FACES AT THE WINDOW
"Look here, Red," the outlaw who had been called Sam said, addressing
the giant, as the _Rambler_ struck the half-submerged tree, "we've got
up against something hard!"
"We never should have put out into the river!" retorted Red. "A few
more bumps like that, and to the fishes we go! Get a pole out, and see
if you can push away from that consarned tree. Then we'll soon get to
shore."
Sam went into the cabin, where Clay sat, side by side with the bear
cub, on a bunk.
"Where's your river pole?" he demanded. "You must have something of
the kind!"
"There's one in hooks at the side of the cabin," replied the boy. "If
you'll cut this cord I'll help you get out of the current."
Sam leered savagely at the boy for a moment, picked up the revolver
which lay on the floor not far away, put it into a pocket, and then
severed the cord.
"Mind you," he said, as Clay sprang for the pole, "if you try any
tricks on us we'll chuck you to the fish!"
Without paying much attention to the threat, Clay grasped the pole and
ran to the prow, which was now entangled in a wilderness of branches
springing from the bole of the tree the boat had struck. The boy's
strength was insufficient, and Red came to his assistance. Both pried
and pushed, but it seemed impossible to back the boat against the
sweep of the current.
As if to make matters worse, a long timber lodged against the stern
and added its weight to that of the motor boat and the running water.
Sam stood looking on with a cynical smile on his hard face.
"You never can do it," he finally declared. "We'll have to let the
boat drift down in company with the tree. Just our luck to strike such
a snag!"
"If that limb wasn't in the way," Red asserted, "we could get the boat
out. It binds on the side of the cabin."
Clay hastened into the cabin and soon returned to the prow with an
axe. Both men eyed him sharply as he came forward with the keen-edged
implement.
"You know what I told you!" Sam shouted, stepping toward the boy.
"Let him alone!" commanded Red. "I reckon the kid knows what he is
about!"
"Now," Clay explained, addressing the big fellow, who seemed more
inclined to be friendly than his companion, "if you'll stand ready
with the pole, I'll get over on the trunk and cut that limb away. Then
we can edge over to the shore."
"Oh, yes!" sneered Sam. "We let you off on the tree, and you go on
down and call out the police at the first landing. Not for your
uncle!"
"Go on," shouted Red, to Clay. "I'll steady you with the pole, and
when the limb is off you give it a poke and come on board. Will you do
that?"
"Sure!" answered the boy. "I have no intention of going off and
leaving the _Rambler_! Hand me the axe when I get down on the trunk,
will you?"
Without waiting for any further conversation, which was difficult
because of the roaring of the river, Clay crept over the gunwale and
landed on the tree, which sank lower under his weight. Then he reached
for the axe, which Red promptly passed to him.
"I wouldn't get down on that tree for a thousand dollars!" cried Sam.
"If he don't time himself to a second, he'll get knocked into a cocked
hat by the boat when she swings loose! I'm not stuck on taking any
such chances."
"That is some kid!" Red exclaimed, admiringly, as Clay chopped away at
the limb. "I wish we had him with us!"
"You want to look out for him!" Sam cautioned. "He may prove to be too
much of a kid for both of us, but I've got him covered, so if he tries
to----"
The limb dropped away after a few strokes with the axe, and the boat
righted and swung against the trunk. The swaying of the trunk upon
which Clay stood threw him into the water, but he clung to the tree
and tried to work back to the boat. Sam lifted the pole to strike his
unprotected head.
"May as well get rid of him now," he declared, with an ugly oath.
Red struck the would-be murderer a savage blow in the face and reached
down to assist the boy to the deck. For a moment it seemed that both
of them must be drawn under the boat, but the big fellow's strength
won, and Clay was hauled, dripping and exhausted, up on deck. Sam eyed
him malevolently and snarled.
"It will come some time!"
Red pushed the boy toward the cabin, the look on his face friendlier
than ever.
"Go and get into dry clothes," he said. "Never mind what Sam says! He
means all right, only he don't know how to express himself!"
The _Rambler_ now swung off toward the shore, and Red and Sam were
kept busy working wreckage out of her course. They snarled at each
other as they worked, and Clay was in constant fear that Sam would
play some treacherous trick on the big fellow in return for the blow
he had received. The marks of the short encounter were still on his
face.
Much to his relief, the _Rambler_ was edged into calmer water next to
the Missouri shore. He had no idea at that time, even, that he would
lose the boat. He did not know what had become of his chums, but he
believed that in some way they would be able to come to his rescue.
They had never failed him.
The _Rambler_ drifted down for some distance, leaking a little but not
seriously, and was finally worked into a little bay where there was no
current.
That was a long day for the boy. Several boats passed up and down on
the river, and relief parties searching for flood victims were
frequently seen, but Red always announced that they were in no trouble
whatever when questioned.
Clay was not bound again, but was kept in the cabin, with the door
closed. He could hear calls from passing boats, but did not dare make
the situation known.
During the day the outlaws devoured what cooked food there was in the
cabin and gave some to the boy. Once Sam lay down for a short nap. Red
was not communicative, and refused to answer any questions as to his
intentions regarding the _Rambler_.
A fine mist came down as the night shut in, but presently the moon
came out, and the outlaws began discussing the advisability of
proceeding on down the river.
"We can get to our landing," Sam insisted. "Once there, we can get
into the bayou back of the island, where no one will think of looking
for us. We must get the boat out of sight," he went on, "before
reports of her capture spread along the river. Besides, the boys will
be waiting for us at the shanty."
"All right," Red finally agreed. "I'm willing to take my chance on
being smashed flat by a tree or floating barn."
Clay listened to the talk with interest. Somehow he began to recognize
the voice of the big fellow! Where had he heard it before? Then, like
a flash, the memory came to him! The man had talked with him from the
river at Cairo! There is where he had heard the voice!
At that time the big fellow had been pleading for the safety of a waif
who had come on board the _Rambler_! Both the man and the waif had
disappeared when the officers had come on board. Clay wondered where
the boy was, and why this outlaw had taken an interest in him. The man
appeared to be kind, though his appearance and his modes of life were
against him. It was all a deep mystery to the boy.
However, the giant's defense of himself, when Sam would have
mistreated and, perhaps, murdered him, led Clay to believe that he was
not wholly depraved. There might be some powerful motive for his
adopting the life of a river outlaw.
The boy resolved, at the first opportunity, to question Red regarding
the fate of the lad who had so suddenly disappeared from the boat that
night. He now saw that the willingness of his companions and himself
to aid the waif had led to good results, for it was this willingness
which had undoubtedly caused the giant to stand between him and injury
or even death. His little loaf of bread cast on the waters had
returned to good purpose!
Sam seized the pole, as soon as Red agreed to his proposition to make
their way down the river without delay, and began working the
_Rambler_ out into the current.
"Better wait until that mess of wreckage passes!" Red advised, as a
crush of floating timbers made its appearance under the moonlight. "If
we get into that bunch we'll never get out again. It will go by in a
few moments."
Sam stood looking at the mass with a frown on his sullen face. He was
anxious to be away for more reasons than one. The boat had undoubtedly
been reported seized long before this, and every craft passing up or
down would soon be looking for her. His idea was that the lads who had
left the boat would soon return and report the disappearance.
He did not know, of course, that Case was at New Madrid, or on the way
there, when they had attacked Clay, nor did he suspect that Alex. and
Jule had fallen into the hands of a band of bandits in every way as
desperate and unscrupulous as that to which he belonged.
But, aside from the question of safety, there was another matter he
wished brought to a conclusion. He had been assaulted by Red, and was
raging for revenge. Once in the company of his lawless fellows, his
revenge might be gained!
"There is some one on that wreckage," the watchful Sam finally
declared. "I saw a movement there. Good thing we are not near enough
to be asked for help."
Red looked at the floating raft and shook his head.
"There is a boat lodged against the mess," he said, "but there's no
one on board her, and there's no one on the raft, either."
The light of the moon was now shut out by a drive of clouds, and the
two men waited for a clear sky again. When the raft was revealed they
saw a white bulldog running up and down across the timbers!
"That's the brute I pitched overboard up in the bayou!" cried Sam. "I
wish I had knocked him on the head. Some of those boys are not far
off."
Red laughed at the idea of the boys being there, But Clay, listening
with every faculty awake, had a different notion of the capabilities
of his chums.
"If Captain Joe is there," the boy mused, his heart bounding with
hope, "the boys are not far off! Anyway, I'll give them a chance to
see the old boat once more!" he continued, reaching out and turning on
the cabin lights.
Sam uttered a fierce oath as the lights flashed out on the rushing
water, and made for the cabin, but Red caught him by the arm and faced
him around.
"Look here!" he snarled, "if you go to making trouble for that boy
I'll send your worthless hulk bobbing down to the Gulf! The lights
won't hurt! We don't have to answer any calls for help that may come.
Now, edge her out into the current and leave the boy to me. There's no
sense in beating up the kid!"
With a word of warning to Clay, not unkindly spoken, Red switched off
the cabin lights, and then went to assist Sam in getting the _Rambler_
out into the stream. Clay heard them saying that the raft was, after
all, empty of life except for the dog.
"The boat lodged against it seems to be broken," Red said, and Clay's
heart went into his throat again. He feared that the boys had been
caught in wreckage and drowned. The presence of the dog showed that
they had been with the broken boat, he thought.
Then, while the two men worked frantically in front, Clay heard the
window leading to the cabin from the stern deck cautiously pushed
aside, and then the faces of Alex. and Case appeared at the opening!