Raftmates: A Story of the Great River Read online

  CHAPTER VIII.

  DISAPPEARANCE OF THE RAFT.

  When Winn and his new acquaintance stepped outside of the "shanty," itdid not seem to the boy that the river was falling, or that the raftwas in a particularly dangerous position. He would have liked toexamine more closely into its condition, but his companion so occupiedhis attention by describing the manner in which he proposed to removethe wheat, and so hurried him into the waiting skiff, that he had noopportunity to do so.

  The "river-traders'" camp was not visible from the raft, nor did Mr.Gilder, who handled the oars, head the skiff in its direction. Herowed diagonally up-stream instead, so as to land at some distanceabove it. There he asked Winn to wait a few minutes until he shoulddiscover in which direction his partners had gone. He explained thatone of them had been left in camp at a considerable distance from thatpoint, while he and the third had been rowing along the shore of theisland in opposite directions, searching for drift-logs. Thus he alonehad discovered the stranded raft. Now he wished to bring them to thatpoint, that they might see it for themselves before he explained theproposed wheat deal. With this Mr. Gilder plunged directly into thetall timber, leaving Winn alone on the river-bank.

  It was fully fifteen minutes before the man returned to the waitinglad, and he not only looked heated but anxious.

  "I can't think what has become of those fellows!" he exclaimed,breathlessly, as he wiped the moisture from his forehead with a cambrichandkerchief. "I've been clear to camp without finding a trace ofeither of them. Now there is only one thing left for us to do in orderto get them here quickly. You and I must start around the island inopposite directions, because if we went together we might follow themround and round like a kitten chasing its tail. If you meet them,bring them back here, and I will do the same. If you don't meet them,keep on until you are half-way down the other side of the island, orexactly opposite this point; then strike directly into the timber, andso make a short-cut back here. In that way you will reach this placeagain as soon as I, for the island isn't more than three hundred yardswide just here. Be spry, now, and remember that the safety of yourraft depends largely upon the promptness with which we get those otherfellows here."

  With this Mr. Gilder began to walk rapidly down the shore in thedirection he had chosen. Carried away by the man's impetuosity, Winndid not hesitate to obey his instructions, but started at once in theopposite direction. Mr. Gilder, noting this by a backward glance overhis shoulder, instantly halted and concealed himself behind a largetree-trunk. From here he peered at the retreating figure of the boyuntil it was no longer visible. Then he gave vent to the same peculiarwhistle with which Plater had announced his own approach to the log-hutin the woods. The sound was immediately answered from no greatdistance, whereupon Mr. Gilder hastened in that direction. A minutelater he returned, bringing a coil of stout rope, one end of which hemade fast to a tree on the bank. At the same time both Grimshaw andPlater appeared, each bearing a large package securely wrapped incanvas on his shoulder.

  All three men entered the skiff and pulled out to the raft, carryingthe loose end of the rope with them. Mr. Gilder and Grimshaw quicklyreturned to the land, leaving the burly Plater to make a vigorousattack with an axe against the sides of one of the wheat bins. He soonsplintered and tore off a board, leaving an aperture through which abroad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck of the raft. This Platerbegan to shovel overboard, working with furious energy, as thoughcombating a hated enemy. In ten minutes both bins were empty, and somuch of the wheat had gone into the ever-rising waters that the raft,which had been on the point of floating when Plater began hisoperations, now did so, and swung in close to the bank at the end ofits new cable.

  "A broad stream of wheat rushed out on the deck"]

  In the mean time the other men had brought several skiff-loads of theirpeculiar merchandise to the raft, and now it took but a few minutes totransfer what remained on the bank directly to it. Even the tent,which had been hastily torn down, together with a portion of their campoutfit, was tossed aboard, and within fifteen minutes from the time ofWinn's departure the _Venture_, with its new crew at the sweeps, wasmoving slowly out from the island, and gathering impetus from thecurrent for a continuance of its eventful voyage.

  Without a suspicion that the gentlemanly stranger who had so kindlysmoothed away his culinary difficulties, and, while apparently willingto assist him, was also anxious to make a good bargain for himself, wasanything but what he appeared to be, Winn made his way briskly towardsthe head of the island. It was only after rounding it and startingdown the opposite side without seeing a sign of those whom he soughtthat he began to have misgivings.

  "I wonder if it is all right?" he said to himself. "What could be theman's object in telling me that the raft was in a dangerous position ifshe isn't? I declare I don't believe she is, though! She didn't lookit when I left, and I do believe the river is still rising. I wonderif I haven't done a foolish thing in leaving the raft? If I have, thebest thing to do now is to get back as quickly as possible."

  By this time the boy had worked himself into a fever of apprehension,and, remembering what he had been told concerning the narrowness of theisland, he determined to make a short-cut across it. This was exactlywhat the far-sighted Mr. Gilder had anticipated, and Winn fell an easyvictim to his artfully planned trap. For nearly an hour the boy,versed in wood-craft as he was, wandered and struggled through thedense undergrowth of that island forest. Suddenly, as he burst his waythrough a thicket, he was confronted by the log-hut so lately occupiedby the "river-traders." Winn shouted as he approached it; but, ofcourse, received no reply. It had the lonely look of a place longdeserted, and the boy paused for but a single glance into itsuninviting interior. Then, getting his bearings anew by the sun thatwas beginning to struggle through the clouds, he pushed his wayresolutely towards the western side of the island, which, somewhat tohis surprise, he reached a few minutes later.

  He emerged from the timber at the abandoned camp of the traders; butwithout stopping to examine it, he ran to the water's edge, and gazedanxiously both up and down stream. There was no sign of the raft norof any moving object. "It must be farther up, around that point,"thought Winn, and he hurried in that direction. From one point toanother he thus pursued his anxious way until the head of the islandwas once more in sight. Then he knew that he must have passed theplace where the raft had been, and that it was gone.

  As a realizing sense of how he had been duped and of his presentsituation flashed through his mind, the poor boy sat down on a log, toobewildered to act, or even to think.