Captain Scraggs; Or, The Green-Pea PiratesKyne, Peter B. (Peter Bernard)
General
Captain Scraggs; Or, The Green-Pea Pirates
Kyne, Peter B. (Peter Bernard)
Pirates -- Fiction; Sea stories
Under the direction of the crafty commodore, the valuable cargo
of the _Maggie II_ was disposed of in Honolulu. During the period
while the schooner lay at the dock discharging Captain Scraggs
and McGuffey prudently remained in the cabin with the perfidious
mate, in order that, should an investigation be undertaken later
by the Treasury Department, no man might swear that the real
Phineas Scraggs, filibuster, had been in Honolulu on a certain
date. The Kanaka crew of the schooner Mr. Gibney managed to ship
with an old shipmaster friend bound for New Guinea, so their
testimony was out of the way for a while, at least.
When the _Maggie II_ was finally discharged and the proceeds of
her rich cargo nestled, in crisp bills of large denomination, in
a money belt under Mr. Gibney's armpits and next his rascally
skin, he purchased tickets under assumed names for himself,
Scraggs, McGuffey, and Halvorsen on the liner _Hilonian_, due to
sail at noon next day.
These details attended to, the _Maggie II_ backed away from the
dock under her own power and cast anchor off the quarantine
station. The mate was then brought on deck and made to confront
the syndicate.
"It appears, my man," the commodore began, "that you was too
anxious to horn in on the profits o' this expedition, so in a
moment o' human weakness you did your employers an evil deed. We
had it all figgered out to feed you to the sharks on the way
home, because dead men tell no tales, but our sufferin's on that
island has caused us all to look with a milder eye on mere human
shortcomin's. The Good Book says: 'Forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those what trespass agin us,' an' I ain't ashamed to
admit that you owe your wicked life to the fact that Scraggsy's
got religion an' McGuffey ain't much better. But we got all the
money we need an' we're goin' to Europe to enjoy it, so before we
go we're goin' to pass sentence upon you. It is the verdict o'
the court that we present you with the power schooner _Maggie II_
free gratis, an' that you accept the same in the same friendly
sperrit in which it is tendered. Havin' a schooner o' your own
from now on, you won't be tempted to steal one an' commit
wholesale murder a-doin' it. You're forgiven, my man. Take the
_Maggie II_ with our blessin', organize a comp'ny, an' go back to
Kandavu an' make some money for yourself. Scraggsy, are you
a-willin' to prove that you've given this errin' mate complete
forgiveness by shakin' hands with him?"
"I forgive him freely," said Captain Scraggs, "an' here's my fin
on it."
The unfortunate mate hung his head. He was much moved.
"You don't mean it, sir, do you?" he faltered.
"I hope I may never see the back o' my neck if I don't," replied
the skipper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account