Part 8 (2/2)
I want somethin' solid.”
Scraggs looked up and his cold green eyes were agleam with malice and triumph as they rested on the unhappy pair. However, he smiled--a smile reminiscent of a cat that has just eaten a canary--and cold chills ran down the backs of the exhausted travellers. ”h.e.l.lo, boys,” he piped. He turned from them to toss a few strips of bacon into the grease with the eggs; then he peered into the coffee pot and set it on the back of the galley range to simmer, before facing his guests again. His att.i.tude was so significant that Mr. Gibney queried mournfully:
”Well, Phineas, you old vegetable hound, ain't you glad to see us?”
”Certainly, Gib, certainly. I'm deeply appreciative of the honour o' this visit, although I'm free to say we're hardly prepared for company. The stores is kind o' low an' I did just figger on havin' enough, by skimpin' a little, to last me an' my crew until we get back to San Francisco. I'd hate to put 'em on short rations, on account of unexpected company, because it gives the s.h.i.+p a bad name. On the other hand, it's agin my disposition to appear small over a few fried eggs, while on still another hand, I realize you two got to get fed.” He stepped to the door and pointed. ”See that little shack about two points to starboard o'
the warehouse? Well, there's a Dago livin' there an' he'll fix you two boys up a bully meal for fifty cents each.”
”Scraggsy, ol' hunks, if three-ringed circuses was sellin' for six bits a throw me an' Bart couldn't buy a whisker from a dead tiger.” The dreadful admission brought a dull flush to Mr.
Gibney's already rubicund countenance.
”Sh.e.l.l out a coupler bucks, Scraggsy,” McGuffey pleaded. ”Me an'
Gib's so empty we rattle when we walk.”
”I ain't got no money to loan you two that ups an leaves me in the lurch, without no notice,” Scraggs flared at them. ”If you two stiffs ain't able to support yourselves you'd ought to apply for admission to the poorhouse or the Home For the Feeble-minded.”
Mr. Gibney smiled fatly. ”Scraggsy! You're kiddin' us.”
”Not by forty fathom, I ain't.”
”Phineas, we just _got_ t' eat,” McGuffey declared ominously.
”Eat an' be dog-goned,” the skipper snarled. ”I ain't a-tryin' to prevent you. Are you two suckin' infants that I got to _feed_ you? There's plenty o' fresh vegetables out on deck. Green peas ain't to be sneezed at, an' as for French carrots, science'll tell you there's ninety-two per cent. more nutriment in a carrot than----”
Mr. Gibney halted this dissertation with upraised hand. ”Scraggs, it's about time you found out I ain't no potato bug, an' if you think McGuffey's a coddlin' moth you're wrong agin. Fork over them eggs an' the coffee an' a coupler slices o' dummy an' be quick about it or I'll bust your bob-stay.”
”Get off my s.h.i.+p, you murderin' pirates,” Scraggs screamed.
”Not till we've et,” the practical-minded engineer retorted.
”Even then we won't get off. Me an' Gib ain't got any feet left, Scraggs. If we had to walk another step we'd be crippled for life. Fry my eggs hard, I tell you.”
”This is piracy, men. It's robbery on the high seas, an' I can put you over the road for it,” Scraggs warned them. ”What's more, I'll do it.”
”The eggs, Scraggsy,” boomed Mr. Gibney, ”the eggs.”
Half an hour later as the pirates, replete with provender, sat dangling their damaged underpinning over the stern railing where the gentle wavelets laved and cooled them, Captain Scraggs accompanied by the new navigating officer, the new engineer, and The Squarehead, came aft. The cripples looked up, surveyed their successors in office, and found the sight far from rea.s.suring.
”I've already ordered you two tramps off'n my s.h.i.+p,” Scraggs began formally, ”an' I hereby, in the presence o' reliable witnesses, repeats the invitation. You ain't wanted; your room's preferred to your comp'ny, an' by stayin' a minute longer, in defiance o' my orders, you're layin' yourselves liable to a charge o' piracy. It'd be best for you two boys to mosey along now an' save us all a lot o' trouble.”
Mr. Gibney 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 a stifled groan, McGuffey rose and stood beside his partner, and Mr. Gibney spoke:
”Scraggs, be reasonable. We ain't lookin' for trouble; not because we don't relish it, for we do where a couple o' scabs is concerned, but for the simple reason that we ain't in the best o'
condition to receive it, although if you force it on us we'll do our best. If you chuck us off the _Maggie_ an' force us to walk back to San Francisco, we're goin' to be reported as missin'.
Honest, now, Scraggsy, old side-winder, you ain't goin' to maroon us here, alone with the vegetables, are you?”
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