Williams news., 1922-02-03

be too prolix, at the time Captain
 Scraggs made the disheartening dis
 covery that he had to have a skipper
 for the Maggie, Mir. Gibney found
 himself reduced to the alternative of
 longshore work or fo'castle berth fin
 windjammer bound for blue water
 With alacrity. therefore. MT. Gib
 ney Ind accepted Scrnggs' offer of
 seventy-five dollars a month-"and
 found"-to skipper the Maggie on her
 coastwise run. As a first mate of
 steam he had no difficulty inducing
 the inspectors to grant him a license
 to skipper such. an abandoned craft
 as the Maggie. and accordingly he
 hung up his ticket in her pilot house
 and was registered as her master, al.
 belt, under gentleman's agreement
 with Scraggs he was not to claim the
 title of captain and was known tc
 the world as the Maggies first mate
 second mate. third mate. queftermns-
 ter. purser and freight clerk. One Eeils Halvorsen. a solemn Swede with
 a placid. bovine disposition. consti- tuted the. fo'castle hands. while Bart McGuffey. wastrel of the Gibney
 type but slower-witted, reigned su- preme in the engine room. Also his case resembled that of Mfr. Gibney in
 that McGuffey's job on the Maggie was the first he had had fin six months and he Urea sured it accordingly. For this reason he and Gibney had been inclined to take considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until McGuffey discovered that. in all proha hility. no engineer in the world. except him. self. would have the courage to trust himself within range Of the Maggfe's boilers; and. consequently. he had Captain Scraggs more or less at his mercy. Upon impartinR this suspicion to Mir. Gibney. the latter decided that | .t would be cold day. indeed, when l his ticket would not constitute . club | wherewitn 10 make Scraggs. as Gib- l ney expressed 1t. mind his P's and l Q's."
 It will be seen. therefore, that mu- tual necessity held this Queerly as sorted trio together. and,i though they Quarreled lfurfously, nevertheless, with | the passage of. time their own weak nesses. and those of the Maggie had | aroused in each for the other a curi- ous affection. While Captain Scraggs pulled" monumental blun and threatened to dismiss both and McGuney-and. in fact, occasionally went SO far as to order them off his ship. on their part Gib- aey md McGuffey were wont to work he sume racket and resign. With the subsistence of their anger and the re- urn to reason. however. the trio had l habit of meeting accidentally in the Bowhead saloon. where. sooner or ater. they were certain to bury their srudge in a .foaming ibeaker Of steam 'eer. and return joyfuily to the, Mag 5e. ,
 Of all the little ships company. Seils Halvorsen. colloQuially desig lated as -The Squarehead." was the 'nly individual who was. in truth and 1 n fact. his own man. Neils was 'teadJ. industrious. faithful. capable, md reliable; any one of a. hundred ieckhand jobs were ever open to leils. yet. for some reason best known O himself he preferred to stick by he Maggie. Tn his dull way it is thnts hes was fascinated by he agile intelligence of Mr.7 Gibney. he vitriolic tongue of Captain Scragga. and the elephantine wit and :rizzly bear courage of MT. McGufrey. It any rate. he delighted in hearing hem snarl and wrangie.
 However, to return to the Maggie which we left entering the tule fog
 few miles north of Pillar point: