hazardous enterprise unless forced thereto by the weight of
circumstance; also there was affection enough in his simple
Scandinavian heart to cause him to feel just a little worried
when two weeks passed and Captain Scraggs failed to show up. He
had disappeared in some mysterious manner from San Francisco Bay
and the old _Maggie_ had never been heard from again.

Hence Neils Halvorsen was puzzled. In fact, to such an extent was
Neils puzzled, that one perfectly calm, clear night while beating
down San Pablo Bay in his bay scow, the _Willie and Annie_, he so
far forgot himself and his own affairs as to concentrate all his
attention on the problem of the ultimate finish of Captain
Scraggs. So engrossed was Neils in this vain speculation that he
neglected to observe toward the rules of the ocean highways that
nicety of attention which is highly requisite, even in the
skipper of a bay scow, if the fulsome title of captain is to be
retained for any definite period. As a result, Neils became
confused regarding the exact number of blasts from the siren of a
river steamer desiring to pass him to port. Consequently the
_Willie and Annie_ received such a severe butting from the river
steamer in question as to cause her to careen and fill. Being,
unfortunately, loaded with gravel on this particular trip, she
subsided incontinently to the bottom of San Pablo Bay, while
Neils and his crew of two men sought refuge on a plank.

Without attempting to go further into the details of the
misfortunes of Neils Halvorsen, be it known that the destruction
of the _Willie and Annie_ proved to be such a severe shock to
Neils' reputation as a safe and sane bay scow skipper that he was
ultimately forced to seek other and more virgin fields. With the