aft, and covered them with a tarpaulin. For about an hour
thereafter all three sat around the little cabin table, talking,
and presently it became evident, to Mr. Gibney's practiced eye,
that Captain Scraggs had something on his mind. Mr. Gibney,
suspecting that it could be nothing honest, was surprised, to say
the least, when Captain Scraggs made a clean breast of his
proposition.

"Gib--an' you, too, McGuffey. I been thinkin' this thing over,
an' as master o' this ship an' the one who does the biddin' in o'
these two Chinks at th' sale, it's up to me t' try an' bring you
both out with a profit, an' I think th' sellin' should be left to
me. I won't hide nothin' from you boys. I'm a-willin' to take a
chance that I can sell them two cadavers to some horsepital f'r
dissection purposes, an' get more outer th' deal than, you can,
Gib, by passin' 'em off as floaters. I'm a-willin' to give you
an' McGuffey a five-dollar profit over an' above your investment,
an' take over th' property myself, just f'r a flyer, an' to
sorter add a sportin' interest to an otherwise humdrum life. How
about it, lads?"

"You can have my fraction," said McGuffey promptly; whereupon
Captain Scraggs produced the requisite amount of cash and
immediately became the owner of a two-thirds' interest.

Mr. Gibney was a trifle mystified. He knew Scraggs well enough to
know that the skipper never made a move until he had everything
planned ahead to a nicety. The mate was not above making five
dollars on the day's work, but some sixth sense told him that
Captain Scraggs was framing up a deal designed to cheat him and