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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Last of the Flatboats - A Story of The Mississippi and its Interesting Family of Rivers - -Author: George Cary Eggleston - -Release Date: February 15, 2014 [EBook #44922] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE FLATBOATS *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Fred Salzer and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -[Illustration: THE RESCUE OF THE CASTAWAYS. - -"The rescue occupied considerable time and work." (See page 283.)] - - - - - The Last of the Flatboats - - _A Story of the Mississippi and its - interesting family of rivers_ - - By - - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - Author of "The Big Brother," "Captain Sam," - "The Signal Boys," "The Wreck of - the Red Bird," etc., etc. - - - BOSTON - LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY - - - COPYRIGHT, 1900, - BY LOTHROP - PUBLISHING - COMPANY. - - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith - Norwood Mass. U.S.A. - - - - - _TO MY LAST-BORN BOY_ - - CARY EGGLESTON - - _A brave, manly fellow - Who knows how to swim - How to catch fish - How to handle his boat - How to shoot straight with a rifle - And how to tell the truth every time_ - - I Dedicate - - _This Story about some other Boys of his kind_ - - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - _Culross-on-Lake-George_ - - - - -Preface - - -Vevay, from which "The Last of the Flatboats" starts on its voyage down -the Mississippi, is a beautiful little Indiana town on the Ohio River, -about midway between Cincinnati and Louisville. The town and Switzerland -County, of which it is the capital, were settled by a company of -energetic and thrifty Swiss immigrants, about the year 1805. Their -family names are still dominant in the town. I recall the following as -familiar to me there in my boyhood: Grisard, Thiebaud, Le Clerc, -Moreraud, Detraz, Tardy, Malin, Golay, Courvoisseur, Danglade, Bettens, -Minnit, Violet, Dufour, Dumont, Duprez, Medary, Schenck, and others of -Swiss origin. - -The name Thiebaud, used in this story, was always pronounced "Kaybo" in -Vevay. The name Moreraud was called "Murrow." - -The map which accompanies this volume was specially prepared for it by -Lieut.-Col. Alexander McKenzie of the Corps of Engineers of the United -States Army. To his skill, learning, and courtesy I and my readers are -indebted for the careful marking of the practically navigable parts of -the great river system, and for the calculation of mileage in every -case. - - G. C. E. - - - - -Contents - - - Chapter Page - - I. The Rescue of the Pigs 9 - - II. How it All Began 17 - - III. Captain Phil 27 - - IV. A Hurry Call 33 - - V. On the Banks of the Wonderful River 40 - - VI. The Pilot 47 - - VII. Talking 56 - - VIII. The Right to the River 62 - - IX. What happened at Louisville 71 - - X. Jim 77 - - XI. The Wonderful River 86 - - XII. The Wonderful River's Work 95 - - XIII. The Terror of the River 105 - - XIV. In the Home of the Earthquakes 118 - - XV. In the Chute 131 - - XVI. "Talking Business" 147 - - XVII. At Anchor 161 - - XVIII. At Breakfast 170 - - XIX. Scuttle Chatter 179 - - XX. At Memphis 190 - - XXI. A Wrestle with the River 198 - - XXII. In the Fog 209 - - XXIII. Through the Crevasse 219 - - XXIV. A Little Amateur Surgery 228 - - XXV. A Voyage in the Woods 236 - - XXVI. The Crew and their Captain 245 - - XXVII. A Struggle in the Dark 251 - - XXVIII. A Hard-won Victory 261 - - XXIX. Rescue 278 - - XXX. A Yazoo Afternoon 291 - - XXXI. An Offer of Help 304 - - XXXII. Publicity 312 - - XXXIII. Down "The Coast" 324 - - XXXIV. A Talk on Deck 336 - - XXXV. Looking Forward 348 - - XXXVI. The Last Landing 361 - - XXXVII. Red-Letter Days in New Orleans 370 - - XXXVIII. "It" 379 - - - - -The Last of the Flatboats - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE RESCUE OF THE PIGS - - -"Give it up, boys; you're tired, and you've been in the water too long -already. And, besides, I've decided that this job's done." - -It was Ed Lowry who spoke. He was lying on the sand under a big sycamore -tree that had slid, roots and all, off the river bank above, and now -stood leaning like a drunken man trying to stand upright. - -Ed was a tall, slender, and not at all robust boy, with a big head, and -a tremendous shock of half-curly hair to make it look bigger. - -The four boys whom he addressed had been diving in the river and -struggling with something under the water, but without success. Three of -them accepted Ed's suggestion, as all of them were accustomed to do, -not because he had any particular right to make suggestions to them, but -because he was so far the moral and intellectual superior of every boy -in town, and was always so wise and kindly and just in his decisions, -that they had come to regard his word as a sort of law without -themselves quite knowing why. - -Three of the boys left the river, therefore, shook the water off their -sunburned bodies,--for they had no towels,--and slipped into the loose -shirt and cottonade trousers that constituted their sole costume. - -The other boy--Ed's younger brother, Philip--was not so ready to accept -suggestions. In response to Ed's call, he cried out in a sort of mock -heroics:-- - -"Never say die! In the words of the immortal Lawrence, or some other -immortal who died a long time ago, 'Don't give up the ship!' _I'm_ going -to get that pig if it takes all summer." - -The boys all laughed as they threw themselves down upon the sand by Ed. - -"Might as well let him alone," said Will Moreraud; "he never will quit." - -Meantime Phil had dived three or four times more, each time going down -head first, wrestling with the object as long as he could hold his -breath, and each time manifestly moving one end or the other of it -nearer the shore, and into shallower water, before coming to the surface -again. - -When he had caught his breath after the third or fourth struggle, he -called out:-- - -"I say, boys, it isn't a pig at all, but a good average-sized elephant. -'Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish,' _I'm_ going to get that -animal ashore." - -"He'll do it, too," said Constant Thiebaud. - -"Of course he will," drawled Irving Strong. "It's a way he has. He never -gives up anything. Don't you remember how he stuck to that sum in the -arithmetic about that cistern whose idiotic builder had put three -different sized pipes to run water into it, and two others of still -different sizes to run water out? He worked three weeks over that thing -after all the rest of us gave it up and got Mrs. Dupont to show us--and -he got it, too." - -"Yes, and he can do it now backwards or forwards or standing on his -head," said Constant Thiebaud; "while there isn't another boy here that -can do it at all." - -"Except Ed Lowry," said Irving Strong. "But then, he's different, and -knows a whole lot about the higher mathematics, while we're only in -algebra. How is it, Ed? You've been sick so much that I don't believe -you ever did go to school more than a month at a time, and yet you're -ahead of all of us." - -Just then Phil came up after a long tussle under the water, and this -time stood only a little way from shore where the water was not more -than breast high. He cried:-- - -"Now I've 'met the enemy and it's ours,' or words to that effect. I've -got the elephant into three feet of water, but I can't 'personally -conduct' it ashore. Come here, all of you, and help." - -The boys quickly dropped out of their clothes, and went to their -comrade's assistance. - -"What is the thing, anyhow?" asked Irving Strong. - -"I don't know," said Phil. "All I know is that it's got elbows and -wrists and all sorts of burs on it, on which I've been skinning my shins -for the last half hour; and that it is heavier than one of your -compositions, Irv." - -The thing was in water so shallow that all the boys at once could get at -it merely by bending forward and plunging their heads and shoulders -under the surface. But it was so unwieldy that it took all five of -them--for Ed too had joined, as he always did when there was need of -him--fully ten minutes to bring it out upon shore. - -"I say, boys," said Ed, "this is a big find. It's that ferry-boat shaft -the iron man told us about, and you remember we are to have fifty -dollars for it." - -"Then hurrah for Phil Lowry's obstinate pertinacity!" said Irving -Strong. "That's what Mrs. Dupont called it when she bracketed his name -and mine together on the bulletin-board as 'Irreclaimable whisperers.' -Phil, you may be irreclaimable, but you've proved that this shaft -isn't." - -It was just below the little old town of Vevay on the Ohio River, where -Swiss names and some few Swiss customs still survived long after the -Swiss settlers of 1805 were buried. To be exact, it was at "The Point," -where all Vevay boys went for their swimming because it lay a little -beyond the town limits, and so Joe Peelman, the marshal, could not -arrest them for swimming there in daylight without their clothes. - -During the high water of the preceding winter a barge loaded with -pig-iron had broken in two there and sunk. The strong current -quickly carried away what was left of the wrecked barge,--which had -been scarcely more than a great oblong box,--leaving the iron to be -undermined by the water and to sink into the sand and gravel of the -bottom. - -The agent who came to look after matters quickly decided that at such a -place very little of the cargo could ever be recovered--not enough to -justify him in sending a wrecking force there. He thought, too, that by -the time of summer low water--for the Ohio runs very low indeed in July -and August--the iron would have settled and scattered too much to be -worth searching for. - -But Phil Lowry not only never liked to give up, he never liked to see -anybody else give up. So what he looked upon as the iron man's weak -surrender gave him an idea. He said to the agent:-- - -"That iron's where we boys go swimming in summer-time. If we get any of -it out during the low water, can we have it? Is it 'finder's keeper'?" - -"Well, no," said the man, hesitating. "But I'll tell you what I'll do. -If you boys get out any considerable quantity,--say fifty tons or -more,--enough to justify me in sending a steamboat after it, I'll pay -you three dollars a ton salvage for it." - -So the boys formed a salvage copartnership. Long-headed Ed Lowry, in -order to avoid misunderstandings, drew up an agreement, and the iron man -signed it. It gave the boys entire charge of the wreck, and bound the -owner to pay for recovered iron as he had proposed. Just before signing -the paper the agent remembered the ferry-boat wheel shaft, which had -been a part of the cargo; and as it was a valuable piece of property, -which he particularly wanted to recover, he added a clause to the -contract agreeing to pay an additional fifty dollars for it, if by any -remote chance it should be saved. - -During the summer the boys had been specially favored by circumstances. -The river had gone down much earlier that year than usual, and it -went at last much lower than it had done for many years past. As a -consequence they had prospered well in their enterprise. Their pile of -iron "pigs" on the shore when the shaft was found amounted to three -hundred tons, and the agent was to arrive by the packet that night to -pay for it and take possession. This was, therefore, their last day's -work, and thanks to Philip Lowry's "obstinate pertinacity" it was the -most profitable day's work of them all. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -HOW IT ALL BEGAN - - -When the wheel shaft was tugged ashore, the boys slipped on their -clothes again and retired to the shade of the big sycamore tree, where -Ed Lowry had left the book he had been reading. Ed Lowry always had a -book within reach. - -Philip threw himself down to rest. He was not only tired, he was -physically "used up" with his labors under water in tugging first one -and then the other end of the heavy shaft toward the shore. - -It would have been very hard work even in the open air. Under water, and -without breath, it had completely exhausted the boy. Just now he was -bent upon sleep. So in spite of the sun glare, and in spite of the -chatter around him, and still more, in spite of a sense of triumph which -was strong enough in him to have kept anybody else awake, he fell into a -profound slumber. - -"Well, we've finished the job," said Constant Thiebaud after a while. -"What's the result, Ed?" - -Ed Lowry pulled a memorandum out of his pocket and studied it for a -while. - -"We have saved a trifle over three hundred tons of pig-iron," he -replied, "and for that, at $3.00 a ton, will get a little over $900. -We're to get $50 more for the shaft, which makes $950. It'll be a trifle -more than that, but not enough more to count. My calculation is that we -shall have about $190 apiece when the agent settles with us -to-night--possibly $195." - -"And a mighty good summer's work it is," said Will Moreraud. - -"Especially as it's been all fun," said Irv Strong, "to a parcel of -amphibious Ohio River boys who would have stayed in the water most of -the time anyhow. It's better fun diving after pig-iron than after -mussel-shells, isn't it?" - -Irving was the only boy in the party whose people were comparatively -well-to-do, and who could therefore afford to think of the fun they -had had without much concern for the profits. But Irv Strong had no -trace of arrogance in his make-up. He could have dressed, if he had -chosen, in much better fashion than any other boy in town. But he chose -instead to wear blue cottonade trousers and a tow linen shirt, and to -go barefoot just as his comrades did. So in speaking of the pleasure -they had had, he put the matter in a way that all could sympathize -with. For truly they had had more "fun" as he called it, than ever -before in their lives. Ed Lowry could have told them why. He could have -explained to them how much a real purpose, an object worth struggling -for, adds to the enjoyment people get out of sport; but Ed usually kept -his philosophy to himself except when there was a need for it. Just now -there was no need. The boys were as happy as possible in the completion -of their task, just as they had been as happy as possible in performing -it. Satisfaction is better than an explanation at any time, and Ed Lowry -knew it. - -There was silence for a considerable time. Perhaps all the boys were -tired after their hard day's work. Presently Constant Thiebaud spoke. - -"A hundred and ninety dollars apiece! That's more money than any of us -ever saw before. I say, boys, what are we going to do with it?" - -There was a pause. - -"Let him speak first who can speak best," said Irv Strong. "So, Ed -Lowry, what are you going to do with _your_ share of the money?" - -"I'm going shopping with it--shopping for some 'bargain counter' -health," replied the tall boy. - -"How do you mean?" asked two boys at once, and eagerly. - -"Well, my phthisic was very bad last winter, you know. It isn't phthisic -at all, I think. Phthisic is consumption, and I haven't that--yet." - -He spoke hopefully, rather than confidently. He hoped his malady might -not be a fatal one, but sometimes he had doubts. - -Let me say here that his hope was better founded than his fear. For at -this latter end of the century, Ed Lowry--under his own proper name and -not under that which I am hiding him behind in this story--is not only -living, but famous. His bodily strength has always been small, but the -work he has done in the world with that big brain of his has been very -great, and his name--the real one I mean--is familiar to everybody who -reads books or cares for American history. - -"But whatever it is," Ed continued, "the doctor wants me to go South for -this winter, and now that I've got money enough, I'm going to do it." - -"But you haven't got money enough," said Irv Strong. "A hundred and -ninety dollars won't much more than pay your steamboat fare to New -Orleans and back. What are you going to live on down there--especially -if you get sick?" - -The irrepressible Phil selected this as the time to wake up. "Well," he -said, sitting up in the sand and locking his muscular arms around his -knees, "_I'm_ in this game a little bit myself. I've got one whole -hundred and ninety dollars' worth of stake in that big pile of iron; and -from Mrs. Dupont down to the last one-suspendered chap in the lot of -you, you are all always talking about my 'obstinate pertinacity.' Well, -my 'pertinacity' just now 'obstinately' declares that Ed shall take my -share in the stake and spend it for his health. He shakes his head, but -if he won't, then I 'solemnly swear or affirm' that I'll take every -dollar of it out to the channel there and throw it in. I'll--" - -But Phil had broken down. His affection for his half-invalid brother was -the one thing that nothing could ever overcome. He didn't weep. That is -to say, none of the boys saw him shed tears, but instead of finishing -the sentence he was uttering, he suddenly became interested in the -pebbles along the river shore, fifty yards lower down the stream. - -Ed, too, found it difficult just then to say anything. Ed had always -been disposed to worry himself about Phil--to regulate him, and when he -couldn't do that, to suffer in his own mind and conscience for his -brother's misdeeds--which, after all, were usually nothing worse than -manifestations of excessive boyish enthusiasm, the undue use of slang, -and an excessive devotion to purposes which Ed's calmer temper could not -quite approve. Just now Ed had made a new discovery. He had found out -something of the rattling, restless, reckless boy's character which he -had never fully known before. For he did not know, as the other boys -did, how Phil, a year ago, had waited for half an hour behind the -schoolhouse, and armed with stones had wreaked a fearful vengeance upon -the big bully twice his size, who had used his strength cruelly to -torment Ed's weakness. That story had been kept from Ed, because it was -well understood that he did not approve of fighting; and the boys, who -fully sympathized with the little fellow's animosity against the big -bully, didn't want him censured for his battle and victory. - -So there was silence after Phil's declaration of his purpose, which -every boy there knew that he would fulfil to the letter. At last Ed -said:-- - -"On my own share of the money I could go by taking deck passage." - -"Yes," cried Phil, suddenly reappearing in a sort of wrath that was very -unusual with him--"yes, and live on equal terms with a lot of dirty, -low-lived wretches--ugh! Now see here, Ed! I've told you you are to take -my share of the money. If you don't, I'll do exactly what I said,--I'll -get it changed into coin, and I'll drop it into the river at a point -where no diving will ever get it. I've said my say. I'll do my do." - -"Look here," drawled Irv Strong, after a moment. "Let's _all_ go to New -Orleans, and don't let's pay any steamboat fare at all except to get -back!" - -"But how?" asked three boys, in a breath. - -"Let's run a flatboat! In my father's day, pretty nearly all the hay, -grain, bacon, apples, onions, and the like, grown in this part of the -country, were sent to New Orleans in flatboats. I don't see why it -wouldn't pay for us to take a flatboat down the river now. We've more -than enough money to build and run her, and we can get a cargo, I'll bet -a brass button." - -The boys were all eagerness. They knew, of course, what a flatboat was, -but they had seen very few craft of that sort, as the old floating -flatboats had almost entirely given place on the Ohio to barges, towed, -or rather pushed, by big, stern-wheel steamboats. For the benefit of -readers who never saw anything of the kind, let me explain. - -A flatboat was simply a big, overgrown, square-bowed and square-sterned -scow, with a box-like house built on top. She could carry a very heavy -cargo without sinking below her gunwales, and the house on top, with its -roof of slightly curved boards, was to hold the cargo. There was a -little open space at the bow to let freight in and out, while a part of -the deck-house at the stern was made into a little box-like cabin for -the crew. The scow part, or boat proper, was strongly built, with great -timber gunwales, and a bottom of two-inch plank tightly caulked. The -freight-house built on it was so put together that only a few of the -planks were required to have nails in them, so that when the boat -reached New Orleans she could be sold as lumber for more than she had -originally cost. - -She was simply floated down the river by the current. There were two big -oars, or "sweeps," as they were called, with which the men by rowing -could give the craft steerage way--that is to say, speed enough to let -the big steering oar throw her stern around as a rudder does, and guide -her course. All this was necessary in making sharp turns in the channel -to keep off bars; but as the flatboats usually went down the river only -at high stages of water, the chief use of the oars was to make landings. - -Ed could have told his comrades some interesting facts concerning the -enormous part that the flatboats once played in that commerce which -built up the great Western country; but, as Irv Strong said, there was -"already a question before the house. That question is, 'Why can't we -five fellows build a flatboat, load her, and take her down the river?' -We'll be the 'hands' ourselves, and won't charge ourselves any wages, so -we can certainly carry freight cheaper than any steamboat can. We'll -earn some more money, perhaps, and if we don't, we'll have lots of fun, -and best of all, we'll 'bust that broncho,' or bronchitis of Ed's--for -that's what it is. They call it phthisic only because that's the very -hardest word in the book to spell." - -The sun was getting low, but the boys were deeply interested. They would -have determined upon the project then and there but for Ed's caution. As -it was, they made him a sort of committee of one to inquire into -details, to find out what it would cost to build a flatboat, what living -expenses would be necessary for her boy crew, what it would cost them -for passage back from New Orleans, and on what terms they could get a -cargo. - -This is how it all began. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CAPTAIN PHIL - - -Ed's report was in all respects favorable to the enterprise. Perry -Raymond, who in the old days had built many scores of flatboats, was now -too old to undertake an active enterprise. But he told Ed, to the very -last board, how much lumber would be required, and the price of every -stick in it. He volunteered, as a mere matter of favor and without any -charge whatever, to superintend and direct the work of the boys in -building a boat for themselves. The result was that they could build a -boat for a very small fraction of their money, and Perry promised to -show them how to caulk it for themselves. - -Ed had seen the principal merchants of the place, also. It was their -practice to exchange goods for country produce--any sort that might come -to them, whether hay, or onions, or garlic, or butter, or eggs, or -wheat, or wool, or corn, or apples, or what not. - -It was their business to know pretty accurately how much of each kind of -produce they were likely to get during any given season in return for -their goods, and how best to market it. They knew to a nicety how much -butter and how many eggs or how many bushels of onions or how many -pounds of hay they could get for a parasol or a bit of lace or a calico -dress or a sack of coffee. Their chief problem was how to sell all these -things to the best advantage afterward. Usually they found their best -market down the river. - -So when Ed Lowry presented the case to them they were quick to see -advantage in it. His proposal was that the boys should provide the -flatboat and take her to New Orleans at their own expense; that the -merchants should furnish a cargo to be sold on commission either at New -Orleans or on "the coast," as the river country for a few hundred miles -above that city is called, the boys to have a certain part of the money -as freight and a certain other part as "commission." - -Every merchant in town was ready to furnish a part of the cargo, and it -seemed altogether probable that the boys would easily secure more -freight than they could carry, though their flatboat was to be one of -the biggest that ever floated down the river. As she was likely also to -be one of the last, coming as she did long after that system of river -transportation had been generally abandoned, Irv Strong, in a burst of -eloquence, proposed that she should be called _The Last of the -Flatboats_, in order, he said, "that she may take rank with those noble -literary productions, 'The Last of the Barons,' 'The Last of the -Mohicans,' 'The Last of the Mamelukes,' 'The Last Days of Pompeii,' and -'The Lay of the Last Minstrel.'" - -Ed Lowry laughed, and the other boys voted for the name proposed. - -As the boat was nearing completion, a few weeks later, and indeed had -already received a part of her cargo, the question arose, who should be -her captain. - -The first impulse of everybody concerned was to say "Ed Lowry," but Ed -vetoed that. - -"I'm an invalid," he said, "or half an invalid at the best, and this -thing isn't play. There are very serious duties for the captain of a -flatboat to do. He must be able to expose himself in all weathers, which -I can't do. He must be ready in resource and very quick to decide. In an -emergency, it is far more important to have a quick decision than a wise -one, and especially to have the one who decides a resolute person who -will carry his decision into effect." - -"I see," said Irving Strong. "What we need in a captain is 'obstinate -pertinacity.' I move that Phil Lowry, as the possessor of a large and -varied stock of that commodity, be made captain of _The Last of the -Flatboats_." - -As Phil was the very youngest of the group, and as he had always been -regarded rather as a ready than a discreet thinker, there was a moment's -hesitation. But a little thought convinced every one of the boys that -Phil was by all odds the one among them best fit to undertake the -difficult task of command--the one most likely to bring the enterprise -to a successful termination, especially if any serious difficulties -should arise, as was pretty certain to happen. - -"It's an awful responsibility for Phil to assume," said Ed that night to -their widowed mother, a woman of unusual wisdom. - -"Yes," she replied; "but, after all, he is the one best fit, and that -ought to be the only ground on which men or boys are selected for places -of responsibility. Besides, it will educate Philip in much that he needs -to learn. No matter what happens on the voyage, he will come back the -better for it. He ought to have the discipline that responsibility -gives. The one lesson he most needs to learn is that he is not merely an -individual, but a part of a whole: that his conduct in any case affects -others as well as himself, and that he is, therefore, responsible to -others and for others. It is well that you boys have made him your -captain. Now remember to hold up his hands and obey him loyally in every -case of doubt. That will be hard for you, Edward, because of your -superior knowledge--" - -"No, it won't, mother, pardon me," responded Ed: "first, because I know -too much about some things not to know that other people know more than -I do about others; and secondly, because I thoroughly understand what -Napoleon meant when he said that 'one bad general in command of an army -is better than two good ones.' The most unwise order promptly executed -usually results better than the wisest order left open to debate. Phil -will never leave things open to debate when the time comes for quick -action, and besides, mother, I have a much better opinion of Phil's -capacity for command than you think. His readiness and resourcefulness -are remarkable. He may or he may not get us safely to New Orleans. But -if he doesn't, I shall be perfectly certain that nobody else in the -party could." - -So it was that Phil Lowry, the youngest of the party, and the most -harum-scarum boy in all Vevay, was chosen captain of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ by those who were to voyage with him, simply because they all -believed him to be the one best fit for the place. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A HURRY CALL - - -Without theorizing about it, and, indeed, without knowing the fact, Phil -began at once to rise to his responsibility. The success of the -enterprise, he felt, depended in a large degree upon him, and he must -think of everything necessary in advance. - -One night, late in September, he asked his comrades to meet him "on -business" in Will Moreraud's room over a store. When they were all -gathered around the little pine table with a smoky lamp on it, Phil drew -out a carefully prepared memorandum and laid it before him. Then he -began:-- - -"As you've made me responsible in this business, I've been studying up a -little. The river's going to rise earlier than usual this year, and in -two weeks at most there'll be water enough to get the boat over the -falls at Louisville." - -"How do you know that?" broke in Constant Thiebaud, incredulously. - -"Because there has already been a smart rise all along, as you know, and -heavy rains are falling in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania mountains. -The Allegheny River is bank full; the Monongahela is over its banks; and -the Muskingum and the Big Kanawha and the Little Kanawha are all rising -fast. There'll be lots of water here almost before we know it." - -"Whew!" cried Irving Strong, rising,--for he could never sit still when -anything interesting was under discussion,--"but how in the name of all -the 'ologies do you know what's going on in the Virginia mountains, and -the rivers, and all that?" - -"I've been reading the Cincinnati papers every day since you made me -'IT'; that's all. Mr. Schenck lends them to me." - -"Well, Gee Whillicks!" exclaimed Constant, "who'd 'a' thought of that!" - -"No matter," said Phil, a little abashed by the approbation of his -foresight which he saw in all the boys' eyes and heard in all their -voices. "No matter about that; but I've more to say. The sooner we can -get away with the flatboat, the better." - -"Why? What difference does it make?" - -"Well, for most of the things we are taking as freight the prices are -apt to be much higher in the fall than later, after the steamboats load -up the market. That's what Mr. Shaw says, and he knows. So we must get -the boat loaded just as quickly as we can, and go out as soon as there -is water enough to get her over the falls." - -"But we can't do that," said Ed, "because most of the produce we are to -take hasn't been brought to town yet. The hay is here, of course, but -apples have hardly begun to come in--" - -"That's just what I'm coming to," interrupted Phil. "I've been studying -all that. We could get enough freight for two cargoes by waiting for it, -but the best figuring I can do shows only about three-quarters of a load -now actually in town. I propose that we go to work to-morrow and get the -other quarter. That's what I called you together for." - -"Where are we to get it?" - -"Along the river, below town--in the neighborhood of Craig's Landing." - -"But how?" asked Ed. - -"By hustling. I've made out a list of everybody that produces anything -for ten miles down the river and five miles back into the hills,--Mr. -Larcom, Captain John Wright, Johnny Lampson, Mr. Albritton, Gersham -McCallum and his brother Neil, Algy Wright, Mr. Minnit, Dr. Caine, Mr. -Violet--and so on. Craig's Landing is the nearest there is to all of -them, and they can all get their produce there quickly. I propose that -every boy in the crew take his foot in his hand early to-morrow morning, -and that we visit every farmer in the list and persuade him to send his -stuff to the landing at once. I've already seen Captain Wright,--saw him -in town to-day,--and he promises me thirty barrels of apples and seventy -bushels of onions with some other things. I'll go myself to Johnny -Lampson. He has at least a hundred barrels of apples, and I'll get them. -They aren't picked yet, but I'll offer him our services to pick them -immediately for low wages, and so--" - -"I say, boys!" broke in Irv Strong, "I move three cheers for 'obstinate -pertinacity.' It's the thing that 'goes' in this sort of business." - -"And in most others," quietly rejoined Ed Lowry. "I'm afraid I've never -properly appreciated it till now." - -Phil had some other details to suggest, for he had been trying very -earnestly to think of everything needful. - -They would need some skiffs, and he reported that Perry Raymond had six -new ones, of his own building, which he proposed to let them have as a -part of the cargo. They were to use any of them as needed on the voyage, -and their use was to offset freight charges. They were to sell the -skiffs at New Orleans or above, and to have a part of the proceeds as -commission. - -"I move we accept the offer," said Will Moreraud. "It's a good one." - -"It is already accepted," replied the young captain a trifle sharply. -"_I_ closed the bargain at once." - -His tone was not arrogant, but it was authoritative. It was a new one -for him to take, and it rather surprised the boys, but on the whole it -did not displease them. It meant that their young captain intended to be -something more effective than the chairman of a debating club; that -having been asked to assume authority, he purposed to exercise it; that -being in command, he meant to command in fact as well as in name. - -Some of them talked the matter over later that evening, and though they -felt a trifle resentful at first, they finally concluded that the boy's -new attitude promised well for the enterprise, and, better still, that -it was right. - -"You see he isn't 'cocky' about it at all," said Will Moreraud; "it just -means that in this game he's 'IT,' and he's going to give the word." - -"It means a good deal more than that," said shrewd Irv Strong, who had -been born the son of an officer in a regular army post. "It means we've -picked out the right fellow to be our 'IT,' and I, for one, stand ready -to support him with my eyes shut, every time!" - -"So do I," cried out all the lads in chorus. "Only you see," said -Constant, "we didn't quite expect it from Phil. Well--maybe if we had, -we'd have voted still louder for him for captain; that is, if we've got -any real sense." - -"It means," said Ed, gravely, "that if we fail to get _The Last of the -Flatboats_ safely to New Orleans, it will be our own fault, not his." - -"That's so," said Irving Strong. "But who'd ever have expected that -rattlepate to think out everything as he has done?" - -"And to be so desperately in earnest about it, too!" said another. - -"Well, I don't know," responded Irving. "You remember how he stuck to -that cistern sum. It's his way, only he's never before had so serious a -matter as this to deal with, and I imagine we have never quite known -what stuff he's made of." - -"Anyhow," said Will, "we're 'his to command,' and we'll see him -through." - -With a shout of applause for this sentiment the boys separated for -sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ON THE BANKS OF THE WONDERFUL RIVER - - -It was a busy fortnight that followed. The boys visited every farmer -within six miles of the landing to secure whatever freight he might be -willing to furnish. They picked and barrelled all of Lampson's apples, -dug and bagged and barrelled all the potatoes in that neighborhood, and -got together many small lots of onions, garlic, dried beans, and the -like, including about ten barrels of eggs. These last they collected in -baskets, a few dozen from each farm, and packed them at the landing. Of -course every shipper's freight had to be separately marked and receipted -for, so that the proper returns might be made. - -During all this time the boys had lived in a camp of their own making at -the landing, partly to guard the freight against thieves, partly to get -used to cooking, etc., for themselves, partly to learn to "rough it," -generally, and more than all because, being healthy-minded boys, they -liked camping for its own sake. - -Their little shelter was on the shore, just under the bank. They -occupied it only during rains. At other times they lived night and day -in the open air. They worked all day, of course, leaving one of their -number on guard, but when night came, they had what Homer calls a "great -bearded fire," built against a fallen sycamore tree of gigantic size, -and after supper they sat by it chatting till it was time to sleep. - -They were usually tired, but they were excited also, and that often kept -them awake pretty late. The vision of the voyage had taken hold upon -their imaginations. They pictured to themselves the calm joy of floating -fifteen hundred miles and more down the great river, of seeing strange, -subtropical regions that had hitherto been but names to them, seeming as -remote as the Nile country itself until now. - -And as they thought, they talked, but mainly their talk consisted of -questions fired at Ed Lowry, who was very justly suspected of knowing -about ten times as much about most things as anybody else in the -company. - -Finally, one night Irv Strong got to "supposing" things and asking Ed -about them. - -"Suppose we run on a sawyer," he said. Ed had been telling them about -that particularly dangerous sort of snag. - -"Well," said Ed, "we'll try to avoid that, by keeping as nearly as we -can in the channel." - -"But suppose we find that a particularly malignant sawyer has squatted -down in the middle of the channel, and is laying for us there?" - -"I doubt if sawyers often do that," said Ed, meditatively. - -"Well, but suppose one cantankerous old sawyer should do so," insisted -Irv. "You can 'suppose a case' and make a sawyer anywhere you please, -can't you?" - -Everybody laughed. Then Ed said: "Now listen to me, boys. I've been -getting together all the books I can borrow that tell anything about the -country we're going through, and I'll have them all on board. My plan is -to lie on my back in the shade somewhere and read them while you fellows -pull at the oars, cook the meals, and do the work generally. Then, when -you happen to have a little leisure, as you will now and then, I'll -tell you what I've learned by my reading." - -"Oh, that's your plan, is it?" asked Phil. - -"Yes, I've thought it all out carefully," laughed Ed. - -"Well, you'll find out before we get far down the river what the duties -of a flatboat hand are, and you'll _do_ 'em, too, 'accordin' to the -measure of your strength,' as old Mr. Moon always says in experience -meeting." - -"But reading and telling us about it is what Ed can do best," said Will -Moreraud, "and that's what we're taking him along for." - -"Not a bit of it," quickly responded Phil. "We're taking him along to -make him well and strong like the rest of us, and I'm going to keep him -off his back and on his feet as much as possible, and besides--" - -"But, Phil, old fellow," Ed broke in, "didn't you understand that I was -only joking?" - -Ed asked the question with a tender solicitude to which Phil responded -promptly. - -"Of course I did," he replied. "You always do your share in everything, -and sometimes more. But I don't think you understand. You know we -started this thing for you. I don't know--maybe you'll never get well if -we don't do our best to make you--" but Phil had choked up by this time, -and he broke away from the group and went down by the river. A little -later Ed joined him there and, grasping his hand, said:-- - -"I understand, old fellow." - -"No, you don't; at least not quite," replied the boy, who had now -recovered control of his voice. "You see it's this way. You and I are -_twins_. You're some years older than I am, of course, but we've always -been twins just the same." - -"Yes, I understand all that, and feel it." - -"No, not all," persisted the younger boy. "You see I've got all the -health there is between us, and it isn't fair. If you should--well, if -anything should happen to you, I'd never forgive myself for not finding -out some way of dividing health with you--" - -"But, my dear brother--" broke in Ed. - -"Don't interrupt me, now," said Phil, almost hysterically, "because I -must tell you this so that you will understand. When we made up this -scheme and you fellows chose me captain, I got to thinking how much -depended on me. There was the cargo, representing other people's money, -and I was responsible for that. There was the safety of the boat and -crew, and that depended upon me, too. But these weren't the heavy things -to me. There was your health! That depended on me in a fearful way. I -felt that I must find out what was best for you to do and then _make_ -you do it." He laughed a little. "That sounds funny, doesn't it? The -idea of my 'making' you do things!--Never mind that. I went to Dr. -Gale--" - -"What for?" asked Ed, in astonishment at this new revelation of the -change in Phil's happy-go-lucky ways. - -"To find out just what it would be best for you to do and not to do, in -order to make you well and strong like me." He choked a little, but -presently recovered himself and continued. "I found out, and I mean to -_make_ you do the things that will save you, even if you hate me for -my--" - -He could say no more. There was no need. Ed, with his ready mind and -big, generous heart, understood, though he wondered. He grasped his -brother's hand again and said, between something like sobs:-- - -"And I'll obey you, Phil! Thank you, and God bless you! Be sure I could -never hate you or do anything but love you, and you must always know -that I understand." - -Then the two turned away from each other. - -On their return to Vevay a few evenings later, Ed said to his mother:-- - -"You were right, mother; responsibility has already worked a miracle in -Phil's character." - -"No, you are wrong," said the wise mother. "It is only that you have -never quite understood your brother until now. Nothing really changes -character--at least nothing changes it suddenly. Circumstances do not -alter the character of men or women or boys. They only call out what is -already there. Responsibility and his great affection for you have not -changed your brother in the least. They have only served to make you -acquainted with him as you never were before." - -"Be very sure I shall never misunderstand him again!" said the boy, with -an earnestness not to be mistaken. - -[Illustration: LOADING THE FLATBOAT. - -"They worked like beavers getting cargo aboard."] - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE PILOT - - -The boys went hurriedly back to Vevay. They had cargo enough and to -spare. Indeed, they feared they might have difficulty in bestowing it -all on their boat. And the rise in the river was coming even earlier and -faster than Phil had calculated. They must get the Vevay part of their -load on board and drop down to Craig's Landing before the water should -reach their freight there, which lay near the river. So they hired a -farm hand to watch the goods at the landing and hastened to town. - -There they worked like beavers, getting cargo aboard, for it was no part -of their plan to waste money hiring anybody to do for them anything that -they could do for themselves. They loaded the boat under Perry Raymond's -supervision, for even the tightest and stiffest boat can be made to leak -like a sieve if badly loaded. - -Finally, everything was ready. The town part of the cargo was well -bestowed. Ed Lowry had deposited his books on top of tiers of hay bales, -in between barrels, and in every other available space, for there was no -room for them in the little cabin at the stern, where the boys must -cook, eat, sleep, and live. The cabin wasn't over twelve feet by ten in -dimensions, and a large part of its space was taken up by the six -sleeping-bunks. For besides themselves there was a pilot to be provided -for. - -His name was Jim Hughes. Beyond that nobody knew anything about him. He -had come to Vevay, from nowhere in particular, only a few days before -the flatboat's departure, and asked to be taken as pilot. He was willing -to go in that capacity without wages. He wanted "to get down the river," -he said, and professed to know the channels fairly well. - -"If he does," said Ed Lowry, "he knows a good deal more than most of the -old-time flatboat pilots did. With the maps I've secured I think we can -float the boat down the river without much need of a pilot anyhow. But -as Hughes offers to go for his passage, we might as well take him -along. We may get into a situation where his knowledge of the river, if -he has any, will be of use to us." - -So Jim Hughes was shipped as pilot of _The Last of the Flatboats_. - -When all was ready that gallant craft was cast loose at the Ferry street -landing, and as she drifted into the strong current, there was a cheer -from the boys on shore who had assembled to see their schoolmates off. - -"She floats upon the bosom of the waters," cried Irv Strong, "with all -the grace of a cow learning to dance the hornpipe." - -Irv was in exuberant spirits, as he always was in fact. He was like soda -water with all its fizz in it, no matter what the circumstances might -be, and just now the circumstances were altogether favorable. - -"I say, boys," he cried, "let's have a little dance on deck! Tune up -your fiddle, Constant." - -Constant dived into the cabin and quickly returned with his violin, -playing a jig even as he emerged from the little trap-door at the top of -the steps. - -Phil did not join in the dance, for he had discovered a cause of -anxiety. Their pilot was making a great show of activity where none -whatever was needed. From the Ferry street landing to "The Point" the -current ran swiftly in a straight line, and if let alone, the boat would -have gone in precisely the right direction. But Hughes was not letting -her alone. With long sweeps of his great steering-oar he was driving her -out dangerously near the head of the bar, now under water but still a -shoal. - -Phil, who was observing closely, called out:-- - -"I say, Jim, you must run further inshore, or you'll hit the head of the -bar." - -"Lem me alone," said Jim. "I know the river." - -Just then the boat scraped bottom on the bar. Phil called out quickly:-- - -"All hands to the larboard oars! Give it to her hard!" and himself -seizing the steering oar, he managed by a hair's breadth to swing the -great box--for that is all that a flatboat is--into the deep and rapid -channel near the Indiana shore. - -As she drifted into safe water, Phil said:-- - -"That's incident number one in the voyage." - -"Yes, and it came pretty near being chapter first and last in the -log-book of _The Last of the Flatboats_," replied Irv Strong. - -For several miles now there was nothing to do but float. But Phil was -closely watching Jim Hughes and observed that that worthy made three -visits to the hold,--as the cargo part of the boat is called,--going -down each time by the forward ladder and not by the stairs leading to -the cabin. - -When the boat reached the big eddy about half a mile above Craig's -Landing, it was necessary for all hands to go to the oars again in order -to make the landing. - -Presently Phil observed that Hughes was steering wildly. His efforts -with the steering oar were throwing the boat far out into the river, -away from the shore on which they were to land, and directly toward the -head of a strong channel which at this stage of water ran like a -mill-race along the Kentucky shore on the farther side of Craig's bar. -Should the boat be sucked into that channel, she would be carried many -miles down the stream before she could ever be landed even on the wrong -side of the river, and she could never come back to Craig's Landing -unless towed back by a steamboat. - -Phil, seeing the danger, asked: "Why don't you keep her inshore?" - -"None o' yer business. I'm steerin'," answered the pilot. - -One quick, searching glance showed Phil the extent of the man's -drunkenness,--or his pretence of drunkenness,--for Phil had doubts -of it. There were certain indications lacking. Yet if the fellow was -shamming, he was doing it exceedingly well. His tongue seemed thick, his -eyes glazed, and his walk across the deck appeared to be a mere stagger, -supported by the great oar that he was wielding to such mischievous -effect. - -There was not a moment to be lost if the landing was to be made at all. -Phil called all the boys to the larboard sweep and went to take -possession of the steering-oar. Jim Hughes resisted violently. Phil, -with a quietude that nobody had ever before seen him display under -strong excitement, picked up a bit of board from the deck, and instantly -knocked the big hulking fellow down by a blow on the head. - -The man did not get up again or indeed manifest consciousness in any -way. If this troubled the boy, as of course it must, he at least did -not let it interfere with his duty. He had a difficult task to do and he -must do it quickly. He gave his whole mind to that. The boys obeyed with -a will his shouted orders to "pull hard!" then for two of them to go to -the starboard oar and "back like killing snakes." In a little while the -boat swung round, and Phil called to Will Moreraud to "take a line -ashore in the skiff and make it fast." The youth did so, just in time to -prevent the boat from grounding in the shoal water below the landing. - -When everything was secure and the strenuous work done, the boy sank -down upon the deck and called to his brother. - -"See if I've killed him, won't you, Ed? _I_ can't." - -A very slight examination showed that, while the blow from the bit of -plank had brought some blood from the pilot's head, it had done no -serious damage. His stupor, it was Ed's opinion, was due to whiskey, not -to his chastisement. - -Nevertheless it was a very bad beginning to the voyage, and Phil was -strongly disposed to discharge the fellow then and there, and trust, as -he put it, to "a good map, open eyes, and ordinary common sense, as -better pilots than a drunken lout who probably doesn't know the river -even when he is sober." - -But the other boys dissuaded him. They thought that Jim's intoxication -was the result of his joy at getting off; that they could find his jug -in its hiding-place and throw it overboard,--which presently they -did,--and that after he should get sober, Jim's experience in -flat-boating might be of great advantage to them. - -"You see," said Ed Lowry, "we've taken a big responsibility. All this -freight, worth thousands of dollars, belongs to other people, and I -suppose half of it isn't even insured because the rates on flatboats are -so high. Think if we should lose it for lack of a pilot!" - -"Yes, think of that!" said two or three in a breath. - -"Very well," said Phil. "I yield to your judgment. But my own opinion is -that such a pilot is worse than none. I'll keep him for the present. But -I'll watch him, and if he gets any more whiskey or plays us any more -tricks, I'll set him ashore once for all if it's in the middle of an -Arkansas swamp." - -The river was rising now, more and more rapidly every hour. There was -three days' work to do getting the rest of the cargo aboard and making -room for it in the crowded hold. But at Ed Lowry's suggestion the boys -avoided overtaxing themselves. The energetic Swiss blood in the veins of -Constant Thiebaud and Will Moreraud prompted them to favor long hours -for work on the plea that they could make it up by rest while floating -down the river. - -But under Ed's advice Phil overruled them, and it was decided to -breakfast at six o'clock, work from seven to twelve, dine, rest for an -hour, and work again till five. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -TALKING - - -The pleasantest part of the day, under this arrangement, was that -between five o'clock and bedtime. - -The boys talked then, and talking is about the very best thing that -anybody ever does. It is by talk that we come to know those about us and -make ourselves known to them. It is by talk that we learn to like our -fellows, by learning what there is in them worth liking. And it is by -talk mainly that we find out what we think and correct our thinking. - -Ed Lowry was reading a book one day, when suddenly he looked up and -said:-- - -"I say, fellows, this is good. Lord Macaulay said he never knew what he -thought about any subject until he had talked about it. Of course that's -so with all of us, when you come to think of it." - -"Well, I don't know," said Phil. "I often talk about things and don't -know what I think about 'em even after I've talked. Here's this big -bond robbery, for example. I've read all about it in the Cincinnati -newspapers and I've talked you fellows deaf, dumb, and blind concerning -it. Yet, I don't know even now what I think about it." - -"I know what I think," said Will Moreraud. "I think the detectives are -'all off.'" - -"How?" asked all the boys in chorus. - -"Well, they're trying to find the man who is supposed to be carrying the -plunder. It seems to me they'd better look for the other fellows first; -for if they were caught, they'd soon enough tell where the man that -carries it is. They wouldn't go to jail and leave him with the stuff." - -"The worst of it is they're publishing descriptions of the fellow and -even of what they've noticed concerning his clothes and beard, as if a -thief that was up to a game like that wouldn't change his clothes and -part his hair differently and wear a different sort of beard, especially -after he's been told what they're looking for." - -"Yes, that's so," said Irving Strong, reading from one of Phil's -Cincinnati newspapers: - -"'Red hair'--a man might dye that--'parted on the left side and brushed -forward'--he might part it in the middle and brush it back, or have it -all cut off with one of those mowing machines the barbers use, just as -Jim Hughes does with his--" - -"Now I come to think of it," continued Irv, after a moment's thought, -"Jim answers the description in several ways,--limps a little with his -left leg, has red hair when he permits himself to have any hair at all, -has lost a front tooth, and speaks with a slight lisp." - -"Oh, Jim Hughes isn't a bank burglar," exclaimed Will Moreraud. "He -hasn't sense enough for anything of that sort." - -"Of course not," said Irv. "I didn't mean to suggest anything of the -kind. I merely cited his peculiarities to show how easily a detective's -description might lead men into mistakes. Why, Jim might even be -arrested on that description." - -"But all that isn't what Macaulay meant," said Ed. "He meant that a man -never really knows what he thinks about any subject till he has put his -thought into words and then turned it over and looked at it and found -out exactly what it is." - -"I guess that's so," drawled Irv. "I notice that whenever I try to think -seriously--" - -The boys all laughed. The idea of Irv Strong's thinking seriously seemed -peculiarly humorous to them. - -"Well, I do try sometimes," said Irv, "and whenever I do, I put the -whole thing into the exactest words I can find. Very often, when I get -it into exact words, I find that my opinions won't hang together and -I've got to reconstruct them." - -"Exactly!" said Ed Lowry. "And that is the great difficulty animals have -in trying to think. They haven't any words even in their minds. They -can't put their thoughts into form so as to examine them. It seems to me -that language is necessary to any real thinking, and that it is the -possession of language more than anything or everything else that makes -man really the lord of creation." - -"Yes," said Phil. "Even Bre'r Rabbit and Bre'r Fox and all the rest of -them are represented as putting their thoughts into words." - -"Perhaps," said Irv, "that's the reason why educated people think more -soundly than uneducated ones. They have a nicer sense of the meaning of -words." - -"Of course," said Ed. "I suppose that is what President Eliot of -Harvard meant when he said that 'the object of education is to teach a -man to express his thought clearly in his own language.'" - -"Very well," said Phil. "My own thought, clearly expressed in my own -language, is that it's time for supper. Come, stir your stumps, ye -philosophical pundits! Bring me the skillet and the frying-pan, the salt -pork to fry, and prepare the apples and potatoes and eggs to cook in the -fat thereof. In the classic language of our own time, get a move on you, -and don't forget the coffeepot; nor yet the coffee that is to be steeped -therein!" - -The boys were ready enough to respond. Their appetites, sharpened -by hard work in the open air, were clamorously keen. The supper -promised--fried pork, fried apples, fried eggs, and coffee with a -short-cake--seemed to them quite all that could be desired in the way of -luxury. They could eat it with relish, and sleep in entire comfort -afterward. Probably not one of my readers in a hundred could digest such -a supper at all. That is because not one reader in a hundred gives -himself a chance for robust health by working nine hours a day and -living almost entirely in the open air. - -Jim came out when supper was ready and helped eat it there on the shore. -At other than mealtimes it was his custom to stay on board the flatboat, -and not only so, but to keep himself below decks, although the weather -was still very warm. He had got over his drunkenness, but he was still -moody, apparently in resentment of the rough-and-ready treatment he had -received at Phil's hands. - -He rarely talked at all; when he did talk, it was usually in the dialect -of an entirely uneducated person. But now and then he used expressions -that no such person would employ. - -"He seems to slip into his grammar now and then," was Irv Strong's way -of putting it. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE RIGHT TO THE RIVER - - -By the time that the last of the cargo was bestowed, the boat was so -full that there was scarcely a place in which to hang the four -fire-extinguishers which Mr. Schenck had supplied for the protection of -the cargo, of which he owned a considerable part. - -The river by this time was bank full. Indeed, the flatboat lay that last -night almost under an apple tree, and directly over the place where -three days before the boys had cooked their meals. - -When the final start was made, therefore, it was only necessary to give -three or four strokes of the great "sweeps" to shove the craft out into -the stream. After that she was left free to float. The biggest bars were -at least ten feet under water, and the boat "drew" less than three feet, -heavily laden as she was. For the rest, the current could be depended -upon to "keep her in the river," as boatmen say, and the boys had -nothing to do, between Craig's Landing and Louisville, fifty or sixty -miles below, except pump a little now and then, cook their meals, and -set up the proper lights at night. Of course someone was always "on -watch," but as the time was divided between the five, that amounted to -very little. - -As the boat neared Louisville, Ed suggested to his brother that he had -better land above the town, and not within its limits. - -"Why?" asked Phil. "We've got to get some provisions as well as hire a -falls pilot, and it will be more convenient if we land at the levee." - -"But it will cost us five or ten dollars in good money for wharfage," -replied Ed. - -"But if we land above the town, how do we know the man owning the land -on which we tie up won't charge us just as much?" asked Irv Strong, who -had never seen a large city and wanted to get as good a glimpse as he -could of this one. - -"Because the Mississippi River and its tributaries are not 'navigable' -waters, but _are_ 'public highways for purposes of commerce,'" responded -Ed. "If they weren't that last, we couldn't run this boat down them at -all." - -"Not navigable?" queried Will Moreraud. "Well, looking at that big -steamboat out there, which has just come from Cincinnati, that statement -seems a trifle absurd." - -"Let me explain," said Ed. "The English common law, from which we get -ours, calls no stream 'navigable' unless the tide ebbs and flows in it. -And as the tide does not ebb and flow in the Mississippi much above New -Orleans, neither that great river nor any of its splendid tributaries -are recognized by the law as navigable." - -"Then the law is an idiot," said Irv Strong. - -"One of Dickens's characters said something like that," responded Ed, -"when he was told that the law supposes a married woman always acts -under direction of her husband. But both he and you are wrong, -particularly you, as you'll see when I explain. It is absolutely -necessary for the law to determine just how far a man's ownership of -land lying along a stream extends. You see that?" - -"Of course," was the general response. - -"Yes," continued Ed, "otherwise very perplexing questions would arise as -to what a man might or might not do along shore. Now in England, where -our law on the subject comes from, it is a fact that the tide ebbs and -flows in all the navigable parts of the rivers and nowhere else. So the -law made the tide the test, or rather recognized it as a test already -established by nature. - -"Now in order that commerce might be carried on, the law decreed that -the owner of land lying on a navigable stream should own only to the -edge of the bank--or to the 'natural break of the bank,' as the law -writers express it. This was to prevent owners of the shores from -levying tribute on ships that might need to land or anchor in front of -their property. - -"But on streams that were not navigable, no such need existed. On the -contrary, it was very desirable, for many reasons, that the owners of -the banks should be free to deal as they saw fit with the streams in -front--to straighten or deepen them, and all that sort of thing. So the -law decreed that on streams not navigable the owner of the bank should -own to 'the middle thread of the water,' wherever that might happen to -be. - -"Now as all these great rivers of ours, the very greatest in the world, -by the way, are in law non-navigable, it follows that the men who own -their banks own the rivers also, the man on each side owning to the -middle thread of water. Naturally, these men could step in and say that -nobody should run a boat through their part of the river without paying -whatever toll they might choose to charge. Under such a system it would -be impossible to use the rivers at all. It would cost nobody knows how -many thousands of dollars in tolls to run a boat, say from Cincinnati to -New Orleans." - -"Well, why don't it, then?" asked Will Moreraud. "Why can't every farmer -whose land we pass come out and make us pay for using his part of the -river?" - -"For the same reason," said Ed, "that the farmer can't come out and make -you pay toll for passing over a public road which happens to cross his -land." - -"How do you mean? I don't understand," said Irv. - -"Well, the only reason the farmer can't make you pay toll for crossing -his land on a public road is, that the road is made by law a public -highway, open to everybody's use, and it is a criminal offence for -anybody to obstruct it, either by setting up a toll-gate, or building a -fence, or felling trees across it, or in any other way whatever. And -that's the only reason a man who owns land along these rivers can't -charge toll for their use or put any sort of obstruction in them without -getting himself into trouble with the law for his pains." - -"How's that?" asked one of the boys. "This river isn't a public road." - -"That is precisely what it is," said Ed. "Realizing the difficulty -created by the fact that this great river system is not legally -navigable while its actual navigation is a common necessity, Congress -early passed a law making the Mississippi River and all its tributaries -'public highways for purposes of commerce.' That's why nobody can -prevent you from running boats on them, or charge you for the -privilege." - -The boys were deeply interested in the explanation, which was new to -them, and so they sat silent for a while, thinking it over, as people -are apt to do when they have heard something new that interests them. - -Presently Phil said:-- - -"That's all very clear and I understand it, but I don't quite see what -it has to do with where we land at Louisville." - -"Well," said Ed, "I can explain that. As the river is a public highway -for purposes of commerce, nobody can charge you for any legitimate use -of it, or its shores below high-water mark, such use, for example, as -landing in front of his property, a thing which may be absolutely -necessary to navigation. But if a man or a city chooses to spend money -in making your landing easy and convenient, say by building a levee or -wharf, putting in posts for you to make your boat fast by, or anything -of the kind, that man or city has a right to charge you, not for -landing, but for the use of the improvements and conveniences." - -"Oh, yes, I see," said Phil. "Every city does that, and so if you land -at its improved landing, you must pay. Well, we'll land on unimproved -shores above Louisville, and above or below every other town that we -have occasion to land at. That's business. But I don't see why Congress -didn't solve the whole riddle by adopting a new rule as to what are and -what are not navigable streams." - -"What rule?" asked Ed. - -"Well, the common-sense rule, that a stream which is actually navigable -shall be regarded as navigable in law." - -"Actually navigable by what?" asked Ed. "There isn't a spring branch in -all the country that isn't actually navigable by some sort of boat. Even -a wash-basin will float a toy boat." - -"Oh, but I mean real boats." - -"Of what size?" - -"Well, big enough to carry freight or passengers." - -"Any skiff drawing three inches of water can do that. Such a rule would -include Indian Creek and Long Run, and even all the branches we go -wading in, as navigable streams. And then again, some streams are -practically navigable even by steamboats at some seasons of the year, -and almost or altogether dry at others. This great Ohio River of ours, -in its upper parts at least, goes pretty nearly dry some summers. No, I -don't see how any other line than that of the tide could have been -drawn, or how the other difficulty could have been met in any better way -than by declaring the Mississippi and all its tributaries 'public -highways for purposes of commerce.' That was the simplest way out, and -the simplest way is usually the best way."[1] - - [1] Ed's exposition of the law and the reason for it is sound enough. - But different states, by statutes or court decisions, have - somewhat modified it, particularly as regards the extent of bank - ownership. Probably Ed knew this, but didn't think it necessary - to go into details, which, after all, do not change the general - truth.--_Author._ - -"Yes," said Irv Strong, "and as the simplest way to relieve hunger is to -eat, I move that we stop talking and get dinner." - -The suggestion was accepted without dissent, and the two whose turn it -was to cook went below to start a fire in the stove. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -WHAT HAPPENED AT LOUISVILLE - - -Just before the landing was made at Louisville, Jim Hughes was seized -with an attack of cramps and took to his bunk, where he remained until -near the time for the boat to be afloat again. The boys had feared that -he might go ashore there and get a new supply of liquor, and they had -even made careful plans to prevent him from bringing any aboard. His -sudden sickness rendered all their plans superfluous. - -At Louisville Phil got a fresh supply of newspapers, giving all the -latest news concerning the great bond robbery, and took them aboard to -read at leisure. He learned that there was no need of hiring a pilot to -take the boat over the falls, which in fact are not falls at all, but -merely rapids. At very high water such as just then prevailed, the only -difference between that part of the river called the falls and any other -part was that that part had a much swifter and far less steady current -than prevailed elsewhere. - -"I could take your money for piloting you over the falls," said the -genial old pilot to whom Phil had applied, "but it would be robbery. I'm -a pilot, not a pirate, you see. All you've got to do, my boy, is to put -your flatboat well out into the river and let her go. She'll amble over -the falls at this stage of the water as gently as a well-built girl -waltzes over a ball-room floor. She'll turn round and round, just as the -girl does, but it'll be just as innocent-like. There'll be never less -than twenty-five foot o' water under your gunwales, and there simply -can't any harm come to you. Don't pay anybody anything to pilot you -over. Do it yourself, and if anything happens to you, just let old Jabez -Brown know where it happened, please. For if there's any new rocks -sprouted up on the falls of the Ohio since the water rose, an old falls -pilot like me just naterally wants to know about 'em." - -After laying in the provision supply that was needed, including -especially a big can of milk packed in a barrel of cracked ice, Phil -returned to the boat and announced his purpose of "running the falls" -without a pilot. It was at supper in the cabin that he made the -announcement, and Jim Hughes, who had been lying in his bunk with his -face toward the bulkhead, suddenly sat up. - -"Good!" he said. "They ain't no use fer a pilot when the river's bank -full this way. When'll you start, Phil?" - -"Just after daylight to-morrow morning," replied the captain. - -"Well, I feel so much better," said Jim, getting out of his bunk, "I -think I'll sample the pork and potatoes and throw in just a little o' -that hot corn bread and the new butter for ballast." - -"For a man who a few hours ago was violently ill with an intestinal -disorder," remarked Irv Strong a little later with a very pronounced -note of sarcasm in his tone, "it seems to me, Jim, that you're eating a -tolerably robust supper. Now if I'd had the cramps you've been suffering -from to-day, I really wouldn't venture upon cabbage and potatoes boiled -with salt pork. I'd try something 'bland' first, like a half pound of -shot or a pig's knuckle, or a bologna sausage or a few soft-boiled -cobble-stones." - -But Jim was deaf to the sarcasm and went on eating voraciously. - -"Wonder what that fellow is afraid of," said Phil to Irv as they went -out on deck to set the lights and make ready for the night. - -"Don't at all know," responded Irv, "unless he owes money to somebody in -Louisville. All I know is that he must have feigned that attack of -cramps, else he couldn't eat now in the way he does. He didn't want to -go ashore with you as you proposed, to hunt for a falls pilot." - -"Yes," said Ed Lowry, "I've known all day that he was shamming, because -he hasn't had the slightest touch or trace of proper symptoms. Even when -he professed to be in the most excruciating pain his pulse wasn't in the -least bit disturbed. I'm no doctor, but I know enough to say positively -that a man with any such cramps as he pretended to have simply couldn't -have kept his pulse calmly beating seventy-two times a minute as his -did. I timed it three times and then quit bothering with the fellow -because I knew he was shamming." - -"Wonder what he meant by it," said Will. - -"Shoo!" said Constant; "he's listening at the top of the gangway." - -"And _I_ wonder what _that_ means," said Phil, whose alert observation -of the professed pilot had never been relaxed since the episode at -Craig's Landing; "I wonder what he's listening for." - -There was naturally no response, for the reason that nobody had anything -to suggest. So the boys went toward the bow where the anchor-light hung, -to hear Phil read in his newspapers all the latest details about the -great bond robbery. They read on deck rather than in the cabin, because -one boy must at any rate remain there on watch, and they all wished to -hear. - -The newspapers related that one of the gang of robbers was believed to -have got away with the stolen bonds and money, and that the main purpose -now was to find him. One man connected with the crime was already in -custody, and from hints given by him it was hoped that he might turn -state's evidence in his own resentment against the "carrier of the -swag," who, it was believed, had deserted his fellow thieves, or some of -them, and meant to keep the whole of the proceeds of the robbery for -himself and one or two others. At any rate, the man in custody had given -hints that were thought to be distinctly helpful toward the discovery -of the "carrier" and his partners who had betrayed the rest of their -fellows. - -The case was very interesting, but the boys must be up early in the -morning, so at last they broke up their little confab, and all but one -of them went to bed. Constant Thiebaud, who first reached the -ladder-head, found Jim Hughes seated there with his head just above the -deck. - -"I thought you were in bed long ago," said Constant. - -"So I was," said Jim; "but I got restless and came out for some air." - -It wasn't at all the kind of sentence that Jim Hughes was accustomed to -frame, and the boys observed the fact. But they had got used to what Irv -Strong called Jim's "inadvertent lapses into grammar," and so they went -to their bunks without further thought of the matter. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -JIM - - -It didn't take long to "run the falls." From where the flatboat lay -above Louisville to the lower end of the rapids was a distance of about -eight or ten miles. Not only was the river bank full, but a great wave -of additional water--a rise of four or five inches to the hour--struck -them just as they pushed their craft out into the stream. There was a -current of six miles an hour even as they passed the city, which -quickened to eight or ten miles an hour when they reached the falls -proper. - -The boat fully justified the old pilot's simile of a girl waltzing. She -turned and twisted about, first one way and then the other, and now and -then shot off in a totally new direction, toward one shore or the other, -or straight down stream. - -It all seemed perilous in the extreme, and at one time Jim Hughes -hurriedly went below and brought up his carpet-bag, which he deposited -in one of the skiffs that lay on deck. - -"What's the matter, Jim?" asked Phil, who was more and more disposed to -watch the fellow suspiciously. "What are you doing that for?" - -"Well, you see we mout strike a rock, and it's best to be ready." - -"Yes," said Phil, "but what have you got in your carpet-bag that you're -so careful of?" and as he asked the question he looked intently into -Jim's eyes, hoping to surprise there a more truthful answer than he was -likely to get from Jim's lips. - -"Oh, nothin' but my clothes," said Jim, hastily avoiding the scrutiny. - -"Must be a dress-suit or two among them," said Phil, "or you'd be -thinking less about them and more about your skin. Let's see them!" he -added suddenly, and offering to open the bag. - -Jim snatched it away quickly, muttering something which the boy didn't -catch. But by that time the falls were passed and the flatboat was -floating through calm waters between Portland and New Albany. So Jim -retreated to the cabin and bestowed his precious carpet-bag again under -the straw of his bunk, where he had kept it from the first. - -"Wonder what he's got there, Phil," said Irv Strong, who had been -attentive to the colloquy. - -"Don't know," replied Phil; "but if things go on this way, the time will -come when I'll decide to find out." - -"By the way," broke in Will Moreraud, "did any of you see him bring that -carpet-bag aboard?" - -Nobody could remember. - -"Guess he sneaked it aboard as he did that jug," said Phil, "and as he -did his cramps." - -"Don't be too hard on the fellow, boys," said Ed, whose generosity was -always apt to get the better of his judgment. "Remember he's ignorant, -and ignorance is always inclined to be suspicious. Probably he hasn't -more than a dollar's worth or so in that carpet-bag; but as it is all he -has in the world, he's naturally careful of it. He's afraid some of us -will steal his things. If he knew more, he would know better. But he -doesn't know more. So he guards his poor little possessions jealously." - -There was silence for a minute. Then Phil said:-- - -"See if he's listening, Constant;" and when Constant had strolled to the -gangway and reported "all clear," Phil had this to say:-- - -"I'm not over-suspicious, I think. I don't want to be unjust to anybody. -But I'm responsible on this cruise, and it's my duty to notice things -carefully." - -"Of course," said Irv Strong, the other "irreclaimable." "I haven't a -doubt you noticed that I ate four eggs and two slices of ham for -breakfast this morning. But before you 'call me down' for it, I want to -say that I'm going to do the same thing to-morrow morning, because, -since I came on the river, I've got the biggest hunger on me that I ever -had in my life, and not at all because I have any diabolical plot in my -mind to starve the crew of this flatboat into submission or admission or -permission or any other sort of mission." - -But Phil did not smile at the pleasantry. He hesitated a moment before -replying, as if afraid that he might say too much; for Phil, the -captain, was a very different person from the happy-go-lucky Phil his -comrades had hitherto known. After a little while he said:-- - -"You remember, don't you, that Jim Hughes wanted to 'get down the river' -so badly that he shipped with us without pay? If he is so poor that he -has only that carpet-bag and only a few dollars' worth of stuff in it, -why didn't he try to 'strike' us for some sort of wages? Does anybody -here know where he came from, or why he came, or where he is trying to -go to, or why he wants to go there, or in fact who he is, or anything -about him? Can anybody explain why he shammed cramps yesterday?" - -"To all the highly interesting questions in that competitive -examination," said Irv Strong, "I beg permission to answer, in words -made familiar to one by frequent school use--'not prepared to answer.'" - -All the boys laughed except Phil. He was serious. The _boy_ hadn't at -all gone out of him, as was proved by the fact that in spite of the -October chill in the air he just then slipped off his clothes and "took -a header" into the river. But the serious _man_ had come into him with -responsibility, as was shown by the fact that he used a towel to rub -himself with after his bath. Having donned his clothes, he continued:-- - -"There may be nothing wrong about Jim Hughes. I don't say there is -anything wrong. But there is a good deal that is suspicious. So, while I -accuse him of nothing, I'm watching him, and I have been watching him -ever since we left Craig's Landing. I don't believe he was drunk there, -for one thing." - -"Don't believe he was drunk!" exclaimed the boys in a breath. "Why, you -had to knock him down yourself to save the landing!" - -"Yes, of course," said Phil. "But I took pains afterward to smell his -breath while he was supposed to be in a drunken stupor, and there wasn't -a trace of whiskey on it." - -"But you remember we found his jug hid among the freight." - -"You did," replied Phil; "and you reported to me, though you may have -forgotten the fact, that it was 'full up to the cork.' Those were your -own words, Will." - -Will remembered, though he had not before thought of the significance of -the fact. - -"Well, Phil, what was the matter with him, then?" asked Ed. - -"Shamming, just as he shammed the cramps yesterday." - -"But for what purpose?" - -"I don't know, any more than you know why he pretended to have cramps. -My theory is that he was so anxious to get down the river that he tried -to make us miss Craig's Landing entirely. The sum and substance of the -matter is this. At Craig's Landing I wanted to put the fellow ashore. -Now I don't want to do anything of the kind, and I won't either, till I -can read a good many riddles that he has given me to puzzle over." - -"Can we help you to read the riddles?" - -"Yes. Watch him closely, and tell me everything you observe, no matter -how little it may seem to mean." - -Just then Jim Hughes came up out of the cabin scuttle, and all the boys -except Phil found occasion to go to other parts of the boat. When you -have been talking unpleasantly about another person, you naturally -shrink from talking to him. - -Phil, however, stood his ground. "Hello, Jim!" he called out. "How are -the cramps, and how's the carpet-bag? Going to try to earn your board -now by steering a little?" - -Jim hesitated in embarrassment. Suddenly Phil began bombarding him with -questions like shots from a rapid-fire gun. - -"Where did you come from, anyhow, Jim? What's your real name? What are -you hiding from? How much do you know about the river? and about -flatboating? Have you really ever been down the river before, or was -that all a sham like your cramps yesterday? Who are you? What are you?" - -Jim struggled for a moment. There was that in his face which might have -appalled anybody but a full-blooded, resolute, dare-all boy. But he -quickly mastered himself. - -"See here, Phil," he said in persuasive tones, "you're mighty hard on a -poor feller like me, and I don't know why. That was a vicious clip you -hit me at Craig's Landing." - -Phil instantly responded, and again after the fashion of a -breach-loader. "So you remember that, do you? Then you were not so drunk -as you pretended." - -"Well," said Jim, "I was pretty full, but of course I knew who hit me." - -"You were not drunk at all," said the boy. "You hadn't even been -drinking. I smelt of your breath, and the blow I struck didn't knock you -senseless, for an hour, as you pretended, or for six seconds either. Now -look here, Jim, I don't know what your purpose is in all this shamming, -but I know for a fact that it is shamming, and I've had quite enough of -it." - -With that the boy turned away in that profound disgust which every -healthy-minded boy or man feels for a lie and a liar. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE WONDERFUL RIVER - - -As the "Knobs"--which is the name given to the high hills back of New -Albany--receded, the day was still young. It was also overcast and cool. -So Ed, who was always studying something, brought his big map up on deck -and, spreading it out, lay down on his stomach to study it. He worked -over it till dinner time, and in the afternoon he spread it out again. - -The boys having gathered around him, he said:-- - -"I say, fellows, we are making a journey that we ought to remember as -long as we live. We are going over a small but important part of the -greatest river system in the world." - -"'Small but important part,'" said Will, quoting. "Well, I like that." - -"What's your objection," said Ed Lowry, for the moment borrowing Irv -Strong's playful method,--"what's your objection to my carefully chosen -descriptive adjectives?" - -"Well, we're going over pretty nearly the whole of it, aren't we?" - -"Not by any manner of means," responded Ed. "We aren't going over more -than a small fraction of it." - -"Why, the Ohio River alone is thirteen hundred miles long," said Will; -"I remember that much of my geography; and most of the Mississippi lies -below the mouth of the Ohio, doesn't it?" - -"It's lucky you've passed your geography examinations in the high -school, Will," said Ed. "Now come here, all you fellows, and take a -look. This map shows the entire system of rivers of which the -Mississippi is the mother. It is the greatest river system in the world. -There is nothing, in fact, to compare it with but the Amazon and its -tributaries, and they have never done anything for mankind, because they -lie almost wholly in an unsettled and uncivilized tropical region that -has no commerce and no need of any, while the Mississippi and its -tributaries have built up an empire. They have in effect _created_ the -better part of this vast country of ours that is feeding the world -and--" - -"Oh, come now," said Irv Strong. "You aren't writing a composition or an -editorial for the Vevay _Reveille_." This was in allusion to the fact -that Ed sometimes published "pieces" in the local newspaper. - -"Well, no," said Ed, laughing at his own enthusiasm. "Besides, I'll come -to all that some other time perhaps. At present I want to give Will some -new ideas about the bigness of our river system. True, the Ohio is -twelve or thirteen hundred miles long, but about half of it lies above -Vevay, so we're covering only six or seven hundred miles of it. From -Cairo to New Orleans--the part of the Mississippi we shall traverse--is -about one thousand and fifty miles long. So we're only going to travel -over sixteen or seventeen hundred miles of river. Now there are about -fifteen or sixteen thousand miles of this river system that steamboats -can, and actually do, navigate, and nobody has ever really reckoned the -length of the rest--the parts not navigable. We're going over only about -one-tenth of the navigable part--one twenty-fifth part perhaps of the -whole." - -By this time the boys were all lying prone around the big map, their -feet radiating in every direction from it, like light-rays from a star. - -"See here," said Ed; "here's the Tennessee River. It's a mere tributary -of the Ohio, yet it is about two-thirds as long as the main river. Its -head waters are in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It -starts out through Tennessee and tries, in a stupid sort of fashion, to -find its way to the Gulf of Mexico through Alabama. But it gets -discouraged by the mountains down there, turns back, throws a dash of -water into the face of the state of Mississippi, returns to Tennessee -and travels north clear across that state and Kentucky, and finally in -despair gives up its effort to find the sea and turns the job over to -the Ohio. Look at it on the map!" - -"And as if it thought the Tennessee had more than it could do to drain -so great a region," said Phil, studying the map, "the Cumberland also -went into the business and after pretty nearly paralleling its sister -river for a great many hundreds of miles, fell into the Ohio only a few -miles above the mouth of the Tennessee. The two together are longer than -the Ohio itself." - -"Very decidedly," said Ed. "And then there are all the other -tributaries of the Ohio,--look at them on the map. Together they again -exceed its total length." - -The boys looked at the map and saw that it was so. Then Ed resumed:-- - -"But, after all, the Ohio and all its tributaries combined amount to a -very small part of the great system. The lower Mississippi itself from -Cairo to the mouth is almost exactly as long as the Ohio. Then there -are the upper Mississippi,--stretching clear up into Minnesota,--the -Illinois, the Wisconsin, etc., the Missouri and its vast tributaries -flowing from the Rocky Mountains, the Arkansas, the Red River, the -Ouachita, the White, the St. Francis, the Yazoo, the Tallahatchie, the -Sunflower, the Yalobusha--and a score of others, to say nothing of the -vast bayous that connect with the wonderful river down South. Here they -all are on the map. Look!" - -The next fifteen minutes were given up to a study of the map, interested -fingers tracing out the rivers, and a continual chatter contributing, -after the manner of boys' talk, to the general stock of information. -Presently Irv Strong spoke. He had never before in his life been silent -so long. - -"I remember, at this stage of the proceedings, the wise remark of our -honored teacher, Mrs. Dupont, that 'eyes are excellent to see with, but -one interpretative brain means more than many additional pairs of -eyes.'" - -"What's all that got to do with it?" asked Constant. "She was talking -about Darwin and Spencer when she said that. What's either of them got -to do with this river?" - -"Ah, Constant!" said Irv, in mock melancholy. "You grieve me to the -heart. You never will see the inward and spiritual meaning of my outward -and visible quotations. I mean that Ed Lowry has studied out this whole -thing and knows 'steen times more about it and what it means than we -blockheads would find out by studying the map for a dog's age. I venture -that assertion boldly, without having the remotest notion of what -constitutes a dog's age. My idea is that we fellows ought to shut up, -though I'm personally not fond of doing that, and let Ed gently distil -into our minds his information about all these things. Let's have the -benefit of the 'interpretative brain'!" - -"Let's take a header first," cried Phil, shedding his clothes again. -"I'll beat the best of you in a swim around the boat, or if I lose, I'll -wash the dishes for a whole day." - -And with that he went head foremost overboard, Will and Irv following -him. - -When they reappeared on deck, blowing like porpoises and glowing like -boiled lobsters, Ed said:-- - -"You fellows are regular water-rats; Phil is, anyhow. He's in this water -half a dozen times a day, no matter how cold the wind is." - -"That's just it," said Phil. "The water isn't anything like so cold as -this October air." Then, with mock seriousness: "Believe me, my dearly -beloved brother, it is to escape the frigidity of the atmosphere, or, as -it were, to warm myself, that I jump into the river. You were reading a -poem the other day in which the stricken-spirited scribe said:-- - - 'For my part I wish to enjoy what I can-- - A sunset, if only a sunset be near, - A moon such as this if the weather be clear,' - -and much else to the like effect. As you read the glittering, golden -words, I said in my soul: 'Bully for you, oh poet! I'm your man for -those sentiments every time.' And just now the poet and I agree that -nothing in this world would minister so much to our immediate enjoyment -as to jump off the boat again on the larboard side, dive clear under her -and come up on the starboard. Here goes! Who's the poet to follow me?" -And overboard the boy went, feet first this time, for after striking the -water and sinking to a safe depth, he must turn himself about and swim -under water for fifty or sixty feet before daring to come to the surface -again. - -Nobody tried to perform the feat in emulation of the reckless fellow. It -involved a great many dangers and a still greater many of disagreeable -possibilities such as broken heads, skinned backs, and abraded shins. Of -that I can give my readers full assurance because I've done the thing -myself many times, and bear some scars as witnesses of its risks. - -But it was Phil's rule of life never to let anybody "do anything in the -swimming way" that he couldn't do equally well. He had once seen -somebody dive under a steamboat and come up safely on the other side. -So he straightway dived under the same steamboat and came up safely on -the other side. After that, diving under a flatboat was a mere trifle to -him. - -[Illustration: MAP OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. - -Prepared expressly for this work under the personal direction of -Lieut.-Col. Alexander McKenzie, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. - -_Note.--Navigable part of the river in red._] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE WONDERFUL RIVER'S WORK - - -"Now, then," said Phil, wrapping a blanket around his person, for the -air was indeed very chill, and prostrating himself over the map, "now, -then, let the 'interpretative brain' get in its work! I interrupted the -proceedings just to take a personal observation of the river we are to -hear all about. Go on, Ed!" - -"Wait a bit--I'm counting," said Ed; "twenty-five, twenty-six, -twenty-seven, twenty-eight. There. If you'll look at the map, you'll see -that the water which the Mississippi carries down to the sea through a -channel about half a mile wide below New Orleans, comes from -twenty-eight states besides the Indian Territory." - -"What! oh, nonsense!" were the exclamations that greeted this statement. - -"Look, and count for yourselves," said Ed, pointing to various parts of -the map as he proceeded. "Here they are: New York, Pennsylvania, West -Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, -Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, -Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, -Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and the Indian -Territory. Very little comes from New York or South Carolina or Texas, -and not a great deal from some others of the states named, but some -does, as you will see by following up the lines on the map. The rest of -the states mentioned send the greater part of all their rainfall to the -sea by this route." - -"Well, you could at this moment knock me down with a feather," said -Irving Strong. "Aren't you glad, Phil, that we jumped in away up here -before the water got such a mixing up?" - -"But that isn't the most important part of it," said Ed, after his -companions had finished their playful discussion of the subject. - -"What is it, then? Go on," said Irv. "I'm all ears, though Mrs. Dupont -always thought I was all tongue. What is the most important part of it, -Ed?" - -"Why, that this river _created_ most of the states it drains." - -"How do you mean?" - -"Why, I mean that but for this great river system it would have taken a -hundred or more years longer than it did to settle this vastest valley -on earth and build it up into great, populous states that produce the -best part of the world's food supply." - -"Go on, please," said Will Moreraud, speaking the eager desire of all. - -"You see," said Ed, "in order to settle a country and bring it into -cultivation, you must have some way of getting into it, and still more, -you must have some way of getting the things it produces out of it, -so as to sell them to people that need them. Nobody would have taken -the trouble to raise the produce we now have on board this boat, for -instance,--the hay, grain, flour, apples, cornmeal, onions, potatoes, -and the rest,--if there had been no way of sending the things away and -selling them somewhere. Unless there is a market within reach, nobody -will produce more of anything than he can himself use." - -"Oh, I see," said Irv. "That's why I don't think more than I do. I've -no market for my crop of thoughts." - -"You're mistaken there," said Constant, who was slow of speech and -usually had little to say. "There's always a market for thoughts." - -"Where?" - -"Right around you. What did we go into this flatboat business for except -to be with Ed? He can't do half as much as any one of us at an oar, or -at anything else except thinking, and yet we would never have come on -this voyage--" - -"Oh, dry up!" said Ed, seeing the compliment that was impending. "I was -going to say--" - -"And so was I going to say," said Constant; "and, in fact, I _am_ going -to say. What I'm going to say is that there isn't a fellow here who -would be here but for you, Ed. There isn't a fellow here that wouldn't -be glad to do all of your share of the work, if Phil would let him, just -for the sake of hearing what you think. Anyhow, that's why Constant -Thiebaud is a member of this crew." - -It was the longest speech that Constant Thiebaud had ever been known to -make, and it was the most effective one he could have made, because it -put into words the thought that was in every one's mind. That is the -very essence of oratory and of effective writing. All the great speeches -in the world have been those that cleverly expressed the thought and the -feeling of those who listened. All the great books have been those that -said for the vast, dumb multitudes that which was in their minds and -souls vainly longing for utterance. - -When Constant had finished, there was silence for a moment. Then Irv -Strong said impressively:-- - -"AMEN!" - -That exclamation ended the silence, and expressed the common sentiment -of all who were present. For even Jim Hughes, who was listening, had -begun to be interested. - -Ed was embarrassed, of course, and for the first time in his life words -completely failed him. He sat up; then he grasped Constant's hand, and -said, "I thank you, fellows." And with that he retreated hurriedly to -the cabin for a little while. - -Constant went to the pump, and labored hard for a time to draw water -from a bilge that had no leak. Will went to inspect the anchor, as if -he feared that something might be the matter with it. Phil and Irving -jumped overboard, and swam twice around the boat. - -Finally, all came on deck again, and Will said:-- - -"Go on, Ed. We want to hear." - -Ed at once resumed, Jim Hughes meantime working with the steering-oar. - -"Well, this great river gave the people who came over the mountains, -and afterward the people who came up it from New Orleans, not only an -outlet to the sea, but a sort of public road, over which they could -travel and trade with each other. When the upper Ohio region began to -be settled, a great swarm of emigrants from the East poured over the -mountains, and made a highway of the river to get themselves and all -that belonged to them to the upper Mississippi, the lower Mississippi, -and the Missouri River country. My father once told me, before he died, -that in his boyhood you could tell a steamboat bound from Pittsburg or -Cincinnati to St. Louis from any other boat, because she was red all -over with ploughs, wagons, and all that sort of thing. Agricultural -implements were all painted red in those days, and as they weren't very -heavy freight they were bestowed all over the boat,--on the boiler deck -guards, on the hurricane deck, and sometimes were in the cabin, and on -top of the Texas.[2] Now, without these ploughs, wagons, harrows, and -so forth, how could the pioneers ever have brought the great Western -country under cultivation? And without the river how could they ever -have got these necessary implements, or themselves, for that matter, to -the regions where they were needed?" - - [2] The "Texas" of a western river steamer is an extra cabin, - built above the main cabin and under the pilot-house, for the - accommodation of the boat's officers. It was named "Texas" because - about the time of its naming Texas was added to the Union. This - cabin was also something added.--_Author._ - -"Couldn't they have taken them overland?" - -"Only in a very small and slow way. There were no railroads, no -turnpikes, and even no dirt roads at that time. It would have cost ten -times more to take a wagonload of ploughs through the woods and across -the prairies, from Pittsburg or Cincinnati to Missouri or Iowa, than the -wagon and the ploughs put together were worth when they got there. But -the river came to the rescue. It carried the people and all their -belongings cheaply and quickly, and then it carried their produce to New -Orleans; and so the great West was settled. - -"In the meantime the people in Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and other towns -saw that they could make all the wagons, ploughs, and other things -wanted by the people further west much cheaper than the same things -could be sent over the mountains from the East. Thus, factories and -foundries sprang up, new farms were opened and new towns built." - -"Were there steamboats from the first?" asked one of the boys. - -"No; when Vevay was settled, Fulton hadn't yet built the first steamboat -that ever travelled, and when steamboats did appear they were few and -small. Flatboats, just like this one, carried most of the produce to New -Orleans; but as flatboats couldn't come back up the river, there were a -good many keelboats that brought freight and passengers up as well as -down stream." - -"What are keelboats?" - -"Why, they were large barges built with a keel, a sharp bow, and a -modelled stern--in short, like a steamboat's hull. These keelboats -floated down the river, and the men then pushed them back up stream -with long poles. When the current was too strong for that they got out -on the bank and hauled the boat by ropes. That was called 'cordelling.' -The steamboats grew, however, in number and size when they came, and as -long ago as 1835 there were more than three hundred of them on the -Mississippi alone. In 1850 there were more than four thousand on these -rivers. They drove the keelboats out of business, but the flatboats -continued because of their cheapness till after the Civil War, when the -great towboats came into use. These, with their acres of barges, could -carry freight even cheaper than flatboats could. For a long time the -steamboats carried all the passengers, too, and many of them were -palaces in magnificence. But the railroads came at last and took the -passenger business away, and much of the freight traffic also, because -they are faster, and still more because they don't have to go so far to -get anywhere." - -"Why, how's that? I don't understand," said Irv. - -"Yes, you do, if you'll think a bit," responded Ed. - -"Couldn't _think_ of thinking. I'm too tired or too lazy so tell me," -was Irv's rejoinder. - -"Well, you know the river is crooked, and the steamboats must follow all -its windings, while the railroads can run nearly straight." - -"Yes, I know," said Irv, "but the crookedness of the river isn't enough -to make any very great difference." - -"Isn't it? Well, down in Chicot County, Arkansas, there is one bend in -the river so big that from the upper landing on a plantation to the -lower landing on the same plantation, the distance by river is seventeen -miles, while you can walk across the neck from one landing to the other -in less than a mile and a half!" - -"Whew!" said Phil. "And are there many such trips round Robin Hood's -barn for us to make on the way down?" - -"That's best answered by telling you that from Cairo to New Orleans the -distance by river is about one thousand and fifty miles, while by rail -it is a little over four hundred miles. But come. It's getting dark, and -I've got to bake some corn pones for supper, so I must quit lecturing." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE TERROR OF THE RIVER - - -For the next few days the voyage was uneventful. There was very little -to be done at the sweeps--only now and then a ten minutes' pull to keep -the boat off the banks and in the river. For the water was now so high -that there was no such thing as a channel to be followed. - -In many places the stream had overflowed its banks and flooded the -country for miles inland on either side. Sometimes a strong current -would set toward the points where the water was going over the banks, -and a constant watchfulness was necessary to prevent the boat from being -drawn into these currents and "going off for a trip in the country," as -Irv Strong expressed it. Whenever she manifested a disposition of that -kind, all hands worked hard at the sweeps till she was carried out of -the danger. - -During these days Ed read a great deal, and the other boys read a little -and talked not a little. On one or two days there were heavy all-day -rains, and at such times Ed would have liked to remain in the cabin when -not needed at the sweeps, and the other boys, hearing him cough so -frequently, pleaded with Phil to let him stay under cover. - -"We never really need him for rowing," said they, "and he ought to stay -down below all the time when it's wet, for the sake of his health." - -"That's just where you differ in opinion from the doctor," responded -Phil. "_He_ says I'm to keep Ed in the open air on deck all the time. -Air is his only medicine, the doctor insists, and I'm going to give him -his medicine, for I've made up my mind to take him back to Vevay a much -'weller' fellow than he's ever been before. So on with your rubber -goods, Ed, and out with you!" - -"You're entirely right, Phil," said the elder brother. "And I'm much -'weller,' as you call it, already. I don't cough so much or so hard as I -did. I sleep better and eat better and feel stronger. I guess I've been -too much taken care of." - -"Oh, as to that, I expect to make an athlete of you yet," said Phil. -Then turning to Irving, with moisture in his eyes, as Ed mounted to the -deck, he added: "I don't know, Irv, but I'm doing what the doctor told -me was best. It _hurts_ me, but I do it for _his_ sake." - -"Of course you do. And of course it's best, too. Ed really is getting -better. I've watched him closely." - -"Have you?" asked Phil, eagerly. "And are you sure he's getting better? -Oh, are you _sure_?" - -"Of course I am," said Irv, beginning to feel the necessity of lapsing -into light chatter to escape an emotional crisis. "Of course I am. Why, -haven't you noticed that since we ran out of milk and sugar he's drunk -his coffee clear like an honest flatboatman? And haven't you noticed -that he rebukes my ignorance and your juvenility with a vigor that no -really ill fellow could bring to bear? He's all right--Look!" as the two -emerged on deck. "He's actually trying to teach Jim Hughes how to splice -a rope! Nobody but a man full of robust energy to the bursting point -would ever try to teach that dullard anything." - -"He isn't a dullard," replied Phil. "He shams all that, I tell you." - -Irv didn't argue the point. He didn't care anything about it. He had -accomplished his purpose. He had diverted Phil's and his own thoughts, -and prevented the little emotional breakdown that had been so imminent. - -Why is it that boys are so ashamed of that which is best and noblest in -their natures? - -They were nearing Cairo now, and there was no time for further talk. -With the river at its present stage, and with a high wind blowing, and a -heavy rain almost blinding them, it was not an easy thing to get their -boat safely into the pocket between Cairo and Mound City, amid the -scores and hundreds of coal barges that were harboring there. For the -flatboat even to touch one of the coal barges, unless very gently -indeed, meant the instant sinking of many hundreds of tons of coal, and -in all probability, the loss of the flatboat also. - -At one time Phil--for he had ceased to think of Jim as a pilot, or even -as a person who could lend any but merely muscular assistance -anywhere--was on the point of giving up the idea of landing at all. He -debated with himself whether it would not be wiser to float on past -Cairo, into the Mississippi. But the boat was really very short of -provisions. The milk supply had given out two days after passing the -falls; their meal was almost exhausted; their salt had got wet; they had -no butter left; there was only half a pound of coffee in their canister; -and no flour whatever remained. There was a little bacon in their cargo, -and there were flour, eggs, cornmeal, onions, and potatoes also. But it -was their agreed purpose not to risk complications in their accounts by -taking any of their cargo for their own use except in case of extreme -necessity. - -"And as for eggs," said Irv Strong, "I fear that those in our cargo are -beginning to be too far removed from the original source of supply,--too -remotely connected with the hens of Switzerland County, Indiana, as it -were,--too--well, they seem to me far more likely to give satisfaction -to educated palates in New Orleans 'omelettes with onions' and the like, -than on our frugal table. Besides, our cabin is rather small and it -would be troublesome to have to go up on deck every time the cook wanted -to break an egg." - -"You forget, Irv," said Ed, "we aren't more than ten or twelve days out -yet, and eggs keep pretty well for a much longer time than that." - -"True," said Irv; "but it seems to me that we've been on the river for a -month. At any rate, Phil's plan of not eating up our cargo is a good -one." - -Between Cairo and Memphis lay about two hundred and forty miles of -difficult river, and in all that distance there was not a town of any -consequence, at least as a market in which to buy boat stores. So the -necessity of landing at Cairo for supplies overrode all considerations -of difficulty and danger in the young captain's mind, and after some -very hard work and some narrow escapes, he succeeded in securely tying -up _The Last of the Flatboats_ in the bend. - -During their stay at Cairo Jim Hughes was again ill, afflicted this time -with chills and fever. But he angrily refused to have a doctor called, -and as Ed could find no trouble with his pulse or temperature, the crew -did not insist upon summoning medical assistance. - -"Let's put him ashore and be rid of him," suggested Will Moreraud. - -"Yes, let's!" said Constant. "He's of no use to us, and he spoils the -party by his presence." - -"No," decided Phil, "I wanted to put him ashore at Craig's Landing, but -I've got over that desire. He interests me now in his way. I've -discovered a good deal about him, and I mean to find out more. He's -going somewhere, and I want to find out where it is. No, boys, we'll -keep him on board for a while." - -At Cairo Phil bought a large supply of newspapers from Chicago, St. -Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. They reported increasing floods in -every direction. The upper Mississippi was at a tremendous stage. The -Missouri was pouring a vast flood into it. The Tennessee and Cumberland -were adding enormously every hour to the great volume of water that was -pouring down out of the overflowed and still swelling Ohio. In short, -one of those great Mississippi floods was at hand which come only when -all the rivers--those from north, west, east, and south--"run out" at -the same time. - -The river was full of drift; great uprooted trees and timbers from -houses and barns that had been swept from their foundations and reduced -to wreckage; driftwood from thousands of miles of shore. Flotsam of -every conceivable kind covered the face of the waters so completely that -it looked as if one might almost walk across, stepping from one floating -mass to another. - -And there was a menace in it, too, that was ever present. The uprooted -trees refused to float steadily. They turned over and over like giants -troubled in their sleep with Titanic nightmares. They lashed their -wide-reaching limbs in fury, while currents and cross-currents caused -the floating stuff to rush hither and thither, now piling it high and -grinding it together with destructive energy, now scattering it again -and leaving great water spaces clear. - -Now and then a house or a barn would float by, crushed half out of -shape, but not yet twisted into its original materials. Altogether the -river presented a spectacle that would have inspired any old Greek -poet's imagination to create a dozen new gods and a score of hitherto -unknown demons to serve as the directors of it all. - -So _The Last of the Flatboats_ tarried in the bend above Cairo, waiting -for the worst of the drift to run by before again venturing upon the -bosom of the great flood. - -"I say, Ed," said Phil, looking out upon the vast waste of water with -its seething surface of wreckage, "nothing in all that you have told us -about the river has given me so good an idea of its tremendous power as -the sight of that,"--waving his hand toward the stream. - -"Of course not," replied the elder. "Nothing that anybody could say in a -lifetime could equal that demonstration of power. Nobody that ever lived -could put this wonderful river into words. I have told you fellows only -of the good it has done--only of its beneficence. You see now what power -of malignity and destructiveness it has. This single flood has already -destroyed hundreds of lives and swept away scores and hundreds of homes, -and obliterated millions of dollars' worth of property. Before it is -over the hundreds in each case will be multiplied into thousands. Even -now, right here at Cairo, a great disaster impends. Every able-bodied -man in the town has been sent with pick or shovel or wheelbarrow to work -night and day in strengthening and raising the levees. There are ten -thousand people in this town. With the Mississippi on one side and the -Ohio on the other, and with their floods united across country above the -town, these helpless people have nothing in the world but an embankment -of earth between them and death. Their homes lie from twenty to thirty -feet below the level of the water that surrounds them on every side. And -that level is rising every hour, every minute. It is already several -inches above the top of their permanent levees. The flood is held in -check only by a temporary earthwork, built on top of the permanent one. -It is no wonder that the embankments are ablaze with torches and that a -thousand men are working ceaselessly by night and by day to build the -barriers higher." - -"What if a levee should break?" asked Will, in awe. - -"Ten thousand people would be drowned in ten minutes," answered Phil, -who had been studying the matter even more closely than Ed had done. -"Cairo lies now in a triangle, with the floods on all three sides. If -the levee should give way at any point on any side, Niagara itself would -be a mere brook compared with the torrent that would rush into the -town. One of the engineers said to me to-day that the pressure upon the -levees at this stage of water amounts to thousands of millions of tons. -Should there be a break at any point, it would give to all this ocean of -water a sudden chance to fall thirty feet or so. Now think what that -would mean! The engineer, when I asked him, answered,--'Well, it would -mean that in ten minutes the whole city of Cairo would be swept -completely off the face of the earth. Not only would no building be left -standing in the town, but there would be literally not one stone or -brick left on top of another. Indeed, the very land on which the city -stands, the entire point, would be scooped out fifty feet below its -present level and carried bodily away into the river. The site of the -town would lie far beneath the surface of the water.'" - -"And all this may happen at any moment now?" asked Constant. - -"Yes," said Phil. "But it is not likely, and brave men are fighting with -all their might to prevent it. Let us hope they will succeed." - -"Why do people live in such a place?" asked Will. - -"Why do men live and plant vineyards high up on the slopes of Vesuvius, -knowing all the time the story of what happened to Herculaneum and -Pompeii?" asked Irv. - -"It's sometimes because they must, because they have nowhere else to -live." - -"Yes," said Ed, "but it is oftener because they have the courage to face -danger for the sake of bettering themselves or their children in one way -or another. Did it ever occur to you that all that is worth while in -human achievement has been accomplished by the men who, for the sake of -an advantage of one kind or another, were willing to risk their lives, -encounter danger in any form, however appalling, endure hardships of the -most fearful character, and take risks immeasurable? That is the sort of -men that in frail ships sailed over the seas to America and conquered -and settled this country, fighting Indians and fevers and famines and -all the rest of it. It was that sort of men,--and women, too,--for don't -forget that in all those enterprises the women risked as much as the men -did and suffered vastly more,--it was that sort of men and women who -pushed over the mountains and built up this great West of ours. Talk -about the heroism of war! why, all the wars in all the world never -brought out so much of really exalted heroism as that displayed by a -single company of pioneer emigrants from Virginia or North Carolina, -crossing the mountains into Kentucky, Tennessee, or Indiana." - -"Then these Cairo people are heroes in their way?" asked Irv. - -"Yes," replied Ed, "though they don't know it. Heroes never do. The hero -is the man who, in pursuit of any worthy purpose,--though it be only to -make more money for the support of his family,--calmly faces the risks, -endures the hardships, and performs the tasks that fall to his lot. The -highest courage imaginable is that which prompts a man to do his duty as -he understands it, with absolute disregard of consequences to himself." - -That night Phil read his newspapers very diligently. Especially, he -studied the portraits and the minute descriptions given of the man who -was "carrying" the proceeds of the great bank robbery. Somehow, Phil was -becoming more and more deeply interested in that subject. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -IN THE HOME OF THE EARTHQUAKES - - -One night soon after _The Last of the Flatboats_ left Cairo, Phil's -compass showed that the Mississippi River, whose business it was to run -toward the south, was in fact running due north. Phil recognized this as -one of the vagaries of the wonderful river. Consulting his map, he found -that the river knew its business, that the boat was in New Madrid Bend, -where for a space the strangely erratic river runs north, only to turn -again to its southerly course, after having asserted its liberty by -running in a contrary direction as it does at Cairo, where a line drawn -due north from the southerly point of Illinois cuts through a part of -Kentucky, a state lying to the south of Illinois. No ordinary map shows -this, but it is nevertheless true. Illinois ends in a hook, which -extends so far south and so far east as to bring a part of Illinois to -the southward of Kentucky. - -Phil had fully grasped this fact. He had reconciled himself to the -eccentricities of the wonderful river, and was entirely content to float -northward, so long as that seemed to be the river's will. - -But about midnight there came a disturbance. First of all there was a -great roar, as of artillery or Titanic trains of cars somewhere in the -centre of the earth. Then there were severe blows upon the bottom of the -flatboat, blows that threatened to break its gunwales in two. Then three -great waves came up the river, curling over the flatboat's bow and -pouring their floods into her hold, as if to swamp her. Then the boat -swung around, changed her direction, and for a time ran up the stream, -while waves threatened at every moment to overwhelm her. - -Phil, who was on watch at the time, ran to the scuttle to call his -comrades, but there was no occasion. The tremendous thumps on the bottom -of the boat and the swaying of everything backward and forward had -awakened them, and, half clad, they were rushing on deck. - -Just then the boat struck upon a shore bar and went hard aground. The -water that had come in over her bow had more than filled the bilge; but -how far the disturbance had made the boat leak, Phil could not find out, -for she was now resting upon a sandbank near the shore, and of course, -supported as she was by the river bottom, she could not settle farther. -So Phil ordered all hands to the pumps, in order to get out the wave -water, and to find out as soon as she should float again what water -there might be coming in through leaks caused by the disturbance just -experienced. - -A little pumping showed that the boat was not leaking seriously. The -water in the hold went down in about the same proportion that the pumps -poured it out, thus showing that no additional supply was coming in -anywhere. - -In half an hour the pumps ceased to "draw." That is to say, no water -came out in response to their activity. But the flatboat was still -aground. - -"Never mind about that," said Irv Strong. "The river is still rising -rapidly, and it will soon float us." - -"Yes," answered Phil, "if we are on a level bar and if the boat has -undergone no strain. You see as long as we have bottom under us, we -shan't leak to any serious extent. But when we float again, the great -weight of our cargo will make every open seam admit water to its full -capacity." - -"Of course," said Irv. "But what makes you think there are any open -seams?" - -"Nothing," answered Phil, "except a general impulse of precaution. We -went aground very easily. In fact, I didn't know we were aground till I -saw the water flowing by, and by the way, it is RUNNING UP STREAM!" As -he said this he leaned over the side and observed the water carefully. - -The other boys joined him and observed the same phenomenon, largely -in wonder, but almost half in fright. The Mississippi River was -unquestionably running the wrong way, and that, too, when a great flood -was pouring down it and seeking its way to the sea. - -"What does it all mean, Ed?" asked Will Moreraud. "Tell us about it, for -of course you know." - -"I don't know whether I know or not," responded Ed, with more of -hesitation than was usual in his tone. "I think we have had a small -earthquake. We are in the midst of a region of small earthquakes. We -are in New Madrid Bend, and for the best part of a century that has been -a sort of earthquake nest." - -"The river is running down stream again," called out Constant, "and we -are beginning to float, too." - -"So we are," said Irv Strong, going to the side and inspecting. "Let's -go below and find out whether or not we're leaking." - -The suggestion was a timely one. Phil indeed had anticipated it, and -when his comrades went below they found him there with a lantern, -minutely inspecting every point where incoming water might be looked -for. - -Their search clearly revealed the fact that the flatboat--which was now -again floating down the stream--was not leaking more than she did -ordinarily, not so much that a few minutes' pumping now and then could -not keep her bilge empty. - -Having satisfied themselves of the boat's safety, the boys returned to -the deck, and renewed their demands upon Ed for an explanation. - -"Well, you see," said Ed, "we're in New Madrid Bend. Now, as I said a -while ago, for the best part of a century, and probably for all the -centuries before that, this region has been the home of earthquakes, not -very great ones, but such as we have just experienced. Along about 1811 -and 1812 it was distressed with much severer ones in an uncommon degree. -We have just had the Mississippi River running up stream for five or ten -minutes as a result of one of these disturbances. In 1811 it ran up -stream for three full days and nights. Great fissures were opened in the -earth all over the country round about, and as they always, or at least -generally, ran north and south, the settlers used to fell trees east and -west, and build their cabins upon them, so that they might not be -swallowed up by the earthquakes." - -"Why didn't they run away from so appalling a danger?" asked Irv Strong. - -"Because they were pioneers," answered Ed, "because they were the sort -of heroes we were talking about at Cairo, men who took all the risks -that might come to them in order that they might secure advantages to -themselves and their children. Men of that sort do not run away from -earthquakes, any more than they run away from Indians, or fevers, or -floods, or any other dangers. And by the way, these same people had -Indians to contend with, in their very ugliest moods." - -"How so?" asked two of the boys at once. - -"Why, in the time of the great earthquakes, all of Western Tennessee -and Kentucky, and the greater part of Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama -were inhabited by savage Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, and other hostile -tribes. At that time the great Indiana chief, Tecumseh, conceived -his plan of uniting all the tribes from Indiana--then a part of the -Northwest Territory--to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, -and Florida, in a league for determined resistance to the westward -advance of the whites. - -"It was an opportune time, for a little later the British, being at war -with us, came to Florida and undertook to form an offensive and -defensive alliance with the Indians, whom they supplied with guns and -ammunition, for the destruction of the United States. And but for -Jackson's superb war against the Creeks, and later his victory at New -Orleans, they would have succeeded in splitting this country in two. - -"When Tecumseh went south to secure the coöperation of the Creeks, -Choctaws, and Seminoles in this plan for the destruction of our country, -he told the Muscogees that on his return to the north he would 'stamp -his foot' and they would feel the earth tremble. - -"The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, which extended into -Alabama and Georgia, came just in time to fulfil this prophetic threat, -and there is no doubt that they played a great part in provoking the -most dangerous Indian war this country ever knew--the most dangerous -because, before it was over, there came to our shores a great British -army, the flower of English soldiery, under command of Pakenham, -Wellington's most trusted lieutenant--to capture New Orleans and secure -control of our wonderful river, and all the region west of it." - -"And why didn't they do it?" asked Will Moreraud. - -"Because of Andrew Jackson," answered Ed. "He went to New Orleans -to meet them. He had no army, but he created one mostly in a single -afternoon. His only experienced troops were three hundred Tennessee -volunteers under Coffee, one of his old Indian fighters. But he had -some backwoods volunteers, and he enlisted all the merchants he could -in New Orleans, and all their clerks, all the ragamuffins of the city, -all the wharf rats, and all the free negroes there, and armed them as -best he could. Half of Pakenham's force had moved from Lake Borgue to -a point a few miles below the city. Without waiting for a force fit -to fight them with, Jackson cried 'Forward' to his motley collection -of men, and on the night of December 23, 1814, he attacked the great -veteran English army in the dark. It was a fearful fight, and the vigor -of it and its insolence as a military operation so appalled the British, -that they waited for more than two weeks for the rest of their forces -to come up before trying again to capture the city,--a thing which they -had intended to do the next morning without the loss of a man. In the -meantime, Jackson had fortified himself, and reënforcements had come to -him, so that when the British were at last ready, on the 8th of January, -1815, to advance to what they still expected to be the easy conquest -of the city, they were 'licked out of their boots.' That, in brief, is -the story of the battle which for the second time decided American -independence. For the British in the War of 1812-14 had nothing less in -view than the re-conquest of our country, and the restoration of the -states to the condition and status of British colonies." - -"But how about the earthquakes?" asked Irv; "why is this region subject -to them more than others?" - -"I'm not sure that I know," said Ed. "But countries in the neighborhood -of volcanoes are usually either peculiarly subject to earthquakes or -especially exempt from them. It seems that sometimes the volcanoes act -as safety valves, while sometimes they don't work in that way till after -the region round about has been greatly shaken up, preparatory to an -eruption." - -"But what have volcanoes got to do with New Madrid Bend?" asked Phil. -"There aren't any volcanoes in the United States." - -"No," said Ed, thoughtfully; "but there are some hot springs over in -Arkansas, not very far from here, and they are volcanic of course in -their origin and character. Perhaps if the Arkansas hot springs were a -robust volcano, instead of being what they are, there would not be so -many earthquakes in this part of the country. If they threw out stones -and lava and let off steam generally as Vesuvius and Etna and the others -do, perhaps this part of the country wouldn't have so many agues." - -Just then the boat heeled over, the river was broken into great waves -again, and all creation seemed to be see-sawing north and south. Phil -called the boys to the sweeps, as a matter of precaution, but the boat -was helpless in the raging river. She was driven ashore again; that is -to say, she was driven over the brink of a submerged river bank, where -she stuck securely in the mud. - -This second earthquake did not last more than thirty or forty seconds, -but that was long enough to get _The Last of the Flatboats_ into the -worst trouble that she had yet encountered. She seemed to be bending in -the middle as if resting upon a fallen tree with both ends free. - -Phil quickly manned the skiffs and instituted an inspection. By the use -of poles and lead lines he soon discovered that two-thirds of the boat's -length lay upon a reasonably level bank, the remaining third overhanging -it. It was this that was bending her so dangerously. - -"Get inside, boys, quick," he called to his comrades. "The boat's bow -overhangs the bank. We must get all the freight out of it as quickly as -possible." - -Then in brief sentences he gave his commands. - -"Roll those apple barrels into the cabin! Carry those bags of meal on -deck and well astern! Take the anchor there, too! Lighten the bow all -you can!" - -The boys worked like beavers, and after a while the entire forward part -of the boat was free of freight. The cabin as a consequence was full, -and the deck so piled up with bags and barrels that ordinary navigation -would have been impossible. But at any rate, the danger of breaking the -boat in two was averted. - -Phil then got into a skiff with Irv, and armed with some lanterns, went -carefully all around the boat, measuring depths and looking for possibly -open seams or other damage. When he returned to the deck he reported:-- - -"We are lying in about six inches of Missouri mud with two and a half -feet of water above it, trespassing to that extent upon somebody's farm. -But the reports from up the rivers when we were at Cairo were that at -least twelve inches more water might be expected within forty-eight -hours, and as it is raining like Noah's flood now, and we only need a -few inches of water to set us free, we'll be afloat again by morning if -we don't have another earthquake to send us still farther out into the -country." - -The event justified Phil's prediction. About five o'clock in the morning -the flatboat floated again, and with a few vigorous strokes of the -sweeps she was sent out into the middle of the river. Then Phil gave -orders for the restoration of the freight to its proper place. Not until -that was done was it possible to get breakfast, for the cabin had been -piled full of freight, and when it was done, Phil devoted himself for an -hour or more, before he would eat, to an inspection of the boat. He -found and stopped a few leaks that had been made by the strain, which -had caused the oakum to loosen in the seams. - -The rain continuing, the boys had a dull day of it, but at any rate -their boat was in good condition, and was now again floating down stream -toward her destination. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -IN THE CHUTE - - -Below New Madrid the swollen river was so full that only the line of -trees on either side indicated its borders. In many places it had so -completely overflowed its banks that it was forty or fifty miles wide in -fact. In other places, where the banks were high, the river was confined -for brief spaces within its natural limits, and rushed forward with the -speed of water in a mill-race. - -The driftwood had by this time largely run out, and while there was -still much of it in the river, its presence no longer involved any -particular danger. Still, it was necessary to observe it; and it was -especially necessary to keep a close watch on the boat's course, lest -she should be drawn into some bayou or pocket, where danger would -impend. - -Nevertheless, the boys had considerable leisure, and Ed devoted a good -deal of the time, at their request, to expounding to them all the lore -that he had gathered from his books. One day he brought out his map -again, and got them interested in it until they lost sight of -other things around them. For that matter, Jim Hughes was on the -steering-bridge, and was supposed to be directing the course of the -boat. It was his duty, of course, to call attention to anything that -might need attention; so the boys allowed themselves to become absorbed -in Ed's explanations and in their own study of the map. - -It was about sunset when Phil raised himself and took a look ahead. He -suddenly sprang to his feet and called out hurriedly, but not excitedly, -"Starboard sweep, boys." - -He himself ran to the steering-oar, and, in spite of some remonstrance -from the pilot, took possession of it. - -"What are you doing, Jim," he called out, "running us into this chute? -Give it to her, boys, with all your might." - -But it was of no use. It was too late. The boat had already been driven -into the chute behind an island, and must now go through it. Jim Hughes -had successfully managed that. - -A chute is that part of the river which lies between an island and the -shore nearest to it. At low water, the chutes in the Mississippi are not -usually navigable at all. But when the river is high, they are deep -enough and wide enough for a steamboat to pass through; and, as passing -through the chute usually saves many miles of distance against a strong -current, the steamboats going up the stream always "run the chute" when -they can. But as these chutes are rarely wide enough, even in the -highest water, for two boats to pass each other safely within them, the -law forbids boats going down the river to run them at all. - -Phil had been instructed in all this by Perry Raymond, and he was -therefore much disturbed when he found the flatboat hopelessly involved -in the head of the chute. - -He explained in short, crisp, snappy sentences to his fellows the -violation of law they were committing, and the danger there was of -snags, fallen trees and other obstructions, in running the chute under -the most favorable circumstances. - -But he was in for it now, and there was only one thing to be done. Go -through the chute he must. The problem was to get through it as quickly -and as safely as possible. If he could get through it without meeting -any up-coming steamer and without running the boat afoul of any snags or -other obstructions, all would be well enough, except that it would still -leave Jim Hughes's action unexplained and puzzling. Should he meet a -steamboat in the narrow passage, he must take the consequences, whatever -they might happen to be. He kept the boys continually at the sweeps, in -order to give him good steerage way; and earnestly adjured them to be -alert, and to act instantly on any order he might give, to all of which -they responded with enthusiasm. - -"How long is this chute, Jim?" - -"How do I know?" answered that worthy, or more properly, that unworthy. - -"I thought you knew the river. You shipped as a pilot," said the boy. -"Hard on the starboard, boys; hard on the starboard! There, that'll do. -Let her float now!" - -Then turning to Jim, he said again:-- - -"You shipped as a pilot. You pretended to know the river. Probably you -do know it better than you now pretend. You deliberately ran us into -this channel. You did it on purpose. You must know the chute then. What -did you do it for? What do you mean by it?" - -"Yes, I shipped as a pilot," answered the surly fellow, "but I shipped -without pay, you will remember. I was careful to assume no obligation -for which I could be held responsible in law." - -Phil started back in amazement. Neither the sentence nor the assured -forethought that lay behind it fitted at all the character of the -ignorant lout that the man who spoke had pretended to be. Phil now -clearly saw that all this man's pretences had been false, that his -character and his personality had been assumed, and that, for some -purpose known only to himself, the fellow had been deceiving him from -the start. Not altogether deceiving him, however, for Phil's suspicions -had already been so far aroused that it could not be said that he had -been hoodwinked completely. But for these suspicions, indeed, he would -not now so readily have observed the man's speech and behavior. He would -not so accurately have interpreted his truculence when he commanded him -to "go to a sweep," and the man answered, "Not if I know it!" and went -to the cabin instead. - -But at that moment Phil had no time to deal further with the fellow, or -even to think of him. For just as dark was falling, the flatboat swung -around a sharp bend in the chute, and came suddenly face to face with a -great, roaring, glaring, glittering steamboat that was running the chute -up stream at racing speed. - -The steamboat whistled madly, and reversed her engines full force. The -captain, the pilot, both the mates, all the deck-hands, all the -roustabouts, and most of the male passengers on board shouted in chorus, -with much of objurgation for punctuation marks, to know what the -flatboat meant by running the chute down stream. - -Phil paid no attention to the hullabaloo, but gave his whole mind to the -problem of navigating his own craft. The steamboat's wheels, as she -backed water so mightily, threw forward great waves which, catching the -flatboat under the bow, drove her stern-on toward the bank. By a -vigorous use of the sweeps, and a great deal of tugging on his own part -at the steering-oar, Phil managed to slew the boat around in time to -prevent her going ashore; and fortunately there was just passageway -enough to let her slip by the steamer, grazing the guards in passing. - -It was the work of a very few minutes, but it seemed an age to -the anxious boy; and as the steamer resumed her course, her crew -sending back a volley of maledictions, his only thought was one of -congratulation that he had escaped from so desperate an entanglement. - -Just then, however, he observed Jim Hughes at the stern, climbing into -the towed skiff, into which he had already thrown his carpet-bag. He -observed also that before engaging in this manoeuvre the pilot had set up -a handkerchief at the bow, apparently as a signal, and that some -rough-looking men were gathered on the shore just astern. - -Quick as a flash Phil realized that for some reason Jim Hughes was -quitting the boat, and was in communication with the men on shore. - -Without quite realizing why he should object to this, he proceeded to -put a stop to it. He called to his comrades, who could now leave the -oars, as the boat was floating out of the chute and into the main river -again, to come to his assistance. Without parley they tumbled over the -end of the boat into the skiff, which had not yet been cast loose, and -there seized the runaway. He fought with a good deal of desperation, but -five stalwart Hoosier boys are apt to be more than a match for any one -man, however strong and however desperate he may be. They quickly -overcame Jim Hughes and hustled him back on board the flatboat. There -they held him down, while one of them, at Phil's request, ran for some -rope. A minute later they had their prisoner securely tied, both as to -arms and as to legs, and dropped him, feet first, down the cabin stairs. - -No sooner was he out of the way than the men on shore began firing at -the flatboat. They had refrained prior to that time, apparently, lest -they should hit their comrade, for such he manifestly was. Their firing -was at long range, however, and it was now nearly dark. The swift -current soon carried the boat wholly beyond reach of rifle-shots and out -into the river. Lest the desperadoes on shore should follow in skiffs or -otherwise, Phil ordered the boys to the sweeps again, and kept them -there until they had driven the boat well over toward the opposite -shore. Then he summoned a council of war. - -[Illustration: THE FIGHT WITH THE PILOT. - -"A minute later they had their prisoner securely tied."] - -"What are we going to do with that fellow?" he asked. - -"Well," said Ed, "you have got him well tied and--" - -"Yes, but," said Irv, "have we any right to tie him? He hasn't committed -any crime." - -"Yes, he has," said Phil. "At least, we caught him in the act of -committing one. He was trying to steal one of Perry Raymond's skiffs. -That's worth twenty-five dollars. If he hadn't anything worse in his -mind, his attempt on the skiff was grand larceny." - -"That's so," said Ed, "and we can turn him over to a magistrate at the -first landing for that." - -"I don't think I shall make any landing," said Phil, "until we get to -Memphis, and in the meantime I am going to know all there is to know -about this fellow. When he came on board he had his hair shaved close -with a barber's mowing-machine, but, unfortunately for him, he didn't -bring one of the machines with him. His hair is growing out again now, -and I have been comparing several of its little peculiarities closely -with descriptions and portraits in the newspapers I got at Cairo of the -fellow who is running away with that swag. Boys, I believe we have got -the man." - -Phil's comrades were positively dumb with astonishment. At last the -silence was broken. - -"If we have," said Irv Strong, "this voyage will pay, for the rewards -offered for this man are very heavy." - -"Yes," said Phil; "I hadn't thought of that, but that's so. There are -five thousand dollars on his capture." - -Just then there was a flash in the dark from the cabin scuttle, and a -bullet whistled over the heads of the boys. Jim Hughes had managed to -extricate himself, in part at least, from his bonds, and had begun to -use a weapon which he had doubtless hidden before that time, and of -which the boys had known nothing. - -Ed was the first to act. He was always exceedingly quick to think. He -called to the boys to follow him, and, disregarding Jim's fusillade, ran -to the scuttle. - -In an instant, by their united efforts, they pushed the fellow back and -closed the lid that covered the stairs. Then Ed remembered that there -was a door leading out of the cabin into the hold of the boat. He -suggested to two of the boys that they go below, and close that with -bales of hay and the like. They did so hurriedly, piling the hay and -some apple barrels against the door, until it would have required the -strength of half a dozen men to push it open. In the meantime Ed had -possessed himself of a hatchet and nails, and had securely nailed down -the scuttle. - -Just then Irv Strong thought of something. - -"Suppose he gets desperate? He could easily set fire to things down -there." - -"That's so," said Phil, who had just returned from the hold. "Bring the -fire-extinguishers." - -By the time they got the four large carbonic acid receptacles a new -thought had occurred to Ed. - -"Bring an auger, boys. There's one lying forward there. The big one." - -It was quickly brought, though none of the boys could guess what Ed -intended to do. He took the auger, and quickly bored an inch hole in the -scuttle. A flash and a bullet came through it, but nobody was hurt. - -"Now, give me an extinguisher," said Ed. - -Putting the nozzle of the hose through the hole, he turned the apparatus -upside down, and allowed its contents to be driven violently into the -little cabin. When the first extinguisher was exhausted he turned on the -hose of another, and after that of a third. - -For a while the imprisoned man, shut up in a box ten feet by twelve and -not over five or six feet high, indulged in lusty yells, but these soon -became husky, and presently ceased entirely. The moment they did, Ed -called out:-- - -"Rip off the scuttle quick, boys; he's suffocated." - -The boys did not at all understand what had happened, but they acted -promptly in obedience to their wisest comrade's order. When the scuttle -was opened and a lantern brought, Jim was seen lying limp at the foot of -the little ladder. - -"Now, be careful," said Ed. "Irving, you and Phil--you're the -strongest--go down, hold your breath, and drag him up. Be sure to hold -your breath. Do just as you do when you're diving." - -They made an effort, but almost instantly came back, gasping for air, -sneezing, and with eyes and noses tingling. - -"Catch your breath quick," said Ed, "and go down again. You must get him -out, or he will be dead, if he isn't dead already." - -They made another dash, this time acting more carefully upon the -instruction to treat the descent as if it were a dive, and carefully -holding their breath. In a brief while they dragged the body of the -pilot out upon the deck, and Ed gave directions for restoring life by -artificial respiration. - -"You see, he's practically a drowned man," he said. - -"Drowned?" said Will Moreraud. "Why, he's not even been in the water, -and that little dash with the hose wouldn't drown a kitten." - -"Never mind that," said Ed; "quick now; he's drowned, or just the same -thing. We must bring him to life." - -"Well, slip that rope around his arms and legs while we do it," said -Phil, "or we'll have trouble when he comes to." - -This was a suggestion which they all recognized as altogether timely, -and so the apparent corpse was carefully secured by two of the boys, -while the rest worked at the task of restoring him to life. - -He "came to" in a little while, and lay stretched out upon the deck, -weak and exhausted. Then, at Ed's suggestion, the boys went below by the -forward door, rolled away the obstructions, and threw open the door of -the cabin, so that all the air possible might pass through it. It was -half an hour at least before breathing became comfortable in that little -box. Then Phil made a thorough exploration of Jim's carpet-bag, bunk, -and everything else that pertained to him. His only remark as to the -result of his personal inquiry was:-- - -"I guess we needn't trouble ourselves about having arrested this man." - -While waiting for the air to render the cabin habitable again, Constant -said, "But, Ed, how did he _drown_ without going into the water? I don't -understand." - -"Neither do I," said Will Moreraud; "but he was drowned all safe enough. -I've seen too many drowned people not to know one when I see him." - -Then Ed explained:-- - -"That cabin is a little box about ten feet by twelve, and six feet high, -and when shut up it's nearly air tight. It contains only a little over -seven hundred cubic feet of air. These chemical fire extinguishers are -filled with water saturated with soda or saleratus. There is a bottle in -each one, filled with oil of vitriol, or a coarse, cheap sort of -sulphuric acid. It is so arranged that when you turn the thing upside -down the bottle breaks, and the acid is dumped into the water. Now when -you pour sulphuric acid into a mixture of water and soda, the soda gives -off an enormous quantity of what is commonly called carbonic acid gas, -though I believe its right name is carbon dioxide. At any rate, it is -the same gas that makes soda water 'fizz.' But when you turn one of -these machines upside down you get about ten or twenty times as much of -the gas in the water as there is in the same quantity of soda water; and -when you turn this doubled and twisted soda water loose it gives off its -gas in enormous quantities. Now this gas is heavier than air, so when it -was set loose down in the cabin there, it sank to the bottom, and the -air floated on top of it. As the cabin filled up with the gas the air -came out through the hole in the scuttle and the cracks round it. -Pouring that gas into the cabin was just like pouring water into a jug; -the gas took the place of air just as the water in the jug takes the -place of the air that was in it at first. - -"Suppose you let a lighted lantern down into the cabin, Will," suggested -the older boy, "and see what happens." - -Will did so, and the lantern went out as promptly as it would have done -if plunged into water. - -"You see," said Ed, "this gas puts out fire, and it puts out life in the -same way. It smothers both. It absolutely excludes oxygen, and neither -animal life nor fire can exist without oxygen. Do I make the thing -clear?" - -"Perfectly," said all the boys. - -"Then that's why we choked so when we went down the ladder?" said Phil. - -"Certainly. Your air was as completely cut off as if you had dived into -water. That's why I cautioned you to hold your breath just as if you had -been diving into the river." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -"TALKING BUSINESS" - - -Naturally the boys were too much excited over their capture to talk of -anything else, and for a time they did not even think or talk of the -most important phase of that. They discussed the shooting, which all of -them saw to be reason enough for the arrest, but it was not until well -on into the night that any of them thought to ask Phil about the results -of his search of Jim's satchel. - -Meantime they had carried the pinioned man below and securely bound him -to his bunk. Then they had cooked and eaten their supper, talking all -the time, each playfully describing his own consternation at every step -of the late proceeding. Finally Will Moreraud said:-- - -"By the way, what does it all mean?" - -"Yes," joined in Irv Strong, "it at last begins to dawn upon my hitherto -excited consciousness, that we have not yet heard the results of Phil's -explorations among Jim's effects. Tell us all about it, Phil." - -They were sitting in the cabin, or half way in it. That is to say, Phil -was sitting in the mouth of the scuttle above, watching the river and -the course of the flatboat; Irv sat just below him on the steps, and the -other boys were gathered around the little table at the foot of the -ladder. - -"One of you come up here, then," said Phil, "and keep the lookout while -I tell you about it. I thought you'd ask after you got through relating -your personal experiences." - -Ed volunteered to take the place at the top of the stairs, although his -frail nerves were now quivering after the strain he had been through. -Phil seized the carpet-bag which he had instinctively kept under his -hand all the time, and descended the ladder. - -There he opened it and spread its contents on the table. - -"These are what I have found," he said, suppressing his excitement. -"This big bundle of government bonds," laying it on the table; "this big -bundle of railroad and other securities," laying that down in its turn; -"this great wad of greenbacks, and, best of all, _these_!" - -As he finished, he held up a bundle of letters. - -"What are they? Why are they the best part of all?" queried the boys in -a breath. - -"They are letters from Jim Hughes's fellow criminals. I called them -'best of all' because they will enable the authorities to catch and -convict the whole gang!" - -The exultation of the crew was great. - -"We shall have rendered a great service to the public, shan't we?" asked -Constant. - -"A very great service, indeed. And that's what we must rejoice in," -answered Ed. "But we mustn't fail to render it. We mustn't let the thief -slip his bonds and escape." - -Hughes was lying there in his bunk all the while, but they paid no -attention to him. They had ceased to think of him as a man. To them he -was only a criminal, just as he might have been an alligator or a -rattlesnake. - -"Oh, we'll take good care of that," responded Phil. "From this moment -till we deliver him to the officers of the law, we'll keep one fellow -always right here on guard over him. It will mean double duty for some -of you to-night, for I'm going ashore presently." - -"Going ashore! What for, and where?" was eagerly asked. - -"There's a little town down here somewhere, as I see by the map, and -when we get to it I'm going ashore to send telegrams. You see, Hughes's -'pals' might have somebody at Memphis armed with a _habeas corpus_ or -something of that sort, and take him away from us. I've a mind to -deliver the fugitive myself. So I propose to have officers to meet us -with warrants and things when we reach Memphis." - -"Good idea," said Irv. - -"And there's the town just a little way ahead," called out Ed, from the -top of the ladder. - -Phil went at once on deck, leaped into the skiff and rowed rapidly ahead -of the slowly floating flatboat, or as rapidly as the drift would let -him. When he reached the village he found to his disappointment that -there was no telegraph office there. But he learned that there was one -at the hydrographic engineer's station a few miles below, on the -opposite side of the river. - -By this time the flatboat had passed him, and he had a long "stern -chase" through the darkness and drift before he could overtake and board -her again. - -Then, assigning Ed to guard their prisoner in the cabin, he called the -other boys to the sweeps. - -"The river is very wide here," he explained, "and the telegraph station -is on the other side. We must take the boat well over there." - -The boys pulled with a will, and long before the station came in view -the flatboat was close in shore on the farther side of the river. - -Meantime, or a little later, something happened in the cabin. Ed was -reading a book, when suddenly the prisoner called out:-- - -"Ed." - -"Yes?" said the boy, laying down his book. - -"I'm awfully tired, lying in one position. Can't you turn me over a -bit?" - -Ed went at once to his relief. His torture was no part of the purpose of -anybody on board. But after Ed had readjusted the ropes so that the -fellow could rest more comfortably, the prisoner said:-- - -"See here, Ed, I want to talk to you. You fellows have made a tremendous -strike, for of course there's no use in disguising the truth any longer, -to you at least, or pretending to be what I have tried to appear. You've -got your man and you've got the proofs dead to rights. You've found me -with the swag in my possession. If you turn me over to the law, I'll go -up for ten or twenty years to a certainty. There is no use in defending -myself. The case is too clear, too complete. Do you see?" - -"Certainly" responded Ed. "You must pay the penalty of your crime. We -have no personal hard feeling against you, Jim, except that you ought -not to have tried to involve us boys as you have done, and--" - -"Well, you see, Ed," interrupted the bound man, "I was desperate. There -was a big price on my head, and hundreds of men were looking for me -everywhere. On the one hand, a prison stared me in the face, on the -other was freedom with abundant wealth to enjoy it with. If I could get -down the river, I thought I should have everything snug and right. I -didn't mean to get you boys into any trouble--really and truly I didn't, -Ed. My plan was to blunder into that chute, and while you fellows were -all scared half to death about it, to slip ashore. I had those men on -the bank just for safety's sake. They don't really know anything about -me or what I've got--what I did have," he corrected, with sudden -recollection that his carpet-bag was no longer in his possession. - -"Those men were hired by my partners to have horses there and run me off -into Mississippi, and I was to give them a hundred or two for the job, -besides paying for the horses we might ride to death. Really and truly, -Ed, that's all there was of that." - -"I see no particular reason to doubt your statement, Jim," replied the -boy. "But what of it?" - -"Well, you see, I want to talk business with you, Ed, and I wanted you -to know, in the first place, that I hadn't tried to harm you boys in any -way--at least, till I was caught in a trap by that sharp brother of -yours." There was a distinct touch of malignity in the man's tone as he -mentioned Phil, to whom he justly attributed his capture. - -"Never mind that," he resumed after a moment. "I want to talk business -with you, as I said. Here are you five boys, all alone on the river. -Anything might happen to a flatboat. You're likely to make, as nearly as -I can figure it out from your talk, about fifty or a hundred or at most -a hundred and fifty dollars apiece out of the trip, after paying -steamboat passage back. Now you've caught me. If you surrender me--" - -"Which of course we shall," broke in Ed, in astonishment. - -"As I was saying" continued Jim, "if you surrender me, you'll probably -get the reward offered, though that's never quite certain." - -"What possible difference can that make?" asked Ed, indignantly. "You're -a thief. We have caught you with hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth -of other people's property in your possession. We have only one thing to -do. We must deliver you to the officers of the law. We should do that if -not a cent of reward was offered. We should do it simply because we're -ordinarily honest persons who think that thieves ought to be punished -and that stolen property ought to be returned to its owners. What has -the reward to do with it?" - -"I'm glad you look at it in that way," said the prisoner. "At most the -reward is a trifle, as you say. Five thousand dollars to five of you -means only a thousand dollars apiece. Now I've a business proposition to -make. Suppose you let me slip ashore somewhere down here, I'll leave -behind me--I'll put into your hands all the coupon bonds. They're better -than cash--they are good for their face and a good deal more anywhere. -You boys can sink the old flatboat down the river somewhere, sell out -the bonds to any banker, and go ashore rich--worth more than anybody in -Vevay's got, or ever will have." - -The man spoke eagerly, but not excitedly, and he watched closely to see -the effect of his words. - -Ed preserved his self-control. Indeed, it was his habit always to grow -cool, or at least to seem so, in precise proportion to the occasion for -growing hot. He waited awhile before he spoke. Then he said:-- - -"Jim Hughes,--or whatever your name is--well, I'll simply call you -Thief, for that name belongs to you even if nothing else that you -possess does,--you thief, if you had made such a proposition as that to -my father, he would have--well, he was said to be hot-headed. I'm not -hot-headed--" - -"No. You're reasonable. You're--" - -"Stop!" shouted Ed. "If you weren't tied up there and helpless, you'd -make me hot-headed, too, like my father, and I'd do to you what he would -have done. As it is, I'm cool-headed. I'll 'talk business' with you; and -the business I have to talk is just this: I forbid you from this moment -to open your mouth again, except to ask for water, while you are on this -flatboat. If you say one other word to me or to any of my companions -I'll forget that I am not my hot-headed father, and--well, it will be -very greatly the worst for you. Now not a word!" seeing that the fellow -was about to speak. "Not a word, except the word 'water,' till my -brother turns you over to the officers of the law. I'm not captain, but -this particular order of mine 'goes.' I'm going to ask my brother to -pass it on to the others, and it will be enforced, be very sure. They -are not cool-headed as I am, particularly Phil. He's like my father -sometimes. Remember, you are not to speak any word except 'water' till -you pass from our custody." - -The high-strung boy tried to control himself, but he was livid with -rage. He choked and gasped for breath as he spoke. Weak as he was -physically, he would certainly have assaulted the man who had -deliberately proposed to make him a partner in crime, but for the fact -that the fellow was bound, hand and foot, and therefore helpless. In his -rage Ed ran up the ladder and called for his brother, meaning to ask -that the man be released from his bonds in order that he, Ed Lowry, -might wreck vengeance upon him for the insult. - -Phil had gone ashore to send his telegrams. Irv Strong had been left in -command of the boat. He asked Ed what was the matter. Ed, still choking -with rage, explained as well as he could, growing more excited every -moment, and ended by demanding:-- - -"Let the scoundrel loose! cut the ropes that bind him, and give me a -chance at him!" - -"Hold on, Ed," said Irv. "The wise Benjamin Franklin once said: 'No -gentleman _will_ insult one; no other _can_.' This thief, burglar, bank -robber, that we've got tied in a bunk down there, _can't_ insult _you_. -He doesn't know our kind. He isn't in our class. It never occurs to -his mind that anybody is really honest. It seems to him a question of -price, and he thinks he has offered you mighty good terms. If any man -who understood common honesty and believed in its existence had made -such a proposition to you, your wrath would be righteous. As it is, -your wrath is merely ridiculous. Of course a trapped bank burglar tries -to buy his way out with his swag. Of course such a creature doesn't -know what honest people think or feel--he has no capacity to understand -it any more than he could understand Russian. Go below, Constant, and -watch that thief. Ed, you must recover yourself. Phil will come aboard -presently, and I really don't suppose you want to tell Phil precisely -what has happened and leave _him_ to--well, let us say to _discipline_ -Jim Hughes." - -"No, no; oh, no!" said Ed, suddenly realizing what that would mean. -"Phil would--oh, I don't know what he wouldn't do. For conscience' sake -don't tell him what happened!" - -"Suppose you go forward then," suggested Irv, "and sit down on the -anchor and cool off, and so far recover yourself that Phil won't notice -anything or ask any questions when he comes aboard." - -The suggestion was very quietly given, quite as if the whole matter had -been one of no consequence. But it was instantly effective. Irv well -knew that Ed's greatest dread was that Phil's fiery temper might get the -better of him sometime. So Irv had shrewdly appealed to that fear. - -"I will; I'll cool down at once," said Ed, rising in his earnestness. -"Nobody knows what Phil would do or wouldn't do if he knew of this. Irv, -you must prevent that. Make all the boys pledge themselves not to let -him know, at least till Hughes is out of our hands." - -Irv was glad enough to make the promise and to fulfil it. For he, too, -knew with what reckless fervor the high-mettled boy would be sure to -inflict punishment for the insult should he learn of it. - -"Phil is the jolliest, best-natured fellow in the world," explained Irv, -when he asked the other boys not to tell their captain what had -happened, "but you know what a temper he has--or rather you don't know. -None of us does, because nobody has ever made the mistake of stirring -him up with a real, vital insult." - -"No," said Will, "and I pity the fellow that ever makes that particular -mistake." - -"We'll never tell him," said Constant. "If we did, we mightn't be able -to deliver our prisoner." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -AT ANCHOR - - -Phil had sent two telegrams,--one to the authorities at Memphis, and -the other to the plundered bank in Cincinnati. In each he had announced -his captures,--the man and the funds,--and in each he had asked that -officers to arrest and persons to identify the culprit should be waiting -at Memphis on the arrival of the flatboat. - -On his return to the flatboat he felt himself so excited and sleepless -that he sent his comrades below to sleep and by turns to watch the -prisoner. He would himself remain on duty on deck all night. As the -night wore away, the boy thought out all the possibilities, for he felt -that for any miscarriage in this matter he would be solely responsible. - -Among the possibilities was this: that should the flatboat arrive at -Memphis before some one could get there from Cincinnati to identify the -prisoner, he might be discharged for want of such identification. It -would take a day or two to send men by rail from Cincinnati to Memphis, -while the fierce current of this Mississippi flood promised to take the -flatboat thither within less than twenty hours. - -After working out all the probabilities in his mind as well as he could, -Phil called below for all his comrades to come to the sweeps. He did not -tell them his purpose; they were too sleepy even to ask. But studying -the "lay of the land" on either side, he steered the flatboat into a -sort of pocket on the Tennessee shore, and to the bewilderment of his -comrades, ordered the anchor cast overboard. - -By the time that the anchor held, and the boat came to a rest in the -bend, the boys were much too wide awake not to have their minds full of -interrogation marks. - -"What do you mean, Phil?" "Why have we anchored?" "How long are we to -remain here?" "What's the matter, anyhow?" "Have you gone crazy, or what -is it?" - -These and a volley of similar questions were fired at him. - -He did not answer. He went to one side of the boat and then to the other -to observe position. - -"How much anchor line is out, Will?" he presently asked. - -"Nearly all of it," answered his comrade. - -"This won't do," said Phil. "Up anchor." - -The boys were more than ever puzzled. But they tugged away at the anchor -windlass till the flukes let go the bottom and the anchor was halfway -up. Then Phil called out:-- - -"That will do. Put a peg in the windlass and let the anchor swing in the -water. To the sweeps! Hard on the starboard! We must push her inshore -and into shallower water, where the anchor will hold her, and where no -steamboat is likely to run over us. Who would have thought it was so -deep over here?" - -The boys now began to understand why the first anchorage had been -abandoned and a shallower one sought for, but they did not yet know what -their captain meant by anchoring at all. They did not understand why, on -so clear a night, with a river so generously flooded, he did not let -things take their course and get to Memphis as quickly as possible. - -Presently the anchor, dragging at half cable, fouled the bottom and, -with a strain that made the check-post creak, the flatboat came to a -full stop. - -"That will do," said Phil. "This is as good a place as any. Pay out some -more anchor line and let her rest." - -"But what on earth are you anchoring for?" asked the others, "and how -long are we going to lie here?" queried Ed. - -"Nearly two days and nights," was the reply,--"long enough to let -somebody travel from Cincinnati to Memphis who can identify Jim Hughes -and take him off our hands. I suppose it would be all right if we went -on without waiting. But I'm not certain of that, and I'm not taking any -chances in this business, so we'll lie at anchor here for nearly two -days. Go to bed, all of you except the one on watch over Jim Hughes. I'm -not sleepy, so I'll stay on deck for the rest of the night." - -But by that time the boys were not sleepy either, so they made no haste -about going to their bunks. - -"We'll be pretty short of something to eat by that time," said -Constant, who was just then in charge of the cooking. "We have only a -scrap of bread left. The eggs and fresh meat and milk are used up, and -we'll have to fall back on corn-bread and fried salt pork." - -"Well, that's food fit for the gods," said Irv Strong, "if the gods -happen to be healthy, hungry flatboatmen. But how important the food -question always is in an emergency! How it always crops up when you get -away from home!" - -"Yes, and at home too," said Ed; "only there we have somebody else to -look after the three meals a day. It's the most important question in -the world. If all food supplies were cut off for a single month, this -world would be as dead as the moon." - -"That's true," broke in Will. "And really, I suppose the world isn't -very forehanded with it at best. I wonder how many years we could last, -anyhow, if the crops ceased to grow." - -"Not more than one year," replied the older boy. "There never was a time -when mankind had food enough accumulated to last for much more than a -year, and probably there never will be. If there should be no crop for -a single year, hundreds of thousands would starve every month, and a -second failure would simply blot out the race. As for forehandedness, we -actually live from hand to mouth, especially the people in the big -cities. Only last winter a great snowstorm blockaded the railroads -leading into New York for only three or four days, and even in that -short time the price of food went up so high that the charitable -institutions had all they could do to keep poor people from starving. So -far from the world generally being forehanded for food, there never was -a time when the food on hand was really sufficient to go round." - -"Well, of course," said Will, meditatively, "there are always some -people so 'down on their luck,' as the saying is, that they can't earn a -living, but there's always enough food for them if they could get hold -of it." - -"You're mistaken," said Ed. "There is nearly always something like a -famine in parts of India and Russia, and even in Italy and other parts -of Europe there are great masses of very hard-working people who never -in their lives get enough to eat." - -There were exclamations of surprise at this, but Ed presently -continued: "In many European countries the peasants do not see a piece -of meat once a year, and in hardly any of them do the poorer people get -what we would think sufficient for food. In fact, their food is not -sufficient. They are always more or less starved, and that's the reason -so many of them are the little runts they are." - -"Then we are better off than most other nations?" said Irv. - -"Immeasurably!" said Ed. "Ours is the best fed nation in the world. It -is the only nation in which the poorest laborer can have meat on his -table every day in the year, for even in England the poorer laborers -have to make out with cheese pretty often." - -"What's the reason?" asked Phil, who had acquired the habit of using -short sentences and as few words as possible since his burden of -responsibility had borne so heavily upon him. - -"There are several reasons. Our soil is fertile--but so is that of -France and Italy, for that matter. I suppose the great reason is that we -do not have to support vast armies in idleness. In most of the European -countries they make everybody serve in the army for three or four -years. It costs a lot of money to support these armies and it costs the -country a great deal more than that." - -"In what way?" asked Constant, who, being on sentry duty over Hughes, -was sitting halfway down the ladder. - -"Why, by taking all the young men away from productive work for three -years. Take half a million young men away from work and put them in the -army, and you lose each year all the work that a man could do in half a -million years, all the food or other things that half a million men -could produce in a year?" - -"And the other people have to make it all up," drawled Irv. "I don't -wonder they're tired." - -"And besides making it all up, as you say," responded Ed, "those other -people have to work to feed and clothe and house and arm all these men, -besides transporting them from one place to another, and paying for -costly parades and all that sort of thing. Why, every time one of the -big modern guns is fired at a target it burns up some man's earnings for -a whole year! Some man must work a year or more to pay the expense of -doing it!" - -"Then why don't the people of those countries 'kick'?" asked Will, "and -abolish their armies?" - -"Because the people of those countries have masters, and the masters own -the armies, and the armies would make short work of any 'kick.' In our -country the people are the masters, and they have always refused to let -anybody set up a great standing army. When we have a war, the people -volunteer and fight it to a finish. Then the men who have been doing the -fighting are mustered out, and they go back to their work, earn their -own living, and put in their time producing something that mankind -needs." - -"Cipher it all down," said Irv, "it's liberty that makes this the best -country in the world to live in." - -"Precisely!" said Ed, with emphasis. "And about the most important duty -every American has to do is to remember that one, supreme fact, and do -his part to keep our country as it is." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -AT BREAKFAST - - -The day was dawning by this time, and the conversation was broken up. -Constant set to work to prepare breakfast while the others extinguished -the lanterns, trimmed them, filled them with oil, and "cleaned up" -generally. - -When breakfast was served, the scarcity of supplies was apparent. -There were some "cold-water hoecakes,"--that is to say, bread made of -corn-meal mixed up with cold water and a little salt, and baked in cakes -about half or three quarters of an inch thick upon a griddle. There was -a dish of fried salt pork, and with it some fried potatoes. And there -was nothing else, except a "private dish" consisting of two slices of -toast made from the scrap of stale wheat bread left, with a poached egg -on each of them. There was no coffee and no butter, the last remains of -that having been used upon the toast. - -The "private dish," Constant explained, was for Ed. "You see, we're -out to get him well, and his digestive apparatus doesn't take kindly -to fried things. I've saved four more eggs for him--the last we've -got,--and six more slices of stale wheat bread. The rest of you are -barbarians, and you'll wrestle with any sort of hash I can get up till -we get to Memphis." - -Ed protested vigorously against the favoritism shown him, but the others -supported Constant's plan, and the older boy had to yield. - -"Well, I am deeply grateful for your kindness, boys," he said, "and I'm -duly grateful also to the thousands of men in various parts of the -country who have worked so hard to furnish me with these two slices of -toast." - -The boys looked up from their plates. - -"Here's another revelation," said Irv. "My ill-furnished intelligence is -about to receive another supply of much-needed rudimentary information. -Go on, Ed. Tell us about it. How in the world do you figure out your -'thousands' of men who have had anything to do with those two slices of -toast?" - -"Oh, that was a joke," said Will. - -"It was nothing of the kind," answered Ed. "I can't possibly count up -all the people who have worked hard to give me this toast, but they -certainly number greatly more than a thousand." - -"We're only waiting for wisdom to drop from your lips--" began Irv, with -his drawl. - -"O, quit it, Irv!" said Phil; "you'll learn more by listening than by -talking." - -"That is probably so," said the other, "though I remember that we heard -something away up the river, about how much a person learns of a subject -by talking about it." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Listen," said Ed, "and I'll explain. The wheat out of which this toast -was made was grown probably in Dakota or Minnesota. There was a farmer -there, and perhaps there were some farm-hands also, who ploughed the -ground, sowed the seed, reaped the wheat, threshed it, winnowed it, and -all that. Then--" - -"Yes, but all that wouldn't include more than half a dozen," said Phil. - -"Yes, it would," said Irv, "for there's all the womenfolk who cooked -the men's meals and--" - -"Never mind them," said Ed, "though of course they helped to give me my -toast. Let's count only those that contributed directly to that kindly -end. These farmer people used ploughs, harrows, drills, reapers, -threshing-machines, wagons, and all that, and somebody must have made -them. And back of those who made them were those who dug the iron for -them out of the ground, and cut the wood in them out of the forest, and -the men who made the tools with which they did all this, and--" - -"I see," said Irv. "It's the biggest endless chain imaginable. -Thousands? Why, thousands had a hand in it before you even get to the -farmer--the men who made the tools, and the men who made the tools that -made the tools, and so on back to the very beginnings of creation. And -if we face about, there are the men that ran the railroads which hauled -the wheat to mill, and the millers, and all that. Oh, the thousand are -easy enough to make out." - -"Yes," said Ed, "and then the railroads and the mills had to be built. -The men that built them, the engineers, mechanics, and laborers, all -helped to give me my two slices of toast. So did the men behind them, -the men who made their tools and their materials, the woodsmen who -chopped trees for ties, the miners who dug the iron, the smelters, the -puddlers, the rolling-mill men, who wrought the crude ore into steel -rails; then there are all the men who made the locomotives, and the -cars, and the machinery of the mills, and--" - -"Oh, stop for mercy's sake," said Will. "It's no use to count. There -aren't thousands, but millions of them. And of course the same thing is -true of our clothes, our shoes, and everything else." - -"But with so many people's work represented in it," asked Irv, -reflectively, "why isn't that piece of toast an enormously costly -affair?" - -"Simply _because_ so many people's work is represented in it," answered -Ed. "If one man had to do it all for himself, it would never be done at -all. Just imagine a man set down on the earth with no tools and nobody -to help him. How much buttered toast do you suppose he would be able to -turn out in a year? Why, before he could get so much as a hoe he would -have to travel hundreds of miles, dig some iron and coal, cut wood with -which to convert the coal into coke, melt the iron out of its ore, -change it into steel, and shape it into a hoe. Why, even a hoe would -cost him a year's hard work or more, while a wagon he could hardly make -without tools in a lifetime. Now he can earn the price of a hoe in a few -hours, and the cost of a wagon in a few days or weeks, simply because -everybody works for everybody else, each man doing only the thing that -he can do best." - -"Then we all work for each other without knowing it," said Will. - -"Of course we do. When we fellows were diving for that pig-iron, we were -working for the thousands of people who will use or profit by the things -that somebody else will make out of that pig-iron and--" - -"And for the somebody else," said Irv, "that will make those things out -of the pig-iron, and for all the 'somebody elses' that work for them, -and so on in every direction! Whew! it makes my head swim to think of -it. But what a nabob you are, Ed! Just think! Thousands and even -millions of people are, at this moment, at work to make you -comfortable!" - -"Yes, and each one of the millions is at work for all the others while -all the others are at work for him. Theorists sometimes dream out -systems of 'coöperative industry,' hoping in that way to better men's -condition. But their very wildest dreams do not even approach the -complex and perfectly working coöperation we already have in use." - -"Just think of it!" said Irv. "Suppose that every man in our little town -of two or three thousand people had to do everything for himself! He -would have to raise sheep for wool, card, spin, and weave it, and -fashion it into clothes. He would have to raise cotton and linen in the -same way, and cattle too, and keep a tannery and be a shoemaker and a -farmer and a mason and a carpenter and all the rest of it. And then he -would have to mine his own iron and coal, and make his own tools -and--well, he wouldn't do it, because he couldn't. He'd just wander off -into the woods hunting for something that he could kill and eat, and -he'd try to kill anybody else that did the same thing, for fear that the -somebody else would get some of the game that he wanted for himself. -He'd be simply a savage!" - -"Well, but even savages go in tribes and hunt together and live -together," said Will. - -"Of course they do," answered Ed, "and that's their first step up toward -civilization. When they do that they have learned in a small way the -advantage of working together, each for all and all for each. The better -they learn that lesson, the more civilized they become." - -"Then the theorists are right who want the state to own everything and -everybody to work for the state and be supported by it?" asked Phil. - -"Not a little bit of it," said Ed. "That would be simply to go back to -the tribal plan that savages adopt when they first realize the -advantages of working together, and abandon when they grow civilized. We -have worked out of that and into something better. With us, every man -works for all the rest by working for himself in the way that best -serves his own welfare. Under our system every man is urged and -stimulated by self-interest to do the very best and most work that he -can. Under a communistic or socialistic or tribal system, every man -would be as lazy as the rest would let him be, because he would be sure -of a share in all that the others might make by their labor. It is -sharp competition that makes men do their best. It is in the 'struggle -for existence' that men advance most rapidly." - -"Wonder if that wasn't what Humboldt meant," said Irv, "when he called -the banana 'the curse of the tropics,' adding that when a man planted -one banana tree he provided food enough for himself and his descendants -to the tenth generation, in a climate where there is no real necessity -for clothes." - -"Exactly," said Ed. "Somebody once said that 'every man is as lazy as he -dares to be.'" - -"Well, I am, anyhow," yawned Irv, "and so I'm going up on deck under the -awning to make up some of that sleep I lost last night." - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -SCUTTLE CHATTER - - -The pocket in which _The Last of the Flatboats_ lay at anchor was well -out of the path of passing steamboats. It was also pretty free from -drift-wood, except of the smaller sort. So there was nothing of any -consequence to be done during the two days of waiting. It was necessary -to pump a little now and then, as the very tightest boat will let in a -little bilge water, especially when she is as heavily loaded as this one -was. There were what Irv Strong called "the inevitable three meals a -day" to get, but beyond that there was nothing whatever to do. - -Ed's books were a good deal in demand at this time. Irv and Phil managed -to do some swimming in spite of the drift-wood and the coldness of the -water. For the rest, the boys lounged about on the deck, with now and -then a "long talk" at the scuttle or in the cabin if it rained. Their -"long talks" on deck were always held around the scuttle, so that the -one on guard over Hughes might take part in them. There were only five -steps to the little ladder that led from deck to cabin, and by sitting -on the middle one the boy on guard could keep his feet on the edge of -the prisoner's bunk and let his head protrude above the deck. - -They had naturally been thinking a good deal about what Ed had told them -concerning food, and now and then a question would arise in the mind of -one or another of them which would set the conversation going again. - -"I wonder," said Will Moreraud, "how men first found out what things -were good to eat?" - -"By trying them, I guess," said Phil. "I read in a book somewhere that -whenever the primitive man saw a new beast he asked first, 'can he eat -me?' and next, 'can I eat him?'" - -"Yes," said Ed, "and that sort of thing continued until our own time, -when science came in to help us. You know where the jimson weed got its -name, don't you?" - -None of them had ever heard. - -"Well, 'jimson' is only a corruption of 'Jamestown.' When the early -settlers landed at Jamestown they found so many new kinds of grain, and -animals, and plants that they began trying them to see which were good -and which were not. Among other things they thought the burs of the -jimson weed--the poisonous thorn-apple of stramonium--looked rather -inviting. So they boiled a lot of the burs and ate them. Like idiots, -they didn't confine the experiment to one man, or better still 'try it -on a dog,' but set to work, a lot of them at once, to eat the stuff. It -poisoned them, of course, and made a great sensation in Jamestown. So -they named the plant the Jamestown weed." - -"I remember," said Irv, "my grandfather telling me that when he was -young, people thought tomatoes were poisonous, and he said it took a -long time for those that tried them to teach other people better." - -"That's what I had in my mind," said Ed, "when I said that there was no -known way to find out whether things were good to eat or not except by -trying them, till modern science came to our aid." - -"How does modern science manage it?" asked Will. - -"Well, if any new fruit or vegetable should turn up now, a chemist would -analyze it to find out just what it was composed of. Then the doctors -who make a study of such things would 'try it on a dog,' or more likely -on a rabbit or guinea pig, to find out if it had any value as a -medicine. They try every new substance in that way in fact, whether it -is an original substance just discovered or some new compound. They even -tried nitro-glycerine, and found it to be a very valuable medicine. So, -too, they have got some of our most valuable drugs from coal oil, simply -by trying them." - -"Good for modern science!" said Phil. "But, Ed, what were the other new -things the colonists found in this country?" - -"There were many. But those that have proved of most importance are -corn, tobacco, tomatoes, watermelons, turkeys, Irish potatoes, and sweet -potatoes." - -"Oh, come now," said Irv, raising his head and resting it on his hand, -"you said _Irish_ potatoes." - -"And why not? They are a very important product, and the crop of them -sells for many millions of--" - -"_But_ they didn't originate in this country, did they? Weren't they -brought here from Ireland?" - -"Not at all. They were taken from here to Ireland." - -"Then why are they called Irish potatoes?" - -"Because they proved to be so much the most profitable crop the Irish -people could raise that they soon came to be the chief crop grown there. -I don't know whether the colonists found any of them growing wild in -Virginia or not. They are supposed to have originated in South America -and Mexico. At any rate, they are strictly native Americans. By the -way," said Ed, "the people who thought tomatoes poisonous were not so -very far out in their reckoning. Both the tomato and the potato are -plants belonging to the deadly nightshade family, and the vines of both -contain a virulent poison." - -"Perhaps somebody tried tomato vines for greens," said Phil, "and got -himself ready for the coroner before the tomatoes had time to grow and -ripen." - -"That isn't unlikely," said Ed. "At any rate, an experiment of that kind -would have gone far to give the fruit a bad name." - -"However that may be," said Irv, "it is pretty certain that men must -have found out what was and what wasn't good to eat mainly by trying. -There's salt now. It is the only mineral substance that men everywhere -eat. All the rest of our foods are either animal or vegetable." - -"And that's a puzzle," replied Ed. "Man must have got a very early taste -of salt, or else there wouldn't be any man." - -"How's that?" - -"Why, the human animal simply can't live without salt. He digests his -food by means of an acid which he gets from salt, and from nothing else -whatever. So he must have had salt from the beginning." - -"The Garden of Eden must have been a seaport then," mused Phil. "Adam -and Eve probably boiled their new potatoes in water dipped up from the -docks." - -The boys laughed, and Ed continued:-- - -"It is a curious fact that the ancients, even as late as Greek times, -knew nothing about sugar; at least, in its pure state. They got a good -deal of it in fruits and vegetables, of course, and the Greeks used -honey very lavishly. They not only ate it, but they made an intoxicating -liquor out of it which they called mead. But of sugar, pure and simple, -they knew nothing whatever. Their language hasn't even a word for it. -Yet in our time sugar is one of the most important products in the -world, so important that many nations pay large bounties to encourage -its cultivation." - -"By the way," asked Phil, after a few moments' meditation, "what is the -most important crop in this country?" - -"Wheat"--"cotton," answered Will and Constant respectively. - -"No," said Ed, "corn is very much our most important crop." - -"More so than wheat?" - -"Four to one and more," said Ed. "Our corn crop amounts to about two -thousand million bushels every year--often greatly more. Our wheat crop -averages about five hundred million bushels. And as corn has more food -value in it, pound for pound, than wheat has, it is easy to see that not -only for us, but for all the world, our corn crop is quite four to one -more important than our wheat." - -"But I thought corn wasn't eaten much except in this country?" queried -Irv. "The Germans and French and English don't eat it." - -"Don't they, though?" asked Ed, with a quizzical look. "Don't they eat -enormous quantities of American pork, bacon, and beef? And what is that -but American corn in another shape?" - -"That's so," said Irv, this time sitting bolt upright. "I've heard that -the big farmers all over the West keep tab on the price of meat and -corn. If meat is high and corn low, they bring up all their hogs from -the woods, fatten them on the corn and sell them. But if meat is low or -corn high, they sell the corn." - -"And they know to the nicest fraction of a pound," added Ed, "how much -corn it takes to make a given amount of pork." - -"Well, even if we didn't sell any corn at all to other nations," said -Phil, "I should think our crop would help them. _We_ eat a great deal of -it, and if we hadn't it, we'd eat just so much wheat instead, and so we -should have just that much less wheat to sell to them." - -"Exactly," said Ed. "Every thing that feeds a man in any country leaves -precisely that much more to feed other men with in other countries." - -"And what a lot it does take to feed a man!" exclaimed Will. - -"Not so much as you probably imagine," said Ed. "A robust man requires -about a pound and a half of meat and a pound and a half of bread per -day. Vegetables are simply substitutes for bread and cost about the -same. Eggs, milk, etc., take the place of meat and cost less. So by -reckoning on three pounds of food a day, half meat and half bread, or -their equivalents, we find that a strong, healthy, hard-working man can -be fed at a cost of about fifteen cents a day. The coarser and more -nutritious parts of beef and mutton and good sound pork can be bought at -retail at an average of eight cents a pound--often much less. The man's -meat, therefore, will cost him twelve cents a day or less. Good flour -can be had at about two cents a pound. The man's bread will, therefore, -cost him about three cents a day, making the total cost of his food -about fifteen cents a day, or less than fifty-five dollars a year." - -"But it costs something to cook it," said Phil. - -"Yes, but not much. I have calculated only the actual cost of the raw -materials, but my figures are too high rather than too low, for corned -beef and chuck steaks are often sold at retail as low as three or four -cents a pound, and neck pieces, heads, hearts, livers, and kidneys even -lower, while I have allowed eight cents a pound as an average price for -all the meat that the man eats. Now, allowing for the cost of cooking -and for unavoidable waste, I reckon that a strong, healthy American -citizen can feed himself abundantly on less than seventy-five dollars a -year." - -"But what if he can't get the seventy-five dollars?" asked Will. - -"In this country any man in tolerable health can get it easily. There is -no excuse in this country for what somebody calls 'the poverty that -suffers,' at any rate among people who have health. Why, one hundred -dollars a year is a good deal less than thirty cents a day, and anybody -can earn that." - -"What does cause 'the poverty that suffers,' then?" asked Will. - -"Drink, mainly," broke in Phil. - -"By the way," said Irv, looking up from some figures he had been making, -"does it occur to you that our corn crop alone, even if we produced -nothing else in the world, would furnish food enough for all the people -in this country?" - -"No; how do you figure it, Irv?" asked Will. - -"Why, Ed says the corn crop amounts to 2,000,000,000 bushels. There are -56 pounds in a bushel, or 112,000,000,000 pounds in the crop. That would -give every man, woman, and child in our 70,000,000 population 1600 -pounds of corn per year, or pretty nearly four and a half pounds apiece -each day in the year, while Ed says no man needs more than three pounds -of food per day. So the corn crop, whether eaten as bread or partly in -the shape of meat, furnishes a great deal more food than the American -people can possibly eat. No wonder we ship such vast quantities of -foodstuffs abroad!" - -"That's encouraging," said Phil; "but it's bedtime. Hie ye to your -bunks! Whose watch is it?" - -And so the scuttle chatter ended. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -AT MEMPHIS - - -About ten or twenty miles above Memphis the flatboat met a steamboat. It -was out looking for the flatboat. Not only had bank officers and law -officers arrived at Memphis, but they had become so apprehensive at the -delay of the flatboat that they had chartered the steamboat and gone in -search of her. - -One of the bank officers came aboard, and to him Phil explained the -situation, receiving in return the warmest congratulations upon the -capture. - -"We'll take you in tow," said the bank officer. "That will hurry -matters, and we've men waiting at the wharf with all the necessary -papers and arrest warrants." - -"But you must land us above or below the town," said Phil. - -"Why? Why not at the wharf?" - -"Because we're making this voyage as cheaply as possible, and mustn't -pay any unnecessary wharfage fees." - -"Wharfage fees be hanged!" replied the man. "I'll take care of all -that. Why, I'd pay your wharfage fees at every landing from here to New -Orleans. I'd buy your flatboat and all her cargo ten times over. Why, -my boy, you don't know what a big piece of work you've done, or how -grateful we are. Wharfage fees!" with an accent of amused disgust. "What -are wharfage fees when you've caught the fellow and secured the plunder? -And even that isn't the best of it. The letters you've got"--for Phil -had outlined their contents in his telegram to Cincinnati--"have enabled -us to arrest the whole gang already. We've got 'em all, and you're -entitled to the credit of enabling us to break up the strongest band of -bank robbers that was ever organized in this country. So--" signalling -to the steamer--"send a line aboard and we'll be at Memphis in an hour -or two. In the meantime you and your companions must take breakfast on -the steamboat." - -The flatboat was quickly made fast at the side of the steamer, and three -of the boys went aboard for breakfast, the other two following when the -first three returned. For until all legal forms should be completed, and -Jim Hughes safely delivered to the officers of the law, Phil had no -notion of leaving that worthy or the flatboat holding him, in charge of -anybody except himself or his comrades. When he himself went to -breakfast, he left Irv Strong in command, with Constant for his -assistant, and Ed as guard over Hughes in the cabin. - -At Memphis the legal formalities were conducted on the part of the boys -by a lawyer whom Phil employed to see to it that their interests should -be guarded. They lay there for two days. Jim Hughes was delivered to the -authorities. The reward of five thousand dollars was paid over to Phil -in currency. He divided the money equally among the crew. But as it -would never do to carry so great a sum with them on the flatboat, they -converted it into drafts on New York, which all the boys sent to the -bank in Vevay, the money to be held there till their return. - -As to supplies for the flatboat, the Cincinnati banker made some lavish -gifts. He sent on board fresh beef enough to last several days, four -hams, two strips of bacon, two pieces of dried beef, ten pounds of -coffee, five pounds of tea, a bag of flour, a sack of salt, a dozen -loaves of fresh bread, a big box of crackers, five pounds of butter, a -basket of eggs, two or three cases of canned vegetables and fruits, some -canned soups, a large can of milk packed in ice, a sack of dried beans, -a bunch of bananas, a box of oranges, and finally, a large, iced cake -with miniature American flags stuck all over it. - -"I can talk now," said Hughes to Ed, after the law officers had received -and handcuffed him; "and I've got just one thing to say. I never had -anything against any of you fellows except that brother Phil of yours. -But for his meddling, I'd be a free man now. I've 'got it in for' him." - -"Oh, as to that," drawled Irv Strong, "by the time you've served your -ten or twenty years in State Prison, I imagine Phil will be sufficiently -grown up to hold his own with you. He's a 'pretty sizable' fellow even -now, for his age." - -"Tell us something more interesting, Jim," said Will Moreraud. "Tell us -why you tried to run us on Vevay Bar and again on Craig's Bar." - -"I didn't try to run you on them. I tried to run you behind them into -the Kentucky shore channel." - -"What for?" - -"Oh, I was in a hurry to get down the river, and I didn't want you to -make that long stop at Craig's Landing. If I could have run you behind -those bars, you'd have been at Carrollton before you could pull up, and -of course it wouldn't have paid you to get the boat towed back up the -river. I was trying to hurry, that's all; and I knew the river better -than Captain Phil suspected." - -That was all of farewell there was between the crew of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ and her late pilot. When some one suggested to Phil that he -should speak for the party and express regret at the necessity that had -governed their course, Phil said:-- - -"But I don't feel the least regret. I am glad we've secured him and his -gang. It restores a lot of plunder to the people to whom it belongs; it -breaks up a very dangerous band of burglars; and it will help teach -other persons of that kind how risky it is to live by law-breaking. -Perhaps it will help to keep many people honest. No, I'm not sorry that -we've been able to render so great a service to the public, and I'm not -going to pretend that I am." - -"You're right, Phil," said Ed. - -"Of course he is," said Irv; "and as for Jim Hughes, he will get only -what he deserves. If there were no laws, or if they were not enforced by -the punishment of crime, there wouldn't be much 'show' for honest people -in this world." - -"There wouldn't be any honest people, I reckon," said Will, "for honest -people simply couldn't live. Everybody would have to turn savage and -robber, or starve to death." - -"Yes," said Ed. "That's how law originated, and civilization is simply a -state of existence in which there are laws enough to restrain wrong. -When the savage finds that he can't defend himself single-handed against -murder and robbery, he joins with other savages for that purpose. That -makes a tribe. It must have rules to govern it, and they are laws. It is -out of the tribal organization that all civilized society has grown, -mainly by the making of better and better laws, or by the better and -better enforcement of laws already made." - -"Then are we all savages, restrained only by law from indulging in every -sort of crime?" asked Phil. "I, for one, don't feel myself to be in -that condition of mind." - -"By no means," replied the elder boy. "We are the products of habit -and heredity. We have lost most of our savage instincts by having -restrained them through generations, just as cows and dogs have done. -You see, it is a law of nature that parents are apt to transmit their -own characteristics to their children. As one of the great scientific -writers puts it, 'the habit of one generation is the instinct of the -next.' If you want a dog to hunt with, you choose one whose ancestors -have been in the habit of hunting, because you know that he has -inherited the habit as an instinct. Yet the highest-bred setters, -pointers, and fox hounds are all descended ultimately from a common -ancestry of wild dogs, as fierce, probably, as any wolf ever was. -They have been for many generations under law,--the law of man's -control,--and so they have not only lost their wildness, but have -acquired new instincts, new capacities, and a new intelligence." - -"I see," said Phil, meditatively. "It is a long-continued course of -timely spanking that has slowly changed us from savages into fellows -able to run a flatboat and inclined to wear trousers." - -"Ah, as to that," said Irv, "we haven't quite got rid of our savage -instincts even yet. I for one am savagely hungry for some of that beef -our Cincinnati friend sent on board, and I suspect the rest of the tribe -are in the same condition." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -A WRESTLE WITH THE RIVER - - -After the boat left Memphis it was necessary to proceed with a good deal -of caution. A new flood had come down the river, bringing with it a -dangerous drift of uprooted trees and the like. Moreover, in many places -there were strong currents setting out from the natural river-bed into -the overflowed regions on either side, and constant care was necessary -to avoid being drawn into these. - -Memphis is built upon the high Chickasaw bluffs, but a little way -farther down the river the country becomes low and flat, and in parts it -grows steadily lower as it recedes from the river, so that at some -distance inland the plantations and woodlands lie actually lower than -the bed of the great river. It has been said, indeed, with a good deal -of truth, that the Mississippi River runs along on the top of a ridge. - -"How did it come to do that?" asked Will. "Why didn't it find its level -as water generally does--" - -"And as men ought to do, but usually don't," said Irv. - -"It did at first, of course," said Ed. "But whenever it got on a rampage -like this, it took all the region along its course for its right of way. -It spread itself out over the country and went whithersoever it chose. -Then came men who wanted its rich bottom lands for farms. So they built -earth levees to keep the river off their lands. As more and more lands -were brought under cultivation, more and more of these embankments were -built, and the river was more and more restrained. Now there is nothing -in the world that resists and resents restraint more than water does. So -the river breaks through the levees every now and then and floods the -plantations, drowning cattle, sweeping away crops and houses, and -creating local famines that must be relieved from the outside." - -Before beginning his explanation Ed had dipped up a glassful of the -river water and set it on the deck. It was thick with mud, so that it -looked more like water from a hog wallow than water from a river. He -turned now and gently took up the glass. There was a deep sediment in -the bottom and the water above was beginning to grow somewhat clearer. - -"Look here," said the boy. "If we let that water sit still long enough, -all the mud would sink to the bottom and the water above would become -clear. That's what we should have to do with our drinking and cooking -water on this boat if we hadn't brought a filter along. Now you see that -the water of this river is carrying more mud than it can keep dissolved. -This mud is sinking to the bottom all the way from St. Louis to New -Orleans. It is building up the bottom, raising it year by year, and so -raising the river higher and higher. When the river was left free, the -same thing happened, but whenever a flood came it would leave its -built-up bed, run over its banks, and cut new channels for itself in the -lowest country it could find. There are many lakes and ponds well away -from the present river that were obviously a part of the channel once. - -"When men began confining the river within its banks at all but the -highest stages of water, and in many places at all stages, it couldn't -leave its old channels for new ones, no matter how much it had built up -the bottom, and so the bed of the river steadily rose from year to year. -That made the surface of the flood water higher, and so men had to build -higher and higher levees to keep the floods from burying their -plantations. As they have nothing better to make their embankments out -of than the soft sandy loam of the bottom lands, the levees are not very -strong at best, and the higher they are raised, the greater is the water -pressure against them when the river is up. So they often give way, and -when they do that the river rushes through the gap, or crevasse, as it -is called, rapidly widening and deepening it, and pouring a torrent over -all the country within reach. In such a flood as this men are kept -watching the levees day and night to stop every little leak, lest it -become a crevasse, and it is often necessary to forbid steamboats to -pass near the shore, because the swells they make would wash over the -tops of the levees and start crevasses in that way. Sometimes a strong -wind pushes the water up enough to break a levee and destroy hundreds of -lives and millions of dollars' worth of property, for when a levee -breaks, the region behind it is flooded too rapidly to permit much more -than escape alive, and often it doesn't permit even that." - -"What a destructive old demon this river is!" said Irv. - -"Yes, at times," replied the elder boy. "But it does a lot of good work -as well as bad. It created all the lands that it overflows, and if man -tries to rob it of its own, I don't see why it is to be blamed for -defending its possessions." - -"How do you mean that it created all the lands that it overflows?" asked -Constant, who always wanted to learn all he could. - -"Why, the geologists say that the Gulf of Mexico used to extend to -Cairo, covering all the flat region in the Mississippi Valley south, -except here and there a high spot like that on which Memphis stands. The -high spots were islands in the Gulf." - -"But where did the land come from then?" - -"Why, the Mississippi built it with its mud. It carries enough mud at -all times to make half a state, if it were all brought together. When -the river's mouth was at Cairo, the river kept pouring mud into the -Gulf. The mud sank, and in that way the shore-line was extended farther -and farther south, spreading to the right and left as it went. The river -is still doing this down at its mouth below New Orleans, and it has been -doing it for millions of years. It has simply filled in all that part of -the Gulf that once covered eastern Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and -the lower parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri." - -"But why don't other rivers do the same thing?" asked Constant. - -"They do, in a degree," said Ed. "You know there is always a bar in the -sea just off the mouth of a river." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Well, most rivers carry very little mud in their water, and that little -goes to make the bar at the mouth. The Mississippi carries so much mud -that its bars become land, and the river cuts a channel through them, -carrying its mud still farther into the sea. Then again, the Mississippi -has floods every year or twice a year, and in some years three times, -such as most rivers never have. This is because it carries in a single -channel the water from twenty-eight states and a territory, as we saw on -the map one day up the river. Now as soon as the river mud forms a bar -that shows above water, vegetation begins to grow on it. When the next -flood comes, it covers the new-made land and builds it higher by -depositing a great deal more mud on top of it and among the vegetation, -which, by checking the current at the bottom, helps the mud to lodge -there. In that way, all the lowlands for hundreds of miles along this -river were created. It took hundreds of thousands of years--perhaps -millions of years--to do it, but it was done." - -Ed did not give this long explanation all in one speech. He was -interrupted many times by Phil's call of all hands to the sweeps, when -rowing was necessary, and by other matters of duty, which it has not -been necessary to detail here. - -Whenever it was possible to land the boat for the night, the boys did -so, and when no banks were in sight where a mooring could be made, they -sought for some bend or pocket reasonably free from the more dangerous -kinds of drift, and came to anchor for safety during the hours of -darkness. Navigation was difficult and perilous now even in daytime when -they could make out the course of the river by sight and keep away from -treacherous shore currents, for the drift was very heavy. By night it -was doubly dangerous. - -Even in the daytime Phil kept the entire crew on deck at all times -except when one of them went below to prepare food. Their meals were -eaten on deck with a broad plank for table, even when it rained heavily, -as it very often did. They slept on deck, too, under a rude shelter made -of the tarpaulin. All this Phil regarded as necessary under the -circumstances. Even when tied up to the trees or anchored in the -snuggest cove to be found, it was sometimes necessary to jump into -skiffs and "fend off" great threatening masses of drift. To this duty -the calls were very frequent indeed. - -Poor Phil got scarcely any sleep at all during these trying days and -nights. The sense of responsibility was so strong upon him that he -scarcely dared relax his personal watchfulness for a moment. But under -the urgent pleadings of his comrades he would now and then leave another -on duty in his place and throw himself down for a nap. He did this only -when the conditions seemed most favorable, and usually even then he was -up again within the half hour. - -The escapes of the boat from damage or destruction were many and narrow, -even under this ceaseless watching, and the strain at last began to show -its effects upon the tough nerves of Captain Phil. He almost lived upon -strong coffee. The coffee was an excellent thing for him under the -circumstances, but his neglect to take other food was a dangerous -mistake. He was still strong of body, but he was growing nervous and -even a trifle irritable. - -His comrades remonstrated with him for not sleeping, and begged him to -eat. - -"I don't want to eat, I tell you," he said, with much irritation in his -voice. - -"But you'll break down, Phil, if you keep this up," said Ed, "and then -where shall _we_ be? Without your judgment and quickness to see the -right thing at a critical moment this boat would have gone to the bottom -days ago. We _need_ you, old fellow." - -The boys all joined in the pleading, and Phil at last sat down with them -and tried to eat, but could not. - -"No, no, don't drink any coffee yet," said Will, almost pulling the cup -out of his hands. "It'll kill the little appetite you've got. Eat -first, and drink your coffee afterward." - -"Wait a minute," said Irv, stretching out his long legs, and with a -spring rising to his feet. "Wait a minute, and I'll play Ganymede, the -cup-bearer." - -He went below, where he broke an egg in a large soda-water glass and -whipped it up with an egg-beater. Then he filled the glass with milk, of -which they still had a gallon or so left, and again using the -egg-beater, whipped the whole into a lively froth, adding a little salt -to give it flavor and make it more digestible. - -"Here, Phil," he said, as he reappeared on deck, "drink this. You'll -find it good, and it is food of the very best sort, as well as drink." - -Phil took the glass, tasted its contents, and then drained it at a -draught. - -"Make me another, won't you, Irv?" said Phil about five minutes later; -"somehow that one has got lonely and wants a companion." - -Irv was glad enough to do so, and by the time Phil had slowly swallowed -his second glass, he not only felt himself fed, but he was so. His -nerves grew steady again, there was no further irritation in his voice, -and by the time that the next meal was ready the boy had regained his -appetite. - -The boat came to anchor for the night a little after supper, and as the -anchorage was particularly well protected behind a heavily timbered -point of submerged land, Phil consented to take a longer sleep than he -had done for several days past. - -Irv and Constant remained on duty for several hours, after which Ed and -Will took their places. Only twice during the night did Phil awake. Each -time he arose, went all around the deck, inspecting the situation, and -then lay down again upon the boards. - -By morning he was quite himself again. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -IN THE FOG - - -The boat was now in a part of the river where the land on both sides -lies very low, behind very high levees. These are the richest cotton -lands in the world, and their owners have tried to reclaim all of them -from the river floods instead of taking only part of them for -cultivation. Along other parts of the stream there are levees only here -and there, leaving the river a chance to spread out over great areas of -unreclaimed land, thus relieving the levees of much of the pressure upon -them. Here, however, the line of embankment is continuous on both sides -of the stream. For long distances the river is held between the two -lines of artificially made banks. - -The water was now within a few inches of the top of the levees, and -twenty or thirty feet above the level of the lands in the rear. The -strain upon the embankments was almost inconceivably great, while the -destruction which any break in that long line of earthworks would -involve was appalling even to think of. - -The boys could see gangs of men at work wherever any weakness showed -itself in the embankments, while sentinels, armed with shotguns, were -everywhere on guard to prevent mischief-makers from cutting the levees. -For, incredible as it may seem, men have sometimes been base enough to -do this in order to let the river out of its banks, and thus reduce the -danger of a break farther up stream where their own interests lay. For, -of course, when a crevasse occurs at any point it lets so much water run -suddenly out of the banks that the river falls several inches for many -miles above, and the strain on the levees is greatly reduced. - -As the boys were floating down the middle of the flood, watching the -work on the levees with keen interest, the air began to grow thick. A -few minutes later a great bank of dense fog settled down upon them, -covering all things as with a blanket. The shores and the great trees -that grew upon them were blotted out. Then as the fog grew thicker and -thicker, even the river disappeared, except a little patch of it -immediately around the boat. On every side was an impenetrable wall of -mist, and ragged fragments of it floated across the deck so that when -they stood half the boat's length apart the boys looked like spectres to -each other. - -"I say, Phil, hadn't we better go ashore or anchor?" said Constant. - -"Where is the shore?" asked Phil, quietly. - -"Why, there's a shore on each side of us." - -"Certainly. But in what direction? Which way is across the river, which -way up the river, which way down the river?" - -"Why, the current will tell that," said Constant. - -"How are we going to find out which way the current runs?" asked Phil, -with a quizzical smile. - -"Easy enough; by looking at the driftwood floating by," said the boy, -going to the side of the boat to peer at the surface of the river -through the fog. Presently he called out in amazement:-- - -"Why, the whole thing has stopped--the drift, the river, and the -flatboat! We're lying here just as still as if we were on solid -ground." - -"On the contrary," said Phil, "we're floating down stream at the rate of -several miles an hour." - -"But--" - -"Think a minute, Constant," said Phil. "We are floating just as fast as -the river runs. The drift-wood is doing the same thing. The water, the -drift, and the flatboat are all moving in the same direction at -precisely the same speed." - -"Oh, I see," said Constant, with an astonished look in his eyes. "We've -nothing to measure by. We can't tell which way we're going, or how fast, -or anything about it." - -"Why not come to anchor, then?" asked Irv. "If we keep on floating, -nobody knows where we may go to. If there should be any gap in the line -of levees anywhere, we might float into it. It would just tickle this -flatboat to slip off on an expedition of that sort. Why not anchor till -the fog lifts?" - -"First, because we can't," said Phil. "The water is much too deep. But -even if we could, it would be the very worst thing we could do. It would -bring us to a standstill, while everything else afloat would keep on -swirling past us, some of it running into us. If we should anchor here -in the strong current, _The Last of the Flatboats_ would soon have as -many holes in her as a colander." - -"Then what do you intend to do, Phil?" asked Ed. - -"Precisely nothing whatever," answered the young captain. "Anything we -might do would probably make matters worse. You see we were almost -exactly in the middle of the river when the fog came down on us. Now, if -we do nothing, the chances are that the current will carry us along -somewhere near the middle, or at least well away from the shores. If it -don't, we can't help it. The only thing we can do is to keep as close a -watch as we can all around the boat, for we don't know which end or -which side of her is in front now. I want one fellow to go to the bow, -one to the stern, and one to each side, and watch. If we are about to -run into a bank or anything else, call out, and we may save ourselves at -the last minute. That's all we can do for the present. So go now!" - -The wisdom of Phil's decision to do nothing except watch alertly was -clear to all his comrades, so they took the places he had assigned them, -while he busied himself first at one point and then at another, -thinking all the while whether there might not be something else that -he could do--some precaution not yet thought of that he could take. He -went to the pump now and then and worked it till no more water came up. -He went below two or three times to see that nothing was wrong with the -cargo. The boys, meanwhile, were walking back and forth on their beats, -each carrying a boat-hook with which to "fend off" the larger bits of -drift which the eddies, cross currents, and those strange disturbances -in the stream called "boils," sometimes drove against the gunwales. - -The "boils" referred to are peculiar to the Mississippi, I believe. They -are whirlpools, caused by the conflict of cross currents, and, as Will -Moreraud said during this day of close watching, they are "sometimes -right side up and sometimes upside down." That is to say, sometimes a -current from beneath comes to the surface like water in a boiling kettle -and seems to pile itself up in a sort of mound for a half minute or so, -while sometimes there is a genuine whirlpool strong enough even to suck -a skiff down, as old-time flatboatmen used to testify. - -These were anxious hours for the young captain and his crew, but worse -was to come. For night fell at last with the fog still on, and between -the fog and the darkness it was no longer possible to see even the water -at the sides of the boat from the deck. - -The crew had eaten no dinner that day. They had forgotten all about -their meals in the eagerness of their watching. Now that watching was no -longer possible they remembered their appetites, and had an evening -dinner instead of supper. - -They set their lights of course, though it was of little use from any -point of view. They could not be seen at a distance of twenty yards, and -moreover there was nobody to see them. - -"There's not much danger of any steamboat running into us now," said -Phil, who had carefully thought the matter out. - -"Why not?" asked Ed. - -"Because this fog has lasted for nearly twelve hours now, and by this -time every steamboat is tied up to some bank or tree. For no pilot would -think of running in such a cloud after finding any shore to which he -could make his boat fast." - -"But how can a steamboat find the shore when we can't?" asked Will. - -"Because she can keep running till she finds it; and if she runs slowly -she can back when she finds it till she makes an easy landing. She has -power, and power gives her control of herself. We have none, except what -the sweeps give us. In fogs like this steamboats always hunt for the -shores and tie up till the fog lifts. So after ten or twelve hours of -it, there are no steamboats prowling around to run into us." - -"Another advantage the steamboats have in hunting for the shore," said -Will, "is that they can blow their whistles and listen for echoes. They -can tell in that way not only in which direction the shore is, but about -how far away it is." - -"How do steamships manage in fogs out at sea?" asked Constant. - -"Theoretically," replied Ed, "they slow down and blow their whistles or -their 'sirens,' as they call the big steam fog-horns that can be heard -for many miles. But in fact the big ocean steamships drive ahead at full -speed--twenty miles an hour or more--blowing their sirens--till they -hear some other ship's siren. Then they act according to fixed rules, -each ship turning her helm to port--that is to say to the left--so that -they sail well away from each other." - -"But what if there are sailing vessels in the way?" - -"They also have fog-horns, but they sometimes get themselves run down by -steamships, and once in a great while one of them runs into the side of -a steamship. The Cunard steamer _Oregon_ was sunk in that way by a -sailing craft. That sort of thing would happen oftener if the big -steamships were to stop or run very slowly in fog. By running at full -speed they make it pretty sure that they will themselves do any running -down that is to be done. With their enormous weight and great speed they -can cut a sailing vessel in two without much danger of serious damage to -themselves, and as they have hundreds of people on board while a sailing -ship has a very few, the steamship captains hold that it is right to -shift the danger in that way." - -The night dragged slowly along. Now and then a little conversation would -spring up, for the boys were sleeping very little, but often there would -be no word spoken for an hour at a time. - -The fog made the air very chill, and the boys, who remained on deck all -night, had to stir about frequently to keep reasonably warm. - -The fog began whitening at last as the daylight dawned, and all the boys -strained their eyes to see through it. - -But it showed no sign of lifting. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THROUGH THE CREVASSE - - -As the daylight increased, it became possible to see a little further -into the fog, and there was now a little air stirring in fitful fashion, -which tore holes in the thick bank of mist, but only for a moment or two -at a time. - -Through one of these brief openings Phil presently made a startling -discovery. The flatboat was running at an exceedingly rapid rate along a -nearly overflowed levee on the Mississippi side of the river, and within -fifty or sixty feet of it. The crest of the embankment rose only a few -inches above the level of the water, and the current was swifter than -any that Phil had seen since the flatboat had left the falls of the Ohio -behind. What it all meant Phil did not know, nor could he imagine how or -why the boat had drifted out of the main current to the shore in this -way; but he felt that there was danger there, and calling his comrades -to the sweeps, made every effort to regain the outer reaches of the -river. But try as they might at the oars, the boat persisted in hugging -the bank, while her speed seemed momentarily to increase. Men on the -levee were calling to Phil, but so excitedly that he could not make out -their meaning. - -Presently there was another little break in the fog-bank, and Phil saw -what was the matter. Just ahead of the boat the levee had given way, and -the river was plunging like a Niagara through a crevasse, already two or -three hundred feet wide, and growing wider with every second. The boat -had been caught in the current leading to the crevasse, and was now -being drawn into the swirling rapid. - -Phil had hardly time to realize the situation before the boat began -whirling about madly, and a moment later she plunged head foremost -through the crevasse and out into the seething waste of waters that was -now overspreading fields and woodlands beyond. As the land here lay much -lower than the surface of the river, and as the country had not yet had -time, since the levee broke, to fill to anything like the river level, -passing through the crevasse was like plunging over a cataract, and -after passing through, the boat was carried forward at a truly fearful -speed across the fields. Fortunately, she encountered no obstacle. Had -she struck anything in that mad career, the box-like craft would have -been broken instantly to bits. - -As she receded from the river she left the worst of the fog behind. It -was possible now to see for fifty or a hundred yards in every direction, -and what the boys saw was appalling. There were horses and cattle -frantically struggling in the water, only to sink beneath it at last, -for even the strongest horse could not swim far in a surging torrent -like that. - -There were cross currents of great violence too, and eddies and -whirlpools created by the seemingly angry efforts of the water to find -the lowest levels and occupy them. These erratic currents took -possession of the boat, and whirled her hither and thither, until her -crew lost all sense of direction and distance, and everything else -except the necessity of clinging to the sweep bars to avoid being -spilled overboard by the sudden careenings of the boat to one side and -then the other, and her plungings as the water swept her onward. - -Once they saw a human being struggling in the seething water. A moment -later he was gone, but whether drowned or carried away to some point of -rescue there was no way of finding out. - -Once they swept past a stately dwelling-house, submerged except as -to its roof; what fate had befallen its inhabitants they could never -know, for the next instant a strong current caught the boat, and drove -it, side first, straight toward a great barn that had been carried off -its foundations and was now afloat. For a moment the boys expected -to be driven against the barn with appalling violence--an event that -would have meant immediate destruction. But the currents changed in an -instant, so that the barn was carried in one direction and the boat -in another. As the two drifted apart there were despairing cries from -the floating building, which had been badly crushed in collision with -something, and was in danger of falling to pieces at any moment. The -boys looked, and caught a glimpse of a number of negro children clinging -to the wrecked structure. An instant later the barn disappeared in what -was left of the fog. - -The boys were sickened by what they had seen and by what they felt must -be its sequel. It is a fearful thing to have to stand still, doing -nothing, when human creatures are being carried to a cruel death before -one's eyes. But as yet the boys could do nothing except cling to their -own boat. Two of their skiffs had been carried away, and it would have -been certain death to make even an effort to launch any of the others. - -They were swept on and on for miles. They had passed beyond the -cultivated lands and out into a forest. Here the danger was greater than -ever, as a single collision with a tree would have made an end of -everything. But the turbulence of the water was slowly subsiding at -last, and the boat floated, still unsteadily indeed, but with less -violent plungings than before. It was possible now, by exercising great -care, to move about a little, and Phil quickly seized the opportunity to -get some things done that he deemed necessary. - -"Irv, you and Constant go to the starboard pump," he said hurriedly; "Ed -and Will to the other; the boat must be badly wrenched, and she'll fill -with water. Pump like maniacs." - -The boys went to their posts, and managed to work the pumps, though with -difficulty. Water came freely in answer to their efforts, showing that -Phil's conjecture was correct. - -Phil himself climbed down the little companionway, receiving some -bruises and one rather ugly cut on the head as he did so, for the sudden -tossings of the boat still continued, though less violently than before. -He found matters below in rather better condition than he had feared. -The space under the flooring--or the bilge, as it is called--was full, -and there was a good deal of water washing about above the floor. The -boat was too unsteady for Phil to estimate the depth of the leakage, -or to discover the rapidity with which the water was coming in. But he -hoped that diligent pumping might yet save the craft. - -Having hurriedly made his inspection, he proceeded next to fill a basket -with food, taking first that which could be eaten without further -cooking,--canned goods, dried beef, and the like,--and, returning to the -deck, deposited his stores in one of the skiffs. He repeated this -several times, till he had fully provisioned two of the boats. It did -not require many minutes to do this, and they were minutes that he could -not use to better advantage in any other way, for there was still no -possibility of directing the flatboat's course by using the oars, and -Phil deemed it wise thus to provision the skiffs, so that if the boat -should sink, he and his comrades, or some of them, at least, might have -a chance of escape in them without starving before reaching dry land -somewhere. - -The boat had passed safely through the first stretch of timber lands, -and was now floating over a broad reach of open plantation country. But -the fog was gone now, and, as there was woodland in sight a few miles -farther on in the direction in which the current was carrying them, Phil -and his friends felt that their respite was likely to be a brief one. - -He relieved Ed at the pump, and ordered him to rest. But the boy -protested that he was still fresh, and would have worked on if Phil had -permitted. Even in this time of danger and hurried effort, Phil could -not help thinking how greatly his brother's health and strength had -improved. - -"Ed's getting well," he said to Irv, as the two tugged at the pump. - -"Yes," rejoined the tall fellow; "a month ago he couldn't have done such -work as this to save his life." - -"And twenty-four hours of such a fog as we've been through would have -killed him to a certainty. Now he doesn't even cough." - -A little later, as the boat began floating more steadily, Phil called -out:-- - -"Go below, Ed, and see how much water is in the hold." - -Ed's report convinced the young captain that the leaks were at least not -gaining upon the pumps. An hour later, the boat having become quite -steady again, Phil found that the pumps were gaining on the water, which -by that time did not rise above the flooring. - -The boat had by this time passed again into a forest, and, while the -current was now a steady one, it was still very strong. Phil considered -the situation carefully, and decided upon his course of action. - -"Take a line in a skiff, Will, and pass it once around a tree, then run -off with the end of it and hold on, letting it slip as slowly as -possible on the tree till the boat comes to a halt. Then make fast." - -To the others he explained:-- - -"We must check her speed gradually. In such a current as this to stop -her suddenly would sling her against some tree like a whip cracker." - -Then he turned to Irv, and said, "Take another line, and do the same -thing on another tree." - -By the time that Irv pushed off in his skiff Will had got his line in -place around a tree, and had rowed away fifty yards with the end of it. -As it tightened, the rope began slipping on the tree, dragging the skiff -toward it. Phil called to Will:-- - -"Don't get hurt, Will! Let go your rope when you are dragged nearly to -the tree." - -Will did so just in time to save himself from an ugly collision, but his -efforts had considerably checked the flatboat's speed, and by the time -he let go the line Irv had the other rope around a tree and was -repeating the operation. This second line brought the boat to a -standstill, and under Phil's direction she was securely made fast both -bow and stern, so that she could not swing about in any direction. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -A LITTLE AMATEUR SURGERY - - -"The first thing to be done now," said Phil, "is to find out what damage -we have suffered, and repair as much of it as we can." - -"Better begin with your head then," said Will. "It seems to have -sustained more damage than anything else in sight." - -The cut Phil had received had covered his face and shoulders with blood, -and his head was aching severely. But he was not ready to think of -himself yet. He must first do everything that could be done for the -safety of the boat and crew and cargo. So he dismissed Will's -suggestion, saying:-- - -"Never mind about my head. I'll wash the blood off when other things are -done. There's plenty of water, anyhow." - -With that he went below again to inspect. He found that the water there -had risen since the pumps were stopped until now it stood about two -inches above the false bottom or floor on which the cargo rested. -Putting his head out through the scuttle, he called:-- - -"Two of you go to the pumps--one to each pump. Don't work too hard, but -keep up a steady pumping. As soon as the two get tired, let the other -two take their places." - -He withdrew his head, but in a few moments after the pumps were started -he thrust it out again to say:-- - -"Don't pump so hard! You'll break yourselves down, and we can't afford -that now." - -He went below again, lighted a lantern and made as thorough an -examination of the boat as possible, even moving a good deal of the -freight about in order to get at points where he suspected the principal -leaks to be. Two of these he closed by nailing blocks of inch board over -them. - -Meantime he made frequent observations of the water mark he had set, and -was rejoiced to find that the pumps were taking water out more rapidly -than it was leaking in. - -He went on deck and announced the results of his inspection. - -"The boat is leaking, of course, but not one-half so badly as there was -reason to fear. The bilge is full, and the water stands about an inch -deep or a little less on the false bottom. But it stood two inches deep -there an hour ago, so I expect that in another hour or so we shall get -it down to the bilge, leaving the floor clear. It is important to do -that quickly so that the wet part of our cargo, particularly the lower -tier of hay bales, may have a chance to dry out. If it stays long in -water, of course it will be badly damaged." - -"Well, now," said Irv, "I'm going to take care of something else that's -badly damaged. Get a pair of scissors, Ed, and some rags, and help me -repair Phil's head." - -Then, taking Phil by the arm, he continued:-- - -"Come to the bow, Phil, where we can get at the water easily. It will -require a young lake to clean you up properly. Off with your shirt, -young man!" - -Irv treated the matter lightly, but he did not think of it in that way -by any means. In common with the other boys, he was deeply concerned -over the young captain's wound. The bleeding had long since ceased, but -the boy's hair was matted, his face covered, and the upper part of his -clothing saturated with blood. - -The clothing was first removed. Then with wet cloths the face and -shoulders were hastily sponged off. - -"Now, Ed," said Irv, who lived, when at home, in the house with his -uncle, a physician, and therefore knew better than any one else on the -boat what to do for a wound, "you take the scissors and shear off Phil's -hair just as close to the scalp as you can, particularly around the -wound. Hair is always full of microbes, you know." - -With that Irv passed through the hold and was absent for some little -time. When he returned, he brought with him a teakettle of hot water -which he had waited to boil, a basin, and a little box of salt. - -"What are those for?" asked Ed, who had by this time reduced Phil to a -condition of baldness. - -"How much water is there above the false bottom now?" queried Phil, -whose mind refused to be diverted from his duty as captain. - -"The water to cleanse the wound, the salt to disinfect it, and I didn't -notice any water above the floor," said Irv, replying to both questions -in a single breath. - -Ed laughed, but Phil eagerly asked, "You mean that the water doesn't -come over the flooring at all,--that there's no water above the bilge?" - -"I didn't observe any," said Irv, "but I wasn't thinking particularly -about it. I'll go and look again." - -"No," said Phil; "I'll go myself if you'll get me a lantern, for it's so -nearly dark now that it must be quite dark inside." - -When the lantern came, Phil made a hurried inspection with a blanket -thrown over his otherwise bare shoulders. Then he thrust his shaven head -above the deck and called to the two boys at the pumps:-- - -"I say, fellows, you can stop one of the pumps now, and keep only one -going. One of you go below and get supper. Make it a hearty one, for we -haven't eaten a mouthful in twenty-four hours." - -In the day's excitements not one of them had thought about food, but now -that supper was mentioned they all realized that their appetites were -voracious. - -Having given his orders, Phil submitted himself again to the hands of -his surgeons. Irv poured some of the hot water into a basin and added a -tablespoonful or so of salt. - -"You see," he explained, "the trouble with wounds is that germs get -into them, so the most important thing of all is to cleanse them -thoroughly, and after that to keep them clean. I'm using boiled -water"--he was sponging the wound as he talked,--"because boiling kills -all the microbes there may be in water." - -"But what is the salt for?" asked Ed. - -"To disinfect the wound. You see there must be lots of microbes in it -already, and salt kills them. That's what we salt meat for when we wish -to preserve it. The salt kills microbes, and so the meat keeps sound." - -"Then it is the presence of microbes that causes decay in meat?" - -"Yes, or decay in anything else. If we hadn't thrown Jim Hughes's -whiskey overboard, I'd wash this wound with that. It would make Phil -jump, but it would do the work. You know nothing decays in alcohol. -However, the salt will do, I think." - -When Irv had satisfied himself that the wound was sufficiently cleansed, -he drew the edges of the cut together and held them there with sticking -plaster. - -"Now, Ed," he said, "won't you please bring me some cloths that you'll -find in the oven of the stove?" - -Ed went at once, but wondering. When he returned, Irv finished dressing -the wound, and all went to supper. - -"Why did you put the rags in the oven, Irv?" asked Ed. "I noticed you -didn't even try to keep them warm after I brought them to you." - -"Oh, no. I roasted them for the same reason that I boiled the water--to -sterilize them." - -"You mean to kill the microbes?" - -"Yes. You see everything is likely to be infested with disease germs, so -you must never use anything about a wound without first sterilizing it -with heat or some chemical. You can use unboiled water, of course, -because water cleanses things anyhow, but it is better to use boiled -water if you can get it, and every bandage should be carefully -sterilized. That's why I started the fire, boiled the water, and put the -rags in the oven to roast." - -At supper Ed ate as voraciously as the rest, and the boys observed with -satisfaction that the long fast, the very hard work, the severe strain -of anxiety, and the prolonged exposure to the fog had in no way hurt -him. Ed declared, indeed, that he was growing positively robust, and -his comrades agreed with him. - -"What's the programme now, Phil?" asked one of the party when supper was -done. - -"A good night's sleep," answered the young captain. "In the morning -we'll consider further proceedings with clear heads. One pump is -sufficient to keep ahead of the leaks now, and we shall have to keep -that going night and day as long as we remain afloat. So usually we'll -keep two men awake to alternate at the pump, but for to-night we'll -stand short watches, keeping only one man awake at a time. Two watches -of an hour each for each of us will take us through the night. I'll take -the first watch, as my head is aching too badly to sleep yet. So get to -sleep, all of you. I'll wake one of you in an hour or so." - -The boys objected. They wanted Phil to treat himself as an invalid, and -let them do the watching and pumping, but he was obstinate in his -determination to do his full share. So they stretched themselves in -their bunks and were soon sleeping the sleep of very tired but very -healthy young human animals. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -A VOYAGE IN THE WOODS - - -It was long past midnight when Phil aroused one of his comrades to take -his place on watch and at the pump. For the young captain had a good -deal of careful thinking to do, and he could do it better alone in the -dark than when surrounded by his crew. Moreover, he knew that until his -thinking should be done he could not sleep even if he should try. - -"I might as well stay on deck and let the other fellows sleep," he said -to himself, "as to lie awake for hours in my bunk." - -In the morning Phil called a "council of war." - -"Now listen to me first, without interrupting," he said. "I've thought -out the situation as well as I can, and have made up my mind what we -ought to do. After I've told you my plan and the reasons for it, you can -make any suggestions you like, and I'll adopt any of them that seem good -to me." - -"That's right," said Irv. "Let's hear what you've thought and what your -plan is. Then we'll carry it out." - -"No," said Phil. "I want you to criticise it first, so that if it's -wrong I can change it." - -"All right. Go ahead." - -"First of all, then, we're out here in the woods. It isn't a comfortable -or a proper place for a flatboat to be in, and we must get out of it as -quickly as we can." - -"But how?" broke in Will. "We're ten or twenty or maybe thirty or forty -miles from the river, and we can't possibly get back again." - -"I don't know so well about that," said Phil. "Of course we can't get -back to the river at the point where we left it. But I'm not so sure -that we can't get back to it somewhere else, and at any rate, I'm going -to try. Listen, now! The water we're in is thirty-five feet deep." - -"How do you know?" asked Constant. - -"I've sounded it. So we've plenty of water, and there is no danger of -our going aground. But we're not in any river, for we're in the midst of -the woods, and woods don't grow in rivers. But this water that we're in -is running toward somewhere at the rate of six or eight miles a hour, -and we must go with it. Somehow or somewhere it must run into some -river, and that river must somewhere and somehow empty itself into the -Mississippi." - -"Why?" asked Constant. - -"Because there isn't anything else for it to run into, and of course it -can't stop running. Now my idea is this. We must cast the boat loose and -let her float with the current. It will be very hard work to keep her -from smashing into these big trees, but we must do all the hard work -necessary. We'll tie up every night so long as we're in the woods, and -we'll float all day. Sooner or later we'll run out of the woods and into -a river, and when we do that we'll follow the river to its end, wherever -it may happen to be." - -"But have you any idea where we are?" asked Will. - -"No," said Phil, "except that we are somewhere in the northern part of -the state of Mississippi." - -"I know where we are," drawled Irv Strong. - -"Where?" - -"We're in the woods." - -"I'm pleased to observe that you still have 'lucid intervals,' Irv," -said Ed Lowry. "But I have a rather more definite idea than that of our -whereabouts. I studied it out on the map early this morning." - -"Good, good! Where are we?" cried out all the boys in a breath, and with -great eagerness. - -"Come here and see," said Ed, unrolling his great river map. "You -observe that a number of rivers originate in northern Mississippi and -western Tennessee, almost under the levees of the Mississippi. There are -the Big Sunflower, the Coldwater, and the Tallahatchie, with the -Yalobusha only a little way off. All of them run into the Yazoo, which -in its turn runs into the Mississippi near Vicksburg. All of them are -marked on my map as navigable for a part of their course. All of them -lie in a great flat basin or lowland swamp. But for the levees the -Mississippi would flow into them whenever it rises to any considerable -extent. In fact, they must originally have been mere bayous of the great -river, running out of it and back into it again. The Mississippi levees -have stopped all that ordinarily, but the levees have given way this -time, and so the Mississippi is now pouring its water into these rivers, -and as there is too much of it for them to hold, it has filled the -entire swamp country between them, making one vast stream of them all in -effect. We are somewhere in between those rivers, and if we can keep our -flatboat afloat and not wreck her among these trees, the current will -sooner or later carry us into the natural channel of one or the other of -them. That I understand to be Phil's idea, and he is right." - -"That's all right," said Phil, who was restlessly pacing up and down the -deck. "But has anybody any suggestion to make?" - -Nobody had anything to offer. - -"Very well, then," said the young captain, "let's get to work. We've -talked enough. We must keep one fellow at a pump all the time. We can't -do much with the sweeps while we're in the woods, and our greatest -danger is that of running the boat into one of these big trees and -wrecking her. To prevent that I want you, Irv, and you, Constant,--for -you are the stoutest oarsmen,--to get into a skiff and carry a line -about a hundred feet in advance of the boat. She slews around pretty -easily under a pull, and I want you two to guide her with a line. I'll -tell you when you are to row to right or left to avoid trees, and the -rest of the time you've only to keep the line taut so as to be ready for -emergencies. Get into the skiff at once, and take a light line with -you." - -As soon as the skiff was in position and the guiding line stretched, -Phil directed Will Moreraud to jump into another skiff and release the -flatboat from her moorings. - -It was perilous business navigating thus through a dense subtropical -forest. Phil stood at the bow, intently watching and giving his commands -in a restrained voice and with an apparent calm that sadly belied his -actual condition of mind. Will and Ed "stood by" the sweeps, working the -pumps, but holding themselves ready to pull on the great oars whenever -Phil should find that mode of guiding the boat practicable. - -Every now and then Phil would call to Irv and Constant in the skiff -ahead, to pull with all their might to the right or left, and many times -the flatboat, in spite of this diligence, had narrow escapes from -disaster. - -It was terribly hard work, and the mental strain of it which fell upon -Phil was worse even than the tremendous physical exertion put forth by -the other boys. There was no midday meal served that day, for it would -have meant destruction for any one of the boys to leave his post of duty -long enough even to prepare the simplest food. - -About four o'clock in the afternoon Phil suddenly called to Irv:-- - -"Carry your line around a tree and check speed all you can!" Then -turning to Will:-- - -"Jump into a skiff, Will, and take out another line, just as you did -yesterday. When the boat stops, make fast!" - -The boys obeyed promptly, and a few minutes later _The Last of the -Flatboats_ was securely tied to two great trees--one in front and one -astern. - -Then Phil threw himself down on the deck and closed his eyes as if in -sleep, and the boys in the skiffs came back on board. - -The captain was manifestly exhausted. The strain of watching and -directing the course of the boat through so many hours and under -circumstances so difficult, the still greater strain put upon his mind -by his consciousness that he alone was responsible for the safety of -boat and crew and cargo, and finally the sudden relief caused by a -glimpse ahead which his comrades had been too busy to share, had brought -on something very like collapse. - -The boys said nothing, lest they disturb him. He lay still for a quarter -of an hour perhaps. Then he got up, stripped off his clothing, and -leaped overboard. - -Five minutes later he returned to the deck refreshed by his bath, and -almost himself again. - -As he dried himself with a towel, he said:-- - -"Two of you go below and get supper. Make it a big one, for we are all -starving. And get it as quickly as you can." Then, after a brief pause, -he added:-- - -"You didn't notice it, I suppose, but we're out of the woods!" - -"How so?" asked Ed and Irv in unison. - -"There's an open river just ahead," replied Phil. "Go forward and look. -I'm going to sleep now. Wake me up when supper is ready." - -And in a moment the exhausted boy was sound asleep, stretched out upon a -hard plank, without pillow or other comfort of any kind. - -"Poor fellow!" said Irv. "He's got the big end of this job all the -time." - -With that he dived below, and returning, placed a pillow under Phil's -bandaged head, and spread a blanket over him, for the air was chill. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -THE CREW AND THEIR CAPTAIN - - -Utterly worn out as he was, it was not a part of Phil's purpose--it was -not in his nature, indeed--to neglect any duty. He ate a hearty supper -with the boys, during which he talked very little. Once he said, -suddenly:-- - -"I suspect it's the Tallahatchie." - -"What do you mean?" asked Ed. - -"Why, the river we've reached. It lies to the left of our course. If it -was the Sunflower, it would lie to the right. Anyhow, it runs into the -Yazoo, and that's all we ask of it." - -"By the way, Ed," said Irv, "how long is the Yazoo?" - -"I don't know, I'm sure," said Ed. "I'll get the map after supper, and -look." - -"Don't bother," said Phil. "The navigable part of it is one hundred and -seventy-five miles long." - -"How did you come to know that?" asked Will. "I thought Ed was the -geographer of this expedition." - -"So he is. But I'm captain, worse luck to it, and it's my first business -to know what lies ahead. So I looked this thing up on the map. The -Yalobusha and Tallahatchie run together somewhere near a village called -Greenwood, which is probably a hundred feet or so under water just -now,--we may even float over the highest steeple in that interesting -town, when we get to it,--and those two streams form the Yazoo. By the -way, that little side issue of a river happens to be considerably -longer, in its navigable part, than one of the most celebrated rivers in -the world--the Hudson." - -"You don't mean it?" exclaimed Irv, for once surprised out of his drawl. - -"Maybe I don't. But I think I do. Ask Ed to study it out. I'm too tired -to talk. I'm going to sleep for ten minutes now. Wake me up at the end -of that time. Don't fail!" - -With that the exhausted boy rolled into a bunk, and in an instant was -asleep again. - -Ed got out his maps and studied them for a while. - -"He's right, boys," said the older one, after some measurements on the -map. - -"Of course he is," said Constant. "He's got into the habit of being -right since we chose him to be 'IT' for this trip. But go on, Ed. Tell -us about it." - -"Well," said Ed, still scrutinizing the map, "the navigable part of the -Hudson, from New York to Troy, is about one hundred and fifty-six miles -long. The navigable part of the Yazoo is, as Phil said, one hundred and -seventy-five miles long. Oh, by the way--" - -"What is the thought behind that exclamation?" said Irv, when Ed paused; -for Irv's spirits were irrepressible. - -"It just occurs to me," said Ed, "that this wonderful river of ours, the -Mississippi with its tributaries, is almost exactly one hundred times as -long--in its navigable parts--as the greatest commercial river of the -East." - -"In other words," said Irv, "the East isn't in it with us. Its great -Hudson River would scarcely more than make a tail for the Mississippi -below New Orleans. It would just about stretch from Cincinnati to -Louisville. It would cover only a little more than half the distance -from St. Louis to Cairo, or from Cairo to Memphis." - -"True!" said Ed, "and pretty much the same thing is true of every great -river in Europe. Not one of them would make a really important tributary -of our wonderful river. All of them put together wouldn't compare with -the Ohio and its affluents." - -"Phil's ten minutes are up," said Will. "I hate to wake him, but that -was his order." - -Phil had come, in this time of stress, to live mainly within himself. He -was too much absorbed with his responsibilities to be able to put them -aside, or even to treat them lightly. - -"I'm 'IT,' and so I'm responsible," he had said to Ed, "and I must -think. Sometimes it doesn't pay to talk, and sometimes I'm too tired to -talk. I must just give orders without explaining them. You explain it -all to the other fellows, and don't let them misunderstand. I don't like -the job of commanding, even a little bit. But you fellows set me at it, -and I accepted the responsibility. I'll bear it to the end, but--" - -"We all understand, Phil," said Irv Strong, who had joined the -brothers. "Your crew was never better satisfied with its captain than it -is to-day. But it will be still more loyal to-morrow and next day, and -every other day till the voyage is ended." Then in lighter vein--for Irv -never liked to be serious for long at a time--he added: "Why, I wouldn't -even whisper if you told me not to, and you remember Mrs. Dupont posted -me first, and you next, as irreclaimable whisperers." - -But to return to the night in question. When Phil was waked he took a -lantern and made a minute inspection of the boat, inside and outside. -Then he dropped into a skiff and rowed away to examine the moorings -critically. On his return he said to his comrades:-- - -"The boat is leaking a good deal more than I like. The strain she -received back there, yesterday or the day before, or a thousand years -ago--I'm sure I don't remember when it was--is beginning to tell upon -her. One pump is no longer quite enough to keep the water in the bilge. -We must keep both going--not quite all the time, of course, and not very -violently, but pretty steadily. So that's the order for to-night. Two -fellows on watch all the time, and both pumps to be kept going most of -the time. I'll sleep till two o'clock. Then wake me, and I'll take my -turn at a pump." - -The boys would have liked to exempt him from that duty. But his tone did -not invite question or protest of any kind. It did not admit even of -argument. It was a command--and Phil was commander. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -A STRUGGLE IN THE DARK - - -But Phil was up long before the hour appointed. It was not yet midnight -when he got out of his bunk to get a drink of water. As he did so he -stepped into water half way up to his knees. - -He instantly aroused his companions. - -"The boat is sinking," was his explanation. "Get to the pumps quick." - -Then lighting a lantern he made a thorough search of the hold in the -hope of finding and stopping the leaks, but it was without avail. - -With two boys at each pump the water could be kept down. That fact was -established by an hour's hard work. - -"But we can't keep up that sort of thing," said Phil. "We must stop the -leaks or abandon the boat." - -He thought for a while. Then he said to Ed:-- - -"Get some ropes, Ed, and make them fast to the four corners of the -tarpaulin. Bring each pair together about twenty feet away from the rag, -and fasten them to another rope." - -"What's your plan?" asked Irv, who was diligently pumping. - -"I'm going to stretch the tarpaulin under the boat. Sailors stretch a -sail that way sometimes to stop a leak." - -But this was much more easily said than done. When the tarpaulin was -ready, Phil took all hands away from the pumps and, sending them to the -skiffs, made an effort to force the great stiff cloth under the bow. It -was a complete failure. The current was much too strong. - -Then he went to the stern, where he hoped that the current would be of -assistance. But that attempt also failed. The current doubled up the -tarpaulin against the end of the boat, and it refused to slip under. The -effort was several times repeated, but always with the same -result--failure. - -Finally Phil ordered all hands back to the flatboat. He went below and -presently returned with a ball of twine. Unwinding its entire length and -carefully coiling it on deck, he told Ed to fasten its farther end to -one of the ropes attached to the tarpaulin strings. - -"What are you going to do, Phil?" - -"I'm going to put my swimming to some practical account. Two of you -fellows get into a skiff,--yes, three of you,--and lie off the larboard -side of the boat." - -As they obeyed, the boy removed his clothes and tied the twine securely -around his person. - -"Watch the coil, Ed," he said to his brother, "and don't let it foul. -Give me free string from the moment I go overboard. A very little pull -would drown me!" - -Then, taking a lantern, Phil scanned the water on both sides of the boat -carefully for drift that might be in the way. When all was ready he -leaped overboard, and after an anxious wait on the part of the boys he -came to the surface again on the other side of the boat. He had repeated -his old feat of diving under the flatboat, but this time it was harder -than ever before. The strong current helped him a little, for the -flatboat, tied bow and stern, lay almost athwart it. But a deal of -difficulty was created by the necessity of dragging the twine after him. -Ed saw to it that no tangle should occur, but the string dragged upon -the deck and over the side and again upon the bottom of the boat, so -that a much longer time and far more exertion was necessary for the dive -than had ever been required before. Indeed, when Phil came up he was -barely clear of the gunwale and his ability to hold his breath was -completely at an end. A second more and he must have inhaled water and -drowned. He was for the moment too much exhausted to climb into the -skiff that was waiting for him, or even to give directions to his -companions. - -Seeing his condition, Irv and Will leaped overboard with their clothes -on, and actually lifted the boy into the skiff, pushing him over its -side as if he had been a log or a limp sack of meal. - -As soon as he was able to gasp he helped his comrades into the little -boat, and called out:-- - -"Pull away on the string, boys, as fast as you can, otherwise the -current will carry it out from under the boat, at one end or the other." - -They obeyed promptly and presently had the end of the rope in their -grasp. Pulling upon this, they succeeded in getting the edge of the -tarpaulin under the starboard side of the flatboat. But there the thing -stuck, and their tugging at the rope only resulted in drawing their -skiff up to the flatboat's side. Phil quickly saw that "pulling without -a purchase" was futile. He called out:-- - -"Row to that tree yonder, and we'll make fast to it." - -When that was done the pulling was resumed, this time "with a purchase." -But it was of no avail. The tarpaulin was drawn halfway under the boat, -but there it stuck. - -After a little Phil evolved a new idea. Releasing the skiff, he rowed to -the flatboat and directed Irv to go aboard. Then returning to his former -position, he again made the skiff fast to the tree. - -"Now, Irv," he called out, "you and Ed go below and bring up two or -three barrels of flour." - -"What for?" asked Ed. - -"Never mind what for. Do it quick," was the answer. - -When the barrels of flour were on deck, Phil said:-- - -"Find the middle of the tarpaulin as nearly as you can, and roll a -barrel of flour overboard into it." - -The thing was quickly done. The weight of the barrel of flour caused the -tarpaulin to sink below the flatboat's bottom, and it became possible to -drag it under her for a further space. - -"Roll another barrel overboard," said the captain, when the tarpaulin -refused to come farther. This enabled the boys to drag the sheet still -farther, and finally, with the aid of a third barrel, they brought its -edge ten feet beyond the gunwale. - -"Now," said Phil, "we've got to spill those flour barrels out of the -cloth, or it won't come up to the boat's bottom and stop the leaks." - -How to do this was a puzzle. After studying the problem for a while, -Phil directed Ed and Irv on board the flatboat, and Will and Constant in -the skiff, to relax the tension on the great square of sailcloth. - -"I'm going down on top of it," he said, "to push the barrels off." - -"But when you do that, it'll close up to the bottom of the boat and -catch you in it," said Will. "Don't think of doing that!" - -"I must," said Phil, "we're sinking; it's our only chance, and I must -take the risk. Let me have your big knife, Constant." - -"What are you going to do with it?" asked the boy, as he handed it to -Phil. - -"Cut my way out if I can, or perhaps cut a way out for the flour -barrels. Good-by, boys, if I never get back. And thank you for -everything." - -With that he stepped upon the tarpaulin and slid down it under the boat. -Presently he came back, gasping and struggling. - -"I got one barrel out," he said. Then he waited awhile for breath, and -went under again. This time he was gone so long that his comrades feared -the worst, with almost no hope for a better result. But they could do -nothing. Presently Phil came up, but so exhausted that he could only -cling in a feeble way to the edge of the canvas. The boys dragged him -into the skiff, and he lay upon its bottom for a time like one almost -drowned, which indeed he was. When he had somewhat recovered, Irv called -to him:-- - -"I'm going down next time, Phil. You shan't brag that you're a better -water-rat than I am." - -"No, you mustn't," said the boy; "I've found out how to do the trick -now. But I've lost your knife in the shuffle, Constant. Cast the skiff -loose and let's go aboard for another." - -The boy was so exhausted that his companions simply forbade him to make -another attempt. - -"You shan't go down again," said Irv, "and that's all there is about it. -If you've found out how to do the trick, as you say, save my life by -explaining it to me, for I'm going down, anyhow." - -The boy was too weak to insist. So he explained:-- - -"Don't go down on top of the sheet as I did. Dive under it. Find the -barrels,--they're almost exactly in the middle,--and slit the tarpaulin -under them so that they can drop through. Oh, let me do it, I'm all -right now." - -But Irv was overboard with a big butcher knife in his grasp, and the -skiff was again securely fastened to its tree. - -Irv dived three times. On coming up for the third time, he said with his -irrepressible vivacity, "One, two, three times and out! Third time's the -charm, you know. I beg to announce that there's a big slit in the -tarpaulin and that the two barrels of triple X family flour are calmly -reposing in the mud that underlies _The Last of the Flatboats_." - -"Good!" said Phil. "But we must hurry." - -And he gave rapid orders for drawing up the canvas on each side of the -flatboat. Then he secured some tackle blocks and carried ropes from the -two ends of the tarpaulin to the anchor windlass, and set the boys to -draw it as tight as possible. - -Then he went below, and found the water almost up to the level of the -gunwales. That is to say, the boat proper, the part that floated all the -rest, was very nearly full of water. A few inches more and the craft -would have gone down like an iron pot with a hole in it. - -There was hurried and anxious work at the pumps. At the end of an hour -the gauge below showed that the water in the hold had been reduced by an -inch or two. - -"This will never do," said the young captain. "We can't keep on pumping -like demons day and night till we get to New Orleans. We simply must -find the leaks and stop them. The tarpaulin helps very greatly, but it -isn't enough." - -"But how?" asked Ed. - -"First of all cast the flatboat loose and let her float," said skipper -Phil. "It's daylight now." - -"What good will that do?" asked one. - -"None, perhaps. Perhaps a great deal. It will put us into a river for -one thing. We're in about as bad a place for sinking as there could be. -Maybe we shall float into a better one. Maybe we shall come to some -place where the land is still out of water and let the boat sink where -we can save part of the cargo. Maybe anything. Cast loose, while I study -things below." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -A HARD-WON VICTORY - - -Phil's further explorations below, which occupied perhaps half an hour, -convinced him that the pumps, if worked to their utmost capacity, were -capable of emptying the hold of water within three or four hours, -possibly somewhat sooner, as the tarpaulin was doing its work better, -now that the flatboat was cast loose. The current was no longer -interfering, as the boat was now moving with the stream, and the weight -of the craft was pressing it closer to the canvas beneath. - -Phil realized that to keep the pumps at work to the full for so long a -time would fearfully tax the crew's strength, taxing it perhaps even -beyond its capacity of endurance. But he saw no alternative. The water -simply must be got out of the hold. Till that should be done there would -be no possibility of finding and stopping the leaks. - -So going again on deck, he said to his comrades:-- - -"I'll tell you what, boys, we've got to work for all we're worth now for -the next two or three hours. We must get at the inside of the bottom of -the boat and find these leaks. We can't do that till we empty her of -water, or get her pretty nearly empty." - -"But how in the world are we to get at the leaks under all our freight?" -asked Will Moreraud. - -"We have got to move the freight," said Phil. - -"But where?" asked Irv. - -"Well," said Phil, "we've got to throw part of it overboard, I suppose, -in order to give us room. Then we've got to shift the rest of it little -by little from one spot to another, exposing a part of the bottom each -time. We must find every leak that we can, and stop every one that is -capable of being stopped. It will take two or three hours to pump the -water out, and, I suppose, it will take two or three days to get these -leaks fully stopped. In the meantime, we are all going to be enormously -tired, and of course--" - -"And of course we'll all be as cross as a sawbuck," said Irv Strong; -"tired people always are; what we've got to do is to look out and not -quarrel." - -"Oh, well," said Phil, "I will take care of that. I am as cross as two -sawbucks already, but I haven't quarrelled with anybody yet, and I don't -mean to. And I'll keep the rest of you too busy to quarrel. We will -postpone all that until we get to New Orleans--" - -"If we ever do get to New Orleans," said Ed. - -"Ever get to New Orleans? Why, we have got to get to New Orleans. We -have undertaken to do that job for the owners of this cargo, and we are -going to do it, if we have to pump the Mississippi River three times -through this boat in getting there. Our present task is to reduce the -necessity for pumping as much as we can." - -Phil found by experiment that one boy at each pump was nearly as -efficient as two, and as the work of pumping was exhausting, he decided -to keep only two boys at it, one at each pump. Then, taking the other -two with him, he went below and with buckets they began dipping water -from the hold and pouring it overboard at the bow. In this way they -added largely to the work of the pumps, and every fifteen minutes or so -two of the boys handling buckets would go to the pumps, and the two -tired fellows at the pumps would come below and work with buckets. - -It was wearisome work, but there was at any rate the encouragement of -success. By one o'clock in the afternoon the water in the hold was so -far reduced that it was no longer possible to dip it up with buckets -with any profit. So Phil stopped that part of the work, and decided to -keep the boys on very short shifts at the pumps, leaving them to rest -completely between their tours of duty. He let two of them work for ten -minutes. Then another pair took their places for ten minutes. Then the -fifth one of the party--for Phil did his "stint" like the rest--became -one of the relief pair, thus giving one boy twenty minutes' rest instead -of ten. This extra rest came in its turn of course to each of the boys, -so that each boy worked forty minutes--ten minutes at a time--and -rested sixty minutes out of every one hundred minutes or every hour and -two-thirds. - -About five o'clock in the afternoon Phil made one of his frequent -journeys of inspection in the hold. He came on deck with an encouraged -look in his tired face. - -"We've got the water pretty nearly all out now, boys. Our next job is to -keep it out by stopping leaks. We'll work one pump all the time. I think -that will keep even with the leaks, or pretty nearly so. If we find the -water gaining on us, we'll set the other pump going for a while." - -"And what's your plan for stopping leaks, Phil?" asked Irv. - -"First of all we'll find the leaks," said Phil. "Then we'll do whatever -we can to stop them." - -"Oh, yes, we know that," said Irv, with a touch of irritation in his -voice, "but you know I meant--" - -"Come, Irv, no quarrelling!" said Will Moreraud. "You're tired and -cross, but so are the rest of us." - -"I own up, and beg pardon," said Irv, regaining his good nature by an -effort, but instantly. "Phil, may I take time for a cold plunge before -you assign me to my next duty?" - -"Certainly," said Phil. "And I'll take one with you. Come, boys, we'll -all be the better for the shock of a shockingly cold bath. Jump in, all -of you!" - -And they all did, for, to the surprise of every one, Ed leaped overboard -with them and swam twice around the boat before coming out of the very -cold water and into the still colder air. - -"Ed's getting well, Phil," said Irv. - -"Yes," said Phil, as he watched his brother rubbing himself down. "Two -weeks ago he would have come out of that water shivering as if with an -ague, and the color of a table-cloth. Now look at him! He's as red as a -boiled lobster, and he's actually laughing as he rubs the skin off with -that piece of sanded tarpaulin that he has mistaken for a Turkish towel. -Here, Ed, take a towel, or would you rather have some sandpaper or a -rasp?" - -"Thanks, old fellow," said Ed, who had of course heard all the remarks -concerning himself, "but this cloth feels good. I believe I am getting -better. I've quit 'barking' anyhow." - -"That's so," said Irv. "You haven't dared utter a cough since that -morning when _The Last of the Flatboats_ tried to make the last of -herself by quitting the river and coming off on this little picnic in -the Mississippi swamps." - -"If you young gentlemen have quite finished your discussion of past -happenings, and are ready to give attention to present exigencies," said -Phil, in that mocking tone which he sometimes playfully adopted, "you'll -please put your clothes on and report for duty in the hold, where -there's some important work to be done. It's your turn at the pump, -Constant. Get thee to thy task, and don't forget to remind me when your -time's up. - -"Now," said Phil, when they threw open the forward door of the flatboat -to open a passage for taking out freight, "I suppose we ought to divide -up the loss by throwing out about an equal quantity of each owner's -freight. But we can't do it, so there's an end of that." - -"Oh, the law will take care of all that," said Ed. - -"The law? How?" - -"Why the law requires everybody interested in the boat or the cargo to -share the loss, when freight must be thrown overboard to save the ship." - -"But how can that be done?" asked Irv. - -"Why, we must keep account of what we throw overboard. When we sell the -rest at New Orleans, we shall know just what was the value of the part -jettisoned,--that's the law term for throwing things overboard, I -believe,--and that loss must be divided among the owners of the boat -herself, the owners of cargo on board, and the insurance companies, if -any of the freight is insured. Each one's share of the loss will be in -precise proportion to his interest." - -"Illustrate," said Will Moreraud. - -"Well," rejoined Ed, "suppose we find the boat and her total cargo to be -worth one thousand dollars--" - -"Oh, rubbish! It's worth many times that," broke in Will. "Why, I should -value--" - -"Never mind that," said the other. "I'm 'supposing a case,' as Irv says, -and simply for convenience I take one thousand dollars as the total -value of the boat and everything in her. Now, suppose we have to throw -overboard one hundred dollars' worth. That is one-tenth of the whole. -That tenth must be divided, not equally, but proportionally, among all -the persons interested. Suppose the boat is worth two hundred dollars. -That is one-fifth the total value, and so the boat owners must bear -one-fifth of the one hundred dollars' loss. That is to say, we fellows -should have to 'pony up' twenty dollars among us, or four dollars -apiece. A man owning three hundred dollars' worth of freight would be -charged thirty dollars, and so on through the list." - -"Oh, I see," said Phil, who in the meantime had been studying ways and -means of accomplishing the practical purpose in hand. "And a very good -arrangement it is. Now stop talking, and let's heave out some of these -bales of hay." - -"Why not take some of the other things instead?" asked Irv. "They are -heavier, and to throw them over would lighten the boat more." - -All this while the boys were at work getting the hay out. - -"We aren't trying to lighten the boat," replied Phil. "We're only trying -to make room, and the hay takes up more room, dollar's worth for -dollar's worth, than anything else. So it's cheapest to 'jettison' -hay--thanks for that new word, Ed. Now, heave ho!" And the first bale of -hay went over the bow into the water. - -"Now, another!" - -In a brief time a considerable space was cleared. - -"That will do, I think," said Phil. "We shan't have to 'jettison' -anything more, if you fellows will stop your chatter and get to work. If -you don't, I'll jettison some of the crew." - -This brought a needed smile, for the boys were by this time almost -exhausted with work and loss of sleep. Phil thought of this. He had not -himself slept a moment since his discovery that the boat was sinking at -midnight of the night before, while all the rest had caught refreshing -little naps between their tours of duty at the pumps. But he left -himself out of the account in laying his plans. - -"See here, boys," he said, "there isn't room for more than one of you to -work here with me at these leaks. One must stay at the pump on deck, of -course, but the other two might as well go to sleep till we need you to -move freight again." - -"Oh, I like that," said Irv. "But why shouldn't _you_ do a little of the -sleeping, instead of shoving it all off on us, as you've done all day?" - -"Oh, never mind about me. I shan't sleep till we get things in shape, so -you and Ed go to sleep. You go and relieve Constant at the pump, Will, -and let him come and help me." - -"You said there was to be no quarrelling," said Irv, "and I have thus -far obeyed. I have even stood Ed's exposition of the law about throwing -freight overboard, without a murmur, but now I'm going to quarrel with -the skipper of this craft, if he doesn't consent to take his full and -fair share of the sleeping that simply has to be done. He always takes -his full share of the work, even to the cooking. It was only yesterday -that he made the worst pot of coffee we've had yet. I insist that he -shall not be permitted basely to shirk his fair share of the sleeping." - -The other boys echoed the kindly sentiment that Irv had put in that -playful way, and Phil was touched by their consideration. Instinctively -holding out his hands to them, he said:-- - -"Thank you, fellows. It's awfully good of you. But I simply could not -sleep now. I cannot close my eyes till I see this work of stopping leaks -so well advanced as to be sure that the boat is safe. I promise you -that just as soon as that is accomplished I'll let you fellows go on -with the work, and I'll take even a double turn at sleeping." - -"You'll promise that?" - -"Yes. And by way of compromise, and to keep you from quarrelling, Irv, -I'll let you postpone your first sleeping turn till you can get me -something hot to swallow--a canned soup with an egg in it, or something -else sustaining. I'm hungry." - -During the day's excitements there had been no regular meals served on -the boat, but as there happened to be a cold boiled ham in the larder -and plenty of bread, the boys had indulged frequently in sandwiches. But -it now occurred to them that Phil, in his anxiety, had quite forgotten -to do this, and had, in fact, eaten nothing whatever for more than -eighteen hours. So Irv hastened to prepare him some food of the kind he -had asked for. - -In the meantime, Phil and Constant, armed with hammers and nails, and -bits of board which they from time to time sawed or cut to fit spaces, -were busy at the leaks. When they had done all they could in that way -within the space laid bare by the removal of the hay, they rolled other -freight into that space, thus exposing another part of the bottom. - -[Illustration: A TOUR OF INSPECTION. - -"'Hello! Irv; we've found the crevasse at last.'"] - -In this way the work went forward during the night, all of the boys -except Phil securing some sleep in brief snatches, and all of them -ministering, so far as they were permitted, to their captain's need for -tempting food. - -About daylight, in making a shift of freight, Phil suddenly came upon -something that made him call out:-- - -"Hello! what's this? I say, Irv,"--for Irving was then working with -him,--"we've found the crevasse at last." - -"I should say so," said Irv, with a slower drawl than usual, as he held -up his lantern and looked. "The Mississippi River and all its large and -interesting family of tributaries seem trying to come aboard here." - -Just where the gunwale joined the bottom planks of the boat a great seam -had been wrenched open, and the water was actually spouting and spurting -through it. - -"There's one consolation," said Phil. "There isn't any other leak like -this anywhere." - -"How do you know?" - -"Why, if there were two such, we should have gone to Davy Jones's -locker long ago." - -Then the two boys set to work trying to fasten a board over the open -seam, but their efforts failed completely. Their united strength was not -sufficient even to press the board against the timbers, much less to -hold it in place long enough to nail it there. For the whole weight of -the boat and cargo was pressing down into the river and forcing this jet -of water upward through the opening. - -"Call the entire crew, Irv," said Phil. "We shall need them all for this -job--including the fellow at the pump." - -Then, while Irv went to summon the boys, Phil secured a piece of plank -three inches thick, very green and very heavy, which had been purchased -at Vevay to serve as a staging over which to roll freight in taking it -on or discharging it. - -"Get me the brace and bit, Will--the quarter-inch auger bit. And, Ed, -see if you can find the spikes that were left over in building the boat. -Bring the heaviest hammers we've got too, some of you." - -All this while the boy was measuring, calculating, sawing, and hewing -with an axe to fit his great plank to its place. He bored holes in it -at intervals, to facilitate the driving of spikes through its tough and -tenacious thickness. - -When all was ready, the boys made a strenuous effort to force the timber -down against the crack, but to no purpose. Their strength and weight -were not sufficient. - -Presently a happy thought struck Will Moreraud. - -"Wait a minute," he said, and with that he rolled several barrels of -corn meal into the open space. - -"Now," he cried, "three of you stand on one end of the plank while I -drive it into place. Let the other end ride free of the bottom, but one -of you hold it so that it can't slew away from the gunwale." - -The boys did this, and Will succeeded in driving one end of the timber -into place while three of his comrades stood upon that end of it. The -other end was held up by the waterspout a foot from the bottom of the -boat, but Ed was holding it against the gunwale, in the place where it -was desired to force it down. - -"Now, hold it so," said Will, "and I'll force it down." - -With that he turned a two-hundred-pound barrel of meal on end upon the -plank just beyond the point where the three boys were standing. This -pressed the timber down somewhat, and Will helped it with another -barrel. Then he began bringing heavy sacks of corn and oats, so heavy -that he could scarcely handle them. These he piled high on top of the -meal barrels, and the combined weight forced the plank down to within an -inch of the bottom. - -With one end securely weighted down, he began piling freight in the same -way upon the other. Now and then the resisting water would push the -heavy and heavily weighted plank away from the gunwale and force a -passage for itself between. But when the plank was securely weighted -down upon the bottom, two or three of the boys, acting together, were -able, with axes and heavy hammers, to drive it finally and firmly -against the side of the boat. - -Then with the long wrought-iron spikes it was firmly secured in its -place, but Phil decided not to remove any of the freight that was piled -on top of it, lest the tremendous water pressure from below should force -even the great iron spikes out of their sockets and set the leak going -again. Indeed, to prevent this he directed his comrades to pile all the -freight they could so that its weight should fall upon the protecting -timber. - -By the time that all this was done it was eleven o'clock in the morning, -and Irv Strong turned to Phil with an earnest look in his eyes, and -said:-- - -"We claim the fulfilment of your promise, Phil. You must go to sleep -now." - -The other boys stood by Irv's side with faces as earnest as his own. It -was obvious that he spoke for all of them and as the result of an -understanding. Phil hesitated for a moment. Then he said:-- - -"Thank you, fellows, all of you. I'll do as you say." - -As he almost staggered toward the cabin in his exhaustion, he paused, -still thoughtful of the general welfare, and said:-- - -"Irv, you take charge while I sleep, and call me if anything happens." - -Two minutes later the lad was deeply slumbering. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -RESCUE - - -When Phil at last waked, Ed was putting supper on the table, and it was -rather a late supper too, for the boys had purposely postponed it in -order to let Phil get all the sleep possible. He had in fact slept for -fully eight hours. - -"Well, how do you feel now, skipper?" asked Will. - -"I don't know exactly," answered the boy, yawning and stretching. -"Stupid for the most part, hungry for the rest of it. I say, what time -of day or night is it?" - -"It's about eight thirty P.M.," answered Constant, pulling out his -antique Swiss watch and consulting it. - -"Yes, but _what_ P.M.? What day is it? When did I go to sleep?" - -The boys soon straightened things out in their captain's temporarily -bewildered mind. The effort to do so was aided by the sight and smell of -a great platter which Ed at that moment set upon the table. It held a -"boiled dinner." There was a juicy brisket of corned beef on top. Under -it were peeled and boiled potatoes, boiled turnips still retaining their -shape, and beneath all was the last cabbage on board, the remains of a -purchase made at Memphis a week or ten days before, though to the boys -it seemed many moons past. - -As Phil eyed the savory dish he became for the first time fully awake. - -"I say, fellows," he broke out, "what does this mean? Why didn't you -have this sort of thing for dinner instead of keeping it for supper?" - -"Because you weren't awake at dinner time to help us eat it, Phil. It's -the last really good meal we're likely to see for days to come, and -we--" - -"You see," broke in Irv Strong, "we're bound to build you up again, -Phil, if we have to do it with a hammer and nails. But how recklessly -you expose your country breeding!" as he helped all round; "if you were -captain of an ocean liner now instead of a flatboat, you would know that -dinner before six o'clock is impossible to civilized man, and that the -actual dinner hour in all those regions where dress coats and culture -prevail, ranges from seven to eight o'clock." - -"You are unjust in your mockery, Irv," said Ed. "And by that you in your -turn simply expose your provincialism--and ours, too." - -"How?" asked Irv, chuckling to think that he had succeeded in diverting -the conversation from channels in which it might easily have become -emotional. For all the boys had been for hours under a strain of severe -anxiety on Phil's account. They were full of admiration for the -self-sacrificing way in which he had worked and thought and planned for -the common welfare. They had been touched to the heart by his exhaustion -after his strenuous work was done, and they had been anxious all that -afternoon, lest the breakdown of his strength should prove to be -lasting. His appetite at supper relieved that fear, but the very relief -made them all the more disposed to be a trifle tender toward him. Irv -had prevented a scene, so he didn't mind Ed's criticism. - -"How's that, Ed?" - -"Why, when you sneer at people because their customs are different from -those that we are used to, don't you see you are just as narrow-minded -as they are when they sneer at us because our customs are not theirs." - -"Oh, I didn't mean to sneer," said Irv. "But, of course, it does seem -odd for people to eat dinner at six or seven o'clock in the evening, -instead of eating it about noon." - -"Not a bit of it. The dinner hour is a matter of convenience. In a -little town like ours it is convenient for everybody to go home to -dinner at noon, and so everybody does it. In a big city where people -live five or ten miles away from their places of business, it is -impossible. In such cities business doesn't begin till nine or ten -o'clock in the morning, when the banks and exchanges open, and it is in -every way handier to have dinner after the day's work is done. Our -habits are just as odd to city people as theirs are to us." - -"Oh, yes, I see that," said Irv, "and 'Farmer Hayseed' is just as -snobbish when he laughs at 'them city folks' as the city people are when -they ridicule him. It reminds me of the nursery story about the town -mouse and the country mouse." - -"How about the leaks, fellows?" asked Phil, who was now quite himself -again. - -"There aren't any to speak of," reported Irv. "We've gone over the whole -bottom of the boat now, stopping every little crack, and now she's as -dry as a bone. Five minutes' pumping in an hour is quite enough." - -"All right!" said the captain. "Then we'll take off her bandages in the -morning. With that tarpaulin wrapped around her she looks like Sally -Hopper when she comes to school with a toothache and a swelled jaw bound -up in flannel." - -But the next morning brought with it some other and more pressing work -than that of removing the tarpaulin. - -At daylight the boat was floating easily and rapidly down the middle of -the overflowed river, when Phil, who was on deck, saw half a mile ahead, -a group of people huddled together upon a small patch of ground that -protruded above the water. It was, in fact, the top of one of those very -high Indian mounds that abound in the Sunflower swamp country. - -Calling the other boys on deck, Phil took a skiff and rowed ahead as -rapidly as he could. When he reached the little patch of dry land, -which was circular in shape, and did not exceed twenty feet in diameter, -he found a family of people in a woful state of destitution and -wretchedness. - -They had no fire and no fuel. They had been for several days without -food and were now so weak that they could scarcely speak above a -whisper. The party consisted of a father, a mother, three big-eyed -children, and a negro man. - -The negro man, great stalwart fellow that he was, was now the most -exhausted one of the party, while the youngest of the children, whom the -others called "Baby," as if she were yet too small to carry a name of -her own, was still chipper and full of interest in the strange things -about her when she was taken on board the flatboat. - -The work of rescue occupied a considerable time and cost the boys some -very hard work. The people on the mound were too feeble from hunger and -long exposure even to help in their own deliverance. The negro man had -to be lifted bodily into a skiff and laid out at full length upon its -bottom. The rest, except "Baby" were not in much better condition. The -man could walk indeed, in an unsteady way, but he was so dazed in his -mind that it required force to keep him from dropping out of the skiff -on the way to the flatboat. - -The woman and the two older children were chewing strips of leather, cut -from the man's boot tops. The baby continually sucked its thumb. - -People in such condition are very difficult to manage. They are -physically incapable of doing anything to help themselves, and mentally -just alert enough to interfere querulously with the efforts of others to -help them. To get such a company into frail, unsteady skiffs, to row -them away to the flatboat, and then to "hoist them aboard," as Phil -called the operation, required quite two hours of very hard work, but it -was accomplished at last. - -But to get them aboard was only the beginning of the work of rescue. -They were starving and they must be fed. Phil was for setting out the -remainder of the last evening's boiled dinner at once and bidding them -help themselves. But Irv's superior knowledge of such matters prevented -that disastrous blunder. - -"Why, don't you know, Phil, that to give them even an ounce of solid -food now would be to kill them! Open a can of consomme, and heat it -quick." - -When the soup was ready he peppered it lavishly, explaining to Ed:-- - -"The problem is not merely to get food into their stomachs, but to get -their stomachs to turn the food to some account after we've got it -there. In their weakened condition they can't digest anything solid, and -it is a serious question whether their stomachs can even manage this -thin, watery soup. So I'm putting pepper into it as a 'bracer.' It will -stimulate their stomachs to do their work." - -As he explained, he fed the soup to the sufferers--a single spoonful to -each. They were clamorous for more, but Irv was resolute. - -"Wait till I see how that goes," he said. "You can't have any more till -I say the word." - -The children cried. The woman hysterically laughed and cried -alternately. The man sat still with bowed head and with the tears -trickling down his face--whether tears of joy, of distress, or of mere -weakness, it was hard to say. - -The negro man was too far gone even to swallow. Irv had to turn him on -his back and literally pour a spoonful of soup down his throat. Then he -said to Ed and Constant:-- - -"I'm afraid this man is dying. His hands are very cold and so are his -feet--cold to the knees. Take some towels--no, here," seizing a -blanket from one of the bunks,--"take this. Dip it into boiling -water,--fortunately we've got it ready,--wring the blanket out and wrap -his feet and legs in it, from the knees down. Then take towels and -do the same for his hands. Pound him, too, punch him, roll him -about--bulldoze and kuklux him in every way you can till you get his -blood to going again! It's the only way to save the poor fellow's life." - -By this time Irv deemed it safe to give each of his other patients -another spoonful or two of the soup, and he even ventured to pour three -more spoonfuls down the throat of the negro. - -"He's reviving a little," Irv explained. "And as a strong man, with a -robust stomach accustomed to coarse food, he can stand more soup than -the others." - -Thus little by little Irv and Ed, with such assistance from the other -boys as they needed, slowly brought the starving party back to life. As -the negro man had been the first to succumb to starvation,--perhaps -because his robust physical nature demanded more food than more -delicately constructed bodies do,--so he was the first to recover. By -nightfall he was walking about on the deck, while all the rest were -still lying in the bunks below as invalids. - -After awhile Irv stopped him. - -"Did anybody ever tell you that you're an exceptional personage?" - -"Lor' no, boss. Well, yes, some o' de black folks in de chu'ch done took -'ceptions to me sometimes 'cause I wouldn't give enough to de cause, but -fore de court, boss--" - -"That isn't what I mean," broke in Irv, with smiles rippling all over -him, and running down even to his legs. "I mean, did anybody ever notice -that you were,--oh, well, never mind that; but tell me, would you like a -good big slice of cold corned beef before you go to sleep?" - -The negro answered in words. But his more emphatic answer was not one of -words. He threw his arms around Irv in a giant's embrace that almost -crushed the youth's bones. - -"There, that will do," said Irv. "You have an engagement as a cotton -compress or something of that sort, when you're at home, I suppose. But -now, if I let you have a good big slice of cold corned beef to-night, -will you eat it just as I tell you, take a bite when I tell you and at -no other time, and stop whenever I tell you? Will you promise?" - -"Shuah, sar, shuah," eagerly responded the man. - -"But 'sure' isn't enough," replied Irv, half in amusement and half in -seriousness, for he felt that his experiment was very risky, and he -wanted to be able to regulate it, and stop it at any point. "Sure isn't -enough. Will you promise me on the isosceles triangle?" - -"Yes, boss." - -"On the grand panjandrum?" - -"For shuah." - -"And even on the parallelopipedon itself?" - -"Shuah, boss. I dunno what dem names mean, but for shuah I'll do jes' -what you tells me to if you'll lem' me have de meat." - -Irv was satisfied. He went below and prepared a sandwich. Returning, he -allowed the man to eat it in bites, with long intervals between. It not -only did no harm, it restored the man to such vitality that Phil decided -to get some information out of him as to the flatboat's whereabouts. - -He learned first that the rescued family sleeping below was that of a -well-to-do planter; that the flood, coming as it did as the result of a -crevasse, and therefore suddenly, had taken them completely by surprise, -in the middle of the night, four or five days ago; that they had with -difficulty escaped to the Indian mound in a field near by, and that they -had not been able to take with them any food, or anything else except -the clothes they had on. This accounted for the fact that the woman wore -only a wrapper over her nightdress, that the man was nearly naked, and -that the children were clad only in their thin little nightgowns. - -Then Phil learned that _The Last of the Flatboats_ was now in the -Tallahatchie River, as he had guessed, not far from the point where it -enters the Yazoo, at Greenwood. A little study of the map showed Phil -that if this were true, he might expect to reach Vicksburg within four -or five days, which in fact is what happened, not on the fourth or -fifth, but on the sixth day thereafter, early in the morning. - -In the mean time the crew and their guests had eaten up pretty nearly -all the boat's store of provisions, and _The Last of the Flatboats_ had -been stripped of her unsightly swaddling-cloth, the tarpaulin. Phil tied -her up at the landing near the historic town as proudly as if she had -not run away, and misbehaved as she had done. - -"She has only been showing us some of the wonders of the Wonderful -River, that we should never otherwise have known anything about," he -said. - -But this is going far ahead of my story. The boys and their boat were -still in the Yazoo, nearly a week's journey above Vicksburg. So let us -return to them. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -A YAZOO AFTERNOON - - -There were no difficulties of any consequence to contend with after _The -Last of the Flatboats_ entered the Yazoo. The boys' guests were well -now, and joined them in their long talks on deck. These talks covered -every conceivable subject, and the planter, who proved himself to be an -unusually well-informed man, added not a little to their interest. - -"I say, Ed," said Phil one day, holding up one of his newspapers, "you -were all wrong about the crops." - -"How do you mean, Phil?" - -"Why, you put corn first, as the most valuable crop produced in this -country." - -"Well, isn't it?" - -"Not if this newspaper writer knows his business and tells the truth." - -"Why, what does he say?" asked Ed, with an interest he had not at first -shown in Phil's criticism. - -"He says that in Missouri, which I take to be one of the great -corn-growing states--" - -"It is all that," answered Ed. "What about it?" - -"Why, he says that in Missouri the eggs and spring chickens produced by -what he calls 'the great American hen' sell every year for more money -than all the corn, wheat, oats, and hay raised in the state, twice over. -And he gives the figures for it too." - -"That is surprising," said Ed, "but it is very probably true. The -trouble is that we have no trustworthy statistics on the subject. No -ordinary farmer keeps any account of his crops of that kind. Not one -farmer in a hundred could tell you at the end of a year how many dozens -of eggs or how many pairs of chickens he had sold. Still less could he -tell you how many of either his family had eaten. So it must all be -guess-work about such crops, while practically every bushel of wheat, -corn, and oats and every bale of cotton or hay, and every pound of -tobacco is carefully set down in official records." - -"That reminds me," said Irv, "of the remark a farmer once made to me, -when deploring the poverty of himself and his class." - -"What was it?" asked Will. - -"Why, he said that lots of men in the cities got two or three thousand -dollars a year for their work, while he never yet had got over five -hundred dollars for his. I questioned him a little, and found that he -didn't take any account of his house rent and fuel free, or of all the -farm produce that his family ate. He thought the few hundred dollars he -had to the good at the end of the year, after paying for his groceries -and dry goods, was all he got for his labor." - -"Speaking of these unconsidered crops," said the planter, "I fancy it -would astonish us if we could have the figures on them. It is said, for -example, that more than a million turkeys are eaten in New York City -alone every winter. Now, if we count all the other great cities and all -the little ones, and all the towns and all the country homes where -turkeys are eaten, it will be very hard to guess how many millions of -these fowls are raised and sold and eaten in this country every year." - -"It's hard on the turkeys," moralized Will Moreraud. - -"Well, I don't know," answered Phil. "I remember reading a story by -James K. Paulding called 'A Reverie in the Woods.' He tells how he fell -half asleep and heard all the animals and birds and fishes holding a -sort of congress to denounce man for his cruelties to them. After a -while the earthworm got so excited over the matter that he wriggled -himself into the brook. Thereupon the trout, who had also been one of -the complainants against man's cruelty, snapped up the worm, and -swallowed him. Seeing this, the cat grabbed the trout, and the fox -caught the cat, and the eagle caught the fox, and the hawk made luncheon -on the dove, and so on through the whole list. I imagine that that is -nature's way. Everything that lives, lives at the expense of something -else that lives. It is all a struggle for existence, with the survival -of the fittest as the outcome. And as a man, or even a commonplace boy -like me, is fitter to live than a turkey, I think the slaughter of those -innocents is all right enough." - -"You are entirely right, Phil," said Ed. "A pound of boy is certainly -worth fifty or fifty thousand pounds of turkey, because one boy can do -more for the world than all the turkeys that were ever hatched. And -when a boy eats turkey he converts it into boy, and it helps him to grow -into a man." - -"Precisely!" said Irv Strong. "It cost the worthless lives of many pigs, -turkeys, chickens, sheep, and cattle to make George Washington. But -surely one George Washington was worth more than all the pigs, turkeys, -chickens, sheep, and beef-cattle that were killed in all this country -between the day he was born and the day of his death. But pardon us," -added Irv, turning to the planter, "you were going to say something more -when we interrupted." - -"It was nothing of any consequence," answered their guest, "and your -little discussion has interested me more than anything I had thought of -saying. But I was going to say that according to a New York newspaper's -careful calculation, that city pays more than a million dollars every -spring for white flowers for Easter decorations alone, while its -expenditures for flowers during the rest of the year is estimated at not -less than five millions more. Then there is the peanut crop. Who ever -thinks of it? Who thinks of peanuts in any serious way? Yet it was the -peanut crop that saved the people of tidewater Virginia and North -Carolina from actual starvation during the first few years after the -Civil War. And every year that crop amounts to more than two and a half -million bushels!" - -"What luck for the circuses!" exclaimed Will Moreraud. - -"But the circuses do not furnish the chief market for peanuts," said -Irv, who was somewhat "up" on these things. - -"Where are they consumed, then?" asked Will. - -"Well, the greater part of them are used in the manufacture of 'pure' -Italian or French olive oil--most of it 'warranted sublime,'" said Irv. - -"Are we a nation of swindlers, then?" asked Phil, whose courage was -always offended by any suggestion of untruth or hypocrisy or dishonesty. - -"I don't know," said Irv, "how to draw the line there. The men who make -olive oil out of peanuts stoutly contend that their olive oil is really -better, more wholesome, and more palatable than that made from olives." - -"Why don't they call it peanut oil, then, and advertise it as better -than olive oil, and take the consequences?" asked upright, downright, -bravely honest Phil. - -"Men in trade are not always so scrupulous about honesty and -truthfulness as you are, Phil," said Ed. "But sometimes--they excuse -their falsehoods on the ground--" - -"There isn't any excuse possible for not telling the truth," said Phil. -"Men who tell lies in their business are swindlers, and that's the end -of the matter. If they are making a better article than the imported -one, they ought to say so, and people would find it out quickly enough. -When they offer their goods as something quite different from what they -really are, they are telling lies, I say, and I, for one, have no -respect for a liar." - -"You are right, Phil, of course," said Ed. "But there is a world of that -sort of thing done. The potteries in New Jersey, I am told, mark their -finer wares with European brands, and they contend that if they did not -do it they could not sell their goods." - -"A more interesting illustration," said the planter, "is found in the -matter of cheeses. Cheese, as at first produced, is the same the world -over. But cheese that is set to 'ripen' in the caves of Roquefort is -one thing, cheese ripened at Camembert is another, and so on through -the list. Now of late years it has been discovered that the differences -between these several kinds of cheese are due solely to microbes. There -is one sort of microbe at Roquefort, another at Brie, and so on. Now -American cheesemakers found this out some years ago, and decided that -they could make any sort of cheese they pleased in this country. So they -took the several kinds of imported cheeses, selected the best samples of -each, and set to work to cultivate their microbes. By introducing the -microbes of Roquefort into their cheeses they made Roquefort cheeses of -them. By inoculating them with the Brie microbe, or the Camembert -microbe, or the Stilton or Gruyère microbe, they converted their simple -American cheeses into all these choice varieties. And it is asserted by -experts that these American imitations, or some of them at any rate, are -actually superior to the imported cheeses, besides being much more -uniform in quality." - -"That's all right," said Phil. "But why not tell the truth about it? -Surely, if their cheeses are better than those made abroad, they can -trust the good judges of cheese to find out the fact and declare it. -And when that fact became known they could sell their cheese for a -higher price than that of the imported article, on the simple ground of -its superiority. How I do hate shams and frauds and lies--and especially -liars!" - -"What bothers me," drawled Irv, "is that I've been eating microbes all -my life without knowing it. I here and now register a solemn vow that -I'll never again eat a piece of cheese--unless I want to." - -"Oh, the microbes are all right," said Ed, "provided they are of the -right sort. There are some microbes that kill us, and others that we -couldn't live without. There are still others, like those in cheese, -that do us neither good nor harm, except that they make our food more -palatable. For that matter the yeast germ is a microbe, and it is that -alone that makes our bread light. Surely we can't quit eating light -bread and take to heavy baked dough instead, because light bread is made -light by the presence of some hundreds of millions of living germs in -every loaf of it while it is in the dough state." - -"Coming back to the question of crops," said the planter, "does it occur -to you that there would be no possibility of prosperity in this country -but for the absolute freedom of traffic between the states?" - -"Would you kindly explain?" said Ed. - -"Certainly. The farmers of New York and New Jersey used to grow all the -wheat, and all the beef, mutton, and pork that were eaten in the great -city, and they made a good living by doing it. But the time came when -the western states could raise wheat and beef and all the rest of it -much more cheaply than any eastern farmer could. This threatened to -drive the New York and New Jersey farmers out of business, and -naturally, if they could, they would have made their legislators pass -laws to exclude this western wheat and meat from competition with their -crops. This would have hurt the western farmer; for what would in that -case have happened in New York would have happened in all the other -eastern states. But it would have hurt the people of the great -cities--and indeed all the people in the country still more. It would -have made the city people's food cost them two or three times as much as -before. That would have compelled them to charge more for their -manufactured products and for their work in carrying on the foreign -commerce of the country. That would have crippled commerce,--which lives -upon exceedingly small margins of profit,--and the prosperity of the -country would have been ruined. It was to prevent that sort of thing -that our national government was formed, with a constitution which -forbade any state to interfere with commerce between the states." - -"What became of the New York farmer, then?" asked Irv. - -"When he found that he couldn't raise wheat, corn, etc., as cheaply as -the western farmer could sell them in New York, he quit raising those -things and produced things that paid him instead." - -"What sort of things?" - -"Fruits, poultry, milk, butter, eggs, cheese, vegetables, buckwheat, -honey, etc., and in producing these the New York farmer grew richer than -ever. Since New York quit raising on any considerable scale the things -that we commonly think of as farm products, that state has become the -richest in the country in the value of its agricultural production, -simply because the New York farmer raises only those things for which -there is a market almost at his front gate." - -"That is very interesting," said Will. "But how is it that the far West -can furnish New York and Philadelphia and the rest of the eastern cities -with bread and meat cheaper than the farmers near those cities can sell -the same things?" - -"The value of land," said the planter, "has much to do with it. The -value of a farmer's land is his investment, and first of all, he must -earn interest on that." - -"Pardon me," said Ed, "but that, it seems to me, is a very small factor. -The value of good farming lands in the East is not very different from -that of similar lands in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the other great -farming states of the West." - -"What is the key to the mystery, then?" asked Irv. - -"Transportation," answered Ed. "The western farm lands, with an equal -amount of labor, produce more wheat, corn, pork, and the like, than -eastern lands do, and it costs next to nothing to carry their wheat, -corn, pork, etc., to the East." - -"What does it cost?" asked Will. - -"Well, I see that the rate is now less than three mills per ton per -mile. At three mills per ton per mile, ten barrels, or a ton, of flour -could be carried from Chicago to New York for three dollars, or thirty -cents a barrel. Even at half a cent per ton per mile it would cost only -fifty cents." - -"While the railroads are engaged in transporting that flour to the -hungry New Yorkers at that exceedingly reasonable rate," said Irv, -slowly rising to his feet, "it is my duty to go below and convert a few -insignificant pounds of the flour on board into a pan of biscuit, while -you, Ed, fry some salt pork, the only meat we have left, and heat up a -can or two of tomatoes." - -This ended the long chat, for besides the preparation of supper there -was much else to do. There were the lights to be hung in their places, -and more occupying still, there was the difficult task of tying up the -boat for the night. For experience had taught Phil caution, and he had -decided that until _The Last of the Flatboats_ should again float upon -the broad reaches of the Mississippi, she should be securely moored to -two trees during the hours of darkness. With the Yazoo ten feet above -its banks, it would have been very easy indeed for the flatboat to drift -out of the river into the fields and woodlands. And Phil had had all the -experience he wanted of such wanderings. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - -AN OFFER OF HELP - - -On the day before they reached Vicksburg, the planter whose family had -been rescued was able to have a long conversation with Phil. His first -disposition had been to recognize Irv as the master spirit of the crew, -because of his controlling activity in the matter of restoring the -starved party to life and health, but he was quickly instructed -otherwise by Irving himself. - -He explained to Phil just who and what he was. - -"I have lost a great deal, of course, by this overflow, but fortunately -the bulk of my cotton crop was already shipped before the flood came, so -that that is safe. Moreover, I am not altogether dependent upon my -planting operations. In short,--you will understand that I say this by -way of explanation and not otherwise,--I am a fairly well-to-do man,--I -may even say a very well-to-do man,--independently of my planting -operations." - -"I am glad to hear that," said Phil, "because it has troubled me a good -deal, especially as I have looked at Baby and the other children. I have -wondered what was to become of them, and in what way we boys might best -help you and them over the bridge." - -"I am glad you said that," the planter responded. "That gives me the -opportunity I am seeking. In the same spirit in which you have been -thinking of helping me, I want you to let me help you and your comrades. -I don't know anything of the circumstances of the young men who -compose this crew, yourself or the others; but I assume that if your -circumstances were particularly comfortable, you would hardly be engaged -in the not very profitable business of running a flatboat. At your ages, -you would more probably be in school." - -"So we are," said Phil; "we are none of us particularly well-to-do, but -we are able to stay at home and go to school. This trip is a kind of a -lark--or partly that and partly a thing done to restore my brother's -health; but we are obliged to make it pay its own way, anyhow, because -we could not afford the trip otherwise. Of course, we are out of school -for the time being, that is to say, for a few months, but we all expect -to make that up. As to college, I don't know. Probably not many of us -will ever be able to afford that." - -"That, then, is exactly what I want to come to," said the gentleman. -"You are obviously boys of good parentage. I cannot offer to pay you for -the great service you have done to me and mine--no, no; don't interrupt -me now; let me say this out. I should not think of insulting you in any -such way as that; but why should you not let me contribute out of the -abundance that I still possess to the expense of a college course for -all five of you very bright young fellows? Believe me, nothing in the -world could give me a greater gratification than to do this. You have -rescued me and mine from a fate so terrible that I shudder to think of -it even now. Let me in my turn help a little to advance your interests -in life." - -Phil thought for a considerable time before he replied. Not that he had -any notion of accepting the offer thus made, but that he did not want, -in rejecting it, to hurt the feelings of a man so generous, and one who -had made the offer with so much delicacy. At last the boy said:-- - -"Believe me, sir, I appreciate, and all my comrades will when I tell -them of it, the good feeling and the generosity that have dictated your -offer, but we could not on any account accept it. I am sure that in this -I speak for all. I believe that any boy in this country who really wants -an education can get it, if he chooses to work hard enough and live -plainly enough. My brother has not been able to go to school much at any -time in his life, because of his ill-health, and yet he is much the best -educated one among us, and if he lives, he will be reckoned a -well-educated man, even among men who are college graduates. As for the -rest of us, we can get a college education, as I said, if we choose to -work hard enough and live hard enough. If we don't choose to do that, -why, we must go without. But we thank you all the same, and I want you -to know that we recognize the generosity of your offer, though we cannot -accept it. Now, please don't let's talk of that any more, because it -isn't pleasant to refuse a request such as yours; for I take it from -your manner and tone that you mean it as a request rather than as an -offer of aid." - -With that, Phil walked away, and there was naturally no more to be said. -But an hour later the gentleman, who was still feeble from his late -exposure and suffering, asked Phil again to sit down by him. Then he -said:-- - -"I am not going to reopen the question that we discussed a while ago, -because I understand and honor your decision with regard to it. But -there is another little service that I am in position to render you, and -that I might render to anybody with whom I came into pleasant contact. -My name counts for a good deal with my commission merchant in New -Orleans; for how much it counts, it would not be quite modest for me to -say; but, at any rate, I want to give you a letter to him, if you will -allow me. When you get there, you will wish to sell your cargo, and of -course you will be surrounded by buyers, but most of them will be -disposed to take advantage of your youth and of your inexperience in the -market. I cannot imagine how, in their hands, you can escape the loss -of a considerable part of the value of what you have to sell. Now the -commission merchant to whom I wish to give you a letter is a man of the -very highest integrity, besides being my personal friend and my agent in -business. I suggest that you place the whole matter of the sale of your -boat and cargo in his hands, and I am confident that the difference in -the results will be many hundreds of dollars in your favor. This is, as -I said, a service that I might render even to a casual acquaintance. -Surely, you will not deny me the privilege of rendering it to a group of -young men who have done for me what you boys have." - -Phil rose and stood before him embarrassed. - -"I suppose," he said, "I ought to consult my comrades before accepting -even this favor at your hands, but I shan't do anything of the kind. I -understand what you feel and what you mean, and if you won't ask -anything of your commission merchant except that he shall sell us out on -his usual terms, I shall frankly be very much obliged to you for the -letter you offer; for it has really been a source of a good deal of -anxiety to me, this thing of how to sell out when we get there." - -It was so arranged; and as the gentleman and his family were to quit the -boat at Vicksburg, the letter was written that day. - -At Vicksburg the boys offered the hospitality of their boat to their -guests until such time as proper clothing could be provided for them, -their condition of destitution being one in which it was impossible for -them to think of going ashore. This offer was frankly accepted, and as -the boys were themselves in sad need of supplies, the delay of two or -three days was not only of no consequence to them, but it introduced a -new element of life on board _The Last of the Flatboats_. The lady sent -into the town for dressmakers and seamstresses in such numbers as might -enable her quickly to equip herself and the children for a reappearance -among civilized human beings. The cabin became a workroom, and two -sewing-machines were installed even upon the deck. It looked a little -odd, but, as Irv Strong put it, "it's only another incident in a voyage -that began with Jim Hughes and promises to end we do not know with what. -Anyhow, we've had good luck on the whole, and if we don't come out -ahead now, it'll probably be our own fault." - -This was the feeling of all the boys. They had the open Mississippi -before them for the brief remainder of their journey. The river was -still enormously full, of course, but it was falling now, and below -Vicksburg it had been kept well within the levees, so that there was no -further probability of any cross-country excursions on the part of _The -Last of the Flatboats_. They had nothing to do, apparently, but to cast -the boat loose and let her float the rest of the way upon placid waters. -But this again is getting ahead of my story. The boat is still tied to -the bank at Vicksburg. Let us return to her. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII - -PUBLICITY - - -As soon as the first necessities of their business were provided for at -Vicksburg, Phil wandered off in search of newspapers. He had become -interested in many things through his newspaper reading in connection -with Jim Hughes, and concerning many matters he was curious to know the -outcome. So he sought not only for the latest newspapers, and not -chiefly for them, but rather for back numbers covering the period during -which _The Last of the Flatboats_ had been wandering in the woods. He -secured a lot of them, some of them from New York, some from Chicago, -some from St. Louis, and some from other cities. - -To his astonishment, when he opened the earliest of them,--those that -had been published soon after the affair at Memphis,--he found them -filled with portraits of himself and of his companions, with pictures -of _The Last of the Flatboats_, and even with interviews, of which -neither he nor Irv Strong, who was the other one chiefly quoted, had -any recollection. Yet when they read the words quoted from their lips, -they remembered that these things were substantially what they had -said to innocent-looking persons not at all known to them as newspaper -reporters, who had quite casually conversed with them at Memphis. -Neither had either of them posed for a portrait, and yet here were -pictures of them, ranging all the way from perfect likenesses to -absolute caricatures, freely exploited. - -Phil and Irv were so curious about this matter that they asked everybody -who came on board for an explanation. Finally, one young man, who had -come to them with an inquiry as to the price at which they would be -willing to sell out the boat and cargo at Vicksburg instead of going on -to New Orleans, smiled gently and said, in reply to Phil's questions:-- - -"Well, perhaps you don't always recognize a reporter when you see him. -Sometimes he may come to you to talk about quite other things than those -that he really wants you to tell him about. Sometimes your talk will -prove to be exactly what he wants to interest his readers with, and as -a reporter usually has a pretty accurate memory, he is able to reproduce -all that you say so nearly as you said it, that you can't yourself -afterward discover any flaw in his report. Sometimes, too, the reporter -happens to be an artist sent to get a picture of you. He may have a -kodak concealed under his vest, but usually that does not work. It is -clumsy, you know, and generally unsatisfactory. It is a good deal easier -for a newspaper artist who knows his business to talk to you about -turnips, or Grover Cleveland, or Christian Science, or the tariff, or -any of those things that people always talk about, and while you think -him interested in the expression of your views, make a sketch of you on -his thumb nail or on his cuff, which he can reproduce at the office for -purposes of print. By the way, have you talked with any reporters since -you arrived at Vicksburg?" - -"No," answered Phil; "none of them have come aboard." - -"Are you sure of that?" - -"Well, yes; I haven't seen a single man from the press." - -"Well, if any of the papers should happen to 'get on' to the fact that -you are here, and print something about it, I will send you copies in -the morning." - -The next morning the promised copies came. One of them contained not -only a very excellent portrait of Phil and a group picture of the crew, -but also an almost exact reproduction of the conversation given above. - -A new light dawned upon Phil's mind. - -"After all, that fellow was a reporter and a very clever one. He didn't -want to buy the boat or its cargo or anything else. But I wonder if he -was an artist also. If not, who made those pictures?" - -"Well," said Irv, "you remember there was a young woman who came on -board about the same time that he did. She was very much interested in -Baby, but I noticed that she went all over the boat, and when you and -that young fellow were talking, she sat down on the anchor, there, and -seemed to be writing a letter on a pad. Just then, as I remember, we -fellows were gathered around the new lantern you had just bought and -examining it--and, by the way, here's the lantern in the group picture." - -All this was a revelation to Phil, and it interested him mightily. As -for Irv Strong, he was so interested that he made up his mind to beard -the lion in his den. He went to the office of one of the newspapers and -asked to see its editor. But out of him he got no satisfaction whatever. -The editor hadn't the slightest idea where the interviews or the -pictures had come from. - -"All that," he said, "is managed by our news department. I never know -what they are going to do. I judge them only by results. But I do not -mind saying to you that there would have been several peremptory -discharges in this office if this paper had not had a good picture of -_The Last of the Flatboats_, a portrait of your interesting young -captain and other pictures of human interest tending to illustrate the -arrival of this boat at our landing, although we rarely print pictures -of any kind in our paper. This is an exceptional case. And I think that -the chief of our news department would have had an uncomfortable quarter -of an hour if he and his subordinates had failed to secure a talk with -persons so interesting as those who captured Jim Hughes, as he is -called, and secured the arrest of the others of that bank burglar's -gang, and afterward rescued one of the most distinguished citizens of -Mississippi and his family from death by starvation. Really, you must -excuse me from undertaking the task of telling you how our boys do these -things. It is not my business to know, and I have a great many other -things to do. It is their business to get the news. For that they are -responsible, and to that end they have control of adequate means. Oh, by -the way, that suggests to me a good editorial that ought to be written -right now. Perhaps you will be interested to read it in to-morrow -morning's paper. I am just going to write it." - -As it was now midnight, Irv was bewildered. How in the world was he to -read in the next morning's paper an editorial that had, at this hour, -just occurred to the man who was yet to write it? How was it to be -written, set up in type, and printed before that early hour when the -newspaper must be on sale? - -The editor knew, if Irv did not. He knew that the hour of midnight sees -the birth of many of the ablest and most influential newspaper -utterances of our time. Irv's curious questions had suggested to him a -little essay upon the value of Publicity, and it was upon that theme -that he wrote. He showed, with what Irv and Phil regarded as an -extraordinary insight into things that they had supposed to be known -only to themselves, how their very irregular reading of the newspapers, -from time to time, as they received them, had first awakened their -interest in a vague and general way in the bank burglary case; how, as -their interest became intenser, and the descriptions of the fleeing -criminal became more and more detailed, they had at last so far coupled -one thing with another as to reach a correct conclusion at the critical -moment. He showed how, but for this persistent and minute Publicity, -they would never have dreamed of arresting the fugitive who was posing -as their pilot--how, but for this, the criminals would probably never -have been caught at all; how their escape would have operated as an -encouragement to crime everywhere by relieving it of the fear of -detection,--and much else to the like effect. It was a very interesting -article, and it was one which set the boys thinking. - -"After all," said Ed, "we owe a great deal more to the newspapers than I -had ever thought. And the more we think of it, the more we see that we -owe it to them. I don't know whether they are always sincere in their -antagonism to wrong or not, but at any rate in their rivalry with each -other to get the earliest news and to stand best with the public, they -manage pretty generally to expose about all the wrongs there are, and to -rouse public opinion against them. I suppose that, but for the -newspapers, we should not have a very good country to live in, -especially so far as big cities are concerned." - -"As to those sentiments," said Irv, "I'm afraid one Thomas Jefferson got -ahead of you, Ed. I remember reading that he said somewhere, that he -would rather have a free press without a free government than a free -government without a free press. I imagine his meaning to have been that -we could not long have a free government without a free press, and that -if we have a free press it must pretty soon compel the setting up of a -free government." - -"But the newspapers do publish such dreadful things," said Constant. -"They make so many sensations that their moral influence, I suppose, is -pretty bad." - -"Well, is it?" asked Irv. "If there is a pest-hole in any city, where -typhus or smallpox is breeding, and a newspaper exposes it, it is not -pleasant reading, of course, but it arouses public attention and brings -public opinion to bear to compel a remedy. If there is a health board, -the newspapers all want to know what the health board is doing; if there -isn't a health board, the newspapers all cry out, 'Why isn't there a -health board?' and presently one is organized. Now I suppose it is very -much the same way about moral plague spots. If vice or crime prevail in -any part of the city, the newspapers print the news of it and call upon -the police to suppress it. This arouses public attention and brings -pressure to bear upon public officials until the bad thing is done away -with, or at least reduced to small proportions." - -"Yes," said Ed, thinking and speaking slowly, "and there is another -thing. Even when the newspapers print the details about scandals, and we -say it would be better not to publish such things, it may be that the -newspapers are right; because every rascal that is inclined to do -scandalous things knows by experience or observation that the -newspapers, if they get hold of the facts, will print them and hold him -up to the execration of mankind. If the newspapers did not print the -news of such things, every scoundrel would know that he could do what he -pleased without fear of being made the subject of scandal. The first -thought of every rascal seems to be to keep his affairs out of the -newspapers. Now perhaps it is better that he cannot keep them out; as he -certainly cannot. In very many cases, without doubt or question, men are -restrained from doing outrageous things merely by the fear that their -conduct will be exploited with pictures of themselves and fac-similes of -their letters and everything of the kind, in so-called sensational -newspapers." - -"Well, all that is so, I suppose," said Will, "though I hadn't thought -of it quite to the extent that you have, Ed. I have always been told -that the newspapers were horribly sensational and immoral, but, now that -I think of it, when they publish a story of immorality, it is because -somebody has been doing the immoral thing that they report; and as you -say, the fact that the newspapers are pretty sure to get hold of the -truth and publish it in every case is often a check on men's tendency to -do immoral things." - -Before parting with their rescued friends at Vicksburg, the boys had to -go ashore and be photographed, at the planter's solicitation. - -"I want my children always to think of you young men as their friends," -he said,--"friends to whom they owe more than they can ever repay. I -don't want 'Baby' to forget you as she might--she is so young still--if -she did not have your portraits to remind her as she grows older. As for -myself and my wife--I cannot say how much of gratitude we feel. There -are some things that one can't even try to say. But be sure--" He broke -down here, but the boys understood. - -Irv Strong, whose objection to anything like a "scene" is a familiar -fact to the reader, diverted the conversation by saying:-- - -"It would be a pity to perpetuate the memory of these clothes of ours, -or to let the little ones learn as they grow up what a ragamuffin crew -it was with whom an unfortunate accident once compelled them to -associate for a time. So suppose we have only our faces photographed -now, and send you pictures of our best clothes when we get back home." - -The triviality served its purpose, and the party went to the -photographer's. - -When the time of leave taking came there were tears on the part of the -mother and the children, while "Baby" stoutly insisted upon remaining -on the flatboat with "my big boys," as she called her rescuers. She was -especially in love with Phil, who, in spite of his absorbing duties, -had found time to play with her and tell her wonderful stories. During -the clothes-making wait at Vicksburg, indeed, Phil had done little -else than entertain the beautiful big-eyed child. He repeated to her -all the nursery rhymes and jingles he had ever heard in his infancy -or since, and to the astonishment of his companions, he made up many -jingles of his own for her amusement. He made up funny stories for her -too,--stories that were funny only because he illustrated them with -comical faces and grotesque gestures. - -So when the time of parting came the child clung to him, and had to be -torn away in tears. I suppose I ought not to tell it on Phil, but he too -had to turn aside from the others and use his handkerchief on his eyes -before he could give the command to "cast off" in a husky and not very -steady voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII - -DOWN "THE COAST" - - -The moon was gibbous in its approach to the full when the boat left -Vicksburg. So all the way to their journey's end the boys had moonlight -of evenings except when fog obscured it briefly, and that was not often. - -As they floated down the river, with subtropical scenery on either hand, -with palms and live-oaks and other perennial trees giving greenery of -the greenest possible kind at a season of the year when at their home -not a leaf remained alive and all the trees were gaunt skeletons, the -boys lived in something like a dream. And at night the moonlight, -immeasurably more brilliant than any they had ever seen, additionally -stimulated their imaginations and captivated their fancy. - -"That is Baton Rouge," said Ed, as they came within sight of a city on -the left side of the river. "It means 'red stick.'" - -"Why in the world did anybody ever name a town 'red stick'?" asked Irv. - -"Why, because when Tecumseh came down this way to persuade all the -Indians to join in a war upon the whites, as I told you up in New Madrid -Bend, he offered red sticks to the warriors. All that accepted them were -thereby pledged to join in the war. It was here that the first red -sticks were distributed, and so this spot was called 'Baton Rouge.'" - -"But why didn't they call it 'Red Sticks' and have done with it?" asked -Will. "Why did they translate it into French?" - -"The Indians didn't know English," answered Ed. "The French first -explored the Mississippi, and they not only gave French names to -everything, but they taught a rude sort of French to the Indians. There -is a town on the upper Mississippi called 'Prairie du Chien.' That means -'the prairie of the dog.' Then there is 'Marquette' in Wisconsin, named -after a great French missionary and explorer. And there is Dubuque, and -there are half a dozen other places with old French names. In Arkansas -there is a river called the 'St. François.' And the name Arkansas itself -was originally a French effort to spell the Indian word 'Arkansaw.' By -the way, the Legislature of that state has passed a law declaring that -the proper pronunciation of the state's name is 'Arkansaw.' It is said -that when James K. Polk, afterward President, was speaker of the House -of Representatives, there were two congressmen there from Arkansas. One -of them always pronounced his state's name 'Arkansas,' as if it were -English, and with the accent on the second syllable, while the other -always called it 'Arkansaw.' Polk was so excessively polite that when -either of the two arose to speak, he recognized him as 'the gentleman -from Arkansas' or as 'the gentleman from Arkansaw,' accordingly as the -gentleman recognized was in the habit of pronouncing the word." - -"That's interesting," said Phil. "And I suppose the same thing is true -about the 'Tensaw' country in Alabama. I see that it is spelled on most -maps 'Tensas,' but on some it is spelled 'Tensaw,' and I suppose that is -the right pronunciation." - -"It is," said Ed. "And then there is the Ouachita River. Its name is -pronounced 'Washitaw,' but spelled in the French way. I once heard of a -man who stayed in New Orleans for six weeks, looking every day for -the advertisement of some steamboat going up that river. He saw -announcements of boats for the Ouachita River, of course, but none for -the 'Washitaw.' Finally, somebody enlightened him. You see these French -names were bestowed when French was the only language of this region, -and they have survived." - -The boys were studying the map by the almost superfluous light of a -lantern. Presently one of them said:-- - -"A little way down the river, on the western bank, is a place called -Plaquemine. That also is French, I suppose?" - -"Certainly," answered Ed, "and it is a region with an interesting -history. It was there that the Acadians went when they were driven out -of their home in British America. Longfellow tells all about it in the -poem 'Evangeline.' I'll read some of it," he added, rising to go below -for the book. - -"No, don't," pleaded Irv. "That poem gives me 'that tired feeling.' Its -story is beautiful. Its sentiment is all that could be desired. But its -metre makes me feel as if I were stumbling over stones in the dark." - -"I'll bet your favorite wager, a brass button, Irv, that you can't quote -a single line of the poem you are so ready to criticise," said Will -Moreraud, who was Longfellow mad, as his comrades said. - -"Well, I'll take that bet," said Irv. "And I'll give you odds. I'll bet -seven brass buttons to your one that I can, off hand, repeat the worst -and clumsiest four lines in the whole poem." - -"Go ahead," said Will. "I'll buy a glittering brass button in New -Orleans, 'scalloped all the way round and halfway back,' as the boy said -of his ginger cakes, and pay the bet if I lose." - -"All right," said Irv. "Here goes:-- - - 'Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and feasted; - For with this simple people, who lived like brothers together, - All things were held in common, and what one had was another's. - Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more abundant.'" - -"It really doesn't sound like poetry," said Phil. "But then, I'm no -judge. All the same, Irv wins the bet, and I'll exercise my authority as -commander of this craft and company to compel you, Will, to buy and -deliver that brass button." - -"But how do you know that those four lines are the worst in the poem?" -asked Will. - -"Because there simply couldn't be worse ones," said Phil, "and unless -you produce some others equally bad, I shall hold these to be the -worst." - -"Now," said Ed, "you fellows are very free with your criticisms. But -perhaps you don't know as much as you might. Longfellow undertook to -write in hexameters. We all know what hexameters are, because we have -all read some Latin poetry. But there is this difficulty: a hexameter -line must end in a spondee--or a foot of two long or equally accented -syllables. Now there is only here and there a word in the whole English -language that is a spondee. The only spondees available in English are -made up of two long, or two equally accented monosyllables. That is why -the metre of Evangeline is so hard to read with ease, or at any rate it -is one of the reasons. Longfellow uses trochees--that is to say, feet -composed of one long and one short syllable, instead. In one case he -uses the word 'baptism' as a spondee, but in fact it is a dactyl, -consisting of one long and two short syllables. Edgar Allan Poe pointed -that out." - -"Why did he write in that metre, then," asked Will, "if it is impossible -in English?" - -"Because he was a Greek and Latin scholar, and was so enamored of the -hexameter verse that he tried to reproduce it in English. He didn't -accomplish the purpose, but he wrote some mighty good things in trying -to do it." - -"But tell us, Ed," said Constant, "why did Evangeline's people come all -the way down here?" - -"They were French, and they naturally sought for a country where the -French constituted the greater part of the population. This wasn't -English territory then. By the way, that reminds me of a good Vevay -story. When I was a very little boy, I used to go occasionally to pay my -respects to the oldest lady in town--'Grandmother Grisard,' as we all -reverently called her. She was a lovely old lady, and she once told me -how she came to Vevay. She set out from Switzerland very early in this -century, being then a young girl, to come to this French-settled Red -River country, where her people had friends. But there are two Red -Rivers in America, this one and the Red River of the North, which runs -from Minnesota northward into Manitoba. Europeans were rather weak on -American geography in those days, so instead of bringing this young girl -to the Red River of Louisiana, the transportation people took her to the -Red River of the North. That region was then entirely wild. Indians and -Canadian half-breeds were practically its only inhabitants, and so the -young Swiss girl was in the greatest peril. - -"She learned, after a while, that some Swiss people had settled at -Vevay, in what was then the wild, uninhabited Northwest Territory. So -she set out to find Vevay, and to find people that could talk her own -mother tongue. It was an awful journey across the wild, savage-haunted -prairie region that now constitutes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and -Indiana, but she made it. It required months of time. It involved -terrible hardships and fearful dangers from the Indians. But after the -long struggle the young Swiss girl reached Vevay and was again among -people of her own race, who spoke her own language. She soon after -married the most prosperous man in the village, Mr. Grisard, and, as you -all know, her sons and her grandsons have ever since been men of mark in -the town."[3] - - [3] This story is true in every particular.--_Author._ - -"Good for you, Ed!" said Will Moreraud. "We fellows of Swiss descent -thank you. We are all more or less akin to Grandmother Grisard, after -two or three generations of intermarriages, and now that we know her -story we shall cherish it as a family legend of our own. In fact, I -suspect that our Swiss forefathers and foremothers made a pretty good -place out of Vevay before the Virginians and Yankees and Scotch-Irish -from whom you fellows sprang ever thought of settling there." - -"Of course they did," said Ed; "that's why our people settled there. -The Swiss settlers must have been people of the highest character, or -their descendants wouldn't be the foremost citizens of the town, as they -are to-day. It is a curious fact, by the way, that when they settled -at Vevay they tried to do precisely what they and their ancestors had -always done in their own country,--they planted vineyards, and set -out to make wine. My father, before he died, told me that in his -boyhood four-fifths of the lands cultivated by the Swiss were planted -in vineyards. Henry Clay was greatly interested in their work, and -tried hard to introduce Vevay wine in Washington, and to secure tariff -protection for it." - -"What became of the vineyards?" asked Constant. - -"Why, the temperance wave destroyed them. It came to be thought wrong, -and even disreputable, to make or sell wine, or anything else that had -alcohol in it. So, little by little, the Swiss people, who were always, -above all things, reputable and moral, dug up their vineyards, and -planted corn instead." - -"Yes," said Will Moreraud. "I remember hearing a rather pretty story on -that subject concerning a kinsman of my own. He had his dear old -grandmother--or great-grandmother, I forget which--as an inmate of his -house, and when the movement to convert the vineyards into cornfields -was at its height, the old lady strenuously objected. She said that she -had been born in a vineyard, and had all her life looked out upon -vineyards through every window. My kinsman was very tender of his -grandmother's feelings. But at the same time he was resolved to change -his vineyards into cornfields. He knew that the old lady could never -leave the house, owing to her great age and infirmities. So he went to -every window in every story of the house and studied the landscape. -Having ascertained precisely how far it was possible for the old lady to -see from the windows of the house, he ordered all the vineyards beyond -her line of vision destroyed, and all within it preserved." - -"Beautiful!" cried Phil. "There ought to be more men like that one, if -only to make the dear old grandmothers happy in the evening of their -lives." - -"Perhaps there are more of them than you think," said Constant. "It's my -impression that men generally are pretty good fellows, if you really -find out about them." - -"Of course they are," said Ed. "Does it occur to you that when we -fellows undertook this flatboat enterprise, every man in Vevay stood -generously ready to help? It is always so. Men are usually kindly and -generous if they have a chance to be. As for women--" - -"God bless them!" cried Irv, rising to his six feet of height. - -"_So-say-we-all-of-us!_" chanted Phil, to the familiar tune, while the -rest joined in. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - -A TALK ON DECK - - -The latter end of the voyage was uneventful in outward ways at least, -but it led to some things, as we shall see later on, that were of more -consequence in the lives of the five boys than all the strenuous -happenings which had gone before. - -The boat no longer leaked. A few minutes' pumping once in every two or -three hours was sufficient to keep her bilge free from water. The river, -though falling rapidly, was still full, but the levees were keeping it -within bounds, and there were no crevasses to avoid. There were fogs now -and then, but the flatboat floated through them without any apparent -disposition to run away again. There were the three meals a day to cook, -and the lanterns to keep in order, but beyond that and the washing of -clothes, sheets, and the like, there was literally nothing to do but -talk. - -And how they did talk! And of how many different things! We have heard -one of their conversations. Suppose we listen to some more of them. - -"I say, Ed," said Irv, "with this wonderful river bringing the products -of a score of states to New Orleans for a market, how is it that New -Orleans isn't the greatest port in the country?" - -"It came near being so once. It was New York's chief rival, and some day -it may be again. So long as there were no railroads New Orleans was the -chief outlet, and inlet as well, for all this great western and southern -country. Not only did most of the western produce and southern cotton -come to it for sale at home or shipment abroad, but most of the foreign -goods imported for the use of the West and South came in through New -Orleans, and so did most of the passengers who wanted to reach any point -west of the Alleghenies." - -"Why didn't it go on in that way?" asked Constant. - -"In the first place, a wise governor of New York, De Witt Clinton, -persuaded the people of that state to make some artificial geography. -They dug canals to connect the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. This -enabled them to carry western produce to New York all the way by water, -and as cheaply as it could be carried down the river--more cheaply, in -fact, so far as that part of it grown far away from the rivers was -concerned. This gave New York a very great advantage. For New York is a -thousand miles or more nearer to Europe than New Orleans is, and so if -grain could be landed in New York at smaller expense than in New -Orleans, that was the cheapest as well as the shortest route to Europe. - -"Then again New Orleans lies in a much hotter climate than New York, and -so do the seas over which freight from New Orleans must be carried. In a -hot climate grain is apt to sprout and spoil, or it was so until -comparatively recent years, when means of preventing that were -discovered." - -Ed stopped, as if he had finished. Will wanted more and asked for it. - -"Go on," he said. "Tell us all about it." - -"Yes, do," echoed the others. - -"I am not sure that I know 'all about it,'" answered Ed, "but I have -been reading some articles concerning it since our trip awakened my -interest, and if you want me to do so, I'll tell you what I have -learned from them." - -"Do!" cried Irv. "This party of young Hoosiers has often been hungrier -for corned beef and cabbage, with all that those terms imply, than for -intellectual pabulum of any kind whatever. But at present our -physical systems are abundantly fed. What we want now is intellectual -refreshment, all of which, being interpreted, means 'Go on, Ed; we're -interested.'" - -Ed laughed, and continued:-- - -"Well, the war damaged New Orleans, of course, not only by shutting up -the port for some years, but by impoverishing the southern states which -New Orleans supplied with provisions and goods and from which it drew -cotton. Then, again, New York had and still has most of the free money -there is in this country, the money that is hunting for something to do. -You know that money is like a man in this respect. It always wants to -earn wages. Now, when the western farmer sells his grain and the like to -a country merchant, he wants money for it. As a great many farmers sell -at the same time, the country merchant naturally hasn't enough money of -his own to satisfy them all. So he ships the grain, etc., as fast as he -receives it, and makes drafts upon the commission merchants to whom he -is sending it. That is to say, he makes them pay in advance for produce -shipped in order that he may have the money with which to buy more when -it is offered. The commission merchants in their turn borrow the money -from the banks in their cities, giving liens on the grain for security. -This is a very rough explanation, of course, but you can see from it how -the city that has the largest amount of money 'hunting for a job' must -draw to itself, when other things are anywhere near equal, the greater -part of all the produce that can go at about the same cost to that or -some other city." - -"That's clear enough," said Phil. "But what about the railroads? Why do -they all seem to run to New York?" - -"That's an interesting point," answered Ed. "I'm glad you reminded me of -it. When the railroads were built, each little road was independent of -all the rest. But each of them wanted to reach New York, because the -artificial geography created by New York's canals had made that the -country's greatest port, and because New York had more money to lend on -produce, as I have explained, than any other city. So as the numberless -little railroad lines consolidated themselves into great trunk lines, -they all made for New York as eagerly as flies make for an open sugar -barrel. Even the Baltimore and Ohio road, which was built by Baltimore -people to make Baltimore a rival of New York, spent money in lavish -millions to secure a New York terminus and make Baltimore a way station. -To sum it all up, the farmer wants to sell to the local merchant who -will pay him in cash; the local merchant ships his purchases to Chicago -or any other intermediate city whose commission merchants will make the -biggest and quickest advances of money on the grain, etc., before it -arrives; the merchants in the intermediate cities ship to the port whose -commission merchants will make them the largest advances in their turn -and thus enable them to go on buying while the opportunity lasts. That -city is New York. Of course this is only a general statement. There is -often plenty of money to lend in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, -and lately those cities and Newport News in Virginia have taken a good -deal of New York's grain trade. But what I have said will explain to -you one of the reasons why New Orleans 'isn't in it,' in this matter." - -"Then our wonderful river no longer renders a service to the country?" -said Constant, interrogatively. - -"Oh, yes, it does," answered Ed, eagerly. "It still carries vast -quantities of goods to New Orleans, not only for consumption in the -South, but for shipment abroad. And even if it carried nothing, it would -still be rendering a service of incalculable value to the country." - -"How?" asked all the boys, in a breath. - -"By compelling the railroads to carry freight at reasonable rates. Let -me tell you some facts in illustration. Somewhere about the year 1870--a -little before, I think it was--the railroads were charging extortionate -prices for carrying freight to eastern cities. Some great merchants and -steamboat owners put their heads together to stop the extortion. They -organized the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, to carry -freight down the river to the sea. They built great stern-wheel -steamboats, and set them to push vast fleets of barges loaded with -freight to New Orleans. This so enormously cheapened freight rates that -the railroads were threatened with ruin, and New Orleans seemed likely -to take New York's place as the country's great grain-exporting city. -The railroads began at once to reduce their rates in self-defence, and -from that day to this they have had to reduce them more and more, lest -the water routes, and chiefly the Mississippi River, should take their -trade away from them. So you see that even if not one ton of freight -were carried over our wonderful river, which, in fact, carries hundreds -of millions of tons, it would still be rendering an enormous service to -the country by keeping railroad freight rates down." - -The boys pondered these things awhile. Then Irv said:-- - -"But you said awhile ago that New Orleans might some day again become -New York's rival as a shipping port. Would you mind telling us just what -you meant by that?" - -"Why, no," said Ed, hesitating. "I suppose I was thinking of the time, -which is surely coming, when this great, rich Mississippi Valley of ours -will be as densely populated as other and less productive parts of the -earth are." - -"For instance?" said Will, interrogatively. - -"Well, I suppose," said Ed, "that the great Mississippi Valley fairly -represents our whole country as to population. We have in this country, -according to a statistical book that I have here, about 20 people, big -and little, to the square mile, or somewhat less. Now the Netherlands, -according to the same book, have about 351, Belgium about 529, and -England about 540 people to the square mile. In other words, we must -multiply ourselves by 26 or 27 before we shall have as dense a -population as England now has. When we have 27 times as many people in -the Mississippi Valley as we now have, I don't think there is much doubt -that New Orleans will be just as important a port and just as big a city -as her most ambitious citizen would like her to be." - -The boys sat silent for a while. Then Irv took out a pencil and paper, -and figured for a few minutes. Finally he broke silence. - -"Do I understand that this country of ours is capable--taking it by and -large--of supporting a population as great to the square mile as that of -England, or anything like as great?" - -"I don't see why not," said Ed. "Our agriculture is in its infancy, we -are merely scratching the surface, and not a very large part of the -surface at that. We have arid and desert regions, of course, but on the -other hand, we have a richer soil and an immeasurably more fruitful -climate than England has. England can't grow a single bushel of corn, -for example, while we grow more than two billion bushels every year. It -seems to me clear that our country, taken as a whole, and this rich -Mississippi Valley especially, can support a much larger population to -the square mile than England can." - -"Well, if it ever does," said Irv, referring to his figures, "we shall -have a population of about two billion people, or very many times more -than the greatest nations in all history ever had." - -"Why not?" asked Phil. "Isn't ours the greatest nation in all history in -the way it has stood for liberty and right and progress? Why shouldn't -it be immeasurably the greatest in population and wealth and everything -else? Why shouldn't we multiply our seventy millions or so of people -into the billions?" - -"Well, yes, why not?" asked Irv. "It would only mean that twenty or -thirty times as many men as ever before would enjoy the blessing of -liberty." - -"It would mean vastly more than that," said Ed. - -"What?" asked Irv. - -"It would mean that twenty or thirty times as many men _stood_ for -liberty throughout all the earth; it would mean that twenty or thirty -times as many men as ever before were ready to fight for liberty and -human right. It would mean even more than that. It would mean that the -Great Republic, planted upon the theory of absolute and equal liberty, -would so enormously outweigh all other nations combined, in numbers and -in physical and moral force, that no nation and no coalition of nations -would ever dare dispute our country's decisions or balk her will. We -should in that case dominate the world by our numbers, our wealth, and -our productiveness. For in the very nature of things, countries that -already have from twenty to twenty-five times our population to the -square mile cannot hope to grow as we inevitably shall." - -"But what if we don't continue to stand for liberty and human right?" -asked Phil. "What if we forget our national mission, and use our vast -power not for freedom, but for conquest; not for the right, but for the -wrong?" - -"That is what every American citizen owes it to his country to guard -against by his vote," answered Ed. - -"In other words," said Irv "that's what we are here for." - -"Precisely," said Ed. "But it is time to get supper, and I, for one, am -hungry." - -"So am I," responded Irv, as he went below to bear his share in the -supper getting. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV - -LOOKING FORWARD - - -It was on the last night of the voyage that Phil broached the thought -that he had been turning over in his mind ever since his talk with the -rescued Mississippi planter. The journey was practically finished. _The -Last of the Flatboats_ would reach New Orleans about ten o'clock the -next morning. The big round moon illuminated the broad, placid river. -Supper was ended. The lights were in their places. There was no water in -the bilge. The day's work was done, and the hardy young fellows were -lolling about the deck, talking all sorts of trivial things, when Phil -introduced the subject. - -"I say, boys, does it occur to you that we fellows have a splendid -opportunity before us if we choose to accept it?" - -"Are you meditating a jump overboard?" asked Irv, "or did you just now -remember the great truth that fills my mind, namely, that there's -enough of that beef pie left to make a good midnight supper all round?" - -"No, for once I'm serious, Irv," said Phil, whose new habit of -seriousness had grown upon him with increasing responsibility, until all -the boys observed the change in him with wonder, not unmixed with -amusement. - -"All right, then," said Irv; "go ahead. We're 'at attention.'" - -"What is it, Phil?" asked Will Moreraud, seeing that Irv's light chatter -annoyed the boy, or at the least distracted his attention. "You've -something worth while to say. So we'll listen." - -Phil broke into the middle of his subject. - -"Why shouldn't we fellows all get a college education?" he asked. - -"Our parents aren't able to give it to us," answered Constant. - -"No, but we are able to get it for ourselves," answered Phil. "That -gentleman up there in Mississippi wanted to help us do it, but I refused -that offer for the whole party." - -Then he reported the conversation he had had with the planter, and his -comrades heartily approved his course in refusing assistance. - -"But we can do the thing ourselves," Phil continued. "Let me explain. -After we built this flatboat and equipped her and made up a purse for -our running expenses, we each had about a hundred dollars of our -pig-iron money left. Since then we have made one thousand dollars apiece -out of the Jim Hughes affair. So when we get back home we shall have -eleven hundred dollars apiece to the good, besides whatever we make -clear out of the trip. That ought to be considerably more, but we won't -count it because it's a chicken that isn't hatched yet. At any rate, it -will more than pay our fares back to Vevay, so when we get home we shall -have eleven or twelve hundred dollars apiece. Now that is plenty to take -us through college." - -"Well, I don't know," said Irv. "I hear of young college men who spend -from one thousand to five thousand dollars a year." - -"Yes," replied Phil, "and I read in a newspaper the other day of a man -who paid five hundred dollars for a bouquet to give to the girl he was -about to marry. But we aren't young men with 'liberal allowances' and we -aren't bouquet buyers. Listen to me. I have figured it all out -carefully. At many colleges there is no charge at all for tuition. At -others there are scholarships that can be made to cover tuition. At most -of the colleges in the West and South the tuition fees are very small, -even if we must pay them. The principal things we've got to look out for -are board, clothes, and books. We can wear the same clothes at college -that we should wear at home, and our parents will provide them, or if -they can't, we can earn them during vacations. Our necessary books for -the whole course won't cost us more than fifty or sixty dollars apiece -if we work together as I'm going to suggest. That leaves only the -question of board." - -"Well, board will cost us five dollars a week apiece or two hundred a -year, at any decent boarding-house," said Irv. - -"Of course," answered Phil. "But I propose that we shan't live at any -decent boarding-house." - -"How, then?" - -"Why, you see we're an exceptional lot of young fellows in some -respects. Our classmates in college, when we go there, may know a great -deal more than we do about many things, and probably they will. But we -know some very valuable things that they do not. We know how to take -care of ourselves. For a good many weeks now we have bought and cooked -our own food and washed our own dishes, and even our own clothes. At -college we could hire the laundry work done, but why shouldn't we do all -the rest for ourselves?" - -"Go on," cried Irv when Phil paused. "I for one am interested, and it's -obvious you've thought out the whole thing, Phil. Tell us all about your -plan." - -Phil hesitated a little, abashed by the approval and admiration which he -easily detected in Irv's eager tone and in the faces of his comrades. At -last he resumed:-- - -"Well, you see, we five fellows not only know how to cook and all that -sort of thing, but we know how to live together without quarrelling, and -how to work together for a common purpose. Why shouldn't we go to some -college where there are no tuition fees, or very small ones, hire two -rooms, one to cook and eat in, and the other to sleep in, buy the ten or -twenty dollars' worth of plain furniture necessary, and board ourselves -just as we are doing now?" - -The other boys paused, interested in the idea. Presently Constant -asked:-- - -"How much apiece do you reckon the cost of board to be?" - -"I haven't figured it out in detail," said Phil. "I've left that for Ed -to do. You remember he made a calculation away up the river as to how -much it costs to feed a man for a year." - -"Yes," said Ed, speaking the word slowly as if thinking; "but that -calculation hardly fits the case. It related to a single person, and we -are five persons. We can live more cheaply together than five persons -could live separately. Besides, that calculation up the river was made -on a guess-work basis. It is very much better to base the calculation on -facts, and fortunately I have the facts." - -"What?" "Where did you get them?" These and like exclamations greeted -Ed's announcement. - -"Well, you see," said Ed, "I have been keeping accounts in order to find -out what it has cost us just to live on this voyage. I've set down the -exact cost of everything we started with and everything we have bought -since, including the two cords of wood we bought for the cooking-stove, -and which we haven't used up yet. I'll figure the thing up and tell you -exactly what it will cost us to board ourselves at college, provided we -are willing to live as plainly there as we do on this boat." - -"Why not?" called out Irv. "We've lived like fighting cocks all the way -down the river--except that we've run out of milk pretty often." - -"Do fighting cocks consume large quantities of milk, Irv?" asked Phil. - -"No, of course not. You know what I mean. I'm satisfied to live in -college precisely as we have lived on the flatboat, and if I drink more -milk, I suppose I shall make it up by eating just so much less of other -things." - -"Do you hear that, boys?" called out Constant. "Irv agrees that if we go -to college together he'll eat one pancake less for every extra glass of -milk he drinks. Remember that. We shall hold him rigidly to his -bargain." - -By this time Ed, who had gone to the forward lantern to do his -figuring,--for one really cannot "see to read" by even the brightest -moonlight, as people often say and think they can,--was ready to report -results. He said:-- - -"Counting in everything we have bought to eat, and everything that the -Cincinnati banker gave us at Memphis, and the cost of our fuel, I find -that it has cost us for our table, precisely $3.98 per week, as an -average, since the day we left Vevay to drop down to Craig's Landing. -Let us say $4.00. That's 80 cents apiece per week, for we won't reckon -Jim Hughes's board. The college year is forty weeks, or a little less. -At 80 cents a week apiece, we can feed ourselves on $32 a year each, or -only $128 each for the whole four years' course." - -"Good," said Phil, "now let's figure a little." With that he went to the -light and made some calculations. On his return he said, "I reckon it -this way:-- - - Rent $10 a year for each, or for the course $40 - Board for each, $32 a year, or for the course 128 - Fuel, lights, and incidentals--say for each 40 - Tuition, if we have to pay it, for each 100 - -or a grand total of $308 apiece for the whole course. For safety, and to -cover miscalculations and accidents and illness and all the rest of it, -let's just double the figures. That gives us a total possible expense -of $616, or just about one-half the money that each of us has in hand, -and that we ought to be ready to spend to make the best men we can out -of ourselves." - -"Boys!" said Will Moreraud, rising in his enthusiasm, "I move this -resolution right here and now:-- - -"'Resolved, that Phil Lowry is a brick! Resolved, that we five fellows -shall go together to a college of Phil Lowry's selection, live in the -economical way he suggests, and so diligently do our work as to take all -the honors there are going in that college, and astonish the fellows -whose education has not included a flatboat experience in the art of -taking care of oneself.'" - -The resolution was adopted without dissent. Then Phil had something more -to say:-- - -"Now, fellows, I'm a good way behind the rest of you in some of my -studies. I'm younger than you--but that's no matter. I'll not 'plead the -baby act,' anyhow. All of you can easily prepare yourselves for college -between now and next fall. You probably don't believe it, but so can I, -and so I will. I have never set myself to study in earnest. I'm going -to do it now. When we get home, I'll bring to bear all that 'obstinate -pertinacity' that you and Mrs. Dupont credit me with or blame me -for--whichever way you choose to put it. If I don't pass entrance -examinations next fall with the best of you, you can count my share of -the money as a voluntary contribution to the expenses of the mess. But -you'd better not count on it in that way, I warn you." - -"Of course we hadn't," said Irv Strong, as Phil went below to look after -things. "I've got a great, big, rosy-cheeked, candy apple at home, -and I'll wager it against the insignificant head of any fellow in the -party--yours included, Ed--that when we five fellows present ourselves -for our entrance examinations next fall, Phil Lowry will knock the spots -out of every one of us." - -"You expect too much of him, Irv," said Ed. "It isn't fair. He's from a -year to two years behind us, and he is the youngest and most immature in -the party." - -"Is he?" asked Irv, with challenge in his voice. "He may have been so -when we left Vevay, but he isn't now. He's the oldest of us now and the -most mature among us. You saw how he managed things in the woods, and -how he handled Jim Hughes, and how he managed the difficult problem of -the tarpaulin, and all the rest of it. I tell you, Ed, that, while Phil -Lowry was much the youngest boy in this company when we made him 'IT' -for this voyage, he is several years older to-day than any of us. He may -be a class behind some of you fellows in mere book work, but he won't -stay so long. I'll tell you what, Ed, you'll have to stir all your -stumps to keep up with that fellow in college. He has got his mettle up -now." - -"I believe that is so," said Ed, thinking, and speaking slowly. "I -hadn't thought of it, Irv, but Phil has developed in his mind -surprisingly during this voyage." - -"So much so," replied Irv, "that nobody in this crew is his equal when -it comes to real, hard, clear-headed thinking." - -"That is so," said Ed, reflectively; "but in book study he is behind all -of us because he is younger. He says he'll catch up and--" - -"And we now know him too well to doubt that he will do all that he -says," broke in Will Moreraud, whose admiration for Phil had grown day -by day until now it scarcely knew any bounds. "But I say, fellows," -continued Will, "we've got to help Phil catch up. For that matter, there -isn't one of us that hasn't a lame duck of some sort. Even you, Ed--" - -"Don't say 'even' me," said Ed. "I'm in fact the worst of the lot. I've -gone ahead of you fellows,--in my irregular fashion, of course,--but -I've skipped a lot of things, and I've got to bring them up before I can -pass my examinations for college." - -"That's all right," said Will, who was now enthusiastic. "Why shouldn't -we fellows form a 'study club' this fall, and work together? Of course -the high school won't and can't prepare us for college by next year. But -we can and will prepare ourselves; and now that Mrs. Dupont is out of -the regular teaching harness, she'll be delighted to help us. She will -be in a positive ecstasy when she finds that five of 'her boys' have -undertaken a job of this kind. By the way, let us stand up and bow low -to Mrs. Dupont--the best and most loving teacher that any set of boys -ever had or ever will have in this world!" - -The obeisance to their teacher was made, and Will's idea of a "study -club" was resolved upon. The idea, as developed, was to do much more in -a year than the school course marked out, especially to help Phil -forward to the level of his fellows, and to help Ed repair the -deficiencies that lay back of his irregular attainments. For Ed was now -so robust that neither he nor any of his comrades thought of him as an -invalid. Instead of spending the winter in the South, as he had -intended, Ed had made up his mind to go back with the others, to join -them in their "study club," and to be one of the five when they should -enter college. - -It was long past midnight when this conversation was over. And the -morning had active duties for the crew of _The Last of the Flatboats_ to -do. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI - -THE LAST LANDING - - -As _The Last of the Flatboats_ passed the upper part of New Orleans, the -boys were disposed to gaze at the strangely beautiful city. It was -greater in size than any city that they had ever seen; for none of them -had visited Cincinnati, though they had lived all their lives within -sixty or seventy miles of it. New Orleans was different in architecture, -situation, and everything else from Louisville and Memphis, cities at -which they had looked up from the river, while at New Orleans they found -themselves looking down, and taking almost a bird's-eye view of the -city. Then, too, the palm gardens, the evergreen trees, and glimpses -every now and then of great parterres of flowers, growing gayly in the -open air even in late autumn, filled them with the feeling that somehow -they had come into a world quite different from any they had ever -dreamed of before. - -Finally, there were the miles of levee, thickly bordered with steamships -and sailing craft of every kind, all so new to them as to be a show in -their eyes. The forests of masts, the towering elevators, the wharves -piled high with cotton in bales and sugar in hogsheads and great piles -of tropical fruits, appealed strongly to their imaginations. There was a -soft languor in the atmosphere, and the red sunlight shone through a -sort of Indian summer haze, which made the city look dream-like, or as -if seen through a fleecy, pink veil. - -Presently Phil put an end to their musings. - -"Stand by the sweeps!" he called, himself going to the steering-oar. "We -must make a landing, if we ever find a vacant spot at the levee that's -big enough to run into." - -"I say, Phil," said Irv, presently, "there comes somebody in a skiff to -meet us; perhaps it's some wharf-master to tell us where to land." - -A few minutes later the skiff, rowed by a stout negro man, reached the -boat, and a carefully dressed young man who had sat in the stern -dismissed the negro and his skiff, and came aboard. - -To Phil he handed his card, introducing himself as one of the freight -clerks of the commission merchant to whom the planter had recommended -them. It appeared that the planter had not been content with giving them -a letter of introduction, but had written by mail from Vicksburg, and -this was the result. - -"Mr. Kennedy thought you might have some difficulty in finding the -proper landing, so he told me to board you and show you the way." - -Phil thanked him, and under the man's guidance _The Last of the -Flatboats_ made the last of her landings. - -The young man seemed to know what to do about everything and how to do -it. First of all he called an insurance adjuster on board to inspect the -cargo. This, he explained, was necessary so that all insurance claims -might be adjusted. - -"I'm afraid the flour must be pretty wet," said Phil. - -"Why? is it in bags?" asked the clerk. - -"No, in barrels." - -"You can rest easy, then," said the clerk. "You can't wet flour in a -barrel. See there!" and he pointed to a ship that was taking on flour -near by. "That's flour for Rio Janeiro, and you observe that the crane -souses every barrel of it into the river before hoisting it to the -ship's deck." - -"So it does," said one of the boys. "But what is that for?" - -"To make the flour keep in a hot climate," answered the clerk. "Wetting -the barrel closes up all the cracks between the staves, by making a -thick paste out of the flour that has sifted into them. That makes the -barrel water-tight, insect-tight, and even air-tight." - -"But I should think the water would soak into the flour inside," said -Will. - -"Can't do it. Wouldn't wet an ounce of flour if you left a barrel in the -river for a month. Flour is packed too tight for that." - -"I say, Phil," said Irv. "Let's go back and get those three barrels we -left in the river when we were putting the tarpaulin on." - -"Have you a memorandum of your freight, captain?" asked the clerk. "If -so, please let me have it, and I'll make out a manifest." - -Phil handed him the little book in which he had catalogued the freight -as it was received. Phil had not the slightest idea what a "manifest" -might be, but he asked no questions. "I prefer to find out some things -through my eyes," he said to himself. So he watched the clerk, who -spread out some broad sheets of paper on the little cabin table and -proceeded to make out a formal manifest, or detailed statement of the -freight on board what the manifest called "the good ship _The Last of -the Flatboats_." It was all arranged in columns, and it showed from whom -each shipment came, and that each was consigned to the house of Mr. -Kennedy. Having finished this, the clerk proceeded to make out a -duplicate, which he explained was to be sent to the Exchange, so that an -accurate record might be made there for statistical purposes. - -"I see," said Phil. "That is the way statistics are got together, -showing how much of every kind of product is shipped into and out of -each commercial city." - -"Certainly," answered the clerk, "but, excuse me, here come the -reporters. Here, boys, make your own manifests," and with that he handed -one of his copies to the newspaper men. They scribbled rapidly on paper -pads for a brief while and then returned the manifest. Phil wondered, -but asked no questions. "What these men wrote is for publication in -newspapers, so I'll look in the newspapers to-morrow and see what it -is." When he did so, he found under the headline "Manifest," merely a -condensed list of the boat's freight with the name of the Kennedy -commission house as "consignees." This condensed statement of freights -and consignees is published daily with reference to every boat that -arrives, for the information not only of the consignees, but also of -other merchants and speculators who want to buy, and to that end want to -know who has things to sell. - -The boys were deeply interested, but their studies in commercial methods -were destined to be of brief duration. For the clerk left them almost -immediately. Later in the day he came again and said to Phil:-- - -"You're rather in luck, captain. The market for western produce is up -to-day. Apples were particularly high." - -"Will they stay up long enough for us to work ours off?" asked Phil. - -"Work yours off?" exclaimed the clerk, in astonishment. "Why, you've -sold out, bag and baggage, flatboat and all, two hours ago. I came down -to make delivery. The buyer's clerk will be here immediately." - -It was all astonishing to the western boys, but the clerk was -good-natured, and explained while he waited for the buyer's clerk. He -told them how Mr. Kennedy went to a big room called "'change," where all -the other merchants were gathered, showed his manifest, and in five -minutes had sold out everything. - -"But," said Irv, "nobody has been here to look at the goods. How does -the buyer know what the things are like?" - -"Why, produce is all classified, and we sell by classes. I looked -over this cargo and reported quality and condition. We made sales -accordingly. When we deliver, the buyer's clerk will look at the things, -and if any of them are not up to the grade represented, he'll reject -them or take them at a reduction, and so on. If we can't agree, the -matter will be referred to a committee of 'change, and their decision is -final. Both sides are bound by it." - -"But what if either refused?" - -"Well--" hesitated the clerk, "that couldn't very well happen; but if it -did, the merchant refusing would have to leave 'change, and go out of -business. You see, all business of this kind is done on 'change, and if -a merchant isn't a member there, he simply can't do any business at all. -But pardon me, here comes the buyer's clerk. I must get to work. Oh, by -the way, here's the card of a comfortable, inexpensive hotel; Mr. -Kennedy told me to give it to you. He'll call to see you there." - -"But why can't we stay on the boat till her buyer is ready to take her -away?" - -"Oh, he'll do that this afternoon. He'll drop her down to his own -warehouse, unload her, and by this time to-morrow she'll be nothing but -a pile of lumber on shore somewhere." - -"It fairly makes my head swim," said Irv, "to see the way these city -people go at things." - -"Mine too," said Phil. "But I see clearly that that's the way to get -things done, and it's the way we ought to manage in our study club when -we get home." - -"But how? We can't have a big 'change and all that sort of thing." - -"I didn't mean as to details," said Phil. "I referred to the spirit of -the thing. When these people have anything to do, they do it at once -and with all their might. Then they drop that as something done for, and -without an instant's delay they turn to something else. That's the way -we must manage." - -"All right," said Will Moreraud. "Now that we're done with the flatboat -let's go at once to the hotel. First thing is to pack baggage." - -So they all set about getting their little belongings together. - -"What about our blankets, and the stove, and the cooking-utensils -and the remains of our food supplies, and our water filter, and the -fire extinguishers, and the tools?" asked Constant Thiebaud, in -consternation. "It'll take a day or two to sell them out." - -"Not if we set the right man at it," said Phil. "I'll go and see him." - -So he went to the merchant's clerk, who instantly said:-- - -"Pile 'em all out on the levee there, and put a card on top saying, 'For -sale--inquire on board the flatboat.' I'll sell 'em and render you an -account." - -"All right," said Phil, "but you'll accept your commission, of course?" - -"Of course. Business is business. We never work for our health on the -levee." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - -RED-LETTER DAYS IN NEW ORLEANS - - -Once comfortably settled at the little hotel near Dryades Street, the -boys proceeded to equip themselves for seeing the city. They bought a -new suit of clothes and a hat apiece, together with such underclothes, -linen, shoes, and socks as they needed. Indeed, they bought more than -was necessary for their immediate wants, because they would need the -clothes on their return home, and they could buy them much cheaper in -New Orleans than in Vevay. Phil decided to indulge himself in an -overcoat, the first that he had ever owned, and the others followed his -example. - -"Not that we are likely to need overcoats very pressingly in New Orleans -at this autumn season," said Irv, "but I for one have a lively -recollection of how cold it is in Vevay every winter." - -By appointment they called at the office of Mr. Kennedy, the commission -merchant, the next day, for a settlement. He furnished them with -carefully detailed accounts, made out by his bookkeepers, and gave them -drafts on New York for the money coming to them. - -"You'd better send your drafts by mail to your home bank," he said. "If -you need any money for your expenses while here, I'll furnish it, and -you can remit it from home." - -"Thank you!" responded Phil. "We shan't need any money for expenses -here. We've enough left of the money we started with, which we call our -'campaign fund,' for that. But how about our passage home? Do you happen -to know, sir, about how much that will cost us?" - -"Whatever you choose to make it cost you, from nothing at all up," -answered the merchant. - -A query or two brought out this explanation:-- - -"You've dropped some hints in our conversations"--for he had talked with -them at their hotel the evening before--"concerning your educational -plans, and I gather that you want to keep all you can of the money you -have made." - -"Precisely!" said Phil. "Except that we mean to stay here for a week to -see all we can of the city, we don't intend to spend a dollar that we -can save." - -"So I thought," said the merchant. "I have therefore taken the liberty -of making some inquiries for you. It happens that I am freighting a -steamboat with cotton, sugar, molasses, coffee, and fruits, for -Louisville. The captain is a good friend of mine. As he will have no -way-freight,--nothing to put on or off till he gets to Louisville, where -the stevedores will unload the boat,--he has very little for deck hands -or roustabouts to do. But there will be some 'wooding up' to do now and -then,--taking on wood for the furnaces,--and there will be the decks to -keep clean, the lanterns to keep in order, and all that sort of thing. -Now as you young men are stout fellows and pretty well used by this time -to roughing it, he has agreed, if you choose, to take you instead of the -roustabouts and deck hands ordinarily carried. There won't be any wages, -but you'll have your meals from the cook's galley and your passages to -Louisville free. Passage from there to Vevay will be a trifle, of -course." - -The boys were more pleased with the arrangement than they could explain -in words. But Phil tried to thank Mr. Kennedy, ending by saying, "I -don't know why you should take so much trouble for us, sir, as we're -complete strangers to you." - -"You don't know why?" asked the merchant, with smiles rippling over his -face. "Well, let me tell you that the man you rescued from a horrible -death up there in the Tallahatchie swamp is my brother-in-law, the woman -you saved is my sister, and the children my nephew and nieces. Now you -will understand that whatever you happen to want in New Orleans is -yours, if I know of your wanting it. We should all be more than glad to -do vastly more for such good friends as you if we could. But my -brother-in-law writes me that he talked with you about that, and -concluded that boys of your sort are likely to do much better for -themselves than anybody can do for them. Now, not a word more on that -subject, please," as Ed, with his big eyes full of tears, arose, -intending to say something of his own and his comrades' feelings. "Not a -word more. Besides, there's a clerk waiting for me at the door. Go to -the opera to-night, and hear some good music. One of my clerks will -leave tickets at the hotel for you. And be ready at noon to-morrow for a -drive. I'll call for you, and show you our town. Good-by now, -good-by--really, I mustn't talk longer. Good-by." - -And so the overwhelmed youngsters found themselves bowed out into Camp -Street without a chance to say a word of thanks. - -The next day, in two open carriages, Mr. Kennedy drove the boys -for hours over the beautiful and picturesque old city--up into the -Carrollton district, where are fine residences and broad streets; down -through the French Creole region, where the quaintness of the city is -something wholly unmatched in any other town in America; and out over a -beautiful road to Lake Pontchartrain, with luncheon at the Halfway -House. - -"This will be enough for to-day," said their host, as they rose from -their meal. "To-morrow morning, if you young gentlemen like, we'll drive -down to the battlefield, where Jackson won his famous victory and saved -the Mississippi River and all the region west of it from British -control. We'll drive into the city now, and you would do well to rest -this afternoon, for driving in this crisp autumn air makes one tired and -sleepy." - -The boys protested that he was unwarrantably taking his time for their -entertainment, but he had a way of turning off such things with a laugh -which left nothing else to be said. - -So the trip to the battlefield was made, but this time they had a second -companion in the person of a young professor from Tulane University, -whom Mr. Kennedy had pressed into service to explain the battlefield and -all the events connected with it. - -On the following day Mr. Kennedy took his young friends down the river -on a little steamer, on board which they passed a night and two days, -seeing the forts and hearing from the professor the story of the part -they had played in Farragut's celebrated river fight, and visiting the -jetties--those stupendous engineering works by which the government -deepened the mouth of the river so as to permit large ships to come up -to the city. - -On the way back from this two days' trip Mr. Kennedy invited the boys to -dine with him at his home on the next evening. With a queer smile upon -his lips, he said:-- - -"I ought to have asked you to my house sooner, perhaps, but I wasn't -ready. There were some little details that I wanted to arrange first." - -When the dinner evening came, the boys entered the stately mansion with -more of embarrassment than they would have cared to confess. It was the -finest house they had ever seen,--a stately, old-fashioned structure, -with broad galleries running around three of its sides, and with a -spacious colonnade in front. It stood in the midst of a garden of palm, -ilex, and magnolia trees, occupying an entire city block, and shut in by -a high brick wall, pierced by great gateways and little ones. - -Inside, the house was luxuriously comfortable, filled with old-fashioned -furniture, time-dulled pictures, and here and there a bit of statuary, -but with none of that painfully breakable looking bric-a-brac that one -finds so often and in such annoying profusion in the houses of the rich -or the well-to-do. There was nothing here that meant show, nothing that -did not suggest easy use and comfort. - -Mr. Kennedy himself followed the servant to the door to receive his -young friends. When he had ushered them into a homelike, "back-parlor" -sort of a room, he excused himself for a brief time and left them. About -a minute later they heard little feet pattering down the great hall, -and, an instant later, "Baby" toddled in. She paused a moment, and then -rushing into Phil's arms called aloud:-- - -"My boys! My big boys!" Then she raised her little voice, and cried:-- - -"Come, papa! Come, mamma! My boys is come!" - -This was the "little detail" that Mr. Kennedy had waited to arrange. He -had induced his sister and her husband to bring the children to New -Orleans, to await the flood's subsidence; and he had waited for their -arrival before inviting the boys to dinner, in order that their welcome -might be eager, and their enjoyment of his hospitality free from -embarrassment. - -In company with their flatboat guests, the lads felt completely at home, -and perhaps their shrewdly kind host aided toward this result by having -the dinner served in the most homelike and informal way that he could -manage. - -As the steamboat on which they were to "work their way" up the river -was to sail the next afternoon, this evening at Mr. Kennedy's was their -last in New Orleans. - -"And what a delightful finish it has been to all our experiences!" said -Irv, when they all got back to their hotel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII - -"IT" - - -There is not much more of this story for me to tell. The voyage up the -river involved very little of work, and nothing at all of adventure. The -steamboat was a slow one. She plodded along, day and night, never -landing except when it was necessary to take on fifty cords or so of -wood, with which to make steam. - -Phil and his comrades took pride in keeping the decks in most -scrupulously clean condition, and doing with earnest care the other -tasks--mostly very small ones--which fell to their lot. - -It took about nine days for the pottering old freight steamer to make -the journey to Louisville; for although the great flood had considerably -subsided, the Ohio was still sufficiently full for the boat to pass over -the falls and land her cargo at the city, instead of discharging it at -Portland, four miles below. - -Bidding farewell to their captain, the crew of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ donned their new clothes, and took passage for Vevay on the -mail boat. - -They landed at their home town late in the afternoon, hired a drayman to -haul their small baggage to their several homes, and proudly marched up -Ferry Street like the returning adventurers that they were, while all -the small boys in town trudged along with them precisely as they would -have followed a circus parade. - -After briefly visiting their homes and having reunion suppers there with -their families, the boys reassembled in their old meeting-place, Will -Moreraud's room over a store. There they made out all their accounts, -trying hard to make them look like those prepared by Mr. Kennedy's -bookkeepers in New Orleans. They were then ready to settle, on the next -day, with all the owners of the cargo they had carried. - -When all was arranged, Phil figured a while, and then said:-- - -"Fellows, we've netted a profit of exactly four hundred and fifty -dollars clear, by our trip. That's ninety dollars apiece to add to our -college fund. The money's in bank to my credit. I'll draw a check for -each fellow's share." - -When he had delivered to each of his comrades a check for ninety -dollars, he rose and stretched himself and said, with accents of -relief:-- - -"Now I'm not 'IT' any longer." - -"Oh, yes, you are," said Irv. "We fellows are going to stick together -now, you know. There's the study club, you remember. That will need an -'IT,' and you'll be the 'IT,' won't he, boys?" - -"You bet!" said all in a breath. - - * * * * * - -When Irv and Ed reported the voyage and the study club plan to Mrs. -Dupont, she entered enthusiastically into the scheme. - -"Don't go to school at all this year," she said. "Come to me instead. -When bright boys have made up their minds to study as hard as they can -without any forcing, all they need is a tutor to help them when they -need help. I'll be the tutor. The old schoolroom in my house, where I -taught you boys and your fathers the multiplication table long before -graded schools were thought of in this town, is unoccupied. Everything -in it is just as it was when you boys were with me. I'll have the maids -dust it up, and it shall be the home of the 'Study Club.'" - -When the boys told the wise old lady how Phil had been made "IT" on the -voyage, and how splendidly he had risen to his responsibilities, she -smiled, but showed no surprise. - -"I'm glad you boys had the good sense to choose Phil for your leader," -she said. "If you had asked me, I should have told you to do just that. -I am older than you by nearly half a century. I have taught several -generations of boys, and I think I know boys better than I know anything -else in the world. Now let me tell you about Phil. He was born to be -'IT,' he will always be 'IT,' though he will never try to be. He has a -gift--if I didn't detest the word for the bad uses it has been put to, -I'd say he has a 'mission' to be 'IT' in every endeavor that he may be -associated with. Whenever you're in doubt, be very sure that Phil is -your best 'IT.'" - -Here this story comes to an - -END - - - - -TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - -Where the original work uses text in italics, this e-text uses _text_. -Small capitals in the original work are represented here in all -capitals. - -Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to directly below the paragraph -to which they belong. - -Illustrations that were located mid-paragraph in the original work were -moved below the including paragraph. - -This text has been preserved as in the original, including archaic and -inconsistent spelling, punctuation and grammar, except as noted below. - -Obvious printer's errors have been silently corrected. - -Page 12: 'tussel' changed to 'tussle'. - -Page 90: 'Ouashita' changed to 'Ouachita'. - -Pages 100, 101 and 102: 'Pittsburg' is likely referring to 'Pittsburgh'. - -Page 140: 'fusilade' changed to 'fusillade'. - -Page 124: 'spliting' changed to 'splitting'. - -Page 337: 'Alleghanies' changed to 'Alleghenies' - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Last of the Flatboats, by George Cary Eggleston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE FLATBOATS *** - -***** This file should be named 44922-8.txt or 44922-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/9/2/44922/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Fred Salzer and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Last of the Flatboats - A Story of The Mississippi and its Interesting Family of Rivers - -Author: George Cary Eggleston - -Release Date: February 15, 2014 [EBook #44922] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE FLATBOATS *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Fred Salzer and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -[Illustration: THE RESCUE OF THE CASTAWAYS. - -"The rescue occupied considerable time and work." (See page 283.)] - - - - - The Last of the Flatboats - - _A Story of the Mississippi and its - interesting family of rivers_ - - By - - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - Author of "The Big Brother," "Captain Sam," - "The Signal Boys," "The Wreck of - the Red Bird," etc., etc. - - - BOSTON - LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY - - - COPYRIGHT, 1900, - BY LOTHROP - PUBLISHING - COMPANY. - - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith - Norwood Mass. U.S.A. - - - - - _TO MY LAST-BORN BOY_ - - CARY EGGLESTON - - _A brave, manly fellow - Who knows how to swim - How to catch fish - How to handle his boat - How to shoot straight with a rifle - And how to tell the truth every time_ - - I Dedicate - - _This Story about some other Boys of his kind_ - - GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON - - _Culross-on-Lake-George_ - - - - -Preface - - -Vevay, from which "The Last of the Flatboats" starts on its voyage down -the Mississippi, is a beautiful little Indiana town on the Ohio River, -about midway between Cincinnati and Louisville. The town and Switzerland -County, of which it is the capital, were settled by a company of -energetic and thrifty Swiss immigrants, about the year 1805. Their -family names are still dominant in the town. I recall the following as -familiar to me there in my boyhood: Grisard, Thiebaud, Le Clerc, -Moreraud, Detraz, Tardy, Malin, Golay, Courvoisseur, Danglade, Bettens, -Minnit, Violet, Dufour, Dumont, Duprez, Medary, Schenck, and others of -Swiss origin. - -The name Thiebaud, used in this story, was always pronounced "Kaybo" in -Vevay. The name Moreraud was called "Murrow." - -The map which accompanies this volume was specially prepared for it by -Lieut.-Col. Alexander McKenzie of the Corps of Engineers of the United -States Army. To his skill, learning, and courtesy I and my readers are -indebted for the careful marking of the practically navigable parts of -the great river system, and for the calculation of mileage in every -case. - - G. C. E. - - - - -Contents - - - Chapter Page - - I. The Rescue of the Pigs 9 - - II. How it All Began 17 - - III. Captain Phil 27 - - IV. A Hurry Call 33 - - V. On the Banks of the Wonderful River 40 - - VI. The Pilot 47 - - VII. Talking 56 - - VIII. The Right to the River 62 - - IX. What happened at Louisville 71 - - X. Jim 77 - - XI. The Wonderful River 86 - - XII. The Wonderful River's Work 95 - - XIII. The Terror of the River 105 - - XIV. In the Home of the Earthquakes 118 - - XV. In the Chute 131 - - XVI. "Talking Business" 147 - - XVII. At Anchor 161 - - XVIII. At Breakfast 170 - - XIX. Scuttle Chatter 179 - - XX. At Memphis 190 - - XXI. A Wrestle with the River 198 - - XXII. In the Fog 209 - - XXIII. Through the Crevasse 219 - - XXIV. A Little Amateur Surgery 228 - - XXV. A Voyage in the Woods 236 - - XXVI. The Crew and their Captain 245 - - XXVII. A Struggle in the Dark 251 - - XXVIII. A Hard-won Victory 261 - - XXIX. Rescue 278 - - XXX. A Yazoo Afternoon 291 - - XXXI. An Offer of Help 304 - - XXXII. Publicity 312 - - XXXIII. Down "The Coast" 324 - - XXXIV. A Talk on Deck 336 - - XXXV. Looking Forward 348 - - XXXVI. The Last Landing 361 - - XXXVII. Red-Letter Days in New Orleans 370 - - XXXVIII. "It" 379 - - - - -The Last of the Flatboats - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE RESCUE OF THE PIGS - - -"Give it up, boys; you're tired, and you've been in the water too long -already. And, besides, I've decided that this job's done." - -It was Ed Lowry who spoke. He was lying on the sand under a big sycamore -tree that had slid, roots and all, off the river bank above, and now -stood leaning like a drunken man trying to stand upright. - -Ed was a tall, slender, and not at all robust boy, with a big head, and -a tremendous shock of half-curly hair to make it look bigger. - -The four boys whom he addressed had been diving in the river and -struggling with something under the water, but without success. Three of -them accepted Ed's suggestion, as all of them were accustomed to do, -not because he had any particular right to make suggestions to them, but -because he was so far the moral and intellectual superior of every boy -in town, and was always so wise and kindly and just in his decisions, -that they had come to regard his word as a sort of law without -themselves quite knowing why. - -Three of the boys left the river, therefore, shook the water off their -sunburned bodies,--for they had no towels,--and slipped into the loose -shirt and cottonade trousers that constituted their sole costume. - -The other boy--Ed's younger brother, Philip--was not so ready to accept -suggestions. In response to Ed's call, he cried out in a sort of mock -heroics:-- - -"Never say die! In the words of the immortal Lawrence, or some other -immortal who died a long time ago, 'Don't give up the ship!' _I'm_ going -to get that pig if it takes all summer." - -The boys all laughed as they threw themselves down upon the sand by Ed. - -"Might as well let him alone," said Will Moreraud; "he never will quit." - -Meantime Phil had dived three or four times more, each time going down -head first, wrestling with the object as long as he could hold his -breath, and each time manifestly moving one end or the other of it -nearer the shore, and into shallower water, before coming to the surface -again. - -When he had caught his breath after the third or fourth struggle, he -called out:-- - -"I say, boys, it isn't a pig at all, but a good average-sized elephant. -'Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish,' _I'm_ going to get that -animal ashore." - -"He'll do it, too," said Constant Thiebaud. - -"Of course he will," drawled Irving Strong. "It's a way he has. He never -gives up anything. Don't you remember how he stuck to that sum in the -arithmetic about that cistern whose idiotic builder had put three -different sized pipes to run water into it, and two others of still -different sizes to run water out? He worked three weeks over that thing -after all the rest of us gave it up and got Mrs. Dupont to show us--and -he got it, too." - -"Yes, and he can do it now backwards or forwards or standing on his -head," said Constant Thiebaud; "while there isn't another boy here that -can do it at all." - -"Except Ed Lowry," said Irving Strong. "But then, he's different, and -knows a whole lot about the higher mathematics, while we're only in -algebra. How is it, Ed? You've been sick so much that I don't believe -you ever did go to school more than a month at a time, and yet you're -ahead of all of us." - -Just then Phil came up after a long tussle under the water, and this -time stood only a little way from shore where the water was not more -than breast high. He cried:-- - -"Now I've 'met the enemy and it's ours,' or words to that effect. I've -got the elephant into three feet of water, but I can't 'personally -conduct' it ashore. Come here, all of you, and help." - -The boys quickly dropped out of their clothes, and went to their -comrade's assistance. - -"What is the thing, anyhow?" asked Irving Strong. - -"I don't know," said Phil. "All I know is that it's got elbows and -wrists and all sorts of burs on it, on which I've been skinning my shins -for the last half hour; and that it is heavier than one of your -compositions, Irv." - -The thing was in water so shallow that all the boys at once could get at -it merely by bending forward and plunging their heads and shoulders -under the surface. But it was so unwieldy that it took all five of -them--for Ed too had joined, as he always did when there was need of -him--fully ten minutes to bring it out upon shore. - -"I say, boys," said Ed, "this is a big find. It's that ferry-boat shaft -the iron man told us about, and you remember we are to have fifty -dollars for it." - -"Then hurrah for Phil Lowry's obstinate pertinacity!" said Irving -Strong. "That's what Mrs. Dupont called it when she bracketed his name -and mine together on the bulletin-board as 'Irreclaimable whisperers.' -Phil, you may be irreclaimable, but you've proved that this shaft -isn't." - -It was just below the little old town of Vevay on the Ohio River, where -Swiss names and some few Swiss customs still survived long after the -Swiss settlers of 1805 were buried. To be exact, it was at "The Point," -where all Vevay boys went for their swimming because it lay a little -beyond the town limits, and so Joe Peelman, the marshal, could not -arrest them for swimming there in daylight without their clothes. - -During the high water of the preceding winter a barge loaded with -pig-iron had broken in two there and sunk. The strong current -quickly carried away what was left of the wrecked barge,--which had -been scarcely more than a great oblong box,--leaving the iron to be -undermined by the water and to sink into the sand and gravel of the -bottom. - -The agent who came to look after matters quickly decided that at such a -place very little of the cargo could ever be recovered--not enough to -justify him in sending a wrecking force there. He thought, too, that by -the time of summer low water--for the Ohio runs very low indeed in July -and August--the iron would have settled and scattered too much to be -worth searching for. - -But Phil Lowry not only never liked to give up, he never liked to see -anybody else give up. So what he looked upon as the iron man's weak -surrender gave him an idea. He said to the agent:-- - -"That iron's where we boys go swimming in summer-time. If we get any of -it out during the low water, can we have it? Is it 'finder's keeper'?" - -"Well, no," said the man, hesitating. "But I'll tell you what I'll do. -If you boys get out any considerable quantity,--say fifty tons or -more,--enough to justify me in sending a steamboat after it, I'll pay -you three dollars a ton salvage for it." - -So the boys formed a salvage copartnership. Long-headed Ed Lowry, in -order to avoid misunderstandings, drew up an agreement, and the iron man -signed it. It gave the boys entire charge of the wreck, and bound the -owner to pay for recovered iron as he had proposed. Just before signing -the paper the agent remembered the ferry-boat wheel shaft, which had -been a part of the cargo; and as it was a valuable piece of property, -which he particularly wanted to recover, he added a clause to the -contract agreeing to pay an additional fifty dollars for it, if by any -remote chance it should be saved. - -During the summer the boys had been specially favored by circumstances. -The river had gone down much earlier that year than usual, and it -went at last much lower than it had done for many years past. As a -consequence they had prospered well in their enterprise. Their pile of -iron "pigs" on the shore when the shaft was found amounted to three -hundred tons, and the agent was to arrive by the packet that night to -pay for it and take possession. This was, therefore, their last day's -work, and thanks to Philip Lowry's "obstinate pertinacity" it was the -most profitable day's work of them all. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -HOW IT ALL BEGAN - - -When the wheel shaft was tugged ashore, the boys slipped on their -clothes again and retired to the shade of the big sycamore tree, where -Ed Lowry had left the book he had been reading. Ed Lowry always had a -book within reach. - -Philip threw himself down to rest. He was not only tired, he was -physically "used up" with his labors under water in tugging first one -and then the other end of the heavy shaft toward the shore. - -It would have been very hard work even in the open air. Under water, and -without breath, it had completely exhausted the boy. Just now he was -bent upon sleep. So in spite of the sun glare, and in spite of the -chatter around him, and still more, in spite of a sense of triumph which -was strong enough in him to have kept anybody else awake, he fell into a -profound slumber. - -"Well, we've finished the job," said Constant Thiebaud after a while. -"What's the result, Ed?" - -Ed Lowry pulled a memorandum out of his pocket and studied it for a -while. - -"We have saved a trifle over three hundred tons of pig-iron," he -replied, "and for that, at $3.00 a ton, will get a little over $900. -We're to get $50 more for the shaft, which makes $950. It'll be a trifle -more than that, but not enough more to count. My calculation is that we -shall have about $190 apiece when the agent settles with us -to-night--possibly $195." - -"And a mighty good summer's work it is," said Will Moreraud. - -"Especially as it's been all fun," said Irv Strong, "to a parcel of -amphibious Ohio River boys who would have stayed in the water most of -the time anyhow. It's better fun diving after pig-iron than after -mussel-shells, isn't it?" - -Irving was the only boy in the party whose people were comparatively -well-to-do, and who could therefore afford to think of the fun they -had had without much concern for the profits. But Irv Strong had no -trace of arrogance in his make-up. He could have dressed, if he had -chosen, in much better fashion than any other boy in town. But he chose -instead to wear blue cottonade trousers and a tow linen shirt, and to -go barefoot just as his comrades did. So in speaking of the pleasure -they had had, he put the matter in a way that all could sympathize -with. For truly they had had more "fun" as he called it, than ever -before in their lives. Ed Lowry could have told them why. He could have -explained to them how much a real purpose, an object worth struggling -for, adds to the enjoyment people get out of sport; but Ed usually kept -his philosophy to himself except when there was a need for it. Just now -there was no need. The boys were as happy as possible in the completion -of their task, just as they had been as happy as possible in performing -it. Satisfaction is better than an explanation at any time, and Ed Lowry -knew it. - -There was silence for a considerable time. Perhaps all the boys were -tired after their hard day's work. Presently Constant Thiebaud spoke. - -"A hundred and ninety dollars apiece! That's more money than any of us -ever saw before. I say, boys, what are we going to do with it?" - -There was a pause. - -"Let him speak first who can speak best," said Irv Strong. "So, Ed -Lowry, what are you going to do with _your_ share of the money?" - -"I'm going shopping with it--shopping for some 'bargain counter' -health," replied the tall boy. - -"How do you mean?" asked two boys at once, and eagerly. - -"Well, my phthisic was very bad last winter, you know. It isn't phthisic -at all, I think. Phthisic is consumption, and I haven't that--yet." - -He spoke hopefully, rather than confidently. He hoped his malady might -not be a fatal one, but sometimes he had doubts. - -Let me say here that his hope was better founded than his fear. For at -this latter end of the century, Ed Lowry--under his own proper name and -not under that which I am hiding him behind in this story--is not only -living, but famous. His bodily strength has always been small, but the -work he has done in the world with that big brain of his has been very -great, and his name--the real one I mean--is familiar to everybody who -reads books or cares for American history. - -"But whatever it is," Ed continued, "the doctor wants me to go South for -this winter, and now that I've got money enough, I'm going to do it." - -"But you haven't got money enough," said Irv Strong. "A hundred and -ninety dollars won't much more than pay your steamboat fare to New -Orleans and back. What are you going to live on down there--especially -if you get sick?" - -The irrepressible Phil selected this as the time to wake up. "Well," he -said, sitting up in the sand and locking his muscular arms around his -knees, "_I'm_ in this game a little bit myself. I've got one whole -hundred and ninety dollars' worth of stake in that big pile of iron; and -from Mrs. Dupont down to the last one-suspendered chap in the lot of -you, you are all always talking about my 'obstinate pertinacity.' Well, -my 'pertinacity' just now 'obstinately' declares that Ed shall take my -share in the stake and spend it for his health. He shakes his head, but -if he won't, then I 'solemnly swear or affirm' that I'll take every -dollar of it out to the channel there and throw it in. I'll--" - -But Phil had broken down. His affection for his half-invalid brother was -the one thing that nothing could ever overcome. He didn't weep. That is -to say, none of the boys saw him shed tears, but instead of finishing -the sentence he was uttering, he suddenly became interested in the -pebbles along the river shore, fifty yards lower down the stream. - -Ed, too, found it difficult just then to say anything. Ed had always -been disposed to worry himself about Phil--to regulate him, and when he -couldn't do that, to suffer in his own mind and conscience for his -brother's misdeeds--which, after all, were usually nothing worse than -manifestations of excessive boyish enthusiasm, the undue use of slang, -and an excessive devotion to purposes which Ed's calmer temper could not -quite approve. Just now Ed had made a new discovery. He had found out -something of the rattling, restless, reckless boy's character which he -had never fully known before. For he did not know, as the other boys -did, how Phil, a year ago, had waited for half an hour behind the -schoolhouse, and armed with stones had wreaked a fearful vengeance upon -the big bully twice his size, who had used his strength cruelly to -torment Ed's weakness. That story had been kept from Ed, because it was -well understood that he did not approve of fighting; and the boys, who -fully sympathized with the little fellow's animosity against the big -bully, didn't want him censured for his battle and victory. - -So there was silence after Phil's declaration of his purpose, which -every boy there knew that he would fulfil to the letter. At last Ed -said:-- - -"On my own share of the money I could go by taking deck passage." - -"Yes," cried Phil, suddenly reappearing in a sort of wrath that was very -unusual with him--"yes, and live on equal terms with a lot of dirty, -low-lived wretches--ugh! Now see here, Ed! I've told you you are to take -my share of the money. If you don't, I'll do exactly what I said,--I'll -get it changed into coin, and I'll drop it into the river at a point -where no diving will ever get it. I've said my say. I'll do my do." - -"Look here," drawled Irv Strong, after a moment. "Let's _all_ go to New -Orleans, and don't let's pay any steamboat fare at all except to get -back!" - -"But how?" asked three boys, in a breath. - -"Let's run a flatboat! In my father's day, pretty nearly all the hay, -grain, bacon, apples, onions, and the like, grown in this part of the -country, were sent to New Orleans in flatboats. I don't see why it -wouldn't pay for us to take a flatboat down the river now. We've more -than enough money to build and run her, and we can get a cargo, I'll bet -a brass button." - -The boys were all eagerness. They knew, of course, what a flatboat was, -but they had seen very few craft of that sort, as the old floating -flatboats had almost entirely given place on the Ohio to barges, towed, -or rather pushed, by big, stern-wheel steamboats. For the benefit of -readers who never saw anything of the kind, let me explain. - -A flatboat was simply a big, overgrown, square-bowed and square-sterned -scow, with a box-like house built on top. She could carry a very heavy -cargo without sinking below her gunwales, and the house on top, with its -roof of slightly curved boards, was to hold the cargo. There was a -little open space at the bow to let freight in and out, while a part of -the deck-house at the stern was made into a little box-like cabin for -the crew. The scow part, or boat proper, was strongly built, with great -timber gunwales, and a bottom of two-inch plank tightly caulked. The -freight-house built on it was so put together that only a few of the -planks were required to have nails in them, so that when the boat -reached New Orleans she could be sold as lumber for more than she had -originally cost. - -She was simply floated down the river by the current. There were two big -oars, or "sweeps," as they were called, with which the men by rowing -could give the craft steerage way--that is to say, speed enough to let -the big steering oar throw her stern around as a rudder does, and guide -her course. All this was necessary in making sharp turns in the channel -to keep off bars; but as the flatboats usually went down the river only -at high stages of water, the chief use of the oars was to make landings. - -Ed could have told his comrades some interesting facts concerning the -enormous part that the flatboats once played in that commerce which -built up the great Western country; but, as Irv Strong said, there was -"already a question before the house. That question is, 'Why can't we -five fellows build a flatboat, load her, and take her down the river?' -We'll be the 'hands' ourselves, and won't charge ourselves any wages, so -we can certainly carry freight cheaper than any steamboat can. We'll -earn some more money, perhaps, and if we don't, we'll have lots of fun, -and best of all, we'll 'bust that broncho,' or bronchitis of Ed's--for -that's what it is. They call it phthisic only because that's the very -hardest word in the book to spell." - -The sun was getting low, but the boys were deeply interested. They would -have determined upon the project then and there but for Ed's caution. As -it was, they made him a sort of committee of one to inquire into -details, to find out what it would cost to build a flatboat, what living -expenses would be necessary for her boy crew, what it would cost them -for passage back from New Orleans, and on what terms they could get a -cargo. - -This is how it all began. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -CAPTAIN PHIL - - -Ed's report was in all respects favorable to the enterprise. Perry -Raymond, who in the old days had built many scores of flatboats, was now -too old to undertake an active enterprise. But he told Ed, to the very -last board, how much lumber would be required, and the price of every -stick in it. He volunteered, as a mere matter of favor and without any -charge whatever, to superintend and direct the work of the boys in -building a boat for themselves. The result was that they could build a -boat for a very small fraction of their money, and Perry promised to -show them how to caulk it for themselves. - -Ed had seen the principal merchants of the place, also. It was their -practice to exchange goods for country produce--any sort that might come -to them, whether hay, or onions, or garlic, or butter, or eggs, or -wheat, or wool, or corn, or apples, or what not. - -It was their business to know pretty accurately how much of each kind of -produce they were likely to get during any given season in return for -their goods, and how best to market it. They knew to a nicety how much -butter and how many eggs or how many bushels of onions or how many -pounds of hay they could get for a parasol or a bit of lace or a calico -dress or a sack of coffee. Their chief problem was how to sell all these -things to the best advantage afterward. Usually they found their best -market down the river. - -So when Ed Lowry presented the case to them they were quick to see -advantage in it. His proposal was that the boys should provide the -flatboat and take her to New Orleans at their own expense; that the -merchants should furnish a cargo to be sold on commission either at New -Orleans or on "the coast," as the river country for a few hundred miles -above that city is called, the boys to have a certain part of the money -as freight and a certain other part as "commission." - -Every merchant in town was ready to furnish a part of the cargo, and it -seemed altogether probable that the boys would easily secure more -freight than they could carry, though their flatboat was to be one of -the biggest that ever floated down the river. As she was likely also to -be one of the last, coming as she did long after that system of river -transportation had been generally abandoned, Irv Strong, in a burst of -eloquence, proposed that she should be called _The Last of the -Flatboats_, in order, he said, "that she may take rank with those noble -literary productions, 'The Last of the Barons,' 'The Last of the -Mohicans,' 'The Last of the Mamelukes,' 'The Last Days of Pompeii,' and -'The Lay of the Last Minstrel.'" - -Ed Lowry laughed, and the other boys voted for the name proposed. - -As the boat was nearing completion, a few weeks later, and indeed had -already received a part of her cargo, the question arose, who should be -her captain. - -The first impulse of everybody concerned was to say "Ed Lowry," but Ed -vetoed that. - -"I'm an invalid," he said, "or half an invalid at the best, and this -thing isn't play. There are very serious duties for the captain of a -flatboat to do. He must be able to expose himself in all weathers, which -I can't do. He must be ready in resource and very quick to decide. In an -emergency, it is far more important to have a quick decision than a wise -one, and especially to have the one who decides a resolute person who -will carry his decision into effect." - -"I see," said Irving Strong. "What we need in a captain is 'obstinate -pertinacity.' I move that Phil Lowry, as the possessor of a large and -varied stock of that commodity, be made captain of _The Last of the -Flatboats_." - -As Phil was the very youngest of the group, and as he had always been -regarded rather as a ready than a discreet thinker, there was a moment's -hesitation. But a little thought convinced every one of the boys that -Phil was by all odds the one among them best fit to undertake the -difficult task of command--the one most likely to bring the enterprise -to a successful termination, especially if any serious difficulties -should arise, as was pretty certain to happen. - -"It's an awful responsibility for Phil to assume," said Ed that night to -their widowed mother, a woman of unusual wisdom. - -"Yes," she replied; "but, after all, he is the one best fit, and that -ought to be the only ground on which men or boys are selected for places -of responsibility. Besides, it will educate Philip in much that he needs -to learn. No matter what happens on the voyage, he will come back the -better for it. He ought to have the discipline that responsibility -gives. The one lesson he most needs to learn is that he is not merely an -individual, but a part of a whole: that his conduct in any case affects -others as well as himself, and that he is, therefore, responsible to -others and for others. It is well that you boys have made him your -captain. Now remember to hold up his hands and obey him loyally in every -case of doubt. That will be hard for you, Edward, because of your -superior knowledge--" - -"No, it won't, mother, pardon me," responded Ed: "first, because I know -too much about some things not to know that other people know more than -I do about others; and secondly, because I thoroughly understand what -Napoleon meant when he said that 'one bad general in command of an army -is better than two good ones.' The most unwise order promptly executed -usually results better than the wisest order left open to debate. Phil -will never leave things open to debate when the time comes for quick -action, and besides, mother, I have a much better opinion of Phil's -capacity for command than you think. His readiness and resourcefulness -are remarkable. He may or he may not get us safely to New Orleans. But -if he doesn't, I shall be perfectly certain that nobody else in the -party could." - -So it was that Phil Lowry, the youngest of the party, and the most -harum-scarum boy in all Vevay, was chosen captain of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ by those who were to voyage with him, simply because they all -believed him to be the one best fit for the place. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A HURRY CALL - - -Without theorizing about it, and, indeed, without knowing the fact, Phil -began at once to rise to his responsibility. The success of the -enterprise, he felt, depended in a large degree upon him, and he must -think of everything necessary in advance. - -One night, late in September, he asked his comrades to meet him "on -business" in Will Moreraud's room over a store. When they were all -gathered around the little pine table with a smoky lamp on it, Phil drew -out a carefully prepared memorandum and laid it before him. Then he -began:-- - -"As you've made me responsible in this business, I've been studying up a -little. The river's going to rise earlier than usual this year, and in -two weeks at most there'll be water enough to get the boat over the -falls at Louisville." - -"How do you know that?" broke in Constant Thiebaud, incredulously. - -"Because there has already been a smart rise all along, as you know, and -heavy rains are falling in the West Virginia and Pennsylvania mountains. -The Allegheny River is bank full; the Monongahela is over its banks; and -the Muskingum and the Big Kanawha and the Little Kanawha are all rising -fast. There'll be lots of water here almost before we know it." - -"Whew!" cried Irving Strong, rising,--for he could never sit still when -anything interesting was under discussion,--"but how in the name of all -the 'ologies do you know what's going on in the Virginia mountains, and -the rivers, and all that?" - -"I've been reading the Cincinnati papers every day since you made me -'IT'; that's all. Mr. Schenck lends them to me." - -"Well, Gee Whillicks!" exclaimed Constant, "who'd 'a' thought of that!" - -"No matter," said Phil, a little abashed by the approbation of his -foresight which he saw in all the boys' eyes and heard in all their -voices. "No matter about that; but I've more to say. The sooner we can -get away with the flatboat, the better." - -"Why? What difference does it make?" - -"Well, for most of the things we are taking as freight the prices are -apt to be much higher in the fall than later, after the steamboats load -up the market. That's what Mr. Shaw says, and he knows. So we must get -the boat loaded just as quickly as we can, and go out as soon as there -is water enough to get her over the falls." - -"But we can't do that," said Ed, "because most of the produce we are to -take hasn't been brought to town yet. The hay is here, of course, but -apples have hardly begun to come in--" - -"That's just what I'm coming to," interrupted Phil. "I've been studying -all that. We could get enough freight for two cargoes by waiting for it, -but the best figuring I can do shows only about three-quarters of a load -now actually in town. I propose that we go to work to-morrow and get the -other quarter. That's what I called you together for." - -"Where are we to get it?" - -"Along the river, below town--in the neighborhood of Craig's Landing." - -"But how?" asked Ed. - -"By hustling. I've made out a list of everybody that produces anything -for ten miles down the river and five miles back into the hills,--Mr. -Larcom, Captain John Wright, Johnny Lampson, Mr. Albritton, Gersham -McCallum and his brother Neil, Algy Wright, Mr. Minnit, Dr. Caine, Mr. -Violet--and so on. Craig's Landing is the nearest there is to all of -them, and they can all get their produce there quickly. I propose that -every boy in the crew take his foot in his hand early to-morrow morning, -and that we visit every farmer in the list and persuade him to send his -stuff to the landing at once. I've already seen Captain Wright,--saw him -in town to-day,--and he promises me thirty barrels of apples and seventy -bushels of onions with some other things. I'll go myself to Johnny -Lampson. He has at least a hundred barrels of apples, and I'll get them. -They aren't picked yet, but I'll offer him our services to pick them -immediately for low wages, and so--" - -"I say, boys!" broke in Irv Strong, "I move three cheers for 'obstinate -pertinacity.' It's the thing that 'goes' in this sort of business." - -"And in most others," quietly rejoined Ed Lowry. "I'm afraid I've never -properly appreciated it till now." - -Phil had some other details to suggest, for he had been trying very -earnestly to think of everything needful. - -They would need some skiffs, and he reported that Perry Raymond had six -new ones, of his own building, which he proposed to let them have as a -part of the cargo. They were to use any of them as needed on the voyage, -and their use was to offset freight charges. They were to sell the -skiffs at New Orleans or above, and to have a part of the proceeds as -commission. - -"I move we accept the offer," said Will Moreraud. "It's a good one." - -"It is already accepted," replied the young captain a trifle sharply. -"_I_ closed the bargain at once." - -His tone was not arrogant, but it was authoritative. It was a new one -for him to take, and it rather surprised the boys, but on the whole it -did not displease them. It meant that their young captain intended to be -something more effective than the chairman of a debating club; that -having been asked to assume authority, he purposed to exercise it; that -being in command, he meant to command in fact as well as in name. - -Some of them talked the matter over later that evening, and though they -felt a trifle resentful at first, they finally concluded that the boy's -new attitude promised well for the enterprise, and, better still, that -it was right. - -"You see he isn't 'cocky' about it at all," said Will Moreraud; "it just -means that in this game he's 'IT,' and he's going to give the word." - -"It means a good deal more than that," said shrewd Irv Strong, who had -been born the son of an officer in a regular army post. "It means we've -picked out the right fellow to be our 'IT,' and I, for one, stand ready -to support him with my eyes shut, every time!" - -"So do I," cried out all the lads in chorus. "Only you see," said -Constant, "we didn't quite expect it from Phil. Well--maybe if we had, -we'd have voted still louder for him for captain; that is, if we've got -any real sense." - -"It means," said Ed, gravely, "that if we fail to get _The Last of the -Flatboats_ safely to New Orleans, it will be our own fault, not his." - -"That's so," said Irving Strong. "But who'd ever have expected that -rattlepate to think out everything as he has done?" - -"And to be so desperately in earnest about it, too!" said another. - -"Well, I don't know," responded Irving. "You remember how he stuck to -that cistern sum. It's his way, only he's never before had so serious a -matter as this to deal with, and I imagine we have never quite known -what stuff he's made of." - -"Anyhow," said Will, "we're 'his to command,' and we'll see him -through." - -With a shout of applause for this sentiment the boys separated for -sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ON THE BANKS OF THE WONDERFUL RIVER - - -It was a busy fortnight that followed. The boys visited every farmer -within six miles of the landing to secure whatever freight he might be -willing to furnish. They picked and barrelled all of Lampson's apples, -dug and bagged and barrelled all the potatoes in that neighborhood, and -got together many small lots of onions, garlic, dried beans, and the -like, including about ten barrels of eggs. These last they collected in -baskets, a few dozen from each farm, and packed them at the landing. Of -course every shipper's freight had to be separately marked and receipted -for, so that the proper returns might be made. - -During all this time the boys had lived in a camp of their own making at -the landing, partly to guard the freight against thieves, partly to get -used to cooking, etc., for themselves, partly to learn to "rough it," -generally, and more than all because, being healthy-minded boys, they -liked camping for its own sake. - -Their little shelter was on the shore, just under the bank. They -occupied it only during rains. At other times they lived night and day -in the open air. They worked all day, of course, leaving one of their -number on guard, but when night came, they had what Homer calls a "great -bearded fire," built against a fallen sycamore tree of gigantic size, -and after supper they sat by it chatting till it was time to sleep. - -They were usually tired, but they were excited also, and that often kept -them awake pretty late. The vision of the voyage had taken hold upon -their imaginations. They pictured to themselves the calm joy of floating -fifteen hundred miles and more down the great river, of seeing strange, -subtropical regions that had hitherto been but names to them, seeming as -remote as the Nile country itself until now. - -And as they thought, they talked, but mainly their talk consisted of -questions fired at Ed Lowry, who was very justly suspected of knowing -about ten times as much about most things as anybody else in the -company. - -Finally, one night Irv Strong got to "supposing" things and asking Ed -about them. - -"Suppose we run on a sawyer," he said. Ed had been telling them about -that particularly dangerous sort of snag. - -"Well," said Ed, "we'll try to avoid that, by keeping as nearly as we -can in the channel." - -"But suppose we find that a particularly malignant sawyer has squatted -down in the middle of the channel, and is laying for us there?" - -"I doubt if sawyers often do that," said Ed, meditatively. - -"Well, but suppose one cantankerous old sawyer should do so," insisted -Irv. "You can 'suppose a case' and make a sawyer anywhere you please, -can't you?" - -Everybody laughed. Then Ed said: "Now listen to me, boys. I've been -getting together all the books I can borrow that tell anything about the -country we're going through, and I'll have them all on board. My plan is -to lie on my back in the shade somewhere and read them while you fellows -pull at the oars, cook the meals, and do the work generally. Then, when -you happen to have a little leisure, as you will now and then, I'll -tell you what I've learned by my reading." - -"Oh, that's your plan, is it?" asked Phil. - -"Yes, I've thought it all out carefully," laughed Ed. - -"Well, you'll find out before we get far down the river what the duties -of a flatboat hand are, and you'll _do_ 'em, too, 'accordin' to the -measure of your strength,' as old Mr. Moon always says in experience -meeting." - -"But reading and telling us about it is what Ed can do best," said Will -Moreraud, "and that's what we're taking him along for." - -"Not a bit of it," quickly responded Phil. "We're taking him along to -make him well and strong like the rest of us, and I'm going to keep him -off his back and on his feet as much as possible, and besides--" - -"But, Phil, old fellow," Ed broke in, "didn't you understand that I was -only joking?" - -Ed asked the question with a tender solicitude to which Phil responded -promptly. - -"Of course I did," he replied. "You always do your share in everything, -and sometimes more. But I don't think you understand. You know we -started this thing for you. I don't know--maybe you'll never get well if -we don't do our best to make you--" but Phil had choked up by this time, -and he broke away from the group and went down by the river. A little -later Ed joined him there and, grasping his hand, said:-- - -"I understand, old fellow." - -"No, you don't; at least not quite," replied the boy, who had now -recovered control of his voice. "You see it's this way. You and I are -_twins_. You're some years older than I am, of course, but we've always -been twins just the same." - -"Yes, I understand all that, and feel it." - -"No, not all," persisted the younger boy. "You see I've got all the -health there is between us, and it isn't fair. If you should--well, if -anything should happen to you, I'd never forgive myself for not finding -out some way of dividing health with you--" - -"But, my dear brother--" broke in Ed. - -"Don't interrupt me, now," said Phil, almost hysterically, "because I -must tell you this so that you will understand. When we made up this -scheme and you fellows chose me captain, I got to thinking how much -depended on me. There was the cargo, representing other people's money, -and I was responsible for that. There was the safety of the boat and -crew, and that depended upon me, too. But these weren't the heavy things -to me. There was your health! That depended on me in a fearful way. I -felt that I must find out what was best for you to do and then _make_ -you do it." He laughed a little. "That sounds funny, doesn't it? The -idea of my 'making' you do things!--Never mind that. I went to Dr. -Gale--" - -"What for?" asked Ed, in astonishment at this new revelation of the -change in Phil's happy-go-lucky ways. - -"To find out just what it would be best for you to do and not to do, in -order to make you well and strong like me." He choked a little, but -presently recovered himself and continued. "I found out, and I mean to -_make_ you do the things that will save you, even if you hate me for -my--" - -He could say no more. There was no need. Ed, with his ready mind and -big, generous heart, understood, though he wondered. He grasped his -brother's hand again and said, between something like sobs:-- - -"And I'll obey you, Phil! Thank you, and God bless you! Be sure I could -never hate you or do anything but love you, and you must always know -that I understand." - -Then the two turned away from each other. - -On their return to Vevay a few evenings later, Ed said to his mother:-- - -"You were right, mother; responsibility has already worked a miracle in -Phil's character." - -"No, you are wrong," said the wise mother. "It is only that you have -never quite understood your brother until now. Nothing really changes -character--at least nothing changes it suddenly. Circumstances do not -alter the character of men or women or boys. They only call out what is -already there. Responsibility and his great affection for you have not -changed your brother in the least. They have only served to make you -acquainted with him as you never were before." - -"Be very sure I shall never misunderstand him again!" said the boy, with -an earnestness not to be mistaken. - -[Illustration: LOADING THE FLATBOAT. - -"They worked like beavers getting cargo aboard."] - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE PILOT - - -The boys went hurriedly back to Vevay. They had cargo enough and to -spare. Indeed, they feared they might have difficulty in bestowing it -all on their boat. And the rise in the river was coming even earlier and -faster than Phil had calculated. They must get the Vevay part of their -load on board and drop down to Craig's Landing before the water should -reach their freight there, which lay near the river. So they hired a -farm hand to watch the goods at the landing and hastened to town. - -There they worked like beavers, getting cargo aboard, for it was no part -of their plan to waste money hiring anybody to do for them anything that -they could do for themselves. They loaded the boat under Perry Raymond's -supervision, for even the tightest and stiffest boat can be made to leak -like a sieve if badly loaded. - -Finally, everything was ready. The town part of the cargo was well -bestowed. Ed Lowry had deposited his books on top of tiers of hay bales, -in between barrels, and in every other available space, for there was no -room for them in the little cabin at the stern, where the boys must -cook, eat, sleep, and live. The cabin wasn't over twelve feet by ten in -dimensions, and a large part of its space was taken up by the six -sleeping-bunks. For besides themselves there was a pilot to be provided -for. - -His name was Jim Hughes. Beyond that nobody knew anything about him. He -had come to Vevay, from nowhere in particular, only a few days before -the flatboat's departure, and asked to be taken as pilot. He was willing -to go in that capacity without wages. He wanted "to get down the river," -he said, and professed to know the channels fairly well. - -"If he does," said Ed Lowry, "he knows a good deal more than most of the -old-time flatboat pilots did. With the maps I've secured I think we can -float the boat down the river without much need of a pilot anyhow. But -as Hughes offers to go for his passage, we might as well take him -along. We may get into a situation where his knowledge of the river, if -he has any, will be of use to us." - -So Jim Hughes was shipped as pilot of _The Last of the Flatboats_. - -When all was ready that gallant craft was cast loose at the Ferry street -landing, and as she drifted into the strong current, there was a cheer -from the boys on shore who had assembled to see their schoolmates off. - -"She floats upon the bosom of the waters," cried Irv Strong, "with all -the grace of a cow learning to dance the hornpipe." - -Irv was in exuberant spirits, as he always was in fact. He was like soda -water with all its fizz in it, no matter what the circumstances might -be, and just now the circumstances were altogether favorable. - -"I say, boys," he cried, "let's have a little dance on deck! Tune up -your fiddle, Constant." - -Constant dived into the cabin and quickly returned with his violin, -playing a jig even as he emerged from the little trap-door at the top of -the steps. - -Phil did not join in the dance, for he had discovered a cause of -anxiety. Their pilot was making a great show of activity where none -whatever was needed. From the Ferry street landing to "The Point" the -current ran swiftly in a straight line, and if let alone, the boat would -have gone in precisely the right direction. But Hughes was not letting -her alone. With long sweeps of his great steering-oar he was driving her -out dangerously near the head of the bar, now under water but still a -shoal. - -Phil, who was observing closely, called out:-- - -"I say, Jim, you must run further inshore, or you'll hit the head of the -bar." - -"Lem me alone," said Jim. "I know the river." - -Just then the boat scraped bottom on the bar. Phil called out quickly:-- - -"All hands to the larboard oars! Give it to her hard!" and himself -seizing the steering oar, he managed by a hair's breadth to swing the -great box--for that is all that a flatboat is--into the deep and rapid -channel near the Indiana shore. - -As she drifted into safe water, Phil said:-- - -"That's incident number one in the voyage." - -"Yes, and it came pretty near being chapter first and last in the -log-book of _The Last of the Flatboats_," replied Irv Strong. - -For several miles now there was nothing to do but float. But Phil was -closely watching Jim Hughes and observed that that worthy made three -visits to the hold,--as the cargo part of the boat is called,--going -down each time by the forward ladder and not by the stairs leading to -the cabin. - -When the boat reached the big eddy about half a mile above Craig's -Landing, it was necessary for all hands to go to the oars again in order -to make the landing. - -Presently Phil observed that Hughes was steering wildly. His efforts -with the steering oar were throwing the boat far out into the river, -away from the shore on which they were to land, and directly toward the -head of a strong channel which at this stage of water ran like a -mill-race along the Kentucky shore on the farther side of Craig's bar. -Should the boat be sucked into that channel, she would be carried many -miles down the stream before she could ever be landed even on the wrong -side of the river, and she could never come back to Craig's Landing -unless towed back by a steamboat. - -Phil, seeing the danger, asked: "Why don't you keep her inshore?" - -"None o' yer business. I'm steerin'," answered the pilot. - -One quick, searching glance showed Phil the extent of the man's -drunkenness,--or his pretence of drunkenness,--for Phil had doubts -of it. There were certain indications lacking. Yet if the fellow was -shamming, he was doing it exceedingly well. His tongue seemed thick, his -eyes glazed, and his walk across the deck appeared to be a mere stagger, -supported by the great oar that he was wielding to such mischievous -effect. - -There was not a moment to be lost if the landing was to be made at all. -Phil called all the boys to the larboard sweep and went to take -possession of the steering-oar. Jim Hughes resisted violently. Phil, -with a quietude that nobody had ever before seen him display under -strong excitement, picked up a bit of board from the deck, and instantly -knocked the big hulking fellow down by a blow on the head. - -The man did not get up again or indeed manifest consciousness in any -way. If this troubled the boy, as of course it must, he at least did -not let it interfere with his duty. He had a difficult task to do and he -must do it quickly. He gave his whole mind to that. The boys obeyed with -a will his shouted orders to "pull hard!" then for two of them to go to -the starboard oar and "back like killing snakes." In a little while the -boat swung round, and Phil called to Will Moreraud to "take a line -ashore in the skiff and make it fast." The youth did so, just in time to -prevent the boat from grounding in the shoal water below the landing. - -When everything was secure and the strenuous work done, the boy sank -down upon the deck and called to his brother. - -"See if I've killed him, won't you, Ed? _I_ can't." - -A very slight examination showed that, while the blow from the bit of -plank had brought some blood from the pilot's head, it had done no -serious damage. His stupor, it was Ed's opinion, was due to whiskey, not -to his chastisement. - -Nevertheless it was a very bad beginning to the voyage, and Phil was -strongly disposed to discharge the fellow then and there, and trust, as -he put it, to "a good map, open eyes, and ordinary common sense, as -better pilots than a drunken lout who probably doesn't know the river -even when he is sober." - -But the other boys dissuaded him. They thought that Jim's intoxication -was the result of his joy at getting off; that they could find his jug -in its hiding-place and throw it overboard,--which presently they -did,--and that after he should get sober, Jim's experience in -flat-boating might be of great advantage to them. - -"You see," said Ed Lowry, "we've taken a big responsibility. All this -freight, worth thousands of dollars, belongs to other people, and I -suppose half of it isn't even insured because the rates on flatboats are -so high. Think if we should lose it for lack of a pilot!" - -"Yes, think of that!" said two or three in a breath. - -"Very well," said Phil. "I yield to your judgment. But my own opinion is -that such a pilot is worse than none. I'll keep him for the present. But -I'll watch him, and if he gets any more whiskey or plays us any more -tricks, I'll set him ashore once for all if it's in the middle of an -Arkansas swamp." - -The river was rising now, more and more rapidly every hour. There was -three days' work to do getting the rest of the cargo aboard and making -room for it in the crowded hold. But at Ed Lowry's suggestion the boys -avoided overtaxing themselves. The energetic Swiss blood in the veins of -Constant Thiebaud and Will Moreraud prompted them to favor long hours -for work on the plea that they could make it up by rest while floating -down the river. - -But under Ed's advice Phil overruled them, and it was decided to -breakfast at six o'clock, work from seven to twelve, dine, rest for an -hour, and work again till five. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -TALKING - - -The pleasantest part of the day, under this arrangement, was that -between five o'clock and bedtime. - -The boys talked then, and talking is about the very best thing that -anybody ever does. It is by talk that we come to know those about us and -make ourselves known to them. It is by talk that we learn to like our -fellows, by learning what there is in them worth liking. And it is by -talk mainly that we find out what we think and correct our thinking. - -Ed Lowry was reading a book one day, when suddenly he looked up and -said:-- - -"I say, fellows, this is good. Lord Macaulay said he never knew what he -thought about any subject until he had talked about it. Of course that's -so with all of us, when you come to think of it." - -"Well, I don't know," said Phil. "I often talk about things and don't -know what I think about 'em even after I've talked. Here's this big -bond robbery, for example. I've read all about it in the Cincinnati -newspapers and I've talked you fellows deaf, dumb, and blind concerning -it. Yet, I don't know even now what I think about it." - -"I know what I think," said Will Moreraud. "I think the detectives are -'all off.'" - -"How?" asked all the boys in chorus. - -"Well, they're trying to find the man who is supposed to be carrying the -plunder. It seems to me they'd better look for the other fellows first; -for if they were caught, they'd soon enough tell where the man that -carries it is. They wouldn't go to jail and leave him with the stuff." - -"The worst of it is they're publishing descriptions of the fellow and -even of what they've noticed concerning his clothes and beard, as if a -thief that was up to a game like that wouldn't change his clothes and -part his hair differently and wear a different sort of beard, especially -after he's been told what they're looking for." - -"Yes, that's so," said Irving Strong, reading from one of Phil's -Cincinnati newspapers: - -"'Red hair'--a man might dye that--'parted on the left side and brushed -forward'--he might part it in the middle and brush it back, or have it -all cut off with one of those mowing machines the barbers use, just as -Jim Hughes does with his--" - -"Now I come to think of it," continued Irv, after a moment's thought, -"Jim answers the description in several ways,--limps a little with his -left leg, has red hair when he permits himself to have any hair at all, -has lost a front tooth, and speaks with a slight lisp." - -"Oh, Jim Hughes isn't a bank burglar," exclaimed Will Moreraud. "He -hasn't sense enough for anything of that sort." - -"Of course not," said Irv. "I didn't mean to suggest anything of the -kind. I merely cited his peculiarities to show how easily a detective's -description might lead men into mistakes. Why, Jim might even be -arrested on that description." - -"But all that isn't what Macaulay meant," said Ed. "He meant that a man -never really knows what he thinks about any subject till he has put his -thought into words and then turned it over and looked at it and found -out exactly what it is." - -"I guess that's so," drawled Irv. "I notice that whenever I try to think -seriously--" - -The boys all laughed. The idea of Irv Strong's thinking seriously seemed -peculiarly humorous to them. - -"Well, I do try sometimes," said Irv, "and whenever I do, I put the -whole thing into the exactest words I can find. Very often, when I get -it into exact words, I find that my opinions won't hang together and -I've got to reconstruct them." - -"Exactly!" said Ed Lowry. "And that is the great difficulty animals have -in trying to think. They haven't any words even in their minds. They -can't put their thoughts into form so as to examine them. It seems to me -that language is necessary to any real thinking, and that it is the -possession of language more than anything or everything else that makes -man really the lord of creation." - -"Yes," said Phil. "Even Bre'r Rabbit and Bre'r Fox and all the rest of -them are represented as putting their thoughts into words." - -"Perhaps," said Irv, "that's the reason why educated people think more -soundly than uneducated ones. They have a nicer sense of the meaning of -words." - -"Of course," said Ed. "I suppose that is what President Eliot of -Harvard meant when he said that 'the object of education is to teach a -man to express his thought clearly in his own language.'" - -"Very well," said Phil. "My own thought, clearly expressed in my own -language, is that it's time for supper. Come, stir your stumps, ye -philosophical pundits! Bring me the skillet and the frying-pan, the salt -pork to fry, and prepare the apples and potatoes and eggs to cook in the -fat thereof. In the classic language of our own time, get a move on you, -and don't forget the coffeepot; nor yet the coffee that is to be steeped -therein!" - -The boys were ready enough to respond. Their appetites, sharpened -by hard work in the open air, were clamorously keen. The supper -promised--fried pork, fried apples, fried eggs, and coffee with a -short-cake--seemed to them quite all that could be desired in the way of -luxury. They could eat it with relish, and sleep in entire comfort -afterward. Probably not one of my readers in a hundred could digest such -a supper at all. That is because not one reader in a hundred gives -himself a chance for robust health by working nine hours a day and -living almost entirely in the open air. - -Jim came out when supper was ready and helped eat it there on the shore. -At other than mealtimes it was his custom to stay on board the flatboat, -and not only so, but to keep himself below decks, although the weather -was still very warm. He had got over his drunkenness, but he was still -moody, apparently in resentment of the rough-and-ready treatment he had -received at Phil's hands. - -He rarely talked at all; when he did talk, it was usually in the dialect -of an entirely uneducated person. But now and then he used expressions -that no such person would employ. - -"He seems to slip into his grammar now and then," was Irv Strong's way -of putting it. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE RIGHT TO THE RIVER - - -By the time that the last of the cargo was bestowed, the boat was so -full that there was scarcely a place in which to hang the four -fire-extinguishers which Mr. Schenck had supplied for the protection of -the cargo, of which he owned a considerable part. - -The river by this time was bank full. Indeed, the flatboat lay that last -night almost under an apple tree, and directly over the place where -three days before the boys had cooked their meals. - -When the final start was made, therefore, it was only necessary to give -three or four strokes of the great "sweeps" to shove the craft out into -the stream. After that she was left free to float. The biggest bars were -at least ten feet under water, and the boat "drew" less than three feet, -heavily laden as she was. For the rest, the current could be depended -upon to "keep her in the river," as boatmen say, and the boys had -nothing to do, between Craig's Landing and Louisville, fifty or sixty -miles below, except pump a little now and then, cook their meals, and -set up the proper lights at night. Of course someone was always "on -watch," but as the time was divided between the five, that amounted to -very little. - -As the boat neared Louisville, Ed suggested to his brother that he had -better land above the town, and not within its limits. - -"Why?" asked Phil. "We've got to get some provisions as well as hire a -falls pilot, and it will be more convenient if we land at the levee." - -"But it will cost us five or ten dollars in good money for wharfage," -replied Ed. - -"But if we land above the town, how do we know the man owning the land -on which we tie up won't charge us just as much?" asked Irv Strong, who -had never seen a large city and wanted to get as good a glimpse as he -could of this one. - -"Because the Mississippi River and its tributaries are not 'navigable' -waters, but _are_ 'public highways for purposes of commerce,'" responded -Ed. "If they weren't that last, we couldn't run this boat down them at -all." - -"Not navigable?" queried Will Moreraud. "Well, looking at that big -steamboat out there, which has just come from Cincinnati, that statement -seems a trifle absurd." - -"Let me explain," said Ed. "The English common law, from which we get -ours, calls no stream 'navigable' unless the tide ebbs and flows in it. -And as the tide does not ebb and flow in the Mississippi much above New -Orleans, neither that great river nor any of its splendid tributaries -are recognized by the law as navigable." - -"Then the law is an idiot," said Irv Strong. - -"One of Dickens's characters said something like that," responded Ed, -"when he was told that the law supposes a married woman always acts -under direction of her husband. But both he and you are wrong, -particularly you, as you'll see when I explain. It is absolutely -necessary for the law to determine just how far a man's ownership of -land lying along a stream extends. You see that?" - -"Of course," was the general response. - -"Yes," continued Ed, "otherwise very perplexing questions would arise as -to what a man might or might not do along shore. Now in England, where -our law on the subject comes from, it is a fact that the tide ebbs and -flows in all the navigable parts of the rivers and nowhere else. So the -law made the tide the test, or rather recognized it as a test already -established by nature. - -"Now in order that commerce might be carried on, the law decreed that -the owner of land lying on a navigable stream should own only to the -edge of the bank--or to the 'natural break of the bank,' as the law -writers express it. This was to prevent owners of the shores from -levying tribute on ships that might need to land or anchor in front of -their property. - -"But on streams that were not navigable, no such need existed. On the -contrary, it was very desirable, for many reasons, that the owners of -the banks should be free to deal as they saw fit with the streams in -front--to straighten or deepen them, and all that sort of thing. So the -law decreed that on streams not navigable the owner of the bank should -own to 'the middle thread of the water,' wherever that might happen to -be. - -"Now as all these great rivers of ours, the very greatest in the world, -by the way, are in law non-navigable, it follows that the men who own -their banks own the rivers also, the man on each side owning to the -middle thread of water. Naturally, these men could step in and say that -nobody should run a boat through their part of the river without paying -whatever toll they might choose to charge. Under such a system it would -be impossible to use the rivers at all. It would cost nobody knows how -many thousands of dollars in tolls to run a boat, say from Cincinnati to -New Orleans." - -"Well, why don't it, then?" asked Will Moreraud. "Why can't every farmer -whose land we pass come out and make us pay for using his part of the -river?" - -"For the same reason," said Ed, "that the farmer can't come out and make -you pay toll for passing over a public road which happens to cross his -land." - -"How do you mean? I don't understand," said Irv. - -"Well, the only reason the farmer can't make you pay toll for crossing -his land on a public road is, that the road is made by law a public -highway, open to everybody's use, and it is a criminal offence for -anybody to obstruct it, either by setting up a toll-gate, or building a -fence, or felling trees across it, or in any other way whatever. And -that's the only reason a man who owns land along these rivers can't -charge toll for their use or put any sort of obstruction in them without -getting himself into trouble with the law for his pains." - -"How's that?" asked one of the boys. "This river isn't a public road." - -"That is precisely what it is," said Ed. "Realizing the difficulty -created by the fact that this great river system is not legally -navigable while its actual navigation is a common necessity, Congress -early passed a law making the Mississippi River and all its tributaries -'public highways for purposes of commerce.' That's why nobody can -prevent you from running boats on them, or charge you for the -privilege." - -The boys were deeply interested in the explanation, which was new to -them, and so they sat silent for a while, thinking it over, as people -are apt to do when they have heard something new that interests them. - -Presently Phil said:-- - -"That's all very clear and I understand it, but I don't quite see what -it has to do with where we land at Louisville." - -"Well," said Ed, "I can explain that. As the river is a public highway -for purposes of commerce, nobody can charge you for any legitimate use -of it, or its shores below high-water mark, such use, for example, as -landing in front of his property, a thing which may be absolutely -necessary to navigation. But if a man or a city chooses to spend money -in making your landing easy and convenient, say by building a levee or -wharf, putting in posts for you to make your boat fast by, or anything -of the kind, that man or city has a right to charge you, not for -landing, but for the use of the improvements and conveniences." - -"Oh, yes, I see," said Phil. "Every city does that, and so if you land -at its improved landing, you must pay. Well, we'll land on unimproved -shores above Louisville, and above or below every other town that we -have occasion to land at. That's business. But I don't see why Congress -didn't solve the whole riddle by adopting a new rule as to what are and -what are not navigable streams." - -"What rule?" asked Ed. - -"Well, the common-sense rule, that a stream which is actually navigable -shall be regarded as navigable in law." - -"Actually navigable by what?" asked Ed. "There isn't a spring branch in -all the country that isn't actually navigable by some sort of boat. Even -a wash-basin will float a toy boat." - -"Oh, but I mean real boats." - -"Of what size?" - -"Well, big enough to carry freight or passengers." - -"Any skiff drawing three inches of water can do that. Such a rule would -include Indian Creek and Long Run, and even all the branches we go -wading in, as navigable streams. And then again, some streams are -practically navigable even by steamboats at some seasons of the year, -and almost or altogether dry at others. This great Ohio River of ours, -in its upper parts at least, goes pretty nearly dry some summers. No, I -don't see how any other line than that of the tide could have been -drawn, or how the other difficulty could have been met in any better way -than by declaring the Mississippi and all its tributaries 'public -highways for purposes of commerce.' That was the simplest way out, and -the simplest way is usually the best way."[1] - - [1] Ed's exposition of the law and the reason for it is sound enough. - But different states, by statutes or court decisions, have - somewhat modified it, particularly as regards the extent of bank - ownership. Probably Ed knew this, but didn't think it necessary - to go into details, which, after all, do not change the general - truth.--_Author._ - -"Yes," said Irv Strong, "and as the simplest way to relieve hunger is to -eat, I move that we stop talking and get dinner." - -The suggestion was accepted without dissent, and the two whose turn it -was to cook went below to start a fire in the stove. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -WHAT HAPPENED AT LOUISVILLE - - -Just before the landing was made at Louisville, Jim Hughes was seized -with an attack of cramps and took to his bunk, where he remained until -near the time for the boat to be afloat again. The boys had feared that -he might go ashore there and get a new supply of liquor, and they had -even made careful plans to prevent him from bringing any aboard. His -sudden sickness rendered all their plans superfluous. - -At Louisville Phil got a fresh supply of newspapers, giving all the -latest news concerning the great bond robbery, and took them aboard to -read at leisure. He learned that there was no need of hiring a pilot to -take the boat over the falls, which in fact are not falls at all, but -merely rapids. At very high water such as just then prevailed, the only -difference between that part of the river called the falls and any other -part was that that part had a much swifter and far less steady current -than prevailed elsewhere. - -"I could take your money for piloting you over the falls," said the -genial old pilot to whom Phil had applied, "but it would be robbery. I'm -a pilot, not a pirate, you see. All you've got to do, my boy, is to put -your flatboat well out into the river and let her go. She'll amble over -the falls at this stage of the water as gently as a well-built girl -waltzes over a ball-room floor. She'll turn round and round, just as the -girl does, but it'll be just as innocent-like. There'll be never less -than twenty-five foot o' water under your gunwales, and there simply -can't any harm come to you. Don't pay anybody anything to pilot you -over. Do it yourself, and if anything happens to you, just let old Jabez -Brown know where it happened, please. For if there's any new rocks -sprouted up on the falls of the Ohio since the water rose, an old falls -pilot like me just naterally wants to know about 'em." - -After laying in the provision supply that was needed, including -especially a big can of milk packed in a barrel of cracked ice, Phil -returned to the boat and announced his purpose of "running the falls" -without a pilot. It was at supper in the cabin that he made the -announcement, and Jim Hughes, who had been lying in his bunk with his -face toward the bulkhead, suddenly sat up. - -"Good!" he said. "They ain't no use fer a pilot when the river's bank -full this way. When'll you start, Phil?" - -"Just after daylight to-morrow morning," replied the captain. - -"Well, I feel so much better," said Jim, getting out of his bunk, "I -think I'll sample the pork and potatoes and throw in just a little o' -that hot corn bread and the new butter for ballast." - -"For a man who a few hours ago was violently ill with an intestinal -disorder," remarked Irv Strong a little later with a very pronounced -note of sarcasm in his tone, "it seems to me, Jim, that you're eating a -tolerably robust supper. Now if I'd had the cramps you've been suffering -from to-day, I really wouldn't venture upon cabbage and potatoes boiled -with salt pork. I'd try something 'bland' first, like a half pound of -shot or a pig's knuckle, or a bologna sausage or a few soft-boiled -cobble-stones." - -But Jim was deaf to the sarcasm and went on eating voraciously. - -"Wonder what that fellow is afraid of," said Phil to Irv as they went -out on deck to set the lights and make ready for the night. - -"Don't at all know," responded Irv, "unless he owes money to somebody in -Louisville. All I know is that he must have feigned that attack of -cramps, else he couldn't eat now in the way he does. He didn't want to -go ashore with you as you proposed, to hunt for a falls pilot." - -"Yes," said Ed Lowry, "I've known all day that he was shamming, because -he hasn't had the slightest touch or trace of proper symptoms. Even when -he professed to be in the most excruciating pain his pulse wasn't in the -least bit disturbed. I'm no doctor, but I know enough to say positively -that a man with any such cramps as he pretended to have simply couldn't -have kept his pulse calmly beating seventy-two times a minute as his -did. I timed it three times and then quit bothering with the fellow -because I knew he was shamming." - -"Wonder what he meant by it," said Will. - -"Shoo!" said Constant; "he's listening at the top of the gangway." - -"And _I_ wonder what _that_ means," said Phil, whose alert observation -of the professed pilot had never been relaxed since the episode at -Craig's Landing; "I wonder what he's listening for." - -There was naturally no response, for the reason that nobody had anything -to suggest. So the boys went toward the bow where the anchor-light hung, -to hear Phil read in his newspapers all the latest details about the -great bond robbery. They read on deck rather than in the cabin, because -one boy must at any rate remain there on watch, and they all wished to -hear. - -The newspapers related that one of the gang of robbers was believed to -have got away with the stolen bonds and money, and that the main purpose -now was to find him. One man connected with the crime was already in -custody, and from hints given by him it was hoped that he might turn -state's evidence in his own resentment against the "carrier of the -swag," who, it was believed, had deserted his fellow thieves, or some of -them, and meant to keep the whole of the proceeds of the robbery for -himself and one or two others. At any rate, the man in custody had given -hints that were thought to be distinctly helpful toward the discovery -of the "carrier" and his partners who had betrayed the rest of their -fellows. - -The case was very interesting, but the boys must be up early in the -morning, so at last they broke up their little confab, and all but one -of them went to bed. Constant Thiebaud, who first reached the -ladder-head, found Jim Hughes seated there with his head just above the -deck. - -"I thought you were in bed long ago," said Constant. - -"So I was," said Jim; "but I got restless and came out for some air." - -It wasn't at all the kind of sentence that Jim Hughes was accustomed to -frame, and the boys observed the fact. But they had got used to what Irv -Strong called Jim's "inadvertent lapses into grammar," and so they went -to their bunks without further thought of the matter. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -JIM - - -It didn't take long to "run the falls." From where the flatboat lay -above Louisville to the lower end of the rapids was a distance of about -eight or ten miles. Not only was the river bank full, but a great wave -of additional water--a rise of four or five inches to the hour--struck -them just as they pushed their craft out into the stream. There was a -current of six miles an hour even as they passed the city, which -quickened to eight or ten miles an hour when they reached the falls -proper. - -The boat fully justified the old pilot's simile of a girl waltzing. She -turned and twisted about, first one way and then the other, and now and -then shot off in a totally new direction, toward one shore or the other, -or straight down stream. - -It all seemed perilous in the extreme, and at one time Jim Hughes -hurriedly went below and brought up his carpet-bag, which he deposited -in one of the skiffs that lay on deck. - -"What's the matter, Jim?" asked Phil, who was more and more disposed to -watch the fellow suspiciously. "What are you doing that for?" - -"Well, you see we mout strike a rock, and it's best to be ready." - -"Yes," said Phil, "but what have you got in your carpet-bag that you're -so careful of?" and as he asked the question he looked intently into -Jim's eyes, hoping to surprise there a more truthful answer than he was -likely to get from Jim's lips. - -"Oh, nothin' but my clothes," said Jim, hastily avoiding the scrutiny. - -"Must be a dress-suit or two among them," said Phil, "or you'd be -thinking less about them and more about your skin. Let's see them!" he -added suddenly, and offering to open the bag. - -Jim snatched it away quickly, muttering something which the boy didn't -catch. But by that time the falls were passed and the flatboat was -floating through calm waters between Portland and New Albany. So Jim -retreated to the cabin and bestowed his precious carpet-bag again under -the straw of his bunk, where he had kept it from the first. - -"Wonder what he's got there, Phil," said Irv Strong, who had been -attentive to the colloquy. - -"Don't know," replied Phil; "but if things go on this way, the time will -come when I'll decide to find out." - -"By the way," broke in Will Moreraud, "did any of you see him bring that -carpet-bag aboard?" - -Nobody could remember. - -"Guess he sneaked it aboard as he did that jug," said Phil, "and as he -did his cramps." - -"Don't be too hard on the fellow, boys," said Ed, whose generosity was -always apt to get the better of his judgment. "Remember he's ignorant, -and ignorance is always inclined to be suspicious. Probably he hasn't -more than a dollar's worth or so in that carpet-bag; but as it is all he -has in the world, he's naturally careful of it. He's afraid some of us -will steal his things. If he knew more, he would know better. But he -doesn't know more. So he guards his poor little possessions jealously." - -There was silence for a minute. Then Phil said:-- - -"See if he's listening, Constant;" and when Constant had strolled to the -gangway and reported "all clear," Phil had this to say:-- - -"I'm not over-suspicious, I think. I don't want to be unjust to anybody. -But I'm responsible on this cruise, and it's my duty to notice things -carefully." - -"Of course," said Irv Strong, the other "irreclaimable." "I haven't a -doubt you noticed that I ate four eggs and two slices of ham for -breakfast this morning. But before you 'call me down' for it, I want to -say that I'm going to do the same thing to-morrow morning, because, -since I came on the river, I've got the biggest hunger on me that I ever -had in my life, and not at all because I have any diabolical plot in my -mind to starve the crew of this flatboat into submission or admission or -permission or any other sort of mission." - -But Phil did not smile at the pleasantry. He hesitated a moment before -replying, as if afraid that he might say too much; for Phil, the -captain, was a very different person from the happy-go-lucky Phil his -comrades had hitherto known. After a little while he said:-- - -"You remember, don't you, that Jim Hughes wanted to 'get down the river' -so badly that he shipped with us without pay? If he is so poor that he -has only that carpet-bag and only a few dollars' worth of stuff in it, -why didn't he try to 'strike' us for some sort of wages? Does anybody -here know where he came from, or why he came, or where he is trying to -go to, or why he wants to go there, or in fact who he is, or anything -about him? Can anybody explain why he shammed cramps yesterday?" - -"To all the highly interesting questions in that competitive -examination," said Irv Strong, "I beg permission to answer, in words -made familiar to one by frequent school use--'not prepared to answer.'" - -All the boys laughed except Phil. He was serious. The _boy_ hadn't at -all gone out of him, as was proved by the fact that in spite of the -October chill in the air he just then slipped off his clothes and "took -a header" into the river. But the serious _man_ had come into him with -responsibility, as was shown by the fact that he used a towel to rub -himself with after his bath. Having donned his clothes, he continued:-- - -"There may be nothing wrong about Jim Hughes. I don't say there is -anything wrong. But there is a good deal that is suspicious. So, while I -accuse him of nothing, I'm watching him, and I have been watching him -ever since we left Craig's Landing. I don't believe he was drunk there, -for one thing." - -"Don't believe he was drunk!" exclaimed the boys in a breath. "Why, you -had to knock him down yourself to save the landing!" - -"Yes, of course," said Phil. "But I took pains afterward to smell his -breath while he was supposed to be in a drunken stupor, and there wasn't -a trace of whiskey on it." - -"But you remember we found his jug hid among the freight." - -"You did," replied Phil; "and you reported to me, though you may have -forgotten the fact, that it was 'full up to the cork.' Those were your -own words, Will." - -Will remembered, though he had not before thought of the significance of -the fact. - -"Well, Phil, what was the matter with him, then?" asked Ed. - -"Shamming, just as he shammed the cramps yesterday." - -"But for what purpose?" - -"I don't know, any more than you know why he pretended to have cramps. -My theory is that he was so anxious to get down the river that he tried -to make us miss Craig's Landing entirely. The sum and substance of the -matter is this. At Craig's Landing I wanted to put the fellow ashore. -Now I don't want to do anything of the kind, and I won't either, till I -can read a good many riddles that he has given me to puzzle over." - -"Can we help you to read the riddles?" - -"Yes. Watch him closely, and tell me everything you observe, no matter -how little it may seem to mean." - -Just then Jim Hughes came up out of the cabin scuttle, and all the boys -except Phil found occasion to go to other parts of the boat. When you -have been talking unpleasantly about another person, you naturally -shrink from talking to him. - -Phil, however, stood his ground. "Hello, Jim!" he called out. "How are -the cramps, and how's the carpet-bag? Going to try to earn your board -now by steering a little?" - -Jim hesitated in embarrassment. Suddenly Phil began bombarding him with -questions like shots from a rapid-fire gun. - -"Where did you come from, anyhow, Jim? What's your real name? What are -you hiding from? How much do you know about the river? and about -flatboating? Have you really ever been down the river before, or was -that all a sham like your cramps yesterday? Who are you? What are you?" - -Jim struggled for a moment. There was that in his face which might have -appalled anybody but a full-blooded, resolute, dare-all boy. But he -quickly mastered himself. - -"See here, Phil," he said in persuasive tones, "you're mighty hard on a -poor feller like me, and I don't know why. That was a vicious clip you -hit me at Craig's Landing." - -Phil instantly responded, and again after the fashion of a -breach-loader. "So you remember that, do you? Then you were not so drunk -as you pretended." - -"Well," said Jim, "I was pretty full, but of course I knew who hit me." - -"You were not drunk at all," said the boy. "You hadn't even been -drinking. I smelt of your breath, and the blow I struck didn't knock you -senseless, for an hour, as you pretended, or for six seconds either. Now -look here, Jim, I don't know what your purpose is in all this shamming, -but I know for a fact that it is shamming, and I've had quite enough of -it." - -With that the boy turned away in that profound disgust which every -healthy-minded boy or man feels for a lie and a liar. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE WONDERFUL RIVER - - -As the "Knobs"--which is the name given to the high hills back of New -Albany--receded, the day was still young. It was also overcast and cool. -So Ed, who was always studying something, brought his big map up on deck -and, spreading it out, lay down on his stomach to study it. He worked -over it till dinner time, and in the afternoon he spread it out again. - -The boys having gathered around him, he said:-- - -"I say, fellows, we are making a journey that we ought to remember as -long as we live. We are going over a small but important part of the -greatest river system in the world." - -"'Small but important part,'" said Will, quoting. "Well, I like that." - -"What's your objection," said Ed Lowry, for the moment borrowing Irv -Strong's playful method,--"what's your objection to my carefully chosen -descriptive adjectives?" - -"Well, we're going over pretty nearly the whole of it, aren't we?" - -"Not by any manner of means," responded Ed. "We aren't going over more -than a small fraction of it." - -"Why, the Ohio River alone is thirteen hundred miles long," said Will; -"I remember that much of my geography; and most of the Mississippi lies -below the mouth of the Ohio, doesn't it?" - -"It's lucky you've passed your geography examinations in the high -school, Will," said Ed. "Now come here, all you fellows, and take a -look. This map shows the entire system of rivers of which the -Mississippi is the mother. It is the greatest river system in the world. -There is nothing, in fact, to compare it with but the Amazon and its -tributaries, and they have never done anything for mankind, because they -lie almost wholly in an unsettled and uncivilized tropical region that -has no commerce and no need of any, while the Mississippi and its -tributaries have built up an empire. They have in effect _created_ the -better part of this vast country of ours that is feeding the world -and--" - -"Oh, come now," said Irv Strong. "You aren't writing a composition or an -editorial for the Vevay _Reveille_." This was in allusion to the fact -that Ed sometimes published "pieces" in the local newspaper. - -"Well, no," said Ed, laughing at his own enthusiasm. "Besides, I'll come -to all that some other time perhaps. At present I want to give Will some -new ideas about the bigness of our river system. True, the Ohio is -twelve or thirteen hundred miles long, but about half of it lies above -Vevay, so we're covering only six or seven hundred miles of it. From -Cairo to New Orleans--the part of the Mississippi we shall traverse--is -about one thousand and fifty miles long. So we're only going to travel -over sixteen or seventeen hundred miles of river. Now there are about -fifteen or sixteen thousand miles of this river system that steamboats -can, and actually do, navigate, and nobody has ever really reckoned the -length of the rest--the parts not navigable. We're going over only about -one-tenth of the navigable part--one twenty-fifth part perhaps of the -whole." - -By this time the boys were all lying prone around the big map, their -feet radiating in every direction from it, like light-rays from a star. - -"See here," said Ed; "here's the Tennessee River. It's a mere tributary -of the Ohio, yet it is about two-thirds as long as the main river. Its -head waters are in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It -starts out through Tennessee and tries, in a stupid sort of fashion, to -find its way to the Gulf of Mexico through Alabama. But it gets -discouraged by the mountains down there, turns back, throws a dash of -water into the face of the state of Mississippi, returns to Tennessee -and travels north clear across that state and Kentucky, and finally in -despair gives up its effort to find the sea and turns the job over to -the Ohio. Look at it on the map!" - -"And as if it thought the Tennessee had more than it could do to drain -so great a region," said Phil, studying the map, "the Cumberland also -went into the business and after pretty nearly paralleling its sister -river for a great many hundreds of miles, fell into the Ohio only a few -miles above the mouth of the Tennessee. The two together are longer than -the Ohio itself." - -"Very decidedly," said Ed. "And then there are all the other -tributaries of the Ohio,--look at them on the map. Together they again -exceed its total length." - -The boys looked at the map and saw that it was so. Then Ed resumed:-- - -"But, after all, the Ohio and all its tributaries combined amount to a -very small part of the great system. The lower Mississippi itself from -Cairo to the mouth is almost exactly as long as the Ohio. Then there -are the upper Mississippi,--stretching clear up into Minnesota,--the -Illinois, the Wisconsin, etc., the Missouri and its vast tributaries -flowing from the Rocky Mountains, the Arkansas, the Red River, the -Ouachita, the White, the St. Francis, the Yazoo, the Tallahatchie, the -Sunflower, the Yalobusha--and a score of others, to say nothing of the -vast bayous that connect with the wonderful river down South. Here they -all are on the map. Look!" - -The next fifteen minutes were given up to a study of the map, interested -fingers tracing out the rivers, and a continual chatter contributing, -after the manner of boys' talk, to the general stock of information. -Presently Irv Strong spoke. He had never before in his life been silent -so long. - -"I remember, at this stage of the proceedings, the wise remark of our -honored teacher, Mrs. Dupont, that 'eyes are excellent to see with, but -one interpretative brain means more than many additional pairs of -eyes.'" - -"What's all that got to do with it?" asked Constant. "She was talking -about Darwin and Spencer when she said that. What's either of them got -to do with this river?" - -"Ah, Constant!" said Irv, in mock melancholy. "You grieve me to the -heart. You never will see the inward and spiritual meaning of my outward -and visible quotations. I mean that Ed Lowry has studied out this whole -thing and knows 'steen times more about it and what it means than we -blockheads would find out by studying the map for a dog's age. I venture -that assertion boldly, without having the remotest notion of what -constitutes a dog's age. My idea is that we fellows ought to shut up, -though I'm personally not fond of doing that, and let Ed gently distil -into our minds his information about all these things. Let's have the -benefit of the 'interpretative brain'!" - -"Let's take a header first," cried Phil, shedding his clothes again. -"I'll beat the best of you in a swim around the boat, or if I lose, I'll -wash the dishes for a whole day." - -And with that he went head foremost overboard, Will and Irv following -him. - -When they reappeared on deck, blowing like porpoises and glowing like -boiled lobsters, Ed said:-- - -"You fellows are regular water-rats; Phil is, anyhow. He's in this water -half a dozen times a day, no matter how cold the wind is." - -"That's just it," said Phil. "The water isn't anything like so cold as -this October air." Then, with mock seriousness: "Believe me, my dearly -beloved brother, it is to escape the frigidity of the atmosphere, or, as -it were, to warm myself, that I jump into the river. You were reading a -poem the other day in which the stricken-spirited scribe said:-- - - 'For my part I wish to enjoy what I can-- - A sunset, if only a sunset be near, - A moon such as this if the weather be clear,' - -and much else to the like effect. As you read the glittering, golden -words, I said in my soul: 'Bully for you, oh poet! I'm your man for -those sentiments every time.' And just now the poet and I agree that -nothing in this world would minister so much to our immediate enjoyment -as to jump off the boat again on the larboard side, dive clear under her -and come up on the starboard. Here goes! Who's the poet to follow me?" -And overboard the boy went, feet first this time, for after striking the -water and sinking to a safe depth, he must turn himself about and swim -under water for fifty or sixty feet before daring to come to the surface -again. - -Nobody tried to perform the feat in emulation of the reckless fellow. It -involved a great many dangers and a still greater many of disagreeable -possibilities such as broken heads, skinned backs, and abraded shins. Of -that I can give my readers full assurance because I've done the thing -myself many times, and bear some scars as witnesses of its risks. - -But it was Phil's rule of life never to let anybody "do anything in the -swimming way" that he couldn't do equally well. He had once seen -somebody dive under a steamboat and come up safely on the other side. -So he straightway dived under the same steamboat and came up safely on -the other side. After that, diving under a flatboat was a mere trifle to -him. - -[Illustration: MAP OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. - -Prepared expressly for this work under the personal direction of -Lieut.-Col. Alexander McKenzie, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army. - -_Note.--Navigable part of the river in red._] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE WONDERFUL RIVER'S WORK - - -"Now, then," said Phil, wrapping a blanket around his person, for the -air was indeed very chill, and prostrating himself over the map, "now, -then, let the 'interpretative brain' get in its work! I interrupted the -proceedings just to take a personal observation of the river we are to -hear all about. Go on, Ed!" - -"Wait a bit--I'm counting," said Ed; "twenty-five, twenty-six, -twenty-seven, twenty-eight. There. If you'll look at the map, you'll see -that the water which the Mississippi carries down to the sea through a -channel about half a mile wide below New Orleans, comes from -twenty-eight states besides the Indian Territory." - -"What! oh, nonsense!" were the exclamations that greeted this statement. - -"Look, and count for yourselves," said Ed, pointing to various parts of -the map as he proceeded. "Here they are: New York, Pennsylvania, West -Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, -Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, -Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, -Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and the Indian -Territory. Very little comes from New York or South Carolina or Texas, -and not a great deal from some others of the states named, but some -does, as you will see by following up the lines on the map. The rest of -the states mentioned send the greater part of all their rainfall to the -sea by this route." - -"Well, you could at this moment knock me down with a feather," said -Irving Strong. "Aren't you glad, Phil, that we jumped in away up here -before the water got such a mixing up?" - -"But that isn't the most important part of it," said Ed, after his -companions had finished their playful discussion of the subject. - -"What is it, then? Go on," said Irv. "I'm all ears, though Mrs. Dupont -always thought I was all tongue. What is the most important part of it, -Ed?" - -"Why, that this river _created_ most of the states it drains." - -"How do you mean?" - -"Why, I mean that but for this great river system it would have taken a -hundred or more years longer than it did to settle this vastest valley -on earth and build it up into great, populous states that produce the -best part of the world's food supply." - -"Go on, please," said Will Moreraud, speaking the eager desire of all. - -"You see," said Ed, "in order to settle a country and bring it into -cultivation, you must have some way of getting into it, and still more, -you must have some way of getting the things it produces out of it, -so as to sell them to people that need them. Nobody would have taken -the trouble to raise the produce we now have on board this boat, for -instance,--the hay, grain, flour, apples, cornmeal, onions, potatoes, -and the rest,--if there had been no way of sending the things away and -selling them somewhere. Unless there is a market within reach, nobody -will produce more of anything than he can himself use." - -"Oh, I see," said Irv. "That's why I don't think more than I do. I've -no market for my crop of thoughts." - -"You're mistaken there," said Constant, who was slow of speech and -usually had little to say. "There's always a market for thoughts." - -"Where?" - -"Right around you. What did we go into this flatboat business for except -to be with Ed? He can't do half as much as any one of us at an oar, or -at anything else except thinking, and yet we would never have come on -this voyage--" - -"Oh, dry up!" said Ed, seeing the compliment that was impending. "I was -going to say--" - -"And so was I going to say," said Constant; "and, in fact, I _am_ going -to say. What I'm going to say is that there isn't a fellow here who -would be here but for you, Ed. There isn't a fellow here that wouldn't -be glad to do all of your share of the work, if Phil would let him, just -for the sake of hearing what you think. Anyhow, that's why Constant -Thiebaud is a member of this crew." - -It was the longest speech that Constant Thiebaud had ever been known to -make, and it was the most effective one he could have made, because it -put into words the thought that was in every one's mind. That is the -very essence of oratory and of effective writing. All the great speeches -in the world have been those that cleverly expressed the thought and the -feeling of those who listened. All the great books have been those that -said for the vast, dumb multitudes that which was in their minds and -souls vainly longing for utterance. - -When Constant had finished, there was silence for a moment. Then Irv -Strong said impressively:-- - -"AMEN!" - -That exclamation ended the silence, and expressed the common sentiment -of all who were present. For even Jim Hughes, who was listening, had -begun to be interested. - -Ed was embarrassed, of course, and for the first time in his life words -completely failed him. He sat up; then he grasped Constant's hand, and -said, "I thank you, fellows." And with that he retreated hurriedly to -the cabin for a little while. - -Constant went to the pump, and labored hard for a time to draw water -from a bilge that had no leak. Will went to inspect the anchor, as if -he feared that something might be the matter with it. Phil and Irving -jumped overboard, and swam twice around the boat. - -Finally, all came on deck again, and Will said:-- - -"Go on, Ed. We want to hear." - -Ed at once resumed, Jim Hughes meantime working with the steering-oar. - -"Well, this great river gave the people who came over the mountains, -and afterward the people who came up it from New Orleans, not only an -outlet to the sea, but a sort of public road, over which they could -travel and trade with each other. When the upper Ohio region began to -be settled, a great swarm of emigrants from the East poured over the -mountains, and made a highway of the river to get themselves and all -that belonged to them to the upper Mississippi, the lower Mississippi, -and the Missouri River country. My father once told me, before he died, -that in his boyhood you could tell a steamboat bound from Pittsburg or -Cincinnati to St. Louis from any other boat, because she was red all -over with ploughs, wagons, and all that sort of thing. Agricultural -implements were all painted red in those days, and as they weren't very -heavy freight they were bestowed all over the boat,--on the boiler deck -guards, on the hurricane deck, and sometimes were in the cabin, and on -top of the Texas.[2] Now, without these ploughs, wagons, harrows, and -so forth, how could the pioneers ever have brought the great Western -country under cultivation? And without the river how could they ever -have got these necessary implements, or themselves, for that matter, to -the regions where they were needed?" - - [2] The "Texas" of a western river steamer is an extra cabin, - built above the main cabin and under the pilot-house, for the - accommodation of the boat's officers. It was named "Texas" because - about the time of its naming Texas was added to the Union. This - cabin was also something added.--_Author._ - -"Couldn't they have taken them overland?" - -"Only in a very small and slow way. There were no railroads, no -turnpikes, and even no dirt roads at that time. It would have cost ten -times more to take a wagonload of ploughs through the woods and across -the prairies, from Pittsburg or Cincinnati to Missouri or Iowa, than the -wagon and the ploughs put together were worth when they got there. But -the river came to the rescue. It carried the people and all their -belongings cheaply and quickly, and then it carried their produce to New -Orleans; and so the great West was settled. - -"In the meantime the people in Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and other towns -saw that they could make all the wagons, ploughs, and other things -wanted by the people further west much cheaper than the same things -could be sent over the mountains from the East. Thus, factories and -foundries sprang up, new farms were opened and new towns built." - -"Were there steamboats from the first?" asked one of the boys. - -"No; when Vevay was settled, Fulton hadn't yet built the first steamboat -that ever travelled, and when steamboats did appear they were few and -small. Flatboats, just like this one, carried most of the produce to New -Orleans; but as flatboats couldn't come back up the river, there were a -good many keelboats that brought freight and passengers up as well as -down stream." - -"What are keelboats?" - -"Why, they were large barges built with a keel, a sharp bow, and a -modelled stern--in short, like a steamboat's hull. These keelboats -floated down the river, and the men then pushed them back up stream -with long poles. When the current was too strong for that they got out -on the bank and hauled the boat by ropes. That was called 'cordelling.' -The steamboats grew, however, in number and size when they came, and as -long ago as 1835 there were more than three hundred of them on the -Mississippi alone. In 1850 there were more than four thousand on these -rivers. They drove the keelboats out of business, but the flatboats -continued because of their cheapness till after the Civil War, when the -great towboats came into use. These, with their acres of barges, could -carry freight even cheaper than flatboats could. For a long time the -steamboats carried all the passengers, too, and many of them were -palaces in magnificence. But the railroads came at last and took the -passenger business away, and much of the freight traffic also, because -they are faster, and still more because they don't have to go so far to -get anywhere." - -"Why, how's that? I don't understand," said Irv. - -"Yes, you do, if you'll think a bit," responded Ed. - -"Couldn't _think_ of thinking. I'm too tired or too lazy so tell me," -was Irv's rejoinder. - -"Well, you know the river is crooked, and the steamboats must follow all -its windings, while the railroads can run nearly straight." - -"Yes, I know," said Irv, "but the crookedness of the river isn't enough -to make any very great difference." - -"Isn't it? Well, down in Chicot County, Arkansas, there is one bend in -the river so big that from the upper landing on a plantation to the -lower landing on the same plantation, the distance by river is seventeen -miles, while you can walk across the neck from one landing to the other -in less than a mile and a half!" - -"Whew!" said Phil. "And are there many such trips round Robin Hood's -barn for us to make on the way down?" - -"That's best answered by telling you that from Cairo to New Orleans the -distance by river is about one thousand and fifty miles, while by rail -it is a little over four hundred miles. But come. It's getting dark, and -I've got to bake some corn pones for supper, so I must quit lecturing." - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE TERROR OF THE RIVER - - -For the next few days the voyage was uneventful. There was very little -to be done at the sweeps--only now and then a ten minutes' pull to keep -the boat off the banks and in the river. For the water was now so high -that there was no such thing as a channel to be followed. - -In many places the stream had overflowed its banks and flooded the -country for miles inland on either side. Sometimes a strong current -would set toward the points where the water was going over the banks, -and a constant watchfulness was necessary to prevent the boat from being -drawn into these currents and "going off for a trip in the country," as -Irv Strong expressed it. Whenever she manifested a disposition of that -kind, all hands worked hard at the sweeps till she was carried out of -the danger. - -During these days Ed read a great deal, and the other boys read a little -and talked not a little. On one or two days there were heavy all-day -rains, and at such times Ed would have liked to remain in the cabin when -not needed at the sweeps, and the other boys, hearing him cough so -frequently, pleaded with Phil to let him stay under cover. - -"We never really need him for rowing," said they, "and he ought to stay -down below all the time when it's wet, for the sake of his health." - -"That's just where you differ in opinion from the doctor," responded -Phil. "_He_ says I'm to keep Ed in the open air on deck all the time. -Air is his only medicine, the doctor insists, and I'm going to give him -his medicine, for I've made up my mind to take him back to Vevay a much -'weller' fellow than he's ever been before. So on with your rubber -goods, Ed, and out with you!" - -"You're entirely right, Phil," said the elder brother. "And I'm much -'weller,' as you call it, already. I don't cough so much or so hard as I -did. I sleep better and eat better and feel stronger. I guess I've been -too much taken care of." - -"Oh, as to that, I expect to make an athlete of you yet," said Phil. -Then turning to Irving, with moisture in his eyes, as Ed mounted to the -deck, he added: "I don't know, Irv, but I'm doing what the doctor told -me was best. It _hurts_ me, but I do it for _his_ sake." - -"Of course you do. And of course it's best, too. Ed really is getting -better. I've watched him closely." - -"Have you?" asked Phil, eagerly. "And are you sure he's getting better? -Oh, are you _sure_?" - -"Of course I am," said Irv, beginning to feel the necessity of lapsing -into light chatter to escape an emotional crisis. "Of course I am. Why, -haven't you noticed that since we ran out of milk and sugar he's drunk -his coffee clear like an honest flatboatman? And haven't you noticed -that he rebukes my ignorance and your juvenility with a vigor that no -really ill fellow could bring to bear? He's all right--Look!" as the two -emerged on deck. "He's actually trying to teach Jim Hughes how to splice -a rope! Nobody but a man full of robust energy to the bursting point -would ever try to teach that dullard anything." - -"He isn't a dullard," replied Phil. "He shams all that, I tell you." - -Irv didn't argue the point. He didn't care anything about it. He had -accomplished his purpose. He had diverted Phil's and his own thoughts, -and prevented the little emotional breakdown that had been so imminent. - -Why is it that boys are so ashamed of that which is best and noblest in -their natures? - -They were nearing Cairo now, and there was no time for further talk. -With the river at its present stage, and with a high wind blowing, and a -heavy rain almost blinding them, it was not an easy thing to get their -boat safely into the pocket between Cairo and Mound City, amid the -scores and hundreds of coal barges that were harboring there. For the -flatboat even to touch one of the coal barges, unless very gently -indeed, meant the instant sinking of many hundreds of tons of coal, and -in all probability, the loss of the flatboat also. - -At one time Phil--for he had ceased to think of Jim as a pilot, or even -as a person who could lend any but merely muscular assistance -anywhere--was on the point of giving up the idea of landing at all. He -debated with himself whether it would not be wiser to float on past -Cairo, into the Mississippi. But the boat was really very short of -provisions. The milk supply had given out two days after passing the -falls; their meal was almost exhausted; their salt had got wet; they had -no butter left; there was only half a pound of coffee in their canister; -and no flour whatever remained. There was a little bacon in their cargo, -and there were flour, eggs, cornmeal, onions, and potatoes also. But it -was their agreed purpose not to risk complications in their accounts by -taking any of their cargo for their own use except in case of extreme -necessity. - -"And as for eggs," said Irv Strong, "I fear that those in our cargo are -beginning to be too far removed from the original source of supply,--too -remotely connected with the hens of Switzerland County, Indiana, as it -were,--too--well, they seem to me far more likely to give satisfaction -to educated palates in New Orleans 'omelettes with onions' and the like, -than on our frugal table. Besides, our cabin is rather small and it -would be troublesome to have to go up on deck every time the cook wanted -to break an egg." - -"You forget, Irv," said Ed, "we aren't more than ten or twelve days out -yet, and eggs keep pretty well for a much longer time than that." - -"True," said Irv; "but it seems to me that we've been on the river for a -month. At any rate, Phil's plan of not eating up our cargo is a good -one." - -Between Cairo and Memphis lay about two hundred and forty miles of -difficult river, and in all that distance there was not a town of any -consequence, at least as a market in which to buy boat stores. So the -necessity of landing at Cairo for supplies overrode all considerations -of difficulty and danger in the young captain's mind, and after some -very hard work and some narrow escapes, he succeeded in securely tying -up _The Last of the Flatboats_ in the bend. - -During their stay at Cairo Jim Hughes was again ill, afflicted this time -with chills and fever. But he angrily refused to have a doctor called, -and as Ed could find no trouble with his pulse or temperature, the crew -did not insist upon summoning medical assistance. - -"Let's put him ashore and be rid of him," suggested Will Moreraud. - -"Yes, let's!" said Constant. "He's of no use to us, and he spoils the -party by his presence." - -"No," decided Phil, "I wanted to put him ashore at Craig's Landing, but -I've got over that desire. He interests me now in his way. I've -discovered a good deal about him, and I mean to find out more. He's -going somewhere, and I want to find out where it is. No, boys, we'll -keep him on board for a while." - -At Cairo Phil bought a large supply of newspapers from Chicago, St. -Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans. They reported increasing floods in -every direction. The upper Mississippi was at a tremendous stage. The -Missouri was pouring a vast flood into it. The Tennessee and Cumberland -were adding enormously every hour to the great volume of water that was -pouring down out of the overflowed and still swelling Ohio. In short, -one of those great Mississippi floods was at hand which come only when -all the rivers--those from north, west, east, and south--"run out" at -the same time. - -The river was full of drift; great uprooted trees and timbers from -houses and barns that had been swept from their foundations and reduced -to wreckage; driftwood from thousands of miles of shore. Flotsam of -every conceivable kind covered the face of the waters so completely that -it looked as if one might almost walk across, stepping from one floating -mass to another. - -And there was a menace in it, too, that was ever present. The uprooted -trees refused to float steadily. They turned over and over like giants -troubled in their sleep with Titanic nightmares. They lashed their -wide-reaching limbs in fury, while currents and cross-currents caused -the floating stuff to rush hither and thither, now piling it high and -grinding it together with destructive energy, now scattering it again -and leaving great water spaces clear. - -Now and then a house or a barn would float by, crushed half out of -shape, but not yet twisted into its original materials. Altogether the -river presented a spectacle that would have inspired any old Greek -poet's imagination to create a dozen new gods and a score of hitherto -unknown demons to serve as the directors of it all. - -So _The Last of the Flatboats_ tarried in the bend above Cairo, waiting -for the worst of the drift to run by before again venturing upon the -bosom of the great flood. - -"I say, Ed," said Phil, looking out upon the vast waste of water with -its seething surface of wreckage, "nothing in all that you have told us -about the river has given me so good an idea of its tremendous power as -the sight of that,"--waving his hand toward the stream. - -"Of course not," replied the elder. "Nothing that anybody could say in a -lifetime could equal that demonstration of power. Nobody that ever lived -could put this wonderful river into words. I have told you fellows only -of the good it has done--only of its beneficence. You see now what power -of malignity and destructiveness it has. This single flood has already -destroyed hundreds of lives and swept away scores and hundreds of homes, -and obliterated millions of dollars' worth of property. Before it is -over the hundreds in each case will be multiplied into thousands. Even -now, right here at Cairo, a great disaster impends. Every able-bodied -man in the town has been sent with pick or shovel or wheelbarrow to work -night and day in strengthening and raising the levees. There are ten -thousand people in this town. With the Mississippi on one side and the -Ohio on the other, and with their floods united across country above the -town, these helpless people have nothing in the world but an embankment -of earth between them and death. Their homes lie from twenty to thirty -feet below the level of the water that surrounds them on every side. And -that level is rising every hour, every minute. It is already several -inches above the top of their permanent levees. The flood is held in -check only by a temporary earthwork, built on top of the permanent one. -It is no wonder that the embankments are ablaze with torches and that a -thousand men are working ceaselessly by night and by day to build the -barriers higher." - -"What if a levee should break?" asked Will, in awe. - -"Ten thousand people would be drowned in ten minutes," answered Phil, -who had been studying the matter even more closely than Ed had done. -"Cairo lies now in a triangle, with the floods on all three sides. If -the levee should give way at any point on any side, Niagara itself would -be a mere brook compared with the torrent that would rush into the -town. One of the engineers said to me to-day that the pressure upon the -levees at this stage of water amounts to thousands of millions of tons. -Should there be a break at any point, it would give to all this ocean of -water a sudden chance to fall thirty feet or so. Now think what that -would mean! The engineer, when I asked him, answered,--'Well, it would -mean that in ten minutes the whole city of Cairo would be swept -completely off the face of the earth. Not only would no building be left -standing in the town, but there would be literally not one stone or -brick left on top of another. Indeed, the very land on which the city -stands, the entire point, would be scooped out fifty feet below its -present level and carried bodily away into the river. The site of the -town would lie far beneath the surface of the water.'" - -"And all this may happen at any moment now?" asked Constant. - -"Yes," said Phil. "But it is not likely, and brave men are fighting with -all their might to prevent it. Let us hope they will succeed." - -"Why do people live in such a place?" asked Will. - -"Why do men live and plant vineyards high up on the slopes of Vesuvius, -knowing all the time the story of what happened to Herculaneum and -Pompeii?" asked Irv. - -"It's sometimes because they must, because they have nowhere else to -live." - -"Yes," said Ed, "but it is oftener because they have the courage to face -danger for the sake of bettering themselves or their children in one way -or another. Did it ever occur to you that all that is worth while in -human achievement has been accomplished by the men who, for the sake of -an advantage of one kind or another, were willing to risk their lives, -encounter danger in any form, however appalling, endure hardships of the -most fearful character, and take risks immeasurable? That is the sort of -men that in frail ships sailed over the seas to America and conquered -and settled this country, fighting Indians and fevers and famines and -all the rest of it. It was that sort of men,--and women, too,--for don't -forget that in all those enterprises the women risked as much as the men -did and suffered vastly more,--it was that sort of men and women who -pushed over the mountains and built up this great West of ours. Talk -about the heroism of war! why, all the wars in all the world never -brought out so much of really exalted heroism as that displayed by a -single company of pioneer emigrants from Virginia or North Carolina, -crossing the mountains into Kentucky, Tennessee, or Indiana." - -"Then these Cairo people are heroes in their way?" asked Irv. - -"Yes," replied Ed, "though they don't know it. Heroes never do. The hero -is the man who, in pursuit of any worthy purpose,--though it be only to -make more money for the support of his family,--calmly faces the risks, -endures the hardships, and performs the tasks that fall to his lot. The -highest courage imaginable is that which prompts a man to do his duty as -he understands it, with absolute disregard of consequences to himself." - -That night Phil read his newspapers very diligently. Especially, he -studied the portraits and the minute descriptions given of the man who -was "carrying" the proceeds of the great bank robbery. Somehow, Phil was -becoming more and more deeply interested in that subject. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -IN THE HOME OF THE EARTHQUAKES - - -One night soon after _The Last of the Flatboats_ left Cairo, Phil's -compass showed that the Mississippi River, whose business it was to run -toward the south, was in fact running due north. Phil recognized this as -one of the vagaries of the wonderful river. Consulting his map, he found -that the river knew its business, that the boat was in New Madrid Bend, -where for a space the strangely erratic river runs north, only to turn -again to its southerly course, after having asserted its liberty by -running in a contrary direction as it does at Cairo, where a line drawn -due north from the southerly point of Illinois cuts through a part of -Kentucky, a state lying to the south of Illinois. No ordinary map shows -this, but it is nevertheless true. Illinois ends in a hook, which -extends so far south and so far east as to bring a part of Illinois to -the southward of Kentucky. - -Phil had fully grasped this fact. He had reconciled himself to the -eccentricities of the wonderful river, and was entirely content to float -northward, so long as that seemed to be the river's will. - -But about midnight there came a disturbance. First of all there was a -great roar, as of artillery or Titanic trains of cars somewhere in the -centre of the earth. Then there were severe blows upon the bottom of the -flatboat, blows that threatened to break its gunwales in two. Then three -great waves came up the river, curling over the flatboat's bow and -pouring their floods into her hold, as if to swamp her. Then the boat -swung around, changed her direction, and for a time ran up the stream, -while waves threatened at every moment to overwhelm her. - -Phil, who was on watch at the time, ran to the scuttle to call his -comrades, but there was no occasion. The tremendous thumps on the bottom -of the boat and the swaying of everything backward and forward had -awakened them, and, half clad, they were rushing on deck. - -Just then the boat struck upon a shore bar and went hard aground. The -water that had come in over her bow had more than filled the bilge; but -how far the disturbance had made the boat leak, Phil could not find out, -for she was now resting upon a sandbank near the shore, and of course, -supported as she was by the river bottom, she could not settle farther. -So Phil ordered all hands to the pumps, in order to get out the wave -water, and to find out as soon as she should float again what water -there might be coming in through leaks caused by the disturbance just -experienced. - -A little pumping showed that the boat was not leaking seriously. The -water in the hold went down in about the same proportion that the pumps -poured it out, thus showing that no additional supply was coming in -anywhere. - -In half an hour the pumps ceased to "draw." That is to say, no water -came out in response to their activity. But the flatboat was still -aground. - -"Never mind about that," said Irv Strong. "The river is still rising -rapidly, and it will soon float us." - -"Yes," answered Phil, "if we are on a level bar and if the boat has -undergone no strain. You see as long as we have bottom under us, we -shan't leak to any serious extent. But when we float again, the great -weight of our cargo will make every open seam admit water to its full -capacity." - -"Of course," said Irv. "But what makes you think there are any open -seams?" - -"Nothing," answered Phil, "except a general impulse of precaution. We -went aground very easily. In fact, I didn't know we were aground till I -saw the water flowing by, and by the way, it is RUNNING UP STREAM!" As -he said this he leaned over the side and observed the water carefully. - -The other boys joined him and observed the same phenomenon, largely -in wonder, but almost half in fright. The Mississippi River was -unquestionably running the wrong way, and that, too, when a great flood -was pouring down it and seeking its way to the sea. - -"What does it all mean, Ed?" asked Will Moreraud. "Tell us about it, for -of course you know." - -"I don't know whether I know or not," responded Ed, with more of -hesitation than was usual in his tone. "I think we have had a small -earthquake. We are in the midst of a region of small earthquakes. We -are in New Madrid Bend, and for the best part of a century that has been -a sort of earthquake nest." - -"The river is running down stream again," called out Constant, "and we -are beginning to float, too." - -"So we are," said Irv Strong, going to the side and inspecting. "Let's -go below and find out whether or not we're leaking." - -The suggestion was a timely one. Phil indeed had anticipated it, and -when his comrades went below they found him there with a lantern, -minutely inspecting every point where incoming water might be looked -for. - -Their search clearly revealed the fact that the flatboat--which was now -again floating down the stream--was not leaking more than she did -ordinarily, not so much that a few minutes' pumping now and then could -not keep her bilge empty. - -Having satisfied themselves of the boat's safety, the boys returned to -the deck, and renewed their demands upon Ed for an explanation. - -"Well, you see," said Ed, "we're in New Madrid Bend. Now, as I said a -while ago, for the best part of a century, and probably for all the -centuries before that, this region has been the home of earthquakes, not -very great ones, but such as we have just experienced. Along about 1811 -and 1812 it was distressed with much severer ones in an uncommon degree. -We have just had the Mississippi River running up stream for five or ten -minutes as a result of one of these disturbances. In 1811 it ran up -stream for three full days and nights. Great fissures were opened in the -earth all over the country round about, and as they always, or at least -generally, ran north and south, the settlers used to fell trees east and -west, and build their cabins upon them, so that they might not be -swallowed up by the earthquakes." - -"Why didn't they run away from so appalling a danger?" asked Irv Strong. - -"Because they were pioneers," answered Ed, "because they were the sort -of heroes we were talking about at Cairo, men who took all the risks -that might come to them in order that they might secure advantages to -themselves and their children. Men of that sort do not run away from -earthquakes, any more than they run away from Indians, or fevers, or -floods, or any other dangers. And by the way, these same people had -Indians to contend with, in their very ugliest moods." - -"How so?" asked two of the boys at once. - -"Why, in the time of the great earthquakes, all of Western Tennessee -and Kentucky, and the greater part of Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama -were inhabited by savage Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks, and other hostile -tribes. At that time the great Indiana chief, Tecumseh, conceived -his plan of uniting all the tribes from Indiana--then a part of the -Northwest Territory--to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, -and Florida, in a league for determined resistance to the westward -advance of the whites. - -"It was an opportune time, for a little later the British, being at war -with us, came to Florida and undertook to form an offensive and -defensive alliance with the Indians, whom they supplied with guns and -ammunition, for the destruction of the United States. And but for -Jackson's superb war against the Creeks, and later his victory at New -Orleans, they would have succeeded in splitting this country in two. - -"When Tecumseh went south to secure the cooeperation of the Creeks, -Choctaws, and Seminoles in this plan for the destruction of our country, -he told the Muscogees that on his return to the north he would 'stamp -his foot' and they would feel the earth tremble. - -"The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, which extended into -Alabama and Georgia, came just in time to fulfil this prophetic threat, -and there is no doubt that they played a great part in provoking the -most dangerous Indian war this country ever knew--the most dangerous -because, before it was over, there came to our shores a great British -army, the flower of English soldiery, under command of Pakenham, -Wellington's most trusted lieutenant--to capture New Orleans and secure -control of our wonderful river, and all the region west of it." - -"And why didn't they do it?" asked Will Moreraud. - -"Because of Andrew Jackson," answered Ed. "He went to New Orleans -to meet them. He had no army, but he created one mostly in a single -afternoon. His only experienced troops were three hundred Tennessee -volunteers under Coffee, one of his old Indian fighters. But he had -some backwoods volunteers, and he enlisted all the merchants he could -in New Orleans, and all their clerks, all the ragamuffins of the city, -all the wharf rats, and all the free negroes there, and armed them as -best he could. Half of Pakenham's force had moved from Lake Borgue to -a point a few miles below the city. Without waiting for a force fit -to fight them with, Jackson cried 'Forward' to his motley collection -of men, and on the night of December 23, 1814, he attacked the great -veteran English army in the dark. It was a fearful fight, and the vigor -of it and its insolence as a military operation so appalled the British, -that they waited for more than two weeks for the rest of their forces -to come up before trying again to capture the city,--a thing which they -had intended to do the next morning without the loss of a man. In the -meantime, Jackson had fortified himself, and reenforcements had come to -him, so that when the British were at last ready, on the 8th of January, -1815, to advance to what they still expected to be the easy conquest -of the city, they were 'licked out of their boots.' That, in brief, is -the story of the battle which for the second time decided American -independence. For the British in the War of 1812-14 had nothing less in -view than the re-conquest of our country, and the restoration of the -states to the condition and status of British colonies." - -"But how about the earthquakes?" asked Irv; "why is this region subject -to them more than others?" - -"I'm not sure that I know," said Ed. "But countries in the neighborhood -of volcanoes are usually either peculiarly subject to earthquakes or -especially exempt from them. It seems that sometimes the volcanoes act -as safety valves, while sometimes they don't work in that way till after -the region round about has been greatly shaken up, preparatory to an -eruption." - -"But what have volcanoes got to do with New Madrid Bend?" asked Phil. -"There aren't any volcanoes in the United States." - -"No," said Ed, thoughtfully; "but there are some hot springs over in -Arkansas, not very far from here, and they are volcanic of course in -their origin and character. Perhaps if the Arkansas hot springs were a -robust volcano, instead of being what they are, there would not be so -many earthquakes in this part of the country. If they threw out stones -and lava and let off steam generally as Vesuvius and Etna and the others -do, perhaps this part of the country wouldn't have so many agues." - -Just then the boat heeled over, the river was broken into great waves -again, and all creation seemed to be see-sawing north and south. Phil -called the boys to the sweeps, as a matter of precaution, but the boat -was helpless in the raging river. She was driven ashore again; that is -to say, she was driven over the brink of a submerged river bank, where -she stuck securely in the mud. - -This second earthquake did not last more than thirty or forty seconds, -but that was long enough to get _The Last of the Flatboats_ into the -worst trouble that she had yet encountered. She seemed to be bending in -the middle as if resting upon a fallen tree with both ends free. - -Phil quickly manned the skiffs and instituted an inspection. By the use -of poles and lead lines he soon discovered that two-thirds of the boat's -length lay upon a reasonably level bank, the remaining third overhanging -it. It was this that was bending her so dangerously. - -"Get inside, boys, quick," he called to his comrades. "The boat's bow -overhangs the bank. We must get all the freight out of it as quickly as -possible." - -Then in brief sentences he gave his commands. - -"Roll those apple barrels into the cabin! Carry those bags of meal on -deck and well astern! Take the anchor there, too! Lighten the bow all -you can!" - -The boys worked like beavers, and after a while the entire forward part -of the boat was free of freight. The cabin as a consequence was full, -and the deck so piled up with bags and barrels that ordinary navigation -would have been impossible. But at any rate, the danger of breaking the -boat in two was averted. - -Phil then got into a skiff with Irv, and armed with some lanterns, went -carefully all around the boat, measuring depths and looking for possibly -open seams or other damage. When he returned to the deck he reported:-- - -"We are lying in about six inches of Missouri mud with two and a half -feet of water above it, trespassing to that extent upon somebody's farm. -But the reports from up the rivers when we were at Cairo were that at -least twelve inches more water might be expected within forty-eight -hours, and as it is raining like Noah's flood now, and we only need a -few inches of water to set us free, we'll be afloat again by morning if -we don't have another earthquake to send us still farther out into the -country." - -The event justified Phil's prediction. About five o'clock in the morning -the flatboat floated again, and with a few vigorous strokes of the -sweeps she was sent out into the middle of the river. Then Phil gave -orders for the restoration of the freight to its proper place. Not until -that was done was it possible to get breakfast, for the cabin had been -piled full of freight, and when it was done, Phil devoted himself for an -hour or more, before he would eat, to an inspection of the boat. He -found and stopped a few leaks that had been made by the strain, which -had caused the oakum to loosen in the seams. - -The rain continuing, the boys had a dull day of it, but at any rate -their boat was in good condition, and was now again floating down stream -toward her destination. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -IN THE CHUTE - - -Below New Madrid the swollen river was so full that only the line of -trees on either side indicated its borders. In many places it had so -completely overflowed its banks that it was forty or fifty miles wide in -fact. In other places, where the banks were high, the river was confined -for brief spaces within its natural limits, and rushed forward with the -speed of water in a mill-race. - -The driftwood had by this time largely run out, and while there was -still much of it in the river, its presence no longer involved any -particular danger. Still, it was necessary to observe it; and it was -especially necessary to keep a close watch on the boat's course, lest -she should be drawn into some bayou or pocket, where danger would -impend. - -Nevertheless, the boys had considerable leisure, and Ed devoted a good -deal of the time, at their request, to expounding to them all the lore -that he had gathered from his books. One day he brought out his map -again, and got them interested in it until they lost sight of -other things around them. For that matter, Jim Hughes was on the -steering-bridge, and was supposed to be directing the course of the -boat. It was his duty, of course, to call attention to anything that -might need attention; so the boys allowed themselves to become absorbed -in Ed's explanations and in their own study of the map. - -It was about sunset when Phil raised himself and took a look ahead. He -suddenly sprang to his feet and called out hurriedly, but not excitedly, -"Starboard sweep, boys." - -He himself ran to the steering-oar, and, in spite of some remonstrance -from the pilot, took possession of it. - -"What are you doing, Jim," he called out, "running us into this chute? -Give it to her, boys, with all your might." - -But it was of no use. It was too late. The boat had already been driven -into the chute behind an island, and must now go through it. Jim Hughes -had successfully managed that. - -A chute is that part of the river which lies between an island and the -shore nearest to it. At low water, the chutes in the Mississippi are not -usually navigable at all. But when the river is high, they are deep -enough and wide enough for a steamboat to pass through; and, as passing -through the chute usually saves many miles of distance against a strong -current, the steamboats going up the stream always "run the chute" when -they can. But as these chutes are rarely wide enough, even in the -highest water, for two boats to pass each other safely within them, the -law forbids boats going down the river to run them at all. - -Phil had been instructed in all this by Perry Raymond, and he was -therefore much disturbed when he found the flatboat hopelessly involved -in the head of the chute. - -He explained in short, crisp, snappy sentences to his fellows the -violation of law they were committing, and the danger there was of -snags, fallen trees and other obstructions, in running the chute under -the most favorable circumstances. - -But he was in for it now, and there was only one thing to be done. Go -through the chute he must. The problem was to get through it as quickly -and as safely as possible. If he could get through it without meeting -any up-coming steamer and without running the boat afoul of any snags or -other obstructions, all would be well enough, except that it would still -leave Jim Hughes's action unexplained and puzzling. Should he meet a -steamboat in the narrow passage, he must take the consequences, whatever -they might happen to be. He kept the boys continually at the sweeps, in -order to give him good steerage way; and earnestly adjured them to be -alert, and to act instantly on any order he might give, to all of which -they responded with enthusiasm. - -"How long is this chute, Jim?" - -"How do I know?" answered that worthy, or more properly, that unworthy. - -"I thought you knew the river. You shipped as a pilot," said the boy. -"Hard on the starboard, boys; hard on the starboard! There, that'll do. -Let her float now!" - -Then turning to Jim, he said again:-- - -"You shipped as a pilot. You pretended to know the river. Probably you -do know it better than you now pretend. You deliberately ran us into -this channel. You did it on purpose. You must know the chute then. What -did you do it for? What do you mean by it?" - -"Yes, I shipped as a pilot," answered the surly fellow, "but I shipped -without pay, you will remember. I was careful to assume no obligation -for which I could be held responsible in law." - -Phil started back in amazement. Neither the sentence nor the assured -forethought that lay behind it fitted at all the character of the -ignorant lout that the man who spoke had pretended to be. Phil now -clearly saw that all this man's pretences had been false, that his -character and his personality had been assumed, and that, for some -purpose known only to himself, the fellow had been deceiving him from -the start. Not altogether deceiving him, however, for Phil's suspicions -had already been so far aroused that it could not be said that he had -been hoodwinked completely. But for these suspicions, indeed, he would -not now so readily have observed the man's speech and behavior. He would -not so accurately have interpreted his truculence when he commanded him -to "go to a sweep," and the man answered, "Not if I know it!" and went -to the cabin instead. - -But at that moment Phil had no time to deal further with the fellow, or -even to think of him. For just as dark was falling, the flatboat swung -around a sharp bend in the chute, and came suddenly face to face with a -great, roaring, glaring, glittering steamboat that was running the chute -up stream at racing speed. - -The steamboat whistled madly, and reversed her engines full force. The -captain, the pilot, both the mates, all the deck-hands, all the -roustabouts, and most of the male passengers on board shouted in chorus, -with much of objurgation for punctuation marks, to know what the -flatboat meant by running the chute down stream. - -Phil paid no attention to the hullabaloo, but gave his whole mind to the -problem of navigating his own craft. The steamboat's wheels, as she -backed water so mightily, threw forward great waves which, catching the -flatboat under the bow, drove her stern-on toward the bank. By a -vigorous use of the sweeps, and a great deal of tugging on his own part -at the steering-oar, Phil managed to slew the boat around in time to -prevent her going ashore; and fortunately there was just passageway -enough to let her slip by the steamer, grazing the guards in passing. - -It was the work of a very few minutes, but it seemed an age to -the anxious boy; and as the steamer resumed her course, her crew -sending back a volley of maledictions, his only thought was one of -congratulation that he had escaped from so desperate an entanglement. - -Just then, however, he observed Jim Hughes at the stern, climbing into -the towed skiff, into which he had already thrown his carpet-bag. He -observed also that before engaging in this manoeuvre the pilot had set up -a handkerchief at the bow, apparently as a signal, and that some -rough-looking men were gathered on the shore just astern. - -Quick as a flash Phil realized that for some reason Jim Hughes was -quitting the boat, and was in communication with the men on shore. - -Without quite realizing why he should object to this, he proceeded to -put a stop to it. He called to his comrades, who could now leave the -oars, as the boat was floating out of the chute and into the main river -again, to come to his assistance. Without parley they tumbled over the -end of the boat into the skiff, which had not yet been cast loose, and -there seized the runaway. He fought with a good deal of desperation, but -five stalwart Hoosier boys are apt to be more than a match for any one -man, however strong and however desperate he may be. They quickly -overcame Jim Hughes and hustled him back on board the flatboat. There -they held him down, while one of them, at Phil's request, ran for some -rope. A minute later they had their prisoner securely tied, both as to -arms and as to legs, and dropped him, feet first, down the cabin stairs. - -No sooner was he out of the way than the men on shore began firing at -the flatboat. They had refrained prior to that time, apparently, lest -they should hit their comrade, for such he manifestly was. Their firing -was at long range, however, and it was now nearly dark. The swift -current soon carried the boat wholly beyond reach of rifle-shots and out -into the river. Lest the desperadoes on shore should follow in skiffs or -otherwise, Phil ordered the boys to the sweeps again, and kept them -there until they had driven the boat well over toward the opposite -shore. Then he summoned a council of war. - -[Illustration: THE FIGHT WITH THE PILOT. - -"A minute later they had their prisoner securely tied."] - -"What are we going to do with that fellow?" he asked. - -"Well," said Ed, "you have got him well tied and--" - -"Yes, but," said Irv, "have we any right to tie him? He hasn't committed -any crime." - -"Yes, he has," said Phil. "At least, we caught him in the act of -committing one. He was trying to steal one of Perry Raymond's skiffs. -That's worth twenty-five dollars. If he hadn't anything worse in his -mind, his attempt on the skiff was grand larceny." - -"That's so," said Ed, "and we can turn him over to a magistrate at the -first landing for that." - -"I don't think I shall make any landing," said Phil, "until we get to -Memphis, and in the meantime I am going to know all there is to know -about this fellow. When he came on board he had his hair shaved close -with a barber's mowing-machine, but, unfortunately for him, he didn't -bring one of the machines with him. His hair is growing out again now, -and I have been comparing several of its little peculiarities closely -with descriptions and portraits in the newspapers I got at Cairo of the -fellow who is running away with that swag. Boys, I believe we have got -the man." - -Phil's comrades were positively dumb with astonishment. At last the -silence was broken. - -"If we have," said Irv Strong, "this voyage will pay, for the rewards -offered for this man are very heavy." - -"Yes," said Phil; "I hadn't thought of that, but that's so. There are -five thousand dollars on his capture." - -Just then there was a flash in the dark from the cabin scuttle, and a -bullet whistled over the heads of the boys. Jim Hughes had managed to -extricate himself, in part at least, from his bonds, and had begun to -use a weapon which he had doubtless hidden before that time, and of -which the boys had known nothing. - -Ed was the first to act. He was always exceedingly quick to think. He -called to the boys to follow him, and, disregarding Jim's fusillade, ran -to the scuttle. - -In an instant, by their united efforts, they pushed the fellow back and -closed the lid that covered the stairs. Then Ed remembered that there -was a door leading out of the cabin into the hold of the boat. He -suggested to two of the boys that they go below, and close that with -bales of hay and the like. They did so hurriedly, piling the hay and -some apple barrels against the door, until it would have required the -strength of half a dozen men to push it open. In the meantime Ed had -possessed himself of a hatchet and nails, and had securely nailed down -the scuttle. - -Just then Irv Strong thought of something. - -"Suppose he gets desperate? He could easily set fire to things down -there." - -"That's so," said Phil, who had just returned from the hold. "Bring the -fire-extinguishers." - -By the time they got the four large carbonic acid receptacles a new -thought had occurred to Ed. - -"Bring an auger, boys. There's one lying forward there. The big one." - -It was quickly brought, though none of the boys could guess what Ed -intended to do. He took the auger, and quickly bored an inch hole in the -scuttle. A flash and a bullet came through it, but nobody was hurt. - -"Now, give me an extinguisher," said Ed. - -Putting the nozzle of the hose through the hole, he turned the apparatus -upside down, and allowed its contents to be driven violently into the -little cabin. When the first extinguisher was exhausted he turned on the -hose of another, and after that of a third. - -For a while the imprisoned man, shut up in a box ten feet by twelve and -not over five or six feet high, indulged in lusty yells, but these soon -became husky, and presently ceased entirely. The moment they did, Ed -called out:-- - -"Rip off the scuttle quick, boys; he's suffocated." - -The boys did not at all understand what had happened, but they acted -promptly in obedience to their wisest comrade's order. When the scuttle -was opened and a lantern brought, Jim was seen lying limp at the foot of -the little ladder. - -"Now, be careful," said Ed. "Irving, you and Phil--you're the -strongest--go down, hold your breath, and drag him up. Be sure to hold -your breath. Do just as you do when you're diving." - -They made an effort, but almost instantly came back, gasping for air, -sneezing, and with eyes and noses tingling. - -"Catch your breath quick," said Ed, "and go down again. You must get him -out, or he will be dead, if he isn't dead already." - -They made another dash, this time acting more carefully upon the -instruction to treat the descent as if it were a dive, and carefully -holding their breath. In a brief while they dragged the body of the -pilot out upon the deck, and Ed gave directions for restoring life by -artificial respiration. - -"You see, he's practically a drowned man," he said. - -"Drowned?" said Will Moreraud. "Why, he's not even been in the water, -and that little dash with the hose wouldn't drown a kitten." - -"Never mind that," said Ed; "quick now; he's drowned, or just the same -thing. We must bring him to life." - -"Well, slip that rope around his arms and legs while we do it," said -Phil, "or we'll have trouble when he comes to." - -This was a suggestion which they all recognized as altogether timely, -and so the apparent corpse was carefully secured by two of the boys, -while the rest worked at the task of restoring him to life. - -He "came to" in a little while, and lay stretched out upon the deck, -weak and exhausted. Then, at Ed's suggestion, the boys went below by the -forward door, rolled away the obstructions, and threw open the door of -the cabin, so that all the air possible might pass through it. It was -half an hour at least before breathing became comfortable in that little -box. Then Phil made a thorough exploration of Jim's carpet-bag, bunk, -and everything else that pertained to him. His only remark as to the -result of his personal inquiry was:-- - -"I guess we needn't trouble ourselves about having arrested this man." - -While waiting for the air to render the cabin habitable again, Constant -said, "But, Ed, how did he _drown_ without going into the water? I don't -understand." - -"Neither do I," said Will Moreraud; "but he was drowned all safe enough. -I've seen too many drowned people not to know one when I see him." - -Then Ed explained:-- - -"That cabin is a little box about ten feet by twelve, and six feet high, -and when shut up it's nearly air tight. It contains only a little over -seven hundred cubic feet of air. These chemical fire extinguishers are -filled with water saturated with soda or saleratus. There is a bottle in -each one, filled with oil of vitriol, or a coarse, cheap sort of -sulphuric acid. It is so arranged that when you turn the thing upside -down the bottle breaks, and the acid is dumped into the water. Now when -you pour sulphuric acid into a mixture of water and soda, the soda gives -off an enormous quantity of what is commonly called carbonic acid gas, -though I believe its right name is carbon dioxide. At any rate, it is -the same gas that makes soda water 'fizz.' But when you turn one of -these machines upside down you get about ten or twenty times as much of -the gas in the water as there is in the same quantity of soda water; and -when you turn this doubled and twisted soda water loose it gives off its -gas in enormous quantities. Now this gas is heavier than air, so when it -was set loose down in the cabin there, it sank to the bottom, and the -air floated on top of it. As the cabin filled up with the gas the air -came out through the hole in the scuttle and the cracks round it. -Pouring that gas into the cabin was just like pouring water into a jug; -the gas took the place of air just as the water in the jug takes the -place of the air that was in it at first. - -"Suppose you let a lighted lantern down into the cabin, Will," suggested -the older boy, "and see what happens." - -Will did so, and the lantern went out as promptly as it would have done -if plunged into water. - -"You see," said Ed, "this gas puts out fire, and it puts out life in the -same way. It smothers both. It absolutely excludes oxygen, and neither -animal life nor fire can exist without oxygen. Do I make the thing -clear?" - -"Perfectly," said all the boys. - -"Then that's why we choked so when we went down the ladder?" said Phil. - -"Certainly. Your air was as completely cut off as if you had dived into -water. That's why I cautioned you to hold your breath just as if you had -been diving into the river." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -"TALKING BUSINESS" - - -Naturally the boys were too much excited over their capture to talk of -anything else, and for a time they did not even think or talk of the -most important phase of that. They discussed the shooting, which all of -them saw to be reason enough for the arrest, but it was not until well -on into the night that any of them thought to ask Phil about the results -of his search of Jim's satchel. - -Meantime they had carried the pinioned man below and securely bound him -to his bunk. Then they had cooked and eaten their supper, talking all -the time, each playfully describing his own consternation at every step -of the late proceeding. Finally Will Moreraud said:-- - -"By the way, what does it all mean?" - -"Yes," joined in Irv Strong, "it at last begins to dawn upon my hitherto -excited consciousness, that we have not yet heard the results of Phil's -explorations among Jim's effects. Tell us all about it, Phil." - -They were sitting in the cabin, or half way in it. That is to say, Phil -was sitting in the mouth of the scuttle above, watching the river and -the course of the flatboat; Irv sat just below him on the steps, and the -other boys were gathered around the little table at the foot of the -ladder. - -"One of you come up here, then," said Phil, "and keep the lookout while -I tell you about it. I thought you'd ask after you got through relating -your personal experiences." - -Ed volunteered to take the place at the top of the stairs, although his -frail nerves were now quivering after the strain he had been through. -Phil seized the carpet-bag which he had instinctively kept under his -hand all the time, and descended the ladder. - -There he opened it and spread its contents on the table. - -"These are what I have found," he said, suppressing his excitement. -"This big bundle of government bonds," laying it on the table; "this big -bundle of railroad and other securities," laying that down in its turn; -"this great wad of greenbacks, and, best of all, _these_!" - -As he finished, he held up a bundle of letters. - -"What are they? Why are they the best part of all?" queried the boys in -a breath. - -"They are letters from Jim Hughes's fellow criminals. I called them -'best of all' because they will enable the authorities to catch and -convict the whole gang!" - -The exultation of the crew was great. - -"We shall have rendered a great service to the public, shan't we?" asked -Constant. - -"A very great service, indeed. And that's what we must rejoice in," -answered Ed. "But we mustn't fail to render it. We mustn't let the thief -slip his bonds and escape." - -Hughes was lying there in his bunk all the while, but they paid no -attention to him. They had ceased to think of him as a man. To them he -was only a criminal, just as he might have been an alligator or a -rattlesnake. - -"Oh, we'll take good care of that," responded Phil. "From this moment -till we deliver him to the officers of the law, we'll keep one fellow -always right here on guard over him. It will mean double duty for some -of you to-night, for I'm going ashore presently." - -"Going ashore! What for, and where?" was eagerly asked. - -"There's a little town down here somewhere, as I see by the map, and -when we get to it I'm going ashore to send telegrams. You see, Hughes's -'pals' might have somebody at Memphis armed with a _habeas corpus_ or -something of that sort, and take him away from us. I've a mind to -deliver the fugitive myself. So I propose to have officers to meet us -with warrants and things when we reach Memphis." - -"Good idea," said Irv. - -"And there's the town just a little way ahead," called out Ed, from the -top of the ladder. - -Phil went at once on deck, leaped into the skiff and rowed rapidly ahead -of the slowly floating flatboat, or as rapidly as the drift would let -him. When he reached the village he found to his disappointment that -there was no telegraph office there. But he learned that there was one -at the hydrographic engineer's station a few miles below, on the -opposite side of the river. - -By this time the flatboat had passed him, and he had a long "stern -chase" through the darkness and drift before he could overtake and board -her again. - -Then, assigning Ed to guard their prisoner in the cabin, he called the -other boys to the sweeps. - -"The river is very wide here," he explained, "and the telegraph station -is on the other side. We must take the boat well over there." - -The boys pulled with a will, and long before the station came in view -the flatboat was close in shore on the farther side of the river. - -Meantime, or a little later, something happened in the cabin. Ed was -reading a book, when suddenly the prisoner called out:-- - -"Ed." - -"Yes?" said the boy, laying down his book. - -"I'm awfully tired, lying in one position. Can't you turn me over a -bit?" - -Ed went at once to his relief. His torture was no part of the purpose of -anybody on board. But after Ed had readjusted the ropes so that the -fellow could rest more comfortably, the prisoner said:-- - -"See here, Ed, I want to talk to you. You fellows have made a tremendous -strike, for of course there's no use in disguising the truth any longer, -to you at least, or pretending to be what I have tried to appear. You've -got your man and you've got the proofs dead to rights. You've found me -with the swag in my possession. If you turn me over to the law, I'll go -up for ten or twenty years to a certainty. There is no use in defending -myself. The case is too clear, too complete. Do you see?" - -"Certainly" responded Ed. "You must pay the penalty of your crime. We -have no personal hard feeling against you, Jim, except that you ought -not to have tried to involve us boys as you have done, and--" - -"Well, you see, Ed," interrupted the bound man, "I was desperate. There -was a big price on my head, and hundreds of men were looking for me -everywhere. On the one hand, a prison stared me in the face, on the -other was freedom with abundant wealth to enjoy it with. If I could get -down the river, I thought I should have everything snug and right. I -didn't mean to get you boys into any trouble--really and truly I didn't, -Ed. My plan was to blunder into that chute, and while you fellows were -all scared half to death about it, to slip ashore. I had those men on -the bank just for safety's sake. They don't really know anything about -me or what I've got--what I did have," he corrected, with sudden -recollection that his carpet-bag was no longer in his possession. - -"Those men were hired by my partners to have horses there and run me off -into Mississippi, and I was to give them a hundred or two for the job, -besides paying for the horses we might ride to death. Really and truly, -Ed, that's all there was of that." - -"I see no particular reason to doubt your statement, Jim," replied the -boy. "But what of it?" - -"Well, you see, I want to talk business with you, Ed, and I wanted you -to know, in the first place, that I hadn't tried to harm you boys in any -way--at least, till I was caught in a trap by that sharp brother of -yours." There was a distinct touch of malignity in the man's tone as he -mentioned Phil, to whom he justly attributed his capture. - -"Never mind that," he resumed after a moment. "I want to talk business -with you, as I said. Here are you five boys, all alone on the river. -Anything might happen to a flatboat. You're likely to make, as nearly as -I can figure it out from your talk, about fifty or a hundred or at most -a hundred and fifty dollars apiece out of the trip, after paying -steamboat passage back. Now you've caught me. If you surrender me--" - -"Which of course we shall," broke in Ed, in astonishment. - -"As I was saying" continued Jim, "if you surrender me, you'll probably -get the reward offered, though that's never quite certain." - -"What possible difference can that make?" asked Ed, indignantly. "You're -a thief. We have caught you with hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth -of other people's property in your possession. We have only one thing to -do. We must deliver you to the officers of the law. We should do that if -not a cent of reward was offered. We should do it simply because we're -ordinarily honest persons who think that thieves ought to be punished -and that stolen property ought to be returned to its owners. What has -the reward to do with it?" - -"I'm glad you look at it in that way," said the prisoner. "At most the -reward is a trifle, as you say. Five thousand dollars to five of you -means only a thousand dollars apiece. Now I've a business proposition to -make. Suppose you let me slip ashore somewhere down here, I'll leave -behind me--I'll put into your hands all the coupon bonds. They're better -than cash--they are good for their face and a good deal more anywhere. -You boys can sink the old flatboat down the river somewhere, sell out -the bonds to any banker, and go ashore rich--worth more than anybody in -Vevay's got, or ever will have." - -The man spoke eagerly, but not excitedly, and he watched closely to see -the effect of his words. - -Ed preserved his self-control. Indeed, it was his habit always to grow -cool, or at least to seem so, in precise proportion to the occasion for -growing hot. He waited awhile before he spoke. Then he said:-- - -"Jim Hughes,--or whatever your name is--well, I'll simply call you -Thief, for that name belongs to you even if nothing else that you -possess does,--you thief, if you had made such a proposition as that to -my father, he would have--well, he was said to be hot-headed. I'm not -hot-headed--" - -"No. You're reasonable. You're--" - -"Stop!" shouted Ed. "If you weren't tied up there and helpless, you'd -make me hot-headed, too, like my father, and I'd do to you what he would -have done. As it is, I'm cool-headed. I'll 'talk business' with you; and -the business I have to talk is just this: I forbid you from this moment -to open your mouth again, except to ask for water, while you are on this -flatboat. If you say one other word to me or to any of my companions -I'll forget that I am not my hot-headed father, and--well, it will be -very greatly the worst for you. Now not a word!" seeing that the fellow -was about to speak. "Not a word, except the word 'water,' till my -brother turns you over to the officers of the law. I'm not captain, but -this particular order of mine 'goes.' I'm going to ask my brother to -pass it on to the others, and it will be enforced, be very sure. They -are not cool-headed as I am, particularly Phil. He's like my father -sometimes. Remember, you are not to speak any word except 'water' till -you pass from our custody." - -The high-strung boy tried to control himself, but he was livid with -rage. He choked and gasped for breath as he spoke. Weak as he was -physically, he would certainly have assaulted the man who had -deliberately proposed to make him a partner in crime, but for the fact -that the fellow was bound, hand and foot, and therefore helpless. In his -rage Ed ran up the ladder and called for his brother, meaning to ask -that the man be released from his bonds in order that he, Ed Lowry, -might wreck vengeance upon him for the insult. - -Phil had gone ashore to send his telegrams. Irv Strong had been left in -command of the boat. He asked Ed what was the matter. Ed, still choking -with rage, explained as well as he could, growing more excited every -moment, and ended by demanding:-- - -"Let the scoundrel loose! cut the ropes that bind him, and give me a -chance at him!" - -"Hold on, Ed," said Irv. "The wise Benjamin Franklin once said: 'No -gentleman _will_ insult one; no other _can_.' This thief, burglar, bank -robber, that we've got tied in a bunk down there, _can't_ insult _you_. -He doesn't know our kind. He isn't in our class. It never occurs to -his mind that anybody is really honest. It seems to him a question of -price, and he thinks he has offered you mighty good terms. If any man -who understood common honesty and believed in its existence had made -such a proposition to you, your wrath would be righteous. As it is, -your wrath is merely ridiculous. Of course a trapped bank burglar tries -to buy his way out with his swag. Of course such a creature doesn't -know what honest people think or feel--he has no capacity to understand -it any more than he could understand Russian. Go below, Constant, and -watch that thief. Ed, you must recover yourself. Phil will come aboard -presently, and I really don't suppose you want to tell Phil precisely -what has happened and leave _him_ to--well, let us say to _discipline_ -Jim Hughes." - -"No, no; oh, no!" said Ed, suddenly realizing what that would mean. -"Phil would--oh, I don't know what he wouldn't do. For conscience' sake -don't tell him what happened!" - -"Suppose you go forward then," suggested Irv, "and sit down on the -anchor and cool off, and so far recover yourself that Phil won't notice -anything or ask any questions when he comes aboard." - -The suggestion was very quietly given, quite as if the whole matter had -been one of no consequence. But it was instantly effective. Irv well -knew that Ed's greatest dread was that Phil's fiery temper might get the -better of him sometime. So Irv had shrewdly appealed to that fear. - -"I will; I'll cool down at once," said Ed, rising in his earnestness. -"Nobody knows what Phil would do or wouldn't do if he knew of this. Irv, -you must prevent that. Make all the boys pledge themselves not to let -him know, at least till Hughes is out of our hands." - -Irv was glad enough to make the promise and to fulfil it. For he, too, -knew with what reckless fervor the high-mettled boy would be sure to -inflict punishment for the insult should he learn of it. - -"Phil is the jolliest, best-natured fellow in the world," explained Irv, -when he asked the other boys not to tell their captain what had -happened, "but you know what a temper he has--or rather you don't know. -None of us does, because nobody has ever made the mistake of stirring -him up with a real, vital insult." - -"No," said Will, "and I pity the fellow that ever makes that particular -mistake." - -"We'll never tell him," said Constant. "If we did, we mightn't be able -to deliver our prisoner." - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -AT ANCHOR - - -Phil had sent two telegrams,--one to the authorities at Memphis, and -the other to the plundered bank in Cincinnati. In each he had announced -his captures,--the man and the funds,--and in each he had asked that -officers to arrest and persons to identify the culprit should be waiting -at Memphis on the arrival of the flatboat. - -On his return to the flatboat he felt himself so excited and sleepless -that he sent his comrades below to sleep and by turns to watch the -prisoner. He would himself remain on duty on deck all night. As the -night wore away, the boy thought out all the possibilities, for he felt -that for any miscarriage in this matter he would be solely responsible. - -Among the possibilities was this: that should the flatboat arrive at -Memphis before some one could get there from Cincinnati to identify the -prisoner, he might be discharged for want of such identification. It -would take a day or two to send men by rail from Cincinnati to Memphis, -while the fierce current of this Mississippi flood promised to take the -flatboat thither within less than twenty hours. - -After working out all the probabilities in his mind as well as he could, -Phil called below for all his comrades to come to the sweeps. He did not -tell them his purpose; they were too sleepy even to ask. But studying -the "lay of the land" on either side, he steered the flatboat into a -sort of pocket on the Tennessee shore, and to the bewilderment of his -comrades, ordered the anchor cast overboard. - -By the time that the anchor held, and the boat came to a rest in the -bend, the boys were much too wide awake not to have their minds full of -interrogation marks. - -"What do you mean, Phil?" "Why have we anchored?" "How long are we to -remain here?" "What's the matter, anyhow?" "Have you gone crazy, or what -is it?" - -These and a volley of similar questions were fired at him. - -He did not answer. He went to one side of the boat and then to the other -to observe position. - -"How much anchor line is out, Will?" he presently asked. - -"Nearly all of it," answered his comrade. - -"This won't do," said Phil. "Up anchor." - -The boys were more than ever puzzled. But they tugged away at the anchor -windlass till the flukes let go the bottom and the anchor was halfway -up. Then Phil called out:-- - -"That will do. Put a peg in the windlass and let the anchor swing in the -water. To the sweeps! Hard on the starboard! We must push her inshore -and into shallower water, where the anchor will hold her, and where no -steamboat is likely to run over us. Who would have thought it was so -deep over here?" - -The boys now began to understand why the first anchorage had been -abandoned and a shallower one sought for, but they did not yet know what -their captain meant by anchoring at all. They did not understand why, on -so clear a night, with a river so generously flooded, he did not let -things take their course and get to Memphis as quickly as possible. - -Presently the anchor, dragging at half cable, fouled the bottom and, -with a strain that made the check-post creak, the flatboat came to a -full stop. - -"That will do," said Phil. "This is as good a place as any. Pay out some -more anchor line and let her rest." - -"But what on earth are you anchoring for?" asked the others, "and how -long are we going to lie here?" queried Ed. - -"Nearly two days and nights," was the reply,--"long enough to let -somebody travel from Cincinnati to Memphis who can identify Jim Hughes -and take him off our hands. I suppose it would be all right if we went -on without waiting. But I'm not certain of that, and I'm not taking any -chances in this business, so we'll lie at anchor here for nearly two -days. Go to bed, all of you except the one on watch over Jim Hughes. I'm -not sleepy, so I'll stay on deck for the rest of the night." - -But by that time the boys were not sleepy either, so they made no haste -about going to their bunks. - -"We'll be pretty short of something to eat by that time," said -Constant, who was just then in charge of the cooking. "We have only a -scrap of bread left. The eggs and fresh meat and milk are used up, and -we'll have to fall back on corn-bread and fried salt pork." - -"Well, that's food fit for the gods," said Irv Strong, "if the gods -happen to be healthy, hungry flatboatmen. But how important the food -question always is in an emergency! How it always crops up when you get -away from home!" - -"Yes, and at home too," said Ed; "only there we have somebody else to -look after the three meals a day. It's the most important question in -the world. If all food supplies were cut off for a single month, this -world would be as dead as the moon." - -"That's true," broke in Will. "And really, I suppose the world isn't -very forehanded with it at best. I wonder how many years we could last, -anyhow, if the crops ceased to grow." - -"Not more than one year," replied the older boy. "There never was a time -when mankind had food enough accumulated to last for much more than a -year, and probably there never will be. If there should be no crop for -a single year, hundreds of thousands would starve every month, and a -second failure would simply blot out the race. As for forehandedness, we -actually live from hand to mouth, especially the people in the big -cities. Only last winter a great snowstorm blockaded the railroads -leading into New York for only three or four days, and even in that -short time the price of food went up so high that the charitable -institutions had all they could do to keep poor people from starving. So -far from the world generally being forehanded for food, there never was -a time when the food on hand was really sufficient to go round." - -"Well, of course," said Will, meditatively, "there are always some -people so 'down on their luck,' as the saying is, that they can't earn a -living, but there's always enough food for them if they could get hold -of it." - -"You're mistaken," said Ed. "There is nearly always something like a -famine in parts of India and Russia, and even in Italy and other parts -of Europe there are great masses of very hard-working people who never -in their lives get enough to eat." - -There were exclamations of surprise at this, but Ed presently -continued: "In many European countries the peasants do not see a piece -of meat once a year, and in hardly any of them do the poorer people get -what we would think sufficient for food. In fact, their food is not -sufficient. They are always more or less starved, and that's the reason -so many of them are the little runts they are." - -"Then we are better off than most other nations?" said Irv. - -"Immeasurably!" said Ed. "Ours is the best fed nation in the world. It -is the only nation in which the poorest laborer can have meat on his -table every day in the year, for even in England the poorer laborers -have to make out with cheese pretty often." - -"What's the reason?" asked Phil, who had acquired the habit of using -short sentences and as few words as possible since his burden of -responsibility had borne so heavily upon him. - -"There are several reasons. Our soil is fertile--but so is that of -France and Italy, for that matter. I suppose the great reason is that we -do not have to support vast armies in idleness. In most of the European -countries they make everybody serve in the army for three or four -years. It costs a lot of money to support these armies and it costs the -country a great deal more than that." - -"In what way?" asked Constant, who, being on sentry duty over Hughes, -was sitting halfway down the ladder. - -"Why, by taking all the young men away from productive work for three -years. Take half a million young men away from work and put them in the -army, and you lose each year all the work that a man could do in half a -million years, all the food or other things that half a million men -could produce in a year?" - -"And the other people have to make it all up," drawled Irv. "I don't -wonder they're tired." - -"And besides making it all up, as you say," responded Ed, "those other -people have to work to feed and clothe and house and arm all these men, -besides transporting them from one place to another, and paying for -costly parades and all that sort of thing. Why, every time one of the -big modern guns is fired at a target it burns up some man's earnings for -a whole year! Some man must work a year or more to pay the expense of -doing it!" - -"Then why don't the people of those countries 'kick'?" asked Will, "and -abolish their armies?" - -"Because the people of those countries have masters, and the masters own -the armies, and the armies would make short work of any 'kick.' In our -country the people are the masters, and they have always refused to let -anybody set up a great standing army. When we have a war, the people -volunteer and fight it to a finish. Then the men who have been doing the -fighting are mustered out, and they go back to their work, earn their -own living, and put in their time producing something that mankind -needs." - -"Cipher it all down," said Irv, "it's liberty that makes this the best -country in the world to live in." - -"Precisely!" said Ed, with emphasis. "And about the most important duty -every American has to do is to remember that one, supreme fact, and do -his part to keep our country as it is." - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -AT BREAKFAST - - -The day was dawning by this time, and the conversation was broken up. -Constant set to work to prepare breakfast while the others extinguished -the lanterns, trimmed them, filled them with oil, and "cleaned up" -generally. - -When breakfast was served, the scarcity of supplies was apparent. -There were some "cold-water hoecakes,"--that is to say, bread made of -corn-meal mixed up with cold water and a little salt, and baked in cakes -about half or three quarters of an inch thick upon a griddle. There was -a dish of fried salt pork, and with it some fried potatoes. And there -was nothing else, except a "private dish" consisting of two slices of -toast made from the scrap of stale wheat bread left, with a poached egg -on each of them. There was no coffee and no butter, the last remains of -that having been used upon the toast. - -The "private dish," Constant explained, was for Ed. "You see, we're -out to get him well, and his digestive apparatus doesn't take kindly -to fried things. I've saved four more eggs for him--the last we've -got,--and six more slices of stale wheat bread. The rest of you are -barbarians, and you'll wrestle with any sort of hash I can get up till -we get to Memphis." - -Ed protested vigorously against the favoritism shown him, but the others -supported Constant's plan, and the older boy had to yield. - -"Well, I am deeply grateful for your kindness, boys," he said, "and I'm -duly grateful also to the thousands of men in various parts of the -country who have worked so hard to furnish me with these two slices of -toast." - -The boys looked up from their plates. - -"Here's another revelation," said Irv. "My ill-furnished intelligence is -about to receive another supply of much-needed rudimentary information. -Go on, Ed. Tell us about it. How in the world do you figure out your -'thousands' of men who have had anything to do with those two slices of -toast?" - -"Oh, that was a joke," said Will. - -"It was nothing of the kind," answered Ed. "I can't possibly count up -all the people who have worked hard to give me this toast, but they -certainly number greatly more than a thousand." - -"We're only waiting for wisdom to drop from your lips--" began Irv, with -his drawl. - -"O, quit it, Irv!" said Phil; "you'll learn more by listening than by -talking." - -"That is probably so," said the other, "though I remember that we heard -something away up the river, about how much a person learns of a subject -by talking about it." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Listen," said Ed, "and I'll explain. The wheat out of which this toast -was made was grown probably in Dakota or Minnesota. There was a farmer -there, and perhaps there were some farm-hands also, who ploughed the -ground, sowed the seed, reaped the wheat, threshed it, winnowed it, and -all that. Then--" - -"Yes, but all that wouldn't include more than half a dozen," said Phil. - -"Yes, it would," said Irv, "for there's all the womenfolk who cooked -the men's meals and--" - -"Never mind them," said Ed, "though of course they helped to give me my -toast. Let's count only those that contributed directly to that kindly -end. These farmer people used ploughs, harrows, drills, reapers, -threshing-machines, wagons, and all that, and somebody must have made -them. And back of those who made them were those who dug the iron for -them out of the ground, and cut the wood in them out of the forest, and -the men who made the tools with which they did all this, and--" - -"I see," said Irv. "It's the biggest endless chain imaginable. -Thousands? Why, thousands had a hand in it before you even get to the -farmer--the men who made the tools, and the men who made the tools that -made the tools, and so on back to the very beginnings of creation. And -if we face about, there are the men that ran the railroads which hauled -the wheat to mill, and the millers, and all that. Oh, the thousand are -easy enough to make out." - -"Yes," said Ed, "and then the railroads and the mills had to be built. -The men that built them, the engineers, mechanics, and laborers, all -helped to give me my two slices of toast. So did the men behind them, -the men who made their tools and their materials, the woodsmen who -chopped trees for ties, the miners who dug the iron, the smelters, the -puddlers, the rolling-mill men, who wrought the crude ore into steel -rails; then there are all the men who made the locomotives, and the -cars, and the machinery of the mills, and--" - -"Oh, stop for mercy's sake," said Will. "It's no use to count. There -aren't thousands, but millions of them. And of course the same thing is -true of our clothes, our shoes, and everything else." - -"But with so many people's work represented in it," asked Irv, -reflectively, "why isn't that piece of toast an enormously costly -affair?" - -"Simply _because_ so many people's work is represented in it," answered -Ed. "If one man had to do it all for himself, it would never be done at -all. Just imagine a man set down on the earth with no tools and nobody -to help him. How much buttered toast do you suppose he would be able to -turn out in a year? Why, before he could get so much as a hoe he would -have to travel hundreds of miles, dig some iron and coal, cut wood with -which to convert the coal into coke, melt the iron out of its ore, -change it into steel, and shape it into a hoe. Why, even a hoe would -cost him a year's hard work or more, while a wagon he could hardly make -without tools in a lifetime. Now he can earn the price of a hoe in a few -hours, and the cost of a wagon in a few days or weeks, simply because -everybody works for everybody else, each man doing only the thing that -he can do best." - -"Then we all work for each other without knowing it," said Will. - -"Of course we do. When we fellows were diving for that pig-iron, we were -working for the thousands of people who will use or profit by the things -that somebody else will make out of that pig-iron and--" - -"And for the somebody else," said Irv, "that will make those things out -of the pig-iron, and for all the 'somebody elses' that work for them, -and so on in every direction! Whew! it makes my head swim to think of -it. But what a nabob you are, Ed! Just think! Thousands and even -millions of people are, at this moment, at work to make you -comfortable!" - -"Yes, and each one of the millions is at work for all the others while -all the others are at work for him. Theorists sometimes dream out -systems of 'cooeperative industry,' hoping in that way to better men's -condition. But their very wildest dreams do not even approach the -complex and perfectly working cooeperation we already have in use." - -"Just think of it!" said Irv. "Suppose that every man in our little town -of two or three thousand people had to do everything for himself! He -would have to raise sheep for wool, card, spin, and weave it, and -fashion it into clothes. He would have to raise cotton and linen in the -same way, and cattle too, and keep a tannery and be a shoemaker and a -farmer and a mason and a carpenter and all the rest of it. And then he -would have to mine his own iron and coal, and make his own tools -and--well, he wouldn't do it, because he couldn't. He'd just wander off -into the woods hunting for something that he could kill and eat, and -he'd try to kill anybody else that did the same thing, for fear that the -somebody else would get some of the game that he wanted for himself. -He'd be simply a savage!" - -"Well, but even savages go in tribes and hunt together and live -together," said Will. - -"Of course they do," answered Ed, "and that's their first step up toward -civilization. When they do that they have learned in a small way the -advantage of working together, each for all and all for each. The better -they learn that lesson, the more civilized they become." - -"Then the theorists are right who want the state to own everything and -everybody to work for the state and be supported by it?" asked Phil. - -"Not a little bit of it," said Ed. "That would be simply to go back to -the tribal plan that savages adopt when they first realize the -advantages of working together, and abandon when they grow civilized. We -have worked out of that and into something better. With us, every man -works for all the rest by working for himself in the way that best -serves his own welfare. Under our system every man is urged and -stimulated by self-interest to do the very best and most work that he -can. Under a communistic or socialistic or tribal system, every man -would be as lazy as the rest would let him be, because he would be sure -of a share in all that the others might make by their labor. It is -sharp competition that makes men do their best. It is in the 'struggle -for existence' that men advance most rapidly." - -"Wonder if that wasn't what Humboldt meant," said Irv, "when he called -the banana 'the curse of the tropics,' adding that when a man planted -one banana tree he provided food enough for himself and his descendants -to the tenth generation, in a climate where there is no real necessity -for clothes." - -"Exactly," said Ed. "Somebody once said that 'every man is as lazy as he -dares to be.'" - -"Well, I am, anyhow," yawned Irv, "and so I'm going up on deck under the -awning to make up some of that sleep I lost last night." - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -SCUTTLE CHATTER - - -The pocket in which _The Last of the Flatboats_ lay at anchor was well -out of the path of passing steamboats. It was also pretty free from -drift-wood, except of the smaller sort. So there was nothing of any -consequence to be done during the two days of waiting. It was necessary -to pump a little now and then, as the very tightest boat will let in a -little bilge water, especially when she is as heavily loaded as this one -was. There were what Irv Strong called "the inevitable three meals a -day" to get, but beyond that there was nothing whatever to do. - -Ed's books were a good deal in demand at this time. Irv and Phil managed -to do some swimming in spite of the drift-wood and the coldness of the -water. For the rest, the boys lounged about on the deck, with now and -then a "long talk" at the scuttle or in the cabin if it rained. Their -"long talks" on deck were always held around the scuttle, so that the -one on guard over Hughes might take part in them. There were only five -steps to the little ladder that led from deck to cabin, and by sitting -on the middle one the boy on guard could keep his feet on the edge of -the prisoner's bunk and let his head protrude above the deck. - -They had naturally been thinking a good deal about what Ed had told them -concerning food, and now and then a question would arise in the mind of -one or another of them which would set the conversation going again. - -"I wonder," said Will Moreraud, "how men first found out what things -were good to eat?" - -"By trying them, I guess," said Phil. "I read in a book somewhere that -whenever the primitive man saw a new beast he asked first, 'can he eat -me?' and next, 'can I eat him?'" - -"Yes," said Ed, "and that sort of thing continued until our own time, -when science came in to help us. You know where the jimson weed got its -name, don't you?" - -None of them had ever heard. - -"Well, 'jimson' is only a corruption of 'Jamestown.' When the early -settlers landed at Jamestown they found so many new kinds of grain, and -animals, and plants that they began trying them to see which were good -and which were not. Among other things they thought the burs of the -jimson weed--the poisonous thorn-apple of stramonium--looked rather -inviting. So they boiled a lot of the burs and ate them. Like idiots, -they didn't confine the experiment to one man, or better still 'try it -on a dog,' but set to work, a lot of them at once, to eat the stuff. It -poisoned them, of course, and made a great sensation in Jamestown. So -they named the plant the Jamestown weed." - -"I remember," said Irv, "my grandfather telling me that when he was -young, people thought tomatoes were poisonous, and he said it took a -long time for those that tried them to teach other people better." - -"That's what I had in my mind," said Ed, "when I said that there was no -known way to find out whether things were good to eat or not except by -trying them, till modern science came to our aid." - -"How does modern science manage it?" asked Will. - -"Well, if any new fruit or vegetable should turn up now, a chemist would -analyze it to find out just what it was composed of. Then the doctors -who make a study of such things would 'try it on a dog,' or more likely -on a rabbit or guinea pig, to find out if it had any value as a -medicine. They try every new substance in that way in fact, whether it -is an original substance just discovered or some new compound. They even -tried nitro-glycerine, and found it to be a very valuable medicine. So, -too, they have got some of our most valuable drugs from coal oil, simply -by trying them." - -"Good for modern science!" said Phil. "But, Ed, what were the other new -things the colonists found in this country?" - -"There were many. But those that have proved of most importance are -corn, tobacco, tomatoes, watermelons, turkeys, Irish potatoes, and sweet -potatoes." - -"Oh, come now," said Irv, raising his head and resting it on his hand, -"you said _Irish_ potatoes." - -"And why not? They are a very important product, and the crop of them -sells for many millions of--" - -"_But_ they didn't originate in this country, did they? Weren't they -brought here from Ireland?" - -"Not at all. They were taken from here to Ireland." - -"Then why are they called Irish potatoes?" - -"Because they proved to be so much the most profitable crop the Irish -people could raise that they soon came to be the chief crop grown there. -I don't know whether the colonists found any of them growing wild in -Virginia or not. They are supposed to have originated in South America -and Mexico. At any rate, they are strictly native Americans. By the -way," said Ed, "the people who thought tomatoes poisonous were not so -very far out in their reckoning. Both the tomato and the potato are -plants belonging to the deadly nightshade family, and the vines of both -contain a virulent poison." - -"Perhaps somebody tried tomato vines for greens," said Phil, "and got -himself ready for the coroner before the tomatoes had time to grow and -ripen." - -"That isn't unlikely," said Ed. "At any rate, an experiment of that kind -would have gone far to give the fruit a bad name." - -"However that may be," said Irv, "it is pretty certain that men must -have found out what was and what wasn't good to eat mainly by trying. -There's salt now. It is the only mineral substance that men everywhere -eat. All the rest of our foods are either animal or vegetable." - -"And that's a puzzle," replied Ed. "Man must have got a very early taste -of salt, or else there wouldn't be any man." - -"How's that?" - -"Why, the human animal simply can't live without salt. He digests his -food by means of an acid which he gets from salt, and from nothing else -whatever. So he must have had salt from the beginning." - -"The Garden of Eden must have been a seaport then," mused Phil. "Adam -and Eve probably boiled their new potatoes in water dipped up from the -docks." - -The boys laughed, and Ed continued:-- - -"It is a curious fact that the ancients, even as late as Greek times, -knew nothing about sugar; at least, in its pure state. They got a good -deal of it in fruits and vegetables, of course, and the Greeks used -honey very lavishly. They not only ate it, but they made an intoxicating -liquor out of it which they called mead. But of sugar, pure and simple, -they knew nothing whatever. Their language hasn't even a word for it. -Yet in our time sugar is one of the most important products in the -world, so important that many nations pay large bounties to encourage -its cultivation." - -"By the way," asked Phil, after a few moments' meditation, "what is the -most important crop in this country?" - -"Wheat"--"cotton," answered Will and Constant respectively. - -"No," said Ed, "corn is very much our most important crop." - -"More so than wheat?" - -"Four to one and more," said Ed. "Our corn crop amounts to about two -thousand million bushels every year--often greatly more. Our wheat crop -averages about five hundred million bushels. And as corn has more food -value in it, pound for pound, than wheat has, it is easy to see that not -only for us, but for all the world, our corn crop is quite four to one -more important than our wheat." - -"But I thought corn wasn't eaten much except in this country?" queried -Irv. "The Germans and French and English don't eat it." - -"Don't they, though?" asked Ed, with a quizzical look. "Don't they eat -enormous quantities of American pork, bacon, and beef? And what is that -but American corn in another shape?" - -"That's so," said Irv, this time sitting bolt upright. "I've heard that -the big farmers all over the West keep tab on the price of meat and -corn. If meat is high and corn low, they bring up all their hogs from -the woods, fatten them on the corn and sell them. But if meat is low or -corn high, they sell the corn." - -"And they know to the nicest fraction of a pound," added Ed, "how much -corn it takes to make a given amount of pork." - -"Well, even if we didn't sell any corn at all to other nations," said -Phil, "I should think our crop would help them. _We_ eat a great deal of -it, and if we hadn't it, we'd eat just so much wheat instead, and so we -should have just that much less wheat to sell to them." - -"Exactly," said Ed. "Every thing that feeds a man in any country leaves -precisely that much more to feed other men with in other countries." - -"And what a lot it does take to feed a man!" exclaimed Will. - -"Not so much as you probably imagine," said Ed. "A robust man requires -about a pound and a half of meat and a pound and a half of bread per -day. Vegetables are simply substitutes for bread and cost about the -same. Eggs, milk, etc., take the place of meat and cost less. So by -reckoning on three pounds of food a day, half meat and half bread, or -their equivalents, we find that a strong, healthy, hard-working man can -be fed at a cost of about fifteen cents a day. The coarser and more -nutritious parts of beef and mutton and good sound pork can be bought at -retail at an average of eight cents a pound--often much less. The man's -meat, therefore, will cost him twelve cents a day or less. Good flour -can be had at about two cents a pound. The man's bread will, therefore, -cost him about three cents a day, making the total cost of his food -about fifteen cents a day, or less than fifty-five dollars a year." - -"But it costs something to cook it," said Phil. - -"Yes, but not much. I have calculated only the actual cost of the raw -materials, but my figures are too high rather than too low, for corned -beef and chuck steaks are often sold at retail as low as three or four -cents a pound, and neck pieces, heads, hearts, livers, and kidneys even -lower, while I have allowed eight cents a pound as an average price for -all the meat that the man eats. Now, allowing for the cost of cooking -and for unavoidable waste, I reckon that a strong, healthy American -citizen can feed himself abundantly on less than seventy-five dollars a -year." - -"But what if he can't get the seventy-five dollars?" asked Will. - -"In this country any man in tolerable health can get it easily. There is -no excuse in this country for what somebody calls 'the poverty that -suffers,' at any rate among people who have health. Why, one hundred -dollars a year is a good deal less than thirty cents a day, and anybody -can earn that." - -"What does cause 'the poverty that suffers,' then?" asked Will. - -"Drink, mainly," broke in Phil. - -"By the way," said Irv, looking up from some figures he had been making, -"does it occur to you that our corn crop alone, even if we produced -nothing else in the world, would furnish food enough for all the people -in this country?" - -"No; how do you figure it, Irv?" asked Will. - -"Why, Ed says the corn crop amounts to 2,000,000,000 bushels. There are -56 pounds in a bushel, or 112,000,000,000 pounds in the crop. That would -give every man, woman, and child in our 70,000,000 population 1600 -pounds of corn per year, or pretty nearly four and a half pounds apiece -each day in the year, while Ed says no man needs more than three pounds -of food per day. So the corn crop, whether eaten as bread or partly in -the shape of meat, furnishes a great deal more food than the American -people can possibly eat. No wonder we ship such vast quantities of -foodstuffs abroad!" - -"That's encouraging," said Phil; "but it's bedtime. Hie ye to your -bunks! Whose watch is it?" - -And so the scuttle chatter ended. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -AT MEMPHIS - - -About ten or twenty miles above Memphis the flatboat met a steamboat. It -was out looking for the flatboat. Not only had bank officers and law -officers arrived at Memphis, but they had become so apprehensive at the -delay of the flatboat that they had chartered the steamboat and gone in -search of her. - -One of the bank officers came aboard, and to him Phil explained the -situation, receiving in return the warmest congratulations upon the -capture. - -"We'll take you in tow," said the bank officer. "That will hurry -matters, and we've men waiting at the wharf with all the necessary -papers and arrest warrants." - -"But you must land us above or below the town," said Phil. - -"Why? Why not at the wharf?" - -"Because we're making this voyage as cheaply as possible, and mustn't -pay any unnecessary wharfage fees." - -"Wharfage fees be hanged!" replied the man. "I'll take care of all -that. Why, I'd pay your wharfage fees at every landing from here to New -Orleans. I'd buy your flatboat and all her cargo ten times over. Why, -my boy, you don't know what a big piece of work you've done, or how -grateful we are. Wharfage fees!" with an accent of amused disgust. "What -are wharfage fees when you've caught the fellow and secured the plunder? -And even that isn't the best of it. The letters you've got"--for Phil -had outlined their contents in his telegram to Cincinnati--"have enabled -us to arrest the whole gang already. We've got 'em all, and you're -entitled to the credit of enabling us to break up the strongest band of -bank robbers that was ever organized in this country. So--" signalling -to the steamer--"send a line aboard and we'll be at Memphis in an hour -or two. In the meantime you and your companions must take breakfast on -the steamboat." - -The flatboat was quickly made fast at the side of the steamer, and three -of the boys went aboard for breakfast, the other two following when the -first three returned. For until all legal forms should be completed, and -Jim Hughes safely delivered to the officers of the law, Phil had no -notion of leaving that worthy or the flatboat holding him, in charge of -anybody except himself or his comrades. When he himself went to -breakfast, he left Irv Strong in command, with Constant for his -assistant, and Ed as guard over Hughes in the cabin. - -At Memphis the legal formalities were conducted on the part of the boys -by a lawyer whom Phil employed to see to it that their interests should -be guarded. They lay there for two days. Jim Hughes was delivered to the -authorities. The reward of five thousand dollars was paid over to Phil -in currency. He divided the money equally among the crew. But as it -would never do to carry so great a sum with them on the flatboat, they -converted it into drafts on New York, which all the boys sent to the -bank in Vevay, the money to be held there till their return. - -As to supplies for the flatboat, the Cincinnati banker made some lavish -gifts. He sent on board fresh beef enough to last several days, four -hams, two strips of bacon, two pieces of dried beef, ten pounds of -coffee, five pounds of tea, a bag of flour, a sack of salt, a dozen -loaves of fresh bread, a big box of crackers, five pounds of butter, a -basket of eggs, two or three cases of canned vegetables and fruits, some -canned soups, a large can of milk packed in ice, a sack of dried beans, -a bunch of bananas, a box of oranges, and finally, a large, iced cake -with miniature American flags stuck all over it. - -"I can talk now," said Hughes to Ed, after the law officers had received -and handcuffed him; "and I've got just one thing to say. I never had -anything against any of you fellows except that brother Phil of yours. -But for his meddling, I'd be a free man now. I've 'got it in for' him." - -"Oh, as to that," drawled Irv Strong, "by the time you've served your -ten or twenty years in State Prison, I imagine Phil will be sufficiently -grown up to hold his own with you. He's a 'pretty sizable' fellow even -now, for his age." - -"Tell us something more interesting, Jim," said Will Moreraud. "Tell us -why you tried to run us on Vevay Bar and again on Craig's Bar." - -"I didn't try to run you on them. I tried to run you behind them into -the Kentucky shore channel." - -"What for?" - -"Oh, I was in a hurry to get down the river, and I didn't want you to -make that long stop at Craig's Landing. If I could have run you behind -those bars, you'd have been at Carrollton before you could pull up, and -of course it wouldn't have paid you to get the boat towed back up the -river. I was trying to hurry, that's all; and I knew the river better -than Captain Phil suspected." - -That was all of farewell there was between the crew of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ and her late pilot. When some one suggested to Phil that he -should speak for the party and express regret at the necessity that had -governed their course, Phil said:-- - -"But I don't feel the least regret. I am glad we've secured him and his -gang. It restores a lot of plunder to the people to whom it belongs; it -breaks up a very dangerous band of burglars; and it will help teach -other persons of that kind how risky it is to live by law-breaking. -Perhaps it will help to keep many people honest. No, I'm not sorry that -we've been able to render so great a service to the public, and I'm not -going to pretend that I am." - -"You're right, Phil," said Ed. - -"Of course he is," said Irv; "and as for Jim Hughes, he will get only -what he deserves. If there were no laws, or if they were not enforced by -the punishment of crime, there wouldn't be much 'show' for honest people -in this world." - -"There wouldn't be any honest people, I reckon," said Will, "for honest -people simply couldn't live. Everybody would have to turn savage and -robber, or starve to death." - -"Yes," said Ed. "That's how law originated, and civilization is simply a -state of existence in which there are laws enough to restrain wrong. -When the savage finds that he can't defend himself single-handed against -murder and robbery, he joins with other savages for that purpose. That -makes a tribe. It must have rules to govern it, and they are laws. It is -out of the tribal organization that all civilized society has grown, -mainly by the making of better and better laws, or by the better and -better enforcement of laws already made." - -"Then are we all savages, restrained only by law from indulging in every -sort of crime?" asked Phil. "I, for one, don't feel myself to be in -that condition of mind." - -"By no means," replied the elder boy. "We are the products of habit -and heredity. We have lost most of our savage instincts by having -restrained them through generations, just as cows and dogs have done. -You see, it is a law of nature that parents are apt to transmit their -own characteristics to their children. As one of the great scientific -writers puts it, 'the habit of one generation is the instinct of the -next.' If you want a dog to hunt with, you choose one whose ancestors -have been in the habit of hunting, because you know that he has -inherited the habit as an instinct. Yet the highest-bred setters, -pointers, and fox hounds are all descended ultimately from a common -ancestry of wild dogs, as fierce, probably, as any wolf ever was. -They have been for many generations under law,--the law of man's -control,--and so they have not only lost their wildness, but have -acquired new instincts, new capacities, and a new intelligence." - -"I see," said Phil, meditatively. "It is a long-continued course of -timely spanking that has slowly changed us from savages into fellows -able to run a flatboat and inclined to wear trousers." - -"Ah, as to that," said Irv, "we haven't quite got rid of our savage -instincts even yet. I for one am savagely hungry for some of that beef -our Cincinnati friend sent on board, and I suspect the rest of the tribe -are in the same condition." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -A WRESTLE WITH THE RIVER - - -After the boat left Memphis it was necessary to proceed with a good deal -of caution. A new flood had come down the river, bringing with it a -dangerous drift of uprooted trees and the like. Moreover, in many places -there were strong currents setting out from the natural river-bed into -the overflowed regions on either side, and constant care was necessary -to avoid being drawn into these. - -Memphis is built upon the high Chickasaw bluffs, but a little way -farther down the river the country becomes low and flat, and in parts it -grows steadily lower as it recedes from the river, so that at some -distance inland the plantations and woodlands lie actually lower than -the bed of the great river. It has been said, indeed, with a good deal -of truth, that the Mississippi River runs along on the top of a ridge. - -"How did it come to do that?" asked Will. "Why didn't it find its level -as water generally does--" - -"And as men ought to do, but usually don't," said Irv. - -"It did at first, of course," said Ed. "But whenever it got on a rampage -like this, it took all the region along its course for its right of way. -It spread itself out over the country and went whithersoever it chose. -Then came men who wanted its rich bottom lands for farms. So they built -earth levees to keep the river off their lands. As more and more lands -were brought under cultivation, more and more of these embankments were -built, and the river was more and more restrained. Now there is nothing -in the world that resists and resents restraint more than water does. So -the river breaks through the levees every now and then and floods the -plantations, drowning cattle, sweeping away crops and houses, and -creating local famines that must be relieved from the outside." - -Before beginning his explanation Ed had dipped up a glassful of the -river water and set it on the deck. It was thick with mud, so that it -looked more like water from a hog wallow than water from a river. He -turned now and gently took up the glass. There was a deep sediment in -the bottom and the water above was beginning to grow somewhat clearer. - -"Look here," said the boy. "If we let that water sit still long enough, -all the mud would sink to the bottom and the water above would become -clear. That's what we should have to do with our drinking and cooking -water on this boat if we hadn't brought a filter along. Now you see that -the water of this river is carrying more mud than it can keep dissolved. -This mud is sinking to the bottom all the way from St. Louis to New -Orleans. It is building up the bottom, raising it year by year, and so -raising the river higher and higher. When the river was left free, the -same thing happened, but whenever a flood came it would leave its -built-up bed, run over its banks, and cut new channels for itself in the -lowest country it could find. There are many lakes and ponds well away -from the present river that were obviously a part of the channel once. - -"When men began confining the river within its banks at all but the -highest stages of water, and in many places at all stages, it couldn't -leave its old channels for new ones, no matter how much it had built up -the bottom, and so the bed of the river steadily rose from year to year. -That made the surface of the flood water higher, and so men had to build -higher and higher levees to keep the floods from burying their -plantations. As they have nothing better to make their embankments out -of than the soft sandy loam of the bottom lands, the levees are not very -strong at best, and the higher they are raised, the greater is the water -pressure against them when the river is up. So they often give way, and -when they do that the river rushes through the gap, or crevasse, as it -is called, rapidly widening and deepening it, and pouring a torrent over -all the country within reach. In such a flood as this men are kept -watching the levees day and night to stop every little leak, lest it -become a crevasse, and it is often necessary to forbid steamboats to -pass near the shore, because the swells they make would wash over the -tops of the levees and start crevasses in that way. Sometimes a strong -wind pushes the water up enough to break a levee and destroy hundreds of -lives and millions of dollars' worth of property, for when a levee -breaks, the region behind it is flooded too rapidly to permit much more -than escape alive, and often it doesn't permit even that." - -"What a destructive old demon this river is!" said Irv. - -"Yes, at times," replied the elder boy. "But it does a lot of good work -as well as bad. It created all the lands that it overflows, and if man -tries to rob it of its own, I don't see why it is to be blamed for -defending its possessions." - -"How do you mean that it created all the lands that it overflows?" asked -Constant, who always wanted to learn all he could. - -"Why, the geologists say that the Gulf of Mexico used to extend to -Cairo, covering all the flat region in the Mississippi Valley south, -except here and there a high spot like that on which Memphis stands. The -high spots were islands in the Gulf." - -"But where did the land come from then?" - -"Why, the Mississippi built it with its mud. It carries enough mud at -all times to make half a state, if it were all brought together. When -the river's mouth was at Cairo, the river kept pouring mud into the -Gulf. The mud sank, and in that way the shore-line was extended farther -and farther south, spreading to the right and left as it went. The river -is still doing this down at its mouth below New Orleans, and it has been -doing it for millions of years. It has simply filled in all that part of -the Gulf that once covered eastern Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and -the lower parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri." - -"But why don't other rivers do the same thing?" asked Constant. - -"They do, in a degree," said Ed. "You know there is always a bar in the -sea just off the mouth of a river." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Well, most rivers carry very little mud in their water, and that little -goes to make the bar at the mouth. The Mississippi carries so much mud -that its bars become land, and the river cuts a channel through them, -carrying its mud still farther into the sea. Then again, the Mississippi -has floods every year or twice a year, and in some years three times, -such as most rivers never have. This is because it carries in a single -channel the water from twenty-eight states and a territory, as we saw on -the map one day up the river. Now as soon as the river mud forms a bar -that shows above water, vegetation begins to grow on it. When the next -flood comes, it covers the new-made land and builds it higher by -depositing a great deal more mud on top of it and among the vegetation, -which, by checking the current at the bottom, helps the mud to lodge -there. In that way, all the lowlands for hundreds of miles along this -river were created. It took hundreds of thousands of years--perhaps -millions of years--to do it, but it was done." - -Ed did not give this long explanation all in one speech. He was -interrupted many times by Phil's call of all hands to the sweeps, when -rowing was necessary, and by other matters of duty, which it has not -been necessary to detail here. - -Whenever it was possible to land the boat for the night, the boys did -so, and when no banks were in sight where a mooring could be made, they -sought for some bend or pocket reasonably free from the more dangerous -kinds of drift, and came to anchor for safety during the hours of -darkness. Navigation was difficult and perilous now even in daytime when -they could make out the course of the river by sight and keep away from -treacherous shore currents, for the drift was very heavy. By night it -was doubly dangerous. - -Even in the daytime Phil kept the entire crew on deck at all times -except when one of them went below to prepare food. Their meals were -eaten on deck with a broad plank for table, even when it rained heavily, -as it very often did. They slept on deck, too, under a rude shelter made -of the tarpaulin. All this Phil regarded as necessary under the -circumstances. Even when tied up to the trees or anchored in the -snuggest cove to be found, it was sometimes necessary to jump into -skiffs and "fend off" great threatening masses of drift. To this duty -the calls were very frequent indeed. - -Poor Phil got scarcely any sleep at all during these trying days and -nights. The sense of responsibility was so strong upon him that he -scarcely dared relax his personal watchfulness for a moment. But under -the urgent pleadings of his comrades he would now and then leave another -on duty in his place and throw himself down for a nap. He did this only -when the conditions seemed most favorable, and usually even then he was -up again within the half hour. - -The escapes of the boat from damage or destruction were many and narrow, -even under this ceaseless watching, and the strain at last began to show -its effects upon the tough nerves of Captain Phil. He almost lived upon -strong coffee. The coffee was an excellent thing for him under the -circumstances, but his neglect to take other food was a dangerous -mistake. He was still strong of body, but he was growing nervous and -even a trifle irritable. - -His comrades remonstrated with him for not sleeping, and begged him to -eat. - -"I don't want to eat, I tell you," he said, with much irritation in his -voice. - -"But you'll break down, Phil, if you keep this up," said Ed, "and then -where shall _we_ be? Without your judgment and quickness to see the -right thing at a critical moment this boat would have gone to the bottom -days ago. We _need_ you, old fellow." - -The boys all joined in the pleading, and Phil at last sat down with them -and tried to eat, but could not. - -"No, no, don't drink any coffee yet," said Will, almost pulling the cup -out of his hands. "It'll kill the little appetite you've got. Eat -first, and drink your coffee afterward." - -"Wait a minute," said Irv, stretching out his long legs, and with a -spring rising to his feet. "Wait a minute, and I'll play Ganymede, the -cup-bearer." - -He went below, where he broke an egg in a large soda-water glass and -whipped it up with an egg-beater. Then he filled the glass with milk, of -which they still had a gallon or so left, and again using the -egg-beater, whipped the whole into a lively froth, adding a little salt -to give it flavor and make it more digestible. - -"Here, Phil," he said, as he reappeared on deck, "drink this. You'll -find it good, and it is food of the very best sort, as well as drink." - -Phil took the glass, tasted its contents, and then drained it at a -draught. - -"Make me another, won't you, Irv?" said Phil about five minutes later; -"somehow that one has got lonely and wants a companion." - -Irv was glad enough to do so, and by the time Phil had slowly swallowed -his second glass, he not only felt himself fed, but he was so. His -nerves grew steady again, there was no further irritation in his voice, -and by the time that the next meal was ready the boy had regained his -appetite. - -The boat came to anchor for the night a little after supper, and as the -anchorage was particularly well protected behind a heavily timbered -point of submerged land, Phil consented to take a longer sleep than he -had done for several days past. - -Irv and Constant remained on duty for several hours, after which Ed and -Will took their places. Only twice during the night did Phil awake. Each -time he arose, went all around the deck, inspecting the situation, and -then lay down again upon the boards. - -By morning he was quite himself again. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -IN THE FOG - - -The boat was now in a part of the river where the land on both sides -lies very low, behind very high levees. These are the richest cotton -lands in the world, and their owners have tried to reclaim all of them -from the river floods instead of taking only part of them for -cultivation. Along other parts of the stream there are levees only here -and there, leaving the river a chance to spread out over great areas of -unreclaimed land, thus relieving the levees of much of the pressure upon -them. Here, however, the line of embankment is continuous on both sides -of the stream. For long distances the river is held between the two -lines of artificially made banks. - -The water was now within a few inches of the top of the levees, and -twenty or thirty feet above the level of the lands in the rear. The -strain upon the embankments was almost inconceivably great, while the -destruction which any break in that long line of earthworks would -involve was appalling even to think of. - -The boys could see gangs of men at work wherever any weakness showed -itself in the embankments, while sentinels, armed with shotguns, were -everywhere on guard to prevent mischief-makers from cutting the levees. -For, incredible as it may seem, men have sometimes been base enough to -do this in order to let the river out of its banks, and thus reduce the -danger of a break farther up stream where their own interests lay. For, -of course, when a crevasse occurs at any point it lets so much water run -suddenly out of the banks that the river falls several inches for many -miles above, and the strain on the levees is greatly reduced. - -As the boys were floating down the middle of the flood, watching the -work on the levees with keen interest, the air began to grow thick. A -few minutes later a great bank of dense fog settled down upon them, -covering all things as with a blanket. The shores and the great trees -that grew upon them were blotted out. Then as the fog grew thicker and -thicker, even the river disappeared, except a little patch of it -immediately around the boat. On every side was an impenetrable wall of -mist, and ragged fragments of it floated across the deck so that when -they stood half the boat's length apart the boys looked like spectres to -each other. - -"I say, Phil, hadn't we better go ashore or anchor?" said Constant. - -"Where is the shore?" asked Phil, quietly. - -"Why, there's a shore on each side of us." - -"Certainly. But in what direction? Which way is across the river, which -way up the river, which way down the river?" - -"Why, the current will tell that," said Constant. - -"How are we going to find out which way the current runs?" asked Phil, -with a quizzical smile. - -"Easy enough; by looking at the driftwood floating by," said the boy, -going to the side of the boat to peer at the surface of the river -through the fog. Presently he called out in amazement:-- - -"Why, the whole thing has stopped--the drift, the river, and the -flatboat! We're lying here just as still as if we were on solid -ground." - -"On the contrary," said Phil, "we're floating down stream at the rate of -several miles an hour." - -"But--" - -"Think a minute, Constant," said Phil. "We are floating just as fast as -the river runs. The drift-wood is doing the same thing. The water, the -drift, and the flatboat are all moving in the same direction at -precisely the same speed." - -"Oh, I see," said Constant, with an astonished look in his eyes. "We've -nothing to measure by. We can't tell which way we're going, or how fast, -or anything about it." - -"Why not come to anchor, then?" asked Irv. "If we keep on floating, -nobody knows where we may go to. If there should be any gap in the line -of levees anywhere, we might float into it. It would just tickle this -flatboat to slip off on an expedition of that sort. Why not anchor till -the fog lifts?" - -"First, because we can't," said Phil. "The water is much too deep. But -even if we could, it would be the very worst thing we could do. It would -bring us to a standstill, while everything else afloat would keep on -swirling past us, some of it running into us. If we should anchor here -in the strong current, _The Last of the Flatboats_ would soon have as -many holes in her as a colander." - -"Then what do you intend to do, Phil?" asked Ed. - -"Precisely nothing whatever," answered the young captain. "Anything we -might do would probably make matters worse. You see we were almost -exactly in the middle of the river when the fog came down on us. Now, if -we do nothing, the chances are that the current will carry us along -somewhere near the middle, or at least well away from the shores. If it -don't, we can't help it. The only thing we can do is to keep as close a -watch as we can all around the boat, for we don't know which end or -which side of her is in front now. I want one fellow to go to the bow, -one to the stern, and one to each side, and watch. If we are about to -run into a bank or anything else, call out, and we may save ourselves at -the last minute. That's all we can do for the present. So go now!" - -The wisdom of Phil's decision to do nothing except watch alertly was -clear to all his comrades, so they took the places he had assigned them, -while he busied himself first at one point and then at another, -thinking all the while whether there might not be something else that -he could do--some precaution not yet thought of that he could take. He -went to the pump now and then and worked it till no more water came up. -He went below two or three times to see that nothing was wrong with the -cargo. The boys, meanwhile, were walking back and forth on their beats, -each carrying a boat-hook with which to "fend off" the larger bits of -drift which the eddies, cross currents, and those strange disturbances -in the stream called "boils," sometimes drove against the gunwales. - -The "boils" referred to are peculiar to the Mississippi, I believe. They -are whirlpools, caused by the conflict of cross currents, and, as Will -Moreraud said during this day of close watching, they are "sometimes -right side up and sometimes upside down." That is to say, sometimes a -current from beneath comes to the surface like water in a boiling kettle -and seems to pile itself up in a sort of mound for a half minute or so, -while sometimes there is a genuine whirlpool strong enough even to suck -a skiff down, as old-time flatboatmen used to testify. - -These were anxious hours for the young captain and his crew, but worse -was to come. For night fell at last with the fog still on, and between -the fog and the darkness it was no longer possible to see even the water -at the sides of the boat from the deck. - -The crew had eaten no dinner that day. They had forgotten all about -their meals in the eagerness of their watching. Now that watching was no -longer possible they remembered their appetites, and had an evening -dinner instead of supper. - -They set their lights of course, though it was of little use from any -point of view. They could not be seen at a distance of twenty yards, and -moreover there was nobody to see them. - -"There's not much danger of any steamboat running into us now," said -Phil, who had carefully thought the matter out. - -"Why not?" asked Ed. - -"Because this fog has lasted for nearly twelve hours now, and by this -time every steamboat is tied up to some bank or tree. For no pilot would -think of running in such a cloud after finding any shore to which he -could make his boat fast." - -"But how can a steamboat find the shore when we can't?" asked Will. - -"Because she can keep running till she finds it; and if she runs slowly -she can back when she finds it till she makes an easy landing. She has -power, and power gives her control of herself. We have none, except what -the sweeps give us. In fogs like this steamboats always hunt for the -shores and tie up till the fog lifts. So after ten or twelve hours of -it, there are no steamboats prowling around to run into us." - -"Another advantage the steamboats have in hunting for the shore," said -Will, "is that they can blow their whistles and listen for echoes. They -can tell in that way not only in which direction the shore is, but about -how far away it is." - -"How do steamships manage in fogs out at sea?" asked Constant. - -"Theoretically," replied Ed, "they slow down and blow their whistles or -their 'sirens,' as they call the big steam fog-horns that can be heard -for many miles. But in fact the big ocean steamships drive ahead at full -speed--twenty miles an hour or more--blowing their sirens--till they -hear some other ship's siren. Then they act according to fixed rules, -each ship turning her helm to port--that is to say to the left--so that -they sail well away from each other." - -"But what if there are sailing vessels in the way?" - -"They also have fog-horns, but they sometimes get themselves run down by -steamships, and once in a great while one of them runs into the side of -a steamship. The Cunard steamer _Oregon_ was sunk in that way by a -sailing craft. That sort of thing would happen oftener if the big -steamships were to stop or run very slowly in fog. By running at full -speed they make it pretty sure that they will themselves do any running -down that is to be done. With their enormous weight and great speed they -can cut a sailing vessel in two without much danger of serious damage to -themselves, and as they have hundreds of people on board while a sailing -ship has a very few, the steamship captains hold that it is right to -shift the danger in that way." - -The night dragged slowly along. Now and then a little conversation would -spring up, for the boys were sleeping very little, but often there would -be no word spoken for an hour at a time. - -The fog made the air very chill, and the boys, who remained on deck all -night, had to stir about frequently to keep reasonably warm. - -The fog began whitening at last as the daylight dawned, and all the boys -strained their eyes to see through it. - -But it showed no sign of lifting. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THROUGH THE CREVASSE - - -As the daylight increased, it became possible to see a little further -into the fog, and there was now a little air stirring in fitful fashion, -which tore holes in the thick bank of mist, but only for a moment or two -at a time. - -Through one of these brief openings Phil presently made a startling -discovery. The flatboat was running at an exceedingly rapid rate along a -nearly overflowed levee on the Mississippi side of the river, and within -fifty or sixty feet of it. The crest of the embankment rose only a few -inches above the level of the water, and the current was swifter than -any that Phil had seen since the flatboat had left the falls of the Ohio -behind. What it all meant Phil did not know, nor could he imagine how or -why the boat had drifted out of the main current to the shore in this -way; but he felt that there was danger there, and calling his comrades -to the sweeps, made every effort to regain the outer reaches of the -river. But try as they might at the oars, the boat persisted in hugging -the bank, while her speed seemed momentarily to increase. Men on the -levee were calling to Phil, but so excitedly that he could not make out -their meaning. - -Presently there was another little break in the fog-bank, and Phil saw -what was the matter. Just ahead of the boat the levee had given way, and -the river was plunging like a Niagara through a crevasse, already two or -three hundred feet wide, and growing wider with every second. The boat -had been caught in the current leading to the crevasse, and was now -being drawn into the swirling rapid. - -Phil had hardly time to realize the situation before the boat began -whirling about madly, and a moment later she plunged head foremost -through the crevasse and out into the seething waste of waters that was -now overspreading fields and woodlands beyond. As the land here lay much -lower than the surface of the river, and as the country had not yet had -time, since the levee broke, to fill to anything like the river level, -passing through the crevasse was like plunging over a cataract, and -after passing through, the boat was carried forward at a truly fearful -speed across the fields. Fortunately, she encountered no obstacle. Had -she struck anything in that mad career, the box-like craft would have -been broken instantly to bits. - -As she receded from the river she left the worst of the fog behind. It -was possible now to see for fifty or a hundred yards in every direction, -and what the boys saw was appalling. There were horses and cattle -frantically struggling in the water, only to sink beneath it at last, -for even the strongest horse could not swim far in a surging torrent -like that. - -There were cross currents of great violence too, and eddies and -whirlpools created by the seemingly angry efforts of the water to find -the lowest levels and occupy them. These erratic currents took -possession of the boat, and whirled her hither and thither, until her -crew lost all sense of direction and distance, and everything else -except the necessity of clinging to the sweep bars to avoid being -spilled overboard by the sudden careenings of the boat to one side and -then the other, and her plungings as the water swept her onward. - -Once they saw a human being struggling in the seething water. A moment -later he was gone, but whether drowned or carried away to some point of -rescue there was no way of finding out. - -Once they swept past a stately dwelling-house, submerged except as -to its roof; what fate had befallen its inhabitants they could never -know, for the next instant a strong current caught the boat, and drove -it, side first, straight toward a great barn that had been carried off -its foundations and was now afloat. For a moment the boys expected -to be driven against the barn with appalling violence--an event that -would have meant immediate destruction. But the currents changed in an -instant, so that the barn was carried in one direction and the boat -in another. As the two drifted apart there were despairing cries from -the floating building, which had been badly crushed in collision with -something, and was in danger of falling to pieces at any moment. The -boys looked, and caught a glimpse of a number of negro children clinging -to the wrecked structure. An instant later the barn disappeared in what -was left of the fog. - -The boys were sickened by what they had seen and by what they felt must -be its sequel. It is a fearful thing to have to stand still, doing -nothing, when human creatures are being carried to a cruel death before -one's eyes. But as yet the boys could do nothing except cling to their -own boat. Two of their skiffs had been carried away, and it would have -been certain death to make even an effort to launch any of the others. - -They were swept on and on for miles. They had passed beyond the -cultivated lands and out into a forest. Here the danger was greater than -ever, as a single collision with a tree would have made an end of -everything. But the turbulence of the water was slowly subsiding at -last, and the boat floated, still unsteadily indeed, but with less -violent plungings than before. It was possible now, by exercising great -care, to move about a little, and Phil quickly seized the opportunity to -get some things done that he deemed necessary. - -"Irv, you and Constant go to the starboard pump," he said hurriedly; "Ed -and Will to the other; the boat must be badly wrenched, and she'll fill -with water. Pump like maniacs." - -The boys went to their posts, and managed to work the pumps, though with -difficulty. Water came freely in answer to their efforts, showing that -Phil's conjecture was correct. - -Phil himself climbed down the little companionway, receiving some -bruises and one rather ugly cut on the head as he did so, for the sudden -tossings of the boat still continued, though less violently than before. -He found matters below in rather better condition than he had feared. -The space under the flooring--or the bilge, as it is called--was full, -and there was a good deal of water washing about above the floor. The -boat was too unsteady for Phil to estimate the depth of the leakage, -or to discover the rapidity with which the water was coming in. But he -hoped that diligent pumping might yet save the craft. - -Having hurriedly made his inspection, he proceeded next to fill a basket -with food, taking first that which could be eaten without further -cooking,--canned goods, dried beef, and the like,--and, returning to the -deck, deposited his stores in one of the skiffs. He repeated this -several times, till he had fully provisioned two of the boats. It did -not require many minutes to do this, and they were minutes that he could -not use to better advantage in any other way, for there was still no -possibility of directing the flatboat's course by using the oars, and -Phil deemed it wise thus to provision the skiffs, so that if the boat -should sink, he and his comrades, or some of them, at least, might have -a chance of escape in them without starving before reaching dry land -somewhere. - -The boat had passed safely through the first stretch of timber lands, -and was now floating over a broad reach of open plantation country. But -the fog was gone now, and, as there was woodland in sight a few miles -farther on in the direction in which the current was carrying them, Phil -and his friends felt that their respite was likely to be a brief one. - -He relieved Ed at the pump, and ordered him to rest. But the boy -protested that he was still fresh, and would have worked on if Phil had -permitted. Even in this time of danger and hurried effort, Phil could -not help thinking how greatly his brother's health and strength had -improved. - -"Ed's getting well," he said to Irv, as the two tugged at the pump. - -"Yes," rejoined the tall fellow; "a month ago he couldn't have done such -work as this to save his life." - -"And twenty-four hours of such a fog as we've been through would have -killed him to a certainty. Now he doesn't even cough." - -A little later, as the boat began floating more steadily, Phil called -out:-- - -"Go below, Ed, and see how much water is in the hold." - -Ed's report convinced the young captain that the leaks were at least not -gaining upon the pumps. An hour later, the boat having become quite -steady again, Phil found that the pumps were gaining on the water, which -by that time did not rise above the flooring. - -The boat had by this time passed again into a forest, and, while the -current was now a steady one, it was still very strong. Phil considered -the situation carefully, and decided upon his course of action. - -"Take a line in a skiff, Will, and pass it once around a tree, then run -off with the end of it and hold on, letting it slip as slowly as -possible on the tree till the boat comes to a halt. Then make fast." - -To the others he explained:-- - -"We must check her speed gradually. In such a current as this to stop -her suddenly would sling her against some tree like a whip cracker." - -Then he turned to Irv, and said, "Take another line, and do the same -thing on another tree." - -By the time that Irv pushed off in his skiff Will had got his line in -place around a tree, and had rowed away fifty yards with the end of it. -As it tightened, the rope began slipping on the tree, dragging the skiff -toward it. Phil called to Will:-- - -"Don't get hurt, Will! Let go your rope when you are dragged nearly to -the tree." - -Will did so just in time to save himself from an ugly collision, but his -efforts had considerably checked the flatboat's speed, and by the time -he let go the line Irv had the other rope around a tree and was -repeating the operation. This second line brought the boat to a -standstill, and under Phil's direction she was securely made fast both -bow and stern, so that she could not swing about in any direction. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -A LITTLE AMATEUR SURGERY - - -"The first thing to be done now," said Phil, "is to find out what damage -we have suffered, and repair as much of it as we can." - -"Better begin with your head then," said Will. "It seems to have -sustained more damage than anything else in sight." - -The cut Phil had received had covered his face and shoulders with blood, -and his head was aching severely. But he was not ready to think of -himself yet. He must first do everything that could be done for the -safety of the boat and crew and cargo. So he dismissed Will's -suggestion, saying:-- - -"Never mind about my head. I'll wash the blood off when other things are -done. There's plenty of water, anyhow." - -With that he went below again to inspect. He found that the water there -had risen since the pumps were stopped until now it stood about two -inches above the false bottom or floor on which the cargo rested. -Putting his head out through the scuttle, he called:-- - -"Two of you go to the pumps--one to each pump. Don't work too hard, but -keep up a steady pumping. As soon as the two get tired, let the other -two take their places." - -He withdrew his head, but in a few moments after the pumps were started -he thrust it out again to say:-- - -"Don't pump so hard! You'll break yourselves down, and we can't afford -that now." - -He went below again, lighted a lantern and made as thorough an -examination of the boat as possible, even moving a good deal of the -freight about in order to get at points where he suspected the principal -leaks to be. Two of these he closed by nailing blocks of inch board over -them. - -Meantime he made frequent observations of the water mark he had set, and -was rejoiced to find that the pumps were taking water out more rapidly -than it was leaking in. - -He went on deck and announced the results of his inspection. - -"The boat is leaking, of course, but not one-half so badly as there was -reason to fear. The bilge is full, and the water stands about an inch -deep or a little less on the false bottom. But it stood two inches deep -there an hour ago, so I expect that in another hour or so we shall get -it down to the bilge, leaving the floor clear. It is important to do -that quickly so that the wet part of our cargo, particularly the lower -tier of hay bales, may have a chance to dry out. If it stays long in -water, of course it will be badly damaged." - -"Well, now," said Irv, "I'm going to take care of something else that's -badly damaged. Get a pair of scissors, Ed, and some rags, and help me -repair Phil's head." - -Then, taking Phil by the arm, he continued:-- - -"Come to the bow, Phil, where we can get at the water easily. It will -require a young lake to clean you up properly. Off with your shirt, -young man!" - -Irv treated the matter lightly, but he did not think of it in that way -by any means. In common with the other boys, he was deeply concerned -over the young captain's wound. The bleeding had long since ceased, but -the boy's hair was matted, his face covered, and the upper part of his -clothing saturated with blood. - -The clothing was first removed. Then with wet cloths the face and -shoulders were hastily sponged off. - -"Now, Ed," said Irv, who lived, when at home, in the house with his -uncle, a physician, and therefore knew better than any one else on the -boat what to do for a wound, "you take the scissors and shear off Phil's -hair just as close to the scalp as you can, particularly around the -wound. Hair is always full of microbes, you know." - -With that Irv passed through the hold and was absent for some little -time. When he returned, he brought with him a teakettle of hot water -which he had waited to boil, a basin, and a little box of salt. - -"What are those for?" asked Ed, who had by this time reduced Phil to a -condition of baldness. - -"How much water is there above the false bottom now?" queried Phil, -whose mind refused to be diverted from his duty as captain. - -"The water to cleanse the wound, the salt to disinfect it, and I didn't -notice any water above the floor," said Irv, replying to both questions -in a single breath. - -Ed laughed, but Phil eagerly asked, "You mean that the water doesn't -come over the flooring at all,--that there's no water above the bilge?" - -"I didn't observe any," said Irv, "but I wasn't thinking particularly -about it. I'll go and look again." - -"No," said Phil; "I'll go myself if you'll get me a lantern, for it's so -nearly dark now that it must be quite dark inside." - -When the lantern came, Phil made a hurried inspection with a blanket -thrown over his otherwise bare shoulders. Then he thrust his shaven head -above the deck and called to the two boys at the pumps:-- - -"I say, fellows, you can stop one of the pumps now, and keep only one -going. One of you go below and get supper. Make it a hearty one, for we -haven't eaten a mouthful in twenty-four hours." - -In the day's excitements not one of them had thought about food, but now -that supper was mentioned they all realized that their appetites were -voracious. - -Having given his orders, Phil submitted himself again to the hands of -his surgeons. Irv poured some of the hot water into a basin and added a -tablespoonful or so of salt. - -"You see," he explained, "the trouble with wounds is that germs get -into them, so the most important thing of all is to cleanse them -thoroughly, and after that to keep them clean. I'm using boiled -water"--he was sponging the wound as he talked,--"because boiling kills -all the microbes there may be in water." - -"But what is the salt for?" asked Ed. - -"To disinfect the wound. You see there must be lots of microbes in it -already, and salt kills them. That's what we salt meat for when we wish -to preserve it. The salt kills microbes, and so the meat keeps sound." - -"Then it is the presence of microbes that causes decay in meat?" - -"Yes, or decay in anything else. If we hadn't thrown Jim Hughes's -whiskey overboard, I'd wash this wound with that. It would make Phil -jump, but it would do the work. You know nothing decays in alcohol. -However, the salt will do, I think." - -When Irv had satisfied himself that the wound was sufficiently cleansed, -he drew the edges of the cut together and held them there with sticking -plaster. - -"Now, Ed," he said, "won't you please bring me some cloths that you'll -find in the oven of the stove?" - -Ed went at once, but wondering. When he returned, Irv finished dressing -the wound, and all went to supper. - -"Why did you put the rags in the oven, Irv?" asked Ed. "I noticed you -didn't even try to keep them warm after I brought them to you." - -"Oh, no. I roasted them for the same reason that I boiled the water--to -sterilize them." - -"You mean to kill the microbes?" - -"Yes. You see everything is likely to be infested with disease germs, so -you must never use anything about a wound without first sterilizing it -with heat or some chemical. You can use unboiled water, of course, -because water cleanses things anyhow, but it is better to use boiled -water if you can get it, and every bandage should be carefully -sterilized. That's why I started the fire, boiled the water, and put the -rags in the oven to roast." - -At supper Ed ate as voraciously as the rest, and the boys observed with -satisfaction that the long fast, the very hard work, the severe strain -of anxiety, and the prolonged exposure to the fog had in no way hurt -him. Ed declared, indeed, that he was growing positively robust, and -his comrades agreed with him. - -"What's the programme now, Phil?" asked one of the party when supper was -done. - -"A good night's sleep," answered the young captain. "In the morning -we'll consider further proceedings with clear heads. One pump is -sufficient to keep ahead of the leaks now, and we shall have to keep -that going night and day as long as we remain afloat. So usually we'll -keep two men awake to alternate at the pump, but for to-night we'll -stand short watches, keeping only one man awake at a time. Two watches -of an hour each for each of us will take us through the night. I'll take -the first watch, as my head is aching too badly to sleep yet. So get to -sleep, all of you. I'll wake one of you in an hour or so." - -The boys objected. They wanted Phil to treat himself as an invalid, and -let them do the watching and pumping, but he was obstinate in his -determination to do his full share. So they stretched themselves in -their bunks and were soon sleeping the sleep of very tired but very -healthy young human animals. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -A VOYAGE IN THE WOODS - - -It was long past midnight when Phil aroused one of his comrades to take -his place on watch and at the pump. For the young captain had a good -deal of careful thinking to do, and he could do it better alone in the -dark than when surrounded by his crew. Moreover, he knew that until his -thinking should be done he could not sleep even if he should try. - -"I might as well stay on deck and let the other fellows sleep," he said -to himself, "as to lie awake for hours in my bunk." - -In the morning Phil called a "council of war." - -"Now listen to me first, without interrupting," he said. "I've thought -out the situation as well as I can, and have made up my mind what we -ought to do. After I've told you my plan and the reasons for it, you can -make any suggestions you like, and I'll adopt any of them that seem good -to me." - -"That's right," said Irv. "Let's hear what you've thought and what your -plan is. Then we'll carry it out." - -"No," said Phil. "I want you to criticise it first, so that if it's -wrong I can change it." - -"All right. Go ahead." - -"First of all, then, we're out here in the woods. It isn't a comfortable -or a proper place for a flatboat to be in, and we must get out of it as -quickly as we can." - -"But how?" broke in Will. "We're ten or twenty or maybe thirty or forty -miles from the river, and we can't possibly get back again." - -"I don't know so well about that," said Phil. "Of course we can't get -back to the river at the point where we left it. But I'm not so sure -that we can't get back to it somewhere else, and at any rate, I'm going -to try. Listen, now! The water we're in is thirty-five feet deep." - -"How do you know?" asked Constant. - -"I've sounded it. So we've plenty of water, and there is no danger of -our going aground. But we're not in any river, for we're in the midst of -the woods, and woods don't grow in rivers. But this water that we're in -is running toward somewhere at the rate of six or eight miles a hour, -and we must go with it. Somehow or somewhere it must run into some -river, and that river must somewhere and somehow empty itself into the -Mississippi." - -"Why?" asked Constant. - -"Because there isn't anything else for it to run into, and of course it -can't stop running. Now my idea is this. We must cast the boat loose and -let her float with the current. It will be very hard work to keep her -from smashing into these big trees, but we must do all the hard work -necessary. We'll tie up every night so long as we're in the woods, and -we'll float all day. Sooner or later we'll run out of the woods and into -a river, and when we do that we'll follow the river to its end, wherever -it may happen to be." - -"But have you any idea where we are?" asked Will. - -"No," said Phil, "except that we are somewhere in the northern part of -the state of Mississippi." - -"I know where we are," drawled Irv Strong. - -"Where?" - -"We're in the woods." - -"I'm pleased to observe that you still have 'lucid intervals,' Irv," -said Ed Lowry. "But I have a rather more definite idea than that of our -whereabouts. I studied it out on the map early this morning." - -"Good, good! Where are we?" cried out all the boys in a breath, and with -great eagerness. - -"Come here and see," said Ed, unrolling his great river map. "You -observe that a number of rivers originate in northern Mississippi and -western Tennessee, almost under the levees of the Mississippi. There are -the Big Sunflower, the Coldwater, and the Tallahatchie, with the -Yalobusha only a little way off. All of them run into the Yazoo, which -in its turn runs into the Mississippi near Vicksburg. All of them are -marked on my map as navigable for a part of their course. All of them -lie in a great flat basin or lowland swamp. But for the levees the -Mississippi would flow into them whenever it rises to any considerable -extent. In fact, they must originally have been mere bayous of the great -river, running out of it and back into it again. The Mississippi levees -have stopped all that ordinarily, but the levees have given way this -time, and so the Mississippi is now pouring its water into these rivers, -and as there is too much of it for them to hold, it has filled the -entire swamp country between them, making one vast stream of them all in -effect. We are somewhere in between those rivers, and if we can keep our -flatboat afloat and not wreck her among these trees, the current will -sooner or later carry us into the natural channel of one or the other of -them. That I understand to be Phil's idea, and he is right." - -"That's all right," said Phil, who was restlessly pacing up and down the -deck. "But has anybody any suggestion to make?" - -Nobody had anything to offer. - -"Very well, then," said the young captain, "let's get to work. We've -talked enough. We must keep one fellow at a pump all the time. We can't -do much with the sweeps while we're in the woods, and our greatest -danger is that of running the boat into one of these big trees and -wrecking her. To prevent that I want you, Irv, and you, Constant,--for -you are the stoutest oarsmen,--to get into a skiff and carry a line -about a hundred feet in advance of the boat. She slews around pretty -easily under a pull, and I want you two to guide her with a line. I'll -tell you when you are to row to right or left to avoid trees, and the -rest of the time you've only to keep the line taut so as to be ready for -emergencies. Get into the skiff at once, and take a light line with -you." - -As soon as the skiff was in position and the guiding line stretched, -Phil directed Will Moreraud to jump into another skiff and release the -flatboat from her moorings. - -It was perilous business navigating thus through a dense subtropical -forest. Phil stood at the bow, intently watching and giving his commands -in a restrained voice and with an apparent calm that sadly belied his -actual condition of mind. Will and Ed "stood by" the sweeps, working the -pumps, but holding themselves ready to pull on the great oars whenever -Phil should find that mode of guiding the boat practicable. - -Every now and then Phil would call to Irv and Constant in the skiff -ahead, to pull with all their might to the right or left, and many times -the flatboat, in spite of this diligence, had narrow escapes from -disaster. - -It was terribly hard work, and the mental strain of it which fell upon -Phil was worse even than the tremendous physical exertion put forth by -the other boys. There was no midday meal served that day, for it would -have meant destruction for any one of the boys to leave his post of duty -long enough even to prepare the simplest food. - -About four o'clock in the afternoon Phil suddenly called to Irv:-- - -"Carry your line around a tree and check speed all you can!" Then -turning to Will:-- - -"Jump into a skiff, Will, and take out another line, just as you did -yesterday. When the boat stops, make fast!" - -The boys obeyed promptly, and a few minutes later _The Last of the -Flatboats_ was securely tied to two great trees--one in front and one -astern. - -Then Phil threw himself down on the deck and closed his eyes as if in -sleep, and the boys in the skiffs came back on board. - -The captain was manifestly exhausted. The strain of watching and -directing the course of the boat through so many hours and under -circumstances so difficult, the still greater strain put upon his mind -by his consciousness that he alone was responsible for the safety of -boat and crew and cargo, and finally the sudden relief caused by a -glimpse ahead which his comrades had been too busy to share, had brought -on something very like collapse. - -The boys said nothing, lest they disturb him. He lay still for a quarter -of an hour perhaps. Then he got up, stripped off his clothing, and -leaped overboard. - -Five minutes later he returned to the deck refreshed by his bath, and -almost himself again. - -As he dried himself with a towel, he said:-- - -"Two of you go below and get supper. Make it a big one, for we are all -starving. And get it as quickly as you can." Then, after a brief pause, -he added:-- - -"You didn't notice it, I suppose, but we're out of the woods!" - -"How so?" asked Ed and Irv in unison. - -"There's an open river just ahead," replied Phil. "Go forward and look. -I'm going to sleep now. Wake me up when supper is ready." - -And in a moment the exhausted boy was sound asleep, stretched out upon a -hard plank, without pillow or other comfort of any kind. - -"Poor fellow!" said Irv. "He's got the big end of this job all the -time." - -With that he dived below, and returning, placed a pillow under Phil's -bandaged head, and spread a blanket over him, for the air was chill. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -THE CREW AND THEIR CAPTAIN - - -Utterly worn out as he was, it was not a part of Phil's purpose--it was -not in his nature, indeed--to neglect any duty. He ate a hearty supper -with the boys, during which he talked very little. Once he said, -suddenly:-- - -"I suspect it's the Tallahatchie." - -"What do you mean?" asked Ed. - -"Why, the river we've reached. It lies to the left of our course. If it -was the Sunflower, it would lie to the right. Anyhow, it runs into the -Yazoo, and that's all we ask of it." - -"By the way, Ed," said Irv, "how long is the Yazoo?" - -"I don't know, I'm sure," said Ed. "I'll get the map after supper, and -look." - -"Don't bother," said Phil. "The navigable part of it is one hundred and -seventy-five miles long." - -"How did you come to know that?" asked Will. "I thought Ed was the -geographer of this expedition." - -"So he is. But I'm captain, worse luck to it, and it's my first business -to know what lies ahead. So I looked this thing up on the map. The -Yalobusha and Tallahatchie run together somewhere near a village called -Greenwood, which is probably a hundred feet or so under water just -now,--we may even float over the highest steeple in that interesting -town, when we get to it,--and those two streams form the Yazoo. By the -way, that little side issue of a river happens to be considerably -longer, in its navigable part, than one of the most celebrated rivers in -the world--the Hudson." - -"You don't mean it?" exclaimed Irv, for once surprised out of his drawl. - -"Maybe I don't. But I think I do. Ask Ed to study it out. I'm too tired -to talk. I'm going to sleep for ten minutes now. Wake me up at the end -of that time. Don't fail!" - -With that the exhausted boy rolled into a bunk, and in an instant was -asleep again. - -Ed got out his maps and studied them for a while. - -"He's right, boys," said the older one, after some measurements on the -map. - -"Of course he is," said Constant. "He's got into the habit of being -right since we chose him to be 'IT' for this trip. But go on, Ed. Tell -us about it." - -"Well," said Ed, still scrutinizing the map, "the navigable part of the -Hudson, from New York to Troy, is about one hundred and fifty-six miles -long. The navigable part of the Yazoo is, as Phil said, one hundred and -seventy-five miles long. Oh, by the way--" - -"What is the thought behind that exclamation?" said Irv, when Ed paused; -for Irv's spirits were irrepressible. - -"It just occurs to me," said Ed, "that this wonderful river of ours, the -Mississippi with its tributaries, is almost exactly one hundred times as -long--in its navigable parts--as the greatest commercial river of the -East." - -"In other words," said Irv, "the East isn't in it with us. Its great -Hudson River would scarcely more than make a tail for the Mississippi -below New Orleans. It would just about stretch from Cincinnati to -Louisville. It would cover only a little more than half the distance -from St. Louis to Cairo, or from Cairo to Memphis." - -"True!" said Ed, "and pretty much the same thing is true of every great -river in Europe. Not one of them would make a really important tributary -of our wonderful river. All of them put together wouldn't compare with -the Ohio and its affluents." - -"Phil's ten minutes are up," said Will. "I hate to wake him, but that -was his order." - -Phil had come, in this time of stress, to live mainly within himself. He -was too much absorbed with his responsibilities to be able to put them -aside, or even to treat them lightly. - -"I'm 'IT,' and so I'm responsible," he had said to Ed, "and I must -think. Sometimes it doesn't pay to talk, and sometimes I'm too tired to -talk. I must just give orders without explaining them. You explain it -all to the other fellows, and don't let them misunderstand. I don't like -the job of commanding, even a little bit. But you fellows set me at it, -and I accepted the responsibility. I'll bear it to the end, but--" - -"We all understand, Phil," said Irv Strong, who had joined the -brothers. "Your crew was never better satisfied with its captain than it -is to-day. But it will be still more loyal to-morrow and next day, and -every other day till the voyage is ended." Then in lighter vein--for Irv -never liked to be serious for long at a time--he added: "Why, I wouldn't -even whisper if you told me not to, and you remember Mrs. Dupont posted -me first, and you next, as irreclaimable whisperers." - -But to return to the night in question. When Phil was waked he took a -lantern and made a minute inspection of the boat, inside and outside. -Then he dropped into a skiff and rowed away to examine the moorings -critically. On his return he said to his comrades:-- - -"The boat is leaking a good deal more than I like. The strain she -received back there, yesterday or the day before, or a thousand years -ago--I'm sure I don't remember when it was--is beginning to tell upon -her. One pump is no longer quite enough to keep the water in the bilge. -We must keep both going--not quite all the time, of course, and not very -violently, but pretty steadily. So that's the order for to-night. Two -fellows on watch all the time, and both pumps to be kept going most of -the time. I'll sleep till two o'clock. Then wake me, and I'll take my -turn at a pump." - -The boys would have liked to exempt him from that duty. But his tone did -not invite question or protest of any kind. It did not admit even of -argument. It was a command--and Phil was commander. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -A STRUGGLE IN THE DARK - - -But Phil was up long before the hour appointed. It was not yet midnight -when he got out of his bunk to get a drink of water. As he did so he -stepped into water half way up to his knees. - -He instantly aroused his companions. - -"The boat is sinking," was his explanation. "Get to the pumps quick." - -Then lighting a lantern he made a thorough search of the hold in the -hope of finding and stopping the leaks, but it was without avail. - -With two boys at each pump the water could be kept down. That fact was -established by an hour's hard work. - -"But we can't keep up that sort of thing," said Phil. "We must stop the -leaks or abandon the boat." - -He thought for a while. Then he said to Ed:-- - -"Get some ropes, Ed, and make them fast to the four corners of the -tarpaulin. Bring each pair together about twenty feet away from the rag, -and fasten them to another rope." - -"What's your plan?" asked Irv, who was diligently pumping. - -"I'm going to stretch the tarpaulin under the boat. Sailors stretch a -sail that way sometimes to stop a leak." - -But this was much more easily said than done. When the tarpaulin was -ready, Phil took all hands away from the pumps and, sending them to the -skiffs, made an effort to force the great stiff cloth under the bow. It -was a complete failure. The current was much too strong. - -Then he went to the stern, where he hoped that the current would be of -assistance. But that attempt also failed. The current doubled up the -tarpaulin against the end of the boat, and it refused to slip under. The -effort was several times repeated, but always with the same -result--failure. - -Finally Phil ordered all hands back to the flatboat. He went below and -presently returned with a ball of twine. Unwinding its entire length and -carefully coiling it on deck, he told Ed to fasten its farther end to -one of the ropes attached to the tarpaulin strings. - -"What are you going to do, Phil?" - -"I'm going to put my swimming to some practical account. Two of you -fellows get into a skiff,--yes, three of you,--and lie off the larboard -side of the boat." - -As they obeyed, the boy removed his clothes and tied the twine securely -around his person. - -"Watch the coil, Ed," he said to his brother, "and don't let it foul. -Give me free string from the moment I go overboard. A very little pull -would drown me!" - -Then, taking a lantern, Phil scanned the water on both sides of the boat -carefully for drift that might be in the way. When all was ready he -leaped overboard, and after an anxious wait on the part of the boys he -came to the surface again on the other side of the boat. He had repeated -his old feat of diving under the flatboat, but this time it was harder -than ever before. The strong current helped him a little, for the -flatboat, tied bow and stern, lay almost athwart it. But a deal of -difficulty was created by the necessity of dragging the twine after him. -Ed saw to it that no tangle should occur, but the string dragged upon -the deck and over the side and again upon the bottom of the boat, so -that a much longer time and far more exertion was necessary for the dive -than had ever been required before. Indeed, when Phil came up he was -barely clear of the gunwale and his ability to hold his breath was -completely at an end. A second more and he must have inhaled water and -drowned. He was for the moment too much exhausted to climb into the -skiff that was waiting for him, or even to give directions to his -companions. - -Seeing his condition, Irv and Will leaped overboard with their clothes -on, and actually lifted the boy into the skiff, pushing him over its -side as if he had been a log or a limp sack of meal. - -As soon as he was able to gasp he helped his comrades into the little -boat, and called out:-- - -"Pull away on the string, boys, as fast as you can, otherwise the -current will carry it out from under the boat, at one end or the other." - -They obeyed promptly and presently had the end of the rope in their -grasp. Pulling upon this, they succeeded in getting the edge of the -tarpaulin under the starboard side of the flatboat. But there the thing -stuck, and their tugging at the rope only resulted in drawing their -skiff up to the flatboat's side. Phil quickly saw that "pulling without -a purchase" was futile. He called out:-- - -"Row to that tree yonder, and we'll make fast to it." - -When that was done the pulling was resumed, this time "with a purchase." -But it was of no avail. The tarpaulin was drawn halfway under the boat, -but there it stuck. - -After a little Phil evolved a new idea. Releasing the skiff, he rowed to -the flatboat and directed Irv to go aboard. Then returning to his former -position, he again made the skiff fast to the tree. - -"Now, Irv," he called out, "you and Ed go below and bring up two or -three barrels of flour." - -"What for?" asked Ed. - -"Never mind what for. Do it quick," was the answer. - -When the barrels of flour were on deck, Phil said:-- - -"Find the middle of the tarpaulin as nearly as you can, and roll a -barrel of flour overboard into it." - -The thing was quickly done. The weight of the barrel of flour caused the -tarpaulin to sink below the flatboat's bottom, and it became possible to -drag it under her for a further space. - -"Roll another barrel overboard," said the captain, when the tarpaulin -refused to come farther. This enabled the boys to drag the sheet still -farther, and finally, with the aid of a third barrel, they brought its -edge ten feet beyond the gunwale. - -"Now," said Phil, "we've got to spill those flour barrels out of the -cloth, or it won't come up to the boat's bottom and stop the leaks." - -How to do this was a puzzle. After studying the problem for a while, -Phil directed Ed and Irv on board the flatboat, and Will and Constant in -the skiff, to relax the tension on the great square of sailcloth. - -"I'm going down on top of it," he said, "to push the barrels off." - -"But when you do that, it'll close up to the bottom of the boat and -catch you in it," said Will. "Don't think of doing that!" - -"I must," said Phil, "we're sinking; it's our only chance, and I must -take the risk. Let me have your big knife, Constant." - -"What are you going to do with it?" asked the boy, as he handed it to -Phil. - -"Cut my way out if I can, or perhaps cut a way out for the flour -barrels. Good-by, boys, if I never get back. And thank you for -everything." - -With that he stepped upon the tarpaulin and slid down it under the boat. -Presently he came back, gasping and struggling. - -"I got one barrel out," he said. Then he waited awhile for breath, and -went under again. This time he was gone so long that his comrades feared -the worst, with almost no hope for a better result. But they could do -nothing. Presently Phil came up, but so exhausted that he could only -cling in a feeble way to the edge of the canvas. The boys dragged him -into the skiff, and he lay upon its bottom for a time like one almost -drowned, which indeed he was. When he had somewhat recovered, Irv called -to him:-- - -"I'm going down next time, Phil. You shan't brag that you're a better -water-rat than I am." - -"No, you mustn't," said the boy; "I've found out how to do the trick -now. But I've lost your knife in the shuffle, Constant. Cast the skiff -loose and let's go aboard for another." - -The boy was so exhausted that his companions simply forbade him to make -another attempt. - -"You shan't go down again," said Irv, "and that's all there is about it. -If you've found out how to do the trick, as you say, save my life by -explaining it to me, for I'm going down, anyhow." - -The boy was too weak to insist. So he explained:-- - -"Don't go down on top of the sheet as I did. Dive under it. Find the -barrels,--they're almost exactly in the middle,--and slit the tarpaulin -under them so that they can drop through. Oh, let me do it, I'm all -right now." - -But Irv was overboard with a big butcher knife in his grasp, and the -skiff was again securely fastened to its tree. - -Irv dived three times. On coming up for the third time, he said with his -irrepressible vivacity, "One, two, three times and out! Third time's the -charm, you know. I beg to announce that there's a big slit in the -tarpaulin and that the two barrels of triple X family flour are calmly -reposing in the mud that underlies _The Last of the Flatboats_." - -"Good!" said Phil. "But we must hurry." - -And he gave rapid orders for drawing up the canvas on each side of the -flatboat. Then he secured some tackle blocks and carried ropes from the -two ends of the tarpaulin to the anchor windlass, and set the boys to -draw it as tight as possible. - -Then he went below, and found the water almost up to the level of the -gunwales. That is to say, the boat proper, the part that floated all the -rest, was very nearly full of water. A few inches more and the craft -would have gone down like an iron pot with a hole in it. - -There was hurried and anxious work at the pumps. At the end of an hour -the gauge below showed that the water in the hold had been reduced by an -inch or two. - -"This will never do," said the young captain. "We can't keep on pumping -like demons day and night till we get to New Orleans. We simply must -find the leaks and stop them. The tarpaulin helps very greatly, but it -isn't enough." - -"But how?" asked Ed. - -"First of all cast the flatboat loose and let her float," said skipper -Phil. "It's daylight now." - -"What good will that do?" asked one. - -"None, perhaps. Perhaps a great deal. It will put us into a river for -one thing. We're in about as bad a place for sinking as there could be. -Maybe we shall float into a better one. Maybe we shall come to some -place where the land is still out of water and let the boat sink where -we can save part of the cargo. Maybe anything. Cast loose, while I study -things below." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -A HARD-WON VICTORY - - -Phil's further explorations below, which occupied perhaps half an hour, -convinced him that the pumps, if worked to their utmost capacity, were -capable of emptying the hold of water within three or four hours, -possibly somewhat sooner, as the tarpaulin was doing its work better, -now that the flatboat was cast loose. The current was no longer -interfering, as the boat was now moving with the stream, and the weight -of the craft was pressing it closer to the canvas beneath. - -Phil realized that to keep the pumps at work to the full for so long a -time would fearfully tax the crew's strength, taxing it perhaps even -beyond its capacity of endurance. But he saw no alternative. The water -simply must be got out of the hold. Till that should be done there would -be no possibility of finding and stopping the leaks. - -So going again on deck, he said to his comrades:-- - -"I'll tell you what, boys, we've got to work for all we're worth now for -the next two or three hours. We must get at the inside of the bottom of -the boat and find these leaks. We can't do that till we empty her of -water, or get her pretty nearly empty." - -"But how in the world are we to get at the leaks under all our freight?" -asked Will Moreraud. - -"We have got to move the freight," said Phil. - -"But where?" asked Irv. - -"Well," said Phil, "we've got to throw part of it overboard, I suppose, -in order to give us room. Then we've got to shift the rest of it little -by little from one spot to another, exposing a part of the bottom each -time. We must find every leak that we can, and stop every one that is -capable of being stopped. It will take two or three hours to pump the -water out, and, I suppose, it will take two or three days to get these -leaks fully stopped. In the meantime, we are all going to be enormously -tired, and of course--" - -"And of course we'll all be as cross as a sawbuck," said Irv Strong; -"tired people always are; what we've got to do is to look out and not -quarrel." - -"Oh, well," said Phil, "I will take care of that. I am as cross as two -sawbucks already, but I haven't quarrelled with anybody yet, and I don't -mean to. And I'll keep the rest of you too busy to quarrel. We will -postpone all that until we get to New Orleans--" - -"If we ever do get to New Orleans," said Ed. - -"Ever get to New Orleans? Why, we have got to get to New Orleans. We -have undertaken to do that job for the owners of this cargo, and we are -going to do it, if we have to pump the Mississippi River three times -through this boat in getting there. Our present task is to reduce the -necessity for pumping as much as we can." - -Phil found by experiment that one boy at each pump was nearly as -efficient as two, and as the work of pumping was exhausting, he decided -to keep only two boys at it, one at each pump. Then, taking the other -two with him, he went below and with buckets they began dipping water -from the hold and pouring it overboard at the bow. In this way they -added largely to the work of the pumps, and every fifteen minutes or so -two of the boys handling buckets would go to the pumps, and the two -tired fellows at the pumps would come below and work with buckets. - -It was wearisome work, but there was at any rate the encouragement of -success. By one o'clock in the afternoon the water in the hold was so -far reduced that it was no longer possible to dip it up with buckets -with any profit. So Phil stopped that part of the work, and decided to -keep the boys on very short shifts at the pumps, leaving them to rest -completely between their tours of duty. He let two of them work for ten -minutes. Then another pair took their places for ten minutes. Then the -fifth one of the party--for Phil did his "stint" like the rest--became -one of the relief pair, thus giving one boy twenty minutes' rest instead -of ten. This extra rest came in its turn of course to each of the boys, -so that each boy worked forty minutes--ten minutes at a time--and -rested sixty minutes out of every one hundred minutes or every hour and -two-thirds. - -About five o'clock in the afternoon Phil made one of his frequent -journeys of inspection in the hold. He came on deck with an encouraged -look in his tired face. - -"We've got the water pretty nearly all out now, boys. Our next job is to -keep it out by stopping leaks. We'll work one pump all the time. I think -that will keep even with the leaks, or pretty nearly so. If we find the -water gaining on us, we'll set the other pump going for a while." - -"And what's your plan for stopping leaks, Phil?" asked Irv. - -"First of all we'll find the leaks," said Phil. "Then we'll do whatever -we can to stop them." - -"Oh, yes, we know that," said Irv, with a touch of irritation in his -voice, "but you know I meant--" - -"Come, Irv, no quarrelling!" said Will Moreraud. "You're tired and -cross, but so are the rest of us." - -"I own up, and beg pardon," said Irv, regaining his good nature by an -effort, but instantly. "Phil, may I take time for a cold plunge before -you assign me to my next duty?" - -"Certainly," said Phil. "And I'll take one with you. Come, boys, we'll -all be the better for the shock of a shockingly cold bath. Jump in, all -of you!" - -And they all did, for, to the surprise of every one, Ed leaped overboard -with them and swam twice around the boat before coming out of the very -cold water and into the still colder air. - -"Ed's getting well, Phil," said Irv. - -"Yes," said Phil, as he watched his brother rubbing himself down. "Two -weeks ago he would have come out of that water shivering as if with an -ague, and the color of a table-cloth. Now look at him! He's as red as a -boiled lobster, and he's actually laughing as he rubs the skin off with -that piece of sanded tarpaulin that he has mistaken for a Turkish towel. -Here, Ed, take a towel, or would you rather have some sandpaper or a -rasp?" - -"Thanks, old fellow," said Ed, who had of course heard all the remarks -concerning himself, "but this cloth feels good. I believe I am getting -better. I've quit 'barking' anyhow." - -"That's so," said Irv. "You haven't dared utter a cough since that -morning when _The Last of the Flatboats_ tried to make the last of -herself by quitting the river and coming off on this little picnic in -the Mississippi swamps." - -"If you young gentlemen have quite finished your discussion of past -happenings, and are ready to give attention to present exigencies," said -Phil, in that mocking tone which he sometimes playfully adopted, "you'll -please put your clothes on and report for duty in the hold, where -there's some important work to be done. It's your turn at the pump, -Constant. Get thee to thy task, and don't forget to remind me when your -time's up. - -"Now," said Phil, when they threw open the forward door of the flatboat -to open a passage for taking out freight, "I suppose we ought to divide -up the loss by throwing out about an equal quantity of each owner's -freight. But we can't do it, so there's an end of that." - -"Oh, the law will take care of all that," said Ed. - -"The law? How?" - -"Why the law requires everybody interested in the boat or the cargo to -share the loss, when freight must be thrown overboard to save the ship." - -"But how can that be done?" asked Irv. - -"Why, we must keep account of what we throw overboard. When we sell the -rest at New Orleans, we shall know just what was the value of the part -jettisoned,--that's the law term for throwing things overboard, I -believe,--and that loss must be divided among the owners of the boat -herself, the owners of cargo on board, and the insurance companies, if -any of the freight is insured. Each one's share of the loss will be in -precise proportion to his interest." - -"Illustrate," said Will Moreraud. - -"Well," rejoined Ed, "suppose we find the boat and her total cargo to be -worth one thousand dollars--" - -"Oh, rubbish! It's worth many times that," broke in Will. "Why, I should -value--" - -"Never mind that," said the other. "I'm 'supposing a case,' as Irv says, -and simply for convenience I take one thousand dollars as the total -value of the boat and everything in her. Now, suppose we have to throw -overboard one hundred dollars' worth. That is one-tenth of the whole. -That tenth must be divided, not equally, but proportionally, among all -the persons interested. Suppose the boat is worth two hundred dollars. -That is one-fifth the total value, and so the boat owners must bear -one-fifth of the one hundred dollars' loss. That is to say, we fellows -should have to 'pony up' twenty dollars among us, or four dollars -apiece. A man owning three hundred dollars' worth of freight would be -charged thirty dollars, and so on through the list." - -"Oh, I see," said Phil, who in the meantime had been studying ways and -means of accomplishing the practical purpose in hand. "And a very good -arrangement it is. Now stop talking, and let's heave out some of these -bales of hay." - -"Why not take some of the other things instead?" asked Irv. "They are -heavier, and to throw them over would lighten the boat more." - -All this while the boys were at work getting the hay out. - -"We aren't trying to lighten the boat," replied Phil. "We're only trying -to make room, and the hay takes up more room, dollar's worth for -dollar's worth, than anything else. So it's cheapest to 'jettison' -hay--thanks for that new word, Ed. Now, heave ho!" And the first bale of -hay went over the bow into the water. - -"Now, another!" - -In a brief time a considerable space was cleared. - -"That will do, I think," said Phil. "We shan't have to 'jettison' -anything more, if you fellows will stop your chatter and get to work. If -you don't, I'll jettison some of the crew." - -This brought a needed smile, for the boys were by this time almost -exhausted with work and loss of sleep. Phil thought of this. He had not -himself slept a moment since his discovery that the boat was sinking at -midnight of the night before, while all the rest had caught refreshing -little naps between their tours of duty at the pumps. But he left -himself out of the account in laying his plans. - -"See here, boys," he said, "there isn't room for more than one of you to -work here with me at these leaks. One must stay at the pump on deck, of -course, but the other two might as well go to sleep till we need you to -move freight again." - -"Oh, I like that," said Irv. "But why shouldn't _you_ do a little of the -sleeping, instead of shoving it all off on us, as you've done all day?" - -"Oh, never mind about me. I shan't sleep till we get things in shape, so -you and Ed go to sleep. You go and relieve Constant at the pump, Will, -and let him come and help me." - -"You said there was to be no quarrelling," said Irv, "and I have thus -far obeyed. I have even stood Ed's exposition of the law about throwing -freight overboard, without a murmur, but now I'm going to quarrel with -the skipper of this craft, if he doesn't consent to take his full and -fair share of the sleeping that simply has to be done. He always takes -his full share of the work, even to the cooking. It was only yesterday -that he made the worst pot of coffee we've had yet. I insist that he -shall not be permitted basely to shirk his fair share of the sleeping." - -The other boys echoed the kindly sentiment that Irv had put in that -playful way, and Phil was touched by their consideration. Instinctively -holding out his hands to them, he said:-- - -"Thank you, fellows. It's awfully good of you. But I simply could not -sleep now. I cannot close my eyes till I see this work of stopping leaks -so well advanced as to be sure that the boat is safe. I promise you -that just as soon as that is accomplished I'll let you fellows go on -with the work, and I'll take even a double turn at sleeping." - -"You'll promise that?" - -"Yes. And by way of compromise, and to keep you from quarrelling, Irv, -I'll let you postpone your first sleeping turn till you can get me -something hot to swallow--a canned soup with an egg in it, or something -else sustaining. I'm hungry." - -During the day's excitements there had been no regular meals served on -the boat, but as there happened to be a cold boiled ham in the larder -and plenty of bread, the boys had indulged frequently in sandwiches. But -it now occurred to them that Phil, in his anxiety, had quite forgotten -to do this, and had, in fact, eaten nothing whatever for more than -eighteen hours. So Irv hastened to prepare him some food of the kind he -had asked for. - -In the meantime, Phil and Constant, armed with hammers and nails, and -bits of board which they from time to time sawed or cut to fit spaces, -were busy at the leaks. When they had done all they could in that way -within the space laid bare by the removal of the hay, they rolled other -freight into that space, thus exposing another part of the bottom. - -[Illustration: A TOUR OF INSPECTION. - -"'Hello! Irv; we've found the crevasse at last.'"] - -In this way the work went forward during the night, all of the boys -except Phil securing some sleep in brief snatches, and all of them -ministering, so far as they were permitted, to their captain's need for -tempting food. - -About daylight, in making a shift of freight, Phil suddenly came upon -something that made him call out:-- - -"Hello! what's this? I say, Irv,"--for Irving was then working with -him,--"we've found the crevasse at last." - -"I should say so," said Irv, with a slower drawl than usual, as he held -up his lantern and looked. "The Mississippi River and all its large and -interesting family of tributaries seem trying to come aboard here." - -Just where the gunwale joined the bottom planks of the boat a great seam -had been wrenched open, and the water was actually spouting and spurting -through it. - -"There's one consolation," said Phil. "There isn't any other leak like -this anywhere." - -"How do you know?" - -"Why, if there were two such, we should have gone to Davy Jones's -locker long ago." - -Then the two boys set to work trying to fasten a board over the open -seam, but their efforts failed completely. Their united strength was not -sufficient even to press the board against the timbers, much less to -hold it in place long enough to nail it there. For the whole weight of -the boat and cargo was pressing down into the river and forcing this jet -of water upward through the opening. - -"Call the entire crew, Irv," said Phil. "We shall need them all for this -job--including the fellow at the pump." - -Then, while Irv went to summon the boys, Phil secured a piece of plank -three inches thick, very green and very heavy, which had been purchased -at Vevay to serve as a staging over which to roll freight in taking it -on or discharging it. - -"Get me the brace and bit, Will--the quarter-inch auger bit. And, Ed, -see if you can find the spikes that were left over in building the boat. -Bring the heaviest hammers we've got too, some of you." - -All this while the boy was measuring, calculating, sawing, and hewing -with an axe to fit his great plank to its place. He bored holes in it -at intervals, to facilitate the driving of spikes through its tough and -tenacious thickness. - -When all was ready, the boys made a strenuous effort to force the timber -down against the crack, but to no purpose. Their strength and weight -were not sufficient. - -Presently a happy thought struck Will Moreraud. - -"Wait a minute," he said, and with that he rolled several barrels of -corn meal into the open space. - -"Now," he cried, "three of you stand on one end of the plank while I -drive it into place. Let the other end ride free of the bottom, but one -of you hold it so that it can't slew away from the gunwale." - -The boys did this, and Will succeeded in driving one end of the timber -into place while three of his comrades stood upon that end of it. The -other end was held up by the waterspout a foot from the bottom of the -boat, but Ed was holding it against the gunwale, in the place where it -was desired to force it down. - -"Now, hold it so," said Will, "and I'll force it down." - -With that he turned a two-hundred-pound barrel of meal on end upon the -plank just beyond the point where the three boys were standing. This -pressed the timber down somewhat, and Will helped it with another -barrel. Then he began bringing heavy sacks of corn and oats, so heavy -that he could scarcely handle them. These he piled high on top of the -meal barrels, and the combined weight forced the plank down to within an -inch of the bottom. - -With one end securely weighted down, he began piling freight in the same -way upon the other. Now and then the resisting water would push the -heavy and heavily weighted plank away from the gunwale and force a -passage for itself between. But when the plank was securely weighted -down upon the bottom, two or three of the boys, acting together, were -able, with axes and heavy hammers, to drive it finally and firmly -against the side of the boat. - -Then with the long wrought-iron spikes it was firmly secured in its -place, but Phil decided not to remove any of the freight that was piled -on top of it, lest the tremendous water pressure from below should force -even the great iron spikes out of their sockets and set the leak going -again. Indeed, to prevent this he directed his comrades to pile all the -freight they could so that its weight should fall upon the protecting -timber. - -By the time that all this was done it was eleven o'clock in the morning, -and Irv Strong turned to Phil with an earnest look in his eyes, and -said:-- - -"We claim the fulfilment of your promise, Phil. You must go to sleep -now." - -The other boys stood by Irv's side with faces as earnest as his own. It -was obvious that he spoke for all of them and as the result of an -understanding. Phil hesitated for a moment. Then he said:-- - -"Thank you, fellows, all of you. I'll do as you say." - -As he almost staggered toward the cabin in his exhaustion, he paused, -still thoughtful of the general welfare, and said:-- - -"Irv, you take charge while I sleep, and call me if anything happens." - -Two minutes later the lad was deeply slumbering. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - -RESCUE - - -When Phil at last waked, Ed was putting supper on the table, and it was -rather a late supper too, for the boys had purposely postponed it in -order to let Phil get all the sleep possible. He had in fact slept for -fully eight hours. - -"Well, how do you feel now, skipper?" asked Will. - -"I don't know exactly," answered the boy, yawning and stretching. -"Stupid for the most part, hungry for the rest of it. I say, what time -of day or night is it?" - -"It's about eight thirty P.M.," answered Constant, pulling out his -antique Swiss watch and consulting it. - -"Yes, but _what_ P.M.? What day is it? When did I go to sleep?" - -The boys soon straightened things out in their captain's temporarily -bewildered mind. The effort to do so was aided by the sight and smell of -a great platter which Ed at that moment set upon the table. It held a -"boiled dinner." There was a juicy brisket of corned beef on top. Under -it were peeled and boiled potatoes, boiled turnips still retaining their -shape, and beneath all was the last cabbage on board, the remains of a -purchase made at Memphis a week or ten days before, though to the boys -it seemed many moons past. - -As Phil eyed the savory dish he became for the first time fully awake. - -"I say, fellows," he broke out, "what does this mean? Why didn't you -have this sort of thing for dinner instead of keeping it for supper?" - -"Because you weren't awake at dinner time to help us eat it, Phil. It's -the last really good meal we're likely to see for days to come, and -we--" - -"You see," broke in Irv Strong, "we're bound to build you up again, -Phil, if we have to do it with a hammer and nails. But how recklessly -you expose your country breeding!" as he helped all round; "if you were -captain of an ocean liner now instead of a flatboat, you would know that -dinner before six o'clock is impossible to civilized man, and that the -actual dinner hour in all those regions where dress coats and culture -prevail, ranges from seven to eight o'clock." - -"You are unjust in your mockery, Irv," said Ed. "And by that you in your -turn simply expose your provincialism--and ours, too." - -"How?" asked Irv, chuckling to think that he had succeeded in diverting -the conversation from channels in which it might easily have become -emotional. For all the boys had been for hours under a strain of severe -anxiety on Phil's account. They were full of admiration for the -self-sacrificing way in which he had worked and thought and planned for -the common welfare. They had been touched to the heart by his exhaustion -after his strenuous work was done, and they had been anxious all that -afternoon, lest the breakdown of his strength should prove to be -lasting. His appetite at supper relieved that fear, but the very relief -made them all the more disposed to be a trifle tender toward him. Irv -had prevented a scene, so he didn't mind Ed's criticism. - -"How's that, Ed?" - -"Why, when you sneer at people because their customs are different from -those that we are used to, don't you see you are just as narrow-minded -as they are when they sneer at us because our customs are not theirs." - -"Oh, I didn't mean to sneer," said Irv. "But, of course, it does seem -odd for people to eat dinner at six or seven o'clock in the evening, -instead of eating it about noon." - -"Not a bit of it. The dinner hour is a matter of convenience. In a -little town like ours it is convenient for everybody to go home to -dinner at noon, and so everybody does it. In a big city where people -live five or ten miles away from their places of business, it is -impossible. In such cities business doesn't begin till nine or ten -o'clock in the morning, when the banks and exchanges open, and it is in -every way handier to have dinner after the day's work is done. Our -habits are just as odd to city people as theirs are to us." - -"Oh, yes, I see that," said Irv, "and 'Farmer Hayseed' is just as -snobbish when he laughs at 'them city folks' as the city people are when -they ridicule him. It reminds me of the nursery story about the town -mouse and the country mouse." - -"How about the leaks, fellows?" asked Phil, who was now quite himself -again. - -"There aren't any to speak of," reported Irv. "We've gone over the whole -bottom of the boat now, stopping every little crack, and now she's as -dry as a bone. Five minutes' pumping in an hour is quite enough." - -"All right!" said the captain. "Then we'll take off her bandages in the -morning. With that tarpaulin wrapped around her she looks like Sally -Hopper when she comes to school with a toothache and a swelled jaw bound -up in flannel." - -But the next morning brought with it some other and more pressing work -than that of removing the tarpaulin. - -At daylight the boat was floating easily and rapidly down the middle of -the overflowed river, when Phil, who was on deck, saw half a mile ahead, -a group of people huddled together upon a small patch of ground that -protruded above the water. It was, in fact, the top of one of those very -high Indian mounds that abound in the Sunflower swamp country. - -Calling the other boys on deck, Phil took a skiff and rowed ahead as -rapidly as he could. When he reached the little patch of dry land, -which was circular in shape, and did not exceed twenty feet in diameter, -he found a family of people in a woful state of destitution and -wretchedness. - -They had no fire and no fuel. They had been for several days without -food and were now so weak that they could scarcely speak above a -whisper. The party consisted of a father, a mother, three big-eyed -children, and a negro man. - -The negro man, great stalwart fellow that he was, was now the most -exhausted one of the party, while the youngest of the children, whom the -others called "Baby," as if she were yet too small to carry a name of -her own, was still chipper and full of interest in the strange things -about her when she was taken on board the flatboat. - -The work of rescue occupied a considerable time and cost the boys some -very hard work. The people on the mound were too feeble from hunger and -long exposure even to help in their own deliverance. The negro man had -to be lifted bodily into a skiff and laid out at full length upon its -bottom. The rest, except "Baby" were not in much better condition. The -man could walk indeed, in an unsteady way, but he was so dazed in his -mind that it required force to keep him from dropping out of the skiff -on the way to the flatboat. - -The woman and the two older children were chewing strips of leather, cut -from the man's boot tops. The baby continually sucked its thumb. - -People in such condition are very difficult to manage. They are -physically incapable of doing anything to help themselves, and mentally -just alert enough to interfere querulously with the efforts of others to -help them. To get such a company into frail, unsteady skiffs, to row -them away to the flatboat, and then to "hoist them aboard," as Phil -called the operation, required quite two hours of very hard work, but it -was accomplished at last. - -But to get them aboard was only the beginning of the work of rescue. -They were starving and they must be fed. Phil was for setting out the -remainder of the last evening's boiled dinner at once and bidding them -help themselves. But Irv's superior knowledge of such matters prevented -that disastrous blunder. - -"Why, don't you know, Phil, that to give them even an ounce of solid -food now would be to kill them! Open a can of consomme, and heat it -quick." - -When the soup was ready he peppered it lavishly, explaining to Ed:-- - -"The problem is not merely to get food into their stomachs, but to get -their stomachs to turn the food to some account after we've got it -there. In their weakened condition they can't digest anything solid, and -it is a serious question whether their stomachs can even manage this -thin, watery soup. So I'm putting pepper into it as a 'bracer.' It will -stimulate their stomachs to do their work." - -As he explained, he fed the soup to the sufferers--a single spoonful to -each. They were clamorous for more, but Irv was resolute. - -"Wait till I see how that goes," he said. "You can't have any more till -I say the word." - -The children cried. The woman hysterically laughed and cried -alternately. The man sat still with bowed head and with the tears -trickling down his face--whether tears of joy, of distress, or of mere -weakness, it was hard to say. - -The negro man was too far gone even to swallow. Irv had to turn him on -his back and literally pour a spoonful of soup down his throat. Then he -said to Ed and Constant:-- - -"I'm afraid this man is dying. His hands are very cold and so are his -feet--cold to the knees. Take some towels--no, here," seizing a -blanket from one of the bunks,--"take this. Dip it into boiling -water,--fortunately we've got it ready,--wring the blanket out and wrap -his feet and legs in it, from the knees down. Then take towels and -do the same for his hands. Pound him, too, punch him, roll him -about--bulldoze and kuklux him in every way you can till you get his -blood to going again! It's the only way to save the poor fellow's life." - -By this time Irv deemed it safe to give each of his other patients -another spoonful or two of the soup, and he even ventured to pour three -more spoonfuls down the throat of the negro. - -"He's reviving a little," Irv explained. "And as a strong man, with a -robust stomach accustomed to coarse food, he can stand more soup than -the others." - -Thus little by little Irv and Ed, with such assistance from the other -boys as they needed, slowly brought the starving party back to life. As -the negro man had been the first to succumb to starvation,--perhaps -because his robust physical nature demanded more food than more -delicately constructed bodies do,--so he was the first to recover. By -nightfall he was walking about on the deck, while all the rest were -still lying in the bunks below as invalids. - -After awhile Irv stopped him. - -"Did anybody ever tell you that you're an exceptional personage?" - -"Lor' no, boss. Well, yes, some o' de black folks in de chu'ch done took -'ceptions to me sometimes 'cause I wouldn't give enough to de cause, but -fore de court, boss--" - -"That isn't what I mean," broke in Irv, with smiles rippling all over -him, and running down even to his legs. "I mean, did anybody ever notice -that you were,--oh, well, never mind that; but tell me, would you like a -good big slice of cold corned beef before you go to sleep?" - -The negro answered in words. But his more emphatic answer was not one of -words. He threw his arms around Irv in a giant's embrace that almost -crushed the youth's bones. - -"There, that will do," said Irv. "You have an engagement as a cotton -compress or something of that sort, when you're at home, I suppose. But -now, if I let you have a good big slice of cold corned beef to-night, -will you eat it just as I tell you, take a bite when I tell you and at -no other time, and stop whenever I tell you? Will you promise?" - -"Shuah, sar, shuah," eagerly responded the man. - -"But 'sure' isn't enough," replied Irv, half in amusement and half in -seriousness, for he felt that his experiment was very risky, and he -wanted to be able to regulate it, and stop it at any point. "Sure isn't -enough. Will you promise me on the isosceles triangle?" - -"Yes, boss." - -"On the grand panjandrum?" - -"For shuah." - -"And even on the parallelopipedon itself?" - -"Shuah, boss. I dunno what dem names mean, but for shuah I'll do jes' -what you tells me to if you'll lem' me have de meat." - -Irv was satisfied. He went below and prepared a sandwich. Returning, he -allowed the man to eat it in bites, with long intervals between. It not -only did no harm, it restored the man to such vitality that Phil decided -to get some information out of him as to the flatboat's whereabouts. - -He learned first that the rescued family sleeping below was that of a -well-to-do planter; that the flood, coming as it did as the result of a -crevasse, and therefore suddenly, had taken them completely by surprise, -in the middle of the night, four or five days ago; that they had with -difficulty escaped to the Indian mound in a field near by, and that they -had not been able to take with them any food, or anything else except -the clothes they had on. This accounted for the fact that the woman wore -only a wrapper over her nightdress, that the man was nearly naked, and -that the children were clad only in their thin little nightgowns. - -Then Phil learned that _The Last of the Flatboats_ was now in the -Tallahatchie River, as he had guessed, not far from the point where it -enters the Yazoo, at Greenwood. A little study of the map showed Phil -that if this were true, he might expect to reach Vicksburg within four -or five days, which in fact is what happened, not on the fourth or -fifth, but on the sixth day thereafter, early in the morning. - -In the mean time the crew and their guests had eaten up pretty nearly -all the boat's store of provisions, and _The Last of the Flatboats_ had -been stripped of her unsightly swaddling-cloth, the tarpaulin. Phil tied -her up at the landing near the historic town as proudly as if she had -not run away, and misbehaved as she had done. - -"She has only been showing us some of the wonders of the Wonderful -River, that we should never otherwise have known anything about," he -said. - -But this is going far ahead of my story. The boys and their boat were -still in the Yazoo, nearly a week's journey above Vicksburg. So let us -return to them. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - -A YAZOO AFTERNOON - - -There were no difficulties of any consequence to contend with after _The -Last of the Flatboats_ entered the Yazoo. The boys' guests were well -now, and joined them in their long talks on deck. These talks covered -every conceivable subject, and the planter, who proved himself to be an -unusually well-informed man, added not a little to their interest. - -"I say, Ed," said Phil one day, holding up one of his newspapers, "you -were all wrong about the crops." - -"How do you mean, Phil?" - -"Why, you put corn first, as the most valuable crop produced in this -country." - -"Well, isn't it?" - -"Not if this newspaper writer knows his business and tells the truth." - -"Why, what does he say?" asked Ed, with an interest he had not at first -shown in Phil's criticism. - -"He says that in Missouri, which I take to be one of the great -corn-growing states--" - -"It is all that," answered Ed. "What about it?" - -"Why, he says that in Missouri the eggs and spring chickens produced by -what he calls 'the great American hen' sell every year for more money -than all the corn, wheat, oats, and hay raised in the state, twice over. -And he gives the figures for it too." - -"That is surprising," said Ed, "but it is very probably true. The -trouble is that we have no trustworthy statistics on the subject. No -ordinary farmer keeps any account of his crops of that kind. Not one -farmer in a hundred could tell you at the end of a year how many dozens -of eggs or how many pairs of chickens he had sold. Still less could he -tell you how many of either his family had eaten. So it must all be -guess-work about such crops, while practically every bushel of wheat, -corn, and oats and every bale of cotton or hay, and every pound of -tobacco is carefully set down in official records." - -"That reminds me," said Irv, "of the remark a farmer once made to me, -when deploring the poverty of himself and his class." - -"What was it?" asked Will. - -"Why, he said that lots of men in the cities got two or three thousand -dollars a year for their work, while he never yet had got over five -hundred dollars for his. I questioned him a little, and found that he -didn't take any account of his house rent and fuel free, or of all the -farm produce that his family ate. He thought the few hundred dollars he -had to the good at the end of the year, after paying for his groceries -and dry goods, was all he got for his labor." - -"Speaking of these unconsidered crops," said the planter, "I fancy it -would astonish us if we could have the figures on them. It is said, for -example, that more than a million turkeys are eaten in New York City -alone every winter. Now, if we count all the other great cities and all -the little ones, and all the towns and all the country homes where -turkeys are eaten, it will be very hard to guess how many millions of -these fowls are raised and sold and eaten in this country every year." - -"It's hard on the turkeys," moralized Will Moreraud. - -"Well, I don't know," answered Phil. "I remember reading a story by -James K. Paulding called 'A Reverie in the Woods.' He tells how he fell -half asleep and heard all the animals and birds and fishes holding a -sort of congress to denounce man for his cruelties to them. After a -while the earthworm got so excited over the matter that he wriggled -himself into the brook. Thereupon the trout, who had also been one of -the complainants against man's cruelty, snapped up the worm, and -swallowed him. Seeing this, the cat grabbed the trout, and the fox -caught the cat, and the eagle caught the fox, and the hawk made luncheon -on the dove, and so on through the whole list. I imagine that that is -nature's way. Everything that lives, lives at the expense of something -else that lives. It is all a struggle for existence, with the survival -of the fittest as the outcome. And as a man, or even a commonplace boy -like me, is fitter to live than a turkey, I think the slaughter of those -innocents is all right enough." - -"You are entirely right, Phil," said Ed. "A pound of boy is certainly -worth fifty or fifty thousand pounds of turkey, because one boy can do -more for the world than all the turkeys that were ever hatched. And -when a boy eats turkey he converts it into boy, and it helps him to grow -into a man." - -"Precisely!" said Irv Strong. "It cost the worthless lives of many pigs, -turkeys, chickens, sheep, and cattle to make George Washington. But -surely one George Washington was worth more than all the pigs, turkeys, -chickens, sheep, and beef-cattle that were killed in all this country -between the day he was born and the day of his death. But pardon us," -added Irv, turning to the planter, "you were going to say something more -when we interrupted." - -"It was nothing of any consequence," answered their guest, "and your -little discussion has interested me more than anything I had thought of -saying. But I was going to say that according to a New York newspaper's -careful calculation, that city pays more than a million dollars every -spring for white flowers for Easter decorations alone, while its -expenditures for flowers during the rest of the year is estimated at not -less than five millions more. Then there is the peanut crop. Who ever -thinks of it? Who thinks of peanuts in any serious way? Yet it was the -peanut crop that saved the people of tidewater Virginia and North -Carolina from actual starvation during the first few years after the -Civil War. And every year that crop amounts to more than two and a half -million bushels!" - -"What luck for the circuses!" exclaimed Will Moreraud. - -"But the circuses do not furnish the chief market for peanuts," said -Irv, who was somewhat "up" on these things. - -"Where are they consumed, then?" asked Will. - -"Well, the greater part of them are used in the manufacture of 'pure' -Italian or French olive oil--most of it 'warranted sublime,'" said Irv. - -"Are we a nation of swindlers, then?" asked Phil, whose courage was -always offended by any suggestion of untruth or hypocrisy or dishonesty. - -"I don't know," said Irv, "how to draw the line there. The men who make -olive oil out of peanuts stoutly contend that their olive oil is really -better, more wholesome, and more palatable than that made from olives." - -"Why don't they call it peanut oil, then, and advertise it as better -than olive oil, and take the consequences?" asked upright, downright, -bravely honest Phil. - -"Men in trade are not always so scrupulous about honesty and -truthfulness as you are, Phil," said Ed. "But sometimes--they excuse -their falsehoods on the ground--" - -"There isn't any excuse possible for not telling the truth," said Phil. -"Men who tell lies in their business are swindlers, and that's the end -of the matter. If they are making a better article than the imported -one, they ought to say so, and people would find it out quickly enough. -When they offer their goods as something quite different from what they -really are, they are telling lies, I say, and I, for one, have no -respect for a liar." - -"You are right, Phil, of course," said Ed. "But there is a world of that -sort of thing done. The potteries in New Jersey, I am told, mark their -finer wares with European brands, and they contend that if they did not -do it they could not sell their goods." - -"A more interesting illustration," said the planter, "is found in the -matter of cheeses. Cheese, as at first produced, is the same the world -over. But cheese that is set to 'ripen' in the caves of Roquefort is -one thing, cheese ripened at Camembert is another, and so on through -the list. Now of late years it has been discovered that the differences -between these several kinds of cheese are due solely to microbes. There -is one sort of microbe at Roquefort, another at Brie, and so on. Now -American cheesemakers found this out some years ago, and decided that -they could make any sort of cheese they pleased in this country. So they -took the several kinds of imported cheeses, selected the best samples of -each, and set to work to cultivate their microbes. By introducing the -microbes of Roquefort into their cheeses they made Roquefort cheeses of -them. By inoculating them with the Brie microbe, or the Camembert -microbe, or the Stilton or Gruyere microbe, they converted their simple -American cheeses into all these choice varieties. And it is asserted by -experts that these American imitations, or some of them at any rate, are -actually superior to the imported cheeses, besides being much more -uniform in quality." - -"That's all right," said Phil. "But why not tell the truth about it? -Surely, if their cheeses are better than those made abroad, they can -trust the good judges of cheese to find out the fact and declare it. -And when that fact became known they could sell their cheese for a -higher price than that of the imported article, on the simple ground of -its superiority. How I do hate shams and frauds and lies--and especially -liars!" - -"What bothers me," drawled Irv, "is that I've been eating microbes all -my life without knowing it. I here and now register a solemn vow that -I'll never again eat a piece of cheese--unless I want to." - -"Oh, the microbes are all right," said Ed, "provided they are of the -right sort. There are some microbes that kill us, and others that we -couldn't live without. There are still others, like those in cheese, -that do us neither good nor harm, except that they make our food more -palatable. For that matter the yeast germ is a microbe, and it is that -alone that makes our bread light. Surely we can't quit eating light -bread and take to heavy baked dough instead, because light bread is made -light by the presence of some hundreds of millions of living germs in -every loaf of it while it is in the dough state." - -"Coming back to the question of crops," said the planter, "does it occur -to you that there would be no possibility of prosperity in this country -but for the absolute freedom of traffic between the states?" - -"Would you kindly explain?" said Ed. - -"Certainly. The farmers of New York and New Jersey used to grow all the -wheat, and all the beef, mutton, and pork that were eaten in the great -city, and they made a good living by doing it. But the time came when -the western states could raise wheat and beef and all the rest of it -much more cheaply than any eastern farmer could. This threatened to -drive the New York and New Jersey farmers out of business, and -naturally, if they could, they would have made their legislators pass -laws to exclude this western wheat and meat from competition with their -crops. This would have hurt the western farmer; for what would in that -case have happened in New York would have happened in all the other -eastern states. But it would have hurt the people of the great -cities--and indeed all the people in the country still more. It would -have made the city people's food cost them two or three times as much as -before. That would have compelled them to charge more for their -manufactured products and for their work in carrying on the foreign -commerce of the country. That would have crippled commerce,--which lives -upon exceedingly small margins of profit,--and the prosperity of the -country would have been ruined. It was to prevent that sort of thing -that our national government was formed, with a constitution which -forbade any state to interfere with commerce between the states." - -"What became of the New York farmer, then?" asked Irv. - -"When he found that he couldn't raise wheat, corn, etc., as cheaply as -the western farmer could sell them in New York, he quit raising those -things and produced things that paid him instead." - -"What sort of things?" - -"Fruits, poultry, milk, butter, eggs, cheese, vegetables, buckwheat, -honey, etc., and in producing these the New York farmer grew richer than -ever. Since New York quit raising on any considerable scale the things -that we commonly think of as farm products, that state has become the -richest in the country in the value of its agricultural production, -simply because the New York farmer raises only those things for which -there is a market almost at his front gate." - -"That is very interesting," said Will. "But how is it that the far West -can furnish New York and Philadelphia and the rest of the eastern cities -with bread and meat cheaper than the farmers near those cities can sell -the same things?" - -"The value of land," said the planter, "has much to do with it. The -value of a farmer's land is his investment, and first of all, he must -earn interest on that." - -"Pardon me," said Ed, "but that, it seems to me, is a very small factor. -The value of good farming lands in the East is not very different from -that of similar lands in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the other great -farming states of the West." - -"What is the key to the mystery, then?" asked Irv. - -"Transportation," answered Ed. "The western farm lands, with an equal -amount of labor, produce more wheat, corn, pork, and the like, than -eastern lands do, and it costs next to nothing to carry their wheat, -corn, pork, etc., to the East." - -"What does it cost?" asked Will. - -"Well, I see that the rate is now less than three mills per ton per -mile. At three mills per ton per mile, ten barrels, or a ton, of flour -could be carried from Chicago to New York for three dollars, or thirty -cents a barrel. Even at half a cent per ton per mile it would cost only -fifty cents." - -"While the railroads are engaged in transporting that flour to the -hungry New Yorkers at that exceedingly reasonable rate," said Irv, -slowly rising to his feet, "it is my duty to go below and convert a few -insignificant pounds of the flour on board into a pan of biscuit, while -you, Ed, fry some salt pork, the only meat we have left, and heat up a -can or two of tomatoes." - -This ended the long chat, for besides the preparation of supper there -was much else to do. There were the lights to be hung in their places, -and more occupying still, there was the difficult task of tying up the -boat for the night. For experience had taught Phil caution, and he had -decided that until _The Last of the Flatboats_ should again float upon -the broad reaches of the Mississippi, she should be securely moored to -two trees during the hours of darkness. With the Yazoo ten feet above -its banks, it would have been very easy indeed for the flatboat to drift -out of the river into the fields and woodlands. And Phil had had all the -experience he wanted of such wanderings. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - -AN OFFER OF HELP - - -On the day before they reached Vicksburg, the planter whose family had -been rescued was able to have a long conversation with Phil. His first -disposition had been to recognize Irv as the master spirit of the crew, -because of his controlling activity in the matter of restoring the -starved party to life and health, but he was quickly instructed -otherwise by Irving himself. - -He explained to Phil just who and what he was. - -"I have lost a great deal, of course, by this overflow, but fortunately -the bulk of my cotton crop was already shipped before the flood came, so -that that is safe. Moreover, I am not altogether dependent upon my -planting operations. In short,--you will understand that I say this by -way of explanation and not otherwise,--I am a fairly well-to-do man,--I -may even say a very well-to-do man,--independently of my planting -operations." - -"I am glad to hear that," said Phil, "because it has troubled me a good -deal, especially as I have looked at Baby and the other children. I have -wondered what was to become of them, and in what way we boys might best -help you and them over the bridge." - -"I am glad you said that," the planter responded. "That gives me the -opportunity I am seeking. In the same spirit in which you have been -thinking of helping me, I want you to let me help you and your comrades. -I don't know anything of the circumstances of the young men who -compose this crew, yourself or the others; but I assume that if your -circumstances were particularly comfortable, you would hardly be engaged -in the not very profitable business of running a flatboat. At your ages, -you would more probably be in school." - -"So we are," said Phil; "we are none of us particularly well-to-do, but -we are able to stay at home and go to school. This trip is a kind of a -lark--or partly that and partly a thing done to restore my brother's -health; but we are obliged to make it pay its own way, anyhow, because -we could not afford the trip otherwise. Of course, we are out of school -for the time being, that is to say, for a few months, but we all expect -to make that up. As to college, I don't know. Probably not many of us -will ever be able to afford that." - -"That, then, is exactly what I want to come to," said the gentleman. -"You are obviously boys of good parentage. I cannot offer to pay you for -the great service you have done to me and mine--no, no; don't interrupt -me now; let me say this out. I should not think of insulting you in any -such way as that; but why should you not let me contribute out of the -abundance that I still possess to the expense of a college course for -all five of you very bright young fellows? Believe me, nothing in the -world could give me a greater gratification than to do this. You have -rescued me and mine from a fate so terrible that I shudder to think of -it even now. Let me in my turn help a little to advance your interests -in life." - -Phil thought for a considerable time before he replied. Not that he had -any notion of accepting the offer thus made, but that he did not want, -in rejecting it, to hurt the feelings of a man so generous, and one who -had made the offer with so much delicacy. At last the boy said:-- - -"Believe me, sir, I appreciate, and all my comrades will when I tell -them of it, the good feeling and the generosity that have dictated your -offer, but we could not on any account accept it. I am sure that in this -I speak for all. I believe that any boy in this country who really wants -an education can get it, if he chooses to work hard enough and live -plainly enough. My brother has not been able to go to school much at any -time in his life, because of his ill-health, and yet he is much the best -educated one among us, and if he lives, he will be reckoned a -well-educated man, even among men who are college graduates. As for the -rest of us, we can get a college education, as I said, if we choose to -work hard enough and live hard enough. If we don't choose to do that, -why, we must go without. But we thank you all the same, and I want you -to know that we recognize the generosity of your offer, though we cannot -accept it. Now, please don't let's talk of that any more, because it -isn't pleasant to refuse a request such as yours; for I take it from -your manner and tone that you mean it as a request rather than as an -offer of aid." - -With that, Phil walked away, and there was naturally no more to be said. -But an hour later the gentleman, who was still feeble from his late -exposure and suffering, asked Phil again to sit down by him. Then he -said:-- - -"I am not going to reopen the question that we discussed a while ago, -because I understand and honor your decision with regard to it. But -there is another little service that I am in position to render you, and -that I might render to anybody with whom I came into pleasant contact. -My name counts for a good deal with my commission merchant in New -Orleans; for how much it counts, it would not be quite modest for me to -say; but, at any rate, I want to give you a letter to him, if you will -allow me. When you get there, you will wish to sell your cargo, and of -course you will be surrounded by buyers, but most of them will be -disposed to take advantage of your youth and of your inexperience in the -market. I cannot imagine how, in their hands, you can escape the loss -of a considerable part of the value of what you have to sell. Now the -commission merchant to whom I wish to give you a letter is a man of the -very highest integrity, besides being my personal friend and my agent in -business. I suggest that you place the whole matter of the sale of your -boat and cargo in his hands, and I am confident that the difference in -the results will be many hundreds of dollars in your favor. This is, as -I said, a service that I might render even to a casual acquaintance. -Surely, you will not deny me the privilege of rendering it to a group of -young men who have done for me what you boys have." - -Phil rose and stood before him embarrassed. - -"I suppose," he said, "I ought to consult my comrades before accepting -even this favor at your hands, but I shan't do anything of the kind. I -understand what you feel and what you mean, and if you won't ask -anything of your commission merchant except that he shall sell us out on -his usual terms, I shall frankly be very much obliged to you for the -letter you offer; for it has really been a source of a good deal of -anxiety to me, this thing of how to sell out when we get there." - -It was so arranged; and as the gentleman and his family were to quit the -boat at Vicksburg, the letter was written that day. - -At Vicksburg the boys offered the hospitality of their boat to their -guests until such time as proper clothing could be provided for them, -their condition of destitution being one in which it was impossible for -them to think of going ashore. This offer was frankly accepted, and as -the boys were themselves in sad need of supplies, the delay of two or -three days was not only of no consequence to them, but it introduced a -new element of life on board _The Last of the Flatboats_. The lady sent -into the town for dressmakers and seamstresses in such numbers as might -enable her quickly to equip herself and the children for a reappearance -among civilized human beings. The cabin became a workroom, and two -sewing-machines were installed even upon the deck. It looked a little -odd, but, as Irv Strong put it, "it's only another incident in a voyage -that began with Jim Hughes and promises to end we do not know with what. -Anyhow, we've had good luck on the whole, and if we don't come out -ahead now, it'll probably be our own fault." - -This was the feeling of all the boys. They had the open Mississippi -before them for the brief remainder of their journey. The river was -still enormously full, of course, but it was falling now, and below -Vicksburg it had been kept well within the levees, so that there was no -further probability of any cross-country excursions on the part of _The -Last of the Flatboats_. They had nothing to do, apparently, but to cast -the boat loose and let her float the rest of the way upon placid waters. -But this again is getting ahead of my story. The boat is still tied to -the bank at Vicksburg. Let us return to her. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII - -PUBLICITY - - -As soon as the first necessities of their business were provided for at -Vicksburg, Phil wandered off in search of newspapers. He had become -interested in many things through his newspaper reading in connection -with Jim Hughes, and concerning many matters he was curious to know the -outcome. So he sought not only for the latest newspapers, and not -chiefly for them, but rather for back numbers covering the period during -which _The Last of the Flatboats_ had been wandering in the woods. He -secured a lot of them, some of them from New York, some from Chicago, -some from St. Louis, and some from other cities. - -To his astonishment, when he opened the earliest of them,--those that -had been published soon after the affair at Memphis,--he found them -filled with portraits of himself and of his companions, with pictures -of _The Last of the Flatboats_, and even with interviews, of which -neither he nor Irv Strong, who was the other one chiefly quoted, had -any recollection. Yet when they read the words quoted from their lips, -they remembered that these things were substantially what they had -said to innocent-looking persons not at all known to them as newspaper -reporters, who had quite casually conversed with them at Memphis. -Neither had either of them posed for a portrait, and yet here were -pictures of them, ranging all the way from perfect likenesses to -absolute caricatures, freely exploited. - -Phil and Irv were so curious about this matter that they asked everybody -who came on board for an explanation. Finally, one young man, who had -come to them with an inquiry as to the price at which they would be -willing to sell out the boat and cargo at Vicksburg instead of going on -to New Orleans, smiled gently and said, in reply to Phil's questions:-- - -"Well, perhaps you don't always recognize a reporter when you see him. -Sometimes he may come to you to talk about quite other things than those -that he really wants you to tell him about. Sometimes your talk will -prove to be exactly what he wants to interest his readers with, and as -a reporter usually has a pretty accurate memory, he is able to reproduce -all that you say so nearly as you said it, that you can't yourself -afterward discover any flaw in his report. Sometimes, too, the reporter -happens to be an artist sent to get a picture of you. He may have a -kodak concealed under his vest, but usually that does not work. It is -clumsy, you know, and generally unsatisfactory. It is a good deal easier -for a newspaper artist who knows his business to talk to you about -turnips, or Grover Cleveland, or Christian Science, or the tariff, or -any of those things that people always talk about, and while you think -him interested in the expression of your views, make a sketch of you on -his thumb nail or on his cuff, which he can reproduce at the office for -purposes of print. By the way, have you talked with any reporters since -you arrived at Vicksburg?" - -"No," answered Phil; "none of them have come aboard." - -"Are you sure of that?" - -"Well, yes; I haven't seen a single man from the press." - -"Well, if any of the papers should happen to 'get on' to the fact that -you are here, and print something about it, I will send you copies in -the morning." - -The next morning the promised copies came. One of them contained not -only a very excellent portrait of Phil and a group picture of the crew, -but also an almost exact reproduction of the conversation given above. - -A new light dawned upon Phil's mind. - -"After all, that fellow was a reporter and a very clever one. He didn't -want to buy the boat or its cargo or anything else. But I wonder if he -was an artist also. If not, who made those pictures?" - -"Well," said Irv, "you remember there was a young woman who came on -board about the same time that he did. She was very much interested in -Baby, but I noticed that she went all over the boat, and when you and -that young fellow were talking, she sat down on the anchor, there, and -seemed to be writing a letter on a pad. Just then, as I remember, we -fellows were gathered around the new lantern you had just bought and -examining it--and, by the way, here's the lantern in the group picture." - -All this was a revelation to Phil, and it interested him mightily. As -for Irv Strong, he was so interested that he made up his mind to beard -the lion in his den. He went to the office of one of the newspapers and -asked to see its editor. But out of him he got no satisfaction whatever. -The editor hadn't the slightest idea where the interviews or the -pictures had come from. - -"All that," he said, "is managed by our news department. I never know -what they are going to do. I judge them only by results. But I do not -mind saying to you that there would have been several peremptory -discharges in this office if this paper had not had a good picture of -_The Last of the Flatboats_, a portrait of your interesting young -captain and other pictures of human interest tending to illustrate the -arrival of this boat at our landing, although we rarely print pictures -of any kind in our paper. This is an exceptional case. And I think that -the chief of our news department would have had an uncomfortable quarter -of an hour if he and his subordinates had failed to secure a talk with -persons so interesting as those who captured Jim Hughes, as he is -called, and secured the arrest of the others of that bank burglar's -gang, and afterward rescued one of the most distinguished citizens of -Mississippi and his family from death by starvation. Really, you must -excuse me from undertaking the task of telling you how our boys do these -things. It is not my business to know, and I have a great many other -things to do. It is their business to get the news. For that they are -responsible, and to that end they have control of adequate means. Oh, by -the way, that suggests to me a good editorial that ought to be written -right now. Perhaps you will be interested to read it in to-morrow -morning's paper. I am just going to write it." - -As it was now midnight, Irv was bewildered. How in the world was he to -read in the next morning's paper an editorial that had, at this hour, -just occurred to the man who was yet to write it? How was it to be -written, set up in type, and printed before that early hour when the -newspaper must be on sale? - -The editor knew, if Irv did not. He knew that the hour of midnight sees -the birth of many of the ablest and most influential newspaper -utterances of our time. Irv's curious questions had suggested to him a -little essay upon the value of Publicity, and it was upon that theme -that he wrote. He showed, with what Irv and Phil regarded as an -extraordinary insight into things that they had supposed to be known -only to themselves, how their very irregular reading of the newspapers, -from time to time, as they received them, had first awakened their -interest in a vague and general way in the bank burglary case; how, as -their interest became intenser, and the descriptions of the fleeing -criminal became more and more detailed, they had at last so far coupled -one thing with another as to reach a correct conclusion at the critical -moment. He showed how, but for this persistent and minute Publicity, -they would never have dreamed of arresting the fugitive who was posing -as their pilot--how, but for this, the criminals would probably never -have been caught at all; how their escape would have operated as an -encouragement to crime everywhere by relieving it of the fear of -detection,--and much else to the like effect. It was a very interesting -article, and it was one which set the boys thinking. - -"After all," said Ed, "we owe a great deal more to the newspapers than I -had ever thought. And the more we think of it, the more we see that we -owe it to them. I don't know whether they are always sincere in their -antagonism to wrong or not, but at any rate in their rivalry with each -other to get the earliest news and to stand best with the public, they -manage pretty generally to expose about all the wrongs there are, and to -rouse public opinion against them. I suppose that, but for the -newspapers, we should not have a very good country to live in, -especially so far as big cities are concerned." - -"As to those sentiments," said Irv, "I'm afraid one Thomas Jefferson got -ahead of you, Ed. I remember reading that he said somewhere, that he -would rather have a free press without a free government than a free -government without a free press. I imagine his meaning to have been that -we could not long have a free government without a free press, and that -if we have a free press it must pretty soon compel the setting up of a -free government." - -"But the newspapers do publish such dreadful things," said Constant. -"They make so many sensations that their moral influence, I suppose, is -pretty bad." - -"Well, is it?" asked Irv. "If there is a pest-hole in any city, where -typhus or smallpox is breeding, and a newspaper exposes it, it is not -pleasant reading, of course, but it arouses public attention and brings -public opinion to bear to compel a remedy. If there is a health board, -the newspapers all want to know what the health board is doing; if there -isn't a health board, the newspapers all cry out, 'Why isn't there a -health board?' and presently one is organized. Now I suppose it is very -much the same way about moral plague spots. If vice or crime prevail in -any part of the city, the newspapers print the news of it and call upon -the police to suppress it. This arouses public attention and brings -pressure to bear upon public officials until the bad thing is done away -with, or at least reduced to small proportions." - -"Yes," said Ed, thinking and speaking slowly, "and there is another -thing. Even when the newspapers print the details about scandals, and we -say it would be better not to publish such things, it may be that the -newspapers are right; because every rascal that is inclined to do -scandalous things knows by experience or observation that the -newspapers, if they get hold of the facts, will print them and hold him -up to the execration of mankind. If the newspapers did not print the -news of such things, every scoundrel would know that he could do what he -pleased without fear of being made the subject of scandal. The first -thought of every rascal seems to be to keep his affairs out of the -newspapers. Now perhaps it is better that he cannot keep them out; as he -certainly cannot. In very many cases, without doubt or question, men are -restrained from doing outrageous things merely by the fear that their -conduct will be exploited with pictures of themselves and fac-similes of -their letters and everything of the kind, in so-called sensational -newspapers." - -"Well, all that is so, I suppose," said Will, "though I hadn't thought -of it quite to the extent that you have, Ed. I have always been told -that the newspapers were horribly sensational and immoral, but, now that -I think of it, when they publish a story of immorality, it is because -somebody has been doing the immoral thing that they report; and as you -say, the fact that the newspapers are pretty sure to get hold of the -truth and publish it in every case is often a check on men's tendency to -do immoral things." - -Before parting with their rescued friends at Vicksburg, the boys had to -go ashore and be photographed, at the planter's solicitation. - -"I want my children always to think of you young men as their friends," -he said,--"friends to whom they owe more than they can ever repay. I -don't want 'Baby' to forget you as she might--she is so young still--if -she did not have your portraits to remind her as she grows older. As for -myself and my wife--I cannot say how much of gratitude we feel. There -are some things that one can't even try to say. But be sure--" He broke -down here, but the boys understood. - -Irv Strong, whose objection to anything like a "scene" is a familiar -fact to the reader, diverted the conversation by saying:-- - -"It would be a pity to perpetuate the memory of these clothes of ours, -or to let the little ones learn as they grow up what a ragamuffin crew -it was with whom an unfortunate accident once compelled them to -associate for a time. So suppose we have only our faces photographed -now, and send you pictures of our best clothes when we get back home." - -The triviality served its purpose, and the party went to the -photographer's. - -When the time of leave taking came there were tears on the part of the -mother and the children, while "Baby" stoutly insisted upon remaining -on the flatboat with "my big boys," as she called her rescuers. She was -especially in love with Phil, who, in spite of his absorbing duties, -had found time to play with her and tell her wonderful stories. During -the clothes-making wait at Vicksburg, indeed, Phil had done little -else than entertain the beautiful big-eyed child. He repeated to her -all the nursery rhymes and jingles he had ever heard in his infancy -or since, and to the astonishment of his companions, he made up many -jingles of his own for her amusement. He made up funny stories for her -too,--stories that were funny only because he illustrated them with -comical faces and grotesque gestures. - -So when the time of parting came the child clung to him, and had to be -torn away in tears. I suppose I ought not to tell it on Phil, but he too -had to turn aside from the others and use his handkerchief on his eyes -before he could give the command to "cast off" in a husky and not very -steady voice. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII - -DOWN "THE COAST" - - -The moon was gibbous in its approach to the full when the boat left -Vicksburg. So all the way to their journey's end the boys had moonlight -of evenings except when fog obscured it briefly, and that was not often. - -As they floated down the river, with subtropical scenery on either hand, -with palms and live-oaks and other perennial trees giving greenery of -the greenest possible kind at a season of the year when at their home -not a leaf remained alive and all the trees were gaunt skeletons, the -boys lived in something like a dream. And at night the moonlight, -immeasurably more brilliant than any they had ever seen, additionally -stimulated their imaginations and captivated their fancy. - -"That is Baton Rouge," said Ed, as they came within sight of a city on -the left side of the river. "It means 'red stick.'" - -"Why in the world did anybody ever name a town 'red stick'?" asked Irv. - -"Why, because when Tecumseh came down this way to persuade all the -Indians to join in a war upon the whites, as I told you up in New Madrid -Bend, he offered red sticks to the warriors. All that accepted them were -thereby pledged to join in the war. It was here that the first red -sticks were distributed, and so this spot was called 'Baton Rouge.'" - -"But why didn't they call it 'Red Sticks' and have done with it?" asked -Will. "Why did they translate it into French?" - -"The Indians didn't know English," answered Ed. "The French first -explored the Mississippi, and they not only gave French names to -everything, but they taught a rude sort of French to the Indians. There -is a town on the upper Mississippi called 'Prairie du Chien.' That means -'the prairie of the dog.' Then there is 'Marquette' in Wisconsin, named -after a great French missionary and explorer. And there is Dubuque, and -there are half a dozen other places with old French names. In Arkansas -there is a river called the 'St. Francois.' And the name Arkansas itself -was originally a French effort to spell the Indian word 'Arkansaw.' By -the way, the Legislature of that state has passed a law declaring that -the proper pronunciation of the state's name is 'Arkansaw.' It is said -that when James K. Polk, afterward President, was speaker of the House -of Representatives, there were two congressmen there from Arkansas. One -of them always pronounced his state's name 'Arkansas,' as if it were -English, and with the accent on the second syllable, while the other -always called it 'Arkansaw.' Polk was so excessively polite that when -either of the two arose to speak, he recognized him as 'the gentleman -from Arkansas' or as 'the gentleman from Arkansaw,' accordingly as the -gentleman recognized was in the habit of pronouncing the word." - -"That's interesting," said Phil. "And I suppose the same thing is true -about the 'Tensaw' country in Alabama. I see that it is spelled on most -maps 'Tensas,' but on some it is spelled 'Tensaw,' and I suppose that is -the right pronunciation." - -"It is," said Ed. "And then there is the Ouachita River. Its name is -pronounced 'Washitaw,' but spelled in the French way. I once heard of a -man who stayed in New Orleans for six weeks, looking every day for -the advertisement of some steamboat going up that river. He saw -announcements of boats for the Ouachita River, of course, but none for -the 'Washitaw.' Finally, somebody enlightened him. You see these French -names were bestowed when French was the only language of this region, -and they have survived." - -The boys were studying the map by the almost superfluous light of a -lantern. Presently one of them said:-- - -"A little way down the river, on the western bank, is a place called -Plaquemine. That also is French, I suppose?" - -"Certainly," answered Ed, "and it is a region with an interesting -history. It was there that the Acadians went when they were driven out -of their home in British America. Longfellow tells all about it in the -poem 'Evangeline.' I'll read some of it," he added, rising to go below -for the book. - -"No, don't," pleaded Irv. "That poem gives me 'that tired feeling.' Its -story is beautiful. Its sentiment is all that could be desired. But its -metre makes me feel as if I were stumbling over stones in the dark." - -"I'll bet your favorite wager, a brass button, Irv, that you can't quote -a single line of the poem you are so ready to criticise," said Will -Moreraud, who was Longfellow mad, as his comrades said. - -"Well, I'll take that bet," said Irv. "And I'll give you odds. I'll bet -seven brass buttons to your one that I can, off hand, repeat the worst -and clumsiest four lines in the whole poem." - -"Go ahead," said Will. "I'll buy a glittering brass button in New -Orleans, 'scalloped all the way round and halfway back,' as the boy said -of his ginger cakes, and pay the bet if I lose." - -"All right," said Irv. "Here goes:-- - - 'Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and feasted; - For with this simple people, who lived like brothers together, - All things were held in common, and what one had was another's. - Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more abundant.'" - -"It really doesn't sound like poetry," said Phil. "But then, I'm no -judge. All the same, Irv wins the bet, and I'll exercise my authority as -commander of this craft and company to compel you, Will, to buy and -deliver that brass button." - -"But how do you know that those four lines are the worst in the poem?" -asked Will. - -"Because there simply couldn't be worse ones," said Phil, "and unless -you produce some others equally bad, I shall hold these to be the -worst." - -"Now," said Ed, "you fellows are very free with your criticisms. But -perhaps you don't know as much as you might. Longfellow undertook to -write in hexameters. We all know what hexameters are, because we have -all read some Latin poetry. But there is this difficulty: a hexameter -line must end in a spondee--or a foot of two long or equally accented -syllables. Now there is only here and there a word in the whole English -language that is a spondee. The only spondees available in English are -made up of two long, or two equally accented monosyllables. That is why -the metre of Evangeline is so hard to read with ease, or at any rate it -is one of the reasons. Longfellow uses trochees--that is to say, feet -composed of one long and one short syllable, instead. In one case he -uses the word 'baptism' as a spondee, but in fact it is a dactyl, -consisting of one long and two short syllables. Edgar Allan Poe pointed -that out." - -"Why did he write in that metre, then," asked Will, "if it is impossible -in English?" - -"Because he was a Greek and Latin scholar, and was so enamored of the -hexameter verse that he tried to reproduce it in English. He didn't -accomplish the purpose, but he wrote some mighty good things in trying -to do it." - -"But tell us, Ed," said Constant, "why did Evangeline's people come all -the way down here?" - -"They were French, and they naturally sought for a country where the -French constituted the greater part of the population. This wasn't -English territory then. By the way, that reminds me of a good Vevay -story. When I was a very little boy, I used to go occasionally to pay my -respects to the oldest lady in town--'Grandmother Grisard,' as we all -reverently called her. She was a lovely old lady, and she once told me -how she came to Vevay. She set out from Switzerland very early in this -century, being then a young girl, to come to this French-settled Red -River country, where her people had friends. But there are two Red -Rivers in America, this one and the Red River of the North, which runs -from Minnesota northward into Manitoba. Europeans were rather weak on -American geography in those days, so instead of bringing this young girl -to the Red River of Louisiana, the transportation people took her to the -Red River of the North. That region was then entirely wild. Indians and -Canadian half-breeds were practically its only inhabitants, and so the -young Swiss girl was in the greatest peril. - -"She learned, after a while, that some Swiss people had settled at -Vevay, in what was then the wild, uninhabited Northwest Territory. So -she set out to find Vevay, and to find people that could talk her own -mother tongue. It was an awful journey across the wild, savage-haunted -prairie region that now constitutes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and -Indiana, but she made it. It required months of time. It involved -terrible hardships and fearful dangers from the Indians. But after the -long struggle the young Swiss girl reached Vevay and was again among -people of her own race, who spoke her own language. She soon after -married the most prosperous man in the village, Mr. Grisard, and, as you -all know, her sons and her grandsons have ever since been men of mark in -the town."[3] - - [3] This story is true in every particular.--_Author._ - -"Good for you, Ed!" said Will Moreraud. "We fellows of Swiss descent -thank you. We are all more or less akin to Grandmother Grisard, after -two or three generations of intermarriages, and now that we know her -story we shall cherish it as a family legend of our own. In fact, I -suspect that our Swiss forefathers and foremothers made a pretty good -place out of Vevay before the Virginians and Yankees and Scotch-Irish -from whom you fellows sprang ever thought of settling there." - -"Of course they did," said Ed; "that's why our people settled there. -The Swiss settlers must have been people of the highest character, or -their descendants wouldn't be the foremost citizens of the town, as they -are to-day. It is a curious fact, by the way, that when they settled -at Vevay they tried to do precisely what they and their ancestors had -always done in their own country,--they planted vineyards, and set -out to make wine. My father, before he died, told me that in his -boyhood four-fifths of the lands cultivated by the Swiss were planted -in vineyards. Henry Clay was greatly interested in their work, and -tried hard to introduce Vevay wine in Washington, and to secure tariff -protection for it." - -"What became of the vineyards?" asked Constant. - -"Why, the temperance wave destroyed them. It came to be thought wrong, -and even disreputable, to make or sell wine, or anything else that had -alcohol in it. So, little by little, the Swiss people, who were always, -above all things, reputable and moral, dug up their vineyards, and -planted corn instead." - -"Yes," said Will Moreraud. "I remember hearing a rather pretty story on -that subject concerning a kinsman of my own. He had his dear old -grandmother--or great-grandmother, I forget which--as an inmate of his -house, and when the movement to convert the vineyards into cornfields -was at its height, the old lady strenuously objected. She said that she -had been born in a vineyard, and had all her life looked out upon -vineyards through every window. My kinsman was very tender of his -grandmother's feelings. But at the same time he was resolved to change -his vineyards into cornfields. He knew that the old lady could never -leave the house, owing to her great age and infirmities. So he went to -every window in every story of the house and studied the landscape. -Having ascertained precisely how far it was possible for the old lady to -see from the windows of the house, he ordered all the vineyards beyond -her line of vision destroyed, and all within it preserved." - -"Beautiful!" cried Phil. "There ought to be more men like that one, if -only to make the dear old grandmothers happy in the evening of their -lives." - -"Perhaps there are more of them than you think," said Constant. "It's my -impression that men generally are pretty good fellows, if you really -find out about them." - -"Of course they are," said Ed. "Does it occur to you that when we -fellows undertook this flatboat enterprise, every man in Vevay stood -generously ready to help? It is always so. Men are usually kindly and -generous if they have a chance to be. As for women--" - -"God bless them!" cried Irv, rising to his six feet of height. - -"_So-say-we-all-of-us!_" chanted Phil, to the familiar tune, while the -rest joined in. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - -A TALK ON DECK - - -The latter end of the voyage was uneventful in outward ways at least, -but it led to some things, as we shall see later on, that were of more -consequence in the lives of the five boys than all the strenuous -happenings which had gone before. - -The boat no longer leaked. A few minutes' pumping once in every two or -three hours was sufficient to keep her bilge free from water. The river, -though falling rapidly, was still full, but the levees were keeping it -within bounds, and there were no crevasses to avoid. There were fogs now -and then, but the flatboat floated through them without any apparent -disposition to run away again. There were the three meals a day to cook, -and the lanterns to keep in order, but beyond that and the washing of -clothes, sheets, and the like, there was literally nothing to do but -talk. - -And how they did talk! And of how many different things! We have heard -one of their conversations. Suppose we listen to some more of them. - -"I say, Ed," said Irv, "with this wonderful river bringing the products -of a score of states to New Orleans for a market, how is it that New -Orleans isn't the greatest port in the country?" - -"It came near being so once. It was New York's chief rival, and some day -it may be again. So long as there were no railroads New Orleans was the -chief outlet, and inlet as well, for all this great western and southern -country. Not only did most of the western produce and southern cotton -come to it for sale at home or shipment abroad, but most of the foreign -goods imported for the use of the West and South came in through New -Orleans, and so did most of the passengers who wanted to reach any point -west of the Alleghenies." - -"Why didn't it go on in that way?" asked Constant. - -"In the first place, a wise governor of New York, De Witt Clinton, -persuaded the people of that state to make some artificial geography. -They dug canals to connect the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. This -enabled them to carry western produce to New York all the way by water, -and as cheaply as it could be carried down the river--more cheaply, in -fact, so far as that part of it grown far away from the rivers was -concerned. This gave New York a very great advantage. For New York is a -thousand miles or more nearer to Europe than New Orleans is, and so if -grain could be landed in New York at smaller expense than in New -Orleans, that was the cheapest as well as the shortest route to Europe. - -"Then again New Orleans lies in a much hotter climate than New York, and -so do the seas over which freight from New Orleans must be carried. In a -hot climate grain is apt to sprout and spoil, or it was so until -comparatively recent years, when means of preventing that were -discovered." - -Ed stopped, as if he had finished. Will wanted more and asked for it. - -"Go on," he said. "Tell us all about it." - -"Yes, do," echoed the others. - -"I am not sure that I know 'all about it,'" answered Ed, "but I have -been reading some articles concerning it since our trip awakened my -interest, and if you want me to do so, I'll tell you what I have -learned from them." - -"Do!" cried Irv. "This party of young Hoosiers has often been hungrier -for corned beef and cabbage, with all that those terms imply, than for -intellectual pabulum of any kind whatever. But at present our -physical systems are abundantly fed. What we want now is intellectual -refreshment, all of which, being interpreted, means 'Go on, Ed; we're -interested.'" - -Ed laughed, and continued:-- - -"Well, the war damaged New Orleans, of course, not only by shutting up -the port for some years, but by impoverishing the southern states which -New Orleans supplied with provisions and goods and from which it drew -cotton. Then, again, New York had and still has most of the free money -there is in this country, the money that is hunting for something to do. -You know that money is like a man in this respect. It always wants to -earn wages. Now, when the western farmer sells his grain and the like to -a country merchant, he wants money for it. As a great many farmers sell -at the same time, the country merchant naturally hasn't enough money of -his own to satisfy them all. So he ships the grain, etc., as fast as he -receives it, and makes drafts upon the commission merchants to whom he -is sending it. That is to say, he makes them pay in advance for produce -shipped in order that he may have the money with which to buy more when -it is offered. The commission merchants in their turn borrow the money -from the banks in their cities, giving liens on the grain for security. -This is a very rough explanation, of course, but you can see from it how -the city that has the largest amount of money 'hunting for a job' must -draw to itself, when other things are anywhere near equal, the greater -part of all the produce that can go at about the same cost to that or -some other city." - -"That's clear enough," said Phil. "But what about the railroads? Why do -they all seem to run to New York?" - -"That's an interesting point," answered Ed. "I'm glad you reminded me of -it. When the railroads were built, each little road was independent of -all the rest. But each of them wanted to reach New York, because the -artificial geography created by New York's canals had made that the -country's greatest port, and because New York had more money to lend on -produce, as I have explained, than any other city. So as the numberless -little railroad lines consolidated themselves into great trunk lines, -they all made for New York as eagerly as flies make for an open sugar -barrel. Even the Baltimore and Ohio road, which was built by Baltimore -people to make Baltimore a rival of New York, spent money in lavish -millions to secure a New York terminus and make Baltimore a way station. -To sum it all up, the farmer wants to sell to the local merchant who -will pay him in cash; the local merchant ships his purchases to Chicago -or any other intermediate city whose commission merchants will make the -biggest and quickest advances of money on the grain, etc., before it -arrives; the merchants in the intermediate cities ship to the port whose -commission merchants will make them the largest advances in their turn -and thus enable them to go on buying while the opportunity lasts. That -city is New York. Of course this is only a general statement. There is -often plenty of money to lend in Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, -and lately those cities and Newport News in Virginia have taken a good -deal of New York's grain trade. But what I have said will explain to -you one of the reasons why New Orleans 'isn't in it,' in this matter." - -"Then our wonderful river no longer renders a service to the country?" -said Constant, interrogatively. - -"Oh, yes, it does," answered Ed, eagerly. "It still carries vast -quantities of goods to New Orleans, not only for consumption in the -South, but for shipment abroad. And even if it carried nothing, it would -still be rendering a service of incalculable value to the country." - -"How?" asked all the boys, in a breath. - -"By compelling the railroads to carry freight at reasonable rates. Let -me tell you some facts in illustration. Somewhere about the year 1870--a -little before, I think it was--the railroads were charging extortionate -prices for carrying freight to eastern cities. Some great merchants and -steamboat owners put their heads together to stop the extortion. They -organized the Mississippi Valley Transportation Company, to carry -freight down the river to the sea. They built great stern-wheel -steamboats, and set them to push vast fleets of barges loaded with -freight to New Orleans. This so enormously cheapened freight rates that -the railroads were threatened with ruin, and New Orleans seemed likely -to take New York's place as the country's great grain-exporting city. -The railroads began at once to reduce their rates in self-defence, and -from that day to this they have had to reduce them more and more, lest -the water routes, and chiefly the Mississippi River, should take their -trade away from them. So you see that even if not one ton of freight -were carried over our wonderful river, which, in fact, carries hundreds -of millions of tons, it would still be rendering an enormous service to -the country by keeping railroad freight rates down." - -The boys pondered these things awhile. Then Irv said:-- - -"But you said awhile ago that New Orleans might some day again become -New York's rival as a shipping port. Would you mind telling us just what -you meant by that?" - -"Why, no," said Ed, hesitating. "I suppose I was thinking of the time, -which is surely coming, when this great, rich Mississippi Valley of ours -will be as densely populated as other and less productive parts of the -earth are." - -"For instance?" said Will, interrogatively. - -"Well, I suppose," said Ed, "that the great Mississippi Valley fairly -represents our whole country as to population. We have in this country, -according to a statistical book that I have here, about 20 people, big -and little, to the square mile, or somewhat less. Now the Netherlands, -according to the same book, have about 351, Belgium about 529, and -England about 540 people to the square mile. In other words, we must -multiply ourselves by 26 or 27 before we shall have as dense a -population as England now has. When we have 27 times as many people in -the Mississippi Valley as we now have, I don't think there is much doubt -that New Orleans will be just as important a port and just as big a city -as her most ambitious citizen would like her to be." - -The boys sat silent for a while. Then Irv took out a pencil and paper, -and figured for a few minutes. Finally he broke silence. - -"Do I understand that this country of ours is capable--taking it by and -large--of supporting a population as great to the square mile as that of -England, or anything like as great?" - -"I don't see why not," said Ed. "Our agriculture is in its infancy, we -are merely scratching the surface, and not a very large part of the -surface at that. We have arid and desert regions, of course, but on the -other hand, we have a richer soil and an immeasurably more fruitful -climate than England has. England can't grow a single bushel of corn, -for example, while we grow more than two billion bushels every year. It -seems to me clear that our country, taken as a whole, and this rich -Mississippi Valley especially, can support a much larger population to -the square mile than England can." - -"Well, if it ever does," said Irv, referring to his figures, "we shall -have a population of about two billion people, or very many times more -than the greatest nations in all history ever had." - -"Why not?" asked Phil. "Isn't ours the greatest nation in all history in -the way it has stood for liberty and right and progress? Why shouldn't -it be immeasurably the greatest in population and wealth and everything -else? Why shouldn't we multiply our seventy millions or so of people -into the billions?" - -"Well, yes, why not?" asked Irv. "It would only mean that twenty or -thirty times as many men as ever before would enjoy the blessing of -liberty." - -"It would mean vastly more than that," said Ed. - -"What?" asked Irv. - -"It would mean that twenty or thirty times as many men _stood_ for -liberty throughout all the earth; it would mean that twenty or thirty -times as many men as ever before were ready to fight for liberty and -human right. It would mean even more than that. It would mean that the -Great Republic, planted upon the theory of absolute and equal liberty, -would so enormously outweigh all other nations combined, in numbers and -in physical and moral force, that no nation and no coalition of nations -would ever dare dispute our country's decisions or balk her will. We -should in that case dominate the world by our numbers, our wealth, and -our productiveness. For in the very nature of things, countries that -already have from twenty to twenty-five times our population to the -square mile cannot hope to grow as we inevitably shall." - -"But what if we don't continue to stand for liberty and human right?" -asked Phil. "What if we forget our national mission, and use our vast -power not for freedom, but for conquest; not for the right, but for the -wrong?" - -"That is what every American citizen owes it to his country to guard -against by his vote," answered Ed. - -"In other words," said Irv "that's what we are here for." - -"Precisely," said Ed. "But it is time to get supper, and I, for one, am -hungry." - -"So am I," responded Irv, as he went below to bear his share in the -supper getting. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV - -LOOKING FORWARD - - -It was on the last night of the voyage that Phil broached the thought -that he had been turning over in his mind ever since his talk with the -rescued Mississippi planter. The journey was practically finished. _The -Last of the Flatboats_ would reach New Orleans about ten o'clock the -next morning. The big round moon illuminated the broad, placid river. -Supper was ended. The lights were in their places. There was no water in -the bilge. The day's work was done, and the hardy young fellows were -lolling about the deck, talking all sorts of trivial things, when Phil -introduced the subject. - -"I say, boys, does it occur to you that we fellows have a splendid -opportunity before us if we choose to accept it?" - -"Are you meditating a jump overboard?" asked Irv, "or did you just now -remember the great truth that fills my mind, namely, that there's -enough of that beef pie left to make a good midnight supper all round?" - -"No, for once I'm serious, Irv," said Phil, whose new habit of -seriousness had grown upon him with increasing responsibility, until all -the boys observed the change in him with wonder, not unmixed with -amusement. - -"All right, then," said Irv; "go ahead. We're 'at attention.'" - -"What is it, Phil?" asked Will Moreraud, seeing that Irv's light chatter -annoyed the boy, or at the least distracted his attention. "You've -something worth while to say. So we'll listen." - -Phil broke into the middle of his subject. - -"Why shouldn't we fellows all get a college education?" he asked. - -"Our parents aren't able to give it to us," answered Constant. - -"No, but we are able to get it for ourselves," answered Phil. "That -gentleman up there in Mississippi wanted to help us do it, but I refused -that offer for the whole party." - -Then he reported the conversation he had had with the planter, and his -comrades heartily approved his course in refusing assistance. - -"But we can do the thing ourselves," Phil continued. "Let me explain. -After we built this flatboat and equipped her and made up a purse for -our running expenses, we each had about a hundred dollars of our -pig-iron money left. Since then we have made one thousand dollars apiece -out of the Jim Hughes affair. So when we get back home we shall have -eleven hundred dollars apiece to the good, besides whatever we make -clear out of the trip. That ought to be considerably more, but we won't -count it because it's a chicken that isn't hatched yet. At any rate, it -will more than pay our fares back to Vevay, so when we get home we shall -have eleven or twelve hundred dollars apiece. Now that is plenty to take -us through college." - -"Well, I don't know," said Irv. "I hear of young college men who spend -from one thousand to five thousand dollars a year." - -"Yes," replied Phil, "and I read in a newspaper the other day of a man -who paid five hundred dollars for a bouquet to give to the girl he was -about to marry. But we aren't young men with 'liberal allowances' and we -aren't bouquet buyers. Listen to me. I have figured it all out -carefully. At many colleges there is no charge at all for tuition. At -others there are scholarships that can be made to cover tuition. At most -of the colleges in the West and South the tuition fees are very small, -even if we must pay them. The principal things we've got to look out for -are board, clothes, and books. We can wear the same clothes at college -that we should wear at home, and our parents will provide them, or if -they can't, we can earn them during vacations. Our necessary books for -the whole course won't cost us more than fifty or sixty dollars apiece -if we work together as I'm going to suggest. That leaves only the -question of board." - -"Well, board will cost us five dollars a week apiece or two hundred a -year, at any decent boarding-house," said Irv. - -"Of course," answered Phil. "But I propose that we shan't live at any -decent boarding-house." - -"How, then?" - -"Why, you see we're an exceptional lot of young fellows in some -respects. Our classmates in college, when we go there, may know a great -deal more than we do about many things, and probably they will. But we -know some very valuable things that they do not. We know how to take -care of ourselves. For a good many weeks now we have bought and cooked -our own food and washed our own dishes, and even our own clothes. At -college we could hire the laundry work done, but why shouldn't we do all -the rest for ourselves?" - -"Go on," cried Irv when Phil paused. "I for one am interested, and it's -obvious you've thought out the whole thing, Phil. Tell us all about your -plan." - -Phil hesitated a little, abashed by the approval and admiration which he -easily detected in Irv's eager tone and in the faces of his comrades. At -last he resumed:-- - -"Well, you see, we five fellows not only know how to cook and all that -sort of thing, but we know how to live together without quarrelling, and -how to work together for a common purpose. Why shouldn't we go to some -college where there are no tuition fees, or very small ones, hire two -rooms, one to cook and eat in, and the other to sleep in, buy the ten or -twenty dollars' worth of plain furniture necessary, and board ourselves -just as we are doing now?" - -The other boys paused, interested in the idea. Presently Constant -asked:-- - -"How much apiece do you reckon the cost of board to be?" - -"I haven't figured it out in detail," said Phil. "I've left that for Ed -to do. You remember he made a calculation away up the river as to how -much it costs to feed a man for a year." - -"Yes," said Ed, speaking the word slowly as if thinking; "but that -calculation hardly fits the case. It related to a single person, and we -are five persons. We can live more cheaply together than five persons -could live separately. Besides, that calculation up the river was made -on a guess-work basis. It is very much better to base the calculation on -facts, and fortunately I have the facts." - -"What?" "Where did you get them?" These and like exclamations greeted -Ed's announcement. - -"Well, you see," said Ed, "I have been keeping accounts in order to find -out what it has cost us just to live on this voyage. I've set down the -exact cost of everything we started with and everything we have bought -since, including the two cords of wood we bought for the cooking-stove, -and which we haven't used up yet. I'll figure the thing up and tell you -exactly what it will cost us to board ourselves at college, provided we -are willing to live as plainly there as we do on this boat." - -"Why not?" called out Irv. "We've lived like fighting cocks all the way -down the river--except that we've run out of milk pretty often." - -"Do fighting cocks consume large quantities of milk, Irv?" asked Phil. - -"No, of course not. You know what I mean. I'm satisfied to live in -college precisely as we have lived on the flatboat, and if I drink more -milk, I suppose I shall make it up by eating just so much less of other -things." - -"Do you hear that, boys?" called out Constant. "Irv agrees that if we go -to college together he'll eat one pancake less for every extra glass of -milk he drinks. Remember that. We shall hold him rigidly to his -bargain." - -By this time Ed, who had gone to the forward lantern to do his -figuring,--for one really cannot "see to read" by even the brightest -moonlight, as people often say and think they can,--was ready to report -results. He said:-- - -"Counting in everything we have bought to eat, and everything that the -Cincinnati banker gave us at Memphis, and the cost of our fuel, I find -that it has cost us for our table, precisely $3.98 per week, as an -average, since the day we left Vevay to drop down to Craig's Landing. -Let us say $4.00. That's 80 cents apiece per week, for we won't reckon -Jim Hughes's board. The college year is forty weeks, or a little less. -At 80 cents a week apiece, we can feed ourselves on $32 a year each, or -only $128 each for the whole four years' course." - -"Good," said Phil, "now let's figure a little." With that he went to the -light and made some calculations. On his return he said, "I reckon it -this way:-- - - Rent $10 a year for each, or for the course $40 - Board for each, $32 a year, or for the course 128 - Fuel, lights, and incidentals--say for each 40 - Tuition, if we have to pay it, for each 100 - -or a grand total of $308 apiece for the whole course. For safety, and to -cover miscalculations and accidents and illness and all the rest of it, -let's just double the figures. That gives us a total possible expense -of $616, or just about one-half the money that each of us has in hand, -and that we ought to be ready to spend to make the best men we can out -of ourselves." - -"Boys!" said Will Moreraud, rising in his enthusiasm, "I move this -resolution right here and now:-- - -"'Resolved, that Phil Lowry is a brick! Resolved, that we five fellows -shall go together to a college of Phil Lowry's selection, live in the -economical way he suggests, and so diligently do our work as to take all -the honors there are going in that college, and astonish the fellows -whose education has not included a flatboat experience in the art of -taking care of oneself.'" - -The resolution was adopted without dissent. Then Phil had something more -to say:-- - -"Now, fellows, I'm a good way behind the rest of you in some of my -studies. I'm younger than you--but that's no matter. I'll not 'plead the -baby act,' anyhow. All of you can easily prepare yourselves for college -between now and next fall. You probably don't believe it, but so can I, -and so I will. I have never set myself to study in earnest. I'm going -to do it now. When we get home, I'll bring to bear all that 'obstinate -pertinacity' that you and Mrs. Dupont credit me with or blame me -for--whichever way you choose to put it. If I don't pass entrance -examinations next fall with the best of you, you can count my share of -the money as a voluntary contribution to the expenses of the mess. But -you'd better not count on it in that way, I warn you." - -"Of course we hadn't," said Irv Strong, as Phil went below to look after -things. "I've got a great, big, rosy-cheeked, candy apple at home, -and I'll wager it against the insignificant head of any fellow in the -party--yours included, Ed--that when we five fellows present ourselves -for our entrance examinations next fall, Phil Lowry will knock the spots -out of every one of us." - -"You expect too much of him, Irv," said Ed. "It isn't fair. He's from a -year to two years behind us, and he is the youngest and most immature in -the party." - -"Is he?" asked Irv, with challenge in his voice. "He may have been so -when we left Vevay, but he isn't now. He's the oldest of us now and the -most mature among us. You saw how he managed things in the woods, and -how he handled Jim Hughes, and how he managed the difficult problem of -the tarpaulin, and all the rest of it. I tell you, Ed, that, while Phil -Lowry was much the youngest boy in this company when we made him 'IT' -for this voyage, he is several years older to-day than any of us. He may -be a class behind some of you fellows in mere book work, but he won't -stay so long. I'll tell you what, Ed, you'll have to stir all your -stumps to keep up with that fellow in college. He has got his mettle up -now." - -"I believe that is so," said Ed, thinking, and speaking slowly. "I -hadn't thought of it, Irv, but Phil has developed in his mind -surprisingly during this voyage." - -"So much so," replied Irv, "that nobody in this crew is his equal when -it comes to real, hard, clear-headed thinking." - -"That is so," said Ed, reflectively; "but in book study he is behind all -of us because he is younger. He says he'll catch up and--" - -"And we now know him too well to doubt that he will do all that he -says," broke in Will Moreraud, whose admiration for Phil had grown day -by day until now it scarcely knew any bounds. "But I say, fellows," -continued Will, "we've got to help Phil catch up. For that matter, there -isn't one of us that hasn't a lame duck of some sort. Even you, Ed--" - -"Don't say 'even' me," said Ed. "I'm in fact the worst of the lot. I've -gone ahead of you fellows,--in my irregular fashion, of course,--but -I've skipped a lot of things, and I've got to bring them up before I can -pass my examinations for college." - -"That's all right," said Will, who was now enthusiastic. "Why shouldn't -we fellows form a 'study club' this fall, and work together? Of course -the high school won't and can't prepare us for college by next year. But -we can and will prepare ourselves; and now that Mrs. Dupont is out of -the regular teaching harness, she'll be delighted to help us. She will -be in a positive ecstasy when she finds that five of 'her boys' have -undertaken a job of this kind. By the way, let us stand up and bow low -to Mrs. Dupont--the best and most loving teacher that any set of boys -ever had or ever will have in this world!" - -The obeisance to their teacher was made, and Will's idea of a "study -club" was resolved upon. The idea, as developed, was to do much more in -a year than the school course marked out, especially to help Phil -forward to the level of his fellows, and to help Ed repair the -deficiencies that lay back of his irregular attainments. For Ed was now -so robust that neither he nor any of his comrades thought of him as an -invalid. Instead of spending the winter in the South, as he had -intended, Ed had made up his mind to go back with the others, to join -them in their "study club," and to be one of the five when they should -enter college. - -It was long past midnight when this conversation was over. And the -morning had active duties for the crew of _The Last of the Flatboats_ to -do. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI - -THE LAST LANDING - - -As _The Last of the Flatboats_ passed the upper part of New Orleans, the -boys were disposed to gaze at the strangely beautiful city. It was -greater in size than any city that they had ever seen; for none of them -had visited Cincinnati, though they had lived all their lives within -sixty or seventy miles of it. New Orleans was different in architecture, -situation, and everything else from Louisville and Memphis, cities at -which they had looked up from the river, while at New Orleans they found -themselves looking down, and taking almost a bird's-eye view of the -city. Then, too, the palm gardens, the evergreen trees, and glimpses -every now and then of great parterres of flowers, growing gayly in the -open air even in late autumn, filled them with the feeling that somehow -they had come into a world quite different from any they had ever -dreamed of before. - -Finally, there were the miles of levee, thickly bordered with steamships -and sailing craft of every kind, all so new to them as to be a show in -their eyes. The forests of masts, the towering elevators, the wharves -piled high with cotton in bales and sugar in hogsheads and great piles -of tropical fruits, appealed strongly to their imaginations. There was a -soft languor in the atmosphere, and the red sunlight shone through a -sort of Indian summer haze, which made the city look dream-like, or as -if seen through a fleecy, pink veil. - -Presently Phil put an end to their musings. - -"Stand by the sweeps!" he called, himself going to the steering-oar. "We -must make a landing, if we ever find a vacant spot at the levee that's -big enough to run into." - -"I say, Phil," said Irv, presently, "there comes somebody in a skiff to -meet us; perhaps it's some wharf-master to tell us where to land." - -A few minutes later the skiff, rowed by a stout negro man, reached the -boat, and a carefully dressed young man who had sat in the stern -dismissed the negro and his skiff, and came aboard. - -To Phil he handed his card, introducing himself as one of the freight -clerks of the commission merchant to whom the planter had recommended -them. It appeared that the planter had not been content with giving them -a letter of introduction, but had written by mail from Vicksburg, and -this was the result. - -"Mr. Kennedy thought you might have some difficulty in finding the -proper landing, so he told me to board you and show you the way." - -Phil thanked him, and under the man's guidance _The Last of the -Flatboats_ made the last of her landings. - -The young man seemed to know what to do about everything and how to do -it. First of all he called an insurance adjuster on board to inspect the -cargo. This, he explained, was necessary so that all insurance claims -might be adjusted. - -"I'm afraid the flour must be pretty wet," said Phil. - -"Why? is it in bags?" asked the clerk. - -"No, in barrels." - -"You can rest easy, then," said the clerk. "You can't wet flour in a -barrel. See there!" and he pointed to a ship that was taking on flour -near by. "That's flour for Rio Janeiro, and you observe that the crane -souses every barrel of it into the river before hoisting it to the -ship's deck." - -"So it does," said one of the boys. "But what is that for?" - -"To make the flour keep in a hot climate," answered the clerk. "Wetting -the barrel closes up all the cracks between the staves, by making a -thick paste out of the flour that has sifted into them. That makes the -barrel water-tight, insect-tight, and even air-tight." - -"But I should think the water would soak into the flour inside," said -Will. - -"Can't do it. Wouldn't wet an ounce of flour if you left a barrel in the -river for a month. Flour is packed too tight for that." - -"I say, Phil," said Irv. "Let's go back and get those three barrels we -left in the river when we were putting the tarpaulin on." - -"Have you a memorandum of your freight, captain?" asked the clerk. "If -so, please let me have it, and I'll make out a manifest." - -Phil handed him the little book in which he had catalogued the freight -as it was received. Phil had not the slightest idea what a "manifest" -might be, but he asked no questions. "I prefer to find out some things -through my eyes," he said to himself. So he watched the clerk, who -spread out some broad sheets of paper on the little cabin table and -proceeded to make out a formal manifest, or detailed statement of the -freight on board what the manifest called "the good ship _The Last of -the Flatboats_." It was all arranged in columns, and it showed from whom -each shipment came, and that each was consigned to the house of Mr. -Kennedy. Having finished this, the clerk proceeded to make out a -duplicate, which he explained was to be sent to the Exchange, so that an -accurate record might be made there for statistical purposes. - -"I see," said Phil. "That is the way statistics are got together, -showing how much of every kind of product is shipped into and out of -each commercial city." - -"Certainly," answered the clerk, "but, excuse me, here come the -reporters. Here, boys, make your own manifests," and with that he handed -one of his copies to the newspaper men. They scribbled rapidly on paper -pads for a brief while and then returned the manifest. Phil wondered, -but asked no questions. "What these men wrote is for publication in -newspapers, so I'll look in the newspapers to-morrow and see what it -is." When he did so, he found under the headline "Manifest," merely a -condensed list of the boat's freight with the name of the Kennedy -commission house as "consignees." This condensed statement of freights -and consignees is published daily with reference to every boat that -arrives, for the information not only of the consignees, but also of -other merchants and speculators who want to buy, and to that end want to -know who has things to sell. - -The boys were deeply interested, but their studies in commercial methods -were destined to be of brief duration. For the clerk left them almost -immediately. Later in the day he came again and said to Phil:-- - -"You're rather in luck, captain. The market for western produce is up -to-day. Apples were particularly high." - -"Will they stay up long enough for us to work ours off?" asked Phil. - -"Work yours off?" exclaimed the clerk, in astonishment. "Why, you've -sold out, bag and baggage, flatboat and all, two hours ago. I came down -to make delivery. The buyer's clerk will be here immediately." - -It was all astonishing to the western boys, but the clerk was -good-natured, and explained while he waited for the buyer's clerk. He -told them how Mr. Kennedy went to a big room called "'change," where all -the other merchants were gathered, showed his manifest, and in five -minutes had sold out everything. - -"But," said Irv, "nobody has been here to look at the goods. How does -the buyer know what the things are like?" - -"Why, produce is all classified, and we sell by classes. I looked -over this cargo and reported quality and condition. We made sales -accordingly. When we deliver, the buyer's clerk will look at the things, -and if any of them are not up to the grade represented, he'll reject -them or take them at a reduction, and so on. If we can't agree, the -matter will be referred to a committee of 'change, and their decision is -final. Both sides are bound by it." - -"But what if either refused?" - -"Well--" hesitated the clerk, "that couldn't very well happen; but if it -did, the merchant refusing would have to leave 'change, and go out of -business. You see, all business of this kind is done on 'change, and if -a merchant isn't a member there, he simply can't do any business at all. -But pardon me, here comes the buyer's clerk. I must get to work. Oh, by -the way, here's the card of a comfortable, inexpensive hotel; Mr. -Kennedy told me to give it to you. He'll call to see you there." - -"But why can't we stay on the boat till her buyer is ready to take her -away?" - -"Oh, he'll do that this afternoon. He'll drop her down to his own -warehouse, unload her, and by this time to-morrow she'll be nothing but -a pile of lumber on shore somewhere." - -"It fairly makes my head swim," said Irv, "to see the way these city -people go at things." - -"Mine too," said Phil. "But I see clearly that that's the way to get -things done, and it's the way we ought to manage in our study club when -we get home." - -"But how? We can't have a big 'change and all that sort of thing." - -"I didn't mean as to details," said Phil. "I referred to the spirit of -the thing. When these people have anything to do, they do it at once -and with all their might. Then they drop that as something done for, and -without an instant's delay they turn to something else. That's the way -we must manage." - -"All right," said Will Moreraud. "Now that we're done with the flatboat -let's go at once to the hotel. First thing is to pack baggage." - -So they all set about getting their little belongings together. - -"What about our blankets, and the stove, and the cooking-utensils -and the remains of our food supplies, and our water filter, and the -fire extinguishers, and the tools?" asked Constant Thiebaud, in -consternation. "It'll take a day or two to sell them out." - -"Not if we set the right man at it," said Phil. "I'll go and see him." - -So he went to the merchant's clerk, who instantly said:-- - -"Pile 'em all out on the levee there, and put a card on top saying, 'For -sale--inquire on board the flatboat.' I'll sell 'em and render you an -account." - -"All right," said Phil, "but you'll accept your commission, of course?" - -"Of course. Business is business. We never work for our health on the -levee." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - -RED-LETTER DAYS IN NEW ORLEANS - - -Once comfortably settled at the little hotel near Dryades Street, the -boys proceeded to equip themselves for seeing the city. They bought a -new suit of clothes and a hat apiece, together with such underclothes, -linen, shoes, and socks as they needed. Indeed, they bought more than -was necessary for their immediate wants, because they would need the -clothes on their return home, and they could buy them much cheaper in -New Orleans than in Vevay. Phil decided to indulge himself in an -overcoat, the first that he had ever owned, and the others followed his -example. - -"Not that we are likely to need overcoats very pressingly in New Orleans -at this autumn season," said Irv, "but I for one have a lively -recollection of how cold it is in Vevay every winter." - -By appointment they called at the office of Mr. Kennedy, the commission -merchant, the next day, for a settlement. He furnished them with -carefully detailed accounts, made out by his bookkeepers, and gave them -drafts on New York for the money coming to them. - -"You'd better send your drafts by mail to your home bank," he said. "If -you need any money for your expenses while here, I'll furnish it, and -you can remit it from home." - -"Thank you!" responded Phil. "We shan't need any money for expenses -here. We've enough left of the money we started with, which we call our -'campaign fund,' for that. But how about our passage home? Do you happen -to know, sir, about how much that will cost us?" - -"Whatever you choose to make it cost you, from nothing at all up," -answered the merchant. - -A query or two brought out this explanation:-- - -"You've dropped some hints in our conversations"--for he had talked with -them at their hotel the evening before--"concerning your educational -plans, and I gather that you want to keep all you can of the money you -have made." - -"Precisely!" said Phil. "Except that we mean to stay here for a week to -see all we can of the city, we don't intend to spend a dollar that we -can save." - -"So I thought," said the merchant. "I have therefore taken the liberty -of making some inquiries for you. It happens that I am freighting a -steamboat with cotton, sugar, molasses, coffee, and fruits, for -Louisville. The captain is a good friend of mine. As he will have no -way-freight,--nothing to put on or off till he gets to Louisville, where -the stevedores will unload the boat,--he has very little for deck hands -or roustabouts to do. But there will be some 'wooding up' to do now and -then,--taking on wood for the furnaces,--and there will be the decks to -keep clean, the lanterns to keep in order, and all that sort of thing. -Now as you young men are stout fellows and pretty well used by this time -to roughing it, he has agreed, if you choose, to take you instead of the -roustabouts and deck hands ordinarily carried. There won't be any wages, -but you'll have your meals from the cook's galley and your passages to -Louisville free. Passage from there to Vevay will be a trifle, of -course." - -The boys were more pleased with the arrangement than they could explain -in words. But Phil tried to thank Mr. Kennedy, ending by saying, "I -don't know why you should take so much trouble for us, sir, as we're -complete strangers to you." - -"You don't know why?" asked the merchant, with smiles rippling over his -face. "Well, let me tell you that the man you rescued from a horrible -death up there in the Tallahatchie swamp is my brother-in-law, the woman -you saved is my sister, and the children my nephew and nieces. Now you -will understand that whatever you happen to want in New Orleans is -yours, if I know of your wanting it. We should all be more than glad to -do vastly more for such good friends as you if we could. But my -brother-in-law writes me that he talked with you about that, and -concluded that boys of your sort are likely to do much better for -themselves than anybody can do for them. Now, not a word more on that -subject, please," as Ed, with his big eyes full of tears, arose, -intending to say something of his own and his comrades' feelings. "Not a -word more. Besides, there's a clerk waiting for me at the door. Go to -the opera to-night, and hear some good music. One of my clerks will -leave tickets at the hotel for you. And be ready at noon to-morrow for a -drive. I'll call for you, and show you our town. Good-by now, -good-by--really, I mustn't talk longer. Good-by." - -And so the overwhelmed youngsters found themselves bowed out into Camp -Street without a chance to say a word of thanks. - -The next day, in two open carriages, Mr. Kennedy drove the boys -for hours over the beautiful and picturesque old city--up into the -Carrollton district, where are fine residences and broad streets; down -through the French Creole region, where the quaintness of the city is -something wholly unmatched in any other town in America; and out over a -beautiful road to Lake Pontchartrain, with luncheon at the Halfway -House. - -"This will be enough for to-day," said their host, as they rose from -their meal. "To-morrow morning, if you young gentlemen like, we'll drive -down to the battlefield, where Jackson won his famous victory and saved -the Mississippi River and all the region west of it from British -control. We'll drive into the city now, and you would do well to rest -this afternoon, for driving in this crisp autumn air makes one tired and -sleepy." - -The boys protested that he was unwarrantably taking his time for their -entertainment, but he had a way of turning off such things with a laugh -which left nothing else to be said. - -So the trip to the battlefield was made, but this time they had a second -companion in the person of a young professor from Tulane University, -whom Mr. Kennedy had pressed into service to explain the battlefield and -all the events connected with it. - -On the following day Mr. Kennedy took his young friends down the river -on a little steamer, on board which they passed a night and two days, -seeing the forts and hearing from the professor the story of the part -they had played in Farragut's celebrated river fight, and visiting the -jetties--those stupendous engineering works by which the government -deepened the mouth of the river so as to permit large ships to come up -to the city. - -On the way back from this two days' trip Mr. Kennedy invited the boys to -dine with him at his home on the next evening. With a queer smile upon -his lips, he said:-- - -"I ought to have asked you to my house sooner, perhaps, but I wasn't -ready. There were some little details that I wanted to arrange first." - -When the dinner evening came, the boys entered the stately mansion with -more of embarrassment than they would have cared to confess. It was the -finest house they had ever seen,--a stately, old-fashioned structure, -with broad galleries running around three of its sides, and with a -spacious colonnade in front. It stood in the midst of a garden of palm, -ilex, and magnolia trees, occupying an entire city block, and shut in by -a high brick wall, pierced by great gateways and little ones. - -Inside, the house was luxuriously comfortable, filled with old-fashioned -furniture, time-dulled pictures, and here and there a bit of statuary, -but with none of that painfully breakable looking bric-a-brac that one -finds so often and in such annoying profusion in the houses of the rich -or the well-to-do. There was nothing here that meant show, nothing that -did not suggest easy use and comfort. - -Mr. Kennedy himself followed the servant to the door to receive his -young friends. When he had ushered them into a homelike, "back-parlor" -sort of a room, he excused himself for a brief time and left them. About -a minute later they heard little feet pattering down the great hall, -and, an instant later, "Baby" toddled in. She paused a moment, and then -rushing into Phil's arms called aloud:-- - -"My boys! My big boys!" Then she raised her little voice, and cried:-- - -"Come, papa! Come, mamma! My boys is come!" - -This was the "little detail" that Mr. Kennedy had waited to arrange. He -had induced his sister and her husband to bring the children to New -Orleans, to await the flood's subsidence; and he had waited for their -arrival before inviting the boys to dinner, in order that their welcome -might be eager, and their enjoyment of his hospitality free from -embarrassment. - -In company with their flatboat guests, the lads felt completely at home, -and perhaps their shrewdly kind host aided toward this result by having -the dinner served in the most homelike and informal way that he could -manage. - -As the steamboat on which they were to "work their way" up the river -was to sail the next afternoon, this evening at Mr. Kennedy's was their -last in New Orleans. - -"And what a delightful finish it has been to all our experiences!" said -Irv, when they all got back to their hotel. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII - -"IT" - - -There is not much more of this story for me to tell. The voyage up the -river involved very little of work, and nothing at all of adventure. The -steamboat was a slow one. She plodded along, day and night, never -landing except when it was necessary to take on fifty cords or so of -wood, with which to make steam. - -Phil and his comrades took pride in keeping the decks in most -scrupulously clean condition, and doing with earnest care the other -tasks--mostly very small ones--which fell to their lot. - -It took about nine days for the pottering old freight steamer to make -the journey to Louisville; for although the great flood had considerably -subsided, the Ohio was still sufficiently full for the boat to pass over -the falls and land her cargo at the city, instead of discharging it at -Portland, four miles below. - -Bidding farewell to their captain, the crew of _The Last of the -Flatboats_ donned their new clothes, and took passage for Vevay on the -mail boat. - -They landed at their home town late in the afternoon, hired a drayman to -haul their small baggage to their several homes, and proudly marched up -Ferry Street like the returning adventurers that they were, while all -the small boys in town trudged along with them precisely as they would -have followed a circus parade. - -After briefly visiting their homes and having reunion suppers there with -their families, the boys reassembled in their old meeting-place, Will -Moreraud's room over a store. There they made out all their accounts, -trying hard to make them look like those prepared by Mr. Kennedy's -bookkeepers in New Orleans. They were then ready to settle, on the next -day, with all the owners of the cargo they had carried. - -When all was arranged, Phil figured a while, and then said:-- - -"Fellows, we've netted a profit of exactly four hundred and fifty -dollars clear, by our trip. That's ninety dollars apiece to add to our -college fund. The money's in bank to my credit. I'll draw a check for -each fellow's share." - -When he had delivered to each of his comrades a check for ninety -dollars, he rose and stretched himself and said, with accents of -relief:-- - -"Now I'm not 'IT' any longer." - -"Oh, yes, you are," said Irv. "We fellows are going to stick together -now, you know. There's the study club, you remember. That will need an -'IT,' and you'll be the 'IT,' won't he, boys?" - -"You bet!" said all in a breath. - - * * * * * - -When Irv and Ed reported the voyage and the study club plan to Mrs. -Dupont, she entered enthusiastically into the scheme. - -"Don't go to school at all this year," she said. "Come to me instead. -When bright boys have made up their minds to study as hard as they can -without any forcing, all they need is a tutor to help them when they -need help. I'll be the tutor. The old schoolroom in my house, where I -taught you boys and your fathers the multiplication table long before -graded schools were thought of in this town, is unoccupied. Everything -in it is just as it was when you boys were with me. I'll have the maids -dust it up, and it shall be the home of the 'Study Club.'" - -When the boys told the wise old lady how Phil had been made "IT" on the -voyage, and how splendidly he had risen to his responsibilities, she -smiled, but showed no surprise. - -"I'm glad you boys had the good sense to choose Phil for your leader," -she said. "If you had asked me, I should have told you to do just that. -I am older than you by nearly half a century. I have taught several -generations of boys, and I think I know boys better than I know anything -else in the world. Now let me tell you about Phil. He was born to be -'IT,' he will always be 'IT,' though he will never try to be. He has a -gift--if I didn't detest the word for the bad uses it has been put to, -I'd say he has a 'mission' to be 'IT' in every endeavor that he may be -associated with. Whenever you're in doubt, be very sure that Phil is -your best 'IT.'" - -Here this story comes to an - -END - - - - -TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - -Where the original work uses text in italics, this e-text uses _text_. -Small capitals in the original work are represented here in all -capitals. - -Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to directly below the paragraph -to which they belong. - -Illustrations that were located mid-paragraph in the original work were -moved below the including paragraph. - -This text has been preserved as in the original, including archaic and -inconsistent spelling, punctuation and grammar, except as noted below. - -Obvious printer's errors have been silently corrected. - -Page 12: 'tussel' changed to 'tussle'. - -Page 90: 'Ouashita' changed to 'Ouachita'. - -Pages 100, 101 and 102: 'Pittsburg' is likely referring to 'Pittsburgh'. - -Page 140: 'fusilade' changed to 'fusillade'. - -Page 124: 'spliting' changed to 'splitting'. - -Page 337: 'Alleghanies' changed to 'Alleghenies' - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Last of the Flatboats, by George Cary Eggleston - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAST OF THE FLATBOATS *** - -***** This file should be named 44922.txt or 44922.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/9/2/44922/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Fred Salzer and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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