give him the
horselaugh."

Three days of diligent search failed to uncover the coveted job
for either, however, and on the morning of the fourth day Mr.
Gibney announced that it would be necessary to "raise the wind,"
if the pair would breakfast. "It'll probably be a late breakfast,"
he added.

"How're we goin' to git it, Gib?"

"We must test our credit, Mac. You go down to the rooms o' the
Marine Engineers' Association and kick somebody's eye out for
five dollars. I'd get out an' do some rustlin' myself, but I
ain't got no credit. When a man that's been a real sailor sinks
as low as I've sunk--from clipper ships to mate on a rotten
little bumboat--people don't respect him none. But it's different
with a marine engineer. You might be first assistant on a P.M.
boat to-day an' second assistant on a bay tug to-morrow but
nothin's thought of it."

"What're we goin' to do with the five dollars?"

"Well, we might invest it in a lottery ticket an' pray for the
capital prize--but we won't. Ain't it dawned on you, Mac, that
it's up to you an' me to find the steamer _Maggie_ an' git back
to work quick an' no back talk? Scraggs has new men in our jobs
an' these new men has got to be got rid of, otherwise there's no
tellin' how long they'll last. Naturally, this here riddance can
be accomplished easier an' without police interference on the
dock at Halfmoon Bay. We got to walk twenty miles to Halfmoon Bay
to connect with the _Maggie_ an' the five dollars is to keep us
from starvin' to death in case we miss him an' have to walk back
or wait for the return trip o' the _Maggie_."

"But suppose, after we've walked all that distance, we find
Scraggs won't take us back? Then what?"

"Why, of course he'll take us back, Bart. He'll be glad to after
we've finished with them scabs that's took our jobs an' are doin'
us out of an honest livin'. He won't be able to work the _Maggie_
back to San Francisco alone, will he?"

McGuffey nodded his approbation, and set forth to borrow the
needful five dollars. Whatever the reason, he was not successful,
and when they met again at Scab Johnny's, Mr. Gibney employed his
eloquence to obtain credit from that cold-hearted publican, but
all in vain. Scab Johnny had been too long operating on a cash
basis with Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey to risk adding to an old
unpaid bill.

They retired to the sidewalk to hold a caucus and Mr. McGuffey
located a dime which had dropped down inside the lining