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Show ttCTZl&Jg HE VALLEY of fy GIANTS, "ZT'ft- "-gJCOPYBISHT.BY PETER B.KYNE Captain Scraggs "shut up" promptly, prompt-ly, and contented himself with glower-Ing glower-Ing at Mr. Gibney. Tim mate 6at down on the hatch coaming, lit his pipe, and gave himself up to meditation medita-tion for fully five minutes, at the end of which time McGuffey was aware that his imagination was about to come to the front once more. "Well, gentlemen," (again McGuffey McGuf-fey nodded approvingly) "I bet I get my twenty bucks back outer them two Chinks," he announced presently. "How'll yer do it?" inquired McGuffey McGuf-fey politely. "How'll I do It? Easy as fallin' through an open hatch. I'm a-goin' t' keep them two stiffs In th' boxes until dark, an' then I'm a-goln' to take 'em out, bend a rope around their middle, drop 'em overboard an' anchor 'em there all night. I see th' lad we opens up in No. 1 case has had a beautiful beau-tiful job of embalmin' done on him, but if I let them soak all night, like a mackereL they'll limber up an' look kinder fresh. Then first thing In th' mornin' I'll telephone th' coroner an' tell him I found two floaters out in th' bay an' for him to come an' get 'em. I been along the waterfront long enough t' know that th' lad that picks up a floater gets a reward o' ten dollars dol-lars from th' city. You can bet that Adelbert P. Glbney breaks even on th' deal, all right." "Gib, my dear boy," said Captain Scraggs admiringly. "I apologize for my -actions of a few minutes ago. I was unstrung. You're still mate o' th' American steamer Maggie, an' as such, welcome to th' ship. All I ask is that you nail up your property, Gib, an' remove It from th' dinin' room table. I want to remind you, however, Gib, that as shipmates me an' McGuffey don't stand for you shoulderin' any loss on them two cases o' Oriental goods. We was t' share th' gains, If any, an' likewise th' losses." "That's right," said McGuffey, "fair an' square. No bellyaehin' between shipmates. Me an' Scraggs each owns one-third o' them diseased Chinks, an' we each stands one-third o' th' loss. plain wood box, labels 'em 'Oriental goods,' an' consigns 'em to the Gin Seng company, 714 Dupont street, San Francisco. Now, why are these two countrymen o' yours shipped by frelgtit where, by the way, they goes astray, for some reason that I don't know nothin' about, an' I buys 'em up at a old horse sale?" Gin Seng shrugged his shoulders and replied that he didn't understand. "You lie," snarled Captain Scraggs. "You savey all right, you fat (Ad idol, you ! It's because if the railroa-d company com-pany knew these two boxes contained desd corpses they'd a-soaked the relatives, rela-tives, which is you, one full fare eacji from wherever these two dead ones comes from, just the same as though they was alive an' well. But you has 'em shipped by freight, an' aims to spend a dollar an' thirty cents each on 'em, by markln' 'em 'Oriental goods.' Helluva way to treat a relation. rela-tion. Now, looky here, you bloody heathen. It'll cost you just five hundred hun-dred dollars to recover these two stiffs, an' close my mouth. If you don't come through I'll make a belch t' th' newspapers an' they'll keel haul an' skulldrag th' Chinese Six Companies Compa-nies an' the Hop Sing tong through the courts for evadin' th' laws o' th' Interstate Inter-state commerce commission, an' make 'em look like monkeys generally. An' then th' police'll get wind of it. Savey, policee-man, you fat old murderer? Th' price I'm askin' is cheap, Charley. How do I know but what these two poor boys has been murdered in cold blood? There's somethln rotten in Denmark, my bully boy, an' you'll save time an' trouble an' money by diggin' up five hundred dollars." Gin Seng said he would go back to Chinatown and consult with his company. com-pany. For reasons of his own he was badly frightened. Scarce had he departed before the watchful eye of Captain Scraggs observed ob-served Mr. Gibney and McGuffey in the offing, a block away. When they came aboard they found Captain Scraggs on top of the house, seated on - f "ORIENTAL GOODS." Synopsis. Captain Phlneas P. Scraggs has grown up around the docks of San Francisco, and from mess boy on a river steamer, risen to the ownership of the" steamer Maggie. Since each annual inspection in-spection promised to be the last of the old weatherbeaten vessel, Gcraggs naturally has some diffi-cutty diffi-cutty In securing a crew. When the story opens, Adelbert P. Glbney, Glb-ney, likable, but erratic, a man whom nobody but Scraggs would hire, is the skipper, Neils Halvor- sen, a solemn Swede, constitutes the forecastle hands, and Bart McGuffey, Mc-Guffey, a wastrel of the Glbney type, reigns in the engine room. With this motley crew and his ancient an-cient vessel, Captain Scraggs Is engaged in freighting garden truck from Halfmoon bay to San Francisco. The Inevitable happens; the Maggie goes ashore in a fog. A passing vessel hailing the wreck, Mr. Glbney gets word to a towing company in San Francisco that the ship ashore is the Yankee Prince, with promise of a rich salvage. Two tugs succeed in pulling the Maggie Into deep water, and she slips her tow lines and gets away In the fog. Furious at the deception decep-tion nrai.tli.ai1 nn thorn PonHlna just to make it Interestin' an' add a spice t' th' grand openln', I'm wlllin' to bet again my own best judgment an' lay you even money, Scraggsy, that it ain't ginseng, but Oriental goods." "I'll go you five dollars, just fr ducks," responded Captain Scraggs heartily. "McGuffey to hold the stakes an' decide the bet." "Done," replied Mr. Gibney. The money was placed In McGuffey's hands, and a moment later, with a mighty effort, Mr. Glbney pried off the lid of the crate. Captain Scraggs had his head Inside the box a fifth of a second later. "Sealed zinc box inside," he announced. an-nounced. "Get a can opener, Gib, my boy." "Ginseng, for a thousand," mourned Mr. Gibney. "Scraggsy, you're five dollars of my money to the good. Ginseng Gin-seng always comes packed in air-tight boxes." He produced a can opener from the cabin locker and fell to his work on a corner of the hermetically sealed box. As he drove in the point of the can opener, he paused, hammer In hand, oD&umte and eventually the Chinaman China-man paid over the money and departed with the remains of his countrymen. "I knew he'd come through, Bart," Mr. Gibney declared. "They got to ship them stiffs to China to rest alongside along-side their ancestors or be In Dutch with the sperrits o' the departed forever for-ever after." "Do we have to split this swag with that dirty Scraggs?" McGuffey wanted to know. "Seeln' as how he tried to give us the double cross " "We'll fix Scraggsy all ship-shape an' legal so's he won't have no comet back." They had not long to wait. Upon his arrival at Gin Seng's place of business busi-ness Captain Scraggs had been informed in-formed that Gla Peng had gone out twenty minutes before, and further inquiry in-quiry revealed that he had departed in an express wngrm. Consumed with misgivings of disaster, Scraggs re-I re-I turned to the Maggie as fast as the ' cable car and his legs could carry him. In the cabin he found Mr. Gibney and McGuffey playing cribbage. They laid down their hands as Scraggs entered. Mr. Gibney began at once: "To show you what a funny world this is, while me an' Bart's setttn' on deck a-waitin' for you to come back, along breezes a fat old Chinaman in an express ex-press wagon an' offers to buy them two cases of Oriental goods. He makes me an' Mac what we considers a fair offer. Lemme see, now," he continued, and got out a stub of lead pencil with which he commenced figuring on the white oilcloth table cover. "We paid twenty dollars for them two derelicts an' a dollar towage. That's twenty-one twenty-one dollars, an' a third o' twenty-one is seven, an' seven dollars from twenty-five leaves eighteen dollars comin' to you. Here's your eighteen dollars, Scraggsy, you lucky old vagabond all clear profit on a neat day's work, no expense, no investment, no back-break-in' interest charges or overhead, an sold out at your own figger." Captain Scraggs' face was a study In conflicting emotions as he raked In the eighteen dollars. "Thanks, Gib," he said frigidly. "Me an' Gib's goin' ashore for lunch at the Marigold cafe," McGuffey announced an-nounced presently, In order to break the horrible silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. "I'm will-In' will-In' to spend some o' my profits on the deal an' blow you to a lunch with a small bottle o' Dago Red thrown In. How about It, Scraggs?" "I'm on." Scraggs sought to throw off Uls gloom and appear sprightly. "What'd you peddle them two cadavers for, Gib?" Mr. Gibney grinned broadly, but did not answer. In effect, his grin informed in-formed Scraggs that that was none of the latter's business and Scraggs assimilated as-similated the hint. "Well, at any rate, Gib, whatever you soaked him, it wag a mighty good sale an' I congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha' done a little better myself, but then It ain't every day a feller can turn an eighteen-dollar trick on a corpse." "Comin' to lunch with us?" McGuffey McGuf-fey demanded. "Sure. Wait a minute till I run forward an' see If the lines is all fas!" He stepped out of the cabin and presently Glbney and McGuffey were conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck. Glbney winked at McGuffey. "Nother new hat gone to h 1," murmured mur-mured McGuffey. "The job that confronts us it to get these munitions down to our friends in Mexico." (TO BE CONTINUED.) ' Hlcka and Flaherty, commanding the two tugboats, ascertain the identity of the "Yankee Prince" and, fearing ridicule should the . facta 'become known along the water wa-ter front, determine on personal vengeance. Their hostile visit to the Maggie results In Captain Scraggs promising to get a new boiler and make needed repairs to the steamer. Scraggs refuses to fulfill his promises and Gibney and McGuffey "strike." With marvelous marvel-ous luck, Scraggs ships a fresh crew. At the end of a few days of wild conviviality Gibney and McGuffey are stranded and seek their old positions on the Maggie. They are hostilely received, but remain. re-main. On their way to San Francisco Fran-cisco they sight a derelict and Gibney Gib-ney and McGuffey swim to It. The derelict proves to be -the Chesapeake, Chesa-peake, richly laden, Its entire crew stricken with scurvy. Scraggs attempts at-tempts to tow her In, but the Maggie Mag-gie Is unequal to the task and Gibney Gib-ney and McGuffey, alone, sail the ship to San Francisco, their salvage sal-vage money amounting to $1,000 apiece. His crew having deserted him, Captain Scraggs induces them to return. At an "old horse" sale " the three purchase two mysterious boxes which they believe to contain con-tain smuggled "Oriental goods." v : A if any." "But there won't be no loss," protested pro-tested Mr. Gibney. "Drayage charges, Gib, drayage charges. We give a man a dollar to tow 'em down t' th' ship." "Forget It," answered Mr. Gibney magnanimously, "an' let's go over an' get a drink. I'm all shook up." CHAPTER Vlri. Had either Mr. Gibney or McGuffey been watching Captain Scraggs after he had left them they would have been much puzzled to account for that worthy's actions. First he dodged around the block into Drumm street, and then ran down Drumm to California, Califor-nia, where he climbed aboard a cable car and rode up into Chinatown. Arriving Ar-riving at Dupont street he alighted and walked up that interesting thoroughfare thor-oughfare until he came to No. 714. He glanced at a sign over the door and was aware that he stood before the entrance to the offices of the Chinese Six Companies, so he climbed upstairs and inquired for Gin Seng, who presently pres-ently made his appearance. Gin Seng, a very nice, fat Chinaman, China-man, arrayed in a flowing silk gown, begged, in pidgin English, to know In and gazed solemnly at Scraggs and McGuffey. "Gentlemen," (again McGuffey nodded approvingly) "do you know what a vacuum is?" "I know," replied the imperturbable McGuffey. "A vacuum is "an empty-hole empty-hole that ain't got nothin' in it." "Correct," said Mr. Glbney. "My head is a vacuum. Me talkin' about ginseng root ! Why, I must have water wa-ter on the brain ! Ginseng be dog-goned dog-goned ! It's opium !" Captain Scraggs was forced to grab the seat of his chair in order to keep himself from jumping up and clasping clasp-ing Mr. Gibney around the neck. "Forty dollars a pound," he gasped. "Gib Gib, my dear boy you've made us wealthy " Quickly Mr. Gibney ran the can opener around the edges of one corner of the zinc box, inserted the claws of the hammer into the opening, and with a quick, melodramatic twist, bent back the angle thus formed. Mr. Gibney was the first to get a peep Inside. "Great snakes !" he yelled, and fell back against the cabin wall. A hoarse scream of rage and horror broke from Captain Scruggs. In his eagerness he had driven his head so deep into the box that he came within an Inch of kissing what the box contained which happened to be nothing mofe nor less than a dead Chinaman ! Mr. McGuffey, McGuf-fey, always slow and unimaginative, shouldered the skipper aside, and calmly surveyed the ghastly apparition. appari-tion. "Twig the yellow beggar, will you, Gib?" said McGuffey; "one eye half open for all the world like he was winkln' at us an' enjoyin' th' joke." Not a muscle twitched In McGuffey's McGuf-fey's Hibernian countenance. He scratched his head for a moment, as a sort of flrst aid to memory, then turned and handed Mr. Glbney ten dollars. dol-lars. "You win, Gib. It's Oriental goods, sure enough." "Robber !" shrieked Captain Scraggs, and flew at Mr. Gibney's throat. The sight reminded McGuffey of a terrier worrying a mastiff. Nevertheless, Mr. Glbney was still so unnerved at the discovery of the horrible contents of the box thnt, despite his gigantic proportions, pro-portions, he was well-nigh helpless. "McGuffey, you swab," he yelled. "Pluck this maritime outlaw off my neck. He's tearin' my windpipe out by th' roots." McGuffey choked Captain Scraggs until he reluctantly let go Mr. Gibney, whereupon all three fled from the cab-In cab-In as from a pestilence, and gathered, an nngry and disappointed group, out on deck. "Opium !" jeered Captain Scraggs, with tears of rage In his voice. "Ginseng! "Gin-seng! You and your imagination, you swine, you ! Get off my ship, you lout, or I'll murder you." Mr. Glbney hung his head. "Scraggsy an' you, too, McGuffey I got to admit tNat this here Is one on Adelbert 1'. Glbnov. I I" "Oh. hoar him," shrilled Captain Scruggs. "One on him ! It's two on you, you bloody-handed ragpicker. I suppose that olhei e.ise contains opium, too! If there ain't another (load corpse In No. 2 case I hope my teeth may drop overborn d." "Shut up!" bellowed Mr. Gibney, In a towering race. "What howl have yon got comin'? They're my Chinamen, China-men, ain't tiiey? I paid for 'em like a man. didn't I? All right, then. I'll keep thorn two Chinamen. You two ain't out a cent yet, an' as for this Ii' e I wins off you. Scraggs, It's blood money ; that's what it Is. in' I hereby Kives it back to you. Now, nult yer whliiin", or by the tall o' the Great Snored Bull, I'll lock yon up all night in th' cabin along o' them two defunct Celestials." CHAPTER VII Continued. For an hour Mr. Glbney sat on the stern bltts and ruminated over a few advantageous plans that had occurred to him for the Investment of his share of the deal should Scraggs and McGuffey Mc-Guffey succeed In landing what Mr. Glbney termed "the loot." About eleven o'clock an express wagon drove in on the dock, and the mate's dreams were pleasantly Interrupted by a gleeful shout from Captain Scraggs, on the lookout forward with the driver. McGuffey Mc-Guffey sat on top of the two cases with his legs dangling over the end of the wagon. He was the picture of contentment. Mr. Glbney hurried forward, threw out the gnngplank, and assisted McGuffey Mc-Guffey In carrying both crates aboard the Maggie and Into her little cabin. Captain Scraggs thereupon dismissed the expressman, and all three partners part-ners gathered around the dining room table, upon which the boxes rested. "AVell, Scraggsy, old pal, old scout, old socks, I see yon've delivered the goods," said Mr. Glbney, batting the skipper across the cabin with an affectionate, affec-tionate, slap on the shoulder. "t did." said Scraggs and cursed Mr. Gibney's demonstratlveness. "Here's the bill o' sale all regular. McGuffey has the change. That bunch a' Israelites run th' price up to $10.00 each oi' these two crates o' ginseng, but when they see we're determined to haw 'em an' ain't Interested In nothin' else, they lots m go to ns. MeOulToy, my dear boy, whatever are you a-doln' there standin' around with your teelh in yonr mouth? Skip down into th' engine room and bring tip a hammer an' a col' chisel. We'll open her up an' Inspect th' swag." Upon MoGuffoy's return, Mr. Gibney took charge, lie drove the chisel under un-der ,tho lid of the nenrest crate, and prepared to pry It loose. Suddenly ho paused. A thought had occurred to him. "Gci'.domon." he said (McGuffey nodded his bond approvingly), "this world is full o' sorrors an' disappointments, disappoint-ments, an' it may well bo that these two oases don't contain oven so much as a smell o' ginseng after nil. It may bo that they are really Oriental goods. What 1 want distinctly understood under-stood Is this: no matter what's inside, we share equally In the profits, even If they turn out to bo losses. That's understood -n agreed to. ain't it?" Captain Scruggs and MnlulYey indicated indi-cated that 1t was. There's a element o' mystery about these two boxes," continued Mr. Gibney, Gib-ney, "that fn.vliiates me. They sets vaf Imagination a-workln' an' joggles s;p sit ny sportln' Icstlncts. Now, what manner be could be of service. "Me heap big captain, allee same ship," began Captain Scraggs. "On board ship two China boys have got." (Here Captain Scraggs winked knowingly.) know-ingly.) "China boy no speak English" Eng-lish" "That being the case," Interposed Gin Seng, "I presume that you and I understand each other, so let's cut out the pidgin English. Do I understand under-stand that you are engaged in evading the immigration laws?" "Exactly," Captain Scraggs managed to gasp, as soon as he could recover from his astonishment. "They showed me your name an' address, an' they won't leave th' ship, where I got 'em locked up in my cabin, until you come an' take 'em away. Couple o' relatives rela-tives of yours, I should Imagine." Gin Seng smiled his bland Chinese smile. He had frequent dealings with ship masters engaged In the dangerous, danger-ous, though lucrative, trade of smuggling smug-gling Chinese into the United States, and while he had not received advice of this particular shipment, he decided to go with Captain Scraggs to Jackson street bulkhead and see if he could not be of some use to his countrymen. As Captain Scraggs and his Chinese companion approached the wharf the skipper glanced warily about. He had small fear that either Gibney or McGuffey Mc-Guffey would show up for an hour, for he knew that Mr. Glbney had money In his possession. However, he decided to take no chances, and scouted the vicinity thoroughly before venturing aboard the Maggie. These actions server! but to increase the respect of Gin Seng for the master of the Maggie and confirmed him In his belief that the Maggie was a smuggler. Captain Scraggs took his visitor Inside In-side the little cabin, carefully locked and bolted the door, lifted the zinc flap back from the top of the crate of "Oriental goods" and displayed the face of the dead Chinaman. Also he pointed to the Chinese characters on the wooden Ti rl of the crate. "What does these he.i scratches mean?" demanded Scraggs. "This man is named Ah Ghow and he belongs to the Hop Sing tong." "How about Ms pal here?'' "That man is evidently Ng Chong Yip. He is also a Hop Sing man." Captain Scraggs wrote it down. "All right," he said cheerily; "much obliged. Now. what I want to know Is what the nop Sing tong means by shipping the departed brethren by freight? They go to work an' fix 'em up nice so's they'll keep, packs 'era fjway In a zinc coffin, Inside a Die "Well fix Scraggsy." an upturned fire bucket, smoking pensively pen-sively and gazing across the bay with an assumption of lamblike Innocence on his fox face. He soon departed, but Mr. Gibney was suspicious. "He's got his lines fast somewhere you can bank on that," was his comment. "While we was away he rigged up some kind of a deal, Bart. It stands to reason it was a mighty profitable deal, too. My Imagination may be a bit off the course at times, Bart, but In general. If there's a dead whale floatln' around the ship I can smell It." "What do you make out o that fat Chinaman crulsin' down the bulkhead in an express wagon an' another Chinaman China-man settlri' up on the bridge with him?" McGuffey demanded. "Seems to me they're comin, bows on, for the Maggie." "They tell me to deduct somethln', Bart. Wait a minute till we see if they're comin' aboard. If they are " "They're goin' to make a landln', Gib." "then I deduct that this body-snatchin' body-snatchin' Scraggs " "They're boardln us, Gib." " has arranged with yon fat Chinaman China-man to relieve us.o' the unwelcome presence of his defunct friends. He's gone an' hunted up the relatives an' made 'em come across that's what he's done. The dirty, low, schemin' granddaddy of all the foxes In Christendom Chris-tendom ! I'll fish around an' see what figger Scraggs charged him," and Mr. Gibney stepped to the rail to meet Gin Seng, for It wag Indeed he. "Sow-see, sow-see, bun-gay," Mr. Gibney saluted the Chinaman In a facetious Pttempt to talk the latter's language. "Hello, there, John Chinaman. China-man. How's your liver? Captain he alle same get tired ; he no waltee. Wha's mallah, John. Too long time you no come. You heap lazy all time." Gin Seng smiled his bland. Inscrutable Inscruta-ble Chinese smile. "You kelchum two China boy In box?" he queried. "We have," boomed McGuffey, "an' beautiful specimens they be." "No money, no China boy," Gibney added firmly "Money have got. Too mnrhee money mon-ey you wantee. No can do. Me pay two hundred dollah. Five hundred dol-lah dol-lah heap muohee. No have got." "Nothin' doln', John. Five hundred dollars an' not a penny less. Put up the dough or brat It." Gin Seng expostulated, lied, evaded, and all but wept, but Mr. GIbDey was , |
