let the anchor go down by the run. "Not this voyage, at least."
The _Chesapeake_ rounded up with a jerk and Mr. Gibney took
Captain Scraggs gently by the arm. "Into the small boat, old
ruin," he whispered, "and I'll row you an' The Squarehead back to
the _Maggie_. If she drifts ashore with that load o' garden
truck, you might as well drown yourself."

Captain Scraggs was beyond words. He suffered himself to be taken
back to the _Maggie_, after which kindly action Mr. Gibney
returned to the _Chesapeake_, climbed aboard, and with the
assistance of McGuffey, hauled the work boat up on deck.




CHAPTER XIII


"Now," Mr. Gibney inquired, approaching the skipper of the
_Chesapeake_, "what'll you give me an' Mac, sir, to sail you in?
Has it dawned on you, sir, that if I hadn't had sense enough to
cockbill that anchor again you'd be on the beach this minute?"

"One thousand dollars," the skipper answered weakly.

"You refused to let us do it for a hundred. Now it'll cost you
two thousand, an' I'm lettin' you off cheap at that. Of course,
you can take a chance an' wait until word o' your predicament
sifts into San Francisco an' a tug comes out for you, but in the
meantime the wind may increase an' with the tide at the flood how