CHAPTER XI.
BILLY BRACKETT'S SURPRISING SITUATION.
When Billy Brackett set forth on his search for a nephew and a runawayraft he did not anticipate any difficulty in finding them. Theappearance of the raft had been minutely described to him, and,according to this description, it was too distinctive in its characterto be mistaken for anything else. Three shanties, and they of unusualconstruction, on a raft of that size formed a peculiarity sufficient toarrest the immediate attention of all river men. Thus the youngengineer felt certain that by making an occasional inquiry andproceeding at a speed at least double that of the raft, he could easilytrace and overtake it, even though it should not run aground, which hethought more than likely to happen early in its voyage.
So Billy Brackett rowed down the creek without a trace of anxiety tomar the pleasure of the adventure into which he had so unexpectedlytumbled. One peculiarity of this light-hearted young man was that noproposition to leave a beaten track and strike into an unexploredtrail, even though it led in exactly the opposite direction, could betoo absurd or unexpected to meet with his ready approval, alwaysproviding it promised plenty of adventure. At the same time he neverlost sight of the fact that he had a living to earn, besides aprofessional reputation to win and maintain. Consequently he generallymanaged to make his adventures keep step with his duties. In thepresent instance he felt that Major Caspar's aid was necessary to thefulfilling of his timber contract. He also realized that the only wayto obtain it was by taking his brother-in-law's place in searching forthe lost raft and navigating it down the river to a market. He had nofamily ties to bind him to times or places, and with Bim for company hewas ready to start at any moment for any portion of the globe.
"Bim" was a diminutive of Cherubim, a name bestowed by its presentowner upon the wretched puppy that he had rescued from an abandonedemigrant wagon high up in the California Sierras, because like Cherubimand Seraphim he "continually did cry." The little one was nearly dead,and its mother, lying beside it, was quite so, when they werediscovered by the tender-hearted engineer. He had fought his waythrough a blinding snowstorm and high-piled drifts to the abandonedwagon on the chance of finding human beings in distress. When hediscovered only a forlorn little bull-pup, he buttoned it warmly underhis blanket overcoat and fought his way back to camp. During thatstruggle the helpless creature won its way to Billy Brackett's heart,as all young things, human or animal, were sure to do, and assumed aplace there that had never since been resigned.
From that day Bim, or "U-Bim," as he was sometimes called, had sothrived under good feeding, kind care, and judicious training that whenhe started with his master to voyage down the great river he was asfine a specimen of a full-blooded bull-dog as could be found in thecountry. He was pure white, bow-legged, and broad-chested. His upperlip was drawn slightly back, so as to display his teeth; but thisexpression of ferocity was relieved by the almost human intelligence ofhis eyes. He was absolutely fearless, but as loving and gentle as hewas brave. He understood every word spoken within his hearing, and hismaster declared that for his wisdom he ought to be named "Solomon." Henever made an unprovoked assault upon a living creature, and wouldstand any amount of abuse from children or those weaker than himself.Let an indignity be offered to his beloved master in his presence,though, and his fury was as terrible as that of a young lion. Then woeto the unfortunate in whose flesh those gleaming teeth were oncefastened. From the vise-like grip of the powerful jaws behind themnothing but death or Billy Brackett's command could effect a release.
Such were the occupants of the skiff that soon after dusk shot out fromthe mouth of the Caspar Creek on the broad bosom of the great river.Billy Brackett talked to his dog as he would to a human companion, andat that moment he was saying:
"Look here, Bim, I've a great mind to play a joke on that young nephewof ours when we find him. You see, he won't know us from Adam, andprobably doesn't remember that he has an Uncle William in the world.Now what is to hinder us from working the stranger racket on him?Wrecked, or broke, or something, and want to earn a passage down theriver on a raft, it being easier as well as more sociable andpleasanter in every way than a steamboat. What's to hinder us fromdoing it, eh? Nothing? Right you are, old dog, and we'll do it, too,if we get the chance. Thus will we discover what sort of stuff he ismade of, and get acquainted with his inside self, as Glen Eddy used tosay. So you understand, U-Bim, that you are not to give us away or leton that we are any kin to the Caspars. _Sabe_? All right. Now for atwenty-mile spin down-stream, and then we'll hunt a place to lie by forthe night."
With this the young man bent lustily to his oars, while Bim sat in thestern of the skiff, alert to every movement made by his master, andswaying his body like that of a genuine cockswain.
Billy Brackett recognized the "Slant Crossing," when they reached it,from the description he had received of its length and direction; butbelow that point the river for a thousand miles was a blank so far ashis personal knowledge of it was concerned.
Although the night was dark, and there were but few guide-lights on theriver in those days, he found no difficulty in keeping the channeluntil the skiff passed through the chute at the head of Winn's island.At this point the false channel seemed, in the darkness, to be as wideand desirable as the true one, and for a minute he was puzzled as towhich he should take. "Not that I suppose it would make any greatdifference," he remarked to Bim. "It's about time to tie up, though,and we want to be sure to do that on the main channel, so as not tomiss a chance of seeing the raft at daylight."
For answer Bim left his seat, ran to the bow of the boat, uttered ashort bark, and fixed his gaze pointedly down-stream.
"A light, as sure as you are a dog of wisdom!" cried Billy Brackett,looking in the direction thus indicated. "I vow, Bim, your name oughtto be 'Solomon Minerva,' and I must have a 'howl' engraved on yourcollar the first chance I get. That is, if you ever arrive at thedignity of owning any collar besides that old strap. Your light looksas though it might proceed from a camp-fire, and I reckon it's on themain channel too. At any rate, we'll pull down there and makeinquiries."
A few minutes later the skiff was run ashore near the beacon blaze thatWinn Caspar had left on the eastern side of the island, and itsoccupants were searching the vicinity for those whom Billy Brackett hadso confidently expected to find near it.
"It is very strange," he muttered. "Some one must have built thisfire; but why he did so if he didn't want to camp beside it beats me.Hello! What's this? Hooray; we are on the right track after all! Butwhat foolishness is that boy up to? and what can he be doing on thisisland? Thirdly, where is the raft? Eh, Bim! You haven't seen astray raft round here, have you? No. I thought you would havementioned it if you had. So he is on this island is he? and leavesword that we can find him by following the trail? Perhaps the trailleads to the raft; but where is the trail? Hello! you've struck it,have you? Good dog! Here, let me tie this bit of twine to yourcollar. There, now you're better than a lantern."
As we all know, the trail upon which Billy Brackett and Bim were thusstarted led directly to the log-hut in the forest. When the formerdiscovered this, he fully expected to find his nephew within. To hissurprise, although a fire smouldered on the hearth, there was no othersign of human occupancy. Then the young man searched in vain for somehit of writing, such as had guided him to this point.
"I declare!" he exclaimed at length; "the corollary is worse than thetheorem, and things are becoming so decidedly mixed that we must beginto go slow. I for one propose to replenish that fire, and then bunkdown right here for the rest of the night."
With this the young man went out into the darkness and began gropingabout for wood with which to keep up the fire until morning.
In the mean time, Bim, left to his own devices, had struck the trailleading from the hut to Winn's camp, and started along it, probablythinking that his master was following him as before. The dog soondiscovered Winn, and undertook to est
ablish friendly relations with himby rubbing his cold nose against the boy's cheek. The suddenness withwhich Winn started up caused the dog to spring back into the darkness,from the shelter of which he regarded his new acquaintancedistrustfully. Just then Billy Brackett, to cheer the loneliness ofhis log-hut, began to chant the ballad of "The Baldheaded Man," andBim, hearing his master's voice, darted off in that direction.
Now Billy Brackett, though very fond of music, and possessed of aninextinguishable longing to produce melodious sounds, could not singany more than Bim could. His efforts in this line had so often beengreeted with derisive shouts and unkind remarks by his engineeringcomrades that he no longer attempted to sing in public. When alone,however, and out of hearing of his fellows, he still sometimes brokeforth into song. Bim always howled in sympathy, but the effect oftheir combined efforts had never been so surprising as upon the presentoccasion, when they caused the precipitate flight from the island ofthe very nephew for whom the young engineer was searching.
In blissful ignorance of this unfortunate result of their performance,Billy Brackett and Bim sang and howled in concert, until theirrepertory was exhausted, when they lay down on the floor of the hut,and with the facility of those to whom camp life has become a secondnature, were quickly asleep. From this slumber Billy Brackett wasstartlingly awakened, some time later, by Bim's bark, and a pistol shotthat rang out from the profound stillness of the forest like athunder-clap. He grasped the dog's collar and sat up. Before he couldrise any farther there came a roar of guns, a trampling of feet, aconfusion of voices, a rush, and a crashing of wood. The next instantthe door of his hut was burst in, and the room was filled with armedmen, every one of whom seemed to be pointing a rifle or a pistolstraight at his devoted head.