CHAPTER XXXIX.
HURLED THROUGH THE CREVASSE AND WRECKED.
During the earlier hours of that eventful night Billy Brackett hadbrought all his engineering skill to bear upon the problem of how tosave the Moss Bank levee. His cheery presence, and the evidentknowledge that he displayed, inspired all hands with confidence and anew energy. Under his direction the raftmates worked like beavers, andMr. Manton was more hopeful that the levee could be made to withstandthe terrible pressure of swollen waters than he had been from thebeginning. But it was very old and had been neglected for years. Bydaylight the young engineer might have noted its weak spots, andstrengthened them. He would have seen the thin streams that silently,but steadily and in ever-increasing volume, were working their waythrough the embankment near its base. In the inky blackness of thenight they were unheeded; and while spade and pick were plied withunflagging zeal to strengthen the higher portions, these insidious foeswere equally busy undermining its foundations.
Shortly before midnight everything seemed so secure that the boys weresent to the _Venture's_ "shanty" to get a few hours of sleep. ThenBilly Brackett and Mr. Manton came in for the hot coffee Solon waspreparing for them. They had hardly seated themselves at the tablewhen the catastrophe occurred. Without warning, a quarter of a mile ofthe water-soaked levee sank out of sight, and dissolved like so muchwet sugar. Into the huge gap thus opened the exulting waters leapedwith the rush and roar of a cataract. On the foaming crest of thistawny flood the stout timber raft was borne and whirled like an autumnleaf. A few of the working gang managed to reach it and savethemselves, but others were swept away like thistle-down.
The boys thus rudely awakened from a sound sleep sprang up withfrightened questionings, while Solon sank to his knees, paralyzed withterror. Nanita stood guard over her puppy, while Bim, with a singlebark of defiance, leaped to his master's side and looked into his facefor orders.
"Steady, boys! Steady!" shouted Billy Brackett, as coolly as thoughnothing unusual were happening. "No, not outside. Keep that doorclosed. It is safer in here. We can do nothing but wait patientlyuntil the raft fetches up against something solid or grounds. Hear thewaves boiling over the deck? There's a big chance of being swept offand dashed to bits out there."
For five minutes the raft was hurled forward and tossed with sickeningplunges, as though in a heavy seaway, until its occupants were nearlyprostrated with nausea. Then came a crash and a shock that piled themin headlong confusion on one side of the room. There was a grindingand groaning of timbers. One side of the raft was lifted, and theother forced down, until the floor of the "shanty" sloped steeply.With a single impulse all hands rushed to the door and into the openair.
The raft seemed to be stranded at the base of a rocky cliff thattowered directly above it to an unknown height. Against it the madwaters were dashing savagely. Beneath their feet the stout timbersquivered with such uneasy movements that it seemed as though the end ofthe _Venture_ had come, and that a few more seconds or minutes mustwitness its total destruction. Still they clung to it and to eachother, for they had no other refuge, and in the absolute darknesssurrounding them it would have been worse than folly to seek one.
After a while the first rush of waters passed, and they settled into astrong smooth flow like that of the great river from which they came.The uneasy movements of the raft ceased, and its shivering occupantsagain began to breath freely.
"I guess it is all right, boys!" called out Billy Brackett. "I believewe are stranded at the foot of the bagasse-burner; but the old crafthas evidently made up its mind to hold together for a while longer, atany rate. So I move that we crawl into the 'shanty' again. It's agood deal warmer and more comfortable in there than it is out here."
So, very cautiously, to prevent themselves from slipping off thesteeply-sloping deck, our raftmates worked their way back into thelittle house that had for so long been their home. They found thelower side of the floor about two feet under water.
All hands were greatly depressed by the calamity that had overtakenthem. Mr. Manton, Worth, Sumner, and old Solon grieved over the ruinof Moss Bank. Glen and Binney feared for the safety of GeneralElting's valuable instruments. Billy Brackett wondered if MajorCaspar, or any one else, would ever again have confidence in him as theleader of an expedition, while Winn, who had never ceased to reproachhimself for the manner in which the voyage of the _Venture_ had beenbegun, was now filled with dismay at its disastrous termination.
He, as well as the others, realized that the raft was a fixture in itspresent position, that it would never again float on the bosom of thegreat river, and that all dreams of selling it in New Orleans must nowbe abandoned. He knew how greatly his father was in need of the moneyhe had hoped to receive from it. He knew what a blow the loss of thewheat had been. Now the raft was lost as well. As the unhappy boy'sthoughts travelled back over the incidents of the trip, and heremembered that but for him the wheat would not have been lost, and butfor him the raft would probably have been sold in St. Louis, hisself-accusations found their way to his eyes, and trickled slowly downhis cheeks in the shape of hot tears. The others could not see them inthe darkness, and he would not have cared much if they could.
But Billy Brackett was not giving way to his grief. There was too muchto be done for that. He was trying to set up the overturned stove, andmake things more comfortable. At the same time his cheery tones wereraising the low spirits of his companions, and causing them to take abrighter view of the situation.
The young engineer, with Glen and Solon to aid him, worked in darkness,for the lamp had rolled from the table when the raft struck the stonetower, and been extinguished in the water that flooded part of the"shanty." In spite of this drawback, they finally succeeded in gettingthe stove into position. Then they began to feel for fuel with whichto make a fire. Everything was wet. Some one proposed breaking up achair, but Billy Brackett exclaimed,
"Hold on! I have thought of something better."
With this he caught hold of one of the thin boards used by the"river-traders" to ceil the room, and, with a powerful wrench, tore itoff. This particular board happened to be near where Winn was sittingon the floor, so filled with his own sad thoughts that he paid butslight attention to what was going on about him. As the board was tornfrom its place several soft objects fell near him, and one of themstruck his hand. It seemed to be paper, and when Billy Brackett sungout for some paper with which to start the fire, Winn said, "Here's awad that's dry," and tossed the package in the direction of the stove.The young engineer slipped it under the wood, struck a match, andlighted it. The next instant he uttered a startled exclamation,snatched the package from the stove, and beat out the flame that wasrapidly eating into it.
"What is the matter?" asked Winn.
"Matter?" returned Billy Brackett. "Oh, nothing at all; only I can'tquite afford to warm myself at fires fed with bank-bills. Not justyet. I wouldn't hesitate to dissolve all my spare pearls in vinegar,if I felt an inclination for that kind of a drink, but I must draw aline at greenback fuel. Where did you get them? Whose are they? Andwhy in the name of poverty do you want them burned up? Has your wealthbecome a burden to you?"
"Are they really bills?" asked Winn, incredulously.
For answer Billy Brackett struck another match, and all saw that heindeed held a package of bank-notes with charred ends. The same lightshowed Winn to be surrounded by a number of similar packages.
The expression of complete bewilderment that appeared on the boy's faceas he saw these was so ludicrous that, as the match went out, a shoutof laughter rang through the "shanty."
"As long as they are so plenty, I guess we might as well burn them,after all," said Billy Brackett, quietly. With this he struck anothermatch, relighted the little bundle of bills in his hand, and againthrust it into the stove.
For a moment the others believed him to have lost his senses. Winnmade a wild dash at the stove door, but Billy Brackett caught his
arm.
"It's all right, and I'm not half so big a fool as I may appear," hesaid, laughing. "Do you remember our late friends the 'river-traders'?And that they were counterfeiters? And that they occupied this very'shanty' for several weeks? And that, after losing it, they madedesperate attempts to regain its possession? And that we wondered whythey had ceiled this room; also, what had become of their stock intrade?"
To each of these questions Winn gave an affirmative answer.
"Well," continued Billy Brackett, "the mystery is a mystery no longer.They ceiled this room to provide a safe and very ingenious hiding-placefor their goods; they wished to regain possession of the raft, thatthey might recover them. They failed, and so lost them. Now, by themerest accident, we have found them."
"Do you mean--" began Winn, slowly.
"I mean," said Billy Bracket, "that while we are apparently possessedof abundant wealth, it is but the shadow of the substance. In otherwords, every one of those bills is a counterfeit, and the sooner theyare destroyed the better."
In spite of this disappointing announcement, the desire of theraftmates to discover the full extent of the "river-traders'" secrethoard was so great that, having found a candle, they proceeded by itslight to tear off the whole of the interior sheathing of the room.They found a quantity of the counterfeit money, which Billy Brackett,sustained by Mr. Manton, insisted upon burning then and there. Theyalso found, carefully hidden by itself, a package containing exactlyone hundred genuine one-hundred-dollar bills.
"Enough," said Billy Brackett, quietly, "to refund the hundred they gotfrom Glen and Binney, to repay Major Caspar for the wheat they dumpedoverboard, and to make good the loss of the _Whatnot_, which so nearlybroke the heart of our brave old friend Cap'n Cod."
The justice of this disposition of the money was so evident that not asingle dissenting voice was raised among those who had found it, forthey all knew that an effort to trace it to its rightful owners wouldnot only be fruitless, but would cost more than the entire amount.
The knowledge that his father was thus to be recompensed for the lossof which he had been the direct cause so raised Winn Caspar's spiritsthat when daylight came, although their situation remained unchanged,he felt himself to be one of the very happiest boys in all Louisiana.
The coming of daylight, while gladly hailed by the occupants of thewrecked raft, also disclosed the extent of the devastation caused bythe flood. As they had surmised, the _Venture_ was stranded at thefoot of the huge stone bagasse-burner. The mill near by was partlydemolished. The great house, standing amid its clumps of shrubbery andstately trees, a quarter of a mile away, was surrounded by water thatrose nearly to the top of the stone piers by which it was supported.The quarters and other out-buildings had disappeared. Even at thatdistance they could see a throng of refugees on the verandas and at thewindows of the great house.
"Unless speedy relief comes they will starve," said Mr. Manton,anxiously, "for our provisions had nearly run out yesterday."
"We are in about the same fix," said Billy Brackett, who had been inearnest consultation with Solon. "I didn't realize until this minutethat we had given away nearly the whole of our own supply. Now I findthat the few things we had left are under water, and most of them arespoiled."
At this announcement every one suddenly discovered that he wasintensely hungry; while Bim, seated on his haunches and waving hisfore-paws, began to "speak" vigorously for his breakfast.
CHAPTER XL.
A MEETING OF MATES.
With starvation staring our raftmates in the face, the problem of howthey were to escape from their present predicament became a mostimportant one. The first suggestion was that they construct a smalland easily managed raft from a portion of the material contained in the_Venture_. They foresaw that it would be impossible for them to propeleven this against the swift current and reach the river, where theymight procure relief from some passing boat. Still, even to drift withthe current, or at the best to work their way diagonally across it,with the hope of reaching some source of food supply, seemed betterthan to remain where they were, and accordingly they began to collectmaterial for a raft.
They had hardly started at this when Worth called out that he saw acanoe lodged in a clump of shrubbery.
They all looked where he pointed, and all saw it. Although it was notmore than a hundred yards from them, the full force of the current mustbe encountered for the entire distance before one could reach it.
All were agreed that they must obtain it, if possible, and that theirvery lives might depend upon getting that canoe. First Billy Brackettthrew off his clothing, and plunging into the chill waters, attemptedto swim to it. He had not covered half the distance before he wascompelled to turn back utterly exhausted. Then Glen Elting and Sumnerundertook the task together, but splendid swimmers as they were, theycould no more stem that resistless flood than they could have flown tothe canoe.
As they were dejectedly resuming their clothing in the "shanty" theywere startled by a shout from outside. Winn Caspar had solved theproblem. While the others were watching the fruitless struggles ofGlen and Sumner from one side of the raft he had slipped overboard fromthe other, and swam diagonally across the current to a hedge ofoleanders, the tops of which were still above water. This hedgeextended to the river, and passed within fifty yards of the shrubberyin which the canoe was caught.
When Winn reached the oleanders he was considerably below the raft, andof course nearly twice as far from the canoe as when he started. Hehad anticipated this, however, and now began to work his way backagainst the current by pulling himself from one bush to another. Whenhe reached a point abreast the raft the others saw him and shouted. Heonly waved his hand in reply and kept on, while they watched him witheager interest. As he gained a position opposite the canoe theyshouted again, but still he kept on, until he was nearly a hundredyards above it.
Then, after a long rest, he left the friendly oleanders, and struck outwith brave strokes for the coveted object. He was now again swimmingdiagonally across the current, and knew that even should he miss thecanoe, he would be borne down to the raft. But he did not miss it. Hehad calculated too well for that; and when he again reached the raft,he brought the _Psyche_ with him.
He was chilled to the bone, numb, and sick with exhaustion; but forsuch a royal cheer as greeted him, and the praises that his companionsshowered upon him, he would have dared and suffered twice as much. Atthe same moment, as if to encourage such brave deeds, the sun shone outwarm and bright, transforming the whole character of the scene with itscheery warmth.
Sumner Rankin was ready, and with a light heart he stepped into hisbeloved craft. Then, with vigorous strokes of his double-bladedpaddle, he shot away towards the river, where he was to remain until hecould persuade a boat of some kind to come to the relief of hisfellow-sufferers.
In spite of the sunlight and their hopes of rescue, the long hourspassed slowly aboard the _Venture_. There was little to do, andnothing to eat, though Solon did succeed in making a pot of coffee,which they drank without sugar or milk. In one respect, however, itwas the most successful day of the _Venture's_ entire cruise; forduring those tedious hours Billy Brackett and Winn accomplished theobject for which it had been undertaken. They sold the raft. Ingazing over his flooded plantation and planning for its future, Mr.Manton realized that with the subsidence of the waters he would haveimmediate use for a large quantity of lumber.
"Why not buy ours?" suggested Winn.
"Why not?" answered Mr. Manton.
Five minutes later the bargain was completed that transferred theownership of the _Venture_, and crowned Major Caspar's undertaking withsuccess. It was such a satisfactory arrangement that they onlywondered they had not thought of it before.
"Here the lumber is, just where I want it, and not a cent of freight topay," said Mr. Manton.
"Now you and I can get back to Caspar's Mill, and help your father outwith that contract; and it is high time we wer
e there too," said BillyBrackett to Winn. "Hello! What's this? The _Psyche_ coming backagain? If it is, young Rankin must be having a fit, for he's black inthe face."
"It's Quorum!" shouted Worth. "In the _Cupid_, too! Of all things,that is the very last I should ever have expected to see!"
Sure enough, it was the faithful negro progressing slowly and with suchawkwardness that the anxious spectators expected to see him upset ateach moment. Nevertheless, he finally succeeded in reaching the raft;and as they hauled him aboard he gasped, with thankfulness,
"Dat de seckon time dish yer nigger ebber bin in one ob dem ar cooners,an' him hope he be good an' daid befo' him ebber sperimentin' wif umagen!"
Quorum had come from the great house, where the _Cupid_ was the solecraft to be had. It was only after hours of persuasion andsemi-starvation that he had been induced by the other refugees to makethe trip to the raft, which they had discovered soon after daylight.He described a pitiful state of affairs as existing among the hungrythrong he had just left, and declared that another day without foodwould witness great suffering in the crowded house.
Even as he related his story, those gathered about him were startled bythe shrill note of a steam-whistle coming from the direction of theriver. Sumner had found relief, and was bringing it to them.
During the hours that passed so slowly on the raft, the brave little_Psyche_ had cruised here and there over the broad Mississippi sea, nowhailing some boat that refused to stop, and then chasing another thatit failed to overtake. Finally, late in the afternoon, Sumnerdiscovered a trail of black smoke coming up-stream and towards him. Ashe anxiously watched it, trying to decide which way he should go tohead it off, he discovered a white banner with a scarlet cross flyingout cheerily just beneath the trail of smoke. Then he knew that helpwas at hand, and no matter what other boats might do, that one wouldstop at his signal.
As it drew near, he was amazed to see that instead of a river steamer,such as he had expected, the red-cross boat was a fine sea-going yacht;and as she came dashing towards him, her sharp stem cleaving the brownwaters like a knife, her shining black hull, varnished houses, polishedmetal, and plate-glass flashing in the light of the setting sun, thissailor son of a sailor father thought her the most beautiful thing hehad ever seen. She slowed down at his signal, and in another minute hewas alongside.
A line was flung to him, and making it fast to the _Psyche's_ painter,he clambered up a ladder that had been dropped from the gangway. As hereached the deck, a fine-looking young fellow, apparently but littleolder than himself, and wearing a natty yachting uniform, steppedforward to meet him.
Sumner briefly explained his errand, and pointing to the red-cross flagat the foremast-head, added that he believed aid might be expected fromthose who sailed under it.
"Indeed it may," responded the other, heartily; "and our presentbusiness is to discover just such cases as you describe. Although the_Merab_ is, as you see, a private yacht, in which we happened to putinto New Orleans during a winter cruise to the southward, she is atpresent in the service of the Red Cross Society, of which I am amember, and devoted to the relief of sufferers by this awful flood.May I ask your name? Mine is Coffin--Tristram Coffin; though I ambetter known as Breeze McCloud, and that of my friend (here he turnedto another young man, also in navy blue) is Mr. Wolfe Brady."
Half an hour later the beautiful _Merab_ lay at anchor as near thestranded raft as it was safe to venture, and its occupants were beingtransferred to her hospitable deck by one of her boats. Another boat,laden with provisions, was on its way to the starving refugees in thegreat house.
The young owner of the _Merab_ insisted that all those who came fromthe raft should be his guests, at least for that night.
The invitation was accepted as promptly and heartily as it had beengiven, and soon afterwards two very hungry but very merry parties satdown to bountiful dinners in two entirely distinct parts of the yacht.
Along the mess-table of the galley--or the "camboose," as the yacht'scook insisted upon calling it--were ranged three gentlemen of color,each of whom treated his companions with the greatest deference, thoughat the same time believing himself to be just a little better posted inculinary matters than either of the others.
"Dish yer wha' I calls a mighty scrumptious repas'," exclaimed Solon,after a long silence devoted to appeasing the pangs of his hunger."But fo' de true ole-time cookin' gib me de Moss Back kitchin befo' dewah."
"I specs dat ar' berry good in hits way," remarked Quorum; "same time Ihain't nebber eat nuffin kin compare wif de cookin' er dem SeminyoleInjuns what libs in de Ebberglades. Dat's whar I takin my lesson."
"Sho, gen'l'muns! 'pears to me lak you don't nebber go on er deep-seav'yge whar you gets de genuwine joe-flogger, an' de plum-duff, an' sichlike," said Nimbus, the yacht's cook. "Ef you had, you wouldn' talk."
In the luminous after-saloon the other party was seated at a tablewhite with snowy damask, and gleaming with silver, which was at oncethe pride and care of old Mateo, the Portuguese steward.
It was a party so overflowing with merriment and laughter, jokes andstories, that from one end of the table the young owner of the yachtwas moved to call to his friend at the other,
"I say, Wolfe, this reminds me of the mess aboard the old _Fish Hawk_,when we were 'Dorymates' together off Iceland."
"It reminds me," said Glen Elting, "of the jolly mess of the SecondDivision, when Billy Brackett and Binney and I were 'Campmates'together in New Mexico."
Said Sumner Rankin, "It reminds me of the cabin mess of the _Transit_,when we went 'Canoemates' together, through the Everglades. Eh, Worth?"
"While I," chimed in Winn Caspar, "am reminded of the happy mess-tableof the good ship _Venture_, on which we 'Raftmates' have just floatedfor more than a thousand miles down the great river."
A reunion of "mates."]
"Gentlemen," said Mr. Manton, rising, and holding high a glass filledwith amber-colored river-water, "as I seem to have become a shipmate ofDorymates, Campmates, Canoemates, and Raftmates, I am moved to proposea toast. It is, 'Long life and prosperity, health and happiness, nowand forever, to all true mates.'"
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