at island has touched us with religion an' he'll be so
tickled he'll keep his mouth shut. Then, with all three of us
safe an' out o' the mess, an' the evidence off our hands, we'll
clear out for Gawd's country an' look around for some sort of a
profitable investment."

"What you figurin' on, Gib?" demanded Captain Scraggs. "I hope
it's a steamboat. This wild adventure is all right when you get
away with it, but I like steamboatin' on the bay an' up the
river."

"Oh, nothin' particular, Scraggsy. We'll just hold the syndicate
together an' when somethin' good bobs up we'll smother it. In the
meantime, we'll continue our life o' wild adventure."

"But there ain't no wild adventures around San Francisco Bay,"
protested McGuffey.

"That shows your ignorance, Mac. Adventure lurks in every nook an'
slough an' doghole on the bay. You walk along the Embarcadero, only
reasonably drunk, an' adventure's liable to hit you a swipe in the
face like a loose rope-end bangin' around in a gale. Adventure an'
profits goes hand in hand----"

"Then why give the _Maggie II_ to this hound of a mate?" demanded
the single-minded McGuffey.

The commodore sighed. "She's a love of a boat an' it breaks my
heart to give up the only command I've ever had, but the fact is,
Mac, her possession by us is dangerous, an' we don't need her,
an' we can't sell her because her record's got blurs on it. We
can't convey a clean an' satisfactory title. Anyhow, she didn't
cost us a cent an' there ain't no real financial loss if we give
her to this mate. He'd be glad to get her if she had yellow jack
aboard, an' if he's caught with her he'll have to do the
explainin'. When you're caught with the goods in your possession,
Mac, it makes the explainin' all the harder. Besides, we're three
to one, an' if it comes to a show-down later we can outswear the
mate."

Captain Scraggs picked his snaggle teeth with the little blade of
his jack-knife and cogitated a minute.

"Well," he announced presently, "far be it from me to fly in the
face o' a felon's death. I've made a heap o' money, follerin'
Gib's advice, an' bust my bob-stay if I don't stay put on this.
Gib, it's your lead."

"Well, I'll follow suit. Gib's got all the trumps," acquiesced
the engineer. "We got plenty o' dough an' no board bills comin'
due, so we'll loaf alongshore until Gib digs up somethin' good."

Mr. Gibney smiled his approval of these sentiments. "Thank you,
boys. I ain't quite sure ye