Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1922-02-01
CHAPTER K.

"Right-o." replied Captain Scraggs
cheerily. though when / was a young
Teller and first went to sea, IL wasn't
considered no pleasantly to spit on a
nice clean deck. You might cut that
out, Glib. It's vulgar"
"Passin' over the fact, Scraggs. that
you amt got no call to jerk me up on
sea ettycat. more particular since I'm
| the master and managin' owner of this
here schooner, I'm free TO confess
| Scraggsy. that your observation does
you credit. | just did that TO see II
you was goin' To take as big an inter-
est In the new Maggie as you did in
the old Maggie. and the fact that you
/ object TO me eXpectoratin' on the deck
| proves 10 me that you're leayin' behind
you all them bay scow tendencies of
the green-pea trade. II leads me TO be-
lieve that you'll rise 10 high rank and
| distinction In the Colombian navy.
Your fin, Scraggsy. EXpectoratin on
the decks Is barred. and the Maggie ii
goes under navy discipline from now
on. Am l righty"
fright as a right whale" said Cap
! tain Scraggs. "And now that you've
given that old mate Of mine the course,
and we've temporarily plugged up the
holes In this here Mexican gunboat
and everything points to a safe and
/ profitable voyage from now on, sup
\ pose you delegate me as a committee
of one TO brew a scuttle Of grog, after
] g.N
and lays out a course for its future
conduct. There's n few questions or
rank and privileges that ought to be
settled once and for all. so there can't
be NO comeback"
"The point Is well taken and II Is
SO ordered" said Mr.. Gibney. who had
once held office i'm Harbor 10. Master
and Pilots Association of America. and
knew a fragment or two Of parlia-
mentary law. Rustic up the grog, call
McGuffey up out Of the engine room,
and wen hold the meetin'."
Twenty minutes later Scraggs came
on deck to announce the successful
concoction of kettle Of whisky punch;
/ whereupOn the three Adventures went
below and sat down at the cabin table
for a conference.
81 move that Glib be appointed presi-
dent OF the syndicate" said Captain
Scraggs.
Second the notion" rumbled Nc
| Guffey.
"The notions carried" said Mr.. Glib
ney. and banged the table with his
horny fist. THE meetin' will please
come TO order. The chair hereby APP
points Phineas Scraggs secretary OF
! the syndicate. to keep a record Of this
/ and all future meetin's Of the board.
] will now entertain propositions of
/ any and all natures, and l invite the
members of the board to knock the
stopper out Of their jaw tackle and
/ go to IT,"
81 move" said Captain Scraggs, shat
b. McGuffey, Esquire, be, and he Is
hereby appointed, chief engineer Of the
/ Maggie III at a salary not TO exceed
the wage schedule of the Marine En-
/ gineers' Association OF the Pacific
coast. and that he be voted
0ne-fOurth interest I'm the vessel and
all subsequent profits"
Second the notion" said Mr. Glib
ney. "and not TO hamper the business
of the meetin', Wen just consider that
motion carried unanimous"
b. McGuffey. Esquire, rose, bowed
his thanks and sat down again, APP
parently very much confused. II was
| evident that he had something TO say,
but was having difficulty framing his
thoughts I'm parliamentary language.
"Heave away. Mac" said Mr.. Glib
ney.
"Cast of your lines, McGufrey,"
chirped Scraggs.
Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose,
| bowed his thanks once more, mOistened
his larnyx with a gulp of the punch,
and spoke:
"Feller members and brothers of the
syndicate: In the management Of the
deck department Of this new craft OF
ourn. my previous knowledge Of the
worthy president and the unworthy
secretary leads me TO believe that
| there's goln' 10 be trouble. A ship
| divided agin herself must surely go
4
on her beam ends. Now, Scraggsy
here has been master so long that the
| Juice of authority has sorter soaked
into his marrer bones. For twenty
wears it's been Howdy do. Captain
Scraggs,' Have a drink. Captain
Scraggs.' Captain Scraggs this an
Captain Scraggs that l don't mean
no ofrense. gentlemen, when l state
that you can't teach an old dog new
tricks. No man that's ever been
master makes a good mate. On the
other hand. / realize that Glib here
has been a-pantln' and a-bellyachin'
all his llfe to get ship Of his own
an have folks call him Captain Glib
ney.' Now that he's gone an done
il. say he's entitled to Il. But the