Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, April 15, 1922, Page 2

L e A et e T { { 1 _cliff, albeit the engine room SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER 1. — Captain Phineas P. Scraggs_has grown up around the docks of San Francisco, and from mess boy on a_river steamer, risen to the ownership of the steamer Maggle. Since each un- nual inspection promised to be the last of ‘the old weatherbeaten vessel naturally_has some difficulty in s a crew. When the story opens, Adelbert P. Gibney, likable but erratic, a man whom nobody_but Scraggs would hire, is the skipper, Neils Halvorsen, a solemn Swede, constitutes the fo'castle hands, and Bart McGuifey, a wastrel of the Gib- ney type, reigns in’ the engine roum. B e S S W T (Continued from last issue) CHAPTER II. CaptainScraggs and :The Square- liend partook first of the ham and eggs, coffec and bread, which the skipper prepared. Scraggs then pre- pared - siwilur meal for Mr. Gibney and McGutfey, set it in the oven to’ keep warm, and descended to the en- gine raom to relieve MeGuffey for din- ner. 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 tog; following her custom she pro- ceeded In absolute silence, although as «a partinl offset to the extreme li to collision with other ¢ Wi due to the non-whistling rule aboard the Maggie, Mr. Gibney had Iald a course half a mile inside the usual steamer lanes, albeit due to his over- whelming 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. 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 Dedro; when I whistle we ought to catch the echo thrown back by the cliff. Listen for It." Promptly at eight o'clock Mr. Me- Guffey was horrified to see his steam. | gauge drop half a pound as the Mag- gle's siren sounded. Mr, Gibney stuck his Ingenlous head out of the pilot house and listened, but no answering 1 But No Answering Echo Reached His Ears, echo reached his ears, thing? he bawled. “Heurd the Maggie's siren,” Captain Seraggs retorted venomously. Mr. Gibney leaped out on deck, se- leeted o smadl head of eabbage 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 i with the euft of his wateh: “Hear any- gluss, und studied (he Instrument care- | fully. “I don’t trust the danged thing™ he muttered. “Guess I'll haul her oft | a coupler points an' try the whistle | again.” He did. Still no echo. He was ins clined to belleve that Captain Sernggs had not read the taffrail log correctly, and when at eight-thirty he tried the whistle agatn he was still without re- sults in the way of an echo from' the ho wler brought him several of n profuse char- acter from the perspiring MeG “We've passed Pedro,” Mr. ‘Gibne; decided. He ground his cud ajid mut- tered ugly things to himself. for his dend reckoning had gone astray and he was worrieds. The fog, if; anything, Time passed. Suddenly Mr. Gibney thrilled electrically to a shrill ylp 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 liké nothin’ else in life but breakers?” Gibney retorted wrathfully. “I alw’t certain, Gib.” Instantly Gibney signaled McGuffey for half speed ahead. “Breakers on the starboard bow,” yelled Cuptaln Seraggs. | “Port bow,” The Squarehead cor- rected him. | “Oh, my great patience!” Mr. Gib- ney groaned. “They’re on both bows an’ we're headed straight for the beach. Here's where we all go to the | devil 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 thg 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 efficlent McGuffey promptly kicked her wide open, and the Fates decreed that, having done 50, Mr. MeGuffey should forthwith climb the ladder and thrust his head out on deck for a breath of fresh air. Instantly a chorus of shricks up on the fo'eastle head at- tracted his attention to such a degree that he failed to hear the engine room howler as Mr. Gibney blew frantically into fit, Presently, out of the hubbub for- ward, Mr. MecGuffey heard Captaln Seingzgs wall frantiealty: “Stop her! For the love of heaven, stop her!” In- stantly 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 h “She's set nstern, Gib. She'll ease up In a minute.” “You know it significantly. The Maggle climbed lazily to the crest of a long oily roller, slid reck- lessly down the other side, and took the followlng sen 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 com- munieated his desires to Mcuftey, he spun the wheel frantically in a be- Inted effort to s wing the Maggie's dirty nose out to seap “Nothing lluh‘j'.“ he snarled. “She’ll Gibney answered have to come t a complete stop before she begins to walk backwird and get age way on again. She’ll bump as sure as depth an’ taxes.” She did—with 2 erack that shook the rigging andl caused it to rattle like buckshots In %@ pan. A terrible cry—~ such n cry, [indeed, as might burst from the lips; of a mother secing her only child ruiy down by the Limited— burst from popr Captain Seraggs, “My ship! My slhip!” he howled. “My dakling little Maggie! They've killed e }dlle-l you! The dirty The -succee fling wave lifted the Mag- gle oft the b-pach, carried her in some fifty feet further, and deposited her gently on thwe sand. She heeled over to port a lit2le and rested there as if she was vi ., very weary, nor could all the thr eshing of her screw in re- verse haul her off again. The surf, dashing in wunder her fantail, had more power thim MeGuftey's engines, and, foot by foot, the Maggie proceeded to dig herself In. Mr. Gibney listened for fives minutes to the uproar that rose from the howels of the little steamar teefore he whistled up Mr. McGuftey. i “KPil her, kil her,” he ordered. “Yoy'r wheel will bite into the sand first (hing you know, and tear the stevn off her. You're shakin’ the old it to places. “McGuffey killed his engine, hanked 1 fires, and came up on deck, wiping Als anxious face with a fearfully flithy sweat rag. . At the sanw time Scraggs eils Halvorsen scame crawling aft ov-er the decklond and when they' reachied the clear space around the pliot, house, Captain Seraggs threw his brown derby on’ the deck and leaped upou 1t until,ohis 1age abating ulti- matiely, no power on earth, in the air, or under the ‘'sea, could possibly have! rehaibilitated it and wendered it fig for further wear, even by Captain Seraggs, Tids petulant practice of jumping on his hat vas a habdt with Seraggs whenever anything annoyed him par- tlcularly and was always infallible evi- dence that a simple” declarative sen- tence had ' stuck inhfs throat. “Well, ,old whirling - dervish,” Mr. Gibney cemanded calmly when Seraggs paused for lack of breath to continue his daisce, “what about it? We're up Salt Coeek vithout a_paddie; the devil to pay and no pitch hot.” “McGulfey's fived!” Captain Scraggs sereeched. “Come, come, Scraggsy, old tarpot,” Mr. Gibney soothed. “This ain’t no time for fightin’. -Thinkin’ an’ actin’ i$ all that saves the Maggie now.” But Captain Scraggs was beyond reason. = “McGuftey's fired! McGuf- fey's fired!” he reiterated. “The dirty rotten wharf rat! Call yourself an engineer?” he continued witheringl “As an engineer you're a howling suc. cess at shoemakin’, you slob. Tl fix your clock for you, my hearty.. Tl have your ticket took away from you. no Chinaman's’ dream “How're We to Get My Maggie Off the Beach?” “It's all -my fault runnin’ by dead reckonin’,” the honest Gibney pro- tested. “Mac ain’t to fault. The en- gine room telegraph busted an’ he got the wrong signal.” “It’s his business to sce to it that he's got an engine room telegraph that wor'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 und stood prepared to kick Mr. McGuffey in the fuce should that worthy venture up after him. “I can’t persuade you to git me nothin® that T ought to have. I'm tired workin® with junk an’ scraps an’ cop- per wire fnd plecés o' string. I'm through “You're right—you're through, be- cause you're fired!” Seraggs shrieked in insane rage. “Get off my ship, you maritime impostor, or I'll take a pistol to ou. Overboard with you, you greasy, addlepated hounder! You're rotten, understand? Rotten! Rotten! Rotten " “You owe me eight dollars an’ six bits, Serag Mr. McGuffey reminded his owner calmly. “Chuck down the spondulicks an’ I'li get off your ship.” Captain Sceraggs was beyond reason, so ae tossed the money down to the engineer. “Now git,” he commanded. Without further ado, Mr. McGuffey deckload to the Scraggs could not see fo'castle head. him but he could hear him—so he pelted the engineer with potatoes, cab- bage heads and onions, the vegetables descending about the honest McGuffey In a veritable barrage. Kven in the darkness several of these missiles took effect. Upon reaching the very apex of the rgie’s bow, Mr. McGuffey turned and hurled a promise into the dark- : “If we ever meet again, I'll make Mrs. Scraggs a wid- ow. ste that in your hat—when you get a new one.” The Maggie was resting easily on the beach, with the broken water from the Jong lazy combers surging well up above her water line. At most, six feet of water awaited the engineer, who stood, peering shoreward and lis- tening intently, oblivious to the stray missiles which whizzed past. Preseut- Iy, 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 witht sparks radiating faintly from it. That settled matters for Bartholo- mew MecGuffey. The metallic sound was the protest from the wheels of a Clft house trolley car curve; the blue flame was nn 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 ovetboard, ‘scrambled ashore, made his way up the beach to the great highway which flanks the shove line between the CIN house and Ingleside, sought a rondhouse, and warmed his interior with four fingers of whisky neat. Then, feeling quite content with himself, even in s wet garments, he boarded a city-bound trolley car and departed for the warmth and hospital- ity ‘of Scal' Johiiny's sailor boarding | house in Oregon street. | captain Scraggs sat down on the half-emptied crate ‘of vegetables and commienced to weep bitterly—half be- cause of rage and half heeause he re- | garded himself a pauper. Already (he had a vision of himself scouring the waterfront in search of a joh. “No use boo-hooin' over spilt milk, | Sernggsy.” Always philosophical, the {nuthor of the owner's woe sought to | earry the disaster off<lightly. “Don't |nda your sult tears to a saltier sea until ycu're certain you're a total loss an’_no insurance. I got yor to_this rounding a | a Wave swept past him, he leaped | and ¥ suppose {€%.up fo nié to get you off, so I guess I'll commence opera- Suiting the action to the word, ney grasped the whistle cord | M, and a strange, sad, sneezing, wheezy moan resembling the expiring protest of a lusty pig and gradunlly increasing into a long-drawn but respectable whistle rewarded his effor For once, he could afford to be prodigal with the steam, and while it lasted Ahere could be no apistaking the fact £ the enormity of the disaster whie! had 6\'er(x|ken him. In his agony H 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 interfupting for au in- stant 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 oft whole? Answer me that, Gib. Answer me, I say. How're we to get my Maggie off the bench?” Mr. Gibney shook himself loose from that frantic grip and continued his pull on the whistle until the Maggie, taking a e note, quavered, moaned, spat steam a minute and subsided with what might be termed a nautical sob. “Now, see what youwve done?” he bawled. “You've made me bust the whistl wer my question, Gib.” “We'll never get her off if you don’t quit interferin’ an’ give me tiwe to T'll admit there ain’t much of chance, because it's dead low water now sn’ just as soon as the tide is at the flood she’ll drive further up the beach an’ fall apart.” “Perhaps McGuffey will have henrt enough to telephone into the city for a tug” o, n't searcely probable, Seraggsy. You abused him vile an’ threw a lot of fodder “p sh I'd been took with paralysis Seraggs wailed bitterly. “Yow'd jump ashore, Gib, an’ *phone in. »'re just below the Cliff house and an run up to one o’ them beach rts an’ 'phone in to the Red Stack z Boat compnuy.” ouldn't be ethics for me, the ered master o' the Maggie, to desert the ship, Scraggsy, old stick-in- the-mud. What's the matter with get- tin’ 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. Thére's a good fellow.” aggsy, you're deludin’ yourself. Show me a tugboat skipper that would come out here on a night like this to pick up the S. §. Maggie, two decks an' no bottom an’ londed with garden | truck, an’ ¥l wag my ears an’ look | at the back o’ my, neck. She ain't worth it.” fifteen hundred hard cash dollars for her.” “Fourtcen 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 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 llen on the Maggie—" “Steamer ahoy!” came a voice from the beach. “Man with a megaphone,” Mr. Gib- ney cried. “Ahoy! Ahoy, there!” “Whe are you an’ what's the trou- ble?” i self to “Amerlcan steiyner Mag—" | Mr., Gibney sprang upon him tiger- ishly, placed a horny, tobacco-smelling palm across Scraggs’ mouth and effec- tively 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?” i “Just outside the Gate. Half a mile o' the Cliff hous “Telephone in for a tug. We're in nice shape, restin’ easy, but our rud- der's gone an' the after web o' the erank shaft busted. Telephone in, my man, an’ I'll make it up to you Who answer: { when we get a sate anchorage. are you?” “Lindstrom, of the Golden Gate Life Saving station.” “I'll not forget you, Lindstrom. My | owners are Yankees, but they're sports.” right. TI'll telephone. | (tod ‘speed you,” murmured Mr. Gibney, and released his hold on Cap- tain Seraggs, 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'1l hold,” Gibuey retorted dogged- ly. “It'sia tule fog. They always hold. Quit huggin’ me. Your breath’s bad.” Captain Scraggs, hurled foreibly backward, bumped into the pilot hous but lost none of his enthusiasm. “You're a jewel,” he declared. “Oh. man, what a hend! Whatever made you think of the Yankee Prince?” “Because,” Mr. calmly, “there ain’t no such ship, this (Continued on Page 3) t here was a stéamer in dir¢ dis, tress, 2 el The weird cail for nelp brought Sera wround to a fuller realization $ | “Ain’t worth it! Why, man, T paid Captain Secraggs took it upon him- | On my | Gibney answered | SKETCHES WCN THE RECRUITS | ;5 lird now ever stays away from his show. He Is at present busy & " sketching prominent mewmbers of the | g 1 va;“:f:'?,"s Crayon Artist, Now | Ajerican Legion, outside of “hours,” | S bt \ o of vine Promi- * | for publication in newspapers. i b 9gion . Hen. When “Hap” enlisted in the marine E 5 % " s at Parls island, a red-necked 2 Alvan C. (“Hap”) Hadley, crayon | corbe 5 1 o expert and ex-marine, travels with a ffi:fi‘:{:‘s apkeds Rl whobhisicocies i: 5 ](f‘":':“t‘l‘_"‘,‘:"'e iy “Artist,” satd Hap. < b probably re:crull- So the sergeant put him to work ‘i‘ o8, ingiv marines white-washing . garbage cans. The Northern 'and - North- by Nis laver crowning disappointment - ‘of ' Hep's western, Minnesota 4! aletelies; . durlng life is that he never ran across that Agent ‘for > i’tluim Aty sergeant again. 8! jor. ; Individuid. _— Packard and Bond Noyoje thit ever Use of Oil Long Ago. | Pianos “Jooked ‘very ‘hard e of his pic- g8 ever stayed out (of ‘the ma- rines, and no one that Oil from natural springs in Sicily was used inlamps in the temple of Jupiter at Rome-and oil-fed lamps were burned in other temples and in rich' men's homies. Bemidji looks, 1213 Lake Blvd. Phone 623-J Minn. 3 HOUSE CLEANING TIME Finds yoy, no doubt, with many things that you Jjust dread to wash, such as Curtains, Blankets, Comforters, Feather Pillows and the like. LET US WASH AND CLEAN THEM FOR YOU! We are equipped with the machinery to do the week right—and at an Insignificant cost. JUST CALL 195 AND WE’'LL CALL AND GET IT Lace Curtains; per pair 5i0e Comforters, each ... 35¢ Cotton Blankets, per pair ... Wool Blankets, per pair ... Feather Pillows, each ..... ‘Bemidji Steam Laundry X Nt 2 // LATE To Try For The Prizes In The Pioneer Puzzle Contest APRIL 15, IT WILL BE ENTERED. IT COSTS YOU NOTHING—UNLESS * YOU WANT TO TRY FOR THE BIGGEST PRIZE. IS NOT TOO HAVE YOUR PUZZLES IN TO THE PIONEER OFFICE BY 6 O’CLOCK TONIGHT—OR: IF YOUR LETTER SHOWS A POST-MARK OF SATURDAY, et dotabl bbb bk ot olmbosiatids e o