an' things is gone by
now. I left everything aboard an' had to borrow this outfit
from Scab Johnny." He grinned pathetically. "So I guess you
understand, Captain Hicks, just how bad I need that job I spoke
about a minute ago."

"I'll think it over, Mac, an' let you know," Hicks replied
evasively.

Mr. McGuffey, sensing his defeat, retired forthwith to hide his
embarrassment and distress; as the door closed behind him, Hicks
and Flaherty faced each other.

"Jack," quoth Dan Hicks, "can two towboat men, holdin' down two
hundred-dollar jobs an' presumed to have been out o' their
swaddlin' clothes for at least thirty years, afford to be laughed
off the San Francisco waterfront?"

"I know one of them that can't, Dan. At the same time, can a rat
like Phineas P. Scraggs and a beachcomber like his mate Gibney
make a pair of star-spangled monkeys out of said two towboat men
and get away with it?"

"They did that last night. Still, I've known monkeys that would
fight an' was human enough to settle a grudge. Follow me, Jack."

Together they repaired to Jackson Street bulkhead. Sure enough
there lay the _Maggie_, rubbing her blistered sides against the
bulkhead. Captain Scraggs was nowhere in sight, but Mr. Gibney
was at the winch, swinging ashore the crates of vegetables which
The Squarehead and three longshoremen loaded into the cargo net.

"We're outnumbered," Jack Flaherty whispered.

"Let's wait until she's unloaded an' Gibney an' Scraggs are
aboard alone."

They retired without having attracted the attention of Mr.
Gibney, and a few minutes later, Captain Scraggs came down the
bulkhead and sprang aboard.

"Well?" his navigating officer queried.

"Couldn't find him," Scraggs confessed. "Scab Johnny says he
loaned Mac a dry outfit an' the old boy dug out for breakfast at
seven o'clock an' ain't been around since."

"Did you try the saloons, Scraggsy?"

"I did. Likewise the cigar stands an' restaurants, an' the
readin' rooms of the Marine Engineers' Association."

"Guess he's out hustlin' a job," Mr. Gibney sighed. He was filled
with vague forebodings of evil. "If you'd only listened to my
advice last night, Scraggsy--if you'd only listened," he mourned.

"We'll cross our bridges when we come to them, Gib. Cheer up, my
boy, cheer up. I got a new engineer. He won't last, but he'll
last long enough for Mac to forget his grouch an' listen to
reason," and with this optimistic remark Captain Scraggs dropped
int