The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1909-05-16

permitted to retire from the game when
the boat whistled for Sioux City. The
others agreed TO this. Each mar laid his
revolver on the table just to the right OF
him and they went at ii.
DAY and night they sat about that
table piled with money and chips. When
l went t O bed at night they were there
and when l got up in the morning they
were there. l don't know whether they
stopped to eat or not, but ! suppose they
were all flush with money and they were
all experts at poker
"They were the q~lietest men on the
boat. those poker players. 1t seemed
that Joe had made up his mind to quit
the river, and he VAS playing the game OF
was sounded for Sioux City Joe got up
! from the table. ,
-'Gentlemen, he said. here's where i
drop out
ncnts' money stacked up In front OF him
and about his clothes not a word OF pro-
test was uttered, for the old time river
gambler, no matter what his other fail
inps were, was "a man Of his word. II Joe
| hadn't made the agreement at the start
he would have been called n welcher for
pulling out when he was 80 far ahead OF
the E gS@s' we were about the mouth of
7 Nlllk UlNeT, Ill Nopt' NfSfh w
served a fine stretch Of timber and ordered
the boat stopped while the crew wen to
work getting wood for the furnaces.
The intention was to get enough wood
there to run the boat to Sioux City with
out further stopping. .
knowing that IL would take at least
two DAYS to do thai the engineers put out
their fires and went TO work cleaning
the boilers. The crew and the officers
went ashore 10 stretch themselves and
to help in getting up the wood. Presently
we heard the widest hula baloo that ever
greeted mortal ears. l didn't know what
Il was. out some OF the old timers did.
your lives.'
I'VE lost no time in obeying the RIDER.
Everybody scampered pell nell back to
the boat, and one Of h officers was q
, headed enough 10 seize an axe and cut
the hawsers which fastened us to the
! shore. Then an anchor was thrown u
in midstream.
There wasn't an ounce OF steam in
the boilers and all We could hope for
was to drift out in the current, The
Indians were a fantastic lot and their
intentions to kill and scalp us were good.
The old chieftain. brandishing a rifle
and a tomahawk, started TO ride up the
ganpplank when the engineer. who had
run for his rifle the first thing, ran out
and shot him through the heart. He gave
a blood %curdling yell and fell of his horse
TO tho shore. Before any more could
get up to the plank we had run It in and
the boat drifted some twenty-five feet
from the shore and lay there while the
Indians fred into us with their old flint
lock guns 4,
nv that time the boats people had
somewhat got over their fright and began
replying. The Indians didn't fight much
in the open when they saw that we had
guns. but shot from behind trees. Our
people stood behind the smokcstacks
and other projections on the boat. ]
don't think anybody was hit hard enough
to hurt, although the exchange of shots
lasted for several hours. The old BENTON
was riddle1 with bullets when il got
out OF the fight.
Finally the engineers mana ged 10
get steam up and we dropped down the
river q way. | don't know whether il
was seeing the smoke coming out Of the
stacks that scared them or not. but soon
after steam was NJ the Indians rode away.
Then we landed again. and the captain
led an expedition to scour the woods
in hunt of the Indians. You see, he had
got his fighting blood up and made up
his mind that it would he a good thing
to take some scalps himself.
Il found the gun of the dead warrior
over in the brush. II was n short weapon,
like a carbine, with the word London
on It. IL n n great nlntiock Trigger
and didn't look as If it would shoot very
far.
I'VE finished loading up and then liked
out for fear that the Indians might go
after their brothers and bring enou gh
of them back tn overwhelm us. The
return trip to st. Louis was made in thirty
days.
aSome of these days that great river
will be utilized for commerce. That is
nm pxcaedip pIv rich country and the time
is bound to come in the ordinary course
of development when they will build
freight steamers Of light draught which
will run day and night and handle the
immense mount of grain and stock
produced up there. As n scenic attrac-
ton n voyage up the Missouri to Benton
Is unsurpassed in this country. The
Indians and the buffalo are gone. but the
mountains. the tall cliffs n the beautiful
country are still there and it Is worth
n mans time TO make the voyage