The tide was still at the flood and the two adventurers made fast
progress toward the _Chesapeake_. Choosing a favourable
opportunity as the vessel dipped, they grasped her martingale,
climbed up on the bowsprit, and ran along the bowsprit to the
to'gallan'-fo'castle. On the deck below a dead man lay in the
scuppers, and such a horrible stench pervaded the vessel that
McGuffey was taken very ill and was forced to seek the rail.
"Scurvy or somethin'," Mr. Gibney announced quite calmly. "Here's
the devil to pay. There should be chloride of lime in the mate's
storeroom--I'll scatter some on these poor devils. Too close to
port now to chuck 'em overboard. Anyhow, Bart, me an' you ain't
doctors, nor yet coroners or undertakers, so you'd better skip
along an' build a fire under the donkey aft. Matches in the
galley, of course."
"I wish she was a schooner," McGuffey complained, edging over to
the weather rail. "It'd be easier for us two to sail her then.
I'm only a marine engineer, Gib, an' while I been goin' to sea
long enough to pick up something about handlin' a vessel, still
I'll get dizzy if I go aloft--an' I'm sure to get sick. You'll
have to do all the high an' lofty tumblin'--an' how in blue
blazes us two're goin' to sail a square-rigger into port is a
mystery to me."
"Leave the worryin' to your Uncle Gib, Bart. You can take the
wheel an' steer, can't you? She has enough sail practically set
now to make her handle good. Look at them courses hangin' in the
buntlines an' the yards braced a-box! All we got to do is to
square 'em around--but never mind explanations. I'll show you how
it's done after we get steam up in the donkey. I'd prefer a wind
about two points aft her beam, but never let it be said that I
turned up my nose at a good stiff nor'west trade. I've sunk
pretty low, Mac, but I was a real sailor once an' I can sail this
old hooker wherever there's water enough to float her. It's just
pie--well, for heaven's sake, Mac, what are you standin' around
for? Ain't I ordered you to get steam up in the donkey? Lively,
you lubber. After you've got the fire goin', we'll place leadin'
blocks along the deck, lead all the runnin' gear to the winch
head, an' stand by to swing them yards when I give the word."
Mr. Gibney trotted down to the main deck and prowled aft. On the
port side of her house he found two more dead men, and a cursory
inspection of the bodies told him they had died of scurvy. He
circled the ship, came back to the fo'castle, entered, and found
four men alive in their berths, but too far gone to leave them.
"I'll have you boys in the Marine Hospital to-night," he informed
the poor creatures, and sought the master's cabin. Lying on his
bed, fully dressed, he found the skipper of the _Chesapeake_. The
man was gaunt and emaciated.
The freebooter of the green-pea trade touched his wet forelock
respectfully. "My name is Gibney, sir, an' I hold an unlimited
license as first mate of sail or steam. I was passin' up the
coast on a good-for-nothin' little bumboat, an' seen you in
distress, so me an' a friend swum over to give you the double O.
You're in a bad way, sir."
"Two hundred and eighty-seven days from Hamburg, Mr. Gibney. Our
vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too
much fresh fish down in the Doldrums. Our potatoes all went
rotten before we were out two months. Naturally, the ship's
officers stuck it out longest, but when we drifted in here this
morning, I was the only man aboard able to stand up. I crawled up
on the to'-gallan'-fo'castle and let go the starboard anchor. I'd
had it cock-billed for three weeks. All I had to do was knock out
the stopper."
While Mr. Gibney questioned him and listened avidly to the
horrible tale of privation and despair, McGuffey appeared to
report a brisk fire under the donkey and to promise steam in
forty minutes; also that the _Maggie_ was hove to a cable length
distant, with her crew digging under the deckload of vegetables
for the small boat. "Help yourself to a belayin' pin, Bart, an'
knock 'em on the heads if they try to come aboard," Mr. Gibney
ordered nonchalantly.
"Do I understand there is a steamer at hand, Mr. Gibney?" the
master of the _Chesapeake_ queried.
"There's an excuse for one, sir. The little vegetable freighter
_Maggie_. She'll never be able to tow you in, because she ain't
got power enough, an' if she had power enough she ain't got coal
enough. Besides, Scraggs, her owner, is a rotten bad article an'
before he'll put a rope aboard you he'll tie you up on a contract
for a figger that'd make an angel weep. The way your ship lies
an' everything, me an' McGuffey can sail her in for you at half
the price."
"I can't risk my ship in the hands of two men," the sick captain
answered. "She's too valuable and so is her cargo. If this little
steamer will tow me in I'll gladly give her my towline and let
the court settle the bill."
"Not by a million," Mr. Gibney protested. "Beg pardon, sir, but
you don't know this here Scraggs like I do. I couldn't think of
lettin' him set foot on this deck."
"_You_ couldn't think of it? Well, when did _you_ take
command of _my_ ship?"
"You're flotsam an' jetsam, sir, an' practically in the breakers.
You're sick, an', for all I know, delirious, so for the sake o'
protectin' you, the sick seaman in the fo'castle an' the owners,
I'm takin' command."
The master of the _Chesapeake_ reached under his pillow and
produced a pistol. "Out of my cabin or I'll riddle you," he
barked feebly.
Mr. Gibney departed without a word of protest and proceeded to
make his arrangements, regardless of the master's consent. As he
and McGuffey busied themselves, laying the leading blocks along
the deck, they glanced toward the _Maggie_ and observed Captain
Scraggs hurling crates of vegetables overboard in an effort to
get at the small boat quickly. "He'll die when the freight claims
come in," Mr. McGuffey chortled. "Poor ol' Scraggsy!"
"How're we goin' to git that durned anchor up, Gib?"
"We ain't goin' to get it up. We're goin' to knock out a shackle
in the chain an' let her go to glory."
"Anchors is expensive, Gib. Mebbe they'll deduct the price o'
that anchor from our salvage."
"By Jupiter, you're talkin', Mac. We'll just save that anchor,
come to think of it."
"How?"
"Just let Scraggsy an' The Squarehead come aboard an' put the
ship's towin' cable aboard the _Maggie_. The _Maggie'll_ just
about be able to hold her while us four up with the anchor--_an'
cockbill_ it agin!"
"They got the skiff overside," McGuffey warned.
"Throw over the Jacob's ladder and help 'em aboard, Mac. Nothin'
like bein' neighbourly. This here's a delicate situation, what
with the old man declinin' our services in favour of a tow by the
_Maggie_, an' it occurs to me if we oppose him our standin' in
court will be impaired. I see I got to use my imagination agin."
When Captain Scraggs came aboard, Mr. Gibney escorted him around
to the master's cabin, introduced him, and stood by while they
bargained. The sick skipper glowered at Mr. Gibney when Scraggs,
with a wealth of detail, explained their presence, but, for all
his predicament, he was a shrewd man and instantly decided to use
Gibney and McGuffey as a fulcrum wherewith to pry a very low
price out of Captain Scraggs. Mr. Gibney could not forebear a
grin as he saw the captain's plan, and instantly he resolved to
further it, if for no other reason than to humiliate and
infuriate Scraggs.
"The tow will cost you five thousand, Captain," Scraggs began
pompously.
"Me an' McGuffey'll sail you in for four," Gibney declared.
"Three thousand," snarled Scraggs.
"Sailin's cheap as dirt at two thousand. As a matter of fact,
Scraggsy, me an' Mac'll sail her in for nothin' just to skin you
out o' the salvage."
"Two thousand dollars is my lowest figure," Scraggs declared.
"Take it or leave it, Captain. Under the circumstances,
bargaining is useless. Two thousand is my last bid."
The figure Scraggs named was probably one fifth of what the
master of the _Chesapeake_ knew a court would award; nevertheless
he shook his head.
"It's a straight towing job, Captain, and not a salvage
proposition at all. A tug would tow me in for two hundred and
fifty, but I'll give you five hundred."
Remembering the vegetables he had jettisoned, Scraggs knew he
could not afford to accept that price. "I'm through," he
bluffed--and his bluff worked.
"Taken, Captain Scraggs. Write out an agreement and I'll sign
it."
With the agreement in his pocket, Scraggs, followed by Gibney,
left the cabin. "One hundred each to you an' Mac if you'll stay
aboard the _Chesapeake_, steer her, an' help the _Maggie_ out
with what sail you can get on her," Scraggs promised.
"Take a long, runnin' jump at yourself, Scraggsy, old sorrowful.
The best me an' Mac'll do is to help you cockbill the anchor, an'
that'll cost you ten bucks for each of us--in advance." The
artful fellow realized that Scraggs knew nothing whatever about a
sailing ship and would have to depend upon The Squarehead for the
information he required.
"All right. Here's your money," Scraggs replied and handed Mr.
Gibney twenty dollars. He and Neils Halvorsen then went forward,
got out the steel towing cable, and fastened a light rope to the
end of it. The skiff floated off the ship at the end of the
painter, so The Squarehead hauled it in, climbed down into the
skiff, and made the light rope fast to a thwart; then, with
Captain Scraggs paying out the hawser, Neils bent manfully to the
oars and started to tow the steel cable back to the _Maggie_.
Half way there, the weight of the cable dragging behind slowed
The Squarehead up and eventually stopped him. Exerting all his
strength he pulled and pulled, but the sole result of his efforts
was to wear himself out, seeing which the _Maggie's_ navigating
officer set the little steamer in toward the perspiring Neils,
while Captain Scraggs, Gibney, and McGuffey cheered lustily.
Suddenly an oar snapped. Instantly Neils unshipped the remaining
oar, sprang to the stern, and attempted, by sculling, to keep the
skiff's head up to the waves. But the weight of the cable whirled
the little craft around, a wave rolled in over her counter, and
half-filled her; the succeeding wave completed the job and rolled
the skiff over and The Squarehead was forced to swim back to the
_Chesapeake_. He climbed up the Jacob's ladder to face a storm of
abuse from Captain Scraggs.
The cable was hauled back aboard with difficulty, owing to the
submerged skiff at the end of it. Captain Scraggs and The
Squarehead leaned over the _Chesapeake's_ rail and tugged
furiously, when the wreck came alongside, but all of their
strength was unequal to the task of righting the little craft by
hauling up on the light rope attached to her thwart.
"For ten dollars more each me an' Mac'll tail on to that rope an'
do our best to right the skiff. After she's righted, I'll bail
her out, borrow new oars from this here bark, an' help Neils row
back to the _Maggie_ with the cable," Mr. Gibney volunteered.
"Cash in advance, as per usual."
"You're a pair of highway robbers, but I'll take you," Scraggs
almost wailed, and paid out the money; whereupon Gibney and
McGuffey "tailed" on to the rope and with raucous cries hauled
away. As a result of their efforts, the thwart came away with the
rope and the quartet sat down with exceeding abruptness on the
hard pine deck of the _Chesapeake_.
"I had an idee that thwart would pull loose," Mr. Gibney
remarked, as he got up and rubbed the seat of his dungarees. "If
you'd had an ounce of sense, Scraggsy, you'd have saved twenty
dollars an' rigged a watch-tackle, although even then the thwart
would have come away, pullin' agin a vacuum that way. Well,
you've lost a good skiff worth at least twenty-five dollars not
to mention the two ash breezes that went with her. That helps
some. What're you goin' to do now? Lay the _Maggie_ alongside the
bark? I wouldn't if I was you. The sea's a mite choppy an' if you
bump the _Maggie_ agin the bark she'll do one o' two things--stave
in her topsides or bump that top-heavy deckload o' vegetables overboard.
An' if that happens," he reminded Scraggs, "you'll be doin' your
bookkeepin' with red ink for quite a spell."
"I ain't licked yet--not by a jugful," Scraggs snapped.
"Halvorsen, haul down that signal halyard from the mizzenmast,
take one end of it in your teeth, an' swim back to the _Maggie_
with it. We'll fasten a heavier line to the signal halyard, bend
the other end of the heavy line to the cable, an' haul the cable
aboard with the _Maggie's_ winch."
"You say that so nice, Scraggsy, old hopeful, I'm tempted to
think you can whistle it. Neils, he's only askin' you to risk
your life overboard for nothing. 'Tain't in the shippin' articles
that a seaman's got to do that. If he wants a swimmin' exhibition
make him pay for it--through the nose. An' if I was you, I'd find
out how much o' this two thousand dollars' towage he's goin' to
distribute to his crew. Pers'nally I'd get mine in advance."
"Adelbert P. Gibney," Captain Scraggs hissed. "There's such a
thing as drivin' a man to distraction. Halvorsen, are you with
me?"
"Aye bane--for saxty dollars. Hay bane worth a month's pay for
take dat swim."
"You dirty Scowegian ingrate. Well, you don't get no sixty
dollars from me. Bear a hand and we'll drop the ship's work boat
overboard. I guess you can tow a signal halyard to the _Maggie_,
can't you, Neils?"
Neils could--and did. Within fifteen minutes the _Maggie_ was
fast to her prize. "Now we'll cockbill the anchor," quoth Captain
Scraggs, so McGuffey reporting sufficient steam in the donkey to
turn over the windlass, the anchor was raised and cockbilled, and
the _Maggie_ hauled away on the hawser the instant Captain
Scraggs signalled his new navigating officer that the hook was
free of the bottom.
"The old girl don't seem to be makin' headway in the right
direction," McGuffey remarked plaintively, after the _Maggie_ had
strained at the hawser for five minutes. Mr. Gibney, standing by
with a hammer in his hand, nodded affirmatively, while the
skipper of the _Chesapeake_, whom Mr. Gibney had had the
forethought to carry out on deck to watch the operation, glanced
apprehensively ashore. Scraggs measured the distance with his eye
to the nearest fringe of surf and it was plain that he was
worried.
"Captain Scraggs," the skipper of the _Chesapeake_ called feebly,
"Mr. Gibney is right. That craft of yours is unable to tow my
ship against this wind. You're losing ground, inch by inch, and
it will be only a matter of an hour or two, if you hang on to me,
before I'll be in the breakers and a total loss. You'll have to
get sail on her or let go the anchor until a tug arrives."
"I don't know a thing about a sailin' ship," Scraggs quavered.
"I know it all," Mr. Gibney cut in, "but there ain't money enough
in the world to induce me to exercise that knowledge to your
profit." He turned to the master of the _Chesapeake_. "For one
hundred dollars each, McGuffey an' I will sail her in for you,
sir."
"I'll not take the risk, Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs, if you will
follow my instructions we'll get some sail on the _Chesapeake_.
Take those lines through the leading blocks to the winch----"
The engineer of the _Maggie_ came up on deck and waved his arms
wildly. "Leggo," he bawled. "I've blown out two tubes. It'll be
all I can do to get home without that tow."
"Jump on that, Scraggsy," quoth McGuffey softly and cast his
silken engineer's cap on the deck at Scraggs's feet. The latter's
face was ashen as he turned to the skipper of the _Chesapeake_.
"I'm through," he gulped. "I'll have to cast off. Your ship's
drivin' on to the beach now."
"Oh, say not so, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney softly, and with a
blow of the hammer knocked out the stopper on the windlass and
let the anchor go down by the run. "Not this voyage, at least."
The _Chesapeake_ rounded up with a jerk and Mr. Gibney took
Captain Scraggs gently by the arm. "Into the small boat, old
ruin," he whispered, "and I'll row you an' The Squarehead back to
the _Maggie_. If she drifts ashore with that load o' garden
truck, you might as well drown yourself."
Captain Scraggs was beyond words. He suffered himself to be taken
back to the _Maggie_, after which kindly action Mr. Gibney
returned to the _Chesapeake_, climbed aboard, and with the
assistance of McGuffey, hauled the work boat up on deck.