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 be