, 1921-11-05

"out Of My Cabin or I'll Riddle You,r
He Barked Feebly.
when did you take command Of my
shipf"
You're fiotsam an jetsam. sir. an
practically in the breakers. You're
sick. an. for all / know. de~lirious, SO
for the sake o. protectin' you,s the
sick seaman in the fo'castie 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 feebiy.
Mr.. Glbncy departed without a word
Of protest and proceeded to make his
arrangements, regardless of the mas
ter's consent. AS he and McGuffey
busted themselves. laying the leading
blocks along the deck. they glanced
toward the Maggie and observed Cap
tain Scraggs hurting crates Of vege-
tables overheard in an effort TO get at
the small boat quickly. Hell die
when the freight claims come In" Mr..
McGuffey chortled. Poor oil Scrag-
gsyi"
When Captain scraggs care aboard.
Mr.. Glbney escorted him around to the
masters cabin. introduced him. and
stood by while they bargnined. "The
tow will cost you five thousand. Cap
TAIN" Scrnggs began pompously.
Me an McGuffeyT sail you In for
four" Gibney declared.
Three thousand" snarled Scrnggs.
"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thous-
and. As a matter of fact. Scraggsy.
me an Mncll sail her In for nothin'
just to skin you out O. the salvage"
Two thousand dollars is my lowest
figure" Scraggs declared. Take II
or leave It. Captain. Under the cir
thousand is my Inst bid"
The figure Scraggs named was prob
ably n fifth of what the master Of
tho Chesapeake knew a court would
award nevertheless he shook his head.
Its a straight towing job. Captain.
and not a salvage proposition at all.
A tug would tow me In for two hun
dred. 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 Scrnggs. Write out
an agreement and I'll sign It."
With the agreement In his pocket.
S~craggs. followed by Gibney, left the
cabin. zone hundred each to you an
Mac II you'll stay aboard the Chesa-
peake, steer her, an help the Maggie
out with what sail YOU can get or
her" Scraggs promised.
Stake a long. runnin' jump at your
self, S~craggsy, old s%orrowful. The best
me an Mac'u do is to help you cock
bill the anchor. an thatn cost you
ten bucks for each OF us-in advance"
The nrtful fellow realized that Scragcs
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"
Scrnggs replied and handed Mr.. Glib
ney twenty dollars. He and Nells
Halvorsen then went forward. got out
the steel towing cable. and fastened a
light rope to the end Of II. The skiff
noated or the ship at the end of the
painter. so The SquareheRd hauled 1t
in. climbed down into the skin, and
made the light rope fast 10 n thvart;
then, with Captain Scraggs paying out
the hawser, Neils bent manfuliy to the
oars and started to tow the steel cable
back to the Maggie. Kalf way there,
the weight of the cable dragging be-
hind slowed Tho 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 lit
tie steamer In toward the perspiring
Nells, while Captain Scraggs, Gibney,
and McGurey cheeredSS Justify.
Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly
Neils u~nshipped the remaining oar,
sprang to the stern. and attempted, by
sculling, to keep the sklff'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
hnlf-flled her; the succeeding wave
completed the job and rolled the skin
over and Tho Squarehead was forced