Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-29

tug, the barges were pushed on against the
current, soon leaving the crippled RIVER
Queen to her fate.
While jim had been talking with the men
on the tug, True and Bent had been gather
ing the goods together to prevent them from
being mixed up and spoiled, and Jethro hau
been below, satisfying himself that tne uan
ger was no greater than had at first been
reported
Three of the upper planks had been com
pleteiy broken in. but none of the seams be
low the waterline had been opened sufhcient-
ly to admit enough water to cover the lower
flooring. ,...
The house was in a very bad condition on
the starboard side. wrecking the store and
Jethros room, but doing no damage TO the
II was not until after the goods had been
gathered up and the wreckage cleared away
that ,Jethro thought of the prisoners and then
he exclaimed, as he pounded his knee with ms
fist in a very vigorous manner;
'Consarn their ugly mugs! 1t was a nlgni'y
good thing for them that we got run int9i
"Do you mean the robbers?" asked lrue,
wondering WHY it was that he had not
thought Of, them before :. o,t2,,
yes, do. How did they git Out OUT. of the
prisoners and, although no one could nave nave
suggested any different plan OF action, oe.nrp
was half angry because they had been al
lowed to go free" a. ,,o,,o ,em
walk into a trap ag'in, with nothin Tor us 10
do but to nail 'em down, an , you vet afs'A '"'
oSee here, Jethro," said True, an am real real
ly beginning to be superstltious aoout t,I.;ng
croakfng Last evening you were 'aih,ns
about a collision, and it's come, so nov nov,
don't predict anything more, OF l sha'' Su''''
think that it will be verified: -. :.n
HWa'al. / won't say what think Du. III u =
come jest the same, an you ll Iene,nb ,n;3b them
tell you about havin trouble ~i'h 'ne"
men," - ,;4o,o, in
b;gblv.offended manner, while the boys SAT SAT
in the store waiting for the coming oI .ns
dawn 50 that they ysba msSi asond 'te'I be repaired
As near as Jethro could judge, they were
hnt few miles above Bethlehem, ana ne
was right. as was seen after sunrise, Ior .ney
were hardly more than an hour oriitihs uo"'n
to the town. =, ,rho,o
the captain of the tugboat had sent tnem I'M
was at work having promised 10 nave Ine
lob completed in three days. rn;no Of
He kept his word, and on the noliiIS nor D. or
the ninth day from Cincinnati the RIVER
Queen was again in good shape, and once
Tore were the mooring lines cast OH ana the
white flag hoisted. :, A. how where he
could scan both sides Of the rht rjstl f cnsto,
mer and True and Bent, with guns In tner
hands were with him, watching Tor game. ).
| "If we should shoot anything, we Gouluh
get it, observed Bent, after long snenee sI,ff
"We made a mistake in not getting a sklI Z
before we left" said True. AS matter 81 o.
Sct there ought to be one whether we :s,a neeo
II for shooting or not, for now IT Is imposSiple
~ land without tugging the River queen IN
and that's work that doesn't IN ade .ns f' car one
semble play You must try to traoe ior one
pretty soon now, jimmie. .o,,u lives =.
PA couple o. miles further down lives q
man who is jest overrun with sKlns, saiu
Jethro. who had come forward "a IN III .ihs frou, ~
h;n cbean an / reckon he'd take his pay IN
eo@"TWVihi (which side of the river does he live
on?" =, -. hond .h., berd ,,
| "Tben let's work the boat over that way,
nroposed True, eagerly, "and even II you
cpanlt make trade with him. we shant have
] lost very much time: III
Bent sprang to the forward sweep, "hhs
Jetbro took up his station at the rudder and
| the River Queen was worked slowly over 10
"a As the boat passed the bend in the river,
and the dwelling of the man who was over
reared on the bank, making signals for the
trader to land, while around the buildings
could be seen a number of people running TO
and fro, as if in confusion or distress
There's something the matter on snore .re
because they want to trade; or they, wouldn't t
be running around SO excitedly. Something
has happened, and they are calling on us for
help"
ply, even if he had been SO disposed, for by
| this time they were near enough to the shore
! for Bent to cast the heaving line.
CHAPTER VIII.
TIDINGS OF THE ROBBERS.
~ L11x