THE RAFT AND THE SHOW-BOAT CHANGE CREWS.
It must be remembered that while Winn would have recognized Mr. Gilder,
he had not seen the other "river-traders," Plater and Grimshaw. Of
these two, the former had not set eyes on the lad whose raft they had
stolen; but the latter had caught a glimpse of him, and now, as he
noted Winn's startled glance into the interior of the "shanty," it
flashed into his mind who this intrusive boy was.
The "river-traders" had not really expected Winn to follow them. They
imagined that after he escaped from the island, which they hoped he
would not do for several days, he would be glad enough to make the best
of his way home. Still, they had taken the precaution of disguising
the _Venture_ by throwing the wheat overboard, tearing down the
buildings in which it had been stowed, and erecting a tent in place of
one of them. As they were well provided with various changes of wigs
and beards, they felt quite safe until Billy Brackett boarded the raft
for the second time, and made inquiries for one having three
"shanties." Then they realized that a search was being made for them,
or, at least, for the craft from which they were operating.
They felt somewhat easier when one of their number, detailed to watch
the movements of their unwelcome visitor, returned and reported that he
had gone back up the river. Still, they thought it well to again alter
the appearance of the raft by removing the tent, and so lengthening the
"shanty" as to materially change its aspect. They also allowed the
raft to drift night and day for nearly five hundred miles without a
pause. Then, again feeling safe from pursuit, they tied up just below
the City of Alton, Illinois, and prepared to resume their dishonest
business.
Their plan of operations was to purchase goods wherever they stopped,
but always in such small quantities that for the bills they tendered in
payment they received a certain amount of good money in change. A
little farther along they would offer the goods thus accumulated for
sale so cheaply that they readily disposed of them. In this way they
not only did a thriving business, but kept up the appearance of being
what they claimed to be--"river-traders" and raftsmen.
In this wicked scheme of cheating and stealing, Plater and Grimshaw
felt no scruples nor regrets; but with Mr. Gilder, especially after his
meeting with Sabella, the case was different. He was a man of
gentlemanly instincts, and was a skilful engraver, who had worked in
the Government Printing-office at Washington for several years. There
he was extravagant, got into debt, yielded to the temptation to make a
fortune easily, and became a counterfeiter. The present undertaking
was his first experience in that line of wickedness, and he was already
heartily sick of it. While on the island, where his part of the work
was engraving and printing, he had not realized the contemptible nature
of his unlawful business. He had merely been filled with pride in his
own skill, which feeling his associates took good care to encourage by
artful praise.
When he met Sabella, it flashed across him for the first time that his
own little girl, far away in an eastern city, was the daughter of a
criminal, and from that moment he was a changed man. Through the long
days and longer nights, as the raft drifted down the great river, these
thoughts were ever with him: "What will she say when she finds it out?
How will she act? Will she ever kiss me, or even speak to me again? I
have made her very name a disgrace. What shall I do to wipe it out?
What shall I do?"
His companions noticed his strange mood, and jeered at him, but failed
to change it. Finally they became suspicious, and held secret
consultations as to how they should rid themselves of him. They
finally determined to accomplish this in some way at St. Louis, and so
matters stood when they made their stop at Alton. Here they intended
remaining until they had transacted a satisfactory amount of business.
Thus, on the foggy morning following Don Blossom's escape from the
_Whatnot_, Messrs Gilder and Plater had gone into the town to
familiarize themselves with its localities, while Grimshaw was left to
look out for the raft. Now Winn Caspar had accidentally discovered it,
and recognized it as the _Venture_.
He did not know the man standing in the doorway and looking so
curiously at him, nor did he suppose himself known by the other. So,
with a great effort, he strove to conceal the tumult of his feelings,
and to appear natural and self-possessed. He answered the man's curt
inquiry regarding his business there by saying, in as pleasant a tone
as he could command, that he was searching for a lost monkey, which he
thought might have taken to the timber beside which this raft was
moored. "You startled me by throwing open your door so suddenly just
as I was about to knock," he continued; "but you haven't seen anything
of a stray monkey this morning, have you?"
"Not until this moment," answered the man, surlily, "and I don't want
to see any more of him. Good-day."
With this he slammed the door in the boy's face, and then, stealing on
tiptoe to a window, watched for his departure from the raft.
To say that Mr. Grimshaw was rendered uneasy and apprehensive by this
sudden appearance of one whom he suppose to be hundreds of miles away,
and who was also the very person he was most anxious to avoid, would by
no means express his feelings. He was so terrified and unnerved that
for a moment he thought of leaving the raft to its fate, and making
good his own escape while he had time. Then he wondered if it would
not be better to cast it loose and drift away through the fog to some
new hiding-place. It would never do to go without his partners,
though; for, in the first place, he could not manage the raft alone,
and in the second there was no knowing what Gilder would do if he
thought himself deserted and perhaps betrayed. No, he must find his
associates without delay, and warn them of this unexpected danger. He
wondered if the boy were alone. Perhaps he had friends in hiding near
by, to whom he had gone to report. In that case his own safety
demanded that he discover them before they reached the raft. The boy
had already disappeared in the timber, and there was no time to be lost
in following him.
Thus reasoning, Grimshaw left the "shanty," locking its door behind him
as he did so, and springing ashore, hastened up the trail, along which
Winn had disappeared a few seconds before. It took him about three
minutes to reach the far edge of the timber and outskirts of the town.
Here several streets began, and as he could not follow them all, he was
brought to a halt. Which way should he go now? He had seen nothing of
the boy, whom he certainly ought to have overtaken before this, nor of
any other person. Could he have passed them? Where should he look for
Gilder and Plater? Would it not be better, after all, to await their
return on the raft? Of course it would. He had been a fool to leave
it, and now his best plan was to get back to it as quickly as possible.
These thoughts occupied less than a minute, and so impatient was the
man to regain the raft he had just left that inside of two minutes more
he again stood on the river-bank. He had been gone barely five
minutes, and in that time he had not seen a human being. Now he could
not see the raft. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. He could see a
few rods of water, but beyond that the fog was impenetrable. He
shouted, but there was no answer. Perhaps this was not the place. He
ran a little way up the shore, and then as far in the opposite
direction, but without success. Then he returned to his
starting-point, and found the end of a rope. It was attached to a
tree, and had been cut. It was a bit of the line that had held the
raft, and the raft was gone.
The blow was a heavy one, and for a few minutes Grimshaw stood like one
who is stunned. The loss of that raft, under the circumstances, meant
ruin. It meant the loss of everything he had or cared for in the
world. At first the realization of this loss rendered him speechless.
Then he began to rave and revile his own carelessness. After a few
minutes devoted to this he again started up the trail. He was
determined to procure some craft and start in instant pursuit of the
raft. He would go in company with his partners if he ran across them,
but alone if he did not. Before he reached the far edge of the timber
he met Plater running and breathless.
"Get back to the raft!" shouted the new-comer. "They're after us!"
"They've got us," was the bitter answer. "At least they've got the
raft, and we must hunt some boat in which to follow them at once."
A few words more explained the situation, and, angry as he was, Plater
did not stop to waste time in idle reproaches just then. He only
said, "It's that sneak Gilder's doings, I'll bet my pile."
Grimshaw agreed to this, and as they hurried along they both thought of
their partner as floating down the river on the raft in company with
their enemies and glorying over their discomfiture.
"We'll get even with him, though," growled Plater.
"Yes, we _will_," snarled Grimshaw.
And then they met the object of their anger hurrying away from the
levee which they were approaching.
"Where are you fellows going?" he cried, and then, in a lower tone, he
added, "We've got to get out of here in a hurry, for they are in this
very town and looking for us. I've just come from their boat."
"Who have they left aboard?" asked Grimshaw.
"Only a child," was the answer.
"Let us take a look at it, then, so we will know it as well as you the
next time we see it."
So Mr. Gilder went back to point out the _Whatnot_ to his companions,
and when they sprang aboard and began to cast off the lines that held
it to the levee he followed them, with a vague idea of protecting
Sabella.
The next moment, Solon, who had just finished hitching up Reward, was
startled by the ringing of the engine-room bell. It was the signal to
go ahead. Thinking that the others must have returned and were ready
to start, he obeyed it. Thus the _Whatnot_, in full possession of the
"river-traders," moved slowly out into the stream, and again started in
pursuit of the raft she had followed for so long.