The Red Cloud chief., 1922-02-09

cream separator Stand by with that
sling to"
"But, Glib, my dear boy" protested
Captain, Screggs. "thls is insanity"
II know it, said Mr.. Gibney calmly.
"~Scraggsy, you're perfectly right. But
I'd ooner die fghtin' than let them
stand me up agin n wall In Ensenada.
We're filibusters, Scrnggsy. and we're
caught with the goods. I, for one. am
goIn' down with the steamer Maggie,
but I'm goin' down fghtin' like a
benr."
"Maybe-maybe we can outrun her,
Gib," half sobbed Captain Scraggs.
"No hope" replied Mr.. Gibney.
Eight and die Is the last resort.
She's eight miles astern and gainln'
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 Scrnggs.
"No," said Mr.. Gibney firmly, my
old man died for the flag an I've
| sailed under It too long to hide be-
hind II when I'm In Dutch. Well
fight. If you was eve %navigatin' Of
fcer on a Colombian gunboat, Scraggs.
you'd realize what 1t means to run
from q Mexican"
Captain Scraggs said nothing fur
Their. Perhaps he was n 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 q talnt of the heroic
blood Of some forgotten sea-1Og. BE
that as 1t may, something did swell
In his breast when Mr.. Gibney spoke
of the flag and his scOrning to hide
behind 1t, and Scraggs' snaggle teeth
came together with u snap.
"All right, Glib, my boy" he said
solemnly, "Tm with you. Mrs. Scraggs
has slipped her cable and there amt
nobody to mourn for me. But II we
can't fight under the Stars and Stripes.
by the tail of the Great Sacred Bull,
well have a flag Of our own" and
leaving Mr.. Gibney and the crew to
get the guns on deck. Captain Scraggs
ran below. He appeared on deck pres
emily with a long blue burgee on which
was emblazOned In white letters the
single word Maggie. 1t was his own
~housefiag, 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."
I'D II she does" said Captain
Scraggs %profanely.
While oil this was going on. O 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 ia
realize that he would have to do prac'
tically all Of the work Of serving the
gun himself. In view Of which cOndi.
ton n gun would have to defend
the Maggie. He had never seer a
mountain gun before, but he did not
find 1t difficult to put the simple me,
chanIsm together.
snow. then, Scraggsy," he an
nOunced checrfully when the gun was
finally assembled on the carriage
"get q sizeable timber an spike It t.
the center O. the deck. I'll run thu
trail spade up against that cleat an
thatll keep the recoll from lettin' thu
gun 20 backward, clean through tht
opposite rail and overheard. Gimme
o coupler gallons o. dlstillate In som,
waste, somebody. This cosmoline'
got to come out O. the tube an out O
the breech mechanism before we com
n shOOtIn'."
The enemy had approached within
three miles by the time the piece wa
ready for action. Under Mr.. Chimney
instructions Captain Scraggs held tn
fuse setter In case 1t should be nee
iessary to adjust with %shrapnel. MI
Gibney inserted his sights and took
preliminary squirt. "A little differ
ent from gun-polntin' In the navy. bu
about the same principle" he declared
I'm the army l believe they call thi
kind o. shOotin' direct fire. becaus
you sight direct on the target" ii
scratched his ingenious head and ex
amined the ammunition. "Not q hig
explosive shell In the lot" he mournet
"Tll have to use percussion fire to &c
the range; then I'll drop back a littl
nm spray her with shrapnel. Seem
a pity to smash up n fine schoone
like that one with percussion fire. i
rather tickle 'em up a bit wit
shrapnel an scare 'em into runni'
away"
lie got out the lanyard. slipped
cartridge In the breech, paused, an
: scratched his head again. His cali
. elaboration was driving Scrage
. crazy. He reminded Mr.. Gibney wit
, some asperity that they were not u
; tending a strawberry festival and +,
the love of heaven to get busy.
"I'm estimatin' the range, yO
= ~ 10 rtbun., ,tnrtaI ct nnlrc 81. 4