, 1921-12-03

-weil." said Mr.. GIbney. .Yor a
starter. I can. Suppose we lust head
straight for Kandavu island In the Fl
jis. and scheme around for a e.rro Of
black eoralf It's only worth about ar
~ dollars q pound. Kandayu Law.
somewhere in latitude % south. longt-
tude It's west. and when 1 was there
last Il was fair reekin' with csphibal
savsges- But there's tons Of BLACK
coral there. and nobody's ever been
able to meal In and get away with
II. Every time n boat used to land At
knndavu. the native niggers would
hare q white-man stew down on the
beach. and it's got so that shippers
give the island a vids berth"
"Gfb. my dear Boy" chartered Cap
tain scrasEs. I'm q man OF peace
and I'll"
"scrsgsv. old stick-in-the-mud.-
said Mr.. Gibney. laying an afrectionate
hand on the skipper's shoulder. you're
nothin' Of the sort You're a fixht,n'
tsrantuia. and nobody knows II bet
tern Adelbert P. Gibney. I've seen
you In action. Scraggsy. Remember
that. It's all right for you to say
you're n man OF peace and advise me
and McGurey to keep out OF the track
OF trouble. but we know that away
down low you're goin' around lookin'
for blood. and that once you're up agin
the enemy, you never bat an eyelash.
Eh. McGu1eyTr
McGufey nodded; whereupon, Cap
tain scraggs. making but a poor ef-
fort 10 conceal the pleasure which Mr..
Gibney's rude compliment Afforded
him. turned to the rail. glanced sea-
ward. and started to walk away to at
tend to some trining detail connected
with the boat falls.
"Ai right. Glib, my lad" he said.
Affecting to resign himself to the inev-
liable, have II your own way. You're
a commodore and I'm only q plain
captain, but I'll follow wherever you
lead. I'll go rs far as the next man
and we'll glom that black coral IL we
have TO slaughter every man. woman
and child on the island. Only, when
we're sizzlln' in a pot don't you up
and say 1 warned you. because
I did. How dye propose intimidatin'
the natives. Gib7"
"~Scraggsy," said the commodore.
solemnly. we've waged a private war
nein 4 friendly nation. licked 'em
and helped ourselves to their ship.
We've changed her name and rig and
her ofhcial number and letters and
we're sallin' under bogus papers. That
makes US pirates. and that old Maggie
burgee noatin' at the fore ain't moth
lfnt mo-s ,or Lee tb.- che yott- D.~..
All right! Let's be pirates. Who
cares7 When we slip into M'galao
harbor wen invite the king and his
head men aboard for dinner. Wen
get 'em drunk. clap 'em In double
trons, and surrender 'em to their weep
In subjects when they've filled the
hold of the Maggie II with blacii
coral. II they refuse to come aboard
wen shell the bush with that long
gun and the Maxim rapid-fire guns
we've got below decks That1l scare
EN- SO they'll leave us alone and VIZ
can help ourselves to the coral"
Scraggs' cold blue eyes g~lIstened
Lord. Glib" he murmured, you've
got a head"
Like piayin' post-oficc." wa Nc
6uHeyS comment.
The commodore smiled. IT thought
you boys would see 1t that way. Now
tomorrow I'm going ashore to buy three
divin' outhts and lay In a big stock
Of provisions for the voyage. In the
meantime, while the carpenters are
gettin' the ship into shape. well leave
the first mate In charge while we &c
ashore and have q good time. I've
seen worse places than Panama
As n result Of this conference Mr.
Gibney's suggestions were acted up
on. and they contrived to make theil
brief stay In Panama very agreeable
They Inspected the work on the canal
mhrveled at the ~stupendous engineer
4 ing in the Culebra Cut, drank a little
gnmbled' a little. McGufey whipped
a bartender. He was ordered arrested
and six spiggoty little policemen. sent
to arrest him. were also thrashed. The
reserves were called out and a rioI
ensued. Mr.. Gibney, following the
motto Of the syndicate, 1. e.,
All for one and one for ALL
United we stand. divided we fall.
mixed in the conflict and presently
found himself In durance vile. Cap
tain Scraggs, luckily. forgot the mot
to and escaped. but inasmuch as h'
was OF hand next morning to pay {
nne Of thirty pesos levied against eacf
of the culprits, he was instantly for
given. Mr.. Gibney vowed that IL {
United States cruiser didn't happier
to be lying In the roadstead. he woult
have shelled the town in retaliation
But eventually the days passed, ane
the Maggie II, well found and read,
for sea, shook u her sails to a fail
breeze and sailed away for Kandavu
She kept well to the southwest unit
she struck the southeast trades. wher
she swung around on her course head
ed straight for her destination. 1
was a pleasant voyage. devoid Of In
cident, and the health Of all hand!
was excellent. Mr.. Gibney took dali,
observations, and vas particular I,