insurrecto troops encamped at Megano rancho, a mile from the
beach, and they would have a barge and small boats in readiness
to lighter the cargo. Scab Johnny explained that he had promised
the crew double wages and a bonus of a hundred dollars each for
the trip. Don Manuel Garcia Lopez paid over the requisite amount
of cash, and half an hour later the _Maggie_ was steaming down
the bay on her perilous mission.

The sun was setting as they passed out the Golden Gate and swung
down the south channel, and with the wind on her beam, the aged
_Maggie_ did nine knots. Late in the afternoon of the following
day she was off the Santa Barbara channel, and about midnight she
ran in under the lee of Point Dume and lay to. The mate hung out
the green signal lights, and in about an hour Captain Scraggs
heard the sound of oars grating in rowlocks. A few minutes later
a stentorian voice hailed them out of the darkness. Captain
Scraggs had a Jacob's ladder slung over the side and the mate and
two deckhands hung over the rail with lanterns, lighting up the
surrounding sea feebly for the benefit of the lone adventurer who
sat muffled in a great coat in the stern of a small boat rowed
by two men. There was a very slight sea running, and presently
the men in the small boat, watching their opportunity by the
ghostly light of the lanterns, ran their frail craft in under the
lee of the _Maggie_. The figure in the stern sheets leaped on the
instant, caught the Jacob's ladder, climbed nimbly over the side,
and swore heartily in very good English as his feet struck the
deck.

"What's the name of this floating coffin?" he demanded in a
chain-locker voice. It was quite evident that even in the darkness,