Harry Gordon

“ For a long time the boy fished without receiving any intimation that there was a fish left in the river! The boat caught plenty of driftwood, however. At times great masses of trees and timbers would go sailing down, advancing out of the darkness into the circle of light about the Rambler as if brought to life by the presence of mankind. ”

“ Almost before Red could turn around, before his brain could grasp the significance of Sam’s warning shout, Clay swung the door open and turned the switch which operated the prow light. In an instant the deck of the Rambler was as light as it had ever been at noon. The cabin was still in darkness, save for the light which came through the glass panel of the door. ”

“ While the lads listened, hardly knowing what to do to protect themselves, Mose pointed a shaking hand at a spot far down the lagoon. Clay looked and saw a great blaze on what seemed a wooded knoll to the west of the river.
“There’s a camp down there!” he said.
“That makes it nice!” grinned Alex. “No honest men ever made camp in that hole at this season of the year! It is dollars to tripe that if we don’t put on power the crest of the flood will wash us down, when the full strength comes, and beach us among a band of river pirates! ”

“ Mose was ready to swear to the fellow’s identity by this time!
“Tell us how he looked after the black was washed off,” requested Clay, after a short pause, during which the three men compared notes—mental notes—of their impressions of the man they had left in the lonely grave in the swamp.
“We have decided on one word that expresses our thought of the man,” Gregg finally replied. “You know that all human beings in some manner resemble some wild animal species. Some men are lions, some are monkeys, some are dogs, some are bears, some are foxes. ”

“ When it comes to keeping guard, I’m the candy boy!”
“You usually manage to get into trouble when you are left alone!” laughed Clay.
“If I can’t be good to-night,” grinned Alex., “I’ll be careful.”
Nothing more was seen of the negroes at that time, although the boys were satisfied that they were still on the island, as no boat had been seen to leave it.
After a time Clay, Case and Mose went to bed, leaving Alex., Jule, Captain Joe, and Teddy on deck. The dog seemed particularly wide awake, moving about as if he scented danger, while the cub sat looking toward the island with twitching nostrils. ”

“ Lights were showing in the city, which was not far from the pier, and one large street lamp disclosed the figures of a dozen men running toward the motor boat! The man who had done the shooting stood near the foot of the pier, a revolver in his hand. Clay sprang for the switch which controlled the prow light.
“That’s more like it!” came a voice from the shore, as the light flared out on the cluttered pier and the swirling waters of the river. “Why didn’t you do that before?”
“Quit your shooting and come on board!” Clay advised. “We understand the use of firearms ourselves! ”

“ Jule remarked, as Captain Joe put his paw on the gunwale and sniffed the air. “Do you really think they have a way of discovering approaching peril which human beings have not? Captain Joe certainly looks as if he saw something unpleasant coming.”
“I often think dogs have an instinct which warns them of danger,” Alex. replied.
“Well,” Jule went on, “we’ll soon see what comes of the signals of danger he is now handing out to us! Whatever he sees or senses is on that island.”
The boys watched for a long time, but there came no sounds of life from the island. ”

“ Case began, “if he is a pilot he is out of practice! I heard him asking a man about the passage from Hickman to Reelfoot lake. When we went up-town that same man who spoke to us on the pier stood on the levee with a bunch of toughs. Their heads were together, as if they were planning mischief. I thought they looked at Jule and I in a strange way, too!”
“I don’t believe he ever came on board to get a job!” Jule broke in. “He’s a spy! That’s just what he is, and I wish Captain Joe had eaten him up!”
“But why should he come spying here?” asked Clay. “We’re not river thieves!” ”

“ However, the giant’s defense of himself, when Sam would have mistreated and, perhaps, murdered him, led Clay to believe that he was not wholly depraved. There might be some powerful motive for his adopting the life of a river outlaw.
The boy resolved, at the first opportunity, to question Red regarding the fate of the lad who had so suddenly disappeared from the boat that night. He now saw that the willingness of his companions and himself to aid the waif had led to good results, for it was this willingness which had undoubtedly caused the giant to stand between him and injury or even death. ”

“ All the way down, until night closed in, they saw gangs of negroes on the levees, fishing drift wood out of the water. In some instances small out-houses were brought out in good condition. One shanty boat the boys saw had the cupola of a house set up on the prow, and a farm bell in the top of it was ringing as the raft bobbed in the currents of the river. Now and then families were seen gathered on the levees, evidently waiting for a steamer to take them off. ”

“ The novelty of their employment had so engaged their attention that they felt no need of food until Teddy appeared on the deck sitting up like a man, begging for his breakfast! Then Alex. threw down the wands he was carrying to Clay, who was doing the weaving at that time, and sprang over to the boat with a chuckle of amusement.
“You’re all right, Teddy Bear!” he cried. “We don’t know enough to eat when we’re hungry, do we? We’ll show ’em what it is to feed up right without delay.”
“What you going to get for dinner?” demanded Jule, putting a hand to his stomach to show how empty it was. ”

“ Clay followed the line of the pointing finger and laughed.
“Why, that’s a bear!” he shouted. “A swamp bear—one of the kind Teddy Roosevelt came down here to shoot when he was president! Let him alone and he’ll let us alone. They fight like devils when wounded or molested.”
The boys all agreed to let the bear alone, but Captain Joe and Teddy seemed to have notions of hospitality. The dog barked invitingly, and Teddy did a stunt of bear talk which brought the wanderer one tree nearer to the boat. He was now in the circle of light, and could get no nearer without swimming. ”

“ Half a dozen negroes and one white man were now seen running down the river bank in pursuit of Mose. They seemed to redouble their exertions when the Rambler shot over toward the boy, but were obliged to halt when the boy was picked up and the boat went on down stream, towing the willow mattresses in her wake! ”

“ In a spasm of grief the lad threw himself on the cabin floor and burst into an uncontrollable fit of weeping. The boys stood around for a moment, looking rather sheepishly at each other, and then all left the cabin but Clay.
“Come kid,” the latter said, lifting Chet from the floor and holding him in his arms like a baby, “don’t act like you’d lost your last friend! If you’re honest, you’ve found friends instead of losing them. You shall have the diamonds back, if you can show that they belong to you. ”

“ We’ll just sneak off after breakfast and be back in an hour.”
“Right,” agreed Alex. “We may find a buried treasure! Or plunder from the Rock Island warehouse may be hidden in some dusty attic! What? That sounds like a story of John Paul Jones, out of a book!”
“I reckon all we’ll find will be rats,” the practical Jule replied. “But I like to ramble over old houses. It evidently used to stand on the bank of the river, but some washout left it back so far that it was deserted. It looks like there might be ghosts hiding in it right now! Do you hear anything?” ”

“ I’ll remain here and see that your retreat is properly covered. You’ll want some one here to hold a gun on the negroes you seem determined to stir up.”
“Now don’t get a grouch on,” pleaded Alex. “I’m doing this purely in the interest of science! I want to see how far the emancipation proclamation has relieved the negroes of the south from the old-time superstitions of the race! Not to put too fine a point upon it, kid, I want to see what a good healthy ghost will do to a lot of river thieves! Do you get me?”
“Going to play ghost, are you,” laughed Jule. “Then I’ll be a ghost, too!” ”

“ But three or four black men, less superstitious, or having more at stake, than the others, stood their ground, calling to their companions that it was a white man’s trick, and that they should return and ascertain by the use of steel and lead just how human their visitors were. For a time the voices of the courageous ones did not check the mad rush for the river, but finally a group gathered on the beach and engaged in conversation, which, of course, Clay could not hear. ”

“ Clay answered, with an amused smile. “We have had him on board the Rambler on two occasions, and each time he has mysteriously disappeared.”
“Where did you see him last?”
“At Memphis.”
“That was after you rented a deposit box at a bank?”
“You seem to know all about it,” grinned Clay. “Yes, he left soon after I rented the deposit box in the bank. By the way, do you know a giant of a man, red-headed and kind-hearted, who is a gentleman of leisure one moment and a river pirate the next?” ”

“ From the junction of the Ohio, there are one hundred and twenty-five numbered islands from Cairo to Bayou la Fourche, in Louisiana, and besides these there are nearly as many more which bear the names of the owners. Many of these islands are grown up with impenetrable thickets or show only deserted fields.
In proceeding down the great river the boys had kept on only sufficient power to gain steerway, as they were in no haste to reach the Gulf of Mexico, which was their final destination on that trip. They decided that day to travel nights no more. ”

“ Gregg assented. “There are a lot of good men there. But if you want to remain here and permit those ruffians to overrun your boat, insult you, and hold you prisoners until you can get to some town where identification is possible, you can do so. We can stand it if you can.”
“There may be some sense in what he says,” Clay urged, “and if we could get out of the trap we are in and make the propellers go, I’d be willing to go on down the river and let the officers have the whole country to themselves.”
“Can’t we follow this bayou current and get out on the river below them?” asked Jule. ”

“ Alex. sat alone in the dim night, watching the river and the dark bottom lands of the island for a long time before anything attracted his attention. Then a light, like that made by a camp-fire, sprang up on the Mississippi side of the river.
He could see figures moving about in front of the blaze, but of course could not distinguish faces. Presently the low, weird chant of a plantation song came over the waters. It was evident that a gang of negroes, possibly railroad repair men, was passing the night in camp on the shore. ”

“ Clay declared, “I’ve got enough of the hospitality of this city. Suppose we drop down to-night? It will be risky sailing because of the flood, but at the same time it may keep us all out of jail. Those men may come back after they get a few more drinks.”
The Rambler was a staunch little motor boat, fully competent to make her way in almost any body of water, but the boys were afraid of driftwood and wreckage, and also of running off into bayous which ran out into swamps for miles, with almost as strong a current as the main channel. ”

“ He will soon do his stunt of telling how he found them in a piece of pie at a Rock Island restaurant.
“This wonderful Chet is also the last word in friendship. When he sees boys who have befriended him, it is his habit to turn them over to thieves, who lock them up—not in anger, but to protect them from other naughty boys!”
Instead of showing anger at this blunt talk, Red and Chet sat down on the gunwale and laughed until the river echoed back their voices. Clay also seemed much amused. ”

“ Red pushed the boy toward the cabin, the look on his face friendlier than ever.
“Go and get into dry clothes,” he said. “Never mind what Sam says! He means all right, only he don’t know how to express himself!”
The Rambler now swung off toward the shore, and Red and Sam were kept busy working wreckage out of her course. They snarled at each other as they worked, and Clay was in constant fear that Sam would play some treacherous trick on the big fellow in return for the blow he had received. ”

“ While the boys discussed the matter the negroes moved away from the shore of the island, where they were under the boat lights, and secreted themselves behind a patch of willows which fringed the “tow-head,” for the place where they were was little else.
“I don’t believe they have any idea of letting us alone, if they can manage to get on board the Rambler,” Clay declared. “I have often read that lawless negroes and whites are alike alert for plunder during flood seasons, and it is floating goods those fellows are after, unless I am much mistaken. We’ll have to keep a sharp watch to-night.” ”

“ Jule asked, “why don’t we go right up to them and find out what’s doing? They won’t lock us up, will they?”
“That is just about what they will do if they get us,” was the slow reply. “We would get out of jail in time, but who wants to lie in a cell when there is so much fun to be had on the river? These fellows have been wired to head us off, probably by the sheriff we met up there. It may be that the diamonds Clay put in the deposit box have been identified as the ones stolen from Rock Island. I wish Chet would show up right now!” ”