by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XIX.
A CURIOUS COMPLICATION.
"So that is what I was arrested for, is it?" thought Winn. "I wassupposed to be one of a gang of counterfeiters, and a pretty desperatesort of a character. That will be a pretty good joke to tell father.But I wonder who is offering a reward for me as plain every-day WinnCaspar, besides the one that would be paid for the young counterfeiterwho ran off with the Sheriff's boat?"
This is what Winn thought. What he said was, "My! but that is a lot ofmoney! Wouldn't it be fine if we could earn those twelve hundreddollars?"
"Indeed it would," answered the old man. "Even one of the smallerrewards would buy us a mule."
"Who is offering them?" asked Winn.
"The Government offers the first, Sheriff Riley the second, and thethird is offered by some one named Brickell. 'W. Brickell,' the billsare signed. I saw them up at the printing-office, but they are beingdistributed all over the place."
Sure enough, in that wretched little printing-office the compositor hadmade "Brickell" out of Brackett, and as he was his own proof-reader,the mistake was not discovered.
"Brickell," repeated Winn, slowly. "That is a queer name, and one thatI never heard before."
"Yes, it is one that has puzzled me a good deal," said Cap'n Cod. "I'msure I never heard Major Caspar mention any such person."
"You know this Major Caspar, then?"
"Know him! Well, I should say I did. We were in the same regiment allthrough the war, and a better officer never commanded men. Know him!I know him to the extent of a leg, lost when I was standing so closebeside him that if I hadn't been there the ball would have taken hisinstead of mine. Know him! Didn't I know him for three months in thehospital, where he came to see me every day? Indeed I do know MajorCaspar, and I should be mighty glad to know of any way in which I couldhelp him out of his present trouble."
"It is strange that I never heard father speak of any Aleck Fifield,"thought Winn. He was about to ask some more questions, but wasrestrained by the remembrance of his present peculiar position. Thesame thought checked his inclination to say, "I am Winn Caspar, sir,the son of your friend Major Caspar, of Caspar's Mill." Instead ofthat he said to himself, "I will wait until we get away from thisplace; or, at any rate, until I can receive a letter from home thatwill prove who I am. Otherwise he might find out about the Sheriff'sskiff, and think I had made up the story to escape arrest as a thief."
So Winn held his peace, and only asked his host if he would furnish himthe materials for writing a letter home. Provided with these, he wroteto his mother as follows:
"MANDRAKE, IOWA.
"MY OWN DEAR MOTHER,--I write to you instead of to father, as I supposehe must be somewhere on the river hunting for me by this time, though Ihave not seen him yet.
"I am all right, and having a fine time, but have lost the raft. I amon board a boat called the _Whatnot_, with some very kind people--agentleman named Fifield, a girl named Sabella, a funny old darky namedSolon, and a monkey named Don Blossom. I am bound to find the raftagain if it is still afloat, and am going to keep on down the river inthis boat until we catch up with it.
"I shall be here long enough for you to answer this letter; and send mesome money, please, and tell me all about everybody. Give my dear loveto Elta, and tell her I wish she knew Sabella and Don Blossom. She isjust the kind of a girl, and he is just the kind of a monkey, a fellowlikes to know.
"Now it is late, and I must turn in, for I am working my passage onthis boat, and Solon and I must take the place of a mule to-morrow, andtill we can earn money enough to buy one. So good-bye, from youraffectionate son,----WINN."
While the boy was writing, Cap'n Cod went ashore, and when the formertook his letter to the post-office, he met his host there with twoletters in his hand. They followed Winn's into the box, but he did notsee the address on either of them. If he had, he would have been moretroubled than ever, for one was addressed to the Sheriff of DubuqueCounty, and the other to his own father.
The old man had seen and recognized the skiff that he had built forSheriff Riley as it lay tied to the wharf-boat, but had thought it bestto keep this discovery to himself until he could communicate with itsowner. By cautious inquiries he learned that the skiff had been leftthere by a young man calling himself Brackett, who had gone on down theriver, but was expected back in a day or two. Cap'n Cod would havetelegraphed to Sheriff Riley but for the fact that the wires had notyet been extended to Mandrake. So he wrote and begged the Sheriff tohasten down the river by first boat.
He also wrote to Major Caspar, expressing his sympathy, telling himthat he was now travelling down the Mississippi in his own boat, the_Whatnot_, asking for full particulars concerning the lost boy, andoffering to make every effort to discover his whereabouts.
On the morning of that very day, just before his departure fromMandrake, Billy Brackett had also written and mailed a letter that readas follows:
"MY DEAR SISTER,--I am up a stump just at present, but hope to climbdown very soon. In other words, your boy is smarter than I took him tobe. He has not only managed to hide the raft, but himself as well, andboth so completely that thus far I have had but little success intracing them. I have reason to believe that he and I spent some timevery close to each other on an island the night I left you, but beforedaylight he had again disappeared, leaving no trace. After that Ilearned nothing concerning him until reaching this place, when I againstruck the trail. I am now following a warm scent, and expect to runthe young fox to earth within a few hours.
"So much for the boy. As for the raft, its disappearance is even morecomplete and unaccountable than his. There is absolutely nothing toreport concerning it. I have boarded several rafts, but none of thembears the slightest resemblance to the _Venture_, which I am certain Ishould recognize at a glance. However, when I find Winn he will ofcourse be able to put me on the right track, and the subsequentrecovery of the raft will prove an easy matter.
"If you have any news, send it to me at this place, where I shallremain until I hear from you.
"Love to Elta. Tell her that last evening I ran across the queerestcraft I ever saw, with the queerest name I ever heard of. It is calledthe _Whatnot_. Of course its Captain knew nothing of Winn, and I didnot expect he would; but I make it my business to inquire of every oneI meet or pass.
"Hoping to be able to send you better news within a day or two, I amyour loving brother,
"WILLIAM."
As this letter reached Caspar's Mill in the same mail with those fromWinn and the owner of the _Whatnot_, who, in writing to the Major, hadused his old army name, and signed himself "Respectfully yours, Cap'nCod," it may easily be imagined that Billy Brackett's perplexity was asnothing compared to that of his sister. What could it all mean? Winnwas alive and well; his letter brought that comfort. But what did hemean by stating that he was on board that boat with the absurd name,when both William and Captain Cod stated that he was not there. Then,too, how could it be possible for those three persons, each of whom wasanxious to find one of the others, to be in a small place, such as thisMandrake must be, for several days without running across each other?Such stupidity was incredible, and could only be accounted for by thefact that all three were of the masculine sex. Well, she would soonset things to rights, and the fond mother smiled to herself to thinkthat it was left for her, who had remained quietly at home, to discoverthe missing boy after all.
She had but a few minutes in which to catch the return mail; but whenit left, it bore three notes in her handwriting. The one directed toMr. Winn Caspar, Mandrake, Iowa, read as follows:
"MY DARLING BOY,--How could you leave us as you did? And why don't youcome home? Don't lose a minute in hunting up your Uncle Billy, who isnow in Mandrake. He will supply you with money, and tell you what todo.
"Ever lovingly, but in great haste,
"YOUR OWN MOTHER."
To the Captain of the _Whatnot_ Mrs. Caspar wrote:
; "Sir,--In the absence of my husband, I took the liberty of opening yournote to him of the 1st inst. In it you write that you are anxious todiscover our boy's whereabouts, when, by the same mail, I am advised byhim that he is on board the very boat of which you claim to be Captainand owner. I of course take my boy's word in preference to that of anystranger. Having thus detected the hollowness of your sympathy, andthe falseness of your pretended friendship for my husband, I mustrequest you to refrain from further meddling in this matter. Yoursetc.,----ELLEN CASPAR."
Fortunately, as this letter was addressed to Captain Cod, Esq., insteadof to Mr. Aleck Fifield, the old man never received it, and in due timeit was returned to the writer from the Dead-letter Office.
To Billy Brackett Mrs. Caspar wrote:
"MY DEAR GOOSE OF A BROTHER,--I have just received a letter from Winnwritten at Mandrake. He is on the _Mantel-piece_, and out of money.Please supply him with whatever he needs, and bring him home to me asquickly as possible. As for the raft, I am sorry, of course, that youcannot find it; but so long as Winn is safe, nothing else seems tomatter.
"John writes full of enthusiasm concerning the contract, and I shalltell him nothing of your absurd doings until you and Winn are safelyback here. Ever lovingly your sister,----ELLEN."