The Outdoor Chums On A Houseboat Part 16

Frank hurried outside upon hearing what his comrade said. More than a few times before this they had been hailed from the bank; but it was always some fun-loving boy, or a tramp who wanted them to take him aboard, so that they paid little attention to the calls.

"Looks like there's something familiar about that fellow!" Bluff was saying, as the others joined him at the sweep.

"And as sure as you live, he called out Frank's name just then!"

e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Jerry.

"Tell you what, boys, it's that Luther Snow again, as plain as the nose on my face!" cried Bluff.

Frank had discovered this strange fact for himself; and once more the old feeling of suspicion flashed into his mind. Who was this Luther Snow; and why should he come upon them again, when they thought he had gone for good?

The day was well spent, and even then Jerry and Bluff had been trying to select a landing spot.

"Shall we pull in, Frank?" asked the former; "seems like a good camping place just this side of that point; and the water's deep, too, I reckon."

"And the old man seems to want to see us mighty bad," Bluff added.

"He's limping like he'd been hurt," added the sympathetic Will.

Frank hardly knew what to do. If the other were really in deep trouble they would never forgive themselves if they deserted him; because just here the locality seemed lonely, with not a house in sight.

"All right, set her in to the sh.o.r.e," he said, making up his mind without any unnecessary mental discussion; for he believed that four stout and healthy lads ought to be equal to one decrepit old man, no matter how cunning he might prove; and after all they did not know a single thing against the truth of the sad story Luther Snow had told them.

They had tied up, and were busily engaged in the various tasks that had been apportioned to each as his daily program, when Luther came along.

Just as Will had remarked, he was limping badly, and looked most wretched. Frank thought that if this was put on instead of being real, then old Luther deserved credit for his extraordinary ability as an actor.

He seemed greatly overjoyed at meeting them again, and between groans went around shaking hands with each one.

"How do you happen to be here, Mr. Snow, and looking so miserable?"

Frank asked, after the old man had been made comfortable by Will and Bluff; while Jerry actually hastened his preparations for supper, because he saw that the wretched carpenter was weak from fasting.

"I went just as far as my money would carry me, and then the captain of the packet put me off at a little wood landing above," came the reply.

"Then I started to walk down to the next town, hoping to get some sort of work there; but I was weak from hunger; and I managed to slip, and sprain my ankle, so I was about ready to give it all up, and die right there, when I discovered your boat. It was like the coming of an angel to me, my friends, for you have been so kind to a wretched old man."

Will secretly dabbed at his eyes; and even Bluff winked several times, as if he felt keenly for a desolate old man, left alone in the world, and suffering. Only Frank, usually one of the first to lend a helping hand to anyone in distress, did not speak up, and a.s.sure Luther that he could still count on them to help him. Frank was watching him when he had the chance, trying to read the other; for he still hardly knew what to believe.

During the progress of the supper, which they had aboard the _Pot Luck_, Luther was very quiet. He even seemed sick, in truth, and Frank knew he would not have the heart to put him ash.o.r.e. If they carried an old and weak man some distance on his journey, that could hardly interfere with the directions given by the owner of the houseboat; who, Will had admitted, was something of a queer character himself, and hardly to be taken seriously.

And so, after a consultation among themselves out on the deck, while Luther dozed in his chair in the cabin, the boys decided to give him a lift part of the way down to New Orleans. When they grew tired of having him along, they could make up a purse perhaps, and gather sufficient funds to buy him a railroad ticket, say from Memphis to his intended destination.

When they came in later he looked up eagerly, as though he must have guessed that they had been talking over what should be done about him.

And so Frank considered it good policy to let him know the decision they had reached.

"We're going to carry you part way down the river, Mr. Snow," he remarked; "and when we put you ash.o.r.e, perhaps at Memphis, we'll try and scare up enough money in the bunch to see you through by railroad to New Orleans. That's the best we can do; and even then we're stretching the orders of the party who owns the boat, and who was mighty particular that we harbor no strangers aboard on the trip, for some reason or other, which we do not understand."

Frank thought he caught a peculiar twinkle of the shrewd eyes, as he said this; but immediately Luther Snow showed evidence of considerable feeling as he insisted on shaking hands with each one of the chums in order.

"You are a n.o.ble lot of boys," he said, his voice trembling with real emotion; "and it was a lucky day for me when I met with you. I'll never forget you; never!"

And so the _Pot Luck_ received another addition to the pa.s.senger list.

Luther Snow seemed disposed to take his share of the work, and at times insisted on being allowed to do certain tasks.

"Don't make me feel so much ashamed of being a trespa.s.ser on your bounty, lads," he would remark, as he forced Jerry to let him cook a meal a few days after he joined them.

And to the astonishment of the boys he gave them a fine spread, changing their menu in a way that was pleasing. Jerry himself was the first to declare that it was splendid, for there was not a bit of jealousy in his disposition.

Luther seemed pleased to think that he could make himself useful in some way; because he realized that the boys would much rather be alone by themselves on this voyage down the great river.

They had pa.s.sed the mouth of the Missouri, and the addition of so much water caused the widening of the Mississippi, so that the opposite sh.o.r.e seemed a great distance away.

Nothing out of the way had happened all this time, though weeks had now pa.s.sed since the four chums first started on their Southern journey. The moon had waxed and waned, and there was again a young crescent in the western sky when the sun had sunk behind the far distant Missouri sh.o.r.e.

Frank had not made much progress toward solving the puzzle of Luther Snow. The other boys believed in him fully; and so Frank kept his suspicions to himself. He fancied that Luther knew he was watching him, from many signs; but try as he might he could not catch the other off his guard, if it were really so that the old man was playing a part.

It had been settled among the boys at the start that under no conditions were they at any time to leave their pa.s.senger alone aboard the houseboat; and Jerry even insisted that as much as possible, someone be in the cabin when he was. For, of course, Jerry still believed that there must be a wonderful treasure aboard the _Pot Luck_, hidden under some loose board, or in a cranny that as yet he had not been able to find, though he would never give up looking.

And when the boy was amusing himself in sounding the walls, and dipping into all the little nooks he could find, Frank saw that the old man's eyes would follow him, as though he might be secretly amused. But never once did Luther Snow ask the reason of this search on Jerry's part.

Perhaps he understood, from various allusions pa.s.sing between the boys, that Jerry was in search of a secret hiding place; but as it was none of his business he had the good sense to keep still.

They were now drawing close to Cairo, situated at the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi. And their stock of provisions being rather low, the houseboat was tied up at the lower end of the city, while Frank and Bluff went ash.o.r.e to make purchases, and have them sent down.

Having done this duty, and been a.s.sured that the stuff would be delivered at once, the boys went on to the post office, and to do several other little errands. Thus they arrived in the vicinity of the place where the boat had been left several hours before, and with evening only a short time off.

"What does all that yelling mean, do you suppose, Frank?" Bluff asked, stopping to listen.

"Well, we heard that the roustabouts and stevedores were on a strike here, you remember," his companion replied; "and so, perhaps they're having a little fun with some of the strike-breakers, who, they say, have been brought across from Missouri to take their places."

"Whew! that means a fight, with stones flying, and some broken heads,"

Bluff remarked. "I've always wanted to see what a riot looked like."

"You come right along with me," observed Frank, as he hooked his arm in that of his impulsive chum. "It's not our funeral, yet; but it might be, if you thought to stand around when a riot is going on. Here they come now, and we'll have to run for the boat yet. They seem to be chasing some men, too!"

"Say, Frank, look at that boy running with the crowd!" cried Bluff, excitedly. "There, he's down now, and I guess a stone must have hit him, No, he's on his feet again, and making this way as fast as he can sprint, with the mob howling after him. Doesn't he remind you of Ossie Fredericks; but, of course, it couldn't be him! Yes, as sure as I'm talking, I do believe it is; and he's going to get his medicine from that crazy crowd of longsh.o.r.emen, if something don't happen to save him!"

CHAPTER XVII-THE FUGITIVES OF THE LEVEE

Frank seldom acted from impulse. Still, he had a habit of thinking quickly in an emergency, and seldom wasted time.

"We must try and save him, Bluff!" he exclaimed, as he watched the approaching boy, who was staggering at times, and seemed to be very much frightened.

How the son of the St Paul millionaire chanced to get mixed up in a street riot, was the deepest kind of a mystery; but there was certainly no time for trying to solve it now.

"Sure we ought to, Frank!" came the ready response from impulsive Bluff.

True, he had every reason possible for disliking Oswald; but the dreadful condition of the other appealed to Bluff, who was even willing to take chances himself, in order to be of a.s.sistance to a fellow human being in trouble.