The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1922-02-17

cream separator. STAND by with that
sling to-"
"But, Glib, my dear boy" protested
Captain Scraggs, "this is insanityw
II know It," said Mr.. Gbney calmly.
"Scraggsy, you're perfectly right. But
I'd sooner die fightin' than let them
stand me UP agin wall in Ensenada.
We're filibusters, Scraggsy, and we're
caught with the goods. l, for one, am
goin' down with the steamer Maggie,
but I'm goin' down fghtin' 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"
'Let's run up the Stars and Stripes
and dare 'em to fire on u.s." said Cap
tain Scraggs.
"No," said Mr.. Gibney firmly, "my
old man died for the flag an I've
sailed under 1t too long to hide be-
hind 1t when I'm In Dutch. Well
| fight. II you was ever navigatin' Of
fcer on a Colombian gunboat, Scraggs,
you'd realize what 1t means to run
from Mexican"
| Captain Scraggs said nothing fur
ther. Perhaps he was 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 faint of the heroic
blood of some forgotten sea-dog. Be
that as 1t may, something did swell
in his breast when Mr.. Gibney spoke
of the flag and his scorning to hide
behind It, and Scraggs snaggle teeth
came together with 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 IL we
can't fight under the Stars and Stripes,
by the tail Of the Great Sacred Bull,
we'll have flag Of our own" and
leaving Mr.. Glbney and the crew to
get the guns on deck, Captain Scraggs
ran below. lie appeared on deck pres
emily with long blue burgee on which
was emblazoned In white letters the
single word Maggie. 1t was his own
houseflag, and with trembling hands
he ran 1t to the fore and cast its
wrinkled folds to the breeze Of heaven.
Good old dishcloth!" shrieked Mr..
Gibney. "She never comes down."
| Odd If 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 1t to 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
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 all Of the work of serving the
gun himself, in view Of which condi-
ton one gun would have to defend
the Maggie. He had never seen
mountain gun before, but he did not
find 1t difficult to put the simple me-
chanism together.
"Now, then, Scraggsy," he an
nounced cheerfully when the gun was
finally assembled on the carriage,
'get sizeable timber an spike II to
the center o. the deck. I'll run the
trail spade up against that cleat an
that'll keep the recoil. from lettin' the
gun go 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 In case 1t should be nee
essary to adjust with shrnpnel. Mr..
Gibney inserted his sights and took q
preliminary squint. "A little differ
ent from un-pointin' in the navy, but
about the same principle" he declared.
I'm the army believe they call this
kind o. shootin' direct FIRE, because
you sight direct on the target" He
scratched hia ingenious head and ex-
amIned the ammunition. "Not high
explosive shell In the lot" he mourned.
"ril have to use percussion fire to get
the range; then I'll drop back little
an spray her with shrapnel. Seems
pity to smash up a fine schooner
like that one with percussion FIRE. I'd
rather tickle 'em up bit with
shrapnei an scare 'em into runnin'
away"
He got out the lanyard, slipped Z
cartridge In the breech. paused, and
scratched his head again. His calm
deliberations was driving Scraggs
crazy. He reminded Mr.. 0Ibney with
some aspcrity. that they were not at
teidfne atrawberry festival ana for
the love II heaven to get busy.
I'm estimatin' the range, you
mjpe." chimney retortsd. Looks to b
about three miles to me. A little long.