Louis Arundel

“ But Jack was not to be disheartened, and had a laughing answer for each one of these dismal prophecies.
"I do belave that the less ye have to ate the better it tastes," declared Jimmie, as he sat there polishing his pannikin, in which he had just had a third helping of rice, eaten without either milk or sugar this time.
"That's right," laughed Jack. "And the smaller the amount of grub, the more you think you feel the gnawings of hunger. Suppose, now, we were cruising on a salt lagoon and our drinking water ran low—why, your throat would feel parched all the time, just from imagination." ”

“ Nick looked at the others suspiciously.
"Now, what's been coming your way, I'd just like to know?" he grumbled. "Never saw such luck as you have in all my life. 'Tain't fair, that's what. Here I have all the tortures, the scares and the duckings, too, when I've lost my swimming wings; and you fellows gobble everything that comes along in the way of fun."
"Sorry," laughed Jack; "but they will keep piling these things upon us. We have nothing to do with it at all, Buster. Only when it happens, we just have to get out of the hole the best way we can, you know." ”

“ Now Jack could see the bushes moving, and knew that something was going to happen in short order. He hoped Jimmie would be able to master his end of the job without a blunder; for sometimes the Irish boy, no matter how willing, had a peculiar faculty for doing the wrong thing.
Jack had both the hammers of his gun drawn back, ready for business. He remained as motionless as a stone when he saw moving objects creep into the little opening alongside the cove in which the motor boat lay moored to a couple of trees. ”

“ Just think what measly luck! That was only two days ago. See what I missed by your old machine breaking down on us, George. I might have had that bully pair."
"I was thinking," said Jack, with a smile at the forlorn expression on his fat chum's face, "why you didn't depend on that cork life preserver. You couldn't sink, and if you flapped pretty hard I think you could learn to paddle after a bit."
"Oh! do you really think so, Jack?" cried the sad one, his face lighting up with a new hope. "It's awful good of you to crack your brain thinking up such a bully idea for me. ”

“ It's a race for second honors, that's what it is, Jimmie!"
"Whirra! and we're the spectators, so we are!" cried the delighted Irish lad, as he eagerly reached for the glasses and clapped them to his eyes. "Yis, ye're right, Jack, it's the speed boat all the same; and my sowl, how she's rushing things! By the powers, don't I hope the ould Comfort draws in here ahead. Won't it make George feel down in the mouth to be last at the stake?"
"Oh! this is only a beginning," remarked Jack. "Nobody can tell what is going to happen before we bring up at New Orleans. ”

“ His companion, Jimmie Brannagan, was a short-bodied Irish lad, with red hair and a freckled face; but possessing a sturdy frame, as well as a ready wit.
"Open it up, and let us have a peep, Jack!" exclaimed George, as the newcomer placed his package on a bench near by.
"No use asking such sharp chaps as you to guess," observed the other, laughingly, as he started to follow instructions by unwinding the many papers that covered the mysterious bulky object. "You see everything, know everything. Well, what d'ye think of that for a beauty, George and Buster?" ”

“ How about it, Buster?"
"Yes; we want to know," added Jack.
"They'll do for babies, but not fellows who have mastered the noble art of swimming, so make up your mind," said Josh, grandly.
Nick took one last look at the affairs he had once deemed so essential to his happiness. Then he calmly strode over, and amid the shouts of the rest, dropped the swimming wings upon the fire, where they were speedily reduced to ashes.
"You're right," he observed, moving his arms like a swimmer; "a fellow who has graduated has no need for artificial fins. ”

“ Another hour passed and not a sign of the absent boat could they discover. Several false alarms caused a thrill to pass over the four boys; but night finally drew near without the hoped-for arrival of the Wireless manifesting itself.
And although they found a snug harbor in the mouth of the creek that had proved so secure a refuge to the Tramp on the preceding night, none of the boys rested as well as they might. They were worried over the strange absence of their two chums, and imagined all sorts of evils as having overtaken the crew of the Wireless. ”

“ Jack went on.
"Sure I am," replied Josh; "and both Herb and Jimmie are nodding their heads. So that settles it. Hurrah for Sunflower Camp, and a good rest."
They always looked back on that camp as one of the peaceful ones of the trip. Nothing out of the way happened to disturb them. Jack and George took a run up to Friar's Point to pick up a few needed things; but in reality to learn in a quiet way if anything had been heard of Erastus, the fugitive whom they had assisted because of their tender hearts. ”

“ Jimmie knew what was on his mind, for they had talked this matter over with the other fellows more than once. Jack had read lots about the great Father of Waters, and knew what a highway it has been for scores of years to a class of criminals who are fleeing from justice.
Of course there are many honest men on the numerous shanty boats that float down the river, tying up from time to time at some landing, or hunting a friendly creek mouth in which to pass the night. At the same time thousands use the water highway as a means for eluding pursuit. ”

“ And when the lost boat drew near, such a dreadful clamor as broke forth, both Jimmie and Josh blowing conch shell and tin horn for all they were worth; while Nick did his best to drown them out with his own battered musical instrument.
"Same old story," laughed George, as they came alongside. "Don't rub it in too hard, fellows. Breakdown right when we were doing the best stunt of the trip. Only for that it would have been a record breaker of a run between second and third stations for the Wireless. Gee! but she can fly when she takes the bit between her teeth." ”

“ George stuck close to the Tramp all the balance of that day.
"Don't seem to pay to run ahead all the time," he remarked when Jack joked him on this score. "And, besides, it does seem as though you fellows have a monopoly of all the adventure. Hang the cup, anyway. It will remain a trophy for the club, no matter who wins. For all of me the blooming old Comfort may come in ahead yet, because, you know, we agreed on her having a big handicap on account of her well known slowness. I'm going to hang by you much of the rest of the trip, fellows." ”

“ I'm going to look out for a job in some freak museum after this trip."
"If you do then, it'll be as a champion eater or the fat boy," laughed George. "Your appetite keeps on growing frightfully, and I'd like to bet you weigh ten pounds more now than when you left home. I can tell it by the way my boat groans whenever you step aboard. And she sinks below the line I marked when we started, in spite of the half ton of grub we've devoured."
"Oh! George, you frighten me," declared Nick, in mock alarm.
"Well, what's the programme for today, fellows?" asked Josh.
"It's Saturday," said Jack. ”

“ CHAPTER I. ALL ABOARD FOR DIXIELAND!
"Aw, quit your kidding, now, George. You know I said I'd stick by you to the bitter end; and nobody ever knew Nick Longfellow to back water, did they?"
"I guess you're right about that, Pudding. Your word is your strongest hold—next to eating. I depend on you to be my boat-mate on that long cruise, if so be we make a go of the race."
"Huh! even if Herb Dickson and Josh Purdue can't get a chance to enter this old tub of theirs which they call the Comfort, what's to hinder us from starting when Jack heads his dandy Tramp south; tell me that?" ”

“ Finally, however, Nick himself began to yawn in a manner that told how heavy his eyes were getting in the heat of the fire.
"I just hate to crawl in there, fellows," he grunted, as he slowly arose to his knees, for it was always an effort for the fat boy to get up, after sitting. "Makes me feel just like I'm in a coffin, to lie in such narrow quarters. Why, I tell you, the skin's clean off my hips and shoulders with rubbing against the sides of the boat. I'm going to be a physical wreck yet, that's what." ”

“ We sail along like a big house, and nothing disturbs us. Josh cooks to beat the band; only I don't believe he eats more'n a bite each meal himself."
"That's where you're away off, commodore," asserted the other. "Why, I'm feeling ever so much better since I started. If it keeps on I'll soon be able to get away with my full share of the prog, as well as the rest of you—all but Buster. I never want to run a race with that——"
"Don't you dare call me a hog," cried the fat boy, pretending to get ready to hurl a big spoon, which he was wiping, at the cook of the other boat. ”

“ Better to throw on full power, and try to slide off to one side, thus giving the big craft the right of way.
It was done in a twinkling. The Tramp shot forward with a jerk; and had Jimmie not been forewarned he might have found himself thrown sideways into the river, for the little craft careened badly in making the swerve.
But she answered gallantly to the call, and glided out of the way just is the broad bow of the sternwheel steamboat came along, raising a white, foam-crested wave as she breasted the swift current. ”

“ His suggestion brought out another round of laughter.
"Then be on the lookout tonight, Jimmie," warned George. "And if you see anything that looks like a big alligator swimming toward us, don't pour in a broadside too soon, for it may be the old Comfort. Misery likes company, they say. And just to think of us running across you fellows here, when our last grain of grub had gone."
"Not much danger of them striking the planter, for they keep to the middle of the river, while we hugged the shore," Jack observed. ”

“ Unless some accident happens to George there's never the least chance that we can look in on him in that racer. And the same applies to the Comfort—if we go on as we have, they can never hope to catch up with us. And there you are," and Jack laughed as he spoke.
"Ye mane that we're betwixt the divel and the dape say," observed Jimmie, with one of his chuckles.
"Oh! now that's going it pretty steep," Jack protested. "The Comfort might come under the head of deep sea, or anything else that's big and slow and reliable; but it's pretty hard calling George's boat by that other name. ”

“ Why, he's got on to it that he can add many miles a day to his run by avoiding the slower water near the shore."
"I remember they tell us that fools and babes venture where even angels fear to tread," remarked George.
"I wouldn't apply that remark to Herb and Josh," said Jack, seriously. "On the contrary I think it shows wisdom. Their big and safe boat can run out there in perfect safety; but for you to do much of it, would be inviting trouble and a spill. But we must attract them in here, or they may go whirling past on the other side of the island." ”

“ Jack laughingly gave his consent.
"I'll keep on double duty while you're about it," he remarked; "and play the part of engineer and pilot. At the same time here goes to reduce speed another notch, to be on the safe side."
Of course it was useless thinking of having anything hot while going along at even half speed, much as they would have enjoyed a cup of coffee to warm them up, for the rain and fog made the air seem chilly.
"But in a race every minute ought to count," remarked Jack, when Jimmie suggested this thing of stopping half an hour. "This is our running time, you know. ”

“ And really Buster had such a horror of such a dreadful thing happening that from then on no one could get him to open his lips with regard to the Mississippi cruise.
"It's too much of a temptation for George," he used to say, after getting as far away from the skipper of the Wireless as he could, in the club room. "You see, he just can't help having that cannibal blood in him, for he was born so. But it's wicked in our tempting the poor chap so. Now, if he has a thin, scrawny fellow, say, like Josh here, along, he'll gradually overcome this savage appetite. ”

“ These are the days of the young men. I've known mere kids to undertake jobs that long ago would have staggered old professionals."
While two of the men were upsetting things in their eager search, the man who had been called "Captain" once more turned to Jack.
"Who are you fellows, where'd you come from, and what are you doing here up this creek?" he demanded, harshly, as though expecting to scare the other into a confession of guilt.
"My name is Jack Stormways, and his is Jimmie Brannagan. We are on our way south on a little race to New Orleans. ”

“ Of course it proved to be the motor boat; and half an hour later they caught the attention of those aboard, so that a reunion was speedily accomplished.
"But where's George, and poor old Nick?" asked Herb, as he shook hands with the skipper and crew of the Tramp, while Josh got the mudhook overboard.
"That's what is beginning to worry me," admitted Jack. "I knew you couldn't outrun us here; but they had a great send-off. Of course something happened. It always will with that cranky speed boat and the big horsepower motor it carries." ”

“ Use the wings nature gave you the right way, and you'll swim like a goose. Why, you just couldn't go under. You'd be like an empty bottle with a cork in the neck, floating around."
Jack and Jimmie were laughing heartily at this little passage between the nervous skipper of the speed boat and his plump crew. But Nick made no answer, only looked reproachfully at George, as though wondering to what lengths his ingratitude would take him. ”

“ As the two boys poked their heads out of the canvas cover that served as a tent over the open boat, they could easily see the advancing boat.
"Glory be!" murmured the amazed Jimmie, "we're in a nice pickle, now, Jack. Sure there's half a dozen of the gossoons, if there's one. And by the powers, look at 'em heading this way, too! What will we do, Jack? Lit me have the gun, if so be ye don't want to shoot!"
"Wait!" replied Jack, sternly. "We'll see if we can hold them back first. Perhaps, when they see that we mean business and are armed, they may haul off." ”

“ Jack was an obliging fellow at all times. He realized that this notion of learning how to swim had become the one dominant idea in the obstinate mind of the fat boy; and that the sooner he started to take lessons the quicker they would have peace.
Besides, now that the motor boat boys had organized a regular club, and expected to take numerous excursions on the water, it was only right that every member of the organization should know how to save himself in case of a spill.
And so he willingly started to show Nick how easy it was to float in the still waters of the lagoon ”

“ And as Jack and me sail along so cheerful loike, me thoughts often fly till ye, and I fale that only for that stubborn will ye'd have gone and given up long ago."
"What's wrong this time, George?" asked Jack.
"Oh! everything now," replied the disgusted skipper of the Wireless. "No use in my trying to tinker with the job. It will take a practical machinist to overhaul the plagued contraption. I guess you'll have to give us a tow to Memphis, where I can put a man to work getting this engine in some sort of shape." ”

“ I know about those things," declared Herb, carelessly. "Sometimes a native can save twenty miles by shooting through where a passage runs across a neck of wooded land. But I guess the good old Comfort will stick to the main stream. I may be the tortoise in this race, but there's lots of chances the hares will lie down for a little nap in the way, and let me go past."
"But it's fair to take advantage of a cut-off, ain't it?" asked George.
"Of course it is, if you want to take the chance of getting twisted, and losing oodles of hours wandering around in some old swamp," Jack answered. ”

“ It forms loops and bends galore. It turns back north, runs east, then west and for a short time south. For ten miles southing you make you have to go thirty."
"Well, I understood that was the way; but why should that bother us?" demanded George. "What's fair for one is fair for all. We'll hug the easterly shore all we can, and save many a mile."
"Perhaps you will," smiled Jack, "and then again the current races faster out in the middle, so the boat that ventures may profit by that. ”

“ George went on.
"Yes," laughed Jack, "and a balance is a handy thing to have, whether in a bank or in a record of days' runs during a long race. I congratulate you, fellows, and hope you may duplicate the performance."
Herb and Josh seemed in no wise cast down over the poor showing their boat had made up to date.
"Just you wait," observed the former, positively. "Perhaps we've got a card or two up our sleeves. We don't tell everything we know, do we, Josh? And long ago I learned that the race is not always to the swift." ”