Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1921-10-20

! calm. "But the minute We hit the
dock you an me parts company"
Il don't know whether we will or
not Seraggsy. amt heeIed right
financially to hit the beach on such
short Eotice."
I'll get the police TO remove you,
you blistered pirate" Scraggs
screamed. now quite beside himself.
"Yesl Well. the minute they lei 70
O. me III come back to the =. S. Mag
gle and tear her apart just to see
what makes her co." He leaned out
the pilot-house window ami shifted.
'"ruie fog. all right. Scraggs. Srill.
that ain't no reason why the ships
company should fast. is It? Quit bick-
erin with me. little one. an see II yoi
can't wrastle up some ham M eggs.
want my eggs sunny side MP
Sensing the futility OF further argu-
fmenf, Captain Scraggs sought s0iace
In q stream of adjectivaI pppr0brium.
plainly meant for Mr.. chimney hut de-
livered. nevertheless impersonaliys He
closed the pilot-house door furiously
behind him and started for the galley.
Some bright day I'm goin' 10 git
tireI O. hearin' you cuss my proxy
| Mr.. Gibney bawled after him. ..nn'
when that fatal time arrives I'll scat
ter can O. Kiil-Flea over you an the
| shippin' world'll know you no more. 81,
"Oh, 60 to-giory. you pig-iron poi.s
isher, Captain Scraggs tossed hack
i AT him over his shouIder-and tot.or
was satisfied. In the lee ut fhr ptpot
house Captain Scraggs paused. sci his
Infamous old brown derby hat on the
deck and ieaped fnriously upon ii
| with both feet Six fimes he dill this:
then with blow Of his fist he
knocked the ruin hack into a sem
blance Of Its original shape and i'm
metlIately felt better.
If was you. skipper. I'd hold my
temper until ! got TO port: then I'd
git Jingled an forgit my troubles in
expensiveiy." somebody advised him.
Scraggs turned. In little squire
hatch The head and shoulders Of Mr..
Bartholomew McGuffey. chief en-.
gineer; first, second and third as
sistant engineer, Oiler. wiper. WAFER
tender. and coal-paSser of the Maggie.
appeared. He was standing on the
steel ladder that led up from his
stuify engine room and had evidently
come up, like whale, for breath Of
fresn air. THE way you ruin them
bonnets o y0urn sure Is scandal"
MIR McGuffey concluded. III ! had a
temper as nasty as Sourn I'd take
soothin' sirup or somethn' for IT,"
Before proceeding further with This
narrative. due respect for the renders
curiosity directs that we diverge for
q period sufficient 10 present friei
history of the steamer Maggie and her
peculiar crew. We will begin with the
Maggie.
! She had been built on Puget sound
back In the eighties. and was one hun.
dred and six feet over all. twenty six
feet beam and seven feet draft.
Driven by little steepIe compound
engine. In the pride Of her youil, she
4 could make ten knots. However, wnat
with old age and boiler scale. the best
she could do now was six. and had
MIR. McGuffey paid the slightest heed
to the limitations imposed upon his
steam gauge by the supervising In
! spect0r of boilers Ut san Francisco.
she would have been limited 10 Ave
Each annual inspection threatened 10
} be her last. and Captain Sctaggs. her
sole owner, lived In perpetual fear
} that eventually the day inusi arrive
J when. TO save the lives of himself nnil
his crew, he would be forced to shin
! a new boiler ard renew he rotten
J timbers around her deatlwood. She
had come into Captain Scraggs' pos
session at public auction conducted
! by. the United States marshal. follow,
ing her capture as she snpaked into
| San Francisco bay one dark night
with load Of Cinnamon and opium
from Ensenada. She had c0st hin
! fifteen hundred hard-earneh dollars
Scraggs-l'hlneas r. Scriggs. II
employ his full name--was precisel,
: the Kind of man one might expect n
own and 0perlte the Maggie. Rat
b.