Phoenix tribune., 1922-07-01

| quarantine station.
That night NeiIs HaIvorsen went
ashore for those forms Of enjoyment
peculiar to his calling. and in the PAN
theon saloon, whittier his pathway led
him, he filed himself with beer and
| gossip. 1t was here that NeiIs came
across an item in an afternoon paper
which challenged his instant atten-
ton. 1t was just a squib in the ship
ping news. but Neils Halvorsen read
it with amazement and joy:
The power schooner Maggie II arrived
this morning, ten days from the Friendly
| islands. The little schooner came into
port with her hold bursting with the most
valuable cargo that has entered Homo
| lulu In many years. 1t consists for the
most part Of black coral
THE Maggie II is commanded by Cap
tain Phineas Scraggs, and after taking
on provisions and water today will pro-
ceed to San Francisco, tomorrow. for dis
charge of cargo"
"By yiminy," quoth Neils Halvorsen,
AYE bat you that bane de ole man so
sure as you bane alive. And aye bat
new hat he skall be glad to see Neils
Halvorsen. I guess aye hire Kanaka
boy an he bane pull me out to see
de ole man."
A Jacobs ladder was hanging over
the side of the schooner as the canoe
shot In under her lee quarter, and half
a minute later the expectant Neils
stepped upon her deck. tall dark
man, wearing an ancient palmleaf
hat, sat smoking on the hatch eoam-
ing, and him Neils Halvorsen ad-
dressed.
"Aye bane want to see Cap'n
Scraggs," he said.
The tall dark man stood erect and
cast a quick, questioning look at Nefls
Halvorsen. He hesitated before he
made answer.
"What do you wantT' he asked de-
Iiberately, and there was subtle
menace in his tones. AS for Neils
Halvorsen, thinking only Of the sur
prise he had in store for his old en-
ployer, he replied evasively:
"Aye bane want job"
"Well, I'm Captain Scraggs, and 1
haven't any Job for you. Get off my
boat and wait until you're invited be-
fore you come aboard again."
For nearly a minute Neils Halvor-
sen stared open-mouthed at the spuri-
Gus Captain Scraggs, while slowly
there sifted through his brain the no.
ton that he had happened across the
track of a deep and bloody mystery
of the seas. There was something
rotten in Denmark" OF that Neils
not be certain of until he had paved
the way for complete investigation,
and as a preliminary step toward
that end he clinched his fist and
sprang swiftly toward the bogus skip
per.
"Aye tank you bane d-n liar," he
muttered, and struck home, straight
and true, to the point of the jaw.
The man went down, and in an in
stant Neils was on top Of him. OF
came the sailors belt, the hands Of
the half-stunned man were quickly
tied behind him, and before he had
time to realize what had happened
Neils had cut length of cord from
a trailing halyard and tied his feet
securely, after which he gagged him
securely with his bandana handker-
chief.
A quick circuit of the ship con-
vinced Neils HaIvorsen that the re-
mainder of the bastard crew were
evidently ashore, so he descended to
the cabin In search of further evil
dence of crime. He was quite pre-
pared to find Captain Scraggs mas
ter's certificate In its familiar oaken
frame, hanging on the cabin wall, but
he was dumfounded to observe hang
ing on the wall in a similar and
equally familiar frame, the certificate
of Adelbert P. Gibney as first mate
of steam or sail, any ocean and any
tonnage. But still third framed
certificate hung on the wall, and Neils
again scratched his head when he
read the wording that set forth the
legal qualifications of Bartholomew
McGuffey to hold down q Job as
chief engineer of coastwise vessels
up to 1,200 tons net register.
1t was patent, even to the dull
witted Swede, that there had been
foul play somewhere, and the schoon-
er's log, lying open on the table.
seemed to offer the first means at
hand for a solution of the mystery.
Eagerly Neils turned to the last en-
try. 1t was not In Captain Scraggs'
handwriting, and contained nothing
more interesting than the stereotyped
reports of daily observations, cur
rents, weather conditions, etc., In
cluding a notation of arrival that day
at Honolulu. Slowly Halvorsen
turned the leaves backward, until at
last he was rewarded by>a glimpse of
different handwriting. 1t was the
last entry under that particular hand
writing, and read as follows:
June q, 19-. Took an observation at
noon, and find that we are in 20-4s S.,
1884 w. At this rate should lift Tuvana-
thoIo early this afternoon All hands