Up the River Part 26

"I really can't say whether she was or not; but it is not likely that the steamer went on sh.o.r.e for a night's lodging in the building," I replied.

"I dare say the Islander could not handle herself very well on the land, if she found any land to get on," added Owen.

"It is more likely that the house, or whatever it is, was afloat when the Islander knocked for admission," I continued.

"If the steamer knocked, the house appears to have opened to her."

"How is your steam, Moses?" I called through the tube to the engineer.

"Rather low for working in this current," came back to me through the tube.

At that moment the Islander whistled again. I pulled our whistle line, and found we had steam enough to give a smart reply; but I was not willing to trust the Sylvania to the rapid river without a full head of steam. I lighted another Bengola. In its glare I saw that the other steamer was backing her screw, as probably she had been doing from the beginning. I judged that the building was about fifty feet long, and, as it was partly submerged, it presented a large broadside to the rapid current.

"I don't see how she got into that sc.r.a.pe, unless she was looking for a night's lodging," said Washburn. "That building is big enough to be seen in the dark."

"Of course Captain Blastblow did not intend to run into it," I added.

"Probably he had not time to get out of the way when he first saw it."

"But it seems to me I should not go far with such a load before I shook it off."

"But don't you see that he can't pull out of the house?" demanded Owen.

"He is stuck fast in her side."

"They have axes on board the Islander; and I don't think it would take our crew long to cut her out of that hole," added Washburn. "Why does she keep whistling? Her captain can imagine that we have not steam enough to work the Sylvania in such a current."

"I say, Washy, have you ever been down the Danube?" asked Owen.

"I never have been. I was never in Europe," replied the mate.

"I should say this current is quite as swift as that of the Danube at Vienna; and it makes seven miles an hour there."

"The ordinary current of the Mississippi is about five miles an hour, and in such a freshet it must be as much as seven."

"What is a freshet, Mr. Mate?"

"An inundation; an overflow of the water; a flood; a----"

"Cut it short! I understand it perfectly. I never heard it called a freshet before. Has it anything to do with the fact that this is fresh water, Washy?"

"I don't think it has, though I never heard of such a thing as a freshet in salt water, which could not very well be, since a freshet is caused by heavy rains and the melting of the snow," replied Washburn.

"You never heard of a freshet before! Where have you been all your life?"

"That's an American word, Mr. Washburn," interposed my father. "I never heard it except in this country."

At this moment Mr. Tiffany and his daughter joined us in the pilot-house, after asking if they might come in. I gave them chairs and explained to them the rather ludicrous situation of the Islander. All hands were on the forecastle except the chief engineer and Landy Perkins. I ordered a Bengola to be burned on the top-gallant forecastle to enable them to see the Islander and its odd burden.

"Mr. Brickland says he has steam enough," said Landy Perkins, reporting to me at the pilothouse.

"All right," I replied. "Buck, cast off the hawser, when I bring her up to it."

The end of the fast had been pa.s.sed around a pine-tree, and made fast at the bitts, so that we could unmoor without going on sh.o.r.e. I rang to go ahead; and when the hawser was hauled in, I backed the steamer away from the bank. I directed the deck hands to keep the fireworks ablaze that I might see where to steer. I soon discovered the Islander and the building, and ran for them as fast as possible. As we had the current with us, we made at least fifteen miles an hour.

As the Sylvania came nearer to her consort, I could better make out the condition of things on board of her. The building appeared to be some kind of a workshop. The Islander had drove her bow through its side. I concluded that some of the boarding and studding had not been broken off. The bow had carried them within the structure, and the lower ends had dropped down on the deck, and thus prevented the vessel from withdrawing her forward part.

As we came nearer to her, I had our fenders hung over the port side. We had two gilded axes slung on the front of the pilot-house, which had probably never been taken from their resting-places. I told Ben Bowman to take one of these, and Dyer Perkins the other, for both of them had had some experience in the woods. I had made up my mind just where the trouble was. I directed Washburn to go on board of the Islander when we got alongside of her, and superintend the cutting away of the boards and joists, with two more men from the other steamer.

Buck and Hop were to stand by the hawsers by which we were to make fast to the Islander. As soon as we came up abreast of the consort, I saw Colonel Shepard and his family on the quarter-deck. They were very much alarmed at the situation, for Mrs. Shepard was wringing her hands in terror, and the colonel was trying to comfort her. As soon as our bow came abreast of the party, Owen made a long leap to the deck of the Islander. It was a careless trick, and he deserved to fall overboard for risking his life when there was not the least need of it. As soon as we were fairly alongside our consort, the deck hands leaped on board of her with the fasts, and we were soon securely lashed together.

"Stop your screw, Captain Blastblow!" I shouted, though I realized a moment later that I had no business to give orders to him, or to undertake to manage the business of the occasion.

Washburn leaped on board with his two axe-men, and I heard him politely ask the captain to send two of his men with axes to a.s.sist him. Captain Blastblow not only stopped the steamer, but he instantly ordered his mate and another man to do what the mate of the Sylvania desired.

"I think we had better go ahead, Captain Blastblow," I continued, trying to be less imperative than before.

"If you see the way out of this sc.r.a.pe, Captain Alick, I am willing to do anything you say," replied the captain of the Islander.

"I think I do see the way out of it; and the best plan is to go ahead, full steam," I answered.

I had a theory, though I had had as yet no opportunity to test its correctness. I called Buck to the wheel, and told him to steer for the middle of the river. I was afraid if the building struck the bank it might be tumbled over on the steamers. I went on board of the Islander.

I asked the captain to steer for the middle of the river, and then went forward into the building. My theory in regard to the boarding and studding was correct. Washburn was directing the four men, and a.s.sisting them himself, to pull out the boards and joists. They had little occasion to use the axes after the two steamers began to go ahead. Backing the Islander had tightened up every piece of lumber that had been forced in by the bow. The harder the boat pulled back, the more firmly the joists were held in their places. It was no wonder to me that the captain had not been able to shake off this unwieldy burden.

My first thought, in having the steamers go ahead, was to prevent the Islander from drawing out of the building while my men were in it, for they might have been crushed by the swaying of the structure. When we went ahead, we not only loosened the timbers and boards, so that they could be removed from their positions, but we prevented the Islander from coming out of her lodging-place until the hands were in a safe part of the boat.

"There, sir, I think she is all clear now," said Washburn.

I could find nothing to impede the withdrawal of our consort's bow, and I sent my hands back to the Sylvania, and directed the others to go abaft the pilot-house of the Islander. I requested Captain Blastblow to keep his craft going till I rang my gong. I returned to the pilot-house of the Sylvania, and rang to stop her. The gong of the Islander followed suit instantly. I waited a minute to notice the effect. I expected the consort would draw out of her "chancery" at once; but she did not. I told the mate to see that our hawsers were good for a hard pull, and he soon reported them fast and strong.

"Now, back her, if you please, Captain Blastblow," I called to the Islander.

At the same time I rang two bells. Both steamers began to back at the same time. The Islander immediately went clear of the building, which continued on its way down the river. No crash, or severe wrench, as I had antic.i.p.ated, attended the separation of the steamer and its burden.

"You are all right now, Captain Blastblow!" I shouted, rejoiced that he had got rid of his incubus.

"Thank you, Captain Alick, for your a.s.sistance; and I think we will lie up with you," answered the captain of the Islander.

We cast off the fasts, and the consort followed us up to the place where we had moored before, and made fast to a tree just below us.

Presently the captain came up to pay us a visit. I inquired about his prisoners first, and learned that they were under the care of Captain Cayo in the fore-cabin.

"Our people seem to think you were looking for a night's lodging in that floating building, Captain Blastblow," I said.

"Well, not exactly," added the captain. "We have been very sorry, for the last hour and a half, while we were dragged down the river by that building, that we did not follow your example, and hang up for the night."

"Where did you pick up that house, captain?" asked Owen.

"I kept a sharp lookout on the top-gallant forecastle; but none of us saw the building until it was too late to get out of the way," replied Captain Blastblow. "Following the example of Captain Alick, I kept as close to the sh.o.r.e on the port side as possible. About an hour after we left you, I saw something black loom up before me, and the next instant we struck her at full speed. The house had floated out of a bayou, I found, which was the reason we did not see it sooner. It was a building where they worked on rice. It was stretched across a creek, so that the rice could be dropped into a boat under it. We have a white man and two negroes on board that we saved from it."

After a long talk, in which Captain Blastblow did me the honor to say that I was a "smart boy," he returned to his craft, and the rest of us turned in.