"
Captain Scraggs was so touched at this delicate little tribute
that he turned away and burst into tears.
"Aw, shut up, Scraggsy, old hunks," said McGuffey consolingly.
"You ain't got nothin' to cry about. You're a rich man. Look at
me. I ain't a-bawlin', am I? And I don't get so much as a bean
out of this mix-up, all on account of me bein' tied up with a lot
of hounds that quits fightin' before they're half licked."
"That's so," said Captain Scraggs, wiping his eyes with his grimy
fists. "I declare you're out in the cold, McGuffey, and it ain't
right. Gib, my boy, us three has had some stirrin' times together
and we've had our differences, but I ain't a-goin' to think of
them past griefs. The sight o' you, single-handed, meetin' and
annihilatin' the pride of the Mexican navy, calm in th' moment o'
despair, generous in victory and delicate as blazes to a fallen
shipmate, goin' to work an' namin' your vessel after him that
way, is somethin' that wipes away all sorrer and welds a
friendship that's bound to endoor till death us do part. If
McGuffey'd been on our side, we know from past performances that
he'd a fit like a tiger, wouldn't you, Mac?" (Here Mr.
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