OCR Text |
Show THE QREEN PEA PIRATES I By PETER B. KYNE oAuthor of "WEBSTER MAN'S MAN," "THE VALLEY OF THE GIANTS," Etc. OpyHdht, by Pftrr D. Kyn times I thought I'd give you a chance to figger on the business." "Thanky, Gib. I'll be glad to. Where's your freight an' what does it consist of?" "Agricultural stuff. It's crated, an' I deliver It here on the steamer's deck within reach o' her taeiles. No heavy pieces. Two men eaa handle every piece easy." "Tu -iln' farmer, Gib?" "Thinkin' about it a little," the commodore com-modore admitted. "What's your rate on tills freight? It ain't perishable, so get down to brass tacks." "A dollar a ton," declared the greedy Scraggs, naming a figure Cully forty cents higher than he would have peeii willing to accept. "Five hundred dollars dol-lars for the lot." "Suits me." The commodore nonchalantly non-chalantly handed Scraggs five hundred dollars. "Gimme a receipt." lie said. So Captain Scraggs gave him a receipted re-ceipted freight bill and Mr. Gibney departed. de-parted. An hour later a barge was bunted alongside the Victor and Nells i "You're a sea lawyer, Gib," Scraggs retorted sarcastically. "You do what Gib says," McGuffej ordered threateningly. "Remember, ." got a half interest in any judgment tu gits agin us an' what's more, I ob ject to them codfish clutterin' up mj half Interest." "You bulJIed me on the old Maggie,' Scraggs screeched, "but I won't b hullled no more. If you want to tow that barge, Mac, you buy me out, lock stock and barrel. An' the price fot my half Interest is five thousand dol Iars." "You've sold something, Scraggsy,' Mr. McGuffey flashed back at him obeying a wink from Mr. Gibney. "Aa" here's a hundred dollars to bind the bargain. Balance on delivery of propet bill-o'-sale." While Scraggs was counting the money Mr. Gibney was writing a receipt re-ceipt in his note book. Scraggs, still furious, signed the receipt. "Now, then, Scraggsy," said Mr. Gibney Gib-ney affabJy, "hustle up to the custom house, get a formal bill-o'-sale blank, fill her In, an' hustle back agin for your check. An' see to It you don't change your mind, because it won't do you any good. If you don't come through now I can sue you an' force you to." "Oli ! So you're buyln' my Interest, eh?" "Well, I'm lendln' Mac the money, an' I got a hunch he'll sell the interest to me an' Neils without figgerin' on a profit. You're a jarrln' note in the syndicate, Scraggsy, an' I've come to that time o' life where I want peace. An' there won't be no peace on the Victor unless I skipper her." Captain Scraggs departed to draw up the formal bHl of sale and Mr. Gibney. Gib-ney. drawing The Squarehead and McGuffey Mc-Guffey to him, favored each with a searching glance and said : "Gentlemen, did it ever occur to you that there's money in the chicken business?" It had ! Both McGuffey and Neils admitted It. There are few men In this world who have not, at some period of their lives, held the same CHAPTER XIV Continued. "All right. Mac. I guess the commodore's com-modore's foot slipped this time, but I ain't tquawkin' yet." "No. Not yet," cried Mr. Gibney bitterly, "but soon." "I ain't, nulher," Captain Scraggs assumed un air of Injured virtue. "I'm a-wllltn' to go through with you, Gib, at a loss, for nothln' else except to cnnvlnr e you c" the folly o' maliln' this a one-man syndicate. I ain't a-klckln'. but I'm free to confess that I'll like tu be consulted oncet In a while." "Thai's logic," rumbled the single-minded single-minded McGuffey. "You dirty welchers," roared the commodore. "I ain't askln' you two to take chances with me. Me an' Nells'll take this deal over Independent Independ-ent o' the syndicate.'" "Well, let's dress this here diver," retorted the cautious Scraggs, "an' send him into the hold for a look around before we make up our minds." Captain Scraggs was not a man to take chances. They moored the launch to the wreck and commenced operations. Mr. Gibney worited the air pump while the diver, ax In hand, dropped Into the murky depths of the flooded hold. He was down half an hour before he signaled sig-naled to he putted up. All hands sprang to the line to haul him back to daylight, and the Instant he popped clear of the water Mr. Gibney unburdened unbur-dened himself of nn agonized curse. In his hands the diver held a large decayed codfish 1 Captain Scraggs turned a sneering glance upon the unhappy commodore white McGuffey sat down on the damp rail of the deroJIct and laughed until the tears coursed down his' honest face. "A dirty little codlishin' schooner," raved Captain Scraggs, "an' you n-slnkin' the time an' money o' the syndicate In rotten codfish on the say-so of a clairvoyant you ain't even lieen Introduced to. Gib, If that's business, busi-ness, all I got to say Is: 'Excuse me.' " Mr. Gibney seised the defunct fish from the diver's hnnd, tore It in half, clapped Captain Scruggs with otie .awful .aw-ful fragment ""'I hurled the other at 'JJcfliffrey. "I'm outer the syndicate," he ravet, beside himself with anger. "Here I Jgj wort an' make a fOl't'.Uje for ft pair of short sports an' pikers an' you et to squealln' at the first five-hnn-flrod-dollar loss. I know you of old, IHilneas Scraggs, an' the leopard can't change his spots." He raised his right hand to heaven. "I'm through for keeps. We'll seil the pearls today, divvy up, an dissolve. I'm through." "Glad of ft," growled McGuffey. "I don't waui no more o' that codfish, . an' as soon we git tightin' room I'll prove to you mat no near-sailor can Insult me an" git away with It. Me an' Scraggsy' roc some rights. Yon i can walk on Scraggsy, Gib, but it takes a man to walk on the McGuffey family." Nothing but the lack of sea-room prevented a battle royal. Mr. Gibney in" I i . wm - 1 view, albeit the majority of those who have endeavored to demonstrate that fact have subsequently changed their minds. "t thought as much," the commodore commo-dore grinned. "If I was to let you two out o' my sight for a day" you'd both be flat busted the day after. So we won't buy no farm an' go In for chickens. chick-ens. We'll sell the Victor an' buy a littl tradln' schooner. Then we'll go back to the South seas an 'earn a legitimate 1Mb'." "But why'll we sell the Victor?" McGuffey Mc-Guffey demanded. "Gib, she's a love of n boat." "Because I've just had a talk with the owners o' the two opposition lines an' they, knowin' me to be chummy with you an' Scraggsy, give me the tip to tell you two that you could have your choice o' two propositions a rate war or a sale o' the Victor for ten thousand dollars. That gets you me it's sp iled," cried McGuffey, simulating simu-lating horror. "No. not quite, Mac. not quite. Just slightly. I B'pOSe Glb'll tack a sign lo the stub o' the main mast: 'Slightly 'Slight-ly spo.'ed codfish lor sale. Apply to A. I'. Gibney. on the premises. Special Spe-cial rati's on Friday." " Mr. Gibney quivered, but made no reply. He can fully examined that portion of the derelict above water and discovered that by an additional expenditure ex-penditure of about fifty dollars he might recover an equal amount in brass fittings. The Kadlak's house was gone and her decks completely gutted. Nothing remained hut the amputated am-putated hull nnd the foul cargo below her bat'ered decks. In rnfllprf'o snenre the commodore motioned a1.1 hands Into the launch. In silence they returned to the city. Arrived here, Mr. G'hney paid Off the launch man and the diver and accompanied ac-companied by his associates repaired to a prominent jeweler's shop with the pearls they had accumulated in the South sens. The entire lot was sold for thirty thousand dollars. An hour later they had adjusted the'r accounts, divided the fortune of the syntpctite equally. nd then dissolved. At parting. Mr. G'hr.ey spoke for the first lime when it had not been absolutely ab-solutely necessary. "Put a beggar on Horseback an' he'll ride to the devil." ie said. "When you two swabs was p or you was content con-tent to Jet me lend yoa -into a fortu but now that you're well-heeled, you think you're business men. All right! I ain't got a word to say except this: Before I get through with you two beachcombers I'll have all your money nnd you'll be a-beggin' me for a job. I apologize for soakln' you two with that diseased codfish, an' for old sake's sake we won't fight. We're still friends, but business associates no longer, for I'm too big a figger in this syndicate to stand for any criticism on my hnndlin' o' the joint finances. Hereafter, Scraggsy, old kiddo, you an' Mac can go, it alone with your sternwheel steamer. Me an' The Squarehead legs it together an' takes our chances. Yon don't hear that poor lUltPOtei'Gd Swet'e jriakla' go holler at the way I've handled the syndicate"' "But, Gib, my dear boy," chattered Captain Scraggs, "will you just listen to re" "Elhiugh ! Too much Is plenty. Let's shake hands an' part friends. Ye just can't get along in business together, that's all." "Well, I'm sorry, Gib," mumbled McGuffey, Mc-Guffey, very " much crestfallen, "but then you hove that dog-gone fish at me an' " "That was fortune hittln' you a belt In the face, Mac, an' you was too self-conceited to recognize It. Remember Remem-ber that, both of you two. Fortune hit you In the face today an' you didn't know it." "I'd ruther die poor, Gib," walled McGuffey. The commodore shook hands cordially cor-dially and departed, followed by the faithful Neils Halvorsen. The moment mo-ment the door closed behind them Scraggs turned to the engineer. "Mac," he said earnestly, "Gib's up to something He's got that Imagination Imagina-tion o his workin'. I can tell it every time ; he gets a foggy look in his eyes. We made a mistake kiddin' him today. Gib's a sensitive boy some ways an' I reckon we hurt his feelin's without intendln' it." "He thrun a dead codfish at me," protested McGuffey. "I love old Gib like a brother, but that's carryin' things with n mighty high hand." "Well, I'll apologize to him," declared de-clared Captain Scraggs and started for the door to follow Mr. Gibney. McGuffey barred his way. "You apologize without my consent ati' you gotta buy me out o' the Victor. Vic-tor. I won't be no engineer with a skipper that lacks backbone." "Oh, very well, Mac." Captain Scraggs realized too well the value of McGuffey in the engine room. He knew he could never be happy with anybody else. "We'll complete the deal with the Victor, ship a crew, get down to business, an' leave Gib to his codfish. An' let's pay our bill an' get outer here. It's too high-toned for me an' expensive." For two weeks Captain Scraggs and McGuffey saw no more of Mr. Gibney and Neils Halvorsen. In the meantime, mean-time, they had commenced running the Victor regularly tip river, soliciting business in opposition to the regular steamboat lines. While the Victor was running with light freights and consequently con-sequently at a loss, the prospect for ultimate business was very bright and Scraggs and McGuffey were not at all worried about the future. Judge at their surprise, therefore, when one morning who should appear at the door of Scraggs' cabin but Mr. Gibney. "Mornin', Gib," began Scraggs cheerily. cheer-ily. "I s'pose you been rolled for your money as per usual, an' you're around lonkln' for a job as mate?" Mr. Gibney ignored this veiled Insult. In-sult. "Not yet,' Scraggsy. 1 got about five hundred tons o' freight to send up to Dutmigan's landing an' I want a lump sum figger for doin' the job. We parted friends an' for the" saKe o' old "Adelbert." crooned Mr. McGuffey. "ain't you got no heart? You know I got a half interest In the Victor '" "O-oo-oh !" Captain Scraggs groaned, and his groan was that of a seasick passenger. When he could look up again his face was ghastly with misery. mis-ery. "(ill)." he pleaded sadly, "you got us where the hair Is short. Don't Invoke In-voke the law an' make us handle that codfish, Gib! It ain't right. Gimme leave to tow that barge anything to keep your freight off the Victor, an' we'll pull It up river for you " "Be a good feller, Gib. You tiseu'ter be hard an' spiteful like that," urged McGuffey. "I'll tow the barge free," wailed Scraggs. , I Mr. Gibney sat calmly down on the I stringer and lit a cigar. Nature had blessed him with a strong constitution constitu-tion amidships and the contiguity of his tainted fortune bothered him but little. He squinted over the tip of the cigar at Captain Scraggs. "You're just the same old Sc'raggsy you was in the green-pen trade. All you need is a ring in yer nose, Scraggsy, to make you a human hog. Here you goes to work an' soaks me a dollar a ton when you'd be tickled to death to do the job for half o" that, an' then you got the gall to stand there appenlln' to my friendship! So you'll tow the barge up free, eh? Well, just to make the transaction legal, I'll give you a dollar for the job an' let you have the barge. Skip to It, Scraggsy, an' draw up a new bill, guaranteed' to tow the barge for one dollar. Then gimme back $499.00 an' I'll band you back this receipted freight bill." Captain Scraggs darted into his cabin, cab-in, dashed off the necessary document, and returning to the deck, presented it, together with the requisite refund, to Mr. Gibney, who, In the meantime, had come aboard. "Whatever are you a-goin' lo do with this awful codfish, Gib?" he demanded. de-manded. Mr. Gibney cocked his hat over one ear and blew a cloud of smoke in the skipper's face. "Well, boys, I'll tell you. Salted codfish that's been under water a long time gets most o' the salt took out of It, an' even at sea, if it's left Jong enough, it'll get so darned ripe that it's what you might call offensive. But it makes good fertilizer. There ain't nothln' in the world to equal codfish, medium ripe, for fertilizer. I've rigged up a deal with a orchard comp'ny that's layin' out a couple o' thousand acres o' young trees up in the delta lands o' the Secramento. I've sold 'em the lot, after first buy-in' it from the owners o' the schooner for a hundred dollars. Every time these orchard fel-Jers fel-Jers dig a holo to plant a young fruit tree they aim to heave a codfish in the bottom o' the hole first, for fertilizer. There wffs upward o' two hundred thousand codfish in that schooner an' I've sold 'em for five cents each, delivered de-livered at Dunnigan's landin'. I figger fig-ger on cleanin' up about seven thousand thou-sand net on the deal. I thought me an' Neils was stuck at first, but I got my imagination workin' " Captain Scraggs sank limply Into McGulfey's arras arid the two stared at the doughty commodore. "Hit in the face with a fortune an' didn't know it," gasped poor McGuffey. "Gib, I'm sure glad you got out whole on that deal." ' "Thanks to a lack o' imagination in you an' Scraggsy I'm about two hundred hun-dred an' fifty dollars ahead o' my estimate now, on account 6! the free tow o' that barge. Me an' Neils certainly cer-tainly makes a nice littJe split on account o' this here codfish deal." "Gib," chattered Scraggs, "what's the matter with reorganizin' the syndicate?" syn-dicate?" "Be a good feller, Adelbert," pleaded McGuffey. Mr. Gibney was never so vulnerable as when one he really loved called him by his -Christian name. He drew an trm across the shoulders of McGuffey Mc-Guffey and Scraggs, while Neils Halvorsen Hal-vorsen stood by. his yellow fangs Hashing with pleasure under his tviu-rus tviu-rus mustache. "Scraggsy! Mac! Your fins! We'll reorganize the syndicate, an' the minute min-ute me an' Neils finds ourselves witli a bill o' sale for a one-quarter interest inter-est in the Victor, based on the actual cost price, we'll tow this here barge " "An' split the profits on the codfish?" cod-fish?" Scraggs queried eagerly. "'Certainly not. Me an' Neils splits that fifty-fifty. A quarter o' them profits is too high a price to pay for your friendship, Scraggsy, old deceitful. deceit-ful. Remember, 1 made thai profit after you an' Mac had pulled out o' the syndicate." "That's logic." McGuffey declared. "It's highway robbery," Scraggs snarled. "I won't sell no quarter interest in-terest to you or The Squarehead, Gib. Not on them terms." "Then you'll load them codfish aboard, or pay demurrage on that barge for every day they hang around ; an' if t he board of health condemns 'em an' chucks 'em overboard I'll sue you an' Mac for my lost profits, git a judgment agin you, an' take over the Victor to satisfy the judgment.'' "Holy Sailorl" He Shouted. "Who Uncorked That Atter o' Violets?" Halvorsen appeared in Scraggs' cabin to inform him that the five hundred tons of freight was ready to be taken aboard. "All right, Nells. I'D put a gang to work right off." He came out on deck, paused, tilted his nose, and sniffed. He was still sniffing when McGuffey bounced up out of the engine room. "Holy Sailor!" he shouted. "Who uncorked that atter o' violets?" "You dog-gone squarehead," shrieked Captain Scraggs. "Y7ou been monkey-in' monkey-in' around that codfish again." "What smells?" demanded the mate, poking his nose out of his room. "That tainted wealth I picked up at sea," shouted a voice from the dock, and turning, Scraggs and McGuffey observed Mr. Gibney standing on a stringer smiling at them, "Gib, my dear boy," quavered Captain Cap-tain Scraggs, "you can't mean to say you've unloaded them gosh-awful codfish cod-fish " "No, not yet but soon, Scraggsy, old tarpot." Captain Scraggs was on the verge of tears. "But, Gib ! My dear boy ! This freight'! foul the Victor up for a month o' Fridays an' I just took out a passenger license!" "I'm sorry, Scraggsy, but business is business. You've took my money an' you got to perform." "You lied to me. You said it was agricultural stuff an' I thought it was plows an' harrers an' sich " "It's fertilizer an' if that ain't agricultural agri-cultural stuff I hope my teeth may drop out an' roll in the ocean. An' It ain't perishable. It perished long ago. I ain't deceived you. An' if you don't like the scent o' dead codfish on yo"r decks, you can swab 'em down with Florida water for a month." Captain Scraggs' mate came around the corner of the house and addressed himself to Captain Scraggs. "Y'ou can give me my time, sir. I'm a steamboat mate, not a grave digger or a coroner's assistant, or an undertake-, an' I can't stand to handle this here freight." Mr. McGuffey tossed his silken engineer's en-gineer's cap over to Scraggs. "Hop on that, Scraggsy. Your own hat is ground to powder. Ain't It strange. Gib, what little Imagination I Scraggsy's got? He'll stand there a-screamin' an' a-cussin' an' a-prancln' Scraggsy! Ain't you got no pride, makin' such a spectacle o' ynurseJf? We don't have to handle ibis freight o' Gib's at all. We'll just hook onto that barge an' tow it up river." "Y'ou won't do nothin' o' the sort, Mac. because that's ray barge an' 1 ain't a-goin' to let It out o' my sight. I've delivered my freight alongside your steamer and prepaid the freight an' it's up to you to handle It." "Gib !" "That's the programme;" out clean an saves your original capital, capi-tal, an' It gits Scraggsy out the same way, while nettin' me an' Nells five hutidred each." "A rate war would ruin us," McGuffey Mc-Guffey agreed. "In addition to sourin' Scraggsy's disposition until he wouldn't be fit to live with. Gib, you're a wonder." "T know it," Mr. Gibney replied. Within two hours Captain Scraggs' half interest had passed into the hands of McGuffey, and half an hour later the Victor had passed Into the hands of the opposition lines, to be operated for the joint profit of the latter. Later In the day all four members of the syndicate met In the Bowhead saloon, where Mr. Gibney explained the deal to Captain Scraggs. The latter was dum founded. "Y'ou'll run without me, Gib," Scraggs declared emphatically. "I've had a-plenty o' the dark blue for mine. I got a little stake now, so I'm going to look around an' invest in a '' "A chicken ranch," McGuffey interrupted. inter-rupted. "Right-O, Bart. How'd you guess ItT "Imagination." quoth McGuffey. tapping tap-ping his forehead, "imagination, Scrntrgsy." Three weeks later Mr. Gibney had' purchased, for account of his now abbreviated ab-breviated syndicate, the kind of power pow-er schooner 'he desired, and the inspectors in-spectors gave hint a ticket as master. With The Squarehead as mate and Mr. McGuffey as engineer nnd general utility man. the little schooner cleared for Pago Pago on a day when Captain Scraggs was too busy buying Incubators Incuba-tors to come down to the dock and see them off. And for aught the chronicler of this talc knows to the contrary, the syndicate syndi-cate may be sailing In that self-same schooner to this very day. THE END. Ax in Hand, Dropped Into the Murky Depths of the Flooded Hold. Ftood glaring at his late partners. His great ham-like fists were opening and closing automatically. "You're right. Mac," he said presently, pres-ently, endeavoring to control his anger an-ger and chagrin. "We'll settle this later. Take that helmet off the diver an' let's hear what he's got to report." With the helmet removed the diver poke : "Aa near as I can make out, boss, there ain't a thing o' value in this hulk but a couple o' hundred tons o' codfish She was cut in two just for d o' the Milkhead an' her anchors carried car-ried any or) the section that was cut off. SV.e .'t worth the cot. i' towin" her In on the fiats." "So that codfish has some value," h wed (Vptaln Scraggs. "Griiai rlef. Scraggsy 1 Don't tell, |