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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Up the River, by Oliver Optic
+
+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 www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Up the River
+       or, Yachting on the Mississippi
+
+Author: Oliver Optic
+
+Release Date: March 7, 2008 [EBook #24775]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UP THE RIVER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from scans of public domain material produced by
+Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: "The little steamer rushed madly into the opening."
+Page 293.]
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES
+
+
+
+
+UP THE RIVER
+
+OR
+
+YACHTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI
+
+
+
+BY
+
+OLIVER OPTIC
+
+
+AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "THE
+WOODVILLE SERIES" "THE STARRY FLAG SERIES" "THE BOAT CLUB
+STORIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE UPWARD AND
+ONWARD SERIES" "THE YACHT CLUB SERIES"
+"THE RIVERDALE STORIES" ETC.
+
+
+_WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+
+BOSTON
+LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
+NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM
+1882
+
+COPYRIGHT,
+1881,
+BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
+
+BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY,
+NO. 4 PEARL STREET.
+
+
+
+TO MY YOUNG FRIEND
+
+MINNIE ETHEL ADAMS,
+
+This Book
+
+IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
+
+
+
+
+THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES.
+
+
+GOING WEST; OR, THE PERILS OF A POOR BOY.
+
+OUT WEST; OR, ROUGHING IT ON THE GREAT LAKES.
+
+LAKE BREEZES; OR, THE CRUISE OF THE SYLVANIA.
+
+GOING SOUTH; OR, YACHTING ON THE ATLANTIC COAST.
+
+DOWN SOUTH; OR, YACHT ADVENTURES IN FLORIDA.
+
+UP THE RIVER; OR, YACHTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
+
+
+LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+UP THE RIVER is the sixth and last of "The Great Western Series." The
+events of the story occur on the coast of Florida, in the Gulf of
+Mexico, and on the Mississippi River. The volume and the series close
+with the return of the hero, by a route not often taken by tourists, to
+his home in Michigan. His voyaging on the ocean, the Great Lakes, and
+the Father of Waters, is finished for the present; but the writer
+believes that his principal character has grown wiser and better since
+he was first introduced to the reader. He has made mistakes of
+judgment, but whatever of example and inspiration he may impart to the
+reader will be that of a true and noble boy, with no vices to disfigure
+his character, and no low aims to lead him from "the straight and
+narrow path" of duty.
+
+The author has a copy of his first book before him as he writes. On the
+title-page is this line: "A Tale of the Mississippi and the
+South-West." The preface, dated 1852, contains this passage: "In the
+summer of 1848, the author of the following tale was a passenger on
+board of a steamboat from New Orleans to Cincinnati. During the
+passage--one of the most prolonged and uncomfortable in the annals of
+western river navigation--the plot of this story was arranged. Many of
+its incidents, and all of its descriptions of steamboat life will be
+recognized by the voyager on the Mississippi." Since that time the
+author has travelled on the upper waters of the great river.
+
+His last book, by a coincidence at the present time, also relates to
+the Mississippi. Nearly a generation has passed away between the first
+and the last; and the latter is the writer's seventy-fifth book. The
+author has endeavored to make his works correct in facts and
+descriptions, as well as in moral tendency; and in the preparation of
+them he has travelled over fifty thousand miles by sea and land.
+
+To his young friends,--some of the earlier of whom are now middle-aged
+men and women, with boys and girls of their own, reading the same books
+their fathers and mothers read a quarter of a century ago,--to his
+young friends the author again returns his sincere and hearty thanks
+for the favor they have bestowed upon his numerous volumes.
+
+DORCHESTER, MASS.,
+June 1, 1881.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                         PAGE
+CHAPTER I.
+IN CAPTAIN BOOMSBY'S SALOON                                11
+
+CHAPTER II.
+FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS                                      23
+
+CHAPTER III.
+ADIEU TO THE BOOMSBYS                                      34
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+NICK BOOMSBY HAS ASPIRATIONS                               47
+
+CHAPTER V.
+THE STRANGE MOVEMENT OF THE ISLANDER                       59
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+A LIVELY CHASE                                             71
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+A FOG OFF THE FLORIDA COAST                                81
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+A PORT IN A STORM                                          93
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+A VISIT FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE                          104
+
+CHAPTER X.
+INTELLIGENCE OF THE ISLANDER                              116
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+DIFFICULT NAVIGATION                                      127
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+THE CALAMITY ON FRENCH REEF                               138
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+A NIGHT LOST IN THE STORM                                 149
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+LOOKING FOR THE ISLANDER                                  160
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+A PARTIAL SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY                         172
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO                                 184
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+THE SYLVANIA IN AMBUSH                                    196
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+HOW NICK BOOMSBY MANAGED HIS CASE                         208
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+A SEARCH FOR THE LOST TREASURE                            220
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+THE THEORY AND THE FACTS                                  231
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+UP THE MISSISSIPPI                                        242
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+THE ISLANDER IN A BAD FIX                                 253
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION                                 265
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+A CREVASSE ON THE MISSISSIPPI                             277
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+SAILING ACROSS THE FIELDS                                 289
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+A DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSHING WATERS              301
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+THE PLANTER AND HIS FAMILY                                312
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+A DISTINGUISHED PASSENGER                                 324
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+UP THE RIVER FOR MANY DAYS                                335
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+UP ANOTHER RIVER AND HOME AGAIN                           347
+
+
+
+
+UP THE RIVER;
+
+OR,
+
+YACHTING ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+IN CAPTAIN BOOMSBY'S SALOON.
+
+
+"I don't think it's quite the thing, Alick," said my cousin, Owen
+Garningham, as we were walking through Bay Street after our return to
+Jacksonville from the interior of Florida.
+
+"What is not quite the thing, Owen?" I inquired, for he had given me no
+clue to what he was thinking about.
+
+"After I chartered your steamer for a year to come here, and go up the
+Mississippi River--by the way, this river is called 'The Father of
+Waters,' isn't it?" asked Owen, flying off from the subject in his
+mind, as he was in the habit of doing.
+
+"Every schoolboy in this country learns that from his geography," I
+replied.
+
+"Happily, I was never a schoolboy in this country, and I didn't find it
+out from the geography. If the Mississippi is the Father of Waters, can
+you tell me who is the mother of them?"
+
+"The Miss'ouri."
+
+"O, ah! Don't you feel faint, Captain Alick?" added Owen, stopping
+short on the sidewalk, and gazing into my face with a look of mock
+anxiety.
+
+"Not at all; I think I could swallow a burly Briton or two, if the
+occasion required."
+
+"Don't do it! It would ruin your digestion. But it strikes me those two
+rivers are but one."
+
+"I think so, too, and they ought to be. Father and mother--man and
+wife--ought to be one," I answered, as indifferently as I could. "But
+something was not quite the thing; and if there is anything in this
+country that is not quite the thing, I want to know what it is."
+
+"When I chartered the Sylvania to come down here, and then go up the
+'Father of Waters,' it isn't quite the thing for your father to declare
+the whole thing off at this point of the cruise," replied Owen. "I was
+going to have a jolly good time going up the river."
+
+"You may have it yet, for I have given you a cordial invitation to go
+'up the river' with me; and I mean every word I said about the matter,"
+I added, in soothing tones.
+
+"But your father says the charter arrangement is ended, and you may go
+where you like in your steamer."
+
+"And I concluded at once to carry out all the arrangements for this
+trip, just as we made them at Detroit," I replied. "I have invited the
+Shepards and the Tiffanys to join us, and everything will go on just as
+it did before, except that you will not pay the bills."
+
+"Which means that, if I join you at all, I shall not be myself,"
+returned Owen, with a look of disgust. "In other words, I shall not be
+my own master, and I must go where my uncle and you may choose to take
+me."
+
+"Not at all; we are going up the Mississippi simply because that is the
+route you selected, and because I desire to carry out your plan of
+travel to the letter," I replied, rather warmly. "I don't think I could
+do anything more to meet your views than I have done."
+
+"You are as noble, grand, magnanimous, as it is possible for any fellow
+to be, Alick; but that don't make me any more willing to be under
+obligations to you every day of my life."
+
+"You need feel under no obligations to me."
+
+"Ah, but I do, you see; and I still think it was not just the thing to
+break away from the written agreement we made," continued Owen, unable
+to conceal his vexation.
+
+"I think you ought not to say another word in that line of remark,
+Owen. A contract to do anything fraudulent is void from the beginning.
+Do you remember for what purpose you chartered the Sylvania?"
+
+"If you won't say another word about it, Alick, I won't!" exclaimed my
+cousin, extending his hand to me, which I immediately grasped.
+
+"I won't, unless you drive me to it," I replied. "I have not reminded
+you of what occurred while we were coming South, and I never will, for
+I think Carrington was the villain of the drama, and not you."
+
+"You are right, Alick; and you are the best fellow that ever lived!"
+protested Owen. "But I would like to pay my share of the expenses of
+the cruise from this day, as I have done before. I shall feel better
+about it if I do."
+
+"I will speak to my father about that. I am sure I don't object to your
+paying your share," I answered. "I am willing to carry out the
+agreement just as we made it; but my father takes a different view of
+the subject."
+
+"I know he does, and I can't blame him," replied Owen. "He means simply
+to say that his son shall be under no obligations to me, after what has
+happened."
+
+"Let us say nothing more about this matter, Owen," I added; "it is not
+a pleasant topic to me, any more than it was to him."
+
+"When do we sail, if I sail with you, Alick?" he asked.
+
+"To-morrow morning; and we should be on board to-night, ready for an
+early start, for we have to conform to the tide on the bar at the mouth
+of the river. The Tiffanys will go with us, but the Shepards have not
+yet accepted the invitation I gave them."
+
+"I am going to Colonel Shepard's house now, and I will find out whether
+they are going or not," said Owen, as we came to a street leading to
+St. James's Square, where Colonel Shepard's house was located.
+
+"And I will drop into Captain Boomsby's saloon," I added.
+
+"The beast Boomsby! Why do you go there, Alick?" demanded Owen, with a
+look of disgust and astonishment in his face.
+
+"I lived with him for years, and I will just say good-by to him, for I
+may never see him again. I hope I never shall, at any rate. He has
+abused and wronged me, but I am willing to forgive him if he will only
+keep out of my way."
+
+"'Pon my word, I believe you would forgive a man if he blew your brains
+out, Alick?"
+
+"If it were a matter of brains, I couldn't do it; but if I had heart
+enough left, I would try to forgive him if he was sorry for what he had
+done."
+
+"You forgave me, and it is easy enough for you to do the same with
+Beast Boomsby," added Owen, as he turned up the street to his
+destination.
+
+I had been made the victim of a plot, and taught to believe that my
+father, Sir Bent Garningham, was dead. The little steamer Sylvania was
+my own property, for I had earned it by saving the lives of her
+original owner and his family. Pike Carrington, my father's solicitor
+in England, had induced the son of my father's younger brother to make
+an attempt to get me "out of the way."
+
+The villain had acted more for his own interest than for that of my
+cousin. They had called in my old enemy Captain Parker Boomsby, and
+sent him to Florida in one steamer, while Owen went with me in the
+Sylvania. My friend Robert Washburn, the mate of the steam-yacht, had
+discovered the plot, and we had been on our guard night and day to meet
+any treachery.
+
+Captain Boomsby claimed me and all that I had, when he learned that my
+father was dead. He had done his best to obtain the steam-yacht, but
+his unfortunate habit of drinking too much whiskey had defeated his
+plan. In his attempt to destroy me he had taken the life of the
+solicitor.
+
+On our voyage, "going South," we had encountered a heavy gale in the
+Gulf of St. Lawrence. Owen Garningham, my cousin, had been swept from
+the hurricane-deck of the Sylvania by the raging sea. At the risk of my
+own, I had saved his life. This act had conquered him, and he no longer
+took any interest in the plan to destroy me, if he had ever thought of
+anything so bad as this. He became my strong friend, and had no further
+desire to rob me of my father's estate, or to obtain the title, for
+which he cared more than I did.
+
+The Shepards were a family we first met at a regatta in Portland
+Harbor. Owen had become deeply interested in Miss Edith, the daughter,
+and, at his invitation, the family had come most of the way to Florida
+in the steamer. We had been up the Ocklawaha River to Lake Griffin, and
+up the St. Johns as far as any steamer could go. My father, who had
+left me at college in Montomercy, to attend to his affairs in England,
+had been called to India on business. His absence was the opportunity
+for the conspirators, and they destroyed our letters.
+
+When I learned that my father was not dead, I had written to him. He
+had followed me up the St. Johns, and appeared in time to save me from
+the bullet of one of Captain Boomsby's agents. He learned the whole
+truth from me, and at once cancelled the charter by which my cousin
+Owen was to have the use of the steamer for a year, one half of which
+had now expired.
+
+The Tiffanys were father and daughter, whom the crew of the Sylvania
+had saved from a fire at St. Augustine. The gentleman was an intimate
+friend of my father, who requested him to see me when he visited this
+country. His daughter Margie, if not as pretty as Edith Shepard,
+interested me more. As arranged before we left Detroit, we were to go
+up the Mississippi River. The Tiffanys had accepted the invitation to
+join us, for they were tourists for pleasure and observation.
+
+My father was an English baronet, succeeding to the title and estates
+by the death of an elder brother. He had served in the army for many
+years, and had attained the rank of major. He was better pleased to be
+called by his military than by his family title, in this republican
+land. But he was too proud to allow me to continue in the employ of my
+cousin, though he did not object to his nephew as a passenger when I
+desired it. He left everything to me to manage as I pleased after he
+had cancelled the charter agreement. With this abstract of previous
+events my readers will be prepared to understand what is to follow.
+
+Captain Boomsby's saloon was on Bay Street. He had a bar for the white
+and respectable customers on that street, and another in the rear for
+negroes. I was never even tempted to drink any intoxicating beverages;
+and when he became a rumseller, I thought my tyrant had found his
+proper level. His son Nick tended the front bar, while he waited upon
+the negroes, who imbibed the cheapest corn-whiskey and apple-brandy by
+the tumbler-full at a dram.
+
+When I went into the saloon Captain Boomsby was seated in the rear of
+the room, where he had a view of both bars. He was at least half "full"
+himself. He was badly bloated, and his face was red and almost
+honeycombed with toddy-blossoms.
+
+"Well, Sandy, what do you want now?" demanded the saloon-keeper, when I
+came into his presence. He did not call me "Alick," as others did, but
+still used the name by which I had been known when he took me from the
+poor-house in the State of Maine.
+
+"Nothing, Captain Boomsby; only we sail to-morrow, and I thought I
+would say good-by to you, for I may never see you again," I replied.
+
+"I never want to see you no more," growled he. "You've always behaved
+bad ever since I fust knowed you, and you will come to some bad end
+yet."
+
+"I hope not," I said, seating myself.
+
+"You sartin will. I took care on you when you was little, and done
+everything I could for you; but you have worked agin me from the fust."
+
+As I seated myself I saw a customer come up to the front bar. He had a
+package, which he laid upon the counter while he poured out his dram.
+
+"I don't think it's any use for you and me to talk over these things,"
+I added, turning my eyes from the counter to the bloated face of my
+former tyrant. "We shall not be likely to agree in regard to matters in
+the past."
+
+"You know just as well as I do that the steam-yacht you sail in
+rightfully belongs to me," he added.
+
+"I think not. If she belongs to anybody besides myself, it must be to
+my father."
+
+"That man ain't your father any more'n I am."
+
+At that moment a rather rough-looking man came into the saloon, walked
+far enough back to look into the negro bar, and then retreated.
+
+"I think it has been fully proved that Major Garningham is my father,"
+I replied.
+
+I had scarcely spoken the words, as the rough-looking visitor was
+retreating without any dram, when Nick made a flying leap over the
+counter, and rushed out at the street door. The gentleman with the
+package had his eyes upturned to the ceiling, in the act of draining
+the tumbler in which he had elaborately stirred up the fiery mixture.
+
+[Illustration: "Nick rushed out at the street door." _Page 22._]
+
+When Nick went over the counter the customer was startled. He saw, at
+the same moment I discovered the fact, that the package he had laid
+upon the counter was missing. He rushed out of the saloon like a crazy
+man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS.
+
+
+"What on airth does all that mean?" said Captain Boomsby, rising with
+difficulty from his chair, and walking towards the front door.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," I replied. "I saw Nick leap over the counter
+as though he had found a mocassin-snake behind it."
+
+"Don't say nothin' about mocassins here, for you scart my wife out of
+her seven senses once afore," said the captain, savagely, as he stopped
+and looked at me.
+
+He had set a trap to have such a snake bite me in his house; but I was
+not thinking of that when I named the venomous reptile. This event, and
+the quantity of his own vile fluids he consumed, made him sensitive on
+the subject of snakes. I was afraid he would soon see more of them than
+he could manage.
+
+"What made Nick run out so quick, and what did Peverell follow him for,
+without payin' for his liquor?" continued Captain Boomsby, when he had
+properly admonished me in regard to the snakes.
+
+"I don't know, sir," I replied. "Who was the man that followed Nick?"
+
+"That was Peverell."
+
+"Who is Peverell?" I asked. "What does he do?"
+
+"He is the messenger, I believe they call him, of the First National
+Bank of Florida."
+
+"That explains it all, then," I added, beginning to understand the
+situation.
+
+"I don't see nothin'. What explains it all?" demanded the captain,
+testily.
+
+"Peverell had a package when he came in. He put it on the counter
+before he poured out his dram," I explained. "When Nick went over the
+counter the package was gone. If Peverell is the messenger of a bank, I
+have no doubt the bundle contained money in bank notes."
+
+"Creation! You don't! But what made Nick go over the bar so like a
+hoppergrass?" exclaimed the saloon-keeper.
+
+"I don't know. I can only understand what I saw."
+
+"If Nick's got that bundle of money, he's smart," added Captain
+Boomsby.
+
+"Do you think it was smart to steal it, captain?" I asked, mildly.
+
+"How big a package was it, Sandy?" replied my tyrant, turning away from
+the moral question.
+
+"It was at least two inches thick."
+
+"Creation! Then there ain't less than a thousand dollars in it!"
+
+"Let us hope that Nick did not take it," I added.
+
+"Well, you go out, Sandy, and see where Nick's gone. I can't leave both
+bars without anybody to look out for 'em, for them niggers will come in
+and steal the liquor as quick as they will chickens."
+
+I was interested to know the meaning of what I had seen in the saloon,
+and I went out into Bay Street. A crowd of men were rushing towards a
+narrow street leading down to the river. I followed them, and, near the
+landing-place of the Charleston steamers, I saw a colored policeman lay
+violent hands on the rough-looking person who had walked into the
+saloon, looked into the negro bar, and then retreated.
+
+Nick was on the spot, hatless and coatless, almost as soon as the
+policeman had grabbed his victim. Mr. Peverell was only a moment
+behind. By this time I had framed an explanation of what had transpired
+in the saloon which satisfied me for the moment, whether it was correct
+or not. While Peverell was concocting his beverage--and he had seemed
+to me to be very dainty and particular in the preparation of it--he had
+almost turned his back upon the package on the counter.
+
+I was not bestowing any particular attention upon the rough-looking
+visitor, but I had seen him pass close by the bank messenger. I
+concluded that he had snatched up the package on the counter, and
+retreated with it from the saloon. Nick had either seen the man take
+the bundle, or had discovered that it was missing. No one could have
+taken it but the person who was passing out of the door. On the impulse
+of the moment the young bar-tender had leaped over the counter to
+pursue the thief.
+
+Of course a crowd quickly collected around the robber and the
+policeman, with Nick and the messenger in the inner circle. The bank
+official was very much excited, and I judged that the package contained
+a considerable sum of money. Nick was hardly less disturbed. I was
+interested enough to run all the way to the pier, and work myself into
+the centre of the crowd before it had become very compact.
+
+"Dat's jes like you, Buckner," said the policeman, as soon as he could
+obtain breath enough to speak,--and he had not quite enough when he did
+speak. "I done cotch you doin' dat same ting before."
+
+"Doing what thing, you black spider?" demanded Buckner, who appeared to
+be greatly astonished at his arrest.
+
+"You done stole someting," protested the guardian of the peace. "What
+did you run for if you don't steal someting?"
+
+"I didn't steal anything! I run because the rest of you did, to find
+out what the matter was," replied Buckner, stoutly. "What did I steal,
+you black Lazarus?"
+
+"Donno what you 'tole. I 'pose dis gemman can told what you 'tole,"
+replied the policeman, turning to Peverell.
+
+"He stole a package of bank bills I laid on the counter; that is what
+he stole! And there was four thousand dollars in the package, too,"
+gasped the messenger.
+
+"Did you see me take the package?" demanded Buckner, indignantly.
+
+"I did not; but you were the only person that came into the saloon and
+left it while I was there," replied Peverell, sharply; and it was
+evident that he had no doubt at all in regard to the guilty person.
+
+"I didn't touch your package! I didn't see any package! I didn't go
+near you, or even know you were in the saloon!" protested Buckner,
+vehemently. "I'm a poor man, I know, and it is hard enough for me to
+get a living; but I never stole the value of a penny in my life."
+
+"But I saw him take it!" broke in Nick, with almost as much earnestness
+as Buckner or Peverell, though he had no special interest in the
+animated discussion. "The moment he tried to get out of the saloon, I
+jumped over the counter and went for him."
+
+"That's so!" added Peverell, with increasing energy. "But we are
+wasting time. Why don't you search your prisoner, and get the package?
+If he stole it, he has the package now."
+
+"Search me as much as you like!" replied Buckner, warmly.
+
+"Search him!" "Overhaul him!" "Clean him out!" shouted the crowd, who
+were working themselves up to a fever-heat over the case.
+
+"He's thrown it away before this time," suggested Nick.
+
+"He couldn't have thrown it away without some one seeing him do it,"
+replied Peverell. "Did any one see him throw it away?"
+
+"No! no!" shouted the bystanders.
+
+I had seen Buckner running down the middle of the narrow street, with
+the officer, Nick, Peverell, and others, within a few feet of him. It
+would have been almost impossible for him to get rid of the bundle in
+any way without being observed.
+
+"He might have thrown it into the river," again suggested Nick.
+
+"He done don't go widin twenty yards ob de riber; and he done don't
+frow no package in de riber when I don't see him. Dis chile hab his
+four eyes open all de time," added the policeman.
+
+"Search him!" "Turn him inside out!" shouted the crowd again.
+
+"Search me all you like!" cried Buckner, pulling out both the pockets
+of his pants, and throwing up his arms in readiness to submit to the
+operation. "I haven't got the package, and I never saw it."
+
+"How big was de package, Mr. Peverell?" asked the officer, as he
+proceeded to examine the clothing of the prisoner.
+
+"It was the size of a bank-bill, and about two inches thick," replied
+the messenger, very anxiously.
+
+"I don't find noffin like dat on dis yere prisonder," said the officer,
+when he had felt his man all over.
+
+"You won't find nothing if you search me all day and all night,"
+protested Buckner; and there was something like a proud dignity in his
+manner, though he was not a good-looking man.
+
+But it is possible to be honest without being handsome; and rogues
+assume virtues they do not possess. Certainly, the valuable package was
+not concealed upon the person of Buckner. The only alternative was,
+that he had thrown it away,--cast it into some hole, or pitched it into
+the river.
+
+"There can be no doubt this is the man that took the package from the
+counter, for no one else came near me while I was in the saloon,"
+reasoned Peverell, whose vehemence had calmed down, and given place to
+a deep anxiety.
+
+"I've said all I have to say, and you can do what you like with me; but
+I will make it hot for some of you before you see the end of this
+business," said Buckner, doggedly. "I'm a poor man, but I'm not to be
+trodden on, any more than a nigger is!"
+
+By this time the crowd had scattered to make a search in the holes and
+in the water for the missing package.
+
+"What were you doing in the saloon?" asked the messenger, in a mild
+tone.
+
+"I went in there to see if I could find a man to help me take up a
+couple of trunks to the St. James," replied Buckner. "I looked into the
+nigger bar, and then came out. I saw there was a man at the front bar;
+but I took no notice of him, and didn't see any package."
+
+"Before you had reached the door, this young man had jumped over the
+counter, and was chasing you. He was sure you had taken the package;
+and no one else could have taken it," added Peverell, warming up again.
+
+"But I didn't take it, and that's all I have to say about it," answered
+Buckner, decidedly.
+
+"I saw him take it!" repeated Nick, with emphasis. "He must have thrown
+it into the river."
+
+The policeman led his prisoner away to the lockup, while all the rest
+of us followed up the search for half an hour. The messenger said the
+bills were done up between two tin slabs of the size of the notes, and
+inclosed in brown paper. Some searched on the pier, and some went out
+in boats,--but no package could be found. The search was given up, and
+I went back to the saloon with Nick and Peverell.
+
+Captain Boomsby's son told his father all about the affair from
+beginning to end. He was putting the whiskey-bottle back into its place
+under the counter, when he heard Buckner's step as he approached the
+front door. He looked up, saw that the package was gone, and that the
+departing visitor had it. "That was all he knew about it."
+
+"But you said you saw Buckner take it," said Peverell.
+
+"I saw him take it out of the saloon," replied Nick.
+
+The circumstances pointed very strongly, to say the least, to Buckner
+as the guilty one. I had learned all I wanted to know, and was trying
+to say good-by to Captain Boomsby, when Peeks, the steward of the
+Sylvania, came into the saloon with a telegraphic dispatch in his hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ADIEU TO THE BOOMSBYS.
+
+
+Mr. Peverell, the bank messenger, called at the saloon on his way back.
+Doubtless he was not a little concerned about meeting the officers of
+the bank, after the loss of so large a sum of money. By this time they
+had heard the news, for it was flying all over the city. He looked very
+much troubled, as well he might.
+
+"It seems very strange to me," said Peverell, after he had discussed
+the robbery for a while. "Nobody came into the saloon while I was there
+but Buckner. I saw him come in, but I took no further notice of him;
+and I hadn't the least idea that anything was wrong till I saw Nick
+leap over the counter. I can't see how anybody else could have taken
+the package; and it is just as hard to tell what became of it."
+
+"I haven't the least doubt but what he threw it into the river," added
+Nick Boomsby.
+
+"I don't see how he could have done it without anybody seeing him,"
+replied the messenger. "There were plenty of men standing about the
+pier."
+
+"There seems to be something the matter here," interposed Peeks, coming
+up to me at this moment with the telegraphic despatch in his hand. "I
+am sorry to disturb you, Captain Alick."
+
+"It is none of my affairs," I added, hoping the despatch contained no
+bad news from home.
+
+"I have a message from Detroit informing me that my father is very
+sick," added Peeks, opening the despatch. "My mother wants me to come
+home as quick as I can."
+
+"I am sorry your news is so bad, Mr. Peeks; but there is only one thing
+for a son to do in such a case," I replied, full of sympathy for our
+steward. "I hardly know how I shall get along without you; but I cannot
+ask you to remain under such circumstances."
+
+"I am sorry to leave, Captain Alick, especially for such a reason. My
+health has been entirely restored by this cruise, and I would not leave
+you if I didn't get a cent for my work, though I have been well and
+promptly paid. My father has considerable property, and my mother is
+old and feeble. I am afraid I shall not be able to join you again, for
+if my father dies, as the doctors say he must, I shall have to look out
+for his affairs at home. But I have no time to lose, for I must take
+the train for the North this afternoon."
+
+I paid him the balance of wages due him, and we parted with a hearty
+shake of hands. His going disturbed me not a little, for he was both
+skilful and faithful, and his services had been invaluable, when I had
+so many passengers on board the Sylvania. He left the saloon, and for
+some minutes I forgot the exciting events of the day.
+
+If we were to sail on our next cruise, as had been arranged, the next
+morning, I must look up a competent steward. But the Florida season was
+over, and I anticipated no trouble in finding one.
+
+By this time there was quite a crowd collected in the saloon, and for
+half an hour longer the robbery was talked over. Nothing new was
+brought out. Buckner had taken the package from the counter, Nick had
+pursued him, and the money was not found. They could not get beyond
+these facts, or beyond these apparent facts, for things are not always
+as they seem.
+
+Peverell left when he found he could get no further in his
+investigation, and then for a time there was a lively business done at
+both bars of the saloon. The negroes had come into the front room to
+hear what was said, and they could not leave till each of them had
+imbibed all the cheap whiskey he could get into one of Captain
+Boomsby's thick-bottomed tumblers. Nick was just as busy at the front
+bar. I could not help looking at him as he dealt out the dangerous
+fluids--doubly dangerous after passing through Captain Boomsby's hands.
+I doubted whether he had any ambition to become anything better than a
+bartender. He was about my age, but not half so robust, for, being an
+only son, his father and mother humored him, and never compelled him to
+do anything like hard work, as they had me.
+
+Nick was dressed in rather cheap, but flashy, clothes, and wore an
+enormous glass diamond in his shirt front. At the present time he
+seemed to be doing his dirty work in a very mechanical manner, as
+though he were thinking of something else. He had to ask every customer
+twice over what he wanted, and even then gave him the wrong bottle.
+
+But the rush of business was soon over. Captain Boomsby came out of the
+negro bar, and Nick joined him in the rear of the front saloon. The
+father looked at the son, and the son looked at the father, and then
+both of them looked at me, as though they did not care to say anything
+in my presence.
+
+"I suppose I shall have to go to court, father," said Nick, "and I
+guess I had better go up stairs and slick up a little."
+
+"You look well enough as you be," replied the elder Boomsby.
+
+"If I am going into the court, I want my best clothes on. Besides,
+father, you said I might go out this afternoon," replied Nick, who
+evidently had other views in his head than the court. "Mother had just
+as lief tend bar this afternoon as not."
+
+"I s'pose she had, but I don't want her in the bar when I can help it,"
+added the captain, whose marital relations had become decidedly
+unpleasant, as I had learned from observation.
+
+"Well, Captain Boomsby, I must say good-bye to you again," I
+interposed, not caring to wait for the father and son to settle the
+question between them.
+
+I offered my hand and he took it; but I don't think he was inclined to
+weep at my departure. I thought that Nick looked at me with more than
+usual interest, and when I took him by the hand to say good-bye to him,
+he pressed my hand warmly. Before, when I had met him, he was hardly
+disposed to speak to me at all. He and his mother kept the old sores
+open.
+
+"I have never been on board of your steamer yet, Captain Alick," said
+he, with a sort of ghastly grin, which I could not understand. "I
+wanted to get out this afternoon to make a visit to her."
+
+"She can be seen by everybody who chooses to visit her, and I shall be
+glad to see you on board of her," I replied. "All hands are on shore
+now, except Cobbington, who is acting as ship-keeper. He will show you
+all over the Sylvania, if I am not on board."
+
+"Where are you going from here in her?" asked Nick.
+
+"We shall run down the coast of Florida, then across the Gulf of
+Mexico, and then up the Mississippi," I replied.
+
+"I wish I was going with you," added Nick.
+
+I did not wish he was going with me, and so I said nothing. I had taken
+leave of the captain and his son, and was about to depart when Mrs.
+Boomsby came into the saloon from the front entry.
+
+"You here, Sandy," said she, bestowing a look of disgust upon me.
+
+"I leave early to-morrow morning, and I dropped in to say good-bye. I
+will say the same to you, Mrs. Boomsby," I added, moving towards the
+door.
+
+"You needn't trouble yourself to say good-bye to me, for sakes knows I
+don't keer whether I ever see you again or not," replied the amiable
+lady, with a frown on her countenance which was enough to prevent me
+from saying anything more. I bowed and moved towards the door.
+
+"I s'pose you think you are mighty grand, sailin' about in a steam
+yacht; but you'll come to a bad end yet," continued Mrs. Boomsby.
+
+That was just what her husband had said to me, and I concluded they had
+talked the matter over again. I did not wait to hear any more. I
+entered the saloon on a friendly mission; I had forgiven my worst
+enemies,--I could conceive of none worse than the Boomsbys,--and I was
+not willing to have any words with the most virulent one of the family.
+I walked out of the saloon. I heard some further uncomplimentary
+allusions to myself as I closed the door behind me; but I believed that
+was the last I should ever see of any of the Boomsby family.
+
+I walked up to Colonel Shepard's house, and found all the family, as
+well as Owen there. They were evidently engaged in the discussion of
+some topic of interest when I entered. I had come up to press their
+acceptance of the invitation I had given them to continue the yachting
+excursion with me up the Mississippi; but before I had time to say
+anything about it, Owen told me the Shepards had concluded to decline
+the invitation. I was rather taken aback by this announcement, for the
+party were exceedingly pleasant company, and I knew that Margie Tiffany
+would enjoy being with her friend, Edith Shepard.
+
+"You have treated us exceedingly well, Captain Alick, on board of the
+Sylvania, and we shall all be grateful to you as long as we live, for
+all the pleasure you have afforded us," said Colonel Shepard.
+
+"I shall be greatly disappointed, sir, if your family do not go with
+us," I answered, wondering at his decision. "We can accommodate you
+very well, and the more the merrier, you know."
+
+"You forget that I am the owner of a steam yacht like the Sylvania,"
+continued Colonel Shepard, smiling. "I expected to send her to New
+York, but I concluded not to do so until we were ready to go
+ourselves."
+
+"I knew that the Islander was still here, and she can take you anywhere
+you wish to go as comfortably as the Sylvania; but I should be very
+glad to have you continue to be our passengers."
+
+"As you have your father with you now, I think you will get along very
+well without us," laughed the colonel. "I only wish I had you and your
+crew to run the Islander for me."
+
+"Thank you; you are very kind, sir. I am afraid we shall not be able to
+leave the Sylvania. But where are you going?"
+
+"It is still an open question whether we proceed directly to New York,
+cruise awhile in the vicinity of Florida, or go with you. I am not
+quite willing to leave the State until I have pulled in a few more
+red-fish, black bass, and other fish such as we caught in Indian
+River."
+
+"I suppose you don't propose to take Captain Boomsby with you as
+captain of the Islander. You remember that he came to Florida in
+command of her," I added.
+
+"I don't propose to take any such person. I retain the captain and crew
+I engaged to take the Islander to New York," replied Colonel Shepard.
+"Captain Blastblow has seen service in a yacht, and has commanded a
+steamer."
+
+"I have no doubt he is entirely competent."
+
+"I think he is, or I would not trust my family to his care. While we
+were up the St. Johns, he put the Islander in first-rate condition. He
+has had her boiler and machinery overhauled, and declares she has the
+best engine he ever saw in a steamer. I went down to see her as soon as
+we arrived. He has engaged a steward, waiters, and others, and I think
+we shall be ready to sail as soon as you are," continued the colonel.
+
+"We are off early to-morrow morning," I added.
+
+"Captain Blastblow told me at noon he should be ready to sail to-night.
+I expect a letter to-day from New York, and that will enable me to
+decide where we go."
+
+I soon took my leave, for I had to engage a steward before night. I was
+amazed at the decision of Colonel Shepard, and I could not help
+thinking he had some motive for his course which did not appear on the
+surface. I decided to call upon my father on my way to the wharf, for
+he was staying at the Carlton with the Tiffanys. I had gone but a few
+steps before Owen caught up with me.
+
+"I want you to understand, Alick, that I am not concerned in this
+business," said he, in a deprecatory tone. "I had no idea what the
+colonel intended to do until I went to his house this afternoon."
+
+"O, I don't blame you for it, Owen," I replied.
+
+"But I think they would have gone with us if I had held the charter of
+the vessel as before," he added.
+
+"I think that need make no difference. I suppose you will go in the
+Islander now," I continued, laughing, for I did not think he would be
+able to break away from Miss Edith.
+
+"I don't know, Alick. To tell the truth, I have had no invitation to go
+in the Islander; and without one I surely shall not go in her."
+
+This seemed to me to be a little odd, and I was thinking of it when we
+came to the Carlton, where I found my father on the piazza. We told him
+the whole story. To my astonishment, he said he was glad to hear it. I
+told him Owen had no invitation to go in the Islander.
+
+"And he will have none," added my father, bluntly. "Owen, if you accept
+any such invitation, should one be given, the Sylvania will part
+company with the Islander as soon as we get out of the river."
+
+"That is very odd, uncle Bent," answered Owen.
+
+"I have a very great respect for Colonel and Mrs. Shepard; and what he
+has done, probably by the counsel of his wife, removes the only doubt I
+had of him. Owen, you are a perfect spoon! It is not quite proper that
+you and Miss Edith should be spooning all the time, night and day; and
+to my mind, Colonel Shepard has decided to go in his own yacht to
+prevent this thing, as well as to retain his own self-respect. I dare
+say he is no longer willing to be the guests, with his whole family, of
+Alick or yourself. That's the whole of it. It is better for you to
+visit the young lady occasionally than to spend weeks or months with
+her in a little steam-yacht."
+
+I thought my father was rather severe upon my cousin, and I determined
+to speak to him about the matter when we were alone. I told my father
+that Peeks had been obliged to leave, and that I must look up a steward
+at once.
+
+He told me I need not go far to find one, and recommended me to give
+the place to Cobbington. I had not thought of such a thing, and I
+hastened on board to consider the matter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+NICK BOOMSBY HAS ASPIRATIONS.
+
+
+When I reached Market Wharf I found that the Islander had hauled out
+into the stream from the wharf where she had been undergoing repairs.
+Captain Blastblow had certainly done his work well. The twin sister of
+the Sylvania had been painted, and she looked as though she had just
+come out of the ship-yard for the first time. She was moored off the
+yacht-club house, and the American flag was flying at her peak, as
+though she had just gone into commission.
+
+I earnestly hoped that Colonel Shepard would conclude to make the trip
+up the Mississippi, for I was very confident we should enjoy yachting
+on the great river much more in company with the Islander, and the
+pleasant party on board of her, than we could alone.
+
+I took a shore boat to board the Sylvania, for as this was our last
+chance on shore for the present, all hands had been allowed to spend
+the day in the city. Cobbington declared that he did not care to see
+any more of the city, where he had passed so many miserable days, and
+had volunteered to remain on board as ship-keeper.
+
+Miles Cobbington had come to the south as an invalid, and having no
+means, he had picked up a precarious living by hunting, fishing, and
+doing such odd jobs of work as he could find. When I came across him he
+was hungry, and without a place to lay his head. With good living on
+board the Sylvania, and with his mind relieved of all anxiety about his
+daily food and shelter, he had picked up wonderfully during the month
+of our trip up the river.
+
+"Well, Miles, how do you get on?" I asked as I ascended the gangway.
+
+"First-rate, Captain Garningham. I haven't been so happy for years as I
+am now," he replied with a cheerful smile. "I begin to think I may live
+for some years yet."
+
+"I hope you will live for many years yet," I replied. "Mr. Peeks has
+been on board this afternoon, has he not?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and I am very sorry to have him leave for such a reason,"
+said Cobbington, with a look of genuine sympathy.
+
+"I believe he attended to putting all our provisions and stores on
+board."
+
+"Yes, captain; we stowed away everything last night, and we are ready
+to leave as soon as you give the word."
+
+"We can't go without a steward," I added, glancing at Cobbington to see
+if I could find any suggestion in his face. But he looked entirely
+blank.
+
+"The steamers here are hauling off, now, and I should say you would
+have no difficulty in finding one," he replied.
+
+"Do you think you can readily find another good waiter?" I asked.
+
+"I could find a hundred of them in half an hour," he replied.
+
+"Then I wish you to find one as soon as the crew come on board. I want
+one to take your place in the fore-cabin."
+
+"To take my place!" exclaimed Cobbington, looking aghast at me. "Then
+you are going to discharge me. What have I done?"
+
+"You have done lots of things, and done them well. You will take Mr.
+Peeks's place as steward, at the same wages he received," I replied,
+unwilling to hurt his feeling a moment longer.
+
+"Thank you, Captain Garningham," added Cobbington, his thin face
+suddenly wreathed in smiles. "I suppose you understand what you are
+doing, captain."
+
+"I think I do; but I will add that it was my father who suggested your
+name for the position."
+
+"I am very grateful to him for doing so, and to you for giving me the
+place. I think I can do the work to your satisfaction, for I have had
+considerable experience in this sort of business."
+
+I gave him such directions as he needed, and then called a shore boat.
+As the Islander was likely to be our consort during the whole, or a
+part, of the cruise up the Mississippi, I thought I would pay her a
+visit, and become better acquainted with her officers. My uniform
+procured me a ready recognition on her deck. Captain Blastblow was a
+man of forty, with a bald head and red whiskers. He treated me very
+politely, though I thought I could see something like contempt in his
+manner, possibly at the idea of a young fellow like me presuming to
+hold a position equal to his own.
+
+The captain took considerable pains to bring it into the conversation
+that he had been a seaman all his life, that he had come on board
+through the hawse hole, and had not crawled in at the cabin window. He
+made a slurring remark about fresh-water sailors, and informed me that
+he had been around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. He had been an
+ensign in the navy during "the late unpleasantness," and had served in
+the Gulf of Mexico in the blockade fleet.
+
+"When do you sail, Captain Blastblow?" I inquired.
+
+"I don't know: but I have my orders to be ready to go at a moment's
+warning at any time after daylight to-morrow morning," replied the
+captain of the Islander.
+
+These instructions seemed to be entirely consistent with what Colonel
+Shepard had said, that his departure and destination depended upon the
+letters he expected to receive by the afternoon mail. I looked over the
+steamer, and found her as neat as a new pin in every part. The officers
+and crew had put on a new uniform, and I found that they had steam up
+on board.
+
+I found no one that I knew on her deck, and the captain introduced me
+to the mate, the engineers, and the steward. I thought there was a
+little irony in his words as he did so; but I took no notice of this
+circumstance. I could see that he believed he was a thoroughly
+competent captain, and that he had some doubts in regard to my ability
+to fill the position I occupied on board of the Sylvania. I was willing
+that the future should settle all such questions; but I had the vanity
+to believe, though I did not say so, that I could handle the Sylvania
+as well as he could the Islander.
+
+We parted as the best of friends should part, and when I had seated
+myself in the boat, I could not help thinking I should like to see him
+handle his vessel in such a storm as I had seen on Lake Superior. In a
+few moments I was landed on Market Wharf, and walked up to the
+post-office to inquire if there were any letters for me. I learned that
+the northern mail had not arrived. It was often several hours behind
+time, for the railroads in Florida were in very bad condition.
+
+Colonel Shepard was there, very impatient at the non-arrival of his
+letters. He told me, if he had to go to New York, he should sail in the
+Islander on the next tide. If his business did not call him north at
+once, he should sail with us the next morning.
+
+The colonel went over to the Carlton, and I was about to go with him,
+when Nick Boomsby came up to me. He was dressed in his best clothes,
+and he was as good a representative of the idiotic swell as I had ever
+met.
+
+"When do you sail, Captain Alick?" he asked, as though the question was
+one of vital importance to him personally.
+
+"To-morrow morning, about seven o'clock, unless some change is made in
+the arrangements," I replied, wondering what possible interest he could
+have in the sailing of the steamer.
+
+"Alick, you and I were always good friends," he continued.
+
+"Not always, though I don't mind that now," I added, not willing that
+the exact truth should be sacrificed, even by my silence.
+
+"I am getting a little tired of this place, and I want to be out of it.
+I know we didn't always agree when we were little children; but I don't
+believe you think of these things now."
+
+"I have not the least ill-will towards you, Nick."
+
+"I am right glad to hear you say so. The old man never will let up on
+you, I suppose. But I told him he was a fool, and that he had better
+let you alone."
+
+Perhaps it was good advice, but I did not believe he ever gave it to
+his father, though he was capable of any disrespect. I waited to learn
+what he was driving at, though the fact that he had said he wished he
+was going with me on the cruise came to my mind in this connection.
+
+"I am tired of the sort of life I am leading," continued Nick.
+
+"I don't blame you," I added, with the utmost sincerity, though I had
+not supposed he had any soarings above the sphere of a bar-tender.
+
+"What can I do? The old man won't let me do anything else beside tend
+bar. It is mean business, and I'm bound to get out of it."
+
+I thought Nick's view of the situation was very commendable, though I
+did not see how he was to break away from his father, if the latter was
+not willing he should do so.
+
+"The only way I can do it is to run away," added Nick.
+
+"I can't advise you to do that," I replied.
+
+"I am eighteen years old, and I am able to take care of myself. The old
+man don't give me any wages, and it's hard work for me to get a suit of
+clothes out of him when I need it. Which would you rather do if you
+were in my place,--sell whiskey, and very likely become a drunkard
+yourself, or run away, and become an honest and respectable man?"
+
+It was a hard question, and I declined to answer it, for I was
+unwilling to be responsible to any degree for anything that Nick
+Boomsby might do. I knew him too well.
+
+"If you will take me to New Orleans on your steamer, I will work my
+passage, and be everlastingly obliged to you besides," persisted Nick,
+coming all at once to the point.
+
+"No, Nick, I shall not do anything to provoke your father, or give him
+just cause to complain of me. So far as your leaving your present
+business is concerned, you must settle that for yourself," I replied,
+firmly.
+
+I refused all his entreaties to be allowed to go in the Sylvania. I
+told him that the relation between his father and myself would not
+permit me to do anything to assist him. He seemed to be reconciled to
+my decision, and was as pleasant as possible. He asked me about the
+Islander, and I told him all I knew about her. I inquired what had been
+done about the robbery. Nothing more had been done, but everybody was
+satisfied that Buckner was the guilty person, and the police were still
+searching for the missing package. Nick was going on board of the
+Sylvania next, and I wrote on a card a request to Cobbington to show
+him over the vessel.
+
+While we were talking the mail arrived. Colonel Shepard rushed to the
+post-office, and I was talking to him while the mail was in process of
+sorting and distribution. Nick stood by me all the time, and listened
+to all that we were saying. At last Colonel Shepard received his
+letters. He opened one of them with feverish haste.
+
+"All right! I go with you, Captain Alick!" exclaimed the colonel,
+evidently as much delighted as a child would have been. "I will follow
+you up the Mississippi. What time do you sail, Captain Alick?"
+
+"At seven; that will bring us to the bar at about the right time," I
+replied.
+
+"I must send word on board to Captain Blastblow to be ready at that
+time."
+
+The colonel appeared to be searching his pockets for a piece of paper,
+and I handed him one of my blank cards. He wrote something on it, and
+intimated that he wanted to find some one by whom he could send it on
+board of the Islander.
+
+"I am just going on board of the Sylvania, and I will leave it on board
+of the Islander as I pass her," interposed Nick.
+
+Colonel Shepard asked me if I knew the young man, and I told him I did.
+He gave him the card, and Nick hastened off in the direction of the
+boat-club building. I wondered if he was not intending to look for a
+passage to New Orleans in the Islander. It was not impossible, and I
+determined that my late passengers should not be burdened with his
+company.
+
+I went to the Carlton, and found that my passengers had decided not to
+go on board of the Sylvania till the next morning, and had ordered an
+early breakfast. There was to be some sort of a social occasion in the
+parlors that evening, and my father and his friends wished to be
+present. I went on board of the steamer. On my way I looked in at the
+window of Captain Boomsby's saloon, and saw that Nick was there
+peddling out whiskey to thirsty customers. He had not concealed himself
+on board of the Islander; and I had told Colonel Shepard to be on the
+lookout in the morning, to assure himself that he had no more
+passengers than he wanted. I was quite sure I had blocked Nick's
+wheels, so far as running away in either of the steam-yachts was
+concerned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE STRANGE MOVEMENT OF THE ISLANDER.
+
+
+Cobbington had engaged the additional waiter. His name was Reel
+Bendick, as he spelled it out to me; and he seemed to be an intelligent
+and docile man. He was to wait on the table in the fore-cabin, while
+Tom Sands was to continue in the after-cabin, where he had always been
+assisted by the steward, and on great occasions by Washington Gopher,
+the accomplished cook who had come all the way from Detroit.
+
+With these exceptions our crew remained the same as before.
+
+Since our return from up the St. Johns, everything about the Sylvania
+had been put in perfect order for sea. Moses Brickland, the engineer,
+had overhauled the machinery and the boiler, and we had a full supply
+of coal in the bunkers. I went all over the vessel, and assured myself
+that everything was in order.
+
+"I suppose there is no doubt about our leaving in the morning, is
+there, Captain Alick?" asked Bob Washburn, the mate, as we seated
+ourselves in the captain's cabin, after we had both been all over the
+deck and the cabins.
+
+"Of course I don't know anything more about that than you do, but I
+think there cannot be much doubt of it," I replied. "We shall have no
+passengers but my father, the Tiffanys, and my cousin."
+
+"Does Owen Garningham go with us, Alick?" asked Washburn, with
+astonishment.
+
+"He told me this afternoon he had no invitation to go in the Islander,
+and my father said he would have none," I replied.
+
+"Then your father thinks there has been too much spooning on board,"
+added Washburn, laughing.
+
+"Probably Colonel Shepard thinks so too, and that may be the reason why
+he decided to go in the Islander instead of in the Sylvania."
+
+"I should think it would be better to separate Owen and Miss Edith
+until each shall have a chance to make up his mind."
+
+"Owen seems to be very much attached to Miss Edith, and their being
+together all the time may result in something very serious. He is a
+young fellow of twenty, and I doubt if he knows his own mind; he is
+fascinated by a pretty face."
+
+"There is no doubt of that; and the face is as pretty a one as I ever
+saw," added Washburn, with emphasis.
+
+"My father says Owen's mother is very rich, and that she is more afraid
+he will fall into some entangling alliance of this sort, than she is of
+his becoming a drunkard, or becoming a bad man," I continued, recalling
+some of the conversations my father had had with me.
+
+"They say Colonel Shepard is rich enough to satisfy even an English
+nabob," suggested the mate.
+
+"I suppose Owen's mother expects him to marry a duchess," I replied. "I
+saw her when I was in England; but she had no love for me, and I have
+no doubt she wished I had never turned up."
+
+"I should say that Edith Shepard was good enough for any fellow, even
+if he were an earl or a duke," said Washburn, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"Luckily it is none of our affair, though my sympathies are all with
+Owen," I added. "I wonder if Nick Boomsby came on board this
+afternoon," I continued, willing to change the subject.
+
+I called Cobbington into our room, and was informed that Nick had been
+on board, and had been treated with distinguished consideration.
+
+"Did he say anything about going with us, Cobbington?" I asked.
+
+"He only said he should like to go with us, but you would not allow him
+to do so, and he had given up all thought about it," replied the new
+steward. "Besides, he said he was the important witness in a law-case
+that would come up to-morrow morning."
+
+"I don't believe he would stay for the law-case if I would give him a
+berth on board," I added.
+
+I related the particulars of the robbery of the messenger, and
+Cobbington commented on them at some length. I found that he knew the
+messenger, and had not a very high respect for him. He had his doubts
+whether there was any four thousand dollars in the transaction. It
+looked more to him as though the messenger had arranged the affair so
+that he could appropriate the money to his own use. Cobbington had
+worked with Buckner, who was a poor man, and had come to Florida, like
+himself, to save his life.
+
+"Why did Nick jump over the counter, and chase Buckner, then? Nick says
+he saw Buckner take the package from the counter, and run out at the
+front door," I added.
+
+"I don't know anything about the matter, except that I would trust
+Buckner farther than I would Peverell," persisted the steward. "A bank
+messenger that means to be honest don't go into a bar-room and put four
+thousand dollars down on the counter; not every day in the week, at
+least. I don't believe Buckner took the package; if he had it would
+have been found on him when the policeman caught him."
+
+We could not get ahead any further than those on shore had in solving
+the mysterious disappearance of the treasure. At an early hour I turned
+in, and Washburn soon followed me. After dark I cautioned the
+anchor-watch not to let any person come on board. I was afraid that
+Nick Boomsby would try to become a stowaway on board of the steamer,
+and thus give his father an additional grudge against me. But I soon
+went to sleep and forgot all about Nick.
+
+I was up at five in the morning. Before I washed my face and made my
+toilet, I went on deck to take a look at the weather, as I generally
+did at sea, or when we were on the point of sailing. It was cloudy and
+thick; but I thought it probable that it would clear off as the day
+advanced. The smoke was pouring out of the smoke-stack of the Islander,
+as well as of the Sylvania. If the weather was not bad enough to make
+me think of delaying our departure, it was still not so pleasant as I
+desired for a start.
+
+I dressed myself, and looked the vessel over again. Our party would
+breakfast before they came on board, and we had nothing to do yet but
+look after ourselves. At six o'clock we took our morning meal. As soon
+as it was cleared away, I ordered the anchor up, and we ran in to
+Market Wharf to take on board our passengers.
+
+Before we reached the wharf I saw a boat board the Islander; but she
+was too far off for me to determine who was in the craft. It was still
+only half-past-six, and I did not expect our passengers for half an
+hour or more. I went on shore to walk through the market. It seemed
+very odd to me to find all sorts of green things, such as green peas,
+cucumbers, spinach, new turnips, carrots, and most other vegetables,
+which I had not been in the habit of seeing till July and August. But
+we had been eating such things, including strawberries, for a month,
+and many of them all winter in the West Indies.
+
+"The Islander is under way," said Washburn, as I sauntered along the
+wharf.
+
+"Probably she is going to run in for her passengers, as we have done,"
+I replied.
+
+"She don't seem to be headed for the wharf, but down the river," added
+the mate.
+
+I went on board, and then to the hurricane deck, where I could obtain a
+good view of her. I was confident that her passengers had not gone on
+board of her, for we had seen nothing but a boat with two persons in it
+go alongside the Islander. The party consisted of four persons, and two
+of them were ladies. They could not have gone on board of her without
+our seeing them.
+
+"It don't look as though she was running in to a wharf," said Washburn,
+joining me on the hurricane deck.
+
+"Very likely she is taking a little run down the river so that her new
+captain can see how she works," I added, without a suspicion that
+anything was wrong about our twin sister. "It isn't seven yet, and she
+is taking a little turn before she goes up to the wharf."
+
+"Of course it is all right," replied Washburn. "Her captain is as salt
+as a barrel of brine, and knows all about steamers."
+
+We waited fifteen minutes longer, till I heard a clock strike seven,
+but the Islander continued on her course down the river. I knew she had
+been ordered to be ready to sail at seven, and I did not suppose
+Captain Blastblow would willingly fail to be on time. While I was
+watching the movements of our consort, the baggage of our party arrived
+at the end of the wharf, and, a few minutes later, a carriage came
+bringing our passengers.
+
+I had no more time to study the affairs of the Islander. My father, Mr.
+Tiffany and Miss Margie were in the carriage, and I was permitted to
+help the young lady out, and escort her to the deck. I was a little
+afraid of my father calling me a "spoon," and I was careful not to
+overdo myself in politeness.
+
+"How long before you sail, Captain Alick?" asked my fair companion.
+
+"Immediately," I replied. "The Islander has already gone, but I think
+she must return."
+
+"May I go into the pilot-house, captain?"
+
+"Certainly; I shall be delighted to have you there."
+
+"How much I shall miss Edith!" exclaimed Miss Margie, as I gave her the
+best seat in the pilot-house. "I think it is a great pity that we could
+not all go together in the same steamer."
+
+"I should have been very glad to have the Shepards on board," I
+replied. "I suppose Colonel Shepard prefers to sail in his own yacht,
+as I think I should if I were in his place. But we shall be within hail
+of each other most of the time, and you can visit Miss Edith about
+every day after we get into the Mississippi River."
+
+"I am told the Mississippi is a very large river," mused Miss Margie.
+"Can you see across it, Captain Alick?"
+
+"No doubt of it," I answered, laughing. "It is not more than a mile
+wide, as a rule. You must be thinking of the Amazon, which is a hundred
+and fifty miles wide near its mouth. Vessels must get out of sight of
+land in crossing it, near the ocean."
+
+"We are all on board, Alick, except Owen," said my father, coming into
+the pilot-house. "He should not keep us waiting."
+
+"Perhaps he has decided to go in the other steamer," I suggested.
+
+But I had hardly spoken the words before Owen came on board. He did not
+seem to be in despair at his separation from his "bright particular
+star," and was in excellent humor when he joined us in the pilot-house.
+
+"Where are the rest of your party, Owen?" I asked.
+
+"Merciful hotandsplosh! Haven't you found out yet that they are going
+on the Islander?" demanded Owen.
+
+"I haven't seen them go on board of her yet," I added.
+
+"They took a carriage to the wharf near the boat-house, and I took one
+to come here," replied Owen. "They must be on board of her by this
+time."
+
+"I think not. The Islander has gone down the river," I answered, as I
+ordered the fasts to be cast off.
+
+I backed the Sylvania on the stern line to clear her from the wharf,
+and then rang to go ahead. Our voyage around Florida had actually
+begun, and I was duly exhilarated by the fact. The Islander had gone
+around the bend of the river, and I could see only her masts and
+rigging. The wind was blowing fresh from the southwest, and I was not a
+little astonished to see that her crew were shaking out her
+fore-topsail. This did not indicate that her captain intended to return
+to the wharf for his passengers.
+
+"Colonel Shepard and his family must have gone on board of her at least
+a quarter of an hour before seven, Owen," I said, unable to account for
+the movements of the Islander in any other way.
+
+"But they did not leave the colonel's house till five minutes of
+seven--at the same time I started to come here," replied Owen. "What
+has happened? What is the matter?"
+
+"I don't know that anything is the matter," I replied. "The Islander
+got under way about half-past six, and I supposed she was going to take
+a turn on the river before she went up to the wharf. Instead of that
+she has been moving steadily down the river since she got up her
+anchor; and there she is, three or four miles on her way to the ocean."
+
+"Sylvania, ahoy!" shouted some one on the shore.
+
+On the pier, near the club-house, were the Shepard party; and it was
+the colonel who had hailed us. They seemed to be quite as much
+astonished as we were. I ran the steamer up to the wharf.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+A LIVELY CHASE.
+
+
+In a few minutes our bow and stern lines were fast to the wharf where
+the Shepards were waiting for their steam-yacht. Owen leaped ashore
+before the vessel was fairly alongside, though he had not yet come to a
+full comprehension of what had happened. He knew something was the
+matter, but he could not tell what it was.
+
+As soon as the Sylvania was made fast I went on shore. Colonel Shepard
+seemed to be bewildered, for Owen had just told him the Islander had
+gone down the river. The rest of the family were quite as much
+astonished as the husband and father. Chloe, the colored servant, was
+actually wringing her hands, as though she feared another conspiracy
+was about to be developed.
+
+"Where is the Islander, Captain Alick?" asked the colonel, as I
+presented myself before him.
+
+"She has gone down the river; and the last I saw of her, she was
+shaking out her fore-topsail," I replied.
+
+"But what does that mean?" added Colonel Shepard, with a frown.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know, sir. She got under way about half-past six. I
+supposed Captain Blastblow was about to take a turn or two in her
+before he ran up to the wharf. It is now quarter-past seven, and the
+Islander is still making her way down the river. You can see her across
+the land, though only her spars are in sight."
+
+I pointed out the tapering masts of our consort--if she was to be our
+consort--in the distance. Presently she disappeared behind a forest of
+pine.
+
+"I don't understand it at all," said the perplexed owner of the stray
+yacht. "What does Captain Blastblow mean by treating me in this manner,
+when I ordered him to be at this wharf precisely at seven?"
+
+"I can't explain it, sir," I replied. "There is clearly some
+misunderstanding about the matter."
+
+"You saw me write the card at the post-office last night, Captain
+Alick: and I sent it off by the young man who was with you."
+
+"Yes, sir; Nick Boomsby took the card; and I have no doubt he delivered
+it, for he came on board of the Sylvania towards night.
+
+"I think Captain Blastblow intends to return soon," I added, for I
+could not think of any explanation of his singular conduct. I certainly
+could not reason out any plausible occasion for such a violation of his
+orders as that in which he seemed to be engaged.
+
+"Perhaps he has run off with the yacht, and intends to become a pirate,
+or something of that sort," suggested Gus Shepard.
+
+"Nonsense, my son! The Islander is not an armed vessel, and Captain
+Blastblow is not a pirate," replied Colonel Shepard. "Do you suppose
+anything was out of order on board of the steamer, Captain Alick?"
+
+"It is possible; but if such was the case, the captain would hardly
+have gone so far down the river," I replied. "If the Islander had
+needed any more repairs, Captain Blastblow would have remained in
+Jacksonville and attended to them."
+
+"Perhaps he wishes to become better acquainted with the vessel before
+he takes her to sea," added the colonel.
+
+"He might have done that yesterday. He would not have waited until you
+were ready to sail, and then gone off on an experimental cruise," I
+answered.
+
+"An experimental cruise!" exclaimed Owen. "What a terrible expression.
+I hope Captain Blastblow don't use such expressions. If he does, he has
+gone out to sea where he can have room enough to unsnarl his tongue."
+
+"Captain Blastblow is an American, and he is used to such little
+trials," I replied.
+
+"What shall be done?" asked Colonel Shepard.
+
+"I think you had better go on board of the Sylvania, with your baggage,
+and we will stand down the river," I replied, promptly, for I had kept
+this idea in my mind for some time. "We can at least follow the
+Islander, and when we come up with her you can go on board of her."
+
+"Are you sure you can overtake her, Captain Alick?" asked Colonel
+Shepard, with a smile, as though he had some doubts in regard to the
+relative speed of the two steam-yachts. "Captain Blastblow is confident
+that he can outsail the Sylvania."
+
+"I don't say that he cannot; but if he does, he has learned a new trick
+in handling her," I answered, with energy. "I have sailed the Sylvania
+against the Islander on the Great Lakes more than once, and have not
+found the time when I could not beat her."
+
+"Her new captain claims to be a very skilful man in handling steamers,"
+added the colonel.
+
+"If you and your family will come on board, sir, I will do the best I
+can to overtake the Islander, and ascertain what the conduct of her
+captain means. If we have anything like fair play, we shall overhaul
+the Islander sometime to-day," I continued, confidently. "We are both
+well down in the water, with our coal-bunkers and water-tanks full. She
+is nearly an hour ahead of us now, and her captain was hurrying her all
+he could."
+
+Owen was delighted with the decision of Colonel Shepard when he
+accepted my invitation. He had regained his divinity, and he conducted
+her on board of the Sylvania, while the colonel assisted Mrs. Shepard.
+Owen escorted Miss Edith to the pilot-house, and her mother went down
+into the cabin, for the morning was rather raw and chilly. Margie took
+her dear friend to her heart, and hoped the Sylvania would never
+overtake the Islander.
+
+"You must let the other steamer keep ahead, Captain Alick," said
+Margie, as I took my place at the wheel, when the baggage had been put
+on board.
+
+"That would be treason to the Sylvania and treason to Colonel Shepard,"
+I replied, as I rang the bell to start the steamer.
+
+I knew the river well enough to go ahead confidently, and I had given
+the chief-engineer a hint as to what I expected of him. In a few
+minutes, the little steamer was buzzing along at the rate of eleven
+miles an hour. The only thing I feared was fog, and there seemed to be
+great banks of it off in the direction of the mouth of the river.
+
+"Mr. Washburn," I called through the windows in front of me.
+
+"On deck, sir," replied the mate.
+
+"Call all hands, and set the fore-topsail."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," responded Washburn; and I knew there would be no lack of
+zeal on his part when we came to an out-and-out race.
+
+All hands usually consisted of the two deck hands; but Ben Bowman, the
+second fireman, and the cabin-waiter were available when there was any
+extra work to be done. Buck Lingley and Hop Tossford, the deck hands,
+were sent aloft by the mate to loose sails, while the others manned the
+halyard and the braces. In a very short time the topsail was drawing
+full, and the speed of the vessel was sensibly increased.
+
+"Mr. Washburn!" I called again.
+
+"On deck, sir," responded the mate.
+
+"Set the foresail."
+
+The crew made quick work of it.
+
+"Now the mainsail, Mr. Washburn," I continued.
+
+The wind was quite fresh, and the fore and aft sails caused the steamer
+to heel over considerably when the puffs came, as they generally do in
+a south-westerly breeze.
+
+"You will tip us over, Captain Alick!" cried Miss Margie, who had not
+been at sea in the Sylvania.
+
+"I won't do anything of the kind, Miss Tiffany," I replied, with a
+laugh. "I shall not drown myself for the sake of drowning you, I am
+very sure. Mr. Washburn!"
+
+"On deck, sir."
+
+"Set the fore to'gallant sail."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," chuckled the mate, who understood that I meant business
+by this time.
+
+"Pray, which is the fore top-gallant sail, Captain Alick?" asked Miss
+Margie.
+
+"It is the highest sail we set on the foremast, though larger vessels
+have a royal above that, then a skysail," I replied. "Mr. Washburn!"
+
+"On deck, sir."
+
+"Now give us the fore squaresail, and run up the jib."
+
+The last order was to set the main gaff-topsail; and then we had all
+sail on. We turned the bend of the river just after the last sail had
+been set, which gave us the wind over the starboard quarter. I was
+confident we were making twelve knots an hour, and the skilful firing
+of Philander Perkins soon made her do even better than this. The water
+fairly roared at the bow as the vessel cut through it. The young ladies
+in the pilot-house ceased to talk, and Miss Margie held on at the wheel
+with both hands. It was lively sailing, but there was no danger, and I
+told the fair maiden so many times.
+
+[Illustration: "Then we had all sail on." _Page 78._]
+
+We all kept a sharp lookout for the Islander, but as yet we saw nothing
+of her. She had, at least, ten miles the start of us, and it was likely
+to be a long chase, if she continued on her course. I wanted very much
+to get a sight of her when we reached the bar at the mouth of the St.
+Johns, so as to determine what course she took.
+
+No progress whatever had been made in solving the problem of the
+Islander's sudden departure without her owner and passengers. We could
+not imagine any motive on the part of her captain for his singular
+conduct. My father and Colonel Shepard talked about the matter all the
+time; but in the absence of any data they could not get ahead a
+particle.
+
+In an hour and a half by the watch we were in sight of the bar. The
+weather looked thick and nasty outside, and there was not the slightest
+sign of the Islander. But we were still in the river, and our view to
+the north and south was obstructed by the trees and shrubs on the
+shores. It was plain enough to me by this time that Captain Blastblow
+had no intention of returning to Jacksonville for his passengers.
+
+I kept the Sylvania on her course over the bar, and, as it was full
+tide, I had no fear of taking the bottom. We kept on our course till we
+had made a good offing. Though the fog had not settled down near the
+bar, vast piles of it were floating in the air. The question now was
+whether the Islander had gone to the north or the south. I had given
+the wheel to Hop Tossford, and I was using the glass very industriously
+in all quarters of the horizon.
+
+"Sail, ho!" shouted Buck Lingley, who had taken his station on the cap
+of the foremast.
+
+"Where away?" I shouted, sticking my head out the side window of the
+pilot-house.
+
+"Right on the starboard beam," replied Buck.
+
+As the fog lifted a minute later I got a glimpse of the sail.
+
+"It is the Islander!" I shouted, not a little excited. "She is going to
+the southward."
+
+"I can't understand it," said Colonel Shepard, shaking his head. "Does
+Captain Blastblow mean to run away with the vessel?"
+
+No one could tell what he meant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A FOG OFF THE FLORIDA COAST.
+
+
+The Sylvania was close-hauled, and I gave out the course south
+south-east. This was the navigation to take the steamer around the
+peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico, though we intended to put in at Key
+West, in order to see the place. Washburn noted the departure on the
+log slate in the pilot-house, and, as it was necessary for us to run by
+our dead reckoning, the log was heaved every hour. In a short time we
+were buried in the fog, and kept our steam-whistle going at the proper
+intervals.
+
+The young ladies soon deserted the pilot-house, for we were obliged to
+keep the front windows open, and the air was cold and moist. Owen left
+with them, and my father and Colonel Shepard soon took their places.
+The owner of the Islander was still too much excited to keep still. He
+tried to see through the fog; but he might as well have attempted to
+look through a rocky hill.
+
+"How far ahead do you think the Islander is now, Captain Alick?" asked
+the Colonel.
+
+"About eight miles, I should judge, unless Captain Blastblow has
+succeeded in getting more speed out of the Islander than any one else
+ever could," I replied at once, for I had estimated the distance
+before.
+
+"Do you really think you are gaining on her?"
+
+"I have no doubt of it," I replied, confidently. "They hurried the
+Islander down the river; and when both vessels are doing their best the
+Sylvania gains about a knot an hour on the Islander. I have tried this
+with her when she had a sailing-master on board who knew all about her,
+and had sailed her hundreds of miles. I don't believe Captain Blastblow
+can do any better with her than Captain Braceback; and I used to beat
+him every time."
+
+"I dare say you are quite right, Captain Alick," added Colonel Shepard.
+"It is reasonable to suppose that a man who is used to a vessel can do
+better with her than a stranger."
+
+"I got only a glimpse of the Islander when the fog lifted for a moment,
+and saw only her spars and sails," I continued. "I have had
+considerable experience in judging of distances on the water. I should
+like to have you ask the others on board how far off they think the
+other steamer was when we saw her."
+
+The colonel liked the suggestion, and he was so much interested in the
+question that he wished to have the best information he could obtain. I
+called Washburn first. No one but Hop Tossford at the wheel had heard
+the conversation, and they could not be influenced by my opinion of the
+matter. The mate said seven miles. Buck Lingley made it nine miles, and
+then Ben Bowman was summoned.
+
+"Just about eight miles, I should say," replied Ben, when the question
+was put to him.
+
+"No two of them agree, though they do not differ widely," said the
+Colonel, when all who had seen the Islander had answered.
+
+"Ben Bowman has had more experience than all the rest of us put
+together," I added. "But, Colonel, if you will average all the answers,
+you will find the result is just eight miles. We may be all wrong.
+Captain Blastblow talks louder than the rest of us, but when he beats
+the Sylvania in a fair stand-up run, I wish you would let me know it,
+if I don't find it out before you do."
+
+I felt almost absolutely certain of the ground I stood on, for I had
+tried this same issue when the result was almost a case of life and
+death with me. The Sylvania had been built after the Islander, and her
+constructor had an opportunity to improve on her model. Our engine was
+a little more powerful than that of the other yacht, and a defect in
+the lines of the latter had been corrected in building ours. But the
+fact of our superior speed had been several times demonstrated by
+actual trial, and the improvements in our model and machinery only
+explained what had been proved. It was of course possible that Captain
+Blastblow had some "knack" of getting more speed out of a steamer than
+I had; but I was willing to believe, in this case, only what was fairly
+proved.
+
+"We may miss the Islander in this fog," continued Colonel Shepard,
+peering anxiously through the fog.
+
+"We may, sir," I replied. "There is nothing to prevent her from coming
+about and running back to Jacksonville."
+
+"What if she should do that?" asked the owner of the stray yacht.
+
+"We are in the dark as to the intentions of her captain; and everything
+depends upon them," I answered.
+
+"What can his intentions possibly be?" inquired the colonel, knitting
+his brow, as he recurred once more to the well-worn topic for at least
+the twentieth time.
+
+"It is quite impossible to conjecture his motives. He has either made a
+mistake in regard to his instructions, or he means to run away with the
+Islander."
+
+"What mistake could he have made in regard to his instructions?"
+demanded the colonel, who had not admitted the possibility for an
+instant of any mistake. "Last night I wrote his instructions to be
+ready to sail at seven, and sent them off to him by the young man who
+was with you."
+
+"Did you write seven this morning, sir?" I asked.
+
+"I think I did, though I should not be willing to swear to it," replied
+the colonel, looking a little blank at the idea of such a mistake.
+
+"If you simply said seven, he may have taken it to mean seven this
+evening," I suggested.
+
+"He could not have thought we intended to go down the river and cross
+the bar in the night."
+
+"I should say not; but Captain Blastblow is a very brilliant man, and
+has been around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope so many times that
+he ought to know what he is about," I replied, letting out a little of
+my pique at the commander of the Islander for his implications against
+me.
+
+"Allowing that I wrote 'seven P.M.,' or that I did not write either
+morning or evening, what is Captain Blastblow doing down here?"
+demanded Colonel Shepard, warmly.
+
+"If he understood that you were not to sail till this evening, he may
+have brought the Islander out here to try her, and enable him to get
+accustomed to her ways before he took on board his passengers. That is
+all the explanation I can suggest, but I don't think it will hold
+water. He knows very well, for he has been around Cape Horn several
+times, that if he comes out here in a fog, he may not be able to get
+back to Jacksonville in time to take you on board to-night, or even
+to-morrow or next day."
+
+"If Captain Blastblow had any doubt in regard to my orders, he could
+have sent one of his men up to my house, and ascertained just what I
+intended," said the owner, rather wrathfully.
+
+"That is what I should have done; but Captain Blastblow has had more
+experience than I have," I replied, with a smile.
+
+"Did you notice anything unusual about the Islander, or the conduct of
+those on board of her, when you saw her this morning, Captain Alick?"
+continued the colonel.
+
+"Nothing at all, sir. A boat went off to her a few moments before she
+weighed her anchor," I answered. "There were two persons in the boat
+when it went alongside the Islander, but only one returned to the shore
+in it. I concluded some one of her officers or crew had remained ashore
+over night, and came off in a shore boat. I did not think of the boat
+till you asked the question."
+
+"I don't see that the boat throws any light on the transaction," mused
+the owner. "We don't know who was in the boat, though if we were in
+Jacksonville, we could easily ascertain."
+
+"I don't have any idea that we shall know anything about this matter
+until we overhaul the Islander," I added. "We can guess for the next
+week, but we are as likely to guess wrong as right."
+
+"I can't help being considerably disturbed about this mysterious
+conduct of Captain Blastblow; but I do not see that we are likely to be
+any wiser in regard to it, as Captain Alick says, till we see the
+captain," replied the colonel. "We have got to make the best of it, and
+be patient till we learn more. What do you think of it, Major
+Garningham?"
+
+"I don't think it is possible to form an intelligent opinion without
+further information in regard to the facts," replied my father. "I am
+more inclined to believe that Captain Blastblow has made a mistake of
+some kind, than that he means anything wrong. It would be worse than
+folly for him to attempt to run away with the steam-yacht, for he is
+sure to be discovered and punished."
+
+"If it is a mistake or a misunderstanding, it is a very queer one. But
+I am not disposed to worry about the matter, and I shall try to
+reconcile myself to the situation," replied Colonel Shepard, struggling
+to laugh off his anxiety for the safety of his yacht.
+
+I think it was the want of her, more than the value of the craft, that
+troubled and vexed him. He was a very wealthy man, and if she was lost
+entirely to him, it would hardly impair his fortune.
+
+"We shall do the best we can to solve the problem, and overhaul the
+Islander," I continued; "but, after all, we may miss her. If Captain
+Blastblow has made a blunder, or there is any misunderstanding, he must
+soon discover it. If he has only come out here for a trial trip, and
+should happen to pass us in the fog without our seeing him, he knows
+the Sylvania will put into Key West. If he gets back to Jacksonville,
+and finds that you have left in our steamer, he will return at once,
+and find us at our anchorage in port."
+
+"When shall you reach Key West, Captain Alick?" asked the colonel.
+
+"If we have good weather, it is a run of from forty-two to forty-five
+hours. If this fog continues, it will take longer than that, for the
+navigation is not all plain sailing," I replied.
+
+"And you think you can overtake the Islander in about eight hours?"
+
+"I think so, sir; but I can't say that we shall come near enough to see
+or hear her in this fog," I answered. "I think you had better make your
+party comfortable on board of the Sylvania, and leave the rest of the
+matter to me and my officers."
+
+"I am confident that is the better way for you; and I am sure Alick
+will do all he can both to make you and your family comfortable in the
+cabin, and to find your runaway vessel," added my father.
+
+Colonel Shepard yielded to this advice, and I went down into the
+after-cabin with all the passengers to arrange about the staterooms and
+berths. Our involuntary guests declared that they were very sorry to
+make so much trouble, and especially to disturb our arrangements on
+board. Both my father and I assured them they made no trouble, and that
+we were not at all disturbed by their presence, inasmuch as we had
+invited them to take the cruise in the Sylvania, and were glad to have
+them on board.
+
+I had made a diagram of the cabin, and assigned rooms and berths to all
+the passengers, when I supposed they were to sail with us. I proceeded
+to arrange our guests in accordance with this plan.
+
+"Let me have a berth in the fore-cabin, Alick," said Owen to me in a
+whisper.
+
+"There is no need of that, Owen," I replied. "There is room enough for
+all of you in this cabin, and some to spare. Colonel and Mrs. Shepard
+will occupy the port stateroom, as before, when they have sailed with
+us," I continued, consulting my diagram.
+
+The colonel protested that he would not occupy the best stateroom; but
+I insisted, and went on giving out the apartments.
+
+"Miss Edith and Miss Margie will take the starboard stateroom."
+
+Both of them screamed with delight at this disposition of them, and
+Margie declared that I was a "dear, good little Captain Alick," though
+I was bigger in stature than her father. I had given the two larger
+rooms to those who were to double-up in them; and of the two remaining
+rooms, I gave one to my father and the other to Mr. Tiffany. Owen and
+Gus were assigned to the two berths next to the rooms, which left two
+others for Chloe and the steward. The curtains drew out in front of the
+berths, so that the spaces within them were almost the same as
+staterooms. All were satisfied. I gave orders to Cobbington to provide
+tables for all. Leaving the passengers to arrange their baggage in
+their new quarters, I returned to the deck.
+
+The fog was as dense as ever, and we could not see more than a ship's
+length ahead. Ben Bowman was on the top-gallant forecastle, and Buck
+Lingley on the fore-yard, keeping the lookout. We were driving the
+steamer in spite of the fog, and I had some hope that we might soon get
+a sight of the chase, or at least hear the sound of her whistle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A PORT IN A STORM.
+
+
+"Washburn, you have a long head; can you make anything of the
+situation, for I suppose you know all about it?" I asked, as I joined
+the mate on the forecastle.
+
+"I know what I have heard about the pilot-house and on the forecastle,"
+replied Washburn.
+
+"I have not been able to make anything out of it, so far," I continued.
+
+"I can't believe that the captain of the Islander means to run away
+with her. I don't believe this is a trial trip, as you suggested, for
+the captain would not have come out into this fog on such an errand,"
+added Washburn. "On the whole, I must believe it is a blunder on the
+part of the captain of the consort. But I think we are not likely to
+find out anything definite about the case until we overhaul the
+Islander. All we have to do is to keep moving to the southward, and
+keep a sharp lookout for the chase. It is useless to bother one's
+brains over questions that cannot be answered."
+
+"When I saw the Islander, she was well in shore," I added. "If she
+takes a notion to come about, and run back to the St. Johns, we may
+miss her."
+
+"And she may drop into St. Augustine," said the mate.
+
+"I don't see any reason why she should," I replied. "Captain Blastblow
+knows that the party are bound up the Mississippi River. He knows the
+Sylvania is, at any rate; and he would not have headed to the southward
+if he had not intended to make the same trip, always supposing he has
+misunderstood his instructions."
+
+"By six o'clock to-night, if everything holds as it is, we ought to
+overhaul the Islander, if we don't miss her in the fog, and Captain
+Blastblow don't do any better in her than any one else has ever done,"
+continued Washburn. "But the wind is freshening, Captain Alick."
+
+"Yes; and the barometer indicates that we are to have a bad day of it,"
+I replied, looking at the white caps that rolled up to windward of the
+steamer.
+
+The wind was gusty and savage. The steamer heeled well over to port
+under the heavy press of sail we were carrying. But I did not care much
+how hard it blew, if it would only carry off the fog, as I believed it
+would do soon.
+
+By half-past ten I found it necessary to take in the fore square-sail
+and the fore top-gallant sail, for I was afraid the heavy weight of
+canvas would strain the foremast. This relieved the steamer for a time;
+but the wind had increased to a gale, and had hauled more to the
+southward. Half an hour later we took in the fore topsail and the main
+gaff-topsail, so that nothing but our fore and aft sails remained. The
+log at eleven indicated that we were making twelve knots, and it was
+about time for us to be up with St. Augustine light, but we could not
+see it in the fog. Suddenly we heard a fog-horn on our starboard bow.
+
+I rushed into the pilot-house and rang the gong. The engineer
+immediately stopped the engine, and the roar of escaping steam
+followed. I was afraid we might run down some of the small craft that
+go in and out of St. Augustine.
+
+"Sail, ho!" shouted Ben Bowman, on the top-gallant forecastle. "I see
+her; she is a pilot-boat."
+
+A moment later I saw a sail-boat, in which were three men. There was a
+number on her sail, which indicated that she was a pilot-boat. She had
+evidently heard our whistle, and had came out in the rough sea to take
+us into St. Augustine, if we were bound into that port. I directed the
+wheel man to port the helm, so as to throw the Sylvania up into the
+wind under the stern of the pilot-boat.
+
+"How came you up there, captain?" demanded one of the men in the boat,
+and all of them looked amazed.
+
+"We are bound to the southward, coming down from St. Johns bar," I
+replied. "How does St. Augustine bear from here?"
+
+"Due east," answered the spokesman of the trio.
+
+"Look out for your reckoning, Washburn," I added, turning to the mate.
+
+"Twenty minutes of twelve," added Washburn, consulting the chronometer.
+"This is exactly where we ought to be at this time," and he made the
+entry on the log-slate.
+
+"Haven't you been over this course before to-day?" asked the spokesman
+of the pilot.
+
+"Not to-day," I answered, perceiving what it was that bewildered the
+pilots. They had evidently seen the Islander, and supposed the
+Sylvania was the same steamer.
+
+"We came out here after a steamer we heard whistling in the fog,"
+continued the speaker. "We got near enough to hail her; and if this is
+not the same steamer, she is as near like the other as one pea is like
+another."
+
+"She is the twin sister of this vessel. Did you see who was on board of
+her?" I inquired.
+
+"I saw no one but the captain, and he said he was bound south, and was
+not going into St. Augustine."
+
+"Did he tell you where he was bound?"
+
+"He didn't say a word about it, but kept on his course."
+
+"Good-day," I added, as I told Hop to ring the speed-bell.
+
+We filled away again, and were soon going through the water at our
+former speed. The pilot-boat was almost swamped in the heavy sea, and I
+have no doubt her crew were a little out of sorts after coming out for
+a vessel and getting nothing for their pains.
+
+"That's good as far as it goes," said Washburn, when we were on our
+course again. "We are sure now that the Islander has not gone into
+port."
+
+"And we are sure the Islander is not a great way ahead of us," I added.
+
+"Just seven miles," replied the mate, glancing at the log-slate. "I
+could stick a pin in the chart at exactly the point where she is."
+
+"But it may be that Captain Blastblow has not blown his blast entirely
+in vain, and may have been able to get more speed out of the Islander
+than anybody else has," I suggested.
+
+"But the pilots said she was only half an hour or so ahead of us. She
+got off at least an hour ahead of us; and if we have not been gaining
+on her, she ought to be about ten miles ahead," argued Washburn. I was
+willing to accept his logic, for we had been over the reasoning times
+enough to understand the case in precisely the same way.
+
+"The fog is lifting, sir," reported the second engineer, who was doing
+voluntary duty on the top-gallant forecastle.
+
+This was agreeable news, and all hands directed their gaze to the point
+where the Islander was believed to be. The gale was increasing in force
+every moment. Though I had no fears for the safety of the vessel, I
+knew how fearfully so small a steamer as the Sylvania leaped and rolled
+in a heavy gale, and I was not a little concerned about the comfort of
+my passengers. We had had a very thorough trial of her pitching and
+rolling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and I did not like to subject the
+Shepards and the Tiffanys to any unnecessary discomfort.
+
+"We are going to have a regular muzzler, Washburn," I said, after
+glancing at the barometer again.
+
+"There isn't any doubt about that," he replied, laughing. "I wish we
+had no ladies on board."
+
+"I was thinking of that myself, and I will go down into the cabin, and
+talk the matter over with our passengers," I replied. "Of course if we
+give up the chase of the Islander, we are not likely to come near her
+again. But Colonel Shepard and his family may decide that question."
+
+I left the pilot-house and went aft. Though we were but a few miles
+from the land, there was a tremendous sea raging, and the Sylvania was
+pitching violently. I went down into the cabin and found the passengers
+trying to keep their places on the transoms. They were all exceedingly
+good-natured about the situation. Owen was making jokes, and the young
+ladies were laughing at them. Cobbington and Tom Sands had put the
+guards on the table, and were doing what they could to prepare for
+dinner.
+
+"Why do you shake up the Sylvania so fiercely, Alick?" asked Owen.
+
+"She is behaving very prettily just now; but I came down to tell you
+that it is likely to blow, and kick up an uncomfortable sea," I
+replied, looking at Mrs. Shepard, who seemed to be the most tried by
+the situation.
+
+"But I had an idea that it was blowing already," added Owen.
+
+"So it is, in a mild way," I answered.
+
+"If this is only in a mild way, what will it be when it blows harder?"
+asked Mrs. Shepard, nervously.
+
+"It will be worse than it is now," I replied.
+
+"Do you think we are in any danger, Captain Alick," inquired the lady,
+looking very anxiously into my face.
+
+"I do not think we are in any danger," I added. "But it is going to
+blow a great deal harder than it does now."
+
+"What will it do then, Captain Alick?" asked Miss Edith.
+
+"The Sylvania is small, and she will pitch and roll a great deal more
+than she does now. Mr. Garningham has been in her during a very heavy
+gale, and he can tell you something about it."
+
+"She stands up straight, and rolls quite over, so that we shall all be
+pitched against the ceiling of the cabin," added Owen, maliciously.
+"Then she goes down under the brine, quite out of sight of any one
+supposed to be on the top of the waves. The water may come down into
+this cabin like a young Niagara."
+
+"Then there must be very great danger," said Mrs. Shepard.
+
+"No great danger, madam, but I fear you will be very uncomfortable," I
+answered.
+
+"But can't we stop till the weather is better?"
+
+"We shall find no port it will be safe to enter in this weather,
+madam," I replied. "If it were fine weather, we might run into Mosquito
+Inlet; but that is seven hours' run from here."
+
+"We shall all have our brains knocked out if we go on in this way,"
+groaned Mrs. Shepard. "Can't you do something to make us more
+comfortable, Captain Alick?"
+
+"I can make you all quite comfortable in less than an hour," I
+answered. "But our business just now is to overtake the Islander; and
+if we delay the voyage we may never see her again."
+
+"Plague on the Islander!" exclaimed the lady.
+
+"I don't think there is any particular danger, ladies," interposed my
+father. "It is altogether a matter of comfort."
+
+"I don't want to have my brains knocked out," added Miss Edith.
+
+"If we keep on we may know who has brains and who has not," laughed
+Owen.
+
+"I'm sure those who want to be thumped about in this manner haven't any
+brains," continued Mrs. Shepard. "What can you do, Captain Alick?"
+
+"We have just passed the entrance to St. Augustine harbor. We could run
+back, and make a port there," I replied.
+
+"Then do it, for mercy's sake," said the lady, as a heavy sea rolled
+the steamer down to her gunwale.
+
+"I should certainly have suggested doing so, if we had not been in
+chase of the Islander."
+
+"That need not make any difference, Captain Alick."
+
+"The gale may last all night as well as all day, Alick," added my
+father. "We are sailing for pleasure, and there is no pleasure in being
+beaten about in this manner. I think you had better put about and get
+us into smooth water."
+
+I went on deck rather disappointed at the result of the conference, for
+I was interested in the chase. I ordered the jib and mainsail to be
+taken in, and the helm to be put down. The fog had lifted to the
+northward and westward of us, so that I could see St. Augustine light
+and the pilot-boat. We took up one of the pilots, and in less than half
+an hour we were anchored under the lee of the town, where the water was
+as smooth as that of a mill-pond.
+
+Our party were not inclined to land, and we spent a pleasant afternoon
+on board, in spite of the storm. We could see that it was blowing
+almost a hurricane outside, and were quite contented to be at anchor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A VISIT FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+I could not help thinking of the Islander as we lay at anchor off the
+pier in St. Augustine. As I looked at the angry billows outside, I
+understood what kind of a time Captain Blastblow was having. But if he
+handled his vessel well, and kept out of the breakers, I had no doubt
+he would come out of the trial all right. The wind had hauled still
+more to the southward, and even to the east of south. I was confident
+that the Islander, having the wind nearly dead ahead, would not make
+much headway against such a fierce wind.
+
+About two o'clock in the afternoon, when we had finished our dinners,
+both in the after and the forward cabin, I saw a boat put off from the
+shore. The person in the stern sheets had a familiar look, though I did
+not recognize him till he came on deck.
+
+"I hope you are quite well, Captain Garningham," said he, advancing
+towards me with extended hand.
+
+It was Cornwood, who had been with us up the St. Johns in the double
+capacity of guide and pilot, to say nothing of a third capacity as
+conspirator. While I could not prove it, I was satisfied that he was
+employed by Captain Boomsby to get me out of the way in some mild
+manner. He had caused a drunken mulatto to be employed as a waiter in
+the fore-cabin, who was another of the conspirators. But both of them
+had been foiled; though, if my father had not arrived at the scene of
+action when he did, I might not have been privileged to tell my story.
+The waiter had been sentenced to a term as a convict, though Cornwood
+had been his counsel.
+
+I thought it was rather impudent of Cornwood to come on board of the
+Sylvania after what had happened; but brass and impudence were the
+principal elements of his stock-in-trade. He seemed to have as much
+assurance as though his relations had been entirely pleasant with me.
+He was a man of decided ability, though not as a lawyer. He knew more
+about Florida than any other man I had met; and I had never known him,
+in the month of my intimacy with him, to be ignorant of any subject,
+from the navigation of an interior lake or river to the scientific name
+of a plant or animal. In spite of the harm he had intended to do me,
+through his agent, I had a great respect for his ability.
+
+"You found it rough outside, Captain Garningham," said Cornwood, when
+he had disposed of the commonplace introductories.
+
+"Too rough for the ladies; and I came in here to find a smoother sea,"
+I replied.
+
+"The storm won't last long, as it comes from the southward," he added.
+
+"When did you leave Jacksonville, Mr. Cornwood?" I asked, for I thought
+I had seen him in the street the day before.
+
+"I came up in the morning boat," he replied. "It is getting to be very
+dull in Jacksonville, and I thought I might find something to do here,
+for fishing and hunting parties often come to St. Augustine without
+stopping at the city."
+
+"We had some thought of trying the fish at Indian River as we went
+along; but circumstances do not allow us to stop, and we shall run
+direct for Key West. Was there anything new in regard to the robbery of
+the bank messenger this morning?"
+
+"I heard nothing. But your friend, Captain Boomsby, is in great
+trouble," said Cornwood, smiling, as though the saloon-keeper's
+trouble, whatever it was, could not produce a deep impression on his
+late employe.
+
+"What is the matter with the captain?" I asked, with interest.
+
+"His son Nick has disappeared."
+
+"Nick disappeared!" I exclaimed, not a little astonished.
+
+"He cannot be found, though his father searched from six o'clock this
+morning till the time I left."
+
+"When did his father first miss him?"
+
+"It appears that Nick tended bar till after midnight. The old man was
+too full to sit up any longer, and he left Nick to close the bar. The
+captain says his son did not sleep in the house last night, and he has
+no idea when or where he went."
+
+"Very likely he left in the first train this morning," I suggested,
+recalling all that had passed between Nick and me the day before.
+
+"No, he didn't, for his father went to the station, and passed through
+the train just before it started. He did not leave by railroad, or come
+up the river in the Hampton, or I should have seen him."
+
+"Nick has something like sharpness, and he knew he could not get off on
+the morning train. But he could have walked to Baldwin between the time
+he closed the bar and nine o'clock, and taken the train there," I
+added.
+
+"I don't believe Nick walked twenty miles: he is too lazy to do
+anything of the kind," added Cornwood, with a smile of incredulity.
+"But he is not a great loss to his father; and he may make his way when
+he is thrown on his own resources. There was another piece of news in
+Jacksonville this morning."
+
+"What was that?" I inquired.
+
+"But I suppose you know more about this matter than any one in the
+city. It was said that Colonel Shepard's yacht, in which he was going
+to New Orleans, left without him or his family. Is that a fact?"
+
+"It is true, to the letter," I replied. "I took the colonel and his
+family on board of the Sylvania, and they are in the cabin now."
+
+"That's very odd--that Captain Blastblow should leave without his
+passengers," added Cornwood. "What does it mean?"
+
+"That is more than any one on board of the Sylvania can explain."
+
+"Was there any money on board of the yacht--I forget her name, though I
+have heard you mention it several times?"
+
+"The Islander: she is the twin-sister of the Sylvania, and as near like
+her as one pin is like another," I answered. "I am not aware that there
+was any money on board of her; and I should say there was not, for the
+passengers had not sent their baggage on board."
+
+"Does any one know where she is gone?"
+
+"She is bound to the south, for we saw her off St. Johns' bar headed in
+that direction. The pilots off the St. Augustine light saw her to-day
+noon. We were chasing her when our passengers desired to get out of the
+heavy sea."
+
+"I should think Colonel Shepard would have some idea of the motives of
+Captain Blastblow."
+
+"He has no more idea than I have, and I have none. We are inclined to
+believe that the captain misunderstood his orders, for Colonel Shepard
+was in doubt whether or not he should be able to go up the Mississippi
+with us. When the mail got in yesterday afternoon, he wrote a card with
+his instructions to Captain Blastblow on it, and sent it off to the
+Islander by Nick Boomsby, who happened to be talking to me in the
+post-office at the time."
+
+"Sent it off by Nick Boomsby," repeated Cornwood; but he did not appear
+to be astonished. "How came Nick to be about at that time?"
+
+I told my late guide and pilot all that passed between me and the son
+of my ancient enemy, to which he listened with deep interest. He seemed
+to be engaged in earnest thought all the time, as though Nick's
+movements had some meaning to him, though not a particle to me. I told
+him I was in Captain Boomsby's saloon to say good-by to him at the time
+the robbery of the messenger occurred. He questioned me very minutely
+in regard to the affair, and I told him all I knew about it.
+
+"Buckner sent for me to act as his counsel; but I thought I could make
+more by coming down here," added Cornwood. "I lost one case a few days
+ago, and I don't care to lose another yet awhile."
+
+Cornwood laughed as he alluded to his defence of Griffin Leeds, the
+mulatto employed by him to do his bidding on our excursion to the
+interior.
+
+"Have you any doubt that Buckner is the man who robbed the messenger of
+the four thousand dollars?" I asked, rather to bring him out than
+because I valued his opinion in a detective case.
+
+"Not the slightest in the world; but I should not be surprised to learn
+that he gave Nick a hundred dollars, or something of that sort, to
+clear out at just this time," replied Cornwood, easily.
+
+"I don't see how that could have been," I protested. "Nick could not
+have seen Buckner after the money was stolen, unless he visited him in
+the lock-up."
+
+"That was easily enough done."
+
+"But some officer would have heard what passed between them. Besides,
+Buckner had no money, for none was found upon him when he was
+arrested."
+
+"Buckner hid the money, but he stowed away enough to see him through
+the trial. As the case now stands, they can't convict the man, for Nick
+was the most important witness. He saw Buckner take the money. I have
+no doubt Buckner will be discharged to-day," said Cornwood,
+confidently.
+
+"Was that the reason you would not act as his counsel?" I asked, for
+the late pilot's statements seemed to be contradictory.
+
+"What you have told me, Captain Garningham, entirely changes my
+opinion. You were present, and you have told me exactly how the affair
+happened. I supposed Peverell saw Buckner take the package. That makes
+all the difference in the world in a court of law. No one saw Buckner
+take the money, according to your evidence, except Nick. The supposed
+robber was arrested down the wharf; he was searched, all the holes and
+corners, including the river, were searched for the package, but it
+could not be found. What evidence is there that Buckner took it?"
+
+"I don't see any, except that of Nick Boomsby; and he don't tell his
+story twice alike," I replied. "But, if Buckner did not take the money,
+I can't see who did take it. I saw the messenger lay the package on the
+counter; and the next thing I saw was Nick leaping over the counter."
+
+"I don't say that Buckner did not take the package; on the contrary, I
+believe he did take it; only there is not evidence enough to convict
+him without Nick," argued Cornwood. "If I had known that Nick was to be
+out of the way, I certainly should have taken the case, for a man who
+has stolen four thousand dollars can afford to pay the lawyer well who
+gets him out of the scrape."
+
+I was disgusted with this logic, though it was perfectly consistent
+with all I knew of the man. I did not care to say anything more about
+the case.
+
+"After hearing your version of the affair, Captain Garningham, I am
+inclined to return to Jacksonville this afternoon, and offer my
+services to the prisoner. When he gets out of jail he will have money
+enough to pay me handsomely," chuckled the lawyer; "but perhaps I can
+do something better if I can recover Colonel Shepard's lost
+steam-yacht."
+
+"Do you think you can recover it?" I asked, curiously.
+
+"I am quite confident I can. I suppose you will sail as soon as the
+weather will permit?" continued Cornwood.
+
+"We shall. As I said, I am convinced that Captain Blastblow has simply
+misunderstood his orders. I think he will proceed directly to New
+Orleans, possibly touching at Key West."
+
+"He will certainly put in at Key West; but he will probably be from ten
+to twenty hours ahead of the Sylvania, and he will not wait for you. I
+should like to see Colonel Shepard."
+
+I called the colonel up from the cabin, and as it was raining in
+torrents, I conducted him and the lawyer to my stateroom.
+
+"For two hundred dollars--I can't work for nothing, and find myself,
+though I should be glad to do so for Colonel Shepard--I will recover
+and return your yacht to you at Key West, or at some point this side of
+there; half down to pay my expenses, and half when the Islander is
+delivered to you," said Cornwood.
+
+"I haven't much confidence in you, Mr. Cornwood, and I don't care to
+advance any money to you," replied the owner of the lost steamer.
+
+"Quite natural, colonel. I will do it without any advance. But in half
+an hour it will be too late to do anything," replied Cornwood, not at
+all repelled by the colonel's lack of confidence in him. "I must be in
+Cedar Keys to-morrow night; and I must be in Jacksonville this evening
+in order to do it. I shall get to Key West Sunday morning, and find the
+Islander there."
+
+The plan was considered at length, and finally the colonel assented to
+it, and wrote the instructions for Cornwood. He hastened on shore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+INTELLIGENCE OF THE ISLANDER.
+
+
+It rained very hard all the rest of the day and all night, and it
+continued to blow heavily until the next morning. It was not till noon
+that the ocean looked quiet enough to induce us to take ladies to sea
+again, after the experience of the day before. We had lost twenty-four
+hours, and if the Islander had not put in at some inlet, or made a lee
+under Cape Canaveral, was half way to Key West. It was useless to think
+of overtaking her on the passage, unless she had spent a day in
+Mosquito Inlet.
+
+Colonel Shepard's letter was addressed to Captain Blastblow, though it
+was an open one, directing him to await the arrival of the Sylvania at
+Key West. I had no faith in Cornwood; but I was willing to believe he
+thought he could intercept the Islander at Key West, or he would not
+have gone on a "wild-goose chase" at his own expense. If he recovered
+the steam-yacht he would get two hundred dollars for his services; if
+he failed, he would get nothing. So far as I could see, no risk was
+incurred by the colonel in allowing the Floridian to go on this
+mission.
+
+The weather was delightful after we got outside of the harbor of St.
+Augustine. The wind was west, and the air was as balmy as summer. We
+placed easy-chairs on the quarter-deck for the ladies. The long swells
+of the ocean gave a steady and regular roll to the vessel. The party
+declared that the sail was "perfectly delightful," and they did not see
+how the sea could be so angry and savage as it had been the day before.
+
+The mate noted the departure from St. Augustine light at half-past
+twelve. I had a chart laid out on my table in the stateroom, on which I
+had marked the route of the vessel to Key West, with the courses and
+distances, in red ink. It was our rule to heave the lead every hour,
+though the Sylvania made a regular average of ten knots an hour when
+she was not hurried. When we came to a point of land, or any opening in
+the coast, we could tell what it was.
+
+According to the Coast Pilot, which was always kept on the shelf, by
+the side of the binnacle, it was eighty-five miles to Cape Canaveral.
+In just eight hours and a half, if we made our ordinary speed, we
+should be abreast of this cape. We kept as close to the coast as the
+depth of water would permit, for there were no shoals or other dangers
+to fear. If we went out far enough, we should have the current of the
+Gulf Stream against us.
+
+As soon as we were fairly on our course I began to think over the
+mission of Cornwood. I had no doubt that he was a rascal. I considered
+whether or not it would be possible for him to do me or Colonel Shepard
+any harm, on the one hand, or any good on the other. He had received no
+money, and was to receive none until he earned it.
+
+He was to arrive at Key West on Sunday morning. The Sylvania would not
+be likely to reach the same port before Sunday noon. If the Islander
+had kept on her course during the twenty-four hours we had been at
+anchor, she would be likely to reach Key West on Saturday afternoon. I
+did not know that she had any occasion to put in there at all; if she
+had, she was not likely to remain there many hours. If the Islander had
+not put in at any port during the storm, Cornwood would not arrive at
+his destination until after she had departed.
+
+The interesting question was whether she had or had not made a port in
+the storm. If I had had no ladies on board, I should not have thought
+of such a thing as going into St. Augustine on account of the bad
+weather. Captain Blastblow, according to his own statement, was a
+thorough seaman, and, judging by my own feelings, it was not probable
+that he had made a port.
+
+But I was not quite satisfied on this point, and I had not so much
+confidence in the captain of the Islander as he seemed to have in
+himself. Our chart indicated only one port where he could have gone in,
+and that was Mosquito Inlet, which had hardly water enough at high tide
+to allow the Islander to run through the narrow passage that leads from
+Hillsboro River out into the ocean. The inlet is sixty-five miles from
+St. Augustine light.
+
+The town of New Smyrna is two or three miles up Hillsboro River,
+between which and St. Augustine and Jacksonville a small steamer plies
+regularly. I had about made up my mind to run up the inlet as far as
+the depth of water would permit, and see if I could find any one who
+could give me any information in regard to the Islander. I had hardly
+reached this conclusion when I was called to dinner. I was to dine in
+the cabin, and I told the party what I intended to do.
+
+"I don't care to have you delay your voyage for me, Captain Alick,"
+replied Colonel Shepard.
+
+"We started out to catch the Islander, and I am as anxious to do it as
+you are," I added.
+
+"I suppose you wish to get rid of us," interposed Miss Edith.
+
+"Not at all; after I invited you to make the trip with us, and was
+anxious to have your company, I shall not be in haste to get rid of
+you. On the contrary, it must be that you wish to get rid of me, or you
+would not have chosen to go in the Islander."
+
+"Forgive me, Captain Alick; I did not mean it," replied the fair
+maiden. "But we are so comfortable and so happy that we shall be in no
+haste to get out of the Sylvania."
+
+"Isn't there danger in going into such a place, Alick," asked my
+father.
+
+"I think not, sir," I answered. "I have a chart with the soundings on
+it, and I am sure I can run into the inlet in the day-time; and it will
+not be dark at seven, when we get there."
+
+No further objection was raised to my plan. Just before the time set
+for reaching the point off the inlet, all hands were on the lookout for
+it. From my chart I learned that the inlet, on account of the shifting
+sand, had moved to the southward about a quarter of a mile. For a
+considerable distance on each side of the narrow channel leading into
+the inlet and river, there were breakers, such as we had seen on the
+coast of North Carolina, and at various points south of it.
+
+Washburn was the first to discover the opening, and point it out to me.
+I looked on the shore for a couple of wrecks whose positions were laid
+down on the chart; but I could not find them. The shoals were caused by
+the sand brought out of the inlet by the current of the river. The bar
+changed with every storm; but I could plainly see the channel, for its
+waters were less disturbed and broken by the rollers from the sea.
+
+"It looks a little risky," said Washburn, shaking his head.
+
+"I think not; the tide will be high in about an hour, and that will
+give about eight feet and a half on the shoalest places," I replied. "I
+don't think we are drawing over eight feet now."
+
+"Eight and a half, sure. We might scrape over the bottom an hour from
+now; but we shall stick as sure as we run into that narrow channel. The
+worst place is just on the edge of the breakers."
+
+"Sail on the port bow, sir," said Ben Bowman.
+
+It was a small schooner, which I thought might be a fisherman. She was
+headed directly for the narrow channel. As we were nearly up with the
+opening, I rang for the engineer to stop and back her. But the little
+schooner had to beat up, and as she was still about two miles off, I
+was soon tired of waiting for her. I rang to go ahead again, and headed
+the Sylvania in a direction to intercept the schooner. A few minutes
+brought us within hail of her.
+
+"Schooner ahoy!" shouted Washburn.
+
+[Illustration: "'Schooner ahoy!' shouted Washburn." _Page 122._]
+
+"On board of the steamer!" replied the skipper of the craft.
+
+"Where are you bound?" demanded the mate.
+
+"Into New Smyrna. We have been out fishing."
+
+"When did you leave the town?"
+
+"This morning, at four o'clock. Be you the steamer that tried to get
+into the inlet yesterday?" asked the skipper, as we were now within
+easy talking distance of him.
+
+"Did a steamer try to get in yesterday?"
+
+"Of course, or I wouldn't say so. But it was not full tide by two
+hours, and she stuck in the sand about as soon as she got in between
+the shoals."
+
+"What did she do then?"
+
+"She waited till the tide lifted her and then she backed out, and
+hooked it to the southward as fast as she could. We were at anchor
+inside of the inlet, and saw the whole of it. She looked just like this
+craft. Plenty of fresh fish on board?"
+
+At my request Cobbington bought a considerable quantity of sheeps-head
+and cavallo. The only fish we had on board was shad, and we had eaten
+that so much during the past month that we were tired of it. These
+fresh fish were therefore a great treat, as we found next morning.
+
+We started the engine again, satisfied that the Islander had not gone
+into Mosquito Inlet. I gave the information to Colonel Shepard.
+
+"Then Mr. Cornwood will not be likely to intercept the Islander at Key
+West," said he.
+
+"Not unless she put in at some other port, though I know of none where
+she could have made a harbor until after the storm was over. But she
+may stop over at Key West a day or two," I replied. "It all depends
+upon what Captain Blastblow understands his instructions to be."
+
+"Cornwood took the train at Jacksonville for Cedar Keys this morning,
+and will be there this afternoon. He will reach Key West on Sunday
+morning," added the colonel.
+
+"We shall be there only a few hours later; and if the weather is
+favorable we may get there as soon as the messenger you sent."
+
+"I do not see that we can help the matter. If Cornwood don't get to Key
+West in season to intercept the Islander, he will lose his two hundred
+dollars, and my runaway craft will continue on her way to New Orleans."
+
+This was all that either of us could make of it, and all we could do
+was to wait till we got to Key West for further information. If the
+Islander was twenty-four hours ahead of us, it was useless to attempt
+to overhaul her. The Sylvania was a great deal more comfortable for the
+passengers when she went along at her ordinary rate than when she was
+forced up to twelve knots an hour; and I was not disposed to hurry her
+on a useless mission. My passengers appeared to be enjoying themselves
+all the time. I could not see how they could help being happy.
+
+Some of them were reading books from the library I had started at
+Detroit, and replenished in several places on the route to the South.
+Others were playing various games. Mr. Tiffany and my father could play
+chess all day long, and most of the night. The meals were served as
+elaborately as at a first-class hotel, and we had everything from the
+market that could be supplied in the summer in the northern states. I
+was decidedly of the opinion that our passengers had nothing to worry
+about, unless Colonel Shepard could be excused for worrying about his
+steamer.
+
+At eight o'clock the first watch went on duty, in charge of Washburn,
+who was as competent to handle the vessel as I was. He had the chart,
+with the courses and distances marked on it. When I left the
+pilot-house, Cape Canaveral, or rather the light on it, was in sight.
+At nine o'clock we were just abreast of it, which proved that our dead
+reckoning was correct. From this point the course was south by east,
+one hundred and five miles.
+
+As soon as the Sylvania was on her new course, I left the pilot-house,
+where I had gone at nine, and turned in. I had slept all the night
+before, and the laughter of the younger of the passengers on the
+hurricane-deck above me did not permit me to sleep. But I heard Colonel
+Shepard call his daughter away at ten, and then I went to sleep. I
+could not tell how long I had slept when the stopping of the steamer
+waked me.
+
+"What schooner is that?" shouted Washburn, from the pilot-house.
+
+I was on deck soon enough to hear the reply.
+
+"The Violet, New Orleans to New York," came from the vessel hailed.
+
+"Did you see a small steamer about the size of this one?" asked
+Washburn.
+
+"We passed one about three hours ago. She looked enough like you to be
+the same vessel."
+
+"Thanks," shouted Washburn, as he rang the bell to go ahead.
+
+I looked at my watch, and found it wanted but a few minutes of twelve,
+and I went into the pilot-house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+DIFFICULT NAVIGATION.
+
+
+"Three hours ago, which means that the Islander is about thirty miles
+ahead of us," said Washburn, when I went into the pilot-house.
+
+"She must have put in somewhere, and it was not at Mosquito Inlet," I
+replied. "I don't quite understand it."
+
+"I think I do," added Washburn, as he called in Buck Lingley and gave
+him the wheel.
+
+He led the way to the chart on the shelf, upon which a light was cast
+from the binnacle. He pointed out Matanzas Inlet, at the southern point
+of Anastasia Island, and fifteen miles south of St. Augustine.
+
+"She went into that inlet," said Washburn.
+
+"But there isn't water enough in it to float the Islander," I replied.
+
+"I think she did not go in far, if at all. The wind was off shore
+yesterday, and under the lee of the land there is no sea of any
+consequence, except what is caused by the rollers. If the captain of
+that schooner has given the time correctly, it shows that the Islander
+went to sea about an hour and half before we did. That will put her
+thirty miles ahead of us," Washburn explained; and his reasoning seemed
+to be correct.
+
+"The Islander put in somewhere, or she would have been two hundred and
+forty miles farther on the way to Key West than we are," I added. "She
+did not stand off to sea, as there was not the least need of that, for
+the wind has been off shore since we came out of the St. Johns."
+
+"I am confident we are right. Now the question is, shall we chase her?"
+asked Washburn. "She is thirty miles ahead of us; and we have nearly
+three hundred and fifty miles to make to reach Key West."
+
+"There is no wind to-night to help us, and it will take as much coal to
+get the two extra knots out of the Sylvania as it will to make the
+ordinary and regular ten knots an hour, to say nothing of the wear and
+tear of boiler and machinery," I replied, musing.
+
+"But the Islander will get to Key West before Cornwood does, if she
+puts in there, and we may miss her altogether."
+
+"I should like to get near enough to her to watch her movements," I
+added. "I think if we crowd the Sylvania for six or seven hours we
+shall get a sight of her. I am inclined to hurry her."
+
+"I am decidedly in favor of it, for she may escape her owner altogether
+if we don't follow her up."
+
+"Eight bells! All the port watch!" called Buck Lingley, who had been
+relieved at the wheel.
+
+I went on deck, and when Ben Bowman came up I told him I wanted him to
+give the vessel all the steam she would carry. There was a light breeze
+from the westward, but not enough to help the speed of the steamer, and
+we did not put on any sail. I took my place at the wheel while Hop
+Tossford was the lookout on the topgallant forecastle.
+
+In a short time the screw began to buzz, and when Buck and Dyer Perkins
+went below, after heaving the lead, the Sylvania was making eleven
+knots. I expected her to do better than this. At four o'clock in the
+morning, when the starboard watch were called, we were off Indian River
+Inlet. Nothing had been said about trying the fish since we left
+Jacksonville. There was not water enough in Indian River to float the
+steamer, and I gave up all thought of renewing the exciting sport we
+had had in these waters when we came over from the St. Johns. At four
+o'clock I turned in and slept till eight.
+
+I found the barometer had been dropping again, and the wind came from
+the eastward, which was not a good way to have the wind while we were
+off the coast. While I was eating my breakfast, the Sylvania came up
+with Jupiter Inlet, where Washburn changed the course to south,
+three-quarters east. The log-slate showed that we had made eleven and a
+half knots. I figured up the distances, and concluded that the Islander
+must be about twelve miles ahead of us. I did not give the other
+steamer the credit of making more than ten knots an hour.
+
+The wind had freshened considerably since I left the deck early in the
+morning, and I ordered all sail to be set. Soon after the log showed
+that we were making twelve knots, which was about the best speed we had
+ever made. We kept her going at this rate till noon, and I had the
+wheel during the time. In the course of the forenoon we had visits from
+all the passengers, but the wind was raw and cold, and they did not
+remain long on deck.
+
+"Sail, ho!" shouted Hop Tossford, from the topgallant forecastle.
+
+"Where away?" I asked, looking ahead, though as it was not clear I saw
+nothing distinctly.
+
+"Sharp on the weather bow," replied the lookout.
+
+I looked in the direction indicated, and could just make out a sail. I
+examined it through the glass, and was satisfied it was the Islander. I
+had calculated that we ought to be up with her by noon; but it was
+evident to me that her captain had been hurrying her, as I did not
+anticipate he would do. I soon assured myself that she was not on the
+same course as the Sylvania. She was headed at least a point more to
+the westward. We had on all the sail it was prudent to carry, and Ben
+Bowman declared the engine was doing its best.
+
+"We have been gaining on her every hour," I said to the mate. "If we
+keep on we shall overtake her in a few hours, though she is making her
+best speed."
+
+"But she is going more to the westward than we are," added Washburn,
+looking at the chase through the glass.
+
+"I think she is making a mistake, for I should not care to be mixed up
+among those shoals if it comes on bad weather; and it looks like it
+now."
+
+"The wind is hauling more to the southward, and I shall look for a fog
+before night."
+
+We kept on our course as laid down in the Coast-pilot, without regard
+to the Islander. I called the passengers at two in the afternoon, when
+we again changed our course to south, quarter west, to show them the
+Islander. She was still headed a point farther to the westward than we
+were. As our course from this point to Key West was on the
+circumference of a quarter-circle, I supposed Captain Blastblow only
+intended to take the shortest way by keeping inside of us, and I did
+not alter anything. But I was confident that he would have to run
+outside again in order to avoid the shoals of Virginia and Biscayne
+Keys. I had studied the chart carefully every day, and had found places
+where there was not more than four, or even more than two, feet of
+water at low tide, as it was at this time.
+
+At four o'clock the Islander was not more than a mile to the south of
+us, though she was two miles nearer shore than we were. We were abreast
+of the light-house at Cape Florida, and I expected to intercept the
+Islander when she came out from the dangerous shoals, rendered doubly
+dangerous by the threatening weather. But the other steamer gave no
+indications of changing her course, and I soon saw her close to the
+light-house.
+
+"She seems to be behaving very strangely, Captain Alick," said the
+mate, as we were watching her from the pilot-house.
+
+"It seems to me that she is losing time. There are shoals and rocks
+just to the southward of her," I replied.
+
+"There she goes about!" exclaimed Washburn, as she pointed her bow to
+the eastward. "I think we had better take in all the sail we carry, for
+we have only a mile of southing to make while the other steamer makes
+two miles of easting."
+
+All hands were called for this duty, for the wind was coming heavier
+and heavier every minute. The mate and the four men made quick work of
+it. The Islander carried no sail, though her people must have seen the
+Sylvania two hours before.
+
+"I am glad Captain Blastblow has come to his senses, and is standing
+out from the shore," I added. "About five miles to the eastward of the
+line of Keys, which form part of a circle, from Cape Florida to Pickle
+Reef, more than forty miles, is a series of reefs and rocks. There is a
+passage between the reefs and the Keys, through which vessels of light
+draught may pass. But I believe in having plenty of sea room when the
+weather looks as it does now."
+
+When we were abreast of Cape Florida the Islander suddenly put up her
+helm, and stood off to the south-west. This movement indicated that she
+had no intention of coming any nearer to the Sylvania. I was perplexed
+at this change of course, because I could hardly conceive of such a
+thing as Captain Blastblow taking the inside route in that threatening
+weather. There was nothing to protect his vessel from the heavy seas,
+and in some places he would have hardly water enough to float the
+Islander.
+
+In about another hour Fowey Rocks were between the two vessels. There
+was no way of getting out of the inside passage except that by which he
+went in, or at the southerly end of the series of reefs.
+
+"It looks to me just as though the Islander wanted to keep out of our
+way," said Washburn, when we had settled the question as to what the
+Islander intended to do.
+
+"That had not occurred to me before," I replied. "Why should she try to
+avoid us?"
+
+"That's what bothers me. I can't see the least reason for such conduct
+on the part of her captain," added the mate.
+
+"It looks to me like very risky business to go into such a place as
+that with a south-east gale threatening," I continued, as I went to the
+shelf to find a chart of the Florida reefs, which I had carefully
+studied. "There is one place where the Islander will have only six feet
+of water at low tide, perhaps seven and a half or eight at this time of
+tide. I think she will have to get in behind one of the Keys, and
+anchor to wait for the tide to rise."
+
+"I hope nothing will happen to the Islander. I suppose Captain
+Blastblow knows what he is about, and probably has a pilot for the
+inside of the reefs," said Washburn.
+
+"If it was good weather, it would be another thing, and I should not
+have hesitated to follow him, for we have the Coast Pilot, and the best
+charts of the Coast Survey."
+
+"It is getting to be very rough out here," added Washburn, as the
+Sylvania began to roll heavily in the billows that swept in from the
+open sea. Our passengers were taking their afternoon naps, but they
+soon found out that we were in an angry sea. I went into the cabin to
+comfort them. Mrs. Shepard wanted to know if we could not put in at
+some port, as we had done on Thursday.
+
+"There is no port we can enter before we reach Key West, madam. With
+the wind as it is now, and blowing hard, I am afraid to go any nearer
+the reefs than we are now."
+
+"I hear that a great many vessels are wrecked on the Florida Reefs,"
+added the lady.
+
+"That is quite true, Mrs. Shepard; and for that reason I shall not
+approach them any nearer than we are now. As long as we have plenty of
+sea room, I do not apprehend any particular danger."
+
+The rain began to fall about six, and the weather was so thick we could
+no longer see the Islander. The last time we had seen her she must have
+been some miles farther to the northward than the Sylvania, and I was
+satisfied that Captain Blastblow had not gained anything by going
+inside of the reefs. As I made it out from the chart, he had twice been
+obliged to go to the eastward over two miles, in order to keep in the
+deepest water. I suspected that he had been aground, and had to wait
+for the tide; for at dark, when we saw the steamer for the last time,
+we were at least five miles farther south.
+
+"We will keep her going as briskly as the heavy sea will permit, until
+about midnight; and then we will ease off till daylight. Then I think
+we shall get another sight of the Islander," I said to the mate, as he
+was about to turn in at eight.
+
+"I don't think there is any danger of her getting ahead faster than we
+do," replied the mate, with a yawn. "I believe I shall sleep well, if I
+don't get pitched out of my berth."
+
+He was leaving the pilot-house, when the distant report of a gun came
+to our ears. I concluded at once that the Islander was in trouble.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE CALAMITY ON FRENCH REEF.
+
+
+I jumped to the conclusion that the Islander had struck on one of the
+shoals I had noticed on the chart, and the heavy sea was pounding her
+on the bottom. It could be only a question of time when she would knock
+a hole in her bottom and go to pieces. Washburn was wide awake as soon
+as he heard the gun, and giving him the wheel, I proceeded to examine
+the chart.
+
+According to the dead-reckoning we ought to be a little to the
+southward of French Shoal. While I was satisfying myself in regard to
+our position, another gun sounded over the troubled sea.
+
+"That can't be the Islander's gun," said Washburn. "She has nothing on
+board but a little yacht gun, and the piece we heard is a six, if not a
+twelve pounder."
+
+"I think you are right, Bob. The sound came from the leeward. I have no
+doubt it is some vessel in distress; and we must do something for her.
+Call all hands," I continued, as I took the wheel, and headed the
+Sylvania due west by the compass.
+
+Though it was not foggy, the air was thick, and I could see nothing
+ahead. We had a very strong wind on our port quarter, and it was
+extremely dangerous to approach the reefs from the windward. In a
+moment all hands were on deck, except Moses Brickland, who was required
+to take the engine whenever all hands were called on an emergency. I
+directed Hop Tossford to take the wheel, and keep her due west. I asked
+the mate to fire our little yacht gun, in answer to the signals we had
+heard. The moment the report sounded through the vessel I heard Mrs.
+Shepard scream.
+
+I told the chief engineer to give the steamer about half speed, and
+hastened into the cabin to satisfy the passengers that nothing had
+happened to us, and explain what we were doing. Mrs. Shepard assured us
+that we should all be lost; but I told her we would be extremely
+careful.
+
+I asked my father, Colonel Shepard, and Owen to come on deck, leaving
+Mr. Tiffany and Gus Shepard to take charge of the ladies. I explained
+the situation to them, and while we were talking about it another gun
+was heard to leeward. It sounded heavier and nearer than before, and I
+was sure the signal was not given by the Islander.
+
+"It is plain enough that a vessel has gone ashore on one of these
+reefs," I said. "I can see nothing ahead, but the gun sounds in this
+direction."
+
+Before the words were fairly out of my mouth, a sky rocket flashed up
+directly over our bow. We had rockets on board, and I directed Ben to
+discharge one of them. It was followed by another from the vessel in
+distress. Then some Bengola lights were fired, and they illuminated the
+sea for a mile at least around her. Buck Lingley was sounding, and
+reporting no bottom. I told the engineer to give her more steam, for I
+feared the people on the unfortunate vessel might be drowning, and a
+minute might save a life, if not more. As long as the bright Bengola
+light burned, I kept the steamer going at full speed. Most of the
+dangerous reefs were marked by beacons, or at least the outer range of
+the reef was so marked.
+
+The sea was very heavy, and Buck Lingley still reported no bottom. He
+used a hand lead, which measures twenty fathoms of depth. The Bengola
+light soon burned out, and I rang the speed-bell. This reduced our rate
+one half. But it seemed to me that we were going altogether too fast,
+as the strong south-east gale was driving us towards the reefs. I rang
+the gong, and the vessel stopped.
+
+"And a half seventeen!" shouted Buck.
+
+"The water is shoaling," said the mate.
+
+"By the mark ten!" called the leadsman.
+
+"Get out some rockets and Bengola lights, Washburn," I continued,
+nervously. "The people on the wreck don't even give us a light to steer
+by."
+
+"And a half seven!" shouted the leadsman.
+
+I rang to back her, for she shoaled too rapidly for my nerves. I told
+the mate to light a Bengola on the heel of the bowsprit. When he did so
+the brilliant light enabled me to see the wreck very distinctly, and
+less than a hundred yards from the Sylvania. She was a large bark, with
+all her sails furled. Her captain had probably taken in all sail as
+soon as the vessel struck the reef.
+
+The chart informed me there were rocks only a few feet below the
+surface of the water. The wreck was headed to the south-west, but this
+could not have been the direction in which she was sailing when she
+struck the reef. On that course she would have got into trouble before.
+
+"By the deep seven!" said the leadsman, in loud and shrill tones.
+
+I rang to go ahead again, and at the same time told the mate to keep
+the Bengola lights burning. Ben Bowman was stationed at the end of the
+bowsprit that the light might not blind his eyes. I had purchased a
+plentiful supply of fireworks in New York for festive occasions, and we
+were in no danger of exhausting them, as they had evidently done on the
+wreck.
+
+"Give her about ten turns a minute, Moses!" I called to the engineer
+through the speaking-tube.
+
+"Ten turns a minute!" he replied, to make sure that I had been
+understood.
+
+"Steady, as she is, Hop!" I said to the wheel-man. "If you see anything
+like a buoy, stop and back her as quick as you can."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," replied the wheelman.
+
+I went on the hurricane-deck to get a better view of the wreck. It was
+hard to stand up in that part of the vessel, for she pitched and rolled
+very badly, while she was making so little headway. By holding on at
+the railing, I got to a point where I could hug the foremast. The wreck
+was very low down, and I concluded that she was full of water.
+
+"And a half six!" said Buck.
+
+This was thirty-nine feet of water, and we were in no danger yet. The
+waves were beating over the deck of the bark. It was clear enough that
+she must go to pieces before morning. Her bulwarks were stove on the
+weather side of her; and while I was looking at her the foremast went
+by the board. I saw that the step of the mast must have been torn away
+by grinding upon the rocks.
+
+We were within a hundred feet of her stern, and the billows were too
+savage to permit of going any nearer. I hastened down to the
+pilothouse, rang to stop her, and then to back her. I intended to be
+sure that we had full control of the steamer before we went any nearer.
+I found that the Sylvania backed well against the head sea, and then I
+stopped her screw.
+
+In an instant I found that the steamer was driving towards the wreck. I
+rang to back her again, and readily checked her.
+
+I saw that the only way I could approach the unfortunate vessel was to
+get under her lee. The sea was altogether too rough for our little
+quarter boats, though both of them were life-boats. By occasionally
+backing the screw, we ran within fifty feet of the wreck, and I could
+hear the roar of the gale through the standing rigging of the bark, and
+the heavy pounding of the billows against her side.
+
+"Steamer ahoy!" shouted a man on the taffrail of the vessel.
+
+"On board the bark!" replied Washburn, on the topgallant forecastle.
+"What is the condition of the vessel?"
+
+"Our forefoot is gone, and we are stove through forward. She is full of
+water," replied the man. "She is grinding on the reef, and will go to
+pieces in a few hours."
+
+"How much water have you under your lee?" I shouted.
+
+"From one to three fathoms," replied the captain of the bark, as we
+judged that he was.
+
+With the utmost care I ran the Sylvania under the lee of the bark; and
+I think it must have taken all the tact of Moses Brickland to handle
+the engine in accordance with the bells I rang. But as soon as the bow
+of the steamer was under the lee of the bark it was in comparatively
+smooth water. From the statement of the captain, and the depth of water
+he reported, I concluded that one of the sharp spurs of rock was
+sticking through her bottom near where her forefoot had been, and that
+she was held in this position by the reef. Buck kept on sounding, and
+reported four fathoms at the stern of the wreck. Cobbington was now in
+charge of the Bengolas, and Washburn was getting the hawsers ready to
+make fast to the bark. We put out our fenders, and the mate heaved a
+line into the waist of the wreck. Ben Bowman did the same, throwing his
+line over the stern. The lines were caught by the seamen on board, and
+made fast.
+
+Though the water was fairly still at the leeward of the bark, I found
+that the vessel was rolling badly, and greatly endangering the safety
+of the Sylvania. The gale was driving the wreck farther on the reef,
+and I feared that the mainmast would go by the board and fall on the
+steamer.
+
+"All aboard that are going!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, as I
+stood at the wheel, ready to do whatever an emergency might require.
+The two vessels were grinding their sides together, and nothing but our
+fenders saved our planks from being torn off.
+
+The men on board the bark were very slow in seeking safety, and I was
+about to repeat my former call, when I saw two women appear on the rail
+by the mizzen rigging. Our hands hastened to their assistance, and as
+the bark was so low in the water they had no difficulty in getting them
+on our hurricane-deck. As soon as they were safely on board, the men
+poured in upon us without further delay. There was not one among them
+that would leave the wreck until the women were safe. The officers and
+seamen brought with them whatever they could carry of their personal
+property. One of them returned and cast off the hawsers.
+
+As soon as the fasts were cast off, I rang to back her; and, bringing
+the Sylvania's head up to the wind, I wore her gradually around till
+she was headed to the eastward. The sea was white with foam from the
+raging billows, and the little steamer leaped like an antelope as she
+went ahead on her course. It was impossible to stand up in any part of
+her. I ran out about four miles to the eastward, where the steamer was
+when we heard the signal-gun from the wreck. We had been absent on our
+run to the reef about two hours. We laid our course as before, and I
+gave the wheel to Hop Tossford, that I might attend to the wants of the
+shipwrecked guests on board.
+
+The Sylvania was rolling on her new course at a frightful rate, and our
+deck was deluged with water every moment. The gale seemed to be
+increasing rather than diminishing, and I was not sure how long we
+could stand such a tumbling about as we were getting. With no little
+difficulty and exertion we got a reefed foresail up, which steadied her
+very much. I went down into the cabin, where I had sent the ladies from
+the wreck. I found our passengers propped up in such ways as they could
+devise to keep from being hurled across the cabin floor at each roll of
+the vessel. The strangers seemed to be quite at home, and were relating
+their adventures to the other ladies, who were listening with so much
+interest that they appeared to have forgotten the Sylvania was laboring
+in a very heavy sea. I saw that I was not wanted there. I went on deck,
+and found that the sailors from the wreck were stowed away in the
+dryest places they could find.
+
+I invited them all down into the forward cabin, and assigned the mate
+to the spare berth there. The others must sleep on the floor, for we
+could do nothing better for them.
+
+"Mr. Mate, where is your captain?" I asked.
+
+"I don't think he came below, sir. He is feeling very badly about the
+loss of his vessel," replied the mate. "I will try to find him."
+
+He went on deck with me, and we found him coiled away under the
+topgallant forecastle. I invited him to come into the pilot-house, and
+he followed me thither.
+
+"I am sorry for your misfortune, Captain," I said, when he had seated
+himself abaft the wheel.
+
+"It is a sorry night for me. My vessel is lost, and I have not the
+least idea how it happened," he replied, very sadly.
+
+I did my best to comfort him. I saw that he was quite as much exhausted
+by his mental sufferings as by his physical exertions. I conducted him
+to my state-room, and gave him my berth. In a short time he was asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+A NIGHT LOST IN THE STORM.
+
+
+At eleven o'clock we changed the course of the Sylvania to south-west
+half-west, which brought the gale nearly on the beam. The wind was
+blowing but little, if anything, short of a hurricane. The great
+billows struck against the side of the vessel and the house on deck
+with tremendous force. It seemed just as though immense boulders were
+hurled against the planking that enclosed my state-room, the galley,
+and the engine-room. The sea swept over the hurricane-deck, and struck
+heavily upon the planks overhead.
+
+Suddenly I heard a noise over my head, as I stood at the wheel, which
+sounded like the report of a heavy cannon. I thought the sea had broken
+a hole through. In another instant the steamer was rolling with double
+the violence of a few minutes before.
+
+"What was that noise, Hop?" I asked, when I saw that no water was
+pouring down upon us.
+
+"It was the foresail, sir; it has been blown out of the bolt-ropes,"
+replied Hop, coolly; and he seemed to be incapable of anything like
+fear. "We have lost the reefed foresail, and that is what makes her
+roll so much worse than she did five minutes ago."
+
+Undoubtedly he was right. The sail had steadied her more than we could
+have imagined; and now she rolled like a log in a mill-race. The sea
+struck the side of my state-room as though a rock weighing a ton had
+been cast against it by some giant of the sea or the storm. I was
+afraid our house on deck would be carried away by the tempest.
+
+On board of a large vessel, the loss of a house on deck was a matter of
+no serious consequences. It was entirely different with the Sylvania,
+for the loss of it would open the hold to the entrance of the sea. The
+deluge of water would put out the fire in the furnaces, disabling the
+engine. The result must be the loss of the vessel and all on board of
+her. I trembled when I thought of it. Another mountain billow struck
+the house a little farther aft. I was not willing to wait for another
+sea to strike her in what I regarded as her weakest point, and we put
+the helm down. We must give up our course for the safety of the vessel.
+
+The steamer made a terrible plunge as we shifted the helm, but we soon
+got her across the sea. Now she pitched instead of rolling. I called to
+the engineer, through the speaking-tube, to give her but about half
+speed, for it made her labor more heavily to drive her into the seas. I
+calculated that this rate of speed would keep her about stationary on
+the water. I soon found that she was falling astern. I directed the
+engineer to give her more steam. I soon gauged it so that she had
+headway enough to keep her up to the seas without forcing her through
+them. A sort of equilibrium was established, which gave her an easier
+position, though it was by no means an easy one. Her bow rose so that
+the deck must have been at an angle of forty-five degrees, and then she
+dived down from the top of a big wave at about the same angle.
+
+Our port and starboard, as well as the masthead light were burning, and
+we had closed in the pilot-house, so that we could see nothing ahead.
+But I found the steamer was manageable when I had got her head to the
+sea, and I sent Hop Tossford to call the mate and Buck Lingley. I could
+not tell what might happen, and I felt that all hands should be on
+deck. I wondered they had not put in an appearance before. But they
+were all used to this sort of thing, for we had been through a tempest
+almost as bad in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and several milder ones at
+other times.
+
+The water swashed fore and aft, but no longer pounded against the house
+on deck. It poured over the bow, so that it was not safe to put a man
+on the lookout there. The only thing we had to fear while we were
+lying-to in this manner was a collision with some other vessel. The
+water poured into the pilot-house so that we could not keep the windows
+open. I sent Buck to the hurricane-deck, with directions to lash
+himself to the foremast, and keep under the shelter of the dome of the
+pilot-house. When I had done this, and heard Buck on the deck over me,
+I felt that I had met the last and most imminent danger of the hour.
+
+Though the steamer was still laboring heavily against the tremendous
+head seas, she appeared to be holding her position in safety. I gave
+the helm to Washburn and Ben Bowman, for it required two to move the
+wheel promptly in that violent sea, and went to pay a visit to the
+cabin, for I supposed the passengers were enduring torments of suspense
+and terror.
+
+On the way I looked into my state-room. The captain of the wrecked bark
+appeared to be still asleep, and I did not disturb him. Following one
+of the life-lines we always bent on in a gale, I reached the after
+companion-way. Like everything in the shape of an opening on deck, it
+was securely fastened. But I had a key, and descended the cabin-stairs,
+locking the door behind me. Most of the passengers were still up. Some
+had retired to their berths, though probably not to sleep.
+
+My father and Mr. Tiffany were playing chess, and did not seem to be at
+all disturbed by the war of the elements. Colonel Shepard was holding
+his wife upon a sofa, and Owen and Gus were skylarking in the
+after-part of the cabin.
+
+"Isn't it terrible, Captain Alick?" asked Mrs. Shepard, in trembling
+tones.
+
+"I must say it was about as bad as anything I ever was out in, though
+we had it about as bad once on Lake Superior," I replied, as cheerfully
+as the occasion required.
+
+"Do you think there is any danger?"
+
+"I don't think there is just now," I answered. "The steamer is working
+very well at present, much better than she was an hour ago."
+
+"I thought the water would break through upon us at one time," added
+the nervous lady.
+
+"I was afraid it would. We had our foresail blown out of the
+bolt-ropes, and she made bad work of it after that. But we have laid
+her to now, and she is behaving as well as any vessel of this size can
+in such a sea."
+
+"When do you suppose it will be over?" asked the lady, anxiously.
+
+"It is a south-east gale, or rather hurricane, and probably it will not
+last long. I shall look for better weather by sunrise, if not before,"
+I replied, as I left the cabin.
+
+On my way back to the pilot-house I stopped in at the engine-room. I
+found Moses Brickland, seated on his leather-cushioned divan, watching
+the movements of the engine. Notwithstanding the uneasy movement of the
+vessel the machinery seemed to be working very regularly.
+
+"How does she go, Moses?" I asked.
+
+"She has done very well since you headed her up to the sea," he
+answered, without taking his gaze from the engine. "At one time I
+thought the sea would break in upon us and swamp the fires. It would
+have been all up with us then."
+
+"I felt so myself, and I headed her up to the sea when I saw that it
+was no longer safe to keep her on her course. But I suppose you want to
+turn in, Moses."
+
+"I, no; I am perfectly satisfied to keep my place here till morning,"
+he replied.
+
+"I want Ben Bowman at the wheel, with Washburn. She steers so hard in
+this sea that we need to change hands every hour. But I hope we shall
+soon be able to relieve you," I added.
+
+"I don't have very hard work, and I can stand it very well till
+morning."
+
+I returned to the wheel-house. It was about two bells, or one in the
+morning. The tempest had not increased in the last hour, and I hoped we
+had seen the worst of it. We were working the engine just enough to
+keep the steamer's head up to the sea. The Sylvania behaved so well in
+her present position that I dismissed the port watch at two in the
+morning; but I could not think of turning in myself while there was any
+possibility of trouble ahead. I remained in the pilot-house with
+Washburn, while Buck Lingley was on the lookout on the hurricane-deck.
+We held our position till about four in the morning, when it was
+evident that the gale was breaking, though the sea was still very
+heavy.
+
+"Light on the port quarter," said Buck, at one of the small windows of
+the pilot-house in front of his station.
+
+I rushed over to the port side, but the windows were so covered with
+water that I could see nothing. It was raining hard, as it had been
+since midnight. I went on deck, grasping a life-line to keep me from
+being knocked over by the flood of water that flowed down from the
+forecastle. I reached the ladder and went up to the hurricane-deck.
+
+I supposed the light the lookout had seen was on some vessel. It was at
+least ten miles distant; and after a time I satisfied myself that it
+was a revolving light. It also flashed, and I was confident it was
+eight or ten miles distant. I was rather bewildered, for I had not
+expected to find a light in that direction. I hastened down to the
+pilot-house to consult the Coast Pilot. I reviewed the course we had
+followed after leaving the wrecked bark. By our reckoning we were about
+twenty miles to the southward of Carysfort Light when we headed the
+steamer to the eastward.
+
+We had kept the screw turning all the time, and I supposed we had been
+making some headway during the five hours we had been on this tack.
+What was the light, then?
+
+We were headed directly into the Bahama Islands, and I knew we had not
+gone far enough to place any light in those islands on our port
+quarter. The description in the book of Carysfort Light corresponded
+with what I had made out by observation.
+
+"We are about ten miles to the south-east of Carysfort Light," I said
+to Washburn, when I had satisfied myself of the fact.
+
+"Impossible! That would put us about where we were when you called all
+hands last night!" exclaimed the mate.
+
+"The Light is about where it was when we began to go to the southward
+at ten last evening," I replied.
+
+"But we have been going to the southward and eastward for the last five
+hours."
+
+"It does not appear that we have gone at all," I continued, looking
+over the pages of the book. "We have been drifting all the time. The
+steamer is in the Gulf Stream, and that, with the fierce wind, has
+carried her a long distance from where I supposed she was. I find that
+in a strong easterly wind the Gulf Stream sets to the westward, and
+runs in among the Keys. I have no doubt now that this is the reason why
+the bark struck last night on the rocks to the southward of French
+Reef."
+
+"It appears from what you say that we have not carried steam enough to
+prevent us from being drifted to the westward as well as to the
+northward," added Washburn.
+
+"That is the fact: we have been drifting about north-northwest. In a
+few hours more we should have been on the reef. Ring the speed-bell."
+
+It was plain enough by this time, when it was almost broad daylight,
+that the force of the gale was spent. In less than an hour the wind
+subsided entirely, and the wind whirled to the south, then to the west,
+and finally settled in the north-west. We made our course to the
+southward. The clouds rolled away, and the sun rose bright and
+beautiful after one of the hardest nights I had ever known.
+
+The wind began to freshen from the north-west, and at six o'clock we
+had all sail on her. We all wondered what had become of the Islander.
+Captain Blastblow was evidently well acquainted with the navigation of
+the Florida Reefs, or he would not have taken his vessel through the
+dangerous channel he had chosen. But I was too tired to talk much, and
+I slept an hour in Washburn's berth until breakfast-time. When I waked,
+I found the captain of the bark sitting in a chair in the state-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+LOOKING FOR THE ISLANDER.
+
+
+The captain of the bark was a man of about fifty. He was bald, and his
+hair and whiskers were sprinkled with gray. I had no doubt that the
+violent storm had made an end of his vessel, for the wreck was exposed
+to the full fury of the sea, tenfold more violent after we left it than
+before.
+
+"Good morning, Captain; I hope you are quite well this morning," I
+began.
+
+"I am well enough, thank you; but I cannot forget that I have lost my
+ship," he replied. "You had a rough night of it on deck; and I don't
+think I ever knew a vessel to pitch and roll so badly as this one did."
+
+"It was a terrible blow, and this is a very small vessel, though she is
+as strong as wood and iron could make her. If she had not been well
+built, the sea would have taken the house off this deck."
+
+"I thought it was going to do so as it was. I think she was exceedingly
+well handled, or she would have gone to the bottom," continued the
+captain. "I have no doubt there are scores of wrecks along the Keys
+this morning, and many a good fellow may miss his mess after this."
+
+I gave him a full account of the storm, and of our being carried so far
+out of our course by the wind and the current. I told him that we had
+been delayed so long by the wreck and the storm that we probably should
+not reach Key West till three or four in the afternoon.
+
+"I suppose we shall be lucky to get there at all after all that has
+happened to us," replied the captain. "What you say about drifting so
+far out of your course strikes me as being a little strange."
+
+"What was the name of your vessel, Captain?--I have not even learned
+your name," I continued. I intended to point out to him the way in
+which the bark had been lost; but I wanted to know something more about
+the voyage of the unfortunate vessel.
+
+"Captain Mayfield; and the bark was the Olive, of New York, from New
+Orleans, with a cargo of cotton from the latter port," replied the
+captain. "I owned a third of her myself; but she is well insured, and
+so is her cargo. My wife and daughter were with me, and are now in the
+after cabin."
+
+"I think you were fortunate to escape with your lives," I added.
+
+"I know we were, Captain--I don't know your name any better than you
+did mine; and it strikes me that you are a very young fellow to be in
+command of a steamer, though she is a very small one."
+
+"My name is Alexander Garningham, and I am generally called Captain
+Alick. I have been on the water most of the time since I was ten years
+old, either on the sea or on the great lakes. I have had as rough a
+time on Lake Superior as we had last night, if not a rougher." I told
+my story as briefly as I could.
+
+"Your education has not been neglected, Captain Alick," continued
+Captain Mayfield. "If you had not managed the Sylvania so well last
+night, most of us must have perished; for I have no doubt that the
+Olive went to pieces before midnight. She was a well-built vessel, but
+rather old. The gale kept forcing her up to the sharp coral rocks, and
+she was grinding off her timbers at a very rapid rate when we left her.
+If there had been any chance for her I would not have left her. I had
+reduced sail at dark, when it began to freshen into a gale. We had the
+wind on the beam, and the bark was behaving very well."
+
+"It began to blow the heaviest about six bells," I added.
+
+"We did not get the worst of it. We had the foretop-mast staysail, fore
+and main topsails, and the spanker set. The Gulf Stream was with us,
+and we were making not less than ten knots an hour. I expected soon to
+see Carysfort Light. Our course was north, a quarter east, and I had no
+doubt I was making it good."
+
+"I am afraid not."
+
+"Of course I know now that I did not make it good; but I can't see any
+reason why I did not."
+
+"I can," I interposed. "It was for the same reason that we were drifted
+so far to the northward and westward. When the wind comes strong from
+an easterly direction the current of the Gulf Stream is partly turned
+to the westward."
+
+"I have read that in the Coast Pilot; but I have been through these
+waters so many times without noticing anything of the kind, that I did
+not think of it last night. The first hint I had that anything was
+wrong was when the Olive struck on the rocks. I knew from the sound of
+the crash that she had stove a hole in her bow. She flew back, and then
+the wind jammed her on again. I sent hands aloft to furl the topsails,
+and others to haul down the jib and take in the spanker. But she drove
+on the rocks all the same; and I knew that would be the end of her."
+
+I invited the captain to visit the cabin, for I thought he would wish
+to see his wife and daughter. Our passengers were all at breakfast, and
+engaged in talking over the events of the night. Captain Mayfield was
+invited to join them, and I advised him to do so, while I went back to
+the deck to attend to the wants of the rest of the ship's company of
+the Olive. The sailors were all on deck, and the mate was in the
+pilot-house with Washburn. Gopher had made provision for feeding the
+addition to our passengers. I invited the two mates of the Olive down
+into the fore-cabin to breakfast, while the cook and steward were
+supplying the sailors on the forecastle. I found that Gopher had been
+liberal in his supplies, both as to quantity and quality, for the
+wrecked people.
+
+By eight o'clock breakfast had been served to all on board. I had not
+slept above four hours in two nights, though my short nap had refreshed
+me a little. Washburn and all the rest of the crew had been on duty
+most of the night, and they were very much fatigued. Moses Brickland
+had served a double watch, and Ben Bowman had worked like a trooper
+most of the night. I decided, as it was pleasant and plain sailing, to
+send all hands to their berths, and take the helm myself, with Ben at
+the engine; for he declared that he could stand it with only two hours'
+sleep a week. Captain Mayfield and his two mates soon joined me in the
+pilot-house. I was so sleepy myself that I could not help gaping and
+yawning.
+
+"You've had a hard night of it, Captain Alick, while I have had a whole
+night below," said Captain Mayfield. "Myself and my mates have all seen
+service in a steamer, and we should be very glad to relieve you."
+
+"Thank you, Captain. I acknowledge that I am rather worn out; but a
+little steamer like the Sylvania has her ways, and is peculiar," I
+replied.
+
+"Let Beach take the wheel, and you shall see whether he can handle
+her," persisted Captain Mayfield.
+
+Beach was the second mate, and I assented. I gave him the course, and
+he kept her steady to it. I lay down on the bench abaft the wheel, and
+before I knew it I didn't know anything. But I slept only a few
+minutes, and when I waked I found the first mate at the wheel. He was
+simply trying his hand at it. A little while after the captain took his
+turn. We could see the Keys, the spindles and buoys on the reefs, and
+it was hardly possible for any mishap to occur on board.
+
+I asked one of them to help me heave the log, as I had sent all my
+ship's company below to make up their sleep, except the second
+engineer. Captain Mayfield would not permit me to do anything about it.
+He called a couple of his seamen, and went aft to do it. He soon
+reported twelve knots, with the remark that he did not suppose the
+steamer to be capable of such a high rate of speed. He then begged me
+to turn in. He was perfectly familiar with the coast and the soundings.
+He sent two of his men on the topgallant forecastle to serve as
+lookouts, and declared that the mates should keep the wheel all the
+time. I was too sleepy to resist, and I turned in. I was soon fast
+asleep. The motion of the vessel was now quite steady, though she rose
+and fell upon the long seas.
+
+It was two o'clock in the afternoon when I woke, for the new captain
+would not permit me to be called. Gopher had dined all on board but the
+crew, who had turned in before I did. Ben Bowman had waked himself, and
+gone to the engine-room to relieve Moses, at eleven. The attentive cook
+had a fresh dinner ready for me; and before I had finished it most of
+the other sleepers appeared.
+
+I went to the pilot-house and looked at the log-slate. It had been
+faithfully kept during the absence of Washburn and myself. The last
+entry was American Shoal, with the time of passing it.
+
+"Where are we now, Captain Mayfield?" I asked.
+
+"Do you see that beacon with a big B on the vane?" he said, pointing to
+the beacon, which was within fifty yards of the steamer's bow. "That is
+the Eastern Sambo, about a dozen sea miles from Key West."
+
+"You have been making time since I went to sleep."
+
+"We have logged twelve knots every time," he replied. "We shall have a
+head wind after we have passed the Western Sambo, or soon after, and we
+must take in sail."
+
+I directed Washburn to call all hands and take in sail, with the
+assistance at the sheets and halyards of the crew of the Olive.
+
+"Where do you suppose the Islander is about this time?" I asked of
+Washburn, after he had taken in sail and squared the yards.
+
+"She may be at the bottom," replied the mate.
+
+Captain Mayfield asked me what I meant, and I told him all about the
+Islander.
+
+"Her captain must have understood the navigation, or he would not have
+gone inside on such a night as last we had," added Captain Mayfield. "I
+don't think you will see the other steamer till you get to Key West, in
+little more than an hour."
+
+"He may have gone to the bottom in the hurricane," I suggested.
+
+"He could make a harbor in several places; at Tavernier, for instance.
+He may even have run through some opening to the other side of one of
+the Keys, and been entirely protected from the heavy sea. He had to be
+pretty well acquainted in there to do this. Do you know where he
+shipped his crew?"
+
+"At Jacksonville, Florida," I replied.
+
+"Then very likely he had one or more of the Conchs, or natives, who
+come from the Bahama Islands, on board. They are fishermen and
+wreckers, and know every inch of bottom all along the reefs. I think
+you will see the other steamer as soon as you get to Key West, for I
+have no doubt she has got there first, if she was going there at all.
+Western Sambo, three, five," continued Captain Mayfield. "Make a note
+of it, Mr. Dana."
+
+After some further conversation with the captain, I was confident the
+Islander could not get by Key West without being seen by Cornwood, if
+the steamer in which he was to come to Cedar Keys had not been detained
+by the storm. Captain Mayfield did not believe the steamer with
+Jacksonville passengers on board had been detained, as she had an
+inside passage during all the worst of the hurricane. It was probable
+that the agent of Colonel Shepard had arrived in the fore-noon, if not
+in the morning.
+
+Our pilot ran the Sylvania about two miles beyond the Western Sambo,
+and then headed the vessel to the north-west. He asked me the draught
+of the Sylvania, and I gave it to him as nine feet, which was her depth
+in the water when her coal-bunkers were full of anthracite coal. The
+course was varied considerably to avoid shoal places and reefs; but
+Captain Mayfield gave me the sailing directions as we went along, and I
+compared them with those in the Coast Pilot. All the passengers had
+come on deck when it was announced that we were close in to Key West.
+Colonel Shepard was very anxious about the Islander.
+
+The city of Key West is located on the western end of an island of the
+same name. Near it is Fort Taylor, a vast structure built on an
+artificial island, and connected with Key West by a long bridge. On a
+hill is Whitehead Light, and on the north side of the island are
+several observatories. The town, consisting mostly of cottages, is near
+these towers.
+
+When we were off Fort Taylor, we had a full view of the harbor, but the
+Islander was not to be seen.
+
+"There she goes!" exclaimed Washburn, pointing to the north-west.
+
+She carried no sail; but when I looked through the glass I made out her
+rig, though she was four miles away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+A PARTIAL SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY.
+
+
+"What does Captain Blastblow mean? Does he mean to run away with the
+Islander?" demanded Colonel Shepard, when he realized that his
+steam-yacht was again trying to elude him.
+
+"He must have seen the Sylvania," I replied, very much perplexed by the
+conduct of the captain of the Islander. "If he stopped at Key West at
+all, he must have seen us before he started."
+
+"Is it possible to overtake her, Captain Alick?" asked Colonel Shepard,
+nervously.
+
+"As the case now stands, Captain Blastblow is running away from us. He
+has some object in view which we cannot comprehend. I have no doubt we
+can overtake her, for she can't run in behind any keys, or dodge into
+any unfamiliar channels."
+
+"But I ought not to ask you to pursue her any farther," continued the
+owner of the runaway steam-yacht. "I know your party wish to stop here,
+and I will not compel them to go any farther."
+
+"I think we can see all we want to of Key West from the deck,"
+interposed my father. "At any rate, if we wish to spend any time in Key
+West, it will be easy enough to come back here, for we have the whole
+summer before us, and the winter, too, if the summer is not long
+enough."
+
+"I have no desire to stop here, and Margie would much rather continue
+with her friend, Miss Edith, than stop at this place," added Mr.
+Tiffany. "We are all quite interested in solving the problem of the
+intentions of the captain of the Islander."
+
+"We will leave the whole matter to Alick; and whatever he does we will
+not complain," said my father.
+
+"You are very considerate and kind, gentlemen, and I am under very
+great obligations to you and to Captain Alick for all the favors you
+have extended to me," replied the colonel.
+
+"If it is left to me we will chase the Islander," I added. "But we must
+land our shipwrecked passengers here, and that will take a little time;
+and I want a pilot, for I don't like to lose any time in those shoal
+waters and crooked channels."
+
+"Get your boats all ready, Captain Alick, and it won't take five
+minutes to land me and my men, and I will put your steamer where you
+can get a pilot in two minutes," interposed Captain Mayfield. "I have
+no doubt we should have all perished if you had not come to the wreck
+at no small peril to your vessel; and I hope the time will come when I
+shall have a chance to do something for you."
+
+"Oh, that's all right," I replied. "I hope I never shall be in a
+situation to need such help as we had a chance to give you, Captain
+Mayfield."
+
+I gave the order to clear away the boats, the davits were swung out,
+and the falls manned ready to drop them into the water without a
+moment's delay. The ship's company of the Olive shook hands with me,
+and thanked me very warmly for what the Sylvania had done for them. I
+was sorry to part with them so hastily, but the anxiety of the colonel
+seemed to admit of no other course. Captain Mayfield ran the steamer
+within a hundred yards of the shore by Tift's observatory. He rang to
+back her, and as soon as she had lost her headway, the two boats were
+dropped into the water, with two hands in each. They were then brought
+up to the gangway steps, which had been rigged out for the use of the
+ladies, who were all ready to embark.
+
+We assisted Mrs. Mayfield and her daughter into the stern-sheets of
+one, and the captain joined them. The boat shoved off, when the mate
+and four of the sailors had stowed themselves away. The captain and the
+ladies waved their adieus as soon as Dyer and Hop began to pull. Before
+the port boat was off the second mate and the rest of the seamen had
+piled into the starboard boat, and both were off at nearly the same
+time.
+
+I saw the seamen in both boats assisting the oarsmen, and the boats
+went through the water at a lively rate. Not more than two minutes had
+elapsed before the party were all on shore. Several men hastened up to
+Captain Mayfield, and I saw him select one of them, who immediately
+jumped into the port boat. It was hardly a minute more before the boats
+were under the falls. They were rapidly hoisted up, and swung inboard.
+The men leaped out of them, and Washburn rang to back the boat into
+deeper water. The men secured the boats, and the person sent off went
+into the pilot-house.
+
+I looked at the clock and found we had lost less than ten minutes in
+landing the wrecked party, during which time the Islander had made over
+a mile. Moses Brickland had been attending to the furnaces while the
+boats were absent with the two firemen, and I was sure that he had a
+good head of steam on. The pilot was a swarthy person, with long black
+hair, and I had no doubt he was a Conch, as Captain Mayfield had
+described them to me. He was well dressed in seaman's blue clothes. I
+rather liked the looks of the man, and began to feel confidence in him
+as soon as I saw him.
+
+"I am glad to see you, Mr. Pilot," I said, giving him my hand, when I
+went into the pilot-house after assuring myself that the boats were
+well secured.
+
+"Thank you, Captain Alick," he replied with a smile.
+
+"As you seem to know my name, it is no more than fair that I should
+know yours," I replied, as good-naturedly as he had spoken.
+
+"I am called Captain Cayo, but my name is Cazador, which is the Spanish
+for 'Hunter.' But it don't make much difference what you call me. Cayo
+is Spanish for Key, and people here are so used to the word that they
+have given it me for a name. Where are you bound, Captain Alick?"
+
+"To New Orleans, or rather we are bound to overhaul the little steamer,
+just like this one, which left here not more than half an hour before
+we arrived," I replied.
+
+"I should have thought it was the same steamer if I had seen both of
+them at the same time," replied Captain Cayo, who had taken the wheel
+when he first came into the pilot-house, for he had been engaged to
+take the Sylvania through the North-West Channel, as it is called. "You
+wish to overhaul the Islander, do you?"
+
+"Her owner is on board of this steamer, and he is very anxious to get
+on board of her," I answered.
+
+"Very well; if the Sylvania has the speed we will overhaul her, Captain
+Alick," added the pilot.
+
+"Where did you learn my name, Captain Cayo, for you called me by it
+before any one had used it on board; and those who came off in the boat
+with you invariably call me Captain Garningham?" I inquired, taking up
+one of the points which had attracted my attention from the first.
+
+"I heard you called so by a gentleman who arrived here by the morning
+steamer from Cedar Keys."
+
+"Who was the gentleman?" I asked, with interest.
+
+"I don't remember his name, if I heard it at all."
+
+"What time did the Islander get to Key West?"
+
+"Not more than two hours before the Sylvania. I went on board of her to
+offer my services as pilot. The captain did not want a pilot, for he
+had a Conch on board who used to live in the city."
+
+"Then this man is now piloting the Islander through this channel?"
+
+"I suppose he is; but I don't think he is a pilot, for he is taking the
+steamer a long way to the eastward of the bar-buoy. She went pretty
+near a shoal with only five feet of water on it. I shall make one
+sea-mile in going five compared with the course of the Islander."
+
+"I am very glad to hear it. What sort of a looking-person was it that
+came in the morning-boat from Cedar Keys?" I asked.
+
+The pilot described Cornwood as though he were a novelist. Of course I
+had no difficulty in supposing it was he. In order to get the most
+reliable intelligence from the pilot, I told him all about the abrupt
+departure of the Islander from Jacksonville without her owner and his
+family. I stated my belief that Captain Blastblow was avoiding us, and
+that he had put to sea as soon as he discovered the Sylvania headed in
+for Key West. I told him the sudden departure of the other steamer was
+a great mystery to her owner and all the rest of us.
+
+"I am sure I don't know anything about the matter, Captain Alick. I
+don't believe the Islander intended to stop at the city, for the man
+from Cedar Keys----"
+
+"His name is Cornwood," I interposed.
+
+"Cornwood went off in a boat and hailed the Islander. She would not
+stop till he flourished a letter. I was out in my boat looking for any
+craft that wanted a pilot, and I was close aboard of her. When she
+stopped I climbed aboard on one side while Cornwood got aboard on the
+other side. Instead of delivering the letter to the captain, he said it
+was for a person supposed to be on board. The captain indulged in
+strong talk; but Cornwood made some statement I did not hear, which
+seemed to satisfy him. The steamer came to anchor just outside of Fort
+Taylor. When the captain told me he did not want a pilot, I left the
+steamer. As I pulled away, I saw that a sharp lookout was kept over the
+stern of the Islander, which I can understand now, if I could not
+then."
+
+"You don't know whether or not Cornwood delivered any letter to the
+captain of the Islander?" I inquired, with deep interest.
+
+"Very likely he did, but not while I was on board. I pulled up the
+harbor, and landed the other side of the Lazaretto. Before I reached
+the shore I saw Cornwood and a swellish-looking fellow rowing to the
+same landing-place. Cornwood was talking very earnestly to the swell,
+and continued to do so after they got ashore."
+
+"What did the swell look like?" I asked, wondering who he could be, for
+I had seen all the crew of the Islander, and could remember no one that
+looked like a swell.
+
+Captain Cayo gave a minute description of the person; but it would have
+applied as well to one swell as to another.
+
+"Did you see anything more of Cornwood and this swell?" I asked,
+somewhat excited over the narrative, and hoping to get some clue to the
+conspiracy for running off the Islander.
+
+"Cornwood and the young fellow took a seat on a bench near the
+landing-place, and talked for a full hour. Before they got through I
+had a sight of this steamer coming up by the West Sambo. I passed quite
+near them, on my way up the hill to the lighthouse, to see if I could
+make out your steamer. As I did so, I heard Cornwood call the other
+fellow Nick."
+
+"Nick!" I exclaimed, looking at Washburn.
+
+"That explains it all," added the mate.
+
+"What does it explain?" asked the pilot, who seemed to be quite as much
+interested in the case as Washburn and myself were.
+
+"It explains another story I have not told, and which I did not suppose
+had anything to do with this matter of the running off of the
+Islander."
+
+I related the affair of the robbery of the messenger of the bank,
+giving all the details of the case, including the unexplained
+disappearance of Nick Boomsby. The case looked as plain as day to
+Washburn and myself. Nick had taken possession of the package of money,
+and concealed it somewhere under the counter; and doubtless there were
+holes and corners enough there where it could be put without its being
+seen by his father. He wanted to get out of Jacksonville as soon as
+possible after the robbery. He had applied to me, with his pathetic
+story about being compelled to sell whiskey, and wanted to be taken as
+a passenger in the Sylvania.
+
+"Nick had the card written by Colonel Shepard, which he delivered the
+night before we sailed," said Washburn.
+
+"I should like to know what was written on that card," I added.
+
+"Probably it was nothing more than an intimation from the colonel that
+he should be ready to sail the next morning. He had not room enough on
+a card to go into the particulars," answered Washburn. "You saw him
+write the card, Alick."
+
+"There was not more than a line or two on it, for it was done in half a
+minute, signature and all."
+
+"Captain Blastblow had steam up in the morning, as directed," continued
+Washburn. "Nick observed the writing closely, and wrote a letter such
+as he wanted for use the next morning. Captain Blastblow is not to
+blame, unless it is for letting Nick deceive him."
+
+The case looked plain enough now.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ACROSS THE GULF OF MEXICO.
+
+
+We had arrived at only a partial solution of the mystery, though we had
+done enough to relieve Captain Blastblow from any evil intentions in
+the premises. What Cornwood's connection with the affair was did not
+yet appear. He could not have known that Nick Boomsby was on board of
+the Islander, for he had gone to St. Augustine, where we had put in on
+account of stress of weather. He could not have known that we intended
+to put into St. Augustine, for we had no intention to do so when we
+left Jacksonville.
+
+Possibly Cornwood had put one thing and another together until he
+believed Nick had taken the four thousand dollars, and had made his
+escape in the Islander. It looked as though Cornwood had some
+connection with the robbery, for the Islander had hurried on her way to
+New Orleans, if she was bound there, as soon as the Sylvania came in
+sight. If he had delivered the letter to Captain Blastblow, the latter
+would have remained in Key West until the arrival of her owner, as
+instructed by the written message.
+
+"Cornwood and Nick did a good deal of talking, it appears, while the
+Islander was here," said Washburn, "though we don't know what it was
+all about."
+
+"I have no doubt Cornwood took the management of the case at this
+point," I replied. "Nick must have forged one letter to induce Captain
+Blastblow to start the Islander without her owner and his family; and I
+have no doubt Cornwood forged another to make him continue the voyage."
+
+"I hope we shall know all about the matter in a few hours more," said
+Washburn.
+
+"You understand the entire situation now, Captain Cayo, and see why we
+want to overhaul the Islander," I continued.
+
+"I see the whole of it, and I will do the best I can to outsail the
+other steamer; but that depends more on your vessel than on me,"
+replied the pilot. "Will you let your men heave the log?"
+
+We had been driving the Sylvania to her utmost, and Ben Bowman reported
+that we were making eleven and a half knots, which was doing
+exceedingly well in the teeth of a fresh north-west wind. Captain Cayo
+went to the westward of the bar-buoy, while the Islander had gone to
+the eastward of it more than a mile. I saw that we had gained a mile by
+this course, and the Islander was not more than four miles ahead of us.
+
+I gave the pilot my views of the relative speed of the two vessels,
+though I told him that Captain Blastblow might get a higher rate of
+speed out of her than any one had done before.
+
+"We shall soon see which sails fastest," said Captain Cayo. "The
+Islander has laid her course for the South-west Pass of the
+Mississippi. All you have to do is to follow her. There is our
+pilot-boat; and this is as far as we usually take vessels."
+
+"But I don't care to have you leave us here, Captain Cayo," I replied.
+"It is clear enough that the Islander intends to keep out of our way.
+She may run in among the Dry Tortugas, and having a pilot on board, she
+could easily elude us."
+
+"She might do that when she finds you are gaining on her, as I see you
+are, for we have made half a knot on her since we came out of the
+channel. But if we leave the pilot-boat behind, I can't get off the
+steamer when you don't want me any longer. Besides, it looks like a
+change of weather, and pilots are in demand when it is foggy or blows,
+at this season of the year."
+
+"What sort of weather do you expect next?" I asked.
+
+"The wind will work round to the south-west, and then it will be
+foggy," replied the pilot, scanning the horizon.
+
+"Can't you go to New Orleans, or remain on board till we meet a steamer
+for Key West?" I suggested.
+
+"I should be very happy to go to New Orleans with you, for there will
+be no steamer for Key West for several days. But I am not a pilot for
+the Mississippi River, and you will have to pay another just the same
+as though I were not on board."
+
+He named his price, besides expenses; and as it was reasonable, I
+accepted it at once. My experience the night before, when I found the
+Sylvania was ten miles from where I supposed she was, made me extremely
+cautious. I felt entirely competent to take the steamer to the
+South-east Pass of the Mississippi; but it was evident that Cornwood
+had obtained control of the Islander, acting as the agent of Colonel
+Shepard, and that he would not permit the Sylvania to come near her if
+he could avoid it. Probably the Conch who had acted as her pilot so far
+would understand the channels of the Tortugas, and could easily take
+the Islander where I should not care to follow her.
+
+The pilot-boat lay very nearly in our course, and a boat put off from
+her as we approached. Captain Cayo stopped the steamer when the boat
+was abreast of her. He jumped upon the rail, and told the oarsmen that
+he was going to New Orleans.
+
+"Now start her, Mr. Mate," said he to Washburn, as he crawled over the
+rail to the deck.
+
+"Now Cornwood will believe the pilot has left you," said Captain Cayo.
+"The Islander is still two miles off, and I don't think her people
+could see me when I crawled back over the rail."
+
+It was a dead calm on the Gulf of Mexico, and the Sylvania was still
+making eleven and a half knots an hour. I calculated that we had gained
+two knots on the Islander, one by taking the shorter course, and one by
+outsailing her.
+
+"I think we had better keep her more to the southward," said Captain
+Cayo, after he had taken a survey of the horizon, especially in the
+southwest, where a pile of clouds seemed to be gathering.
+
+"Why to the southward?" I asked.
+
+"I think the captain of the Islander must see by this time that we are
+gaining on him, and that it is only a question of three or four hours
+when we shall overhaul her," replied the pilot. "If I were in his
+place, I should steer for the Tortugas, and leave you five or ten miles
+behind by dodging into some shallow channel. By keeping to the
+southward, we shall be in a better position to head her off."
+
+"I see; and we are almost up with the Tortugas. If we keep to the
+southward, we shall be right in her course if she attempts to run for
+those islands."
+
+"Right you are, Captain Alick," added the pilot, as he changed the
+course to due west. "There is a breeze coming up from the southward,
+which is quite a regular thing towards night. It will blow fresh for
+some hours, just about a whole sail breeze. I think you had better get
+your sails set, for the one that uses the wind first will make the
+most."
+
+I told the mate to call all hands, and put on every rag of canvas we
+could set. Before he had the foretopsail shaken out, the breeze came,
+though it was very light. By the time the rest of the sails were set,
+it was blowing lively. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, and we
+were fairly up with the Tortugas, and at least a mile to the southward
+of the Islander. If she attempted to get in among the islands, she must
+run across our course, and less than a mile ahead of the Sylvania. We
+could easily cut her off.
+
+"She can't get in among those islands now without running into us," I
+said, after I had carefully surveyed the situation.
+
+"That is as true as preaching," added Captain Cayo, laughing, when he
+saw that the other steamer was checkmated if she had intended to resort
+to any stratagem to avoid us. "We may as well put the steamer on her
+course for the South-east Pass."
+
+He suited his action to the words. The wind was freshening, and the log
+indicated that we were making twelve knots strong. Moses was still
+crowding on all the steam the boiler would bear, and I am sure the
+yacht never sailed any faster.
+
+At six I estimated that the Islander was not more than a mile ahead of
+us, and another hour would wipe out all the difference.
+
+"This wind is good for us in one way, and bad in another," said Captain
+Cayo, shaking his head after a searching gaze to windward.
+
+"You mean that we are likely to have some fog," I added.
+
+"Not only likely to have a fog, but sure of it. It is miles deep to the
+southward and westward."
+
+"Of course the Islander will be able to keep out of the way in a fog;
+and we can't help ourselves," I replied, trying to yield as gracefully
+as possible to the necessity of giving up our point.
+
+I had hardly uttered the words before the fog swept down upon us. It
+was very dense, and we could not see a ship's length ahead of us; at
+about the same time the wind suddenly subsided. We could see nothing of
+the Islander, and I had no doubt she had already shifted her course to
+the north or the south.
+
+"The game is all up, Captain Cayo," I said, very mournfully.
+
+"Up for the present," replied the pilot, as he called through the
+speaking-tube for the engineer to stop the steamer.
+
+Captain Cayo put his head out of one of the front windows of the
+pilot-house, and listened attentively for several minutes. I understood
+that he had used the speaking-tube instead of ringing the gong, so that
+those on board of the Islander should not hear the sound, as they
+might, it was now so still.
+
+"Go ahead," continued the pilot through the tube. "She has headed to
+the northward, and we will see what we can do on the same tack."
+
+The pilot headed the Sylvania to the north. I hoped the wind would
+breeze up again and carry off the fog; but there was no indication of
+it. Our sails made so much noise, flapping and pounding against the
+spars, that I was obliged to order all sail taken in. When we had gone
+an hour on the present course, the pilot ordered the engineer to stop
+her, as before. Washburn and Ben Bowman were on the top-gallant
+forecastle, and they listened with all their might. We all did the
+same, but we could not catch a sound of any kind. If the Islander had
+been within a mile of us we could have heard the clang of her screw.
+She had either stopped her engine, or gone off on some other course. We
+went ahead again, headed to the north-west.
+
+"We might keep this up all night, and not find her," said Captain Cayo,
+disgusted with the situation.
+
+"What had we better do?" I asked.
+
+"We can't do anything. We can't fight against the fog. Are you sure the
+Islander will go to New Orleans if we let her alone?"
+
+"I feel reasonably sure of it," I replied. "Captain Blastblow evidently
+is not engaged in the conspiracy; and I don't believe Cornwood could
+induce him to disregard the instructions of his owner. His course
+indicates that he intends to go there, only he seems to be determined
+to keep out of the way of the Sylvania."
+
+"I have no doubt Cornwood and Nick Boomsby want to go to New Orleans,"
+added the pilot. "I don't see why it won't be just as well to pick them
+up there as it will be here."
+
+"But they will not allow themselves to be picked up," I answered. "They
+will get ashore as soon as the Islander reaches New Orleans, whether
+they get there before or after we do."
+
+"If I wanted to make sure of the rogues, I should get to New Orleans as
+quickly as I could."
+
+"We should be sure to get there before the Islander," I added.
+
+"So much the better. When you get there, procure a couple of officers,
+and run back down the river till you meet the other steamer. Throw your
+officers on board of her, and they will then have no chance to escape.
+If we wait here all night, the Islander will make the best of her way
+to her destination, while we are waiting for the fog to clear off, and
+of course the rogues will put themselves out of sight," said Captain
+Cayo.
+
+"I think it is the surer way to run for New Orleans. I don't know that
+we need any officers," I replied. "We can run into the Mississippi,
+find some place of concealment, and pounce on the Islander when they
+least suspect our presence."
+
+"I like that plan still better," replied the pilot.
+
+We agreed upon this course, and the Sylvania was headed for the
+South-east Pass of the Mississippi. We gave her full speed, and on
+Tuesday afternoon we were off the pass. It was a dull passage. We took
+a pilot, and as we had no difficulty in crossing the bar, we were soon
+in the river. The whole region was swamps and lagoons, about as
+uninteresting as we could expect to find.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE SYLVANIA IN AMBUSH.
+
+
+As soon as we were in the river, the Mississippi pilot was discharged,
+and we continued on our voyage up the stream. We did not know by which
+pass the Islander would come in, and we kept on till daylight in the
+morning. We then ran up to the shore, which was covered with small
+trees. The place we had chosen was at a bend of the mighty stream,
+where we could not be seen until the Islander was close upon us. We
+made fast to a tree, and sent Hop Tossford ashore to watch at the bend
+for the approach of the other steamer.
+
+As the water was deep enough for the Islander in whatever part of it
+she went, I thought she would come within a few yards of our position,
+as that would lead her up stream by the shortest way. Our passengers
+had spent their time in the usual manner on the voyage, and one day at
+sea was very like any other day when the weather was fine. We had
+passed out of the fog before midnight, and the two days on the Gulf had
+been as pleasant as possible. Some of them landed on the high bank of
+the river where we had made fast; but we required them to keep within
+call.
+
+In the pilot-house we had voted that it was not best to say anything
+about Cornwood's relations with Nick, and none of the passengers even
+knew that Nick was on board of the Islander. We simply told them that
+we had lost the other steamer in the fog, and we were afraid we should
+miss the Islander in New Orleans if we delayed to look for her in the
+fog.
+
+The pilot took the spare berth in the fore cabin, and made himself
+entirely at home on the steamer, as I desired he should. We had
+arranged our plan for the capture of the Islander when she came up the
+river; and none of us had any doubts in regard to her coming. Captain
+Cayo was to have the duty of taking possession of the person of
+Cornwood, and Buck Lingley was to do the same kindness to Nick. Colonel
+Shepard was to be close at hand to deal with Captain Blastblow, if he
+objected to the proceedings.
+
+All the forenoon passed away without a sight of the Islander. We dined,
+and began to inquire if there was any way by which the Islander could
+get to New Orleans without passing the point where we had taken
+position. We could find none she was likely to take. We were beginning
+to believe our well-laid plan had miscarried, when Ben Bowman, who was
+on the lookout for the prize, hastened on board with the intelligence
+that the Islander was within four miles of us.
+
+We had covered our topmasts with green branches to prevent the people
+on the Islander from suspecting our presence before she turned the
+bend. A little point covered with trees a short distance below us
+concealed the hull of the Sylvania, and I was satisfied that she could
+not be seen by Cornwood before it would be too late to keep out of our
+way.
+
+"All hands on deck," I said to Washburn, as soon as Ben Bowman had
+announced the approach of the runaway steamer.
+
+"All on deck, sir, except Ben Bowman," returned the mate, as soon as he
+had given the call.
+
+The second engineer had returned to the point to observe and report
+upon the movements of the Islander. He informed me that the steamer
+seemed to be making the shortest course the bends of the stream would
+permit, and she was headed for the point behind which the Sylvania was
+concealed.
+
+I had arranged my plan of operations. Our steamer was headed up the
+stream, and held by a single hawser leading to the bowsprit-bitts. We
+had passed the rope around the tree, and made the end fast on board, so
+that we could let go without any one going on shore to do so. The
+strong current of the river would carry the steamer's head away from
+the shore, and we had only to dart out alongside the Islander, and make
+fast to her. We had rigged out our fenders, so that neither steamer was
+likely to be damaged by a collision.
+
+Ben Bowman and Buck Lingley were to carry a line on board of the prize,
+and make fast the instant we came alongside of her. Colonel Shepard was
+to get on board of the Islander as quick as he could, and give his
+orders to Captain Blastblow. I did not apprehend any difficulty in
+carrying out the programme. I was confident that the captain of the
+runaway vessel would respect the orders of his owner. We had banked our
+fires in the morning, so that the noise of escaping steam need not warn
+the Islander of the presence of another steamer. As soon as Ben
+reported the runaway within four miles, Moses Brickland had caused the
+fires to be replenished, and he calculated upon having a full head of
+steam when we were ready to run out from our hiding-place.
+
+In about half an hour from the time the Islander was discovered, Ben
+Bowman came on board. We could hear the clang of her screw by this
+time. I stationed Ben at the hawser, and directed him to let go and
+haul in the rope as quickly as possible when I gave the word. Buck
+Lingley and Landy Perkins were to help him make quick work of it.
+Captain Cayo was stationed where he could make a sure thing of the
+capture of Cornwood as soon as he leaped on board.
+
+Nearer and nearer came the Islander to the point. As soon as she showed
+her bowsprit beyond it, I was to give the word to cast off. I could see
+nothing to prevent the success of the elaborate plan we had made, and I
+was satisfied that Colonel Shepard would be in possession of his
+steam-yacht within five minutes.
+
+"Let go and haul in!" I called to Ben Bowman, at the hawser.
+
+The assistant engineer did not permit an instant to elapse before he
+and his two helpers were hauling on the rope with all their might.
+
+The moment I saw that the hawser was running free, I rang the gong to
+go ahead, with the helm hard a-starboard. I heard the screw turn a
+couple of times, and then it stopped. I did not quite understand this.
+The next thing I saw was Moses rushing on the forecastle.
+
+"The propeller is fouled in a root or a rope, Alick!" exclaimed he.
+"Back her a stroke or two, and it may clear itself."
+
+I rang to back her as he rushed aft to the engine-room. By this time
+the Islander was fairly abreast of us, and I feared that our elaborate
+scheme had failed. But we were seventy-five miles from New Orleans, and
+there was time enough for as lively a race as ever was seen on the
+"Father of Waters."
+
+I rang again to stop the engine, and then to start it. It went hard,
+and I heard some snapping near the stern. It was evident that the screw
+had been fouled in a root, and I was afraid it might have been twisted
+into the propeller. I stopped the engine again. When I found the screw
+did not move freely I ran aft, and found Hop Tossford had climbed over
+the stern with a boat-hook in his hand, and was punching in the
+direction of the propeller.
+
+"It's a crocodile!" he exclaimed. "There it goes!"
+
+I saw the creature rise to the top of the water. Hop was English, and
+Englishmen are apt to call all saurians by this name. I should not have
+expected to see the real alligator so near the salt water, for I had
+heard that only crocodiles proper lived or thrived in salt water. It
+may have been one washed out from some bayou by the high water, which
+was prevailing at this time, or it may have been the real crocodile. I
+did not stop then to reason about this case in natural history; but as
+soon as I saw the mangled reptile, which was about ten feet long, on
+the surface of the water, I hastened to the pilot-house, and started
+the screw again. This time it moved freely, and I concluded that the
+saurian had been resting on the blades of the propeller when it began
+to turn.
+
+By this time the Islander had made about a quarter of a mile, as I
+judged, against the swift current. But there was now no chance for her
+to dodge us. Our fires were in excellent condition, for the fireman had
+been forcing them for twenty minutes.
+
+"A miss hit," said Captain Cayo, coming into the pilot-house, when it
+was clear that the capture would not come off immediately.
+
+"I suppose that alligator went down to drink when we came up to the
+bank of the river," I replied. "But he has the worst of it, for the
+screw has smashed him."
+
+I saw the saurian floating motionless down stream, and the screw had
+evidently made short work of him.
+
+"I am sorry the rascal interfered with our affair," added the pilot.
+
+"The game is not up yet. We shall have an opportunity to learn which is
+the faster steamer," I replied.
+
+"The current must be running five or six miles an hour here," said
+Captain Cayo.
+
+"About five miles an hour is the usual rate of the Mississippi," I
+answered. "But it runs just as fast for the Islander as it does for the
+Sylvania."
+
+"That's true; and I doubt if either steamer is making more than six or
+seven knots an hour."
+
+"The Islander is sheering off from us towards the middle of the river,
+and that is where she is making her mistake."
+
+"Why so?" asked the pilot.
+
+"Because the current is swifter in the middle of the stream than near
+the banks, for the friction of the shore has some effect on its flow."
+
+"That is bringing it down to a fine point," said Captain Cayo,
+laughing, for he was entirely unused to river navigation.
+
+I kept the Sylvania as near the shore as I deemed it prudent to go,
+while the Islander went in the middle of the river, as if her captain
+desired to avoid falling into any possible trap. The wind was southerly
+and quite fresh. I directed the mate to shake out the fore squaresail
+and the fore topsail. In twenty minutes, by the clock in the
+pilot-house, we were abreast of the Islander, but half a mile from her,
+for she was still in the middle of the river. By this time, Captain
+Blastblow evidently saw his mistake in not setting his squaresails, for
+the wind was blowing about half a gale.
+
+I put the helm about a half a point nearer to the course of the other
+steamer. I immediately noticed that her pilot made a corresponding
+change in her helm. Moses kept an eye on her, and understood the game
+perfectly. I did not attempt to run any closer to her, for a turn in
+the river would soon bring the Sylvania alongside of her. If the vessel
+attempted to go any nearer the shore, she would have to stand out again
+in order to pass the bend above. In a word, the Islander was cornered.
+
+Captain Blastblow could not help realizing the situation of the steamer
+he sailed. Too late he sent his men aloft to loose the squaresail.
+Before they could get the gasket off, I had to port the helm to prevent
+striking the other steamer. All our hands were in position to do the
+parts before assigned to them.
+
+I kept a sharp watch upon the actions of the Islander to meet any
+change in her course. I saw Captain Blastblow in the pilot-house at the
+wheel. He looked very nervous and disturbed, and I did not wonder at
+it.
+
+"Sheer off, or you will be afoul of us!" shouted the captain of the
+runaway steamer.
+
+[Illustration: "Sheer off, or you will be afoul of us!" _Page 206._]
+
+At the same moment he rang his gong to stop her. I rang mine also the
+moment I heard the other. Moses was standing by his lever and wheel,
+and I think the Sylvania was stopped before the Islander. Of course we
+continued to go ahead under the impulse of the momentum given the two
+boats.
+
+Very cautiously I put the helm to starboard, and in a moment the two
+boats touched each other, but without any shock or crash. The two hands
+assigned to the duty sprang upon the forecastle of the Islander, and
+made fast the rope they carried to the bowsprit-bitts. At the same
+instant, Captain Cayo and Buck Lingley leaped into the waist of the
+steamer. I saw Cornwood and Nick on the hurricane-deck, though they
+began to make their exit as soon as we came alongside. The pilot knew
+his men well, and before the Floridian could leave the hurricane-deck,
+he had taken him rather unceremoniously by the collar.
+
+Buck did not know Nick Boomsby, but the simple fact that he was with
+Cornwood satisfied him that he was the person he wanted. I saw that
+Cornwood began to look magnificent, and to show fight, while Nick acted
+like a sick kitten.
+
+Colonel Shepard hastened to follow the pilot on board, and met Captain
+Blastblow coming out of the pilot-house to ascertain what the matter
+was.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+HOW NICK BOOMSBY MANAGED HIS CASE.
+
+
+We had hardly accomplished our introductory work before I saw that both
+steamers, which we had secured together with a stern as well as a bow
+line, had been set back by the rapid current, and had begun to drift
+down the river. I rang for the Sylvania to go ahead, and then called
+upon Hop Tossford to take the wheel. I did not care to tow the Islander
+against the swift current. I satisfied myself that the bow and stern
+lines were properly made fast, and then went on board of the other
+steamer.
+
+I found that Colonel Shepard was inclined to let his angry passions
+rise, as he saw Captain Blastblow approaching him, for which I could
+not very strongly blame him. I had called to him before I went on board
+of the Islander, and he had come aft to meet me. I suggested that he
+should put Washburn in charge of the vessel until matters had been
+explained. He promptly acquiesced, and I sent the mate to the
+pilot-house of the prize, with instructions to keep her as near the
+right bank of the river as it was prudent to go, and to direct the
+wheelman of the Sylvania at the same time.
+
+"Do I understand you to take the command of the Islander out of my
+hands, Colonel Shepard?" demanded Captain Blastblow, as he heard me
+instruct Washburn what to do.
+
+"For the present, yes," replied the colonel, decidedly and sternly, as
+though he intended no more mistakes should be made.
+
+"This is rather sudden, for I haven't the least idea that I have done
+anything to displease you," replied the captain, struggling to keep his
+temper.
+
+"What have you been doing with this steamer? What induced you to run
+away with her? Why have you taken so great pains to keep away from the
+Sylvania?" asked Colonel Shepard, in a severe tone.
+
+"I have tried to obey my instructions in every particular," replied
+Captain Blastblow, apparently more in astonishment than in anger.
+
+"Have you had any instruction to run away with my steam-yacht?"
+
+"I certainly had no instructions to run away with her; and I am not
+aware that I have done anything of that kind," answered the captain.
+
+"There has been some mistake, Colonel Shepard," I interposed. "I think
+we had better go into the pilot-house and talk it over."
+
+Without making any reply, both of the belligerents followed me forward.
+I was quite as anxious to ascertain what had become of Cornwood and
+Nick Boomsby as I was to have Captain Blastblow explain his singular
+conduct. I found Captain Cayo on the forecastle, holding his prisoner
+by the collar of his coat, while Nick was in the care of Buck, on the
+port side of the house on deck. The former seemed disposed to resist,
+though he was not willing to risk a conflict with his swarthy captor.
+
+"What do you mean by laying hands upon me, you rascal?" demanded
+Cornwood.
+
+"Don't use any hard words, Cornwood," added the pilot, coolly. "I obey
+my orders, and don't answer any questions."
+
+"I don't know anything about your orders; and no one had any right to
+give you any orders to lay hands on me," foamed Cornwood.
+
+The prisoner began to demonstrate rather violently; he made a spring at
+the throat of the pilot; but the latter was too quick and too strong
+for him. They clinched together, and then Cornwood went down upon the
+deck. Captain Cayo put his foot on the chest of the prostrate
+Floridian, and held him down.
+
+"I think we had better put a rope around this man's arms," said the
+pilot, without taking his eyes from his prisoner. "That would keep him
+quiet and well-behaved."
+
+I picked up a piece of line, and handed it to him. He tipped Cornwood
+as carelessly as though he had been a shark, and proceeded to bind his
+arms behind him. The Floridian attempted to resist again; but the foot
+of the pilot pressed more heavily upon him as he did so, and he found
+it impossible to get upon his feet again.
+
+Captain Cayo drew the arms of the captive up behind him, and quickly
+fastened them. Then he took him by the collar, and stood him up on his
+feet. Cornwood looked unutterably scornful at me; and I doubt if he
+would have made any trouble if I had not been present. Judging by his
+looks, he appeared to regard me with intense hatred. I had interfered
+with some of his schemes before, and from the particular attention he
+bestowed upon me, I came to the conclusion that he considered me the
+author of his present misfortune.
+
+"Why am I treated in this brutal manner?" demanded Cornwood, turning
+his gaze from me to Captain Blastblow.
+
+"I don't know anything at all about it," replied the captain. "There
+are several things I don't understand about this business; but I am
+willing to be informed."
+
+"I suppose I owe all this to you, Captain Garningham," added Cornwood,
+giving me a savage look.
+
+"On the contrary, I think you owe it all to yourself," I replied. "If I
+remember rightly, you were to detain the Islander at Key West. Instead
+of doing this, she runs out of the harbor as soon as the Sylvania comes
+in sight."
+
+"It's none of your business, Garningham. Do you own the Islander?"
+
+"I think we had better go into the pilot-house and talk the case over,"
+I added. "We shall soon find out what the matter is."
+
+I led the way, and we seated ourselves in the pilot-house. I had
+indicated this place because I wanted to hear the explanation of the
+captain of the Islander.
+
+"Captain Blastblow, your conduct has astonished me," said Colonel
+Shepard, more calmly than he had spoken at first.
+
+"I am sorry for it, sir, for I have tried to do just as I was
+instructed," answered the captain, meekly, and apparently as much
+astonished as his owner. "I know my place, and I always expect to do
+just what my employer expects of me."
+
+"I did not expect you to run away with my steam-yacht, when all my
+family were waiting to go in her," added the colonel, becoming more
+indignant as he rehearsed the incidents of the morning we left
+Jacksonville.
+
+"But your going in the Islander depended on your business; and when I
+saw you the morning before we sailed, you could not tell what you would
+do. You instructed me to water and provision the vessel, and wait for
+further orders. Towards evening, you sent off a card by young Boomsby,
+directing me to have steam up and be ready to sail early in the
+morning. I was ready to go by six o'clock," answered the captain,
+taking from his desk in the pilot-house a package of papers, from which
+he selected the card sent off by Nick. "Is it all straight so far?"
+
+"Entirely: it was just as you say. I received a letter by the afternoon
+mail, which assured me a business matter would allow me to be absent
+from New York a month or six weeks longer; and I decided to go up the
+river with the Sylvania."
+
+"I didn't ask questions, or inquire into your business. All I had to do
+was to obey the orders of my owner," added Captain Blastblow. "I made
+sure that everything on board was ready for the voyage before I turned
+in that night. By half-past five in the morning we had steam enough on
+to sail down the river. It was about half-past six when your friend,
+Mr. Boomsby, came----"
+
+"My friend, Mr. Boomsby!" exclaimed the colonel. "I never even saw my
+friend, Mr. Boomsby, that I know of."
+
+"I only know that you called him your friend yourself," replied Captain
+Blastblow.
+
+"I called him so! How could I call him so when I had no acquaintance
+with him?" demanded the owner, with a smile of incredulity.
+
+"I don't know anything about that," continued the captain, fumbling
+over the papers he had taken from his desk. "I learned to read writing
+when I was a boy; and that was what you wrote."
+
+"I never wrote anything of the kind, Captain Blastblow. But never mind
+that: go on with your story," added the colonel.
+
+"I can prove all that I say, sir. Your friend, Mr. Boomsby, as you
+called him in your letter, came on board about half-past six, and gave
+me your instructions to proceed to New Orleans as soon as I got the
+letter."
+
+"I sent you no such letter, Captain Blastblow," protested Colonel
+Shepard. "I never wrote any such letter; some one has been playing a
+trick on you."
+
+"But I have the letter in your own handwriting," pleaded the captain.
+"I will read it to you. It is dated at the St. James Hotel, with a
+picture of the house, and the heading printed upon it. Here is what it
+says:--
+
+    CAPTAIN BLASTBLOW:
+
+    I have received a despatch which will prevent me from leaving
+    Jacksonville for a few days. You will proceed to New Orleans as
+    soon as you get this letter; and I will go there by land with my
+    family. For reasons I will explain to you some other time, I want
+    you to keep out of the way of the Sylvania. I have made a bet that
+    the Islander will get to New Orleans first; and I expect, from what
+    you said, you will win the bet for me. This letter will be
+    delivered to you by my friend, Mr. Boomsby, who will take passage
+    with you; and you will treat him as well as you would me."
+
+    Yours truly,
+
+    P. G. SHEPARD.
+
+"If those instructions are not as plain talk as any shipmaster could
+desire, I should like to know what would be plain," continued Captain
+Blastblow, as he finished the reading of the letter. "I hove up the
+anchor at once, and rang to go ahead. I was ordered to keep out of the
+way of the Sylvania, and I have done my best to avoid her."
+
+"But I did not write that letter, Captain Blastblow," repeated the
+owner; and by this time we were all rather amused at the straightforward
+earnestness of the captain of the Islander. "Let me see the letter,
+if you please."
+
+The captain handed him the letter. Colonel Shepard examined it
+critically. He shook his head as he did so.
+
+"I must acknowledge that the writing looks very much like mine," he
+said, after he had read it through and examined it in every part. "Who
+could have written it?"
+
+"Nick Boomsby wrote it, without a doubt," I replied. "I went to school
+with him, and he was a good penman, though that was about all he was as
+a scholar."
+
+"Is that my friend, Mr. Boomsby?" asked the colonel, laughing heartily.
+
+"The same person; and he has become a swell of the first magnitude," I
+replied. "If I had known, or suspected, before we got to Key West, that
+Nick was on board of her, I could have explained the strange conduct of
+the Islander, and why she so carefully kept out of our way."
+
+I gave a full account of the robbery of the bank messenger in the
+saloon of Nick's father, dwelling upon the efforts Nick had made to
+arrest Buckner. I stated that he had tried to obtain a passage to New
+Orleans in the Sylvania, that I had refused to let him go in her, and
+had taken care that he did not become a stowaway on board of her. I
+added that Nick told me of his intention to run away from his home, and
+seek his fortune in some other part of the country.
+
+"I have no doubt that Nick stole the four thousand dollars the
+messenger laid on the counter, and resorted to the trick of forging a
+letter to Captain Blastblow, so that he could get the Islander off
+ahead of the Sylvania," I continued.
+
+"But how is it that Cornwood did not stop the Islander at Key West, as
+it appears he got on board of her there?" asked Colonel Shepard, deeply
+interested in the narrative.
+
+"I think you will have to ask Cornwood about that," I replied. "I am a
+Yankee, and I can guess what he meant."
+
+"I don't know that I care about any guessing, Captain Alick; but if you
+have any theory with a base under it, I should like to hear it," said
+Colonel Shepard.
+
+"I think Cornwood was well assured that Nick was on board of the
+Islander when you sent him to intercept the steamer at Key West," I
+answered. "Cornwood would not have gone on such a wild-goose chase for
+nothing. According to the testimony of Captain Cayo, Cornwood and Nick
+had very earnest conversation at Key West."
+
+"I don't think it's any use to speculate over the case," interposed
+Captain Blastblow. "Let us search for the money."
+
+We all agreed that this was the next thing to do.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A SEARCH FOR THE LOST TREASURE.
+
+
+The two steamers had passed the bend of the river, and we had gone by
+forts Jackson and St. Philip without a word being said of the
+historical events which were connected with them. We were too busy with
+the inquiry before us to give any attention to the surroundings, though
+I could see that our passengers on board the Sylvania were discussing
+what they saw on the mighty river. But nothing could have been more
+uninteresting than the banks of the river near its delta.
+
+It was a season of high water, and the low lands beyond the levee on
+either side were overflowed. Occasionally we passed a vessel going down
+the stream, or a powerful skeleton-tug dragging a ship against the
+rapid current. There was little to be seen besides the muddy flow of
+the stream all around us, and the fringe of trees that grew on the
+levee.
+
+If the theory we had advanced, and supported by such evidence as we
+had, was correct, the four thousand dollars the bank messenger had lost
+were on board the Islander. If Nick had taken the package, he had not
+left it behind him when he started out on his travels. We went down
+into the after-cabin. The captain said Nick had occupied the large
+state-room on the starboard side, while Cornwood had taken possession
+of the corresponding one on the port side. We found enough of the
+effects of each in his state-room to settle the question of his
+occupancy of the room. Four thousand dollars was a large sum of money,
+and we did not expect to find it lying around loosely in the room of
+either.
+
+Captain Blastblow volunteered to examine Cornwood's state-room, while I
+rendered the same service in that of Nick Boomsby. I found a bundle
+which contained the runaway's clothing. I searched it thoroughly, but
+there was no package of any kind in it. I opened all the drawers and
+lockers in the room with no better success. I tore the bed to pieces
+and removed the berth sack. The latter was a hair mattress of the best
+quality. I looked to see if it had been ripped open in any place, and
+then felt of it in every part, but without discovering anything like a
+foreign substance in it.
+
+Under the berth, or rather bedstead, was a considerable space, where a
+trunk or other package could be placed. I lighted the lamp in the
+state-room, and took it from the gimbals, for it was dark under the
+bed. I looked and felt in every part of the space, but I had no better
+success. I examined every hole and corner in the state-room, but found
+no such package as that for which I was looking.
+
+"I find nothing that looks like money," I said to Colonel Shepard, who
+was watching the operations with deep interest.
+
+"Blastblow has no better luck in the other state-room. Do you conclude
+from this fact that you have been mistaken?" inquired the owner of the
+Islander.
+
+"I do not; I feel morally sure that Nick took that money," I replied,
+confidently.
+
+"You may be mistaken, Captain Alick," added Colonel Shepard, with a
+smile. "If he took the package we should be likely to find it in his
+room."
+
+"I grant that I expected to find it here; or a part of the money in
+this room, and the rest of it in Cornwood's state-room," I added,
+rather warmly. "There are other places where the package could have
+been concealed."
+
+"That is true; but Nick's room was the place where he was most likely
+to put it."
+
+"I think so myself; but Nick has had the advice of Cornwood since the
+Islander reached Key West."
+
+"Cornwood is a cunning rogue, I know."
+
+"If we had suspected that Nick was on board the Islander, we might have
+telegraphed to the police at Key West to arrest him and detain the
+steamer," I continued. "I am satisfied that Cornwood would not have
+gone to Key West if he had not expected to find Nick on board of the
+Islander. At least, he would not have gone without the hundred dollars
+he asked to pay his expenses in advance."
+
+"Your logic seems to be entirely correct, but the facts so far do not
+seem to bear out the theory," laughed the colonel. "But I have
+recovered my steam-yacht, and I am entirely happy over the result so
+far."
+
+"I have no desire to prove that Nick Boomsby is a thief and a rascal;
+on the contrary, I should be glad to have him relieved of the suspicion
+that hangs to him just now. Cornwood may have considered that the
+state-rooms were the most unsafe places on board of the vessel to
+conceal the money, and even Nick himself may have come to this
+conclusion before he had seen Cornwood."
+
+"There is some reason in that," said the colonel. "Everybody in
+Jacksonville knew that both yachts were bound to New Orleans. Nick may
+have suspected that he would be charged with the robbery. He is old
+enough to understand all about the telegraph, and he may have put the
+money where it was not likely to be found, or if found, might not
+appear to have any connection with him."
+
+Captain Blastblow had made as thorough a search in the port as I had in
+the starboard state-room, and had joined us in the cabin while we were
+talking about the matter. He seemed to fall in with our reasoning, and
+expressed his satisfaction that he had not been boarded by officers,
+who might have suspected him of being concerned in the robbery of the
+bank messenger.
+
+"Cornwood has been on board of the Islander three days now," I said.
+"Have you seen much of him, Captain Blastblow, during this time?"
+
+"Very little indeed. From the time he came on board Sunday, I think I
+hardly saw him at all until Monday afternoon. He was in close
+conversation with Mr. Boomsby most of the time, the steward said to me.
+The first night they sat up till after midnight; and Lonsdale says
+there was a good deal of strong talk between them," replied the
+captain.
+
+"Do you know what it was about?" I asked.
+
+"I haven't the least idea. I inquired how the passengers were getting
+on, and Lonsdale told me he thought they were in some kind of a
+quarrel."
+
+"You don't spend any of your time in the cabin, do you, Captain
+Blastblow?" asked the owner.
+
+"I haven't had time even to come into it on this trip, though I intend
+to go through it every day, to see that everything is in order. I have
+had all I could do the last week to look out for the vessel, with two
+heavy gales and plenty of fog," replied the captain. "I had to make a
+harbor at Matanzas Inlet, and again at Tavernier's, for I was afraid
+this little craft would roll her engine out of her."
+
+"We kept on through the whole of it Friday night," I added.
+
+"You were outside of the reef, and you could not make a harbor,"
+retorted Captain Blastblow. "But I got to Key West two hours before you
+did."
+
+"You did not go to the assistance of a wrecked bark as I did, and land
+her ship's company in Key West," I replied.
+
+The captain of the Islander wanted to know about the wreck; and at
+another time I told him all about it. We were too much concerned in
+verifying our theory in relation to the robbery in Jacksonville to
+agree to any long digression.
+
+"Is the steward the only person who has been a constant visitor to the
+cabin?" I asked.
+
+"Gibbs, the waiter, did all the work in the cabin; and he must have
+seen more of the passengers than even the steward," replied the
+captain.
+
+"Where is Gibbs?"
+
+"Probably on deck, or asleep in some corner."
+
+"Perhaps we had better call the steward and waiter," suggested Colonel
+Shepard.
+
+The captain went to the head of the companion-way, and called the
+steward. Mr. Lonsdale had not spent much time in the cabin, though he
+slept in one of the berths abaft the state-rooms. He confirmed the
+statement of the captain that there had been a great deal of earnest
+conversation between the Floridian and the "young swell." He never
+listened to private conversation, and he had not the remotest idea what
+they were talking about. Perhaps Gibbs, the waiter, might know more
+about the matter than he did.
+
+Gibbs was found to be fast asleep on a sofa in the after part of the
+cabin. He knew nothing at all about what had happened since the
+Islander came into the river, and appeared to be not a little surprised
+when he saw the owner and myself. He was a light Mulatto, a very
+good-looking fellow, and I judged that he was intelligent.
+
+"Where are the passengers, Gibbs?" asked Captain Blastblow.
+
+"I don't know, sir; somewhere about the vessel, I suppose; most likely
+asleep in the staterooms," replied the waiter.
+
+"Where do they spend their time when they are below?" continued the
+captain, in an easy and indifferent tone.
+
+Gibbs answered the question in a very indefinite manner. The passengers
+were mostly in their state-rooms, on the sofa, or sitting in the
+chairs.
+
+"Have you noticed them in any particular place in the cabin, except in
+their state-rooms, in the chairs, or on the sofas?" I asked, with
+considerable energy, for the waiter seemed to be rather stupid and
+bewildered, and I thought he needed something to wake him up.
+
+"Yes, sir; I seen them both on the cabin floor this morning," answered
+Gibbs, with more life in his tones and manner than I had seen before.
+
+"On the floor!" exclaimed Colonel Shepard. "What were they doing on the
+floor?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. I had cleared away the breakfast-dishes, and went
+on deck to smoke. I found it a little cool, and I came down again for
+my coat," replied Gibbs, talking quite glibly now. "As soon as I came
+down stairs, they got up."
+
+"Where were they at the time?" I inquired.
+
+"Right under the companion-way, sir."
+
+"And you could not tell what they were doing on the floor?"
+
+"No, sir; they were crawling out from under the companion-way when I
+saw them."
+
+We questioned the steward and the waiter for some time longer, but we
+got nothing more out of them. We asked the captain to send them on
+deck, and to direct Captain Cayo and Buck Lingley not to allow any
+person to communicate with their prisoners.
+
+The companion-way consisted of stairs with steps, but with no risers to
+obstruct the light from the stern ports. It was not probable that the
+passengers had secreted the bills forming the package in such a place
+as this. But we carefully examined every foot of space under the
+companion-way. We were about to give up the search in this part of the
+cabin, when I felt something under the carpet, beneath the lower step.
+I found that a portion of the carpet had been torn up, and I pulled it
+over. Reaching it again, I felt the package more distinctly; but I was
+disappointed because it seemed to be too small for the one that had
+been lost. I drew it out.
+
+"This can't be it," I said. "It is not more than half the size of the
+one the messenger laid on the counter in the saloon."
+
+"It ought not to be more than half as large," added the colonel. "It
+appears that there has been some earnest talk among the passengers of
+the Islander. What could this have been about except the division of
+the spoils?"
+
+While he was speaking, I had taken off the paper which inclosed the
+package. It was the same color as that I had seen in the saloon. On
+removing the covering, I came to the two tin plates, and saw a pile of
+money, in bills, between them.
+
+"Of course there is only one half of the plunder, and Boomsby divided
+with Cornwood," said Colonel Shepard.
+
+"Where is the other half?" I asked, blankly.
+
+"I have no doubt this half belongs to my friend Mr. Boomsby; and I have
+no more doubt Cornwood would have stolen it by the time they got to New
+Orleans," added the colonel.
+
+We concluded that it would not be as easy to find the second half of
+the treasure as it had been the first.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE THEORY AND THE FACTS.
+
+
+We spent an hour in searching in every nook and corner of the cabin for
+the other half of the lost treasure. Cornwood had not been stupid
+enough to put it under the companion-way; and Nick had been stupid
+enough to let his companion know where he had hidden his own share. As
+Colonel Shepard had suggested, it was probable that the Floridian meant
+to take it before he went on shore at New Orleans. Cornwood had not
+concealed his share of the treasure in the cabin of the Islander, and
+we could think of no other place where he was at all likely to deposit
+it.
+
+"I think he has too long a head to hide his money anywhere," interposed
+Captain Blastblow. "I should say that any man was a natural fool to
+hide his money in a vessel, under such circumstances as these fellows
+came on board of the steamer. In my opinion, he has concealed the
+money on his person, for you seem to have no doubt that he divided with
+the young swell."
+
+"That looks very reasonable," added Colonel Shepard. "I think if I had
+a large sum on board of a vessel, I should provide myself with a
+money-belt, and keep the treasure in it at all times."
+
+"All we have to do is to search him," said Captain Blastblow. "We shall
+soon find out whether or not he is a party to the robbery. I suppose
+there isn't any doubt about the young swell, as the steward called him,
+and which I think is the best description of him."
+
+"The package, with the two tin plates, precisely answers the
+description given of it by the man that lost it," I replied. "But I
+doubt whether we have any right to search Cornwood. We are not
+officers, and we are now in the State of Louisiana."
+
+"We have as much right to search him as we had to lay hands on him when
+we came alongside of the Islander," replied Colonel Shepard. "I think
+we can get at the truth better than any court can. At any rate, he has
+taken part in stealing my steam-yacht; and I think I have some hold on
+him. If it turns out that he has not the money on him, I have no doubt
+I can make it all right with him. I am willing to take the
+responsibility."
+
+"All right. I will help your man bring him down here, for I think we
+had better not say anything to Mr. Boomsby until we have settled where
+the other half of the money is," said Captain Blastblow.
+
+"Bring him down here," replied the colonel.
+
+The captain soon returned with the pilot, having Cornwood between them.
+The prisoner seemed to be somewhat bewildered, for no charge had yet
+been preferred against him.
+
+"Mr. Cornwood, you seem to be acting in a different role than that for
+which I engaged you at St. Augustine," said Colonel Shepard, when the
+pilot had put his prisoner into a chair.
+
+"It was my intention to place the steamer in your hands by the time you
+arrived in Key West," replied Cornwood, with dignity.
+
+"You gave me a letter when you came on board the Islander at Key West,"
+said Captain Blastblow, savagely, to the prisoner.
+
+"I gave you the owner's letter," added Cornwood.
+
+"No, you didn't! you gave me this letter," continued the captain,
+taking a paper from his pocket. "Is this your letter, Colonel Shepard?"
+
+He gave the letter to his owner. The colonel looked at it and laughed.
+
+"This is not so good an imitation of my handwriting as the other
+letter," he added. "I never wrote a line of this letter. It favors the
+theory we have adopted, and I will give it to you."
+
+    CAPTAIN BLASTBLOW.
+
+    DEAR SIR: This letter will be delivered to you by my excellent
+    friend, Mr. Kirby Cornwood, who has been my companion during my
+    trip to the interior of Florida, and I commend him to your
+    acquaintance and good offices. You will give him a state-room on
+    board of the Islander, for he will make the trip with you to New
+    Orleans. You will continue to avoid the Sylvania, and in all
+    matters relating to the steamer you will take the advice of Mr.
+    Cornwood, in whose fidelity and good judgment I have entire
+    confidence.
+
+    Very truly yours,
+
+    P. G. SHEPARD.
+
+"My excellent friend, Mr. Kirby Cornwood!" exclaimed the colonel. "Did
+you ever know a man to have so many excellent friends as I have? Why,
+they are all willing to sacrifice themselves, and take my steam-yacht
+and run her at my expense, and even without my knowledge."
+
+"You did not write that letter, colonel?" asked Captain Blastblow.
+
+"Of course I did not," replied the owner, warmly. "Why, the writing is
+quite different from that given to you by my friend, Mr. Boomsby."
+
+"I am afraid I shall not be willing to take any written orders after
+this, unless the signature is witnessed by some one I know. I am sure I
+did not think of such a thing as a counterfeit letter. But did you send
+any letter to me by your excellent friend, Mr. Kirby Cornwood?" asked
+Captain Blastblow.
+
+"I did send a letter to you by him, instructing you to wait at Key West
+till my arrival there," replied the colonel.
+
+"Will you give me that letter, Mr. Kirby Cornwood?" demanded the
+captain, addressing the prisoner in a very vigorous manner.
+
+"I gave you the letter I received from Colonel Shepard. I have no
+other," replied Cornwood, doggedly.
+
+"I don't believe you, when Colonel Shepard says he did not write that
+letter."
+
+"Do you mean to tell me I lie?" cried Cornwood.
+
+"That's the substance of what I mean," answered the captain, who seemed
+to hold the prisoner in utter contempt.
+
+"You are a coward, or you would not say that to a man with his arms
+tied behind him," returned Cornwood, repressing his wrath.
+
+"You invited me to say it, and I said it; and it wouldn't make any
+difference to me whether your arms were tied or not. But I want the
+other letter, and I am going to have it. Captain Cayo, we will search
+him, and then we shall know whether he has it or not," added Captain
+Blastblow.
+
+The captain and the pilot proceeded at once to execute the threat.
+Cornwood leaped from his chair, and began to kick at his two
+persecutors. He was boiling with rage, or with some other passion. But
+Captain Cayo seized him from behind by the shoulders, and threw him
+down before he could do any harm. The captain took from his pocket a
+strong cord he had evidently brought down for the purpose, and while
+the pilot held him down, tied his ankles together. They then began the
+search, examining all his pockets first. They found neither the money
+nor the letter.
+
+"We haven't gone deep enough," said Captain Blastblow, as he thrust his
+hand into the inside of Cornwood's shirt. The latter seemed to
+understand what this movement meant, and he renewed his struggles in
+the most desperate manner.
+
+Captain Cayo put his foot on Cornwood's chest, as he had done when he
+captured the Floridian, and compelled him to lie quiet. Then he threw
+up his manacled feet; but I took care of them by sitting down upon his
+legs. Captain Blastblow then proceeded with his search. He removed a
+portion of the prisoner's clothing above his trousers, and we could not
+help seeing the wash-leather belt he wore around his waist. He
+unbuckled it, and held it up before us.
+
+"Now you may take Mr. Kirby Cornwood on deck," said the captain, in a
+tone of triumph, as he felt the outside of the pocket-book attached to
+the belt.
+
+"Do you mean to rob me of my money? Have I fallen among thieves?"
+demanded Cornwood.
+
+"No; but we have," replied Captain Blastblow.
+
+"This is an outrage, and----"
+
+"Never mind that now; we will hear it another time," interposed the
+captain.
+
+"I protest against----"
+
+"All right," added the captain, as he seated himself at the
+cabin-table. "Go on deck, Mr. Kirby Cornwood, and take the air. It will
+do you good."
+
+The captain handed the money-belt to Colonel Shepard, who opened it,
+and took from the pocket a large pile of bank-notes.
+
+"That looks more like it," said the captain. "I don't believe that
+fellow will prosecute us for anything we have done. He belongs in the
+Florida state prison, if they have such an institution."
+
+"I think we had better count the money," I suggested, as I took the
+package we had found under the companion-way from my breast-pocket.
+
+"Yes, count, and see if the rascals made a fair 'divvy' of it," added
+the captain.
+
+Colonel Shepard began to count the bills he had taken from the
+money-belt, and I opened the package in my possession. As I did so, I
+found the words, "First National Bank of Florida," as if impressed by a
+stamp, on the wrapper. The two tin plates, by which I had been able to
+recognize the package, were made by cutting off the round ends of a
+pair of tins used for doubling papers and tearing off checks or other
+papers. I concluded they were a device of the bank messenger, by which
+he could square his package. When I had shown these things to the
+captain, I proceeded to count the money.
+
+"Just two thousand dollars," said the colonel, who finished his work
+long before I did mine.
+
+"Nineteen hundred and ninety," I added, when I had finished the count.
+
+"He may have taken out ten dollars," suggested the colonel.
+
+"I don't believe Cornwood did, for I found other money in his pockets,
+which I did not touch," added Captain Blastblow.
+
+"Count it over again, Captain Alick," said the colonel.
+
+I did so, laying off the bills in hundreds, as they amounted to this
+sum. My last lot came out right, and I had twenty piles. It made just
+two thousand dollars. It was clear now, if it had not been before, that
+Cornwood's visit to Key West related to Nick Boomsby, and not to the
+detention of the Islander when she arrived there. The equal division of
+the money explained the long and rather stormy conversations between
+the passengers of the Islander. Cornwood was smart, if he was nothing
+else in the way of honesty and uprightness. He had bullied and
+persuaded poor Nick Boomsby to give him half the money, and would
+probably have stolen the other half before the vessel got to New
+Orleans, if we had not captured her on the way.
+
+I was sorry for Nick Boomsby, for he had been the playmate of my early
+years; not so sorry that he had been found out as that he could commit
+a crime. But I could hardly wonder at his guilt when I thought of what
+his father had done, and what an example he had given his son. I
+thought the father was almost, if not quite, as much to blame as the
+son.
+
+"What shall be done with this money?" asked Colonel Shepard, when he
+had wrapped up both divisions of the money and the money-belt in one
+package.
+
+"What shall we do with our two prisoners?" I inquired, in answer to the
+question.
+
+"We can hand them over to the police in New Orleans," replied the
+colonel.
+
+"Then we can hand the money also over to them," I added. "Probably the
+news of the robbery of the messenger has been in half the newspapers in
+the country, and the police of all the large cities will know all about
+the case."
+
+It was finally agreed that my father should keep the money till we
+arrived at New Orleans, as he would be in another steamer from the
+robbers. Colonel Shepard decided to go on board of the Islander at
+once, and his family were assisted to their new quarters.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+UP THE MISSISSIPPI.
+
+
+As soon as we had transferred the family of Colonel Shepard to the
+Islander, we unlashed the two vessels, and each stemmed the swift
+current of the Mississippi on its own account. I stopped the screw to
+allow the other steamer to go clear of the Sylvania, and she went ahead
+several lengths before we could recover our headway. I saw Captain
+Blastblow waving his adieus to me, as though he intended to run away
+from us, notwithstanding his former experience.
+
+"Let her out, Moses," I called to the engineer through the
+speaking-tube.
+
+The chief engineer understood me perfectly, and I immediately heard the
+sound of the coal-shovel in the fire-room. I saw from the smoke issuing
+from the smoke-stack of the Islander, that her captain intended to
+hurry her. I had beaten her several times to my own satisfaction; and I
+was certain that he could not sail her any faster than those who had
+handled her on the Great Lakes. I did not like the idea of having the
+Sylvania beaten, though I was not much inclined to race for any reason.
+
+It was Washburn's watch, and I gave him the wheel. I had run the
+steamer over on the left bank of the river, and the mate kept her at a
+safe distance from the shore. It was soon evident to me that we were
+gaining on the Islander. We were overhauling her as we had done many
+times before Captain Blastblow had proved that he was a good seaman, as
+well as an upright and straightforward man. He had intimated that he
+could sail the Islander faster than I could the Sylvania; and I only
+desired to show him that he was mistaken.
+
+While the race was in progress, I went down into the cabin to arrange
+about changing the passengers into other quarters. Four of the late
+occupants of the cabin, besides Chloe, had gone on board of Colonel
+Shepard's yacht, and four were left in the Sylvania. There was a
+state-room for each of them, and I proposed that they should arrange
+the matter among themselves. But my father insisted that I should do
+it myself. I put my father and Mr. Tiffany into the two large
+apartments, and Miss Margie and Owen into the two small ones.
+Cobbington and the new waiter each had a berth, and there were still
+two spare ones. Everybody was entirely satisfied, though I could see
+that Owen was very sorry that Miss Edith had moved into the Islander.
+
+When I went on deck the Sylvania was abreast of the Islander. Both
+steamers were tugging hard against the current, and each was carrying
+all the steam it was safe to put on. Slowly we walked by the Islander,
+and I could not help going aft to see how Captain Blastblow liked the
+looks of the stern of the Sylvania. When he saw me, he laughed
+pleasantly, and I was convinced there was no bad feeling in his heart.
+I had no feeling of personal triumph, for I was satisfied he would have
+beaten me if we had exchanged vessels. The superiority was in the
+steamer, and not in the management.
+
+The river presented the same unvarying features, and in the whole of
+Plaquemine Parish, which contains the river almost up to New Orleans
+and the Delta, there is no land more than ten feet above the level of
+the gulf. The water was loaded with a sort of yellow mud, and it was
+easy enough to see how the levees had been formed and the Delta
+projected far out into the gulf.
+
+When the water, for any reason, lost its five-mile current, the soil it
+contained was deposited on the bottom. As the mighty stream brings its
+load of mud down to the gulf, it is left there, and the same force
+works it to each side. In this way, though the effect of a century of
+accumulations are hardly perceptible, the Delta has been extended
+fifteen or twenty miles out into the gulf.
+
+In this mud, which forms the bars at the mouth of the river, vessels
+drawing from sixteen to twenty feet ground; but their keels are driven
+through it by strong tugs, or even by the winds acting on the sails.
+The State of Louisiana has to look out for its levees almost as
+carefully as Holland does for its dikes. Millions have been spent on
+them, and every year requires additional expenditures to keep them in
+repair. Even New Orleans is four feet below high-water mark, as well as
+much of the surrounding country. The levees, created by the deposit of
+sediment from the river, and by human labor, are broken through when
+the freshets send the water down faster than the flow of the river will
+carry it off.
+
+As I have said before, it was now a season of unusually high water. The
+country beyond the levees was covered. Sugar, cotton, and rice
+plantations were inundated. Occasionally we could see a group of houses
+on a knoll, like an island, but a few inches above the level of the
+water. In other places we saw dwellings floating, and others still in
+their places, but partly submerged. It all looked to me like a region
+in which I should not care to live.
+
+"We are leaving the Islander a good way behind us," said Washburn, when
+I returned to the pilot-house, after my survey of the surrounding
+country.
+
+"She is only about half a mile astern of us," I replied. "I suppose we
+shall gain about half a mile an hour on her in this current, when we
+drive the Sylvania."
+
+"It is five o'clock in the afternoon," added the mate, glancing at the
+clock. "I estimate that we are all of fifty miles from New Orleans. Do
+you intend to run after dark, Alick?"
+
+"Why not?" I asked, somewhat surprised at the question.
+
+"I don't think it is quite prudent to do so. The river is very high,
+and I would rather see where we are going than go on in the dark,"
+answered Washburn.
+
+"The river is over a mile wide, and too deep for snags and sawyers."
+
+"It is cloudy now, and it will be very dark. We don't run by courses
+here, and we may get into trouble in some way, though I confess I can't
+see how."
+
+"We shall get to New Orleans by midnight," I added.
+
+"What good will it do to get there by midnight? As we approach the city
+there will be something to be seen, but our passengers can't see it in
+the night. If I understand the matter, we are in no hurry, and it makes
+no difference whether we get in to-night or to-morrow noon."
+
+"I think you are right, Washburn; at any rate it is best to be on the
+safe side. We will keep on as far as we can while we have the light,
+and then we will look out for a good place to tie up for the night," I
+answered.
+
+I had hardly come to a decision before we saw a large body floating
+down the river. We could not make out what it was at first. A bend of
+the river swept it over to the side on which we were sailing, and
+Washburn headed out for the middle to avoid it. We soon ascertained
+that it was an old flatboat, such as come down the great river with a
+cargo of coal, lumber, grain, or other merchandise, and is then broken
+up, because it will not pay its cost to take it back to the point from
+which it started.
+
+The flatboat came down the stream broadside to, though we saw it make
+two or three whirls as it advanced. It had evidently broken loose from
+its moorings at or near the city, and was on its way to the gulf on its
+own account. After passing the bend, the current began to carry it out
+into the middle of the river, and we were obliged to sheer off again to
+avoid a collision with it. I breathed easier when I saw it astern of
+the Sylvania.
+
+"I should not like to make that thing out, close aboard of us in the
+dark," said Washburn.
+
+"Would you like to have it drift against you while moored to the
+shore?" I asked.
+
+"I should not; but that would be better than hitting it with full steam
+on. But we must haul up in the right place. We needn't choose a place
+where the current sets against the shore, as it does at a bend. I
+should haul her up on the other side of the river, and then anything
+floating on its own hook will be carried away from us," replied
+Washburn.
+
+"The logic is correct, and we will seek such a place as you describe."
+
+The sight of the flatboat assured me that it was not safe to run in the
+night, at least during high water, when the current was bearing off
+houses, vessels, and other cumbrous things. Running over a floating log
+might disable our propeller, and we should be helpless then. There were
+but few great bends in this part of the river, much as the mighty
+stream twists about above New Orleans. I kept a lookout for a suitable
+place to moor the steamer to the shore.
+
+The supper-bell had just rung when I saw such a place as I had been
+looking for. On the right bank was a point of land where a considerable
+bend sent the whole force of the powerful current over to the other
+side of the river. I rang the bell to reduce the speed, as I pointed
+out the spot to the mate. He ran the nose of the boat up to the bank,
+and Buck jumped ashore with a line, with which a hawser was drawn to
+the land. It was made fast to a pine-tree, and no other line seemed to
+be needed.
+
+I could see the Islander about two miles down the river. We all went
+down to supper except a hand to notify us of danger from any source. I
+was not at my meal more than fifteen minutes, for I had dined late.
+When I came on deck, the Islander was almost abreast of the Sylvania.
+Colonel Shepard was in the pilot-house with the captain, and they
+seemed to be in earnest conversation.
+
+Probably Captain Blastblow had not thought of hauling up for the night
+any more than I had when Washburn spoke to me about the matter. I had
+no doubt they were discussing the same subject which the mate and I had
+disposed of.
+
+"What are you doing here, Captain Alick?" shouted Captain Blastblow, as
+he rang his speed-bell.
+
+"Waiting for the Islander to come up with us," I replied, laughing, for
+I could not be less good-natured than the captain of the Islander.
+
+"Did you have to tie up to the bank to wait?" asked Captain Blastblow;
+and by this time the steamer was working just steam enough to balance
+her in the current, so that she was nearly stationary.
+
+"We are going to lie here to-night," I replied.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Did you meet a flatboat floating down the river about an hour ago?" I
+asked, thinking that would furnish sufficient explanation of my action.
+
+"I did; I ran into it, and smashed in one of its sides so that it
+filled with water," answered Captain Blastblow.
+
+"Then the next man that meets it in the dark cannot see it as well as
+you did," I continued. "I don't think it is safe to run in the night
+when the river is full of floating logs, flatboats, and other things."
+
+The captain and the owner of the Islander discussed the subject, though
+I could not hear what they said. In a few minutes the captain rang the
+gong, and the steamer went ahead at full speed. I hoped no accident
+would happen to the Islander, and the chances were in favor of her
+reaching New Orleans in safety. But there was not much fun in paddling
+through the muddy river in the dark, let alone the prudence of doing
+so. My father and Owen came into the pilot-house after supper, and both
+of them approved what I had done.
+
+The Sylvania lay alongside the bank of the stream, held by the hawser,
+with her stern a little way out from the shore. At seven o'clock it was
+very dark, and I directed the watch I had set for the first part of the
+night to rig lanterns at the fore-stay and the topping lift of the
+main-boom. I had a quantity of Bengola lights put in the pilot-house,
+that we might light up the scene around us, if it should be desirable
+to do so.
+
+[Illustration: "I saw the Islander with a house hanging to her bow."
+_Page 252._]
+
+About nine o'clock I heard the noise of escaping steam, not more than
+half a mile distant. Then shouts came from the same direction. I
+lighted one of the fireworks, and in the glare I saw the Islander with
+a house hanging to her bow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+THE ISLANDER IN A BAD FIX.
+
+
+The silver light from the Bengola enabled me to see clearly the strange
+sight that presented itself to our gaze. Owen was smoking his cigar,
+and Washburn and my father were talking about India. The whistle and
+the shout from the steamer were the first intimations we had that
+anything was wrong. I could see some lights in the gloom that hung over
+the river, but nothing to enable me to ascertain the situation, until
+the Bengola illuminated the scene.
+
+It was a strange sight. I could not tell whether the building was a
+house or a stable, though it appeared to have too many windows for the
+latter. The Islander, it appeared, had run her bow into the structure
+up to the pilot-house. The steamer was still working her screw. But the
+odd complication floated slowly down the stream towards the bank of the
+river opposite the position of the Sylvania.
+
+"Call all hands!" I said, with energy. "Tell the engineer to stir up
+the fires."
+
+Washburn hastened to execute the orders, and the rest of us watched
+with increasing wonder the floating mass, which was every moment
+increasing its distance from us.
+
+"I say, Captain Alick, can you tell me what all that means?" asked Owen
+Garningham. "Was the Islander going into that house to spend the
+night?"
+
+"I really can't say whether she was or not; but it is not likely that
+the steamer went on shore for a night's lodging in the building," I
+replied.
+
+"I dare say the Islander could not handle herself very well on the
+land, if she found any land to get on," added Owen.
+
+"It is more likely that the house, or whatever it is, was afloat when
+the Islander knocked for admission," I continued.
+
+"If the steamer knocked, the house appears to have opened to her."
+
+"How is your steam, Moses?" I called through the tube to the engineer.
+
+"Rather low for working in this current," came back to me through the
+tube.
+
+At that moment the Islander whistled again. I pulled our whistle line,
+and found we had steam enough to give a smart reply; but I was not
+willing to trust the Sylvania to the rapid river without a full head of
+steam. I lighted another Bengola. In its glare I saw that the other
+steamer was backing her screw, as probably she had been doing from the
+beginning. I judged that the building was about fifty feet long, and,
+as it was partly submerged, it presented a large broadside to the rapid
+current.
+
+"I don't see how she got into that scrape, unless she was looking for a
+night's lodging," said Washburn. "That building is big enough to be
+seen in the dark."
+
+"Of course Captain Blastblow did not intend to run into it," I added.
+"Probably he had not time to get out of the way when he first saw it."
+
+"But it seems to me I should not go far with such a load before I shook
+it off."
+
+"But don't you see that he can't pull out of the house?" demanded Owen.
+"He is stuck fast in her side."
+
+"They have axes on board the Islander; and I don't think it would take
+our crew long to cut her out of that hole," added Washburn. "Why does
+she keep whistling? Her captain can imagine that we have not steam
+enough to work the Sylvania in such a current."
+
+"I say, Washy, have you ever been down the Danube?" asked Owen.
+
+"I never have been. I was never in Europe," replied the mate.
+
+"I should say this current is quite as swift as that of the Danube at
+Vienna; and it makes seven miles an hour there."
+
+"The ordinary current of the Mississippi is about five miles an hour,
+and in such a freshet it must be as much as seven."
+
+"What is a freshet, Mr. Mate?"
+
+"An inundation; an overflow of the water; a flood; a----"
+
+"Cut it short! I understand it perfectly. I never heard it called a
+freshet before. Has it anything to do with the fact that this is fresh
+water, Washy?"
+
+"I don't think it has, though I never heard of such a thing as a
+freshet in salt water, which could not very well be, since a freshet is
+caused by heavy rains and the melting of the snow," replied Washburn.
+"You never heard of a freshet before! Where have you been all your
+life?"
+
+"That's an American word, Mr. Washburn," interposed my father. "I never
+heard it except in this country."
+
+At this moment Mr. Tiffany and his daughter joined us in the
+pilot-house, after asking if they might come in. I gave them chairs and
+explained to them the rather ludicrous situation of the Islander. All
+hands were on the forecastle except the chief engineer and Landy
+Perkins. I ordered a Bengola to be burned on the top-gallant forecastle
+to enable them to see the Islander and its odd burden.
+
+"Mr. Brickland says he has steam enough," said Landy Perkins, reporting
+to me at the pilothouse.
+
+"All right," I replied. "Buck, cast off the hawser, when I bring her up
+to it."
+
+The end of the fast had been passed around a pine-tree, and made fast
+at the bitts, so that we could unmoor without going on shore. I rang to
+go ahead; and when the hawser was hauled in, I backed the steamer away
+from the bank. I directed the deck hands to keep the fireworks ablaze
+that I might see where to steer. I soon discovered the Islander and the
+building, and ran for them as fast as possible. As we had the current
+with us, we made at least fifteen miles an hour.
+
+As the Sylvania came nearer to her consort, I could better make out the
+condition of things on board of her. The building appeared to be some
+kind of a workshop. The Islander had drove her bow through its side. I
+concluded that some of the boarding and studding had not been broken
+off. The bow had carried them within the structure, and the lower ends
+had dropped down on the deck, and thus prevented the vessel from
+withdrawing her forward part.
+
+As we came nearer to her, I had our fenders hung over the port side. We
+had two gilded axes slung on the front of the pilot-house, which had
+probably never been taken from their resting-places. I told Ben Bowman
+to take one of these, and Dyer Perkins the other, for both of them had
+had some experience in the woods. I had made up my mind just where the
+trouble was. I directed Washburn to go on board of the Islander when we
+got alongside of her, and superintend the cutting away of the boards
+and joists, with two more men from the other steamer.
+
+Buck and Hop were to stand by the hawsers by which we were to make fast
+to the Islander. As soon as we came up abreast of the consort, I saw
+Colonel Shepard and his family on the quarter-deck. They were very much
+alarmed at the situation, for Mrs. Shepard was wringing her hands in
+terror, and the colonel was trying to comfort her. As soon as our bow
+came abreast of the party, Owen made a long leap to the deck of the
+Islander. It was a careless trick, and he deserved to fall overboard
+for risking his life when there was not the least need of it. As soon
+as we were fairly alongside our consort, the deck hands leaped on board
+of her with the fasts, and we were soon securely lashed together.
+
+"Stop your screw, Captain Blastblow!" I shouted, though I realized a
+moment later that I had no business to give orders to him, or to
+undertake to manage the business of the occasion.
+
+Washburn leaped on board with his two axe-men, and I heard him politely
+ask the captain to send two of his men with axes to assist him. Captain
+Blastblow not only stopped the steamer, but he instantly ordered his
+mate and another man to do what the mate of the Sylvania desired.
+
+"I think we had better go ahead, Captain Blastblow," I continued,
+trying to be less imperative than before.
+
+"If you see the way out of this scrape, Captain Alick, I am willing to
+do anything you say," replied the captain of the Islander.
+
+"I think I do see the way out of it; and the best plan is to go ahead,
+full steam," I answered.
+
+I had a theory, though I had had as yet no opportunity to test its
+correctness. I called Buck to the wheel, and told him to steer for the
+middle of the river. I was afraid if the building struck the bank it
+might be tumbled over on the steamers. I went on board of the Islander.
+I asked the captain to steer for the middle of the river, and then went
+forward into the building. My theory in regard to the boarding and
+studding was correct. Washburn was directing the four men, and
+assisting them himself, to pull out the boards and joists. They had
+little occasion to use the axes after the two steamers began to go
+ahead. Backing the Islander had tightened up every piece of lumber that
+had been forced in by the bow. The harder the boat pulled back, the
+more firmly the joists were held in their places. It was no wonder to
+me that the captain had not been able to shake off this unwieldy
+burden.
+
+My first thought, in having the steamers go ahead, was to prevent the
+Islander from drawing out of the building while my men were in it, for
+they might have been crushed by the swaying of the structure. When we
+went ahead, we not only loosened the timbers and boards, so that they
+could be removed from their positions, but we prevented the Islander
+from coming out of her lodging-place until the hands were in a safe
+part of the boat.
+
+"There, sir, I think she is all clear now," said Washburn.
+
+I could find nothing to impede the withdrawal of our consort's bow, and
+I sent my hands back to the Sylvania, and directed the others to go
+abaft the pilot-house of the Islander. I requested Captain Blastblow to
+keep his craft going till I rang my gong. I returned to the pilot-house
+of the Sylvania, and rang to stop her. The gong of the Islander
+followed suit instantly. I waited a minute to notice the effect. I
+expected the consort would draw out of her "chancery" at once; but she
+did not. I told the mate to see that our hawsers were good for a hard
+pull, and he soon reported them fast and strong.
+
+"Now, back her, if you please, Captain Blastblow," I called to the
+Islander.
+
+At the same time I rang two bells. Both steamers began to back at the
+same time. The Islander immediately went clear of the building, which
+continued on its way down the river. No crash, or severe wrench, as I
+had anticipated, attended the separation of the steamer and its burden.
+
+"You are all right now, Captain Blastblow!" I shouted, rejoiced that he
+had got rid of his incubus.
+
+"Thank you, Captain Alick, for your assistance; and I think we will lie
+up with you," answered the captain of the Islander.
+
+We cast off the fasts, and the consort followed us up to the place
+where we had moored before, and made fast to a tree just below us.
+Presently the captain came up to pay us a visit. I inquired about his
+prisoners first, and learned that they were under the care of Captain
+Cayo in the fore-cabin.
+
+"Our people seem to think you were looking for a night's lodging in
+that floating building, Captain Blastblow," I said.
+
+"Well, not exactly," added the captain. "We have been very sorry, for
+the last hour and a half, while we were dragged down the river by that
+building, that we did not follow your example, and hang up for the
+night."
+
+"Where did you pick up that house, captain?" asked Owen.
+
+"I kept a sharp lookout on the top-gallant forecastle; but none of us
+saw the building until it was too late to get out of the way," replied
+Captain Blastblow. "Following the example of Captain Alick, I kept as
+close to the shore on the port side as possible. About an hour after we
+left you, I saw something black loom up before me, and the next instant
+we struck her at full speed. The house had floated out of a bayou, I
+found, which was the reason we did not see it sooner. It was a building
+where they worked on rice. It was stretched across a creek, so that the
+rice could be dropped into a boat under it. We have a white man and two
+negroes on board that we saved from it."
+
+After a long talk, in which Captain Blastblow did me the honor to say
+that I was a "smart boy," he returned to his craft, and the rest of us
+turned in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION.
+
+
+I was on my feet at daylight; but I found that Moses Brickland and Dyer
+Perkins were up before me. They had opened up the fires, drawn the
+clinkers from the furnaces, and were now oiling the engine. They had
+nearly steam enough to enable us to start up the river. Everything
+looked very quiet on board of the Islander, and there was no smoke
+issuing from her smoke-stack.
+
+I jumped ashore, and the first thing I noticed was that the water was
+more than a foot higher than it was the night before. It seemed to me
+that there must be an inundation above us. I found no one stirring on
+board of the consort, and I went on deck. I knocked at the door of the
+chief engineer. I told him I intended to get under way in the course of
+fifteen minutes, and I did not care to leave the Islander behind. He
+got up at once, and called his starboard fireman.
+
+Without standing on any ceremony, I walked into the captain's
+state-room, and told him I should be off in fifteen minutes. I found he
+had given no orders about starting, but I assured him his engineer and
+fireman were attending to their duty. I bantered him a little, saying I
+did not leave him behind for fear he would get into trouble. He was
+good-natured about it, and replied that he should sail in the company
+of the Sylvania if possible. He admitted that we could outsail him, for
+he had done his best to keep up with the Sylvania.
+
+"How are your prisoners getting along?" I asked, for I had thought more
+than once that they might escape while we were hauled up.
+
+"They were all right last night when I turned in. I looked this place
+over, and there is not more than half an acre on this bank that is not
+under water," replied the captain. "They could not get away without a
+boat."
+
+We went out on the deck, and found the two quarter-boats were hanging
+at the davits. Captain Cayo had charge of the prisoners, and the
+fore-cabin was locked every night before they went to their berths. But
+the door must have been opened to let the firemen out. I told the
+captain that he had better make sure they were safe before we left our
+moorings, as it would be easier to find them now than it would be after
+we got half way to New Orleans. He went below, and when he came up he
+was assured they were on board.
+
+I had avoided Nick Boomsby since the capture of the Islander, for I
+knew he would beg me to get him out of his present trouble. I could not
+see my way to do anything of the kind, and therefore I kept out of his
+way. I remained on board of the steamer until the engineer reported
+that he had steam enough to go ahead, when I returned to the Sylvania.
+The fasts were cast off, and by five o'clock we were again stemming the
+tide of the mighty river. The current was even stronger than it had
+been the day before. I told the engineer to let the steamer go at her
+ordinary speed, and the Islander kept very near us.
+
+The river was covered with lumber, shanties swept from their
+resting-places, and other obstructions; but in the daytime we could
+easily avoid them. It was half-past seven before any of our passengers
+came on deck. We were passing a little village that seemed to be
+struggling for existence, for the high water was crowding hard upon its
+houses and other buildings. By eleven o'clock we saw several villages,
+and some very handsome and romantic estates, though they were mostly
+covered with water.
+
+At noon the city was in plain sight, and soon we had New Orleans on one
+side and Algiers on the other. The water was almost up to the top of
+the levees. The shores were crowded with steamboats and
+sailing-vessels. The former were entirely different from any I had ever
+seen before, though for some time after I saw them every day. I had a
+map of New Orleans in a large atlas I kept in my room; and I had
+decided to make a landing as near as I could to the foot of Canal
+Street. I had read that this street had a green, with trees extending
+through it.
+
+I had no difficulty in identifying it when I came to it. At the foot of
+it was the customhouse, said to be one of the largest public buildings
+in the United States; and I had no difficulty in believing the
+statement. In front of it was the broad levee where steamers landed,
+and such a forest of them I never saw before. They were packed in like
+sardines, and I could find no opening by which I could get to the
+shore.
+
+I found that the decks of the steamers were common ground, and most of
+them could only be reached by passing over others. But near the levee I
+found a wharf, the lower end of which was under water, at which I
+concluded we could lie by paying wharfage. I ran the Sylvania in as far
+as I could and made fast. The Islander came up alongside of her, and
+was secured to the bow and stern. My father and the Tiffanys concluded
+to take up their quarters at the St. Charles Hotel, so that they could
+see more of the city. I called a carriage for them; and then the
+Shepards decided to follow their example, as they were tired of being
+on the water for over a week.
+
+As soon as they were gone we thought it was time to attend to the
+disposition of the prisoners. My father had taken the money with him,
+but the hotel was not more than a quarter of a mile from the wharf. I
+sent Buck Lingley to assist Captain Cayo, and he was assigned to the
+care of Nick Boomsby.
+
+"Here we are," said Captain Blastblow, after everything had been put in
+order on both vessels. "Do you expect to get away from here this
+summer?"
+
+"This summer! I expect to get away from here in two or three days," I
+replied, rather startled by the remark of the captain.
+
+"I think not," he added, shaking his head ominously.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Are you a lawyer, Captain Alick?" demanded Captain Blastblow, with a
+very comical expression on his face.
+
+"I am no lawyer, not even a sea-lawyer," I answered, wondering what he
+was driving at.
+
+"Neither am I; but it has occurred to me that we might be kept here
+longer than we wanted to stay."
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I was thinking just now that if we had let Cornwood and Boomsby escape
+from the steamer last night it would have saved us a world of trouble,"
+added Captain Blastblow, with a cunning leer and a wink.
+
+"I don't understand you," I replied, satisfied by this time that he had
+found a mare's nest, or there was some kind of trouble ahead.
+
+"We have two men in the fore-cabin who are charged with robbery."
+
+"One of them is; the other is an accomplice after the fact," I replied.
+
+"That sounds as though you had been a lawyer all your life, or at least
+since you put on jacket and trousers. An accomplice after the fact! I
+suppose that he took part in the robbery after it was all done."
+
+"It means that Cornwood took the money, knowing it was stolen, and
+aided and abetted Boomsby in escaping. In my opinion, he came down to
+Key West solely to get part of the money. But no matter for that; what
+is to keep us here all summer?" I asked.
+
+"I presume you mean to hand the robbers over to the police of New
+Orleans?" queried Captain Blastblow.
+
+"That is the only thing we can do, unless we carry them back to
+Florida; and I don't care about going back there so soon."
+
+"Just so. I don't know anything about law; but once I brought in a
+fellow in my vessel who had committed a crime in another State. One of
+the passengers who knew all about the crime complained of the rascal,
+and he was hauled up before a court. It so happened that I knew
+something about the matter, and I was summoned as a witness, and the
+man was sent to jail. I could identify the man, but no one else could.
+They had to send south for a requisition from the Governor of Georgia.
+For one reason and another it took two weeks to get it, and I had to
+stay home from one trip to Savannah to appear as a witness."
+
+"And you think we may be kept here as witnesses," I inquired, with no
+little anxiety.
+
+"We are dead sure to be kept here till the Governor of Florida can send
+an officer with a requisition for the prisoner. It will take at least
+one week for that, and it may take two or three. Somebody must complain
+of Boomsby and Cornwood in Jacksonville, and then the governor must be
+sure that it is all right. After all this the Governor of Louisiana
+must be sure that he is not sending a man off who is not likely to be
+guilty."
+
+The situation looked rather trying to me, and I decided to go on shore
+and have a talk with my father about it. As soon as I reached the
+customhouse I bought a Picayune, and the first thing I saw in the paper
+was "Further Details of the Great Storm." I found that the whole
+country above was inundated, and that it was expected the river would
+rise still higher. Many railroads could not send out trains, bridges
+had been carried away, and many lives had been lost. It was an
+appalling state of things. Vast numbers of men were employed in
+strengthening the levees above New Orleans. The Missouri River had
+risen higher than ever before, and whole villages had been carried away
+in the North-western States.
+
+I found my father in the reading-room of the St. Charles devouring the
+contents of a newspaper. He began to give me the startling
+intelligence, but I told him I had just read it. I then stated the
+situation in relation to our two prisoners. He was alarmed at the
+prospect of a long delay, for the heat was intense in the city.
+Besides, we were not sure the city itself would not be inundated by the
+rising waters.
+
+My father was as much perplexed as I was. Our business was "Yachting on
+the Mississippi," and the idea of being detained two or even three
+weeks for the officials of two States to investigate a case that was
+plain enough to us was hardly to be endured on the one hand, while we
+had no desire to have a crime go unpunished on the other. We were
+certainly in a dilemma. We decided to have a conference with the rest
+of the party.
+
+We found them in the ladies' parlor. Mrs. Shepard was fanning herself
+vigorously, and I judged that she was in a very unhappy state of mind.
+I had seen very little of my passengers during the voyage from
+Jacksonville, for the heavy sea which constantly deluged the deck had
+kept them in the cabin. I spoke to the colonel's wife, and hoped she
+was very well.
+
+"I am not well at all, Captain Alick," she replied. "My nerves are
+shaken all to pieces by the voyage from Jacksonville, and if my husband
+owns the Islander for the next twenty years I shall never go to sea in
+her again."
+
+"Indeed, is it so bad as that? But you have not been in the Islander in
+any very heavy weather," I added.
+
+"I was in the Sylvania when I never expected to see land again; and I
+shall never forget that terrible time after the shipwreck, for I never
+suffered so much in one night, though I have crossed the Atlantic four
+times. I am told that you managed the Sylvania very well, and I have no
+doubt of it; but it was a terrible storm for such a small vessel. Last
+night I wished I was in the Sylvania, for I was very much alarmed when
+we were carried down the river by that terrible building."
+
+"My wife don't feel safe in the city," added Colonel Shepard. "She is
+afraid we may be inundated here. She prefers to be on board of the
+steamer, and wants to start up the river immediately."
+
+"I do feel safer on the river than I do on shore," said Mrs. Shepard.
+"I heard there was a case of yellow fever in the city."
+
+"Impossible, so early in the season," replied her husband.
+
+"At any rate, I don't want to stay here another day."
+
+The lady was nervous, but she could not help it; and her health seemed
+to be falling back under the excitement of the recent trip.
+
+Our conference resulted in a decision to sail up the river next
+morning, taking our prisoners with us. I went back to the wharf, and
+informed Captain Blastblow of the wishes of the party.
+
+Cornwood and Nick seemed to be very well satisfied with their condition
+on board. But I wanted to see something of the city if the passengers
+did not, and Washburn and I used up the afternoon in going to the
+principal points of interest. It would take a whole volume to give my
+impressions of New Orleans; but that is no part of my present purpose.
+At nine o'clock the next morning our passengers came on board, and we
+started up the river.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A CREVASSE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
+
+
+When Mrs. Shepard came on board, she seemed to be more composed. She
+declared that, when the whole country was under water, she felt better
+to be in a boat. During the night the water had risen nearly a foot,
+and the citizens were not a little alarmed. Hundreds of laborers were
+at work on the levees, and several small crevasses had been made a few
+miles above the city. We had engaged a pilot, though rather for the
+information he could give us than because we needed him in the
+navigation of the river.
+
+Captain Cayo had taken leave of us, and Colonel Shepard had paid his
+bill for services and expenses. I liked the pilot very well; and I was
+sorry to lose him. The white man and the negroes rescued from the
+floating building stayed on board as long as we remained at the wharf.
+It was not easy for them to return to their homes; and they had no
+money to pay for their food and shelter. We made up a liberal purse for
+them, and divided it equally among them; and they went ashore very
+grateful to us for what we had done. Captain Blastblow said they made
+more money by coming with us than they could by staying at home.
+
+At Colonel Shepard's request we "lashed boats" for the sociability of
+the thing. We rigged a plank bridge, with a railing to it, so that the
+ladies could pass from one steamer to the other without assistance,
+though Owen was always ready when the young ladies wished to pass from
+one to the other. After this job had been done, I went forward and
+found Cornwood at the helm, where I had left the pilot. I was not
+exactly pleased to see him at the wheel. After we had left the wharf,
+Nick and the Floridian had been permitted to enjoy the liberty of the
+deck, for I did not believe they would be likely to attempt to escape
+while the country seemed to be covered with water in every direction.
+
+"What are you doing there, Cornwood?" I asked, as I entered the
+pilot-house.
+
+"The pilot has gone below for some matches, and I offered to take the
+wheel while he was absent," replied Cornwood, in the mildest of tones.
+
+"I will thank the pilot to call a deck-hand when he wants to be
+relieved," I replied.
+
+"You think I mean mischief, I dare say," he added, with his silky
+smile; "but you can see that I can do no harm if I desired to, which I
+do not. Captain Blastblow is at the wheel of the other steamer."
+
+At this moment the pilot came in, with a cigar in his mouth, and took
+the wheel.
+
+"Captain Garningham, I should like to have a little talk with you,"
+said Cornwood. He led the way to a couple of chairs on the forecastle,
+which had just been abandoned by the young ladies.
+
+"Captain Garningham, I have been subjected to such an outrage as I
+never before experienced in my life," said the Floridian.
+
+"I think you cannot greatly wonder at it," I replied.
+
+"Should you wonder at it if a party were to come on board of the
+Sylvania, take you by force, strip you almost to the skin, and rob you
+of your money? That is precisely my case, and you say I need not
+greatly wonder at it," continued Cornwood, as mildly as he had begun.
+
+"I think my case would be a little different from what yours was," I
+replied.
+
+"As yet I have not even been informed of the cause of such brutal
+treatment. If you had stayed a few hours longer in New Orleans, and had
+not treated the men you picked up on the house so liberally, I should
+have sought a remedy in a writ of _habeas corpus_."
+
+"I don't think you were quite ready to adopt such a course as that, for
+it would have resulted in having you sent to the calaboose to wait for
+a requisition from the Governor of Florida," I answered, laughing at
+what I considered the absurdity of the proceeding. "The only reason we
+did not hand you over to the police was that we were afraid of being
+detained as witnesses."
+
+"I understand you; and I prefer to fight this battle in some other
+State than Louisiana. I shall not try to escape; and I know that Nick
+Boomsby will not. If I am not always honest, I am now; and I assure you
+I don't know the reason for the savage treatment I received on board of
+the Islander; and I will thank you to tell me. In a word, I entreat you
+to do so."
+
+I concluded that Cornwood wanted to prepare for his defence, for I was
+satisfied that he understood the charge as well as I did. But he seemed
+to be so earnest over the matter that I went over the case for him.
+
+"When you started from St. Augustine to recover the Islander, you were
+satisfied that Nick Boomsby had stolen the four thousand dollars," I
+proceeded.
+
+"On the contrary I was satisfied that Buckner stole it," interposed
+Cornwood.
+
+"I am stating my belief, be it right or wrong. When I told you about
+the sailing of the Islander without her owner and his family, you were
+satisfied that Nick was on board of her, and that he had the money
+stolen from the messenger."
+
+"Nothing could be farther from the truth; but go on," added the
+Floridian.
+
+"You would not have gone to Key West to stop the Islander at your own
+expense."
+
+"I did go at my own expense," added Cornwood, with a smile.
+
+"But not to stop the Islander," I added.
+
+"I admit that I had another mission there. I had been thinking of going
+to Key West on business for a week."
+
+"When you got there you forged a letter to Captain Blastblow, to induce
+him to leave before the arrival of the Sylvania," I added.
+
+"That was a little harmless strategy to enable me to carry out the
+purpose for which I went to Key West," added Cornwood, with the
+smoothest of smiles.
+
+"I never heard forgery called by that name before," I replied, with
+becoming severity.
+
+"It was not to obtain money, or any other valuable consideration from
+Colonel Shepard that I wrote his name. Why, I could have made two
+hundred dollars by detaining the Islander," said the Floridian, with
+spirit.
+
+"Instead of doing what he employed you to do, you sold him out, and let
+his steamer go off without him. You were satisfied that Nick had the
+four thousand dollars with him, and you were bound to have the half, if
+not the whole of it. It looks like a plain case."
+
+"You are taking an entirely wrong view of the matter, Captain
+Garningham," protested Cornwood. "I shall be able to prove in due time
+that you are utterly mistaken."
+
+"Two thousand dollars were found on you, and the same on Nick."
+
+"I grant that this fact has a suspicious look about it; and I can not
+greatly blame you for your course, though the brutality exercised upon
+me was entirely unnecessary. Now I will explain the whole matter to you
+just as it was; and you will see that you were greatly mistaken."
+
+"I am ready to hear anything you have to say," I replied.
+
+"That four thousand dollars is a rather annoying coincidence," he
+began.
+
+"I should think it might be," I added.
+
+"You quite mistake my meaning. I am willing to admit that I have told
+professional lies in the interest of my clients. I am Buckner's
+counsel, though I told you to the contrary. He admitted his guilt to
+me."
+
+"Did he, indeed? Did he tell you what he did with the package of bills
+after he took it from the counter?"
+
+"He did: he acknowledged that he was guilty, and told me how it was
+done," replied Cornwood, with easy assurance, of which I had seen a
+great deal on his part. "Buckner's wife was at the door of the saloon,
+and he gave the package to her as he rushed out. She had it under her
+shawl before Nick got half way to the door. She went home; and my
+client considers it a successful affair. He offered me five hundred
+dollars to get him out of the scrape, and that is the fee for which I
+am working just now, in part."
+
+"And he gave you the money, did he?" I asked, hardly able to keep from
+laughing in the face of the guileless Floridian.
+
+"Not he, for his wife started for Kentucky, or some other state, as
+soon as she got the money. This is where the unlucky coincidence comes
+in. My first business in Key West was to see that Nick did not return
+home, as I feared you would compel him to do when you found him on
+board of the Islander. My second was to pay four thousand dollars,
+which I drew from the First National Bank of Florida Friday morning
+before I started for Cedar Keys."
+
+"O, I see! That was where the four thousand dollars came from," I
+exclaimed.
+
+"Precisely so. I was to pay it into the Marine Court, pending a suit in
+which I was interested, against a salvage company."
+
+"But you did not pay it in."
+
+"How could I when it was Sunday? I intended to do so the next day. When
+I found that Nick did not mean to stop in Key West, I directed Captain
+Blastblow to get up his anchor and hurry to New Orleans before the
+Sylvania came in. I could not get ashore myself when I had induced Nick
+to continue the voyage. The four thousand dollars was a burden to me,
+and I asked Nick to take part of it from me to keep till we got to our
+destination. The loss of it would ruin me, and I thought it would be
+safer in the care of two persons than one. That's the substance of it,
+and you can see that it explains the whole affair."
+
+"I see it does: it makes it all as clear as Mississippi mud," I
+replied, laughing heartily.
+
+"You evidently do not believe the statement I have made," said the
+Floridian, looking very much wounded in his feelings.
+
+"Whether I do or not, Cornwood, we will not quarrel about it," I added,
+as good-naturedly as I could.
+
+"I will show you some documents I have in my valise which will make it
+all as clear as the pure waters of Green Cove Springs."
+
+"I think I will not look at them at present. Has Nick learned this
+story by heart?" I inquired. "He used to be a very bungling liar when
+we were small boys together; and I don't know whether he has improved
+any or not."
+
+"I think it is rather cruel of you, Captain Garningham, to sport with
+my feelings when I have been subjected to such inconvenience and
+discomfort by you."
+
+"I must be candid with you, Cornwood. If I take your statement for the
+truth, I judge that you are liable to the state prison, or whatever you
+call it in Florida, for what you have done. You know that Buckner is
+guilty, but you are engaged in a conspiracy to keep the principal
+witness out of court, which makes you virtually an accomplice to the
+crime."
+
+"You forget the duty I owe my client, who has entrusted his sacred
+liberty in my keeping."
+
+"Most of the lawyers I ever knew were honest men, and I don't believe
+one of them would resort to such a trick to clear his client. What's
+all that?" I exclaimed, as I saw a gathering on the levee of the right
+bank of the river.
+
+"A crevasse in the levee," said the pilot. "It's a bad one, too."
+
+A steamboat was backing her wheels near the opening, evidently to
+prevent being sucked into the breach by the furious current that poured
+through it. Quite a number of men were assembled on the levee, but they
+seemed to be incapable of doing anything to stop the flow of the water.
+When we came abreast of the crevasse, we could see through it to the
+country beyond. It was covered with water, which was pouring in through
+the breach at a frightful rate.
+
+"That was done by the crawfish that burrow into the levees, for I see
+some of their houses on the top, where they go when it is high-water,"
+said the pilot.
+
+Just then a row-boat came to the crevasse, and fearlessly headed into
+the opening. In an instant it was swamped, and the two men it had
+contained were struggling in the mad current. They held on to their
+oars, and were swept rapidly inland.
+
+"There will be a hundred lives lost by that break," added the pilot.
+"There are several plantations on that knoll, and the water is lifting
+the houses on it."
+
+I could see the houses toppling over, half a mile from the levee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+SAILING ACROSS THE FIELDS.
+
+
+I was appalled at the terrible sight. It was an open country, and there
+were few trees to be seen, except around the houses at the plantations.
+It looked like an inland sea. I saw the two men struggling in the water
+at some distance from the levee. They were evidently trying to touch
+bottom with their feet, but the water was over their heads.
+
+"How deep is the water on that flat, Mr. Pilot?" I asked, not a little
+excited at the idea of witnessing such a loss of life as he had
+predicted.
+
+"I should say it was from eight to ten feet deep all the way to those
+plantations," he replied.
+
+"Why don't one of the steamers waiting here go over to the assistance
+of those poor people?" I inquired.
+
+"They can't get through, and they would be swamped if they should try
+it. The breach is not more than thirty feet wide, and these boats would
+stick till they were torn to pieces. They are so low in the water that
+it would put their fires out when they went through and fill their
+holds."
+
+I looked about the decks of both our steamers, and found that all the
+passengers were on board of the Islander. I told Ben Bowman, who was on
+duty in the engine-room, to put on all the steam she could safely
+carry. He assured me he had enough for anything.
+
+"Look out, Captain Blastblow, if you please, for I am going to cast
+off," I called to the Islander. "Keep the ladies in a safe place. All
+the Sylvanias on board!"
+
+I went into the pilot-house, and rang to back the steamer. I kept her
+moving until we were in the middle of the river. I had carefully
+examined the crevasse, and I judged that the water was not more than
+two feet lower on the flat than it was in the river.
+
+"How deep is the water in the cut, Mr. Pilot?" I asked.
+
+"Not less than eight feet; and it may be ten. You can't tell."
+
+I stopped the Sylvania, and then rang to go ahead at full speed.
+
+"Are you going through the crevasse?" demanded the pilot.
+
+"I see no difficulty in doing so. Mr. Washburn, see that every opening
+in the deck and deck-house is closed and securely fastened."
+
+"It will be a ticklish business to go through that breach," said the
+pilot, shaking his head.
+
+"Would you let a hundred people drown without doing any thing to save
+them?" I asked.
+
+"Not if I could help it. I am willing to do all I can; but I shouldn't
+wonder if your boat made a dive into the mud on the other side of the
+levee, and stuck there."
+
+"If she does we have two life-boats at the davits," I replied.
+
+The Sylvania soon got up her best speed, and the pilot steered the
+steamer for a point just above the crevasse. I closed the windows of
+the pilot-house, and directed all hands to go on the hurricane-deck,
+except the engineers and firemen.
+
+"I think you ought to stop the engine, for she will go through quick
+enough without any help," suggested the pilot.
+
+"We must have steerage-way, or we can do nothing," I replied with quick
+tones, for we were within a few fathoms of the whirl of waters that
+were dashing through the crevasse. I felt the speed of the steamer
+increasing, and I firmly grasped the wheel with the pilot.
+
+"You know this boat better than I do, and this business is a little out
+of my line; but I will help you all I can," said the pilot, who seemed
+to be fully self-possessed, though he was not used to handling a vessel
+like the Sylvania.
+
+Washburn came into the pilot-house, after seeing that all the openings
+were closed, and the ship's company disposed in safe places.
+
+"I don't think you will have any trouble going through there, Alick,"
+said the mate.
+
+"I don't know as you will, but I wouldn't take a river-boat through
+such a place unless she was insured for her full value," added the
+pilot.
+
+"No more talking, if you please," I added.
+
+We had entered the rapid current that swept into the crevasse. It was a
+thrilling moment, for the next minute would determine whether the
+Sylvania was to be swamped or not. But I had a reasonable degree of
+confidence in the vessel. She had always done all I expected of her,
+and I could hardly conceive of her disappointing me in this instance.
+
+The people assembled on the levee uttered a long and deep shout of
+warning to us, but we had gone too far to recede even if we had been
+disposed to do so. I saw the two men who had been swamped in the small
+boat, still buoying themselves up with the oars; and beyond them the
+houses tottering over as they were undermined by the rising waters. The
+sight of these was quite enough to keep my courage up, and no thought
+of doing anything but trying to save those who must perish without
+assistance came to my mind.
+
+The little steamer rushed madly into the opening, with her screw
+turning at its most rapid rate. When she had reached the fall she made
+a tremendous dive, as it were, burying her bowsprit in the muddy tide.
+Tons of the yellow fluid, loaded with sediment, flowed in on the
+forecastle and swept aft. I judged by the shock that she struck her
+fore-foot into the earth.
+
+The muddy water swashed up, and entirely covered the windows of the
+pilot-house, leaving enough of the soil to make the glass as opaque as
+the levee itself. We could not see a thing outside after this volume of
+mud was discharged upon the windows. But in another instant I felt the
+bow of the steamer rising. The screw was still shaking the vessel, and
+I felt that no great injury had been done to her.
+
+"Open the windows, if you please, Washburn," I said, trying to keep as
+cool as possible.
+
+"We are all right now," added the pilot. "One of our river steamers
+would never have come up after that dive."
+
+I rang the speed-bell as soon as I felt that we were fairly through the
+cut in the levee. A yell from the people assured us that we were all
+right, if we did not find it out before.
+
+"I suppose you are not a pilot in these waters!" I continued, turning
+to Mr. Bell, for that was his name.
+
+"Well, hardly, in these waters: at any rate I never took a steamboat
+over this ground before. But I reckon I can do it as well as any other
+man, for I was raised along here, and I know the lay of the land as
+well as the water," replied the pilot.
+
+The escape of steam from the safety-valve showed me that the engineers
+had slowed down, though I could not yet perceive it in the motion of
+the vessel. We were approaching the two men on the oars, and I rang to
+stop and back her. There was no difficulty in steering the steamer
+after we were out of the swiftest of the current, and I left the
+pilot-house.
+
+The Sylvania looked as though she had been buried in yellow mud for a
+year, and had just been dug out. The water had all passed out at the
+scupper-holes and swinging-ports; but the deck and a considerable
+portion of the deck-house were covered with the mud from the water. All
+hands except the chief engineer and one fireman had come out of the
+hiding-places, and were ready for duty.
+
+"Clear away the starboard quarter-boat," I called. "Mr. Washburn, you
+will pick up those men, and do it as quick as possible, for we are
+needed at those plantations."
+
+The crew got into the boat and lowered it into the water. In a moment
+more they were pulling with all their might for the two men, who were
+some distance apart. They picked them up, one at a time, and came back
+to the Sylvania. They hooked on the falls, and with the help of Ben
+Bowman and Hop Tossford, hoisted the boat up to the davits. The two men
+rescued from the water seemed to be very much exhausted, and we helped
+them on deck.
+
+The moment the boat was out of the water, I rang to go ahead. I told
+Moses to let her run at half speed, for I was afraid she might strike
+against some hummock, or other obstruction, and stick in the mud, which
+would cause a delay, if nothing worse. I sent Buck to the top-gallant
+forecastle with the hand lead, and he reported eleven feet.
+
+"The ground is low here," said the pilot; "but I think we can carry
+eight feet up to the knoll on which the houses stood. They must have
+had eight or nine in some parts of it, or the cabins of the niggers
+wouldn't have been upset."
+
+"I think we can hurry her a little along here," I replied, ringing the
+speed-bell.
+
+"By the mark twain," said Buck.
+
+"He threw the lead into a hole that time," added the pilot.
+
+"And a half-one," continued Buck.
+
+"You will hold that all the way till you get to the knoll," said Mr.
+Bell. "We are going at a rattling speed."
+
+"We shall be all right as long as we have eight feet. Our coal bunkers
+are pretty well emptied, and I don't know but we could go with seven
+and a half. It is plain sailing; but we must feel along when it gets
+down to eight and a half," I replied.
+
+The two men who had been taken from the water came to the forecastle at
+this moment. They were covered with yellow mud, and of course they were
+wet to the skin. But it was a hot day, and the sun was shining
+brightly. When I asked them, they told me they had come from one of the
+steamers that had stopped at the levee to render assistance.
+
+"Eight feet and a half," shouted Buck.
+
+I rang the speed bell, which soon reduced our rate one-half. Buck still
+reported eight and a half. We were within a hundred yards of the
+mansion-houses, of which I could see four, the lower parts of which
+were under water. We could see the inmates in the second stories. But
+the negro cabins were upset and many of them were floating about. It
+was evident enough that they had been built on lower ground than the
+residences of the planters. The knoll was covered with shade-trees and
+shrubs, and the estates were as beautiful as anything I ever looked
+upon--that is, what I could see of them above the water.
+
+"Eight feet!" shouted the leadsman, with energy.
+
+I rang to stop her, for I could feel a sort of sensation as though the
+keel of the Sylvania was making a furrow in the field under us. The
+steamer stopped almost as soon as I rang the bell. But as the water was
+rising instead of falling, I did not feel at all concerned about her
+situation. I immediately ordered both boats to be lowered. Ben and Hop
+went off in one, and Buck and Landy in the other. Not far from the
+knoll, which could not have been more than three or four feet above the
+flat over which we had been sailing, I saw the boat the two men from
+the steamer had been swamped in. I told Buck to tow it to the steamer,
+and we had it alongside in a few moments. I sent the quarter-boat back
+to the rescue of the people in the houses and cabins. The river
+steamer's boat was full of water. We drew her under the davits on the
+port side, made fast to her, and hauled her out of the water, hoisting
+the bow end first, so that the water would run out of her. When both
+ends were abreast of the rail of the vessel, we tipped her over, and
+entirely freed her of water. I sent Washburn and Dyer Perkins in her to
+assist the other two boats.
+
+Even at this important hour, the abominably dirty condition of the
+Sylvania, which had been bathed in mud, actually pained me. Away from
+the furious current of the crevasse, the mud settled, and the water was
+comparatively clean. Cobbington and the two waiters had been at work
+swabbing the quarter-deck, but with no good result. I directed the
+engineer to rig the fire-engine, and we soon drowned the decks with
+water. This, with the swabs, made clean work. By the time the first
+boat came off from the knoll, the Sylvania looked nearly as neat as
+when she had left the great river. The hot sun dried the planks about
+as soon as they were swabbed.
+
+In the port-boat, under the direction of Ben Bowman, was a family of
+four persons whom I took to be the occupants of one of the mansions. A
+gentleman and his wife, with a son and daughter, were the first helped
+on board: nearly all the others were negroes. I showed the white people
+down into the cabin, and directed Cobbington to do all he could for
+their comfort.
+
+In the course of half an hour we had seventy-two persons whom we
+rescued. We were unable to find any more. The three boats had searched
+every house which could contain a human being. They had taken men,
+women and children from the trees, as well as the houses. We sounded
+the whistle vigorously, and then waited for any call.
+
+There were no more, and I directed the pilot to work back to the levee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+A DESPERATE STRUGGLE WITH THE RUSHING WATERS.
+
+
+The water had risen so that the Sylvania had swung around and drifted
+half-way up to the knoll, or to the houses on the highest part of it.
+As soon as we were under way, I had a chance to look over our large
+number of passengers. Three-quarters of them were negroes, mostly
+house-servants. I was told that the field hands had escaped in another
+direction before the water rose high enough to prevent it. The
+inundation was only partly due to the crevasse, for the water had
+broken in at some unknown point in the rear of the plantations.
+
+We had taken off the four families that occupied the mansion houses.
+They were all highly cultivated people, ladies and gentlemen in the
+highest sense of the words. I had conducted them all to the main cabin;
+but they were not disposed to remain there. They wanted to see how the
+Sylvania was to return to the Mississippi River, and expressed many
+doubts as to her being able to make her way through the crevasse
+against the strong current. I had some painful doubts myself in this
+direction. I had told the engineer about them, and hinted that we
+should want all the steam he could carry. But it was only a question of
+the power of the engine to force the vessel against the current. There
+would be no pitching and plunging, such as we had experienced in coming
+the other way.
+
+We had not long to deliberate upon the matter of our exit from the
+fields over which we had been sailing. As the water had risen about a
+foot inside of the levee, I considered our chances good of going
+through without much difficulty. I went to the wheel, and took a place
+by the pilot. I saw that several steamers had arrived during our
+absence, and the pilot said they were attached to the levee force, and
+had come to close the breach. I could not see how it was to be done,
+but I had no time to think of the matter. I rang the gong one stroke
+when we were within a hundred yards of the crevasse, as I had arranged
+with the engineer to do.
+
+The Sylvania soon began to shake and quiver as though she were in the
+hands of an angry giant, under the pressure of the steam. I had sent
+all the passengers to the after part of the vessel, giving the planters
+and their families places on the hurricane-deck. I desired to trim her
+aft, as we had hardly coal enough in the bunkers to keep the screw
+entirely under water. I regarded it as an excellent thing to have so
+much "live ballast" on board. I gave Buck and Hop strict orders not to
+let a single person come on the forecastle.
+
+I put Cobbington and Ben Bowman on the hurricane-deck, to keep the
+passengers there on the after part. If a few went forward, they would
+all do so, for it was the best place to see the operation of the
+steamer. By these means I hoped to keep the propeller entirely under
+water, and thus get the full benefit of its action on the swift
+current. It was still a torrent, but by no means so terrible as when we
+had gone through before.
+
+Moses Brickland had never shaken the Sylvania as he was shaking her
+now. He was a prudent young man, and I never had occasion to criticise
+what he did. He understood the present situation as well as I did. The
+levee force was waiting to close the gap, and thus save many more lives
+miles from the scene of its operations. We must get through at once, or
+the gap would be closed. The abrupt fall was not more than a foot now,
+and I had strong hopes that we could overcome it.
+
+It seemed to me that the water was rushing through the crevasse at the
+rate of twenty miles an hour. The arithmetic of the situation was
+therefore all against me. Moses had never run the Sylvania more than
+twelve knots an hour, and he was obliged to hurry her to do that. He
+had told me he could get fifteen miles an hour out of her on a great
+emergency, but he had never been disposed to try it. He had overhauled
+the boiler at New Orleans, and reported it in first-rate condition. Yet
+I could not, mathematically, see how a vessel going fifteen miles an
+hour could stem a current of twenty miles.
+
+But the force of the current was merely guesswork. It might be twenty,
+and it might be no more than ten miles. Mr. Bell agreed with me on the
+former figure, while Washburn and Ben Bowman insisted that it was not
+more than ten at the present time. If I "split" the difference between
+the two estimates, it would leave just the result which the engineer
+could obtain on an emergency like the present.
+
+The Sylvania went into the rapid current, which we began to feel at
+fifty yards from the gap. But it did not stop, or even sensibly detain
+us, for the water was scattered as soon as it passed through the
+opening. We made our course at a right angle with the levee, and kept
+the helm firmly against any tendency to "wabble;" for if the swift tide
+had struck her on the side, it would have hurled her around in spite of
+us.
+
+At twenty yards from the levee we began to slacken our speed, for here
+we got almost the full force of the current. But she still went ahead,
+though she quivered as if the struggle would shake her in pieces. Not
+one of us said a word in the pilot-house. I directed the helm, for I
+was more accustomed to the working of the steamer than any of my
+companions.
+
+The bow went up abreast of the inside of the dike. The Sylvania
+trembled like a race-horse after his first heat. We held her head
+steadily up to the work, but I could not see that she gained a single
+inch. The propeller whirled like a circular saw, such as I had often
+observed in the lumber-mills at home. I almost fancied that I could
+hear it buzz.
+
+I watched the edge of the crevasse, but I could not see that we either
+gained or lost. For several minutes we struggled against the savage
+tide. It was a desperate situation. The people on the levee, now
+swelled into a crowd by the arrival of several steamers, were watching
+us with intense interest. No one spoke a word.
+
+"Look out sharp for the helm, Mr. Bell," I shouted, so as to be heard
+above the roar of the rushing waters and the clang of the engine.
+
+I thought he did not respond to my movements with the wheel as promptly
+as was necessary. I felt that the least turn to the right or the left
+would be fatal to us, for by this time I realized that the situation
+was vastly more perilous than when we went into the current before. The
+least "wabble" might cause the current to strike her on the side, and
+send her over on her beam ends in the vortex below us.
+
+"Can't you crowd her a little more, Moses," I called through the
+speaking-tube.
+
+"Not much more," he promptly replied.
+
+"We are not losing anything," said the pilot, holding his breath.
+
+"Mind the helm," I replied, for I felt that I could not hold her alone.
+"If we get the bow half a degree across the current, it is all up with
+us."
+
+"I can hold her alone, but you take the feeling off my hands," he
+answered, warmly.
+
+He meant that I began to move the wheel before he felt the pressure on
+his hands, for one steers a vessel very much as he drives a horse, and
+depends quite as much upon feeling as upon sight. My feeling was much
+quicker than his, and I would not give up the helm to him, but told him
+he must watch my movements.
+
+"We have gained an inch!" exclaimed the pilot.
+
+"What is an inch going through such a torrent as this?" I replied,
+though I felt encouraged by the fact, if it was a fact, for I dared not
+look to the right or the left, as he did.
+
+It seemed to me that the steamer would soon go through the crevasse or
+shake herself to pieces in the struggle. The jar and the quivering were
+so much increased that I was sure Moses was doing something more than
+he ordinarily considered his best. In a few minutes more we had worried
+up the little fall, which indicated the difference between the height
+of the water on either side of the levee. We had gained several yards,
+but I don't think we made more than an inch a minute; and those minutes
+seemed like hours.
+
+Suddenly the Sylvania began to increase her speed through the water,
+and I concluded that we had passed the swiftest part of the current.
+Washburn informed me that the stern of the steamer was inside of the
+cut, and I felt that the battle was won. Still I kept my eyes fixed on
+the flagpole forward, in order to hold the vessel in the middle of the
+gap.
+
+"I think we shall fetch it," said Mr. Bell.
+
+"No doubt of it, if we don't lose our chances by talking about them," I
+replied.
+
+The pilot said no more. I did not want him to abate his zeal until we
+were outside of the levee, for it would have been the easiest thing in
+the world to lose all we had gained by the struggle of the last hour.
+We kept it up half an hour longer. When the bow was outside of the
+levee, I was afraid Bell would think we were safe, while it was still
+possible to be carried back. But the steamer increased her speed every
+moment now, and we were soon out in the broad river. I kept her on her
+course, and as soon as she was clear of the treacherous current, she
+darted off at a furious speed.
+
+"All right, Moses!" I shouted through the tube. The next instant I
+heard the steam escaping furiously through the safety-valve. I had no
+doubt that the chief-engineer felt an intense relief when he heard my
+voice the last time, for no money or any consideration short of the
+safety of the Sylvania would have permitted him to put on such a press
+of steam.
+
+"Excuse me, Mr. Bell, if I spoke sharply to you, or said anything that
+hurt your feelings, for I meant nothing of the kind," I said to the
+pilot, when we were in the middle of the river.
+
+"Don't mention it, captain," he replied, warmly. "I can say, and I
+reckon I know something about steamboats, I never saw a boat better
+handled than this one has been from first to last. I thought I had only
+a boy for a captain, but I find that you understand your business."
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Bell; you are very kind to say so," I replied, with a
+blush. "I think I know the feeling of this vessel's helm rather better
+than any one in these parts, and I was a little afraid you might not
+see the necessity of keeping her up, without any wabbling."
+
+"You were right every time, captain. I never handled a craft of the
+sort before, and it was quite right for you to trust her to no one but
+yourself."
+
+As soon as we were fairly out in the river, the people on the levees
+set up a volley of cheers, which was taken up by the negroes on board.
+I saw the Islander had made fast to a steamer a little below the
+breach, and I asked the pilot to lay the Sylvania alongside of her.
+
+"Young man, you are a brave boy," said Colonel Hungerford, the planter
+who had first come on board of the steamer. "I was on the point of
+telling you before you started back, that you could never get through
+that hole; and I was going to tell you of a way by which you could have
+got through the lakes and streams into the Bayou la Fourche, and up
+that to the Mississippi. But I see you need no advice from me. We are
+all very grateful to you."
+
+"I beg you will not feel under any obligation to us, for we are sort of
+sea-knights, roaming about in quest of adventures; and we were very
+glad of the opportunity to render you and others any assistance. I
+believe you and your family were in no particular danger."
+
+"I don't know about that, my young captain," replied the planter,
+shaking his head. "My mansion is surrounded with verandahs, and the
+water was beginning to lift it off its foundations."
+
+I took my glass and looked at the house. One end of it appeared to be
+lifted up.
+
+"I would not have staid in it two hours more for half the state. I have
+been through three inundations before, and I know something about
+them," replied the planter. "I hope I shall see more of you."
+
+As we came up to the Islander, the passengers of both vessels, on board
+of her, began to clap their hands. I was embarrassed by this
+demonstration, and after asking Washburn to see that we were made fast
+to our consort, I sat down in the pilot-house where they could not see
+me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE PLANTER AND HIS FAMILY.
+
+
+I was quite exhausted after my efforts and the strain put upon me, and
+I was in no humor even to be praised. Some of the negroes our boats
+picked up on planks and on their toppling houses might have been
+drowned; but I did not believe the people in the mansion-houses were in
+any great danger. However, I had never seen an inundation before, and I
+may have been mistaken. My father was one of the first to visit me in
+the pilot-house.
+
+"You have done well, Alick," said he; and that was all he did say, for
+he was not given to praising any one beyond his desert. "What are you
+going to do with all these people?"
+
+"We can land them, or put them on board of one of the steamers here," I
+replied; and I had not thought of the matter before.
+
+"Mrs. Shepard is very nervous indeed, and is anxious to get away from
+this place," continued my father.
+
+"The Islander might have gone on," I suggested.
+
+"We could not leave until assured that you did not need the assistance
+of the other steamer. We were about to send a line to you and attach it
+to one of the steamers. The only trouble was to get a line long enough
+and strong enough."
+
+While we were talking Colonel Hungerford came into the pilot-house. I
+introduced him to my father, and the planter indulged in more praise
+which I do not care to repeat. He informed me that he had chartered one
+of the river steamers to take his servants and those of the other
+planters down to Carrollton, a few miles below.
+
+"I am now going on board of another steamer to inquire if she is bound
+up the river, for I have concluded to visit my brother at Baton Rouge.
+But I suppose my mansion will not be fit to live in for some weeks to
+come, if ever. I desire to know your address, Captain Alick,--excuse
+me, but that is what I hear others call you,--that I may communicate
+with you at some future time."
+
+"Quite unnecessary," said my father, with a smile, as though he
+suspected the object of the inquiry.
+
+"But I desire to express my sense of obligation to your son for the
+great service he has rendered me and my family," persisted the planter.
+
+"You have done that already, sir, to my entire satisfaction," I added.
+
+"You are very strange people, not to allow me to do something."
+
+"We are decidedly averse to having anything done," replied my father,
+laughing, not because anything was funny, but to prevent the southern
+gentleman from taking offence at what he said. "My son owns and
+commands this yacht, and I dare say he will be glad to have you take
+passage in his steamer to Baton Rouge, or any other point on the river
+in our route."
+
+"I shall be most happy to accept your very kind invitation," replied
+Colonel Hungerford, promptly.
+
+By this time the steamer he had engaged to take his "people," as he
+called them, like one of the patriarchs of old, came alongside. The
+four planters had a consultation, as to what disposition should be made
+of the servants, and the business manager of one of them was appointed
+to take the entire charge of the party. The other planters were going
+to New Orleans, and the same steamer was to convey them there.
+
+In less than half an hour the boat started, and we restored things to
+their former condition on board of the Sylvania and Islander. We lashed
+boats again, and restored the bridge from one vessel to the other. All
+hands were employed in cleaning up the Sylvania; and I asked Captain
+Blastblow not to allow any of his passengers or crew to come on board
+till this had been done. He complied with my request, and sent all his
+crew on board to help.
+
+We did not get under way until this was done, as Moses wanted to
+overhaul the engine a little, for he declared that such a wrenching as
+he had given the machine was enough to start half the nuts and bolts.
+My father remained in the pilot-house talking with the planter. But the
+subject of their conversation was the inundation. I lay upon the sofa,
+resting myself, and rather dreading to meet the people on board the
+Islander, for I had been praised enough, and this sort of thing was
+becoming more embarrassing. As the hands were drowning the decks again,
+Washburn brought the family of Colonel Hungerford into the pilot-house,
+which was about the only place for them, unless they went into the
+cabin.
+
+The planter introduced his wife, son and daughter to my father and
+myself. In the daughter I saw a very beautiful young lady; the son was
+very affable and pleasant, and the father and mother were not less so.
+All of them began to express their obligations to me, and I replied as
+cheerfully as I could.
+
+"We shall have a very pleasant party up to Baton Rouge, Colonel
+Hungerford," I ventured to say, in order to turn the current of the
+conversation.
+
+"It's no use, Blanche," said the colonel to his daughter, who had been
+the last to speak. "Captain Alick won't let you speak of any
+obligation, and he won't even give me his address."
+
+"I don't think he has any address in particular at present," interposed
+my father, "unless it be on the high seas or the Great Lakes. I have
+not yet made a home in America, as I intend to do. When we have one, we
+shall be very glad to have you discharge whatever sense of obligation
+you may feel by making us a visit; and we shall judge of the depth of
+the obligation by the length of the visit."
+
+"Upon my word, that would be an odd way to discharge an obligation; and
+we should be obliged to stay with you all the year round," replied the
+planter.
+
+The young lady had snapping black eyes; and I saw that she wanted to
+say something, but was restrained by the newness of the acquaintance.
+
+"If we had got out on the river half an hour sooner, we might have
+saved imposing ourselves upon your hospitality, for a large steamer
+went up then," said Colonel Hungerford. "She stopped a little while at
+the crevasse, I am told, but finding she could do no good, she went
+on."
+
+"I am glad she did, as otherwise she would have cheated us out of your
+pleasant company," replied my father.
+
+"You are very kind, Major Garningham," replied the colonel. "I confess
+I am greatly interested in your steamer, for I never have seen one like
+it before that I can remember."
+
+Washburn reported that the engine was in order, and that the cleaning
+process was finished. I directed the pilot to blow his whistle and go
+ahead. In a few minutes we were again stemming the tide of the
+Mississippi. The crowd on the levees and the steamers honored us with a
+series of rousing cheers, to which the pilot replied with the steam
+whistle.
+
+As soon as we were fairly out of the vicinity of the late exciting
+scene, the passengers of the Islander, including Mrs. Shepard, came on
+board. They were all presented to the planter and his family, and of
+course there was a great deal to say about the inundation, including
+the details of the escape of the people on the knoll. I found that the
+party were soon the best of friends, and I went into my room to lie
+down. I was so tired that I dropped asleep.
+
+I was awakened by Captain Blastblow coming into my room. He seemed to
+be considerably excited; but I was sure he would not be where he was if
+any accident had happened to either steamer.
+
+"Sorry to disturb you, Captain Alick, but this has been a very exciting
+time; and while we were all so busy, your two prisoners have taken to
+themselves legs or wings, and cleared out," said he, with a lugubrious
+gaze at me, as I sat upon the bed.
+
+"Cleared out!" I exclaimed. "Where have they gone?"
+
+"That's what bothers me. I kept my eye on them for a good while, but
+they behaved so well that I soon forgot all about them as we became so
+absorbed in the fate of the Sylvania," replied the captain, blankly. "I
+know I ought to have kept an eye on them to the end, and I am to blame.
+But it wasn't quite human to mind much about those rascals when we
+expected every minute to see your steamer fall back and be swamped. I
+had both boats ready to drop into the water."
+
+"Gone, have they?" I repeated. "Haven't you any idea where they went?
+Your steamer was not near the levee, and they would not have gone
+ashore there, if it had been."
+
+"I can only guess where they went. Not long before you got out of that
+hole, a large passenger steamer came alongside, and held on at our
+bowsprit-bitts awhile. She kept her wheels working all the time, while
+I was telling the captain what had happened. I am inclined to think
+that Cornwood and Boomsby stepped on board of her before she left. I
+found just now that their baggage was gone; and they could easily have
+got it out of the fore-cabin while I was talking to the captain. I am
+sorry for it, and if it hadn't been for that break, and your running
+into that hole, it would not have happened."
+
+"How far ahead of us is that steamer?" I asked.
+
+"She must be all of two hours ahead," replied Captain Blastblow.
+
+"I am sorry we have lost them, but it can't be helped," I added, as I
+led the way out into the pilot-house where the passengers were
+assembled. I told my father of the escape of the robbers, and asked him
+if the money was still safe, meaning the four thousand dollars.
+
+"It must be, for it was in my trunk in the Sylvania all the time you
+were inside of the levee," replied he. "But I will make sure of it." He
+went down into the after cabin, and returned with the intelligence that
+it was where he had put it. This was some relief; and we dropped the
+matter because we could not do anything about the escape of the
+rascals. I felt rather cheap about the matter, because I had not
+delivered them to the police at New Orleans.
+
+While I was asleep, my father and Mr. Tiffany had directed Cobbington
+to remove their portmanteaus, as they called their trunks, from the
+grand state-rooms. They reported to me, and I assigned one of them to
+the planter and his wife, and the other to Miss Blanche. They were
+delighted with the apartments. Owen insisted upon giving up his room to
+Mr. Tiffany; and there were berths enough for my father and my cousin.
+Our cabin was about full again.
+
+I saw that my father was very much pleased with the planter and his
+family; and I think one might have gone all over the country to find
+people more agreeable.
+
+Supper was ready by the time the passengers had taken possession of
+their rooms and berths. I took the captain's place in the cabin for
+this occasion, though I often did so while we were in the river and the
+Sylvania was in charge of the pilot. Colonel Hungerford sat next to me
+on one side, and I told him all about the robbery of the bank
+messenger, and the escape of our prisoners.
+
+He thought it very probable that they had taken the steamer bound up
+the river.
+
+"Donaldsonville is the next town of any importance; and there we can
+telegraph to some place ahead of the steamer, and have the robbers
+detained by the police. Does any one remember the name of the steamer?"
+asked the colonel.
+
+Miss Margie Tiffany remembered that it was the Queen of the South. Owen
+was so reckless as to say he was glad the prisoners had got away, and
+he hoped they would succeed in eluding the police. We were yachting on
+the Mississippi, and we could not bother with arresting and holding
+prisoners. We had the money they had stolen, and that was enough.
+
+"We may find the Queen of the South at Donaldsonville when we get
+there," continued Colonel Hungerford. "It is seventy-four miles from
+St. Charles, which is the nearest post-office to my plantation. When
+shall we get there?"
+
+"Not until early in the morning," I replied. "We can't get along very
+fast against this current."
+
+"The Queen may be there, as she will arrive in the night, waiting for
+freight or passengers," replied the planter. "If you will allow me, I
+will take charge of the apprehension of those men, for I think I shall
+understand it better than you, as I have had considerable experience in
+such cases."
+
+Colonel Hungerford looked slyly at his wife and daughter. I could not
+understand the meaning of his expressive communication; but I was
+entirely willing he should cause the arrest of the fugitives.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+A DISTINGUISHED PASSENGER.
+
+
+The planter went on deck with me after supper, and we paid our first
+visit to the Islander, where we were courteously received by the
+Shepards. On our return we went on the hurricane deck to take a look at
+the shores, as well as we could see them, for it was almost dark by
+this time.
+
+"Who is your father, Captain Garningham, or, if you will forgive me for
+it, Captain Alick?" asked the Colonel.
+
+"Major Garningham, formerly of the British army," I replied.
+
+"Yes, yes, I know all that; but what is he?" persisted my new
+passenger.
+
+"I don't know that he is anything in particular just now," I answered,
+perplexed by the earnestness of Colonel Hungerford. "He is certainly
+neither a soldier nor a sailor, a tinker nor a tailor."
+
+"Is he an American?"
+
+"No, sir; he was born in England. His father was Sir Alexander
+Garningham, and he is Sir Bent Garningham, Baronet, whose estates and
+last residence were at Shalford, Essex."
+
+"I see," said the passenger. "Then he is a baronet."
+
+"He is; but he insists upon dropping his title in this country."
+
+"In my intercourse with him I shall take pleasure in dropping it,"
+added the planter. "But, Captain Alick,--excuse me if I am too
+familiar."
+
+"I am seldom called by any other name, and I have not the slightest
+objection to the name," I interposed.
+
+"As I was going to say, Captain Alick, I am not a little embarrassed by
+the situation. You and your associates have rendered me an important
+service, and it would afford me very great satisfaction to acknowledge
+it. You are the captain of the steamer, and your father is a very
+wealthy man."
+
+"He is, sir," I replied; for I wished to leave no doubt in his mind on
+this subject.
+
+"Your mate was very efficient. What is he?"
+
+"He is the son of a distinguished ex-governor of one of the States, and
+the nephew of----"
+
+"Precisely so; I know his uncle very well. I can do nothing for him.
+And your two deckhands?" continued the planter.
+
+"They are the sons of English gentlemen, over here on a vacation, and
+their fathers have each an income of over ten thousand pounds a-year,"
+I added, quietly.
+
+"Your engineer, whose skill and pluck carried us through the crevasse,
+is, I dare say, one of the sons of her Majesty, the Queen of England,"
+added the passenger, laughing.
+
+"On the contrary, he is a son of a Michigan farmer, now well to do in
+the world," I replied.
+
+"Of course, he is a millionaire!"
+
+"O, no, sir, only in comfortable circumstances. He has known what
+poverty is, but he has enough to live on now."
+
+"By the way, Captain Alick, do you happen to have anybody on board who
+is not 'well to do,' as you call it?" asked the planter.
+
+"Ben Bowman, the assistant, who was in the boat that brought off your
+family to the steamer, has been a lake sailor, cook and fireman all his
+life; and I don't know that he has five hundred dollars in the world.
+He sends most of his wages to his mother, and is one of the truest and
+bravest men I ever saw."
+
+I also told him the story of Cobbington and the two firemen. I judged
+that he felt very grateful for the service the Sylvania had rendered to
+him and "his people," and that he was thinking up some way to reward
+her officers and crew for what they had done.
+
+"The pilot is a Louisiana man, and says he was raised near St.
+Charles," I added.
+
+"His name is Billy Bell, and I know him very well," replied Colonel
+Hungerford. "You have a very distinguished and wealthy ship's company,
+Captain Alick. I wished to distribute a thousand dollars, more or less,
+among them; but I see that such a proposition would be taken as an
+insult by some of them."
+
+"It would be taken as it was intended, not as an insult; but it would
+be respectfully declined by the captain, the mate, the two deck-hands,
+and perhaps by all the others; for I am sure that no one on board would
+be willing to be paid for an act of common humanity," I replied.
+
+"A strange ship and a strange crew," added Colonel Hungerford. "Perhaps
+we shall find some way to get out of it."
+
+I had just resolved not to assist him in his task, for it was a little
+humiliating to have my crew paid for what they had done, when Miss
+Blanche and Miss Margie came on the hurricane deck. They were already
+fast friends. The English girl began to pour out a volley of questions
+about the river and the steamers we saw, and I answered them as well as
+I could; but Colonel Hungerford was better acquainted with the scene,
+and he took the task upon himself of informing her, leaving Miss
+Blanche to ply me with other interrogatories.
+
+I told her all about the steamer, her going south, our adventures in
+Florida, and our yachting on the Mississippi, which had thus far been a
+series of adventures. Then she wanted to know who and what my father
+was, and I told her all I had just related to her father.
+
+"Then you will one day be Sir Alexander Garningham, and as a genuine
+republican, I shall be under the necessity of hating you, Captain
+Alick," said she, mirthfully.
+
+"Then I promise never to allow myself to be called by that title," I
+replied. "I have said as much to my father; and he does not like to be
+called by anything but his military title, for he says he has earned
+that fighting against the enemies of his queen. But I am a democrat,
+and don't believe in any titles. Are you really a Republican, Miss
+Hungerford?"
+
+"I am a republican, but I am also a Democrat."
+
+"I see! and I am a democrat and also a Republican."
+
+"I don't think it will be safe for us to talk politics. You may do that
+with father."
+
+"I have told you my story, Miss Hungerford; and now it is no more than
+fair that you should tell me yours," I added.
+
+"I shall be very happy to give you my whole history from my birth to
+the present day," replied the fair maiden, laughing. "I was born at St.
+Charles, and lived there and in New Orleans until about a year ago,
+since which time we have resided most of the time in Baton Rouge."
+
+"Then your home is not at St. Charles?"
+
+"Oh, yes! Our home is there, but we have one at the capital of the
+state also," said the mischievous girl.
+
+"I thought you were going to your uncle's in Baton Rouge to stay until
+the mansion was repaired."
+
+"I haven't any uncle in Baton Rouge, or anywhere else," chuckled Miss
+Blanche.
+
+"Your father certainly said he should stay at his brother's in Baton
+Rouge," I added, puzzled by the statement.
+
+"That was just as we girls used to say we were 'going to grandmother's'
+when we went to the seminary."
+
+"Who is your father, Miss Hungerford?" I asked, repeating the question
+the planter had put to me.
+
+"Colonel Hungerford," she answered, naively.
+
+"Yes, I know; but what is he?"
+
+"The Governor of Louisiana," replied Miss Blanche, with a merry laugh.
+
+"The governor!" I exclaimed, appalled to think I had been talking so
+familiarly to the chief magistrate of the state.
+
+"But he won't let any one call him governor when he is not attending to
+his official duties, if he can help it. He likes to be a plain citizen
+when he is off duty," continued the young lady. "We went down to stay a
+few days at the plantation."
+
+Miss Margie's father called her, and thought it was too damp for her to
+be out after dark. We all went below, and the colonel said he must
+smoke his cigar. I conducted him to the pilot-house, where Owen and
+Miss Edith were spending the evening. My father was there also; and I
+took the occasion to introduce our distinguished guest to him again,
+with his title in full.
+
+"So you have found me out, Captain Alick," said his excellency, with a
+pleasant laugh, which did much to restore the equilibrium between us.
+"That puss of mine has been telling family secrets, and you must
+promise not to tell anybody what you have discovered."
+
+"No one not on board," I replied.
+
+"Everybody else will know the secret, so that I shall gain nothing. But
+we will not quarrel about trifles."
+
+Everybody on board was tired enough to retire early, and before ten
+o'clock we had the deck and pilot-house to ourselves. The watches
+continued the same as before. Washburn gave up his berth in our room to
+Billy Bell, as we learned to call him, for the captain and mate never
+had their watch below at the same time, and we could both occupy the
+same bed at different times. The river is a mile wide, and at the
+present high stage of the water, there was no difficulty in steering,
+under the instructions of the pilot.
+
+We had a sort of panorama, or diagram of the river, which I had
+obtained in New Orleans, arranged on the space between the windows of
+the pilot-house, so that we could tell where we were at all times. Ben
+Bowman had put the chart on rollers, and it could be wound up from one
+end to the other. The only things that were likely to bother us were
+the bayous and cut-offs; and the pilot was at hand at any moment he
+might be needed.
+
+We passed no place of importance during the night; and at five o'clock
+in the morning we were at Donaldsonville. We made fast to the levee,
+and as we were in no hurry, I did not call any of the passengers. I
+told Gopher and Cobbington who the planter we had rescued was, that
+they might have things in proper condition at the breakfast-table. I
+inquired what boats had stopped at the place, and learned that the
+Queen of the South had left two hours before. This showed that her
+speed did not exceed that of our little fleet.
+
+I asked if any passengers had landed, and was informed that several had
+done so. I thought I would visit the hotels, and see if Cornwood and
+Nick were at any one of them. I was about to leave the steamer when the
+governor came out of the cabin. He insisted that I should not leave the
+vessel, as the rascals might see me. They could not escape from the
+place except by boat. He went ashore himself, after I had given him a
+full description of the fugitives.
+
+He returned in a short time, and said a report would come down in the
+course of an hour or two. Our party had a merry time at breakfast, and
+the meal was as elaborate as the resources of the New Orleans market
+and the skill of Gopher could make it. Colonel Hungerford, as he
+insisted that we should call him, was in the highest spirits. Before
+the meal was over, a gentleman came on board and desired to see the
+governor. He was the marshal of the city. No such passengers as had
+been described to him had landed. He had telegraphed to Baton Rouge for
+the police to search the steamer on her arrival.
+
+Nothing more could be done, and we started up the river again. We
+arrived at the capital of the state at four in the afternoon. We spent
+the day in viewing the wonders of the mighty river, the waters of which
+were almost up to the top of the levees. The governor said that the
+country was inundated for thirty miles, though we could see but little
+water except what was between the fringe of the trees on the banks of
+the stream.
+
+It takes the waters about a month to travel from the melting snows on
+the north and north-west to the Gulf. At the mouth of the Missouri the
+flood rises about twenty-five feet; below the Ohio the rise is
+sometimes more than fifty feet, while at New Orleans it seldom exceeds
+twelve feet. The greater height, caused by the addition of the waters
+of the Ohio to the flood, is reduced in Louisiana by the passage of
+much of the flow through the Atchafalaya, La Fourche, and other bayous,
+into the Gulf of Mexico.
+
+On our arrival at the capital, we found that the Queen had not been
+searched, for telegraphic communication with points below had been cut
+off by the flood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+UP THE RIVER FOR MANY DAYS.
+
+
+Colonel Hungerford was even more vexed at the failure of the plan to
+arrest the fugitives than I was. But Baton Rouge was on the last of the
+bluffs that one sees in descending the great river, and above the
+region of continuous levees. There was no doubt we could operate from
+this region, and secure the capture of the fugitives.
+
+"How long since the Queen left?" asked the governor, of the man who had
+given us the information.
+
+"She must have been gone nearly three hours," he replied.
+
+"The fugitives are not likely to leave the steamer before she gets to
+Vicksburg, for there is no railroad from any point this side of that
+city. It is thirty-five miles from here to Bayou Sara. The steamer may
+stop there, and may not," said the governor, musing. "That is the last
+place in this State at which she is at all likely to make a landing. I
+will telegraph at once."
+
+Without waiting to see any of our passengers ashore, I went with the
+governor to the telegraph office. He sent the dispatch to an official,
+directing him to board the steamer, if she did not stop, and arrest the
+fugitives, a sufficient description of whom I gave him. When this was
+done, Colonel Hungerford had time to attend to the landing of the
+party. He insisted that all the passengers should go to his residence
+and stay over Sunday with him. Colonel Shepard declined, and declared
+that he and his family had no claims upon his hospitality. A
+good-natured controversy ensued, and ended in the Colonel and all the
+others yielding the point.
+
+Three carriages started for the residence of the chief magistrate, and
+another was awaiting his orders at the levee. By this time a reply came
+from the official in Bayou Sara, in which he promised to follow the
+instructions of the governor as soon as the steamer came in sight, for
+she had not yet appeared.
+
+"Now, Captain Alick, if you will get into the carriage, I will take you
+up to the house," said Colonel Hungerford.
+
+"You must excuse me, sir, for I have to attend to the affairs of the
+vessel," I answered.
+
+"Must I argue this same question with you, too?" demanded the governor.
+
+"I hope you will not, for I think it will do no good," I added,
+laughing. "Your excellency forgets that I am the captain of the
+Sylvania, and a true sailor never gives up his ship."
+
+"Your ship is all well enough. You must go to my house, and bring Mr.
+Washburn with you."
+
+"Impossible, sir! Our steamer is not a river boat, and she is not a
+flat-bottomed craft," I tried to explain. "Her keel does not take
+kindly to the levee. I must stay here and look out for her; but I will
+call at your house this evening."
+
+But it was no use to argue the point; the governor persisted, and I
+finally compromised with him by agreeing that either Washburn or myself
+should be at his house all the time we remained in the place; in other
+words, we were to have "watch and watch" in visiting him. I took my
+first turn.
+
+Nothing could be more delightful than the home of the governor, and I
+think I never saw so many beautiful residences in a city of the size of
+the capital. I had put on my best uniform, and prepared to make a
+creditable appearance in the place. Our party were presented to all the
+principal people of the city, who called to see the governor and
+congratulate him on the escape of himself and his family from the
+inundation, news of which had come by the steamer. I tried to keep in a
+corner, and talk with Miss Margie and Miss Blanche; but I was dragged
+out twenty times to be exhibited as the captain who ran his vessel
+through the crevasse, and over the cane-fields of the plantations.
+
+We had a very large party at tea, and in spite of the embarrassments of
+my position, I enjoyed the occasion very much. Before we left the table
+the governor received a dispatch informing him that the two fugitives
+had been captured on board of the Queen of the South, and committed to
+the calaboose, or lockup. Again I felt really sorry for poor Nick
+Boomsby, and almost wished that he had escaped, though I could not
+justify myself in permitting him to do so.
+
+On Sunday we all went to church, leaving the Sylvania in charge of a
+crew from the Islander, and the whole ship's company, including the
+pilot, dined with the governor. The next morning I was astonished to
+hear that Cornwood and Nick had arrived, having been brought down in
+charge of an officer in the night, and were in prison. Late on Saturday
+night I had sent by telegraph to Florida, a condensed account of the
+arrest of the robber and his accomplice after the fact, and the
+information that the money had been recovered. A reply soon came that
+proper officers, with a requisition for the culprits, would be sent at
+once for them.
+
+In the mean time, the prisoners were brought before the court, and the
+evidence against them was heard. Cornwood was his own counsel, as well
+as Nick's. The testimony was considered strong enough to hold the
+fugitives for the requisition. They were sent to the lockup again, and
+our party resumed their merrymaking.
+
+We rode all about the country; we went to dinner parties; and we
+reciprocated the hospitalities extended to us by taking the governor
+and his friends on several excursions in the two steamers. Mrs. Shepard
+improved wonderfully as soon as she realized that the earth beneath her
+was solid, and there was no danger of the unruly waters drowning her
+while she slept. It was an exceedingly jolly time we had from morning
+till night, and sometimes half the latter.
+
+After we had been at the capital of the state three days, I thought it
+was about time to move up the river again; but the Florida officials
+had not yet appeared. It was not till the following Saturday that they
+arrived. They had been detained in procuring the requisition by the
+absence of the governor, and in collecting what evidence they could
+obtain. With the officers came Peverell, the bank messenger, from whom
+the money had been stolen.
+
+Another hearing before the court was necessary. The package containing
+the four thousand dollars was produced, and identified by Peverell. He
+testified as to the manner in which the package had disappeared from
+the counter of the saloon. He brought the affidavits of two men who had
+seen Nick go off to the Islander just before she sailed, with a bundle
+in his hand.
+
+Captain Blastblow and I testified that the money had been found, in
+equal parts, on the prisoners. The plan of Cornwood to get possession
+of the whole or half of the money was shown from the manner in which he
+had conducted himself, in causing the departure of the Islander from
+Key West before the arrival of the Sylvania, though the latter was in
+sight when the former left.
+
+Cornwood attempted to disprove the charges by repeating the silly story
+he had told me. He cross-questioned the witnesses, and did his best to
+browbeat Peverell. The messenger showed that it was impossible that any
+money could have been obtained from the bank while Cornwood was in
+Jacksonville between the time the Floridian arrived and departed. But
+the court was satisfied with the evidence, and the governor complied
+with the requisition.
+
+Before I left the court-room, I went to Nick to say how sorry I was for
+him--sorry that he had done anything to reduce himself to such a
+situation.
+
+"I don't know what made me do it," blubbered Nick, to the great disgust
+of his fellow-criminal. "I didn't think of doing it until the minute I
+did it. I had been thinking, as I told you at the time, of clearing
+out; and the sight of the package of money seemed to show me how it
+could be done."
+
+"What are you talking about, you ninny?" growled Cornwood. "You are
+convicting yourself."
+
+"I don't care anything about that. I won't lie any more about it, for
+it ain't no use," replied Nick, sourly. "If it hadn't been for you, I
+should have got off all right, Cornwood."
+
+I concluded that his penitence was not very deep. He told me then how
+Cornwood had come on board of the Islander and accused him of taking
+the package, and he had been compelled to give him half of it to
+prevent him from exposing him. But all he said was no more than we had
+reasoned out before, and the confession seemed to be hardly original.
+
+"You can do something for me, Captain Alick," he continued. "If you
+will get me out of this scrape I will never do anything wrong again as
+long as I live!"
+
+"I can do nothing for you," I replied, as gently as I could.
+
+"They say you are thick with the governor, Alick. If you say the word,
+he will let me off," pleaded the culprit.
+
+"He can do nothing for you any more than I can. You are in the hands of
+the law now, and nothing but the law can settle your case, Nick.
+Good-by."
+
+I had hardly uttered the last words before I felt a heavy hand laid
+upon my throat, which was followed by a choking sensation.
+
+"What are you about, Sandy Duddleton?" demanded my ancient enemy. "What
+have you been sayin' ag'in my boy? He's a hund'ed times as honest as
+ever you was!"
+
+I thought I should be choked to death; and the instinct of
+self-preservation took possession of me. I sprang at the throat of my
+old tyrant. He went down upon the floor, and I on the top of him,
+before my father or any other person could come to my aid. As he went
+down he released his grasp on my throat in his effort to save himself.
+
+[Illustration: "I sprang at the throat of my old tyrant." _Page 343._]
+
+"Arrest that person!" cried the justice, in the sternest of tones.
+
+In another instant two officers had Captain Boomsby in their clutches.
+A complaint was made against him for a breach of the peace. The justice
+made short work of him; he was sentenced to pay a fine of one hundred
+dollars, and to stand committed until paid. It was more money than he
+had, and he was sent to jail. As usual, he was more than "half seas
+over," as he used to call intoxication when I sailed with him in the
+Great West. It appeared that he had followed the officers, but had some
+difficulty in finding "his boy."
+
+In the afternoon the Florida party took a boat down to New Orleans,
+intending to return home by the steamer to Cedar Keys. I afterwards
+learned that both Nick and Cornwood were convicted, and sentenced to
+the penitentiary for three years. Though Cornwood was only an
+accomplice after the fact, he was the greater villain of the two. I
+never saw either of them again.
+
+We spent another Sunday in Baton Rouge, and delightful as our sojourn
+had been, even Mrs. Shepard thought it was about time to depart. But I
+could not leave with my ancient enemy unforgiven. I went to the clerk
+of the court and paid Captain Boomsby's fine. He was released from
+confinement, and took the next boat down the river. He had the grace to
+take my hand, and say good-by before he went; and that was the last
+time I ever saw him.
+
+We had a large crowd on the levee when we left, and we kept our
+whistles going till a bend in the river took us out of sight of the
+hospitable city where we had enjoyed so much. The water had fallen a
+little, but not much. The melting snows of the northern hills had not
+yet sent down their full tribute to the Gulf.
+
+We stopped at Natchez and at Vicksburg, and were very handsomely
+treated by the people. But the broad river was the greatest study to
+us, for we had visited no end of towns and cities on our long voyage.
+We were interested in the numerous islands, hundreds of them. When we
+looked at some of them from below, the fresh foliage seemed to form a
+regular flight of steps. The pilot explained this appearance. The rapid
+current was continually wearing away the upstream end of the island,
+and depositing its soil on the other end, in which every year new trees
+sprang up; and each step denoted a period in the growth of the wood.
+
+It was the first day of May when we reached Cairo, at the mouth of the
+Ohio, where the waters of the two rivers seemed to be spread out like
+an inland sea or lake. We found an excellent hotel there; but Washburn
+and I spent what time we had to spare with our friend West, who had
+been for a time a student in Somerset College.
+
+A couple of days more brought us to St. Louis, where we found enough to
+interest us for a week. When we were about ready to continue our
+voyage, Colonel Shepard came into the pilot-house, where I was seated
+with Washburn, and wanted to know how much farther up the river I
+intended to go. He had heard me speak of sailing the next morning, and
+he thought it was about time for him to leave for New York, by train,
+with his family.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+UP ANOTHER RIVER AND HOME AGAIN.
+
+
+Colonel Shepard looked somewhat perplexed, for while we were going "Up
+the River," not a word had been said about going "Down the River."
+Doubtless all our passengers thought the steamers would have to return
+by the way they came, and had taken it for granted that this must be
+the case. I had a different view of the matter.
+
+"Do you mean to go up to Lake Itasca?" asked Colonel Shepard, as he
+lighted his cigar, indicating that he meant to have the talk out, and
+the future course of the steam yachts decided upon.
+
+"It would be rather difficult to get over the Falls of St. Anthony," I
+replied. "Billy Bell don't know the way up there."
+
+"Of course you mean to sail around to New York, and from thence to Lake
+St. Clair by the way you came?" suggested the colonel.
+
+"I am happy to say that I don't mean anything of the kind," I answered
+with a smile. "I am afraid it would be rather tedious for our
+passengers to go over the same route again so soon."
+
+"I supposed they would cut across the country by railroad and
+steamboat. I had intended to go from St. Louis to Pittsburg by boat."
+
+"I hope you won't give up the voyage so soon," I protested. "I am only
+afraid the ladies will be sea-sick again."
+
+"Give up!" exclaimed the colonel. "Of course there is an end to
+navigation in this direction. We can run up the Missouri for a week or
+two, up to St. Paul's, or up to Pittsburg; but I do not see the point
+of following either of these routes, unless it be the latter, which
+will bring us so much nearer to New York."
+
+"I don't think the Sylvania has any particular business in New York,
+and I had not thought of taking her there again," I added. "I can't say
+that I should care to descend the Mississippi, cross the Gulf of
+Mexico, and follow the coast by the way we came. I am in favor of
+variety in our yacht trips."
+
+"So am I; and for that reason, I am in favor of going to New York by
+steamer and railroad from here. I have three weeks more to spare, and
+if you wish to go up to St. Paul's or Pittsburg, I am entirely willing
+to go with you, Captain Alick."
+
+"As your plans seem to be different from mine, we ought to have
+considered this subject at Cairo, for you have come over two hundred
+miles out of your way, if you intend to go to Pittsburg."
+
+"It makes little difference to me, or to my family, where we go, for we
+have enjoyed this trip so much that none of us were in a hurry to bring
+it to an end. Mrs. Shepard has entirely recovered from her nervous
+debility, and I know she will be sorry when we have to part company."
+
+"Then you had better allow the Islander to continue in the fleet; and I
+promise that you shall not be any farther from New York at any time
+than you are now, or at any point where it will take you longer to get
+there. More than this, the Islander shall land you twelve miles nearer
+New York than Pittsburg."
+
+"Then I will go with you," replied the colonel.
+
+"But it will take much longer to go by my way," I added.
+
+"Will it take more than three weeks longer, Captain Alick?" asked the
+owner of our consort.
+
+"You shall be in New York in half that time, if you wish."
+
+"I suppose it is no use for me to ask what this marvellous route is to
+be!" queried the colonel.
+
+"Not the least," I replied, decidedly. "No one has said a word as to
+where we were going for the last month, or since we decided to go up
+the river. Nobody seemed to care."
+
+"We all took it for granted that the steamers were to return by the way
+they came," said Colonel Shepard. "I was talking with your father about
+the matter one day, more than a week ago; and he had the same view of
+the subject I had."
+
+"We will sail at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, if you please."
+
+"Certainly if that is the pleasure of the commander of the fleet,"
+answered Colonel Shepard.
+
+I had kept my own counsel so far, and I thought I had better continue
+to do so for a while longer. Washburn and I had settled the question,
+even before we left Detroit, and had procured all the information
+necessary to carry out our plan, for the mate first suggested it. We
+had taken in coal sufficient to run the steamer about two days. With
+this supply, we drew a little less than eight feet of water, just
+enough to sink the propeller.
+
+Before night I engaged two pilots, one for each steamer, for I was not
+sure we could lash boats much longer. At the time appointed all our
+passengers were on board, and we backed out from the levee. It was so
+much more social to lash boats, that we did so at the request of the
+ladies. Recent heavy rains all over the western states had again raised
+the river several feet above the level it was when we arrived at St.
+Louis.
+
+"Won't you explain the great mystery to me, Captain Alick?" asked Miss
+Margie, as I passed her, seated on the quarter-deck, reading a novel.
+
+"What great mystery?" I inquired, taking a chair by her side.
+
+"Why, the mystery of where we are going," she replied, with a
+bewitching laugh. "All the passengers are trying to solve the riddle;
+and no one has done it yet."
+
+"What book are you reading, Miss Margie?" I asked.
+
+"Little Dorrit. What has that to do with it?" said she, looking at me
+with surprise.
+
+"Perhaps nothing; but before I explain to you the great mystery, as you
+call it, let me tell you how the book you are reading comes out. You
+have got acquainted with Little Dorrit, the Father of the Marshalsea,
+and----"
+
+"Now, stop! I don't want you to tell me how it comes out!" protested
+the fair maiden, vehemently. "I wouldn't have you do it for the world.
+It would utterly spoil all the pleasure I might have in reading the
+book."
+
+"Is that so? Why shouldn't I explain this great mystery, as well as the
+other? I am sure I should deprive you of half the excitement of the
+trip if I should tell you beforehand all about it."
+
+"Then you needn't tell me a word!" And I did not.
+
+At lunch-time we were in the midst of another great inland sea, at the
+mouth of the Missouri. Some of us wished we were going up that great
+river, to explore it where there were no towns, or other evidences of
+civilization. As that was not our present purpose, we forgot all about
+it as soon as we were out of sight of its mouth. Twenty miles more
+brought the fleet to another broad expanse of water, in which were
+several islands.
+
+"Adieu to the Mississippi!" I shouted, walking from one end to the
+other of the steamer. But I made no further explanation.
+
+There was a call for maps and guide-books then, succeeded by an anxious
+study for a few moments.
+
+"This is the mouth of the Illinois River!" exclaimed Miss Margie,
+rushing up to me.
+
+"I don't deny it," I replied. To avoid more questions, I went to the
+pilot-house.
+
+"We are making about twelve miles an hour," said the pilot of the
+Sylvania.
+
+"How can that be? The most we could make in the Mississippi was seven
+miles against the strong current."
+
+"The current is the other way here," added the pilot.
+
+"Do you mean that the stream runs up?"
+
+"Precisely that," answered the man, laughing at my perplexity. "When
+the Mississippi is very high, it flows the water back in the Illinois
+for seventy miles. We get a little current here to help us. After a
+while, it will really be still water."
+
+In this part of the river, the stream was full to the top of its banks,
+and in some places it overflowed them. The river had furrowed out a
+deep channel in the alluvial soil, and at low water, it had tolerably
+high bluffs on each side of it. It was almost as wide as the Father of
+Waters, where we had left it, at its lower part; but in a few hours the
+width began to diminish a little.
+
+Before night, I had called all hands, and, after unbending the
+squaresails, sent down all the yards and top-masts, for I feared that
+we might have trouble with the "low bridges," and perhaps with the
+trees that overhung the stream in some places. We frequently met river
+steamers, and I found by comparison, that our lower masts were not
+higher above the surface of the water than the smoke-stacks of the
+boats.
+
+We continued on our course all night, one of the pilots being on duty
+all the time. In the morning the appearance of the country was more
+picturesque, and we had a delightful day. In the afternoon we passed
+through the lake at Peoria, which was a beautiful sheet of water. We
+had a current to contend with, and our progress was not so rapid as it
+had been the day before. On the following morning we reached the head
+of the natural navigation of the river. I went ashore at Peru, and
+chartered a canal-boat, and engaged a number of horses and drivers.
+
+"What now, Captain Alick?" called Colonel Shepard, when I came on board
+of the Sylvania, with the Islander made fast to her.
+
+"Lots of work for a few hours," I replied, directing the mate to call
+all hands, for I wished to avoid all delays.
+
+I found the two steamers were each drawing seven and a half feet of
+water. We were about to enter the Illinois and Michigan Canal,
+extending from La Salle to Chicago. I had ascertained that it was six
+feet deep; and I did not think it was likely to be below that at the
+present high stage of water. We had only about a hundred miles between
+the steamers and Lake Michigan.
+
+The government of the United States has already considered the question
+of making this canal deep enough to float ordinary lake-craft, so that
+gunboats and other war vessels may be sent through from the Mississippi
+to the lakes in case of war with our English neighbors. Probably it
+will be done some time, but in the interests of commerce rather than
+war.
+
+The steamers, drawing seven and a half feet of water, could not pass
+through the canal, which was only six feet deep. But I was not
+disturbed by this fact, as I was prepared for it. The year before, when
+I had put the Sylvania through a thorough course of repairs, I had
+removed everything out of her except her engine and boiler. She had a
+considerable quantity of ballast in her, composed of pigs of iron. When
+everything was taken out of her, she drew a little less than six feet.
+
+The canal-boat I had engaged was drawn in between the two steamers, and
+we proceeded to load it with cables, anchors and ballast. We rigged a
+derrick formed of the foreyards of the vessels, and made as easy work
+of it as possible. When, at night, we had taken every movable thing out
+of the steamers, they realized all my expectations, for they drew only
+six feet. But this was making no allowance for possible shoal places;
+and Moses, with the engineer of the Islander, had been at work, while
+we were removing the heavy weights from the hold, in detaching the
+propellers of the two craft. With our shears, we hoisted them out into
+the canal-boat.
+
+The removal of these heavy weights from the sterns set the vessels on a
+more even keel, fore and aft. A western river-steamer draws more water
+forward than aft, so that she may be the more easily worked over shoal
+places; while a sea or lake vessel is just the reverse. We found that
+we were likely to sink the canal-boat, and I was obliged to procure
+another. We divided the weight between the two, and then transferred
+our spare spars to them.
+
+Our passengers had been greatly interested in watching the various
+operations in progress. It was dark when our heavy labors were
+finished. The ship's company and the passengers were to remain on board
+during the passage. Though I had told them they could take a train and
+be in Chicago in a few hours, they all preferred to remain, to enjoy
+the novelty of the canal trip.
+
+Our passengers were really in no haste to reach their point of
+destination, yet they were impatient to be on the move, as is always
+the case with the average American traveller. I concluded to start at
+once, as the nights were now cheered by a full moon, and I intended to
+keep the boats going until they arrived at Chicago. There was nothing
+for the engineers and firemen to do on board, and I sent Moses
+Brickland and Ben Bowman forward by railroad to several designated
+places to engage fresh horses for us.
+
+Our passengers sat up till midnight on the hurricane-deck, for the
+weather was very warm for the season in this latitude, while Washburn
+and the deck-hands steered. In the morning our canal drivers said we
+had averaged three miles an hour, with two changes of horses. This was
+getting along faster than I had expected. I had written to Mr.
+Brickland, at Montomercy, informing him when we should arrive at
+Chicago, and inviting him and his wife to join us there, and make the
+trip home in the steamer.
+
+The next day was full of interest to our canal travellers. Our strange
+craft excited a good deal of interest all along the route.
+
+When our party came on deck the next morning, they found the steamers
+in the canal basin at Chicago. We had made the trip in thirty-four
+hours, and had not touched bottom once, so far as I knew. The fleet had
+stopped only long enough to change horses at any place. We got the
+boats alongside, and sent our party on the way to the hotels, for the
+odor of the basin was not that of ottar of roses.
+
+The engineers went to work on the propellers first, and after resorting
+to various expedients, we got them in place. Steam was up by this time,
+and we towed the canal boats down to a point near the lake. It required
+the whole day to restore our anchors, cables, and ballast to their
+places, rig the spars, and bend on the sails. By six o'clock we were in
+as good condition as when we entered the Mississippi at the Balize.
+
+We had hardly finished the work before Mr. and Mrs. Brickland came on
+board. They were delighted to see us, and both of them wept when they
+realized that Moses and I were alive, well and happy, after our long
+voyage. I had sent for our passengers, and when they came on board, I
+introduced my foster father and mother to them; and the old people were
+very pleasantly received.
+
+They welcomed my father as one who had come from the other world, for
+Mr. Brickland declared he had been unable to realize that he was still
+alive, though I had written them to that effect. My father insisted
+upon resigning the best state-room to them, though I had intended to
+give up my room, while Washburn and I divided the nights between us in
+the fore-cabin.
+
+At dark we were under way, and fortunately we had smooth water, so that
+Mrs. Shepard had no cause to complain of the lake. At Mackinaw we
+stopped a day to give the party an opportunity to pull in some of the
+famous trout of that locality. Off Thunder Bay, where I had once
+weathered a gale in the Lake Bird, there was a considerable stirring up
+of the waters, and Mrs. Shepard declared that it was worse than the
+broad Atlantic; but the last was always the worst to her. She was
+delighted with St. Clair River, when we passed through it the next day.
+We crossed the Flats by the canal, and stood over to Glinten River. The
+region looked very natural to us, after our long absence. In the middle
+of the afternoon, we made a landing at the wharf back of Mr.
+Brickland's house.
+
+A considerable crowd had gathered on the pier, for we had been seen by
+some one who reported us in town. Those who were acquainted received a
+warm welcome. The Shepards insisted upon going to the hotel; and I did
+not very strongly object, as we had not sufficient accommodations for
+them in the house. They remained there a week, for the springs seemed
+greatly to improve the health of the lady.
+
+The Islander was started on her voyage to New York the day after her
+arrival at Montomercy, for the colonel wanted to use her there soon
+after his arrival. When his family were ready to depart, I conveyed
+them to Buffalo in the Sylvania. The Tiffanys wanted to see more of the
+country, and accompanied the Shepards. Owen had decided to go to
+England, and Buck Lingley and Hop Tossford felt obliged to go with him,
+though their year was not quite up. I landed my passengers in the canal
+basin.
+
+I had not felt so sad since the news came to me of the death of my
+father as on this occasion. I parted with Margie Tiffany and her
+father--more especially with Margie--with a regret which I cannot
+describe. But I was permitted to write to her (and her father) as often
+as once a month, and I hope before long to see her in England.
+
+Buck and Hop had not been gone more than an hour before they
+re-appeared with "store clothes" on, and did not look at all like the
+excellent sailors they were. Their real names were Richard Lawrence and
+Edward Blakeley; and when they appeared in their new dress I called
+them by their proper names. They were very sorry to leave the Sylvania,
+and I expressed the hope that they would come and spend a summer with
+me in a cruise around the Great Lakes. They promised to do it, if
+possible.
+
+Once more we bade them good-by. We staid in Buffalo to see the party
+off for New York; and up to this time that was the last I have seen of
+them.
+
+After my father joined our party, I noticed that Owen Garningham was
+never himself again. Though he continued to flutter around Miss Edith,
+he never seemed to be so well pleased with me as before. Yet I do not
+think he had anything against me. I could only attribute the change in
+him to the cancelling of the contract for the use of the Sylvania for a
+year, though he had said very little about the matter. He parted with
+me, I think with real sorrow, and hoped he should see me again before
+even another year had passed by.
+
+I saw my cousin seated in the car by the side of Miss Edith. He sailed
+for England in June, but I have no idea how he had the courage to tear
+himself away from her. I have no doubt they will be man and wife in due
+time, though my father says his mother will never consent to the match.
+As soon as the train started we returned to the Sylvania. The two
+waiters we had hired in Florida wanted to seek their fortune in New
+York, and Colonel Shepard promised to do all he could for them on their
+arrival.
+
+Cobbington returned to Montomercy with my father and myself. He was now
+in apparently good health, but he declared that it would cost him his
+life to remain in the North over winter. Governor Hungerford wrote to
+me, as he had promised to do, during the summer. Before the cold
+weather came, I had secured a situation in Baton Rouge for the invalid,
+where at the last accounts he was in good health, acting as messenger
+for the governor.
+
+My father and I were so well contented in the home of the Bricklands,
+that we remained there the rest of the season. He built a summer
+residence on an island in Lake Superior, where we expect to go every
+season in the Sylvania. I liked my home in the west too well to think
+of giving it up, though I was admitted to the college at Racine in
+September, as Washburn was at Brunswick.
+
+My story is told; but I hope, when I have graduated, to make another
+such trip as that in which we circumnavigated twenty-four states,
+besides New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, coasted along the whole eastern
+shore of the United States, visited the interior of Florida, crossed
+the Gulf of Mexico, and sailed "UP THE RIVER," yachting on the
+Mississippi.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+Boston Stereotype Foundry, No. 4 Pearl Street
+
+
+
+
+LEE & SHEPARD'S
+
+LIST OF
+
+JUVENILE PUBLICATIONS.
+
+                     *      *      *      *      *
+
+OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS.
+
+Each Set in a neat Box with Illuminated Titles.
+
+
+Army and Navy Stories. A Library for Young and Old, in 6 volumes.
+16mo. Illustrated. Per vol.                                     $1.25
+
+The Soldier Boy.
+The Sailor Boy.
+The Young Lieutenant.
+The Yankee Middy.
+Fighting Joe.
+Brave Old Salt.
+
+
+Famous "Boat-Club" Series. A Library for Young People.
+Handsomely Illustrated. Six volumes, in neat box. Per vol.       1.25
+
+The Boat Club; or, The Bunkers of Rippleton.
+All Aboard; or, Life on the Lake.
+Now or Never; or, The Adventures of Bobby Bright.
+Try Again; or, The Trials and Triumphs of Harry West.
+Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn.
+Little by Little; or, The Cruise of the Flyaway.
+
+
+Lake Shore Series, The. Six volumes. Illustrated. In neat box. Per
+vol.                                                             1.25
+
+Through by Daylight; or, The Young Engineer of the Lake Shore Railroad.
+  Lightning Express; or, The Rival Academies.
+On Time, or, The Young Captain of the Ucayga Steamer.
+Switch Off; or, The War of the Students.
+Break Up; or, The Young Peacemakers.
+Bear and Forbear; or, The Young Skipper of Lake Ucayga.
+
+
+Soldier Boy Series, The. Three volumes, in neat box. Illustrated.
+Per vol.                                                         1.50
+
+The Soldier Boy; or, Tom Somers in the Army.
+The Young Lieutenant; or, The Adventures of an Army Officer.
+Fighting Joe; or, The Fortunes of a Staff Officer.
+
+
+Sailor Boy Series, The. Three volumes in neat box. Illustrated.
+Per vol.                                                         1.50
+
+The Sailor Boy; or, Jack Somers in the Navy.
+The Yankee Middy; or, Adventures of a Naval Officer.
+Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter-Deck.
+
+
+Starry Flag Series, The. Six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.      1.25
+
+The Starry Flag; or, The Young Fisherman of Cape Ann.
+Breaking Away; or, The Fortunes of a Student.
+Seek and Find; or, The Adventures of a Smart Boy.
+Freaks of Fortune; or, Half Round the World.
+Make or Break; or, The Rich Man's Daughter.
+Down the River; or, Buck Bradford and the Tyrants.
+
+
+The Household Library. 3 volumes. Illustrated. Per volume.       1.50
+
+Living too Fast.
+In Doors and Out.
+The Way of the World.
+
+
+Way of the World, The. By William T. Adams (Oliver Optic) 12mo.  1.50
+
+
+Woodville Stories. Uniform with Library for Young People. Six
+volumes. Illustrated. Per vol. 16mo.                             1.25
+
+Rich and Humble; or, The Mission of Bertha Grant.
+In School and Out; or, The Conquest of Richard Grant.
+Watch and Wait; or, The Young Fugitives.
+Work and Win; or, Noddy Newman on a Cruise.
+Hope and Have; or, Fanny Grant among the Indians.
+Haste and Waste; or, The Young Pilot of Lake Champlain.
+
+
+Yacht Club Series. Uniform with the ever popular "Boat Club" Series.
+Completed in six vols. Illustrated. Per vol. 16mo.               1.50
+
+Little Bobtail; or, The Wreck of the Penobscot.
+The Yacht Club; or, The Young Boat Builders.
+Money Maker; or, The Victory of the Basilisk.
+The Coming Wave; or, The Treasure of High Rock.
+The Dorcas Club; or, Our Girls Afloat.
+Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs.
+
+
+Onward and Upward Series, The. Complete in six volumes. Illustrated.
+In neat box. Per vol.                                            1.25
+
+Field and Forest; or, The Fortunes of a Farmer.
+Plane and Plank; or, The Mishaps of a Mechanic.
+Desk and Debit; or, The Catastrophes of a Clerk.
+Cringle and Cross-Tree; or, The Sea Swashes of a Sailor.
+Bivouac and Battle; or, The Struggles of a Soldier.
+Sea and Shore; or, The Tramps of a Traveller.
+
+
+Young America Abroad Series. A Library of Travel and Adventure in
+Foreign Lands. Illustrated by Nast, Stevens, Perkins, and others.
+Per vol. 16mo.                                                   1.50
+
+_First Series._
+
+Outward Bound; or, Young America Afloat.
+Shamrock and Thistle; or, Young America in Ireland and Scotland.
+Red Cross; or, Young America in England and Wales.
+Dikes and Ditches; or, Young America in Holland and Belgium.
+Palace and Cottage; or, Young America in France and Switzerland.
+Down the Rhine; or, Young America in Germany.
+
+_Second Series._
+
+Up the Baltic; or, Young America in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
+Northern Lands; or, Young America in Russia and Prussia.
+Cross and Crescent; or, Young America in Turkey and Greece.
+Sunny Shores; or, Young America in Italy and Austria.
+Vine and Olive; or, Young America in Spain and Portugal.
+Isles of the Sea; or, Young America Homeward Bound.
+
+
+Riverdale Stories. Twelve volumes. A New Edition. Profusely
+Illustrated from new designs by Billings. In neat box. Per vol.
+
+Little Merchant.
+Young Voyagers.
+Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
+Dolly and I.
+Uncle Ben.
+Birthday Party.
+Proud and Lazy.
+Careless Kate.
+Christmas Gift.
+The Picnic Party.
+The Gold Thimble.
+The Do-Somethings.
+
+
+Riverdale Story Books. Six volumes in neat box. Cloth. Per vol.
+
+Little Merchant.
+Young Voyagers.
+Dolly and I.
+Proud and Lazy.
+Careless Kate.
+Robinson Crusoe, Jr.
+
+
+Flora Lee Story Books. Six volumes in neat box. Cloth. Per vol.
+
+Christmas Gift.
+Uncle Ben.
+Birthday Party.
+The Picnic Party.
+The Gold Thimble.
+The Do-Somethings.
+
+
+Great Western Series, The. Six volumes. Illustrated. Per vol.    1.50
+
+Going West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy.
+Out West; or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes.
+Lake Breezes.
+
+
+Our Boys' and Girls' Offering. Containing Oliver Optic's popular
+Story, Ocean Born; or, The Cruise of the Clubs; Stories of the Seas,
+Tales of Wonder, Records of Travel, &c. Edited by Oliver Optic.
+Profusely Illustrated. Covers printed in Colors. 8vo.            1.50
+
+
+Our Boys' and Girls' Souvenir. Containing Oliver Optic's Popular
+Story, Going West; or, The Perils of a Poor Boy; Stories of the Sea,
+Tales of Wonder, Records of Travel, &c. Edited by Oliver Optic. With
+numerous full-page and letter-press Engravings. Covers printed in
+Colors. 8vo.                                                     1.50
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Up the River, by Oliver Optic
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