IN CLOD'S CABIN.
Aunt Viney heard Bim's joyful voice, and glancing anxiously towards the
door of the room in which Sabella lay, she muttered, "Drat dat ar dorg!
He sholy wake up missy wif he barkin'."
The barking did waken Sabella, and as she lifted her head to listen,
she whispered wonderingly to herself, "It's Bim! It's dear old Bim. I
know his voice."
Winn, bending wearily over the statement he was preparing for the
police, heard the barking, and looked up with a startled expression on
his troubled face. "If I didn't know that it couldn't be, I should say
that was Bim's bark. Poor old dog!" he thought.
The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry. Could the dead come
to life? Could the drowned be resurrected? Could the handsome,
smiling, eager figure in the doorway be that of the young uncle whose
untimely death he had so truly mourned? A quick step, a joyful shout,
and the two were face to face, with hand clasped in hand.
[Illustration: "The next instant he sprang to his feet with a cry."]
"It has been a terrible lesson, Uncle Billy, but I think I have learned
it," said Winn.
"Thank God, my dear boy, that the experience has been gained so
cheaply; for I feared it had cost you your life."
"But where is my little one, my Sabella?" asked Cap'n Cod, anxiously.
"They told me she was here."
"Here I am, Uncle Aleck," came the dear voice from the inner room.
Then there was another glad reunion of those who had thought never
again to meet in this life; while the old man counted as nothing the
loss of all he had possessed, so long as this child was left to him.
When Aunt Viney was told who Solon was, she made him a deep courtesy,
and then, with tears streaming down her cheeks, she began to sing:
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
Before she finished the first line they were all singing with her, and
never did this grand old hymn of thanksgiving find a more fervent
utterance.
As for Bim, there never was a happier bull-dog in this world. He
barked as long as his voice held out, and jumped up on every one, and
tore wildly about the room until his chain fastened itself to a table
leg. Then, with a few spoke-like revolutions, he became completely
wound up, and lay panting on the floor, only waiting to be released
that he might again go through with the entire performance.
After comparative quiet had been restored, though every one was still
talking at once, the questions arose, "Who saved Sabella? Was any one
drowned? If so, who was it? Did Winn bring the _Whatnot_ down the
river? If not, how did he reach the scene of the catastrophe? How did
the boy's signature happen to be attached to the paper in possession of
the steamboat Captain?" These and a dozen other questions were asked
in a breath, and then all began to answer them at once. Finally, Billy
Brackett called the meeting to order, and asked each one to tell his
story in turn, beginning with Cap'n Cod.
The most interesting stories, and those throwing the most light on the
situation, were Winn's and Sabella's. At first they were all puzzled
to know who Mr. Gresham could have been. Then Sabella said, "Why,
don't you know, Uncle Aleck? He was the one who sold you the canoe,
and the one Winn said was a bad man. He brought Don Blossom back, and
I told him all about Mr. Brackett and Winn and the raft and everything,
and he was so glad he started right off to find them. Then he came
back with two other men, and said you were all on the raft, and they
borrowed the _Whatnot_ to go and find you with. He was one of the very
nicest and kindest and best men I ever knew, and was going to be my
'Uncle Billy,' so I could have one as well as Winn, and now he's
drowned, and--"
Here the little girl began to sob bitterly, while Billy Brackett and
Winn and Cap'n Cod looked at each other, and almost simultaneously
pronounced the name "Gilder."
They did not speak it very loud, for the last splendid act of the man's
life had won for him the right to an unstained name. Hereafter they
would only remember him as William Gresham the hero.
Thus was cleared up most of the mystery that, like the fog, had
enveloped the proceedings of that memorable day.
Now what was to be done next? Where was the raft, and was it the
_Venture_ or not? At one moment Winn was certain that it was, while
the next found him again doubtful.
At length it was decided that Solon should remain with his brother for
the present, while the others should go to a hotel in the city across
the river. From there Billy Brackett would telegraph to the
authorities of towns farther down, asking them to watch for an
abandoned raft, and if they found it to hold it until he could go on
and prove ownership. The raft being described as belonging to a Major
Caspar, Winn's name was signed to all these despatches, in order to
prevent confusion.
From the hotel Billy Brackett also thought it best to telegraph Major
Caspar of their safe arrival in St. Louis, though, as they had not yet
recovered the raft, it would be unnecessary for him to come on, and a
promise to write full particulars at once. In the Major's absence from
home this despatch was opened by Mrs. Caspar, who had been growing very
anxious of late concerning the voyagers on the great river. The moment
she read it she sat down and wrote another despatch to her husband, who
was in Chicago. It was:
"Raftmates in St. Louis. Southern Hotel. Please join them
immediately."
"Just ten words," she said to herself, with a complacent sigh, as she
handed this to the waiting messenger. "Now if John acts promptly, he
may catch those crazy boys before they have the chance to start off on
any other absurd expedition. I only hope to goodness that he'll have
the sense to bring them home, and let that wretched raft drift where it
likes."
Major Caspar could not start for St. Louis the next day, but he did so
on the following morning, and late that same evening he walked into the
office of the Southern Hotel. He was beginning to make inquiries at
the desk, when his hand was seized and violently shaken. Turning
quickly, he at once recognized his faithful old army friend Cap'n Cod,
and gave him a cordial greeting.
"But where are the others?" he inquired at length.
"Gone down the river an hour ago, by the Short Line," was the
unexpected reply. "You see, we only got word this evening that an
abandoned raft, answering our description, had just been picked up near
Cairo, and Mr. Brackett thought it best that he and Winn should go on
at once to indentify it. It was also decided that Sabella and I should
remain here until we heard from them, because it might not be the
_Venture_, you know, and then I'm not sure that we want to go any
farther down the river, anyway. You see, since losing the _Whatnot_,
I've rather lost interest--"
"Losing the _Whatnot_!" interrupted the Major. "What do you mean?"
"Why, haven't you heard?" Then they sat down, and the old man related
all that had happened to the _Whatnot_ and her passengers since leaving
Dubuque.
When the recital was ended, the Major drew a long breath, and
exclaimed, "Well, for mysterious happenings, incidents, and rapid
changes of scene, that beats anything in the line of Mississippi
rafting that ever I heard of. So now they are off again, and goodness
knows what scrapes they will get into next; while here I am, as
helpless to prevent them as an old hen with a brood of ducklings.
There is one thing I can do, though. I must return to Caspar's Mill at
once, and I want you and your niece to go with me. With my recently
increased business, I need just such a man as you to look after my home
interests, while my daughter Elta, needs just such a girl as your
Sabella is described to be for a companion."
Tears stood in the old soldier's eyes as he realized all that this
offer meant to him and to the girl who was so dear to him; and, in
accepting it, he blessed the kindly heart by which it had been prompted.
The Major sent a despatch to the address in Cairo left by Billy
Brackett, directing that young man to dispose of the raft as he thought
best, to take care of Winn, come home as soon as they could, and
telling of his plans for Cap'n Cod and Sabella. He also telegraphed to
Mrs. Caspar that he should be at home the next day but one, bringing
strangers with him.
She, of course, thought he meant the "raftmates," as she had called
Winn and Billy Brackett from the first, and was amazed to see an old
man and a young girl seated in the carriage with her husband as it
drove up to the house. At first she was greatly disappointed, but
within a few days she became reconciled to the new arrangement, for she
could not help loving the gentle old man who was so fond of her boy,
nor rejoicing in the warm friendship that almost immediately sprang up
between Elta and Sabella.
In the mean time Billy Brackett and Winn reached Cairo early in the
morning, and after breakfast at a hotel, they called on the City
Marshal, who had sent the despatch relating to the raft. To their
surprise, he received them coldly, and informed them that Mr. Caspar
had already been there, had expressed his willingness to pay a hundred
dollars reward for the recovery of his raft, and had just gone down to
take possession of it.
This was an astounding bit of information, and Winn was about to let
his rapidly rising indignation break forth, when Billy Brackett
restrained him, and asked, mildly, if the Marshal had any objections to
their looking at the raft in question simply to gratify their curiosity.
"Oh no. You can look at her as much as you like, and you will find her
just around the point there, in possession of the two young men who
picked her up--that is, if they haven't already turned her over to her
rightful owner."
Again Winn would have exploded, but again his companion restrained him,
at the same time leading him from the office.
They found the raft without much difficulty, and walked on board. Just
then the broken door of the "shanty" opened, and two young fellows,
hardly older than Winn, stepped out. As they did so one of them turned
and said, politely, "Well, good-bye, and a pleasant voyage to you, Mr.
Caspar." Then they both faced the new-comers.
Such an expression of blank amazement as flashed over their faces Winn
thought he had never seen. For an instant they stood spellbound. Then
there was a yell of recognition, or rather a chorus of yells from both
sides.
"Billy Brackett, as I'm a sinner! Whoop! Hooray for the Baldheads and
the Second Division!"
"Billy Brackett, or his ghost!"
"Glen Eddy! Grip, old man! How? When? Where? Why?
"'Oh, gimminy crack, come hold me tight.
It makes me laugh and shout.
It fills my heart with gay delight
When--'"