IN WHICH PHIL WANDERS ABOUT ST. LOUIS, AND HAS A GLEAM OF HOPE.
When I had completed my toilet, I hastened to find Captain Davis. I was
indignant at his course in leaving Kansas City, and I felt that he had
been guilty of treachery to me and to the Gracewoods. I went all over
the boat, from the wheel-house to the main deck; but the captain was
not to be seen. The engineer, in answer to my inquiry, told me Captain
Davis had been up till after midnight, and probably had not yet turned
out.
"What time did the boat leave Kansas City?" I asked.
"About eleven o'clock; possibly it was half past eleven."
"Did you see anything of the Daylight?"
"Not a thing; and you won't see her till we have been in St. Louis two
or three days," replied the engineer. "She can't keep up with the Fawn.
Besides, we are full of freight and passengers now, and shall make no
long stops anywhere."
"That's mean," I growled, as I left the engineer.
I wanted to cry with vexation; but I had made up my mind that it was
not manly to shed tears. I walked up and down the hurricane deck till
breakfast time. This exercise had a tendency to cool my hot blood, and
I considered the situation in a calmer state of mind. I could be of no
service to the Gracewoods, and the father of the family was abundantly
able to take care of them. If I could only have been assured of their
safety I should have been satisfied.
I went to breakfast; but Captain Davis did not appear till most of the
passengers had left the table. I suspected that he did not wish to see
me; but that did not prevent me from taking a seat at his side, even at
the risk of spoiling his appetite.
"You told me you should not leave Kansas City till the Daylight
arrived, Captain Davis," I began.
"Not exactly, Phil. I told you she would probably be there in the
morning, or something of that kind."
"Why did you leave, then, before morning?"
"Because my passengers were indignant at the delay I had already made
for your friends."
"It was mean."
"Steady, Phil."
"It was mean to serve me such a trick."
"You seem to think, Phil, that we run this boat simply for your
accommodation. You are slightly mistaken. I have done more now than
most captains would have done. However, I suppose you feel bad, and I
won't blame you for being a little cross."
"I didn't mean to be cross," I added, rather vexed that I had spoken so
hastily. "I do feel bad. I have lost my money, and lost my friends."
"And I have done the best I could to help you find both."
"You have, Captain Davis. Excuse me for speaking so hastily."
"All right, Phil; but it's a poor way to blame your friends when things
go wrong."
"I know it is. Mr. Gracewood had all my money except what I lost, and
I haven't a dollar left."
"Well, your passage is paid to St. Louis, and, when the Fawn arrives
there, we will see what can be done for you."
"Thank you, sir. You have been very kind to me, and I am sorry I said
anything out of the way."
"That's all right now. I have no doubt your friends will come down in
the Daylight, and then all will be well with you. Keep cool, and don't
fret about anything."
I tried to follow this advice, but I found it very hard work. I talked
over all the possibilities and probabilities with the captain, and I
was almost convinced that I was worrying myself for nothing. We should
arrive at St. Louis in a couple of days more, and the Daylight would
soon follow us. I watched the ever-changing scene on the shores of
the river with far less delight than when Ella Gracewood sat at my
side. We passed large towns and small ones, and I saw the capital of
Missouri, with its State House and other public buildings. Early on the
morning of the third day after leaving Kansas City we passed into the
Mississippi. A little later in the day we were approaching the great
city of St. Louis.
I gazed, with wonder and astonishment, at the vast piles of buildings.
I saw the crowds of people hurrying to and fro on Front Street, which
borders the river; and I could not help feeling what an insignificant
mite I was in the mass of humanity. At the Castle, where I was brought
up, I was a person of no little consequence; but here, if I were to
figure at all, it must be as a zero. The people on board of the Fawn
seemed to catch the infection of bustling activity, for they began to
hurry back and forth, collecting their baggage, and making preparations
to land.
The boat ran up to the levee, and another lively scene ensued. Hackmen
struggled for the passengers, and porters and draymen added their share
to the din. I was bewildered, and gazed with my mouth wide open at
the bustling life before me. In about an hour the passengers had all
disappeared, and I was almost alone on the boiler deck, from which I
viewed the panorama of civilization, so new and strange, which was
passing before me. The drays were carting off the freight which we
had brought, some of it from the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains. The
captain had told me I might occupy my state-room, and take my meals
with him in the cabin, till the arrival of my friends. I had nothing
to do but wait, and when the scene in the vicinity of the Fawn became
rather tame, I went on shore. The levee for half a mile was flanked
with steamboats, and in several places the excitement I had just
witnessed was repeated.
Leaving Front Street, I walked up Market Street, till I came to the
Court House. Following Fourth Street, I halted, absolutely bewildered
by the magnificent proportions of the Planters' Hotel, which I believe
has since been destroyed by fire. But there was no end to my amazement,
and I will not attempt to paint the impressions of a green boy as he
gazed for the first time upon the elegant public buildings of St.
Louis, and at the splendid private residences. All day long I wandered
about the city, with my mouth, as well as my eyes and ears, wide open.
I gazed at the rich displays of dry goods in the shop windows, and
concluded that the people of the city were made of money if they could
afford to buy such gorgeous apparel. I looked for hours at the pictures
at the print-sellers', and stared at the costly equipages in which
elegantly-dressed ladies were riding. I only returned to the steamer
when my legs ached so that they would hardly sustain the weight of my
body.
In the cabin, at supper, I astonished the captain with a glowing
account of what I had seen, just as though the scene was as new and
strange to him as to me. The next day I repeated my explorations; but
at dinner time I examined all the steamers at the levee to satisfy
myself that the Daylight had not yet arrived. I ventured inside of the
Planters' Hotel, and some of the public buildings, and the interior of
them was even more wonderful to me than the exterior had been.
Two days familiarized me in some degree with the wonders of the great
city, and after that I was able to walk through the streets with my
mouth shut. I felt that I ought to be at work. It was time for me to
commence my new career of existence. In my walks through the city,
I had stopped frequently to observe the work where new buildings were
in process of erection. After examining the work for a while, I came
to the conclusion that I had a great deal to learn before I could be a
carpenter. However, I intended to make a beginning as soon as I could.
[Illustration: PHIL AND CAPTAIN DAVIS. Page 67.]
"The Daylight is just coming in, Phil," said Captain Davis, as I came
in to supper after the tramps of the second day in the city.
"I am so glad!" I exclaimed.
"Eat your supper, Phil, and I will go with you then to the place where
she lies."
"Do you suppose the Gracewoods are on board of her?"
"I have no doubt they are; but I should not be at all alarmed even if
they were not."
"Why not?"
"They may have missed the boat; but we won't guess at anything again.
The Daylight passed us just as you came on board, and will make a
landing below."
I bolted my supper, and was so excited I could not have told whether I
was eating bread or shavings. When the captain had finished his meal,
we hastened down the levee, and were soon on board of the Daylight. The
passengers were just going on shore, and I watched the stairs by which
they were descending to the main deck to catch the first glimpse of any
familiar face. But I was disappointed; and when the last one came down,
my heart sank within me.
Captain Davis ascended to the cabin, and I followed, actually trembling
with anxiety. We found the clerk in his office, at work upon the
manifest.
"Did you take on any passengers at Delaware City?" asked Captain Davis.
"Yes; a dozen of them."
"Any by the name of Gracewood?"
"No," replied the clerk, after he had consulted the list.
"Are you sure, sir?" I asked, unwilling to believe the unpleasant
statement.
"Very sure."
"Please to look again," said I.
"You must excuse me; I am very busy. There is the list; you can
examine it for yourself."
I looked over the names, but that of Gracewood did not occur.
"They are not here, Phil," said Captain Davis.
"No, they are not," I replied, gloomily.
"We will wait a little while, till the hurry is over, and then we may
ascertain something about your friends."
We went out upon the boiler deck, where we could overlook everything
that transpired. The deck hands were landing freight and baggage, and
everybody was hurrying as though his life depended upon his celerity.
"I shall believe they were all drowned if I don't hear something from
them soon," I said.
"That is not at all probable, and I shall not believe anything of that
kind till I have positive evidence of it. It is just as easy, and a
great deal more pleasant, to think everything is right with them,
instead of wrong, until we get the facts."
"You haven't the same interest in the matter that I have, captain."
"That may be; but I don't believe in making myself miserable about
anything on mere guesswork. I think it is all right with your friends.
But I must say, if you don't hear from them to-day, we must make
different arrangements for you, for my owners intend to send the Fawn
down to New Orleans with a freight which we take on at Alton. We shall
go up there to-morrow."
"What will you do with Mr. Gracewood's goods and baggage?"
"Send them to the storehouse. There!" exclaimed he, suddenly, as he
pointed to a man who was wheeling a box on shore. "That is one of the
hands who went with the Gracewoods in the small boat. And there is the
other. We shall soon know what has become of your friends."
The fact that these two men had come down in the Daylight was hopeful,
at least, and Captain Davis and I hastened down to question them; but
the master of the steamer would not release them from their work, and
we were obliged to wait till the hurry was over before we obtained the
coveted information.