Chapter 3 A WAIF FROM THE RIVER

The cable tying the rowboat to the Rambler parted with a snap as the wreckage struck the light craft, and Alex. went rocking and bobbing down toward the Gulf of Mexico! The boys on the Rambler saw him get out an oar to secure steerway, though he was pressed on by the house roof which had done the mischief.

It was not a flat roof, but one with two steep sides and a sharp apex. It rode the current apex up, as if floating on a floor crossing under the eaves. On the top of the ridge-boards, clinging on with hands and bare heels, and shouting fit to wake the people of Cairo, the lads on the Rambler saw a half-dressed negro boy of perhaps ten or eleven years. The more the roof bobbed on the waves the louder he yelled.

When the line snapped Clay rushed to the motors and turned on full power. The Rambler trembled as she thrust her nose against the current, wavered, and then, answering her helm, swung around broadside to the sweep of water, shook a mass of wreckage from her prow, as a dog shakes off water, and edged down stream.

In a minute after the accident the powerful motor boat was chasing Alex., the little negro boy, and the teetering roof down toward Memphis! It was dark on the river, and the roaring of the waters made the prospect doubly disagreeable. The current was running fast, and that one minute of getting under way had swept the rowboat some distance down stream. Still it was just visible under the strong prow light.

"There's Alex.'s fish!" shouted Chase, pointing to the cowering negro boy on the apex of the roof. "Wonder how he wants him cooked for supper?"

"The last find Alex. made," Jule laughed, "was a bear! What will he be finding next? S-a-a-y, you coon!" he called out, shaping his hands for a trumpet in order to direct his voice, "don't you go to dropping off! We'll pick you up with the motor boat," he continued, as the little fellow began scrambling toward the water's edge.

"There he goes!" shouted Clay, as the negro boy, not heeding Jule's directions, went clattering down the shingles and dropped into the river. "The little fellow was afraid we would go away and leave him! What do you think of that?" he added. "The coon is swimming like a fish to the rowboat!"

The boy would have reached the rowboat handily if a heavy piece of timber had not intervened. It struck him head-on as he swam, and he went under the brown waters. Then the boys on the Rambler saw Alex. throw off his coat, take the broken line between his teeth, and dive into the river, just missing the great timber as he went headfirst into the flood! There was a growl and a snarl on deck, and then Captain Joe and Teddy Bear were both in the river, swimming down toward the swaying roof.

The bulldog, with the instinct of the intelligent canine, doubtless recognized the peril of the situation and took to the water on an errand of rescue, but with the bear it was different. He had been patiently taught to bathe and play in the water with the boys, and now he saw only a frolic ahead!

However this may be, it was the bear cub who seized the negro boy as he came to the surface, half supported by Alex.'s arm. The little fellow had not been rendered unconscious by the blow he had received, and was able to sustain himself in the water as soon as he came to the surface.

Alex. was busy hauling the boat back, or trying to, with the end of the line in one hand, and Captain Joe swam directly to him. He knew that if he released the line the rowboat would drift away, leaving him and his companions to be rescued by the Rambler, and he had a stubborn notion that he would like to get out of the mess without the assistance of his chums! They would then have no opportunity to make sly remarks about his skill as a fisherman! The fishline was wound around his left arm, and he believed that the fish he had been playing when the accident took place was still on the hook!

The situation was clearing, for Alex. held to the line, and boy, bear, dog, and frightened negro boy, were doing very well in the swift current when another mass of wreckage came sweeping down upon them. As it came down Alex. dove under, and the negro boy started to do the same, but just then his eyes fell on the bear, hanging to his arm, and with a scream which only half disclosed how scared he was he scrambled on the floating heap of brush and was swept down stream!

His round eyes were, apparently, as large as saucers and as white as chalk as he turned to see Teddy Bear pursuing him to his place of refuge. Familiar with the water game, the bear chased the negro boy to the limit of the wreckage and pushed him in with his nose. By this time Alex. was clinging to the rowboat, with Captain Joe serving as chaperon, and the Rambler was at hand, the boys on board cheering Teddy and the negro boy as they chased around the brush heap from which they had been pitched into the river. Although they called out to the boy not to be afraid of the bear, his cries rose above the roar of the waters!

Alex. and Captain Joe were picked up first, the rowboat made secure, and then the Rambler rounded the floating mass of brush and took Teddy on board. The little fellow scrambled away from the hands reached out to grasp him, his eyes following the figure of the bear as it was lifted on deck.

"Fo' de Lawd's sake!" he gasped, his eyes round and white, "don' yo' feed dis coon to dat bear! He sure done eat dis chile!"

When passed up to the deck the boy gave one look at the bear, let out another yell of fright, and, ducking into the cabin, dodged under the table, where he crouched on hands and knees, his eyes sticking out like white doorknobs. The boys were too full of laugh for the time being to try to explain matters to him.

As soon as Alex. was on deck he began unwinding the fishline from his arm. Then he played it over the side of the boat, much to the amusement of his chums.

"Perhaps you think I didn't catch a fish?" the lad demanded, with a wink at Clay.

"If you didn't get a fish," laughed Clay, "it is about the only thing you didn't bring out of the river with you! We fished out a bear, a dog, and a baby coon with you! You surely ought to have a fish!"

And Alex. did have a fish! It was firmly hooked, and came flopping out of the water when he drew in the line. Still under the table, with his eyes on the bear, the rescued negro boy licked his chops when he saw it. Clay observed the action and went to him. After a time the little fellow was coaxed out of his hiding-place.

"That's a pet bear!" explained Clay. "He won't bite you!"

The boy seemed to want to believe the other, for the sake of the fish supper which appeared to be coming soon, but he edged away from the cub, all the same!

"You hungry?" asked Case, coming up.

The little fellow nodded, and Case went on.

"What's your name?"

"Abraham Lincoln Charles Sumner Horace Greeley Banks!"

The little chap repeated the names in a sing-song tone, with the air of one who had been carefully drilled in the repetition. The boys broke into shouts of laughter, and even Teddy Bear nosed his way through the little group and stood gazing at the negro boy with reproving eyes! The boy tried to dodge away, but Clay held him fast.

"Jerusalem!" Case cried, as soon as he could control his voice. "What a name! Where did you get it, chile?"

"Mah mammy done 'stowed it on me!" was the reply.

"Well, it is too long," Clay decided, "so we'll just call you Mose! Do you happen to be hungry, little one?" he added, with a glance at the fish.

In answer the boy laid his hands on the region of his stomach and grinned.

"Where do you live?" asked Alex., ringing the water out of his clothes, which had been removed as soon as he reached the deck. "What will your mammy say to your going off on the river? She'll wallop you, chile, good an' plenty!"

"I done run away!" answered the boy.

"That's two to-night!" grinned Alex., preparing to dress the fish for supper. "How many more are we likely to find before we get to the Gulf?"

Teddy Bear, who seemed to feel that he was deserving of some attention for having rescued Mose from instant death in the river, now came up and brushed his soft nose over the boys' hand. Mose's eyes grew wider, but, seeing that the bear did not offer to bite, he ventured to stroke his head, whereat the cub sat up on his hind feet and asked to have a boxing lesson!

"That bear is a spoiled child!" Case remarked, as Teddy began sparing. "He is no good at all-just a clown!"

"Where did you run from?" asked Jule, anxious to know more of the negro boy.

"San Louee," was the reply. "I done lived on th' levee!"

"From St. Louis, eh?" Clay said. "Where do you want to go?"

"I done hire out to you all," was the reply.

"Of course!" Alex. laughed. "Didn't we bring him up out of the waters? He'll make a fine playmate for Teddy Bear!"

"If he doesn't disappear, as that other waif did," smiled Clay.

"Where do you suppose that boy went to?" asked Alex. "He never swam to shore, that is, to the other shore, and if he had landed on the pier when the men came on board they would certainly have seen him. I reckon the darkness just ate him!"

"And the man who came to speak a good word for him!" Clay went on. "If he had been the thief wanted for the Rock Island diamond and fur robbery, he couldn't have been more mysterious. The boy said he would be made to tell about the robbery if they found him, and this man wanted to get him out of the way, so I guess we can put the pieces together and patch out the truth. The man is one of the robbers and the boy belongs to him!"

"If I had the Sherlock genius you toss out so easily," Jule cut in, "I'd put it in a book. Why should the robber come to us to speak a good word for the boy? He ought to have known that we'd see through the game."

"He may not be the robber at all," Case observed. "There was some mystery connected with the two, and that's all we know about it! The man is gone, and the boy is gone, and they are probably drowned, so we may as well count the story closed."

"I'll go you a dinner at the Bismark, as soon as we get back to Chicago," Clay insisted, "that we find both the man and the boy before we get down to the Gulf!"

"You're in for the dinners, then!" Case exclaimed. "And now," he went on, "what are we going to do to-night? Are we going on down the river, or are we going to get into some cozy little slip and anchor for the second time?"

"I'm no good Solomon on an empty stomach," laughed Clay. "Wait until Alex. has his fish supper served! You want some, too, don't you Mose?" he added, turning to the little fellow, who stood gazing from the bear to the fish, now ready for the pan.

"I's done gone empty cl'ar to mah toes!" was Mose's reply.

After the fish had been eaten Mose was put to bed in one of the bunks, and the boys decided to go on down the river. They wanted to get away from any such entanglement as had been suggested by the visit of the officers and the search of the motor boat.

They made a long distance with little trouble, as they were going with the driftwood, and at daylight tied up in a small bayou, at the end of which a deserted old house stood lowering down upon the flood with a touch of mystery in the broken windows and overhanging eaves!