The Clio messenger., 1919-12-11

for Rene Beaucaire's drop Of negro
slave In her masters hands. To my
mind she was but woman, a sweet,
lQyable, girlish woman, In the unre-
strained power Of brute, and depend
ent alone on me for rescue. That was
enough; cared for nothing more.
With silent strokes I waited patient
ly until the steady chugging of the en-
gine grew faint In the distance. and
then finally ceased entirely.
Uncertain which way to turn, and
conscious Of strange lassitude,
made no struggle to reach land, but
permitted myself to be borne down
ward In the grip of the water. Sud-
denly something drifted against my
body, black, ill-defined object, toss
ing about on the swell Of the waves,
and instinctively ! grasped at 1t, rec
ognizing instantly the shell of our
wrecked boat. 1t was all awash, a
great hole stove In its side well for
ward, and so filled with water the
added weight of my body would have
sunk 1t instantly. Yet the thing re-
mained buoyant enough to float. and
| clung to it's stern. thankful even for
this slight help.
There was no occasion for fear. al
though became aware that the sweep
Of the current was steadily bearing us
farther out toward the center Of the
broad stream, and soon felt convinced
that escape from my predicament
would be impossible until after day
light. The struggle to keep afloat was
no longer necessary, and my head
sank in relief on the hands gripping at
the boats stern, while we floated ST.
lently on through the black mystery.
Suddenly the wrecked boats bow
grated against something immovable !;
then became fixed, the stern swinging
slowly about, until it also caught. and
l could feel the full volume of down
pouring water against my body. The
blindly floating boat had drifted
upon a snag, seemingly the major por-
tion of tree, now held by some spit
Of sand. I struggled vainly in an at
tempt to release the grip which held
us, but the force Of the current had
securely wedged the boats bow be-
meath a limb, bare leafiess tentacle,
making all my efforts useless. / found
a submerged branch on which to
stand. gripped the boat desperately to
prevent being swept away, and waited
for the dawn.
1t seemed long while coming, and
never did man gaze on more dismal,
CHASTITY scene than was revealed to
me by those first gray CLEANS dimly
showing In the far east. All about
stretched utter desolation; wherever
my eyes turned the vista was the
samoa wide stretch Of restless brown
water surging and leaping past, bound
ed by low-lying shores, forlorn and de-
serted. How far had aimlessly drift
| ed downstream during the night was a
mere matter of conjecture. I pos
sessed no knowledge Of where I was.
Each bank Of the river appeared about
| equally bare and desolate, entirely de-
void of promise. However, l chose
the west shore for my experiment, as
the current seemed less strong In that
direction, and was about to plunge In,
determined to fight way across.
when my eyes suddenly detected a
faint wreath Of smoke curling up into
| the pale sky above a headland far to
| the southwark. AS / stared at this
1t became black and distinct, tossed
about In the wind. I watched intent
ly, clinging to my support, scarcely
trusting my eyesight, while that first
wisp deepened into cloud. advanc-
ing slowly toward me. There was no
longer doubt Of what 1t was-unQues-
| tionably some steamer was pushing its
course upstream. Even before my
ears could detect the far-off chug Of
the engine the boat itself rounded the
sharp point Of the headland and came
forth into full view. heading out
toward the middle of the river In a
search for deeper water.
1t was an unusually large steamboat
| for those days, q lower river packet,
l guessed, with two tunnels painted
yellow and q high pilot house sur
mounted by huge brazen eagle. AT
first, approaching me, bow on. could
perceive but little of its dimensions,
nor gain clear view of the decks, but
when it veered slightly these were re-
vealed, and 1 had a glimpse of a few
figures grouped forward, the great
wheel astern splashing the water, and
between, a long row of windows re-
flecting the glare of the early sun.
Even as / gazed at this vision a flag
crept up the slender staff at the bow
and reaching the top rippled out in
the crisp breeze. A moment later /
deciphered the lettering across the
white front Of the pilot house-Adven-
turer Of Memphis.
Indifferent at that moment as to
where the approaching boat might be
bound, or my reception on board; de-
sirous only Of immediate escape from
my unfortunate predicament, man