t.'

"'Look in the shippin' news in the papers to-morrower,' she pipes
up. 'Five dollars, please.'"

"You didn't give her five dollars, did you?" gasped Captain
Scraggs. "Why, Gib my _dear_ boy, I thought you was sober."

"So I was."

"Then, Gib, all I got to say is that you're a sucker. You want to
consult the rest of us before you go throwin' away the funds o'
the syndicate on such tom-fool idees as----"

McGuffey saw a storm gathering on Mr. Gibney's brows, and
hastened to intervene.

"Meetin's adjourned," he announced, "pendin' the issue o' the
papers to-morrow mornin'. Scraggsy, you oughter j'ine the Band o'
Hope. You're ugly when you got a drink in you."

Neils Halvorsen interfered to beg a cigar of Mr. Gibney and the
affair passed over.

At six o'clock the following morning the members of the syndicate
were awakened by a prodigious pounding at their respective
doors. Answering the summons, they found Mr. Gibney in undress
uniform and the morning paper clutched in his hand.

"Meetin' o' the _Maggie_ Syndicate in my room," he bawled. "I've
found our fortune."

The meeting came to order without the formality of dressing, and
the commodore, spreading the paper on his knee, read aloud:

_For Sale Cheap_

The stern-wheel steamer _Victor_, well found, staunch
and newly painted. Boilers and engines in excellent
shape. Vessel must be sold to close out an estate.
Address John Coakley, Jackson Street wharf.

"How d'ye know she's a fortune, Gib?" McGuffey demanded. "Lemme look at
her engines before you get excited."

"I ain't sayin' she is," Mr. Gibney retorted testily. "Lemme finish
readin'!" He continued:

REPORTS PASSING DERELICT

The steam schooner _Arethusa_, Grays Harbour to Oakland
Long wharf, reports passing a derelict schooner twenty
miles off Point Reyes at six o'clock last night. The
derelict was down by the head, and her rail just showed
above the water. It was impossible to learn her
identity.

The presence of this derelict in the steamer lanes to
North Pacific ports is a distinct menace to navigation,
and it is probable that a revenue cutter will be
dispatched to-day to search for the derelict and either
tow her into port or destroy her.

"Gentlemen o' the syndicate, them's the only two items in the
shippin' page that looks likely. The question is, in which lies
our fortune?"

Neils Halvorsen spoke up, giving it as