The L'Anse sentinel., 1922-01-13

'The eggs, Scraggsy," doomed Mr..
Gibney. "the eggs"
Half an hour later, as the pirates,
replete with provender, sat dangling
their damaged underplnning over the
stern railing where the gentle wave
let's laved and cooled them, Captain
Scraggs. accompanied by the new navi-
eating officer, the new engineer, and
The Squarehead, came aft The Grip
Piles looked up, surveyed their success
sors In office. and found the sight far
from reassuring.
"Pve already ordered you two
tramps off'n my ship" Scraggs began
formally, IAN hereby. In the pres
ence o. reliable witnesses, repeats the
Invitation. You amt wanted; your
rooms preferred to your comp'ny. an
by stayin' minute longer, In defiance
o. my orders, you're layin' yourselves
liable to charge o. piracy"
Mr.. Glbney carefully laid his pipe
| aside and stood up. He was quite an
imposing spectacle In his bare feet,
with his trousers rolled up to his great
knees, thereby revealing his scarlet
| flannel underdrawers. With q stifed
groan. McGuffey rose and stood beside
his partner, and Mr.. Gibney spoke:
"Scraggs. be reasonable. We amt
lookin' for trouble; not because we
don't relish II, for we do where a
| couple o. scabs is concerned, but for
the simple reason that we amt In the
best o. condition to receive It, al
though II you force 1t on US we'll do
our best. II you chuck US of the Mag
gle an force us to walk back to San
Francisco, we're goin' to be reported
as mIssin'. Honest, now, Scraggsy,
old side-winder, you amt goin' to
maroon us here, alone with the vege-
tables, are your"
| "You done me dirt. You quit me
| cold. Git out. Two can play at q
dirty game an every dog must have
/ his day. This is my day, Glib. Scat !"
Personally" McGuffey announced
quietly, II prefer to die aboard the
Maggie, II I have to-. This amt NOV.
In day with b. McGuffey, Esquire"
"Them's my sentiments. too,
Scraggsy."
"Then defend yourselves. Come on,
lads. Bear a hand an Wen bounce
these muckers overheard" The
Squarehecd hung back, having no In
tention Of waging war upon his late
comrades. bnt the engineer and the
new navigating officer stepped briskly
forward, for they were about to Tight
for their jobs. Mr.. Gibney halted the
advance by lifting both great hands
In a deprecatOry manner.
"For heavens sake, Scraggxy, have
heart. Don't force us to murder
you. If we're peaceable, what's to
prevent you from givin' us passage
back to San Francisco, where we're
known an where we'll have at least
a fightin' chance to git somethin' to
eat occasionallyr
"You know mighty well what's to
prevent me, Glib. amt got no pas
senger license, an I'll be keel-hauled
an skull-dragged IL fall for your
cute little game, my son. amt layin'
myself liable to fine. from the inspec-
tors an maybe have my ticket book
took away to boot"
Enough Of this gab," Mr.. Gibney
roared. "My patience is exhausted.
r'm dog-tired an I'm goin' to have
peace IL have to fight for 1t. Me an
Bart stays aboard the steamer Maggie
until she gets back to Frisco town or
until we're hove overheard In the in
terim by the weight Of numbers. An
II any man, or set o, male bipeds that
calls themselves men, is SO foolish as
to try to evict us from this packet,
then all got to say is that they're
triflin' with death. got my arms left,
even II my feet Is on the fritz,
Scraggs," he continued, "an' II you
start anything I'll hug you an your
crew to death. I'm rip-roarin' griz-
zIy bear once I'm started an there's
such thing as drivin' man to des-
peration."
The bluff workedi Captain Scraggs
turned to his retalners and with a
condescending and paternal smile,
said: Boys, let's give the dumb
fools their own way. II they insist
upon takin' forcible possession o. my
ship on the high seas. there's only one
name for the crime--an' that's piracy,
punishable by hangin' from the yard
arm. Wen Just let 'em stay aboard
an turn 'em over to the police when
we git back to the city"
He started for his cabin and the
crew. vastly relieved. followed him.
The pirates once more sat down and
permitted their hot feet to loll over
board.
About ten O'clock next morning the
little vessel completed tahing on her
cargo, the lines were cast OF, and the
homeward voyage was begun. Messrs.
Gibney and McGuffey were sented on
the stern bits as the Maggie came
abreast the Point Montara fog signal
station, when Mr.. Gibney observed 4
long telescope pokine out the side win
dow OF the pilot house. and following
the direction in which the telescope
was pointing he made ont large bark
standing In dangerously Close to the
beach. In fact. the breakers were tum-
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