The Owosso times., 1922-03-03
CHAPTER lI-Continued.

CHAP TEH Ii-Conttnucd.
3
She dld-with crack that shook
the rigging and caused ii to rattle like
buckshets In pan. A terrible cry
such a cry, indeed. as might burst
from the lips OF a mother seeing her
only child run down by the Limited
burst from poor Captain Scraggs. my
shipl My shIpi" he howled. "My
darling little Maggie! They've killed
you, they've killed you The dirty
lubbersw
The succeeding wave lifted the Mag
gle of the beach, carried her in some
fifty feet further, and deposited her
gently ON the sand. She heeled over
to port little and rested there as if
she was very, very weary, nor could
all the threshing Of her screw in re-
verse haul her Off again. The surf,
dashing In under her fantail, had more
power than 'McGuffey's engines, and,
foot by foot, the Maggie proceeded TO
dig herself In Mr.. Gibney listened
for five minutes to the uproar that
rose from the bowels Of the little
steamer before he whistled up Mr..
McGuffey.
xiii her, Kill her" he ordered.
"Your wheel will bite into the sand
first thing you know, and tear the
stern off her. You're shakin' the old
girl to pieces"
McGuffey killed his engine, banked
his fires, and came up on deck. wiping
his anxious face with fearfully filthy
sweat rag. At the same time Scraggs
and Neils Halvorsen came crawling
aft over the deckload and when they
peached the clear space around the
pilot house. Captain Scraggs threw his
brown derby on the deck and leaped
upon II until, his rage abating ulti-
mately, no power on earth. in the air,
or under the sea, could possibly have
relnbiltated II and rendered it fit for
further wear even by Captain Scraggs.
This petulant practice of jumping on
hia hat was habit with Scraggs
whenever anything annoyed him par
ticularly and was always infallible evi-
dence that simple declarative SEN
tence had stuck in his throat.
"Well, old whlrlng dervish," Mr.
Gibney demanded calmly when Scraggs
paused for lack Of breath to continue
his dance, what about it? We're up
Salt Greek without a paddle; the devil
to pay and no pitch hot"
"McGuffey's fired" Captain Scraggs
screeched.
"Come, come, Scraggsy, old tarpot,"
Mr.. Gibney soothed. This amt no
time for fightin Thinkin an actin
is all that saves the Maggie now."
But Captain Scraggs was beyond
reason. "McGuffey's fired! McGuf-
feys fired! !" he reiterated. "The dirty
rotten wharf rat Call yourself an
engnecr?" he continued witherngly.
"As an engineer you're bowling sue
cess at shoemakin', you slob. I'll fix
your clock for you, my hearty. I'll
have your ticket took away from you,
an that's no Chlnaman's dream,
nuther."
"It's all my fault runnin' by dead
reckOnin'," the honest Gibney pro-
tested. MAC amt to fault. The en-
gine room telegraph busted an he got
the wrong signal"
"It's his business to see to IL that
he's got an engine room telegraph that
won't bust
you degw McGuffey ro8red and
sprang at the skipper, who leaped
nimbly up the little ladder to the top
Of the pilot house and stood prepared
to kick Mr.. McGuffey in the face
should that worthy venture up after
him. II can't persuade you to git me
nothln' that ought to have. I'm tired
workin' with junk an scraps an cop
per wire and pieces O string. I'm
throughI''
you're right-you're through. be-
cnuse you're fired!" Scraggs shrieked
In insane rage. "Get off my ship, you
maritime impOstor or I'll take a pistol
to you. Overheard with you, you
greasy, Anticipated bounder! You're
rotten, understand? Rotten Rotten
Rotten r.
"You owe me eight dollars an six
bits, Scraggs" Mr.. McGuffey reminded
hfs owner calmly. "Chuck down the
sp0ndulicks an I'll get off your ship"
Captain Scraggs was beyond reason,
SO ne tossed the money down to the
engineer. "Now git" he commanded.
Without further ado, Mr.. McGuffey
started across the deckload to the
fo'cnstie head. scraggs could not see
him but he could hear him-so he
peIted the engineer with potatoes, cab
bage heads and onions, the vegetables
descending about the honest McGuffey
In veritable barrage. Even In the
darkness several Of these missiles took
effect.
Upon reaching the very apex Of the
Maggie's bow, Mr.. McGuffey turned