The daily Alaskan., 1921-12-15
that Speed is my middle name"

feet gentleman that he was, demanded
 no receipt. AS a matter of fact, Scruggs would not have given him one.
 The two weeks that followed were
 busy ones for CapIain Scraggs. The
 day after his interview with Scab
 Johnny and Don Manuel he engaged an engineer and deck hand and went I'D 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. caulked, and some new cop
 per sheuthiug put on her bottom. She
 was also given a dash of black paint,
 had her engines and boilers thorough
 " overhauled and repaired and shipped new propeller that would
 pdd at least a knot to her speed. Al
 SO. she had her stern rebuilt. And
 when everything was ready, she slipped
 oown Co the Black Diamond coal bunk CTS and took on enough fuel to car ry her Go San Pedro; after which sine steamed across the bay 10 San 1 Francisco and tied up at Fremont street wharf.
 The cargo came down In hOXeS, yari- ouSIy uhrIrd. There were "ugricul- Wral implements" a cream separat- 1 or" "windmll." and half a dozen "scwiUg-muchiueS," 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 whHrfnger had left the dock, and as nothing but disordered brain would have suspected the steamer Mag g.e of an attempt to break The neutral { iry laws, the entire cargo was gotten
 aboard safely and without a iot of suspicion attaching 10 the vessel When all was in readiness. Captain . Scrag-s incoutineutly fired" his deck hand and engineer and inducicd aboard . a new crew. carefully selected for their flibuSter virtues by Scab Johnny him- , self. Then while the new engineer got
 up steam, Captain Scra&gs went up to ] Scab Johuny'S office for his final in- 1 structions and the balance of the first 1 inStalment due him.
 Briefly. his instructions were as fol- ! lows: Upon arrival off Point Dune ! on the southern California coast, he was 10 stand in close to Dune cove under cover of darkness and show two ] green lights ou the masthead. man
 would come alongside presently in l small boat and climb aboard This man would be the supercargO and the ] confidential envoy of the insurrecto i junta in Los Angeles. Captain Scraggs l was Co look to this man for orders and Co obey him implicitly, as upon this ! depended the success of the expedI- 1 ton. This agent of the insurTeCto
 forces would pay him the balance of l five thousand dollars due him immedi- ] ately upon discharge of the cargo at ! Desc0nso bay. There was a body of 1 insurrecto troops enCamped at MeganO l rancho, a mile from the beach, and l they would have a barge and small l boats In readiness to lighter the cargo. 1 Scab Johnny explained that he had ! promised the crew double wages and
 a bonus of a hundred dollars each for 1 the trip. Don Manuel Garcia Lopez 1 paid over the requisite amount of cash, ! and half an hour later the Maggie was
 steaminC down the bay on her perllous
 mission.
 The sun was setting as they passed
 out the Golden gate and swung down 1 the south channel. and with the wind
 on her beam, the aged Maggie did nine 1 knots. Late in the afternoon of the | following day she was off the Santa l Barbara channel. and about midnight
 she ran in under the lee of Point Dune ! and lay to. The mate hung out the i 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 l them out of the darkness. Captain ] Scraggs had 8 Jacobs ladder slung
 over the side and the mate and two
 deckhands hung over the rail with lan-
 terms, lighting up the surrounding sea | feehly for the benefit of the lone nd
 venturer who sat muffied in a great
 coat in the stern of a small boat rowed
 by two men. There was very slight
 sea running, and presently the men in l the small boat, watching their Oppor- ! tunlty by the ghostly light of the lan-
 terus, ran their frail craft in under
 the lee of the Maggie. The figure in
 the stern sheets leaped on the instant,
 caught the Jacobs ladder, climbed
 nimbly over the side, and swore heart
 fly in very good English as his feet
 struck the deck.
 "Whats the name of this floating
 cOffin?" he demanded In Chain-lOcker
 voice. It was quite evident that even
 in the darkness. where her many de-
 fleets were merclfully hidden, the Mag
 gle did not suit the special envoy of
 the Mexican inSurTeCtos.
 American steamer Maggie" said
 the skipper frIgidly. "Scraggs Is my
 name, sir. And If you don't like my l vessel"