Also
his case resembled that of Mr. Gibney in that McGuffey's job on
the _Maggie_ was the first he had had in six months and he
treasured it accordingly. For this reason he and Gibney had been
inclined to take considerable slack from Captain Scraggs until
McGuffey discovered that, in all probability, no engineer in the
world, except himself, would have the courage to trust himself
within range of the _Maggie's_ boilers, 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, as Gibney expressed it, "mind his P's
and Q's."
It will be seen, therefore, that mutual necessity held this
queerly assorted trio together, and, though they quarrelled
furiously, nevertheless, with the passage of time their own
weaknesses and those of the _Maggie_ had aroused in each for the
other a curious affection. While Captain Scraggs frequently
"pulled" a monumental bluff 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 Gibney and McGuffey were wont
to work the same racket and resign.
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