The daily Alaskan., 1921-12-24


 | repaired wherever necessary, ana m order 10 be on the safe side, Mir. Gib- ney, upon motion duly made by him 1 and seconded by McGufrey (tO whom ! the seCondlng of the Gibney motions ! had developed into habID, purchased an extra suit of new sails. The en- zines were overhuuled by the faith ful McGun'ey and a large store Of dis ,illuIe stored in the hold Captain 1 Scraggs, with his old-time aversion to expense, made a motion (which was seconded by McGunrey before he had taken time to consider its import pro 1 yidlng for the abolition of the office or chief engineer while the Maggie Il was under sail, at which time the chief eX-oiiiClo was 10 hold himself under the orders of the commodore and he transferred to the deck departmen; | if necessary. Mir Gibney approved the measure and it went into effect. Only on entering or leaving a port, or In case of chase by an enemy, were the engines to he used and McGuTey was warned tO be extremely saving of his diSti'|ure.
 Mr. Gibncy made a splendid job of ' changing the vessels name, and as she chuggrd laziIy out of Panama bay and lifted 10 the long ground-swell of The Pacific. 1t is doubtful if even her Inte Mexican commander would have recognized her. She was indeed a beautiful craft. and Commodore Gib- ncy's heart swe!lcd with pride as he stood aft. coming the man al the wheel. and looked her over. It seemed . like a sacriIcCe now. when he reflected how he had trained the gun of the old Maggie on her that day off the Coro- nuduS. and it seemed to him now even a greater sacrilegc 10 have hrazeRly planned tO enter her as a prIvateer In l the struggles Of the republic of COiOm- hia. The uuSt tense is used udyiSedly, for that project was now entirely of, much 10 the secret delight Of Captain SrruggS. who. if the hero Ot one naval engagement was not anxious 10 take part In another. In Panama the free hoo'c-s of the Maggie II learned that during NIr. GIbncyS absence on his flHuStering trip the Colombian revolu- tlouGsts had risen and struck their blow. After the fashion Of a hot headed and lmpetuous people, they had entered the contest absolutely un- trained. As a result. the war had last ed Just two weeks. the leaders had been incontInently shot, and the white winged dove of peace had once more spread her rinions along the borders of the Gold coast.
 Commodore Gibney was disguSted be- youd measure, and at a special meet ing Of the syndicate, called In the cabin of the Maggie II that same eve hing It was finally decided that they should embark on an indefinite trad ing cruise In the South seas, or until such time as 1t seemed their services must hc required to free a downtrod- den people from a tyrants yoke.
 Captain Scrnggs and McGutfey had never been in the South seas but they had heard that fair margin of profit was tO be wrung from trade in copra, shell, CoCOnuts and kindred tropical products. They so expressed them selves. To this suggestion, however, Commodore Gibney waved a depreCat- ing paw.
 Legitimate tradin'. boys" he said, "is a nice, sane. healthy business, but the profits is slow. What we want is quick profits, and while 1t ain't set down In black and white, one of the principal objects of this syndicate Is to lead a life of wild adventure. In tradin', there ain't no adventure to speak of. We ought 10 do a little black-bIrdln', or raid some of those Jap pearl fisheries off the northern coast of FOrmosa."
 But we'll be chased by real gun boats if we do that" objected Captain Scraggs. Those Jap gunboats shoot to kill. Cant you think of sOmethIn' else. GlbG"
 Well" said MT. GIbney, flor a starter. I can. Suppose we just head straight for Kandavu island In the FL lls, and scheme around for a cargo of black coral? It's only worth about ff- ty dollars a pound. Kandavu lays somewhere in latitude % south, longi- tude ITS west, and when I was there last 1t was fair reekin with Cannibal savages. But there's tons of black coral there, and nobody's ever been able 10 sneak In and get away with 1t. Every time a boat used to land at Eaudayu, the native niggers would have a whIte-man. stew down on the beach, and It's got so that shippers give the island a wide berth"
 "Gib, my dear boy" chattered Cap tain Scraggs, I'm a man of peace and I-I-"
 "Scraggsy, old stick-In-the-mud," said MT. Gibney, laying an affectionsto hand on the slippers shoulder, you're nothtn of the sort. You're a fghtln'