The River Motor Boat Boys on the Mississippi; Or, On the Trail to the Gulf Read online

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  On the top of the ridge-boards, the lads saw ahalf-dressed negro boy.]

  THE RIVER MOTOR BOAT BOYSON THE MISSISSIPPI

  OR

  On the Trail to the Gulf

  By HARRY GORDON

  Author of

  "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Colorado," "The River Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence," "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Amazon," "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Columbia," "The River Motor Boat Boys on the Ohio."

  A. L. BURT COMPANY

  NEW YORK

  Copyright, 1913

  By A. L. Burt Company

  THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI

  Contents

  I--A Rambler Reception Day II--Alex. Goes Fishing III--A Waif from the River IV--Two Boys Get a Tumble V--A New Captain on Board VI--Captain Joe Makes a Hit VII--Searching for the _Rambler_ VIII--Faces at the Window IX--Red Declines to Talk X--More River Outlaws XI--Fire-Faces on the Island XII--Half Full of Diamonds XIII--A River Robber in a New Role XIV--Alex. Breaks Furniture XV--The Leather Bag Missing XVI--What Dropped on Deck XVII--Getting out of the Mud XVIII--Swept Into a Swamp XIX--Pilgrims from Old Chicago XX--The Darkey up the Tree XXI--Dodging a Police Boat XXII--The Sheriff Knows a Lot XXIII--A Night in New Orleans XXIV--Something Doing All the Time XXV--Commonplace, After All

  THE SIX RIVER MOTOR BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI

  CHAPTER I

  A RAMBLER RECEPTION DAY

  A white bulldog of ferocious aspect lay sound asleep under a smalltable. Lying across the dog's neck, with his soft muzzle hiddenbetween capable paws, was a quarter-grown grizzly bear. Now and thenCaptain Joe, as the dog was named, stirred uneasily in his sleep, asif in remonstrance at the liberties which Teddy, the cub, was takingwith his person. The bulldog and the cub snored in unison!

  The table under which the animals slept stood in the middle of thesmall cabin of the motor boat _Rambler_, and the _Rambler_ was pullingat her anchor chain in the muddy water of the Mississippiriver--pulling and jerking for all the world like a fat pig with aring in his nose trying to get rid of the line which held him incaptivity.

  Although early in November, there were wandering flakes of snow in theair, and a chill wind from the northwest was sweeping over theMississippi valley. There had been several days of continuous rain,and, at Cairo, where the motor boat lay, both the Mississippi and theOhio rivers were out of their banks.

  In spite of the wind and snow, however, the cabin of the _Rambler_ wascozy and warm. In front of the table where the bulldog and the youngbear lay stood a coal stove, on the top of which two boys of sixteen,Clayton Emmett and Alexander Smithwick, were cooking ham and eggs, theappetizing flavor of which filled the little room. A dish of slicedpotatoes stood not far away, and over the cherry-red coils of anelectric stove at the rear of the cabin a great pot of coffee wassizzling and adding its fragrance to rich contributions of the fryingpan.

  While the boys, growing hungrier every second, stirred the fire andlaid the table, footsteps were heard on the forward deck of the motorboat, and then, without even announcing his presence by a knock, aroughly-dressed man of perhaps forty years stepped into the cabin andstood for a moment staring at the bulldog and the bear, stood with ahand on the knob of the door, as if ready for retreat, his lips open,as if the view of the interior had checked words half spoken. Alex.Smithwick regarded the man for a moment with a flash of anger in hiseyes, then he caught the humor of the situation and resolved to punishthe intruder for his impudence in walking into the cabin without a bitof ceremony.

  "Look out for the bulldog and the bear!" he warned. "They consumed tworiver-men last week! The bulldog tears 'em down, an' the bear eats'em!"

  "What kind of a menagerie is this?" began the visitor, but Alex. gavethe bulldog a touch with his foot, and the dog and the bear were inthe middle of the space between the table and the stove, snarlingfiercely, before the startled intruder could open the door. "Call thebrutes off!" he added as Teddy began boxing the empty air.

  "Don't stand in the doorway!" Alex. warned, while Clay Emmett turnedhis face away so as not to betray his enjoyment of the situation. "Itmakes 'em mad to keep the door open! What do you want?"

  The visitor stepped outside and beckoned to the boys through the glasspanel. Alex. went out on the deck and stood waiting. The visitor wasevidently a riverman, tall, muscular, heavy of hand and sullen offace. He wore rough clothing, neither clean nor whole, and his facewas well covered by a bushy beard, light in color except around themouth, where it was stained with tobacco. Alex. noted that he lookedaway whenever their eyes met for an instant.

  "I'm Gid Brent, the riverman," he said, in a moment, "and I've come towarn you boys against starting out alone, on the river in this boat."

  "That's kind of you," Alex. replied. "What's the matter with theboat?"

  "It is the river there's something the matter with," replied theother. "The water is high, and is pouring into all the old channelsand ditches from Cairo to the Gulf. If you start out without a pilot,you'll run into some bayou and end in a swamp, a couple of hundredmiles from the main channel."

  "You're a pilot, eh?" asked Alex., with a provoking grin.

  "Yes; and I'm called the best on the river," was the boasting reply.

  "And you're looking for a job?" Alex. continued, insinuatingly.

  "I might accept the right kind of a job," Brent replied, "but Ishouldn't want any menagerie on board with me. Where are you boysgoing?"

  "Oh, well," Alex. said, gravely, though there was fun in his eyes, "ifyou object to our pets, that settles it! We brought Captain Joe, thebulldog, from the Amazon, and Teddy Bear, the cub, from BritishColumbia."

  "Oh, if they're tame!" the other exclaimed. "I might----"

  "I'll call 'em out an' see what they say to you!" Alex. replied,mischief in his eyes, opening the cabin door and inviting the bulldogand the bear out to the deck!

  Captain Joe snarled at the man's feet and Teddy Bear stood up andsquared off in front of him in a boxing attitude! Brent swung towardthe little pier against which the motor boat lay, and the animals,thus encouraged, sprang at him.

  In a minute the pilot was on the pier, racing toward the shore as iffor his life! Clay came out on deck and both boys stood laughing atthe retreating figure. Presently Brent came to an old warehouse, wheresecurity might be found in an open doorway. Here he stopped and turnedback, shaking a fist at the grinning lads.

  "I'll be even with you for that!" he shouted. "I'll teach you to setyour dog on me, you miserable little bum-boat tramps! I'll show you!"

  "Get him, Captain Joe!" cried Alex., angry at the impertinent languageused, but Clay caught the bulldog by the collar and held him back.

  "All right!" smiled Alex. "Let the tramp go, if you want to! Anyway,I'm about half starved! Funny, Case and Jule don't get back! They'vebeen gone three hours!"

  "They'll get cold beans for supper if they don't show up pretty soon!"Clay said, turning back to the cabin. "The ham and eggs and potatoesare just done!"

  Even as Alex. closed the cabin door behind himself, running footstepswere heard, and the next moment two boys of about his own age,Cornelius Witters and Julian Shafer, made their appearance, racing offthe pier and on to the deck of the motor boat like young colts. Theydashed into the cabin and dropped down into seats at the table.

  "What's t
he matter with the fellow at the head of the pier?" CaseWitters asked. "He called to us not to come down here! Said there wasa crazy boy, a mad dog and a grizzly loose in the boat! Guess you gothim peeved, didn't you?"

  "He's too fresh!" Alex. responded. "He came on board as if he ownedthe boat, and then had the nerve to tell us that we'd get lost if wewent down the river without a pilot! He wanted a pilot's job! Weshould have given Captain Joe a bite out of him!"

  "Did he say he was a pilot?" asked Jule Shafer, with a wink at Case.

  "Sure thing he did!" answered Alex. "Said he was the best on theriver!"

  "Well," Case began, "if he is a pilot he is out of practice! I heardhim asking a man about the passage from Hickman to Reelfoot lake. Whenwe went up-town that same man who spoke to us on the pier stood on thelevee with a bunch of toughs. Their heads were together, as if theywere planning mischief. I thought they looked at Jule and I in astrange way, too!"

  "I don't believe he ever came on board to get a job!" Jule broke in."He's a spy! That's just what he is, and I wish Captain Joe had eatenhim up!"

  "But why should he come spying here?" asked Clay. "We're not riverthieves!"

  "Well, there's something odd going on at Cairo!" Case asserted. "Thereare crowds on the streets, and the policemen seem to be on theirmetal! I guess we would have been locked up as suspects if we hadn'thad on pretty good clothes!"

  "Why didn't you ask some one to tell you about it?" demanded Alex.

  "We did," Jule answered, "and got our trouble for our pains! There'sbeen a warehouse robbery up the river somewhere, but I don't see whythat should make such a stir down here at Cairo. The merchant Iordered the gasoline of said that $100,000 in diamonds and furs hadbeen taken, and that a watchman who resisted had been seriouslywounded."

  "Perhaps they think we're the thieves!" suggested Clay.

  "I shouldn't wonder if they did," Case grinned. "Anyway, the men Italked with seemed to have loose shingles--they acted that way, allright!"

  "Loose shingles!" cried Alex. "You'll wash dishes for a week for that!Loose shingles is slang, and we're not to talk slang. If you wanted toindicate a slant in the belfry, why didn't you say----"

  "Slant in the belfry!" roared Case. "Guess that isn't slang! I'll haveplenty of help washing dishes, all right. S-a-a-y, listen to that,will you!"

  As the boy spoke he lifted a hand for silence, and the four sat at thetable silent and motionless. It was growing dusk now, and the deck ofthe motor boat showed dim under the gathering shadows of the night.While the lads sat there, listening, Captain Joe, the bulldog, ran tothe closed door and sniffed suspiciously.

  "There's some one out on deck!" Case exclaimed, then. "I wonder ifthat fellow has had the nerve to come back here? I'll go and see whoit is, anyway."

  "Why don't you wait and see what he will do?" asked Clay. "If hethinks we're the robbers, he'll show himself directly. If it is only asneak thief, he'll take a jump in the river the minute he knows we areaware of his presence on the deck. Give him a chance!"

  Then three words came in a whisper from the outside of the door. Theywere spoken in a trembling voice, accompanied by a soft knock on thelower panel.

  "Let me in!" the voice said. It seemed like the voice of a child, too.

  "Come on in, if you want to!" Alex. answered. "This seems to be ourreception day!"

  "Sure! Come on in! Don't be so mysterious about it, whoever you are!"

  As he spoke Case arose and opened the door. Instantly there tumbledinto the cabin a boy of twelve or fourteen--a slender, thin-faced ladwhose whole appearance indicated little food and little parental care.He did not rise to his feet.

  "Well, what is it?" asked Clay, taking the intruder by the arm. "Whydon't you get up and introduce yourself? What do you want here,anyway?"

  "Don't switch on the light!" the boy pleaded, as Clay stretched hishand toward the electric switch. "They are watching the boat from thepier, and I don't want them to know I got in. That's why I didn'tstand up when the door was opened. The railing of the deck protectedme from the view of any one up there. I'm running away!"

  "You look the part!" Clay observed, motioning the visitor to a chair."Why?"

  "Because they'll make me tell who stole the diamonds and furs up atRock Island," was the hesitating reply. "They'll put me in jail if Idon't tell!"

  "If you know and won't tell," Clay observed, "they surely will put youin jail!"

  "Why won't you tell?" asked Alex. "Perhaps you helped do the jobyourself!"

  "No I didn't!" the boy said.

  He was about to say more when there came another voice from outside--aslow, steady voice demanding attention.

  "Listen, you kids in there," the voice said. "Listen, and I'll tellyou what to do to save a couple of lives!"