Читать книгу: «The Outdoor Chums on a Houseboat: or, The Rivals of the Mississippi», страница 10

CHAPTER XXII – WHO WAS BOSS

“Ahoy! there, Bluff!”

Frank put both hands to his mouth, using them in lieu of a speaking trumpet; for really the children were making so much racket close by, that it was a difficult thing to be heard.

“What is it, Frank?” shouted a voice from one of the cabin windows on that quarter of the boat.

“You must scare the cat around to this side, so I can get a crack at him!” continued Frank.

“Sure! I understand that; but how can I do it?” demanded the willing Bluff; and had Frank suggested that he creep out, and make faces around the corner of the cabin at the panther, the reckless fellow would probably have agreed; for he placed the greatest dependence possible on his chum’s ability to shoot straight.

But, of course, Frank had not the slightest intention of placing the life of a chum in peril, when there were other means at hand for inducing the panther to whip around the cabin.

“Got your gun handy, Bluff?” continued the boy in the dinghy.

“Right here; and only waiting for a chance to give him every charge it holds, Frank,” came the ready reply.

“Well, hold on till I get just where I want to be,” continued the other. “Then, when you hear me give a whoop, bang away several times out of the windows on the other side of the cabin. And the rest of you in there, yell for all you’re worth. That ought to fetch him.”

Frank knew that an animal can only grasp one idea at a time. In its sudden alarm the panther would undoubtedly forget all about its cause for vigilance with regard to the human being in the boat, and the chances were strongly in favor of its rushing around to the side of the cabin that was free from the new disturbance.

So Frank, using his paddle once more, manipulated the little boat until he had placed it just where he wished, and in a position for a clear shot, should his artful plan succeed.

Then, as he grasped his ready rifle, he gave the promised whoop.

The family in the treetop must have discovered that the crisis had arrived in their fortunes, for even the two children temporarily stopped shrieking; and were eagerly watching the boy in the little boat.

Immediately a tremendous racket broke out on the other side of the houseboat. A gun was discharged several times. There was also loud yells from three voices, even old Luther joining in with vigor.

Frank swung his gun up to his shoulder, and his eye glanced along the shining barrel. He could give a pretty accurate guess as to the exact spot where the panther must show up; and he was covering that place.

Just as he expected, the alarmed beast, forgetting its former design of keeping away from the enemy in the cockleshell of a boat that danced on the heaving water of the Mississippi, came leaping around the corner of the cabin. Possibly it had taken a sudden notion to return once more to its former perch among the lower limbs of the floating tree; since the houseboat did not seem to be such a desirable location after all, with all those noises so close by.

Frank did not wait to find out. He had no idea of troubling the panther by asking its intentions. The opportunity for which he had been waiting so long was now within his grasp; and as quickly as he could properly aim at the beast his finger only too eagerly pressed the trigger.

There was a single report, not at all like the crash of Bluff’s heavy shotgun. Immediately a shout broke forth from within the cabin, showing that no sooner had those in hiding carried out their part of the proceedings, than they jumped over to the other windows to see what would happen.

“You got him that time, Frank!” Bluff was heard to whoop.

“Oh! and this wire mesh prevented me from snapping him decently; I’m sure it won’t be even a halfway good picture!” echoed Will.

“Bully boy!” shouted Jerry, from the branches of the tree.

Frank was satisfied, for he saw the beast kicking his last on the deck of the houseboat which he had boarded, and taken full possession of, in such a bold and unheard-of manner.

Then, a couple of seconds later, the door of the cabin burst open, to allow Bluff to rush upon the deck, carrying his weapon; and evidently only wishing that some power would give the cat the balance of its nine lives, so that it might regain its feet, and make it necessary for him to pour in a volley at close quarters.

But even as he arrived upon the scene it seemed to become still.

“It’s dead, Frank!” cried Bluff, in what seemed to be a disappointed voice.

“Glad to hear it,” returned the other, as he dropped his gun, and took to the paddle once more; for he knew that they must get the wretched fugitives of the flood out of the treetop before it separated from the houseboat.

“Hand down the woman first, and then the children,” he said to the man, when he arrived at a place that seemed convenient for the transfer; “I’ll put them aboard the houseboat, and then come back for you.”

By using great care, he managed to get them in the small dinghy, and paddled over to the larger craft. Those on board assisted them on deck, after which Frank, after handing up his rifle, to be rid of it, went back for the man and Jerry.

When they too had been safely transferred, Frank insisted that they separate the tree from thePot Luck, so that they could move along faster. Will was busy with his camera about this time, determined to get as much of the affair on the records as possible.

Once the boat floated free from the slower moving tree, Frank set Jerry to work getting something to eat for the hungry fugitives, who had been made as comfortable as some blankets in the cabin could accomplish. The children had brightened up with the improved look of things. They watched Jerry working at the stove, and a smile of anticipation came over their childish faces as they had a scent of cooking bacon and boiling coffee.

Meanwhile Frank and Bluff and Luther Snow were examining the dead panther.

“Bigger than any we ever saw before; isn’t it, Frank?” asked Bluff, as he turned the beast over, to see where the fatal bullet had entered behind the foreleg, just as Frank had intended when he fired.

“I never saw a larger, if you want my opinion, lads,” remarked Luther Snow; “and I certainly have shot a round dozen of the animals in my time.”

“We must try and keep the pelt, Frank,” observed Will. “It will make a great addition to our collection; and as a mat, with the head on, it’d look fine.”

Frank, upon asking the man about the misfortune that had befallen him, learned of the terrible nature of the flood that had taken the residents of the country up one of the Mississippi’s tributaries by surprise. Their house was washed away during the night; and with the coming of dawn they found themselves floating down the swollen river, and out upon the great Mississippi.

When later on they discovered, as they clung to the roof of the building, that it was slowly but surely going to pieces, they hastened to climb into the treetop, as it came along, just as though sent by a kind Providence.

Hardly had the exchange been made than their house went to pieces. And then the alarming discovery was made that they were not the only passengers aboard this novel craft; for one of the children shrieked out that a great cat lay along one of the big lower limbs, watching them with yellow eyes.

What that man and his wife suffered during all the time that elapsed before assistance came, with the gradual approach of the houseboat on the scene, can only be imagined, not described. He had no weapon save a pocket knife. This he had held open in his hand, determined to stand between the hungry panther and his dear ones, should the worst happen.

They told Frank that they had lost all of their possessions, save the land itself, by the coming of this cloudburst; but as they had relatives in a town down the river a few more miles, if the boys could put them ashore there, they would be very grateful.

Jerry cooked a double allowance of food, since he felt pity for the unfortunates, and was anxious to see those hungry children eat their fill, for once. They did not look as though they had seen much else than hominy, three times a day, and scant allowances even at that.

Keeping in as close to the shore as seemed wise, Frank, an hour or so later, began to look for signs of the town mentioned. It proved to be not much of a place, but doubtless to the homeless family the wretched houses appeared like palaces.

The boys found that they could run in close to shore, and anchor. Then the skiff came into play again, in ferrying the family to dry land. Frank was glad that they had had a chance to be of help to those in distress. He would have offered to assist the man with a little money, but the other assured him that he was supplied to some extent; and that his father lived there, who would gladly take them all in.

And so, after shaking hands all around, they saw the four late passengers of the floating treetop land; after which the voyage was resumed.

The incident gave the chums plenty to talk about for the balance of the day; and as was natural, it seemed to revive various other affairs in the past, which had come their way. To all of this conversation old Luther seemed to enjoy listening greatly. He would sit there without saying a word, and taking it all in; while a queer little smile would occasionally cross his face, of which the observing Frank could make nothing.

During the day Frank managed to remove the pelt of his prize, and it was fastened with nails against the cabin wall, in a place where the sun could seldom strike it; for skins must always be dried in the shade. And every time he looked at it, in days to come, doubtless Frank would always see the strange picture of the flooded river; the houseboat interlocked with the floating tree; the family and Jerry perched amidst the branches; and that savage beast owner for the time being of the gallant Pot Luck.

CHAPTER XXIII – LEFT IN THE LURCH

“Are you sure he’s asleep in the cabin?”

Frank asked this question in a low tone, some days after the adventure with the panther. He and his three chums were loitering on deck at the time. It was about the middle of the afternoon; and complaining of feeling sleepy, old Luther had vanished within the cabin.

“Yes, I just went in to get something; and he was snoring on his cot,” replied Will; “but what’s up, Frank?”

“He’s got something to tell us about the old man,” remarked Jerry. “I’ve seen him watching Luther when he thought the passenger we’ve had fastened on us wouldn’t be noticing him. Out with it, old fellow.”

“I’ve made up my mind that his name isn’t Luther Snow at all,” Frank remarked, in a whisper.

“Then what might it be, Frank?” asked Bluff, casting a quick glance toward the door of the cabin.

“What would you say to Marcus Stackpole?” queried the other, coolly.

Various exclamations told of the boys’ astonishment.

“How under the sun did you ever jump on to that?” demanded Jerry.

So Frank had to tell them the many reasons he had for believing it to be the positive truth; and as he talked the others began to see light too.

“That would account for the way he just made us take him on,” said Will.

“Yes,” added Bluff, “even when we made him up a purse, he went on down the river, and laid for us again, with a yarn about the skipper of a packet jumping him because his money gave out. Well, we swallowed it all, like a lot of innocents, for a fact. Frank, honest now, I believe you’ve hit the truth, and that that little black launch that used to hover around was his boat.”

“He must have let ’em know someway that his passage was secured, because I haven’t noticed it around for weeks now,” remarked Jerry, with a nod of his head.

“But why under the sun do you suppose he wants to be with us on the Pot Luck?” demanded Will.

“That’s what I can’t tell you,” Frank replied. “I only know that he acts as if he wants to stick to us all the way to New Orleans; and that Uncle Felix seemed to be afraid he’d do that very same thing. Chances are, we’ll never know what it all means until we get there, and ask your uncle to explain.”

“Well, do we carry him there?” asked Bluff.

“I should say not, if we know it,” was the way Jerry vented his opinion.

“And as my uncle impressed it on me that, above all people, I mustn’t take Marcus Stackpole aboard, I think we ought to get rid of him right away,” Will declared.

“Yes, that’s easy to say, but how’re we going to do it?” Jerry broke in with. “The old fellow seems to like it here; yes, and I rather guess he’s taken something of a fancy to the bunch of us, too. He sticks worse than a mustard plaster on your back. Talk of Sinbad, and the Old Man of the Sea; Luther could give ’em points on how to stay right there.”

“Leave it to Frank,” interrupted Will. “He’s got a plan, I’m sure; haven’t you?”

“Well, here it is in a nutshell,” remarked Frank, smiling at the confidence the other chum seemed to have in his ability to meet a situation; “we’ll get to Memphis to-morrow, you see. Thinking that we mean to put him ashore only at Vicksburg, below, Luther will have no chance to play sick; so we can work the little racket.”

“Are we in it, too, Frank?” asked Bluff.

“Yes, you and Jerry are to go ashore after we tie up, to get some things, besides the mail. An hour later you’ll have come back, with your errands done; but remember you’re not to come aboard, or show yourselves. Then I’ll recollect something I wanted you to do very much. Will, at the time, can be deep in some business connected with his photography, and I can’t send him to hunt you up at the store; so I’ll ask old Luther to please take the bottle to get filled.”

“That’s dead easy,” muttered Bluff; “he’ll fall into the trap; and after he’s out of sight Jerry ‘nd I’ll slip aboard, when we part company with our passenger. Say, I’ll be a little sorry, someway, too; for after all, he’s not such a bad sort.”

“But, Frank, how will he know what our meaning is?” Will inquired.

“I have all that planned out,” Frank went on. “I’ll give him a note to hand to Jerry here. When he can’t find him, and discovers that we’ve left him in the lurch, of course he’ll think to open it. It will be a few lines written to him, telling that we have found out who he is; and that as Uncle Felix positively ordered us not to carry Marcus Stackpole as a passenger, we have had to send him adrift. I’ll enclose a ten-dollar bill in the letter. That would take him to New Orleans if he’s really what he claims. That’s to ease my conscience in the matter, boys.”

“And a good scheme, too!” remarked Bluff.

“It takes Frank to think ’em up; I always said so,” Will added.

They did not dare talk along that line any further, for fear the object of their conversation would suddenly come out of the cabin, and seeing them looking so mysterious, scent enough of the truth to keep on his guard the following day, which would interfere very much with Frank’s plan.

During the balance of that afternoon and the evening that followed, all the boys tried hard to appear natural whenever Luther was around. He may have thought they looked a little queer at times; but at least they gave him no reason to believe that his secret was known.

It was about ten the next morning that the hawser was made fast to a wharf at the river front of Memphis; which lies on a sort of bluff, high above the Mississippi.

The two chums went ashore, with numerous errands to do, that they declared would take them until noon. Yet in less than one hour later Frank caught the whistle from the cotton piles on the levee, that told him Bluff and Jerry were back, “keeping shady” until he could carry out his part of the little programme.

Will was very busy just then, dabbling in his daylight developing bath, so that anyone could see it was utterly out of the question for him to leave, and go on an errand.

Frank carried out his part of the plan very cleverly. And old Luther, taking the note which Frank had purposely sealed in an envelope, went ashore, and up toward the city. After he had vanished from view two skulking figures came aboard, chuckling with delight over the apparent success of Frank’s plan.

“Get the hawser aboard, and let’s push off,” said Frank, a little concerned lest Luther should come in sight even then, and demand to be taken back.

The boys worked with willing hands, and in a short time the Pot Luck was once more afloat, drifting down the wide river, and leaving Memphis and Luther Snow behind.

Still, none of the boys seemed as jubilant as they had anticipated, in getting rid of their incubus. The fact was, that Luther had somehow rather gained a little hold upon their affections, and secretly they were sorry to have him go. Only for that strange clause in the note of Uncle Felix they might have allowed him to remain on board the houseboat until New Orleans was reached, no matter if he were Marcus Stackpole or not.

Often would they ponder over this strange matter; and it must form the subject of more than a few earnest talks; yet, not having the key to the puzzle, they must always confess themselves baffled. As Frank had truly said, the riddle was not to be solved until they stood face to face with the gentleman who owned the Pot Luck, and they had plied him with questions.

Often when some darky from the bank would call out a sportive remark, intended for those aboard the passing houseboat, the boys would look at each other in a queer way. For the same idea must have flashed into the mind of each one; and this that it might be the wily Marcus Stackpole trying a new game upon them, with the idea of once more getting aboard the Pot Luck.

Below Vicksburg they took stock of the time, and found that in all they had been just seven weeks on the voyage. Another one ought to see them safely at their journey’s end, if all went well.

Being on a boat that could only drift, there was no chance to attempt any of the numerous “cutoffs” that began to be met with, every day now. And so sticking to the big river, they “boomed” along on the flood from shortly after daylight up to nearly dark, covering scores of miles each day with the swift flow of the current.

The Southern plantation scenes were of great interest to the boys; and Will rapidly diminished the number of his film rolls, snapping laughable pictures of the dusky toilers of the cotton and sugarcane; together with the numerous broods of pickaninnies that gathered around, every time they stopped at a little “wood-station,” where certain boats were in the habit of tying up to load pine cordwood for the boiler.

And one night, when the heavens were cloudy, and there seemed a prospect of rain at any minute, they had an unexpected surprise that showed how strangely Fate could manage things.

Frank had tied up a short distance above what looked to be a wood landing, where some sort of boat was secured. They had arrived rather late, and the darkness had gathered so quickly that they were not able to get a good view of this craft, just barely seen through some trees located on a low point.

Not wishing to be bothered by visitors, and have more or less noise around until a late hour of the night, they had chosen this way of avoiding it.

Supper had been prepared, and was long since placed “where it could do the most good,” as Bluff declared. And the four chums were sitting around on the deck, enjoying the cool evening breeze; for the day had been a very hot one, which made the prospect of a storm rather promising.

Somehow or other the conditions made them speak of that night when they ran to the fire, and were overtaken by the storm. Imagine the astonishment of the others when Frank suddenly exclaimed:

“Talking about fires, fellows, seems to me that looks like one right now, down below the point jutting out, and where we saw that boat tied up! Wouldn’t it be a funny thing now if history chose to repeat itself, with the rain coming along, too.”

And looking as he said, the other three lads saw a bright glow beginning to show; while loud cries arose, that seemed to tell of alarm.