Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-01-12

II ndu been ONcfliaulcu, Inspected, anu
repaired wherever necessary, and in
order TO be on the safe side. Mr.. Glib
ney, upon motion duly made by him
and seconded by McGuffey Ito whom
the seconding of the Gibney motions
had developed into q habiD, purchased
an extra suit OF new sails. The en-
glnes were oyerhauled by the faith
full McGuffey and large store OF dis
tillate stored Ia the hold. Captain
| Scraggs, with his oldtime aversion to
| expense, made "A motion (Which was
seconded by McGufrey before he had
taken time TO consider its import) pro-
viding for the abolition OF the Office
of chief engineer while the Maggie Ill
was under sail, at which time the
chief ex-ofliciO was TO hold himself
under the orders OF the commodore and
be transferred TO the deck department
If necessary. Mr.. Gibney approved the
measure and IL went into effect. Only
on entering or leaving n port, or In
case of chase by an enemy. were the
engines TO be used, and McGuffey was
warned to be extremely saving of his
dstillate.
Mr.. Gibney made n splendid job of
changing the vessels name, and as
she chugged ln2ily out of Panama bay
and lifted to the long ground-swell OF
the Pacific, 1t is doubtful if even her
I late Mexican commander would have
recognized her. She was indeed Il
beautiful craft, and Commodore Glib
ney's heart swelled with pride as he
stood aft, coming the man at the
wheel, and looked her over. II seemed
like a sacrilege now, when he reflected
how he had trained the gun OF the old
Maggie on her that day off the Coro-
nados, and II seemed 10 him now even
n greater sacriiege 10 have hrazenly
planned 10 enter her us a priyaioer In
the struggles Of the republic OF COlOm-
bia. The past tense Is used adNisedly
for that project was now entirely or
much 10 the secret delight Of Captain
Scraggs, who, If the hero of one naval
engagement, was not anxious 10 take
part in another In Panama the free
hooters of the Maggie II learned that
during Mr.. Gibnoy's absence on his
iiiibusterins trip the Colombian rcvclu
tionists had risen and struck their
blow. After the fashion Of a hot
headed and impetuous people, they had
entered the contest absolutely I'M
trained. As q result, the w0r had last
ed just two weeks, the leaders had
been incontinently shot, and the white
winged dove OF pence had once more
spread her pinions along the borders
of the Gold coast.
Commodore Clbney was Disguised be-
yond measure, and at a special meet
ing of the syndicate, called in the
cabin of the Maggie II that same eve
ming ii was finally decided that they
should embark on an indefinite trad
ing cruise In the South seas or until
such time as it seemed their services
must be required 10 free downtrod-
den people from a tyrant'S yoke.
Captain Scraggs ana McGuTey had
never been in the South seas, but they
had heard that a fair margin Of profit
was to be wrung from trade in copra,
shell, coconuts, and kindred tropical
products. They so expressed them
selves. To this suggestion, however,
Commodore Gibney waved deprecat-
ing paw.
Legitimate tradn', boys" he said,
sis nice, sane. healthy business, but
the profits is slow What we want is
quick profits, and while it amt set
down in black and white, one Of the
principal objects of this syndicate is
TO lead life of wild adventure In
tradln', there amt no adventure 10
speak of. We ought TO do a little
black-birdin', or raid some of those
Jap pearl fisheries off the northern
coast Of Formosa.'
''But Wei be chased by real gun
boats If we do that" objected Captain
Scraggs. "Those Jap gunboats shoot
to kill. Can't you think of somethin'
else, Gib?"
We'll" said Mr.. Gibney, "for
starter. l can. Suppose we just head
straight for Kandavu island in the FL
iis, and scheme around for a cargo OF
black coral? It's only worth about fif-
ty dollars n pound. Kandavu lays
somewhere in latitude % south, longi-
tude rs west, and when ! was there
last it was fair reCkin with cannibal
savages. But there's tons of black
coral there, and nobody'S ever been
able to sneak In and get away with
Ii. Every time boat used TO land at
Kandavu, the native niggers would
have white-man stew down on the
beach, and it's got so that shippers
give the island wide BERTH
"Gib, my dear boy" chartered Cap
tain Scraggs, I'm man Of peace
and II"
"Scraggsy. old stick-in-the mud"
said Mr.. Gibney. laying an alfectionate
hand on the shippers shoulder. you're
nothin' OF the sort. You're fightin'
tarantula. and nobody knows It bet
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