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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/19303-h.zip b/19303-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5439e6b --- /dev/null +++ b/19303-h.zip diff --git a/19303-h/19303-h.htm b/19303-h/19303-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5633a9d --- /dev/null +++ b/19303-h/19303-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11257 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Raftmates, by Kirk Munroe</title> +<style type="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: medium; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 15% ; + margin-right: 15% } + +p.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + a:visited {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + a:hover {color:#ff0000; + text-decoration: underline; } + pre {font-size: 75%; } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Raftmates, by Kirk Munroe</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Raftmates</p> +<p> A Story of the Great River</p> +<p>Author: Kirk Munroe</p> +<p>Release Date: September 16, 2006 [eBook #19303]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFTMATES***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""Winn dashed away with the speed of a deer."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="353" HEIGHT="541"> +<H3> +[Frontispiece: "Winn dashed away with the speed of a deer."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +RAFTMATES +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +<I>A STORY OF THE GREAT RIVER</I> +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +KIRK MUNROE +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF +<BR> +"DORYMATES" "CAMPMATES" "CANOEMATES" ETC. +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATED +</H4> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +NEW YORK AND LONDON +<BR> +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS +<BR> +1902 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +Copyright, 1893, by HARPER & BROTHERS. +<BR> +<I>All rights reserved</I>. +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="90%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE RAFT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">WINN ASSUMES A RESPONSIBILITY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">BILLY BRACKETT STARTS DOWN THE RIVER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">HOW THE VOYAGE WAS BEGUN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">MR. GILDER AND HIS RUDE RECEPTION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A GANG OF "RIVER-TRADERS"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RAFT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">ALONE ON THE ISLAND</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">A NIGHT OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">BILLY BRACKETT'S SURPRISING SITUATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE TRAPPERS TRAPPED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">WINN'S LONELY CRUISE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">A PEAL OF GIRLISH LAUGHTER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">"CAP'N COD," SABELLA, AND THE "WHATNOT"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">BIM MAKES AN ENEMY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE TRUTH, BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">FOLLOWING THE TRAIL</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">A CURIOUS COMPLICATION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">BIM GROWLS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">EVERY ONE EXPLAINS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap22">A "MEWEL" NAMED "REWARD"</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap23">REWARD RUNS AWAY WITH THE PANORAMA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap24">WINN DISCOVERS HIS LONG-LOST RAFT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap25">THE RAFT AND SHOW-BOAT CHANGE CREWS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap26">A DISASTROUS COLLISION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap27">IS THIS OUR RAFT OR NOT?</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap28">THE RESCUE OF SABELLA</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap29">BIM BRINGS ABOUT A JOYFUL MEETING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap30">IN CLOD'S CABIN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap31">CAMPMATES TURN RAFTMATES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap32">THE "RIVER-TRADERS" ATTEMPT TO REGAIN POSSESSION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap33">WHERE IS BIM?</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap34">A BLAZE ON THE RIVER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap35">BIM'S HEROISM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap36">THE MASTER OF MOSS BANK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap37">BIM'S COON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap38">THE GREAT RIVER AND ITS MISCHIEF</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXXIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap39">HURLED THROUGH THE CREVASSE AND WRECKED</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XL. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap40">A MEETING OF MATES</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +"WINN DASHED AWAY WITH THE SPEED OF A DEER" . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-014"> +"WINN SECURED ONE END OF THE CABLE TO THAT PART<BR> +OF THE BOOM RESTING AGAINST THE SNAG" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-020"> +"'WHY, THE RAFT HAS GONE!' EXCLAIMED ELTA" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-044"> +"'HOLD ON, YOUNG MAN! ONE AT A TIME IS ENOUGH'" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-060"> +"A BROAD STREAM OF WHEAT RUSHED OUT ON DECK" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-094"> +"'WATCH HIM, BIM!'" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-108"> +"'WHO'S THERE?' CRIED THE OLD MAN" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-126"> +"BILLY BRACKETT UTTERED A CRY OF AMAZEMENT" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-134"> +WINN'S INTRODUCTION TO SABELLA +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-162"> +BILLY BRACKETT IS A FRIEND IN NEED +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-178"> +"THE MULE WAS PURCHASED THAT AFTERNOON" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-188"> +"WITH A PRODIGIOUS LEAP HE LANDED SQUARELY <BR> +ON REWARD'S HEAD" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-208"> +"'THE RAFT HAS GONE, AND WE ARE AFTER IT'" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-226"> +THE RESCUE OF SABELLA +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-244"> +"THE NEXT INSTANT HE SPRANG TO HIS FEET WITH A CRY" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-268"> +"THE STRONG ARMS LIFTED HIM AS THEY WOULD A CHILD" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-284"> +"LIKE YOUNG TIGERS THE BOYS TUGGED AT THE HEAVY SWEEPS" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-300"> +"'YO' CALLIN' DAT AR PLANTASHUN MOSS BACK?' EXCLAIMED <BR> +SOLON" (missing from book) +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-320"> +"THE LANTERNS OF THE WORKING GANG GLANCING HERE <BR> +AND THERE LIKE FIRE-FLIES" +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-340"> +A REUNION OF "MATES" +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +RAFT MATES. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAFT. +</H3> + +<P> +Although the <I>Venture</I> was by no means so large a raft as many that +Winn Caspar had watched glide down the Mississippi, he considered it +about the finest craft of that description ever put together. He was +also a little more proud of it than of anything else in the whole +world. Of course he excepted his brave soldier father, who had gone to +the war as a private, to come home when it was all over wearing a +major's uniform; and his dear mother, who for four weary years had been +both father and mother to him, and his sister Elta, who was not only +the prettiest girl in the county, but, to Winn's mind, the cleverest. +But outside of his immediate family, the raft, the <I>Venture</I>, as his +father had named it, was the object of the boy's most sincere +admiration and pride. Had he not helped build it? Did he not know +every timber and plank and board in it? Had he not assisted in loading +it with enough bushels of wheat to feed an army? Was he not about to +leave home for the first time in his life, to float away down the great +river and out into the wide world on it? Certainly he had, and did, +and was. So no wonder he was proud of the raft, and impatient for the +waters of the little river, on a bank of which the Caspar's lived, to +be high enough to float it, that they might make a start. +</P> + +<P> +Winn had never known any home but this one near the edge of the vast +pine forests of Wisconsin. Here Major Caspar had brought his New +England bride many years before. Here he had built up a mill business +that was promising him a fortune in a few years more at the time when +the war called him. When peace was declared, this business was +wellnigh ruined, and the soldier must begin life again as a poor man. +For many months he struggled, but made little head-way against adverse +fortune. The mill turned out lumber fast enough, but there was no +demand for it, or those who wanted it were too poor to pay its price. +At length the Major decided upon a bold venture. The Caspar mill was +but a short distance from the Mississippi. Far away down the great +river were cities where money was plenty, and where lumber and farm +products were in demand. There were not half enough steamboats on the +river, and freights were high; but the vast waterway with its ceaseless +current was free to all. Why should not he do as others had done and +were constantly doing—raft his goods to a market? It would take time, +of course; but a few months of the autumn and winter could be spared as +well as not, and so it was finally decided that the venture should be +undertaken. +</P> + +<P> +It was not to be a timber raft only. Major Caspar did not care to +attempt the navigating of a huge affair, such as his entire stock of +sawed material would have made, nor could he afford the expense of a +large crew. Then, too, while ready money was scarce in his +neighborhood, the prairie wheat crop of that season was unusually good. +So he exchanged half his lumber for wheat, and devoted his leisure +during the summer to the construction of a raft with the remainder. +</P> + +<P> +This raft contained the very choice of the mill's output for that +season—squared timbers, planks, and boards enough to load a ship. It +was provided with two long sweeps, or steering oars, at each end, with +a roomy shanty for the accommodation of the crew, and with two other +buildings for the stowing of cargo. The floors of these structures +were raised a foot above the deck of the raft, and were made +water-tight, so that when waves or swells from passing steamboats broke +over the raft, their contents would not be injured. In front of the +central building, or "shanty," was a bed of sand six feet square, +enclosed by wooden sides, on which the camp-fires were to be built. +Much of the cooking would also be done here. Besides this there was a +small stove in the "shanty" for use during cold or wet weather. +</P> + +<P> +The "shanty" had a door and three windows, and was in other ways made +unusually comfortable. The Major said that after four years of +roughing it, he now meant to take his comfort wherever he could find +it, even though it was only on a raft. So the <I>Venture's</I> "shanty" was +very different from the rude lean-to or shelter of rough boards, such +as was to be seen on most of the timber rafts of the great river. Its +interior was divided into two rooms, the after one of which was a tiny +affair only six by ten feet. It was furnished with two bunks, one +above the other, a table, two camp-chairs, and several shelves, on one +of which were a dozen books of travel and history. This was the +sleeping-room that Winn was to share with his father. +</P> + +<P> +A door from this opened into the main living-room of the "shanty." +Here were bunks for six men, a dining-table, several benches, barrels, +and boxes of provisions, and the galley, with its stove and ample +supply of pots, pans, and dishes. The bunks were filled with fresh, +sweet-smelling wheat straw, covered with heavy army blankets, and the +whole affair was about the most comfortable "shanty" ever set up on a +Mississippi timber raft. To Winn it seemed as though nothing could be +more perfect or inviting, and he longed for the time when it should be +his temporary home. +</P> + +<P> +For a whole month after the raft was finished, loaded, and ready to set +forth on its uncertain voyage, it remained hard and fast aground where +it was built. To Winn's impatience it seemed as though high-water +never would come. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe this old raft is ever going to float any more than the +mill itself," he remarked pettishly to his sister Elta one day in +October, as they sat together on the <I>Venture</I> and watched the sluggish +current of the little river. +</P> + +<P> +"Father thinks it will," answered Elta, quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh yes. Of course father thinks so; but he may be mistaken as well as +other folks. Now if I'd had the building of this craft, I would have +floated all the material down to the mouth of the creek. Then +everything would have been ready for a start as soon as she was +finished." +</P> + +<P> +"How would you have loaded the wheat?" demanded Elta. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, boated it down, of course." +</P> + +<P> +"And so added largely to its cost," answered the practical girl. "You +know, Winn, that it was ever so much cheaper to build the raft here +than it would have been 'way down there, and, besides, father wasn't +ready to start when it was finished. I heard him tell mother that he +didn't care to get away before the 1st of November. Anyhow, father +must understand his own business better than a sixteen-year-old boy, +even if that boy's name is Winn Caspar." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I never saw such a girl as you are!" exclaimed Winn, impatiently. +"You are always making objections to my plans, and telling me that I'm +only a boy. You'd rather any time travel in a rut that some one else +had made than mark out a track for yourself. For my part, I'd much +rather think out my own plans and try new ways." +</P> + +<P> +"So do I, Winnie; but—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, don't call me 'Winnie,' whatever you do! I'm as tired of pet +names and baby talk as I am of waiting here for high-water that won't +ever come." +</P> + +<P> +With this the petulant lad rose to his feet, and leaping ashore, +disappeared among the trees of the river-bank, leaving Elta to gaze +after him with a grieved expression, and a suspicion of tears in her +brown eyes. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of this little scene, Winn Caspar was not an ill-tempered boy. +He had not learned the beauty of self-control, and thus often spoke +hastily, and without considering the feelings of others. He was also +apt to think that if things were left to his management, he could +improve upon almost any plan proposed or carried out by some one else. +He had mingled but little with other boys, and as "man of the family" +during his father's four years of absence in the army, had conceived a +false estimate of his own importance and ability. +</P> + +<P> +Absorbed by pressing business cares after resuming the pursuits of a +peaceful life, Major Caspar had been slow to note the imperfections in +his boy's character. He was deeply grieved when his eyes were finally +opened to them, and held many an earnest consultation with his wife +concerning the son, who was at once the source of their greatest +anxiety and the object of their fondest hopes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WINN ASSUMES A RESPONSIBILITY. +</H3> + + +<P> +It was during one of these conversations with the boy's mother that +Major Caspar decided to take Winn with him on his raft voyage down the +Mississippi. +</P> + +<P> +"If I find a good chance to place the boy in a first-class school in +one of the large cities after the voyage is ended I shall do so," said +the Major. "It is only fair, though, that he should have a chance to +see and learn something of the world first. After all, there is +nothing equal to travel as an educator. I honestly believe that the +war did more in four years towards educating this nation by stirring +its people up and moving large bodies of them to sections remote from +their homes than all our colleges have in fifty." +</P> + +<P> +"But you mean that Winn shall go to college, of course?" said Mrs. +Caspar, a little anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"If he wants to, and shows a real liking for study," was the reply; +"but not unless he does. College is by no means the only place where a +boy can receive a liberal education. He may acquire just as good a one +in practical life if he is thoroughly interested in what he is doing +and has an ambition to excel. I believe Winn to be both ambitious and +persevering; but he is impulsive, easily influenced, and impatient of +control. He has no idea of that implicit obedience to orders that is +at the foundation of success in civil life as well as in the army; and, +above all, he is possessed of such an inordinate self-conceit that if +it is not speedily curbed by one or more severe lessons, it may lead +him into serious trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John!" expostulated the mother. "Do you realize that you are +saying these horrid things about our own boy—our Winn?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I do, dear," answered the Major, smiling; "and it is because he +is our boy, whom I love better than myself, that I am analyzing his +character so carefully. He has the making of a splendid fellow in him, +together with certain traits that might easily prove his ruin." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," replied Mrs. Caspar, in a resigned tone, "perhaps it will do +him good to go away and be alone with you for a while. It is very hard +to realize, though, that my little Winn is sixteen years old and almost +a man. But, John, you won't let him run any risks, or get into any +danger, will you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not knowingly, my dear, you may rest assured," answered the Major. +But he smiled as he thought how impossible it was to keep boys from +running risks and getting into all sorts of dangerous positions. +</P> + +<P> +So it was decided that Winn should form one of the crew of the +<I>Venture</I> whenever the raft should be ready to start on its long +voyage; and ever since learning tins decision the boy had been in a +fever of impatience to be off. So full was he of anticipations +concerning the proposed journey that he could talk and think of nothing +else. Thus, after a month of tiresome delay, he was in such an +uncomfortable frame of mind that it was a positive trial to have him +about the house. For this reason he was encouraged to spend much of +his time aboard the raft, and was even allowed to eat and sleep there +whenever he chose. At length he reached the point of almost +quarrelling with his sister, whom he loved so dearly; but he had hardly +plunged into the woods, after leaving her on the raft, before he +regretted his unkind words and heartily wished them unsaid. He +hesitated and half turned back, but his "pride," as he would have +called it, though it was really nothing but cowardice, was too strong +to permit him to humble himself just yet. So, feeling very unhappy, he +tramped moodily on through the woods, full of bitter thoughts, angry +with himself and all the world. Yet if any one had asked him what it +was all about, he could not have told. +</P> + +<P> +Winn took a long circuit through the silent forest, and by the time he +again reached the river-bank, coming out just above the mill, he had +walked himself tired, but into quite a cheerful frame of mind. The +mill was shut down for the night, its workers had gone home, and not a +sound broke the evening stillness. The boy sat on a pile of slabs for +a few minutes, resting, and watching the glowing splendor of sunset as +reflected in the waters of the stream at his feet. At length he +started up and was about to go to the house, where, as he had decided, +his very first act would be to ask Elta's forgiveness. The house stood +some distance from the river-bank, and was hidden from it by the trees +of a young apple orchard. As Winn rose to his feet and cast a +lingering glance at the wonderful beauty of the water, he noticed a +familiar black object floating amid its splendor of crimsons and gold. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder how that log got out of the boom?" he said, half aloud. +"Why, there's another—and another! The boom must be broken." +</P> + +<P> +Yes, the boom of logs, chained together end to end and stretched +completely across the creek to hold in check the thousands of saw-logs +that filled the stream farther than the eye could see, had parted near +the opposite bank. The end thus loosened had swung down-stream a +little way, and there caught on a snag formed of a huge, half-submerged +root. It might hold on there indefinitely, or it might get loose at +any moment, swing wide open, and set free the imprisoned wealth of logs +behind it. As it was, they were beginning to slip through the narrow +opening, and those that had attracted Winn's attention were sliding +downstream as stealthily as so many escaped convicts. +</P> + +<P> +The boy's first impulse was to run towards the house, calling his +father and the mill-hands as he went. His second, and the one upon +which he acted, was to mend the broken boom and capture the truant logs +himself. "There is no need of troubling father, and I can do it alone +better than any number of those clumsy mill-hands," he thought. +"Besides, there is no time to spare; for if the boom once lets go of +that snag, we shall lose half the logs behind it." +</P> + +<P> +Thus thinking, Winn ran around the mill and sprang aboard the raft that +lay just below it. Glancing about for a stout rope, his eye lighted on +the line by which the raft was made fast to a tree. "The very thing!" +he exclaimed. "While it's aground here the raft doesn't need a cable +any more than I need a check-rein, and I told father so. He said there +wasn't any harm in taking a precaution, and that the water might rise +unexpectedly. As if there was a chance of it! There hasn't been any +rain for two months, and isn't likely to be any for another yet to +come." +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts were spinning through the boy's brain, he was +casting loose the cable at both ends and stowing it in his own little +dugout that was moored to the outer side of the raft. Then with strong +deep strokes he paddled swiftly upstream towards the broken boom. +After fifteen minutes of hard work he had secured one end of the cable +to that part of the boom resting against the snag, carried the other to +and around a tree on the bank, back again to the boom, and then to the +inshore end of the broken chain. Thus he not only secured the boom +against opening any wider, but closed the exit already made. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-014"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-014.jpg" ALT=""Winn secured one end of the cable to that part of that boom resting against the snag."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="565" HEIGHT="373"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "Winn secured one end of the cable <BR> +to that part of the boom resting against the snag."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"That's as good a job as any of them could have done," he remarked to +himself, regarding his work through the gathering gloom with great +satisfaction. "Now for the fellows that got away." +</P> + +<P> +It was a much harder task to capture and tow back those three truant +logs than it had been to repair the boom. It was such hard work, and +the darkness added so much to its difficulties, that almost any other +boy would have given it up in despair, and allowed the three logs to +escape. But Winn Caspar was not inclined to give up anything he had +once undertaken. Having determined to do a certain thing, he would +stick to it "like a dog to a root," as one of the mill-hands had said +of him. So those logs had to go back inside of that boom, because Winn +had made up his mind that they should; but they went so reluctantly, +and gave him so much trouble, that it was long after dark and some +hours past supper-time before the job was completed. +</P> + +<P> +When Winn at length returned to the raft he was wet, tired, and hungry, +though very proud of his accomplished task. He was shivering too, now +that his violent exertions were ended, for the sky had become overcast, +and a chill wind was moaning through the pine-trees. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if I can't find something to eat here?" he said to himself. +"I'm good and hungry, that's a fact, and they must have had supper up +at the house long ago." Entering the "shanty," and feeling carefully +about, the boy at length found matches and lighted a lamp. +</P> + +<P> +Hello! There was plenty to eat; in fact, there was a regular spread at +one end of the table, with plate, cup and saucer, knife, fork, and +napkin, all neatly arranged as though he were expected. "What does it +mean?" thought Winn; and then his eye fell on a bit of folded paper +lying in the plate. It was a note which read as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"DEAR BROTHER,—As you didn't come home to supper, I thought perhaps +you were going to spend the night on the raft, and so brought yours +down here. You can heat the tea on the stove. I'm awfully sorry I +said anything to make you feel badly. Please forget it, and forgive +your loving sister,——ELTA." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Bless her dear heart!" cried the boy. "She is the best sister in the +world. The idea of her asking my forgiveness, when it is I who should +ask hers. And I will ask it, too, the very minute I see her; for I +shall never be happy until we have kissed and made up, as we used to +say when we were young ones. I guess, though, I'll eat the supper she +has brought me first. And that's a good idea about heating the tea, +too. I can get dry by the stove at the same time. I'll have a chance +to see Elta before bedtime, and she'd feel badly if I didn't eat her +supper anyway." +</P> + +<P> +All of which goes to show how very little we know of what even the +immediate future may bring forth, and that if we put off for a single +hour doing that which ought to be done at once, what a likelihood there +is that we may never have a chance to do it. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA. +</H3> + + +<P> +Acting upon the suggestion contained in Elta's note, Winn lighted a +fire in the galley stove, and was soon enjoying its cheery warmth. +When the tea was heated, he ate heartily of the supper so thoughtfully +provided by the dear girl, and his heart grew very tender as he thought +of her and of her unwearying love for him. "I ought to go and find her +this very minute," he said to himself; "but I must get dry first, and +there probably isn't any fire up at the house." +</P> + +<P> +To while away the few minutes that he intended remaining on the raft, +Winn got one of the books of exploration from a shelf in the little +after-room, and was quickly buried in the heart of an African forest. +Completely lost to his surroundings, and absorbed in tales of the wild +beasts and wilder men of the Dark Continent, the boy read on and on +until the failing light warned him that his lamp was about to go out +for want of oil. +</P> + +<P> +He yawned as he finally closed the book. "My! how sleepy I am, and how +late it must be," he said. "How the wind howls, too! It sounds as if +we were going to have a storm. I only hope it will bring plenty of +rain and high-water. Then good-bye to home, and hurrah for the great +river!" +</P> + +<P> +By this chain of thought Winn was again reminded of Elta, and of the +forgiveness he had meant to secure from her that evening. "It is too +late now, though," he said to himself. "She must have gone to bed long +ago, and I guess I might as well do the same; but I'll see her the very +first thing in the morning." +</P> + +<P> +With this the tired boy blew out the expiring flame of his lamp, and +tumbled into his bunk, where in another minute he was as sound asleep +as ever in his life. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time the high-water for which he hoped so earnestly was +much nearer at hand than either he or any one else supposed. The storm +now howling through the pines had been raging for hours about the +head-waters of the creek, and the deluge of rain by which it was +accompanied was sweeping steadily down-stream towards the great river. +Even as Winn sat by the stove reading, the first of the swelling waters +began to rise along the sides of the raft, and by the time the storm +broke overhead the <I>Venture</I> was very nearly afloat. +</P> + +<P> +Although Winn slept too soundly to be disturbed by either wind or rain, +the storm awoke Major Caspar, who listened for some time to this +announcement that the hour for setting forth on his long-projected +journey was at hand. He had no anxiety for the safety of the raft, for +he remembered the stout cable by which he had secured it, and +congratulated himself upon the precaution thus taken. "Besides, Winn +is aboard," he reflected, "and he is almost certain to rouse us all +with the joyful news the minute he finds that the raft is afloat." +Thus reassuring himself, the Major turned over and went comfortably to +sleep. +</P> + +<P> +Elta knew nothing of the storm until morning, but hearing the rain the +moment she awoke, she too recognized it as the signal for the +<I>Venture's</I> speedy departure. From her window she had heretofore been +able to see one corner of the raft; but now, peering out through the +driving rain that caused the forest depths to appear blue and dim, she +could not discover it. With a slight feeling of uneasiness, she +hastily dressed, and went to Winn's door. There was no answer to her +knock. She peeped in. Winn was not there, nor had the bed been +occupied. +</P> + +<P> +"He did spend the night on the raft, then, and so of course it is all +right," thought the girl, greatly relieved at this discovery. "The +<I>Venture</I> must be afloat, though. I wonder if father knows it?" +</P> + +<P> +Just then Major Caspar appeared, evidently prepared to face the storm. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, little daughter," he said, "high-water has come at last, and the +time of our departure is at hand. I am going down to see what Winn +thinks of it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, can't I go with you, papa? I should dearly love to!" cried Elta. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't know," hesitated the Major. "I suppose you might if you +were rigged for it." +</P> + +<P> +This permission was sufficient, and the active girl bounded away full +of glee at the prospect of a battle with the storm, and of surprising +Winn on the raft. Three minutes later she reappeared, clad in rubber +boots and a water-proof cloak, the hood of which, drawn over her head, +framed her face in the most bewitching manner. +</P> + +<P> +The Major attempted to protect her still further with a large umbrella; +but they had hardly left the house before a savage gust swooped down +and gleefully rendered it useless by turning it inside out. Casting +the umbrella aside, the Major clasped Elta's hand firmly in his. Then +with bowed heads the two pushed steadily on towards the river-bank, +while the wind scattered bits of their merry laughter far and wide. +</P> + +<P> +It took them but a few minutes to reach the little stream, when their +laughter was suddenly silenced. There was the place where the +<I>Venture</I> had been put together, there was the tree to which it had +been so securely moored; but the raft that had grown into being and +become a familiar sight at that point no longer occupied it, nor was it +anywhere to be seen. Only a flood of turbid waters, fully two feet +higher than they had been the evening before, swept over the spot, and +seemed to beckon mockingly towards the great river. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, the raft has gone!" exclaimed Elta, in a dismayed voice. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-020"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-020.jpg" ALT=""'Why, the raft has gone!' exclaimed Elta"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="374" HEIGHT="506"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'Why, the raft has gone!' exclaimed Elta"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"It certainly has," answered the Major, grimly; "and as it cannot +possibly have floated up-stream, it must have gone towards the +Mississippi. I only hope that Winn managed in some way to check and +hold it before it reached the big water; otherwise we may have a merry +hunt for it." +</P> + +<P> +While he spoke they had been hurrying to a point a short distance +down-stream, around which the creek made a bend. From here they could +command a view of half a mile of its course, and somewhere along this +stretch of water they hoped to see the raft safely moored. They were, +however, doomed to disappointment; for as far as the eye could see +there was no sign of the missing craft. Full of conjectures and +forebodings of evil they reluctantly turned back towards the house. +</P> + +<P> +The mill-hands, some of whom were to have formed the crew of the +<I>Venture</I>, had already discovered that it was gone. Now they were +gathered at the house awaiting the Major's orders, and eagerly +discussing the situation. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Caspar, full of anxiety, met her husband and daughter at the open +door, where she stood, regardless of the driving rain. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, John!" she cried, "where is Winn? What has become of the raft? +Do you think anything can have happened to him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not," answered the Major, reassuringly. "Nothing serious +can have befallen the boy on board a craft like that. As to his +whereabouts, I propose to go down to the mouth of the creek at once and +discover them. That is, just as soon as you can give me a cup of +coffee and a bite of breakfast, for it would be foolish to start off +without those. But the quicker we can get ready the better. I shall +go in the skiff, and take Halma and Jan with me." +</P> + +<P> +Nothing so allays anxiety as the necessity for immediate action, +especially when such action is directed towards removing the cause for +alarm. So Mrs. Caspar and Elta, in flying about to prepare breakfast +for the rescuing party, almost worked themselves into a state of +hopeful cheerfulness. It was only after the meal had been hastily +eaten, and the Major with his stalwart Swedes had departed, that a +reaction came, and the anxious fears reasserted themselves. For hours +they could do nothing but discuss the situation, and watch for some one +to come with news. Several times during the morning Elta put on her +water-proof and went down to the mill. There, she would gaze with +troubled eyes at the ever-rising waters, until reminded that her mother +needed comforting, when she would return to the house. +</P> + +<P> +On one of these occasions the girl was surprised to see a saddle-horse, +bearing evidences of a hard journey, standing at the hitching-post near +the front door. But this first surprise was as nothing to the +amazement with which she beheld her mother clasped in the arms of a +strange young man who was so bespattered with mud that his features +were hardly recognizable. Mrs. Caspar was laughing and crying at the +same time, while both she and the young man were talking at once. Near +them, and regarding this tableau with the utmost gravity, was a +powerful-looking bull-dog, who would evidently be pure white when +washed. +</P> + +<P> +For a full minute Elta stood in the doorway gazing wonderingly at this +strange scene. Then her mother caught sight of the girl's wide-eyed +bewilderment, and burst into a fit of laughter that was almost +hysterical. +</P> + +<P> +"It's your uncle William!" she cried, as soon as she could command her +voice. "My little brother Billy, whom I haven't seen for twelve years, +and he has just come from California. Give him a kiss, dear, and tell +him how very glad we are to see him." +</P> + +<P> +Then Elta was in turn embraced by the mud-bespattered young man, who +gravely announced that he should never have recognized her. +</P> + +<P> +"No wonder, for she was only a baby when you last saw her!" exclaimed +Mrs. Caspar; "and I'm sure I should never have recognized you but for +your voice. I don't know how you look even now, and I sha'n't until +you wash your face." +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with my face? Is it dirty?" asked the young man. +</P> + +<P> +For answer Mrs. Caspar led him in front of a mirror. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I should say it was dirty! In fact, dirty is no name at all for +it!" he laughed. "I believe I look about as bad as Binney Gibbs[1] did +when he covered himself with 'mud and glory' at the same time, or +rather when his mule did it for him." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Binney Gibbs?" asked both Mrs. Caspar and Elta. +</P> + +<P> +"Binney? Why, he is a young fellow, about Winn's age, who went across +the plains with me a year ago. By-the-way, where is Winn? I want to +see the boy. And where is the Major?" +</P> + +<P> +Then, as Mrs. Caspar explained the absence of her husband and son, all +her anxieties returned, so that before she finished her face again wore +a very sober and troubled expression. +</P> + +<P> +"So that is the situation, is it?" remarked the new-comer, +reflectively. "I see that Winn is not behind his age in getting into +scrapes. He reminds me of another young fellow who went campmates with +me on the plains, Glen Matherson—no, Eddy. No; come to think of it, +his name is Elting. Well, any way, he had just such a habit of getting +into all sorts of messes; but he always came out of each one bright and +smiling, right side up with care, and ready for the next." +</P> + +<P> +"He had names enough, whoever he was," said Elta, a little coldly; for +it seemed to her that this flippant young uncle was rather inclined to +disparage her own dear brother. "Yes, he certainly had names to spare; +but if he was half as well able to take care of himself as our Winn is, +no one ever had an excuse for worrying about him." +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed!" broke in the young man, eagerly; "but I tell you he was— +Why, you just ought to have seen him when—" +</P> + +<P> +"Here comes father!" cried Elta, joyfully, running to throw open the +door as she spoke. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +[1] See <I>Campmates</I>, by the same Author. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BILLY BRACKETT STARTS DOWN THE RIVER. +</H3> + + +<P> +It needed but a glance at Major Caspar's face, as, dripping and weary, +he entered the house, to show that his search for the raft had been +fruitless. His wife's mother-instinct translated his expression at +once, and the quick tears started to her eyes as she exclaimed, +</P> + +<P> +"My boy! What has happened to him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing serious, you may rest assured, my dear," replied the Major. +"I have not seen him; but I have heard of the raft, and there is no +question as to its safety. We reached the mouth of the creek without +discovering a trace of it. Then we went down the river as far as the +Elbow, where we waited in the slack-water to hail up-bound steamboats. +The first had seen nothing of the raft; but the second, one of the +'Diamond Jo' boats, reported that they had seen such a raft—one with +three shanties on it—at daybreak, in the 'Slant Crossing,' ten miles +below. If I could have got a down-river boat I should have boarded her +and gone in pursuit, sending the men back to tell you what I had done. +As we were unable to hail the only one that passed, I gave it up and +came back to report progress." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am so glad you did!" cried Mrs. Caspar. +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," said the young stranger, speaking for the first time since +the Major's entrance. The latter had glanced curiously at him once or +twice while talking to his wife, but without a gleam of recognition. +Now, as he looked inquiringly at him again, Mrs. Caspar exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Why, John, don't you know him? It's William—my own brother William, +just come from California." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is," replied the Major, giving the young man a hearty +hand-shake—"so it is, William Brackett himself. But, my dear fellow, +I must confess I was so far from recognizing you that I thought your +name was—" +</P> + +<P> +"'Mud' I reckon," interrupted the other, laughing; "and so it will be +before long, if I don't get a chance to clean up. But, Major, by the +time both of us are wrung out and dried, and sister has looked up some +dinner, I'll be ready to unfold a plan that will make things look as +bright for you and Winn and the rest of us as the sun that's breaking +away the clouds is going to make the sky directly." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Caspar's brother William, "Billy Brackett," as all his friends +called him, was a young civil engineer of more than usual ability. He +had already gained a larger stock of experience and seen more of his +own country than most men of his age, which was about twenty-six. From +government work in the East and on the lower Mississippi he had gone to +the Kansas Pacific Railway, been detailed to accompany an exploring +party across the plains, and, after spending some time on the Pacific +coast, had just returned to the Mississippi Valley—out of a job, to be +sure, but with the certainty of obtaining one whenever he should want +it. From the moment of leaving San Francisco he had intended making +the Caspars a visit, and had directed his journey towards their home. +In Chicago he had run across an engineering friend named Hobart, who +was at that moment regretting the pressure of business that forbade his +trying for what promised to be a most profitable contract. It was one +for furnishing all the bridge timber to be used in the construction of +a new railway through Wisconsin. The bids were to be opened in Madison +two days later. Acting upon the impulse of the moment, Billy Brackett +hastened to that city and tendered a bid for the contract, which, to +his surprise, was accepted. +</P> + +<P> +In doing this the young engineer had counted upon the assistance of his +brother-in-law, from whose mill he expected to obtain the timber he had +thus contracted to furnish. As the work must be begun immediately, he +hurried on to the Major's house with an offer of partnership in this +promising undertaking, and arrived as we have seen. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a big thing Major," the young man said in conclusion, after +explaining these details at the dinner-table; "and it's not only a big +thing in itself, but it will lead to other contracts equally good." +</P> + +<P> +"I should like nothing better than to join you in such an enterprise +Billy," replied the Major; "but I don't see how I can go into it just +now, with this affair of Winn and the raft on my hands. You say the +work must be begun at once?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It really should be started this very day, and it can, if you'll +agree to the rest of my plan. You see, I've only told you the half I +thought out before getting here. Since then I have added as much more, +which is something like this: Suppose you and I change places. You +take my horse and go to Madison in the interests of the contract, while +Bim and I will take your skiff and start down the river in the +interests of Winn and the raft. You know a heap more about getting out +bridge timber than I do, while I expect I know more about river rafting +than you do. Not that I'm anything of a raftsman," he added, modestly, +"but I picked up a good bit of knowledge concerning the river while on +that government job down in Arkansas. If you'll only give me the +chance, I'll guarantee to find the raft and navigate it to any port you +may choose to name—Dubuque, St. Louis, Cairo, New Orleans, or even +across the briny—with such a chap as I know your Winn must be for a +mate. When we reach our destination we can telegraph for you, and you +can arrange the sale of the ship and cargo yourself. As for me, I've +had so much of dry land lately that I'm just longing for a home on the +rolling deep, the life of a sailor free, and all that sort of thing. +What do you say? Isn't my scheme a good one?" +</P> + +<P> +"I declare I believe it is!" exclaimed the Major, who had caught a +share of his young kinsman's enthusiasm, and whose face had visibly +brightened during the unfolding of his plans. "Not only that, but I +believe your companionship with Winn on this river trip, and your +example, will be infinitely better for him than mine. I have noticed +that young people are much more apt to be influenced by those only a +few years older than themselves than they are by persons whose ideas +they may regard as antiquated or old-fogyish." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, papa, how can you say so?" cried Elta, springing up and throwing +her arms about his neck. "How can you say that you could ever be an +old fogy?" +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I'm not, dear, to you," answered the Major, smiling at his +daughter's impetuosity; "but to young fellows mingling with the world +for the first time nothing pertaining to the past seems of any value as +compared with the present or immediate future. Consequently a +companion who is near enough of an age to sympathize with the pursuits +and feelings of such a one can influence him more strongly than a +person whose thoughts are oftener with the past than with the future." +</P> + +<P> +"I can't bear to hear you talk so, husband," said Mrs. Caspar. "As if +our Winn wouldn't be more readily influenced by his own father and +mother than by any one else in the world! At the same time, I think +William's plan well worth considering, for I have hated the idea of +that raft trip for you. I have dreaded being left alone here with only +Elta, too, though I wouldn't say so when I thought there wasn't +anything else to be done." +</P> + +<P> +With this unanimous acceptance of the young engineer's plan, it took +but a short time to arrange its details, and before dark everything was +settled. The Major was to leave for Madison the next morning, while +Billy Brackett was to start down the creek that very evening, so as to +be ready at daylight to begin his search for the missing raft at the +point where it had been last reported. By his own desire he was to go +alone in the skiff, except for the companionship of his trusty Bim, who +made a point of accompanying his master everywhere. The young man was +provided with an open letter from Major Caspar, giving him full +authority to take charge of the raft and do with it as he saw fit. +</P> + +<P> +Both Mrs. Caspar and Elta wrote notes to Winn, and gave them to Billy +Brackett to deliver. The major also wrote a line of introduction to an +old soldier who had been his most devoted follower during the war. He +was now living with a married niece near Dubuque, Iowa, and might +possibly prove of assistance during the search for the raft. +</P> + +<P> +Thus equipped, provided with a stock of provisions, and a minute +description of both the raft and of Winn, whom he did not hope to +recognize, the young engineer and his four-footed companion set forth +soon after supper on their search for the missing boy. An hour later +they too were being swept southward by the resistless current of the +great river. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW THE VOYAGE WAS BEGUN. +</H3> + + +<P> +When Winn Caspar turned into his comfortable bunk aboard the raft on +the night of the storm, it never once occurred to him that the +<I>Venture</I> might float before morning. She never had floated, and she +seemed so hard and fast aground that he imagined a rise of several feet +of water would be necessary to move her. It had not yet rained where +he was, and the thought that it might be raining higher up the stream +did not enter his mind. So he went comfortably to bed, and slept like +a top for several hours. Finally, he was awakened so suddenly that he +sprang from the bunk, and by the time his eyes were fairly opened, was +standing in the middle of the floor listening to a strange creaking and +scratching on the roof above his head. It had aroused him, and now as +he listened to it, and tried in vain to catch a single gleam of light +through the intense darkness, it was so incomprehensible and uncanny, +that brave boy as he was, he felt shivers creeping over his arms and +back. +</P> + +<P> +Could the sounds be made by an animal? Winn knew there were wild-cats +and an occasional panther in the forests bordering the creek. If it +was caused by wild-cats there must be at least a dozen of them, and he +had never heard of as many as that together. Besides, wild-cats +wouldn't make such sounds. They might spit and snarl; but certainly no +one had ever heard them squeak and groan. All at once there came a +great swishing overhead and then all was still, save for the howling of +the wind and the roar of a deluge of rain which Winn now heard for the +first time. +</P> + +<P> +The boy felt his way into the forward room and opened the door to look +out, but was greeted by such a fierce rush of wind and rain that he was +thankful for the strength that enabled him to close it again. Mingled +with the other sounds of the storm, Winn now began to distinguish that +of waves plashing on the deck of the raft. Certainly his surroundings +had undergone some extraordinary change since he turned in for the +night, but what it was passed the boy's comprehension. +</P> + +<P> +After a long search he found a box of matches and lighted the lamp, +forgetting that all its oil had been exhausted the evening before. It +burned for a few minutes with a sickly flame, and then went out. Even +that feeble light had been a comfort. It had showed him that +everything was still all right inside the "shanty," besides enabling +him to find and put on the clothes that he had hung near the stove to +dry. As he finished dressing, and was again standing in utter darkness +puzzling over his situation, he was nearly paralyzed by a blinding +glare of light that suddenly streamed into the window nearest him. It +was accompanied by the hoarse roar of steam, a confusion of shoutings, +and the loud clangor of bells. Without a thought of the weather, Winn +again flung open the door and rushed into the open air. So intense and +dazzling was the flood of yellow light, that he seemed to be gazing +into the crater of an active volcano. It flashed by as suddenly as it +had appeared, and the terrified boy became aware that a big steamboat +was slipping swiftly past the raft, but a few feet from it. The +bewildering glare had come from her roaring furnaces; and had not their +doors been thrown open just when they were, she would have crashed at +full speed into the raft, with such consequences as can easily be +imagined. As it was she was barely able to sheer off in time, and a +score of voices hurled back angry threats at the supposed crew of the +raft, whose neglect to show a lantern had so nearly led to death and +destruction. +</P> + +<P> +So long as he could detect the faintest twinkle of light from the +rapidly receding boat, or hear the measured coughings of her exhausted +steam, Winn stood gazing and listening, regardless of the rain that was +drenching him to the skin. He was overwhelmed by a realization of his +situation. That steamboat had told him as plainly as if she had spoken +that the <I>Venture</I> was not only afloat, but had in some way reached the +great river, and was drifting with its mighty current. He had no idea +of how long he had thus drifted, nor how far he was from home. He only +knew that the distance was increasing with each moment, and that until +daylight at least he was powerless to help himself. +</P> + +<P> +As he turned towards the door of the "shanty," he stumbled over +something, which, by stooping, he discovered to be the branch of a +tree. To the keen-witted boy this was like the sight of a printed page. +</P> + +<P> +"That accounts for the noise on the roof that woke me," he said to +himself. "The raft was passing under those low branches at the mouth +of the creek, and I can't be more than a mile or so from there now." +</P> + +<P> +For an instant the idea of paddling home in his canoe and leaving the +raft to its fate flashed across his mind, but it was dismissed as +promptly as it had come. "Not much I won't!" he said, aloud. "I've +shipped for the voyage, and I'm going to see it through in spite of +everything. Besides, it's my own fault that I'm in this fix. If I +hadn't carried away that cable this thing never could have happened. +What a fool I was! But who would have supposed the water could rise so +quickly?" +</P> + +<P> +The thought of his little dugout caused the boy to wonder if it were +still attached to the raft where he had made it fast the evening +before. Again he ventured outside to look for the canoe, but the +darkness was so dense and the violence of the storm so bewildering +that, after a narrow escape from stepping overboard, he realized that +without a light of some kind the undertaking was too dangerous. "There +must be a lantern somewhere," he thought. "Yes, I remember seeing one +brought aboard." Finally he discovered it hanging near the stove, and, +to his joy, it was full of oil. By its aid his search for the canoe +was successful, and he was delighted to find it floating safely +alongside, though half full of water, and in danger of being stove +against the timbers of the raft by the waves that were breaking on +deck. With infinite labor he at length succeeded in hauling the little +craft aboard and securing it in a place of safety. Then, though he +would gladly have had the comfort of a light in the "shanty," the +thought of his recent narrow escape warned him to guard against another +similar danger by running the lantern to the top of the signal-pole, +and leaving it there as a beacon. +</P> + +<P> +He could do nothing more; and so, drenched, chilled, and weary, the +lonely lad crept back into the "shanty." How dreary it was to be its +sole occupant! If he only had some one to talk, plan, and consult +with! He felt so helpless and insignificant there in the dark, +drifting down the great river on a raft that, without help, he was as +incapable of managing as a baby. What ought he to do? What should he +do? It was so hard to think without putting his thoughts into words. +Even Elta's presence and counsel would be a comfort, and the boy +laughed bitterly to recall how often he had treated the dear sister's +practical common-sense with contempt because she was only a girl. Now +how gladly would he listen to her advice! It was pretty evident that +his self-conceit had received a staggering blow, and that self-reliance +would be thankful for the backing of another's wisdom. +</P> + +<P> +As Winn sat by the table, forlorn and shivering, it suddenly occurred +to him that there was no reason why he should not have a fire. There +was plenty of dry wood. How stupid he had been not to think of it +before! Acting upon this idea, he quickly had a cheerful blaze +snapping and crackling in the little stove, which soon began to diffuse +a welcome warmth throughout the room. By a glance at his watch—a +small silver one that had been his father's when he was a boy—Winn +found the night to be nearly gone. He was greatly comforted by the +thought that in less than two hours daylight would reveal his situation +and give him a chance to do something. Still, the lonely waiting was +very tedious, the boy was weary, and the warmth of the fire made him +sleepy. At first he struggled against the overpowering drowsiness, but +finally he yielded to it, and, with his head sunk on his folded arms, +which rested on the table, was soon buried in a slumber as profound as +that of the earlier night. +</P> + +<P> +At daylight the unguided raft was seen in the "Slant Crossing" by the +crew of an up-bound steamboat, and they wondered at the absence of all +signs of life aboard it. Every now and then the drifting mass of +timber touched on some sand-bar or reef, but the current always swung +it round, so that it slid off and resumed its erratic voyage. At +length, after floating swiftly and truly down a long straight chute, +the <I>Venture</I> was seized by an eddy at its foot, revolved slowly +several times, and then reluctantly dragged into a false channel on the +western side of a long, heavily-timbered island. Half-way down its +length the raft "saddle-bagged," as the river men say, or floated +broadside on, against a submerged rock. It struck fairly amidship, and +there it hung, forming a barrier, around the ends of which the hurrying +waters laughed and gurgled merrily. +</P> + +<P> +With the shock of the striking Winn awoke, straightened himself, and +rubbed his eyes, wondering vaguely where he was and what had happened. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MR. GILDER AND HIS RUDE RECEPTION. +</H3> + + +<P> +After emerging from the "shanty," it did not take the solitary occupant +of the raft long to discover the nature of his new predicament. The +water was sufficiently clear for him to make out an indistinct outline +of the rock on which the raft was hung, and as the rain was still +falling, he quickly regained the shelter of the "shanty," there to +consider the situation. It did not take him long to make up his mind +that this was a case in which assistance was absolutely necessary, and +that he must either wait for it to come to him or go in search of it. +First of all, though, he must have something to eat. He had no need to +look at his watch to discover that it was breakfast-time. The +condition of his appetite told him that. +</P> + +<P> +Now Winn had never learned to cook. He had regarded that as an +accomplishment that was well enough for girls to acquire, but one quite +beneath the notice of a man. Besides, cooking was easy enough, and any +one could do it who had to. It was only necessary to put things into a +pot and let them boil, or into an oven to bake. Of course they must be +watched and taken from the stove when done, but that was about all +there was to cooking. There was a sack of corn-meal in the "shanty," +and a jug of maple syrup. A dish of hot mush would be the very thing. +Then there was coffee already ground; of course he would have a cup of +coffee. So the boy made a roaring fire, found the coffee-pot, set it +on the stove, and filled a large saucepan with corn-meal. +</P> + +<P> +"There may be a little too much in there," he thought; "but I can save +what I can't eat now for lunch, and then fry it, as mother does." +</P> + +<P> +Having got thus far in his preparations, he took a bucket and went +outside for some water from the river. Here he remained for a few +minutes to gaze at a distant up-bound steamboat, and wondered why he +had not noticed her when she passed the raft. Although the river +seemed somewhat narrower than he thought it should be, he had no idea +but that he was still in its main channel, and that the land on his +left was the Wisconsin shore. +</P> + +<P> +Still wondering how he could have missed seeing, or at least hearing, +the steamboat, the boy reentered the "shanty." Thinking of steamboats +rather than of cooking, he began to pour water into the saucepan of +meal, which at once began to run over. Thus recalled to his duties, he +removed half of the wet meal to another pan, filled it with water, and +set both pans on the stove. Then he poured a stream of cold water into +the coffee-pot, which by this time was almost red-hot. The effect was +as distressing as it was unexpected. A cloud of scalding steam rushed +up into his face and filled the room, the coffee-pot rolled to the +floor with a clatter, and there was such a furious hissing and +sputtering that poor Winn dropped his bucket of water and staggered +towards the door, fully convinced that he was the victim of a boiler +explosion. +</P> + +<P> +When the cloud of steam cleared away, the boy ruefully surveyed the +scene of disaster, and wondered what had gone wrong. "I'm sure nothing +of the kind ever happened in mother's kitchen," he said to himself. In +spite of his smarting face, he determined not to be daunted by this +first mishap, but to try again. So he wiped the floor with a +table-cloth, drew another bucket of water from the river, and resolved +to proceed with the utmost care this time. To his dismay, as he +stooped to pick up the coffee-pot, he found that it had neither bottom +nor spout, but was a total and useless wreck. "What a leaky old thing +it must have been," soliloquized the boy. +</P> + +<P> +Just then his attention was attracted by another hissing sound from the +stove and a smell of burning. Two yellow streams were pouring over the +sides of the saucepans. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" cried Winn, as he seized a spoon and began ladling a portion +of the contents from each into a third pan. "How ever did these things +get full again? I'm sure I left lots of room in them." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment the contents of all three pans began to burn, and he +filled them with water. A few minutes later all three began to bubble +over, and he got more pans. Before he was through with that mush, +every available inch of space on the stove was covered with pans of it, +the disgusted cook was liberally bedaubed with it, and so was the +floor. The contents of some of the pans were burned black; others were +as weak as gruel; all were lumpy, and all were insipid for want of salt. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment Winn, hot, cross, and smarting from many scalds and burns, +reviewed the results of his first attempt at preparing a meal with a +comical expression, in which wrath and disgust were equally blended. +Then, yielding to an impulse of anger, he picked up one of the messes +and flung it, pan and all, out through the open door. He was stooping +to seize the next, which he proposed to treat in a similar manner, when +a hand was laid on his shoulder, and he was almost petrified with +amazement by hearing a voice exclaim: +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on, young man! One at a time is enough. It's very pleasant to +be greeted warmly, but there is such a thing as too warm a reception. +I'll allow you didn't see me coming, though if I thought you did, I'd +chuck you overboard for that caper." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-044"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-044.jpg" ALT=""'Hold on, young man! One at a time is enough.'"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="357" HEIGHT="514"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'Hold on, young man! One at a time is enough.'"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The speaker, who stood in the doorway striving to remove the mess of +sticky mush that had struck him full in the breast and now covered a +large portion of his body, including his face, was a man of middle age +and respectable appearance, clad in a rubber suit and a slouched hat. +</P> + +<P> +Filled with shame and contrition at this unexpected result of his +foolish action, Winn was profuse in his apologies, and picking up the +useful table-cloth that had already served him in one emergency, +stepped forward with an offer of assistance. The stranger waved him +back, and removed the greater part of the mess by taking off his rubber +coat. At the same time he said: +</P> + +<P> +"There's no harm done, and worse might have happened. You might have +been pitching stove lids, or hot soup, or knives and forks, you know. +So, you see, I'm to be congratulated on getting off as well as I have. +But where is the boss of this raft, and the crew? How did you happen +to run in here out of the channel? You are not alone, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," replied Winn. "I'm captain and crew and everything else +just at present—excepting cook," he added, hastily, as he noted the +stranger's amused glance at the stove and its surroundings. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is cook, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"There isn't any," answered Winn; "and for that reason there isn't any +breakfast, nor likely to be any, for I'll starve before I try my hand +at it again." +</P> + +<P> +"There seems to be plenty of breakfast, such as it is," said the +stranger, gravely, indicating by a glance the many pans of spoiled +mush. Then seeing that the boy was really in distress, and not in a +joking humor, he added, "But let me help you set things to rights, and +then I'll see if I can't show you how to get up some sort of a +breakfast. I'm not a regular cook, as perhaps you may guess; but then, +again, I am one, in a way, as all we river-traders have to be." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you a river-trader?" asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and there are three of us. But I'll tell you all about it, and +you shall tell me your story after we've had breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +To Winn, the expeditious manner in which his recent culinary disasters +were repaired and a simple but well-cooked breakfast was made ready by +this stranger was a source of undisguised admiration. Even coffee, +clear and strong, was made in a tin can. One edge of the can was bent +into the form of a rude spout; then it was filled two-thirds with +water, and set on the stove. When the water came to a boil, half a +cupful of ground coffee, tied loosely in a bit of clean muslin, was +dropped into it, and allowed to boil for three minutes. A kind of +biscuit made of flour, water, shortening, baking-powder, and salt, well +mixed, and rolled thin, was quickly baked, first on one side and then +on the other, in an iron skillet on top of the stove. At the same time +a single cupful of corn-meal, well salted, and boiled for half an hour, +furnished a large dish of smoking mush. Half a dozen thin slices of +bacon broiled on a toaster completed what Winn enthusiastically +declared was the very best breakfast he had ever eaten. Still, the boy +was so ravenously hungry that it is probable even his own burned and +lumpy mixture of corn-meal would not have tasted so bad as it looked. +</P> + +<P> +While he was busy with the breakfast, the stranger, who said his name +was Gilder, talked pleasantly on many subjects. At the same time he +managed somehow to learn all about Winn and his family, the raft and +how it happened to be where it was, without giving a single item of +information concerning himself in return. +</P> + +<P> +When Winn finally declared that he could eat no more, Mr. Gilder also +pushed back his chair, and said: +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then, for business. First, I must tell you that you are in a +very serious predicament. I examined the position of this raft before +coming aboard, and arrived at the conclusion that both it and its cargo +are in a fair way of becoming a total loss. As soon as the river falls +again, which it is likely to do at any time, the raft will probably +break in pieces of its own weight. In that case you would lose both it +and your wheat. The only plan I can suggest for saving the raft is to +lighten it until it floats clear of the rock on which it is hung, by +throwing the wheat overboard; or, if you can manage it, land your wheat +on the island, where it can remain until you can take it away. Of +course the decision as to which of these things you will do rests +entirely with yourself; but you must make up your mind quickly, for +with this uncertain state of water there isn't an hour to lose." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A GANG OF "RIVER-TRADERS." +</H3> + + +<P> +For a whole minute Winn sat silent, while from the opposite side of the +table Mr. Gilder regarded his perplexed countenance with an expression +that was not altogether pleasant. Winn, suddenly looking up from his +hard thinking, was a bit startled by it; but as it instantly melted +into one of smiling sympathy, his confidence in the man remained +unbroken. Had he seen Mr. Gilder two hours earlier, instead of one, +his opinion of the individual who had just prepared such a capital +breakfast, expressed so great friendliness, and now showed him so +plainly the unpleasant predicament into which he had fallen, would have +been decidedly different. +</P> + +<P> +At that time Mr. Gilder was kneeling beside an opening in the floor of +a log-hut, in the centre of the island, and lifting from it a tray of +odd-looking but beautifully made tools. The hut was small and rudely +constructed. It was surrounded by a dense forest growth, and stood in +a tiny clearing from which no road or trail could be seen to lead. All +its appointments were of the most primitive description, and yet a +single glance into its interior would have impressed one with the +belief that its occupants were millionaires. The effect of piles and +stacks of greenbacks, enough to form the capital of a city bank or fill +the vaults of a sub-treasury, amid such surroundings, would certainly +have startled even those accustomed to the handling of great wealth. +The bills, all of which were new and crisp, were done up in neat +packages, each of which was marked with the number of hundreds or +thousands of dollars it contained. In one corner of the room stood a +small printing-press of exquisite make. Besides this press, a +work-bench, table, and several rude stools, the single room of the hut +contained only the piles of greenbacks. +</P> + +<P> +A man sat beside the table counting and sorting a large number of +bills, the worn appearance of which showed them to have been in active +circulation for some time. This man was small, and had a weazened face +devoid of hair except for a pair of bushy, iron-gray eyebrows, beneath +which his eyes gleamed as cunningly bright as those of a fox. He +answered to the name of Grimshaw; and as he counted bills with the +deftness and rapidity of a bank cashier, he also paid a certain amount +of attention to the remarks of his companion, who was talking earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you what it is, Grim," the other was saying, as he bent over +the secret opening in the floor, "it's high time we were moving. This +is a first-class location, and we've done well here; but you know as +well as I do that our business requires a pretty frequent change of +scene, and I'm afraid we've stayed here too long already. One of those +mill fellows said only yesterday that we must have collected a powerful +lot of stuff by this time, and asked if we weren't about ready to +invite him up to inspect and bid on it. I told him we were thinking of +putting it into a raft and taking it down-river. Never had such an +idea, you know, but the notion just popped into my head, and I'm not +sure now but what it's as good a one as we'll strike. What do you +think?" +</P> + +<P> +"It'll take a heap of hard work, and more time than I for one want to +spare, to build a raft large enough for our purpose," answered +Grimshaw. "Still, I don't know as the idea is wholly bad." +</P> + +<P> +"It would take time, that's a fact," answered Mr. Gilder, lifting his +tray of tools to the table and proceeding to polish some of them with a +bit of buckskin. "And it looks as though time was going to be an +object with us shortly. That last letter from Wiley showed that the +Chicago folks were beginning to sniff pretty suspiciously in this +direction. I've been asked some awkward questions lately, too. Yes, +the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that we ought to be +getting out of here as quickly as we can make arrangements. We must +talk it over with Plater, and come to some decision this very day. +He's— Hello! Something's up. Plater was to stay in camp till I got +back." +</P> + +<P> +Again came the peculiar, long-drawn whistle that had arrested the +attention of the men, and which denoted the approach of a friend. Mr. +Gilder stepped to the door and answered it. Then he looked expectantly +towards a laurel thicket that formed part of the dense undergrowth +surrounding the hut. In a moment the dripping branches were parted +near the ground, and a man, emerging from the bushes on his hands and +knees, stood up, shook himself like a Newfoundland dog, and advanced +towards the open door. He was a large man with long hair and a bushy +beard. He was clad in flannel, jeans, and cowhide boots, and was +evidently of a different class from Mr. Gilder, who appeared to be a +gentleman, and was dressed as one. "What's up, Plater?" asked the +latter. +</P> + +<P> +"Big raft, three shanties on it, in false channel, saddle-bagged on the +reef pretty nigh abreast of camp. Can't see nobody aboard. Reckon she +broke adrift from somewheres while her crew was off on a frolic." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't say so!" cried Mr. Gilder, excitedly. "Perhaps it's the +very thing we are most in need of, sent by a special providence to +crown our labors with success. I'll go down and have a look at her, +while you stay here and help Grim pack up the stuff. We might as well +be prepared for a sudden move, and he'll tell you what we have just +been talking about." +</P> + +<P> +So Mr. Gilder, donning his rubber coat, a garment that Plater would +have scorned to wear, left the clearing through another bushy thicket +on the opposite side from that by which his confederate had entered it. +An almost undiscernible path led him to the shore of the island that +was washed by the main channel of the river. Here he struck into a +plainly marked trail that followed the water's edge. In this trail Mr. +Gilder walked to the southern end of the island, and up its other side +until he reached a comfortable camp that bore signs of long occupancy. +It stood high on a cut bank, and just below it a rude boom held a +miscellaneous assortment of logs, lumber, and odd wreckage, all of it +evidently collected from the stray drift of the great river. +</P> + +<P> +From the edge of the bank, a short distance from this camp, the man +commanded a good view of the stranded raft, and for several minutes he +stood gazing at it. "There's the very thing to a T, that we want," he +said to himself. "Not too big for us to handle, and yet large enough +to make it seem an object for us to take it down the river. I can't +see what they want of three shanties, though; one ought to be enough +for all the crew she needs. Our first move would be to tear down two +of them, and lengthen the other; that alone would be a sufficient +disguise. We haven't got her yet, though, and she isn't abandoned +either, for there's smoke coming from that middle shanty. I reckon the +cook must be aboard, and maybe he'll sell the whole outfit for cash, +and so give us a clear title to it." Here Mr. Gilder smiled as though +the thought was most amusing. "I'll go off and interview him anyway, +and I'd better be about it too, for the river is still rising. She +won't hang there much longer, and if the fellow found his raft afloat +again before a bargain was made he might not come to terms. In that +case we should be obliged to take forcible possession, which would be +risky. I'm bound to have that raft, though. It is simply a case of +necessity, and necessity is in the same fix we are, so far as law is +concerned." +</P> + +<P> +While thus thinking, Mr. Gilder had stepped into a light skiff that was +moored near the boom, and was pulling towards the stranded raft. He +first examined its position, and assured himself that very little labor +would be necessary to float it; then he stepped aboard, and very nearly +lost his customary self-possession upon the receipt of Winn's warm +greeting. He was on the point of returning it in a manner that would +have proved most unpleasant for poor Winn, when he discovered that his +supposed assailant was only a boy, and that the act was unintentional. +It took the shrewd man but a few minutes to discover the exact state of +affairs aboard the raft, and to form a plan for gaining peaceful, if +not altogether lawful, possession of it. This plan he began to carry +out by the false statement of the situation made to Winn at the +conclusion of the last chapter. This beginning was not made, however, +until he had first gained the lad's confidence by a deed of kindness. +</P> + +<P> +When Winn looked up from his hard thinking he said, "I hate the thought +of throwing the wheat overboard, even to save the raft. There are two +thousand bushels of it, and I know my father expects to get at least +fifty cents a bushel. So it would seem like throwing a thousand +dollars into the river. Then, again, I don't see how it will be +possible to land it, and so lighten the raft. It would take me a month +to do it alone with my canoe. Besides, father is sure to set out on a +hunt for the raft the moment he finds it is gone, and so is likely to +come along most any time." +</P> + +<P> +"All the greater need for haste," thought Mr. Gilder; but aloud he +said, "That is very true, but in the mean time your raft will probably +break up, and your wheat be spilled in the river anyway. Now suppose +you agree to pay me and my partners a hundred dollars to get the wheat +ashore for you and reload it after the raft floats." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't a cent of money with me," replied Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"That's bad," said the other, reflectively. "It's awkward to travel +without money. But I'll tell you what we'll do. I hate to see a +decent young fellow like you in such a fix, and I'm willing to take a +risk to help him out of it. Suppose I buy your wheat? I told you that +I and my partners were river traders. To be sure, our business is +mostly in logs, lumber, and the like; but I don't mind taking an +occasional flyer in wheat, provided they are willing. You say your +father expects to get fifty cents a bushel for this wheat. Now I'll +give you forty-five cents a bushel for it; that is, if my partners +agree. That will leave five cents a bushel to pay us for landing it, +transferring it to some other craft, and getting your raft afloat. +What do you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could ask father about it," hesitated Winn, to whom, under +the circumstances as he supposed them to exist, the offer seemed very +tempting. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, well," sneered Mr. Gilder, "if you are not man enough now to act +upon your own responsibility in such an emergency, you never will be. +So the sooner you get home again and tie up to your mother's +apron-string the sooner you'll be where you belong." +</P> + +<P> +The taunt was as well worn as it was cruel, and should have given Winn +an insight into the true character of his new acquaintance; but on a +boy so proud of his ability to decide for himself, and so ignorant of +the ways of the world as this one, it was sufficient to produce the +desired effect. +</P> + +<P> +Winn flushed hotly as he answered: "The wheat is my father's, and not +mine to sell; but for the sake of saving it as well as the raft, I will +let you have it at that price. I must have the cash, though, before +you begin to move it." +</P> + +<P> +"Spoken like the man I took you to be," said Mr. Gilder, heartily. +"Now we'll go ashore and see my partners. If they agree to the +bargain, as no doubt they will, we'll get to work at once, and have +your raft afloat again in no time." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RAFT. +</H3> + + +<P> +When Winn and his new acquaintance stepped outside of the "shanty," it +did not seem to the boy that the river was falling, or that the raft +was in a particularly dangerous position. He would have liked to +examine more closely into its condition, but his companion so occupied +his attention by describing the manner in which he proposed to remove +the wheat, and so hurried him into the waiting skiff, that he had no +opportunity to do so. +</P> + +<P> +The "river-traders'" camp was not visible from the raft, nor did Mr. +Gilder, who handled the oars, head the skiff in its direction. He +rowed diagonally up-stream instead, so as to land at some distance +above it. There he asked Winn to wait a few minutes until he should +discover in which direction his partners had gone. He explained that +one of them had been left in camp at a considerable distance from that +point, while he and the third had been rowing along the shore of the +island in opposite directions, searching for drift-logs. Thus he alone +had discovered the stranded raft. Now he wished to bring them to that +point, that they might see it for themselves before he explained the +proposed wheat deal. With this Mr. Gilder plunged directly into the +tall timber, leaving Winn alone on the river-bank. +</P> + +<P> +It was fully fifteen minutes before the man returned to the waiting +lad, and he not only looked heated but anxious. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't think what has become of those fellows!" he exclaimed, +breathlessly, as he wiped the moisture from his forehead with a cambric +handkerchief. "I've been clear to camp without finding a trace of +either of them. Now there is only one thing left for us to do in order +to get them here quickly. You and I must start around the island in +opposite directions, because if we went together we might follow them +round and round like a kitten chasing its tail. If you meet them, +bring them back here, and I will do the same. If you don't meet them, +keep on until you are half-way down the other side of the island, or +exactly opposite this point; then strike directly into the timber, and +so make a short-cut back here. In that way you will reach this place +again as soon as I, for the island isn't more than three hundred yards +wide just here. Be spry, now, and remember that the safety of your +raft depends largely upon the promptness with which we get those other +fellows here." +</P> + +<P> +With this Mr. Gilder began to walk rapidly down the shore in the +direction he had chosen. Carried away by the man's impetuosity, Winn +did not hesitate to obey his instructions, but started at once in the +opposite direction. Mr. Gilder, noting this by a backward glance over +his shoulder, instantly halted and concealed himself behind a large +tree-trunk. From here he peered at the retreating figure of the boy +until it was no longer visible. Then he gave vent to the same peculiar +whistle with which Plater had announced his own approach to the log-hut +in the woods. The sound was immediately answered from no great +distance, whereupon Mr. Gilder hastened in that direction. A minute +later he returned, bringing a coil of stout rope, one end of which he +made fast to a tree on the bank. At the same time both Grimshaw and +Plater appeared, each bearing a large package securely wrapped in +canvas on his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +All three men entered the skiff and pulled out to the raft, carrying +the loose end of the rope with them. Mr. Gilder and Grimshaw quickly +returned to the land, leaving the burly Plater to make a vigorous +attack with an axe against the sides of one of the wheat bins. He soon +splintered and tore off a board, leaving an aperture through which a +broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck of the raft. This Plater +began to shovel overboard, working with furious energy, as though +combating a hated enemy. In ten minutes both bins were empty, and so +much of the wheat had gone into the ever-rising waters that the raft, +which had been on the point of floating when Plater began his +operations, now did so, and swung in close to the bank at the end of +its new cable. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-060"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-060.jpg" ALT=""A broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="447" HEIGHT="368"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "A broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +In the mean time the other men had brought several skiff-loads of their +peculiar merchandise to the raft, and now it took but a few minutes to +transfer what remained on the bank directly to it. Even the tent, +which had been hastily torn down, together with a portion of their camp +outfit, was tossed aboard, and within fifteen minutes from the time of +Winn's departure the <I>Venture</I>, with its new crew at the sweeps, was +moving slowly out from the island, and gathering impetus from the +current for a continuance of its eventful voyage. +</P> + +<P> +Without a suspicion that the gentlemanly stranger who had so kindly +smoothed away his culinary difficulties, and, while apparently willing +to assist him, was also anxious to make a good bargain for himself, was +anything but what he appeared to be, Winn made his way briskly towards +the head of the island. It was only after rounding it and starting +down the opposite side without seeing a sign of those whom he sought +that he began to have misgivings. +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if it is all right?" he said to himself. "What could be the +man's object in telling me that the raft was in a dangerous position if +she isn't? I declare I don't believe she is, though! She didn't look +it when I left, and I do believe the river is still rising. I wonder +if I haven't done a foolish thing in leaving the raft? If I have, the +best thing to do now is to get back as quickly as possible." +</P> + +<P> +By this time the boy had worked himself into a fever of apprehension, +and, remembering what he had been told concerning the narrowness of the +island, he determined to make a short-cut across it. This was exactly +what the far-sighted Mr. Gilder had anticipated, and Winn fell an easy +victim to his artfully planned trap. For nearly an hour the boy, +versed in wood-craft as he was, wandered and struggled through the +dense undergrowth of that island forest. Suddenly, as he burst his way +through a thicket, he was confronted by the log-hut so lately occupied +by the "river-traders." Winn shouted as he approached it; but, of +course, received no reply. It had the lonely look of a place long +deserted, and the boy paused for but a single glance into its +uninviting interior. Then, getting his bearings anew by the sun that +was beginning to struggle through the clouds, he pushed his way +resolutely towards the western side of the island, which, somewhat to +his surprise, he reached a few minutes later. +</P> + +<P> +He emerged from the timber at the abandoned camp of the traders; but +without stopping to examine it, he ran to the water's edge, and gazed +anxiously both up and down stream. There was no sign of the raft nor +of any moving object. "It must be farther up, around that point," +thought Winn, and he hurried in that direction. From one point to +another he thus pursued his anxious way until the head of the island +was once more in sight. Then he knew that he must have passed the +place where the raft had been, and that it was gone. +</P> + +<P> +As a realizing sense of how he had been duped and of his present +situation flashed through his mind, the poor boy sat down on a log, too +bewildered to act, or even to think. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ALONE ON THE ISLAND. +</H3> + + +<P> +Winn Caspar was indeed unhappy as he sat on that log and gazed +hopelessly out over the sparkling waters, on which the sun was now +shining brightly. Although he had explored only a portion of the +island, he felt that he was alone on it. But that was by no means the +worst of the situation. The raft in which he had taken so much pride, +his father's raft upon which so much depended, the raft on which he had +expected to float out into the great world, was gone, and he was +powerless to follow it. All through his own fault, too! This thought +was the hardest to bear. Why, even Elta would have known better. Of +course she would. Any one but he would, and she was wiser than almost +any one he knew. How dearly he loved this wise little sister, and to +think that he had parted with her in anger! When was that? Only last +evening! Impossible! It must have been weeks ago. It wasn't, though! +It was only a few hours ago, and his father had hardly had time to come +and look for him yet. Perhaps he was even now on his way down the +river, and might be passing on the other side of the island. +</P> + +<P> +With this thought the boy sprang to his feet, and hurrying to the head +of the island, eagerly scanned the waters of the main channel. There +was nothing in sight, not even a skiff or a canoe. "Even my dugout is +gone," thought Winn, with a fresh pang, for he was very fond of the +little craft that was all his own. Then he wondered how he should +attract his father's attention, and decided to build a fire, with the +hope that Major Caspar might come to it to make inquiries, and thus +effect his rescue. +</P> + +<P> +Having a definite object to work for cheered the boy somewhat, and his +heart grew sensibly lighter as he began to collect wood for his fire. +But how should he light it? He had no matches. For a moment this new +difficulty seemed insurmountable; then he remembered having seen the +smouldering remains of a fire at the abandoned camp on the other side +of the island. He must go back to it at once. +</P> + +<P> +Hurrying back around the head of the island, Winn reached the place +just in time to find a few embers still glowing faintly, and after +whittling a handful of shavings, he succeeded, by a great expenditure +of breath, in coaxing a tiny flame into life. Very carefully he piled +on dry chips, and then larger sticks, until finally he had a fire +warranted to live through a rain-storm. Now for another on the +opposite side of the island! +</P> + +<P> +He could not carry lighted sticks the way he had come. It was too far. +He thought he could get them safely across the island, though, if he +only knew the most direct path. He would first discover this and then +return for his fire. Quite early in the search he stumbled across a +very narrow trail that seemed to lead in the right direction. By +following it he came once more to the deserted log-hut in the forest, +but search through the little clearing as he might, he could not see +that it went any farther. +</P> + +<P> +Taking his bearings, after deciding to open a trail of his own from +there to the river, the boy attacked a thicket on the eastern side of +the clearing with his jack-knife. A few minutes of cutting carried him +through it, and, to his amazement, he found himself again in an +unmistakable trail. It was narrow and indistinct, but it was none the +less a trail, leading in the right direction, and the boy was woodman +enough to follow it without hesitation to the river-bank. A steamboat +was passing the island, but though Winn waved frantically to it and +shouted himself hoarse, no attention was paid to him. With a heavy +heart he watched it out of sight, and then began another collection of +wood for his signal-fire. +</P> + +<P> +When it was made, he again crossed the island, selected a blazing stick +from the camp-fire, and started to retrace his steps. By the time he +reached the log-hut he found it necessary to stop and renew his blaze +by building a fire in the rude chimney. By thus establishing a relay +station he finally succeeded in getting a blaze to the desired spot on +the channel side of the island, and in starting a brisk fire at that +point. +</P> + +<P> +Here the boy would have stayed and watched for the craft that he fondly +hoped would come to his deliverance; but it was now a long time since +breakfast, and his hard work had made him very hungry. He might find +something to eat at that abandoned camp, which he had not yet examined. +At any rate he would go and look. So he piled logs on his fire until +satisfied that it would last for some hours. Then picking up a bit of +shingle from the beach, he wrote on it with the stump of a lead-pencil: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I am on the island. Follow the trail and you will find me.——WINN +CASPAR." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This note he stuck in a cleft sapling, from which he first cut the top, +and which stood so near the fire that it was certain to attract +attention. Then feeling that he could do nothing more in that place, +he set forth in search of something with which to satisfy his hunger. +On his way back he stopped at the hut, and made a thorough but vain +search for food. There was not so much as would have fed a mouse, and +the only thing of value that the boy discovered was a rusty fish-hook +stuck into one of the wall logs. Before leaving the hut he replenished +the fire in the chimney-place, thinking that perhaps he might return +there to sleep. Then he went on to the camp. +</P> + +<P> +Here Winn's search for food was as unsuccessful as it had been at the +hut. He found a number of cooking utensils, battered and smoked, and +discovered an old axe still sticking in the log on which it had been +last used. He also found some bits of rope and cord. He knotted +together enough of the latter to make a rude line, attached his +fish-hook to it, cut a pole, dug some bait, and began to fish just +above the "river-traders'" boom. For some time he sat there, +patiently, but got no bites. The poor boy began to grow desperate with +hunger. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare! I've a great mind to swim for the main-land," he said, +aloud. "No I won't, though. I can do better than that. Besides, the +water is cold enough to give me a cramp. I can make a raft of these +logs. Why didn't I think of it before?" +</P> + +<P> +Thrusting the butt end of his pole into the soft earth of the bank, and +weighting it with a good, sized stone, the boy went to the boom to +examine its contents. There were plenty of logs suitable for the +foundation of a raft, and more than enough lumber to deck it +handsomely. But what was that brown stuff filling so many of the +crevices between the logs and timbers? +</P> + +<P> +"Wheat, as I'm a living boy!" exclaimed Winn, stooping and gathering +some of the stuff in his hands. "Wheat! but where can it have come +from? Did the <I>Venture</I> suddenly break up and go to pieces after all, +as Mr. Gilder said she would?" If so, then the situation was worse +than he had supposed, for until now the boy had entertained some hopes +of being able to follow and perhaps recover the raft, especially if his +father should come along and discover him. But if the raft were broken +up, as the presence of this wheat seemed to indicate, then its loss was +indeed total and irreparable. +</P> + +<P> +"But if they have not gone off with the raft, what has become of those +river traders?" argued the boy with himself. "They might have followed +the broken sections, or even gone off on one of them. I believe that's +what they have done!" he exclaimed aloud. "That accounts for their +leaving in such a hurry, and taking their provisions with them. I +didn't think that Gilder was such a bad sort of a chap after all. Now +he is pretty sure to come back for me after he has secured what he can +from the wreck. But what am I to do for something to eat in the mean +time? If I could only catch a fish!" +</P> + +<P> +Just then there was a great commotion in the water, and the pole left +sticking in the bank began to bend ominously. Winn sprang towards it; +but as he stretched out his hand it flew back into position, and the +flurry in the water subsided. The wretched line had parted, and the +big catfish, from which the boy could have made such a capital supper, +was seeking the deepest hole in the river. The worst of it all was +that he had taken Winn's only hook with him, and so put an end to any +further efforts for his capture. +</P> + +<P> +The boy could have cried with hunger and vexation. It wouldn't have +done him any good, though, and he knew it; so he began to gather a tin +cup full of the water-soaked wheat instead. This he set on a bed of +coals to boil, and was so hungry that he could not wait for it to be +done, but ate it half raw, without salt, butter, sugar, syrup, milk, or +anything that serves to render such food palatable, and only partially +cooked at that, it still seemed to Winn one of the best things he had +ever eaten, and he immediately started the cooking of another mess. +There was not much of the wheat in sight, and to secure a second cupful +the boy scraped up every grain that he could find. +</P> + +<P> +"After this comes starvation," thought Winn; "unless I can get away +from this island, and I am going to begin work on that raft at once." +</P> + +<P> +He carefully collected every bit of rope he could find, and thus +secured enough to lash together four of the largest logs. Above these +he laid a platform of boards, and longed for some nails with which to +fasten them in place. He did remarkably well considering his limited +means, and by sunset had completed a raft that would more than support +his weight. If he could only keep it clear of snags and reefs it would +also bear him in safety down the river, to some place where there were +suppers and breakfasts to be had. +</P> + +<P> +It would not do to attempt the voyage on such a frail structure in the +dark, of course; and so, at sunset, Winn reluctantly began his +preparations for passing a night of loneliness on the island. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NIGHT OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS. +</H3> + + +<P> +Winn's preparations for the night were of the simplest description, +because he had so little to prepare. The boy tried to console himself +with this thought. "If I had provisions I should have to cook," he +said to himself; "and if there is one thing in this world meaner than +another it is cooking. I never realized before what mother has to go +through with every day. Never complains of it, either. She's a +regular angel, though, and things always seem to go right with her. +Now with boys it's just the other way. See what a fix I've got into +all on account of being a boy, and trying to do things. Seems to me +that Gilder must have been a pretty patient sort of a boy to learn to +cook the way he does. I wonder if he ever gets into scrapes? He'd be +in one if he was in my place now, and I wish I knew how he'd get out of +it." +</P> + +<P> +While thus thinking Winn was by no means idle. He cut a number of +bushes and leaned them against the ridge-pole of the "traders'" tent, +the frame of which they had left standing. This shelter was so +arranged as to form a wind-break on the north side of the fire, the +grateful warmth being thus reflected from its inner surface. An armful +of twigs and another of dry grass formed the boy's bed, and a drink of +river-water his supper. He had thought of passing the night in the +log-hut; but as darkness came on he could not bear the thought of its +lonesomeness. It was bad enough to be alone on the river-bank, with a +broad expanse of star-dotted sky to look at; but that forlorn little +hut, shut in on all sides by the dark forest! Ugh! It made him shiver +to think of it. No; he was decidedly better off where he was, and even +if his father came along during the night, which Winn did not think +probable, he could not fail to see the notice posted beside the +signal-fire. It was important that he should remain near his new raft +too, so that at the first streak of daylight he could board it and be +off. +</P> + +<P> +After a while the lonely lad fell into a sleep filled with troubled +dreams. An owl came and hooted above him; the night wind sighed +weirdly through the tall timber behind him; while queer gurglings, +mysterious splashings, and other strange sounds came from the +swift-flowing river close at hand. Although none of these sounds +wakened the boy, they tinged his dreams with their uncanniness. +</P> + +<P> +For some hours he slept, and then woke with a start. He was sitting +bolt upright, and felt certain that something cold and wet had just +touched his face. He put a hand to his cheek. Yes, there was a wet +spot. What were those two bright points shining in the dim fireglow! +They looked like eyes. Winn sprang to his feet. At his movement the +glowing eyeballs vanished. Some animal uttered an indescribable sound, +something between a bark and a snarl, there was a rustling of dead +leaves, and then all was still. +</P> + +<P> +While the boy stood trembling with the vague fear that always +accompanies a suspected but unknown danger, and staring blankly into +the darkness, there came to his ears from the forest depths a sound +that was almost as terrifying as the recent presence of the unknown +animal. It seemed a mingling of howls, cries, and groanings. It rose +and fell, now loud, and then almost inaudible; but it always came from +the direction of the deserted log-hut. At length it ceased, and now +Winn noticed for the first time that a faint light was beginning to +tinge the eastern sky above the tree-tops. +</P> + +<P> +"Daylight is coming," thought the boy, "and it is high time for me to +be off." He was glad of an excuse for leaving a place that had all at +once become filled with such unexplained terrors. Feeling his way +cautiously to the river-bank, he reached the little raft without +mishap. It took him some time to get it clear of the boom; but at +length he succeeded, and with a very decided feeling of relief he +pushed off into the current, and proceeded on his journey. +</P> + +<P> +Winn's spirits rose as his clumsy craft moved out from the heavy +shadows of the island, and he began to whistle to convince himself that +he had not been afraid of anything after all. Suddenly he heard low +voices close beside him, a dark object dashed up to his raft, and a +dazzling light was flashed full in his face. The next instant two men +sprang to his side, threw him down, searched him for arms, secured his +knife, which was the only thing resembling a weapon that he possessed, +and forced him into a large skiff containing several other men. +</P> + +<P> +"Close the lantern," ordered one of these in a low but stern voice, +"and pull for that fire on shore. No doubt we'll bag some more of them +there." Then to Winn the man said, "So you thought you could give us +the slip, did you, young fellow? Well, you found us up too early, +didn't you? Now the best thing you can do is to afford us all possible +aid in capturing the rest of your gang. It'll count big in your favor +with the Judge, I can tell you. How many are there on the island?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know what you mean—" began Winn, indignantly; but a heavy +hand was instantly clapped over his mouth. +</P> + +<P> +"Shut up!" whispered the man, hoarsely, but with terrible distinctness. +"If you speak another loud word I'll brain you. You'll find out what I +mean when we've landed you safely in Dubuque jail. Now answer me in a +whisper. How many of your pals are on the island?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't any pals," replied Winn, putting as much force into his +whisper as he dared, "and there isn't any one on the island. This is +an outrage, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"That will do," answered the man, sternly. "If that's the tone you are +going to take, we don't want to hear any more of it." +</P> + +<P> +Just then the bow of the skiff was run on the bank, and the man, +grasping Winn's arm, stepped ashore, saying, "Now make yourself useful, +young fellow, and lead us to your mint or den or whatever you call it. +If you don't want to I'll find a way to compel you, and if you try any +low-down tricks, I'll make you wish you'd never been born." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean the log-hut?" asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if that's what you call it; but you want to get a move onto you +in a hurry." +</P> + +<P> +Bewildered and indignant as he was, Winn was yet cool enough to realize +the folly of resistance. He also reflected that when these men found +the hut deserted, and that there was no one besides themselves on the +island, they would be willing to listen to his story. At any rate, so +long as he was in their power it was best to do as they directed. So, +with the leader's hand still grasping his arm, the boy led the way into +the narrow trail that he had already traversed so often. +</P> + +<P> +Proceeding slowly, and with such extreme caution that not a sound +betrayed their presence, the men followed in single file. At the edge +of the little clearing Winn halted, and was about to speak, when a hand +was again clapped over his mouth with the force of a blow. +</P> + +<P> +"Whisper!" came the order. +</P> + +<P> +"Well there's your hut," whispered the boy, as soon as he was given the +chance, "and if you find any one in it, then I'm a liar, that's all." +</P> + +<P> +The hut was plainly visible by the firelight that streamed from its +open window. Winn wondered at the brightness of this light, for it +seemed as though the fire he had left there the evening before ought to +have burned out long ago. He also wondered that he did not remember +having closed the door. As no light came from its direction, it +certainly appeared to be closed now. As these thoughts flashed through +the boy's mind, the man who held him, and who was evidently the leader +of the party, whispered, +</P> + +<P> +"You say there isn't anybody in there, but it looks to me as if there +was. Anyhow, we'll find out in another minute, and if you've led us +into a trap or played us false, I'll see that you swing for it, or my +name's not Riley. Bill, you stay here and see that this chap doesn't +put up any game on us while we surround that den of thieves. Have your +guns ready for use, men." +</P> + +<P> +Although all this was spoken in a whisper, inaudible beyond its +immediate group of hearers, there was no mistaking the man's stern +meaning, and Winn experienced an uneasy dread such as he had not +heretofore felt throughout this strange adventure. +</P> + +<P> +Suppose there should be some one in the hut? Suppose the +"river-traders" had returned to the island and should resent this +intrusion even to the point of resisting it? In such a case what would +happen to him? If his captors were triumphant they would declare he +had led them into a trap, for doing which they had promised to hang +him. If, on the other hand, the "river-traders" had returned and +should make a successful fight, would not their wrath also be directed +towards him for leading their assailants to the hut? In either case, +it seemed to the bewildered boy that his position was decidedly +unpleasant, and he awaited the immediate developments of the situation +with no little anxiety. +</P> + +<P> +Those who had followed him had disappeared like shadows, and Winn could +not detect a sound save the suppressed breathing of the man who had +been detailed to guard him, and who now held his arm. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a dog's bark broke the stillness, and a loud challenge, +followed by a pistol shot, rang out through the night air. There was a +confused trampling; the forest echoed with a roar of guns; the door of +the hut was burst open, and a furious rush was made for the interior. +</P> + +<P> +In his excitement Winn's guard loosed his hold of the boy's arm and +took a step forward, the better to distinguish what was going on. +</P> + +<P> +Winn was free, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, he slipped +behind a great tree-trunk, stole noiselessly a few paces farther, and +then dashed away with the speed of a deer back over the trail leading +to the river. He did not pause when he reached the camp in which he +had passed the night so unhappily, but bounded down the bank to the +water's edge. Here he cast loose the painter of the skiff that had +brought Mr. Riley and his men to the island, and, with a mighty shove +towards the channel, gave a spring that landed him at full length in +its bottom. Here he lay breathless and almost motionless for the next +thirty minutes, or until his craft had drifted below the tail of the +island, and was spinning down the main channel of the great river. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BILLY BRACKETT'S SURPRISING SITUATION. +</H3> + + +<P> +When Billy Brackett set forth on his search for a nephew and a runaway +raft he did not anticipate any difficulty in finding them. The +appearance of the raft had been minutely described to him, and, +according to this description, it was too distinctive in its character +to be mistaken for anything else. Three shanties, and they of unusual +construction, on a raft of that size formed a peculiarity sufficient to +arrest the immediate attention of all river men. Thus the young +engineer felt certain that by making an occasional inquiry and +proceeding at a speed at least double that of the raft, he could easily +trace and overtake it, even though it should not run aground, which he +thought more than likely to happen early in its voyage. +</P> + +<P> +So Billy Brackett rowed down the creek without a trace of anxiety to +mar the pleasure of the adventure into which he had so unexpectedly +tumbled. One peculiarity of this light-hearted young man was that no +proposition to leave a beaten track and strike into an unexplored +trail, even though it led in exactly the opposite direction, could be +too absurd or unexpected to meet with his ready approval, always +providing it promised plenty of adventure. At the same time he never +lost sight of the fact that he had a living to earn, besides a +professional reputation to win and maintain. Consequently he generally +managed to make his adventures keep step with his duties. In the +present instance he felt that Major Caspar's aid was necessary to the +fulfilling of his timber contract. He also realized that the only way +to obtain it was by taking his brother-in-law's place in searching for +the lost raft and navigating it down the river to a market. He had no +family ties to bind him to times or places, and with Bim for company he +was ready to start at any moment for any portion of the globe. +</P> + +<P> +"Bim" was a diminutive of Cherubim, a name bestowed by its present +owner upon the wretched puppy that he had rescued from an abandoned +emigrant wagon high up in the California Sierras, because like Cherubim +and Seraphim he "continually did cry." The little one was nearly dead, +and its mother, lying beside it, was quite so, when they were +discovered by the tender-hearted engineer. He had fought his way +through a blinding snowstorm and high-piled drifts to the abandoned +wagon on the chance of finding human beings in distress. When he +discovered only a forlorn little bull-pup, he buttoned it warmly under +his blanket overcoat and fought his way back to camp. During that +struggle the helpless creature won its way to Billy Brackett's heart, +as all young things, human or animal, were sure to do, and assumed a +place there that had never since been resigned. +</P> + +<P> +From that day Bim, or "U-Bim," as he was sometimes called, had so +thrived under good feeding, kind care, and judicious training that when +he started with his master to voyage down the great river he was as +fine a specimen of a full-blooded bull-dog as could be found in the +country. He was pure white, bow-legged, and broad-chested. His upper +lip was drawn slightly back, so as to display his teeth; but this +expression of ferocity was relieved by the almost human intelligence of +his eyes. He was absolutely fearless, but as loving and gentle as he +was brave. He understood every word spoken within his hearing, and his +master declared that for his wisdom he ought to be named "Solomon." He +never made an unprovoked assault upon a living creature, and would +stand any amount of abuse from children or those weaker than himself. +Let an indignity be offered to his beloved master in his presence, +though, and his fury was as terrible as that of a young lion. Then woe +to the unfortunate in whose flesh those gleaming teeth were once +fastened. From the vise-like grip of the powerful jaws behind them +nothing but death or Billy Brackett's command could effect a release. +</P> + +<P> +Such were the occupants of the skiff that soon after dusk shot out from +the mouth of the Caspar Creek on the broad bosom of the great river. +Billy Brackett talked to his dog as he would to a human companion, and +at that moment he was saying: +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Bim, I've a great mind to play a joke on that young nephew +of ours when we find him. You see, he won't know us from Adam, and +probably doesn't remember that he has an Uncle William in the world. +Now what is to hinder us from working the stranger racket on him? +Wrecked, or broke, or something, and want to earn a passage down the +river on a raft, it being easier as well as more sociable and +pleasanter in every way than a steamboat. What's to hinder us from +doing it, eh? Nothing? Right you are, old dog, and we'll do it, too, +if we get the chance. Thus will we discover what sort of stuff he is +made of, and get acquainted with his inside self, as Glen Eddy used to +say. So you understand, U-Bim, that you are not to give us away or let +on that we are any kin to the Caspars. <I>Sabe</I>? All right. Now for a +twenty-mile spin down-stream, and then we'll hunt a place to lie by for +the night." +</P> + +<P> +With this the young man bent lustily to his oars, while Bim sat in the +stern of the skiff, alert to every movement made by his master, and +swaying his body like that of a genuine cockswain. +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett recognized the "Slant Crossing," when they reached it, +from the description he had received of its length and direction; but +below that point the river for a thousand miles was a blank so far as +his personal knowledge of it was concerned. +</P> + +<P> +Although the night was dark, and there were but few guide-lights on the +river in those days, he found no difficulty in keeping the channel +until the skiff passed through the chute at the head of Winn's island. +At this point the false channel seemed, in the darkness, to be as wide +and desirable as the true one, and for a minute he was puzzled as to +which he should take. "Not that I suppose it would make any great +difference," he remarked to Bim. "It's about time to tie up, though, +and we want to be sure to do that on the main channel, so as not to +miss a chance of seeing the raft at daylight." +</P> + +<P> +For answer Bim left his seat, ran to the bow of the boat, uttered a +short bark, and fixed his gaze pointedly down-stream. +</P> + +<P> +"A light, as sure as you are a dog of wisdom!" cried Billy Brackett, +looking in the direction thus indicated. "I vow, Bim, your name ought +to be 'Solomon Minerva,' and I must have a 'howl' engraved on your +collar the first chance I get. That is, if you ever arrive at the +dignity of owning any collar besides that old strap. Your light looks +as though it might proceed from a camp-fire, and I reckon it's on the +main channel too. At any rate, we'll pull down there and make +inquiries." +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes later the skiff was run ashore near the beacon blaze that +Winn Caspar had left on the eastern side of the island, and its +occupants were searching the vicinity for those whom Billy Brackett had +so confidently expected to find near it. +</P> + +<P> +"It is very strange," he muttered. "Some one must have built this +fire; but why he did so if he didn't want to camp beside it beats me. +Hello! What's this? Hooray; we are on the right track after all! But +what foolishness is that boy up to? and what can he be doing on this +island? Thirdly, where is the raft? Eh, Bim! You haven't seen a +stray raft round here, have you? No. I thought you would have +mentioned it if you had. So he is on this island is he? and leaves +word that we can find him by following the trail? Perhaps the trail +leads to the raft; but where is the trail? Hello! you've struck it, +have you? Good dog! Here, let me tie this bit of twine to your +collar. There, now you're better than a lantern." +</P> + +<P> +As we all know, the trail upon which Billy Brackett and Bim were thus +started led directly to the log-hut in the forest. When the former +discovered this, he fully expected to find his nephew within. To his +surprise, although a fire smouldered on the hearth, there was no other +sign of human occupancy. Then the young man searched in vain for some +hit of writing, such as had guided him to this point. +</P> + +<P> +"I declare!" he exclaimed at length; "the corollary is worse than the +theorem, and things are becoming so decidedly mixed that we must begin +to go slow. I for one propose to replenish that fire, and then bunk +down right here for the rest of the night." +</P> + +<P> +With this the young man went out into the darkness and began groping +about for wood with which to keep up the fire until morning. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time, Bim, left to his own devices, had struck the trail +leading from the hut to Winn's camp, and started along it, probably +thinking that his master was following him as before. The dog soon +discovered Winn, and undertook to establish friendly relations with him +by rubbing his cold nose against the boy's cheek. The suddenness with +which Winn started up caused the dog to spring back into the darkness, +from the shelter of which he regarded his new acquaintance +distrustfully. Just then Billy Brackett, to cheer the loneliness of +his log-hut, began to chant the ballad of "The Baldheaded Man," and +Bim, hearing his master's voice, darted off in that direction. +</P> + +<P> +Now Billy Brackett, though very fond of music, and possessed of an +inextinguishable longing to produce melodious sounds, could not sing +any more than Bim could. His efforts in this line had so often been +greeted with derisive shouts and unkind remarks by his engineering +comrades that he no longer attempted to sing in public. When alone, +however, and out of hearing of his fellows, he still sometimes broke +forth into song. Bim always howled in sympathy, but the effect of +their combined efforts had never been so surprising as upon the present +occasion, when they caused the precipitate flight from the island of +the very nephew for whom the young engineer was searching. +</P> + +<P> +In blissful ignorance of this unfortunate result of their performance, +Billy Brackett and Bim sang and howled in concert, until their +repertory was exhausted, when they lay down on the floor of the hut, +and with the facility of those to whom camp life has become a second +nature, were quickly asleep. From this slumber Billy Brackett was +startlingly awakened, some time later, by Bim's bark, and a pistol shot +that rang out from the profound stillness of the forest like a +thunder-clap. He grasped the dog's collar and sat up. Before he could +rise any farther there came a roar of guns, a trampling of feet, a +confusion of voices, a rush, and a crashing of wood. The next instant +the door of his hut was burst in, and the room was filled with armed +men, every one of whom seemed to be pointing a rifle or a pistol +straight at his devoted head. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRAPPERS TRAPPED. +</H3> + + +<P> +When the leader of the party by whom Winn had been made prisoner (as +related in the last chapter but one) peered cautiously in at the open +window of the log-hut to make certain that it was occupied, he was +disappointed to discover but one man, where he had confidently expected +to find several. +</P> + +<P> +This leader, who had told Winn that his name was Riley, was a Sheriff, +though such a new one that this was his first important undertaking +since assuming office. Consequently he was most anxious for its +success, and also somewhat nervous from anxiety. He had laid his plans +well, the hut was completely surrounded, and he was elated at the +thought of the prize so surely within his grasp, as well as of the +glory that would be his for effecting this important capture. He +expected to find several men in the hut, and counted upon their being +desperate characters who would make a stout resistance before yielding +themselves prisoners. The Sheriff had therefore prepared his followers +for a fight, and made all his arrangements with this in prospect. Now, +to discover but one man, and he peacefully sleeping, caused these +warlike preparations to appear ridiculous, and called for a decided +modification of Mr. Riley's plans. +</P> + +<P> +Having satisfied himself by a careful survey that the man had no +companions, and that the hut contained no rifles nor other fire-arms, +the Sheriff retired noiselessly from the window and rejoined his +followers. He explained the situation in a whisper, and then proposed +that as they could not fight a single unarmed man, they should paralyze +him with terror. As the Sheriff expressed it, they would "scare him +stiff" by a general discharge of guns, a yell, and a rush for the door. +These were to follow a signal that he would give from his post at the +open window, through which he would cover the sleeping man with his +revolver. +</P> + +<P> +The new programme being understood, the Sheriff returned to his +station, pointed his pistol at Billy Brackett's head, and was about to +order him to throw up his hands and surrender, when he made a slight +movement that aroused Bim. This faithful sentinel sprang up with a +loud bark. In the dim light Sheriff Riley had not noticed the dog, and +he was so much upset by this unexpected challenge that his finger +closed on the hair-trigger of his revolver. Fortunately his aim was so +wild that no harm was done by the shot that followed. It was all the +signal that the Sheriff's followers needed, and they immediately +carried out their part of the programme to the letter. +</P> + +<P> +When the tumult subsided, the situation was as already described. +Billy Brackett sat on the floor, grasping Bim's collar, and awaiting +further developments as calmly as though he were merely a disinterested +spectator of this unique performance. The dog, with teeth displayed to +an alarming extent, stood ready to fly at the invaders whenever he +should be released. In front of this group, and a few paces from it, +stood half a dozen men, all of whom held guns that were pointed at the +young engineer. The form of the Sheriff, with pistol still levelled at +his prisoner, appeared at the open window. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you surrender?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," replied Billy Brackett, cheerfully; "if you desire it. +I'm always ready to accommodate, especially when it's no trouble to do +so." +</P> + +<P> +"Throw up your hands, then," commanded the Sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"To do that," argued the prisoner, without moving, "I shall be obliged +to let go my hold of this bull-dog. The moment I do so our friends +with the empty guns will be apt to fancy that about a yard of +particularly hot and well-greased lightning has been forged for their +especial benefit. Still, if you insist—" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, hang your dog!" exclaimed Mr. Riley. "You must hold on to him, of +course, until we can find a rope to tie him with. Where are your pals?" +</P> + +<P> +"This is the only one I have at present," answered Billy Brackett, +indicating him by a glance; "but I am in search of another, and have +reason to believe that he is on this island at this very minute. +Haven't seen anything of him, have you? He is a young fellow, about +sixteen, named Caspar, son of Major Caspar, of Caspar's Mill, up the +river a bit. He left home yesterday on a raft, and I was to join him +hereabouts." +</P> + +<P> +"What sort of a raft?" asked the Sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"Big timber raft. Two sweeps at each end, and three shanties on it, +two of them filled with wheat." +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Mr. Riley, in a relieved tone; for on hearing the +well-known name of Caspar his men had exchanged meaning looks and +smiles, which indicated their belief that the Sheriff might be getting +into hot-water. "I did arrest a young rascal of about that age half an +hour ago," he continued, "just as he was leaving this island on a raft; +but it was only a small affair, built of two or three logs, and not at +all such a raft as you describe. I've got the boy out here now, and I +believe him to be one of your pals, in spite of your cheeky talk. Yon +don't want to give me any more of it, either," he concluded, in a +fierce tone, assumed to reassert the dignity of his office. "So just +cork up, and come along quietly, or you may find yourself in trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," replied Billy Brackett, calmly; "but first, perhaps you'll +be kind enough to tell me who you are, why you are taking such an +interest in me, and where you want me to go." +</P> + +<P> +"I am the Sheriff of Dubuque County, Iowa," was the answer. "I have a +warrant for your arrest as a member of the most dangerous gang of +counterfeiters that has ever operated in this section of country, and I +want you to go with me to the county jail, which will be only a +stopping-place on your journey to State-prison." +</P> + +<P> +"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sheriff, and obliged for +your courtesy," said Billy Brackett, politely. "Now if you will do me +the favor to read the names mentioned in your warrant, I shall have +nothing further to request." +</P> + +<P> +"William Gresham, <I>alias</I> Gilder, <I>et al.</I>," replied Mr. Riley. +</P> + +<P> +"Good. But suppose I can prove to you that I am not the person you +take me to be, and that my name is neither Gresham nor Gilder, <I>et +al.</I>, but that I am a civil engineer, William Brackett by name, +brother-in-law of Major Caspar, whom I am certain you must know, and +that you are making a rather sizable mistake in connection with this +business. Supposing, also, I state that I am just now engaged on an +important mission which will not admit of delay, and that in case you +insist on taking me to jail, I can and will make you suffer, even to +the extent of losing your office." +</P> + +<P> +By this time Billy Brackett was standing up, while Bim, reluctantly +obeying his stern command, lay motionless at his feet. The men of the +Sheriff's posse had ceased to level their guns at the young engineer, +and even Mr. Riley was so impressed with this bold attitude and +declaration of innocence that he consented to come inside the hut and +examine the papers offered for his inspection. He was about to declare +his satisfaction with them, and admit that perhaps he had made a +mistake, when the man whom he had left to guard Winn rushed up with the +announcement that his prisoner had escaped. +</P> + +<P> +At this the Sheriff's face clouded angrily. "We'll find him if he is +still on the island!" he exclaimed. "If he has left it we'll follow +him; and, at any rate, Mr. Brackett, I must now insist upon your coming +to Dubuque, where you will be granted every opportunity for proving +what you please. In the mean time, you and I will await here the +result of the search for the escaped prisoner that my men will at once +proceed to make." +</P> + +<P> +To this Billy Brackett returned no answer, but stood silently +considering how he should avoid the vexatious delay that now appeared +inevitable. While he was thus cudgelling his brains, one of the +searching party returned to report that the skiff in which they had +come up the river was missing. +</P> + +<P> +The Sheriff became furious. "I don't believe it!" he cried. "Here, +you! Stop and guard this prisoner, while I go and take charge of the +search myself." +</P> + +<P> +As Mr. Riley departed, the new guard entered the hut, leaned his rifle +against the wall, and took a seat near the door. +</P> + +<P> +Then Billy Brackett stooped and whispered to his ever-faithful comrade, +"Watch him, Bim!" and the dog answered with a low growl that spoke +volumes. Turning to the guard the young engineer said, "My friend, if +you make the slightest motion or shout for help, that bull-dog will fly +at your throat. I am going to leave you alone with him for a minute, +and as you value your life, I beg of you to keep perfectly quiet until +you hear from me." With this the prisoner leaped lightly from the +window and disappeared. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-094"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-094.jpg" ALT=""'Watch him, Bim!'"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="346" HEIGHT="390"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'Watch him, Bim!'"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +For two minutes the guard sat as motionless as though carved from +stone, his fascinated gaze fixed on the gleaming teeth and bloodshot +eyes of the bull-dog that stood rigidly before him. Then a shrill +whistle rang out on the still air, and at its sound the dog, dashing +past him, disappeared like a flash. In another minute Billy Brackett's +lusty strokes were sending his own skiff dancing out towards the middle +of the main channel, while Bim, thumping with his tail in appreciation +of his master's praises, occupied the stern seat as calmly as though +with him such events as those just recorded were of every-day +occurrence. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WINN'S LONELY CRUISE. +</H3> + + +<P> +During the half-hour that Winn allowed to elapse before he considered +it safe to rise from his recumbent position in the bottom of the skiff, +he had ample opportunity to recover his breath, and reflect upon the +new situation into which he had been so strangely forced. At first he +fancied that he heard sounds of pursuit, and momentarily expected to be +greeted by a stern order from the bank to bring the skiff ashore. He +wondered if a failure to comply would be followed by a rifle-shot, and +then began to calculate the chances of being hit in such a case. But +why should he be shot at? What had he done that he should be arrested, +threatened with jail and hanging, and treated like an outlaw generally? +Whom did these men take him for? and who were they? By the manner in +which they had spoken of a judge, they must represent the law in some +way; but why he should be an object of their pursuit puzzled the boy +more than a little. +</P> + +<P> +To be sure, he had now laid himself open to the suspicion of being a +river thief, by carrying off their skiff. Would it not be well to +return it at once? He could talk to them, and explain how he happened +to be on the island, while still at such a distance from shore as to be +beyond their reach. They might shoot, though, and if they really +considered him the rascal they pretended, it was almost certain that +they would. No, that plan would not work. The only thing left to be +done was to take the skiff to Dubuque, telegraph to his father from +there, or try and find one of the Major's friends in that city who +would do so for him, and at the same time provide him with food and +shelter until his father came. Yes, that was the best plan. +</P> + +<P> +Having reached this determination, Winn sat up and looked about him. +The light which he had mistaken for dawn was that of a late-rising +moon, and it hardly penetrated the mist hanging low over the river. +There was nothing in sight; not even the dark mass of timber on the +island. Winn might have been in the middle of the ocean for all that +he could see or hear. Never in his life had the boy felt so utterly +forsaken and alone. He decided to pull diagonally across the current +towards shore, the mere sight of which would be reassuring. But where +were the oars? Until this moment he had not noticed that there were +none in the boat. For some unknown reason they had been taken from it +when the party landed on the island; and now the lonely navigator was +utterly without the means of propelling or even guiding his craft. He +tried to tear up one of the floor boards, with the idea of using it as +a paddle; but it was nailed in place so firmly as to resist his utmost +efforts. Finally, faint for want of food, exhausted, and disheartened, +the poor boy threw himself in the bottom of the skiff and yielded to +his despair. At length he fell asleep. +</P> + +<P> +So the dawn of Winn's second day on the river caught him napping, as +the first had done. In its gray light the skiff drifted past the +little city of Dubuque, perched high on the bluffs of the western bank, +but no one saw it. There were several steamboats and trading scows +tied to the narrow levee, but their crews were still buried in slumber. +Even had they been awake they would hardly have noticed the little +craft far out in the stream, drifting with the hurrying waters. In a +few minutes it was gone, and the sleeping city was none the wiser for +its passing. So for hours it drifted, now bow on, then broadside to, +and as often stern first; here caught and spun round by an eddy, then +tossed aside and allowed to proceed on its unguided course. The +cotton-woods on the tow-heads beckoned to it with their trembling +fingers; but it paid no heed. Grim snags lay in wait for it, but it +nimbly avoided them, and as the hours passed each one of them saw the +drifting skiff some miles farther away from the island at which this +strange voyage was begun. +</P> + +<P> +When Winn finally awoke, he was so bewildered, and so much at a loss to +account for his surroundings, that for a minute he lay motionless, +collecting his scattered senses. It certainly was late in the day, for +the sun was shining full upon him from high in the heavens. He had +that comfort at least; but oh! how he ached from lying on that hard +floor, and how faint he was from hunger. +</P> + +<P> +The boy's head rested on a thwart, and he faced the after-end of the +skiff. As he was about to rise, his glance fell on something wrapped +in newspaper and tucked under the stern seat. If it should only prove +to be food of any description, "even burned mush," thought Winn, +grimly, how happy it would make him! In another second he was undoing, +with eager fingers, the lunch of crackers and cheese that Sheriff +Riley's wife had so thoughtfully thrust into her husband's hands as he +left the house the morning before, and which he had as thoughtfully +tucked under the stern seat of his skiff. He was probably thinking of +it, and wishing he had it, at this very moment. As for Winn, he was +eating it as fast as possible, and thinking that he had never tasted +such good crackers or such a fine piece of cheese in his life. With +each mouthful his spirits rose and his strength returned, until, when +the last crumb had disappeared and been washed down with a double +handful of sweet river-water, the boy's pluck and cheerfulness were +fully restored. +</P> + +<P> +Now what should he do? He did not know that he had passed Dubuque, +though he feared that such might be the case. Thinking of it brought +to mind the island with those upon whom he had so recently turned the +tables, and left as prisoners within its limits. He even laughed aloud +as he pictured them toiling, as he had toiled the evening before, to +construct a raft on which to escape. "I wonder if they found any one +in that log-hut," he thought, recalling its lighted window. "And, oh! +if it should have been father! It might have been. He might have seen +my signal-fire, found my message, and got as far as the hut. Now what +will he do? Oh, how I wish I could get back! Why didn't I think of +all this before leaving the island? That was a horrid sound in the +woods, though. And that animal! I wonder what it could have been?" +</P> + +<P> +By this time the current had carried the skiff close in to the drowned +bottom-lands of the Illinois shore. They were covered with a heavy +growth of timber, and Winn knew that in many places the wellnigh +impassable swamps which this concealed extended back a mile or more +from the channel. Otherwise he would have abandoned the skiff and made +the attempt to swim ashore. +</P> + +<P> +The Iowa bluffs rose invitingly on the opposite side of the river. On +them he saw a few scattered settlements, but they were too far away, +and he must wait until the current set him in that direction before +thinking of making a landing. He saw an occasional ferry-boat making +its slow way across the river, but it was always either too far above +him or too far below him for his signals to be noticed, and so the +hours dragged on until it was late afternoon, and Winn was again +beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. +</P> + +<P> +"I can't spend another night in this wretched boat!" he exclaimed +aloud, when he saw that the sun was within an hour of its setting. +"I'll swim the whole width of the river first!" +</P> + +<P> +During the day he had passed a number of small islands, but had not +cared to attempt a landing on them. He knew that he would be even +worse off on an island than in the skiff, and so he had watched them +glide by without giving them any particular thought. Suddenly it +occurred to him that on any one of these islands he might pick up an +oar, a paddle, or at least something that would answer in place of +these, and from that instant they acquired a new interest. +</P> + +<P> +The next one that he approached was only a tow-head, which is a +sand-bar on which has sprung up a thick growth of slender cotton-woods, +or other quick-shooting, water-loving trees. +</P> + +<P> +"I might find what I want there as well as on a larger island," thought +Winn, "and, at any rate, I'll make a try for it." So when the skiff +had drifted as near the tow-head as it seemed likely to, and was +rapidly sliding past it, the boy threw off his coat, kicked off his +shoes, and, taking one end of the skiff's painter with him, plunged +overboard and began to swim towards the desired point. +</P> + +<P> +The distance was not more than a hundred feet, but the current swept +him down so much more rapidly than he expected that he was barely able +to catch one of the very last of the tow-head saplings and cling to it. +While his own progress was thus checked, that of the skiff was not, and +in a second the painter was jerked from his hand. +</P> + +<P> +Exhausted as he was, Winn was on the point of letting go his hold on +the sapling and making a desperate effort to overtake the rapidly +receding skiff. Fortunately he had enough practical sense, though this +is not generally credited to sixteen-year-old boys, to restrain him +from such a rash act. So he crawled out on the sand beach, and sat +there watching what he considered to be his only hope grow smaller and +smaller until it finally disappeared. As it did so, the sun slowly +sank behind the western bluffs; and though the boy did not look up from +the wet sand on which he had flung himself, he knew instinctively that +another night, with its darkness, its chill, and its nameless terrors, +was upon him. +</P> + +<P> +He was so numbed by this latest disaster that he had not the heart even +to seek a place of shelter for the night. What good would anything +that he could find or construct do him? He had neither matches nor +food, dry clothing nor bedding. What did it matter, though? He would +probably be dead before the sun rose again, anyway. So the poor lad +nursed his misery, and might, in truth, have lain on those wet sands +until he perished, so despairing was he, when all at once he was +aroused by a sound so strange to hear in that place that, though he +raised his head to listen, he thought he must be dreaming. He wasn't, +though, for there came again to his ears, as distinct as anything ever +heard in his life, a merry peal of clear girlish laughter. Not only +that, but it sounded so close at hand that the boy sprang to his feet +and gazed eagerly in the direction from which it came, fully expecting +to see its author standing near him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A PEAL OF GIRLISH LAUGHTER. +</H3> + + +<P> +In vain did Winn gaze in every direction, up and down the river, across +its darkening waters, and into the shadowy thicket behind him. There +were no objects in sight, save those with which he was already only too +familiar. Again he began to doubt the evidence of his senses, and wonder +if his mind had not become somewhat unsettled by his misfortunes. But +no, there was the ringing peal of laughter again. This time it was +accompanied by a strange chattering sound such as he had never heard +before. At the same moment a most delicious whiff of frying bacon +reached the hungry boy, mingled with the unmistakable and equally +enticing odor of coffee. There was no doubt as to the direction from +which these came, and plunging into the cotton-wood thicket, Winn made +his way diagonally up and across the tow-head. +</P> + +<P> +In less than a minute he reached its opposite side, where he halted to +gaze with amazement at the very strangest-looking craft he had ever seen. +At first he thought it a small stern-wheeled steamboat. She certainly +had such a wheel, but then there was no chimney. Perhaps she was a +trading-scow. Who ever heard, though, of a trading-scow with a +pilot-house such as this nondescript craft had on the forward end of its +upper deck? Besides, there were no sweeps, nor was she in the least like +any trading-scow Winn had ever seen. A low house occupied her entire +width, and extended along her whole length except at the curve of her +bows, where there was room left for a small deck. A structure with a +door and windows, that was somewhat larger than the pilot-house, rose +from the upper deck near its after-end. There were three doors on each +side of the main house, a large one well forward, a small one nearly +amidship, and another large one well aft. There were also six small +windows on each side, and from three of those nearest Winn a cheerful +light was streaming, while the other three were dark. There was a name +painted on the boat's side in such large black letters that even in the +fading twilight Winn managed to read it—"<I>W-H-A-T-N-O-T</I>," he spelled +slowly—"<I>Whatnot</I>! Well, if that isn't the queerest name for a boat I +ever heard of!" +</P> + +<P> +Just then, however, there were things of far greater importance to a boy +in his situation than queer names. The tantalizing odors that were +pouring from that after-window, for instance, and the sound of voices +that rang out merrily from the two just beyond it. The boat was moored +to a tree, with her bows pointed up-stream, and had swung in so close to +shore that by standing on a half-submerged log, which served as a fender +to keep her off a few feet from the bank, Winn could look into one of the +open windows. It was evidently that of the galley, for the odor of +frying came from it, and half hidden in a cloud of fragrant steam was the +form of a negro bending over a small stove. +</P> + +<P> +This was a welcome and comforting sight; but hungry as he was, Winn's +curiosity was stronger than his appetite. He must see into those other +windows, and discover the source of the merry laughter that had so +suddenly banished his loneliness and despair of a few minutes before. +Cautiously advancing a few steps along the slippery log, he reached a +point that commanded a view of the room or compartment next forward of +the galley. It was of good size, and occupied the entire width of the +boat. +</P> + +<P> +In the centre of this room was a table spread for supper, and beside it, +so as to take advantage of its bright lamp, was a group that to Winn +appeared both extraordinary and fascinating. A white-haired old man was +seated before an easel, on which was stretched a large canvas. A young +girl stood near him watching the movements of his brush with deep +interest, and at the same time evidently restraining, with gentle but +firm hands, the impatient struggles of something which she addressed as +"Don Blossom," but whether it was a child or an animal Winn could not +see. In his effort to do so he stood on tiptoe, and just as the old man +began to say, "There, Sabella, that will do for this sitting," the boy's +treacherous footing slipped from under him. +</P> + +<P> +With a half-suppressed cry and a loud splash he was plunged headlong into +the narrow space of water between the boat and the shore. +</P> + +<P> +A frightened exclamation came from the interior of the boat, and then the +small door on that side was flung open. At the same instant a woolly +head was thrust out of the galley window, and a trembling voice cried, +"Golly, Marse Cap'n! Wha' dat ar? Yo' heah um?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Solon, I heard it, and you want to come here as quick as you can. +Some one is in trouble," answered the old man, who was standing with the +girl in the open doorway. He held a lamp above his head, and was peering +anxiously in the direction of the splashings and flounderings that Winn, +sitting in the shallow water, but tightly wedged between the log and the +boat, was making in his efforts to extricate himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Who's there?" cried the old man, who could not yet make out what was +taking place; "and what are you doing?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-108"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-108.jpg" ALT=""'Who's there?' cried the old man"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="366" HEIGHT="584"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'Who's there?' cried the old man"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"It's me!" returned Winn, regardless of his grammar; "and I am sinking in +this awful mud. Hurry up and push your boat away from the log, or I +shall be drowned!" +</P> + +<P> +While the old man and the negro exerted all their strength at the pole, +with which they finally succeeded in pushing the boat a foot or so out +into the stream, Sabella was also busy. Though greatly excited, and +somewhat alarmed by the unexpected appearance of a human being in that +place, and his perilous situation, she still had presence of mind enough +to run for a rope, one end of which she fastened to the table. She +carried the other end out through the door, and tossed it over the side +just in time for Winn to catch it, as the moving of the boat once more +gave him freedom of action. +</P> + +<P> +Hauling himself up by this welcome rope, and at the same time being +assisted by the two men, the boy quickly gained the open doorway, where +he stood blinking in the bright lamplight, while mud and water ran from +him in streams. He faced the occupants of the boat, who, standing a few +steps back in the room, regarded him with undisguised wonder, not unmixed +with suspicion. On the table behind them stood a small, gaudily-dressed +object, that Winn at first took to be a child. Upon his appearance it +remained motionless for a few seconds, and then, with a frightened cry, +it sprang to the little girl's shoulder, from which it peered at the +stranger, chattering angrily all the while. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I am blest if this isn't a most extraordinary situation!" +exclaimed the old man. "It suggests a tableau of Venus rising from the +sea." +</P> + +<P> +"Or a alligator," said the negro. +</P> + +<P> +Sabella wanted to laugh at the comical spectacle presented by the +dripping, coatless, hatless, bare-footed, and generally woe-begone boy; +but pitying his evident embarrassment, she exclaimed: +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle, how can you! Don't you see that he is shivering? You must go at +once and find him some dry clothes. Solon, show this boy to the +engine-room, where he can change his wet things. Don Blossom, be quiet, +sir! Aren't you ashamed of yourself!" Then, turning to Winn with a +cheery smile, she said, "We are very sorry for your accident, and should +like to know all about it after you are dry again. If you will go with +Solon to the engine-room, he will do everything he can for you." +</P> + +<P> +The Captain had already hastened away on his quest for dry clothing. As +he left the room, Winn noticed that he had a wooden leg. It was not one +of the modern kind, so carefully constructed as to closely resemble the +real article, but an old-fashioned, iron-shod stick of timber strapped to +his right knee. +</P> + +<P> +As Sabella finished speaking, she too left the room, running after the +Captain, and smiling cheerfully as she went at the mud-streaked boy, who +still stood speechless and motionless in the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +Now, at Solon's invitation he followed the negro into what had been +called the engine-room, though to Winn's eye it looked as little like an +engine-room as any place he had ever known. At one side was a +horse-power treadmill, such as he had often seen used for the sawing of +wood. Half of it was sunk below the level of the deck, and covered with +a removable floor. It was geared in the most direct and simple manner to +a shaft that disappeared through the rear wall of the room, and +presumably connected with the stern wheel he had previously noticed. +There was also a belt extending to a shaft pulley overhead, but beyond +this there was no trace of machinery, nor was there either boiler or +furnace. There was what looked like a stall at one end of the room, but +it contained only bales of hay and sacks of oats. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sah, we uses a mewel-ingine when we hab um. We hain't got no mewel +at de present time, but we 'specs ter contrac' fer one shortly," +explained the negro, noting Winn's inquiring glances, as he assisted him +to remove his wet garments. +</P> + +<P> +Before the boy had a chance to ask the questions that were at his +tongue's end, he, as well as the other occupants of the boat, was +startled by a loud hail from the river. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello! What steamer is that?" +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>Whatnot</I>, of Dubuque," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know the Sheriff of Dubuque County?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who—Riley? Yes, I know him." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know his skiff?" +</P> + +<P> +"As well as I know my own boat, for I built it." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you seen it pass down the river to-day, containing only a boy +between sixteen and seventeen years old?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. Haven't seen it or any other skiff. What's the matter? Has it +been stolen?" +</P> + +<P> +"That'll do, thank you. Good-night," came the reply, without an answer +to this last question, and then the stranger passed out of hearing down +the river. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +"CAP'N COD," SABELLA, AND THE <I>WHATNOT</I>. +</H3> + + +<P> +In order to explain the presence beside that tow-head of the queer +craft on board which Winn had found shelter, and of its several +occupants, who were making such kindly efforts to relieve his distress, +it is necessary to take a twenty-year glance backward. At that time +Aleck Fifield, a Yankee jack-of-all-trades, who had been by turns a +school-teacher, sailor, mechanic, boat-builder, and several other +things as well, found himself employed as stage-carpenter in a Boston +theatre. He had always been possessed of artistic tastes, though they +had never carried him beyond sign-painting, and of dramatic longings, +which had thus far been satisfied with a diligent reading of +Shakespeare and attending the theatre at every opportunity. Now, being +regularly connected with the stage, both these tastes expanded, until +through one of them he blossomed into a very passable scene-painter. +Through the other he overwhelmed himself with despair, and convulsed an +audience with laughter, by appearing once, and once only, as Captain +Thomas Codringhampton in the popular sea drama of "Blue Billows." His +failure as an actor was so dismal and complete as to be notorious. +Unkind comparisons of other bad acting with that of Cap'n Cod became +stock jokes in every theatre of the country. From that day the stage +name clung to him; and though it galled at first, the passage of time +soothed the wound, until finally Aleck Fifield became proud of the +name. As he grew older, it represented to him the fame for which he +had longed when young. When the war broke out and he became one of the +bravest defenders of the Union, he was everywhere known as "Cap'n Cod." +After the war, in which he managed to lose a leg, he went to Iowa to +live with his only relative, a widowed niece, who had but one child, a +little girl. +</P> + +<P> +Between this child, Sabella, and the white-haired veteran, who could +tell more tales than a fairy-book, and construct more toys than Santa +Claus ever dreamed of, there sprang up an affection that could not have +been stronger had they been father and daughter. On one side it was +based upon boundless love and admiration, and on the other upon +admiration and boundless love. When Sabella went to school, the +Captain's business kept him within sight of the school-house; and when +school was out, the little girl was nowhere happier than in his +company. For her sake he was the friend of her friends, and among the +children of Dubuque no one was so popular as Cap'n Cod. They did not +live in the city, but on a small farm a few miles from it, and this +Cap'n Cod was supposed to manage. Farming was, however, the one +occupation for which he had no taste, and but for his capable niece the +annual crops would not have paid the expense of raising them. +</P> + +<P> +When Sabella was twelve years old and rapidly developing into beautiful +girlhood, her mother died, leaving her and her little property to the +unrestricted guardianship of Cap'n Cod. Now matters went from bad to +worse so far as the farm was concerned, until, to save it from the +hammer, it was deemed best to rent it to a more practical farmer than +the child's devoted guardian. +</P> + +<P> +This gave Cap'n Cod the opportunity and an excuse for carrying out a +cherished scheme that, but for the opposition of his niece, he would +have put into operation long before. It was the painting of a +panorama, the building of a boat to hold it, and thus equipped, to +float away down the great river in search of fame and fortune. Now +Sabella must of course be included in the plan; for not only did she +and Cap'n Cod consider it impossible to get along without each other, +but the latter declared that such a bit of travel would be the very +best kind of an education for his grand-niece. +</P> + +<P> +This scheme had been in the old man's mind for so long that the +panorama, worked on at odd moments for more than two years, was nearly +finished at the time of his niece's death. With his own savings, and +largely by his own labor, he now built his boat, the <I>Whatnot</I>. When +she was completed, his money was gone. But what of that? Was he not +prepared to realize a fortune? He knew that it would shortly be +theirs, and Sabella's faith was strong as his. She never for a moment +doubted that her dear guardian was the artist he claimed to be, or that +the panorama he had painted was the most perfect thing of its kind ever +seen. So she was as enthusiastic concerning the project as the old man +himself, and eagerly aided in his preparations to the full extent of +her ability. There was but one point on which they disagreed. When +Cap'n Cod had exhausted his own resources, and the motive power of the +<I>Whatnot</I> still remained unprovided, Sabella begged that he would draw +some of her money from the bank and use it, but this the old man firmly +declined to do. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Sabella," he would say; "what is mine is yours; but what is yours +is your own, and it would be as bad as stealing for me to touch it." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is mine," the girl would argue; "and if I want to give it to +you, more than I want to do anything else with it, I don't see why you +shouldn't let me." +</P> + +<P> +"No, dear," her guardian would reply. "It is not yours. It is only +held in trust for you until you become of age, by which time you will +have many other uses for money besides gratifying an old man's whim." +</P> + +<P> +"But you will pay it back long before then." +</P> + +<P> +"I might, and then again I might not. There is nothing more uncertain +than the things we think we are sure of." +</P> + +<P> +Then the girl would throw her arms about his neck and exclaim, "Oh, you +dear old stupid! How horridly honest you are! and what a beautiful +world this would be if everybody in it was just like you." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, my dear; Stupidity and Honesty are apt to be comrades, and +undoubtedly they would make a beautiful world if left to themselves; +but it would be frightfully dull. Now don't you worry your pretty +head about the mule, for we can drift with the current until we have +given two or three exhibitions, and so made money enough to buy one. +Then, having earned him, how much more shall we enjoy him than if he +were only a borrowed mule?" +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Cod would have preferred a steamboat to one propelled by +mule-power, but the expenses of machinery and an engineer were too +great to be considered. He made the <I>Whatnot</I> look as much like a +steamboat as he could, and even proposed ornamenting her with an +imitation chimney as soon as he could afford such a luxury. He also +hoped soon to be able to engage some active young fellow as deck hand +and general assistant. In the mean time the <I>Whatnot's</I> crew consisted +of himself, Sabella, and Solon, an old negro who had been cook of the +mess to which Cap'n Cod had belonged in the army, and who had followed +his fortunes ever since. +</P> + +<P> +As nearly every one in Dubuque who was at all interested in such things +had seen the panorama during its painting and construction, and as +Cap'n Cod's dramatic reputation was well known there, he deemed it +advisable to give the first exhibitions of his show in some smaller and +less critical places. He called it a "show," because, even at the +outset, it contained two attractions besides the panorama, and he hoped +in the course of time to add still others. +</P> + +<P> +Those already on hand were a monkey and a hand-organ, both of which +were much greater rarities in the Mississippi Valley at that time than +they are now. They formerly belonged to an Italian, who, sick, +penniless, and friendless, had sunk exhausted by the road-side a few +miles from Dubuque. Several persons passed him without heeding his +feeble appeals for aid before Cap'n Cod happened along and discovered +him. The old soldier at once engaged a team, carried the dying +stranger home, and there, with Sabella's pitying aid, cared for him +until the end, which came a few days later. During these last days his +monkey was the man's inseparable companion. It cuddled beside him in +bed, and answered his feeble terms of endearment with voluble +chatterings. With his latest breath the dying stranger consigned his +helpless pet to the same pitying care that had helped him over the +bitterest of all human journeys. He said, "Monka, Don Bolossi, you +keep-a him alway." +</P> + +<P> +So Don Bolossi, Americanized to "Don Blossom," transferred all his +affections to Sabella, and with the hand-organ, for which no claimant +could be found, was added to the attractions of "Cap'n Cod's Great +Panoramic Show." +</P> + +<P> +One of the Captain's last bits of work in Dubuque was to build a skiff +for Sheriff Riley, and with the money thus earned to defray immediate +expenses, the <I>Whatnot</I> started on her voyage down the river at sunrise +of the very morning on which Winn Caspar unconsciously drifted past +Dubuque in that very skiff. Being deeper in the water, the show-boat +drifted somewhat faster than the skiff, and so had nearly caught up +with it by the time the tow-head was reached. Here Cap'n Cod +determined to tie up for the night, as he did not wish to stop at a +town until his final preparations for an exhibition were made. +</P> + +<P> +Among these was the painting of a life-sized representation of Don +Blossom hanging by his tail from the limb of a tree, which was to be +displayed on the outside of the boat as an advertisement. This was the +labor upon which the Captain was engaged when Winn Caspar discovered +the <I>Whatnot</I>. Sabella had undertaken to hold the restless little +model from which the white-headed artist was painting, and the peals of +laughter that attracted Winn's attention were called forth by the +absurdities of this situation. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIM MAKES AN ENEMY. +</H3> + + +<P> +Billy Brackett's satisfaction at his escape from a situation that +promised to cause him a vexatious delay was tinged with a new anxiety +concerning Winn. As he pulled swiftly across the river, so as to be +lost to view from the island as quickly as possible, he expressed his +feelings aloud to Bim: +</P> + +<P> +"What new scrape can that young rascal have got into now—eh, old dog? +It was bad enough to start down the river alone on a big raft without +even bidding his folks good-bye; but now he seems to have lost the raft +somewhere, to have landed on that island, to have been arrested for +something, to have escaped, and to have run off with the Sheriff's +boat. It looks as though he had the same happy faculty for getting +into scrapes that distinguished my young friend Glen Eddy. Somehow I +have a fellow-feeling for such boys. It is strange, too, for I can't +remember ever getting into any scrapes myself. We must put a stop to +it, though, in Winn's case. It will never do for him to be cavorting +about in this scandalous manner, so long as we are responsible for his +decent behavior and safe return. We shall surely find him, and +probably the raft also, at Dubuque. Then we will take our nephew in +hand, and by simple force of example instruct him in that dignity of +deportment that steers clear of scrapes. Eh, Bimsey?" +</P> + +<P> +At this Bim sprang from his seat, and made such a violent effort to +lick his master's face that the latter was very nearly tumbled over +backward. By the time order was restored, daylight was beginning to +appear, and the young man saw that he was far enough below the island +for it to be safe to again cross the river and head for Dubuque. He +reached this place soon after sunrise, or about an hour after Winn +passed it, and a few minutes after the departure of the <I>Whatnot</I>. +</P> + +<P> +A hasty inspection of the various craft lining the water-front of the +city convinced him that the raft was not among them. He found several +persons who knew Sheriff Riley's skiff, but none of them had seen it +that morning. This, however, did not discourage the young engineer, +for a skiff is so much smaller than a raft as to be easily overlooked. +He would make a more thorough search after visiting the hotel, where he +hoped Winn might also have gone for breakfast. +</P> + +<P> +On his way he stopped at the telegraph office, and sent the following +despatch to both Mrs. Caspar and to the Major at Madison: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Have heard of Winn, and am on his track. The boy is all right.——W. +B." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"That is true so far as it goes," soliloquized Billy Brackett, "and +will relieve their present anxiety. By to-morrow, or perhaps within a +few minutes, I shall certainly have something more definite to wire." +</P> + +<P> +At the hotel he was greatly disappointed to find no trace of the +missing lad, and after eating a hearty breakfast he made a thorough +search of the water-front, though of course without avail. He had +intended dropping a hint here and there of the predicament in which he +had left Sheriff Riley and his followers, but on second thoughts +concluded to let them work out their own plan of escape from the +island, rather than run the risk of further delay. +</P> + +<P> +By noon he was ready to depart from Dubuque, satisfied that there was +no information to be gained in that place concerning either Winn or the +raft. Although he was not discouraged, he was puzzled, and was even +beginning to feel anxious at the strange aspect this affair of the lost +<I>Venture</I> was assuming. +</P> + +<P> +Until sunset he rowed steadily and swiftly downstream, hailing the +ferrymen as he passed, and stopping at the settlements on both sides of +the river to make inquiries. He also hailed passing boats, and boarded +several rafts that he discovered tied to the western bank, but all in +vain. He failed to learn anything about Winn, and heard that but one +raft had passed down the river the day before. It was described as +having a single "shanty," a tent, and a crew of three men. As that was +not the kind of a raft he was looking for, this information only added +to the young man's perplexity. It never occurred to him that the raft +might have been stolen and disguised. So, as he was certain he had not +passed it, there was but one solution to the problem. The <I>Venture</I> +must have been wrecked and gone to pieces during the storm of that +first night, and Winn must have escaped to the island. +</P> + +<P> +Even with this explanation the mystery of Winn's second disappearance +remained as great as ever, and by the time Billy Brackett hailed the +<I>Whatnot</I>, as has already been noted, he was as thoroughly bewildered +as ever in his life. Nor could he decide on any plan of action that +seemed in the least satisfactory. He knew there was a town a mile or +so below where the <I>Whatnot</I> lay, and there he had determined to spend +the night. But for his desire to reach this place before darkness +should wholly shut in, he would have boarded the <I>Whatnot</I> merely to +gratify the curiosity excited by her strange appearance. As it was, he +felt that he had no time to spare, and so hastened on. +</P> + +<P> +It was quite dark as he approached the lights marking the town he was +seeking; but as he drew near he discovered what appeared like a part of +the levee slowly moving out from shore. Above it rose dimly a white +object that he had taken for a house, and still above this shown a +lantern. In a moment he saw that it was a raft resuming its voyage +down the river, and he determined to make an inquiry from its crew +before landing. +</P> + +<P> +Pulling his skiff alongside, the young man sprang aboard. As he did so +he noticed that the white object was a tent, and that there was a +single "shanty" amidship. It was the very raft that had been described +to him as being the only one to pass down the river the day before. +These details so occupied his attention that he did not notice a skiff +made fast to the side of the raft just forward of where he tied his +own. Not seeing it, he did not, of course, ask any questions +concerning it. If he had, he might have learned that the raftsmen had +just picked it up, floating, empty and ownerless, down the river. +There had been no oars in it, but they had rowed it to the raft with an +extra pair from their own skiff. In their preparations for departure +they had not yet found time to examine it, and knew nothing of its +contents. +</P> + +<P> +As Billy Brackett walked towards the "shanty," there was a sudden +commotion at its entrance. A gruff voice exclaimed, +</P> + +<P> +"Get out of here, you cur!" +</P> + +<P> +This command was evidently accompanied by a savage kick, which was +immediately followed by a yell and a heavy fall as Bim's white teeth +sank deep in the calf of one of Mr. Plater's legs. +</P> + +<P> +The dog, tired of his long confinement in the skiff, had eagerly leaped +aboard the raft, and with friendly inquisitiveness had poked his nose +into the open doorway of the "shanty" just as Plater was emerging from +it. +</P> + +<P> +Bim's master realized in a moment what had happened, and sprang to the +scene just as two other figures came running in the same direction from +the forward end of the raft. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Plater, though on his back, had nearly succeeded in drawing a +pistol from his hip pocket. In a few seconds more poor Bim's earthly +career would have been ended, but his owner's movements were quick +enough to save him, and before the pistol could be drawn, Billy +Brackett had seized the dog's collar. +</P> + +<P> +"Let go, sir!" he ordered, sternly, and Bim instantly obeyed the +command. Then realizing that discretion is the better part of valor +when the odds are three to one, the young engineer, with the dog in his +arms, ran to the side of the raft, sprang into the skiff, and shoved +off. He was followed by a storm of threats and angry imprecations, at +which he only smiled, as he took to his oars and pulled through the +friendly darkness towards the landing from which the raft had already +drifted quite a distance. +</P> + +<P> +Making his way to the wharf-boat, and giving the watchman a quarter to +look out for his skiff until morning, Billy Brackett, weary and +disheartened, sought such accommodation as the only hotel of the little +town afforded. All night he tossed sleeplessly on his uncomfortable +bed, striving in vain to unravel the mystery in which the fate of his +nephew and of Major Caspar's raft had become enshrouded. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning he strolled undecidedly down to the wharf-boat, and, +missing his skiff, asked the watchman, who was just going off duty, +what he had done with it. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, there it is, sir, just where you left it," answered the man, in a +surprised tone, pointing to a skiff that Billy Brackett was certain he +had never seen before. +</P> + +<P> +"That is not my boat," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the one you came in last night," answered the watchman. "And +here is the coat you left in it. I took the liberty of bringing it in +out of the dew." +</P> + +<P> +The young engineer looked at the coat the man was holding towards him, +and shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"That is not mine, either," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Whose is it, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I don't know. You'd better look in the pockets. They may +contain some clew." +</P> + +<P> +Acting upon this suggestion the watchman thrust his hand into a +breast-pocket of the coat and drew forth a note-book. He opened it. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's something writ in it," he said; "but as I'm not quick at making +out strange writing, maybe you'll read it, sir." +</P> + +<P> +Taking the book from the man's hand, and glancing carelessly at its +title-page, Billy Brackett uttered a cry of amazement. There, written +in a clear boyish hand, was the inscription: +</P> + +<P> +"Winn Caspar. His Book." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-126"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-126.jpg" ALT=""Billy Brackett uttered a cry of amazement."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="559" HEIGHT="376"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "Billy Brackett uttered a cry of amazement."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TRUTH, BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH. +</H3> + + +<P> +Winn was greatly perturbed by hearing from the <I>Whatnot's</I> engine-room +the inquiries concerning Sheriff Riley's skiff, and Cap'n Cod's +replies. He had not meant to steal the boat, of course, but it now +seemed that he was regarded as having done so, and was being hotly +pursued by some one interested in its recovery. It was not the Sheriff +himself, for the voice was a strange one; so it was probably one of his +men, who undoubtedly had one or more companions. Winn was too ignorant +of the world to know whether escaping from a sheriff who had unjustly +arrested him, and running off with his boat, would be considered a +serious offence or not. He only knew that while perfectly conscious of +his own innocence, he yet felt very much as though he were fleeing from +justice. He had not even known until that minute that his late captor +was a sheriff, nor could he imagine why he had been arrested. What he +did know was that some one well acquainted with the fact that he had +taken a skiff not his own was now searching for it and for him. This +was sufficient to alarm him and fill his mind with visions of arrest, +imprisonment, and fines which his father would be compelled to pay. +</P> + +<P> +Then, too, the Captain of this strange craft on which he had just found +an asylum, but from which he would already be glad to escape, had +declared himself to be a friend of Sheriff Riley, and well acquainted +with his boat. Of course, then, he would gladly aid his friend in +recovering his property, and would not hesitate to make a prisoner of +the person who had run off with it. In that case he would be taken +back to Dubuque in disgrace, his father would have to be sent for—and +who knew where he might be by this time?—and there would be a long +delay that he would probably have to endure in prison. In the mean +time what would become of the raft lost through his carelessness and +self-conceit? +</P> + +<P> +Decidedly all this must be prevented if possible; and though the boy +would have scorned to tell a lie even to save his life, he determined +to tell as little of the truth as would be necessary to answer the +questions that he knew would shortly be put to him. +</P> + +<P> +While Winn was puzzling over this situation, and trying to frame a +plausible story that would account for his presence on the tow-head +without overstepping the bounds of truth, the door of the engine-room +opened, and Cap'n Cod stumped in. He brought an armful of dry +clothing, and was beaming with the satisfaction that he always felt +when engaged in helping any one out of trouble. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, my muddy young friend," he exclaimed, good-naturedly, "how are +you getting on? Has Solon taken good care of you? Here are some +clothes that, I guess, you will have to make the best of until your own +can be dried. They probably won't come within a mile of fitting, but +clothing does not make the man, you know, and we are not very critical +as to appearances aboard the <I>Whatnot</I>. By-the-way, my name is +Fifield—Aleck Fifield. What did you say yours was?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think I said," answered the boy, slipping into a woollen shirt +many sizes too large for him; "but it is Winn." +</P> + +<P> +"Winn, eh? Good name. Belong to the Massachusetts Winns?" +</P> + +<P> +"My parents came from there, but I was born in Wisconsin." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes. Just so. But, there! I musn't hinder you. Supper is +ready, and if you haven't any better place to go to, we should be most +happy to have you join us." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir," replied Winn. "I shall be only too glad to do so, +for I haven't had any supper, and the raft to which I belong has +probably gone off down the river without me." +</P> + +<P> +"So you belong to a raft, eh? And what happened? Did you tumble +overboard from it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir. I came to this island in the skiff, and was trying to make a +line fast, when the skiff got away from me." +</P> + +<P> +"And they didn't notice it through the gloom until it was too late to +do anything, and so you got left! Yes, yes. I see just how it all +happened! Such accidents are of common occurrence on the river, and +you were very fortunate to find us here. I shall be delighted to have +you for a guest tonight, and in the morning your friends will +undoubtedly return to look for you." +</P> + +<P> +As he thus rattled on in cheery fashion, Cap'n Cod gathered up Winn's +wet clothing, preparatory to taking them to the galley to be dried. +Not finding either coat or shoes in the water-soaked pile, he inquired +if the boy had left the raft without them. +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," replied Winn; "but I took them off, and left them in the +skiff." +</P> + +<P> +"You did! That's bad; for when your friends find the skiff with your +clothes in it, they will be apt to imagine you are drowned. Then +they'll search the river below here for your body, instead of coming +back to look for you. Never mind, though," he added quickly, mistaking +the expression of relief which this suggestion brought to Winn's face +for one of dismay, "we'll soon relieve their anxiety. We'll get a +mule, and put him in here as quick as our show earns his price. Then +we'll go humming down the river faster than any raft that ever drifted. +We may be several days in overtaking them, but I shall be only too +happy to have you remain with us for that length of time, and longer, +too, if you will. I am greatly in need of an assistant to help me run +the show. So if you are willing to take hold and work with us, the +obligation will be wholly on my side." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I will, sir!" exclaimed Winn, whose spirits were rising as +the difficulties of his situation began to disappear. "I will do +anything I can, only I didn't know this was a show-boat, and I'm afraid +I am pretty ignorant about shows anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"That will be all right," replied the Captain. "My own experience in +the dramatic line has been so extensive that I shall have no difficulty +in posting you. I am surprised, though, that you did not recognize +this boat as having been built by one of the profession, and especially +adapted to its requirements. There are certain features about the +<I>Whatnot</I>—which, by the way, I consider a most original and attractive +name—that are intended to indicate—" +</P> + +<P> +"Suppah, sah! An' Missy Sabel awaitin'," interrupted Solon, thrusting +his woolly head into the doorway at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +Glad as Winn was of this diversion, and though he was as thankful as +only a famished boy can be that a bountiful meal awaited him, he would +willingly have gone hungry a little longer rather than enter that +dining-room just then. Although the engine-room did not afford a +mirror, he was conscious that he must present about as absurd a figure +as can well be conceived. He was bare-footed, and the left leg of his +trousers was turned up to keep it from the floor, while the right, +owing to the Captain's misfortune, barely reached his ankle. A +checkered woolen shirt hung about him in folds, and over it he wore a +garment that Cap'n Cod was pleased to style his "professional coat." +It was a blue swallow-tail, with bright brass buttons. As worn by Winn +the tails hung nearly to the floor, the cuffs were turned back over his +wrists, and the collar rubbed against his ears. +</P> + +<P> +"A pretty costume in which to appear before a strange girl," thought +poor Winn, who was noted at home for being fastidious concerning his +dress and personal appearance. "I know I must look like a guy, and she +can't help laughing, of course; but if she does, I'll never speak to +her as long as I live, and I'll leave this craft the very first chance +I get." +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts were crowding fast upon one another, the boy was +being dragged into the dining-room by Cap'n Cod, and formally presented +as "Mr. Winn, of Massachusetts," to "my grand-niece Sabella, sir." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-134"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-134.jpg" ALT="Winn's introduction to Sabella." BORDER="2" WIDTH="387" HEIGHT="440"> +<H3> +[Illustration: Winn's introduction to Sabella.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Winn will never know whether the girl laughed or not, for at that +moment Don Blossom, who had been seated on the floor daintily nibbling +a sweet biscuit, sprang chattering to her shoulder and buried his face +in her hair, as he had done upon the boy's first appearance. This +episode formed such a seasonable diversion that by the time the girl +succeeded in freeing herself from the clutches of her pet, Winn was +seated at the table with the most conspicuous portion of his absurd +costume concealed beneath its friendly shelter. +</P> + +<P> +During the meal Winn and Sabella exchanged furtive glances, which each +hoped the other would not notice, and the boy, at least, blushed +furiously whenever one of his was detected. Although neither of them +said much, the meal was by no means a silent one; for the Captain +maintained a steady and cheerful flow of conversation from its +beginning to its end. He told Sabella a thrilling tale of Winn's +narrow escape from drowning, and how his friends were at that moment +drifting far away down the river, anxiously speculating as to his fate. +Then he told Winn of the painting of the panorama, the building of the +<I>Whatnot</I>, and of his plans for the future. +</P> + +<P> +When the meal finally came to an end, on account of Winn's inability to +eat any more, the boy was surprised to find how much at home he had +been made to feel by the unaffected simplicity and unobtrusive kindness +of these strangers. +</P> + +<P> +While Sabella and Solon cleared the table, the Captain lighted a +lantern and showed him over the boat. Thus the boy discovered that +while its after-part was devoted to the engine-room and quarters for an +animated, one-mule-power engine, a galley, and the general living-room, +the remainder of the house was arranged as an entertainment hall, with +a small curtained stage at one end, and seats for one hundred +spectators. Cap'n Cod informed him that this was to be his sleeping +apartment so long as he remained with them. The Captain slept in the +pilot-house, while Sabella's dainty little room was in the after-house +on the upper deck, and was connected with the living-room by a flight +of inside stairs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOLLOWING THE TRAIL. +</H3> + + +<P> +The next morning, when Winn opened his eyes after the first night of +undisturbed sleep he had enjoyed since leaving home, he was for a +moment greatly puzzled to account for his surroundings. His bed had +been made down in the exhibition hall on two benches drawn close +together, and as he awoke, he found himself staring at a most +marvellous painting that occupied the full height and nearly the entire +width of the stage at the farther end of the hall. It was a lurid +scene, but so filled with black shadows that to a vivid imagination it +might represent any one of many things. While the boy was wondering if +the young woman in yellow who appeared in the upper corner of the +picture, with outstretched arms and dishevelled hair, was about to +commit suicide by flinging herself from the second story of the +factory, and only hesitated for fear of crushing the badly frightened +young man in red who from the street below had evidently just +discovered his peril, a door opened, and his host of the evening before +tiptoed into the room. +</P> + +<P> +The expression "tiptoed" is here used to indicate the extreme caution +of Cap'n Cod's entrance, and his evident desire to effect it as +noiselessly as possible. As he could only tiptoe on one foot, however, +and had neglected to muffle the iron-shod peg that served him in place +of the other, his progress was attended with more than its usual amount +of noise. He appeared relieved to find Winn awake, and advancing with +a cordial greeting, he laid the boy's own clothing, now cleaned and +dried, within his reach. "I should have sent Solon in with these," he +explained, "but for fear he might make a noise that would rouse you, +and I noticed last evening that you were sadly in need of sleep. So, +if you had not been awake, I should have stolen away as noiselessly as +I entered, and left you to have your nap out. Now, however, I think +you had better come to breakfast, for Sabella and I finished ours some +time ago." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you, sir," said Winn. "I will be out in half a minute; but will +you please explain that painting? I have been studying it ever since I +woke." +</P> + +<P> +"That," replied the Captain, with an accent of honest pride, "is what I +consider one of my <I>chef-dovers</I>. I term it a 'Shakespearian +composite.' In order to please the tastes of certain audiences, I +shall describe it as the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet. Yon +may note Romeo's mandolin lying at his feet, while over the whole falls +the melancholy light of a full moon rising behind the palace. To suit +a less-intelligent class, it would perhaps be described as the escape +of a Turkish captive by leaping from the upper floor of the Sultan's +seraglio into the arms of her gallant rescuer, who would be American, +British, French, German, or Spanish, according to the predominating +nationality of my audience. Or it might be called 'A Thrilling +Incident of the Great New York Fire,' in which case Juliet's moonlight +would be spoken of as 'devastating flames,' and Romeo's mandolin would +figure as a fireman's helmet. It is a painting of infinite +possibilities, any one of which may be impressed upon an audience by a +judiciously selected title and the skilful directing of their +imagination. Although I am proud of this picture, I have a number of +other 'composites' that are even more startling than this in the +variety of scenes that they can be made to illustrate. By studying +them you will learn that the whole secret of artistic success lies in +the selection of titles that appeal to and direct the imagination of +the critic, the spectator, or the would-be purchaser. I would gladly +exhibit and explain them to you now, but business before pleasure; so, +if you are dressed, let us to breakfast." +</P> + +<P> +While Winn was eating his late breakfast, Billy Brackett, only a couple +of miles away, was gazing with an expression of the blankest amazement +at his nephew's note-book. "How in the name of all that is mysterious +and improbable did this book happen to be in that coat, that coat in +that skiff, that skiff on that raft, and that raft here? It certainly +seems as though I had brought the skiff from the raft—at least this +man says I did. You are certain that I came in that identical boat, +are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certain, sir," replied the watchman to whom this question was +addressed. +</P> + +<P> +"No one else could have come in this skiff, and then gone off in mine +by mistake?" +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible, sir. I have been wide-awake all night, and there has not +been another soul aboard this wharf-boat until just now. Besides, I +took that coat from the skiff just after you left it last evening." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said Billy Brackett, "the chain of evidence seems to be +unbroken, incredible as it may appear, and it stretches from here +straight away down the river—book coat, coat skiff, skiff raft, raft +Winn. Now, in order to bring its ends together, and recover my +long-lost nephew, I must again overtake that raft. I must start as +soon as possible after breakfast, too. I don't know whether the game +Winn and I are playing is blind-man's-buff or hide-and-seek, but it +certainly resembles both." +</P> + +<P> +Musing over this new aspect of the situation, the young engineer +hastened back to his hotel and breakfast. In the dining-room, a few +minutes later, a waiter was leaning over him, and asking, for the third +time, "Tea or coffee, sir, an' how'll you have your eggs?" when the +inattentive guest suddenly caused him to jump as though galvanized, by +bringing his fist down on the table with a crash, and exclaiming, "No, +by the great hornspoon, it can't be that way either! What's that you +say? Oh yes, of course. Coffee, soft-boiled, and as quick as you +can." Having delivered this order, the young man fixed his intent gaze +on a brown spot ornamenting the table-cloth, and resumed his thinking. +</P> + +<P> +It had just occurred to him that, according to all accounts, the raft +from which he had taken that skiff had come down the river to this +point two days before. So how could Winn Caspar, who had only escaped +from the island a few minutes before he and Bim made good their own +retreat, have reached the same place and joined that raft without +attracting attention? Both the day and night watchmen at the +wharf-boat had assured him that no such boy as he described had been +seen on the water-front. They also said that the raft had been there +all the day before, and that when it left it held only the three men +who came with it. "Of course he might have been inside the 'shanty' +when I was aboard, though I can't see how he got there, nor why he +should join a strange raft anyway," argued the young man. "At any +rate, it's my business to find out whether or not he is aboard it now. +How about using the skiff, though? If it is the one Winn ran off with, +it belongs to that Sheriff fellow. Like as not, he has already sent +word down the river to have it picked up. In that case, if I was +picked up in it, I might be accused of stealing it, which would never +do in the world. No; to be on the safe side I must leave the skiff +here, and take the first down-river steamboat that stops at this +landing. First, though, I'll advertise for Winn in this town, and if I +don't find him on the raft, there may be news waiting for me here when +I come back." +</P> + +<P> +This was the plan upon which the young engineer decided to act, and +immediately after breakfast he proceeded to put it into execution. +</P> + +<P> +There was no paper published in the place, but it did contain a +makeshift sort of a printing-office, and towards this Billy Brackett +directed his steps, after learning at what hour the next down-river +boat was expected. Here he spent some time in composing a small +circular, of which he ordered five hundred copies to be struck off, and +distributed broadcast. His boat came along and he had to leave before +this was ready for press; but he had engaged the services of his new +acquaintance the night-watchman, who promised to place the bills +wherever they would do good. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Bim, tied up on the wharf-boat, and nearly heart-broken at his +master's desertion, was also left in charge of this man. Billy +Brackett was desirous of establishing friendly relations with the +raftsmen when he should overtake them, and feared that would be +impossible in case they should recognize him. This they would +certainly do if he were accompanied by the bull-dog, whom one of them +at least had reason to remember so well. +</P> + +<P> +At another small landing, nearly a hundred miles farther down the +river, Messrs. Gilder, Grimshaw, and Plater were rendered somewhat +uneasy, late on the following day, by the appearance on board their +raft of a young man who asked questions. Billy Brackett had +experienced considerable difficulty in finding this raft, and was +greatly disappointed that his search in this direction should prove +fruitless. The raftsmen had never heard of Major Caspar, nor of Winn +Caspar, his son. They were lumbermen from far up on the Wisconsin +River, and were taking this raft to New Orleans as a speculation. They +knew nothing of Sheriff Riley or his skiff. Yes, they had picked up an +empty skiff two days before, but it had been taken away and another +left in its place by a young fellow with a dog, who had boarded their +raft without invitation, set his dog on one of them, and then skipped. +They would like to meet that party again—yes, they would—and they'd +make things pretty lively for him. +</P> + +<P> +Then they began asking questions in turn, and assuming such a hostile +tone that Billy Brackett concluded he might as well leave then as +later. So, after asking them to keep a sharp lookout for a raft with +three "shanties," two of which were filled with wheat, he bade them +good-evening, and started back up the river by rail. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time the <I>Whatnot</I> had reached the town to which he was +returning, and was now tied up just below the wharf-boat. It had been +decided that the first exhibition of the "Floating Panoramic Show" +should be given here, and Cap'n Cod went up into the town as soon as +they arrived to have some bills printed. Winn, at the same time, +started along the water-front to search for traces of his lost raft; +and Sabella, who was very fond of dogs, went aboard the wharf-boat to +make the acquaintance of a fine bull-dog she had noticed there as they +passed. +</P> + +<P> +At supper-time they all gathered again in the living-room of the +<I>Whatnot</I>, where Sabella reported her new friend to be the most +splendid bull-dog she had ever seen, and that his name was Bim. +</P> + +<P> +This name at once attracted Winn's attention, and he said he had an +uncle somewhere out in California who owned a dog named Bim. Then the +boy reported that nothing had been seen or heard of his raft, though he +did not tell them he had discovered Sheriff Riley's skiff. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Cod remarked that if he could only claim all the rewards he had +just seen offered, he could afford to run the <I>Whatnot</I> by steam. +"There is one of a thousand dollars," he said, "for any information +that will lead to the capture of a gang of counterfeiters, supposed to +be operating in this vicinity. Then there is one of a hundred dollars +for the arrest of the fellow who ran off with Sheriff Riley's skiff, +and who is supposed to be a member of the same gang. There is still +another, of an equal amount, for any information as to the whereabouts, +if he is still living, or for the recovery of the body of a boy named +Caspar, the only son of my old friend, Major John Caspar, of Caspar's +Mill, in Wisconsin. He has disappeared most unaccountably, together +with a raft owned by his father. By-the-way, his first name is the +same as your last one, which is a little odd, for Winn is not a common +name. That's what it is, though, 'Winn Caspar.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A CURIOUS COMPLICATION. +</H3> + + +<P> +"So that is what I was arrested for, is it?" thought Winn. "I was +supposed to be one of a gang of counterfeiters, and a pretty desperate +sort of a character. That will be a pretty good joke to tell father. +But I wonder who is offering a reward for me as plain every-day Winn +Caspar, besides the one that would be paid for the young counterfeiter +who ran off with the Sheriff's boat?" +</P> + +<P> +This is what Winn thought. What he said was, "My! but that is a lot of +money! Wouldn't it be fine if we could earn those twelve hundred +dollars?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed it would," answered the old man. "Even one of the smaller +rewards would buy us a mule." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is offering them?" asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"The Government offers the first, Sheriff Riley the second, and the +third is offered by some one named Brickell. 'W. Brickell,' the bills +are signed. I saw them up at the printing-office, but they are being +distributed all over the place." +</P> + +<P> +Sure enough, in that wretched little printing-office the compositor had +made "Brickell" out of Brackett, and as he was his own proof-reader, +the mistake was not discovered. +</P> + +<P> +"Brickell," repeated Winn, slowly. "That is a queer name, and one that +I never heard before." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is one that has puzzled me a good deal," said Cap'n Cod. "I'm +sure I never heard Major Caspar mention any such person." +</P> + +<P> +"You know this Major Caspar, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Know him! Well, I should say I did. We were in the same regiment all +through the war, and a better officer never commanded men. Know him! +I know him to the extent of a leg, lost when I was standing so close +beside him that if I hadn't been there the ball would have taken his +instead of mine. Know him! Didn't I know him for three months in the +hospital, where he came to see me every day? Indeed I do know Major +Caspar, and I should be mighty glad to know of any way in which I could +help him out of his present trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"It is strange that I never heard father speak of any Aleck Fifield," +thought Winn. He was about to ask some more questions, but was +restrained by the remembrance of his present peculiar position. The +same thought checked his inclination to say, "I am Winn Caspar, sir, +the son of your friend Major Caspar, of Caspar's Mill." Instead of +that he said to himself, "I will wait until we get away from this +place; or, at any rate, until I can receive a letter from home that +will prove who I am. Otherwise he might find out about the Sheriff's +skiff, and think I had made up the story to escape arrest as a thief." +</P> + +<P> +So Winn held his peace, and only asked his host if he would furnish him +the materials for writing a letter home. Provided with these, he wrote +to his mother as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MANDRAKE, IOWA. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY OWN DEAR MOTHER,—I write to you instead of to father, as I suppose +he must be somewhere on the river hunting for me by this time, though I +have not seen him yet. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I am all right, and having a fine time, but have lost the raft. I am +on board a boat called the <I>Whatnot</I>, with some very kind people—a +gentleman named Fifield, a girl named Sabella, a funny old darky named +Solon, and a monkey named Don Blossom. I am bound to find the raft +again if it is still afloat, and am going to keep on down the river in +this boat until we catch up with it. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"I shall be here long enough for you to answer this letter; and send me +some money, please, and tell me all about everybody. Give my dear love +to Elta, and tell her I wish she knew Sabella and Don Blossom. She is +just the kind of a girl, and he is just the kind of a monkey, a fellow +likes to know. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Now it is late, and I must turn in, for I am working my passage on +this boat, and Solon and I must take the place of a mule to-morrow, and +till we can earn money enough to buy one. So good-bye, from your +affectionate son,——WINN." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +While the boy was writing, Cap'n Cod went ashore, and when the former +took his letter to the post-office, he met his host there with two +letters in his hand. They followed Winn's into the box, but he did not +see the address on either of them. If he had, he would have been more +troubled than ever, for one was addressed to the Sheriff of Dubuque +County, and the other to his own father. +</P> + +<P> +The old man had seen and recognized the skiff that he had built for +Sheriff Riley as it lay tied to the wharf-boat, but had thought it best +to keep this discovery to himself until he could communicate with its +owner. By cautious inquiries he learned that the skiff had been left +there by a young man calling himself Brackett, who had gone on down the +river, but was expected back in a day or two. Cap'n Cod would have +telegraphed to Sheriff Riley but for the fact that the wires had not +yet been extended to Mandrake. So he wrote and begged the Sheriff to +hasten down the river by first boat. +</P> + +<P> +He also wrote to Major Caspar, expressing his sympathy, telling him +that he was now travelling down the Mississippi in his own boat, the +<I>Whatnot</I>, asking for full particulars concerning the lost boy, and +offering to make every effort to discover his whereabouts. +</P> + +<P> +On the morning of that very day, just before his departure from +Mandrake, Billy Brackett had also written and mailed a letter that read +as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY DEAR SISTER,—I am up a stump just at present, but hope to climb +down very soon. In other words, your boy is smarter than I took him to +be. He has not only managed to hide the raft, but himself as well, and +both so completely that thus far I have had but little success in +tracing them. I have reason to believe that he and I spent some time +very close to each other on an island the night I left you, but before +daylight he had again disappeared, leaving no trace. After that I +learned nothing concerning him until reaching this place, when I again +struck the trail. I am now following a warm scent, and expect to run +the young fox to earth within a few hours. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"So much for the boy. As for the raft, its disappearance is even more +complete and unaccountable than his. There is absolutely nothing to +report concerning it. I have boarded several rafts, but none of them +bears the slightest resemblance to the <I>Venture</I>, which I am certain I +should recognize at a glance. However, when I find Winn he will of +course be able to put me on the right track, and the subsequent +recovery of the raft will prove an easy matter. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"If you have any news, send it to me at this place, where I shall +remain until I hear from you. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Love to Elta. Tell her that last evening I ran across the queerest +craft I ever saw, with the queerest name I ever heard of. It is called +the <I>Whatnot</I>. Of course its Captain knew nothing of Winn, and I did +not expect he would; but I make it my business to inquire of every one +I meet or pass. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Hoping to be able to send you better news within a day or two, I am +your loving brother, +<BR> +"WILLIAM." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +As this letter reached Caspar's Mill in the same mail with those from +Winn and the owner of the <I>Whatnot</I>, who, in writing to the Major, had +used his old army name, and signed himself "Respectfully yours, Cap'n +Cod," it may easily be imagined that Billy Brackett's perplexity was as +nothing compared to that of his sister. What could it all mean? Winn +was alive and well; his letter brought that comfort. But what did he +mean by stating that he was on board that boat with the absurd name, +when both William and Captain Cod stated that he was not there. Then, +too, how could it be possible for those three persons, each of whom was +anxious to find one of the others, to be in a small place, such as this +Mandrake must be, for several days without running across each other? +Such stupidity was incredible, and could only be accounted for by the +fact that all three were of the masculine sex. Well, she would soon +set things to rights, and the fond mother smiled to herself to think +that it was left for her, who had remained quietly at home, to discover +the missing boy after all. +</P> + +<P> +She had but a few minutes in which to catch the return mail; but when +it left, it bore three notes in her handwriting. The one directed to +Mr. Winn Caspar, Mandrake, Iowa, read as follows: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY DARLING BOY,—How could you leave us as you did? And why don't you +come home? Don't lose a minute in hunting up your Uncle Billy, who is +now in Mandrake. He will supply you with money, and tell you what to +do. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Ever lovingly, but in great haste, +<BR> +"YOUR OWN MOTHER." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +To the Captain of the <I>Whatnot</I> Mrs. Caspar wrote: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Sir,—In the absence of my husband, I took the liberty of opening your +note to him of the 1st inst. In it you write that you are anxious to +discover our boy's whereabouts, when, by the same mail, I am advised by +him that he is on board the very boat of which you claim to be Captain +and owner. I of course take my boy's word in preference to that of any +stranger. Having thus detected the hollowness of your sympathy, and +the falseness of your pretended friendship for my husband, I must +request you to refrain from further meddling in this matter. Yours +etc.,——ELLEN CASPAR." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Fortunately, as this letter was addressed to Captain Cod, Esq., instead +of to Mr. Aleck Fifield, the old man never received it, and in due time +it was returned to the writer from the Dead-letter Office. +</P> + +<P> +To Billy Brackett Mrs. Caspar wrote: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY DEAR GOOSE OF A BROTHER,—I have just received a letter from Winn +written at Mandrake. He is on the <I>Mantel-piece</I>, and out of money. +Please supply him with whatever he needs, and bring him home to me as +quickly as possible. As for the raft, I am sorry, of course, that you +cannot find it; but so long as Winn is safe, nothing else seems to +matter. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"John writes full of enthusiasm concerning the contract, and I shall +tell him nothing of your absurd doings until you and Winn are safely +back here. Ever lovingly your sister,——ELLEN." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIM GROWLS. +</H3> + + +<P> +During the following day, while these letters were on their way to the +little Iowa town in which the principal actors in this story were +playing at such cross-purposes, active preparations were being made on +board the <I>Whatnot</I> for the first exhibition of its panorama. In those +days the panorama filled the place now taken by the stereopticon; and +though its crude pictures lacked the photographic truth of lantern +slides, they were by no means devoid of interest. In fact, their +gorgeousness of color, and the vagueness of detail that allowed each to +represent several scenes, according to the pleasure of the lecturer, +rendered them quite as popular, if not so instructive, as their modern +successors. +</P> + +<P> +The success of a panorama, however, depended largely upon the person +who explained its pictures. If he were witty, and knew how to tell the +good story of which each one was certain to remind him, all went well, +and the fame of that panorama spread far and wide. If, on the other +hand, he was prosy, and offered only dry explanations of his pictures, +the impatient river-town audience did not hesitate to express their +dissatisfaction, and the exhibition was apt to close with a riot. +</P> + +<P> +All this was well known to Cap'n Cod; but twenty years of absence from +the stage had caused him to lose sight of his first and only +humiliating appearance before an audience, and had restored all his +youthful confidence in his own abilities. He was therefore to be the +lecturer of his own show, while Winn and Solon were to enter the +treadmill, and supply, as well as they could, the place of a mule in +furnishing power to move the heavy roll of paintings. Sabella was also +to remain out of sight, but was to grind out music from the hand-organ +whenever it might be needed. This was only a temporary position, and +would be filled by either Winn or Solon after a mule had been obtained +for the treadmill. Sabella's real duty was to dress Don Blossom, and +see that he went on the stage at the proper time. +</P> + +<P> +The hour for giving these arrangements a public test finally arrived. +By eight o'clock the exhibition hall of the <I>Whatnot</I> was packed with +an audience that contained a number of raftsmen and steamboat hands +from the water-front. These were good-naturedly noisy, and indulged in +cat-calls, stampings, and other manifestations of their impatience for +the curtain to rise. An occasional lull in the tumult allowed the +droning notes of the "Sweet By-and-By," then new and extremely popular, +to be heard, as they were slowly ground out from the hand-organ by the +invisible Sabella. +</P> + +<P> +At length they ceased; the little drop-curtain was slowly rolled up so +as to expose the first picture, and Cap'n Cod, pointer in hand, in all +the glory of the blue swallow-tail with brass buttons, stepped on the +stage. His appearance was greeted with a silence that was almost +painful in its contrast with the previous tumult. +</P> + +<P> +Now for the neat introductory speech that the old man had prepared so +carefully and rehearsed until he knew every word by heart. He stepped +forward, and gazed appealingly at the silent audience; but no word came +from his dry lips. He swallowed convulsively, and appeared to be +struggling with himself. A titter of laughter sounded from the back of +the room. The old man's face became fiery red and then deathly pale. +He looked helplessly and pitifully from side to side. +</P> + +<P> +"Wind him up!" shouted a voice. +</P> + +<P> +"He's stopped short, never to go again," called another. +</P> + +<P> +"He's an old fraud, and his show's a fake!" +</P> + +<P> +"Speech! speech!" +</P> + +<P> +"No; a song! Let old dot-and-carry-one give us a song!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, shut up! Don't you see he's a ballet-dancer?" +</P> + +<P> +And so the derisive jeerings of this audience, like those of another +twenty years before, hailed Cap'n Cod's second failure. His confidence +in himself, his years of experience, the memory of what he ought to +say, all vanished the moment he faced that mass of upturned faces, and +he was once more the dumb, trembling Codringhampton of twenty years +before. A mist swam before his eyes, he groped blindly with his hands, +the derisive yells of the river-men, who were endeavoring to secure +their money's worth of amusement from this pitiful spectacle, grew +fainter and fainter in his ears. He tottered backward, and would have +fallen, had not a young man from the audience sprang to his assistance. +</P> + +<P> +Very tenderly he helped the old man from the stage and into the +friendly shadows of the side scenes. In another moment he reappeared. +With flashing eyes he stepped in front of the turbulent audience and +held up his hand. The curiosity of the river-men was sufficient to +produce an almost instant silence, which in another second might have +changed into an angry roar. +</P> + +<P> +Who was this young fellow? What business had he to interfere with +their fun? What was he going to say? He'd better be careful! They +were not in a humor to be trifled with. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment he looked steadily at them. +</P> + +<P> +Then he said: +</P> + +<P> +"Boys, I am surprised, and if I thought for a moment that you really +meant to worry that old man, I should be ashamed of you. But I know +you didn't. It was only your fun. He has been a soldier, and lost a +leg fighting for you and me and to preserve the glorious Union, that +you and I are prouder of than anything else in life. He has a daughter +in there too—a young girl, for whom he is trying to make a living with +this show. I saw her just now, and if you could have seen the look of +distress and terror on her face as she sprang to the old man's side you +would feel as I do about this business. Yon would know, as I do, that +this was no fake, but a square—A, number one—show, packed full and +running over with good things, worth ten times the price of admission. +You'd know that it was just the bulliest show ever seen on this little +old river, and you'd turn in with a will to help me prove it. I am a +stranger, just arrived in town, and never set eyes on this outfit +before; but I'm willing to put up my last dollar on the fact that this +show is so much better than I've said that as soon as you've seen it +once, you'll want to see it right over again, you'll come to it every +evening that it stays here, and then you'll follow it down the river on +the chance of seeing it again. Hello, inside! Turn on your steam, and +set your whirligig to moving." +</P> + +<P> +By this time the good-nature of the audience was fully restored, and, +amid encouraging cries of "That's the talk!" "Ring the jingle-bell and +give her a full head!" "Sweep her out into the current and toot your +horn, stranger!" the panorama began slowly to unroll. The young man +picked up the pointer, and the moment the second picture—a lurid scene +that Cap'n Cod had entitled "The Burning of Moscow"—was fully exposed +to view, he began: +</P> + +<P> +"There you have it, gentlemen! One of the most thrilling events of +this century. The great San Francisco fire of '55. City swept clean +from the face of the earth, and built up again, finer than before, +inside of a month. I tell you, fellows, those Californians are +rustlers! Why, I met a man out in 'Frisco last month whom I knew, two +years ago, as a raftsman on this very river at twenty a month and +found. To-day he is worth a cool million of dollars, and if you want +to know how he made it, I'll let you into the secret." +</P> + +<P> +And so the young stranger rattled on with story and joke, never pausing +to study the panoramic scenes as they moved slowly along, but giving +each the first title that suggested itself, and working in descriptions +to fit the titles. He kept it up for more than an hour; and when +Sabella, who was watching him from the side scenes with admiring +wonder, called out softly that the picture he was then describing was +the last, he gracefully dismissed as delighted an audience as ever +attended a river show, and disappeared with them. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-162"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-162.jpg" ALT="Billy Brackett is a friend in need." BORDER="2" WIDTH="541" HEIGHT="382"> +<H3> +[Illustration: Billy Brackett is a friend in need.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Billy Brackett had come up the Illinois side of the river by rail and +stage, and had been ferried across to Mandrake just in time to be +attracted by the incipient riot aboard the <I>Whatnot</I>. Led to the scene +by curiosity, his generous indignation was aroused by the sight of the +helpless old man and his tormentors. Now, to avoid being thanked for +what he had done, he hurried away, released Bim from his confinement on +the wharf-boat, to that bow-legged animal's intense joy, and went to +the hotel for the night. +</P> + +<P> +The next morning, when he came down into the office, the clerk handed +him Mrs. Caspar's letter. He stood by the desk and read it. Then he +read it again, with a frown of perplexity deepening on his forehead. +"Winn here, on board the <I>Mantel-piece</I>, and out of money! What can +Ellen mean? She must be losing her mind." +</P> + +<P> +The young man was so engrossed with this letter that he paid no +attention to the other occupants of the room. Thus he did not see +Cap'n Cod and his niece enter the front door, nor notice that the +former was greeted by two men who had been talking earnestly together +and watching him with great interest. Nor did he see Sabella stoop to +pat Bim, who had gone to meet her. He did not notice the entrance a +moment later of a boy with a very puzzled expression of countenance and +an open letter in his hand. Neither did he see that the boy was +accompanied by the printer who had furnished his reward notices, and +who now pointed in his direction, saying, "That's him there. That's +Mr. Brickell." +</P> + +<P> +At the same moment Sabella exclaimed, "Oh, Winn, here's Bim! Isn't he +a dear dog?" Then she too caught sight of Billy Brackett, and pulling +Cap'n Cod by the sleeve, whispered, "There he is, uncle. That is the +gentleman you have come to thank for helping us so splendidly last +evening." +</P> + +<P> +While she was thus whispering into one ear, the night watchman of the +wharf-boat, who stood on the other side of the old man, was saying, in +a low tone, "Yes, sir. As I was just telling the Sheriff, that's the +man as stole his skiff, for I saw him when he landed here in it." +</P> + +<P> +Sheriff Riley, who had only reached Mandrake half an hour before, was +staring at Winn, and saying to himself, "There's the young rascal now. +I knew it wasn't that other fellow, though somehow his face is +strangely familiar too." +</P> + +<P> +There was a momentary hesitation on all sides. Then, as though moved +by a single impulse, Winn started towards Billy Brackett to ask him if +his name was Brickell, Cap'n Cod stepped up to express his heart-felt +gratitude for what he had done the evening before, and Sheriff Riley +moved towards Winn with the intention of arresting him. At this Bim, +recognizing the Sheriff, stationed himself in front of his preoccupied +master, erected the bristles on the back of his neck, and growled. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EVERY ONE EXPLAINS. +</H3> + + +<P> +At Bim's growl, Billy Brackett said "Be quiet, sir!" and looked up. He +wondered somewhat at the number of persons advancing towards him, and +was also surprised to note that, with one exception, they were all +people whom he knew. He recognized Sabella and her uncle, the +wharf-boat man, the printer, and even the Sheriff of Dubuque County. +The only one of the group whom he had not seen before was the +gentlemanly and thoroughly honest-looking young fellow upon whose +shoulder the Sheriff had just laid his hand, saying, +</P> + +<P> +"I want you, my boy." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect I want him more than you do, Sheriff," remarked Billy +Brackett, quietly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Winn's other +shoulder. "You take him to be a thief, while I take him to be my +nephew; and, of course, if he is the one, he can't be the other. Isn't +your name Winn Caspar? Answer me that, you young rascal!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Winn, slowly, "that is my name. But what a stupid I +have been!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean in allowing yourself to be carried off by the raft, and then +losing it, and getting arrested, and running off with the Sheriff's +skiff, and letting it go adrift with your coat in it, and shipping +aboard some craft that your dear mother calls the <I>Mantel-piece</I> for a +cruise down the river, instead of getting along home and relieving the +anxiety of your distressed parents, to say nothing of that of your aged +uncle. Yes, it does seem to me that in this instance the general +brilliancy of the family is somewhat clouded." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't mean anything of the kind," answered Winn, stoutly. "All +these things might have happened to any one, even to an uncle of your +advanced years and wisdom. So I am sure I don't consider them proofs +of stupidity. The only stupid thing that I am willing to acknowledge +is that I didn't recognize Bim, after I'd been told there was a dog of +that name here, too. That's the thing I can't get over." +</P> + +<P> +"But you had never seen him!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. +</P> + +<P> +"That makes no difference," was the calm reply. "I'd heard so much +about him that I ought to have known him, and I can't forgive myself +that I didn't." +</P> + +<P> +"How about running off with my boat?" queried the Sheriff, who did not +at all understand the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't run off with your boat. It ran off with me first, and ran +away from me afterwards. If you hadn't taken the oars out I should +have rowed into Dubuque and sent some one back to the island with her. +As it was, I had to go wherever she chose to take me, until she set me +ashore on a tow-head, and went on down the river by herself. I'm glad +of it, though, for if she hadn't, I should never have found the +<I>Whatnot</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>Whatnot</I>!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. "Are you living on board +the <I>Whatnot</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir, this young gentleman is a guest on board of my boat," said +Cap'n Cod, who now found his first chance to speak; "and glad as I have +been to have him, it would have made me many times happier to know that +he was the son of my old friend and commander. Why didn't you tell me +the truth in the first place, boy?" And the veteran gazed +reproachfully at Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"I did tell you the truth so far as I told you anything. I didn't dare +tell you any more, because I heard you say you were a friend of Sheriff +Riley, and knew his skiff. So I was afraid you would have me arrested +for running off with it, and in that way delay me so that I would never +find the raft. Besides, I wanted to wait until I could get a letter +from home to prove who I am, and I hadn't a chance to write until we +got here." +</P> + +<P> +"With me, the simple word of Major Caspar's son would have been +stronger than all the proof in the world," said the loyal old soldier; +"and though you did, as you say, tell the truth so far as you told +anything, you did not tell the whole truth, as your father certainly +would have done had he been in your place." +</P> + +<P> +"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," quoted the +Sheriff, in his most official tone. "But look here, Cap'n Cod," he +continued, "you haven't yet explained what you know of this young +fellow, and his suspicious, or, to say the least, queer performances on +the river." +</P> + +<P> +"Cap'n Cod!" interrupted Winn. "Is your name Cap'n Cod?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a name that I have been known to answer to," replied the owner +of the <I>Whatnot</I>; "and after my performance of last evening I don't +suppose I shall ever be allowed to claim any other." +</P> + +<P> +"If you had only told me all your names in the first place," said Winn, +with a sly twinkle in his eyes, "I should probably have done the same. +I have so often heard my father speak of Cap'n Cod's goodness and +honesty and bravery, that I should have been perfectly willing to trust +him; though I was a bit suspicious of the Sheriff's friend, Mr. Aleck +Fifield." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not the Sheriff's friends you need be suspicious of, my lad, but +his enemies," interrupted Mr. Riley; "and I wonder if you haven't +fallen in with them already. As I now understand this case, you came +down the river on a raft until you reached the island near which I +found you. What became of your raft at that point?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is what I would like to know," replied the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"What!" cried Billy Brackett. "Do you mean to say that you don't know +where the raft is?" +</P> + +<P> +"No more than I know how you happen to be here instead of out in +California, where I supposed you were until five minutes ago. I +haven't set eyes on the <I>Venture</I>, nor found a trace of her, since the +first morning out from home." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if that doesn't beat everything!" said the young engineer, with +a comical tone of despair. "I thought that after finding you the +discovery of the raft would follow as a matter of course; but now it +begins to look farther away than ever." +</P> + +<P> +"But in finding me," said Winn, "you have found some one to help you +find the raft." +</P> + +<P> +"You?" said the other, quizzically. "Why, I was thinking of sending +you home to your mother; that is, if the Sheriff here will allow you to +go." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know about that," said the officer. "It seems to me that I +still know very little about this young man. Who is to prove to me +that he is the son of Major Caspar?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I can speak for that," replied Billy Brackett. +</P> + +<P> +"And I suppose he is ready to vouch for you; but that won't do. You +see, you are both suspicious characters, and unless some one whom I +know as well as I do Cap'n Cod here can identify you, I must take you +both back to Dubuque." +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Cod," repeated Billy Brackett, thoughtfully. "I seem to have +heard that name before. Why, yes, I have a note of introduction from +Major Caspar to a Captain Cod, and I shouldn't wonder if you were the +very man. Here it is now." +</P> + +<P> +"I am proud to make your acquaintance, sir," said the veteran, +heartily, after glancing over the note thus handed to him. "It's all +right, Sheriff. This is certainly the Major's handwriting, for I know +it as I do my own, and I don't want any better proof that this +gentleman is the person he claims to be." +</P> + +<P> +"Would you be willing to go on his bond for a thousand dollars?" asked +Mr. Riley. +</P> + +<P> +"I would, and for as much more as my own property, together with what I +hold in trust for my niece, would bring," answered the old man, +earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"And would you be willing that your money should be risked on any such +a venture?" asked the Sheriff, turning to Sabella with a smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I would," answered the girl, promptly. "After the splendid way +Mr. Brackett helped us last evening, I know whatever he says must be +so." +</P> + +<P> +"That will do," said Mr. Riley. "With such sureties I am well content, +and am willing to make public acknowledgment that these gentlemen are +what they represent themselves to be. Now, for their future guidance, +I will tell them what I have not yet hinted to a living soul. It is +that their raft has probably been stolen and taken down the river by +the most noted gang of counterfeiters that has ever operated in this +part of the country. There are three of them, and I thought I had +surely run them to earth when I traced them to the island just above +Dubuque. You must have seen them there, didn't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir," replied Winn, to whom this question was addressed. "I only +saw one man on the island. He said he was a river-trader, and would +help me float the raft. We went to look for his partners, and when I +came back, it and he were both gone. After that I did not see a soul +until you came along and arrested me." +</P> + +<P> +"That confirms my belief that they have appropriated your raft to their +own uses," said the Sheriff; "and it is a mighty good scheme on their +part, too. We were watching all the steamboats, and even the trading +scows, but never thought of finding them on a raft. They have probably +disguised it, and themselves too, long before this, so that to trail +them will be very difficult. I suppose you will try to follow them, +though?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I shall," answered Billy Brackett, promptly. "I haven't +undertaken this job only to give it up after a week's trial. As for +Winn, though, I don't know but what I really ought to send him home." +</P> + +<P> +"Now look here, Uncle Billy. You know you don't mean that. You know +that, much as I want to see mother and Elta, I simply <I>must</I> find that +raft, or, at any rate, help you do it. You couldn't send me home, +either, unless you borrowed a pair of handcuffs from the Sheriff and +put me in irons. Anyway, I don't believe you'd have the heart. If I +thought for a moment that you had, I'd—well, I'd disappear again, +that's all." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," laughed Billy Brackett. "I'm willing you should go with +us if Bim is. What do you say, old dog? Speak, sir!" +</P> + +<P> +And Bim spoke till the echoes rang again. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap22"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A "MEWEL" NAMED "REWARD." +</H3> + + +<P> +It being thus settled that the search for the raft was to be continued, +the Sheriff said: "I wish I could go with you, Mr. Brackett, and see +this affair through; but those fellows are beyond my hunting-ground +now, and I've got important business to attend to up the river. I'll +tell you what I will do, though. I'll appoint you a deputy, and give +you a bit of writing witnessed by a notary, as well as a badge. The +paper will identify you, and state that you are engaged on government +business, which entitles you to official aid wherever you may demand +it. I will also give you samples of the bills those fellows are +circulating. They are fives and tens, and by far the best specimens of +that kind of work I have ever seen. Of course, if you don't catch them +it will be all right; but if you do, perhaps you'll remember old +friends when the reward is paid." +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett thanked Mr. Riley, and accepted these friendly offers, +though he afterwards remarked to Winn that as they were searching for a +lost raft, and not for a gang of counterfeiters, he thought it unlikely +that he should ever play the part of Sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"But you'd try for that reward if you had the chance, wouldn't you?" +asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I would not," was the prompt reply. "Man-hunting, and especially +man-hunting for money, is not in my line. It is a duty that Sheriffs +are obliged to perform, but, thank goodness, I am not a Sheriff." +</P> + +<P> +At the conclusion of all these explanations and arrangements, the +entire party adjourned to the <I>Whatnot</I>, to which Sabella had already +returned, and where they were to dine, by Cap'n Cod's invitation. +</P> + +<P> +What a good dinner it was, and what a merry one! How Solon, who in a +speckless white apron waited at table, grinned at the praises bestowed +upon his cooking! How they all chaffed each other! Winn was +ironically praised for his success in losing rafts, and the Sheriff for +his in capturing counterfeiters; Cap'n Cod was gravely congratulated +upon the result of his efforts to entertain the public, and even +Sabella was highly praised for her skilful performance on the +hand-organ. With all this banter, Cap'n Cod did not lose sight of the +obligation under which Billy Brackett had placed him the evening +before, and so sincerely regretted that he and Winn were not to +continue their voyage down the river on the <I>Whatnot</I>, that the former +finally said: +</P> + +<P> +"Well, sir, if you really want us to, I don't see why we shouldn't +travel with you until we overhaul our raft. I am rather taken with +this show business myself, and have always had a desire to appear on +the stage. As for Winn, and that other young monkey, Don Blossom—" +</P> + +<P> +"All right," laughed Winn. "I'd rather take the part of monkey than of +mule, any day." +</P> + +<P> +"Other young monkey," continued Billy Brackett, gravely, without +noticing this interruption, "we'll hitch them together and exhibit them +as Siamese twins. Oh, I tell you, gentlemen, we'll give a show such as +never was seen on this little old river. I don't suppose this craft is +as fast as some of the larger steamboats, but she can certainly +overtake a raft, and we might just as well have some fun out of the +trip as not." +</P> + +<P> +"But she is not a steamboat," confessed Cap'n Cod. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a steamboat! What is she then, and how do you propel her?" +</P> + +<P> +"She is only a mule-boat, and at present, as we have no mule, we merely +drift with the current." +</P> + +<P> +At this Billy Brackett became thoughtful, and asked to be shown into +the engine-room. He had not appreciated Winn's reference to acting the +part of a mule until now; but at sight of the treadmill, and a sudden +realization of the part his nephew had taken in the performance of the +preceding evening, he laughed until the tears filled his eyes, and the +others laughed in sympathy. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Winn, Winn!" he cried. "You'll be the death of me yet! I wonder +if ever an uncle was blessed with such an absurd nephew before?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right, Uncle Billy," said Winn; "but you just step in and +work that treadmill for an hour. Then see if you'll laugh. Eh, Solon?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sah. Ole Solom he don' git in dere no mo'. He gwine strike, he +am, agin dish yer mewel bizness." +</P> + +<P> +"Look here, Winn," said Billy Brackett, when he had recovered his +gravity, "didn't I offer a reward for your discovery?" +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure you did; and I meant to claim it, too. That's what I got +the printer to point out Mr. 'Brickell' for. So I'll take it now, if +you please." +</P> + +<P> +"That is one of the rewards I expected to earn," remarked Cap'n Cod. +"And I wrote to your father for full particulars concerning your +disappearance; but I don't suppose there is any chance for me now, so +long as you have discovered yourself, unless you could make it +convenient to get lost again." +</P> + +<P> +"I was rather expecting to come in for that reward myself," said the +Sheriff. +</P> + +<P> +"While I," said Billy Brackett, "had about concluded that if any one +was entitled to it, it was the young rascal's worthy uncle. But I'll +tell you how we will settle these several claims. Solon here is almost +the only one who has not applied for the reward, though I am convinced +that he is as well entitled to it as any of us. Therefore I am going +to pay it to him—" +</P> + +<P> +At this the old negro's eyes grew wide as saucers. He had never been +possessed of a hundred dollars in his life. +</P> + +<P> +"On condition," continued the young engineer, "that he immediately +invests it in a mule, which he shall offer to our friend Cap'n Cod as a +substitute for himself and Winn in the treadmill. I shall receive my +reward by being permitted to travel on the <I>Whatnot</I> and study for the +stage, while the Sheriff shall be rewarded by being allowed to name the +mule." +</P> + +<P> +Although they all laughed at this scheme and considered, it a good +joke, Billy Brackett was deeply in earnest beneath all his assumed +frivolity. He realized that finding the raft and taking possession of +it were no longer one and the same thing. The fact that it was in the +hands of a gang of men who were at once shrewd and desperate rendered +its recovery an affair requiring all the discretion and skill that he +could command. For the purpose in view, a boat like the <I>Whatnot</I>, +with which he could stop when and where he pleased, as well as visit +places unattainable by larger craft, was much better suited than a +steamboat that would only touch at certain fixed points. Then again he +and Winn would be less likely to arouse the suspicion of those whom +they sought if attached to Cap'n Cod's show than if they appeared to +have no definite business or object in view. He calculated that by +using mule-power in the daytime and drifting with the current at night +the <I>Whatnot</I> could be made to reach St. Louis as soon as the raft, and +still allow time for several exhibitions of the panorama on the way. +From the outset he had expected to take the raft at least as far as St. +Louis, and now was perfectly willing that its present crew should have +the labor of navigating it to that point. Thus the plan of travelling +by the <I>Whatnot</I> commended itself strongly to his judgment, besides +proving highly satisfactory to all those interested in it. +</P> + +<P> +Even Bim approved of it, for in addition to showing a decided +appreciation of Sabella's friendship, this intelligent animal evinced a +desire to become more intimately acquainted with Don Blossom, who was +the first of his race he had ever encountered. +</P> + +<P> +The mule selected by Solon, and guaranteed by that expert in mules to +be "a turrible wukker, 'kase I sees hit in he eye," was purchased that +very afternoon, and immediately introduced to the scene of his future +labors. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-178"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-178.jpg" ALT=""The mule was purchased that afternoon."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="570" HEIGHT="374"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "The mule was purchased that afternoon."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Sheriff Riley named him "Reward." Then bidding these strangely found +friends good-bye, and taking his recovered property with him, he +boarded an up-bound steamboat and started for home. +</P> + +<P> +As there was no reason why the others should not also begin their +journey at once, the <I>Whatnot</I> was got under way at the same time, and +headed down the stream. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Cod proudly occupied the pilot-house; Solon attended to the +four-legged engine; Sabella was making preparations for supper; while +the two who would be raftmates, provided they only had a raft, paced +slowly back and forth on the upper deck, enjoying the scenery and +discussing their plans. +</P> + +<P> +"If we only knew how those fellows had disguised the raft, and what she +looked like now!" remarked Billy Brackett. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm certain that I should recognize it under any disguise," asserted +Winn, positively. +</P> + +<P> +"That may be, but it would simplify matters if we could have some +definite description of the craft. Now we shall have to board every +raft we overhaul, on some pretence or other, and make inquiries. And +that reminds me that the <I>Whatnot</I> does not seem to be provided with a +skiff." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Solon said there was one on this deck, covered with canvas. That +must be it there," replied Winn. As he spoke he lifted an edge of the +bit of old sail that protected some bulky object from the weather, and +looked beneath it. Then he uttered a cry of amazement, and tore the +canvas completely off. +</P> + +<P> +"It's my canoe, as sure as I'm standing here!" he shouted. "The very +one that was carried off on the raft!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap23"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +REWARD RUNS AWAY WITH THE PANORAMA. +</H3> + + +<P> +There was not the slightest doubt that the canoe, covered by a bit of +canvas, which had rested all this time on the upper deck of the +<I>Whatnot</I>, was the very one whose loss had grieved Winn almost as much +as that of the raft itself. If he had needed proof other than his +certain knowledge of the little craft, it was at hand; for, as he +pointed out to Billy Brackett, there were his initials, rudely cut with +a jack-knife, just inside the gunwale. How well he remembered carving +them, one sunny afternoon, when he and Elta were drifting down the +creek! Yes, indeed, it was his canoe fast enough, but how came it +there? There was but one way to obtain an answer, and in another +minute Cap'n Cod was being plied with eager questions as to when, +where, and how he came into possession of the dugout. +</P> + +<P> +"That canoe?" he questioned slowly, looking from one to the other, and +wondering at their eagerness. "Why, I bought it off a raft just before +leaving Dubuque. You see, I didn't have any skiff, and didn't feel +that I could afford to buy one. So I was calculating to build one +after we'd got started. Then a raft came along, and the fellows on it +must have been awfully hard up, for they offered to sell their canoe so +cheap that I just had to take it. Two dollars was all I gave for it; +and though it isn't exactly—" +</P> + +<P> +"But what sort of a raft was it?" anxiously interrupted Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Just an ordinary timber raft with a 'shanty' and a tent on it, and—" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean three 'shanties,' don't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; one 'shanty' and a tent. I took particular notice, because as +there were only three men aboard, I wondered why the 'shanty,' which +looked to be real roomy, wasn't enough." +</P> + +<P> +"Three men!" exclaimed Billy Brackett—"a big man, a middle-sized man, +and a little man, like the bears in the story-book. Why Winn, that's +our raft, and I've been aboard it twice within the last four days." +</P> + +<P> +"You have! Where? How? Why didn't you tell me? Where is it now?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I have been aboard it here and there. Didn't mention it because I +haven't been acquainted with you long enough to post you in every +detail of my previous history, and now that raft is somewhere down the +river, between here and St. Louis." Then changing his bantering tone, +the young engineer gave a full explanation of how he happened to board +the <I>Venture</I> twice, and when he finished, Winn said, +</P> + +<P> +"But you haven't mentioned the wheat. Didn't you notice it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wheat! Oh yes. I do remember your father saying he had put some +wheat aboard as a speculation; but I didn't see anything of any wheat, +nor was there any place where it could have been concealed." +</P> + +<P> +"Then they must have thrown it overboard, as I was afraid they had, and +there was a thousand dollars' worth of it, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Whew! Was there as much as that?" said Billy Brackett, thoughtfully. +"So those rascals first stole it, and then threw it away, and now there +is a thousand dollars reward offered for information that will lead to +their capture. I declare, Winn, circumstances do sometimes alter +cases." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed they do, and I think we ought to accept that reward, for +father's sake. I know I feel as if I owed him at least a thousand +dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ever cook a rabbit before you caught it, Winn?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course not. How absurd! Oh, I see what you mean, but I don't +think it's the same thing at all. We can't help finding the raft, now +that we know where it is, and just what it looks like." +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett only laughed at this, and then, in obedience to +Sabella's call, they went down to supper. The engine was stopped that +it also might be fed, and for an hour the <I>Whatnot</I> was allowed to +drift with only Solon on deck. Then Reward was again set to work, and +until ten o'clock the unique craft spun merrily down-stream. From that +hour the engine was allowed to rest until morning; and while they +drifted, the crew divided the watches of the night between them, Cap'n +Cod and Winn taking one, and Billy Brackett with Solon for company the +other. +</P> + +<P> +At midnight Sabella had a lunch ready for the watch just coming below, +as well as for the one about to turn out; and then, wrapped warmly in a +blanket, she sat for an hour on the upper deck with Cap'n Cod and Winn, +fascinated by the novelty of drifting down the great river at night. +The lights that twinkled here and there along the shores earlier in the +evening had disappeared, and the whole world seemed asleep. The +brooding stillness was only broken by the distant hooting of owls, or +the musical complainings of the swift waters as they chafed impatiently +against some snag, reef, or bar. +</P> + +<P> +They talked in hushed voices, and Sabella related how the man from whom +her uncle purchased Winn's canoe had told her that she reminded him of +his own little daughter, who lived so far away that she didn't even +know where her father was. "He loves her dearly, though," added +Sabella. "I know from the way he talked about her; but I can't think +what he meant when he said I ought to be very grateful because I didn't +have any father, and that it would be much better for his little girl +if she hadn't one either." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose he meant because he is such a bad man," suggested Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe he is a bad man," protested Sabella. "If he was, he +just couldn't talk the way he did." +</P> + +<P> +"But he stole our raft, and he is a counterfeiter, and there's a reward +offered for him." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know? Only yesterday some people thought you had stolen a +boat, and were a counterfeiter, and there were two rewards offered for +you," laughed Sabella. "So perhaps this man isn't any worse than you +were. Anyhow, I'm going to like him for his little girl's sake, until +I find out that he is really a bad man." +</P> + +<P> +"I wonder if it could have been Mr. Gilder?" thought Winn, as he +remembered how that gentleman had won his confidence. Then he +entertained Cap'n Cod and Sabella by relating the incident of his warm +reception to the first and only one of the "river-traders" whom he had +met. +</P> + +<P> +By noon of the next day they reached the point at which Billy Brackett +had last seen the raft, and they knew that here their search for it +must begin in earnest. For five days more they swept on down the +mighty river at the rate of nearly a hundred miles a day. They no +longer ran at night, for fear of passing the raft in the darkness, but +from sunrise to sunset they hurried southward with all possible speed. +They made inquiries at every town and ferry landing; they scanned +critically every raft they passed, and boarded several that appeared to +be about the size of the <I>Venture</I>, though none of them showed a tent +in addition to its "shanty." During every minute of daylight either +Billy Brackett or Winn watched the river from the upper deck, but at +the end of five days they had not discovered the slightest trace of the +missing raft. +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Cod became so interested in the chase that he would willingly +have kept it up by night as well as by day, without stopping to give +exhibitions anywhere; but this Billy Brackett would not allow. +</P> + +<P> +"We are certainly travelling faster than they," he argued, "even if +they are not making any stops, which is improbable, considering the +nature of their business. So we must overtake them sooner or later, +and we can't afford the risk of missing them by running at night. +Besides, this is a show-boat, and not a police patrol boat. Its +reputation must be sustained, and though we don't take time enough at +any one place to advertise, and so attract a crowd, we can at least pay +expenses." +</P> + +<P> +So the panorama was exhibited every evening, and Billy Brackett, acting +as lecturer, pointed out the beauties of the "composite" paintings, in +his own witty, happy-go-lucky way, to such audiences as could be +collected. +</P> + +<P> +At one of these exhibitions, given at Alton, only twenty miles from St. +Louis, and just above the point where the clear waters of the +Mississippi disappear in the turbid flood of the greater Missouri, an +incident occurred that, while only regarded as amusing at the time, was +productive of most important results to our friends. At Billy +Brackett's suggestion, Don Blossom, dressed to represent the lecturer, +had been trained to slip slyly on the stage after the panorama was well +under way. Provided with a bit of stick, he would walk behind the +lecturer, and gravely point at the picture in exact imitation of the +other's movements. For a minute or so Billy Brackett would continue +his remarks as though nothing unusual were happening. At length, when +he had allowed sufficient time to elapse for an audience to fully +appreciate the situation, he would turn as though to learn the cause of +their uproarious mirth, discover the monkey, and chase him from the +stage with every sign of anger. +</P> + +<P> +In rehearsal, this act had been done to perfection; but the first time +Don Blossom heard the storm of cheers, yells, and laughter, with which +his appearance was greeted by a genuine river audience, he became so +terrified, that without waiting to be driven from the stage he fled +from it. Darting behind the scenes and on through the living-room, he +finally took refuge in the darkest corner of the engine-room, where +Reward was drowsily working his treadmill. The monkey was so +frightened that a moment later, when Sabella went to find him, he +sprang away from her, and with a prodigious leap landed squarely on +Reward's head, where, chattering and screaming, he clung desperately to +the long ears. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-188"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-188.jpg" ALT=""With a prodigious leap he landed squarely on Reward's head."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="501" HEIGHT="377"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "With a prodigious leap <BR> +he landed squarely on Reward's head."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The next instant a frantic mule was performing the almost impossible +feat of running away on a treadmill. At the same time, to Billy +Brackett's dismay and to the astonishment of his audience, the several +pictures of the panorama were flitting by in a bewildering stream of +color, the effect of which was kaleidoscopic and amazing. +</P> + +<P> +This was Don Blossom's first and last appearance on the stage in +public, for he was so thoroughly frightened that, after being rescued +from his unhappy position, nothing could induce him to enter either the +exhibition hall or the engine-room again. An hour later he managed to +evade the watchfulness of his young mistress, slip from the boat, and +scamper away through the darkness. His absence was not discovered +until the next morning, and at first it was supposed that he was in +hiding somewhere on board. When a thorough search failed to produce +the little rascal, all except Sabella declared he would never be found, +and they must proceed down the river without him. Against this +decision the little girl, who had become deeply attached to her pet, +protested so earnestly that Cap'n Cod finally agreed to devote an hour +to searching the town and making inquiries for the lost monkey. In +order to make the search as thorough as possible, he, Billy Brackett, +Winn, and Solon went ashore and started in different directions, +leaving Sabella alone on the <I>Whatnot</I>. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap24"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WINN DISCOVERS HIS LONG-LOST RAFT. +</H3> + + +<P> +The morning was gray and chill. The low-hanging clouds were charged +with moisture, and a thick fog hung above the river. Sabella was so +filled with anxiety concerning the fate of Don Blossom that she was +unable to settle down to any of the light domestic duties with which +she generally occupied her mornings. She wandered restlessly from door +to window, with the vague hope that her missing pet might be somewhere +in sight. If the weather had not been so unpleasant, she would have +started out on a private search for him in the immediate vicinity of +the landing. All at once, as she was gazing from the window of her own +little room on the upper deck at the dreary-looking houses of the +river-front, and as far as she could see up the one muddy street that +came within her range of vision, she heard shouting and laughter, and +saw a group of persons approaching the boat. +</P> + +<P> +For a few minutes she could not make out who they were, or what they +were doing. Then she saw that the one taller than the others was a +man, and that he was surrounded by a group of boys. Several of them +ran backward in front of him, and all of them seemed greatly excited +over something that he bore in his arms. It was a red bundle that +squirmed and struggled as though it was alive. Sabella looked for a +moment longer, then she darted down the short flight of steps leading +to the living-room, and flung open the outer door. +</P> + +<P> +"It's Don Blossom! It's my own dear, sweet Don Blossom!" she cried, +almost snatching the trembling little animal from the man's arms in her +eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +The man stepped inside, and closed the door to shut out the boys, who, +after lingering a few minutes, gradually dispersed. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, you dear monkey! How could you run away? You naughty, naughty +Don Blossom! Was he cold and wet and hungry and frightened? But he's +safe now, and he shall have his breakfast directly; so he shall, the +dear blessed!" +</P> + +<P> +While Sabella was so much engrossed with her pet as to be unmindful of +all else, the man who had restored him to her stood just within the +doorway and watched her, with an amused smile. +</P> + +<P> +"So he is your monkey, is he? I thought he must be when I first saw +him," he said at length. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed, he is; and I have been feeling so badly at losing him. +But where did you find him, and how did you know he was mine?" Here +the little girl looked for the first time into the stranger's face. +"Why, you are the very same one—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," he replied, quietly, "I am the very same one whom you reminded +of his own little girl, and who has thought of you very often since. I +didn't know that you had reached this place, or I should have come to +see you before. I found this monkey a little while ago in possession +of some boys who were teasing him, and thought I recognized him as soon +as I saw him. I became certain he was yours when some of the boys said +they had seen him on a show-boat last evening, and that, after they had +had some fun with him, they were going to bring him down here and claim +a reward. As I wanted the pleasure of bringing him back to you myself, +I bought him of them, and here he is." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you are not a bad man, as Winn said, but a very good one, as I +told him, and now I can prove it!" exclaimed Sabella, with a note of +joyous triumph in her voice. "I'm ever and ever so much obliged to +you, and I only wish I could see your little girl to tell her what a +splendid father she has." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Winn? And what makes him think I am a bad man?" inquired the +stranger, curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he's a boy, a big boy, that has lost a raft that we are helping +him find, and he thinks you stole it. So he says you are a bad man; +but I know you are not, and you wouldn't do such a mean thing as to +steal a boy's raft, would you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, no," hesitated the stranger, greatly taken aback by this +unexpected disclosure and abrupt question. "No, of course not," he +added, recovering himself. "I wouldn't steal a raft, or anything else, +from a boy, though I might occasionally borrow a thing that I needed +very much. But where is this Winn boy now? And where is your uncle?" +</P> + +<P> +"They have gone out to find Don Blossom, and Mr. Brackett and Solon +have gone too, but they'll all be back directly, and then you can tell +them that you only borrowed Winn's raft, and where you have left it. +Oh, I am so glad it was you that found Don Blossom!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who is Mr. Brackett?" inquired the stranger, glancing uneasily out of +the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Brackett? Why, he is Winn's uncle, though you wouldn't think he +was an uncle, or any older than Winn, he is so funny, and he is helping +find the raft. But you'll see him in a few minutes, for they said +they'd only be gone an hour." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I'll go and find them, and tell them they needn't hunt any +longer for the monkey," said the stranger, hurriedly. +</P> + +<P> +Then, before Sabella could remonstrate, he had bent down and kissed +her, saying, "Good-bye, and God bless you, little one," opened the +door, and was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"Seems to me that is very foolish, when he might have seen them by just +waiting a few minutes," said Sabella to herself, as she pulled off Don +Blossom's gay but soaked and mud-bespattered coat. "Now perhaps he +will miss them after all." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger had hardly disappeared before Solon returned to the boat, +grumbling at the weather, the mud, and, above all, at the rheumatism +that forbade him to remain out in the wet any longer. +</P> + +<P> +"Hit hain't no use, honey," he said, as he opened the door, "dat ar Don +monkey gone fur good an' all dish yer time. Yo' nebber see him no mo'. +Wha—wha—whar yo fin' him? He ben yeah all de time, while ole Solon +ben er traipsin' fro de mud, an' er huntin', an' er huntin'?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed, he hasn't!" cried Sabella, laughing merrily, as she held +Don Blossom up to the astonished gaze of the old negro. "He has just +come home." Then she explained at length how her pet had been brought +back to her by such a good kind man. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ef dat ar ain't a beater!" ejaculated Solon. "I's mighty glad +de lil rasc'l is foun', anyway, 'kase now we kin be gittin' outen dish +yer rheumatizy place. I'll go an' hitch up dat mewel, so to hab him +ready to start when de Cap'n come." +</P> + +<P> +Upon leaving the <I>Whatnot</I>, Cap'n Cod had turned to the left, or up +along the river-front of the town; Billy Brackett had plunged directly +into its business portion, intending to keep on until he reached the +hills beyond, on which stood the better class of residences; and Winn +had turned to the right. +</P> + +<P> +The young engineer, closely followed by Bim, walked for several blocks +without seeing or hearing anything of the runaway monkey. Suddenly, +with a low growl, Bim started across the street. His master was just +in time to see a man spring into the open doorway of a store, and slam +the door to as the dog leaped furiously against it. +</P> + +<P> +The glimpse he caught of the man's face was like a lightning flash, but +it was enough. He knew him to be the raftsman who had kicked Bim, and +whom he had rescued from the dog's teeth at Mandrake, more than a week +before. "He is one of those scoundrels who stole the <I>Venture</I>, and if +I can only trace him I'll find the raft," thought the young man, as he +dashed across the street after Bim. +</P> + +<P> +Seizing the dog's collar, and bidding him be quiet, he opened the door +of the store and stepped inside. There was no one to be seen, save the +proprietor and two or three startled-looking clerks. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he?" demanded Billy Brackett, hurriedly. "The man, I mean, +who ran in here just now!" +</P> + +<P> +"That dog ought to be killed, and if you don't take him out of here at +once I'll call the police," said the proprietor of the store, +indignantly. "It's an outrage to allow such brutes to run at large." +</P> + +<P> +"That's the reason I'm holding him," said Billy Brackett; "but where is +the man?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know; but I hope he has gone for his gun, and will know how to +use it too. If he don't, I—" +</P> + +<P> +The young engineer did not wait to hear more, for at that moment he +spied a back door standing partly open. That was where his man had +gone, and without paying any further attention to the irate shopkeeper, +he dashed out through it with Bim at his heels. +</P> + +<P> +Winn searched high and low, with the utmost faithfulness, until he +reached the outskirts of the town, but without finding a trace of the +missing Don Blossom. There was a growth of timber lining the +river-bank, just beyond the houses, and the boy ventured a little way +into this, arguing that a monkey would naturally take to trees. It was +so wet and dripping in the timber that he only remained there a few +minutes; but as he turned to retrace his steps, his attention was +diverted by a new object of interest. +</P> + +<P> +He was on a bank of the river, beside which was moored a raft. It was +a timber raft, with a single large "shanty," that had a strangely +familiar look, standing amidship. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't the <I>Venture</I>, of course," thought Winn; "but I'll just step +aboard and inquire if they have seen anything of a raft with a 'shanty' +and a tent on it. It will save us some time when we get started down +the river again." +</P> + +<P> +So thinking, the boy stepped lightly aboard. His footfalls were +deadened by the wet, so that he gained the forward end of the "shanty" +without attracting attention. The door was closed, and Winn was +startled to note how very familiar that gable end of the building +looked. He raised his hand to knock at the door, when suddenly it was +flung open, and a harsh voice asked, "What do you want? and what are +you doing here, young man?" +</P> + +<P> +As Winn was about to reply his glance penetrated the interior of the +"shanty," and for an instant he stood speechless. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap25"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RAFT AND THE SHOW-BOAT CHANGE CREWS. +</H3> + + +<P> +It must be remembered that while Winn would have recognized Mr. Gilder, +he had not seen the other "river-traders," Plater and Grimshaw. Of +these two, the former had not set eyes on the lad whose raft they had +stolen; but the latter had caught a glimpse of him, and now, as he +noted Winn's startled glance into the interior of the "shanty," it +flashed into his mind who this intrusive boy was. +</P> + +<P> +The "river-traders" had not really expected Winn to follow them. They +imagined that after he escaped from the island, which they hoped he +would not do for several days, he would be glad enough to make the best +of his way home. Still, they had taken the precaution of disguising +the <I>Venture</I> by throwing the wheat overboard, tearing down the +buildings in which it had been stowed, and erecting a tent in place of +one of them. As they were well provided with various changes of wigs +and beards, they felt quite safe until Billy Brackett boarded the raft +for the second time, and made inquiries for one having three +"shanties." Then they realized that a search was being made for them, +or, at least, for the craft from which they were operating. +</P> + +<P> +They felt somewhat easier when one of their number, detailed to watch +the movements of their unwelcome visitor, returned and reported that he +had gone back up the river. Still, they thought it well to again alter +the appearance of the raft by removing the tent, and so lengthening the +"shanty" as to materially change its aspect. They also allowed the +raft to drift night and day for nearly five hundred miles without a +pause. Then, again feeling safe from pursuit, they tied up just below +the City of Alton, Illinois, and prepared to resume their dishonest +business. +</P> + +<P> +Their plan of operations was to purchase goods wherever they stopped, +but always in such small quantities that for the bills they tendered in +payment they received a certain amount of good money in change. A +little farther along they would offer the goods thus accumulated for +sale so cheaply that they readily disposed of them. In this way they +not only did a thriving business, but kept up the appearance of being +what they claimed to be—"river-traders" and raftsmen. +</P> + +<P> +In this wicked scheme of cheating and stealing, Plater and Grimshaw +felt no scruples nor regrets; but with Mr. Gilder, especially after his +meeting with Sabella, the case was different. He was a man of +gentlemanly instincts, and was a skilful engraver, who had worked in +the Government Printing-office at Washington for several years. There +he was extravagant, got into debt, yielded to the temptation to make a +fortune easily, and became a counterfeiter. The present undertaking +was his first experience in that line of wickedness, and he was already +heartily sick of it. While on the island, where his part of the work +was engraving and printing, he had not realized the contemptible nature +of his unlawful business. He had merely been filled with pride in his +own skill, which feeling his associates took good care to encourage by +artful praise. +</P> + +<P> +When he met Sabella, it flashed across him for the first time that his +own little girl, far away in an eastern city, was the daughter of a +criminal, and from that moment he was a changed man. Through the long +days and longer nights, as the raft drifted down the great river, these +thoughts were ever with him: "What will she say when she finds it out? +How will she act? Will she ever kiss me, or even speak to me again? I +have made her very name a disgrace. What shall I do to wipe it out? +What shall I do?" +</P> + +<P> +His companions noticed his strange mood, and jeered at him, but failed +to change it. Finally they became suspicious, and held secret +consultations as to how they should rid themselves of him. They +finally determined to accomplish this in some way at St. Louis, and so +matters stood when they made their stop at Alton. Here they intended +remaining until they had transacted a satisfactory amount of business. +Thus, on the foggy morning following Don Blossom's escape from the +<I>Whatnot</I>, Messrs Gilder and Plater had gone into the town to +familiarize themselves with its localities, while Grimshaw was left to +look out for the raft. Now Winn Caspar had accidentally discovered it, +and recognized it as the <I>Venture</I>. +</P> + +<P> +He did not know the man standing in the doorway and looking so +curiously at him, nor did he suppose himself known by the other. So, +with a great effort, he strove to conceal the tumult of his feelings, +and to appear natural and self-possessed. He answered the man's curt +inquiry regarding his business there by saying, in as pleasant a tone +as he could command, that he was searching for a lost monkey, which he +thought might have taken to the timber beside which this raft was +moored. "You startled me by throwing open your door so suddenly just +as I was about to knock," he continued; "but you haven't seen anything +of a stray monkey this morning, have you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until this moment," answered the man, surlily, "and I don't want +to see any more of him. Good-day." +</P> + +<P> +With this he slammed the door in the boy's face, and then, stealing on +tiptoe to a window, watched for his departure from the raft. +</P> + +<P> +To say that Mr. Grimshaw was rendered uneasy and apprehensive by this +sudden appearance of one whom he suppose to be hundreds of miles away, +and who was also the very person he was most anxious to avoid, would by +no means express his feelings. He was so terrified and unnerved that +for a moment he thought of leaving the raft to its fate, and making +good his own escape while he had time. Then he wondered if it would +not be better to cast it loose and drift away through the fog to some +new hiding-place. It would never do to go without his partners, +though; for, in the first place, he could not manage the raft alone, +and in the second there was no knowing what Gilder would do if he +thought himself deserted and perhaps betrayed. No, he must find his +associates without delay, and warn them of this unexpected danger. He +wondered if the boy were alone. Perhaps he had friends in hiding near +by, to whom he had gone to report. In that case his own safety +demanded that he discover them before they reached the raft. The boy +had already disappeared in the timber, and there was no time to be lost +in following him. +</P> + +<P> +Thus reasoning, Grimshaw left the "shanty," locking its door behind him +as he did so, and springing ashore, hastened up the trail, along which +Winn had disappeared a few seconds before. It took him about three +minutes to reach the far edge of the timber and outskirts of the town. +Here several streets began, and as he could not follow them all, he was +brought to a halt. Which way should he go now? He had seen nothing of +the boy, whom he certainly ought to have overtaken before this, nor of +any other person. Could he have passed them? Where should he look for +Gilder and Plater? Would it not be better, after all, to await their +return on the raft? Of course it would. He had been a fool to leave +it, and now his best plan was to get back to it as quickly as possible. +</P> + +<P> +These thoughts occupied less than a minute, and so impatient was the +man to regain the raft he had just left that inside of two minutes more +he again stood on the river-bank. He had been gone barely five +minutes, and in that time he had not seen a human being. Now he could +not see the raft. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He could see a +few rods of water, but beyond that the fog was impenetrable. He +shouted, but there was no answer. Perhaps this was not the place. He +ran a little way up the shore, and then as far in the opposite +direction, but without success. Then he returned to his +starting-point, and found the end of a rope. It was attached to a +tree, and had been cut. It was a bit of the line that had held the +raft, and the raft was gone. +</P> + +<P> +The blow was a heavy one, and for a few minutes Grimshaw stood like one +who is stunned. The loss of that raft, under the circumstances, meant +ruin. It meant the loss of everything he had or cared for in the +world. At first the realization of this loss rendered him speechless. +Then he began to rave and revile his own carelessness. After a few +minutes devoted to this he again started up the trail. He was +determined to procure some craft and start in instant pursuit of the +raft. He would go in company with his partners if he ran across them, +but alone if he did not. Before he reached the far edge of the timber +he met Plater running and breathless. +</P> + +<P> +"Get back to the raft!" shouted the new-comer. "They're after us!" +</P> + +<P> +"They've got us," was the bitter answer. "At least they've got the +raft, and we must hunt some boat in which to follow them at once." +</P> + +<P> +A few words more explained the situation, and, angry as he was, Plater +did not stop to waste time in idle reproaches just then. He only +said, "It's that sneak Gilder's doings, I'll bet my pile." +</P> + +<P> +Grimshaw agreed to this, and as they hurried along they both thought of +their partner as floating down the river on the raft in company with +their enemies and glorying over their discomfiture. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll get even with him, though," growled Plater. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, we <I>will</I>," snarled Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +And then they met the object of their anger hurrying away from the +levee which they were approaching. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are you fellows going?" he cried, and then, in a lower tone, he +added, "We've got to get out of here in a hurry, for they are in this +very town and looking for us. I've just come from their boat." +</P> + +<P> +"Who have they left aboard?" asked Grimshaw. +</P> + +<P> +"Only a child," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us take a look at it, then, so we will know it as well as you the +next time we see it." +</P> + +<P> +So Mr. Gilder went back to point out the <I>Whatnot</I> to his companions, +and when they sprang aboard and began to cast off the lines that held +it to the levee he followed them, with a vague idea of protecting +Sabella. +</P> + +<P> +The next moment, Solon, who had just finished hitching up Reward, was +startled by the ringing of the engine-room bell. It was the signal to +go ahead. Thinking that the others must have returned and were ready +to start, he obeyed it. Thus the <I>Whatnot</I>, in full possession of the +"river-traders," moved slowly out into the stream, and again started in +pursuit of the raft she had followed for so long. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap26"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A DISASTROUS COLLISION. +</H3> + + +<P> +The running off with that boat from the waterfront of a city in broad +daylight was a bold thing to do. But these men were accustomed to +taking desperate risks, and had done many more reckless things than +this in the course of their lawless careers; besides, they expected to +overtake the raft within an hour or so, when they would send the boat +back to its owner, or leave it where he could find it. They did not +yet understand the connection between Cap'n Cod, whom they knew as the +proprietor of the <I>Whatnot</I>, and those who were interested in the +recovery of the raft. That made no difference, however. It was enough +that this boat had been used in their pursuit, and that by taking it +they might delay this pursuit until they should recover the raft and +make good their escape. Besides, it happened to be the only available +boat lying at the levee just then, and they would have taken it even +though they had been obliged to use force to gain its possession, so +eager were they to recapture the <I>Venture</I>. +</P> + +<P> +This was the reasoning of two of the "river-traders;" while the third +sprang aboard because the others did, and without stopping to reason. +Grimshaw made his way at once to the pilothouse, where Mr. Gilder +followed him, in order to learn his plans. Plater walked aft, and +through the engine-room window saw that the mule was already in his +treadmill, where Solon had just completed his harnessing. Without +alarming the negro by making his presence known, the big man stole +away, and gaining the pilot-house, rang the engine-room bell that meant +"Go ahead." To the great satisfaction of at least two of the +"river-traders" this order was promptly obeyed. Within a couple of +minutes the city had disappeared, and the <I>Whatnot</I> was slipping down +the fog-enshrouded river. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Mr. Gilder, as he followed +Grimshaw into the pilot-house. "Are you crazy that you are going off +with this boat and leaving the raft behind? Or do you mean to run in +to where it is, take our stuff aboard, and continue the cruise in this +craft? Because if you do, you can count me out. This is too +conspicuous a boat for my use. Why, man, she'll be spotted by the +police inside of twenty-four hours!" +</P> + +<P> +"I expect it's about time we counted you out, anyway," answered the +other, gruffly. "Plater and I have about made up our minds that you +are playing a double game, and had some hand in the disappearance of +the raft." +</P> + +<P> +"The disappearance of the raft?" exclaimed the other, blankly. "What +do you mean? How did the raft disappear? And when did it disappear? +And where were you, whom we left to look after it? If you have lost +that raft you'll answer to me for my share in it, and I'll see that you +make it good too, you sneaking—" +</P> + +<P> +"Come, come, Gilder! Simmer down!" interrupted Plater, who had entered +the pilot-house in time to hear these angry words. "This isn't the +time nor place for us to quarrel. We've too much at stake. The raft +has gone, and we are after it. That's all Grim and I know. Whatever +information you can give concerning its disappearance will be +gratefully received." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-208"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-208.jpg" ALT=""'The raft has gone, and we are after it.'"" BORDER="2" WIDTH="395" HEIGHT="390"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'The raft has gone, and we are after it.'"] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The interchange of high words that followed had almost led to blows, +when Mr. Gilder suddenly became silent, and stepped quickly to the +pilot-house door. He had just caught sight of Sabella holding Don +Blossom in her arms, and staring through the open doorway with an +expression of frightened bewilderment. She had expected to find her +uncle and Billy Brackett and Winn, and had hastened to announce the +joyful news of Don Blossom's safety. +</P> + +<P> +Now as Mr. Gilder led her aft and down into the living-room, he strove +to banish that frightened look by gentle words and reassuring promises. +</P> + +<P> +"But where is my Uncle Aleck? And where are Mr. Brackett and Winn? I +can't find them anywhere. Solon said they were in the pilot-house." +</P> + +<P> +"They are on the raft, and we are going to find them," was the answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm so glad they've got the raft again! And I'm glad you gave it +back to them, too. Now, Winn can't say you are a bad man any longer. +But you've only borrowed the <I>Whatnot</I> for a little while, haven't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, only for a little while." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think those others are very nice-looking men, and I was +awfully afraid until I saw you. Then I knew it must be all right." +</P> + +<P> +"It is all right, little one, and there is nothing for you to be afraid +of. No harm shall come to you so long as I am here, and I promise to +see you safe with your friends again before leaving you. You see, I am +making believe that you are my own little girl, and I want you to feel +just as safe and happy as she would if she were here in your place." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I feel safe now," answered Sabella, promptly. "I have, ever +since I found out it was you who had borrowed the <I>Whatnot</I>. For a +minute, though, I was afraid those disagreeable—" Here the child +hesitated. She did not want to hurt her new friend's feelings. "I +mean," she added, hastily, "that those other gentlemen had stolen it. +And I will make believe I am your own little girl, for I haven't any +papa, and only one uncle in the world. I wish you would tell me your +name, though. I don't think I ever knew any one so well before without +knowing his name." +</P> + +<P> +The man hesitated, and looked curiously at the sweet face upturned to +his. Then, as though arrived at a sudden conclusion, he said, +</P> + +<P> +"My name is Gresham, William Gresham, but my little girl calls me 'Papa +Billy.'" +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll make a bargain!" exclaimed Sabella, joyfully. "That's the +very name of Winn's uncle; and if I make believe you are my uncle, I +shall have an Uncle Billy as well as he. I think that's better, too, +because you know a girl couldn't have but one own papa, but she might +have a hundred uncles if she wanted. So we'll make that a bargain, and +I'll give you a kiss if you like, because Uncle Aleck says that's +always the other part of a bargain." +</P> + +<P> +With the kiss of the innocent child warm on his lips, William Gresham +returned to the upper deck. His heart was very tender at that moment, +and though he did not express any resolve in words, he knew that a +black page of his life had just been closed, never to be reopened. He +met Plater coming to find him, for he was wanted to aid in keeping the +sharp lookout that the fog rendered necessary. +</P> + +<P> +With all their senses alert and strained, the "river-traders" kept on +for two hours without discovering a trace of the raft. Then they knew +they must have passed it, and so headed the <I>Whatnot</I> up-stream again, +hoping to meet it. Now they barely held their own, without making any +progress, for they knew the raft would drift in the channel with the +strongest current, and therefore that where the water ran swiftest they +must await its coming. +</P> + +<P> +Solon, fully occupied with his duties as engineer and with preparations +for dinner, paid little heed to Sabella when she looked in at the +galley door to inform him that her Uncle Billy said everything was all +right. +</P> + +<P> +"I specs so, honey, I specs so, an' of co'se hit's all right ef yo' +Unc' Billy say so. Him a mighty knowin' young gen'l'man, dat ar Unc' +Billy am, fo' shuah." +</P> + +<P> +As the day advanced, there were occasional rifts in the fog, and in one +of these Mr. Gilder, as we will still call him, caught a momentary +glimpse of the raft. It was drifting at some distance to the right of +them, and in a few moments would be again out of sight. His first +impulse was to announce this discovery to his companions, and his +second was to remain silent. He acted upon the second, and was almost +doubtful if he had really seen the raft at all, so quickly did it again +disappear. Suddenly there came a sound of blows, as though some one +were chopping wood on board the raft. +</P> + +<P> +There was an exulting shout from the pilot-house, the steering-wheel +was put hard over, and the boat began to swing slowly at right angles +to the current. She was headed in the direction of the raft, and Mr. +Gilder knew that, owing to those ill-timed blows, it had been +discovered. Yes. Now he could see it again. There it was, not a +hundred yards away, and the <I>Whatnot</I> was headed so as to intercept it +as it came down. What should he do? It would be foolish to struggle +for possession of the wheel against the two desperate men in the +pilot-house. He could stop the machinery though, or, better still, +reverse it, and so give the raft a chance to drift past and again +disappear in the mist. For Sabella's sake he would make the attempt. +</P> + +<P> +He had already started for the lower deck, when his steps were arrested +by a second shout from the pilot-house, and another sound that smote on +his ear like a death-knell. It was the hoarse note of a deep-toned +whistle apparently at his side. There was a jangling of bells, a wild +yelling, the roar of escaping steam, and then the dim form of a great +up-river packet loomed above the little craft on which he stood like +some awful fog monster intent upon its destruction. +</P> + +<P> +The man stood at the head of the steps leading down into the +living-room, where Sabella, unconscious of the impending peril, was +singing a quaint old hymn as she set the table for dinner. He had +heard his mother sing that hymn when he was a boy at home. So long +ago, and so far away. A second more and this sweet young life would be +blotted out, and the little body, crushed beyond recognition, would be +buried deep beneath the waters of the great river, while he would be +safe on the lower deck of that steamboat. He could easily spring to it +from the upper deck of the <I>Whatnot</I>, as he saw Plater and Grimshaw +were about to do. +</P> + +<P> +"I promise to see you safe with your friends again." That was what he +had said, and it was to that child he had said it. In another instant +the man had entered the living-room, seized Sabella in his powerful +arms, and had gained the outer door on the side farthest from the +steamboat. +</P> + +<P> +Then came the shock. There was a moment of horrible grinding, +crashing, and splintering, a mad surging of brown waters, and then the +little showboat passed beneath the monster that had crushed out its +life. It was gone as utterly as the flame of a candle is extinguished +by a puff of wind, and the great river was its grave, as it has been of +thousands of other craft, and will be of thousands yet unbuilt. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap27"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IS THIS OUR RAFT OR NOT? +</H3> + + +<P> +So anxious was Winn Caspar for the recovery of the raft lost through +his carelessness and over-confidence in his own ability that, having +found it again, he could not bear to lose sight of it, even though he +had no idea of how he might regain its possession. Therefore, as he +stepped ashore after his rebuff by Grimshaw, he only went so far up the +trail through the timber as to be concealed from the man's view. Then +he darted into the undergrowth and crept back to the river-bank. He +reached it just in time to see Grimshaw lock the door of the "shanty," +leave the raft, and start up the trail that he himself had taken but a +minute before. +</P> + +<P> +How long would the man be gone? Was there any one left on the raft? +These were the questions that came into the boy's mind. There was no +sign of life on the <I>Venture</I>, and by running a short distance up the +trail Winn became convinced that the man had gone at least as far as +the edge of the timber. Would he ever again have so good a chance of +recovering his father's property? Besides, what a fine thing it would +be for him to recapture the raft alone, without the aid of Billy +Bracket! or any one else. This latter thought decided the boy, and +caused him to hastily retrace his steps. +</P> + +<P> +Never had Winn been so excited! As he sprang aboard the raft and tried +to cast off its fastenings he momentarily expected to hear a shout from +the bank or a gruff demand from the interior of the "shanty" as to what +he was about. Perhaps the summons would take the form of a +pistol-shot, for men who would steal a raft and destroy a thousand +dollars' worth of wheat would not be likely to hesitate at anything. +At this last thought Winn seemed to feel the deadly sting of a bullet, +and in his nervousness only made more intricate the knot he was trying +to untie. At length he whipped out his jack-knife and cut the rope. +</P> + +<P> +Now to head the raft out into the stream. He picked up a long +set-pole, thrust one end into the bank, braced himself, and began to +push. Oh, how he strained and panted! How the veins stood out on his +forehead! Still the great mass of timber seemed immovable. Again and +again he tried, and at length felt a slight yield. A more desperate +effort than before, and he could take a step; then another, and +another, until he had walked half the length of the pole. The head of +the raft was swinging off, at first so slowly that the motion was +almost imperceptible, then faster, until finally it felt the full force +of the current. Now for one more effort! If he could only work her +out from the bank and into the friendly shelter of the fog without +discovery, he would feel safe even from pistol-shots. For two minutes +Winn labored as never before in all his life. But the minutes seemed +hours, and he felt that he might as well attempt to push away the bank +itself as the mass of timber on which he stood. Suddenly he heard that +which he expected and dreaded, a shout, so loud that it seemed to be +uttered on the raft. The set-polo fell from his nerveless grasp as he +looked up, fully expecting to gaze into the black muzzle of a pistol. +</P> + +<P> +At first he saw—nothing. He must be turned around. No; the view of +the opposite direction was equally blank. Then, for an instant, he +caught a glimpse of shadowy tree-tops just dissolving into formless +mist. The blessed fog had folded its protecting arms about him, and he +was safe. +</P> + +<P> +Hurrah! he was once more in undisputed possession of the raft, and once +more floating on it down the great river. +</P> + +<P> +Wildly happy, the exhausted boy flung himself down on the wet planks, +and yielded to pleasant reflections. It was only twenty miles to St. +Louis. The current was carrying him at the rate of five miles an hour, +so that he ought to reach the city soon after noon. There he would +hail some steamboat or tug, and get it to tow his raft to a safe +mooring-place. Then he would telegraph to both his father and his +Uncle Billy. After that he would engage some stout man to help guard +the raft until his friends arrived. Or perhaps he would buy a revolver +and guard it himself, and when his father and Uncle Billy came along, +he would challenge them before allowing them to step on board. Yes, +that would be the scheme, and the boy became very proud of himself as +he thought of the praises in store for him. +</P> + +<P> +At length Winn rose from his moist resting-place, and began to examine +his surroundings. How strange the raft did look, to be sure. He +wouldn't have believed its appearance could have been so altered, and +now wondered that he had ever recognized it. In fact, the only feature +that seemed at all familiar, as he studied it, was the forward gable +end of the "shanty." But somehow the building itself appeared much +longer than when he last saw it. Still, there was that interior. He +had seen the partition, with its door leading into his own little room, +and he never heard of a raft "shanty" with a partition in it until this +one was built. He must have another look at that interior. +</P> + +<P> +The locked door baffled him. It was of such solid construction, and +its lock was so well made, that it resisted all his efforts to force +it. The windows were provided with heavy wooden shutters that were +fastened on the inside. For an hour Winn busied himself with vain +efforts to effect an entrance. At the end of that time he was +discouraged. He was also uneasy. He had heard steamboats pass him, +but could see nothing of them on account of the fog. The last one +passed very close. The next might run him down. How he wished the +raft were safely tied to some bank or levee. It was awful to be thus +blindly drifting, right in the track of steamboats. The fog hung so +low over the water that their pilots were lifted well above it, and +could see the landmarks by which they were guided. They could also see +other steamboats; but such things as scows and rafts had no business to +be moving at such a time. They were supposed to be snugly tied up, and +consequently no pilot would be on the lookout for them. Winn knew this +as well as any one, and the knowledge did not tend to reassure him. +</P> + +<P> +If he only had some one with him to help work the heavy sweeps by which +the raft's course might be directed, or even to advise him what to do. +It was dreadful to be alone. What a foolish thing he had done, after +all, in attempting to manage this affair by himself. If he had only +gone back for Billy Brackett. But his boyish pride in his own ability +had again overcome his judgment, and now he must abide by the +consequences. +</P> + +<P> +"I only hope, if I do get run down and killed, they will find out who I +am," thought the poor boy. "It would be horrid to disappear and have +folks say I was a coward, who had run away for fear father would be +angry with me for losing his raft. As if <I>my</I> father would ever do +anything to make me afraid of him! And mother! How badly she would +feel if I should disappear without ever giving her the comfort of +knowing I was dead. There is Elta, too, and the very last time I saw +her I was ugly to her. Oh dear! I wish—well, I wish, for one thing, +that I could get inside that 'shanty,' and out of this miserable +drizzle. I wonder if I can't pick the lock?" +</P> + +<P> +Full of this new idea, Winn obtained a bit of stiff wire from the +handle of a lantern that stood outside the "shanty." This he bent as +well as he could into the rude form of a key, and thus equipped, he +worked patiently at the lock for another hour. At length he threw away +the useless implement in disgust. +</P> + +<P> +"I was never cut out for a burglar, that's certain!" he exclaimed. +"There's one thing I can do, though, and I will, too. I can smash down +the door, and get inside that way." +</P> + +<P> +An axe lay beside a pile of wood near the forward end of the raft; and +armed with this, the boy began to rain vigorous blows upon the stout +door. Before these it quickly yielded, and he thus gained the interior. +</P> + +<P> +Once inside, he gazed about him blankly. Nothing looked familiar; +nothing was as he had expected to find it. There was the partition, +with a door in it, to be sure, and there was the small room beyond the +main one; but there was also another partition, and another door beyond +this. There had been but two rooms in the <I>Venture's</I> "shanty," while +here were three. Then again the "shanty" that he had helped to build +was only boarded up on the outside, while the interior had been left +unceiled, with the frame exposed. The interior on which he now gazed +was wholly ceiled, so as to make the walls of double thickness, and +conceal every bit of the framing. +</P> + +<P> +The perplexed boy noticed these details at a glance; and as he stood +staring blankly about him, the uncomfortable suspicion began to force +itself into his mind that perhaps this was not the <I>Venture</I> after all. +</P> + +<P> +"If I have run off with some one else's raft, I declare I shall just +want to disappear!" he exclaimed to himself. "I do believe I shall be +too ashamed ever to go home again. Oh dear! There is another +steamboat." +</P> + +<P> +The notes of a deep-voiced whistle, evidently near at hand, caused the +boy to hasten outside. He could see a huge confused mass dimly looming +out of the fog ahead, and a little to one side of him. At the same +moment he heard the wild jangling of bells, the terrified shoutings, +and then the awful crash that denoted a collision. A big up-bound +steamboat had run down and sunk a smaller boat of some kind. That much +he could see, and he was filled with horror at the nearness and +magnitude of the disaster. +</P> + +<P> +He had heard agonized screams, and knew that lives had been sacrificed. +One shrill cry that came to his ears with startling distinctness +sounded as though uttered by a woman or a girl, and Winn shuddered at +the thought of her fate. +</P> + +<P> +The raft was drifting rapidly away from the scene of the catastrophe, +and the dimly discerned steamboat was just disappearing from his view, +when the boy thought he heard a gurgling cry from the water. Could +some bold swimmer have escaped? He bent his head to the water's edge +and listened. Again he heard the cry. And this time it seemed nearer. +Some human being was struggling in the river. Now, if ever, was the +time for his promptest action, and with Winn thought and action went +hand in hand. +</P> + +<P> +In another moment he was in the skiff belonging to the raft, and +pulling with all the strength of his stout young arms in the direction +of the cries. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap28"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE RESCUE OF SABELLA. +</H3> + + +<P> +Strongly as Winn pulled, the cries grew very faint and almost inaudible +during the few seconds that elapsed before he discovered the struggling +forms from which they proceeded. A glance over his shoulder showed him +a man swimming with one arm, while the other supported a +child—apparently a girl. +</P> + +<P> +With a final powerful stroke the skiff shot alongside the drowning +figures, the oars were jerked in, and Winn, leaning over the side, +seized the girl's arm. At the same moment the man grasped the gunwale +of the skiff. It was no slight task for Winn to get the girl into the +boat, for she was unconscious, and formed a dead weight, that was made +heavier by her soaked clothing. He finally succeeded; and as he laid +the limp form in the bottom of the skiff and took his first good look +at her face, he uttered a cry of amazement, and doubted the evidence of +his senses. How was it possible that Sabella could be there, and in +such a predicament? Could the boat that had just been run into be the +<I>Whatnot</I>? If so, who was this man? He turned to look, and to help +him into the skiff; but, to his horror, the man had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +William Gresham had redeemed his promise with his life. From a cruel +wound, made by a splintered timber, he had bled so freely that his +fast-failing strength was barely able to hold Sabella's head above the +surface until Winn came to her rescue. He recognized the boy, and as +the little girl was lifted from his arms, he closed his eyes with the +peaceful expression of one who is weary and would sleep. Then his +grasp of the skiff relaxed, and without a struggle he slipped across +the invisible line dividing time from eternity. The hurrying waters +closed about him as gently as a mother's arms, and who shall say that +in his death the man had not atoned for his life, or that in the tawny +flood of the great river his sin was not washed away as though it had +never been? +</P> + +<A NAME="img-226"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-226.jpg" ALT="The rescue of Sabella." BORDER="2" WIDTH="384" HEIGHT="363"> +<H3> +[Illustration: The rescue of Sabella.] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +As for Winn, he was overwhelmed and stunned. It was so sudden, so +terrible, and so pitiful. At one moment the man was there, and in the +next he was gone without a word. In vain did the boy look over both +sides of the skiff and over its stern in the hope that the man might +still be clinging to it. Only the swift-flowing waters met his gaze, +and seemed to mock at his efforts to wrest their secret. +</P> + +<P> +The man was gone; there was no doubt of that; and now came the +harrowing question, who was he? Winn had not seen his face. It could +not have been the owner of the <I>Whatnot</I>, because, with his wooden leg, +he could not swim. It was not Solon, for the head had been that of a +white man. Could it have been his mother's only brother, his Uncle +Billy, the brave, merry young fellow who was to have been his raftmate? +Winn had already learned to love as well as to admire Billy Brackett, +though how much he had not known, until now that he believed him to be +gone out of his life forever. +</P> + +<P> +He tried to believe that it was some one else, but in vain. The girl +whom he had just rescued was certainly Sabella, so of course the boat +that he had seen crushed like an egg-shell must have been the +<I>Whatnot</I>. Oh, if he had only been a little closer, or if the fog had +not been so thick! The boat was almost certain to have been the +<I>Whatnot</I> though, and in that case the brave swimmer, who had missed +safety by a hair's-breadth must have been— +</P> + +<P> +Here a moan diverted Winn's attention from his own unhappiness, and +caused him to spring to the side of the little girl. She opened her +eyes and looked at him. "Oh, Sabella!" he cried, "tell me who saved +you? Was it Mr. Brackett—my Uncle Billy, you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"My Uncle Billy," she murmured faintly; then she again closed her eyes +wearily, and seemed to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"It was he, then; it was he!" And Winn, breaking down, sobbed aloud. +"And all my fault that he came on this trip! My fault, my fault!" he +repeated over and over again. +</P> + +<P> +At length he became conscious of the selfishness of thus giving way to +his feelings while Sabella was still in such urgent need of his aid. +</P> + +<P> +"I must get her to the raft at once!" he exclaimed, starting up and +looking about him. But there was no raft, nor was there any steamboat. +There was nothing but the skiff with themselves in it, a small circle +of brown water, and the fog. He had no idea of direction, not even +whether his skiff was heading up-stream or down, or drifting broadside +to the current. If the fog would only lift! It had been so kind to +him, but now was so dreadful. +</P> + +<P> +The boy took off his coat, folded it, and put it under Sabella's head. +Then he sat beside her and rubbed her cold hands. He knew of nothing +else that he could do for her, and so he waited—waited for the fog to +lift or for help to come. +</P> + +<P> +At length he began to hear sounds from every direction, the sound of +whistles, bells, and hundreds of other noises. He must have reached +St. Louis, and it would never do to drift past it. Besides, the danger +of being run down was now greater than ever. So the boy took to his +oars, and began to pull in the direction from which the loudest sound +of whistles appeared to come. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly he was hailed. "Look out dar, boss!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on!" shouted Winn. "I am in trouble, and will give you a dollar +to pilot me ashore." +</P> + +<P> +A skiff came alongside. It contained but a single occupant, a negro, +who appeared nearly as old as Solon. He listened with open-mouthed +wonder to the boy's hurriedly told story, and not only expressed a +ready sympathy, but promised to have "de young gen'l'man an' der lilly +lady lamb on de sho' in free minutes. Ole Clod, him know de way. De +frog can't fool him on desh yer ribber." +</P> + +<P> +With renewed hope Winn followed closely behind his dusky pilot, and in +another minute caught sight of the welcome land. It was East St. +Louis, on the Illinois side of the river, at that time a great railroad +terminus, and Clod's little cabin stood at the edge of high-water-mark; +for he was a boatman, and gained his living from the river. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, young marse, you mus' come up to my house, whar my ole 'oman +fixin' de lilly gal all right in no time." So saying, the negro lifted +Sabella in his strong arms and started towards his cabin, to which Winn +was only too glad to follow him. The boy had never felt so utterly +helpless and forlorn. +</P> + +<P> +He no longer thought of taking matters into his own hands, but was +thankful to accept even the humble guidance of this negro. Under the +circumstances he could not have fallen into better hands. Not only was +Clod strong, willing, and possessed of a shrewd knowledge gained by +rough experience, but his "ole 'oman," Aunt Viney, a motherly soul of +ample proportions, was accounted the best all-round nurse of the +neighborhood. She was never happier than when bustling about in a +service like the present; and within five minutes Sabella was nestled +in the snowy centre of a huge bed, with Aunt Viney crooning over her +like a brooding tenderness, and rapidly restoring the color to the +child's pallid cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +At the same time Winn was sitting by the kitchen stove in a cloud of +steam from his own wet clothing, absorbing warmth and comfort, and +relating his adventures at length to the sympathetic old man. +</P> + +<P> +Clod's interest and wonder at the boy's story were shown by uplifted +hands, rolling eyes, and such ejaculations as "How yo' talk, chile!" +"Well, I nebber!" "Dat's so, bress de Lawd!" "Ef dat ar ain't de +beatenest!" +</P> + +<P> +At length Aunt Viney tiptoed heavily into the kitchen with the joyful +announcement that Sabella, fully restored to consciousness, was +sleeping naturally and quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"When she wakin she be all right an' hongry, de honey lamb! An' I +reckin dis young gen'l'man hongry now, an' ef he ain't he orter be, for +eatin' am de bestes t'ing in de worl' when yo' is in trouble," she +added, as she bustled softly about, making preparations for a simple +meal. +</P> + +<P> +Winn did not think he could eat a mouthful, so full was he of grief and +trouble; but on making the attempt, merely to gratify the kindly soul, +found that he not only could but did dispose of as hearty a meal of +bread and milk, coffee, bacon, and sweet-potatoes, as any he had ever +eaten in his life. Not only that, but as his faintness from hunger +disappeared his hopefulness returned, and by the time he had finished +eating fully half of his troubles had vanished. He was still +overwhelmed with grief at the supposed loss of his brave young uncle, +but he had already resolved upon a plan of action, and felt better for +having done so. He would send a telegram to his father hinting at the +great sorrow that had overtaken them, and asking him to come on at +once. Then he would notify the police of the collision, with its +probable loss of at least three lives, and ask them to keep a watch for +the bodies. He would also tell them of the lost raft. +</P> + +<P> +After great searching, Clod finally produced an old pen, some very +thick ink, and a few sheets of paper quite yellow with age. Then he +watched with respectful admiration the writing of the telegram, for +penmanship was an art he had never acquired. He offered to take the +message to the telegraph office while Winn was preparing a statement +for the police, and as he was evidently anxious to be of service, the +boy allowed him to do so. +</P> + +<P> +The nearest telegraph office was in the railway station, and as Clod +approached it he found himself involved in the crowd of passengers just +brought in by a newly-arrived train from the North. He dodged here and +there among them, but finally, in escaping a truck-load of baggage, he +stumbled over the chain by which a gentleman was leading a dog, and +plumped full into the arms of a white-headed negro who was close behind +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Scuse me, sah!" began poor Clod, most politely. Then he stared, +stammered, tried to speak, but only choked in the effort, and threw his +arms about the neck of the old negro, laughing and sobbing in the same +breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't yo' know me, Solom?" he gasped. "Doesn't yo' know yer own +br'er Clod? Doesn't yo' 'member de ole plantashun 'way down in +Lou'siana, befo' de wah, an' Clod?—yo' own br'er Clod?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Solon recognized his only brother, long mourned as dead, and the +two old men embraced, and wept, and held each other off at arm's-length +to get a better look at the other's changed but still familiar face. +The hurrying passengers smiled at this spectacle at once so ridiculous +and so pathetic, but good-naturedly made way for the old men, while +Bim, sharing the general excitement, barked and danced about, until his +chain was entangled with the legs of at least half a dozen persons at +once. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap29"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIM BRINGS ABOUT A JOYFUL MEETING. +</H3> + + +<P> +Even with Bim's aid, Billy Brackett failed to find the man who had +escaped him in Alton by running through the store and out of its back +door. The young engineer was convinced that he was one of those who +had stolen the raft, and it was certainly very trying to recover the +trail, as he had just done, only to lose it again immediately. So +loath was he to abandon the search that it was very nearly noon before +he did so, and retraced his steps to the river. As he approached the +place where the <I>Whatnot</I> had been moored, he was surprised not to see +the boat, and turned towards a group of men, all of whom seemed to be +talking at once, to make inquiries. At that moment the group opened, +and from it Cap'n Cod, red-faced and anxious, came hastily stumping in +his direction. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the <I>Whatnot</I>?" asked Billy Brackett. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what I want to know," replied the other, excitedly. "And where +have you been all this time? I have been here, and in a state of mind, +for more than an hour, not knowing what to do. Some of these men say +they saw three fellows go off with the boat soon after we left here, +and of course I thought they must be you, Winn, and Solon; but I +couldn't understand it at all. Now that you are here, I understand it +still less. Where is Winn?" Here the old man paused, quite out of +breath, but still questioning his companion with anxious eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't seen anything of Winn since we all left the boat," replied +Billy Brackett, who could hardly comprehend the startling information +just given him. "Do you mean to say that the <I>Whatnot</I> has been +stolen? Great Scott! I wonder if those fellows can have had a hand in +it?" +</P> + +<P> +"What fellows?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Billy Brackett told of his fleeting glimpse of Plater, and of his +consequent belief that the raft and all three of the "river-traders" +must be in that vicinity. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a raft, with three men aboard it, who call themselves +'river-traders,' moored at the edge of that timber, just below the +city," volunteered one of the by-standers, who had overheard the young +man's remarks. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you go with me and point it out?" asked Billy Brackett, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I don't mind, seeing that this weather makes a bit of slack +time," replied the man. +</P> + +<P> +So requesting Cap'n Cod to wait there until his return, and promising +to be back as quickly as possible, the young engineer and his guide, +followed by several curiosity-seekers, started in search of the raft. +It is needless to say that they failed to find it, though another hour +elapsed before Billy Brackett returned. He was disappointed, but was +possessed of a theory. +</P> + +<P> +"I believe Winn has found that raft," he said to Cap'n Cod, as they sat +together in the small hotel to which they had repaired for a +consultation and dinner. "But he probably discovered it just as those +fellows, alarmed at meeting me, were putting off for another run down +the river. Then he hurried back here, and not finding us, took the +responsibility of starting after them in the <I>Whatnot</I>, hoping in that +way to keep them in sight. It was a crazy performance, though just +such a one as that boy would undertake. He is a splendid fellow, with +the one conspicuous failing of believing that he knows what to do under +any circumstances just a little better than any one else. So he has +persuaded Solon that it is their duty to keep that raft in sight until +it is tied up again, and then he'll telegraph to us. It is more than +likely that the raft will stop at St. Louis, in which case they must be +nearly there by this time, and we ought to hear from Winn very soon. +That is my theory, and now I'll run up to the telegraph office and see +if a despatch has come." +</P> + +<P> +There was no message for any one named Brackett, and so, after leaving +word to have anything that came for him sent to the hotel, the young +man hastened back. An up-river steamboat had just made fast to the +levee, and the two anxious men went down to see if her pilot had seen +anything of the <I>Whatnot</I>. As they approached they saw by her +splintered bows that she had been in a collision. Others had noticed +this also, and already a crowd of people was gathered about her +gang-plank to learn the news. Forcing a way through for himself and +Cap'n Cod, Billy Brackett boarded the boat, and went directly to the +Captain's room. +</P> + +<P> +The Captain was inclined to be ugly and uncommunicative; but, with a +happy thought, Billy Brackett displayed the badge with which Sheriff +Riley had provided him. At sight of it the man at once expressed his +readiness to impart all the information they might require. +</P> + +<P> +Yes, he had been in collision with a trading-scow, but there were no +lives lost, and the damage had already been satisfactorily settled. It +happened a couple of miles above St. Louis, and the fog was so thick +that she was not seen until they were right on her. She was crossing +the channel, and they struck her amidship, sinking her almost instantly. +</P> + +<P> +Her name? Why, according to this paper, it was the <I>Whatnot</I>. Queer +sort of a name, and she looked to be a queer sort of craft. +</P> + +<P> +At this Billy Brackett's face grew very pale, while poor Cap'n Cod sank +into a chair and groaned. +</P> + +<P> +"No lives lost, you say? What then became of the people who were on +board that trading-scow?" +</P> + +<P> +"There were only three," answered the Captain; "her owner, a Mr. +Caspar, a deck hand, and the cook, a black fellow. The first two saved +themselves by leaping aboard this boat just as she struck, and we +picked the nigger up in the skiff that we immediately lowered to look +for survivors." +</P> + +<P> +"You say the owner was a Mr. Caspar?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, here is the name signed to this paper. You see, though we were +in no way to blame, they might have sued for heavy damages and bothered +us considerably. So when her owner offered to compromise and waive all +claims for three hundred dollars, I thought it was the cheapest way out +of the scrape, and took him up. I had this paper prepared by a lawyer +who is on board, and witnessed before a notary, so that it is all +square and ship-shape. See, here is Mr. Caspar's signature." +</P> + +<P> +Sure enough, there at the bottom of the paper exhibited by the Captain +was the name "Winn Caspar," written clearly and boldly. It certainly +looked like Winn's signature. +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett was staggered. What could it all mean? Something was +evidently wrong; but what it was he could not determine. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is this Mr. Caspar now?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Went ashore the moment we touched here," was the reply. "Said he must +hurry back to St. Louis. Took his man with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Was he a young fellow; a mere boy, in fact?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, bless you, no! He was past middle-age. Small, thin man, with a +smooth face; and the other was a big man with a beard." +</P> + +<P> +"And what became of the cook, the negro, whom you rescued?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's down below somewhere, getting dry. I told the mate to look after +him." +</P> + +<P> +"But where is my niece Sabella? The little girl that was on board the +<I>Whatnot</I>," asked Cap'n Cod, with a pitiful quaver in his voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Little girl?" repeated the steamboat Captain, in surprise. "There +wasn't any girl on board. This is the first mention I have heard of +any such person, and Mr. Caspar would surely have spoken of her if she +had existed. What are you men driving at, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +With a forced calmness, and ignoring this question, Billy Brackett +asked if they might see the rescued negro. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, I've no objections. Only you'll have to be spry about it, +for I'm going to pull out of here inside of a couple of minutes. I +only stopped to land Mr. Caspar." +</P> + +<P> +They found Solon just getting into his dried clothing, and the faithful +fellow's face lighted as he saw them. There was, however, a +reproachful tone in his voice as he exclaimed, "T'ank de Lawd, yo' is +safe, Marse Cap'n, an' Marse Brack. Ole Solon feelin' mighty bad when +yo' ain't comin' to see him, an' Marse Winn too. But dese yeah folk +ain't tellin' me nuffin of Missy Sabel. She gettin' saved same as de +res' of us, ain't she? Say de good word, Marse Cap'n, an' don't tell +de ole man dat honey lamb done got drownded. Don't tell him dat ar?" +</P> + +<P> +There was no time for explanations then, so they hurried Solon ashore +and up to the hotel. There his replies to their questions, and his +questions in turn, only served to deepen the mystery in which the fate +of the <I>Whatnot's</I> passengers had become involved. He could not be +persuaded that they had not been on board at the time of the accident. +Sabella had boon talking to him of what her "Uncle Billy" had just told +her only a few minutes before it occurred. He was also positive that +Winn had been on board the ill-fated craft. He was certain that Reward +died at his post of duty, though of Don Blossom's fate he knew nothing. +How he himself had escaped he could not explain, for he remembered +nothing after the shock of the collision. +</P> + +<P> +"It is evident," said Billy Brackett, at length, "that we must get to +St. Louis as quickly as possible, and strive to unravel this mystery +there." +</P> + +<P> +Cap'n Cod agreed that this seemed the best thing to be done, and as +there was a train about to leave for the South, they hurried to the +station. +</P> + +<P> +As Bim was forced to ride in the baggage-car, and his master declined +to leave him, both Cap'n Cod and Solon rode there as well. All three +spent the hour's run to East St. Louis in discussing the strange +occurrences of the day, and trying to discover some ground for belief +that either Winn or Sabella, or both, might still be alive. In this +effort they met with so little success that, by the time they reached +their destination, they had wellnigh abandoned all hope of ever again +seeing either the boy or girl who were so dearly loved. +</P> + +<P> +Poor Cap'n Cod was broken-hearted, while Billy Brackett resolutely +refused to think of the sad telegram he must send back to Caspar's Mill. +</P> + +<P> +If it had not been that Bim compelled them to ride in the baggage-car, +they might have discovered the two "river-traders," Grimshaw and +Plater, who were also on the train. Bim did discover them on the +platform at East St. Louis, and he was in the act of springing towards +Mr. Plater, when the old negro Clod stumbled over his chain and into +Solon's arms. +</P> + +<P> +In his joyful excitement at this wonderful meeting with the brother +whom he had never expected to see again, Clod allowed a slip of paper +to fall unheeded to the ground, and Billy Brackett picked it up. He +glanced carelessly at it, and then his shout of amazement as he saw +written on it the name "Winn Caspar" startled not only his companions, +but every one on the station platform. +</P> + +<P> +Two minutes later four excited men, accompanied by a white bull-dog +straining at his chain and barking as joyfully as though he understood +the whole situation, were hurrying with all speed in the direction of +Clod's cabin on the river-bank. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap30"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN CLOD'S CABIN. +</H3> + + +<P> +Aunt Viney heard Bim's joyful voice, and glancing anxiously towards the +door of the room in which Sabella lay, she muttered, "Drat dat ar dorg! +He sholy wake up missy wif he barkin'." +</P> + +<P> +The barking did waken Sabella, and as she lifted her head to listen, +she whispered wonderingly to herself, "It's Bim! It's dear old Bim. I +know his voice." +</P> + +<P> +Winn, bending wearily over the statement he was preparing for the +police, heard the barking, and looked up with a startled expression on +his troubled face. "If I didn't know that it couldn't be, I should say +that was Bim's bark. Poor old dog!" he thought. +</P> + +<P> +The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry. Could the dead come +to life? Could the drowned be resurrected? Could the handsome, +smiling, eager figure in the doorway be that of the young uncle whose +untimely death he had so truly mourned? A quick step, a joyful shout, +and the two were face to face, with hand clasped in hand. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-244"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-244.jpg" ALT=""The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="453" HEIGHT="385"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"It has been a terrible lesson, Uncle Billy, but I think I have learned +it," said Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God, my dear boy, that the experience has been gained so +cheaply; for I feared it had cost you your life." +</P> + +<P> +"But where is my little one, my Sabella?" asked Cap'n Cod, anxiously. +"They told me she was here." +</P> + +<P> +"Here I am, Uncle Aleck," came the dear voice from the inner room. +Then there was another glad reunion of those who had thought never +again to meet in this life; while the old man counted as nothing the +loss of all he had possessed, so long as this child was left to him. +</P> + +<P> +When Aunt Viney was told who Solon was, she made him a deep courtesy, +and then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she began to sing: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Praise God from whom all blessings flow;<BR> +Praise Him all creatures here below.<BR> +Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;<BR> +Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Before she finished the first line they were all singing with her, and +never did this grand old hymn of thanksgiving find a more fervent +utterance. +</P> + +<P> +As for Bim, there never was a happier bull-dog in this world. He +barked as long as his voice held out, and jumped up on every one, and +tore wildly about the room until his chain fastened itself to a table +leg. Then, with a few spoke-like revolutions, he became completely +wound up, and lay panting on the floor, only waiting to be released +that he might again go through with the entire performance. +</P> + +<P> +After comparative quiet had been restored, though every one was still +talking at once, the questions arose, "Who saved Sabella? Was any one +drowned? If so, who was it? Did Winn bring the <I>Whatnot</I> down the +river? If not, how did he reach the scene of the catastrophe? How did +the boy's signature happen to be attached to the paper in possession of +the steamboat Captain?" These and a dozen other questions were asked +in a breath, and then all began to answer them at once. Finally, Billy +Brackett called the meeting to order, and asked each one to tell his +story in turn, beginning with Cap'n Cod. +</P> + +<P> +The most interesting stories, and those throwing the most light on the +situation, were Winn's and Sabella's. At first they were all puzzled +to know who Mr. Gresham could have been. Then Sabella said, "Why, +don't you know, Uncle Aleck? He was the one who sold you the canoe, +and the one Winn said was a bad man. He brought Don Blossom back, and +I told him all about Mr. Brackett and Winn and the raft and everything, +and he was so glad he started right off to find them. Then he came +back with two other men, and said you were all on the raft, and they +borrowed the <I>Whatnot</I> to go and find you with. He was one of the very +nicest and kindest and best men I ever knew, and was going to be my +'Uncle Billy,' so I could have one as well as Winn, and now he's +drowned, and—" +</P> + +<P> +Here the little girl began to sob bitterly, while Billy Brackett and +Winn and Cap'n Cod looked at each other, and almost simultaneously +pronounced the name "Gilder." +</P> + +<P> +They did not speak it very loud, for the last splendid act of the man's +life had won for him the right to an unstained name. Hereafter they +would only remember him as William Gresham the hero. +</P> + +<P> +Thus was cleared up most of the mystery that, like the fog, had +enveloped the proceedings of that memorable day. +</P> + +<P> +Now what was to be done next? Where was the raft, and was it the +<I>Venture</I> or not? At one moment Winn was certain that it was, while +the next found him again doubtful. +</P> + +<P> +At length it was decided that Solon should remain with his brother for +the present, while the others should go to a hotel in the city across +the river. From there Billy Brackett would telegraph to the +authorities of towns farther down, asking them to watch for an +abandoned raft, and if they found it to hold it until he could go on +and prove ownership. The raft being described as belonging to a Major +Caspar, Winn's name was signed to all these despatches, in order to +prevent confusion. +</P> + +<P> +From the hotel Billy Brackett also thought it best to telegraph Major +Caspar of their safe arrival in St. Louis, though, as they had not yet +recovered the raft, it would be unnecessary for him to come on, and a +promise to write full particulars at once. In the Major's absence from +home this despatch was opened by Mrs. Caspar, who had been growing very +anxious of late concerning the voyagers on the great river. The moment +she read it she sat down and wrote another despatch to her husband, who +was in Chicago. It was: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Raftmates in St. Louis. Southern Hotel. Please join them +immediately." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Just ten words," she said to herself, with a complacent sigh, as she +handed this to the waiting messenger. "Now if John acts promptly, he +may catch those crazy boys before they have the chance to start off on +any other absurd expedition. I only hope to goodness that he'll have +the sense to bring them home, and let that wretched raft drift where it +likes." +</P> + +<P> +Major Caspar could not start for St. Louis the next day, but he did so +on the following morning, and late that same evening he walked into the +office of the Southern Hotel. He was beginning to make inquiries at +the desk, when his hand was seized and violently shaken. Turning +quickly, he at once recognized his faithful old army friend Cap'n Cod, +and gave him a cordial greeting. +</P> + +<P> +"But where are the others?" he inquired at length. +</P> + +<P> +"Gone down the river an hour ago, by the Short Line," was the +unexpected reply. "You see, we only got word this evening that an +abandoned raft, answering our description, had just been picked up near +Cairo, and Mr. Brackett thought it best that he and Winn should go on +at once to indentify it. It was also decided that Sabella and I should +remain here until we heard from them, because it might not be the +<I>Venture</I>, you know, and then I'm not sure that we want to go any +farther down the river, anyway. You see, since losing the <I>Whatnot</I>, +I've rather lost interest—" +</P> + +<P> +"Losing the <I>Whatnot</I>!" interrupted the Major. "What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, haven't you heard?" Then they sat down, and the old man related +all that had happened to the <I>Whatnot</I> and her passengers since leaving +Dubuque. +</P> + +<P> +When the recital was ended, the Major drew a long breath, and +exclaimed, "Well, for mysterious happenings, incidents, and rapid +changes of scene, that beats anything in the line of Mississippi +rafting that ever I heard of. So now they are off again, and goodness +knows what scrapes they will get into next; while here I am, as +helpless to prevent them as an old hen with a brood of ducklings. +There is one thing I can do, though. I must return to Caspar's Mill at +once, and I want you and your niece to go with me. With my recently +increased business, I need just such a man as you to look after my home +interests, while my daughter Elta, needs just such a girl as your +Sabella is described to be for a companion." +</P> + +<P> +Tears stood in the old soldier's eyes as he realized all that this +offer meant to him and to the girl who was so dear to him; and, in +accepting it, he blessed the kindly heart by which it had been prompted. +</P> + +<P> +The Major sent a despatch to the address in Cairo left by Billy +Brackett, directing that young man to dispose of the raft as he thought +best, to take care of Winn, come home as soon as they could, and +telling of his plans for Cap'n Cod and Sabella. He also telegraphed to +Mrs. Caspar that he should be at home the next day but one, bringing +strangers with him. +</P> + +<P> +She, of course, thought he meant the "raftmates," as she had called +Winn and Billy Brackett from the first, and was amazed to see an old +man and a young girl seated in the carriage with her husband as it +drove up to the house. At first she was greatly disappointed, but +within a few days she became reconciled to the new arrangement, for she +could not help loving the gentle old man who was so fond of her boy, +nor rejoicing in the warm friendship that almost immediately sprang up +between Elta and Sabella. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time Billy Brackett and Winn reached Cairo early in the +morning, and after breakfast at a hotel, they called on the City +Marshal, who had sent the despatch relating to the raft. To their +surprise, he received them coldly, and informed them that Mr. Caspar +had already been there, had expressed his willingness to pay a hundred +dollars reward for the recovery of his raft, and had just gone down to +take possession of it. +</P> + +<P> +This was an astounding bit of information, and Winn was about to let +his rapidly rising indignation break forth, when Billy Brackett +restrained him, and asked, mildly, if the Marshal had any objections to +their looking at the raft in question simply to gratify their curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh no. You can look at her as much as you like, and you will find her +just around the point there, in possession of the two young men who +picked her up—that is, if they haven't already turned her over to her +rightful owner." +</P> + +<P> +Again Winn would have exploded, but again his companion restrained him, +at the same time leading him from the office. +</P> + +<P> +They found the raft without much difficulty, and walked on board. Just +then the broken door of the "shanty" opened, and two young fellows, +hardly older than Winn, stepped out. As they did so one of them turned +and said, politely, "Well, good-bye, and a pleasant voyage to you, Mr. +Caspar." Then they both faced the new-comers. +</P> + +<P> +Such an expression of blank amazement as flashed over their faces Winn +thought he had never seen. For an instant they stood spellbound. Then +there was a yell of recognition, or rather a chorus of yells from both +sides. +</P> + +<P> +"Billy Brackett, as I'm a sinner! Whoop! Hooray for the Baldheads and +the Second Division!" +</P> + +<P> +"Billy Brackett, or his ghost!" +</P> + +<P> +"Glen Eddy! Grip, old man! How? When? Where? Why? +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Oh, gimminy crack, come hold me tight.<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">It makes me laugh and shout.</SPAN><BR> +It fills my heart with gay delight<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">When—'"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap31"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CAMPMATES TURN RAFTMATES. +</H3> + + +<P> +"Wow wow w-o-w-w!" howled Bim, with his ridiculous nose uplifted and a +most melancholy expression of countenance. He felt in duty bound to +accompany his master's singing, but on this occasion, at least, he +brought it to a sudden conclusion, for no one could possibly sing in +face of the uproarious laughter that greeted his outburst. +</P> + +<P> +"That's always the way," remarked Billy Brackett, with a comical +expression. "I never am allowed to prove what I am really capable of +in the vocal line. But what are you boys doing here? Where did you +come from, where are you going, and how in the name of all that is +obscure and remarkable do you happen to be on board our raft?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your raft?" echoed Glen Elting. "What do you mean by your raft? We +called it our raft until a few minutes ago, and now we call it Mr. +Caspar's raft." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know. Major Caspar's raft. But it's all the same as ours, for +I am his brother-in-law, and have his written authority to dispose of +it as I see fit. Besides, this is his son, and we have been hunting +this raft for the best part of a month. By-the-way, Winn, these are +two old, or rather two young, campmates of mine, Mr. Glen Eddy—I mean +Matherson; no, I beg pardon—Elting is the name at present, I believe." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know him intimately?" interrupted Winn, slyly. +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett made a dive at the boy, but as the latter leaped nimbly +aside, he continued: "And Mr. Binney Gibbs, popularly known as 'Grip.' +Gentlemen, this impudent young vil-ly-an is my nephew, Mr. Winn Caspar." +</P> + +<P> +Instead of acknowledging this introduction, Glen and Binney looked +curiously at each other. Then the former said, "There seems to be +something wrong here, Billy, for we have just turned this raft over to +its owner, Mr. Winn Caspar, and he is in the house here at this moment." +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right," replied Billy Brackett. "I rather expected to find +that gentleman here, and now we will go inside for an interview with +him." So saying, he tried to open the door, but found it fastened. In +spite of its splintered condition, it was secured so firmly that it +took them several minutes to force it open. When this was +accomplished, and an entrance was effected, the four gazed blankly +about them and at each other. The large room was empty. So were the +two smaller ones beyond, while an open window in the last showed the +manner in which Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw had effected their escape. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad," said Billy Brackett; "for having had several +interesting interviews with those gentlemen, I should have been glad of +another. I think Winn would have been pleased to meet his namesake +too." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I should," replied the boy. "I'd like to collect rent for the +use of my signature, and find out where he learned to copy it so +perfectly." +</P> + +<P> +"But I don't understand all this at all," said Glen Elting. "If this +raft isn't theirs, why did they want it badly enough to pay three +hundred dollars reward for its recovery?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whom did they pay it to?" asked Billy Brackett. +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred to the City Marshal, and a hundred each to Binney and me. +We didn't want to take it, but they insisted, and said they should feel +hurt if we refused. So, of course, rather than hurt their feelings— +But really, Billy, they are most gentlemanly fellows, and I think +behaved very handsomely." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you let me see the hundred dollars they gave you?" asked the +young engineer. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," replied Glen, with an air of surprise, and adding, rather +stiffly, "though I didn't think, Billy, that <I>you</I> would require proof +of my truthfulness." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't, my dear boy, I don't!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. "I would +believe your unsupported word quicker than the sworn statement of most +men. I want to look at that money for a very different purpose." +</P> + +<P> +So a roll of brand-new bills was handed to him, and he examined them +one by one with the utmost care. +</P> + +<P> +"There are two hundred dollars here," he said at length. "Is this +Binney's share of the reward as well as your own?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I had a hundred-dollar bill, and Mr. Caspar seeing it, asked if I +would mind taking small bills for it, as he wanted one of that amount +to send off by mail; so, of course, I let him have it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my children! my children!" murmured Billy Brackett, "why will you +persist in attempting to travel through this wicked world without a +guardian? Of all the scrapes from which I have been called to rescue +you, this might have proved the most serious." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how," said both Glen and Binney. +</P> + +<P> +Winn knew, and he smiled a little self-complacent smile as he +reflected, "This is a little worse than any mess I ever got into." +</P> + +<P> +"You would have seen quickly enough if you had tried to spend this +money," said Billy Brackett, "for you would undoubtedly have been +arrested on the charge of counterfeiting. Those same fellows put Winn +here in that fix a short time since, besides getting away with a +thousand dollars' worth of wheat that he had in charge, and now they +have come very near serving you the same trick." +</P> + +<P> +Here Winn's smile faded away rather suddenly, while Glen exclaimed, +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean to say that these bills are counterfeit?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do," replied Billy Brackett; "and if you doubt it, take them to the +first bank you come across and ask the cashier." +</P> + +<P> +"But the City Marshal took some just like them," argued Glen, catching +at the only straw of hope in sight. +</P> + +<P> +"So much the worse for the City Marshal, and I for one shall let him +suffer the consequences. He had no business to accept a reward for +performing a simple act of duty, in the first place; and in the second, +the readiness with which he delivered this raft to the first claimants +who came along makes it look very much as though he could be bribed." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said Glen, in a despairing tone, "if what you say is true, and +I know it must be, we are in a fix. That hundred dollars was to pay +our expenses to New Orleans; now I don't know how we shall get there." +</P> + +<P> +"New Orleans! Are you bound for New Orleans?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and that's how we happened to be here, and to find this raft. +You see, my father, General Elting, you know, is going to Central +America to make a survey for the Nicaragua Canal, and Binney and I are +to go with him. The party is to sail from New Orleans some time in +January, but he had to go to New York first. As there were a lot of +instruments and heavy things to be sent to New Orleans, he thought it +best to ship them by boat; and as we wanted to take the river trip, he +let us come in charge of them. We knew we should have to transfer from +the Ohio River boat at this point, but we didn't know until we got here +that we must wait three days for the New Orleans packet. As there +wasn't anything else to do, we have put in the time hunting and +fishing, and last evening we ran across this abandoned raft about a +mile up the Mississippi. We had a time getting it in here, I can tell +you. When we did, and reported it to the City Marshal, he showed us a +telegram from a Mr. Winn Caspar, asking him to look out for just such a +raft. We knew this must be the one, for we had found this book lying +on the table, with the name 'Winn Caspar' written all over the +fly-leaf, as though some one had been practising the signature. Sure +enough, a man who said his name was 'Winn Caspar' turned up this +morning, bringing a friend with him. They told a straight enough story +of how their raft had been stolen near St. Louis, and described it +perfectly. They even described the interior of this 'shanty' and +everything in it, including this identical book, as though they had +lived here all their lives. So, of course, both the Marshal and we +thought it was all right; and I don't see even now, if this is your +raft, how those fellows knew all about it as they did. The only thing +they slipped up on was the broken door, and they owned they couldn't +account for that. It seems as if some one must have boarded the raft +before we did and broken into the 'shanty.' The men said there wasn't +anything missing, though. Perhaps you can tell us what has been +stolen." +</P> + +<P> +"No," replied Billy Brackett, "I can't tell that, but I can tell who +broke in that door. I can also relate a tale of adventure and +misadventure in connection with this raft that would excite the envy of +any member of the Second Division, including even the Baldheads, and +you, who were the most reckless young scapegrace of the lot." +</P> + +<P> +Whereupon the young engineer told these interested listeners the whole +history of the <I>Venture</I> from the time the raft was put together down +to the present moment. In it he included the <I>Whatnot</I>, Cap'n Cod, +Sabella, Solon, Reward, and Don Blossom, Sheriff Riley, the +"river-traders," Clod, Aunt Viney, and, above all, Bim, who barked +loudly, and rushed wildly about the room at this honorable mention of +his name. +</P> + +<P> +When the story was finished, Glen Elting heaved a deep sigh, and said +to Winn, "Well, you have had a good time. I thought we had about the +best times any fellows could have when we crossed the plains with Billy +Brackett last year, but it seems to me that you are having just about +as much fun right here on this muddy old river as we had out there. I +only wish we had a raft." Then turning to Billy Brackett, he asked, +"What are you going to do next?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," was the reply. "What are you going to do?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm sure I don't know." +</P> + +<P> +"Then lend me your ears. You want to get to New Orleans, and so do we." +</P> + +<P> +"Do we?" interrupted Winn, in surprise, looking up from the book of +travels on the title-page of which his name was written so many times, +and which was the very one he had been reading the last evening he had +spent on this raft. +</P> + +<P> +"You do!" exclaimed both Glen and Binney. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," was the calm reply. "It is the only market for timber +rafts that I know of south of St. Louis, and as we can't go back, we +are bound to go ahead. So, as I was saying when rudely interrupted, +both you and we want to go to New Orleans. You have no money—real +money, I mean—with which to get there, and we need at least two extra +pair of hands to help us get this raft there. So why not ship your +stuff on board here, and help us navigate this craft to our common +destination?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you truly mean it, Billy Brackett?" +</P> + +<P> +"I truly mean it. And if you are willing to go as raftmates with us—" +</P> + +<P> +"Are we willing? Well, I should smile! Are we willing? Why, Billy +Brackett, we'd rather go to New Orleans as raftmates with you and Winn +Caspar than to do anything else in the whole world just at present. +Eh, 'Grip'?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, rather!" answered Binney Gibbs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap32"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE "RIVER-TRADERS" ATTEMPT TO REGAIN POSSESSION. +</H3> + + +<P> +So it was settled that the three who had been campmates together on the +plains should now, with Winn Caspar to complete the quartet, become +raftmates on a voyage of nearly a thousand miles down the great river. +It is hard to say which of the four was happiest during the busy day +that followed the making of this arrangement. Winn was overjoyed at +recovering the raft lost through his over-confidence in his own wisdom, +and at the prospect of taking a trip so much longer than he had +anticipated at the outset. He had also conceived a great fancy for the +two manly young fellows whose fortunes had become so strangely +connected with those of the <I>Venture</I>, and was glad they were to be his +companions on the voyage. +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett was not only rejoiced that he had at length been +successful in finding both Winn and the raft, but was delighted to meet +again those with whom he had already shared so much of peril and +pleasure. That they had again become his mates in such a peculiar +manner, and amid such different scenes, was proof, as he quaintly +expressed it, that "Truth can give the most expert fiction points, and +still beat it at its own game." +</P> + +<P> +Glen and Binney were raised from a depth of dismay, caused by the loss +of their money and the resulting predicament into which they were +thrown, to a height of felicity at the prospect of a raft voyage down +the Mississippi, under the leadership of their beloved campmate, Billy +Brackett. They also liked Winn; and, judging from what had already +happened to him, regarded him as a boy in whose company a variety of +adventures might reasonably be hoped for. +</P> + +<P> +Owing to their past experience with the "river-traders," Billy Brackett +and Winn were somewhat uneasy at the presence of Grimshaw and Plater in +town, and their manifest desire to regain possession of the raft. They +were puzzled by this, and wondered what reason the men could still have +for wanting the raft. Certainly their connection with it was now too +well known for them to hope to make any further use of it in pursuing +their unlawful business. Nor did it seem likely that they would choose +it merely as a conveyance down the river. No; it must be that they had +hoped to sell the <I>Venture</I>, and realize a considerable sum by the +transaction. This was the conclusion finally reached by our raftmates, +though it was not one with which they were entirely satisfied. +</P> + +<P> +Still, they felt that, as they were now four to two, they might +reasonably hope to be left in undisturbed possession of the raft for +the future, and so did not allow thought of the "river-traders" to +trouble them to any great extent. They decided that two of them should +stay constantly on board the raft, at least so long as they remained in +that locality, and that Bim should also be added to the protective +force. +</P> + +<P> +To begin with, Binney and Winn remained on guard while Billy Brackett +and Glen went into the town to telegraph for Solon, send down the +instruments, and make other arrangements for the voyage. It had been +decided that as their crew was incomplete without a cook, Solon should +be sent for, and that they could not make a start until he arrived, +which would probably be early the next morning. +</P> + +<P> +Winn and Binney found plenty to occupy them during the absence of the +others in becoming acquainted, learning each other's history, and +arranging the interior of the "shanty." From Binney, Winn learned what +a splendid fellow his young uncle was, and how much he was respected as +well as admired by all who were so fortunate as to be counted among his +friends. "He is a fellow," concluded Binney, "who couldn't do a mean +thing if he tried. One thing I like especially about him is that he is +just as careful in his attention to trifles, if they come in the line +of his duty, as he is to big things, and Billy has already had some +pretty important positions too, I can tell you. He is full of fun, and +was the life and soul of the Second Division all the time they were +crossing the plains. Glen knows him better than I do, though, because +they were 'bunkies' together, and from what he has told me I regard +myself as mighty lucky to have the chance of taking a trip in his +company." +</P> + +<P> +"He has told me a good deal about you and Glen on that trip," said +Winn, "but I don't remember hearing anything about his own adventures." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what makes fellows like him. He is always ready to listen +to what they have to say, or to tell of anything they have done, if it +is worth telling; but he never puts himself forward as one who knows it +all or has done it all and can't be taught anything." +</P> + +<P> +This conversation set Winn to thinking, with the result that in one +instance, at least, he had been too hasty in his conclusions. He had +been somewhat ashamed that his uncle should act the part of showman +with a river panorama, and had supposed that it was done from a desire +to display his own accomplishments. Now he wondered if, after all, +this was not the one delicate and unobtrusive way in which Cap'n Cod's +poor little undertaking could have been saved from a ridiculous and +mortifying failure. He had been inclined to regard his young relative +as rather frivolous; but perhaps there were depths to Billy Brackett's +character that he was not yet wise enough to fathom. He would study it +more carefully hereafter, and how doubly thankful he now was that his +chance to do so had not been lost with the wreck of the <I>Whatnot</I>. +</P> + +<P> +Although the interior of the <I>Venture's</I> "shanty" still seemed +unfamiliar to Winn, he could no longer doubt that the raft was his +father's. In the small room that he was to have occupied he now found +most of his own possessions just where he had left them. Among the +things that he was particularly glad thus to find were several changes +of clothing, of which he stood greatly in need. +</P> + +<P> +The "shanty" was in great disorder; but the two boys worked so +faithfully at sweeping, cleaning, and putting things to rights, that by +the time the others returned with a dray-load of freight the interior +was thoroughly clean and inviting. The afternoon was spent in laying +in a store of provisions for the voyage, repairing the splintered door, +and mending one of the sweeps, which was on the point of breaking. +</P> + +<P> +By sunset everything was in readiness for a start, and all hands were +gathered about the galley stove, each superintending the cooking of his +specialty for supper. Billy Brackett could make griddle-cakes, or +"nip-naps," as he called them. He fried them in an iron spider, and +the deftness with which he turned them, by tossing them in the air, so +excited the admiration of his raftmates that they immediately wished to +engage him as regular cook for the trip. +</P> + +<P> +"This isn't a circumstance to what I can do in the culinary line," +remarked Billy Brackett, modestly. "To know me at my best, you ought +to be around when I make biscuit. My heavy biscuit are simply +monuments of the baker's art. They are warranted to withstand any +climate, and defy the ravaging tooth of time. They can turn the edge +of sarcasm, and have that quality of mercy which endureth forever. A +quartz-crusher turns pale at sight of them, and they supply a permanent +filling for aching voids or long-felt wants. In fact, gentlemen, it is +universally acknowledged that my biscuit can't be beat." +</P> + +<P> +"Neither can a bad egg," said Glen, who was trying to make an omelet. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us defer the biscuit for this time, and have a smoking dish of +corn-meal mush instead," suggested Winn. "It is one of the hardest +things in the world to cook, but I know the trick to perfection." +</P> + +<P> +"Mush, mush, mush, tooral-i-addy," sang Binney. At that moment Bim +began to growl, and to sniff at the bottom of the door. They opened it +and looked out. No one was there, nor did they hear a sound. Darkness +had already set in, and they could see nothing. Bim ran to the edge of +the raft, barked once or twice, and then returned to his place near the +stove. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been your singing that excited him, Grip," remarked Billy +Brackett. "He generally acts that way when a person sings, and I have +heretofore attributed it to envy, though I don't see how it could have +been in this case." +</P> + +<P> +After supper Billy Brackett went into town to call on the telegraph +operator, with whom he had established friendly relations, and to +receive some despatches that he was expecting. He had not been gone +long before Bim, who had been left behind, again began to show signs of +uneasiness, and intimate a desire to be let out. +</P> + +<P> +Again the door was opened for him, and again he rushed out into the +darkness. This time retreating footsteps and the rustling of bushes on +the bank were distinctly heard. With a low growl Bim sprang ashore and +disappeared. The next instant the boys saw a flash of lantern-light a +few rods below the raft, heard a smothered yelp, the sounds of a +confused struggle, and a moment later a loud splash in the water. Then +all was again buried in darkness and silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Something has happened to Bim!" exclaimed Winn, in a low but excited +tone, "and I am going to find out what it is." With this the boy +leaped ashore, and hurried in the direction from which the sounds had +come. +</P> + +<P> +"It's a mighty foolish thing to do, but you sha'n't go alone," said +Glen Elting, quietly, as he started after Winn, adding, as he left the +raft, "You stay behind and stand guard, Binney." +</P> + +<P> +The boy, thus suddenly left alone, stood guard for about fifteen +seconds, when all at once two dark figures sprang aboard the raft from +the bank, and he had barely time to utter a single cry of warning +before he was engaged in a furious struggle with one of them, who had +seized him from behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Drop him overboard!" +</P> + +<P> +Although the command was given in a low tone, Binney heard and +understood it. Then the strong arms in which he was struggling lifted +him as they would a child, and bore him towards the edge of the raft. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-268"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-268.jpg" ALT=""The strong arms lifted him as they would a child."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="376" HEIGHT="495"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "The strong arms lifted him as they would a child."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap33"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHERE IS BIM? +</H3> + + +<P> +Billy Brackett was in a particularly contented frame of mind, and +whistled softly to himself as he tramped through the muddy streets of +one of the muddiest cities in the United States, towards the telegraph +office. He was well satisfied with the results of his expedition thus +far, and with its prospects of a successful termination. He did not +notice the curious looks with which several persons regarded him as the +bright light from a store window fell on his face, nor would he have +cared if he had. His conscience was clear, and he had nothing to fear +from observation, curious or otherwise. +</P> + +<P> +As he entered the telegraph office, the operator glanced up with a nod +of recognition. A few seconds later, having finished sending the +despatch with which he had been busy, he turned his key over to an +assistant and said, +</P> + +<P> +"Will you step this way a moment, sir? I wish to speak to you in +private." With this he led the way into a room behind the office, +where, after the other had entered, he closed the door. +</P> + +<P> +"What's up?" asked the young engineer, wondering at these proceedings. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you or any of your companions any counterfeit money in your +possession?" asked the operator, abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"No—that is, yes. One of my friends has quite a lot of it that was +passed on him for genuine this morning, and I have a few samples for +purposes of comparison." +</P> + +<P> +"But you haven't passed, or tried to pass, any of it in this place?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not! Why do you ask such a question?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I have taken a liking to you. Have not you in your possession +a note of identification from a certain Iowa Sheriff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I have such a note from a Sheriff named Riley, of Dubuque; but +how did you know anything about it?" asked Billy Brackett, greatly +surprised. +</P> + +<P> +"In a very simple way. Sheriff Riley happens to be my brother, and he +wrote to me all about your little affair up the river. So I know you +to be an honest man, and want to give you a warning. You may be very +sure, however, that I should not do so were I not confident of your +innocence." +</P> + +<P> +"Innocence of what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Passing counterfeit money. A good bit of it has suddenly appeared in +circulation here, and your raft has been identified by some men from +up-river as one on which suspicion has already fallen in connection +with a similar state of affairs elsewhere. You have made a good many +purchases to-day, and at least one bad bill has been traced directly to +you. Of course you may have received it in change, and passed it again +unknowingly. I believe that is how it happened. If I did not, I +should hold my tongue and let you suffer the consequences. In addition +to this, all sorts of queer stories regarding you have been circulated +about town to-day, and such a feeling has been aroused against you that +a number of the worst characters in the place have determined to pay +your raft a visit to-night. I don't know what they intend doing, nor +do I think they know themselves, but I am certain if they find you the +result will be most unpleasant. They are to be led by a couple of +strangers, who have been secretly watching you all day. These men +claim to be 'river-traders,' who have suffered serious losses through +you, including that of the raft now in your possession, which, they +say, was stolen from them. I can't tell you how I gained all this +information, but it is at your disposal. If I were in your place, I +would take advantage of the darkness to drop down the river, and I +wouldn't lose any time about it either." +</P> + +<P> +"You advise me to run away like a coward, instead of remaining to +defend myself against these abominable and absolutely unfounded +charges!" exclaimed Billy Brackett, indignantly. "I shall do nothing +of the kind." +</P> + +<P> +"Not 'run away;' simply continue your voyage before it is unpleasantly +interrupted," returned the other, with a smile. "If you remain until +morning, your raft, with its contents, will certainly be destroyed by +an unreasoning mob, at whose hands you and your companions may suffer +bodily injury. In this case action would come first and inquiry +afterwards. I am convinced you could easily prove your innocence, but +doubt if you could obtain any redress for the losses you would have +suffered in the mean time. Now I must get back to my desk. You will +of course act as you think best, but I sincerely hope that you will +accept my advice, and decide that an honorable retreat is better than a +lost battle." +</P> + +<P> +"But there is Solon, the man whom I telegraphed to join us here. I +don't expect him before morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, he is here already! Haven't you met him! He arrived on the +evening train, and came in here to inquire where you could be found. I +gave him directions, and started him off not fifteen minutes ago." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how he managed it," said Billy Brackett, who had been +thinking rapidly while the other spoke; "but if he is already on board +there is no reason why our departure should be delayed. Therefore I am +almost inclined to accept your advice, for which, as well as for your +timely warning, I am sincerely grateful. I will, at any rate, get back +to the raft at once." +</P> + +<P> +With this the young man shook hands with the operator, and left the +office. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" exclaimed the other, looking after him with a relieved sigh; +"I believe I have done that young fellow a good turn. At the same time +I have given myself a chance to capture the thousand-dollar reward that +Ned wrote about, and which I was afraid this chap was after for +himself." +</P> + +<P> +As for Billy Brackett, the more he reflected upon the situation, as he +hastened towards the place where the raft was moored, the more puzzled +he became as to what course he ought to pursue. He now had not only +Winn, the raft, and himself to consider, but Glen and Binney, and the +valuable instruments belonging to General Elting. Certainly it would +not do to allow these to fall into the hands of an excited and +irresponsible mob. Still, the thought of running away was hateful. +</P> + +<P> +As he neared the raft an undefined apprehension caused him to quicken +his steps; and at the sound of Binney Gibbs's shout of warning, he +broke into a run. Then he heard another shout of "Hol' on, Marse Winn! +I comin'!" and the noise of a struggle, in another moment he was in the +thick of it. +</P> + +<P> +Solon had reached the raft just in time to save Binney, who he thought +was Winn, from being dropped overboard by Plater, the "river-trader." +The old negro attacked the big man so furiously with tooth and nail +that the latter gave the lad in his arms a fling to one side, sending +him crashing with stunning force against the "shanty," and devoted his +entire attention to this new assailant. He had just stretched Solon on +the deck with a vicious blow of his powerful fist, when Billy Brackett +appeared and sprang eagerly into the fray. Even Plater's brute +strength was no match for the young engineer's science, and the latter +would have gained a speedy victory, had not Grimshaw, who had been +engaged in casting off the lines that held the raft to the bank, come +to his partner's assistance. +</P> + +<P> +Now, with such odds against him, Billy Brackett was slowly but surely +forced backward towards the edge of the raft. In another moment he +would have been in the river, when all at once two dripping figures +emerged from it, scrambled aboard, and with a yell like a war-whoop, +ranged themselves on the weaker side. A few well-planted blows, a +determined rush, and the struggle for the possession of the raft was +ended. The fighting ardor of Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw was being +rapidly cooled in the icy waters through which they found themselves +swimming towards the shore. At the same time the <I>Venture</I> was gaining +speed with each moment, as, borne on by the resistless current, it +drifted out over the mingling floods of the Ohio and Mississippi. +Billy Brackett, still panting from his exertions, was bending over +Binney Gibbs, who was struggling back to consciousness. Solon was +sitting up, tenderly feeling of his swollen features, and declaring, +"Dat ar man hab a fis' lak de hin laig ob a mewel." +</P> + +<P> +Glen and Winn had manned one of the sweeps, and were trying to get the +raft properly headed with the current. Thus the voyage was really +begun, and the young engineer, who hated to run away, was spared the +necessity of making a decision. It was a start, too, with all hands on +board. To be sure, two of them were battered and bruised, while two +more were soaked to the skin; but all were there, and none was greatly +the worse for the recent exciting experience. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly Billy Brackett spoke up and asked: +</P> + +<P> +"But where is Bim? Is it possible that we have left him behind?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment no one answered. Then Winn said: "That's what Glen and I +were ashore for. We are afraid he is lost." +</P> + +<P> +"Lost! Bim wouldn't get lost! He has too much sense." +</P> + +<P> +"I expect he is this time, though," said Glen, "and we don't believe he +will ever be found again, either." Then he told of Bim's rushing +ashore, the smothered yelp, the loud splash that followed, and of their +unsuccessful search for him in the darkness. "So it looks as though +the poor dog were done for," concluded Glen, "and I expect it was by a +trick of those same fellows who tried to capture the raft." +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett listened closely, without a word, and when he had heard +all there was to tell, he turned abruptly away and walked into the +"shanty," muttering through his clinched teeth, "The scoundrels." +</P> + +<P> +It certainly would have gone hard with the "river-traders" could the +stalwart young engineer have laid hands on them at that moment. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap34"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BLAZE ON THE RIVER. +</H3> + + +<P> +As Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw will not appear again in this story, it +may be as well to dismiss them at once. The well-conceived and +desperate effort to gain possession of the raft just described was +their last attempt in that direction. They had watched Billy Brackett +leave it, had enticed the ever-faithful Bim from it, and when, from a +place of concealment, they heard two of its remaining defenders go +ashore in search of the brave dog, their satisfaction was complete. +Now they were sure of the prize for which they were willing to risk so +much. Stealing silently to the raft without attracting Binny Gibbs's +attention, they leaped aboard, proceeded to dispose of him, and at the +same time to set the <I>Venture</I> adrift. Had not Binney's shout guided +Solon to the scene, success would have crowned their efforts. +</P> + +<P> +The old negro was not a fighter by nature, but in defence of those he +loved he could be bold as a lion. Consequently he rushed to the rescue +of the boy whom he supposed was Winn Caspar without hesitation, and +careless of the odds against him. His coming, followed so quickly by +that of Billy Brackett and the arrival of the two boys, turned the tide +of battle. Glen and Winn were compelled to plunge overboard and swim +for the raft, as it was already a rod or so from shore when they +regained the place where it had been tied. +</P> + +<P> +The "river-traders" were unwillingly compelled to take the same plunge +a moment later, and as they swam towards the shore, which, fortunately +for them, was still near at hand, their hearts were filled with +bitterness at their defeat, while plans for future vengeance were +already forming in their minds. But these were never carried out, for +the reason that, as they were making their dripping way into town, they +came across the mob bent on a deed of destruction that they themselves +had instigated. With it was Joe Riley, the operator, and as these were +the very men he was most desirous of meeting just then, he persuaded +his associates to devote a few minutes of attention to them. +</P> + +<P> +As a result of this interview with one who knew so much about them and +their business, their career as "river-traders" ended then and there. +A few days later they left Cairo in company with Sheriff Riley, of +Dubuque, who had come down the river on purpose to escort them north. +Why they had been so anxious to recover possession of the <I>Venture</I> was +for a long time an unsolved puzzle to the crew of that interesting +raft. That the reason was finally explained will be made as clear to +us as it was to our raft mates before the end of this story of their +unique voyage down the great river. When it is, we shall probably +wonder, as they did, that so simple a solution of the mystery had not +occurred to us before. +</P> + +<P> +In the mean time the raft, once more in full possession of its rightful +crew, is gliding swiftly with the mighty current through the starlit +darkness. Billy Brackett, with a heart full of sorrow over the loss of +his four-footed but dearly loved companion, is on watch. The lantern, +lighted and run to the top of the flag-staff, sends forth a clear beam +of warning to all steamboats. In the "shanty," which looks very bright +and cosey in comparison with the outside darkness, Binney Gibbs is +lying comfortably in one of the bunks, Solon is making himself +acquainted with the arrangements of his new galley, and the other two +are changing their wet clothing, while carrying on an animated +conversation regarding the stirring events just recorded. +</P> + +<P> +"How jolly this would all be if it wasn't for poor Billy's melancholy +over the loss of his dog," remarked Glen Elting, as he turned the +steaming garments hanging in front of the galley stove. "It was a +splendid start, wasn't it, Grip?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I suppose so," answered Binney, a little doubtfully; "though I +don't believe it would seem quite so fine to you if you ached all over +as I do." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not, old man. But you'll be all right again to-morrow, after +a good night in 'dream-bags;' and anyway, you must admit that this +beats steamboating all to nothing. Just think, if we hadn't been lucky +enough to fall in with this blessed raft, and Billy and Winn, and all +the rest, we should at this very moment be just ordinary +ten-o'clock-at-night passengers, shivering on the Cairo wharf-boat, and +waiting for the New Orleans packet to come along. She's due there some +time this evening, yon know." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; and instead of that, here I am—" +</P> + +<P> +"Here you are," interrupted Glen, seeing that his friend was about to +utter a complaint; "and thankful you ought to be to find yourself here, +too. Why, we'll be as merry as this muddy old river is long, as soon +as Billy ceases to mourn for his dog. I'm a little surprised that he +should take it so much to heart, though. It isn't like Billy B. to be +cast down over trifles." +</P> + +<P> +"Trifles!" cried Winn. "When you call dear old Bim a 'trifle,' you are +making one of the big mistakes of your life, and you wouldn't do it +either if you had known him as well as I did. There never was another +dog like him for wisdom and gentleness and pluck and—well, and +everything that makes a dog lovely. Why, that Bim would reason his way +out of scrapes that would stump a man, and the word 'fear' was never +printed in his dictionary. Somehow I can't help thinking that he'll +turn up all right, bright and smiling, yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how," said Glen. +</P> + +<P> +"Neither can I, and I don't suppose I could if I were in his place; but +unless Bim is uncommonly dead, I'll guarantee that he'll come to life +again somehow and somewhere. In fact, I shouldn't be one bit surprised +to see him aboard this very raft again before our voyage is ended." +</P> + +<P> +"I must confess that I should," said Glen. +</P> + +<P> +"That's because you don't know him," responded Winn. "Isn't it, Solon?" +</P> + +<P> +"I 'spec's hit must be, Marse Winn," answered the old negro. +</P> + +<P> +"And wasn't he the very wisest dog you ever knew?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sah, he suttinly was, all 'ceptin' one, an' hit war a yallar +'coon dawg wha' I uster own down in ole Lou'siana. I 'spec's he war +jes a teenty mite more knowin' dan eben Marse Brack's Bim dawg. He +name war Bijah." +</P> + +<P> +"How did he ever prove his wisdom?" asked Winn, incredulously. +</P> + +<P> +"How him provin' it!" exclaimed the old negro, warming to his subject. +"Why, sah, him provin' it ebbery day ob he life more ways 'n one." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, give us an example, if you can remember one." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sah, I kin. An' I tell you-all one ob de berry simples' t'ings +what dat ar Bijah ebber done. He war jest a ornery, stumpy-tail, 'coon +dawg, Bijah war, an' him know he warn't nuffin else. Dat's why he +won't go fer nuffin 'ceptin' 'coons—no rabbits, ner 'possum, ner fox, +ner b'ar, ner nuffin—jes 'coons. But 'coons! Don' talk, gen'l'<I>men</I>! +I reckin dat ar Bijah done know ebbery 'coon in twenty mile ob de Moss +Back plantashun. An' he knowed some fer 'coons wha' didn' 'low dey war +'coons no way." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Dat's wha' I comin' to, Marse Winn, but yo' mus'n' hurry de ole man. +One day I takin' de ole kyart inter town wif a load er wood, an' Bijah +he gwine erlong. When we comin' to der place whar de wood kyarts +stops, I onyoked, an' Bijah he lyin', sleepylike, ondur de kyart. I +passin' de time er day 'long some udder cullud fellers, an' tellin' +wha' kind ob a 'coon dawg Bijah war, an' how he ain't know nuffin no +way 'ceptin' 'coons. Suddint I see dat ar dawg kin' er wink he eye, +an' raise up an' sniff de yair, an' den lite out licketty cut down +erlong. Dey ain't nuffin on de road 'ceptin' jes a cullud gal, an' she +a-turnin' inter de sto'. +</P> + +<P> +"Dem fellers laff fit to bus' deirselfs, an' say, 'Hi dar! wha' dat +fine 'coon dawg gwine fer now?' +</P> + +<P> +"I say, 'Him gwine fer a 'coon, gen'l'men, he suttinly am.' Yo' see, I +jes nacherly 'bleeged ter say so. Same time, I kin' er jubious. +</P> + +<P> +"Afo' we comin' ter de sto', I heah ole Bijah gibbin tongue lak mad, +an' I say, 'Him treed um' gen'l'men! him treed um fer sho'. But when +we comin' dar, an' look in der do', I feelin' mighty sick. Dat ar +cullud gill she up in er cheer er-shyin' she umbrel at Bijah, an' him +jes a dancin' 'roun', an' er-yelpin'. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ef dem fellers ain't laff! Dey jes roll deirselfs in de dus'. +</P> + +<P> +"'Whar yo' 'coon dawg now? Whar yo' 'coon dawg?' dey axin; but I kep' +on sayin' nuffin. I know dat gal, an' when I hit Bijah er clip to stop +he noise, I say, berry polite, 'Mawnin', Lize. Yo' got any 'coon 'bout +yo' pusson?' +</P> + +<P> +"Den she say, snappylike, 'How I gwine get 'coon, yo' fool nigger! No, +sah, I ain't got no 'coon 'ceptin' my ole man wha' I marry yistiddy he +name <I>Coon</I>.'" +</P> + +<P> +The shout of laughter that greeted this story was interrupted by the +appearance of Billy Brackett at the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Come out here, boys!" he cried. "There's a steamboat on fire and +coming down the river!" +</P> + +<P> +This startling announcement emptied the "shanty" in a hurry. Even +Binney Gibbs forgot his aches and joined his mates outside. +</P> + +<P> +There was no doubt as to the meaning of the column of flame that turned +the darkness into day behind them. It was so near that they could hear +its ominous roar, while the black forest walls on either side of the +river were bathed in a crimson glow from its baleful light. A vast +cloud of smoke, through which shot millions of sparks, trailed and +eddied above it, while, with the hoarse voice of escaping steam, the +blazing craft sounded its own death-note. +</P> + +<P> +As the monster came tearing down the channel of crimson and gold that +opened and ever widened before it, our raftmates were fascinated by the +sight of its sublime but awful approach. They stood motionless and +speechless until roused to a sudden activity by Billy Brackett's shout +of "Man the sweeps, fellows! She is unmanageable, and headed for us as +straight as an arrow. If we can't get out of the way she'll be on top +of us inside of two minutes more!" +</P> + +<P> +Like young tigers the boys tugged at the heavy sweeps; but they might +as well have tried to extinguish the floating volcano that threatened +them with destruction as to remove that mass of timber beyond reach of +danger within the time allowed them. The task was an impossible one; +and as they realized this fact, the crew of the <I>Venture</I> prepared to +launch their skiff, abandon the raft, and row for their lives. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-284"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-284.jpg" ALT=""Like young tigers the boys tugged at the heavy sweeps."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="403" HEIGHT="481"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "Like young tigers the boys tugged at the heavy sweeps."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap35"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIM'S HEROISM. +</H3> + + +<P> +As the burning steamboat swept down towards the low-lying raft the +destruction of the latter appeared so certain that its crew abandoned +all hope of saving it; and, taking to their skiff, sought by its means +to escape the threatened danger. It was a forlorn hope, and promised +but little. Even with Billy Brackett's strong arms tugging at its +oars, the heavily laden skiff seemed to move so slowly, that but for +the ever-widening space between them and the raft they would have +deemed it at a stand-still. They gazed in silence and with fascinated +eyes at the on-coming terror. At length, with a sigh of thankfulness, +they saw that they were beyond its track, and Billy Brackett's labors +were somewhat relaxed. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly, as though endowed with a fiendish intelligence, the blazing +fabric took a sheer to port, and headed for the skiff. A hoarse cry +broke from the old negro, whose face was ashen gray with fright. It +was echoed by Binney Gibbs. The others kept silence, but their faces +were bloodless. +</P> + +<P> +By a mighty effort Billy Brackett spun the skiff around, and with the +energy of despair pulled back towards the raft. The stout oars bent +like whips. If one of them had given way nothing could have saved our +raftmates from destruction. Had the tough blades been of other than +home make, and fashioned from the best product of the Caspar Mill, they +must have yielded. With each stroke Billy Brackett rose slightly from +his seat. Arms, body, and legs made splendid response to the demands +of the invincible will. Years of careful training and right living +were concentrated into that supreme moment. Another might have sought +personal safety by plunging overboard and diving deep into the river. +Glen and Winn might have followed such an example. Binney and Solon, +being unable to swim, could not. But Billy Brackett was too true an +American to consider such a thing for an instant. Generations of +Yankee ancestors had taught him never to desert a friend nor yield to a +foe; never to court a danger nor to fear one; to fight in a righteous +cause with his latest breath; to snatch victory from defeat. +</P> + +<P> +As the skiff dashed alongside the <I>Venture</I> the vast, glowing, seething +mass of flame, smoke, and crashing timbers swept by so close that the +raftmates were obliged to seek a shelter in the cool waters from its +deadly heat. Clinging to the edge of the raft, with their bodies +entirely submerged, they gazed breathlessly and with blinded eyes at +the grandest and most awful sight to be seen on the Mississippi. It +was a huge lower-river packet, and was completely enveloped in roaring +flames that poured from every opening, and streamed furiously from the +tall chimneys the trailing banners of the fire-fiend. The boat was +under a full head of steam, her machinery was still intact, and the +great wheels, churning the glowing waters into a crimson foam, forced +her ahead with the speed of a locomotive. The back draught thus caused +kept the forward end of her lower deck free from flame. Here, as she +rushed past, the boys caught a glimpse of the only sign of life they +could discover aboard the ill-fated packet. It was a dog leaping from +side to side, and barking furiously. +</P> + +<P> +They had hardly noted his presence when a curious thing happened. +There came an explosion of steam, a crash, and the starboard wheel +dropped from its shaft. Thus crippled, the blazing craft made a grand +sweep of half a circle in front of the raft. Then, as the other wheel +also became disabled and ceased its mad churnings, the boat lay with +her head up-stream, drifting helplessly with the current. The packet +was not more than a couple of hundred feet from the raft when its wild +progress was thus checked, and now the barkings of the dog, that had +already attracted the boy's attention, were heard more plainly than +before. +</P> + +<P> +All at once Billy Brackett, who had regained the wave-washed deck of +the raft, called out, "It's Bim! I know his voice!" +</P> + +<P> +With this he again sprang into the skiff, with the evident intention of +attempting to rescue his four-footed comrade. Winn Caspar was just in +time to scramble in over the stern as the skiff shot away. "I may be +of some help," he said. +</P> + +<P> +As they neared the burning boat, they saw that the dog was indeed Bim. +He answered their calls with frantic barks of joy, but refused to leap +into the skiff or into the water, as they urged him to. +</P> + +<P> +He would run back out of their sight instead, and then reappear, +barking frantically all the while. Once he seemed to be dragging +something, and trying to hold it up for their inspection. +</P> + +<P> +"The dear old dog has some good reason for acting in that way," said +Billy Brackett, "and I must go to him." +</P> + +<P> +Winn had not the heart to remonstrate against an attempt to aid Bim, +even though its extreme danger was obvious. The blazing hull, from +which most of the upper works were now burned away, was liable to +plunge to the bottom at any moment, and the boy shuddered at the +thought of being engulfed in the seething whirlpool which would thus be +created. He involuntarily cringed, too, at the thought of the red-hot +boilers ready to burst and deluge all surrounding objects with scalding +steam and hissing water. Still, he would not have spoken a single word +to deter Billy Brackett from his daring project even had he known it +would be heeded. +</P> + +<P> +While these thoughts flashed through Winn's mind, his companion was +clambering up over the low guards, and Bim's joyful welcome of his +master was pitiful in its extravagance. The dog seemed to say, "I knew +you would come if I only waited patiently and barked loud enough. Now +you see why I couldn't leave." +</P> + +<P> +The object to which Bim thus directed attention, as plainly as though +possessed of speech, was a little curly-haired puppy, a Gordon setter, +so young that its eyes were not yet opened. +</P> + +<P> +Billy Brackett picked it up and dropped it over the side into Winn's +arms. Then he tried to do the same by Bim; but, with a loud bark, the +nimble dog eluded his grasp, and dashed away into the thick of the +smoke. Tongues of flame were licking their cruel way through it, and +as Bim emerged, his hair was scorched in yellow patches. He dragged +out a dead puppy, laid it at his master's feet, and before he could be +restrained had once more dashed back into the stifling smoke. Again he +appeared, this time weak and staggering, every trace of his white coat +gone. He was singed and blackened beyond recognition; but he was a +four-footed hero, who had nobly performed a self-imposed duty. As he +feebly dragged another little dead puppy to his master's feet, Billy +Brackett seized the brave dog in his arms, and sprang over the side of +the doomed steamboat into the waiting skiff. Tears stood in the young +man's eyes as the suffering creature licked his face, and he exclaimed, +"I tell you what, Winn Caspar, if this blessed dog isn't possessed of a +soul, then I'm not, that's all!" +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile Winn was pulling the skiff swiftly beyond reach of danger. +It was none too soon; for before they reached the raft, the glowing +mass behind them reared itself on end as though making a frantic effort +to escape its fate. Then, with a hissing plunge, it disappeared +beneath the turbid flood of the great river. A second later there came +a muffled explosion, and a column of water, capped by a cloud of steam, +shot upward. At the same time the scene was shrouded in a darkness +made absolute by the sudden extinguishing of the fierce light, while +the silence that immediately succeeded the recent uproar seemed +unbroken. +</P> + +<P> +Then the momentary hush was invaded by the sound of many voices, some +of which were uttering groans and cries of pain. A score of fortunates +from the burned packet, who had been driven by the flames to the +extreme after-end of the boat, where they were hidden from the view of +those on the raft, had leaped into the water as they were swept past, +and managed to reach it while Billy Brackett and Winn were away. +</P> + +<P> +Now, by means of the skiff, others whose cries for help located them in +the darkness were picked up. Many persons had escaped soon after the +breaking out of the fire by means of the small boats and life-raft +carried by the packet; while still others, comprising nearly half the +ship's company, were lost. It was one the most terrible of the many +similar disasters recorded in the history of steamboating on the +Mississippi; and to this day the burning of the <I>Lytle</I> is a favorite +theme of conversation among old river men. +</P> + +<P> +When Glen Elting learned the name of the ill-fated craft, he started +and turned pale. "The very packet for which we were waiting!" he +cried, with bated breath. "Oh, Binney, how many things we have to be +thankful for!" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed we have," answered the boy; "and not the least of them is that +we are in a position to help these poor people, who have been overtaken +by the misfortune that was reaching out for us." +</P> + +<P> +These two were tearing sheets into bandage strips, and dressing wounds +with the salve and ointments found in Major Caspar's medicine chest. +Solon was providing a plentiful supply of hot-water over a roaring fire +in the galley stove, and bustling about among the forlorn assembly, +that, drenched and shivering, had been so suddenly intrusted to his +kindly care. Billy Brackett and Winn rowed in every direction about +the raft so long as there was the slightest hope of picking up a +struggling swimmer. +</P> + +<P> +Their last rescue was that of a man clinging to a state-room door, and +so benumbed with the chill of the water that in a few moments more his +hold must have relaxed. Beside him swam a dog, also nearly exhausted. +</P> + +<P> +When the man was carried into the "shanty," the dog followed him, and +was there seen to be of the same markings and breed as the puppy saved +by Bim. Noting this, Winn hunted it up and brought it to her. It was +hers, and no human mother could have shown more extravagant joy than +did this dog mother at so unexpectedly finding one of her lost babies. +She actually cried with happiness, and fondled her little one until it +protested with all the strength of its feeble voice. Then she lay down +with the puppy cuddled close to her, and one paw thrown protectingly +across it, the picture of perfect content. +</P> + +<P> +Bim had been almost as excited as she, and in spite of his burns, had +circled about the two, and barked until the puppy persuaded its mother +to be quiet. Then Bim and she lay down, nose to nose, and while the +former told his friend how he had found her deserted babies on the boat +and had determined to save them, and how his own dear master had come +in answer to his barks for assistance, she told him how she had been in +the after-part of the boat getting her supper when the flames broke +out, and had gone nearly crazy at finding herself separated from her +little ones. She assured him she would have gone through fire and +water to reach them had not her master thrown her overboard, and +immediately afterwards jumped into the river himself. Then she +believed that all was lost, for in her distress of mind she had +entirely forgotten her brave friend Bim. If she had only remembered +him, she would have been quite at ease, knowing, of course, that he +would find some way of saving at least one of her puppies, which, under +the circumstances, was all that could be expected. +</P> + +<P> +At which Bim jumped up and barked for pure happiness, until his master +said, "That will do, Bim, for the present." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap36"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MASTER OF MOSS BANK. +</H3> + + +<P> +The Gordon setter's name was Nanita, while that of her master was Mr. +Guy Manton, of New York. Within a short time after the final plunge of +the burned packet, several steamboats, attracted by the blaze, reached +the raft, and offered to carry the survivors of the disaster to the +nearest town. This offer was accepted by all except Mr. Manton, who +asked, as a favor, that he and his dogs might be allowed to remain on +board the <I>Venture</I>, at least until morning. Of course the raftmates +willingly consented to this, for Mr. Manton was so grateful to them, +besides proving such an agreeable companion, that they could not help +but like him. +</P> + +<P> +From him they learned how Bim happened to be on board the ill-fated +steamboat, a situation over which they had all puzzled, but concerning +which they had heretofore found no opportunity of inquiring. According +to Mr. Manton's story, he was on his way to a plantation on the +Mississippi, in Louisiana, which he had recently purchased, but had not +yet seen. +</P> + +<P> +Wishing to learn something of the great river on a bank of which his +property lay, he had come by way of St. Louis, and there boarded the +fine New Orleans packet <I>Lytle</I>. He had brought with him a supply of +machinery, provisions, and tools for the plantation, all of which were +now either consumed by fire or lay at the bottom of the river. He had +also brought his favorite setter Nanita and her litter of three young +puppies, which he had proposed to establish at his new winter home. +</P> + +<P> +During the stop of the packet at Cairo he had taken Nanita ashore for a +run. On their way back to the boat he discovered that she was not +following him, and anxiously retracing his steps a short distance, +found her in company with a white bulldog, to whom she was evidently +communicating some matter of great interest. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Manton saw that the strange dog was a valuable one, and when it +showed an inclination to follow them, tried to persuade it to return to +its home, which he supposed was somewhere in the town. As the dog +disappeared, he thought he had succeeded, and was afterwards surprised +to find it on the boat, in company with Nanita and her little ones. +Believing, of course, that the bull-dog's owner was also on board, he +gave the matter but little thought, and soon after called Nanita aft to +be fed. +</P> + +<P> +While he was attending to her wants, the cry of "fire" was raised. The +flames burst out somewhere near the centre of the boat, in the vicinity +of the engine-room, and had already gained such headway as to interpose +an effectual barrier between him and the forward deck. He supposed +that the boat would at once be headed for the nearest bank, but found +to his dismay that almost with the first outbreak of flame the +steering-gear had been rendered useless. At the same time the +engineers had been driven from their post of duty, and thus the +splendid packet, freighted with death and destruction, continued to +rush headlong down the river, without guidance or check. +</P> + +<P> +Amid the terrible scenes that ensued, Mr. Manton, followed by his +faithful dog, was barely able to reach his own stateroom, secure his +money and some important papers, wrench the door from its hinges, throw +it and Nanita overboard, and then leap for his own life into the dark +waters. +</P> + +<P> +At this point the grateful man again tried to express his sense of +obligation to his rescuers, but was interrupted by Billy Brackett, who +could not bear to be thanked for performing so obvious and simple an +act of duty. To change the subject the young engineer told of Bim's +act of real heroism in saving one and attempting to save the other +members of the little family, which he evidently considered had been +left in his charge. +</P> + +<P> +To this story Mr. Manton listened with the deepest interest; and when +it was concluded, he said, "He is a dear dog, and most certainly a +hero, if there ever was one. I shall always love him for this night's +work." +</P> + +<P> +Then Bim, who was now covered with healing ointment and swathed in +bandages, was petted and praised until even Nanita grew jealous, and +insisted on receiving a share of her master's attention. +</P> + +<P> +All the while the brave bull-dog looked into the faces of those +gathered about him with such a pleading air of intelligence and such +meaning barks that his longing to tell of what had happened to him +after he started from the raft in pursuit of the odious "river-trader" +who had once kicked him was evident to them all. If he only could have +spoken, he would have told of the cruel blow by which he was +momentarily stunned, of finding himself in a bag in the river, of how +he had succeeded by a desperate struggle in escaping from it and +finally reaching the shore, of his distress at not finding the raft, +and the sad search for his master through the town, of his meeting with +Nanita, and of his decision to accept her advice and take passage with +her down the river, in which direction he was certain his floating home +had gone. All this Bim would have communicated to his friends if he +could; but as they were too dull of comprehension to understand him, +they have remained in ignorance to this day of that thrilling chapter +of his adventures. +</P> + +<P> +Besides telling the raftmates of his cruel experience, Mr. Manton +related some of the incidents of a canoe voyage even then being made +down the river by his only son Worth and the boy's most intimate +friend, Sumner Rankin. These two had made a canoe cruise together +through the Everglades of Florida the winter before, and had enjoyed it +so much, that when Mr. Manton proposed that they should accompany him +to Louisiana, they had begged to be allowed to make the trip in their +canoes. +</P> + +<P> +"They started from Memphis," continued Mr. Manton, "and have had some +fine duck and turkey shooting among the Coahoma sloughs and +cane-brakes. With them is a colored man named Quorum, who crossed the +Everglades with them, and who now accompanies them, in a skiff that +they purchased in Memphis, as cook and general adviser. I have heard +from them several times by letter, and so know of their progress. It +has been so good that unless I make haste they will reach Moss Bank +before me. That is the name of our new home," he added, by way of +explanation. +</P> + +<P> +"Wha' dat yo' say, sah?" exclaimed Solon, who had been an interested +listener. "Yo' callin' dat ar plantashun Moss Back?" +</P> + +<A NAME="img-300"></A> +<CENTER> +<H3> +[Illustration: "'Yo' callin' dat ar plantashun Moss Back?' <BR> +exclaimed Solon" (missing from book)] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Yes, 'Moss Bank' is the name it has always borne, I believe," replied +Mr. Manton. "But why do you ask? Do you know the place?" +</P> + +<P> +"Does I know um! Does I know de place I war borned an' brung up in? +Why, sah, dat ar' my onlies home befo' de wah. Ole Marse Rankim own +um, an' me an' he boy, de young marse, hab de same mammy. So him my +froster-brudder. He gwine away fer a sailor ossifer, an' den de wah +comin' on, an' ebberyt'ing gwine ter smash. He name 'Summer.' Yo' +know dat young gen'l'man?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," replied Mr. Manton, "I knew him intimately. He has been dead +for several years; but I am well acquainted with his family, and it is +his son who is now travelling down the river in company with my boy. +In fact, it was through him that I came to purchase this old +plantation, with a view to making it our winter home." +</P> + +<P> +"Praise de Lawd, I gwine ter see a Rankim once mo'!" exclaimed the old +negro. "Yo' is gwine stop at de ole Moss Back place, Marse Winn? Yo' +sholy is?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes; if Mr. Manton would like to have us, I think we should be +very happy to stop there when we reach it," said Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Stop! Of course you will," exclaimed Nanita's master. "I have +already planned for that, and should feel terribly disappointed if you +did not. I want to see more of you, and I want you to meet and know my +boys. Besides, I was going to ask you to allow Nanita and her pup to +complete their journey down the river on this raft in company with Bim, +who will, I know, take good care of them. If you should consent to +this plan, of course you will be obliged to stop at Moss Bank to land +them. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall be delighted to have them," said Billy Brackett; "and, on +behalf of Bim, I hereby extend a formal invitation to them to become +his raftmates for the remainder of the cruise. At the same time, I am +certain that my companions, as well as myself, will be most happy to +visit you in your new home, and there make the acquaintance of your +boys." +</P> + +<P> +By the time this arrangement was concluded it was daylight, and Mr. +Manton insisted on the raftmates turning in for a nap, while he and +Solon kept watch. He remained on board the <I>Venture</I> all that day, and +by sunset the current had borne the raft forward so rapidly that they +were able to tie up near Columbus, Kentucky. At this point the owner +of Moss Bank bade his new-made friends <I>au revoir</I>, and started by rail +for his Louisiana home. +</P> + +<P> +After his departure, and during the month of drifting that followed, +the raftmates talked so much of Moss Bank, and listened to so many +stories concerning it from Solon, that to their minds it grew to be the +objective point of their trip, and seemed as though it must be the one +place towards which their whole voyage was tending. Much as they +anticipated the reaching of this far-southern plantation, however, they +would have been greatly surprised and decidedly incredulous had any one +told them that it was indeed to mark the limit of their voyage, and +that there the good raft <I>Venture</I>, from Wisconsin for New Orleans, was +destined to vanish, and become but a fading memory. But so it was, as +they found out, and as we shall see. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap37"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BIM'S 'COON. +</H3> + + +<P> +Through the last week of November and the first three of December our +raftmates drifted steadily southward down the great river. Although it +was the most unpleasant season of the year, and they encountered both +cold rains and bitter winds that chilled them to the marrow, the boys +thoroughly enjoyed their experience. They could always retreat to the +"shanty," which Solon kept well filled with warmth and comfort, and +they had the satisfaction of an uninterrupted progress. The management +of the raft called for a vast amount of hard and monotonous work; but +it gave them splendid muscles and tremendous appetites. They were +obliged to maintain a constant lookout for bars, reefs, snags, and +up-bound river craft, and by means of the long sweeps at either end of +the raft head it this way or that to avoid these obstacles and keep the +channel. They were always on the move from sunrise to sunset, and +generally travelled on moonlit nights as well. If the night promised +to be dark or stormy they tied up at the nearest bank. +</P> + +<P> +At such times the outside blackness, the howling wind, driving +rain-squalls, and dashing waves only heightened the interior cosiness, +the light, warmth, and general comfort of their floating home. In it +they played games, sang songs to the accompaniment of Solon's banjo, +told stories, taught the dogs tricks; or, under Billy Brackett's +direction, pegged away at engineering problems, such as are constantly +arising in the course of railway construction. Even Winn tried his +hand at these; for under the stimulus of his companions' enthusiasm he +was beginning to regard the career of an engineer as one of the most +desirable and manly in which a young fellow could embark. +</P> + +<P> +This voyage into the world, with such guides and associates as Billy +Brackett, Glen Elting, and Binney Gibbs, was proving of inestimable +value to this boy. Not only were his ideas of life broadened and his +stock of general information increased by it, but he was rapidly +learning to appreciate the beauty of modest pretensions, and a +self-reliance based upon knowledge and strength, as compared with the +boastfulness and self-conceit of ignorance. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes the <I>Venture</I> was tied up for the night near other rafts, and +its crew exchanged visits with theirs. The regular river raftsmen were +generally powerful young giants, rough and unlettered, but a +good-natured, happy-go-lucky lot, full of tales of adventure in the +woods or on the river, to which the boys listened with a never-failing +delight. Nor were the raftmates at all behindhand in this interchange +of good stories; for they could tell of life on the Plains or in +California, of Indians, buffalo, mountains, deserts, and gold-mines, to +which their auditors listened with wide-open eyes and gaping mouths. +During the pauses Solon was always ready with some account of the +wonderful performances of his long-ago 'coon dog Bijah. +</P> + +<P> +So wise did our raftmates become concerning 'coons and their habits, +from Solon's teachings, that finally nothing would satisfy them but a +'coon hunt of their own. Billy Brackett was certain that Bim, who by +this time had fully recovered from the effects of his burns, would +prove as good at finding 'coons as he had at everything else in which +he had been given a chance. Solon was doubtful, because of Bim's color +and the length of his tail. +</P> + +<P> +"I hain't nebber see no fust-class 'coon dawg wha' warn't yallar an' +stumpy tail lak my Bijah war," he would remark, gazing reflectively at +Bim, and shaking his head. "Of cose dish yer Bim dawg uncommon +knowin', an' maybe him tree a 'coon 'mos' ez good ez Bijah; but hit's a +gif, an' a mighty skurce gif 'mong dawgs." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, come off, Solon!" Billy Brackett would answer. "You just wait +till you see Bim tree a 'coon. He'll do it so quick, after we once get +into a 'coon neighborhood, that your Bijah would be left a thousand +miles behind, and you won't ever want to mention his name again." +</P> + +<P> +So one night when the <I>Venture</I> was well down towards the lower end of +the State of Arkansas a grand 'coon hunt was arranged. They drew lots +to decide who should be left behind in charge of the raft, and, much to +his disgust, the unwelcome task fell to Glen. So he remained on board +with Nanita and Cherub, as the pup had been named in honor of Bim, +though it was generally called "Cheer-up," and the others sallied forth +into the woods. +</P> + +<P> +They were well provided with fat pine torches and armed with axes. Bim +was full of eager excitement, and dashed away into the darkness the +moment they set foot on shore. His incessant barking showed him to be +first on this side and then on that, while once in a while they caught +a glimpse of his white form glancing across the outer rim of their +circle of torchlight. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't he hunting splendidly?" cried Billy Brackett, with enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sah," replied Solon; "but him huntin' too loud. We ain't gettin' +to de place yet, an' ef he don' quit he barkin', him skeer off all de +'coon in de State." +</P> + +<P> +So Bim was called in, and restrained with a bit of rope until a +corn-field was reached that Solon pronounced the right kind of a place +from which to make a start. Then the eager dog was again set free, and +in less than a minute was heard giving utterance to the peculiar +yelping note that announced his game as "treed." +</P> + +<P> +"What did I tell you?" shouted Billy Brackett, triumphantly, as he +started on a run for the point from which the sounds proceeded. "How's +that for—" but at that instant the speaker tripped over a root, and +measured his length on the ground with a crash that knocked both breath +and powers of speech from his body. The others were so close behind +that they fell on top of him like a row of bricks, and in the resulting +confusion their torch was extinguished. +</P> + +<P> +Hastily picking themselves up, and without pausing to relight the pine +splinters, they rushed pell-mell towards the sound of barking, bumping +into trees, stumbling over logs, scratching their faces and tearing +their clothes on thorny vines. But no one minded. Bim had treed a +'coon in the shortest time on record, and now if they could only get +it, the triumph would be ample reward for all their trials. +</P> + +<P> +Finally, bruised, battered, and ragged, they reached the tree which +Bim, with wild leapings, was endeavoring to climb. Their first move +was to illumine the scene with a huge bonfire. By its light they +proceeded to a closer examination of the situation. The tree was a +huge moss-hung water-oak, evidently too large to be chopped down, as +all the 'coon trees of Solon's stories had been. So Winn offered to +climb it and shake out the 'coon. As yet they had not discovered the +animal, but Bim was so confident of its presence that they took his +word for it. +</P> + +<P> +Solon had raised a false alarm as the first gleam of firelight +penetrated the dark mass of foliage above them by exclaiming: +</P> + +<P> +"Dar he! Me see um! Lookee, Marse Brack, in dat ar crutch!" +</P> + +<P> +But what the old negro saw proved to be a bunch of mistletoe, and when +Winn began his climb the 'coon's place of concealment was still +unknown. Up went the boy higher and higher, carefully examining each +limb as he passed it, until he was among the very topmost branches of +the tree. The others stood on opposite sides of the trunk, with axes +or clubs uplifted, and gazed anxiously upward until their necks ached. +</P> + +<P> +At length Winn became aware that from the outermost end of a slender +branch just above his head a pair of green eyes were glaring at him. +The glare was accompanied by an angry spitting sound. "I've found him, +fellows! Look out below!" he shouted, and began a vigorous shaking of +the branch. All at once the animal uttered a sound that caused a +sudden cessation of his efforts. It also caused Winn to produce a +match from his pocket, light it, and hold the tiny flame high above his +head. Then, without a word, he began to descend the tree. +</P> + +<P> +As he dropped to the ground the others exclaimed in amazement, "What's +the matter, Winn? Where's the 'coon? Why didn't you shake him down?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's up there," replied Winn, "but I don't want him. If any of you +do, you'd better go up and shake him down. I'd advise you to take a +torch along, though." +</P> + +<P> +Not another word of explanation would he give them, and finally Binney +Gibbs, greatly provoked at the other's stubbornness, declared he would +go up and shake that 'coon down—in a hurry, too. He so far accepted +Winn's advice as to provide himself with a blazing knot, and then up he +started. In a few minutes he too returned to the ground, saying that +he guessed Winn was about right, and they didn't want that 'coon after +all. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the name of all foolishness do you mean?" cried Billy +Brackett, impatiently. "Speak out, man, and tell us, can't you?" +</P> + +<P> +But Binney acted precisely as Winn had done, and advised any one who +wanted that 'coon to go and get it. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I will!" exclaimed the young engineer, almost angrily; "and I +only hope I can manage to drop him on top of one of your heads." +</P> + +<P> +With this he started up the tree, and disappeared among its thick +brandies. He quickly made his way to the top. Then the rustling of +leaves ceased, there was a moment of silence, followed by a muttered +exclamation, and Billy Brackett came hastily down to where the others +were expectantly awaiting him. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go home, boys," he said, as he picked up his axe and started in +the direction of the river. "Come, Bim; your reputation as a 'coon dog +is so well established that there is no need to test it any further." +</P> + +<P> +Poor Solon, who was too old and stiff to climb the tree, was completely +mystified by these strange proceedings; but his expostulation of, +</P> + +<P> +"Wha—wha's de meanin' ob dish yer—!" was cut short by the departure +of his companions, and he was obliged to hasten after them. +</P> + +<P> +A few minutes after the 'coon hunters had gone a big boy, and a little +girl with a tear-stained face, who had come from a house just beyond +the corn-field, reached the spot, to which they had been attracted by +the firelight. As they did so, the child uttered a cry of joy, sprang +to the water-oak, and caught up a frightened-looking little black and +white kitten that was cautiously descending the big trunk backward. +</P> + +<P> +To this day the outcome of that 'coon hunt remains a sealed mystery to +poor Solon, while Bim has never been invited to go on another. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap38"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GREAT RIVER AND ITS MISCHIEF. +</H3> + + +<P> +The scenery amid which the good raft <I>Venture</I> performed its long and +eventful voyage changed almost with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope, but +was ever fascinating and full of pleasant surprises. The flaming +autumnal foliage of the forest-lined banks through which the first +hundred miles or so were made, gave way to masses of sombre browns or +rich purples, and these in turn to the flecked white of cotton-fields, +the dark green of live-oaks, and the silver gray of Spanish moss. The +picturesque cliffs of the upper river, rising in places to almost +mountainous heights, were merged into the lowlands of canebrakes and +swamps, broken by ranges of bluffs along the eastern bank after the +Ohio was passed. On these bluffs were perched many cities and towns +that were full of interest to our raftmates; among them, Memphis, +Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. Every here and there in the low +bottom lands of the "Delta" below Memphis they saw the rounded tops of +great mounds, raised by prehistoric dwellers in that region as places +of refuge during seasons of flood. They passed from the great northern +wheat region into that of corn, then into the broad cotton belt, and +finally to the land of sugar-cane and rice, orange-trees, glossy-leaved +magnolias, and gaunt moss-hung cypresses. +</P> + +<P> +Of more immediate interest even than these ever-changing features of +the land was the varied and teeming life of the mighty river itself. +The boys were never tired of watching the streams of strange craft +constantly passing up or down. Here a splendid packet in all the glory +of fresh paint, gleaming brass, gay bunting, and crowds of passengers +rushed swiftly southward with the current in mid-channel; or, up-bound, +ploughed a mighty furrow against it, while the hoarse coughings of its +high-pressure engines echoed along many a mile of forest wall. +</P> + +<P> +Smaller up-bound boats hugged the banks in search of slack water. Most +of the main-stream packets were side-wheelers; but those of lighter +draught, bound far up the Red, the Arkansas, the Yazoo, the Sunflower, +or other tributary rivers, were provided with great stern wheels that +made them look like exaggerated wheelbarrows. Then there were the +tow-boats, pushing dozens of sooty coal-barges from the Ohio; +freight-boats so piled with cotton-bales that only their pilot-houses +and chimneys were visible; trading-scows and "Jo-boats;" floating +dance-houses and theatres; ferryboats driven by steam, or propelled by +mule-power, like the <I>Whatnot</I>; some large enough to carry a whole +train of cars from shore to shore, and others with a capacity of but a +single team. There were skiffs, canoes, pirogues, and rafts of all +sizes and description. +</P> + +<P> +Most interesting of all, however, were the Government snag-boats, which +constantly patrolled the river, on the lookout for obstructions that +they might remove. These boats were doubled-hulled; and when one of +them straddled a snag, no matter if it was the largest tree that ever +grew, it was bound to disappear. With great steam-driven saws it would +be cut into sections, that were lifted and swung aside by powerful +derricks planted near the bows. These useful snag-boats also gave +relief to distressed craft of all kinds; blew up or removed dangerous +wrecks; dislodged rafts of drift that threatened to form inconvenient +bars; and in a thousand ways acted the part of an ever-vigilant police +for this grandest of American highways. +</P> + +<P> +And the great restless river needed watching. It was as full of +mischievous pranks as a youthful giant experimenting with his new-found +strength. It thought nothing of biting out a few hundred acres of land +from one bank and depositing them miles below on the other. If these +acres were occupied by houses or cultivated fields, so much the more +fun for the river. For years it would flow peacefully in a well-known +channel around some great bend, then decide to make a change, and in a +single night cut a new channel straight across the loop of land. By +such a prank not only were all the river pilots thoroughly bewildered, +but a large slice of one State, with its inhabitants and buildings, +would be transferred to another. If at the same time an important +river-town could be stranded and left far inland, the happiness of the +mischief-making giant was complete; and for many miles it would swirl +and eddy and boil and ripple with exuberant glee over the success of +its efforts. +</P> + +<P> +Above all it delighted in secretly gathering to itself from tributary +streams their vast accumulations of protracted rains or melting snows, +until it was swollen to twice its ordinary size, and endowed with a +strength that nothing could withstand. Then with mighty leaps it would +overflow its banks, cover whole counties with its tawny floods, burst +through levees, and riot over thousands of cultivated fields, sweep +away houses, uproot trees, and drown every unfortunate creature on +which it could lay its clutching fingers. Whenever its fleeing victims +managed to reach some little mound or bit of high land that it could +not climb, then it found equal pleasure in surrounding them and mocking +them with its plashing chuckles, while they suffered the pangs of slow +starvation. +</P> + +<P> +At these times of overflow not only the snag-boats but such other craft +as could be pressed into the service were despatched in every direction +to the relief of the river giant's victims. While on this duty they +carried provisions, clothing, and other necessaries of life into the +most remote districts; effected rescues from floating houses, or those +whose roofs alone rose above the flood and afforded uncertain refuge +for their inmates; removed human beings and live-stock from little +muddy islands miles away from the main channel of the river, carried +them miles farther before reaching places of safety, and in every way +strove with all their might to mitigate the calamity of unfettered +waters. +</P> + +<P> +Our raftmates had witnessed the effect of all these freaks and +caprices, except that of a widespread and devastating flood, during +their voyage, and as they drew near its end they became aware that an +acquaintance with this most terrible of all the river's efforts at +destruction was to be added to their experience. The drought of summer +had been followed by an almost unprecedented rainfall during the +autumn. The earth in every direction was like an oversoaked sponge, +and the surplus water was pouring in turbid torrents into the rivers. +From every quarter of the vast Mississippi Valley these watery legions +were hurried forward to join the all-conquering forces of the great +river. +</P> + +<P> +It had been high-water in the Ohio when the <I>Venture</I> lay at Cairo. +When it passed the mouth of the Arkansas its crew were amazed at the +mighty volume of its muddy flood. From this on they floated in company +with ever-increasing masses of drift—trees, fences, farming +implements, straw-stacks, cotton-bales, out-buildings, and every now +and then a house, lifted bodily from its foundations, and borne away in +the resistless arms of the ever-swelling tide. Most of the houses were +empty, but from several of them the ready skiff of the <I>Venture</I> +effected rescues, now of a solitary individual driven to the verge of +despair by the lonely terrors of his situation, and then of whole +wretched families who had lost everything in the world except their +lives. A cow, several pigs, and dozens of barn-yard fowls also found +an asylum on the friendly raft, until, as Billy Brackett said, it +reminded one of the original and only Noah's ark menagerie. +</P> + +<P> +Besides supplying the raft with passengers, the river helped to feed +them. Floating straw-stacks and shocks of corn were always in sight, +while fresh milk and eggs, pork and chickens, drifted with the current +on all sides. In vain were these passengers landed at the nearest +accessible points. A new lot was always found to take the place of +those who had left, and for ten days the raft resembled a combination +of floating hotel, nursery, hospital, and farm-yard. The resources of +our raftmates were taxed to their utmost during this time to provide +for the manifold wants of their welcome but uninvited guests, while +Solon declared, "I hain't nebber done sich a sight er cooken durin' all +de days ob my life." +</P> + +<P> +By the time the mouth of the Red River was reached, half of Concordia +Parish was flooded, and but for the forest trees rising from the water, +the boys would have thought themselves afloat on a vast inland sea. +The low bluffs on which the capital of Louisiana is seated, and beyond +which the cane lands extend in almost a dead level to the Gulf, were +occupied by the tents and rude shelters of hundreds of refugees from +the drowned districts. Here our raftmates began to entertain fears for +the safety of their friends at the Moss Bank plantation, which lay but +a day's journey farther down the river. +</P> + +<P> +At Baton Rouge they cleared the raft of its living encumbrances, and +then pushed ahead. From this point to the Gulf the great river is +enclosed between massive levees, or embankments of earth, behind which +the level of the far-reaching cane-fields is much lower than the +surface of high-water. Thus the raft was borne swiftly along at such +an elevation that its crew could look over the top of the eastern levee +and down over a vast area of plantation lands. These were dotted with +dark clumps of live-oaks or magnolias, and at wide intervals with +little settlements of whitewashed negro quarters, grouped behind the +broad-verandaed dwellings of the planters. Near each was the mill in +which the cane from the broad fields was crushed and its sweet juices +converted into sugar. These mills were surmounted by tall iron +smoke-stacks, and near each stood the square, tower-like bagasse +(refuse) burner, built of stone, and looking like the keep of some +ancient castle. +</P> + +<P> +All along the levee they saw gangs of men at work strengthening the +embankments and raising them still higher. They were often hailed and +asked to lend assistance, but they felt that their own friends might be +in need of them, and so passed on without answer. So changed was the +aspect of the country since Solon had last seen it, and so excited did +the old man become as he neared the scenes of former years, that it was +evident he could not be depended upon to recognize Moss Bank when they +should reach it. +</P> + +<P> +The day was nearly spent before they arrived at what they felt sure +must be its immediate vicinity. They had decided to tie up at the +first good place, and there wait for morning, when Winn called out: +</P> + +<P> +"What is that just ahead? I thought it was a log; but it seems to be +moving towards us, and I believe it is some sort of a small boat with a +man in it." +</P> + +<P> +The object to which their attention was thus directed proved to be a +decked canoe, the very daintiest craft any of them had ever seen, +bearing the name <I>Psyche</I> in gold letters on either bow. In it sat a +boy of about Winn's age, urging it forward with vigorous strokes of a +double-bladed paddle. +</P> + +<P> +The raft was close to the levee as he shot alongside. +</P> + +<P> +"Hello!" he shouted; "is this the raft <I>Venture</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Are you Worth Manton?" +</P> + +<P> +"No; but I am Sumner Rankin. Worth is down there with his father and +all the hands we could raise, working on the levee; but we are afraid +it can't stand much longer. I have been out here hailing every raft +that passed, and watching for you for the last three days. I'm awfully +glad you've come, for our men are discouraged, and about ready to give +up. Now, perhaps you will help us." +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we will! Come right aboard and show us where to tie up," +answered Billy Brackett, heartily. +</P> + +<P> +By the time the raft was made fast near the scene of greatest danger, +and Mr. Manton, with Worth, had come aboard, the night was as dark as +pitch. The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and there like +so many fire-flies were feebly reflected in the angry waters that slid +stealthily by with uncanny gurglings and muttered growls. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-320"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-320.jpg" ALT=""The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and there like fire-flies."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="584" HEIGHT="406"> +<H3> +[Illustration: "The lanterns of the working gang <BR> +glancing here and there like fire-flies."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"If the bank will only hold until morning!" said Mr. Manton, about +midnight, as he and Billy Brackett entered the <I>Venture's</I> cosey +"shanty" for a brief rest. All but these two and Solon were asleep, +laying in a stock of strength for the labors of the next day. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly there came a frightened shouting from the bank. Then all +other sounds were drowned in the furious roar of rushing waters, while +the raft seemed to be lifted bodily and hurled into space. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap39"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XXXIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HURLED THROUGH THE CREVASSE AND WRECKED. +</H3> + + +<P> +During the earlier hours of that eventful night Billy Brackett had +brought all his engineering skill to bear upon the problem of how to +save the Moss Bank levee. His cheery presence, and the evident +knowledge that he displayed, inspired all hands with confidence and a +new energy. Under his direction the raftmates worked like beavers, and +Mr. Manton was more hopeful that the levee could be made to withstand +the terrible pressure of swollen waters than he had been from the +beginning. But it was very old and had been neglected for years. By +daylight the young engineer might have noted its weak spots, and +strengthened them. He would have seen the thin streams that silently, +but steadily and in ever-increasing volume, were working their way +through the embankment near its base. In the inky blackness of the +night they were unheeded; and while spade and pick were plied with +unflagging zeal to strengthen the higher portions, these insidious foes +were equally busy undermining its foundations. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly before midnight everything seemed so secure that the boys were +sent to the <I>Venture's</I> "shanty" to get a few hours of sleep. Then +Billy Brackett and Mr. Manton came in for the hot coffee Solon was +preparing for them. They had hardly seated themselves at the table +when the catastrophe occurred. Without warning, a quarter of a mile of +the water-soaked levee sank out of sight, and dissolved like so much +wet sugar. Into the huge gap thus opened the exulting waters leaped +with the rush and roar of a cataract. On the foaming crest of this +tawny flood the stout timber raft was borne and whirled like an autumn +leaf. A few of the working gang managed to reach it and save +themselves, but others were swept away like thistle-down. +</P> + +<P> +The boys thus rudely awakened from a sound sleep sprang up with +frightened questionings, while Solon sank to his knees, paralyzed with +terror. Nanita stood guard over her puppy, while Bim, with a single +bark of defiance, leaped to his master's side and looked into his face +for orders. +</P> + +<P> +"Steady, boys! Steady!" shouted Billy Brackett, as coolly as though +nothing unusual were happening. "No, not outside. Keep that door +closed. It is safer in here. We can do nothing but wait patiently +until the raft fetches up against something solid or grounds. Hear the +waves boiling over the deck? There's a big chance of being swept off +and dashed to bits out there." +</P> + +<P> +For five minutes the raft was hurled forward and tossed with sickening +plunges, as though in a heavy seaway, until its occupants were nearly +prostrated with nausea. Then came a crash and a shock that piled them +in headlong confusion on one side of the room. There was a grinding +and groaning of timbers. One side of the raft was lifted, and the +other forced down, until the floor of the "shanty" sloped steeply. +With a single impulse all hands rushed to the door and into the open +air. +</P> + +<P> +The raft seemed to be stranded at the base of a rocky cliff that +towered directly above it to an unknown height. Against it the mad +waters were dashing savagely. Beneath their feet the stout timbers +quivered with such uneasy movements that it seemed as though the end of +the <I>Venture</I> had come, and that a few more seconds or minutes must +witness its total destruction. Still they clung to it and to each +other, for they had no other refuge, and in the absolute darkness +surrounding them it would have been worse than folly to seek one. +</P> + +<P> +After a while the first rush of waters passed, and they settled into a +strong smooth flow like that of the great river from which they came. +The uneasy movements of the raft ceased, and its shivering occupants +again began to breath freely. +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it is all right, boys!" called out Billy Brackett. "I believe +we are stranded at the foot of the bagasse-burner; but the old craft +has evidently made up its mind to hold together for a while longer, at +any rate. So I move that we crawl into the 'shanty' again. It's a +good deal warmer and more comfortable in there than it is out here." +</P> + +<P> +So, very cautiously, to prevent themselves from slipping off the +steeply-sloping deck, our raftmates worked their way back into the +little house that had for so long been their home. They found the +lower side of the floor about two feet under water. +</P> + +<P> +All hands were greatly depressed by the calamity that had overtaken +them. Mr. Manton, Worth, Sumner, and old Solon grieved over the ruin +of Moss Bank. Glen and Binney feared for the safety of General +Elting's valuable instruments. Billy Brackett wondered if Major +Caspar, or any one else, would ever again have confidence in him as the +leader of an expedition, while Winn, who had never ceased to reproach +himself for the manner in which the voyage of the <I>Venture</I> had been +begun, was now filled with dismay at its disastrous termination. +</P> + +<P> +He, as well as the others, realized that the raft was a fixture in its +present position, that it would never again float on the bosom of the +great river, and that all dreams of selling it in New Orleans must now +be abandoned. He knew how greatly his father was in need of the money +he had hoped to receive from it. He knew what a blow the loss of the +wheat had been. Now the raft was lost as well. As the unhappy boy's +thoughts travelled back over the incidents of the trip, and he +remembered that but for him the wheat would not have been lost, and but +for him the raft would probably have been sold in St. Louis, his +self-accusations found their way to his eyes, and trickled slowly down +his cheeks in the shape of hot tears. The others could not see them in +the darkness, and he would not have cared much if they could. +</P> + +<P> +But Billy Brackett was not giving way to his grief. There was too much +to be done for that. He was trying to set up the overturned stove, and +make things more comfortable. At the same time his cheery tones were +raising the low spirits of his companions, and causing them to take a +brighter view of the situation. +</P> + +<P> +The young engineer, with Glen and Solon to aid him, worked in darkness, +for the lamp had rolled from the table when the raft struck the stone +tower, and been extinguished in the water that flooded part of the +"shanty." In spite of this drawback, they finally succeeded in getting +the stove into position. Then they began to feel for fuel with which +to make a fire. Everything was wet. Some one proposed breaking up a +chair, but Billy Brackett exclaimed, +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on! I have thought of something better." +</P> + +<P> +With this he caught hold of one of the thin boards used by the +"river-traders" to ceil the room, and, with a powerful wrench, tore it +off. This particular board happened to be near where Winn was sitting +on the floor, so filled with his own sad thoughts that he paid but +slight attention to what was going on about him. As the board was torn +from its place several soft objects fell near him, and one of them +struck his hand. It seemed to be paper, and when Billy Brackett sung +out for some paper with which to start the fire, Winn said, "Here's a +wad that's dry," and tossed the package in the direction of the stove. +The young engineer slipped it under the wood, struck a match, and +lighted it. The next instant he uttered a startled exclamation, +snatched the package from the stove, and beat out the flame that was +rapidly eating into it. +</P> + +<P> +"What is the matter?" asked Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Matter?" returned Billy Brackett. "Oh, nothing at all; only I can't +quite afford to warm myself at fires fed with bank-bills. Not just +yet. I wouldn't hesitate to dissolve all my spare pearls in vinegar, +if I felt an inclination for that kind of a drink, but I must draw a +line at greenback fuel. Where did you get them? Whose are they? And +why in the name of poverty do you want them burned up? Has your wealth +become a burden to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Are they really bills?" asked Winn, incredulously. +</P> + +<P> +For answer Billy Brackett struck another match, and all saw that he +indeed held a package of bank-notes with charred ends. The same light +showed Winn to be surrounded by a number of similar packages. +</P> + +<P> +The expression of complete bewilderment that appeared on the boy's face +as he saw these was so ludicrous that, as the match went out, a shout +of laughter rang through the "shanty." +</P> + +<P> +"As long as they are so plenty, I guess we might as well burn them, +after all," said Billy Brackett, quietly. With this he struck another +match, relighted the little bundle of bills in his hand, and again +thrust it into the stove. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the others believed him to have lost his senses. Winn +made a wild dash at the stove door, but Billy Brackett caught his arm. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right, and I'm not half so big a fool as I may appear," he +said, laughing. "Do you remember our late friends the 'river-traders'? +And that they were counterfeiters? And that they occupied this very +'shanty' for several weeks? And that, after losing it, they made +desperate attempts to regain its possession? And that we wondered why +they had ceiled this room; also, what had become of their stock in +trade?" +</P> + +<P> +To each of these questions Winn gave an affirmative answer. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," continued Billy Brackett, "the mystery is a mystery no longer. +They ceiled this room to provide a safe and very ingenious hiding-place +for their goods; they wished to regain possession of the raft, that +they might recover them. They failed, and so lost them. Now, by the +merest accident, we have found them." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean—" began Winn, slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean," said Billy Bracket, "that while we are apparently possessed +of abundant wealth, it is but the shadow of the substance. In other +words, every one of those bills is a counterfeit, and the sooner they +are destroyed the better." +</P> + +<P> +In spite of this disappointing announcement, the desire of the +raftmates to discover the full extent of the "river-traders'" secret +hoard was so great that, having found a candle, they proceeded by its +light to tear off the whole of the interior sheathing of the room. +They found a quantity of the counterfeit money, which Billy Brackett, +sustained by Mr. Manton, insisted upon burning then and there. They +also found, carefully hidden by itself, a package containing exactly +one hundred genuine one-hundred-dollar bills. +</P> + +<P> +"Enough," said Billy Brackett, quietly, "to refund the hundred they got +from Glen and Binney, to repay Major Caspar for the wheat they dumped +overboard, and to make good the loss of the <I>Whatnot</I>, which so nearly +broke the heart of our brave old friend Cap'n Cod." +</P> + +<P> +The justice of this disposition of the money was so evident that not a +single dissenting voice was raised among those who had found it, for +they all knew that an effort to trace it to its rightful owners would +not only be fruitless, but would cost more than the entire amount. +</P> + +<P> +The knowledge that his father was thus to be recompensed for the loss +of which he had been the direct cause so raised Winn Caspar's spirits +that when daylight came, although their situation remained unchanged, +he felt himself to be one of the very happiest boys in all Louisiana. +</P> + +<P> +The coming of daylight, while gladly hailed by the occupants of the +wrecked raft, also disclosed the extent of the devastation caused by +the flood. As they had surmised, the <I>Venture</I> was stranded at the +foot of the huge stone bagasse-burner. The mill near by was partly +demolished. The great house, standing amid its clumps of shrubbery and +stately trees, a quarter of a mile away, was surrounded by water that +rose nearly to the top of the stone piers by which it was supported. +The quarters and other out-buildings had disappeared. Even at that +distance they could see a throng of refugees on the verandas and at the +windows of the great house. +</P> + +<P> +"Unless speedy relief comes they will starve," said Mr. Manton, +anxiously, "for our provisions had nearly run out yesterday." +</P> + +<P> +"We are in about the same fix," said Billy Brackett, who had been in +earnest consultation with Solon. "I didn't realize until this minute +that we had given away nearly the whole of our own supply. Now I find +that the few things we had left are under water, and most of them are +spoiled." +</P> + +<P> +At this announcement every one suddenly discovered that he was +intensely hungry; while Bim, seated on his haunches and waving his +fore-paws, began to "speak" vigorously for his breakfast. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap40"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XL. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A MEETING OF MATES. +</H3> + + +<P> +With starvation staring our raftmates in the face, the problem of how +they were to escape from their present predicament became a most +important one. The first suggestion was that they construct a small +and easily managed raft from a portion of the material contained in the +<I>Venture</I>. They foresaw that it would be impossible for them to propel +even this against the swift current and reach the river, where they +might procure relief from some passing boat. Still, even to drift with +the current, or at the best to work their way diagonally across it, +with the hope of reaching some source of food supply, seemed better +than to remain where they were, and accordingly they began to collect +material for a raft. +</P> + +<P> +They had hardly started at this when Worth called out that he saw a +canoe lodged in a clump of shrubbery. +</P> + +<P> +They all looked where he pointed, and all saw it. Although it was not +more than a hundred yards from them, the full force of the current must +be encountered for the entire distance before one could reach it. +</P> + +<P> +All were agreed that they must obtain it, if possible, and that their +very lives might depend upon getting that canoe. First Billy Brackett +threw off his clothing, and plunging into the chill waters, attempted +to swim to it. He had not covered half the distance before he was +compelled to turn back utterly exhausted. Then Glen Elting and Sumner +undertook the task together, but splendid swimmers as they were, they +could no more stem that resistless flood than they could have flown to +the canoe. +</P> + +<P> +As they were dejectedly resuming their clothing in the "shanty" they +were startled by a shout from outside. Winn Caspar had solved the +problem. While the others were watching the fruitless struggles of +Glen and Sumner from one side of the raft he had slipped overboard from +the other, and swam diagonally across the current to a hedge of +oleanders, the tops of which were still above water. This hedge +extended to the river, and passed within fifty yards of the shrubbery +in which the canoe was caught. +</P> + +<P> +When Winn reached the oleanders he was considerably below the raft, and +of course nearly twice as far from the canoe as when he started. He +had anticipated this, however, and now began to work his way back +against the current by pulling himself from one bush to another. When +he reached a point abreast the raft the others saw him and shouted. He +only waved his hand in reply and kept on, while they watched him with +eager interest. As he gained a position opposite the canoe they +shouted again, but still he kept on, until he was nearly a hundred +yards above it. +</P> + +<P> +Then, after a long rest, he left the friendly oleanders, and struck out +with brave strokes for the coveted object. He was now again swimming +diagonally across the current, and knew that even should he miss the +canoe, he would be borne down to the raft. But he did not miss it. He +had calculated too well for that; and when he again reached the raft, +he brought the <I>Psyche</I> with him. +</P> + +<P> +He was chilled to the bone, numb, and sick with exhaustion; but for +such a royal cheer as greeted him, and the praises that his companions +showered upon him, he would have dared and suffered twice as much. At +the same moment, as if to encourage such brave deeds, the sun shone out +warm and bright, transforming the whole character of the scene with its +cheery warmth. +</P> + +<P> +Sumner Rankin was ready, and with a light heart he stepped into his +beloved craft. Then, with vigorous strokes of his double-bladed +paddle, he shot away towards the river, where he was to remain until he +could persuade a boat of some kind to come to the relief of his +fellow-sufferers. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of the sunlight and their hopes of rescue, the long hours +passed slowly aboard the <I>Venture</I>. There was little to do, and +nothing to eat, though Solon did succeed in making a pot of coffee, +which they drank without sugar or milk. In one respect, however, it +was the most successful day of the <I>Venture's</I> entire cruise; for +during those tedious hours Billy Brackett and Winn accomplished the +object for which it had been undertaken. They sold the raft. In +gazing over his flooded plantation and planning for its future, Mr. +Manton realized that with the subsidence of the waters he would have +immediate use for a large quantity of lumber. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not buy ours?" suggested Winn. +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" answered Mr. Manton. +</P> + +<P> +Five minutes later the bargain was completed that transferred the +ownership of the <I>Venture</I>, and crowned Major Caspar's undertaking with +success. It was such a satisfactory arrangement that they only +wondered they had not thought of it before. +</P> + +<P> +"Here the lumber is, just where I want it, and not a cent of freight to +pay," said Mr. Manton. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you and I can get back to Caspar's Mill, and help your father out +with that contract; and it is high time we were there too," said Billy +Brackett to Winn. "Hello! What's this? The <I>Psyche</I> coming back +again? If it is, young Rankin must be having a fit, for he's black in +the face." +</P> + +<P> +"It's Quorum!" shouted Worth. "In the <I>Cupid</I>, too! Of all things, +that is the very last I should ever have expected to see!" +</P> + +<P> +Sure enough, it was the faithful negro progressing slowly and with such +awkwardness that the anxious spectators expected to see him upset at +each moment. Nevertheless, he finally succeeded in reaching the raft; +and as they hauled him aboard he gasped, with thankfulness, +</P> + +<P> +"Dat de seckon time dish yer nigger ebber bin in one ob dem ar cooners, +an' him hope he be good an' daid befo' him ebber sperimentin' wif um +agen!" +</P> + +<P> +Quorum had come from the great house, where the <I>Cupid</I> was the sole +craft to be had. It was only after hours of persuasion and +semi-starvation that he had been induced by the other refugees to make +the trip to the raft, which they had discovered soon after daylight. +He described a pitiful state of affairs as existing among the hungry +throng he had just left, and declared that another day without food +would witness great suffering in the crowded house. +</P> + +<P> +Even as he related his story, those gathered about him were startled by +the shrill note of a steam-whistle coming from the direction of the +river. Sumner had found relief, and was bringing it to them. +</P> + +<P> +During the hours that passed so slowly on the raft, the brave little +<I>Psyche</I> had cruised here and there over the broad Mississippi sea, now +hailing some boat that refused to stop, and then chasing another that +it failed to overtake. Finally, late in the afternoon, Sumner +discovered a trail of black smoke coming up-stream and towards him. As +he anxiously watched it, trying to decide which way he should go to +head it off, he discovered a white banner with a scarlet cross flying +out cheerily just beneath the trail of smoke. Then he knew that help +was at hand, and no matter what other boats might do, that one would +stop at his signal. +</P> + +<P> +As it drew near, he was amazed to see that instead of a river steamer, +such as he had expected, the red-cross boat was a fine sea-going yacht; +and as she came dashing towards him, her sharp stem cleaving the brown +waters like a knife, her shining black hull, varnished houses, polished +metal, and plate-glass flashing in the light of the setting sun, this +sailor son of a sailor father thought her the most beautiful thing he +had ever seen. She slowed down at his signal, and in another minute he +was alongside. +</P> + +<P> +A line was flung to him, and making it fast to the <I>Psyche's</I> painter, +he clambered up a ladder that had been dropped from the gangway. As he +reached the deck, a fine-looking young fellow, apparently but little +older than himself, and wearing a natty yachting uniform, stepped +forward to meet him. +</P> + +<P> +Sumner briefly explained his errand, and pointing to the red-cross flag +at the foremast-head, added that he believed aid might be expected from +those who sailed under it. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed it may," responded the other, heartily; "and our present +business is to discover just such cases as you describe. Although the +<I>Merab</I> is, as you see, a private yacht, in which we happened to put +into New Orleans during a winter cruise to the southward, she is at +present in the service of the Red Cross Society, of which I am a +member, and devoted to the relief of sufferers by this awful flood. +May I ask your name? Mine is Coffin—Tristram Coffin; though I am +better known as Breeze McCloud, and that of my friend (here he turned +to another young man, also in navy blue) is Mr. Wolfe Brady." +</P> + +<P> +Half an hour later the beautiful <I>Merab</I> lay at anchor as near the +stranded raft as it was safe to venture, and its occupants were being +transferred to her hospitable deck by one of her boats. Another boat, +laden with provisions, was on its way to the starving refugees in the +great house. +</P> + +<P> +The young owner of the <I>Merab</I> insisted that all those who came from +the raft should be his guests, at least for that night. +</P> + +<P> +The invitation was accepted as promptly and heartily as it had been +given, and soon afterwards two very hungry but very merry parties sat +down to bountiful dinners in two entirely distinct parts of the yacht. +</P> + +<P> +Along the mess-table of the galley—or the "camboose," as the yacht's +cook insisted upon calling it—were ranged three gentlemen of color, +each of whom treated his companions with the greatest deference, though +at the same time believing himself to be just a little better posted in +culinary matters than either of the others. +</P> + +<P> +"Dish yer wha' I calls a mighty scrumptious repas'," exclaimed Solon, +after a long silence devoted to appeasing the pangs of his hunger. +"But fo' de true ole-time cookin' gib me de Moss Back kitchin befo' de +wah." +</P> + +<P> +"I specs dat ar' berry good in hits way," remarked Quorum; "same time I +hain't nebber eat nuffin kin compare wif de cookin' er dem Seminyole +Injuns what libs in de Ebberglades. Dat's whar I takin my lesson." +</P> + +<P> +"Sho, gen'l'muns! 'pears to me lak you don't nebber go on er deep-sea +v'yge whar you gets de genuwine joe-flogger, an' de plum-duff, an' sich +like," said Nimbus, the yacht's cook. "Ef you had, you wouldn' talk." +</P> + +<P> +In the luminous after-saloon the other party was seated at a table +white with snowy damask, and gleaming with silver, which was at once +the pride and care of old Mateo, the Portuguese steward. +</P> + +<P> +It was a party so overflowing with merriment and laughter, jokes and +stories, that from one end of the table the young owner of the yacht +was moved to call to his friend at the other, +</P> + +<P> +"I say, Wolfe, this reminds me of the mess aboard the old <I>Fish Hawk</I>, +when we were 'Dorymates' together off Iceland." +</P> + +<P> +"It reminds me," said Glen Elting, "of the jolly mess of the Second +Division, when Billy Brackett and Binney and I were 'Campmates' +together in New Mexico." +</P> + +<P> +Said Sumner Rankin, "It reminds me of the cabin mess of the <I>Transit</I>, +when we went 'Canoemates' together, through the Everglades. Eh, Worth?" +</P> + +<P> +"While I," chimed in Winn Caspar, "am reminded of the happy mess-table +of the good ship <I>Venture</I>, on which we 'Raftmates' have just floated +for more than a thousand miles down the great river." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-340"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-340.jpg" ALT="A reunion of "mates."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="517" HEIGHT="441"> +<H3> +[Illustration: A reunion of "mates."] +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Manton, rising, and holding high a glass filled +with amber-colored river-water, "as I seem to have become a shipmate of +Dorymates, Campmates, Canoemates, and Raftmates, I am moved to propose +a toast. It is, 'Long life and prosperity, health and happiness, now +and forever, to all true mates.'" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFTMATES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 19303-h.txt or 19303-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/3/0/19303">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/3/0/19303</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Raftmates + A Story of the Great River + + +Author: Kirk Munroe + + + +Release Date: September 16, 2006 [eBook #19303] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFTMATES*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 19303-h.htm or 19303-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/3/0/19303/19303-h/19303-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/3/0/19303/19303-h.zip) + + + + + +RAFTMATES + +A Story of the Great River + +by + +KIRK MUNROE + +Author of +"Dorymates" "Campmates" "Canoemates" Etc. + +Illustrated + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "Winn dashed away with the speed of a deer."] + + + +New York and London +Harper & Brothers Publishers +1902 +Copyright, 1893, by Harper & Brothers. +All rights reserved + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE RAFT + II. WINN ASSUMES A RESPONSIBILITY + III. A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA + IV. BILLY BRACKETT STARTS DOWN THE RIVER + V. HOW THE VOYAGE WAS BEGUN + VI. MR. GILDER AND HIS RUDE RECEPTION + VII. A GANG OF "RIVER-TRADERS" + VIII. DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RAFT + IX. ALONE ON THE ISLAND + X. A NIGHT OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS + XI. BILLY BRACKETT'S SURPRISING SITUATION + XII. THE TRAPPERS TRAPPED + XIII. WINN'S LONELY CRUISE + XIV. A PEAL OF GIRLISH LAUGHTER + XV. "CAP'N COD," SABELLA, AND THE "WHATNOT" + XVI. BIM MAKES AN ENEMY + XVII. THE TRUTH, BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH + XVIII. FOLLOWING THE TRAIL + XIX. A CURIOUS COMPLICATION + XX. BIM GROWLS + XXI. EVERY ONE EXPLAINS + XXII. A "MEWEL" NAMED "REWARD" + XXIII. REWARD RUNS AWAY WITH THE PANORAMA + XXIV. WINN DISCOVERS HIS LONG-LOST RAFT + XXV. THE RAFT AND SHOW-BOAT CHANGE CREWS + XXVI. A DISASTROUS COLLISION + XXVII. IS THIS OUR RAFT OR NOT? + XXVIII. THE RESCUE OF SABELLA + XXIX. BIM BRINGS ABOUT A JOYFUL MEETING + XXX. IN CLOD'S CABIN + XXXI. CAMPMATES TURN RAFTMATES + XXXII. THE "RIVER-TRADERS" ATTEMPT TO REGAIN POSSESSION + XXXIII. WHERE IS BIM? + XXXIV. A BLAZE ON THE RIVER + XXXV. BIM'S HEROISM + XXXVI. THE MASTER OF MOSS BANK + XXXVII. BIM'S COON + XXXVIII. THE GREAT RIVER AND ITS MISCHIEF + XXXIX. HURLED THROUGH THE CREVASSE AND WRECKED + XL. A MEETING OF MATES + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + "WINN DASHED AWAY WITH THE SPEED OF A DEER" . . . _Frontispiece_ + + "WINN SECURED ONE END OF THE CABLE TO THAT + PART OF THE BOOM RESTING AGAINST THE SNAG" + + "'WHY, THE RAFT HAS GONE!' EXCLAIMED ELTA" + + "'HOLD ON, YOUNG MAN! ONE AT A TIME IS ENOUGH'" + + "A BROAD STREAM OF WHEAT RUSHED OUT ON DECK" + + "'WATCH HIM, BIM!'" + + "'WHO'S THERE?' CRIED THE OLD MAN" + + "BILLY BRACKETT UTTERED A CRY OF AMAZEMENT" + + WINN'S INTRODUCTION TO SABELLA + + BILLY BRACKETT IS A FRIEND IN NEED + + "THE MULE WAS PURCHASED THAT AFTERNOON" + + "WITH A PRODIGIOUS LEAP HE LANDED SQUARELY ON REWARD'S HEAD" + + "'THE RAFT HAS GONE, AND WE ARE AFTER IT'" + + THE RESCUE OF SABELLA + + "THE NEXT INSTANT HE SPRANG TO HIS FEET WITH A CRY" + + "THE STRONG ARMS LIFTED HIM AS THEY WOULD A CHILD" + + "LIKE YOUNG TIGERS THE BOYS TUGGED AT THE HEAVY SWEEPS" + + "'YO' CALLIN' DAT AR PLANTASHUN MOSS BACK?' EXCLAIMED SOLON" + + "THE LANTERNS OF THE WORKING GANG GLANCING HERE AND THERE + LIKE FIRE-FLIES" + + A REUNION OF "MATES" + + + + +RAFT MATES. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE RAFT. + +Although the _Venture_ was by no means so large a raft as many that +Winn Caspar had watched glide down the Mississippi, he considered it +about the finest craft of that description ever put together. He was +also a little more proud of it than of anything else in the whole +world. Of course he excepted his brave soldier father, who had gone to +the war as a private, to come home when it was all over wearing a +major's uniform; and his dear mother, who for four weary years had been +both father and mother to him, and his sister Elta, who was not only +the prettiest girl in the county, but, to Winn's mind, the cleverest. +But outside of his immediate family, the raft, the _Venture_, as his +father had named it, was the object of the boy's most sincere +admiration and pride. Had he not helped build it? Did he not know +every timber and plank and board in it? Had he not assisted in loading +it with enough bushels of wheat to feed an army? Was he not about to +leave home for the first time in his life, to float away down the great +river and out into the wide world on it? Certainly he had, and did, +and was. So no wonder he was proud of the raft, and impatient for the +waters of the little river, on a bank of which the Caspar's lived, to +be high enough to float it, that they might make a start. + +Winn had never known any home but this one near the edge of the vast +pine forests of Wisconsin. Here Major Caspar had brought his New +England bride many years before. Here he had built up a mill business +that was promising him a fortune in a few years more at the time when +the war called him. When peace was declared, this business was +wellnigh ruined, and the soldier must begin life again as a poor man. +For many months he struggled, but made little head-way against adverse +fortune. The mill turned out lumber fast enough, but there was no +demand for it, or those who wanted it were too poor to pay its price. +At length the Major decided upon a bold venture. The Caspar mill was +but a short distance from the Mississippi. Far away down the great +river were cities where money was plenty, and where lumber and farm +products were in demand. There were not half enough steamboats on the +river, and freights were high; but the vast waterway with its ceaseless +current was free to all. Why should not he do as others had done and +were constantly doing--raft his goods to a market? It would take time, +of course; but a few months of the autumn and winter could be spared as +well as not, and so it was finally decided that the venture should be +undertaken. + +It was not to be a timber raft only. Major Caspar did not care to +attempt the navigating of a huge affair, such as his entire stock of +sawed material would have made, nor could he afford the expense of a +large crew. Then, too, while ready money was scarce in his +neighborhood, the prairie wheat crop of that season was unusually good. +So he exchanged half his lumber for wheat, and devoted his leisure +during the summer to the construction of a raft with the remainder. + +This raft contained the very choice of the mill's output for that +season--squared timbers, planks, and boards enough to load a ship. It +was provided with two long sweeps, or steering oars, at each end, with +a roomy shanty for the accommodation of the crew, and with two other +buildings for the stowing of cargo. The floors of these structures +were raised a foot above the deck of the raft, and were made +water-tight, so that when waves or swells from passing steamboats broke +over the raft, their contents would not be injured. In front of the +central building, or "shanty," was a bed of sand six feet square, +enclosed by wooden sides, on which the camp-fires were to be built. +Much of the cooking would also be done here. Besides this there was a +small stove in the "shanty" for use during cold or wet weather. + +The "shanty" had a door and three windows, and was in other ways made +unusually comfortable. The Major said that after four years of +roughing it, he now meant to take his comfort wherever he could find +it, even though it was only on a raft. So the _Venture's_ "shanty" was +very different from the rude lean-to or shelter of rough boards, such +as was to be seen on most of the timber rafts of the great river. Its +interior was divided into two rooms, the after one of which was a tiny +affair only six by ten feet. It was furnished with two bunks, one +above the other, a table, two camp-chairs, and several shelves, on one +of which were a dozen books of travel and history. This was the +sleeping-room that Winn was to share with his father. + +A door from this opened into the main living-room of the "shanty." +Here were bunks for six men, a dining-table, several benches, barrels, +and boxes of provisions, and the galley, with its stove and ample +supply of pots, pans, and dishes. The bunks were filled with fresh, +sweet-smelling wheat straw, covered with heavy army blankets, and the +whole affair was about the most comfortable "shanty" ever set up on a +Mississippi timber raft. To Winn it seemed as though nothing could be +more perfect or inviting, and he longed for the time when it should be +his temporary home. + +For a whole month after the raft was finished, loaded, and ready to set +forth on its uncertain voyage, it remained hard and fast aground where +it was built. To Winn's impatience it seemed as though high-water +never would come. + +"I don't believe this old raft is ever going to float any more than the +mill itself," he remarked pettishly to his sister Elta one day in +October, as they sat together on the _Venture_ and watched the sluggish +current of the little river. + +"Father thinks it will," answered Elta, quietly. + +"Oh yes. Of course father thinks so; but he may be mistaken as well as +other folks. Now if I'd had the building of this craft, I would have +floated all the material down to the mouth of the creek. Then +everything would have been ready for a start as soon as she was +finished." + +"How would you have loaded the wheat?" demanded Elta. + +"Why, boated it down, of course." + +"And so added largely to its cost," answered the practical girl. "You +know, Winn, that it was ever so much cheaper to build the raft here +than it would have been 'way down there, and, besides, father wasn't +ready to start when it was finished. I heard him tell mother that he +didn't care to get away before the 1st of November. Anyhow, father +must understand his own business better than a sixteen-year-old boy, +even if that boy's name is Winn Caspar." + +"Oh, I never saw such a girl as you are!" exclaimed Winn, impatiently. +"You are always making objections to my plans, and telling me that I'm +only a boy. You'd rather any time travel in a rut that some one else +had made than mark out a track for yourself. For my part, I'd much +rather think out my own plans and try new ways." + +"So do I, Winnie; but--" + +"Oh, don't call me 'Winnie,' whatever you do! I'm as tired of pet +names and baby talk as I am of waiting here for high-water that won't +ever come." + +With this the petulant lad rose to his feet, and leaping ashore, +disappeared among the trees of the river-bank, leaving Elta to gaze +after him with a grieved expression, and a suspicion of tears in her +brown eyes. + +In spite of this little scene, Winn Caspar was not an ill-tempered boy. +He had not learned the beauty of self-control, and thus often spoke +hastily, and without considering the feelings of others. He was also +apt to think that if things were left to his management, he could +improve upon almost any plan proposed or carried out by some one else. +He had mingled but little with other boys, and as "man of the family" +during his father's four years of absence in the army, had conceived a +false estimate of his own importance and ability. + +Absorbed by pressing business cares after resuming the pursuits of a +peaceful life, Major Caspar had been slow to note the imperfections in +his boy's character. He was deeply grieved when his eyes were finally +opened to them, and held many an earnest consultation with his wife +concerning the son, who was at once the source of their greatest +anxiety and the object of their fondest hopes. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +WINN ASSUMES A RESPONSIBILITY. + +It was during one of these conversations with the boy's mother that +Major Caspar decided to take Winn with him on his raft voyage down the +Mississippi. + +"If I find a good chance to place the boy in a first-class school in +one of the large cities after the voyage is ended I shall do so," said +the Major. "It is only fair, though, that he should have a chance to +see and learn something of the world first. After all, there is +nothing equal to travel as an educator. I honestly believe that the +war did more in four years towards educating this nation by stirring +its people up and moving large bodies of them to sections remote from +their homes than all our colleges have in fifty." + +"But you mean that Winn shall go to college, of course?" said Mrs. +Caspar, a little anxiously. + +"If he wants to, and shows a real liking for study," was the reply; +"but not unless he does. College is by no means the only place where a +boy can receive a liberal education. He may acquire just as good a one +in practical life if he is thoroughly interested in what he is doing +and has an ambition to excel. I believe Winn to be both ambitious and +persevering; but he is impulsive, easily influenced, and impatient of +control. He has no idea of that implicit obedience to orders that is +at the foundation of success in civil life as well as in the army; and, +above all, he is possessed of such an inordinate self-conceit that if +it is not speedily curbed by one or more severe lessons, it may lead +him into serious trouble." + +"Oh, John!" expostulated the mother. "Do you realize that you are +saying these horrid things about our own boy--our Winn?" + +"Indeed I do, dear," answered the Major, smiling; "and it is because he +is our boy, whom I love better than myself, that I am analyzing his +character so carefully. He has the making of a splendid fellow in him, +together with certain traits that might easily prove his ruin." + +"Well," replied Mrs. Caspar, in a resigned tone, "perhaps it will do +him good to go away and be alone with you for a while. It is very hard +to realize, though, that my little Winn is sixteen years old and almost +a man. But, John, you won't let him run any risks, or get into any +danger, will you?" + +"Not knowingly, my dear, you may rest assured," answered the Major. +But he smiled as he thought how impossible it was to keep boys from +running risks and getting into all sorts of dangerous positions. + +So it was decided that Winn should form one of the crew of the +_Venture_ whenever the raft should be ready to start on its long +voyage; and ever since learning this decision the boy had been in a +fever of impatience to be off. So full was he of anticipations +concerning the proposed journey that he could talk and think of nothing +else. Thus, after a month of tiresome delay, he was in such an +uncomfortable frame of mind that it was a positive trial to have him +about the house. For this reason he was encouraged to spend much of +his time aboard the raft, and was even allowed to eat and sleep there +whenever he chose. At length he reached the point of almost +quarrelling with his sister, whom he loved so dearly; but he had hardly +plunged into the woods, after leaving her on the raft, before he +regretted his unkind words and heartily wished them unsaid. He +hesitated and half turned back, but his "pride," as he would have +called it, though it was really nothing but cowardice, was too strong +to permit him to humble himself just yet. So, feeling very unhappy, he +tramped moodily on through the woods, full of bitter thoughts, angry +with himself and all the world. Yet if any one had asked him what it +was all about, he could not have told. + +Winn took a long circuit through the silent forest, and by the time he +again reached the river-bank, coming out just above the mill, he had +walked himself tired, but into quite a cheerful frame of mind. The +mill was shut down for the night, its workers had gone home, and not a +sound broke the evening stillness. The boy sat on a pile of slabs for +a few minutes, resting, and watching the glowing splendor of sunset as +reflected in the waters of the stream at his feet. At length he +started up and was about to go to the house, where, as he had decided, +his very first act would be to ask Elta's forgiveness. The house stood +some distance from the river-bank, and was hidden from it by the trees +of a young apple orchard. As Winn rose to his feet and cast a +lingering glance at the wonderful beauty of the water, he noticed a +familiar black object floating amid its splendor of crimsons and gold. + +"I wonder how that log got out of the boom?" he said, half aloud. +"Why, there's another--and another! The boom must be broken." + +Yes, the boom of logs, chained together end to end and stretched +completely across the creek to hold in check the thousands of saw-logs +that filled the stream farther than the eye could see, had parted near +the opposite bank. The end thus loosened had swung down-stream a +little way, and there caught on a snag formed of a huge, half-submerged +root. It might hold on there indefinitely, or it might get loose at +any moment, swing wide open, and set free the imprisoned wealth of logs +behind it. As it was, they were beginning to slip through the narrow +opening, and those that had attracted Winn's attention were sliding +downstream as stealthily as so many escaped convicts. + +The boy's first impulse was to run towards the house, calling his +father and the mill-hands as he went. His second, and the one upon +which he acted, was to mend the broken boom and capture the truant logs +himself. "There is no need of troubling father, and I can do it alone +better than any number of those clumsy mill-hands," he thought. +"Besides, there is no time to spare; for if the boom once lets go of +that snag, we shall lose half the logs behind it." + +Thus thinking, Winn ran around the mill and sprang aboard the raft that +lay just below it. Glancing about for a stout rope, his eye lighted on +the line by which the raft was made fast to a tree. "The very thing!" +he exclaimed. "While it's aground here the raft doesn't need a cable +any more than I need a check-rein, and I told father so. He said there +wasn't any harm in taking a precaution, and that the water might rise +unexpectedly. As if there was a chance of it! There hasn't been any +rain for two months, and isn't likely to be any for another yet to +come." + +While these thoughts were spinning through the boy's brain, he was +casting loose the cable at both ends and stowing it in his own little +dugout that was moored to the outer side of the raft. Then with strong +deep strokes he paddled swiftly upstream towards the broken boom. +After fifteen minutes of hard work he had secured one end of the cable +to that part of the boom resting against the snag, carried the other to +and around a tree on the bank, back again to the boom, and then to the +inshore end of the broken chain. Thus he not only secured the boom +against opening any wider, but closed the exit already made. + +[Illustration: "Winn secured one end of the cable to that part of the +boom resting against the snag."] + +"That's as good a job as any of them could have done," he remarked to +himself, regarding his work through the gathering gloom with great +satisfaction. "Now for the fellows that got away." + +It was a much harder task to capture and tow back those three truant +logs than it had been to repair the boom. It was such hard work, and +the darkness added so much to its difficulties, that almost any other +boy would have given it up in despair, and allowed the three logs to +escape. But Winn Caspar was not inclined to give up anything he had +once undertaken. Having determined to do a certain thing, he would +stick to it "like a dog to a root," as one of the mill-hands had said +of him. So those logs had to go back inside of that boom, because Winn +had made up his mind that they should; but they went so reluctantly, +and gave him so much trouble, that it was long after dark and some +hours past supper-time before the job was completed. + +When Winn at length returned to the raft he was wet, tired, and hungry, +though very proud of his accomplished task. He was shivering too, now +that his violent exertions were ended, for the sky had become overcast, +and a chill wind was moaning through the pine-trees. + +"I wonder if I can't find something to eat here?" he said to himself. +"I'm good and hungry, that's a fact, and they must have had supper up +at the house long ago." Entering the "shanty," and feeling carefully +about, the boy at length found matches and lighted a lamp. + +Hello! There was plenty to eat; in fact, there was a regular spread at +one end of the table, with plate, cup and saucer, knife, fork, and +napkin, all neatly arranged as though he were expected. "What does it +mean?" thought Winn; and then his eye fell on a bit of folded paper +lying in the plate. It was a note which read as follows: + +"DEAR BROTHER,--As you didn't come home to supper, I thought perhaps +you were going to spend the night on the raft, and so brought yours +down here. You can heat the tea on the stove. I'm awfully sorry I +said anything to make you feel badly. Please forget it, and forgive +your loving sister,----ELTA." + + +"Bless her dear heart!" cried the boy. "She is the best sister in the +world. The idea of her asking my forgiveness, when it is I who should +ask hers. And I will ask it, too, the very minute I see her; for I +shall never be happy until we have kissed and made up, as we used to +say when we were young ones. I guess, though, I'll eat the supper she +has brought me first. And that's a good idea about heating the tea, +too. I can get dry by the stove at the same time. I'll have a chance +to see Elta before bedtime, and she'd feel badly if I didn't eat her +supper anyway." + +All of which goes to show how very little we know of what even the +immediate future may bring forth, and that if we put off for a single +hour doing that which ought to be done at once, what a likelihood there +is that we may never have a chance to do it. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A MUD-BESPATTERED ARRIVAL FROM CALIFORNIA. + +Acting upon the suggestion contained in Elta's note, Winn lighted a +fire in the galley stove, and was soon enjoying its cheery warmth. +When the tea was heated, he ate heartily of the supper so thoughtfully +provided by the dear girl, and his heart grew very tender as he thought +of her and of her unwearying love for him. "I ought to go and find her +this very minute," he said to himself; "but I must get dry first, and +there probably isn't any fire up at the house." + +To while away the few minutes that he intended remaining on the raft, +Winn got one of the books of exploration from a shelf in the little +after-room, and was quickly buried in the heart of an African forest. +Completely lost to his surroundings, and absorbed in tales of the wild +beasts and wilder men of the Dark Continent, the boy read on and on +until the failing light warned him that his lamp was about to go out +for want of oil. + +He yawned as he finally closed the book. "My! how sleepy I am, and how +late it must be," he said. "How the wind howls, too! It sounds as if +we were going to have a storm. I only hope it will bring plenty of +rain and high-water. Then good-bye to home, and hurrah for the great +river!" + +By this chain of thought Winn was again reminded of Elta, and of the +forgiveness he had meant to secure from her that evening. "It is too +late now, though," he said to himself. "She must have gone to bed long +ago, and I guess I might as well do the same; but I'll see her the very +first thing in the morning." + +With this the tired boy blew out the expiring flame of his lamp, and +tumbled into his bunk, where in another minute he was as sound asleep +as ever in his life. + +In the mean time the high-water for which he hoped so earnestly was +much nearer at hand than either he or any one else supposed. The storm +now howling through the pines had been raging for hours about the +head-waters of the creek, and the deluge of rain by which it was +accompanied was sweeping steadily down-stream towards the great river. +Even as Winn sat by the stove reading, the first of the swelling waters +began to rise along the sides of the raft, and by the time the storm +broke overhead the _Venture_ was very nearly afloat. + +Although Winn slept too soundly to be disturbed by either wind or rain, +the storm awoke Major Caspar, who listened for some time to this +announcement that the hour for setting forth on his long-projected +journey was at hand. He had no anxiety for the safety of the raft, for +he remembered the stout cable by which he had secured it, and +congratulated himself upon the precaution thus taken. "Besides, Winn +is aboard," he reflected, "and he is almost certain to rouse us all +with the joyful news the minute he finds that the raft is afloat." +Thus reassuring himself, the Major turned over and went comfortably to +sleep. + +Elta knew nothing of the storm until morning, but hearing the rain the +moment she awoke, she too recognized it as the signal for the +_Venture's_ speedy departure. From her window she had heretofore been +able to see one corner of the raft; but now, peering out through the +driving rain that caused the forest depths to appear blue and dim, she +could not discover it. With a slight feeling of uneasiness, she +hastily dressed, and went to Winn's door. There was no answer to her +knock. She peeped in. Winn was not there, nor had the bed been +occupied. + +"He did spend the night on the raft, then, and so of course it is all +right," thought the girl, greatly relieved at this discovery. "The +_Venture_ must be afloat, though. I wonder if father knows it?" + +Just then Major Caspar appeared, evidently prepared to face the storm. + +"Well, little daughter," he said, "high-water has come at last, and the +time of our departure is at hand. I am going down to see what Winn +thinks of it." + +"Oh, can't I go with you, papa? I should dearly love to!" cried Elta. + +"Well, I don't know," hesitated the Major. "I suppose you might if you +were rigged for it." + +This permission was sufficient, and the active girl bounded away full +of glee at the prospect of a battle with the storm, and of surprising +Winn on the raft. Three minutes later she reappeared, clad in rubber +boots and a water-proof cloak, the hood of which, drawn over her head, +framed her face in the most bewitching manner. + +The Major attempted to protect her still further with a large umbrella; +but they had hardly left the house before a savage gust swooped down +and gleefully rendered it useless by turning it inside out. Casting +the umbrella aside, the Major clasped Elta's hand firmly in his. Then +with bowed heads the two pushed steadily on towards the river-bank, +while the wind scattered bits of their merry laughter far and wide. + +It took them but a few minutes to reach the little stream, when their +laughter was suddenly silenced. There was the place where the +_Venture_ had been put together, there was the tree to which it had +been so securely moored; but the raft that had grown into being and +become a familiar sight at that point no longer occupied it, nor was it +anywhere to be seen. Only a flood of turbid waters, fully two feet +higher than they had been the evening before, swept over the spot, and +seemed to beckon mockingly towards the great river. + +"Why, the raft has gone!" exclaimed Elta, in a dismayed voice. + +[Illustration: "'Why, the raft has gone!' exclaimed Elta"] + +"It certainly has," answered the Major, grimly; "and as it cannot +possibly have floated up-stream, it must have gone towards the +Mississippi. I only hope that Winn managed in some way to check and +hold it before it reached the big water; otherwise we may have a merry +hunt for it." + +While he spoke they had been hurrying to a point a short distance +down-stream, around which the creek made a bend. From here they could +command a view of half a mile of its course, and somewhere along this +stretch of water they hoped to see the raft safely moored. They were, +however, doomed to disappointment; for as far as the eye could see +there was no sign of the missing craft. Full of conjectures and +forebodings of evil they reluctantly turned back towards the house. + +The mill-hands, some of whom were to have formed the crew of the +_Venture_, had already discovered that it was gone. Now they were +gathered at the house awaiting the Major's orders, and eagerly +discussing the situation. + +Mrs. Caspar, full of anxiety, met her husband and daughter at the open +door, where she stood, regardless of the driving rain. + +"Oh, John!" she cried, "where is Winn? What has become of the raft? +Do you think anything can have happened to him?" + +"Certainly not," answered the Major, reassuringly. "Nothing serious +can have befallen the boy on board a craft like that. As to his +whereabouts, I propose to go down to the mouth of the creek at once and +discover them. That is, just as soon as you can give me a cup of +coffee and a bite of breakfast, for it would be foolish to start off +without those. But the quicker we can get ready the better. I shall +go in the skiff, and take Halma and Jan with me." + +Nothing so allays anxiety as the necessity for immediate action, +especially when such action is directed towards removing the cause for +alarm. So Mrs. Caspar and Elta, in flying about to prepare breakfast +for the rescuing party, almost worked themselves into a state of +hopeful cheerfulness. It was only after the meal had been hastily +eaten, and the Major with his stalwart Swedes had departed, that a +reaction came, and the anxious fears reasserted themselves. For hours +they could do nothing but discuss the situation, and watch for some one +to come with news. Several times during the morning Elta put on her +water-proof and went down to the mill. There, she would gaze with +troubled eyes at the ever-rising waters, until reminded that her mother +needed comforting, when she would return to the house. + +On one of these occasions the girl was surprised to see a saddle-horse, +bearing evidences of a hard journey, standing at the hitching-post near +the front door. But this first surprise was as nothing to the +amazement with which she beheld her mother clasped in the arms of a +strange young man who was so bespattered with mud that his features +were hardly recognizable. Mrs. Caspar was laughing and crying at the +same time, while both she and the young man were talking at once. Near +them, and regarding this tableau with the utmost gravity, was a +powerful-looking bull-dog, who would evidently be pure white when +washed. + +For a full minute Elta stood in the doorway gazing wonderingly at this +strange scene. Then her mother caught sight of the girl's wide-eyed +bewilderment, and burst into a fit of laughter that was almost +hysterical. + +"It's your uncle William!" she cried, as soon as she could command her +voice. "My little brother Billy, whom I haven't seen for twelve years, +and he has just come from California. Give him a kiss, dear, and tell +him how very glad we are to see him." + +Then Elta was in turn embraced by the mud-bespattered young man, who +gravely announced that he should never have recognized her. + +"No wonder, for she was only a baby when you last saw her!" exclaimed +Mrs. Caspar; "and I'm sure I should never have recognized you but for +your voice. I don't know how you look even now, and I sha'n't until +you wash your face." + +"What's the matter with my face? Is it dirty?" asked the young man. + +For answer Mrs. Caspar led him in front of a mirror. + +"Well, I should say it was dirty! In fact, dirty is no name at all for +it!" he laughed. "I believe I look about as bad as Binney Gibbs[1] did +when he covered himself with 'mud and glory' at the same time, or +rather when his mule did it for him." + +"Who is Binney Gibbs?" asked both Mrs. Caspar and Elta. + +"Binney? Why, he is a young fellow, about Winn's age, who went across +the plains with me a year ago. By-the-way, where is Winn? I want to +see the boy. And where is the Major?" + +Then, as Mrs. Caspar explained the absence of her husband and son, all +her anxieties returned, so that before she finished her face again wore +a very sober and troubled expression. + +"So that is the situation, is it?" remarked the new-comer, +reflectively. "I see that Winn is not behind his age in getting into +scrapes. He reminds me of another young fellow who went campmates with +me on the plains, Glen Matherson--no, Eddy. No; come to think of it, +his name is Elting. Well, any way, he had just such a habit of getting +into all sorts of messes; but he always came out of each one bright and +smiling, right side up with care, and ready for the next." + +"He had names enough, whoever he was," said Elta, a little coldly; for +it seemed to her that this flippant young uncle was rather inclined to +disparage her own dear brother. "Yes, he certainly had names to spare; +but if he was half as well able to take care of himself as our Winn is, +no one ever had an excuse for worrying about him." + +"No, indeed!" broke in the young man, eagerly; "but I tell you he was-- +Why, you just ought to have seen him when--" + +"Here comes father!" cried Elta, joyfully, running to throw open the +door as she spoke. + + + +[1] See _Campmates_, by the same Author. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +BILLY BRACKETT STARTS DOWN THE RIVER. + +It needed but a glance at Major Caspar's face, as, dripping and weary, +he entered the house, to show that his search for the raft had been +fruitless. His wife's mother-instinct translated his expression at +once, and the quick tears started to her eyes as she exclaimed, + +"My boy! What has happened to him?" + +"Nothing serious, you may rest assured, my dear," replied the Major. +"I have not seen him; but I have heard of the raft, and there is no +question as to its safety. We reached the mouth of the creek without +discovering a trace of it. Then we went down the river as far as the +Elbow, where we waited in the slack-water to hail up-bound steamboats. +The first had seen nothing of the raft; but the second, one of the +'Diamond Jo' boats, reported that they had seen such a raft--one with +three shanties on it--at daybreak, in the 'Slant Crossing,' ten miles +below. If I could have got a down-river boat I should have boarded her +and gone in pursuit, sending the men back to tell you what I had done. +As we were unable to hail the only one that passed, I gave it up and +came back to report progress." + +"Oh, I am so glad you did!" cried Mrs. Caspar. + +"So am I," said the young stranger, speaking for the first time since +the Major's entrance. The latter had glanced curiously at him once or +twice while talking to his wife, but without a gleam of recognition. +Now, as he looked inquiringly at him again, Mrs. Caspar exclaimed: + +"Why, John, don't you know him? It's William--my own brother William, +just come from California." + +"So it is," replied the Major, giving the young man a hearty +hand-shake--"so it is, William Brackett himself. But, my dear fellow, +I must confess I was so far from recognizing you that I thought your +name was--" + +"'Mud' I reckon," interrupted the other, laughing; "and so it will be +before long, if I don't get a chance to clean up. But, Major, by the +time both of us are wrung out and dried, and sister has looked up some +dinner, I'll be ready to unfold a plan that will make things look as +bright for you and Winn and the rest of us as the sun that's breaking +away the clouds is going to make the sky directly." + +Mrs. Caspar's brother William, "Billy Brackett," as all his friends +called him, was a young civil engineer of more than usual ability. He +had already gained a larger stock of experience and seen more of his +own country than most men of his age, which was about twenty-six. From +government work in the East and on the lower Mississippi he had gone to +the Kansas Pacific Railway, been detailed to accompany an exploring +party across the plains, and, after spending some time on the Pacific +coast, had just returned to the Mississippi Valley--out of a job, to be +sure, but with the certainty of obtaining one whenever he should want +it. From the moment of leaving San Francisco he had intended making +the Caspars a visit, and had directed his journey towards their home. +In Chicago he had run across an engineering friend named Hobart, who +was at that moment regretting the pressure of business that forbade his +trying for what promised to be a most profitable contract. It was one +for furnishing all the bridge timber to be used in the construction of +a new railway through Wisconsin. The bids were to be opened in Madison +two days later. Acting upon the impulse of the moment, Billy Brackett +hastened to that city and tendered a bid for the contract, which, to +his surprise, was accepted. + +In doing this the young engineer had counted upon the assistance of his +brother-in-law, from whose mill he expected to obtain the timber he had +thus contracted to furnish. As the work must be begun immediately, he +hurried on to the Major's house with an offer of partnership in this +promising undertaking, and arrived as we have seen. + +"It's a big thing Major," the young man said in conclusion, after +explaining these details at the dinner-table; "and it's not only a big +thing in itself, but it will lead to other contracts equally good." + +"I should like nothing better than to join you in such an enterprise +Billy," replied the Major; "but I don't see how I can go into it just +now, with this affair of Winn and the raft on my hands. You say the +work must be begun at once?" + +"Yes. It really should be started this very day, and it can, if you'll +agree to the rest of my plan. You see, I've only told you the half I +thought out before getting here. Since then I have added as much more, +which is something like this: Suppose you and I change places. You +take my horse and go to Madison in the interests of the contract, while +Bim and I will take your skiff and start down the river in the +interests of Winn and the raft. You know a heap more about getting out +bridge timber than I do, while I expect I know more about river rafting +than you do. Not that I'm anything of a raftsman," he added, modestly, +"but I picked up a good bit of knowledge concerning the river while on +that government job down in Arkansas. If you'll only give me the +chance, I'll guarantee to find the raft and navigate it to any port you +may choose to name--Dubuque, St. Louis, Cairo, New Orleans, or even +across the briny--with such a chap as I know your Winn must be for a +mate. When we reach our destination we can telegraph for you, and you +can arrange the sale of the ship and cargo yourself. As for me, I've +had so much of dry land lately that I'm just longing for a home on the +rolling deep, the life of a sailor free, and all that sort of thing. +What do you say? Isn't my scheme a good one?" + +"I declare I believe it is!" exclaimed the Major, who had caught a +share of his young kinsman's enthusiasm, and whose face had visibly +brightened during the unfolding of his plans. "Not only that, but I +believe your companionship with Winn on this river trip, and your +example, will be infinitely better for him than mine. I have noticed +that young people are much more apt to be influenced by those only a +few years older than themselves than they are by persons whose ideas +they may regard as antiquated or old-fogyish." + +"Oh, papa, how can you say so?" cried Elta, springing up and throwing +her arms about his neck. "How can you say that you could ever be an +old fogy?" + +"Perhaps I'm not, dear, to you," answered the Major, smiling at his +daughter's impetuosity; "but to young fellows mingling with the world +for the first time nothing pertaining to the past seems of any value as +compared with the present or immediate future. Consequently a +companion who is near enough of an age to sympathize with the pursuits +and feelings of such a one can influence him more strongly than a +person whose thoughts are oftener with the past than with the future." + +"I can't bear to hear you talk so, husband," said Mrs. Caspar. "As if +our Winn wouldn't be more readily influenced by his own father and +mother than by any one else in the world! At the same time, I think +William's plan well worth considering, for I have hated the idea of +that raft trip for you. I have dreaded being left alone here with only +Elta, too, though I wouldn't say so when I thought there wasn't +anything else to be done." + +With this unanimous acceptance of the young engineer's plan, it took +but a short time to arrange its details, and before dark everything was +settled. The Major was to leave for Madison the next morning, while +Billy Brackett was to start down the creek that very evening, so as to +be ready at daylight to begin his search for the missing raft at the +point where it had been last reported. By his own desire he was to go +alone in the skiff, except for the companionship of his trusty Bim, who +made a point of accompanying his master everywhere. The young man was +provided with an open letter from Major Caspar, giving him full +authority to take charge of the raft and do with it as he saw fit. + +Both Mrs. Caspar and Elta wrote notes to Winn, and gave them to Billy +Brackett to deliver. The major also wrote a line of introduction to an +old soldier who had been his most devoted follower during the war. He +was now living with a married niece near Dubuque, Iowa, and might +possibly prove of assistance during the search for the raft. + +Thus equipped, provided with a stock of provisions, and a minute +description of both the raft and of Winn, whom he did not hope to +recognize, the young engineer and his four-footed companion set forth +soon after supper on their search for the missing boy. An hour later +they too were being swept southward by the resistless current of the +great river. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +HOW THE VOYAGE WAS BEGUN. + +When Winn Caspar turned into his comfortable bunk aboard the raft on +the night of the storm, it never once occurred to him that the +_Venture_ might float before morning. She never had floated, and she +seemed so hard and fast aground that he imagined a rise of several feet +of water would be necessary to move her. It had not yet rained where +he was, and the thought that it might be raining higher up the stream +did not enter his mind. So he went comfortably to bed, and slept like +a top for several hours. Finally, he was awakened so suddenly that he +sprang from the bunk, and by the time his eyes were fairly opened, was +standing in the middle of the floor listening to a strange creaking and +scratching on the roof above his head. It had aroused him, and now as +he listened to it, and tried in vain to catch a single gleam of light +through the intense darkness, it was so incomprehensible and uncanny, +that brave boy as he was, he felt shivers creeping over his arms and +back. + +Could the sounds be made by an animal? Winn knew there were wild-cats +and an occasional panther in the forests bordering the creek. If it +was caused by wild-cats there must be at least a dozen of them, and he +had never heard of as many as that together. Besides, wild-cats +wouldn't make such sounds. They might spit and snarl; but certainly no +one had ever heard them squeak and groan. All at once there came a +great swishing overhead and then all was still, save for the howling of +the wind and the roar of a deluge of rain which Winn now heard for the +first time. + +The boy felt his way into the forward room and opened the door to look +out, but was greeted by such a fierce rush of wind and rain that he was +thankful for the strength that enabled him to close it again. Mingled +with the other sounds of the storm, Winn now began to distinguish that +of waves plashing on the deck of the raft. Certainly his surroundings +had undergone some extraordinary change since he turned in for the +night, but what it was passed the boy's comprehension. + +After a long search he found a box of matches and lighted the lamp, +forgetting that all its oil had been exhausted the evening before. It +burned for a few minutes with a sickly flame, and then went out. Even +that feeble light had been a comfort. It had showed him that +everything was still all right inside the "shanty," besides enabling +him to find and put on the clothes that he had hung near the stove to +dry. As he finished dressing, and was again standing in utter darkness +puzzling over his situation, he was nearly paralyzed by a blinding +glare of light that suddenly streamed into the window nearest him. It +was accompanied by the hoarse roar of steam, a confusion of shoutings, +and the loud clangor of bells. Without a thought of the weather, Winn +again flung open the door and rushed into the open air. So intense and +dazzling was the flood of yellow light, that he seemed to be gazing +into the crater of an active volcano. It flashed by as suddenly as it +had appeared, and the terrified boy became aware that a big steamboat +was slipping swiftly past the raft, but a few feet from it. The +bewildering glare had come from her roaring furnaces; and had not their +doors been thrown open just when they were, she would have crashed at +full speed into the raft, with such consequences as can easily be +imagined. As it was she was barely able to sheer off in time, and a +score of voices hurled back angry threats at the supposed crew of the +raft, whose neglect to show a lantern had so nearly led to death and +destruction. + +So long as he could detect the faintest twinkle of light from the +rapidly receding boat, or hear the measured coughings of her exhausted +steam, Winn stood gazing and listening, regardless of the rain that was +drenching him to the skin. He was overwhelmed by a realization of his +situation. That steamboat had told him as plainly as if she had spoken +that the _Venture_ was not only afloat, but had in some way reached the +great river, and was drifting with its mighty current. He had no idea +of how long he had thus drifted, nor how far he was from home. He only +knew that the distance was increasing with each moment, and that until +daylight at least he was powerless to help himself. + +As he turned towards the door of the "shanty," he stumbled over +something, which, by stooping, he discovered to be the branch of a +tree. To the keen-witted boy this was like the sight of a printed page. + +"That accounts for the noise on the roof that woke me," he said to +himself. "The raft was passing under those low branches at the mouth +of the creek, and I can't be more than a mile or so from there now." + +For an instant the idea of paddling home in his canoe and leaving the +raft to its fate flashed across his mind, but it was dismissed as +promptly as it had come. "Not much I won't!" he said, aloud. "I've +shipped for the voyage, and I'm going to see it through in spite of +everything. Besides, it's my own fault that I'm in this fix. If I +hadn't carried away that cable this thing never could have happened. +What a fool I was! But who would have supposed the water could rise so +quickly?" + +The thought of his little dugout caused the boy to wonder if it were +still attached to the raft where he had made it fast the evening +before. Again he ventured outside to look for the canoe, but the +darkness was so dense and the violence of the storm so bewildering +that, after a narrow escape from stepping overboard, he realized that +without a light of some kind the undertaking was too dangerous. "There +must be a lantern somewhere," he thought. "Yes, I remember seeing one +brought aboard." Finally he discovered it hanging near the stove, and, +to his joy, it was full of oil. By its aid his search for the canoe +was successful, and he was delighted to find it floating safely +alongside, though half full of water, and in danger of being stove +against the timbers of the raft by the waves that were breaking on +deck. With infinite labor he at length succeeded in hauling the little +craft aboard and securing it in a place of safety. Then, though he +would gladly have had the comfort of a light in the "shanty," the +thought of his recent narrow escape warned him to guard against another +similar danger by running the lantern to the top of the signal-pole, +and leaving it there as a beacon. + +He could do nothing more; and so, drenched, chilled, and weary, the +lonely lad crept back into the "shanty." How dreary it was to be its +sole occupant! If he only had some one to talk, plan, and consult +with! He felt so helpless and insignificant there in the dark, +drifting down the great river on a raft that, without help, he was as +incapable of managing as a baby. What ought he to do? What should he +do? It was so hard to think without putting his thoughts into words. +Even Elta's presence and counsel would be a comfort, and the boy +laughed bitterly to recall how often he had treated the dear sister's +practical common-sense with contempt because she was only a girl. Now +how gladly would he listen to her advice! It was pretty evident that +his self-conceit had received a staggering blow, and that self-reliance +would be thankful for the backing of another's wisdom. + +As Winn sat by the table, forlorn and shivering, it suddenly occurred +to him that there was no reason why he should not have a fire. There +was plenty of dry wood. How stupid he had been not to think of it +before! Acting upon this idea, he quickly had a cheerful blaze +snapping and crackling in the little stove, which soon began to diffuse +a welcome warmth throughout the room. By a glance at his watch--a +small silver one that had been his father's when he was a boy--Winn +found the night to be nearly gone. He was greatly comforted by the +thought that in less than two hours daylight would reveal his situation +and give him a chance to do something. Still, the lonely waiting was +very tedious, the boy was weary, and the warmth of the fire made him +sleepy. At first he struggled against the overpowering drowsiness, but +finally he yielded to it, and, with his head sunk on his folded arms, +which rested on the table, was soon buried in a slumber as profound as +that of the earlier night. + +At daylight the unguided raft was seen in the "Slant Crossing" by the +crew of an up-bound steamboat, and they wondered at the absence of all +signs of life aboard it. Every now and then the drifting mass of +timber touched on some sand-bar or reef, but the current always swung +it round, so that it slid off and resumed its erratic voyage. At +length, after floating swiftly and truly down a long straight chute, +the _Venture_ was seized by an eddy at its foot, revolved slowly +several times, and then reluctantly dragged into a false channel on the +western side of a long, heavily-timbered island. Half-way down its +length the raft "saddle-bagged," as the river men say, or floated +broadside on, against a submerged rock. It struck fairly amidship, and +there it hung, forming a barrier, around the ends of which the hurrying +waters laughed and gurgled merrily. + +With the shock of the striking Winn awoke, straightened himself, and +rubbed his eyes, wondering vaguely where he was and what had happened. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MR. GILDER AND HIS RUDE RECEPTION. + +After emerging from the "shanty," it did not take the solitary occupant +of the raft long to discover the nature of his new predicament. The +water was sufficiently clear for him to make out an indistinct outline +of the rock on which the raft was hung, and as the rain was still +falling, he quickly regained the shelter of the "shanty," there to +consider the situation. It did not take him long to make up his mind +that this was a case in which assistance was absolutely necessary, and +that he must either wait for it to come to him or go in search of it. +First of all, though, he must have something to eat. He had no need to +look at his watch to discover that it was breakfast-time. The +condition of his appetite told him that. + +Now Winn had never learned to cook. He had regarded that as an +accomplishment that was well enough for girls to acquire, but one quite +beneath the notice of a man. Besides, cooking was easy enough, and any +one could do it who had to. It was only necessary to put things into a +pot and let them boil, or into an oven to bake. Of course they must be +watched and taken from the stove when done, but that was about all +there was to cooking. There was a sack of corn-meal in the "shanty," +and a jug of maple syrup. A dish of hot mush would be the very thing. +Then there was coffee already ground; of course he would have a cup of +coffee. So the boy made a roaring fire, found the coffee-pot, set it +on the stove, and filled a large saucepan with corn-meal. + +"There may be a little too much in there," he thought; "but I can save +what I can't eat now for lunch, and then fry it, as mother does." + +Having got thus far in his preparations, he took a bucket and went +outside for some water from the river. Here he remained for a few +minutes to gaze at a distant up-bound steamboat, and wondered why he +had not noticed her when she passed the raft. Although the river +seemed somewhat narrower than he thought it should be, he had no idea +but that he was still in its main channel, and that the land on his +left was the Wisconsin shore. + +Still wondering how he could have missed seeing, or at least hearing, +the steamboat, the boy reentered the "shanty." Thinking of steamboats +rather than of cooking, he began to pour water into the saucepan of +meal, which at once began to run over. Thus recalled to his duties, he +removed half of the wet meal to another pan, filled it with water, and +set both pans on the stove. Then he poured a stream of cold water into +the coffee-pot, which by this time was almost red-hot. The effect was +as distressing as it was unexpected. A cloud of scalding steam rushed +up into his face and filled the room, the coffee-pot rolled to the +floor with a clatter, and there was such a furious hissing and +sputtering that poor Winn dropped his bucket of water and staggered +towards the door, fully convinced that he was the victim of a boiler +explosion. + +When the cloud of steam cleared away, the boy ruefully surveyed the +scene of disaster, and wondered what had gone wrong. "I'm sure nothing +of the kind ever happened in mother's kitchen," he said to himself. In +spite of his smarting face, he determined not to be daunted by this +first mishap, but to try again. So he wiped the floor with a +table-cloth, drew another bucket of water from the river, and resolved +to proceed with the utmost care this time. To his dismay, as he +stooped to pick up the coffee-pot, he found that it had neither bottom +nor spout, but was a total and useless wreck. "What a leaky old thing +it must have been," soliloquized the boy. + +Just then his attention was attracted by another hissing sound from the +stove and a smell of burning. Two yellow streams were pouring over the +sides of the saucepans. + +"Hello!" cried Winn, as he seized a spoon and began ladling a portion +of the contents from each into a third pan. "How ever did these things +get full again? I'm sure I left lots of room in them." + +At that moment the contents of all three pans began to burn, and he +filled them with water. A few minutes later all three began to bubble +over, and he got more pans. Before he was through with that mush, +every available inch of space on the stove was covered with pans of it, +the disgusted cook was liberally bedaubed with it, and so was the +floor. The contents of some of the pans were burned black; others were +as weak as gruel; all were lumpy, and all were insipid for want of salt. + +For a moment Winn, hot, cross, and smarting from many scalds and burns, +reviewed the results of his first attempt at preparing a meal with a +comical expression, in which wrath and disgust were equally blended. +Then, yielding to an impulse of anger, he picked up one of the messes +and flung it, pan and all, out through the open door. He was stooping +to seize the next, which he proposed to treat in a similar manner, when +a hand was laid on his shoulder, and he was almost petrified with +amazement by hearing a voice exclaim: + +"Hold on, young man! One at a time is enough. It's very pleasant to +be greeted warmly, but there is such a thing as too warm a reception. +I'll allow you didn't see me coming, though if I thought you did, I'd +chuck you overboard for that caper." + +[Illustration: "'Hold on, young man! One at a time is enough.'"] + +The speaker, who stood in the doorway striving to remove the mess of +sticky mush that had struck him full in the breast and now covered a +large portion of his body, including his face, was a man of middle age +and respectable appearance, clad in a rubber suit and a slouched hat. + +Filled with shame and contrition at this unexpected result of his +foolish action, Winn was profuse in his apologies, and picking up the +useful table-cloth that had already served him in one emergency, +stepped forward with an offer of assistance. The stranger waved him +back, and removed the greater part of the mess by taking off his rubber +coat. At the same time he said: + +"There's no harm done, and worse might have happened. You might have +been pitching stove lids, or hot soup, or knives and forks, you know. +So, you see, I'm to be congratulated on getting off as well as I have. +But where is the boss of this raft, and the crew? How did you happen +to run in here out of the channel? You are not alone, are you?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Winn. "I'm captain and crew and everything else +just at present--excepting cook," he added, hastily, as he noted the +stranger's amused glance at the stove and its surroundings. + +"Who is cook, then?" + +"There isn't any," answered Winn; "and for that reason there isn't any +breakfast, nor likely to be any, for I'll starve before I try my hand +at it again." + +"There seems to be plenty of breakfast, such as it is," said the +stranger, gravely, indicating by a glance the many pans of spoiled +mush. Then seeing that the boy was really in distress, and not in a +joking humor, he added, "But let me help you set things to rights, and +then I'll see if I can't show you how to get up some sort of a +breakfast. I'm not a regular cook, as perhaps you may guess; but then, +again, I am one, in a way, as all we river-traders have to be." + +"Are you a river-trader?" asked Winn. + +"Yes; and there are three of us. But I'll tell you all about it, and +you shall tell me your story after we've had breakfast." + +To Winn, the expeditious manner in which his recent culinary disasters +were repaired and a simple but well-cooked breakfast was made ready by +this stranger was a source of undisguised admiration. Even coffee, +clear and strong, was made in a tin can. One edge of the can was bent +into the form of a rude spout; then it was filled two-thirds with +water, and set on the stove. When the water came to a boil, half a +cupful of ground coffee, tied loosely in a bit of clean muslin, was +dropped into it, and allowed to boil for three minutes. A kind of +biscuit made of flour, water, shortening, baking-powder, and salt, well +mixed, and rolled thin, was quickly baked, first on one side and then +on the other, in an iron skillet on top of the stove. At the same time +a single cupful of corn-meal, well salted, and boiled for half an hour, +furnished a large dish of smoking mush. Half a dozen thin slices of +bacon broiled on a toaster completed what Winn enthusiastically +declared was the very best breakfast he had ever eaten. Still, the boy +was so ravenously hungry that it is probable even his own burned and +lumpy mixture of corn-meal would not have tasted so bad as it looked. + +While he was busy with the breakfast, the stranger, who said his name +was Gilder, talked pleasantly on many subjects. At the same time he +managed somehow to learn all about Winn and his family, the raft and +how it happened to be where it was, without giving a single item of +information concerning himself in return. + +When Winn finally declared that he could eat no more, Mr. Gilder also +pushed back his chair, and said: + +"Now, then, for business. First, I must tell you that you are in a +very serious predicament. I examined the position of this raft before +coming aboard, and arrived at the conclusion that both it and its cargo +are in a fair way of becoming a total loss. As soon as the river falls +again, which it is likely to do at any time, the raft will probably +break in pieces of its own weight. In that case you would lose both it +and your wheat. The only plan I can suggest for saving the raft is to +lighten it until it floats clear of the rock on which it is hung, by +throwing the wheat overboard; or, if you can manage it, land your wheat +on the island, where it can remain until you can take it away. Of +course the decision as to which of these things you will do rests +entirely with yourself; but you must make up your mind quickly, for +with this uncertain state of water there isn't an hour to lose." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A GANG OF "RIVER-TRADERS." + +For a whole minute Winn sat silent, while from the opposite side of the +table Mr. Gilder regarded his perplexed countenance with an expression +that was not altogether pleasant. Winn, suddenly looking up from his +hard thinking, was a bit startled by it; but as it instantly melted +into one of smiling sympathy, his confidence in the man remained +unbroken. Had he seen Mr. Gilder two hours earlier, instead of one, +his opinion of the individual who had just prepared such a capital +breakfast, expressed so great friendliness, and now showed him so +plainly the unpleasant predicament into which he had fallen, would have +been decidedly different. + +At that time Mr. Gilder was kneeling beside an opening in the floor of +a log-hut, in the centre of the island, and lifting from it a tray of +odd-looking but beautifully made tools. The hut was small and rudely +constructed. It was surrounded by a dense forest growth, and stood in +a tiny clearing from which no road or trail could be seen to lead. All +its appointments were of the most primitive description, and yet a +single glance into its interior would have impressed one with the +belief that its occupants were millionaires. The effect of piles and +stacks of greenbacks, enough to form the capital of a city bank or fill +the vaults of a sub-treasury, amid such surroundings, would certainly +have startled even those accustomed to the handling of great wealth. +The bills, all of which were new and crisp, were done up in neat +packages, each of which was marked with the number of hundreds or +thousands of dollars it contained. In one corner of the room stood a +small printing-press of exquisite make. Besides this press, a +work-bench, table, and several rude stools, the single room of the hut +contained only the piles of greenbacks. + +A man sat beside the table counting and sorting a large number of +bills, the worn appearance of which showed them to have been in active +circulation for some time. This man was small, and had a weazened face +devoid of hair except for a pair of bushy, iron-gray eyebrows, beneath +which his eyes gleamed as cunningly bright as those of a fox. He +answered to the name of Grimshaw; and as he counted bills with the +deftness and rapidity of a bank cashier, he also paid a certain amount +of attention to the remarks of his companion, who was talking earnestly. + +"I tell you what it is, Grim," the other was saying, as he bent over +the secret opening in the floor, "it's high time we were moving. This +is a first-class location, and we've done well here; but you know as +well as I do that our business requires a pretty frequent change of +scene, and I'm afraid we've stayed here too long already. One of those +mill fellows said only yesterday that we must have collected a powerful +lot of stuff by this time, and asked if we weren't about ready to +invite him up to inspect and bid on it. I told him we were thinking of +putting it into a raft and taking it down-river. Never had such an +idea, you know, but the notion just popped into my head, and I'm not +sure now but what it's as good a one as we'll strike. What do you +think?" + +"It'll take a heap of hard work, and more time than I for one want to +spare, to build a raft large enough for our purpose," answered +Grimshaw. "Still, I don't know as the idea is wholly bad." + +"It would take time, that's a fact," answered Mr. Gilder, lifting his +tray of tools to the table and proceeding to polish some of them with a +bit of buckskin. "And it looks as though time was going to be an +object with us shortly. That last letter from Wiley showed that the +Chicago folks were beginning to sniff pretty suspiciously in this +direction. I've been asked some awkward questions lately, too. Yes, +the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that we ought to be +getting out of here as quickly as we can make arrangements. We must +talk it over with Plater, and come to some decision this very day. +He's-- Hello! Something's up. Plater was to stay in camp till I got +back." + +Again came the peculiar, long-drawn whistle that had arrested the +attention of the men, and which denoted the approach of a friend. Mr. +Gilder stepped to the door and answered it. Then he looked expectantly +towards a laurel thicket that formed part of the dense undergrowth +surrounding the hut. In a moment the dripping branches were parted +near the ground, and a man, emerging from the bushes on his hands and +knees, stood up, shook himself like a Newfoundland dog, and advanced +towards the open door. He was a large man with long hair and a bushy +beard. He was clad in flannel, jeans, and cowhide boots, and was +evidently of a different class from Mr. Gilder, who appeared to be a +gentleman, and was dressed as one. "What's up, Plater?" asked the +latter. + +"Big raft, three shanties on it, in false channel, saddle-bagged on the +reef pretty nigh abreast of camp. Can't see nobody aboard. Reckon she +broke adrift from somewheres while her crew was off on a frolic." + +"You don't say so!" cried Mr. Gilder, excitedly. "Perhaps it's the +very thing we are most in need of, sent by a special providence to +crown our labors with success. I'll go down and have a look at her, +while you stay here and help Grim pack up the stuff. We might as well +be prepared for a sudden move, and he'll tell you what we have just +been talking about." + +So Mr. Gilder, donning his rubber coat, a garment that Plater would +have scorned to wear, left the clearing through another bushy thicket +on the opposite side from that by which his confederate had entered it. +An almost undiscernible path led him to the shore of the island that +was washed by the main channel of the river. Here he struck into a +plainly marked trail that followed the water's edge. In this trail Mr. +Gilder walked to the southern end of the island, and up its other side +until he reached a comfortable camp that bore signs of long occupancy. +It stood high on a cut bank, and just below it a rude boom held a +miscellaneous assortment of logs, lumber, and odd wreckage, all of it +evidently collected from the stray drift of the great river. + +From the edge of the bank, a short distance from this camp, the man +commanded a good view of the stranded raft, and for several minutes he +stood gazing at it. "There's the very thing to a T, that we want," he +said to himself. "Not too big for us to handle, and yet large enough +to make it seem an object for us to take it down the river. I can't +see what they want of three shanties, though; one ought to be enough +for all the crew she needs. Our first move would be to tear down two +of them, and lengthen the other; that alone would be a sufficient +disguise. We haven't got her yet, though, and she isn't abandoned +either, for there's smoke coming from that middle shanty. I reckon the +cook must be aboard, and maybe he'll sell the whole outfit for cash, +and so give us a clear title to it." Here Mr. Gilder smiled as though +the thought was most amusing. "I'll go off and interview him anyway, +and I'd better be about it too, for the river is still rising. She +won't hang there much longer, and if the fellow found his raft afloat +again before a bargain was made he might not come to terms. In that +case we should be obliged to take forcible possession, which would be +risky. I'm bound to have that raft, though. It is simply a case of +necessity, and necessity is in the same fix we are, so far as law is +concerned." + +While thus thinking, Mr. Gilder had stepped into a light skiff that was +moored near the boom, and was pulling towards the stranded raft. He +first examined its position, and assured himself that very little labor +would be necessary to float it; then he stepped aboard, and very nearly +lost his customary self-possession upon the receipt of Winn's warm +greeting. He was on the point of returning it in a manner that would +have proved most unpleasant for poor Winn, when he discovered that his +supposed assailant was only a boy, and that the act was unintentional. +It took the shrewd man but a few minutes to discover the exact state of +affairs aboard the raft, and to form a plan for gaining peaceful, if +not altogether lawful, possession of it. This plan he began to carry +out by the false statement of the situation made to Winn at the +conclusion of the last chapter. This beginning was not made, however, +until he had first gained the lad's confidence by a deed of kindness. + +When Winn looked up from his hard thinking he said, "I hate the thought +of throwing the wheat overboard, even to save the raft. There are two +thousand bushels of it, and I know my father expects to get at least +fifty cents a bushel. So it would seem like throwing a thousand +dollars into the river. Then, again, I don't see how it will be +possible to land it, and so lighten the raft. It would take me a month +to do it alone with my canoe. Besides, father is sure to set out on a +hunt for the raft the moment he finds it is gone, and so is likely to +come along most any time." + +"All the greater need for haste," thought Mr. Gilder; but aloud he +said, "That is very true, but in the mean time your raft will probably +break up, and your wheat be spilled in the river anyway. Now suppose +you agree to pay me and my partners a hundred dollars to get the wheat +ashore for you and reload it after the raft floats." + +"I haven't a cent of money with me," replied Winn. + +"That's bad," said the other, reflectively. "It's awkward to travel +without money. But I'll tell you what we'll do. I hate to see a +decent young fellow like you in such a fix, and I'm willing to take a +risk to help him out of it. Suppose I buy your wheat? I told you that +I and my partners were river traders. To be sure, our business is +mostly in logs, lumber, and the like; but I don't mind taking an +occasional flyer in wheat, provided they are willing. You say your +father expects to get fifty cents a bushel for this wheat. Now I'll +give you forty-five cents a bushel for it; that is, if my partners +agree. That will leave five cents a bushel to pay us for landing it, +transferring it to some other craft, and getting your raft afloat. +What do you say?" + +"I wish I could ask father about it," hesitated Winn, to whom, under +the circumstances as he supposed them to exist, the offer seemed very +tempting. + +"Oh, well," sneered Mr. Gilder, "if you are not man enough now to act +upon your own responsibility in such an emergency, you never will be. +So the sooner you get home again and tie up to your mother's +apron-string the sooner you'll be where you belong." + +The taunt was as well worn as it was cruel, and should have given Winn +an insight into the true character of his new acquaintance; but on a +boy so proud of his ability to decide for himself, and so ignorant of +the ways of the world as this one, it was sufficient to produce the +desired effect. + +Winn flushed hotly as he answered: "The wheat is my father's, and not +mine to sell; but for the sake of saving it as well as the raft, I will +let you have it at that price. I must have the cash, though, before +you begin to move it." + +"Spoken like the man I took you to be," said Mr. Gilder, heartily. +"Now we'll go ashore and see my partners. If they agree to the +bargain, as no doubt they will, we'll get to work at once, and have +your raft afloat again in no time." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RAFT. + +When Winn and his new acquaintance stepped outside of the "shanty," it +did not seem to the boy that the river was falling, or that the raft +was in a particularly dangerous position. He would have liked to +examine more closely into its condition, but his companion so occupied +his attention by describing the manner in which he proposed to remove +the wheat, and so hurried him into the waiting skiff, that he had no +opportunity to do so. + +The "river-traders'" camp was not visible from the raft, nor did Mr. +Gilder, who handled the oars, head the skiff in its direction. He +rowed diagonally up-stream instead, so as to land at some distance +above it. There he asked Winn to wait a few minutes until he should +discover in which direction his partners had gone. He explained that +one of them had been left in camp at a considerable distance from that +point, while he and the third had been rowing along the shore of the +island in opposite directions, searching for drift-logs. Thus he alone +had discovered the stranded raft. Now he wished to bring them to that +point, that they might see it for themselves before he explained the +proposed wheat deal. With this Mr. Gilder plunged directly into the +tall timber, leaving Winn alone on the river-bank. + +It was fully fifteen minutes before the man returned to the waiting +lad, and he not only looked heated but anxious. + +"I can't think what has become of those fellows!" he exclaimed, +breathlessly, as he wiped the moisture from his forehead with a cambric +handkerchief. "I've been clear to camp without finding a trace of +either of them. Now there is only one thing left for us to do in order +to get them here quickly. You and I must start around the island in +opposite directions, because if we went together we might follow them +round and round like a kitten chasing its tail. If you meet them, +bring them back here, and I will do the same. If you don't meet them, +keep on until you are half-way down the other side of the island, or +exactly opposite this point; then strike directly into the timber, and +so make a short-cut back here. In that way you will reach this place +again as soon as I, for the island isn't more than three hundred yards +wide just here. Be spry, now, and remember that the safety of your +raft depends largely upon the promptness with which we get those other +fellows here." + +With this Mr. Gilder began to walk rapidly down the shore in the +direction he had chosen. Carried away by the man's impetuosity, Winn +did not hesitate to obey his instructions, but started at once in the +opposite direction. Mr. Gilder, noting this by a backward glance over +his shoulder, instantly halted and concealed himself behind a large +tree-trunk. From here he peered at the retreating figure of the boy +until it was no longer visible. Then he gave vent to the same peculiar +whistle with which Plater had announced his own approach to the log-hut +in the woods. The sound was immediately answered from no great +distance, whereupon Mr. Gilder hastened in that direction. A minute +later he returned, bringing a coil of stout rope, one end of which he +made fast to a tree on the bank. At the same time both Grimshaw and +Plater appeared, each bearing a large package securely wrapped in +canvas on his shoulder. + +All three men entered the skiff and pulled out to the raft, carrying +the loose end of the rope with them. Mr. Gilder and Grimshaw quickly +returned to the land, leaving the burly Plater to make a vigorous +attack with an axe against the sides of one of the wheat bins. He soon +splintered and tore off a board, leaving an aperture through which a +broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck of the raft. This Plater +began to shovel overboard, working with furious energy, as though +combating a hated enemy. In ten minutes both bins were empty, and so +much of the wheat had gone into the ever-rising waters that the raft, +which had been on the point of floating when Plater began his +operations, now did so, and swung in close to the bank at the end of +its new cable. + +[Illustration: "A broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck"] + +In the mean time the other men had brought several skiff-loads of their +peculiar merchandise to the raft, and now it took but a few minutes to +transfer what remained on the bank directly to it. Even the tent, +which had been hastily torn down, together with a portion of their camp +outfit, was tossed aboard, and within fifteen minutes from the time of +Winn's departure the _Venture_, with its new crew at the sweeps, was +moving slowly out from the island, and gathering impetus from the +current for a continuance of its eventful voyage. + +Without a suspicion that the gentlemanly stranger who had so kindly +smoothed away his culinary difficulties, and, while apparently willing +to assist him, was also anxious to make a good bargain for himself, was +anything but what he appeared to be, Winn made his way briskly towards +the head of the island. It was only after rounding it and starting +down the opposite side without seeing a sign of those whom he sought +that he began to have misgivings. + +"I wonder if it is all right?" he said to himself. "What could be the +man's object in telling me that the raft was in a dangerous position if +she isn't? I declare I don't believe she is, though! She didn't look +it when I left, and I do believe the river is still rising. I wonder +if I haven't done a foolish thing in leaving the raft? If I have, the +best thing to do now is to get back as quickly as possible." + +By this time the boy had worked himself into a fever of apprehension, +and, remembering what he had been told concerning the narrowness of the +island, he determined to make a short-cut across it. This was exactly +what the far-sighted Mr. Gilder had anticipated, and Winn fell an easy +victim to his artfully planned trap. For nearly an hour the boy, +versed in wood-craft as he was, wandered and struggled through the +dense undergrowth of that island forest. Suddenly, as he burst his way +through a thicket, he was confronted by the log-hut so lately occupied +by the "river-traders." Winn shouted as he approached it; but, of +course, received no reply. It had the lonely look of a place long +deserted, and the boy paused for but a single glance into its +uninviting interior. Then, getting his bearings anew by the sun that +was beginning to struggle through the clouds, he pushed his way +resolutely towards the western side of the island, which, somewhat to +his surprise, he reached a few minutes later. + +He emerged from the timber at the abandoned camp of the traders; but +without stopping to examine it, he ran to the water's edge, and gazed +anxiously both up and down stream. There was no sign of the raft nor +of any moving object. "It must be farther up, around that point," +thought Winn, and he hurried in that direction. From one point to +another he thus pursued his anxious way until the head of the island +was once more in sight. Then he knew that he must have passed the +place where the raft had been, and that it was gone. + +As a realizing sense of how he had been duped and of his present +situation flashed through his mind, the poor boy sat down on a log, too +bewildered to act, or even to think. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ALONE ON THE ISLAND. + +Winn Caspar was indeed unhappy as he sat on that log and gazed +hopelessly out over the sparkling waters, on which the sun was now +shining brightly. Although he had explored only a portion of the +island, he felt that he was alone on it. But that was by no means the +worst of the situation. The raft in which he had taken so much pride, +his father's raft upon which so much depended, the raft on which he had +expected to float out into the great world, was gone, and he was +powerless to follow it. All through his own fault, too! This thought +was the hardest to bear. Why, even Elta would have known better. Of +course she would. Any one but he would, and she was wiser than almost +any one he knew. How dearly he loved this wise little sister, and to +think that he had parted with her in anger! When was that? Only last +evening! Impossible! It must have been weeks ago. It wasn't, though! +It was only a few hours ago, and his father had hardly had time to come +and look for him yet. Perhaps he was even now on his way down the +river, and might be passing on the other side of the island. + +With this thought the boy sprang to his feet, and hurrying to the head +of the island, eagerly scanned the waters of the main channel. There +was nothing in sight, not even a skiff or a canoe. "Even my dugout is +gone," thought Winn, with a fresh pang, for he was very fond of the +little craft that was all his own. Then he wondered how he should +attract his father's attention, and decided to build a fire, with the +hope that Major Caspar might come to it to make inquiries, and thus +effect his rescue. + +Having a definite object to work for cheered the boy somewhat, and his +heart grew sensibly lighter as he began to collect wood for his fire. +But how should he light it? He had no matches. For a moment this new +difficulty seemed insurmountable; then he remembered having seen the +smouldering remains of a fire at the abandoned camp on the other side +of the island. He must go back to it at once. + +Hurrying back around the head of the island, Winn reached the place +just in time to find a few embers still glowing faintly, and after +whittling a handful of shavings, he succeeded, by a great expenditure +of breath, in coaxing a tiny flame into life. Very carefully he piled +on dry chips, and then larger sticks, until finally he had a fire +warranted to live through a rain-storm. Now for another on the +opposite side of the island! + +He could not carry lighted sticks the way he had come. It was too far. +He thought he could get them safely across the island, though, if he +only knew the most direct path. He would first discover this and then +return for his fire. Quite early in the search he stumbled across a +very narrow trail that seemed to lead in the right direction. By +following it he came once more to the deserted log-hut in the forest, +but search through the little clearing as he might, he could not see +that it went any farther. + +Taking his bearings, after deciding to open a trail of his own from +there to the river, the boy attacked a thicket on the eastern side of +the clearing with his jack-knife. A few minutes of cutting carried him +through it, and, to his amazement, he found himself again in an +unmistakable trail. It was narrow and indistinct, but it was none the +less a trail, leading in the right direction, and the boy was woodman +enough to follow it without hesitation to the river-bank. A steamboat +was passing the island, but though Winn waved frantically to it and +shouted himself hoarse, no attention was paid to him. With a heavy +heart he watched it out of sight, and then began another collection of +wood for his signal-fire. + +When it was made, he again crossed the island, selected a blazing stick +from the camp-fire, and started to retrace his steps. By the time he +reached the log-hut he found it necessary to stop and renew his blaze +by building a fire in the rude chimney. By thus establishing a relay +station he finally succeeded in getting a blaze to the desired spot on +the channel side of the island, and in starting a brisk fire at that +point. + +Here the boy would have stayed and watched for the craft that he fondly +hoped would come to his deliverance; but it was now a long time since +breakfast, and his hard work had made him very hungry. He might find +something to eat at that abandoned camp, which he had not yet examined. +At any rate he would go and look. So he piled logs on his fire until +satisfied that it would last for some hours. Then picking up a bit of +shingle from the beach, he wrote on it with the stump of a lead-pencil: + +"I am on the island. Follow the trail and you will find me.----WINN +CASPAR." + + +This note he stuck in a cleft sapling, from which he first cut the top, +and which stood so near the fire that it was certain to attract +attention. Then feeling that he could do nothing more in that place, +he set forth in search of something with which to satisfy his hunger. +On his way back he stopped at the hut, and made a thorough but vain +search for food. There was not so much as would have fed a mouse, and +the only thing of value that the boy discovered was a rusty fish-hook +stuck into one of the wall logs. Before leaving the hut he replenished +the fire in the chimney-place, thinking that perhaps he might return +there to sleep. Then he went on to the camp. + +Here Winn's search for food was as unsuccessful as it had been at the +hut. He found a number of cooking utensils, battered and smoked, and +discovered an old axe still sticking in the log on which it had been +last used. He also found some bits of rope and cord. He knotted +together enough of the latter to make a rude line, attached his +fish-hook to it, cut a pole, dug some bait, and began to fish just +above the "river-traders'" boom. For some time he sat there, +patiently, but got no bites. The poor boy began to grow desperate with +hunger. + +"I declare! I've a great mind to swim for the main-land," he said, +aloud. "No I won't, though. I can do better than that. Besides, the +water is cold enough to give me a cramp. I can make a raft of these +logs. Why didn't I think of it before?" + +Thrusting the butt end of his pole into the soft earth of the bank, and +weighting it with a good, sized stone, the boy went to the boom to +examine its contents. There were plenty of logs suitable for the +foundation of a raft, and more than enough lumber to deck it +handsomely. But what was that brown stuff filling so many of the +crevices between the logs and timbers? + +"Wheat, as I'm a living boy!" exclaimed Winn, stooping and gathering +some of the stuff in his hands. "Wheat! but where can it have come +from? Did the _Venture_ suddenly break up and go to pieces after all, +as Mr. Gilder said she would?" If so, then the situation was worse +than he had supposed, for until now the boy had entertained some hopes +of being able to follow and perhaps recover the raft, especially if his +father should come along and discover him. But if the raft were broken +up, as the presence of this wheat seemed to indicate, then its loss was +indeed total and irreparable. + +"But if they have not gone off with the raft, what has become of those +river traders?" argued the boy with himself. "They might have followed +the broken sections, or even gone off on one of them. I believe that's +what they have done!" he exclaimed aloud. "That accounts for their +leaving in such a hurry, and taking their provisions with them. I +didn't think that Gilder was such a bad sort of a chap after all. Now +he is pretty sure to come back for me after he has secured what he can +from the wreck. But what am I to do for something to eat in the mean +time? If I could only catch a fish!" + +Just then there was a great commotion in the water, and the pole left +sticking in the bank began to bend ominously. Winn sprang towards it; +but as he stretched out his hand it flew back into position, and the +flurry in the water subsided. The wretched line had parted, and the +big catfish, from which the boy could have made such a capital supper, +was seeking the deepest hole in the river. The worst of it all was +that he had taken Winn's only hook with him, and so put an end to any +further efforts for his capture. + +The boy could have cried with hunger and vexation. It wouldn't have +done him any good, though, and he knew it; so he began to gather a tin +cup full of the water-soaked wheat instead. This he set on a bed of +coals to boil, and was so hungry that he could not wait for it to be +done, but ate it half raw, without salt, butter, sugar, syrup, milk, or +anything that serves to render such food palatable, and only partially +cooked at that, it still seemed to Winn one of the best things he had +ever eaten, and he immediately started the cooking of another mess. +There was not much of the wheat in sight, and to secure a second cupful +the boy scraped up every grain that he could find. + +"After this comes starvation," thought Winn; "unless I can get away +from this island, and I am going to begin work on that raft at once." + +He carefully collected every bit of rope he could find, and thus +secured enough to lash together four of the largest logs. Above these +he laid a platform of boards, and longed for some nails with which to +fasten them in place. He did remarkably well considering his limited +means, and by sunset had completed a raft that would more than support +his weight. If he could only keep it clear of snags and reefs it would +also bear him in safety down the river, to some place where there were +suppers and breakfasts to be had. + +It would not do to attempt the voyage on such a frail structure in the +dark, of course; and so, at sunset, Winn reluctantly began his +preparations for passing a night of loneliness on the island. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A NIGHT OF STRANGE HAPPENINGS. + +Winn's preparations for the night were of the simplest description, +because he had so little to prepare. The boy tried to console himself +with this thought. "If I had provisions I should have to cook," he +said to himself; "and if there is one thing in this world meaner than +another it is cooking. I never realized before what mother has to go +through with every day. Never complains of it, either. She's a +regular angel, though, and things always seem to go right with her. +Now with boys it's just the other way. See what a fix I've got into +all on account of being a boy, and trying to do things. Seems to me +that Gilder must have been a pretty patient sort of a boy to learn to +cook the way he does. I wonder if he ever gets into scrapes? He'd be +in one if he was in my place now, and I wish I knew how he'd get out of +it." + +While thus thinking Winn was by no means idle. He cut a number of +bushes and leaned them against the ridge-pole of the "traders'" tent, +the frame of which they had left standing. This shelter was so +arranged as to form a wind-break on the north side of the fire, the +grateful warmth being thus reflected from its inner surface. An armful +of twigs and another of dry grass formed the boy's bed, and a drink of +river-water his supper. He had thought of passing the night in the +log-hut; but as darkness came on he could not bear the thought of its +lonesomeness. It was bad enough to be alone on the river-bank, with a +broad expanse of star-dotted sky to look at; but that forlorn little +hut, shut in on all sides by the dark forest! Ugh! It made him shiver +to think of it. No; he was decidedly better off where he was, and even +if his father came along during the night, which Winn did not think +probable, he could not fail to see the notice posted beside the +signal-fire. It was important that he should remain near his new raft +too, so that at the first streak of daylight he could board it and be +off. + +After a while the lonely lad fell into a sleep filled with troubled +dreams. An owl came and hooted above him; the night wind sighed +weirdly through the tall timber behind him; while queer gurglings, +mysterious splashings, and other strange sounds came from the +swift-flowing river close at hand. Although none of these sounds +wakened the boy, they tinged his dreams with their uncanniness. + +For some hours he slept, and then woke with a start. He was sitting +bolt upright, and felt certain that something cold and wet had just +touched his face. He put a hand to his cheek. Yes, there was a wet +spot. What were those two bright points shining in the dim fireglow! +They looked like eyes. Winn sprang to his feet. At his movement the +glowing eyeballs vanished. Some animal uttered an indescribable sound, +something between a bark and a snarl, there was a rustling of dead +leaves, and then all was still. + +While the boy stood trembling with the vague fear that always +accompanies a suspected but unknown danger, and staring blankly into +the darkness, there came to his ears from the forest depths a sound +that was almost as terrifying as the recent presence of the unknown +animal. It seemed a mingling of howls, cries, and groanings. It rose +and fell, now loud, and then almost inaudible; but it always came from +the direction of the deserted log-hut. At length it ceased, and now +Winn noticed for the first time that a faint light was beginning to +tinge the eastern sky above the tree-tops. + +"Daylight is coming," thought the boy, "and it is high time for me to +be off." He was glad of an excuse for leaving a place that had all at +once become filled with such unexplained terrors. Feeling his way +cautiously to the river-bank, he reached the little raft without +mishap. It took him some time to get it clear of the boom; but at +length he succeeded, and with a very decided feeling of relief he +pushed off into the current, and proceeded on his journey. + +Winn's spirits rose as his clumsy craft moved out from the heavy +shadows of the island, and he began to whistle to convince himself that +he had not been afraid of anything after all. Suddenly he heard low +voices close beside him, a dark object dashed up to his raft, and a +dazzling light was flashed full in his face. The next instant two men +sprang to his side, threw him down, searched him for arms, secured his +knife, which was the only thing resembling a weapon that he possessed, +and forced him into a large skiff containing several other men. + +"Close the lantern," ordered one of these in a low but stern voice, +"and pull for that fire on shore. No doubt we'll bag some more of them +there." Then to Winn the man said, "So you thought you could give us +the slip, did you, young fellow? Well, you found us up too early, +didn't you? Now the best thing you can do is to afford us all possible +aid in capturing the rest of your gang. It'll count big in your favor +with the Judge, I can tell you. How many are there on the island?" + +"I don't know what you mean--" began Winn, indignantly; but a heavy +hand was instantly clapped over his mouth. + +"Shut up!" whispered the man, hoarsely, but with terrible distinctness. +"If you speak another loud word I'll brain you. You'll find out what I +mean when we've landed you safely in Dubuque jail. Now answer me in a +whisper. How many of your pals are on the island?" + +"I haven't any pals," replied Winn, putting as much force into his +whisper as he dared, "and there isn't any one on the island. This is +an outrage, and--" + +"That will do," answered the man, sternly. "If that's the tone you are +going to take, we don't want to hear any more of it." + +Just then the bow of the skiff was run on the bank, and the man, +grasping Winn's arm, stepped ashore, saying, "Now make yourself useful, +young fellow, and lead us to your mint or den or whatever you call it. +If you don't want to I'll find a way to compel you, and if you try any +low-down tricks, I'll make you wish you'd never been born." + +"Do you mean the log-hut?" asked Winn. + +"Yes, if that's what you call it; but you want to get a move onto you +in a hurry." + +Bewildered and indignant as he was, Winn was yet cool enough to realize +the folly of resistance. He also reflected that when these men found +the hut deserted, and that there was no one besides themselves on the +island, they would be willing to listen to his story. At any rate, so +long as he was in their power it was best to do as they directed. So, +with the leader's hand still grasping his arm, the boy led the way into +the narrow trail that he had already traversed so often. + +Proceeding slowly, and with such extreme caution that not a sound +betrayed their presence, the men followed in single file. At the edge +of the little clearing Winn halted, and was about to speak, when a hand +was again clapped over his mouth with the force of a blow. + +"Whisper!" came the order. + +"Well there's your hut," whispered the boy, as soon as he was given the +chance, "and if you find any one in it, then I'm a liar, that's all." + +The hut was plainly visible by the firelight that streamed from its +open window. Winn wondered at the brightness of this light, for it +seemed as though the fire he had left there the evening before ought to +have burned out long ago. He also wondered that he did not remember +having closed the door. As no light came from its direction, it +certainly appeared to be closed now. As these thoughts flashed through +the boy's mind, the man who held him, and who was evidently the leader +of the party, whispered, + +"You say there isn't anybody in there, but it looks to me as if there +was. Anyhow, we'll find out in another minute, and if you've led us +into a trap or played us false, I'll see that you swing for it, or my +name's not Riley. Bill, you stay here and see that this chap doesn't +put up any game on us while we surround that den of thieves. Have your +guns ready for use, men." + +Although all this was spoken in a whisper, inaudible beyond its +immediate group of hearers, there was no mistaking the man's stern +meaning, and Winn experienced an uneasy dread such as he had not +heretofore felt throughout this strange adventure. + +Suppose there should be some one in the hut? Suppose the +"river-traders" had returned to the island and should resent this +intrusion even to the point of resisting it? In such a case what would +happen to him? If his captors were triumphant they would declare he +had led them into a trap, for doing which they had promised to hang +him. If, on the other hand, the "river-traders" had returned and +should make a successful fight, would not their wrath also be directed +towards him for leading their assailants to the hut? In either case, +it seemed to the bewildered boy that his position was decidedly +unpleasant, and he awaited the immediate developments of the situation +with no little anxiety. + +Those who had followed him had disappeared like shadows, and Winn could +not detect a sound save the suppressed breathing of the man who had +been detailed to guard him, and who now held his arm. + +Suddenly a dog's bark broke the stillness, and a loud challenge, +followed by a pistol shot, rang out through the night air. There was a +confused trampling; the forest echoed with a roar of guns; the door of +the hut was burst open, and a furious rush was made for the interior. + +In his excitement Winn's guard loosed his hold of the boy's arm and +took a step forward, the better to distinguish what was going on. + +Winn was free, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, he slipped +behind a great tree-trunk, stole noiselessly a few paces farther, and +then dashed away with the speed of a deer back over the trail leading +to the river. He did not pause when he reached the camp in which he +had passed the night so unhappily, but bounded down the bank to the +water's edge. Here he cast loose the painter of the skiff that had +brought Mr. Riley and his men to the island, and, with a mighty shove +towards the channel, gave a spring that landed him at full length in +its bottom. Here he lay breathless and almost motionless for the next +thirty minutes, or until his craft had drifted below the tail of the +island, and was spinning down the main channel of the great river. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +BILLY BRACKETT'S SURPRISING SITUATION. + +When Billy Brackett set forth on his search for a nephew and a runaway +raft he did not anticipate any difficulty in finding them. The +appearance of the raft had been minutely described to him, and, +according to this description, it was too distinctive in its character +to be mistaken for anything else. Three shanties, and they of unusual +construction, on a raft of that size formed a peculiarity sufficient to +arrest the immediate attention of all river men. Thus the young +engineer felt certain that by making an occasional inquiry and +proceeding at a speed at least double that of the raft, he could easily +trace and overtake it, even though it should not run aground, which he +thought more than likely to happen early in its voyage. + +So Billy Brackett rowed down the creek without a trace of anxiety to +mar the pleasure of the adventure into which he had so unexpectedly +tumbled. One peculiarity of this light-hearted young man was that no +proposition to leave a beaten track and strike into an unexplored +trail, even though it led in exactly the opposite direction, could be +too absurd or unexpected to meet with his ready approval, always +providing it promised plenty of adventure. At the same time he never +lost sight of the fact that he had a living to earn, besides a +professional reputation to win and maintain. Consequently he generally +managed to make his adventures keep step with his duties. In the +present instance he felt that Major Caspar's aid was necessary to the +fulfilling of his timber contract. He also realized that the only way +to obtain it was by taking his brother-in-law's place in searching for +the lost raft and navigating it down the river to a market. He had no +family ties to bind him to times or places, and with Bim for company he +was ready to start at any moment for any portion of the globe. + +"Bim" was a diminutive of Cherubim, a name bestowed by its present +owner upon the wretched puppy that he had rescued from an abandoned +emigrant wagon high up in the California Sierras, because like Cherubim +and Seraphim he "continually did cry." The little one was nearly dead, +and its mother, lying beside it, was quite so, when they were +discovered by the tender-hearted engineer. He had fought his way +through a blinding snowstorm and high-piled drifts to the abandoned +wagon on the chance of finding human beings in distress. When he +discovered only a forlorn little bull-pup, he buttoned it warmly under +his blanket overcoat and fought his way back to camp. During that +struggle the helpless creature won its way to Billy Brackett's heart, +as all young things, human or animal, were sure to do, and assumed a +place there that had never since been resigned. + +From that day Bim, or "U-Bim," as he was sometimes called, had so +thrived under good feeding, kind care, and judicious training that when +he started with his master to voyage down the great river he was as +fine a specimen of a full-blooded bull-dog as could be found in the +country. He was pure white, bow-legged, and broad-chested. His upper +lip was drawn slightly back, so as to display his teeth; but this +expression of ferocity was relieved by the almost human intelligence of +his eyes. He was absolutely fearless, but as loving and gentle as he +was brave. He understood every word spoken within his hearing, and his +master declared that for his wisdom he ought to be named "Solomon." He +never made an unprovoked assault upon a living creature, and would +stand any amount of abuse from children or those weaker than himself. +Let an indignity be offered to his beloved master in his presence, +though, and his fury was as terrible as that of a young lion. Then woe +to the unfortunate in whose flesh those gleaming teeth were once +fastened. From the vise-like grip of the powerful jaws behind them +nothing but death or Billy Brackett's command could effect a release. + +Such were the occupants of the skiff that soon after dusk shot out from +the mouth of the Caspar Creek on the broad bosom of the great river. +Billy Brackett talked to his dog as he would to a human companion, and +at that moment he was saying: + +"Look here, Bim, I've a great mind to play a joke on that young nephew +of ours when we find him. You see, he won't know us from Adam, and +probably doesn't remember that he has an Uncle William in the world. +Now what is to hinder us from working the stranger racket on him? +Wrecked, or broke, or something, and want to earn a passage down the +river on a raft, it being easier as well as more sociable and +pleasanter in every way than a steamboat. What's to hinder us from +doing it, eh? Nothing? Right you are, old dog, and we'll do it, too, +if we get the chance. Thus will we discover what sort of stuff he is +made of, and get acquainted with his inside self, as Glen Eddy used to +say. So you understand, U-Bim, that you are not to give us away or let +on that we are any kin to the Caspars. _Sabe_? All right. Now for a +twenty-mile spin down-stream, and then we'll hunt a place to lie by for +the night." + +With this the young man bent lustily to his oars, while Bim sat in the +stern of the skiff, alert to every movement made by his master, and +swaying his body like that of a genuine cockswain. + +Billy Brackett recognized the "Slant Crossing," when they reached it, +from the description he had received of its length and direction; but +below that point the river for a thousand miles was a blank so far as +his personal knowledge of it was concerned. + +Although the night was dark, and there were but few guide-lights on the +river in those days, he found no difficulty in keeping the channel +until the skiff passed through the chute at the head of Winn's island. +At this point the false channel seemed, in the darkness, to be as wide +and desirable as the true one, and for a minute he was puzzled as to +which he should take. "Not that I suppose it would make any great +difference," he remarked to Bim. "It's about time to tie up, though, +and we want to be sure to do that on the main channel, so as not to +miss a chance of seeing the raft at daylight." + +For answer Bim left his seat, ran to the bow of the boat, uttered a +short bark, and fixed his gaze pointedly down-stream. + +"A light, as sure as you are a dog of wisdom!" cried Billy Brackett, +looking in the direction thus indicated. "I vow, Bim, your name ought +to be 'Solomon Minerva,' and I must have a 'howl' engraved on your +collar the first chance I get. That is, if you ever arrive at the +dignity of owning any collar besides that old strap. Your light looks +as though it might proceed from a camp-fire, and I reckon it's on the +main channel too. At any rate, we'll pull down there and make +inquiries." + +A few minutes later the skiff was run ashore near the beacon blaze that +Winn Caspar had left on the eastern side of the island, and its +occupants were searching the vicinity for those whom Billy Brackett had +so confidently expected to find near it. + +"It is very strange," he muttered. "Some one must have built this +fire; but why he did so if he didn't want to camp beside it beats me. +Hello! What's this? Hooray; we are on the right track after all! But +what foolishness is that boy up to? and what can he be doing on this +island? Thirdly, where is the raft? Eh, Bim! You haven't seen a +stray raft round here, have you? No. I thought you would have +mentioned it if you had. So he is on this island is he? and leaves +word that we can find him by following the trail? Perhaps the trail +leads to the raft; but where is the trail? Hello! you've struck it, +have you? Good dog! Here, let me tie this bit of twine to your +collar. There, now you're better than a lantern." + +As we all know, the trail upon which Billy Brackett and Bim were thus +started led directly to the log-hut in the forest. When the former +discovered this, he fully expected to find his nephew within. To his +surprise, although a fire smouldered on the hearth, there was no other +sign of human occupancy. Then the young man searched in vain for some +bit of writing, such as had guided him to this point. + +"I declare!" he exclaimed at length; "the corollary is worse than the +theorem, and things are becoming so decidedly mixed that we must begin +to go slow. I for one propose to replenish that fire, and then bunk +down right here for the rest of the night." + +With this the young man went out into the darkness and began groping +about for wood with which to keep up the fire until morning. + +In the mean time, Bim, left to his own devices, had struck the trail +leading from the hut to Winn's camp, and started along it, probably +thinking that his master was following him as before. The dog soon +discovered Winn, and undertook to establish friendly relations with him +by rubbing his cold nose against the boy's cheek. The suddenness with +which Winn started up caused the dog to spring back into the darkness, +from the shelter of which he regarded his new acquaintance +distrustfully. Just then Billy Brackett, to cheer the loneliness of +his log-hut, began to chant the ballad of "The Baldheaded Man," and +Bim, hearing his master's voice, darted off in that direction. + +Now Billy Brackett, though very fond of music, and possessed of an +inextinguishable longing to produce melodious sounds, could not sing +any more than Bim could. His efforts in this line had so often been +greeted with derisive shouts and unkind remarks by his engineering +comrades that he no longer attempted to sing in public. When alone, +however, and out of hearing of his fellows, he still sometimes broke +forth into song. Bim always howled in sympathy, but the effect of +their combined efforts had never been so surprising as upon the present +occasion, when they caused the precipitate flight from the island of +the very nephew for whom the young engineer was searching. + +In blissful ignorance of this unfortunate result of their performance, +Billy Brackett and Bim sang and howled in concert, until their +repertory was exhausted, when they lay down on the floor of the hut, +and with the facility of those to whom camp life has become a second +nature, were quickly asleep. From this slumber Billy Brackett was +startlingly awakened, some time later, by Bim's bark, and a pistol shot +that rang out from the profound stillness of the forest like a +thunder-clap. He grasped the dog's collar and sat up. Before he could +rise any farther there came a roar of guns, a trampling of feet, a +confusion of voices, a rush, and a crashing of wood. The next instant +the door of his hut was burst in, and the room was filled with armed +men, every one of whom seemed to be pointing a rifle or a pistol +straight at his devoted head. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE TRAPPERS TRAPPED. + +When the leader of the party by whom Winn had been made prisoner (as +related in the last chapter but one) peered cautiously in at the open +window of the log-hut to make certain that it was occupied, he was +disappointed to discover but one man, where he had confidently expected +to find several. + +This leader, who had told Winn that his name was Riley, was a Sheriff, +though such a new one that this was his first important undertaking +since assuming office. Consequently he was most anxious for its +success, and also somewhat nervous from anxiety. He had laid his plans +well, the hut was completely surrounded, and he was elated at the +thought of the prize so surely within his grasp, as well as of the +glory that would be his for effecting this important capture. He +expected to find several men in the hut, and counted upon their being +desperate characters who would make a stout resistance before yielding +themselves prisoners. The Sheriff had therefore prepared his followers +for a fight, and made all his arrangements with this in prospect. Now, +to discover but one man, and he peacefully sleeping, caused these +warlike preparations to appear ridiculous, and called for a decided +modification of Mr. Riley's plans. + +Having satisfied himself by a careful survey that the man had no +companions, and that the hut contained no rifles nor other fire-arms, +the Sheriff retired noiselessly from the window and rejoined his +followers. He explained the situation in a whisper, and then proposed +that as they could not fight a single unarmed man, they should paralyze +him with terror. As the Sheriff expressed it, they would "scare him +stiff" by a general discharge of guns, a yell, and a rush for the door. +These were to follow a signal that he would give from his post at the +open window, through which he would cover the sleeping man with his +revolver. + +The new programme being understood, the Sheriff returned to his +station, pointed his pistol at Billy Brackett's head, and was about to +order him to throw up his hands and surrender, when he made a slight +movement that aroused Bim. This faithful sentinel sprang up with a +loud bark. In the dim light Sheriff Riley had not noticed the dog, and +he was so much upset by this unexpected challenge that his finger +closed on the hair-trigger of his revolver. Fortunately his aim was so +wild that no harm was done by the shot that followed. It was all the +signal that the Sheriff's followers needed, and they immediately +carried out their part of the programme to the letter. + +When the tumult subsided, the situation was as already described. +Billy Brackett sat on the floor, grasping Bim's collar, and awaiting +further developments as calmly as though he were merely a disinterested +spectator of this unique performance. The dog, with teeth displayed to +an alarming extent, stood ready to fly at the invaders whenever he +should be released. In front of this group, and a few paces from it, +stood half a dozen men, all of whom held guns that were pointed at the +young engineer. The form of the Sheriff, with pistol still levelled at +his prisoner, appeared at the open window. + +"Do you surrender?" he demanded. + +"Certainly," replied Billy Brackett, cheerfully; "if you desire it. +I'm always ready to accommodate, especially when it's no trouble to do +so." + +"Throw up your hands, then," commanded the Sheriff. + +"To do that," argued the prisoner, without moving, "I shall be obliged +to let go my hold of this bull-dog. The moment I do so our friends +with the empty guns will be apt to fancy that about a yard of +particularly hot and well-greased lightning has been forged for their +especial benefit. Still, if you insist--" + +"Oh, hang your dog!" exclaimed Mr. Riley. "You must hold on to him, of +course, until we can find a rope to tie him with. Where are your pals?" + +"This is the only one I have at present," answered Billy Brackett, +indicating him by a glance; "but I am in search of another, and have +reason to believe that he is on this island at this very minute. +Haven't seen anything of him, have you? He is a young fellow, about +sixteen, named Caspar, son of Major Caspar, of Caspar's Mill, up the +river a bit. He left home yesterday on a raft, and I was to join him +hereabouts." + +"What sort of a raft?" asked the Sheriff. + +"Big timber raft. Two sweeps at each end, and three shanties on it, +two of them filled with wheat." + +"No," replied Mr. Riley, in a relieved tone; for on hearing the +well-known name of Caspar his men had exchanged meaning looks and +smiles, which indicated their belief that the Sheriff might be getting +into hot-water. "I did arrest a young rascal of about that age half an +hour ago," he continued, "just as he was leaving this island on a raft; +but it was only a small affair, built of two or three logs, and not at +all such a raft as you describe. I've got the boy out here now, and I +believe him to be one of your pals, in spite of your cheeky talk. Yon +don't want to give me any more of it, either," he concluded, in a +fierce tone, assumed to reassert the dignity of his office. "So just +cork up, and come along quietly, or you may find yourself in trouble." + +"All right," replied Billy Brackett, calmly; "but first, perhaps you'll +be kind enough to tell me who you are, why you are taking such an +interest in me, and where you want me to go." + +"I am the Sheriff of Dubuque County, Iowa," was the answer. "I have a +warrant for your arrest as a member of the most dangerous gang of +counterfeiters that has ever operated in this section of country, and I +want you to go with me to the county jail, which will be only a +stopping-place on your journey to State-prison." + +"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Sheriff, and obliged for +your courtesy," said Billy Brackett, politely. "Now if you will do me +the favor to read the names mentioned in your warrant, I shall have +nothing further to request." + +"William Gresham, _alias_ Gilder, _et al._," replied Mr. Riley. + +"Good. But suppose I can prove to you that I am not the person you +take me to be, and that my name is neither Gresham nor Gilder, _et +al._, but that I am a civil engineer, William Brackett by name, +brother-in-law of Major Caspar, whom I am certain you must know, and +that you are making a rather sizable mistake in connection with this +business. Supposing, also, I state that I am just now engaged on an +important mission which will not admit of delay, and that in case you +insist on taking me to jail, I can and will make you suffer, even to +the extent of losing your office." + +By this time Billy Brackett was standing up, while Bim, reluctantly +obeying his stern command, lay motionless at his feet. The men of the +Sheriff's posse had ceased to level their guns at the young engineer, +and even Mr. Riley was so impressed with this bold attitude and +declaration of innocence that he consented to come inside the hut and +examine the papers offered for his inspection. He was about to declare +his satisfaction with them, and admit that perhaps he had made a +mistake, when the man whom he had left to guard Winn rushed up with the +announcement that his prisoner had escaped. + +At this the Sheriff's face clouded angrily. "We'll find him if he is +still on the island!" he exclaimed. "If he has left it we'll follow +him; and, at any rate, Mr. Brackett, I must now insist upon your coming +to Dubuque, where you will be granted every opportunity for proving +what you please. In the mean time, you and I will await here the +result of the search for the escaped prisoner that my men will at once +proceed to make." + +To this Billy Brackett returned no answer, but stood silently +considering how he should avoid the vexatious delay that now appeared +inevitable. While he was thus cudgelling his brains, one of the +searching party returned to report that the skiff in which they had +come up the river was missing. + +The Sheriff became furious. "I don't believe it!" he cried. "Here, +you! Stop and guard this prisoner, while I go and take charge of the +search myself." + +As Mr. Riley departed, the new guard entered the hut, leaned his rifle +against the wall, and took a seat near the door. + +Then Billy Brackett stooped and whispered to his ever-faithful comrade, +"Watch him, Bim!" and the dog answered with a low growl that spoke +volumes. Turning to the guard the young engineer said, "My friend, if +you make the slightest motion or shout for help, that bull-dog will fly +at your throat. I am going to leave you alone with him for a minute, +and as you value your life, I beg of you to keep perfectly quiet until +you hear from me." With this the prisoner leaped lightly from the +window and disappeared. + +[Illustration: "'Watch him, Bim!'"] + +For two minutes the guard sat as motionless as though carved from +stone, his fascinated gaze fixed on the gleaming teeth and bloodshot +eyes of the bull-dog that stood rigidly before him. Then a shrill +whistle rang out on the still air, and at its sound the dog, dashing +past him, disappeared like a flash. In another minute Billy Brackett's +lusty strokes were sending his own skiff dancing out towards the middle +of the main channel, while Bim, thumping with his tail in appreciation +of his master's praises, occupied the stern seat as calmly as though +with him such events as those just recorded were of every-day +occurrence. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +WINN'S LONELY CRUISE. + +During the half-hour that Winn allowed to elapse before he considered +it safe to rise from his recumbent position in the bottom of the skiff, +he had ample opportunity to recover his breath, and reflect upon the +new situation into which he had been so strangely forced. At first he +fancied that he heard sounds of pursuit, and momentarily expected to be +greeted by a stern order from the bank to bring the skiff ashore. He +wondered if a failure to comply would be followed by a rifle-shot, and +then began to calculate the chances of being hit in such a case. But +why should he be shot at? What had he done that he should be arrested, +threatened with jail and hanging, and treated like an outlaw generally? +Whom did these men take him for? and who were they? By the manner in +which they had spoken of a judge, they must represent the law in some +way; but why he should be an object of their pursuit puzzled the boy +more than a little. + +To be sure, he had now laid himself open to the suspicion of being a +river thief, by carrying off their skiff. Would it not be well to +return it at once? He could talk to them, and explain how he happened +to be on the island, while still at such a distance from shore as to be +beyond their reach. They might shoot, though, and if they really +considered him the rascal they pretended, it was almost certain that +they would. No, that plan would not work. The only thing left to be +done was to take the skiff to Dubuque, telegraph to his father from +there, or try and find one of the Major's friends in that city who +would do so for him, and at the same time provide him with food and +shelter until his father came. Yes, that was the best plan. + +Having reached this determination, Winn sat up and looked about him. +The light which he had mistaken for dawn was that of a late-rising +moon, and it hardly penetrated the mist hanging low over the river. +There was nothing in sight; not even the dark mass of timber on the +island. Winn might have been in the middle of the ocean for all that +he could see or hear. Never in his life had the boy felt so utterly +forsaken and alone. He decided to pull diagonally across the current +towards shore, the mere sight of which would be reassuring. But where +were the oars? Until this moment he had not noticed that there were +none in the boat. For some unknown reason they had been taken from it +when the party landed on the island; and now the lonely navigator was +utterly without the means of propelling or even guiding his craft. He +tried to tear up one of the floor boards, with the idea of using it as +a paddle; but it was nailed in place so firmly as to resist his utmost +efforts. Finally, faint for want of food, exhausted, and disheartened, +the poor boy threw himself in the bottom of the skiff and yielded to +his despair. At length he fell asleep. + +So the dawn of Winn's second day on the river caught him napping, as +the first had done. In its gray light the skiff drifted past the +little city of Dubuque, perched high on the bluffs of the western bank, +but no one saw it. There were several steamboats and trading scows +tied to the narrow levee, but their crews were still buried in slumber. +Even had they been awake they would hardly have noticed the little +craft far out in the stream, drifting with the hurrying waters. In a +few minutes it was gone, and the sleeping city was none the wiser for +its passing. So for hours it drifted, now bow on, then broadside to, +and as often stern first; here caught and spun round by an eddy, then +tossed aside and allowed to proceed on its unguided course. The +cotton-woods on the tow-heads beckoned to it with their trembling +fingers; but it paid no heed. Grim snags lay in wait for it, but it +nimbly avoided them, and as the hours passed each one of them saw the +drifting skiff some miles farther away from the island at which this +strange voyage was begun. + +When Winn finally awoke, he was so bewildered, and so much at a loss to +account for his surroundings, that for a minute he lay motionless, +collecting his scattered senses. It certainly was late in the day, for +the sun was shining full upon him from high in the heavens. He had +that comfort at least; but oh! how he ached from lying on that hard +floor, and how faint he was from hunger. + +The boy's head rested on a thwart, and he faced the after-end of the +skiff. As he was about to rise, his glance fell on something wrapped +in newspaper and tucked under the stern seat. If it should only prove +to be food of any description, "even burned mush," thought Winn, +grimly, how happy it would make him! In another second he was undoing, +with eager fingers, the lunch of crackers and cheese that Sheriff +Riley's wife had so thoughtfully thrust into her husband's hands as he +left the house the morning before, and which he had as thoughtfully +tucked under the stern seat of his skiff. He was probably thinking of +it, and wishing he had it, at this very moment. As for Winn, he was +eating it as fast as possible, and thinking that he had never tasted +such good crackers or such a fine piece of cheese in his life. With +each mouthful his spirits rose and his strength returned, until, when +the last crumb had disappeared and been washed down with a double +handful of sweet river-water, the boy's pluck and cheerfulness were +fully restored. + +Now what should he do? He did not know that he had passed Dubuque, +though he feared that such might be the case. Thinking of it brought +to mind the island with those upon whom he had so recently turned the +tables, and left as prisoners within its limits. He even laughed aloud +as he pictured them toiling, as he had toiled the evening before, to +construct a raft on which to escape. "I wonder if they found any one +in that log-hut," he thought, recalling its lighted window. "And, oh! +if it should have been father! It might have been. He might have seen +my signal-fire, found my message, and got as far as the hut. Now what +will he do? Oh, how I wish I could get back! Why didn't I think of +all this before leaving the island? That was a horrid sound in the +woods, though. And that animal! I wonder what it could have been?" + +By this time the current had carried the skiff close in to the drowned +bottom-lands of the Illinois shore. They were covered with a heavy +growth of timber, and Winn knew that in many places the wellnigh +impassable swamps which this concealed extended back a mile or more +from the channel. Otherwise he would have abandoned the skiff and made +the attempt to swim ashore. + +The Iowa bluffs rose invitingly on the opposite side of the river. On +them he saw a few scattered settlements, but they were too far away, +and he must wait until the current set him in that direction before +thinking of making a landing. He saw an occasional ferry-boat making +its slow way across the river, but it was always either too far above +him or too far below him for his signals to be noticed, and so the +hours dragged on until it was late afternoon, and Winn was again +beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. + +"I can't spend another night in this wretched boat!" he exclaimed +aloud, when he saw that the sun was within an hour of its setting. +"I'll swim the whole width of the river first!" + +During the day he had passed a number of small islands, but had not +cared to attempt a landing on them. He knew that he would be even +worse off on an island than in the skiff, and so he had watched them +glide by without giving them any particular thought. Suddenly it +occurred to him that on any one of these islands he might pick up an +oar, a paddle, or at least something that would answer in place of +these, and from that instant they acquired a new interest. + +The next one that he approached was only a tow-head, which is a +sand-bar on which has sprung up a thick growth of slender cotton-woods, +or other quick-shooting, water-loving trees. + +"I might find what I want there as well as on a larger island," thought +Winn, "and, at any rate, I'll make a try for it." So when the skiff +had drifted as near the tow-head as it seemed likely to, and was +rapidly sliding past it, the boy threw off his coat, kicked off his +shoes, and, taking one end of the skiff's painter with him, plunged +overboard and began to swim towards the desired point. + +The distance was not more than a hundred feet, but the current swept +him down so much more rapidly than he expected that he was barely able +to catch one of the very last of the tow-head saplings and cling to it. +While his own progress was thus checked, that of the skiff was not, and +in a second the painter was jerked from his hand. + +Exhausted as he was, Winn was on the point of letting go his hold on +the sapling and making a desperate effort to overtake the rapidly +receding skiff. Fortunately he had enough practical sense, though this +is not generally credited to sixteen-year-old boys, to restrain him +from such a rash act. So he crawled out on the sand beach, and sat +there watching what he considered to be his only hope grow smaller and +smaller until it finally disappeared. As it did so, the sun slowly +sank behind the western bluffs; and though the boy did not look up from +the wet sand on which he had flung himself, he knew instinctively that +another night, with its darkness, its chill, and its nameless terrors, +was upon him. + +He was so numbed by this latest disaster that he had not the heart even +to seek a place of shelter for the night. What good would anything +that he could find or construct do him? He had neither matches nor +food, dry clothing nor bedding. What did it matter, though? He would +probably be dead before the sun rose again, anyway. So the poor lad +nursed his misery, and might, in truth, have lain on those wet sands +until he perished, so despairing was he, when all at once he was +aroused by a sound so strange to hear in that place that, though he +raised his head to listen, he thought he must be dreaming. He wasn't, +though, for there came again to his ears, as distinct as anything ever +heard in his life, a merry peal of clear girlish laughter. Not only +that, but it sounded so close at hand that the boy sprang to his feet +and gazed eagerly in the direction from which it came, fully expecting +to see its author standing near him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A PEAL OF GIRLISH LAUGHTER. + +In vain did Winn gaze in every direction, up and down the river, across +its darkening waters, and into the shadowy thicket behind him. There +were no objects in sight, save those with which he was already only too +familiar. Again he began to doubt the evidence of his senses, and wonder +if his mind had not become somewhat unsettled by his misfortunes. But +no, there was the ringing peal of laughter again. This time it was +accompanied by a strange chattering sound such as he had never heard +before. At the same moment a most delicious whiff of frying bacon +reached the hungry boy, mingled with the unmistakable and equally +enticing odor of coffee. There was no doubt as to the direction from +which these came, and plunging into the cotton-wood thicket, Winn made +his way diagonally up and across the tow-head. + +In less than a minute he reached its opposite side, where he halted to +gaze with amazement at the very strangest-looking craft he had ever seen. +At first he thought it a small stern-wheeled steamboat. She certainly +had such a wheel, but then there was no chimney. Perhaps she was a +trading-scow. Who ever heard, though, of a trading-scow with a +pilot-house such as this nondescript craft had on the forward end of its +upper deck? Besides, there were no sweeps, nor was she in the least like +any trading-scow Winn had ever seen. A low house occupied her entire +width, and extended along her whole length except at the curve of her +bows, where there was room left for a small deck. A structure with a +door and windows, that was somewhat larger than the pilot-house, rose +from the upper deck near its after-end. There were three doors on each +side of the main house, a large one well forward, a small one nearly +amidship, and another large one well aft. There were also six small +windows on each side, and from three of those nearest Winn a cheerful +light was streaming, while the other three were dark. There was a name +painted on the boat's side in such large black letters that even in the +fading twilight Winn managed to read it--"_W-H-A-T-N-O-T_," he spelled +slowly--"_Whatnot_! Well, if that isn't the queerest name for a boat I +ever heard of!" + +Just then, however, there were things of far greater importance to a boy +in his situation than queer names. The tantalizing odors that were +pouring from that after-window, for instance, and the sound of voices +that rang out merrily from the two just beyond it. The boat was moored +to a tree, with her bows pointed up-stream, and had swung in so close to +shore that by standing on a half-submerged log, which served as a fender +to keep her off a few feet from the bank, Winn could look into one of the +open windows. It was evidently that of the galley, for the odor of +frying came from it, and half hidden in a cloud of fragrant steam was the +form of a negro bending over a small stove. + +This was a welcome and comforting sight; but hungry as he was, Winn's +curiosity was stronger than his appetite. He must see into those other +windows, and discover the source of the merry laughter that had so +suddenly banished his loneliness and despair of a few minutes before. +Cautiously advancing a few steps along the slippery log, he reached a +point that commanded a view of the room or compartment next forward of +the galley. It was of good size, and occupied the entire width of the +boat. + +In the centre of this room was a table spread for supper, and beside it, +so as to take advantage of its bright lamp, was a group that to Winn +appeared both extraordinary and fascinating. A white-haired old man was +seated before an easel, on which was stretched a large canvas. A young +girl stood near him watching the movements of his brush with deep +interest, and at the same time evidently restraining, with gentle but +firm hands, the impatient struggles of something which she addressed as +"Don Blossom," but whether it was a child or an animal Winn could not +see. In his effort to do so he stood on tiptoe, and just as the old man +began to say, "There, Sabella, that will do for this sitting," the boy's +treacherous footing slipped from under him. + +With a half-suppressed cry and a loud splash he was plunged headlong into +the narrow space of water between the boat and the shore. + +A frightened exclamation came from the interior of the boat, and then the +small door on that side was flung open. At the same instant a woolly +head was thrust out of the galley window, and a trembling voice cried, +"Golly, Marse Cap'n! Wha' dat ar? Yo' heah um?" + +"Yes, Solon, I heard it, and you want to come here as quick as you can. +Some one is in trouble," answered the old man, who was standing with the +girl in the open doorway. He held a lamp above his head, and was peering +anxiously in the direction of the splashings and flounderings that Winn, +sitting in the shallow water, but tightly wedged between the log and the +boat, was making in his efforts to extricate himself. + +"Who's there?" cried the old man, who could not yet make out what was +taking place; "and what are you doing?" + +[Illustration: "'Who's there?' cried the old man"] + +"It's me!" returned Winn, regardless of his grammar; "and I am sinking in +this awful mud. Hurry up and push your boat away from the log, or I +shall be drowned!" + +While the old man and the negro exerted all their strength at the pole, +with which they finally succeeded in pushing the boat a foot or so out +into the stream, Sabella was also busy. Though greatly excited, and +somewhat alarmed by the unexpected appearance of a human being in that +place, and his perilous situation, she still had presence of mind enough +to run for a rope, one end of which she fastened to the table. She +carried the other end out through the door, and tossed it over the side +just in time for Winn to catch it, as the moving of the boat once more +gave him freedom of action. + +Hauling himself up by this welcome rope, and at the same time being +assisted by the two men, the boy quickly gained the open doorway, where +he stood blinking in the bright lamplight, while mud and water ran from +him in streams. He faced the occupants of the boat, who, standing a few +steps back in the room, regarded him with undisguised wonder, not unmixed +with suspicion. On the table behind them stood a small, gaudily-dressed +object, that Winn at first took to be a child. Upon his appearance it +remained motionless for a few seconds, and then, with a frightened cry, +it sprang to the little girl's shoulder, from which it peered at the +stranger, chattering angrily all the while. + +"Well, I am blest if this isn't a most extraordinary situation!" +exclaimed the old man. "It suggests a tableau of Venus rising from the +sea." + +"Or a alligator," said the negro. + +Sabella wanted to laugh at the comical spectacle presented by the +dripping, coatless, hatless, bare-footed, and generally woe-begone boy; +but pitying his evident embarrassment, she exclaimed: + +"Uncle, how can you! Don't you see that he is shivering? You must go at +once and find him some dry clothes. Solon, show this boy to the +engine-room, where he can change his wet things. Don Blossom, be quiet, +sir! Aren't you ashamed of yourself!" Then, turning to Winn with a +cheery smile, she said, "We are very sorry for your accident, and should +like to know all about it after you are dry again. If you will go with +Solon to the engine-room, he will do everything he can for you." + +The Captain had already hastened away on his quest for dry clothing. As +he left the room, Winn noticed that he had a wooden leg. It was not one +of the modern kind, so carefully constructed as to closely resemble the +real article, but an old-fashioned, iron-shod stick of timber strapped to +his right knee. + +As Sabella finished speaking, she too left the room, running after the +Captain, and smiling cheerfully as she went at the mud-streaked boy, who +still stood speechless and motionless in the doorway. + +Now, at Solon's invitation he followed the negro into what had been +called the engine-room, though to Winn's eye it looked as little like an +engine-room as any place he had ever known. At one side was a +horse-power treadmill, such as he had often seen used for the sawing of +wood. Half of it was sunk below the level of the deck, and covered with +a removable floor. It was geared in the most direct and simple manner to +a shaft that disappeared through the rear wall of the room, and +presumably connected with the stern wheel he had previously noticed. +There was also a belt extending to a shaft pulley overhead, but beyond +this there was no trace of machinery, nor was there either boiler or +furnace. There was what looked like a stall at one end of the room, but +it contained only bales of hay and sacks of oats. + +"Yes, sah, we uses a mewel-ingine when we hab um. We hain't got no mewel +at de present time, but we 'specs ter contrac' fer one shortly," +explained the negro, noting Winn's inquiring glances, as he assisted him +to remove his wet garments. + +Before the boy had a chance to ask the questions that were at his +tongue's end, he, as well as the other occupants of the boat, was +startled by a loud hail from the river. + +"Hello! What steamer is that?" + +"The _Whatnot_, of Dubuque," was the answer. + +"Do you know the Sheriff of Dubuque County?" + +"Who--Riley? Yes, I know him." + +"Do you know his skiff?" + +"As well as I know my own boat, for I built it." + +"Have you seen it pass down the river to-day, containing only a boy +between sixteen and seventeen years old?" + +"No. Haven't seen it or any other skiff. What's the matter? Has it +been stolen?" + +"That'll do, thank you. Good-night," came the reply, without an answer +to this last question, and then the stranger passed out of hearing down +the river. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +"CAP'N COD," SABELLA, AND THE _WHATNOT_. + +In order to explain the presence beside that tow-head of the queer +craft on board which Winn had found shelter, and of its several +occupants, who were making such kindly efforts to relieve his distress, +it is necessary to take a twenty-year glance backward. At that time +Aleck Fifield, a Yankee jack-of-all-trades, who had been by turns a +school-teacher, sailor, mechanic, boat-builder, and several other +things as well, found himself employed as stage-carpenter in a Boston +theatre. He had always been possessed of artistic tastes, though they +had never carried him beyond sign-painting, and of dramatic longings, +which had thus far been satisfied with a diligent reading of +Shakespeare and attending the theatre at every opportunity. Now, being +regularly connected with the stage, both these tastes expanded, until +through one of them he blossomed into a very passable scene-painter. +Through the other he overwhelmed himself with despair, and convulsed an +audience with laughter, by appearing once, and once only, as Captain +Thomas Codringhampton in the popular sea drama of "Blue Billows." His +failure as an actor was so dismal and complete as to be notorious. +Unkind comparisons of other bad acting with that of Cap'n Cod became +stock jokes in every theatre of the country. From that day the stage +name clung to him; and though it galled at first, the passage of time +soothed the wound, until finally Aleck Fifield became proud of the +name. As he grew older, it represented to him the fame for which he +had longed when young. When the war broke out and he became one of the +bravest defenders of the Union, he was everywhere known as "Cap'n Cod." +After the war, in which he managed to lose a leg, he went to Iowa to +live with his only relative, a widowed niece, who had but one child, a +little girl. + +Between this child, Sabella, and the white-haired veteran, who could +tell more tales than a fairy-book, and construct more toys than Santa +Claus ever dreamed of, there sprang up an affection that could not have +been stronger had they been father and daughter. On one side it was +based upon boundless love and admiration, and on the other upon +admiration and boundless love. When Sabella went to school, the +Captain's business kept him within sight of the school-house; and when +school was out, the little girl was nowhere happier than in his +company. For her sake he was the friend of her friends, and among the +children of Dubuque no one was so popular as Cap'n Cod. They did not +live in the city, but on a small farm a few miles from it, and this +Cap'n Cod was supposed to manage. Farming was, however, the one +occupation for which he had no taste, and but for his capable niece the +annual crops would not have paid the expense of raising them. + +When Sabella was twelve years old and rapidly developing into beautiful +girlhood, her mother died, leaving her and her little property to the +unrestricted guardianship of Cap'n Cod. Now matters went from bad to +worse so far as the farm was concerned, until, to save it from the +hammer, it was deemed best to rent it to a more practical farmer than +the child's devoted guardian. + +This gave Cap'n Cod the opportunity and an excuse for carrying out a +cherished scheme that, but for the opposition of his niece, he would +have put into operation long before. It was the painting of a +panorama, the building of a boat to hold it, and thus equipped, to +float away down the great river in search of fame and fortune. Now +Sabella must of course be included in the plan; for not only did she +and Cap'n Cod consider it impossible to get along without each other, +but the latter declared that such a bit of travel would be the very +best kind of an education for his grand-niece. + +This scheme had been in the old man's mind for so long that the +panorama, worked on at odd moments for more than two years, was nearly +finished at the time of his niece's death. With his own savings, and +largely by his own labor, he now built his boat, the _Whatnot_. When +she was completed, his money was gone. But what of that? Was he not +prepared to realize a fortune? He knew that it would shortly be +theirs, and Sabella's faith was strong as his. She never for a moment +doubted that her dear guardian was the artist he claimed to be, or that +the panorama he had painted was the most perfect thing of its kind ever +seen. So she was as enthusiastic concerning the project as the old man +himself, and eagerly aided in his preparations to the full extent of +her ability. There was but one point on which they disagreed. When +Cap'n Cod had exhausted his own resources, and the motive power of the +_Whatnot_ still remained unprovided, Sabella begged that he would draw +some of her money from the bank and use it, but this the old man firmly +declined to do. + +"No, Sabella," he would say; "what is mine is yours; but what is yours +is your own, and it would be as bad as stealing for me to touch it." + +"But it is mine," the girl would argue; "and if I want to give it to +you, more than I want to do anything else with it, I don't see why you +shouldn't let me." + +"No, dear," her guardian would reply. "It is not yours. It is only +held in trust for you until you become of age, by which time you will +have many other uses for money besides gratifying an old man's whim." + +"But you will pay it back long before then." + +"I might, and then again I might not. There is nothing more uncertain +than the things we think we are sure of." + +Then the girl would throw her arms about his neck and exclaim, "Oh, you +dear old stupid! How horridly honest you are! and what a beautiful +world this would be if everybody in it was just like you." + +"Yes, my dear; Stupidity and Honesty are apt to be comrades, and +undoubtedly they would make a beautiful world if left to themselves; +but it would be frightfully dull. Now don't you worry your pretty +head about the mule, for we can drift with the current until we have +given two or three exhibitions, and so made money enough to buy one. +Then, having earned him, how much more shall we enjoy him than if he +were only a borrowed mule?" + +Cap'n Cod would have preferred a steamboat to one propelled by +mule-power, but the expenses of machinery and an engineer were too +great to be considered. He made the _Whatnot_ look as much like a +steamboat as he could, and even proposed ornamenting her with an +imitation chimney as soon as he could afford such a luxury. He also +hoped soon to be able to engage some active young fellow as deck hand +and general assistant. In the mean time the _Whatnot's_ crew consisted +of himself, Sabella, and Solon, an old negro who had been cook of the +mess to which Cap'n Cod had belonged in the army, and who had followed +his fortunes ever since. + +As nearly every one in Dubuque who was at all interested in such things +had seen the panorama during its painting and construction, and as +Cap'n Cod's dramatic reputation was well known there, he deemed it +advisable to give the first exhibitions of his show in some smaller and +less critical places. He called it a "show," because, even at the +outset, it contained two attractions besides the panorama, and he hoped +in the course of time to add still others. + +Those already on hand were a monkey and a hand-organ, both of which +were much greater rarities in the Mississippi Valley at that time than +they are now. They formerly belonged to an Italian, who, sick, +penniless, and friendless, had sunk exhausted by the road-side a few +miles from Dubuque. Several persons passed him without heeding his +feeble appeals for aid before Cap'n Cod happened along and discovered +him. The old soldier at once engaged a team, carried the dying +stranger home, and there, with Sabella's pitying aid, cared for him +until the end, which came a few days later. During these last days his +monkey was the man's inseparable companion. It cuddled beside him in +bed, and answered his feeble terms of endearment with voluble +chatterings. With his latest breath the dying stranger consigned his +helpless pet to the same pitying care that had helped him over the +bitterest of all human journeys. He said, "Monka, Don Bolossi, you +keep-a him alway." + +So Don Bolossi, Americanized to "Don Blossom," transferred all his +affections to Sabella, and with the hand-organ, for which no claimant +could be found, was added to the attractions of "Cap'n Cod's Great +Panoramic Show." + +One of the Captain's last bits of work in Dubuque was to build a skiff +for Sheriff Riley, and with the money thus earned to defray immediate +expenses, the _Whatnot_ started on her voyage down the river at sunrise +of the very morning on which Winn Caspar unconsciously drifted past +Dubuque in that very skiff. Being deeper in the water, the show-boat +drifted somewhat faster than the skiff, and so had nearly caught up +with it by the time the tow-head was reached. Here Cap'n Cod +determined to tie up for the night, as he did not wish to stop at a +town until his final preparations for an exhibition were made. + +Among these was the painting of a life-sized representation of Don +Blossom hanging by his tail from the limb of a tree, which was to be +displayed on the outside of the boat as an advertisement. This was the +labor upon which the Captain was engaged when Winn Caspar discovered +the _Whatnot_. Sabella had undertaken to hold the restless little +model from which the white-headed artist was painting, and the peals of +laughter that attracted Winn's attention were called forth by the +absurdities of this situation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +BIM MAKES AN ENEMY. + +Billy Brackett's satisfaction at his escape from a situation that +promised to cause him a vexatious delay was tinged with a new anxiety +concerning Winn. As he pulled swiftly across the river, so as to be +lost to view from the island as quickly as possible, he expressed his +feelings aloud to Bim: + +"What new scrape can that young rascal have got into now--eh, old dog? +It was bad enough to start down the river alone on a big raft without +even bidding his folks good-bye; but now he seems to have lost the raft +somewhere, to have landed on that island, to have been arrested for +something, to have escaped, and to have run off with the Sheriff's +boat. It looks as though he had the same happy faculty for getting +into scrapes that distinguished my young friend Glen Eddy. Somehow I +have a fellow-feeling for such boys. It is strange, too, for I can't +remember ever getting into any scrapes myself. We must put a stop to +it, though, in Winn's case. It will never do for him to be cavorting +about in this scandalous manner, so long as we are responsible for his +decent behavior and safe return. We shall surely find him, and +probably the raft also, at Dubuque. Then we will take our nephew in +hand, and by simple force of example instruct him in that dignity of +deportment that steers clear of scrapes. Eh, Bimsey?" + +At this Bim sprang from his seat, and made such a violent effort to +lick his master's face that the latter was very nearly tumbled over +backward. By the time order was restored, daylight was beginning to +appear, and the young man saw that he was far enough below the island +for it to be safe to again cross the river and head for Dubuque. He +reached this place soon after sunrise, or about an hour after Winn +passed it, and a few minutes after the departure of the _Whatnot_. + +A hasty inspection of the various craft lining the water-front of the +city convinced him that the raft was not among them. He found several +persons who knew Sheriff Riley's skiff, but none of them had seen it +that morning. This, however, did not discourage the young engineer, +for a skiff is so much smaller than a raft as to be easily overlooked. +He would make a more thorough search after visiting the hotel, where he +hoped Winn might also have gone for breakfast. + +On his way he stopped at the telegraph office, and sent the following +despatch to both Mrs. Caspar and to the Major at Madison: + +"Have heard of Winn, and am on his track. The boy is all right.----W. +B." + + +"That is true so far as it goes," soliloquized Billy Brackett, "and +will relieve their present anxiety. By to-morrow, or perhaps within a +few minutes, I shall certainly have something more definite to wire." + +At the hotel he was greatly disappointed to find no trace of the +missing lad, and after eating a hearty breakfast he made a thorough +search of the water-front, though of course without avail. He had +intended dropping a hint here and there of the predicament in which he +had left Sheriff Riley and his followers, but on second thoughts +concluded to let them work out their own plan of escape from the +island, rather than run the risk of further delay. + +By noon he was ready to depart from Dubuque, satisfied that there was +no information to be gained in that place concerning either Winn or the +raft. Although he was not discouraged, he was puzzled, and was even +beginning to feel anxious at the strange aspect this affair of the lost +_Venture_ was assuming. + +Until sunset he rowed steadily and swiftly downstream, hailing the +ferrymen as he passed, and stopping at the settlements on both sides of +the river to make inquiries. He also hailed passing boats, and boarded +several rafts that he discovered tied to the western bank, but all in +vain. He failed to learn anything about Winn, and heard that but one +raft had passed down the river the day before. It was described as +having a single "shanty," a tent, and a crew of three men. As that was +not the kind of a raft he was looking for, this information only added +to the young man's perplexity. It never occurred to him that the raft +might have been stolen and disguised. So, as he was certain he had not +passed it, there was but one solution to the problem. The _Venture_ +must have been wrecked and gone to pieces during the storm of that +first night, and Winn must have escaped to the island. + +Even with this explanation the mystery of Winn's second disappearance +remained as great as ever, and by the time Billy Brackett hailed the +_Whatnot_, as has already been noted, he was as thoroughly bewildered +as ever in his life. Nor could he decide on any plan of action that +seemed in the least satisfactory. He knew there was a town a mile or +so below where the _Whatnot_ lay, and there he had determined to spend +the night. But for his desire to reach this place before darkness +should wholly shut in, he would have boarded the _Whatnot_ merely to +gratify the curiosity excited by her strange appearance. As it was, he +felt that he had no time to spare, and so hastened on. + +It was quite dark as he approached the lights marking the town he was +seeking; but as he drew near he discovered what appeared like a part of +the levee slowly moving out from shore. Above it rose dimly a white +object that he had taken for a house, and still above this shown a +lantern. In a moment he saw that it was a raft resuming its voyage +down the river, and he determined to make an inquiry from its crew +before landing. + +Pulling his skiff alongside, the young man sprang aboard. As he did so +he noticed that the white object was a tent, and that there was a +single "shanty" amidship. It was the very raft that had been described +to him as being the only one to pass down the river the day before. +These details so occupied his attention that he did not notice a skiff +made fast to the side of the raft just forward of where he tied his +own. Not seeing it, he did not, of course, ask any questions +concerning it. If he had, he might have learned that the raftsmen had +just picked it up, floating, empty and ownerless, down the river. +There had been no oars in it, but they had rowed it to the raft with an +extra pair from their own skiff. In their preparations for departure +they had not yet found time to examine it, and knew nothing of its +contents. + +As Billy Brackett walked towards the "shanty," there was a sudden +commotion at its entrance. A gruff voice exclaimed, + +"Get out of here, you cur!" + +This command was evidently accompanied by a savage kick, which was +immediately followed by a yell and a heavy fall as Bim's white teeth +sank deep in the calf of one of Mr. Plater's legs. + +The dog, tired of his long confinement in the skiff, had eagerly leaped +aboard the raft, and with friendly inquisitiveness had poked his nose +into the open doorway of the "shanty" just as Plater was emerging from +it. + +Bim's master realized in a moment what had happened, and sprang to the +scene just as two other figures came running in the same direction from +the forward end of the raft. + +Mr. Plater, though on his back, had nearly succeeded in drawing a +pistol from his hip pocket. In a few seconds more poor Bim's earthly +career would have been ended, but his owner's movements were quick +enough to save him, and before the pistol could be drawn, Billy +Brackett had seized the dog's collar. + +"Let go, sir!" he ordered, sternly, and Bim instantly obeyed the +command. Then realizing that discretion is the better part of valor +when the odds are three to one, the young engineer, with the dog in his +arms, ran to the side of the raft, sprang into the skiff, and shoved +off. He was followed by a storm of threats and angry imprecations, at +which he only smiled, as he took to his oars and pulled through the +friendly darkness towards the landing from which the raft had already +drifted quite a distance. + +Making his way to the wharf-boat, and giving the watchman a quarter to +look out for his skiff until morning, Billy Brackett, weary and +disheartened, sought such accommodation as the only hotel of the little +town afforded. All night he tossed sleeplessly on his uncomfortable +bed, striving in vain to unravel the mystery in which the fate of his +nephew and of Major Caspar's raft had become enshrouded. + +In the morning he strolled undecidedly down to the wharf-boat, and, +missing his skiff, asked the watchman, who was just going off duty, +what he had done with it. + +"Why, there it is, sir, just where you left it," answered the man, in a +surprised tone, pointing to a skiff that Billy Brackett was certain he +had never seen before. + +"That is not my boat," he said. + +"It is the one you came in last night," answered the watchman. "And +here is the coat you left in it. I took the liberty of bringing it in +out of the dew." + +The young engineer looked at the coat the man was holding towards him, +and shook his head. + +"That is not mine, either," he said. + +"Whose is it, then?" + +"I'm sure I don't know. You'd better look in the pockets. They may +contain some clew." + +Acting upon this suggestion the watchman thrust his hand into a +breast-pocket of the coat and drew forth a note-book. He opened it. + +"Here's something writ in it," he said; "but as I'm not quick at making +out strange writing, maybe you'll read it, sir." + +Taking the book from the man's hand, and glancing carelessly at its +title-page, Billy Brackett uttered a cry of amazement. There, written +in a clear boyish hand, was the inscription: + +"Winn Caspar. His Book." + +[Illustration: "Billy Brackett uttered a cry of amazement."] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE TRUTH, BUT NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH. + +Winn was greatly perturbed by hearing from the _Whatnot's_ engine-room +the inquiries concerning Sheriff Riley's skiff, and Cap'n Cod's +replies. He had not meant to steal the boat, of course, but it now +seemed that he was regarded as having done so, and was being hotly +pursued by some one interested in its recovery. It was not the Sheriff +himself, for the voice was a strange one; so it was probably one of his +men, who undoubtedly had one or more companions. Winn was too ignorant +of the world to know whether escaping from a sheriff who had unjustly +arrested him, and running off with his boat, would be considered a +serious offence or not. He only knew that while perfectly conscious of +his own innocence, he yet felt very much as though he were fleeing from +justice. He had not even known until that minute that his late captor +was a sheriff, nor could he imagine why he had been arrested. What he +did know was that some one well acquainted with the fact that he had +taken a skiff not his own was now searching for it and for him. This +was sufficient to alarm him and fill his mind with visions of arrest, +imprisonment, and fines which his father would be compelled to pay. + +Then, too, the Captain of this strange craft on which he had just found +an asylum, but from which he would already be glad to escape, had +declared himself to be a friend of Sheriff Riley, and well acquainted +with his boat. Of course, then, he would gladly aid his friend in +recovering his property, and would not hesitate to make a prisoner of +the person who had run off with it. In that case he would be taken +back to Dubuque in disgrace, his father would have to be sent for--and +who knew where he might be by this time?--and there would be a long +delay that he would probably have to endure in prison. In the mean +time what would become of the raft lost through his carelessness and +self-conceit? + +Decidedly all this must be prevented if possible; and though the boy +would have scorned to tell a lie even to save his life, he determined +to tell as little of the truth as would be necessary to answer the +questions that he knew would shortly be put to him. + +While Winn was puzzling over this situation, and trying to frame a +plausible story that would account for his presence on the tow-head +without overstepping the bounds of truth, the door of the engine-room +opened, and Cap'n Cod stumped in. He brought an armful of dry +clothing, and was beaming with the satisfaction that he always felt +when engaged in helping any one out of trouble. + +"Well, my muddy young friend," he exclaimed, good-naturedly, "how are +you getting on? Has Solon taken good care of you? Here are some +clothes that, I guess, you will have to make the best of until your own +can be dried. They probably won't come within a mile of fitting, but +clothing does not make the man, you know, and we are not very critical +as to appearances aboard the _Whatnot_. By-the-way, my name is +Fifield--Aleck Fifield. What did you say yours was?" + +"I don't think I said," answered the boy, slipping into a woollen shirt +many sizes too large for him; "but it is Winn." + +"Winn, eh? Good name. Belong to the Massachusetts Winns?" + +"My parents came from there, but I was born in Wisconsin." + +"Yes, yes. Just so. But, there! I musn't hinder you. Supper is +ready, and if you haven't any better place to go to, we should be most +happy to have you join us." + +"Thank you, sir," replied Winn. "I shall be only too glad to do so, +for I haven't had any supper, and the raft to which I belong has +probably gone off down the river without me." + +"So you belong to a raft, eh? And what happened? Did you tumble +overboard from it?" + +"No, sir. I came to this island in the skiff, and was trying to make a +line fast, when the skiff got away from me." + +"And they didn't notice it through the gloom until it was too late to +do anything, and so you got left! Yes, yes. I see just how it all +happened! Such accidents are of common occurrence on the river, and +you were very fortunate to find us here. I shall be delighted to have +you for a guest tonight, and in the morning your friends will +undoubtedly return to look for you." + +As he thus rattled on in cheery fashion, Cap'n Cod gathered up Winn's +wet clothing, preparatory to taking them to the galley to be dried. +Not finding either coat or shoes in the water-soaked pile, he inquired +if the boy had left the raft without them. + +"No, sir," replied Winn; "but I took them off, and left them in the +skiff." + +"You did! That's bad; for when your friends find the skiff with your +clothes in it, they will be apt to imagine you are drowned. Then +they'll search the river below here for your body, instead of coming +back to look for you. Never mind, though," he added quickly, mistaking +the expression of relief which this suggestion brought to Winn's face +for one of dismay, "we'll soon relieve their anxiety. We'll get a +mule, and put him in here as quick as our show earns his price. Then +we'll go humming down the river faster than any raft that ever drifted. +We may be several days in overtaking them, but I shall be only too +happy to have you remain with us for that length of time, and longer, +too, if you will. I am greatly in need of an assistant to help me run +the show. So if you are willing to take hold and work with us, the +obligation will be wholly on my side." + +"Of course I will, sir!" exclaimed Winn, whose spirits were rising as +the difficulties of his situation began to disappear. "I will do +anything I can, only I didn't know this was a show-boat, and I'm afraid +I am pretty ignorant about shows anyway." + +"That will be all right," replied the Captain. "My own experience in +the dramatic line has been so extensive that I shall have no difficulty +in posting you. I am surprised, though, that you did not recognize +this boat as having been built by one of the profession, and especially +adapted to its requirements. There are certain features about the +_Whatnot_--which, by the way, I consider a most original and attractive +name--that are intended to indicate--" + +"Suppah, sah! An' Missy Sabel awaitin'," interrupted Solon, thrusting +his woolly head into the doorway at that moment. + +Glad as Winn was of this diversion, and though he was as thankful as +only a famished boy can be that a bountiful meal awaited him, he would +willingly have gone hungry a little longer rather than enter that +dining-room just then. Although the engine-room did not afford a +mirror, he was conscious that he must present about as absurd a figure +as can well be conceived. He was bare-footed, and the left leg of his +trousers was turned up to keep it from the floor, while the right, +owing to the Captain's misfortune, barely reached his ankle. A +checkered woolen shirt hung about him in folds, and over it he wore a +garment that Cap'n Cod was pleased to style his "professional coat." +It was a blue swallow-tail, with bright brass buttons. As worn by Winn +the tails hung nearly to the floor, the cuffs were turned back over his +wrists, and the collar rubbed against his ears. + +"A pretty costume in which to appear before a strange girl," thought +poor Winn, who was noted at home for being fastidious concerning his +dress and personal appearance. "I know I must look like a guy, and she +can't help laughing, of course; but if she does, I'll never speak to +her as long as I live, and I'll leave this craft the very first chance +I get." + +While these thoughts were crowding fast upon one another, the boy was +being dragged into the dining-room by Cap'n Cod, and formally presented +as "Mr. Winn, of Massachusetts," to "my grand-niece Sabella, sir." + +[Illustration: Winn's introduction to Sabella.] + +Winn will never know whether the girl laughed or not, for at that +moment Don Blossom, who had been seated on the floor daintily nibbling +a sweet biscuit, sprang chattering to her shoulder and buried his face +in her hair, as he had done upon the boy's first appearance. This +episode formed such a seasonable diversion that by the time the girl +succeeded in freeing herself from the clutches of her pet, Winn was +seated at the table with the most conspicuous portion of his absurd +costume concealed beneath its friendly shelter. + +During the meal Winn and Sabella exchanged furtive glances, which each +hoped the other would not notice, and the boy, at least, blushed +furiously whenever one of his was detected. Although neither of them +said much, the meal was by no means a silent one; for the Captain +maintained a steady and cheerful flow of conversation from its +beginning to its end. He told Sabella a thrilling tale of Winn's +narrow escape from drowning, and how his friends were at that moment +drifting far away down the river, anxiously speculating as to his fate. +Then he told Winn of the painting of the panorama, the building of the +_Whatnot_, and of his plans for the future. + +When the meal finally came to an end, on account of Winn's inability to +eat any more, the boy was surprised to find how much at home he had +been made to feel by the unaffected simplicity and unobtrusive kindness +of these strangers. + +While Sabella and Solon cleared the table, the Captain lighted a +lantern and showed him over the boat. Thus the boy discovered that +while its after-part was devoted to the engine-room and quarters for an +animated, one-mule-power engine, a galley, and the general living-room, +the remainder of the house was arranged as an entertainment hall, with +a small curtained stage at one end, and seats for one hundred +spectators. Cap'n Cod informed him that this was to be his sleeping +apartment so long as he remained with them. The Captain slept in the +pilot-house, while Sabella's dainty little room was in the after-house +on the upper deck, and was connected with the living-room by a flight +of inside stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FOLLOWING THE TRAIL. + +The next morning, when Winn opened his eyes after the first night of +undisturbed sleep he had enjoyed since leaving home, he was for a +moment greatly puzzled to account for his surroundings. His bed had +been made down in the exhibition hall on two benches drawn close +together, and as he awoke, he found himself staring at a most +marvellous painting that occupied the full height and nearly the entire +width of the stage at the farther end of the hall. It was a lurid +scene, but so filled with black shadows that to a vivid imagination it +might represent any one of many things. While the boy was wondering if +the young woman in yellow who appeared in the upper corner of the +picture, with outstretched arms and dishevelled hair, was about to +commit suicide by flinging herself from the second story of the +factory, and only hesitated for fear of crushing the badly frightened +young man in red who from the street below had evidently just +discovered his peril, a door opened, and his host of the evening before +tiptoed into the room. + +The expression "tiptoed" is here used to indicate the extreme caution +of Cap'n Cod's entrance, and his evident desire to effect it as +noiselessly as possible. As he could only tiptoe on one foot, however, +and had neglected to muffle the iron-shod peg that served him in place +of the other, his progress was attended with more than its usual amount +of noise. He appeared relieved to find Winn awake, and advancing with +a cordial greeting, he laid the boy's own clothing, now cleaned and +dried, within his reach. "I should have sent Solon in with these," he +explained, "but for fear he might make a noise that would rouse you, +and I noticed last evening that you were sadly in need of sleep. So, +if you had not been awake, I should have stolen away as noiselessly as +I entered, and left you to have your nap out. Now, however, I think +you had better come to breakfast, for Sabella and I finished ours some +time ago." + +"Thank you, sir," said Winn. "I will be out in half a minute; but will +you please explain that painting? I have been studying it ever since I +woke." + +"That," replied the Captain, with an accent of honest pride, "is what I +consider one of my _chef-dovers_. I term it a 'Shakespearian +composite.' In order to please the tastes of certain audiences, I +shall describe it as the balcony scene between Romeo and Juliet. Yon +may note Romeo's mandolin lying at his feet, while over the whole falls +the melancholy light of a full moon rising behind the palace. To suit +a less-intelligent class, it would perhaps be described as the escape +of a Turkish captive by leaping from the upper floor of the Sultan's +seraglio into the arms of her gallant rescuer, who would be American, +British, French, German, or Spanish, according to the predominating +nationality of my audience. Or it might be called 'A Thrilling +Incident of the Great New York Fire,' in which case Juliet's moonlight +would be spoken of as 'devastating flames,' and Romeo's mandolin would +figure as a fireman's helmet. It is a painting of infinite +possibilities, any one of which may be impressed upon an audience by a +judiciously selected title and the skilful directing of their +imagination. Although I am proud of this picture, I have a number of +other 'composites' that are even more startling than this in the +variety of scenes that they can be made to illustrate. By studying +them you will learn that the whole secret of artistic success lies in +the selection of titles that appeal to and direct the imagination of +the critic, the spectator, or the would-be purchaser. I would gladly +exhibit and explain them to you now, but business before pleasure; so, +if you are dressed, let us to breakfast." + +While Winn was eating his late breakfast, Billy Brackett, only a couple +of miles away, was gazing with an expression of the blankest amazement +at his nephew's note-book. "How in the name of all that is mysterious +and improbable did this book happen to be in that coat, that coat in +that skiff, that skiff on that raft, and that raft here? It certainly +seems as though I had brought the skiff from the raft--at least this +man says I did. You are certain that I came in that identical boat, +are you?" + +"Certain, sir," replied the watchman to whom this question was +addressed. + +"No one else could have come in this skiff, and then gone off in mine +by mistake?" + +"Impossible, sir. I have been wide-awake all night, and there has not +been another soul aboard this wharf-boat until just now. Besides, I +took that coat from the skiff just after you left it last evening." + +"Then," said Billy Brackett, "the chain of evidence seems to be +unbroken, incredible as it may appear, and it stretches from here +straight away down the river--book coat, coat skiff, skiff raft, raft +Winn. Now, in order to bring its ends together, and recover my +long-lost nephew, I must again overtake that raft. I must start as +soon as possible after breakfast, too. I don't know whether the game +Winn and I are playing is blind-man's-buff or hide-and-seek, but it +certainly resembles both." + +Musing over this new aspect of the situation, the young engineer +hastened back to his hotel and breakfast. In the dining-room, a few +minutes later, a waiter was leaning over him, and asking, for the third +time, "Tea or coffee, sir, an' how'll you have your eggs?" when the +inattentive guest suddenly caused him to jump as though galvanized, by +bringing his fist down on the table with a crash, and exclaiming, "No, +by the great hornspoon, it can't be that way either! What's that you +say? Oh yes, of course. Coffee, soft-boiled, and as quick as you +can." Having delivered this order, the young man fixed his intent gaze +on a brown spot ornamenting the table-cloth, and resumed his thinking. + +It had just occurred to him that, according to all accounts, the raft +from which he had taken that skiff had come down the river to this +point two days before. So how could Winn Caspar, who had only escaped +from the island a few minutes before he and Bim made good their own +retreat, have reached the same place and joined that raft without +attracting attention? Both the day and night watchmen at the +wharf-boat had assured him that no such boy as he described had been +seen on the water-front. They also said that the raft had been there +all the day before, and that when it left it held only the three men +who came with it. "Of course he might have been inside the 'shanty' +when I was aboard, though I can't see how he got there, nor why he +should join a strange raft anyway," argued the young man. "At any +rate, it's my business to find out whether or not he is aboard it now. +How about using the skiff, though? If it is the one Winn ran off with, +it belongs to that Sheriff fellow. Like as not, he has already sent +word down the river to have it picked up. In that case, if I was +picked up in it, I might be accused of stealing it, which would never +do in the world. No; to be on the safe side I must leave the skiff +here, and take the first down-river steamboat that stops at this +landing. First, though, I'll advertise for Winn in this town, and if I +don't find him on the raft, there may be news waiting for me here when +I come back." + +This was the plan upon which the young engineer decided to act, and +immediately after breakfast he proceeded to put it into execution. + +There was no paper published in the place, but it did contain a +makeshift sort of a printing-office, and towards this Billy Brackett +directed his steps, after learning at what hour the next down-river +boat was expected. Here he spent some time in composing a small +circular, of which he ordered five hundred copies to be struck off, and +distributed broadcast. His boat came along and he had to leave before +this was ready for press; but he had engaged the services of his new +acquaintance the night-watchman, who promised to place the bills +wherever they would do good. + +Poor Bim, tied up on the wharf-boat, and nearly heart-broken at his +master's desertion, was also left in charge of this man. Billy +Brackett was desirous of establishing friendly relations with the +raftsmen when he should overtake them, and feared that would be +impossible in case they should recognize him. This they would +certainly do if he were accompanied by the bull-dog, whom one of them +at least had reason to remember so well. + +At another small landing, nearly a hundred miles farther down the +river, Messrs. Gilder, Grimshaw, and Plater were rendered somewhat +uneasy, late on the following day, by the appearance on board their +raft of a young man who asked questions. Billy Brackett had +experienced considerable difficulty in finding this raft, and was +greatly disappointed that his search in this direction should prove +fruitless. The raftsmen had never heard of Major Caspar, nor of Winn +Caspar, his son. They were lumbermen from far up on the Wisconsin +River, and were taking this raft to New Orleans as a speculation. They +knew nothing of Sheriff Riley or his skiff. Yes, they had picked up an +empty skiff two days before, but it had been taken away and another +left in its place by a young fellow with a dog, who had boarded their +raft without invitation, set his dog on one of them, and then skipped. +They would like to meet that party again--yes, they would--and they'd +make things pretty lively for him. + +Then they began asking questions in turn, and assuming such a hostile +tone that Billy Brackett concluded he might as well leave then as +later. So, after asking them to keep a sharp lookout for a raft with +three "shanties," two of which were filled with wheat, he bade them +good-evening, and started back up the river by rail. + +In the mean time the _Whatnot_ had reached the town to which he was +returning, and was now tied up just below the wharf-boat. It had been +decided that the first exhibition of the "Floating Panoramic Show" +should be given here, and Cap'n Cod went up into the town as soon as +they arrived to have some bills printed. Winn, at the same time, +started along the water-front to search for traces of his lost raft; +and Sabella, who was very fond of dogs, went aboard the wharf-boat to +make the acquaintance of a fine bull-dog she had noticed there as they +passed. + +At supper-time they all gathered again in the living-room of the +_Whatnot_, where Sabella reported her new friend to be the most +splendid bull-dog she had ever seen, and that his name was Bim. + +This name at once attracted Winn's attention, and he said he had an +uncle somewhere out in California who owned a dog named Bim. Then the +boy reported that nothing had been seen or heard of his raft, though he +did not tell them he had discovered Sheriff Riley's skiff. + +Cap'n Cod remarked that if he could only claim all the rewards he had +just seen offered, he could afford to run the _Whatnot_ by steam. +"There is one of a thousand dollars," he said, "for any information +that will lead to the capture of a gang of counterfeiters, supposed to +be operating in this vicinity. Then there is one of a hundred dollars +for the arrest of the fellow who ran off with Sheriff Riley's skiff, +and who is supposed to be a member of the same gang. There is still +another, of an equal amount, for any information as to the whereabouts, +if he is still living, or for the recovery of the body of a boy named +Caspar, the only son of my old friend, Major John Caspar, of Caspar's +Mill, in Wisconsin. He has disappeared most unaccountably, together +with a raft owned by his father. By-the-way, his first name is the +same as your last one, which is a little odd, for Winn is not a common +name. That's what it is, though, 'Winn Caspar.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +A CURIOUS COMPLICATION. + +"So that is what I was arrested for, is it?" thought Winn. "I was +supposed to be one of a gang of counterfeiters, and a pretty desperate +sort of a character. That will be a pretty good joke to tell father. +But I wonder who is offering a reward for me as plain every-day Winn +Caspar, besides the one that would be paid for the young counterfeiter +who ran off with the Sheriff's boat?" + +This is what Winn thought. What he said was, "My! but that is a lot of +money! Wouldn't it be fine if we could earn those twelve hundred +dollars?" + +"Indeed it would," answered the old man. "Even one of the smaller +rewards would buy us a mule." + +"Who is offering them?" asked Winn. + +"The Government offers the first, Sheriff Riley the second, and the +third is offered by some one named Brickell. 'W. Brickell,' the bills +are signed. I saw them up at the printing-office, but they are being +distributed all over the place." + +Sure enough, in that wretched little printing-office the compositor had +made "Brickell" out of Brackett, and as he was his own proof-reader, +the mistake was not discovered. + +"Brickell," repeated Winn, slowly. "That is a queer name, and one that +I never heard before." + +"Yes, it is one that has puzzled me a good deal," said Cap'n Cod. "I'm +sure I never heard Major Caspar mention any such person." + +"You know this Major Caspar, then?" + +"Know him! Well, I should say I did. We were in the same regiment all +through the war, and a better officer never commanded men. Know him! +I know him to the extent of a leg, lost when I was standing so close +beside him that if I hadn't been there the ball would have taken his +instead of mine. Know him! Didn't I know him for three months in the +hospital, where he came to see me every day? Indeed I do know Major +Caspar, and I should be mighty glad to know of any way in which I could +help him out of his present trouble." + +"It is strange that I never heard father speak of any Aleck Fifield," +thought Winn. He was about to ask some more questions, but was +restrained by the remembrance of his present peculiar position. The +same thought checked his inclination to say, "I am Winn Caspar, sir, +the son of your friend Major Caspar, of Caspar's Mill." Instead of +that he said to himself, "I will wait until we get away from this +place; or, at any rate, until I can receive a letter from home that +will prove who I am. Otherwise he might find out about the Sheriff's +skiff, and think I had made up the story to escape arrest as a thief." + +So Winn held his peace, and only asked his host if he would furnish him +the materials for writing a letter home. Provided with these, he wrote +to his mother as follows: + +"MANDRAKE, IOWA. + +"MY OWN DEAR MOTHER,--I write to you instead of to father, as I suppose +he must be somewhere on the river hunting for me by this time, though I +have not seen him yet. + +"I am all right, and having a fine time, but have lost the raft. I am +on board a boat called the _Whatnot_, with some very kind people--a +gentleman named Fifield, a girl named Sabella, a funny old darky named +Solon, and a monkey named Don Blossom. I am bound to find the raft +again if it is still afloat, and am going to keep on down the river in +this boat until we catch up with it. + +"I shall be here long enough for you to answer this letter; and send me +some money, please, and tell me all about everybody. Give my dear love +to Elta, and tell her I wish she knew Sabella and Don Blossom. She is +just the kind of a girl, and he is just the kind of a monkey, a fellow +likes to know. + +"Now it is late, and I must turn in, for I am working my passage on +this boat, and Solon and I must take the place of a mule to-morrow, and +till we can earn money enough to buy one. So good-bye, from your +affectionate son,----WINN." + + +While the boy was writing, Cap'n Cod went ashore, and when the former +took his letter to the post-office, he met his host there with two +letters in his hand. They followed Winn's into the box, but he did not +see the address on either of them. If he had, he would have been more +troubled than ever, for one was addressed to the Sheriff of Dubuque +County, and the other to his own father. + +The old man had seen and recognized the skiff that he had built for +Sheriff Riley as it lay tied to the wharf-boat, but had thought it best +to keep this discovery to himself until he could communicate with its +owner. By cautious inquiries he learned that the skiff had been left +there by a young man calling himself Brackett, who had gone on down the +river, but was expected back in a day or two. Cap'n Cod would have +telegraphed to Sheriff Riley but for the fact that the wires had not +yet been extended to Mandrake. So he wrote and begged the Sheriff to +hasten down the river by first boat. + +He also wrote to Major Caspar, expressing his sympathy, telling him +that he was now travelling down the Mississippi in his own boat, the +_Whatnot_, asking for full particulars concerning the lost boy, and +offering to make every effort to discover his whereabouts. + +On the morning of that very day, just before his departure from +Mandrake, Billy Brackett had also written and mailed a letter that read +as follows: + +"MY DEAR SISTER,--I am up a stump just at present, but hope to climb +down very soon. In other words, your boy is smarter than I took him to +be. He has not only managed to hide the raft, but himself as well, and +both so completely that thus far I have had but little success in +tracing them. I have reason to believe that he and I spent some time +very close to each other on an island the night I left you, but before +daylight he had again disappeared, leaving no trace. After that I +learned nothing concerning him until reaching this place, when I again +struck the trail. I am now following a warm scent, and expect to run +the young fox to earth within a few hours. + +"So much for the boy. As for the raft, its disappearance is even more +complete and unaccountable than his. There is absolutely nothing to +report concerning it. I have boarded several rafts, but none of them +bears the slightest resemblance to the _Venture_, which I am certain I +should recognize at a glance. However, when I find Winn he will of +course be able to put me on the right track, and the subsequent +recovery of the raft will prove an easy matter. + +"If you have any news, send it to me at this place, where I shall +remain until I hear from you. + +"Love to Elta. Tell her that last evening I ran across the queerest +craft I ever saw, with the queerest name I ever heard of. It is called +the _Whatnot_. Of course its Captain knew nothing of Winn, and I did +not expect he would; but I make it my business to inquire of every one +I meet or pass. + +"Hoping to be able to send you better news within a day or two, I am +your loving brother, + +"WILLIAM." + + +As this letter reached Caspar's Mill in the same mail with those from +Winn and the owner of the _Whatnot_, who, in writing to the Major, had +used his old army name, and signed himself "Respectfully yours, Cap'n +Cod," it may easily be imagined that Billy Brackett's perplexity was as +nothing compared to that of his sister. What could it all mean? Winn +was alive and well; his letter brought that comfort. But what did he +mean by stating that he was on board that boat with the absurd name, +when both William and Captain Cod stated that he was not there. Then, +too, how could it be possible for those three persons, each of whom was +anxious to find one of the others, to be in a small place, such as this +Mandrake must be, for several days without running across each other? +Such stupidity was incredible, and could only be accounted for by the +fact that all three were of the masculine sex. Well, she would soon +set things to rights, and the fond mother smiled to herself to think +that it was left for her, who had remained quietly at home, to discover +the missing boy after all. + +She had but a few minutes in which to catch the return mail; but when +it left, it bore three notes in her handwriting. The one directed to +Mr. Winn Caspar, Mandrake, Iowa, read as follows: + +"MY DARLING BOY,--How could you leave us as you did? And why don't you +come home? Don't lose a minute in hunting up your Uncle Billy, who is +now in Mandrake. He will supply you with money, and tell you what to +do. + +"Ever lovingly, but in great haste, + +"YOUR OWN MOTHER." + + +To the Captain of the _Whatnot_ Mrs. Caspar wrote: + +"Sir,--In the absence of my husband, I took the liberty of opening your +note to him of the 1st inst. In it you write that you are anxious to +discover our boy's whereabouts, when, by the same mail, I am advised by +him that he is on board the very boat of which you claim to be Captain +and owner. I of course take my boy's word in preference to that of any +stranger. Having thus detected the hollowness of your sympathy, and +the falseness of your pretended friendship for my husband, I must +request you to refrain from further meddling in this matter. Yours +etc.,----ELLEN CASPAR." + + +Fortunately, as this letter was addressed to Captain Cod, Esq., instead +of to Mr. Aleck Fifield, the old man never received it, and in due time +it was returned to the writer from the Dead-letter Office. + +To Billy Brackett Mrs. Caspar wrote: + +"MY DEAR GOOSE OF A BROTHER,--I have just received a letter from Winn +written at Mandrake. He is on the _Mantel-piece_, and out of money. +Please supply him with whatever he needs, and bring him home to me as +quickly as possible. As for the raft, I am sorry, of course, that you +cannot find it; but so long as Winn is safe, nothing else seems to +matter. + +"John writes full of enthusiasm concerning the contract, and I shall +tell him nothing of your absurd doings until you and Winn are safely +back here. Ever lovingly your sister,----ELLEN." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +BIM GROWLS. + +During the following day, while these letters were on their way to the +little Iowa town in which the principal actors in this story were +playing at such cross-purposes, active preparations were being made on +board the _Whatnot_ for the first exhibition of its panorama. In those +days the panorama filled the place now taken by the stereopticon; and +though its crude pictures lacked the photographic truth of lantern +slides, they were by no means devoid of interest. In fact, their +gorgeousness of color, and the vagueness of detail that allowed each to +represent several scenes, according to the pleasure of the lecturer, +rendered them quite as popular, if not so instructive, as their modern +successors. + +The success of a panorama, however, depended largely upon the person +who explained its pictures. If he were witty, and knew how to tell the +good story of which each one was certain to remind him, all went well, +and the fame of that panorama spread far and wide. If, on the other +hand, he was prosy, and offered only dry explanations of his pictures, +the impatient river-town audience did not hesitate to express their +dissatisfaction, and the exhibition was apt to close with a riot. + +All this was well known to Cap'n Cod; but twenty years of absence from +the stage had caused him to lose sight of his first and only +humiliating appearance before an audience, and had restored all his +youthful confidence in his own abilities. He was therefore to be the +lecturer of his own show, while Winn and Solon were to enter the +treadmill, and supply, as well as they could, the place of a mule in +furnishing power to move the heavy roll of paintings. Sabella was also +to remain out of sight, but was to grind out music from the hand-organ +whenever it might be needed. This was only a temporary position, and +would be filled by either Winn or Solon after a mule had been obtained +for the treadmill. Sabella's real duty was to dress Don Blossom, and +see that he went on the stage at the proper time. + +The hour for giving these arrangements a public test finally arrived. +By eight o'clock the exhibition hall of the _Whatnot_ was packed with +an audience that contained a number of raftsmen and steamboat hands +from the water-front. These were good-naturedly noisy, and indulged in +cat-calls, stampings, and other manifestations of their impatience for +the curtain to rise. An occasional lull in the tumult allowed the +droning notes of the "Sweet By-and-By," then new and extremely popular, +to be heard, as they were slowly ground out from the hand-organ by the +invisible Sabella. + +At length they ceased; the little drop-curtain was slowly rolled up so +as to expose the first picture, and Cap'n Cod, pointer in hand, in all +the glory of the blue swallow-tail with brass buttons, stepped on the +stage. His appearance was greeted with a silence that was almost +painful in its contrast with the previous tumult. + +Now for the neat introductory speech that the old man had prepared so +carefully and rehearsed until he knew every word by heart. He stepped +forward, and gazed appealingly at the silent audience; but no word came +from his dry lips. He swallowed convulsively, and appeared to be +struggling with himself. A titter of laughter sounded from the back of +the room. The old man's face became fiery red and then deathly pale. +He looked helplessly and pitifully from side to side. + +"Wind him up!" shouted a voice. + +"He's stopped short, never to go again," called another. + +"He's an old fraud, and his show's a fake!" + +"Speech! speech!" + +"No; a song! Let old dot-and-carry-one give us a song!" + +"Oh, shut up! Don't you see he's a ballet-dancer?" + +And so the derisive jeerings of this audience, like those of another +twenty years before, hailed Cap'n Cod's second failure. His confidence +in himself, his years of experience, the memory of what he ought to +say, all vanished the moment he faced that mass of upturned faces, and +he was once more the dumb, trembling Codringhampton of twenty years +before. A mist swam before his eyes, he groped blindly with his hands, +the derisive yells of the river-men, who were endeavoring to secure +their money's worth of amusement from this pitiful spectacle, grew +fainter and fainter in his ears. He tottered backward, and would have +fallen, had not a young man from the audience sprang to his assistance. + +Very tenderly he helped the old man from the stage and into the +friendly shadows of the side scenes. In another moment he reappeared. +With flashing eyes he stepped in front of the turbulent audience and +held up his hand. The curiosity of the river-men was sufficient to +produce an almost instant silence, which in another second might have +changed into an angry roar. + +Who was this young fellow? What business had he to interfere with +their fun? What was he going to say? He'd better be careful! They +were not in a humor to be trifled with. + +For a moment he looked steadily at them. + +Then he said: + +"Boys, I am surprised, and if I thought for a moment that you really +meant to worry that old man, I should be ashamed of you. But I know +you didn't. It was only your fun. He has been a soldier, and lost a +leg fighting for you and me and to preserve the glorious Union, that +you and I are prouder of than anything else in life. He has a daughter +in there too--a young girl, for whom he is trying to make a living with +this show. I saw her just now, and if you could have seen the look of +distress and terror on her face as she sprang to the old man's side you +would feel as I do about this business. Yon would know, as I do, that +this was no fake, but a square--A, number one--show, packed full and +running over with good things, worth ten times the price of admission. +You'd know that it was just the bulliest show ever seen on this little +old river, and you'd turn in with a will to help me prove it. I am a +stranger, just arrived in town, and never set eyes on this outfit +before; but I'm willing to put up my last dollar on the fact that this +show is so much better than I've said that as soon as you've seen it +once, you'll want to see it right over again, you'll come to it every +evening that it stays here, and then you'll follow it down the river on +the chance of seeing it again. Hello, inside! Turn on your steam, and +set your whirligig to moving." + +By this time the good-nature of the audience was fully restored, and, +amid encouraging cries of "That's the talk!" "Ring the jingle-bell and +give her a full head!" "Sweep her out into the current and toot your +horn, stranger!" the panorama began slowly to unroll. The young man +picked up the pointer, and the moment the second picture--a lurid scene +that Cap'n Cod had entitled "The Burning of Moscow"--was fully exposed +to view, he began: + +"There you have it, gentlemen! One of the most thrilling events of +this century. The great San Francisco fire of '55. City swept clean +from the face of the earth, and built up again, finer than before, +inside of a month. I tell you, fellows, those Californians are +rustlers! Why, I met a man out in 'Frisco last month whom I knew, two +years ago, as a raftsman on this very river at twenty a month and +found. To-day he is worth a cool million of dollars, and if you want +to know how he made it, I'll let you into the secret." + +And so the young stranger rattled on with story and joke, never pausing +to study the panoramic scenes as they moved slowly along, but giving +each the first title that suggested itself, and working in descriptions +to fit the titles. He kept it up for more than an hour; and when +Sabella, who was watching him from the side scenes with admiring +wonder, called out softly that the picture he was then describing was +the last, he gracefully dismissed as delighted an audience as ever +attended a river show, and disappeared with them. + +[Illustration: Billy Brackett is a friend in need.] + +Billy Brackett had come up the Illinois side of the river by rail and +stage, and had been ferried across to Mandrake just in time to be +attracted by the incipient riot aboard the _Whatnot_. Led to the scene +by curiosity, his generous indignation was aroused by the sight of the +helpless old man and his tormentors. Now, to avoid being thanked for +what he had done, he hurried away, released Bim from his confinement on +the wharf-boat, to that bow-legged animal's intense joy, and went to +the hotel for the night. + +The next morning, when he came down into the office, the clerk handed +him Mrs. Caspar's letter. He stood by the desk and read it. Then he +read it again, with a frown of perplexity deepening on his forehead. +"Winn here, on board the _Mantel-piece_, and out of money! What can +Ellen mean? She must be losing her mind." + +The young man was so engrossed with this letter that he paid no +attention to the other occupants of the room. Thus he did not see +Cap'n Cod and his niece enter the front door, nor notice that the +former was greeted by two men who had been talking earnestly together +and watching him with great interest. Nor did he see Sabella stoop to +pat Bim, who had gone to meet her. He did not notice the entrance a +moment later of a boy with a very puzzled expression of countenance and +an open letter in his hand. Neither did he see that the boy was +accompanied by the printer who had furnished his reward notices, and +who now pointed in his direction, saying, "That's him there. That's +Mr. Brickell." + +At the same moment Sabella exclaimed, "Oh, Winn, here's Bim! Isn't he +a dear dog?" Then she too caught sight of Billy Brackett, and pulling +Cap'n Cod by the sleeve, whispered, "There he is, uncle. That is the +gentleman you have come to thank for helping us so splendidly last +evening." + +While she was thus whispering into one ear, the night watchman of the +wharf-boat, who stood on the other side of the old man, was saying, in +a low tone, "Yes, sir. As I was just telling the Sheriff, that's the +man as stole his skiff, for I saw him when he landed here in it." + +Sheriff Riley, who had only reached Mandrake half an hour before, was +staring at Winn, and saying to himself, "There's the young rascal now. +I knew it wasn't that other fellow, though somehow his face is +strangely familiar too." + +There was a momentary hesitation on all sides. Then, as though moved +by a single impulse, Winn started towards Billy Brackett to ask him if +his name was Brickell, Cap'n Cod stepped up to express his heart-felt +gratitude for what he had done the evening before, and Sheriff Riley +moved towards Winn with the intention of arresting him. At this Bim, +recognizing the Sheriff, stationed himself in front of his preoccupied +master, erected the bristles on the back of his neck, and growled. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +EVERY ONE EXPLAINS. + +At Bim's growl, Billy Brackett said "Be quiet, sir!" and looked up. He +wondered somewhat at the number of persons advancing towards him, and +was also surprised to note that, with one exception, they were all +people whom he knew. He recognized Sabella and her uncle, the +wharf-boat man, the printer, and even the Sheriff of Dubuque County. +The only one of the group whom he had not seen before was the +gentlemanly and thoroughly honest-looking young fellow upon whose +shoulder the Sheriff had just laid his hand, saying, + +"I want you, my boy." + +"I expect I want him more than you do, Sheriff," remarked Billy +Brackett, quietly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Winn's other +shoulder. "You take him to be a thief, while I take him to be my +nephew; and, of course, if he is the one, he can't be the other. Isn't +your name Winn Caspar? Answer me that, you young rascal!" + +"Yes," replied Winn, slowly, "that is my name. But what a stupid I +have been!" + +"You mean in allowing yourself to be carried off by the raft, and then +losing it, and getting arrested, and running off with the Sheriff's +skiff, and letting it go adrift with your coat in it, and shipping +aboard some craft that your dear mother calls the _Mantel-piece_ for a +cruise down the river, instead of getting along home and relieving the +anxiety of your distressed parents, to say nothing of that of your aged +uncle. Yes, it does seem to me that in this instance the general +brilliancy of the family is somewhat clouded." + +"I don't mean anything of the kind," answered Winn, stoutly. "All +these things might have happened to any one, even to an uncle of your +advanced years and wisdom. So I am sure I don't consider them proofs +of stupidity. The only stupid thing that I am willing to acknowledge +is that I didn't recognize Bim, after I'd been told there was a dog of +that name here, too. That's the thing I can't get over." + +"But you had never seen him!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. + +"That makes no difference," was the calm reply. "I'd heard so much +about him that I ought to have known him, and I can't forgive myself +that I didn't." + +"How about running off with my boat?" queried the Sheriff, who did not +at all understand the situation. + +"I didn't run off with your boat. It ran off with me first, and ran +away from me afterwards. If you hadn't taken the oars out I should +have rowed into Dubuque and sent some one back to the island with her. +As it was, I had to go wherever she chose to take me, until she set me +ashore on a tow-head, and went on down the river by herself. I'm glad +of it, though, for if she hadn't, I should never have found the +_Whatnot_." + +"The _Whatnot_!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. "Are you living on board +the _Whatnot_?" + +"Yes, sir, this young gentleman is a guest on board of my boat," said +Cap'n Cod, who now found his first chance to speak; "and glad as I have +been to have him, it would have made me many times happier to know that +he was the son of my old friend and commander. Why didn't you tell me +the truth in the first place, boy?" And the veteran gazed +reproachfully at Winn. + +"I did tell you the truth so far as I told you anything. I didn't dare +tell you any more, because I heard you say you were a friend of Sheriff +Riley, and knew his skiff. So I was afraid you would have me arrested +for running off with it, and in that way delay me so that I would never +find the raft. Besides, I wanted to wait until I could get a letter +from home to prove who I am, and I hadn't a chance to write until we +got here." + +"With me, the simple word of Major Caspar's son would have been +stronger than all the proof in the world," said the loyal old soldier; +"and though you did, as you say, tell the truth so far as you told +anything, you did not tell the whole truth, as your father certainly +would have done had he been in your place." + +"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," quoted the +Sheriff, in his most official tone. "But look here, Cap'n Cod," he +continued, "you haven't yet explained what you know of this young +fellow, and his suspicious, or, to say the least, queer performances on +the river." + +"Cap'n Cod!" interrupted Winn. "Is your name Cap'n Cod?" + +"It is a name that I have been known to answer to," replied the owner +of the _Whatnot_; "and after my performance of last evening I don't +suppose I shall ever be allowed to claim any other." + +"If you had only told me all your names in the first place," said Winn, +with a sly twinkle in his eyes, "I should probably have done the same. +I have so often heard my father speak of Cap'n Cod's goodness and +honesty and bravery, that I should have been perfectly willing to trust +him; though I was a bit suspicious of the Sheriff's friend, Mr. Aleck +Fifield." + +"It's not the Sheriff's friends you need be suspicious of, my lad, but +his enemies," interrupted Mr. Riley; "and I wonder if you haven't +fallen in with them already. As I now understand this case, you came +down the river on a raft until you reached the island near which I +found you. What became of your raft at that point?" + +"That is what I would like to know," replied the boy. + +"What!" cried Billy Brackett. "Do you mean to say that you don't know +where the raft is?" + +"No more than I know how you happen to be here instead of out in +California, where I supposed you were until five minutes ago. I +haven't set eyes on the _Venture_, nor found a trace of her, since the +first morning out from home." + +"Well, if that doesn't beat everything!" said the young engineer, with +a comical tone of despair. "I thought that after finding you the +discovery of the raft would follow as a matter of course; but now it +begins to look farther away than ever." + +"But in finding me," said Winn, "you have found some one to help you +find the raft." + +"You?" said the other, quizzically. "Why, I was thinking of sending +you home to your mother; that is, if the Sheriff here will allow you to +go." + +"I don't know about that," said the officer. "It seems to me that I +still know very little about this young man. Who is to prove to me +that he is the son of Major Caspar?" + +"Oh, I can speak for that," replied Billy Brackett. + +"And I suppose he is ready to vouch for you; but that won't do. You +see, you are both suspicious characters, and unless some one whom I +know as well as I do Cap'n Cod here can identify you, I must take you +both back to Dubuque." + +"Captain Cod," repeated Billy Brackett, thoughtfully. "I seem to have +heard that name before. Why, yes, I have a note of introduction from +Major Caspar to a Captain Cod, and I shouldn't wonder if you were the +very man. Here it is now." + +"I am proud to make your acquaintance, sir," said the veteran, +heartily, after glancing over the note thus handed to him. "It's all +right, Sheriff. This is certainly the Major's handwriting, for I know +it as I do my own, and I don't want any better proof that this +gentleman is the person he claims to be." + +"Would you be willing to go on his bond for a thousand dollars?" asked +Mr. Riley. + +"I would, and for as much more as my own property, together with what I +hold in trust for my niece, would bring," answered the old man, +earnestly. + +"And would you be willing that your money should be risked on any such +a venture?" asked the Sheriff, turning to Sabella with a smile. + +"Indeed I would," answered the girl, promptly. "After the splendid way +Mr. Brackett helped us last evening, I know whatever he says must be +so." + +"That will do," said Mr. Riley. "With such sureties I am well content, +and am willing to make public acknowledgment that these gentlemen are +what they represent themselves to be. Now, for their future guidance, +I will tell them what I have not yet hinted to a living soul. It is +that their raft has probably been stolen and taken down the river by +the most noted gang of counterfeiters that has ever operated in this +part of the country. There are three of them, and I thought I had +surely run them to earth when I traced them to the island just above +Dubuque. You must have seen them there, didn't you?" + +"No, sir," replied Winn, to whom this question was addressed. "I only +saw one man on the island. He said he was a river-trader, and would +help me float the raft. We went to look for his partners, and when I +came back, it and he were both gone. After that I did not see a soul +until you came along and arrested me." + +"That confirms my belief that they have appropriated your raft to their +own uses," said the Sheriff; "and it is a mighty good scheme on their +part, too. We were watching all the steamboats, and even the trading +scows, but never thought of finding them on a raft. They have probably +disguised it, and themselves too, long before this, so that to trail +them will be very difficult. I suppose you will try to follow them, +though?" + +"Certainly I shall," answered Billy Brackett, promptly. "I haven't +undertaken this job only to give it up after a week's trial. As for +Winn, though, I don't know but what I really ought to send him home." + +"Now look here, Uncle Billy. You know you don't mean that. You know +that, much as I want to see mother and Elta, I simply _must_ find that +raft, or, at any rate, help you do it. You couldn't send me home, +either, unless you borrowed a pair of handcuffs from the Sheriff and +put me in irons. Anyway, I don't believe you'd have the heart. If I +thought for a moment that you had, I'd--well, I'd disappear again, +that's all." + +"All right," laughed Billy Brackett. "I'm willing you should go with +us if Bim is. What do you say, old dog? Speak, sir!" + +And Bim spoke till the echoes rang again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +A "MEWEL" NAMED "REWARD." + +It being thus settled that the search for the raft was to be continued, +the Sheriff said: "I wish I could go with you, Mr. Brackett, and see +this affair through; but those fellows are beyond my hunting-ground +now, and I've got important business to attend to up the river. I'll +tell you what I will do, though. I'll appoint you a deputy, and give +you a bit of writing witnessed by a notary, as well as a badge. The +paper will identify you, and state that you are engaged on government +business, which entitles you to official aid wherever you may demand +it. I will also give you samples of the bills those fellows are +circulating. They are fives and tens, and by far the best specimens of +that kind of work I have ever seen. Of course, if you don't catch them +it will be all right; but if you do, perhaps you'll remember old +friends when the reward is paid." + +Billy Brackett thanked Mr. Riley, and accepted these friendly offers, +though he afterwards remarked to Winn that as they were searching for a +lost raft, and not for a gang of counterfeiters, he thought it unlikely +that he should ever play the part of Sheriff. + +"But you'd try for that reward if you had the chance, wouldn't you?" +asked Winn. + +"No, I would not," was the prompt reply. "Man-hunting, and especially +man-hunting for money, is not in my line. It is a duty that Sheriffs +are obliged to perform, but, thank goodness, I am not a Sheriff." + +At the conclusion of all these explanations and arrangements, the +entire party adjourned to the _Whatnot_, to which Sabella had already +returned, and where they were to dine, by Cap'n Cod's invitation. + +What a good dinner it was, and what a merry one! How Solon, who in a +speckless white apron waited at table, grinned at the praises bestowed +upon his cooking! How they all chaffed each other! Winn was +ironically praised for his success in losing rafts, and the Sheriff for +his in capturing counterfeiters; Cap'n Cod was gravely congratulated +upon the result of his efforts to entertain the public, and even +Sabella was highly praised for her skilful performance on the +hand-organ. With all this banter, Cap'n Cod did not lose sight of the +obligation under which Billy Brackett had placed him the evening +before, and so sincerely regretted that he and Winn were not to +continue their voyage down the river on the _Whatnot_, that the former +finally said: + +"Well, sir, if you really want us to, I don't see why we shouldn't +travel with you until we overhaul our raft. I am rather taken with +this show business myself, and have always had a desire to appear on +the stage. As for Winn, and that other young monkey, Don Blossom--" + +"All right," laughed Winn. "I'd rather take the part of monkey than of +mule, any day." + +"Other young monkey," continued Billy Brackett, gravely, without +noticing this interruption, "we'll hitch them together and exhibit them +as Siamese twins. Oh, I tell you, gentlemen, we'll give a show such as +never was seen on this little old river. I don't suppose this craft is +as fast as some of the larger steamboats, but she can certainly +overtake a raft, and we might just as well have some fun out of the +trip as not." + +"But she is not a steamboat," confessed Cap'n Cod. + +"Not a steamboat! What is she then, and how do you propel her?" + +"She is only a mule-boat, and at present, as we have no mule, we merely +drift with the current." + +At this Billy Brackett became thoughtful, and asked to be shown into +the engine-room. He had not appreciated Winn's reference to acting the +part of a mule until now; but at sight of the treadmill, and a sudden +realization of the part his nephew had taken in the performance of the +preceding evening, he laughed until the tears filled his eyes, and the +others laughed in sympathy. + +"Oh, Winn, Winn!" he cried. "You'll be the death of me yet! I wonder +if ever an uncle was blessed with such an absurd nephew before?" + +"That's all right, Uncle Billy," said Winn; "but you just step in and +work that treadmill for an hour. Then see if you'll laugh. Eh, Solon?" + +"No, sah. Ole Solom he don' git in dere no mo'. He gwine strike, he +am, agin dish yer mewel bizness." + +"Look here, Winn," said Billy Brackett, when he had recovered his +gravity, "didn't I offer a reward for your discovery?" + +"To be sure you did; and I meant to claim it, too. That's what I got +the printer to point out Mr. 'Brickell' for. So I'll take it now, if +you please." + +"That is one of the rewards I expected to earn," remarked Cap'n Cod. +"And I wrote to your father for full particulars concerning your +disappearance; but I don't suppose there is any chance for me now, so +long as you have discovered yourself, unless you could make it +convenient to get lost again." + +"I was rather expecting to come in for that reward myself," said the +Sheriff. + +"While I," said Billy Brackett, "had about concluded that if any one +was entitled to it, it was the young rascal's worthy uncle. But I'll +tell you how we will settle these several claims. Solon here is almost +the only one who has not applied for the reward, though I am convinced +that he is as well entitled to it as any of us. Therefore I am going +to pay it to him--" + +At this the old negro's eyes grew wide as saucers. He had never been +possessed of a hundred dollars in his life. + +"On condition," continued the young engineer, "that he immediately +invests it in a mule, which he shall offer to our friend Cap'n Cod as a +substitute for himself and Winn in the treadmill. I shall receive my +reward by being permitted to travel on the _Whatnot_ and study for the +stage, while the Sheriff shall be rewarded by being allowed to name the +mule." + +Although they all laughed at this scheme and considered, it a good +joke, Billy Brackett was deeply in earnest beneath all his assumed +frivolity. He realized that finding the raft and taking possession of +it were no longer one and the same thing. The fact that it was in the +hands of a gang of men who were at once shrewd and desperate rendered +its recovery an affair requiring all the discretion and skill that he +could command. For the purpose in view, a boat like the _Whatnot_, +with which he could stop when and where he pleased, as well as visit +places unattainable by larger craft, was much better suited than a +steamboat that would only touch at certain fixed points. Then again he +and Winn would be less likely to arouse the suspicion of those whom +they sought if attached to Cap'n Cod's show than if they appeared to +have no definite business or object in view. He calculated that by +using mule-power in the daytime and drifting with the current at night +the _Whatnot_ could be made to reach St. Louis as soon as the raft, and +still allow time for several exhibitions of the panorama on the way. +From the outset he had expected to take the raft at least as far as St. +Louis, and now was perfectly willing that its present crew should have +the labor of navigating it to that point. Thus the plan of travelling +by the _Whatnot_ commended itself strongly to his judgment, besides +proving highly satisfactory to all those interested in it. + +Even Bim approved of it, for in addition to showing a decided +appreciation of Sabella's friendship, this intelligent animal evinced a +desire to become more intimately acquainted with Don Blossom, who was +the first of his race he had ever encountered. + +The mule selected by Solon, and guaranteed by that expert in mules to +be "a turrible wukker, 'kase I sees hit in he eye," was purchased that +very afternoon, and immediately introduced to the scene of his future +labors. + +[Illustration: "The mule was purchased that afternoon."] + +Sheriff Riley named him "Reward." Then bidding these strangely found +friends good-bye, and taking his recovered property with him, he +boarded an up-bound steamboat and started for home. + +As there was no reason why the others should not also begin their +journey at once, the _Whatnot_ was got under way at the same time, and +headed down the stream. + +Cap'n Cod proudly occupied the pilot-house; Solon attended to the +four-legged engine; Sabella was making preparations for supper; while +the two who would be raftmates, provided they only had a raft, paced +slowly back and forth on the upper deck, enjoying the scenery and +discussing their plans. + +"If we only knew how those fellows had disguised the raft, and what she +looked like now!" remarked Billy Brackett. + +"I'm certain that I should recognize it under any disguise," asserted +Winn, positively. + +"That may be, but it would simplify matters if we could have some +definite description of the craft. Now we shall have to board every +raft we overhaul, on some pretence or other, and make inquiries. And +that reminds me that the _Whatnot_ does not seem to be provided with a +skiff." + +"Yes, Solon said there was one on this deck, covered with canvas. That +must be it there," replied Winn. As he spoke he lifted an edge of the +bit of old sail that protected some bulky object from the weather, and +looked beneath it. Then he uttered a cry of amazement, and tore the +canvas completely off. + +"It's my canoe, as sure as I'm standing here!" he shouted. "The very +one that was carried off on the raft!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +REWARD RUNS AWAY WITH THE PANORAMA. + +There was not the slightest doubt that the canoe, covered by a bit of +canvas, which had rested all this time on the upper deck of the +_Whatnot_, was the very one whose loss had grieved Winn almost as much +as that of the raft itself. If he had needed proof other than his +certain knowledge of the little craft, it was at hand; for, as he +pointed out to Billy Brackett, there were his initials, rudely cut with +a jack-knife, just inside the gunwale. How well he remembered carving +them, one sunny afternoon, when he and Elta were drifting down the +creek! Yes, indeed, it was his canoe fast enough, but how came it +there? There was but one way to obtain an answer, and in another +minute Cap'n Cod was being plied with eager questions as to when, +where, and how he came into possession of the dugout. + +"That canoe?" he questioned slowly, looking from one to the other, and +wondering at their eagerness. "Why, I bought it off a raft just before +leaving Dubuque. You see, I didn't have any skiff, and didn't feel +that I could afford to buy one. So I was calculating to build one +after we'd got started. Then a raft came along, and the fellows on it +must have been awfully hard up, for they offered to sell their canoe so +cheap that I just had to take it. Two dollars was all I gave for it; +and though it isn't exactly--" + +"But what sort of a raft was it?" anxiously interrupted Winn. + +"Just an ordinary timber raft with a 'shanty' and a tent on it, and--" + +"You mean three 'shanties,' don't you?" + +"No; one 'shanty' and a tent. I took particular notice, because as +there were only three men aboard, I wondered why the 'shanty,' which +looked to be real roomy, wasn't enough." + +"Three men!" exclaimed Billy Brackett--"a big man, a middle-sized man, +and a little man, like the bears in the story-book. Why Winn, that's +our raft, and I've been aboard it twice within the last four days." + +"You have! Where? How? Why didn't you tell me? Where is it now?" + +"Oh, I have been aboard it here and there. Didn't mention it because I +haven't been acquainted with you long enough to post you in every +detail of my previous history, and now that raft is somewhere down the +river, between here and St. Louis." Then changing his bantering tone, +the young engineer gave a full explanation of how he happened to board +the _Venture_ twice, and when he finished, Winn said, + +"But you haven't mentioned the wheat. Didn't you notice it?" + +"Wheat! Oh yes. I do remember your father saying he had put some +wheat aboard as a speculation; but I didn't see anything of any wheat, +nor was there any place where it could have been concealed." + +"Then they must have thrown it overboard, as I was afraid they had, and +there was a thousand dollars' worth of it, too." + +"Whew! Was there as much as that?" said Billy Brackett, thoughtfully. +"So those rascals first stole it, and then threw it away, and now there +is a thousand dollars reward offered for information that will lead to +their capture. I declare, Winn, circumstances do sometimes alter +cases." + +"Indeed they do, and I think we ought to accept that reward, for +father's sake. I know I feel as if I owed him at least a thousand +dollars." + +"Did you ever cook a rabbit before you caught it, Winn?" + +"Of course not. How absurd! Oh, I see what you mean, but I don't +think it's the same thing at all. We can't help finding the raft, now +that we know where it is, and just what it looks like." + +Billy Brackett only laughed at this, and then, in obedience to +Sabella's call, they went down to supper. The engine was stopped that +it also might be fed, and for an hour the _Whatnot_ was allowed to +drift with only Solon on deck. Then Reward was again set to work, and +until ten o'clock the unique craft spun merrily down-stream. From that +hour the engine was allowed to rest until morning; and while they +drifted, the crew divided the watches of the night between them, Cap'n +Cod and Winn taking one, and Billy Brackett with Solon for company the +other. + +At midnight Sabella had a lunch ready for the watch just coming below, +as well as for the one about to turn out; and then, wrapped warmly in a +blanket, she sat for an hour on the upper deck with Cap'n Cod and Winn, +fascinated by the novelty of drifting down the great river at night. +The lights that twinkled here and there along the shores earlier in the +evening had disappeared, and the whole world seemed asleep. The +brooding stillness was only broken by the distant hooting of owls, or +the musical complainings of the swift waters as they chafed impatiently +against some snag, reef, or bar. + +They talked in hushed voices, and Sabella related how the man from whom +her uncle purchased Winn's canoe had told her that she reminded him of +his own little daughter, who lived so far away that she didn't even +know where her father was. "He loves her dearly, though," added +Sabella. "I know from the way he talked about her; but I can't think +what he meant when he said I ought to be very grateful because I didn't +have any father, and that it would be much better for his little girl +if she hadn't one either." + +"I suppose he meant because he is such a bad man," suggested Winn. + +"I don't believe he is a bad man," protested Sabella. "If he was, he +just couldn't talk the way he did." + +"But he stole our raft, and he is a counterfeiter, and there's a reward +offered for him." + +"How do you know? Only yesterday some people thought you had stolen a +boat, and were a counterfeiter, and there were two rewards offered for +you," laughed Sabella. "So perhaps this man isn't any worse than you +were. Anyhow, I'm going to like him for his little girl's sake, until +I find out that he is really a bad man." + +"I wonder if it could have been Mr. Gilder?" thought Winn, as he +remembered how that gentleman had won his confidence. Then he +entertained Cap'n Cod and Sabella by relating the incident of his warm +reception to the first and only one of the "river-traders" whom he had +met. + +By noon of the next day they reached the point at which Billy Brackett +had last seen the raft, and they knew that here their search for it +must begin in earnest. For five days more they swept on down the +mighty river at the rate of nearly a hundred miles a day. They no +longer ran at night, for fear of passing the raft in the darkness, but +from sunrise to sunset they hurried southward with all possible speed. +They made inquiries at every town and ferry landing; they scanned +critically every raft they passed, and boarded several that appeared to +be about the size of the _Venture_, though none of them showed a tent +in addition to its "shanty." During every minute of daylight either +Billy Brackett or Winn watched the river from the upper deck, but at +the end of five days they had not discovered the slightest trace of the +missing raft. + +Cap'n Cod became so interested in the chase that he would willingly +have kept it up by night as well as by day, without stopping to give +exhibitions anywhere; but this Billy Brackett would not allow. + +"We are certainly travelling faster than they," he argued, "even if +they are not making any stops, which is improbable, considering the +nature of their business. So we must overtake them sooner or later, +and we can't afford the risk of missing them by running at night. +Besides, this is a show-boat, and not a police patrol boat. Its +reputation must be sustained, and though we don't take time enough at +any one place to advertise, and so attract a crowd, we can at least pay +expenses." + +So the panorama was exhibited every evening, and Billy Brackett, acting +as lecturer, pointed out the beauties of the "composite" paintings, in +his own witty, happy-go-lucky way, to such audiences as could be +collected. + +At one of these exhibitions, given at Alton, only twenty miles from St. +Louis, and just above the point where the clear waters of the +Mississippi disappear in the turbid flood of the greater Missouri, an +incident occurred that, while only regarded as amusing at the time, was +productive of most important results to our friends. At Billy +Brackett's suggestion, Don Blossom, dressed to represent the lecturer, +had been trained to slip slyly on the stage after the panorama was well +under way. Provided with a bit of stick, he would walk behind the +lecturer, and gravely point at the picture in exact imitation of the +other's movements. For a minute or so Billy Brackett would continue +his remarks as though nothing unusual were happening. At length, when +he had allowed sufficient time to elapse for an audience to fully +appreciate the situation, he would turn as though to learn the cause of +their uproarious mirth, discover the monkey, and chase him from the +stage with every sign of anger. + +In rehearsal, this act had been done to perfection; but the first time +Don Blossom heard the storm of cheers, yells, and laughter, with which +his appearance was greeted by a genuine river audience, he became so +terrified, that without waiting to be driven from the stage he fled +from it. Darting behind the scenes and on through the living-room, he +finally took refuge in the darkest corner of the engine-room, where +Reward was drowsily working his treadmill. The monkey was so +frightened that a moment later, when Sabella went to find him, he +sprang away from her, and with a prodigious leap landed squarely on +Reward's head, where, chattering and screaming, he clung desperately to +the long ears. + +[Illustration: "With a prodigious leap he landed squarely on Reward's +head."] + +The next instant a frantic mule was performing the almost impossible +feat of running away on a treadmill. At the same time, to Billy +Brackett's dismay and to the astonishment of his audience, the several +pictures of the panorama were flitting by in a bewildering stream of +color, the effect of which was kaleidoscopic and amazing. + +This was Don Blossom's first and last appearance on the stage in +public, for he was so thoroughly frightened that, after being rescued +from his unhappy position, nothing could induce him to enter either the +exhibition hall or the engine-room again. An hour later he managed to +evade the watchfulness of his young mistress, slip from the boat, and +scamper away through the darkness. His absence was not discovered +until the next morning, and at first it was supposed that he was in +hiding somewhere on board. When a thorough search failed to produce +the little rascal, all except Sabella declared he would never be found, +and they must proceed down the river without him. Against this +decision the little girl, who had become deeply attached to her pet, +protested so earnestly that Cap'n Cod finally agreed to devote an hour +to searching the town and making inquiries for the lost monkey. In +order to make the search as thorough as possible, he, Billy Brackett, +Winn, and Solon went ashore and started in different directions, +leaving Sabella alone on the _Whatnot_. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +WINN DISCOVERS HIS LONG-LOST RAFT. + +The morning was gray and chill. The low-hanging clouds were charged +with moisture, and a thick fog hung above the river. Sabella was so +filled with anxiety concerning the fate of Don Blossom that she was +unable to settle down to any of the light domestic duties with which +she generally occupied her mornings. She wandered restlessly from door +to window, with the vague hope that her missing pet might be somewhere +in sight. If the weather had not been so unpleasant, she would have +started out on a private search for him in the immediate vicinity of +the landing. All at once, as she was gazing from the window of her own +little room on the upper deck at the dreary-looking houses of the +river-front, and as far as she could see up the one muddy street that +came within her range of vision, she heard shouting and laughter, and +saw a group of persons approaching the boat. + +For a few minutes she could not make out who they were, or what they +were doing. Then she saw that the one taller than the others was a +man, and that he was surrounded by a group of boys. Several of them +ran backward in front of him, and all of them seemed greatly excited +over something that he bore in his arms. It was a red bundle that +squirmed and struggled as though it was alive. Sabella looked for a +moment longer, then she darted down the short flight of steps leading +to the living-room, and flung open the outer door. + +"It's Don Blossom! It's my own dear, sweet Don Blossom!" she cried, +almost snatching the trembling little animal from the man's arms in her +eagerness. + +The man stepped inside, and closed the door to shut out the boys, who, +after lingering a few minutes, gradually dispersed. + +"Oh, you dear monkey! How could you run away? You naughty, naughty +Don Blossom! Was he cold and wet and hungry and frightened? But he's +safe now, and he shall have his breakfast directly; so he shall, the +dear blessed!" + +While Sabella was so much engrossed with her pet as to be unmindful of +all else, the man who had restored him to her stood just within the +doorway and watched her, with an amused smile. + +"So he is your monkey, is he? I thought he must be when I first saw +him," he said at length. + +"Yes, indeed, he is; and I have been feeling so badly at losing him. +But where did you find him, and how did you know he was mine?" Here +the little girl looked for the first time into the stranger's face. +"Why, you are the very same one--" + +"Yes," he replied, quietly, "I am the very same one whom you reminded +of his own little girl, and who has thought of you very often since. I +didn't know that you had reached this place, or I should have come to +see you before. I found this monkey a little while ago in possession +of some boys who were teasing him, and thought I recognized him as soon +as I saw him. I became certain he was yours when some of the boys said +they had seen him on a show-boat last evening, and that, after they had +had some fun with him, they were going to bring him down here and claim +a reward. As I wanted the pleasure of bringing him back to you myself, +I bought him of them, and here he is." + +"Then you are not a bad man, as Winn said, but a very good one, as I +told him, and now I can prove it!" exclaimed Sabella, with a note of +joyous triumph in her voice. "I'm ever and ever so much obliged to +you, and I only wish I could see your little girl to tell her what a +splendid father she has." + +"Who is Winn? And what makes him think I am a bad man?" inquired the +stranger, curiously. + +"Oh, he's a boy, a big boy, that has lost a raft that we are helping +him find, and he thinks you stole it. So he says you are a bad man; +but I know you are not, and you wouldn't do such a mean thing as to +steal a boy's raft, would you?" + +"Well, no," hesitated the stranger, greatly taken aback by this +unexpected disclosure and abrupt question. "No, of course not," he +added, recovering himself. "I wouldn't steal a raft, or anything else, +from a boy, though I might occasionally borrow a thing that I needed +very much. But where is this Winn boy now? And where is your uncle?" + +"They have gone out to find Don Blossom, and Mr. Brackett and Solon +have gone too, but they'll all be back directly, and then you can tell +them that you only borrowed Winn's raft, and where you have left it. +Oh, I am so glad it was you that found Don Blossom!" + +"Who is Mr. Brackett?" inquired the stranger, glancing uneasily out of +the window. + +"Mr. Brackett? Why, he is Winn's uncle, though you wouldn't think he +was an uncle, or any older than Winn, he is so funny, and he is helping +find the raft. But you'll see him in a few minutes, for they said +they'd only be gone an hour." + +"I think I'll go and find them, and tell them they needn't hunt any +longer for the monkey," said the stranger, hurriedly. + +Then, before Sabella could remonstrate, he had bent down and kissed +her, saying, "Good-bye, and God bless you, little one," opened the +door, and was gone. + +"Seems to me that is very foolish, when he might have seen them by just +waiting a few minutes," said Sabella to herself, as she pulled off Don +Blossom's gay but soaked and mud-bespattered coat. "Now perhaps he +will miss them after all." + +The stranger had hardly disappeared before Solon returned to the boat, +grumbling at the weather, the mud, and, above all, at the rheumatism +that forbade him to remain out in the wet any longer. + +"Hit hain't no use, honey," he said, as he opened the door, "dat ar Don +monkey gone fur good an' all dish yer time. Yo' nebber see him no mo'. +Wha--wha--whar yo fin' him? He ben yeah all de time, while ole Solon +ben er traipsin' fro de mud, an' er huntin', an' er huntin'?" + +"No, indeed, he hasn't!" cried Sabella, laughing merrily, as she held +Don Blossom up to the astonished gaze of the old negro. "He has just +come home." Then she explained at length how her pet had been brought +back to her by such a good kind man. + +"Well, ef dat ar ain't a beater!" ejaculated Solon. "I's mighty glad +de lil rasc'l is foun', anyway, 'kase now we kin be gittin' outen dish +yer rheumatizy place. I'll go an' hitch up dat mewel, so to hab him +ready to start when de Cap'n come." + +Upon leaving the _Whatnot_, Cap'n Cod had turned to the left, or up +along the river-front of the town; Billy Brackett had plunged directly +into its business portion, intending to keep on until he reached the +hills beyond, on which stood the better class of residences; and Winn +had turned to the right. + +The young engineer, closely followed by Bim, walked for several blocks +without seeing or hearing anything of the runaway monkey. Suddenly, +with a low growl, Bim started across the street. His master was just +in time to see a man spring into the open doorway of a store, and slam +the door to as the dog leaped furiously against it. + +The glimpse he caught of the man's face was like a lightning flash, but +it was enough. He knew him to be the raftsman who had kicked Bim, and +whom he had rescued from the dog's teeth at Mandrake, more than a week +before. "He is one of those scoundrels who stole the _Venture_, and if +I can only trace him I'll find the raft," thought the young man, as he +dashed across the street after Bim. + +Seizing the dog's collar, and bidding him be quiet, he opened the door +of the store and stepped inside. There was no one to be seen, save the +proprietor and two or three startled-looking clerks. + +"Where is he?" demanded Billy Brackett, hurriedly. "The man, I mean, +who ran in here just now!" + +"That dog ought to be killed, and if you don't take him out of here at +once I'll call the police," said the proprietor of the store, +indignantly. "It's an outrage to allow such brutes to run at large." + +"That's the reason I'm holding him," said Billy Brackett; "but where is +the man?" + +"I don't know; but I hope he has gone for his gun, and will know how to +use it too. If he don't, I--" + +The young engineer did not wait to hear more, for at that moment he +spied a back door standing partly open. That was where his man had +gone, and without paying any further attention to the irate shopkeeper, +he dashed out through it with Bim at his heels. + +Winn searched high and low, with the utmost faithfulness, until he +reached the outskirts of the town, but without finding a trace of the +missing Don Blossom. There was a growth of timber lining the +river-bank, just beyond the houses, and the boy ventured a little way +into this, arguing that a monkey would naturally take to trees. It was +so wet and dripping in the timber that he only remained there a few +minutes; but as he turned to retrace his steps, his attention was +diverted by a new object of interest. + +He was on a bank of the river, beside which was moored a raft. It was +a timber raft, with a single large "shanty," that had a strangely +familiar look, standing amidship. + +"It isn't the _Venture_, of course," thought Winn; "but I'll just step +aboard and inquire if they have seen anything of a raft with a 'shanty' +and a tent on it. It will save us some time when we get started down +the river again." + +So thinking, the boy stepped lightly aboard. His footfalls were +deadened by the wet, so that he gained the forward end of the "shanty" +without attracting attention. The door was closed, and Winn was +startled to note how very familiar that gable end of the building +looked. He raised his hand to knock at the door, when suddenly it was +flung open, and a harsh voice asked, "What do you want? and what are +you doing here, young man?" + +As Winn was about to reply his glance penetrated the interior of the +"shanty," and for an instant he stood speechless. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE RAFT AND THE SHOW-BOAT CHANGE CREWS. + +It must be remembered that while Winn would have recognized Mr. Gilder, +he had not seen the other "river-traders," Plater and Grimshaw. Of +these two, the former had not set eyes on the lad whose raft they had +stolen; but the latter had caught a glimpse of him, and now, as he +noted Winn's startled glance into the interior of the "shanty," it +flashed into his mind who this intrusive boy was. + +The "river-traders" had not really expected Winn to follow them. They +imagined that after he escaped from the island, which they hoped he +would not do for several days, he would be glad enough to make the best +of his way home. Still, they had taken the precaution of disguising +the _Venture_ by throwing the wheat overboard, tearing down the +buildings in which it had been stowed, and erecting a tent in place of +one of them. As they were well provided with various changes of wigs +and beards, they felt quite safe until Billy Brackett boarded the raft +for the second time, and made inquiries for one having three +"shanties." Then they realized that a search was being made for them, +or, at least, for the craft from which they were operating. + +They felt somewhat easier when one of their number, detailed to watch +the movements of their unwelcome visitor, returned and reported that he +had gone back up the river. Still, they thought it well to again alter +the appearance of the raft by removing the tent, and so lengthening the +"shanty" as to materially change its aspect. They also allowed the +raft to drift night and day for nearly five hundred miles without a +pause. Then, again feeling safe from pursuit, they tied up just below +the City of Alton, Illinois, and prepared to resume their dishonest +business. + +Their plan of operations was to purchase goods wherever they stopped, +but always in such small quantities that for the bills they tendered in +payment they received a certain amount of good money in change. A +little farther along they would offer the goods thus accumulated for +sale so cheaply that they readily disposed of them. In this way they +not only did a thriving business, but kept up the appearance of being +what they claimed to be--"river-traders" and raftsmen. + +In this wicked scheme of cheating and stealing, Plater and Grimshaw +felt no scruples nor regrets; but with Mr. Gilder, especially after his +meeting with Sabella, the case was different. He was a man of +gentlemanly instincts, and was a skilful engraver, who had worked in +the Government Printing-office at Washington for several years. There +he was extravagant, got into debt, yielded to the temptation to make a +fortune easily, and became a counterfeiter. The present undertaking +was his first experience in that line of wickedness, and he was already +heartily sick of it. While on the island, where his part of the work +was engraving and printing, he had not realized the contemptible nature +of his unlawful business. He had merely been filled with pride in his +own skill, which feeling his associates took good care to encourage by +artful praise. + +When he met Sabella, it flashed across him for the first time that his +own little girl, far away in an eastern city, was the daughter of a +criminal, and from that moment he was a changed man. Through the long +days and longer nights, as the raft drifted down the great river, these +thoughts were ever with him: "What will she say when she finds it out? +How will she act? Will she ever kiss me, or even speak to me again? I +have made her very name a disgrace. What shall I do to wipe it out? +What shall I do?" + +His companions noticed his strange mood, and jeered at him, but failed +to change it. Finally they became suspicious, and held secret +consultations as to how they should rid themselves of him. They +finally determined to accomplish this in some way at St. Louis, and so +matters stood when they made their stop at Alton. Here they intended +remaining until they had transacted a satisfactory amount of business. +Thus, on the foggy morning following Don Blossom's escape from the +_Whatnot_, Messrs Gilder and Plater had gone into the town to +familiarize themselves with its localities, while Grimshaw was left to +look out for the raft. Now Winn Caspar had accidentally discovered it, +and recognized it as the _Venture_. + +He did not know the man standing in the doorway and looking so +curiously at him, nor did he suppose himself known by the other. So, +with a great effort, he strove to conceal the tumult of his feelings, +and to appear natural and self-possessed. He answered the man's curt +inquiry regarding his business there by saying, in as pleasant a tone +as he could command, that he was searching for a lost monkey, which he +thought might have taken to the timber beside which this raft was +moored. "You startled me by throwing open your door so suddenly just +as I was about to knock," he continued; "but you haven't seen anything +of a stray monkey this morning, have you?" + +"Not until this moment," answered the man, surlily, "and I don't want +to see any more of him. Good-day." + +With this he slammed the door in the boy's face, and then, stealing on +tiptoe to a window, watched for his departure from the raft. + +To say that Mr. Grimshaw was rendered uneasy and apprehensive by this +sudden appearance of one whom he suppose to be hundreds of miles away, +and who was also the very person he was most anxious to avoid, would by +no means express his feelings. He was so terrified and unnerved that +for a moment he thought of leaving the raft to its fate, and making +good his own escape while he had time. Then he wondered if it would +not be better to cast it loose and drift away through the fog to some +new hiding-place. It would never do to go without his partners, +though; for, in the first place, he could not manage the raft alone, +and in the second there was no knowing what Gilder would do if he +thought himself deserted and perhaps betrayed. No, he must find his +associates without delay, and warn them of this unexpected danger. He +wondered if the boy were alone. Perhaps he had friends in hiding near +by, to whom he had gone to report. In that case his own safety +demanded that he discover them before they reached the raft. The boy +had already disappeared in the timber, and there was no time to be lost +in following him. + +Thus reasoning, Grimshaw left the "shanty," locking its door behind him +as he did so, and springing ashore, hastened up the trail, along which +Winn had disappeared a few seconds before. It took him about three +minutes to reach the far edge of the timber and outskirts of the town. +Here several streets began, and as he could not follow them all, he was +brought to a halt. Which way should he go now? He had seen nothing of +the boy, whom he certainly ought to have overtaken before this, nor of +any other person. Could he have passed them? Where should he look for +Gilder and Plater? Would it not be better, after all, to await their +return on the raft? Of course it would. He had been a fool to leave +it, and now his best plan was to get back to it as quickly as possible. + +These thoughts occupied less than a minute, and so impatient was the +man to regain the raft he had just left that inside of two minutes more +he again stood on the river-bank. He had been gone barely five +minutes, and in that time he had not seen a human being. Now he could +not see the raft. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He could see a +few rods of water, but beyond that the fog was impenetrable. He +shouted, but there was no answer. Perhaps this was not the place. He +ran a little way up the shore, and then as far in the opposite +direction, but without success. Then he returned to his +starting-point, and found the end of a rope. It was attached to a +tree, and had been cut. It was a bit of the line that had held the +raft, and the raft was gone. + +The blow was a heavy one, and for a few minutes Grimshaw stood like one +who is stunned. The loss of that raft, under the circumstances, meant +ruin. It meant the loss of everything he had or cared for in the +world. At first the realization of this loss rendered him speechless. +Then he began to rave and revile his own carelessness. After a few +minutes devoted to this he again started up the trail. He was +determined to procure some craft and start in instant pursuit of the +raft. He would go in company with his partners if he ran across them, +but alone if he did not. Before he reached the far edge of the timber +he met Plater running and breathless. + +"Get back to the raft!" shouted the new-comer. "They're after us!" + +"They've got us," was the bitter answer. "At least they've got the +raft, and we must hunt some boat in which to follow them at once." + +A few words more explained the situation, and, angry as he was, Plater +did not stop to waste time in idle reproaches just then. He only +said, "It's that sneak Gilder's doings, I'll bet my pile." + +Grimshaw agreed to this, and as they hurried along they both thought of +their partner as floating down the river on the raft in company with +their enemies and glorying over their discomfiture. + +"We'll get even with him, though," growled Plater. + +"Yes, we _will_," snarled Grimshaw. + +And then they met the object of their anger hurrying away from the +levee which they were approaching. + +"Where are you fellows going?" he cried, and then, in a lower tone, he +added, "We've got to get out of here in a hurry, for they are in this +very town and looking for us. I've just come from their boat." + +"Who have they left aboard?" asked Grimshaw. + +"Only a child," was the answer. + +"Let us take a look at it, then, so we will know it as well as you the +next time we see it." + +So Mr. Gilder went back to point out the _Whatnot_ to his companions, +and when they sprang aboard and began to cast off the lines that held +it to the levee he followed them, with a vague idea of protecting +Sabella. + +The next moment, Solon, who had just finished hitching up Reward, was +startled by the ringing of the engine-room bell. It was the signal to +go ahead. Thinking that the others must have returned and were ready +to start, he obeyed it. Thus the _Whatnot_, in full possession of the +"river-traders," moved slowly out into the stream, and again started in +pursuit of the raft she had followed for so long. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A DISASTROUS COLLISION. + +The running off with that boat from the waterfront of a city in broad +daylight was a bold thing to do. But these men were accustomed to +taking desperate risks, and had done many more reckless things than +this in the course of their lawless careers; besides, they expected to +overtake the raft within an hour or so, when they would send the boat +back to its owner, or leave it where he could find it. They did not +yet understand the connection between Cap'n Cod, whom they knew as the +proprietor of the _Whatnot_, and those who were interested in the +recovery of the raft. That made no difference, however. It was enough +that this boat had been used in their pursuit, and that by taking it +they might delay this pursuit until they should recover the raft and +make good their escape. Besides, it happened to be the only available +boat lying at the levee just then, and they would have taken it even +though they had been obliged to use force to gain its possession, so +eager were they to recapture the _Venture_. + +This was the reasoning of two of the "river-traders;" while the third +sprang aboard because the others did, and without stopping to reason. +Grimshaw made his way at once to the pilothouse, where Mr. Gilder +followed him, in order to learn his plans. Plater walked aft, and +through the engine-room window saw that the mule was already in his +treadmill, where Solon had just completed his harnessing. Without +alarming the negro by making his presence known, the big man stole +away, and gaining the pilot-house, rang the engine-room bell that meant +"Go ahead." To the great satisfaction of at least two of the +"river-traders" this order was promptly obeyed. Within a couple of +minutes the city had disappeared, and the _Whatnot_ was slipping down +the fog-enshrouded river. + +"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Mr. Gilder, as he followed +Grimshaw into the pilot-house. "Are you crazy that you are going off +with this boat and leaving the raft behind? Or do you mean to run in +to where it is, take our stuff aboard, and continue the cruise in this +craft? Because if you do, you can count me out. This is too +conspicuous a boat for my use. Why, man, she'll be spotted by the +police inside of twenty-four hours!" + +"I expect it's about time we counted you out, anyway," answered the +other, gruffly. "Plater and I have about made up our minds that you +are playing a double game, and had some hand in the disappearance of +the raft." + +"The disappearance of the raft?" exclaimed the other, blankly. "What +do you mean? How did the raft disappear? And when did it disappear? +And where were you, whom we left to look after it? If you have lost +that raft you'll answer to me for my share in it, and I'll see that you +make it good too, you sneaking--" + +"Come, come, Gilder! Simmer down!" interrupted Plater, who had entered +the pilot-house in time to hear these angry words. "This isn't the +time nor place for us to quarrel. We've too much at stake. The raft +has gone, and we are after it. That's all Grim and I know. Whatever +information you can give concerning its disappearance will be +gratefully received." + +[Illustration: "'The raft has gone, and we are after it.'"] + +The interchange of high words that followed had almost led to blows, +when Mr. Gilder suddenly became silent, and stepped quickly to the +pilot-house door. He had just caught sight of Sabella holding Don +Blossom in her arms, and staring through the open doorway with an +expression of frightened bewilderment. She had expected to find her +uncle and Billy Brackett and Winn, and had hastened to announce the +joyful news of Don Blossom's safety. + +Now as Mr. Gilder led her aft and down into the living-room, he strove +to banish that frightened look by gentle words and reassuring promises. + +"But where is my Uncle Aleck? And where are Mr. Brackett and Winn? I +can't find them anywhere. Solon said they were in the pilot-house." + +"They are on the raft, and we are going to find them," was the answer. + +"Oh, I'm so glad they've got the raft again! And I'm glad you gave it +back to them, too. Now, Winn can't say you are a bad man any longer. +But you've only borrowed the _Whatnot_ for a little while, haven't you?" + +"Yes, only for a little while." + +"I don't think those others are very nice-looking men, and I was +awfully afraid until I saw you. Then I knew it must be all right." + +"It is all right, little one, and there is nothing for you to be afraid +of. No harm shall come to you so long as I am here, and I promise to +see you safe with your friends again before leaving you. You see, I am +making believe that you are my own little girl, and I want you to feel +just as safe and happy as she would if she were here in your place." + +"Of course I feel safe now," answered Sabella, promptly. "I have, ever +since I found out it was you who had borrowed the _Whatnot_. For a +minute, though, I was afraid those disagreeable--" Here the child +hesitated. She did not want to hurt her new friend's feelings. "I +mean," she added, hastily, "that those other gentlemen had stolen it. +And I will make believe I am your own little girl, for I haven't any +papa, and only one uncle in the world. I wish you would tell me your +name, though. I don't think I ever knew any one so well before without +knowing his name." + +The man hesitated, and looked curiously at the sweet face upturned to +his. Then, as though arrived at a sudden conclusion, he said, + +"My name is Gresham, William Gresham, but my little girl calls me 'Papa +Billy.'" + +"Then we'll make a bargain!" exclaimed Sabella, joyfully. "That's the +very name of Winn's uncle; and if I make believe you are my uncle, I +shall have an Uncle Billy as well as he. I think that's better, too, +because you know a girl couldn't have but one own papa, but she might +have a hundred uncles if she wanted. So we'll make that a bargain, and +I'll give you a kiss if you like, because Uncle Aleck says that's +always the other part of a bargain." + +With the kiss of the innocent child warm on his lips, William Gresham +returned to the upper deck. His heart was very tender at that moment, +and though he did not express any resolve in words, he knew that a +black page of his life had just been closed, never to be reopened. He +met Plater coming to find him, for he was wanted to aid in keeping the +sharp lookout that the fog rendered necessary. + +With all their senses alert and strained, the "river-traders" kept on +for two hours without discovering a trace of the raft. Then they knew +they must have passed it, and so headed the _Whatnot_ up-stream again, +hoping to meet it. Now they barely held their own, without making any +progress, for they knew the raft would drift in the channel with the +strongest current, and therefore that where the water ran swiftest they +must await its coming. + +Solon, fully occupied with his duties as engineer and with preparations +for dinner, paid little heed to Sabella when she looked in at the +galley door to inform him that her Uncle Billy said everything was all +right. + +"I specs so, honey, I specs so, an' of co'se hit's all right ef yo' +Unc' Billy say so. Him a mighty knowin' young gen'l'man, dat ar Unc' +Billy am, fo' shuah." + +As the day advanced, there were occasional rifts in the fog, and in one +of these Mr. Gilder, as we will still call him, caught a momentary +glimpse of the raft. It was drifting at some distance to the right of +them, and in a few moments would be again out of sight. His first +impulse was to announce this discovery to his companions, and his +second was to remain silent. He acted upon the second, and was almost +doubtful if he had really seen the raft at all, so quickly did it again +disappear. Suddenly there came a sound of blows, as though some one +were chopping wood on board the raft. + +There was an exulting shout from the pilot-house, the steering-wheel +was put hard over, and the boat began to swing slowly at right angles +to the current. She was headed in the direction of the raft, and Mr. +Gilder knew that, owing to those ill-timed blows, it had been +discovered. Yes. Now he could see it again. There it was, not a +hundred yards away, and the _Whatnot_ was headed so as to intercept it +as it came down. What should he do? It would be foolish to struggle +for possession of the wheel against the two desperate men in the +pilot-house. He could stop the machinery though, or, better still, +reverse it, and so give the raft a chance to drift past and again +disappear in the mist. For Sabella's sake he would make the attempt. + +He had already started for the lower deck, when his steps were arrested +by a second shout from the pilot-house, and another sound that smote on +his ear like a death-knell. It was the hoarse note of a deep-toned +whistle apparently at his side. There was a jangling of bells, a wild +yelling, the roar of escaping steam, and then the dim form of a great +up-river packet loomed above the little craft on which he stood like +some awful fog monster intent upon its destruction. + +The man stood at the head of the steps leading down into the +living-room, where Sabella, unconscious of the impending peril, was +singing a quaint old hymn as she set the table for dinner. He had +heard his mother sing that hymn when he was a boy at home. So long +ago, and so far away. A second more and this sweet young life would be +blotted out, and the little body, crushed beyond recognition, would be +buried deep beneath the waters of the great river, while he would be +safe on the lower deck of that steamboat. He could easily spring to it +from the upper deck of the _Whatnot_, as he saw Plater and Grimshaw +were about to do. + +"I promise to see you safe with your friends again." That was what he +had said, and it was to that child he had said it. In another instant +the man had entered the living-room, seized Sabella in his powerful +arms, and had gained the outer door on the side farthest from the +steamboat. + +Then came the shock. There was a moment of horrible grinding, +crashing, and splintering, a mad surging of brown waters, and then the +little showboat passed beneath the monster that had crushed out its +life. It was gone as utterly as the flame of a candle is extinguished +by a puff of wind, and the great river was its grave, as it has been of +thousands of other craft, and will be of thousands yet unbuilt. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +IS THIS OUR RAFT OR NOT? + +So anxious was Winn Caspar for the recovery of the raft lost through +his carelessness and over-confidence in his own ability that, having +found it again, he could not bear to lose sight of it, even though he +had no idea of how he might regain its possession. Therefore, as he +stepped ashore after his rebuff by Grimshaw, he only went so far up the +trail through the timber as to be concealed from the man's view. Then +he darted into the undergrowth and crept back to the river-bank. He +reached it just in time to see Grimshaw lock the door of the "shanty," +leave the raft, and start up the trail that he himself had taken but a +minute before. + +How long would the man be gone? Was there any one left on the raft? +These were the questions that came into the boy's mind. There was no +sign of life on the _Venture_, and by running a short distance up the +trail Winn became convinced that the man had gone at least as far as +the edge of the timber. Would he ever again have so good a chance of +recovering his father's property? Besides, what a fine thing it would +be for him to recapture the raft alone, without the aid of Billy +Bracket! or any one else. This latter thought decided the boy, and +caused him to hastily retrace his steps. + +Never had Winn been so excited! As he sprang aboard the raft and tried +to cast off its fastenings he momentarily expected to hear a shout from +the bank or a gruff demand from the interior of the "shanty" as to what +he was about. Perhaps the summons would take the form of a +pistol-shot, for men who would steal a raft and destroy a thousand +dollars' worth of wheat would not be likely to hesitate at anything. +At this last thought Winn seemed to feel the deadly sting of a bullet, +and in his nervousness only made more intricate the knot he was trying +to untie. At length he whipped out his jack-knife and cut the rope. + +Now to head the raft out into the stream. He picked up a long +set-pole, thrust one end into the bank, braced himself, and began to +push. Oh, how he strained and panted! How the veins stood out on his +forehead! Still the great mass of timber seemed immovable. Again and +again he tried, and at length felt a slight yield. A more desperate +effort than before, and he could take a step; then another, and +another, until he had walked half the length of the pole. The head of +the raft was swinging off, at first so slowly that the motion was +almost imperceptible, then faster, until finally it felt the full force +of the current. Now for one more effort! If he could only work her +out from the bank and into the friendly shelter of the fog without +discovery, he would feel safe even from pistol-shots. For two minutes +Winn labored as never before in all his life. But the minutes seemed +hours, and he felt that he might as well attempt to push away the bank +itself as the mass of timber on which he stood. Suddenly he heard that +which he expected and dreaded, a shout, so loud that it seemed to be +uttered on the raft. The set-pole fell from his nerveless grasp as he +looked up, fully expecting to gaze into the black muzzle of a pistol. + +At first he saw--nothing. He must be turned around. No; the view of +the opposite direction was equally blank. Then, for an instant, he +caught a glimpse of shadowy tree-tops just dissolving into formless +mist. The blessed fog had folded its protecting arms about him, and he +was safe. + +Hurrah! he was once more in undisputed possession of the raft, and once +more floating on it down the great river. + +Wildly happy, the exhausted boy flung himself down on the wet planks, +and yielded to pleasant reflections. It was only twenty miles to St. +Louis. The current was carrying him at the rate of five miles an hour, +so that he ought to reach the city soon after noon. There he would +hail some steamboat or tug, and get it to tow his raft to a safe +mooring-place. Then he would telegraph to both his father and his +Uncle Billy. After that he would engage some stout man to help guard +the raft until his friends arrived. Or perhaps he would buy a revolver +and guard it himself, and when his father and Uncle Billy came along, +he would challenge them before allowing them to step on board. Yes, +that would be the scheme, and the boy became very proud of himself as +he thought of the praises in store for him. + +At length Winn rose from his moist resting-place, and began to examine +his surroundings. How strange the raft did look, to be sure. He +wouldn't have believed its appearance could have been so altered, and +now wondered that he had ever recognized it. In fact, the only feature +that seemed at all familiar, as he studied it, was the forward gable +end of the "shanty." But somehow the building itself appeared much +longer than when he last saw it. Still, there was that interior. He +had seen the partition, with its door leading into his own little room, +and he never heard of a raft "shanty" with a partition in it until this +one was built. He must have another look at that interior. + +The locked door baffled him. It was of such solid construction, and +its lock was so well made, that it resisted all his efforts to force +it. The windows were provided with heavy wooden shutters that were +fastened on the inside. For an hour Winn busied himself with vain +efforts to effect an entrance. At the end of that time he was +discouraged. He was also uneasy. He had heard steamboats pass him, +but could see nothing of them on account of the fog. The last one +passed very close. The next might run him down. How he wished the +raft were safely tied to some bank or levee. It was awful to be thus +blindly drifting, right in the track of steamboats. The fog hung so +low over the water that their pilots were lifted well above it, and +could see the landmarks by which they were guided. They could also see +other steamboats; but such things as scows and rafts had no business to +be moving at such a time. They were supposed to be snugly tied up, and +consequently no pilot would be on the lookout for them. Winn knew this +as well as any one, and the knowledge did not tend to reassure him. + +If he only had some one with him to help work the heavy sweeps by which +the raft's course might be directed, or even to advise him what to do. +It was dreadful to be alone. What a foolish thing he had done, after +all, in attempting to manage this affair by himself. If he had only +gone back for Billy Brackett. But his boyish pride in his own ability +had again overcome his judgment, and now he must abide by the +consequences. + +"I only hope, if I do get run down and killed, they will find out who I +am," thought the poor boy. "It would be horrid to disappear and have +folks say I was a coward, who had run away for fear father would be +angry with me for losing his raft. As if _my_ father would ever do +anything to make me afraid of him! And mother! How badly she would +feel if I should disappear without ever giving her the comfort of +knowing I was dead. There is Elta, too, and the very last time I saw +her I was ugly to her. Oh dear! I wish--well, I wish, for one thing, +that I could get inside that 'shanty,' and out of this miserable +drizzle. I wonder if I can't pick the lock?" + +Full of this new idea, Winn obtained a bit of stiff wire from the +handle of a lantern that stood outside the "shanty." This he bent as +well as he could into the rude form of a key, and thus equipped, he +worked patiently at the lock for another hour. At length he threw away +the useless implement in disgust. + +"I was never cut out for a burglar, that's certain!" he exclaimed. +"There's one thing I can do, though, and I will, too. I can smash down +the door, and get inside that way." + +An axe lay beside a pile of wood near the forward end of the raft; and +armed with this, the boy began to rain vigorous blows upon the stout +door. Before these it quickly yielded, and he thus gained the interior. + +Once inside, he gazed about him blankly. Nothing looked familiar; +nothing was as he had expected to find it. There was the partition, +with a door in it, to be sure, and there was the small room beyond the +main one; but there was also another partition, and another door beyond +this. There had been but two rooms in the _Venture's_ "shanty," while +here were three. Then again the "shanty" that he had helped to build +was only boarded up on the outside, while the interior had been left +unceiled, with the frame exposed. The interior on which he now gazed +was wholly ceiled, so as to make the walls of double thickness, and +conceal every bit of the framing. + +The perplexed boy noticed these details at a glance; and as he stood +staring blankly about him, the uncomfortable suspicion began to force +itself into his mind that perhaps this was not the _Venture_ after all. + +"If I have run off with some one else's raft, I declare I shall just +want to disappear!" he exclaimed to himself. "I do believe I shall be +too ashamed ever to go home again. Oh dear! There is another +steamboat." + +The notes of a deep-voiced whistle, evidently near at hand, caused the +boy to hasten outside. He could see a huge confused mass dimly looming +out of the fog ahead, and a little to one side of him. At the same +moment he heard the wild jangling of bells, the terrified shoutings, +and then the awful crash that denoted a collision. A big up-bound +steamboat had run down and sunk a smaller boat of some kind. That much +he could see, and he was filled with horror at the nearness and +magnitude of the disaster. + +He had heard agonized screams, and knew that lives had been sacrificed. +One shrill cry that came to his ears with startling distinctness +sounded as though uttered by a woman or a girl, and Winn shuddered at +the thought of her fate. + +The raft was drifting rapidly away from the scene of the catastrophe, +and the dimly discerned steamboat was just disappearing from his view, +when the boy thought he heard a gurgling cry from the water. Could +some bold swimmer have escaped? He bent his head to the water's edge +and listened. Again he heard the cry. And this time it seemed nearer. +Some human being was struggling in the river. Now, if ever, was the +time for his promptest action, and with Winn thought and action went +hand in hand. + +In another moment he was in the skiff belonging to the raft, and +pulling with all the strength of his stout young arms in the direction +of the cries. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +THE RESCUE OF SABELLA. + +Strongly as Winn pulled, the cries grew very faint and almost inaudible +during the few seconds that elapsed before he discovered the struggling +forms from which they proceeded. A glance over his shoulder showed him +a man swimming with one arm, while the other supported a +child--apparently a girl. + +With a final powerful stroke the skiff shot alongside the drowning +figures, the oars were jerked in, and Winn, leaning over the side, +seized the girl's arm. At the same moment the man grasped the gunwale +of the skiff. It was no slight task for Winn to get the girl into the +boat, for she was unconscious, and formed a dead weight, that was made +heavier by her soaked clothing. He finally succeeded; and as he laid +the limp form in the bottom of the skiff and took his first good look +at her face, he uttered a cry of amazement, and doubted the evidence of +his senses. How was it possible that Sabella could be there, and in +such a predicament? Could the boat that had just been run into be the +_Whatnot_? If so, who was this man? He turned to look, and to help +him into the skiff; but, to his horror, the man had disappeared. + +William Gresham had redeemed his promise with his life. From a cruel +wound, made by a splintered timber, he had bled so freely that his +fast-failing strength was barely able to hold Sabella's head above the +surface until Winn came to her rescue. He recognized the boy, and as +the little girl was lifted from his arms, he closed his eyes with the +peaceful expression of one who is weary and would sleep. Then his +grasp of the skiff relaxed, and without a struggle he slipped across +the invisible line dividing time from eternity. The hurrying waters +closed about him as gently as a mother's arms, and who shall say that +in his death the man had not atoned for his life, or that in the tawny +flood of the great river his sin was not washed away as though it had +never been? + +[Illustration: The rescue of Sabella.] + +As for Winn, he was overwhelmed and stunned. It was so sudden, so +terrible, and so pitiful. At one moment the man was there, and in the +next he was gone without a word. In vain did the boy look over both +sides of the skiff and over its stern in the hope that the man might +still be clinging to it. Only the swift-flowing waters met his gaze, +and seemed to mock at his efforts to wrest their secret. + +The man was gone; there was no doubt of that; and now came the +harrowing question, who was he? Winn had not seen his face. It could +not have been the owner of the _Whatnot_, because, with his wooden leg, +he could not swim. It was not Solon, for the head had been that of a +white man. Could it have been his mother's only brother, his Uncle +Billy, the brave, merry young fellow who was to have been his raftmate? +Winn had already learned to love as well as to admire Billy Brackett, +though how much he had not known, until now that he believed him to be +gone out of his life forever. + +He tried to believe that it was some one else, but in vain. The girl +whom he had just rescued was certainly Sabella, so of course the boat +that he had seen crushed like an egg-shell must have been the +_Whatnot_. Oh, if he had only been a little closer, or if the fog had +not been so thick! The boat was almost certain to have been the +_Whatnot_ though, and in that case the brave swimmer, who had missed +safety by a hair's-breadth must have been-- + +Here a moan diverted Winn's attention from his own unhappiness, and +caused him to spring to the side of the little girl. She opened her +eyes and looked at him. "Oh, Sabella!" he cried, "tell me who saved +you? Was it Mr. Brackett--my Uncle Billy, you know?" + +"My Uncle Billy," she murmured faintly; then she again closed her eyes +wearily, and seemed to sleep. + +"It was he, then; it was he!" And Winn, breaking down, sobbed aloud. +"And all my fault that he came on this trip! My fault, my fault!" he +repeated over and over again. + +At length he became conscious of the selfishness of thus giving way to +his feelings while Sabella was still in such urgent need of his aid. + +"I must get her to the raft at once!" he exclaimed, starting up and +looking about him. But there was no raft, nor was there any steamboat. +There was nothing but the skiff with themselves in it, a small circle +of brown water, and the fog. He had no idea of direction, not even +whether his skiff was heading up-stream or down, or drifting broadside +to the current. If the fog would only lift! It had been so kind to +him, but now was so dreadful. + +The boy took off his coat, folded it, and put it under Sabella's head. +Then he sat beside her and rubbed her cold hands. He knew of nothing +else that he could do for her, and so he waited--waited for the fog to +lift or for help to come. + +At length he began to hear sounds from every direction, the sound of +whistles, bells, and hundreds of other noises. He must have reached +St. Louis, and it would never do to drift past it. Besides, the danger +of being run down was now greater than ever. So the boy took to his +oars, and began to pull in the direction from which the loudest sound +of whistles appeared to come. + +Suddenly he was hailed. "Look out dar, boss!" + +"Hold on!" shouted Winn. "I am in trouble, and will give you a dollar +to pilot me ashore." + +A skiff came alongside. It contained but a single occupant, a negro, +who appeared nearly as old as Solon. He listened with open-mouthed +wonder to the boy's hurriedly told story, and not only expressed a +ready sympathy, but promised to have "de young gen'l'man an' der lilly +lady lamb on de sho' in free minutes. Ole Clod, him know de way. De +frog can't fool him on desh yer ribber." + +With renewed hope Winn followed closely behind his dusky pilot, and in +another minute caught sight of the welcome land. It was East St. +Louis, on the Illinois side of the river, at that time a great railroad +terminus, and Clod's little cabin stood at the edge of high-water-mark; +for he was a boatman, and gained his living from the river. + +"Now, young marse, you mus' come up to my house, whar my ole 'oman +fixin' de lilly gal all right in no time." So saying, the negro lifted +Sabella in his strong arms and started towards his cabin, to which Winn +was only too glad to follow him. The boy had never felt so utterly +helpless and forlorn. + +He no longer thought of taking matters into his own hands, but was +thankful to accept even the humble guidance of this negro. Under the +circumstances he could not have fallen into better hands. Not only was +Clod strong, willing, and possessed of a shrewd knowledge gained by +rough experience, but his "ole 'oman," Aunt Viney, a motherly soul of +ample proportions, was accounted the best all-round nurse of the +neighborhood. She was never happier than when bustling about in a +service like the present; and within five minutes Sabella was nestled +in the snowy centre of a huge bed, with Aunt Viney crooning over her +like a brooding tenderness, and rapidly restoring the color to the +child's pallid cheeks. + +At the same time Winn was sitting by the kitchen stove in a cloud of +steam from his own wet clothing, absorbing warmth and comfort, and +relating his adventures at length to the sympathetic old man. + +Clod's interest and wonder at the boy's story were shown by uplifted +hands, rolling eyes, and such ejaculations as "How yo' talk, chile!" +"Well, I nebber!" "Dat's so, bress de Lawd!" "Ef dat ar ain't de +beatenest!" + +At length Aunt Viney tiptoed heavily into the kitchen with the joyful +announcement that Sabella, fully restored to consciousness, was +sleeping naturally and quietly. + +"When she wakin she be all right an' hongry, de honey lamb! An' I +reckin dis young gen'l'man hongry now, an' ef he ain't he orter be, for +eatin' am de bestes t'ing in de worl' when yo' is in trouble," she +added, as she bustled softly about, making preparations for a simple +meal. + +Winn did not think he could eat a mouthful, so full was he of grief and +trouble; but on making the attempt, merely to gratify the kindly soul, +found that he not only could but did dispose of as hearty a meal of +bread and milk, coffee, bacon, and sweet-potatoes, as any he had ever +eaten in his life. Not only that, but as his faintness from hunger +disappeared his hopefulness returned, and by the time he had finished +eating fully half of his troubles had vanished. He was still +overwhelmed with grief at the supposed loss of his brave young uncle, +but he had already resolved upon a plan of action, and felt better for +having done so. He would send a telegram to his father hinting at the +great sorrow that had overtaken them, and asking him to come on at +once. Then he would notify the police of the collision, with its +probable loss of at least three lives, and ask them to keep a watch for +the bodies. He would also tell them of the lost raft. + +After great searching, Clod finally produced an old pen, some very +thick ink, and a few sheets of paper quite yellow with age. Then he +watched with respectful admiration the writing of the telegram, for +penmanship was an art he had never acquired. He offered to take the +message to the telegraph office while Winn was preparing a statement +for the police, and as he was evidently anxious to be of service, the +boy allowed him to do so. + +The nearest telegraph office was in the railway station, and as Clod +approached it he found himself involved in the crowd of passengers just +brought in by a newly-arrived train from the North. He dodged here and +there among them, but finally, in escaping a truck-load of baggage, he +stumbled over the chain by which a gentleman was leading a dog, and +plumped full into the arms of a white-headed negro who was close behind +it. + +"Scuse me, sah!" began poor Clod, most politely. Then he stared, +stammered, tried to speak, but only choked in the effort, and threw his +arms about the neck of the old negro, laughing and sobbing in the same +breath. + +"Doesn't yo' know me, Solom?" he gasped. "Doesn't yo' know yer own +br'er Clod? Doesn't yo' 'member de ole plantashun 'way down in +Lou'siana, befo' de wah, an' Clod?--yo' own br'er Clod?" + +Then Solon recognized his only brother, long mourned as dead, and the +two old men embraced, and wept, and held each other off at arm's-length +to get a better look at the other's changed but still familiar face. +The hurrying passengers smiled at this spectacle at once so ridiculous +and so pathetic, but good-naturedly made way for the old men, while +Bim, sharing the general excitement, barked and danced about, until his +chain was entangled with the legs of at least half a dozen persons at +once. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +BIM BRINGS ABOUT A JOYFUL MEETING. + +Even with Bim's aid, Billy Brackett failed to find the man who had +escaped him in Alton by running through the store and out of its back +door. The young engineer was convinced that he was one of those who +had stolen the raft, and it was certainly very trying to recover the +trail, as he had just done, only to lose it again immediately. So +loath was he to abandon the search that it was very nearly noon before +he did so, and retraced his steps to the river. As he approached the +place where the _Whatnot_ had been moored, he was surprised not to see +the boat, and turned towards a group of men, all of whom seemed to be +talking at once, to make inquiries. At that moment the group opened, +and from it Cap'n Cod, red-faced and anxious, came hastily stumping in +his direction. + +"Where is the _Whatnot_?" asked Billy Brackett. + +"That's what I want to know," replied the other, excitedly. "And where +have you been all this time? I have been here, and in a state of mind, +for more than an hour, not knowing what to do. Some of these men say +they saw three fellows go off with the boat soon after we left here, +and of course I thought they must be you, Winn, and Solon; but I +couldn't understand it at all. Now that you are here, I understand it +still less. Where is Winn?" Here the old man paused, quite out of +breath, but still questioning his companion with anxious eyes. + +"I haven't seen anything of Winn since we all left the boat," replied +Billy Brackett, who could hardly comprehend the startling information +just given him. "Do you mean to say that the _Whatnot_ has been +stolen? Great Scott! I wonder if those fellows can have had a hand in +it?" + +"What fellows?" + +Then Billy Brackett told of his fleeting glimpse of Plater, and of his +consequent belief that the raft and all three of the "river-traders" +must be in that vicinity. + +"There's a raft, with three men aboard it, who call themselves +'river-traders,' moored at the edge of that timber, just below the +city," volunteered one of the by-standers, who had overheard the young +man's remarks. + +"Will you go with me and point it out?" asked Billy Brackett, eagerly. + +"Yes, I don't mind, seeing that this weather makes a bit of slack +time," replied the man. + +So requesting Cap'n Cod to wait there until his return, and promising +to be back as quickly as possible, the young engineer and his guide, +followed by several curiosity-seekers, started in search of the raft. +It is needless to say that they failed to find it, though another hour +elapsed before Billy Brackett returned. He was disappointed, but was +possessed of a theory. + +"I believe Winn has found that raft," he said to Cap'n Cod, as they sat +together in the small hotel to which they had repaired for a +consultation and dinner. "But he probably discovered it just as those +fellows, alarmed at meeting me, were putting off for another run down +the river. Then he hurried back here, and not finding us, took the +responsibility of starting after them in the _Whatnot_, hoping in that +way to keep them in sight. It was a crazy performance, though just +such a one as that boy would undertake. He is a splendid fellow, with +the one conspicuous failing of believing that he knows what to do under +any circumstances just a little better than any one else. So he has +persuaded Solon that it is their duty to keep that raft in sight until +it is tied up again, and then he'll telegraph to us. It is more than +likely that the raft will stop at St. Louis, in which case they must be +nearly there by this time, and we ought to hear from Winn very soon. +That is my theory, and now I'll run up to the telegraph office and see +if a despatch has come." + +There was no message for any one named Brackett, and so, after leaving +word to have anything that came for him sent to the hotel, the young +man hastened back. An up-river steamboat had just made fast to the +levee, and the two anxious men went down to see if her pilot had seen +anything of the _Whatnot_. As they approached they saw by her +splintered bows that she had been in a collision. Others had noticed +this also, and already a crowd of people was gathered about her +gang-plank to learn the news. Forcing a way through for himself and +Cap'n Cod, Billy Brackett boarded the boat, and went directly to the +Captain's room. + +The Captain was inclined to be ugly and uncommunicative; but, with a +happy thought, Billy Brackett displayed the badge with which Sheriff +Riley had provided him. At sight of it the man at once expressed his +readiness to impart all the information they might require. + +Yes, he had been in collision with a trading-scow, but there were no +lives lost, and the damage had already been satisfactorily settled. It +happened a couple of miles above St. Louis, and the fog was so thick +that she was not seen until they were right on her. She was crossing +the channel, and they struck her amidship, sinking her almost instantly. + +Her name? Why, according to this paper, it was the _Whatnot_. Queer +sort of a name, and she looked to be a queer sort of craft. + +At this Billy Brackett's face grew very pale, while poor Cap'n Cod sank +into a chair and groaned. + +"No lives lost, you say? What then became of the people who were on +board that trading-scow?" + +"There were only three," answered the Captain; "her owner, a Mr. +Caspar, a deck hand, and the cook, a black fellow. The first two saved +themselves by leaping aboard this boat just as she struck, and we +picked the nigger up in the skiff that we immediately lowered to look +for survivors." + +"You say the owner was a Mr. Caspar?" + +"Yes, here is the name signed to this paper. You see, though we were +in no way to blame, they might have sued for heavy damages and bothered +us considerably. So when her owner offered to compromise and waive all +claims for three hundred dollars, I thought it was the cheapest way out +of the scrape, and took him up. I had this paper prepared by a lawyer +who is on board, and witnessed before a notary, so that it is all +square and ship-shape. See, here is Mr. Caspar's signature." + +Sure enough, there at the bottom of the paper exhibited by the Captain +was the name "Winn Caspar," written clearly and boldly. It certainly +looked like Winn's signature. + +Billy Brackett was staggered. What could it all mean? Something was +evidently wrong; but what it was he could not determine. + +"Where is this Mr. Caspar now?" he asked. + +"Went ashore the moment we touched here," was the reply. "Said he must +hurry back to St. Louis. Took his man with him." + +"Was he a young fellow; a mere boy, in fact?" + +"Oh, bless you, no! He was past middle-age. Small, thin man, with a +smooth face; and the other was a big man with a beard." + +"And what became of the cook, the negro, whom you rescued?" + +"He's down below somewhere, getting dry. I told the mate to look after +him." + +"But where is my niece Sabella? The little girl that was on board the +_Whatnot_," asked Cap'n Cod, with a pitiful quaver in his voice. + +"Little girl?" repeated the steamboat Captain, in surprise. "There +wasn't any girl on board. This is the first mention I have heard of +any such person, and Mr. Caspar would surely have spoken of her if she +had existed. What are you men driving at, anyway?" + +With a forced calmness, and ignoring this question, Billy Brackett +asked if they might see the rescued negro. + +"Certainly, I've no objections. Only you'll have to be spry about it, +for I'm going to pull out of here inside of a couple of minutes. I +only stopped to land Mr. Caspar." + +They found Solon just getting into his dried clothing, and the faithful +fellow's face lighted as he saw them. There was, however, a +reproachful tone in his voice as he exclaimed, "T'ank de Lawd, yo' is +safe, Marse Cap'n, an' Marse Brack. Ole Solon feelin' mighty bad when +yo' ain't comin' to see him, an' Marse Winn too. But dese yeah folk +ain't tellin' me nuffin of Missy Sabel. She gettin' saved same as de +res' of us, ain't she? Say de good word, Marse Cap'n, an' don't tell +de ole man dat honey lamb done got drownded. Don't tell him dat ar?" + +There was no time for explanations then, so they hurried Solon ashore +and up to the hotel. There his replies to their questions, and his +questions in turn, only served to deepen the mystery in which the fate +of the _Whatnot's_ passengers had become involved. He could not be +persuaded that they had not been on board at the time of the accident. +Sabella had been talking to him of what her "Uncle Billy" had just told +her only a few minutes before it occurred. He was also positive that +Winn had been on board the ill-fated craft. He was certain that Reward +died at his post of duty, though of Don Blossom's fate he knew nothing. +How he himself had escaped he could not explain, for he remembered +nothing after the shock of the collision. + +"It is evident," said Billy Brackett, at length, "that we must get to +St. Louis as quickly as possible, and strive to unravel this mystery +there." + +Cap'n Cod agreed that this seemed the best thing to be done, and as +there was a train about to leave for the South, they hurried to the +station. + +As Bim was forced to ride in the baggage-car, and his master declined +to leave him, both Cap'n Cod and Solon rode there as well. All three +spent the hour's run to East St. Louis in discussing the strange +occurrences of the day, and trying to discover some ground for belief +that either Winn or Sabella, or both, might still be alive. In this +effort they met with so little success that, by the time they reached +their destination, they had wellnigh abandoned all hope of ever again +seeing either the boy or girl who were so dearly loved. + +Poor Cap'n Cod was broken-hearted, while Billy Brackett resolutely +refused to think of the sad telegram he must send back to Caspar's Mill. + +If it had not been that Bim compelled them to ride in the baggage-car, +they might have discovered the two "river-traders," Grimshaw and +Plater, who were also on the train. Bim did discover them on the +platform at East St. Louis, and he was in the act of springing towards +Mr. Plater, when the old negro Clod stumbled over his chain and into +Solon's arms. + +In his joyful excitement at this wonderful meeting with the brother +whom he had never expected to see again, Clod allowed a slip of paper +to fall unheeded to the ground, and Billy Brackett picked it up. He +glanced carelessly at it, and then his shout of amazement as he saw +written on it the name "Winn Caspar" startled not only his companions, +but every one on the station platform. + +Two minutes later four excited men, accompanied by a white bull-dog +straining at his chain and barking as joyfully as though he understood +the whole situation, were hurrying with all speed in the direction of +Clod's cabin on the river-bank. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +IN CLOD'S CABIN. + +Aunt Viney heard Bim's joyful voice, and glancing anxiously towards the +door of the room in which Sabella lay, she muttered, "Drat dat ar dorg! +He sholy wake up missy wif he barkin'." + +The barking did waken Sabella, and as she lifted her head to listen, +she whispered wonderingly to herself, "It's Bim! It's dear old Bim. I +know his voice." + +Winn, bending wearily over the statement he was preparing for the +police, heard the barking, and looked up with a startled expression on +his troubled face. "If I didn't know that it couldn't be, I should say +that was Bim's bark. Poor old dog!" he thought. + +The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry. Could the dead come +to life? Could the drowned be resurrected? Could the handsome, +smiling, eager figure in the doorway be that of the young uncle whose +untimely death he had so truly mourned? A quick step, a joyful shout, +and the two were face to face, with hand clasped in hand. + +[Illustration: "The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry."] + +"It has been a terrible lesson, Uncle Billy, but I think I have learned +it," said Winn. + +"Thank God, my dear boy, that the experience has been gained so +cheaply; for I feared it had cost you your life." + +"But where is my little one, my Sabella?" asked Cap'n Cod, anxiously. +"They told me she was here." + +"Here I am, Uncle Aleck," came the dear voice from the inner room. +Then there was another glad reunion of those who had thought never +again to meet in this life; while the old man counted as nothing the +loss of all he had possessed, so long as this child was left to him. + +When Aunt Viney was told who Solon was, she made him a deep courtesy, +and then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she began to sing: + + "Praise God from whom all blessings flow; + Praise Him all creatures here below. + Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; + Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." + +Before she finished the first line they were all singing with her, and +never did this grand old hymn of thanksgiving find a more fervent +utterance. + +As for Bim, there never was a happier bull-dog in this world. He +barked as long as his voice held out, and jumped up on every one, and +tore wildly about the room until his chain fastened itself to a table +leg. Then, with a few spoke-like revolutions, he became completely +wound up, and lay panting on the floor, only waiting to be released +that he might again go through with the entire performance. + +After comparative quiet had been restored, though every one was still +talking at once, the questions arose, "Who saved Sabella? Was any one +drowned? If so, who was it? Did Winn bring the _Whatnot_ down the +river? If not, how did he reach the scene of the catastrophe? How did +the boy's signature happen to be attached to the paper in possession of +the steamboat Captain?" These and a dozen other questions were asked +in a breath, and then all began to answer them at once. Finally, Billy +Brackett called the meeting to order, and asked each one to tell his +story in turn, beginning with Cap'n Cod. + +The most interesting stories, and those throwing the most light on the +situation, were Winn's and Sabella's. At first they were all puzzled +to know who Mr. Gresham could have been. Then Sabella said, "Why, +don't you know, Uncle Aleck? He was the one who sold you the canoe, +and the one Winn said was a bad man. He brought Don Blossom back, and +I told him all about Mr. Brackett and Winn and the raft and everything, +and he was so glad he started right off to find them. Then he came +back with two other men, and said you were all on the raft, and they +borrowed the _Whatnot_ to go and find you with. He was one of the very +nicest and kindest and best men I ever knew, and was going to be my +'Uncle Billy,' so I could have one as well as Winn, and now he's +drowned, and--" + +Here the little girl began to sob bitterly, while Billy Brackett and +Winn and Cap'n Cod looked at each other, and almost simultaneously +pronounced the name "Gilder." + +They did not speak it very loud, for the last splendid act of the man's +life had won for him the right to an unstained name. Hereafter they +would only remember him as William Gresham the hero. + +Thus was cleared up most of the mystery that, like the fog, had +enveloped the proceedings of that memorable day. + +Now what was to be done next? Where was the raft, and was it the +_Venture_ or not? At one moment Winn was certain that it was, while +the next found him again doubtful. + +At length it was decided that Solon should remain with his brother for +the present, while the others should go to a hotel in the city across +the river. From there Billy Brackett would telegraph to the +authorities of towns farther down, asking them to watch for an +abandoned raft, and if they found it to hold it until he could go on +and prove ownership. The raft being described as belonging to a Major +Caspar, Winn's name was signed to all these despatches, in order to +prevent confusion. + +From the hotel Billy Brackett also thought it best to telegraph Major +Caspar of their safe arrival in St. Louis, though, as they had not yet +recovered the raft, it would be unnecessary for him to come on, and a +promise to write full particulars at once. In the Major's absence from +home this despatch was opened by Mrs. Caspar, who had been growing very +anxious of late concerning the voyagers on the great river. The moment +she read it she sat down and wrote another despatch to her husband, who +was in Chicago. It was: + +"Raftmates in St. Louis. Southern Hotel. Please join them +immediately." + + +"Just ten words," she said to herself, with a complacent sigh, as she +handed this to the waiting messenger. "Now if John acts promptly, he +may catch those crazy boys before they have the chance to start off on +any other absurd expedition. I only hope to goodness that he'll have +the sense to bring them home, and let that wretched raft drift where it +likes." + +Major Caspar could not start for St. Louis the next day, but he did so +on the following morning, and late that same evening he walked into the +office of the Southern Hotel. He was beginning to make inquiries at +the desk, when his hand was seized and violently shaken. Turning +quickly, he at once recognized his faithful old army friend Cap'n Cod, +and gave him a cordial greeting. + +"But where are the others?" he inquired at length. + +"Gone down the river an hour ago, by the Short Line," was the +unexpected reply. "You see, we only got word this evening that an +abandoned raft, answering our description, had just been picked up near +Cairo, and Mr. Brackett thought it best that he and Winn should go on +at once to indentify it. It was also decided that Sabella and I should +remain here until we heard from them, because it might not be the +_Venture_, you know, and then I'm not sure that we want to go any +farther down the river, anyway. You see, since losing the _Whatnot_, +I've rather lost interest--" + +"Losing the _Whatnot_!" interrupted the Major. "What do you mean?" + +"Why, haven't you heard?" Then they sat down, and the old man related +all that had happened to the _Whatnot_ and her passengers since leaving +Dubuque. + +When the recital was ended, the Major drew a long breath, and +exclaimed, "Well, for mysterious happenings, incidents, and rapid +changes of scene, that beats anything in the line of Mississippi +rafting that ever I heard of. So now they are off again, and goodness +knows what scrapes they will get into next; while here I am, as +helpless to prevent them as an old hen with a brood of ducklings. +There is one thing I can do, though. I must return to Caspar's Mill at +once, and I want you and your niece to go with me. With my recently +increased business, I need just such a man as you to look after my home +interests, while my daughter Elta, needs just such a girl as your +Sabella is described to be for a companion." + +Tears stood in the old soldier's eyes as he realized all that this +offer meant to him and to the girl who was so dear to him; and, in +accepting it, he blessed the kindly heart by which it had been prompted. + +The Major sent a despatch to the address in Cairo left by Billy +Brackett, directing that young man to dispose of the raft as he thought +best, to take care of Winn, come home as soon as they could, and +telling of his plans for Cap'n Cod and Sabella. He also telegraphed to +Mrs. Caspar that he should be at home the next day but one, bringing +strangers with him. + +She, of course, thought he meant the "raftmates," as she had called +Winn and Billy Brackett from the first, and was amazed to see an old +man and a young girl seated in the carriage with her husband as it +drove up to the house. At first she was greatly disappointed, but +within a few days she became reconciled to the new arrangement, for she +could not help loving the gentle old man who was so fond of her boy, +nor rejoicing in the warm friendship that almost immediately sprang up +between Elta and Sabella. + +In the mean time Billy Brackett and Winn reached Cairo early in the +morning, and after breakfast at a hotel, they called on the City +Marshal, who had sent the despatch relating to the raft. To their +surprise, he received them coldly, and informed them that Mr. Caspar +had already been there, had expressed his willingness to pay a hundred +dollars reward for the recovery of his raft, and had just gone down to +take possession of it. + +This was an astounding bit of information, and Winn was about to let +his rapidly rising indignation break forth, when Billy Brackett +restrained him, and asked, mildly, if the Marshal had any objections to +their looking at the raft in question simply to gratify their curiosity. + +"Oh no. You can look at her as much as you like, and you will find her +just around the point there, in possession of the two young men who +picked her up--that is, if they haven't already turned her over to her +rightful owner." + +Again Winn would have exploded, but again his companion restrained him, +at the same time leading him from the office. + +They found the raft without much difficulty, and walked on board. Just +then the broken door of the "shanty" opened, and two young fellows, +hardly older than Winn, stepped out. As they did so one of them turned +and said, politely, "Well, good-bye, and a pleasant voyage to you, Mr. +Caspar." Then they both faced the new-comers. + +Such an expression of blank amazement as flashed over their faces Winn +thought he had never seen. For an instant they stood spellbound. Then +there was a yell of recognition, or rather a chorus of yells from both +sides. + +"Billy Brackett, as I'm a sinner! Whoop! Hooray for the Baldheads and +the Second Division!" + +"Billy Brackett, or his ghost!" + +"Glen Eddy! Grip, old man! How? When? Where? Why? + + "'Oh, gimminy crack, come hold me tight. + It makes me laugh and shout. + It fills my heart with gay delight + When--'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +CAMPMATES TURN RAFTMATES. + +"Wow wow w-o-w-w!" howled Bim, with his ridiculous nose uplifted and a +most melancholy expression of countenance. He felt in duty bound to +accompany his master's singing, but on this occasion, at least, he +brought it to a sudden conclusion, for no one could possibly sing in +face of the uproarious laughter that greeted his outburst. + +"That's always the way," remarked Billy Brackett, with a comical +expression. "I never am allowed to prove what I am really capable of +in the vocal line. But what are you boys doing here? Where did you +come from, where are you going, and how in the name of all that is +obscure and remarkable do you happen to be on board our raft?" + +"Your raft?" echoed Glen Elting. "What do you mean by your raft? We +called it our raft until a few minutes ago, and now we call it Mr. +Caspar's raft." + +"Yes, I know. Major Caspar's raft. But it's all the same as ours, for +I am his brother-in-law, and have his written authority to dispose of +it as I see fit. Besides, this is his son, and we have been hunting +this raft for the best part of a month. By-the-way, Winn, these are +two old, or rather two young, campmates of mine, Mr. Glen Eddy--I mean +Matherson; no, I beg pardon--Elting is the name at present, I believe." + +"Do you know him intimately?" interrupted Winn, slyly. + +Billy Brackett made a dive at the boy, but as the latter leaped nimbly +aside, he continued: "And Mr. Binney Gibbs, popularly known as 'Grip.' +Gentlemen, this impudent young vil-ly-an is my nephew, Mr. Winn Caspar." + +Instead of acknowledging this introduction, Glen and Binney looked +curiously at each other. Then the former said, "There seems to be +something wrong here, Billy, for we have just turned this raft over to +its owner, Mr. Winn Caspar, and he is in the house here at this moment." + +"That's all right," replied Billy Brackett. "I rather expected to find +that gentleman here, and now we will go inside for an interview with +him." So saying, he tried to open the door, but found it fastened. In +spite of its splintered condition, it was secured so firmly that it +took them several minutes to force it open. When this was +accomplished, and an entrance was effected, the four gazed blankly +about them and at each other. The large room was empty. So were the +two smaller ones beyond, while an open window in the last showed the +manner in which Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw had effected their escape. + +"It's too bad," said Billy Brackett; "for having had several +interesting interviews with those gentlemen, I should have been glad of +another. I think Winn would have been pleased to meet his namesake +too." + +"Indeed I should," replied the boy. "I'd like to collect rent for the +use of my signature, and find out where he learned to copy it so +perfectly." + +"But I don't understand all this at all," said Glen Elting. "If this +raft isn't theirs, why did they want it badly enough to pay three +hundred dollars reward for its recovery?" + +"Whom did they pay it to?" asked Billy Brackett. + +"A hundred to the City Marshal, and a hundred each to Binney and me. +We didn't want to take it, but they insisted, and said they should feel +hurt if we refused. So, of course, rather than hurt their feelings-- +But really, Billy, they are most gentlemanly fellows, and I think +behaved very handsomely." + +"Will you let me see the hundred dollars they gave you?" asked the +young engineer. + +"Certainly," replied Glen, with an air of surprise, and adding, rather +stiffly, "though I didn't think, Billy, that _you_ would require proof +of my truthfulness." + +"I don't, my dear boy, I don't!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. "I would +believe your unsupported word quicker than the sworn statement of most +men. I want to look at that money for a very different purpose." + +So a roll of brand-new bills was handed to him, and he examined them +one by one with the utmost care. + +"There are two hundred dollars here," he said at length. "Is this +Binney's share of the reward as well as your own?" + +"No. I had a hundred-dollar bill, and Mr. Caspar seeing it, asked if I +would mind taking small bills for it, as he wanted one of that amount +to send off by mail; so, of course, I let him have it." + +"Oh, my children! my children!" murmured Billy Brackett, "why will you +persist in attempting to travel through this wicked world without a +guardian? Of all the scrapes from which I have been called to rescue +you, this might have proved the most serious." + +"I don't see how," said both Glen and Binney. + +Winn knew, and he smiled a little self-complacent smile as he +reflected, "This is a little worse than any mess I ever got into." + +"You would have seen quickly enough if you had tried to spend this +money," said Billy Brackett, "for you would undoubtedly have been +arrested on the charge of counterfeiting. Those same fellows put Winn +here in that fix a short time since, besides getting away with a +thousand dollars' worth of wheat that he had in charge, and now they +have come very near serving you the same trick." + +Here Winn's smile faded away rather suddenly, while Glen exclaimed, + +"Do you mean to say that these bills are counterfeit?" + +"I do," replied Billy Brackett; "and if you doubt it, take them to the +first bank you come across and ask the cashier." + +"But the City Marshal took some just like them," argued Glen, catching +at the only straw of hope in sight. + +"So much the worse for the City Marshal, and I for one shall let him +suffer the consequences. He had no business to accept a reward for +performing a simple act of duty, in the first place; and in the second, +the readiness with which he delivered this raft to the first claimants +who came along makes it look very much as though he could be bribed." + +"Well," said Glen, in a despairing tone, "if what you say is true, and +I know it must be, we are in a fix. That hundred dollars was to pay +our expenses to New Orleans; now I don't know how we shall get there." + +"New Orleans! Are you bound for New Orleans?" + +"Yes, and that's how we happened to be here, and to find this raft. +You see, my father, General Elting, you know, is going to Central +America to make a survey for the Nicaragua Canal, and Binney and I are +to go with him. The party is to sail from New Orleans some time in +January, but he had to go to New York first. As there were a lot of +instruments and heavy things to be sent to New Orleans, he thought it +best to ship them by boat; and as we wanted to take the river trip, he +let us come in charge of them. We knew we should have to transfer from +the Ohio River boat at this point, but we didn't know until we got here +that we must wait three days for the New Orleans packet. As there +wasn't anything else to do, we have put in the time hunting and +fishing, and last evening we ran across this abandoned raft about a +mile up the Mississippi. We had a time getting it in here, I can tell +you. When we did, and reported it to the City Marshal, he showed us a +telegram from a Mr. Winn Caspar, asking him to look out for just such a +raft. We knew this must be the one, for we had found this book lying +on the table, with the name 'Winn Caspar' written all over the +fly-leaf, as though some one had been practising the signature. Sure +enough, a man who said his name was 'Winn Caspar' turned up this +morning, bringing a friend with him. They told a straight enough story +of how their raft had been stolen near St. Louis, and described it +perfectly. They even described the interior of this 'shanty' and +everything in it, including this identical book, as though they had +lived here all their lives. So, of course, both the Marshal and we +thought it was all right; and I don't see even now, if this is your +raft, how those fellows knew all about it as they did. The only thing +they slipped up on was the broken door, and they owned they couldn't +account for that. It seems as if some one must have boarded the raft +before we did and broken into the 'shanty.' The men said there wasn't +anything missing, though. Perhaps you can tell us what has been +stolen." + +"No," replied Billy Brackett, "I can't tell that, but I can tell who +broke in that door. I can also relate a tale of adventure and +misadventure in connection with this raft that would excite the envy of +any member of the Second Division, including even the Baldheads, and +you, who were the most reckless young scapegrace of the lot." + +Whereupon the young engineer told these interested listeners the whole +history of the _Venture_ from the time the raft was put together down +to the present moment. In it he included the _Whatnot_, Cap'n Cod, +Sabella, Solon, Reward, and Don Blossom, Sheriff Riley, the +"river-traders," Clod, Aunt Viney, and, above all, Bim, who barked +loudly, and rushed wildly about the room at this honorable mention of +his name. + +When the story was finished, Glen Elting heaved a deep sigh, and said +to Winn, "Well, you have had a good time. I thought we had about the +best times any fellows could have when we crossed the plains with Billy +Brackett last year, but it seems to me that you are having just about +as much fun right here on this muddy old river as we had out there. I +only wish we had a raft." Then turning to Billy Brackett, he asked, +"What are you going to do next?" + +"I don't know," was the reply. "What are you going to do?" + +"I'm sure I don't know." + +"Then lend me your ears. You want to get to New Orleans, and so do we." + +"Do we?" interrupted Winn, in surprise, looking up from the book of +travels on the title-page of which his name was written so many times, +and which was the very one he had been reading the last evening he had +spent on this raft. + +"You do!" exclaimed both Glen and Binney. + +"Certainly," was the calm reply. "It is the only market for timber +rafts that I know of south of St. Louis, and as we can't go back, we +are bound to go ahead. So, as I was saying when rudely interrupted, +both you and we want to go to New Orleans. You have no money--real +money, I mean--with which to get there, and we need at least two extra +pair of hands to help us get this raft there. So why not ship your +stuff on board here, and help us navigate this craft to our common +destination?" + +"Do you truly mean it, Billy Brackett?" + +"I truly mean it. And if you are willing to go as raftmates with us--" + +"Are we willing? Well, I should smile! Are we willing? Why, Billy +Brackett, we'd rather go to New Orleans as raftmates with you and Winn +Caspar than to do anything else in the whole world just at present. +Eh, 'Grip'?" + +"Well, rather!" answered Binney Gibbs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +THE "RIVER-TRADERS" ATTEMPT TO REGAIN POSSESSION. + +So it was settled that the three who had been campmates together on the +plains should now, with Winn Caspar to complete the quartet, become +raftmates on a voyage of nearly a thousand miles down the great river. +It is hard to say which of the four was happiest during the busy day +that followed the making of this arrangement. Winn was overjoyed at +recovering the raft lost through his over-confidence in his own wisdom, +and at the prospect of taking a trip so much longer than he had +anticipated at the outset. He had also conceived a great fancy for the +two manly young fellows whose fortunes had become so strangely +connected with those of the _Venture_, and was glad they were to be his +companions on the voyage. + +Billy Brackett was not only rejoiced that he had at length been +successful in finding both Winn and the raft, but was delighted to meet +again those with whom he had already shared so much of peril and +pleasure. That they had again become his mates in such a peculiar +manner, and amid such different scenes, was proof, as he quaintly +expressed it, that "Truth can give the most expert fiction points, and +still beat it at its own game." + +Glen and Binney were raised from a depth of dismay, caused by the loss +of their money and the resulting predicament into which they were +thrown, to a height of felicity at the prospect of a raft voyage down +the Mississippi, under the leadership of their beloved campmate, Billy +Brackett. They also liked Winn; and, judging from what had already +happened to him, regarded him as a boy in whose company a variety of +adventures might reasonably be hoped for. + +Owing to their past experience with the "river-traders," Billy Brackett +and Winn were somewhat uneasy at the presence of Grimshaw and Plater in +town, and their manifest desire to regain possession of the raft. They +were puzzled by this, and wondered what reason the men could still have +for wanting the raft. Certainly their connection with it was now too +well known for them to hope to make any further use of it in pursuing +their unlawful business. Nor did it seem likely that they would choose +it merely as a conveyance down the river. No; it must be that they had +hoped to sell the _Venture_, and realize a considerable sum by the +transaction. This was the conclusion finally reached by our raftmates, +though it was not one with which they were entirely satisfied. + +Still, they felt that, as they were now four to two, they might +reasonably hope to be left in undisturbed possession of the raft for +the future, and so did not allow thought of the "river-traders" to +trouble them to any great extent. They decided that two of them should +stay constantly on board the raft, at least so long as they remained in +that locality, and that Bim should also be added to the protective +force. + +To begin with, Binney and Winn remained on guard while Billy Brackett +and Glen went into the town to telegraph for Solon, send down the +instruments, and make other arrangements for the voyage. It had been +decided that as their crew was incomplete without a cook, Solon should +be sent for, and that they could not make a start until he arrived, +which would probably be early the next morning. + +Winn and Binney found plenty to occupy them during the absence of the +others in becoming acquainted, learning each other's history, and +arranging the interior of the "shanty." From Binney, Winn learned what +a splendid fellow his young uncle was, and how much he was respected as +well as admired by all who were so fortunate as to be counted among his +friends. "He is a fellow," concluded Binney, "who couldn't do a mean +thing if he tried. One thing I like especially about him is that he is +just as careful in his attention to trifles, if they come in the line +of his duty, as he is to big things, and Billy has already had some +pretty important positions too, I can tell you. He is full of fun, and +was the life and soul of the Second Division all the time they were +crossing the plains. Glen knows him better than I do, though, because +they were 'bunkies' together, and from what he has told me I regard +myself as mighty lucky to have the chance of taking a trip in his +company." + +"He has told me a good deal about you and Glen on that trip," said +Winn, "but I don't remember hearing anything about his own adventures." + +"That's just what makes fellows like him. He is always ready to listen +to what they have to say, or to tell of anything they have done, if it +is worth telling; but he never puts himself forward as one who knows it +all or has done it all and can't be taught anything." + +This conversation set Winn to thinking, with the result that in one +instance, at least, he had been too hasty in his conclusions. He had +been somewhat ashamed that his uncle should act the part of showman +with a river panorama, and had supposed that it was done from a desire +to display his own accomplishments. Now he wondered if, after all, +this was not the one delicate and unobtrusive way in which Cap'n Cod's +poor little undertaking could have been saved from a ridiculous and +mortifying failure. He had been inclined to regard his young relative +as rather frivolous; but perhaps there were depths to Billy Brackett's +character that he was not yet wise enough to fathom. He would study it +more carefully hereafter, and how doubly thankful he now was that his +chance to do so had not been lost with the wreck of the _Whatnot_. + +Although the interior of the _Venture's_ "shanty" still seemed +unfamiliar to Winn, he could no longer doubt that the raft was his +father's. In the small room that he was to have occupied he now found +most of his own possessions just where he had left them. Among the +things that he was particularly glad thus to find were several changes +of clothing, of which he stood greatly in need. + +The "shanty" was in great disorder; but the two boys worked so +faithfully at sweeping, cleaning, and putting things to rights, that by +the time the others returned with a dray-load of freight the interior +was thoroughly clean and inviting. The afternoon was spent in laying +in a store of provisions for the voyage, repairing the splintered door, +and mending one of the sweeps, which was on the point of breaking. + +By sunset everything was in readiness for a start, and all hands were +gathered about the galley stove, each superintending the cooking of his +specialty for supper. Billy Brackett could make griddle-cakes, or +"nip-naps," as he called them. He fried them in an iron spider, and +the deftness with which he turned them, by tossing them in the air, so +excited the admiration of his raftmates that they immediately wished to +engage him as regular cook for the trip. + +"This isn't a circumstance to what I can do in the culinary line," +remarked Billy Brackett, modestly. "To know me at my best, you ought +to be around when I make biscuit. My heavy biscuit are simply +monuments of the baker's art. They are warranted to withstand any +climate, and defy the ravaging tooth of time. They can turn the edge +of sarcasm, and have that quality of mercy which endureth forever. A +quartz-crusher turns pale at sight of them, and they supply a permanent +filling for aching voids or long-felt wants. In fact, gentlemen, it is +universally acknowledged that my biscuit can't be beat." + +"Neither can a bad egg," said Glen, who was trying to make an omelet. + +"Let us defer the biscuit for this time, and have a smoking dish of +corn-meal mush instead," suggested Winn. "It is one of the hardest +things in the world to cook, but I know the trick to perfection." + +"Mush, mush, mush, tooral-i-addy," sang Binney. At that moment Bim +began to growl, and to sniff at the bottom of the door. They opened it +and looked out. No one was there, nor did they hear a sound. Darkness +had already set in, and they could see nothing. Bim ran to the edge of +the raft, barked once or twice, and then returned to his place near the +stove. + +"It must have been your singing that excited him, Grip," remarked Billy +Brackett. "He generally acts that way when a person sings, and I have +heretofore attributed it to envy, though I don't see how it could have +been in this case." + +After supper Billy Brackett went into town to call on the telegraph +operator, with whom he had established friendly relations, and to +receive some despatches that he was expecting. He had not been gone +long before Bim, who had been left behind, again began to show signs of +uneasiness, and intimate a desire to be let out. + +Again the door was opened for him, and again he rushed out into the +darkness. This time retreating footsteps and the rustling of bushes on +the bank were distinctly heard. With a low growl Bim sprang ashore and +disappeared. The next instant the boys saw a flash of lantern-light a +few rods below the raft, heard a smothered yelp, the sounds of a +confused struggle, and a moment later a loud splash in the water. Then +all was again buried in darkness and silence. + +"Something has happened to Bim!" exclaimed Winn, in a low but excited +tone, "and I am going to find out what it is." With this the boy +leaped ashore, and hurried in the direction from which the sounds had +come. + +"It's a mighty foolish thing to do, but you sha'n't go alone," said +Glen Elting, quietly, as he started after Winn, adding, as he left the +raft, "You stay behind and stand guard, Binney." + +The boy, thus suddenly left alone, stood guard for about fifteen +seconds, when all at once two dark figures sprang aboard the raft from +the bank, and he had barely time to utter a single cry of warning +before he was engaged in a furious struggle with one of them, who had +seized him from behind. + +"Drop him overboard!" + +Although the command was given in a low tone, Binney heard and +understood it. Then the strong arms in which he was struggling lifted +him as they would a child, and bore him towards the edge of the raft. + +[Illustration: "The strong arms lifted him as they would a child."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +WHERE IS BIM? + +Billy Brackett was in a particularly contented frame of mind, and +whistled softly to himself as he tramped through the muddy streets of +one of the muddiest cities in the United States, towards the telegraph +office. He was well satisfied with the results of his expedition thus +far, and with its prospects of a successful termination. He did not +notice the curious looks with which several persons regarded him as the +bright light from a store window fell on his face, nor would he have +cared if he had. His conscience was clear, and he had nothing to fear +from observation, curious or otherwise. + +As he entered the telegraph office, the operator glanced up with a nod +of recognition. A few seconds later, having finished sending the +despatch with which he had been busy, he turned his key over to an +assistant and said, + +"Will you step this way a moment, sir? I wish to speak to you in +private." With this he led the way into a room behind the office, +where, after the other had entered, he closed the door. + +"What's up?" asked the young engineer, wondering at these proceedings. + +"Have you or any of your companions any counterfeit money in your +possession?" asked the operator, abruptly. + +"No--that is, yes. One of my friends has quite a lot of it that was +passed on him for genuine this morning, and I have a few samples for +purposes of comparison." + +"But you haven't passed, or tried to pass, any of it in this place?" + +"Certainly not! Why do you ask such a question?" + +"Because I have taken a liking to you. Have not you in your possession +a note of identification from a certain Iowa Sheriff?" + +"Yes; I have such a note from a Sheriff named Riley, of Dubuque; but +how did you know anything about it?" asked Billy Brackett, greatly +surprised. + +"In a very simple way. Sheriff Riley happens to be my brother, and he +wrote to me all about your little affair up the river. So I know you +to be an honest man, and want to give you a warning. You may be very +sure, however, that I should not do so were I not confident of your +innocence." + +"Innocence of what?" + +"Passing counterfeit money. A good bit of it has suddenly appeared in +circulation here, and your raft has been identified by some men from +up-river as one on which suspicion has already fallen in connection +with a similar state of affairs elsewhere. You have made a good many +purchases to-day, and at least one bad bill has been traced directly to +you. Of course you may have received it in change, and passed it again +unknowingly. I believe that is how it happened. If I did not, I +should hold my tongue and let you suffer the consequences. In addition +to this, all sorts of queer stories regarding you have been circulated +about town to-day, and such a feeling has been aroused against you that +a number of the worst characters in the place have determined to pay +your raft a visit to-night. I don't know what they intend doing, nor +do I think they know themselves, but I am certain if they find you the +result will be most unpleasant. They are to be led by a couple of +strangers, who have been secretly watching you all day. These men +claim to be 'river-traders,' who have suffered serious losses through +you, including that of the raft now in your possession, which, they +say, was stolen from them. I can't tell you how I gained all this +information, but it is at your disposal. If I were in your place, I +would take advantage of the darkness to drop down the river, and I +wouldn't lose any time about it either." + +"You advise me to run away like a coward, instead of remaining to +defend myself against these abominable and absolutely unfounded +charges!" exclaimed Billy Brackett, indignantly. "I shall do nothing +of the kind." + +"Not 'run away;' simply continue your voyage before it is unpleasantly +interrupted," returned the other, with a smile. "If you remain until +morning, your raft, with its contents, will certainly be destroyed by +an unreasoning mob, at whose hands you and your companions may suffer +bodily injury. In this case action would come first and inquiry +afterwards. I am convinced you could easily prove your innocence, but +doubt if you could obtain any redress for the losses you would have +suffered in the mean time. Now I must get back to my desk. You will +of course act as you think best, but I sincerely hope that you will +accept my advice, and decide that an honorable retreat is better than a +lost battle." + +"But there is Solon, the man whom I telegraphed to join us here. I +don't expect him before morning." + +"Why, he is here already! Haven't you met him! He arrived on the +evening train, and came in here to inquire where you could be found. I +gave him directions, and started him off not fifteen minutes ago." + +"I don't see how he managed it," said Billy Brackett, who had been +thinking rapidly while the other spoke; "but if he is already on board +there is no reason why our departure should be delayed. Therefore I am +almost inclined to accept your advice, for which, as well as for your +timely warning, I am sincerely grateful. I will, at any rate, get back +to the raft at once." + +With this the young man shook hands with the operator, and left the +office. + +"There!" exclaimed the other, looking after him with a relieved sigh; +"I believe I have done that young fellow a good turn. At the same time +I have given myself a chance to capture the thousand-dollar reward that +Ned wrote about, and which I was afraid this chap was after for +himself." + +As for Billy Brackett, the more he reflected upon the situation, as he +hastened towards the place where the raft was moored, the more puzzled +he became as to what course he ought to pursue. He now had not only +Winn, the raft, and himself to consider, but Glen and Binney, and the +valuable instruments belonging to General Elting. Certainly it would +not do to allow these to fall into the hands of an excited and +irresponsible mob. Still, the thought of running away was hateful. + +As he neared the raft an undefined apprehension caused him to quicken +his steps; and at the sound of Binney Gibbs's shout of warning, he +broke into a run. Then he heard another shout of "Hol' on, Marse Winn! +I comin'!" and the noise of a struggle, in another moment he was in the +thick of it. + +Solon had reached the raft just in time to save Binney, who he thought +was Winn, from being dropped overboard by Plater, the "river-trader." +The old negro attacked the big man so furiously with tooth and nail +that the latter gave the lad in his arms a fling to one side, sending +him crashing with stunning force against the "shanty," and devoted his +entire attention to this new assailant. He had just stretched Solon on +the deck with a vicious blow of his powerful fist, when Billy Brackett +appeared and sprang eagerly into the fray. Even Plater's brute +strength was no match for the young engineer's science, and the latter +would have gained a speedy victory, had not Grimshaw, who had been +engaged in casting off the lines that held the raft to the bank, come +to his partner's assistance. + +Now, with such odds against him, Billy Brackett was slowly but surely +forced backward towards the edge of the raft. In another moment he +would have been in the river, when all at once two dripping figures +emerged from it, scrambled aboard, and with a yell like a war-whoop, +ranged themselves on the weaker side. A few well-planted blows, a +determined rush, and the struggle for the possession of the raft was +ended. The fighting ardor of Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw was being +rapidly cooled in the icy waters through which they found themselves +swimming towards the shore. At the same time the _Venture_ was gaining +speed with each moment, as, borne on by the resistless current, it +drifted out over the mingling floods of the Ohio and Mississippi. +Billy Brackett, still panting from his exertions, was bending over +Binney Gibbs, who was struggling back to consciousness. Solon was +sitting up, tenderly feeling of his swollen features, and declaring, +"Dat ar man hab a fis' lak de hin laig ob a mewel." + +Glen and Winn had manned one of the sweeps, and were trying to get the +raft properly headed with the current. Thus the voyage was really +begun, and the young engineer, who hated to run away, was spared the +necessity of making a decision. It was a start, too, with all hands on +board. To be sure, two of them were battered and bruised, while two +more were soaked to the skin; but all were there, and none was greatly +the worse for the recent exciting experience. + +Suddenly Billy Brackett spoke up and asked: + +"But where is Bim? Is it possible that we have left him behind?" + +For a moment no one answered. Then Winn said: "That's what Glen and I +were ashore for. We are afraid he is lost." + +"Lost! Bim wouldn't get lost! He has too much sense." + +"I expect he is this time, though," said Glen, "and we don't believe he +will ever be found again, either." Then he told of Bim's rushing +ashore, the smothered yelp, the loud splash that followed, and of their +unsuccessful search for him in the darkness. "So it looks as though +the poor dog were done for," concluded Glen, "and I expect it was by a +trick of those same fellows who tried to capture the raft." + +Billy Brackett listened closely, without a word, and when he had heard +all there was to tell, he turned abruptly away and walked into the +"shanty," muttering through his clinched teeth, "The scoundrels." + +It certainly would have gone hard with the "river-traders" could the +stalwart young engineer have laid hands on them at that moment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +A BLAZE ON THE RIVER. + +As Messrs. Plater and Grimshaw will not appear again in this story, it +may be as well to dismiss them at once. The well-conceived and +desperate effort to gain possession of the raft just described was +their last attempt in that direction. They had watched Billy Brackett +leave it, had enticed the ever-faithful Bim from it, and when, from a +place of concealment, they heard two of its remaining defenders go +ashore in search of the brave dog, their satisfaction was complete. +Now they were sure of the prize for which they were willing to risk so +much. Stealing silently to the raft without attracting Binny Gibbs's +attention, they leaped aboard, proceeded to dispose of him, and at the +same time to set the _Venture_ adrift. Had not Binney's shout guided +Solon to the scene, success would have crowned their efforts. + +The old negro was not a fighter by nature, but in defence of those he +loved he could be bold as a lion. Consequently he rushed to the rescue +of the boy whom he supposed was Winn Caspar without hesitation, and +careless of the odds against him. His coming, followed so quickly by +that of Billy Brackett and the arrival of the two boys, turned the tide +of battle. Glen and Winn were compelled to plunge overboard and swim +for the raft, as it was already a rod or so from shore when they +regained the place where it had been tied. + +The "river-traders" were unwillingly compelled to take the same plunge +a moment later, and as they swam towards the shore, which, fortunately +for them, was still near at hand, their hearts were filled with +bitterness at their defeat, while plans for future vengeance were +already forming in their minds. But these were never carried out, for +the reason that, as they were making their dripping way into town, they +came across the mob bent on a deed of destruction that they themselves +had instigated. With it was Joe Riley, the operator, and as these were +the very men he was most desirous of meeting just then, he persuaded +his associates to devote a few minutes of attention to them. + +As a result of this interview with one who knew so much about them and +their business, their career as "river-traders" ended then and there. +A few days later they left Cairo in company with Sheriff Riley, of +Dubuque, who had come down the river on purpose to escort them north. +Why they had been so anxious to recover possession of the _Venture_ was +for a long time an unsolved puzzle to the crew of that interesting +raft. That the reason was finally explained will be made as clear to +us as it was to our raft mates before the end of this story of their +unique voyage down the great river. When it is, we shall probably +wonder, as they did, that so simple a solution of the mystery had not +occurred to us before. + +In the mean time the raft, once more in full possession of its rightful +crew, is gliding swiftly with the mighty current through the starlit +darkness. Billy Brackett, with a heart full of sorrow over the loss of +his four-footed but dearly loved companion, is on watch. The lantern, +lighted and run to the top of the flag-staff, sends forth a clear beam +of warning to all steamboats. In the "shanty," which looks very bright +and cosey in comparison with the outside darkness, Binney Gibbs is +lying comfortably in one of the bunks, Solon is making himself +acquainted with the arrangements of his new galley, and the other two +are changing their wet clothing, while carrying on an animated +conversation regarding the stirring events just recorded. + +"How jolly this would all be if it wasn't for poor Billy's melancholy +over the loss of his dog," remarked Glen Elting, as he turned the +steaming garments hanging in front of the galley stove. "It was a +splendid start, wasn't it, Grip?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," answered Binney, a little doubtfully; "though I +don't believe it would seem quite so fine to you if you ached all over +as I do." + +"Perhaps not, old man. But you'll be all right again to-morrow, after +a good night in 'dream-bags;' and anyway, you must admit that this +beats steamboating all to nothing. Just think, if we hadn't been lucky +enough to fall in with this blessed raft, and Billy and Winn, and all +the rest, we should at this very moment be just ordinary +ten-o'clock-at-night passengers, shivering on the Cairo wharf-boat, and +waiting for the New Orleans packet to come along. She's due there some +time this evening, yon know." + +"Yes; and instead of that, here I am--" + +"Here you are," interrupted Glen, seeing that his friend was about to +utter a complaint; "and thankful you ought to be to find yourself here, +too. Why, we'll be as merry as this muddy old river is long, as soon +as Billy ceases to mourn for his dog. I'm a little surprised that he +should take it so much to heart, though. It isn't like Billy B. to be +cast down over trifles." + +"Trifles!" cried Winn. "When you call dear old Bim a 'trifle,' you are +making one of the big mistakes of your life, and you wouldn't do it +either if you had known him as well as I did. There never was another +dog like him for wisdom and gentleness and pluck and--well, and +everything that makes a dog lovely. Why, that Bim would reason his way +out of scrapes that would stump a man, and the word 'fear' was never +printed in his dictionary. Somehow I can't help thinking that he'll +turn up all right, bright and smiling, yet." + +"I don't see how," said Glen. + +"Neither can I, and I don't suppose I could if I were in his place; but +unless Bim is uncommonly dead, I'll guarantee that he'll come to life +again somehow and somewhere. In fact, I shouldn't be one bit surprised +to see him aboard this very raft again before our voyage is ended." + +"I must confess that I should," said Glen. + +"That's because you don't know him," responded Winn. "Isn't it, Solon?" + +"I 'spec's hit must be, Marse Winn," answered the old negro. + +"And wasn't he the very wisest dog you ever knew?" + +"Yes, sah, he suttinly was, all 'ceptin' one, an' hit war a yallar +'coon dawg wha' I uster own down in ole Lou'siana. I 'spec's he war +jes a teenty mite more knowin' dan eben Marse Brack's Bim dawg. He +name war Bijah." + +"How did he ever prove his wisdom?" asked Winn, incredulously. + +"How him provin' it!" exclaimed the old negro, warming to his subject. +"Why, sah, him provin' it ebbery day ob he life more ways 'n one." + +"Well, give us an example, if you can remember one." + +"Yes, sah, I kin. An' I tell you-all one ob de berry simples' t'ings +what dat ar Bijah ebber done. He war jest a ornery, stumpy-tail, 'coon +dawg, Bijah war, an' him know he warn't nuffin else. Dat's why he +won't go fer nuffin 'ceptin' 'coons--no rabbits, ner 'possum, ner fox, +ner b'ar, ner nuffin--jes 'coons. But 'coons! Don' talk, gen'l'_men_! +I reckin dat ar Bijah done know ebbery 'coon in twenty mile ob de Moss +Back plantashun. An' he knowed some fer 'coons wha' didn' 'low dey war +'coons no way." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Winn. + +"Dat's wha' I comin' to, Marse Winn, but yo' mus'n' hurry de ole man. +One day I takin' de ole kyart inter town wif a load er wood, an' Bijah +he gwine erlong. When we comin' to der place whar de wood kyarts +stops, I onyoked, an' Bijah he lyin', sleepylike, ondur de kyart. I +passin' de time er day 'long some udder cullud fellers, an' tellin' +wha' kind ob a 'coon dawg Bijah war, an' how he ain't know nuffin no +way 'ceptin' 'coons. Suddint I see dat ar dawg kin' er wink he eye, +an' raise up an' sniff de yair, an' den lite out licketty cut down +erlong. Dey ain't nuffin on de road 'ceptin' jes a cullud gal, an' she +a-turnin' inter de sto'. + +"Dem fellers laff fit to bus' deirselfs, an' say, 'Hi dar! wha' dat +fine 'coon dawg gwine fer now?' + +"I say, 'Him gwine fer a 'coon, gen'l'men, he suttinly am.' Yo' see, I +jes nacherly 'bleeged ter say so. Same time, I kin' er jubious. + +"Afo' we comin' ter de sto', I heah ole Bijah gibbin tongue lak mad, +an' I say, 'Him treed um' gen'l'men! him treed um fer sho'. But when +we comin' dar, an' look in der do', I feelin' mighty sick. Dat ar +cullud gill she up in er cheer er-shyin' she umbrel at Bijah, an' him +jes a dancin' 'roun', an' er-yelpin'. + +"Well, ef dem fellers ain't laff! Dey jes roll deirselfs in de dus'. + +"'Whar yo' 'coon dawg now? Whar yo' 'coon dawg?' dey axin; but I kep' +on sayin' nuffin. I know dat gal, an' when I hit Bijah er clip to stop +he noise, I say, berry polite, 'Mawnin', Lize. Yo' got any 'coon 'bout +yo' pusson?' + +"Den she say, snappylike, 'How I gwine get 'coon, yo' fool nigger! No, +sah, I ain't got no 'coon 'ceptin' my ole man wha' I marry yistiddy he +name _Coon_.'" + +The shout of laughter that greeted this story was interrupted by the +appearance of Billy Brackett at the door. + +"Come out here, boys!" he cried. "There's a steamboat on fire and +coming down the river!" + +This startling announcement emptied the "shanty" in a hurry. Even +Binney Gibbs forgot his aches and joined his mates outside. + +There was no doubt as to the meaning of the column of flame that turned +the darkness into day behind them. It was so near that they could hear +its ominous roar, while the black forest walls on either side of the +river were bathed in a crimson glow from its baleful light. A vast +cloud of smoke, through which shot millions of sparks, trailed and +eddied above it, while, with the hoarse voice of escaping steam, the +blazing craft sounded its own death-note. + +As the monster came tearing down the channel of crimson and gold that +opened and ever widened before it, our raftmates were fascinated by the +sight of its sublime but awful approach. They stood motionless and +speechless until roused to a sudden activity by Billy Brackett's shout +of "Man the sweeps, fellows! She is unmanageable, and headed for us as +straight as an arrow. If we can't get out of the way she'll be on top +of us inside of two minutes more!" + +Like young tigers the boys tugged at the heavy sweeps; but they might +as well have tried to extinguish the floating volcano that threatened +them with destruction as to remove that mass of timber beyond reach of +danger within the time allowed them. The task was an impossible one; +and as they realized this fact, the crew of the _Venture_ prepared to +launch their skiff, abandon the raft, and row for their lives. + +[Illustration: "Like young tigers the boys tugged at the heavy sweeps."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +BIM'S HEROISM. + +As the burning steamboat swept down towards the low-lying raft the +destruction of the latter appeared so certain that its crew abandoned +all hope of saving it; and, taking to their skiff, sought by its means +to escape the threatened danger. It was a forlorn hope, and promised +but little. Even with Billy Brackett's strong arms tugging at its +oars, the heavily laden skiff seemed to move so slowly, that but for +the ever-widening space between them and the raft they would have +deemed it at a stand-still. They gazed in silence and with fascinated +eyes at the on-coming terror. At length, with a sigh of thankfulness, +they saw that they were beyond its track, and Billy Brackett's labors +were somewhat relaxed. + +Suddenly, as though endowed with a fiendish intelligence, the blazing +fabric took a sheer to port, and headed for the skiff. A hoarse cry +broke from the old negro, whose face was ashen gray with fright. It +was echoed by Binney Gibbs. The others kept silence, but their faces +were bloodless. + +By a mighty effort Billy Brackett spun the skiff around, and with the +energy of despair pulled back towards the raft. The stout oars bent +like whips. If one of them had given way nothing could have saved our +raftmates from destruction. Had the tough blades been of other than +home make, and fashioned from the best product of the Caspar Mill, they +must have yielded. With each stroke Billy Brackett rose slightly from +his seat. Arms, body, and legs made splendid response to the demands +of the invincible will. Years of careful training and right living +were concentrated into that supreme moment. Another might have sought +personal safety by plunging overboard and diving deep into the river. +Glen and Winn might have followed such an example. Binney and Solon, +being unable to swim, could not. But Billy Brackett was too true an +American to consider such a thing for an instant. Generations of +Yankee ancestors had taught him never to desert a friend nor yield to a +foe; never to court a danger nor to fear one; to fight in a righteous +cause with his latest breath; to snatch victory from defeat. + +As the skiff dashed alongside the _Venture_ the vast, glowing, seething +mass of flame, smoke, and crashing timbers swept by so close that the +raftmates were obliged to seek a shelter in the cool waters from its +deadly heat. Clinging to the edge of the raft, with their bodies +entirely submerged, they gazed breathlessly and with blinded eyes at +the grandest and most awful sight to be seen on the Mississippi. It +was a huge lower-river packet, and was completely enveloped in roaring +flames that poured from every opening, and streamed furiously from the +tall chimneys the trailing banners of the fire-fiend. The boat was +under a full head of steam, her machinery was still intact, and the +great wheels, churning the glowing waters into a crimson foam, forced +her ahead with the speed of a locomotive. The back draught thus caused +kept the forward end of her lower deck free from flame. Here, as she +rushed past, the boys caught a glimpse of the only sign of life they +could discover aboard the ill-fated packet. It was a dog leaping from +side to side, and barking furiously. + +They had hardly noted his presence when a curious thing happened. +There came an explosion of steam, a crash, and the starboard wheel +dropped from its shaft. Thus crippled, the blazing craft made a grand +sweep of half a circle in front of the raft. Then, as the other wheel +also became disabled and ceased its mad churnings, the boat lay with +her head up-stream, drifting helplessly with the current. The packet +was not more than a couple of hundred feet from the raft when its wild +progress was thus checked, and now the barkings of the dog, that had +already attracted the boy's attention, were heard more plainly than +before. + +All at once Billy Brackett, who had regained the wave-washed deck of +the raft, called out, "It's Bim! I know his voice!" + +With this he again sprang into the skiff, with the evident intention of +attempting to rescue his four-footed comrade. Winn Caspar was just in +time to scramble in over the stern as the skiff shot away. "I may be +of some help," he said. + +As they neared the burning boat, they saw that the dog was indeed Bim. +He answered their calls with frantic barks of joy, but refused to leap +into the skiff or into the water, as they urged him to. + +He would run back out of their sight instead, and then reappear, +barking frantically all the while. Once he seemed to be dragging +something, and trying to hold it up for their inspection. + +"The dear old dog has some good reason for acting in that way," said +Billy Brackett, "and I must go to him." + +Winn had not the heart to remonstrate against an attempt to aid Bim, +even though its extreme danger was obvious. The blazing hull, from +which most of the upper works were now burned away, was liable to +plunge to the bottom at any moment, and the boy shuddered at the +thought of being engulfed in the seething whirlpool which would thus be +created. He involuntarily cringed, too, at the thought of the red-hot +boilers ready to burst and deluge all surrounding objects with scalding +steam and hissing water. Still, he would not have spoken a single word +to deter Billy Brackett from his daring project even had he known it +would be heeded. + +While these thoughts flashed through Winn's mind, his companion was +clambering up over the low guards, and Bim's joyful welcome of his +master was pitiful in its extravagance. The dog seemed to say, "I knew +you would come if I only waited patiently and barked loud enough. Now +you see why I couldn't leave." + +The object to which Bim thus directed attention, as plainly as though +possessed of speech, was a little curly-haired puppy, a Gordon setter, +so young that its eyes were not yet opened. + +Billy Brackett picked it up and dropped it over the side into Winn's +arms. Then he tried to do the same by Bim; but, with a loud bark, the +nimble dog eluded his grasp, and dashed away into the thick of the +smoke. Tongues of flame were licking their cruel way through it, and +as Bim emerged, his hair was scorched in yellow patches. He dragged +out a dead puppy, laid it at his master's feet, and before he could be +restrained had once more dashed back into the stifling smoke. Again he +appeared, this time weak and staggering, every trace of his white coat +gone. He was singed and blackened beyond recognition; but he was a +four-footed hero, who had nobly performed a self-imposed duty. As he +feebly dragged another little dead puppy to his master's feet, Billy +Brackett seized the brave dog in his arms, and sprang over the side of +the doomed steamboat into the waiting skiff. Tears stood in the young +man's eyes as the suffering creature licked his face, and he exclaimed, +"I tell you what, Winn Caspar, if this blessed dog isn't possessed of a +soul, then I'm not, that's all!" + +Meanwhile Winn was pulling the skiff swiftly beyond reach of danger. +It was none too soon; for before they reached the raft, the glowing +mass behind them reared itself on end as though making a frantic effort +to escape its fate. Then, with a hissing plunge, it disappeared +beneath the turbid flood of the great river. A second later there came +a muffled explosion, and a column of water, capped by a cloud of steam, +shot upward. At the same time the scene was shrouded in a darkness +made absolute by the sudden extinguishing of the fierce light, while +the silence that immediately succeeded the recent uproar seemed +unbroken. + +Then the momentary hush was invaded by the sound of many voices, some +of which were uttering groans and cries of pain. A score of fortunates +from the burned packet, who had been driven by the flames to the +extreme after-end of the boat, where they were hidden from the view of +those on the raft, had leaped into the water as they were swept past, +and managed to reach it while Billy Brackett and Winn were away. + +Now, by means of the skiff, others whose cries for help located them in +the darkness were picked up. Many persons had escaped soon after the +breaking out of the fire by means of the small boats and life-raft +carried by the packet; while still others, comprising nearly half the +ship's company, were lost. It was one the most terrible of the many +similar disasters recorded in the history of steamboating on the +Mississippi; and to this day the burning of the _Lytle_ is a favorite +theme of conversation among old river men. + +When Glen Elting learned the name of the ill-fated craft, he started +and turned pale. "The very packet for which we were waiting!" he +cried, with bated breath. "Oh, Binney, how many things we have to be +thankful for!" + +"Indeed we have," answered the boy; "and not the least of them is that +we are in a position to help these poor people, who have been overtaken +by the misfortune that was reaching out for us." + +These two were tearing sheets into bandage strips, and dressing wounds +with the salve and ointments found in Major Caspar's medicine chest. +Solon was providing a plentiful supply of hot-water over a roaring fire +in the galley stove, and bustling about among the forlorn assembly, +that, drenched and shivering, had been so suddenly intrusted to his +kindly care. Billy Brackett and Winn rowed in every direction about +the raft so long as there was the slightest hope of picking up a +struggling swimmer. + +Their last rescue was that of a man clinging to a state-room door, and +so benumbed with the chill of the water that in a few moments more his +hold must have relaxed. Beside him swam a dog, also nearly exhausted. + +When the man was carried into the "shanty," the dog followed him, and +was there seen to be of the same markings and breed as the puppy saved +by Bim. Noting this, Winn hunted it up and brought it to her. It was +hers, and no human mother could have shown more extravagant joy than +did this dog mother at so unexpectedly finding one of her lost babies. +She actually cried with happiness, and fondled her little one until it +protested with all the strength of its feeble voice. Then she lay down +with the puppy cuddled close to her, and one paw thrown protectingly +across it, the picture of perfect content. + +Bim had been almost as excited as she, and in spite of his burns, had +circled about the two, and barked until the puppy persuaded its mother +to be quiet. Then Bim and she lay down, nose to nose, and while the +former told his friend how he had found her deserted babies on the boat +and had determined to save them, and how his own dear master had come +in answer to his barks for assistance, she told him how she had been in +the after-part of the boat getting her supper when the flames broke +out, and had gone nearly crazy at finding herself separated from her +little ones. She assured him she would have gone through fire and +water to reach them had not her master thrown her overboard, and +immediately afterwards jumped into the river himself. Then she +believed that all was lost, for in her distress of mind she had +entirely forgotten her brave friend Bim. If she had only remembered +him, she would have been quite at ease, knowing, of course, that he +would find some way of saving at least one of her puppies, which, under +the circumstances, was all that could be expected. + +At which Bim jumped up and barked for pure happiness, until his master +said, "That will do, Bim, for the present." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +THE MASTER OF MOSS BANK. + +The Gordon setter's name was Nanita, while that of her master was Mr. +Guy Manton, of New York. Within a short time after the final plunge of +the burned packet, several steamboats, attracted by the blaze, reached +the raft, and offered to carry the survivors of the disaster to the +nearest town. This offer was accepted by all except Mr. Manton, who +asked, as a favor, that he and his dogs might be allowed to remain on +board the _Venture_, at least until morning. Of course the raftmates +willingly consented to this, for Mr. Manton was so grateful to them, +besides proving such an agreeable companion, that they could not help +but like him. + +From him they learned how Bim happened to be on board the ill-fated +steamboat, a situation over which they had all puzzled, but concerning +which they had heretofore found no opportunity of inquiring. According +to Mr. Manton's story, he was on his way to a plantation on the +Mississippi, in Louisiana, which he had recently purchased, but had not +yet seen. + +Wishing to learn something of the great river on a bank of which his +property lay, he had come by way of St. Louis, and there boarded the +fine New Orleans packet _Lytle_. He had brought with him a supply of +machinery, provisions, and tools for the plantation, all of which were +now either consumed by fire or lay at the bottom of the river. He had +also brought his favorite setter Nanita and her litter of three young +puppies, which he had proposed to establish at his new winter home. + +During the stop of the packet at Cairo he had taken Nanita ashore for a +run. On their way back to the boat he discovered that she was not +following him, and anxiously retracing his steps a short distance, +found her in company with a white bulldog, to whom she was evidently +communicating some matter of great interest. + +Mr. Manton saw that the strange dog was a valuable one, and when it +showed an inclination to follow them, tried to persuade it to return to +its home, which he supposed was somewhere in the town. As the dog +disappeared, he thought he had succeeded, and was afterwards surprised +to find it on the boat, in company with Nanita and her little ones. +Believing, of course, that the bull-dog's owner was also on board, he +gave the matter but little thought, and soon after called Nanita aft to +be fed. + +While he was attending to her wants, the cry of "fire" was raised. The +flames burst out somewhere near the centre of the boat, in the vicinity +of the engine-room, and had already gained such headway as to interpose +an effectual barrier between him and the forward deck. He supposed +that the boat would at once be headed for the nearest bank, but found +to his dismay that almost with the first outbreak of flame the +steering-gear had been rendered useless. At the same time the +engineers had been driven from their post of duty, and thus the +splendid packet, freighted with death and destruction, continued to +rush headlong down the river, without guidance or check. + +Amid the terrible scenes that ensued, Mr. Manton, followed by his +faithful dog, was barely able to reach his own stateroom, secure his +money and some important papers, wrench the door from its hinges, throw +it and Nanita overboard, and then leap for his own life into the dark +waters. + +At this point the grateful man again tried to express his sense of +obligation to his rescuers, but was interrupted by Billy Brackett, who +could not bear to be thanked for performing so obvious and simple an +act of duty. To change the subject the young engineer told of Bim's +act of real heroism in saving one and attempting to save the other +members of the little family, which he evidently considered had been +left in his charge. + +To this story Mr. Manton listened with the deepest interest; and when +it was concluded, he said, "He is a dear dog, and most certainly a +hero, if there ever was one. I shall always love him for this night's +work." + +Then Bim, who was now covered with healing ointment and swathed in +bandages, was petted and praised until even Nanita grew jealous, and +insisted on receiving a share of her master's attention. + +All the while the brave bull-dog looked into the faces of those +gathered about him with such a pleading air of intelligence and such +meaning barks that his longing to tell of what had happened to him +after he started from the raft in pursuit of the odious "river-trader" +who had once kicked him was evident to them all. If he only could have +spoken, he would have told of the cruel blow by which he was +momentarily stunned, of finding himself in a bag in the river, of how +he had succeeded by a desperate struggle in escaping from it and +finally reaching the shore, of his distress at not finding the raft, +and the sad search for his master through the town, of his meeting with +Nanita, and of his decision to accept her advice and take passage with +her down the river, in which direction he was certain his floating home +had gone. All this Bim would have communicated to his friends if he +could; but as they were too dull of comprehension to understand him, +they have remained in ignorance to this day of that thrilling chapter +of his adventures. + +Besides telling the raftmates of his cruel experience, Mr. Manton +related some of the incidents of a canoe voyage even then being made +down the river by his only son Worth and the boy's most intimate +friend, Sumner Rankin. These two had made a canoe cruise together +through the Everglades of Florida the winter before, and had enjoyed it +so much, that when Mr. Manton proposed that they should accompany him +to Louisiana, they had begged to be allowed to make the trip in their +canoes. + +"They started from Memphis," continued Mr. Manton, "and have had some +fine duck and turkey shooting among the Coahoma sloughs and +cane-brakes. With them is a colored man named Quorum, who crossed the +Everglades with them, and who now accompanies them, in a skiff that +they purchased in Memphis, as cook and general adviser. I have heard +from them several times by letter, and so know of their progress. It +has been so good that unless I make haste they will reach Moss Bank +before me. That is the name of our new home," he added, by way of +explanation. + +"Wha' dat yo' say, sah?" exclaimed Solon, who had been an interested +listener. "Yo' callin' dat ar plantashun Moss Back?" + +[Illustration: "'Yo' callin' dat ar plantashun Moss Back?' exclaimed +Solon" (missing from book)] + +"Yes, 'Moss Bank' is the name it has always borne, I believe," replied +Mr. Manton. "But why do you ask? Do you know the place?" + +"Does I know um! Does I know de place I war borned an' brung up in? +Why, sah, dat ar' my onlies home befo' de wah. Ole Marse Rankim own +um, an' me an' he boy, de young marse, hab de same mammy. So him my +froster-brudder. He gwine away fer a sailor ossifer, an' den de wah +comin' on, an' ebberyt'ing gwine ter smash. He name 'Summer.' Yo' +know dat young gen'l'man?" + +"Yes," replied Mr. Manton, "I knew him intimately. He has been dead +for several years; but I am well acquainted with his family, and it is +his son who is now travelling down the river in company with my boy. +In fact, it was through him that I came to purchase this old +plantation, with a view to making it our winter home." + +"Praise de Lawd, I gwine ter see a Rankim once mo'!" exclaimed the old +negro. "Yo' is gwine stop at de ole Moss Back place, Marse Winn? Yo' +sholy is?" + +"Why, yes; if Mr. Manton would like to have us, I think we should be +very happy to stop there when we reach it," said Winn. + +"Stop! Of course you will," exclaimed Nanita's master. "I have +already planned for that, and should feel terribly disappointed if you +did not. I want to see more of you, and I want you to meet and know my +boys. Besides, I was going to ask you to allow Nanita and her pup to +complete their journey down the river on this raft in company with Bim, +who will, I know, take good care of them. If you should consent to +this plan, of course you will be obliged to stop at Moss Bank to land +them. + +"We shall be delighted to have them," said Billy Brackett; "and, on +behalf of Bim, I hereby extend a formal invitation to them to become +his raftmates for the remainder of the cruise. At the same time, I am +certain that my companions, as well as myself, will be most happy to +visit you in your new home, and there make the acquaintance of your +boys." + +By the time this arrangement was concluded it was daylight, and Mr. +Manton insisted on the raftmates turning in for a nap, while he and +Solon kept watch. He remained on board the _Venture_ all that day, and +by sunset the current had borne the raft forward so rapidly that they +were able to tie up near Columbus, Kentucky. At this point the owner +of Moss Bank bade his new-made friends _au revoir_, and started by rail +for his Louisiana home. + +After his departure, and during the month of drifting that followed, +the raftmates talked so much of Moss Bank, and listened to so many +stories concerning it from Solon, that to their minds it grew to be the +objective point of their trip, and seemed as though it must be the one +place towards which their whole voyage was tending. Much as they +anticipated the reaching of this far-southern plantation, however, they +would have been greatly surprised and decidedly incredulous had any one +told them that it was indeed to mark the limit of their voyage, and +that there the good raft _Venture_, from Wisconsin for New Orleans, was +destined to vanish, and become but a fading memory. But so it was, as +they found out, and as we shall see. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. + +BIM'S 'COON. + +Through the last week of November and the first three of December our +raftmates drifted steadily southward down the great river. Although it +was the most unpleasant season of the year, and they encountered both +cold rains and bitter winds that chilled them to the marrow, the boys +thoroughly enjoyed their experience. They could always retreat to the +"shanty," which Solon kept well filled with warmth and comfort, and +they had the satisfaction of an uninterrupted progress. The management +of the raft called for a vast amount of hard and monotonous work; but +it gave them splendid muscles and tremendous appetites. They were +obliged to maintain a constant lookout for bars, reefs, snags, and +up-bound river craft, and by means of the long sweeps at either end of +the raft head it this way or that to avoid these obstacles and keep the +channel. They were always on the move from sunrise to sunset, and +generally travelled on moonlit nights as well. If the night promised +to be dark or stormy they tied up at the nearest bank. + +At such times the outside blackness, the howling wind, driving +rain-squalls, and dashing waves only heightened the interior cosiness, +the light, warmth, and general comfort of their floating home. In it +they played games, sang songs to the accompaniment of Solon's banjo, +told stories, taught the dogs tricks; or, under Billy Brackett's +direction, pegged away at engineering problems, such as are constantly +arising in the course of railway construction. Even Winn tried his +hand at these; for under the stimulus of his companions' enthusiasm he +was beginning to regard the career of an engineer as one of the most +desirable and manly in which a young fellow could embark. + +This voyage into the world, with such guides and associates as Billy +Brackett, Glen Elting, and Binney Gibbs, was proving of inestimable +value to this boy. Not only were his ideas of life broadened and his +stock of general information increased by it, but he was rapidly +learning to appreciate the beauty of modest pretensions, and a +self-reliance based upon knowledge and strength, as compared with the +boastfulness and self-conceit of ignorance. + +Sometimes the _Venture_ was tied up for the night near other rafts, and +its crew exchanged visits with theirs. The regular river raftsmen were +generally powerful young giants, rough and unlettered, but a +good-natured, happy-go-lucky lot, full of tales of adventure in the +woods or on the river, to which the boys listened with a never-failing +delight. Nor were the raftmates at all behindhand in this interchange +of good stories; for they could tell of life on the Plains or in +California, of Indians, buffalo, mountains, deserts, and gold-mines, to +which their auditors listened with wide-open eyes and gaping mouths. +During the pauses Solon was always ready with some account of the +wonderful performances of his long-ago 'coon dog Bijah. + +So wise did our raftmates become concerning 'coons and their habits, +from Solon's teachings, that finally nothing would satisfy them but a +'coon hunt of their own. Billy Brackett was certain that Bim, who by +this time had fully recovered from the effects of his burns, would +prove as good at finding 'coons as he had at everything else in which +he had been given a chance. Solon was doubtful, because of Bim's color +and the length of his tail. + +"I hain't nebber see no fust-class 'coon dawg wha' warn't yallar an' +stumpy tail lak my Bijah war," he would remark, gazing reflectively at +Bim, and shaking his head. "Of cose dish yer Bim dawg uncommon +knowin', an' maybe him tree a 'coon 'mos' ez good ez Bijah; but hit's a +gif, an' a mighty skurce gif 'mong dawgs." + +"Oh, come off, Solon!" Billy Brackett would answer. "You just wait +till you see Bim tree a 'coon. He'll do it so quick, after we once get +into a 'coon neighborhood, that your Bijah would be left a thousand +miles behind, and you won't ever want to mention his name again." + +So one night when the _Venture_ was well down towards the lower end of +the State of Arkansas a grand 'coon hunt was arranged. They drew lots +to decide who should be left behind in charge of the raft, and, much to +his disgust, the unwelcome task fell to Glen. So he remained on board +with Nanita and Cherub, as the pup had been named in honor of Bim, +though it was generally called "Cheer-up," and the others sallied forth +into the woods. + +They were well provided with fat pine torches and armed with axes. Bim +was full of eager excitement, and dashed away into the darkness the +moment they set foot on shore. His incessant barking showed him to be +first on this side and then on that, while once in a while they caught +a glimpse of his white form glancing across the outer rim of their +circle of torchlight. + +"Isn't he hunting splendidly?" cried Billy Brackett, with enthusiasm. + +"Yes, sah," replied Solon; "but him huntin' too loud. We ain't gettin' +to de place yet, an' ef he don' quit he barkin', him skeer off all de +'coon in de State." + +So Bim was called in, and restrained with a bit of rope until a +corn-field was reached that Solon pronounced the right kind of a place +from which to make a start. Then the eager dog was again set free, and +in less than a minute was heard giving utterance to the peculiar +yelping note that announced his game as "treed." + +"What did I tell you?" shouted Billy Brackett, triumphantly, as he +started on a run for the point from which the sounds proceeded. "How's +that for--" but at that instant the speaker tripped over a root, and +measured his length on the ground with a crash that knocked both breath +and powers of speech from his body. The others were so close behind +that they fell on top of him like a row of bricks, and in the resulting +confusion their torch was extinguished. + +Hastily picking themselves up, and without pausing to relight the pine +splinters, they rushed pell-mell towards the sound of barking, bumping +into trees, stumbling over logs, scratching their faces and tearing +their clothes on thorny vines. But no one minded. Bim had treed a +'coon in the shortest time on record, and now if they could only get +it, the triumph would be ample reward for all their trials. + +Finally, bruised, battered, and ragged, they reached the tree which +Bim, with wild leapings, was endeavoring to climb. Their first move +was to illumine the scene with a huge bonfire. By its light they +proceeded to a closer examination of the situation. The tree was a +huge moss-hung water-oak, evidently too large to be chopped down, as +all the 'coon trees of Solon's stories had been. So Winn offered to +climb it and shake out the 'coon. As yet they had not discovered the +animal, but Bim was so confident of its presence that they took his +word for it. + +Solon had raised a false alarm as the first gleam of firelight +penetrated the dark mass of foliage above them by exclaiming: + +"Dar he! Me see um! Lookee, Marse Brack, in dat ar crutch!" + +But what the old negro saw proved to be a bunch of mistletoe, and when +Winn began his climb the 'coon's place of concealment was still +unknown. Up went the boy higher and higher, carefully examining each +limb as he passed it, until he was among the very topmost branches of +the tree. The others stood on opposite sides of the trunk, with axes +or clubs uplifted, and gazed anxiously upward until their necks ached. + +At length Winn became aware that from the outermost end of a slender +branch just above his head a pair of green eyes were glaring at him. +The glare was accompanied by an angry spitting sound. "I've found him, +fellows! Look out below!" he shouted, and began a vigorous shaking of +the branch. All at once the animal uttered a sound that caused a +sudden cessation of his efforts. It also caused Winn to produce a +match from his pocket, light it, and hold the tiny flame high above his +head. Then, without a word, he began to descend the tree. + +As he dropped to the ground the others exclaimed in amazement, "What's +the matter, Winn? Where's the 'coon? Why didn't you shake him down?" + +"He's up there," replied Winn, "but I don't want him. If any of you +do, you'd better go up and shake him down. I'd advise you to take a +torch along, though." + +Not another word of explanation would he give them, and finally Binney +Gibbs, greatly provoked at the other's stubbornness, declared he would +go up and shake that 'coon down--in a hurry, too. He so far accepted +Winn's advice as to provide himself with a blazing knot, and then up he +started. In a few minutes he too returned to the ground, saying that +he guessed Winn was about right, and they didn't want that 'coon after +all. + +"What in the name of all foolishness do you mean?" cried Billy +Brackett, impatiently. "Speak out, man, and tell us, can't you?" + +But Binney acted precisely as Winn had done, and advised any one who +wanted that 'coon to go and get it. + +"Well, I will!" exclaimed the young engineer, almost angrily; "and I +only hope I can manage to drop him on top of one of your heads." + +With this he started up the tree, and disappeared among its thick +brandies. He quickly made his way to the top. Then the rustling of +leaves ceased, there was a moment of silence, followed by a muttered +exclamation, and Billy Brackett came hastily down to where the others +were expectantly awaiting him. + +"Let's go home, boys," he said, as he picked up his axe and started in +the direction of the river. "Come, Bim; your reputation as a 'coon dog +is so well established that there is no need to test it any further." + +Poor Solon, who was too old and stiff to climb the tree, was completely +mystified by these strange proceedings; but his expostulation of, + +"Wha--wha's de meanin' ob dish yer--!" was cut short by the departure +of his companions, and he was obliged to hasten after them. + +A few minutes after the 'coon hunters had gone a big boy, and a little +girl with a tear-stained face, who had come from a house just beyond +the corn-field, reached the spot, to which they had been attracted by +the firelight. As they did so, the child uttered a cry of joy, sprang +to the water-oak, and caught up a frightened-looking little black and +white kitten that was cautiously descending the big trunk backward. + +To this day the outcome of that 'coon hunt remains a sealed mystery to +poor Solon, while Bim has never been invited to go on another. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. + +THE GREAT RIVER AND ITS MISCHIEF. + +The scenery amid which the good raft _Venture_ performed its long and +eventful voyage changed almost with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope, but +was ever fascinating and full of pleasant surprises. The flaming +autumnal foliage of the forest-lined banks through which the first +hundred miles or so were made, gave way to masses of sombre browns or +rich purples, and these in turn to the flecked white of cotton-fields, +the dark green of live-oaks, and the silver gray of Spanish moss. The +picturesque cliffs of the upper river, rising in places to almost +mountainous heights, were merged into the lowlands of canebrakes and +swamps, broken by ranges of bluffs along the eastern bank after the +Ohio was passed. On these bluffs were perched many cities and towns +that were full of interest to our raftmates; among them, Memphis, +Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. Every here and there in the low +bottom lands of the "Delta" below Memphis they saw the rounded tops of +great mounds, raised by prehistoric dwellers in that region as places +of refuge during seasons of flood. They passed from the great northern +wheat region into that of corn, then into the broad cotton belt, and +finally to the land of sugar-cane and rice, orange-trees, glossy-leaved +magnolias, and gaunt moss-hung cypresses. + +Of more immediate interest even than these ever-changing features of +the land was the varied and teeming life of the mighty river itself. +The boys were never tired of watching the streams of strange craft +constantly passing up or down. Here a splendid packet in all the glory +of fresh paint, gleaming brass, gay bunting, and crowds of passengers +rushed swiftly southward with the current in mid-channel; or, up-bound, +ploughed a mighty furrow against it, while the hoarse coughings of its +high-pressure engines echoed along many a mile of forest wall. + +Smaller up-bound boats hugged the banks in search of slack water. Most +of the main-stream packets were side-wheelers; but those of lighter +draught, bound far up the Red, the Arkansas, the Yazoo, the Sunflower, +or other tributary rivers, were provided with great stern wheels that +made them look like exaggerated wheelbarrows. Then there were the +tow-boats, pushing dozens of sooty coal-barges from the Ohio; +freight-boats so piled with cotton-bales that only their pilot-houses +and chimneys were visible; trading-scows and "Jo-boats;" floating +dance-houses and theatres; ferryboats driven by steam, or propelled by +mule-power, like the _Whatnot_; some large enough to carry a whole +train of cars from shore to shore, and others with a capacity of but a +single team. There were skiffs, canoes, pirogues, and rafts of all +sizes and description. + +Most interesting of all, however, were the Government snag-boats, which +constantly patrolled the river, on the lookout for obstructions that +they might remove. These boats were doubled-hulled; and when one of +them straddled a snag, no matter if it was the largest tree that ever +grew, it was bound to disappear. With great steam-driven saws it would +be cut into sections, that were lifted and swung aside by powerful +derricks planted near the bows. These useful snag-boats also gave +relief to distressed craft of all kinds; blew up or removed dangerous +wrecks; dislodged rafts of drift that threatened to form inconvenient +bars; and in a thousand ways acted the part of an ever-vigilant police +for this grandest of American highways. + +And the great restless river needed watching. It was as full of +mischievous pranks as a youthful giant experimenting with his new-found +strength. It thought nothing of biting out a few hundred acres of land +from one bank and depositing them miles below on the other. If these +acres were occupied by houses or cultivated fields, so much the more +fun for the river. For years it would flow peacefully in a well-known +channel around some great bend, then decide to make a change, and in a +single night cut a new channel straight across the loop of land. By +such a prank not only were all the river pilots thoroughly bewildered, +but a large slice of one State, with its inhabitants and buildings, +would be transferred to another. If at the same time an important +river-town could be stranded and left far inland, the happiness of the +mischief-making giant was complete; and for many miles it would swirl +and eddy and boil and ripple with exuberant glee over the success of +its efforts. + +Above all it delighted in secretly gathering to itself from tributary +streams their vast accumulations of protracted rains or melting snows, +until it was swollen to twice its ordinary size, and endowed with a +strength that nothing could withstand. Then with mighty leaps it would +overflow its banks, cover whole counties with its tawny floods, burst +through levees, and riot over thousands of cultivated fields, sweep +away houses, uproot trees, and drown every unfortunate creature on +which it could lay its clutching fingers. Whenever its fleeing victims +managed to reach some little mound or bit of high land that it could +not climb, then it found equal pleasure in surrounding them and mocking +them with its plashing chuckles, while they suffered the pangs of slow +starvation. + +At these times of overflow not only the snag-boats but such other craft +as could be pressed into the service were despatched in every direction +to the relief of the river giant's victims. While on this duty they +carried provisions, clothing, and other necessaries of life into the +most remote districts; effected rescues from floating houses, or those +whose roofs alone rose above the flood and afforded uncertain refuge +for their inmates; removed human beings and live-stock from little +muddy islands miles away from the main channel of the river, carried +them miles farther before reaching places of safety, and in every way +strove with all their might to mitigate the calamity of unfettered +waters. + +Our raftmates had witnessed the effect of all these freaks and +caprices, except that of a widespread and devastating flood, during +their voyage, and as they drew near its end they became aware that an +acquaintance with this most terrible of all the river's efforts at +destruction was to be added to their experience. The drought of summer +had been followed by an almost unprecedented rainfall during the +autumn. The earth in every direction was like an oversoaked sponge, +and the surplus water was pouring in turbid torrents into the rivers. +From every quarter of the vast Mississippi Valley these watery legions +were hurried forward to join the all-conquering forces of the great +river. + +It had been high-water in the Ohio when the _Venture_ lay at Cairo. +When it passed the mouth of the Arkansas its crew were amazed at the +mighty volume of its muddy flood. From this on they floated in company +with ever-increasing masses of drift--trees, fences, farming +implements, straw-stacks, cotton-bales, out-buildings, and every now +and then a house, lifted bodily from its foundations, and borne away in +the resistless arms of the ever-swelling tide. Most of the houses were +empty, but from several of them the ready skiff of the _Venture_ +effected rescues, now of a solitary individual driven to the verge of +despair by the lonely terrors of his situation, and then of whole +wretched families who had lost everything in the world except their +lives. A cow, several pigs, and dozens of barn-yard fowls also found +an asylum on the friendly raft, until, as Billy Brackett said, it +reminded one of the original and only Noah's ark menagerie. + +Besides supplying the raft with passengers, the river helped to feed +them. Floating straw-stacks and shocks of corn were always in sight, +while fresh milk and eggs, pork and chickens, drifted with the current +on all sides. In vain were these passengers landed at the nearest +accessible points. A new lot was always found to take the place of +those who had left, and for ten days the raft resembled a combination +of floating hotel, nursery, hospital, and farm-yard. The resources of +our raftmates were taxed to their utmost during this time to provide +for the manifold wants of their welcome but uninvited guests, while +Solon declared, "I hain't nebber done sich a sight er cooken durin' all +de days ob my life." + +By the time the mouth of the Red River was reached, half of Concordia +Parish was flooded, and but for the forest trees rising from the water, +the boys would have thought themselves afloat on a vast inland sea. +The low bluffs on which the capital of Louisiana is seated, and beyond +which the cane lands extend in almost a dead level to the Gulf, were +occupied by the tents and rude shelters of hundreds of refugees from +the drowned districts. Here our raftmates began to entertain fears for +the safety of their friends at the Moss Bank plantation, which lay but +a day's journey farther down the river. + +At Baton Rouge they cleared the raft of its living encumbrances, and +then pushed ahead. From this point to the Gulf the great river is +enclosed between massive levees, or embankments of earth, behind which +the level of the far-reaching cane-fields is much lower than the +surface of high-water. Thus the raft was borne swiftly along at such +an elevation that its crew could look over the top of the eastern levee +and down over a vast area of plantation lands. These were dotted with +dark clumps of live-oaks or magnolias, and at wide intervals with +little settlements of whitewashed negro quarters, grouped behind the +broad-verandaed dwellings of the planters. Near each was the mill in +which the cane from the broad fields was crushed and its sweet juices +converted into sugar. These mills were surmounted by tall iron +smoke-stacks, and near each stood the square, tower-like bagasse +(refuse) burner, built of stone, and looking like the keep of some +ancient castle. + +All along the levee they saw gangs of men at work strengthening the +embankments and raising them still higher. They were often hailed and +asked to lend assistance, but they felt that their own friends might be +in need of them, and so passed on without answer. So changed was the +aspect of the country since Solon had last seen it, and so excited did +the old man become as he neared the scenes of former years, that it was +evident he could not be depended upon to recognize Moss Bank when they +should reach it. + +The day was nearly spent before they arrived at what they felt sure +must be its immediate vicinity. They had decided to tie up at the +first good place, and there wait for morning, when Winn called out: + +"What is that just ahead? I thought it was a log; but it seems to be +moving towards us, and I believe it is some sort of a small boat with a +man in it." + +The object to which their attention was thus directed proved to be a +decked canoe, the very daintiest craft any of them had ever seen, +bearing the name _Psyche_ in gold letters on either bow. In it sat a +boy of about Winn's age, urging it forward with vigorous strokes of a +double-bladed paddle. + +The raft was close to the levee as he shot alongside. + +"Hello!" he shouted; "is this the raft _Venture_?" + +"Yes. Are you Worth Manton?" + +"No; but I am Sumner Rankin. Worth is down there with his father and +all the hands we could raise, working on the levee; but we are afraid +it can't stand much longer. I have been out here hailing every raft +that passed, and watching for you for the last three days. I'm awfully +glad you've come, for our men are discouraged, and about ready to give +up. Now, perhaps you will help us." + +"Of course we will! Come right aboard and show us where to tie up," +answered Billy Brackett, heartily. + +By the time the raft was made fast near the scene of greatest danger, +and Mr. Manton, with Worth, had come aboard, the night was as dark as +pitch. The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and there like +so many fire-flies were feebly reflected in the angry waters that slid +stealthily by with uncanny gurglings and muttered growls. + +[Illustration: "The lanterns of the working gang glancing here and +there like fire-flies."] + +"If the bank will only hold until morning!" said Mr. Manton, about +midnight, as he and Billy Brackett entered the _Venture's_ cosey +"shanty" for a brief rest. All but these two and Solon were asleep, +laying in a stock of strength for the labors of the next day. + +Suddenly there came a frightened shouting from the bank. Then all +other sounds were drowned in the furious roar of rushing waters, while +the raft seemed to be lifted bodily and hurled into space. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. + +HURLED THROUGH THE CREVASSE AND WRECKED. + +During the earlier hours of that eventful night Billy Brackett had +brought all his engineering skill to bear upon the problem of how to +save the Moss Bank levee. His cheery presence, and the evident +knowledge that he displayed, inspired all hands with confidence and a +new energy. Under his direction the raftmates worked like beavers, and +Mr. Manton was more hopeful that the levee could be made to withstand +the terrible pressure of swollen waters than he had been from the +beginning. But it was very old and had been neglected for years. By +daylight the young engineer might have noted its weak spots, and +strengthened them. He would have seen the thin streams that silently, +but steadily and in ever-increasing volume, were working their way +through the embankment near its base. In the inky blackness of the +night they were unheeded; and while spade and pick were plied with +unflagging zeal to strengthen the higher portions, these insidious foes +were equally busy undermining its foundations. + +Shortly before midnight everything seemed so secure that the boys were +sent to the _Venture's_ "shanty" to get a few hours of sleep. Then +Billy Brackett and Mr. Manton came in for the hot coffee Solon was +preparing for them. They had hardly seated themselves at the table +when the catastrophe occurred. Without warning, a quarter of a mile of +the water-soaked levee sank out of sight, and dissolved like so much +wet sugar. Into the huge gap thus opened the exulting waters leaped +with the rush and roar of a cataract. On the foaming crest of this +tawny flood the stout timber raft was borne and whirled like an autumn +leaf. A few of the working gang managed to reach it and save +themselves, but others were swept away like thistle-down. + +The boys thus rudely awakened from a sound sleep sprang up with +frightened questionings, while Solon sank to his knees, paralyzed with +terror. Nanita stood guard over her puppy, while Bim, with a single +bark of defiance, leaped to his master's side and looked into his face +for orders. + +"Steady, boys! Steady!" shouted Billy Brackett, as coolly as though +nothing unusual were happening. "No, not outside. Keep that door +closed. It is safer in here. We can do nothing but wait patiently +until the raft fetches up against something solid or grounds. Hear the +waves boiling over the deck? There's a big chance of being swept off +and dashed to bits out there." + +For five minutes the raft was hurled forward and tossed with sickening +plunges, as though in a heavy seaway, until its occupants were nearly +prostrated with nausea. Then came a crash and a shock that piled them +in headlong confusion on one side of the room. There was a grinding +and groaning of timbers. One side of the raft was lifted, and the +other forced down, until the floor of the "shanty" sloped steeply. +With a single impulse all hands rushed to the door and into the open +air. + +The raft seemed to be stranded at the base of a rocky cliff that +towered directly above it to an unknown height. Against it the mad +waters were dashing savagely. Beneath their feet the stout timbers +quivered with such uneasy movements that it seemed as though the end of +the _Venture_ had come, and that a few more seconds or minutes must +witness its total destruction. Still they clung to it and to each +other, for they had no other refuge, and in the absolute darkness +surrounding them it would have been worse than folly to seek one. + +After a while the first rush of waters passed, and they settled into a +strong smooth flow like that of the great river from which they came. +The uneasy movements of the raft ceased, and its shivering occupants +again began to breath freely. + +"I guess it is all right, boys!" called out Billy Brackett. "I believe +we are stranded at the foot of the bagasse-burner; but the old craft +has evidently made up its mind to hold together for a while longer, at +any rate. So I move that we crawl into the 'shanty' again. It's a +good deal warmer and more comfortable in there than it is out here." + +So, very cautiously, to prevent themselves from slipping off the +steeply-sloping deck, our raftmates worked their way back into the +little house that had for so long been their home. They found the +lower side of the floor about two feet under water. + +All hands were greatly depressed by the calamity that had overtaken +them. Mr. Manton, Worth, Sumner, and old Solon grieved over the ruin +of Moss Bank. Glen and Binney feared for the safety of General +Elting's valuable instruments. Billy Brackett wondered if Major +Caspar, or any one else, would ever again have confidence in him as the +leader of an expedition, while Winn, who had never ceased to reproach +himself for the manner in which the voyage of the _Venture_ had been +begun, was now filled with dismay at its disastrous termination. + +He, as well as the others, realized that the raft was a fixture in its +present position, that it would never again float on the bosom of the +great river, and that all dreams of selling it in New Orleans must now +be abandoned. He knew how greatly his father was in need of the money +he had hoped to receive from it. He knew what a blow the loss of the +wheat had been. Now the raft was lost as well. As the unhappy boy's +thoughts travelled back over the incidents of the trip, and he +remembered that but for him the wheat would not have been lost, and but +for him the raft would probably have been sold in St. Louis, his +self-accusations found their way to his eyes, and trickled slowly down +his cheeks in the shape of hot tears. The others could not see them in +the darkness, and he would not have cared much if they could. + +But Billy Brackett was not giving way to his grief. There was too much +to be done for that. He was trying to set up the overturned stove, and +make things more comfortable. At the same time his cheery tones were +raising the low spirits of his companions, and causing them to take a +brighter view of the situation. + +The young engineer, with Glen and Solon to aid him, worked in darkness, +for the lamp had rolled from the table when the raft struck the stone +tower, and been extinguished in the water that flooded part of the +"shanty." In spite of this drawback, they finally succeeded in getting +the stove into position. Then they began to feel for fuel with which +to make a fire. Everything was wet. Some one proposed breaking up a +chair, but Billy Brackett exclaimed, + +"Hold on! I have thought of something better." + +With this he caught hold of one of the thin boards used by the +"river-traders" to ceil the room, and, with a powerful wrench, tore it +off. This particular board happened to be near where Winn was sitting +on the floor, so filled with his own sad thoughts that he paid but +slight attention to what was going on about him. As the board was torn +from its place several soft objects fell near him, and one of them +struck his hand. It seemed to be paper, and when Billy Brackett sung +out for some paper with which to start the fire, Winn said, "Here's a +wad that's dry," and tossed the package in the direction of the stove. +The young engineer slipped it under the wood, struck a match, and +lighted it. The next instant he uttered a startled exclamation, +snatched the package from the stove, and beat out the flame that was +rapidly eating into it. + +"What is the matter?" asked Winn. + +"Matter?" returned Billy Brackett. "Oh, nothing at all; only I can't +quite afford to warm myself at fires fed with bank-bills. Not just +yet. I wouldn't hesitate to dissolve all my spare pearls in vinegar, +if I felt an inclination for that kind of a drink, but I must draw a +line at greenback fuel. Where did you get them? Whose are they? And +why in the name of poverty do you want them burned up? Has your wealth +become a burden to you?" + +"Are they really bills?" asked Winn, incredulously. + +For answer Billy Brackett struck another match, and all saw that he +indeed held a package of bank-notes with charred ends. The same light +showed Winn to be surrounded by a number of similar packages. + +The expression of complete bewilderment that appeared on the boy's face +as he saw these was so ludicrous that, as the match went out, a shout +of laughter rang through the "shanty." + +"As long as they are so plenty, I guess we might as well burn them, +after all," said Billy Brackett, quietly. With this he struck another +match, relighted the little bundle of bills in his hand, and again +thrust it into the stove. + +For a moment the others believed him to have lost his senses. Winn +made a wild dash at the stove door, but Billy Brackett caught his arm. + +"It's all right, and I'm not half so big a fool as I may appear," he +said, laughing. "Do you remember our late friends the 'river-traders'? +And that they were counterfeiters? And that they occupied this very +'shanty' for several weeks? And that, after losing it, they made +desperate attempts to regain its possession? And that we wondered why +they had ceiled this room; also, what had become of their stock in +trade?" + +To each of these questions Winn gave an affirmative answer. + +"Well," continued Billy Brackett, "the mystery is a mystery no longer. +They ceiled this room to provide a safe and very ingenious hiding-place +for their goods; they wished to regain possession of the raft, that +they might recover them. They failed, and so lost them. Now, by the +merest accident, we have found them." + +"Do you mean--" began Winn, slowly. + +"I mean," said Billy Bracket, "that while we are apparently possessed +of abundant wealth, it is but the shadow of the substance. In other +words, every one of those bills is a counterfeit, and the sooner they +are destroyed the better." + +In spite of this disappointing announcement, the desire of the +raftmates to discover the full extent of the "river-traders'" secret +hoard was so great that, having found a candle, they proceeded by its +light to tear off the whole of the interior sheathing of the room. +They found a quantity of the counterfeit money, which Billy Brackett, +sustained by Mr. Manton, insisted upon burning then and there. They +also found, carefully hidden by itself, a package containing exactly +one hundred genuine one-hundred-dollar bills. + +"Enough," said Billy Brackett, quietly, "to refund the hundred they got +from Glen and Binney, to repay Major Caspar for the wheat they dumped +overboard, and to make good the loss of the _Whatnot_, which so nearly +broke the heart of our brave old friend Cap'n Cod." + +The justice of this disposition of the money was so evident that not a +single dissenting voice was raised among those who had found it, for +they all knew that an effort to trace it to its rightful owners would +not only be fruitless, but would cost more than the entire amount. + +The knowledge that his father was thus to be recompensed for the loss +of which he had been the direct cause so raised Winn Caspar's spirits +that when daylight came, although their situation remained unchanged, +he felt himself to be one of the very happiest boys in all Louisiana. + +The coming of daylight, while gladly hailed by the occupants of the +wrecked raft, also disclosed the extent of the devastation caused by +the flood. As they had surmised, the _Venture_ was stranded at the +foot of the huge stone bagasse-burner. The mill near by was partly +demolished. The great house, standing amid its clumps of shrubbery and +stately trees, a quarter of a mile away, was surrounded by water that +rose nearly to the top of the stone piers by which it was supported. +The quarters and other out-buildings had disappeared. Even at that +distance they could see a throng of refugees on the verandas and at the +windows of the great house. + +"Unless speedy relief comes they will starve," said Mr. Manton, +anxiously, "for our provisions had nearly run out yesterday." + +"We are in about the same fix," said Billy Brackett, who had been in +earnest consultation with Solon. "I didn't realize until this minute +that we had given away nearly the whole of our own supply. Now I find +that the few things we had left are under water, and most of them are +spoiled." + +At this announcement every one suddenly discovered that he was +intensely hungry; while Bim, seated on his haunches and waving his +fore-paws, began to "speak" vigorously for his breakfast. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. + +A MEETING OF MATES. + +With starvation staring our raftmates in the face, the problem of how +they were to escape from their present predicament became a most +important one. The first suggestion was that they construct a small +and easily managed raft from a portion of the material contained in the +_Venture_. They foresaw that it would be impossible for them to propel +even this against the swift current and reach the river, where they +might procure relief from some passing boat. Still, even to drift with +the current, or at the best to work their way diagonally across it, +with the hope of reaching some source of food supply, seemed better +than to remain where they were, and accordingly they began to collect +material for a raft. + +They had hardly started at this when Worth called out that he saw a +canoe lodged in a clump of shrubbery. + +They all looked where he pointed, and all saw it. Although it was not +more than a hundred yards from them, the full force of the current must +be encountered for the entire distance before one could reach it. + +All were agreed that they must obtain it, if possible, and that their +very lives might depend upon getting that canoe. First Billy Brackett +threw off his clothing, and plunging into the chill waters, attempted +to swim to it. He had not covered half the distance before he was +compelled to turn back utterly exhausted. Then Glen Elting and Sumner +undertook the task together, but splendid swimmers as they were, they +could no more stem that resistless flood than they could have flown to +the canoe. + +As they were dejectedly resuming their clothing in the "shanty" they +were startled by a shout from outside. Winn Caspar had solved the +problem. While the others were watching the fruitless struggles of +Glen and Sumner from one side of the raft he had slipped overboard from +the other, and swam diagonally across the current to a hedge of +oleanders, the tops of which were still above water. This hedge +extended to the river, and passed within fifty yards of the shrubbery +in which the canoe was caught. + +When Winn reached the oleanders he was considerably below the raft, and +of course nearly twice as far from the canoe as when he started. He +had anticipated this, however, and now began to work his way back +against the current by pulling himself from one bush to another. When +he reached a point abreast the raft the others saw him and shouted. He +only waved his hand in reply and kept on, while they watched him with +eager interest. As he gained a position opposite the canoe they +shouted again, but still he kept on, until he was nearly a hundred +yards above it. + +Then, after a long rest, he left the friendly oleanders, and struck out +with brave strokes for the coveted object. He was now again swimming +diagonally across the current, and knew that even should he miss the +canoe, he would be borne down to the raft. But he did not miss it. He +had calculated too well for that; and when he again reached the raft, +he brought the _Psyche_ with him. + +He was chilled to the bone, numb, and sick with exhaustion; but for +such a royal cheer as greeted him, and the praises that his companions +showered upon him, he would have dared and suffered twice as much. At +the same moment, as if to encourage such brave deeds, the sun shone out +warm and bright, transforming the whole character of the scene with its +cheery warmth. + +Sumner Rankin was ready, and with a light heart he stepped into his +beloved craft. Then, with vigorous strokes of his double-bladed +paddle, he shot away towards the river, where he was to remain until he +could persuade a boat of some kind to come to the relief of his +fellow-sufferers. + +In spite of the sunlight and their hopes of rescue, the long hours +passed slowly aboard the _Venture_. There was little to do, and +nothing to eat, though Solon did succeed in making a pot of coffee, +which they drank without sugar or milk. In one respect, however, it +was the most successful day of the _Venture's_ entire cruise; for +during those tedious hours Billy Brackett and Winn accomplished the +object for which it had been undertaken. They sold the raft. In +gazing over his flooded plantation and planning for its future, Mr. +Manton realized that with the subsidence of the waters he would have +immediate use for a large quantity of lumber. + +"Why not buy ours?" suggested Winn. + +"Why not?" answered Mr. Manton. + +Five minutes later the bargain was completed that transferred the +ownership of the _Venture_, and crowned Major Caspar's undertaking with +success. It was such a satisfactory arrangement that they only +wondered they had not thought of it before. + +"Here the lumber is, just where I want it, and not a cent of freight to +pay," said Mr. Manton. + +"Now you and I can get back to Caspar's Mill, and help your father out +with that contract; and it is high time we were there too," said Billy +Brackett to Winn. "Hello! What's this? The _Psyche_ coming back +again? If it is, young Rankin must be having a fit, for he's black in +the face." + +"It's Quorum!" shouted Worth. "In the _Cupid_, too! Of all things, +that is the very last I should ever have expected to see!" + +Sure enough, it was the faithful negro progressing slowly and with such +awkwardness that the anxious spectators expected to see him upset at +each moment. Nevertheless, he finally succeeded in reaching the raft; +and as they hauled him aboard he gasped, with thankfulness, + +"Dat de seckon time dish yer nigger ebber bin in one ob dem ar cooners, +an' him hope he be good an' daid befo' him ebber sperimentin' wif um +agen!" + +Quorum had come from the great house, where the _Cupid_ was the sole +craft to be had. It was only after hours of persuasion and +semi-starvation that he had been induced by the other refugees to make +the trip to the raft, which they had discovered soon after daylight. +He described a pitiful state of affairs as existing among the hungry +throng he had just left, and declared that another day without food +would witness great suffering in the crowded house. + +Even as he related his story, those gathered about him were startled by +the shrill note of a steam-whistle coming from the direction of the +river. Sumner had found relief, and was bringing it to them. + +During the hours that passed so slowly on the raft, the brave little +_Psyche_ had cruised here and there over the broad Mississippi sea, now +hailing some boat that refused to stop, and then chasing another that +it failed to overtake. Finally, late in the afternoon, Sumner +discovered a trail of black smoke coming up-stream and towards him. As +he anxiously watched it, trying to decide which way he should go to +head it off, he discovered a white banner with a scarlet cross flying +out cheerily just beneath the trail of smoke. Then he knew that help +was at hand, and no matter what other boats might do, that one would +stop at his signal. + +As it drew near, he was amazed to see that instead of a river steamer, +such as he had expected, the red-cross boat was a fine sea-going yacht; +and as she came dashing towards him, her sharp stem cleaving the brown +waters like a knife, her shining black hull, varnished houses, polished +metal, and plate-glass flashing in the light of the setting sun, this +sailor son of a sailor father thought her the most beautiful thing he +had ever seen. She slowed down at his signal, and in another minute he +was alongside. + +A line was flung to him, and making it fast to the _Psyche's_ painter, +he clambered up a ladder that had been dropped from the gangway. As he +reached the deck, a fine-looking young fellow, apparently but little +older than himself, and wearing a natty yachting uniform, stepped +forward to meet him. + +Sumner briefly explained his errand, and pointing to the red-cross flag +at the foremast-head, added that he believed aid might be expected from +those who sailed under it. + +"Indeed it may," responded the other, heartily; "and our present +business is to discover just such cases as you describe. Although the +_Merab_ is, as you see, a private yacht, in which we happened to put +into New Orleans during a winter cruise to the southward, she is at +present in the service of the Red Cross Society, of which I am a +member, and devoted to the relief of sufferers by this awful flood. +May I ask your name? Mine is Coffin--Tristram Coffin; though I am +better known as Breeze McCloud, and that of my friend (here he turned +to another young man, also in navy blue) is Mr. Wolfe Brady." + +Half an hour later the beautiful _Merab_ lay at anchor as near the +stranded raft as it was safe to venture, and its occupants were being +transferred to her hospitable deck by one of her boats. Another boat, +laden with provisions, was on its way to the starving refugees in the +great house. + +The young owner of the _Merab_ insisted that all those who came from +the raft should be his guests, at least for that night. + +The invitation was accepted as promptly and heartily as it had been +given, and soon afterwards two very hungry but very merry parties sat +down to bountiful dinners in two entirely distinct parts of the yacht. + +Along the mess-table of the galley--or the "camboose," as the yacht's +cook insisted upon calling it--were ranged three gentlemen of color, +each of whom treated his companions with the greatest deference, though +at the same time believing himself to be just a little better posted in +culinary matters than either of the others. + +"Dish yer wha' I calls a mighty scrumptious repas'," exclaimed Solon, +after a long silence devoted to appeasing the pangs of his hunger. +"But fo' de true ole-time cookin' gib me de Moss Back kitchin befo' de +wah." + +"I specs dat ar' berry good in hits way," remarked Quorum; "same time I +hain't nebber eat nuffin kin compare wif de cookin' er dem Seminyole +Injuns what libs in de Ebberglades. Dat's whar I takin my lesson." + +"Sho, gen'l'muns! 'pears to me lak you don't nebber go on er deep-sea +v'yge whar you gets de genuwine joe-flogger, an' de plum-duff, an' sich +like," said Nimbus, the yacht's cook. "Ef you had, you wouldn' talk." + +In the luminous after-saloon the other party was seated at a table +white with snowy damask, and gleaming with silver, which was at once +the pride and care of old Mateo, the Portuguese steward. + +It was a party so overflowing with merriment and laughter, jokes and +stories, that from one end of the table the young owner of the yacht +was moved to call to his friend at the other, + +"I say, Wolfe, this reminds me of the mess aboard the old _Fish Hawk_, +when we were 'Dorymates' together off Iceland." + +"It reminds me," said Glen Elting, "of the jolly mess of the Second +Division, when Billy Brackett and Binney and I were 'Campmates' +together in New Mexico." + +Said Sumner Rankin, "It reminds me of the cabin mess of the _Transit_, +when we went 'Canoemates' together, through the Everglades. Eh, Worth?" + +"While I," chimed in Winn Caspar, "am reminded of the happy mess-table +of the good ship _Venture_, on which we 'Raftmates' have just floated +for more than a thousand miles down the great river." + +[Illustration: A reunion of "mates."] + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Manton, rising, and holding high a glass filled +with amber-colored river-water, "as I seem to have become a shipmate of +Dorymates, Campmates, Canoemates, and Raftmates, I am moved to propose +a toast. It is, 'Long life and prosperity, health and happiness, now +and forever, to all true mates.'" + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAFTMATES*** + + +******* This file should be named 19303.txt or 19303.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/3/0/19303 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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