by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
"WE are going to have a change of weather, I reckon," Hiram said oneafternoon as they were drifting down the stream during their secondvoyage. "You have been lucky since we started, but we are going to havea change at last; and I can tell you when it blows here it's a caution.They have been having a lot of rain up the country, for the river hasbeen rising regular for the last ten days. We had best make fast for thenight, and the sooner we does it the better, for the wind is getting upfast and the rain is just a-going to begin."
In a quarter of an hour the boat was moored to a great tree at the lowerend of an island.
"We shall be snug here," he said, "and out of the way of the drift thatwill be coming down presently. You can turn in and take a long spell ofsleep to-night, for sometimes those storms last for days when they comeon this time of year, and you will see there will be a sea on that theboat could hardly live in. I wish we had stopped two hours ago; therewas a creek where we could have run her in and been snug all through it,but I didn't think it was coming up so quick, and it's too far on tothe next place to risk it; however, I expect we shall do very wellhere."
In another half-hour the gale burst upon them furiously, and Frankcongratulated himself that the boat was snugly moored. The thick muddywater of the river was speedily lashed into angry waves; the rain camedown in torrents, and although the left-hand bank was but a quarter of amile distant it was soon lost to view. Frank was glad to leave the deckand crawl into the little cabin, and sit down to a hot meal which thenegro cook had prepared.
"Better here than outside, my lad," Hiram said. "I can go as wet as anyman if need be, but I like to keep a dry jacket when I can. The wind isjust howling outside. I reckon this is going to be a bigger storm norordinary, and I have seen some biggish storms on the Mississippi too. Ihave had some narrer escapes of it, I can tell you, special in the daysbefore there was nary a tug on the river, and we had to row or pole allthe way up; besides there ain't so many trees brought down as there usedto be in a flood, seeing as the country is getting more and more clearedevery day.
"I reckon the time will come when you will be able to go up either theMississippi or Missouri to the upper waters without seeing a treedrifting down, and when there won't be a snag in their beds. I mind thetime when the snags were ten times worse than they is now. I mind oncewe ran on one of the darned things in pretty nigh as wild a night asthis is going to be. I had six hands along with me, and we wanted to getdown, 'cause we knew the old man would have a cargo ready for us, and wewanted a run of a day or two on shore at Orleans before we started upagain, so we held on. The wind was higher than we reckoned on, and wewas just saying we should have done better to tie up, when there was acrash. I thought at first that she would have gone over with the shock,but she didn't--not that it would have made much odds, for there was asnag through her bottom, and the water pouring in like a sluice. It wasdarkish, but we could make out there was some trees a boat's-length ortwo ahead which had been caught as they rolled down by another snag, andhung there. The boat didn't float more than a minute after she struck,and then we were all in the river, those who couldn't swim gripping holdof the oars and poles; half a minute and we were all clinging to theboughs, and hoisting ourselves as well as might be clear of the water.
"I tell you, lad, that was a night. It wasn't that we was drenched tothe skin with the rain pouring down, and the wind cutting throughus--that kind of thing comes natural to a boatman--but it was theoncertainty of the thing. The trees moved and swayed with the waves andcurrent; the flood we knew was rising still, and any moment they mightbreak away from the snag and go whirling along, over and over, down theriver. Even if they didn't break away of theirselves, another tree mightdrive down on us, and if it did, the chances was strong as the hullaffair would break loose.
"All that night and all next day we hung on, and then the wind went downa bit, and a nigger who had made us out from the shore came off in adug-out and took us ashore in two trips. That war a close shave. Thewind was northerly and bitter cold, and I don't believe as we could havehung on another night more nor that. Next morning, when we turned outfrom the nigger's hut to have a look round, there wasn't no sign of themthar trees, they had just gone down the river in the night. Yes, I havehad a good many narrow shaves of it, but I do think as that war thenarrowest."
"Well, I am heartily glad," Frank said, "that we are tied safely up, outof the way of floating trees, snags, or anything of the kind. I alwayslike hearing the wind when I am snug, and I shall sleep sound knowingthat I am not going to hear your shout of 'Watch on deck' in my ear."
In spite of the howling of the gale Frank slept soundly. But he couldscarcely believe that it was broad daylight when he awoke; the light wasdim and leaden, and when he went out from the cabin he was startled atthe aspect of the river. The waves had risen until it resembled an angrysea, the yellow masses of water being tipped with foam; the clouds hungso low that they almost touched the top of the trees; the rain was stillfalling, and the drops almost hurt from the violence with which theywere driven by the wind. The river had risen considerably during thenight, and the lower end of the island was already submerged; boughs oftrees and driftwood were hurrying along with the stream, and more thanone great tree passed, now lifting an arm high in the air, now almosthidden in the waves, as it turned over and over in its rapid course.Frank felt glad indeed that the boat lay in comparatively shelteredwaters, though even here the swell caused her at times to rollviolently.
"What do you think of it, lad?" Hiram, who had risen some time beforeFrank, asked.
"It is a wonderfully wild scene," Frank said enthusiastically, "a grandscene! I should not have had an idea that such a sea could have got upon any river. Look at that great tree rolling down, it looks as if itwas wrestling for life."
"The wrestle is over, lad, there ain't no more life for that tree; itwill just drift along till it either catches on a sandbank and settlesdown as a snag, or it will drift down to the mouth of the Mississippi,and may be help to choke up some of the shallow channels, or it maychance to strike the deep channel, and go away right out into the Gulfof Florida, and then the barnacles will get hold of it, and it willdrift and drift till at last it will get heavier than the water, andthen down it will go to the bottom and lie there till there ain't nomore left of it. No, lad, there ain't no more life for that tree."
"May be it will wash ashore near the city, or some plantation," Franksaid, "and be hauled up and cut into timber, or perhaps into firewood.After all, the useful life of a tree begins with its fall."
"Right you are, lad; yes, that might happen, and I am glad you put it inmy mind, for somehow I have always had a sorter pity for a tree when Isee it sweeping down in a flood like this. Somehow it's like looking ata drowned man; but, as you say, there's a chance of its getting throughit and coming to be of use after all, and what can a tree wish betterthan that? But we had best be hauling the boat up to the tree andshifting the rope up the trunk a bit; it's just level with the waternow, and was nigh eight feet above when we tied it yesterday. I tell youif this goes on there will be some big floods, for it will try thelevees, and if they go there ain't no saying what damage may be done inthe plantations."
All day the wind blew with unabated fury, and when evening came onFrank thought that it was increasing rather than diminishing in force.
"Let's have a glass of grog and tumble in, my lad," Hiram said, "itgives one the dismals to listen to the wind." They had scarcely wrappedthemselves in their blankets when the boat swayed as if struck by aneven stronger blast than usual; then there was a sudden crash, whichrose even above the howling of the gale.
"What's that?" Frank exclaimed, sitting up.
"It's the tree," Hiram began; but while the words were in his mouththere was a shock and a crash, the roof of the little cabin was stovein, and the boat heeled over until they thought it was going to capsize.Frank was thrown on to the floor with the violence of the shock, bu
tspeedily gained his feet.
"What has happened?" he exclaimed.
"The tree has gone," Hiram said; "I have been looking at it all theafternoon, but I didn't want to scare you by telling you as I thought itmight go. It's lucky it didn't fall directly on us, or it would haveknocked the boat into pieces. The door is jammed. Get hold of thathatchet, lad, and make a shift to get your head out to look round andsee what we are doing. Do you hear them niggers holloaing like so manytom-cats? What good do they suppose that will do?"
"I can't see anything," Frank said when he looked out; "it's pitch dark.I will make this hole a bit bigger, and then I will take the lantern andcrawl forward and see what has become of the blacks. I am afraid thetree has stove the boat in: look at the water coming up through thefloat-boards."
"Ay, I expect she is smashed somewhere; it could hardly be otherwise; Ireckon this is going to be about as bad a job as the one I was tellingyou about. Here, lad, put this bottle of rum into your jacket and thisloaf of bread; I will take this here chunk of cold beef; like enough wemay want 'em afore we are done."
When Frank had enlarged the hole sufficiently to allow his body to passthrough, he put the lantern through and then crawled out. He was in atangle of branches and leaves. The head-rope was a long one; the treehad fallen directly towards them, and the boat was, as far as Frankcould see, wedged in between the branches, which forked some forty feetabove the roots; a cross branch had stove in the cabin top, and anotherrested across the scuttle of the cabin used by the negroes.
"Hand me the axe, sharp, Hiram," he said; "the niggers can't get out,and our bow isn't a foot out of water."
Hiram handed up the axe, seized another, and with a great effortsqueezed himself through the hole and joined Frank in the fore-part ofthe boat, which was waist-deep in water.
"Never mind the branch, lad, that will take too long to cut through, andanother two or three minutes will do their business; here, rip off twoor three of those planks, that will be the quickest way."
Although impeded in their work by the network of boughs, they speedilygot off two or three planks and hauled up the frightened negroes. It wasbut just in time, for there were but a few inches between the water andthe top of the low cabin.
"Shut your mouths and drop that howling," Hiram said, "and grip hold ofthe tree; the boat will sink under our feet in another minute. Stick toyour lantern, lad, a light is a comfort anyhow; I'll fetch another fromthe cabin, and some candles; I know just where they are, and can feelthem in the water."
In a minute he rejoined Frank, who was sitting astride of one of thebranches.
"That's a bit of luck," he said; "the candles are dry. There ain't morethan two feet of water in her aft."
Three or four minutes passed, and the boat still lay beneath their feet,sinking, apparently, no lower. "I will look round again," Hiram said;"it seems to me as she has got jammed, and won't go any lower."
Examining the boat, he found that it was so; she was so completelywedged among the branches that she could sink no lower.
"It's all right," he said joyously. "Jump down, all of you, and lend ahand and unreeve the halliards from the mast and bind her as tight asyou can to the branches; pass the ropes under the thwarts. Make hastebefore she shakes herself free." For the tree, now well clear of theshelter of the land, was swaying heavily.
The work was soon done, and the boat securely fastened to the tree.
"How is it the tree lies steady without rolling over and over, Hiram?"Frank asked, after they paused on the completion of the work.
"I reckon it's the boat as keeps it steady, lad. As long as she lieshere she is no weight, but she would be a big weight to lift out ofwater, and I reckon she keeps the whole affair steady. It couldn't bebetter if we had planned it. All these boughs break the force of thewaves, and keep off a good bit of the wind too; we ain't going to dobadly after all."
"Pete, get me that half-bottle of rum from my locker and a tin mug. Thatis right. Now here is a good strong tot each for you to make your facesblack again; you were white with fear when we got you out of that cabin,and I don't blame you; I should have been in just as bad a fright myselfif I had been there, though I shouldn't have made such a noise over it.Still, one can't expect men of one colour to have the same ways as thoseof another, and I am bound to say that if the boat had gone down yourboss would have lost four good pieces of property. Feel morecomfortable--eh?"
The negroes grinned assent. Easily cast down, their spirits were aseasily raised, and seeing that the white men appeared to consider thatthere was no urgent danger, they soon plucked up their courage.
"I think," Frank said, "the best thing will be to manage to get thecabin door open. We can put a tarpaulin over the hole in the roof, andwe shall then have a shelter we can go into; the water is not over thelockers, but I shouldn't like to go in until we get the door open. Ifthis tree did take it into its head to turn round, it would be awkwardif there were two or three of us in there, with only that hole toscramble through."
"You are about right, lad; it will be a sight more comfortable thansitting here, for what with the rain and the splashing up of this brokenwater one might as well be under a pump."
The axes were called into requisition again, for the door was jammed toofirmly to be moved.
"Chop it up, and shove the pieces under the tarpaulin, Sam; they willget a bit drier there, and we may want them for a fire presently; thereis no saying how long we may be in this here floating forest. That'sright. Now, hang one of them lanterns up in the cabin. That's not sobad. Now, lad, our clothes-bags are all right on these hooks. I am justgoing to rig myself up in a dry shirt and jacket, and advise you to dothe same; we may as well have the upper half dry if we must be wetbelow."
Frank was glad to follow Hiram's example, and a dry flannel shirt madehim feel thoroughly warm and comfortable. He handed a shirt to each ofthe negroes, and the whole party, clustered in the little cabin, weresoon comparatively warm and cheerful, in spite of the water, which cameup to their knees, and when the boat rose on a wave, swashed up over thelocker on which they were sitting. A supply of dry tobacco and somepipes were produced by Hiram, and the little cabin was soon thick withsmoke.
"Taking it altogether," Hiram said, "I regard this as about the queerestsarcumstance that ever happened to me; it was just a thousand to onethat tree would have smashed us up and sunk us then and thar. It wasanother thousand to one that when we were staved in we shouldn't havegot fixed so that the boat couldn't sink; if any one had told it me as ayarn I should not have believed it."
"It has indeed been a wonderful escape," Frank said, "and I think nowthat we should be ungrateful indeed if every one of us did not ferventlythank God for having preserved us."
"Right you are, lad; praying ain't much in my way--not regular praying;but we men as lives a life like this, and knows that at any moment asnag may go through the boat's bottom, thinks of these things at times,and knows that our lives are in God's hands. It ain't in nature to goup and down this broad river, special at night, when the stars areshining overhead, and the dark woods are as quiet as death, and thereain't no sound to be heard but the lap of the water against the bow fora man not to have serious thoughts. It ain't our way to talk about it. Ithink we try to do our duty by our employers, and if a mate is laid up,he need never fear getting on a shoal for want of a helping hand; andwhen our time comes, I fancy as there ain't many of us as is afeared ofdeath, or feels very bad about the account they say we have got torender arterwards. It's different with the niggers; it's their way to besinging hymns and having prayer-meetings, and such like. There is someas is agin this, and says it gives 'em notions, and sets them agin theirmasters; but I don't see it: it pleases 'em, and it hurts no one; it'sjust the difference of ways. I expect it comes to the same in the end;leastways, I have seen many a wreck in this here river, when whites andblacks have been a-looking death in the face together, and sartin thewhite man, even if he has been a hard man, ain't no more afraid to diethan the black
, generally just the contrary. That's my notion ofthings."
Frank nodded, and for a time there was silence in the cabin.
"How long are we likely to be in this fix?" Frank asked presently.
"Thar ain't no saying; supposing we don't bring up agin a snag--whichthe Lord forbid, for like, enough, the tree would shift its position,and we should find ourselves bottom upwards if we did--we may drift onfor days and days. Still, we shall be safe to make ourselves seen assoon as the weather clears, and there are boats out again; we have onlygot to light a fire of wet wood to call their attention. I don't expectthis here gale will last much longer; after another day it ought tobegin to blow itself out. As long as nothing happens to this tree, andthe boat keeps fast where it is, there ain't nothing to make ourselvesuncomfortable about. We'd best have a look at them lashings; I tell you,there is a tidy strain on them."
Examining the ropes carefully, they found some of them were alreadychafed, and, dragging out a piece of wet canvas from the lockers, theycut it into strips and lashed it round the ropes at the points wherethey were chafing. The strain was indeed very heavy, for the tree andthe waterlogged boat rose but little with the waves, and the bow wassubmerged deeply every time a wave passed them, the gunwale being at notime more than a few inches out of water. Additional lashings were puton, and then Hiram and Frank returned to the cabin, and the latter dozedaway the hours till morning, as did the negroes, Hiram remaining wideawake and watchful, and going out from time to time to look at thelashings. As soon as day broke Frank roused himself and went out; Hiramwas just descending from one of the boughs.
"I have had a look round," he said; "I don't think it's blowing quite sohard, but thar ain't much change yet. It ain't not to say a cheerful kindof lookout."
Frank climbed up to take a view for himself, but he was glad to returnvery quickly to the shelter of the cabin. Overhead was a canopy of lowgrey cloud; around, a curtain of driving rain; below, a chaos ofwhite-headed waves. The day passed slowly, and with little change. Samfound in the fore-part of the boat the iron plate on which he built hisfire. They fixed this on the roof of the cabin, fastened a tarpaulinacross the boughs so as to shelter it from the rain and drift, andthen, with some difficulty, managed to make a fire. Some hot coffee wasfirst prepared, and a frying-pan was then put on and filled with slicesof pork. The flour was wet, but Sam made some flat cakes of the wetdough, and placed them in the fat to fry when the pork was done.
"Not a bad meal that," Hiram said, when he had finished, "for a floatingforest."
The negroes had now completely recovered from the effects of theirfright and wetting, and their spirits, as usual, found vent in merrychoruses.
"Just like children, ain't they?" Hiram said, as he and Frank re-enteredthe cabin, while the negroes continued to feast overhead, "crying onemoment and laughing the next. But I have known some good uns among themtoo, as good mates to work with as a man could want, and as good grit asa white man." Another meal, later in the afternoon, alone broke themonotony of the day. The aspect of the weather was unchanged atnightfall, but Hiram asserted that the wind had certainly gone down, andthat in the morning there would probably be a break in the weather. Theysmoked for some time, and then the negroes dozed off, with their chinson their chests; and Frank was about to make an effort to do the same,when Hiram, who had been going in and out several times, said suddenly,"I reckon we are out of the main stream; don't you feel the difference?"
Now that his attention was called to it, Frank wondered that he had notnoticed it before. The waves were no longer washing over the fore-partof the boat, and the sluggish efforts of the tree and boat to rise andfall with the water had ceased. He was still more struck, when he wentoutside, by the comparative silence. The wind still whistled overheadand swayed the branches, but the hiss and rustle of the water hadceased.
"We are out of the main stream, that's sartin," Hiram said, "thoughwhere we are is more nor I can tell till we get daylight."
Frank took the lantern and climbed up the bough which served as alookout. It was pitch dark outside, and the surface of the water was nolonger broken by white heads.
"Yes, we are certainly out of the main river, Hiram, and in behind somebig islands. Where do you think it could be?"
"I reckon, lad, we are somewhere down near the mouth of the Arkansas.The stream has been running mighty strong for the last two days, and thewind, catching all these branches, must have helped us along a good bit.I reekon we can't be far away from the Arkansas. It's a bad stroke ofluck drifting in here; we may expect to get hung up somewhere, and weshall be in a nice fix then, out of sight of boats going up and down,and with miles and miles of swamp stretching back from the shore.However, it will be time to think of that to-morrow. There ain't nothingfor us to do; just lend us a hand, and we will get this iron plate offthe roof. The tarpaulin keeps off the rain, and I will fetch a couple ofblankets, and we can stretch ourselves out here; I despise going tosleep sitting up."
Frank was sound asleep in a few minutes. He had a confused notion offeeling a slight jerking motion, and of hearing Hiram say, "There, sheis anchored"; but he did not suffer this to rouse him, and, droppingoff, slept soundly till morning. At the first stir Hiram made he wasawake.
"We have had a goodish spell of sleep, I reckon, lad, and I feel all thebetter for having had my legs stretched out straight."
"So do I, ever so much; the wind seems to have gone quite down, and ithas stopped raining."
"We shall have the sun up soon."
Frank was soon up in the lookout.
"I can see trees on both sides of us, but I can make out nothing morethan that; there's a mist hanging over them, though it's clear enough onthe water. We are not moving."
"I could have told you that," Hiram said, "didn't we get fast onsomething before we went to sleep last night?"
"Oh, I forgot about that; I was just off when you spoke, and didn'tquite take it in. We are quite out of the current; the water is movingvery sluggishly past us."
"So much the worse, lad; that's just what I fancied. We have got blownout of the stream, and got in behind some of the islands, and areperhaps at the mouth of one of the loops where there ain't no stream tospeak of; useful enough they are when you are making your way up-stream,but no-account places to get stuck in. Now you darkeys below there, wakeup, and let's have some food; you will soon have the sun up to warm youand dry your clothes a bit. By the time we have had our breakfast," hewent on to Frank, "the mist will have lifted, and we shall have somechance of seeing where we have been cast away, and can talk over what'sthe best thing to be done in this here business."
The iron plate was replaced on the cabin, the fire was lit, and coffeeand fried bacon were soon ready. The first sparkle of the sun throughthe leaves brought a shout of delight from the negroes, and directly themeal was over they cut away some of the small branches and let the sunstream in on to the roof of the cabin.
"That's enough, boys," Hiram said; "by midday we shall be glad of theshade. Now, let you and I light our pipes, lad, and take a survey, andthen talk this job over."
On looking round, they found that the passage, or creek, in which theywere was some eighty yards wide; ahead it seemed to narrow; behind them,a bend shut out the view a quarter of a mile away.
"That's just what I expected. You see we have drove in here, and there'sbeen just current enough to drift us on till the lower branches touchedthe bottom or caught in a snag; the water ain't flowing half a mile anhour now, and I reckon when the water begins to drop, which will be in afew days, if it holds fine, there won't be no current to speak of."
"But we are not going to stay here a few days, are we, Hiram?"
"Well, lad, I ain't no particular wish to stay here no time at all, ifyou will just pint out the way for us to be moving on."
"Well, we could all swim ashore," Frank said; "the distance is nothing,and all the blacks swim."
"And how fur do you reckon the shore to be, lad?"
"About forty ya
rds," Frank said.
"I reckon it to be miles, lad--twenty, perhaps, or forty for aught Iknow."
Frank looked at his companion in surprise.
"Yes, that is about it, lad. Don't you see them trees are all growingout by the water, and what looks to you like low bush is just the top ofthe underwood. The river, I reckon, must have riz twenty feet, and allthis low land is under water. As I told you, we are near the mouth ofthe Arkansas, and for miles and miles the country ain't much better thana swamp at the best of times. You can swim to them trees, and roost upin the branches, if the fancy takes yer, and may be we may decide that'sthe best thing to do, when we have talked it over; but as to getting toland, you may put that notion out of your head altogether. I told you,lad, last night, I didn't like the lookout, and I don't like it a bitbetter this morning, except that I look to be dry and comfortable inanother hour. What's to come after that I don't quite see."
Frank was silent. The prospect, now that he understood it, wasunpleasant indeed. There they were with a disabled and waterlogged boat,in the middle of a district submerged for many miles, and surroundedbeyond that by fever-stricken swamps, while the prospect of any crafthappening to come along was remote indeed. For some minutes he smokedhis pipe in silence.
"You consider it impossible for us to make our escape through the wood."
"Just unpossible, lad. We might make our way from tree to tree, like aparty of monkeys, but we should get to creeks where we couldn't cross;we should be half our time swimming. We could take no food to speak ofwith us; we should get lost in the swamps, if ever we got through theforest. No, lad; my present idea is it is unpossible, though, if wedetarmines at last there ain't nothing else for us to do but to try forit, Hiram Little ain't the man to die without making a hard fight forhis life; but I tell you, lad, I looks on it as unpossible. You havebeen on these banks with me, and you know how thick the trees and bushesgrow, so that a snake could hardly make his way through them. When theriver is at her level the ground ain't about a foot or two out of water,and when the river falls--and it mayn't fall to its level for weeks--itwill just be a swamp of mud."
A FLOOD ON THE MISSISSIPPI.]
"Well, in that case," Frank said, "it seems to me that our only chanceis to repair the boat."
"That's just my idee, young fellow. There is a biggish hole on eachside, the ribs are smashed in, and a lot of damage is done, but we couldmake a shift to mend it if we could get her ashore; but there ain't noshore to get her to, that's the mischief of it; besides, here we arestuck, and if we were to cut away the tree to loose her she would gostraight to the bottom."
"Yes, we mustn't cut her loose before we are alongside something. Myidea is that if we first of all cut off all the boughs that are aboveus, close to the trunk, that will make a good deal of difference in theweight, and we should float higher. Then, with hatchet and saw, we mustget rid of those below, taking a rope first to the trees and hauling hercloser and closer alongside them as we get rid of the weight, till atlast there is only the trunk and these two great arms that have nippedher. I think that way we might get alongside the trees."
"I reckon we might, lad. Yes, I don't see much difficulty about that.And what shall we do when we get there?"
"I should get under a big tree, like that one over there, with thatgreat arm stretching over the stream. We've got plenty of ropes, andI should fasten them from her bow and stern, and from her thwarts, tightto that arm overhead. When I got her fixed, I would chop away one ofthese arms that grip her, and let her float free. We have no tackle thatwould be of any use in hoisting her, but if we take the plug out of herbottom, she will empty as the river sinks, and hang there. Once she isin the air there will be no difficulty in patching her up."
"That's a capital idee, young fellow," Hiram exclaimed, giving Frank amighty pat on the shoulder. "I do believe it is to be done that way. Itell you, I did not see my way out of this fix nohow, but you have hitupon it, by gosh! Here, you darkies, get them axes and saws out of thecabin, and clear away this forest."
An hour's work cleared away all the wood above water. The sun was bythis time well above the trees; the negroes woke up to life andcheerfulness in its warmth, and worked vigorously.
"Before we do anything more," Frank said, "I will swim with a light lineto that tree, and then haul the tow-rope after me, and make it fast toit; it is possible that when we cut away some of the other boughs thewhole affair may turn over and sink, but if the tow-rope is fast we maybe able to drag it alongside."
When the rope was attached to the tree, they proceeded with their work.The two great arms were chopped through just beyond the point at whichthe boat was wedged, thus getting rid of the whole of the upper part ofthe tree.
"She's free now," Hiram said. "Stand in the middle of the boat, youboys; I can feel that a very little would sway her over now."
The bow sank some inches, and fully half the boat was submerged.
"Now, you and I will get out at this end of the trunk, lad, and tow herin, stern foremost."
They got within ten yards of the tree before she again stuck, and ittook them some hours' work to cut away the branch which projected underwater; but at last this was done, and the boat was placed in positionunder the arm of the great tree they had pitched upon, and a number ofropes fastened firmly to the arm.
"Now we will have some dinner," Hiram said; "and while Pete is cookingit we will get ashore with the saw and cut the heads off some of thesesmall trees, and fasten them to this trunk, so as to make a sort of raftthat we can put all these tubs on. The ropes would never hold her withher cargo on board. I reckon some of the sugar is spoilt; but the bossalways has good casks, and may be there ain't much damage done. The rumis right enough, and I reckon there won't be much spoilt except thembales of calico."
They worked hard, but it was late in the evening before the raft wasformed and the cargo all shifted into it.
"Now, we will just chop off this arm and free her," Hiram said, "andthen we can stretch ourselves out for the night. We have done a tidyday's work, I reckon, and have arned our sleep."
The arm was chopped through, and the boat was freed from the tree whichhad, in the first place, so nearly destroyed it, but which, in the end,had proved their means of safety. The raft was fastened alongside by arope, and the negroes betook themselves to it for the night, while thetwo white men, as before, lay down to sleep on the cabin-top.