Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1922-01-25

leaped into the mold. bear hght
here until l can root out the wheels OF
these guns. Here they are. labeled
cream separator Stand by with that
sling to-"
"But, Glib, my dear boy" protested
Captain Scraggs, "this is insanity"
Il know IT," said Mr.. Gibney calmly.
"Scraggsy, you're perfectly right. But
I'd sooner die fightin' than let them
stand me up agin a wall in Ensenada.
We're filibusters, Scraggsy, and were
caught with the goods. /, for one, am
gOin' down with the steamer Maggie,
but I'm goin' down fighun' like a
bear"
"Maybe-maybe we can outrun her,
Glib" half sobbed Captain Scraggs.
"No hope" replied Mr.. Gibney.
Flight and die is the last resort.
She's eight miles astern and gainin'
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 fire on US" said Cap
tain Scraggs.
"No," said Mr. Gibney firmly, "my
old man died for the flag an I've
sailed under II too long TO hide be-
hind II when I'm in Dutch. Wei
fight. II you was ever navigatin' Of
ficer on a Colombian gunboat, Scraggs,
you'd realize what it means to run
from a Mexican"
Captain Scraggs said nothing fur
Their. Perhaps he was little ashamed
of himself I'm the face of Mr.. Glib
ney's simple faith in his own ability;
perhaps in his veins, all unknown,
there flowed a faint of the heroic
blood Of some forgotten sea-dOg. BE
that as Il may, something did swell
in his breast when Mr.. Gibney spoke
of the flag and his scorning TO hide
behind II, and Scraggs' snaggle teeth
came together with a snap.
"All right. Glib. my boy" he said
solemnly, I'm with you. Mrs. Scraggs
has slipped her cable and there amt
nobody TO mourn for me. But If we
can't fight under the Stars and Stripes,
| by the tail of the Great Sacred Bull,
Wen have a flag OF our own" and
| leaving Mr.. Gibney and the crew TO
get the guns on deck. Captain Scraggs
ran below. lie appeared on deck pres
entity with a long blue burgee on which
was emblazoned In white letters the
single word Maggie. 1t was his own
hOusehag. and with trembling hands
he ran IL 10 the fore and cast it's
wrinkled folds TO the breeze of heaven.
"Good old dishcloth!" shrieked Mr..
Gibney. 'She never comes down."
I'D IL she does" said Captain
Scraggs profanely.
While all this was going on. deck
/ hand had reeved a block and tackle
through the end of the cargo gam
and passed II 10 the winch. The two
guns came out of the hold In jig time.
| and while Scraggs and one deckhand
/ opened the after hold and got out am
munitlon 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 all OF the work Of serving the
/ gun himself. In view of which cOndi-
ton one gun would have 10 defend
/ the Maggie He had never seen a
mountain gun before, but he did not
find it difficult to put the simple me-
chanism together.
"Now, then. Scraggsy." ne an
nounced cheerfully when the gun was
| finally assembled on the carriage,
"get a sizeable timber an spike 1t to
/ the center o. the deck. I'll run the
trail spade up against that cleat an
that1l keep the recoil from lettin' the
gun 20 backward, clean through the
opposite rail and overheard. Gimme
a coupler gallons o. distillate an some
waste, somebody. This cosmOline's
got to come out o. the tube an out o.
the breech 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 I'm case IL should be nee
essary TO adjust with shrapnel. Mr..
/ Gibney inserted his sights and took s
preliminary squlnt. "a little differ
ent from gun-pointin' in the navy, but
about the same principle" he declared.
"In the army l believe they call this
kind o. shootin' direct fire. because
you sight direct on the target" He
scratched his ingenious head and ex-
amined the ammunition. "NOt high
explosive shell In the lot" he mOurned.
"Tll have to use percussion fire to get
the range; then I'll drop back little
an spray her with shrapnel. Seems
a pity 70 smash up a fine schooner
like that one with percussion fire. I'd
rather tickle 'em up a bit with
shrapnel an scare 'em into runnln'
away"
He got out the lanyard. slipped a
cartridge In the breech, paused. ana
scratched his head again. His calm
| aalfharotfon uyaG driving gcrargS