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PSS = eS || AG ween. Ye me Ker wv. a ee \ > Toma SY im thy . ol would hire, is eile Tse foie: wastrel of the Gib- is & rich salvage. Two tugs succeed in the Maggie into water, and she slips her tow lines gets away in the fog. OBA Fae aan 5 om them, Captal: erty, comman@in; the ident! keo ince” 4 the Ddecome known along the water Rhee hosts visit oe teeiiae a 4 in Captain * new boiler and make needed re: te the steamer, Sc eertes tens Soe en en. a Tatrike With, marvelous. idek & fresh crew. At the ens of wild convivisilty Gibney are stranded and nate aoe Sateen Sh ‘there wey Francisco they sight San or on Gioney and McGuftey swim ict proves to the Ghenadonker fichiy iadeh Tis ene tre crew stricken with ecurvy. ‘onegeal to the task and. Gioney en » alone, sail the ship to San thelr ‘salvage money amount- to $1,000 apiece. crew ipo. deserter a Captain in; to return. At an “old horse” the two mysterious Doxes which ey delleve to contain smuggled “Oriental i” shay find, instead, two dead men. servec but to increase the respect of Gin Seng for the master of the | and confirmed him in his belief that the Maggie was « smuggler. Captain Scraggs took his visitor in- side th titte cabin, carcfully locked and bolted the door, lifted the zinc flap back from the top of the crate of “Oriental goods” and displayed the {ace of the dead Chinaman. Also he potnted to the Chinese characters on the wooden Tid of the crate. “What does these hen scratches mean?” demanded Scraggs. “This man {s 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. “AU right,” he said cheerlly; “much obliged. Now, what I want to know is what the Hop Sing totig 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 im a sinc coffin, inside a nice plain wood box, labels ‘em ‘Oriental goods,’ sn’ consigns ‘em to the Gin Seng company, 714 Dupont street, San Francisco. Now, why are these two countrymen 0’ 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 herce sale?” Gin Seng shragged his shoulders and replied that he didn't understand. “You lle," cparied Captain Scraggs, “You suvey 2°! right, you fat old idol, you! It's because ‘¢ the railroad com- pany knew these twe boxes contained dead corpses they'd a-soaked the rela- tives, 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 chipped by freight, an’ aims to spend a dollar an’ thirty cents eacit on ‘em, by markin’ ‘em ‘Oriental Helluva way to treat a rela- lon, Mow, looky here, you bloody heathen. It'll cost you just five bun- dred dollars to recover these two stiffs, an’ close my mouth. If you don't come through I'll make a belch t’ th' newspapefs an’ they’! keel haul an’ skulldrag th’ Chinese Six Compa- nies an’ the Hop Sing tong through the courts for evadin’ th’ laws o’ th’ inter state 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’ {s cheap, Charley. ] How do I know but what these two poor boys has been murdered tn 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 end consult with his com- pany. For reasons of his own he was badly frightened. Scarce had he departed before the watchful eye of Captain Scraggs ob- served Mr, Gibney and MoGuffey in the offing, @ block away, When they lege goin’ to make « land! “—then I deduct that this body- snatchin’ Scraggs—" “They're boardin’ us, Gib.” “—has arranged with yon fat China- man 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 fores in Chris- tendom! I'll fish around an’ see what figger Scraggs charged him,” and Mr. Gibney stepped to the rail to meet Gin Seng, for it was indeed he. “Sow-see, sow-see, hun-gay,” Mr. Gibney saluted the Chinnman in a facetious attempt to talk the latter's language. “Hello, there, John China. man. How's your liver? Captain he alle 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 dland, tnscruta- ble 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 mon: ¢y you wantee, No can do, Me pay two hundred dollah. Five hundred dol- lah heap muchee, No have got.” dollars an" not a penny less. Put up the dough or beat It.” obdurate end eventually the China man pald over the money and departed of his countrymen. with the remati “I knew he'd come through, Bart,’ with the sperrits o’ the departed for ever after.” have to split this swag with that dirt? Seraggs?” McGuffey wanted to know. “Seein’ as how he tried to sive uz the double cross—" {9¥e'll fix Scraggsy—all ship-shape gal _so's Ne won't beve no come not long to wait. his arrival at Gin Seng’s place of busl- ness Captain Scraggs had been in- formed that Gin Seng had gone out twenty minutes before, and further in- quiry revealed that he had departed {no an express wagon. Consumed with misgivings of disaster, Scraggs re. turned to the Maggie as fast as the cable car and his Jegs could carry him. In the cabin he found Mr. Gibney and McGoffey playing eribbage. -They Inid down their hands as Scraggs entered. Mr, Gibney began at once: “To show you what a funny world this Is, while me an’ Bart's settin’ on deck a-waitin’ for you to come back, along breezes a fat olf Chinaman in an ex- press wagon an’ offers to buy them two cases of Oriental goods. He makes me an’ Mac what we considers a fair offer. Lemme see, now,” he continued, and got out a stub of lead pencil with which he commenced figuring on the white oficloth ‘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 {s seven, an’ seven dollars from twen- ty-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-break- in' interest charges or overhead, an’ sold out at your own figger.” Captain Scraggs’ face wes a study in conflicting emotions as he raked in the elghteen dollars. “Thenks, Gib,” he sald frigidly. “Me en’ Gib's goin’ ashore for lunch at the Marigold cafe,” McGuffey an- nounced presently, {n order to break the horrible silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. “I'm will- hy’ to spend some o’ my profits on the deai an* blow you to a lunch with a small Sottle o' Dago Red thrown tn, How about it, Scraggs?” “Tm on.” Scraggs sought to throw off his gloom and appear sprightly. “What'd you pedile them two cadavers for, Gib” : ‘Mr. Gibney grinned broadly, but did not answer. effect, his grin tn- formed Scraggs that that was none of the latter's business—and Scrages as- similated the hint, “Well, at any rate, Gib, whatever you soaked him, {t was a mighty good sale an’.I congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha’ done a Uttle better myself, but then it ain’t every day a feller. can turn an elghteen-dollar trick on a corpse.” “Comin’ to lunch with us?” McGut- fey demanded. “Sure. Welt a minute till I ron forward an’ see if the lines is all fast.” conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck, Gibney winked at McGuffey, “Nother new hat gone to h—1,” mur “Nothin’ doin’, John. Five hundred Gin Seng expostulated, led, evaded, and all but wept, but Mr. Gibney was side thelr ancestors or be tn Dutch : ; aah j iF 5323 Pairs tn the engine room. U come through in balance be owes, goin’ to Ubel the Maggle to their ciatm.” Mr. Gibney arched his bushy eye brows. “How do you know?" he de- manded. “He was e-tellin’ me,” Mr. McGuffey admitted weakly. “Well, he wasn't e-tollin’ me.” Glbney’s tones were ominous; glared at bis friend suspiciously as from the Maggie's cabin issued forth Scraggsy's voice raised in song. “Hello! The. old boy's thermome- ter’s gone up, Bart, Listen at him. ‘Ever o’ thee he'a fondly dreamip’.’ i 3 E j i Mr. “Bart,” He Demanded, “Did You Loan Scraggsy Some Money?” menaced Mr. McGuffey with a rigid index finger. “Bart,” be 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 elght per cent. The savin'’s bank only pays four.” is the note secured by endorse- it 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.” — “Well, Scraggsy was feelin’ so dog- goned blie——” “The truth,” Mr. Gibney insisted firmly, “the truth, Bart.” ~ “Well, Scraggsy asked me not to say anythin to you about it.” “Sure. He knew Id kill the deal. He knew better’n to try to nick me for three hundred bucks on his worthless note. Bart, why'd you do it?’ “Ob, h—ll, 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. “TI 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 bea lot older’n you are dow, 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, 80 from now on you go your way an’ TT go mine.” “I got a right to do as I blasted please with my money,” McGuffey de- fended hotly. “I ain't no child to be lectured to.” “Considerin’ the fact that you wouldn't have had the money to lend if 1t hadn't been for mie, I allow I'm in- sulted when you use the said money to give aid an’ comfort to my enemy. Tm through.” McGnuffey, smothered in guilt, felt neverthel that he bad to stand by his guns, so to speak. “Stay through, if you feel like it,” he retorted. “Where aye get that chatter? Atn't I free, white, an’ twenty-one year old?" Mr, Gibney was really hurt. “You poor boob,” he murmured. “It's the old gam gettin’ a beggar on horse- back seein’ him ride to the devil, or sifppin’ a gold ring in a pig’s nosé, An’ I figured you was my friend!” “Well, ain't 11” “Fooey! Fooey! Don't talk to me, You'd sell out your own mother.” pee you tryin’ to pick a fight with mey” “No, but I would if I thought I wouldn't git a footrace instead,” Glb- ney’ rejoined scathingly. “Cfipes, what a double-crossin’ I been handed! Honest, Bart, when it comes to that sort o' work Scraggs {s in bis infancy, Yea cure take tke qake.” ss Fa BE iH honor forbade any So he invited Mr. himself to a region hotter than the Msg- 3 then, because be and develop a senti- , be turned bis back descended to the sald Hi i i Hl ie Adelbert P. Gibney en- cabin and glared long and ‘at Captain Scraggs. “Tl " he growled presently. an’ give it quick.” yery intonation ef his voice Screggs that the present was not a time for argument or trifling. ie i zg i g 3 8 s iy Stlently he pald Mr. Gibney the money | due him; in equal silence the navi- gating officer went to the pilot house, unscrewed his framed certificate from the wall, packed it with his few be- longings, and departed for Scab Jobn- ny's boarding house. “Hello,” Scab Johnny saluted him at bis entrance, “Quit the Maggie?" Mr, Gibney nodded. “Want a trip to the dark blue? “Lead me to it," mumbled Mr. Gib- ney. “It'll cost you twenty dollars, Gib. Chief mate on the Rose of Sharon, for the Galapagos islands seal- take it, Johnny.” Mr. Gibney over. a twenty-dollar bill, went to bis room, packed all of his belong- ings, paid his bill to Scab Johnny, and within the bour was aboard the schooner Rose of Sharon. Two hours \aier they towed out with the tide. Pocr McGuffey was stunned when he heard the news that night from When he retailed the ia°f guessed that MeGuffey and Gibney had quarreled and he had the poor Judgment to ask McGuffey the cause of the row. Instantly, McGuffey informed him that that) wks none of his dad. fetched business—and the tntident was closed. ‘The three months that followed were the most harrowing of McGuffy’s lite, Captain Scraggs knew his engineer ‘would not resign whi 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. McGutf- fey longed to kill him, but dared not. When, eventually, the rallroad had been extended sufficiently fir down the to enable the farmers to baul thelr goods to the railroad tn trucks, the Maggie automatically went out of the green-pea trade; simultaneously, Captain Scraggs’ note to McGuffey fell due and the engineer demanded payment. Scraggs de- fhurred, pleading poverty, but Mr. Mc- Guffey assumed such a threatening at- titude that reluctantly Scrages paid him a hundred and fifty dollars on ac- count, and McGuffey extended the bal- ance 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 Mag- gie piled regularly between Bodega bay and San Francisco tn an endeavor to work up some business tn farm and dairy produce, but a gasoline schooner eut fn on the run and declared a rate war, whereupon the Maggte turned her blunt nose riverward and for a brief period essayed some towing and gener- al frelghting 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 Onk- land. In the meantime, Mr. McGut- fey, after two barren months “on the beach,” landed a job as second assist- ant on a Standard Ol] tanker running to the west coast, while thrifty Neils Halvorsen invested the savings of ten years in a bay scow known as the Wil- Ne and Annie, arrogated to himself the title of captain, and proceeded to. freight hay, grain and paying 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, leaging the care-free life of @ real sailor at last, and of Bar- tholomew 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 singularty lonesome and in e@ mood’ to accept eagerly any deviltry that might offer, ‘ Upon a night, which happened to be Scraggs’ night off, and when he wos 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 Giscussing what Scab Johnny guard- edly referred to as a “proposition.” Upon arrival at the office, Captain Scraggs was introduced to a small, Herce-looking gentleman of tropical ap- pearance, who owned to the name of Don Manuel Garela Lopez, Scab John- ny first pledged Captain Scraggs to absolute secrecy, and made him swear ' a = < : = _ DTD ¢—Z AF FS 96—7"_ EOE s COR LEZ SEES eS == RS af St Se a a \ SS en Saw oe Sy ee Set Za —S = Wee -_— c SE SS Cee, EO ; by the honor of his mother” bones of his father pot te divulge « sword of whet he was about to tel! him. Scab Jobony was short and to the point, He etated that, as Captain Scraggs was coubtiess aware, if he | perused the dally papers at all, there | was a revolution raging in Mexico. | His friend, Senor Lopes, represented the under-dogs in the disturbance, and | was anxious to secure « ship and a orvy sea captain te land a shipment | of arms in Lower California. It ap- peared that a sale of condemted army goods held at the arsenal at Benicia, Senor Lopes had, through Scab Johnny, purchased two thousand singleshot Springfield rifles that hed been retired when the militia regiments took up the Krag. The Erag in turn having been replaced by the modern magazine Springfield, the old single- shot Springfields, with one hundred thousend rounds ef 45-70 ball cart- ridges, had been sold to the highest bidder, In addition to the smal! arms, | Lopes had st present in a warehouse | three machine guns and four 8-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 trans ported over rough country on mules) —together wiih = supply of ammuni- tion for same. “Now, then,” Scab Johnny contin- wed, “the job that confronts us is to | “tne Job Thst Confrontn Us Is to Get These Munitions Down to Our Friends In Mexico.” get these munitions down .to our friends {n Mexico, If we're caught sneakin’ ‘em into Mexico we'll spend the rest of our lives in a federal pent- tentiary for bustin’ the neutrality laws. All them rifies an’ the ammunition ts cased an’ in my basément at the pres- ent 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 wail from my cellar {nto 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 {t, Our only trouble 1s a ship. How about the Maggie?" “Td have ‘to spend about two thous- and dollars on her to put her in condl- tion for the voyage,” Scraggs replied. | “Can do,” Scab Johnny answered hiin briefly, and Senor Lopez nodded ac- quiescence. “You discharge on a light- er at Descanso bay about twenty miles below Ensenada. What'll it cost us?" “Ten thousand dollars, in sa@dition to fixin' up the Maggie. Half down end half on delivery. I’m riskin’ my hide an’ my ticket an’ I got to be well paid for it.” : Again Senor Lopes nodded. What aid he care? It wasn't his money. "Til furnish you with our own crew Just before you sail,” Scab Johnny con- tinued. “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, per fect gentleman that he was, demanded no receipt. As a matter of fact, Seraggs 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 Mag- gie down to San Francisco, Upon her arrival she was hauled out on the marine ways at Oakland creek, cleaned, cnulked, and some new cop- per sheathing put on her bottom. She was also given a dash of black paint, had her engines and bollers thorough- ly overhauled and repaired, and shipped s new propeller that would add at least a knot to her speed. Al- #0, abe had her stern rebuilt. And when everything was ready, she slipped down to the Black Diamond coal bunk ers and took on enough fuel to car ry 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, vart- ously labeled. There were “agricul- tural tmplements,” a “cream separat- or,” a “windmill,” and half a dozen s-machines,” in’ addition to a considerable number of kegs alleged to contatn nalls, Most of it came down after five o'clock in the afternoon after the wharfinger had left the dock, and as nothing but disordered brain would have suspected the steamer Mag. gie of an attempt to break the neutral. li days, the entire cargo was gotten Ks Cpe 23 = = Te | Promised the crew double wag and me] aboara safely ang withoct a Jot et] suspicion attaching te the vessel. When all was tp reediness, Captain Scraggs incentinently “fred” his deck- | nd and engineer and Inducted aboard | self, Then while the new engineer got steam, Captain ‘Beeb Johnny's office for his fine! in- man would be the eupercargo and the confidential envoy of the tnsurcecto Junta ta Los Angeles. Captain Scraggs was to look to this man for orders and to obey him fmplicitly, as upon this depended the success of the erped!- tion. This agent of the insnrrecto forces would pay him the balance of Ove thousand dollars due bim tmmedi- ately upon discharge of the cargo at Descanso bay, There was a body of lnsurrecto troops encamped at Megano rancho, a wile’from the beach, and they would have a barge and small boats in readiness to lighter the cargo, Scab Johnny explained that he had 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 dowd the south channel, and with the wing on her beam, the aged Maggie did nine knots. Late in the afternoon of the folowing day shée“wns 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. Captnin Scraggs had a Jacob's ladder siung over the side and the mate and two deckhands hung over the rail with lan- terns, lighting up the surrounding sea teebly for the benefit of the lone ad- venturer 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 oppor- | tunity by the ghostly light of the Inn- | terns, ran their frajl craft tn under @he 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 heart- strock the deck. “What's the name of this flonting coffin?’ he demanded ii: a chain-locker voice. It was quite evident that even In ‘the darkness, where her many de- gié did not sult the special envoy of the Mexican insurrectos. “American steamer Maggte,” the skipper frigidly. name, sir, vesse]—" “Scraggsy !" roared the specie’ en- voy. “Scragesy, for a thousand! And the old Maggie of all borss! Scraggsy, old tarpot, your fin! Duke me, you Goggoned old salamander |” “Gib, my dear boy!" shrieked Cap- tain Scraggs and east himself into Mr. Gibney’s arms tn a transport of joy. Mr, Gibney, for it was jndeed 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 recetved such a pleasant surprise. It was indeed a happy moment. All the old animosities and differences were swallowed up tn 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, 'N be keel-hauled and skull. dragged!" said Captain Scraggs, pro- ducing a boz of two-for-a-quarter cigars and handJng 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 P ma and the Gold coast. For two years Ive been navigatin’ officer on the Co- lombian gunboat Bogota, When I was a young feller I did a hitch tn the navy and become a first-class gunner, and then I went to son in the merchant ma- rine, and got my mate's license, and when I flashed my credentials on the president of the United States of Co- lombia he give me a job at “dos cfenti 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 Ife a native, I don’t drink no more to speak of, and I've been savin’ my money. Some day when 1 got the price together I'm go!n’ back to San Francisco, buy me a nice ttle schooner, and go tradin’ In the South sens. How they been comin’ with you, Scraggay, old kiddo?” “Lovely,” replied Scraggs. sald “Scraggs {s\my And tf you don't like my out of this job.” Mr, Gibney whistled sbrilly through his teeth. “That's the ticket for soup,” he said admiringly, “I tell you, Scraggs, this goldier of fortune business may be all right, “but !¢ don't amount to much compared to being a sailor of fortune, eh, Scraggesy? Just as soon as I heard there was a revolution In Mexico I quit my job In the Colombian navy and SS SAAS come north for the pickin’, . . ,. No, I ain't been in their rotten little Seraggs went up to | #0 right away as soon as I Presently in a | small boat, and climb aboard. This | fly {n very good English as his feet | fects were mercifully hidden, the Mag- | “Just | simply grand. Yl pull ten thousand | army. ~ Dye think I want te £0 around kMtn’ people? . . . There ain't no pleasure gettin’ Killed in the mere shank ef a bright and progper- ous life . . » @ dead here don't none to me. I'm for peace every time, heard of the trouble, says I to myself: ‘Things has been pretty quiet in Mexico for they've got the money, Adelbert P. Gib- ney can supply the braina’ So I worth to Les Angeles, shows surrecte funta my medal and “1 Framed It All Up for This Filibus- ter Trip You're On.” trms and get busy. I framed !t ali up for this filibuster trip you're on, , only I never did hear that they'd picked on you. I told that cof- fee-colored rat of a Lopez man to hunt up Scab Johnny and he'd set him right, but {f anybody had told me you had the nerve to run the Maggie in on this deal, Scraggay, I'd a-called him « liar, Seraggs, you're mucho-bueno— that {s, you're all right. I'm so used to talkin’ Spanish 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 char- terin’ the Maggie, I'd have blocked the game.” “Why?” demanded Captain Scraggs, | instantly on the defensive. “Not that ['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 ppts a crimp in my p! snapped Captain Scraggs. “Tye had the Maggie overhauled and shipped a new wheel, and she’s a mighty smart little boat, Tl tell you. Tit land them arms in Descanso bay ell right.” . . “I know you will,” sald Mr. Gibne; 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 lttle revolution fomentin’ down {n 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 Anstead ofa sea-goin’ steamer, 'p in the nine-hole instead 0’ dog-hele. I can never get as far as the Gold coast with the Maggie. She can't carry coal enough to last her.” “But d thought these guns and things was for the Mexicans,” qua- vered Captain Scraggs. “Scab Jobnny and Lopez told me they was.” Mr. Gibney groaned and bid his face In his hands. “Scraggsy,” he sald sad- ly, “it’s a cinch you ain't used the past four years to stimulate that imagt- pation 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 han- est, of course. I got to make good on my bluff, and what's tn it for me? Nothin’ but glory. Can you hock a chunk of glory for ham and eggs, Phineas Scraggs? Not on your life. If ft hadn't been for you buttin’ in with your blasted, rotten hulk of a fresh- water skiff, rd—"* 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 de fense of the ship he loved. “You're a pirate,” he shrilled. “And you're just as big a hornet es 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 or 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 (To be Continued) aay Y ik => J ay al 2 | — 3 7058 6a me CD Ae SS ss