THE RISING WATERS
"IT _is_ rising, Roger," admitted the older boy, seriously, as he
surveyed the tumbling waters, rushing along with a noise like the
churning of a score of grist mills, such as the one near the St. Louis
settlement.
"Do you think it will keep on increasing all day, Dick?" asked the
other, with a ring of alarm in his voice.
"It may," was the reply. "That will depend on how far up the river that
heavy rainfall extended. If it covered the whole watershed, then the
river here must keep on getting bigger for a good many hours before it
reaches a crest."
"But we never knew the Missouri to rise at this late time in the
summer, did we, Dick?"
"Not anything like this, that's sure, Roger. Of course, after a heavy
storm it always creeps up. But this is really a flood, and will bother
the exploring expedition for a day or two, I think."
"Oh, but they have boats, and will think little or nothing of it,
Dick," the younger boy went on. "But what a bad fix it finds us in!
What if the water does keep on coming up and up all day; won't it cover
this little island and perhaps wash it away?"
"Oh! hardly that," Dick hastened to answer. "It has stood many floods
in the spring time, because these trees have had a chance to grow."
"But even if that rushing water only covers the island, where will we
be then, I'd like to know? Ugh! it makes me shiver to think of it," and
Roger turned to look once more at the roaring river.
"Of course I don't know where we'll be," Dick observed, calmly; "but if
we've got the good sense I think we have, chances are two boys about
our size will be perched in the branches of the largest tree on the
island, with all their stores about them, waiting for the waters to go
down again."
"Oh! and I never thought of that, either!" exclaimed Roger, apparently
somewhat relieved in his mind, as he noted that one of the trees was
of some size.
"The worst thing about that plan," continued Dick, "is that we've got
to lose our horses; and I hate to think of that more than I can tell
you."
"Will they be drowned, do you think?"
"Well, horses can swim, you know; and they might get ashore if we
turned them loose in good time. But even then, we'd never be able to
track them; and our job of overtaking the expedition would be made
all the harder. Still, we will not be the ones to give it up, Roger.
Nothing could make us do that, could it?"
"No, indeed, it could not," replied the other boy, firmly. "But, Dick--"
"Yes, what idea has come into your mind now?" asked the other lad,
encouragingly.
"Why, when you spoke of turning the horses loose, and letting them have
a chance of reaching the shore, I thought what a fine thing it would be
if we were holding on to the saddles at that time. Why, they'd just tow
us to land with them, you see!"
"Yes, if they got there, which isn't a sure thing at all," replied
Dick. "But we will decide all that later on. Perhaps the river will
rise only a little more, and then come to a stand-still. And, in case
of the worst, we've always got that tree there. Even if it should
be undermined by the flood, and carried away, we might stick in the
branches."
"And float down the river, you mean," added Roger. "That would save
our lives, of course; but think how we'd feel, going away from Captain
Lewis mile after mile. Why, this makes me think of what our fathers
told us about that flood up along the Ohio, that was the cause of their
coming further West."[5]
"That's a fact, it does; and they came near being drowned in that
same flood, too, didn't they?" said Dick. "But let's begin to get our
packages ready, in case we have to climb this tree. It's just as well
to be prepared, even if we never have to carry out that plan."
"But you really think we will have to, don't you, Dick?" persisted the
other.
"If the water gets high enough to cover our island, yes," was the
reply; "because there's really no other way. But these summer floods
come and go quickly. It isn't like the early spring time, when the
ground is frozen, and the downpour can find no way to soak into it, so
that it all rushes off."
Dick was a good fellow to have along on an occasion of this kind.
He always managed to appear cheerful, no matter how seriously the
conditions affected him; and besides this, he was so very fertile in
resource. Seldom did there arise a sudden emergency but that Dick
proved himself capable of suggesting an immediate remedy. In this
particular he resembled his father, Bob Armstrong, who, in the old days
on the Ohio, used to be looked up to by his younger brother, Sandy, on
this account.
It was far from cheerful work, however, standing there keeping track
of the gradual rise of the river. And it lacked the interest that they
might have found in the task had they been at home, and only curious to
know what height the water would reach before starting to as speedily
decline.
Now they had everything at stake; and it meant great peril to them if
the little island should be completely submerged.
Roger had constructed a contrivance whereby they were able to know
just how fast the water rose. This was a stick which he had marked off
in inches, and driven into the ground at the edge of the river. By
consulting it every little while they were enabled to learn the truth,
and it was a continued disappointment.
"It looks as if we'd have to climb, sooner or later, Dick," declared
Roger, when several hours had passed, and they had three times been
forced to retreat before the advance of the flood, removing their
"tally stick" on each occasion.
"I'm sorry to say it's getting that way," replied the other, shaking
his head.
"But what about the horses?" demanded Roger.
"Well, we've got them here by the tree, and when we have to mount up
among the branches we can turn them loose," answered his cousin.
"But, Dick, if they have to go, poor things, why make it harder for
them?"
"I see what you mean, Roger; you think we ought to cut the ropes now,
and let them swim for the shore. It does you credit, too; but I hardly
believe it would work."
"Why wouldn't it?" asked Roger.
"For this reason," came the reply. "Horses are affectionate. They get
accustomed to people, and these ones know us well, because we've
raised them from colts. Now, the chances are that, if we turned them
loose at this minute, they would refuse to leave us until the water
forced them to swim. Even if you pushed one off the island, I feel sure
he would try hard to get back again. So what's the use of turning them
loose now?"
"Perhaps that's so," admitted Roger. "I was only thinking of giving the
poor beasts a better chance to get ashore; because the higher the water
rises the harder it will be for them to swim."
After that they stood watching and waiting; but with only the most
dismal forebodings as to what was to come. And indeed it was anything
but pleasant to think of being made prisoners in a tree that would be
completely surrounded by a raging flood, perhaps for another night and
day. And then the loss of their horses was going to make their task of
overtaking the expedition all the harder.
So the morning passed, and while on several occasions Roger indulged in
new hopes that the water had come to a stand at last, these were only
fated to be dashed to the ground on his next anxious inspection of his
"tally stick," when he learned that the flood was actually making up
for lost time.
"How much longer will we have, Dick?" he asked, when, for the third
time, he had made this unpleasant discovery.
"At the rate it seems to be crawling up our stake, it will only be two
hours until the water will be at the foot of this tree," replied the
other, who had already figured all this out.
"Two hours isn't much time, is it, Dick?"
"Well," replied the other, with a smile, "that all depends on the
conditions. You can look back to lots of times when it would seem like
an eternity. Remember that night when you slipped and fell over that
precipice, just managing to get hold of a bush, and holding on while
you shouted for me to come and help you up, because you couldn't do
anything yourself? If you'd had to hang there, kicking your heels in
space, two hours, instead of ten minutes, I think they'd have seemed
the longest you ever knew."
"That's so," admitted Roger, smiling a little himself at the scene
which his comrade's words recalled. "And just as you say, Dick, we have
been through a good many hard scrapes together, haven't we; and always,
up to now, managed to come out on top? Perhaps we'll do the same this
time, too."
"Why, to be sure we will," declared the other, stoutly, "don't let any
other notion get hold of you, Roger. It's all bound to come out right;
haven't we been told that many times by our mothers, when things looked
a little black--and didn't the sky clear every time? We'll escape from
this island, overtake the expedition, get that paper signed by Jasper
Williams, and bring joy to all our dear ones at home. Why, I'm just as
sure of that, Roger, as that we're standing here right now, wondering
how we're going to get ashore. But a way will be provided, mark my
words."
Never was a prophecy more speedily fulfilled. Hardly had five minutes
passed than Roger clutched the sleeve of his cousin's tunic, and in a
voice that trembled with emotion, burst out:
"Look! oh! look, Dick, are my eyes going back on me--is this one of
those mirages they told us we would meet with on the prairies; or is
that really a boat--yes, two, _three_ of them--down at the bend below,
and working up against even all this fierce current? Three boats,
Dick--wasn't that what Captain Lewis had with him when he started away
from St. Louis? Oh! speak and tell me if I am going out of my mind, and
seeing things that I've been dreaming about so long!"
Dick laughed, and hugged his cousin with rapture.
"No, no, Roger, your eyes are all right, and the boats are there!" he
cried. "We've only managed to get _ahead_ of the expedition, that's
all. And we'll be saved now, Roger! We've won out at last!"
FOOTNOTE:
[5] See "Pioneer Boys of the Mississippi."