Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-26
CHAPTER XIV.
A QUICK TRIP.

nim Dy Irue and Bent that evening
- he would have closed out his goods
even at a loss, and returned to Gin
cinnati with all speed, so anxious were they
TO begin the trip Mr.. Bartlett had proposed.
=, jim turned deaf ear to all such advice
10 Whatever arguments the boys advanced
he had but this one reply:
we VIII first finish what we have begun
and we will try just as hard now to sell
goods as we did before. Your fathers
woutdnt think that l was competent. to
transact their business if I was to act fool
isshly now because of a chance to have lit
tie more fun: We have three hundred and
eighty miles further to go, and 1 am not the
one to forget it."
Then Jim wrote to Mr.. Bartlett. telling
how pleased he was that they had sufficient
confidence to intrust him with the carrying
out of their plan.
lie told them that he thought the River
Queen would be at New Orleans in eight or
ten days, and that as soon as he arrived there
and had concluded his business properly the
whole party would start for home by the
cars.
True took good care that ,Jim's letter should
be mailed that night, together with one he
and an Il, Bent had had written, and then the crew
OF the flat boat tried, but with poor success,
70 get TO sleep at an early hour.
morning, after doing fair business and max
ing purchases to the amount of sixtyone dol
lars and fifty cents.
before Before sur sunset the River Queen was passing
slana,e and at night she was at the land
ing OF Point Pleasant in Louisiana
Here Jim found the first customer of the
day! selling satisfactory bill of goods, and
taking in. payment cotton-seed, the first of
that kind of produce he had been called
upon to purchase.
At the close of the second day after leav-
ing ing. Font ON Pleasant they were lying at Nat
on the cliff. and "Nafchez Under the Hill,'
as the lower portion situated by the waters
edge is called, close at hand, its levees lined
with With steamers of every, description.
The boys went on shore during the even
ing to see the, place D'Iberville founded in
100, and called Rosalie in honor of the
Countess Pontchartrain; but sightseeing in
the the night @ Is not as agreeable as in the day:
time, and they soon descended the steep hill
to the fat-boat, wishing already that they
were at New Orleans.
Only once during the following day was
IN the River Queen hailed for trading purposes
That night the fat-boat was made fast at
Bougerie Landing, outside another craft in
the same line of business, and then Jim un-
derstood why. trade had been SO dull since
leaving Vicksburg.
This merchant, who was middle-aged
man and claimed to have been seventeen
years on the river, had been kept busy all
the; way down, which fully explained why Jim
had seen so few customers.
All this was told when the boys went on
board to make call during the evening. and
although the trader, Aaron Birch by name
was very polite to them. it was easy to be
seen that he was vexed because they would
as poor, as Jim had found it, He was anxi-
Gus to know at what time the River Queen
would sail next day, if there were any land
ings at which they proposed to make any e8-
these details, until True, who began to sus-
pect the, reason of the traders uneasiness
whispered to Jim:
why don't you try to close your stock
out to him, the same as you did to that other
man@
Jim caught at the suggestion, with the re-
suit that he sold out his entire stock to the
old trader, putting such value on the goods
then Mr.. Birch said:
I'm loaded; have got just about as much
produce as L can carry, and if you and l
can agree on the price Of what I've got, there
bargain; that is" he added, shrewdly, "if
you promise not to buy any more goods any
where down the river. | shall have to take
my chances of another boat being close be-
hind you; but l don't believe those are very
great" y
Then, for an hour, did the man and Jim
discuss the prices of cotton-seed, tobacco and
sugar-Jim wincing little when this last
product was newfoundland at the end of
that time the bargain made.
The goods on board the River Queen were
to be paid for wholly in cotton-seed, and as
Mr.. Birch was quite as eager to have them
leave. as True and Bent were to go, he pro-
posed that the transfer be made at once
To this proposition, Jim willingly agreed
When the work had been accomplished, True
and Bent hoisted the white flag once more
and then, with triumphant cheers, pulled it
down for the last time
What shall we do with it?" asked True.
"Keep it, of course" replied Jim, as he
folded the flag carefully. 'drhat was my sig.
nal the first day I started in business, and
it shall go on every boat | ever have, until it
is SO old that it won't, hold together, when
| shall have it framed"
At sunrise the next morning the River
Queen was on her way to New Orleans, heed
ing no more calls from would-be customers.
and her captain was already beginning to fear