, 1921-11-26

WHeNeM
sd Sooner Die Fiuhtin' Than lie,
Them Stand Me Up Aeln a Wall
In Ensenads-"
stand me up ngin a wall in Ensenada.
We're hllbusters. S~crnggsy. and we're
caught with the goods. !, for one. am
goln' down with the steamer Maggie.
but I'm goin' down nghtin' like a
bear"
'Nfaybe-maybe we can outrun her,
Glib" half sobbed Captain scraggs.
mo hope" replied Mr.. Gibney.
Fight and die is the last resort
She's eight miles astern and galnin'
every minute. and when she's within
two miles she'll open fire. OF course.
we won't be hit unless they've got a
Yankee gunner aboard"
Lets run up the Stars and Stripes
and dare 'em TO Ere on US" said Cap
tain Scragss.
mo" said Mr.. Gibney nrIniy my
old man died for, the nag an I've
sailed under 1t too long TO hide be-
hind It when I'm In Dutch Wen
fight. II you WINS ever navlgatin' Of
Hcer on n Colombian gr,nboat. scragg1S
you'd realize what It means 10 run
/, from a Mexican
Captain scraggs said nothing fur
ther. Perhaps he vas a little ashamed
OF himself in the face OF Mr.. Glib
ney's simple faith In his own ability;
perhaps In his veins, all unknown.
there flowed a taint of the -heroic
blood of some forgotten sea-dog. Be
that as It may. something did swell
in his breast when Mr.. Glbney spoke
of the flag and his scorning TO hide
behind II. and Scraggs' snaggle teeth
came together with a snap
"AIl right, Glib. my boy" he said
solemnly. SIN with you. Mrs. Scraggs
has slipped her cable and there mint
nobody to mourn for me. But II we
can't fight under the Stars and Stripes.
by the tail OF the Greet Sacred Bull.
we'll have a flag of our own and
leaving Mr.. GIbney and the crew to
: get the guns on deck, Captain Scraggs
ran below. He appeared on deck pres
emily with a long blue burgee or which
was emblazoned In white letters the
single word Maggie. u was his own
housefng. and with trembling hands
he ran It to the fore and cast Its
wrinkled folds to the breeze OF heaven.
Good old dfshclothl I" shrieked Mr..
GIbney. "She never comes down"
Did II she does.' said Captain
Scraggs profanely.
While all this was going on. a deck
hand had reeved a block and tackle
through the end OF the cargo gaff
and passed It to the winch. The two
guns came out Of the hold in Jig time,
and while Scraggs and n deckhand
opened the after hold and got out am
munition for the guns. Mr.. Gibney. as
sisted by the other deckhand. pro-
ceeded to put one Of the guns to-
gether. He was shrewd enough to
realize that he would have to do prac-
tically oil Of tie work Of serving the
u himself. in view OF which condi-
tion n gun would have to defend
the. Maggie He had never seen a
mountain gun before. but he did not
ind 1t difficult to put the simple me-
chanism together.
NOW ue0, ne an
nounced cheerfuliy when the gun was
finally assembled on the carriage,
"get a sixeabie timber an spike It to
the center o. the deck. TIL run the
trail spade up against that cleat an
fhat1l keep the recoil from lettin' the
gun go backward. clean through the
opposite rail and overheard. Gimn,e
a coupler gallons O. distillate an some
waste somebody. This cosmoline's
got to come out o. the tube an out o.
the brecch mechanism before we COM
mence shootin'."
The enemy had approached within
three miles by the time the piece was
ready for action. Under Mr.. Gibney's
instructions Captain Scraggs held the
fuse setter in case Il should be nee
essary to adjust with shrapnel. Mr..
Glbney inserted his sights and took a
preliminary squirt "A little differ
ent from gun-pointin' 10 the navy, but
about the SAINT principls." he declared.
I'm the army I believe they call this
kind O. shootin' direct FIRE. because
you sight direct on the tnrgot.' He
scratched his Ingenious bead and CT,
amined the ammunition "Not q high
N q