CHAPTER III
A WAIF FROM THE RIVER
The cable tying the rowboat to the _Rambler_ parted with a snap as thewreckage struck the light craft, and Alex. went rocking and bobbingdown toward the Gulf of Mexico! The boys on the _Rambler_ saw him getout an oar to secure steerway, though he was pressed on by the houseroof 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 underthe eaves. On the top of the ridge-boards, clinging on with hands andbare heels, and shouting fit to wake the people of Cairo, the lads onthe _Rambler_ saw a half-dressed negro boy of perhaps ten or elevenyears. The more the roof bobbed on the waves the louder he yelled.
When the line snapped Clay rushed to the motors and turned on fullpower. The _Rambler_ trembled as she thrust her nose against thecurrent, wavered, and then, answering her helm, swung around broadsideto the sweep of water, shook a mass of wreckage from her prow, as adog shakes off water, and edged down stream.
In a minute after the accident the powerful motor boat was chasingAlex., the little negro boy, and the teetering roof down towardMemphis! It was dark on the river, and the roaring of the waters madethe prospect doubly disagreeable. The current was running fast, andthat one minute of getting under way had swept the rowboat somedistance down stream. Still it was just visible under the strong prowlight.
"There's Alex.'s fish!" shouted Chase, pointing to the cowering negroboy on the apex of the roof. "Wonder how he wants him cooked forsupper?"
"The last find Alex. made," Jule laughed, "was a bear! What will he befinding next? S-a-a-y, you coon!" he called out, shaping his hands fora 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 littlefellow began scrambling toward the water's edge.
"There he goes!" shouted Clay, as the negro boy, not heeding Jule'sdirections, went clattering down the shingles and dropped into theriver. "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 afish to the rowboat!"
The boy would have reached the rowboat handily if a heavy piece oftimber had not intervened. It struck him head-on as he swam, and hewent under the brown waters. Then the boys on the _Rambler_ saw Alex.throw off his coat, take the broken line between his teeth, and diveinto the river, just missing the great timber as he went headfirstinto the flood! There was a growl and a snarl on deck, and thenCaptain Joe and Teddy Bear were both in the river, swimming downtoward the swaying roof.
The bulldog, with the instinct of the intelligent canine, doubtlessrecognized the peril of the situation and took to the water on anerrand of rescue, but with the bear it was different. He had beenpatiently taught to bathe and play in the water with the boys, and nowhe saw only a frolic ahead!
However this may be, it was the bear cub who seized the negro boy ashe came to the surface, half supported by Alex.'s arm. The littlefellow 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 thesurface.
Alex. was busy hauling the boat back, or trying to, with the end ofthe line in one hand, and Captain Joe swam directly to him. He knewthat if he released the line the rowboat would drift away, leaving himand his companions to be rescued by the _Rambler_, and he had astubborn notion that he would like to get out of the mess without theassistance of his chums! They would then have no opportunity to makesly remarks about his skill as a fisherman! The fishline was woundaround his left arm, and he believed that the fish he had been playingwhen 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 swiftcurrent when another mass of wreckage came sweeping down upon them. Asit came down Alex. dove under, and the negro boy started to do thesame, but just then his eyes fell on the bear, hanging to his arm, andwith a scream which only half disclosed how scared he was he scrambledon the floating heap of brush and was swept down stream!
His round eyes were, apparently, as large as saucers and as white aschalk as he turned to see Teddy Bear pursuing him to his place ofrefuge. Familiar with the water game, the bear chased the negro boy tothe limit of the wreckage and pushed him in with his nose. By thistime Alex. was clinging to the rowboat, with Captain Joe serving aschaperon, and the _Rambler_ was at hand, the boys on board cheeringTeddy and the negro boy as they chased around the brush heap fromwhich they had been pitched into the river. Although they called outto the boy not to be afraid of the bear, his cries rose above the roarof 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 tookTeddy on board. The little fellow scrambled away from the handsreached out to grasp him, his eyes following the figure of the bear asit 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 outanother yell of fright, and, ducking into the cabin, dodged under thetable, where he crouched on hands and knees, his eyes sticking outlike white doorknobs. The boys were too full of laugh for the timebeing to try to explain matters to him.
As soon as Alex. was on deck he began unwinding the fishline from hisarm. Then he played it over the side of the boat, much to theamusement of his chums.
"Perhaps you think I didn't catch a fish?" the lad demanded, with awink at Clay.
"If you didn't get a fish," laughed Clay, "it is about the only thingyou didn't bring out of the river with you! We fished out a bear, adog, 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 outof the water when he drew in the line. Still under the table, with hiseyes on the bear, the rescued negro boy licked his chops when he sawit. Clay observed the action and went to him. After a time the littlefellow 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 fishsupper which appeared to be coming soon, but he edged away from thecub, 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 airof one who had been carefully drilled in the repetition. The boysbroke into shouts of laughter, and even Teddy Bear nosed his waythrough the little group and stood gazing at the negro boy withreproving eyes! The boy tried to dodge away, but Clay held him fast.
"Jerusalem!" Case cried, as soon as he could control his voice. "Whata 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! Doyou happen to be hungry, little one?" he added, with a glance at thefish.
In answer the boy laid his hands on the region of his stomach andgrinned.
"Where do you live?" asked Alex., ringing the water out of hisclothes, which had been removed as soon as he reached the deck. "Whatwill 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 forsupper. "How many more are we likely to find before we get to theGulf?"
Teddy Bear, who seemed to feel that he was deserving of some attentionfor having rescued Mose from instant death in the river, now came upand 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 strokehis head, whereat the cub sat up on his hind feet and asked to have aboxing lesson!
r /> "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 thenegro 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 toshore, that is, to the other shore, and if he had landed on the pierwhen the men came on board they would certainly have seen him. Ireckon the darkness just ate him!"
"And the man who came to speak a good word for him!" Clay went on. "Ifhe had been the thief wanted for the Rock Island diamond and furrobbery, he couldn't have been more mysterious. The boy said he wouldbe made to tell about the robbery if they found him, and this manwanted to get him out of the way, so I guess we can put the piecestogether and patch out the truth. The man is one of the robbers andthe 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 agood word for the boy? He ought to have known that we'd see throughthe game."
"He may not be the robber at all," Case observed. "There was somemystery connected with the two, and that's all we know about it! Theman is gone, and the boy is gone, and they are probably drowned, so wemay as well count the story closed."
"I'll go you a dinner at the Bismark, as soon as we get back toChicago," Clay insisted, "that we find both the man and the boy beforewe get down to the Gulf!"
"You're in for the dinners, then!" Case exclaimed. "And now," he wenton, "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 thesecond time?"
"I'm no good Solomon on an empty stomach," laughed Clay. "Wait untilAlex. 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 bearto 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 awayfrom any such entanglement as had been suggested by the visit of theofficers and the search of the motor boat.
They made a long distance with little trouble, as they were going withthe driftwood, and at daylight tied up in a small bayou, at the end ofwhich a deserted old house stood lowering down upon the flood with atouch of mystery in the broken windows and overhanging eaves!