ind he knew he could do anything with him. "Well, now, Gib,
my _dear_ boy, if a man was to get twenty-five dollars for his
interest, I should say he oughtn't to have no kick comin'. I know
I wouldn't."

"If you was sellin' your interest--imagine, now, that you're me
an' I'm you--would you be satisfied to sell for twenty-five
dollars?"

"I certainly would, Gib, my boy. Why, that's almost four hundred
per cent. profit, an' any man that'd turn up his nose at a four
hundred per cent. profit ought to go an' have his head examined
by a competent nut doctor."

"Well, if you feel that way about it, all right, Scraggsy," Mr.
Gibney replied slowly and put his hand in his pocket. "As I remarked
previous, while you're away me an' Bart gets chewin' over the
proposition an' decides we'll sell. An' to show you what a funny
world this is, while me an' Bart's settin' on deck a-waitin' for you
to come back an' close with us, along breezes a fat old Chinaman in
an express wagon an' offers to buy them two cases of Oriental goods.
He makes me an' Mac what we considers a fair offer for our
two-thirds. You ain't around to offer suggestions an' as it's a
take-it-or-leave-it proposition an' two-thirds o' the stock is
represented in me an' Mac an' accordin' to your rulin' the
majority's got the decidin' vote, we ups an' smothers his 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 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-breakin' interest charges or overhead, an' sold
out at your own figger."

Captain Scraggs's 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 presently, in order to break the horrible
silence that followed Scraggsy's crushing defeat. "I'm willin' 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 his gloom and appear
sprightly. "What'd you peddle them two cadavers for, Gib?"

M