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Show The Qreen Pea Pirates 1 fl? PETER B. KYNE cyaMor of "WEBSTER MAN'S MAN," "THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS," Etc CopyHutrt, by Peter B. Kyne watntTKU. anil iti Ule iTrne niDjors of bis demise by sundry and devious routes came to the ears of Nells Hulvorsen. Hence "The Squarehead" was pus-rfed. pus-rfed. In fact, to such an extent was Neils pMsled, that one perfectly calm, c'.eeu- night, while bsulag down San Pabto bay in hi Way iwow, the WUUe and Annie, he far forgot himself and his own affaire as to concent rut aJI his attention on the problem of the alUraute Qnlsh of Captain Scruggs. So engrossed wai Neils In thU vain speculation that he neglected to observe ob-serve toward the rules of the ocean highways that nicety of attention which Is highly requisite, even In the ?kliper of a bay scow, If the fulsome title of captain Is to be retained for any definite period. As a result, Neils became confused regarding the exact number of blasts from the siren of a river steamer desiring to pass him to port. Consequently the Willie and AnDle received such a severe butting from the river steamer In question ns to cause her to careen and fill. Being, unfortunately, loaded with gravel on this particular trip, she subsided incontinently in-continently to the bottom of San Pablo liny, while Neils and his crew of two men sought refuge on a plank. Without attempting to go further Into the details of the misfortunes of Nells Halvorsen, be It known that the destruction of the Willie and Annie CHAPTER XII Continued. 13 After breakfast Commodore Grbney ordered that the prisoners be brought before him. The cook served them with breakfast, and as they ato, the commodore reminded them that It was only through his personal efforts and Jjls natural disinclination to return blow for blow that they were at that moment enjoying a square meal Instead In-stead of swinging In the rigging. "I'm goln to glvo you two yeggs a chance to reform," concluded Mr. Glb-ney, Glb-ney, addressing Tabu-Tabu. "If you show us where we can get a cargo of black coral and work hard and faithful faith-ful helpln' ue to get It aboard, it may help you to comb a few gray hairs. I'm goln' to take the irons off now, but remember re-member I At the first sign of the double-cross you're both shark meat." On bohalf of himself and the king, Tabu-Tabu promised to behave, and McGuffey kicked them both Into the small boat. The mato and two seamen sea-men followed In another boat, In which the air-pump and diving apparatus was carried, and Tabu-Tabu piloted them to a patch of still water Just Inside In-side the reef. Tho water was so clear that McGuffey was enabled to make out vast marine gardens thickly sprinkled with the precious black coral. I "Over you go, you two smokes," rasped McGuffey, menacing the captives cap-tives with his rifle. "tlve deep, my hearties, and bring up what you can find, and if a shark comes along and takeg a nip out of your hind leg, don't expect no help from B. McGuffey, Estmire because you won't get any." For nearly two weeks the Maggie n Jay at anchor, while her crew labored tiaify In the gardens of the deep. Vast "Great, great," he murmured. "I couldn't have gotten a better island if Td had one built to order." He called aft te the navigating officer : "Scraggsy, "Scrag-gsy, there's the ring. Nothln' else to do now bnt get the contestants Into It Along In the late afternoon, when the heat of the day le over, we'll go Rsbore find null off the fight And, by Oeorge, Scraggs, if that old king succeeds in lambastln' yon, Til set the rascal free." Seeing that there was no escape, Captain Scraggs decided to bluff tho matter through. "Let's go ashore and have it over with," he said carelessly. "I'm a man of peace, but when there's fightln' to be done, I say go to it and no tomfoolery." "Clear away the big whaleboat with two men to pull us ashore," said Mr. Glbney to the mate. Five minutes later the members of the syndicate, accompanied ac-companied by the captives, climbed Into the wha-.eboat and shoved off, leaving the Maggie II In charge of the mate. "'Well be back in half an hour," called the commodore, as they rowed away from the schooner. "Just ratch back and forth and keep heavln' the lead." They negotiated the fringe of breakers break-ers to the north of the Island snccess-fully, snccess-fully, pulled the boat up on the beach, and proceeded at once to business. Mr. Glbney explained to Tabu-Tabu whatf was expected of him, and Tabu-Tabu la turn explained to the king. It was not the habit of white men, so Mr. Glbney explained, to kill their prisoners prison-ers In cold blood, and he had decided to give them an opportunity to fight their way ant of a sad predicament with their naked fists. If they won, they would be taken back aboard the schooner and later dropped at some Inhabited Island. If they lost they most mate their home for the future on TuTana-tholo. "Let 'er go," celled McGuffey, and Mr. Glbney squared off and made a bearllke pass at Tabu-Tabu. To the amazement of all present Tabu-Tabu sprang lightly backward and avoided the blow. His footwork was excellent and McGuffey remarked as much to Captain Scraggs, But when Tabu-Tabu Tabu-Tabu put up his hands after the most approved method of self-defense and dropped Into a "crouch," McGuffey could no longer contain himself. "The beggar can fight, the beggar can fight" he croaked, wild with joy. "Scraggs, old man, thisll be a rarq mill, I promise you. He's been aboard a British man-o'-war and learned how to box. Steady, Gib. Upper-cut him, upper wow !" Tabu-Tabu had stepped in and planted a mighty right in the center of Mr. Glbney's physiognomy, following it up with a hard left to the commodore's commo-dore's ear. Mr. Glbney rocked a moment mo-ment on his sturdy legs, stepped back out of range, dropped both hands, and stared at Tabu-Tabu. "I do believe the nigger"! lick you, Gib," said McGuffey anxiously. "He's got a horrible reach and a mule kick in each mlt. Close with him, or he's due for a full pardon." "In a minute," said the commodore faintly. "He's bo good I hate to hurt him. But I'll lnfight him to a finish." Whieh Mr. Glbuy forthwith proceeded pro-ceeded to do. He rushed his opponent and clinched, though not until his right It Was Just a Squib In the Shipping News. proved to be such a severe shock to Nells reputation a3 a safe and sane bay scow skipper that he was ultl- 1 ly, spat, and spoke to McGuffey, soto voce: "By George, the Joke ain't all on Scraggsy," he said. Then turning te Captain Scraggs : "Help yourself to the mustard, Scraggsy, old tarpot." Captain Scraggs teok off his hat rolled up his sleeves, and made a diva for the royal presence. His majesty, lacking th scientific training of his prime minuter, seized a handful of the Scraggs mane and tore at It cruelly. cruel-ly. A well-directed kick in the shins, however, caused him to let go, and a moment later he waa flying up the beach with the angry Scraggs In full cry after hlra. McGuffey headed the king off and rounded him up se Scraggs could get at him, and the latter lat-ter at once "dug in" like a terrier. After five minutes of mauling and tearing Captain Scraggs was out of breath, so he let go and stood off a few feet to sIbs up the sltuntion. The wicked McGuffey was laughing Immoderately, Immod-erately, but to Scraggs it was no laughing matter. The fact of the matter mat-ter was the king was dangerous and Scraggs had glutted himself with revenge. re-venge. "1 dent want te beat an old man to death," he gasped finally. 'TH lot the scoundrel go. He's had enough and he won't fight Let's mosey along back to the schooner and leave them here to amuse themselves the beet way they know how." "Rlght-O," said Mr. Glbney, and turned to walk down the beach to the boat. A second later a hoarse scream of rage and terror broke from his Hps. "What's up?" cried McGuffey, the laughter dying out of his voice, for there was a hint of death In Mr. Glbney's Glb-ney's cry. "Marooned !" said the commodore hoarsely. "Those two sailors have pulled back to the schooner, and there look, Mac 1 My Gawd !" McGuffey looked, and his face went whiter than the foaming breakers beyond be-yond which he could see Maggie n, under un-der full sail, headed for the open sea. The small boat had been picked up, and there was no doubt that at her present rate of speed the schooner would be hull down on the horizon by sunset "The murderin' hound," whispered McGuffey, and sagged down on the sands. "Oh, the murderin' hound of a mate !" "It's It's mutiny," gulped Captain Scraggs in a hard, strained voice. "That bloody fiend of a mate ! The sly sneak-thief, with his pleasant smile and his wlnnin' ways ! Saw a chance to steal the Maggie and her rich cargo, and he Is leavin' us here, marooned on a desert island, with two cannibals." Captain Scraggs fairly shrieked the last two words and burst Into tears. "Lord, Gib, old man," he raved, "whatever "what-ever will we do?" Thus appealed to, the doughty commodore com-modore permitted his two unmatched optics to reet mournfully upon his shipmates. , He gulped and thoughtfully rubbed the knuckies of his right hand where the skin was barked off. He thought of the silly Joke he and McGuffey had thought to perpetrate on Captain Scraggy by leading him up against a beating at the hands of a cannibal king, and with the thought came a grim, hard chuckle, though there was the look of a thousand devils in his eyes. "Well, Mac, old sporty boy, I guess there ain't much to do except to make up our minds to die like gentlemen. If I was ever fooled by a man In my life, I was fooled by that doggone mate. I thought he'd tote square with tlve syndicate. syn-dicate. I sure did." For a long time McGuffey gazed seaward. sea-ward. He was slower than his shipmates ship-mates In making up his mind that the mate had really deserted them and sailed away with the fortunes of the syndicate. Of the three, however, the stoical engineer accepted the situation with the best grace. He spurned the white sand with his foot and faced Mr. Glbney and Captain Scraggs with just the suspicion of a grin on his homely face. "I make a motion," he said, "that the syndicate pass a resolution eon-demnln' eon-demnln' the action of the mate." It was a forlorn hope, and the Jest went over the heads of the deck department de-partment "Said Mr. Glbney sadly: "There ain't no more Maggie II syndicate." syn-dicate." CHAPTER XIII. thai all these months we've been asleep nnder a cabbage leaf, cominunin' with potato bugs?" "Not for a minute," replied the commodore. com-modore. "Why, I got a dozen matched pearls here that's fit for a quoen. Big, red, pear-shaped boys regular bleed-In' bleed-In' hearts. There's ten thousand each In them alone." "Well, m ni brew some grog," gasped Captain Scraggs, and departed forthwith to the galley. Fifteen minutes min-utes later he returned with a kettle of his favorite nepenthe and all three adventurers drank to a bon voyage heme. At the conclusion of the toast Mr. McGuffey set down his glass, wiped his mouth with the back of his lurfry hand, and thus addressed the syndicate. "In leavin' this paradise of the South Pacific," he begnn, "we find that we have accumulated other wealth besides the loot below decks. I refer to his royal highness, the king of Kandavu, and his prime minister, Tabu-Tabu. When these two outlaws was first captured, cap-tured, I informed the syndicate that 1 would scheme out a punishment be-flttln' be-flttln' their crime, to-wlt murderin' an' eatln' you two boys. It's been a big Job and it's taken some time, me not beln' blessed with quite as fine an Imagination as our friend, Gib. However, How-ever, I pride myself that hard work always al-ways brings success, and I am ready to announce what disposition shall be made of these two Interestln' specimens speci-mens of aboriginal life. I beg to announce, an-nounce, gentlemen, that I have Invented Invent-ed a punishment fittln' the crime." "Impossible," said Captain Scrnggs. "Shut up, Scraggs," struck In Commodore Com-modore Glbney. "Out with it, Mac. What's the program?" "I move you, mesabers of the syndicate, syndi-cate, that the schooner Maggie H proceed pro-ceed to some barren, uninhabited island, and that upon arrival there this savage king and his still more savage subject be taken ashore In a small boat. I also move you, gentlemen gentle-men of the syndicate, that Inasmuch as the two aggrieved parties, A. P. Glbney and P. Scraggs, having In a sperrit of mercy refrained from layln' their hands on said prisoners for fear of invalidin' them at a time when their services was of importance to the expedition, ex-pedition, be given an opportunity to take out their grudge on the persons of said savages. Now, I notice that the king Is a miserable, skimpy, sawed-off sawed-off and hammered-down old eove. By all the rules of the prize ring he's In Scraggsy's class." (Here Mr. McGuffey McGuf-fey flashed a lightning wink to the commodore. It was an appeal for Mr. Glbney's moral support in the engineer's engi-neer's scheme to put up a Job on Captain Cap-tain Scraggs, and thus relieve the tedium of the homeward trip. Mr. Glbney Instantly telegraphed his approbation, ap-probation, and McGuffey continued.) "I notice also that If I was to hunt the universe over, I couldn't find a better match for Gib than Tabu-Tabu. And as we are all agreed that the white race is superior to any race on earth, and It'll do ns all good to see a fine mill before we leave the country, I move you, gentlemen of th syndicate, that we pull off a finish fight between Scraggsy and tlie king, and Gib and Tabu-Tabu. I'll referee both contests and at the conclusion of the mixup we'll leave these two murderers marooned ma-rooned on the island and then " "Rats," snapped Captain Scraggs. "That ain't no business at all. Yon shouldn't consider nothin' short of capital punishment Why, that's only a petty larceny form of " "Quit buttin' In on my prerogatives," roared McGuffey. "That ain't the finish fin-ish by no means." "What Is the finish, then?" "Why, these two cannibals, beln' left alone oa the desert island, naturally bumps up agin the old question of the survtval of the fittest. They get scrap-pin' scrap-pin' among themselves, and one eats the other up." "By the toe-nails of Moses," muttered mut-tered Mr. Glbney In genuine admiration, admira-tion, "but you have got an Imagination Imagina-tion after all, Mac. The point Is well taken and the program will go through as outlined. Scraggs, you'll fight the king. No buckin' and grumblln'. You'll fight the king. You're outvoted two to one, the thing's been done regular, and you can't kick. I'll fight Tabu-Tabu, so you see you're not gettln' any the worst of It. We'll proceed to an Island In the Friendly group called Tuvann-tholo. Tuvann-tholo. It lies right In our homeward course, and there ain't enough grub on the confounded Island to last two men a week. And I know there ain't no water there. So, now that that matter Is all settled, we will proceed to heave the anchor and scoot for home. Mac, tune up your engines and we'll get out of here a-whoopln' and a-flyln'." It was an elght-hundred-mlle run up to Tuvana-tholo, but the weather held good and the trade-winds never slackened. slack-ened. Ten days from the date of leaving leav-ing Kandavu they hove to off the Island. It was a long, low. sandy atoll, with a few coconut-palms growing In the center of It, and with the exception of a vast colony of seablrds that apparently ap-parently made It their headquarters, the island was devoid of life. The bloodthirsty McGuffey stood at the break of the poop, and as he gazed shoreward ho chucklod and rubbed his hands together. mately forced to seek other and more virgin fields. With the fragments of his meager fortune, the ambitious Sw-ede purchased a course in a local nautical school from which he duly managed to emerge with sufficient courage to appear before the United States local inspectors of hulls and boilers and take his examination for a second mate's certificate. To his unutterable un-utterable surprise the license was granted ; whereupon he shipped as quartermaster on the steamer Alameda, Ala-meda, running to Honolulu, and what with the lesson taught him In the loss of the Willie and Annie and the exacting ex-acting duties of his office aboard the liner, he forgot that he had ever known Captain Scraggs. Judge of Nells Halvoreen's surprise, therefore, upon the occasion of his first trip to Honolulu, when he saw something which brought the whole matter back to mind. They were standing in toward Diamond head and the Alameda lay hove to taking on the pilot It was early morning and the purple mists hung over the eatranee to the harbor. Nells Halvorsen stood at the gangway enjoying the sunrise over the Punch-bowl, and glancing longingly toward the vivid green of the hills beyond the city, when he was aware of a "put" "put" "put," to starboard of the Alameda. Neils turned at the sound Just In time to see a beautiful gasoline schooner of about a hundred and thirty tons heading head-ing in toward the bay. She was so close that Nells was enabled to make out that her name was Maggie II. "Veil, aye be dum," muttered Nells, and scratched his head, for the name revived old memories. An hour later, when the Alameda loafed Into her berth at Brewer's dock, Nells noticed that the schooner lay at anchor off the quarantine station. That night Nells Hnlvcrsen went ashore for those forms of enjoyment peculiar to his calling, and In the Pantheon Pan-theon saloon, whither his pathway led him, he filled himself with beer and gossip. It was here that Nells came across an Item In an afternoon paper which challenged his Instant attention. atten-tion. It was just a squib In the ship- "Are You Sure It Ain't AH a Dream?" quahttties of pearl oysters were brought to the surface, and these Mr. Glbney stewed personally in a great Iron pot on the beach. The shell was 6tored away In the hold and the pearls wenf Into a chamois pouch which never for n Instant was out of the ooramo-dorele ooramo-dorele possession. The coast at that point being now deserted, frequent visits ashore wero made, and the crew feasted on young pig, chicken, yams and other delicacies. Captain Scraggs was almost delirious with Joy. He announced an-nounced that he had not been so happy 6tnco Mrs. Scraggs "slipped her cable." At the end of two weeks Mr. Glbney decided that there was "loot" enough ashore to complete the schooner's cargo, ond at a meeting of the syndicate syndi-cate held one lovely moonlight night on deck he announced his plans to Captain Scraggs and McGuffey. "Better leave the island alone," counseled McGuffey. "Them niggers may be a-layin' there ten thousand strong, waltln' for a boat's crew to come prowlin' up Into the bush so they can nab 'em." "I've thought of that, Mac," said tho commodore a trifle coldly, "and If I made a sucier of myself once It don't stand to reason that I'm apt to do It again. Remember, Mac, a burnt child dreads the fire. Tomorrow morning, right after breakfast, we'll turn the guns loo6e and pepper the bush for a mile or two In every direction. If there's a natlvo within range he'll have business In the next county and we won't be disturbed none." Mr. Glbney's program was duly put through and the capital of Kandavu looted of the trade accumulations of years. And when the hatches were finally battened down, the tanks refilled re-filled with fresh water, and everything In readiness to leave Kandavu for the run to Honolulu, Mr. Glbney announced to the syndicate that the profits of the expedition would figure close up to a hundred thousand dollars. Captain Scraggs gasped and fell limply against the mainmast. "Gib, my dear boy," he sputtered, '"are you sure it ain't all a dream and that we'll wake up some day and find IhaJ we're still In the green-pea trade ; Nells Halvorsen often wondered what had become of the Maggie and Captain Scraggs. Mr. Glbney and Bartholomew Bar-tholomew McGuffey he knew had turned their sun-tanned faces toward deep water some years before Captain Scraggs and the Maggie disappeared from the environs of San Francisco bay, and Nells Halvorsen was wise enough to waste no time wondering what had become of them. These two worthies might be anywhere, and every conceivable thing under the sun might have happened to them; hence, in his Idle moments, Nells Halvorsen did not disturb his gray matter speculating spec-ulating on their whereabouts and their then condition of servitude. But the continued absence of Captain Cap-tain Scraggs from his old haunts created cre-ated qulue a little gossip along the ping news, but Nells Halvorsen read it with amazement and Joy: "Th power schooner Maggie II arrived thla morning, ten days from the Friendly lalanda. The little schooner came into port with her hold bursting with the most valuable cargr that has entered Honolulu Hono-lulu In many years. It consists for the moot part of black coral. "The Maggie II Is commanded by Captain Cap-tain Phlneas Scraggs, and after taklnc on provisions and water today will proceed pro-ceed to San Francisco, tomorrow, for discharge dis-charge of cargo." "By ytmlny," quoth Nells Halvorsen. "aye bat you that bane de ole man so sure as yon bane alive. And aye bat new hut ho skall be glad to see Nells Halvorsen. I guess aye hire Kanaka boy an' he bane pull me out to sec de ole man." (TO BBS CONTINUBD.) Rocked a Moment on Hla Sturdy Legs. eye was In mourning and a stiff Jolt In the short ribs had caused him to grunt In most Ignoble fashion. But few men could withstand Mr. Glbney once he got to close quarters. Tabu-Tabu Tabu-Tabu wrapped his long arms around the commodore and endeavored to smother his blows, but Mr. Glbney would not be denied. His great fist shot upward from the hip and connected con-nected with the cannibal's chin. Tabu-Tabu Tabu-Tabu relaxed his hold, Mr. Glbney followed fol-lowed with left and right to the head In quick succession, a"d McGuffey was counting the fatal ten rver the fallen warrior. Mr. Glbney grinned rather foolish- |