by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XXIII.
REWARD RUNS AWAY WITH THE PANORAMA.
There was not the slightest doubt that the canoe, covered by a bit ofcanvas, which had rested all this time on the upper deck of the_Whatnot_, was the very one whose loss had grieved Winn almost as muchas that of the raft itself. If he had needed proof other than hiscertain knowledge of the little craft, it was at hand; for, as hepointed out to Billy Brackett, there were his initials, rudely cut witha jack-knife, just inside the gunwale. How well he remembered carvingthem, one sunny afternoon, when he and Elta were drifting down thecreek! Yes, indeed, it was his canoe fast enough, but how came itthere? There was but one way to obtain an answer, and in anotherminute Cap'n Cod was being plied with eager questions as to when,where, and how he came into possession of the dugout.
"That canoe?" he questioned slowly, looking from one to the other, andwondering at their eagerness. "Why, I bought it off a raft just beforeleaving Dubuque. You see, I didn't have any skiff, and didn't feelthat I could afford to buy one. So I was calculating to build oneafter we'd got started. Then a raft came along, and the fellows on itmust have been awfully hard up, for they offered to sell their canoe socheap that I just had to take it. Two dollars was all I gave for it;and though it isn't exactly--"
"But what sort of a raft was it?" anxiously interrupted Winn.
"Just an ordinary timber raft with a 'shanty' and a tent on it, and--"
"You mean three 'shanties,' don't you?"
"No; one 'shanty' and a tent. I took particular notice, because asthere were only three men aboard, I wondered why the 'shanty,' whichlooked to be real roomy, wasn't enough."
"Three men!" exclaimed Billy Brackett--"a big man, a middle-sized man,and a little man, like the bears in the story-book. Why Winn, that'sour raft, and I've been aboard it twice within the last four days."
"You have! Where? How? Why didn't you tell me? Where is it now?"
"Oh, I have been aboard it here and there. Didn't mention it because Ihaven't been acquainted with you long enough to post you in everydetail of my previous history, and now that raft is somewhere down theriver, between here and St. Louis." Then changing his bantering tone,the young engineer gave a full explanation of how he happened to boardthe _Venture_ twice, and when he finished, Winn said,
"But you haven't mentioned the wheat. Didn't you notice it?"
"Wheat! Oh yes. I do remember your father saying he had put somewheat aboard as a speculation; but I didn't see anything of any wheat,nor was there any place where it could have been concealed."
"Then they must have thrown it overboard, as I was afraid they had, andthere was a thousand dollars' worth of it, too."
"Whew! Was there as much as that?" said Billy Brackett, thoughtfully."So those rascals first stole it, and then threw it away, and now thereis a thousand dollars reward offered for information that will lead totheir capture. I declare, Winn, circumstances do sometimes altercases."
"Indeed they do, and I think we ought to accept that reward, forfather's sake. I know I feel as if I owed him at least a thousanddollars."
"Did you ever cook a rabbit before you caught it, Winn?"
"Of course not. How absurd! Oh, I see what you mean, but I don'tthink it's the same thing at all. We can't help finding the raft, nowthat we know where it is, and just what it looks like."
Billy Brackett only laughed at this, and then, in obedience toSabella's call, they went down to supper. The engine was stopped thatit also might be fed, and for an hour the _Whatnot_ was allowed todrift with only Solon on deck. Then Reward was again set to work, anduntil ten o'clock the unique craft spun merrily down-stream. From thathour the engine was allowed to rest until morning; and while theydrifted, the crew divided the watches of the night between them, Cap'nCod and Winn taking one, and Billy Brackett with Solon for company theother.
At midnight Sabella had a lunch ready for the watch just coming below,as well as for the one about to turn out; and then, wrapped warmly in ablanket, she sat for an hour on the upper deck with Cap'n Cod and Winn,fascinated by the novelty of drifting down the great river at night.The lights that twinkled here and there along the shores earlier in theevening had disappeared, and the whole world seemed asleep. Thebrooding stillness was only broken by the distant hooting of owls, orthe musical complainings of the swift waters as they chafed impatientlyagainst some snag, reef, or bar.
They talked in hushed voices, and Sabella related how the man from whomher uncle purchased Winn's canoe had told her that she reminded him ofhis own little daughter, who lived so far away that she didn't evenknow where her father was. "He loves her dearly, though," addedSabella. "I know from the way he talked about her; but I can't thinkwhat he meant when he said I ought to be very grateful because I didn'thave any father, and that it would be much better for his little girlif she hadn't one either."
"I suppose he meant because he is such a bad man," suggested Winn.
"I don't believe he is a bad man," protested Sabella. "If he was, hejust couldn't talk the way he did."
"But he stole our raft, and he is a counterfeiter, and there's a rewardoffered for him."
"How do you know? Only yesterday some people thought you had stolen aboat, and were a counterfeiter, and there were two rewards offered foryou," laughed Sabella. "So perhaps this man isn't any worse than youwere. Anyhow, I'm going to like him for his little girl's sake, untilI find out that he is really a bad man."
"I wonder if it could have been Mr. Gilder?" thought Winn, as heremembered how that gentleman had won his confidence. Then heentertained Cap'n Cod and Sabella by relating the incident of his warmreception to the first and only one of the "river-traders" whom he hadmet.
By noon of the next day they reached the point at which Billy Bracketthad last seen the raft, and they knew that here their search for itmust begin in earnest. For five days more they swept on down themighty river at the rate of nearly a hundred miles a day. They nolonger ran at night, for fear of passing the raft in the darkness, butfrom sunrise to sunset they hurried southward with all possible speed.They made inquiries at every town and ferry landing; they scannedcritically every raft they passed, and boarded several that appeared tobe about the size of the _Venture_, though none of them showed a tentin addition to its "shanty." During every minute of daylight eitherBilly Brackett or Winn watched the river from the upper deck, but atthe end of five days they had not discovered the slightest trace of themissing raft.
Cap'n Cod became so interested in the chase that he would willinglyhave kept it up by night as well as by day, without stopping to giveexhibitions anywhere; but this Billy Brackett would not allow.
"We are certainly travelling faster than they," he argued, "even ifthey are not making any stops, which is improbable, considering thenature of their business. So we must overtake them sooner or later,and we can't afford the risk of missing them by running at night.Besides, this is a show-boat, and not a police patrol boat. Itsreputation must be sustained, and though we don't take time enough atany one place to advertise, and so attract a crowd, we can at least payexpenses."
So the panorama was exhibited every evening, and Billy Brackett, actingas lecturer, pointed out the beauties of the "composite" paintings, inhis own witty, happy-go-lucky way, to such audiences as could becollected.
At one of these exhibitions, given at Alton, only twenty miles from St.Louis, and just above the point where the clear waters of theMississippi disappear in the turbid flood of the greater Missouri, anincident occurred that, while only regarded as amusing at the time, wasproductive of most important results to our friends. At BillyBrackett's suggestion, Don Blossom, dressed to represent the lecturer,had been trained to slip slyly on the stage after the panorama was wellunder way. Provided with a bit of stick, he would walk behind thelecturer, and gravely point at the picture in exact imitation of theother's movements. For a minute or so Billy Brackett would continuehis remarks as though nothing unusual were happening. At length, whenh
e had allowed sufficient time to elapse for an audience to fullyappreciate the situation, he would turn as though to learn the cause oftheir uproarious mirth, discover the monkey, and chase him from thestage with every sign of anger.
In rehearsal, this act had been done to perfection; but the first timeDon Blossom heard the storm of cheers, yells, and laughter, with whichhis appearance was greeted by a genuine river audience, he became soterrified, that without waiting to be driven from the stage he fledfrom it. Darting behind the scenes and on through the living-room, hefinally took refuge in the darkest corner of the engine-room, whereReward was drowsily working his treadmill. The monkey was sofrightened that a moment later, when Sabella went to find him, hesprang away from her, and with a prodigious leap landed squarely onReward's head, where, chattering and screaming, he clung desperately tothe long ears.
"With a prodigious leap he landed squarely on Reward'shead."]
The next instant a frantic mule was performing the almost impossiblefeat of running away on a treadmill. At the same time, to BillyBrackett's dismay and to the astonishment of his audience, the severalpictures of the panorama were flitting by in a bewildering stream ofcolor, the effect of which was kaleidoscopic and amazing.
This was Don Blossom's first and last appearance on the stage inpublic, for he was so thoroughly frightened that, after being rescuedfrom his unhappy position, nothing could induce him to enter either theexhibition hall or the engine-room again. An hour later he managed toevade the watchfulness of his young mistress, slip from the boat, andscamper away through the darkness. His absence was not discovereduntil the next morning, and at first it was supposed that he was inhiding somewhere on board. When a thorough search failed to producethe little rascal, all except Sabella declared he would never be found,and they must proceed down the river without him. Against thisdecision the little girl, who had become deeply attached to her pet,protested so earnestly that Cap'n Cod finally agreed to devote an hourto searching the town and making inquiries for the lost monkey. Inorder to make the search as thorough as possible, he, Billy Brackett,Winn, and Solon went ashore and started in different directions,leaving Sabella alone on the _Whatnot_.