The present
mate'll do the navigatin' while Scraggsy's learnin' the deep sea
stuff."
"Second the motion," said Captain Scraggs briskly. "McGuffey,
your argument does you a heap of credit. It's--it's--dog my cats,
McGuffey, it's masterly. It shows a keen appreciation of an old
skipper's feelin's, and if the move is agreeable to Gib, I'm
willin' to hail him as commodore and fight to maintain his
office. I--I dunno, Gib, what I'd do if I didn't have a mate to
order around."
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Gibney, beaming, "the motion's carried
unanimous. Captain--chief--your fins. Dook me. I'm honoured by
the handshake. Now, regarding that crew you brought down from San
Francisco on the old _Maggie_, Scraggs, they're a likely lot and
will come in handy if times is as lively in Colombia as I figger
they will be when we arrive there. Captain Scraggs, you will have
your mate pipe the crew to muster and ascertain their feelin's on
the subject of takin' a chance with Commodore Gibney. If they
object to goin' further, we'll land 'em in Panama an' pay 'em off
as agreed. If they feel like followin' the Jolly Roger we'll give
'em the coast seaman's scale for a deep-water cruise and a five
per cent.
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