icate as blazes to a fallen
shipmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that
way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a
friendship 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 ship 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 ship 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 battleship _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' inte