o' havin' to put to sea the same night so's to be back in
Halfmoon Bay to load bright an' early next mornin'. Scraggsy, I
ain't no night bird on this run."

"Do you mean to defy me, Gib?" Captain Scraggs' little green eyes
gleamed balefully. Mr. Gibney looked down upon him with
tolerance, as a Great Dane gazes upon a fox terrier. "I certainly
do, Scraggsy, old pepper-pot," he replied calmly. "What're you
goin' to do about it?" The ghost of a smile lighted his jovial
countenance.

"Nothin'--now. I'm helpless," Captain Scraggs answered with
deadly calm. "But the minute we hit the dock you an' me parts
company."

"I don't know whether we will or not, Scraggsy. I ain't heeled
right financially to hit the beach on such short notice."

"That ain't no skin off'n my nose, Gib."

"Well, you can fire all you want, but you won't fire me. I won't
go."

"I'll get the police to remove you, you blistered pirate,"
Scraggs screamed, now quite beside himself.

"Yes? Well, the minute they let go o' me I'll come back to the
S.S. _Maggie_ and tear her apart just to see what makes her go."
He leaned out the pilot house window and sniffed. "Tule fog, all
right, Scraggs. Still, that ain't no reason why the ship's
company should fast, is it? Quit bickerin' with me, little one,
an' see if you can't wrastle up some ham an' eggs. I want my
eggs sunny side up."

Sensing the futility of further argument, Captain Scraggs sought
solace in a stream of adjectival opprobrium, plainly meant for
Mr. Gibney but delivered, nevertheless, impersonally. He closed
the pilot house door furiously behind him and started for the
galley.

"Some bright day I'm goin' to git tired o' hearin' you cuss my
proxy," Mr. Gibney bawled after him, "an' when that fatal time
arrives I'll scatter a can o' Kill-Flea over you an' the shippin'
world'll know you no more."

"Oh, go to--glory, you pig-iron polisher," Captain Scraggs tossed
back at him over his shoulder--and honour was satisfied. In the
lee of the pilot house Captain Scraggs paused, set his infamous
old brown derby hat on the deck and leaped furiously upon it with
both feet. Six times he did this; then with a blow of his fist he
knocked the ruin back into a semblance of its original shape and
immediately felt better.

"If I was you, skipper, I'd hold my temper until I got to port;
then I'd git jingled an' forgit my troubles inexpensively,"
somebody advised him.

Scraggs turned. In a little square hat