to the rail, glanced seaward, and started to +walk away to attend to some trifling detail connected with the +boat falls. + +"All right, Gib, my lad," he said, affecting to resign himself to +the inevitable, "have it your own way. You're a commodore and I'm +only a plain captain, but I'll follow wherever you lead. I'll go +as far as the next man and we'll glom that black coral if we have +to slaughter every man, woman, and child on the island. Only, +when we're sizzlin' in a pot don't you up and say I never warned +you, because I did. How d'ye propose intimidatin' the natives, +Gib?" + +"Scraggsy," said the commodore solemnly, "we've waged a private +war agin a friendly nation, licked 'em, and helped ourselves to +their ship. We've changed her name and rig and her official +number and letters and we're sailin' under bogus papers. That +makes us pirates, and that old _Maggie_ burgee floatin' at the +fore ain't nothin' more nor less than the Jolly Roger. All right! +Let's be pirates. Who cares? When we slip into M'galao harbour +we'll invite the king and his head men aboard for dinner. We'll +get 'em drunk, clap 'em in double irons, and surrender 'em to +their weepin' subjects when they've filled the hold of the +_Maggie II_ with black coral. If they refuse to come aboard we'll +shell the bush with that long gun and the Maxim rapid-fire guns +we've got below decks. That'll scare 'em so they'll leave us +alone and we can help ourselves to the coral." + +Scraggs's cold blue eyes glistened. "Lord, Gib," he murmured, +"you've got a head." + +"Like playin' post-office," was McGuffey's comment. + +The commodore smiled. "I thought you boys would see it that way. +Now to-morrow I'm going ashore to buy three divin' outfits and +lay in a big stock of provisions for the voyage. In the meantime, +while the carpenters are gettin' the ship into shape, we'll leave +the first mate in charge while we go ashore and have a good time. +I've seen worse places than Panama." + +As a result of this conference Mr. Gibney's suggestions were +acted upon, and they contrived to make their brief stay in Panama +very agreeable. They inspected the work on the canal, marvelled +at the stupendous engineering in the Culebra Cut, drank a little, +gambled a little. McGuffey whipped a bartender. He was ordered +arrested, and six spiggoty little policemen, sent to arrest him, +were also thrashed. The reserves were called out and a riot +ensued. Mr. Gibney, following the motto of the syndicate, i.e., + + All for one and one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall, + +mixed in the conflict and presently found himself in durance +vile. Captain Scraggs, luckily, forgot the motto and escaped, but +inasmuch as he was on hand next morning to pay a fine of thirty +pesos levied against each of the culprits, he was instantly +forgiven. Mr. Gibney vowed that if a United States cruiser didn't +happen to be lying in the roadstead, he would have shelled the +town in retaliation. + +But eventually the days passed, and the _Maggie II_, well found +and ready for sea, shook out her sails to a fair breeze and +sailed away for Kandavu. She kept well to the southwest until she +struck the southeast trades, when she swung around on her course, +headed straight for her destination. It was a pleasant voyage, +devoid of incident, and the health of all hands was excellent. +Mr. Gibney took daily observations, and was particular to make +daily entries in his log when he, Scraggs, and McGuffey were not +playing cribbage, a game of which all three were passionately +fond. + +On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth day after leaving Panama the +lookout reported land. Through his glasses Mr. Gibney made out a +cluster of tall palms at the southerly end of the island, and as +the schooner held lazily on her course he could discern the +white breakers foaming over the reefs that guarded the entrance +to the harbour. + +"That's Kandavu, all right," announced the commodore. "I was +there in '89 with Bull McGinty in the schooner _Dashin' Wave_. +There's the entrance to the harbour, with the Esk reefs to the +north and the Pearl reefs to the south. The channel's very +narrow--not more than three cables, if it's that, but there's +plenty of water and a good muddy bottom that'll hold. McGuffey, +lad, better run below and tune up your engines. It's too +dangerous a passage on an ebb-tide for a sailin' vessel, so we'll +run in under the power. Scraggsy, stand by and when I give the +word have your crew shorten sail." + +Within a few minutes a long white streak opened up in the wake of +the schooner, announcing that McGuffey's engines were doing duty, +and a nice breeze springing up two points aft the beam, the +_Maggie_ heeled over and fairly flew through the water. Mr. +Gibney smiled an ecstatic smile as he took the wheel and guided +the schooner through the channel. He rounded her up in twelve +fathoms, and within five minutes every stitch of canvas was +clewed down hard and fast. The sun was setting as they dropped +anchor, and Mr. Gibney had lanterns hung along the rail so that +it would be impossible for any craft to approach the schooner and +board her without being seen. Also the watch on deck that night +carried Mauser rifles, six-shooters, and cutlasses. Mr. Gibney +was taking no chances. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +"Now, boys," announced Commodore Gibney, as he sat at the head of +the officers' mess at breakfast next morning, "there'll be a lot +of canoes paddling off to visit us within the hour, so whatever +you do, don't allow more than two of these cannibals aboard the +schooner at the same time. Make 'em keep their weapons in the +canoes with 'em, and at the first sign of trouble shoot 'em down +like dogs. It may be that these precautions ain't necessary, but +when I was here twenty years ago it was all the rage to kill a +white man and eat him. Maybe times has changed, but the harbour +and the coast looks just as wild and lonely as they ever did, and +I didn't see no sign of missionary when we dropped hook last +night. So don't take no chances." + +All hands promised that they would take extreme care, to the end +that their precious persons might remain intact, so Mr. Gibney +finished his cup of coffee at a gulp and went on deck. + +The Kandavu aborigines were not long in putting in an appearance. +Even as Mr. Gibney came on deck half a dozen canoes shot out from +the beach. Mr. Gibney immediately piped all hands on deck, armed +them, and nonchalantly awaited the approach of what might or +might not turn out to be an enemy. + +When the flotilla was within pistol shot of the schooner Mr. +Gibney stepped to the rail and motioned them back. Immediately +the natives ceased paddling, and a wild-looking fellow stood up +in the forward canoe. After the manner of his kind he had all his +life soused his head in lime-water when making his savage +toilette, and as a result his shock of black hair stood on end +and bulged out like a crowded hayrick. He was naked, of course, +and in his hand he held a huge war club. + +"That feller'd eat a rattlesnake," gasped Captain Scraggs. "Shoot +him, Gib, if he bats an eye." + +"Shut up," said the commodore, a trifle testily; "that's the +number-one nigger, who does the talkin'. Hello, boy." + +"Hello, cap'n," replied the savage, and salaamed gravely. "You +likee buy chicken, buy pig? Maybe you say come 'board, I talk. Me +very good friend white master." + +"Bless my sweet-scented soul!" gasped the commodore. "What won't +them missionaries do next? Cut off my ears if this nigger ain't +civilized!" He beckoned to the canoe and it shot alongside, and +its brown crew came climbing over the rail of the _Maggie II_. + +Mr. Gibney met the spokesman at the rail and they rubbed noses +very solemnly, after the manner of salutation in Kandavu. Captain +Scraggs bustled forward, full of importance. + +"Interduce me, Gib," he said amiably, and then, while Mr. Gibney +favoured him with a sour glance, Captain Scraggs stuck out his +hand and shook briskly with the native. + +"Happy to make your acquaintance," he said. "Scraggs is my name, +sir. Shake hands with McGuffey, our chief engineer. Hope you +left all the folks at home well. What'd you say your name was?" + +The islander hadn't said his name was anything, but he grinned +now and replied that it was Tabu-Tabu. + +"Well, my bucko," muttered McGuffey, who always drew the colour +line, "I'm glad to hear that. But you ain't the only thing that's +taboo around this packet. You can jest check that war club with +the first mate, pendin' our better acquaintance. Hand it over, +you black beggar, or I'll hit you a swat in the ear that'll hurt +all your relations. And hereafter, Scraggsy, just keep your +nigger friends to yourself. I ain't waxin' effusive over this +savage, and it's agin my principles ever to shake hands with a +coloured man. This chap's a damned ugly customer, and you take my +word for it." + +Tabu-Tabu grinned again, walked to the rail, and tossed his war +club down into the canoe. + +"Me good missionary boy," he said rather humbly. + +"McGuffey, my _dear_ boy," protested Captain Scraggs, "don't be +so doggone rude. You might hurt this poor lad's feelin's. Of +course he's only a simple native nigger, but even a dawg has +feelin's. You----" + +"A-r-r-rh!" snarled McGuffey. + +"You two belay talkin' and snappin' at each other," commanded Mr. +Gibney, "an' leave all bargainin' to me. This boy is all right +and we'll get along first rate if you two just haul ship and do +somethin' useful besides buttin' in on your superior officer. +Come along, Tabu-Tabu. Makee little eat down in cabin. You talkee +captain." + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," sputtered Captain Scraggs, bursting with +curiosity, following the commodore's reappearance on deck, +"whatever's in the wind?" + +"Money--fortune," said Mr. Gibney solemnly. + +McGuffey edged up and eyed the commodore seriously. "Sure there +ain't a little fightin' mixed up in it?" he asked. + +"Not a bit of it," replied Mr. Gibney. "You're as safe on Kandavu +as if you was in church. This Tabu kid is sort of prime minister +to the king, with a heap of influence at court. The crew of a +British cruiser stole him for a galley police when he was a kid, +and he got civilized and learned to talk English. He was a +cannibal in them days, but the chaplain aboard showed him how +foolish it was to do such things, and finally Tabu-Tabu got +religion and asked as a special favour to be allowed to return to +Kandavu to civilize his people. As a result of Tabu-Tabu's +efforts, he tells me the king has concluded that when he eats a +white man he's flyin' in the face of his own interests, and most +generally a gunboat comes along in a few months and shells the +bush, and--well, anyhow, there ain't been a barbecue on Kandavu +for ten years. It's a capital crime to eat a man now, and +punishable by boilin' the offender alive in palm oil." + +"Well," rumbled McGuffey, "this Tabu-Tabu don't look much like a +preacher, if you ask me. But how about this black coral?" + +"Oh, I've ribbed up a deal with him," said Mr. Gibney. "He'll see +that we get all the trade we can lug away. We're the first vessel +that's touched here in two years, and they have a thunderin' lot +of stuff on hand. Tabu's gone ashore to talk the king into doin' +business with us. If he consents, we'll have him and Tabu-Tabu +and three or four of the sub-chiefs aboard for dinner, or else +he'll invite us ashore for a big feed, and we'll have to go." + +"Supposin' this king don't care to have any truck with us?" +inquired McGuffey anxiously. + +"In that case, Mac," replied the commodore with a smile, "we'll +just naturally shell him out of house and home." + +"Well, then," said McGuffey, "let's get the guns ready. Somethin' +tells me these people ain't to be trusted, and I'm tellin' you +right now, Gib, I won't sleep well to-night unless them two +quarter gatlings and the Maxim-Vickers rapid-fire guns is mounted +and ready for business." + +"All right, Mac," replied Mr. Gibney, in the tone one uses when +humouring a baby. "Set 'em up if it'll make you feel more +cheerful. Still, I don't see why you want to go actin' so foolish +over nothin'." + +"Well, Gib," replied the engineer, "I may be crazy, but I ain't +no fool, and if there's a dead whale around the ship, I can come +pretty near smellin' it. I tell you, Gib, that Tabu-Tabu nigger +had a look in his eye for all the world like a cur dog lickin' a +bone. I ain't takin' no chances. My old man used to say: 'Bart, +whatever you do, allers have an anchor out to windward.'" + +"By the left hind leg of the Great Sacred Bull," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "if you ain't enough to precipitate war." + +"War," replied McGuffey, "is my long suit--particularly war with +native niggers. I just naturally crave to punch the ear of +anything darker than a Portugee. Remember how I cleaned out the +police department of Panama?" + +"Mount the guns if you're goin' to, Mac. If not, for the love of +the Lord don't be demoralizin' the crew with this talk of war. +All I ask is that you set the guns up after I've finished my +business here with Tabu-Tabu. He's been on a war vessel, and +knows what guns are, and if he saw you mountin' them it might +break up our friendly relations. He'll think we don't trust him." + +"Well, we don't," replied McGuffey doggedly. + +"Well, we do," snapped Captain Scraggs. + +There is always something connected with the use of that pronoun +of kings which eats like a canker at the heart of men of the +McGuffey breed. That officer now spat on the deck, in defiance of +the rules of his superior officers, and glared at Captain +Scraggs. + +"Speak for yourself, you miserable little wart," he roared. "If +you include me on that cannibal's visitin' list, and go to +contradictin' me agin, I'll----" + +"Mac," interrupted Mr. Gibney angrily, "control yourself. It's +agin the rules to have rag-chewin' and backbitin' on the _Maggie +II_. Remember our motto: 'All for one and one for all'----" + +"Here comes that sneakin' bushy-headed murderer back to the +vessel," interrupted McGuffey. "I wonder what devilment he's up +to now." + +Mr. McGuffey was partly right, for in a few minutes Tabu-Tabu +came alongside, climbed aboard, and salaamed. Mr. Gibney, fearful +of McGuffey's inability to control his antipathy for the race, +beckoned Captain Scraggs and Tabu-Tabu to follow him down into +the cabin. Meanwhile, McGuffey contented himself by parading +backward and forward across the fo'castle head with a Mauser +rifle in the hollow of his arm and his person fairly bristling +with pistols and cutlasses. Whenever one of the flotilla of +canoes hove to at a respectful distance, showed signs of crossing +an imaginary deadline drawn by McGuffey, he would point his rifle +at them and swear horribly. He scowled at Tabu-Tabu when that +individual finally emerged from the conference with Mr. Gibney +and Scraggs and went over the side to his waiting canoe. + +"Well, what's in the wind this time?" inquired McGuffey. + +"We're invited to a big feed with the king of Kandavu," replied +Captain Scraggs, as happy as a boy. "Hop into a clean suit of +ducks, Mac, and come along. Gib's goin' to broach a little keg of +liquor and we'll make a night of it." + +"Good lord," groaned McGuffey, "does the man think I'm low enough +to _eat_ with niggers?" + +"Leave him to his own devices," said Mr. Gibney indulgently. +"Mac's just as Irish as if he'd been born in Dublin instead of +his old man. Nobody yet overcome the prejudice of an Irishman so +we'll do the honours ourself, Scraggsy, old skittles, and leave +Mac in charge of the ship." + +"Mind you're both back at a seasonable hour," warned McGuffey. +"If you ain't, I'll suspect mischief and--say! Gib! Well, what's +the use talkin' to a man with an imagination? Only if I have to +go ashore after you two, those islanders'll date time from my +visit, and don't you forget it." + +It was nearing four o'clock that afternoon when Commodore Gibney +and his navigating officer, Captain Scraggs, both faultlessly +arrayed in Panama hats, white ducks, white canvas shoes, cut low, +showing pink silk socks, and wearing broad, black silken sashes +around their waists, climbed over the side into the whaleboat and +were rowed ashore in a manner befitting their rank. McGuffey +stood at the rail and jeered them, for his democratic soul could +take no cognizance of form or ceremony to a cannibal king, or at +least a king but recently delivered from cannibalism. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +Upon arrival at the beach the two adventurers were met by a +contingent of frightful-looking savages bearing long spears. As +the procession formed around the two guests of honour and plunged +into the bush, bound for the king's wari, two island maidens +marched behind the two sea-dogs, waving huge palm-leaf fans, the +better to make passage a cool and comfortable one. + +"By the gods of war, Gib, my _dear_ boy," said the delighted +Captain Scraggs, "but this is class, eh, Gib?" + +"Every time," responded the commodore. "If that chuckle-headed +McGuffey only had the sense to come along he might be enjoyin' +himself, too. You must be dignified, Scraggsy, old salamander. +Remember that you're bigger an' better'n any king, because you're +an American citizen. Be dignified, by all means. These people are +sensitive and peculiar, and that's why we haven't taken any +weapons with us. If they thought we doubted their hospitality +they'd have the court bouncer heave us out of town before you +could say Jack Robinson." + +"I'd love to see them giving the bounce to McGuffey," said +Captain Scraggs musingly. Mr. Gibney had a swift mental picture +of such a proceeding and chuckled happily. Had he been permitted +a glance at McGuffey at that moment he might have observed that +worthy sweltering in the heat of the forward hold of the _Maggie +II_, for he was busy getting his guns on deck. From which it will +readily be deduced that B. McGuffey, Esquire, was following the +advice of his paternal ancestor and getting an anchor out to +windward. + +One might go on at great length and describe the triumphal entry +of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs into the capitol of +Kandavu; of how the king, an undersized, shrivelled old savage, +stuck his bushy head out the window of his bungalow when he saw +the procession coming; of how a minute later he advanced into the +space in the centre of his wari, where in the olden days the +populace was wont to gather for its cannibal orgies; how he +greeted his distinguished visitors with the most prodigious +rubbing of noses seen in those parts for many a day; of the feast +that followed; of the fowls and pigs that garnished the festive +board, not omitting the keg of Three Star thoughtfully provided +by Mr. Gibney. + +Tabu-Tabu acted as interpreter and everything went swimmingly +until Tabu-Tabu, his hospitality doubtless strengthened by +frequent libations of the Elixir of Life, begged Mr. Gibney to +invite the remainder of his crew ashore for the feast. Mr. +Gibney, himself rather illuminated by this time, thought it might +not be a bad idea. + +"It's a rotten shame, Scraggsy," he said, "to think of that fool +McGuffey not bein' here to enjoy himself. I'm goin' to send a +note out to him by one of Tabu-Tabu's boys, askin' him once more +to come ashore, or to let the first mate and one or two of the +seamen come if Mac still refuses to be civil." + +"Good idea, Gib," said Captain Scraggs, his mouth full of roast +chicken and yams. So Mr. Gibney tore a leaf out of his pocket +memorandum book, scrawled a note to McGuffey, and handed it to +Tabu-Tabu, who at once dispatched a messenger with it to the +_Maggie II_. + +Within half an hour the messenger returned. He was wildly excited +and poured a torrent of native gibberish into the attentive ears +of Tabu-Tabu and the king. He pointed several times to the point +of his jaw, rubbed the small of his back, and once he touched his +nose; whereupon Mr. Gibney was aware that the said organ had a +slight list to port, and he so informed Captain Scraggs. Neither +of the gentlemen had the slightest trouble in arriving at the +correct solution of the mystery. The royal messenger had been +incontinently kicked overboard by B. McGuffey, Esquire. + +Tabu-Tabu's wild eyes glittered and grew wilder and wilder as the +messenger reported the indignity thus heaped upon him. The king +scowled at Captain Scraggs, and Mr. Gibney was suddenly aware +that goose-flesh was breaking out on the backs of his sturdy +legs. He had a haunting sensation that not only had he crawled +into a hole, but he had pulled the entire aperture in after him. +For the first time he began to fear that he had been too +precipitate, and with the thought it occurred to the gallant +commodore that he would be much safer back on the decks of the +_Maggie II_. Always crafty and imaginative, however, Mr. Gibney +came quickly to the front with an excuse for getting back to the +ship. He stepped quickly toward the little group around the +outraged royal ambassador and inquired the cause of the +disturbance. Quivering with rage, Tabu-Tabu informed him of what +had occurred. + +Mr. Gibney's rage, of course, knew no bounds. Nevertheless, he +did not have to simulate his rage, for he was truly furious. When +he could control his emotions, he requested Tabu-Tabu to inform +the king that he, Gibney, accompanied by Captain Scraggs, would +forthwith repair to the schooner and then and there flay the +offending McGuffey within an inch of his life. Suiting the action +to the word, Mr. Gibney called to Captain Scraggs to follow him, +and started for the beach. + +As Captain Scraggs arose, a trifle unsteadily, from his seat, a +black hand reached around him from the rear and closed over his +mouth. Now, Captain Scraggs was well versed in the rough-and-tumble +tactics of the San Francisco waterfront; hence, when he felt a long +pair of arms crossing over his neck from the rear, he merely stooped +and whirled his opponent over his head. In that instant his mouth +was free, and clear above the shouting and the tumult rose his +frenzied shriek for help. Mr. Gibney whirled with the speed and +agility of a panther just in time to dodge a blow from a war club. +His fist collided with the jaw of Tabu-Tabu, and down went that +savage as if pole-axed. + +[Illustration: "_Captain Scraggs ... broke from the circle of +savages ... and fled for the beach_"] + +Pandemonium broke loose at once. Captain Scraggs, after his +single shriek for help, broke from the circle of savages and fled +like a frightened rabbit for the beach. One of the natives hurled +a rock at him. The missile took Scraggs in the back of the head, +and he instantly curled up in a heap. + +"Scraggsy's dead," thought the horrified Gibney, and sprang at +the king. In that moment it came to Mr. Gibney to sell out +dearly, and if he could dispose of the king, he felt that +Scraggs's death would be avenged. In an instant the commodore's +great arms had closed around the king, and with the helpless +monarch in his grizzly bear grip Mr. Gibney backed up against the +nearest bungalow. A fringe of spears threatened him in front, but +for the moment he was safe behind, and the king's body protected +him. Whenever one of the savages made a jab at Mr. Gibney, Mr. +Gibney gave the king a boa-constrictor squeeze, and the monarch +howled. + +"I'll squeeze him to death," panted Mr. Gibney to Tabu-Tabu when +that individual had managed to pick himself up. "Let me go, or +I'll kill your king." + +The answer was an earthenware pot which crashed down on Mr. +Gibney's head from a window in the bungalow behind him. He sagged +forward and fell on his face with the gasping king in his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +On board the _Maggie II_ B. McGuffey, Esquire, had just gotten +into position the Maxim-Vickers "pom-pom" gun on top of the +house. The last bolt that held it in place had just been screwed +tight when clear and shrill over the tops of the jungle and +across the still surface of the little bay there floated to +McGuffey's ears the single word: + +"Help!" + +McGuffey leaned against the gun, and for the moment he was as +weak as a child. "Gawd," he muttered, "that was Scraggsy and +they're a-goin' to eat him up. Oh, Gib, Gib, old man, why +wouldn't you listen to me? Now they've got you, and what in +blazes I'm going to do to get you back, dead or alive, I dunno." + +McGuffey could hear the cries and general uproar from the wari, +though he could not see what was taking place. In a minute or +two, however, all was once more silent, silence having descended +on the scene simultaneously with the descent of the earthenware +pot on Mr. Gibney's head. + +"It's all over," said McGuffey sadly to the mate. "They've killed +'em both." Whereupon B. McGuffey, Esquire, sat down on the cabin +ventilator, pulled out a bandana handkerchief and wept into it, +for his honest Irish heart was breaking. + +It was fully half an hour before poor McGuffey could pull +himself together, and when he did, his grief was superseded by a +fit of rage that was terrible to behold. + +"Step lively, you blasted scum of the seas," he bawled to the +mate, and the crew gathered around the gun. "Lug up a case of +ammunition and we'll shell that bush until even a parrot won't be +left alive in it." + +"Aye, aye, sir," responded the crew to a man, and sprang to their +task. + +"I'm an old navy gunner," said the first mate quietly. "I'll +handle the gun. With a 'pom-pom' gun it's just like playing a +garden hose on them, only it's high-explosive shell instead of +water. I can search out every nook and cranny in the coast of +this island. Those guns are sighted up to 4,000 yards." + +"Kill 'em all," raved McGuffey, "kill all the blasted niggers." + +When Mr. Gibney fell under the impact of the earthenware pot he +was only partially stunned. As he tried to struggle to his feet +half a dozen hands were laid on him and in a trice he was lifted +and carried back of the wari to a clear space where a dozen heavy +teakwood posts stood in a row about four feet apart. Mr. Gibney +was quickly stripped of his clothing and bound hand and foot to +one of these posts. Three minutes later another delegation of +cannibals arrived, bearing the limp, naked body of Captain +Scraggs, whom they bound in similar fashion to the post beside +Mr. Gibney. Scraggs was very white and bloody, but conscious, and +his pale-blue eyes were flickering like a snake's. + +"What's--what's--the meanin' of this, Gib?" he gasped. + +"It means," replied the commodore, "that it's all off but the +shouting with me and you, Scraggsy. This fellow Tabu-Tabu is a +damned traitor, and his people are still cannibals. He's the +decoy to get white men ashore. They schemed to treat us nice and +be friendly until they could get the whole crew ashore, or enough +of them to leave the ship helpless, and then--O Gawd, Scraggsy, +old man, can you ever forgive me for gettin' you into this?" + +Captain Scraggs hung his head and quivered like a hooked fish. + +"Will they--eat--us?" he quavered, finally. + +Mr. Gibney did not answer, only Captain Scraggs looked into his +horrified eyes and read the verdict. + +"Die game, Scraggsy," was all Mr. Gibney could say. "Don't show +the white feather." + +"D'ye think McGuffey could hear us from here if we was to yell +for help?" inquired Captain Scraggs hopefully. + +"Don't yelp, for Gawd's sake," implored Mr. Gibney. "We got +ourselves into this, so let's pay the fiddler ourselves. If we +let out one yip and McGuffey hears it, he'll come ashore with his +crew and tackle this outfit, even if he knows he'll get killed. +And that's just what will happen to him if he comes. Let poor Mac +stay aboard. When we don't come back, he'll know it's all off, +and if he has time to think over it he'll realize it would be +foolish to try to do anything. But right now Mac's mad as a wet +hen, and if we holler for help--Scraggsy, please don't holler. +Die game." + +Captain Scraggs turned his terrified glance on Mr. Gibney's +tortured face. Scraggs was certainly a coward at heart, but +there was something in Mr. Gibney's unselfishness that touched a +spot in his hard nature--a something he never knew he possessed. +He bowed his head and two big tears stole down his weatherbeaten +face. + +"God bless you, Gib, my _dear_ boy," he said brokenly. "You're a +man." + +At this juncture the king came up and thoughtfully felt of Captain +Scraggs in the short ribs, while Tabu-Tabu calculated the precise +amount of luscious tissue on Mr. Gibney's well-upholstered frame. + +"Bimeby we eat white man," said Tabu-Tabu cheerfully. + +"If you eat me, you bloody-handed beggar," snapped Captain +Scraggs, "I'll pizen you. I've chawed tobacco all my life, and my +meat's as bitter as wormwood." + +It was too funny to hear Scraggs jesting with death. Mr. Gibney +forgot his own mental agony and roared with laughter in +Tabu-Tabu's face. The cannibal stood off a few feet and looked +searchingly in the commodore's eyes. He was not used to the brand +of white man who could laugh under such circumstances, and he +suspected treachery of some kind. He hurried over to join the +king and the two held a hurried conversation. As a result of +their conference, a huge savage was called over and given some +instructions. Tabu-Tabu handed him a war club and Mr. Gibney, +rightly conjecturing that this was the official executioner, +bowed his head and waited for the blow. + +It came sooner than he expected. The earth seemed to rise up and +smite Adelbert P. Gibney across the face. There was a roar, as of +an explosion in his ears, and he fell forward on his face. He +had a confused notion that when he fell the post came with him. + +For nearly a minute he lay there, semi-conscious, and then +something warm, dripping across his face, roused him. He moved, +and found that his feet were free, though his hands were still +bound to the post, which lay extended along his back. He rolled +over and glanced up. Captain Scraggs was shrieking. By degrees +the bells quit ringing in the commodore's ears, and this is what +he heard Captain Scraggs yelling: + +"Oh, you McGuffey. Oh, you bully Irish terrier. Soak it to 'em, +Mac. Kill the beggars. You've got a dozen of 'em already. Plug +away, you good old hunk of Irish bacon." + +Mr. Gibney was now himself once more. He struggled to his feet, +and as he did, something burst ten feet away and a little fleecy +cloud of smoke obscured his vision for a moment. Then he +understood. McGuffey had a rapid-fire gun trained on the wari, +and the savages, with frightful yells, were fleeing madly from +the little shells. Half a dozen of them lay dead and wounded +close by. + +"Hooray," yelled Mr. Gibney, and dashed at the post which held +Captain Scraggs prisoner. He struck it a powerful blow with his +shoulder and Scraggs and the post crashed to the ground. In an +instant Mr. Gibney was on his knees, tearing at Scraggs's rope +shackles with his teeth. Five minutes later, Captain Scraggs's +hands were free. Then Scraggs did a like service for Gibney. + +All the time the shells from the _Maggie II_ were bursting around +them every second or two, and it seemed as if they must be +killed before they could make their escape. + +"Beat it, Scraggsy," yelled Mr. Gibney. He stood and picked up a +war club. "Arm yourself, Scraggsy. Take a spear. We may have a +little fighting to do on the beach," he yelled. Captain Scraggs +helped himself to a loose spear, and side by side they raced +through the jungle for the beach. + +As they tore along through the jungle path Mr. Gibney's good +right eye (his left was obscured) detected two savages crouching +behind a clump of cocoa-palms. + +"There's the king and Tabu-Tabu," yelled Scraggs. "Let's round +the beggars up." + +"Sure," responded the commodore. "We'll need 'em for hostages if +we're to get that black coral. We'll turn 'em over to McGuffey." + + * * * * * + +"I'd better ease up a minute, sir," said the mate to Mr. +McGuffey. "The gun's getting fearful hot." + +"Let her melt," raved McGuffey, "but keep her workin' for all +she's worth. I'll have revenge for Gib's death, or--_sufferin' +mackerel!_" + +McGuffey once more sat down on the cabin ventilator. He pointed +dumbly to the beach, and there, paddling off to the _Maggie II_, +were two naked cannibals and two naked white men in a canoe. Five +minutes later they came alongside. McGuffey met them at the rail, +and he smiled and licked his lower lip as the trembling monarch +and his prime minister, in response to a severe application of +Mr. Gibney's hands and feet, came flying over the rail. Mr. +Gibney and Captain Scraggs followed. + +"I'm much obliged to you, Mac," said Mr. Gibney, striving bravely +to appear jaunty. "One of your first shots came between my legs +and cut the rope that held me, and banged me and the post I was +tied to all over the lot. A fragment of the shell appears to have +taken away part of my ear, but I guess I'll recover. We're pretty +well shook up, Mac, old socks, and a jolt of whisky would be in +order after you've put the irons on these two cannibals." + +"You're two nice bloody-lookin' villains, ain't you?" was +McGuffey's comment, as he surveyed the late arrivals. + +"Which two do you mean?" inquired Mr. Gibney, with a touch of +asperity in his tones. + +"I dunno," replied McGuffey. "It's pretty hard to distinguish +between niggers and folks that goes to work an' eats with 'em." + +"Mac," said Captain Scraggs severely, "you're prejudiced." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +At 6:30 o'clock of the morning of the day following the frightful +experience of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs with the +cannibals of Kandavu, the members of the _Maggie II_ Syndicate +faced each other across the breakfast table with appetites in no +wise diminished by the exciting events of the preceding day. +Captain Scraggs appeared with a lump on the back of his head as +big as a goose egg. The doughty commodore had a cut over his +right eye, and the top of his sinful head was so sore, where the +earthenware pot had struck him, that even the simple operation of +winking his bloodshot eyes was productive of pain. About a +teaspoonful of Kandavu real estate had also been blown into Mr. +Gibney's classic features when the shells from the Maxim-Vickers +gun exploded in his immediate neighbourhood, and as he naively +remarked to Bartholomew McGuffey, he was in luck to be alive. + +McGuffey surveyed his superior officers, cursed them bitterly, +and remarked, with tears of joy in his honest eyes, that both +gentlemen had evaded their just deserts when they escaped with +their lives. "If it hadn't been for the mate," said McGuffey +severely, "I'd 'a' let you two boobies suffer the penalty for +your foolishness. Any man that goes to work and fraternizes with +a cannibal ain't got no kick comin' if he's made up into chicken +curry with rice. The minute I hear old Scraggsy yippin' for help, +says I to myself, 'let the beggars fight their own way out of the +mess.' But the mate comes a-runnin' up and says he's pretty sure +he can come near plantin' a mess of shells in the centre of the +disturbance, even if we can't see the wari on account of the +jungle. 'It's all off with the commodore and the skipper anyhow,' +says the mate, 'so we might just as well have vengeance on their +murderers.' So, of course, when he put it that way I give my +consent----" + +At this juncture the mate, passing around McGuffey on his way to +the deck, winked solemnly at Mr. Gibney, who hung his war-worn +head in simulated shame. When the mate had left the cabin the +commodore pounded with his fork on the cabin table and announced +a special meeting of the _Maggie II_ Syndicate. + +"The first business before the meeting," said Mr. Gibney, "is to +readjust the ownership in the syndicate. Me and Scraggsy's had +our heads together, Mac, and we've agreed that you've shot your +way into a full one-third interest, instead of a quarter as +heretofore. From now on, Mac, you're an equal owner with me and +Scraggsy, and now that that matter's settled, you can quit +rippin' it into us on the race question and suggest what's to be +done in the case of Tabu-Tabu and this cannibal king that almost +lures me and the navigatin' officer to our destruction." + +"I have the villains in double irons and chained to the mainmast," +replied McGuffey, "and as a testimonial of my gratitude for the +increased interest in the syndicate which you and Scraggs has just +voted me, I will scheme up a fittin' form of vengeance on them two +tar babies. However, only an extraordinary sentence can fit such an +extraordinary crime, so I must have time to think it over. These two +bucks is mine to do what I please with and I'll take any +interference as unneighbourly and unworthy of a shipmate." + +"Take 'em," said Captain Scraggs vehemently. "For my part I only +ask one thing. If you can see your way clear, Mac, to give me the +king's scalp for a tobacco pouch, I'll be obliged." + +"And I," added the commodore, "would like Tabu-Tabu's shin bone +for a clarionet. Pendin' McGuffey's reflections on the hamperin' +of crime in Kandavu, however, we'll turn our attention to the +prime object of the expedition. We've had our little fun and it's +high time we got down to business. It will be low tide at nine +o'clock, so I suggest, Scraggs, that you order the mate and two +seamen out in the big whaleboat, together with the divin' +apparatus, and we'll go after pearl oysters and black coral. As +for you, Mac, suppose you take the other boat and Tabu-Tabu and +the king, and help the mate. Take a rifle along with you, and +make them captives dive for pearl oysters until they're black in +the face----" + +"Huh!" muttered the single-minded McGuffey. "What are they now? +Sky blue?" + +"Of course," continued the commodore, "if a tiger shark happens +along and picks the niggers up, it ain't none of our business. As +for me and Scraggsy, we'll sit on deck and smoke. My head aches +and I guess Scraggsy's in a similar fix." + +"Anythin' to be agreeable," acquiesced McGuffey. + +After breakfast Commodore Gibney ordered that the prisoners be +brought before him. The cook served them with breakfast, and as +they ate, the commodore reminded them that it was only through +his personal efforts and his natural disinclination to return +blow for blow that they were at that moment enjoying a square +meal instead of swinging in the rigging. + +"I'm goin' to give you two yeggs a chance to reform," concluded +Mr. Gibney, addressing Tabu-Tabu. "If you show us where we can +get a cargo of black coral and work hard and faithful helpin' us +to get it aboard, it may help you to comb a few gray hairs. I'm +goin' to take the irons off now, but remember! At the first sign +of the double-cross you're both shark meat." + +On behalf of himself and the king, Tabu-Tabu promised to behave, +and McGuffey kicked them both into the small boat. The mate and +two seamen followed in another boat, in which the air-pump and +diving apparatus was carried, and Tabu-Tabu piloted them to a +patch of still water just inside the reef. The water was so clear +that McGuffey was enabled to make out vast marine gardens thickly +sprinkled with the precious black coral. + +"Over you go, you two smokes," rasped McGuffey, menacing the +captives with his rifle. "Dive deep, my hearties, and bring up +what you can find, and if a shark comes along and takes a nip out +of your hind leg, don't expect no help from B. McGuffey, +Esquire--because you won't get any." + +Thus encouraged, the two cannibals dove overboard. McGuffey could +see them pawing around on the bottom of the little bay, and after +half a minute each came up with a magnificent spray of coral. +They hung to the side of the boat until they could get their +breath, then repeated the performance. In the meantime, the mate +had sent his two divers below to loosen the coral; with the +result that when both boats returned to the _Maggie II_ at noon +Captain Scraggs fairly gurgled with delight at the results of the +morning's work, and Mr. Gibney declared that his headache was +gone. He and Captain Scraggs had spent the morning seated on deck +under an awning, watching the beach for signs of a sortie on the +part of the natives of Kandavu to recapture their king. +Apparently, however, the destructive fire from the pom-pom gun +the night before had so terrified them that the entire population +had emigrated to the northern end of the island, leaving the +invaders in undisputed possession of the bay and its hidden +treasures of coral and pearl and shell. + +For nearly two weeks the _Maggie II_ lay at anchor, while her +crew laboured daily in the gardens of the deep. Vast quantities +of pearl oysters were brought to the surface, and these Mr. +Gibney stewed personally in a great iron pot on the beach. The +shell was stored away in the hold and the pearls went into a +chamois pouch which never for an instant was out of the +commodore's possession. The coast at that point being now +deserted, frequent visits ashore were made, and the crew feasted +on young pig, chicken, yams, and other delicacies. Captain +Scraggs was almost delirious with joy. He announced that he had +not been so happy since Mrs. Scraggs "slipped her cable." + +At the end of two weeks Mr. Gibney decided that there was "loot" +enough ashore to complete the schooner's cargo, and at a meeting +of the syndicate held one lovely moonlight night on deck he +announced his plans to Captain Scraggs and McGuffey. + +"Better leave the island alone," counselled McGuffey. "Them +niggers may be a-layin' there ten thousand strong, waitin' for a +boat's crew to come prowlin' up into the bush so they can nab +'em." + +"I've thought of that, Mac," said the commodore a trifle coldly, +"and if I made a sucker of myself once it don't stand to reason +that I'm apt to do it again. Remember, Mac, a burnt child dreads +the fire. To-morrow morning, right after breakfast, we'll turn +the guns loose and pepper the bush for a mile or two in every +direction. If there's a native within range he'll have business +in the next county and we won't be disturbed none." + +Mr. Gibney's programme was duly put through and capital of +Kandavu looted of the trade accumulations of the years. And when +the hatches were finally battened down, the tanks refilled with +fresh water, and everything in readiness to leave Kandavu for the +run to Honolulu, Mr. Gibney announced to the syndicate that the +profits of the expedition would figure close up to a hundred +thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs gasped and fell limply against +the mainmast. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," he sputtered, "are you sure it ain't all a +dream and that we'll wake up some day and find that we're still +in the green-pea trade; that all these months we've been asleep +under a cabbage leaf, communin' with potato bugs?" + +"Not for a minute," replied the commodore. "Why, I got a dozen +matched pearls here that's fit for a queen. Big, red, pear-shaped +boys--regular bleedin' hearts. There's ten thousand each in them +alone." + +"Well, I'll--I'll brew some grog," gasped Captain Scraggs, and +departed forthwith to the galley. Fifteen minutes later he +returned with a kettle of his favourite nepenthe and all three +adventurers drank to a bon voyage home. At the conclusion of the +toast Mr. McGuffey set down his glass, wiped his mouth with the +back of his hairy hand, and thus addressed the syndicate. + +"In leavin' this paradise of the South Pacific," he began, "we +find that we have accumulated other wealth besides the loot below +decks. I refer to His Royal Highness, the king of Kandavu, and +his prime minister, Tabu-Tabu. When these two outlaws was first +captured, I informed the syndicate that I would scheme out a +punishment befittin' their crime, to-wit--murderin' an' eatin' +you two boys. It's been a big job and it's taken some time, me +not bein' blessed with quite as fine an imagination as our +friend, Gib. However, I pride myself that hard work always brings +success, and I am ready to announce what disposition shall be +made of these two interestin' specimens of aboriginal life. I beg +to announce, gentlemen, that I have invented a punishment fittin' +the crime." + +"Impossible," said Captain Scraggs. + +"Shut up, Scraggs," struck in Commodore Gibney. "Out with it, +Mac. What's the programme?" + +"I move you, members of the syndicate, that the schooner _Maggie +II_ proceed to some barren, uninhabited island, and that upon +arrival there this savage king and his still more savage subject +be taken ashore in a small boat. I also move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that inasmuch as the two aggrieved parties, A.P. +Gibney and P. Scraggs, having in a sperrit of mercy refrained +from layin' their hands on said prisoners for fear of invalidin' +them at a time when their services was of importance to the +expedition, be given an opportunity to take out their grudge on +the persons of said savages. Now, I notice that the king is a +miserable, skimpy, sawed-off, and hammered-down old cove. By all +the rules of the prize ring he's in Scraggsy's class." (Here Mr. +McGuffey flashed a lightning wink to the commodore. It was an +appeal for Mr. Gibney's moral support in the engineer's scheme to +put up a job on Captain Scraggs, and thus relieve the tedium of +the homeward trip. Mr. Gibney instantly telegraphed his +approbation, and McGuffey continued.) "I notice also that if I +was to hunt the universe over, I couldn't find a better match for +Gib than Tabu-Tabu. And as we are all agreed that the white race +is superior to any race on earth, and it'll do us all good to see +a fine mill before we leave the country, I move you, gentlemen of +the syndicate, that we pull off a finish fight between Scraggsy +and the king, and Gib and Tabu-Tabu. I'll referee both contests +and at the conclusion of the mixup we'll leave these two +murderers marooned on the island and then----" + +"Rats," snapped Captain Scraggs. "That ain't no business at all. +You shouldn't consider nothin' short of capital punishment. Why, +that's only a petty larceny form of----" + +"Quit buttin' in on my prerogatives," roared McGuffey. "That +ain't the finish by no means." + +"What is the finish, then?" + +"Why, these two cannibals, bein' left alone on the desert island, +naturally bumps up agin the old question of the survival of the +fittest. They get scrappin' among themselves, and one eats the +other up." + +"By the toe-nails of Moses," muttered Mr. Gibney in genuine +admiration, "but you _have_ got an imagination after all, Mac. +The point is well taken and the programme will go through as +outlined. Scraggs, you'll fight the king. No buckin' and +grumblin'. You'll fight the king. You're outvoted two to one, the +thing's been done regular, and you can't kick. I'll fight +Tabu-Tabu, so you see you're not gettin' any the worst of it. +We'll proceed to an island in the Friendly Group called +Tuvana-tholo. It lies right in our homeward course, and there +ain't enough grub on the confounded island to last two men a +week. And I know there ain't no water there. So, now that that +matter is all settled, we will proceed to heave the anchor and +scoot for home. Mac, tune up your engines and we'll get out of +here a-whoopin' and a-flyin'." + +Ten minutes later the anchor was hanging at the hawsepipe, and +under her power the _Maggie II_ swung slowly in the lagoon, +pointed her sharp bow for the opening in the reef, and bounded +away for the open sea. Captain Scraggs jammed on all of her lower +sails and within two hours the island of Kandavu had faded +forever from their vision. + +It was an eight-hundred-mile run up to Tuvana-tholo, but the +weather held good and the trade-winds never slackened. Ten days +from the date of leaving Kandavu they hove to off the island. It +was a long, low, sandy atoll, with a few cocoanut-palms growing +in the centre of it, and with the exception of a vast colony of +seabirds that apparently made it their headquarters, the island +was devoid of life. + +The bloodthirsty McGuffey stood at the break of the poop, and as +he gazed shoreward he chuckled and rubbed his hands together. + +"Great, great," he murmured. "I couldn't have gotten a better +island if I'd had one built to order." He called aft to the +navigating officer: "Scraggsy, there's the ring. Nothin' else to +do now but get the contestants into it. Along in the late +afternoon, when the heat of the day is over, we'll go ashore and +pull off the fight. And, by George, Scraggs, if that old king +succeeds in lambastin' you, I'll set the rascal free." + +"I'll lick him with one hand tied and the other paralyzed," +retorted Captain Scraggs with fine nonchalance. "No need o' +waitin' on my account. Heat or no heat, I'm just naturally pinin' +to beat up the royal person." + +"If this ain't the best idea I ever heard of, I'm a Dutchman," +replied McGuffey. "A happy combination of business and pleasure. +Who fights first, Gib? You or Scraggs?" + +"I guess I'd better open the festivities," said Mr. Gibney +amiably. "I ain't no kill-joy and I want Scraggsy to get some fun +out of this frolic. If I fight first the old kiddo can look on in +peace and enjoy the sight, and if him and the king fights first +perhaps he won't be in no condition to appreciate the spectacle +that me and Tabu-Tabu puts up." + +"That's logic," assented McGuffey solemnly; "that's logic." + +Seeing that there was no escape, Captain Scraggs decided to bluff +the matter through. "Let's go ashore and have it over with," he +said carelessly. "I'm a man of peace, but when there's fightin' +to be done, I say go to it and no tomfoolery." + +Mr. Gibney winked slyly at McGuffey. They each knew Scraggs +little relished the prospect before him, though to do him justice +he was mean enough to fight and fight well, if he thought he had +half a chance to get the decision. But he knew the king was as +hard as tacks, and was more than his match in a rough and tumble, +and while he spoke bravely enough, his words did not deceive his +shipmates, and inwardly they shook with laughter. + +"Clear away the big whaleboat with two men to pull us ashore," +said Mr. Gibney to the mate. Five minutes later the members of +the syndicate, accompanied by the captives, climbed into the +whaleboat and shoved off, leaving the _Maggie II_ in charge of +the mate. "We'll be back in half an hour," called the commodore, +as they rowed away from the schooner. "Just ratch back and forth +and keep heavin' the lead." + +They negotiated the fringe of breakers to the north of the island +successfully, pulled the boat up on the beach, and proceeded at +once to business. Mr. Gibney explained to Tabu-Tabu what was +expected of him, and Tabu-Tabu in turn explained to the king. It +was not the habit of white men, so Mr. Gibney explained, to kill +their prisoners in cold blood, and he had decided to give them an +opportunity to fight their way out of a sad predicament with +their naked fists. If they won, they would be taken back aboard +the schooner and later dropped at some inhabited island. If they +lost, they must make their home for the future on Tuvana-tholo. + +"Let 'er go," called McGuffey, and Mr. Gibney squared off and +made a bear-like pass at Tabu-Tabu. To the amazement of all +present Tabu-Tabu sprang lightly backward and avoided the blow. +His footwork was excellent and McGuffey remarked as much to +Captain Scraggs. But when Tabu-Tabu put up his hands after the +most approved method of self-defense and dropped into a "crouch," +McGuffey could no longer contain himself. + +"The beggar can fight, the beggar can fight," he croaked, wild +with joy. "Scraggs, old man, this'll be a rare mill, I promise +you. He's been aboard a British man-o'-war and learned how to +box. Steady, Gib. Upper-cut him, upper--_wow!_" + +[Illustration: "_Tabu Tabu ... planted a mighty right in the +centre of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy_"] + +Tabu-Tabu had stepped in and planted a mighty right in the centre +of Mr. Gibney's physiognomy, following it up with a hard left to +the commodore's ear. Mr. Gibney rocked a moment on his sturdy +legs, stepped back out of range, dropped both hands, and stared +at Tabu-Tabu. + +"I do believe the nigger'll lick you, Gib," said McGuffey +anxiously. "He's got a horrible reach and a mule kick in each +mit. Close with him, or he's due for a full pardon." + +"In a minute," said the commodore faintly. "He's so good I hate +to hurt him. But I'll infight him to a finish." + +Which Mr. Gibney forthwith proceeded to do. He rushed his +opponent and clinched, though not until his right eye was in +mourning and a stiff jolt in the short ribs had caused him to +grunt in most ignoble fashion. But few men could withstand Mr. +Gibney once he got to close quarters. Tabu-Tabu wrapped his long +arms around the commodore and endeavoured to smother his blows, +but Mr. Gibney would not be denied. His great fist shot upward +from the hip and connected with the cannibal's chin. Tabu-Tabu +relaxed his hold, Mr. Gibney followed with left and right to the +head in quick succession, and McGuffey was counting the fatal ten +over the fallen warrior. + +Mr. Gibney grinned rather foolishly, spat, and spoke to McGuffey, +_sotto voce_: "By George, the joke ain't all on Scraggsy," he +said. Then turning to Captain Scraggs: "Help yourself to the +mustard, Scraggsy, old tarpot." + +Captain Scraggs took off his hat, rolled up his sleeves, and made +a dive for the royal presence. His majesty, lacking the +scientific training of his prime minister, seized a handful of +the Scraggs mane and tore at it cruelly. A well-directed kick in +the shins, however, caused him to let go, and a moment later he +was flying up the beach with the angry Scraggs in full cry after +him. McGuffey headed the king off and rounded him up so Scraggs +could get at him, and the latter at once "dug in" like a terrier. +After five minutes of mauling and tearing Captain Scraggs was out +of breath, so he let go and stood off a few feet to size up the +situation. The wicked McGuffey was laughing immoderately, but to +Scraggs it was no laughing matter. The fact of the matter was the +king was dangerous and Scraggs had glutted himself with revenge. + +"I don't want to beat an old man to death," he gasped finally. +"I'll let the scoundrel go. He's had enough and he won't fight. +Let's mosey along back to the schooner and leave them here to +amuse themselves the best way they know how." + +"Right-O," said Mr. Gibney, and turned to walk down the beach to +the boat. A second later a hoarse scream of rage and terror broke +from his lips. + +"What's up?" cried McGuffey, the laughter dying out of his voice, +for there was a hint of death in Mr. Gibney's cry. + +"Marooned!" said the commodore hoarsely. "Those two sailors have +pulled back to the schooner, and--there--look, Mac! My Gawd!" + +McGuffey looked, and his face went whiter than the foaming +breakers beyond which he could see the _Maggie II_, under full +sail, headed for the open sea. The small boat had been picked up, +and there was no doubt that at her present rate of speed the +schooner would be hull down on the horizon by sunset. + +"The murderin' hound," whispered McGuffey, and sagged down on the +sands. "Oh, the murderin' hound of a mate!" + +"It's--it's mutiny," gulped Captain Scraggs in a hard, strained +voice. "That bloody fiend of a mate! The sly sneak-thief, with +his pleasant smile and his winnin' ways! Saw a chance to steal +the _Maggie_ and her rich cargo, and he is leavin' us here, +marooned on a desert island, with _two cannibals_." + +Captain Scraggs fairly shrieked the last two words and burst into +tears. "Lord, Gib, old man," he raved, "whatever will we do?" + +Thus appealed to, the doughty commodore permitted his two +unmatched optics to rest mournfully upon his shipmates. For +nearly a minute he gazed at them, the while he struggled to +stifle the awful fear within him. In the Gibney veins there +flowed not a drop of craven blood, but the hideous prospect +before him was almost more than the brave commodore could bear. +Death, quick and bloody, had no terrors for him, but a finish +like this--a slow finish--thirst, starvation, heat---- + +He gulped and thoughtfully rubbed the knuckles of his right hand +where the skin was barked off. He thought of the silly joke he +and McGuffey had thought to perpetrate on Captain Scraggs by +leading him up against a beating at the hands of a cannibal king, +and with the thought came a grim, hard chuckle, though there was +the look of a thousand devils in his eyes. + +"Well, boys," he said huskily, "who's looney now?" + +"What's to be done?" asked McGuffey. + +"Well, Mac, old sporty boy, I guess there ain't much to do except +to make up our minds to die like gentlemen. If I was ever fooled +by a man in my life, I was fooled by that doggone mate. I thought +he'd tote square with the syndicate. I sure did." + +For a long time McGuffey gazed seaward. He was slower than his +shipmates in making up his mind that the mate had really deserted +them and sailed away with the fortunes of the syndicate. Of the +three, however, the stoical engineer accepted the situation with +the best grace. He spurned the white sand with his foot and faced +Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs with just the suspicion of a grin +on his homely face. + +"I make a motion," he said, "that the syndicate pass a resolution +condemnin' the action of the mate." + +It was a forlorn hope, and the jest went over the heads of the +deck department. Said Mr. Gibney sadly: + +"There ain't no more _Maggie II_ Syndicate." + +"Well, let's form a Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," suggested +McGuffey. "We've got the island, and there's a quorum present for +all meetin's." + +Mr. Gibney smiled feebly. "We can appoint Tabu-Tabu the man +Friday." + +"Sure," responded McGuffey, "and the king can be the goat. +Robinson Crusoe had a billy goat, didn't he, Gib?" + +But Captain Scraggs refused to be heartened by this airy +persiflage. "I'm all het up after my fight with the king," he +quavered presently. "I wonder if there's any water on this +island." + +"There is," announced Mr. Gibney pleasantly; "there is, Scraggsy. +There's water in just one spot, but it's there in abundance." + +"Where's that spot?" inquired Scraggs eagerly. + +Mr. Gibney removed his old Panama hat, and with his index finger +pointed downward to where the hair was beginning to disappear, +leaving a small bald spot on the crown of his ingenious head. + +"There," he said, "right there, Scraggsy, old top. The only water +on this island is on the brain of Adelbert P. Gibney." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +Neils Halvorsen often wondered what had become of the _Maggie_ +and Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney and Bartholomew McGuffey he knew +had turned their sun-tanned faces toward deep water some years +before Captain Scraggs and the _Maggie_ disappeared from the +environs of San Francisco Bay, and Neils Halvorsen was wise +enough to waste no time wondering what had become of _them_. +These two worthies might be anywhere, and every conceivable thing +under the sun might have happened to them; hence, in his idle +moments, Neils Halvorsen did not disturb his gray matter +speculating on their whereabouts and their then condition of +servitude. + +But the continued absence of Captain Scraggs from his old haunts +created quite a little gossip along the waterfront, and in the +course of time rumours of his demise by sundry and devious routes +came to the ears of Neils Halvorsen. Now, Neils had sailed too +long with Captain Scraggs not to realize that the erstwhile +green-pea trader would be the last man to take a chance in any +hazardous enterprise unless forced thereto by the weight of +circumstance; also there was affection enough in his simple +Scandinavian heart to cause him to feel just a little worried +when two weeks passed and Captain Scraggs failed to show up. He +had disappeared in some mysterious manner from San Francisco Bay +and the old _Maggie_ had never been heard from again. + +Hence Neils Halvorsen was puzzled. In fact, to such an extent was +Neils puzzled, that one perfectly calm, clear night while beating +down San Pablo Bay in his bay scow, the _Willie and Annie_, he so +far forgot himself and his own affairs as to concentrate all his +attention on the problem of the ultimate finish of Captain +Scraggs. So engrossed was Neils in this vain speculation that he +neglected to observe toward the rules of the ocean highways that +nicety of attention which is highly requisite, even in the +skipper of a bay scow, if the fulsome title of captain is to be +retained for any definite period. As a result, Neils became +confused regarding the exact number of blasts from the siren of a +river steamer desiring to pass him to port. Consequently the +_Willie and Annie_ received such a severe butting from the river +steamer in question as to cause her to careen and fill. Being, +unfortunately, loaded with gravel on this particular trip, she +subsided incontinently to the bottom of San Pablo Bay, while +Neils and his crew of two men sought refuge on a plank. + +Without attempting to go further into the details of the +misfortunes of Neils Halvorsen, be it known that the destruction +of the _Willie and Annie_ proved to be such a severe shock to +Neils' reputation as a safe and sane bay scow skipper that he was +ultimately forced to seek other and more virgin fields. With the +fragments of his meagre fortune, the ambitious Swede purchased a +course in a local nautical school from which he duly managed to +emerge with sufficient courage to appear before the United +States Local Inspectors of Hulls and Boilers and take his +examination for a second mate's certificate. To his unutterable +surprise the license was granted; whereupon he shipped as +quartermaster on the steamer _Alameda_, running to Honolulu, and +what with the lesson taught him in the loss of the _Willie and +Annie_ and the exacting duties of his office aboard the liner, he +forgot that he had ever known Captain Scraggs. + +Judge of Neils Halvorsen's surprise, therefore, upon the occasion +of his first trip to Honolulu, when he saw something which +brought the whole matter back to mind. They were standing in +toward Diamond Head and the _Alameda_ lay hove to taking on the +pilot. It was early morning and the purple mists hung over the +entrance to the harbour. Neils Halvorsen stood at the gangway +enjoying the sunrise over the Punch-bowl, and glancing longingly +toward the vivid green of the hills beyond the city, when he was +aware of a "put," "put," "put," to starboard of the _Alameda_. +Neils turned at the sound just in time to see a beautiful +gasoline schooner of about a hundred and thirty tons heading in +toward the bay. She was so close that Neils was enabled to make +out that her name was _Maggie II_. + +"Vell, aye be dam," muttered Neils, and scratched his head, for +the name revived old memories. An hour later, when the _Alameda_ +loafed into her berth at Brewer's dock, Neils noticed that the +schooner lay at anchor off the quarantine station. + +That night Neils Halvorsen went ashore for those forms of +enjoyment peculiar to his calling, and in the Pantheon saloon, +whither his pathway led him, he filled himself with beer and +gossip. It was here that Neils came across an item in an +afternoon paper which challenged his instant attention. It was +just a squib in the shipping news, but Neils Halvorsen read it +with amazement and joy: + + The power schooner _Maggie II_ arrived this morning, ten + days from the Friendly Islands. The little schooner came + into port with her hold bursting with the most valuable + cargo that has entered Honolulu in many years. It + consists for the most part of black coral. + + The _Maggie II_ is commanded by Captain Phineas Scraggs, + and after taking on provisions and water to-day will + proceed to San Francisco, to-morrow, for discharge of + cargo. + +"By yiminy," quoth Neils Halvorsen, "aye bat you that bane de ole +man so sure as you bane alive. And aye bat new hat he skall be +glad to see Neils Halvorsen. I guess aye hire Kanaka boy an' he +bane pull me out to see de ole man." + +Which is exactly what Neils Halvorsen proceeded to do. Ten +minutes later he was at the foot of Fort Street, bargaining with +a Kanaka fisherman to paddle him off to the schooner _Maggie II_. +It was a beautiful moonlight night, and as Neils sat in the stern +of the canoe, listening to the sound of the sad, sweet falsetto +singing of half a dozen _waheenies_ fishing on the wharf, he +actually waxed sentimental. His honest Scandinavian heart +throbbed with anticipated pleasure as he conjured up a mental +picture of the surprise and delight of Captain Scraggs at this +unexpected meeting with his old deckhand. + +A Jacob's ladder was hanging over the side of the schooner as the +canoe shot in under her lee quarter, and half a minute later the +expectant Neils stepped upon her deck. A tall dark man, wearing +an ancient palmleaf hat, sat smoking on the hatch coaming, and +him Neils Halvorsen addressed. + +"Aye bane want to see Cap'n Scraggs," he said. + +The tall dark man stood erect and cast a quick, questioning look +at Neils Halvorsen. He hesitated before he made answer. + +"What do you want?" he asked deliberately, and there was a subtle +menace in his tones. As for Neils Halvorsen, thinking only of the +surprise he had in store for his old employer, he replied +evasively: + +"Aye bane want job." + +"Well, I'm Captain Scraggs, and I haven't any job for you. Get +off my boat and wait until you're invited before you come aboard +again." + +For nearly half a minute Neils Halvorsen stared open-mouthed at +the spurious Captain Scraggs, while slowly there sifted through +his brain the notion that he had happened across the track of a +deep and bloody mystery of the seas. There was "something rotten +in Denmark." Of that Neils Halvorsen was certain. More he could +not be certain of until he had paved the way for a complete +investigation, and as a preliminary step toward that end he +clinched his fist and sprang swiftly toward the bogus skipper. + +"Aye tank you bane damn liar," he muttered, and struck home, +straight and true, to the point of the jaw. The man went down, +and in an instant Neils was on top of him. Off came the sailor's +belt, the hands of the half-stunned man were quickly tied behind +him, and before he had time to realize what had happened Neils +had cut a length of cord from a trailing halyard and tied his +feet securely, after which he gagged him with his bandana +handkerchief. + +A quick circuit of the ship convinced Neils Halvorsen that the +remainder of the dastard crew were evidently ashore, so he +descended to the cabin in search of further evidence of crime. He +was quite prepared to find Captain Scraggs's master's certificate +in its familiar oaken frame, hanging on the cabin wall, but he +was dumfounded to observe, hanging on the wall in a similar and +equally familiar frame, the certificate of Adelbert P. Gibney as +first mate of steam or sail, any ocean and any tonnage. But still +a third framed certificate hung on the wall, and Neils again +scratched his head when he read the wording that set forth the +legal qualifications of Bartholomew McGuffey to hold down a job +as chief engineer of coastwise vessels up to 1,200 tons net +register. + +It was patent, even to the dull-witted Swede, that there had been +foul play somewhere, and the schooner's log, lying open on the +table, seemed to offer the first means at hand for a solution of +the mystery. Eagerly Neils turned to the last entry. It was not +in Captain Scraggs's handwriting, and contained nothing more +interesting than the stereotyped reports of daily observations, +currents, weather conditions, etc., including a notation of +arrival that day at Honolulu. Slowly Halvorsen turned the leaves +backward, until at last he was rewarded by a glimpse of a +different handwriting. It was the last entry under that +particular handwriting, and read as follows: + + June 21, 19--. Took an observation at noon, and find + that we are in 20-48 S., 178-4 W. At this rate should + lift Tuvana-tholo early this afternoon. All hands well + and looking forward to the fun at Tuvana. Bent a new + flying jib this morning and had the king and Tabu-Tabu + holystone the deck. + + A.P. GIBNEY. + +Neils Halvorsen sat down to think, and after several minutes of +this unusual exercise it appeared to the Swede that he had +stumbled upon a clue to the situation. The last entry in the log +kept by Mr. Gibney was under date of June 21st--just eleven days +ago, and on that date Mr. Gibney had been looking forward to some +fun at Tuvana-tholo. Now where was that island and what kind of a +place was it? + +Neils searched through the cabin until he came across the book +that is the bible of every South Sea trading vessel--the British +Admiralty Reports. Down the index went the old deckhand's +calloused finger and paused at "Friendly islands--page 177"; +whereupon Neils opened the book at page 177 and after a +five-minute search discovered that Tuvana-tholo was a barren, +uninhabited island in latitude 21-2 south, longitude 178-49 west. + +Ten days from the Friendly Islands, the paper said. That meant +under power and sail with the trades abaft the beam. It would +take nearer fifteen days for the run from Honolulu to that desert +island, and Neils Halvorsen wondered whether the marooned men +would still be alive by the time aid could reach them. For by +some sixth sailor sense Neils Halvorsen became convinced that his +old friends of the vegetable trade were marooned. They had gone +ashore for some kind of a frolic, and the crew had stolen the +schooner and left them to their fate, believing that the +castaways would never be heard from and that dead men tell no +tales. + +"Yumpin' yiminy," groaned Neils. "I must get a wiggle on if aye +bane steal this schooner." + +He rushed on deck, carried his prisoner down into the cabin, and +locked the door on him. A minute later he was clinging to the +Jacob's ladder, the canoe shot in to the side of the vessel at +his gruff command and passed on shoreward without missing a +stroke of the paddle. An hour later, accompanied by three Kanaka +sailors picked up at random along the waterfront, Neils Halvorsen +was pulled out to the _Maggie II_. Her crew had not returned and +the bogus captain was still triced hard and fast in the cabin. + +The Swede did not bother to investigate in detail the food and +water supply. A hasty round of the schooner convinced him that +she had at least a month's supply of food and water. Only one +thought surged through his mind, and that was the awful necessity +for haste. The anchor came in with a rush, the Kanaka boys +chanting a song that sounded to Neils like a funeral dirge, and +Neils went below and turned the gasoline engines wide open. The +_Maggie II_ swung around and with a long streak of opalescent +foam trailing behind her swung down the bay and faded at last in +the ghostly moonlight beyond Diamond Head; after which Neils +Halvorsen, with murder in his eye and a tarred rope's end in his +horny fist, went down into the cabin and talked to the man who +posed as Captain Scraggs. In the end he got a confession. Fifteen +minutes later he emerged, smiling grimly, gave the Kanaka boy at +the wheel the course, and turned in to sleep the sleep of the +conscience-free and the weary. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +Darkness was creeping over the beach at Tuvana-tholo before Mr. +Gibney could smother the despair in his heart sufficient to spur +his jaded imagination into working order. For nearly an hour the +three castaways had sat on the beach in dumb horror, gazing +seaward. They were not alone in this, for a little further up the +beach the two Fiji Islanders sat huddled on their haunches, +gazing stupidly first at the horizon and then at their white +captors. It was the sight of these two worthies that spurred Mr. +Gibney's torpid brain to action. + +"Didn't you say, Mac, that when we left these two cannibals alone +on this island that it would develop into a case of dog eat dog +or somethin' of that nature?" + +Captain Scraggs sprang to his feet, his face white with a new +terror. However, he had endured so much since embarking with Mr. +Gibney on a life of wild adventure that his nerves had become +rather inured to impending death, and presently his fear gave way +to an overmastering rage. He hurled his hat on the sands and +jumped on it until it was a mere shapeless rag. + +"By the tail of the Great Sacred Bull," he gasped, "if they don't +start in on us first I'm a Dutchman. Of all the idiots, thieves, +crimps, thugs, and pirates, Bart McGuffey, you're the worst. +Gib, you hulkin' swine, whatever did you listen to him for? It +was a crazy idea, this talk of fight. Why didn't we just drop the +critters overboard and be done with it? We got to kill 'em now +with sticks and stones in order to protect ourselves." + +"Forgive me, Scraggsy, old scout," said Mr. Gibney humbly. "The +fat's in the fire now, and there ain't no use howlin' over spilt +milk." + +"Shut up, you murderer," shrilled Captain Scraggs and danced once +more on his battered hat. + +"Let's call a meetin' of the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate," said Mr. +Gibney. + +"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey. + +"Carried," said the commodore. "The first business before the +meetin' is the organization of a expedition to chase these two +cannibals to the other end of the island. I ain't got the heart +to kill 'em, so let's chase 'em away before they get fresh with +us." + +"Good idea," responded McGuffey, whereupon he picked up a rock +and threw it at the king. Mr. Gibney followed with two rocks, +Captain Scraggs screamed defiance at the enemy, and the enemy +fled in wild disorder, pursued by the syndicate. After a chase of +half a mile Mr. Gibney led his cohorts back to the beach. + +"Let's build a fire--not that we need it, but just for +company--and sleep till mornin'. By that time my imagination'll +be in workin' order and I'll scheme a breakfast out of this +God-forsaken hole." + +At the first hint of dawn Mr. Gibney, true to his promise, was up +and scouting for breakfast. He found some gooneys asleep on a +rocky crag and killed half a dozen of them with a club. On his +way back to camp he discovered a few handfuls of sea salt in a +crevice between some rocks, and the syndicate breakfasted an hour +later on roast gooney. It was oily and fishy but an excellent +substitute for nothing at all, and the syndicate was grateful. +The breakfast would have been cheerful, in fact, if Captain +Scraggs had not made repeated reference to his excessive thirst. +McGuffey lost patience before the meal was over, and cuffed +Captain Scraggs, who thereupon subsided with tears in his eyes. +This hurt McGuffey. It was like salt in a fresh wound, so he +patted the skipper on the back and humbly asked his pardon. +Captain Scraggs forgave him and murmured something about death +making them all equal. + +"The next business before the syndicate," announced Mr. Gibney, +anxious to preserve peace, "is a search of this island for +water." + +They searched all forenoon. At intervals they caught glimpses of +the two cannibals skulking behind sand-dunes, but they found no +water. Toward the centre of the island, however, the soil was +less barren, and here a grove of cocoa-palms lifted their tufted +crests invitingly. + +"We will camp in this grove," said the commodore, "and keep guard +over these green cocoanuts. There must be nearly a hundred of +them and I notice a little taro root here and there. As those +cocoanuts are full of milk, that insures us life for a week or +two if we go on a short ration. By bathin' several times a day we +can keep down our thirst some and perhaps it'll rain." + +"What if it does?" snapped Captain Scraggs bitterly. "We ain't +got nothin' but our hats to catch it in." + +"Well, then, Scraggsy, old stick-in-the-mud," replied the +commodore quizzically, "it's a cinch you'll go thirsty. Your hat +looks like a cullender." + +Captain Scraggs choked with rage, and Mr. Gibney, springing at +the nearest palm, shinned to the top of it in the most approved +sailor fashion. A moment later, instead of cocoanuts, rich, +unctuous curses began to descend on McGuffey and Scraggs. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," inquired Scraggs, "whatever _is_ the +matter of you?" + +"That hound Tabu-Tabu's been strippin' our cocoanut grove," +roared the commodore. "He must have spent half the night up in +these trees." + +"Thank the Lord they didn't take 'em all," said McGuffey piously. +"Chuck me down a nut, Gib," said Captain Scraggs. "I'm famished." + +In conformity with the commodore's plans, the castaways made camp +in the grove. For a week they subsisted on gooneys, taro root, +cocoanuts and cocoanut milk, and a sea-turtle which Scraggs found +wandering on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to Mr. Gibney, +and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the unaccustomed +food, poorly cooked as it was, and the lack of water, told +cruelly on them, and their strength failed rapidly. Realizing +that in a few days he would not have the strength to climb +cocoanut trees, Mr. Gibney spent nearly half a day aloft and +threw down every cocoanut he could find, which was not a great +many. They had their sheath knives and consequently had little +fear from an attack by Tabu-Tabu and the king. These latter kept +well to the other side of the island and subsisted in much the +same manner as their white neighbours. + +At the end of a week, all hands were troubled with indigestion +and McGuffey developed a low fever. They had lost much flesh and +were a white, haggard-looking trio. On the afternoon of the tenth +day on the island the sky clouded up and Mr. Gibney predicted a +williwaw. Captain Scraggs inquired feebly if it was good to eat. + +That night it rained, and to the great joy of the marooned +mariners Mr. Gibney discovered, in the centre of a big sandstone +rock, a natural reservoir that held about ten gallons of water. +They drank to repletion and felt their strength return a +thousand-fold. Tabu-Tabu and the king came into camp about this +time, and pleaded for a ration of water. Mr. Gibney, swearing +horribly at them, granted their request, and the king, in his +gratitude, threw himself at the commodore's feet and kissed them. +But Mr. Gibney was not to be deceived, and after furnishing them +with a supply of water in cocoanut calabashes, he ordered them to +their own side of the island. + +On the eighteenth day the last drop of water was gone, and on the +twenty-second day the last of the cocoanuts disappeared. The +prospects of more rain were not bright. The gooneys were becoming +shy and distrustful and the syndicate was experiencing more and +more difficulty, not only in killing them, but in eating them. +McGuffey, who had borne up uncomplainingly, was shaking with +fever and hardly able to stagger down the beach to look for +turtle eggs. The syndicate was sick, weak, and emaciated almost +beyond recognition, and on the twenty-fifth day Captain Scraggs +fainted twice. On the twenty-sixth day McGuffey crawled into the +shadow of a stunted mimosa bush and started to pray! + +To Mr. Gibney this was an infallible sign that McGuffey was now +delirious. In the shadow of a neighbouring bush Captain Scraggs +babbled of steam beer in the Bowhead saloon, and the commodore, +stifling his own agony, watched his comrades until their lips and +tongues, parched with thirst, refused longer to produce even a +moan, and silence settled over the dismal camp. + +It was the finish. The commodore knew it, and sat with bowed head +in his gaunt arms, wondering, wondering. Slowly his body began to +sway; he muttered something, slid forward on his face, and lay +still. And as he lay there on the threshold of the unknown he +dreamed that the _Maggie II_ came into view around the headland, +a bone in her teeth and every stitch of canvas flying. He saw her +luff up into the wind and hang there shivering; a moment later +her sails came down by the run, and he saw a little splash under +her port bow as her hook took bottom. There was a commotion on +decks, and then to Mr. Gibney's dying ears came faintly the +shouts and songs of the black boys as a whaleboat shot into the +breakers and pulled swiftly toward the beach. Mr. Gibney dreamed +that a white man sat in the stern sheets of this whaleboat, and +as the boat touched the beach it seemed to Mr. Gibney that this +man sprang ashore and ran swiftly toward him. And--Mr. Gibney +twisted his suffering lips into a wry smile as he realized the +oddities of this mirage--it seemed to him that this visionary +white man bore a striking resemblance to Neils Halvorsen. Neils +Halvorsen, of all men! Old Neils, "the squarehead" deckhand of +the green-pea trade! Dull, bowlegged Neils, with his lost dog +smile and his---- + +Mr. Gibney rubbed his eyes feebly and half staggered to his feet. +What was that? A shout? Without doubt he had heard a sound that +was not the moaning of their remorseless prison-keeper, the sea. +And---- + +"Hands off," shrieked Mr. Gibney and struck feebly at the +imaginary figure rushing toward him. No use. He felt himself +swept into strong arms and carried an immeasurable distance down +the beach. Then somebody threw water in his face and pressed a +drink of brandy and sweet water to his parched lips. His swimming +senses rallied a moment, and he discovered that he was lying in +the bottom of a whaleboat. McGuffey lay beside him, and on a +thwart in front of him sat good old Neils Halvorsen with Captain +Scraggs's head on his knees. As Mr. Gibney looked at this strange +tableau Captain Scraggs opened his eyes, glanced up at Neils +Halvorsen, and spoke: + +"Why if it ain't old squarehead Neils," he muttered wonderingly. +"If it ain't Neils, I'll go to hades or some other seaport." He +closed his eyes again and subsided into a sort of lethargy, for +he was content. He knew he was saved. + +Mr. Gibney rolled over, and, struggling to his knees, leaned over +McGuffey and peered into his drawn face. + +"Mac, old shipmate! Mac, speak to me. Are you alive?" + +B. McGuffey, Esquire, opened a pair of glazed eyes and stared at +the commodore. + +"Did we lick 'em?" he whispered. "The last I remember the king +was puttin' it all over Scraggsy. And that Tabu boy--was--no +slouch." McGuffey paused, and glanced warily around the boat, +while a dawning horror appeared in his sunken eyes. "Go back, +Neils--go back--for God's sake. There's two niggers--still--on +the--island. Bring--'em some--water. They're cannibals--Neils, +but never--mind. Get them--aboard--the poor devils--if they're +living. I--wouldn't leave a--crocodile on that--hell hole, if I +could--help it." + +An hour later the Robinson Crusoe Syndicate, including the man +Friday and the Goat, were safe aboard the _Maggie II_, and Neils +Halvorsen, with the tears streaming down his bronzed cheeks, was +sparingly doling out to them a mixture of brandy and water. And +when the syndicate was strong enough to be allowed all the water +it wanted, Neils Halvorsen propped them up on deck and told the +story. When he had finished, Captain Scraggs turned to Mr. +Gibney. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," he said, "make a motion." + +"I move," said the commodore, "that we set Tabu-Tabu and the king +down on the first inhabited island we can find. They've suffered +enough. And I further move that we readjust the ownership of the +_Maggie II_ Syndicate and cut the best Swede on earth in on a +quarter of the profits." + +"Second the motion," said McGuffey. + +"Carried," said Captain Scraggs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +The lookout on the power schooner _Maggie II_ had sighted Diamond +Head before Commodore Adelbert P. Gibney, Captain Phineas P. +Scraggs, and Engineer Bartholomew McGuffey were enabled to +declare, in all sincerity (or at least with as much sincerity as +one might reasonably expect from this band of roving rascals), +that they had entirely recovered from their harrowing experiences +on the desert island of Tuvana-tholo, in the Friendly group. + +At the shout of "Land, ho!" Mr. McGuffey yawned, stretched +himself, and sat up in the wicker lounging chair where he had +sprawled for days with Mr. Gibney and Captain Scraggs, under the +awning on top of the house. He flexed his biceps reflectively, +while his companions, stretched at full length in their +respective chairs, watched him lazily. + +"As a member o' the _Maggie_ Syndicate an' ownin' an' votin' a +quarter interest," boomed the engineer, "I hereby call a meetin' +o' the said syndicate for the purpose o' transactin' any an' all +business that may properly come before the meetin'." + +"Pass the word for Neils Halvorsen," suggested Mr. Gibney. "Bless +his squarehead soul," he added. + +"We got a quorum without him, an' besides this business is just +between us three." + +"Meetin'll come to order." The commodore tapped the hot deck +with his bare heel twice. "Haul away, Mac." + +"I move you, gentlemen, that it be the sense o' this meetin' that +B. McGuffey, Esquire, be an' he is hereby app'inted a committee +o' one to lam the everlastin' daylights out o' that sinful former +chief mate o' ourn for abandonin' the syndicate to a horrible +death on that there desert island. Do I hear a second to that +motion?" + +"Second the motion," chirped Captain Scraggs. + +"The motion's denied," announced Mr. Gibney firmly. + +"Now, looky here, Gib, that ain't fair. Didn't you fight +Tabu-Tabu an' didn't Scraggsy fight the king o' Kandavu? I ain't +had no fightin' this entire v'yage an' I did cal'late to lick +that doggone mate." + +"Mac, it can't be done nohow." + +"Oh, it can't, eh? Well, I'll just bet you two boys my interest +in the syndicate----" + +"It ain't that, Mac, it ain't that. Nobody's doubtin' your +natural ability to mop him up. But it ain't policy. You wasn't +sore agin them cannibal savages, was you? You made Neils go back +an' save 'em, an' it took us two days to beat up to the first +inhabited island an' drop 'em off----" + +"But a cannibal's like a dumb beast, Gib. He ain't responsible. +This mate knows better. He's as fly as they make 'em." + +"Ah!" Mr. Gibney levelled a horny forefinger at the engineer. +"That's where you hit the nail on the head. He's too fly, and +there's only two ways to keep him from flyin' away with us. The +first is to feed him to the sharks and the second is to treat +him like a long-lost brother. I know he ought to be hove +overboard, but I ain't got the heart to kill him in cold blood. +Consequently, we got to let the villain live, an' if you go to +beatin' him up, Mac, you'll make him sore an' he'll peach on us +when we get to Honolulu. If us three could get back to San +Francisco with clean hands, I'd say lick the beggar an' lick him +for fair. But we got to remember that this mate was one o' the +original filibuster crew o' the old _Maggie I_. The day we +tackled the Mexican navy an' took this power schooner away from +'em, we put ourselves forty fathom plumb outside the law, an' +this mate was present an' knows it. We've changed the vessel's +name an' rig, an' doctored up the old _Maggie's_ papers to suit +the _Maggie II_, an' we've give her a new dress. But at that, +it's hard to disguise a ship in a live port, an' the secret +service agents o' the Mexican government may be a-layin' for us +in San Francisco; and with this here mate agin us an' ready to +turn state's evidence, we're pirates under the law, an' it don't +take much imagination to see three pirates swingin' from the same +yard-arm. No, sir, Mac. I ain't got no wish, now that we're fixed +nice an' comfortable with the world's goods, to be hung for a +pirate in the mere shank o' my youth. Why, I ain't fifty year old +yet." + +"By the tail o' the Great Sacred Bull," chattered Scraggs. "Gib's +right." + +McGuffey was plainly disappointed. "I hadn't thought o' that at +all, Gib. I been cherishin' the thought o' lammin' the whey out'n +that mate, but if you say so I'll give up the idee. But if +bringin' the _Maggie II_ into home waters is invitin' death, +what in blue blazes're we goin' to do with her?" + +Mr. Gibney smiled--an arch, cunning smile. "We'll give her to +that murderin' mate, free gratis." + +Captain Scraggs bounded out of his chair, struck the hot deck +with his bare feet, cursed, and hopped back into the chair again. +McGuffey stared incredulously. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," quavered Scraggs, "say that agin." + +"Yes," continued the commodore placidly, "we'll just get shet o' +her peaceable like by givin' her to this mate. Don't forget, +Scraggsy, old tarpot, that this mate's been passin' himself off +for you in Honolulu, an' if there's ever an investigation, the +trail leads to the _Maggie II_. This mate's admitted being +Captain Scraggs, an' if he's found with the schooner in his +possession it'll take a heap o' evidence for him to prove that he +ain't Captain Scraggs. We'll just keep this here mate in the brig +while we're disposing of our black coral, pearl, shell, and copra +in Honolulu, an' then, when we've cleaned up, an' got our +passages booked for San Francisco----" + +"But who says we're goin' back to San Francisco?" cut in +McGuffey. + +"Why, where else would men with money in their pockets head for, +you oil-soaked piece of ignorance? Ain't you had enough adventure +to do you a spell?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "Me an' Gib's for +goin' back to San Francisco, so shut up. If you got any +objection, you're outvoted two to one in the syndicate." + +McGuffey subsided, growling, and Mr. Gibney continued: + +"When we're ready to leave Honolulu, we'll bring this mate on +deck, make him a kind Christian talk an' give him the _Maggie II_ +with the compliments o' the syndicate. He'll think our sufferin's +on that island has touched us with religion an' he'll be so +tickled he'll keep his mouth shut. Then, with all three of us +safe an' out o' the mess, an' the evidence off our hands, we'll +clear out for Gawd's country an' look around for some sort of a +profitable investment." + +"What you figurin' on, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "I hope +it's a steamboat. This wild adventure is all right when you get +away with it, but I like steamboatin' on the bay an' up the +river." + +"Oh, nothin' particular, Scraggsy. We'll just hold the syndicate +together an' when somethin' good bobs up we'll smother it. In the +meantime, we'll continue our life o' wild adventure." + +"But there ain't no wild adventures around San Francisco Bay," +protested McGuffey. + +"That shows your ignorance, Mac. Adventure lurks in every nook an' +slough an' doghole on the bay. You walk along the Embarcadero, only +reasonably drunk, an' adventure's liable to hit you a swipe in the +face like a loose rope-end bangin' around in a gale. Adventure an' +profits goes hand in hand----" + +"Then why give the _Maggie II_ to this hound of a mate?" demanded +the single-minded McGuffey. + +The commodore sighed. "She's a love of a boat an' it breaks my +heart to give up the only command I've ever had, but the fact is, +Mac, her possession by us is dangerous, an' we don't need her, +an' we can't sell her because her record's got blurs on it. We +can't convey a clean an' satisfactory title. Anyhow, she didn't +cost us a cent an' there ain't no real financial loss if we give +her to this mate. He'd be glad to get her if she had yellow jack +aboard, an' if he's caught with her he'll have to do the +explainin'. When you're caught with the goods in your possession, +Mac, it makes the explainin' all the harder. Besides, we're three +to one, an' if it comes to a show-down later we can outswear the +mate." + +Captain Scraggs picked his snaggle teeth with the little blade of +his jack-knife and cogitated a minute. + +"Well," he announced presently, "far be it from me to fly in the +face o' a felon's death. I've made a heap o' money, follerin' +Gib's advice, an' bust my bob-stay if I don't stay put on this. +Gib, it's your lead." + +"Well, I'll follow suit. Gib's got all the trumps," acquiesced +the engineer. "We got plenty o' dough an' no board bills comin' +due, so we'll loaf alongshore until Gib digs up somethin' good." + +Mr. Gibney smiled his approval of these sentiments. "Thank you, +boys. I ain't quite sure yet whether we'll quit the sea an' go +into the chicken business, build a fast sea-goin' launch an' +smuggle Chinamen in from Mexico, buy a stern-wheel steamer an' do +bay an' river freightin', or just live at a swell hotel an' +scheme out a fortune by our wits. But whatever I do, as the +leadin' sperrit o' this syndicate, the motto o' the syndicate +will ever be my inspiration: + + "All for one an' one for all-- + United we stand, divided we fall." + +"How about Neils?" queried Captain Scraggs. "Do we continue to +let that ex-deckhand in on our fortunes?" + +"If Neils Halvorsen had asked _you_ that question when he come to +rescue you the day you lay a-dyin' o' thirst on that desert +island, wouldn't you have said yes?" + +"Sure pop." + +"Then don't ask no questions that's unworthy of you," said Mr. +Gibney severely. "I don't want to see none o' them green-pea +trade ethics croppin' up in you, Scraggsy. If it wasn't for that +Swede the sea-gulls'd be pickin' our bones now. Neils Halvorsen +is included in this syndicate for good." + +"Amen." This from the honest McGuffey. + +"Meetin's adjourned," said Captain Scraggs icily. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +Under the direction of the crafty commodore, the valuable cargo +of the _Maggie II_ was disposed of in Honolulu. During the period +while the schooner lay at the dock discharging Captain Scraggs +and McGuffey prudently remained in the cabin with the perfidious +mate, in order that, should an investigation be undertaken later +by the Treasury Department, no man might swear that the real +Phineas Scraggs, filibuster, had been in Honolulu on a certain +date. The Kanaka crew of the schooner Mr. Gibney managed to ship +with an old shipmaster friend bound for New Guinea, so their +testimony was out of the way for a while, at least. + +When the _Maggie II_ was finally discharged and the proceeds of +her rich cargo nestled, in crisp bills of large denomination, in +a money belt under Mr. Gibney's armpits and next his rascally +skin, he purchased tickets under assumed names for himself, +Scraggs, McGuffey, and Halvorsen on the liner _Hilonian_, due to +sail at noon next day. + +These details attended to, the _Maggie II_ backed away from the +dock under her own power and cast anchor off the quarantine +station. The mate was then brought on deck and made to confront +the syndicate. + +"It appears, my man," the commodore began, "that you was too +anxious to horn in on the profits o' this expedition, so in a +moment o' human weakness you did your employers an evil deed. We +had it all figgered out to feed you to the sharks on the way +home, because dead men tell no tales, but our sufferin's on that +island has caused us all to look with a milder eye on mere human +shortcomin's. The Good Book says: 'Forgive us our trespasses as +we forgive those what trespass agin us,' an' I ain't ashamed to +admit that you owe your wicked life to the fact that Scraggsy's +got religion an' McGuffey ain't much better. But we got all the +money we need an' we're goin' to Europe to enjoy it, so before we +go we're goin' to pass sentence upon you. It is the verdict o' +the court that we present you with the power schooner _Maggie II_ +free gratis, an' that you accept the same in the same friendly +sperrit in which it is tendered. Havin' a schooner o' your own +from now on, you won't be tempted to steal one an' commit +wholesale murder a-doin' it. You're forgiven, my man. Take the +_Maggie II_ with our blessin', organize a comp'ny, an' go back to +Kandavu an' make some money for yourself. Scraggsy, are you +a-willin' to prove that you've given this errin' mate complete +forgiveness by shakin' hands with him?" + +"I forgive him freely," said Captain Scraggs, "an' here's my fin +on it." + +The unfortunate mate hung his head. He was much moved. + +"You don't mean it, sir, do you?" he faltered. + +"I hope I may never see the back o' my neck if I don't," replied +the skipper. + +"Surest thing you know, brother," shouted Mr. McGuffey and +swatted the deluded mate between the shoulders. "Take her with +our compliments. You was a good brave mate until you went wrong. +I ain't forgot how you sprayed the hillsides with lead the day +Gib an' Scraggsy was took by them cannibals. No, sir-ee! I ain't +holdin' no grudge. It's human to commit crime. I've committed one +or two myself. Good luck to you, matey. Hope you make a barrel o' +money with the old girl." + +"Thanks," the mate mumbled. "I ain't deservin' o' this nohow," +and he commenced to snivel a little. + +Mr. Gibney forgot that he was playing a hypocrite's part, and his +generous nature overcame him. + +"Dog my cats," he blustered, "what's the use givin' him the +vessel if we don't give him some spondulicks to outfit her with +grub an' supplies? Poor devil! I bet he ain't got a cent to bless +himself with. Scraggsy, old tarpot, if we're goin' to turn over a +new leaf an' be Christians, let's sail under a full cloud o' +canvas." + +"By Neptune, that's so, Gib. This feller did us an awful dirty +trick, but at the same time there ain't a cowardly bone in his +hull carcass. I ain't forgot how he stood to the guns that day +off the Coronados when we was attacked by the Mexicans." + +"Stake the feller, Gib," advised McGuffey, and wiped away a +vagrant tear. He was quite overcome at his own generosity and the +manner in which it had touched the hard heart of the iniquitous +mate. + +Mr. Gibney laid five one-hundred-dollar bills in the mate's palm. + +"Good-bye," he said gently, "an' see if you can't be as much of a +man an' as good a sport hereafter as them you've wronged an' +who's forgive you fully and freely." + +One by one the three freebooters of the green-pea trade pumped +the stricken mate's hand, tossed him a scrap of advice, and went +overside into the small boat which was to take them ashore. It +was a solemn parting and Mr. Gibney and McGuffey were snuffling +audibly. Captain Scraggs, however, was made of sterner stuff. + +"'Pears to me, Gib," he remarked when they were clear of the +schooner, "that you're a little mite generous with the funds o' +the syndicate, ain't you?" + +Mr. Gibney picked up a paddle and threatened Scraggs with it. + +"Dang your cold heart, Scraggs," he hissed, "you're un-Christian, +that's what you are." + +"Quit yer beefin', you shrimp," bellowed McGuffey. "Them +cannibals would have et you if it wasn't for that poor devil of a +mate." + +Captain Scraggs snarled and remained discreetly silent. +Nevertheless, he was in a fine rage. As he remarked _sotto voce_ +to Neils Halvorsen, five hundred dollars wasn't picked up in the +street every day. + +The next day, as the _Hilonian_ steamed out of the harbour, +bearing the syndicate back to San Francisco, they looked across +at the little _Maggie II_ for the last time, and observed that +the mate was on deck, superintending three Kanaka sailors who +were hoisting supplies aboard from a bumboat. + +Commodore Gibney bade his first command a misty farewell. + +"Good-bye, little ship," he yelled and waved his hand. "Gawd! You +was a witch in a light wind." + +"He'll be flyin' outer the harbour an' bound south by sunset," +rumbled McGuffey. "I suppose that lovely gas engine o' mine'll go +to hell now." + +Captain Scraggs sighed dismally. "It costs like sixty to be a +Christian, Gib, but what's the odds as long as we're safe an' +homeward bound? Holy sailor! But I'm hungry for a smell o' +Channel creek at low tide. I tell you, Gib, rovin' and wild +adventure's all right, but the old green-pea trade wasn't so +durned bad, after all." + +"You bet!" McGuffey's response was very fervid. + +"Them was the happy days," supplemented the commodore. He was as +joyous as a schoolboy. Four long years had he been roving and +now, with his pockets lined with greenbacks, he was homeward +bound to his dear old San Francisco--back to steam beer, to all +of his old cronies of the Embarcadero, to moving picture +shows--to Life! And he was glad to get back with a whole skin. + +Seven days after leaving Honolulu, the _Hilonian_ steamed into +San Francisco Bay. The syndicate could not wait until she had +tied up at her dock, and the minute the steamer had passed +quarantine Mr. Gibney hailed a passing launch. Bag and baggage +the happy quartette descended to the launch and landed at Meiggs +wharf. Mr. Gibney stepped into the wharfinger's office and +requested permission to use the telephone. + +"What's up, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. + +"I want to 'phone for a automobile to come down an' snake us up +town in style. This syndicate ain't a-goin' to come rampin' home +to Gawd's country lookin' like a lot o' Eyetalian peddlers. We're +goin' to the best hotel an' we're goin' in _style_." + +McGuffey nudged Captain Scraggs, and Neils Halvorsen nudged Mr. +McGuffey. + +"Hay bane a sport, hay bane," rumbled the honest Neils. + +"You bet he bane," McGuffey retorted. "Ain't he the old kiddo, +Scraggsy? Ain't he? This feller Adelbert P. Gibney's a farmer, I +guess." + +With the assistance of the wharfinger an automobile was summoned, +and in due course the members of the syndicate found themselves +ensconced in a fashionable suite in San Francisco's most +fashionable hotel. Mr. Gibney stored the syndicate's pearls in +the hotel safe, deposited an emergency roll with the hotel clerk, +and banked the balance of the company funds in the names of all +four; after which the syndicate gave itself up to a period of joy +unconfined. + +At the end of a week of riot and revelry Mr. Gibney revived +sufficiently to muster all hands and lead them to a Turkish bath. +Two days in the bath restored them wonderfully, and when the +worthy commodore eventually got them back to the hotel he +announced that henceforth the lid was on--and on tight. Captain +Scraggs, who was hard to manage in his cups and the most prodigal +of prodigals with steam up to a certain pressure, demurred at +this. + +"No more sky-larkin', Scraggsy, you old cut-up," Mr. Gibney +ordered. "We had our good time comin' after all that we've been +through but it's time to get down to business agin. Riches has +wings, Scraggsy, old salamander, an' even if we are ashore, I'm +still the commodore. Now, set around an' we'll hold a meetin'." + +He banged the chiffonier with his great fist. "Meetin' o' the +_Maggie_ Syndicate," he announced. "Meetin'll come to order. The +first business before the meetin' is a call for volunteers to +furnish a money-makin' idee for the syndicate." + +Neils Halvorsen shook his sorrel head. He had no ideas. B. +McGuffey, Esquire, shook his head also. Captain Scraggs wanted to +sing. + +"I see it's up to me to suggest somethin'." Mr. Gibney smiled +benignly, as if a money-making idea was the easiest thing on +earth to produce. "The last thing I remember before we went to +that Turkish bath was us four visitin' a fortune teller an' +havin' our fortunes told, past, present, an' future, for a dollar +a throw. Anybody here remember what his fortune was?" + +It appeared that no one remembered, not even Mr. Gibney. He +therefore continued: + +"The chair will app'int Mr. McGuffey an' himself a committee o' +two to wait on one o' these here clairvoyants and have their +fortunes told agin." + +McGuffey, who was as superstitious as a negro, seconded the +motion heartily and the committee forthwith sallied forth to +consult the clairvoyant. Within the hour they returned. + +"Members o' the syndicate," the commodore announced, "we got an +idea. Not a heluva good one, but fair to middlin'. Me an' Mac +calls on this Madame de What-you-may-call-her an' the minute she +gets a lamp at my mit (it is worthy of remark here that Mr. +Gibney had a starfish tattooed on the back of his left hand, a +full-rigged ship across his breast, and a gorgeous picture of a +lady climbing a ladder adorned the inner side of his brawny right +fore-arm. The feet of the lady in question hung down below the +fringe of Mr. Gibney's shirt sleeve) she up an' says: 'My friend, +you're makin' a grave mistake remainin' ashore. Your fortune lies +at sea.' Then she threw a fit an' mumbled something about a +light-haired man that was' goin' to cross my path. I guess she +must have meant Scraggsy or Neils, both bein' blondes--an' she +come out of her trance shiverin' an' shakin'. + +"'Your fortune lies at sea, my friend,' she kept on sayin'. 'Go +forth an' seek it.' + +"'Gimme the longitude an' latitude, ma'am,' I says, 'an' I'll +light out.' + +"'Look in the shippin' news in the papers to-morrower,' she pipes +up. 'Five dollars, please.'" + +"You didn't give her five dollars, did you?" gasped Captain +Scraggs. "Why, Gib my _dear_ boy, I thought you was sober." + +"So I was." + +"Then, Gib, all I got to say is that you're a sucker. You want to +consult the rest of us before you go throwin' away the funds o' +the syndicate on such tom-fool idees as----" + +McGuffey saw a storm gathering on Mr. Gibney's brows, and +hastened to intervene. + +"Meetin's adjourned," he announced, "pendin' the issue o' the +papers to-morrow mornin'. Scraggsy, you oughter j'ine the Band o' +Hope. You're ugly when you got a drink in you." + +Neils Halvorsen interfered to beg a cigar of Mr. Gibney and the +affair passed over. + +At six o'clock the following morning the members of the syndicate +were awakened by a prodigious pounding at their respective +doors. Answering the summons, they found Mr. Gibney in undress +uniform and the morning paper clutched in his hand. + +"Meetin' o' the _Maggie_ Syndicate in my room," he bawled. "I've +found our fortune." + +The meeting came to order without the formality of dressing, and +the commodore, spreading the paper on his knee, read aloud: + + _For Sale Cheap_ + + The stern-wheel steamer _Victor_, well found, staunch + and newly painted. Boilers and engines in excellent + shape. Vessel must be sold to close out an estate. + Address John Coakley, Jackson Street wharf. + +"How d'ye know she's a fortune, Gib?" McGuffey demanded. "Lemme look at +her engines before you get excited." + +"I ain't sayin' she is," Mr. Gibney retorted testily. "Lemme finish +readin'!" He continued: + + REPORTS PASSING DERELICT + + The steam schooner _Arethusa_, Grays Harbour to Oakland + Long wharf, reports passing a derelict schooner twenty + miles off Point Reyes at six o'clock last night. The + derelict was down by the head, and her rail just showed + above the water. It was impossible to learn her + identity. + + The presence of this derelict in the steamer lanes to + North Pacific ports is a distinct menace to navigation, + and it is probable that a revenue cutter will be + dispatched to-day to search for the derelict and either + tow her into port or destroy her. + +"Gentlemen o' the syndicate, them's the only two items in the +shippin' page that looks likely. The question is, in which lies +our fortune?" + +Neils Halvorsen spoke up, giving it as his opinion that the +fortune-telling lady probably knew her business and that their +fortune really lay at sea. The derelict was at sea. How else, +then, could the prophecy be interpreted? + +"Well, this steamer _Victor_ ain't exactly travelling overland," +McGuffey suggested. He had a secret hankering to mess around some +real engines again, and gave it as his opinion that fortune was +more likely to lurk in a solid stern-wheel steamer with good +engines and boilers than in a battered hulk at sea. Captain +Scraggs agreed with him most heartily and a tie vote resulted, +Mr. Gibney inclining toward the derelict. + +"What're we goin' to do about it, Gib?" Captain Scraggs demanded. + +"When in doubt, Scraggsy, old tarpot, always play trumps. In +order to make no mistake, right after breakfast you an' McGuffey +go down to Jackson Street wharf an' interview this man Coakley +about his steamer _Victor_. You been goin' to sea long enough to +know a good hull when you see it, an' if we can't trust Mac to +know a good set of inner works we'd better dissolve the +syndicate. If you two think she's a bargain, buy her in for the +syndicate. As for me an' Neils, we'll go down to the Front an' +charter a tug an' chase out after that there derelict before the +revenue cutter gets her an' blows her out o' the path o' commerce +with a stick o' dynamite." + +Forthwith Mr. Gibney and Neils, after snatching a hasty +breakfast, departed for the waterfront, where they chartered a +tug for three days and put to sea. At about ten o'clock Captain +Scraggs and McGuffey strolled leisurely down to Jackson Street +wharf to inspect the _Victor_. By noon they had completed a most +satisfactory inspection of the steamer's hull and boilers, and +bought her in for seven thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs was +delighted. He said she was worth ten thousand. Already he had +decided that heavy and profitable freights awaited the syndicate +along the Sacramento River, where the farmers and orchardists had +been for years the victims of a monopoly and a gentlemen's +agreement between the two steamboat lines that plied between +Sacramento, Stockton, and San Francisco. + +On the afternoon of the third day Mr. Gibney and Neils Halvorsen +returned from sea. They were unutterably weary and hollow-eyed +for lack of sleep. + +"Well, I suppose you two suckers found that derelict," challenged +McGuffey. + +"Yep. Found her an' got a line aboard an' towed her in, an' it +was a tough job. She's layin' over on the Berkeley tide flats, +an' at lowtide to-morrow we'll go over an' find out what we've +got. Don't even know her name yet. She's practically submerged." + +"I think you was awful foolish, Gib, buyin' a pig in a poke that +way. I don't believe in goin' it blind. Me an' Mac's bought a +real ship. We own the _Victor_." + +"I'm dead on my feet," growled the commodore, and jumping into +bed he refused to discuss the matter further and was sound asleep +in a jiffy. + +Mr. Gibney was up bright and early and aroused the syndicate to +action. The tide would be at its lowest ebb at nine thirty-one +and the commodore figured that his fortune would be lying well +exposed on the Berkeley tide flats. He engaged a diver and a +small gasoline launch, and after an early breakfast in a +chop-house on the Embarcadero they started for the wreck. + +They were within half a mile of it, heading right into the eye of +the wind, when Captain Scraggs and McGuffey stood erect in the +launch simultaneously and sniffed like a pair of--well, sea-dogs. + +"Dead whale," suggested McGuffey. + +"I hope it ain't Gib's fortune," replied Scraggs drily. + +"Shut up," bellowed Mr. Gibney. He was sniffing himself by this +time, for as the launch swiftly approached the derelict the +unpleasant odour became more pronounced. + +"Betcher that schooner was in collision with a steamer," Captain +Scraggs announced. "She was cut down right through the fo'castle +with the watch below sound asleep, an' this here fragrance +appeals to me as a sure sign of a job for the coroner." + +The commodore shuddered. He was filled with vague misgivings, +but Neils Halvorsen grinned cheerfully. McGuffey got out a +cologne-scented handkerchief and clamped it across his nose. + +"Well, if that's Gib's fortune, it must be filthy lucre," he +mumbled through the handkerchief. "Gib, what _have_ you hooked on +to? A public dump?" + +Mr. Gibney's eyes flashed, but he made no reply. They had rounded +the schooner's stern now, and her name was visible. + +"Schooner _Kadiak_, Seattle," read Scraggs. "Little old three +sticker a thousand years old an' cut clear through just abaft the +foremast. McGuffey, you don't s'pose this here's a pirate craft +an' just bulgin' with gold." + +"Sure," retorted the engineer with a slow wink, "tainted wealth." + +Mr. Gibney could stand their heckling no longer. "Looky here, you +two," he bawled angrily. "I got a hunch I picked up a lemon, but +I'm a-willin' to tackle the deal with Neils if you two think I +didn't do right by the syndicate a-runnin' up a bill of expense +towing this craft into port. I ain't goin' to stand for no +kiddin', even if we are in a five-hundred-dollar towage bill. Man +is human an' bound to make mistakes." + +"Don't kid the commodore, Scraggsy. This aromer o' roses is +more'n a strong man can stand, so cut out the josh." + +"All right, Mac. I guess the commodore's foot slipped this time, +but I ain't squawkin' yet." + +"No. Not _yet_," cried Mr. Gibney bitterly, "but soon." + +"I ain't, nuther," Captain Scraggs assumed an air of injured +virtue. "I'm a-willin' to go through with you, Gib, at a loss, +for nothin' else except to convince you o' the folly o' makin' +this a one-man syndicate. I ain't a-kickin', but I'm free to +confess that I'd like to be consulted _oncet_ in a while." + +"That's logic," rumbled the single-minded McGuffey. + +"You dirty welchers," roared the commodore. "I ain't askin' you +two to take chances with _me_. Me an' Neils'll take this deal +over independent o' the syndicate." + +"Well, let's dress this here diver," retorted the cautious +Scraggs, "an' send him into the hold for a look around before we +make up our minds." Captain Scraggs was not a man to take +chances. + +They moored the launch to the wreck and commenced operations. Mr. +Gibney worked the air pump while the diver, ax in hand, dropped +into the murky depths of the flooded hold. He was down half an +hour before he signalled to be pulled up. All hands sprang to the +line to haul him back to daylight, and the instant he popped +clear of the water Mr. Gibney unburdened himself of an agonized +curse. + +In his hands the diver held a large decayed codfish! + +Captain Scraggs turned a sneering glance upon the unhappy +commodore while McGuffey sat down on the damp rail of the +derelict and laughed until the tears coursed down his honest +face. + +"A dirty little codfishin' schooner," raved Captain Scraggs, "an' +you a-sinkin' the time an' money o' the syndicate in rotten +codfish on the say-so of a clairvoyant you ain't even been +interduced to. Gib, if that's business, all I got to say is: +'Excuse _me_'." + +Mr. Gibney seized the defunct fish from the diver's hand, tore it +in half, slapped Captain Scraggs with one awful fragment and +hurled the other at McGuffey. + +"I'm outer the syndicate," he raved, beside himself with anger. +"Here I go to work an' make a fortune for a pair of short sports an' +pikers an' you get to squealin' at the first five-hundred-dollar +loss. I know you of old, Phineas Scraggs, an' the leopard can't +change his spots." He raised his right hand to heaven. "I'm through +for keeps. We'll sell the pearls to-day, divvy up, an' dissolve. I'm +through." + +"Glad of it," growled McGuffey. "I don't want no more o' that +codfish, an' as soon as we git fightin' room I'll prove to you +that no near-sailor can insult me an' git away with it. Me an' +Scraggsy's got some rights. You can walk on Scraggsy, Gib, but it +takes a man to walk on the McGuffey family." + +Nothing but the lack of sea-room prevented a battle royal. Mr. +Gibney stood glaring at his late partners. His great ham-like +fists were opening and closing automatically. + +"You're right, Mac," he said presently, endeavouring to control +his anger and chagrin. "We'll settle this later. Take that helmet +off the diver an' let's hear what he's got to report." + +With the helmet removed the diver spoke: + +"As near as I can make out, boss, there ain't a thing o' value in +this hulk but a couple o' hundred tons o' codfish. She was cut in +two just for'd o' the bulkhead an' her anchors carried away on +the section that was cut off. She ain't worth the cost o' towin' +her in on the flats." + +"So that codfish has some value," sneered Captain Scraggs. + +"Great grief, Scraggsy! Don't tell me it's sp'iled," cried +McGuffey, simulating horror. + +"No, not quite, Mac, not quite. Just _slightly_. I s'pose Gib'll +tack a sign to the stub o' the main mast: 'Slightly spoiled +codfish for sale. Apply to A.P. Gibney, on the premises. Special +rates on Friday.'" + +Mr. Gibney quivered, but made no reply. He carefully examined +that portion of the derelict above water and discovered that by +an additional expenditure of about fifty dollars he might recover +an equal amount in brass fittings. The _Kadiak's_ house was gone +and her decks completely gutted. Nothing remained but the +amputated hull and the foul cargo below her battered decks. + +In majestic silence the commodore motioned all hands into the +launch. In silence they returned to the city. Arrived here, Mr. +Gibney paid off the launch man and the diver and accompanied by +his associates repaired to a prominent jeweller's shop with the +pearls they had accumulated in the South Seas. The entire lot was +sold for thirty thousand dollars. An hour later they had adjusted +their accounts, divided the fortune of the syndicate equally, and +then dissolved. At parting, Mr. Gibney spoke for the first time +when it had not been absolutely necessary. + +"Put a beggar on horseback an' he'll ride to the devil," he said. +"When you two swabs was poor you was content to let me lead you +into a fortune, but now that you're well-heeled, you think you're +business men. All right! I ain't got a word to say except this: +Before I get through with you two beachcombers I'll have all your +money and you'll be a-beggin' me for a job. I apologize for +soakin' you two with that diseased codfish, an' for old sake's +sake we won't fight. We're still friends, but business associates +no longer, for I'm too big a figger in this syndicate to stand +for any criticism on my handlin' o' the joint finances. +Hereafter, Scraggsy, old kiddo, you an' Mac can go it alone with +your stern-wheel steamer. Me an' The Squarehead legs it together +an' takes our chances. You don't hear that poor untootered Swede +makin' no holler at the way I've handled the syndicate----" + +"But, Gib, my _dear_ boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "will you +just listen to re----" + +"Enough! Too much is plenty. Let's shake hands an' part friends. +We just can't get along in business together, that's all." + +"Well, I'm sorry, Gib," mumbled McGuffey, very much crestfallen, +"but then you hove that dog-gone fish at me an'----" + +"That was fortune hittin' you a belt in the face, Mac, an' you +was too self-conceited to recognize it. Remember that, both of +you two. Fortune hit you in the face to-day an' you didn't know +it." + +"I'd ruther die poor, Gib," wailed McGuffey. + +The commodore shook hands cordially and departed, followed by the +faithful Neils Halvorsen. The moment the door closed behind them +Scraggs turned to the engineer. + +"Mac," he said earnestly, "Gib's up to somethin'. He's got that +imagination o' his workin'. I can tell it every time; he gets a +foggy look in his eyes. We made a mistake kiddin' him to-day. +Gib's a sensitive boy some ways an' I reckon we hurt his feelin's +without intendin' it." + +"He thrun a dead codfish at me," protested McGuffey. "I love old +Gib like a brother, but that's carryin' things with a mighty high +hand." + +"Well, I'll apologize to him," declared Captain Scraggs and +started for the door to follow Mr. Gibney. McGuffey barred his +way. + +"You apologize without my consent an' you gotta buy me out o' the +_Victor_. I won't be no engineer with a skipper that lacks +backbone." + +"Oh, very well, Mac." Captain Scraggs realized too well the value +of McGuffey in the engine room. He knew he could never be happy +with anybody else. "We'll complete the deal with the _Victor_, +ship a crew, get down to business, an' leave Gib to his codfish. +An' let's pay our bill an' get outer here. It's too high-toned +for me--an' expensive." + +For two weeks Captain Scraggs and McGuffey saw no more of Mr. +Gibney and Neils Halvorsen. In the meantime, they had commenced +running the _Victor_ regularly up river, soliciting business in +opposition to the regular steamboat lines. While the _Victor_ was +running with light freights and consequently at a loss, the +prospect for ultimate good business was very bright and Scraggs +and McGuffey were not at all worried about the future. + +Judge of their surprise, therefore, when one morning who should +appear at the door of Scraggs's cabin but Mr. Gibney. + +"Mornin', Gib," began Scraggs cheerily. "I s'pose you been rolled +for your money as per usual, an' you're around lookin' for a job +as mate." + +Mr. Gibney ignored this veiled insult. "Not yet, Scraggsy, I got +about five hundred tons o' freight to send up to Dunnigan's +Landin' an' I want a lump sum figger for doin' the job. We parted +friends an' for the sake o' old times I thought I'd give you a +chance to figger on the business." + +"Thanky, Gib. I'll be glad to. Where's your freight an' what does +it consist of?" + +"Agricultural stuff. It's crated, an' I deliver it here on the +steamer's dock within reach o' her tackles. No heavy pieces. Two +men can handle every piece easy." + +"Turnin' farmer, Gib?" + +"Thinkin' about it a little," the commodore admitted. "What's +your rate on this freight? It ain't perishable goods, so get down +to brass tacks." + +"A dollar a ton," declared the greedy Scraggs, naming a figure +fully forty cents higher than he would have been willing to +accept. "Five hundred dollars for the lot." + +"Suits me." The commodore nonchalantly handed Scraggs five +hundred dollars. "Gimme a receipt," he said. + +So Captain Scraggs gave him a receipted freight bill and Mr. +Gibney departed. An hour later a barge was bunted alongside the +_Victor_ and Neils Halvorsen appeared in Scraggs's cabin to +inform him that the five hundred tons of freight was ready to be +taken aboard. + +"All right, Neils. I'll put a gang to work right off." He came +out on deck, paused, tilted his nose, and sniffed. He was still +sniffing when McGuffey bounced up out of the engine room. + +"Holy Sailor!" he shouted. "Who uncorked that atter o' violets?" + +"You dog-gone squarehead," shrieked Captain Scraggs. "You been +monkeyin' around that codfish again." + +"What smells?" demanded the mate, poking his nose out of his +room. + +"That tainted wealth I picked up at sea," shouted a voice from +the dock, and turning, Scraggs and McGuffey observed Mr. Gibney +standing on a stringer smiling at them. + +"Gib, my _dear_ boy," quavered Captain Scraggs, "you can't mean +to say you've unloaded them gosh-awful codfish----" + +"No, not yet--but soon, Scraggsy, old tarpot." + +Captain Scraggs removed his near-Panama hat, cast it on the deck, +and pranced upon it in a terrible rage. + +"I won't receive your rotten freight, you scum of the docks," he +raved. "You'll run me outer house an' home with that horrible +stuff." + +"Oh, you'll freight it for me, all right," the commodore retorted +blithely. "Or I'll libel your old stern-wheel packet for you. +I've paid the freight in advance an' I got the receipt." + +Captain Scraggs was on the verge of tears. "But, Gib! My _dear_ +boy! This freight'll foul the _Victor_ up for a month o' +Fridays--_an' I just took out a passenger license!_" + +"I'm sorry, Scraggsy, but business is business. You've took my +money an' you got to perform." + +"You lied to me. You said it was agricultural stuff an' I thought +it was plows an' harrers an' sich----" + +"It's fertilizer--an' if that ain't agricultural stuff I hope my +teeth may drop out an' roll in the ocean. An' it ain't perishable. +It perished long ago. I ain't deceived you. An' if you don't like +the scent o' dead codfish on your decks, you can swab 'em down with +Florida water for a month." + +Captain Scraggs's mate came around the corner of the house and +addressed himself to Captain Scraggs. + +"You can give me my time, sir. I'm a steamboat mate, not a grave +digger or a coroner's assistant, or an undertaker, an' I can't +stand to handle this here freight." + +Mr. McGuffey tossed his silken engineer's cap over to Scraggs. + +"Hop on that, Scraggsy. Your own hat is ground to powder. Ain't +it strange, Gib, what little imagination Scraggsy's got? He'll +stand there a-screamin' an' a-cussin' an' a-prancin'--Scraggsy! +Ain't you got no pride, makin' such a spectacle o' yourself? We +don't have to handle this freight o' Gib's at all. We'll just +hook onto that barge _an' tow it up river_." + +"You won't do nothin' o' the sort, Mac, because that's my barge +an' I ain't a-goin' to let it out o' my sight. I've delivered my +freight alongside your steamer and prepaid the freight an' it's +up to you to handle it." + +"Gib!" + +"That's the programme!" + +"Adelbert," crooned Mr. McGuffey, "ain't you got no heart? You +know I got a half interest in the _Victor_----" + +"O-oo-oh!" Captain Scraggs groaned, and his groan was that of a +seasick passenger. When he could look up again his face was +ghastly with misery. + +"Gib," he pleaded sadly, "you got us where the hair is short. +Don't invoke the law an' make us handle that codfish, Gib! It +ain't right. Gimme leave to tow that barge--anything to keep your +freight off the _Victor_, an' we'll pull it up river for you----" + +"Be a good feller, Gib. You usen'ter be hard an' spiteful like +that," urged McGuffey. + +"I'll tow the barge free," wailed Scraggs. + +Mr. Gibney sat calmly down on the stringer and lit a cigar. +Nature had blessed him with a strong constitution amidships and +the contiguity of his tainted fortune bothered him but little. He +squinted over the tip of the cigar at Captain Scraggs. + +"You're just the same old Scraggsy you was in the green-pea +trade. All you need is a ring in yer nose, Scraggsy, to make you +a human hog. Here you goes to work an' soaks me a dollar a ton +when you'd be tickled to death to do the job for half o' that, +an' then you got the gall to stand there appealin' to my +friendship! So you'll tow the barge up free, eh? Well, just to +make the transaction legal, I'll give you a dollar for the job +an' let you have the barge. Skip to it, Scraggsy, an' draw up a +new bill, guaranteein' to tow the barge for one dollar. Then +gimme back $499.00 an' I'll hand you back this receipted freight +bill." + +Captain Scraggs darted into his cabin, dashed off the necessary +document, and returning to the deck, presented it, together with +the requisite refund, to Mr. Gibney, who, in the meantime, had +come aboard. + +"Whatever are you a-goin' to do with this awful codfish, Gib?" he +demanded. + +Mr. Gibney cocked his hat over one ear and blew a cloud of smoke +in the skipper's face. + +"Well, boys, I'll tell you. Salted codfish that's been under +water a long time gets most o' the salt took out of it, an' even +at sea, if it's left long enough, it'll get so durned ripe that +it's what you might call offensive. But it makes good fertilizer. +There ain't nothin' in the world to equal a dead codfish, medium +ripe, for fertilizer. I've rigged up a deal with a orchard +comp'ny that's layin' out a couple o' thousand acres o' young +trees up in the delta lands o' the Sacramento. I've sold 'em the +lot, after first buyin' it from the owners o' the schooner for a +hundred dollars. Every time these orchard fellers dig a hole to +plant a young fruit tree they aims to heave a codfish in the +bottom o' the hole first, for fertilizer. There was upwards o' +two hundred thousand codfish in that schooner an' I've sold 'em +for five cents each, delivered at Dunnigan's Landin'. I figger on +cleanin' up about seven thousand net on the deal. I thought me +an' Neils was stuck at first, but I got my imagination workin'----" + +Captain Scraggs sank limply into McGuffey's arms and the two +stared at the doughty commodore. + +"Hit in the face with a fortune an' didn't know it," gasped poor +McGuffey. "Gib, I'm sure glad you got out whole on that deal." + +"Thanks to a lack o' imagination in you an' Scraggsy I'm about +two hundred an' fifty dollars ahead o' my estimate now, on +account o' the free tow o' that barge. Me an' Neils certainly +makes a nice little split on account o' this here codfish deal." + +"Gib," chattered Scraggs, "what's the matter with reorganizin' +the syndicate?" + +"Be a good feller, Adelbert," pleaded McGuffey. + +Mr. Gibney was never so vulnerable as when one he really loved +called him by his Christian name. He drew an arm across the +shoulders of McGuffey and Scraggs, while Neils Halvorsen stood +by, his yellow fangs flashing with pleasure under his walrus +moustache. + +"So you two boys're finally willin' to admit that I'm the +white-haired boy, eh?" + +"Gib, you got an imagination an' a half." + +"One hundred an' fifty per cent. efficient," McGuffey declared. + +Neils Halvorsen said nothing, but grinned like the head of an +old fiddle. Mr. Gibney appeared to swell visibly, after the +manner of a turkey gobbler. + +"Thanks, Scraggsy--an' you, too, Bart. So you're willin' to admit +that though that there seeress might have helped some the game +would have been deader than it is if it hadn't been for my +imagination?" + +Captain Scraggs nodded and Mr. McGuffey slapped the commodore on +the back affectionately. "Aye bane buy drink in the Bowhead +saloon," The Squarehead announced. + +"Scraggsy! Mac! Your fins! We'll reorganize the syndicate, an' +the minute me an' Neils finds ourselves with a bill o' sale for a +one quarter interest in the _Victor_, based on the actual cost +price, we'll tow this here barge----" + +"An' split the profits on the codfish?" Scraggs queried eagerly. + +"Certainly not. Me an' Neils splits that fifty-fifty. A quarter +o' them profits is too high a price to pay for your friendship, +Scraggsy, old deceitful. Remember, I made that profit after you +an' Mac had pulled out o' the syndicate." + +"That's logic," McGuffey declared. + +"It's highway robbery," Scraggs snarled. "I won't sell no quarter +interest to you or The Squarehead, Gib. Not on them terms." + +"Then you'll load them codfish aboard, or pay demurrage on that +barge for every day they hang around; an' if the Board o' Health +condemns 'em an' chucks 'em overboard I'll sue you an' Mac for my +lost profits, git a judgment agin you, an' take over the _Victor_ +to satisfy the judgment." + +"You're a sea lawyer, Gib," Scraggs retorted sarcastically. + +"You do what Gib says," McGuffey ordered threateningly. +"Remember, I got a half interest in any jedgment he gits agin +us--an' what's more, I object to them codfish clutterin' up my +half interest." + +"You bullied me on the old _Maggie_," Scraggs screeched, "but I +won't be bullied no more. If you want to tow that barge, Mac, you +buy me out, lock, stock, and barrel. An' the price for my half +interest is five thousand dollars." + +"You've sold something, Scraggsy," Mr. McGuffey flashed back at +him, obeying a wink from Mr. Gibney. "An' here's a hundred +dollars to bind the bargain. Balance on delivery of proper +bill-o'-sale." + +While Scraggs was counting the money Mr. Gibney was writing a +receipt in his note book. Scraggs, still furious, signed the +receipt. + +"Now, then, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney affably, "hustle up to the +Custom House, get a formal bill-o'-sale blank, fill her in, an' +hustle back agin for your check. An' see to it you don't change +your mind, because it won't do you any good. If you don't come +through now I can sue you an' force you to." + +"Oh! So you're buyin' my interest, eh?" + +"Well, I'm lendin' Mac the money, an' I got a hunch he'll sell +the interest to me an' Neils without figgerin' on a profit. +You're a jarrin' note in the syndicate, Scraggsy, an' I've come +to that time o' life where I want peace. An' there won't be no +peace on the _Victor_ unless I skipper her." + +Captain Scraggs departed to draw up the formal bill of sale and +Mr. Gibney, drawing The Squarehead and McGuffey to him, favoured +each with a searching glance and said: + +"Gentlemen, did it ever occur to you that there's money in the +chicken business?" + +It had! Both McGuffey and Neils admitted it. There are few men in +this world who have not, at some period of their lives, held the +same view, albeit the majority of those who have endeavoured to +demonstrate that fact have subsequently changed their minds. + +"I thought as much," the commodore grinned. "If I was to let you +two out o' my sight for a day you'd both be flat busted the day +after. So we won't buy no farm an' go in for chickens. We'll sell +the _Victor_ an' buy a little tradin' schooner. Then we'll go +back to the South Seas an' earn a legitimate livin'." + +"But why'll we sell the _Victor_?" McGuffey demanded. "Gib, she's +a love of a boat." + +"Because I've just had a talk with the owners o' the two +opposition lines an' they, knowin' me to be chummy with you an' +Scraggsy, give me the tip to tell you two that you could have +your choice o' two propositions--a rate war or a sale o' the +_Victor_ for ten thousand dollars. That gets you out clean an' +saves your original capital, an' it gits Scraggsy out the same +way, while nettin' me an' Neils five hundred each." + +"A rate war would ruin us," McGuffey agreed. "In addition to +sourin' Scraggsy's disposition until he wouldn't be fit to live +with. Gib, you're a wonder." + +"I know it," Mr. Gibney replied. + +Within two hours Captain Scraggs's half interest had passed into +the hands of McGuffey, and half an hour later the _Victor_ had +passed into the hands of the opposition lines, to be operated for +the joint profit of the latter. Later in the day all four members +of the syndicate met in the Bowhead saloon, where Mr. Gibney +explained the deal to Captain Scraggs. The latter was dumfounded. + +"I had to fox you into selling," the commodore confessed. + +"But how about them defunct codfish, Gib?" + +"I got the new owners to agree to tow 'em up at a reasonable +figger. When I've cleaned up that deal, we'll buy a schooner an' +run South again." + +"You'll run without me, Gib," Scraggs declared emphatically. +"I've had a-plenty o' the dark blue for mine. I got a little +stake now, so I'm going to look around an' invest in a----" + +"A chicken ranch," McGuffey interrupted. + +"Right-O, Bart. How'd you guess it?" + +"Imagination," quoth McGuffey, tapping his forehead, +"imagination, Scraggsy." + +Something told Mr. Gibney that it would be just as well if he did +not insist upon having Scraggs as a member of his crew. So he did +not insist. In the afternoon of life Mr. Gibney was acquiring +common sense. + +Three weeks later Mr. Gibney had purchased, for account of his +now abbreviated syndicate, the kind of power schooner he desired, +and the Inspectors gave him a ticket as master. With The +Squarehead as mate and Mr. McGuffey as engineer and general +utility man, the little schooner cleared for Pago Pago on a day +when Captain Scraggs was too busy buying incubators to come down +to the dock and see them off. + +And for aught the chronicler of this tale knows to the contrary, +the syndicate may be sailing in that self-same schooner to this +very day. + +THE END + + + + +_There's More to Follow!_ + + +More stories of the sort you like; more, probably, by the author +of this one; more than 500 titles all told by writers of +world-wide reputation, in the Authors' Alphabetical List which +you will find on the _reverse side_ of the wrapper of this book. +Look it over before you lay it aside. There are books here you +are sure to want--some, possibly, that you have _always_ wanted. + +It is a _selected_ list; every book in it has achieved a certain +measure of _success_. + +The Grosset & Dunlap list is not only the greatest Index of Good +Fiction available, it represents in addition a generally accepted +Standard of Value. It will pay you to + +_Look on the Other Side of the Wrapper!_ + +_In case the wrapper is lost write to the publishers for a +complete catalog._ + + + + +PETER B. KYNE'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR + +When two strong men clash and the under-dog has Irish blood in +his veins--there's a tale that Kyne can tell! And "the girl" is +also very much in evidence. + + +KINDRED OF THE DUST + +Donald McKay, son of Hector McKay, millionaire lumber king, falls +in love with "Nan of the Sawdust Pile," a charming girl who has +been ostracized by her townsfolk. + + +THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS + +The fight of the Cardigans, father and son, to hold the Valley of +the Giants against treachery. The reader finishes with a sense of +having lived with big men and women in a big country. + + +CAPPY RICKS + +The story of old Cappy Ricks and of Matt Peasley, the boy he +tried to break because he knew the acid test was good for his +soul. + + +WEBSTER: MAN'S MAN + +In a little Jim Crow Republic in Central America, a man and a +woman, hailing from the "States," met up with a revolution and +for a while adventures and excitement came so thick and fast that +their love affair had to wait for a lull in the game. + + +CAPTAIN SCRAGGS + +This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion +sea-faring men--a Captain Scraggs, owner of the green vegetable +freighter Maggie, Gibney the mate and McGuffey the engineer. + + +THE LONG CHANCE + +A story fresh from the heart of the West, of San Pasqual, a +sun-baked desert town, of Harley P. Hennage, the best gambler, +the best and worst man of San Pasqual and of lovely Donna. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +EMERSON HOUGH'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's +list. + + +THE COVERED WAGON + +NORTH OF 36 + +THE WAY OF A MAN + +THE STORY OF THE OUTLAW + +THE SAGEBRUSHER + +THE GIRL AT THE HALFWAY HOUSE + +THE WAY OUT + +THE MAN NEXT DOOR + +THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURE + +THE BROKEN GATE + +THE STORY OF THE COWBOY + +THE WAY TO THE WEST + +54-40 OR FIGHT + +HEART'S DESIRE + +THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE + +THE PURCHASE PRICE + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +RUBY M. AYRE'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +RICHARD CHATTERTON + +A fascinating-story in which love and jealousy play strange +tricks with women's souls. + + +A BACHELOR HUSBAND + +Can a woman love two men at the same time? + +In its solving of this particular variety of triangle "A Bachelor +Husband" will particularly interest, and strangely enough, +without one shock to the most conventional minded. + + +THE SCAR + +With fine comprehension and insight the author shows a terrific +contrast between the woman whose love was of the flesh and one +whose love was of the spirit. + + +THE MARRIAGE OF BARRY WICKLOW + +Here is a man and woman who, marrying for love, yet try to build +their wedded life upon a gospel of hate for each other and yet +win back to a greater love for each other in the end. + + +THE UPHILL ROAD + +The heroine of this story was a consort of thieves. The man was +fine, clean, fresh from the West. It is a story of strength and +passion. + + +WINDS OF THE WORLD + +Jill, a poor little typist, marries the great Henry Sturgess and +inherits millions, but not happiness. Then at last--but we must +leave that to Ruby M. Ayres to tell you as only she can. + + +THE SECOND HONEYMOON + +In this story the author has produced a book which no one who has +loved or hopes to love can afford to miss. The story fairly leaps +from climax to climax. + + +THE PHANTOM LOVER + +Have you not often heard of someone being in love with love +rather than the person they believed the object of their +affections? That was Esther! But she passes through the crisis +into a deep and profound love. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +GEORGE W. OGDEN'S WESTERN NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset & Dunlap's +list. + + +THE BARON OF DIAMOND TAIL + +The Elk Mountain Cattle Co. had not paid a dividend in years; so +Edgar Barrett, fresh from the navy, was sent West to see what was +wrong at the ranch. The tale of this tenderfoot outwitting the +buckaroos at their own play will sweep you into the action of +this salient western novel. + + +THE BONDBOY + +Joe Newbolt, bound out by force of family conditions to work for +a number of years, is accused of murder and circumstances are +against him. His mouth is sealed; he cannot, as a gentleman, +utter the words that would clear him. A dramatic, romantic tale +of intense interest. + + +CLAIM NUMBER ONE + +Dr. Warren Slavens drew claim number one, which entitled him to +first choice of rich lands on an Indian reservation in Wyoming. +It meant a fortune; but before he established his ownership he +had a hard battle with crooks and politicians. + + +THE DUKE OF CHIMNEY BUTTE + +When Jerry Lambert, "the Duke," attempts to safeguard the cattle +ranch of Vesta Philbrook from thieving neighbors, his work is +appallingly handicapped because of Grace Kerr, one of the chief +agitators, and a deadly enemy of Vesta's. A stirring tale of +brave deeds, gun-play and a love that shines above all. + + +THE FLOCKMASTER OF POISON CREEK + +John Mackenzie trod the trail from Jasper to the great sheep +country where fortunes were being made by the flock-masters. +Shepherding was not a peaceful pursuit in those bygone days. +Adventure met him at every turn--there is a girl of course--men +fight their best fights for a woman--it is an epic of the +sheeplands. + + +THE LAND OF LAST CHANCE + +Jim Timberlake and Capt. David Scott waited with restless +thousands on the Oklahoma line for the signal to dash across the +border. How the city of Victory arose overnight on the plains, +how people savagely defended their claims against the "sooners;" +how good men and bad played politics, makes a strong story of +growth and American initiative. + + +TRAIL'S END + +Ascalon was the end of the trail for thirsty cowboys who gave +vent to their pent-up feelings without restraint. Calvin Morgan +was not concerned with its wickedness until Seth Craddock's +malevolence directed itself against him. He did not emerge from +the maelstrom until he had obliterated every vestige of +lawlessness, and assured himself of the safety of a certain +dark-eyed girl. + +_Ask for Complete free list of G. & D. Popular Copyrighted +Fiction_ + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +EDGAR RICE BURROUGH'S NOVELS + +May be had wherever books are sold. 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