The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-11-22
By Peter B. kyne

but was having difficulty framing his thoughts in parliamentary language
 'tHeave away, Mac,'' said MT. Gib- ney.
 chirped Scraggs.
 Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose, bowed his thaicl1s once more, moisten- ed his larnyx with a gulp of the punch, and spoke:
 "FeHer members and brothers of the syndicate: In the management of the deck department of this new craft of ourn, my previous bnowl- unworthy secretary leads me to be- Heve that tthe1'e's goin to be trouble. A ship divided agan herself must sure ly go on her beam ends Now. craggsy here has been master so long that the juice of authority has sorter soaked into his ma1er bones. For twenty years it's been 'Howdy do, Captain Scraggs,' Have a drink, Cap tain Scraggs-' Captain Scraggs this an Captain Scra.ggs that I don't mean mo offense, gentlemen, when I new tricks. No man that's ever been a master makes 9 good mate. On the other hand, I realize that Gib here has been a-pantiIT and a-belly- own an have folks call him Captain Gibney.' Now that he's gone an done it. I say he's entitled to it. But the the fact of the hey" whole thing is: Gtb,s
 
 | or whatever it's gofn' to be, and he 1 can't have his peace of mind wrecked | and his plans disturbed a-chasin' sail | orS around the deck of the Maggie II. Glib is sorter what the feller calls | the power behind the throne. He's | too big fgger for the grade of cap tain. Therefore, I move you, gen and is hereby nominated and ap- pointed to the grade of comm odore. l n full command and supervision of And also move that Phineas Scraggs be appointed chief snavigatin' officer of this packet, to retain his title i captain and to be obeyed and !! with the exception of me and Glib. The present match do the nav1gatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea | stuff''
 Second the motion" said Captain argument does you a, heap of credit masterly. It shows a keen apprecia- ton of an old slippers heelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib. I'm willin' to hall him as commodore dunno, Glib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to order around
 Gentlemen" said MT. Gibh'ey. beaming, "the maion's carried unan- irnous. Captain-chief- fins. Dock me. I'm honored by the hand shake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from san ErancsS- co on the old Maggie, Scraggss, they're | a likely lot and will come in handy if times Is as lively in Colombia as l | hgger they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have your mate pipe the crew to muster afnd ascertain their feeNn's on the subject of takin' a chance with Comm odore Gibney. If they object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an pay lem off as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give 'em the coast sea- mans scale for a deep-water cruise and a five per cent bonus in case we turn a big trick
 Captain Scraggs went at once on deck. Ten minutes later h. returned to report that the mate and the four seamen elected to stick by the ship. "BuMy boys" said the comm odore 'fbu1ly boys. I like that mate. He's a smart man and handles a gun well. While I should hesitate to take ad- vantage of my prerogative commo- dore to interfere with the normal worktn's of the deck departm tment, I trust that this special occasion our esteemed navigating officer, Captain Scraggs. wiM not consider it beneath his dignity or an attack on his office if I suggest to him that he brew an- other kettle of grog for the crew. Second the motion" replied M.