A WAIF FROM THE RIVER
The cable tying the rowboat to the _Rambler_ parted with a snap as the
wreckage struck the light craft, and Alex. went rocking and bobbing
down toward the Gulf of Mexico! The boys on the _Rambler_ saw him get
out an oar to secure steerway, though he was pressed on by the house
roof which had done the mischief.
It was not a flat roof, but one with two steep sides and a sharp apex.
It rode the current apex up, as if floating on a floor crossing under
the eaves. On the top of the ridge-boards, clinging on with hands and
bare heels, and shouting fit to wake the people of Cairo, the lads on
the _Rambler_ saw a half-dressed negro boy of perhaps ten or eleven
years. The more the roof bobbed on the waves the louder he yelled.
When the line snapped Clay rushed to the motors and turned on full
power. The _Rambler_ trembled as she thrust her nose against the
current, wavered, and then, answering her helm, swung around broadside
to the sweep of water, shook a mass of wreckage from her prow, as a
dog shakes off water, and edged down stream.
In a minute after the accident the powerful motor boat was chasing
Alex., the little negro boy, and the teetering roof down toward
Memphis! It was dark on the river, and the roaring of the waters made
the prospect doubly disagreeable. The current was running fast, and
that one minute of getting under way had swept the rowboat some
distance down stream. Still it was just visible under the strong prow
light.
"There's Alex.'s fish!" shouted Chase, pointing to the cowering negro
boy on the apex of the roof. "Wonder how he wants him cooked for
supper?"
"The last find Alex. made," Jule laughed, "was a bear! What will he be
finding next? S-a-a-y, you coon!" he called out, shaping his hands for
a trumpet in order to direct his voice, "don't you go to dropping off!
We'll pick you up with the motor boat," he continued, as the little
fellow began scrambling toward the water's edge.
"There he goes!" shouted Clay, as the negro boy, not heeding Jule's
directions, went clattering down the shingles and dropped into the
river. "The little fellow was afraid we would go away and leave him!
What do you think of that?" he added. "The coon is swimming like a
fish to the rowboat!"
The boy would have reached the rowboat handily if a heavy piece of
timber had not intervened. It struck him head-on as he swam, and he
went under the brown waters. Then the boys on the _Rambler_ saw Alex.
throw off his coat, take the broken line between his teeth, and dive
into the river, just missing the great timber as he went headfirst
into the flood! There was a growl and a snarl on deck, and then
Captain Joe and Teddy Bear were both in the river, swimming down
toward the swaying roof.
The bulldog, with the instinct of the intelligent canine, doubtless
recognized the peril of the situation and took to the water on an
errand of rescue, but with the bear it was different. He had been
patiently taught to bathe and play in the water with the boys, and now
he saw only a frolic ahead!
However this may be, it was the bear cub who seized the negro boy as
he came to the surface, half supported by Alex.'s arm. The little
fellow had not been rendered unconscious by the blow he had received,
and was able to sustain himself in the water as soon as he came to the
surface.
Alex. was busy hauling the boat back, or trying to, with the end of
the line in one hand, and Captain Joe swam directly to him. He knew
that if he released the line the rowboat would drift away, leaving him
and his companions to be rescued by the _Rambler_, and he had a
stubborn notion that he would like to get out of the mess without the
assistance of his chums! They would then have no opportunity to make
sly remarks about his skill as a fisherman! The fishline was wound
around his left arm, and he believed that the fish he had been playing
when the accident took place was still on the hook!
The situation was clearing, for Alex. held to the line, and boy, bear,
dog, and frightened negro boy, were doing very well in the swift
current when another mass of wreckage came sweeping down upon them. As
it came down Alex. dove under, and the negro boy started to do the
same, but just then his eyes fell on the bear, hanging to his arm, and
with a scream which only half disclosed how scared he was he scrambled
on the floating heap of brush and was swept down stream!
His round eyes were, apparently, as large as saucers and as white as
chalk as he turned to see Teddy Bear pursuing him to his place of
refuge. Familiar with the water game, the bear chased the negro boy to
the limit of the wreckage and pushed him in with his nose. By this
time Alex. was clinging to the rowboat, with Captain Joe serving as
chaperon, and the _Rambler_ was at hand, the boys on board cheering
Teddy and the negro boy as they chased around the brush heap from
which they had been pitched into the river. Although they called out
to the boy not to be afraid of the bear, his cries rose above the roar
of the waters!
Alex. and Captain Joe were picked up first, the rowboat made secure,
and then the _Rambler_ rounded the floating mass of brush and took
Teddy on board. The little fellow scrambled away from the hands
reached out to grasp him, his eyes following the figure of the bear as
it was lifted on deck.
"Fo' de Lawd's sake!" he gasped, his eyes round and white, "don' yo'
feed dis coon to dat bear! He sure done eat dis chile!"
When passed up to the deck the boy gave one look at the bear, let out
another yell of fright, and, ducking into the cabin, dodged under the
table, where he crouched on hands and knees, his eyes sticking out
like white doorknobs. The boys were too full of laugh for the time
being to try to explain matters to him.
As soon as Alex. was on deck he began unwinding the fishline from his
arm. Then he played it over the side of the boat, much to the
amusement of his chums.
"Perhaps you think I didn't catch a fish?" the lad demanded, with a
wink at Clay.
"If you didn't get a fish," laughed Clay, "it is about the only thing
you didn't bring out of the river with you! We fished out a bear, a
dog, and a baby coon with you! You surely ought to have a fish!"
And Alex. did have a fish! It was firmly hooked, and came flopping out
of the water when he drew in the line. Still under the table, with his
eyes on the bear, the rescued negro boy licked his chops when he saw
it. Clay observed the action and went to him. After a time the little
fellow was coaxed out of his hiding-place.
"That's a pet bear!" explained Clay. "He won't bite you!"
The boy seemed to want to believe the other, for the sake of the fish
supper which appeared to be coming soon, but he edged away from the
cub, all the same!
"You hungry?" asked Case, coming up.
The little fellow nodded, and Case went on.
"What's your name?"
"Abraham Lincoln Charles Sumner Horace Greeley Banks!"
The little chap repeated the names in a sing-song tone, with the air
of one who had been carefully drilled in the repetition. The boys
broke into shouts of laughter, and even Teddy Bear nosed his way
through the little group and stood gazing at the negro boy with
reproving eyes! The boy tried to dodge away, but Clay held him fast.
"Jerusalem!" Case cried, as soon as he could control his voice. "What
a name! Where did you get it, chile?"
"Mah mammy done 'stowed it on me!" was the reply.
"Well, it is too long," Clay decided, "so we'll just call you Mose! Do
you happen to be hungry, little one?" he added, with a glance at the
fish.
In answer the boy laid his hands on the region of his stomach and
grinned.
"Where do you live?" asked Alex., ringing the water out of his
clothes, which had been removed as soon as he reached the deck. "What
will your mammy say to your going off on the river? She'll wallop you,
chile, good an' plenty!"
"I done run away!" answered the boy.
"That's two to-night!" grinned Alex., preparing to dress the fish for
supper. "How many more are we likely to find before we get to the
Gulf?"
Teddy Bear, who seemed to feel that he was deserving of some attention
for having rescued Mose from instant death in the river, now came up
and brushed his soft nose over the boys' hand. Mose's eyes grew wider,
but, seeing that the bear did not offer to bite, he ventured to stroke
his head, whereat the cub sat up on his hind feet and asked to have a
boxing lesson!
"That bear is a spoiled child!" Case remarked, as Teddy began sparing.
"He is no good at all--just a clown!"
"Where did you run from?" asked Jule, anxious to know more of the
negro boy.
"San Louee," was the reply. "I done lived on th' levee!"
"From St. Louis, eh?" Clay said. "Where do you want to go?"
"I done hire out to you all," was the reply.
"Of course!" Alex. laughed. "Didn't we bring him up out of the waters?
He'll make a fine playmate for Teddy Bear!"
"If he doesn't disappear, as that other waif did," smiled Clay.
"Where do you suppose that boy went to?" asked Alex. "He never swam to
shore, that is, to the other shore, and if he had landed on the pier
when the men came on board they would certainly have seen him. I
reckon the darkness just ate him!"
"And the man who came to speak a good word for him!" Clay went on. "If
he had been the thief wanted for the Rock Island diamond and fur
robbery, he couldn't have been more mysterious. The boy said he would
be made to tell about the robbery if they found him, and this man
wanted to get him out of the way, so I guess we can put the pieces
together and patch out the truth. The man is one of the robbers and
the boy belongs to him!"
"If I had the Sherlock genius you toss out so easily," Jule cut in,
"I'd put it in a book. Why should the robber come to us to speak a
good word for the boy? He ought to have known that we'd see through
the game."
"He may not be the robber at all," Case observed. "There was some
mystery connected with the two, and that's all we know about it! The
man is gone, and the boy is gone, and they are probably drowned, so we
may as well count the story closed."
"I'll go you a dinner at the Bismark, as soon as we get back to
Chicago," Clay insisted, "that we find both the man and the boy before
we get down to the Gulf!"
"You're in for the dinners, then!" Case exclaimed. "And now," he went
on, "what are we going to do to-night? Are we going on down the river,
or are we going to get into some cozy little slip and anchor for the
second time?"
"I'm no good Solomon on an empty stomach," laughed Clay. "Wait until
Alex. has his fish supper served! You want some, too, don't you Mose?"
he added, turning to the little fellow, who stood gazing from the bear
to the fish, now ready for the pan.
"I's done gone empty cl'ar to mah toes!" was Mose's reply.
After the fish had been eaten Mose was put to bed in one of the bunks,
and the boys decided to go on down the river. They wanted to get away
from any such entanglement as had been suggested by the visit of the
officers and the search of the motor boat.
They made a long distance with little trouble, as they were going with
the driftwood, and at daylight tied up in a small bayou, at the end of
which a deserted old house stood lowering down upon the flood with a
touch of mystery in the broken windows and overhanging eaves!