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Show The QREEN PEA PtH PIRATES " By PETER B. KYNE 1 Etc' Copyright, by Peter B. Kyne "Here's where we collect the towage tow-age bill on the S. S. Yankee Prince," Dan Hicks informed him, and leaped from the bulkhead straight down at Mr. Gibney. Jack Flaherty followed. Mr. Gibney welcomed Captain Hicks with a terrific right swing, which missed ; before he could guard, Dan Hicks had planted left and right where they would do the most good and Mr. Gibney went Into a clinch to save hnxself further punishment. "Scraggsy," he bawled, "Scragg-sy-y-y! Help I Murder 1 It's Hicks and Flaherty I Bring an ax I" He flung Dan Hicks at Jack Flaherty; Fla-herty; as they collided he rushed In and dealt each of them a powerful poke. However, Messrs. Hicks and Flaherty were sizeable persons and while, Individually, they were no match for the tremendous Gibney, Only for an Instant, however; thei his sense of fair play conquered. "No, Scraggsy," he replied sadly "She ain't worth it, an' your duplicity can't be overlooked. If there's anything any-thing I hate It's duplicity. Here goes Scraggsy and get yourself a new navigatin' officer." Scrnggs twisted and flinched Instantly, In-stantly, and Mr. Gibney's great boot missed the mark. "Ah," he breathed, "I'll give you an extra for that." "Don't ! Please don't," Scragga howled. "Lay offn me an' Til put in a new boiler an' have the compass adjusted." ad-justed." The words were no sooner out of his mouth than Mr. McGuffey swung him clear of Mr. Gibney's wrath. "Swear It," he hissed. "Raise your right hand an' swear It an' Til protect pro-tect you from Gib." Captain Scraggs raised a trembling right hand and swore it. 'TU get a new fire hose an' fire buckets; I'll fix the ash hoist and run the bedbugs an' cockroaches out of her," he added. "You hear that, Gib?" McGuffey pleaded. "Have a heart." "Not unless he gives her a coat of paint an' quits bickerln' about the overtime, Bart." "I promise," Scraggs answered him. "Pervlded," he added, "you an' dear ol' Mac promises to stick by the ship." "It's a whack," yelled McGuffey Joyfully, Joy-fully, and whirling, struck Dan Hlcki a mighty blow on the Jaw. "Off our ship, you hoodlums.'' He farored Jack Flaherty with a hearty thump and swung again on Dan Hicks. "At 'em, Scraggsy. Here's where you prove to Gib whether you're a man thump or a mouse thump or a thump, thump bobtalled thump Hicks had been upset, and as he sprawled on his back on deck, he appeared to Captain Scraggs to offer at least an even chance for victory. So Scraggs, mustering his courage, flew at poor Hicks tooth and toenail. His best was not much but it served to keep Dan Hicks off Mr. McGuffey while the latter was disposing of Jack Flaherty, which he did, via the rail, even as the towboat men had disposed of Mr. Gibney. Dan Hicks followed Flaherty, and the crew of the Maggie crowded the rail as the enemy swam to the float, crawled up on it and departed, de-parted, vowing vengeance. "All's well that ends well, gentlemen," gentle-men," Mr. McGuffey announced. "Scraggsy's goln' to buy a drink an' the past Is burled an forgotten. Didn't old Scraggsy put up a fight, Gib?" "No, but he tried to, Mac. TU tell the world he did," and he thrust out the hand of forgiveness to Scraggsy, who, realizing he had come very hand- HICKS AND FLAHERTY ON VENGEANCE VEN-GEANCE BENT. Synopsis, Captain Phirmas P. Scraggs has grown up around the docks of San Francisco, and from mets boy on a river eteamer, risen to th ownership of the eteamer Maggie. &V?ee each annual ln- C paction promised to be the last of the old reatherbeaten vessel, Scraggs naturally fcas some difflctalty In securing a crew. pCVhen the story opens, Adalbert P. Gibney, plkable, but erratic, a man whom nobody hut Scraggs would hire, is the skipper, Nells Halvorsen, a solemn Swede, consti-jtutea consti-jtutea the forcastle hands, and Bart Mo-lOuffey, Mo-lOuffey, a wastrel of the Gibney type, irelgms In the engine room. With this ifnotley crew and his ancient vessel, Cap-, Cap-, tain Scraggs is engaged in freighting garden gar-den truck from Halfmoon bay to San Francisco. The inevitable happens, the Maggle going ashore in a fog. A passing vessel hailing the wreck, Mr. Gibney gets word to a towing company In San Francisco that the ship ashore Is the Yankee Prince, with promise of a rich salvage. CHAPTER III Continued. "That'll do, bosun," Gibney thundered. thun-dered. Then, In his natural voice, to Scraggs: "All set, Scraggsy. Guess we're ready to be pulled off. Get down In the engine room and stand by for full speed ahead when I give the word." "Quick 1 Hurry !" Scraggs entreated as he disappeared through the little engine-room hatch, for the tide was now at the tip of the flood and the (Maggie was bumping wickedly and driving further up the beach. Mr. Gibney Gib-ney turned his stovepipe seaward and shouted: "Tugboats, ahoy!" I "Ahoy !" they answered in unison. "All ready ! Defer go-o-o-o I" The Squarehead stationed himself at the bltts with a lantern and Mr. Gibney hastened to the pilot house and took his place at the wheel. When the hawsers haw-sers commenced to lift out of the sea, The Squarehead gave a warning shout, whereupon Mr. Gibney called the engine en-gine room. "Give her the gun," he commanded Scraggs. "Pull against them tugs for all you're worth. Remember Re-member this Is the steamer Yankee Prince. We must not come off too readily." Captain Scraggs opened the throttle, and while the two tugs steadily drew her off Into deep water, the Maggie fought valiantly to stick to the beach and even to continue her interrupted Journey overland. She merely succeeded suc-ceeded In stretching both hawsers 'taut ; slowly she was drawn seaward, stern first, and at the expiration of fifteen minutes' steady pulling, Mr. Gibney Gib-ney could restrain himself no longer. iHe rang for full speed astern and got It promptly. Then, calling Nells Hal-ivorsen Hal-ivorsen to aid him, he abandoned the wheel and scrambled aft With no one at the wheel, the Maggie Mag-gie shot off at a tangent and the hawsers haw-sers slacked Immediately. In the twinkling twin-kling of an eye Mr. Gibney had cast them off, and as the ends disappeared .with a swish over the stern he ran further back into the shaft alley and out of range. The towboat men held a council of war and decided to drown Scraggs out. Dan Hicks ran up on deck and returned re-turned dragging the deck fire hose behind be-hind him. He thrust the brass nozzle Into the shaft-alley entrance and invited in-vited Scraggs to surrender unconditionally uncondi-tionally or be drowned like a kitten. Scraggs, knowing his own fire hose, defied them, so Dan Hicks started the pump while Flaherty turned on the water. Instantly the hose burst up on deck and Scraggs' jeers of triumph filled the engine room. The enemy was about to draw lots to see which one of the two should crawl into the shaft alley and throw a cupful of chloride of lime (for they found a can of this In the engine room) in Captain Scraggs' face, when a shadow darkened dark-ened the hatch and Mr. Bartholomew McGuffey demanded belligerently: "What's goln' on down there? Who the devil's takln' liberties in my engine en-gine room?" Dan Hicks explained the situation and the Just cause for drastic action which they held against the fugitive In the shaft alley. Mr. McGuffey considered con-sidered a few moments and made his decision. "If what you say is true an' I ain't In position to dispute you, not havln' been present when you hauled the Maggie off the beach, I don't blame you for feeling sore. What I do blame you for, though, Is carryln' the war aboard the Maggie. If you wanted to whale Gib an' Scraggsy you should ha' laid for 'em on the dock. Under the circumstances, you make this a per-s'nal per-s'nal affair, an' as a member o' the crew o' the Maggie I got to take a hand an' defend my skipper agin youse two. "Fact is, gentlemen, I got a date to lick him first for what he done to me last night. Howsumever, that's a private grouch. The fact remains that you two jumped my pal Bert Gibney an' licked him somethln' scandalous. Hicks, I'll take you on first. Come up out of there, you swab, and fight. Flaherty, Fla-herty, you stay below until I send for you ; If you try to climb up an' horn in on my fight with Hicks, Glbney'll brain you." A faint cheer came from the shaft alley. "Good old Mac. At-a-boy !" "You're on, McGuffey. Nobody ever had to beg me to fight him," Dan Hicks replied cordially, and climbed to the deck. To his great surprise, Mr. McGuffey winked at him and drew him off to the stern of the Maggie. "There'll be no fight," he declared, "although we'll thud around on deck an' yell a couple o' times to make Scraggs think we're goln' to it He Aggers that by the time I've fought you an' Flaherty I won't be fit for combat with him, even if I lick you both ; he's got it all figgered out that Til wait a couple o' days before tacklln' him, an' he thinks my tem-perTl tem-perTl cool by that time an' he can argy me out o' my revenge. Savey?" "I twig." Mr. Gibney had returned to the Maggie by this time and he now took his station at the engine-room hatch and growled at Flaherty and abused him. "Keep up your courage, Scraggsy," he called, as Hicks and McGuffey Mc-Guffey pranced around the deck In simulated combat. "Mac's whalln' the whey out o' Hicks an' Hicks couldn't touch him with a buggy whip." At the conclusion of the three minutes min-utes of horse-play, Mr. McGuffey came to the hatch again. "Up with you, Flaherty," he called loud enough for Captain Scraggs to hear, "up with you before I go down after you." Flaherty was about, to possess himself him-self of a hatchet when the face of his confrere. Dan Hicks, appeared over McGuffey's shoulder and grinned knowingly at him. Immediately, Flaherty Fla-herty hurled defiance at his enemies and came up on deck, and once more to Captain Scraggs came the dull sounds of apparent conflict overhead. Suddenly a cheer broke from Mr. Gibney. "All off an' gone to Cooper-town, Cooper-town, Scraggsy," he shouted. "Come up an' take a look at the fallen." Out of the shaft alley came Scraggs with a rush, tossing his wrench aside the better to climb the ladder. He was half way up when Mr. Gibney reached down a great hand, grasped him by the collar, and whisked him out on deck with a single jerk. Here, to his horror, he found himself confronted by a singularly scathless trio who grinned triumphantly at him. "Seeln' Is believln', Scraggs," Dan Hicks Informed him. "That's a lesson you taught me an' Flaherty last night, but evidently you don't profit by experience. ex-perience. You're too miserable to beat up, but just to show you It ain't possible for a dirty bay pirate like you to skin the likes o' me an' Flaherty Fla-herty we purpose hangln' the seat o' your pants up around your coat collar. col-lar. Face him about, Gibney." With a quick twist, Mr. Gibney presented pre-sented Captain Scraggs for his penance; pen-ance; Flaherty and McGuffey followed Dan Hicks promptly and Captain Scraggs screamed at every kick. And now came Mr. Gibney's turn. "For fallln' to stand up like a man, Scraggsy, an' battle Hicks an' Flaherty," Fla-herty," he. Informed the culprit, and tossed him over to McGuffey to be held In position for him. "Don't, Gib. Please don't," Scraggs walled. "It ain't comln' to me from you. I never heard you callln' a-tall. Honest I never, Gib. Have mercy, Adelbert. You saved the Maggie last night an' a quarter interest In her is yours If you don't kick me!" Mr. Gibney paused, foot In midair; surveyed the Maggie from stem to stern, hesitated, licked his lower Hp, and glanced at the common enemy. For an Instant It came Into his mind to call upon the valiant and able McGuffey Mc-Guffey to support him In a fierce coun-tsff-atUck upon Hicks and Flaherty. ried it to the counter, wet hie tarry index finger and started turning the pages in a vain search for the American Ameri-can steamer Yankee Prince. Presently he looked up at Jack Flaherty. "Flaherty," he said, "I think you're a liar." "The same to you and many of them," Flaherty replied, not a bit abashed. "You said she was an eight thousand-ton tramp." "I never went so far as to say I'd been aboard her on trial trip, though and did cut down her tonnage, show-in' show-in' I got the fragments of a conscience con-science left" Hicks defended himself. He closed the book with a sigh and placed It back on the shelf, Just as the door opened to admit no less ; personage than Bartholomew McGuffey, McGuf-fey, late chief engineer, first assistant assist-ant second assistant, third assistant wiper, oiler, water-tender and stoker of the S. 3. Maggie. With a brief nod to Jack Flaherty Mr. McGuffey approached ap-proached Dan Hicks. "I been lookln' for you, captain," he announced. "Say, I hear the chief o' the Aphrodite's goln' to take a three months' layoff to get shet of his rheumatism. rheu-matism. Is that straight?" "I believe it Is, McGuffey." "Well, say, I'd like to have a chance to substltoot for him. You know my capabilities, Hicks, an' if It would be agreeable to you to have me for your chief your recommendation would go a long way toward landin' me the Job. Td sure make them engines behave." "What vessel have you been on lately?" late-ly?" Hicks demanded cautiously, for he knew Mr. McGuffey's reputation for non-reliability around pay day. "I been with that freshwater scavenger, scaven-ger, Scraggs, In the Maggie for most a year." "Did you quit or did Scraggs fire you?" "He fired me," McGuffey replied honestly. "If he hadn't Td have quit so It's a toss-up. Comin' In from Halfmoon bay last night we got in the fog an' piled up on the beach Jus( below the Cliff house " "This Is interesting," Jack Flaherty murmured. "You say she walked ashore on you, McGuffey? Well, Til be shot I" "She did. Scraggs blamed It on me, Flaherty. He said I didn't obey the signals from the bridge, one word led to another, an' he went danein' mad an' ordered me off his ship. Well, It's his ship or It was his ship, for I'll bet a dollar she's ground to powder by now so all I could do was obey. I hopped overboard an' waded ashore. I suppose all my clothes an' things is gone by now. I left everything aboard an' had to borrow this outfit from Scab Johnny." He grinned pathetically. pathetical-ly. "So I guess you understand, Captain Cap-tain 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 embar-rassment and distress ; as the door closed behind him, Hicks and Flaherty faced each other. "Jack," quoth Dan Hicks, "can two towboat men, holdln' down two hundred-dollar Jobs an' presumed to have been out o' their swaddlln' clothes for at least thirty years, afford to be laughed off the San Francisco waterfront?" water-front?" "I know one of them that can't, Dan. At the same time, can a rat like Phlneas P. Scraggs and a beachcomber beachcomb-er 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 longshore-men loaded Into the cargo net. "We're outnumbered," Jack Flaherty whispered. "Let's wait until she's unloaded un-loaded an' Gibney an' Scraggs are aboard alone." They retired without having at-f.ncted at-f.ncted the attention of Mr. Gibney. Promptly at twelve o'clock the longshoremen long-shoremen knocked off work for the lunch hour and Nells Halvorsen drifted across the street to cool his parched throat with 6team beer. While waiting for Scraggs to come up out of the engine room, and take him to luncheon, Mr. Gibney sauntered aft and was standing gazing reflectively upon a spot on the Maggie's stern where the hawsers had chafed awny the paint, when suddenly his forebodings fore-bodings of evil returned to him a thousand thou-sand fold stronger than they had been since Scraggs' return to the little ship. He glanced up and beheld gazing down upon him Captains Jack Flaherty Fla-herty and Daniel Hicks. Battle was Imminent and the valiant Gibney knew It ; wherefore he determined Instantly In-stantly to meet It like a man. "Howdy, men." he saluted them. "Olad to have you aboard the yacht" and he stepped backward to give himself him-self fighting room. "Scraggsy," He Bawled, "Scraggsy-y-yl Help! Murder! It's Hicks and Flaherty! Fla-herty! Bring an Ax!" nevertheless what they lacked in horsepower they made up In pugnacity and the salt sea seldom breeds a craven. Captain Scraggs thrust a frightened face up through the engine-room engine-room hatch, but at sight of the battle royal taking place on the deck aft, his blood turned to water and he thought only of escape. To climb up to the bulkhead without being seen was Impossible, however, so, not knowing what else to do, he stood on the Iron ladder and gazed, pop-eyed with horror, at the unequal contest. Backward and forward the tide of battle surged. For nearly three minutes min-utes all Scraggs saw was an Indistinct Indis-tinct tangle of legs and arms; then suddenly the combatants disengaged themselves and Scraggs beheld Mr. Gibney prone upon the deck with a gory face upturned to the foggy skies. When he essayed to rise and continue the contest Flaherty kicked him in the ribs and Hicks cursed him ; eo Mr. Gibney, realizing that all was over, beat the deck with his hand in token of surrender. Hicks and Flaherty Fla-herty waited until the fallen gladiator gladia-tor had recovered sufficient breath to sit up ; then they pounced upon him, lifted him to the rail, and dropped him overboard. Captain Scraggs shrieked In protest at this added touch of barbarity, bar-barity, and Dan Hicks, turning, beheld be-held Scraggsy's white face at the hatch. "You're next, Scraggs," he called cheerfully, and turned to peer over the rail. Mr. Gibney had emerged on the surface and was swimming slowly away toward an adjacent float where small boats landed. He climbed wearily up on the float and sat there, gazing across at Hicks and Flaherty without animus, for to his way of thinking he had gotten off lightly, considering con-sidering the enormity of his offense. The least he had anticipated was three months in hospital, and so grateful was he to Hicks and Flaherty for their forbearance that he strangled a resolve to "lay" for Hicks and Flaherty Fla-herty and thrash them Individually something he was fully able to do and forgot his aches and pains in a lively interest as to the fate of Captain Cap-tain Scraggs at the hands of the tow-boat tow-boat men. He was aware that Captain Cap-tain Scraggs had failed ignominious!-to ignominious!-to rally to the Gibney appeal to repel boarders, and In his own expressive terminology he hoped that what Lb enemy would do to the dastard would be "a-plenty." The enemy, meanwhile, had turned their attention upon Scraggs, who had dgdged below like a frightened rabbit and sought shelter In the shaft alley. He had sufficient presence of mind, as he dashed through the engine room, to snatch a large monkey wrench off the tool rack on the wall, and, kneeling Just Inside the alley entrance he turned at bay and threatened the Invaders In-vaders with his weapon. Thereupon Hicks and Flaherty pelted him with lumps of coal, but the sole result of this assault was to force Scrafixs "I'll Fix the Ash Hoist and Run the Bedbugs and Cockroaches Out of Her." somely out of an unlovely situation, clasped the hands of Mr. Gibney and McGuffey and burst Into tears. While Mr. McGuffey thumped him between the shoulder blades and cursed hlra affectionately, af-fectionately, Mr. Gibney retired to change Into dry garments ; when he reappeared the trio went ashore for the promised grog and a luncheon at the skipper's expense- This Scragga person is soma fine little promiset'. I 1 (TO BE CONTINUED.) Mr. Gibney Turned His Stovepipe Seaward Sea-ward and Shouted: "Tugboats, Ahoy!" back to the pilot house, rang for full speed ahead, put Ills helm hard over, and headed the Maggie in the general direction of China, although as a matter mat-ter of fact he cared not what direction he pursued, provided he got away from the beach and placed distance between the Maggie and two soon-to-be-furious tugboat skippers. CHAPTER IV. The crews of the Aphrodite and the Bodega slept late, for they were weary and, fortunately, no calls for ft tug came Into the office of the Red Stack company all morning. About ten o'clock Dan Hicks and Jack Flaherty Fla-herty breakfasted and about ten-thirty both met In the office. Apparently they were two souls with MUt a single thought, for the right hand of each sought the shelf whereon reposed the blue volume entitled "Lloyd's Register." Regis-ter." Dan Hlcfes reached It first, car- |