Mr. Gibney grinned broadly but did not answer. In effect, his
grin informed Scraggs that _that_ was none of the latter's
business--and Scraggs assimilated the hint. "Well, at any rate,
Gib, whatever you soaked him, it was a mighty good sale an' I
congratulate you. I think mebbe I might ha' done a little better
myself, but then it ain't every day a feller can turn an
eighteen-dollar trick on a corpse."

"Comin' to lunch with us?" McGuffey demanded.

"Sure. Wait a minute till I run forward an' see if the lines is
all fast."

He stepped out of the cabin and presently Gibney and McGuffey
were conscious of a rapid succession of thuds on the deck. Gibney
winked at McGuffey.

"'Nother new hat gone to hell," murmured McGuffey.




CHAPTER XVIII


It was fully a week before Captain Scraggs's mental hemorrhage,
brought on every time his mind reverted to his loss on the "ginseng"
deal, ceased. During all of that period his peregrinations around
the _Maggie_ were as those of one for whom the sweets of existence
had turned to wormwood and vinegar. Mr. Gibney confided to McGuffey