Shawn had been at home for several days. One night when the waves were
rolling high on the stream, he sat in the office of the hotel, which
stood on the bank of the river. A cheerful log fire glowed in the old
fireplace. Pence Oiler, the ferryman, sat in the corner puffing at a cob
pipe. Suddenly, came the loud cry of "Hello!" When the door was opened,
a young man and woman came into the office. They had hurriedly gotten
out of a buggy and both seemed very much agitated, and the young man
quickly informed them that they were eloping from a neighboring county
and were being hotly pursued by an angry father and brother. Shawn's
gaze was fixed on the young woman, for never before had he seen such a
beautiful face, such lustrous, dark eyes, lit up by the flame of love,
seemed to shed a glow upon the dingy walls of the old room.
"Where can I find the ferryman?" asked the young man.
"I am the ferryman," said old Pence, "but you can't cross the river
to-night; the wind is too high."
"But I must cross," said the young man, as a wild glance shot from his
eye. "I'll give you ten dollars to set us over!"
"I'm feer'd to resk it," said Pence, but the beautiful girl went up to
him, and with a smile which seemed to melt into the very soul, softly
said, "I am not afraid. Won't you take us?"
Old Pence hesitated for a moment and then turned and asked, "Who will go
with me?"
"Let me go, Mr. Oiler," said Shawn, never thinking of danger connected
with the river.
"Can you hold the rudder?" asked old Pence as he turned to Shawn.
"I'll hold it, Mr. Oiler," said Shawn. Down to the shore they went, the
sweet woman calm and undisturbed, while the young man at her side was
trembling and uneasy. The wind was blowing a gale, and the waves were
beating angrily upon the shore.
[Illustration: "I'll give you ten dollars to set us over."]
After several attempts, Shawn and Oiler succeeded in launching the boat
and getting up sail. The spray and water came drenching the young woman,
but she quietly took her seat.
"Hold her dead on Ogman's hill!" yelled Oiler to Shawn. The wind
bellowed into the stout sail and they shot into the foam, Shawn leaning
back with a firm grasp on the tiller, and his eye fixed on Oiler.
"Keep her quartered, with stern to the wind, and don't give her a chance
to sheer!" shouted Oiler.
"Is there much danger?" asked the bridegroom, as his teeth chattered.
Oiler did not answer him but yelled to Shawn, "Hold her steady and
fast!"
"I'm trying to," said the groom, clutching his fair companion.
"I wasn't talking to you," said Oiler.
They were nearing the Indiana shore. Oiler shouted to Shawn, "Turn her
down a few points, then lift her out on the shore!" and beautifully did
they mount high on the pebbled beach. Oiler turned to Shawn and said,
"We'll not go back to-night." They went to the hotel. The proprietor
found the county clerk and a minister, and there in the little hotel
parlor, Shawn saw their passengers take the marriage vows.
"Wasn't he scared comin' over?" said Shawn to Oiler as they went to bed.
"Yes," said Oiler, "but wimmen always has the best grit when it comes to
a showdown, and when a woman makes up her mind to do a thing, 'spesh'ly
to git married, thar ain't no river or anything else can stop her. I've
seed a good many couples cross this stream--some of 'em, I reckon, wish
they had never made the trip. I fetched old Joe Davis over here with his
third wife. He run away with old Dodger Spillman's girl. Old Dodger
killed a plug hoss tryin' to beat them to the river. We was about forty
yards from shore when old Dodger run down and hollered for me to come
back, but his girl stood up in the skiff and hollered to him, 'Go back,
pap and cool off--hit's my last chance!'
"I started across with a young couple once, but the girl's daddy beat
'em to the river, and drawed down on the young man with a hoss-pistol.
The young man didn't flinch, but folded his arms and looked that old
galoot in the eye as cool as ever I see. The father ordered his girl to
come back with him, but she ketched holt of her lover's arm and said,
'If you are goin' to shoot, I bid for the fust fire--I'm goin' to have
this man!' Her old daddy swelled up and bust out cryin' and begged them
to go back home and git married, but they wouldn't do it, and he went
across with us, and after he got four or five drinks, he like to bought
out the town for them. Don't never run off to git married, Shawn. As for
myself, they ain't no sort of weddin' to my likin'. I never got sot on
but one girl, but I got sot on her for all time to come, and dad-scat
her, she run away with another feller just about a week before we was to
be hitched. Wimmen is curious. Some say as how we couldn't git along
without 'em, and it looks like it's mighty hard for some to git along
with 'em, an' seems as after some people gits the ones they's after,
that somethin' comes along to take away their happiness before it has
begun. There was Ann Coffee. Her and Eli Travis must a courted nigh onto
ten year. It was away back yonder in '52, but I can see 'em now settin'
out thar on the bank, holdin' hands. They went down to Madison and was
married at last. They took the Redstone for Cincinnati. The boat was
full of people; it was in the spring, and a happy crowd was aboard, with
music and dancin', and people come out all along the shore to see the
boat pass. Just four miles below here, on the Kentucky side, the
Redstone landed to take a young preacher aboard. His name was Perry
Scott, and he come up the swingin'-stage wavin' his han'kerchief to his
father and mother on the shore. Suddenly, there comes a mighty roar on
the air. The steamer was hid from view as the explosion shook the earth
and splashed water everywhere. The b'ilers of the Redstone had bust, and
all around you could hear the groans of the dyin'. The young preacher
was never heard of again, and nothin' but his white han'kerchief,
hangin' in a tree, was ever found. There was over seventeen people
killed outright. Eli Travis went down to death, and strange to say, Ann,
his wife, who was standin' by his side, was saved. She was blowed high
up in the air, but come down close to shore. Her hair turned white after
that, Shawn, and she used to set out thar on the bank, where they had
set so often, lookin' away down to the bend of the stream whar Eli had
been took away from her."
The next morning when Oiler and Shawn started to the river, Oiler
slipped a five dollar gold piece in Shawn's hand. "He give me two of
'em, and one of them belongs to you. What are you goin' to do with
yours, Shawn?"
"Give it to my mammy," said Shawn.