Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PIRATES 'ISYNE cAuthor of " WEBSTER—MAN’S MAN,” "THE VALLEY OF TtiE GIANTS,” ETC. Mrs. Taylor's Sickness Ended Lydia E Pmhham’s egetable Gmxpcmnd Roxborj, llaw.—“1 snfferwi eoatiii- naUywSiWkaehe “Green Pea Pirate* 9 ' is a combination of sea and land narrative told in the inimitable style which has given the Peter B. Kyne stories such a strong pull with the reading public. It is jolly, even rollicking and has thrill, romance and punch. CHAPTER I. They had seen the fog rolling down the coast shortly after the Maggie had rounded Pilar Point at sunset and readed north. Captain Scraggs had been steamboating too many'unprofit able years on San Francisco bay, the Suisun and San Pablo sloughs and dogholes and the Sacramento river to be deceived as to the character of that fog, and he remarked as much to Mr. Gibney. “We’d better turn back to Halfmoon bay and tie up at the dock," he added. • “Calamity howler!” retorted Mr. Gibney and gave the wheel a spoke or two. “Scraggsy, you’re enough to make a real sailor sick at the stomach.” “But I tell*you she’s a tule fog, Gib. She rises up In the marshes of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, drifts down to the bay and out the Golden gate and Just naturally blocks the wheels of commerce while she lasts. W’hy, I’ve known the ferry boats be tween San Francisco and Oakland to get lost for hours on their twenty-min ute run—and all along of a blasted tule fog.” • “I don’t doubt your word a mite. Scraggsy. I never did see a ferry-boat skipper that knew shucks about saliorlslng," "the lmi>erturh&hle Gibney responded. “Me. I'll smell my way home In any tule fog." “Maybe you can an’ maybe you can’t. Gib, although far be It from me to question your ability. I’ll take It for granted. Nevertheless, I ain’t a-goin* to run the risk o’ you havin’ catarrh o’ the nose an’ confusin’ your smells tonight. You ain’t got nothin' at stake hut your Job. whereas If I lose the Maggie I lose my hull for tune. Bring her about, Gib. an' let's | hustle buck.” •TKm’t be an old woman.” Mr. Olh- ney pleaded. “Scraggs. yon Just ain’t got enough works Inside you to fill a I wrist watch.** “! ain’t a-goln’ to poke around In ! the dnrk an* a tule fog. feclln’ for ! the Golden gate,” Captain Scraggs shrilled peevishly. “H—l’s bells an* panther tracks! I’ve put my old courses, an’ If I fuller i them we can’t help gettln’ home.” Captain Scraggs laid his hand on > Mr. Glbney'g great arm and tried "to ! smile paternally. “Gib. my dear boy.”" j he pleaded, “control yourself. Ih»n’t | argue with me, Gib, I'm muster here | an you're mate. Do I make myself ! clear?" “You do, Scraggsy. But It won’t avail you nothin'. You’re only master becur of a gentleman's agreement be tween us two, an’ because I'm man enough to Agger there’s certain rights due you as owner o’ the ulnggle. But loo’t you forget that accordin’ to the records o’ the Inspector's ofi\oe, I’m ; master of' the Maggie, an* the way I ! Agger If. whenever there's any eak to . sjlow a tlttte reat aenmnnshtp. that 4 gentleman’s agreement don't stand." "But this ain’t one o’ them times, Gib.” “You’re whistlin’ It is. If we. run ’ from this here fog. It’s skiffs to bat tleships we don’t get Into San Fran cisco bay an’ discharged before .six ' o’clock tomorrow night. By the' time j livered, nevertheless, impersonally. He closed the pilot-house door furiously behind him and started for the galley! “Some bright day I’m goin’ to git tired o’ bearin’ you cuss my proxy,” Mr. Gibney bawled after him, “an’ when that fatal time arrives I’ll scat ter a can o’ Kill-Flea over you an’ the shlppln’ world’ll know you no more.” “Oh, go to—glory, you pig-iron pol isher,” Captain Scraggs tossed back at him over his shoulder—and honor was satisfied. In the lee of the pilot house Captain Scraggs paused, set his infamous old brown derby hat on the deck and leaped furiously upon It with both faet. Six times he did this; then with a blow of his fist he knocked the ruin back into a sem blance of its original shape and Im mediately felt better. “If I was you, skipper, I’d hold ray temper until I got to port; then I’d git jingled an’ forgit my .troubles In expensively," somebody advised him. Scraggs turned. In a little square hatch the head and shoulders of Mr. Bartholomew McUuffey, chief en gineer; first, second and third as sistant engineer, oiler, wiper, water- tender, and coal-passer of the Maggie, ap|>eared. He was standing on the steel ladder that led up from his stuffy engine ropm and had evidently come up, like a whale, for a breath of fresh air. “The way you ruin them bonnets o’ yourn sure Is u scan dal," Mr. McGuffey concluded. "If I had a temper as nasty as yourn I’d take soothin’ sirup or somethin' for it.” Before proceeding further with thl* narrative, due respect for the reader's curiosity directs that we diverge for a |>erlnd sufficient to present a brief history of the steamer Maggie and her peculiar crew. We will tteglu with the Maggie. She had Iteen built on Puget sound hack in the eighties, and was one hun dred and six feet over nil, twenty-six feet beam and seven feet draft. Driven hy a little steeple compound engine, tn the pride of her youth she could make ten knots. However, what with old age and boiler st ale, the (test she could do now was six. and hud Mr. McGuffey paid the slightest heed to the limitations Imposed upoa his stentn gauge hy the supervislag In spector of boilers at San Francisco, she would have been limited to five. Kacli annual Inspection threatened to l»e her last, and I’aptain Scruggs, her sole owner, lived in per|>etual fear that eventually the day must arrive when, to save the lives of himself and his crew, he would he forced to ship a new holier and renew, the rotten timbers around her deadwitod. She had come into CSptalu Scruggs' poa- we've taken on coal an’ water an’ what-all, it’ll be eight or nine o’clock, with me an’ McGuffey entitled to mebbe three dollars overtime an* havin’ to argue an’ scrap with you to git It—not to speak o’ havin’ to put to sen the same night go’s to he back in ^lalfmoon bay to load bright an’ early next mornin’. Scraggsy, I ain’t no night bird on this run." “Do you mean to defy me. Gib?*’ Captain Scraggs’ little green eyes gleamed balefully. Mr. Gibney looked down upon him with tolerance, ns a Great Dane gazes upon a fox terriers “I certainly do, Scraggsy, old pepper pot” he replied calmly. “What’re you goin’ to do about It?” The ghost of a smile lighted his jovial countenance. “Nothin'—now. „ I’m helpless,’’ Cap tain Scraggs answered with deadly calm. “But the minute we .hit the dock you an’ me parts company." “I don’t know whether we will or not Scraggsy. I ain’t heeled* right financially to hit the beach on such abort i ■ ' ■■■ “I Certainly Do, Scraggsy, Old Pep- Calmly. — “I’ll get the police to remove you, you blistered pitate,’’ Scraggs screame/l, now quite beside himself.^ "Ygs? Well, the mlntyte they let go y me Yit coine back to tli^ S. S. Mag gie and teirts4»er apart Just^to what nittk£§ her go." He leaned out the pilot-house., window-4ind sniffed. “Tule fog, ail right, Scraggs, Stilt, that ain’t no reason why the ship's company should fast, is It? Quit hick- ertn’ with me, little one, an’ see If you cafc’t wrastle up some ham an’ eggs. I want ray eggs sunny" side up." - Sensing the futility of further argu ment, Captain Scraggs sought solace tn s stream of adjectival opprobrium, plainly meant for Mr. Gibney but de tession at public auction conducted by the United States marshal, follow ing her capture *3 she sneaked Into Sam Francisco- bay one dark night with a load of Chinamen and opium from Ensenada. She had cost him fifteen hundred hard-earned dollars. Scruggs—Phi nea s P. Scraggs, to epipldy his full ftame—was precisely thel^nd of man one might expect to- own nml eperete the Maggie. Rat- Taced, snaggle-toothed and furtive, !with ? a tow thinning that sometimes passed for great intelligence, Scraggs’ character Is beat described in a home ly American word. He was “ornery." A native of San Francisco, he had grown up around the docks and had developed from mesaboy on a river steamer to master of bay and river steamboat*, although It Is not of rec ord that he ever commanded such a craft. Despite h “ticket'’ there ,was none so foolish ; to trust him with one—g condition., t affairs which had tended to sour disposition not nat urally sweet. r he yearning to coni; tuund a steamboat gradually had de veloped into an tbsssslom Result— the “fast and cot modlous S. S. Mag gie,” as the Pri.ted States marshal had had the audacity to advertise her. In the beginnings Captain $eraggs had planned to dq bay and river tow ing with the Maggie. Alas! The first time the unfortunate Scraggs at tempted to tow a heavily laden barge up river, a light fog had come down, necessitating the frequent blowing of the whistle. Following the sixth long blast, Mr. McGuffey had whistled Scraggs on the engine-room howler; swearing horribly, he had demanded to he informed why In this and that the skipper didn’t leave that dod-gnst- ed whistle alone. It was using up his steam faster than he could manufac ture It. Thereafter. Scraggs had used a patent foghorn, and when the hon est McGuffey had once more succeed ed In conserving sufficient steam to crawl up f^ver, the tide had turned and the MAftpk could not buck the ebb. McGaffey declared a few new tubes in the holler would do the trick, hut on the other hand, Mr. Gibney pointed o*t that the old craft was practically punk aft and a stiff tow would Jerk the tall off the old girl. In despair, therefore Captain Scraggs had ahaadoued hay and river towing and wag prepared to Jump overboard and en(^ all. when an opportunity of- fered tor the freighting of garden truck and dairy produce from Half- moon bay to San Ftotnclaco. . ButTtpM a difficulty arose. The new rpti Wbh an “outside” one—salt water all tlfo way. Under the ruling of the Inspaetors. the Maggie would he run ning coastwise the instant ahe en- gngeil In the green-|>ea and atrlng-ltean trade, and Captain Scraggs’ license provided for no such contingency. His tirtlet entitled him to act as master on the waters of San Francisco bay sad the waters tributary thereto, and although Scraggs argued that the Pa cific ocean constituted waters “tribu tary thereto,” If he understood the English language, the Inspectors were obdurate. What If the distance was less than twenty-five miles? they (sduted out. The voyage was unde niably coastwise and carried with It all the hsk of wind and wave. And in ortier to Impress upon Captain Scraggs the weight of their authority, the Inspectors sus|iended for six months Captain Scraggs' hay and river ihvnse for having dared to ne, goll.lte two coastwise voyages without consulting them. Furthermore, they warned him that the next time he did ft they would condemn the fast and commodious Maggie. In this extremity. Fate had sent to Captain Scraggs a large. Imposing, capable, but st>cially indifferent per son who responded to the name of Adelbert P. Gibney. Mr. Gibney had spent part of an advenluroua life in the United* States navy, where he had applied -himself and acquired a fair smattering of navigation. Prior to en tering the navy he had been a fore mast band In clipper ship* and had held n -second mate's berth. FollA ing his discharge from the navy he had sailed coastwise on steam schoon er*. *and after attending a navigation school for two months, had procured a license as chief mate of steam, any ocean' and any tonnage. * Unfortunately for Mr. Gibney, he had a falling. Most-of us have. The most genial fellow In the world, he was cursed with too much brains and imagination and a thirst which re quired .quenching around pay day. Also, lie had that beastly habit of Command which is inseparable from n born leader; when he held a first mate’s berth, he was wont to try to “run the ship" and, on -occasions, ladle out suggestions to his skipper. Titus, in time, he acquired a reputa tion for being unreliable and a wind- bag. with the result thab-^skippers were chary of engaging him. Not.to he too prolix, at the time Captain Scraggs made the disheartening dis covery that he had to have a skipper for the Maggie. Mr. Gibney found himself reduced to the alternative of longshore work or a fo’castie berthJn a windjammer bound for blue water. With alacrity, therefore, Mr. Gib- neF -tad accepted Scraggs’ offer of seventy-five dollars a" month.—“and found’’—to skipper the Maggie on her coastwise run. Asja^ firsts mate of steam he had no difficulty inducing the inspectors to graht him a license to skipper such an abandoned craft as the Maggie, and accordingly he hung up his ticket In her pilot house and was. registered as her master, al beit, under a gentleman’s ’agreement with Scraggs l*e was not to claim the title of captain and' was known to the world us the Maggie’s first mate, second mate, third mate, quartermas ter. purser and freight clerk. One Neils Halvorsen, a solemn Swede with 3 idachl, bovine disposition, consti tuted the fo’cantle hands, while Bart McGuffey. a wastrel of the Gibney type but slower-wltted, reigned su preme lOv the engine room. Also his case rgarmbled that of Mr. Gibney In that McGuffey’s Job on the Maggie was the first he had had in six months and he treasured R accordingly. For this reason h0 and Gibney had been Inell^ibd to fake considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until McGuffey discovered that, in all probability, no engineer* In the world, except him self, would have the courage to trust himself within range of the Maggie’s hollers, and, consequently, he had Captain Scraggs more or less at his mercy. Upon Imparting this suspicion to Mr. Gibney, the latter decided that it would be a cold day, Indeed, when his ticket would not constitute a club wherewith to make Scraggs, ^s Gib ney expressed It, “mind his P’s and Q’s.” It will he seen, therefore} that mu tual necessity held this queerly as sorted trio together, and, though they quarreled furiously, nevertheless, with the passage of time their own weak nesses and those of the Maggie had aroused In each for the other a curi ous affection. While Captain Scraggs frequently “pulled” a monumental Muff and threatened to dismiss both Gibney and McGuffey—and, In fact, occasionally went so far as to order them off his ship, on their part Gib ney and MeGuffey were wont to work the some racket and resign. With the subsidence of their anger and the re turn to reason, however, the trio had a habit of meeting accidentally In the Bowhead saloon, where, sooner or later, they were certain to bury their grudge In a foaming beaker of steam beer, and return Joyfully to the Mag- glv. v Of nil the little ship's ccdnpany, Neils Halvorsen. colloquially desig nated as “The Squarehead,” was the only Individual who was. In truth and In fact, his own man. Nells was steady. Induttrlous, faithful, capable, and reliable; any one of a hundred deckhand Jobs were ever open to Nells, yet, for some reason best known to himself, he preferred to stick by the Maggie. In his dull way It Is prohnhlc that he was fascinated by the agile Intelligence of Mr. Gibney, the vitriolic tongue of Captain Scraggs, and the elephantine wit 4nd grizzly hear courage of Mr. McGuffey. At any rate, he delighted In hearing them snarl and wrangle. However, to return to the Maggie which we left, entering the tule fog a few miles north of Pilar point: CHAPTER II. Captain Scraggs and The Square- head partook first of the hum and eggs, coffee and bread, which the *kipper prepared. Scraggs then pre pared u similar meal for Mr. Gibney and McGuffey, set It In the oven to keep wann, and descended to the en gine room to relieve McGuffey for din ner. Neils at the same time took the course from Mr. Gibney and relieved the latter at the wheel. By this time, darkness had descended upou the world, and the Maggie had entered the ing; following her custom she pro ceeded in absolute silence, although as a partial offset ,to the extreme liability to collision svlth other coastwise craft, due to the non-whistling rule aboard the'Maggie, Mr. Gibney had laid a course half a mile Inside the usual steamer lanes, albeit due to his over whelming desire (pr peace he had neglected to inform his owner of this; the honest fellow proceeded upon the hypothesis Jhat what* people do not know is not apt to trouble them. Captain Scruggs read the log and reported the mileage to Mr. Gibney, who figured with the stub of a pencil on the pilot house wall, wagged his head, and appeared satisfied. “Better go for’d,” he ordered, “an’ help The Squarehead oti the lookout. At eight o’clock we ought to be right under the lee o’ Point San Pedro; when I whistle we ought to catch the echo thrown back hy the cliff. Listen for It.” Promptly at eight o’clock Mr. Mc Guffey was horrified to see his steam gauge drop half a pound as the Mag gie’s siren sounded. Mr. Gibney stuck his ingenious head out of the pilot -house and listened, but no answering etdio reached his ears. “Hear any thing?” he bawled. -^Heard the Maggie’s siren,” Captain Scraggs retorted venomously. Mr. Gibney leaped out on deck, .se lected a small head of cabbage from a broken crate and hurled It forward. he was worried. The fog. If anything was thicker than ever Time passed. Suddenly Mr. Gibney thrilled electrically to a shrill yip from Captain Scraggs. "What's that?" Mr. Gibney bawled. “I dunno. Sounds like the surf Gib.” “Ain’t you been on this run long enough to know that the surf don’t sound like nothin' else In life but breakers?” Gibney retorted wrathfuHy. “I ain’t certain, Gib.” Instantly Gibney signaled McGuffey for half speed ahead. “Breakers on the starboard bow," yelled Captain Scraggs. “Port bow,” The Squarehead cor rected him. “Oh, my great patience!” Mr. Gib ney groaned. “They’re on both bows an’ we’re headed straight for the beach. Here’s where wfe all go to the devil together,” and he yankM wildly at the signal wire that led to the engine room, with the intention of giving McGuffey four bells—the signal sibls toksep j work. and was often do* spondent, had dizzy spells sad st my monthly periods ft was sunost bnpoo- at my work. Sines my last baby came ray I two rears ago ■back has been* no position 1 got in would e it, and doe ’s medicine did : help me. Afriend recommended Lydia E. Pinkham’a Veg etable Compound and I have found great relief since using ft. My back is much better and 1 can deep well. I keep house and bare the care of fire children friends sndl my wish to use this letter land If you wish t I am rery |^aa to hdj> any woman suf faring as I was until I used Lydia E. Pinkham’a Vegetable Compound.”— Mrs. Mauds E. Taylor, 6 St. James Place, Roxbury, Maas. Backache is one of the most common symptoms of a displacement or derange ment of the female system. No woman Then he sprang hack into the pilot house and straightened the Maggie on her course again. He leaned over the Hppacle. with the cuff of his wafeh- coai^wiping away the moisture on the glass, and studied the instrument care fully, “I don't trust the danged thing," lie muttered. “Guess I’ll haul her off a coupler points an’ try the whistle., again.” - He did. Still no echo. He was in clined to believe that Captain Scraggs had not gead the tsffrall log corrj&ctiy, and when a r eight-thirty he tried the whistle agajn he was still without re sults in tbe wfcy of an echo from the cliff, allied the engine room howler brought him several of a profuse char acter from the perapiring McGuffey. “We’ve passed Pedro," Mr. Gibney <tecided. He ground his cud and mut tered ugly thlnga to himself, for bis dead reckoning had gone astray and But No Answering Echo Reached Hie Ears. nlxtard the Maggie for full epeed astern. At the second Jerk the wire broke, hut not until two bells had sounded in the engine room—the signal for full speed ahead. The efficient McGuffey promptly kicked her wide open, and the Fates decreed that, having done so, Mr. McGuffey should forthwith climb the ladder and thrust his head out on deck for a breath of fresh air. Instantly a chorus of shrieks up on the fo’castie head at tracted his attention to such a degree that he failed to hear the engine room howler as Mr. Gibney blew frantically Into- It. Presently, out of the hubbub for ward, Mr. McGuffey heard Captain Scraggs waU_Irani!ca 11 jr,^ -‘iStop her! For thf love of heaven, atop her r In stantly the Miglneer dropped back Into the englng room and set the Maggie full speed astern; then he grasped the howler gnd held It to his ear. “Stop her!” he heard Gibney shriek. “Why In blazes don’t you stop her?" “She’s set astern, Gib. She’ll ease up in a minute.” "You know it!" Gibney answered significantly. Th3 Maggie climbed lazily to the crest of a long oily roller, slid reck lessly down the. other side, and took the following sea over her taffrnil. She still had some head on, but very little—not quite sufficient to give her decent steerage way, ns Mr. Gibney discovered when, having at length com municated his desires tn McGuffey, he spun the wheel frantically In tr-bc- lated effort to swing the Maggie’s ditty nose out to sea.' “Nothing doin’,” 3 he snarled. “She’ll hav£ to come to a - complete stop before she begins to walk backward and get steerage way on again. She’ll bump as sure as death an’ taxes.” “She’ll bump as sura as death an’ taxas.” (TO BE CONTINUED.) “SpandthrfTt WlHa” Common. \ Spendthrift wills.” in which tne heir is placed virtually at the mercy of the execufor. who must watch his conduct closely to determine whether the money properly can be turned over to him, are Coipmon. Monthly pay ments to heirs are often specified JHJd provisions made for burials and tbe erecting of monuments. Conditions may be attached that a proposed Church building to which the testator desires to leave the money must be built within 4 certain tima or the bequest la forfeited. Money la placed hi trust for sending children to college or for other purposes, and the trust company must see to it that it Is used for tbe purposes specified and for no others • should make the mistake of trying to overcome H by heroic endurance, but ra.Tay ‘ profit by Mrs. Taylor’a experience and try LydiaE. Pinkham’sVegetableCompound Cattle-Raising Countries. The United States ranks first as a cattle-raising country, vjlth 56.502,000 head; Australia, fourth, with 11,819,- 000 head. Texas Is the leading cattle- raising state Id the United States. Its production la about the same as that of Australia, possibly a little greater. „ aWnum ’Cutting a wide swath’’ In any walk of life that you Chatham. Va.—*1 was so week end run-down last spring that 1 could sot work two hours without sitting down in the field and resting. I sent and got a bottle of Dr. Ptereo’s Golden Medical Discovery, it did me so much good that I sent for three more bot tles. 'After taking them I felt like a sew man. 1 do believe that if it had not boon for this mediciat 1 would have had to give up work.**—J. R. TATE. R. F D. *. All druggists. Liquid or tablet*. DONT DESPAIR If yoa ere troubled with peine or aches; feel tired; have hesutoche, indigestion, insomnia; painful pas sage of urine, you vfiiH find relief in G0LDMEML sugravc* The world’s stondenl remedy for kfdaey, ■▼«, Madder end title add troablsa and of HoOead dace IdBfc on BABIES LOVE Pkessat Is tabs. I stsbtesadsbmtat . It quickly ^ . Hke dl Tbe apes PLUG TOBACCO Known as c Iry it-and you know why A Chance to Moke Big Money H you are out of a job or brad of the one yoa now have, sad want to gel brio a Ate paging independent businett of poor own, without sim Investment, we have a propootioo to ofe> whits wdl urierat you, Pleaaaat wotk for aea or weaSam IfWTE TOOdV Ca., 371W. Mot* lb. IT C H! W. PL U.