BILLY BRACKETT STARTS DOWN THE RIVER.
It needed but a glance at Major Caspar's face, as, dripping and weary,
he entered the house, to show that his search for the raft had been
fruitless. His wife's mother-instinct translated his expression at
once, and the quick tears started to her eyes as she exclaimed,
"My boy! What has happened to him?"
"Nothing serious, you may rest assured, my dear," replied the Major.
"I have not seen him; but I have heard of the raft, and there is no
question as to its safety. We reached the mouth of the creek without
discovering a trace of it. Then we went down the river as far as the
Elbow, where we waited in the slack-water to hail up-bound steamboats.
The first had seen nothing of the raft; but the second, one of the
'Diamond Jo' boats, reported that they had seen such a raft--one with
three shanties on it--at daybreak, in the 'Slant Crossing,' ten miles
below. If I could have got a down-river boat I should have boarded her
and gone in pursuit, sending the men back to tell you what I had done.
As we were unable to hail the only one that passed, I gave it up and
came back to report progress."
"Oh, I am so glad you did!" cried Mrs. Caspar.
"So am I," said the young stranger, speaking for the first time since
the Major's entrance. The latter had glanced curiously at him once or
twice while talking to his wife, but without a gleam of recognition.
Now, as he looked inquiringly at him again, Mrs. Caspar exclaimed:
"Why, John, don't you know him? It's William--my own brother William,
just come from California."
"So it is," replied the Major, giving the young man a hearty
hand-shake--"so it is, William Brackett himself. But, my dear fellow,
I must confess I was so far from recognizing you that I thought your
name was--"
"'Mud' I reckon," interrupted the other, laughing; "and so it will be
before long, if I don't get a chance to clean up. But, Major, by the
time both of us are wrung out and dried, and sister has looked up some
dinner, I'll be ready to unfold a plan that will make things look as
bright for you and Winn and the rest of us as the sun that's breaking
away the clouds is going to make the sky directly."
Mrs. Caspar's brother William, "Billy Brackett," as all his friends
called him, was a young civil engineer of more than usual ability. He
had already gained a larger stock of experience and seen more of his
own country than most men of his age, which was about twenty-six. From
government work in the East and on the lower Mississippi he had gone to
the Kansas Pacific Railway, been detailed to accompany an exploring
party across the plains, and, after spending some time on the Pacific
coast, had just returned to the Mississippi Valley--out of a job, to be
sure, but with the certainty of obtaining one whenever he should want
it. From the moment of leaving San Francisco he had intended making
the Caspars a visit, and had directed his journey towards their home.
In Chicago he had run across an engineering friend named Hobart, who
was at that moment regretting the pressure of business that forbade his
trying for what promised to be a most profitable contract. It was one
for furnishing all the bridge timber to be used in the construction of
a new railway through Wisconsin. The bids were to be opened in Madison
two days later. Acting upon the impulse of the moment, Billy Brackett
hastened to that city and tendered a bid for the contract, which, to
his surprise, was accepted.
In doing this the young engineer had counted upon the assistance of his
brother-in-law, from whose mill he expected to obtain the timber he had
thus contracted to furnish. As the work must be begun immediately, he
hurried on to the Major's house with an offer of partnership in this
promising undertaking, and arrived as we have seen.
"It's a big thing Major," the young man said in conclusion, after
explaining these details at the dinner-table; "and it's not only a big
thing in itself, but it will lead to other contracts equally good."
"I should like nothing better than to join you in such an enterprise
Billy," replied the Major; "but I don't see how I can go into it just
now, with this affair of Winn and the raft on my hands. You say the
work must be begun at once?"
"Yes. It really should be started this very day, and it can, if you'll
agree to the rest of my plan. You see, I've only told you the half I
thought out before getting here. Since then I have added as much more,
which is something like this: Suppose you and I change places. You
take my horse and go to Madison in the interests of the contract, while
Bim and I will take your skiff and start down the river in the
interests of Winn and the raft. You know a heap more about getting out
bridge timber than I do, while I expect I know more about river rafting
than you do. Not that I'm anything of a raftsman," he added, modestly,
"but I picked up a good bit of knowledge concerning the river while on
that government job down in Arkansas. If you'll only give me the
chance, I'll guarantee to find the raft and navigate it to any port you
may choose to name--Dubuque, St. Louis, Cairo, New Orleans, or even
across the briny--with such a chap as I know your Winn must be for a
mate. When we reach our destination we can telegraph for you, and you
can arrange the sale of the ship and cargo yourself. As for me, I've
had so much of dry land lately that I'm just longing for a home on the
rolling deep, the life of a sailor free, and all that sort of thing.
What do you say? Isn't my scheme a good one?"
"I declare I believe it is!" exclaimed the Major, who had caught a
share of his young kinsman's enthusiasm, and whose face had visibly
brightened during the unfolding of his plans. "Not only that, but I
believe your companionship with Winn on this river trip, and your
example, will be infinitely better for him than mine. I have noticed
that young people are much more apt to be influenced by those only a
few years older than themselves than they are by persons whose ideas
they may regard as antiquated or old-fogyish."
"Oh, papa, how can you say so?" cried Elta, springing up and throwing
her arms about his neck. "How can you say that you could ever be an
old fogy?"
"Perhaps I'm not, dear, to you," answered the Major, smiling at his
daughter's impetuosity; "but to young fellows mingling with the world
for the first time nothing pertaining to the past seems of any value as
compared with the present or immediate future. Consequently a
companion who is near enough of an age to sympathize with the pursuits
and feelings of such a one can influence him more strongly than a
person whose thoughts are oftener with the past than with the future."
"I can't bear to hear you talk so, husband," said Mrs. Caspar. "As if
our Winn wouldn't be more readily influenced by his own father and
mother than by any one else in the world! At the same time, I think
William's plan well worth considering, for I have hated the idea of
that raft trip for you. I have dreaded being left alone here with only
Elta, too, though I wouldn't say so when I thought there wasn't
anything else to be done."
With this unanimous acceptance of the young engineer's plan, it took
but a short time to arrange its details, and before dark everything was
settled. The Major was to leave for Madison the next morning, while
Billy Brackett was to start down the creek that very evening, so as to
be ready at daylight to begin his search for the missing raft at the
point where it had been last reported. By his own desire he was to go
alone in the skiff, except for the companionship of his trusty Bim, who
made a point of accompanying his master everywhere. The young man was
provided with an open letter from Major Caspar, giving him full
authority to take charge of the raft and do with it as he saw fit.
Both Mrs. Caspar and Elta wrote notes to Winn, and gave them to Billy
Brackett to deliver. The major also wrote a line of introduction to an
old soldier who had been his most devoted follower during the war. He
was now living with a married niece near Dubuque, Iowa, and might
possibly prove of assistance during the search for the raft.
Thus equipped, provided with a stock of provisions, and a minute
description of both the raft and of Winn, whom he did not hope to
recognize, the young engineer and his four-footed companion set forth
soon after supper on their search for the missing boy. An hour later
they too were being swept southward by the resistless current of the
great river.