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The Outdoor Chums on a Houseboat; Or, The Rivals of the Mississippi

by Quincy Allen · English · Gutenberg #35831 · 284,187 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Outdoor Chums on a Houseboat; Or, The Rivals of the Mississippi

Author: Quincy Allen


        
Release date: April 11, 2011 [eBook #35831]

Language: English

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Credits: Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net


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                    THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON A HOUSEBOAT

                                   OR

                     The Rivals of the Mississippi

                                   BY

                          CAPTAIN QUINCY ALLEN

        AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS," "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS ON THE
             LAKE," "THE OUTDOOR CHUMS IN THE FOREST," ETC.

                      The GOLDSMITH Publishing Co.
                             NEW YORK N.Y.

                              MADE IN USA




                          COPYRIGHT, 1913, BY
                            GROSSET & DUNLAP






CONTENTS


  - CHAPTER I--GLORIOUS TIMES AHEAD

  - CHAPTER II--LAYING PLANS

  - CHAPTER III--BLUFF NAMES THE BOAT

  - CHAPTER IV--THE PERIL ON THE RIVER

  - CHAPTER V--THE FIRST NIGHT AFLOAT

  - CHAPTER VI--WHAT FRANK FOUND ON DECK

  - CHAPTER VII--ANOTHER CARELESS PILOT

  - CHAPTER VIII--FACE TO FACE AT LAST

  - CHAPTER IX--THE GAME OF BLUFF

  - CHAPTER X--A CALL FOR HELP

  - CHAPTER XI--A THREATENED COLLISION

  - CHAPTER XII--A RED GLOW IN THE SKY

  - CHAPTER XIII--AFTER THE STORM

  - CHAPTER XIV--THE RUNAWAY HOUSEBOAT

  - CHAPTER XV--ON BOARD THE POT LUCK AGAIN

  - CHAPTER XVI--THE UNWELCOME PASSENGER

  - CHAPTER XVII--THE FUGITIVES OF THE LEVEE

  - CHAPTER XVIII--WHAT JERRY'S STICK BROUGHT DOWN

  - CHAPTER XIX--A BOBCAT ON BOARD

  - CHAPTER XX--THE FLOATING TREE

  - CHAPTER XXI--THE NEW OWNER OF THE HOUSEBOAT

  - CHAPTER XXII--WHO WAS BOSS

  - CHAPTER XXIII--LEFT IN THE LURCH

  - CHAPTER XXIV--RIVALS NO LONGER.

  - CHAPTER XXV--THE FINISH OF THE VOYAGE





CHAPTER I--GLORIOUS TIMES AHEAD


"Own up, Will, you've got hold of some great news, and you're just
keeping it back to tease us! How about that, Bluff?"

"You're right, Frank, for I can see it in his face. His eyes are just
dancing with a big secret. But wait up; here comes Jerry across the
campus. Now he'll just have to open the box, and show us."

The college boy, called Will by his comrades, and whose last name was
Milton, laughed good-naturedly, and then nodded his head.

"Why, fellows," he said, "I saw Jerry coming, and meant to wait for him.
When all four members of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club, who call
themselves the Outdoor Chums, are present, I've got something to say
that is going to set you all just wild."

At that the young chap who went by the name of Bluff made frantic
gestures for a fourth lad, just then heading in their direction, to
hurry along.

Evidently this freshman must have suspected that something unusual was
brewing, for he started on a run, and came up almost panting for breath.

"What's in the wind, fellows?" he demanded, glancing from one eager face
to the others. "Don't tell me you've made up your minds where the club
is going to put in the vacation just ahead of us, because that would be
too good news. Who's going to take pity on me, and relieve my suspense?"

"Why, Will here has got something to tell us, and wanted to wait till
you joined the crowd," said Frank Langdon, who was just a little taller,
and more manly-looking than any other in the group; though they were all
bright, able lads, who had seen considerable of life.

"Listen, boys," said Will, who was inclined to be less given to healthy
color than the rest, and who seemed to be not quite so sturdy in build;
"I've had a letter from my Uncle Felix, down in New Orleans; and he made
the queerest offer you ever heard about. You see, through my mother he
must have learned about some of the adventures that came our way the
last two years; and, what do you think? he wants the Outdoor Chums to
take a voyage all the way down the Mississippi, just as soon as school
closes."

"What!" ejaculated Jerry Wallington, as though rather staggered by the
sudden outlook; "a voyage down the Mississippi? What on; a floating
log?--because we don't happen to own any kind of a boat just now."

"Well, Uncle Felix does, you see," Will went on, coolly. "It's some sort
of a houseboat, that he used to live aboard for several years. For some
reason, that he doesn't take the trouble to explain, he wants it brought
down to New Orleans, where he's recovering from a bad accident, so that
he just can't come up himself. And, boys, he enclosed a check for a
hundred dollars in the letter."

"Wow! what was that for?" demanded Bluff Masters, who had a little habit
of being impetuous, though at heart he was as true as steel to his
chums, and always fair toward even his bitterest enemy.

"Why, to buy eats, of course!" declared Will. "You see, a houseboat
doesn't often have any way of moving along, only with the current, at
least this one doesn't, I know; and so it just has to wander down the
river. That takes a heap of time; and four healthy boys have to eat
sometimes five times a day to keep from starving to death; anyhow, Bluff
here does, I happen to know."

"Well, a hundred dollars ought to buy a heap of grub," remarked Jerry,
with a wide grin on his good-natured face. "But after we get there, how
do you suppose we're ever to get back home again, unless we draw some of
our little nest-egg out of bank, and foot the railroad bill?"

"Trust Uncle Felix for that," Will remarked. "He says he'll see that we
all get back home safe in good time. And, as he's got bushels of money,
and is a bachelor in the bargain, that part of the job needn't worry
us."

"Where's the houseboat now?" asked Frank,

"Tied up in the boatyard of a man named James Whittaker in St. Paul.
There was an order on him to deliver the boat to us with all the
fixtures, whatever that may mean," Will continued.

"Oh! say, did you ever hear of such luck?" cried Bluff, throwing his cap
up in the air and catching it deftly again as it fell.

"Perhaps it's just like a palace, if a rich old bachelor has been
knocking around in it for some years," suggested Jerry.

Frank noticed that Will did not think to offer any information on this
score, if he happened to possess the knowledge. Perhaps he was willing
that his three chums should live in expectation, and be surprised by the
wonders of the houseboat upon which Uncle Felix seemed to set such
store.

"By the way," continued Will, "there was one funny part to Uncle's
letter."

"Tell us about it. If we're going to make a cruise in the houseboat of a
millionaire, we ought to know," remarked Bluff.

"He says," Will went on, "he's mighty particular about whom he allows
aboard his boat, and wants to impress upon us all that during the cruise
we must keep off all undesirable characters."

"Sure thing," remarked Bluff, with a wise nod. "I've always heard that
the Mississippi is a tramp's paradise, and that they just swarm down
there. It's only right that a rich man would want us to keep such
characters off his fine houseboat."

"Hold on there," broke in Will, "I haven't said it was such a palace,
have I, Frank? Here Bluff keeps on getting more and more extravagant
with his adjectives every time he mentions the boat."

"Oh! well," the other ventured, "it stands to reason that a rich old
chap who spends lots of his time on board a pet boat would have things
just scrumptious. Me for the first choice of bunks aboard! Wonder if he
has silk eiderdown quilts for covers. Yum! yum! we're just the luckiest
lot of freshmen that ever squeezed through their first year at college;
and, Will, I feel like giving you a bear's hug for bringing us this
great news."

"Please don't!" cried Will, half alarmed, for Bluff was a bit rough in
his way; "because I'm carrying a bunch of lantern slides in my pocket;
and I'd hate to have them broken;" but the observing Frank detected what
seemed to be a gleam of suppressed amusement on Will's face, that gave
him an inkling as to the true state of affairs.

Will had always been the official photographer of the Rod, Gun and
Camera Club, and was something of an expert at snapping pictures to
commemorate stirring and unusual events in the outdoor experiences of
the chums.

"Was that all he said about not letting strangers aboard unless they
brought letters of introduction?" asked Jerry.

"He warned us to be particularly careful not to harbor a certain party
named Marcus Stackpole, who seems to be some sort of particular enemy of
my uncle, though just why he would want to get aboard the houseboat I
can't imagine."

"Say, that's queer, now," remarked Bluff.

"Guess he's had some reason for believing this Stackpole to be a thief,
and he thinks he's run away with some of the things your uncle carries
aboard," Jerry suggested.

Will simply elevated his eyebrows as he replied, evasively:

"I don't know, and that's all I can say, fellows; but suppose we go over
to my rooms, where we can read the letter again, and take a look at the
course of the Mississippi River from St. Paul to New Orleans."

It happened that Will and Frank had rooms at some little distance from
the college buildings, making quite a walk along the road that ran
beside the little river. And as they are trudging along, indulging in
considerable excited talk, we can devote a few paragraphs to some of the
pleasant things that in times past were experienced by these four
comrades.

The organization of the club, and what happened to the boys shortly
afterward, has been detailed, at length, in the first book of this
series, called: "The Outdoor Chums; Or, The First Tour of the Rod, Gun
and Camera Club." In the second story are given some of the wonderful
happenings that befell them while camping on an island in Camelot Lake,
which had, up to that time, been shunned by most people, because of the
fierce bobcats that were said to hold possession there. These exciting
events you will find narrated in "The Outdoor Chums on the Lake; Or,
Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island."

During the Easter holidays another campaign was undertaken in search of
excitement and pictures, as well as camping experiences. It had been
reported that a ghost roamed over a certain section of the country some
miles away from the town of Centerville; and the four boys determined to
find out the truth of this rumor. As to what befell them, the reader
will find the full details in the third volume, called "The Outdoor
Chums in the Forest; Or, Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge."

When Christmas came, the chums received permission to pay a visit to the
Sunny South. And what strange things happened to them on a Florida
river, as well as upon the great Mexican gulf, have been told in the
fourth book, under the title of "The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf; Or,
Rescuing the Lost Balloonists."

Then came a delightful visit to the Far West, where they saw what life
on a cattle ranch was like, and had some thrilling times among the wild
animals that Will was always anxious to take pictures of, at no matter
what risk to himself. You can find all these narrated at length in the
fifth book, just preceding this, and bearing the title of "The Outdoor
Chums After Big Game; Or, Perilous Adventures in the Wilderness."

"There's that fancy dresser, Oswald Fredericks, and some of his chums,
coming this way, Frank!" remarked Bluff, as the four boys were walking
along the road.

Frank frowned. If there was one fellow in all the hundreds attending
college with whom he had never been able to get on, it had been the rich
man's son, Oswald Fredericks. They had never actually come to blows, but
for some reason the other had shown jealousy toward Frank, and seldom
let an opportunity pass for sneering at him, or doing some small thing
to indicate what his feelings toward Frank were.

"And we're bound to meet the bunch just in that narrow part of the road,
too, where the river runs close beside it," remarked Will, in disgust.

"Well," spoke up fiery Bluff, "you don't expect that we're going to
stand here, and wait for the procession to pass by; do you? I guess four
of us ought to be a match for as many of the Fredericks crowd, if they
try to muss us up."

"Oh! I don't think Fredericks would try anything like that," Frank
remarked.

"You never know what such a fellow might do," declared Jerry. "Once I
used to like him; but he got going with a fast set, and I had to cut him
dead. He isn't altogether bad, but apt to feel himself superior because
his dad's a millionaire."

"And the queer thing about it," broke in Will just then, "is that he
lives in St. Paul, where we have to go after our houseboat, and I've
often heard him tell about the dandy craft his father owns, used for
making cruises down the river. It's got an engine aboard, too, and can
run like a steamboat."

"Oh! shucks! I just wish he'd take a notion to make a cruise about the
same time as we did," said Bluff in a low voice, for the other party was
now quite close by. "Say, wouldn't we have some bully times, though,
running races with his old tub?"

Frank somehow felt that the other students were up to mischief. He had
noticed that they kept their heads together, and seemed to be whispering
suspiciously.

On that account he was on the lookout for trouble. Consequently, when,
just as the two parties were passing, some of the others gave Oswald a
sudden shove, as doubtless arranged beforehand, and he was thrown toward
Frank, the latter deftly jumped aside.

The consequence was that the well-dressed Oswald, not running up against
the object he had anticipated shoving over the edge of the bank into the
river, made a few wild movements of his arms, as though seeking
something to stay his own progress; and then quickly vanished from view
over the edge, to the dismay of his companions, and the delight of Bluff
and Jerry.

They heard him give a sharp yelp; and then a splash announced that he
had plunged into the swiftly-running stream.




CHAPTER II--LAYING PLANS


"Listen to that, will you?" cried Bluff Masters. "He's in, all right!"

The boys hastened to the edge of the bank. The river ran about six feet
below, and as there was a fair stage of water at this time of year,
Oswald had ducked completely under when he fell in.

He was making frantic efforts to drag himself out, and was spouting
water like a geyser. One of his comrades immediately hastened to lower
himself by means of some friendly rocks, so as to give the unfortunate
Oswald a helping hand.

Dripping from head to foot, and looking like a half-drowned rat, the son
of the St. Paul millionaire finally managed to regain the road. He was
certainly a forlorn-looking figure. Even a couple of his friends grinned
a little behind his back; while Bluff and Jerry made no pretense of
hiding their delight. Frank half expected that the other would attack
him, though there was not the slightest reason for it, since he had not
even touched young Fredericks when so deftly stepping aside.

"What did you do that for, Langdon?" spluttered the other, shivering,
either with the cold, or the excitement following his unexpected dip in
the water.

"I don't know that I did anything, except to get out of your way,"
returned Frank, quietly. "You seemed to want the whole road, and I was
for giving it to you. What do you find about that to complain of,
Fredericks?"

"Oh! go on," sneered the other. "You knew mighty well that if you jumped
out of the way I'd go into the river."

"Well," remarked Frank, steadily, keeping his eyes on Oswald, "it was
either you or me; and I wasn't at all anxious to get wet; so since you
would have it, I let you have first choice. If you'd kept to your side
of the road nothing would have happened. You've only yourself to blame.
You tried to put up a little game on me, and the biter got bitten
himself; that's all there is to it."

"Think you're pretty smart; don't you, Langdon?" snarled the other, who
in his anger quite forgot his elegant ways, and seemed ready to descend
to the manner of a common bully. "You set up that game on me, and you
know it. Didn't I see you telling Bluff Masters what you would do if I
happened to brush up against you? I've a good notion to give you what
you ought to have had long ago."

"You don't say?" remarked Frank, pleasantly; "and suppose you tell me
what that might be, Fredericks."

"A sound drubbing; and I can do it, too, I want you to know!" snarled
the other, making a forward movement, though two of his boon companions
managed to get a grip on his shoulders and hold him back.

Frank deliberately took off his coat, and handed it to Will Milton.

"That's a new coat," he said, calmly, "and I wouldn't want to get it
soiled by rubbing up against your dirty and wet clothes. Now, suppose
you start in, and give me what you say I need; because to-morrow may be
too late, as we start for home in the morning. This is a nice, quiet
spot, and we stand little chance of being bothered by any outsiders."

"Let me go; can't you, fellows?" cried Oswald, making a great show of
trying to break away from the detaining hands of his chums; though Bluff
noticed that it was something of a pretense after all.

"Don't be a fool, Ossie," said Raymond Ellis, in a low voice; "you know
that Langdon's said to be as strong as an ox. He made the baseball team,
and will be in the football squad next fall. Let it drop; can't you? It
was a bad job all around, and you got caught in your own trap."

"But I tell you I can do him up right now, if you only let me loose!"
declared Fredericks, with another vain effort to break away, making his
friends only seek the harder to keep him back, the third one now lending
a hand, and trying to soothe him with soft words. "What have I been
taking boxing and wrestling lessons all winter for, if not just this
opening? I knew some day we'd have it out; and why not now? Let loose,
Duke Fletcher; I want to show him!"

"Well, you just can't right now, and that's all there is about it,"
declared the lad last named, as he tightened his grip. "You're soaked to
the skin, and excited in the bargain; while he's as cool as a cucumber.
Just hold your horses, and maybe some fine day you'll get your chance on
even terms."

They started to lead the expostulating Oswald away. Every little while
he would break out into another wild series of exclamations, and
struggle with the chums who kept their detaining hands on him.

Frank quietly recovered his coat and put it on. There was a curl to his
lips as he turned his face toward his chums.

"What do you think of it, boys?" he asked.

"He never wanted to fight, even a little bit!" declared Bluff, scorn in
his tones.

"That's right," remarked Jerry. "For all his squirming, he didn't want
to break away from his friends. Why, he could have done it in the start,
easy enough; but it was all a big bluff. But say, did you ever hear a
splash like that, fellows?"

"It certainly did make a noise," remarked Frank, laughing.

"Noise!" echoed Bluff, doubling up with laughter; "why, if you didn't
know what happened, you'd think a house had dropped kerplunk into the
river. Only time I can remember anything like it, was when Jerry here
went overboard once----"

"That'll do for you, Bluff," interrupted the one mentioned; "I could
refer to a few of your troubles in the past when it comes to speaking
about splashes. Just drop personal things, and let's speak about
Fredericks."

"Oh! if I'd only had my little snapshot camera along," exclaimed Will,
suddenly remembering what a startling picture he might have taken of
Oswald going over the edge of the bank; to be followed with another
showing him as he climbed, dripping, out of the river.

"Well, that's nearly always the way," grunted Bluff. "What wonderful
things we do see when we haven't got a gun."

"But he's going to set that bath down against you, Frank; and some day
try to hand you back something in return," remarked Jerry.

"How could you be so cruel as to side-step, and let the poor chap go
over into that cold water?" asked Bluff.

They were all in high spirits as they started once more for the room
where Will and Frank boarded. Healthy boys see no shadows ahead when
fortune beckons. And these chums knew of no reason why they should not
look forward with delight to that long trip in a houseboat down the
Father of Waters.

"I'm going to take the pains to tell Duke Fletcher what our plans are
for the summer," said Jerry, who was by long odds far from being one to
seek trouble; but in this case he seemed to think it might liven things
up if only Oswald and several of his cronies chose to make a similar
cruise, and that fortune threw them together now and then.

Frank rather doubted the wisdom of notifying the others of the intended
voyage; but he neglected to ask Jerry not to mention it, and so the fact
was forgotten until later.

Once they arrived at the room, the letter, with its enclosures, was
produced, and for a full hour the boys studied it.

"I declare I can't make head or tail of it," Jerry finally admitted,
with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Me, too!" declared Bluff, ready to confess himself "stumped," as he
called it. "What do you suppose there is so valuable about this
houseboat that would make anybody like Marcus Stackpole want to get it,
if only he got on board?"

"Say, perhaps Uncle Felix keeps some of his expensive curios aboard, and
this Stackpole knows it, and means to get hold of 'em. I'm going to make
it my job to find out if that's so, and you fellows needn't be surprised
to see me poking around in any old dark corner, and tapping the walls of
the cabin to find concealed treasures."

"That sounds just like you, Jerry; always thinking you're going to
strike it rich," jeered Bluff. "Now, I've got a notion it's the craft
itself that's so expensively built, and Stackpole, who must have wanted
to buy it from Uncle Felix, and has been refused, is just bound to get
hold of it."

Frank laughed at all these wild theories. He did not know himself what
the solution of the mystery could be, but felt positive that it was
along different lines from anything as yet suggested in the fertile
brains of his companions. Besides, he wondered what that occasional
smile he saw upon the face of Will meant. Evidently the other was
keeping back something from his chums; and it must have a connection
with the houseboat.

As they expected to start home on the following day, it would not be
long before they would arrive in St. Paul, ready to purchase their
provisions for the beginning of the river trip, and start down stream.

It was the last night at college for that term and all sorts of affairs
were going on among the students, who would separate for two months and
more on the morrow. When morning came there was a grand exodus, and the
station of the college town presented a gay appearance, as scores of
young fellows, with suitcases in their hands, boarded the train that
pulled out.

Those who were going later gave the college yell when the whistle of the
engine announced that the parting minute had arrived. And amid a
shrieking of hundreds of voices the train started that was to bear the
four chums to their homes in Centerville.

"There's your dear friend, Oswald Fredericks, Frank!" said Will, as the
party hung partly out of a couple of windows in the car they occupied.

"And he's got his eye glued on you, too; don't forget," remarked Jerry.

"Oh! he's a good hater, all right," said Bluff. "If he didn't have any
reason to wish you all sorts of bad luck before, that souse in the river
settled it. From now on he'll never hear the name of Frank Langdon
without getting mad, you mark me. And some day, sooner or later, he
hopes to have a chance to even up the score."

"Huh! it may come sooner, then," remarked Jerry, significantly.

"See here," remarked Frank, turning to look at the last speaker, "did
you keep your word, and tell Duke Fletcher about our plans this summer?"

Jerry nodded his head coolly.

"Course I did," he admitted. "You heard me tell I was going to do it,
and nobody said a word. I like to have things going on all the time!
What's the use of living, if you can't have some excitement once in a
while? Besides, I'm hoping Oswald will find a chance to 'hop' Frank
here. You see, I know what will follow; and he needs a lesson, that
upstart does, to take the conceit out of him."

"Oh! well," remarked Frank, with a whimsical smile, "I believe the old
Mississippi is something of a river; and even if they do start down in
another houseboat, the chances of running across us wouldn't amount to
much, anyhow. So what's the use of worrying? We've got all we want to do
to keep watch for this tricky Marcus Stackpole, the man Uncle Felix
seems to think will try to either rob the boat, or steal the entire
outfit."

"Somebody pinch me," said Bluff, as they sat down facing each other in
the double seat; "because I just can't believe it's so, all these fine
times ahead of us, with a houseboat all our own for weeks, and we living
on the fat of the land as we go, taking toll of game and fish by the
way."

"Huh!" grunted Jerry, "much game you'll get, with the law on nearly
everything that flies; and Frank here a regular stickler for obeying
what the law says. But say, we take our guns along, I certainly hope,
boys?"

"That's a settled thing," Frank replied. "We might need them in lots of
ways; and while Uncle Felix may have a stock of firearms aboard his
boat, we would be foolish to take any chances."

"Hear! hear! that makes me happy!" Bluff exclaimed.

"Now he's just thinking about that pump-gun he owns, and what havoc he
can make if ever he sees a flock of ducks on a sand bar!" chuckled Will;
for the gun had never been a favorite with either himself or Jerry, who
declared it was unsportsmanlike to be able to send a volley into a bevy
of quail, from a repeating shotgun, though with a rifle the case was
different.

And, throughout all that long journey, from the college to their home
town, the four chums talked of hardly anything else but the pleasure
they anticipated when once they were launched on the mighty Mississippi,
bound for the distant Southern metropolis, known as the Crescent City.




CHAPTER III--BLUFF NAMES THE BOAT


"Well, hold me, somebody, I'm going to faint!"

It was Jerry who made this remark; and he did actually pretend to fall
over against Will, who happened to be standing next to him at the time.

The four chums were in St. Paul, and had just been shown the interior of
the houseboat, on board of which they expected to make the voyage down
the river, over the many hundreds of miles separating them from New
Orleans.

Even Frank was smiling as though surprised; while Bluff stared around in
wonder. Will was chuckling to himself, as though he had known about it
all along, and wished to spring a surprise on his mates by keeping
still. That was what his smiles meant, Frank now knew, at the time the
others were speculating as to what the houseboat of a wealthy old
bachelor might be like.

"Talk to me about a dilapidated old craft, this sure takes the cake!"
ventured the plain-spoken Bluff, presently, when he could catch his
breath. "Why, say, I've seen some shantyboats that could give this one a
handicap, and still win out. Do you mean to say, Will Milton, your Uncle
Felix is afraid of somebody running away with this old tub? That must be
his little joke on us."

"Oh! nobody ever said there was anything palatial about uncle's
houseboat," Will hastened to declare; "you fellows made up that fairy
story to please yourselves. If you knew my uncle, you'd never think of
him wasting his money on a floating palace. Fact is, boys, I do know all
about this same craft; and if you sit down I'll tell you how he came to
get hold of her in the first place."

"Might as well take a little rest, because I do feel sort of weak after
such a shock," declared Jerry.

"Well, now," remarked the man who had accompanied them aboard the boat,
and who had unlocked the door very carefully, as though the cabin
contained some wild animal he was afraid might escape, this being the
boat builder, Mr. Whittaker; "I'd like to hear that myself. You see, all
I know is that Mr. Milton left this boat in my charge, and I was to keep
constant watch over it, for which he agreed to pay in full. I've looked
it over from stem to stern, and I declare if I was ever able to make up
my mind what there was about the old thing to cause him to be so
anxious. So tell us about it, my boy, if you please."

"Why, it's just this way," Will went on to say; "Uncle was knocking
around down South some years ago, when he got in a tight scrape, and
might have lost his life only for the fortunate coming of the man who
owned this houseboat. I guess at that time it was called a shantyboat,
Bluff, for a fact. Well, it seems that my uncle, who does lots of queer
things, I'm told, thought so much of the boat that he bought her from
the man, who was a traveling bee-keeper, and who said he had purchased
the craft from a clock peddler, who used to drop down from town to town
finding odd jobs to do. Now you've got the history of the gallant
craft."

"And what did he want her for; just to keep on account of having his
life saved by her coming at the right time?" demanded Jerry.

"Oh!" said Will, readily enough; "he used her several seasons as a
houseboat; and after drifting as far down the river as he cared to go,
he'd have her towed up again. Few shantyboats ever come back again, you
know. Once they get South, they're sold, and broken up for firewood. But
I rather think Uncle Felix must have had some pleasant days and nights
aboard this same boat, and that's why he values her, in one way."

Bluff broke out into laughter, doubling up like a hinge.

"It makes me weep, boys, to think of the adjectives we've wasted on the
old tub. I reckon among the lot we've called her everything that stood
for a grand outfit. Why, I've often shut my eyes, and tried to picture
the finest thing that ever was built. And now to see this old boat gives
me a fit. Where do you suppose the silk-covered eiderdown quilts are
stowed away; eh? And the mahogany trimmings; with the gas range Jerry
was speaking about? Oh! my, here's a little old wood-burning stove, with
one lid cracked. And well, here's luck, boys, just four bunks, arranged
on the two sides of the cabin, one for each."

Frank had not allowed himself to indulge in any of the high-flown
anticipations that had captured his two chums. That queer little smile
on Will's face had warned him against such a course. And so now he was
in a position to look at things from a sensible point.

"Hold on, fellows," he remarked, quietly; "if you've had to take a
tumble, whose fault is it but your own? Will never gave you to
understand that this was going to be a voyage in a floating palace; you
just chose to picture all that sort of stuff for yourselves. And after
all, when you take an inventory of things here, it isn't so bad a
handout."

"Good for you, Frank," said Will, as if pleased.

"Just forget all that nonsense you imagined about sailing down in a
gilt-edged houseboat, boys, and look the thing squarely in the face. The
boat is still in good condition, and as staunch as anything. There's
plenty of room for getting around, and for storing our stuff, bedclothes
and eatables. Will you tell me what more the Outdoor Chums need in order
to have a jolly good time?"

Bluff and Jerry looked at each other. The former scratched his head, and
then the disappointed expression vanished from his face.

"I guess you're about right there, Frank," he admitted; "we've been
through all sorts of times, and we never yet asked for more than just
ordinary comforts. Leave the millionaire boats for the sons of rich men,
who are so soft and pampered that they just can't rough it any. We've
shown we could stand a lot; and anyhow, we can have a heap of fun aboard
this old she-bang, once we cut loose from St. Paul."

"But what strikes me in the funny bone is this," declared Jerry. "If it
looked queer to us why a fellow named Marcus Stackpole would want to
sneak aboard a palatial craft to steal something, or get away with the
boat itself, now what under the sun could anybody in their right senses
expect to find on this tub worth taking; tell me that, will you?"

And all of the others only shook their heads in the negative, as though
the conundrum were too much for them.

"Ask me something easy," remarked Bluff; "like the number of stars in
the Milky Way, and I might give a guess; but I'm stumped when you want
me to say why anybody would spend good hard-earned dollars to have this
old boat guarded for months in Mr. Whittaker's yard here; and then warn
us to be careful how we let any strangers travel with us."

"Well," said Jerry, "you know what I said about his having something
hidden aboard, that this other fellow knew about, and wanted. I still
stick to that, more than ever; and I'm never going to rest till I find
out."

"Just like you, Jerry," remarked Frank; "like as not you'll be wanting
to tear away the whole inside planking piece by piece, in hopes of
making a discovery. There never was such a fellow for investigating
things; and there never will be again."

"Sure," replied the other, with a grin. "But when do we get our duffle
aboard, fellows? Can't start any too soon to please me."

The disappointment had been keen, for Bluff and Jerry had foolishly
indulged in all manner of extravagant ideas concerning the luxuries they
expected to find on board a houseboat owned by a rich man like Uncle
Felix; but after all they were sensible boys, and could extract a lot of
fun out of very small material.

The main thing was that they had a boat, strong and serviceable, to bear
them on the long voyage; plenty of money with which to purchase
provisions; and the whole summer before them in which to make the trip.

Imagination, such as is always rampant in the mind of a boy, did the
rest. They could anticipate all manner of glorious adventures as taking
place before their distant destination was reached.

Frank was ready to settle that matter without delay.

"I don't see any reason why we couldn't move out of here before night
comes," he remarked. "Bluff could see to getting all our stuff aboard,
while some of the rest accompanied me to buy the provisions. They'll
deliver the stuff here right away; and then we can cut loose. We've got
clothes and ammunition and all such things, including blankets for the
crowd."

"Hurrah! I'll get a move on right away, and yank that lot of bags down
here in a jiffy," declared Bluff, always ready to do things in a hurry.

"Well," remarked Mr. Whittaker, "I reckon you boys expect to have a
great time of it this summer; and if I was some years younger I'd just
like to be along with you. From the way you talk I rather imagine this
isn't the first trip you four've taken in company."

At that the boys looked at each other and laughed.

"What the Outdoor Chums have gone through with would fill lots of
books," Frank took occasion to remark; "and if I had the time I'd like
to tell you a few of the good times we've had together. But we've got to
get a hustle on if we want to drop down the river this afternoon;
because there's always lots to do at the last minute. Off you go, Bluff;
and Will, you come with me. I think Jerry had better help Bluff manage
the luggage."

And so they separated, each couple going about the business in hand with
the energy boys can always display when they expect to have a good time.

"Be mighty careful with my camera case," called out Will, after the
others. "If anything happened to that tool of mine, you'd never hear the
last of it. And then, however would we get any pictures of the queer
things that happen by the way? I expect to snap off some striking views
of you fellows doing stunts. Remember some of the ones we've got in the
album at home?"

"Just forget about them right now," answered Bluff, who knew that he
himself figured in not a few of them, often in rather undignified
attitudes, for instance where the wide-awake artist had happened to
catch him sitting astride a limb, with an angry bull below.

Within two hours they had come back again to the boatyard; and Bluff,
with the help of Jerry, managed to get aboard all their traps, brought
from home.

"Good, there's going to be plenty of room," Bluff declared, as he tugged
several of the last bundles up the gang-plank leading to the deck of the
boat; "because we carry enough duffle to sink a small boat--guns,
cooking utensils, blankets, clothes bags with changes of woolens,
photographic stuff by the bushel. And there come Frank and Will, loaded
to the gunwales with packages, too."

"Is that all the grub we're going to stack up with, for a voyage that
may take four or six weeks?" demanded Jerry, in dismay, when the
newcomers put their packages down aboard the houseboat.

"Oh! dear me, no," said Will; "these are only the little extras we
picked up on the way here; fruit and cakes, and some things we happened
to forget in the grocery. The wagon-load will be along shortly now."

"That sounds about right," declared Jerry. "Honest, now, I'm that hungry
a wagon-load of grub has the proper sort of ring, because I think I can
make away with the entire collection at a sitting. Bring on your whole
ham, and a dozen or two fried eggs. Think of the delicious coffee our
friend Bluff here used to make, when he got his hand in. Oh! how can I
wait till we're afloat, for supper to come along?"

"Well, there's the wagon right now," said Frank; "so we needn't be long
in having Mr. Whittaker set us afloat on the river. After that some of
us will have to man the big sweep here, and guide the boat."

"And think of us wise ones figuring on having an engine to do all the
work?" exclaimed Jerry, throwing up his hands. "But Bluff here has got a
nice little surprise for you, boys."

"What is it, Bluff?" asked Will, eagerly.

"It's about a name for our new craft," replied the other, with a knowing
look on his face. "You see, we had it all made up to call her the
Paragon or perhaps the Wanderer. But, fellows, after setting my eyes on
the condition of affairs here, it struck me that names like those would
be sort of out of order. And while Jerry was waiting to see the rest of
our things loaded on the wagon, I just stepped into a paint shop, and
had him fix me up something on a neat little board. This goes over the
door here, and can be read half a mile away. Now, hold your breath,
boys!"

With that he began to undo a package he had brought, and which was
carefully tied up in brown paper. Whipping the long narrow board free,
presently Bluff held it up to the very spot where he had declared he
meant to fasten it with nails. And as the others read what he had had
painted on the signboard, they gave a shout of appreciation, for the
name seemed to just hit the right chord.

It was "Pot Luck!"




CHAPTER IV--THE PERIL ON THE RIVER


"What do you think of it, boys?" asked Bluff, as he stood there, still
holding up the board over the cabin door.

"Couldn't have picked out a better name if you'd looked over the whole
dictionary," declared Frank. "It strikes right at the heart of things."

"We're sure going to take _pot-luck_ while we're aboard this jolly
rover!" remarked Jerry, with a rollicking laugh, as he swept his hand
around at the bare condition of the cabin's interior. "Your uncle must
have known what sort of boys we were, and how we'd manage to get along
with a makeshift boat."

"Well," said Bluff, "I'm glad you like my choice. Just happened to think
of it, you know; and seemed like it covered our case. And so _Pot Luck_
goes; eh, boys?"

"There's a hammer, and some nails on a shelf inside here, so you can
hang it up where it belongs in a jiffy," remarked Will, darting inside
to bring the articles he mentioned to Bluff, who was still standing
there with his arms extended.

And a few lusty blows from the hammer served to fasten the board up
securely.

"Hurrah! three cheers for the good old _Pot Luck!_" cried Jerry; and
they were given with a will, much to the amusement of some ship
carpenters repairing a tugboat near by.

"If we had our flag hoisted now," observed Bluff, "I'd dip the colors to
the christening of the houseboat. As it is, we take off our hats to
her."

"Long may she wave; or, rather, ride the waves!" commented Frank.

"And safe may she carry the Outdoor Chums on their voyage to the Sunny
South," remarked Will. "May no tempest toss her about like a chip; and
may she skip all the sand bars they say are always lying in wait to grip
a floating boat."

The arrival of the wagon carrying their supplies put an end to further
talk; and for some little time all of them were as busy as bees storing
the things on board.

"Never mind where they go now," Frank had said, in the beginning. "After
we get fairly afloat we can stow them in a better way. All we want now
is to make sure they don't get under our feet."

"Or else drop overboard," added Jerry, who had made sure to hang a
canvas-covered ham where it would be particularly safe; for fried ham
was one of his favorite dishes; and Jerry had dozens of them in his list
of prize feeds.

Finally the empty wagon told that all had been taken aboard. Frank
checked off the articles, and announced that nothing they had paid for
was forgotten.

"And now to see about getting pushed out in the current, where we've got
to work our passage," he observed; at which the others manifested their
delight.

Will, true to his passion, had seized upon his camera, and seemed ready
to get some sort of snapshot of the "launching," as he termed it.
Whenever anything out of the usual was about to take place, Will could
be depended on to show up, eager to transfer the scene to a plate or
film, and so insure its being enjoyed for all time to come, affording
much amusement and often laughter.

Jerry was already going around the inside of the cabin, with a
mysterious look on his face, sounding the wooden walls, and evidently
trying to locate some place of concealment where a queer old fellow
would be apt to hide a lot of valuables, and then forget all about them
until stricken down by some accident in far-away New Orleans.

Apparently the others would never hear the end of that idea until the
cruise came to a termination, or the persistent Jerry unearthed a
solution of the mystery.

The boat builder had a way of warping the houseboat out of his
enclosure, and setting it adrift on the bosom of the Mississippi. At
this point the river looked to be quite a good-sized stream to the boys;
but later on they would deem this next door to a creek, after they had
navigated the lower reaches, where it is sometimes twenty miles across
from bank to bank.

The last word was said, and Mr. Whittaker waved his hand to the four
young voyagers, wishing them the best of luck.

"Whoop! we're off at last!" cried Bluff, as the current took the
floating houseboat in its grip, and began to carry the unwieldy craft
slowly along.

"Take a hand here, and be ready to swing her further out into the
river," called Frank. "It's dangerous to keep near the shore, the boat
builder said. All together, now, boys; away she goes!"

When four stout young college boys put their shoulders to the task,
something has just got to be doing. And as they toiled at that big sweep
the clumsy houseboat slowly but steadily lurched away from the shore,
and began to get more of the force of the current, that always runs
stronger toward the middle of the river.

The city lay behind them now, and none of the boys felt the least bit of
regret. They loved the open, and outdoor life was with them a passion.

Looking back, they could admire the picture that was presented to Will
when he snapped his camera upon the last glimpse they would have of St.
Paul, lying on the upper reach of the mighty river.

"Oh! don't I feel like whooping it up, though!" cried Jerry; "because
we've made a start on our long voyage!"

"Makes me think of that other trip we took down in Florida, when we had
that fine little launch to handle, and saw something of life along the
coast after we came out of that river," Frank was saying, as he kept
pushing with the sweep, so as to clear the shore more than ever.

"Sure it does," echoed Bluff, enthusiastically. "Fact is, fellows, we've
been through so many exciting affairs that nearly everything that
happens is bound to make us remember some other adventure. Hey! me to
sound the well here, and see if she's taking water fast. Wouldn't be a
very nice thing to have our boat go down with us, before we'd been
moving an hour."

"Oh! no danger of that, Bluff," Frank remarked, reassuringly; "Mr.
Whittaker told me he had himself looked her all over while she was there
in his basin; and he gave me to understand that there wasn't a piece of
rotten wood in all her timbers. Fact is, he said she was good for many
years yet."

"That sounds all right, Frank, but the best of boats will take water;
and I can pump it up right now," Bluff insisted.

"Well, suppose you keep at work," the other continued, obligingly. "I
like to have everybody satisfied when I'm sailing a boat. Pump away till
you're tired, if you feel that way. It's silly to carry a cargo of
water, when we've got such a lot of better things aboard."

So Bluff amused himself with the pump as long as he could get any
considerable stream to respond to his muscular efforts.

The other three hung about the sweep; and when Frank thought they ought
to work out still further from the shore below the city, he found a pair
of eager assistants to help him man that guiding oar.

Frank could see the time coming when he might not have such willing
hands; and when the task of pushing that sweep would bring out many a
grunt and groan from Bluff and Jerry. But everything was new now, and
they actually thought it fun to throw their sturdy young shoulders
against the long handle, and bending to the job, urge the boat sideways
through the swirling water.

"About when do we think of getting supper?" asked Jerry, after a little
time had elapsed, and they could no longer see signs of the city that
was situated on the eastern shore of the river.

"Listen to him; would you, Frank?" cried Bluff. "Always wanting to eat,
and cut down our stock of rations. Why, it isn't more'n four o'clock
yet, and at this time of year it won't get dark till near eight."

"Four hours more!" called out the indignant Jerry; "do you mean we don't
get any of that good grub till then? I just won't stand for it, that's
what! And I give you fair warning right now, that at five, sharp, I
start the fire a-going in that stove. I'm going to get the first meal
aboard, because Frank said I might; so don't either one of you open your
mouths to say a word."

"Oh! all right," returned Bluff; who had really been managing matters so
as to coax Jerry to undertake this part of the drudgery; when he would
praise up his cooking in such a way that the other could hardly wait for
another meal-time to roll around; "we know there isn't a fellow aboard
who can hold a candle to you when it comes to slinging dishes together;
that is, if you haven't forgotten, since going to college, all you ever
knew in the old days."

"Me forgot how to cook?" ejaculated Jerry, warmly, and falling into the
neat little trap in a way that made Frank turn to Will, and wink his eye
several times. "Why, I tell you I'm a better hand at it than ever I was.
After you've tasted my supper just you tell me the honest truth; that's
all."

"I will, Jerry," said Bluff, keeping a straight face, though Frank knew
he was chuckling with delight over the success of his little dodge, "and
you can depend on it I'll never try to deceive you. If you can beat the
meals you used to dish up in the old times, sure you must be a wonder."

"There's smoke around that bend there, Frank; what do you suppose makes
it?" Will asked at this interesting moment.

"I suppose some steamboat is coming up the river," replied Frank.

"That's right," added Bluff, who had very good ears. "The breeze is dead
against us, but I can hear the whoof of her escape steampipes as she
butts up against the stiff current. I reckon we'll all get used to that
grunting sound before we wind up this trip."

"I hope she gives us plenty of room," continued Will, a little
nervously, as he planted himself where he thought he could get the best
view of the oncoming river boat, so that he could snap a picture of the
very first craft they met after starting on their long voyage.

Bluff, being more daring by nature, started to laugh at what Will said.

"You're sure the timid one, Will," he remarked, contemptuously, perhaps,
or it might be in a sort of condescending way; "why, the river is big,
and there's plenty of room for a dozen steamboats to pass us by; unless
the pilots happen to be taking a snooze at the wheel."

"There she pokes her nose around the bend!" called out Jerry.

"Seems to me, Frank, that she's heading right at us, like there was only
one little channel in this big river, and we happened to be sailing down
the same. Say, don't you think we ought to get a move on, and pull
farther over to the shore?" and Will dropped his camera to the deck, as
he laid a hand on the steering oar, which Frank had started to push
against once more.

"Jump in, boys, and go at it with all your might!" Frank called out.

Bluff and Jerry began to realize that, after all, a river may be narrow,
even if the banks do seem to be far apart; since there can be only fifty
or one hundred or two hundred feet in which a steamboat drawing a
certain amount of water may with safety proceed.

The boat that was pushing up the river was indeed heading directly for
them. Perhaps the pilot was doing something else in his little cage
aloft, for just at the minute none of them could see him there. He may
have stooped down to light his pipe, having secured the wheel meanwhile.

"Oh! we're going to be run down right in the start of the trip!"
exclaimed Will, whose face had turned white as he saw the steamboat
continuing to head in a direct line for the _Pot Luck_.

"Push harder, boys!" cried Frank, shutting his teeth tight together, and
throwing his weight against the bending oar with the ferocity that a
bucking "tackle" might show in a battle on the gridiron, when the fate
of the game depended on his grappling with the fellow who was running
with the ball for a decisive touchdown.

Bluff and Jerry saw how serious the situation was, and they bent every
energy in their frames toward doing something that would cause the
clumsy houseboat to move out of the way of the oncoming craft.

Already, in imagination, they could hear the crash as the bow cut them
down; and the next instant they would be struggling in the current, away
out from the shore, and likely to be drawn under the stern wheel of the
unattached towboat.

Just then the steersman raised up his head in view in the frame that
marked the window of the pilot house. They saw him stare at them as
though hardly able to believe his eyes. Then he started to frantically
whirl the wheel around, as if hoping to yet avert the accident that
seemed so sure. The boat began to respond to his demand, but so slowly
that it still looked as though only by what would be next door to a
miracle could the _Pot Luck_ avoid being smashed into kindling wood
against the bow of the advancing power craft.

And yet, such was the boy's passion for his hobby, that Will, leaving
the sweep, at which he could not find room beside his chums, sprang over
to his camera, and took a picture of the nearby towboat, even while
expecting to hear the shock of collision the next minute.




CHAPTER V--THE FIRST NIGHT AFLOAT


"Hard a-port!" the pilot of the river boat was calling.

Fortunately, that was just what Frank had started to do. Had his
judgment been at all defective in the start, all would have been lost;
for there was certainly no time to reverse, and go the other way.

It was quite an exciting time. Will managed to "snap" the three boys
straining at that clumsy big steering oar called the "sweep"; with the
towboat apparently dead ahead. It would, doubtless, give him an odd
little creep every time he looked at the picture; for of the quartette
Will was more inclined to be timid than any of his chums.

Of course the river boat had shut off steam, and was no longer pushing
hard up against the current. Indeed, her stern wheel even began to churn
the water wildly, in the endeavor to back, and thus at least lessen the
blow, if one had to follow.

It was the onward rush of the houseboat with the current that proved the
most dangerous factor in the matter; for there was no means of staying
the progress of the _Pot Luck_.

Closer still they came; and Will even gripped a portion of the gunwale
of the floating craft, under the impression that a collision was about
due; when all of a sudden some new freak of the current seemed to seize
the apparently doomed houseboat, for with a whirl the _Pot Luck_ started
on a new tack.

They passed so close to the side of the towboat that any one of the boys
might, had they so desired, thrust out a hand, and touched the planking.

Frank sighed with relief, to realize that after all their voyage was not
fated to be nipped in the bud at the very start.

"Hurrah!" cried Bluff; but his voice was too weak for the sound to be
much louder than a hoarse croak.

The pilot was shaking his fist at them from above as they swept past,
and uttering hard words. Little they cared for what he said, since every
boyish heart was full of thanksgiving, after the scare. Possibly they
were in the wrong, since the channel seemed to be no place for a
helpless houseboat likely to be met at any time by an up-river tow that
would stretch from side to side.

"Whew! that was a narrow escape, though!" Jerry exclaimed, as he fell
back, panting for breath after his labor at the sweep.

"It ought to teach us a lesson while we're on the upper Mississippi,"
Frank remarked, himself willing to rest a bit from his labors.

"You don't mean, I hope, that we ought to learn to talk back, so as to
give these river pilots as good as they send?" ventured Will, now
recovering from his attack of the "shakes," and hoping none of his mates
had noticed how pale he had been.

"That would take years of practice, even if a fellow wanted to try it,"
replied Frank, with a nervous little laugh. "No, what I meant was this:
while the river is as small as it is now, with only a certain channel
for big boats to follow, we must keep nearer the shore, and out of the
passage. Then we'll stand no danger of being run down, you see."

"Oh!" remarked Bluff, with uplifted eyebrows; "that's the way it stands,
eh? And I was dead sure the fault all lay with that sleepy pilot, He
must have been taking a nap, not to see us, till it was nearly too late
to keep from smashing into us."

"Well, I hardly believe it was as bad as that," Frank affirmed. "He had
a pipe between his teeth when he poked his head up, and I imagine he
must have stooped just to light it, so as to be out of the wind. But I
hope it will be a long day before we have another shave as close as that
one."

There were still a couple of hours of daylight left before evening would
descend upon them, and they considered it good policy to keep on the
move for some time yet. When the sun had set they could look for a
promising place at which to tie up, and spend the coming night.

To these boys, accustomed as they were to a small lake, and a stream
connected with the same that was hardly more than a creek, the upper
Mississippi seemed particularly grand. It was a noble river, with very
picturesque shores, and something new attracting their eager attention
with almost every passing minute.

Later on in the voyage, when they were navigating the lower stretches of
the mighty river, its vastness might appal them, but could never excite
their admiration as this early part of the cruise did.

There were not many vessels afloat at this stage. Navigation does not
begin to show such bustle above Cairo as below the junction city, where
the flood of the Ohio is the first considerable body of water to join
forces with the Mississippi.

Still, to these boys from the interior, there was much to see; and one
or the other seemed to be calling out perpetually, drawing attention to
certain features of the landscape on either bank, the river itself, or
some craft that appeared in view.

True to his word, Jerry, at a certain hour, vanished within the cabin;
and presently smoke ascending from the pipe that projected above the
flat roof announced that the first stage of supper had been taken.

By slow degrees Frank was working the boat in toward the shore on which
it had been decided to pass the night. This being their first experience
aboard such a craft, he believed that they had better take no risks of
losing a good chance for anchoring to a friendly tree.

True, there did seem to be an anchor aboard, to be used in an emergency;
but Frank had learned from Mr. Whittaker that the best way for tying up
for the night was to find some means of using the stout cable. And he
had also been warned to beware of getting into a shallow creek; since
the river has a mean way of sometimes dropping half a foot during a
single night; and in consequence they might find the houseboat stranded
until another rise came along, which, in summer time, might not be for
several weeks.

Perhaps the delightful aroma that began to drift out of the partly open
cabin door helped to urge Frank to hasten. At any rate, in less than
half an hour after Jerry disappeared, the clumsy boat was pushed in
close to the overhanging shore, and nimble Bluff clambered up the bank,
to whip the cable-end twice around an accommodating tree that happened
to be growing just where it would prove of greatest use to the young
river cruisers.

After that there was really little to do. Bluff got out a couple of fish
lines and proceeded to cast them from the stern, having secured a piece
of meat from the cook with which to bait them.

Before they went to bed he had hauled in quite a good-sized channel
catfish, an ugly, dark-skinned creature, with keen pointed spikes along
his spine, which Frank warned them must be avoided unless they wished to
have a poisoned hand. Yet uninviting as the fish looked, the boys all
pronounced it good eating when, in the morning, they had it for
breakfast.

Night settled down about them as Jerry announced that supper was ready.
The illumination of the interior of the cabin was not all that they
could wish, and more than one complaint was heard as they sat around the
table, which when not in use could be dropped so that it lay along the
wall.

"I think I saw a big lamp somewhere about," Frank declared; "and
to-morrow I'll see what I can do with it. Yes, there's where it used to
hang, right over the table. If it can be made to work it ought to give
us plenty of light. Bring out the two lanterns we made sure to fetch
along, Bluff; with their help we might get on for one night."

Indeed, they were all so happy that it would take many shortcomings of
this type to disturb them to any great extent.

It had really been a whole year now since the Outdoor Chums had enjoyed
an outing together, because of being away at college. Old memories
thronged their minds as they sat there, enjoying that first meal, and
the talk was connected with many events of the past.

"I haven't had such a feed all the time I've been away from home,"
declared Bluff. "And, Jerry, honest now, I really begin to believe that
you _have_ improved in your cooking more'n a little."

Jerry fell into the trap in a way that made Frank smile behind his hand.

"A little!" he echoed, warmly; "why, I'm going to surprise the lot of
you pretty soon. You wait and see. I used to be a greenhorn, and do
things just in the old rough and ready camp way; but now I've studied
the scientific methods of a _chef_. And I've got a whole lot of messes
I'm going to ring on you fellows sooner or later."

"If they're as good as what you gave us to-night, you can't begin too
soon," remarked Bluff, keeping his face straight; though Frank saw him
send a sly wink in his direction once or twice.

All of the boys were tired, and anxious to try their bunks. These were
ranged along one side of the cabin wall, two and two, "Pullman style,"
as Bluff called it.

They had brought their own blankets along, because it was not known
whether the boat was supplied. Plenty were found aboard in a box; but
they smelled so strongly of camphor that the boys preferred to use their
own.

Frank was the last one to crawl in. He had taken a turn on deck to see
that all was well, and no peril hanging over them from a break in the
cable. This uneasiness of the first night afloat would soon wear away,
of course; when the boys might be able to take things as they came
without worrying about anything.

Frank felt very comfortable in his bunk, and soon snuggled down to
sleep. He lay there for half an hour or more, however, the situation was
so novel to him; but finally it must have passed away.

Some time later he awoke, and in the darkness was for the moment unable
to place himself. He could hear the other boys breathing hard, and also
the gurgle of the river as it swirled past the blunt end of the beamy
houseboat.

Then Frank received a sudden shock. Plainly he heard someone try the
door of the cabin from without, as though a prowler had dropped on the
deck of the _Pot Luck_, and was endeavoring to find an entrance; bent on
stealing some of the goods which the young voyagers had loaded up with,
when making their start on the long cruise down the Mississippi.




CHAPTER VI--WHAT FRANK FOUND ON DECK


Frank sat up part way, leaning on his elbow, as he listened for a
repetition of the strange sound. His heart was beating at an unusual
rate, but his mind was as clear as a bell.

Just then he remembered placing his shotgun within reach of his extended
arm, if he but chose to lean out of the lower bunk. And he also
congratulated himself that the choice of sleeping quarters for the
voyage had favored him with one of the two bunks close to the floor of
the cabin.

Yes, he certainly could hear someone, or something, tampering with the
door. He knew that they had tied up in a rather lonely spot; but it was
hard to imagine any wild animal coming aboard to investigate this clumsy
craft.

And no wild animals, at least none found outside the countries of apes
and monkeys, were able to try the handle of a door, actually turning it
several times.

"What is it, Frank?" breathed a faint whisper close to his ears; and he
became conscious of the fact that Will had also heard the sound, and was
listening in his lower berth, his heart doubtless almost standing still
with sudden anxiety.

For answer Frank slipped gently out of his bed. His outstretched hand
came in contact with his gun, simply because he knew just where he had
placed the weapon. It was a double-barreled shotgun, a hammerless, that
had been given to Frank at his last birthday by his three chums, and
which as yet he had not had the pleasure of using much.

He knew that Will must have guessed what he was doing, for he caught the
intake of breath that signified renewed alarm.

Frank, however, did not creep toward the door, and fling it suddenly
open, as no doubt his chum anticipated he would do. He had not the
slightest idea of shooting at any intruder, his sole intention being to
give the other a good scare, that would be apt to make him think twice
before returning again to the moored houseboat.

There were four windows to the cabin, small affairs, each covered with
the heavy wire that is used in stables, and places where, air being
needed, it is also advisable to keep out intruders. But Frank happened
to know that one of these had been only partly covered in this manner,
and that there was plenty of room whereby he could thrust the barrels of
his gun out, in order to shoot.

This he did without any further delay.

The boom of the shotgun sounded loud in the confined space of the
houseboat cabin.

"Whoop!" yelled Bluff, as he came tumbling down from his elevated berth,
doubtless under the impression that an earthquake had dropped in upon
them for a visit.

Jerry followed suit instantly. Meanwhile, Frank was feeling for his
little electric torch, which he had kept within reach of his hand, in
case he wanted to see the time during the night, an alarm clock being
one of the fixtures of the _Pot Luck_ equipment.

"What under the sun happened?" gasped Jerry; and just then Frank snapped
on the bright ray of light, when they immediately saw that he was
holding his gun in the other hand.

"Get some clothes on, fellows!" said Frank, quietly; yet smiling to see
the blank expression on the faces of the pair who had been aroused as if
by the discharge of a cannon.

"What did you shoot, Frank?" demanded Bluff, as, in obedience to the
words of one who was looked up to as the leader of the set, he began to
draw on a pair of trousers, with the others following suit.

"Nothing," replied Frank.

"But say, you didn't do that just to give us a scare; that wouldn't be
like you, Frank," ventured Jerry. "If it were Bluff here, I'd think that
was the case, because he's always trying some joke or other. Tell us,
Frank, what's up?"

"We heard some wild animal trying to get in here, and Frank shot it
through one of the windows!" Will declared, solemnly; for that was just
what he believed had happened.

"Did you, Frank; and how could you see to do it, with the night so dark
outside?" Jerry demanded.

"Will heard the sound," Frank explained, "but it was no animal at all,
only some person trying to get in."

"Tell me that; will you!" burst out Bluff. "Trying to rob us the very
first night out! Lucky there's a bolt on the door, as well as a padlock
outside; and that we thought to shoot it home. But, Frank, did you hit
him; and do you think the poor critter is lying out there now, badly
hurt?"

"Don't be foolish, Bluff!" exclaimed Frank, indignantly. "You know me
better than to think I'd aim at a human being, when there was no need of
it. I just banged away up in the air to give him a scare. And I rather
think it filled the bill all right."

"Let's go out and see," suggested the impetuous Bluff, starting for the
door.

"Hold on a minute, till everybody is ready," cautioned Frank; "better
get your shoes on, too, boys; because it's cold on deck at this time of
night."

Presently all pronounced themselves as ready to stroll outside, and see
what was awaiting them. From the varied assortment of dangerous weapons
which the chums brandished, one might think they anticipated finding the
deck fairly swarming with river pirates; and that a serious mix-up was
in store. Will carried the hatchet; Bluff his pump-gun, about which the
others were always railing; Jerry had a rifle; while, as we know, Frank
still kept his reliable double-barreled present handy.

"Shall I open the door now?" demanded the impatient and daring Bluff.

"Yes, and be careful how you use that gun of yours," warned Frank, who
knew the hasty ways of the other of old.

So Bluff flung the door wide open, and they poured forth. He carried a
lighted lantern in addition to his gun; and Frank still had that useful
little electric hand-torch in commission, so that there promised to be
plenty of light provided, by means of which the whole deck, from stem to
stern, could be illuminated.

Bluff experienced a sense of bitter disappointment, for nothing jumped
at him as he had really hoped might be the case. Instead, all seemed
peaceful and quiet out there under the summer stars. The river whined
and gurgled as it continued to run against an obstruction in the way of
the broad houseboat; little wavelets lapped the shore close by; but
there was no other sound save the far-away wheeze of a towboat's
exhaust, as it bucked the current of the swift-flowing river, with
possibly a raft of loaded barges in charge.

"Why, there's not a thing here, Frank," exclaimed Bluff, looking around
him, and blinking like an owl at the light of his own lantern.

Frank had not expected to discover anybody still crouching there on the
deck. He believed that sudden roar of his gun would be enough to send
the trespasser flying, whoever he might be.

"I was pretty sure we wouldn't find him here," he remarked, casting his
eyes around at the same time.

"Say, it couldn't be that some animal gnawing, a rat maybe, fooled you
bad, I suppose, Frank?" suggested the doubting Jerry.

"How about that, Will?" asked the one addressed, turning to his chum.

"Oh! I heard it as plain as anything," Will hastened to declare,
vehemently; "and just as Frank said, it must have been somebody trying
to open the door. First I thought of panthers and alligators and all
those things; but now I just know it must have been a man, because he
turned the knob of the door, and even shook it a little as if he might
be angry because it was fast."

"Listen to the nerve of that!" exclaimed Bluff. "Thinkin' we expected to
keep open house on this trip. Tried the door, did he? Wanted to come in
and join the Outdoor Chums! Perhaps if we'd left that door unfastened
we'd have waked up in the morning to find a tramp sleeping on the floor
of the cabin."

"What is it, Frank?" asked the nervous Will, upon seeing the other start
forward.

For answer Frank stooped down, and seemed to pick some object from the
deck, just where the gunwale of the boat cast a little shadow.

"This doesn't belong to anybody here, I reckon?" he remarked, holding
aloft the object he had found.

"A hat, and an old slouch one at that!" exclaimed Will.

"I pass!" remarked Bluff, immediately.

"Give me the go-by, Frank; never saw it before now!" called out Jerry,
after he had taken one good look at the head covering, which differed in
every way from such hats as the boys carried along with them.

"And," Frank went on to say, "as it certainly wasn't here when we went
to bed, we can set it down as pretty sure the fellow who crept aboard
the _Pot Luck_ while we were asleep dropped it, when he had to cut and
run so lively after my shot."

"That goes," observed Jerry, with conviction in his voice; for he
evidently was in agreement with all that Frank said.

"Looks to me like a tramp's hat," remarked Will, as he bent closer to
examine. "But see here, Frank, there's some marks inside; aren't there?"

"Letters, too," echoed Jerry, crowding closer.

Frank held up the hat so that the light from his torch would cover the
inside; and there, sure enough, the boys discovered three letters
fastened to the crown of the old felt head covering.

They stared at them as if hardly able to believe their eyes, and there
was a good reason for this, since the letters were:

  M. T. S.
"My goodness!" ejaculated Will, he being the first to recover his
breath; and what he said seemed to voice the sentiments of his chums,
for they were all of one mind there; "M. T. S. it says, fellows; and
don't you see those letters stand for Marcus Stackpole, the very man
Uncle Felix warned us never to let come aboard of his houseboat! And
here he's tried to break in the very first night we're on the river!
Don't it beat everything though, what it all means?"




CHAPTER VII--ANOTHER CARELESS PILOT


When the four chums went back into the cabin their faces were a little
grave. It was not only Will who was wondering now what the nature of the
difference between old Uncle Felix and this strange Marcus Stackpole
could be, that made the owner of the houseboat seem to detest the other
so much, and he on his part appear so much in earnest to get aboard the
_Pot Luck_.

"Locked the door again; did you, Frank?" Jerry asked, as they sat down
for a little talk in the cabin, with the lantern placed on the table.

"You can make up your mind he did," replied Will; "and I tried it in the
bargain, to make sure it was fast. You see, we don't know what sort of a
fellow this Stackpole might turn out to be. Uncle is afraid of him
somehow. And it seems to me he must have something on board the old boat
that this Marcus, somehow, wants pretty bad, if he's willing to take
such chances to get it."

"There you are!" exclaimed Jerry, quickly; "the more you think about it,
the stronger you'll believe my idea is, that there must be some sort of
a treasure hid about here, and this Marcus wants to get his hands on the
same. Laugh at me again, now, will you, when I'm sounding the walls, and
peeking into corners? I'm going to keep it up till I find out I'm on the
wrong tack; then I'll go about."

But all of them soon grew sleepy again, and Frank suggested that they
turn in.

"I don't believe he'll come back to-night, anyhow," he remarked, as he
began to get himself ready for bed again. "That sudden shot so close to
his ears must have frightened Marcus some. Perhaps he even thought I was
trying to fill him full of Number Sevens at short range."

"Oh! wouldn't I have liked to see him skipping up the bank, though,"
sighed Will, who seemed to miss so many splendid views, from one cause
or another.

"Well, maybe another time you'll get that chance," said Jerry,
consolingly, as he got into his upper berth; having placed his repeating
shotgun on a couple of large nails which seemed to have been driven into
the wall conveniently near, as if for this very purpose.

Presently Frank "doused the glim," by blowing out the lantern; and once
more darkness and silence reigned in the cabin of the _Pot Luck_.

Nor was there any further disturbance that night. With the coming of
daylight through the small windows facing the east Frank was astir; and,
hearing him moving, first one, and then another of his chums began to
yawn and stretch.

"Everything all right, Frank?" asked Will, crawling from his bunk.

"Seems like it," was the reply.

"What do we want to do first?" asked Bluff, sliding down from above.

"Well, for my part, I feel like taking a morning dip," Frank answered.

"That sounds good to me, too!" called out Jerry, poking his head out
after the manner of a cautious old tortoise.

Inside of ten minutes the whole four were splashing in the river close
to the bank. The water was cool and invigorating, and, being lusty boys,
they certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Frank saw to it that no one stayed in too long; and after getting aboard
they rubbed down with towels brought for this very purpose. Then every
one declared himself as hungry as a bear, and preparations for breakfast
were in order.

As Jerry had constituted himself chief cook for the trip, to be relieved
at intervals by one of the others, Bluff volunteered to lay in a supply
of firewood for the little stove.

"Give me the axe, and I'll go ashore to cut up a log," he remarked.

Frank was secretly amused to see that the fire-eater also carried his
gun ashore with him. Evidently he had a little suspicion that the
bothersome man might be still hovering around the vicinity, and would
have to be "shooed off" by a threatening display of hardware, in the
shape of a gun that could shoot six times without being removed from the
shoulder.

Presently the steady strokes of the axe told that Bluff was exercising
his muscles to good advantage, and that they could count on at least two
days' supply of firewood as a result of his labors.

The breakfast was "prime," everybody admitted; and Jerry was advised to
keep a line or two out for stray catfish every time they tied up for a
stop. There were buffalo fish to be caught, Mr. Whittaker had assured
them, that, while a little coarse, would be found good eating; and all
of them happened to be rather fond of fish as a diet, which was a good
thing, under the circumstances.

"It isn't such a hard job to get a start on the old boat, anyhow,"
remarked Jerry, as with poles they pushed away from the bank, until the
slow current near the shore began to catch them in its grip, and they
found the _Pot Luck_ moving.

Once they had attained the proper distance from shore, really there was
little to do all day long, but keep an eye on things, and make sure the
boat did not turn sideways to the stream.

By keeping away from the channel they avoided all danger from such boats
as passed up or down the river.

During the morning Will, who had been looking steadily back over the
course they had come, called the attention of the others to something
which he seemed to think merited their notice.

"That dinky little power-boat yonder keeps hovering just so far behind
us," he said, uneasily.

"Well, the fellows aboard have a right to go and come just as they
please," Frank remarked, though he gave the object in question a long
look, and then went into the cabin for the field glasses.

"Sometimes he comes as close as he is now," Will went on to say; "and
then he seems to stop still, till you can hardly see him in the dim
distance, when he'll start up again. I think sometimes they're fishing,
and anchor in favorite places. Then again I seem to think that perhaps
he may be aboard."

"By that you mean our visitor of last night, Marcus Stackpole, I
reckon?" Jerry asked.

"What do you see, Frank; any fellow without his head-covering on?" Bluff
inquired, at the same time.

"There seem to be several men aboard, but I don't see them fishing,"
Frank replied. "The fact is, one of them just pointed down the river;
but whether he was calling the attention of the others to this boat, or
something else, I can't say."

He took another look through the field glasses, and immediately laughed.

"Well, one of them has something in his hands now that looks like the
glasses I'm handling," he said. "Yes, and there he goes, leveling it at
us!"

"That settles it!" exclaimed Jerry. "They're interested in this boat,
and, ten to one, the fellow we had aboard last night came from that same
launch. Well, if that doesn't knock the high persimmon down, though! We
thought this M. S. was a common, every-day tramp; and here it turns out
that he owns a private power yacht, and can go cruising on his own hook,
just where he likes."

"Tell you what, boys," remarked Will; "chances are, he's some sort of
rascal, perhaps a real river pirate; and that squatty little power-boat
is being used for robbery on the big water highway!"

"Well, the boat looks dingy and dark, like all buccaneer craft are, they
say, you know," Will went on, quite undismayed by this reception of his
startling theory.

Frank himself was more than puzzled. He could not seem to get an inkling
as to what the truth might be.

The little launch far away up the river did seem to be acting very
strangely. And those aboard were certainly curious with regard to the
_Pot Luck_, for they had their glasses trained on the houseboat at
different times. Then, apparently, the power-boat was anchored again,
for the boys began drawing further and further away from it, until the
haze of distance seemed to entirely obliterate the suspicious craft from
their observation.

"Why don't they come right along, and pass us by?" asked Will.

"That's a part of the game, it seems," ventured Jerry; "just to hang
around, and wait for another chance to creep aboard this jolly old
rover. But make up your minds, fellows, we'll be ready to give 'em a
warm reception."

"Yes," broke in Bluff, "and if I only had a chance to fire at long
range, I'd be tempted to let 'em feel how hot shot can get, when fired
from a real gun!" and he gave Jerry an odd look as he said this.

The boys decided that since the day was rather warm they would do with a
cold "snack" at noon, leaving the getting of dinner until evening
arrived, with its cooling airs.

Bluff was perched high up in the bow, and engaged in eating his second
ham sandwich, while he observed a steamboat turning a bend far below,
and made some humorous remarks concerning river pilots in general.

Jerry leaned against the sweep, and was supposed to be watching to see
that the boat did not swerve too much while moving steadily along in the
current. Frank and Will were inside, cutting a fresh supply of bread,
with which to make their second helping, the boiled ham coming in very
handy for the purpose; and some cold coffee left over from the early
morning meal answering for a drink.

Frank had just risen to his feet, and was taking the first bite out of
his sandwich when he heard a screech from without, and felt a sudden
shock.

Will gave a shout, and let the knife with which he was carving the ham,
fall on the table.

"They're boarding us, Frank!" he called out, as they both darted for the
door, passing through together, and appearing on the deck; where they
found Jerry making all sorts of strenuous efforts to swing the boat
around, as she seemed to be broadside to the current.

As Frank looked around, the first alarming thing he noticed was that
Jerry seemed to be utterly alone on deck; and yet a minute before he had
surely heard the voice of Bluff calling out to the one at the sweep.

Bluff had certainly disappeared.




CHAPTER VIII--FACE TO FACE AT LAST


"What happened?" cried Frank, unable to understand why the boat acted so
queerly, and seemed trying to head up-stream again.

"Must be a snag has hold of her, and is trying to turn her around!"
grunted the straining Jerry; thereby acknowledging that he had not kept
as good a lookout ahead as a careful pilot should, or he would certainly
have known where a snag lay hidden, by the swirl of water about it.

"Where's Bluff?" cried Will.

"Oh! reckon he went over to see what sort of a snag it was!" replied
Jerry.

Then Frank remembered that the last thing he had seen of Bluff he was
perched on the bulwark of the boat, with his back down the river, and
enjoying his second relay of lunch.

"He's been knocked overboard by the sudden stop of the boat!" he
exclaimed, making a rush for the bow.

As he looked over, he discovered the object of his anxiety holding on to
the stem of the craft with desperate zeal. Doubtless, as he was sent
flying, losing his balance, Bluff had had the good sense to let his
sandwich go, and seize the first projection he could find, to prevent
his being carried under the bulky craft, if she continued on
down-stream.

"I'm here, right-side up with care, Frank!" he spluttered; "and I don't
like it any too well, either. So please reach me your helping hand, and
give a pull."

Frank called to Will to hurry over and help, for he realized that Bluff,
with all his clothes thoroughly soaked, would be too much of a load for
one.

So together they drew him up, none the worse for his ducking, save that
he must change his clothes.

"Worst thing about it," declared Bluff, good-naturedly, when the others
were standing around, grinning at his forlorn appearance, "is that I
lost that nice wedge of ham. Somebody make me up another sandwich; won't
you, while I get out of these soggy duds, and into some dry ones?"

"But the first thing we ought to do is to swing the boat free from that
snag," remarked Frank, "I don't fancy being held up here like this. It
must be a grounded log, with one end pointing up-stream; and we're stuck
on that like a pivot, by the way the boat swings around, first this way,
then that."

He took an observation, and found out just where the point of the snag
seemed to be pressing into the bottom planks of the houseboat.

"By good luck it's over on one side," Frank remarked, after a while;
"and if we all throw our weight over to starboard, perhaps the boat may
list enough to let her slip off. Come along, and try it, anyhow. If that
fails, we may have to start something else moving."

But it did not fail, fortunately. Just as Frank had said, the nose of
the submerged log happened to be against the slippery bottom of the
houseboat near the edge, and a very small list started the craft to
sliding. They heard a grating noise, and then the boat once more came to
an even keel, starting to glide along with the current.

Of course it was easy enough, after that, to work her head around, so
that it again pointed down the river.

"I'll keep a better lookout after this, Frank," Jerry asserted, knowing
that the fault was principally his, since he had been left in charge as
pilot of the expedition.

Will had meanwhile obligingly made up another "snack" for the swimmer;
and Bluff ate it with the utmost unconcern, just as though falling
overboard from a snagged houseboat were an every-day occurrence in his
experience.

During the afternoon they sighted the first real shantyboat seen on the
cruise. A savage dog aboard barked at them as long as they were passing;
for the boat happened to be tied up to the shore at the time. A
rough-looking man was filing a saw, and Frank gave it as his opinion
that he followed this trade; dropping down the river, a mile or so at a
time, as business permitted, and possibly following the profession of
sewing-machine agent as well.

Late that afternoon it began to look blustery, and Frank was more or
less concerned as to where they might find a suitable place at which to
tie up for the coming night.

They had passed several good spots, but it was too early to stop
drifting for the day; and now that they wanted a shelter, and a stout
post for the cable, both seemed absent.

"Looks like something ahead there, Frank," announced Jerry, who still
stuck to the heavy sweep, as though he wanted to make amends for his
carelessness earlier in the day.

"Yes, you're right," the other answered; "and unless my eyes tell me
wrong, seems as if there might be several boats collected there. I can
see a shantyboat; there are some small row-boats, and another big craft
moored to the shore that must be a rich man's pleasure craft."

"Ought we take chances by joining them?" asked cautious Will.

Frank swept a look around at the darkening sky ahead.

"The way things look," he observed, reluctantly, "I'm afraid we'll have
to chance it for once, though we were warned to keep away from other
boats all we could. But there is some bad weather coming, and perhaps
these fellows know it, and have put in here to avoid being caught below
in the open."

"Then shall I swing her in toward the shore now?" asked Jerry.

"I'll give you a helping hand," volunteered Frank, who knew the
sensitive nature of his chum, and understood how, in all probability,
Jerry must have been repenting of his carelessness all the afternoon.

Between them they easily managed to get the cumbersome houseboat into
the cove where the others lay snugly. It was a good harbor, at any rate,
in case of a blow; and Frank would have been greatly pleased did the
_Pot Luck_ lie there all alone.

"Say, that's a fine affair there," remarked Bluff, as he stood at the
side, and looked toward the large craft that snuggled against the shore,
being held by strong cables both above and below; "and some rich
fellow's pleasure boat, too, because she can go up or down the river,
having a gasolene engine. I'd like to see what she might be like inside.
There's a young fellow standing watching us, Frank; would you mind if I
stepped over, and struck up an acquaintance with him?"

"Sure not, Bluff; and I'll go you one better by keeping you company."

"Fine," remarked Bluff; "just wait a minute, and I'll join you. I want
to get my gun."

"Hold on," laughed Frank; "what do you think you're going to run up
against here? Ten to one these people are all honest chaps. Why, I can
see a sign right now, on one of the shantyboats, and it tells us that
the man aboard is a locksmith."

"That's just it," spoke up Bluff, as he dived into the cabin, and came
out again bearing his repeater; "don't you see that he's got what's
meant to be a picture of a gun on his sign? That means he mends them;
and I've a notion my pump-gun needs a little attention."

"Same old story, eh?" remarked Frank; "I remember that long ago it used
to be getting out of order every little while, and made you lots of
trouble."

"Oh! it's nothing to speak of," Bluff declared, always ready to stand up
in defense of his arms; "but while I had the chance I thought it would
be a good thing to have a repair man take a look at it. When you want a
gun you want it bad; and it ought to be always ready for use."

"Glad to hear you say that, Bluff," Frank admitted; because as a rule
his chum was inclined to be careless in his ways.

Leaving Jerry starting preparations for the supper, with Will to assist
in case of need, the other two stepped ashore, and sauntered toward the
clump of boats.

Frank noticed that the young fellow watched them coming with something
of interest; but then, that would only be natural under such
circumstances. He also made certain that the other was a complete
stranger, and therefore could not be one of Oswald Fredericks' college
cronies.

"Howdy, strangers?" remarked the other, as they came up; "I suppose,
now, that you're off on a little trip, the same as I am, with my helper
here?" and he pointed to a husky-looking fellow who was wiping some
machinery.

This fact seemed to allay any slight suspicion the lads may have
entertained in the beginning, so they stopped to chat with the two.
Instead of hurrying on in the direction of the boat where the gun
repairer had his headquarters, Bluff hovered around. To tell the truth,
he was greatly struck with the elaborate appearance of the boat, which
had the name of _Lounger_ painted on her bow; and he was hoping the
owner would invite them both inside to see how she was fitted up.

This was just what did happen presently, as they continued to talk.
Frank might have thought it wise to decline the invitation, giving as an
excuse the plea that the hour was growing late; but the impetuous Bluff
was not going to be cheated out of a treat so easily.

"Sure we'll step in, and look around, since you're so kind as to invite
us," he declared, before Frank could say a word. "Some fine day, when my
ship comes home, I may be wanting to build a boat like this to knock
about in; and I'd like to know how you've arranged things inside. Come
along, Frank; plenty of time."

Of course Frank could not well hold back after that, so he followed at
the heels of the others.

"Please step in, both of you!" said the owner of the fine pleasure
houseboat, and as he said this, he opened the cabin door, allowing the
eager Bluff to enter; and then gently pushing Frank after him, closed
the door behind him.

"Wait, I've got electrics here, and I'll push the button. This is what
you might call a modern, up-to-date boat, and you'll get the surprise of
your life right now."

They surely did; for as the light suddenly sprang up they saw sitting
about the luxuriously-furnished cabin three other fellows, in whom they
easily recognized Oswald Fredericks and his college chums, Raymond Ellis
and Duke Fletcher!

It was certainly a tableau, as the rivals stared at each other.




CHAPTER IX--THE GAME OF BLUFF


"Why, hello! Langdon, just dropped in to see me, eh? Rather nice of you,
too, considering how little we got together in college!"

Fredericks, as he said this, made a movement with his hand toward the
young fellow who had ushered Frank and Bluff into the cabin of the big
and commodious power houseboat; and immediately the grind of a key in
the lock told that he had seen to it that the way of escape was cut off.

They were four to two, a rather top-heavy arrangement, Frank thought, as
he backed a little, so as to keep any of the fellows from getting behind
him.

Outwardly he seemed fairly calm, though his eyes were flashing with the
spirit of defiance that moved his soul.

"You know as well as anything, Fredericks," he said, coldly, "that if
I'd had any idea this was your boat, nothing could have tempted me to
come in here, or bother you at all. But your friend told us it was his
boat, and that he was traveling all alone, except for the man who was
mending the engine out there."

"Oh! well, Benedict only did what I asked him to do, when I saw that it
was your crazy old tub coming in to tie up here," replied the other,
with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "Looked as if fortune wanted to
just play the whole thing right into my hands; for I was hoping this
very afternoon you'd happen along, as things began to seem dull."

"Well, what are we to believe about this; is it a sort of trap, and do
you expect to jump on us, now you've got us in here?" asked Frank.

Apparently the other was surprised to see him take it so coolly. Perhaps
he had even hoped to hear Frank Langdon beg to be let off without any
trouble.

"Well, you see, the chance to even up old scores is a fine one, since
we're two to your one," the other remarked, bitterly.

"So far as I know, there are no scores to settle," said Frank. "I never
knowingly wronged you, or tried to interfere with your business when in
college. In fact, on several occasions, I've even left a group of
fellows when you came along, because I didn't want to have any trouble."

"Yes, and that's one of the things I've got against you, Langdon,"
declared Oswald, with a scowl. "It looked as if you felt a contempt for
me, and couldn't even bear to be seen in my company. Some of the fellows
said as much, and told me I was foolish to stand for it."

"But you surely knew yourself that it was never intended that way,
Fredericks. I wanted to be left alone to go my own way, and I knew that
some fellows had made up their minds to bring us to blows. Now, fighting
isn't at all to my taste, though I'm sorry to say I've had to do my
share of it in my day. Just forget that there's such a fellow as Frank
Langdon alive, and I'm sure you'll never know otherwise for all of me."

"He's squealing, Ossie!" exclaimed Duke Fletcher.

"Yes," broke in the second college chum, Raymond Ellis, "because we've
got him penned up here, where we can give him what he ought to have
gotten long ago, he sets up a whine that he looks on fighting as a moral
sin, and doesn't want to indulge in it."

Frank laughed in the face of this chap.

"Depend on it, Ellis," he said, with cutting coldness, "that if ever I
am forced into fighting in a crowd where you figure, I've got something
to give you that's been hanging fire a long time; in fact, ever since
you knocked down that half-witted Bailey boy, and bruised his face
because he said something you didn't just like. When I heard of it I
said to myself that some fine day, if the chance comes, I'm going to pay
that debt back. If you think that time has come now, all right. Bluff,
you oughtn't to be in this game, because you've never done anything to
irritate his lordship. They may let you out, perhaps."

"Let me out!" roared the impulsive Bluff; "and leave you here alone with
the whole bunch of cowards? I'd like to see them do it, that's all! And
what's more, right now I want to give solemn warning that the first move
any fellow makes toward laying so much as the tip of his finger on you,
Frank, bang goes this gun!"

Bluff looked the part to the life. He was mad clear through, and the way
he swung that menacing weapon of his, first toward Oswald, who ducked,
and then covering one of the others, who turned as white as a sheet,
told the story.

Frank, who knew that the gun was quite destitute of a single charge,
since Bluff had been even then on the way to have it mended, could
hardly keep from laughing outright. But then, how were those fellows to
know anything like that?

"Here, hold on with that blunderbuss!" exclaimed Oswald; and small
wonder that there was a suspicious quiver to his voice, for Bluff
certainly looked equal to doing all he threatened so wildly.

"It was all a joke, see!" cried Ellis; and then as the gun swung again
so that it began to point toward him, unable to stand the strain any
longer, he dropped on his hands and knees, and crawled under the table.

Frank knew that nothing was to be feared any longer.

"I'll trouble you to unlock that door," he said, wheeling on the
astonished young man from St. Paul, who had been witnessing these
things, without having a word to say, the smile dying out of his face.

"Oh! sure, just as you say," mumbled the other, hastening to comply;
"queer how some people don't seem able to take a joke at all."

"Yes, it looks like that, perhaps," returned Frank, severely; "but only
for my chum here happening to bring his gun along, we might be having a
parrot and monkey time of it right now. Step to one side, or I might rub
up against you in passing. Come on, Bluff, you did it for them that
time, sure enough."

With that Frank stepped outside, and Bluff quickly followed. Hardly had
the latter gotten free from the cabin than he turned, and "broke" his
gun, to show the disgusted conspirators it was quite empty, and that
they had been hoodwinked by his quick wit.

Still, none of them seemed to feel like rushing out after the retreating
pair. Frank, accompanied by his chum, walked to the shantyboat where the
sign of the locksmith hung. After a look at the pump-gun, the man said
he could fix it in ten minutes, so that it would work all right.
Accordingly the two boys sat down to wait until the job was completed.

It was getting quite dusky when they were ready to leave; and Bluff,
after a look outside, seeing that it would be necessary for them to pass
the pleasure boat of Fredericks again, bought half a dozen loaded shells
from the man.

"Now," said Bluff, after he had injected one of these into the firing
chamber, "I feel safe in passing that boat. If they make any sort of a
move against us, I'll let fly a load in the air first to warn 'em that
the repeater isn't on the shelf any longer, but ready to do business at
the same old stand."

"Well, be careful what you do, that's all," warned Frank, determined to
keep in close touch with his hot-headed comrade, so that in an emergency
he could snatch the gun away, if Bluff seemed disposed to use it the
wrong way.

But they were not molested at all. The big young chap who had been
tinkering with the engine, grinned as they passed by, and Frank thought
he nodded to them in a sort of friendly way, as though to say he
understood what had happened, and considered it a good joke on his
employer.

"Engine broke down?" asked Bluff, in a friendly manner, as he passed.

"Just what she has," replied the other; "and if we send back to St. Paul
for a casting we may be stuck right here several days."

"Hope it is a whole month," muttered Bluff, as he trotted along at the
heels of his leader; and Frank, for that matter, echoed the wish, since
it would save them from more or less anxiety.

When they got aboard the _Pot Luck_ it was to find that supper was well
under way, and that the two who ran the house were quite ignorant of
what had been going on.

And as Bluff, in his impatient style, started to exclaim how he only
wished that Oswald had run up against Frank's fist, both Will and Jerry
jumped to their feet, demanding that they hear the story.

Their indignation was justifiable when told of the trap Fredericks and
his set had laid for Frank. And Bluff was only too proud when he heard
Frank admit that if it had not been for his having his "terrible weapon"
along at the time, the chances were that when they two came back to the
boat, they would be bearing some of the marks of a fiercely contested
battle on their faces.

"And I want to serve notice here and now," continued Bluff, as he
affectionately patted his pump-gun, and held it up to the gaze of the
others; "that after this there's going to be no sort of sport made of
this noble weapon. Today it saved Frank and myself a mauling. When they
saw what it was, they cringed like a pack of cowards. Why, would you
believe it? that Ellis just crawled under the table! Shows the kind of
fellow he is. And, boys, the gun was empty and out of commission all the
while, remember."

"Hurrah! bully for Bluff. He's got the right name!" shouted Jerry, in
his enthusiasm, pretending to wave the hat he was not wearing at the
time.

"Promise me to never more sneer at a pump-gun, as long as I carry this
prize cannon along!" continued Bluff, seriously, but with a sparkle in
his eye.

"We solemnly promise!" said Will, holding up his right hand.

"I'll try and control my indignation whenever I can, Bluff," said Jerry.
"But all the same I'm thinking it was the fellow behind the gun, and not
that weapon itself, that deserves the praise. What's the matter, Will;
you look as if you felt bad because you didn't have a hand in it, too?"

"Oh! it's the hardest luck ever," said the other, in deep disgust. "Just
to think what a noble picture that would have made, with our chum
holding the crowd at bay with his gun; Frank ready to sail in and help;
and Ellis crawling under the table! I'm the most unfortunate fellow you
ever heard tell of, to miss such glorious chances. I wish you'd only
tell me when you think there's anything going to happen, so I could jump
in, and immortalize you all. But some fine day I'll be along when one of
these things happens; see if I don't!"




CHAPTER X--A CALL FOR HELP


"I tell you what, Frank, that was a great scheme of yours, to think of
buying this little skiff for a dinghy, or tender!" remarked Bluff, three
days later, as he paddled ashore with the end of the cable they expected
to fasten to a tree, as the night was not far away.

"Well, I knew all along that every decent houseboat ought to have a
small skiff dangling along," Frank answered, as he leaned over the side,
and watched the other hitch the painter to the bow of the large, roomy
craft, which continued to point down-stream; for, when fastening up for
the night, as stem and stern were so much alike, they never bothered
bringing the boat around, as that meant additional work in the morning
upon starting.

"And I expect to enjoy a heap of fishing from that same little affair,"
remarked Jerry, "when we get further along down the big river."

"Now, heave ho! everybody, and we'll have her snug alongside the bank in
a jiffy!" Frank called out, taking hold of the cable, while the others
used the several stout poles that had been secured for the purpose of
pushing. "There she is, right side up with care! Now, let's hope we'll
be better off than last night, when we got the cross current wash of the
Wisconsin River."

"Well, those rowdies from Prairie du Chien didn't find us after all,
thanks to Frank here, who expected they'd be looking, and got us to push
across that fierce current, till we hit on a splendid cove," Will
observed.

"I saw that the river was rising," Frank observed, "and that's the only
time it's really safe for a houseboat to enter one of those little bays.
No danger then of being caught on a sandbar, and left high and dry by
morning. Now, how about our supper to-night, boys? What's going to be
the bill of fare?"

"Tell me first, Frank, how far below Dubuque are we now?" asked Will,
nervously.

"Oh! several miles; and you needn't think we'll be bothered to-night,"
the other replied, with a reassuring laugh.

"We seem to have left Oswald in the lurch, too, which is a good thing,
according to my notion; though I've been hoping some fine day that
stuck-up dude would run up against Frank, when the old score must be
fought out, and he'd get what's been long due him."

"Not forgetting our friend, Marcus," added Jerry. "He made one little
try for the hidden treasure, and Frank scared him half to death by
firing his gun out of the window, so he never came back again. Guess he
wasn't as bold a customer as he made us believe. And I'm still hunting
all over the boat for a tidy little nook, where Uncle Felix might have
hid that bunch of valuables; though up to date I must say I haven't had
even the first smell of the treasure-trove."

"How many days have we been coming this far, Frank?" persisted Will.

"Really four, though this will be our fifth night out," replied the
manager of the expedition; for as usual that position had been saddled
on Frank's shoulders, all of his chums having the utmost confidence that
he could fill the place better than any one of them.

"One good thing," Bluff went on to say, "is the fact that every night
now that moon is going to improve, and grow larger. Why, before we know
it, we'll be having beautiful moonlight nights, when a fellow'll just
hate to turn in."

"But let's go back again to the mainstay, which is just plain grub. What
are we going to eat to-night?" Frank remarked.

And so for a few minutes that ever-interesting, and never-dull topic,
was discussed from all sides, everyone having a suggestion to make. In
the end, as usually happened, it was voted to leave the matter with
Jerry. He knew how to treat them well, Bluff declared with a proper
amount of smoothness that quite won the heart of the aspiring cook, and
made him resolve to merit the praise that was so lavishly bestowed on
him.

Of course the supper was voted a grand success. Jerry was indeed showing
considerable skill in getting up very appetizing dishes, and took pride
in changing what he called the "menu" so often, that the boys always had
delightful recollections of "that last mess we had yesterday, or it
might be the day before," which they hoped he would repeat before long.

"Seems like a mighty lonely place right here," Will had remarked, after
supper was over, and they sat around on deck, Jerry busy with his fish
lines; Bluff stretched on a blanket he had brought out; and Frank
rubbing up his recollection of the events of the last two days, since he
had fallen behind in his writing of the daily log, and meant to catch up
when they lighted the big lamp, going in to sit around the table.

"Well, that's not a fault, as I can see," Bluff declared; "now, last
night you complained of too much company around, when that boatload of
toughs from the city rowed past, looking for our hidden houseboat.
Better be by ourselves, even if the wolves do howl, and the panthers
scream."

"Oh! say, you don't think for a minute now that there are any of those
fierce creatures around us right now?" Will faltered. "He's just trying
to see how big a yarn he can work off on me; isn't he, Frank?"

"Just what he is," laughed the other; "because I don't fancy that there
is a wolf or a panther within fifty miles of this place. So make your
mind easy, Will; and if you choose to take a turn up and down the deck
before going to bed, you can do it without dreaming any wild animal
could drop from the branches of that tree above us."

"Listen to Jerry grunting there," remarked Will, disdainfully, "just
like he expects me to believe that sort of thing could be a panther!
Don't forget that I've heard a panther before this, and he doesn't
squeal like a hog caught under the fence."

"But it wasn't me at all!" declared Jerry, looking up from working his
line.

"And as sure as anything, it did come from the shore somewhere above!"
Bluff said, as he scrambled to a sitting position.

"Listen, everybody!" remarked Frank, in a quiet voice.

They could plainly hear the swish of bushes giving way before some
advancing body.

"Whatever it is, that light Jerry is using, to fix his bait on properly,
has told of our being here," Frank went on to say.

"Shall I puff her out, then?" asked Jerry.

"No use now, because the mischief's done," Frank continued.

"There goes Bluff inside the cabin," Will spoke up; "and I just wager
he's after his gun. Well, I'm glad of it; for Frank might be mistaken
about the panther part of the business."

"Listen again!" Frank ordered, and every one fell silent.

The rustling among the bushes increased until it seemed to be almost
above them, after which it stopped.

"Ahoy! aboard the boat! Don't shoot at me; I'm a friend, and in a bad
fix!" came a voice.

The boys looked at each other blankly. Every one of them possessed a
sympathetic heart, and the very thought of a fellow human in trouble
appealed to them.

"Frank, are you going to invite him aboard?" whispered Will.

"Don't forget what Uncle Felix wrote about having strangers stay on the
houseboat," Jerry went on to add; not because he felt any fear, but
because of that hidden treasure which he fully believed lay somewhere
aboard.

Frank picked up the lantern, as though speedily making up his mind.

"We can go ashore ourselves, fellows," he said, "and see what's wrong.
Bluff, would you mind coming with me; and Will, bring the lantern,
please."

"Don't think I'm going to be left out," cried Jerry, as he let his
baited hook drop into the water, where the current carried it
down-stream, as he wanted.

And so the four chums made their way ashore. This was not hard to do,
since the houseboat was warped close to the bank; and indeed, it only
required a single jump to bring them to firm ground.

The light of the lantern showed them a single figure, and that of an old
man. He did not seem any too robust, and his face was seemingly pinched
with pain, and possibly hunger.

"Who are you, and what brings you here?" asked Frank, hardly knowing
whether he liked the appearance of the other or not, and secretly
resolved that unless it were positively necessary he would not take him
aboard the boat.

"My name is Luther Snow," said the other, in a trembling voice. "I was
on my way to New Orleans on a packet, when some thief stole my
pocketbook, with every cent in the world I had, and my passage ticket as
well. So the captain put me ashore, and I've had hardly a bite to eat
for twenty-four hours. I must get down there soon, or lose all chance of
ever seeing my daughter, who sails for Australia, and I'm in a bad fix,
boys, I tell you."

Jerry made a bolt back to the boat, and Frank did not need to be told
what he was going for. A man half starved, while they had plenty to eat
in the larder, went against the grain of the generous boy.

"Wait a minute, Jerry!" called out Frank; "we'll build a fire ashore,
and cook something for him right here;" and turning to the man he
continued in a lower tone, as though he thought some sort of explanation
might be necessary: "you see, we don't happen to own this houseboat; and
one of the rules set down for us by the gentleman who does, was that,
under no circumstances, unless it seemed absolutely necessary to save a
life, were we to keep a stranger aboard over-night. But we can make you
fairly comfortable here, and give you some breakfast in the morning;
perhaps chip in, and help you out some in the money line. So just sit
down, while we get busy, and make the fire first."

That was as generous a proposition as could possibly be expected from
any traveler along the great river highway; and the man should have felt
pleased when he heard what Frank said; but the sharp eyes of the boys,
watching his face, caught a plain flash of disappointment there, as
though he had fully anticipated being invited to at least spend the
night aboard.

Frank was the last fellow to wish to think ill of anybody, and so he
said nothing about what he might suspect; only he resolved to carry out
the scheme he had in mind, and make the unfortunate traveler
comfortable--but on shore.




CHAPTER XI--A THREATENED COLLISION


It was a good deal to expect a boy to cook two suppers on the same
evening; but Jerry in the warmth of his heart seemed only too glad to be
of assistance to a poor man in trouble.

Luther Snow seemed to be a rather quiet sort of man. He seldom spoke
unless he was addressed; and it was only through persistent questioning
that they finally learned something of his story.

He declared that he had no relatives in the world save the married
daughter, now in New Orleans; and that as she expected to make her home
at the other side of the world, he had determined to sell all he had,
and spend some little time with her before she sailed.

"And now it looks as if I'd never be able to reach there in time," he
mournfully remarked, in conclusion; "because I haven't a single dollar
in the world; and even if I wrote to her, she's not able to send me the
money. So I'll just have to go back to my trade, and earn enough day by
day; if I can find work."

"What might be your trade?" asked Frank, as though just barely
interested.

"Why, I'm a carpenter, you see," the old man replied, quickly enough;
but while of course Frank did not say a word as though he doubted the
truth of this assertion, he secretly made up his mind that at least the
other could not have been doing much work of recent years; for he
noticed that his hands were entirely free from signs of manual labor,
since they appeared to be as soft as those of a lady, though the nails
were ill enough kept.

Frank kept much of this to himself. He studied the old man, however, and
wondered if after all he could be as hungry as he said; for he certainly
did have a very poor appetite for a half-starved person, since he made
way with only a small portion of the food Jerry got together.

They had several extra blankets aboard, the property of Uncle Felix. Two
of these Frank fetched ashore, and laid with his own hands, making as
comfortable a bed as anybody might want.

"Nothing will come around, as long as the fire burns; and here's plenty
of wood to keep it going, if you happen to wake up any time in the
night. Besides, we keep watch aboard the boat, and any uninvited guest
is apt to be met with a shot. I hope you don't walk in your sleep, Mr.
Snow?"

Frank said this for a purpose. The old man started, and looked at him
queerly; after which he hastened to say:

"I never knew of myself doing such a thing in my life. But please don't
bother about me more than you can help. You see, I'm used to being
alone; and I've done a fair amount of camping in my day, too."

Frank had already guessed that from certain little signs. For instance,
the other had arranged his blankets so that the night wind would strike
his feet rather than his head; and also that the fire would be some
little distance from his lower extremities; for an experienced
camper-out, especially when it is cold, will make sure to keep his feet
warm, first of all.

And so, finally, they left him there, rolled up snugly in his blankets.

The night passed quietly enough. With the cabin door fast secured, of
course the boys knew that no one could find entrance; and though they
may have aroused once or twice all around through the night, no one
heard a suspicious sound.

At dawn the boys were early in the river. Frank, however, did not think
he cared to take his customary dip; and Jerry winked an eye at him, as
much as to say he understood why. Truth to tell, Frank was determined
not to leave any opening for the stranger to slip aboard, if he wanted
to do so. Then again, he felt ashamed of suspecting Luther Snow, who
seemed loath to part with his new-found friends.

They gave him a good breakfast, and Frank took up a collection of
several dollars from the boys, which sum he pressed into the hand of the
old man as they prepared to leave him.

Perhaps there was a tear in Luther Snow's eye; certainly there was a
wistful look on his face as the houseboat started away from the shore,
leaving him waving his hand after them from the bank.

"That money ought to take him part of the way on his journey," remarked
Jerry, as the intervening trees quite hid their late guest from them.

"And then he can work in some big city," said Will. "A carpenter gets
good wages every place; and it won't take him long to save enough to go
on further. Why, in a month he ought to be down to New Orleans, long
before we expect to show up."

"He certainly did want to go along with us all right, Frank," Bluff
observed. "Why, every time he looked at our old junk he'd shake his
head, and heave a sigh. Reckon he just thought what a fine snap it'd be
if he could get aboard, and be carried all the way down to the place he
wants to reach, without spending a red cent for grub, or traveling
expenses."

"And only for what Uncle Felix said in his letter," spoke up Jerry, "I'd
voted to let the old fellow go along with us. But we did him some good,
anyway. That cash ought to carry him a hundred or two miles along the
river on a boat, deck passage."

"If he doesn't have the hard luck to lose that, too," remarked Frank,
drily. "Some people have a weakness that way, you know, boys."

There was some touch of mystery in his way of saying this, and the
others looked at him, as though hoping Frank would "open up and
explain," as Bluff put it; but he changed the subject, and left them
wondering.

"Don't suppose there's a chance in a hundred that we'll ever hear
anything from Luther Snow again?" Will observed, later on. "He said he
would write to us at New Orleans, and you gave him your uncle's address,
which he jotted down in his little notebook," Frank remarked; but he
somehow failed to mention the fact that he had observed with surprise
how strange it was to see a man who followed the trade of carpenter
happen to possess such a delicate little volume in his pocket, when one
would rather expect to see a well-thumbed five-cent book under the
circumstances.

The day became rather sultry, and Frank remarked, after they had eaten a
little cold lunch, that he would not be much surprised if they ran into
a storm before a great while.

"Just what I was thinking," Will added. "Do you know, I'm getting to be
quite an old salt by now, and can just feel the weather in my bones. And
for some time I've had an aching toe; that means rain, mark that,
fellows."

"I saw you taking a snapshot of our friend, Luther, on the sly this
morning," remarked Frank. "When you develop that, print me a copy, Will.
You know I always like to study faces, and somehow his seemed to me to
be a particularly strong one."

"All the same he hasn't made a success of his life, if what he told us
is true," Jerry put in, "for it was a hard luck story all through."
"Frank's seen something he wants to examine closer," Bluff suggested
later on; "for he dived into the cabin, in a hurry; and here he comes
out again with the field glasses."

They all watched Frank adjust the binoculars to his range of vision, and
sweep a half circuit around the river, finally focussing upon some
object up-stream that must have caught his attention.

"I thought so," he remarked presently; "here, take a look, Bluff, and
say what you see."

The other eagerly seized upon the glasses and had hardly leveled them
than he uttered an exclamation.

"You're right, Frank, it's that _Lounger_, as sure as shooting!" he
cried.

"Let me see!" exclaimed Jerry, eagerly.

"She's coming down the river like a bird, with her engine working
again," Bluff went on to say; "so they must have got the broken part
mended, or a new piece sent on from St. Paul."

"I'm afraid our troubles are going to begin again," sighed Will; "and I
was just saying this very morning what a jolly good and restful time we
were having."

"Say, they're whooping it up at a great rate, all right!" ejaculated
Jerry, when he had a chance to look; "either he's in a big hurry, or
else he wants to carry out some scheme to hurt us, if he can--perhaps
run us down!"

"Let him try that, if he dares!" growled Bluff, staring hard at the now
rapidly approaching power houseboat, bearing down upon them under the
combined influence of a gasolene engine and the current.

"Would he try that sort of risky business, Frank, do you think?" asked
Will. "It seems to me he'd take big chances of getting his own boat
injured."

"Oh! perhaps some glass would be shivered," Bluff took it upon himself
to say, "but you see the _Lounger_ is so much heavier than our boat,
and, coming down so fast, she'd be apt to knock a hole in us, if that
Ossie managed right. And as sure as anything, Frank, they keep on
straight for us, notice."

"I'm watching," said Frank, who gripped the big sweep, a determined look
on his face; while Bluff dodged into the cabin again, bringing out his
"machine-gun," which he seemed to think must be a cure-all for every ill
that threatened.

"Don't shoot, Bluff!" said Frank, "no matter what happens."

"Oh! I don't mean to," replied the other; though he made very
extravagant gestures, so as to show those on the other boat that he was
"ready for business at the old stand," as he expressed it.

The boys stood there, watching with increasing uneasiness; for just as
Bluff had asserted, the big power-boat was swooping straight down for
them. On board several youths seemed to be running this way and that,
calling out all sorts of excited things, just as though they had lost
control; though Oswald himself could be seen in the pilothouse, swinging
the wheel back and forth in an uncertain way, as though hardly knowing
whether to take the chances of a collision or not.

Another sixty seconds, and nothing could save the two heavy craft from
coming together with crashing force, perhaps with serious consequences.
Frank watched, and made ready to swing the big sweep at the slightest
indication of a change of direction on the part of the other houseboat,
that would afford a loophole of escape from the dire consequences of
Oswald Fredericks' folly.




CHAPTER XII--A RED GLOW IN THE SKY


Crash!

Only for a sudden change of heart on the part of Oswald Fredericks the
coming together of the two boats would have been of a much more serious
character. At the last moment, almost, he had apparently changed his
mind, and tried to whirl the wheel rapidly in one direction. Frank,
seeing that the other was now endeavoring to avoid a collision, tried to
assist by every means in his power.

And the others, springing to his help, caused the sweep to plough the
water at the stern in such a manner that the _Pot Luck_ must have
altered her course considerably.

The other boat came with a slanting blow. As the young fellow who ran
the engine had had the good sense to shut off power previous to their
coming together, there was no great amount of damage done. One window
aboard the _Pot Luck_ and several on the _Lounger_ went to pieces, the
jingle of broken glass adding to the confusion.

"Whoop!" yelled Jerry, as he came near falling overboard, when the boat
staggered from the force of the slanting blow.

"Are we sinking?" cried Will, who was flat on his back, his legs
threshing the air in a helpless fashion.

Frank hung to the sweep; while Bluff, having his gun to look after, and
anticipating something of a knock, had settled upon the deck beforehand,
like a wise boy, so that he saved himself a nasty tumble.

"Why didn't you get out of the way?" called Oswald, from the pilothouse
of the other boat, now floating alongside. "Didn't you see the machinery
had jammed, and we couldn't control her?"

Frank knew that this was entirely false, for he had seen them head in
from a point further out on the river, as if deliberately meaning to
strike the _Pot Luck_.

He hurried over to the corner that had been struck, and took as good an
observation as was possible, just then. No particular damage seemed to
have been done, the heavy and sound timbers of the smaller boat serving
to save her. Outside of that one broken window, which could be easily
repaired, and perhaps a couple of dishes knocked to the floor inside the
cabin, there were no bad results following this mean trick of the enemy.

Frank did not even take the trouble to make a reply; but Bluff could not
keep still under such aggravating circumstances.

"That was a mean trick, Ossie Fredericks!" he called out, shaking his
fist toward the boy he addressed, and who was leaning from the
pilothouse of the _Lounger_, holding a handkerchief to his nose, as
though he might have struck it violently against some object when the
shock came. "You did that on purpose; needn't try to say you didn't! I
wish your boat had a big hole punched in her bow; because it'd just
serve you right. Now keep away, or I'll be so mad there's no telling
what'll happen."

"Oh! just hold your horses, Masters!" called the other; "don't you see
we're doing our best to draw away from you? Hi! start up the engine
again, Terry Crogan. These fellows are beginning to threaten me with
guns!"

Presently the sound of the gas engine belonging to the _Lounger_,
starting to send out sharp, explosive sounds, told that the big youth
who had been hired in St. Paul to run the machinery and do the hard work
of the cruise was attending to business. Then the power-boat started
away, and headed out toward the middle of the river once more.

A row of faces over the rail told that Oswald's other chums, Duke
Fletcher, Raymond Ellis, and the third fellow from St. Paul, whom Bluff
and Frank had met at the time the trap was set for them in the cabin of
the boat, were watching to see whether the _Pot Luck_ showed any signs
of foundering.

But although, no doubt, they hoped for the worst, nothing of the kind
was likely to occur, since small damage had been done. Jerry sounded the
well, and reported little bilge water in the hold. A trap on the forward
deck allowed of anyone going below, where, in case of necessity, certain
articles might be stowed; and Bluff took it upon himself to drop into
the hold, carrying Frank's electric torch. He found no evidence of
damage, so that even Will felt reassured on that score.

Of course the four chums were highly indignant concerning the boldness
and recklessness of their rivals in seeking to do them such an injury,
at the risk of sharing the destruction.

"If they had struck us, with their engine going full tilt!" declared
Jerry; "and before Ossie began to get cold feet, and edge away, why, ten
to one, both boats by this time would be either sunk, or leaking like
sieves, and bound to go under."

"Then we'd have had to throw a few things, like our guns, into the
dinghy, and jump overboard ourselves," remarked Bluff.

"Yes," agreed Will, "that's the way at a fire, they say; throw the
pictures out of the window, and carry a mattress carefully downstairs."

"Well, we wouldn't want the guns to get soaked, or lost; would we?"
demanded the proud owner of the new-fangled six-shot firearm; "wouldn't
matter so much with us, because we could swim; and if we saved our
clothes we'd have a dry outfit to put on later. But I wonder what next
that Ossie Fredericks will try? Isn't he the limit, though, Frank?"

"Well, I don't exactly know," replied the other. "I've tried to study
that fellow for a whole year. Sometimes I think he's got a halfway
streak of decency in him, and that it's only because he keeps such bad
company that he chokes it right along."

"Huh! mighty funny way of showing decency," grunted Jerry; "to try and
smash our boat, when we didn't bother them any. But I know that Ellis
lad is a bad egg, and wouldn't be surprised if Fletcher's just as tough
a nut. They know Ossie's got a fistful of money, always, and they just
hang around, telling him what a great boy he is, and how mean Frank
Langdon talks about him. Oh! rats! Don't I know that crowd, though?"

Will was once more in the sulks, lamenting the fact that he hadn't
thought to run into the cabin, and bring out his rapid-action camera, so
that he might have taken a snapshot of the power-boat heading straight
for the _Pot Luck_.

"It would have been all the evidence we needed in court, if ever we sued
to collect damages," he declared, sadly; "and to think how I so seldom
see these chances till it's all over but the shouting."

The other boat was rapidly leaving them, and every one of the four chums
hoped they might never see the _Lounger_ again--during that cruise, at
least. It seemed that they must meet with some sort of trouble every
time the two boats came close together, all through the bad tempers and
ugly dispositions of those on board the _Lounger_.

An hour later, and they could barely make her out miles away; and only
with the aid of the glasses could they recognize the craft. So they
determined to put Ossie Fredericks and his cronies out of their minds,
for the time being at least. There were other things much more pleasant
demanding their constant attention on every hand; boats that passed, or
which they overtook, moored to the bank; change of scenery that gave
them more or less pleasure, and with Bluff and Jerry consulting as to
what the evening meal should consist of.

"I move we camp ashore to-night, if there seems to be a decent chance,"
proposed Bluff, as they began to look for a good spot to tie up to, with
the sun hanging low in a bed of yellow clouds that Frank did not fancy
any too much.

"We might have a camp fire, and do our cooking there," he said in reply;
"but if you cast your eyes over yonder, you'll see why we ought to sleep
aboard to-night."

"It does look as if we'd get something before morning," Jerry admitted.

"Think my foot don't know?" remarked Will, with a grin and a nod.

When they had found a good place to fasten the cable to a tree alongside
the bank, this programme was carried out. Frank soon learned they were
close to what appeared to be a road that followed the river; but it
seemed to be rather what Will called a "sequestered" spot, so he thought
they could take chances.

He showed his chums once more how a good cooking fire was built, and,
after supper was done, Bluff was allowed to build a large camp fire,
around which they meant to sit for several hours, until their eyes
warned them that it was time to go aboard and crawl into the bunks.

"Seeing that fire we made for Luther Snow just put me in the notion of
having one for ourselves," Bluff remarked, as he toasted his shins there
beside the blaze he had created, with the aid of several logs, found
near the spot.

"Wonder what's become of the old fellow; and if we'll ever see him
again?" Will said, in a meditative manner.

Frank did not choose to tell anything he thought, but listened with an
amused smile as his comrades discussed the chances the man had of making
his intended destination before his only daughter sailed for the other
side of the world.

The hour began to grow late, and once or twice Will started to yawn.
Frank was just about to propose that they go aboard, after putting out
the camp fire, as he had learned to always do on breaking camp, when
Jerry called his attention to a strange ruddy hue in the sky.

"Can that be the storm coming?" asked Will, as they all gazed.

"If it is, she's going to be a scorcher!" remarked Jerry.

"You forget that the storm is over to the southwest, boys, and this red
light lies in the east, or southeast rather. I think it must be a house
afire," Frank at that moment remarked.

The idea of a poor family being burned out appealed to the boys
strongly; and when Bluff boldly proposed that they lock the door of the
cabin securely, and see if they could arrive on the scene in time to be
of any assistance, somehow even timid Will and conservative Frank fell
in with the idea at once.

The result of the vote being unanimous in favor of going, they hastened
to shut the windows, and fasten the padlock on the door. Bluff insisted
on carrying his precious gun, though admitting that it must look odd to
see a boy hurrying to help a family that was being burned out, and
carrying a shotgun along.

"But you never can tell what will happen," said Bluff, stoutly; and so
Frank, remembering that other occasion only too well when the presence
of that same gun had prevented a fierce hammering from Fredericks and
his crowd, wisely held his peace.




CHAPTER XIII--AFTER THE STORM


"Listen! is that somebody shouting?" cried Frank, after they had run
along the road in a southerly direction for half a mile.

"Sounds like it to me," ventured Will, between pants for breath.

"Now, on my part," declared Bluff, "I thought it must be the screech of
a locomotive; because, you know, there's a railroad line on both sides
of the river right along up here."

"But there it is again," Frank insisted; "and you can make out yelling
now."

"Yes, and it comes out of there, away back from the river. See here,
Frank," observed Jerry, "we just can't plunge into the woods, and make
for that fire; can we?"

"Now, my opinion is, there might be some other cross-road below here,
and the fire is on that," said Frank; "we'll go a piece further, anyhow,
and find out."

The others were quite willing to do anything Frank proposed, and so they
again started to run at quite a good pace.

It turned out just as he said; for about half a mile further down they
suddenly came on a road that left the river highway, and turned abruptly
into the hills. Besides, they could now see the fire itself, which, as
usual, did not seem to be so very far away; though Frank knew how
deceptive distances were apt to prove under such conditions.

Turning into this smaller road, they kept on running. Now and then Frank
would drop into a walk, for he knew that Will must be tiring, though the
other would never have admitted the fact if he dropped in his tracks
with fatigue.

"Further than we thought, fellows!" gasped Bluff, who had to carry a
heavy gun, and by now he almost wished he had left it on the boat.

"But now we've come this far we'd better keep on; eh, Frank?" suggested
Jerry.

On that score the chums seemed to be agreed. Like all boys, they
disliked very much to give up anything they had started to accomplish.
All that hard running would go for nothing; and they were naturally
curious to learn what sort of a fire it could be.

"A barn, I reckon," Jerry had said.

"Perhaps it's only a chicken coop," Will had in his turn mentioned.

"Now, I'd think it more likely a pig pen," observed the weary Bluff, as
he changed his gun from one hand to the other for the twentieth time,
refusing to let Frank relieve him of it.

"Jerry is right, according to my way of thinking," Frank said. "The
chances are that's what it is. Perhaps it looked at one time as if the
fire would jump to the farmer's barn, too, and that was what all that
shouting meant."

They finally drew closer to the scene, though Frank feared they had gone
twice as far as seemed wise, under the circumstances.

It was fully an hour after they had left the houseboat before they
reached the place; and then it was to find the fire about out; with a
dozen men, and as many women and children, gathered in clusters, talking
it all over with the man who had lost his barns, and what new crop of
hay he had just been putting in them, together with several cows that
could not be rescued in time.

The boys hung around for a little while talking with some of the farm
hands. Frank asked a few questions about various things, and even found
that he could secure a small amount of information concerning the river
below that point, since some of these young fellows had lived near it
all their lives, and even taken boats of produce to Rock Island below.

An hour later, and Frank proposed that they start back to the boat.
While the boys were engaged in listening to all that was being said
concerning the fire, the sky had clouded over, and it was now quite
dark. Indeed, the growl of thunder could be heard down the river, and
some of the farmers were even then hurrying off.

One fellow, who happened to live not a great way from the location of
the houseboat, as described by Frank, said he would keep company with
the boys, in whose trip down the big water he seemed to be deeply
interested. And while they thought little of that fact at the time, it
afterwards turned out worth a great deal to them.

Louder came that noise from behind them, the storm having swung across
the river apparently, so that it was now heading almost from the south
direct. Will doubtless wished deep down in his heart that he was snug
inside the cabin of the houseboat about that time, when the gale would
have small terrors for any of them. But he did not say a word along
those lines, only ran at the heels of the others, doing the very best he
could.

"She's going to catch us, boys!" remarked the young farmer, who had
given them his name as Seth Groggins.

"Could we find any sort of shelter?" asked Bluff--and then, as if
fearing that his motive might be misconstrued, he hastened to add: "not
that I care a cent whether I get wet or not; but I'd hate to have my gun
soaked. Steel rusts so easy, you know."

"Might get under a big tree that lies a little way ahead," remarked
Seth; "only I've heard it isn't the best thing to do in a thunderstorm."

"No, I'd rather stand many duckings than take chances that way," Frank
declared, positively; for he had known of fatal cases following the
action of men in a harvest field seeking shelter under a tree during an
electrical storm.

"Well, here she is; but as you say so, we'll give her the go-by," the
farmer called out over his shoulder, as he ran on past the big tree,
standing close to the road. "If we could only make the old lime kiln I
reckons as how the lot of us'd be able to find some sorter shelter thar.
It's jest a leeetle way further on, boys. Hit it up agin; kin ye?"

Even Will seemed to take another brace, for the din of the storm behind
was surely enough to make any fellow try his level best to get out of
its reach. What with the roar of the wind, the sound of falling trees,
the terrible crash of the thunder accompanying each vivid flash of
lightning, and the roar of the deluge of rain that followed, no one need
be ashamed for wanting to find a place of refuge.

The rain began to come, and the boys would soon have been drenched to
the skin only, as luck would have it, they reached the deserted lime
kiln just then, and were able to hastily crawl under a low shed.

Although this threatened to carry away bodily with the fierce gusts of
wind, approaching the force of a tornado at times, it seemed to have
been sturdily built in the first place; and was also somewhat sheltered
by the kiln, so that it managed to withstand the gale.

And thankful that they had found even so poor a shelter, the boys
crouched there, waiting for the fury of the storm to subside, when they
might go on their way to the moored houseboat, not more than half a mile
off, Frank believed.

"Wow! listen to that; would you?" cried Bluff, as a crash followed a
blinding flash of lightning, although the rain had now stopped.

"That hit something, sure!" quavered Will, who had no fancy for such a
terrible display of electrical force.

"Say, I wouldn't be surprised if that big tree got it thet 'ere time!"
declared the farmer. "Kim right from thet ways; an' she lies thar. An',
by hokey, I thort I ketched a crash o' branches as the ole lightnin'
stripped her bare, like it does, sometimes."

Frank was of the same opinion; and felt deeply grateful in his heart
that they had been wise enough to give that shelter the go-by when it
offered. If it was really the big tree that had been struck, what would
have been their fate had they foolishly taken refuge under its
wide-spreading limbs?

As Frank had truly said: far better a wet jacket any time, than to take
chances under a tree that seems to especially invite the attention of
the lightning, either by its being alone in a field, or standing higher
than its fellows.

A short time later, and they once more started along the flooded road.
All of them were wet, but made light of it, in view of the fact that
they had managed to get off so lightly. And this was the first occasion
Frank found for feeling glad the young Illinois farmer had accompanied
them; since otherwise they would not have known about the shed at the
old lime kiln.

The storm had gone raging up the river, and far in the distance they
could still hear the dull roar of the thunder peals, and see the flash
of each successive bolt of lightning, as it either passed from one cloud
to another, or else sought the earth in a zigzag downward plunge that
was most terrifying.

"I guess we ought to call ourselves lucky for once," Jerry was saying,
as they left the river road, and headed through the patch of timber,
just beyond which all of them knew the boat had been left, securely
fastened.

The young farmer kept along with them. He had told Frank that he would
like to see for himself just how they were fixed; and had promised in
the morning to fetch them a supply of fresh eggs, some newly-made
butter, and milk from his Jersey cows.

"An' ev'ry night you jest tie up alongside the bank, you say?" he
remarked, as he kept at the side of Jerry, with regard to whom he seemed
to have taken an especial fancy, for some reason or other.

"Why, yes, that's the easiest way of doing with a houseboat, which,
after all, is pretty much the same as one of your shantyboats, used to
carry potatoes and truck down to market," Frank had taken it upon
himself to answer.

"Now, here's just where we had our camp fire," Bluff, who was in
advance, remarked. "It got squdged by that downpour of rain, all right,
I should say. And here you see, we tied the--Frank, Frank, _she's
gone!_" he suddenly ended with an excited yell, as he saw the well-known
spot where the _Pot Luck_ had been moored, vacant, and not the first
sign of their floating home.

Will clung to Frank in the first shock of his dismay; while Jerry echoed
the loud cries of the first discoverer of this new calamity that seemed
to have overtaken them.




CHAPTER XIV--THE RUNAWAY HOUSEBOAT


They all stared as if they could hardly believe their eyes. The moon had
set about the time the storm started; but since the sky was already
clearing, the stars gave a certain amount of light. And especially on
the river it was possible to see for some distance.

Frank was almost as dumbfounded as his chums when this alarming fact
burst upon them. Without the houseboat, their cruise down the
Mississippi must come to an end.

"They must have been hiding somewhere near by," lamented Will, "and saw
the whole bunch of us scooting down the road; so that the chance they
just wanted came along."

"Say, Frank, he thinks it must have been Ossie Fredericks!" exclaimed
Jerry; "but I say it was that Marcus Stackpole. He wanted to get that
treasure Uncle Felix hid away on board so neat that even I never could
find it. But Marcus, he's bound to get it, even if he has to take the
old boat, and tear her to flinders. Oh! what a bunch of gumps we were to
leave her that way, to run to a fire."

The countryman was listening to all they said, and trying to grasp the
situation. Frank saw him step over to the tree to which they had
fastened the cable of the boat so securely, as they thought.

"This whar you tied her up, boys?" asked the young farmer.

"To that tree, yes," Frank replied. "What have you found--a piece of the
rope left there?"

"Jest what I hev," came the reply, as the other took out a match, and
prepared to strike it.

"Sliced it off as neat as you please; didn't they?" demanded Bluff,
angrily.

"Wall, not as I kin see," replied the farmer, bending closer to look, as
the match flamed up. "This hyar rope, she's gone and busted clear off!"

"No knife used, then, you mean?" asked Frank, jumping at conclusions.

"Nixy a knife," came the answer, in a positive tone.

"Then that settles it," Frank went on, turning to his comrades. "Our
cable turned out a bad one, boys; and in the storm, when the wind struck
the side of the cabin, the rope snapped off short!"

"Wow! what do you think of that, now?" cried Jerry.

"Then it wasn't Ossie and his crowd; nor yet Marcus Stackpole, that did
the little job for us?" observed Bluff, bottling some of his wrath for
another occasion.

"We can lay it all to the storm," Frank went on to say, as he too
examined the frayed end of the piece of cable still hanging from the
trunk of the tree; and which it was plain to be seen had never been
severed by a sharp instrument.

"But that's just about as bad," Will plaintively struck up just then.
"Perhaps our fine boat has been knocked to pieces before now; or even if
she hasn't, then she must be booming along in the middle of the river,
turning around and around as she floats. Why, Frank, this happened half
an hour ago, and by now where do you think the _Pot Luck_ can be?"

"If she hasn't been snagged and sunk in the storm," replied Frank, "or
upset by the hurricane wind, why, by now she may be floating peacefully
along, all by herself, say about two miles, perhaps three, below here."

"Think of that! And I was expecting to sleep aboard to-night!" Will
exclaimed.

"I hope you may yet, if there's any way by which we can overtake a
runaway houseboat," Frank said, as he tried to think.

Was there any means of obtaining a team of horses, and by following the
country road, getting ahead of the houseboat that had gone adrift in the
storm? The countryman ought to know, for he had been born and raised in
that section of the State, and must be familiar with the lay of the
land.

So Frank turned to Seth Groggins.

"You understand what has happened to us; don't you, Seth?" he asked.

"Reckon I does; the pesky boat's gone an' played you all a mean trick."

"Now, perhaps you might help us overtake our boat, Seth."

"You jest tell me how, then, an' see me jump," answered the farmer,
quickly, and with a friendly ring in his voice that pleased Frank very
much.

"Have you got any fast horses at your place?" he asked next.

"That's what I hev, as good a pair as kin be found 'raound these hyar
parts. An' I sees wot you mean to try, Frank. Think it kin be did?"

"How far does this road follow the river?" Frank asked.

"Oh! many a mile," came the answer. "She runs alongside the Mississippi
for mebbe four miles, then takes a straightaway course two miles 'cross
a neck o' land, savin' somethin' like five miles, and strikes the
winding water agin beyond."

"Just let me figure on that," Frank went on, calmly, for he knew nothing
could be gained by getting excited like Bluff and the others seemed to
be. "Six miles from here by the road, and then we strike the river
again. Now, how far do you suppose that boat would have to drift with
the current before it struck that same point?"

"They do say that five miles kin be saved by cuttin' acrost that neck. I
reckon as haow it'd be all o' three anyway," the farmer declared,
positively.

"We ought to be able to go twice as fast as the boat, I should think,"
Frank continued, "and counting the saving, I believe we would have
plenty of time to get to your place and be off, if you agreed. We're
willing to pay you five dollars for your trouble."

"Five dollars nothing!" exclaimed the young farmer. "What d'ye think I
am, when, if it hadn't been for you, like's not I'd been crazy enough to
hev camped, under thet same big tree, and jest think whar I'd be naow?
Done it afore, more'n a few times. Reckon that ere lightnin' was a
layin' for me, an' she'd got me to-night sure. But come along, boys; my
place ain't far off."

He led the way to the road, and up it at a fast run; the four chums
following after him as best they could.

Inside of ten minutes they arrived at a wayside farmhouse; and without
waiting to answer the calls of the old lady on the porch, who wanted to
know all about the fire, country fashion, Seth led his new friends
straight out to a big stable and barn.

The way that expert young countryman got out his horses, and hitched
them to a light road wagon, made Frank ready to give him the palm for
fast work. Why, in almost no time the ends of the lines were tossed over
the seat.

"Jump in, boys, and we'll be off, jest as soon as I shut the stable
doors. You see, I never leave 'em open. Robbins lost his hull outfit one
night, and I ain't a-goin' to take any chances with mine."

Another minute, and they were making for the open gates, which Seth had
seen to at the time they entered his grounds. The last the boys saw of
the old lady she was standing there, where the light of a lamp issued
from an open door, and looking after her boy, as though she wondered if
he had taken leave of his senses.

"Tell her all erbout it, arter I gets back to hum," Seth very sensibly
remarked, as he used the whip, to send his horses galloping down the
river road. "She allers arsks so many questions, you see, I jest natchly
couldn't hold up to satisfy her right now, when minutes are a-goin' to
count. Giddup, Bob! Hi! thar, Fanny, show us what you kin do!"

Both horses were already making great speed. Frank and Will sat beside
the driver on the seat, while the others found as comfortable places as
they could on the bottom of the light wagon.

The road was not everything that could be wished for, and in
consequence, when they came to a little depression, or a
"thank-you-mum," which was intended to deflect running water, and save a
washout, both Jerry and Bluff found it difficult to keep anything like
an upright position. The latter especially, being still burdened with
his gun, could only use one hand with which to hold on to the side of
the wagon; and as a consequence he was bounding all over the bed of the
vehicle, until Frank, noticing what hard lines had fallen to poor Bluff,
took the gun away, which allowed him to have the use of both hands.

Mile after mile they put behind them in this fashion.

"Oh! I hope we will make it, Frank," Will would say every little while;
and at such times the other thought it his duty to cheer the doubting
chum up by declaring that he felt sure they would, as they were making
such splendid time.

"But even if we do see the poor old Noah's Ark away out in the middle of
the river, floating along, however in the wide world can we get to her?"
Will asked.

"No use crossing a bridge till we come to it," Frank told him. "When we
understand the situation we'll have some plan ready to meet it. Here's
where we leave the river; isn't it, Seth?" as the driver urged his team
over a little plank bridge at a point where the road turned abruptly to
the left.

"Yep, that's the ticket," replied the other. "Two mile now, and then we
strike her agin. Go 'lang thar, Fanny; gaddup, Bob, ye lazybones!"

But this was only "talk," as Bluff expressed it, for both horses were
doing the best they knew how, and making splendid time. After a while,
Frank knew from the signs that they must once more be approaching the
river. He could hardly still his own excited heart, so very much
depended on the events of the next half hour.

Finally they burst into view of the swiftly flowing Mississippi again.
Out over its broad bosom every eye went, seeking for some sign of the
floating houseboat.

"Doan't see nuthin' o' her, mister!" announced Seth, in a disappointed
tone; "but then, I reckons as haow she ain't hed time yet to float this
far. Inside harf a hour we kin spect to see the runaway, if it stays as
light as it is naow."

Frank had not been looking in the same quarter as the others, who seemed
to have taken it for granted that the houseboat, when she appeared,
would be found far out on the flood.

He cast his eye closer to the shore that stretched away toward the
north, until it became dim and uncertain in the starlight; for the
heavens were now clear from horizon to horizon, and the air wonderfully
pure after the thunder squall of the earlier evening.

"I think I see her coming up yonder, boys!" said Frank, as he pointed a
trembling finger, to assist his chums locate the dark moving blur that
had just caught his eye a little distance above the spot where they sat
in the wagon.




CHAPTER XV--ON BOARD THE POT LUCK AGAIN


"Frank, you're right!" exclaimed the delighted Will.

"It's the _Pot Luck_, as sure as you're born!" cried Bluff.

"But she'll just sail past us, fellows, and give us the merry ha! ha!
How are we going to coax her to come in here?" Jerry asked, anxiously.

Frank was already pulling off his shoes, and making ready as if to take
a swim.

"Leave that to me, boys," he said, hastily, but with something in his
voice that told his chums he would not be denied. "I'll get aboard
without much trouble. Here, take my clothes, and follow along the road
in the wagon. Once on deck I'll open the cabin with the key I'll hold
between my teeth when in the water. Then you can see the lantern I'll
light."

"Will you throw the anchor over, Frank?" asked Bluff, wishing it had
fallen to him to do this little affair; for Bluff was always willing to
undertake any sort of hazardous task, either for fun or to accommodate a
chum.

"I hope to work the big sweep first, and see if I can get her in to the
shore alone," came the reply, as Frank made ready to plunge into the
rushing river at the proper moment.

"And if you can't manage it, you'll heave the anchor over, and come for
us in the little skiff?" asked Will.

"Sure I will, after I get some dry clothes on; because by that time I'll
be feeling pretty cold. Here goes, fellows!" and Frank stepped into the
dark waters of the Mississippi as unconcernedly as though he might be
just meaning to enjoy a bath.

"Good luck!" shouted out Bluff; while the others added their blessing in
various ways, each according to his own mind.

The floating houseboat was now nearby, and coming on at a fair speed,
though, of course, the current was not nearly so swift close to the
shore as further out toward the middle of the stream.

Eagerly the three chums and Seth watched to see if they could tell when
the bold swimmer reached the drifting craft. They could not exactly make
him out; but in the starlight there was some sort of disturbance on the
water, which they believed must mark his progress.

Then the runaway houseboat passed them, about sixty or eighty feet away;
and Will's heart seemed almost in his throat with suspense as he
strained his eyes to catch the welcome sight of Frank clambering aboard
once more, to assume command.

"Hoop-la! there he goes!" suddenly shouted Bluff, whose vision proved
the keenest after all.

Plainly now they all saw something white climbing up the side of the
houseboat, and rolling over on the deck. Immediately afterward the big
sweep was seen to begin to swing, and move through the water.

"Frank's doing it!" cried the delighted Will, who had almost perfect
confidence in the ability of Frank Langdon to accomplish any task that
human ingenuity could perform.

"Into the wagon again, boys, and let's follow him!" called Jerry,
turning to make a rush toward the nearby road; and the others were at
his heels, stumbling along "any old way," as Bluff said, in order to
reach the waiting horses as soon as possible.

Here and there the road came so close to the bank that they could look
out; and with so many eager eyes on the alert it was not long before the
floating houseboat was discovered again.

"She's some closer, boys, as sure as anything; isn't that so,
Bluff--Jerry?" demanded Will.

"Frank's doing it, all right," answered the latter; "but it must be an
awful job, handling that big sweep all by himself. And I wouldn't be a
bit surprised if he gave it up soon."

"Yes," added Bluff, "it'd be a heap sight easier just to kick the anchor
overboard and come to bring us off in the skiff, one at a time."

"Say, you guessed it the fust shot, mister," said the farmer just then;
and all of them heard a big splash out on the river.

"She's stopped, fellows!" shrieked Will. "Isn't Frank the dandy one
though for getting there. Now, give him a little time to hunt up some
more clothes, and he'll be after us."

Will was as delighted over the changed aspect of things as a little boy
with his first pair of long trousers, Bluff told him. But, indeed, all
of them were pleased, even more than they would admit, because of the
improved prospect before them.

The minutes dragged along. They finally saw a movement aboard the
houseboat, and then the skiff, which had been hauled out on deck and
secured for the night before they took that wild run in the direction of
the fire, was dropped overboard.

"That's good!" said Will, when they understood this fact; "because, you
see, I was just a little bothered about that skiff. If it had been blown
overboard and lost in the storm, what would we do then, boys?"

"Just what Frank did," sang out Jerry, gaily; "swim for the boat; only
in our case we'd have to make bundles of our clothes, and fasten 'em to
the top of our heads to keep 'em dry. But here he comes, rowing after
us."

Frank soon landed, and his chums insisted in shaking hands with him as
though he had been off on a perilous duty, instead of taking a little
dip, Frank declared.

"Will, you go first," said Jerry, generously.

"The boat will hold two, besides the rower, so you come along, too,
Jerry; I'll be back for Bluff; and if Seth will tie his horses and come
aboard, we'll be glad to have him," Frank called out.

"Jest what Seth's goin' to do, fellers," remarked the young farmer; who
had taken quite an interest in these wide-awake boys from the North, and
was very glad of any chance to see how they lived aboard the houseboat,
which took his fancy very much.

So the ferry did double duty, and the entire party finally reached the
deck of the anchored _Pot Luck_. Jerry and Will had managed to light the
big lamp and the second lantern while Frank was absent on his second
trip, so that the interior of the cabin looked particularly cheery to
the boys, after their recent experience.

Jerry was also now busily engaged in starting a fire in the little rusty
stove; for as they had managed to get somewhat wet during the storm, it
would do them no harm to experience the genial heat that soon began to
emanate from the stove.

The countryman was soon asking scores of questions, which the boys
answered to the best of their ability. He wanted to know everything, and
was seen many times to shake his head, and sigh heavily; as though he
would have given much for the privilege of an outing after this style.

As the boys felt that they were deeply indebted to Seth, they insisted
on his accepting the five dollars promised by Frank, though he seemed
ashamed to take pay for what little he had done, and protested that it
had given him the greatest pleasure he had known for a long time.

"Buy something for the old lady, then," said Frank, as he pushed the
bill into Seth's vest pocket.

"Or some young lady, if there happens to be one, Seth!" said Jerry,
giving the countryman a friendly poke in the ribs.

"Well, if you just make me take it, boys, I reckon I must," Seth
remarked, seeing that they would not take no for an answer; "and I'm
a-goin' to write you arter you get back home, to tell you jest what I
_did_ buy with that five dollars, and what she thort of it. 'Cause, you
see, I must hear haow you fetched up, away daown in Orleans; and what
happened to you on the way."

"And we'll make sure that you do, Seth," Frank assured him; for he had
taken quite a fancy to the strapping young farmer, who seemed an honest
fellow, and a hard worker as well. "I've got your post office address on
the rural free delivery route, and you'll hear from me more than once
while we drift down South. But here's Jerry gone and made a nice pot of
hot coffee; stop long enough to have a cup with us; won't you, Seth?"

"Doan't keer if I do," replied the other, briskly, once more seating
himself. "She smells right fine, I tell you, fellers. I'll never forgit
this naow. Allers did hev a sneakin' ijee I'd like to take a trip on a
shantyboat daown to Orleans, an' I jest envies you the chanct."

"Well, suppose you fix it up, and take your honeymoon trip that way,
Seth," proposed Jerry, mischievously; but to the surprise of them all
Seth slapped a big hand on his knee and exploded with a delighted cry.

"Say, that's the very ijee; funny I never did think o' it myself," he
declared. "I'll talk it over with Mirandy to-morry night, sure. In the
fall we hev potatoes to sell, and I kin load up a boat, and kerry 'em
daown South to sell. That's a bully ijee, Jerry. I'll do it, sure as
shootin'!"

They were all sorry to see Seth go over the side, Jerry volunteering to
ferry the young farmer ashore. Short as their acquaintance with him had
been, the honest fellow had seemed to take a great fancy to all the
voyagers; and they knew they would always remember him with pleasure.

And so, after all, no real damage had resulted from the exciting events
of that night. The run to the fire; the terrible storm that overtook
them on their return; the discovery of the absence of the houseboat; and
the wild chase, ending in Frank's swimming out, and boarding the
drifting craft--all these things would form the subject for many a camp
fire talk in the future.

But the chances were that none of the boys would remember that one crash
of lightning that seemed to dazzle their eyes, and the awful crash of
thunder actually accompanying it, without feeling thankful deep down in
their hearts that Frank had been wise enough to forbid the halt under
the seemingly friendly branches of the big tree; because Seth afterwards
wrote them that it had indeed been shattered to pieces by the electric
bolt, and some of the splintered parts scattered over a distance of
sixty feet.

So a period of peace followed the tumult of fire and gale; and if the
tired boys woke up at all during the balance of that eventful night, it
was only to feel that all was well; for the gurgle of the river against
the end of the staunch houseboat and the sigh of the night wind were the
only sounds that came to their ears.




CHAPTER XVI--THE UNWELCOME PASSENGER


"There's somebody calling from the shore, and waving his hand!" Will
said, as he poked his head in at the cabin door several days later, and
speaking to Frank, who was writing at the table, as the afternoon
dragged along.

They had made fair progress during this time, and managed to pass the
mouth of the Des Moines river, so that with Keokuk behind them they were
now looking across to the shores of the State of Missouri, which was
encouraging, at least.

Frank hurried outside upon hearing what his comrade said. More than a
few times before this they had been hailed from the bank; but it was
always some fun-loving boy, or a tramp who wanted them to take him
aboard, so that they paid little attention to the calls.

"Looks like there's something familiar about that fellow!" Bluff was
saying, as the others joined him at the sweep.

"And as sure as you live, he called out Frank's name just then!"
ejaculated Jerry.

"Tell you what, boys, it's that Luther Snow again, as plain as the nose
on my face!" cried Bluff.

Frank had discovered this strange fact for himself; and once more the
old feeling of suspicion flashed into his mind. Who was this Luther
Snow; and why should he come upon them again, when they thought he had
gone for good?

The day was well spent, and even then Jerry and Bluff had been trying to
select a landing spot.

"Shall we pull in, Frank?" asked the former; "seems like a good camping
place just this side of that point; and the water's deep, too, I
reckon."

"And the old man seems to want to see us mighty bad," Bluff added.

"He's limping like he'd been hurt," added the sympathetic Will.

Frank hardly knew what to do. If the other were really in deep trouble
they would never forgive themselves if they deserted him; because just
here the locality seemed lonely, with not a house in sight.

"All right, set her in to the shore," he said, making up his mind
without any unnecessary mental discussion; for he believed that four
stout and healthy lads ought to be equal to one decrepit old man, no
matter how cunning he might prove; and after all they did not know a
single thing against the truth of the sad story Luther Snow had told
them.

They had tied up, and were busily engaged in the various tasks that had
been apportioned to each as his daily program, when Luther came along.
Just as Will had remarked, he was limping badly, and looked most
wretched. Frank thought that if this was put on instead of being real,
then old Luther deserved credit for his extraordinary ability as an
actor.

He seemed greatly overjoyed at meeting them again, and between groans
went around shaking hands with each one.

"How do you happen to be here, Mr. Snow, and looking so miserable?"
Frank asked, after the old man had been made comfortable by Will and
Bluff; while Jerry actually hastened his preparations for supper,
because he saw that the wretched carpenter was weak from fasting.

"I went just as far as my money would carry me, and then the captain of
the packet put me off at a little wood landing above," came the reply.
"Then I started to walk down to the next town, hoping to get some sort
of work there; but I was weak from hunger; and I managed to slip, and
sprain my ankle, so I was about ready to give it all up, and die right
there, when I discovered your boat. It was like the coming of an angel
to me, my friends, for you have been so kind to a wretched old man."

Will secretly dabbed at his eyes; and even Bluff winked several times,
as if he felt keenly for a desolate old man, left alone in the world,
and suffering. Only Frank, usually one of the first to lend a helping
hand to anyone in distress, did not speak up, and assure Luther that he
could still count on them to help him. Frank was watching him when he
had the chance, trying to read the other; for he still hardly knew what
to believe.

During the progress of the supper, which they had aboard the _Pot Luck_,
Luther was very quiet. He even seemed sick, in truth, and Frank knew he
would not have the heart to put him ashore. If they carried an old and
weak man some distance on his journey, that could hardly interfere with
the directions given by the owner of the houseboat; who, Will had
admitted, was something of a queer character himself, and hardly to be
taken seriously.

And so, after a consultation among themselves out on the deck, while
Luther dozed in his chair in the cabin, the boys decided to give him a
lift part of the way down to New Orleans. When they grew tired of having
him along, they could make up a purse perhaps, and gather sufficient
funds to buy him a railroad ticket, say from Memphis to his intended
destination.

When they came in later he looked up eagerly, as though he must have
guessed that they had been talking over what should be done about him.
And so Frank considered it good policy to let him know the decision they
had reached.

"We're going to carry you part way down the river, Mr. Snow," he
remarked; "and when we put you ashore, perhaps at Memphis, we'll try and
scare up enough money in the bunch to see you through by railroad to New
Orleans. That's the best we can do; and even then we're stretching the
orders of the party who owns the boat, and who was mighty particular
that we harbor no strangers aboard on the trip, for some reason or
other, which we do not understand."

Frank thought he caught a peculiar twinkle of the shrewd eyes, as he
said this; but immediately Luther Snow showed evidence of considerable
feeling as he insisted on shaking hands with each one of the chums in
order.

"You are a noble lot of boys," he said, his voice trembling with real
emotion; "and it was a lucky day for me when I met with you. I'll never
forget you; never!"

And so the _Pot Luck_ received another addition to the passenger list.
Luther Snow seemed disposed to take his share of the work, and at times
insisted on being allowed to do certain tasks.

"Don't make me feel so much ashamed of being a trespasser on your
bounty, lads," he would remark, as he forced Jerry to let him cook a
meal a few days after he joined them.

And to the astonishment of the boys he gave them a fine spread, changing
their menu in a way that was pleasing. Jerry himself was the first to
declare that it was splendid, for there was not a bit of jealousy in his
disposition.

Luther seemed pleased to think that he could make himself useful in some
way; because he realized that the boys would much rather be alone by
themselves on this voyage down the great river.

They had passed the mouth of the Missouri, and the addition of so much
water caused the widening of the Mississippi, so that the opposite shore
seemed a great distance away.

Nothing out of the way had happened all this time, though weeks had now
passed since the four chums first started on their Southern journey. The
moon had waxed and waned, and there was again a young crescent in the
western sky when the sun had sunk behind the far distant Missouri shore.

Frank had not made much progress toward solving the puzzle of Luther
Snow. The other boys believed in him fully; and so Frank kept his
suspicions to himself. He fancied that Luther knew he was watching him,
from many signs; but try as he might he could not catch the other off
his guard, if it were really so that the old man was playing a part.

It had been settled among the boys at the start that under no conditions
were they at any time to leave their passenger alone aboard the
houseboat; and Jerry even insisted that as much as possible, someone be
in the cabin when he was. For, of course, Jerry still believed that
there must be a wonderful treasure aboard the _Pot Luck_, hidden under
some loose board, or in a cranny that as yet he had not been able to
find, though he would never give up looking.

And when the boy was amusing himself in sounding the walls, and dipping
into all the little nooks he could find, Frank saw that the old man's
eyes would follow him, as though he might be secretly amused. But never
once did Luther Snow ask the reason of this search on Jerry's part.
Perhaps he understood, from various allusions passing between the boys,
that Jerry was in search of a secret hiding place; but as it was none of
his business he had the good sense to keep still.

They were now drawing close to Cairo, situated at the junction of the
Ohio with the Mississippi. And their stock of provisions being rather
low, the houseboat was tied up at the lower end of the city, while Frank
and Bluff went ashore to make purchases, and have them sent down.

Having done this duty, and been assured that the stuff would be
delivered at once, the boys went on to the post office, and to do
several other little errands. Thus they arrived in the vicinity of the
place where the boat had been left several hours before, and with
evening only a short time off.

"What does all that yelling mean, do you suppose, Frank?" Bluff asked,
stopping to listen.

"Well, we heard that the roustabouts and stevedores were on a strike
here, you remember," his companion replied; "and so, perhaps they're
having a little fun with some of the strike-breakers, who, they say,
have been brought across from Missouri to take their places."

"Whew! that means a fight, with stones flying, and some broken heads,"
Bluff remarked. "I've always wanted to see what a riot looked like."

"You come right along with me," observed Frank, as he hooked his arm in
that of his impulsive chum. "It's not our funeral, yet; but it might be,
if you thought to stand around when a riot is going on. Here they come
now, and we'll have to run for the boat yet. They seem to be chasing
some men, too!"

"Say, Frank, look at that boy running with the crowd!" cried Bluff,
excitedly. "There, he's down now, and I guess a stone must have hit him,
No, he's on his feet again, and making this way as fast as he can
sprint, with the mob howling after him. Doesn't he remind you of Ossie
Fredericks; but, of course, it couldn't be him! Yes, as sure as I'm
talking, I do believe it is; and he's going to get his medicine from
that crazy crowd of longshoremen, if something don't happen to save
him!"




CHAPTER XVII--THE FUGITIVES OF THE LEVEE


Frank seldom acted from impulse. Still, he had a habit of thinking
quickly in an emergency, and seldom wasted time.

"We must try and save him, Bluff!" he exclaimed, as he watched the
approaching boy, who was staggering at times, and seemed to be very much
frightened.

How the son of the St Paul millionaire chanced to get mixed up in a
street riot, was the deepest kind of a mystery; but there was certainly
no time for trying to solve it now.

"Sure we ought to, Frank!" came the ready response from impulsive Bluff.

True, he had every reason possible for disliking Oswald; but the
dreadful condition of the other appealed to Bluff, who was even willing
to take chances himself, in order to be of assistance to a fellow human
being in trouble.

"This way, Ossie!" shouted Frank, seeing that the bewildered boy was
about to turn aside, and try to escape by flanking the crowd; which must
have only resulted in another shower of stones, and further injury to
him.

Hearing his name spoken, the boy turned in their direction. Hope had
apparently once more taken root in his soul. In that minute when in
distress, he forgot all the reason he thought he had for hating Frank
Langdon, and only looked toward him as a boy from the same college, who
was offering him assistance.

He staggered a little as he reached them.

"Oh! get me away from here, fellows!" he fairly gasped, as he held out
his trembling hands toward them.

The rioters were hurrying in their direction, some of them shouting all
sorts of threats; and stones even began to patter around the spot. In
other quarters separate fights were in progress, where little bunches of
the strike-breakers had been brought to bay, and were trying to defend
themselves.

Such confusion and howling the boys believed they had never heard
before; nor would they ever care to again.

Frank had already made up his mind just what should be done, so that he
wasted no time after the desperate boy reached them. Hooking a hand
through one of Ossie's arms he bade Bluff to do the same on the other
side. And in this fashion did the three hurry as fast as they could
along the open levee.

"Where are you going?" asked Bluff, always wanting to know.

"To the houseboat!" replied Frank, glancing back over his shoulder, and
wondering whether they could make it before some of the rioters caught
up with them.

Oswald heard what was said, and made no comment. Doubtless in his
condition of terror any port in a storm might be his motto. Only a short
time before he had thought of the _Pot Luck_ only when plotting how to
injure the houseboat of his rival; but now a refuge aboard that same
craft was to be considered the finest thing possible.

"A little faster, if you can make it, Ossie," Frank said, presently,
when he began to fear that they would yet be overtaken, and perhaps
beaten badly by the unthinking, yelling rioters.

"Do you think they'll get us?" gasped the other.

"I guess we'll make it all right; but if you could start up a little
spurt it'd be a good thing," replied Frank, encouragingly.

Fear is a splendid spur, and Ossie really did manage to quicken his
pace, though he had to grit his teeth, and make the most desperate
efforts in order to accomplish it.

"Bully! there she is!" cried Bluff, excitedly; and although Bluff had so
recently expressed the desire to look at a riot, doubtless by now he was
fully satisfied with his experience, and would welcome the shelter of
the houseboat almost as gladly as Oswald himself.

They could see the three who had been left on board, watching their
approach; and Frank made all sorts of wild motions with his arms, trying
to tell them to get the hawser loose, so as to be ready to let go the
instant the fugitives of the levee arrived, pushing the houseboat out
upon the swift current.

Jerry seemed bewildered, and it was Will, after all, who grasped the
true meaning of Frank's shouts and gestures, for he hurried away to the
new rope, where it was fastened ashore, while Jerry snatched up a push
pole, and stood ready for work.

Thicker came the stones; and several times the fleeing boys narrowly
escaped being struck; which was fortunate indeed, since more or less
injury would surely have followed such a disaster.

When they finally reached the boat, the leading spirits among their
unreasoning pursuers, both black and white, were not more than a hundred
feet away, and still running strong.

"Push off!" gasped Frank, himself seizing hold of a pole, and starting
to throw all of his strength into the labor.

Even old Luther lent a hand; and in this crisis the unwelcome passenger
proved at least that he was no coward, Frank noticed, for he exposed
himself as well as any of the others, until finally Frank thrust him
inside the cabin.

The boat was now moving down the river, but altogether too close to the
shore to wholly escape the rain of missiles that came pelting after,
thrown by the angry mob, under the belief that those aboard were somehow
concerned in the bringing of strike-breakers across the river to take
their places.

It kept the boys busy dodging the stones, even though four-fifths of
these dropped into the river. There was a constant pattering and banging
as others struck the cabin and deck of the boat. One smashed through a
window, and the crowd yelled hoarsely with delight at this evidence of
good marksmanship.

Frank, however, believed they would soon be free from this fusillade. He
saw that the levee came to an end just below, and consequently the crowd
could no longer pursue the boat with profit. Besides, there were so many
other scenes of excitement taking place all around, that by degrees the
strikers were dropping off. The floating houseboat was really beyond
their reach now; and they concluded that it would be more fun to attack
a group of men who would fight back, than bombard a few boys who simply
wanted to get away from the city.

So the last stone was thrown, and as the _Pot Luck_ sailed out upon the
broad reach below the city, where the two mighty rivers have their
confluence, Frank and his chums could get their breath again, and survey
the damages.

Two windows in the cabin had been broken, and there were a score of
rocks and pieces of iron lying on the deck; besides numerous dents in
the woodwork; but on the whole, they might feel they had escaped in
pretty fair luck.

Ossie was recovering his breath, and also his courage. He seemed to feel
queerly about having been rescued from danger by the very boys whom he
had been trying to injure for so long.

Frank thought the opportunity for healing the breach between them was a
good one, and after they had managed to push the houseboat in toward the
shore, below the mouth of the Ohio, a hard task that took much time, he
approached his rival, with a pleasant smile on his face.

"That was a pretty ugly experience, Ossie," he remarked. "How did it
happen you got caught in that mob, and were taken for a strike-breaker?"

"Why, you see, we had anchored down below here, when I remembered that I
ought to have done an important errand for my father in Cairo," the
other explained. "As our engine was out of commission again, I hired a
man to row me up to the city. He took more than half the morning to do
it, too, and was to bring me back again in the afternoon. I heard about
the rioting, and thought I'd like to see something of it on my way down
to the river to find my boatman. Then, almost before I knew what was
happening, it broke out all around me, and I was caught up in a pack of
blacks retreating before an attack of another mob. I tried to get away,
but you saw what happened. Whew! I wouldn't like to repeat that
experience. And look, there's the _Lounger_ right now! Could you hold
up, and put me aboard?"

Frank was quite willing. They had one passenger aboard now, which was
more than the law, as laid down by Uncle Felix, allowed; and they
certainly did not care for another.

He believed that if Oswald had listened to his better nature he would
have wiped the slate clean then and there, after finding himself
indebted so heavily to his supposed rival; and become friends from that
hour with the crew of the _Pot Luck_.

But there were his three chums lining the side of the _Lounger_, and
evidently in a great state of mind to see Ossie coming back aboard the
other houseboat, which certainly showed signs of hard usage.

The anchor was allowed to drop overboard, and Frank himself took the
captain of the _Lounger_ across the few fathoms of water separating the
two houseboats. Oswald was greeted by a noisy outcry as he climbed up on
deck. The three who stood there, fearing that there was some danger that
the bad feeling of the past would be crossed out, scowled at the crew of
the _Pot Luck_, and even gave utterance to more or less contemptuous
remarks concerning the rival craft.

No doubt these things had their influence upon Oswald. He looked at
Frank after he had climbed aboard his own boat, and seemed almost about
to stretch out his hand, to thank him for all he had done; but the old
spirit was still uppermost.

"So-long, Langdon. Do as much for you some day, perhaps. But, of course
you had to save your own bacon in the bargain; for as soon as you ran
they believed you were strike-breakers as much as they did me. All the
same, it was rather decent of you; and perhaps you may not be the bad
lot I've considered you."

Frank only smiled, and made no reply, as he paddled back to his own
boat. But he knew that his chums were boiling with indignation, for as
they once more resumed their passage down-stream Bluff burst out with:

"Well, of all the mean, ornery skunks I ever met up with, that Ossie
Fredericks takes the cake. He hasn't even common decency enough to offer
to shake hands, and thank the fellows who stood all that stone pelting
just to drag him in out of the wet. Shucks! I wish now, Frank, we'd just
let him take his medicine. He'd be getting all he deserved, and no more,
the ungrateful cur!"

"You never can tell," said Frank, calmly. "Perhaps, when he gets to
thinking it over, he may see a light; but we only did our duty. Bluff;
and that's got to be our reward."




CHAPTER XVIII--WHAT JERRY'S STICK BROUGHT DOWN


More days passed, and the houseboat was making steady progress down the
Mississippi, with as happy a party of lads aboard as could be found
anywhere. Indeed, each day seemed to bring new delights along with it;
and so lighthearted were the chums that every little while Bluff would
break out in some college song, to be joined in the chorus by several
other hearty voices.

They fished many times, and took toll of the waters they passed over;
though sometimes the hooks came in empty, and they had to change the
order arranged for dinner that evening. Once Bluff, who had gone ashore
with his favorite gun over his shoulders, was heard to shoot several
times; and the others were more or less concerned as to what manner of
spoils he might have run across; for really at this time of year the law
did not allow of hunting, save for woodcock, and very few other edible
kinds of game.

When he came in shortly afterwards it was to fling down a magnificent
specimen of the red-tailed hawk.

"Why, would you believe it," asserted Bluff, stoutly, "the measly thing
just went for me like hot cakes, and I never did a thing to rile her up.
I had to use my gun first of all, to club her away; and then, as she
darted down at me, I just thought it was a mighty poor game that two
couldn't play at; so I began to shoot. Took several times to make her be
good. Looky here, where she scratched me in the cheek when she tried to
carry me off at first."

The others never did know the true inwardness of that story. Frank
guessed that Bluff, deeming a big, saucy hawk fair game, had blazed away
and wounded her; and that he got his scratched cheek when he came to
close quarters with the bird.

But to the victor belong the spoils; and in reality Frank believed the
hawk was likely to do more damage to farmers' chickens and the small
song birds, than it might good by destroying mice and such vermin that
play such havoc with the growing crops. And for many days did that
handsome hawk hang there, nailed on the cabin wall of the houseboat.

Frank continued to study Luther Snow. He was slowly making up his mind
that they must get rid of him before arriving anywhere near New Orleans.
He had mentioned Vicksburg once or twice as the point where they would
purchase him a ticket on the railroad, so he could get to his
destination quickly; but secretly Frank had arranged with his chums that
Memphis should be the point of departure.

"Between us," remarked Jerry, on one occasion, as they were talking it
over together, while Luther was inside the cabin, asleep on the cot they
had made up for his occupancy; "I really don't think the old chap wants
to leave us at all, but would rather stay aboard till we get to
Orleans."

"Sure he would," remarked Will, with a nod and a grin; "he'd be a silly
not to, when he's certain of three square meals a day, and such meals,"
and he smacked his lips in a way that must have made the cook feel proud
that his talent was appreciated so much.

"Yes, I happen to know he wants to stick by us," remarked Bluff.

"Tell us how, then," said Frank, quickly, his eye on the door of the
cabin.

"Well, more'n a few times, when we got to talkin', Luther, he'd turn to
the subject of the great expense he'd been to us; and then he'd always
say he hoped we'd change our minds, and not put him ashore at Vicksburg,
because he was _so_ contented aboard here, and wished he could just
finish the voyage with us. Besides, he said we might need his help later
on, as a doctor; and you know he did fix me up the finest way ever when
I fell on that axe, and cut my leg so bad a week ago. Reckon no regular
sawbones could have done the job better."

"He says he studied for a doctor's sheepskin away back, and was always
sorry he didn't keep right along," Will put in.

"How about that, Frank; do we keep him or assist him on his way by
rail?" Bluff asked; but Frank would not commit himself, because he
believed that in some way the old man might hear of it, and play "sick"
when they drew near Memphis, so that they could not have the heart to
put him ashore.

He was himself coming to some sort of conclusion in the matter, and it
first of all seemed to be founded on a certain fact, which by now Frank
had made certain of. Luther Snow was _not_ the real name of their
passenger. Frank had made a startling discovery one day recently, and it
put an end to his bewilderment at least. It happened that, chancing to
notice some handkerchiefs the old man had stowed in his various pockets,
and which he was washing out, after a crude fashion that would have made
a woman laugh, Frank saw that in every case a name had been carefully
erased with indelible ink.

Then again there began to be other little things about the old man that
told the observing lad he surely had never been a carpenter. Frank
purposely asked him to build some boxes out of several smooth boards
purchased for the purpose; and the result was a botched job that any
second-class carpenter would have blushed to own. Even Bluff screwed up
his eyebrows when he saw them, and privately declared that he did not
wonder old Luther was out of a job so often, if that was a sample of the
best he could do along the line of his trade.

To Frank there was a deeper significance in this failure to make good on
the part of their passenger. No wonder his hands were so free from
calloused places, for Frank now felt positive that Luther had never been
a carpenter in all his life.

If that part was made up, then probably the entire tale was only a
"fairy story," told for a purpose. That purpose was to get aboard the
houseboat, for some reason or other. Well, he had been aboard for some
weeks now, and nothing had happened, only he seemed to like it so well
he wanted to remain with the boys until they reached New Orleans.

There was something about this desire on his part that impressed Frank.
If, as he now actually began to believe, Luther Snow was really the
Marcus Stackpole of whom Uncle Felix had particularly warned them, why
had he not picked up the hidden treasure Jerry was always talking about,
and disappeared long ago?

Frank somehow began to believe that, after all, there was no secret
_cache_ aboard the boat which might contain valuables in the shape of
papers or jewels. Jerry liked to think there was, but really they had
not a peg on which to hang such an idea; except that queer Uncle Felix
seemed to want to keep strangers off the boat, and particularly a man he
seemed to dislike very much, one Marcus Stackpole.

Frank was even now busying himself with trying to lay some little trap
by means of which he might learn the truth.

"I'll take him unawares some time," he was saying to himself, as he
stood on deck that afternoon, after they had tied up, with the sunlight
around him, and looked out from under the shady branches of the tree to
which the boat was fast; "and spring that name on him--call him Mr.
Stackpole. If he can look me in the eye, and never show a sign, I'll
have to think I'm mistaken; but all the same, off this boat he goes at
Memphis, if I have to get an ambulance, and send him to the hospital."

Bluff was seated, as he often might be seen, on the rail of the boat;
while Will pottered over the tangled fish lines, for Jerry had taken a
notion to put a new roll of film in the little camera, and was even then
rubbing it up. Luther Snow, a blanket about his shoulders, sat near by,
watching it all in a pleased sort of way.

"Time was when I could stand anything, boys," remarked the old man as he
gathered this covering closer to his body; "and I reckon I've been
through considerable all over the wide world, for a man who never had a
cent that he didn't earn himself. But I'm getting a little old now, you
see. I begin to feel rheumatism in my bones, and sometimes I begin to
believe that my days as a rover are nearly over."

Frank always listened when he started to speak of experiences in his
checkered past. It often aroused the curiosity of the boy to understand
how a man who, as he confessed himself, was only a common carpenter (and
a mighty poor one at that, Frank would say to himself), had been able to
get around in all the queer corners of the world that Luther Snow had.

He seemed to know many foreign cities by heart, and spoke of certain
things in a way that only one familiar with them could do. Well, there
could be no doubt of one thing, and this was that Luther occupied the
role of a mystery to Frank, a puzzle he could not wholly solve.

If, then, he proved to be Marcus Stackpole, the very man against whom
they had been especially warned, what did he want?

Frank kept repeating that to himself time and again as he lounged there
and in the light of the declining sun watched his chums; then turned his
eyes in the direction of the man who had the blanket about his
shoulders, and who seemed so satisfied to be with them on board Uncle
Felix's houseboat.

It was Jerry who startled them all suddenly by calling out:

"Hey! there's a gray squirrel right over your head, Bluff! Watch me give
the little beggar a scare, will you?"

He reached over, and picked up one of a number of sticks of wood which
had been brought on board at their last stop, being intended to serve as
fuel for the little cook stove, after they had been chipped in half,
perhaps.

This was a short and heavy one Jerry had selected. Rising to his feet,
he gave it one whirl around his head, and then let fly. Jerry had always
been reckoned something of a thrower. He often played in the pitcher's
box before he went away from home, and was even now a promising fielder
on the sub nine at college.

So Frank would not have been very much surprised had he succeeded in
knocking the squirrel in question off his perch. But he was very much
astonished at the most remarkable consequences of Jerry's shot.

There was an angry scream, such as only an enraged cat could make; and
something large and hairy, with extended legs, came floundering down
upon the deck of the houseboat directly in front of Bluff. Indeed, in
its passage, the wildcat, for it turned out to be nothing else, made a
vicious stab for Bluff; and that excited as well as alarmed individual
was so taken aback, that quite naturally he lost his grip on the railing
of the boat, and fell over into the river.

This was getting to be a settled habit with Bluff, for he seemed capable
of going overboard on the slightest excuse, just as though he rather
liked taking a plunge into the cool waters of the Mississippi.

And the angry cat sprawled there on the deck, yowling and snarling, as
if daring anyone to dispute his right to be monarch of all he surveyed.




CHAPTER XIX--A BOBCAT ON BOARD


"Help!" gasped Jerry, who seemed to be in some sort of a pickle, having
managed to get his legs crossed in such a way, as he sat there pottering
with Will's camera, that in the excitement of the moment he was unable
to either rise, or roll out of the danger zone.

As sometimes happens in a case like this, it turned out to be the one
least expected to play the part of hero. Nobody dreamed that
Will--quiet, sensitive Will, the artist of the expedition, and a boy
given more to dreaming than doing strenuous things--would jump into the
breach as he did.

In fact, he was never able to explain it himself, save that somehow he
seemed to imagine those clubs on the deck were just made for belaboring
a tiger-cat over the head with; and from the fact that Bluff had gone
over into the river, with Jerry calling wildly for help, it must be up
to him to _do_ something.

Why, he snatched up one of the heavy sticks as though he had been
anticipating just such a sudden call, and had his plan of campaign
already laid out.

"Take care, Will; don't let him get in at you with those sharp claws!"
cried the startled Frank, as he too tried to possess himself of a
suitable cudgel, if there chanced to be another worth having in the
bunch.

He could not find what he wanted on the spur of the moment--one was too
slender to promise any results; while another seemed much too short with
which to attack a vicious wildcat.

Will did not appear to expect any help in his fight. The way he kept at
it was a revelation to those who watched him, for all the while Frank
sought his stick, he kept one eye on the battle, determined to jump in,
if necessary, club or no club.

Whack! came the cudgel Will yielded against the side of the bobcat,
knocking the savage beast sprawling on the deck; though like his kind
the cat could not be kept down, but was on its feet instantly, more
angry than ever.

"Whoop! hit him again for his mother!"

It was surely Bluff who gave utterance to that shout. Evidently he had
not cared to stay there in the river, while so much that was exciting
seemed to be occurring aboard the houseboat; and taking advantage of
some objects upon which he was able to seize, Bluff had clambered up far
enough to thrust his head over the side, in time to witness that
splendid "home run hit" made by timid Will.

Well, they would hardly be likely to ever call him that again, after
seeing how vigorously he went after the now demoralized wildcat, getting
in blows whenever an opening occurred, and meanwhile poking at the beast
threateningly.

It crouched there, snarling as only such a beast can, with its ears
drawn back, and its green eyes seeming to emit sparks. Once it sprang
full at the boy, and Mr. Snow uttered a cry of alarm; he made his way
into the cabin, and now held Bluff's repeating gun in his hands, with
the air of a hunter accustomed to such tools; but there seemed small
chance to get a fair shot, the boy and the cat were so close to each
other.

But Will proved as quick as a flash in his movements. He met this leap
of his feline foe just as cleverly as a champion ball player might a
swift one, straight over the plate. There was a loud concussion; and
then they had a view of a squirming, hairy figure just passing over the
rail above Bluff, four legs working overtime in the effort to get a grip
with those keen-pointed and poisonous claws.

Luther Snow thrust the gun into the hands of Frank, who had been in the
act of trying to meet the figure of the cat at the instant the animal
made his spring.

"It's your right to wind him up, Frank!" the man said; and seemed as
cool as any one accustomed to scenes of peril all his life could be.

So Frank stepped to the rail, and seeing the baffled bobcat just about
climbing the bank, he wound up his existence with one shot.

"Wow! is it all over?" demanded Bluff, who, when the cat came sailing
toward him a second time, had simply let go, and dropped with another
splash into the river; because, as he afterwards said, he was already as
wet as he could get; and knew he would be safe down there from those
threatening claws.

Will was as pale as a ghost, and breathing hard from his exertions, when
Frank rushed over to seize his hand and squeeze it.

"Good boy, Will!" he exclaimed. "We're proud of you this day, believe
that. Why, what you didn't do to that poor beast could be put into a
thimble. I'll never, never forget it, as long as I live!"

"Maybe you won't have to," remarked Jerry, who, it seemed, had finally
managed to get on his feet again, and now stood there; holding the
camera in his hands, a grin of delight on his face.

"What do you mean, Jerry?" asked Frank.

But Will saw the little black box, and being himself always just wild to
snap off everything he could run across that promised to make a good
picture, he seemed to jump to the right conclusion.

"Did you do it, Jerry?" he demanded, eagerly.

"I rattled her right lively; and if I didn't make a big mistake, you
ought to get some good pictures out of the lot," replied Jerry, handing
Will's property over.

"Well," remarked the wet figure that came crawling over the rail just
then, "if you only managed to press the button when that crazy cat was
sailing into Will, and our chum gave him that blow on the nose, you've
got something we'll all be proud to see."

"That was when I pushed the button the last time, I reckon," Jerry
declared; "but honest to goodness, I was that excited I wouldn't like to
say right now that I got anything but the tip of pussy's tail."

"Oh! I hope it won't be so bad as that," said Will; "not that I want to
figure in a picture, because I'd ten times rather it was one of the
rest; but I've always wanted to get a snapshot of a bobcat on the jump."

"He was on the jump, all right!" affirmed Bluff. "I thought he'd drop on
my head, and jab my eyes out, so I ducked. I like cats all right, in
their proper places; which I take it is in the laps of old maids. I
haven't lost any cat, and wasn't looking for one. But, Frank, since I'm
wet already, let me go in and get your game before he drifts away."

"Don't call it _my_ game," remarked Frank, positively; "that honor
belongs to Will here. And if we can cure the skin, he's going to have a
little rug made out of it to remember this occasion by."

"Hear! hear!" cried Jerry; while Bluff, who shed moisture with every
step he took, waded out to where the dead animal was floating on the
water in a little swirl just below the tied-up houseboat.

"Well, I'm going to develop that film to-night, you hear," said Will;
"because I just can't wait to see what Jerry did. I hope he got more of
the cat than his tail. It ain't much of a tail at that, either, seems to
me. But look at these claws, and his sharp teeth. Ugh! I don't believe
I'd have had the nerve to tackle him, if I'd seen them first."

"Yes, you would!" declared Bluff, confidently. "Always thought you was
timid-like, William, because you never blew your horn about what you'd
do; but sure, I've changed my mind; and now I reckon you've got mo

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