Part 38 (2/2)
the syndicate?”
”Be a good feller, Adelbert,” pleaded McGuffey.
Mr. Gibney was never so vulnerable as when one he really loved called him by his Christian name. He drew an arm across the shoulders of McGuffey and Scraggs, while Neils Halvorsen stood by, his yellow fangs flas.h.i.+ng with pleasure under his walrus moustache.
”So you two boys're finally willin' to admit that I'm the white-haired boy, eh?”
”Gib, you got an imagination an' a half.”
”One hundred an' fifty per cent. efficient,” McGuffey declared.
Neils Halvorsen said nothing, but grinned like the head of an old fiddle. Mr. Gibney appeared to swell visibly, after the manner of a turkey gobbler.
”Thanks, Scraggsy--an' you, too, Bart. So you're willin' to admit that though that there seeress might have helped some the game would have been deader than it is if it hadn't been for my imagination?”
Captain Scraggs nodded and Mr. McGuffey slapped the commodore on the back affectionately. ”Aye bane buy drink in the Bowhead saloon,” The Squarehead announced.
”Scraggsy! Mac! Your fins! We'll reorganize the syndicate, an'
the minute me an' Neils finds ourselves with a bill o' sale for a one quarter interest in the _Victor_, based on the actual cost price, we'll tow this here barge----”
”An' split the profits on the codfish?” Scraggs queried eagerly.
”Certainly not. Me an' Neils splits that fifty-fifty. A quarter o' them profits is too high a price to pay for your friends.h.i.+p, Scraggsy, old deceitful. Remember, I made that profit after you an' Mac had pulled out o' the syndicate.”
”That's logic,” McGuffey declared.
”It's highway robbery,” Scraggs snarled. ”I won't sell no quarter interest to you or The Squarehead, Gib. Not on them terms.”
”Then you'll load them codfish aboard, or pay demurrage on that barge for every day they hang around; an' if the Board o' Health condemns 'em an' chucks 'em overboard I'll sue you an' Mac for my lost profits, git a judgment agin you, an' take over the _Victor_ to satisfy the judgment.”
”You're a sea lawyer, Gib,” Scraggs retorted sarcastically.
”You do what Gib says,” McGuffey ordered threateningly.
”Remember, I got a half interest in any jedgment he gits agin us--an' what's more, I object to them codfish clutterin' up my half interest.”
”You bullied me on the old _Maggie_,” Scraggs screeched, ”but I won't be bullied no more. If you want to tow that barge, Mac, you buy me out, lock, stock, and barrel. An' the price for my half interest is five thousand dollars.”
”You've sold something, Scraggsy,” Mr. McGuffey flashed back at him, obeying a wink from Mr. Gibney. ”An' here's a hundred dollars to bind the bargain. Balance on delivery of proper bill-o'-sale.”
While Scraggs was counting the money Mr. Gibney was writing a receipt in his note book. Scraggs, still furious, signed the receipt.
”Now, then, Scraggsy,” said Mr. Gibney affably, ”hustle up to the Custom House, get a formal bill-o'-sale blank, fill her in, an'
hustle back agin for your check. An' see to it you don't change your mind, because it won't do you any good. If you don't come through now I can sue you an' force you to.”
”Oh! So you're buyin' my interest, eh?”
”Well, I'm lendin' Mac the money, an' I got a hunch he'll sell the interest to me an' Neils without figgerin' on a profit.
You're a jarrin' note in the syndicate, Scraggsy, an' I've come to that time o' life where I want peace. An' there won't be no peace on the _Victor_ unless I skipper her.”
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