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Of all the idiots, thieves, crimps, thugs, and pirates, Bart McGuffey, you're the worst. Gib, you hulkin' swine, whatever did you listen to him for? It was a crazy idea, this talk of fight. Why didn't we just drop the critters overboard and be done with it? We got to kill 'em now with sticks and stones in order to protect ourselves." "Forgive me, Scraggsy, old scout," said Mr. Gibney humbly.
"Well," rumbled McGuffey, "this Tabu-Tabu don't look much like a preacher, if you ask me. But how about this black coral?" "Oh, I've ribbed up a deal with him," said Mr. Gibney. "He'll see that we get all the trade we can lug away. We're the first vessel that's touched here in two years, and they have a thunderin' lot of stuff on hand.
Gibney cried furiously. "Or I'll bang you in that other eye that's ready for bangin'." "If you're shy a few bucks " McGuffey began. "I am," Captain Scraggs wailed. "I'm worried to death. I don't know how I'm ever goin' to pay for that bloody boiler an' git to sea with the Maggie " "Little sorrel-top," Mr. Gibney murmured, ruffling Scraggs's thin blonde hair.
As at first published, the lower books of the McGuffey Readers had no trace of the modern methods now used in teaching the mastery of words even the alphabet was not given in orderly form; but the alphabetic method of teaching the art of reading was then the only one used. The pupil at first spelled each word by naming the letters and then pronounced each syllable and then the word.
McGuffey was staring fascinated at Mr. Gibney. Captain Scraggs clutched his mate's arm in a frenzied clasp. "What?" they both interrogated. "You two boys," continued Mr. Gibney with aggravating deliberation, "ain't what nobody would call dummies. You're smart men. But the trouble with both o' you boys is you ain't got no imagination.
Captain Scraggs demanded. "When in doubt, Scraggsy, old tarpot, always play trumps. In order to make no mistake, right after breakfast you an' McGuffey go down to Jackson Street wharf an' interview this man Coakley about his steamer Victor.
"Bart," he demanded, "did you loan Scraggsy some money?" The honest McGuffey hung his head. "A little bit," he replied childishly. "What d'ye call a little bit?" "Three hundred dollars, Gib." "Secured?" "He gimme his note at eight per cent. The savin's bank only pays four." "Is the note secured by endorsement or collateral?" "No." "Hum-m-m!
Where and how they found it requires no elucidation here; it is sufficient to state that it was expensive, for when men of the Gibney and McGuffey type have once gotten a fair start naught but financial dissolution can stop them. On Monday morning, Messrs. Gibney and McGuffey awoke in Scab Johnny's boarding house. Mr.
"Holy Sailor!" he shouted. "Who uncorked that atter o' violets?" "You dog-gone squarehead," shrieked Captain Scraggs. "You been monkeyin' around that codfish again." "What smells?" demanded the mate, poking his nose out of his room. "That tainted wealth I picked up at sea," shouted a voice from the dock, and turning, Scraggs and McGuffey observed Mr. Gibney standing on a stringer smiling at them.
The First and Second Readers of the McGuffey Series were substantially made new at each revision. A comparison of the original Third Reader with an edition copyrighted in 1847, shows that the latter book was increased about one-third in size. Of the sixty-six selections in the early edition only forty-seven were retained, while thirty new ones were inserted.
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