The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1922-04-18

Gibney prone upon the deck with Il
CORY face upturned to the foggy skies.
When he essayed to rise and continue
/ the contest, Flaherty kicked him in
the ribs and Hicks cursed him; so
Mr.. Gibney. realizing that all was
| over, beat the deck with his hand in
token Of surrender. Hicks and Fla
. herty waited until the fallen 1Iada-
tor had recovered sufficient breath to
sit up; then they pounced upon lin.
lifted him to the rail, and dropped him
overheard. Captain Scraggs shrieked
in protest at this added touch of bar
barity. and Dan Hicks. turning, be-
held Scraggsy's white face at the
hatch.
"You're next, Scraggs," he called
cheerfully, and turned to peer over the
rail. Mr.. Gibney had emerged on the
surface and was swimming slowly
away toward an adjacent float where
small boats landed. He climbed
weariy up on the float and sat there,
gazing across at Hicks and Flaherty
without animus, for to his way Of
thinking he had gotten off lightly, con-
sidering the enormity Of his Offense.
The least he had anticipated was three
months in hospital, and so grateful
was he to Hicks and Flaherty for
their fOrbearance that he strangled Il
resolve to LAY" for Hicks and Fla
herty and thrash them individually
something he was fully able to do
and forgot his aches and pains in
lively interest as to the fate of Cap
tain ScraggS at the hands of the tow
boat men. He was aware that Cap
tain Scraggs had failed ignominiOusly
to rally to the Gibney appeal to repel
eboarders, and in his own expressive
|terminology he hoped that what the
tenemy would do to the bastard would
Ebe ''a-plenty."
The enemy, meanwhile, had turned
! their attention upon Scraggs, who had
lodged below like frightened rabbit
and sought shelter in the shaft alley.
He had sufficient presence Of mind, as
he dashed through the engine room, to
snatch large monkey wrench off the
tool rack on the wall, and, kneeling
just inside the alley entrance he
turned at bay and threatened the in
vaders with his weapon. ThereupOn
Hicks and Flaherty pelted him with
Jumps Of coal, but the sole result Of
this assault was to force ScraggS
further back into the Shaft alley and
ont of range.
The tOw3oat men held a council of
war and decided to drown Scraggs out.
Dan Hicks ran up on deck and re-
turned dragging the deck fire hose be-
hind him. He thrust the brass nozzle
| into the shaft-alley entrance and in
vited Scraggs to surrender uncondi-
tionally or he drowned like kitten.
| Scraggs. knowing his own fire hose,
defied them, so Dan Hicks started the
pump while Flaherty turned on the
| water. Instantly the hose burst up on
deck and Scraggs' jeers of triumph
! filed the engine room. The enemy
was about to draw lots to see which
one of the two should crawl into the
shaft alley and throw cupful Of
chloride Of lime (fOr they found a can
Of this in the engine room) in Captain
ScraggS' face, when Il shadow dark
ened the hatch and Mr.. Bartholomew
McGuffey demanded belligerently:
"What's gOin' on down there? Who
| the devils takin' liberties in nv en-
gine room?"
Dan Hicks explained the situation
and the just cause for drastic action
which they held against the fugitive
in the shaft alley. Mr.. McGuffey con-
sidered a few moments and made his
decision.
"If what you say is true-an' I amt
in position to dispute you, not havin'
been present when you hauled the
Maggie off the beach. I don't blame
you for feeling sore. What do blame
you for. though, is carryin' the war
aboard the Maggie. If you wanted to
whale Glib an Scraggsy you should ha'
laid for 'em on the dock. Under the
circumstances, you make this a per-
S'nal affair, an as n member O the
crew o the Maggie I got to take a
hand an defend my skipper agn yollSe
two. Fact is, gentlemen, got date
to lick him first for what he done to
me last night. Howsumever. that's a
4 private crouch. The fact remains that
you two jumped my pal Bert Gibney
am lickcu him soniethin' scandalous.
Hicks. I'll take YOU on first. Come up
out of there, you swab, and fight. Fla
herty. You stay below until I send for
yon : If YOU try to climb up an horn In
on my, fight with Hicks, Gibneyll brain
you."
Continued in Next Issue)