Part 25 (2/2)
”We've captured you in the name of Adelbert P. Gibney,” was the reply. ”I been huntin' all my life for a s.h.i.+p of my own, and now I've got her. Lord, Mac, she's a beauty, ain't she? All hardwood finish, teak rail, well found, and just the ticket for the island trade. Well, well, well! I'm Captain Gibney at last.”
”Where do I come in, Gib?” asked Captain Scraggs modestly.
”Well, seein' as the _Maggie_ has two holes through her hull below the waterline, and is generally nicked to pieces, you might quit askin' questions and get back aboard and put the pumps on her. You're lucky if she don't sink on you before we get to Descanso Bay. If she sinks, don't worry. I'll give you a job as my first mate. Mac, you're my engineer, but not at no fancy Mexican price. I'll pay you the union scale and not a blasted cent more or less. Is that fair?”
McGuffey said it was, and went below to tune up his engine. Mr.
Gibney took the wheel of the gunboat, and sent Captain Scraggs back aboard the _Maggie_, and in a few minutes both vessels were bowling along toward Descanso Bay. They were off the bay at midnight, and while with Mr. Gibney in command of the federal gunboat Captain Scraggs had nothing to fear, the rapid rise of water in the hold of the _Maggie_ was sadly disconcerting. About daylight he made up his mind that she would sink within two hours, and without pausing to whine over his predicament, he promptly beached her. She drove far up the beach, with the slack water breaking around her scarred stern, and when the tide ebbed she lay high and dry. And the rebel soldiers came trooping down from the Megano rancho and falling upon her carca.s.s like so many ants, quickly distributed her cargo amongst them, and disappeared.
Captain Scraggs sent his crew out aboard the captured gunboat to a.s.sist Mr. Gibney in rowing his prisoners ash.o.r.e, and when finally he stood alone beside the wreck of the brave old _Maggie_, piled up at last in the port of missing s.h.i.+ps, something snapped within his breast and the big tears rolled in quick succession down his sun-tanned cheeks. The old hulk looked peculiarly pathetic as she lay there, listed over on her beam ends. She had served him well, but she had finished her last voyage, and with some vague idea of saving her old bones from vandal hands, Captain Scraggs, sobbing audibly, scattered the contents of half a dozen cans of kerosene over her decks and in the cabin, lighted fires in three different sections of the wreck, and left her to the consuming flames. Half an hour later he stood on the battered decks of the gunboat beside Gibney and McGuffey and watched the dense clouds of smoke that heralded the pa.s.sing of the _Maggie_.
”She was a good old hulk,” said Mr. Gibney. ”And now, as the special envoy of the Liberal army of Mexico, here's a draft on Los Angeles for five thousand bucks, Scraggsy, which const.i.tutes the balance due you on this here filibuster trip. Of course, I needn't remind you, Scraggsy, that you'd never have earned this money if it hadn't been for Adelbert P. Gibney workin' his imagination overtime. I've made you a chunk of money, and while I couldn't save your s.h.i.+p, I did save your life. As a reward for all this, I don't claim one cent of the money due you, as I could if I wanted to be rotten mean. I'm goin' to keep this fine little power schooner for my share of the loot. She's nicked up some, but that only bears evidence to what a bully good shot I am, and it won't take much to fix her up all s.h.i.+pshape again. Usin' high bursts shrapnel ain't very destructive. All them b.u.mps an'
scratches can be planed down. But we'll have to do some mendin'
on her canvas--I'll tell the world. She's called the _Reina Maria_, but I'm going to run her to Panama and change her name.
She'll be known as _Maggie II_, out of respect for the old girl that's burnin' up there on the beach.”
Captain Scraggs was so touched at this delicate little tribute that he turned away and burst into tears.
”Aw, shut up, Scraggsy, old hunks,” said McGuffey consolingly.
”You ain't got nothin' to cry about. You're a rich man. Look at me. I ain't a-bawlin', am I? And I don't get so much as a bean out of this mix-up, all on account of me bein' tied up with a lot of hounds that quits fightin' before they're half licked.”
”That's so,” said Captain Scraggs, wiping his eyes with his grimy fists. ”I declare you're out in the cold, McGuffey, and it ain't right. Gib, my boy, us three has had some stirrin' times together and we've had our differences, but I ain't a-goin' to think of them past griefs. The sight o' you, single-handed, meetin' and annihilatin' the pride of the Mexican navy, calm in th' moment o'
despair, generous in victory and delicate as blazes to a fallen s.h.i.+pmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a friends.h.i.+p that's bound to endoor till death us do part. If McGuffey'd been on our side, we know from past performances that he'd a fit like a tiger, wouldn't you, Mac?” (Here Mr. McGuffey coughed slightly, as much as to say that he would have fought like ten tigers had he only been given the opportunity.)
Captain Scraggs continued: ”I should say that a fair valuation of this schooner as she stands is ten thousand dollars. That belongs to Gib. Now I'm willin' to chuck five thousand dollars into the deal, we'll form a close corporation and as a compliment to McGuffey, elect him chief engineer in his own s.h.i.+p and give him say a quarter interest in our layout, as a little testimonial to an old friend, tried and true.”
”Scraggsy,” said Mr. Gibney, ”your fin. We've fought, but we'll let that go. We wipe the slate clean and start in all over again on the _Maggie II_, and I'm free to state, without fear of contradiction, that in the last embroglio you showed up like four aces and a king with the entire company standin' pat. Scraggsy, you're a hero, and what you propose proves that you're considerable of a singed cat--better'n you look. We'll go freebootin' down on the Gold Coast.
There's war, red war, breakin' loose down there, and we'll shy in our horseshoe with the strongest side and pry loose a fortune somewhere. I'm for a life of wild adventure, and now that we've got the s.h.i.+p and the funds and the crew, let's go to it. There's a deal of fine liquor in the wardroom, and I suggest that we nominate Phineas Scraggs, late master of the battles.h.i.+p _Maggie_, now second in command of the _Maggie II_, to brew a kettle o' hot grog to celebrate our victory. Mac--Scraggsy--your fins. I'm proud of you both. Shake.”
They shook, and as Captain Gibney's eye wandered aloft, First Mate Scraggs and Chief Engineer McGuffey looked up also. From the main topmast of the _Maggie II_ floated a long blue burgee, with white lettering on it, and as it whipped out into the breeze the old familiar name stood out against the noonday sun.
”Good old dishcloth!” murmured Mr. Gibney. ”She never comes down.”
”The _Maggie_ forever!” shrieked Scraggs.
”Hooray!” bellowed McGuffey. ”An' now, Scraggsy, if you've got all the enthusiasm out of your blood, kick in with a hundred an'
fifty dollars an' interest to date. An' don't tell me that note's outlawed, or I'll feed you to the fishes.”
Captain Scraggs looked crestfallen, but produced the money.
CHAPTER XX
”Well, Scraggsy, old hunks, this is pleasant, ain't it?” said Mr.
Gibney, and spat on the deck of the _Maggie II_.
”Right-o,” replied Captain Scraggs cheerily, ”though when I was a young feller and first went to sea, it wasn't considered no pleasantry to spit on a nice clean deck. You might cut that out, Gib. It's vulgar.”
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