"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."
"Passin' over the fact, Scraggs, that you ain't got no call to jerk
me up on sea ettycat, more particular since I'm the master and
managin' owner of this here schooner, I'm free to confess, Scraggsy,
that your observation does you credit. I just did that to see if you
was goin' to take as big an interest in the new _Maggie_ as you did
in the old _Maggie_, and the fact that you object to me expectoratin'
on the deck proves to me that you're leavin' behind you all them bay
scow tendencies of the green-pea trade. It leads me to believe that
you'll rise to high rank and distinction in the Colombian navy. Your
fin, Scraggsy. Expectoratin' on the decks is barred, and the _Maggie
II_ goes under navy discipline from now on. Am I right?"
"Right as a right whale," said Captain Scraggs. "And now that
you've given that old mate of mine the course, and we've
temporarily plugged up the holes in this here Mexican gunboat,
and everything points to a safe and profitable voyage from now
on, suppose you delegate me as a committee of one to brew a
scuttle of grog, after which the syndicate holds a meetin' and
lays out a course for its future conduct. There's a few questions
of rank and privileges that ought to be settled once for all, so
there can't be no come-back."
"The point is well taken and it is so ordered," said Mr. Gibney, who
had once held office in Harbour 15, Masters and Pilots Association
of America, and knew a fragment or two of parliamentary law. "Rustle
up the grog, call McGuffey up out of the engine room, and we'll hold
the meetin'."
Twenty minutes later Scraggs came on deck to announce the
successful concoction of a kettle of whisky punch; whereupon the
three adventurers went below and sat down at the cabin table for
a conference.
"I move that Gib be appointed president of the syndicate," said
Captain Scraggs.
"Second the motion," rumbled McGuffey.
"The motion's carried," said Mr. Gibney, and banged the table
with his horny fist. "The meetin' will please come to order. The
chair hereby appoints Phineas Scraggs secretary of the syndicate,
to keep a record of this and all future meetin's of the board. I
will now entertain propositions of any and all natures, and I
invite the members of the board to knock the stopper out of their
jaw tackle and go to it."
"I move," said Captain Scraggs, "that B. McGuffey, Esquire, be,
and he is hereby appointed, chief engineer of the _Maggie II_ at
a salary not to exceed the wage schedule of the Marine Engineers'
Association of the Pacific Coast, and that he be voted a
one-fourth interest in the vessel and all subsequent profits."
"Second the motion," said Mr. Gibney, "and not to hamper the
business of the meetin', we'll just consider that motion carried
unanimous."
B. McGuffey, Esquire, rose, bowed his thanks, and sat down again,
apparently very much confused. It was evident that he had
something to say, but was having difficulty framing his thoughts
in parliamentary language.
"Heave away, Mac," said Mr. Gibney.
"Cast off your lines, McGuffey," chirped Scraggs.
Thus encouraged, McGuffey rose, bowed his thanks once more,
moistened his larynx with a gulp of the punch, and spoke:
"Feller members and brothers of the syndicate: In the management
of the deck department of this new craft of ourn, my previous
knowledge of the worthy president and the unworthy secretary
leads me to believe that there's goin' to be trouble. A ship
divided agin herself must surely go on her beam ends. Now,
Scraggsy here has been master so long that the juice of authority
has sorter soaked into his marrer bones. For twenty years it's
been 'Howdy do, Captain Scraggs,' 'Have a drink, Captain
Scraggs,' 'Captain Scraggs this an' Captain Scraggs that.' I
don't mean no offense, gentlemen, when I state that you can't
teach an old dog new tricks. No man that's ever been a master
makes a good mate. On the other hand, I realize that Gib here has
been a-pantin' and a-bellyachin' all his life to get a ship of
his own an' have folks call him 'Captain Gibney.' Now that he's
gone an' done it, I say he's entitled to it. But the fact of the
whole thing is, Gib's the natural leader of the expedition or
whatever it's goin' to be, and he can't have his peace of mind
wrecked and his plans disturbed a-chasin' sailors around the deck
of the _Maggie II_. Gib is sorter what the feller calls the power
behind the throne. He's too big a figger for the grade of
captain. Therefore, I move you, gentlemen, that Adelbert P.
Gibney be, and he is hereby nominated and appointed to the grade
of commodore, in full command and supervision of all of the
property of the syndicate. And I also move that Phineas Scraggs
be appointed chief navigatin' officer of this packet, to retain
his title of captain, and to be obeyed and respected as such by
every man aboard with the exception of me and Gib. The present
mate'll do the navigatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea
stuff."
"Second the motion," said Captain Scraggs briskly. "McGuffey,
your argument does you a heap of credit. It's--it's--dog my cats,
McGuffey, it's masterly. It shows a keen appreciation of an old
skipper's feelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib, I'm
willin' to hail him as commodore and fight to maintain his
office. I--I dunno, Gib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to
order around."
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Gibney, beaming, "the motion's carried
unanimous. Captain--chief--your fins. Dook me. I'm honoured by
the handshake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from San
Francisco on the old _Maggie_, Scraggs, they're a likely lot and
will come in handy if times is as lively in Colombia as I figger
they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have
your mate pipe the crew to muster and ascertain their feelin's on
the subject of takin' a chance with Commodore Gibney. If they
object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an' pay 'em off
as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give
'em the coast seaman's scale for a deep-water cruise and a five
per cent. bonus in case we turn a big trick."
Captain Scraggs went at once on deck. Ten minutes later he
returned to report that the mate and the four seamen elected to
stick by the ship.
"Bully boys," said the commodore, "bully boys. I like that mate.
He's a smart man and handles a gun well. While I should hesitate
to take advantage of my prerogative as commodore to interfere
with the normal workin's of the deck department, I trust that on
this special occasion our esteemed navigatin' officer, Captain
Scraggs, will not consider it beneath his dignity or an attack on
his office if I suggest to him that he brew another kettle of
grog for the crew."
"Second the motion," replied McGuffey.
"Carried," said Scraggs, and proceeded to heat some water.
"Anything further?" stated the president.
"How about uniforms?" This from Captain Scraggs.
"We'll leave that to Gib," suggested McGuffey. "He's been in the
Colombian navy and he'll know just what to get us."
"Well, there's another thing that's got to be settled," continued
Captain Scraggs. "If I'm to be navigatin' officer on the flagship of
a furrin' fleet, strike me pink if I'll do any more cookin' in the
galley. It's degradin'. I move that we engage some enterprisin'
Oriental for that job."
"Carried," said Mr. Gibney. "Any further business?"
Once more McGuffey stood up. "Gentlemen and brothers of the
syndicate," he began, "I'm satisfied that the back-bitin', the
scrappin', the petty jealousies and general cussedness that
characterized our lives on the old _Maggie_ will not be
duplicated on the _Maggie II_. Them vicious days is gone forever,
I hope, an' from now on the motto of us three should be:
"All for one and one for all--
United we stand, divided we fall."
This earnest little speech, which came straight from the honest
McGuffey's heart, brought the tears to the commodore's eyes.
Under the inspiration of McGuffey's unselfish words the glasses
were refilled and all three pledged their friendship anew. As for
Captain Scraggs, he was naturally of a cold and selfish
disposition, and McGuffey's toast appealed more to his brain than
to his heart. Had he known what was to happen to him in the days
to come and what that simple little motto was to mean in his
particular case, it is doubtful if he would have tossed off his
liquor as gaily as he did.
"There's one thing more that we mustn't neglect," warned Mr. Gibney
before the meeting broke up. "We've got to run this little vessel
into some dog-hole where there's a nice beach and smooth water, and
change her name. I notice that her old name _Reina Maria_ is screwed
into her bows and across her stern in raised gilt letters, contrary
to law and custom. We'll snip 'em off, sandpaper every spot where
there's a letter, and repaint it; after which we'll rig up a stagin'
over her bows and stern, and cut her new name, '_Maggie II_,' right
into her plankin'. Nobody'll ever suspect her name's been changed. I
notice that the official letters and numbers cut into her main beam
is F-C-P-9957. I'll change that F to an E, the C to an O, and the P
to an R. A handy man with a wood chisel can do lots of things. He
can change those nines to eights, the five to a six, and the seven
to a nine. I've seen it done before. Then we'll rig a foretopmast
and a spinnaker boom on her, and bend a fisherman's staysail.
Nothing like it when you're sailing a little off the wind. Scraggs,
you have the papers of the old _Maggie_, and we all have our
licenses regular enough. Dig up the old papers, Scraggsy, and I'll
doctor 'em up to fit the _Maggie II_. As for our armament, we'll
dismount the guns and stow 'em away in the hold until we get down on
the Colombian coast, and while we're lying in Panama repairing the
holes where my shots went through her, and puttin' new planks in her
decks where the old plankin' has been scored by shrapnel, those
paraqueets will think we're as peaceful as chipmunks. Better look
over your supplies, McGuffey, and see if there's any paint aboard.
I'd just as lief give the old girl a different dress before we drop
anchor in Panama."
"Gib," said Captain Scraggs earnestly, "I'll keel-haul and
skull-drag the man that says you ain't got a great head."
"By the lord," supplemented McGuffey, "you have."
The commodore smiled and tapped his frontal bone with his
forefinger. "Imagination, my lads, imagination," he said, and
reached for the last of the punch.
Exactly three weeks from the date of the naval battle which took
place off the Coronado Islands, and whereby Mr. Gibney became
commodore and managing owner of the erstwhile Mexican coast
patrol schooner _Reina Maria_, that vessel sailed out of the
harbour of Panama completely rejuvenated. Not a scar on her
shapely lines gave evidence of the sanguinary engagement through
which she had passed.
Mr. Gibney had her painted a creamy white with a dark blue
waterline. She had had her bottom cleaned and scraped and the
copper sheathing overhauled and patched up. Her sails had been
overhauled, inspected, and repaired wherever necessary, and in
order to be on the safe side, Mr. Gibney, upon motion duly made
by him and seconded by McGuffey (to whom the seconding of the
Gibney motions had developed into a habit), purchased an extra
suit of new sails. The engines were overhauled by the faithful
McGuffey and a large store of distillate stored in the hold.
Captain Scraggs, with his old-time aversion to expense, made a
motion (which was seconded by McGuffey before he had taken time
to consider its import) providing for the abolition of the office
of chief engineer while the _Maggie II_ was under sail, at which
time the chief ex-officio was to hold himself under the orders of
the commodore and be transferred to the deck department if
necessary. Mr Gibney approved the measure and it went into
effect. Only on entering or leaving a port, or in case of chase
by an enemy, were the engines to be used, and McGuffey was warned
to be extremely saving of his distillate.