, 1921-10-22

onsVa condition Of affairs which had
tended 10 sour q disposition not nat
ursry sweet The ycnruing to com
mnnd . steamboat gradually had DE-
veioped into an obsession. Result
the fast and commodious s. 8. Mag
gle" as the United States marshal
had had the nudacity to advertise her.
In the beginning. Captain scragEs
had planned TO do bay and river tow-
ing with the Maggie. Aiasi The
nrst time the unfortunate scrtrEs at
tempted to tow a heavily laden barge
up river, a light fog had come down.
necessifst,ue the frequent blowing OF
the whistle Following the sixth long
b'sst, Mr.. McGurey had whistied
scrsggs on the engine-room bowler:
swearing horribly. no had demanded
to be Informed why in this and that
the skipper didn't leave that dod-gast-
ed whistle alone. II was using up his
steam faster than he could manufac-
ture II. Thereafter. ScragEs bad used
a patent foghorn, and when the hon
est McGufrey had once more succeed
ed In conserving SUFFICIENT steam TO
crawl up river. the tide had turned
and the Maggie could not buck the
ebb. McGurey declared a lew new
tubes In the boiler would do the trick,
but on 1.-THE other hand. Mr.. Gibney
pointed out that the old craft was
practically punk Mt and a stir tow
would Jerk the tall on the old girl. In
despair. therefore Captain Scraggs
had abandoned bay and river towing
and was prepared 10 jump overheard
and end all. when an opportunity Of /,
fercd for the frelghting OF gnrdeI
truck and dairy produce from Half.
moor bay TO San Francisco.
But now a difficulty arose. The new
run ms an "outside" one-snlt water
all the way. Under the ruling of the
inspectors. the Maggie would be rum
ming constwise the instant she en-
gagged in the green-pea and string-bean
trade. and Captain Scraggs' 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 TINT the Pa |
cidc ocean constituted waters ''tribu-
tary thereto" II he understood the
English language. the inspectors were
obdurate. What If the distance was
less than twenty-five miies!. they |
pointed out. The voyage was unde-
niabiy coastwise and carried with 1t !
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' bay and
river license for having dared to ne
gotiate two coastwise voyages without
consulting them. Furthermore. they |
warned him that the next time he did |
II they would condemn the fast and
commodious Maggie,
In this extremity. Fate had sent to
Captain Scrnggs a large. imposing.
capable. but socially Indifferent per
son who responded to the name OF
Adelbert z. 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 en-
tering the navy he had been a fore
mast hand In clipper ships and had
heldsa second mates berth. Follow
ing his discharge from the navy he
had sailed coastwise on steam schoon.
ers. and after attending a navigation
school for two months, had procured
a license MS chief mate OF steam, any
ocean and any tonnage.
Unfortunately for Mr.. Gibney, he
had a falling. Most Of us have. The
most genial fellow In the world, he
was cursed with too much brains and
imagination and a thirst which re.
CURED quenching around pay day.
Also. he had that beastly habit Of
command which is inseparable from a
born leader y when he held a first
mates berth, he was wont to try to
run the ship" and, on occasions
ladle out suggestions TO his skipper.
Thus. In time. he acquired a reputa-
ton for being unreliable and a wind.
bag. with the result that shippers
were chnry Of engaging him. Not to
be too prolix, Mt the time Captain
Scraggs made the d~isheartening dis
covery that he had to have a skipper
for the Maggie. AIR. Gibney found
himself reduced to the alternative OF
longshore work or n fo'castle berth IN
a windjammer bound for blue water.
With slacrity. therefore, Mr.. Glib
ney had accepted Scraggs' offer OF
seventy-ive dollars a month-"and
found"--to skipper the Maggie on her
coastwise u 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, al
belt. under a g~entieman'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. quartermas-
fer. purser and freight clerk. One
NsnS Hnlvorsen. a solemn Swede with
a placid. bovine disposition, consti-
tuted the fo'castle hands. while Bart
McGuney. a wastrel OF the Gibney
type but slower-witted, reigned SUI