Middletown transcript., 1921-11-26
CHAPTER VII.

When Captain Scraggs, after aban-
doning all hope Of salving the bark
Chesapeake, returned to the Maggie,
the little craft reminded him Of moth
ing so much as the ward for the in
corrigible Of an insane asylum. Due
to Captain Scraggs' stupidity and the
general ineficiency of the Maggie, the
new navigating officer was Of the opin-
ion that he had been swindled out Of
his share Of the salvage, while the new
engineer, furious at having been en-
gagged to baby such ruin as the Mag
gie's boiler turned out to be, blamed
Scraggs' parsimony for the loss Of his
share Of the salvage. Therefore, both
men aired with the utmost frankness
their opinion Of their employer. One
word borrowed another until diplomat
ic relations were severed and, in the
language Of the classic, they mixed
it." They were fairly well matched,
and, to the credit of Captain Scraggs
be it said, whenever he believed him.
self to have fighting chance Scraggs
would fight and fight well, under the
Tom-cat rules of fisticuffs.
Following a bloody battle in the pilot
house, he subdued the mate; following
his victory he was still war mad, so
he went to the engine-room hatch and
abused the engineer. AS result of
the days events, both men quit when
the Maggie was tied up at Jackson
street wharf and once more Captain
Scraggs was helpless. In his extrem-
ity, he wished he hadn't been so hard
on Mr.. Gibney and McGufey, for he
realized he could never hope to get
them back until their salvage money
should be spent.
Goddess and wholly irreclaimable as
Mr.. Gibney and Mr.. McGuffey might
have been and doubtless were, each
possessed in bounteous measure the
sweetest of human attributes, to-wit:
a soft, kind heart and a forgiving spir-
it. Creatures of impulse both, they
found it absolutely impossible to nour-
ish a grudge against Captain Scraggs,
when. upon returning to Scab Johnny's
boarding house, their host handed
them grubby note from their enemy.
It was short and sweet and sounded
quite sincere; Mr.. Gibney read 1t
aloud:
ION Board the Maggie, Saturday night.
Dear Friends:
am sorry. You hurt me awful with
ly{d10v, xryhnn
peake away from me. To er is human
but to forgive is devine. After what
l done I don't expect you two to come
back to work ever but for Gods sake
don't give me the dead face when we
meat agin. Remember we been ship.
mates once.
"P. P. Scraggs."
"Why, the pore OIL son Of a horse
thief" Mr.. Gibney murmured, much
moved at this profound abasement.
"Of course we forgive him. It amt
manly to hold a crouch after the cul-
prit has paid his fair price for his
sins. By an large, I got a hunch,
Bart, that old Scraggsy's had his les
son for once"
"If you can forgive him, I can, Glib"
"Well, he's certainly cleaned him
self handsome, Bart. Telephone for
messenger boy" and Mr.. Gibney
sat down and wrote:
"Scraggsy, old fancifui, we're square.
Forget it and come to breakfast with
us nt seven tomorrow at the MarigOld
cafe. I'll order deviled lam kidneys
for three. It's alright with Bart also.
"Yours,
"Gib,"
This note, delivered to Captain
Scraggs by the messenger boy, lifted
the gloom from the latter's miserable
soul and sent him home with light
heart to Mrs. Scraggs. At the Mari
gold cafe next morning he was almost
touched to observe that both Gibney
and McGuffey showed up arrayed in
dungarees, wherefore Scraggs knew his
late enemies purposed proceeding to
the Maggie Immediately after breakfast
and working in the engine room all
day Sunday. Such action, when he
knew both gentlemen to be the pos
SCISSORS of Wealth far beyond the
dreams Of avarice, bordered so close
IL on the miraculous that Scraggs made