Middletown transcript., 1921-11-19

tow me in I'll gladly give her my tow
line and let the court settle the BILL"
"Not by a Million" Mr.. Gibney pro-
tested. beg pardon, sir, but you don't
know this here Scraggs like l do. I
couldn't think of lettin' him set foot
on this deck"
"You couldn't think Of it? Well.
when did you take command Of my
ship?"
you're flotsam an jetsam, sir, an
practically in the breakers. You're
sick, an, for all know, delirious, so
for the sake O. protectin' you, the
sick seaman in the fo'castle an the
owners, I'm takin' command"
The master Of the Chesapeake
reached under his pillow and produced
pistol. "Out of my cabin or I'll riddle
you," he barked feebly.
Mr.. Gibney departed without word
Of protest and proceeded to make his
arrangements, regardless Of the mas
ter's consent. AS he and McGuffey
busted themselves, laying the leading
blocks along the deck, they glanced
toward the Maggie and observed Cap
tain Scraggs hurting crates of vege-
tables overheard in an effort to get at
the small boat quickly. Hell die
when the freight claims come in." Mr..
McGuffey chortled. "Poor OIL Scrag-
gsy!''
When Captain Scraggs came aboard,
Mr.. Gibney escorted him around to the
masters cabin, introduced him, and
stood by while they bargained. 'The
tow will cost you five thousand. Cap
tain," Scraggs began pompously.
me an McGuffey'll sail you in for
four" Gibney declared.
"Three thousand" snarled Scraggs.
"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thous-
and. AS a matter Of fact, Scraggsy,
me an Mac'n sail her in for nothin'
just to skin you out O. the salvage"
1.-TWO thousand dollars is my lowest
! figure" Scraggs declared. Take 1t
| Or leave it, Captain. Under the cir
cumstances. bargaining is useless. Two
thousand is my last bid"
The figure Scraggs named was prob
ably one fifth Of what the master Of
the Chesapeake knew court would
award nevertheless he shook his head.
"It's straight towing Job, Captain.
and not a salvage proposition at all.
A tug would tow me in for two hun
dred and fifty, but I'll give you five
hundred"
Remembering the vegetables he had
jettisoned, Scraggs knew he could not
afford to accept that price. I'm
through" he bluffed-and his bluff
worked.
"Taken, Captain Scraggs. Write out
an agreement and I'll sign it,,
With the agreement in his pocket,
Scraggs, followed by Gibney, left the
cabin. Zone hundred each to you an
Mac if you'll stay. aboard the !Chesa-
peake. steer her, an help the Maggie
out with what sail you can get OH
her." Scraggs promised.
'"Take a long, runnin' jump at your
self, Scraggsy, old sorrowful. The best
me an Mac'll do is to help you cock
bill the anchor, an that'u cost you
ten bucks for each Of us-in advance"
The artful fellow realized that Scraggs
knew nothing whatever about sailing
ship and would have to depend upon
The Squarehead for the information
he required.
"All right Here's your money
Scraggs replied and handed Mr.. Glib
ney twenty dollars. He and Neils
Halvorsen then went forward, got out
the steel towing cable, and fastened a
f1oated off the ship at the end Of the
painter, so The SQuarehead hauled it
in, climbed down into the skiff, and
made the light rope fast to thwart
then, with Captain Scraggs paying out
the hawser, Neils bent manfully to the
oars and started to tow the steel cable
back to the Maggie. Half way there
the weight Of the cable dragging be-
hind slowed The Squarehead up and
eventually stopped him. Exerting all
his strength he pulled and pulled, but
the sole result of his efforts was tc
wear himself out, seeing which the
Maggie's navigating officer set the lit
tie steamer in toward the perspirine
Neils, while Captain Scraggs, Gibney
and McGuffey cheered Justify.
Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly
Neils unshipped the remaining oar
sprang to the stern, and attempted, by
sculling, to keep the sklff's head up tC
the waves. But the weight Of the
cable whirled the little craft around
wave rolled in over her counter, and
half-filled her; the succeeding wave
completed the job and rolled the skif1
over and The SQuarehead was forced
to swim back to the Chesapeake. HI
climbed up the Jacobs ladder to face
a storm Of abuse from Captain Scraggs
The cable was hauled back aboard
with difficulty, owing to the submerged
skiff at the end of it. Captain Scragg!
and The Squarehead leaned over thu
Chesapeakes rail and tugged furious
! ly, when the wreck came alongside, bu
! all of their strength was unequal t.
the task Of righting the little craft b!
hauling up on the light rope attached
to her thwart.
"FOr ten dollars more each me an
Macll tail on to that rope an do ou
J best to right the skiff. After she'
righted. I'll bail her out, borrow new
oars from this here bark an help Neil
row back to the Maggie with tn
,, cable" Mr.. Gibney volunteered. "Casl
In advance, as per usual"
You're pair of highway robbers
e but I'll take you," Scraggs almos
walled and Maid ont the money